On Wednesday, the 17th of June, 2026, a Grail Message Adherent gave a talk to our Catholic Bible Study Group. Some of the issues we discussed, particularly on Catholic teachings are presented here.
First, what is the GRAIL Message?
The Grail Message is the central teaching of the Grail Movement, a new religious movement founded in the early 1920s by Oskar Ernst Bernhardt, who wrote under the pen name Abd-ru-shin. Bernhardt presented himself as a prophet and, in earlier editions, as the "Son of Man" and an intermediary between God and humankind.
The core beliefs and teachings of the Grail Message synthesize Christian and esoteric ideas and include the following key concepts:
· God as the "Eternal Light": The divine is seen as an impersonal "Light" that emanates a life-giving energy. Everything else in creation is formed as this energy cools and becomes denser the further it gets from its source.
· The "Laws in Creation": These are fundamental, immutable principles governing all existence. Adherents are called to understand and align their lives with these laws to achieve spiritual growth.
· Reincarnation: The movement teaches that human spirits undergo multiple lifetimes on Earth for the purpose of development and self-realization.
· Ethereal and Gross Matter: The cosmology includes different levels of existence, with an "ethereal world" (or "beyond") that interacts with the physical world. Thoughts are seen as powerful forces that shape ethereal matter.
· Jesus' Teachings Corrupted: A central claim is that the original teachings of Jesus were corrupted over time, and the Grail Message serves to restore them.
· Imminent Judgment and Millennium: Bernhardt originally taught that the Day of Judgment and a coming paradise were imminent, expected within his followers' lifetimes. After this failed to materialize, the focus shifted.
Discussion with the speaker
Q. How do Grail Adherents worship?
A. We gather on Sundays in a hall. Our prayer is mainly meditative. A reading is taken from the Grail Message, everyone listens, after some silence, we depart.
Q. Do you have anything in, or any part of the Grail Message you disagree with?
A. Yes, like Baby Dedication. I don't like anything ritual. The Message does not support that, but it is allowed as a support for the weak.
Q. You have made several references and quotations from the Holy Bible, does that mean you believe the Bible?
A. Not everything in the Bible, because we believe it has been corrupted.
Q. You have said that Organized Religion is man-made, but again defined religion as a way of life. Is the Grail movement not Organized Religion?
A. It is not, the reason being that all we do and believe are based on natural law which affect everyone. The law of gravity for example does not discriminate.
Q. If you are guided by your Book in the “Light of Truth” by Abd-ru-shin, will that not be your way of life which makes it a religion by your definition? By the way, it was started by a man, I believe?
A. Well, I don’t see it that way. We are guided by laws-in-Creation.
Q. Is it possible to remain a Christian, and be a Grail adherent at the same time?
A. Yes of course. I am a Catholic Christian, although by the Rules of the Church, you may call me a non-practicing Catholic. Membership is not restricted, people from all backgrounds can be found there. We have Muslim members.
Bible Group; If you don’t practice your faith, can you still say you belong to that faith. Apart from their conflicting teachings, Christ said, you cannot serve two masters.
No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the, one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. (Matthew 6:24, Luke 16:13)
Q. You said The Grail Message gave answers to many of your questions that Christianity had no answers for, or answers were unsatisfactory?
A. Yes. The issues/questions are;
1. Jesus said, I will send you the Spirit of truth who will teach you all things. That Spirit we believe is a person, who must come in human form. The Christian belief that the spirit came at Pentecost is wrong. The Spirit came in the person of Oskar Ernst Bernhardt, aka, Abd-ru-shin, the “God man.”
A. Bible Group: Let us look at the relevant Scripture.
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor, to be with you for ever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you. (John 14:16-17)
But the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. John 14:26
49 And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high. Luke 24:49
For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; 10 but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. 1 Corinthians 13:9-10
The concept of the Holy Spirit is one that is greatly misunderstood by most non-Christian religions.
Points to note;
• The Holy Spirit is not incarnate (not human), has no flesh and blood.
• The Holy Spirit does not come to the world to take up residence. The Spirit is God, and He is everywhere.
• The Spirit comes to those who desire, or ask for Him . He comes at Baptism, and fully at Confirmation. It continues to come as need be.
• The Holy Spirit has been at work in the world right from creation. (OT)
• On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down upon the Apostle, the Virgin Mary, and all the believers, both men and women, about one hundred and twenty people. (Acts 2:1-18)
The above clarifications are necessary because, Grail Adherents believe that Abd-ru-shin, the founder of the Grail Movement is the Holy Spirit Christ promised to send on the Apostles. Eckankar members on the other hand believe too that their leader whom they refer to as the Mahantar or (God-man) is the Holy Spirit Christ sent to the Apostles. Muslims also believe that Muhammed is the Holy Spirit, the final prophet, to teach us what Christ promised.
In Christian teaching, the Holy Spirit was at work throughout the Old Testament, preparing for the Messiah and inspiring the prophets.
The Catechism says that “from the beginning until ‘the fullness of time,’ … the joint mission of the Father’s Word and Spirit remains hidden, but it is at work.”
It adds that God’s Spirit
prepares for the time of the Messiah,” and that the Old Testament is read in the light of what the Spirit “who has spoken through the prophets” wants to tell us about Christ. (CCC 702)
“At work since creation, having previously ‘spoken through the prophets,’ the Spirit will now be with and in the disciples…”
Prophecy also foresees an endowment of the Spirit on the Messiah: “The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him…”
The Messiah and the Spirit: prophecy already points to what will be fulfilled.
The Catechism teaches that in the Old Testament;
prophets announced that the Spirit of the Lord would rest on the hoped-for Messiah for his saving mission,” and it connects this to how Jesus’ baptism shows that he is the one to come. (CCC 1286)
Jesus told the Apostles to remain in Jerusalem until the coming of the Holy Spirit when they will receive power from above. The last Apostle John, tradition holds died of natural causes around AD 100 in Ephesus (modern-day Turkey), during the reign of the Roman Emperor Trajan. He is widely believed to have been the only apostle who was not martyred.
Abd-ru-Shin, the Grail believers “God-Man” started the Grail movement in the early 1920s, does it mean God waited for two thousand years when all the Apostles would have died before sending the Holy Spirit to them? Did Christ deceive His Apostles?
The second person of the Trinity, Christ Jesus came in the flesh according to the prophecy of Isaiah thousands of years before His birth. I believe there would have been a similar prophecy if the Holy Spirit was also coming in the flesh. A Virgin will conceive and bear a Son......
This is a central prophecy from the Old Testament (Isaiah 7:14) that Christians believe was fulfilled by the birth of Jesus Christ, as recorded in Matthew 1:23.
2. The belief by Catholics that their Church is led by the Holy Spirit is not true. The proof is the several apologies offered by recent Popes from Saint John Paul II, to the present Pope, Leo IV, of the sins and wrong doings of the Church in the past.
The Holy Spirit is perfect in operation, so if the Church did things that were wrong, it could not have been operating under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Bible Group: The Church has teachings and laws governing its conducts and operations as it relates to faith and morals. They are contained in the Catechism and The Code of Canon Law. Anyone who does anything outside the teachings and guidelines provided for therein, be it a Priest, Bishop or the Pope, does so outside the Church's mandate. Such wrong deeds in the name of the Church, which is a betrayal, is what the Popes have apologised for. The apology is saying, these evils were not done in our name.
The Church is holy, because it has the means to confer grace, the sacraments. Members of the Church are not angels, whether it is an ordained minister, or a lay person. Human beings in whatever facet of life often go off the rails because of our God given freewill. Would you say Jesus did not have the Holy Spirit because he was betrayed by his own?
3. God does not change, neither does his laws. So, praying for good health, long life, and other goodies is a waste of time.
Bible Group: We agree that God is immutable (does not change). (See my earlier writing on, DOES OUR PRAYER CHANGE GOD'S MIND?) We also agree that God has a plan for every person he has brought into the world. His plan does not change. God however need our cooperation in prayer and effort for his plan to materialize in our life.
4. We believe in the law of Karma. If you do evil you get evil, if you do good you get good also. So, it is not by praying all day.
Bible Group: The concept of karma is fundamentally incompatible with Christianity. A Catholic cannot believe in karma without contradicting core principles of their faith.
The primary reasons for this incompatibility are:
· It is Impersonal: Karma is an impersonal cosmic law that mechanically dictates reward and punishment. This contradicts belief in a personal, loving God who guides the universe.
· It is tied to Reincarnation: Karma is inextricably linked to reincarnation, a belief the Church rejects in favour of the resurrection and a single, definitive judgment.
· It Conflicts with Grace and Forgiveness: A karmic system implies we can earn salvation, which contradicts the Catholic belief that salvation is an unearned gift of grace. It also suggests some sins are unforgivable, directly opposing the core Christian belief that God can forgive any sin.
The Church does acknowledge the concept of retributive justice. It is defined as justice that "inflicts a penalty on the guilty party, according to the principle that each person must be given his or her due". This principle is rooted in Scripture and is also reflected in the Church's teaching on the particular judgment, where each person receives eternal retribution immediately after death based on their life. However, this retributive justice is always ordered toward redemption and mercy.
5. The 5th Commandment says “thou Shall Not kill”, why was Jesus killed? His death was not necessary for salvation.
Bible Group: The soul that sins shall die. Ezekiel 18:20
God’s command “You shall not kill” is primarily about the direct and intentional killing of an innocent person, which the Church teaches is gravely sinful because God alone is Lord of life and “no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being.”
What the commandment forbids
In Catholic moral teaching (Catechism), the fifth commandment forbids:
- Intentional, direct killing of the innocent (murder).
- Not only the act, but also the inner attitudes that lead to it—Christ “denounced murderous anger and hatred” and called disciples to love even enemies.
So, the Church does not mean that God contradicts His command; rather, it explains that the life-and-death events of Jesus are not the same kind of “killing” as murder.
The decisive distinction is that Jesus’ death is God’s saving act, not an injustice where an innocent person is condemned to death for evil.
The Catechism teaches that Christ’s death is:
- the Paschal sacrifice that accomplishes “definitive redemption,” and
- the sacrifice of the New Covenant, restoring communion with God “through the ‘blood of the covenant, which was poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’”
In other words, Jesus is presented as the sacrificial offer through which people are reconciled to God.
Christ willed to die for our salvation
Saint Thomas Aquinas explains that Christ did not merely “suffer” somehow; he willed to undergo death for a specific purpose: to satisfy for sin and free us from death’s sentence—“Christ resolved to die, that by dying He might atone for us.”
He says Christ submits to death “without any fault of his own” so that he could take on “the punishment due to us,” freeing us from the death to which humanity was sentenced.
So while Jesus’ death happened through human violence, the moral meaning of the event is not God approving murder; it is God bringing redemption from it by the freely chosen sacrifice of the Son.
Even those who killed him were acting sinfully
Aquinas also explicitly addresses the moral point: Christ’s Passion was satisfying not because of the guilt of those who murdered him, but because Christ—who suffered—willed it in charity, and it was accepted by God.
- Murder is forbidden (and those who commit it sin).
- Christ’s death is something else: it is the Son’s sacrificial offering to save.
Why would God choose this if He forbids killing?
Aquinas gives several reasons it was “fitting” for Christ to die, including:
- Satisfaction for sin: humanity was sentenced to die on account of sin, and Christ atones by submitting to the penalty in place of humanity’s deserved death.
- Deliverance from fear of death: through death, Christ destroys the power of death and frees those bound by fear.
- Hope and example: his death and resurrection show the hope of rising, and his bodily death teaches dying to sin spiritually.
6. We believe in Reincarnation, because that is the only way to achieve perfection after many earth lives.
Bible Group: The Catholic Church didn't "debunk" reincarnation at a single event, as it was never an official teaching. Instead, it firmly rejected the concept from its very beginning, using Scripture, early writers (Church Fathers), and core theology to show it's incompatible with Christianity.
· Scripture: The Bible clearly teaches a single life followed by judgment.
Hebrews 9:27 states, "it is appointed that human beings die once, and after this the judgment", directly contradicting the cycle of rebirth.
· Early Church Fathers: Writers like Origen (3rd century) called reincarnation "foreign to the church of God". Others like Saint Ambrose and Tertullian argued against it using logic and reason.
· No "Lost" Teaching: The claim that reincarnation was removed from the Bible (e.g., at the Council of Nicaea) is historically false. The councils of Nicaea (325 & 787 AD) never discussed it, and the 553 AD council only condemned related ideas like the pre-existence of souls.
· Theological Incompatibility: Reincarnation is rejected because it contradicts core beliefs like the Resurrection of the body, the dignity of the human person, and the finality of God's judgment.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church summarizes this definitively:
"There is no 'reincarnation' after death"
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