Why reincarnation was edited out of Christianity?

On Saturday I began a Facebook group entitled Barbro Karlen and Anne Frank after one of the most famous cases of a child remembering a past life.

Yesterday I got the most logical explanation I have ever read as to why reincarnation may have been edited out of the Christian scriptures:

Quote :: Bruce F. MacDonald: "Thank you ,Dennis. An awareness of reincarnation is very important. When I was channelling the book, "The Thomas Book: Near Death, a Quest and a New Gospel by the Twin Brother of Jesus," I was constantly made aware of the importance of reincarnation to Jesus and to the early Christians. There are very important lessons about reincarnation in The Thomas Book, and the way it was written depends on the reality of reincarnation. A modern direct descendent of Jesus' teachings about reincarnation can be found in the Coptic Church in Egypt, which claims it drew its original teachings from St. Mark, who received his teachings from Jesus. They assert that reincarnation was one of the central teachings of Jesus himself, but that it was wiped out of the wider church by some of the later Roman emperors because those rulers did not want to think that they might be born as lesser beings sometime in the future. The emperors, in their pride, did not want to believe Jesus' teaching that "you reap what you sow," and that they might have to face the consequences of their actions in a future life. They wanted to be in the position where they answered to no one for their actions, as when they were emperors, so insisted that the Bishops pass a law that they would go directly to heaven instead of being reincarnated to face the consequences of their often cruel actions.

The first century Jewish historian, Josephus, says that the Pharisees and the Essenes believed in reincarnation. Since Jesus spent much time with the Essenes in his early life, it is natural that he would preach reincarnation. When I was told by Kevin Ryerson, one of the foremost trance channels in the United States, that I was the reincarnation of Judas Thomas, the twin brother of Jesus, it was a great shock in a way, even though I had been told by Jesus, when I was channelling the Thomas gospel in the early 1980s, that I was the reincarnation of Judas Thomas, and that was why I could write the gospel which came from him. To have this confirmed by someone with the stature of Kevin made it seem more striking in the modern world. By the way, for those who wonder about Jesus having a twin brother, there was an early and wide spread belief in this twin brother of Jesus (also wiped out by some of the people in power in the early Roman church) as can be found in "The Acts of Thomas," "The Book of Thomas the Contender," "The Gospel of Thomas" and "The Song of the Pearl" (all available on the internet).

Reincarnation was replaced with a belief in hell, which was a later, non-Christian teaching which found its way into the early Christian church. According to Jesus' teachings about reincarnation, facing the consequences of our actions in future lives is how we are "rewarded or punished" for what we do, and so, as Barbro Karlen says, we make our own heaven or hell.. But none of it is "punishment," even though it might seem like it is. When we face challenges or suffering in our life, it is a way for us to learn the consequences of earlier action -- it is not punishment. And it is the best way to learn. If we have caused suffering for others in the past, we need to learn what that suffering feels like so that we can decide not to do that again. As Edgar Cayce, the famous American "Sleeping Prophet" from the early 20th century says, "We must experience in our own soul what we have brought into the lives of others." That way we learn that bringing love and compassion and joy and peace into the lives of others brings the same to us, and bringing hatred and fear and pain into the lives of others brings the same to us. When Jesus said, "Do unto others what you would want done to you," he is reflecting this idea, because what we do to others is what will be done to us.

Of course suffering is not always punishment. Sometimes we choose to face challenges in our lives in order to strengthen our faith or our compassion or our understanding in some way. And sometimes advanced souls choose to be incarnated as poor people or beggers or others low in the estimation of the world, in order for us to realize that our negative judgement of the "least of these our brothers and sisters," may be all wrong, because, as Jesus puts it, these may actually be Jesus or some other advanced soul incarnate to teach us about the nature of love and compassion. (If people want to read more about this they can go to

http://www.thomastwin.com/

DennisTate, #1:

Yes! This is one of the best short presentations I've ever seen about how and why the Catholic Church edited reincarnation out of the New Testament, just as they also edited out references to Jesus having an identical twin who went to India after the crucifixion, being a married man who intended women to have high status in Christianity, etc.

