The Birth and Life of Jesus.
Description of Birth and Life of Jesus Up to the Time of His Public Ministry

I am here, Jesus;

I want to write to you to-night about my birth and life up to the time of my public ministry. I was born in Bethlehem, as you know, in a manger, and when I was a few days old my parents took me to Egypt, in order to avoid the soldiers of Herod who were sent to destroy me, and who did kill a great number of male infants of less than two years of age.

The Bible story of my birth and the flight of my parents and the murder of the innocents, is substantially correct; and I only wish to add to it, that when my parents arrived in Bethlehem they were not compelled to seek the manger of a stable in order that I might be born on account of poverty, for they were supplied with funds and everything that was needed to make my birth comfortable for my mother; and as a matter of fact my father was not poor in the world's goods as poverty was considered in those days.

The Bible says the wise men came and brought offerings of gold and frankincense to my parents,  ....

or rather to me, but my parents have told me that it did not amount to so very much, so far as the money value of the same was concerned, and that their expenses of fleeing to Egypt was met by the funds that my father had prior to his reaching Bethlehem.

After they arrived in Egypt my father sought the home of a Jew, who was his relative, and lived there for a long time, doing the work that his trade fitted him to do; and by his work supported the family, and to an extent, educated myself and my brothers and sisters, for I had four brothers and three sisters, and were all, except myself, born in Egypt.

When I became of proper age, I attended the common school provided for small children, and was taught those things that had to do with the religion of the Jews, and some things that were not religious in their nature. I was never taught the philosophy of the Egyptians or of the other pagan philosophies; and when it is stated that I received my religious ideas or moral teachings from any of these philosophers, they are mistaken.

My education as to these matters of religion was derived from the teachings of the Old Testament, or rather from Jewish teachers whose text book was the Old Testament. My development in the knowledge of the truths which I taught during my public ministry, was caused by my inner spiritual faculties, and my teacher was God, who, through His angels and through my soul perceptions, caused to come to me those truths or rather the knowledge of them, and in no other way did I obtain it.

I was not born with the knowledge that I was the son of God sent to earth to teach these great truths, or to announce to mankind the rebestowal of the great gift of immortality, and the means of acquiring it. But this knowledge of my mission came to me after I became a man and had the frequent communions with God by my spiritual senses.

I was never in the presence of the Jewish priests, expounding to them the law and asking questions when about twelve years of age, as stated in the Bible, and not before my first appearance, after I became a man did I attempt to show priest or layman, that I was the messenger of the Father, and sent by Him to proclaim the glad tidings of immortality restored and of the great love of the Father which was necessary to make all men at one with Him, and to give them a home in His Kingdom.

I never was a sinful boy or man, and did not know what sin was in my heart; and strange as it may seem, I never sought to teach others these truths until after my mission was declared by John the Baptist.

In my boyhood days I was the same as other boys and engaged in the plays of childhood and had the feelings of a child, and never thought I was anything else than a child. In no wise way was I different from other children, except in the particular that l have named, and any account of me to the contrary is untrue.

My teachings were those that the Father had committed to me from the beginning, but which I was only conscious of after I became a close communicant of the Father, and learned from Him my mission. So you must believe that I was a son of man as well as a son of God, and that in the literal sense. I would not have been true to my mission had I claimed that I was the only son of God, for it is not true--and men should not so teach it.

Yes, I know it was said that my mother was told of the object of my birth and what a blessed woman she was, but this is not true. My mother, as she has told me, had no reason to suppose that I was different from other children born of men. The story of the Angel of God coming to her and telling her that she must submit to the birth of a child who would be begotten by God or by His Holy Spirit, and that she, as a virgin, should bear and give birth to that child, is not true, for she never in all her life told me that she had any such visitor; and I know that she would be as much surprised, as are many men, that such a thing as the birth of a child by a virgin could take place. So you see the Bible account of my being begotten and all the attending circumstances are not true.

My father, Joseph, never supposed at anytime that I was not his child, and the story of the angel coming to him and telling him that he must not put her away because of appearance is not true, because he never in all my conversations with him, intimated that I was other than his own child.

Between the time that I was twelve years of age and my public ministry, I lived at home with my parents, and assisted my father in his business of carpentry, and during all this time no hint ever fell from him that I was not his child, or that I was different from other children, except that I did not do sinful things.

When I commenced to get this divine love into my soul, I became very close to the Father, and this relationship resulted in my realizing that I was sent by God with a mission to perform and a great and important truth to declare; and, at last the voice in my soul told me that I was my Father's true son and I believed it, and commenced to teach and preach the truths of His love bestowed and the salvation of men.

