Helen Writes about the book, "The Life Beyond Death," that Mr. Padgett was Reading

April 19, 1919
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, your own true and loving Helen.

Well my dear, I see that you have been very much interested in the book (“The Life Beyond Death” by Yogi Ramasharaka) that you have been reading, and also in many of the truths that it contains, as well as in many untruths that are set forth.

The writer of the book knows not as a fact the things that he has therein written, but has compiled the statements from other works that were written, long ago by men who were of the oriental religions, and who wrote as they conceived the truth of existence to be, both in the earth world and in the spirit world. They were possessed of a combination of concepts that came to them in their moments of meditation and in their moments of being wide awake to the conditions of the present life, I mean the earth life. They are not authority, and while they have many of the truths of the other side of life, yet they must not be relied on for definite and authoritative information.

I will come soon and write to you on the subject of the rebirth or reincarnation, and show you that it has no foundation in fact or in the economy of God's creation of the human soul. Man, when he once gives up his earth life, never returns to it again in the way described in the book, but only in his spirit form, as I am now doing.

Well, dear, you are in better condition tonight, and the higher spirits will soon come and write you. The Master is not here tonight,1 as he has gone to the Celestial Heavens, where he may not hear the praise and worship ascend to him as God, and the redeemer of the world by his death and resurrection, subjects which are wholly untrue and very distasteful to him.

If men would only understand the true resurrection, how much they would be benefited and progress in their soul development. He arose from the dead while yet living, and when his physical death took place, the resurrection had already occurred, and the truth of the resurrection from the dead had already been demonstrated. He will soon come and write you.

I will not write more now, and with my love will say, good night.

Your own true and loving,
Helen

Pastor Charles Russell Writes that He Realizes the Falsity of His Teachings

July 31, 1918
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Pastor Russell.

Let me say a word, as I have been with you today as you read the book of which I was the writer. I see that you are aware of the erroneous interpretations of the testament that it contains of the false constructions that are drawn from the quotations of the Bible, and also that you feel that a great injury is being done to those who read and believe in my teachings.

Well, I realize the falsity of my teachings and the wrong and injury that are being wrought among those who have been followers of me; and how great will be their surprise when death comes to them, for what I said was impossible - they will find to be true that they are more alive than they ever were while living in the flesh.
This I have realized to my great surprise and suffering.

When I was about to leave the flesh, and for long years before, I believed that when I died, I would go into the literal grave and would thereafter be in a state of oblivion, knowing nothing until the day of the first resurrection, when I and all those who believed that we were of the little flock would be called into the presence of Jesus and there become his co-workers and co-judges of men during the millennium, when the rest of the world would be tried and finally judged to either a life of happiness, as men restored to the condition of Adam before the fall, or to total annihilation.

But as I passed from the body, I found that I had a spiritual body in which was contained all the faculties of mind and appetites of the flesh that were a part of me when on earth; and, also, the memories of all that I had thought, and taught, when trying to lead my followers into the truth, as I supposed. I was more alive than ever before, and conscience soon began to do its work of reproval and bring to me remorse and regret for the great harm that I had done to many of my fellow men by reason of my teaching a faith that is wholly untrue and destructive to the soul's salvation.

The soul! Ah, this is the thing that I blasphemed against, for I taught that there was no such thing or entity as the soul after the separation of the body and life; that it then ceased to have an existence and would never again come into existence until the first resurrection, which would be the first awakening of the little flock to a consciousness of its existence. To me the will was the great thing, and while that never ceased to exist, yet it lay in a dormant state and was as dead, knowing nothing.

How vitally misleading was this teaching - and how my followers will find themselves deceived and will suffer from the want of knowledge of the fact that the soul is the man and is susceptible to progressing in the knowledge of the truths of God while on earth, as well as after it becomes an inhabitant of the spirit world. I have had a tragic awakening with all the consequences of a tragedy in which I was one of the important actors and the principal cause of the results of the tragedy.

I know what death means, and what life means, for I died merely to live, and to live a life in which at this time is much suffering and regret, accompanied by the knowledge that I have before me a work greater than I can perform in many long years in the future. I must now try to undo what I - for so many years - did to the injury of those who believed in me; and when I realize that there is hardly a way, until these followers of mine become spirits like myself, in which I can do this work, my suffering becomes almost unbearable. Only through the medium of the mortal can I reach these people, and because of my teachings, they will not believe what I may attempt to communicate through a mortal medium (which medium I wrote against and reviled and alleged that they were only creatures used by the devil and his minions to deceive mankind).

If I had only known the truth, and thereby abstained from preaching untruth in this particular, how different my lot would now be. But I believed what I taught, and taught what I believed. It was all a lie, and though I believed it, yet that fact does not lessen my regrets, for I see with the clearness of the spirit that my thoughts and teachings are believed by many of my followers because I taught them; and, consequently, they will suffer from their beliefs; and the fact that I believed these erroneous things and taught in good faith will not, in one iota, save them from the darkness and sufferings which will certainly become theirs.

Unfortunate is the man who believes spiritual untruths; but accursed is the man who teaches them, and thus deceives those who are earnestly seeking for the truth. I would like to write more tonight in reference to this matter and my condition and the heavy burden which I am now bearing, but your wife says I must not write more now as you are not in condition to be further drawn on. So, thanking you, and having the hope that at some time in the near future I may again communicate with you, I will say good night.

Your friend,
Pastor Russell

**********

Helen confirms that Pastor Russell wrote and is in much darkness as a result of his erroneous teachings while on earth.


I am here, your own true and loving Helen.

Well dear, you have just received a letter from Pastor Russell, who, as he says, has been with you during the day as you read one of his books, and who was most anxious to write you. He is in considerable darkness and feels the great burden of seeing many persons of earth whom he taught, studying and believing his teachings of the vital truths of man's salvation, which teachings he now realizes, to his own suffering, are untrue and lead away from the realities of the life in the spirit world and the teachings of the Master as to things spiritual.

He was very anxious to continue his message, but I thought it best to stop him as he was very earnest and was drawing too much on your vitality. He will come again sometime after you shall have become stronger.

Helen 

St. John Writes About the Book "Spiritual Teachings" by Stainton Moses, Which He Read with James Padgett

July 5, 1918
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, St. John.

Let me say a word. I have read with you in the book (Spiritual Teachings by Stainton Moses) and I find that many things in it are true and many others show a want of the true mission of the Master. I do not know the spirit who is supposed to have dictated the messages, but from the nature of the same, I would infer that he is a spirit of some of the higher spiritual spheres and that his information is limited by the development of his spirit, as he calls it. He apparently knows nothing of the true mission of Jesus, or of the Divine Love, or of the true resurrection, as was taught by the Master.