Realityrebel wrote:: DennisTate, #1:

Yes! This is one of the best short presentations I've ever seen about how and why the Catholic Church edited reincarnation out of the New Testament, just as they also edited out references to Jesus having an identical twin who went to India after the crucifixion, being a married man who intended women to have high status in Christianity, etc.

It is so truly wonderful to be in correspondence with somebody who already knows about all these truths and recognizes how important they are!

Spiritrebel....... I apologize for bouncing this a bit off topic but I know that all of us who understand about the importance of reincarnation to the First Century Messianic Jewish and Messianic Gentile community have a work to do together and I got back a reply that I know that you will immediately know is important.

http://www.politicalforum.com/showthread.php?t=451496&page=2&p=1066091998#post1066091998
Sigmund Ivarsson's Petra Project for Israel, Jordan and The Palestinians.

DennisTate wrote:

Realityrebel wrote:: DennisTate, #1:

Yes! This is one of the best short presentations I've ever seen about how and why the Catholic Church edited reincarnation out of the New Testament, just as they also edited out references to Jesus having an identical twin who went to India after the crucifixion, being a married man who intended women to have high status in Christianity, etc.

It is so truly wonderful to be in correspondence with somebody who already knows about all these truths and recognizes how important they are!

Spiritrebel....... I apologize for bouncing this a bit off topic but I know that all of us who understand about the importance of reincarnation to the First Century Messianic Jewish and Messianic Gentile community have a work to do together and I got back a reply that I know that you will immediately know is important.

http://www.politicalforum.com/showthread.php?t=451496&page=2&p=1066091998#post1066091998
Sigmund Ivarsson's Petra Project for Israel, Jordan and The Palestinians.

My opinion of Siggy's Peta Project is very close to the one Margot2 posted in #7 of the thread you cited: "Sorry, Ivarsson is an idiot. Wants to rebuild the Temple ... are you kidding me? The Bay of Fundy won't change, Venice won't dry up.. I never saw such dumb pseudo science in one place". And I'm firmly conviced that it's a waste of our limited time and energy to even discuss it, either with him or anyone else. Nor do I believe the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem will ever be rebuilt, because either that whole area will become an uninhabitable waste, possibly after the detonation of a nuclear explosive or "dirty bomb", or else the whole truth about the "invisible war" that's taking place in this area will become public knowledge. So I'm going to start a thread for discussing these matters, entitled "Astral Psionic Warfare in Israel?", rather than discuss them as an off-topic diversion in this thread.

Here is an exceptional summary of the reincarnation cycle from a near death experiencer.

Quote :: I saw that I had been both wealthy and poor, man and woman, sick and well, royalty and common personand even victor or villain Yet, I fully understood that each life was vital and going on for a much needed purpose.

Every lifetime, I learned, is orchestrated by our guides and the Elders to flow perfectly with one anotherteaching us something important about life, the Self, the Self of others, our Creator and the potential that exists within the Super Universe that surrounds us all. For the first time I had a comforting sense of trust that no matter what happened to a person in life, only good could ultimately come from it, as down the road God eternally works all things to a good end.
(Christian Andreason, chapter 5)

http://www.allaboutchristian.com/spirituality/

DennisTate wrote:

Here is an exceptional summary of the reincarnation cycle from a near death experiencer.

Quote :: I saw that I had been both wealthy and poor, man and woman, sick and well, royalty and common personand even victor or villain Yet, I fully understood that each life was vital and going on for a much needed purpose.

Every lifetime, I learned, is orchestrated by our guides and the Elders to flow perfectly with one anotherteaching us something important about life, the Self, the Self of others, our Creator and the potential that exists within the Super Universe that surrounds us all. For the first time I had a comforting sense of trust that no matter what happened to a person in life, only good could ultimately come from it, as down the road God eternally works all things to a good end.
(Christian Andreason, chapter 5)

http://www.allaboutchristian.com/spirituality/

This is essentially the same basic Spiritualist model of reincarnation that I've always accepted. However, it's important to realize that over a long series of physical lives, we influence the evolution of our karma just as much as it influences our individual spirits. For example, all the earthly incarnations I remember portray me as doing essentially the same psychic job I'm doing in this present life. Whether I'm male or female, and no matter where I live, I'm always born into a family of Spiritualists, and I always end up writing and publishing the same kind of channeled messages while remaining an obscure figure, usually living in bohemian poverty

Quote :: "You do not understand this life,” he said on a later occasion, “so you do not understand what you can achieve. You think that you were born and die and have only the time in between to live. The Sadducees do not even believe in the resurrection. And the Pharisees and Essenes believe you are saved or damned on the basis of what you do here in this life.”

