"the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins" - Truth of Christianity

 

A Park around Tokyo

Truth of Christianity 

Christianity is a religion originally established to save the world by saving poor people through the teaching of Christ Jesus that poor men are welcomed in Heaven after death in this world.

From the beginning, saving the world can have a true meaning when poor men are saved, since rich men do not have a need or a request to save the world as they have been always saved in this world.  Rich men should rather want to keep the current status of the world as it is.

And, if poor men knew that there was the afterlife, the knowledge alone would not save them, since they might fall into the hells after death in this world.  The knowledge about the afterlife or the spirit alone cannot save the poor.

But, when poor men get convinced that they will be accepted and welcomed in Heaven after death in this world, they will be saved, and thus the world will be saved.

The key to this issue is that it was the Son of the God that taught poor men this truth.  Indeed, by understanding that the Son of the God assures them that poor men will enter into Heaven and obtain eternal life and happiness, poor men will be saved spiritually, no matter how much they are suffering in this world.

Rich men have been already materially and emotionally saved in this world.  So, for a holy man to save the world, he should save poor men.  Therefore, Christ Jesus, as a holy man, tried to save the world by saving the poor.

And, saving a man means saving his soul.  No matter how much wealth a man has in this world, it is useless and helpless if he cannot enter into Heaven after his death in this world.  However, no matter how poor a man is in this world, he will be saved if he is allowed to enter into Heaven and live happily forever there.     

This is Christianity.  So, every Christian has to be poor.  In other words, only through poverty one can see true meaning of the teachings of Christ Jesus and the God.

However, Satan trying to prevent this teaching of Christ Jesus is making people love wealth and money more than love to Christ Jesus and the God.  Satan falsely teaches people that rich men in this world can live rich in the afterlife, so that people do not have to be poor in this world.  Therefore, it is useless for men simply to have a knowledge that there is the afterlife and human souls live in the spirit world after death in this world.  Even Satan can brainwash people with the spiritual ability.   For rich men brainwashed by Satan, any knowledge about the spirit world or the afterlife is just another knowledge that is useless for his wealth.  But, for poor men, the knowledge that they are surely accepted in Heaven after their death in this world is really Good News.  And, Christianity is a religion to teach this truth to poor men.

Believing in this truth about the relation between poverty in this world and Heaven in the spirit world is believing in Christianity.  Other matters can be neglected by faithful and poor Christians.

       

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Mark 2, King James Version

7 Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?
8 And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?
9 Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?
10 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,)
11 I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.
12 And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.

"the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground" - Many Religions but One True Teaching and One Preferable Religion

 

Tokyo

Many Religions but One True Teaching and One Preferable Religion

People know that Christ Jesus came to the human world to save the world and the mankind with love, although some are indifferent with Him or Christianity since He did not come with promise of wealth or worldly power that changed the society.

On the other hand, there are many new religions that offer promise of wealth to people and pursue political power. Some religions even advertise that their founders have spiritual or supernatural power to make people believe that they are holy. Indeed, in Japan there are about 190,000 religious corporations.  And among the religious corporations registered in and managed by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, 477 are related to Buddhism, 327 are Christianity related, 212 Shintoism related, and 119 others.  Although most Japanese are thought to be non-religion, the total number of members of all the religious bodies in Japan surpasses the population of Japan.  

In other words, Japanese people think that any religions that pay respect to gods or spirits and have spiritual or supernatural power should be worth respecting.  However, the concept that there is the only one God in this world and the spirit world as the sole creator of everything material and spiritual is a kind of foreign concept to the Japanese.  Even, Christ Jesus is regarded as one of gods like the Buddha in some Japanese religions.

But, what is true Christianity?  First, it tells that souls of dead men go to the spirt world to continue to live as spirits.  Second, the souls of the poor and faithful are accepted in Heaven, but those of the rich and evil go to the hells.  Thirdly, good sprits in Heaven live forever happily, but evil spirits are eventually to be destroyed in the hells with Satan.  Therefore, poor and faithful men in this world should not be afraid of death but rather should be rejoiced for their promised happiness in Heaven.  This is what Christ Jesus taught people.  Therefore, everybody should try to be poor as much as possible to get eternal happy life in Heaven.  But, Satan brainwashes people to pursue worldly and material happiness that Christ Jesus did not promise.      

All the problems in the human world arise from people's unbelief in the teaching of Christ Jesus: souls of dead men go to the spirt world to continue to live as spirits, the souls of the poor and faithful are accepted in Heaven, but those of the rich and evil go to the hells, and good sprits in Heaven live forever happily, but evil spirits are eventually to be destroyed in the hells with Satan.

But, if you believe in Christ Jesus, you should surely hate Satan, worldly wealth and money, worldly success and happiness, etc.  True wealth and happiness can be only obtained in Heaven after bodily death in this world.  