It is well that you have read this book for it will show you the differences between the messages, which you are receiving and those that you read in the book. Some of the writers declarations are correct; such communications as his development of mind and soul fit him to receive.

But the great and important truth relating to God and man are not contained in the book and could not well be, for the guiding spirit evidently knew nothing of the transformation of the soul into the Divine by reason of the Divine Love.

I merely wanted to write this to show you that your work is necessary to be done, and that never has the truths that you are receiving been revealed to men before. Good night,

Your brother in Christ,
John

John Writes that Many of the Sayings in the Bible He Did Not Write or Authorize to be Written

March 2, 1918
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, John.

I will not write now, except to say, that your spiritual condition is much improved and you are advancing in your soul perceptions of the truth and of the reality of the Father and His Love.

Yes, I know, but you must remember two things with reference to the writings in the Bible ascribed to me, namely:

First, that many of the sayings therein contained, I did not write or authorize to be written; and, secondly, that at the time I lived on earth and wrote, my knowledge of the truth and of God was not so great or so correct as it is now.

I realize that some things I then believed and taught were not in accord with the truth, as I now know it to be, even my conception of Jesus and his mission on earth, and his return to earth, was not true. Then, although I was a close companion of the Master and had many lessons of instructions from him, I was a quite ignorant man and did not grasp the spiritual meanings of his teachings, and up to the time of my decease, my beliefs were more colored by things of the material than by those of the spiritual.

For instance, I, as did the other disciples, supposed that he was coming to earth again in a short time - at any unexpected time - and set up his kingdom on earth. Now, this is a fact, notwithstanding that he had said that his kingdom would be a spiritual kingdom, though existing on earth. I could not dissociate from my conception of the establishment and existence of this kingdom, the idea that in some way it would be an actual, visible kingdom in which the Master would be the king, and rule as other kings ruled, except it would be a rule of righteousness.

All this may seem a little strange to you. but if you will consider for a moment that my teachings as a Jew were to the effect that when the Messiah came, he would actually rule on earth as a king, you will understand how difficult it was for me to get the idea, or make the distinction between that kind of kingdom and one which would be purely spiritual.

At some time, I will write you more fully on this matter, for I realize its importance, as many, yes a majority of the professed Christians, now believe that Jesus, at sometime, will come to earth and establish a material kingdom and rule all the nations of the earth; and some of these enthusiastic Christians believe that they will be of the elect and become princes and sub-rulers in that kingdom as material men called by the resurrection to again become the human, although glorified, as some of them express their faith. Well, they will be disappointed, for when they shall have passed from the mortal to the spirit, they will forever remain spirits, and the only kingdom that they will live in thereafter will be a spirit kingdom; and that, whether the kingdom of the restored man or of the Divine Angel will not be on the earth.

I must stop now. So pray to the Father and strive for a deeper and more abiding faith, and you will realize the truth and this experience. Good night.

Your brother in Christ,
John

Elias Writes on the Subject: "Do the dead communicate with the living?"

April 1, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Elias.

I will write a few words in respect to the sermon that you listened to tonight on the question: "Do the dead communicate with the living?"

The preacher is a believer in what he enunciated and the only trouble with him is that he has very little knowledge of the truths of spiritualism and, hence, his ability to teach these truths is very limited.

The mere fact that the soul and spirit of man continue to live when they shuffle off the mortal coil, as he described it, is but the first truth of this great subject and is one that all spirits learn immediately upon their separation from the body no matter what their religious beliefs may be or whether they have any such beliefs or not.

This fact is one about which there can be no difference in knowledge. They all know, in a moment, as it were, that there is no such thing as the death of the soul - the real man. But this, as I say, is the mere beginning of knowledge and beyond the fact of this continuous existence, this knowledge serves no purpose as to the destiny of man.

The preacher was much interested in the book about which he was talking and found in it some statements that are confirmatory of the beliefs that he already possessed, and some statements that are new to him and which gave him somewhat larger views on the subject; but necessarily these views are not of the vital truths,  which a more complete or extended knowledge of spiritualism will give to him.

The spirit of whom he was talking knew little more than what appeared to his senses and, of course, these things are only those that come to the knowledge of the spirit when it first enters the spirit land. Its truths are not learned in a moment and frequently - not for centuries - and as to the higher truths are never learned by a great majority of the spirits. So that what is contained in the book referred to is very consoling to those who believe that their loved ones are waiting to meet them and will receive them when they cease to be mortals with love and affection and joy and, further, that these loved ones are with the mortals while on earth watching over them and trying to help them, yet no information as to the lives that these spirits must lead in the spirit world as soon as their status is determined by the great Law of Attraction and what the future may be and is disclosed to them and for the reason that the spirit communicant did not know.

But, as the preacher said, it is a glorious knowledge to possess that man after death still lives, and that his soul does not have to wait for some great resurrection day to realize that it has life and consciousness.

The preacher is still in the dark as to the conditions of spirits and their destiny, and as to the means provided to attain to the Heavens and become released from the Hells, by the Father's Love. To merely live is not the end of men or spirits, and the fact of living as a spirit of today, instead as a mortal of yesterday, does not demonstrate immortality; and the consoling thought that the preacher expressed from the fact of continued existence after death are merely the wishes of desire based on such existence.

The preacher has, at this time within his own soul, that which is freed from the limitations of his erroneous beliefs in many supposed truths would cause him to know that the life in the spirit world is something more than the mere living, and that this living is only a means to the realization and possession of that immortality that is so often preached about and hoped for.

He has much of the Divine Love in his soul, and that soul is struggling to expand and get in condition to receive more of this Love and is prevented from so doing only by the erroneous beliefs that he has imbibed and misconstrued by his long years of living in what he calls the truths of the Bible and the fear that if he loses such beliefs or questions the truth of the source of his beliefs, there can be no salvation for him. And this is not surprising, for he knows no source of correction of these errors of his beliefs, and as a wise man - and wise only because he does not know how to obtain greater wisdom - he holds on to his beliefs and reverences the source thereof - and his intellect is satisfied.

But the soul, the important soul, which can be fed only by its own perceptions, is like the imprisoned bird, panting and struggling to beat down the bars of its imprisonment and get out into the freedom of God's wide atmosphere. And his mind - the misguided mind - is the bars of his soul's freedom and prevents it from opening up its own perceptions. If the preacher only knew the truth and the way to open the doors to his soul's prison, he would long for that truth and seek that way with all the energies of his soul's powers and would then become free and progress towards the attainment of the certain knowledge of immortality.

