THREE TESTAMENTS              1925


NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. XLV JANUARY, 1925          No. 1

[Frontispiece: the Three Testaments - A Painting by Jean J. Gailiard.]
     AS PORTRAYED IN A NEW PAINTING AT BRUSSELS.

     The photograph appearing as our frontispiece is a reproduction of the painting in three-paneled or triptych form which now adorns the Library of the General Church Mission in Brussels, Belgium. The artist, M. Jean J. Gailliard, a member of the Church there, has recently presented this significant work of art to the Pastor, the Rev. Ernst Deltenre, who has kindly sent us a photograph and brief description of it. While such a reproduction fails to bring out the rich coloring, it shows the interesting manner in which the design portrays "The Three Testaments," or the three forms of the Word in the New Church. On the reverse side of the outer panels are cherubim, which come to view when these panels fold over, and then as it were guard the entrance to the Word. The figure on the left, representing the Old Testament, will be recognized as that of Moses bearing the Tables of the Decalogue; on the right is John the Evangelist with a Parchment on which are the Greek words of his Gospel, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." In the middle panel, representing the Heavenly Doctrine-Hic Liber est Adventus Domini-is a figure of Swedenborg, whose face is idealized, in accordance with the teaching that "men who have loved the Word in its literal sense, when they become spirits after death, appear in comely hair, and when they become angels allow the beard to grow." (De Verbo X.) The principal motif decorateur of the middle panel is the pomegranate, the olive tree and cedar; of the left panel, it is the fig and fig tree; and of the right panel, the grape and the vine. When the triptych is open, it measures about seven feet in length, and its width is about three feet. ORIGIN OF EVIL 1925

ORIGIN OF EVIL       Rev. W. L. GLADISH       1925

     When the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, He made to grow there every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food. In the midst of the garden, He placed the tree of life-literally the "tree of lives," for the men of the Golden Age recognized life as dual, pertaining to both will and understanding-and also the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." (Gen. 2:9, 16.)

     In these words, the wise men of antiquity recorded their perception of the state of life with the men of the Most Ancient Church, which is represented in the Word by Adam. By the "tree of lives in the midst of the garden" they meant that the Lord Himself, His Love and Wisdom, was the inmost of every perception of good and every thought of truth with them. They lived in the Lord, and the Lord in them. They looked to Him for every good thing. They had a perception that their life inflowed from Him, and they loved to have it so. They had no wish to be their own. It was the inmost joy of their lives to feel that they were wholly the Lord's, dependent upon Him as an infant upon its parents. They had no desire to lead themselves, to be independent of Him. And this blessed state of feeling the Lord's Spirit within as the only active principle in their lives; they spoke of as the "tree of lives in the midst of their garden."

     The various trees of the garden represented their perceptions of good and truth. They had no need to reason and weigh evidence, pro and con, as to what is good and true, as we do, but they had from the Lord a perfect perception of what was good and true. And at the heart of all their perception was the knowledge that this inflowed from the Lord, and was His gift to them. Yet they were free. They were not obliged to acknowledge that they lived from the Lord. They were not dumb, driven cattle, with only one possible kind of life.

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They could live the Lord's life, conjoined with Him, or they could live their own life. This freedom they represented by the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil."

     To eat of this tree was to trust in themselves, and not in God, to accept as true the appearance that man lives of himself, that life is inherent in him, as it seems to be; that man can gain wisdom for himself apart from God; that he can trust the testimony of his senses; that he can refuse to believe in the Divine, in the supernatural, and believe only what his eyes can see and his hands handle, if he wishes to do so. That to eat of this tree meant the death of all true love and wisdom and happiness,-the extinction of all truly human faculties,-was meant by the Divine command: "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die."

     This free will in spiritual things must be given to man, or he is not man. It is the human principle. It is the image of God with man,-this freedom to choose his own life, and make it, internally, what he pleases; freedom to look to God or away from Him; to long for conjunction with the living God, or to long rather to be one's own and lead one's self. This is inherent in the human principle. The beasts have it not. It is the Lord's perpetual gift to man, and He preserves it with man as man guards the apple of his eye. For if freedom-freedom of thought and will-ceased, man would cease to be man.

     In the exercise of this freedom, some of the posterity of the Most Ancient Church inclined more towards proprium; that is, they began to desire to be their own, to think for themselves, and do as they chose. It was, in a sense, a normal development. They began to grow up. Just as the growing child desires a larger measure of freedom, begins to question its parents' infallible judgment, and to rebel against their dictates, so these early men began to desire a greater sense of freedom from God. They wished to be their own, to lead themselves. The intimate feeling of oneness with the Lord God irked them; they grew restless under it, and wished to realize their independence. They were beguiled by the serpent,-the sensual nature. And it was the love of self, meant by the "woman," which was first beguiled. And this love of self persuaded the rational, meant by the "man," so that the reason consented, and found excuses for doing that which the love wished to do.

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"And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die; for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil." (Gen. 3: 4, 5.)

     The desire to be one's own, to lead one's self, hearkened to the voice of the senses instead of the voice of God. They said to themselves, just as men have said in every age of the world since, "Why should I trust the Divine command? I am my own man. I can lead myself, can think for myself, can do what I please. Our fathers have told us that we have no life of our own, no wisdom and no love, except from God. But how do they know? Perhaps they have been too credulous, too easily led. As for me, I shall believe only what I see to be true." Thus, in course of time, they came to the state in which they claimed to be as God, knowing for themselves what is good and evil. They ceased to depend upon God. They ceased to look to Him as the only source of wisdom, as the only life, the only law, the only light. In place of God as the center and source of all things, they made themselves the center and origin of life and of law. Then the garden was closed, and man was expelled. And since the Lord God is unwilling that man shall see the truth only to profane it, the way was guarded lest he enter the garden, lest he see and acknowledge the laws of spiritual life, when he is unwilling to live according to them. So fallen man turned to the senses for his good, and trusted their testimony for his truth; until, in our day, he has made science his god, whose word is absolute truth, while all that is not scientific is rejected as superstition.

     II.

     "What is the origin of evil?" The question is asked over and over again. If all things were good in the beginning; if God created everything, and everything was good; how could evil have a beginning? If the men of the Golden Age had a perception that life inflowed from God, and that they lived only in and from Him, how would mankind ever lose that perception?

     Do you not see that the first origin of evil is the very same as its present day origin? There is no difference. It is involved in human freedom.

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It is involved in the two natures of man,-soul and body,-and in the two doors of access to man, an upper and a lower. Some there will ever be who choose the lower, who remain in it, and fail to develop the higher.

     No man is born spiritual, or ever was, or ever can be, He is born natural; he is born an animal. From his parents he derives love of self and love of the world. These are good loves in their place, and when subordinated to love of the Lord and the neighbor. The natural loves,-the loves of the body,-provide that man may develop a sound body and a sound mind within it, that he fit himself for uses among men.

     Yet he is not born for the world alone, but for heaven as well. His proper loves, the human loves, are, as said, love of the Lord and the neighbor. But these are, as it were, to be superimposed upon the two prior loves. And there is every reason and urge why these higher loves should be developed. The soul within man longs for conjunction with God, even as the "hart pants for the water brooks." And the Lord, through the agency of parents and teachers, and especially through attendant angels, provides that remains of good and of truth shall be received and stored during all the years of minority, as an incentive to accept the higher life, and to love it and make it one's own. But this must be done by individual choice and effort, in freedom according to reason. Not only must the Lord reach down-as He constantly does-but man on his part must reach up and take the Lord's hand, and strive by conscious effort against the dominance of the lower loves, and laboriously climb the heights. And do you not see that there will always be some unwilling to make the struggle, day after day? some who will love ease, and choose the path of least resistance?

     It is this effort that the Lord loves and values. It is this that He strives to incite us to make-the effort to live as spiritual beings. There is no virtue in doing the things that require no effort. There is no spiritual quality in such deeds. Had the Lord created angels in heaven who were such from the beginning, who knew not what evil is, so that they could do naught but what they do, they would lack all human and angelic quality. They would simply be automata, moved like lifeless images at the nod of Deity. The Lord creates no such beings. Creatures which follow by instincts the innate laws of their life are the dumb brutes.

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But if the Lord is to have children who receive His own love and wisdom, and an image of His own freedom, they must be free to choose and act as of themselves. Love is not love if compelled. They cannot love Him unless free to love themselves better and instead of Him.

     Remember also that the Lord does not want mere lip service, much less the hypocrisy of scribe and Pharisee. He never compels belief. He would not have the service of the unwilling. As at the fall He placed the flaming sword to guard the way of the tree of life, so today He guards lest man be convinced and acknowledge holy truth, and afterward turn back and profane it. In His mercy, He ever allows the man who loves to lead himself to believe in himself. He permits such a man to close the upper door, and to open wide the door of the senses, to reject the Word and to believe science, to doubt and reject a life after death, and to believe that man is like the beasts which perish. It is better so,-better, if man is determined to live like an animal devoted to this world alone, that finally, after he has made his decision, he shall know no higher life. Not that the Lord ever ceases to invite man to His arms, as long as man lives in this world, where choice is possible, or ever ceases to lead him by all the experiences of life, and by means of teachers. But He never seeks to drive man against his will; He permits man to believe falsity in harmony with his love. This is the explanation of all falsity that is permitted to be taught as truth, of all doubt, of the hard sayings which cause men to stumble and turn back. It is to guard the way of the tree of life from the profane hands of those who do not love to walk in the path of life.

     Yet the Lord does not leave Himself without a witness in any nation. He always provides that truth adequate to salvation shall be taught to every man who is born. See how fully, how abundantly, He has provided, to the end that the men of His Church may know the way of life if they wish to know! In the fullness of time, when all other means had proved inadequate, He Himself came into the world which He had made. He was born as a little babe, of a virgin mother, grew up as a boy, and passed through all the phases of human life. Yet not as a mere man, but as God-Man. For He had no human father. His soul was not finite, but was God,-the very indwelling Spirit of the Infinite Father.

     He was indeed finite on the one side, which He had from the mother.

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This enabled us to know Him, and Him to dwell among us, that He might be seen and touched. This enabled Him to meet our foes,-the evil hosts which held mankind in bondage, and, by temptations admitted into His human, to fight against them and subdue them. And, as in doing this for our salvation He rejected all merely human affections, and put on the Divine Truth and the Divine Love, so He put off all that He had from the mother, and put on in its place the Divine Substance of the indwelling Father; until finally, when He rose from the tomb, His very Body was wholly Divine. So He stood among us, our God, the visible God, Whom we can know, believe in and love.

     And there is everything to make us love Him, everything that Divine Love could desire and Divine Wisdom devise. For He was the one perfect Man, the most lovable Man who ever walked the earth. And He was cruelly put to death because of His goodness. Yet no one is obliged to believe that He is God. Everyone is privileged to doubt the evidence, if he wishes to. The testimony is there, clear and convincing, for those who wish to believe. He spake as never man spake. He said: "I and the Father are one. He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." "All power is given to me in heaven and in earth."

     But even as He refused to give the doubting Pharisees a sign from heaven, so He is unwilling to convince any man against his will. He who wishes to believe in God, to know God, to love Him, and to be conjoined with Him, will find the evidence clear and sufficient that Jesus Christ is very God, that His life was no fallible finite human life, but the life of the infinite Divine Love and Wisdom, veiled and tempered to our reception. He who does not wish so to stand face-to-face with God-or who does not yet wish the genuine truth stripped of ill appearances-is not obliged to believe. A thousand difficulties suggest themselves to his mind. For it is the heart in the midst of the understanding that either believes or doubts or denies.

     For those who wish to enter into the mysteries of faith, the Lord has come again. He has opened the deeper meaning of His Word, and explained every "hard saying." He has answered all our questions, and removed every impediment to faith-with those who can believe in Him, and who believe that He can do these things.

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He has revealed the life after death, and has taught us of the final lot of many known to us from history. He has shown by indubitable evidence that man has no life of his own, but that God alone lives in and from Himself, that we are but dead forms created to receive His life, and to live from Him and in Him; that all our happiness is in accepting this and loving to have it so, and hence in fitting ourselves to be conjoined with Him and live from Him. He has shown us, moreover, that all our life of affection and thought inflows through spirits and angels from the Lord, and that the quality of our life is according to the spiritual company we are in, good or evil. He has revealed the laws of His Divine Providence so that we may understand why evil is permitted.

     All these things are given for those who wish to believe; for those who doubt their own wisdom, but believe in God; who wish to believe that God created us, and that He is able to teach us of Himself and of ourselves, and who are willing to fight against their evils, and day-by-day to lead the life of struggle and temptation which such a faith demands.

     But there is no overmastering proof for the unwilling. Men read these books, and find them far from convincing. He who trusts to self-intelligence, who believes that man is self-taught, who thinks that the senses are the only door of wisdom, and that it is superstition to believe anything above the testimony of science, such a one will find no proof of Divinity in the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem.

     And so doubters and false teachers are allowed to enter even the New Church,-teachers who question not only the Divine Authority of the Doctrines, but also in our day the accuracy of the Sacred Scriptures, and the Virgin Birth. These things are permitted to promote human freedom, and to winnow the wheat from the chaff.

     But let those who believe in God, and who love to trust His Providence and His Word, draw but the nearer to Him, quicken their zeal, study anew the Word and Writings, and make their faith more intelligent, that they may be able to help those who wish to believe and are in doubt only before affirming. For there are many such,-many who will believe in the life hereafter, and who can be given the true faith in this world, if only the love in the Church is warm enough, and her faith is intelligent enough, to hold them in the life of charity until death.

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PREPARATION BY PURIFICATION 1925

PREPARATION BY PURIFICATION        W. F. PENDLETON       1925

     "Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord, and who shall stand in His holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart:" (Psalm 24:3, 4.)

     It is mount Zion at Jerusalem that is called the "mountain of the Lord," and the temple is what is called the "holy place." But in the spiritual sense, heaven is the "mountain of the Lord," and the church on earth is the "holy place." It is a place of preparation by which a man is made ready to ascend into the mountain of the Lord after death. This place of preparation is the church in general, and at the same time the church in the individual mind of man. For there is, or is to be, a church in man, and afterward a heaven in him. The heaven in him is the internal or spiritual mind, to be opened by a regenerate life while he is still in the world, or he can never enter the angelic heaven after death. But there is a work of cleansing and purification to be performed by the church before his heaven can be opened. The means to this opening, performed by and in the church on earth, is the subject of the text, and of the Psalm from which it is taken.

     It is necessary to know that there are two internals in man, one below, and the other above; one of the earth, and the other of heaven. The one is the internal of the natural mind, and the other is the internal called the spiritual mind. The internal of the natural mind is where the church is, or is to be, and the internal called the spiritual mind is where heaven is, or is to be. That mind is his heaven.

     The internal natural mind is the seat of all man's affections and thoughts while he lives in the world,-those things that he really feels and really thinks, and which are not put on for the sake of the outward appearance. It is well known that anyone can assume the appearance of thoughts and affections that are not his own. These make the external of the natural. The internal of the natural mind is where every man really lives, feels and thinks. There he is himself, free and individual.

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This internal natural is sometimes called in the Writings the interior mind, in order to distinguish it from the internal spiritual mind, which becomes man's individual heaven when it is entered by regeneration, but which he does not fully enter until after death. All the angels of heaven are in this spiritual internal.

     Spirits below heaven, although they have laid aside the body, are similar to men in this, that the spiritual internal is not opened, or not as yet. The natural internal or interior man is their mind; it is the seat of their affections and thoughts, by which they associate with men in the world. Men associate with each other by means of their external mind, but with spirits by means of their internal natural. In the affections and thoughts of this mind, spirits and men dwell together.

     It will be seen, therefore, that there must always be an internal somewhere in the spiritual world for every man. If he has not a spiritual internal, by which he can associate with the angels, he has a natural internal, by which he associates with spirits below heaven, and from which he speaks and acts in the world with men, but variously veiled and accommodated, according to his plans and purposes. No man can live without an internal in the spiritual world, by which he is with the inhabitants of that world, evil or good, according to his state.

     The world is full of instrumentalities, in the hands of the Lord, for the opening of the spiritual mind. Chief among these are the spiritual truths of the Word. The mode by which the truths of the Word open the internal mind is in the removal of the evils of the interior natural mind, accomplished by inspiring man to desist from those evils because they are sins. It is the interior mind, having become regenerate, that is meant by the "clean hands" and the "pure heart." The will of the interior man, purified of its evil affections, is what is signified by the "pure heart." The understanding of the interior man, purified of its falsities of thought, is signified by the "clean hands."

     We should see clearly that the natural mind is interior and exterior, that the exterior of the natural is man's face to the world, by which he adapts himself to the conditions outside and around him; and that the interior of the natural is that part of the natural mind in which a man is in himself, in which he wills and thinks when he is alone or uninfluenced by the company of others.

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It is where man lives. If he would know himself, he must know what he wills and thinks in this interior mind, which is accomplished by reflection when he is alone. He will then be able to see himself as he really is. He will be able to see that, of himself, he is nothing but evil. If he then acknowledges this to be so, prays to the Lord for help, and then desists from the evils which he sees, a gradual change is effected, and he reaches the state signified by' the "clean hands and a pure heart." The understanding will be cleansed of its evil thoughts, and the will of its evil affections. This will be done by the Lord through His truths, inspiring resistance; and then the internal man, or heaven, will be opened.

     The "heart," or the will, of the interior man must be purified, because the evil love which makes that will is impurity itself, and the origin of all the impurities, and thus of all the diseases, of the world. The "hands," or the understanding, of the interior man must be cleansed, because that understanding, with all its unclean thoughts, continually feeds and nourishes the impurities of the will. In short, no man can enter heaven, nor can his spiritual mind ever be opened, except by the cleansing and purification of the interior mind, and thus by the removal of its falsities and evils through the work of regeneration. No one else can "ascend into the mountain of the Lord," or "stand in His holy place." There is no other way but by the purification of the interiors, and afterwards of the exteriors, of his mind.

     "He that hath clean hands and a pure heart" is he that "shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord, and stand in His holy place." Clean hands are mentioned first, because the thoughts, signified by the hands, are first in the order of approach. We are more conscious of our thoughts than of our affections. The thoughts are as it were nearer to us. We see them more plainly, and it is through them that the heart or the will is reached, and its affections seen.

     Why do the hands signify the thoughts? The Lord, in giving the Word of this Psalm, did not say thoughts, but He said hands. The reason is, because truth is in greater power when it is veiled by language made up of expressions picturing the things of the outer physical world. It is as in poetry; and this principle is in poetry because it was first in the Word; for the Word of God is poetry itself, the Divine type and the Divine origin of all poetry.

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And further, hands are used instead of thoughts because they correspond; that is, because the hands are to the body what the thoughts are to the mind,-the instruments of power and the instruments of use. The hands are the means by which the body does its work, and the thoughts are the means by which the mind does its work. The work which the mind does by means of its thoughts is a work of cleansing and purification,-a work of self-examination, and of turning away from things we ought not to think about, to things we ought to think about; from things that are unclean, impure, evil, to things that are clean, pure, and good; to the things of the heavenly life, and to the good uses which lead to that life.

     Right here comes the importance of being instructed in the truths of the Word, in order that we may have something to think about other than the things which occupy the mind in the daily routine of this world's life,-something to think about that will elevate the mind above the ordinary sphere of the world and its cares and anxieties. This you do when you read the Writings. This you do when you come to church to join with others in the worship of the Lord, to listen to the unfolding of the Word in the sermon. This you do when you reflect upon the things you have learned, that you may form the habit of looking upward-upward to heaven, the mountain of the Lord, and to His holy place.

     Thus you see that the work of regeneration is a process of cleansing, of purification; a work of purging the interiors of the mind of those things that are unclean in the sight of God, and of His holy angels. In the Sacred Scripture, the words "clean" and "unclean" are often used. If there were time, many passages could be quoted to establish this fact. But it is not necessary. It is well known. And it is known that by what is clean is meant that which is holy, pure and good; and by what is unclean is meant that which is unholy, that which is profane, impure, and wicked,-the uncleanness that rises up from hell.

     The Lord is holy, His Word is holy, His heaven is holy, His church is holy, and all the instrumentalities leading to these are holy,-holy because of the Divine Presence, the Divine Sphere within and around them. It is from this that we have the word "Sanctuary." A sanctuary is a holy place.

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There is a sanctuary in every heaven, in every society of heaven, in the church,-a sanctuary that is represented in every church building. And it is the Divine will that every human mind be made a sanctuary, into which nothing is to enter that is unclean. It is Divinely ordained that marriage, descending from God out of heaven, is to be such a sanctuary, that the body itself is to be a sanctuary, in the midst of which the Lord dwells. There are many sanctuaries. When the Lord said to the. Children of Israel, "Make for me a, sanctuary, that I may dwell in the midst of you" (Exod. 25:8), it meant all these things. It meant the same things when He said: "Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord, and who shall stand in His holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn to deceit. He shall receive the blessing of the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation." Amen.

     Lessons: Isaiah 6. Revelation 22:1-15. A. C. 8252-8251 ADVERSARIA. 1925

ADVERSARIA.       EMANUEL SWEDENBORG       1925

     EXTRACT FROM VOLUME I (NOS. 916-1019), TREATING OF THE FOUR FACULTIES IN MAN, AND OF THE FOUR CLASSES OF TRUTHS, OF GOODNESS, AND OF LOVES.

     TRANSLATED BY THE REV. ALFRED ACTON.

     (Continued from December issue, p. 729)

     998. Since, then, it is loves that conceive the understanding and give it birth; and since love's are like flames from which light radiates; the source whence comes intellectual light is evident, and also what that light itself is; for, according to the nature of the loves, such are the rays which form that light. That each ray is an image of a sun, is quite evident in natural things from the concentration of these rays by means of an optical glass, causing the very image of the sun to be seen in the focus. The like occurs in spiritual things, where each ray of intellectual light is an image of that love from which, and to which, it is continued.

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Hence from perpetual rays of this kind comes that light which both illumines the human mind and enkindles it.

     999. Therefore, according to the nature of the loves, such is the light which is formed from them. Hence it is now clear why, in the Divine Word, celestial spirits and angels are compared to stars from which light radiates, and this into human minds; and also why the Messiah Himself is the Sun of intelligence and wisdom,* the rays of whose light are so many truths, and the rays of whose love are so many goodnesses; which two flow immediately through the human soul into the mind thereof, and mediately, through His celestial spirits and angels.**
     * This was first written: "Why the Messiah Himself is compared to the Sun," etc.
     ** into the human mind (crossed off).

     1000. From this also the reason is apparent why evil genii are compared to fires and torches which shine in the dark; and why the devil himself is compared to a fount of such fires, the rays of whose light are so many lies and falsities, and the rays of whose fire are so many evils and malignities. These flow immediately into the natural mind or animus, and also into the animus of wild beasts; and, through evil genii, they how even into the human mind itself. It is for this reason that these genii are allowed to put on the form of celestial angels,-a form which they carry on the outside, while within they conceal malice, deceit and hatred.

     1001. Since, therefore, these malignant genii, who live an inverted order, flow into the mind of man, and at the same time into his animus, and continually rouse up affections which have their origin in the love of self and the love of the world, it follows that men ought to resist them, and to fight with themselves, because fighting with them. For these genii are so malignant that, when they infuse the evil which is in themselves, they attribute it to the man as though it were his own; and when the man gives assent to them, they almost persuade themselves that it is they who then live the man's life.

     1002. In addition to affections, or the continued loves of self and the world, these genii also infuse persuasions; for they snatch away the things that dissuade, and fill the thoughts with those that persuade.

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Hence they especially induce two states,-a state of affections, and a state of persuasion. If truths were not then present, or those knowledges of truth which men have drawn from the Divine Word; and if men did not use these truths as their weapons; they would be entirely carried away by these genii.

     1003. There are a great many men who commune with themselves to the effect that they could have no faith in such words, unless they themselves were allowed to enter heaven, and thus to see the things there existing, or to speak with the dead who have risen again. But I can assuredly testify that for a period now of eight months, by the pure mercy and grace of the Messiah, I have conversed with those who are in heaven, just as with my familiars here on earth, and this almost continuously; so that I have not only experienced [what I have written above], but also have been informed to the same effect by them. Thus it has been fully attested to me by living demonstrations, and at the same time by repeated conversations. Therefore, I desire to communicate these events which seem so marvelous, in order that men may put faith in me, who have been so long in heaven while at the same time I was on earth among my friends; namely, from the middle of April, 1745, to the 29th January, or the 9th of February,* 1746; excepting one month which elapsed while I was on a journey to Sweden, where I arrived on the 19th August,** Old Style.
     * At the time of writing the above, the author was in Sweden, where (as also in England) the Old or Julian Calendar was still in use. The difference between this calendar and the Gregorian, which had been generally adopted on the Continent since 1700, was then 11 days.
     ** or the 30th of August (crossed off).

     1004. Man, therefore, is given an understanding, and a faculty of viewing the loves which he regards as ends, and which persuade him that they are goodnesses. For if these evil affections break out into open act, the men not only favor the evil genii, and their leader the devil, but also surrender and submit themselves as like genii. Thus they begin to live an entirely opposite order of life, and, moreover, to hold the celestial and truly spiritual life in hatred; nay, they are cast headlong into absolute ignorance of truth, wherein dwells heavenly light.

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Hence, in such minds, there is no faith in the Messiah; and hence comes shade in spiritual things, and cold in all that concerns the Messiah Himself, or the One Only Love of Heaven. Moreover, when those things which come from evil affections and induced persuasions break out into act, then men become so accustomed to them by practice that afterwards they recur spontaneously, and thus acquire a nature, as said above [n. 922]. From this their offspring for some generations draw their disposition; and so the human race degenerates. But the case is otherwise with infants. In them, no rational mind has been formed, although hereditary evil is within them from the parent's seed; which evil has been immensely increased by the vices that have been added to it and multiplied for so many generations. But despite this, infants are reformed by means of commerce with spirits of the heaven of the Messiah, who has them in His care above all others.

     1005. By a comparison of the human mind with a fruit tree, the manner in which the understanding is formed by love alone, and the will by the understanding, becomes still more clearly evident. For it is exactly the same with the human mind as with a tree, nay, as with a grove of trees; but the mind was created such that it represents that paradise wherein man was before the fall.

     1006. As is well known, a tree is conceived from seed in the soil of the earth. There it takes root; from the root is then put forth a shoot, which increases in breadth and height. This root then gives off branches, the branches twigs, and the twigs leaves. Then, in the time of spring, fruits are borne, and in the fruits seeds are laid up, which, falling once more into the ground, or planted therein, raise up a new tree; nay, and a grove of trees.

     1007. And now for the comparison itself. The human understanding, with its knowledges, is like a tree with its branches and foliage; for an equal number of ramifications and unfoldings, as it were of a tree, have existence in the human understanding, and indeed many more. If the knowledges are truths, that is to say, if goodnesses are born from truths, then that tree is like a tree in Paradise; otherwise it is like a tree in the woods.

     1008. In the human mind, fruits, which begin to bud in time of spring, and shortly become ripe, are uses which are circumstanced in the same way.

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Therefore, in the Divine Word such uses are called fruits, and are compared to the fruits (poma) in paradise.* The seeds contained in fruits are more ulterior uses; for as the whole tree exists for the sake of fruit, and these for the sake of seeds, so, in the human mind, all the knowledges or sciences of good and evil are for the sake of uses.
     * Of the two words here translated "fruit," the first, in the original, is fructus, which has exactly the same meaning as our word "fruit"; the second is pomus. This latter word means fruits of all kinds,-apples, cherries, nuts; berries, figs, dates, etc., but it probably has special reference to the fruits of orchards. The word pomarium signifies an orchard, and pomarius a fruit-seller, a fruiterer. The word pomus is also used to signify an apple, but only in a very general sense, and one that also involves the idea of other similar fruits. Thus pomaria signifies an applewoman, and, like its English equivalent, means a woman who sells apples and similar fruits. The French derivative pomme means exclusively an apple, though the original signification of the word pomus is still preserved in the expression pomme de lerre, that is, fruit of the earth, potato. It would appear that, after the period of classical literature, the word pomus came to be used in a more restricted sense, as meaning an apple. In Pott's Concordance, we find eight passages where Swedenborg used the word pomunt or pontifera. In four of these passages (A. C. 8603:2, T. C. R. 94:2, 119-fin, and S. D. 5738), the word is undoubtedly used to signify an apple; and in T. C. R. 112, it is used to signify the "apple of discord." In the three remaining passages, however, the word may equally well be translated fruit, thus: A. R. 112, "Good without truth is compared to fruit (fructus) in which there is no juice"; and to "trees bare of leaves on which hang dry poma (fruits or apples) left there from autumn." In the same work (n. 4117), we read that a fruit tree (arbor pomifera = fruit tree or apple tree) produces poma, but if a man does goods for the sake of salvation, as that tree produces poma by continuity, then those pana are decayed within, and full of worms. In T. C. R. 380:4, a comparison is made with "serpents of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, who draw near like angels of light, holding in their hands poma taken from the tree and painted with deep red colors.

     1009. Interiorly within seeds lies the prolific principle which conceives the tree. For the seed is engirded with coverings. First, it is broken open or gapes open, and then at last it gives forth from its marrow something which takes root, and which, in fact, makes its first root in the seed itself. It is these essences in the seed, therefore, that are compared to those uses in the human mind which are more ulterior, and which finally are the ultimate uses which are also the first.

     1010. Uses are the ends to which the human mind looks; for all knowledges and sciences are for the sake of uses, exactly as in the case of trees.

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The tree, with its branches, foliage and leaves, is for the sake of fruits, and these for the sake of seeds, which are the real fruits, and which enclose new offspring, wrapping them in swaddling clothes, as it were, that from them they may be born again.

     1011. The real seeds are thus enwrapped in swaddling clothes, as it were, because of that prolific essence which lies concealed within them, and which the seed stores up. So likewise in the human mind, uses store up in themselves ulterior uses, and finally the ultimate, both the latter and the former uses being ends; for, as already stated [n. 930], all uses are ends.

     1012. The question may now be asked: What produces the whole tree, and forms it? It can be evident to everyone, that it is nothing else than the sap, which is drawn up from the ground through the root, and which so unfolds itself that, after performing its gyre in nature, it is concentrated, first into fruits, then into seeds, and lastly into interior seminal essences; and this to the end that a new tree may rise up, and thus a grove of trees. It is the same in the human mind. For the knowledges or sciences of good and truth are for the sake of ends which are uses, and thus for the sake of ulterior uses, which are ulterior ends, and finally for the sake of the ultimate use, that this may be born again. Thus the nature of the correspondence of natural things with spiritual is evident. It is also evident that there is nothing in natural things which does not represent things spiritual; from this source comes their cause, which, therefore, is derived from things spiritual.

     1013. In the first place, as regards uses which in the human mind are ends, they are fourfold, exactly like fruits, seeds, and the essences in the little seeds. That uses are fourfold, is evident from what was stated above [n. 9491 950], where it was declared, in respect to loves, that these are fourfold, to wit: loves which regard the body; loves which regard the natural mind or animus; loves which regard the intellectual mind and its will; and loves which regard the soul itself.

     1014. For it may be evident whence this sap comes which, as said above, produces the whole tree. Uses, as already stated, are ends. But ends are no other than loves; for nothing is regarded as an end except what is loved. This is that verimost thing which is called good.

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The sap in the tree is nothing but the interior and inmost essence in the seed, which takes root, first in the seed itself, and finally in the ground. From this a root is produced, through which a like sap is continually drawn up; and in the pores this sap is formed after the likeness of the first sap; * otherwise it is not admitted into the company of the other. That such is the case, is plainly evident from experience. But as to how the one sap is thus formed according to the likeness of the other, this is clear from those things to which they correspond, and which are spiritual, but not at all from those things which occur in nature. For to penetrate thus far by the sight is not possible, even for the intellectual sight by means of the sciences. But as it is with spiritual things, so correspondentially is it with natural things. Therefore, from a knowledge of spiritual things can be acquired a full knowledge of natural things. Hence spiritual essences are in the knowledge of natural things, and they readily produce marvels.**
     * for nothing can ever exist [in the subsequent] which is not like that which is the first (crossed off).
     ** As is the case with the human mind. They flow from them spontaneously (crossed off).

     1015. Since natural things correspond to spiritual, it follows that they correspond to such things as are in the human mind. Fruits on a tree represent uses in the human mind; seeds, ulterior uses; and the seminal essences, uses still more ulterior, and thus the ultimate. And since uses are ends, and ends are nothing but loves, it can be evident whence comes the life of that mind. For as the sap is the life of the tree, so loves are the life of man. That these loves are fourfold in kind, degree and origin, has been stated above [n. 949, 950, 1013.]

     1016. One may wonder at the statement that fruits and seeds in a tree, and thus in things natural, which are wholly inanimate, can correspond in this way to uses and loves in things spiritual. That this is nevertheless the case, everyone will perceive, if only he gives attention to his own mind, and to the many things [therein] which confirm this position. That fruits are compared to uses is well known, and the saying is on everyone's lips. That these uses are also ends, follows as a consequence; for a tree exists, not for the sake of its branches and foliage, but for the sake of its fruits, which are regarded as its uses.

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Uses, therefore, are the ends or things for the sake of which is all the rest; and for this reason also, principles in human minds are called seeds. That the seminal essences are ulterior and ultimate uses, is plainly evident from the fact that from these essences the tree is reborn; thus they are the ends of the whole tree.

     1017. That the circumstances of the case are the same in the human mind, which is spiritual, is clear to everyone; for the understanding, with its knowledges, regards nothing else than uses as its ends. That uses are loves, is clear.

     1018. But let us now make further progress, by inquiring what it is that produces this sap, and excites it to its motion, that from it a tree shall exist, with all those properties enumerated above. It is clear that no tree will arise unless there be heat. In spiritual things, heat is love, and this is also called spiritual heat, and actually corresponds to heat; for heat exists from love. Without spiritual heat, that is to say, without love, nothing can ever grow and take form in the human mind. But love is fourfold. The supreme love, which is also the inmost, flows through the soul into the intellectual mind, and this from the very Sun of Wisdom, from God Messiah, whence comes all Divine and supracelestial love. It is from this love that the truly human understanding has existence, for from this love comes all its life. There are also inferior loves, which likewise flow in, but these take their life solely from the love of the Supreme, and then they form a mind which is to be compared to that tree in the midst of paradise which is called the tree of knowledge. It is otherwise when the inferior loves flow in without the supreme; then they do indeed conceive and bring forth a kind of intellectual mind with its will, but this mind is to be compared to a tree in the woods which bears no fruit, and which is therefore of no other use than to be cut down and cast into the fire; or even to such a tree as must be rooted up, because it bears fruits that are useless, and sometimes even poisonous.

     1019. Because, now, it is heat which excites the sap of the tree into its motion, that it may grow, take on foliage, and bear fruit, it can be evident that, inmostly in the sap, there is a something which is excited, a something, namely, which corresponds to the heat, and which is called a ray of heat. For continual rays come from the sun, and in these rays lie both light and heat.

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In rays of light, there is nothing which is of such a nature as to produce. For in time of winter a tree becomes entirely torpid, and as it were dead; but in time of spring it is raised up anew by the rays of heat, and takes on life, as it were. So also is it in human minds. There we have rays both of light and of love; by the rays of light nothing is raised up, but only by the rays of love. This, then, is the source of the life of the human mind, that is to say, of its understanding and will.
LOVE OF KNOWLEDGE 1925

LOVE OF KNOWLEDGE       J. W. MARELIUS       1925

     ITS ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT.

     The earnest seeker after genuine truth can find no more fruitful field for his explorations than the Writings of the New Dispensation, every page of which is a mine from which the diligent explorer may gather nuggets of pure gold. In our explorations of the hidden riches in one of these mines we find this nugget: "The love of knowledge." We shall endeavor to use it for our enlightenment.

     The first lesson that is here imparted to us is that man is born in total ignorance. "The earth was void and emptiness." We are further shown that he gradually passes from this State into one of intelligence, and that finally he may attain to a state of wisdom. The first state, that of total ignorance, is characterized by a certain obscure affection, which belongs to his love or will. This state is introductory to the nuptial or marriage, that is, to the conjunction between the will and the understanding, as this union is called in the Writings.

     The second state, which belongs to man in his childhood, reveals the operation of this love as the awakened affection of knowledge. Impelled by this affection, he eventually learns to talk, and gradually imbibes a knowledge of the things which belong to his intellect or understanding,-an advance that is entirely effected by the love, which belongs to the will. This statement should not be a subject of doubt; for if love or the will did not give the impulse, he would have no ability to imbibe knowledges of any kind. Every man, at the moment of his entering the world, is the recipient of the influx of this love of knowledge, and as it later develops he imbibes the knowledge of things by which his intellect is gradually formed, and by which it grows and is perfected.

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     That such is the order of intellectual progress, can be seen by anyone who, from sound reason, consults experience. The evidence of this order of progress is, that when man, from this love of knowledge, has become intelligent, he is gradually led into the affection of reasoning, and of drawing conclusions regarding things which belong to his love, whether these be economic, civil or moral. Furthermore, when this affection is elevated to things spiritual, it becomes the affection of spiritual truths. This affection of truth is an exalted love of knowledge; for to be affected by truths is to will to know them, and when this knowledge is attained, he wills to accept them from the delight which this affection brings with it.

     In the intellect are two faculties: the love of truth and the perception of truth. Everyone is so much in the perception of truth as he feels delight in understanding the truth. A man will not lack perception of truth, if he finds delight in understanding the truth. He thus becomes truly rational.

     The third conjunction of love and understanding in the human mind eventuates by the affection of seeing in the very thought that from which thought itself springs. This seeing is very obscure with those who cannot distinctly perceive the operations of the mind. Their thinking, therefore, is more or less confused.

     It may now be seen how these three,-the affection of truth, the perception of truth, and the seeing in thought that which he understands,-follow in order from the love which enters the intellect. When this state is attained, there is conjunction between the will and the understanding, and then man is truly rational.

     Now that we have, as it were in the abstract, briefly contemplated the order of the development of the human mind from the love of knowledge to the perception of spiritual truth, let us present a more concrete view of this process.     

     Imagine, then, that we stand in the presence of a new-born babe. Behold that tiny bundle of animated clay, just ushered into a more or less hospitable would. Feeble, helpless, ignorant even of the means of sustaining its feeble life, it is yet a being endowed with faculties of limitless potentiality.

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In the loving sphere into which, let us hope, it is warmly welcomed, we behold a most wonderful receptacle of life from the Source of all life, prepared to receive the influx of that life, first on the lowest plane, that of the senses. From the inflowing love of knowledge, the infant finds its first field of exploration the breast of the loving mother. There, after many ineffectual gropings, it finds its apparent source of life. To its tiny hands the touch of the mother awakens the first glimmerings of that love which is later to become the conscious affection for her.

     But gradually its field of exploration is extended, and this is essential to its future well-being, that it may secure a firm foundation for both physical and mental development by acquiring an intimate knowledge of its immediate sense-world. And so, little by little, the questioning embryo-mind is made aware of its environment. The light of the mother's eyes, and the scintillating rays of nearby luminaries, claim its attention. The companion warmth of that light which so powerfully appeals to its wondering eyes is revealed to it. The innate love of knowledge is working, expanding. The infantile mind is learning something every moment of its young life. Before long, it will become conscious of possessing certain powers, and these, in its faltering way, it will try to exercise. Imperceptibly, it thus grows in strength by every succeeding effort. Soon the ears are attuned to the sound of the mother's voice. Other sounds ere long attract its attention. Its own inarticulate voice, as yet its only language, has already made itself heard. But the mother's voice is more endearing than anything else in its little world, and affection is continually nourished thereby. It grows mentally as well as physically. The little hands grasp at everything within reach. Arms, legs and feet are in constant motion. It delights in pushing things out of its way, no less than in grasping at them. By and by it dawns upon the infantile mind that the legs might be made to stand on, and perchance to walk upon. Thus, by easy stages, the mind slowly evolves from its original chaos of absolute ignorance, and awakens to a conscious knowledge of its own existence, of its own power, mental and physical, of the reality of things outside of itself, in a word, of its environment.

     Emerging from this infantile state, the mind now begins to enter upon the conscious pursuit of knowledge. The child slowly learns to imitate the words it hears, and to know their meaning, as well as the things themselves of which the words are the symbols.

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The next step in the development of the budding intellect is learning to recognize these symbols in their visible form, that is, to read. By degrees the child is enabled to acquire many things, and to store the memory with a supply of material for the later use of the intellect. All this is the effect of the operation of the love in the will acting upon the intellect or understanding and its memory. Many things are now stored up, by which the intellect grows and is perfected. Continually advancing, the affection of truth springs up, and the child becomes an intelligent being. From the knowledge of things, the child's mind rises to find delight in reasoning and drawing conclusions; and when this affection is elevated to the contemplation of spiritual things, as is the case in an ideal New Church environment, it becomes the affection of spiritual verities.

     Passing beyond the first love of the knowledge of things, of phenomena, of effects, the mind has now reached the state of the more exalted affection of truth, of causes, with the delights springing therefrom. From the affection of understanding the relations of things results a perception of truth. Affection of truth and perception of truth, as has already been pointed out, are two different faculties of the intellect. Some have one without the other. They are united or conjoined in those who are willing to perceive the truth, but not in those who are willing only to know the truth; a vast difference you will note. Everyone who delights in understanding the truth is in a corresponding perception of truth. The degree of perception is in exact proportion to the love of understanding, and a man of sound reason never lacks the perception of truth, if only he loves to understand the truth. He then enjoys true rationality.

     When the third stage of the mental development of the child, now grown to a youth, has been reached, he is eager to see in his thoughts that which gives rise to thought; for thought is nothing else than internal sight. We have observed how he passes from the infantile state of total ignorance to the affection of the knowledge of things, and thence to the state of the affection of understanding the causes of things. Now he ardently desires to see the things whence thought comes.

     This, especially with the young man, is a rather a critical state.

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Unless his mind has been previously stored with the precious remains of good and innocent affections, as well as of clear thoughts from the knowledge of realities rather than from the appearance of things, his inevitable excursions into the field of fantastic reasonings will result in his acquiring the fatuous imagination that he is perfectly competent, from his own power, to solve the deepest problems of his own existence, as well as that of the world in which he finds himself. This is the period of the young man's life, when, in his own estimation at least, he thinks he is a paragon of wisdom, much wiser, in fact, than those by whose efforts he has attained the small degree of wisdom he now possesses. But, in the measure that he humbly submits himself to the guidance of wiser minds, whether by oral instruction or by diligent study of the illumined Writings which the Lord has so mercifully placed in our hands, he enters upon his manhood with full confidence of gaining a clear insight into the mystery of his own existence, the reason for it, and the end of it; in short, the reason for his own microcosm. Thus also will he be enabled to gain a higher conception of the cause, as well as the end, of the macrocosm in which he lives, and by which he is surrounded. The path to wisdom now lies open before him, and in a glorious freedom from the illusions of mere appearances, he can pursue the course that leads to his heavenly destiny.
BUILDER. 1925

BUILDER.       PHILIP OYLER       1925

     My house was all my own;
     I tried to make it square;
But while I slept, sin came and crept
     Beneath it unaware.
The walls grew weak; rods sprang a leak,
     And then my house fell down.

     Now I will try again
     To build a humble home,
And with God's hand remove the sand,
     And try to overcome
The faults I made, the ills I said,
     The thoughts that were so vain.
May I be filled with strength to build
     A house in His domain!

                    PHILIP OYLER.

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Title Unspecified 1925

Title Unspecified              1925

SPIRITUAL DIARY NO. 222.     That three solar atmospheres operate in the natural mind, but not in the more interior one; but that God Messiah is the Sun in the more interior and inmost.

     222. There are four natural spheres which originate from the sun. The atmosphere which produces hearing is known. A purer atmosphere, separate from the aerial one, is what produces sight, or visual images, by means of the reflections of the shades of all objects. How far this atmosphere penetrates into the natural mind, and whether it presents material ideas, as they are called, or phantasies and imaginations, cannot as yet be so well established, but from many things it appears probable. This, then, must be the first atmosphere which reigns in the natural mind. Another atmosphere is a still purer ether, and is that which produces the forces of magnets, which reign, not only about the magnet in particular, but also around the whole globe. . . . It produces the position therein of the whole terraqueous globe in relation to the poles of the world, and also many things which are known to the world respecting the magnetic elevations and inclinations. This [atmosphere] would seem to produce reasonings in the natural mind, with which, however, the spiritual must be present, if they are to live; as it must be with the sight, and every other sense, if they are to perceive. The purest ethereal sphere is that universal [sphere] in the universal world, which is presented round about the reasonings of the same mind. Hence that mind is called the natural mind, and its interior operations, when perverted, are called ratiocinations; but, when according to order, simply reason, which is a species of the thoughts arising from spiritual influx. These spheres are of the sun, and may be called solar, and thus natural. But as regards the more interior mind, there is nothing natural therein, but all is spiritual, and in the inmost mind celestial; these are produced by God Messiah alone, and are living, and so are to be called spiritual and celestial spheres. Concerning these spheres I conversed with an angel this morning, and was thus confirmed.-1747, October 27, o. s.

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CORPUSCULAR NATURE OF THE SPIRITUAL ATMOSPHERES 1925

CORPUSCULAR NATURE OF THE SPIRITUAL ATMOSPHERES        CHARLES R. PENDLETON       1925

     A PAPER READ AT A MEETING OF THE PITTSBURGH PHILOSOPHY CLUB.

     1. Early History of the Controversy.

     The early students of Swedenborg's philosophical works were quick to see a general agreement between his cosmological system and the theology of the Writings. But if there were some who immediately saw a similarity, there were others equally quick to discover difficulties. The most marked of the earlier controversies centered around Diary 222. (See previous page.) This number agrees with the earlier philosophical works in stating that there are four natural atmospheres, whereas nearly all the other teachings in the theological works give the number of natural atmospheres as three. The situation then assumes this form. The philosophical works, Dairy 222, and possibly Diary 418, teach that there are four natural atmospheres, while the Writings elsewhere teach that the number of natural atmospheres is three.

     An ingenious explanation of this difficulty suggested that possibly Swedenborg had been unduly influenced by his earlier studies when he wrote Diary 222, and had carried the fourfold natural atmosphere over from his Principia into the Diary; but later he had seen that the natural atmospheres were only three; that the other statements in the Writings, all written after the Diary passage, teach three only; and that hence Dairy 222 is incorrect. But this explanation raised a storm of objections. It opposed the Divine Authority of the Writings, because the Diary was written after the Arcana Celestia had been started, after Swedenborg's full illumination. Furthermore, internal evidence was against this explanation. Swedenborg says at the close of Diary 222 that he had consulted an angel in regard to the number of natural atmospheres, who had confirmed his opinion that there were four.

     An other explanation then appeared, teaching that the fourth natural atmosphere is really a spiritual atmosphere, and pointing out that Swedenborg's earlier works place the human soul in the first aura of the Principia.

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Many passages can be given to show this teaching of Swedenborg. Hence the first aura of the Principia, the fourth natural atmosphere,-must be in the spiritual world. This explanation went further. It unearthed a passage where Swedenborg says that the first aura is a spiritual atmosphere.

     Quoted from the Five Senses 264: "There are three natural atmospheres, to which is to be added a supreme: namely, 1. air, 2. ether, 3. the celestial aura, 4. finally, the universal spiritual aura, which is supreme."

     2. Unsatisfactory Condition of the Second Explanation.

     The second theory soon came to be accepted by the scholars of the New Church. It contained no challenge to the authority of the Writings. It was supported by Swedenborg himself. It remains till today the explanation favored by a number of students.

     But this was only a partial explanation. It suggested a possibility, but offered no solution. Why did Swedenborg say in one place in the Writings that there were four natural atmospheres, if the fourth was really spiritual? If Swedenborg, in the Diary, as also earlier in the Principia, saw only the appearance, Why was not the first explanation right in saying that Swedenborg had carried his earlier philosophical ideas over into the Writings?

     Subsequent studies of cosmology seemed to put the solution off further than ever. Other complications were discovered, but the old difficulty was not removed. This uncertainty shifted its nature. It assumed the form of a controversy. Two schools of thought were isolated, two views were crystallized in regard to the nature of the spiritual world. One was accused of being idealistic, the other of being materialistic. Both epithets contained a sting. It will be well to avoid any censure, and admit from the start that both schools have good grounds on which to rest their cases. In fact, history compels further admissions. These two schools have been in existence from the beginning of human speculation on the nature of mind. Greek idealist fought with Greek materialist. Scholastic argued with Churchman. Modern philosophers, both before and after Swedenborg's time, developed marvelous systems, each to demonstrate his own explanation of mental phenomena.

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At this day, each school in the New Church can marshal many passages and arguments to support its own view. The best minds of the Church are divided oh this subject. When it is necessary to refer to these two schools, we shall call one the "school of abstract thought," the other the "substantialist school."

     3. The Purpose of this Paper.

     The purpose of this paper is to throw light, if possible, on one phase of this age-long controversy, as it has taken shape in the New Church,-on the nature of the spiritual atmospheres. Are the spiritual atmospheres to be considered as abstract thought, having no qualities which the natural mind can grasp, save that of good and truth? Can they be understood only as affecting the human mind, as causing the perception of mental activity? Are they to be considered as indeed a real substance, one which may appear to us as activity, but still a substance, although one which the human mind cannot comprehend except in the form of mental operations?

     Or is it correct to understand the spiritual atmospheres as substantial in such a way that they furnish the material from which the natural world is built? Is it allowable to suppose that the spiritual atmospheres have a certain quasi geometrical and mechanical quality? a quality so subtle that they, may not be said to be geometrical and mechanical, lest these words be understood crudely?-that nevertheless they have something among their several components which becomes geometrical and mechanical when involved in the lower planes of the universe? In brief, is it permitted to assume that the spiritual atmospheres have, in addition to the abstract qualities listed by the opposed school, certain elementary geometrical qualities which are the origin of space in the natural world?

     It is the belief of the speaker that the Writings are definite on this subject; that they show that the spiritual substances furnish the stuff from which the natural world is compounded; that the spiritual atmospheres have certain qualities which are the source of geometry, mechanism, and space in the natural world; although these qualities are such that, unless our words are carefully defined, and our ideas carefully restricted, the atmospheric units may not be called spatial, geometrical, or mechanical.

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     4. Two Theories regarding the Structure of the Universe.

     If the two schools of thought be examined with reference to the structure of the universe which each presupposes, it will be found that they differ in certain fundamental principles. Their ground plans are different. The first considers the universe as essentially one structure, the other as essentially two worlds. One emphasizes the unity, the other the duality of the finite. The substantialist sees the universe as a single series, extending from the Infinite to the matter of the natural world. The abstractist considers the universe as composed of two worlds, representing different series; each depending on its own sun. The substantialist believes that the natural world begins where the spiritual world ends. The abstractist affirms that the natural world runs parallel and underneath the spiritual world. The substantialist would represent the universe as a single chain, the links of which are the discrete degrees. This chain is supported above by the Infinite. Its bottom link is matter. The abstractist represents the universe as two chains. Each is supported from the Infinite. The first chain is the spiritual world, the second is the natural. The substantialist considers that both worlds are, in the last analysis, made out of the same stuff, which, however, manifests one set of qualities in the natural world, and another set in the spiritual world. The abstractist considers that the stuffs of the two worlds are essentially different; that the only qualities attributable to the spiritual world are those of mind and thought, love and wisdom; that the only qualities attributable to the natural world are spacial, geometrical and natural.

     5. The Single Series.

     It is important to note that both schools of thought have good reason to support their views; that concessions on the part of each would probably bring the two closer together; but that nevertheless there is no true middle ground. There is no philosophically tenable position which lies between these two extremes. Either the two worlds are made out of stuffs which are totally different, each having qualities which exclude the other, or they are made out of one stuff only. Either the two worlds are fundamentally and primarily distinct from one another, or they are not. Either the world of mind has some attributes of matter, and the world of matter has some attributes of mind, or not.

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In brief, either there is but one underlying series of substances in the universe, or there are two.

     If there is one series, it is a set of planes of substances which are finited more and more as it proceeds from the Lord to nature. In its upper members, the characteristics of mind predominate. In the lower members, spacial relations gain the ascendency. But all the qualities which exist in the lower members of this series must exist in essence in the first member. The only exception would be qualities at any point in the series caused by the privation of correlated qualities in the higher planes. For example, inertia is caused by the privation of activity, and inertia could exist in the lowest planes of the universe by the privation of the activity which exists in the higher planes. But all positive qualities existing in the lower members of the series must exist in the first member also.

     If, on the other hand, there are two series, each separate and distinct from the other, then there must be two sets of planes of substances, each of which is finited more and more, as it proceeds from its source to its terminus. The upper series proceeds from the Lord to the ultimates of the spiritual world. The lower series proceeds from the natural sun to the matters of the earth. In the upper series the characters of the mind and spirit are alone existent. In the lower series, the characters of space and mechanism alone are existent. All the qualities which exist in the upper series differ from all the qualities which exist in the lower series. These two series are not connected by any tangible bonds. The only relation existing between them is that of correspondence, and this is not to be understood in any geometrical, mechanical or physical sense. Two sets of positive qualities exist, one in the upper series, the other in the lower series.

     The above analysis of the two theories regarding the nature of the spiritual world would seem to be correct. It is important to see that these two theories reduce themselves to this clear cut difference in the ground plan of the universe, because it creates a definite question which can be answered by appeal to the texts of the Writings. The answer:

     1. Angelic Idea. The angels said that from the spiritual "sun, as from a great center, circles proceed, one from another and one after another, even to the ultimate where are their ends subsisting at rest."

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Further, in the same paragraph, "Those angels, who know that the universe, thus created, is a work continuous from the Creator even to the ultimates, and because it is a continuous work, that it is supported, activated, and ruled by the Lord as one concatenation (one chaining together), . . . said that the First Proceeding is continued even to the ultimate by discrete degrees."

     T. C. R. 33: "That all creation is finite, is because all things are from Jehovah God through the sun of the spiritual world, which proximately surrounds Him, and that sun is from a substance which has come forth from Him, whose essence is Love. From that sun, by its heat and light, the universe has been created from first to last. But this is not the place to explain the progression of creation in order; in the following, something of its scheme will be given. Here it is only important to know that one was formed from another, and that hence degrees were made, three in the spiritual world, and three corresponding to them in the natural world, and as many in quiescent things, of which the terraqueous globe consists. . . . By these degrees it comes that all posterior things are receptacles of prior things, and these of still prior things, and thus in order receptacles of the primitives, of which the sun of the angelic heaven consists, and thus that finite things are receptacles of the Infinite."