From this standpoint, any religions that admit this teaching of Christ Jesus can be overlooked.  However, a religion established for fight against Satan may be preferable.  

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Genesis 2, King James Version

4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,
5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.
6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
8 And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

"he demanded of them where Christ should be born" - Soul, Take Ease, Eat and Drink, but the God should Say: "You Fool!"

                                       Imperial Holy Land Around Tokyo

Soul, Take Ease, Eat and Drink, but the God should Say: "You Fool!"

It is well known that Elizabeth Kubler-Ross and Raymond Moody studied human death to come to believe the existence of the afterlife through their own spiritual experiences.  And, Mauris Rawlings further studied reports of near-death experiences to confirm that there are hells in the afterlife. 

From the beginning, Christ Jesus assured that the poor and faithful would be welcomed in Heaven but the rich and wicked should go to the hells. 

Luke 12
16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
22 And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on.
23 The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.
24 Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?

Although the Gospels were written about 2,000 years ago, their teachings never lose meaning and significance even today.  There are many rich men who say to themselves, "I have accumulated much wealth for many years; I have to take my ease, eating, drinking, and being merry." So, the God should say to them, "You fool, tonight your soul shall be required of you: then whose shall your wealth be, which you have provided?" 

All through the Gospels, Christ Jesus emphasized that the God hated the rich.  And the rich hate Heaven, goodness, and love, so that they voluntarily avoid light in Heaven to hide in the hells where they can freely exercise their evil passions and perform any evil acts, although, under the rule of Satan.   

Among human beings, there are more bad men than good men.  Therefore, even among those who had near-death experiences, those saw the hells must be more than those who only saw Heaven or Heavenly light in the spirit world.  But, most of those who saw the hells should be silent on their experiences of seeing a hell, since they tried to forget about it due to fear of a hell or they were afraid of being identified as evil men.  So, only pleasant and happy feeling in near-death experiences has been reported when interviewed on their near-death experiences after enough time has passed to think carefully of their status in this world.  

But, if a rich man had a near-death experience, he should surely see a hell.

Christ Jesus came to this world to teach people that wealth in this world has no value compared with love of the God.  We should not try to get, accumulate, and store wealth in this world so as to avoid going into the hells after death in this world.   

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Matthew 2, King James Version

3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,
6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.
12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

"Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod" - Fight Satan even when Touching Money

 

Tokyo

Fight Satan even when Touching Money

Christ Jesus did not work to earn money, neither asking any wages nor requesting any considerations for his spiritual work to heal the sick or the maimed, help the poor, and teaching of truth.  However, for his Disciples to buy foods, clothes, etc., He received money offered by people as gratuities or fees with a sense of gratitude for his healing, helping, or teaching.  And, Satan did not miss the chance to harm and destroy Christ Jesus in these humble monetary transactions between the band led by Christ Jesus and people.  Indeed, some Disciples, including Judas the Iscariot, betrayed the teachings of the God and Christ Jesus for getting money in no mater what circumstances they were put. 

However, Christ Jesus told to follow 100% the teaching of the God. 

Matthew 5
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Money is a tool of Satan with which it brainwashes men and for which it makes people sell their souls to Satan, since in the society under Satan's influence none can earn any money to be happy unless selling any bit of his soul to Satan.  Therefore, where money is involved, Satan can act, having influence on parties concerned.  It must apply in a similar way to Christ Jesus and His Disciples.  To get rid of Satan's influence 100%, Christ Jesus and His Disciples should have not touched any money, but they used money, too.

John 6
5 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?

Although, finally Christ Jesus performed a miracle to feed people in a mountain without using money, Judas the Iscariot and other Disciples must have used money in other various occasions like ordinary people even today.  

However, without Judas the Iscariot and other Disciples, Christ Jesus must have been able to live without any money like Moses and his band in the deserts and wilderness for 40 years and Christ Jesus Himself in the wilderness for 40 days. Due to imperfect faith of His Disciples, Christ Jesus must have allowed use of money.  But, Christ Jesus was not a naive man; He understood a hell on earth.

Luke 16
9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.
10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.
11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?

 Nonetheless, Christ Jesus turned the rule by Satan to promote faith in the God.

Luke 16
13 No servant 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.

The Mammon is another form of Satan using money as a tool to rot and degrade people.  If you try to 100% faithfully follow the teachings of the God and Christ Jesus, you should live in wilderness without money and any materials, products, and produce that can be bought with money. However, as it is impossible, people accept any minor evil so as to earn money, following the rule of Satan.  But, Christ Jesus would not blame such poor people unless they forget the teachings of the God and Christ Jesus.

Finally all we have to do when earning necessary money for life is to assert to ourselves that we are not serving the God and the Mammon in parallel but pursing true riches by using unrighteous riches. Or otherwise, we have to fight Satan even when we are touching money.   

