Neville Goddard on Acts 8:14-17 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Acts 8 in context

Scripture Focus

14Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:

15Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost:

16(For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)

17Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.

Acts 8:14-17

Biblical Context

Samaria receives the word of God. Peter and John come to lay hands so they might receive the Holy Ghost. The Spirit had not yet fallen on them until this laying on of hands.

Neville's Inner Vision

Samaria represents a state of consciousness that has heard the Word but does not yet know the power of God within. The arrival of the apostles is the action of consciousness encountering a higher state, not an external miracle. The Word of God is the living I AM you are, and to receive the Holy Ghost is to acknowledge that this Spirit dwells in you now. The line that the Spirit had not yet fallen on them points to a prior lack of conscious realization; when Peter and John lay hands, they act as catalysts, not creators. Your imagination is the channel by which Spirit comes alive; by imagining the higher state into your current scene, you inaugurate its presence. Baptism in the name of Jesus names your identification with the higher self, and the subsequent laying on of hands is the symbolic revision that seals the new awareness. Salvation is not a distant event but a present awakening of consciousness to its rightful kingly home within, where I AM reigns as your awareness.

Practice This Now

Tonight, close your eyes and assume you are the Samaritans who have received the Holy Spirit. Place a hand on your chest and declare, 'I am the Spirit within me now,' then relax into the warmth of that realized presence.