NEUOFFENBARUNGDeutscher Text · Volume contents
A married couple in the hereafter
[1] Look, not far from us you will see a human couple. This is a man and a woman, and they are presently in a situation which we will be able to very well use for our purpose. We will therefore quickly go to them, to catch up with them. You ask about the relationship between them. I tell you, for our purpose they could not be anything better than what they are. This is a relationship in which the wife has died only six years before the husband. The husband mourned much about her, but he threw himself after a few years completely into the arms of religion and lived faithfully according to his learned insights. But now he has also been called away from the earth and has arrived here only recently. This introduction is sufficient for the time being; the details you will practically experience in the spirit.
[2] Now that we, fortunately, have caught up with our couple, you have nothing to do other than to take notice of their conversation which will start out immediately, from which you will be able to gather everything necessary. Listen now! She presently began to ask her husband a question, saying:
[3] I am exceptionally happy to see you again after such a long time and I now believe that no death will ever separate us. But tell me now as much as you can, if my last will has been properly attended to, for it is dear to my heart.
[4] The man says: My above all beloved wife, for you to see how strictly your last will has been obeyed, I can only tell you that I have done, in my own last will, nothing other than to confirm yours anew. In my last will, I, therefore, kept exactly to yours, except for a few insignificant changes. Our whole wealth, therefore, multiplied with a few thousand by me, is bequeathed to our children. Are you happy with that?
[5] The wife says: My beloved husband, except for the changes, completely! Tell me, therefore, the amounts and to whom are they given? Dear wife, says he, the amounts is no more than two thousand guilders, is divided into five parts and are bequeathed to relatives of yours, except for one part. I had to give one part to the poor, for sake of decency. I would not have done this if you did not often during your life insisted to think about these relatives of you. But regarding the poor, you know that one always must first do something for the sake of society and then also for God's sake, because we are Christians and no heathens. Besides, these alms of two thousand guilders are nothing compared with our great bequeathed inheritance, for as I have finally calculated, each of our seven children gets a full amount of a hundred and fifty thousand guilders. All our children have learned to handle money frugally and you can be just as easy as I am about your bequeathed wealth. At my side, you can now with me, search for other riches which would here bring us into just as happy a life as we have lived upon earth.
[6] She says: I will be content with it that our children are well cared for. Every child will indeed have change in the hand with the two thousand guilders and can start out with that without immediately having to use the interest of the great capital. But, as it is just how it is, we cannot do anything about it anymore and I must be content with that.
[7] Yet, what you have said about the other, usable capital, I ask you as your still faithful and loving spouse, to let go of all your silly ideas about it; for already six years have gone in which I have wandered in great agony and worries through this dark and lonely wilderness, while the only thing edible I could find, was a kind of moss. Now and then is some sort of dry grass to be found to finally fill one's stomach with. Would you not coincidentally have come here from earth with yet a bit of dusky light exactly to this place, we would in eternity barely have found each other.
[8] He says: but my beloved wife, have you then absolutely no suspicion for the reasons you have justly come to this place? I do think that your worldly attitude has brought you here. You indeed were a very frugal and in our worldly relationships a very honorable woman and you were exceptionally wise, but the teaching of true Christianity often was a thorn in the eye to you. You have often expressed yourself about it negatively and have kept you more to the wisdom and philosophy of the world. I have often told you, dear wife, that if there would exist a life in the hereafter, then I do think that worldly wisdom would not be enough; therefore, it would be best to keep to God's word, for the temporary lasts but a short time. If there would, however, exist an eternity, we would have difficulty finding our way with temporary wisdom, as I have said. Look, dear wife, these were my literal words I have often spoken to you in trust, and as I can see now to my greatest and most woeful surprise, this has come true, sadly enough. Therefore, I do think now, dear wife, that it is now critical to us if one can say so here, to completely free ourselves of all worldly reminiscing and to turn to our Master Jesus Christ to receive compassion and pity. For if He would not help us, we will be lost forever; for I do feel in myself and know assuredly that without Christ, there is no other helper in the whole of infinity. If He helps us, we will be helped; If He would not help, then we are eternally, irretrievably lost! Now I would that I have bequeathed our wealth to beggars and made our children into beggars. This would have brought us more blessing here than all our worldly care for the material well-being of our children. Because we cannot change our worldly foolishness anymore, nothing is left for us, dear wife, as said, then for to turn ourselves exclusively to Christ, to the exclusion of all other thoughts or wishes, that He can, despite our great foolishness, be merciful and compassionate towards us and might recompense this folly to our children through his infinite mercy and compassion.