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John 1, King James Version
31 And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.
32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.

"John seeth Jesus coming unto him" - The Condition to be Called Christian

 

Around Tokyo

The Condition to be Called Christian

Christ Jesus talked about a story to make poor people understand how much they were loved by the God, which shows the condition to be called Christians.

(Luke 16)
19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:
28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

This is the most assuring story suggesting that the God loves the poor unconditionally and hates the rich unconditionally.

Indeed, like Lazarus in the story, even today poor men expect to get any remnants from wealth taken and enjoyed by the super-rich and the rich.  But, after death in this world, poor men are accepted in Heaven to get happiness and eternal life while rich men fall in the hells to suffer.  This is simple enough for any body to understand even if he cannot understand various complicated doctrines of theology such as the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.    

Furthermore, this story suggests that if rich men get knowledge of the afterlife, they cannot become poor and good, abandoning wealth in this world and pursuing happiness and eternal life in the afterlife.  The desire for material wealth in this human world is so strong that they will not want anything other than material wealth and happiness.  As a result, rich men try to continue to be rich, neglecting other suffering poor men.  Therefore, for this sin, rich men should suffer in the hells after physical death.

Human souls in the minds are satisfied and fulfilled only in Heaven.  But, to enter into Heaven, men have to be poor in this world.  The souls of rich men cannot bear bright light of love in Heaven, so that they spontaneously go to and hide in he hells to avoid the Heavenly light.  And, Satan will occupy them in the hells, forcing obedience on them.  Swedenborg saw, in the spirit world, respectable rich men who showed good manners and enjoyed social reputation in the human world exposing their internal greed, despise to the poor, and heinous nature against the God and holy sanctity and looking so ugly and vulgar.  In the spirit world or the afterlife, there are no restrictions that suppress exposure of their mean nature in the human world.  Rich and evil men freely and fully behave heinously according to their hidden evil nature.

Philosophers would say that nothing whose existence cannot be proved rationally should not be immediately believed in.  Heaven and the hells or the spirit world can be only believed in when one dies and sees the afterlife.  However, significance of love to the poor has more weight than rationality.  In this context, the story of Lazarus emphasizes the relationship between poor and rich and Heaven and the hells.  Love to the poor is part of Heavenly light.  Even in the human world, one should feel Heavenly love in love to the poor.  Above worldly rationality, there is sacred intuition.                       

Those who love this story of "Lazarus and a rich man in the afterlife" should be called Christians.

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John 1, King James Version
26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;
27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose.
28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.
29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
30 This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.
31 And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.
32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.

"And immediately his fame spread abroad" - Christ Jesus Testified that He was the Son of the God to Unbelievers

 

Mt. Fuji from around Tokyo

Christ Jesus Testified that He was the Son of the God to Unbelievers

It is said that none could continue live if he sees the God.  However, many people saw Christ Jesus and could continue to live in Palestine 2,000 years ago.  Yet, Christians today believe that Christ Jesus is the God through the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity.

According to the Gospels, Christ Jesus never said that He was the God.  

(Mark 14)

60 And the high priest stood up in the midst, and asked Jesus, saying, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee?
61 But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?
62 And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
63 Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses?

Christ Jesus said that He was to the question whether He was the Christ, the Son of the God.  However, this answer does not deny the possibility that Christ Jesus was the God.

In the question, the high priest used the word the Blessed to mean the God, while Christ Jesus used the word power to mean the God in His answer.  Therefore, the God can be expressed as the Blessed or power.  But, the word the God is different from the word the Blessed and the word power in the literal sense of these words.  

So, the question whether the Christ Jesus is the God or not is not a easy one from an intellectual point of view.  We may only say that Christ Jesus can be the God although He did not declare that He was.

To think somebody who is not the God as the God is a kind of blasphemy.  But, to think somebody whose true identity is the God as someone different from the God is a blasphemy even if that person is the Son of the God.

The key to this question is that the God is almighty.  He can be Christ Jesus who is the Son of the God while hiding His true identity.  Or He can send His Son Christ Jesus whose true identity is not the God to the human world.  So, we cannot judge which Christ Jesus is: the God or the Son of the God who is different from the God.

And, when a stupid man ask somebody whose true identity is the God whether he is the God or not, it is unthinkable that the person who is the God would answer the question respectably.    

So, we have to refer to the history of the past 2,000 years during which many people who have believed that Christ Jesus is the God have not been punished by the God due to blasphemy.  

It is known that 0.999... (the infinite series of 9) is equal to 1 like 0.333... is equal to 1/3.  If the range of the numbers in this world is between 0 to 1 and 1 is regraded as the infinite, this infinite series of 0.999... is the infinite.  But, we can access 1 by increasing 0.999... that is an finite number at any moment of increasing.

