The Gospel of Goddard? Or the Gospel of Christ?

The Gospel of Goddard? Or the Gospel of Christ?

Over the past year I have been very busy, not only with my own studies and writing, but with the real-world activities in which I feel it was necessary to participate, in New Orleans and Charlottesville and Shelbyville, and also in the care of our dear friend Clifton Emahiser and other things which have taken time away from my studies and kept us on the road and away from discourse in our Christogenea Forum and our wider Identity community. I am only a man, and I can only do so much at once.

So last week when I contacted a dear friend, now that I have some time and we had hoped to see him, he shied away with the statement that our lives are “going down a different path”. Immediately I knew what he meant. So this evening I am going to address a schism which has recently occurred among some of the friends who have in one way or another been associated with my ministry. This schism is not among them in particular, but between them and myself. Neither is it due to anything which I have said or done, but rather, it is because they have chosen to wander down a path of teaching with which I cannot agree. I even believe that this path is a wicked path, under which lies a diabolical religion of humanism and materialism, a love of mammon and a rejection of Yahweh and His Word, even if it is covered over with the veneer of Scripture.

Over the past year, I have even given them space in my ministry to present their case, but I still cannot accept their premise. However being busy with many other things, admittedly I have not given this the attention which I may have, or the study I may have, and which it certainly deserves. So now I will do that. However I will not name them, nor will I make any undue accusations against them. I do not even believe that their motives are necessarily wicked, but I only feel that they have been blinded by their own desires and their need for carnal fulfillment. Here I seek to be as objective as possible, and get to the root of the divisions and the circumstances.

But before we begin, let me also say that I doubt if this presentation will heal the divisions which have already occurred. Rather, I am certain that I will only make them angry, and eager to defend themselves. Out of necessity I must give some background as to some personal circumstances, which I am not comfortable doing, however I have a need to make an example. As Paul of Tarsus had said, “For there must also be sects among you, in order that those approved will become evident among you.” So therefore it must be, even if I am saddened to lose the fellowship of brethren. I only want to warn others, that they should give deep consideration before wandering down that same path. That is my least obligation.

The reasoning by which our friends justify their departure is not new. They are, in large part, trying to “spiritually advance” themselves by following a man named Neville Goddard. In a recent Youtube video, the trailblazer in this endeavor has labelled me a “man of facts”, while he himself claims to be a “man of faith”. One Christogenea Forum member who saw this and alerted me to it recently remarked that “I have criticisms of his metaphysical stuff and his saying that there is a 'man of facts' he disagrees with ([meaning] Bill) while he is a man of faith.”

Another of the more astute members of the Christogenea Forum posted this comment in response to his remarks in this video, which is titled “Belief Burns Boats”, and I have made minor corrections for grammar:

Also he says in his latest video that he read from someone (I forget the name) that you have to burn your bridges to move forward as you have outgrown that part of your life. Where in Christianity is there ever burning any bridges? If the other party has not gone astray from Christian principles why would you burn that bridge, because even if you have advanced further than them, possibly maybe they could learn from you. Imagine if Paul thought that he had outgrown everyone and was far more spiritual and burnt his bridges. It sounds a lot like using someone until you have no further use for them. I have related to a lot of [his] videos about race and just everyday life earlier on but this is a crooked path in my opinion. And none of it takes into account our overriding collective position. Imagine the Israelites in the Babylonian or Assyrian captivity [lamenting] their lack of riches or possessions. It's just the path that had to be travelled. Some of us are fortunate to have a well-paying jobs but for a lot of us we are just the bottom of the food chain and that's the way it will continue to be (I feel) until the kingdom of God is fully established.

Therefore the fact that our friend has travelled down this path, and is bringing other friends along with him, I am compelled to answer, as I also answered it to some degree where it was posted in the private section of our Forum. This individual, who openly states these things in his videos which he publishes on YouTube, cannot conceal who it is that he is talking about because we have several hundred listeners in common. They can readily discern who he is talking about, for which reason I am obliged to answer. But before I give my answer, I want to state that I am not trying to boast. I am not trying to vaunt myself. So this is what I said, speaking of his remarks, and then of myself in defense of his remarks. I wrote:

This is really funny. And really hypocritical. I have no endowment. I never have more money in my checking account than next month's bills, at least usually. I have no job, no government checks, and Melissa has not worked since we came to Florida. She has serious issues with three ruptured disks in her back. Christogenea is a large Internet endeavor with a large cost overhead. The monthly bill for my servers is more than double what [he] pays for rent. Nobody in their right mind would do what I do on facts. Praise Christ.

