Justinian and Theodora were said to be the first co-rulers of the empire.   Some were of the opinion that Theodora possessed even greater political power than her husband Justinian.   To theologically oppose her, meant death!   As just one example: In the sixth century when Pope Sylverius had been removed from office by Theodora, the Emperor's wife who had previously been a prostitute and circus performer, and who disagreed with the pope on many theological positions -- one of which was the pre-existence of the soul -- Gibbon writes: “At the emperor's command, the clergy of Rome proceeded to the choice of a new bishop; and after a solemn invocation of the Holy Ghost, elected the deacon Vigilius, who had purchased the papal throne by a bribe of two hundred pounds of gold. The profit, and consequently the guilt, of this simony, was imputed to Belisarius, but the hero obeyed the orders of his wife; Antonina served the passions of the empress; and Theodora lavished her treasures, in the vain hope of obtaining a pontiff hostile or indifferent to the council of Chalcedon” (Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire).   

What were the historical events surrounding the removal of the teachings of the pre-existence of the soul from doctrines of the church -- doctrines which remain with us today and foundational to the modern Christianity?   Quoting Edward Gibbon: "But while Justinian strove to maintain the uniformity of faith and worship, his wife Theodora, whose vices were not incompatible with devotion, had listened to the Monophysite teachers; and the open or clandestine enemies of the church revived and multiplied at the smile of their gracious patroness. The capital, the palace, the nuptial bed, were torn by spiritual discord; yet so doubtful was the sincerity of the royal consorts, that their seeming disagreement was imputed by many to a secret and mischievous confederacy against the religion and happiness of their people. The famous dispute of the Three Chapters, which has filled more volumes than it deserves lines, is deeply marked with this subtile and disingenuous spirit. It was now three hundred years since the body of Origen had been eaten by the worms: his soul, of which he held the preexistence, was in the hands of its Creator; but his writings were eagerly perused by the monks of Palestine. In these writings, the piercing eye of Justinian descried more than ten metaphysical errors; and the primitive doctor… was devoted by the clergy to the eternity of hell-fire, which he had presumed to deny. Under the cover of this precedent, a treacherous blow was aimed at the council of Chalcedon. The fathers had listened without impatience to the praise of Theodore of Mopsuestia; and their justice or indulgence had restored both Theodore of Cyrrhus, and Ibas of Edessa, to the communion of the church. But the characters of these Oriental bishops were tainted with the reproach of heresy… If, they enjoyed the rewards of piety, they must have smiled at the idle fury of the theological insects who still crawled on the surface of the earth. The foremost of these insects, the emperor of the Romans, darted his sting, and distilled his venom, perhaps without discerning the true motives of Theodora and her ecclesiastical faction. The victims were no longer subject to his power, and the vehement style of his edicts could only proclaim their damnation, and invite the clergy of the East to join in a full chorus of curses and anathemas. The East, with some hesitation, consented to the voice of her sovereign: the fifth general council, of three patriarchs and one hundred and sixty-five bishops, was held at Constantinople; and the authors, as well as the defenders, of the three chapters were separated from the communion of the saints, and solemnly delivered to the prince of darkness. But the Latin churches were more jealous of the honor of Leo and the synod of Chalcedon: and if they had fought as they usually did under the standard of Rome, they might have prevailed in the cause of reason and humanity. But their chief was a prisoner in the hands of the enemy; the throne of St. Peter, which had been disgraced by the simony, was betrayed by the cowardice of Vigilius, who yielded, after a long and inconsistent struggle, to the despotism of Justinian… "

In the case of the condemnation of Origen and the belief expressed by the early Church Fathers that the soul existed prior to our entrance into this life, all who supported the belief in the pre-existence of the soul were officially anathematized by the emperor.   Because the far-reaching impact of this (secular/political) condemnation of the man who has been called the greatest of all the Christian theologians in the history of the church is basically unknown to the believer today -- and few church authorities even want to discuss it’s implications on modern-day Christian dogma and doctrine -- a great obstacle has been placed in the path of the believer that severely inhibits their ability to comprehend the full essence of the Gospel teachings in their present-day lives.   In fact, until this obstacle is removed, the believers of the common faith will never be able to perceive the Mysteries of God that they earnestly pray to be revealed to them.

The question is profound: Is man a new creation at conception?   Or is he an image of his pre-existent soul that is projected into this realm in order to continue his journey on the road to spiritual perfection?   What we fail to recognize today is the fact that these two fundamental beliefs about the nature of the soul act as the very source that require us to embrace a whole host of other downstream beliefs pertaining to every faucet of life.   The differences are so profound, that if we cling to the wrong core belief, every other belief that we hold will remain incomplete! 

 In our analysis as Christians in search of the truth, we must pose the question: Who understood the essence of the Gospel message -- i.e., Justinian and Theodora; or Origen and the Messianic followers of Jesus?   What the modern Christian fails to comprehend is that this foundational perception of the true nature of man is so crucial to a proper understanding of the Bible, that it can be said today that it is impossible to get a proper sense of the Gospel message until the error of Justinian is reversed.   Further, all the doctrinal conflicts that divide the Christian Church today into an uncountable number of sects and opposing opinions, is the direct result of the believers acceptance of the Justinian/Theodora vision of man, Jesus, and Creation.   The problem is that we can never truly come to Christ, and we can never perceive the Mysteries of God, so long as we anchor ourselves to this world by our allegiance to the political decrees of Justinian and the doctrines of men.

In the recognition that the modern church no longer understands the teaching that the soul pre-exists the body because of the direct intervention of a Roman Emperor into church affairs, we must ask the question: Does this revelation mean that the religious authorities of our day will contemplate what we now know about Christian origins -- recognize this truth, and re-evaluate modern Christian doctrine so as to make it compatible with the thinking and mindset of the people who Jesus personally taught the Mysteries of God?   In view of the fact that the Dead Sea Scrolls were placed in the hands of the church over fifty years ago, and these sacred writings convey the same exact message that has been portrayed here, the answer is that nothing can change the thinking of the majority of the clergy of the church today -- that is, until the people themselves begin to demand the truth.

