New Revelation recieved by Bertha Dudde

Proclamations No. 3126 - 3179

Please take special notice of the fact that God’s Words addressed to us are non-denominational.

The contents of this publication by no means intends to attract members of any Christian religious affiliation nor to recruit members into any other religious affiliation.

Its sole purpose is to make the present-day Word of God accessible to all people.

Between 1937 and 1965 Bertha Dudde was permitted to receive and record 9030 individual proclamations on a daily basis.

The publication of the proclamations was made possible due to the active support of the many friends of God’s New Revelation.

May this Word of God become a blessing to many people. (Also see B.D. No. 4015)

Distribution of the proclamations is very much desired. Only complete and unaltered proclamations must be passed on. (Also see B.D. No 8899)

‘He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me .... and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him ....’ John 14, 21

The Publishers, Hans-Willi Schmitz and Wilhelm Wegers

http://en.bertha-dudde.org/

Autobiography of Bertha Dudde

At the request of many friends Bertha Dudde wrote the following biography in 1953:

I have been writing messages received through the inner Word since June 15, 1937. In answer to the many requests of my friends I will give you a picture of my earthly life, a short explanation of what I received spiritually, and my own feelings about all this.

I was born April 1, 1891, the second oldest daughter of an artist of Liegnitz in Silesia, today's Poland. I had a normally peaceful childhood, with six sisters in our parent’s home. I learned the cares of life at an early age. The desire to make money to help my parents made me learn the trade of a seamstress. As the financial needs of my parents continued, so did the burden, and in this way I made myself useful.

My parents belonged to different denominations. Father was a Protestant - Mother a Catholic. We children were brought up in the Catholic faith but never experienced pressure or force to follow the practices of the church so that each child in later years was able to pursue their own chosen course.

I myself was religious but could not accept the doctrine of the Catholic system although I respected the church. I could not represent something on the outside that my inner conscience had not accepted. So I did not continue to attend church, heard little preaching and had no knowledge of the Bible. I did not read any religious books or scientific literature and did not join any other group or religious sect.

Anyone knowing the Catholic teaching knows what a conscious struggle one finds himself in when he wants to release himself from it. I was not spared from this either. But the question as to what is the Truth and where it is to be found, remained.

Often when I prayed the Lord's Prayer I would beseech the Lord to allow me to find His kingdom. This prayer was answered in June 15, 1937, as I prayed quietly and waited for the inner voice. In this attitude I persisted often, for a wonderful peace came over me and thoughts which came to my heart, not my head, gave me comfort and strength.

Still I did not know that these thoughts were given to me until, in a strange dream I experienced something which later proved to be the Truth and caused me to write down these thoughts.

So on a certain day as I listened inwardly a stream of words came to me, which I wrote down. This was the first message I wrote which started like this: "In the beginning was the Word, 'a Te-Deum' to the Creator of Heaven and Earth."

Then came doubt, …. did you write this by yourself? In short, I have wrestled, prayed and gone through many struggles, but again and again the words came to me like a stream, a wisdom, which made me tremble. Then God Himself took away my doubts. He answered me and I acknowledged Him as our Father, in His Word. My faith grew, doubt diminished, and I received and wrote daily.

The contents of the writings were beyond my understanding. Phrases, which I had never heard of or read about, strange and scientific expressions and references continually came to me. Then came unheard of expressions of the Heavenly Father's Love giving refuge and providing enlightenment to all the questions of life.

The Words came to me in the following manner: After sincere prayer and a short period of composure I listened inwardly. Thoughts then followed coming to my mind, clearly, distinctly, and the words flowed smoothly always three or four, one after another, like writing a radio announcement or a weather report, slowly so that I could easily keep pace, writing line after line.

Now I write the words in shorthand as a dictation without having any constructive or intellectual part in it. I am in no way in a 'trance', nor do I even form the sentences, but it comes to me one word at a time, neither do I understand the context while I am writing the words down.

After days, sometimes weeks, I transcribe the shorthand writings into longhand without changing or correcting a syllable. Each dictation takes about half an hour. I must stress that this could not happen forcibly or in a state of ecstasy. It all takes place simply and consciously, without any excitement or influence of my own will. I can interrupt myself at any time and finish the sentence after hours or days without reading the previous writing the dictated words continue again.

My will is under no compulsion, all that I desire is to serve God and do what His will wants me to do.

I can truthfully say that I was led into this Truth, and these concepts were, in every respect, foreign to me. It was only after years that I found confirmation of what I received when I came to know the writings of Jacob Lorber. No one can imagine my joy when I discovered the literature of Jacob Lorber; ‘The Great Gospel of John’ and ‘The Youth of Christ’. Then I understood that other people were also given the Word of the Lord, that God had spoken to His children at all times and that God will continue to do this in His endless love and mercy.