But this I will say now, that sometime he will learn the truth and the way, and his beliefs will become in accord with the longings of his soul and the shackles of his mind's erroneous beliefs will be loosened and fall from him, and then he will realize that he is a true son of the Father privileged to partake of the Great Love without limit in his onward progress to the Celestial Spheres.

The church was filled with many spirits interested in the discourse, anxious to learn any truths that might be declared, but they learned nothing, for what he declared as truths, they already knew, notwithstanding that these spirits were of all kinds - wicked and dark and suffering and bright and happy, and mostly still men without the physical body.

Well, I thought it might be advisable to write as I have, so that if the preacher should ever hear this message, he will see the necessity for seeking the deep and real truths that disclose the conditions and destinies of the spirit of men. And besides, he will also realize the importance of his knowing these truths, so that he may teach them not only to men, but to spirits as well, who form the vastly larger part of his audience. I will not write more now.

With my love and prayers for the Father's blessings on you, I am

Your brother in Christ,
Elias

John Writes About the Soul Awakening of Eugene Morgan

November 4, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, John.

I merely want to say that what the Master and I said a few nights ago to Dr. Stone applies to your friend (Eugene Morgan) who is with you now, and he must realize the fact; and I wish he would take a copy of the writings and insert his name wherever that of the Doctor occurs.

He has more of this Love in his soul than he realizes, and although at times he has some doubts, and the Love seems to be dormant, yet it is there, and he must not lose faith in the fact. As long as he is a mortal, these times of doubt and want of feeling of the presence of the Love will come to him, but he must not let this discourage him for as certainly as the sun shines, he has fought the battle of the soul and has come out victor, and he is now an accepted son of the Father. I would not tell him this if I did not see the condition of his soul and the presence of the Love resting and living in it.

We have all been much interested in his transformation because of the difficulty that has attended his fight - greater than he may conceive of. And when he commenced to get into that condition of awakening, he had the assistance of many more of the higher spirits than he has been informed of, for we left him alone scarcely any of the time when the change was taking place. And besides, he was so unfortunate as to have around him some very evil spirits who had such a hold upon him that it was not an easy work to cause them to leave him.

Of course, we could have dispersed them without any difficulty by the mere exercise of our will, but that was not the desirable or effective way of ridding him of these incubi, for whenever we should leave him they would return to him and his condition become much worse than before. And, consequently, the only effective way - and the one that was pursued, and the only one that can be with certain and lasting results pursued - was to have his soul develop, so that in itself it would possess that power that would cause these spirits to leave him and render him innocuous to their influences, whether we were present or not. And in this we were successful. And all this means that our work was simply to turn his thoughts to the Father and to cause him to have faith in prayer; for when all is said, it was the result of prayer that brought the Divine Love which made him able, because of his own soul's power, to disperse and keep from him these evil spirits.

And in this I do not intend to be understood as meaning that he was relieved from the presence of these spirits in the way of attempting to communicate with him, for that amounts to very little as regards his soul condition; but I do mean that the influence of these spirits on the condition of his soul became of no effect, and that they could not, after he received this power, affect the transformation and growth of his soul. As long as he, or any other mortal, remains mortal, he will be visited at times by some of these undesirable spirits and will feel their influence in a spiritual sense; but they will never have any power to swerve his soul from its progression to the higher development. The fight, of course, will continue all through the earth life, and at times the influence of these spirits upon his mental faculties and animal appetites may tend, for the time being, to retard or hold still the progress of his soul development; but, directly, these evil influences can never have any effect upon the condition or qualities of his soul.

I want him to fully grasp the meaning of what I have written and in the future, no matter how discouraged he may feel or how much his mentality may suggest the existence of things in him that are injuring his soul or taking from it the presence of possession of this Divine Love, he must believe what I have told him and that he has fought the battle of the soul and won, and that this Love is his and cannot be taken from him by the wiles of Satan, as the preachers say. It may lie dormant to his consciousness and the happiness that arises from its active existence may seem to leave him; yet the Love is there and will assert itself. Temptations will come to him, and he must continue to fight - not to keep the Love, but to prevent the Love from becoming dormant and the happiness from disappearing. He has had his resurrection from death to life, and he cannot die again.

I would like to write longer, but others desire to write and I must stop. So with my love and blessings on you both, I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
John

Paul Writes About "What is the real body that is resurrected at the time of the physical death?"

October 4, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Paul.

Yes, I come tonight to write you upon a subject that may be of interest to you and important to all mankind. If you are in condition to receive my message I will write. Well, the subject is: "What is the real body that is resurrected at the time of the physical death?"

Of course, there will be but one resurrection and that takes place at the time the mortal becomes an inhabitant of the spirit world. There will never be what is called a general resurrection of the dead, for the mortal can die only once - I mean in a physical sense. In order to live in the spirit realms, it is necessary that he have a spirit body that preserves the identity of his individuality, and having this body (and never having been without it after the soul is incarnated in the earthly body) and not needing an additional body, there is no possibility of another resurrection, or of another body being added to the one that the soul already has.

The body that dies when the man ceases to be a mortal disintegrates into its elements, and never again do these elements form the same body that becomes decayed and, hence, it is impossible for that body to be resurrected. The only body that is ever resurrected is the body that encloses the soul of the mortal at the time he gives up the earth life.

I know that many believe that when the man dies, his conscious existence ceases, and he becomes, as it were, dead in body, soul and spirit; that although the physical body decays and returns to dust or ashes, yet the soul and spirit, in some mysterious and unexplainable manner, continues to exist as an unthinking sleeping entity not subject to sensation or activity, and so remains until the great day of judgment or of Christ's coming when, in response to the summons, it arouses itself, answers the summons, and again becomes clothed in the body which it possessed while in the human form. In their belief, it may not be the exact or identical body which once existed, but the new body will be one of flesh and blood and of such a nature as to be in substance the same body that was dead and buried and decayed.

But this is not true. For the very laws of nature, with which men are acquainted, prove the impossibility of such an occurrence. And many arguments have been formulated and declared to prove that such a resurrection cannot be - that it will be wholly impossible for the elements that constituted the old body to again assemble in the same form and give to the soul the body that it discarded when it experienced its freedom from the bonds of the flesh.

But the advocates of this untrue theory respond that God is all powerful and, in some way not understood by men, will resurrect this old body and clothe the soul therein so that the identity of the individual will appear. It must be remembered that God works and produces beings and entities in accordance with laws that he has established, and not by any special, sporadic act, irrespective of and, as said, in contravention of these laws.

Man understands, to some extent, the workings of these laws in what he calls nature, or the normal, and some spirits understand not only what man understands, but also the workings of these laws that may be called above nature or super-normal, and the laws work the same and without change or interference in the one case as in the other.

