nl-Chapter 6 - The Third Testament and the Great Book of Life
The Book of God's Love, Truth, and Wisdom
1. The Book of My Word is the book of divine and true love; in it you will find unchanging truth. Take it up, and you will find the wisdom that will help you grow and attain peace in eternity. Whoever distorts or alters its meaning will be lost, and whoever omits or adds a single word that is not in harmony with My perfect teaching will gravely violate My law.
2. Preserve this Word in its original purity, for it is the most beautiful legacy I will leave to humanity. Write down my teachings and make them known to your fellow human beings; preserve them faithfully, for you are responsible for this legacy.
3. Tomorrow, humanity will find in them the very essence of my revelation, which will guide them with the light of its teachings onto the path of truth.
4. These writings will be bequeathed from parents to children as a spring of living water, whose flow will gush forth inexhaustibly and pass from heart to heart. Study the Great Book of Life, the Book of Spiritualization, which will explain to you the divine revelations you have received throughout the ages.
5. Have I not promised you that every truth would be restored to its original truth? For this is the time that was foretold to you.
6. In truth I tell you: Whoever reflects upon the teachings of My Book and explores them with a genuine desire to elevate his understanding will gain light for his soul and feel Me closer to him.
7. The myths of the past and those of today will fall; all that is mediocre and false will crumble; for the time will come when you can no longer feed on imperfections, and then the soul will set out in search of the truth, so that it may serve as its sole nourishment.
8. In these teachings, humanity will find the essence of My revelations, which it has not understood until now due to a lack of spiritualization. Since ancient times, I have entrusted it to you through My messengers, heralds, and "interpreters," yet it has served only to enable you to fashion myths and traditions from it. Reflect upon and study this teaching with reverence and love if you wish to spare yourselves centuries of confusion and suffering. But bear in mind that you will not fulfill your task if you are content merely to possess the book; no, it is meant to awaken and instruct you if you truly wish to be My disciples. Teach by the example, love, and helpfulness that I have shown you. (20, 1-8)
9. The book of my instruction consists of the teachings I have dictated to you in this age through the human faculty of reason. With this book, which humanity will eventually recognize as the Third Testament, you are to defend my divine cause.
10. Humanity knows only the law of the "First Era" and what is written in the First and Second Testaments; yet the Third will now unify and correct what people have distorted due to a lack of preparation and understanding. Humanity will have to study My message so that, penetrating to the core of every word, it may discover a single ideal, a single truth, one and the same light that will lead it to spiritualization. (348, 26)
11. I reveal to you what the scientist cannot teach you, because he does not know it. He has slept in his earthly greatness and has not risen to Me in the desire for My wisdom.
12. The hearts of the clergy have closed; they, who in the various sects and religious communities should be teaching the spiritual knowledge that is greatness and wealth for the spirit.
13. I have seen that the Law and the teachings I bequeathed to humanity in times past have been concealed and replaced by rites, external rituals, and traditions.
14. Yet you, who deeply recognize that the essence of this Word is the same as that which Israel received on Mount Sinai and which the multitudes of people in the "Second Era" heard from the lips of Jesus, should teach through your worship of God and your deeds that the Divine Law must not be forgotten for the sake of following foolish traditions that are not beneficial to the soul. (93, 10-13)
15. I have reminded you of the names of My messengers through whom you have received messages, commandments, prophecies, and teachings.
16. In this way, I have united the content of all past teachings into a single teaching.
17. Spiritualism is the legacy in which the Three Testaments are united in a single spiritual book. (265, 62-64)
18. This teaching, which is called spiritual because it reveals the spiritual, is the path laid out for humanity, upon which they will come to know their Creator, serve Him, and love Him. It is the book that teaches people to love their Father in their own neighbor. Spiritualism is a law that commands the good, the pure, and the perfect.
19. The duty to obey this law applies to all; yet it compels no one to fulfill it, for every spirit enjoys free will so that its struggle and all its deeds may be counted as its own merits when it is judged.