Christ Jesus is an entity with the feature of finiteness as a man.  But the God is an entity with the feature of infinity, since He is almighty.  We have to remember that the infinity God can be a finite entity while preserving His true identity, since He is almighty.  However, His true identity should be able to be seen with spiritual eyes.           

So, if those who have spiritual eyes find that Christ Jesus is not the God, we have to believe that Christ Jesus is not the God.  Yet, in the long history of the past 2,000 years, those with the ability to see men and things with spiritual eyes have never declared that Christ Jesus is not the God.     

Finally, we should stop being stupid while discussing whether the Chits Jesus the Son of the God is the God or not.  But, we have to learn, obey, and perform the teachings of Christ Jesus as the teaching of the God.  We respect those who obey the teachings of Christ Jesus, even if they do not think that Christ Jesus is the God, more than those who do not obey His teachings for the reason that they do not think that Christ Jesus is the God.

I do not think that the God will punish those who obey the teachings of Christ Jesus even if Christ Jesus and the God are two different entities with each unique identity so that some poor men think that the God is different from Christ Jesus.

But, Satan will encourage us not to obey the teachings of Christ Jesus because it is dubious that Christ Jesus is the God.  And, it is suggested by Christ Jesus that the God will destroy Satan with other evil spirits in the hells in the end. 

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Mark 1, King James Version

25 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him.
26 And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him.
27 And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him.
28 And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee.

"if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?" - A Japanese Boy who Saw the Spirit World in Japan 200 Years Ago

 

A Shinto Shrine around Tokyo

A Japanese Boy who Saw the Spirit World in Japan 200 Years Ago

In 1820 when Tokyo was still called Edo under a samurai regime, there appeared a boy who claimed that he had been took by a mysterious mountain hermit to a kind of spirit world and guided there for several years since he had been 7 years old.  A notable samurai scholar of the Shintoism religion called Hirata Atsutane showed strong interest in the boy and made a long interview with him over a year to publish a book on the record about the interview.  Accordingly, the 15 years old boy Torakichi became popular in Edo.  The book is still on sale in Japan as those interested in spiritualism pay strong attention to Torakichi.

Swedenborg is famous for his books on his experiences in the spirit world he claimed to have while living in Sweden in the 18th century.  But, Torakichi claimed that he had seen the spirit world of the Japanese version, since Japan was not yet westernized and modernized but was in the feudalistic samurai society where Christianity was officially banned.  Therefore, the spirit world described by him is a kind of reflection of the Japanese society at the time with various deities of Shinto rather than Buddhism.  The boy described how shinto rituals were performed in the spirit world.  He also wrote strange letters used there.  The boy also said that he travelled sky with the mountain hermit who became his master to various holy mountains in Japan and China and even to the moon and other stars which he found to be masses of gasses.  

Torakichi was asked about the spirit world not only by Hirata but also by other intellectual grownups.  So, the teenager boy must be under strong pressure, but he boldly talked about his experiences and opinions on the spirit world for months.  His talks were consistent and detailed. 

Swedenborg wrote that there were evil spirits as well as good spirits in the spirit world.  Torakichi also said about existence of evil spirits and the Devildom as well as sacred deities.  He showed strong sense of good and evil.

According to Torakichi, those who read well and learn much in the academic field become so proud of their knowledge that they become narrow-minded and despise others; they will go into the Devildom.  Rich men will also go into the Devildom because their greed makes the poor poorer.  And no matter how much money they have earnt, they cannot bring money into the spirit world after their death in this world.  In the interview, Torakichi criticized the Japanese society at the time where peace had been enjoyed for more than 200 years under the Tokugawa samurai regime but the atmosphere of moral corruption and deterioration was expanded.  He showed especially strong hatred to Buddhist monks protected and treated preferentially by the samurai regime.  It is generally said that Buddhist monks degraded themselves in that era while enjoying peculiar privilege given by the samurai regime.                 

Hirata Atsutane was later expelled from Edo to his home region by the samurai regime for his criticizing the calendar system of the samurai regime, although his study on Shinto is highly appraised by some people even today.  However, his book on Torakichi criticizing Buddhist monks might be the reason for his bad luck.  But, Hirata all the more believed in the existence of the afterlife through talks with Torakichi, which strengthened his sense of enthusiasm for the Shinto religion. 

Torakichi later left Edo and lived in a village around Edo to live as a medical doctor based on the super-natural power acquired in the spirit world, but he did not write books on his spiritual experience.  Without Hirata, Torakichi could not have become so popular as a boy with spiritual experience, which is very unique in the Japanese history.     

Finally, we should note that the issue of good and evil is important even in the afterlife as well as in this world, which is also emphasized by Swedenborg.