I found in Lorber's writings the same as was given to me. I often could not understand the Word that came to me, but in His love the Heavenly Father gave me the explanation. How wonderful are the innumerable manifestations in which the Father displays His exceedingly great goodness.

It became clear to me that my limited education due to lack of money, and my lack of time to read good books or visit performances, became my advantage. I was now able to concentrate on my work from early morning to late at night, and each day I received that precious spiritual Word without knowing for whom I received it.

It is because of my ignorance of the Bible and the Catholic doctrine that I accepted the Word from above without resistance. In my experience, an earnest Catholic or Protestant whose knowledge is rooted in dogmatic theories is too much bound to dogma to accept and embrace divine revelations without resistance.

Still, there are scientists at several faculties who earnestly discuss these divine teachings with increasing interest. Their interest not only concerns the irrefutable explanation of the origin of matter and the possibility of its dissolution, but also the principle of the wrong teachings of different religions, systems and confessions. In the messages I received, these errors are recorded and everyone is urged to give instructions concerning these doctrinal errors whenever there is an opportunity. But everyone is free to take the Lord's Word to heart or not. But whoever understands the spirit in the Father's Word and does not act accordingly increases the distance between himself and the Father even more. When he does not follow the warning Words of love he puts himself inevitably under the law. He will also, in the same measure, lack in grace by disregarding God's commandment of love.

In God's grace people are led anew to the Gospel, which emphatically points out the purpose of man's being. For the merciful love of God seeks to save all who still can be saved before the turning point comes. And it will come. The end-time which seers and prophets have proclaimed is now here. According to the revelations given to me, the Lord does not differentiate between His children. ‘Come ye all to Me’ sounds His call and blessed is he who hears His call and follows Him. God loves His children. He wants to make them all happy, even when they do not want to know Him.

Recorded November 22, 1953

Bertha Dudde

Bertha Dudde was permitted to leave her earthly shell on September 18, 1965 to return to the Father’s heavenly house.

Table of Contents

3135 - Blessings of the last days.... Death before the event.... The beyond....

3137 - Correctly used mental activity.... Will....

3143 - God's intervention.... The end of the struggle....

3144 - Unwritten law.... Love has grown cold....

3151 - Intervention by God....

3156 - Activity of love.... Duty.... Disguise of light....

3159a - Assessing religious dogma.... Divisions....

3159b - Assessing religious dogma.... Divisions....

3160 - Blessing of exchanging ideas....

3163 - Afflictions and trials are means to attain perfection....

3176 - Course of life predetermined depending on will....

Blessings of the last days .... Death before the event .... The beyond ....

B.D. 3135 from May 28th 1944, taken from Book No. 41

God will be merciful to those who still recognise their wrongdoing in time and distance themselves from it, but He will inflict severe punishment without mercy on those who are unyieldingly cruel, who have no compassion even for their fellow human beings and thus pass judgment on themselves through their unkindness. And the approaching time will testify of people’s depravity, the most unimaginable means intended for destruction will be devised; and people will not hesitate to use these means to accomplish their plans, and humanity’s despair will increase. The leaders, as well as their followers who agreed and supported their plans, will be held responsible for everything. For God is just and He passes judgment according to thoughts, words and deeds .... Nothing is hidden from Him; He looks into the human heart and every genuine emotion determines the amount of mercy at its disposal, that it is granted to him when the end has come .... For the end will come without fail .... It will be accelerated by people’s behaviour and thus an era will come to an end that would not result in a better human generation even if God extended His patience and offered humanity many more opportunities to change themselves. But they no longer make use of them and thus God will put an end to earthly life ....

This period of development was particularly gracious for humanity and could have sufficed completely for its salvation. Although God will support people until the end with remarkable gifts of grace they will be mostly ignored, just as everything in relation to God or the benefit of their own souls will generally not be taken notice of. Thus a longer stay on this earth would be inappropriate, that is, it will only benefit the body but not the immortal soul. Therefore the soul’s earthly opportunity will be taken away, but it still has the assurance for further development in the beyond if it does not reject God’s Word in the beyond too, and only if it loses its physical life before the Last Judgment, before the end of this earth, and is accepted into the realm of the beyond. Death before this event is even an exceptional mercy for the human being if he has not made his decision on earth. Afterwards in the beyond he will still find ample opportunity to be helpful and serve with love and in so doing continue his interrupted development, indeed he can even start it if he does not refuse to listen to helpful souls. In that case he can regress even further and return into most solid matter, after which he has to repeat the long earthly path before he can embody himself as a human being again. Thus God still has many blessings available before He destroys the old earth but He will not force people’s will, and depending on how they accept His mercy they will derive benefit for their souls .... they will remain empty and incapable on earth as well as in the beyond if they ignore and reject all blessings, or they will rapidly achieve higher development by readily allowing every gift of grace to take effect on themselves and thereby receive much more strength. For God is exceedingly gracious and merciful but also just, and He will give to people according to their will ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Correctly used mental activity .... Will ....