20. Recognize, then, that this teaching is the flame of divine love that has illuminated and warmed all of my children, from the first to the last. (236, 20–22)
The Relationship Between the Doctrine of the Spirit and the Teachings of Jesus
21. The Doctrine of the Spirit is not a theory; it is a practical instruction for both human life and the life of the soul. There is no other instruction more comprehensive and perfect than this one. It accompanies you even before you come to earth; it follows you throughout your daily work in this world and merges with your soul when it returns to its former home.
22. It will not be I who removes the liturgy and traditions from your worship services—it will be the human spirit that spontaneously rises above its old conceptions in the face of the need for greater light to illuminate its path of development. Soon, humanity will understand that the only thing it can offer to God is the practice of love, for love means goodness, mercy, wisdom, and justice.
23. Spiritualism does not erase a single word of what Christ once proclaimed. If it were not so, it could not bear this name, for it would be opposing the truth. How could this word be contrary to that, since it is the same Master who speaks it? If you were to truly penetrate the meaning of this teaching, you would see that My Word of today is the explanation or clarification of all that I once said. Therefore, humanity of today and of the future is able to understand more than that of past generations and, consequently, to fulfill the Law in a purer, higher, and truer way.
24. If you closely observe your fellow human beings in their religious practices, you will see that they now regard what was once the object of their worship without inner devotion. The reason for this is that the soul awakens of its own accord and yearns for what can truly nourish it. That is why I tell you that the outward practice of worship among this humanity is destined to disappear. (283, 27–30)
25. In this humble and simple book, yet filled with Divine Light, people will find the resolution of all their doubts; they will discover the completion of the teachings that were only partially revealed in times past; and they will find the clear and simple way to interpret all that is hidden in allegory within the ancient texts.
26. Whoever, upon receiving this spiritual message, is convinced of the truth of its content and sets out combat his craving for sensory impressions, his idolatry, and his fanaticism, and to purify his mind and heart of all those impurities, will liberate his soul and bestow upon it joy and peace, for now it will be able to strive to attain the eternity that awaits it. But those who continue in their outward religious practices, who are set on loving what belongs to the world, and who do not believe in the unfolding or development of the soul—truly, I tell you, they will be left behind and will shed tears when they become aware of their backwardness and their ignorance. (305, 4-5)
The Controversies Over the New Word
27. If My teaching seems so strange to you that you think you have never heard such words before, even though you know Me, I tell you that your astonishment is the result of your failure to explore the essence of what I revealed to you in times past. For this reason, this teaching may seem strange or new to you, even though this light has in reality always been present in your lives. (336, 36)
28. My teaching in this age, as in the "Second Age," will shake humanity. The hypocrites will have to confront truthfulness. Falsehood will drop its mask, and truth will shine forth. Truth will overcome the lie that envelops this world.
29. Man will be able to comprehend and recognize all that contains reason and truth; yet he will reject for himself everything he was forced to believe, even if he did not understand it. Therefore, My teaching will spread, for it radiates the light that people need. A great part of this work falls to you, in that you reveal its beginning and its purpose to your fellow human beings. (237, 28-29)
30. Humanity hungers for My Word, for My truth. People crave and long for light for their minds; they cry out for justice and await comfort. This is a decisive time. Truly, I tell you, many ideas, theories, and even dogmas that have been held as truths for centuries will come crashing down and be rejected as false. Fanaticism and idolatry will be fought against and eliminated by those who were most captivated by and bound to them. The teachings of God will be understood; their light, their content, and their essence will be grasped and felt.
31. When, after a time of trials in which they will suffer great confusion, light dawns in the minds of scientists and they hear the voice of their spirit, they will discover what they never could have imagined.
32. Once again I say to you: watch! For in the time of conflict between creeds and doctrines, religions and sciences, many people will believe that the knowledge their books have imparted to them will be the weapon with which they can defeat My new disciples, knowing full well that you have no books with you. (150, 11–13)
33. I have told you, disciples, that you will be confronted by the great churches and the smaller sects; but fear neither one nor the other. The truth I have entrusted to you is self-evident; the Word I have taught you is, on the surface, clear and simple— —yet in its meaning it is profound to infinity, and these are powerful weapons with which you will fight and triumph.