Note: Buddhism and Shinto as well as Confucianism are major spiritual or religious backbones of the Japanese people even today.  The Japanese mythology is based on Shinto, the indigenous religion of Japan, since Buddhism and Confucianism were imported from or through China.  

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John 1, King James Version
25 And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?
26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;
27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose.
28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.
29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

"it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet" - The Corona-Pandemic will End in 2024 according to Revelation

 

Mt. Fuji from around Tokyo 

The Corona-Pandemic will End in 2024 according to Revelation

Now, it is 2,000 years after the first appearance of Christ Jesus as everybody knows.  We should be glad that the human history has come into the 21st century, although past Christians thought that the end of the world should come while they were living.

So, to show respect to past Christians, we had better check Revelation of the Bible, especially in the Section 21: 

Revelation 21, King James Version
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

So, it can be assumed that the current corona-pandemic will end in 2024, since 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

There are many psychics or persons with the spiritual ability to invoke spirits in the spirit world and get information from them, which is usually hidden from human beings.  From a scientific point of view, there must be no difference between claiming that a prediction about future has been obtained from spirits coming from the spirit world and believing that it has been derived from a sixth sense while studying the Bible. 

Issac Newton wrote a prediction that the start of the end of the world would begin around 2060 after his study on the Bible.  Without an angel or a spirit telling a prediction about future, we may find a prediction through our sixth sense or religious sense while we are reading the Bible.

Indeed, it was 2,000 years from Abraham to Christ Jesus; and it is another 2,000 years from Christ Jesus to the 21st century.  So, the Bible should present some predictions on the 21st century.

At around AD 1, people must have been very spiritual or spirit-oriented, so that they understood the words of Christ Jesus from more spiritual points of view than in the current era.  And, from the late 19th century to the early 20th century, modern spiritualism was actively pursued, which should lead to works on death and the spirit world by Raymond A. Moody Jr., M.D., Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, M.D., etc.

From a long-term historical point of view, it seems that the God made human beings prepared for the coming of the third millennium.  Even, it seems that Christ Jesus chose Swedenborg for the mission to tell truth about the spirit world and the afterlife in the 18th century in the era of Newton.

Therefore, you should not simply laugh at a prediction about future made by a Bible reader based on his humble study, since Christ Jesus always chooses humble ones or those with poor minds as in the case of the miracle and prediction in Fatima.

By the way, the above sentences of Revelation can be read as predicting the situations of the 2028 US Presidential Election, meaning the next to the next Presidential Election is more critical for the human world.  

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Matthew 1, King James Version
20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.
22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven" - Great Faith Can Trigger Volcanos into Eruption

 

Around Tokyo

Great Faith Can Trigger Volcanos into Eruption

One of the most difficult part to believe in the Gospels or the words of Christ Jesus is His declaration that one can move even a mountain if he has enough faith: 

23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. (Mark 11)

We may believe that Christ Jesus performed miracles such as turning water into wine, but it is very difficult to believe that we can move a mountain by simply telling the mountain to move.  However, it must be true as Christ Jesus never lied.  

According to Swedenborg, good spirits in Heaven or the spirit world have power to destroy a big mountain in the spirit world, and thus evil spirits in the hells cannot invade Heaven.  Therefore, it can be assumed that Christ Jesus referred to this power of good spirits in the spirit world.  And, more than that, Christ Jesus must have implied that human beings living in this world or the human world can have such power if only they have enough faith needed to be a kind of good spirits.  Therefore, this word of Christ Jesus must be understood from this spiritual point of view.

In the era of Moses, Jewish people were guided by some flames of a volcano through the deserts after exit from Egypt till they reached Palestine.  Some faithful man among them or Moses must have moved the volcano so that it erupted.

The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, when the Jewish-Roman War had already ended with fall of the temple in Jerusalem and Christians were being persecuted in Rome, must have been caused by prayer of some early Christians in Rome who remembered the word of Christ Jesus to test their faith in Christ Jesus.  

Moving a mountain can be realized when a volcano erupts.  As another example, 40 years from death of Swedenborg, 20 years after the French Revolution, 55 years before the Civil War in the U.S., the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora occurred as the largest volcanic eruption in the human history.  Some Christians in Europe and the U.S. must have remembered the word of Christ Jesus to test their faith in Christ Jesus, because books of Swedenborg came to be widely known, Europeans came to ask the God for peace, and Lincoln was a believer of Swedenborg.

In January 2022, an underground volcano in Tonga in South Pacific Ocean has erupted in the middle of the corona-pandemic.  Some Christians in the countries facing the Pacific Ocean must remember the word of Christ Jesus to test their faith in Christ Jesus.    

Indeed, we should note that we can move a mountain and cause other supernatural events with enough faith in Christ Jesus and the God, because if we have strong faith, we can be given the power of good spirits in the spirit world who have supernatural power.