B.D. 3137 from May 29th 1944, taken from Book No. 41

Making correct use of the gift of intelligence is absolutely essential for the soul's higher development, since the human being was given intellect so that he can mentally process everything that exists and happens around him and thereby reach conclusions which consciously make him seek the eternally Divine. By using the intellect, free will becomes active in him, for a person will only want something if his intellect has portrayed the benefit of this volition to him, thus the will is always the result of thinking .... And the correct use of intellect, i.e., to want what is good and to detest evil, must inevitably advance the soul's maturity. One cannot speak of correct use of intellect if the latter impels someone to behave badly; in that case the gifts of intellect are being misused. With serious and sensible deliberation, a person can easily recognise the activity of a wise creative Power which brought everything surrounding him into existence and that this creative Power continues to care for its creations. Once a person has come this far then the intellect will be able to persuade the will into making contact with this creative Power, for he has to regard himself as an independently thinking being, thus as His living creation, subsequently he also has to acknowledge the Creator as an equally thinking Being of supreme perfection, and this awareness is enough to establish a connection with the Creator.

Every human being can arrive at this conclusion if he uses his intellect in order to come closer to the truth. The fact that his mental activity will be correctly guided afterwards is this Creator's working as soon as the person has consciously established a connection with Him. However, the human being was given intellect in order to use it until the moment of contact, thus it was added to free will in order to enable the latter's move in the right direction which leads to the goal, to contact with God. The only condition is that a person must want what is good of his own volition, then his reasoning will invariably lead him to the goal. Thus the intellect has to be used for activating the will to consciously establish a connection with God, yet prior to that this will must have made a decision in favour of God, otherwise the mental activity will have been used incorrectly by refraining from all serious deliberation and merely assessing the advantages and disadvantages of his surroundings and what takes place therein. In that case, he will not be making full use of the gift of reasoning and the result will be accordingly .... he will never reach the goal, instead he will always doubt or be mistaken, for he is influenced by good or evil forces according to his will. With earnest use, the mind can even change an ill-will, and this is indeed its task. For this reason the human being has to justify himself if he misuses the gift of intelligence, if he fails to use it for its actual purpose .... to come closer to the truth, which God does not withhold from anyone who seriously strives for it through earnest mental activity. With the right determination he will be extremely successful and after serious deliberation, he will also influence his determination to aim towards the same goal ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

God's intervention .... The end of the struggle ....

B.D. 3143 from June 1st 1944, taken from Book No. 41

The more the world becomes entangled in error the more it distances itself from God and the more heartless are the actions and thoughts of people who are worldly minded. And the increased unkindness also propels people into actions which surpass all previous happenings, and so people induce God's intervention themselves. People no longer realise that what they are doing is wrong. Global affairs will be steered into a direction for which no earthly solution can be found anymore, people's thinking is wrong and far removed from the truth, goodness will be persecuted and evil respected, and thus divine order will be revoked which is bound to result in a complete decline. And so the day which puts an end to the chaos comes ever closer, for the situation is so disastrous for humanity that God has set an end to it. And this end is approaching, the end of people raging against each other, the end of the war between nations which could never find God's approval because it is a battle for power which is not based on noble motives. People's hatred and heartlessness have given rise to it, yet they learn nothing in this battle, they have become more heartless than ever and their hate has deepened and manages to achieve such disgraceful deeds that they cannot be surpassed. And God will put a stop to this activity in a way that He shall thereby be recognised .... He will send a dreadful tribulation upon humankind which cannot be averted by their own will. He will terrify them and let them feel their own impotence because the elements of nature will be unleashed, leaving people defenceless and at their mercy.