As it would be impossible to clothe a mortal having one body of flesh with another body of flesh, so in the spirit world it would be impossible to clothe the spirit who has a spirit body with any additional body, whether of flesh or other substance. This spirit body is a thing of real substance and not susceptible of being enveloped in any other body.

Well, I see that you are not in condition to write and I will postpone the remainder of the message until later. I have not written you for some time and am glad of the opportunity to again write. I understand what you mean and will act on your suggestion as I think it a very wise and desirable one. I will come more often and write. So with all my love I will say, good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Paul

**********

Paul Continues the Previous Message

October 5, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington D.C.

I am here, Paul.

I will finish my message tonight if you are so inclined. Well, we will try.

As I was saying, the body that is resurrected at death is not the physical body, but the spirit body; and never after the first resurrection is there another. I am now dealing with the resurrection other than that of the soul, or the resurrection from the death of which I have before written you.

The body that is once laid in the grave will never be resurrected and neither will any of its elements enter into any other body for the purpose of a resurrection. The body of flesh is created for one purpose only, and when that purpose has been accomplished, never will that body or any derivation from it be used for any other resurrection. This body of flesh is of matter, and like all matter, is used for the life on earth only, and cannot be used for any function or clothing any spirit in the spirit world, and neither can it be translated into the spirit realms. All material bodies must die and never will there come a time when men can leave the earth and enter the spirit life in these material bodies.

I know that it has been written that certain of the prophets of old were translated into the spirit Heavens clothed in their fleshly bodies, but this is not true, for it is impossible that such a thing could be, for the same laws apply to the physical body of the saint as to that of the sinner; both are of the earth - earthly - and must be left behind when the spirits of men enter the Heavens of spirits.

So that when men believe and preach the general resurrection of the material body, or the special resurrection of the same, they are in error and do not believe or preach the truth. Flesh and blood, or flesh without blood, cannot inherit the kingdom, and no belief or teachings can make that true which is untrue.

I do not desire to write more on this subject, because many men who are acquainted with the Laws of Nature, and many more, who will become acquainted with these laws, know and will know and understand the impossibility of the material entering the realm of the spiritual. So thanking you for your kindness, I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
St. Paul

Professor Joseph Salyards Writes that He is Very Thankful to Have Met James Padgett as a Student

February 8, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, your old Professor.

I merely want to say that I desire to finish my discourse of some weeks ago and am ready at any time that may suit your convenience. Well, I will come one night this week and try to finish. I see that you are in a very good condition now, as your brain is working very well.

The message that you have received from Paul is a wonderfully deep message upon the existence of the resurrection, and as I understand and have experienced the resurrection is a true explanation of its meaning. Paul is a very logical and clear writer, and I am glad that he finds such little difficulty in making use of your faculties. He is very much pleased at the success of the experiment and his estimate of you is very great, as are the estimates of all the higher spirits who write.

Well my dear boy, I often think of the wonder of all this experience, and sometimes let my mind return to the days when you were my dear pupil; and I think how wholly we were in want of any conception that such a thing could be. And I can't tell you how glad and thankful I am that we ever came in contact with each other, for I will frankly and assuredly say that if I had never met you, I doubt if I would have had the privilege of meeting such spirits as your grandmother and mother and of having received the benefits of their advice and the influence of their love, as well as the companionship of your father and Mr. Riddle. I often think of how a mere accident as your coming to my school should have brought about such momentous results, and in thinking I am so grateful to our Heavenly Father. So my boy, keep up your good work and you will find a wonderful happiness when you come over.

The dark spirits whom you help are so very grateful to you and are all lovers of you and your friends are ready at all time to protect you from the evil that might come to you from the influences of the many evil spirits who have their habitations so near your earth. Yes, more than you can imagine, I want to say this further thing and, that is, that very many spirits who don't have the opportunity to write to you are influenced very much by what they hear you tell others and act on the advice that you give to those who write. And small wonder at the confidence of these spirits have in you and the influence you have with them. So many are being helped, and our work is made so much easier because they listen to us and believe so much more readily when you advise them to do so.

Well, we are very happy and progressing all the time. Oh, I wish I could tell you how beautiful she is and how loving and how much she thinks of you. She is with you quite often and is trying with the rest of us to help you in every way. We know when you pray for us, and it does help us more than you can conceive of, for your prayers are sincere and I know ascend to the Father, who answers the prayers of the sincere and trusting.

So I say, we all love you very much and feel that we cannot do for you what we should like to; but you must believe in us and know that we are with you and have more power than you may think to help.

I have written too long already, and your wife says, "Professor, I don't like to be discourteous, but I must suggest that you stop and let that baby boy go to bed, for he will sit up all night if you continue to write." What a beautiful and loving wife you have and how we all love her for her goodness. So my dear boy, I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Prof. Salyards  

St. Paul Writes Further About the Truth of the Resurrection that Jesus Taught

February 8, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, St. Paul, of the New Testament.

I desire to continue my message tonight. As I said in closing my last writing, there is a resurrection that is vital to the salvation of men, which Jesus taught and which, after the death of his followers and believers of the early centuries, the knowledge of was lost to the world and to those who assumed to teach the doctrines of the resurrection that he came to declare and teach.

You and all mankind must know that the resurrection which is the foundation stone of Christianity is a resurrection from the dead and not from the mere existence of a man as a spirit in the physical body on earth, and not as a resurrection of the soul from its environments and limitations that the earth life placed upon it.

Then what is the resurrection that Jesus referred to when he said: "I am the resurrection and the life"?

Now in order to understand this resurrection, it is necessary to understand what is meant by the death of man, that is the real man - the ego, - that part of him in which the breath of life exists, no matter whether he is of the physical or the spiritual.

As has been explained to you elsewhere when man was created, his creation was of the physical body, the spiritual body and the soul and, in addition, the most important part of his creation - the potentiality of becoming so at-one with the Father in His nature and certain of His attributes that he, man, would become so possessed of some of the Divine Essence of the Father and a portion of His Divinity that would cause him to be immortal, so that death could never deprive him of his existence; and not only that, but he would realize the consciousness of his immortality.

This potentiality then was a part of his creation and, as we have explained elsewhere, the only part of his creation that died as the result of his disobedience; for it is very apparent from the mere knowledge that man has, or may have, from the ordinary investigation of the qualities of his being, and from the truths of psychical research of modern days, as well as from the understanding of the many instances related in the Bible of the appearance of departed spirits on earth and the manifestations of their existence, and also from the many occurrences of the appearances of spirits related in what is called secular history, that the soul and spirit body of man never died, and that his physical body lived for many years after the day on which the sentence, because of his disobedience, announced that he should die. And as I have said, this mortal body - not man -  but merely the vesture of covering for the real man.