“So you judge and condemn others and forsake love in order to enter heaven. Yet I tell you that the Father has many heavens and many homes for you. This is not your only life, and these are not the only things you have to learn. You will have lives in other times and places.”

“Do not judge the gentiles? You may have been a Gentile. Do not judge the prostitute” You may have been a prostitute. Do not judge the Roman or Greek? You may have been those.”

"The Father wishes you to know the life of the world in all its conditions so that you may be able to love those in all conditions. He wishes you to learn poverty and wealth, weakness and strength, sickness and health so that, in all these, you may seek Him and find Him.”

“Is He the Father only of the righteous? No, he is Father of all and Mother of all. All may come to God and find the love appropriate to their condition. Are you poor? Learn to love your fellows. Are you rich? Learn to give of your surplus to those who have nothing. Are you in a place of power? Learn to use your power for the good of others. Learn the love appropriate to the condition you are in and all conditions will become blessed.” (Bruce F. MacDonald Ph. D. page 117,118, The Thomas Book, Near Death, a Quest and a New Gospel by the Twin Brother of Jesus"...….

this is yeshua teaching his disciples

DennisTate, #7:

Yes! This is one of the best quotations I've ever seen describing some of the actual teachings that the New Testament is based on. I've always believed that the "Jesus Christ" described in the NT and many of the Gnostic and other writings from the same time period is a completely mythical character, based on the the teachings and personal history of a number of different people who lived over a period of several centuries. But I also believe that mythology has always been as important to the evolution of human civilization on Earth as history has.

Realityrebel wrote:: DennisTate, #1:

Yes! This is one of the best short presentations I've ever seen about how and why the Catholic Church edited reincarnation out of the New Testament, just as they also edited out references to Jesus having an identical twin who went to India after the crucifixion, being a married man who intended women to have high status in Christianity, etc.

What do you personally think of The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ by Levi Dowling?

I considered it to be brilliant.....
and I quote from it rather regularly on discussion forums.

Frankly.... I like the Gospel by Bruce F. MacDonald even better... but I guess that may be partly due to the fact that
Mr. Levi Dowling wrote one century or so ago.... whereas Dr. MacDonald has worded everything in a way that
makes more sense to me.......

http://www.politicalforum.com/religion-philosophy/315020-did-rabbi-jesus-yeshua-learn-about-healing-india-before-teaching-judaea.html
Did Rabbi Jesus/Yeshua learn about healing in India before teaching in Judaea?
Rabbi Jesus/Yehoshua in INDIA!!!!???

I first ran into the idea of Rabbi Jesus/Yehoshua travelling to India in the writings of Levi Dowling. Now I have found what I consider to be an even better writing on this fascinating subject.

Page 224: "Then one night, as I was sitting by the road and doing my meditations, the inner voice of the Christ came to me again and said, “Thomas, you must now learn truth of what sages of the East have learned long ago. Have you not heard that there were wise men from the East at my birth, and that they knew of the plan which the Father has for His world? So also you can learn from the wisdom of the East. They have not the whole of the knowledge of the Father, but they have come closer than any, to the sort of knowledge which can lead to salvation.”

“You wonder why the Scriptures say that the Children of Israel are the chosen ones. The Father chose them to carry the burden and blessing of His Word, and they have carried part of His truth. But no one people has the whole truth, and no one nation can come to God. Rather, the Father has given it to many nations to strive, each on one part of the plan, that in the latter days of this age, all peoples, working together, might come finally to the Father and His love.” (Bruce Fraser MacDonald Ph. D., The Thomas Book, Near Death and a Quest for Another Gospel by the Twin Brother of Jesus).
http://www.thomastwin.com/6%20A%20Thomas%20background.html

- - - - - -

The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ by Levi Dowling states that Rabbi Jesus/Yehoshua learned much of his healing gifts in India!