In the same way that when Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt, the people were forced to walk through the wilderness until all of the adults died because they were unable to change from their old manner of worldly thinking -- and it was this worldly manner of thinking that inhibited them from entering into the promised land -- it is likewise easy to predict that in our present-day understanding of the Word, the majority of our modern religious leaders will reject the idea that the soul pre-existed the body.   But when it is realized that our whole perception and understanding of life has been reared and molded on the idea that life begins at either conception or birth  -- not only religiously, but from a non-religious philosophical perspective also -- it is not difficult to conclude that we would be unable to initially embrace an idea that would radically revise every concept and doctrine that we presently hold to be true.  

Fundamentalist Christians today are in great opposition to Darwinism and the teaching of evolution in our public schools.   From a biblical perspective we must ask: Why has the Hand of God permitted this philosophical opinion to undermine the teachings of the scriptures?   Fundamentally, because Christians cling to very similar beliefs and doctrines that were championed by Justinian and Theodora -- beliefs which continue to mold our thinking to this very day.  While many modern Christians vehemently oppose the Theory of Evolution, what they fail to realize is that Darwinism is an outgrowth of the Justinian anti-pre-existence doctrine.   

What Darwin and the Evolutionists have done, is attempt to explain the gaping holes in the carnal reasoning and understanding of man's limited logic -- holes that would not exist in the Christian world today, except for man's ignorance of himself and his Divine Nature.   The problem is that Darwin merely composed the thinking of Pagan Rome into a formal theory -- which meant that the foundation of these gaping holes were in fact truly conceived right in the bedrock of the Roman Church.   Darwinism is in fact a natural outgrowth and extension of the doctrinal course that had been previously set by the Emperor Justinian and his wife Theodora.   Once this is truly comprehended, we are then able to see that the gaping holes that Fundamentalists oppose today, actually originated in the religious doctrines of the church -- doctrines that are used in an attempt to explain away sacred truths that we are unable to even contemplate because we begin our understanding of life and God on the wrong premise.

Fundamentally, the decree of the Emperor Justinian which outlawed the belief in the pre-existence of the soul, was literally forced upon the Christian religion in the sixth century.   What this means is that our modern-day religious beliefs and doctrines, are in fact secularly based.   Quoting the Britannica: “Under Justinian all essential features were already formed: Imperial power extended equally over state and Church… Since the emperor ruled the Church there was no longer any independence for the bishops, least of all for the patriarch in Constantinople; they were in every respect subordinate to the emperor”.  

In the year 553 Justinian convened the 5^th Ecumenical Council where, quoting the Catholic Encyclopedia, “…the council opened on 5 May, 553, in spite of the protestations of Pope Vigilius, who though at Constantinople, refused to attend it… before the opening of the council, which had been delayed by the resistance of the pope, the bishops already assembled at Constantinople had to consider, by order of the emperor, a form of Origenism that had practically nothing in common with Origen…”.   Quoting the Britannica: “After the council, Justinian banished the pope to Egypt, and afterwards to an island, until he accepted the Council, which he ultimately did.”    Thus, the condemnation of the Church Father Origen, as well as the removal of the teaching of the pre-existence of the soul, was literally forced upon the Christian Church by the hostile abduction of the pope by the Emperor Justinian.

From a theological perspective, this control of Christian doctrine by the Roman Government has all but slammed the door to higher understanding within the body of the church -- and the detrimental effect continues to plague Christians even in our present day.   As we read the Bible, we no longer have it within our ability to understand the biblical doctrine of predestination -- the reason for life itself -- how we can truly be the Children and Offspring of God -- and what is our eventual Destiny.   Like Darwin, we relate everything to the physical body, rather than to the Spirit.  

In being severed from the knowledge of our soul's beginning, and having no clear perception of our eventual destiny, neither are we able to contemplate the means by which we can be raised up to the stature of a true disciple of Jesus -- whom the Apostle states is “a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life” (1 Tim 1:16 NKJ).   With respect to the Apostle’s words, we must ask what is a pattern is?   It is not something that we philosophically believe in -- but rather, a pattern is something that we mold our lives after.    Because the decrees of the Emperors of Rome remain foundational to our thinking today, the problem is seen in the fact that because we fail to comprehend the true Divine Nature of our very own soul, it is impossible for us to grasp the far reaching spiritual implications of what Jesus taught to his faithful disciples -- which disciples did indeed hold totally opposite and conflicting views on many important points of the Word than we do today.

In the manner of life itself, it is not that we are wrong in what we see in the scriptures with respect to interpreting the word from an historical perspective -- but in our vision of what we see, the limitation of our carnal mindset is prevalent -- which mindset is the very essence of thinking that has given birth to Darwinism and the doctrine of evolution.   The whole concept of parallel realms -- spiritual realms -- of which this realm in which we presently dwell is a pattern of its spiritual opposite -- simply does not exist in the thinking of Darwin.     

The Apostle Paul states that the things of the spirit are foolishness to the carnal mind of man, as seen in the words: “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor 2:14 NKJ).   This inability to perceive the higher realities of the spirit is not only an obstacle to the non-believer, but also the believers.   Without realizing it, both the church, as well as the Darwinist theories of life that a great number of Christians oppose, all possess the same congenital flaw -- i.e., they see man as a three-dimensional being who does not possess a pre-existent soul.   The problem is that in our modern-day vision of life, both the church and Darwin sees man as nothing more than what is observed with the physical senses.   Thus, Darwin's perception of creation is merely a secularized version of the doctrine of the church which was orchestrated under the rule of the Emperor Justinian -- whereby the physical is the source of all life and existence -- which is totally opposite to the truth.   