     D. L. W. 302: "That there are three atmospheres in both worlds, the spiritual and the natural, which are distinct from each other according to degrees of altitude, and that they decrease in their progression towards the inferiors according to degrees of latitude, has been shown in Part Three, nos. 173 to 176. And because the atmospheres decrease in the progression towards the inferiors, it follows that they continually become more compressed and inert, and at length in ultimates so compressed and inert that they are no longer atmospheres, but substances at rest, and in the natural world fixed, such as are in the earths, and are called materials."

     D. L. W. 303: "That the substances or materials such as are in the earths are produced by the sun through its atmospheres, who does not affirm who thinks that there are perpetual mediations from the First to the last; and that nothing can exist except from something prior to itself, and at length from the First; and that the First is the Sun of the spiritual world. Now because the atmospheres are those prior things by which the sun presents itself in ultimates, and because those prior things continually decrease in activity and expansion even to the ultimate, it follows that where their activity and expansion ceases in the ultimates, they become substances and materials such as are in the earths.

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These retain in themselves, from the atmospheres from which they have arisen, an effort and conatus for producing uses. Whoever establishes the universe and all things of it, not by continual mediations from the first, cannot but construct hypotheses broken off and separated from their causes, which, when examined by a mind which sees the thing interiorly, appear not as a house but as a mass of ruins."

     Conclusions from the above references seem clear. They are as follows:

     1. The earths derive certain qualities from the spiritual sun.

     2. They have these qualities because they are formed by compression of the atmospheres.

     3. The spiritual atmospheres, as well as the natural atmospheres, mediate in transmitting to the earths their qualities received from the spiritual sun.

     4. The ground plan of creation is a single series, one plane from another, and one after another,-the spiritual sun, three spiritual atmospheres, three natural atmospheres, and three degrees of earthly matter.

     5. The elements of this series,-the planes of creation,-are separated by discrete degrees.

     The substantialist is the school which fits: Abstract thought, whose only quality is mental, could not be compressed to form matter. The logical conclusion is, that the spiritual atmospheres, and, in fact, the spiritual sun also, have certain qualities which lend themselves to the production of matter,-which, by some form of further finition, become spacial, temporal, inert, and at rest. The only clue given is that this comes by compression, by becoming more inert. It must not be supposed that the spiritual atmospheres lack all the qualities which the abstractists assign to them; but that they also have certain other qualities which are of a substantial nature. They are themselves substances; their activity, which corresponds to heat and light, is good and truth.

     But the abstractist claims that a true discrete degree is of the type which separates mind from matter.

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A true discrete degree separates the spiritual world from the natural world. The appearance of a double series in the plan of the universe is because the two worlds are separated by a discrete degree. But if these two are properly viewed, a single series will appear. There is the relation of cause and effect between the successive members of the series. But there is no organic bond. It must not be understood that the higher furnishes the materia from which the lower is formed. Each is separate from the other; each must be understood in terms of itself alone. One affects the other only by influx. The lower planes of the spiritual world are a discrete degree above the inmost of nature, but this does not mean that the spiritual furnishes the substances from which the natural is created. It could not be that substances in the spiritual world would be released, if the inmost natural were resolved into its component parts.

     The idea that the world of mind has no physical relations originated with Descartes, who lived a century or more before Swedenborg. Descartes taught that there are two worlds,-the world of mind, whose quality is thought, and the world of matter, whose quality is extension. He was unable to show what the relation between the two worlds is, although everyday experience is that they are closely related and readily interact. From Descartes' day to this, philosophers have endeavored to solve the difficulty. Some have denied one world, others have doubted the other. No one has ever produced a satisfactory working hypothesis showing two distinct worlds, and the method of interaction between them: except, we believe, Swedenborg. It is because Swedenborg's Philosophical system contains two distinct worlds, that of mind and that of matter, that he is often classed as a Cartesian. But Swedenborg gives us the doctrine of discrete degrees to apply to the relation between the two worlds.

     6. Discrete Degrees are Degrees of Composition.

     The Writings have much to say regarding discrete degrees. More than one set of qualities go to make up the totality of their nature. Certain of these, taken by themselves, lend support to the school of abstract thought. These are not to be denied. All that can be said regarding love and wisdom, good and truth, is incorporated in our theory. But there are other teachings in the Writings which do not agree with the abstract school of thought.

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These are: that discrete degrees are degrees of composition; that the substances and forms of the higher degree are the materia from which the lower are molded. The proof is as follows:

     D. L. W. 207: Discrete degrees "are successive compositions, or confasciculations and conglobations, from the simples which are their first substances or materials,"

     D. L. W. 195: Discrete degrees "are homogeneous because they are produced from the first degree. For their information is such that the first, by confasciculations or conglobations, in a word, by congregations, produces the second, and by the second the third."

     H. H. 382: "Discrete degrees are discriminated as prior and posterior, is cause and effect, and as producing and produced. He who explores will find that in each and every thing of the universal world there are such degrees of production and composition, that, namely, from the first is the second, and from the second is the third, and so on."

     A. C. 8603: "Each and every thing in universal nature exists in order from interior things; they are derivations and successions."

     Divine Love XI: "Discrete degrees are the efficient cause and the effect, which again becomes the efficient cause even to the ultimate effect and they are as the producing force to the force produced, which again becomes the producing forte even to the ultimate force produced. In a word, they are degrees of formation of one thing from another, thus from the first or highest to the last or lowest, where the formation stops. Wherefore, prior and posterior things, as well as superior and inferior things, are these degrees. All creation is made by these degrees, and all production is by them, and all composition in the natural world likewise. For if you will unroll any composite, you will see that there one thing is from another, even to the last, which is the general of them all. The three angelic heavens are distinct from one another by such degrees.
Wherefore, one is above another."

     The conclusion which we draw from these quotations is that discrete degrees are degrees of composition of one thing from another; not that they are abstract relations which have no tangible qualities. Discrete degrees are degrees of substances. If you divide the unit of one degree, you will destroy this substance as to its qualities, and obtain substances on a higher plane with other qualities. If in the mind's eye, you divide the units of the inmost natural degree, you will discover the substances of the spiritual world.

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This is not the abstractist position, but that of the substantialist. It is, however, opposed to only the negative side of the abstractist's theory, namely, the tenet that discrete degrees have nothing but abstract relations. If this be put in another way, there is no trouble. Let us say that discrete degrees have abstract relations. Then, if we do not at the same time deny their substantial nature, there is no difficulty. Love and wisdom, good and truth, are activities disconnected in their primitive relations from human beings. But they reside in substances and forms,-the spiritual atmospheres. They are the light and the heat of the spiritual world.

     7. Spiritual Atmospheres Discrete Forms.

     If now we consider our conclusions, a basic character of the spiritual atmospheres will be discovered.

     The first conclusion is in regard to the structure of the universe. It is this: that there is a spiritual sun which is the source of all things; that there are three spiritual atmospheres constituting the spiritual world, three natural atmospheres constituting the natural world, and three degrees of matter constituting the earth; and that these planes of the universe are formed one from another, and one after another,-formed into discrete degrees.

     The second conclusion is in regard to the nature of discrete degrees. It is this, that among their several qualities they have one which is of a substantial nature, that they are degrees of composition, and that the substances of a higher degree form the stuff from which the lower is molded.

     Putting these two together, we find that the spiritual atmospheres must be composed of units which can be bundled together or conglobated to form the units of the lower degree. The spiritual atmospheres must be granular in structure, so minute that their size escapes our every effort to comprehend them. But these granules nevertheless have size. They must have size if a number of them are bundled together to form the next lower degree, and these in like manner to form a still lower degree until we have matter. No human mind can form an idea of so small a form. It can only be expressed by higher mathematics.

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This does not remove the fact, however, that they are least units or forms, or substances.

     One might wonder why the Writings do not make this clear, and why the non-spaciality of the spiritual world is so often stressed. We can only state our belief that this is because the Writings are not so much addressed to, the philosophical and scientific mind as to the religious mind of the average man. It appears that Swedenborg left considerations of this nature to his earlier philosophical works, which he considered amply sufficient; and that only occasionally did be give hints and suggestions of this underlying nature of the spiritual world. If this be the case, these hints and suggestions are very important. Two follow which bear directly on our thesis.

     First, in regard to space and time in the spiritual world. Every New Churchman knows that the Writings stress the non-spaciality of the spiritual world. And yet bur thesis of the granular nature of the spiritual atmospheres calls for certain spacial relations. There is not time to discuss this complex question here. Suffice it to say, that T. C. R. 29 states "that spaces and times finite each and everything in both worlds, and hence that men, not only as to their bodies, but also as to their souls, are finite, and likewise angels and spirits."

     Next, in regard to the granular nature of the spiritual atmospheres, we have the simple statement that this is the case. The word "granular" is not used, but the idea is the same.

     D. L. W. 174: "The spiritual atmospheres are discrete substances, or least forms, arising from the sun; and because they receive the sun singularly (singillatim), the fire of the sun, hence divided into so many substances or forms, and by them as it were covered, and by the coverings tempered, becomes heat adequate at length to the love of the angels in heaven and of the spirits under heaven. It is similar with the light of the sun. The natural atmospheres are similar to the spiritual atmospheres in this, that they also are discrete substances and least forms, arising from the sun of the natural world, and that they also receive the sun singularly (singillatim) and store his fire in themselves and temper it."

     The Writings here teach that the spiritual atmospheres are composed of minute forms. We have called this structure "granular." It has been called "bullular," "foam structure," and possibly by other names.

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It is of no great consequence. The idea is that the spiritual atmosphere are made up of minute bodies or substances in least form. This is commonly called "corpuscular."

     8. Complications in the Structure of the Universe.

     Having established the fact, as we believe, that the spiritual atmospheres are composed of minute forms,-subtle, tangible substances,-we are now ready to consider why Swedenborg, in one place in the Writings, said that there are four natural atmospheres. It should be confessed at once that the universe has not such a simple structure as one might suppose. That there is a single series in the substances of creation, we cannot doubt. Nor can one deny that this series is composed of spiritual and natural atmospheres, formed into degrees of composition. But one will admit that there must be some complicated arrangement to give the appearance that there are four natural atmospheres, as in Diary 222.

     9. The Explanatory Passage.

     The explanation lies in a passage well known to the students of the Writings. Because of its central Position in our theory, let us quote it in full:

     A. C. 7270: "He who does not know how the case is with order in successive things, cannot know how it is with influx; wherefore it must be briefly told. The Truth which proceeds immediately from the Lord, being from the Infinite Divine Itself, cannot possibly be received by any living substance which is finite, thus not by any angel; and therefore the Lord created successive things by which as media the Divine Truth that proceeds immediately can be communicated. But the first successive from this is more full of the Divine than can as yet be received by any living substance which is finite, thus by any angel; and therefore the Lord created another successive, through which the Divine Truth that proceeds immediately might be in part received; this successive is the Truth Divine which is in heaven. The first two are above the heavens, and are as it were radiant belts of flame which encompass the sun, which is the Lord. Such is the successive order down to the heaven nearest the Lord, which is the third heaven, where are those who are innocent and wise.

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From this the successives are continued down to the ultimate heaven, and from the ultimate heaven down to the sensuous and corporeal of man, which receives the influx last. From all this it is evident that there are continued successions from the First, that is, from the Lord, down to the ultimate things that are in man, nay, to the ultimate things that are in nature. The ultimate things in man, as also those in nature, are relatively inert, and thence cold, and are relatively general, and thence obscure. From this it is also evident, that by means of these successions there is a continuous connection of all things with the First Esse. Influx is according to these successions; for the Divine Truth which proceeds immediately from the Divine Good flows in successively; and on the way, or in connection with each new successive, it becomes more general, thus grosser and more obscure; and it becomes more slow, thus more inert and cold. From this it is clear what is the Divine order of successives, and thence of influxes. But be it well known, that the Truth Divine which flows into the third heaven nearest the Lord, also at the same time and without successive formation flows down to the ultimates of order, and there from the First immediately also rules and provides each and all things; whereby the successives are held together in their order and connection. That this is so, can also in some measure be seen from a maxim not unknown to the learned in the world, that there is only one substance which is substance, and that all other things are formation's thence; and that, in the formations, one only substance reigns, not only as formed, but also as non-formed, as in its origin. Unless this were so, a thing formed could not possibly subsist and act."

     If one will remove from his mind the spacial relations involved in the language with which this statement is couched, the explanation of the four natural atmospheres will appear. The Divine Truth in the spiritual world could not in a spacial sense flow down into the natural world. The two worlds are together in the space of the natural world. To "flow down into the natural world" is a figurative way of saying that this Divine Truth takes on a natural function. And if it has a natural function, why may it not be called a natural atmosphere If so, we have the four natural atmospheres of Diary 222.

     A difficulty may appear to some in calling the Divine Truth an atmosphere.

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The Divine Truth is not the same as a spiritual atmosphere. But the one is contained by the other; the Divine Truth is the activity of the spiritual atmospheres. Hence we conclude that the Divine Truth of the celestial heaven, which flows down into the natural world without successive formation, is mediated by a spiritual atmosphere or "successive" which contains it, as is the case in all other operations of Divine Truth. The Divine Truth could not be said to be in "successive formations" except as received in finite substances which are successively formed.

     That the Divine Truth could flow down into the natural world, and there hold all things in form and order, would be nonsensical, if by Divine Truth one understands abstract truth only. But if Divine Truth is contained in an atmosphere, as light is contained in the ether, the absurdity of this idea disappears. That a function such as this may be performed by a spiritual atmosphere, must be inexplicable to him who holds that the spiritual is only abstract thought. But if one accepts the granular theory of the spiritual atmospheres, this rather startling passage loses its enigmatical character. The spiritual atmospheres are like the natural atmospheres in this, that they are granular, and one of them, at least, can press around natural objects and hold them together. The forms which mediate for this function are the units of the celestial atmosphere. But they flow down into the natural world "without successive conformation." Hence it is a spiritual atmosphere that performs a natural function. If this atmosphere performs a natural function, it may at times be regarded from this function only, and be called a natural atmosphere. Here we have the explanation of the four natural atmospheres.

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SWEDENBORG'S INSPIRATION 1925

SWEDENBORG'S INSPIRATION              1925


NEW CHURCH LIFE
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     NOTES ON TWO FEATURES OF HIS PREPARATION.

     Everything in the early life of Emanuel Swedenborg is to be regarded as a direct or indirect means of his preparation by the Lord for the function of revelator. Not least among the direct means was the gift of internal respiration which he enjoyed from infancy, and there is a significant connection between this faculty and his later habit of frequent reading of the Word of God and meditation upon it, which he gave chief place among his Rules of Life. These two were indeed companion features of his preparation to receive a new Divine Revelation from the Lord, whereby the internal sense of the Sacred Scripture was to be disclosed. For it was by means of the faculty of internal respiration that Swedenborg could eventually be introduced into the angelic societies where the Word is spiritually understood, and where he could receive inspiration immediately from the Lord, with a perception of the Divine Truth of the Heavenly Doctrine. And it was in the light of this Doctrine that he was to set forth the spiritual sense of those Scriptures with which his mind had been stored by habitual reading and meditation.

     Bearing upon this is his declaration that "the Second Advent of the Lord takes place by means of a man whom He has filled with His Spirit to teach the Doctrines of the New Church by the Word from Him. . . .

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And as regards the Doctrines of that Church, I have received nothing from any angel, but from the Lord alone, while I read the Word." (T. C. R. 779) Consider also this statement: "The Lord breathed upon His disciples, and said, Receive ye the Holy Spirit," because aspiration was an external representative sign of Divine inspiration; but inspiration is insertion into angelic societies." (T. C. R. 140.) Moreover, we are taught that illustration is according to extension of thought into spiritual societies. For "thought diffuses itself into the societies of spirits and angels round about, and the faculty of understanding and perceiving is according to the extension thither, that is, according to influx thence." (A. C. 6598.)

     When, therefore, the hour arrived for Swedenborg's entrance upon his mission as revelator of the internal sense of the Word, he was not only admitted by the Lord to the societies of heaven, so as to be "among them as one of them," this being made possible by the gift of internal respiration, but he was also led by the Lord to a diligent study of the Scriptures. Of this he wrote in a letter to Dr. Beyer: "When heaven was opened to me, I had first to learn the Hebrew language, as well as the correspondences according to which the whole Bible is composed, which led me to read the Word of God over many times; and as God's Word is the source whence all theology must be derived, I was enabled thereby to receive instruction from the Lord, who is the Word." (Documents, Vol. II, p. 261.)

     Two things thus went together in this closing period of his preparation: 1. A thorough knowledge of the Letter of the Word was made active in his memory, readily recalled for use in the Writings. 2. He was at the same introduced to consociation with the societies of heaven which rest upon and dwell in the various parts of the literal sense; and not only to heavenly societies, but also to the infernal societies opposite to them. An abundant testimony to this experience is left to us in the Adversaria. Here we find the record of Swedenborg's gradual intromission to heaven, of his meeting various kinds of spirits, including Abraham, Jacob, Solomon, and other Scripture characters, while he was commenting upon the portions of the Word which treated of them.

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In the same work we see the evidence of his gradually acquiring a "knowledge of the correspondences according to which the whole Bible is composed," and of the opening of his mind to the spiritual sense itself. The purpose of it all is plainly stated in Volume II:

     "What the acts of my life involved I have been taught afterwards, as to some of them, yea, as to many of them, from which I could at length clearly see that the tenor of the Divine Providence has ruled the acts of my life; so that at last I arrived at this end, that, of the Divine mercy of God Messiah, I could serve as an instrument for opening the things which lie inmostly concealed in the Word of God Messiah." (Adversaria II:839.)

     The gift of internal respiration was not at first an insertion among angelic societies in full and conscious consociation, as later, after the year 1743; but it was nevertheless the means of deep philosophical thinking, and of certain spiritual experiences, the portent of which Swedenborg did not realize until long afterwards. Writing of this in the Spiritual Diary under date of August 27, 1748, he says:

     "Before my mind was opened, so that I could speak with spirits, such proofs existed with me for a number of years that I now wonder I did not come into persuasion concerning the Lord's government by means of spirits. Not only were there dreams for several years which informed me concerning the things which were being written, but there were also changes of state while I was writing, and a certain extraordinary light in the things which were being written. Afterwards, also, there were a number of visions with closed eyes; light was miraculously given; and spirits sensibly inflowed; besides many other things; until at last a spirit addressed me in a few words, and was very much surprised that he perceived my thoughts. . . ." (S. D. 2951.)

     The following month-September, 1748-he treats in the Diary of the subject of internal respiration, as it was experienced in the Most Ancient Church, and says of himself: "My respiration has been so formed by the Lord that I could breathe inwardly for a considerable time; without the help of external air; so that my breathing was so directed inwardly that the external senses and acts remained in their vigor, which can only be given to those who are so formed by the Lord, and this miraculously.

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I have been instructed also that the breathing is so directed unawares to me, in order that I may be with spirits and speak with them." (S. D. 3317.)

     Under the date of October 4, 1748, he becomes still more specific with regard to this gift and its purpose:

     "I was first accustomed to breathe in this manner in infancy, when I said my morning and evening prayers; and occasionally afterwards, while I was investigating the concord of the lungs and heart, especially when I was writing from my mind those things which have been published. Throughout the course of many years I observed at different times that there was a tacit breathing, scarcely sensible, concerning which it was afterwards granted me to think, and also to write. Thus have I been introduced into such respirations through the course of many years, beginning with my infancy, especially by means of intense speculations, in which the [external] breathing was quiescent; otherwise an intense speculation in the truth is not possible. Afterwards, when heaven was open to me, so that I spoke with spirits, I did not breathe at all for the space of an hour, and merely drew in sufficient air to enable me to keep on thinking. Thus was I introduced by the Lord into interior respirations. I have also casually observed, again and again, that when I have been falling asleep, my breathing was almost taken away, so that I woke up, and caught my breath. . . . The design of all this was that every state, every sphere, thus every society, especially the interior ones, might have in me a fitting respiration, to which I am applied without reflection, and by which means it was given me to be with spirits and angels." (S. D. 3464.)



     That the spiritual world and the spiritual sense of the Word might be revealed at the Second Coming of the Lord, the mind of one man was so prepared as to become a plane of influx for all the societies of heaven. And since no one can be among the angels unless he is such that he can breathe in the atmosphere of heaven, therefore the chief means of preparing the mind of Swedenborg was the miraculous gift of internal respiration, together with his introduction into a state of life which enabled him to be among the angels.

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That internal respiration was a breathing of the spirit. Every man, indeed, has "a twofold breathing, one of the spirit and the other of the body, the breathing of the spirit depending upon fibers from the brains, and the breathing of the body upon blood vessels from the heart, and from the vena cava and aorta." (D. L. W. 312.) But "that breathing of the spirit is so tacit that it is not perceived by man." (D. L. W. 391.) The miracle in Swedenborg's case was, that the breathing of his spirit could be so separated from that of the body that he could be consciously among the angels while still living in the body. "Sometimes I have been reduced to the breathing of my spirit alone, which I have then perceived by sense to be in concord with the general breathing of heaven." (D. L. W. 391.)

     Organically, that breathing of the spirit or mind is an expansion and contraction of the cortical glands of the brain, which are the seat of the thoughts and affections. (D. P. 319.) And since these glands ate in multitude as the angelic societies in heaven, and in like order, (D. L. W. 366), the preparation of one mind to be a plane for influx from the societies of heaven was an awakening of the cortical glands to their activity, their expansion and contraction, their respiration, in the sphere of heaven. This, briefly, affords an objective, organic conception of the statement that Swedenborg "was introduced by the Lord into interior respirations to the end that every state, every sphere, thus every society, especially the interior ones, might have in him a fitting respiration." (D. 3464 above.) Nor can we doubt that his life-long habit of reading the Word, and his reading of it many times after his call, was the ultimate means of preparing his mind to be an active and living basis of influx for the societies of heaven, all of which have their corresponding resting place in the literal sense of the Scriptures.



     It is well known to us that in every heavenly society there is a ruling affection and its thought, and that this finds h basis of reception and reaction in the like affection in the mind of the man of the church; further, that every angelic society has a basis in some book, chapter or verse of the Word, and is enlightened and instructed by reaction when that portion of the Word is read by men on earth, who also receive influx from that society, and thereby illustration, if they are in states of reverence and spiritual affection and thought.

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Among the teachings on the subject are these:

     "While I was reading the Word from the first chapter of Isaiah to the last of Malachi, and the Psalms of David, it was given me to perceive clearly that every verse communicated with some society of heaven, and thus the whole Word with the whole heaven." (S. S. 113.)

     "When I read the Word in the sense of the letter, it was given me to Perceive that a communication with the heavens was effected, now with one society, now with another; and that those things which I understood according to the natural sense, the spiritual angels understood according to the spiritual sense, and the celestial angels according to the celestial sense; and this in an instant. Because I have perceived this communication thousands of times, I am left in no doubt concerning it. And there are spirits below the heavens who abuse this communication. For they recite some passages from the sense of the letter of the Word, and immediately observe and note the society with which the communication takes place. This I have often seen and heard." (S. S. 64.)



     Swedenborg was able to describe these things because he himself was a living example of that marvelous communication, having been prepared by the Lord to breathe in the interior spheres of the Word, to think and live in the societies of heaven, and there to receive Divine inspiration immediately from the Lord, who is the Word. That he might be the chosen instrument for the revealing of the spiritual sense of the Law and the Prophets, it was necessary that something, more should be granted him than was granted to any former revelator. The prophets "heard a voice, saw a vision, dreamed a dream," and through them many objective things of the spiritual world were brought down into literal Scripture. But through Swedenborg, in a manner never before accorded, that objective world was exhaustively revealed, and also the subjective spiritual world;-indeed, the Divine Truth concerning the inner and inmost kingdom of God, and concerning the God Man Himself, Truth which hitherto had lain "inmostly concealed in the Word of God Messiah."

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     To that end it was provided that he should not only be among the angels as to sight and hearing, and as to every faculty of sense and action, but that he should be prepared to think spiritually as they do, and then to derive inspiration from the Lord Himself, that a new revelation of Divine Rational Truth might be given through him,-given even to the angels themselves, and new to them. Nor could this have been accomplished unless he had been miraculously prepared to respire in the atmospheres of heaven, and, indeed, in the special atmosphere of each society; for each has its own peculiar respiration, corresponding to its ruling state of affection and thought. It was necessary in Swedenborg's case that "every state, every sphere, thus every society, especially the interior ones, should have in him a fitting respiration," to the end that he might thus be introduced into the interiors of the Word. For the societies of heaven, in their order and series, dwell in their own portions of the Scriptures which it was his function to unfold. And those societies are in the image of the Divine Man who dwells in the inmost of the Word, and whose glory is now revealed in the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem.
NOTES AND REVIEWS. 1925

NOTES AND REVIEWS.              1925

     AMONG OUR CONTEMPORARIES.

     The high standard of doctrinal instruction maintained by the Rev. Ernst Deltenre's French periodical, La Nouvelle Jerusalem, is again manifested in No. 3 for 1924, which has just been received. So far as we are aware, the articles in this issue have not before appeared in print in any language, and are commended to all who read French. The titles are: "From Egypt to Canaan," by Bishop N. D. Pendleton; "The Single Eye," a Sermon by the Rev. F. E. Waelchli; "The Seals, the Trumpets and the Vials of Wrath," an exegetical study of the Apocalypse by the Rev. E. E. Iungerich; an editorial on "Living by the Spirit," and an editorial review of Swedenborg's Psychologica; besides an installment of the French version of De Verbo, which has now reached No. X of that work.

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SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON NOTES 1925

SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON NOTES              1925

     LESSON No. 13-SOLOMON'S WEALTH. (I Kings 9:19-28, 10:11-29.)

     Analysis:
Solomon's business with Hiram           ch. 9:10-14
Solomon builds cities and military posts      : 15-10
Non-Israelitish peoples enslaved           : 29-23
He begins a trade by sea                9:26-28, 10:11-12, 22
His income of gold                    : 14-17
His throne and table service                : 18-21
His chariots and horses; silver           : 26-28

     The wealth of Solomon was, for the most part, derived from two sources: (1) From the country itself, by an efficient organization for collecting burdensome taxes and for managing forced labor. (Compare chs. 12:4, and 5:13-16.) (2) From trade, in which he worked in alliance with the King of Tyre. In addition, there was a constant accretion of gifts-tokens of good will-from people great and small. (See 10:10, 25.)

     The levy of forced labor was first used in building the temple and gathering its materials. (5:13-18.) This was a work of seven years. Then for thirteen years the levy was used to build the royal palaces. (7:1-12; compare 9:10.) Then the same methods were used in building or rebuilding a number of cities, and strong places for storage, and stations for his army of chariots. The levy itself, however, which amounted to slavery, was not applied to the Israelites, but to the Canaanitish or Hamitic nations still living in the Land. (See Judges 1:21, 27-36, 2:20-23, and Gen. 9:25-27.) Among the cities, Tadmor (vs. 18) may be singled out for notice. It was built by Solomon as a place in the desert where travelers and caravans might pause for rest and replenishment on the long journey between Damascus and Babylon or Nineveh. The name means a "Palm Tree," and the place became famous a thousand years later under the name of Palmyra, where Queen Zenobia tried to maintain the independence of the city against Rome.

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Very extensive and impressive ruins of the city remain to this day, Its location is about 140 miles northeast of Damascus; and in building it Solomon made a very real contribution to overland commerce.

     The returns of the direct tax are given in ch. 10:14. A talent of gold is reckoned at $29,985.00. Hence, from this source alone the tax brought Solomon $19,370,610.00. But in using such figures we must realize that in those days the amount of gold that makes a dollar would buy about fifteen times as much in goods as it does now. The contribution of the governors of the country (10:19) is told in ch. 4:7, 22, 23, 27, 28.

     Note the lavish use of gold in the palace (19:16-21), and the remarks made about silver (10:21, 27). Each of the targets would be figured at $5,814, and each of the shields at $1,454. In the description of the throne, by the "stays" are meant arms; it was an arm-chair. In 2 Chron. 9:18 a footstool is added.

     The alliance with King Hiram of Tyre is conspicuous here, as it played an important part in making the reign of Solomon so prosperous. It is the continuation of an old friendship. (See Lessons 4 and 11.) The former transaction (9:1-14) was really a mortgage, the twenty cities of Israel being security for the large quantity of timber that was bought, and for the 120 talents of gold ($3,496,200); for, in the first place, the land could not rightly be sold, or in any way separated from Israel (Lev. 25:23-28, Num. 36:7-9); in the second place the region was never added to the kingdom of Tyre, but is always counted as an integral part of Israel.

     Solomon was the only ruler of the Israelites who did much to promote trade successfully; one or two later attempts were complete failures. But it was the close alliance with Tyre that gave success to Solomon; for the race of Israel has never been familiar with the sea, while the Tyrians were more at home on the water than on land. Solomon's domain was well placed to take advantage of trade conditions, as it controlled all the land routes between Egypt and Asia. But, before the discovery of America, the most important problem of commerce was to find a water route connecting Europe and the Mediterranean lands with India and the Far East.

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Though a great traffic passed up the Persian Gulf through Babylon to Tyre by land, a better way was found through the Red Sea, requiring a very short land journey. One arm of the Red Sea was controlled by Egypt, the other by Israel; and as Egypt was the trade rival of Tyre, the Tyrians were glad to work with Solomon in developing commerce through the ports of Ezion-geber and Joppa. The name Ophir has caused a great deal of speculation, but with a fair degree of probability it may be taken for South Africa, where gold has been mined from very early ages, or for Ceylon, or some part of India. Tarshish is usually identified with Tartessus, the southern part of Spain, though sometimes with Carthage; but the word is evidently used to describe ships of a certain type, especially suitable for long voyages. (See I Kings 22:48.) A colorful picture of ancient commerce is given in Ezekiel 27:1-25, treating of Tyre.

     Psalm 72 is descriptive of Solomon, and Isaiah 60 is descriptive of Israel in his days; but both passages use this external glory to represent prophetically the spiritual glory of the Lord and the riches of His heavenly kingdom. Indeed, the whole account of the wealth of Solomon is representative of the happiness and abundance of heaven. When there is not any spiritual store of good and truth in the heart, material riches are a curse to men, not a blessing. (See Isa. 2: 6-9, Matt. 13:22, Luke 12:13-21, 16:19-25, 18:18-24.) The Lord Himself makes the comparison, and leads our thought to a treasure in the other world, in Matt. 6:29-21, and Luke 12:23-34. What that treasure is, we are told in Proverbs 3:13-18, Psalm 19:9-10, and it is there made evident that we all may acquire that treasure, or begin to do so, while we live in this world, for it is hone other than the Lord Himself in His Word. This is the Pearl of Great Price (Matt. 13:45-46), which is also the gate of the Holy City. (Rev. 21:21; compare Prov. 2:2-5 and 8:10-21.)

     It should be noted that the wealth and prosperity of Solomon came largely from trade or commerce, as is always the case in this world. The spiritual correspondent of this is to give to others (and receive in exchange) the goods and truths that come from the Lord. This is done by teaching the truths of His Word to one another, and doing uses, or benefits, to each other. By this mutual exchange of spiritual blessings, there is given a vast increase of heavenly treasure,-of happiness and intelligence.

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     That there are magnificent things in heaven, see Rev. 21:9-21, N. H. 184-190, A. C. 1620-1631. See also H. H. 357-365 on "The Rich and Poor in Heaven."

     LESSON NO. 14-THE KINGDOM DIVIDED. (I Kings 11 and 12.)

     Analysis:
Solomon's weakness and idolatry          ch. 11:1-13
Two adversaries, Hadad and Rezon           : 14-25
A third adversary, Jeroboam               : 26-40
Prophecy of Ahijah of Shiloh.           29-39
Solomon's death, and his successor           :41-43
The petition of the people               ch 12:1-15
Secession of Israel                    :16-24
Jeroboam sets up new altars                : 25-33          

     The end of Solomon's reign was not as glorious as the beginning. Enemies of the throne of David began to appear, who eventually disrupted the empire that David had conquered. The reason is given-that Solomon's heart was turned away from the Lord by his wives; consequently, there could be no power from heaven within his kingdom "to order it and to establish it." Thus the seeds of disruption were planted in Solomon's time, but the actual break-up came when his son; Rehoboam, showed himself to be despotic and arrogant, and lacking in the wisdom of his father.

     Recall the extent of David's conquests (Lesson 5), and observe that, at the end of Solomon's reign, the empire fell into three major portions,-Judah, Israel, and Syria. Rehoboam ruled the two tribes of Judah and Simeon, and retained the city of Jerusalem. Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, became the first king of the other ten tribes, and thus ruled the country from points near Jerusalem to Mt. Hermon, and on both sides of the River Jordan; this kingdom was thereafter called "Israel," and often, in the prophets, "Ephraim." Rezon founded a kingdom with his capital at Damascus, and extending from Mt. Hermon to the river Euphtates; it was called "Syria," or in Hebrew "Aram." While not nearly as important in the letter of the Word as the other two, Syria figures conspicuously in the history of the other kingdoms as long as they last, and should not be overlooked in considering the spiritual sense.

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     In general, Judah, Israel, and Syria, represent respectively the celestial, spiritual, and natural things of heaven and the church;-Judah-love; Israel-faith and intelligence; Syria-knowledge and obedience. Also, Judah and Israel signify the internal church, and Syria the external church.

     In the true church, all these make one kingdom of the Lord, represented by the broad dominions of David and Solomon. But evil loves and falsities, represented by the idols of Solomon and the selfishness of Rehoboam, separate love from intelligence, faith from charity, and practical life from both, and so disrupt and destroy the church. Then those who believe in charity are against those who believe in good works; and those who believe in good life alone are against charity and intelligence; and among them all there is no longer any genuine charity, nor any faith, nor any good of life. Such corruptions and perversions of the church are often represented by these three kingdoms and their wars against each other and their idolatries, as will be seen in the subsequent history. Note how Jeroboam made idols for Israel to worship, so as to keep the people away from Jerusalem and the worship of the Lord there, lest they should again unite as into one nation. (12:27-29.) The prophet Ahijah also showed that the division was a consequence of idolatry, that is, on account of the love of evil and falsity.

     The geographical relations of the three kingdoms should be strongly impressed, as they are of importance, not only for understanding the period of history we are now just beginning, but especially as providing a visual basis for many things of doctrinal instruction.

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CROSS 1925

CROSS       Rev. T. S. HARRIS       1925

     Sunday, September 14th, being "Holy Cross Sunday," according to the Calendar of the Episcopal Church, there was broadcast from the capital of our country a sermon setting forth the importance of a holy reverence for the cross on which our Lord was crucified. I wish that the millions who "listened in" while that sermon was being delivered could hear what the Heavenly Doctrines teach regarding this subject.

     The cross that was once a cruel instrument of capital punishment has become the symbol of the Christian faith. The ancient and crude structure to which criminals were nailed and left to die is now an object of adoration. The infernal thing by which human beings were cut off out of the land of the living is exalted to a place of highest veneration. The accursed tree, of which the gallows, the guillotine, and the electric-chair are but modern developments, has been made to represent that which is holy. This conception, so prevalent in the minds of Christians, originates in the false idea that the cross was sanctified by the Lord being placed upon it. Thus a figure of this ancient instrument of execution has become associated with the Lord, and is considered to be a holy thing because He is holy.

     But the term "Holy Cross" is a contradiction in itself. The cross on which the Lord was crucified signifies the evil of the Jewish nation,-that hatred of what is holy which inspired them to crucify Him who alone was holy. (A. E. 655) This accursed tree on which the Lord endured His last temptation is also a symbol of the evil from the hells by which He was tempted. Because "wood" signifies good, but in the opposite sense evil, therefore the cross of wood on which the Lord was crucified is a symbol of, the evil in the hearts of the Jews who hated Him, and in the hearts of the infernals who tempted Him. To use the term "Holy Cross" is the same as saying "holy evil" or "holy temptation."

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The Lord did not make evil holy by coming into contact with it, neither did He make temptation holy by being tempted. How, then, could He make a cross holy by being crucified upon it? He subdued evil and overcame in temptation, but the cross, which is the symbol of evil and temptation, did not kill Him. Remember His words, "I lay down my life; . . . no man taketh it from me."

     It is an interesting historical fact that while Christians were acquiring veneration and love for the cross on which the Lord was crucified, they were at the same time developing an intense hatred towards the Jews who crucified Him. "Christ Killers" and "Holy Cross" were terms which sprang into existence about the same time. It is difficult to account for such inconsistency.

     The fish, and not the cross, was the first symbol of Christianity. Because the Greek word which means fish consists of five letters that form the acrostic of the sentence "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior," it was thought appropriate to use the figure of a fish as a symbol for the faith that acknowledged Jesus Christ to be the Son of God and Saviour of the world. (See Webster at "ichthus.") Such a symbol was both ingenious and rational.

     It was my good fortune last summer, while passing through a city of New England in which are many churches on which is seen the cross, to behold this ancient symbol of the Christian faith. Instead of the cross was displayed the figure of a large fish performing the function of a weather vane. The thought occurred to me that this important Methodist Church in the city of Brockton may be in the effort to lead Christians back to the use of their ancient symbol. For my part I think it much more suggestive and more appropriate than the symbol of the cross.

     There are traditions concerning the existence of the actual cross on which the Lord was crucified that date back as early as A.D. 326, but they have the appearance of being inventions of imagination, pure and simple. One of these traditions relates that Helena, the mother of Constantine, aided by the Bishop of Jerusalem, made extensive excavations near the place where the Lord was buried, and discovered three crosses, together with the nails which had been used at the execution, and the tablet with Pilate's inscription. Remember, this discovery is said to have been made three hundred years after our Lord was crucified.

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The question arose, which of the three crosses was that of Christ? There was one of them to which the tablet fitted best, but more decisive testimony was necessary, and the Bishop knew how to procure it. A distinguished lady of Jerusalem was sick unto death. She was brought to the place, and made to touch the three crosses. She touched two without any effect at all, but hardly had she laid her hand on the third when she arose from her couch perfectly cured, healthy and strong. After this, an enormous trade in chips of the genuine cross sprang up everybody wanted them. But the great marvel was, that, though cart loads of such chips were shaved from the cross, the bulk of the cross itself was not thereby diminished! Great, indeed, was the credulity of these simple-minded people; and we are sorry to see that this state of credulity has not yet passed away. There are people living today who venerate fragments of wood in their possession, which they believe to be part of the cross on which the Lord was crucified. But why should a people cherish as relies fragments of the gallows on which one dearly loved by them was hanged? Ought not the sensitive mind to be naturally repelled by the horrors of the actual execution?

     But this perverted state of mind has come about by the false teaching of the Christian Church which represents the cross on which the Lord was crucified as the altar on which the Lamb of God was offered. The dogma of the vicarious atonement has given to the minds of Christians this Perverted 'twist, and caused them to regard a symbol of evil as a holy thing. He was rejected of men, and the cross signifies this rejection, and should not be regarded as an altar on which an offering was made to appease an offended Deity. An altar represents holy truths from the Word; the stones of the altar signify Divine Truths of the literal sense, and the fire of the altar the Lord's love burning in the hearts of men. The cruel cross and the hatred of the Jews were not the altar and the fire of the atonement, offering. The Lord's suffering on the cross was one of the many temptations which He endured, the last of many combats with the hells, and His complete victory over them. The physical pain which the Lord suffered on the cross was an insignificant element of those three dreadful hours of anguish.

     We are told in the Heavenly Doctrines that the bloody sacrifices of the Israelites were not acceptable to Jehovah, and were never commanded, but only permitted and tolerated to keep that nation from sacrificing human beings after the manner of other nations.

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The true Ancient Church knew no sacrificing of animals in worship, except with some of the descendants of Ham and Canaan, who were idolaters, and with whom it was permitted so that they might not sacrifice their sons and daughters.

     It was known among the ancients that the Lord was to come into the world, and that He was to suffer death; and from this knowledge originated a custom amongst the Gentiles of sacrificing their children, believing thus to expiate themselves, and to make God propitious. This abominable custom would never have arisen, but for the tradition that the Son of God should come, who, as they believed, was to be made a sacrifice. (A. C. 1241, 2818.)
SHARING OF DELIGHTS IN THE OTHER LIFE 1925

SHARING OF DELIGHTS IN THE OTHER LIFE              1925

     "The Lord wills that all goods should be communicable, and that all should be affected by mutual love, and thus be happy. Not only is there a communication of another's affections and thoughts in the other life, but also of his knowledge, so that one spirit thinks that he has known what the other knows, although he had actually known nothing of it; thus all the knowledge of the other is communicated. Some spirits retain it; others do not. Delight and happiness are also wont to be communicated from one to several by a real transmission, which is wonderful; and the others are affected by them in the same manner as the person from whom they are conveyed, and without any diminution in the person who communicates. It has also been given me to communicate my delights to others in this way by transmissions. And hence it may appear what is the quality of the happiness of those who love their neighbor more than themselves, who desire nothing more than to transfer their own happiness to others. This desire to communicate derives its origin from the Lord, who thus communicates happiness to the angels." (A. C. 1388-1392.)

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Church News 1925

Church News       Various       1925

     THE HAGUE, HOLLAND.-The September number of the Dutch periodical, De Ware Christelijke Godsdienst, contains an abbreviated translation of the address delivered by Bishop N. D. Pendleton to the Society at The Hague on the occasion of his visit there in July, 1924.

     He stated that he had come in the name of the General Church to bring them a message of friendship and goodwill, and also to impress upon them the need of fidelity to the general principles of the newly revealed truth. The purpose of the New Church is not the formation of large ecclesiastical organization with worldly authority, but the gradual upbuilding of a spiritual church from a small beginning. The New Church in its commencement is in the wilderness of the present-day ignorance concerning the Lord the Creator. Where the Church has made a beginning, founded upon true internal principles, it is not the work of man, but of God Himself, and shall never come to an end.

     This address is followed by a Dutch version of numbers 51 and 52 of The Brief Exposition, after which are society news notes, and an appeal for funds to aid in the furnishing of the newly acquired church quarters.

     We hear that twenty-eight persons attended the service on October 26th, when the Pastor, Rev. Ernst Pfieffer, in place of the Second Lesson, gave a short address on the acknowledgment of the Lord in His Divine Human as the foundation of all religion; and then, after the Lord's Prayer, he dedicated the new place of worship to the uses of the Church. The Holy Supper concluded the service.

     The windows looking out upon the street have been screened with heavy curtains, which shut out unnecessary light and the noise. In front of the curtains is an oak table which serves as an altar. Upon a slight elevation covered with purple velvet rests the Word. Two candlesticks complete the altar arrangements. New chairs of a pretty shape and comfortably broad have been purchased. The organ is at the back of the room. The whole seems well-arranged and handsome, giving a worthy impression and a churchly sphere.

     A white marble plate has been placed over the front door, and bears a Latin inscription with the equivalent of the words: "Emanuel Swedenborg, by the Divine mercy, Servant of the Lord Jesus." Early in January, the Pastor will begin a series of public lectures in the new church room.
     B. E.

     REPORT OF THE VISITING PASTOR.-Meetings were held at WINDSOR, ONT., and DETROIT, November 16th to 18th. At Windsor there were services, including the Holy Supper, on Sunday morning, the 16th; doctrinal class on Monday evening; and instruction three times for four children. Here, as elsewhere on these visits, instruction of the children is an important part of the work. It is, we may say, our missionary effort, looking to the future membership of the church. It is a pleasure to record that everywhere the parents are earnestly seeking to do their part to the attainment of this end. At Detroit, doctrinal classes were held Sunday and Tuesday evenings, with an attendance of fifteen and eighteen respectively. The subject on both occasions was the teaching that the Lord is the Word, and that all the Word is His revelation of Himself.

     At ERIE, PA., which was next visited, there were four well-filled days. Three evening doctrinal classes were held; instruction was given to children in two homes; and services were conducted on Sunday morning the 23d, at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Evans.

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At the services, there was an attendance of nineteen, of whom fifteen partook of the Holy Supper. Afterwards there was a social dinner, an event greatly enjoyed by all. Yet, not only on this occasion, but also at the classes, there was much of the social spirit, in the sphere of which the study of the Doctrines was all the more delightful.
     F. E. WAELCHLI.

     KITCHENER, ONT.-Thanksgiving Day fell on November 10th in Canada, and as it is always on a Monday, our church services are held the day before. The chancel this year was very beautifully decorated with chrysanthemums, and with the tray of fruits and vegetables which formed the offering at the children's service. On Monday, a supper was served at the church by members of the Young People's Club. The Pastor spoke in a manner appropriate to the occasion, reminding his listeners that it is not only the apparent blessings for which we should be thankful, but also the very trials and hardships which may be the means of molding our lives into the image and likeness of the Lord. As it was a holiday, a number of the men started the work of lowering the gallery in the church room,-a project which has long been talked of; and as the seating problem has become rather acute, it was felt that the time had come for making a change. In the four weeks just past, the project has become a reality. The gallery is lowered to the height of the doors, and accommodates seventy-five people. Most of the work has been done by the members, though some experienced help was needed.

     A very fine musicale was given on Sunday, November 30th. The combined efforts of the orchestra and choir produced a most interesting program. The orchestra played some of the early chorale works which came into use with the first congregational singing. The choir sang one of the choruses from the "Messiah," and several solos from the same oratorio were sung by members of the choir. This was followed by a rendering of the exceedingly beautiful Forty-fifth Psalm from the Psalmody, and made us fed that New Church music is something distinctly different, and, by comparison, gave us a much deeper appreciation of it. A short sketch and comparison of the various forms and styles was given by the Pastor. And so a profitable: and enjoyable afternoon was spent.

     A very interesting social and dance was held in November for the purpose of raising money for the Library. A number of the young people presented a short play, which was much enjoyed, despite the fact that it was hurriedly gotten up card tables were arranged for those desiring to play, and music provided for dancing. The enjoyment of the evening was increased by the arrival of guests,-Messrs. Albert Lewis and Alec Craigie, of Toronto, and Maurice Schnarr, of Detroit.
     G. K. D.

     GLENVIEW.-The older generation is literally taking a back seat in our Friday classes this year. The Pastor, having asked the young people to fill the front rows, is giving our study of True Christian Religion the character of college class. Numbers for home reading are suggested a week in advance, and three or four young men are asked to present the different topics of the assignment. The speakers are left in such freedom as to allow no loop-hole for escape. If they are prevented from attending class, or doubt their ability to address a public meeting, they need only submit to the pastor a written digest of their subject. The results of this new plan are encouraging, if its success may be measured by attentive interest on the part of the young people, and a growing courage of to raise their voices in discussion.

     Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Pollock were host and hostess for the November card party.

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Five Hundred was the game of the hour, and though chatting and laughter replaced the silent concentration of our Bridge evenings, we have no reason to think the playing less brilliant on that account. After coffee and sandwiches had been served, the prizes were given amid great merriment, due to the fact that all awards, both honor and consolation, were monopolized by the Junge family.

     Our social calendar usually marks the Saturday after Thanksgiving as the date for a bazaar or sale, and this year was no exception. The time would seem to be auspicious, giving one an immediate opportunity to ultimate the gratitude for spiritual blessings which Thanksgiving has aroused. Mrs. Oscar Lindrooth, acting for the Woman's Guild, took charge of the sale this year. The evening opened with a cafeteria supper, to which chop-suey lent a Chinese flavor. Chinese, also, were the costumes of those who served, and the lanterns, screens, and bric-a-brac with which the room was decorated. At eight o'clock the doors to the Parish Hall were thrown open to admit the eagle-eyed shoppers who circled around the booths. Men who could find nothing of interest among the fancy goods, toys; pies, cakes, etc., and who had already patronized the candy counter, amused themselves blowing up balloons of their own, or pricking balloons of their neighbors. The practice, if a bit distracting to those buying and selling, was highly remunerative to the balloon vendor. An auction, followed; by informal dancing, concluded the evening. The proceeds of the sale were very gratifying, and will be given to the social fund.
     G. N.

     TORONTO, ONT.-Doctrinal Classes were recommenced by the Olivet Society on Wednesday, October 1st, with the continuation of the study of the New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine. A good attendance marked the first class, and the interest had been well maintained throughout the month.

     On Tuesday, October 7th, the first meeting of the Ladies' Circle was held at the home of Mrs. Peter Bellinger, the President. There was a good turnout, and three new members were added to the roll. The evening was spent in discussion of the winter's program, etc., and a good time socially was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

     The monthly Society Social was held on Friday, October 10th, with Mr. and Mrs. H. P. Izzard in charge, and Mr. and Mrs. Peter Bellinger as host and hostess. These first meetings and socials in the fall of the year seem to be occasions for a general renewing of activities that have been more or less dormant during the vacation season,-a sort of rejuvenation, if you please,-and bring with them a strong sphere of enthusiasm and affection for the uses to be performed.

     The regular meeting of the Forward Club was held on Thursday, the 16th, and proved to be one of the best meetings held since the inception of the Club. We made the innovation of having supper together at the church,-which, by the way, was pre pared by the men themselves, and twenty-seven sat down to the repast that had been provided. It was something of an inspiration to see such a gathering of youths and men, ranging from the unquenchable optimism of youthful perspective to the reflective state of riper years, and perhaps it may be that the wisdom of having such a spread in ages in the Club is open to question. But our policy is, that so long as any youth or man, irrespective of age, can find something that he is able to assimilate and enjoy in our meetings, he is welcome,

     We read and discussed Bishop W. F. Pendleton's "Topics from the Writings," as printed in the September issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE. A "Topic" was read by one of our members, with such commentary as he chose to make. The Topics on "Incense" and "The Square" provoked most discussion.

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The Club is not, as yet, prepared to issue any dictum as to the advisability of introducing the use of incense into the ritual of the New Church. If we sensed the consensus aright from the discussion, it does not seem to meet with unqualified approval. In the discussion on "The Square" we, of course, had to have the question raised as to which was the more perfect form, that, or "The Circle." Douglas G. Brown, fresh from his year at the college in Bryn Athyn, injected a statement from The Principia into the discussion, which, for a time, seemed as if it might be, as Mr. Richard Swiveller was wont to remark, something of a "staggerer." However, seeing that both "The Square" and "The Circle" are essential concomitants of the Divine economy, it was decided to the satisfaction of all present that they are both perfect in their own places. We would take this opportunity to remark that our lack of knowledge and understanding of The Principia is shared, we understand, by the occupants of "The Seats of the Mighty," and is due, in part, at least, to a lack of access to this work, which has long been out of print and difficult to obtain. This will please not be considered as an apology, but rather as an explanation. The time was all too short for a full and complete discussion of the various Topics, as we have to keep as close as possible to our time table and program, which always includes business session and a period of recreation. The Club's activities are distinctly encouraging.

     The end of the month brought the usual Hallowe'en Parties for the Day School and Sunday School children; also the Polyopera meeting, the latter being chaperoned by Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Rothermel. Both were, according to reports, unqualified successes.

     To sum up, the requirements of the Society, in every phase of its activities, have been well cared for, and maintained at a high level, all through the month of October.     
     F. W.

     AUSTRALIA.-From clippings sent us by the Rev. Richard Morse, we learn that he continues to advertize the services at Hurstville, Sydney, in the Saturday newspapers. The subject of the sermon is given, together with a brief statement in regard to the New Church; as, for example: "The New Church is not a sect, but a new Christianity, based upon the revelation of the Spiritual Sense of the Word, which Revelation is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, Who, in His Divine Human, is the Creator and perpetual Preserver of the Universe." Such an honest and courageous declaration is in pleasant contrast with that more common form of New Church advertizing which "hides the light under a bushel." And we understand that a number of interested strangers have been attracted by the notices of the Sydney services.

     The New Age for November contains a further discussion of the "monstrous doctrine of bisexuality in God," with another letter by Mr. Morse and a reply by Mr. Daniel Ashby, the editor of The New Age.

     ENGLAND.-Some months ago we noted in these columns the fact that Madame Galli-Curci, the well-known opera singer, had become a reader of the Writings. In connection with her recent appearances in England, we quote from The New-Church Herald of November 22, 1924:

     "When Madame Galli-Curci arrived in London, the President of the Swedenborg Society sent her a note of welcome. He said that, `while conquering the world of art, she found pleasure in studying the mysteries of, the world to which we must all come, and that it would give him great pleasure if she would accept as a gift from the Swedenborg Society, at the hands of a small deputation, to mark the occasion of her visit to England, any of Swedenborg's works not represented in her library.' Her reply was as follows:

"'Mr. Harold G. Smith.
"'Dear Mr. Smith:
     "'I have your very kind letter.

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I should like indeed meeting some of the members of the Council of the Swedenborg Society, but I am sorry to say that my concert bookings are so numerous that I have scarcely time for the necessary rest between them. It was my original intention to have a week free in England at the conclusion of my tour, but I found upon my arrival that this too had been booked. As matters stand, I have only one free day before I sail, and this I have promised to the London Music Club.

     "'Regarding the books you mention, I have them all in my library, and have read them all. You may perhaps be familiar with the Rotch Edition, published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston. It is in thirty-two volumes, and is complete. These books have been and are a great inspiration to me.

     "I thank you again for your kind letter, and ask you to convey my best wishes to the Swedenborg Society. Believe me,
     "'Sincerely yours,
     "'AMELITA GALLI-CURCI."

     We are not told whether the Swedenborg Society pursued the matter further, and imparted information concerning the Apocalypse Explained and other posthumous works which are not included in the Rotch Edition.

     TORONTO, ONT.-The Ladies Meetings for November and December were both enjoyable affairs, well attended, and in some respects productive of hitherto unknown quantities, more particularly in the line of vocal music. The November meeting was held at the home of Mrs. Craigie, Vice President of the Ladies Circle, who entertained in her usual cheery fashion. Mrs. C. Ray Brown gave an interesting account of her trip to Europe last summer, and of the British Assembly, which, judging from all accounts, was a very fine occasion. The December meeting, held at the home of Mrs. Ernst Bellinger, was likewise delightfully entertained. It was an "Old-time Entertainment" night, and we would respectfully direct the attention of the Conductress of the Olivet Ladies Choral, in her search for singers, to the talent that lies concealed in our midst. Incidentally, our wives almost equaled the getting-home hour of the Forward Club.

