each one that the others do not have. This leads to actual divisions not
only in the unity of God but also in [Christian] theology itself, and even
in the human mind in which that theology has to live. What other result
could there be except confusion and discontinuity in the teachings of the
church? In the appendix at the end of this work I will show that this is
the state of the church today.
The truth is that dividing God or the divine essence into three per-
sons, each of whom is individually a god in his own right, causes denial
of God. It is like someone entering a church for worship and seeing a
triptych above the altar with one god portrayed as the ancient of days,
another god as a high priest, and a third god as Aeolus flying in the air,
with an inscription reading, These Three Are One God.Or perhaps it is
like the same person seeing a painting above the altar that portrays God’s
unity and trinity as a deformed person with three heads protruding from
one body or three bodies sharing a single head. If people enter heaven
with this as their picture of God, they will definitely be thrown out head-
first, even if they plead that the head or heads stand for God’s essence
and the body or bodies stand for God’s distinctly different properties.16 To these points I will add a memorable occurrence.I saw some people
who had recently left the physical world and arrived in the spiritual
world talking among themselves about three divine persons from eter-
nity. They were ministers; one of them was a bishop.
They came over to me. After I talked to them about the spiritual
world—something they had known nothing about before—I said to
them, “I heard your conversation about three divine persons from eter-
nity. Could I ask you to explain this great mystery by telling me your
view of it? I’m interested in the mental images you had of it when you
were in the physical world that you recently left behind.”
The leader looked me up and down. He said, “I see that you are a
layperson, so I shall disclose the view I have had of this great mystery and
instruct you.
“My view has been and still is that God the Father, God the Son, and
God the Holy Spirit sit in the middle of heaven on exalted and majestic
chairs or thrones. God the Father sits on a throne made of pure gold and
has a scepter in his hand. God the Son sits to his right on a throne of
pure silver and has a crown on his head. And God the Holy Spirit sits