I knew John the Baptist when I was a child growing up. He was my cousin and we often played together, and afterwards discussed the truth of my mission and the way in which it should be made known to the world.

John was a great psychic and saw in his vision who I was and what my mission on earth was, and, hence, when the time came, he made the announcement of my coming. He realized the difference in our missions, and spoke of his not being worthy to unloosen my shoes. But, yet, he did not fully understand my mission and the great truth of the bestowal of immortality upon man by the Father.

I first became the Christ when I was anointed by my Father, and that occurred at the time of my baptism by John. I as Christ am different from myself as Jesus. Christ means that principle which the Father has conferred upon me, which made me at one with Him in the possession of this great love. Christ is that love itself made manifest in me as man. This Christ principle is universal and is everywhere, just as is the Holy Spirit, but I am limited in my place of occupancy just as you are.

I never as Jesus merely, promised the great gift, mentioned in the Bible, such as, where two or three are gathered together there will I be also; for it would be impossible for me to be in all places at the same time. But Christ, being without form or limitation, is omnipresent and, consequently, may fulfill my promise in this regard. Christ is as much alive today as ever. He was never crucified and never died as did Jesus.

Well, I think you are too sleepy now to continue, well because you need sleep. I know of no special influence being exerted over you to produce sleep. I will continue in the near future.

Your brother and friend,JESUS.

 

Jesus Continues His Description of His Birth and Life Up to the Time of His Public Ministry.

I AM HERE. Jesus.

I will continue my letter as to my birth and work, as I commenced it last night. When I was satisfied that I was chosen by my Father to perform His work of declaring to the world the bestowal of His great gift of the divine love that was in His nature, and which formed the predominant principle of that nature, I commenced my ministry, and continued to work for the redemption of mankind on earth, until my death on the cross. I was not then as perfect as I am now, and my knowledge of the truths of the Father was not so great as it is now.

Let men know, that what I taught was true, even though I did not teach all the truth, and they will learn that I am my Father's true son, and the special messenger by whom these great truths was to be taught to mankind. I was not, when on earth, so filled with the love of the Father as I am now, and had not the power to make men feel that this love is the only thing that will reconcile them to the Father and make them at one with Him, as I have now. So men must believe that I am communicating to them the real truths which will show them the way to the Fathers love and to their own salvation.

You have in your mind the desire to know how it was that the wise men came to me with their offerings and adoration, if I was not specially created by God to become His son and representative on earth.

Well, the wise men came, but their coming was not because of any knowledge they had that I was a child divinely created, or that I was not a natural child, but because they were astrologers and at the time saw a new and brilliant star in the heavens, and which to them meant that some important event had taken place; and, being students of the Old Testament, wherein such a star was referred to as the forerunner of the birth of a saviour, they concluded that that star was the one intended, and that my birth being a lowly one, as they expected was the one that the Scriptures meant, and, consequently, that I was the Christ spoken of. But outside of this knowledge as astrologers and that of the Scriptures, they had no knowledge that I was the Christ to be born; and when it is asserted that they had any information from God or His angels that I was the Christ, that assertion is not true.

I know this, because since my coming to the spirit world, I have met these men and talked with them, and they have told me what I write. So, while I was the Christ referred to in the Bible--I mean in the prophecies of the Old Testament--yet, those wise men had no other knowledge of that fact than what I have told you.

I know that I was sent by the Father to perform the mission which I performed, and that it was intended in the beginning that I should be anointed as the Christ, but this I did not know until after I became a man and was then told what my mission was by the angel and my own inner voice.

My mother or father or brethren did not know, and even after I had proclaimed my mission and showed the wonderful powers that had been given to me, they did not believe in my mission, but thought that I was besides myself, that is, as you say, crazy with the belief that I was the chosen one of my Father. The Bible, itself, shows that this was their condition of mind.

So, while I am the Christ of the Bible, and the chosen instrument of the Father to make known the great truths which I have proclaimed, and which I shall proclaim through you, yet, I am not the only begotten son of God in the sense in which it is usually accepted. And much less am I, God. As I have said, there is only one God, and I am merely His son and teacher sent to the world to declare to mankind the bestowal of the gift of immortality and the way in which men may obtain it.

I will deal further with myself as we progress in our writings.

Let no man believe that I was born of the Virgin Mary, or that I was begotten by the Holy Spirit, or that I am God, for all these things are not true.

For the present I will stop, and with all my love and blessings and the blessings of the Father, will say good-night.

Your friend and brother,

JESUS.

• next message ...Mary writes that Jesus was the natural son of Joseph and Mary