     To avoid the appearance that our activities are all in a lighter vein, we will digress at this point to say that the Sunday services and doctrinal classes have been ably conducted by Mr. Gill, who has been giving us of his best, though not, we fear, without an overstrain on his part. The sermons have been instructive, helpful, and full of interest. And he has quite won his way into the hearts of the pupils of our Day School, with excellent results. On Sunday, November 23d, the Rev. L. W. T. David came down from Kitchener for an evening service on this anniversary of our chapel dedication, and also officiated at the administration of the Holy Supper, at which there were sixty-eight communicants. And on Sunday, December 7th, Mr. David and Mr. Gill exchanged pulpits.

     The November social, held on Thanksgiving Day evening, which also coincides with Armistice Day in Canada, was made the occasion of a get together around the festive board, with toasts to the returned soldiers of our Society: and short accounts of war experiences from them in response. There were also beautiful tableaux, depicting the life of Hiawatha, his growth to manhood, his struggles and combats, and the winning of Minnehaha for his bride; this being accompanied with connective readings from the poem. The program concluded with music and dancing. All of this, crowded into one evening, was the appreciated result of an energetic committee's work, led by Dr. and Mrs. Richardson, with Mr. and Mrs. Carswell as host and hostess.

     Quite one of the most charming events in our Society life was the Musicale given by the Ladies Choral on Sunday evening, November 30th.

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Fear of the editor's blue pencil restrains our giving a detailed account of this delightful musical repast. Suffice it to say that the Choral Club (all ladies) acquitted itself splendidly, all the four numbers being enthusiastically received, though it remained for the tripping, lilting rendition of "Dinah Doe," their final number, to bring the house down in a storm of appreciative applause. Other contributions to the program were ladies trio and a male quartet, while Miss Edina Carswell played a violin solo and Mrs. Richardson a piano number, both in their best style. At the close, Dr. Becker and Mr. Gill fittingly voiced the enjoyment which all had derived from this first effort of the "Choral," and the hope that there may be many more. Miss Ebert, the directress, responded by saying how great a pleasure the preparation of the program had been. Incidentally, the concrete, seeable, material result of the entertainment was a substantial contribution to our "New School-desk Fund."

     The Forward Club has continued its meetings along the lines laid down for the season, with good results. Bishop W. F. Pendleton's "Topics from the Writings" have been studied and discussed by the Club with benefit to all. At the November meetings, Mr. Craigie was toastmaster, and kept us up to time, both by the book and his watch. He emphasized the need and importance of our understanding what we read of doctrine, and of making it our own, rather than accepting it just because it is something printed in a book or stated by someone else. The first four "Topics" were chosen from the Life of February, 1924. A pleasing feature was the debut in senior company of Harold Carter, Alec. Craigie and Douglas Brown (by proxy), all of whom gave us good reading and commentary on the subjects discussed. Dr. W. G. Maclaren was a welcome visitor at this meeting.

     For the December meeting of the Club, the "Topics" were chosen from the November Life, being "Invention," led by Mr. Arthur C. Carter; "Endeavor, Force and Motion," by Mr. Theodore Bellinger; "Right Thinking," by Mr. T. Smith. Whether it was due to the thorough manner in which these gentlemen treated their subjects, or to the presence of the ladies (this being one of the periodic ladies' nights), or whether it was due to the admonition of Mr. R. S. Anderson, the toastmaster, who cautioned us to speak from "Right Thinking," and to stop speaking "when you stop thinking,"-whatever the cause, we did not rise to great heights of oratory on this occasion. Later on, however, the floods of eloquence were loosed in lighter vein, and included a rich treat in the form of songs and stories by Mr. Alec. Sergeant.

     As our report was too late to extend Christmas Greetings to the readers of the Life, we make amends by wishing you all a Happy New Year!

     It is pleasant news to hear that the Rev. and Mrs. Hugo Lj. Odhner, with their family, have arrived safely in America, and that, after brief stay in Bryn Athyn, they will be with us at the beginning of the New Year.
     F. W.

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PHILADELPHIA DISTRICT ASSEMBLY 1925

PHILADELPHIA DISTRICT ASSEMBLY       GEORGE DE CHARMS       1925




     Announcements.



     During the Annual Council Meeting of the General Church, the Philadelphia District Assembly will meet at Bryn Athyn, Pa., February 6th to 8th, 1925. (See general program on the next page.) Members and friends of the General Church are cordially invited to attend, and those who expect to do so are requested to notify Mrs. C. E. Doering, Bryn Athyn, Pa., in order that provision may be made for their entertainment.
     GEORGE DE CHARMS,
          Secretary.

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ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS 1925

ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS              1925

     BRYN ATHYN, PA., FEBRUARY 2D TO 8TH, 1925.

Monday, February 2d.
3.00 p.m.-Consistory.

Tuesday, February 3d.
10:00 a.m.-Council of the Clergy.
3:00 p.m.-Council of the Clergy and General Faculty.
          Address by the Rev. L. W. T. David.
          Subject: "Hezekiah."

Wednesday, February 4th.
10:00 a.m.-Council of the Clergy.
3.00 p.m.-Council of the Clergy and General Faculty.
          Address by Mr. Wilfred Howard.
          Subject: "Some Educational Problems of a 'Scientific Age.'"
8.00 p.m.-Public Meeting.
          Address by the Rev. William Whitehead.
          Subject: "The Council of Nicea, 325 A. D."

Thursday, February 5th.
10:00 a.m.-Council of the Clergy.
3.00 p.m.-Council of the Clergy and General Faculty.
          Address by the Rev. Alfred Acton.
          Subject: "Sensation and Spiritual Place."

Friday, February 6th.
10:00 a.m.-Council of the Clergy.
7.00 p.m.-Banquet in Celebration of General Church Day.
          Address by the Bishop.
          Subject: "Humanizing the Divine."

Saturday, February 7th.
10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.-Joint Council.
8.00 p.m.-Service of Praise.

Sunday, February 8th.
11:00 a.m.-Divine Worship.
8.00 p.m.-Dramatic Representation of Samuel.

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FUNDAMENTALISM AND MODERNISM AS VIEWED IN THE NEW CHURCH 1925

FUNDAMENTALISM AND MODERNISM AS VIEWED IN THE NEW CHURCH        N. D. PENDLETON       1925


NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. XLV FEBRUARY, 1925          No. 2
     Speaking broadly, the Christian world is divided between two kinds of men, both claiming to be Christian; that is, those who believe in the Divinity of the Lord, and those who do not. This division is internal; it goes much deeper than the nominal differences which separate the several sects. It is concerned with the idea and person of the God who is worshiped. It is also an old line of demarcation which existed from the beginning of the Church; and it will continue to be until the end, that is, until" the Judgment is made conclusive in this world,-the Judgment of 1757, which, in the spiritual world, brought a sharp division between those who in heart worshiped the Lord as God and those who rejected Him. This judgment and consequent separation in the world of spirits was complete and final, but its working out in this world in ultimation was, and may yet be, long delayed.

     The present discussion in the churches is indubitably an evidence of the progressive judgment occurring id this world; and it is notable that the Arians,-those who reject the Divinity of the Lord,-have, to all appearance, greatly increased in number and boldness. This was to be expected. For while they were defeated and suppressed in the fourth century, yet, according to the Writings they have ever since ruled the Church from within,-a minority in numbers doubtless, but being of the more intelligent, they managed to dominate.

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With the passing of time, however, and especially the accomplishment of the Last Judgment, with its restored freedom of thought in spiritual things, it became less and less necessary for men to conceal their opinions.

     With the suppression of Arianism in the early days of Christianity, it became necessary that all should at that time conform; that is, all who would retain place and preferment, and who would avoid ecclesiastical resentment, which not infrequently endangered life. Accordingly, those who were at heart Arians conformed in words to the accepted creed, and, in conforming, established a quiet spiritual dominance within the Church. This situation was not materially changed until the Last Judgment referred to above, which, by restoring spiritual freedom, made it possible for that internal state of mind to become outwardly expressed, and this more and more in the succeeding Years after the Judgment, until now it is beyond a doubt that the intelligent,-the leaders of thought, not only in science, but also in religion,-look upon Christ as not other than a very wise and good man, who led in establishing what is perhaps the greatest religious movement the world has known.

     However, owing to many causes, but above all to the Truth itself, as revealed in the New Testament, there has always been with the masses of the people an earnest, if confused, perception of the fact of the Lord's Divinity. These simple souls, being many in number, have not been without leaders,-leaders sincere or otherwise,-who championed their cause and exerted great power. In consequence, the Arians, true to their nature and peculiar intelligence, have ever been ready to compromise; that is, they have ever been ready to adopt the words, the phrases, of their opponents, the while putting their own meaning into them. If my memory serves, they were willing, in the first great conflict, to go so far as to say that Christ was of like substance with the Father, and thus to meet their adversaries who claimed that the Father and Son were of one or the same substance. This was all the more enticing because the two words in the Greek sounded much alike, differing as to but one small letter. But the Arians were defeated.

     At this day, the Modernists, who are Arians undisguised, do something similar. They now confess the Lord's Divinity, but in so doing they play with the word "Divine," and in effect lower its meaning; for they readily admit that they do not use the word in the medieval sense.

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Besides, they hold that all men are more or less divine, but that Christ was more divine, even the most divine, and yet only a man, and not God. And it is quite conceivable that they would confess Him to be God, if it should be allowed that all men are more or less gods; and to this end they would also quote Scripture.

     However, to mark the distinction for the present time, those who have some perception of and regard for the Divinity of the Lord now speak of the "Diety of Christ," to distinguish their faith. These may have but a partial and perverted idea of that Deity; and for the most part this is the case; they are not able rationally to reconcile the Deity of the Son with that of the Father. And from this lack of reconciliation they may and do derive many false notions; so false, indeed, as to have brought a spiritual devastation upon the Church. Even so, they, in their simple faith, have in some sort preserved in their midst the Lord's saving power, because they nevertheless hold to a Divine idea concerning Him,-an idea which, though compromised, is yet the soul and life of the Christian Church in so far as it is Christian.

     But this Christianity yet remaining is not so much a matter of theological argument, or of credal statement, as of that simple faith which exists in spite of every theological complication and adverse ecclesiastical environment. We must, I think, grant that this kind of faith is the final background of the present stand of those who call themselves Fundamentalists; and this, I believe, we can do without disputing with our own Revelation as to the state of the Christian world. That state is bad enough, and non-spiritual to a degree, but we must allow even now for a remnant,-always a remnant, so long as the Word of God is read with reverence as such, and so long as any true Divinity is attributed to the Lord. I would not take away a word of the Writings in condemnation of the Christian world, or modify a phrase, save in understanding the state of that world in connection with the doctrine of the remnant. This must, I think, be allowed. And we cannot but believe that this remnant is comprised in the so-called Fundamentalist's stand; and more, it gives that stand its real strength.

     On the other hand, it will lead us to a grievous disappointment, if we imagine that Fundamentalism is in any true sense an outcropping of the New Church, or an indication of its invisible spread.

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Fundamentalism is simply the old theological view accentuated. By contrast with Arianism, it appears as confused truth in opposition to denial. It holds in a twisted way the Divine idea of the Lord, and is now making something of a stand against the gradual disintegration of the old Christianity. More than once the hope of New Churchmen has been betrayed by the false expectation of the rejuvenation of the old body of the Church, and this in face of the fact that that body has departed more and more, and that this departure has been away from the recognition of the Divinity of the Lord. The present reaction, while it represents something of a recall, consists purely of a recall to the old basis, with all its rational inconsistencies; so that we are unable to see anything in it but a reaction against that fatal movement which, in spite of all stops and stays, can only end in giving up entirely to the worship of the Lord, and in yielding the field to the New Church, in hastening the day when the New Church will stand as the sole authorized champion of the Divinity of the Lord and the sanctity of the Holy Word.

     In reality, the New Church now holds the field in actual spirit and power. For the Trinitarian compromise cannot stand in perpetuity, and it continually breeds disbelief, because of its irrationality. If we might suppose a judgment as a result of the present controversy,-a judgment that would separate all so-called Modernists from the fold, still the process of breeding unbelievers would go on. It would not be long before another clearance would be called for, and so on to the end, or until there was no longer any power of rejection remaining in the old or medieval element. Yet the controversy is not without interest to the New Churchman, first, as an indication of the great number and increased boldness of those who have rejected the Lord as God, and second, as a proof that some power of resistance survives in the old doctrines, which still exist as a kind of hang-over from the period of the Church called the "age of faith."

     It is of interest to note that those who deny the Divinity of the Lord, and who yet call themselves Christian, acknowledge Him to be the Founder of the religion which they call their own. And they say, therefore, that they are none the less Christian, or followers of Christ, because of their disbelief in His Deity.

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They hold, in fact, that they may be all the more Christian for just that reason; that is to say, because they regard Him as a man, and not as God, His example comes to them with more force, His teaching as more applicable, and His miracles as more wonderful. They ask: "What does it mean to me, a mere man, that a God should say and do these things? If He be God, I cannot follow His example. It is otherwise if He is a man like myself. He overcame in temptation, and was victorious over evil, but being God, and having all power, wherein is the wonder, and where the merit, and how may I follow Him in that? If, however, He did these things, being a man, as I, then may I be inspired by His example to do likewise with some hope of success. If He be God, then, in spite of His apparent humanity, He is removed beyond my ken; He vanished in the Godhead, that is, in the Infinite, and is lost to me."

     This argument, with its seeming reasonableness, has caught many, but it is accompanied, or rather followed, by another, which exposes not only its weakness, but its fatality. "If He be not God, but mere man, why should I follow His example, if it irks me to do so? In what were His miracles greater than those of the other ancient miracle workers, all of which were perhaps but the product of a simple and over-credulous age? If He be but man, with what authority does He speak of His Father, and of His heavenly kingdom? Where is the assurance of anything upon which salvation may be founded? If He be but man, I am free from all constraint. But the matter is quite otherwise if He be God. Then He speaks with the authority of God, and I am able to confide in His words, and to hope for His salvation."

     The one idea is that Christ is destroyed by being made God, and the other is that He is thereby made alive forevermore, in Himself and in the minds and lives of His followers. Here are two contradictions which cannot be reconciled,-two attitudes which look in contrary directions, two extremes which may never meet.

     The Christian Church is founded upon the idea of the Deity of Christ. It travailed and went astray in giving birth to its theology; yet it preserved His Divinity in qualified form, and therefrom drew its spiritual power. It conquered the world, and saved souls, by virtue of that power alone. It became great, and in turn worldly.

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Yet the Divine idea in it was potent to the last, or as long as it was acknowledged. The Church at all times embraced many Arians. These it carried as a heavy burden, increasingly heavy. From time to time it cast them out. But they, by themselves, have never been able to establish a separate church or religion. They have endeavored to do so, but with little or no success. For in the Arian conception there is no power, nor sufficient cause, for a separate ecclesiastical establishment. If Christ be not God, the potency, the reason for being, of Christianity is gone.

     The same Divine idea with reference to the Person of the Lord applies also to the Sacred Scripture. Is it the Word of God, or is it the word of man, or of many men? Is it revelation, or is it literature? the way to heaven, or the way of the world? Is it the history of spiritual Israel, or the story of Jacob and his descendants? The controversy in these matters always was, and it may continue to be. No church, no religion, no man, may escape it. The New Church has already encountered its own peculiar phase of this debate, in the question: What of the Writings! Are they a Divine Revelation, and the Word of the Lord? or shall we compromise their Divinity, as the Trinitarians their God, and thus open the way to skepticism,-open the door to the spiritual Arians, even while resisting them? For this is, and has been, the trouble,-the Secret source of disorder,-in the Christian Church from its beginning There was no clear idea of the Divinity of the Lord, but instead an unhappy compromise with appearances In that Church, Christ the Lord not only was but still is the Son of God. Divine, yes, but unavoidably, and in some sort, a subordinate God, other than the Father. And so the primal idea of the unity of God was broken, and this in spite of the claim that it was not so. This was irreconcilable and irrational; but it was maintained that faith demanded a high irrationality. From this many fell back into Arianism, and will ever fall back. And this process will continue until men begin to go forward and through, or on into the idea of the Lord's sole Divinity, and of His absolute oneness with the Father. But this can only be accomplished by passing on from the old into the New Christian Church.

     Some have claimed that they accept the Swedenborgian idea of God, that is, of Christ the Lord as the supreme and only God.

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But this alone, without entering into the other arcana revealed, will not avail; for, under such circumstances, the idea of the Lord as the supreme God is little more than a theological notion which appeals because of its reasonableness, but which does not affect in any appreciable degree the state of the Church. The truth concerning the Lard's supremacy as the only God must be acknowledged on the ground of revelation,-on the ground of the Second Advent Revelation. Not otherwise will the doctrine have redeeming power. For the Church cannot be restored by a single reasonable theological idea, however true it may be. Besides, such a theological idea, cut off from its companion doctrines, and separated from its source, will fail of the real power that lies in it. It may indeed rectify an individual's thinking a little, but nothing more than this. Consequently, its effect upon the Church as a whole is virtually nothing.

     The hope of the religion of the future lies in the New Church, in the reception of the Lord in His Second, His spiritual Coming. This faith wilt alone make us strong, and give us the patience to labor through all discouragements, to establish the Church in ultimate body and actual fact with a few,-the few whom the Lord in His providence gives us. Its passing to many is in His hands; and, therefore, in good time that passing will be made. Our concern is that we keep faith in our own hearts, and that we encourage our brethren therein. This duty should engage all our time and energy. And in so doing, we may let the world pass on; that is, let us not be deceived by its phantom reformations, or entangled in its spurious issues.

     The Church will be strong in us just in the degree that it is our all. It was so with our fathers. Is it so with us? Or has time and its discouragements invaded our minds? Have outside issues and engagements drawn us somewhat a part? If so, let us take warning before it is too late, before our hearts have become cold, and our minds dulled, for lack of a living appreciation of the Divine Truths which have been revealed to us. This issue lies primarily with the individual. It is a part of his own regeneration. But it also has its bearing upon the state of the Church as a whole; for the interaction between the individual and the whole body of the Church is keen and intimate. The state of the one enters into and affects the other in some degree.

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Knowing this, we may realize our duty in a larger way. As we give, so may we receive; and as we receive, so also may we give.

     Let our concern, then, be for and with the Church. There can be no greater service to others. There can be no greater blessing to ourselves than this, that we devote our lives and labors to the establishment of the New Jerusalem, in ourselves and with others,-others who, in their love of the Church, are even as ourselves,-brethren in a spiritual faith, the true and the coming faith of the future. This I say, because I have been asked: "What is the meaning of the present controversy in the Christian Church to us as New Churchmen?" To me it means that we should encourage no delusive expectations, but keep close within the walls of the Holy City.

     However, one cannot but acknowledge a certain apparent reasonableness in the contention that Christ as human, as man, has a certain appeal which is denied Him as God, that is, as the infinite, all-powerful God. For who or what can tempt God? and wherein is the merit of all-powerful God in overcoming the finite evils of man? How can this God set an example of life which mortal man can profit by following? This contention of the Arians is convincing only in so far as man considers the Lord as Divine, and not as Human also. And here lies the difficulty. Christians are not without the doctrine that He is both God and Man, but their difficulty lies in the reconciliation of the two in one Person. They are apt to stress the one or the other, and they are always disposed to separate the two natures, and to see Him on the one side as mere man, and on the other as all God. This is an impossible status, a fundamental error, which can never be reconciled. That is to say, it is a state or relation which prevailed while our Lord was a man in the world, but not thereafter. In other words, it may be fairly taken to describe the state prior to glorification, but not the state thereafter; for by glorification the mere man part was gradually and successively put off, and this so perfectly or completely that in the process the Human became Divine, so that what eventuated as the result of glorification is called the Divine Human.

     My point is, that the doctrine of the Divine Human gives intellectual relief in considering this question. For we see Him, as revealed in the New Testament, and more interiorly as revealed in the Writings, as a man becoming God, by a process not unlike man's own regeneration; that is, as being tempted,-verily so,-and as overcoming evil, even as another man should.

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It was not the God inmostly in Him who was tempted, but the man, that is, the human mind of Him, not yet made Divine, but only in process of so becoming. True, Divine power was resident inmostly within Him, but it could not at the first be exercised; only by degrees, and in accordance with the state of the lower mind; yet it was at all times sufficient unto the present purpose. For this cause, His temptations and His enlightenment were graded in accordance with the degree of His progress. This is what is revealed to us in the Writings, and it enables us to see that truly He, as man, was tempted, and suffered stress even to death; but that, as God, He prevailed; that is, in prevailing, His Divinity manifested itself in fullness; and so was He glorified. This is signified by His two states while in the world, one of humiliation, which was the human state, and the other of glorification, which was His Divine state. At the end, the Divine state prevailed entirely and forever.

     Here lies the fundamental difference between the new and the old theology. The latter knew not the true doctrine of the glorification, but continued the strict human nature-the Mary nature-in His life after His ascension. This conception of the continued difference between the Divine and the human nature made necessary a throwback in thought, and the consequent recognition of a difference and separation between the Son and the Father prior to the assumption of the human in time, begetting thereby the doctrine of a Son of God from eternity. The truth is, therefore, chat we in the New Church see Him, when a man in the world and prior to His glorification, as quite different from that which He became thereafter; and in so seeing Him, we, as men, may be touched and moved, enlightened and inspired, by His combats against human evils; and more than this, we are thereby empowered to do likewise in His name, and by His example. Thus, for us in the New Church, His Humanity is preserved in the Divine story of the New Testament. In the revealed Writings, also, His Humanity is preserved, and His Divinity is acknowledged, without which the true Christian religion cannot be established.

     Was the human destroyed, then, by His becoming Divine? By the one process of glorification, the mortal human was put off and the Divine Human put on.

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The putting on of the Divine Human may be regarded as a process of humanizing the Divine. But this process, which is one of most profound interest to us, will be discussed in a subsequent paper.
UNCLEAN LIPS 1925

UNCLEAN LIPS       Rev. T. S. HARRIS       1925

     "Then said I, Woe is me! for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Loud of Hosts.

     "Then flew, one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar; and he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged." (Isaiah 6:5-7.)

     "I am a man of unclean lips," said Isaiah, when, with his eyes, he "beheld the King, the Lord of Hosts." The letter of the Word is represented by the prophet Isaiah, and doctrines derived from it are represented by his lips. Doctrine derived from the letter of the Word not rightly understood is meant by "unclean lips." Thus we read in A. C. 7225: "The uncircumcised in lips are those who are impure in doctrine.

     When the Word is believed to teach such doctrines as that there are three persons in the Godhead; that God is angry with the wicked; that He casts into hell all who reject Him; that He changes His mind and repents; that He is the cause of evil; and that He will manifest Himself to the inhabitants of this world in the clouds when He makes His Second Advent; then its truths are perverted by this false understanding of the literal sense. And this is what is meant by " unclean lips" in our text.

     The "altar" from which the "live coal" was taken represents the Lord's Divine Human, and the "fire" of the altar signifies the Lord's love proceeding from His glorified Human. "One of the seraphim" represents Divine Providence guarding for the sake of salvation, and the "tongs" are the truths of the literal sense, which the Divine Providence uses to lead man into conjunction with the Lord.

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But all conjunction is by love, and therefore the "live coal taken with the tongs from off the altar" touched the lips of the prophet. "To touch" signifies conjunction. The "lips" signify the interpretation given to what one reads in the Word; this interpretation may be true or it may be false. If it be false, then evil is contained in it, and the one making this false interpretation is said to have "unclean lips"; unclean, because of the evil which his false interpretation contains.

     An evil man does not wish to believe a true interpretation of what is written in the Word. If he reads the Word, he is certain to derive false ideas; for he is in the effort to find doctrine to justify his evils, And it is possible for a man to confirm himself in any false idea, by selecting certain passages from the Word and twisting them to suit himself. When the Word is read by a man who believes a false doctrine, he reads this false doctrine into it. He gets out of the Word what he puts into it, and confirms himself in his false ideas by what is written in the letter of the Word. Thus he who reads the Bible in the phosphorescent light of false doctrine thinks he obtains his doctrine from the Word. But false ideas do not exist in the Word. Men read them into it, and think they find them there.

     Because man is evil, therefore, of himself he cannot derive true doctrine from the Word; for self-made doctrines are always more or less tainted by the evils that are in man. When the human race fell into such a state of evil that all understanding of the Word perished with those of the church, then "flew one of the seraphim, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar." Man was rescued from this woeful state by the intervention of Divine Providence. This was done by a revelation of true doctrine concerning the Lord and His relation to man,-a revelation represented by a "live coal and tongs in the hand of one of the seraphim."

     When the Lord Jesus Christ, in His glorified Human, is seen as the one only God, then the doctrines which are derived from the letter of the Word partake of a new quality; the ideas that enter the mind warm the will and give light to the understanding. The "burning coal" and the "iron tongs" are the good and the truth proceeding from Divine Love and Wisdom.

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"One of the seraphim flew." "To fly" signifies to instruct. When one is receiving instruction through doctrine from heaven, then "one of the seraphim touches the lips with a live coal taken from off the altar." This is why one's heart grows warm when one reads the Bible in the light of the Heavenly Doctrine.

     It is written in A. C. 9434: "With those who are in heavenly love, the Divine fire or love is continually creating and renovating the interiors of the will, and illuminating the interiors of the understanding." These interiors are meant in the text by the lips that were touched by the live coal taken with the tongs from off the altar. It is through instruction from the Heavenly Doctrine that the Divine fire or love renovates and illuminates the interiors of the will and understanding. The reason why instruction in the Heavenly Doctrines must be given before the will and understanding can be interiorly renovated and illuminated, is because without these Doctrines men read false ideas into the letter of the Word, and these false ideas do not Possess the Divine fire in them. For when the Word is falsified, the Divine Love is not in it. False doctrines destroy the power of the Word to Purify and enlighten the minds of those who read it in the light of their false doctrines. He who reads the Word in the light of any other explanation than that revealed in the Heavenly Doctrine is a man of unclean lips, and until one of the seraphim touches his lips with a live coal, he will remain a man of unclean lips; for his false ideas cannot be corrected in any other way.

     The one heavenly doctrine with which all true doctrines are in agreement is that which teaches the Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ. All angelic beings acknowledge Him as the only God; and without this acknowledgment no one can enter heaven. But the vast majority of earth's inhabitants do not see that the Lord Jesus is the only Divine Being, until they are instructed by the angels after they pass into the other world. Those who receive that heavenly doctrine in this life, and whose interiors are affected by it, enter the New Christian Heaven, and become angels thereof; while those who receive it in the other life enter the heaven of angels formed of those who were of the religion to which they themselves belonged.

     It was after one of the seraphim flew that the live coal touched the unclean lips of Isaiah.

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So instruction in true doctrine must precede its reception into the will and understanding. "Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged." Not until a man begins to will and live the truths of heaven in which he has been instructed can his "iniquity be taken away," and his "sin purged." "Iniquity" and "sin" mean falsity and evil. Iniquity is every false idea that has entered the mind and affected the life and sin is the evil effect which falsity produces in the affections, and thence in the acts of life. This is confirmed by what we read in A. C. 9156: "Those evils are called iniquities which are done against the goods of faith, and those are called sins which are done against the goods of charity and love."

     To sterilize lips by means of a live coal is a severe process. The fire of heavenly love will free the mind of the germs of falsity and evil, but the process is associated with suffering. It is hard to give up our self-derived ideas and our evil lusts. Some of them are so deeply rooted that they may not become quiescent without vastation m the world of spirits. But whatever the process may be, the falsities and evils which have been in the mind can only be removed to the exteriors and made quiescent. Falsities which one has believed, and evils which one has done, remain forever in the mind. What, then, are we to understand by iniquity being "taken away" and sin "purged"?

     Iniquity, or a false idea, is "taken away" when it no longer affects one's conduct, and sin or evil is "purged" when it ceases to be active in the will. But it is an error to think that one is purified from sins like a person cleansed of filth by washing in water. Remember what is written in A. C. 2116: "I have been instructed that not the smallest evil which a man has thought and actually done in the life of the body is wiped away and altogether blotted out, but that all remains, even to the smallest particular." And again, we read in A. C. 1581: "Whatever a man has once acquired remains with him; Nevertheless, it seems to be separated when it is rendered quiescent. Such is the state of the angels. The rest which they enjoy is only a detention from evil, and thus its quiescence. Thus the separation of evil is an appearance, which the angels also know when they reflect upon the subject."

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Many passages in the letter of the Word are written in the language of appearance, an example of which is found in Isaiah 1:18, where it is said: "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." But when such statements are interpreted to mean that sins are wiped and washed away as dirt is with water, then the truth is falsified.

     Every angel in heaven has with him all the evil which he thought and actually did while in the life of the body. And it is very important that every angel should acknowledge this; for if one of them should doubt it, he must be let into his evils. The only way that an angel can be withheld from the evils which he did while in the life of the body is to remain in the belief that all his evils are still with him. They who live in love to the Lord, and in charity towards the neighbor, likewise retain all the evils of their lives; for the evils and falsities which are removed by the process of regeneration merely fall to the bottom like the dregs in fermenting wine. Such, in the other life, as doubt the existence of evils with them, because they do not appear, are again let into them until they are convinced that it is so, and then they are elevated into heaven. The good principles which exist in those who have become angels through a life of charity during their abode in the earth life, temper the evils in them and prevent any indication of their presence; but the instant they fall into the error of supposing that they are sinless, then their evils become manifest to them.

     One who is being regenerated in this life may have an experience somewhat similar. He may fall into the delusion that, because an evil has ceased to manifest itself in desire or deed, it no longer exists. Such a false idea will bring one face-to-face with this very evil which is thought to have been wiped away. It is well to keep constantly in mind the revealed truth which teaches that evils cannot be washed away and altogether blotted out, but that the falsity and evil which a man has thought and done remain with him forever. They remain with those who find a home in heaven, as well as with those who make their abode in hell.

     Hear the Word of the Lord in A. C. 2116: "Those who have lived in the thought and practice of hatred and adultery, revenge and cruelty, and thus have lived in no charity, retain after death the life which they have thereby contracted, including all things belonging to such a life, even to the minutest particulars, which successively return; hence their torment in hell.

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They who have lived in love to the Lord, and in charity towards the neighbor, likewise retain all the evils of their lives, but in them the evils are tempered by goods which they have received from the Lord through the life of charity which they had lived during their abode in the world. These are elevated into heaven, and withheld from their evils." At least, this operates so long as they do not fall into the error of thinking that they are sinless. And if this is an error into which the very angels of God may fall, and thus awaken in themselves the evil which remains with them, fetus take heed that we do not imagine that our evils are blotted out forever.

     The angels are not pure in God's sight; neither are they pure in their own eyes. They see that the only difference between them and the infernals is that their own evils are quiescent, while those in a devil are active. The angels are withheld from the evils which they have with them, so that they do not appear. If they doubt that they have evils with them, because the evils do not appear, they are let into them until they know that the case is really so, and then are again taken up into heaven. And if this is the case with the angels, how difficult-yea, impossible-it is for those to enter heaven who altogether deny the existence of evil in themselves.

     "Thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin is purged," is the language of appearance, and signifies in the internal sense that the Lord makes quiet the falsity and evil in the mind of one who is being regenerated, so that they are no longer active in the thoughts and affections. This the Lord does while one receives and obeys the truths that have been revealed by the Lord.

     "Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar; and he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin is purged."

     The flying seraph comes to us when our thoughts are quickened, and our affections warmed, by means of instruction received from revealed truths. "He laid it upon my mouth." First, the thoughts of the understanding are affected by instruction from Divine Revelation. "Lo, this hath touched thy lips!" Then the affections of the will are warmed by a life according to the truths learned, even by repentance and spiritual combat.

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So may the Lord render our false ideas and evil desires quiescent, so that they cease to make themselves manifest. Blessed are they whose iniquities are taken away, and whose sins are purged! Amen.

     Lessons: Isaiah 6. Matthew 15:1-20. T. C. R. 258.
REPENTANCE. 1925

REPENTANCE.       PHILIP OYLER       1925

If I knew I should die tomorrow,
     How should I live today?
Should I walk in joy or in sorrow?
     Should I work or play or pray?

Should I count the minutes remaining,
     And fill them up to the brim
With pleasures, disclaiming, disdaining
     The sacrifice made by Him?

Should I kneel me down and entreat Him
     Forgiveness for all my sin,
And expect thereafter to meet Him
     And receive a welcome in?

     *******

None knows he will see a tomorrow;
     E'en today may be too late.
If you walk in joy or in sorrow
     At your near approaching fate

Depends upon if your repentance
     Is young, in blossom or fruit;
For only those find heaven's entrance
     Whom heavenly light will suit.

                         PHILIP OYLER.

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WHERE ARE THE SWEDENBORG DOCUMENTS? 1925

WHERE ARE THE SWEDENBORG DOCUMENTS?       SIGRID CYRIEL ODHNER       1925

     Under the auspices of the Academy Library, a step has been taken towards the final goal of: a complete collection of the original documents relating to Swedenborg's life. A compilation of all the material contained in the archives and on the shelves of the Library, based upon the "Chronological List of Swedenborgiana," is now accessible in six folio volumes. Those documents of which the Library still lacks a copy in the original text are noted on yellow slips, there being approximately 600 of these slips. Of many, even a translation is lacking.

     Where are the remaining uncopied originals, and how may they be secured is the next question. In order to solve this problem, we shall now undertake to give a brief account of them in connection with the places where they are preserved. And we are encouraged by the interest shown in a previous article on the subject* to include as illustration a slight description of a few of the more striking bits of information, and so to give the reader an idea of the new documents pertaining to Swedenborg's later life, as the former group covered his earlier years.
     * "What are the New Documents?"-New Church Life, July, 1924.

     1. The greatest number of pages of unreproduced Swedenborg documents is contained in the STATE ARCHIVES, Stockholm, the official treasury for political and legal records of the Kingdom of Sweden. Here are preserved all the reports of the Royal Council, the Acts of Parliament, Letters from the Kings, and petitions on all matters affecting the welfare of the Kingdom, such as mining, forestry, economy, trade, etc. Within recent years the archives of the College of Mines were also removed to the State Archives, because the building which housed them was to be torn down.

     By virtue of his being a very active member of the College of Mines for some thirty years, Swedenborg's name is connected with a great many official transactions, such as reports on commissions of inspection, etc.

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Some of the yet unpublished ones include minutes of meetings in which his private affairs are discussed, memorials written by him on various matters, reports of commissions, and lastly, government discussions and decrees in regard to the "heresy" of Swedenborgianism. They thus open to us still further regions of Swedenborg's interest and thought.

     From one of these curious memorials, dated 1725, it appears that Swedenborg was interested in a "mechanical laboratory,"-museum, we would call it. He reports that he has looked over the models of machines used in mining operations for the College of Mines, and recommends that they be mended, little parts made over, and everything done to keep them in good condition. He says the windows are so badly in need of repair that the snow falls through in winter and the rain in summer.

     In another memorial he strongly advises the College to Purchase an air pump to add to their machines. "For," he says, "hundreds of useful experiments can be made with an air pump, by which one is able to see the power and effect of water, and to measure the proportionate fall and rise of pendulums and balls. . . . An air pump would impart a great luster to all the other machines in the room. The best are made in England by a man named Hawksbe."*
     * An air pump of this kind may be seen in the old Supreme Court Building, Independence Square, Philadelphia, obtained from London by Benjamin Franklin about the same time.

     Both requests were granted. And a few months later, a third petition requests that the "antlia pneumatica," upon which the receiver of customs wanted to impose a toll of 300 dalers in copper, be admitted free of duty, since there is no legal mention of an air pump among articles of import, and since it was ordered for the public good. Prompt action is urged, as the air pump might become injured by being turned upside down and covered with chests and barrels.

     Swedenborg's life in the College of Mines was not a bed of roses. His aunt, Brita Behm, it seems, interfered with his right of smelting at the Axmar Iron Works, in which they had a joint interest. She was, according to Dr. Tafel, "less endowed with feminine grace than with masculine will and energy." Her denunciations were particularly loud against Swedenborg's servant, Lindbohm, whom she accuses of disorderly conduct, such as threatening to knock down and kill her workers, etc.

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In his reply, Swedenborg, among other things, complains that "the Lady is at great pains to mix in something that has to do with my personal conduct; and I perceive that she has written down as many suspicions as it is possible to involve." Coldly logical, he proceeds: "But what has Lindbohm's personal character to do with the matter? What is the use of so many excuses, digressions, and stories about quite different subjects, when it is merely a matter of smelting? . . . No one believes that a case is to be won by personal accusations. Such a proceeding is in itself unseemly, and a method already banished from the honorable world. Judges sometimes regard this method as a crime against the procedure, and impose a fine of, ten silver dalers for it, in accordance with the Legal Process Laws of 1695."

     Anders Swab, Master of Mines at Fahlun, later disputed Swedenborg's place in the College, and tried to argue his own precedence, but Swedenborg cleverly showed in his defense that Swab could not occupy two positions at the same time, unless "he wishes to leave the one and take up the other at pleasure, according as he finds good, . . . and be himself among those whose orders he would have to obey."

     A Royal Decree was necessary to grant Swedenborg, on January 13, 1736, a leave of absence of from three to four weeks for a journey into Westrogothia to attend the funeral of his father. Bishop Swedberg had died the previous July, but the celebration of the funeral, as was the custom of the times, did not take place until some months later.

     2. Within a stone's throw of the State Archives stands the HOUSE OF NOBLES, the same elegant building in which Swedenborg attended meetings at various intervals during fifty years. His shield still hangs upon its walls, and in the government his part was by no means merely nominal. Their records are rather incomplete, and difficult of access, but investigation brought to light a few new things which have not yet seen print, and we may mention one or two.

     Is it known that Swedenborg held definite opinions on free trade? As a member of the House of Nobles, he was vitally interested in the discussion as to whether "foreign merchants" should be allowed to enter the country to purchase Swedish wares.

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In a memorial dated April 2, 1723, he begged that no action be taken on such an important question, unless the mining interests were consulted, because, he says, "This matter concerns not only the interest of traveling merchants, but also the economy and welfare of entire mining districts, and . . . there are those who believe it can be proven that, in case foreigners were banished from the country, and free trade with our own wares were to be forbidden at the present time, all the Swedish Iron Mines would be jeopardized, and within a few years completely ruined; and this would be to pull down with one hand whatever was built up with the other. It should be remembered that Swedenborg's own capital was largely invested in mining enterprises.

     From several newly-found memorandums and minutes, signed by Swedenborg, it would appear that he was appointed by the Nobles as secretary of several committees,-on the Exchequer, and on Commerce, Economy and Mining matters.

     In 1726, he was made "Benchman,"-that is, one of the fifty electors of the estate; and later they appointed him as one of a deputation on public grievances.

     The following year, a great scandal agitated the entire kingdom. Count Maurice Wellingk, trusted friend of King Frederick, was found to have intrigued with the court of Prussia for a private loan to the King of Sweden. He was condemned to be executed, but the sentence was changed to life imprisonment in the castle at Linkoping. Wellingk died on the way. Swedenborg's vote on the question was discovered in a bundle of parliamentary papers. It is an appeal that Count Wellingk's private letters and documents might not be made public, but submitted to a Secret Committee. For, he pleads, "the question is of no slight importance and consequence, affecting not only the person of a Councillor of the Realm, but also his correspondence with ministers and high dignitaries abroad." It seems probable that Swedenborg's motion was carried. The story of Wellingk runs on after his death. (S. D. 4733-5, 6045.)

     "There was seen, connected with the web of a spider, a thread which extended on high into the interior heaven. This thread was drawn down, and there followed it a diabolical spirit who appeared to angelic sight like a great, dreadful spider. . . . Such people are Wellingians."

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They insinuate themselves into the interior heavens by entering into the thoughts of others and ruling by deceit and malice. (Spiritual Diary 4735-8.)

     And again: "Wellingk boasted that he was God the Father." He was permitted to impersonate God the Father, in order that those who had only a vague idea of Him might have their idea determined, and not become completely demented; for it is granted to almost everyone to see some one sitting on high, magnificently attired. (S. D. 6026, 6045.) This makes a striking final tableau to the tragedy which opened so splendidly with Swedenborg's meeting Wellingk in Germany, five years before the Count's death, on which occasion he wrote a poem in celebration of the great ambassador, entitled "The Love and Metamorphosis of Urania into a man and servant of Apollo, addressed to the most illustrious and excellent Senator, Count Maurice Welljngk, Brunswick, April 2, 1722."

     Sic transit gloria mundi!

     As a Senator, Swedenborg apparently favored "open agreements openly arrived at." In the Minutes of the House of Nobles for March 19, 1727, the Secret Committee gave notice of an accession to the Hanover Alliance. Swedenborg begs that the essential treaty of Alliance, with all the points thereto pertaining, may be read at the next plenary session, "so that it may be the more clearly perceived with what caution it has been drawn up. The Estates of the Realm are so much the more justified in hearing this treaty read to them, as it concerns the entire kingdom."

     From another of the new documents it seems that Swedenborg was opposed to extensive loans on real estate. Anders Schonstrom, disputing this view, stated that if the difficulty of getting money, on land were increased, it would be more advantageous to "spend one's time in indolence ... than to earn one's livelihood with pain and trouble attending to the improvement of agriculture... It would benefit only evil-minded people who profit by the ruination of citizens through exorbitant usury."

     3. By far the most important depositary for documents is, of course, the ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, Stockholm. Here, at Swedenborg's death, his heirs deposited all the manuscripts in their possession, including, therefore, his private theological correspondence with Dr. Beyer and others, which was sent to them from England. According to Augustus Nordenskold, the two bishops, his heirs, planned to destroy them all by fire, but Providence interfered. (Docu. 305, p. 790.)

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Of these documents, 105 pages are still unreproduced in text, including many theological letters, scientific papers, and Swedenborg's notebook on parliamentary affairs, the "Riksdagsskrifter." It is probable that these will be done by the "photostat" method in the near future. We have Dr. Tafel's translations.

     4. The Imperial ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, St. Petersburg (Leningrad), Russia.

     In White's Biography of Swedenborg, he makes the statement: "In 1734, Dec. 17, the Imperial Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg elected Swedenborg a corresponding member." (Vol. 1, p. 111.) There has never been my documentary evidence of this, and, as pointed out by Prof. Alfred Acton, the scientific magazines of the Russian Academy, in listing foreign members, do not include Swedenborg's name. So Mr. White's statement seems to have been founded on a guess.

     The explanation is probably to be found in a printed Russian work: Materialy dlja istorij Imp. Akademij nauk. (Tom. 2., St. Petersburg, 1886, pp. 507, 510), giving the transactions of the Academy for the year 1734-5. A quotation follows:

     "His Excellency communicated that the Academy had received from Sweden a work: Emanuel Swedenborg's Opera in three volumes. His Excellency desires that Professors Lejtman, Kraft and Aman may examine this work, and make a report on it as to whether there may not be in it something which might be of advantage to the Russian Kingdom, in the statements about minerals and mining." There was; for in the following year their official printed Acts include a 42-page review of Swedenborg's work On Iron.

     Some years ago, Professor Aksel Andersson, then librarian of Upsala University, communicated to Mr. Alfred Stroh his discovery in St. Petersburg of a draft of a letter to Swedenborg thanking him for books and asking him to institute a literary correspondence with the Academy. In their public library, there were also found two letters from Swedenborg, and copies in manuscript of both Apocalypse Revealed and "Heaven and the Spiritual World." Prof. Acton is now in correspondence with Leningrad concerning these learned matters, and the outcome will be of practical interest, as we have the definite declaration from Swedenborg's pen that he was not a member of any earthly society but that of the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.

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     4. LINKOPING DIOCESAN LIBRARY. In 1731 the Librarian of Upsala University, Dr. Eric Benzelius, Swedenborg's dearest friend,-who is described in the Spiritual Diary Bs "outwardly haughty, but inwardly good,"-was appointed Archbishop of Linkoping. He took with him to the old cathedral town all the letters and manuscripts which, from time to time, he had received from Swedenborg, and which comprise the bulk of our knowledge of his early life and scientific activities. There they still remain. Most of them are well-known; a few have been added since Dr. Tafel's time.

     One of these is a letter to Eric Benzelius from his younger brother Gustaf. Benzelstierna, written July 9, 1730, telling him that "Brother Eman. Swedenborg, who leaves Stockholm today on his foreign journey," will visit him, and deliver a book and some papers. " He has been kind enough to take with him all the legal papers which lay in the box you desired." He had not room for the box itself, but the papers did not take up much space.

     Just a year later, Eric Benzelius again wrote to his brother, and congratulated him on being appointed Censor of Books. He says: "God grant you health and courage. The latter quality is very much needed indeed, for this or that person sometimes thinks he has just as much right to censure the censor as he to censor the books. And you know better than I that Mr. Rosenadler [his predecessor] actually had the courage to defend himself. I know a few examples, namely, in 1720, When Brother Swedenborg published his opinions on the Debasement of the Copper Coinage."

     Most of the Linkoping material was photolithographed by Dr. Tafel. Only 14 documents, comprising 32 pp., remain.

     5. The ROYAL LIBRARY is the central city library of Stockholm, although used almost exclusively by students and historians. To this institution drift almost all of the heterogeneous curiosities and learned collections that turn up from time to time.

     In the entrance hall of this building, which stands in the center of Humlegbrden Park, is a show case in which they display Swedenborg's private note book, "The Book of Dreams," opened at some curious passage, mystical and bare,-a page from the inmost life of the Lord's Servant, to our eyes,-a page of insane phantasy in the eyes of psychology sensation seekers.

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Dr. Klemming, a farmer librarian, took a great interest in collecting as many Swedenborgiana as he could lay his hands on, which include a number of biographical and other documents, such as the Errata to the printed theological works, and also that curious list of presents received in the spiritual world.

     Among these documents is a deed of sale for Swedenborg's share in the mining property at Skinskatteberg, "to Count Frederick Gyllenborg and his dear Wife and Heirs . . . houses and lands, fields, meadows, forests, grounds, pastures, cottages, and property, smelting houses, forges, streams, sawmills and their property, through thick and through thin, nearby and far-off, . . . to cultivate and keep for a perpetual possession," so runs the quaint wording. The interest of this document is enhanced when we reflect that Count Gyllenborg's "dear Wife" is the traditional "Beatrice" of Swedenborg's life, his future spiritual partner. (See Documents I, p. 699.) The fascination of seeing with one's own eyes this house and property which Swedenborg once owned led the undersigned, in the summer of 1915, to look up the parish of Skinskatteberg in the province of Westmanland. This visit was described in NEW CHURCH LIFE for December, 1915, pp. 806-8. The property is located in the richest mining district of Sweden. All along the stream may be seen the remains of blast furnaces and water power works, undoubtedly the very handicraft of Swedenborg's mechanical genius. It is the writer's belief that this, and the other house at Axmar, which (excepting the well-known "summer house") are the only two buildings in existence which Swedenborg personally owned, ought to be preserved for posterity.

     A very quaint reference to Swedenborg is found in the Royal Library in the diary of Count Klas Ekeblad, a famous dandy of the period 1762:

     "June 16, Wednesday.-Took a walk in King's Gardens. Otherwise, nothing remarkable occurred. It was entertaining to see in King's Gardens how all were mutually attached; for one could always judge where this or that cavalier was, when one saw a particular lady. There was an enormous gathering of people in King's Gardens, and the Royalty stopped for the express purpose of allowing themselves to be gazed upon by their loyal subjects, whose observations were some of them very funny indeed.

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Assessor Swedenborg was there, who told about the marriage of the Russian Empress with my uncle in Paradise [Count De la Gardie], which I put down for what it is worth." (See Spiritual Diary 6027.)

     6. UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES, UPSALA. Most of the early Upsala documents have been copied. What remain are certain notes and references (ten documents, 34 pp.) contained in the contemporary correspondence of various savants and litterati concerning Swedenborg's later life, which were discovered in 1913. These throw light upon Swedenborg's last years, as they are the free expressions of individual opinions of the man and his mission, and reflect the spirit of the age. The sad truth is inevitably brought home to us that, as regards his revelations, Swedenborg was thought insane by his friends, relatives and acquaintances. Much of this adverse testimony was not recorded by Dr. Tafel, for some reason.

     Among the letters of Prof. Johan Hinric Liden is the following to Secretary Anders Schonberg:

     "Amsterdam, May 2, 1769.
"Well-born Herr Royal Secretary:
     ". . . Our Apocalyptical Historiographer, Swedenborg, a few days before my al-rival here, journeyed to France, which was a pity, since I had made up my mind to meet the old man here. He has many friends among fanatics.

     "I simply cannot understand how your former letter, Mr. Secretary, came to Judge Tilas already opened; I certainly sealed it. I'll have to ask Swedenborg about this when we meet . . ."

     On August 29, Liden Mote from London in a letter which subsequently found its way into the daily press: "Ever since Swedenborg arrived here, he has been lying in his chamber conversing with spirits, except a few times when I have come in and broken off their spiritual communion with him. . . . . Councillor Lowenhielm has visited him twice; President Gerderscold once; but Archibishop Troilius has not been seen for a long time. In Paris, Assessor Swedenborg has declared a marriage between Louis XIV. and Queen Christina. But who is able to remember all these wonderful revelations!

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     "Yesterday afternoon I was in the company of some witty Englishmen, and among other things we spoke of Mr. Swedenborg's writings, and of his association with spirits, when it occurred to one of those present to Propose 'the New Jerusalem Gentleman' far prime Minister of England, to see if the people would be satisfied with the administration of a Man of such spiritual and unusual insight, since no ordinary mortal has the happiness of suiting the unruly populace here. Tomorrow, Mr. Swedenborg leaves to travel by sea to Sweden. It will probably be his last foreign journey."*
     * See other letters from Liden in New Church Life, 1916.

     On the same date (August 29) he wrote: "I, have learned to know that funny old man quite well out here. He is rather dirty; has scarcely washed himself any time this year; he sometimes appears in an antique black velvet coat, although the heat is unbearable for all earthly beings. But in mundo spirituali the matter appears quite otherwise."

     Again, on September 18, 1769: "Assessor Swedenborg is still here, but is preparing to return home by sea. The old man truly is not quite sane; he does not even understand himself; they laugh at his printed absurdities here, and have not held them worth reviewing.

     "I have often talked with him, however, with all the respect due to the old man's years, but we do not agree. If you meet the old man in Stockholm, you will assuredly find him greatly weakened, both as to mind and physical powers, compared with formerly."

     When Swedenborg reached home it was to find the great Gothenburg Controversy in full blast, agitating the public all over the country. ". . . In Gothenburg they are simply mad," wrote Liden, "Three doctors of divinity have lost their reason and orthodoxy, and proclaimed themselves Swedenborgians. And a year later: "I have Swedenborg's book (Summar. Expos.), but not here; it is in Upsala with my other collections. Otherwise I would be glad to lend it to the honorable Lector Almqvist. If he will permit me to advise him on a matter which really does not concern me, I should consider it best not to mention anything about the unfortunately arisen Swedenborgian battle. How can anyone dispute with a man who writes everything ex visis et auditis? who, in express words, says that God Himself has been revealed to him, and that he writes at His command? Why should they always ring the alarm bell among us here?

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In England and Holland, where the Assessor's books are printed, people are amused at them; no sect arises there. But just persecute the man, prohibit his Writings, and then you may be certain that supporters will be found. For my part, I would laugh at him, but not write against him.

     "We have a Bishop who would like to burn up the whole city of Gothenburg, if he could, in order to root out Swedenborgianism there once and for all. Is that the right method?"

     In another letter he remarks: "The old man, I am told, now talks unendingly about his new Dream Books. Some screw is loose. 'My crazy uncle,' Captain Benzel calls him. Why do they pay his books the undeserved honor of sequestering them, perhaps of prohibiting them? They are not dangerous; they cannot deceive anyone. Here one reads a few pages out of them and laughs. They are not even considered worthy of a review. To get them readers in Sweden, I know of no better way than to prohibit them."

     7. Among the things lacking in the Academy Library are 168 reviews and references to Swedenborg in books and periodicals. An effort is being made to secure these, but there is very little hope of success in most cases, the books being two old and rare to be often found on the market.

     It is impossible to go into this wide subject. But, just as a curiosity, a jocular reference to Swedenborg by Baron Gustaf Bonde may be mentioned. In a book on "Parliamentary Debates," Part XVII bears the following title: "An injunction to the 'Cap' party from the Kingdom of the Dead, by his Excellency Baron Gustaf Bonde, held per influxum (by influx) during the author's visit to the Swedenborgian World; which the Baron asked to have inserted in the affairs of the Riksdag under the title of Advice to the 'Cap' party."

     The years of persecution were comparatively few. In 1772, the following notice appeared in the daily papers:

     "According to information inserted in 'Hamburgischer Correspondent' No. 55, Mr. Assessor Em. Swedenborg departed this life in London, on Dec. 24 ult., from a stroke of paralysis."

     This was corrected the next day, and followed by another notice: "We have been informed through letter by the boat which arrived yesterday that Assessor Em. Swedenborg, so famous for his learning and writings on various subjects, departed this life in London on March 29, ult., at 6 o'clock in the morning, at an age of 84 years, 1 month, 17 days, after having been stricken with paralysis.

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During his illness, he availed himself with great devoutness of the Offices of Salvation, and finally, not long before his death, partook of the Holy Supper."

     The documents which have been described are, with one exception, in Sweden. In addition, there are uncopied documents in England, Finland, Holland, Germany, Denmark and America. The following table shows the total number, and the approximate number of pages:

     Depositary                Number of Documents      Number of Pages
Academy of Sciences      71                         105
Linkoping Library           14                         32
State Archives           214                         1,074
Royal Library           39                    161
Upsala Library          10                         34
Russia and Finland           4                         14
England                27                         40
America                6                         27
Holland, Germany, Denmark     ?                    
Lost                     11                    20
Books and Periodicals     168                         400
                              564                     1,907

     I know of no better way of bringing my report to a close than by quoting the words of the Rev. J. G. Dufty, who has stated the needs of the document question so much better than I am able to. This he did in an article on the subject which appeared in THE NEW-CHURCH MAGAZINE (London) for January, 1924. To quote:

     "The statement will come as a surprise to many readers that a complete series of Documents concerning the life end character of Swedenborg does not exist in print. Hitherto, with few exceptions, we have had versions, and versions only.