And this day will not be long in coming. It will arrive so suddenly and unexpectedly that it will cause sheer horror, it will only take hours and yet be of such drastic significance that everything will have changed afterwards and people will only gradually become aware of the disaster when they have realised the full extent of the divine intervention. For God wants to reveal Himself with His intervention, He wants to show them that He Himself will bring about the end because people cannot find an end, because they would rather tear each other apart than give in and bring the indescribable adversity to a close. And this is why the end will be different from how people imagine it, God will demonstrate His power and remove the weapons from the hands of the earthly rulers, He will decide, and the outcome of the war between the nations will disappoint those people who wanted to achieve with violence what they were not entitled to and who therefore shall recognise their helplessness. For it is God Who ultimately determines world events, even if human will thinks that it directs them. And God's wisdom also recognises the most effective means for people and uses it in order to control the chaos which is the result of heartlessness and therefore has to lead to the downfall if God Himself will not put an end to it.

And the period of war will be followed by a new time of conflict which, however, will not erupt for the sake of worldly power but for spiritual supremacy, because the end is near and this spiritual battle will still have to be fought, the battle which concerns the faith in Jesus Christ, the divine Redeemer and His teaching ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Unwritten law .... Love has grown cold ....

B.D. 3144 from June 2nd 1944, taken from Book No. 41

It is an unwritten law that people should help each other, that the strong should help the weak, that adversity and misery should be alleviated and that everyone should give what the other person needs. And this unwritten law is no longer adhered to because earthly authorities do not sanction it. People only comply with what is forcibly demanded of them, and this is no act of neighbourly love, even though it is presented as kind-hearted activity. Only what a person does out of profound love and mercy for his fellow human being can be regarded by God as an act of neighbourly love. However, this inner impetus is missing in people because they no longer know love. Even the support they are expected to give to their fellow human being are activities which lack the true guiding principle .... This is lawfully applied love, not the kind of love God had demanded of people, as it should be in order to shape God-like humans who will find the unification with God again. And yet, God has placed this law into people's hearts, for every person knows how he should behave in order to live a God-pleasing life on earth. However, the inner voice impelling him is hushed up, it is not listened to, and its admonitions gradually fade out until it is completely silent. And even if God's servants preach love to people, even if the blessing or harm of their way of life is made clear to them, they ignore these admonitions as well, they are only interested in their own wellbeing and go past their fellow human beings, their weakness and helplessness, unmoved, they are inwardly dead, the spark of love is smothered, they deteriorate into heartlessness and hatred and are capable of any actions which cause harm to other people's body and soul. This state will not change anymore; it will not change for the better unless God forcefully manifests Himself, unless He raises His voice so loudly that people will be overcome by fear and horror and seriously take stock of themselves and reconsider their way of life. They will not listen to the voice of the believers and of their own accord they cannot return to the path love. And since He does not want people to go astray who merely need an impetus in order to take stock of themselves, God Himself will appear. Love may not be excluded in life or humanity will approach total destruction. For once love has grown cold, God will be infinitely far away from the being He once brought into existence from His love. Heartlessness, however, withdraws all strength from the being, and thus people will steer towards the abyss, towards destruction, if they disregard love, which is the fundamental substance of the divine work of creation. Where love does not exist, God cannot be present .... But God is the Preserver of all things, and without Him and His strength His works of creation will dissolve, including the Earth and with it every creature, as soon as love disappears from it, as soon as the human being has become so heartless that God will withdraw His love from him, because as pure Love He can only be present where love exists ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Intervention by God ....

B.D. 3151 from June 7th 1944, taken from Book No. 41

The incomprehensible is about to happen .... God Himself will speak to people in a way which will generate fear and horror. This time will soon be here, for humanity can no longer expect consideration seeing that it is completely devoid of love. It will start the ball rolling itself, it will give rise to the intervention itself, for it constantly violates God's commandments, the commandment of love for God and one's neighbour. And it scrupulously carries out satanic actions which are bound to lead to ruin if God does not intervene and thereby still save souls who find their way to Him in adversity. And this is the sign of the time which God proclaimed long in advance, that the end of the preceding bitterly fierce battle will be determined by God because He wants to reveal Himself and His power. He Himself will terminate the conflict, yet differently than people expect .... Through His intervention, which consequently is of decisive importance for the whole world, He will steer worldly events in a different direction. People will have to realise that they are powerless and that a higher Power conducts global affairs. And they will have to bow to this Power .... The adversity, which human will had already made almost unbearable for many people, will be severe; yet then they will have to struggle with tribulations sent to them by God Himself and cannot revolt against them because they cannot hold anyone responsible for it.