Quote :: CHAPTER 23

Jesus and Lamaas among the sudras and visyas. In Benares. Jesus becomes a pupil of Udraka. The lessons of Udraka. NOW, Jesus with his friend Lamaas went through all the regions of Orissa, and the valley of the Ganges, seeking wisdom from the sudras and the visyas and the masters. 2 Benares of the Ganges was a city rich in culture and in learning; here the two rabbonis tarried many days. 3 And Jesus sought to learn the Hindu art of healing, and became the pupil of Udraka, greatest of the Hindu healers. 4 Udraka taught the uses of the waters, plants and earths; of heat and cold; sunshine and shade; of light and dark. 5 He said, The laws of nature are the laws of health, and he who lives according to these laws is never sick. 6 Transgression of these laws is sin, and he who sins is sick. 7 He who obeys the laws, maintains an equilibrium in all his parts, and thus insures true harmony; and harmony is health, while discord is disease. 8 That which produces harmony in all the parts of man is medicine, insuring health. 9 The body is a harpsichord, and when its strings are too relaxed, or are too tense, the instrument is out of tune, the man is sick. 10 Now, everything in nature has been made to meet the wants of man; so everything is found in medical arcanes. 11 And when the harpsichord of man is out of tune the vast expanse of nature may be searched for remedy; there is a cure for every ailment of the flesh. 12 Of course the will of man is remedy supreme; and by the vigorous exercise of will, man way make tense a chord that is relaxed, or may relax one that is too tense, and thus may heal himself. 13 When man has reached the place where he has faith in God, in nature and himself, he knows the Word of power; his word is balm for every wound, is cure for all the ills of life. 14 The healer is the man who can inspire faith. The tongue may speak to human ears, but souls are reached by souls that speak to souls. 15 He is the forceful man whose soul is large, and who can enter into souls, inspiring hope in those who have no hope, and faith in those who have no faith in God, in nature, nor in man. 16 There is no universal balm for those who tread the common walks of life. 17 A thousand things produce inharmony and make men sick; a thousand things may tune the harpsichord, and make men well. 18 That which is medicine for one is poison for another one; so one is healed by what would kill another one. 19 An herb may heal the one; a drink of water may restore another one; a mountain breeze may bring to life one seeming past all help; 20 A coal of fire, or bit of earth, may cure another one; and one may wash in certain streams, or pools, and be made whole. 21 The virtue from the hand or breath may heal a thousand more; but love is queen. Thought, reinforced by love, is God's great sovereign balm. 22 But many of the broken chords in life, and discords that so vex the soul, are caused by evil spirits of the air that men see not; that lead men on through ignorance to break the laws of nature and of God. 23 These powers act like demons, and they speak; they rend the man; they drive him to despair. 24 But he who is a healer, true, is master of the soul, and can, by force of will, control these evil ones. 25 Some spirits of the air are master spirits and are strong, too strong for human power alone; but man has helpers in the higher realms that may be importuned, and they will help to drive the demons out. 26 Of what this great physician said, this is the sum. And Jesus bowed his head in recognition of the wisdom of this master soul, and went his way." (The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ by Levi Dowling)

http://reluctant-messenger.com/aquarian_gospel_022_028.htm

DennisTate, #9:

Your quotation from the Gospel by Bruce F. MacDonald didn't impress me much. There's similar material posted on literally hundreds of Web venues by people with the New Age mentality who live all over the world. Most use material drawn from both Western and Eastern religious and occult sources, and all of them fit the information they are trying to pass on into the matrix of their own personal beliefs. I long ago stopped trying to find whole books or web sites full of information I can trust, and when I read a particular article or posted message, I judge it in isolation, using my present background knowledge to do quality control on the information I find there.

IMHO reincarnation was edited out of Christianity for one simple reason, to scare the masses into submission to the Church. If one has only one life, one chance to do right to get to paradise, one will do their best to please a god, even a god that endorses throwing souls into an eternity of hell fire and damnation.
If reincarnation was accepted, Christians would realize Creator is love, pure love, and love is all you take with you.
However one does have to relive all the good and bad they do to others in the Life Review at the end of each life. Not as punishment, but to learn and advance on our journey of enlighten and knowledge.

