Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/2292

2292 Christianity.... Formalities.... Fight against schools of thought permitted....

April 8, 1942: Book 32

That which you believe to own must first be acquired, because you cannot call something your own as long as you are satisfied with the formality. The teaching of Christ has been forced to become a formality, and this formality is now incorrectly called Christianity. Consequently, people who comply with this formality call themselves Christians. They presume to possess the teaching proclaimed by Christ, they believe to be followers of the church of Christ and yet they can be a long way from it if they do not live in accordance with the teaching of Christ. Now then, if you want to be true Christians you have to make an effort to delve deeply into the divine teaching of love which Jesus Christ has proclaimed on earth. Only then will it become your possession, then you will own something wonderful, and only then may you call yourselves Christians.

Today’s Christendom is not widespread because there are only few people left on this earth who live in harmony with Christ’s teaching, and they are found everywhere, i.e. in every denomination and school of thought are people to whom the divine teaching of love has become the guiding principle for their earthly way of life. And these are the true Christians, they neither observe external appearances nor do they depend on specific organisations created by people, which claim to have been founded by God. Spiritual attachment is indeed very beneficial for the soul’s development, whereas a formal unification is rather more a hindrance since it incorporates the danger that the formal unification will be more observed than the teaching, which should constitute the core of every spiritual endeavour. And for this reason the very formality, i.e. the structure, which has developed as a shell to enclose the core, will become rotten and collapse....

Everything built by people in the course of time will vanish, and then it remains to be seen who can claim the right knowledge, profound faith and the pure teaching of Christ as his own.... The human being now has to prove the depth of his Christianity and to what extent he has become dependent on the formalities which are mere human work and therefore cannot continue to exist either. Because everything made by human beings does not last, and only what is of God will remain.... But God through Jesus Christ gave the divine teaching of love in a pure and unaltered form to humanity, and it will also remain as such. However, anything which was added or changed by people is approaching its disintegration. And thus no school of thought which deviates from the teaching of Christ will continue to exist. For this reason God permits the fight against the different schools of thought even though it is not His will that everything revealing spiritual endeavour on earth should be fought against. But His eternally true Word will be sent to earth with all the more clarity, it will be made accessible to people time and again as the pure teaching of Christ, so that they can make it their spiritual possession and then shape themselves into real Christians if they live in accordance with this teaching....

Amen

Translated by Heidi Hanna