Yet people's conduct prior to this cannot be called human anymore, and thus God will reveal His might to them .... Where people previously wanted to demonstrate their power and brutally proceeded against their fellow human beings, that is where God will show Himself in His actions, and compared to Him all are weak and defenceless and their shameful rage will fall back onto those who mercilessly only want to cause destruction simply because they feel powerful. No-one can possibly imagine the ensuing chaos once people's unbridled feelings of hatred and vengeance break through, and this destructive will signifies the disintegration of that which God the Lord created before it has reached its goal. People of the present time are typified by their constant will of destruction which is a sign that they are enslaved by the power which tries to obliterate everything in order to prevent the souls from drawing closer to God. People are not aware that the violent destruction of created things, be they human, animal or solid matter, has terrible consequences, how the immature spiritual substances within rage and wreak havoc and what turmoil this signifies in the spiritual kingdom. They pester and detrimentally affect people's souls and even the believers feel their influence and become disheartened and discouraged. A mighty will must therefore put an end to it for the sake of the spiritual beings which endeavour to approach God and are supposed to be diverted by God's adversary through his compliant servants on earth.

And this is why God's voice will resound immediately after the implementation of a plan which will exceed every atrocity ever devised by people. There is only a little time left, first a horrifying event has to take place for the whole world to pay attention to in order to hear God's voice even more clearly. Many victims will yet have to fall prey, i.e., they will have to sacrifice their lives for a dishonest cause so that those people in need of coming to their senses will pay heed, for they all contribute towards the chaos and thus are also partly to blame if they don't realise the injustice and stop supporting it. The divine voice always and forever admonishes and warns, it points out wrong-doing to everyone yet it also demands to be heeded or else it will resound with a voice of thunder to everyone's horror and pass judgment according to law and justice.

For the blame rests with everyone and only those can be acquitted who detest humanity's behaviour and want to belong to God, for they recognise the injustice and fear and know that the wrath of God will strike the evil-doers .... And the hour will come suddenly and unexpectedly, for it is the last great blessing before the end, so that anyone will still be converted who doesn't live carelessly and recognises God in the natural disaster, which is inevitable in accordance with God's will ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Activity of love .... Duty .... Disguise of light ....

B.D. 3156 from June 12th 1944, taken from Book No. 41

Wisdom and love are divine and will therefore never be found where God's adversary is at work. Nevertheless, he, too, will want to conceal himself behind a cloak of wisdom and love, and spiritually blind people will not recognise that a mere fabrication aims to conceal the true face of the one whose activity in the world intends to ruin people. Yet the spiritually illuminated person will recognise his game of deceit, and thus it is his task to unmask God's adversary, to expose that which is adverse to God and to enlighten people about his underhanded activity. Love will be pretended where the true nature is unkindness, and wisdom will be feigned by those without knowledge .... And thus the activity of the dark power is to dispel all brightness in order to cast people into profound darkness. Loving activity should be selfless, it should be a sacrifice, but it should be performed of one's own accord without any external compulsion, for only then can it be judged to be an activity of love, otherwise they would be imposed duties which are certainly acknowledged on earth but before God only the activity of the human being's free will is of value. For only love redeems .... And this love will also bring forth wisdom which, however, can never be found where love is compensated for by duty. For this reason the implementation of an action must inevitably reveal heartfelt love if a human being's knowledge is to be recognised as knowledge which corresponds to the truth, as divine wisdom. Where one does not exist the other cannot be either. And therefore the knowledge imparted to people has to be seriously scrutinised, for someone opposed to God, someone who wants to lead people into misguided thinking and impels them into heartlessness will use such means which shine a deceptive light by simulating the divine and thereby causing serious psychological damage to people. And they don't recognise him, they thoughtlessly accept what they are being offered and he uses his followers to influence other people in the same way as he influences them .... so that they, under the disguise of love and wisdom, behave and teach the opposite .... so that they force themselves to act with love and spread error amongst people .... It will remain a constant battle between light and darkness, and anyone who is enlightened shall fight against the darkness; anyone enlightened shall let his light shine and make corrections where people have been taught wrongly. And neither should someone enlightened shy away from taking an open stand against the activity under the mask of light and piety, he should call for a genuine activity of love and explain to people the pointlessness of a forcibly implemented activity of love, he should convey the wisdom he received from God, which enlightened his spirit as a result of unselfish actions of love. For love and wisdom will always have to lead to God, but if people are not in contact with God they possess neither love nor wisdom, and if it appears like that before the world then it will only be the mask of the one who opposes God and tries to spread unkindness and untruth amongst humanity. And you should openly declare war on him, for you can be assured of God's support, Whose instructions you live up to by teaching divine love, which alone results in wisdom ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Assessing religious dogma .... Divisions ....