That Theodora -- a Monophysite -- opposed the teachings of the church with respect to the pre-existence of the soul, was merely because once we recognize the truth to this higher reality, all of life begins to be painted with an entirely different picture.   Once it is realized that our soul pre-existed our birth in this life, all the great many questions that have plagued the church immediately begins to fade away into oblivion.   Suddenly, we begin to comprehend the parable of the prodigal son as it was taught by Jesus -- the enigma of the biblical doctrine of predestination fades away -- we suddenly understand how Jesus became the pattern for all of mankind to emulate -- how Jesus can be called our elder brother -- why God permits evil -- we begin to understand the purpose, reason and destiny of life itself from a totally new perspective that is alien to us today.

The natural environment for the Revelation of the Christ, is that of a spiritual mindset which, for the lack of any other word, we call mysticism.   Like the Bible itself, the root concept of mysticism embraces the idea that man has a nature that is not of this physical realm -- and he has within himself a source of knowledge that exceeds anything manifest in the outside world.   In fact, the whole concept of first century New Covenant teachings is an acclamation that man possesses an intimate and direct connection with God, and he is not dependent upon a priest, church or religious organization for his salvation.   The very idea that a force from God -- the Holy Spirit and Anointing of the Light -- can come upon a man, and open his mind to perceive and understand great truths that are not apparent to the normal person, is the very essence of Jesus' teachings -- which teachings are synonymous with mysticism and gnosticism.  

When the Roman Government removed the sacred truths revealed by Jesus from their natural mystical/spiritual environment, the result was that Christianity was severed from the very source of truth and reality that Jesus revealed.   To replace the essence of what was lost, artificial doctrines of belief were created which were then used to explain away spiritual concepts that the carnal mind of man does not possess the ability to understand.   The idea that if we change (open and unloose) the mind, we can enter the Kingdom of Heaven, was altered to embrace a totally redemptive perception of the Bible where one had to repent so they would go to heaven when they physically died.   Thus, we must recognize that Darwinism is nothing more than an attempt to explain Creation within the mindset of the Emperor Justinian's doctrine that was imposed upon the church -- a mindset that must be rejected today, if the church is to be born again into the vital spiritual force that it has the potential to be.

Once these facts of history are acknowledged as valid, then all sincere Christians must question whether this fault that was imposed upon Christian thinking by the Roman Emperors of the past can be corrected today?   This is a difficult question because of the obstacle seen in man's natural affinity to oppose change.   Thus, the words of Jesus: “And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, The old is better” (Luke 5:39 NIV).   The new wine is the timeless revelations received from spiritual realms; the old is the ideas of man that has been established by the philosophers and rulers of this world -- ideas which are based upon a very carnal perception of Creation.  

What Jesus' words ultimately proclaim is the great truth that, in the same exact manner as the carnal Jews, a large number of modern Christians would immediately condemn the idea that the soul pre-existed the body.   Why could such a prediction be made?   Fundamentally, because everything that is preached today is based upon a quasi-Darwinist theology that the soul and spirit of man comes into existence at birth.   From a doctrinal standpoint, change is near impossible because they would literally have to re-evaluate every element and concept of their thinking -- as well as its far-reaching implications -- on what they have come to believe since the time of their birth right up until the present.   The concepts of Darwinism -- i.e., that we are the body, and we are nothing more than what we see -- has been culturally ingrained in the people's thinking from the time they spoke their first words.   Their mental conditioning and cultural speculation has been so completely programmed into a Darwinist model of Creation, that without a superhuman effort, they simply could not delve that deeply into the essence of their present-day reasoning and vision of life with which they have been imbued with.   Human nature, then, would not permit them to even entertain a true spiritual mindset -- a mindset that would require them to re-evaluate everything they ever believed to be the truth.  

What should truly frighten modern believers, though, is the indisputable fact that the disciples and first followers of Jesus not only wholeheartedly embraced a very mystical mindset where they openly espoused the doctrine that the soul pre-existed the body, but it was their claim that their vision and understanding of the Word was taught to them directly by Jesus.   Thus, the disciples and followers of Christ claimed that it was Jesus himself who revealed to them the truth that their soul existed prior to their being born into their life in this realm.

Regardless of the fact that the Bible is totally silent with respect to when the soul was created, the problem is that once we accept the idea of the pre-existence of the soul -- and that the soul existed prior to our birth into this life -- we are immediately confronted with the reality that our soul could have lived previous lives prior to our birth into this present life.   This of course embraces the teaching of the transmigration of the soul -- which is more popularly called today the doctrine of reincarnation.  Thus, the problem is seen in the fact that Christians have been traditionally taught that reincarnation is a New Age belief that is founded in Hinduism, and is thus in error.   It, of course, never dawns on the Christian whose mind has been programmed since birth of the fallacy of this belief, that many of the ideas promoted by the New Age community as well as the Hindu's are in error, and that neither group comprehends this reality from the perspective to the teachings of Jesus and the New Covenant.   What this means is that because of the paradoxical nature of man's higher reality, the concept of reincarnation which is espoused by the New Age community is not exactly true, and the Christian idea that we only live one life would be more appropriate in the life of the majority of people alive in our present time.   That these spiritual truths are confusing to the carnal mindset, has been well established in the Epistles of Paul who openly warned us of this fact.

In one of the few remaining instances that the teaching of the pre-existence of the soul was not removed from the Bible, we can observe where the disciples asked Jesus whether the man himself had sinned prior to being born into this life (John 9:2), we must understand that this question was asked in clarification of Jesus' own teachings.   Our modern religious authorities do not see this very clearly because their perception is fragmentary, and they are unable to connect the dots that would reveal the larger picture that Jesus painted to those who possessed the eyes to see the Mysteries of God.   Admittedly, when the scriptures were in their original form prior to being re-written by the Church of Rome, there existed a whole host of other readings that supported the teaching of the pre-existence of the soul.   