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A faithful and verbatim reprint of the actual originals is still one of the most desirable things for the student and historian, and in the best interests of the Church as a whole. Such a reprint should include the large number of new documents which have come to light since the monumental work of Dr. Tafel was completed over forty years ago. And the need is the greater because of the perishable nature of the evidence; private collections of letters and documents change hands or become dispersed, and their whereabouts becomes unknown; at any time fire may sweep all beyond recovery, or the slow hand of time may take them and crumble them to dust.

     "Where, for instance, are the originals that were once in the hands of Dr. Tafel himself? Where are the documents once possessed by the Revs. Thos. Hartley and Samuel Noble, or those in the custody of Messrs. Chastanier, Wadstrom, Tulk, Boyle, and White? Alas! the bulk of them we can know only at second hand; for they, like many others, doubtless fell into the hands of those who lacked appreciation of them, and so were ultimately lost.

     "The dispersal and ultimate loss of originals in private hands thus goes on from year to year, and only prompt and effective action can save the situation. We need the fixity of the printed page widely disseminated to safeguard the exact words of the evidence, for the information and help of coming generations. We need a first and accurate edition of all the Swedenborg Documents in the original tongues in which they first appeared; and they should be produced verbatim et literatim and kept inviolable from editorial recasting. What we want is the actuality and fact, and not another's version of it; and editorial work should be evident, first in the integrity of the text, and secondly, in supplementary footnotes to elucidate that text. . . .

     "I have thus drawn attention to serious discrepancies enough and minor blemishes in abundance, to Prove that there is urgent need of a thoroughly authenticated edition of all the documents available; a need that was clearly discerned and prepared for by that pattern bibliographer, the Rev. James Hyde, whose work was so thorough and so exact that the more one tests and uses his materials the more one wonders at the perfection of his achievement. He, alas, and Charles Higham-equally scrupulous and exact-have passed away. Whence is to dome the worker in this necessary field?

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We had high hopes that this would be quickly accomplished when Mr. A. H. Stroh went to Sweden, and hailed Vol. I Geologica et Epistolae as the first instalment of the authentic reprint of all available Documents in the original tongues. But with a strange fatality this same Vol. I. with its 92 Letters was to have a separately published Appendix to contain a Chronological List of Swedenborg's Manuscripts and texts in the original languages, and also to include the Editor's Notes and corrections. But this Appendix, though often promised, never appeared, and Mr. Stroh himself passed on, leaving us in utter inability to judge where he had exercised his editorial discretion.

     "Thus, on every hand, by the lapse of time, by personal failure, by the hand of death, this long contemplated, often projected and partly prepared for desideratum, is withheld from the Church and the world.

     "When will it come into being?"
LOVE AND FAITH 1925

LOVE AND FAITH              1925

     "He who does not know the secret of the life of man believes that everything of the church consists in loving the Lord and having faith in Him,-faith that the human race is saved through Him. This, however, does not make the church with man, nor does it make heaven, but the doing of His precepts, or living according to them. In the inmost heaven, they love the Lord by living according to His precepts from love; in the second heaven, by living according to His precepts from faith. What the difference is may be evident, namely, that they who do His precepts from love, love His precepts, and when they love these they love the Lord; for the Lord is in the precepts, because He is the good itself and the truth itself with them. This is done from the voluntary; but they who love His precepts from faith, love the Lord from the intellectual. The angels of the inmost heaven have no other than celestial ideas about all the things that they see, which ideas are above the ideas in the middle heaven, the angels of which have spiritual ideas." (Spiritual Diary 5137.)

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TYPE OF PRIESTLY COUNSEL 1925

TYPE OF PRIESTLY COUNSEL       Rev. GEORGE DE CHARMS       1925

     THE MINISTER'S EVERYDAY LIFE. By Lloyd C. Douglas. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1924. Cloth, 220 pages. This book represents an effort to break away from the traditional mode of exhorting ministers to-a higher type of professional work. It is addressed by a Protestant clergyman, whose sectarian affiliation is withheld, to the fledglings of all denominations who are just entering upon their work, fresh from the Theological Seminary. The author carefully avoids all doctrinal considerations, and confines himself to an exposition of "the details of the minister's pastoral life and the everyday demands of his office." He writes in a racy, conversational style, using this medium to impart much common-sense advice to those whom he is addressing.

     A vein of pleasing humor runs through the book. The account given of the old "donation parties," of which the author's father (also a minister) was a victim, is highly amusing. The perplexity of the wealthy farmers on the Church Board, when they discovered that the treasury was suffering from a deficit of four dollars and seventy-five cents in the account of the pastor's salary, and their final solving of the difficulty by charging him five dollars for a load of hay originally intended as a gift, is cited as a typical example of church financing in his father's day. He describes, also, his own experience in regard to a wedding fee. It seems that the excited bridegroom had carefully provided a ten-dollar gold piece in a little square box, to be given to the minister after the ceremony, but, in the haste and distraction of the moment, gave him instead a small, square piece of chewing tobacco which happened to repose in the same pocket. He did not discover his mistake until his return from an extended honeymoon trip abroad! There are other equally interesting sidelights on human nature, as revealed in unexpected moments to the pastor in the pursuit of his daily calling.

     The entire outlook of the book is expressive of the modern spirit of Protestantism.

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In the view of the author, success in the ministry centers upon the personality of the man, and upon his ability to impress that personality favorably upon his congregation. He warns the young enthusiast against certain errors that threaten at the very outset of his career to prejudice people against him. He directs him to such external modes of deportment and behavior as may best serve to introduce him into the good graces of his flock. Stress is laid upon the need for social contact with man, a wide circle of interests, a strenuous program of external charity persistently adhered to, and a close observation of men and things with a view to turning them to account in his professional work as preacher.

     The limitations of the book are in part self-imposed, arising out of the narrow field to which the writer purposely confines himself. But they are also due in large measure to the unconscious limitations of the author's mind, which fails to grasp the deeper spiritual significance of his profession. His book, while interesting, and useful from the standpoint of practical advice, is wholly lacking in inspiration. It leaves one feeling that the highest use of the ministry is the personal success of the minister. To the pastor on the threshold of his career, it imparts no exalted spiritual vision of his office. Its relation to the salvation of human souls is but vaguely suggested. That he who is called to the task of spiritual leadership is intrusted as the Lord's servant with a treasure of Divine Truth,-a Gospel which it is his duty to transmit faithfully to his people,-is quite foreign to the thought of the author. Revelation, as the source of an unalterable Divine Message from God, as an absolute law of spiritual life which it is the minister's task to study and expound, seems to lie outside of the writer's conception. Preaching is to derive its inspiration from the social, economic, and political events of the day, and apparently only its text from the Bible.

     Illustrative of this attitude is the author's advice to avoid the mistake of beginning a sermon on "the responsibility of men to put back into civilization something commensurate with that which they have taken out" with the words, "Moses had now been wandering about in the mountains of Midian for forty years." This, he claims, is to invite the congregation to somnolence. If wakeful attention is desired, the opening should rather be: "Last Thursday afternoon, about five o'clock, two men met at the corner of High and Main, and one asked the other what he thought about the justice of the income tax."

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The remote incident about Moses can be brought in at a more opportune moment, when it will not so grossly offend the sensibilities of the modern mind, hungering for something of practical and immediate concern.

     In this, and in a number of other things about which he gives advice, the author unconsciously reveals his own paucity of spiritual insight. Indeed, he demonstrates the deplorable lack of spirituality into which the Protestant ministry in general has fallen. There seems to be a widespread dependence for Success, not upon the ability to draw waters from the Sacred Scripture as the fountain of salvation, but upon a personal resourcefulness and ingenious versatility in putting into the Bible a new message, born of individual observation and reflection, and an understanding of the secret hopes and longings of the men and women to whom the minister looks for his livelihood. The result is, that the dominating thought is not how to find, and to present conscientiously, that eternal conception of life which has been Divinely given as the inner content of the Word of God, but rather to invent or discover some pleasing conception of his own,-one that may strike a more sympathetic chord in the hearts of his hearers. This is not, of course, the avowed or consciously recognized point of view with the conscientious minister of any denomination. But the widespread lack of interest in spiritual things, the insistence upon the practical, the modern, the sensational and the new, on the part of the average layman, forces the ministry to some such compromise of the higher aspects of the profession in the interests of success.

     In effect, that compromise reduces the clergyman from the position of spiritual leadership to that of an employee suing for the good will of his patrons, and sacrificing all things to please them. It inevitably turns his eyes away from the Lord, away from His Word as the Source of Truth, to a keen analysis of his fellow men, and of their human interests and desires, as the origin of his inspiration and the fountain of his prosperity. It leads to a conception of the priesthood directly opposite to that which obtains in the General Church, where the profession is regarded as one of Divine appointment, as a spiritual stewardship, whereby the priest becomes responsible to his God for the custodianship of the Divine things of the Word and the preservation of the Heavenly Doctrine in its integrity, and accountable to Him for the faithful study, investigation, and proclamation of the unalterable Law of God, that men may thereby be lifted out of their proprial passions, and introduced into an ever more perfect perception and love of these eternal verities.

98


To the fulfilment of this, his Divine commission, the personal success of the minister is wholly secondary, and the realization of that fact produces an attitude toward his work which is radically different from that portrayed and advocated by Dr. Douglas.
GLEANINGS FROM NEW CHURCH HISTORY 1925

GLEANINGS FROM NEW CHURCH HISTORY       Rev. C. TH. ODHNER       1925

     ROBERT HINDMARSH.

     A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY

     Gravesend, January 2, 1835.-Death of the Rev. Robert Hindmarsh, at the age of seventy-six years. For more than half a century the chief apostle of the New Jerusalem in this world, he was at the same time the founder of the New Church as an organization distinct from the Old. He was the first to call together a meeting of New Churchmen, the first to receive the Baptism of the New Church, was the first ordainer in the Church, the first New Church publisher, the first, and throughout his life the foremost, of the evangelizers and defenders of the Doctrines of the New Jerusalem.

     Born at Alnwick, in Northumberland, November 8, 1759, and the son of the Rev. James Hindmarsh (who, in 1788, became the first ordained minister of the New Church), he established himself as a printer in London in 1780, and received the Doctrines of the New Church in 1782. Early in the following year, he gathered around him a little circle of other receivers, and in 1784 organized the "Theosophical Society," through which body important activities were soon developed. Hindmarsh now became the leader of those who desired to separate themselves from the Old Church, and was virtually the founder of the society in Great East Cheap, in 1788. Chosen by lot to read the services at the first ordination of New Church ministers, on June 1st, 1788, he was subsequently recognized by the General Conference as "ordained by Divine Auspices."

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At the early Conferences, from 1789 to 1793, he was the leading spirit, and stood forth, in 1792, as a most able champion of the Doctrines, in his Letters to Dr. Priestley.

     His life between the years 1795 and 1810 was clouded by conflicts within the Church and reverses in his business, but after this period he devoted himself entirely and most successfully to the work of the priesthood. He now removed to Manchester, and became the founder and pastor of a prosperous society at Salford, where he remained, constantly occupied in preaching, evangelizing, and writing, until the year 1824, when he retired to private life in Canterbury. His literary activity did not cease, however, until within a few days of his death. He was nine times elected president of the General Conference, and continued to the end the recognized leader of the organized Church in Great Britain.

     The life-long exponent of everything which is distinctively of the New Church; a clear-headed thinker; a profound, discriminating and perceptive theologian; an eloquent and luminous preacher; a devoted and beloved pastor; a practical and effective evangelist; a powerful organizer and leader of men; a fascinating and spirited writer; a formidable controversialist; animated and inspiring in conversation; cheerful, sanguine and energetic in temperament; an uncompromising defender of the integrity and authority of the Doctrines; a devoted husband and wise father; a man, pious, joyous, fearless and free,-it has well been said of him, that "so long as the New Church exists, which will be as long as the earth endures, the great promoter of the establishment of the New Church distinct from the Old will be spoken of with honor, and the name of a Peter and a Paul will not be remembered longer than that of Robert Hindmarsh." (Samuel Noble.) [Annals of the New Church, p. 404.]

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STATE OF FAITH ALONE 1925

STATE OF FAITH ALONE       Editor       1925


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office a Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly By
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.

Editor                    Rev. W. B. Caldwell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager          Mr. H. Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address and business communications should be sent to the Business Manager.

     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
In the United States, $3.00 per year; Elsewhere, $3.25 or 14 shillings; payable in advance
Single Copy          30 cents
     The skepticism of the day which is questioning and discarding so many of the traditional beliefs of Protestant Christendom has not spared the dogma of salvation by faith alone, although the orthodox still cling to it, retaining the vicarious atonement as the central feature of their ritual and their confession of faith. Moreover, this "practical" age, abounding in works, and emphasizing good in contrast with mere belief, has been quick to reject a tenet that promises a heavenly reward without effort and without price,-an idea that has always been repugnant to the common sense of the average man. But the New Churchman, seeking for the cause of this apparent giving up of a false dogma, will ask: What of the state of faith alone?-that state of spiritual life which knows the truth of Revelation, but does not love it, will it, and do it? Has this state been removed from the interiors of Christians by the rejection of the creeds and the doing of good works? Are we to suppose that the Writings no longer apply when they declare that "repentance is extremely difficult (summe refractaria) in the Reformed Christian World, because of their belief that repentance and charity contribute nothing to salvation, but faith alone, without any cooperation on man's part"? (T. C. R. 561.)

     It is commonly held in the nominal New Church that many such statements of the Heavenly Doctrine were true enough 150 years ago, but are decreasingly applicable to Christians today, because of the "breaking up of the old creeds and dogmas," and because of the widespread admission that a good life is more important than a creed.

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As a consequence, we find that Christian writers are more and more quoted in the Journals of the New Church, while the Writings are more and more neglected, especially what they reveal concerning the Last Judgment and the state of the Christian World. There is frequent reference, however, to the well-known maxim of the Heavenly Doctrine that "all religion is of life, and the life of religion is to do good." (Doctrine of Life, no. 1) And the idea seems to be that almost my kind of good meets this requirement.



     The New Churchman who is not ready to set aside what the Writings reveal concerning the inner state of the Christian Church, by claiming that it applies only to conditions existing 150 years ago, will not make so optimistic an appraisal of the changes now taking place in the Old Church. He will admit, indeed, that those changes must be a result of the Last Judgment, but he will doubt whether the discarding of old faiths and the multiplication of good works are signs of that inner regeneration which can come about only by the acceptance of a new faith, and by a life of repentance in accordance therewith. He will agree, also, that the good of life is necessary to salvation; for the essentials of the New Church are the acknowledgment of the Lord and the conjunction of faith and charity. But he seriously questions whether the external goods of the day are signs of that conjunction of faith and charity, when he observes how the Divinity of the Lord is more and more denied, while at the same time so many claim that "it does not matter what one believes, so long as he lives well." This state of things he regards as fitting the description in the Writings of those who advocate "charity alone" as saving. "Many have said that charity, and not faith, is the essential of the Church, believing that thus they would be saved in preference to others. But they who said this from a mere principle, and not from life, differ not at all from those who are in faith alone. A certain one said that he had heard that he, because he believes in charity, has the life of charity, just as one who believes in faith has the life of faith. Hence it was evident that they believed life to be in anyone, apart from actual living." (S. D. 5881.)

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     It is clear that there is little to choose between the advocates of charity alone and of faith alone. To arrive at the real state of life, we must go behind their professions. And a New Churchman needs but a slight self-examination to find that he shares the common inheritance of the faith alone state. Especially is he confirmed in this view when he attempts the ultimation of revealed truths in his own life, and encounters the resistance of a spiritual inertia in himself, if not the actual opposition of self-interest and worldly love. This experience brings him to a full realization of the fact that the regeneration of Christians, and thereby the establishing of a New Church, can only be attained by bitter repentance, and by victory in spiritual temptation. Among other things, it brings him to a new understanding of the doctrine that "all religion is of life, and that the life of religion is to do good,"-not from one's self, but from the Lord.



     The term "application of truth to life" means more than we usually assign to the phrase. In using the expression, we are apt to think merely of acting from a truth that is known-a truth in the memory; forgetting that a truth is already done in spirit when it has been received in the interior rational mind, where it is loved and perceived, and where it has formed states of interior intelligence and wisdom. Then, indeed, it "leads to good," that is, comes forth spontaneously in act and speech when there is occasion, and also enters interiorly into all ultimate acts, and gives quality to them,-spiritual and saving quality, if the truth has really reformed and regenerated the inner mind and life.

     In the best sense, therefore, the "application of truth to life" means the entrance of the truth into the interior life of the mind, where it forms and establishes the springs of that intelligent action which is wisdom. Especially is this the case with spiritual truth, which, if it enter no more deeply than the memory, and is thence applied in act, may produce anything but wise action, lacking rational and intelligent direction or the perception of use and fitness. Truth thus applied may not be good in act, and may even be evil. Examples readily suggest themselves, as in the case of those who show unseasonable kindness and mercy, because they have learned the general truth that the Lord and the angels love all men; or, on the contrary, when they are cold and unyielding in a supposed imitation of the Divine judgments; in short, when men attempt to ultimate heavenly conditions on earth in a rigid, formal manner which the angels themselves must grieve to behold.

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For the angels are delighted when men perceive the truth rationally in themselves, and apply it with judgment, not acting from others, or from the truth in the memory alone. The memory is a poor master, though a good servant. It may be stored with an abundance of revealed truth, and yet, when occasion for action arises, we do the wrong thing-even the harmful thing-if we lack that discerning and directing judgment which belongs to spiritual intelligence and wisdom, and which is born of the truth applied to the inner life,-applied to the will of the interior rational, where it has entered into union with its consort good, and has received the gift of perception from the Lord.



     In a corrupt age, it is common for evil men to "apply the truth to life" by doing it in act from the memory, either from fear, from command, or from motives of self-love and its cunning, which foresees personal gain and advantage. Even the regenerating man of the Church may often act from the proprium and its prudence in his attempted application of truth to life, an artificial, self-conscious proceeding usually attended with a sense of merit, because done from self, and not in humble obedience to the Lord. This is not the case when the truth has entered the interiors by rational reflection, self-examination, repentance, spiritual temptation, and the manifold processes of regeneration whereby the spirit is made new and becomes receptive of good from the Lord. Another maxim of our Doctrine is that "No one can do good, which is good, from himself." (Doctrine of Life 9-17.)

     The true mode of application with a New Churchman is clearly set forth in the Spiritual Diary.

     "The faith and life of one who is truly Christian is such that his internal is turned towards heaven. The Lord leads his will or love, and gives him the affection of good; that is, he is affected or gladdened from good. And the Lord leads his understanding so that he is affected by truth; immediately he hears it, he is gladdened, and it is implanted in his life. So much of the truth as he learns is within him, and by means of it he is led by the Lord.

104


For he who does not know what is good and true cannot be led by the Lord, who leads by what a man knows, and thus leads his affections and thoughts. This is what is meant by being affected by the truth for the sake of the truth, and by good for the sake of good; and this is what is meant by loving truth and good for the sake of life;-not by man's thinking that now he will implant it in his life; this would be from the proprium. But the Lord leads him by those things which he learns from affection or love." (S. D. 5796.)



     This, of course, does not imply that we are to be content with the mere learning of the truth, trusting that it will enter the life. Such a content is one symptom of the "faith alone state." But the passage quoted may be taken to mean that men should preserve an open state of the interiors, making possible the continual nourishment and growth of the inner life of charity and faith by means of truths learned, to the end that the Lord Himself may lead and guide in the ways of His Providence, without interference on the part of the proprial prudence of man, and may impart a new soul and inspiration to the man's zealous and diligent performance of the works of piety and use. "Charity and faith are only mental and perishable things, unless, when it can be done, they are determined into works, and coexist therein." (T. C. R. 375.)
NOTES AND REVIEWS. 1925

NOTES AND REVIEWS.              1925

     THIS LEAVES OF THE FIG TREE.

     After the above was written, our attention was called to an article published in THE NEW-CHURCH HERALD (Conference weekly) for November 1, 1924, wherein the Rev. William A. Presland deals with "Our Outlook on the Christian World," setting forth a new form of the permeationist view, and giving what might well be styled an "optimistic appraisal" of the state of the Christian Church today. As something of a contrast with the views expressed in the foregoing editorial, we would quote a few passages from Mr. Presland's article, which opens as follows: [Italics his]

     "There is a general agreement among New-Church people as to the state of the Christian World at the consummation of the age.

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The truths of the First Christian Church had been utterly corrupted by false doctrines, producing evils of life. The Last Judgment had to come; that Church had to be wound up!

     "There is no such general agreement as to the state of the Christian World today. It would seem that some think it has gone from" bad to worse, and that its Present state is hopeless; that we must look for the growth of the New Church outside rather than within the Christian World. At the opposite pole are those who hold that the Christian Church has already been made new; that our work as an organized Church is no longer needed; that the Lord is dispensing with it; that the New Church is dying out! Between these extremes you mat find many opinions. A correct outlook cannot but be very important. The state of the world may be in fact quite different from what we conceive it to be. Our conception of what it is may give us an outlook which, if too hopeful, might beget indifference to essential work, or, if the contrary, might dishearten, by depriving of confidence and hope.

     "It may well repay us to concentrate our thoughts on the question: What is the present-day correct outlook on the Christian World? I want to approach the question first in the light of the heavenly doctrines; for there can be no true outlook at variance with their teaching; and then to confirm our conclusions from facts of the situation." (p. 674.)

     Certainly one can take no exception to this mode of approach, all too rare among the writers of Conference and Convention. Mr. Presland quotes liberally from the Writings, and, in dealing with the well-known passage in the Last Judgment concerning the new freedom in spiritual things (Nos. 73, 74), has this to say:

     "Whether we realize it or not, we are looking out upon a Christian World in which this restored liberty continues and is a weighty factor. We well know that the state of liberty means nothing for those who will not avail themselves of it. But who shall say how many or how few have this willingness? Men's interiors are known only to the Lord, and in respect to them the command is, 'Judge not, that ye be not judged.'

     "By no means can all in the Christian World be classed today as either Fundamentalists or Modernists.

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The Fundamentalists hold fast to the old doctrines, are willing to be bound by the traditions of men, resent the exercise of spiritual freedom. Lineally, they are the descendants of the consummated Church-like the Jews remaining in the falsities of their religion. Modernists, with all their mistakes, are at least reaching out towards truths, repudiating what they see or believe to be false. They are exercising their liberty of thought. But what of the many between? It may be said that we have no evidence that there are any. The preachers and writers are in the one camp or the other. Yet, in the course of our reading, do we not come across independent thinkers, who approximate here and there to the genuine truths of the Word? In conversation also, do you not find similar evidence? If only 'here a little and there a little,' let us rejoice, and accept it for what it is,-a sign that the Christian World is exercising restored spiritual liberty." (p. 675.)

     All of this and more of Mr. Presland's argument seems well within the limits of a moderate judgment. It is when he comes to treat of the character of the present-day good in the Christian World that we feel he is indulging the optimistic fancies of the permeation persuasion. This subject he introduces as follows:

     "We shall be still further helped towards a correct outlook if we 'learn the parable of the fig tree':

     "'When a New Church is created by the Lord, then first of all appears the good of the Natural, that is, good in an external form, with its affections and truths. By the good of the Natural is not meant the good into which man is born, or which he derives from his parents, but the good which is spiritual as to its origin. Into this good no one is born, but is led into it by the Lord through knowledges of good and truth; wherefore, until a man is in this good, he is not a man of the Church, howsoever it may appear from connate good that he is so. (A. C. 4231.)"

     Now we have frequently cited this and similar statements as a warning against accepting the external goods of the day as signs of regenerate spiritual good, seeing that the genuine natural good of the New Church is "spiritual as to its origin," and is acquired only through the knowledges of good and truth revealed in the Heavenly Doctrines, and by the inner life of repentance in accord therewith. Mr. Presland sees much of this good in the world today, as the result of the dissemination of the Heavenly Doctrines for over a century among those who have not come openly to the organized New Church.

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For, after quoting A. C. 4231, as above, he concludes:

     "From this it is evident that the good which we may expect to see as we look out upon the Christian World in the early days of the New Church is of an external kind," with its affections and truths. If, therefore, our outlook is for a ready and wide reception of the deeper and more philosophical truths, we are likely to be disappointed. If we look for the good of the Natural, we may see the fig tree putting forth its leaves. Here, then, let us turn to some facts of the present state of the Christian World which afford confirmation of the teachings we have educed, and justify a cheery, hopeful outlook.

     "Because the Lord does not teach man Divine Truths immediately, or by the inward way, but mediately by the Word, . . . He provided for the restoration of the genuine doctrines of the primitive Christian Church, and also new distinctive doctrines for a New Church, by raising up and preparing a man who should be able to receive these into his understanding, and make them known by the press. For the same reason, He raised up Institutions which should carry on that great work of publication. For much over a century these, in both hemispheres, have been broadcasting these heavenly doctrines, doing all in their power to make them widely known, especially among the clergy. Their labor has not been in vain. The Lord's Word, as there restored, has not returned unto Him void; it has prospered in the things whereto He sent it.

     "But since the dominant good is that of the Natural, the human mind in its restored spiritual liberty has inevitably seen the truths best suited to it, and the most obvious. The Doctrine of Life has made the strongest appeal. It has passed into the currency of religious thought. Almost unnoticed, the emphasis on doctrine has shifted from 'faith alone,' as at the consummation of the age universally held, to 'good as to life.' The outcry is for a religion that will right the world's wrongs, grapple with civic and social injustice, put an end to war, provide greater equality of opportunity. For the good of the Natural cries aloud for liberty and for justice. Even the Great War brought evidence of this love of liberty and justice. . . . Making full allowance for those who went from a love of adventure, thousands of the most peaceful faced all horrors and risks of war. . . .

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The good of the Natural, at great sacrifices, from a spiritual, not a selfish motive, responded to the call for service in manifold forms. To cite other signs: abolition of slavery; humanity in the treatment of criminals, the insane, and of animals; general education; workmen's compensation; unemployment and sickness insurance; old-age pensions; poor law reform; the League of Nations-how many more signs of our times might we not adduce to show that the fig tree putteth forth its leaves? Why, then, shall we not take to heart the comforting assurance, 'Ye know that summer is nigh'?" (p. 677.)

     Granting that these natural goods, in the form of civic, economic and material betterments, are one result of the Last Judgment, we must take exception to the conclusion that they are necessarily "from a spiritual origin" with individuals performing them, and so to be regarded as that "good of the natural" which is to be found only in the New Church, and which can be acquired only through a life according to the knowledges now revealed in the Heavenly Doctrines. At this point in his argument, Mr. Presland parts company with sound reasoning, and jumps to a conclusion which is not warranted by his premises. For if the genuine good of the natural, which is from a spiritual origin, can be acquired only by means of the knowledges of good and truth, as stated in A. C. 4231, quoted above, are we to suppose that the widespread natural good of the day proceeds largely from those who have received the truths of the Writings secretly? It cannot be denied that very few come openly to the organized New Church, and Mr. Presland admits that we shall be disappointed if we expect a "wide reception of the deeper and more philosophical truths," although these are the distinctively New Church truths. In this we entirely agree with him. In his assuming that the so-called revival of natural good in Christendom is from a spiritual origin in the individual, we cannot follow. With him, we fear, as with so many protagonists of permeation, "the wish is father of the thought."

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SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON NOTES 1925

SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON NOTES              1925

     LESSON NO. 15-SUMMARY OF KINGS TO AHAB; ELIJAH. (I Kings 14 to 17.)

     Analysis:
Kings of Judah.                          Kings of Israel.
Rehoboam-17 yrs.          ch. 14:21      Jeroboam-12 yrs.                ch. 14:20
Abijah-3 yrs.                15:1                Nadab-2 yrs.                    15:26
Asa-40 yrs.               15:10          Baasha-24 yrs.               15:33
                              Elah-2 yrs.                    16:8
                              Zimri-7 days                    16:15
                              Tibni-(?)                    16:21
                              Omri-12 yrs.                    16:23
Jehoshapbat-25 yrs.           22:42          Ahab-22 yrs.                    16:29

     Elijah at the Brook Cherith          ch. 17:1-8
Elijah and the widow of Zarephath      : 9-16
The widow's son restored to life     : 17-24

     The chronology of the kings of Judah and Israel, when studied closely, reveals difficulties which perhaps can never be completely removed; but these need not have our chief attention. The more prominent kings should certainly be well known and their approximate place in the whole series.

     Two great differences between the two lines of kings are to be noted:-(1st) The Kings of Judah are all of the House of David in a direct line descent from Solomon. (See Matt. 1:6-11.) The Kings of Israel are a constant succession of usurpers, so that they are not only broken away from the House of David, but they never have a settled royal family of their own. (2nd) Among the Kings of Judah, there are several who are called "good" kings, who, with more or less zeal, protected and reformed the worship of the Lord at the temple. Asa and Jehoshaphat were such. But in Israel there was not any in the whole list that were, or could be, so spoken of.

     The House of Omri is the first important family or dynasty in Israel after the separation, and Ahab is the first really important king after Jeroboam.

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Under Ahab, there appears to have been considerable wealth and prosperity in the kingdom; and Ahab emulated Solomon in the splendor of his court, in allying himself with Tyre, and in promoting trade. Yet the real importance of Ahab lies in the fact that Elijah appeared in his day, preaching to the people the sole Deity of the Lord, and demonstrating in many ways his Divine mission. All the tendencies to idolatry, to gross worldliness and pleasure, and to cruel and calculated selfishness, reached a concentrated intensity in King Ahab and his wife Jezebel. And there were many powerful conflicts between these personifications of evil and the Prophet of the Lord.

     Elijah was a native of Gilead. (17:1.) The place where he first addressed Ahab (17:1) was presumably Samaria, the capital, whence he went eastward to one of the gorges that open into the Jordan valley through the mountains. (Which gorge was Cherith is unknown.) Zarephath (vs. 9, to) was on the sea-coast in Phoenicia, fifteen miles north of Tyre. (The same is Sarepta.)

     Elijah the prophet represents the Divine Word which is sent by the Lord to awaken the conscience of the people. When conscience is aroused, and men listen to the teaching of the Word, there follows a realization of the evil state into which the church has fallen-that there is nothing good or true remaining. This is the famine and the drought. Those who are so awakened are very few, however, so that the knowledge of the Word is, as it were, in the wilderness, and hidden from the corrupt church of idolaters. (Compare Rev. Zarephath represents those who are outside the church, who are called Gentiles. And among them are those who desire truth, yet are ignorant of it; who are represented by the widow who has lost her husband, yet desires him. The oil and the meal represent the love and good of life which they still possess; and that they were about to die signifies that, unless truth is received, they will perish. To make a cake first for the prophet, is to acknowledge the Divine in the Word, or that the Word is the Divine Truth itself; when this is done, there is given love and good from heaven; and these are the perpetual sustenance of heavenly life; they do not fail.

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     The story of the revival of the widow's son describes a state of temptation when doubts arise with those newly received into the church, and it seems as if the truth which demands repentance is more than can be endured; but if we still turn to the Lord, and submit all that we have to Him, our faith will be revived and established on an everlasting foundation. Properly, the son represents, first, the natural proprium which seems to be our essential life, but which nevertheless most be removed; afterwards, the heavenly proprium which is given by the Lord to those who regenerate, to be as their own, (See N. J. H. D. 145; A. C. 141-155, 1937, 16576; also A. C. 4844, 3540:4)

     LESSON NO. 16-ELIJAH AND THE PROPHETS OF BAAL. (I Kings 18.)

     Analysis:
Elijah goes to meet Ahab.                              ch. 18:1-2
Ahab and Obadiah seek for grass                          : 3-6
Elijah meets Obadiah                                   : 7-16
Elijah commands Ahab to call together the prophets of Baal     : 17-20
Elijah proposes a proof-test                              : 21-24
The sacrifice to Baal                                   :25-29
Elijah's sacrifice to the Lord                              : 30-40
The end of the drought and famine                         : 41-36

     Elijah remained in Zarephath for the greater part of three years, being sustained by the Lord during the famine; then he is sent by the Lord into the Land of Israel, to make. a judgment, and to end the famine and drought. Mark well Mt. Carmel, the most prominent cape on the coast of Palestine, and Jezreel (vs. 46), 25 miles southeast at the opposite end of the plain of Esdraelon. Though Samaria was the capital of the kingdom, Ahab had a palace at Jezreel, and appears to have lived there a great deal.

     Remember that Israel represents the church. Under the rule of Ahab and Jezebel, when it was given over to the worship of Baal, it represents a church corrupted and falsified, which has rejected the Lord and His Word, represented by the prophet Elijah. No rain and no food mean that there is no truth or good in the church; the Lord can provide these only by means of His Word. (See 17:11 18:1, 41-45.)

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Yet some truth is necessary, even to the evil, that they may retain their power in the church; wherefore, Ahab seeks to find grass. Ahab represents those who desire truth, in order to restore their dominion and power; but Obadiah represents the simple who are in charity, and who desire the truth for its own sake, that spiritual life may be restored. With the latter some genuine faith has been preserved, hidden in unknown ways. (18:3-4.) The different ways (vs. 6) stand for the different motives of these two groups in the church. It is by means of those who have a remnant of faith that the Word returns to the church with power to restore.

     The primary purpose of Elijah's return was to bring rain and end the famine. And the Word is returned to the church with power primarily for the purpose of bringing Divine mercy and truth to men, so that they may live as to the spirit. (18:1) But first a judgment is necessary, to expose the falsity and break the power of evil; hence it was also the purpose of Elijah to expose the prophets of Baal and destroy them, and to bring Israel to a decision in which acknowledgment and worship of the Lord was re-established. (vs. 39-40; compare vs. 21.) When this has been accomplished, and the evil are shut up in hell, (vs. 40), then the abundant mercy of the Lord is revealed, and a flood of new truth is given from heaven, and by it the life of good in the church is revived. (See Rev. 11:3, 6-13, and many places in the Writings concerning the Last Judgment, especially A. C. 2242, 10622.)

     The Lord, by means of His Word, places before every man the opportunity of making the decision to love the truth of the Word with the whole heart; nothing less than this can be accepted in heaven. (See vs. 21, and compare Matt. 6:24.)

     The altar built by Elijah, or rather rebuilt, represents worship of the Lord from the Word; it was Elijah's task to restore such worship in Israel. The twelve stones represent the genuine truths of the Word which are revealed by the Lord out of heaven; thus they are heavenly truths such as angels love; consequently, the angels of heaven draw near and enter into such worship, while, conversely, men are brought near to heaven, and love flows in from the Lord and sanctifies the worship. Love from the Lord is heavenly fire, and the angels; when they see love, also see fire.

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That the fire which consumed the offering of Elijah was not such fire as we know in this world, is evident from the description of how the altar was consumed with the sacrifice. Compare this fire with what we are told love to the Lord means in the First Great Commandment.

     (For the rain, see A. C. 644; the altar, A. C. 4542; grass, A. R. 402.)

     LESSON NO. 17-ELIJAH IN FLIGHT. (I Kings 19 and 20.)

     Analysis:
Elijah flees to the wilderness               ch. 19:1-4
He is fed by an angel                    :5-7
At Mt. Horeb he hears the Lord's Word     :8-14
And he is commanded to return          :15-18
He finds Elisha, who follows him          :19-21
Ben-Hadad attacks Samaria               20:1-12
The Syrians are repulsed               13-21
A second attack and repulse               : 22-30
The two kings make a covenant          :31-34
Evil consequences prophesied           : 35-43          

     For the story of the Prophet Elijah, only chapter 19 has direct application, and it may be used alone. Chapter 20 is important to those studying the history of Israel, as a phase of the long-continued warfare with Syria; in chapter 20 are to be found many minor touches illustrating the life of those times.

     The long journey of Elijah should be followed on the map. From Jezreel (28:96) to Beersheba and Noreb (Mt. Sinai), and then the return up the valley of the Jordan to Abel-Meholah (about halfway from the Dead Sea to the Sea of Galilee) where Elisha was found (19:16). The account does not record that Elijah went to Damascus; the commissions with respect to Hazael and Jehu were carried out by Elisha. (See 2 Kings 8:7-25, 9:2-20.)

     Observe that Ahab had apparently been convinced by the victory of Elijah over the prophets of Baal at Mt. Carmel, and that Elijah seems to have hoped for the complete and immediate restoration of the worship of the Lord in Israel.

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But Ahab was ruled by Jezebel, and she was only aroused to anger and vindictive hatred. This represents a state in which the understanding seems to have been brought to conviction when removed from the influences of the will, and appears to turn toward the Lord; but the will, which consists only of self-love, is stirred to greater enmity, and soon causes the understanding to relapse into agreement with itself.

     Finding that nothing could be done through Ahab, Elijah is brought to despair (19:4, 10). The Lord always sends angels to those who are in temptation, so that they may be strengthened, and endure until the trial is past. (A. C. 8165) Though we do not see them, we feel the sphere of their presence as comfort and a sense of relief, and as a renewal of strength to continue in the way the Lord shows us to be right. At last the prophet is brought to Horeb, "the Mount of God"; this is where the Lord appeared to Moses in the burning bush, and where the Law was given to the Children of Israel. Again, it is here the Divine will is revealed to Elijah, and his duty is shown to him; he is also greatly encouraged by being told that there are still many in Israel who are loyal to the God of Israel. It is as if his spirit were lifted up into heaven, so that he sees the situation from the inner side; this gives new strength and courage; but the view from the outer side brings disappointment and despair.

     At the Mount, is was shown how the Divine Providence works for the preservation of the church. It sweeps over the evil as a destroying wind; it brings about violent changes of state in the church, as an earthquake; it arouses in opposition the fury of the lusts of self-love, which burn as a fire; in these, the Divine mercy and purpose of deliverance cannot be seen, and the evil never do see it. But these things make preparation, so that the good may hear the voice of Doctrine; and by this the Divine Love and Wisdom are revealed. (See A. C. 2463, 8823.)

     The three things which the Lord commanded Elijah to do signify the means of preserving and saving the remnant of good in the church,-the seven thousand who have not bowed down to Baal. Hazael represents the love of acquiring the knowledge of spiritual things; he is to be made king in Syria-the external plane of the church. Jehu represents the rationality of spiritual truth, which should rule the intellectual mind, by which truths are applied to use, and so determined into act.

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Elisha represents the Divine Truth, or the Word, which is to be fully acknowledged, that is, accepted as the Prophet.

     In Chapter 20, we briefly note the following:

     Verse 6 means that the Syrian army would pillage the city of Samaria. The first Syrian army Was organized like the armies of the Middle Ages, each contingent being commanded by its own lord, who was vassal to Ben-Hadad. Verse 24 means a reorganization on a different basis in the interests of a greater military efficiency.

     Note the curious belief of the polytheistic Syrians (vs. 23; and compare vs. 28.)

     Aphek was a fortified city, about four miles east of the Sea of Galilee, which was evidently held by the Syrians as a stronghold, and a base from Which to attack Israel. (ch. 15:20.)

     After this war, the northeastern part of the country was restored to Israel for a time, and there was given an opportunity for free trade in, the great Commercial city of Damascus. (vs. 34.)

     LESSON NO. 18-JEZEBEL AND NABOTH. (I Kings 21.)

     Analysis:
Ahab covets Naboth's vineyard          ch. 21:1-4
Jezebel promises to obtain it               : 5-7
Her conspiracy to slay Naboth          : 8-14
Ahab seeks to take possession          : 15-16
Elijah proclaims his, condemnation          : 17-24
Ahab repents; Punishment is delayed          : 25-29

     In the things described in this chapter, Ahab continues to show his insincerity; h has appeared to conform with the Lord's will, and has appeared to be grieved and repentant, yet he does not cease to desire things that are not his own, and he does not curb Jezebel in her wickedness. This pair typifies a state of hypocrisy, wherein the understanding receives some truths and admonitions from the Lord; and feels a certain pain and contrition, and seems to be humbled; yet self-will and its lusts are by no means cast out, but continue to rule. (See T. C. R. 512.)

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In particular, this story shows the lust of coveting, and how it leads to other evils of falsehood and murder.

     Ahab wished Naboth to break the law, which provided that every family of Israel should have a perpetual inheritance in the Land. No one was ever to be made homeless. (See Lev. 25:13, 23-38. Num. 36:7.) Also, every family had received its own place by lot in the days of Joshua; and it was to be regarded as a sacred spot, as it were, loaned to them by the Lord. (See Lev. 25:23.) This is the reason for Naboth's vehement refusal.

     In verse 7, Jezebel asserts the false and infernal idea of royal power. (Compare Dent. 17:19-20, and A. C. 10802, 10801, 10805.) For Jezebel's false accusation (vs. re), see Exod. 22:28, Lev. 24:15-16. Verses 25-26 are a parenthetic comment on Ahab's character. The vineyard represents the genuine good of the church still remaining with a few loyal, upright people. A vineyard, because it produces wine, has a noble use; for wine signifies spiritual truth; but Ahab wished to make it a kitchen vegetable garden (vs. 2), thus degrading it to a lower use. This would represent the destruction of spiritual life, and the cultivation of the lowest natural life, with its material and worldly goods. It was not permitted, because the Lord guards carefully the remains of spiritual life in the church until the last judgment, when a new church is formed of all who are loyal to His Law and upright. (See A. C. 996, 7112e.)

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FURTHER DISCUSSION OF BETROTHAL 1925

FURTHER DISCUSSION OF BETROTHAL       Rev. GILBERT H. SMITH       1925

     An article, and a reply to it, is a fair beginning of a discussion. It was with the hope of initiating a discussion of the subject that I offered some "Reflections upon the Use of Betrothal Ceremonies" which were published in NEW CHURCH LIFE for October, 1924 (p. 630), and which called forth a reply from the Rev. E. E. Iungerich in an article entitled "Engagement a preliminary to Betrothal," published in the December issue (p. 740).

     My former article was principally a plea for the clearer recognition of the spiritual uses effected by the rite of betrothal, and a query as td whether the betrothal ceremony is not commonly postponed too long, after the engagement has been announced. It was not my thought that there should be no period of engagement preliminary to betrothal, nor that there should be an immediate consecration of consent by a solemn betrothal. As Mr. Iungerich says, this might in many cases be hazardous, since the first giving of consent might be of a premature or precocious nature.

     In a discussion of this subject, no one can afford to overlook the article by Bishop Emeritus W. F. Pendleton in NEW CHURCH LIFE for October, 1919 (p. 633). It is there pointed out that the usage of the Christian Churches has telescoped the betrothal and marriage ceremonies into one ritual; that too much emphasis should not be placed upon the external ceremony of betrothal; that it is a private and not a public ritual; that it should not take place until marriage is in view. It is also shown that privacy should be the predominating element in the ceremony of betrothal itself.

     The same article noted the fact that there was an early rite in the English Church known as "Espousal," and that this rite contained the promise before a priest that the marriage would take place within forty days. This definite period of forty days is full of suggestion, because of its correspondence. It is the nearest I know to an answer to the question of when, in the interval between engagement and marriage, the betrothal should be solemnized.

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We are all agreed that the state of betrothal should not be too long protracted; but then, what do we think of as being too long? Allowing for a wide variety of circumstances in different cases, is forty days an ideal time? To my mind, it is a very short time for all those important spiritual uses to be subserved which are given in the Writings as belonging to the state of the betrothed. The Writings clearly teach that too long a period of betrothal is harmful. And if we consider the reasons given for this, I believe the same is true of engagements, namely, that too long a period of engagement is harmful; and this the more surely so, if people came to regard engagement as "practically the same thing as being betrothed."

     In common usage, an engagement is considered, and spoken of, as a definite promise to marry, and the promise is expected immediately upon proposal. That being the case, the parties enter into a covenant between themselves, the making of which is the very thing provided for in the rite of betrothal. Therefore, it would seem to be orderly for the betrothal to follow soon after that promise of marriage is given.

     In short, my thought upon the matter-offered for whatever there may be of wisdom in it-is, that while engagements should not be too long, betrothal periods should not be too short.
     GILBERT H. SMITH.

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Church News 1925

Church News       Various       1925

     RIO DE JANEIRO.-The news notes in No. 13, the July to September issue, of A Nova Igreje, supplemented by a letter of December 2d, 1924, from the Rev. Henry Leonardos, furnish many particulars about the members of the General Church in Rio.

     The revolt in Brazil against the present government of President Arthur Bernardes has not been confined to the state of Sao Paolo, where the most determined effort was made, but extended to two-thirds of the twenty-one Brazilian States, the disaffection spreading to many units of the regular army and the navy who went over to the insurrectionists. Though the government forces have everywhere succeeded in controlling the situation; the cost of the effort to maintain order, and the devastation produced between the conflicting forces, have been prodigious. The prisons are filled with political prisoners. "And all this," says Snr. Leonardos, "on account of unbounded ambitions, and the will of mere man to take the place of the Divine Providence. For the leaders of the rebels had no program to propose to the country, looking to the overthrow of the existing order as a preliminary to their declaration of what to do next. And as they were people of evil character, notorious for the harm they had always done, how could one expect good to come out of it? I am happy to say that the members of the New Church who are in military service knew their duty, and all fought for the preservation of law and order.

     The Rev. Joao de Mendoca Lima, Captain of Cavalry, concerning whom other details were given in the December Life, was on the General Staff of General Azevedo Costa, and in personal charge of the lines of communication. This expedition deployed from the south, and having traversed the state of Parana, entered the state of Sao Paolo by Itarare, and took by assault the cities of Itapetininga, Itu, Botucatu, and others. Captain Antonio da Silva Lima, of the Engineers' Corps, the son-in-law of Snr. Leonardos, entered the war zone from the west, being on the General Staff of General Martins Pereira, whose base of operation was the city of Mogy-Mirim. He had complete charge of the Mogyan railroad system. Captain Miguel de Castro Ayres was in the expedition of General Eduardo Socrates, which entered by the northern route through Cacapava. All three were in active contact with the revolutionaries, but suffered no casualties.

     The government had declared moratorium, lengthening the term on which all those in the federal service were to meet the debts they had contracted. This, of course, operated very badly for private banking concerns, whose own obligations had received no similar proroguing. Many went under, and the Credito Popular, of which the Rev. Henry Leonardos is vice president and active manager, was in great jeopardy, though managing to pull through.

     Two members of the General Church have been called to the spiritual world,-Armando de Souza Silva, uncle of Donna Marieta Leonardos, on November 22d, 1924, at the age of 69; and Snrta. Laura Sarmanho, on September 8th, 1924, at the age of 30, being carried away by consumption, like her younger brother, who died in 1922. Her father Comandante Joaquim Sarmanho, has also passed away, a very short interval intervening between his death and that of his daughter. It will be remembered that he had succeeded Snr. de La Fayette in the presidency of the Geral Associacao, having resigned some time previously from the General Church, to reaffiliate himself with the other New Church group.

     Snr. Xafredo has made arrangements to leave next March for Lisbon, where he intends to start a missionary movement among his many acquaintances and friends during his brief stay.

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The well-known literary critic, Snr. Agripino Grieco, recently made several eulogistic comments in the Rio Jornal upon Snr. Xafredo's anonymous missionary tract entitled Cartas Perdidas.

     A Nova Igreja also records the second visit of Mr. John Posthuma, of London, who attended services on August 10h, 1924.
     E. E. I.

     REPORT OF THE VISITING PASTOR.-A most enjoyable visit to Middleport, Ohio, was made Thursday, December 11th, to Tuesday the 16th, this time being as near the Christmas season as could be arranged. Three well attended doctrinal classes were held, and instruction was given the children on two afternoons. The service on Sunday morning was a delightful event, not only because it was the Christmas service, but also because it was held in what we might almost call the new home of the society. The building has been thoroughly renovated without and within,-painted, papered, pews varnished, new chancel cloths, new light globes, and other improvements. All this indicates the zeal of the members in the cause of the Church, and their confidence in its permanence and prosperity in their midst. The attendance at services was twenty-five, of whom seventeen partook of the Holy Supper. The members were so well pleased with their new place that the second of the doctrinal classes, on Sunday evening, was held there instead of in one of the homes.

     On Tuesday evening all gathered at the church for a baptism and the children's Christmas Festival. The baptism was that of Mr. Perry Thomas, who has for years attended our meetings. The children had been well prepared for the festival, and entered heartily into the singing. They had committed to memory the entire story of the coming of the wise men, Matthew 2:1 to 15, and recited it. The service dosed with the bringing of offerings. There were present fourteen children, some of them quite small, all of New Church parentage, and twenty-three adults. After the service, the tree was lit and stockings of candy and fruit were given the children. About an hour was spent socially. During that time some of the members considered whether something more could be done for the children; and it was decided to begin a Sunday School on the following Sunday.
     F. E. WAELCHLI.

     KITCHENER, ONT.-Early in December, Mr. Alan Gill came up from Toronto to pay us a visit, exchanging pulpits with our Pastor. Mr. Gill has a number of friends in Kitchener who met him in England during the war, as well as those who have known him more recently in Bryn Athyn, and it was with pleasure that we anticipated a visit from him. The Kitchener Men's Club arranged the visit and invited him to speak at their meeting, and we understand they had a most enjoyable and interesting time.

     Christmas was the usual busy, bustling time, with church and home activities so closely fitted together that not a minute was lost between the shifting of scenes. The Day School dosed with a short play by the children. Nearly half the scholars were absent on account of sickness, so more ambitious entertainment had to be cut down. On Christmas Eve, the Children's Festival Service was held. Everyone likes to attend this event, and we usually bring all the children, from infants up. Everyone knows that they ale present, because such things as candy, books or playthings never seem sufficient to keep the little ones quiet during the service. However, no one seems to mind it much that night. We had the tableaux down in the school room immediately after the service. They were scenes from the life of King David, very beautifully portrayed. More action was introduced than we have had formerly, but I think it made more pleasing and effective pictures.

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     The representation tables were much the same as last year. On one side of the altar was the scene of the Wise Men entering the Inn, where was Mary and the Babe, and on the other side was a table with the Angels Appearing to the Shepherds. Christmas packages were presented to the children at the close. A number of young people were given copies of Conjugial Love,-a gift the Society makes to all our young people upon their reaching high school age.

     On Christmas morning, the Communion Service was held. The Christmas service and sermon came on the preceding Sunday.

     On January 4th, the Rev. F. E. Waelchli occupied the pulpit, and it seemed very good to all his friends to hear him, again. In his sermon he sounded what may well be the keynote to our work during the coming year: "Read the Letter of the Word and the Writings!"

     The concluding event of the holiday season was the inspiring talk given, on Friday January 2d, by the Rev. Alfred Acton, who stayed over on condition that those who urged him should become members of the Swedenborg Scientific Association! After his talk they were very glad that the bargain had been struck. Mr. Acton spoke on "Swedenborg the Scientist a Preparation for Swedenborg the Revelator." Extensive notes were taken during the discourse, but we will be content with saying that it was a splendid talk, and gave a new and deeper insight into the early life of Swedenborg.
     G. K. D.

     A GOLDEN WEDDING.

     The New Year came in most auspiciously here, and the passing of 1924 will long be marked in memory as a Red Letter Day. New Year's Eve was the occasion of the celebration of the Golden Wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Roschman. The celebration of a golden wedding is a rare event, and Mr. and Mrs. Roschman, who seemed to realize this, invited the Carmel Church Society to celebrate with them at a most enjoyable "wedding breakfast." Quite a number of relatives and friends were present from a distance, including Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Ahrens and Miss Cora Ahrens, of Stratford, Ont.; Mr. Rudolf Faber and Mrs. Chas. Brown, of Toronto; Rev. and Mrs. F. E. Waelchli, of Cincinnati, Ohio; Rev. Alfred Acton, and Miss Venita Roschman, of Bryn Athyn. Telegrams were received, and one friend who could not be present sent his thoughts in the form of a written speech. A large company sat down to the tables and partook of a most excellent feast. It was indeed difficult to get Mr. Waelchli to sit down, as it was his first opportunity to greet many of his friends whom he had not seen for five years.

     Mr. Samuel Roschman, the eldest son, acted as toastmaster, and we commenced this part of the evening with a toast to "The Church," singing the first verse of "Our Glorious Church." Then, in a toast to "Conjugial Love," we sang the second verse, thus establishing at the beginning of the evening the idea of the close relationship between the Church and Conjugial Love. The Pastor, in responding to this toast, spoke of this conjunction of religion and marriage, and of the growing together of two lives which travel the same road for fifty years, making the burdens of each lighter through companionship, and which finally become one true man in the wisdom of old age.

     After a toast to the "Bride and Groom," Mr. Roschman very kindly thanked us all for coming to help them celebrate! He said he saw no satisfactory way to celebrate such an event but with his friends in the Church. He spoke briefly of his family, and expressed gratification that there had not been one "black sheep" among them, the credit being largely due to New Church education.

     Mr. Waelchli, as an old friend of the bride and groom, was then called upon, and most heartily thanked them for affording himself and all others present the opportunity to be there, quite decidedly reversing the obligation.

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"Fifty years is a long time to live together, but it is very little when compared with the eternity to come." The speaker then indulged in reminiscences, and told of how he came to Berlin thirty six years ago to be Headmaster of the New Church School, then about to be established, and how the Society of the Carmel Church "had its inception in the home of the bride and groom celebrating their anniversary tonight." The first Sunday service held in their old home boasted an attendance of ninety. Upon a show of hands, if was found that twenty-eight of the Golden Wedding guests had been present at that service. Mr. Waelchli also pointed out how each period of life contributes something to the life of the Church, and that old age brings near the innocence and peace of heaven The opportunity which a golden wedding affords to consider these things is its greatest use. "And," he concluded, "may they long remain with us to bless this Carmel Church with their presence!"

     Mr. Jacob Stroh then gave some most interesting anecdotes from history, and a most dramatic account of how Mr. Roschman first came into the Church. Mr. Stroh prefaced his remarks by Saying that he had never yet had the opportunity of "starting at the beginning and telling right through to the end" the history of the Church in Kitchener, which he would like to tell.

     Dr. Schnarr spoke for the present generation, and about some of its problems. "We have received the truths of the New Church from our fathers, and to a great extent have accepted them without any great struggle. The great problem is to make use of them,-to make the truths living things in our own hearts and lives."