B.D. 3159a from June 16th 1944, taken from Book No. 41

Few people understand the value of divine revelations and thus rarely accept the messages unconditionally .... Consequently, numerous opportunities are not utilised which results in limited knowledge and often deadlock where progress could have been made. People’s spiritual ignorance could be resolved, their state of darkness could be turned into enlightenment, and yet they prefer the night and shun the light, they are still in opposition to the world of light which caringly gives to everyone who places their trust in it. This is due to a lack of faith in God’s mercy and His willingness to help people when they are in need. Nevertheless it is a proven need and consists of the fact that countless misconceptions prevent people from understanding God correctly, from loving Him and from revealing this love by gladly helping other people. This need consists of a dead faith which will fail when it is tested, because when the human being has to make a serious decision he can only stay committed if he is firmly convinced that his knowledge and faith are more valuable than what opposes him. For this reason faith and knowledge have to concur, i.e. whatever a person should believe has to be credible and reveal wisdom when he seriously reflects on it. God does not demand to believe something that he could not accept after serious consideration. Whatever appears to be unacceptable, whatever - after serious examination - lacks wisdom, has to be a human addition to what God has demanded to believe.

However, the credibility of dogma is apparent by the love it emanates, by God’s love for everything He has created; consequently, love and wisdom indicate a divine being which cares for His living creations. And thus every religious doctrine can initially be assessed from this perspective. It has to be said that anyone willing to teach is first of all duty bound to make such an assessment, since he should only teach what he himself has identified as truth. This prerequisite is usually disregarded and for that reason alone significantly supports the spread of errors. Every teacher has to be fully convinced of what he teaches. And conviction can only be gained after serious assessment. Then the teacher can safely pass on what he has recognised as true to people who are less able to make such an assessment but who, if taught correctly, nevertheless can know that the teaching is credible because it confirms God’s love and wisdom to them. Those who genuinely want to evaluate dogma will not lack the ability to think if they want to know the truth, on condition that the examiner also lives within love, otherwise he cannot represent the truth but has to represent errors and lies since, due to his unkindness, he has given himself to the one who fights against God.

In view of this it is understandable that and why an initially pure and unadulterated teaching given to people has been considerably changed, why it was not possible for written records to remain authentic, because serious assessment of their credibility and truth was evaded by the demand to categorically believe everything that was being taught. Pure truth will stand up to any kind of investigation and thus remain unchanged. But divisions occurred in due course, different schools of thought and their individual doctrines constantly offered the opportunity of comparison, and had they been compared with divine wisdom and love, every serious examiner could have known which doctrines were human work and should have been denounced as misguided beliefs. Consequently, the people who were capable of verifying the truth but failed to do so and unscrupulously passed on doctrines which on closer examination they should have rejected, are mostly to blame and will also be held accountable. As a result they had spread errors and lies.

However, there have always been people who, of their own accord, had undertaken such assessments and as reformers tried to change the old doctrines. And again, it depended on their degree of maturity how much they were living in truth and could convey it as such .... Hence, time and again human beings had been given the opportunity to form an opinion about religious doctrines, since due to the disputes between different schools of thought, due to the divisions within the church, they were made aware of the different teachings but nevertheless it was demanded that they had to be believed. Now the intellect and the heart had to become active if an evaluation were to be carried out, and that required the person's will and his desire to know the truth. Every follower of a doctrine supports his doctrine and yet different doctrines cannot claim to be the truth as there is only one truth. And every human being should endeavour to acquire this truth .... Thus it is indeed absolutely essential for a human being to form a personal opinion about every religious instruction otherwise it cannot ever become his spiritual possession even if he supports it with words. But then such words are not an innermost conviction, since conviction absolutely necessitates mental deliberation and this thought process can only be correctly guided by appealing to the divine spirit.

However, if teachers offer the pure truth a person will find it much easier to gain inner conviction if he reflects on it himself, while it takes a stronger will and desire for truth to identify misguided teachings as wrong. And this is why the teacher is wholly responsible if he, due to his own indifference or negligence, fails to carry out an assessment and spreads spiritual information of which he is not completely convinced himself. For if he has offered himself for teaching work he may only teach what he himself - after serious assessment - considers to be acceptable, otherwise he sins against those who believe to receive wisdom from him and whom he urges into wrong thinking with misguided teachings. Furthermore, it is his duty to encourage people to evaluate the teachings too so that they, in turn, may gain conviction, or a living faith, and become able to differentiate between error and truth ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Assessing religious dogma .... Divisions ....

B.D. 3159b from June 17th 1944, taken from Book No. 41

Intellectual knowledge acquired by the human being without prayer to God for spiritual enlightenment is incomplete and therefore cannot be described as consistent. Hence there can still be unsolved issues and these in particular give cause to doubt because different supporters also explain them differently. It is now self-evident that the different results also have to be assessed by anyone who only wants to accept the truth. Human knowledge is never above reproach, and that controversial issues always relate to human knowledge, human interpretations, is obvious from the fact that it is disputed, because pure truth originating from God is always the same and will never show different results.