Therefore, we might as well assume that some faithful Christians have remembered the word of Christ Jesus to test their faith in Christ Jesus when a great natural event happens.  In deed, three years before Pope Benedictus XVI resigned from office, Mt. Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland erupted, causing enormous disruption to air travel across northern and western Europe in 2010.

In this context, with great faith in Christ Jesus and the God, we may be given power to realize whatever we wish like a holy spirit, an angel, or a good spirit in Heaven or the spirit world can.  And, believing in this theological theory should be our faith.  It must also mean that a man in this world with greater faith can become a kind of spirit in the spirt world (like Christ Jesus as a man of 2000 years ago).  

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Romans 1, King James Version

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

"of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace" - The God is the Spirit and Man has a Spirit but Man is Not a God

 

Tokyo

The God is the Spirit and Man has a Spirit but Man is Not a God

According to Christ Jesus, the God is spirit, and thus we have to pray to the God in our spirit.

24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. (John 4)

Christ Jesus made it clear that spirits exist, the spirit world, exits, the God exists, and there is a spirit in every human being.

Therefore, it is no wonder that men with near-death experiences saw part of the spirt world, and some people have spiritual power to see sprits, invoke spirits, or communicate with spirits of the deceased.   

However, some psychologists claim that there are no scientific evidence that spirits and the afterlife exist.  They also argue that the so-called spiritual phenomena reflect simply the human hopes and wishes that there is the afterlife and souls will continue to exist after bodily death in this world; the so-called spiritual experiences must be influences and effects of deep psyche.  

Indeed, in this era with advance science and technology, we cannot still get scientific evidence of existence of souls, spirits, the spirit world, and even the existence of the God.  However, even in this era with advance science and technology, Christianity and other religions are not likely to be abolished simply because religions are superstition generated when the level of the human civilization was low and the human culture was immature.  Rather, the number of those who have reported near-death experiences and come to believe the existence of the spirit world is hundreds of thousands all over the world.       

What's more, even the modern science can only tell that this whole universe or this world was generated from a type of energy called the vacuum energy and this energy might appear from naught.  Science cannot deny the possibility or the hypothesis that energy from the spirit world generated the vacuum energy and this whole universe through naught.  Science cannot deny the existence of the God.  If it did, it should be like a child denying the existence of his or her parents.

And, if our human minds work humanly, it must be that there is a soul or a spirit in every human being.  So, it is absurd that our minds deny the existence of our souls or spirits.  It is as if a mad man tried to prove that there was no such a thing as life so that he believed that he was a dead man.       

There must be a reason that there is the concept of the afterlife in any culture of human beings.  The reason must be that it is true.  In this context, we should believe the word and other words of Christ Jesus.

The God is the spirit.  And, we have a spirit in each of ourselves, which however does not mean that everyone is a god; we are just human beings with spirits inside but we are not gods.   

So, we must be cautious about men, even if they have some spiritual power, who claim that each of us is a god.  Truly, it must be a blasphemy. 

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John 1, King James Version

15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
18 No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

"many shall rejoice at his birth" - Japanese Female Spiritual-Human Being of 100 Years Ago

 

Mt. Fuji from around Tokyo

Japanese Female Spiritual-Human Being of 100 Years Ago

Not only Christ Jesus but some people performed miracles even in Japan as officially recorded, say, 100 years ago. 

Toshie Osanami (1863 - 1907) could produce from nowhere water in a sealed bottle that could heal various sickness.  She started to exercise the supernatural power since the age around 20 after showing some spiritual power such as prediction about her neighbors while working as maid in her village, which surprised her landlord.  

As time went by, people around her village (in the northeast of Honshu Island) came to ask her to cure their diseases with empty bottles in the size of a wine bottle.  She prayed to gods of shintoism, sitting before a shinto altar in her home for half an hour, with bottles, which sick people or their families had brought, placed before the altar.  And then suddenly water appeared in the bottles, with various colors such as red, yellow, brown, etc. according to the types of sickness of the sick people.  However, when someone tried to test her, pretending to be a sick man, no water appeared.

While she was living with her mother in their village, her reputation spread and many sick people came to her house to be cured by her mysteriously generated water.  Finally, the police arrested her for causing social disturbance and performing illegal medication.  She was put in a jail for two months till her release for no guilty.  During this detention, she did not spontaneously eat and drink almost at all.  She almost did not excrete. She did not have bath, but her hair never lost luster and her body never lost aromatic odor.  She was not bitten by a mosquito while others in cells were suffering mosquitos.  Indeed, even in her home, she had been living in such a manner, and she looked young as if she had been a girl before the age of first menstruation.  Her skin looked transparently white according to a girl who knew Toshie well as she was financially helped by her.

