| |
I am here--Your own true and loving Helen: (Mrs. Padgett)
Well dear, I see that you have been reading portions of the Bible tonight and that you have not found in the same any mention of the Divine Love in the sense that it has been explained to you or any evidence that the writers had any knowledge of the love in the way of being born again. Of course they used the expression, but the meaning that they gave to it is altogether different from the one that Jesus gave the other night.
Now you have been told that he taught the apostles this true meaning and that they to a more or less extent understood it, and especially John, and as a truth, being the very foundation of the truth of salvation, it may be surprising to you that if John wrote the * epistles which are ascribed to him, he did not speak of or attempt to explain the meaning of this New Existence. But the * apostles do not mention the New Birth in the light of the explanation that has been given to you, and you may very reasonably infer that these epistles were not written by any of the apostles to whom they are accredited, but by some writers who had some knowledge of the moral truths of Jesus' teachings and of the great one expressed as "that they should love their brethren as themselves." You will find very little in any portion of the Bible that will show you that the great truth of the New Birth was understood by the writers thereof: and all that you will find is, that love between man and God and man and man with all that flows from it, such as patience and kindness and charity, etc., is the fulfilling of the Christian doctrines. No distinction is made between the natural love of man and the love of God bestowed upon him at his creation and the great Divine Love which man never possessed until the coming of the Master.
It may seem strange, that this knowledge that the apostles and many others had in the time of the Master when on earth, should have been lost to the world. But it is a fact, and, as a consequence, the teachings of Jesus as to this great truth have for all these long years failed to work out his mission.
Well, I could write for a long time on this matter but it is not necessary, as you already know of these things.
Good night.
_____________________________
* What is the fact in reference to the authenticity of the Bible by St. Luke, Vol. I, 1st Edition--Page 150.
