The Stephen Experience

Conversations with the spirit of Stephen the Martyr, 1973-1980, in which he interprets Christianity from the point of view of one who has passed into the next life, where he is aware of the oneness of all things in the divine Spirit of love. He presents the basis from which all religions have arisen.

Michael Cocks, fourth generation Anglican priest in Christchurch, New Zealand, has honours degrees in philosophy in NZ and theology at Oxford. Perhaps influenced by his father, whose thought focused strongly on the great Christian mystics, Teihard de Chardin, Baron von Hügel, Simone Weil, an important theme of his childhood was the thought of the psychic as a means of demonstrating the reality of the spiritual. His father was influential, and so was a great aunt who was much read in the writings of Emmanual Swedenborg. He studied for the ministry at Ripon Hall, Oxford, and in vacation time lived with a leader of English Modernism, Dr Henry D.A.Major. He was ordained in 1953. Twenty years later he became increasing gripped by the urge to penetrate what seemed to him to be a veil between physical and spiritual. This culminated in his surrendering at a much deeper level to Christ. Michael began to be actively "psychic", with precognitive dreams, clairvoyant experiences, and being guided by direction to passages in books that he had not read. The first example, after his surrender, was when he attended a performance of chamber music. He found himself envying the musicians, and scolded himself for thus spoiling a spiritual experience. When he returned home, an inner voice directed him to find a dusty book under a bookcase, and to read a certain page. It was Gray's Ode for Music, which spoke of not spoiling a spiritual experience by envying the musicians. Thus Michael had demonstrated for him, that there was a level of mind, beyond the brain.

In 1973 a number of prophecies were delivered to him from a stranger, via a mutual friend. On that day on the other side of the world in England, Stephen first spoke through Thomas Ashman, then an agnostic Jew. Olive his wife taperecorded Stephen's words, and began to converse with Stephen through her husband, who was usually deeply in trance, and not conscious.