34. Yet I tell you: A people on earth, full of materialism and unbelief, will rise up to deny you the right to call yourselves Israel, to deny your testimony of having witnessed the second coming of the Messiah, and that people is the Jewish people. Have you not thought of it? That people awaits in its midst the arrival of its Messiah, its Savior, who will bring justice to it and once again place it above all the peoples of the earth. That people knows that I have always come to them, and in this "Third Era" they will say: 'Why should God come to another people?' — Yet behold, here are My teachings! (332, 10)
35. This spiritual community here lives unrecognized. The world knows nothing of your existence; the powerful take no notice of you, but the struggle between spiritualists and "Christians," between spiritualists and Jews, is approaching. That struggle is necessary for the introduction of My teaching to all humanity. Then the Old Testament will be united with the Second and Third into a single essence.
36. To many of you this may seem impossible; to Me it is the most natural, the most correct, and the most perfect. (235, 63-64)
The Great Book of True Life
37. My Word will remain written down for all time; from it you will compile the Book of the Third Age, the Third Testament, the Father's final message; for in all three ages God had His "golden pens"* to bequeath His wisdom to humanity. * This term refers to those participants in the Divine Revelations who had the task of stenographically recording the Word of the Lord.
38. Moses was the first "golden pen" whom the Father used to write the events of the "First Era" in indelible letters on a scroll. Moses was the "golden pen" of Jehovah.
39. Among my apostles and successors of the "Second Era," Jesus had four "pens," and these were Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These were the "golden pens" of the Divine Master. But when the time came for the First Testament to be united with the Second through bonds of love, knowledge, and spiritual progress, a single book emerged from them.
40. Now in the "Third Era," in which you have my Word anew, I have likewise appointed "golden pens" so that it may be preserved in writing.
41. When the time has come, you will compile a single book, and this book of the "Third Era"—when the time is right—will likewise be united with the books of the Second and First Eras, and then, from the revelations, prophecies, and words of the "Three Eras," the Great Book of Life* will emerge for the edification of all souls.
* Explanatory text from Instruction 85, verse 24, of the Book of True Life: "You need not strive to have this (currently emerging) Testament or Book united with the previous ones, for it was I who united the revelations and teachings of the Three Times in this Book by drawing the essence from them to create a single message."
42. Then you will recognize that all words—from the first to the last—have been fulfilled in truth and in spirit, that all prophecies were the anticipated course of history revealed by the Father of humanity. For God alone can cause the events that will occur to be written down. When the prophets spoke, it was not they who did so, but God who did so through their mediation.
43. I have granted my new chosen ones sufficient preparation, as Moses and the four disciples of the "Second Era" had, so that my Word might be written down in complete sincerity, in full clarity and truth, for it is for the generations of tomorrow; yet if anyone should intend to add anything or to delete anything from that book, I will hold you accountable.
44. Now, my beloved children: Who attaches any importance to the book you are beginning to compile? In truth—no one! Yet the time will come when humanity will ask you for your book, full of longing and curiosity, and then they will awaken, explore my Word, and discuss it. In that clash of ideas, factions will emerge—scientists, theologians, and philosophers. The testimony of your Word and the Book of Wisdom will be brought to the nations, and all will speak of My teaching. This will be the beginning of the new battle, the war of words, thoughts, and ideologies; yet in the end, when all have recognized in truth and in spirit that the Great Book of Life was written by the Lord, they will embrace one another as brothers and love one another, as is My will.
45. Why was the Word of Jehovah not sufficient in the "First Age" to unite the world, nor was the teaching of Jesus sufficient in the Second? Why has it not been enough in this age that I have been delivering My Word since 1866 so that the nations might love one another and live in peace? It is necessary for the three books to form a single whole so that this Word may enlighten the entire world. Then humanity will follow that light, and the curse of Babel will be lifted, for all people will read the Great Book of True Life, all will follow the same teaching, and will love one another in spirit and in truth as children of God. (358, 58–66).