Book of Divinity 4

This is an excerpt from *Oahspe: A New Bible* (1882), a channeled American religious scripture written by John Ballou Newbrough, presented in the style of ancient revealed text. It describes a heavenly power struggle between Ahura, a self-aggrandizing god who rules vast slave-like kingdoms in the spirit world, and God, the servant of the supreme being Jehovih, whose philosophy demands selfless service. The central conflict involves sixty sub-Gods who, after centuries of loyal service to Ahura, seek advancement and find his system has no upward path — his kingdoms are spiritual dead ends built on tribute, hierarchy, and stagnation. When the sub-Gods appeal to God in Mouru, he offers no titles or rewards, only the radical teaching that true spiritual progress requires owning nothing, desiring nothing, and laboring purely to uplift others. The text's most distinctive claim is its critique of the "self-God" model — Ahura's approach of accumulating subjects, wealth, and cosmic power — as the root of spiritual darkness, contrasted with a philosophy of endless giving as the only path to genuine advancement. It also introduces the idea that Ahura, unable to offer his followers real progress, will eventually promote reincarnation as a substitute for genuine spiritual growth — framed here as theological fraud.

Book of Divinity 4

Related pages View as graph →