This potentiality then being the only part of the created man that died, and as Jesus' mission was to teach the resurrection of man from the dead, it necessarily follows that the only thing that was intended to be resurrected was this potentiality of becoming a part of God's Divinity. This is the only real and true resurrection, and upon this resurrection must rest the faith and truth of Christianity - and by Christianity, I mean religion which is based upon the true teachings of Jesus the Christ.

There are contained in the Bible some things which, if properly understood, would show to man that no resurrection of the body was intended as the thing which Jesus came to earth to declare and teach.

When he said, "I am the resurrection and the life," he did not say or mean, wait until I die and then I will become the resurrection; or when you see me ascend to Heaven, then will I become the resurrection and you will know it; but his declarations, not only in the instance mentioned but at all times, were that he was the resurrection while living. And these declarations did not refer to the man Jesus, or to any disposition that he might make of his body, either physical or spiritual, or to any apparent ascension of his physical body, which never took place, or to any ascension of his spiritual body which did occur. In these particulars, he was essentially no more or different from other men that had died or should die.

But the meaning of his saying and his mission were that, as by man's disobedience, there had occurred the death of the possibility of his becoming at-one with the Father and partaking of his Divine Nature, and as that possibility had never been restored to man in all the intervening years, and man had remained in this condition of death during all the long centuries, if man would only believe in him as the true Christ and in his teachings as to the re-bestowal of this great privilege of again becoming at-one with the Father and of obtaining immortality and would follow his advice as to the way in which man could realize the benefits of this great privilege, then he would become conscious that Jesus was the resurrection from the dead. Not Jesus the man or teacher or the chosen and anointed one of the Father, but Jesus the impersonation of the truths which he proclaimed as to the re-bestowal of the great gift. Only in this way was Jesus the resurrection and the life.

He, himself, had received the great gift and realized his at-onement and the consciousness of his immortality and the possession of the Divine Nature and knew that he had been lifted from death into life and, therefore, if men would believe his teachings as to the resurrection these teachings, and not the man Jesus or even the fact that he had been resurrected, would draw all men unto him, that is, into the condition of life and consciousness that he possessed.

Then the resurrection that Jesus promised to man was the resurrection of this great potentiality which he had lost at the time of the first disobedience and which had never been restored until the coming of Jesus.

Now let it not be misunderstood as to what was meant by this resurrection. As I have said, after men were deprived of this potentiality they were in a condition of death and it was not possible for them to get out of this condition. They were possessed of only what is called their natural love without any possibility of obtaining the Divine Love, which was necessary in order to give them any portion of the Divine Nature and a consciousness of immortality. When the great potentiality, which was as to them as if it had never existed, was re-bestowed, then men were again placed in the position of the first man before his fall and were no longer actually dead, but were possessed of this potentiality to become that which had been forfeited by the first parents.

But as we have told you, the gift of this potentiality was not of itself the bestowal upon man of those qualities which such potentiality merely made it possible for them to acquire by aspiration and effort. Before this re-bestowal, men could not by any aspirations or efforts on their part obtain the conditions and qualities which this potentiality made possible, no matter how great the effort might be; as to them men were simply and absolutely dead. After the re-bestowal, the impossibility - which this death had imposed - was removed, and then men received, not the full fruition of what was possible to obtain because of such re-bestowal, but the privilege of arising from death to life of the resurrection from death to the glories of immortal life.

And while this privilege had become a part of man's possession, yet, if he had remained without consciousness of that fact, he would, in effect, have remained in his condition of death and have never received the benefit of the re-bestowal of the great gift. So to reveal to man the vital truth, Jesus taught and demonstrated in his own life the possession of those qualities that became his because of the existence of the gift.

And he also taught while men had the privilege spoken of, yet, unless they sought for and prayed to the Father in sincerity for the gift of His Divine Love the potentiality, which had been bestowed upon them, would not bring to them the resurrection from the dead, and they would continue in their lives as mortals and as inhabitants of the spirit world, as if they were still under the doom of death.

I may here state that this potentiality, which was lost by the disobedience of the first parents and was re-bestowed by the Father and revealed by Jesus to mankind, was the privilege of receiving and possessing the Divine Love of the Father which, when possessed, would give to man certain qualities of divinity and immortality.

So the resurrection from the dead, that the master taught and which is the one foundation of the Christian faith, arise from the fact that God re-bestowed upon mankind the privilege of seeking for and receiving His Divine Love which would make the mortal one with Him and Immortal; and upon the further fact that man must, in order to obtain the resurrection, seek and find this Divine Love and thereby become a child of the true resurrection - a resurrection that was never known to prophet or seer or reformer or teachers of faiths, no matter how excellent their moral teachings and private lives may have been before the coming of Jesus.

Truly he was the Resurrection and the Life and I, Paul, who am the recipient of this resurrection and know whereof I speak and have knowledge of the fact that those inhabitants of the spirit world who have never received this resurrection are still in a condition of death so far as obtaining the Divine Love of the Father and the consciousness of immortality are concerned, and so I declare unto you what I have attempted to describe as the resurrection from the dead is the True Resurrection.

I will stop, as I have written a long time. So my dear brother, I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Paul

St. Stephen Writes About the Invisible Church, Which is Composed of the Soul Worship of Men and Women Who Have Received Divine Love in Their Souls

January 17, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, St. Stephen.

I merely want to say a word on the importance of the subject which Paul has written on the resurrection. This is one of the most vital truths in all the plan of God for the redemption of mankind, and for the preservation and existence of the church; and when I say church, I do not mean any church which claims to be the only Church of Christ, but that invisible church which is composed of the soul worship of men and women, who have received the Divine Love in their souls. It is not necessary that there be any formation of congregations and ceremonies of church worship as men understand it, but the true, sincere worship of men founded on a knowledge of the Divine Love and its possession in their souls.

While men on earth may never form large congregations and erect magnificent churches in which to worship the Father with the true soul worship and aspirations, yet when they come into the spirit world, they will find that the Master has established his church in the eternal Heavens, where none but the truly Christian can enter and partake of its glories and happiness.

Jesus is the head of that church here in our Celestial Heavens, as he should be of the church on earth. And as he must be when that church has for its members only those who have had the resurrection from sin and error and death of the soul into the knowledge of the Divine Love and the life everlasting. Jesus referred to this resurrection when he said: "I am the resurrection and the life," and not the resurrection of the body either physical or spiritual.

I see that you are anxious to have these truths come and I am also anxious and a coworker. I will now say good night and in doing so say with all my love, God Bless you and keep you in His care now and always.

Your brother in Christ,
St. Stephen

St. Paul Writes About the Truth of the Resurrection

January 16, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, St. Paul, of the New Testament.