The disciples of Jesus asked this question, because they understood that their soul is the mind that pre-existed, transcended, and survives the body.  In fact, Prof. John Allegro made direct reference to this mystical/gnostic nature of the Gospel of John when he wrote: “It is a fact that the Qumran Library has profoundly affected the study of the Johannine writings and many longheld conceptions have had to be radically revised.  No longer can John be regarded as the most Hellenistic of the Evangelists; his gnosticism, and the whole framework of his thought is seen now to spring directly from a Jewish sectarianism rooted in palestinian soil, and his material recognized as founded in the earliest layers of Gospel traditions” (The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Origins of Christianity) .   

What this means is that if we are to even begin to perceive the depth of the Gospel of John which is so important to the theology of the modern Church, is is essential for us to be of a likeminded perception of life.   Unfortunately, our present-day anti-gnostic ideas of both life and the gospel, simply do not support a proper understanding of the depth that John conveys to the reader.   We are therefore forced to fabricate numerous doctrines of belief in order to support our alien perception that does not support a more pure spiritual mindset and manner of thinking.   

The disciples of Jesus perceived that their station in life -- i.e., the person they were -- was not an accident of nature as we believe today -- but rather, the result of what their own soul had achieved in their more distant past prior to being born into that life.   While this may sound alien to the modern-day believer, once we begin to comprehend the connection between the pre-existence of the soul and the biblical doctrine of predestination and preordination, almost every verse in the Bible begins to take on a previously cloaked spiritual perspective that is intimately intertwined with every aspect of our present-day lives.

In their realization by the disciples of Jesus that they were not the physical body/vessel, their vision of the Gospel was entirely different than modern Christians today.   Because they viewed Creation from an opposite perspective than what has today come to be associated with a Christian quasi-Darwinist vision of life, they were able to comprehend the great reality that we cannot -- i.e., paramount among these was the answer to how the Apostle Paul could so openly teach that mankind was truly the children and offspring of God.  This knowledge that is alien to us today, was in fact taught to them by Jesus himself, and represents one of the core reasons they were condemned by the later Gentile church which was anti-gnostic and anti-spiritual, and for political reasons attempted to suppress any direct contact with the spiritual nature of man.  

In their far-reaching vision of reality that is beyond our comprehension today, they understood that within their own mind and being they retained an intimate and direct connection with God -- the Source of all Knowledge, Wisdom and Understanding.   Religion, then, was not belief in a man, or a god -- but rather, true religion was the imitation of the Divine Pattern of the Son of God, and the immersion of their consciousness in the Anointing of the Light.   Because Jesus enlightened their understanding, and had opened the door to their own indwelling soul and spiritual natures, they were not burdened by quasi-Darwinist ideas of Creation, and their whole perception of the Word was entirely different than the doctrines which modern Christians embrace today -- doctrines that we now call Christian, that were founded upon the decrees of a series of Roman Emperors in an attempt to explain sacred truths from a carnal perspective in support of an institutionalized church -- a church that these Pagan politicians used to rule the empire.  

In the Adam Clarke's Biblical Commentary for Second Chronicles, chapter thirty two, verse thirty one, it is written: “To know ourselves... is of the utmost importance to our religious growth and perfection...  He who does not know ...becomes an easy prey to their enemies. Know thyself is a lesson which no man can learn but from the Spirit of God”.   This is perhaps one of the most profound and important biblical concepts for the modern Christian to embrace -- i.e., one of the primary teachings of Jesus was to teach man about himself, and reveal to man his true relationship to God his Father.   The problem is that we no longer understand the very essence of New Covenant thought today, because we view ourselves in accordance with the ideas of Darwin.   Again, we fail to perceive the reality of the words of Jesus when he commanded: “And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven” (Matt 23:9 NIV).  

When we ask why?   It is because we must perceive the reality that our essence of mind is an embryonic image of our pre-existent soul that has its origin in the Kingdom with our Heavenly Father and Source of Being.   From this perspective, we were a gift that was given to our parents who provided the vessel that is our physical body -- and we were placed in their care both for our own growth and development, as well as the growth and development of our parents.   In fact, taking this gift from God that is given in the form of an infant, and rearing this child in The Way of the Light, is a far greater expression of the practice of religion, and can do more for the advancement of the soul in its journey toward the Kingdom, than all the prayer, and all the singing of songs in all the churches the world over.  

The relationship of father, mother and child is both so important to the individual, as well as being the embodiment of a paramount key in the pursuit of Truth in the life of the disciple, that the perfection of Enoch was portrayed in the birth of his son: “And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah… And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him” (Gen 5:22-24 KJV).   We would understand what was being portrayed in the forms and symbols if we were able to comprehend the working of the numeric values in conjunction with the meaning of the names presented in the original Hebrew language -- i.e., we would learn the relationship of Enoch and Methuselah in our own lives.   That we cannot, causes us to perceive only a very surface understanding of the soul and spiritual message that is being portrayed in the scriptures.

If, then, we are to begin to understand our genuine relationship to God -- our true Source of Being -- then we must become aware of our true reality as spiritual beings who are presently inhabiting physical vessels during our sojourn in this life.   To accomplish this, each one of us must come to learn the meaning of the symbols in the scriptures -- the meaning of Enoch, the seventh from Adam, and understand why it is written that when Enoch had a son named Methuselah, that he walked with God, and God took him.   We must embrace this knowledge in the experiences of our own lives, and the revelation must be taught to us from the indwelling Light that is the only valid Teacher for all those who call themselves Christian.   The problem is that we have continued to embrace the philosophy of carnal men to learn about ourselves, instead of learning from the indwelling Word that is sent from our Heavenly Father.

In this respect, the disciples of Jesus were very different than any other people the world has ever known.   It was easy for them to fulfill the biblical mandate for them to be alien residents who were in the world but not of it.   By following in The Way, and seeking the Light, they were able to use the other ninety percent of their mind that natural, or normal carnal men cannot use.   They understood through their own experiences of life that ninety percent of their being did not belong to this world.   When one understands the far-reaching reality of these words, then we also comprehend the biblical mandate of tithing whereby we are to give ten percent of everything we have to God -- especially when it is realized that in giving the ten percent that corresponds to this world, we gain access to the whole, and inherit life.