A person without good will and a desire for truth will receive God’s transmitted truth incorrectly as his thoughts are subject to evil influences which confuse him and render the truth incomprehensible; on the other hand, a person who genuinely strives for truth also questions misguided knowledge. It does not give him complete assurance of truth and thus he evaluates it, provided he is not prohibited to do so and unconditional acceptance is demanded of him which is, however, at all times and without question Satan’s doing. For it will never be an injustice before God to sincerely seek the truth, and that the human being should form an opinion of what is presented to him as truth is part of it. Nor should the human being be guided by other people’s idea of truth but form his own judgment, particularly when he is expected or offers himself to distribute knowledge and teach other people.

God does not deny His help to the human being who humbly asks for His mercy, but whether the highly respected dignitary of the world or the scientist holding a worldly elevated position, be it in a spiritual or secular office, bends himself in deepest humility before God as the sole Provider of truth and thus complies with the first condition for its receipt has to be doubted, if his teachings do not offer flawless explanations or are in contradiction to each other. Error exists for as long as there are divisions and different interpretations because there is only one truth, and to ascertain this truth the human being will have to make contact with the eternal Deity Himself, he will have to ask Him for spiritual enlightenment and by a God-pleasing way of life become worthy of being taught by Him directly .... However, God knows how and in which way He shall teach the human being who strives and prays for truth but the end result will always be pure truth since it is God’s will that His living creations shall live in truth, hence He also enlightens them in accordance with their will ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Blessing of exchanging ideas ....

B.D. 3160 from June 17th 1944, taken from Book No. 41

The exchange of spiritual thoughts will always benefit the striving for truth, for only those who genuinely desire the latter will entertain such an exchange of ideas and thus will also be supported and advised by the spiritual forces which are mediators of mental knowledge that corresponds to truth. And these forces will always and forever support the human being, they increase his knowledge and motivate his will to make use of this knowledge, which always signifies spiritual progress. The beings of light also bring spiritual aspirants together to provide them with the opportunity to exchange ideas. And questions as well as answers will be posed and offered at the behest of these beings of light, which participate in people's trains of thought and raise the subject which people consider important to know. Beings of light particularly gladly look after those people who listen to their whisperings, that is, those who themselves enjoy such conversations which are of spiritual origin, for then they will be able to give them unlimited information, they will be able to instruct in the form of a dialogue, the contents of which is always adapted to the human being's state of maturity. And the involved parties will always derive benefit for their souls from this, for every gift offered to people by the beings of light is an illumination of strength from God which has to have a constructive and knowledge-increasing effect. The beings of light will always be people's advisors as long as they merely desire the pure truth and their correct attitude towards God motivates their spiritual conversations. A higher degree of maturity has to be the inevitable result, for once the mental knowledge has been accepted it will also stimulate the person to use it for himself or for his fellow human being, and both mean spiritual progress. Spiritual conversations should therefore frequently take place, they are, after all, not the mental results of the individual person but transfers of strength from the spiritual kingdom, which will always result in an increase of spiritual substance, for anything that comes from the spiritual kingdom directly enters the human soul and increases its spiritual substance. Thus it is an influx of strength which must lead to the human being's higher development. The exchange of ideas is also a form of instruction from the spiritual kingdom, but it is not always appreciated as such, since the human being does not always recognise the origin of the thoughts which are spoken, even though he ought to realise that people are always surrounded by beings of light as soon as a spiritual question is being discussed, provided that people have the serious intention to reach God and make every effort to recognise Him. To those He sends His messengers, they bring light on His instructions to all those who pose questions to God or to each other. For every exchange of thoughts is a matter of question-and-answer which, depending on the desire for truth, will also be truthful yet only be recognised as truth if prior to such exchange of thoughts the human beings appeals in heartfelt prayer for God to enlighten his spirit ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Afflictions and trials are means to attain perfection ....