I come tonight to tell you of a truth that is important for men to know and which you must place in your Book of Truths. I have written you before on my alleged writings as they are contained in the Bible and which, as I have said, were not written by me as they there appear.

I desire tonight to write for a short time on the subject of the "Resurrection," because, as I see, the church doctrine of the resurrection is founded more on what is ascribed to me than on the writings of the Gospels, though the latter also contain a basis for the doctrine.

I never said there would be a resurrection of the physical body nor of the individual clothed in any body of flesh, but my teachings were that man at death would rise in a spiritual body, and that not a new one made for the special occasion of his departure from the material body, but one that had been with him through life and that came into an individualized form when he first became a living being.

This spirit body is necessary to man's existence and is that part of him which contains his senses and is the seat of his reasoning powers. Of course, the organs of the physical are necessary for the utilization of these senses and without these organs, there could be no manifestations of the senses, which are inherent in the spirit body. Even if a man should lose the perfect workings of his physical organs of sight, yet the power of seeing would still exist in him, although he might not be able to realize that fact; and this same principle applies to the hearing and the other senses.

So when man loses his physical organs, which are necessary for him to see with, he is dead as to sight, just as dead as he ever becomes with reference to all the other organs of sense when the whole physical body dies; and were it possible to restore these physical organs that are necessary to enable him to see or hear, he would be able to see and hear just as he was before their loss. The restoration of these organs does not, of itself, bring him the power to see and hear, but merely enables the faculties of sight and hearing to again use the organs for the purpose of manifesting the powers, which are in and a part of the spirit body.

When the whole physical body dies, the spirit body at the very time of death becomes resurrected and with all these faculties of which I have spoken and thereafter continues to live free and unencumbered from the material body, which these organs being destroyed can no longer perform the objects of its creation. It becomes dead, and thereafter never has any resurrection as such material body, although its elements or parts do not die, but in the workings of God's laws enter upon other and new functionings, though never that of reuniting and forming again the body that has died.

So the resurrection of the body, as taught by me, is the resurrection of the spiritual body, not from death, for it never dies, but from its envelopment in the material form which had been visible as a thing of apparent life.

There is a law controlling the uniting of the two bodies and the functioning of the powers and faculties of the spirit body through the organs of the physical body that limits the extent of the operations of these faculties to those things that are wholly material - or which have the appearance of the material - and when I say material I mean that which is grosser or more compact than the spirit body. Thus, these faculties of sight of the spirit body can, through the organs of the material body, see what are called ghosts or apparitions as well as the more material things, but never, in this way, see things of pure spirit. And when it is said that men or women see clairvoyantly, which they do, it is not meant or is it a fact, that they see through the organs of the physical eyes; but on the contrary, this sight is one purely spiritual, and its workings are entirely independent of the material organs.

Now when this body - the material - dies, the spirit body becomes resurrected, as it is said, and free from all the limitations which its incarnation in the flesh has imposed, and it is then able to use all its faculties without the limitations or help of the physical organs and, as regards the sight, everything in nature, both material and spiritual, becomes the object of its vision; and that which the limitations of the material organs prevented its seeing and which to men is the unreal and non-existent becomes the real and truly existing.

This, in short, is what I meant by the resurrection of the body; and from this you will realize that the resurrection is not to take place at some unknown day in the future, but at the very moment when the physical body dies and, as the Bible says, in the twinkling of an eye. This saying of the Bible attributed to me, I did write and teach. This resurrection applies to all mankind, for all who have ever lived and died have been resurrected and all who shall live hereafter and die will be resurrected.

But this resurrection is not the "Great Resurrection" upon which, in my teachings, I declared the great truth of Christianity to be founded. This is not the resurrection of Jesus that I declared "without which is our faith as Christians vain." This is the common resurrection, applicable to all mankind of every nation and race, whether they have a knowledge of Jesus or not. And many times in many nations has it been demonstrated before the coming of Jesus, that men had died and appeared again as living spirits in the form of angels and men, and were recognized by mortal men as spirits who had a previous earth existence.

So I say, this is the resurrection common to all men; and the coming and death and resurrection of Jesus, as taught by the churches, did not bring the Great Resurrection to the knowledge or comfort of men and did not furnish the true foundation upon which the true Christian belief and faith rest.

Many of the infidels, agnostics and spiritualists assert and claim and truly that the resurrection of Jesus, as above referred to, was not a new thing and did not prove to humanity a future life any more convincingly than had been proved before his time by the experiences and observations of men and followers of other sects and faith, and of no faiths at all.

The great weakness of the church today is that they claim and teach as the foundation of their faith and existence this resurrection of Jesus as set forth above; and the result is, as is plainly and painfully apparent to the churches themselves, that as men think for themselves, and they are doing more than ever in the history of the world, they refuse to believe in this resurrection as sufficient to show the superiority of Jesus' coming and mission and teachings over those of other reformers and teachers who had preceded him in the world's history of faiths and religions. And as a further result, the churches are losing their adherents and believers. Christianity is waning and rapidly, and agnosticism is increasing and manifesting itself in the forms of free thought societies and secularism, etc.

Hence, you will see the necessity of making known again to mankind the true foundationstone of the real Christianity that the Master came to teach and which he did teach, but which was lost as his early followers disappeared from the scene of earthly action and practice and men of less spiritual insight and more material desires, with their ambition for power and dominion, became the rulers and guides and interpreters of the church.

There is a Resurrection, though, that the Master taught, and his apostles when they came into a knowledge of taught, and which I as a humble follower taught, which is vital to man's salvation and which is the true foundation of true Christianity; and which no other man, angel or reformer ever before taught or has since taught.

It is too late tonight to explain this Resurrection, but I will come again very soon and try to make it plain to you and to the world. I will now say good night and God bless you and keep you in His care.

Your brother in Christ,
Paul

* * * * * * * * * *

Jesus Confirms St. Paul's Message on the Resurrection   

I am here, Jesus.

I am pleased that Paul was able to write you so successfully as he did upon the two subjects, which I know will prove to be interesting to you and the one that Paul wrote about is very vital to the beliefs of man, for upon the question of the resurrection is founded the doctrine of what is called Christianity, and I must say that that foundation as explained by the orthodox churches and the commentators on the Bible is a very weak foundation and very vulnerable to the assaults of those who are not satisfied with the authority of the Bible or the explanations of its teachings as they now exist. Paul will finish this most important message, and let me impress upon you to make the effort to get in the best condition for receiving it correctly.

Well, I will not write more tonight, but only further say that I am with you in my love and influence and trying to help you in the ways of which we have written you. With all my love and blessings, I will say good night.

Your brother and friend,
Jesus

Helen Somerville Writes About Her Strong Conviction That Jesus Was God and How She Suffered Because of this False Belief

January 16, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Hannah Somerville.