Because their elevated vision of life eclipsed and exceeded the limitations of this physical realm, the disciples of Jesus could easily succeed where modern Christians have continually failed.  Their minds and thinking which transcended this world could detach itself from the carnal passions of the body, which the soul uses as a vehicle.   In this detachment, they learned to control the body in much the same way that we control the domesticated animals that we have as pets.  The result was that the animal did not rule over the soul, as is the case with carnal man -- but rather, the soul ruled over the animal nature of the body.   Thus, in overcoming their own lower nature, they were then free from the enslavement to the forces that control this world -- and being free, they could then use their minds in pursuit of God's higher Truths.

It is the Lord of The Way who said: “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10 KJV).   From the perspective of the first Christians, in order to inherit this vision of Jesus, and enter the Kingdom, you must know the Secrets of Life that he imparted to his faithful disciples.   If you do not, then you will not know your enemy, and will be easily seduced by the Devil -- as portrayed in the example of Eve in the Garden.   The result is that without this knowledge, we easily become entangled in the Natural Laws that control and limit the thinking of carnal man -- and thus, inhibit our ability to see and understand God.

Unlike the disciples of Jesus, the modern Christian places great limitations on himself.   His vision of man is that of a congenital sinner -- yet he does not comprehend even the force that causes him to sin.   Regardless of the fact that Paul often writes of the need to move on to perfection, and Jesus himself commands us to be as perfect as our Heavenly Father (Mt 5:48), we are forced to reject the very purpose of the teachings of The Way, because our doctrines of belief are totally incompatible with the essence of biblical thought.

All religions the world over possess fragments of truth to varying degrees -- but once we recognize that what set the religion of the Essene-Ebionites, as well as the original Christianity that was practiced by the disciples of the Apostle Paul, apart from all other religions, was its manifestation of a complete spiritual environment and reality.   Literally, the teachings of The Way represent a piece of heaven brought to earth for the development and sustenance of mankind -- and that the revelation of Life that was brought to mankind was as a gift that would enable man to not only utilize more of his potential, but to empower him to become the divine being that he truly is -- we must recognize how great a loss it has been for all of mankind when the apostate Church of Rome destroyed the very spiritual essence of the New Covenant.   From the perspective of what once was, and what is left today, such celebrations as Christmas -- i.e., the birth of the sun god Mithra -- should rightfully be observed as a day of mourning for the great loss that all of mankind has suffered by the Paganizing of the church.   All the world should grieve the day when the Sacred Mysteries of Life were thrown away by the politicians, priests of the antichrist, and pseudo-men of god who embodied the Word with a physical form in their attempt to institutionalize the Church of Christ under the authority of the Roman Imperial Government.   The result was that all the Mysteries and Sacred Secrets were lost -- and because our thinking has been anchored to this world by the many manmade doctrines we embrace, all reference to them in the Bible is presently not understood by the flock of modern believers who do not comprehend the necessity of living a true and complete spiritual Christian lifestyle -- a lifestyle that is the foundation of manifesting the Light in our lives.    

In comparison, the sin that can be attributed to Adam and Eve pales in relation to the sin of the Christians when they made a covenant with Rome.   In the revelation of the Word, we had the religion of all religions -- the truth of all truths -- and a means for all of mankind to truly know God and the reality of realities for themselves.   Thus, every man, woman and child over the past two thousand years has been robbed of their greatest gift -- second only to life itself.

With regard to the loss of this Great Revelation of Truth, it is not the fault of the modern believer that the Christian religion has drifted away from the purity of the Word and the Light.   Having never seen or heard the Word of God in its pure form, people today have lost their spiritual compass, and do not comprehend the completeness of the revelation that they are only capable of perceiving the surface of.   They fail to grasp the intimate connection between the manner in which one lives their lives, and the ability to perceive and understand the Mysteries of God spoken of in the scriptures.  

What we must understand is this: If comprehending the Mysteries of God was easy, then Jesus never would have said: “For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it” (Matt 13:17 NIV).   When we join this statement to that of the Apostle Paul when he wrote: “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor 2:14 NKJ), we begin to entertain a very clear understanding of why carnal man cannot know the Spiritual Gospel of Christ.   It is not something that can be taught in the manner that we educate or philosophize and expound our ideas -- but rather, the obstacle to our development is as much physical, as it is mental and spiritual.

What the above two biblical statements declare is this:  It is impossible for man in his natural, carnal, state, to even begin to perceive what the Bible calls the Mysteries of God.   Moreover, it is important that we are cognizant of the fact that the Apostle was speaking to converted, baptized believers who, according to Paul: “I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way -- in all your speaking and in all your knowledge -- because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed” (1 Cor 1:4-7 NIV).

Only when we begin to recognize that man's true spiritual reality, as revealed in the essence of New Covenant thought, is so far beyond the comprehension of man in his natural state -- even to the degree that baptized believers who had received all testimony, all knowledge, and were not lacking in any spiritual gift, were yet too carnal to receive and comprehend the Mysteries of God -- can we begin to truly understand the process of first the conversion, and then the transformational experience that the genuine Christian must endure in their quest of the next stage of birth.   Being saved, or going to Glory in our modern-day perception of the gospel, is not a matter of going to church or believing in the historical Jesus -- but rather, it is a process where we beecome metamorphosed by the indwelling Word -- metamorphosed in the manner that a caterpillar is transmuted from an insect that crawls upon the earth, into a butterfly of great beauty that soars in the heavens upon the currents of spiritual reality.   And who, among us, is worthy of receiving the blessing of this process of metamorphose that transforms us through the next stage of birth from a physical being into a spiritual being?   Once we permit ourselves to become fully cognizant of the words of the Apostle when he warned the people of the simple faith, that man's higher reality so greatly eclipses even his imagination, that even those who were baptized and committed believers would look upon the Spiritual Gospel of Christ as foolishness (1 Cor 2:14), only then are we able to even begin to perceive the modern Christian dilemma -- i.e., the congenital and very physical reason why the faithful flock today possesses only a very partial and fragmentary understanding of the revelation of the Word.   Moreover, when Paul writes: “as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed”; he is making reference to the Spiritual Gospel of Christ vs the gospel of the flesh which he calls the “milk” intended for the instruction of “babes in Christ”.    The Day of Christ is the Anointing of our own Mind by the Light which reveals the Sacred Secrets the the Enlightened perception of the disciple, as he/she experiences the next stage of birth that Jesus taught is absolutely necessary to enter the Kingdom of God.

