‘Oahspe’ by John Ballou Newbrough
Oahspe: A New Bible is a book published in 1882, purporting to contain “new revelations” from “…the Embassadors of the angel hosts of heaven prepared and revealed unto man in the name of Jehovih…” It was produced by an American dentist, John Ballou Newbrough (1828–1891), who reported it to have been written by automatic writing, making it one of a number of 19th-century spiritualist works attributed to that practice. The text defines adherents of the disciplines expounded in Oahspe as “Faithists.” – Wikipedia
Like The Urantia Book, I stumbled across Oahspe forty years ago. It was interesting but did not change my belief system. I was drawn to it because I had been experimenting with automatic writing, writing that is done while a person is more or less in a trance in order to form a closer connection with–as we thought of them–higher spiritual powers. I could easily hypnotize myself or enter a deep alpha brain wave state, but whether I held a pen or sat with my fingers on a typewriter keyboard, the experiments went nowhere.
Now, when I looked up the book to see if it were still around, I found a whole new printing of it with a slick cover and updated language. In general, the book did not receive many positive words from the critics.
From the Publisher“This modern language Oahspe replaces the archaic English language used in older editions. It comprises a 2 volume set of 39 interior books. Volume 1 contains the first 27 books and Volume 2 contains the remainder. Look for OAHSPE Modern Language Edition, Volume 2 of 2 on Amazon.com. A unique book with a message to all humanity, Oahspe reveals the spiritual realms of heaven and beyond. It includes a cosmology which proclaims a living creation maintained by an everpresent Creator whose person and form manifests as the Spiritual and Corporeal Universe.
“Besides revealing a spiritually-based explanation of physical science, Oahspe contains heavenly revelations in chronologically-ordered accounts that describe human origin and development from 72,000 years ago. Humanity’s progress is seen in the context of cyclical events associated with the orbital travels of the earth and solar system. Each traversed region imparts varying conditions of light to the Earth. And this, in turn, engenders spiritual and physical consequences for Earth and its inhabitants, a result of which is the rise and fall of civilizations. Oahspe tells of many long forgotten prehistoric civilizations, including the “pre-flood” inhabitants of a submerged continent. Oahspe also explains how such celestial conditions can be known beforehand using methods of prophecy including signs of the times, tables used since ancient times, and methods of developing prophetic senses.
“Oahspe also provides missing details of ancient historical records regarding the origins of Earth’s major religions. Among them are life stories and teachings of the great prophets and law-givers from the various divisions of the earth, such as Zarathustra of Persia, Brahma, Capilya and Sakaya of India, Abraham and Moses of Egypt, Joshu of Nazareth, Eawahtah of the Americas, and Po, Chine and Confucius of China. Their teachings and doctrines are presented with lessons for a contemporary perspective on a new age that lights the way to Peace and Harmony through spiritual progress. According to Oahspe, all humanity has the responsibility to assist in its own development; and to that end, Oahspe provides ample guidelines for ethical conduct in our day. The book also previews the future, with prophecies and guideposts for the eventual establishment of the Creator’s “kingdom on earth” for all humanity. Oahspe, first published in 1882, is heaven’s gift for our times, and is now available in paperback for the first time in modern language.”
I see no reason to read it again and find the book’s description spurious. And yet, I can’t totally dismiss it since it represents what appears to be an honest attempt to add to the world’s spiritual knowledge. You can read the book for free here.