Later at the age of late 20s, she visited her younger brother who was an ordinary business man in Osaka, a big city next to Tokyo, and performed the healing practice, drawing big attention from the society.  But, newspaper companies suspected her of cheating people.  A reporter was sent to her to check a trick, but she produced healing water before him among audience.  Yet, their anti-Osanami campaign led to a legal step.  And, subject to a court, she performed healing water generation from nowhere while locked in a small space.  Judges had to admit the miracle.  Even one judge took it to his home.  So, his brother asked the court to certify her supernatural or spiritual power as in the former case in the local police in her home region.  But, the court and police gave only ambiguous words. 

She died at around 43, while she still looked like being 20 years old or so.  She predicted her own death two months before her death like Swedenborg.  She did not marry and did not try to earn big money as professional religious woman, although she founded her own religious body with help from her supporters.  She mostly helped and cured people in an innocent manner.  According to her younger brother, she was simple-hearted like a young girl all through her life.  But, she was an active woman, sometimes defeating strong men in arm wrestling.  She liked to climb mountains, such as Mt. Fuji and other mountains with spiritual reputation, walking up surprisingly quick and leaving companions behind.  She occasionally wrote some splendid Kanji letters as she said that the spirit of a certain past notable calligraphy master came into her mind to occupy her hand, although she did not even learn in a modern primary school.  Even today, she is revered by some people concerned with her legacy.        

It is mystery why she could obtain such supernatural power.  But, among her distant ancestors, there was a noble man named Sugawara-no Michizane in Kyoto, an ancient capital of Japan, about 1,000 years ago, who was well known in the Japanese history for his scholarly acquisition but suffered a political tragedy.

Some people interested in spiritualism in Japan today call her a spiritual-human being.  Even in the Internet, we can still see and find some information about her although mostly in Japanese.

Anyway, she is a kind of miracle woman whose record is officially found in modern Japan, since she died in 1907.                  　   

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Luke 1, King James Version

13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.
15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.
16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.
17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

"the spirit driveth him into the wilderness" - Sense of Values in this World Must be Reversed

 

Tokyo

Sense of Values in this World Must be Reversed

What St. Peter said before his death on cross in Rome under Roman Emperor Nero should be noted as the Acts of Peter tells, although which is uncanonized.

Learn ye the mystery of all nature, and the beginning of all things, what it was. For the first man, whose race I bear in mine appearance (or, of the race of whom I bear the likeness), fell (was borne) head downwards, and showed forth a manner of birth such as was not heretofore: for it was dead, having no motion. He, then, being pulled down -who also cast his first state down upon the earth- established this whole disposition of all things, being hanged up an image of the creation (Gk. vocation) wherein he made the things of the right hand into left hand and the left hand into right hand, and changed about all the marks of their nature, so that he thought those things that were not fair to be fair, and those that were in truth evil, to be good. Concerning which the Lord saith in a mystery: Unless ye make the things of the right hand as those of the left, and those of the left as those of the right, and those that are above as those below, and those that are behind as those that are before, ye shall not have knowedge of the kingdom. (http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/actspeter.html)

The ideas on value systems in this world are wrong, since this world is corrupted and contaminated by Satan.  The true value system should be found in Heaven.  They are so opposite to each other as the right is against the left, what is above is against what is below, and what is before is against what is behind.  It is like a real thing is against a mirrored image. 

People brainwashed by Satan should regard Satan as God.  They should regard fallowers of the God as followers of Satan.  Even, they regard money, which has no value in Heaven, as the most valuable thing in this world. 

Satan has brainwashed people that every problem in this world can be solved with money.  But, every problem should be solved trough love and faith in the God or Christ Jesus like in Heaven.  

Those brainwashed by Satan think that power of money is stronger than power of love or faith, which should be found fault in the Kingdom of God.

Put simply, what St. Peter wanted to say before his death on cross seems that the sense of values in this world must be reversed in order to enter into the Kingdom of God.  

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Mark 1, King James Version

10 And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:
11 And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
12 And immediately the spirit driveth him into the wilderness.
13 And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.

"beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow" - Be Poor Enough to See the Heavenly Truth

 

Around Tokyo toward Mt. Fuji

Be Poor Enough to See the Heavenly Truth

In anything, truth is simple.  Therefore, the teaching of Christ Jesus should be simple.  Except his teaching to love the God with all of our strength and hearts and love our neighbors like ourselves, the most simple teaching of Christ Jesus is that the rich cannot enter into Heaven.

However, this teaching on the rich being unable to enter into Heaven leads to creation of various and many deliverables that need volumes of books on theology.  

The underlying truth of this teaching should be that being rich means being evil.  Every issue concerned with evil and wickedness in the human society is related to this underlying truth.  Therefore, to save this world means to suppress evil so that people should be stopped trying to be rich.  For this reason, Christ Jesus said the truth that rich men cannot enter into Heaven after their death in this world.  In other words, Christ Jesus said to be poor if we wanted to be accepted in Heaven after our death in this world.