Skytiger wrote:: IMHO reincarnation was edited out of Christianity for one simple reason, to scare the masses into submission to the Church. If one has only one life, one chance to do right to get to paradise, one will do their best to please a god, even a god that endorses throwing souls into an eternity of hell fire and damnation.
If reincarnation was accepted, Christians would realize Creator is love, pure love, and love is all you take with you.
However one does have to relive all the good and bad they do to others in the Life Review at the end of each life. Not as punishment, but to learn and advance on our journey of enlighten and knowledge.

I agree with everything you just said, and said the same things in considerable detail in the WiH book. To me the most important facts to consider here are: 1 - Belief in reincarnation is the default mode when primitive people write a creation myth, simply because there are people in every culture who have significant conscious access to their past life memories. and 2 - Theocratic religions are usually created when people who want to rule as despots over others create the myth of "salvation" for those who obey orders and "damnation" for those who don't.

Indeed RR. I've been told by more than one...' Your going to hell.'
I always ask if they will be there.
"Of course not.'' they answer.
"Then it's going to be a nice place.' I answer, which for some unknown reason ticks them off royally.

Skytiger wrote:: Indeed RR. I've been told by more than one...' Your going to hell.'
I always ask if they will be there.
"Of course not.'' they answer.
"Then it's going to be a nice place.' I answer, which for some unknown reason ticks them off royally.

What I tell such people is usually, "There is only place, and both of us are already in it. Whether it's Heaven, Hell, or someplace in between depends entirely on whether we make good decisions about how to run our lives, both during the present incarnation or during future ones." And if they argue against reincarnation, I counter with, "The fact that you don't remember past lives just proves your ignorance, and the fact that I do have such memories proves my soul is better-educated than yours."

Your much nicer than I am Kyle.

Skytiger wrote:: Your much nicer than I am Kyle.

But I'm also much older than you are. Back in Eighties and before, I said lots of things I wished I could take back...

So have I, sometimes my mouth works faster than my brain.
I'm not much younger than you, in a few months I will have finished 66 years.

Skytiger wrote:: So have I, sometimes my mouth works faster than my brain.
I'm not much younger than you, in a few months I will have finished 66 years.

That's true. My body is only seven years older than yours ... but my extensive access to past life memories makes me FEEL much older.

All my years of working on the ranch including the times I was bucked off my horse and run over by sheep and calves, as well as some past life memories, adds to my age. However all were learning lessons. Thank Creator I learned to communicate with horses and other animal life including rattle snakes. Once I remembered how to do that, things got a lot easier.

Skytiger wrote:: All my years of working on the ranch including the times I was bucked off my horse and run over by sheep and calves, as well as some past life memories, adds to my age. However all were learning lessons. Thank Creator I learned to communicate with horses and other animal life including rattle snakes. Once I remembered how to do that, things got a lot easier.

I learned how to communicate with both horses and rattlesnakes quite early in life ... but I haven't to this day learned how to teach them to communicate with one another! My worst experience of this kind happened when the the horse I was riding on rounded a corner and there was a large rattlesnake sunning itself in the middle of the path. As you would expect, the snake went into a defensive coil and started its "Do't tread on me" rattle, and the horse panicked, bucking me off as it turned around and fled. So there I was, lying on the ground about ten feet away from a large, angry rattlesnake. However, I had sense enough to freeze and not move a muscle till the snake stopped vibrating its rattle. At this point, the serpent took a hard look at me and I assume came to two conclusions: "1 This animal doesn't seem to be interested in attacking me. and 2 "It's too big for me to swallow." So the snake slithered away into the woods, and after it had disappeared, I started limping in the direction the horse had gone.

Both my favorite horse companions, Mac & Wiz, would simply step over rattlesnakes. They were never bitten. I think the snake knew they were not going to be stepped on. Me, I hung on for dear life, just in case.

Skytiger wrote:: Indeed RR. I've been told by more than one...' Your going to hell.'
I always ask if they will be there.
"Of course not.'' they answer.
"Then it's going to be a nice place.' I answer, which for some unknown reason ticks them off royally.

Yes..... back in 1943 Dr. George Ritchie.......
was given information that....
a high percentage of regular church goers.........
if they had a good level of discernment could have guessed......

hey ... this could mean me.........
and the two fold children of hell........
that are so much like me????????!