     The Pastor then read a manuscript sent by the Rev. Homer Synnestvedt, which contained reflections, very affectionately expressed, upon the meaning of fifty years of married life. Then Mr. David spoke of how Mr. and Mrs. Roschman, through their faithful devotion to the highest standards and many uses of the Church, and by their unassuming fellowship with all its members, had won their love. On behalf of the Society, he presented tokens of this love and regard.

     The Rev. Alfred Acton was then called upon, and described how a spiritual-substantial sphere is manufactured by every man as he takes the life and power that flow in from the Lord, on the one hand, and from the world of nature and men through sensation, on the other, and of them creates a new thing,-the sphere of his own life and use. "Most wonderful of these spheres is that of conjugial love, made by the conjoined labors of husband and wife through many years of married life, constantly enlightened and directed by the Revelation of heavenly truth. It is this sphere we enjoy tonight, and we are inspired to seek that wisdom which alone will enable us likewise to be so blessed in life."

     The evening was now well advanced, and we rose from the tables, the men to smoke, and the women to gossip-for brief half-hour. At 11:45, we gathered upstairs for the midnight service, and at its close is everybody wished everybody else a Happy New Year.
     G. R. D.

     GLENVIEW.-Christmas this year found Glenview crystal of landscape and deep in the zeros. But, in spite of the weather, most of the eighty-five children for whom the church provided were there to receive a gift and the accompanying piece of fruit. A new psalter was added to the time-beloved service, containing the beautiful prophecy from Isaiah which begins, "For unto us a child is born." The Pastor anticipated the Christmas service with a series of sermons on the Nativity, and the choir anthems were on this central theme. Even the musicale given early in the month had Christmas music on its program.

     None are allowed at the children's Christmas party who feel a day older than Peter Pan, and somehow most people manage to attend that annual fete.

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There is always much circling of the big tree, a game or two, a song or two, and then perchance a fascinating nest of ice cream with cherries in the middle. The orchestra entertained this year with many a stirring tune, and one of Aesop's fables was presented in a one-act playlet. It was that old story of the blind woman and the doctor, and the children caught the moral at the end: "He who plays a trick must be prepared to take joke."

     The Christmas season is always a reminder that "the Lord gives," but this year the accompanying phrase was emphasized, "the Lord taketh away." On Christmas night one of the oldest and best loved houses in the Park was burned to the ground-the home of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Cole. No one was in the house when the fire began, and its cause is unknown. From time to time many New Church families have lived under this roof; the Paul Synnestvedts, the Dr. Farringtons, the Louis Coles, the Stevenses, the Wiedingers, the Rauchs, and its late occupants, the Charles Coles, the Hagers (Hope Cole), and the William Junges. While the old Club House was being remodeled, Sunday services were held in its living-room. Truly it has been a house of great usefulness to the Church in Glenview.
     G. N.

     GLENVIEW.-The "Life Meetings" have just resumed after the Christmas recess. We had many interesting evenings during the fall season, leading with much pleasure and profit the "Notes on Ritual" by Bishop W. F. Pendleton. It is several years since these explanations of our ritual appeared in the Life, and new interest was manifested in the clear doctrinal reasons given for the forms provided in our General Church Liturgy, as set forth in the "Notes."

     As previously stated, we frequently devote part of our two hours to the consideration of articles in other New Church papers, such as The Bulletin, The New-Church Herald and The Reminder, as well as Tafel's Documents Concerning Swedenborg. At our last meeting we read with much enjoyment the reports in the Bulletin from Mr. Wilfred Howard and Mr. Donald Rose regarding their visits to Columbia University and Oxford University respectively. Also the poem by "A. Spurius Virgilius" was greatly appreciated.

     Some discussion took place after the reading of the paper on "The Cross" by the Rev. T. S. Harris, which appears in the January issue of the Life. The general idea seemed to be that the position taken by Mr. Harris was sound and logical; yet it appeared to be one-sided. Inasmuch as it was placed in the department of "Communications," we felt that the editor of the Life, or some other writer, might have something to say about it later on. So there we left the matter for the present.

     Space would not permit of our telling about the many subjects which come up at our meetings, but this brief report will give some idea of the nature of the proceedings. We recently had a very interesting visit from Mr. A. E. Nelson, when he gave an account of his meetings with our New Church members in England.
     G. A. MCQUEEN.

     CHICAGO, ILL.-A very successful bazaar was given by the ladies of Sharon Church on December 14th at our church rooms. Each lady provided four articles, useful or ornamental, made by herself, and the display consisted mainly of aprons, embroidered towels, scarves and other needlework. After it was over, we were astonished to find that the proceeds of the sale and. the cafeteria supper amounted to $150.00.

     Our Christmas celebration was held on the evening of December 24th, with a good attendance in spite of the bitterly cold weather. The service was beautiful and peaceful, and the children greatly appreciated the Christmas tree and gifts.

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After all had partaken of a supper, Miss Amy Marelius, on behalf of the Young People's Class, presented a gift to the Pastor and Mrs. Gladish, with words of appreciation for their devoted efforts in providing for the instruction and entertainment of the Class.     
     E. V. W.

     PITTSBURGH, PA.-To open this news report by simply mentioning the fact that the Rev. W. E. Brickman conducted worship the first two Sundays in December would leave some of our readers wondering what had happened to our Pastor. To complete the story, therefore, we make bold to state that the Pastor tried to get the best of a "balky" flivver one cold December morning, and was rendered hers de combat, as it would be said in French. Anyway, he had a nice time resting up in the hospital for several weeks, but got out in good time for the Christmas rush. We are very fortunate in having such a capable and qualified minister as Mr. Brickman to help out in emergencies like this, and the services he has rendered are truly appreciated by the Society.

     The Children's Festival this year was held on Christmas Eve, and was largely attended. The tableaux arranged by Mr. and Mrs. George P. Brown were powerful in their effect upon young and old alike. Five scenes were shown:-"The Prophecy of Isaiah," "The Annunciation," "The Nativity," "The Three Wise Men," and "The Word." The church was beautifully and profusely decorated with evergreens, the work of Messrs. Griffith Asplundh and Gilbert Smith. The customary Christmas Service for adults was held Christmas morning, and the Holy Supper was administered the following Sunday. The holiday activities came to a close with a dance and card party on Friday, January 2d.

     On Christmas night one of our young men, George Trautman, was killed in an accident while sled-riding. His unexpected going to the other world was a great shock to all of us. George was one of "our boys " in every way, and his death is a distinct loss to the Pittsburgh Society, although it means a gain to some society in the other world, where he will continue to carry on the uses he would have performed here.     
     J. E. B.

     LOS ANGELES, CAL.-After a summer full of church activities we were sad indeed when Mr. Waelchli left us to continue his journey, visiting other isolated groups of General Church people. Before he left he spoke words of hope and encouragement for the future, reminding us that "Where two or three are gathered together in the Lord's name," He is present. He also told us that when we are ready to have a pastor of our own, and earnestly desire it, in the Divine Providence the means will be provided.

     At Mr. Waelchli's suggestion, the announcement of our Sunday services has been printed in the Life, with the hope that visitors to Los Angeles may find their way to worship with us, and bring us news of fellow members of the Church. We meet the first and third Sundays every month at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Unruh, 1234 W. 41st Place. Mr. Unruh leads the service, sometimes reading a sermon from one of the New Church publications, sometimes giving instruction which he has gathered from the Writings. During the sermon the children are given separate instruction, as outlined in the Sunday School Lesson Notes in the numbers of the Life. The sermon over, the children come back for the closing of the service with the adults. Some of us are hoping it will not be long till we meet to worship together every Sunday.

     At Mr. Waelchli's instigation, the young women of our Circle decided to meet every Friday to read something instructive and of interest to us as New Church women. He suggested several books, from which we selected Trobridge's "Life of Swedenborg."

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Though we have often bewailed the fact that we understood so little of the wealth of material in the book, this much we have learned-to marvel at Swedenborg's wonderful mind and at his great humility.

     On one Friday all the members of our Los Angeles Circle met to eat together at the home of Mr. and Mrs. A. Klippenstein, each family bringing a dish already prepared, so the supper would not be a tax on any one household. Aside from having a very pleasant evening together, we used the opportunity to consider plans for the Christmas celebration which Mr. Waelchli had urged us, not to delay too long.

     This time we wanted the celebration to be especially beneficial to the children. After much planning, we gave up the sand table representation till next year, and concentrated upon two tableaux: I. The Annunciation; II. The Adoration of the Magi.

     At last everything was ready,-costumes; lighting effects, curtains. Christmas Eve, 25 to 30 of us gathered at the Unruh's home for the Christmas service and entertainment. Mr. Unruh led the service, using the office for The Advent of the Lord from the Liturgy. After he read from the Word concerning the Annunciation, and explained the significance of the occasion to the children, the lights were darkened and the curtains drawn aside to disclose a tableau of the Annunciation,-the Angel Gabriel dad in white garments, with hand upraised in salutation of Mary, who, half-kneeling, gazed upon him. The music to "My soul doth magnify the Lord," played very softly, seemed to be part of the picture. The effect was more impressive than anyone had hoped for. No one stirred till the curtains came together and the lights were hashed on. Then all present, and especially the children, came back to earth with a deep sigh.

     The service continued to the end of Part Two, when Mr. Unruh spoke a few words of preparation for the next tableau. The children rose to recite in unison the Christmas verses from Matthew, telling of the Wise Men and their search for the Lord. Again the lights were darkened and the curtains parted to disclose The Adoration of the Magi. Mary, bending over a manger from which shone a bright light, the Wise Men in attitudes of worship offering their gifts, and one Shepherd with his shepherd's crook, come to see this thing which the Lord hath made known unto us." Very softly the pianist played "Holy Night till the curtains were drawn together and the light flashed on. The very little children could restrain their tongues no longer. There were so many things they wanted to ask. One little girl kept inquiring, "Mother, where did the wise men go?" But the service continued to the end, after which we enjoyed hearing "pieces" spoken and carols sung by different members of our Circle. Finally, each child was given from the Christmas tree a bag well filled with candy and nuts. So ended our Christmas entertainment, and we departed happily to our homes.
     L. G.

     TORONTO ONT.-One of the limitations in the use of superlatives, to those not skilled in their use, and writing for the same readers from month to month, is that there are not sufficient to go around. In our notes for January we used the expression: "Quite one of the most charming events in our Society life." Were it not for the retentive memory of our reading public, we would use it again to describe the concert on the evening of December 19th, given by the children of the Day School in their closing exercises for the Christmas recess. Their singing reciting and the playing of the "Rhythm Orchestra," composed of bells, triangles, tambourines, castanets and drum, was most pleasing. Wise choice of matter, almost perfect enunciation, and lack of "noise," as such, provided a program that was highly appreciated, whilst two of the young girls gave a very pretty and finished exposition of "A Spanish Dance," accompanied by the "Rhythm Orchestra." The dosing part of the program was a spirited portrayal of "The Cratchit's Dinner-Party," taken from Dickens' "Christmas Carol."

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With Mrs. Ray Brown as "Mrs. Cratchit," Mr. Alan Gill as "Bob Cratchit," and the school children as the "family," we were given realistic glimpse of an old time Christmas event, winding up with the presentation of a picture to Mr. Gill by "Tiny Tim," as a souvenir of his "first school."

     Tuesday evening, December 23d, we celebrated the time-honored Christmas Festival for the little folk by a service in the Chapel, at which the children recited appropriate pieces and sang their seasonable songs, followed by an address from the Pastor on the meaning and significance of Christmas. This year we had but one tableau,-"The Nativity,"-which was set on the outermost chancel, prior to which quintette, unaccompanied, sang Bunnett's setting of the Magnificat, and, during the showing of the tableau, "Holy Night." Then we all marched downstairs, where the Christmas Tree, bedecked with "jewels rare" and pretty lights, and laden with mysterious packages and all sorts of good things to delight the hearts of the children, awaited us. But suddenly the lights went out, and Father Christmas, in full regalia, to the accompaniment of sleigh bells and the rattle of ponies' feet, came down the chimney and into the wondering view of many bright, excited eyes, and out of his big bag found a "stocking" for some forty odd expectant children. To all those who helped, and especially those who spent so much of their time and energy in preparing these events, our thanks are due and given in unstinted measure; but the appreciation of those who came, saw and enjoyed the good things provided, together with the "use " of it, is its own reward.

     Christmas Day Service was very enjoyable to all who were present. Bright, good singing of the Christmas hymns, a timely sermon,-good, both as to quality and quantity,-brought the sphere of "Peace on earth, good will to men" in a very real sense.

     Punctually on the stroke of 8.20 a.m., December 27th, our new Pastor, his wife and family, arrived in Toronto. Our annual New Year's Eve social was made the occasion of their reception into our midst. The proceedings took the form of a supper social, with Mr. and Mrs. Craigie as host and hostess, and Mr. Alan Gill as toastmaster. There were just three toasts, and as a consequence three speeches. That to our Pastor and Mrs. Odhner was very ably proposed by Mr. Alec Sargeant, who, in a witty speech, introduced the Society, with many of its idiosyncrasies, to them, assuring them that the several qualities enumerated would be at their full disposal, and, in more serious vein, he spoke for them that co-operation on the ultimate plane which is essential to progressive organization. Mr. Odhner, on rising to respond, was accorded a hearty reception. He also played on the dominant chord of cooperation, from all sides, stressing the essential things that count in the upbuilding of the individual character, the Society, and the Church at large.

     The toast to the New Year was responded to by Dr. E. K. Richardson, and that to Mr. Alan Gill was proposed by Mr. Craigie, who voiced our appreciation of his services to the Society, and on its behalf presented him with a copy of the Principia and the Psychological Transactions. Mr. Gill suitably replied, and expressed what we all felt, that his stay with us had been mutually enjoyed.

     The limitation to three speeches, as arranged by the Committee, was probably a wise arrangement, leaving those others who would like to have spoken an opportunity to "say it" at the numerous "first meetings" we will be having with Mr. Odhner in the immediate future.

     Our new Pastor's engagement with us commenced as of January 1st, 1925, and he started right in at the Watch Night Service, giving a short, soul-stirring address upon Psalm 102:24-28. It was a fitting subject for the occasion,-a call "to sanctify ourselves anew at the gateway of a New Year, to the service-not of things that change and decay, not to the service of men that grow old, nor of opinions, prejudices and notions that bear the promise of decay within them, but to the service of One who is forever the same, and whose years have no end."

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"The essential principles gained in past battles should be such as to serve as the beginning of a new state; that each period, each year, may yield new truths for seeding, and new and richer soil for the planting." A call to "a more courageous stand in the acknowledgment of the Truth,-the Truth of God that never grows old, but whose fulfilments go on undisturbed from age to age, fashioned by the inscrutable mercy of the Lord," "O Lord, revive thy work m the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy!" Amen.

     With this sublime invocation filling our minds, this visioning of the great work ahead, we close. To say more would be to dim the luster of the vision.
     F. W.

     BRYN ATHYN.-Readers of the Life will be pleased to hear that the Rev. George de Charms has recovered sufficiently from his recent illness to make possible a journey southward in the interests of a complete restoration to health. He and Mrs. de Charms left for St. Petersburg, Florida, on January 18th. Of the many duties of the Assistant Pastor some have been temporarily suspended, but the more urgent of his uses in the school and the society are provided for by the Bishop and assisting ministers.

     Our Christmas observance began with the Children's Festival in the Auditorium, held on the afternoon of December 23d with an attendance which made it necessary for many to remain standing throughout the exercises. The Gospel Lessons were read by the Rev. K. R. Alden, and illustrated by very beautiful tableaux upon the stage, prepared with the fine skill of Mr. Finkeldey. The singing of the favorite carols followed, Miss Creda Glenn leading, and they included several very delightful new ones. A giant Christmas Tree was then moved to the middle of the room, the children gathering around to receive their gifts.

     The Christmas Service came the next afternoon, December 24th, in the Cathedral, when, in long procession, the children made their offerings at the chancel, sang the well-loved hymns, and listened with rapt attention to the Story of the Lord's Birth as told in Scripture and graphically pictured for them in the address of the Rev. K. R. Alden. At the adult service on Christmas morning there was special music by a group of wind instruments, and by the choir. Bishop W. F. Pendleton preached the sermon, which dealt with the Lord's Blessing of Abraham. (Genesis 12:3) The administration of the Holy Supper on Sunday, December 28th, concluded the series of Advent Services.

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NEW AND THE OLD 1925

NEW AND THE OLD       Rev. ALBERT BJORCK       1925




     Announcements.




NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. XLV MARCH, 1925           No. 3
     Everyone learns from others, but also from his own experiences life. The attitude of an old man toward the world in general,-his point of view regarding the state of the world, and of the church in particular, probably depends more upon his own experiences than upon the teachings of others. At least, this should be the case with those who are capable of independent thought, and of drawing more or less logical conclusions from what they observe and experience.

     Such experience and observation sometimes force a man to change or modify the ideas which are based upon what he has been taught by others, In the case of a New Churchman, this is also true of ideas formed from his early study of the Writings, which is usually under the influence of others.

     There are, of course, many exceptions to this rule. There are men capable of independent thought, who have rich experience through their uses in life, and who are well able to observe what is going on in the world, but who, nevertheless, because of their natural temperament, are so strongly inclined to rest upon the opinions formed through their own studies in youthful days, or under the influence of revered teachers and guides, that this determines all the conclusions they draw from their observations and experiences. Very often, such men cannot even understand the mental processes which overcome these influences in another and make him change his conceptions regarding the state of the world and the church, and his understanding of what the Writings teach.

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They are apt, therefore, to disapprove of such a change in another, unless it so happens that the change brings him over to their own standpoint, when they think it quite right, and even express approval of his openness of mind and courage in admitting former misconceptions.

     The writer of this paper happens to be one who has changed his outlook in regard to the state of the Christian World, and of the Church in particular, from a viewpoint based upon his own early studies of the Writings and the influence of revered and beloved teachers. And it has occurred to me that a recital of some of these experiences, and of the subsequent reconsideration of the subject, may be helpful to others. This alone is my reason for speaking of myself and my personal experiences. And I leave it to the acumen of my readers to decide whether my change of view has been well-founded and logical or not.

     During my attendance at the Convention Theological School, from 1888 to 1890, the difference between the Academy viewpoints and those of the majority in the Convention were quite frequently spoken of. Those of you who remember those times will understand that this would be natural, as it was the time of the final break and separation of the two organizations. At that time, many things were said about the Academy and its men which, though no doubt honestly believed to be true, I later found to be largely founded on slanderous gossip. But with regard to the state of the Old Church, there were pronounced statements made by the Academy men, and their policy was consistent with them. The idea held was, that the old Christian Church was spiritually as dead then as at the time of Swedenborg. I think that some Academy men at the time went unnecessarily far in their practical application of this point of view. As far as possible, they avoided all intercourse with members of the Old Church, even forbidding their children to play with children of Old Church neighbors, because they might thus come into communication with the hells. This was commented on, and dwelt upon, and made much of, and in the eyes of many it no doubt strengthened the position within the Convention that that point of view lacked the support of the Writings, as well as of the facts.

     The Writings were often appealed to in support of the Convention view, and I particularly remember a few passages so used.

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One was T. C. R. 846, where we read: "The angels greatly rejoiced that it had pleased the Lord to reveal this great arcanum [the science of correspondences], so deeply hidden for thousands of years. It was done, they said, in order that the Christian Church, which is founded upon the Word, and which is now at its end, may again revive, and draw breath through heaven from the Lord."

     It was pointed out that the Christian Church still is founded upon the Word, and that, in many places in the Writings, it is said that the Church is where the Word is, and that it is this Church that is to be revived and made new by influx from the Lord through heaven after the Last Judgment. In short, the position then was the position of the Convention at this day, even if not as strongly accentuated as now a position which practically has turned it into one of the many different sects composing the Christian Church, as it is known in the world today. I had every confidence in the wisdom of my teachers, some of whom I admired and loved as men, and at the time I accepted their point of view unreservedly

     During my work in Sweden, whither I went almost immediately after finishing the course in the Theological School, and consistently with the above-described view, I sought to get into contact with liberal-minded ministers in the Swedish Church. At that time in Sweden the fight between those who are now called Fundamentalists and Modernists was at its height, as a result of the Bible criticism which had been active for years, chiefly in Germany. I soon found that a good many of the more intellectual and studious of the Lutheran ministers of Sweden held very much the same ideas as the Modernists of today. I read articles and books written by them, and my sympathies were drawn to them, because I thought that their standpoint was a result of the greater freedom in spiritual things brought about by the Last Judgment, and that, having availed themselves of that freedom, they would be open to influx from the Lord through the New Heaven, preparing them for the truths of the New Church.

     The part taken by New Churchmen in bringing about the Congress of Religions that was held at Chicago in 1893 appealed strongly to me, as I thought it would prove of great missionary value. When, therefore, it was decided to have an international exhibition of Industries and Arts at Stockholm in 1897, I approached some of the more liberal men whom I knew with a proposal to try to organize a Congress of the different Christian denominations in Europe.

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This did not meet with their approval, but they suggested instead a Congress of Religious Science, open to men of all denominations. Accordingly, a Committee on Organization was formed, consisting of a young, ambitious and rising clergyman by the name of S. A. Fries, a Jewish Rabbi, Klein, known for his learning, and myself. We worked together for a whole year preparing for the Congress. In doing my share of the work, I came in contact with a great many clergymen and interested laymen, and I was strongly impressed by the general interest shown in religious questions.

     Our efforts were successful, and the Congress became a fact. Well-known scholars from England, Holland, France, Germany and Finland, as well as from Sweden, Norway and Denmark, came to the Congress as active members, and contributed papers, or took part in the discussions, on interesting questions belonging to the history, philosophy and development of religious thinking and its expressions. The members of the Congress, active and passive alike, were agreed that the meeting had been a great success, and that it had contributed much to the promotion of religious thought and interest with the general public. For myself, I felt greatly disillusioned. As a member of the organizing committee, I had secured for myself the opportunity to deliver an address that was to be followed by discussion. Having in mind the teaching of the Writings that the angels greatly rejoiced because it had pleased the Lord to reveal to men the science of correspondences, "in order that the Christian Church, which is founded upon the Word, may be revived, and draw breath through heaven from the Lord," I chose "Bible Interpretation" for my subject.

     At this Congress were gathered some of the most intelligent and scholarly men of the Protestant Churches,-men who had given a great deal of study to the literal sense of the Word, whose minds, moreover, had been freed from the shackles of dogmatic tradition. As scientists, they were supposed to pursue truth simply for truth's own sake. And, in my opinion, the laymen who had gathered to the Congress would, better than most any other thinkable gathering, represent those in the Christian World who had most fully availed themselves of that greater freedom which had been brought about by the Last Judgment.

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They, if any, would be apt to accept a spiritual sense in the Word, and the science of correspondences as the Divinely revealed means by which that sense could be rationally seen, and by which the Church, based upon the Word, might be revived.

     No wander that I felt disillusioned, when, in the discussion following my address, the speakers, without a single exception, ignored the address, and spoke instead about the general change in Bible interpretation that had been effected by scientific study and criticism of the Bible. The only allusions to the address were casual remarks by one or two of the speakers about the futility of paying any attention whatsoever to such "unscientific" attempts of interpretation as the Kabbala, Philo the Jew's, Origin's, or Swedenborg's!

     This disillusion did not shatter my faith in the vivification of the Christian Church, but it led me to pay more attention to other passages of the Writings, and to weigh more carefully the meaning of those I had hitherto based my idea upon, especially T. C. R. 846, quoted above. How my understanding changed, and how the change seemingly was verified by certain experiences, might be useful to relate, but would be too long for this paper. Instead, I will briefly state my present point of view, after passing through these changes.

     The change has not been one of faith in the revival of the Christian Church, which is "based upon the Word," for I believe in that as surely as ever; but the change is in my conception of where that Church is found. And I still believe with certainty that the revealed truth concerning the correspondence between spiritual and natural things will accomplish that revival. In fact, I believe that it has accomplished it. But I no longer identify the revived Church with the different Protestant or Catholic Church, institutions which call themselves the "Christian Church," and are so regarded by men in general. Those institutions are indeed Christian in the sense that they represent a certain traditional mode of thought and faith which goes under the name of Christianity, but they are not "based upon the Word." As far as they still represent Christian tradition, they teach today the same doctrines, based upon false interpretations of the Word, as they taught in the days of Swedenborg, and which then qualified them as spiritually dead.

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     Conservative minds within the Church do not desire any change in the teaching of doctrine. At the Annual Congress of the Church of England, which met last October, some young men criticized the Church, and one of them said: "It seems to us that the Church has made its own the three pharisaical virtues of comfort, popularity and success; and that seems strange to us as we read the Gospel." Commenting upon this criticism, the MORNING POST had this to say: "If the institution of the Church-of the Church of England or any other of the Churches of Christendom-means anything, it means that the doctrine and the scheme of ethics of which the Church is the vehicle transcend in importance all other considerations whatsoever. Is it not then a somewhat remarkable complaint that the message of Christianity is presented in a form which the young men and the women of today find unsuited to their tastes and temperaments? Are there no risks involved in placidly rejecting what in substance is not merely an invitation, but a command?"

     There are, of course, individual teachers within the different church institutions who break with the traditional teaching of the so-called Christian Churches, but their teaching is not founded upon the Word of the Lord, any more than the teaching of the dead Church is so founded. In fact, it is, if possible, less founded upon the Word, because it does not rest upon a misinterpretation of the Word, but upon a denial of it.

     How many of the so-called Modernists believe in the Divinity of the Lord and the Holy Scriptures? Where do we find in either camp any desire to know about or to examine the science of correspondences, revealed in the Writings as the means of "reviving the Christian Church, which is based upon the Word"? The Modernists regard the Books of the Bible simply as the products of human thought and history, to be studied in a "scientific" way, just as all other products of human thought and history should be studied. It may be asked: If this is so, in what possible manner has the Christian Church, based upon the Word, been revived? The answer is simple enough, if we do not identify the "Christian Church, based upon the Word," with the institutions existing today which make up the Old Church.

     Within the external Christian Church, which came to its end in Swedenborg's time, there were men who loved and read the Word, believing it to be Divine, and who based their faith and life upon it, even though they outwardly subscribed to and shared the false doctrines of the dead Church.

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Those men were all that remained of the Christian Church that had been based upon the Word, and even these remains of the Church would have become stifled by the perverted spirit of the external Church, had not the Lord come again in the Revelation to the New Church given through Swedenborg. Their life, which was fast ebbing away in a spiritually deadly atmosphere, was thus revived, because they were able to receive that Revelation. In and through them, the Church was revived, and began again to draw its breath through heaven from the Lord. In the light of that Revelation, they were able to see that the genuine truths of the literal sense of the Word,-the sense that the Christian Church should be based upon,-teach that the Lord Jesus Christ is the God of heaven and earth, and that His Humanity is Divine. Such men, brought together in a common love of the Lord and His revealed truth, compose the revived Christian Church,-the Christian Church made new. And there the Word not only is, but is also understood. Therefore it is the Lord's specific New Church.

     It may seem to some who read these lines that my thinking has been altogether led by my personal experiences, but to me it seems that, in the Divine Providence, my personal experiences have led me away from poorly founded opinions and prejudices, and brought me to think more clearly on the basis of the Lord's revealed truth. I now see in the Writings many statements bearing on the state of the Church which I formerly ignored. I take heed to such passages as the following:

     "There is no Church except where the Word is rightly understood; and such as is the understanding of the Word with those in the Church, such is the Church." (S. S. 79.)

     "The church is where the Word is, and where the Lord is thereby known. But it does not follow from this that they are of the church who are from where the Word is, and where the Lord is thereby; known; but they who are regenerated by the Lord by means of truths from the Word, who are they who live according to the truths therein." (White Horse 6.)

     "Good conjoined to truth is what makes a man to be a man of the church." (Doctrine of Life 32.)

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     It is often said, in support of the idea that the Old Church is being vivified, that men in the Christian world are commonly moved by good desires and intentions. But the passage just quoted is only one of the many which state the general truth, that until the good in men is joined to truth revealed from the Lord, and is formed and guided by that truth, it remains simply man's own natural good, which is not good in the light of heaven.

     Some one may now ask: How, then, about the men in the Christian World at large,-those born where the Word is, and more or less influenced by the teachings of the different denominations of the Old Church? Are they in a better or a worse state than they were before the Last Judgment? Are there many now born where the Word is, though not understood, who are remnants of the "Christian Church based upon the Word," and who, therefore, may be expected to come into the New Church through appeals to the teaching of the Word?

     I recall that some of my teachers in the Theological School were quite optimistic in regard to the state of men generally in the Christian World. In support of their belief that the world in general was better than before the Judgment, they pointed to the fact that the influx from heaven afterwards would be less obstructed. And the good feelings and intentions everywhere visible among men in the world was pointed to, and was said to be represented by the fig tree in the parable. "When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh. So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors." (Matthew 24:32, 33.) By the "fig tree" is meant the good of the natural, which is said to be the "first of the New Church." (A. C. 4231.)

     It is true that the influx from the Lord through heaven can now flow more freely to men in the world, but that influx does not reach anyone who is unwilling to receive it. And all influx from the Lord, except that general one which makes all nature living, comes to men through the Word. Men in the world receive influx principally from those in the world of spirits whose affections are most nearly akin to their own. If a man's affection now leads him to the Word of God in search of the truths of life, his thoughts upon what the Word teaches are not shackled by the authority of the Church in which he happened to be born.

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Reading the Word in such a spirit, he places himself among those who are willing to receive the influx from the Lord through heaven, and he will be open to receive the Revelation of the Lord's Second Coming. But the number of such men is diminishing rather than growing. At least, I can't see how it could be otherwise.

     The teaching that can reach and influence men in the Christian World,-where the Word is, but where it is not understood,-is administered by the various organizations composing the Old Church. As a rule, therefore, the teaching is given by men belonging either to that class now so commonly known as Fundamentalists, or by those belonging to the so-called Modernists. The Fundamentalists stick to the old doctrines of the Trinity, Vicarious Atonement, justification by Faith, and the Resurrection of the Body, because they stick to the traditional literal interpretation of the Word. They believe, or claim to believe, in the Divinity of the Lord and of the Sacred Scriptures. But that belief is not joined to any right understanding of what the Word teaches concerning the Lord, or the way He reveals His truth to men, but is simply adhered to as a support for these false doctrines, which they cling to because they love them. The influence of their teaching cannot prepare the ground for the reception of the truths of the New Church, or foster in men a love for the Word and a good life according to it, which would make them willing to receive influx from the Lord through the New Heaven.

     The influence of the Modernist is chiefly among the more cultured, and is perhaps most felt among the youths in the higher educational institutions. But as the whole trend of the Modernist's teaching is away from any acknowledgment of the Lord's Divinity, except in the sense that any man may be said to be Divine, and as it takes away the Divine character of the Word, and makes it an altogether human thing; the influence of their teaching cannot prepare the ground for the reception of New Church teaching. The whole spirit of the age seems to lead away from Christianity, and to the philosophical thoughts that have descended in perverted form from the Ancient Church and remain in the East, and which all make man himself to be God.

     And now a few words about the interpretation of the parable of the fig tree, which I mentioned a while ago.

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Looking back upon my days at the Theological School, I have more than once reflected upon the ease with which the mind of the disciple is influenced by the teacher, so that he accepts the teacher's position without any real effort to judge for himself.

     In A. C. 4231, the parable of the fig tree is spoken of as follows: "When a new church is created by the Lord, then first of all appears the good of the natural, that is, good in its external form, with its affections and truths." If these words be reflected upon by a mind desirous of finding their true meaning, uninfluenced by the thinking of others or by preconceived opinions, it becomes quite plain that they refer to the New Church created by the Lord, and not to the state of those in the Old Church.

     The man of the Church, or the man in whom the Church is, will show by the good that he does on the natural or external plane of life whether the truths of the Word have been so received by him that they are operating for his regeneration. Regeneration always makes itself apparent in that way. Unless the teaching of the Lord in the Word lead men to good in their external life, that teaching is only in their memory. It is not joined to good in the will. The parable furnishes us with a test, by which we may know whether the Lord has created a New Church in us individually or collectively, or, what is the same, whether the New Church is within us or not. This becomes still more clearly evident from the words immediately following in A. C. 4231: "By the good of the natural is not meant the good into which a man is born, or which he derives from his parents, but the good which is spiritual as to its origin. Into this good no one is born, but is led into it by the Lord through knowledges of good and truth; wherefore, until man is in this good, he is not a man of the church, howsoever it may appear from connate good that he is."

     To superficial observation it does appear that mankind is in a better state now than formerly, but the good that is apparent among men in the Christian World all too often shows itself to be a spurious good, as soon as the light of New Church teaching is thrown upon it. There is in the Christian World today an ever-growing tendency, (nowhere more pronounced than in the United States, where people are supposed to enjoy greater freedom than anywhere else),-a tendency to make people outwardly good by legislation, forcing them to act in conformity with immature or mistaken notions of what is good, held by certain people who wield power by means of external political conditions.

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     How many of these notions, advocated and enforced for "the good of mankind;" are founded upon a right understanding of what the Lord teaches in the Word, received in the will of man? The Lord guards man's freedom of choice between good and evil as a man guards the apple of his eye; and, by revealing good and evil in the Word, He makes it possible for men to know good and evil, and thus to choose between them. Most of the modern movements for the "uplift" of mankind are simply attempts to substitute men's own notions of good and evil for the truths revealed in the Word, and to force men to live according-to those substitutes. But that "good of the natural" which has a "spiritual origin" cannot be given men except through the Word, where the Lord Himself reveals to men what is good and evil. The modern crusades with "the good of mankind " for their slogan often appeal to the Word in support of their aims, but their appeals generally show a false understanding of what the Word teaches.

     Must we conclude, then, that there is no hope for the Christian World?

     Those who believe differently in this respect point to many things which to them are signs showing that the influx from the Lord is being more commonly received by men on earth. They say "that there is an outcry for a religion that will right the world's wrongs, grapple with civil and social injustice, put an end to war, provide greater equality of opportunity. For the good of the natural cries aloud for liberty and justice; it sees the iniquity of conditions formerly calmly tolerated." Other signs are cited, such as the "abolition of slavery; humanity in the treatment of criminals, the insane, and the animals; general education; workmen's compensation; unemployment and sickness insurance; old age pensions, poor-law reform, the League of Nations-how many more signs of our times might we not adduce to show that the fig tree putteth forth ifs leaves?" (W. A. Presland in NEW-CHURCH HERALD, Nov. 1, 1924.)

     And all this is believed to be the result of the "broadcasting for more than a century of New Church doctrines through the institutions raised up for that purpose by the Lord."

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To quote Mr. Presland further: "The doctrine of life has made the strongest appeal. It has passed into the currency of religious thought. Almost unnoticed, the emphasis on doctrine has shifted from 'faith alone,' as at the consummation of the age generally held, to 'good as to life.'" But when we consider that this "broadcasting" has been going on through pulpits and publishing societies for more than a century, is it not almost incredible that so little has been achieved, if there were any receptive ground for the outpouring of the spirit?

     I believe that, among men in the world in general today, there is less knowledge of the teachings of the New Church than there was seventy-five years ago. There was a time in the beginning of the external history of the New Church when preachers and lecturers drew large and interested audiences, and when people talked about and discussed what they had heard them say. From people thus interested at that time, the membership of the New Church organization was recruited, and it grew quite rapidly-for a while. Then the growth slowed up, and with the years it ceased, until now the Church organizations, excepting the youngest and still the smallest, seldom can record any growth in membership.

     The endeavors to disseminate the truths of the New Church have never ceased, and the Writings have been published in ever-increasing editions, and have been given away to ever-increasing numbers. Still, what is marvelous, if there is such an awakening to the truth of the Lord among men, less than one in a hundred of all the men I have met, outside of professed New Churchmen, has had the least knowledge of the New Church, its teaching, or of Swedenborg. I mean, of course, those that I have had some conversation with, and they have for the most part been fairly well educated, and often well read and cultured citizens of the countries where the New Church has been established for the longest time. And of the few encountered who had some knowledge of it, the great majority associated it with Spiritism. Next in number came those who knew something about Swedenborg as a scientist. Those who had some knowledge of the teachings of the Church have probably not been one in a thousand.

     If the men in the Christian World are as receptive of the spirit of the Lord through heaven as Mr. Presland and others believe, is it not inexplicable that so many strange cults, such as Theosophy and other offshoots of Asiatic religions, Christian Science, New Thought, the Temple of Truth, and what not, grow by leaps and bounds, while the New Church has hard work keeping its membership from dwindling, because so many of the younger generation lose interest in its teachings?

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These observations have led me to look in another direction for the cause of the movements of the age we live in, which are so often regarded by New Churchmen as signs of the Lord's Second Coming and the revival of the Old Church.

     The Revelation to the New Church tells us that mankind as a whole, and the Church as a one, grows in a manner similar to the growth of the individual. Humanity as a whole passes through ages corresponding to infancy, childhood, youth and manhood in the individual. The consummation of the age, with the Lord's Second Coming and the Judgment, coincides with the coming of age of humanity, and a greater capacity for rational thought. Those whose capacity for rational thought also embraced spiritual things, and who had a knowledge of, and love for, the goods and truths taught in the literal sense of the Word, embraced the teaching of the New Revelation when, through external conditions, they came in contact with it. A new spirit manifested itself in them. So also it did in those who knew and cared nothing about the Lord or His Second Coming.

     The changes that we observe in the new age correspond to the change that we ordinarily see in the lives of men when they come of age, and when they no longer are under the authority and rule of others. Usually they are moved by as selfish motives as ever, but their growing intelligence shows them that their own good is bound up with the good of others. And what New Churchmen have so commonly considered signs of the budding leaves on the fig tree may with more reason be attributed to this cause. If, on the surface, we witness a more active and stirring search for truth in this age than in any previous one, if there never before has been such uprooting of accepted maxims, of established ideas, laws and conventions, is not that the result of the casting off of restraint by young humanity coming of age? And does not this casting off of restraint generally include, also, that which the Lord has put upon men through the commandments of the Word! If not, why do we not witness any more widespread desire to look to Divine Revelation for the truth to guide men in life?

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     If that which shows itself in most of these signs is anything but men's own connate or natural good, which in itself is selfish, why is it that so-called truth-seekers flock to the many different and yet kindred expressions of human thought and teaching which make man himself Divine, and which find the springs of happiness for the race in man's own intelligence, and his own will, unaided and alone?

     In an age when the restraints of old traditions, laws and conventions are thrown off, men, with the self-confidence of youth, and relying on their own intelligence and power, start in to make a new and better world. And in some ways there seems to be a unity of purpose, and some Movements seem guided by good and true principles. The connate natural good in men and women desires to ease the burden of the weaker ones, especially those nearest to their own home-life,-children and animals.

     This age has been called the "age of children," and never before have children been given such freedom. But the natural good in men is selfish, and the freedom given to children to do as they please is often caused by a disinclination to bother about them; and the bearing of children is more and more generally regarded as such a burden that the age may become a childless one. How many of the supposed signs of the budding of the fig tree have been caused by an unselfish desire on the part of the strong to serve and benefit the weak? Have they not come about in most cases from the fact that the weaker have become strong enough to demand them as their rights?-the outcome of long drawn-out combats between conflicting interests?

     The Lord can only come to that which is His own in man. The first of that is the knowledge of Himself, and of the true life which He, by means of the Word, gives to men. Where do we find the knowledge of the Lord in the Christian World today, to which He could come and prepare them to receive His Spirit? And how could men in the Christian World get such a knowledge of the Lord, even if they desired it, through the teaching of the institutions that make up the Old Church?

     Is there no hope, then, that the New Church will spread more generally in the Christian World? The Lord alone knows that. However, there is no need of pessimism. The New Church has been established in the Christian World, and it will not be devoured by the dragon.

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But if the conception of the state of the world and of the Church presented in this paper is correct, the work for the growth Of the Church must be carried forward on somewhat different lines than hitherto.

     The Fundamentalists are indirectly working for the New Church by keeping the aid false and irrational doctrine's before the people in a way that drives an ever-increasing number away from all Church institutions, though unfortunately at the same time destroying their interest in religion. The Modernists are also leading away from the Church institutions, by inculcating independent thinking on religious subjects, though as a rule this thinking unfortunately draws men away from Christian truths.

     Both influences, however, are at work, tearing down some of the structures that cumber the ground, and clearing it for a new one by turning the men of the Christian World into gentiles,-gentiles with little knowledge of, or faith in, Christianity, but who, I like to believe, will in time be prepared to listen to, understand and receive clearly put expositions of New Church philosophy and the Science of Correspondences. In that way, the gentiles of the Christian
World may become prepared for a new and rational-spiritual faith in the Word of God, and, through that Word in its threefold form, learn to know the Lord Jesus Christ in His Divine Humanity.

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VEILS OF THE TABERNACLE 1925

VEILS OF THE TABERNACLE        N. D. PENDLETON       1925

     "Thou shalt make a veil of hyacinthine, and bright crimson, and double-dyed scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of a designer: thou shalt make it with cherubims; and thou shalt hang it upon the four pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold, and their hooks of gold; upon four bases of silver. And thou shalt hang the veil under the clasps; and thou shalt bring in thither, within the veil, the ark of the testimony; and the veil shall divide unto you between the holy and the holy of holies." (Exodus 26:31-34, 36:35-36.)

     The tabernacle, and later the temple, were, by Divine appointment, representatives of the Lord, of His human accommodations. As such, they prefigured His actual presence in the world as a Man, and were therefore significative of the human which was assumed and glorified. For this cause the tabernacle, and later the temple, became the center of Israel's worship; the tabernacle during the nomad period of Israel's wandering in the wilderness, and the temple after a permanent settlement had been effected in Canaan.

     This change was significative of the passing of the Church from a celestial to a spiritual state; yet the fundamental representation of the temple was the same as that of the tabernacle; that is, both represented the human accommodations of the Divine, and prefigured the Person of Christ, with all His human attributes, which in process were made Divine.

     Thus the veils, which were three in number, the one dividing between the holy place and the holy of holies, the other for the hanging of the door of the tent, and the third for the gate of the court, represented the successive appearances of truth which veil the several planes of the human mind; or, what is the same, and in larger measure, they signified the three spheres in which the heavens art established, which make one cause with the planes of the human mind.

     These veilings, with reference both to the mind of man and the spheres of the heavens, are called in the Writings "rational appearances of truth," and this because they are in neither case pure; for pure truth cannot be apprehended by either men or angels, but must always be accommodated.

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Pure truth is indeed the very light of heaven, flowing from the Lord as the Sun thereof. It is the light in which the angels see, and by which men apperceive; but this never apart from the veilings spoken of, which veilings are not the light, but are as the atmospheres which convey the light. Thus, as the natural atmosphere is a medium of light tyansference, even so the spiritual atmospheres are the mediums of thought transference; by and in them the affections are also livingly represented.

     In addition to the general spiritual atmospheres, which are three in number, in accord with the number of the veils of the tabernacle, there are still further modifications, as it were atmospheric, resulting from the emanations from angels and spirits, and also from all human minds, which form a kind of vortex about the angelic and human mind, and which stand to them as a "most subtle and accommodated sphere" which tempers the light of the angelic sun. These emanations are composed of forms modified by human states of love, through which the heavenly light shines, and which in this manner presents the aspect of rational appearance of truth, or, as stated in the Scripture, as "a covering for the eyes." This veiling is as the clothing of the angels,-actually so; and it becomes visible as such whenever the angels are presented to view. It is said of their clothing or garments that these are thus composed of "real substances and essences in form."

     Since rational truths are a kind of veil or clothing to spiritual light, and since the tabernacle is described as to the veils which hung before the entrances, the significance of the rending of the veil of the temple at the time of the Lord's resurrection may be noted; namely, that it signified His entrance to, and union with, the Divine by a dispersing of all the appearances of truth which before had veiled His mind.

     Heaven and the human mind are of one structure, and so it comes to pass that, when we speak of the degrees of the human mind, we are at the same lime dealing with the corresponding planes of the heavens. The spheres of the one are the same as those of the other; and both are signified by the veils of the tabernacle, the first of which, dividing between the holy place and the holy of holies, represents those highest or inmost appearances which pertain to the angels of the supreme heaven.

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These appearances are signified by the "hyacinthine, the bright crimson, the double-dyed scarlet, and the fine twined linen," in which the red color represents the goods of love, and the white its truths.

     The second veil,-the hanging for the door of the tent,-represented like appearances, but of a lower order, in which are the angels of the second heaven, of whom, however, it is said that they "do not cohere so well together," and are not so heavenly as the former. And because these appearances of the second order look downward to natural things, it is recorded that the bases of the pillars upon which the veil was hung were made of brass instead of silver.

     The third veil,-the hanging for the door of the court,-represented appearances of a still lower order, such as pertain to the angels of the first or lowest heaven. Their difference is marked in the text of the Scripture by the fact that the pillars were not overlaid with gold, as in the first and second instances, but were filleted with silver, having also bases of brass. In other respects the description of the three veils is identical, and this because all these appearances are truths of heaven, each in their own degree; that is, they are forms adapted to receive and convey the light and heat of heaven, having been reduced to a just order and to correspondence therewith.

     Spiritual atmospheres, modified by the spheres emanating from spirits and angels, and as well from human minds, are the ground and basis of all rational appearances of truth. Men will marvel at this. But note the fact that only through appearances may truths be seen; so only through the atmosphere may light become visible. There is an actual correspondence here, not a mere similarity. Spiritual light and truth are identical; and what we have here called an "appearance of truth" is an actual spiritual medium, which makes a common cause with the atmosphere in which the mind exists. The function is the same; that is, of veiling, accommodating, transferring and adapting.

     On reflection, it may be known that rational appearances of truth constitute a certain mental sphere, through which, as a kind of medium, all things are seen or perceived by the mind of man.

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According to the state of this mental sphere, which varies greatly in accordance with the mood, both thought and feeling are largely determined; that is, they are perceived as happy or miserable. This sphere; in its totality, man makes or qualifies for himself by the life of his thoughts and affections while he lives in the world. After death it remains such as it has become, and it cannot be fundamentally changed. It may, indeed, be varied by a thousand changes of mood, but it remains uniquely itself, and in it the man ever after lives. It is an actual and most potent thing, and is formed of living substances. Every truth that is loved enters into its composition; so also every good that is done. Truths loved are real forms, mental forms, and are translucent. A mind composed of them is as a radiant image, a sphere of many colors. Falsities loved also enter. They are opaque, and darken the mind; and the sphere thereof is as a heavy cloud.

     It is as if man produced his own spiritual atmosphere; in truth, he only qualifies it. The substance of his mind-sphere is of the substance of heaven; it is good and truth flowing from the spiritual sun, like heat and light. The spirit or mind of man appropriates a portion of it, and qualifies that portion, even as every man appropriates a portion of the ocean of air around him. The spirit, by its animatory breathing, qualifies the surrounding medium, and this, as it were, produces his own characterized medium, which becomes individual to him. Yet, as said, this sphere in se is of the substance of heaven. This is even the case with those dark and dreadful spheres which invest the minds of evil spirits. Substantially they also are of a common heavenly origin, but so modified, so perverted, that the light of heaven can no longer penetrate them. Man's sphere is formed by the habitual mode of his thoughts and the persistent quality of his affections. He is continually forming his sphere. His mind is as a factory for its daily production. Each day he lives, its volume is somewhat enlarged and its quality somewhat modified. And according to its quality and extense, touch is given with spiritual societies in the other life,-good or bad, few or many.

     The heavens and the hells in their totality are but groupings of such spheres, ill accordance with a spiritual law of association which has regard, not only to the relations of angels and spirits to each other, but of both to men still living in the world.

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In this relation, sphere draws to itself like spheres with unerring certainty, and sometimes irresistible power.

     Men in the world, to a large degree, are also grouped socially according to the congeniality of sphere with sphere. This is desirable for many reasons, and especially because increased power is thereby imparted to the individual. We can consciously bring this about; that is, to a certain extent. In following the law of charity and the uses of life, we may enter into many and various group-spheres, and as well depart from them. The effect on the mind of such entrance and departure is often very marked, resulting at times in what appears to be a total change of state; so much so as to cause not a little concern.

     The supremely important sphere to be formed in the world is that which arises from spiritual associations,-the church. This sphere, if it is to be preserved in integrity, must be formed apart from others, and ever held distinct therefrom. Upon this its life depends. If it be commingled with other and adverse spheres, it will be destroyed. The law of distinctives is indeed true of all spheres, but it especially holds with those that are spiritual in origin.

     Man is so constructed,-so variously formed, if you please,-that he may enter as a component element into several different spheres, even as he touches life at many points. For his work may call him into very different walks, in which case his state will be a composite of many, and he can by no means be as distinctly individual as he comes to be in the other life. There his spiritual sphere, whatever its quality, is his all. Lower spheres, established in the world by uses and associations for natural ends, are dispersed. The spiritual alone remains; and in this, his true sphere, he abides. It is composed of his characterized "rational appearances of truth," which appearances, or the groundwork of them, are his own unique output.

     Associations by spheres in the natural world should be dictated by the law of charity and the uses of life. A man should attach himself to those persons, the service of whom he perceives, and to those uses, the good of which he regards from the love of them. It is rare that two persons can be permanently joined together in this life,-other than that implied in the conjugial union. It is not best that it should be so for certain spiritual reasons given, and this lest a condition should be produced not unlike that described in the Writings as the "friendship of love," which is apt to be harmful to both parties to the union.

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     Spheres of association, therefore, should not be so joined as not to allow of breaking in case of need. In this matter the use of life should govern; and a joining of spheres should be according to the performance of those uses. With regard to the persons of others, we are instructed to join with that which is best and of use in them. This is seen to be very important when we know the laws governing personal presences and joinings in the other life. For instance, we know that a man's or a spirit's idea of another is sometimes exercised as an abnormal and deleterious power. If a spirit has a certain idea of another, that other can appear to him only as qualified by that idea, and this even though it be a wrong idea. The same law works for good or evil in this world also. An idea of another, firmly held, has a constraining influence. It is a definite force brought to bear, constraining the other to fulfill that idea; and the impulse is to fulfill it unconsciously. Hence there is actually a blessing in a good idea of the neighbor, and a curse in an evil idea of him. Hence it is that men sometimes do or say things not natural to them when under the influence of an imposed idea. They are so influenced unconsciously, or only semiconsciously. This is especially the case when the sphere of the one imposing the idea is stronger. All are to some extent influenced in this way, but especially the weak and children. Lest children in heaven should thus be unduly influenced, they are trained to say "no" to mental suggestions. For this reason, also, it is well not to let the mind dwell too much upon what others think of us, or what we suppose they think. Fulfill our own idea of ourselves, not the idea imposed upon us by others, in so far as we may. This is to be free.

     On the other hand, the normal working of this law has its good results, its benefits and blessings. A man who observes the rule of spiritual charity, who regards what is best in others, and who joins himself to that best, looks upon another from the idea of his good, and in so doing becomes a force for good in his life. Thus most men will say in their hearts, "If you think well of me, I will do my best. If you think evil of me, I can only withdraw from you, in order that I may be myself, and carry out my own idea of life in freedom."

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A man, in the presence of another who has a fixed idea of him, is thereby constrained, especially if that idea has somewhat of criticism in it; he cannot act out his own disposition freely, cannot quite be himself. When in the presence of such an idea, one must either yield to it, resist it, or retire. If he yields, as sometimes happens, then, as said, he gives reactions that are false to his true disposition. The power of mind with mind is thus clearly demonstrated, and as well the need, the uses, and the benefits of thinking well of the neighbor. In this we are all more or less sensitive. And so, when one says that he cares not what others may think or say of him, he is not so much stating a fact as giving expression to a spirit of defiance.

     The influence of mind on mind is always a positive force; so also the contact of sphere with sphere always results in some mutual modification for good or ill. Hence care should be observed in the matter of evil communications. They tend to corrupt, while good associations bless. This also is the ground of a distinctive spiritual or church sphere, the need of which we realize in some measure. In the other life, man's sphere soon becomes clear and determined; in it he abides, never to depart. It is necessary to him, and he to it. It is as the very atmosphere which he breathes; nor can he think, breathe, or live freely in any other sphere. Those who are joined with him in a common society sphere also ever remain his neighbors; he holds his good and his life in common with them. It thus comes to pass that a spiritual society has a very defined group-life, as well as a common sphere suitable to all therein, as that of a larger individual. It is a tempered medium and a common veiling; everything that enters that sphere is adapted to all who are there. It is as the veil of their tabernacle.

     A spiritual society, with its common sphere, has a greater awareness than that possessed by the total of its units, and this because of its group-life. This is a spiritual law of enlargement. The individual adds something to the whole, but receives more than he gives. The individual, therefore, qualifies less than he is qualified. He apperceives as if according to his own aptitude, but more truly sees and feels according to the state of the larger group of which he is a part. Hence spiritual phenomena in the other life are all determined according to the state of societies, or according to the quality of the common society veiling.

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     In this connection, note the effect of a, spirit passing from one society to another. How great it is! So with man in the world, the effect of a change of the society in which his spirit dwells is so marked upon the mind of the man that it is tantamount to a change of faith. Such is the power of environment,-spiritual environment. Fortunately, it is more powerful than heredity. If it were not so, man could not be regenerated.

     It is especially by this spiritual environment, and by changes therein, that the Lord operates to save man; that is, by and through the veil that is cast about the man's mind. Upon this the Lord operates by a myriad unseen modes,-by changes from one spiritual society to another, of which the man has no conscious knowledge. We perceive this Divine operation upon us obscurely and dully as changes of mood; and we are given to know but little more than that the Lord is so working with and upon us, and that we, for the most part; are working against Him.

     Truly spheres are powerful things! But they require a natural base,-something of organic order or disorder, even as a house to dwell in; else will they disperse. A great part of our duty is to provide such suitable footholds for them, even as we would provide a house for the worship of the Lord, in order that the sphere of Divine worship may find a permanent lodgment, a place of its very own, for its undisturbed abiding. Amen.

     Lessons: I Kings 8:1-21; 22-53; 54-61. A. C. 9670.

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TOPICS FROM THE WRITINGS 1925

TOPICS FROM THE WRITINGS        W. F. PENDLETON       1925

     XXIV.

"They Rest Not Day and Night."