Indeed, if all the people stopped trying to be rich, most of evil and wickedness in this world would disappear.  The poor should be helped by the rich, and the rich would try to be poor by abandoning their wealth and giving it to the poor so as to be accepted in Heaven after their death in this world. 

A poor man, when he dies and goes into the spirit world, would be rejoiced to see light of the love from the God, since the love of the God is given free and unconditional.  But, a rich man would try to buy happiness with their money in the spirit world in vain, since he cannot trust anything that cannot be bought by money.  Such rich men should join Satan who praises those with much money and the capacity of doing any evil for money.  Therefore, poor men go up to the bright Heaven from the spirit world, but rich men go down to the dark hells from the spirit world spontaneously as witnessed by Swedenborg who observed the afterlife while living in this world in the 18th century.

Christ Jesus meant that although poor men are suffering in this world, they will be accepted in Heaven and become happy in the afterlife.  This is a simple and effective teaching to the poor suffering in this world.  Their salvation is promised, although which should come true after their death in this world.  But, if Christ Jesus had not come from the God, none should have believed this teaching.

So, Christianity depends on people's belief that Christ Jesus came from the God or He is the Son of the God.  And, to make people believe that Christ Jesus came from Heaven and He is the Son of the God, Christ Jesus had to fight against Satan, defeating evil spirits, and heal the sick, even reviving the dead.   

However, to see that Christ Jesus came from the God, one needs spiritual eyes.  To have spiritual eyes, one must have sound spiritual sense like that possessed by little children.    

         

Otherwise, one must be poor enough so that his eyes and senses are not contaminated or blurred by desires, wealth, and evil minds to see that Christ Jesus came from Heaven and He should be the Son of the God.

Anyway, a priest in every church should proclaim that their aim is to be poor and thus get accepted in Heaven after death in this world.

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1 Peter 1, King James Version

9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

"let the dry land appear: and it was so" - What is Told in The Tibetan Book of the Dead

 

Around Tokyo

What is Told in The Tibetan Book of the Dead

About 50 years ago, in the era of the Vietnam War, some young and radical Americans were interested in The Tibetan Book of the Dead (reportedly composed in the 8th century), since it tells how dying people would feel and should be treated.  Its description appealed to young Americans who wanted to see a different and peaceful world while they might get drafted and be sent to Vietnam where 50,000 American soldiers were to be killed.  Some of them found the sate of death described in The Tibetan Book of the Dead resembled the effect of narcotic drugs, such as LSD, on the human body and mind.   

According to the book, after three and a half days later after the moment of death, every dead man would surely come to oneself; his soul should find that it is alive.  And, within 49 days after death, the soul of a dead man would undergo reincarnation.

During the three days after death, some Buddhist sutras should be chanted to the ears of a dead man to make his undying soul understand that his body is in the state of death.  And when a metempsychosis or a cycle of death and life is made, his identity in the former life should be lost in most cases.  But, when a disciplinant of yoga or a yogi masters a way to join his soul to universality or universal status in the universe, his own identity loses its meaning. Or, the Buddha found the way to cut off this cycle through enlightenment.   

This process of dying generally matches what people having near-death experiences reported, although there seems to be no report of reincarnation.  The body can be dead, but the soul does not die.  It goes to the entrance of the spirit world.  According to The Tibetan Book of the Dead, the spirit stays in the spirit world for scores of days till reincarnation, but those with near-death experiences come back to life into their own old bodies after being told to go back to their old life by some spirits.  

In the Japanese Buddhism, memorial services for the dead have been traditionally practiced to console dead men's souls.  On the 49th day after death, the 49th-day memorial service is performed.  On the day of death one year after the death, the anniversary memorial service is performed.  Even when a man is dying or dead, sutra recitation at the bedside is performed.  However, this tradition is nowadays fading away.  

Anyway, the spiritualism, the study results on near-death experiences, etc. are generally approvingly accepted by the Japanese people.  However, immortality of souls and the existence of the spirit world seem to have lost appealing power to people while the human world is being contaminated more and more by materialism and the worship of money.   

In this context, we should remember the teaching of Christ Jesus that the sols of poor men are accepted in Heaven, but those of rich and evil men cannot enter into Heaven but go to the hells in the spirit world.

Anyway, both Christ Jesus and the Buddha took it for granted that a soul is immortal and there is the spirit world.  However, it is rare for a living man to see his own soul and see the spirit world.  That may be why we need religions such as Christianity or Buddhism.  However, Christ Jesus and the Buddha taught truth through the spirit world and the human world but not religious business.

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Genesis 1, King James Version

3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.