I clued to that basic idea.....
when I began to read these NDE accounts......

http://www.near-death.com/experiences/notable/george-ritchie.html#a05d

His Description of the Horrors of Hell

Quote :: They were still somewhere on the surface of the Earth; but no living person or beings of light could be seen. Before them was a plain jammed with hordes of spirits who are the most miserable and angriest beings he has ever seen. Many were engaged in hand-to-hand combat with no weapons - trying in vain to hurt and kill those who didn't agree with them. A lot of verbal abuse could be heard between them as their thoughts could be heard by everyone around them the moment they are thought. Ritchie is horrified as he wonders what living in such a realm would be like - a place where you cannot hide from who you really are. These spirits were locked into destructive thought-patterns, rage and uncontrollable lust. Some were trying in vain to get sexual gratification from each other. The wailing coming from the hordes of unsatisfied spirits was tremendous. Other spirits were in despair saying things such as, "I always knew!" and "Didn't I warn you!" Ritchie realizes this place is truly hell. Their obsessive thoughts and emotions extended beyond the physical realm and into the spiritual realm where they cannot be satisfied. Yet there was nothing preventing any of the poor spirits in these realms from leaving. There was no condemnation coming from Jesus either - only compassion for these miserable spirits. Ritchie realizes Jesus hadn't abandoned any of them here. Instead they fled from the light to escape from having the darkness of their heart from being revealed.

e. His Observations of the Temple of Wisdom

The following is the testimony of George Ritchie's Temple of Wisdom and Heavenly City Experience: They then travel to a completely different realm where some kind of enormous university is located. Spirits dressed as monks busily and happily engaged in some form of artistic behavior or research. An enormous library exists here where all the important books of the universe are assembled. Ritchie asks Jesus if this is heaven. These are the spirits of people who grew beyond selfish desires while on Earth; but, like the spirits in hell, these spirits cannot see Jesus either.

f. His Vision of the Heavenly City

Ritchie is then taken into outer space toward a distant city made of brilliant light - similar in description to the heavenly city in the Book of Revelation (see also Revelation 21:10-27.) This is the place where people go who have become like Jesus while on Earth - a place where love is the dominant focus of life. This is heaven he realizes; but he is not allowed to enter it. Instead, Jesus shows him the future of Earth and is told to return to his physical body. At this point, Ritchie is revived from death.

The deeply religious church and/ or synagogue goers......
would be amazed how many New Agers and "pagans" end up in a far far far far better afterlife than a high percentage of the sincerely religious..... but proud

Realityrebel wrote:

Skytiger wrote:: So have I, sometimes my mouth works faster than my brain.
I'm not much younger than you, in a few months I will have finished 66 years.

That's true. My body is only seven years older than yours ... but my extensive access to past life memories makes me FEEL much older.

yup.......
I have certainly heard that from others who remember many of their past lives........

I was given a rather amusing past life by one of the most gifted women I have ever met......

she remembered at least one off the scale significant past life from the first century.......

http://www.politicalforum.com/showthread.php?t=345791&page=6&p=1064547757#post1064547757
Thread: Who is the most evil person who ever lived

Realityrebel wrote:

Skytiger wrote:: All my years of working on the ranch including the times I was bucked off my horse and run over by sheep and calves, as well as some past life memories, adds to my age. However all were learning lessons. Thank Creator I learned to communicate with horses and other animal life including rattle snakes. Once I remembered how to do that, things got a lot easier.

I learned how to communicate with both horses and rattlesnakes quite early in life ... but I haven't to this day learned how to teach them to communicate with one another! My worst experience of this kind happened when the the horse I was riding on rounded a corner and there was a large rattlesnake sunning itself in the middle of the path. As you would expect, the snake went into a defensive coil and started its "Do't tread on me" rattle, and the horse panicked, bucking me off as it turned around and fled. So there I was, lying on the ground about ten feet away from a large, angry rattlesnake. However, I had sense enough to freeze and not move a muscle till the snake stopped vibrating its rattle. At this point, the serpent took a hard look at me and I assume came to two conclusions: "1 This animal doesn't seem to be interested in attacking me. and 2 "It's too big for me to swallow." So the snake slithered away into the woods, and after it had disappeared, I started limping in the direction the horse had gone.

An interesting experience indeed!

I wonder if the rattler saw the invisible army with you.....
of ancestors.... and prophets... and wise people... and saints.... and angels......
and perhaps even some restored fallen angels and fallen ghosts.....................?

