The Great Gospel of John
Volume 8
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord and His adversaries
- Chapter 25 -
The activities of the 3 bodies of man.
If you just are a little observant, you will notice that with every thing and every object there is a distinguishable trinity. What will strike the eye first is of course the outer form, for without this no thing and no object could be imagined and could also not have any existence. And when the first exists, the second one is of course the content of the existent things and objects, for without this, they also could not exist and they also could not have any form or outer shape. Now what is the third, which is as necessary for the existence of a thing or object as the first and the second one? Look, that is an inner power in every thing or object that keeps the content of the thing or object thoroughly together and which forms their actual being. And since this power consists of the content and consequently also of the outer form of the things and objects, it is also the original being of all existence, no matter of what kind its nature may be. And without this power, the existence of a being or thing or object would be quite as unimaginable as without content and without an outer form.
2
You can see now that the mentioned 3 parts are as such easy to be distinguished, since the outer form is not its content and the content is not its inherent power. And still, the 3 mentioned parts are completely one, because if there would be no power, there would be no content and certainly also no form.
3
Now let us go back to our soul. The soul must, because of a sure and certain existence, have an outer form, namely that of a human being. Consequently, the outer form is that which we call the body or also the flesh, be it still material or spiritualized substantial, no matter how.
4
Now when the soul - as far as his form is concerned - consists of a human being, he also will have together with the form his corresponding content. This content, or the inner body of the soul, is his very own being, therefore, the soul.
5
And if all this is present, then there will be also the power that consists of the whole soul. And this is the spirit which finally is everything in everything, since without this spirit it would be impossible to have a solid substance, and without this also no body and consequently also no outer form.
6
Although the 3 distinguishable personalities are as a whole only one being, they still have to be mentioned and distinguished each one of them separately.
7
In the spirit, or the eternal essence, lives love, as the all-accomplishing power, the highest intelligence and living firm will. All this together brings about the substance of the soul and gives him his form or being of the body.
8
Thus, once the soul or the human being is present - according to the will and the intelligence of the spirit - the spirit withdraws itself deep into the center and gives the now existing soul according to its deepest inner will and intelligence a free will that is as it were separated from it, and a free, as it were independent intelligence that the soul can, partly by his outer sense-organs and partly by an inner capability of perception acquire to himself and perfect it as if it would be completely the very own work of this completely free intelligence.
9
As a result of this condition that is formed by necessity in which he feels as it were separated from his spirit, the soul is capable to receive an outer as well as an inner revelation. If he receives it, accepts and acts according to it, he will also by that become one with his spirit and therefore will more and more come to the unlimited freedom of the spirit, not only with regard to the intelligence and the freedom of will according to this enlightened intelligence, but also in the power and the might to accomplish everything whatever he recognizes and wills.
10
Again, from this you can see that the soul - as the thought of the spirit that has changed into living substance, which is actually the spirit itself - can still in a certain way be considered as something that came forth as second from the spirit, without being something else, except the spirit itself.
11
The fact that finally the soul becomes visible as an individual, clothed with an outer body that in a certain way appears as a third personality, is shown to you by daily experience. The body is for the soul an outer revelation of his deep inner spirit and has the purpose of turning the intelligence and the free will of the soul inside out, limit it, and only from then on search and find the inner limitlessness of the intelligence, of the will and its true power, and by that, as an infinite glorified and completely independent individual to become one with the inner spirit, which is the only thing that really exists in the human being.
12
Since now, by this explanation of Mine you can hopefully clearly see how a man as such - as well as any other thing from a lower level - consists of a certain distinguishable 'three', we will pass over as a conclusion of this supremely important explanation to the triune Being of God Himself, so that you will be able to clearly and plainly see why I, because of the higher and inner living truth had to advise you emphatically to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit - that means: to strengthen - the people who believe in Me and who have in fact accepted My teaching.
13
Thus, listen again carefully to what you will hear from My mouth in order to make the whole entirely and truthfully complete.
14
Look, as all of you very well know that the book of the prophets says and explains that I, Jesus, Christ - also called Son of Man, although also defined and named by different names, namely as Father, Son and Holy Spirit - am the true God. And still, God is only one individual majesty in the highest perfect form of a man.
15
As you well know now, the soul, His outer body and His deep inner Spirit are united in such a way that they are only one Being, or finally consist of one individual substance. But still, they form with respect to each other a well distinguishable '3'. So are also the Father, the Son and the Spirit united, as is taught by the Scriptures of the old fathers and prophets that I have just named.
16
Once David expressed the wish that his soul, his body and his spirit be found blameless in the eyes of God. When the words of the old, wise king sound like this, could one not ask: What? Does man consist of 3 persons or 3 men? If this is already not possible with man, by whom the splitting of the three for the sake of his development and true perfection of life is clearly perceptible, how could God, who is from eternity within Himself in the greatest perfection only One, be split into three different persons or even three Gods?