The implications of these words are so profound, that every modern believer and non-believer alike should be frightened and horrified at how little of the genuine gospel of the simple faith actually possesses today.   No amount of explaining away will diminish the meaning of these far reaching biblical statements.   No person who calls themselves a genuine follower of the Christ can ignore the implications of what is being plainly stated to everyone who opens the pages of the Bible.   Moreover, this is the exact same message that is the very foundational precept of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the mystical Jewish sect of Jews who called themselves the people of the New Covenant.

In the case of the believers at Corinth: If those confirmed and baptized believers who the Apostle Paul personally taught -- remaining with them and answering their many questions regarding the message of the gospel -- and of whom Paul confirmed they had received all testimony and all knowledge that could be imparted through traditional means of instruction -- and it is acknowledged that Paul states of these committed Christians who were not lacking in any spiritual gift, that they were yet too carnal to receive and understand the Mysteries of God -- Mysteries that they would perceive as being "foolishness" -- we must then pose the great looming question as to where that leaves us today?   The Apostle Paul has not sat in our congregation -- teaching us -- answering our many questions -- laying his hands upon us and giving us the gifts of the spirit -- and if Paul states that these faithful believers at Corinth were yet too carnal to perceive the Spiritual Gospel of Christ, and would look upon the Mysteries of God as foolishness, where does that leave us today?    Where it would, on the surface appear that we are lost, this is not entirely true, because of our indwelling soul and spiritual natures -- which reality is actually the foundation of Paul's doctrine of faith -- i.e., all that we have to do is become the good ground within which the Word is planted, and begin to perceive ourselves as the prodigal sons of our Heavenly Father.

What we must come to terms with is the obstacle that confronts us: Do we truly believe that the Pagan Emperors and heathen priests who created the institutionalized church could do what the Apostle Paul said was impossible, and explain the Sacred Secrets in the creation of their doctrines -- doctrines that were authored by Plato and the Greek Poets?   Moreover, if recent discoveries such as the Dead Sea Scrolls demonstrate that by virtue of our modern-day culture and traditional church dogma, we are in fact alien to the very fundamental mindset of the first century followers of Christ, then how can we continue to remain comfortable and complacent in the faith that we profess in our present-day doctrines and beliefs?  

The only possible answer to our spiritual complacency -- i.e., the fact that we can remain comfortable even after reading the Apostle’s words in the first three chapters of his First Epistle to the Corinthians -- is that we have become accustomed to dwelling in the bosom of the Prince of Darkness -- i.e., the god of this world has made us spiritually complacent, and has sedated us with his material and sensual comforts that possess and control us.   If we were to truly read what Paul is writing to the believers at Corinth, and then acknowledge the meaning and implications with respect to our own lives regarding what the Apostle wrote, and then apply these words to our churches today, we would be genuinely afraid -- fearful to continue to embrace the Gospel message in the complacent manner that we are doing at present.   Again, in our spiritual stupor, we are not terrified by the Apostle’s words, because the Prince of Darkness has given us piece of mind in the idea that we will go to Glory.  

In reality we are falling victim to one of the primary temptations of Christ when the Devil commanded: "Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me. Jesus said to him, Away from me, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only" (Matt 4:8-10 NIV).   By embracing the materialism and sensual/elemental gods of this world, and refusing to pick up our crosses and walk in The Way, we are in effect worshiping the Devil!   By clinging to the doctrines and teachings of Pagan Rome, while rejecting the very essence of New Covenant thought, we are turning away from the Church of Christ, and worshiping in the church of the antichrist!

Are these declarations outrageous?   Again I pose the question to the Christian world: Do you desire the genuine Jesus of Nazareth, or are you satisfied to believe in the Jesus of Constantine and the Roman Empire?   From a biblical perspective, if the modern believer is to call upon the name of the genuine Jesus -- and not the Jesus of Roman -- then they must begin by ridding themselves of all preconceived misconceptions and beliefs that have been handed down to them from the Church of Constantine -- throw off the shackles of men such as Justinian -- and learn directly from the Lord who promised: “Whoever has my commands and obeys them”, says the Lord, “he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him” (John 14:21 NIV).   The true test of faith and belief is when we “obey” the commandments of the Lord, rid ourselves of all carnal perceptions of the Word, and await the manifestation of the promise -- as seen in the words that he will “show myself to him”.   This is the exact same message attested to by the Apostle when he wrote to the baptized believers at Corinth: “…as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed” (1 Cor 1:4-7 NIV).

All people who desire to be Christian must ask themselves these questions that are presented to us in the Bible: Why would we knowingly choose to listen to manmade doctrines of belief, when it is the promise of the Bible that the Son of God himself will gladly come and teach us all things?   Why would we embrace the Pagan philosophy of Constantine, Justinian, and a whole host of unenlightened men of a heathen and very carnal mindset, while rejecting the sublime revelations of the Lord of The Way?  

From the perspective of the New Testament, the modern believer is not required to even reject anything they presently believe.   This is the beauty of what the Apostle calls the “milk” of the gospel (1 Cor 3:2).   The religion of the simple faith that is commonly believed by Christians today was designed as a set of sacred symbols that is true on a multidimensional plane.   What this means is that the gospel can be understood not only in the physical written manner that it is presently believed, but also can be realized as events of both mind and spirit in the life of the disciple.   If modern Christians can embrace the great truth that, though they are not wrong in many of the things they believe, but that there is something missing that can only be received through the process of themselves becoming the genuine spiritual disciples of Christ, all is not lost.  