I am the spirit of one who lived on earth the life of a leader of a sect that believed in the resurrection of the body and the eternal punishment of those who refused to believe in the vicarious atonement of Jesus and his sacrificial death.

I have been in the spirit world a great many years and have long ago learned the great errors of my beliefs and teachings, and now know that the earthly body does not rise again and Jesus did not make a vicarious atonement, nor did His death on the cross satisfy the justice and demands of an angry God.

I know that other spirits have written you this same denial of a false belief, but I wanted to do so, also, for I realize to such a great extent how harmful such beliefs are. I was in the spirit world a long time before I was relieved of these beliefs, and I stood still in my progress for many years waiting to be called to Heaven and meet my Lord face to face and receive from Him the great commendation of, "Well done, good and faithful servant." But I received no such call, and I never got any nearer to God, apparently, than when I first entered the spirit world. And all this time, I was in such a condition that I was not susceptible to the teachings of other spirits who know the truth and attempted to show me the errors of my belief.

This may seem strange to you, but I want to tell you that the conviction of a strong belief is one that is not easily removed or shaken, and I did not find any greater and convincing force in the assertions and arguments of spirits, than I would have found in the arguments of mortals, had I remained on earth.

I saw many spirits and talked with them, and they told me that Jesus was not God, but merely a spirit like myself, only the perfect one; but I would not believe, for my earth belief could not be shaken.

I even saw a spirit who said he was Jesus and that I must not believe in him as God, or in any vicarious atonement; but yet, I would not be convinced of my errors.

This earth belief is a wonderful thing when it once possesses a man as it did me, and so many spirits have suffered from it, as I suffered.

At last the light came to me, and my soul was set free to progress to the higher spheres. But how much time I lost, and how much unhappiness I needlessly endured I cannot tell you. Now I am in a Celestial Sphere, where I know that Jesus made no vicarious atonement and is not God, but my loving elder brother.

I have never written before and I wanted very much to write, and your band was kind enough to let me do so. My name was Hannah Somerville, and I lived in England and died in 1682.

I have forgotten the name, but it was a sect of dissenters. Yes, and I have given you my correct name. Yes, I can. I believe and know that Jesus was and is the son of God and the most beloved son, too.

I will say good night.

Hannah Somerville

Thomas Carlyle Writes to Confirm Luke's Message That There is No Resurrection of the Physical Body

October 24, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Thomas Carlyle.

I merely want to say that I was present when Luke wrote and heard what he said and was much interested. This very question used to be a great stumbling block to my belief in the resurrection of Jesus, because it seemed to me that the resurrection of the material body as so improbable under the circumstances as narrated in the Bible, that it was difficult for me to believe the story. But now I can understand very readily, because I am acquainted with the laws governing the formation and disintegration of the material things of earth, and I know that there is a law which would enable a person with the knowledge and power that Jesus had at the time of his death to cause the disintegration of the material, as the scientists say, so that they would disappear into the surrounding atmosphere.

I wish that I had understood this fact when a mortal, for then many other things would have appeared to me as probably true, and l would have been in a different state of belief as to spiritual things and my progress here towards higher spheres would not have been delayed.

It is to be deplored that this so called mystery was not explained in the Bible for had it been, men would not now be in darkness as to the meaning of the resurrection, and the many thousands who believe that the soul and spirit go into the grave to await the great Judgment Day, would not be in such condition of delusion and have to suffer the consequences of such false belief in the stagnation of their soul progression, which will surely come to them.

I hope you will give this explanation to the world and let men know the truth, that there will be no resurrection of the body of flesh containing the soul or spirit as taught by the churches.

I will not write more tonight, but will come again.

Your brother in Christ,
Thomas Carlyle

St. Luke Writes About The Process That Jesus Used to Dematerialize His Body in the Tomb

October 24, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, St. Luke (Writer of the Third Gospel That Was).

I was with you tonight at the meeting of the Spiritualists and heard the statement of the speaker as to the probabilities of what became of the body of Jesus after the crucifixion.

I was not present at the crucifixion and, of course, do not personally know what became of the body of Jesus, but I have been told by those who were present that the Bible description of his burial in the tomb of Joseph was true. The body was buried in the tomb of Joseph and was left there by those who placed it in the tomb, which was sealed and a guard set over it to prevent anyone from approaching and interfering with the body, because Jesus had predicted that in three days he would rise again.

After the tomb was sealed, Jesus arose and, without his body of flesh, passed from the tomb and descended into the lower spheres where the dark spirits lived in their ignorance and sufferings and preached to them the rebestowal of the gift of immortality.

The body of flesh, by the power which Jesus possessed, became so spiritualized or etherialized that its component parts became disseminated by Jesus in the surrounding atmosphere and he retained only the spiritual body in which he afterwards appeared to the disciples and others.

When he appeared at the meeting of the apostles where Thomas, the doubter, was present, he recalled to his form, as you will better understand by my using such expression, elements of the material, so that in appearance, the body was as much like flesh and blood as when it was placed in the tomb and before he disseminated these elements, as I have said.

The flesh and blood which encloses the spirit form of man, as you may have heard, is continually changing in obedience to the ordinary Laws of Nature as understood by man. And when Jesus, who understood and had power to call into operation other Laws of nature, caused such other laws to operate that the dissemination of the elements of flesh and blood took place, and he was left only with the spirit form.

This, I know, has been a great mystery to mankind since the time of the discovery of its absence by the watchmen at his tomb, and because of being such mystery, and as an only explanation of such disappearance, men have believed and taught that his body of flesh and blood actually arose from the dead and, therefore, the real body of flesh and blood of mortals will also arise in what they call the great resurrection day. But no body of flesh and blood arose, and the spirit form of Jesus did not remain in the tomb after the dissemination of the material body, for no tomb or other place could confine the spirit.

You will remember that on the third day, Jesus appeared to Mary, who was most intimate and familiar with the appearance of Jesus, and yet she did not recognize him, but thought he was the gardener; and so with the disciples who were travelling with him to Emmaus. Now, if he had retained his body of flesh and blood, do you not suppose that they would have recognized him?

If he had the power to resume that material body into which Thomas thrust his hand and found it to be a body in appearance of flesh and blood, do you think it strange - or wonderful - that he would have had the power to cast off his earthly body while in the tomb and cause it to disappear into thin air?

This I am informed is the true explanation of the disappearance of the material body of Jesus; and to me and to others who understand the Laws of Nature - I mean that nature that is beyond the ken of men - it is not surprising or worthy to be deemed a mystery.

I am glad that I went with you to the meeting to-night, as I became impressed with the desirability of making this great mystery a mystery no longer.