DennisTate, #22

re: His [Dr. George Ritchie's 1943 NDE] Description of the Horrors of Hell
Quote :
They were still somewhere on the surface of the Earth; but no living person or beings of light could be seen. Before them was a plain jammed with hordes of spirits who are the most miserable and angriest beings he has ever seen. Many were engaged in hand-to-hand combat with no weapons - trying in vain to hurt and kill those who didn't agree with them. A lot of verbal abuse could be heard between them as their thoughts could be heard by everyone around them the moment they are thought. Ritchie is horrified as he wonders what living in such a realm would be like - a place where you cannot hide from who you really are. These spirits were locked into destructive thought-patterns, rage and uncontrollable lust. Some were trying in vain to get sexual gratification from each other. The wailing coming from the hordes of unsatisfied spirits was tremendous. Other spirits were in despair saying things such as, "I always knew!" and "Didn't I warn you!" Ritchie realizes this place is truly hell. Their obsessive thoughts and emotions extended beyond the physical realm and into the spiritual realm where they cannot be satisfied. Yet there was nothing preventing any of the poor spirits in these realms from leaving. There was no condemnation coming from Jesus either - only compassion for these miserable spirits. Ritchie realizes Jesus hadn't abandoned any of them here. Instead they fled from the light to escape from having the darkness of their heart from being revealed.

e. His Observations of the Temple of Wisdom

The following is the testimony of George Ritchie's Temple of Wisdom and Heavenly City Experience: They then travel to a completely different realm where some kind of enormous university is located. Spirits dressed as monks busily and happily engaged in some form of artistic behavior or research. An enormous library exists here where all the important books of the universe are assembled. Ritchie asks Jesus if this is heaven. These are the spirits of people who grew beyond selfish desires while on Earth; but, like the spirits in hell, these spirits cannot see Jesus either.

f. His Vision of the Heavenly City

Ritchie is then taken into outer space toward a distant city made of brilliant light - similar in description to the heavenly city in the Book of Revelation (see also Revelation 21:10-27.) This is the place where people go who have become like Jesus while on Earth - a place where love is the dominant focus of life. This is heaven he realizes; but he is not allowed to enter it. Instead, Jesus shows him the future of Earth and is told to return to his physical body. At this point, Ritchie is revived from death.

end of quotation

SR replies: Wow! This guy channeled a lot of the cosmological information during his NDE that I channeled for the "WiH" book forty years later. He interpreted the pre-verbal symbols he received telepathically using different terminology and background information that I did, but IMO, the basic meanings are very similar.

re: Tate said: The deeply religious church and/ or synagogue goers... would be amazed how many New Agers and "pagans" end up in a far far far far better afterlife than a high percentage of the sincerely religious.... but proud
SR replies: Yes! My memories of what I've experienced on the astral plane between incarnations definitely support what you just said.

re: #24

SR said: I learned how to communicate with both horses and rattlesnakes quite early in life ... but I haven't to this day learned how to teach them to communicate with one another! My worst experience of this kind happened when the the horse I was riding on rounded a corner and there was a large rattlesnake sunning itself in the middle of the path. As you would expect, the snake went into a defensive coil and started its "Do't tread on me" rattle, and the horse panicked, bucking me off as it turned around and fled. So there I was, lying on the ground about ten feet away from a large, angry rattlesnake. However, I had sense enough to freeze and not move a muscle till the snake stopped vibrating its rattle. At this point, the serpent took a hard look at me and I assume came to two conclusions: "1 This animal doesn't seem to be interested in attacking me. and 2 "It's too big for me to swallow." So the snake slithered away into the woods, and after it had disappeared, I started limping in the direction the horse had gone.
Tate replied: An interesting experience indeed! I wonder if the rattler saw the invisible army with you... of ancestors... and prophets... and wise people... and saints.... and angels... and perhaps even some restored fallen angels and fallen ghosts?
SR responds: The incident I described above occurred almost ten years before I made the 1983 breakthrough that led to the writing of WiH, and my subconscious was aware that I was involved on the astral level with the kind of spirits you described, but I had little conscious access to this information. But lots of animals are more aware such things than most people are, so your suspicions about the serpent may have some basis in fact...