people have no religion. Clearly, religion is doing good to our neighbor
for the sake of God and therefore with God and from God.”
The other one said, “Their faith has made them silly.”
They both asked the doorkeeper who the people inside were. The
doorkeeper said, “They are wise Christians.”
The non-Christians said, “You’re not making sense. You’re trying to
fool us. They are entertainers. At least that’s how they sound.”
At that point I left.
Because of the Lord’s divine guidance, I came to that house, people
were discussing those topics, and things unfolded as I have described.391 The seventh memorable occurrence.Conversations with many lay people
and many clergy in the spiritual world have taught me how barren of truth
and how theologically emaciated the Christian world has become today.
Among the clergy there is so much spiritual poverty that they
scarcely know anything. They know only that there is a trinity of
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and that faith alone saves. Of Christ the
Lord, they know only some historical facts recorded in the Gospels.
All the other things that the Word of both Testaments teaches about
the Lord—for example, that the Father and he are one; that he is in
the Father and the Father in him; that he has all power in heaven and
on earth; that it is the Father’s will that people should believe in the
Son; and that people who believe in the Son have eternal life; and so
on—are to them as unknown and buried as things on the bottom of
the ocean or even in the center of the earth.
If things are read to them from the Word, they stand as if they were
partly paying attention and partly not. The statements penetrate no more
deeply into their minds than the whistle of the wind or the sound of a
beaten drum.
From time to time, the Lord sends angels to examine the Christian
communities in the world of spirits under heaven. The angels vehe-
mently complain about these communities. They say that the level of
stupid, empty discourse there about issues relating to salvation is almost
on a par with the chattering of a parrot. In fact, they say that the learned
Christian professors in those communities have no more understanding
of divine and spiritual things than do statues.
[ 2 ] On one occasion an angel told me of conversations with two men
from the clergy, one of whom had a faith that was separate from goodwill,
and the other of whom had a faith that was not separate.