With all my love, I am your brother in Christ,
St. Luke

Professor Joseph Salyards Describes Some Phases of Spirit Life and the Kind of Work that He Does in the Spirit World

February 25, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Professor Salyards.

Well I am very happy and desire to write you on some phases of spirit life that I have observed in my experience of progressing.

I have noticed that the spirit, when it first comes into this life, is very often in a condition of darkness, not realizing where it is or what its surroundings are and, in many instances, it requires quite a long time for the spirit to realize that it is not still of earth. But in many cases this is not the condition of the spirit, for it seems to have an immediate understanding of its condition and surroundings. I attribute the first mentioned condition to be due to the fact that, when on earth, the mortal had no definite belief as to what the future life might be and, in many instances, believed that the soul went into the grave with the body to await the great resurrection day.

Some of your religious denominations are preaching that doctrine now and the consequence will be that all those who believe the doctrine will experience the condition of darkness and the want of knowledge of the continuity of life that I have spoken of.

The second class of spirits, or those who appear to realize immediately that they have passed from earth to spirit life, are those who, while on earth, believed that the spirit when it left the body passed immediately into the Heavenly Spheres, or into the opposite - I mean the place of the wicked. I know that many of this class have hardly realized that they were in Heaven or Hell for some little time after their entrance into spirit life.

Well, as soon as the spirits realize fully that they are no longer of earth, they commence to inquire as to where they are, and many of them ask questions that indicate that they are disappointed in not realizing the expectations that they had while on earth. It is very difficult at times to convince them that there are no such places as the heavens and the hells as taught by the churches for while our spirit world may be a heaven or hell to them, yet, the heaven or hell that they expect to find is not here.

Some, on the other hand, do not seem to understand that they have really left the earth, because, they say, if we had left the earth life, we would know nothing - quoting Job and some of the preachers: "the dead know nothing."

I have been very much interested in observing these different phases of the departed spirits' beliefs and thoughts. Now all this shows the absolute necessity of mortals understanding the truths pertaining to life and death.

This affords a very strong argument why Spiritualism should be more extensively and earnestly taught to mortals and why the false doctrines of those who teach either that the dead know nothing, or that the departed spirit goes either to heaven or to hell in the orthodox sense should be shown to be not only a false belief, but injurious to mankind.

Let the believers and teachers of Spiritualism make greater and stronger efforts to refute these harmful teachings, and they will be doing the cause of truth and of man's happiness a great good.

I am not only interested in these phases but in all others, which show that the spirits, even after they realize that they are still alive and must live as spirits, continue to show the fact that their orthodox teachings are false. Some say that they may yet be able to go back into the body and await the great resurrection day for deliverance, and say that they will soon see God, and that He will take them into His Heavens where they will find that eternal rest and peace that they were taught to expect when on earth; and the wicked, even, look in dread to have some devil come and carry them to the hells where torture of the most terrible kind they think awaits them.

From all this you may understand that we spirits, who know the truth, have a great work to do to enable these darkened spirits to understand and believe that their false hopes and dreadful fears have no foundation in truth and will never be realized.

This work many spirits are engaged in doing, and these spirits are not necessarily of the higher kind, for many spirits who occupy the earth plane and have no real spiritual enlightenment, are engaged in this work.

I am not now engaged in causing these dark spirits to see the truth, for I have progressed to higher things, and my mission is to teach the truths of the higher life, which I have been taught by spirits who live in higher spheres.

This work to me is one that is not only interesting, but which gives me the great happiness that comes with the realization that I have been the means of leading a spirit to learn to love God and to receive the happiness which the Love of God gives to spirits. I tell you that this teaching is the grandest that I ever engaged in in all my life. When on earth, as I taught and saw the young mind develop, I found much happiness in the knowledge that I was doing some good, but here, in my teachings, when I see a soul develop, I realize that I am doing a spirit that greatest of all good in bringing it at one in love with the Father; and happiness here and that of earth, is as the soul development is so much greater than the development of the mere mind.

My work is not confined entirely to this teaching. I also am engaged in trying to assist mortals to a true conception of the life here - I mean the spiritual part of this life. No man is entirely without spirit influence, whether good or evil. Many are susceptible to the influence of the evil spirits and for that reason the work of the good spirits is so much more difficult. "There is in man's nature that which leads him to evil thoughts so much easier than to good thoughts." This is an old saying, I know, but is a true one, and the fact that it has been said so often and for so long a time does not decrease the importance of it as a truth. So while men have felt this evil inclination in their nature, the fight between the good and evil influences will be somewhat unequal. The advantage, though, with the good influences is that what they suggest is truth, which will never die, while the suggestions of the evil influences last only for a comparatively short time.

When the material gives up the spirit being which it clothes, that being will then be relieved of many of these natural tendencies to evil thoughts and deeds; and while this mere separation does not make a devil a saint, it makes it so much easier for the spirit to get rid of many of these evil tendencies, and makes him more susceptible to the influence of truth and goodness.

You must not think from this, as soon as they have been in the spirit world for a little time, they become good spirits, for that is not true. Many evil spirits have been in the spirit world for a great many years and, yet, have their evil thoughts and desires, and all the evil qualities of hatred, malice, envy, etc., as when they were on earth.

Their giving up the earth life did not deprive them of their will, the greatest force or power that God gave to man, except that of love. And many of these spirits refuse to exercise their will in a way that will enable them to rid themselves of these evil thoughts and desires.

So you see, the mere fact of becoming a spirit does not mean that the mortal has become a good and saintly spirit. No, I am sorry to say that many men who were very evil on earth are still evil as spirits and their happiness, which they think they have, is only that happiness which they, as men, thought they realized from the exercise of evil thoughts and acts. Yet, there is one great redeeming fact connected with their dark and sad condition and that is, that in the end, whenever it so pleases God, all evil will be banished from the spirit world, and all spirits will be given that happiness, which comes from a nature free from sin and error. Not by the fiat of God, but by men seeking and doing those things that will free the soul from sin and error and again come into harmony with God's laws; just such, I imagine, as Adam and Eve enjoyed in the historical Garden of Eden.

But that happiness, while of a character that brings much contentment and peace, yet is not the true happiness which God is waiting to give all His children who ask and seek for the inflowing of the Divine Love in their souls.

I will not discourse on this great happiness tonight as it would take too long and you are somewhat tired, but will say that all men should seek for it both on earth and in the spirit world. When on earth I did not have it, but since I came here I found it and now possess it thanks be to God and His loving kindness. You folks all have it and many others too numerous to mention.

Let me stop now as I am tired and you need to rest. So with all my love and best wishes, I am your old professor,

Joseph H. Salyards