Faith is expressed in actions, and not in words. Christ spoke of people who express their faith in words and said “8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”

Faith is expressed by what we do for our community and for our brethren. As the apostle James said, in chapter 2 of his first epistle, “17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. 18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” In what context did James say that? Christians love to say that “faith without works is dead”, but they ignore the context in which it the words were written.

So let’s read the preceding three verses: “14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?” So according to the apostle James, we practice our faith by offering our own substance to our brethren, when they are needy.

There is deeper a reason why I am elucidating this, and reluctantly I am going to explain it. Once again, I do not want to sound as if I am boasting. Pity me if I boast in anything but Yahweh our God and His Christ. I am not boasting, I am only stating facts. The man who now claims that I have no faith, was a beneficiary of the expression of my faith when he himself was on the verge of being homeless, and I provided a place for him in my home, sustaining him for several months as he recovered and put his own life back together. And now he claims that I am a man of facts, insinuating that I am not a man of faith. To me, that is the pinnacle of hypocrisy. Yahweh is my witness, I only offer this testimony so that others of our friends do not follow this hypocrisy. And if they do, they are hypocrites along with him.

My friends have actually departed from me, because they are indeed teaching for doctrines the commandments of men, and even the precepts of devils. They are preaching the Gospel of Neville Goddard, and not the gospel of Christ. They only borrow passages from Scripture that are complimentary to Goddard, to make it appear as though it is the Gospel of Christ. The following excerpts were found at the website Feeling is the Secret, a presentation of the book of that title by Neville Goddard. Of course, we will not present the entire book, or even an entire chapter. But we will present enough of the first chapter to attain an understanding of the premise of Goddard’s teachings.

First, from the foreword of the book:

Feeling Is The Secret, by Neville Goddard

THIS book is concerned with the art of realizing your desire. It gives you an account of the mechanism used in the production of the visible world. It is a small book but not slight. There is a treasure in it, a clearly defined road to the realization of your dreams….

After an appeal explaining why he cannot include things relating to the veracity of his claims, Goddard then says “I have purposely omitted all arguments and testimonials, and simply challenge the open-minded reader to practice the law of consciousness as revealed in this book. Personal success will prove far more convincing than all the books that could be written on the subject.”

Now, after over a year of preaching the Gospel of Goddard, we can justly say through observation that our friends have absolutely no personal success by which to convince us of its truth. We will be waiting, but I am already confident that it is not forthcoming. They can say that “belief burns boats”, but belief will not buy one for you if you desire to own one. They can say that “time will tell”, and I am certain that it will. Time is also an excuse for those who argue in favor of evolution, that it only requires lots of time – even immeasurable time, and they believe in that. For that, I would rather wait on the Lord – Yahweh our God – who has already proven Himself to be true.

Here in the first words of his book we see the beginning of Goddard’s humanism and materialism. First, he speaks of “the art of realizing your desire.” But the Scripture reveals for us the art of realizing our desire, so long as our desires are righteous. In the 37th Psalm it says, “ 3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. 4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. 5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.” But then on the other hand it warns: “7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.” The Scripture teaches us that Yahweh our God provides for us, yet the wicked prosper all around us. That is a test for us. A little further on in the same psalm we read: “9 For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. 10 For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. 11 But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.”

So why do we need Goddard, if the Scripture teaches us how to righteously realize our desire? Because Goddard supposed we can bypass God. So he says of his book that “It gives you an account of the mechanism used in the production of the visible world. It is a small book but not slight. There is a treasure in it, a clearly defined road to the realization of your dreams….” Goddard promotes the idea that man can be god, that man can imagine things into existence. That is the foundation of humanism, and the concept is also found in the Kabbalah. But the Word of Yahweh tells us that He created the visible world and everything in it, so Goddard denies Him.

We shall begin with chapter 1 of Goddard’s book, which is subtitled “Law and Its Operation”:

THE world, and all within it, is man's conditioned consciousness objectified. Consciousness is the cause as well as the substance of the entire world.

So it is to consciousness that we must turn if we would discover the secret of creation.

Knowledge of the law of consciousness and the method of operating this law will enable you to accomplish all you desire in life.

Armed with a working knowledge of this law, you can build and maintain an ideal world.

In my opinion, the discerning Christian would dispose of Neville Goddard here and now. As the Scriptures inform us on several occasions, as we read in Revelation chapter 4, “11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” Now there are corruptions of Yahweh’s creation, but I know not one passage of Scripture that informs us that man created or that man may create anything. Man can rebel against God and sin, or man can labor in stewardship of Yahweh’s creation, for example as a husbandman or a craftsman, but man cannot actually create anything on his own.