     It is said of the four animals or cherubim (Rev. 4:8), that "they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." These words, in their inmost sense, treat of the Divine Providence of the Lord, which "never rests or ceases to eternity." (A. E. 285.) This truth, like all universal truths, appears in the literal sense of the Word, as also in the human body, and in nature generally. In the Word, in many passages such as this: " Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep." (Psalm 121:4.) In the human body, in all its operations, as in the case of the cerebellum. When the body is at rest at night the cerebrum sleeps, but never the cerebellum (A. C. 1977:2, S. D. 3183), restoring, refreshing, and invigorating. In this we see even a physical fulfilment of the words, "He giveth His beloved in sleep." (Psalm 127:2.) The heart, under the reign of the cerebellum, performs a similar office, never suspending its work until the body yields up its life. In nature, the same perpetual activity appears, as in the atmospheres, and in the sun itself. It may be said of the sun, as representing the Lord, that it "neither slumbers nor sleeps." It does not always so appear, even as with the Divine operation of the Lord. The sun does not always shine; yet it does shine nevertheless, even ii not seen by the eye of man or beast. The air and the ether are ever active, resting not day nor night. We are not conscious of the labors of the cerebellum, but it never halts in its work. We are not always aware of the beating of the heart, but it beats and continues to beat even to the end.

     All these works of nature are distinguished representatives of that perpetual Providence of the Lord in its unceasing guard, protection, and presence, never absent, and which "never rests or ceases to eternity."

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The Fate of Man if the Lord Had Not Come.

     Revelation teaches the supreme necessity for the coming of the Lord; also for the giving of the Word, and for the establishment of the church. If these three things had not taken place, especially if the Lord had not come, all mankind would have perished, and no man would now be living on the earth; even heaven itself would have been destroyed. In order, therefore, that heaven might exist, and men continue to live on earth, the Lord came into the world, and provided the Word, in which there is Divine Truth for angels and men, to be ever present with them in its mighty saving power. Without this, no human life, either in heaven or on earth, could have been preserved. (A. C. 10452.) For if the Lord does not effect His coming, the church perishes, and likewise all mankind, fulfilling the words of the prophet; "I beheld the earth, and lo, it was without form and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they were commoved, and the hills were overturned. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled." (Jeremiah 4:23-25.) We have in these words of Jeremiah a prophetic picture of what would happen to men in both worlds, if the Lord had not come to rescue and to save, by subduing the hells, by revealing His Word, and establishing His church. Nothing else could have prevented the total extinction of all spiritual and natural life.

The Human Race Would Have Perished.

     The following numbers exhibit, in the language of the Writings, what would have been the fate of man.

     "Unless the Lord had come into the world, the whole human race on this earth would have perished." (A. C. 636, 637.)

     "Unless the. Lord, by His coming in the flesh, had freed the world of spirits from that wicked crew [the Antediluvian] the human race would have perished." (A. C. 1266.)

     "It is an eternal truth, that unless the Lord had come into the world, and by means of temptations admitted into Himself, had subdued and overcome the hells, the human race would have perished." (A. C. 1676.)

     "Of necessity there must be communication of heaven with man, in order that the human race may subsist, and this by means of the church; for otherwise men would become like beasts, . . . . and everyone would hasten without restraint to accomplish the destruction of the others." (A. C. 4545:7.)

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     "It was declared to me from heaven that the human race on this earth would have perished, so that not one man would have existed at this day, unless the Lord had come, . . . and assumed the human, and made it Divine." (L. J. 10.)

     "Unless the Lord had come, the . . . heavens formed of the inhabitants of this earth would have been transferred elsewhere, and the whole human race on the earth would have perished in eternal death." (A. E. 726:7)

     Finally, without the coming of the Lord, and the preservation of the human race thereby, the earth itself would have been dissolved; for "the angels said that an earth cannot subsist without the human race, because the Divine provides all things on an earth for the sake of man." (A. C. 9237. See also A. C. 468, 2025, 2853, 9276:7, W. H. 305a.)

The Body of the Lord in the Sepulcher.

     In the literal sense of the Word, and in the Writings, the teaching is, that the body of the Lord was not disposed of in the same manner as takes place in the case of every man. That His body was not seen in the sepulchre, neither by the disciples, nor by the women, after it had been laid away, is the testimony of the four Gospels. (Matt. 28:6. Mark 16:6. Luke 24:3, 6. John 20:2, 12, 13, 15.) The testimony of the Writings on this point is also clear and distinct, as follows:

     "The Lord made Divine all that was human with Him, . . . which may appear to everyone from this, that the Lord alone rose from the dead as to the body." (A. C. 2083.)

     "The Lord made the very corporeal in Himself Divine; . . . therefore also He rose again from the sepulchre with His body. (A. C. 5078:2.)

     "No man rises again in the body with which he was clothed in the world; but the Lord so arose, because He glorified His body, or made it Divine, while He was in the world." (A. C. 5078:6.)

     "The Lord took up into heaven all His Human glorified, . . . and left nothing of it in the sepulchre. . . .

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He glorified the body itself, even to its ultimates, which are the bones and flesh." (A. C. 10125:4.)

     "The Lord put on a human and glorified it . . . even to ultimates, that is, even to the flesh and bones. . . . He left nothing of His body in the sepulcher." (A. E. 41.)

     "Therefore He arose again, not only as to the soul, but also as to the body, which He glorified in the world, differently from any man. On this subject He also instructed the disciples, saying, 'Handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have.'" (A. C. 2073:8.)

     In these passages, and in several others, the appearance is that the material body of the Lord was changed or transformed into what is Divine, although this is not actually said. (See also A. C. 1082:5, 1082:6. D. L. W. 221. T. C. R. 170, A. E. 66, 1087.)

What Became of the Substances of the Lord's Body.

     In the extracts, as quoted in the preceding article, the evidence is complete that the Lord rose with a body whole and entire, and left nothing in the tomb, as is the case with every man. But a further consideration is presented in what now follows:

     "The Lord did not transmute the human nature from the mother into the Divine Essence, nor commix it with it. . . . Hence He put off the human from the mother, which in itself was like the human of another man, and thus material, and put on a Human from the Father, which in itself was like His Divine, and thus substantial from which the Human also was made Divine. . . . Therefore, after death He rose again on the third day with the whole Body, which is not the case with any man; for a man rises again only as to the spirit, but not as to the body... Since His Body was not now material, but Divine substantial, He therefore came to the disciples while the doors were shut (John 20:19), and after He had been seen He became invisible. (Luke 24:31.)" (Doct. Lord. 35.)

     In the treatise on the Athanasian Creed, we have this teaching:

     "That the Lord put off all the material in the sepulcher, and rising thence, glorified Himself, and therefore He died; . . . for in the sepulcher all that was material was to be dissipated." (No. 161.)

     Again, "That the Lord in the sepulcher, thus by death, rejected all the human from the mother and dissipated it, . . . and assumed a Human from the Father." (No. 162. See also 192.)

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Meaning of the Words Transmute, Dissipate, and Reject.

     In the passage quoted above from the Doctrine of the Lord (no. 35), it is said that the Lord did not transmute the nature from the mother into the Divine Essence, nor commix it with it, but that from material it was made Divine Substantial; and in the two passages quoted from the Athanasian Creed, it is said that the material body of the Lord was dissipated in the sepulcher, and rejected. Let us endeavor to see what is meant by the terms transmuted, dissipated, rejected, and Divine Substantial.

     To transmute (transmutare) signifies "to change, turn, convert, alter." In English, from the Latin, it is " to change from one nature, form, or substance, into another; to transform; to change into a different substance," that is, from that in which it was before. "It was used by the alchemists to signify the conversion of base metals into gold or silver." Thus a change from one substance to another entirely different.*
     * Swedenborg was familiar with the teachings of the alchemists, and so used the term transmute with a full understanding of its meaning.

     To dissipate (dissipare) signifies "to scatter, disperse, destroy, drive away." In English, to dissipate signifies "to scatter completely, to disperse and cause to disappear, used especially of things that can never again he collected or restored. To cause to vanish." It may be remarked that the term dissipate occurs about one hundred times in the Writings* and in every instance it is used in the sense above indicated.
     * According to the Potts Concordance.

     To reject (rejicere) is also used (in Ath. 161) in connection with dissipate, signifying to cast off, refuse, and so to throw away as of no further use.

     Divine Substantial (L. 35). The substances of the spiritual world are not material but substantial, spiritual substantial, the latter a discrete degree more real than what is material. But infinitely more real are those substances called Divine Substantial, the substances of the Divine Body of the Lord. After, or as, what was material in His merely human body had been rejected, dispersed, dissipated in the sepulcher, we are told (L. 35) that "the Lord put on a Human from the Father," that is, a Divine Body from the Divine Substance of the Father, the material body from the mother being dispersed, dissipated, thrown away as of no further use.

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The Divine Human After the Glorification.

     Since it is directly stated that, in the final act of glorification, which took Place in the sepulcher, "the Lord put off the human from the mother, which in itself was like the human of another man, and thus material, and put on a Human from the Father, which in itself was like His Divine, and thus substantial; . . . and that, since His Body was not now material, but Divine Substantial, He therefore came to His disciples when the door was shut, and after He had been seen, He became invisible." Hence there was nothing in His Human after glorification, nothing in His Divine Body, even to its ultimates, that was from Mary the mother; it was all put away in the sepulcher, removed, rejected, scattered, dispersed, dissipated, even to the very flesh and bones; and what was Divine from the Father wholly and altogether teak the place of what was material from the mother, even to its very flesh and bones. It cannot therefore be said in any sense that there was anything retained from the human derived from the mother. And when it is said that the Lord rose with His whole body, it means that He rose with a Divine Body which had been taken on from the Father, and which had taken the place wholly and altogether of the material flesh and bones, which He had from the mother, from nature, and from the material world. He was now, as to His Divine Human Body, above all things of His creation, and at the same time below all things of it. And it is thus that He is called in Scripture the "First and the Last," or the Highest and the Lowest. And He embraces all things of creation between His First and His Last, or between His Highest and His Lowest, which could not have been the case if the least Particle of His material body had been retained in the sepulcher.

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SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON NOTES 1925

SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON NOTES              1925

     LESSON NO. 19. THE DEATH OF AHAB. (I Kings 22:1-40.)

     Analysis:
Ahab obtains the help of Jehoshaphat           ch. 22:1-4
Jehoshaphat asks for a word from the Lord           : 5, 7
The king's prophets prophesy success           : 6, 10-12
Micaiah, prophet of the Lord, is brought           : 7-9, 13-14
He foretells the death of Ahab                : 15-23
He is mocked and imprisoned                : 24-2 8
The attack upon Ramoth-Gilead                :29-36
Ahab, though disguised, is slain                :30, 34-35
A prophecy fulfilled                          : 37-40

     Although, in the war three years before, Israel had regained much of the country east of the Jordan (Lesson 17), the important town of Ramoth in Gilead was still held by the Syrians. (This was perhaps at Reimun, 18 miles east of Jordan, and 6 miles north of the Jabbok.) In making this attack, Ahab broke his covenant with the King of Damascus; therefore, that King held no enmity toward Jehoshaphat or any others in the attacking armies, but only toward Ahab. (Vs. 31-33.) The arch-enemy being killed, the whole attack must fail. (Vs. 34-36.) The prophecy of a successful attack upon Ramoth was fulfilled in the days of Jeroboam II, about 75 years later. Ahab is everywhere shown to have been an evil king, but he wished to appear good; thus he was hypocritical. He surrounded himself with many prophets who pretended to speak from the Lord; he was unwilling in his heart to consult the Word of the Lord, or His true prophet. He disguised himself, so as to avoid the lust wrath of Ben-Hadad the King of Syria. Jehoshaphat was a good king (vs. 43), and the quality of good is plainly shown in his persistent will to know from the Lord the genuine truth of the matter in hand. (Compare I Samuel 23:2, 4, 2 Samuel 2:1, Deut. 17:18-20.)

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     Ahab seeking to take Ramoth-Gilead represents the desire of the evil to gain control of all external things of religion for the sake of self. It is a truth that the external man (the country beyond Jordan) should be subordinate to the internal man (Israel and Judah); but not when the internal is ruled by self-love. Jehoshaphat represents the genuine good of the church, which is persuaded that the external must be subdued; but genuine good wishes to perceive this truth from the Lord, and therefore demands to hear the word of His prophet. Self-love is willing to fight against evils in the external for the sake of appearances; but internal good wills to shun them as sins against the Lord. The four hundred prophets, of whom Zedekiah was chief, represent reasonings from appearances; these are falsities conjoined with evil, signified by the number four hundred. They only wished to please the evil king. (See vs. 13) Micaiah represents the interior and genuine truth of the Word, which is hated and feared by the evil, but which must be consulted, for otherwise the good (Jehoshaphat) will be alienated; yet, so far as it can, evil imprisons this truth, so that it may not be seen. Internal truth also teaches that externals are to be subdued and subordinated, but it shows further that the real purpose is that evil or self-love may be removed from the internal man. (Vs. 20.)

     The iron horns of Zedekiah were to be worn on the head, and were to show that Ahab is battle would be as an infuriated bull. They represented the seeming power of reasonings based on external appearances,-reasonings that seem to be natural truth.

     Elijah had prophesied that the dogs would lick up the blood of Ahab (ch. 21:19). This signified the damnation into which Ahab came after death, and, interiorly, that evil love, self-love, is damnable in itself, and profane.

     LESSON NO. 20. ELIJAH GOES TO HEAVEN. (2 Kings 2:1-18.)

     Analysis:
Elijah, with Elisha, goes down to the Jordan          ch. 2:1-6
Miraculous crossing of the river                :7-8
Elisha asks for a double portion of Elijah's spirit      : 9-10
Elisha sees Elijah taken up                    : 11-12
Elisha recrosses the river                     : 13-15
Search for the body of Elijah                    : 16-18

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     Follow the last journey of Elijah on the map. There are several places in Palestine that were called Gilgal. The one from which Elijah and Elisha set forth was quite likely that which lies about seven miles north of Bethel, in the heart of Mt. Ephraim. Note the undeviating loyalty of Elisha in following his master. This signifies loyalty to the Lord in His Divine Revelation, and was a fundamental part of Elisha's inauguration into his new use, as it must always be for any use that looks to the church and heaven.

     This record of the passing of Elijah has often been taken to mean that he was taken into heaven without dying as to the body. (See also what is said about Enoch. (Genesis 5:22-24; Heb. 11:5) But that is not what is meant; for the physical body of every man must be put off or die, if he is going to be raised to life in heaven. (See D. P. 3243.) This was really a revelation to Elisha of the fact of resurrection. All that occurred on the other side of the river was seen in the spiritual world; and there, of course, nothing of death could be seen. Only the spirit of Elijah,-the man himself,-appeared; and Elisha, with his spiritual eyes, saw him carried up into heaven. As to the body, the Lord provided that it should not he found.

     This ascension without any trace of the body being found was also prophetic representation of the Lord's resurrection, (Matt. 28:6-7, Mark 16:6, Luke 24: 3, 5, John 20:2, 6, 7) Remember that Elijah represented the Lord as to the Word. (A. C. 2762:2, 3703:8.) But only the Lord arose from the grave with His whole body.

     The falling of the mantle from Elijah signified that he no longer was the representative of the Lord in the prophetic office, but now Elisha continues the office and the representation; wherefore he takes up the mantle, and it becomes his own. He was at once acknowledged, (vs. 15) as a prophet, and the leader of the "Sons of the Prophets."

     The River Jordan was the boundary of the Land of Canaan, and therefore signified initiation into heaven and the church, and thus into spiritual life. (T. C. R. 510, 677; A. C. 901:4.) Elijah was introduced into heaven by this crossing. Elisha was (first) introduced into the spiritual world by having his spiritual eyes opened, and (second) initiated into his use as prophet. Baptism, which is a washing with water, has the same meaning.

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Hence John, when he was preparing the way of the Lord, baptized the people in the River Jordan (Mark 1:2-5), and the Lord, before He began to teach the people, caused Himself to be initiated into the work by baptism. (Mark 1:9-11; Matt. 3:13-17)

     But baptism or washing also signifies the removal of evils and falsities; for to have the spiritual eye opened is to see truth, and to teach truth is to remove falsities, while to shun evils is really to begin a heavenly life. Hence by the waters being divided and driven back is meant evil and falsity removed, while the blow of the mantle signifies the power of Divine Truth against the hells. (See A. C. 42554, A. E. 3954)

     LESSON NO. 21. ELISHA'S FIRST WORKS AS PROPHET. (I Kings 19:19-21. 2 Kings 2:19-25.)

     Analysis:
Ejlisha's Divine appointment               I Kings 19:16
Elisha attends Elijah                    : 19-21
Elisha heals the waters of Jericho          2 Kings 2:19-22.
The mocking children punished           : 23-24
Elisha goes to Carmel and Samaria           : 25

     Elisha now becomes the leading character in the story, and it should be reviewed as to how the Lord commanded Elijah to find him, and to make him the next great prophet by anointing, and how Elisha was found, and, being called, followed Elijah. His faithful attendance is further shown in 2 Kings 2:2, 4, 6. But now that Elijah has gone to heaven, Elisha remains to be the Lord's prophet on earth. He was at once acknowledged when he returned from the Jordan (2:1, 5) And he enters upon his work. He tarried at Jericho for at least three days. (2:17-18.) The Plain of Jericho is arid, but very fruitful when it can be irrigated; but many springs of mater are so impregnated with minerals as to do more harm than good if used on the land.

     Jericho, being in the valley and near the Jordan, signifies the natural of man which first receives the truths of the Word with the delight of knowing, on which account it is called "pleasant." But there is no regeneration, because all the truths of the Word have been separated from good and perverted into false doctrine. This destroys the church; the land is barren.

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Salt represents the desire to live according to the truth. Salt gives savor to food, because it joins together things that have been separated. That desire will join truths and goods together, and so make spiritual things to grow and be fruitful in the life. And, for the sake of those who have that desire, the Lord cleanses the understanding, and fills it with pure doctrine. (See A. C. 9207, 9325:9, 10300.)

     The "little children" here must not be taken to mean those who are very small, but rather such as are old enough to know better. The Hebrew words may mean boys, and even youths. Here was the outward evil of disrespect for one older and wiser than themselves. (Compare Exod. 21:15, 17; Lev. 19:32, 20:9.) To this was added impiety and blasphemy, as the prophet was the representative of the Lord and His Word. Hence the children represent those who have contempt for the Word. For example, some say that the Word only tells about things that happened long ago, and that this is of no use now; some think that the truth of religion is to be acquired by each man from himself; wherefore they care nothing for any written Revelation; they treat it with disrespect, and do not wish to understand it. The Word can be understood and obeyed by all-by the wise wisely, and by the simple simply. But if people have contempt, they cannot understand anything that the Lord would teach them. Thus they are cut off from the protective sphere of heaven, and the hells enter with evils and falsities to destroy all spiritual life. We may note that the children came from Bethel,-one of the places where Jeroboam had set up idols to attract the people away from the worship of the Lord at Jerusalem. (2 Kings 12:25-33) Hence the teaching and environment was such as to encourage and confirm such contempt and blasphemy. To call Elisha "bald" signifies to deny that there is any truth in the Word. The words "go up" seem to have been a taunt, referring to the ascension of Elijah, which, of course, would have been reported everywhere. (See A. C. 3301, end; A. R. 5731 end; T. C. R. 223.)

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ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS 1925

ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS       Various       1925

     COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY.

     BRYN ATHYN, PA., FEBRUARY 3-6, 1925.

     The 29th Annual Meeting of the Council of the Clergy included our morning sessions, one evening public session, and three afternoon joint meetings with the General Faculty of the Schools of the Academy. In attendance at the Council were 21 Ministers, 2 Authorized Candidates and 3 Theological Students. The presence of the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal, of London, and of the Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner, so recently returned from South Africa, afforded an opportunity to hear first-hand accounts of the progress of the Church in lands across the sea.

     Among the subjects claiming the attention of the Council, a phase of the Doctrine of the Lord was introduced by Bishop W. F. Pendleton with a paper on "The Body of the Lord in the Sepulcher." His treatment of this subject will be published among his "Topics from the Writings" in the present and future issues of NEW CHURCH LIFE. The Rev. T. S. Harris read a paper dealing with the question, "Should we Offer Prayers on Behalf of the Departed?" and this also will shortly appear in print. Other subjects considered were: "The Rite of Confirmation," "Sunday School Lessons," and a "Conference of Elementary School Teachers."

     The Council learned with pleasure that the Rev. Alfred Acton had finished his book entitled An Introduction to the Study of the Hebrew Word, and that it is now in print. A copy in the form of printer's proofs was exhibited during the meetings.

     The Rev. William Whitehead, addressing a public session on the subject of "The Council of Nicea, 325 A.D.," gave a large and attentive audience a stirring and graphic account of that event, which he illustrated with stereopticon views of great interest. The recent ceremonies at Rome, inaugurating the Year of Jubilee for Catholics by the opening of the Holy Door of the Basilica of Constantine in the Vatican, served to recall the part played by Constantine in that tragic drama which marked a fatal turning-point in the early Christian Church.

164


Mr. Whitehead brought vividly before us the historical setting, both ecclesiastical and civil, and the leading actors upon the stage of the time,-"Pope" Alexander, Arius, Athanasius, and Constantine,-and dwelt upon the theological and spiritual values involved, shedding new light upon statements made in the Writings concerning the Council of Nice and what took place there.
COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY AND GENERAL FACULTY. 1925

COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY AND GENERAL FACULTY.              1925

     Three afternoons were devoted to joint sessions of ministers and teachers, with fifty names on the roll of attendance, a large proportion being present at all three sessions. The Rev. L. W. T. David read a paper on the subject of "King Hezekiah"-an exhaustive study of the historical setting of the period, and depicting the part played by the Prophets of the Lord. Mr. Wilfred Howard, in his paper on "Some Educational Problems of a 'Scientific Age,'" painted the conditions of the present-day learned world in their true colors, as they are seen by the scholar and teacher of the New Church whose vision is not clouded by the permeation idea. The Rev. Alfred Acton gave an extemporaneous address on "Sensation and Spiritual Place," carrying his hearers into the realm of spiritual phenomena and the operations of the human mind. All three addresses were appreciatively received and commented upon in the remarks following them, and we trust they may shortly appear in print. Mr. Acton's subject provoked an animated discussion which continued for two hours in the Faculty Room when we had adjourned there for tea. The debate brought forth a variety of opinion, but was characterized withal by a pleasant spirit which recognized that the underlying constitution and modus operandi of the spiritual world offers many problems, upon the solution of which no one can as yet afford to speak with finality. And there was gratifying evidence of a common effort to approach these problems in a humble attitude of seeking for ever greater light upon them.

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JOINT COUNCIL 1925

JOINT COUNCIL       W. B. CALDWELL       1925

     BRYN ATHYN, PA., FEBRUARY 7, 1925.

     First Session-10.00 a. m.

     1. The meeting opened with worship conducted by the Bishop.

     2. There were present:

     OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY:
Bishop N. D. Pendleton, Presiding; Bishop Emeritus W. F. Pendleton. Revs. Alfred Acton, K. R. Alden, W. H. Alden, R. W. Brown, W. B. Caldwell, K. G. Cranch, L. W. T. David; C. E. Doering, F. E. Gyllenhaal, T. S. Harris, Henry Heinrichs, E. E. Iungerich, H. L. Odhner, Enoch S. Price, G. H. Smith, Homer Synnestvedt, F. E. Waelchli, and William Whitehead. Total, 20.

     OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:
Mr. Raymond Pitcairn, Vice President; Mr. Geoffrey S. Childs, Secretary; Mr. B. Hyatt, Treasurer; Dr. F. A. Boericke; Messrs. E. C. Bostock, R. W. Childs, A. P. Lindsay, S. S. Lindsay, A. E. Nelson, and H. F. Pitcairn. Total, 10.

     3. The Secretary read the Minutes of the 31st Meeting, which, on motion, were approved as read.

     4. The Secretary of the General Church then presented his Annual Report:

     REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH.
During the year 1924, 60 new members were received. Deducting 19 deaths, the net increase for the year was 41. As the total membership at the end of 1923 was 1737, this net increase of 41 brings the total at the end of 1924 to 1778 members.

     Geographically, the 60 new members received during 1924 were distributed as follows:

United States               31
Canada                8
South America          8
England                5
South Africa               2
Sweden                3
Belgium               1
Holland               2
                    60

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     NEW MEMBERS

     JANUARY 1, 1924 TO DECEMBER 31, 1924

     A. IN THE UNITED STATES.

     Los Angeles, California.
General Joseph Wampler Vance

     Chicago, Illinois.
Miss Vivian Irma Curtis
Mr. Theodore Robert Farrington
Mr. Victor Jeremiah Gladish
Miss Chrystal Gunsteens
Mr. George Rex
Miss Ruth Clara Sonneborn
Miss Muriel May Sturnfield
Mr. George Knight Thompson
Mr. Olmsted Van Epps
Miss Katherine Weirbach

     Franklin Pork, Illinois.
Mr. William Harold Taylor

     New York City, N. Y.
Mrs. C. C. Halliday

     Cincinnati, Ohio.
Miss Cora Merrell

     Middleport, Ohio.
Mr. Ferry Armstrong Thomas

     Pomeroy, Ohio.
Mr. Clarence Elmer Hart
Mrs. Clarence Elmer Hart

     Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Lester Asplundh
Miss Edith Dorothy Bancroft
Miss Margaret Pendleton Cooper
Mr. Malcolm Edmond de Chazal
Mr. Eldric Samuel Klein
Miss Eunice Price
Miss Elaine Smith
Mr. Winfred Alan Smith

     Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Guernsey A. Hallowell
Mrs. Guernsey A. Hallowell
Mr. Lucas Sherzinger
Mrs. Lucas Sherzinger

     Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Miss Ruth Schoenberger

     Washington, D. C.
Mr. Philip Archibald Eustace Stebbing

     B. IN CANADA.

     Kitchener, Ontario.
Miss Alberta Laurina Doering

     Toronto, Canada.
Mrs. Fred H. Bellinger
Mr. Earl Wilmot Carter
Mrs. Earl Wilmot Carter
Mr. William Henry Carter
Mrs. William Henry Carter
Mrs. Mabel Keith Douglas
Miss Mary Lewis

     C. IN SOUTH AMERICA.

     Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Snr. Jose da Costa
Snra. Jose da Costa
Snr. Jose Augusto da Silva
Snra. Jose Augusto da Silva
Snr. Jose Rosa da Silva, Jr.
Snr. Antonio Augusto Moreira
Snr. Armando de Sousa Silva
Srta. Regina Vicente

     D. IN ENGLAND.

     London.
Mrs. A. H. Gallico
Miss Kathleen Millicent Robinson

     Great Saling.
Miss Winifred Everett.

     Bristol.
Mr. Imlah Dawson
Mrs. Imlah Dawson

     E. IN SOUTH AFRICA.

     Durban, Natal.
Miss Joan Braby
Miss Doris Adeline Ridgway

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     F. IN SWEDEN.

     Stockholm.
Miss Agnes Theresa Charlotta Engstedt
Mr. Tore Emil Loven
Miss Eva Sandstrom

     G. IN BELGIUM.

     Brussels.
Mr. Eugene Jean Louis Defillee

     H. IN HOLLAND.

     The Hague.
Miss Wilhelmina Sophia Pool

     Scheveningen.
Miss Jeanne Catherine van der Feen

     DEATHS.

Mrs. Elise N. Grigg, Toledo, Ohio, January 2, 1924
Mrs. Jacoba Sodderland, Scheveningen, Holland, January 22, 1924
Mrs. Sarah E. Dibb, Denver, Colorado, February, 1924
Mr. Henry W. Weavings, London, England, February 4, 1924
Mrs. Ferdinand Doering, Milverton, Ontario, Canada, February 14, 1924
Miss Annie Faulkner Potts, Bryn Athyn, Pa., March 4, 1924
Mr. Henry S. Jones, Hornsby, N. S. W., Australia, April 17, 1924
Mr. Lewis Wunderlin, Columbiana, Ohio, May 19, 1924
Mr. Anton D. Sorensen, Spokane, Washington, July 19, 1924
Mr. Olmsted Van Epps, Custer Park, Ill., July 21, 1924
Judge Lewis Grant Dill, Columbus, Ohio, July 26, 1924
Miss Hilma J. C. Hartman, Stockholm, Sweden, August 10, 1924
Rev. Joseph S. David, Kitchener, Ontario Canada, August 21, 1924
Srta. Laura Sarmanho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, September 8, 1924
Miss Mary Jean Drynan, Sewickley, Pa., September 25, 1924
Miss Mary Snyder, Bryn Athyn, Pa., October 24, 1924
Snr. Armando de Sousa Silva, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, November 22, 1924
Miss Laura E. Ziegler, Philadelphia, Pa., November 29, 1924
Mr. William Evens, Penatanguishene, Ontario, Canada, December 9, 1924

     Respectfully submitted,
          W. B. CALDWELL,
               Secretary.

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     5. The Secretary then presented the following:

     REPORT OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY.

     The Roll of the Council of the Clergy now includes 2 Bishops, 30 Pastors, and 3 Ministers. In addition, there are 3 Pastors pending ordination, 2 Authorized Candidates, and I Minister in Basutoland. The Council lost one member during the year by the death of the Rev. J. S. David. The 29th annual meeting of the Council began its sessions on February 3d, with 21 Members, 2 Candidates and 3 Theological Students in attendance.

     Pastoral changes during 1924 affected three societies of the General Church. The Rev. K. R. Alden resigned as Pastor of the Olivet Church, Toronto, to accept, on September 1st, an engagement with the Academy of the New Church as Principal of the Boys' Academy and House Master of Stuart Hall. The Rev. H. L. Odhner accepted a call to become Pastor at Toronto, and entered upon his duties there on December 31st. The Rev. Theodore Pitcairn accepted a call to the pastorate of the Durban Society, and began his duties there in November, upon his return from a year's sojourn in America.

     The Bishop has received annual reports from all but two of the ministers, and these show that the rites and sacraments have been performed as follows: Baptisms 120 (South African Natives 18 in addition), Holy Supper 174, Confession of Faith 22, Betrothals 9, Marriages to, Funerals 30, Church Dedications 3.

     The following facts of general interest are selected from the reports:

     Bishop N. D. Pendleton presided at District Assemblies held in Bryn Athyn, Toronto, Pittsburgh, London and Glenview, and at Local Assemblies in New York, Baltimore and Stockholm. Episcopal visits were made to Philadelphia, Washington, Kitchener, Cincinnati, Chicago, Toronto, Paris, Brussels, The Hague, and Colchester. While at Colchester, he dedicated the new church building erected by the society there. He received Messrs. Alan Gill and Elmo Acton as Candidates for the Ministry.

     Rev. Alfred Acton states that services were held in New York on 43 Sundays, and that the activities of the society include a class for ladies in the principles of Swedenborg's philosophy, a men's class studying the Worship and Love of God, a general doctrinal class once a month followed by a supper, and a recently organized class for young men at which the subject of Conjugial Love will be considered.

     In Washington, D. C., services were held g times during the year, and the Bishop's visit for an Assembly in May was particularly enjoyed.

     Mr. Acton further states that he has now completed a work entitled An Introduction to the Study of the Hebrew Word, which aims to provide a textbook, and also to present the teachings of the Writings on the subject. The book has been accepted for publication by the Academy of the New Church, and is now in type.

169




     Rev. Gustaf Baeckstrom reports that the Stockholm Society has received four new members during the year, two of these being from among the children of the society who have come of age,-the first growth in membership from this source. He has not been able to devote much time to missionary work, as he has been engaged in the preparation of a new book of instruction for the children. This is now in print, the means for its publication having been furnished by an institution called "providentia-stiftelsen" connected with the society, whose aim is to promote New Church education. A fund has gradually accumulated, and this book is the first result of these endeavors toward a New Church school.

     Rev. Walter E. Brickman has continued to assist the Pastor of the Pittsburgh Society, preaching four times during the year, but has given up his work as Superintendent of the Sunday School.

     Rev. W. L. Gladish reports a prosperous and happy year in Sharon Church, Chicago, which has gained 16 new members. The society has been able to pay off $1,000 of the cost of its new home. The attendance taxes the capacity of the rooms almost every Sunday. A Sunday dinner is held once a month, followed by doctrinal class; this in addition to a monthly Friday supper and class. The young people's fortnightly supper and class keeps up with a good interest and an attendance of about 15.

     Rev. T. S. Harris made three visits to New England during the year, and spent July and August at Abington, Mass., where services were held every Sunday. He received and accepted an invitation to preach a Thanksgiving sermon in the Methodist Church at Arbutus, Md., considering it an opportunity to do missionary work among the people of that community. The sermon delivered was of such a nature as to awaken thought concerning Jesus Christ as the only God, but no results are as yet manifest. The joint Assembly of the Washington and Baltimore Societies was a great inspiration to both, and it is the hope that another may be called during the coming year.

     Rev. Fernand Hussenet has recently baptized a family of four residing in the north of France, and the parents have been received into the membership of the General Church.

     Rev. Richard Morse states that the services and classes in Hurstville, which is nine miles from Sydney, are advertized in the local and Sydney newspapers, and this has attracted strangers to the meetings, though without any increase in membership so far. "The Sunday School," he writes, "is an interesting work, and many children have passed through it, gaining a knowledge of the Lord which may operate in later years. The spiritual results may be joyfully anticipated, but those who sow the seeds may never see the fruit. The light of the New Age affords numerous facilities which minister to the love of the world, and when children are not trained in the homes, the seductive influences upon their natural loves outweigh the influence of sound weekly instruction. In addition, there are the spheres of atheism, materialism and a false Christianity, which form a sort of compound in the public schools. . . .

170


I look forward to that future time when the whole of the children's instruction and education will be in the Church." At present the Sunday School numbers 29, with an average attendance of 13

     Rev. Hugo Lj Odhner, reporting as Pastor of the Durban Society, states that services were held every Sunday in the year, with 25 services for children besides. The Wednesday doctrinal classes covered the Canons of the New Church, and concluded with a series of nine lectures on Mythology A Tuesday morning class for ladies studied The Earths in the Universe. The children's classes on Friday afternoons were discontinued after September, because nearly all of the pupils attend the New Church Day School, which is being satisfactorily maintained under the direction of Miss Champion Social suppers were held monthly, and advertized evening services on the first Sunday of the month. Acting for the Bishop, he dedicated the beautiful church building erected by the society, and the attendance at services has largely increased since that event. The society has developed socially and in other cooperative ways during the year, and now finds itself carrying on most of the uses of a church.

     As to the Native Missions in South Africa, Mr Odhner reports that he continued to act as Superintendent of the Zulu Mission at Durban, and, owing to the pressing need, had prepared a brief Catechism for translation into Zulu, an introduction to the late C. Th. Odhner's Catechism on the Ten Commandments. In the absence of the Rev. Theodore Pitcairn, he became Acting Superintendent of the Basuto Mission, and, acting for the Bishop, dedicated the new church building at Alpha.

     The Rev. Enoch S. Price states that, owing to removals from Allentown Circle there has become so small as to deem itself unable to keep up its regular monthly services. It is hoped now that the services can be resumed at an early date.                    

     Rev. Homer Synnestvedt has visited isolated members in eastern Ohio twice during the year, and held services in Youngstown, Ohio, twice. During the summer, he visited Covert, Michigan, where he preached twice and gave four lectures on New Church Education. In Pittsburgh, the day school is being maintained at a high standard of efficiency by Miss Celia Bellinger, assisted by Miss Anita Doering, and, in music, by Miss Angelica Knapp. Six of the Sunday School pupils have "graduated," and now attend the high school class for religious instruction.

     Rev. Robert J. Tilson in addition to his duties as Pastor of Michael Church, London, and Head Master of the Day School, preached several times at Colchester, and assisted in the dedication of the church there. He visited the isolated members at Kilburn, near York, and conducted services for them. He assisted in the management of the New Church Club, and read papers at its meetings.

     Rev. F. E. Waelchli visited Middleport, Detroit and Erie four times each; Windsor, Ont., twice; and Columbus, Ohio, once. At all of these places the work has been encouraging, and especially so at Middleport and Erie. The Erie Circle meets regularly throughout the year.

     During the summer, thirteen weeks were spent on the Pacific Coast, ten weeks being given to Los Angeles and vicinity.

171


At Los Angeles the attendance at worship was from 25 to 30, including children. Doctrinal classes, two each week, and Sunday School, were well attended. There are 18 children, a number of these under Sunday School age. The nearby points visited were Ontario, Calif., three times, Riverside and San Diego once each. Services are now held at Los Angeles twice a month. The other places visited on the Pacific Coast were San Francisco, Portland, Spokane, and Walla Walla. Spokane has the largest circle, and meetings are held there throughout the year.

     At Cincinnati, Mr. Waelchli officiated at 22 Sunday services, and conducted Sunday School and doctrinal classes. In his absence, services are led by members of the Circle.

     Candidate Alan Gill preached in Pittsburgh on six Sundays during the summer, and from September to the end of the year was stationed at Toronto, acting as Minister for the Olivet Church, conducting services, Sunday School, and doctrinal classes, and teaching religion in the Day School.

     For the South African Native Missions, Mr. F. C. Frazee, Acting Secretary in place of Mr. F. W. Elphick, who is attending the Theological School at Bryn Athyn, sends the following statistics, which cover all the Missions in South Africa under the auspices of the General Church:

Members of Missions throughout South Africa (approximate)           513
Number of Baptized Members reported by Leaders                     218
Number of Unbaptized Members reported by Leaders                     85
Average Attendance at Public Worship (13 centers) including children      468
Average Attendance at Doctrinal Classes (12 Centers)               228
Children and Young People not yet Members                     205          
Day Schools, with 7 Teachers at 5 Centers                     Pupils 180
Night Schools with 4 Teachers at 2 Centers                    Pupils 50
Sunday School: Average Attendance at 5 Centers                     25

     Respectfully submitted,
          W. B. CALDWELL,
               Secretary, pro tem.

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     6. The Bishop made a verbal Report, speaking first of the Statement of the Order and Organization of the General Church which he had presented for consideration at the last meeting of the Joint Council. After some revision, it had been printed in pamphlet form, in accordance with the resolution passed at that meeting. [See p. 177.] Explaining several features of the Statement, he then expressed his belief that it would be of practical use to the members of the General Church in furnishing information as to our order and customs. Copies of the pamphlet are now available to the members of the Council, and to any others who may desire them. Continuing, the Bishop read from letters, and gave an encouraging account of the developments in various centers of the General Church abroad.

     7. Mr. Geoffrey S. Childs read the Report of the Executive Committee, which, on motion, was received and filed.

     8. Mr. H. Hyatt reported verbally as Treasurer of the General Church, and asked that the two Reports which he had published during the year be regarded as Reports to this meeting. In particular, he spoke of his desire to have 100 per cent. of the members represented in the contributions to the General Church. After an extended discussion on various phases of the subject, the Report of the Treasurer was, on motion, accepted.

     9. The Rev. Alfred Acton read the Report of the Treasurer of the Orphanage Fund, and explained the uses undertaken by the Orphanage Committee. In answer to a question, he stated that the Committee consists of Mr. Walter C. Childs, Mr. Anton Sellner, Sr., and himself, appointed by the Executive Committee. On motion, the Report of the Treasurer of the Orphanage Fund was received and filed. [See p. 176.]

     10. On motion, the Rev. L. W. T. David addressed the Council on the subject of the next General Assembly, and gave an account of the plans and preparations so far made by the society in Kitchener. Various phases were dealt with by other speakers, and a number expressed the belief that there would be a large attendance at Kitchener next year.

     11. On motion, the meeting adjourned at 12.20 p. m.

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     Second Session-3.00 p. m.

     12. Mr. Paul Synnestvedt, who did not attend the morning session, was now present.

     13. The Bishop invited the members to place other subjects upon the docket, if they desired to close.

     14. Mr. A. E. Nelson introduced the subject of "Qualifications for Membership in the Corporation of the General Church," and gave his reasons for believing that the By-law covering this matter ought to be amended. He regarded as obsolete the provision that only those who have "attended at least two General Assemblies" could join the Corporation.

     15. After a lengthy discussion of this subject, it was voted "That the consideration of the By-law relating to Membership in the Corporation be referred to the Executive Committee."

     16. On motion, the meeting adjourned at 4:30 p. m.
     W. B. CALDWELL,
          Secretary, pro tem.
PHILADELPHIA DISTRICT ASSEMBLY 1925

PHILADELPHIA DISTRICT ASSEMBLY              1925

     February 6th this year came upon a Friday, and the usual weekly supper was converted into a Banquet in celebration of the 28th anniversary of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and made the occasion for the Bishop's annual address to the Philadelphia District Assembly. At the conclusion of the repast, an audience which taxed the capacity of the auditorium listened to a notable paper which proved to be a sequel to the one on "Fundamentalism and Modernism" that appeared in NEW CHURCH LIFE for February, at the conclusion of which the Bishop promised a further treatment of the subject of the Divine Human. Under the title of "Humanizing the Divine," his address demonstrated in a very thorough and Clarifying manner how the glorification of the human assumed from the mother was in reality accomplished by the putting on or descent of a Human from the Father, while the infirm human was put off; the Divine Human, thus given, being God present with angels and men in His own individual Human. Among other things, this treatment of the theme is the answer for New Churchmen to the sentimental cry of the day for a "humanized" Christ-a symptom of the fact that Arius "secretly reigns to the end" in the Christian Church.

174


Remarks following the address expressed gratitude for the Bishop's clear presentation of a sublime but difficult subject.

     A Service of Praise on Saturday evening in the Cathedral was conducted by the Bishop, and the Rev. Reginald W. Brown read the three Lessons. There was special singing by the choir, and instrumental music by a string quartette.

     At the service on Sunday morning, the Rev. Henry Heinrichs, of Denver, Colorado, was ordained into the Second Degree of the Priesthood. A forceful sermon was delivered by the Rev. Hugo L. Odhner on the text: "And Miriam and Aaron said, Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? Hath He not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it." (Numbers 12:2.)

     "Samuel," the Religious Drama presented by the Academy Players in the auditorium on Sunday evening, is the third of a series prepared by Messrs. Rose and Finkeldey, the two former being "Isaiah" and "Jeremiah," given last year and the year before. These two gentlemen are thus collaborating in the development of a distinctive New Church dramatization of the Scriptures, and at the same time devoting their exceptional gifts in the fields of literature end stagecraft to an undertaking of high educational Value within and without the walls of the Academy.
     W. B. C.

     AN IMPRESSION BY THE REV. GILBERT H. SMITH.

     Before the curtains Parted to reveal the first scene, Mr. Rose addressed the audience and explained that the production was not strictly a dramatization of Scripture, but rather a fitting of appropriate action to the exact words of the Scriptures. Their aim was an eventual realization of distinctively New Church sacred drama.

     Nothing like this is being done elsewhere. The infusion of dramatic life and feeling into the words of Scripture, with the suggestion of the historical setting and circumstances existing when the words were originally uttered, becomes a thing of great power, especially when, as on this occasion, the sphere is that of reverent enthusiasm and sincerity.

175




     Certain incidents were magnificent: King Saul and the Storm, in Scene II; the purple and green setting for the Witch of Endor scene; the fine acting when David came forth from the cave with a shred of Saul's skirt in his hand; and the excellent group composition and color effects of the Epilogue; here, too, the singing, of "Eli, Eli" in the Hebrew of the 22d Psalm, to the rhythmic motion of the whole group, was most effective. During the first scene, also, the presentation of Samuel in the temple was delightfully accompanied by the Hebrew singing of a distant choir. The spirit and interpretation of the spoken words, and the declamation, were splendid throughout, rising at times to heights of fine eloquence.

     A few words of criticism are offered with a constructive intent. We should have liked to see a mysteriously moving and silent curtain for the stage. The whole impression of the drama would have been enhanced by fine, strong music between the scenes; for a lapse into general conversation effaced the impressiveness of the tableaux. And we think some of the incidents-the slaying of the priest, for instance-might better have been remotely presented, to take off the poignant edge of the tragedy. We want beauty and power in such representations, but not too bald and direct action of a shocking kind.

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     ORPHANAGE FUND.

     STATEMENT FROM JAN. 1ST TO DEC. 31ST, 1924.

     RECEIPTS.

Cash Balance, December 31, 1923                               $1,373.50
Interest on Investments                                    176.91
Bank Interest                                             35.13
                                                  $1,585.54

     CONTRIBUTIONS
Denver Society Sunday School Children                $18.75
Middleport Society                               23.01
New York Society Christmas Offerings, 1923, 1924      89.60
Pittsburgh Society Christmas Offering, 1923           56.55
Cincinnati Circle Christmas Offering, 1923           25.00
Columbus, Ohio, Christmas Offering                3.25
London, Peckham Rye, Society                     15.31
Toronto Society                               34.48
Washington Society Sunday School                     5.00
Bryn Athyn Christmas Festival                     3.56
Bryn Athyn Cathedral Collections, 1924                260.18
Mrs. W. S. Howland                               15.00
Mr. G. Harold Kuhl                               1.50
Miss Josephine Sellner                         10.00
Rev. Alfred Acton, Family Worship Offerings           24.00
Rev. Enoch S. Price                               5.58
Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Pitcairn, Family Worship           25.00
Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Pitcairn                     120.00
Mr. William Evens                               1.00
Miss Helene Iungerich                          5.00
Mr. Colley Pryke                               8.54
Mr. Jacob Schoenberger                          22.00
Mr. Elmer Harrold                               10.00
Mr. Harold F. Pitcairn                          60.00
Dr. Felix A. Boericke                          25.90
                                                                  $867.31
Total Receipts                                         $2,452.85

     DISBURSEMENTS
Assistance to Sundry Persons                               818.00
Cash Balance, December 31, 1924                               $1,634.85

          WALTER C. CHILDS,
          Treasurer.

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     A STATEMENT OF THE ORDER AND ORGANIZATION OF THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM,

     The General Church of the New Jerusalem is organized for the worship of the Lord Jesus Christ as manifested in His Second Coming, and for the performance of those ecclesiastical uses which have in view the teaching of men the way to heaven and leading them therein. It is comprised of members of the New Church, irrespective of national or geographical limits.

     FAITH.

     The faith of the members of the General Church in brief is as follows:

     God is one in Essence and in Person, and the Lord Jesus Christ is that God, in whom is the Divine Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

     The Lord came into the world to glorify His Human, and thereby to redeem and save the human race; and all are saved who believe in Him and keep His commandments.

     The Sacred Scripture is the Word of God and the Divine Truth. It has a spiritual sense within the literal sense, and is given for the use of angels and men.

     The Lord has made His Second Coming by means of a man, His servant Emanuel Swedenborg, before whom He manifested Himself in Person, and whom He filled with His Spirit, to teach the Doctrine of the New Church, through the Word from Him. In the Doctrine so revealed, the Lord appears as the Word to establish on earth a new Christian Church, which is signified by the New Jerusalem in the Apocalypse, and which is to be the crown of all the Churches which have hitherto been in the world.

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     PRINCIPLES.

     In order that a spirit of unanimity may prevail in the government of the Church, action may be delayed at the request of a single objector; but it is not the policy of the Church that an aggressive minority, or even a hasty majority, should determine its affairs. Doubtful matters are delayed for counsel and enlightenment. It is not of right or order that council or assembly should, by a majority vote, or by pronouncement from the Chair, decide doctrinal issues, and thereby bind the conscience of the Church. The Writings, as given, are the supreme authority in matters of faith.

     It is the policy of the General Church, apart from the requirements of the civil law, to avoid passing regulations with a view to controlling its future actions. The object in this is to encourage a free and ready development of the life of the Church as represented in its form and organization.

     In the transaction of formal business, in both council and assembly, the rules of parliamentary order are followed, and decision is affirmed by voting.

     MEMBERSHIP.

     Membership in the General Church is Primarily individual. Only those who are adult and have been baptized into the New Church are eligible. Local churches may also be received as societies of the General Church. When, however, these societies have members not of the General Church, they are received with the understanding that thereafter they will take into their body only those who are of the General Church.

     Applications for membership are made in writing to the Bishop, and to all who are received certificates are given, signed by the Bishop and the Secretary.

     PRIESTHOOD.

     It is of faith that the Lord leads the Church by the operation of the Holy Spirit, and that this operation manifests itself at this day, and in the New Church, by spiritual enlightenment granted to those who are appointed and ordained to serve the Church through the instrumentality of the Priesthood.

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     The General Church recognizes the Priesthood as sanctioned by the Writings, and therefore as the Lord's office by Divine appointment in the Church, given for the administration of the Divine law and worship with a view to the salvation of souls.

     To this end, men are to be instructed, set apart, and inaugurated into the Priesthood by the laying on of hands in the solemn act of ordination.

     The Priesthood thus instituted is a threefold ministry, namely, the ministry of instruction, of worship, and of government.

     The ministry of instruction is provided for in the first degree of the Priesthood. By ordination into this degree the priest is authorized to Preach the Word of God according to the doctrine of the New Church, to administer the sacrament of Baptism, and to hear and receive confession of faith. The sign of this degree is a white stole. The priest, while ministering in this degree, may serve as an assistant to a pastor, or he may be appointed to take temporary charge of a society under the supervision of the Bishop.

     The ministry of worship is provided for in the second degree of the Priesthood by the office of Pastor. By ordination into this degree, the Pastor, in addition to the duties prescribed in the first degree, is authorized to administer the sacrament of the Holy Supper, to solemnize betrothals, to consecrate marriages, and to preside over a local church. The sign of this second degree is a blue stole. A Pastor may, from time to time, be called upon to represent the Bishop in presiding over assemblies, and in dedicating churches, and also to perform such other duties connected with the episcopal office as may be delegated.

     The ministry of government is provided for in the third degree of the Priesthood by the office of Bishop. By ordination into this third degree, a Bishop, in addition to the duties prescribed in the first and second degrees, is authorized to ordain priests and to preside over a general body of the Church. The sign of this third degree is a red stole.

     A priest, by the act of ordination, becomes a priest of the Lord's New Church; he may afterwards be received and commissioned as a priest of the General Church in the degree of his ordination.

     Candidates for the Priesthood whose ordination is pending, may, in case of necessity, be authorized by the Bishop to perform, pro tempore, any of the duties of the Priesthood, save that of ordination.

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     Religious education in New Church schools is under the supervision of the Priesthood.

     THE BISHOP OF THE GENERAL CHURCH.

     To keep the affairs of the Church in order, there must be wise and God-fearing governors who are skilled in the Divine Law. There must also be subordination among the governors, lest from caprice or ignorance evils contrary to order be sanctioned. (H. D. 311, 313.)

     The Bishop of the General Church is the chief governor thereof. He is elected by the General Assembly, but his choosing is progressive. He is first named in and by the Council of the Clergy.

     Any minister of the second degree of the priesthood may be ordained into the third degree, but this is apart from the choice of the Bishop of the General Church. The Bishop of the General Church must, however, be an ordaining minister. His function as the head of the Church, and as chief of its priests, could not otherwise be exercised in accordance with order.

     When the Bishop has been elected, he continues in office until he is removed by death or resignation, or until he is separated from his office as Bishop of the General Church by the joint action of the Council of the Clergy and the General Assembly.

     While the power and mode by which the Bishop is chosen may, in case of need, be invoked to unseat him, yet it should be known that the unseating of a Bishop does not take from him any of the ecclesiastical powers conferred by his ordination as a minister of the third degree. The same is true of the powers conferred by ordination upon any minister. These may not be taken from him, either by Bishop, Council or organized body of the Church, for the powers so conferred are from the Lord alone; the laying on of hands is but the sign and medium of their transfer and placement.

     The power of maintaining order in the Church is lodged in the episcopal office. When executive, this power may, in case of need, and in accordance with the prescription in the Writings (H. D. 318), be invoked to remove from membership anyone who willfully and persistently disturbs the Church.

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     COUNCILS.

     The Council of the Clergy is composed of all ordained ministers of the General Church. Apart from its own intramural affairs, this Council is not administrative, save in conjunction with the Bishop and the Executive Committee. It was formed prior to the organization of the General Church, and under episcopal leading it inaugurated the movement by which the General Church was established. The Bishop is ex officio head of the Council of the Clergy.

     To the Bishop is adjoined a Consistory, composed of priests selected by him. The Consistory is an advisory council, and dissolves with a change in the episcopal office.

     Since the administration of the Divine law and worship is the function of the priesthood, and the administration of the civil law and justice is the function of magistrates (H. D. 319), and as there are in the Church uses corresponding to civil administration, it has been a principle of the General Church that its civil affairs should be administered by laymen. This calls for unity of minds as a necessity of good government; and to further this end, joint meetings of the ecclesiastical and lay officials have been encouraged; and to a like end it has recently been provided that the Bishop should preside over the civil corporation and its executive committee.

     The Executive Committee is a body of eighteen men selected by the General Church incorporated to serve for the period of one year or until their successors have been appointed. This Committee administers the civil affairs of the General Church.

     In case of the death, resignation or separation of the Bishop, and if at the time there is no Assistant Bishop, it will be in order for the Secretary of the General Church to call a joint meeting of the Council of the Clergy and the Executive Committee, to provide for the government of the Church, Pending the choice of a Bishop.

     ASSEMBLIES.

     A General Assembly of the members of the Church is held triennially, or at the call of the Bishop. In the interim years, a joint session of the Council of the Clergy and the Executive Committee acts for and represents the Assembly.

     The officers of the Assembly are the officers of the General Church. The Secretary is elected by the Assembly. It is customary to choose a minister for this office.

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The Treasurer is elected annually by the Executive Committee.

     The General Assembly is distinguished from the General Church, in that it is composed of those members of the Church only who are in attendance. However, it represents the whole Church. National and District Assemblies are held annually, when possible. National Assemblies are composed of all the societies and individual members of the General Church in the nation. District Assemblies are composed of several adjoining societies, including the isolated members of the General Church residing in the district.

     A Local Assembly may be held at any time with the members of any Society or circle of the General Church.

     All Assemblies are called by the Bishop, and presided over by him or by a Pastor appointed to represent him.

     SOCIETIES OR LOCAL CHURCHES.

     The members of the General Church are organized into groups variously designated as circles, societies, or churches. Some of these groups have resident pastors, others are served by ministers appointed, and some by visiting pastors. Those groups having no Pastor or minister are under the direct supervision of the Bishop.