When the people of the simple faith open their Bibles they see the Son of God teaching and healing the multitude of people, and condemning the adherence to the teachings of false religious authority.   Once the scriptures are envisioned as events of mind in the life of the disciple, he begins to comprehend that the indwelling Word will instruct and heal him, so long as he can release himself from the anchor of the traditions and teachings of both the secular and false religious doctrines of this world.   Once the reality of the true depth of the Bible is presented to us, and we truly begin to believe and have faith in its message, then we have no other choice than to live our lives in the manner that the indwelling Word would have us live, in order that the indwelling Word can fully manifest throughout every aspect of our lives.

What this means is that the most important element of New Covenant teachings is generally rejected by the modern believer who attempts to sever the manner they live from the biblical message: “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15 KJV).   One of the continual commands of Jesus towards those he healed was to sin not more, as seen in the words: “Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee” (John 5:14 KJV).   This is the same exact message of the Apostle Paul where he writes:

“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin--because anyone who has died has been freed from sin… Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey-- whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 6:1-23 NIV)

Because the institutionalized church was incapable of perceiving man’s indwelling soul and spiritual nature, those who created our traditional doctrines of belief were incapable of comprehending that each of us is exactly what the Bible proclaims: “‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring’” (Acts 17:28 NIV).  

Again, the answer to our questions is contained in one of the very books of the Bible that Martin Luther rejected as being spurious: “In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: ‘My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.’    Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness” (Heb 12:4-10 NIV).

It is truly important that we recognize the wisdom of the Apostle where he conveys to us that we have a human father who is the source of our physical body, and we have a Heavenly Father who is “…the Father of our spirits”!   When we sin, we empower our physical nature that is of this world.   When we embrace the commandments of the Lord and “…sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee” (John 5:14 KJV), we begin to manifest our spiritual nature.   The result is that in channeling our vital life-force within us, we become whole, and we begin to perceive reality from the perception of the ninety percent of mind that is beyond the ability of natural man to utilize.   Regardless of whether we claim to believe, have faith, or call ourselves a Christian, when we continue to sin, we are limited to the ten percent of mind that corresponds to our physical nature -- and in the words of the Apostle: “…the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23 NIV).   Why?   Because in failing to develop from our embryonic state, we make ourselves a miscarriage in relation to the next stage of birth we must endure in order to be born into the Kingdom.   If we truly believed and had faith, then we would live in such a manner that the indwelling Word can totally consume the whole of our being.

From a Jewish Perspective

Speaking of Rebecca, the mother of Jacob and Esau, the Apostle wrote that “For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil… it was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.   As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated” (Rom 9:11-13).   Thus the Lord said: “Before I formed thee in the womb, I knew thee” (Jer 1:5).   And again it is written: “Thou turnest man to destruction, and sayest, Return, ye children of men”.   In these words we have been presented with one of the key elements in the verses pertaining to children that was removed from the gospels -- the idea that we are each known prior to being formed in the womb -- and are again made children because we had previously been led into the paths of destruction.

Since Christianity is in fact an outgrowth of Judaism, it is reasonable to conclude that it would be of benefit in our quest to comprehend these mysteries if we understood whether the belief in the pre-existence of the soul was a part of our Jewish heritage?   The following quotation is taken from The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, under the heading of Souls, Transmigration of: “The doctrine of transmigration of souls, which was especially accepted by the Karaites… is generally attacked by Jewish philosophers, but is defended by Isaac Abravanel and Manasseh ben Israel.  It appears often in Cabala; it is found in organized form in the Zohar, it is further developed in the teachings of Isaac Luria (1534-1572), and in Hasidism it becomes a universal belief.   According to these teachings, all human souls have a common origin in the spiritual unity of the primordial man, sparks of which form the individual souls... The sin of Adam brought higher and lower souls into confusion; as a result, every soul has to pass through a series of incarnations... The soul itself has no sex, which is determined by the body and may vary from incarnation to incarnation”.  

Finally, Jesus said to Nicodemus: “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again”!   Why?   Because the rebirth is well documented throughout the writings of the Spiritual Jews that “All souls… must re-enter the absolute substance whence they have emerged.  But to accomplish this end they must develop all the perfections, the germ of which is planted in them... until they have acquired the condition which fits them for reunion with God.”

What does it mean where the Zohar states that “All souls… must re-enter the absolute substance whence they have emerged”?   Isn't the primary essence of what is being said in this writing of Jewish Mysticism the same exact vision of man's plight that is portrayed in the parable of the prodigal son?   The “absolute substance” would be another way of saying the son went forth from his place of origination with his Father, and entered into this world -- wherein, the sons of the Father “must re-enter the absolute substance whence they have emerged”.  

Interestingly enough, in Hasidism, in which the pre-existence of the soul “becomes a universal belief” (The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia), there is no salvation apart from the belief in and advent of the Messiah in the life of the individual.   In view of the fact that our present-day ideas pertaining to the Messiah have been form and strongly influenced by the Church of the Roman Empire, what if the Hasidic Jew has a more pure perception of the Son of God than does the majority of Christians?

When the Zohar states that “men do not know the designs of the Most High with regard to them…”, we must recognize that this is the same exact message that is prevalent throughout the New Testament scriptures?   In fact, isn't it because (carnal) men do not know what God requires, and (carnal) man can do nothing on his own, that prompts the Apostle Paul to write that (carnal) man is saved by faith alone.  

The Apostle is correct in his assertion that the ritual observance practiced by the Jewish sects of the Sadducees and Pharisees cannot absolve a person of sin, and save them in the hereafter -- but he would say the same thing of the ritual observances of the Church of Rome.   Based upon the words of Jesus it can also be concluded that faith and belief without actively following in the Lord's footsteps will not save even those who call themselves Christian -- i.e., “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46 KJV).   What we must understand is that Paul possessed a much higher vision of life than did the majority of Christians who followed after him -- and Paul's faith was in a system of Laws that control the destiny of mankind.

