The Divine Body

Neville Goddard

Tonight’s subject is “The Divine Body.” The Bible speaks of two bodies, one belonging to this age and one belonging to That Age. It speaks of the body of this age as flesh and blood, and it speaks of the body of That Age as the body of Spirit.

Blake made the statement that, “Man has no body distinct from his soul. That called body is a portion of soul discerned by the five senses the chief inlets of soul in this age.” [From “Marriage of Heaven and Hell” by William Blake]

I will share with you tonight my experiences of the two bodies, and then you can form your own conclusions. Metamorphosis is the central theme of the Bible, the transformation of man into God. Well, here we are in garments of flesh and blood – garments that grow, they wax, they wane, and they vanish. We all reach that inevitable point where we say that they are dead, and they turn to ash, turn to dust. Yet, I know from experience that man does not die. I do know from my own experience. This is not theory. I am not asking any person in the world to support it. I only know what I know from experience.

The wise men of this age will say, “No, that’s stupid.” One just died here recently, and on his 90th birthday, with all the honors that man can confer upon him, they gave a birthday party for him. His name is Bertrand Russell. And this lady friend of his sat next to him at the party and said, “Bertie, you know, undoubtedly you are the most famous atheist in the world, and after today, at ninety, you undoubtedly are the oldest atheist in the world. But, Bertie, suppose you are wrong. Suppose – and it can’t be too far from now – when you depart this world you should meet Him. What would you say?”

And with a twinkle in his eye, pointing his finger toward the sky, he said, “Well, I would say God, you gave us insufficient evidence.” I can almost hear him say, “You gave us insufficient evidence,” because as a brilliant mind, brilliant mathematician, philosopher, plus the fact of his rigid belief that there is no survival, he couldn’t conceive of anything outside of the brain as a physical organ, and its activity made man, and its disintegration was the end of man.

But I have news for him that man does not cease to be when men call him dead. I know from my own experience with those who have gone beyond, many of them – the majority of them – do not even know of the transition, they do not even recognize the fact that they have made the transition. So, let me share with you one experience of this – a very close and very dear friend of mine. His name is Jack Butler. He was my secretary. When I came out here, either my second or my third year, he was just about 50 years of age. In fact, he would have been, the following December, but he departed in late August.

But the day I was leaving for New York City, I received a cable saying that Jack had been found on the floor, that Jack had a heart attack and was dead. So, I went back to New York City and attended to his funeral. I took care of all the things for him. His sister wanted a Catholic funeral, so we gave him a Catholic funeral in Haverstraw, New York. I went up and took care of all the affairs and paid for the funeral.

My sister-in-law – I have two – and this sister-in-law of mine always said to me, “You know, I like you personally. I really do, Neville. I like you because you are very kind to my sister – a good husband and a good father. But I don’t believe one word that you teach, you know, for I am a Christian in the orthodox sense of the word.”

She was a pillar, and still is a pillar, of the Christian Church in Summit, New Jersey. But she said, “I don’t believe these things that you teach.” It’s perfectly all right. Now, Jack died in August, and she knew it.