Before All Things: How Jesus Forms the Soul for Heaven (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798994462812)

Spiritual Christianity, Volume 3 completes the Spiritual Christianity trilogy by offering a coherent "why" behind the biblical story. Rather than treating faith as a system of fear, ritual, or rule-keeping, this book presents Christianity as Jesus' long work of forming the human soul for Heaven-an eternal community defined by love, truth, mercy, humility, courage, and harmony.

SC3 begins "before history," imagining the birth of Heaven as a moral and relational achievement: a stable realm where joy can be shared without indifference to anyone's pain. It then explains why Earth exists as a training ground-not as punishment, but as a curriculum. In a lawful, often indifferent world, human beings learn vulnerability, empathy, responsibility, and the deep choices that shape character. The book reframes evil as indifference to sensibility and goodness as care for the inner life of others, showing how Jesus' teachings consistently elevate qualities over mere compliance.

A central theme of SC3 is the recovery of the soul's deepest affirmation: "I am glad that I exist." This joy of existence is presented as the foundation of Heaven's atmosphere and the beginning of spiritual maturity. Jesus' mission, in this framework, is not simply to secure belief, but to heal the "I"-the center of consciousness-so that a person becomes capable of loving God, loving others, and living forever without turning eternity into burden.

Written for thoughtful Christians, clergy, and spiritually serious readers, SC3 combines theology, moral psychology, and practical spiritual insight. It includes a substantial appendix of qualities and "word formulas"-simple, memorable pairings that help transform intense emotions into constructive action. Spiritual Christianity, Volume 3 is an invitation to see the Christian story as purposeful, humane, and ultimately hopeful: a path of formation into the joy and love that Heaven requires.