The following is from Deuteronomy chapter 10, a passage we cite quite often in relation to wealth:

“6 Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him. 7 For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; 8 A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey; 9 A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass. [Note that the ancient Israelites were not blessed with things, but with the ability to obtain things through their own labor, an important difference.] 10 When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee. 11 Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day: 12 Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; 13 And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; 14 Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; 15 Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint; 16 Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end; [trials of scarcity are a test from God, and our reward is found at the end of those trials, but now a warning accompanies the reward where it said in verse 14 Then they heart be lifted up:] 17 And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. 18 But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. 19 And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. 20 As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God.”

The things that we have are given to us of God. They are gifts from Yahweh our God that He may establish His kingdom. We make nothing of ourselves. The things we have are gifts from our God and we receive them on His terms, not on our own. Often we must add our own labor in order to put those things into use. Nowhere in Scripture do we see instructions as to how man can create anything on his own. Everywhere that the children of Israel are blessed, the bounty comes from Yahweh their God, unless that bounty is from the rewards of unrighteousness for which they were then punished.

Continuing with Goddard, he then states that:

Consciousness is the one and only reality, not figuratively but actually. This reality may for the sake of clarity be likened unto a stream which is divided into two parts, the conscious and the subconscious. In order to intelligently operate the law of consciousness, it is necessary to understand the relationship between the conscious and the subconscious.

The conscious is personal and selective; the subconscious is impersonal and non-selective. The conscious is the realm of effect; the subconscious is the realm of cause. These two aspects are the male and female divisions of consciousness. The conscious is male; the subconscious is female.

The conscious generates ideas and impresses these ideas on the subconscious; the subconscious receives ideas and gives form and expression to them.

By this law – first conceiving an idea and then impressing the idea conceived on the subconscious – all things evolve out of consciousness; and without this sequence, there is not anything made that is made.

The conscious impresses the subconscious, while the subconscious expresses all that is impressed upon it.

The subconscious does not originate ideas, but accepts as true those which the conscious mind feels to be true and, in a way known only to itself, objectifies the accepted ideas.

Therefore, through his power to imagine and feel and his freedom to choose the idea he will entertain, man has control over creation. Control of the subconscious is accomplished through control of your ideas and feelings.

The mechanism of creation is hidden in the very depth of the subconscious, the female aspect or womb of creation.

All of this is humanism, the concept that man can elevate himself to the position of God. It is the denial of Yahweh our God and His power to create, and the elevation of man to the position of God and Creator. We have indication that our friends have even accepted Goddard’s explanation of the male and female aspects of consciousness and have extended them to God Himself, claiming that God is both male and female. That is the same position that the Talmudic Jews have, and now they use it to promote the idea of transsexuality. This is not Christianity. It is occultism, and Jewish occultism at that. Even if our friends strip away the anti-Christian aspects of Goddard’s teaching, they are nevertheless teaching anti-Christian concepts. We will discuss some of the passages they abuse to this end shortly.

But what follows gets worse, as Goddard begins to abuse Scripture to support his false premise. Here again, from chapter 1 of his book:

Although the subconscious faithfully serves man, it must not be inferred that the relation is that of a servant to a master as was anciently conceived. The ancient prophets called it the slave and servant of man. St. Paul personified it as a "woman" and said: "The woman should be subject to man in everything" [Ephesians 5:24; also, 1Corinthians 14:34, Ephesians 5:22, Colossians 3:18, 1Peter 3:1]. The subconscious does serve man and faithfully gives form to his feelings. However, the subconscious has a distinct distaste for compulsion and responds to persuasion rather than to command; consequently, it resembles the beloved wife more than the servant.

"The husband is head of the wife," Ephesians 5[:23], may not be true of man and woman in their earthly relationship, but it is true of the conscious and the subconscious, or the male and female aspects of consciousness. The mystery to which Paul referred when he wrote, "This is a great mystery ... He that loveth his wife loveth himself ... And they two shall be one flesh ", is simply the mystery of consciousness. Consciousness is really one and undivided but for creation's sake it appears to be divided into two.

The conscious (objective) or male aspect truly is the head and dominates the subconscious (subjective) or female aspect.

However, this leadership is not that of the tyrant, but of the lover.