     The choosing of a, pastor is by joint action of the Bishop and the Society, the Bishop nominating and the Society electing. When possible, the Bishop nominates several who are of the second degree of the priesthood, and of these the Society makes its choice.

     When a pastor has been duly nominated and elected, he continues in office until his removal by death or resignation, or until his removal by the Bishop to fill another appointment, or for some other cause made manifest to both the Bishop and the Society. In the latter case, if the pastor is in good standing, and competent to continue his labors, he will be eligible for another appointment.

     A minister of the first degree may be appointed by the Bishop to take temporary charge of a Society without formal action by the Society. It is understood that this arrangement is only for an interim. In like manner, the Bishop may appoint a minister as an assistant to a pastor.

     The pastor is the head of the Society to which he has been nominated and elected, and as such it is his duty to preside over and maintain order in the church under his charge.

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He is also ex officio supervisor of the local school connected with the Society.

     The Pastor of a Society may appoint a Council of advisors. This Council holds over after the resignation of a pastor, but dissolves as soon as a new pastor is chosen.

     A Society may in addition elect a business committee or board of finance, to serve for a longer or shorter period.

     A congregation is composed of the members of a Society and others, young and old, associated for the purpose of Divine worship. Those, however, who are not members of the Society may have no part in its government.

     The Bishop ex officio administers the ecclesiastical affairs of a Society which has no pastor. The Bishop is ex officio pastor of the Society of his residence.

     THE GENERAL CHURCH AS A CORPORATE BODY.

     "The General Church of the New Jerusalem" is a corporate body, organized under the laws of the State of Illinois, and as such is charged with the administration of the civil affairs of the General Church.

     This Corporation was organized with the following stated objects: To present, teach, and maintain throughout the world, the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Church, as contained in the Theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg; and to take over and carry on all the civil uses of the ecclesiastical body known as the General Church of the New Jerusalem. (See Journal of the General Assembly for 1907, p. 585.)

     The said Corporation of the General Church holds its annual meeting in Chicago, Illinois, and also meets at the General Assembly for the purpose of transacting such business as may come before it under its organization and charter. The Corporation at the same time elects an Executive Committee to conduct and manage the business affairs of the General Church until the next meeting of the Assembly. Every male member of the General Church who has attended at least two General Assemblies shall be eligible to become a member of the Corporation.

     On June 20, 1907, the General Assembly voted that the offer of the Corporation known as the General Church of the New Jerusalem to take over and carry on all the civil uses of the ecclesiastical body known as the General Church of the New Jerusalem, other than those performed by the Corporation known as the Academy of the New Church, be accepted. (See Journal of the General Assembly for 1907, p. 586.)

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     THE ACADEMY.

     The Academy of the New Church is a body of the Church organized under the laws of the State of Pennsylvania "for the purpose of propagating the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem, promoting education in all its various forms, educating young men for the ministry, publishing books, pamphlets, and other printed matter and establishing a library." These uses of the Academy are now being conducted at Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania. The annual meeting of the Corporation is held in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Corporation of the Academy elects its members for an indefinite period of time. The Board of Directors of the Academy is elected by the Corporation from its members annually.

     The ecclesiastical affairs of the Academy, including the religious instruction given in its schools, has, by resolution of the Board of Directors of the Academy, been placed under the supervision of the Bishop of the General Church of the New Jerusalem. At the present time, all the members of the Corporation and Board of Directors of the Academy are members of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and the Bishop of that Church is the President of the Academy.

     THE "NEW CHURCH LIFE."

     The NEW CHURCH LIFE is the official organ of the General Church. When a vacancy occurs in the editorship, the Bishop makes a temporary appointment and, later, a formal nomination to the General Assembly.

     THE ORPHANAGE.

     An Orphanage Committee is appointed by the Executive Committee to act in conjunction with the Bishop in giving financial and other aid, when necessary, to orphan children of the General Church.

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     POSTSCRIPT.

     The foregoing is not a written constitution. It is simply a statement of the usages and customs of the General Church at the present time, as interpreted by the Bishop. It will be noted that several changes have been made since Bishop W. F. Pendleton wrote a like statement, which was published in the August issue of the NEW CHURCH LIFE for the year 1914. The plan of that statement has here been followed, and its substance in large part carried over.

     It is anticipated that at some future day another statement may be called for, since the General Church is a living body, developing under the leading of Providence, to the end that it may ever more fully serve those Spiritual uses for which it was established. Nothing in this statement, therefore, is intended to bind the future.

     The statement is written primarily as a chronicle, lest something of value should be forgotten. It is published for the sake of information as to the present status of government in the General Church.

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Church News 1925

Church News       Various       1925

     NEW YORK.-After the summer vacation, the New York Society resumed worship at the Studio, Carnegie Hall, at the beginning of September. In October, the various monthly classes were recommenced:-The general doctrinal class, with buffet supper following, meeting at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Geoffrey Childs, Brooklyn; the Friday afternoon class for ladies at Miss Eudora Sellner's; and the men's Saturday evening meeting, also held at the Sellner home, New York City. The annual business meeting of the society was held at the conclusion of the October doctrinal class, after which it was announced that Mr. Francis Frost, of East Orange, N. J., had joined the society as a member.

     In December, a class was formed for the younger men, and for the benefit of any who may be sojourning in the city. It was proposed to meet on Sunday afternoon about once a month, taking the True Christian Religion for consideration this season. It is hoped, therefore, that all those young men from out of town who are completing their studies or following their vocations in New York will avail themselves of the welcome offered at Mr. Samuel Lindsay's rooms, 327 West 82d Street, and from whom all information concerning the class can be had.

     On Sunday, December 21st, the children's Christmas celebration was held. In spite of a terribly biting wind, there was good general attendance at the service, which was very prettily arranged with hymns and chants befitting the occasion. After an address to the children by the pastor, accompanied by the representation, the Christmas gifts were distributed. Together with fruit and sweets, each child received a book in which the pastor had inscribed a text, or some few words from the Word or the Writings suited to the age of the recipient. The little ones contributed the Hebrew portions of praise and thanksgiving very creditably, thanks to their teacher. The offering to the Orphanage of the General Church was taken during the singing of the final hymn, as is usual with us at Christmas.

     The doctrinal class held on December 28th ended by becoming a real Christmas social, for with and after supper came the spirit of the season. Songs and merrymaking were in order, with jest and quip the evening through,-a happy and joyful time for all.

     Our little calendar records these visitors at service during the fall: Mr. Healdon Starkey, Glenview, Ill.; Mr. Donald Freeman, of Bryn Athyn; Mr. Robert Blackman, of Bryn Athyn, now residing in New York; and several Canadian friends one Sunday. Miss Dorothea Glenn, of Pittsburgh, is now a regular attendant on Sundays, as also is Mr. Dumont Ott, who lives over in New Jersey. The visiting ministers who have officiated in the absence of the pastor once a month have been the Revs. C. E. Doering, William Whitehead, E. E. Iungerich, and W. B. Caldwell.

     After the doctrinal class on the evening of January 31st, we held a Swedenborg's Birthday celebration. A delicious supper was served, accompanied with merriment and good fellowship, after which the Rev. Alfred Acton gave an address on "Swedenborg the Man " in which he sought to show the marvelous tenacity of the seer's mind in pursuing to their ultimates, or practical uses, all the knowledges he acquired on the natural plane-this dearly being a preparation for his greater work later on.

     Services on February 8th were conducted by the Rev. Homer Synnestvedt, of Pittsburgh, who took for his text the opening words of the Lord's Prayer, "Our Father who art in the heavens," and preached an interesting and illuminating sermon.
     F. A. W.

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     REPORT OF THE VISITING PASTOR.-Services were held at DETROIT on Sunday, December 28th. In the evening there was doctrinal class, at which we treated of "The Four Successive Ages of the World," and of the New Church following them. It was shown that there can only be a realization of what the New Church is, and of its destined glory, when it is viewed in its relation to the preceding history of mankind. Another class was held on Monday evening, when the subject was "Conjunction with the Lord."

     After a week spent at Kitchener and Toronto, I arrived at ERIE On Thursday, January 8th. During the four days' stay, there were three evening doctrinal classes, a children's afternoon class, and services. At the children's class there were eight pupils, representing three families. The subject of instruction was "Baptism," so that there might be an understanding of what this sacrament means at its administration the following Sunday. The services on Sunday morning were unusually well attended, and also exceptionally delightful. There were twenty-four present, including children. The sacrament of Baptism was administered for Mrs. Porter, a new receiver, and her three children. Fourteen persons partook of the Holy Supper. It is a pleasure to be able to report the accession of a new family to the Circle in Erie.
     F. E. WAELCHLI.

     ACADEMY SCHOOLS.

     January 29th was observed as a holiday by the Schools of the Academy, and included exercises appropriate to the anniversary of Swedenborg's Birthday.

     The pupils of the Elementary School gathered early in the auditorium to listen to a very entertaining and informative talk by Miss Sigrid Cyriel Odhner, whose descriptions of Swedenborg's native land were illustrated by pictures thrown on the screen, and enlivened by some Norse tales which captivated the children.

     The higher schools attended a special chapel service at 11 a. m., during which the Rev. William Whitehead delivered an address that gave a vivid picture of Swedenborg's first visit to London in the year 1710, when, as a university graduate at the age of twenty-two, he was enjoying his first foreign journey. It was from this year 1710 that he later dated his special Divine guidance in the study of the natural sciences. (Documents 232.) Fired with an intense love of knowledge, which he himself admitted was "immoderate," he not only did extensive sight-seeing in the London of the reign of Queen Anne, but sought out the learned men of the Royal Society. Owing to the decadence of liberal thought and culture at the universities, under the blighting influences of "faith alone," such societies were then being formed in Europe by those who were piloting revival in the learned world. "Swedenborg was not a cloister student," said Mr. Whitehead, "but an observer of the life about him in all its phases. On his arrival in London, he must have been impressed with the prevailing contempt for religion and the deadness of the Church of England."

     Following the tradition initiated last year, the faculty and students assembled in the Dining Hall at one o'clock, and partook of a delicious luncheon served under the direction of Miss Horigan. The entrance of the Birthday Cake was the signal for songs and speeches, the Rev. K. R. Alden acting as chairman. Four students of the Boys' Academy then read papers treating of Swedenborg's four Rules of Life, bringing their lessons home to us in a clear and forceful manner. Mr. Alan Gill concluded the series with a speech on "Swedenborg as the Lord's Servant," and showed how the greatness of the man lay primarily in his humble but voluntary obedience to the Lord's commands.

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The Bishop, being asked to speak, said that he was especially impressed with the idea voiced in one of the papers, that the great thing in life is to select a few guiding principles such as these Rules of Life, and to follow them up persistently and unremittingly as our line of duty. This he illustrated with the story of a Catholic priest who eventually became a Swedenborgian.

     GLENVIEW, ILL.-When it comes to the question of how to celebrate New Year's Eve, every true Glenviewite "has a hammer of his own." Some there are who hark back wistfully to the watch-meetings of the early days, and some who advocate a purely social program. One or two stand alone in their enthusiasm for a sunrise service, and there are extremists whose plea for no celebration at all is drowned in a tumult of protest.

     This year, for the first time, twelve o'clock midnight found Glenview dancing. As the fateful minute approached, the five musicians doubled their tempo, the dancers doubled their speed, confetti and serpentine filled the air, and along came 1925 in the midst of the gaiety. Coffee and the traditional chicken salad were then served on small tables, and the dancing lasted until three o'clock in the morning. Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Stevens, always favorites of the young people, were host and hostess for the occasion.

     Our library room while not used extensively for reading purposes, affords a charming and learned setting for social life. Here, on January 17th, some twenty couples enjoyed an evening of cards, with Mr. and Mrs. Harold McQueen as the very genial host and hostess. Coffee and sandwiches followed the game, and then came the prizes. The winning lady and gentleman received a Madeira tea-set and flashlight, respectively, and the other awards were almost as handsome.

     The encouragement we received from the Bishop last October at the District Assembly has come to fruition in our first missionary effort. This took the form of a public lecture by the Pastor, who spoke on the text: "That great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God." A general invitation was published in the local newspapers, and thirteen visitors responded. The lecture was delivered in two parts. After an opening orchestral number, the Pastor introduced the subject by showing the correspondence of a city to the doctrine of a church. A musical intermission followed, and the orchestra played again at the dose of the evening. The second part of the discourse was given to proving that by the "new city" promised in the Word is meant the doctrine of the New Church.

     Swedenborg's Birthday was celebrated on the day following, as the twenty-ninth was devoted to the children. They had a dinner at noon, in the course of which members of the eighth grade made their oratorical debut, and the Pastor gave a talk suitable to the day. Games and dancing filled the afternoon's program.

     The banquet on Friday evening was in charge of Mr. and Mrs. Felix Junge. Blue and yellow were the reigning colors, from the daffodils and favors on the tables to the Swedish flag which hung over the portrait of Swedenborg. Mr. Crebert Burnham was toastmaster, and managed the program with humor and skill. Letters, representative of the different periods of Swedenborg's life, were read, and the usual impromptu speeches followed. There was singing and orchestral music to enliven every moment that no one was speaking, one of the new songs having original music by Mr. Rydstrom, and the evening will be remembered with genuine pleasure.     
     G. N.

     CHICAGO.-Members and friends of Sharon Church were present at our rooms to the number of forty-three on the evening of January 30th, when we celebrated Swedenborg's Birthday.

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After the supper several toasts were honored. Our Pastor read letters of Swedenborg to Benzelius and Hartley. Dr. Farrington spoke on Swedenborg's faculty of internal respiration which enabled him to respire with angelic societies. Dr. Helm gave an interesting talk on the correspondence of light and color and brought in the therapeutic use of colored lights, a subject in which he is deeply interested. Mr. John Forrest recommended the reading of the Memorable Relations, especially by the young people, as the Relations bring us into an intimate acquaintance with life in the spiritual world.

     On Sunday, February 15th, the service was followed by the monthly dinner at the church rooms, this time taking the form of a cafeteria lunch, the men washing the dishes, as the ladies have been ending the regular dinners too great a task for them. After the meal we had singing practice and a doctrinal class.
     E. V. W.

     TORONTO, ONT.-The reopening of the Day School after the Christmas recess was something of a red-letter occasion for the pupils, and possibly for the teachers too. Occasions are rare indeed when school children "just can't wait " for the day to come when school starts again, but we can personally attest that this was such an occasion, the reason being that the long-looked-for new desks had been installed! And very nice they are too, both from the point of view of appearance and of practical use. With the coming of the new came the passing of the old, which found their way into the homes of many of our members, who, despite their vehement disclaimers to the contrary, were loath to allow these reminders of the or dear old school days to pass into the realm of things that have been and are no more. As we stood looking on at the dispersal of these old desks, it was borne in upon our mind how, among others who used them, are the when present editor of New Church Life, the General Church Treasurer and Business Manager of New Church Life, the Professor of Physical Science and Librarian at Bryn Athyn, besides others occupying positions of trust and responsibility in the active life of the Church at the present day. If we allowed our ruminative faculties to follow their natural bent, an interesting chapter of local New Church history might evolve, but these are only "news notes."

     The Ladies' Meeting for January was held at the home of Mrs. Thomas Smith. There was a good attendance, and an interesting program which cared for the spiritual and physical needs of those present; the former by an inspiring address from the Pastor on "Houses and Homes in the Spiritual World," and the latter by a talk on "Interior Decorating of the Home," by Miss Harris, not to mention the even more mundane, but still essential, "coffee and cakes."

     The Forward Club met on its usual night, following out its regular program, with several digressions to enable some of us to welcome the Rev. H. Lj. Odhner to the pastorate, and in particular to our own special fold in the Club. We waived the ceremonial of initiation, took him right in, and made him Chaplain. Mr. Harold Kuhl, of Kitchener, had dropped in, and was made welcome. As to the Club's Program for the rest of the season, the preponderance of expressed opinion was in favor of making a start in the study of Swedenborg's Scientific and Philosophic Works, and it was so resolved. Will the Swedenborg Scientific Association please note, and make provision for a possible (we do not say probable) inundation of applications for member ship and orders for its publications?

     The monthly society social was held on Swedenborg's Birthday, which, as the Pastor pointed out, is celebrated each year as a token of personal affection for him as the instrument of Divine Revelation. Mr. and Mrs. Sargeant were in charge of the committee of management, with the Pastor and Mrs. Odhner acting as host and hostess.

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Supper was served in the social room, and the theme of the toasts and speeches was "Swedenborg's Era," the purpose of the symposium being to give a better understanding of the man and his mission from a knowledge of the conditions in which he lived and worked. The Rev. H. Lj. Odhner dealt with Sweden; Mr. A. G. Carter, France and Holland; Mr. A. Sargeant, England; Mr. Craigie, North America. Each speaker showed the religious, political, educational, social and industrial developments which had their rise during Swedenborg's era, and described the comparatively rapid progress made therein. It was a sort of concentrated, refreshed course in historicals, and being coupled with a specific time of so much interest to the New Church, gave us a new viewpoint and background, throwing out in bold relief the difficulties under which Swedenborg labored to bring the heavenly arcana in its ultimate form to an almost entirely unsympathetic world. After a short interval, the balance of the evening was spent in solving crossword puzzles, dancing, etc., and we were also favored with two songs in Swedish, excellently rendered by the Pastor.

     The regular routine of the Society's work has been resumed, and is going along smoothly. Sunday services and doctrinal classes are being well attended. Our Pastor is giving us splendid sermons, and his instruction in the doctrinal classes is all that could be desired. As long as these two functions and the Day School are well maintained, solid and lasting growth should accrue. We are delighted with having secured the services of the Rev. H. Lj. Odhner as our Pastor.
     F. W.

     THE CHURCH AT LARGE.

     Galli-Cuuci Interviewed.

     The following is quoted from The New-Church Herald of December 13, 1924, p. 771:

     "Some time ago our Editor suggested that New Churchmen might try to get into touch with the world-famed prima donna, Madame A. Galli-Curci, who was reported to be a reader of Swedenborg. The report of such an interview might therefore be of interest to readers of The Herald.

     "Soon after the arrival of Madame Galli-Curci in London, I wrote to her, mentioning her known penchant for Swedenborg's works, inviting her to a talk on the wonderful teachings of those works, and suggesting that she might come and worship with those who sought to make their life and worship in accord with those teachings.

     "Her reply was of a most friendly description. She said she had not associated herself with the Church because she was traveling continuously for eight months of the year and the remaining four are spent in her home in the Catskill Mountains. She would be pleased to meet me in Glasgow, but could do so only in her dressing room after the concert. She declared that seclusion was one of the penalties an artist must pay in order to make a long and strenuous tour and still give the public of her best. 'I am sure you will understand,' she wrote.

     "I kept the appointment after the concert. Madame seemed really pleased to see me, a Minister of the New Church, having with her a common interest in Swedenborg, as she had not met any of our ministers formerly. I will say little of her striking personality, remarkable presence, and cultured address. These seem especially expressed in her dark eyes that flash deeply as her quickly moving mind darts from one intense thought to another. She chatted vivaciously for about ten minutes, with the volatile lightness of a true Italian-Spaniard, or Spanish-Italian. I did not need to talk very much, since no sooner had I put a thought into words, than it suggested to her a number of cognate thoughts with he which she was away again on the ready wings of her imagination.

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     "The gist of her remarks was that the philosophy in Swedenborg's works was truly wonderful. She had read very much of it, and always carried one of his books with her in her travels. To my question as to which part of the philosophy appealed to her most, she replied 'Heaven and Hell, because it gives great scope to the imagination.

     "She added that the reading of Swedenborg was a real help to her in her work, and made all the difference in her attitude towards it. This reading prevented her from taking any credit for whatever ability she had. She regarded her talent as a channel-one of many such channels-through which the heavens, of which Swedenborg wrote, with their spiritual music, could flow into the world. She was happy if she could be of use in that way.

     "When I mentioned the 'correspondence' of music, and its appeal to the affections, she said that she felt the truth of that. She loved the public, and always tried to establish a mutual affection between her audiences and herself, as being the surest way of allowing music to make its full appeal.

     "After this, she was away all at once on the swift wings of Galli-Curcian imagination, away from the damp and grey of Scotland, and the fog of Liverpool, and sunning herself again under the blue skies of Italy, where the resplendent climate and the musical language make man to sing, and sing, and sing, from his childhood upwards. In the midst of this, she was suddenly wrested back to present reality by one of her entourage who wished to hurry her through the cheering crowd outside to the waiting car, and thence to the hotel. So she offered her hand, and bade me 'hasta la vista,' her Spanish au revoir.
     "FRANK HOLMES."

     Conference South African Mission.

     The Herald of December 13th also contains a letter from the Rev. E. J. Pulsford announcing his arrival at Krugersdorp, Transvaal, on October 4th, where he was met by the Rev. D. W. Mooki, Leader of the Native Mission, and by Mr. Reys, who has been Conference representative for some years. Previous issues of the Herald publish letters of Mr. Pulsford describing in great detail his journey from England to South Africa, whence he has been sent by the General Conference to visit the Native Missions conducted under the auspices of that body. Under the title of "A Month of Sundays," Mr. Pulsford continues the narrative of his experiences in the Herald of January 31st and subsequent issues.

     Some months ago, the Conference brought out pamphlet entitled "The Romantic Story of the South African Mission," abundantly illustrated with photographs of the Revs. J. F. Buss and E. J. Pulsford, Rev. D. W. Mooki and others, and of scenes at the Mission meetings, and giving an interesting account of the history of the Transvaal movement.

     Australia.

     We learn from the Herald of February 7th that the Rev. R. H. Teed, Minister of the Conference Society at Derby, England, has accepted an invitation to become resident minister of the society at Melbourne, Australia, and that he will also become Editor of The New Age, the monthly formerly edited by the late W. T. Spencer, and now by Mr. Daniel Ashby. The New Age for January, by the way, reprints a sermon on "Uses" by the Rev. W. L. Gladish which appeared in New Church Sermons last November.

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ORDINATIONS 1925

ORDINATIONS              1925




     Announcements.




     Heinrichs.-At Bryn Athyn, Pa., February 8, 1925, Rev. Henry Heinrichs, into the Second Degree of the Priesthood, Bishop N. D. Pendleton officiating.

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PRAYERS FOR THE DEPARTED 1925

PRAYERS FOR THE DEPARTED       Rev. T. S. HARRIS       1925


NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. XLV          APRIL, 1925           NO. 4
     Should our prayers for others include those who have gone to dwell in the spiritual world?

     This question has been suggested to my mind, not by any direct statements in favor of the practice which I have found in the Doctrines of the New Church, but by reading the doctrines and talking with the people of the Roman Catholic Religion. While explaining our doctrine concerning the world of spirits and the preparation which takes place there for our eternal abode, I am sometimes asked: "Why do you not pray for those who are in this state of preparation?" To this I always answer that I do pray for them. But I endeavor to show that our idea of prayer is not the same as that held by those who pray for suffering souls in purgatory.

     It seems to me that one who has been in the habit of praying for the living, in the manner in which all prayer should be offered, does not cease to pray for them when they die. When I was a child I was taught this prayer: "God bless my father and mother, and my brothers and sisters, and make me a good boy. Amen." I still pray this prayer, although my father and mother have both gone to the other world, God bless them! I have two baby boys who have gone to be with the angels, and I am intensely interested in their development; so much so, that when I remember my living children in prayer, I do not forget them. Is this a mere sentiment of the natural mind that should not be gratified by being ultimated in words, or is it the activity of a spiritual affection for their eternal welfare that inspires one to exclaim, "God bless them!"?

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     Is not our Father in the heavens to whom we pray the God of the dead as well as of the living? For do not all live unto Him? And do not the thoughts and affections of men on earth form an ultimate sphere which can be used by the Lord to benefit those who are in the other world? And does not the expression of these thoughts and affections make this sphere stronger with us?

     Angels and good spirits pray. They pray for one another, and they doubtless include the inhabitants of our world in their prayers. For each one of us, as to the spirit, is with them as one of them. Do not the prayers of the Church in heaven and on earth mingle, and ascend as sweet incense to Him who sits upon the throne? In answer to this universal prayer of the living and the departed come blessings in abundance from Him who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not. Do we ask amiss, if we pray that His blessing may descend upon all?

     Prayer is a state of deep humility before God, and a consciousness of our utter dependence upon Him. It avails before the Lord, if the man abstains from thinking and doing evils, and if, through truths from the Word, he as of himself leads himself to goods of life. By prayers are meant truths from goods, for these are the things which pray in man; and he is constantly praying when he is in a life according to these truths. But does a man live these truths for his own sake alone? Does he not derive an incentive to live according to truths from the Word when he considers that such a life is of use to angels, spirits and men? We know that when men whose lives are in accord with truths read the Word and perform external acts of worship, the inhabitants of the other world are benefited thereby. Do we not pray for the departed while performing these devotional acts? If this thought be consciously active in our minds while we are performing devotional acts, we will have a higher, a deeper, a wider sense of their importance.

     Would it be helpful or harmful to have prayers for private devotion and public worship that would suggest this thought? Our answer to this question will depend upon the view which we hold concerning intercessory prayer.

     But what are we to believe in regard to praying for others? Does an earnest desire for the spiritual welfare of others benefit them? Yes, if this desire awakens in them a desire for their own spiritual welfare.

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It is possible that our prayers on behalf of another may be answered in this way. Therefore, let us pray for others, and let them know that we are praying for them. But if our prayers do not lead them to pray for themselves, they cannot receive the good things which our Father in heaven gives to them that ask of Him. If they do not ask, they cannot receive, however earnestly others may be praying for them. God does not give good things to one for the sake of another; He is as much interested in one who rejects the good things which He offers as He is in one who gladly receives them. God is no respecter of persons. "He maketh His sun to rise upon the just and the unjust, and sendeth rain upon the evil and the good." He is not merciful to you for the sake of some other person; He is not kind to you because of His regard for some one who is interested in your welfare. He loves you because of what He is, and for your own sake. You need no advocate to plead your case before Him.

     I am well aware how much this last statement seems to be at variance with the saying found in the First Epistle of John, "If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." But the word "advocate" here means "helper," and "Jesus Christ the righteous" is the Divine Human of the Lord which helps us to see God, who would otherwise be invisible. Sinful and sinning man needs just such a Helper. For he who sees in "Jesus Christ the righteous" a merciful Savior sees the Father, because He and the Father are one. By the Greek word "Paraclete" is meant the Divine Truth proceeding from His glorified Human, and this is called the "Comforter" or "Helper." By means of Divine Truth proceeding from His glorified Human, our Father in heaven comforts and helps.

     A false dogma of the fallen Church teaches that Jesus Christ is standing at the right hand of our Father in heaven interceding for us sinners. And because this intercession of the Son implies a lack of mercy on the part of the Father, therefore the dogma takes pains to state that the intercession of the Son cannot be intended to dispose the Father to mercy, but to render His mercy consistent with His justice and holiness, that it may be honorably displayed. This legal aspect of the relation between mercy and justice makes obscure the true moral relation that exists between being merciful and being just.

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From this false conception of the justice of God, which could be satisfied with nothing less than the sacrifice of His beloved Son upon the cross, has been logically evolved the doctrine of the vicarious atonement. God's mercy and justice do not require to be reconciled, for they are infinitely one in Him. There is nothing inconsistent in being merciful and at the same time just, and the inference that God is like a Shylock who demands, not merely a pound of flesh, but the body and blood of His Son as His bond, is dishonorable to Him.

     It is not difficult to understand how the idea of intercession, once conceived, grew in the minds of Christians, until it included entreaty made by Mary and all the saints in heaven on behalf of mortals on earth, and also the idea that, as saints in heaven pray for us, so must we also offer our petitions for suffering souls in Purgatory, to the end that God, in His goodness and mercy, may mitigate and shorten their punishment, and hasten their entrance into heaven. But mark well the fallacy upon which this theory of intercessory prayer is founded. It rests upon the assumption that God does good to needy souls for the sake of those who pray for them, and because of the petitions offered on their behalf. It is true that God does good to the needy through others, but never for the sake of others; for this would involve merit in those for whose sake the good is done. "The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works." There is no need to plead with Him to exercise His goodness towards any.

     Let us ever keep in mind that prayer is not pleading with God, or petitioning Him for favors, or even a making known of our need to the Being who knoweth all things. Prayer, in the spiritual sense, implies a sincere desire to receive from the Lord that which He freely offers to all. To use a comparison, asking and receiving are associated as the expansion of the muscles of the diaphragm and the receiving of air into the lungs, or, as the opening of the eyelids and the affecting of the optic nerves by the light. The good things which God offers to all are as universally present as the air and the light, and nothing but an unwillingness to receive them can prevent us from being filled with an abundant supply.

     Angels in heaven, the good in the world of spirits, and all on earth who are regenerating, pray. If they did not pray, they could not receive from the Lord the good things of heaven and the church.

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The fervent prayers of all who pray make one universal prayer, which ascends as incense before the Lord. Incense is called the "prayers of the saints" because fragrant odors correspond to the affections of good and truth. (A. R. 278.) We see, then, that prayers are the affections of good and truth. Wherever these affections exist in a state of activity, prayers are being offered to the Lord; for these affections are prayers.

     Angels and good spirits do not intercede for us, but they pray with us; that is, we enter into their states of affection for good and truth, and they into ours. Thus there is a communion of angels and men, and the church in heaven unites with the church on earth in asking and receiving; and each individual, whether angel or man, is given good and truth according to the degree of desire for them. Thus each one receives for himself, and not for another, the things which the Lord freely provides for all. Yet all who receive constitute one universal body, and each individual is benefited by what all receive. What one desires for himself, he desires for all; for each loves the neighbor as he loves himself. And this is what is meant by praying for one another.

     Viewing the subject in this light, it is evident that the inhabitants of the spiritual world pray for us, and that we pray for them. If prayer for others is desire for their spiritual welfare, then surely we pray for those who have died. The answer to the question, "Should we pray for the dead!" is very clear, if we consider prayer as being a desire for their eternal welfare. Wet who believe in a life after death, do not lose our interest in those who have departed into the world beyond; and the earnest longing we have for their spiritual prosperity is prayer on their behalf. He who loves his neighbor as himself cannot help wishing well to the dead, as well as to the living; for the bond of charity is not broken by the death of the body.

     In every religion that teaches the conscious existence of the spirit after its separation from the body, its devotees are inclined to pray for the souls of the departed. It is a mistake to think that this custom is confined to the Roman Catholic Religion. Among Gentiles, Jews and Christians, kind thoughts concerning those who have gone into the unknown realm remain in the minds of the relatives from whom they have departed.

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With one who is of the New Church, an intelligent conception and firm conviction regarding the state after death are vital elements of religion. The true Christian religion teaches that the inhabitants of our world, as to their spirits, are already in the world of the departed, and that the separation which takes place between the living and the dead is merely that of a material quality, being similar to the separation of persons residing in different places in this world who lack material means of communication. Do people thus separated in this world lose interest in the welfare of one another, or do they cease to pray for one another?

"Parted in body, but in mind
     No power can make them twain;
And mountains rise, and oceans roll,
     To sever them in vain."

     Who among the living does not, now and then, send a fervent wish or a loving thought after the dear ones departed to the other life? It may be difficult for some to admit that such a process of the mind relative to the departed is praying for the dead, but I am convinced that a more interior view of the nature of prayer will remove this difficulty. Let us remember that, in the spiritual sense, prayers signify affections for goods and truths, and that when these affections are active in us, we are praying for ourselves. Praying for others is a sincere desire that they also may possess affections for good and truth, not for time alone, but to eternity. Then why, in reason's name, should we cease to wish them true prosperity when they have passed over into the realm where affections for good and truth may become more and more active in them?

     But it may be asked: "What effect can our desire for their progress and prosperity have upon the departed!" The same question may be asked with regard to prayers for absent ones who are living in this world.

     Because of the diabolical fiction of purgatory, invented for the sake of power and gain, Protestant Christianity has almost rejected public and private prayers for the dead. There are, however, some Anglican bodies that offer prayers for deceased persons, and it is also a custom with the Jews. Among the Gentile religions, it has degenerated into what is known as ancestor worship, and with Catholics it has led to the invocation of saints. (See T. C. R. 822-827; D. M. 4603.)

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     But because truth has been perverted, that is no reason why it cannot be restored with men. In fact, such a restoration is what we believe is being accomplished through the Revelation given to the world in the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. It is evident that ancestor worship and the invocation of saints are perversions of the truth concerning the communion of angels and, men, and that purgatory is a perverted Picture of the world of spirits, which is midway between heaven and hell, and which everyone enters after death to be prepared for either heaven or hell. "But regarding purgatory, I can aver that it is purely a Babylonian fiction for the sake of gain, and that it neither does nor can exist." (A. R. 784.)

     Apropos of this subject, let me quote a few passages from a Manual of the Purgatorian Society, which has its headquarters at 113 East Third Street, New York City. "Souls in purgatory," we lead, "are continually in fire which torments more severely than any earthly fire. They are deprived of the sight of God, a torment far more excruciating than all other pains. Let us reflect that among these suffering souls are parents, or brothers, or relations and friends, who look to us for succor. Let us remember, however, that being in a condition of debtors for their sins, they cannot help themselves. This thought should urge us forward to relieve them to the best of our ability. And the soul thus delivered from purgatory, When she enters paradise, will not fail to say to God: 'Lord, do not suffer to be lost that person who has liberated me from prison and brought me to enjoy Thy glory sooner than I had deserved!' Then the faithful are urged to do all in their power to relieve and liberate these blessed souls, by procuring masses to be said for them, by alms, and by their own fervent prayers."

     But the Heavenly Doctrines tell us something very different regarding the state of those who are being prepared in the world of spirits for their eternal abiding places. I, that world, there is no torment for anyone. The evil first come into torment when, after preparation, they come into hell. There is indeed suffering in that world of spirits during states of vastation, but this is not properly torment. And we are further told that there are many joyous occasions in the societies of the world of spirits, similar to those on earth, for the reason that they who are there are conjoined with men, who are also, as to their spirits, in that intermediate world between heaven and hell.

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Mark you! Those in the world of spirits are conjoined with us in spirit. And this is why our good wishes and true thoughts affect them, and why our conjunction with them through affections and thoughts makes it possible for us to be helpful to them, and they to us.

     If prayer for others is a fervent desire that their affections for good and truth may increase more and more, then surely we often offer prayers for the souls of the departed. This is not something that we require urging to perform. It is the spontaneous outflow of a strong desire for the spiritual welfare of those we love.

"Prayer is the soul's sincere desire,
     Uttered or unexpressed,
The motion of a hidden fire
     That trembles in the breast."

     Or we may say:

Prayer is to long for good and truth
With a sincere desire.

     "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! " Pray for the prosperity of all those who love what "Jerusalem" represents. Think of how all-embracing such a prayer is! It includes all upon earth and all in the spiritual world who love the good and truth proceeding from the Lord. "They shall prosper" who love the good and truth represented by "Jerusalem." " For my brethren and companions' sake I will now say, Peace be within thee!" My brethren and companions! Who are they? Angels, spirits and men, united as one family through their affections for good and truth from the Lord.

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MARY IN THE HOUSE OF SIMON 1925

MARY IN THE HOUSE OF SIMON       Rev. H. L. ODHNER       1925

     "Verily I say unto you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this that this woman hath done be told for a memorial of her." (Matthew 26:13.)

     The Gospels of Matthew and Mark tell of a feast in the house of Simon the leper in Bethany, a village on the Mount of Olives; how, while Jesus sat at meat, a woman brought in an alabaster vessel of very precious ointment, and brake the vessel, and poured it upon the head of our Lord. There was indignation with some because of this needless waste, as they regarded it. Why should not the ointment be sold-it would fetch some three hundred pence-and the money given to the poor?

     To grasp the significance of this incident, and the deep pathos of it, we should know of the strange gathering assembled here. They were in the house of Simon "the leper," whom we presume to be one of the many cured by the Lord, and delivered from this living death. The Lord was there-in Bethany-a few hours' walk from Jerusalem, but He had not yet entered the temple city, and it was an open secret that He had already been condemned in the councils to be put to death, if He should enter the city. His name had suddenly come into everyone's mouth, for not long before He had performed a well-attested miracle which caused vast multitudes to claim Him for a prophet-some for the Messiah Himself. He had, in this village of Bethany, raised a man from the grave. And now, at this feast, this man Lazarus, so lately dead, sat at meat with them. The Gospel of John, which tells of this, adds that Martha, the sister of Lazarus, was serving at the table, and gives the significant information that the woman who brought the costly ointment was Mary, the other sister of Lazarus. John pictures Mary as pouring the ointment on the Lord's feet, and wiping them with her hair,-an offering of utmost sincerity, a service of entire humility.

     These three,-Lazarus, Mary and Martha,-were the Lord's friends. It is expressly said that He loved them, even as it is told that He loved His disciple John.

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It is also said that He wept at the grave of Lazarus. And within the fact of His love for them lies a deeper meaning. For His love vested them with a representative significance. They were among those who received Him, who responded to His teachings. They were a nucleus for the new Church which He was then inaugurating. Lazarus, raised from bodily death, signified the Church raised anew on earth,-raised from spiritual death by obedience to His new Word, the Word of Divine authority, which bids it come forth from the death of sin and spiritual indifference. And Martha, always pictured as "cumbered with much serving," as careful and "troubled about many things," signified the external affections of this new Church; while Mary, who "sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word," forgetful of all lesser duties, and having "chosen that good part," was promised that it would " not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:38-42.) Mary represented those internal affections which make the Church truly spiritual.

     The name "Mary" carried a similar significance in other cases. Mary, the "handmaid of Jehovah," the mother of Jesus, who "treasured all things in her heart and Mary Magdalene, who was the first to meet and worship the risen Jesus;-both represented the church as to its internal love of the Lord and of His Truth. And now Mary, the sister of Lazarus, comes invested with the same representation to the table by which Jesus reclined, and, with a heart full of love and humility, anoints her Master with the precious oil of spikenard, so that the house of Simon the leper was filled with the fragrance of her gratitude.

     This feast-significant of the conjunction of the Lord with the Church-took place in the house of one named Simon; and here again, the name "Simon,"-which is given to at least three of those in whose houses the Lord was entertained, shows forth the representation. "Simon," in the Hebrew, means hearing, hearkening, obedience, thus the reception of truth in the will. The church must invite the Lord into the house of obedience; for only in a state of obedience can the Lord enter. Obedience is the common plane of the Church,-that which unites all its parts. All must hearken, must obey the Lord's will, as far as they can apprehend it. Those of the external church, in whose minds external affections are active, obey the external truths of the Word without inquiring into the interior meaning, or feeling the need of much meditation.

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Those of the internal church, who are moved by interior affections, obey the internal truths of the Word, perceiving a call to higher and eternal duties, anxious about the preparation needed for such uses, striving to see truth in the Lord's own light, and to grasp more clearly the problems of their spiritual relationships. The internal church and the external are seemingly opposed in many things; but they are united by one common thing,-obedience, which reconciles their differences and joins them in common service to the Lord, even as Mary and Martha served at the feast of Simon the Leper in such different capacities.

     Obedience is the first plane to be developed in childhood. It is the foundation, the ultimate, of all the human virtues which are to be implanted during education. Every new law of nature or spirit learned by a man reaches him as a command to be obeyed. Spiritual life grows only in proportion as there is obedience to spiritual laws, or as one's life is examined in the light of the teachings of the Word of revealed truth, and regulated by these teachings. This obedience is regenerate, and the man who has come into such obedience to the Word may be compared to Naaman the Syrian, who was cured of his leprosy by Elisha who bade him wash seven times in the baptismal waters of Jordan. Wherefore we find that Simon, in whose house the feast took place, was a leper, cleansed by the Lord.

     In the "house of spiritual obedience," which is called the Church, there are two conceptions of duty. For our ideas of duty are very largely colored by our affections, and by our states of regeneration. And the lesson which the Lord teaches in the stories about Mary and Martha is that both these conceptions of duty should be given free expression, because they are both commendable; but that especial care should be taken, lest an external conception of use encroach upon internal uses, these latter being so essential that without them the church can in no wise remain in its integrity. For the tendency of those who are in interior affections is to leave others quite free to perform external uses. But those who are in external affections are not in any illustration as to the nature of interior uses, and do not perceive the need of those things which promulgate interior truths and goods. Such, therefore, tend to discourage interior uses, and to question their usefulness.

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     On a previous occasion, Martha had been rebuked by the Lord when she sought to inflict her own conception of duty upon Mary, who was sitting at the Lord's feet, listening to His teaching. (Luke 10:38-42.) He had made it plain that the "many things" of distracting external uses were not the essentials. But one thing only was essential, and Mary had a right to this, her choice.

     At the feast in the house of Simon the leper we again find Martha serving, while Mary extravagantly wastes money on precious anointing oil. But it is not now Martha that objects. It is Judas Iscariot, who carried the bag wherein the company of Jesus kept their traveling funds. John records that Judas objected because he was a thief; but ostensibly Judas was only concerned about the poor, lamenting that this money had not been saved and given to the poor. His voice made one with the eternal complaint that those who are trying to express internal affections, or those who seek to promulgate some purely spiritual end, are impractical, lack prudence, waste their energies on unattainable ideals, instead of looking closer to earth and finding their duties there. The voice of Judas is indeed so common, so familiar, that we hear it in our own hearts every day. What we do not so often hear, but what we should well attend to, is the Lord's answer: "Why trouble ye her? She hath wrought a good work upon me. For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good; but me ye have not always. She hath done what she could. She is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her."

     Mary had anointed the Lord with precious oil. This external act was commended, because it testified of a love of the Lord above all else. Mary thought nothing to be too good for the Lard, or too highly priced. Her love of the Lord and of His teachings had glorified and enlightened her whole life. Her heart was too full to give expression to its gratitude in ordinary ways. Her love cried for an outlet, and she took her savings, bought the most precious of balsam's oils, and poured it-not savingly, but all-upon the head of her Master, and also, as the fourth Gospel tells us, upon His feet, which she wiped with her hair.

     The deep beauty of this action was its entireness.

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Mary reserved nothing in her tribute to the Lord. Her devotion was not like Martha's, who always economized, even with her love to the Lord, and who thought of the Lord more as a loved and honored guest than as her very Master; nor did Mary, like most of the disciples, receive the Divine teaching with an intellectual reservation, but rather with the "Yea, yea," of complete celestial affirmation. Her action therefore stands as an eternal memorial of what love to the Lord should be, and how we should never discourage its expression, even though it might offend the self-wise prudence of the world.

     We need not ask the approval of others when we worship God. We should spare neither our wealth nor our pride when we express our gratitude to Him. We should make no reservations in our loyalty to Him. We should place Him,-His truth and service, and the hearing of His Word,-in a paramount place in our lives. Even the demands of the Second Great Commandment-"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself"-are subordinate to the things which should feed our love of the Lord God, Who is above all things, the All in all. It is not difficult to assent to this truth. But the greater part of our life may pass before the perception of its import dawns upon us;-that the Lord should be loved ardently, unreservedly, above all else. He is the Good in all good things. He is the Law within every truth. He is the substance from which we have our substance. What does all this leave us to do, except to bow our hearts entirely to His will and His voice, to serve Him with joy and holiness?

     It is true that the Lord is served even in the works of the ordinary uses of charity, provided always that the love of the Lord is urging our conscience to perform them aright, and to shun what savors of evil. But all too often is this truth turned into an excuse to avoid the full exercise of our duties to the Lord Himself.

     Uses are judged by men, and before the world, by their practical effects. And by the expression "practical," people often mean what is of such apparent and direct effect that even the obtusest mind can discern it. The necessities of this world,-the gathering of wealth, the feeding of the body, the concerns of finance and politics, mark in the modern world the limits of practical uses. Education, invention, science, as far as these look to mundane success, are also esteemed practical. The world is now crying out for a more practical religion, but this really comes from a demand for an organized social reform in which Christian and Atheist, Jew and Gentile, may join on even terms, since it is inspired by no love of God, but by the natural needs of society.

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What is not practical, what has not the immediate goal of worldly prosperity, has little appeal to this generation.

     But in the Lord's sight, uses are not so judged. For the works of men have deeper and greater effects than what appears on the surface. The widow's mite, dropped quietly in the temple-coffer, became, through the Gospels, an eternal force to soften untold human hearts throughout the ages, and to invite the spheres of charity from the heavens. The bravery of the early martyrs, which was as foolishness and extravagance in the eyes of the worldly wise, became the power on which Christ's Church was to rest, long after its doctrinal foundation had become corrupt. Works are not truly measured by their natural results, but by the spiritual powers which they carry within them; and these are seldom seen in this world, but remain hidden to all but "the Heavenly Father who seeth in secret." What men condemn as impractical may thus be of surpassing import. And if this were not to some degree recognized by the good and wise in every land, civilization in all its finer aspects would perish utterly.

     Love towards the neighbor generally looks in the direction of practical issues, and has temporal needs in mind. Its primary thing, however, is consideration and care for the spirit of the neighbor, and zeal for his freedom and happiness. But love to the Lord, which is the internal-the soul-of the Church, and which must be present within charity in all its forms, has also its own ultimates, its own modes of expression. For good loves which are not given some direct outlet, are apt either to Wane or to turn into what is diseased, morbid, and profane. And the higher affections, in their expression, are frequently not recognized as uses, but are considered of little account, when yet the most profound services of man for the furtherance of the objects and ends of creation are involved in them.

     The love of the Lord finds its particular ultimate in Divine worship, in the frequenting of places of worship, in prayer and self-humiliation, in the singing and reading of praises to the Lord, and in the joining with others in glorification and confession. This is ordained in the Writings of the New Church as orderly and needful. It is done in heaven, and should be done also on earth.

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It is indeed needful, for there is nothing else to take its place. It is a use, most practical in its spiritual effects. It is also called a service,-a "Divine Service." It is a use to ourselves and a service to others, and, in a sense, to the Lord; even as was Mary's Service,-her gift of the balsamic ointment.

     Divine worship-with regular, punctual attendance, whole-hearted and full-voiced participation, undivided attention, reverent behavior-is at this day the chief expression of the love which the Church bears to her Lord God. The Sabbath is especially set apart for this purpose, to provide a respite from practical uses on the worldly plane, and from the anxieties which attend these, so that there may be a state of bodily poise and rest, for the opening of the thoughts to the Lord and to heaven; yea, for interior reflection and meditation upon heavenly uses,-the practical uses of that heavenly plane on which man is to live forever.

     The participation in Divine worship is a use,-a most needful thing for every man's spirit. We need a constantly new introduction into the sphere of the Lord's protection. That sphere is lost to us again and again. We need to enter it anew, that we may have strength in the temptations of the new period. We need to store the interiors of our minds with the truths of peace and worship, which alone can shed a steady light over our lives.

     But worship is also service. We serve the angels when we read the sacred texts, or sing their message. For though our thoughts be full of material ideas,-shadows of truths rather than truths themselves,-yet the angels come thereby to new light, in their seeing the answering spiritual meaning. Worship is, in a sense, a service even to the Lord Himself. It is the means wherein His love fulfills itself, whereby He can be present in His glorified Human. And though He does not depend upon us for this service, yet in it we aid His kingdom, and join with unseen hosts in uses of far greater value than we know. . . . And a sphere of the "odor of rest"-the balsamic ointment of love to the Lord-rises with our prayers into the heavens, to return thence with strength into human hearts.

     Yet God forbid that we should ever think that this Divine service, which so fitly ultimates our love to the Lord, comes from ourselves. And God forbid that we should imagine that the empty rites of the outward worship might by themselves be a means of conjunction with heaven.

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Love of the Lord can be given only from the Lord. It is truly present only where it is acknowledged that all the good which a man does, and all the truth that he may think, is from the Lord-a gift.

     With those who so think, the Lord can establish His internal church, with its internal love and truth, which, like Mary, loves to pour out upon the Lord the acknowledgment of His Divinity, and to anoint Him, first and last, head and foot, the King and Priest over the Church,-an outpouring which, by God's mercy, shall be eternal, an everlasting memorial of Mary, the sister of Lazarus. Amen.
STATE OF THE CHRISTIAN WORLD VIEWED IN SPIRITUAL LIGHT 1925

STATE OF THE CHRISTIAN WORLD VIEWED IN SPIRITUAL LIGHT       Rev. R. J. TILSON       1925

     It is surely incumbent upon all Christian men and women to make themselves acquainted with the true nature and quality of the world in which they live, as to its spiritual life and character. One naturally appreciates the endeavor to know as much as possible of the various departments of the material and physical universe in which we live our natural life. Is it not of even greater importance to know the real character of the spiritual atmosphere which surrounds us? And, we would ask further, is it not the duty of every Christian parent to instruct the children as to the true character of the Christian World, that they may grow up with a knowledge that will enable them to choose wisely between the evil and the good? Surely no thoughtful person will deny the advisability of such study and instruction.

     By the Christian World we mean, in this paper, all the nations of Europe, and also all their descendants in other lands, as to their religious, political, social, and commercial habits and customs. But in this, our search for information on the state of the Christian World, it should be realized at once that the only authority to which appeal can be made, and from which correct information can be obtained, is that of Divine Revelation.

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There is no other possible Court of Appeal, and no other possible source of information, if we would come into the position of making a just judgment. The tendency of the natural mind is to judge from appearances, but the Lord says, "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." (John 7:24.) And in making this judgment, each one according to his ability, let it be especially borne in mind that Divine Revelation forbids anyone from judging as to the internal state of any man, for this is known to the Lord alone. (C. L. 523; A. R. 76.) Nor are we concerned now with persons as individuals. We have in mind principles, professed and lived.

     The Authority to which we of the Lord's New Church appeal is, of course, the "Immediate Revelation" contained in the Writings; and if we were asked to name the specific Books, we would say The Last Judgment, The True Christian Religion, and The Coronis or Appendix to The True Christian Religion, which was the last Book of the Writings to be penned by the human instrument of the Lord's Second Advent,-Emanuel Swedenborg. Turning to this Authority, which is Divine, and not human, we meet with the following specific and forceful teaching:

     "The quality of the Lord's church in the world cannot be seen by any man, so long as he lives in the world, still less how the church in process of time has turned aside from good to evil. The reason is, that man, whilst he lives in the world, is in externals, and only sees those things which lie open before his natural man. What, however, the quality of the church is as to spiritual things, which are its internals, does not appear in the world, but it does appear in heaven as in clear day; for the angels are in spiritual thought, and also in spiritual sight, and hence see nothing but spiritual things. . . . The state of the church, and also its progressions, lie open in heaven before the angels." (L. J. 41.)

     Now, as the Church gives quality to the world, it follows that no man can know the state of the Christian World so long as he lives in this world, since he is in externals. The internal, and, therefore, the real state of the Christian World, can be known only to the angels, and to him who was as one with the angels, and through whom the Lord has revealed the truth concerning this matter. Man may premise and guess; and, from self-intelligence, he may judge from appearances; but he cannot know, save from Revelation, the truth as to the state of the Christian World.

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     Man, being "in externals," and therefore judging from appearances, may point to the wonderful advances made in science, literature, etc., since the time of the Last Judgment. He may call attention to the wonderful improvements accompanying so-called civilization, and the far happier lot of men in recent times, by reason of their external surroundings. He may even be so blinded by mere sentiment, or moved by superficial evidence, as to assert that the New Church is gradually permeating all sects of the First Christian Church. Or he may be so infatuated with what he desires to see, as to declare that the New Church is but a revival of the First Christian Church, and this in face of the direct teaching of the Book on The Divine Providence, which declares that now "a New Church is provided by the Lord, to follow in place of the former vastated Church." (No. 328.) That which is "in place of " a thing can hardly be a revival of that which it replaces, can it? Further, will any thoughtful person contend that the First Christian Church today is any nearer to the Truth than it was at the time of the Last Judgment?

     Then, does not all history show that a high state of civilization is compatible with a low state of morals, and of spiritual life? And by no means is it an indication that, because externals have advanced the physical comfort of mankind, the moral and spiritual character is deeper and more true. The history of Greece and Rome abundantly confirm the contention that external and worldly circumstances are no criterion whatever of the existence and increase of inward and spiritual grace.

     And as to the "permeation theory," it may be passed by as the figment of man's self-deception; for it will not bear the light of careful and unprejudiced examination. Moreover, if it were true, it would not necessarily be a matter for congratulation, for there would be every danger that it would largely conduce to profanation, and to the thickening of the already far too prevalent and suffocating atmosphere of religious hypocrisy and fanaticism. The commingling of truth and error in the unregenerate mind usually leads to the supremacy of falsity. Let all those who are disposed to accept the heresy of the "permeation theory" carefully read T. C. R. 380 and 381, at the opening of which paragraphs the following explicit statement is made: "All faith that acknowledges the Lord, and yet adopts falsities or heresies, is the issue of polygamy; and all faith that acknowledges three Lords in one Church is the issue of adultery."

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     II.

     Taking cognizance, therefore, of these mental pitfalls, into which those may easily fall who allow themselves to make judgment concerning the state of the Christian World from mere appearances viewed in natural lumen, let the question be faced: What does Divine Revelation, which gives "the interiors of the Word," say and proclaim as to the real state of the Christian World, as known to the angels, and as now revealed by the Lord?

     First, turn to the Book on The Last Judgment, where it is written: "Such is the state of the Church at this day; namely, that there is no faith in it, because there is no charity; and where there is no charity, there is no spiritual good, for that good exists entirely from charity. It was declared from heaven that there is still good with some, but that it cannot be called spiritual good, but natural good, because essential Divine Truths are in obscurity, and Divine Truths introduce to charity, for they teach it and regard it as their end; whence no other charity can exist but such as accords with the truths from which it exists. . . Hence it is that spiritual good is not given at this day, but only natural good with some." (No. 38.)

     Secondly, turn to that Part of the Coronis known as "The Consummation of the Age," and you will find Summaries or Headings, four times repeated, declaring concerning that state of the First Christian Church at the consummation of the age, that:

     "There is no knowledge of God, except what is erroneous, false, or altogether none; ... no knowledge of the Lord; no knowledge of the Divine Human, except a historical one; no knowledge of the Holy Spirit; hence no knowledge of the Divine Trinity; no knowledge of the holiness of the Word; no knowledge of Redemption, except what is false; no knowledge of Faith; . . . no knowledge of Charity; . . . no knowledge of heaven and hell; no knowledge of man's state after death; . . no knowledge of Baptism and the Holy Supper, which are regarded scarcely as anything else than ceremonies; . . . no knowledge of the Law, except an erroneous one; no knowledge of the Gospel, except an erroneous one."