[9] The wife says: I indeed always thought that your religious, fanatic foolishness would bring you along to this world. What have you and I ever done wrong upon earth? Were we not always just to everyone! Have we ever stayed in debt to anyone or have we not always paid our housemaid the agreed upon salary? If there would exist some or the other God, or, according to your opinion, some or the other “Christ”, then it would indeed be the greatest injustice that he would reward people like us with what we see here before us. What God would take the least offense that one can have no faith in an 'old saga' riddled with nonsense and silly things. I do believe namely, and even a blind can see it, that if a God would attach some value to humanity, if a God would exist, that man would not be able to dream up anything more unjust than that this God would only once come personally, endowed with all wondrous power to man, and that too only the people of a very small region, while the whole world was indeed populated.
[10] Tell me, therefore, can God unequivocally expect that people and nations, who did not live in that same region, and especially not in the same time as Him, to unconditionally accept that He was the one Who started the teaching? Can God, if He exists and is just, blame them if they cannot do it? Cannot the people revolt against God, if He would perhaps exist and say: How would you want to harvest if You did not sow? How could you judge us, being an unjust God? Would you want to judge righteously, then judge those who saw You and to whom You have preached. But leave us alone, for we have never seen You and could never convince ourselves of Your existence. The word which was delivered to us and would have come from You is impossible for us to judge, for it could just as well have been invented as it could have been true and probably more invented than true. If we have lived upon earth, we only saw the old nature; yet, no trace of You. We came into this world, being pure children of the powers of nature. People and teachers have taught us knowledge. Our whole lives through there were not a trace of You. Why would You now want to execute judgment over us, while You never wanted to give us any proof of Your existence and character?
[11] Look, dear husband, this is as clear as the sun on a bright afternoon upon the earth. You do not see it yet because you have been here for only a short while yet. When you will have been here for as long as I have been, then it would become clear to you, even in this dense darkness. As proof of my love and faithfulness I also say that you can call upon your so-called God-Christ here at the side of your above all beloved wife for as long and as powerfully as you want to; yet I guarantee upon my love and faithfulness that you will, after years of calling, come to the clear insight that I, your always faithful, loving wife, see clearer with my natural mind than you do with your so-called godly knowledge.
[12] An old adage says about the Bible: Oh Bible, oh Bible, you are to man an evil! And look, that adage is right. Would people upon earth have the courage to destroy that old Jewish nonsense root and all and put in its place pure human logic, the world would have progressed a hundred years into the future regarding her culture. Yet, for some reason, this old nonsense still has to be preserved, by which the most honorable and just people's hands get bound unto the finer arts. What is the result? Just think with your otherwise good mind! Where does one find the most abominable, bad and poor people? Certainly, nowhere else than exactly there where the Bible and the new Christian teaching is predominant. Go to Rome, go to Spain, go to England and you will find my words confirmed.
[13] People depend upon God and become lazy while waiting for His help! Yet, the help does not come, with the natural consequence that many people impoverish and even if they do not all become bad, they do finally become a burden unto the zealous and newer people. Man proclaims everywhere, saying: God is endlessly good, highly loving and exceptionally merciful; yet, He would rather let every beggar starve if they would not be taken care of by his zealous fellow man.
[14] Look, dear spouse: it is easy for the lazy spirituals to preach to honest, diligent and therefore well-to-do people about an endlessly good and merciful God. But if we would exclude these people, then we soon shall see to what sullen end such sermons will come to. Would these black and white screamers have known how it is with life here in the hereafter, they would probably preach differently, or would instead take up the offering. There could possibly exist a God which could guide as a primordial power the whole universe, but a God as is taught by the Jewish Bible, certainly do not exist.
[15] He says: Oh, beloved wife, you are on a dreadfully wrong track, for I did read [in the writings] of famous theological authors that pure hellish spirits speak exactly like you. I can assure you that this is why you find yourself in this eternal night. Truly, I am becoming truly afraid for your sake! For with such principles I see you getting lost irrevocably forever! If you absolutely do not want to accept any other principles, then I feel myself obliged to leave you forever.
[16] She says: So, would you be able to do such a thing to me, your faithful, eternally beloved wife? I tell you, you would not be able, even if you would be damned to hell! I would not want to leave you in the fire and you would want to leave me because of my wise words? You are free to give a wise exegesis of your opinion to me, but it should not be any nonsense, for I love you too much to let you go on the wrong track. Rather, follow me, I want to bring you to a place better than here, where you would accept in a greater company, how it is here with people.
[17] He says: My dear wife, I do not want to leave you, for I like you way too much, therefore I will follow you wherever you would take me, for I can see that you are still very honest in your heart, despite your ignorance regarding true religion. You still are my good wife against whom I still have nothing to object, except for that you cannot share my insights. If you would then know about a place in the kingdom of darkness, take me there, then we will see what can be done there. Look, she takes his arm and leads him away. But we will follow this interesting pair to be witnesses of the success of this relationship. She's off and we follow them.