So here we have it. Goddard denies that in all of these passages, Paul of Tarsus was talking about the relationships between real men and real women. Of course, there is not one shred of evidence that the Scriptures may be interpreted in this manner. Rather, Goddard insists that Paul was talking in code-language about the conscious and the subconscious. So he says that Paul’s statement that a husband is the head of the wife “may not be true of man and woman in their earthly relationship”, and by that he also advocates feminism as well as a purely psychological interpretation of Scripture. But with his psychological interpretation of Scripture, anything can be made to be true, and the Word of God is reduced to rabbinical dispute such as that found in the Talmud. If we did not know better, from Goddard’s viewpoint we may think that Paul of Tarsus must have been writing his epistles to the Frankfurt School. This is not Christianity. This is the subversion of Christianity, and we are saddened that some of our friends – or former friends – have adopted it.

We will quote the next passage from Goddard as he continues to abuse Scripture to support his false premise, continuing from chapter 1 of his book:

So, by assuming the feeling that would be yours were you already in possession of your objective, the subconscious is moved to build the exact likeness of your assumption.

Your desires are not subconsciously accepted until you assume the feeling of their reality, for only through feeling is an idea subconsciously accepted and only through this subconscious acceptance is it ever expressed.

It is easier to ascribe your feeling to events in the world than to admit that the conditions of the world reflect your feeling. However, it is eternally true that the outside mirrors the inside.

"As within, so without" ["As above, so below; as below, so above; as within, so without; as without, so within", "Correspondence", the second of The Seven Principles of Hermes Trismegistus].

"A man can receive nothing unless it is given him from heaven" [John 3:27] and "The kingdom of heaven is within you" [Luke 17:21]. Nothing comes from without; all things come from within – from the subconscious.

It is impossible for you to see other than the contents of your consciousness. Your world in its every detail is your consciousness objectified. Objective states bear witness of subconscious impressions. A change of impression results in a change of expression.

Carl Jung, the famous psychiatrist, wrote about this “Law of Correspondence”, probably before Goddard did, so this is nothing knew in psychiatric circles. This is Gnosticism. This is alchemy. This is Hermetic philosophy. This is Neo-Platonism. These are the foundations upon which the Kabbalah was written.

Note where Goddard says that “the subconscious is moved to build the exact likeness of your assumption,” he is teaching that the subconscious of man has creative power in the physical world. He is teaching that man has the power that God has where it is described in Genesis that Yahweh said “let there be...”, and it was so. Nowhere is this concept found in Scripture.

None of this is Christian, but Goddard steals passages from the New Testament in order to make it appear Christian. Where John the Baptist said that “A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven,” it was a response and a denial to those who assumed that he was the expected Messiah. So he was really stating that the Messiah would be from God, but that he was not.

Then where Christ had told His adversaries in Luke that “the Kingdom of Heaven is among you”, He was referring to the people of God, which His adversaries were not. Elsewhere He told them that they were from beneath, that they were not from God, in John chapter 8. In the verse which precedes, in Luke 17:20, Christ said “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation,” indicating that the kingdom must nevertheless come, and it is not already here within us. BUT Then in Acts chapter 1 the apostles asked Him “wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” He answered in turn “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power”, again indicating that the kingdom was yet to come. It is here in His people, but it is not yet instituted. So none of this can be twisted to mean that the kingdom is in the subconscious of men. Goddard takes two passages unrelated in context and twists them to make it so appear, but he is a dishonest interpreter. He is not a Christian.

Paul of Tarsus understood that the Kingdom of God would be established only through suffering, where he wrote in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1: “4 So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: 5 Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer…” Evidently the kingdom of God is not to be found in the subconscious of men, or Paul would have helped them to get it out into their reality.

Now, in the last passage which we shall quote from this first chapter of his book, and in direct contradiction to Paul, Goddard states:

In short, you express and have only that which you are conscious of being or possessing. “To him that hath it is given” [Matthew 13:12; 25:29; Mark 4:25; Luke 8:18; 19:26]. Denying the evidence of the senses and appropriating the feeling of the wish fulfilled is the way to the realization of your desire.

Mastery of self-control of your thoughts and feelings is your highest achievement.

However, until perfect self-control is attained, so that, in spite of appearances, you feel all that you want to feel, use sleep and prayer to aid you in realizing your desired states.

These are the two gateways into the subconscious.

Goddard cited several passages from three gospels, none of which have anything to do with his assertions. But just as badly, here he is also asserting that if a man has lust for the woman next door, that he may use sleep and prayer to imagine being in bed with her, and according to the Gospel of Goddard, one day he will awaken and she will be in his bed. Or perhaps if he has lust for money, and he sincerely believes that he already has the money he wants, it will somehow magically appear within his possession. But Yahshua Christ had warned us to the contrary, He tells us to “Pray that ye enter not into temptation.”