Christian's will of course say: Paul preached that man must have faith in Christ -- and this is true, but we must understand that Paul had no difficulty in connecting the historical Christ and the transcendental Spiritual Christ -- and Paul also knew that everything in Creation is subject to, and controlled by a series of Laws that either restrict or open, dependent upon the manner in which man approaches and invokes them.   We know from the writings of the historians at the time that all Essene initiates had to take an oath not to reveal the names of the angels -- what we fail to realize is that in the scriptures and sacred writings of these New Covenant people, the portrayal of angels were allegorical symbols that revealed the characteristics of the Laws that must be overcome in order to open the inner door to higher consciousness.

What this means is that the angels and powers depicted in the Book of Enoch, Daniel, and the Revelation of John, all convey to us a knowledge of the obstacles -- or Laws -- that we must transgress, in order to embrace our soul and spiritual natures.   The Essenes knew the secrets of these Laws -- Jesus taught the secrets of these Laws to his faithful disciples -- and Paul knew that if man lives and thinks in a manner that invokes the Laws that control all aspects of life, then the door to higher consciousness will open to the disciple of the Light.   In order to begin to comprehend the religion that Paul ordained, we must understand Paul's essential mindset that was embodied in the words that each man “will be rewarded according to his own labor” (1 Cor 3:8 NIV) -- which knowledge of the Laws are the essential foundational principle upon which the concept of reincarnation of the pre-existent soul is based.

The essence of New Covenant thought is based upon the journey as embodied in the parable of the prodigal son.   The fall of man as depicted in the Genesis Creation account, conveys to the seeker the universal knowledge of the journey of the soul to know its Source of Being through the knowledge of itself as the offspring of the One Eternal God.   Again we can observe this same truth expressed in a different manner by the Apostle Paul when he wrote: “For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (Rom 8:20-22 NIV).

The symbolism of Adam and Eve has far less to do with men and women as we perceive the sexes to be, than it indicates the division of the soul which has caused the female -- or reflected nature -- to wander in this world of reflected reality in search of itself.   When this reflected nature is active, it is portrayed as male.   When it is passive, it is portrayed as female.   In view of the fact that each polarity of a paradox contains its opposite in a passive or constrained manner, the manner in which it is portrayed has more to do with the circumstances of what truth the scriptures are attempting to convey to us at that point.

What the Apostle states in the above quotation is that it was the Creator God that subjected mankind to the frustration of what we perceive as the fall of man, in order that “the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage” through the process of the spiritual rebirth into the Kingdom -- i.e., “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time”.

As I have already demonstrated in previous chapters, all things are brought about by Law.   In the same way that a child is conceived by the merging of the opposites at conception, the child of the Light is born within us as a matter of Law.   Paul, who was of an elevated mindset, knew these Laws -- that the path of return had not only been envisioned since the very dawn of time itself, but was in fact perfected by Jesus, the forerunner, who through his own suffering and efforts had cleared The Way for all to follow.  

In the same way that our modern-day leaders would say to a child: If you desire to be a doctor, a lawyer, a banker, or any other profession, then you must attend certain schools in order to gain the appropriate knowledge, and you must be able to pass certain tests and requirements, and you must then practice your chosen profession, and maintain a certain standard of discipline and behavior.   The disciples of the Light who had themselves gained the knowledge of the Kingdom, taught to their own disciples the things they must do in order to embrace their destiny as the mature Sons of God.  

What this means is that we will be barred from the Knowledge of the Kingdom and the movement and very purpose of Life itself, until we can begin to comprehend the purpose of all that we see and experience in this life.   Moreover, we cannot even begin to eat of the fruit of the Tree of Life, until we are able to merge the opposite polarities of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil into one harmonious perception of Creation.   In the vision of God, all things have a reason and purpose -- and we can never begin to truly know God, without embracing the Divine Vision of Creation.  

In the language of our times, these principles can be expressed in the saying: What goes around, comes around.   In the scriptures this is expressed in the words: “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows” (Gal 6:7 NIV).   The problem is that, from the perspective of modern Christian doctrine, we place little to no emphasis on this warning of the Apostle.   We reason that in the day of judgment, it will be at that time when man will reap what he sows.   The defect in our reasoning is immediately brought to light when it is easily demonstrated that this was not the mindset of the people in biblical times -- and our present day doctrines of belief find little support in the scriptures.   What the people believed who Jesus himself taught, was that every event and aspect in the life of man is the direct result of his own actions -- good, bad or indifferent -- that were brought about by his own previous actions.  

Something that the modern believer does not understand is the fact that, when the Apostle suggests that it is God that returns to man the fruit of his own behavior and conduct, that does not mean that God -- Himself -- sits back orchestrating every event that takes place.   The first century followers of Christ were able to comprehend the workings of the organic Laws of Heaven and Earth, because they possessed an illumined mind and an enlightened understanding.   They were therefore able to perceive reality beyond the three-dimensional barrier of this world, and see that all things are brought about by the Laws of Creation -- positive, negative, and the third force which is the balance of the two -- within which all of life moves.   What we, in our limited carnal vision perceive as evil, is actually the result of a previous action -- controlled and brought about by the Laws of Creation, in direct response to a previous occurrence or action.   More important, though, is for us to open our minds to the biblical revelation that, what we perceive as evil, is not only the result of our own actions, but is also for our own good -- and when consciously merged with its opposite polarity through the knowledge of the Mysteries of God, can be channeled in a new direction to bring about our re-entrance into the Kingdom from which we originally emerged.

These truths were in fact the underlying principles of the revelation of the Gospel by Jesus to mankind.   The essence of the dynamics of these truths which are invoked by the polarities that control every aspect of life, is seen in the words of the Apostle where he wrote: “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God; for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.' No, 'if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.' Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom 12:19-21 RSV).