Let me say just a word as to the soul. I have heard what Matthew said, and it seems to me that he did not describe what the soul is as clearly as desirable.

My conception of the soul is that it is that part of the existence of man which determines for him what his destiny shall be. It is the real thinking, willing, and conscious part of man. The intellect of man may die—this may seem unreal, but it is true—and man may cease to exist as a conscious thing, if his intellect were the only faculty that he possessed to make him conscious of his existence. However, the soul, so far as we know, can never die. It has as its qualities and elements all the perceptions and reasoning powers that the intellect has, and many more. The soul is the only faculty or part of man that performs the mission of knowing, reasoning, and determining after man has passed into the Seventh Sphere. And, consequently, unless these soul qualities or perceptions are developed by the soul obtaining the Divine Love, a man or spirit cannot get into the Seventh Sphere, for he would be wholly unable to live there, understand, or do anything in that sphere devoid of this Love.

The soul needs no instructions from the mere physical senses because those senses are not suitable to be used in the operations of the soul's faculties. And, hence, a man who never cultivates these soul senses, as I will say, is not capable of understanding the higher spiritual things of the Celestial Spheres.^[1]

I will not write more tonight, but will come again.

Your brother in Christ,

CORNELIUS, the first Christian Gentile.