Paul of Tarsus also taught of the need for self-control of the thoughts and feelings, or emotions. In this regard he wrote in 2 Corinthians chapter 10: “3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.” So Paul taught that we should cast down the imaginations of men, and that we must be obedient to Christ. But against the knowledge of God, Neville Goddard teaches that man is the Creator of his own reality, that we should have faith in the imaginations of men!

We can spend months examining Goddard [or better, God-tard] against the Scriptures, and we can pull him down at every turn. We feel that what little we have addressed is sufficient for our purposes here, at least for the time being. But now we must inquire, from where did Goddard get his ideas concerning Scripture? The following is a brief biography which is found at the website FreeNeville.com, which promotes Goddard’s lectures and writings. This page is titled Neville Goddard Wiki and is purported to be a duplicate of the Neville Goddard WikiPedia Page which was reportedly removed in 2014, for reasons which are disputed.

Neville Goddard WikiPedia Page.

Neville Lancelot Goddard (1905-1972) was a prophet, profoundly influential teacher, and author. He did not associate himself as a metaphysician, with any ‘ism’ or ‘New Thought’ teaching as commonly advertised by these collective groups. Goddard was sent to illustrate the teachings of psychological truth intended in the Biblical teachings, and restore awareness of meaning to what the ancients intended to tell the world.

Neville Goddard’s Biography

Neville Goddard was born on 19 February 1905 in St. Michael, Barbados in the British West Indies, to Joseph Nathaniel Goddard, a merchant, and Wilhelmina Nee Hinkinson. Neville was the fourth child in a family of nine boys and one girl.

In 1922 he came to the United States on board the S.S. Vasari to study drama at the age of seventeen. He became a dancer, and during this time he married his first wife, and they had a son together, named Joseph Neville Goddard. While touring with his dance company in England he developed an interest in metaphysics after striking up a conversation with a Scotsman who lent him a series of books on the powers of the mind. Upon his return to New York he gave up the entertainment industry to devote his full attention to the study of spiritual and mystical matters.

Neville Goddard’s first marriage was short lived, and he remained single for years until in the 1930s he met his second wife, who was a designer. After they married, they had a daughter named Victoria or “Vicky”. In 1943, he was drafted into the U.S. Army at age 38, which he did not want, especially since he felt he was too old to become a soldier and had a wife and daughter at home to take care of. Through the power of imagination, as Neville told it in his March 24, 1972 lecture, he was honorably discharged after just a few weeks of training. One consequence of his brief Army training was that he received full United States citizenship, having been a British citizen up to this point.

Abdullah – Neville Goddard’s Teacher

Goddard’s interest in esoteric interpretations of the Bible deepened after he met Abdullah, an Ethiopian Jew who lectured on Esoteric Christianity and taught both Goddard and Joseph Murphy. Neville went to hear him somewhat under protest to satisfy the constant urging of a friend, saying “I recall the first night I met Abdullah. I had purposely delayed going to one of his meetings because a man whose judgement I did not trust had insisted on my attendance. At the end of the meeting, Ab approached me and said: ‘Neville, you are six months late.’ Startled, I questioned how he knew my name, when he said: ‘The brothers told me you would be here six months ago.’ Then he added: ‘I will remain until you have received all that I must give you. Then I will depart.’ He, too, may have longed to go, but he had to wait for me.” From this introduction, Neville studied with Abdullah learning Hebrew, the Kabbalah, and the hidden symbolic meaning of Scripture.

Now this is where we must throw down the gauntlet. Anyone teaching according to the writings of Neville Goddard is teaching according to the Kabbalah, and in pursuit of the humanism and materialism of the Jews. We want nothing to do with these things, and of course, we understand why one those those same friends declared that “belief burns boats”, but that is because his belief is not a Christian belief. Let this be a warning to all of our friends, do not be deceived by this attempt to repackage the Kabbalah within Christian Identity.

Here is an assortment of quotations from the balance of that Neville Goddard WikiPedia Page:

In his early lectures and books Neville dealt solely with what he called The Law, the technique of creating one’s physical reality through imagining. It is this portion of his expression that most closely accords with the teachings of the New Thought movement….

In the year 1959, he began to experience what he called “The Promise.” He later wrote, “I did not know of The Promise until I began to experience it and have it unfold within me beginning that summer and continuing during the next three-and-one-half years. And this is Scriptural; read it in the Book of Daniel where it is referred to as ‘a time, times, and a half.’ It comes to 1260 days in your experience of it.”

We would assert that this is certainly not Scriptural, and that Goddard is a clown who twists all of Scripture into a psychological pretzel so that he can relate it to personal experience, in the same manner that many modern Judaized Christian denominations are accustomed to doing. Daniels words only apply to the people of Yahweh collectively, and have nothing to do with personal trials or their individual consciences.

Continuing our reading:

In the latter part of the 1960s and early 1970s Neville gave more emphasis to The Promise than to The Law. One could use imaginal power to change one’s circumstances, he said, but it would be temporary, “…and will vanish like smoke.” He went on to explain that The Promise superseded The Law, claiming “Oh, you can use it [The Law] to make a fortune, to become known in the world, all these things are done, but, your true purpose here is to fulfil Scripture.” After subordinating The Law to The Promise, he became as eager to hear accounts by those who had experienced The Promise, and sharing such accounts, as he had earlier of those with The Law.

So we see that the real point of the Law and the Promise, which have absolutely nothing to do with the laws and promises of God, is actually wealth and material gain, things which Christians may have, but the love of and pursuit of which Christians should reject.

Bordering on blasphemy, we read:

Neville’s theological view of The Promise includes both the cosmology of union with the Godhead after death, and future restoration for those who do not accept The Promise during their lives. Of The Promise, he said “You do not earn it; it is a gift, it is all grace. God’s promise is unconditional; God’s law is conditional.”[17] and comes in its own good time. If you do not experience it in this life, he said, “You pass through a door, that’s all that death is, and — you are restored to life instantly in a world like this, just this world” [and] you go on there with the same problems you had here with no loss of identity – not old, not blind, not crippled, if you depart this life that way, but young.” In this restorationist afterlife, he said of people there, “They grow, and they marry, and they die there, too, with all the fear of death that we have here. And if they die there without experiencing The Promise, they are restored to life again and again in a place best suited to the work yet to be done in them. And it continues until ‘Christ be formed in You’ and as ‘Sons of The Resurrection’ you leave this world of death never to enter it again.”

Of course, Goddard’s law and promise are not Yahweh’s law and promise no matter what he claims. But here we have reincarnation and transmigration of the spirit and many other false and pagan doctrines all rolled up into one cult-like belief. It is a disgrace that this is being introduced to Christian Identity, and it is my obligation to speak against it. I only wish that I had taken the time to do so a year ago, before it festered to this point.

In a forum posting at the website Quora.com, where it was asked why Wikipedia removed the page for Neville Goddard, a sand nigger devoted to Goddard made the following remarks, which we will edit slightly for grammar:

In his writings he clearly mentions that the Bible is not about anything that happened in history. Rather he (Neville) is of the opinion that the stories in Bible are psychological events that take place in each and everyone of us. This not only makes the Bible look less holy but also makes Christianity look less of a divine religion. Neville explains how to use the faculty of imagination (which he refers to as the god within us in his writings) to achieve anything that a person desires. The ancients coded the power of mind (or imagination) in the form of these stories so that they will be passed on to the generations. They (the ancients) gave it religious importance because they understood that religion is one of the most important things that a person identifies with. Also coding the stories made the passing on of the wisdom very easy because then the powerful people would not hoard the knowledge only for themselves.(Constantinople tried to burn all the original copies and edited out all the powerful verses in Bible to a great extent.)

The same happened with the Emerald Tablet of Thot (or as some say, Hermes Trismagistus).

Neville is of the opinion that the bible is best understood and will be most properly decoded if read in the language it was originally written in (Hebrew to be more specific).

If read from Neville’s perspective the Bible will unfold the Laws of creation and help you achieve everything you desire in life (no wonder his writings or his works are not openly advertised or posted in the media, since media is controlled by the powerful people who want to keep the secrets for themselves).

In reference to this last remark, Eli James once said nearly the same things in reference to another nut-job named Ron Wyatt. But of course, most of this is inaccurate concerning the Scripture, however it seems to be very accurate concerning Neville Goddard’s opinions. This we can tell from what we have seen here in his own writings, and from many other comments made about him. Even though this source is not one we would respect otherwise, it is fitting to see what those who are devoted to Goddard say about his writings. All of this should be anathema to us, but it is a candid assessment from an admirer of Goddard’s, and not from a critic.

The problem with Neville Goddard is much like that of all other false prophets. They profess enough Christianity to make unsuspecting believers think that they are Christians, when they are really being sold a lie. If you believe that man is God, and can create his own reality through his imagination, then you dispose of Christ and man becomes the savior of himself. How Jewish is that? And while Goddard wisely taught the need for love, Yahshua Christ Himself said “21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” Similarly, it says in Jeremiah “7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. 8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. 9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Imagining that man can create his own reality, one is only engaging in further wickedness.

I had briefly explained in the opening minutes of last night's program (Special Notices to All Who Deny Two-Seedline, Part 24) what spirituality is, from Paul's epistles to the Romans and Galatians. There I said in part that “In Romans chapter 7, Paul made an example of himself and said ‘14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.’ Then in Galatians chapter 5 he said ‘18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.’ The spiritual man is the man who seeks to keep the law. The reconciliation of these passages comes with the knowledge that the law is spiritual, and it is designed to govern the flesh. But those who are guided by the spirit do not engage in the things which the law proscribes, so as long as they walk in the spirit the law need not rule over them.”

Last night I also spoke a little about idolatry. Making some off-the-cuff statements, I basically explained that the desiring of things in one's mind, when those desires captivate one’s thoughts, is indeed a form of idolatry. We all want something, whether we think we need a car or a tool or a bigger house or whatever. But Christ only tells us to "seek ye first the kingdom", and then the things that we need will be given to us. That doesn't mean that we won't have to work for them, however. Often Yahweh God provides for us merely by making certain that we can keep and use the fruits of our own labors. As it says in Ecclesiastes, “every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.” Christians must recognize that every good gift comes from God, as the apostle James wrote that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights…”

The Christian should not imagine that he can furnish his own earthly rewards, or even that he is entitled to such rewards. The following is from Matthew chapter 6: “19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

One of the precepts of Goddard’s teachings, that I did not get into but which I saw in his writings as I researched for this presentation, is that one may more readily imagine earthly riches into existence if one intends to use at least a portion of them for the benefit of others. So people are enticed into being persuaded that if they want to spend a million dollars on their brother, that perhaps they can be blessed with ten million dollars. This is like attempting to extort God. If Yahweh wanted your brother to have a million dollars, why would you think that He needs you to give it to him? Goddard is wrong on so many levels, and they who follow him magnify the error manifold.

Rather than pursing earthly riches, Christ told His disciples: “ 25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? [So we do not dream or pray at night of food and drink and better clothing.] 26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? [We cannot imagine our reality, rather, we are stuck with ourselves the way we are.] 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

Where did Christ teach that we can provide for ourselves? Where did he teach that we can imagine our own food or clothing into existence? Where did He even mention that we should dream up yachts or mansions? You would think that if Neville Goddard were true, we would find such truth in the plain word of Scripture, but instead, we find the opposite. This is why he resorts to secret codes and psychological interpretations, things which the Jews have done in their Talmud and Kabbalah throughout all time.

In the Gospel, recorded in Matthew chapter 7 and Luke chapter 11, Christ exclaimed that “If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone?” He was speaking of the relationship of Yahweh our God with His children. Christ never taught that man could imagine his own bread into existence, in spite of the fact that He Himself was able to feed a great multitude with only a few loaves and a few fish, on several occasions. Furthermore, these things cannot be understood or expected apart from the context of “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

The followers of Goddard would protest and say that “we are gods”, and indeed the Scripture does inform us that the children of Yahweh are “gods”. That does not necessarily mean that they have the creative power of the Only True God (John 17:3), who can create entire realities through His Word. I know of know Scripture which suggests that they do, or that they shall. In another place, Christ said that “the disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.” (Luke 6:40). The Christogenea New Testament has it to say "There is no student above the teacher, but all having been restored he shall be as his teacher."

Have we been restored? Have we been perfected, as the King James Version has it? Certainly not. The apostle Peter indicates that we are perfected in sufferings, as that is the will of God. From 1 Peter chapter 5: “8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. 10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”

Paul of Tarsus himself denied having already been perfected, in Philippians 3:12 where he said “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.” So if Paul denies having been perfected, in an epistle which was written towards the very end of his ministry, how can any of us claim to be perfected? That same Paul, in Hebrews chapter 5, presented the model of perfection in Christ where he said "8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; 9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him".

This is perfection: suffering in this world in obedience to God, even so far as death. Only then we can be like our master, but Neville Goddard evidently believed that he had found a way by which to skip all of those required intermediary steps. I am not going to believe that the apostles of Christ had the opportunity to create their own realities when Paul was beheaded by Nero, when James was stoned to death in the temple by the Edomites, or when the rest of them were martyred in various ways, and sometimes after great persecutions and much suffering.

But of course, I am not perfect either, and I am certain that I am much further from perfection than Paul of Tarsus. The friends who have followed after Goddard know me intimately, and it would be easy for them to exploit my faults in an attempt to discredit me. But I have always had an open door policy in my home, where any of my friends or listeners can come here and stay with us and break bread with us for so long as they desire. We are blessed that many of them have done so. They all know how we live and how we spend our time, so I have nothing to be ashamed of.

Melissa and I have some dreams, as probably every couple does. I have aspirations, as every man should. It is not evil to have aspirations, so long as they are righteous aspirations. A real house rather than a double-wide. Enough land to hold our own feast-day celebrations with our friends and our extended Identity family. These are among our dreams. But I do not let those things consume me, and I do not meditate upon them. I do not pray for them, except as I have said, that I believe that thoughts by themselves are prayer. Paul expressed his aspirations often. But it was always with a qualifier: If Yahweh wills. We can have aspirations, so long as they are in line with the will of our God. So to me, if our aspirations are realized, so be it, we shall glorify God. And if they are not ever realized, I will simply go about my work, and pray that I never complain.

Neither do we find fault in the aspirations of our friends, but rather, we pray they attain them, so long as they are righteous. We would love to see our friends have success in their endeavors, or receive bounty from Yahweh our God. But if Neville Goddard is the path they chose by which to fulfill their aspirations, then we sincerely believe that they are on the wrong path.

In the Gospel, the apostles found it difficult to exorcise a certain demon, and they appealed to Christ for help. So responding, as we read in Matthew chapter 17, “20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” But saying this, Christ did not indicate that one may dream a mountain or a tree into existence, which did not exist before. Rather, He was only explaining that faith may move obstacles. This sort of belief, there have been several moments in my life that I am persuaded I have experienced. But that is not the same as changing the physical reality in which one lives, or manifesting material goods from nothing. Only Yahweh can do that.

So because I do not believe this, my former friends fault me for not being “spiritual”, since I am a pragmatist who insists on sticking to the facts of the Bible and rejecting the feelings of men. But while I do not go on Youtube bragging about my “spirituality”, in my opinion I do think that I am spiritual, because I seek only to follow the Law and the Word of God, which is the True Spirit. I may not always attain that objective, being fleshly, but it is nevertheless my objective. As Paul said, the law is spiritual, and he was not speaking in reference to Goddard’s law, which is from the Kabbalah. When our friends adhered to those same things, we got along wonderfully. Now, since they started repackaging Goddard’s teachings, we have drifted apart. So for them I have consternation because I know it is not going to go well for them if they remain on that path. They should repent from this doctrine of devils.

Generally speaking, after more than a year these teachings have not manifested themselves in their lives. Following Goddard they have reduced themselves to empty hopes and dreams for material things, which is a faith of materialism that has not born fruit. When we were all spending some time together a year ago, I expressed my doubts, and I was rejected so I did not push the issue. Often, my first option among friends is to look for a different way to get my message across rather than escalating an argument.

Now a year later, they have still not yet met with success, and they make excuses. I know for a fact that they will not meet with success. However I am also persuaded that they may blame their failure on my doubt, and for that reason they are departing from me. But if they truly believed what they have come to accept, they would know that my doubt cannot change their reality. If they were true believers, they would instead comprehend that their success is not at risk by my doubt, but that my doubt should be changed by their success – if indeed they were on a true and righteous path.

I have always said that failure is God's way of guiding us to take a different direction. If you have desires but they are not fulfilled, if you have needs that do not manifest themselves in your life, then chances are you do not really need what you desire, and you should consider changing your path so that you may obtain what you actually need. Seek ye the Kingdom of Heaven FIRST.

Going to bed every night and meditating on material things that you think you need, that is idolatry. Goddard is promoting a religion of mammon. But going to bed at night and meditating on the Law or the Kingdom of Yahweh, and how you can do better to help your brethren, if you act on those prayers then your true needs may be provided – even if what is provided is only a way for you to attain what you need by your own labor. From the words of David we read in the 63rd Psalm: “5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: 6 When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.” Do not ponder as to what God can do for you, or for what you can do for yourself. Rather, spend your time in prayer to God by seeking what it is that He may want you to do for Him.

This is the conclusion to our first refutation of The Gospel of Neville Goddard. If necessary, we will do this again in the future.