B.D. 3163 from June 20th 1944, taken from Book No. 41

The trials and affliction imposed on a human being are rarely recognised as a means to attain highest perfection. God knows every individual person's degree of maturity, He knows their hearts, and He truly does not miss the slightest movement which speaks for or against Him. And therefore He also knows which degree of development each human can still reach, and accordingly He will bestow suffering or strokes of fate upon the person if the possibility still exists to thereby raise the soul's maturity. Before its embodiment as a human being the soul knew full well what would happen to it during its life on earth, it entered its final embodiment in full agreement by hoping it would emerge from it victoriously. It beheld its pleasures as well as its sufferings on its path of life and yet did not let them frighten it from going, since, on the other hand, it also knew of God's help and His grace and foresaw the possibility to completely outgrow matter and dispose of its shell for good. For this reason so many a soul accepts a particularly difficult earthly fate, because it also foresaw the consequences of a correctly lived earthly life and knows the final goal and deems it reachable. Yet in earthly life it loses its past awareness, and therefore it fails to make use of the opportunities and is in danger of not reaching its goal. And therefore God provides it with help by creating opportunities on earth which enable the soul to mature fully. And then the human being will have to surmount greater opposition, as suffering and sadness are given to him on earth for which he has to appeal to God for strength in order to overcome them. A life without battle would always keep him at the same stage of development and he would have lived his life in vain. It is not that he has to atone for his sins on earth, like it is wrongly taught, but it only matters that he moves from the abyss, in which he still finds himself, to higher spheres, that he transforms himself into a being of light, that he works at improving himself by discarding everything which still prevents him from receiving an undreamt of abundance of light.

He must effectively purify a still opaque shell through suffering and misery, he must remove every impurity from it so that the light will then be able shine through it, for this purification has to take place of a person's own will, it cannot be implemented by God without the human being's will. Suffering and love are the only means to be cleansed from all impurities, and a great extent of suffering is the expression of great divine love at the same time, which wants to help the person to become such that God can make him infinitely happy in eternity. Sorely afflicted people on earth are therefore especially seized by His love, even though it seems incomprehensible to them. Life on earth is short compared to eternity, and one day the soul will look back with gratitude and praise on its short time on earth in which the suffering resulted in its higher maturity which it would never have attained without suffering. A person on earth has immeasurable blessings at his disposal so that he can endure even the worst suffering if, in heartfelt prayer, He draws strength from God, for He has assured him of this. He will let no-one leave Him without having strengthened him who confides his adversity to Him in firm faith so that He can and will help him. For the suffering is never greater than the One Who imposes it, Who has truly enough power to help people in every need. Therefore, always keep His love, wisdom and omnipotence in mind if you are burdened by severe suffering and you will feel comforted and patiently wait for His help ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Course of life predetermined depending on will ....

B.D. 3176 from June 30th 1944, taken from Book No. 41

The human being's course of life corresponds to the soul's state of maturity at the time of its embodiment on earth, that means, God so delineated its earthly life that it provides the soul with the best possibility for higher development. If the human being has the interest of his soul at heart he will indeed make use of every opportunity and reach his goal while he is still on earth, he will adapt himself to the eternal Deity by living a way of life according to God's will. But he can also let all opportunities pass by without making use of them, and this signifies spiritual standstill, a deficiency in his development. And this shortcoming shall be balanced out again, therefore life often makes great demands on him which require all his strength if he wants to comply with them. He is effectively offered another opportunity to practise neighbourly love insofar as something is expected of him which requires all his will but which presupposes helpful neighbourly love. If he lives up to these requirements he must activate his will and work for the benefit of his fellow human beings. And this activity can lead to the soul's maturity, because its driving force is neighbourly love and this is the most effective means to attain maturity of soul. If the human being practises neighbourly love from an early age, he will use every opportunity offered to him for his spiritual advancement, for then he will also brightly and clearly recognise the meaning and purpose of his earthly existence.

If, however, he is half-hearted and sluggish and if his heart is hardened towards his fellow human beings' suffering, then he will also let every possibility for development pass by, he will only think of himself and ignore his fellow human beings' hardship, then he will also live in complete ignorance of his actual task on earth and therefore will not consciously strive to ascend. It is possible that the soul, prior to its incarnation as a human being, can already have been exceedingly willing, and this willingness led to its earthly life in which it can attain a very high spiritual level, for according to its will God provides it with the opportunity to become active. Thus the human being will find life relatively easy insofar as his soul will not offer resistance but willingly strive to fulfil the commandments of God because it receives strength as a result of its willingness. For it is the strength of love which results in activity of love again. A willing soul does not resist carrying out loving deeds because love dwells within it and because a loving heart will constantly stimulate loving activity. And therefore he will be offered an abundance of opportunities, regardless of how he uses them. The less a person resists his inner urges the sooner the soul will mature, for then it will be constantly driven to carry out deeds of love, and thus the soul gradually changes into love, it complies with its task on earth, and every experience contributes towards its higher development. For the soul's earthly life is predetermined depending on its will, which it can therefore cover with great success .... so that it will attain the maturity on earth which allows it to enter the kingdom of light immediately after its physical death ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna