Neville
Goddard, better known as just Neville, was one of the quietly dramatic
and supremely influential teachers in the New Thought field for many
years.
In a simple, yet somehow elegant one-hour lecture, Neville was
able to clarify the nature of God and God's relationship to every
person.
He spoke of God in intimate terms as though he knew God very
well, which he did.
Joseph Murphy, a writer and lecturer, who studied with Neville in
New York City, said of him: "Neville may eventually be recognized
as one of the world�s great mystics."
Born on Barbados in the British West
Indies, Neville was the fourth child in a family of nine boys and one
girl. One day some of them were playing near an old wind-swept hut by
the sea. A seer lived in the hut and told them their fortunes, The
older sons would go into the professions, into medicine, into
business. The predictions for them came true. The Goddard family is
one of the most prominent and influential families on the island.
"Do not touch the fourth
one," the seer said, pointing to Neville, "he has a special
mission to perform in the world � from God." And to Neville,
"You will journey to a distant land and spend your life
there." This prediction also came true. As a young man he went to
America and worked in some of the department stores in New York City.
Later, he worked in the theatre with the Schubert�s.
Under unusual circumstances, he met a
black Jew, named Abdullah, who lectured on Christianity. Neville went
to hear him, somewhat under protest, to satisfy the constant urging of
a friend, "Whose judgment I did not respect,� Neville said,
"because he made such poor financial investments."
Neville said he was seated in the
auditorium waiting for the lecture to begin, when the speaker - who
had never met Neville came down the aisle from the rear of the
auditorium to the stage.
"You are late, Neville!"
Abdullah said, "six months' late! I have been told to expect
you." From this introduction, Neville studied with Abdullah seven
days a week for seven years.
"Abdullah taught me Hebrew, he
taught me The Kabbalah, and he taught me more about real Christianity
than anyone I ever met," Neville declared.
In the last years of his life he said,
"I know my time is short. I have
finished the work I have been sent
to do and I am now eager to depart. I know I will not appear in this
three-dimensional world again for The Promise has been fulfilled in
me. As for where I go, I will know you there as I have known you here,
for we are all brothers, infinitely in love with each other."
This discovery Neville called God�s
�Promise." There is nothing any person can do to earn it. It is
sheer Grace and comes in its own good time.
There are many tapes of his lectures In
Los Angeles and San Francisco circulating, thanks to the loyalty and
dedication of many of Neville's students and friends who have
preserved much of What he said. His books are also in print.
Neville departed from the Earth plane on
October 1, 1972, in Los Angeles.