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And, the teaching continues, amid numerous other particulars, "There is no doctrine of theology; thus the consummation is such that no truth remains. For this cause, the Christian Religion is torn into so many heresies."

     I am well aware that exception may be taken by some that this teaching is contained in a work never published by Swedenborg, and not even finished by him. I will not, however, waste your time or mine by replying to that superficial and derogatory statement, further than by reminding you that the teaching quoted is contained in the Coronis,-the Crown-of The Universal Theology of the New Church, generally known as The True Christian Religion, and that the teaching of the Crown is but the summary of, and in perfect agreement with, the last chapter in the True Christian Religion, which deals with the "Consummation of the Age." Deny the teaching of the Coronis, and you deny the teaching of the True Christian Religion.

     Thirdly, take up any of those Books of the Writings which were published by Swedenborg, and you will find that in all of them the same testimony is borne as to the internal and true nature of the Christian World at the present day. Two examples will be sufficient for the present purpose. In the Arcana Celestia, it is written concerning those who had passed over into the spiritual world: "Not even one from the Christian World knew that His Human is Divine; and scarcely anyone that He alone rules heaven and the universe, still less that His Divine Human is the all in heaven." (A. C. 4689.) And, from the same Book: "That the Church is such, does not appear to those who are in the Church, namely, that they despise, and are averse to, all those things which are of good and truth, and that they wage hostilities against them, and especially against the Lord Himself. For they frequent public worship, they hear preaching, they are in a certain holiness when there, they go to the Holy Supper, and occasionally converse among themselves in a becoming manner concerning those things. The bad as well as the good do this. They also live among themselves in civic charity or friendship. Hence it is that, in the sight of men, no contempt is visible, much less aversion, and least of all enmity against the goods and truths of faith, and against the Lord.

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But these things are only external forms, by which one person leads another astray, whereas the internal forms of the men of the Church are altogether unlike the external, even altogether contrary to them." (A. C. 3489.)

     After describing the real character of those from the Christian World, as made known in the spiritual world, the passage continues: "Such are Christians at this day as to their interiors, except a few who are not known. From this it is evident what is the quality of the Church." (See also Preface to A. C. 1886, 4127; S. D. 5978)

     III.

     This, then, is the teaching of the Heavenly Doctrines concerning the state of the Christian World. But to this teaching, albeit that it is from that Revelation in which the Lord has made His Second Advent, there may be urged the objection that though this was true of the Church and world in the days when Swedenborg lived, yet that state is far better today. Not so! Not so! Altered and changed the state of the world may be, and is; but not for the better. Not for the better, when interiorly examined.

     Let us see. For whilst it is indeed true that it is only from the teachings of Revelation that we can possibly know the truth concerning the interiors of those in the Christian World, yet we may, and doubtless shall, find abundant confirmations of this Divine Teaching in the history of the Christian Church, and in our own experience and knowledge of the Christian World.

     The Christian Church today, and therefore the Christian World, may be divided into two classes,-Fundamentalists and Modernists; to which, so far as the so-called Christian World is concerned, may be added another class, namely, Materialists.

     The Fundamentalists in the Christian Church hold to the original ideas of a Trinity of Persons in the Godhead; to the vicarious sacrifice and atonement of the Lord, the personality of the devil, the resurrection of the body, and other similar abominations.

     The Modernists, on the other hand, are not clear as to the Trinity. They deny the Virgin Birth of the Lord, and His resurrection from the tomb. They regard the Word of the Old Testament as a revelation of Jewish history, and the Word of the New Testament as a record of the life of the historical Jesus, and of the acts of His apostles.

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They deny the verbal inspiration of the Word, also that the miracles of the Lord ever took Place actually. And they claim that Jesus was the best of men, but that the fulness of the Godhead dwelt in Him bodily, only in greater proportion than it dwells in every good man and woman. Thus they deny His Supreme Divinity.

     Be it frankly stated that, between these two opposing parties in the Christian Church, it is not a war of truth against falsity,-a war in which those of the New Church can take sides in favor of the one against the other. It is the struggle between two opposing falsities, True, indeed, there may be seen in this struggle the evidence that, since the time of the Last Judgment, man has come into a freer state of mind. But that freedom has been abused, because, in the development of Modernism, that freedom has given wider and deeper range to the self-intelligence of man. It has largely dethroned the Deity, and has enthroned human reason in the place of the Divine.

     Now to the Word of the Lord, as we are enjoined to do in Isaiah 8:20: "To the law and to the testimony. If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."

     In Divine Love and Wisdom: "How very important it is to have a correct idea of God, may appear from this consideration, that the idea of God constitutes the inmost of thought with all who have any religion, and all things of worship have relation to God. And as the idea of God is universally and singularly in all things of religion and worship, therefore, unless there be a just idea of God, there cannot be any communication with the heavens. . . . The denial of God constitutes hell; and, in the Christian World, the denial of the Divinity of the Lord." (No. 13.)

     N. B.-"In the Christian World, the negation of the Divinity of the Lord constitutes hell." These are not man's thoughts, but the Lord's,-thoughts and teaching revealed through man to men. (See also B. E. 40; A. E. 1096-1099.)

     In Apocalypse Explained: "There are two things by which heaven is closed to the men of the Church. One is the denial of the Divine of the Lord, and the other is the denial of the holiness of the Word. The cause is, that the Divine of the Lord is the all of heaven, and the Divine Truth, which is the Word in the spiritual sense, makes heaven." (No. 960.)

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     In the Arcana Celestia: "He, however, who wishes to grow wise from the Lord, and not from the world, says in his heart that the Lord must be believed, that is, the things which the Lord has spoken in the Word, because they are truths; and according to this principle he regulates his thoughts. He confirms himself in his belief by rational, scientific, sensual, and natural things, and he rejects from his thoughts every idea which does not tend to its confirmation." (No. 128.)

     One final quotation, among many, many others which might be given.

     In Apocalypse Revealed: "When, therefore, the Divine in Him is separated from the Human, by saying that His Human is not Divine, but is like the human essence of any other man, in this case, He is dead among men." (No. 59.)

     IV.

     Such, then, is the teaching of the "Law and the Testimony" for all those who will be of the Lord's New Church. And in the light of this teaching from the Lord, how stand Fundamentalism and Modernism? Fundamentalism has in the past been nobly and courageously shown to be entirely erroneous, by those who have labored diligently in the cause of the Lord's New Church. But since those days a spirit of lethargy has entered the Church's organization; and, what is far more serious, there has come, and especially among some of the ministers of the Church, a disposition to flirt with the Modernists, and to represent them as being nearer to the true Church-the Crowning Church of all the Ages-than were those of the older faith. This is a terrible thing, and, if unchecked, will destroy the organization which now calls itself the New Church.

     Modernism is no improvement upon Fundamentalism. Modernism has brought the Church and the world into a darker night of all the Churches. Take, as an example, some of the statements of one of the latest developments of Modernism, called the "Student Christian Movement," being allied with a "Conference on Christian Politics, Economics, and Citizenship."

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From a study of several of the books it has published, and the voluminous reports it has printed, one is forced to denounce it as a revival of Arianism, and as calculated to destroy the belief in the Divinity of the Lord and the holiness of the Word, and thus to close heaven against the men of the Church. Time allows but for three short extracts, but they are fairly representative of the teaching of the Literature of "Copec," and of the " Student Christian Movement."

     First, a quotation from a book bearing the title of The Doctrine of the Infallible Book, by Charles Gore, D.D., "Sometime Bishop of Oxford," 1924. It reads:

     "Now no book of the New Testament can be said to claim directly to be written under inspiration, except the last, the Revelation of St. John. The evangelists, to judge from St. Luke's preface, would claim only the authority of well-informed recorders." (p. 35.)

     "The inspiration of the New Testament Scriptures is not a doctrine which lies at the foundation of the Christian faith." (p. 45.)

     Then, from another book, entitled The Message of C. O. P. E. C., in a chapter on "The Nature of God" by H. A. Mess, B.A., 1924: "Jesus was keenly interested in men and women,-His brothers and sisters in God's family." (P. 4.) "He (Jesus) paid taxes in which He did not believe."

     Finally, from another book, having the title The Wonders of the Kingdom; a Study of the Miracles of Jesus, by G. R. H. Shafto, 1924. In a chapter on "Christianity and the Cure of Disease," p. 174, we read: " Jesus wrought His cures as a man, and said to men who followed Him, 'The works that I do shall ye do also.'"

     Do we need more of this to show the inherent falsity underlying the whole of this movement? Do we wonder, after hearing this, and upon looking back in the history of the First Christian Church, and in the history of the world which it first dominated, and then submissively served,-do we wonder that it is revealed that the angels "have slender hope of the men of the Christian Church"? (L. J. 74.)

     But is it urged that the various sects of the First Christian Church make good works of greater importance at this day than in the past? that they strive for better conditions of work, of living, and of recreation? that, in a word, they emphasize the necessity of being and doing good, more than they have ever done in the past?

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Listen to revealed Truth on this:

     "Good is not good, as has been said, unless it be conjoined with truth." (Life 37.) "Good has its quality from truths." (A. C. 4748.) "Where there are not truths, or where they are not received, there is neither rational nor human good; consequently, the man has not any spiritual life." (A. C. 3387)

     Thus truths are absolutely necessary, that the good done may be spiritual, and thus living good, the good recognized by the angels, and the good which obtains in heaven. And, in this connection, remember the words of the Arcana Celestia:

     "Natural good, which is signified by the 'herd,' is not that which is born with a man, but that which is procured through the cognitions of truth joined to the affection of good. For the natural good which is connate is, in itself, a mere animal good; for it exists also with animals; whereas the natural good which is procured, or with which man is gifted by the Lord, contains within it what is spiritual, so that it is spiritual good in the natural. This latter good is human natural good itself; whereas the former, viz., that which is connate, although it appears as good, may still not be good, yea, it may be evil; for it can receive falsities, and believe that to be good which is evil; such natural good exists amongst nations of the worst life and faith." (3407.)

     V.

     It is of the utmost importance that this distinction between "connate natural good" and "spiritual natural good" be realized and continually borne in mind, especially by every member of the organized New Church. The necessity for this is being shown constantly by what appears in the journals of the New Church. Should any one doubt this, let him but read the letter of Mr. William C. Dick, reproduced from the NEW-CHURCH HERALD in the issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE for December, 1924, under the caption of "The Grip of Christianity." One sentence from that splendid letter must suffice now: "Modernism is one of the most disruptive forces at present pulling down the doctrine of the Divine Human, with that of the Virgin Birth, from the hearts and minds of thinking Christians, and preventing others from joining the Christian faith." (p. 732.)

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Confirmation of this is found in two remarkable extracts in the same issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE, one by Dr. Charles Eliot, President Emeritus of Harvard University, and the other by Dr. Joseph A. Leighton, Professor of Philosophy at Ohio State University. The former rejoices in "the unbelief of youth in the Bible story," and the other declares roundly that "the Church is a failure."

     In a book edited and published but two months ago by Dr. Mary Scharlieb, entitled Sexual Problems of Today, the well-known Lady Doctor says: "The danger of the present age appears to us to lie in the flood of materialism that has risen so fast of late years, and which threatens to engulf human nature, and to drown its aspirations in a self-seeking hedonism. . . . It is materialism, and the unchecked pursuit of what is pleasant and gratifying for the moment, that underlies all our sexual and moral difficulties." (Published by Williams and Norgate, 7/6.) Statistics-latest to be obtained-support Dr. Scharlieb's statement; for we have ascertained that, whereas in 1903 there were 113,964 insane persons, certified as such, in 1923 there were 126,279; and in the same years, whereas in 1903 there were 844 cases of divorce, in 1922 there were no less than 2455 Decrees Nisi granted. These figures refer to England and Wales, but in London alone during the past term there were 1300 cases for divorce.

     Such, then, is the state of the Christian World at this day. He who denies this, denies Divine Revelation, and denies also the facts which stare every thoughtful man in the face, as he examines the worlds of commerce, of social life, of politics, and of religious organizations. The realization of this terrible condition of the times produces a feeling of genuine sadness, and the cry arises, "How long, O Lord, holy and true!" (Apoc. 6:10.)

     But, sad though the feeling this contemplation of the state of the Christian World produces, yet we plead that it is absolutely necessary for the establishment of the Lord's New Church upon earth that this state should be known,-well-known,-and honestly faced and proclaimed; and all this, of course, upon the foundation of Divine Revelation. Until this is done, there can be no true advance in the real establishment of the Church upon earth. Shutting our eyes to facts, deceiving ourselves by sentiment, or by the lust of reaching the people by unauthorized methods,-these will never conduce to the coming of the Lord's Kingdom.

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The apostolic declaration, "Little children, it is the last time" (1 John 11:18), still holds good; and it will hold good a long while. The Consummation of the Age of the First Christian Church is not very near its end yet, as we count years. The Last Judgment still continues, and must continue until the New Church is established Upon the earth.

     In the Divine Providence of the Lord, the Old Church has yet something to do, however faithlessly it may do that unto which it is called. And that something is found in the maintenance of the written Word of God. Even as the Jews have been preserved unto this day for the sake of the Word of the Old Testament, so will the Christians of the Old Church be preserved for the sake of the Word of both Testaments, Until the New Church is strong and numerous enough to accomplish the Vital duty of proclaiming the Word-the Opened Word-and of maintaining the same in teaching, in education, and in the life according thereto. But whatever use may be served by the continuation Of the Old Church in an organized form, it will steadily and inevitably go on to its end, and will be succeeded by the New Church as the Crown of the Churches. And this new and lasting Church will be formed out of a remnant of the former Church, and also, and chiefly among those who are of a gentile disposition. The Doctrine is as follows:

     "The reason why the interiors of the Word are now being opened, is, that the Church at the present day has been vastated to such an extent, that is, is so void of faith and love, that although men know and understand, they nevertheless do not acknowledge, and still less do they believe, except the few who are in the life of good, and are called elect, who can now be instructed, and among whom a new Church is to be established. But where such persons are, the Lord alone knows; there will be few within the Church. The new Churches in former times were established among the gentiles." (A. C. 3898. See also A. C. 530 and 407.)

     The "remnant " from the former Church, therefore, will be "few," relatively "few." The Lord alone knows where they are. And in connection with the Doctrine just quoted, it is stimulating and gladdening to know that it is further revealed that "persons of every religion may be saved, if only by a life of charity they have received remains of good and of apparent truth." (A. C. 2284.)

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But the same paragraph of the Arcana Celestia goes on to say: "More are saved from among gentiles than from among Christians." (See also A. C. 4147.)

     Who, and how many, are included in the term "gentiles," is too large a theme to be entered into in this paper. Suffice it now to say that both "Christian Gentiles" and Pagan Gentiles are embraced within the term. (See A. C. 9192; 3447.) We read of "Christian Gentilism, where the images of saints are exposed to adoration, before which they also kneel and prostrate themselves." (A. C. 9020.) The Roman Catholics are not a Church, but a Religion. (See A. R. 718.) Are they "Christian Gentiles"?

     Hence, then, the Crowning Church of all the ages is to be formed chiefly amongst the gentiles, but also by the "remnant" from the former Church. This New Church must be based upon the New Word given in that Revelation which consists of the interiors of that Word which was already in the world when the Lord made His Second Advent,-the Words of the Old and New Testaments. Guided by the truths given in this new Revelation must our children be educated within the sphere of the Church. Based upon that same Revelation must be all the instruction offered from our pulpits, and in all the literature of the Church. Formed according to the Divine Teachings of that same Revelation must be the lives and conduct of all the members of the Church. Then, and not until then, will the New Jerusalem descend from God out of heaven, and "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." (Isaiah 11:9) It is for us to labor, and to wait; resting, with patience, upon the Divine promise, "I the Lord will hasten it in his time." (Isaiah 60:22.)

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TOPICS FROM THE WRITINGS 1925

TOPICS FROM THE WRITINGS        W. F. PENDLETON       1925

     XXV.

The Supreme Doctrine.

     The doctrine of the Glorification of the Lord is the supreme doctrine of the church, treated of everywhere in Scripture in its inmost sense. And that which teaches concerning the last or ultimate act of glorification, taking place in the sepulcher, may be called the most holy of all the doctrines which Revelation has given. This may be seen in the fact that holiness especially resides in what is ultimate, lowest, or last; and that a guard has been thrown, as it were, around this last act of the Lord's life in the world, both in the variety of teaching, and in the apparent opposition of statement concerning it; this, together with another fact, which is, that the discussion of more than a hundred years in the New Church has failed to bring unity of thought as to the meaning of the words of Revelation. It would seem that, in this manner, the truth, which is most holy, has been guarded from injury. It may be said, also, that this subject is to be approached in the spirit of the words spoken to Moses at the burning bush; otherwise a veil may be cast over it which cannot be lifted for a long time to come.

     It may be said further, that what took place on the cross stands parallel with that which took place in the sepulcher, the one as the last temptation, and the other as the last act of glorification; and it would appear that any exhaustive study must take the two together. But the compass of such a subject is too great to be attempted in the present series of notes. Let us continue, then, with our brief consideration of the general subject of the Glorification of the Human of the Lord.

The Human Made Divine.

     In a previous article on the subject of the Lord's Body, it was admitted that there is an appearance in certain passages of the Writings that in the sepulcher the substances of His body were changed, transformed, or transmuted into what is Divine; although it is not actually said in those numbers that this took place, which gives room for interpretation in the light of other teachings.

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That we have other teaching, was shown in the quotations from the Doctrine of the Lord (no. 35) and from the treatise on the Athanasian Creed (nos. 161, 162), wherein it is shown that there was no transmutation into the Divine Essence of anything received from the mother, nor was it mingled with it, but that all was dissipated in the sepulcher, and that a Divine Human or Divine Body from the Father was taken on in the place of all that was natural and material.

     Now, if the two passages just referred to be taken as decisive and truly interpretative, then when it is said that "the Lord rose again, not only as to the soul, but also as to the body, . . . differently from any man" (A. C. 10738), the meaning is that He rose again with a body which had taken the place of the body from the mother,-a body from the Divine of the Father. Or, when it is said that "He rose again on the third day with the whole body " (L. 35), the meaning is, that He rose again with a body whole and entire, that is, Divine, descending from the Divine of the Father within Him, taking the place of that body from the mother and from nature which had prepared the way-parallel with the work of John the Baptist-and which, having performed this use, was removed or altogether put away, in the sense that all that was hereditary from Mary the mother, and through her from the Jewish nation and Jewish Church, together with all that was from nature and from the world, that is, all that was from hell, was totally removed by the processes of regeneration, that is, by the Divine act of Glorification, extending through the series of years that He was on earth with men, having effected at the same time the Divine work of Redemption.

The Divine Body from the Father.

     In the extract above from the Doctrine of the Lord (no. 35) it is said that the Lord "put off the human from the mother, . . . and put on a Human from the Father." By transposing the word Human to the word Body, the passage would read, that the Lord "put off the body from the mother, . . . and put on a Body from the Father."

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This transposition is indeed made in the same number (L. 35) where it is said that the Lord, after He had risen, "showed Himself in His Human Body before His disciples" (L. 35), that is, He showed Himself in His glorified Body, the Body taken on from the Father, His Divine Body, now occupying the place of the body from the mother. The same thing appears in other passages, some of which we have quoted, as in the following: "The Lord alone rose from the dead as to the body." (A. C. 2083.) "He glorified His body, or made it Divine, while He was in the world." (A. C. 5078.) "The Lord took up into heaven all His Human glorified, . . . and left nothing of it in the sepulcher. . . . He glorified the body itself, even to its ultimates, . . . which are the bones and flesh." (A. C. 10125.) "He took from the sepulcher, when He arose, His whole Human body." (T. C. R. 170.) "He left nothing of His body in the sepulcher." (A. E. 41.) That is, the substances of His material body were dispersed from the sepulcher into the atmospheres, and were there dissipated, each particle returning to its place in nature; and He rose in the Divine Body taken on from the Father; and in that Divine Body He showed Himself to His disciples after His resurrection.

What a Man Inherits from His Mother.

     We are familiar with the teaching that a man's soul is from his father, and his body from his mother. (T. C. R. 103, and elsewhere.) Let us here note the fact that a man inherits more from his mother than the mere physical body of flesh and bones. But it is not essential to this series to discuss this phase of the subject at large. We merely wish to call attention to the well-known teaching that the Lord had no soul from any human origin, but that the soul in Him was the Divine Itself, the Divine which is called the Father. "I am in the Father, and the Father in me; ... the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works." (John 14:10.) "Who does not know that the child has the soul and life from its father, and that the body is from the soul? What, therefore, is said more plainly than that the Lord had His soul and life from Jehovah God? and because the Divine cannot be divided, that the Divine Itself was His soul and life?" (T. C. R. 82.) The body of man, by regeneration, is formed into an image of his soul. All that is in the body that is not in agreement with the soul is gradually removed, put away, so that there is finally established a complete correspondence of the body with the soul, so that the body becomes the son or offspring of the soul.

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The doctrine reveals a corresponding operation in the Glorification of the Lord. His body, after the three days in the sepulcher, was no longer in any sense the son of Mary, but the Son of God.

     The second point we wish briefly to present is, that the Lord took on from Mary, by natural inheritance, not only a body of flesh and blood, but also her mental states, which included not only the natural good in her, but the evil tendencies of the Jewish nation, and of the whole human race. This body from Mary the Lord wholly removed by acts of glorification, and took on in its place a Body from the Father, Divine, Omnipresent, Infinite-present in all the world of creation, and not anything in it from the human of the mother.

The Lord Now Has All the Planes of a Man in the World.

     The material body of the Lord, inherited from Mary, could not have been transmuted into the Divine Essence, any more than the substances of the natural world could be so transmuted, transformed, changed into the substances of the spiritual world. That this is impossible, the Writings teach everywhere. And as man casts aside his material body at death, and takes on a new body,-entire, distinct, and complete, a spiritual body,-which is not now material but substantial, no material particle remaining in it, so the Lord completely cast aside and rejected all that was material from the world, and took on a new Body from the Divine Itself, which is called Divine substantial. (L. 35) It is clear, however, that this parallel cannot be carried too far. There is a difference exceeding great between man and the Lord. This difference is, that man at death does not take on another body on the same plane as his material body, and in the place of it. He ceases to exist on that plane. Not so with the Lord, as shown in what has been said before in these notes.

     This prepares us to understand in a measure the teaching that the Lord, previous to His coming, had in Himself only the planes which an angel has, but that now, through incarnation and glorification, He has all the planes a man in the world has, but Divinely complete and perfect. (See H. H. 57, 304; D. L. W. 233; A. E. 1112:2.)

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He and none other is now the Divinely perfect Man.

The Descent of the Divine by Glorification.

     In this connection, it is important to understand that the glorification is both a descent and an ascent. The descent is primary and essential. The ascent is the appearance, but the descent gives expression to the thing as it really is. The ascent is by truth to good; the descent is by good to truth. The descent is the Divine Love coming dawn to be with men, even as the voice from heaven said to John, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, their God." (Rev. 21:3.) This descent of the Divine by glorification is the essential coming of the Lord. By it the Lord caused Himself to be present with men as He was never present before; and it is to be an eternal presence for the sake of His New Jerusalem. This descent was successive, gradual, beginning with the first man created; forming, first, the celestial heaven, then the spiritual heaven, then the natural, and finally the church on earth. He did bow the heavens and came down, beginning with His First or Highest, and concluding with His Last or Lowest, even as He said to John, "Fear not; I am the First and the Last. I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore." (Rev. 1:17, 18.)

     There is a fallacy abroad in the Church, that the Lord by glorification returned to the Divine and became invisible as He was before His coming. There can be no greater lapse, no greater error of the human understanding. BY His glorification and descent to men, He became more visible than ever before, having now in Divine perfection and visibility all the planes of a man in the world, and even all the planes of nature itself. He is no longer an angel, but He is a Man, the one and only God Man, the First and the Last, embracing man and the created universe in between His First and His Last-as it were, in the hollow of His hand.

The Divine of the Lord is in Three Degrees.

     It was said in what precedes that the Lord, by incarnation and glorification, has taken upon Himself all the planes of a man in the world. Be had before only what an angel has,-a Divine Celestial and a Divine Spiritual; but now He has in addition a Divine Natural.

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A man has these three planes temporarily, or during his life in the world, but the Lord now has them to eternity. Hence the teaching is "that there are three infinite and uncreated degrees of altitude in the Lord, and three finite and created degrees in man. (D. L. W. 230-235.) "Wherefore, these three degrees (infinite and uncreate) are inscribed on man, because they are in God Man, that is, in the Lord;" but "man they are finite and created"; and thus "concerning the Lord," the Divine Human, the Savior of the world, "nothing but what is Infinite can be predicated, and concerning man nothing but what is finite." (D. L. W. 231)

     And further, we learn that "it has been told me from heaven, that in the Lord from eternity, who is Jehovah, before the assumption of the Human in the world, there were two prior degrees actually, and the third degree in potency, such also as they are with the angels; but that after the assumption of the Human in the world, He also superinduced the third degree, which is called the natural, and that by this He became a Man similar to a man in the world, yet with the difference that this degree, like the (two) prior degrees, is Infinite and Uncreate, but that those degrees in an angel and in a man are finite and created." (D. L. W. 233)

     And we learn still further, that "the reason why the Lord from eternity, or Jehovah, superinduced this third degree by the assumption of the Human in the world, was because He could not enter into the world except by a nature similar to a human nature, thus not except by conception from His Divine, and by birth from a virgin; for thus He could put off nature, which in itself is dead, and still a receptacle of the Divine, and put on the Divine." (D. L. W. 234)

     That the Lord is not infinite and uncreate in these degrees of the Divine, is but an appearance for the sake of accommodation to the reception of angels and men.

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NOTES AND REVIEWS. 1925

NOTES AND REVIEWS.              1925


NEW CHURCH LIFE
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     PEACE ON EARTH-AN INTERPRETATION.

     An editorial in the NEW YORK TIMES of December 28, 1924, sent us by a correspondent, contains this sentence:

     "The peace that was announced nineteen centuries ago was not of good-will to men; it was to men of good will-pax hominibus bonae voluntatis-to men who had the will to do the good, the right, the just thing."

     As thus translated from the Vulgate or Latin Version of the Bible, the familiar words of Luke 2:14 become: "Glory to God in the highest, and upon earth peace to men of good-will." And our correspondent suggests that "to men of good-will" is more in accord with New Church doctrine than "good will to men,"-the phrase to which we have long been accustomed, as rendered in the English Bible. The verse is not specifically quoted or explained in the Writings, and we must have recourse to an interpretation of our own in the light of the Doctrines.

     The meaning of the literal sense is clear. The "multitude of the heavenly host," which suddenly attended the angel that appeared to the shepherds, was "praising God" or glorifying the Lord on account of His advent into the world, by which He brought peace on earth.

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In the internal sense, this angelic glorifying of the Lord was on account of the spiritual peace brought to heaven and the church by the union of the Divine and the Human in the Lord. For similar words occur in Luke 19:38, where the multitude cried: "Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord; peace in heaven, and glory in the highest." And we are told that the things here meant by "peace" are "from the union of the Divine Itself and the Divine Human, and that angels and men have them therefrom by conjunction with the Lord." (A. E. 365:11.) In this sense, therefore, it would be proper to say that the peace of the Divine advent was bestowed especially upon "men of good-will,"-the men who were prepared to enter the Christian Church by regeneration, and thus to receive the spiritual peace of conjunction with the Lord by victory in spiritual temptation, even as He united the Human to the Divine in Himself by victory in His combats against the hells. And such would come into that genuine charity which cherishes good-will toward all men, exercised by direct benefits to others of good-will, and by indirect benefits to the evil. (T. C. R. 407.)



     If, however, the TIMES editorial means to imply that the peace of the Lord's coming was extended only to "men who had the will to do the good, the right, the just thing," we must regard it as too narrow and exclusive an interpretation, in the light of further considerations of our Doctrines. It is a well-known teaching that the Lord's Divine Love is extended to the just and the unjust, the good and the evil, alike, but that it is variously received. The peace of that Love affects the evil outwardly, and brings as much of tranquillity as they are capable of receiving; it affects the good interiorly with genuine spiritual peace. In the light of this doctrine, it is equally true whether we say that the advent brought the peace of the Divine Good-Will, the Divine Love, to all men, or that it was extended especially to men of good-will, because they would receive it. In the first case, we would say "peace on earth, good-will to men"; in the second, "peace on earth to men of good-will." And the fact is that there are two distinct versions of the original Greek, apparently of equal authority, and capable of these two renderings. The translators of the Vulgate chose one; the translators of the English Bible chose the other.

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The editorial remarks of the TIMES are based upon the Latin version, which conveys a more limited and confined meaning. We prefer the other reading-"good-will to men"-as all-embracing, and as embodying a universal idea which includes the more restrictive one-"to men of good-will."



     While the text of the Scriptures is subject to revision in the light of modern research, and will in time be thoroughly revised in the light of the Heavenly Doctrine, we may well recognize the Providence operating and overruling in the forms so widely established by the English Bible. We think this is very manifest in the use of the name "Lord " throughout the Old Testament, instead of "Jehovah"; for the Gospels do the same and also the Writings in the language of the Heavenly Doctrine. So the expression "good-will to men" has come into universal use among Christians as embodying what is known as the "Christmas spirit." And while much of the "good-will" manifested in the annual observance of Christmas is undoubtedly sentimental and even hypocritical, we believe this periodical display of sentiment has its uses, softening the malignity of the ill-will that underlies the natural good of unregenerate Christendom. It has an effect like that of the year of jubilee among the Jews, when there was to be general amnesty and forgiveness, tending to break their native exclusiveness, and to make them outwardly kind toward the "poor, the fatherless, and the stranger." This was contrary to their nature, which was to be friendly to their own, and hateful to others. For even "sinners love those that love them."



     The advent of the Lord brought a new spirit into the world,-a spirit of "peace on earth, good-will towards men." Not only to "men of good-will." This hardly gives full expression to that spirit. The Jews would have it that He came only to them,-His elect,-not to others; but this spirit He often rebuked. For the Lord came from a love that willed to save all,-a love from which He prayed upon the cross for the forgiveness of His enemies.

     At the same time, it is quite true that only "men of good-will" could receive the real blessing of the Divine spiritual peace that He brought into the world by His advent and glorification.

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The only peace that the evil could receive was by a suppression and subjugation of their desires. "There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked." (Isaiah 48:22.) "They who are in evils and falsities have no peace. It appears as if they had peace when they have success in the world, and they even seem to themselves at such times to be in a contented state of mind; but that apparent peace is only in their outmosts, while inwardly there is no peace. For they think of honor and gain without limit, and cherish in their minds cunning, deceit, enmities, hatreds, revenge, and many like things, which, unknown to themselves, rend and devour the interiors of their minds, and thus also the interiors of their bodies." (A. E. 365:42.)

     Yet the Lord wills peace to the evil also, and provides such tranquillity as they can receive by success in the world, and after death by the restraints of hell.



     For the benefit of those who may wish to study the matter further, we may state that the two Greek versions of the phrase in question differ only as to a single letter. And the authorities inform us that this goes back to such ancient manuscripts that it is "incapable of being rectified without the aid of conjecture." (Harper's Greek New Testament.) It is not surprising, therefore, that translators and commentators have exercised a free choice. The two readings are:

     1. en avthropois eudokias.               2. En avthropois eudokia.

     LATIN VERSIONS.

     1. In hominibus bonae voluntatis.          2. erga homines benevolentia.
Vulgate.                                   Castellio.
                                   2. hominibus benevolentia.
                                        Beza.
                                   2. in hominibus beneplacitum.
                                        Schmidius.

     The versions of Castellio, Beta and Schmidius were in Swedenborg's library, and he quotes the whole of Luke 2:14 in the Index Biblicus under Altus, using the Schmidius version. This, it will be noted, uses the term "beneplacitum"-good pleasure, instead of "benevalentia"-good-will. That the two expressions, in the spiritual sense, mean the same, is evident from the teaching in the Writings:

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     "In the Old Testament the Lord's will is called 'good pleasure' (beneplacitum), and equally signifies the Divine Love. To do His good pleasure or His love signifies to love God and the neighbor, thus to live according to the Lord's precepts, since this is to love God and the neighbor, and this descends from the Lord's love. For no one can love the Lord and the neighbor except from the Lord; for this is the verimost good for man, and all good is from the Lord." (A. E. 2954; see also Diary 2296.)
FAITH HEALING AND MORALITY. 1925

FAITH HEALING AND MORALITY.              1925

     The Bishop of Durham is quoted in the British press on the subject of Faith Healing as follows:

     "Literalism in the reading of the New Testament is leading many Christians of our own time back to the beliefs and methods of a primitive and superstitious past. Crude literalism marks the reading of the New Testament by Mr. Hickson, the best known of modern faith healers. Mr. Hickson believes that he is reproducing the ministry of Christ. I do not find that he has as yet raised the dead, but his assertions seem to make it appear as though he believes he could do it. Faith healing is common to all religions. There is nothing peculiarly Christian about it. And, strangely enough, there appears to be no relation between morality and faith healing. Of all the kings of England, Charles II is said to have been the most successful faith healer, and yet he was notoriously immoral."

     Which is not as remarkable as it might seem, in view of the fact that most faith healing, as practiced in the name of the Lord, is a subtle form of stealing-an arrogation of supernatural and Divine power on the part of the practitioner for the sake of making gain or captivating souls-the magician "doing so likewise with his enchantments." Especially immoral, or thieving, when the healing of the body is made synonymous with the healing of the spirit, and the power to regenerate and save is thus taken from Him Who alone performs this, and in a Divine spiritual manner that is quite apart from any mere physical healing.

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UNDER FALSE COLORS. 1925

UNDER FALSE COLORS.              1925

     New Churchmen who are willing to have it appear before the world that the New Church is one of the sects of the Christian Church are doubtless actuated by a variety of motives. The more one is persuaded of the permeation notion, the less reason for distinctiveness. The fear of being thought queer plays its part. And there is the fear that the stranger will be repelled by something new, as though there were attractiveness only in that which is old. Accordingly, New Church services are advertised in the Sunday newspapers along with the "other" Christian sects. Many would have the New Church bodies join Federations of Christian Churches, and exchange pulpits with Protestant ministers at every opportunity. But that the New Church should be advertised as a "Catholic" Church is something new that has recently been brought to our attention. A notice of the services of the French Federation is printed in the list of Paris Churches in the Almastach du Printemps as follows:

Eglise de la Nouvelle Jerusalem,
Eglise St. Sauveur, mission catholique lib?rale,
rue Thouin 12.

     In English:
Church of the New Jerusalem,
Church of the Holy Savior, Liberal Catholic Mission.

     How long will it take newcomers to find out that they have become members of a religious society traveling under false colors?
IS THE OLD CHURCH CATCHING UP? 1925

IS THE OLD CHURCH CATCHING UP?       Rev. E. E. IUNGERICH       1925

     A considerable number of thinkers in the New Church harbor the thought that the Lord's "coming as a thief in the night" cannot refer to so obvious an event as His manifestation in Person to Swedenborg, whom He " filled with His spirit to teach the doctrines of the New Church by means of a Word from Him" (T. C. R. 779), and so they scan the latest utterances of Old Church leaders, in order not to miss seeing their Lord in a coming to humanity through Old Church channels.

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According to them, it is not Old Churchmen, supremely indifferent to the Writings of Swedenborg, who are in danger of missing the Lord in His Second Coming, but it is New Churchmen who do not see Him transfiguring the drifts of thought in the Old Church that are in deadly peril!

     This curious inversion of thought is a consequent of the original kink which prevented a due application of the law, that when the Lord gives a new Word to mankind, the same becomes the center of the new dispensation as its tree of life and living fountain; whereas the former Revelations, because of the inhibitions which have sealed them, are then respectively peripheral, and in need of the quickening waters, that they may proffer their spiritual treasures. I have in mind the following teaching of the Apocalypse Explained:

     "The Word is like a garden, which is to be called a heavenly paradise, in which are dainty things and delicacies of every kind,-dainty things from its fruits, and delicacies from its flowers,-in its midst being the trees of life, with springs of living water about them, while round about are forest trees, near which flow rivers. The man who leads himself judges of that paradise, which is the Word, from its circuit where the forest trees are; but the man whom the Lord leads, from its trees of life in the midst. . . . The former is actually in the circuit, and looks hither to the world, while the latter is in the middle, and looks to the Lord." (A. E. 1072.)

     That the Lord, and His message to men at a given age, is the center to which men should then look, and the living source, without which no flesh can be saved, is prominently emphasized in the exordium to the True Christian Religion: "It is evident that, without the Lord's advent into the world, no one could have been saved. The case is similar today. Wherefore, except the Lord come again into the world in Divine Truth, which is the Word, neither can anyone be saved." (T. C. R. 3.)

     The Lord proceeds from the center to circumferences, and does not operate for developments in the latter by some other method. When chance truths, apparently unconnected with the center, fall out into the dark circumferences, like crumbs from a rich man's table, they cannot be said to create there something organically cohesive or with a trend towards the New Church. At best, they may produce a sort of fermentation and opposing concepts, which may lead to a loosening of the hold of these, and so make the dark environment less resistant to the approach of truths organically connected with the entire body of New Church doctrine.

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But there is, as above noted, a considerable number of thinkers who are looking to the forest trees and outwards for the source in which the Lord is making His Second Coming, and who, therefore, need instruction and friendly counsel not to let go what they have in their grasp, in an endeavor to reach after some illusory mirage, as did the animal in Aesop's fable.

     I would apply this friendly criticism to the conclusions made by Dr. L. B. de Beaumont in his article "Dieu et l'homme en Jesus-Christ" in the MESSAGER of Lausanne for November, 1924. The body of the article is devoted to a review of some of the Christological theories of the Christian Church. It is well here to bear in mind the stricture of the Writings, that after the Christian Church had divided God into three Persons, of which Christ was only one, it next proceeded to divide the Person of Christ into two, connected by a hypostatic union. This latter point, as the writer shows, was affirmed by the Council of Chalcedony in 451, rejecting the opposing theories of Nestorius and Eutyches. The theory of Apollinaris, Bishop of Laodicea, as to the replacement of Christ's rational soul by the Logos, had been previously condemned in A. D. 362. The writer states that John of Damascus's formulation, in which the theology of the Eastern Church was couched, rested on a remarkable interpretation given by Leontius of Byzantium, living between 485 and 543, who proposed thereby to affirm the Council of Chalcedony, and at the same time to refute the doctrine of Apollinaris. He termed it "Enhypostasia," and in substance asserted that the Divine and Human natures were not incompatible but complementary, and that the Human nature had been derived from the Logos, which had had in itself an essential humanity capable of being impressed on subordinate planes.

     A recent utterance by Dr. Relton at London University, cited with approval by Dr. de Beaumont, is as follows: "The substance of this doctrine of enhypostasia is that the Divine Logos, before the Incarnation, already possessed in itself all that was needed for it to live a truly human life. . . . It was therefore capable of being the Ego, not only of its Divine nature, bat also of the human nature which the former contained.

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Its personality already embraced all that which is essentially characteristic of Human personality. The Divine and the Human are not therefore contradictory terms, but rather two complementary terms." This citation is taken from Dr. Relton's book, which has a laudatory preface written by Professor Headlam of King's College, London.

     Dr. de Beaumont then goes on to argue that this pronouncement constitutes a remarkable approximation to New Church thought on the subject, and chides contemporary Old Churchmen for their inconsistency in criticizing Swedenborg when their own most brilliant exponents are making a wonderful display of catching up. "The doctrine of Swedenborg," he says, "has been vigorously criticized. They have considered it exaggerated, heterodox, unsustainable. And yet there is now appearing today this doctrine, in the light of a loftier and broader philosophy, the inevitable product of a quite ancient Christology, but reestablished on a more modern foundation by theologians as courageous as scientists; who, moreover, in so acting, have not the least idea that they are giving justification to Swedenborg, while explaining clearly the religious attitude of the New Christian Church." (p. 267.)

     Our friend's enthusiasm, however, is unwarranted. Whatever truth is involved in enhypostasia was already embodied in the Athanasian Creed, in what is there said about God and Man being as soul and body in the Person Of Christ; a declaration which, the Writings say, providentially preserved with the simple an idea of the truth destroyed by the other phrases of that Creed. In reiterating this declaration, with fuller explanations of the compatibility of the Divine and Human natures in Christ, Dr. Relton is not referring to the Divine as the total Divinity in the Godhead, but only as one-third of the same, or that in the Person of the Logos, which is distinct from the Persons of the Father and the Holy Spirit. He is, therefore, not evincing an approach to New Church doctrine, but only endeavoring to make more palatable some of the more Obvious contrarieties of Christian dogma.
     E. E. I.

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ABBOT WHO TURNED SWEDENBORGIAN. 1925

ABBOT WHO TURNED SWEDENBORGIAN.              1925

     In his work on The Psychology of the Unconscious, Dr. C. G. Jung, a Professor at the University of Zurich, undertakes a diagnosis of the curious case of the French Abbot who eventually became a Swedenborgian, and we believe it will be of interest to our readers. To quote:

     ". . . . Let us take the history of the pious Abbe Oegger which Anatole France has communicated to us. This priest was a hypercritical man, and much given to phantasies, especially in regard to one question, viz., the fate of Judas; whether he was really damned to everlasting punishment, as the teaching of the church asserts, or whether God had pardoned him after all. Oegger sided with the intelligent point of view that God, in His all-wisdom, had chosen Judas as an instrument, in order to bring about the highest point of the work of redemption by Christ. This necessary instrument, without the help of which the human race would not have been a sharer in salvation, could not possibly he damned by the all-good God. In order to put an end to his doubts, Oegger went one night to the church, and made supplication for a sign that Judas was saved. Then he felt a heavenly touch upon his shoulder. Following this, Oegger told the Archbishop of his resolution to go out into the world t, preach God's unending mercy.

     "Here we have a richly developed phantasy system before us. It is concerned with the subtle and perpetually undecided question as to whether the legendary figure of Judas is damned or not. The Judas legend is, in itself, mythical material, viz., the malicious betrayal of a hero. I recall Siegfried and Hagen, Balder and Loki. Siegfried and Balder were murdered by a faithless traitor from among their closest associates. This myth is moving and tragic-it is not honorable battle which kills the noble, but evil treachery. It is, too, an occurrence which is historical over and over again. One thinks of Caesar and Brutus. Since the myth of such a deed is very old, and still the subject of teaching and repetition, it is the expression of a psychological fact, that envy does not allow humanity to sleep, and that all of us carry, in a hidden recess of our heart, a deadly wish towards the hero. This rule can be applied generally to mythical tradition.

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It does not set forth any account of the old events, but rather acts in such a way that it always reveals a thought common to humanity, and once more rejuvenated. Thus, for example, the lives and deeds of the founders of old religions are the purest condensations of typical, contemporaneous myths, behind which the individual figure entirely disappears.

     "But why does our pious Abbe torment himself with the old Judas legend? He first went into the world to preach the gospel of mercy, and then, after some time, he separated from the Catholic Church and became a Swedenborgian. Now we understand his Judas phantasy. He was the Judas who betrayed his Lord. Therefore, first of all, he had to make sure of the divine mercy, in order to be Judas in peace. His doubts and his hopes did not turn upon the historical problem of Judas, but upon his own personality, which wished to win a way to freedom for itself through the solution of the Judas problem." (Pp. 19, 20)

     The account of the Abbe Oegger to which Dr. Jung refers is given by Anatole France in his Jardin d'Eaicure (Garden of Epicurus), and reads as follows:

     "The fate of Judas Iscariot fills us with endless amazement. For, after all, the man of Kerioth came into the world to fulfil the prophecies; he was bound to sell the Son of God for thirty pieces of silver. And the traitor's kiss is, just as much as the spear and the nails all Christians venerate, one of the necessary instruments of the Passion. Without Judas, the mystery were not accomplished, nor the human race saved. And nevertheless it is an established dogma with Theologians that Judas is damned. They base it on the words of the Christ: 'Good were it for that man if he had never been born.' This thought, that Judas lost his soul while working for the salvation of the world, has tormented not a few Christian mystics, and amongst the number the Abbe Oegger, Senior Vicaire of the Cathedral Church of Paris. The good priest, whose soul was full of tender pity, could not endure the idea that Judas was in Hell, suffering everlasting torments. He thought and thought, and the more deeply he pondered, the more baffling grew his doubts and difficulties.

     "He came to the conclusion that the redemption of this unhappy soul was under consideration of the Divine clemency, and that, despite the dark saying of the Gospel and the tradition of the Church, he of Kerioth was finally to be saved.

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His doubts were beyond bearing, and he longed fervently for enlightenment. One night, as he could not sleep, he got up and, passing through the sacristy, entered the great empty church, where the lamps of perpetual adoration were burning in the thick darkness. Falling on his face before the high altar, he began to pray: 'O God! Thou God of love and pity, if it is true Thou hast received unto Thy glory the most unhappy of Thy disciples; if it is true, as I hope and would fain believe it is, that Judas Iscariot is seated at Thy right hand, command him to come down to me and proclaim to me himself the chiefest masterpiece of Thy clemency. And thou, whose name all men have cursed for eighteen hundred years, and whom I revere because, methinks, thou hast chosen Hell for thyself alone, in order to leave Heaven free to us, scape-goat of all traitors and cowards and deceivers, O Judas, come and lay thy hands on me for consecration to the priesthood of pity and loving-kindness!'

     "Then, as he lay there after his prayer was ended, the priest felt two hands laid upon his head, like the Bishop's at the ceremony of ordination. Next day he went to the Archbishop and announced his vocation.-'I am,' he told him, 'consecrated Priest of Pity, after the Order of Judas, secundum ordinem Judas.!

     "And, that very day, M. Oegger set forth to preach through the world the Gospel of the Infinite Pity, in the name of Judas redeemed. His mission ended in mere misery and madness. M. Oegger turned Swedenborgian and died at Munich. He was the last and most gentle-hearted of the Cainites."

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SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON NOTES 1925

SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON NOTES              1925

     LESSON NO. 22. THE OIL. THE SHUNAMMITE'S SON.

     (2 Kings 4:1-37.)

     Analysis:
Elisha multiplies the widow's          ch. 4: 1-7
The hospitable woman of Shunem           : 8-11
A son promised to the Shunammite          : 12-17
Afterwards the son dies               : 18-21
The woman appeals to Elisha          :22-28
Her son is raised to life               : 29-37

     For both these incidents, compare the story of Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath. (I Kings 17:8-24.) The general lesson of both is the same, namely, that an unfailing source of good is to be found only in the Word of the Lord, which is always represented by the prophets, and that, in time of distress, this good sustains the life that is preparing for heaven; and that the life which seems to be one's own, and is from self, must die, so that a life truly spiritual may be restored by the Lord. (See John 3: 5-6, 5:24, 12:24-25; Matt. 16:25.)

     For the law of the creditor, see Exod. 21:2-7, Deut. 19:12, Lev. 25:39, Jer. 34:14, Matt. 18:25. Such laws were common among all ancient nations. The oil represents good of love and of life, which is the essential of salvation. The widow represents one who desires truth, but does not Possess it. Her desire leads her to the Prophet for help. The one pot is a small remnant of truth which is of conscience (therefore having oil), but which is not adequate to meet new difficulties. To borrow pots "not a few" is to learn truths of doctrine from the church. Every truth of religion is a vessel which the Lord fills to the brim with good and heavenly delight; and when it is sold (put to use), the distress of evil is driven away, and there is found to be abundance for the spiritual life. There is exactly enough oil; for the Lord always gives His good in the exact capacity of the man to receive and use it. (See A. C. 29672, H. H. 18.)

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     Shunem was a small city in the tribe of Issachar, three miles north of Jezreel. To the northwest, across the plain of Esdraelon, was Mt. Carmel. (vs. 25.) The son promised to the woman of Shunem in her old age was the fulfilment of her dearest wish that her family should not die out, and it was a reward for her hospitality to the prophet. Note that she recognized his quality. (vs. 9.) To have in the heart a place of welcome for the Lord as Divine Truth, or as the Word, is the beginning of spiritual life, and it brings its reward. And this "upper chamber" of the heart must be furnished, so that it may be a real dwelling place. The bed is doctrine concerning the Lord and heaven; the table is the good of love and charity; the candlestick is enlightenment in truths, and thus intelligence and faith; the stool is natural truth which supports; with these there must be content with one's lot (vs. 13), which is trust in the Lord's Providence; then, according to the Divine promise (vs. 16), a new life, truly spiritual and heavenly, is given; for birth: corresponds to regeneration.

     But the growing spiritual intelligence is at first not wholly separated from self-love and self-intelligence; and when it goes out into the practical world of affairs, it is smitten by the ardor of the self-life,-"sun-stroke" (vs. 19),-and seems to die. This death would he complete and irrevocable, but for the persistent desire for the things of heaven, which now turns again to the Lord and the truth of the Word for help, as the mother goes to Elisha. Gehazi and the staff of Elisha represent the natural reason applied to the literal sense of the Word, which, while useful for intercommunicating, can do nothing to restore the spiritual life; but the genuine truth of the Word, which is its internal sense, not only enlightens, but also gives life. Elisha represents the internal truth of the Word which is Divine from the Lord immediately. This truth must completely over-shadow and dominate the life (vs. 34); it must be received into the "eyes" with understanding and perception; it must enter into the "mouth," that it may be in every word and teaching; for "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh"; it must enter into the "hand," to be the living motive and guide of every duty and occupation of work and play; then is a man made whole and fit to live forever in heaven.

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For other instances of the raising of the dead, see 2 Kings 13:20-21, Luke 7:11-15, 8:41-42, 49-56, and John 11:38-44.

     In chapter 8:1-6, we find something more told about the Shunammite; in general, to show how those who are faithful are protected and provided for by the truth of the Word, when the church has been corrupted, and there is no longer any good or truth in it (seven years of famine). The time of her return is that of the last judgment, when usurpers are cast out, and order is restored in heaven and the church.

     LESSON NO. 23. NAAMAN. (2 Kings 5.)

     Analysis:
The Israelite maid in Naaman's house     ch. 5:1-3
Naaman sent to the King of Israel           :4-7
Elisha directs what he shall do           : 8-10
Being persuaded to obey, he is healed     :11-14
He is converted and turns homeward      :15-19
The sin, and punishment of Gehazi           : 20-27

     Naaman's home was in Damascus, which at that time was the capital of a strong Syrian kingdom. Ben-Hadad II was the king referred to, and he figures conspicuously in the history of Israel. (1 Kings to, 22:31. 2 Kings 6:8, 24; 8:7.) According to a Jewish tradition, the deliverance wherein Naaman served his master (vs. 1) was the defeat of Ahab before Ramoth-Gilead. (I Kings 22.) But a far greater danger of the time was the invasion of the Assyrian, Shalmaneser, in 854 B. C., whose advance was stopped by the Syrians at the great battle of Qarqar; and Ahab was then assisting Ben-Hadad. In times of war between Israel and Syria, raiding parties would go into the enemy's country to destroy, and to carry off anything of value, including captives to sell. (Vs. 2.) But at the time of this incident, the kings were at peace with one another.

     Naaman is shown to have been a man of fine natural qualities, from the suggestion of affectionate and generous home life, which won the honor and love of the little slave girl; also from his treatment of his servants when they remonstrated with him, (vs. 13), and even from the fact that they could speak to him so plainly.

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It is a quality of real greatness to be able to take the counsel of those who are subordinate, and to have mutual sincerity with them.

     Leprosy is a loathsome contagious disease, in which the flesh, and more slowly the bones, are consumed and fall away gradually. No real cure for it is known. It can be transmitted to offspring. (Vs. 27; see also Lev. 13 and 14.) There are varieties, some more and some less grievous. It signifies, in general, falsities unclean from what is profane, or the profanation of truth. (See A. C. 33018, 6963; A. R. 678, end; and A. E. 60010, 96210.) The affliction of Naaman was local (vs. 11), and of a less virulent form than that of Gehazi.

     Naaman was an idolater, worshiping Rimmon, the chief god of the Syrians. (Vs. 18.) He was also called Ramman and Adad, or Hadad. Hence the king's name, Ben-Hadad,-"Son of Hadad." These names appear several times in the Old Testament, in the names of places and of men. Idolatry, or the worshipping of false and imaginary gods, is profane; and all such religion is falsity. Naaman's leprosy represented that, though he was a good man as to outward life, there was the infection of falsity in him. Yet there was the possibility of cure, because it was the falsity of ignorance; for he had not yet known the true God and true religion. Natural good is not sufficient for salvation, because self-will, self-intelligence and pride rule internally in every man, even the most moral, until he comes to a true knowledge of God and begins a life of true religion.
Pride of self-intelligence is represented by the pomp of Naaman's coming (vs. 5, 9), and self-will by his rage. (Vs. 11-12.) Unless these are overcome, and shunned as evils, the spiritual life is infested with leprosy. Repentance is meant by vs. 13 and 14, first in the understanding, and then in the will. The profound change of Naaman's life, in his thought, and then in his act, is plainly shown. And by this actual repentance he is cleansed.

     The Jordan here, as in ch. 2, (Lesson 20), signifies initiation into spiritual life, and more specifically entrance into the church through baptism. (See Doct. of the Lord 184; N. J. H. D. 200; T. C. R. 670) To wash seven times, means full repentance and acknowledgment. (See Levit. 14:7.)

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Notice the confession and promise (vs. 15, 17) which show that Naaman became, as to religion, an Israelite, a humble worshiper of the one only God.

     The load of earth was for an altar. (See Exod; 20: 24.)

     Contrast the servant of Elisha, Gehazi, who became leprous at this time. With him also it represented profanation of truth, but in his case incurable. Outwardly he was of the church, and had every opportunity for perfecting a spiritual life; but his heart loved evil, and his thoughts planned it. Among his evils were avarice, deceit, imposing on the good-will of a friend, love of luxury, theft (for he took to himself what was given to his master). Thus all the truth which he must have learned from the prophet, and everything of the church, was profaned by him. He went away from the prophet, as every evil-hearted man turns from the Lord.
HISTORICALS OF THE WORD 1925

HISTORICALS OF THE WORD              1925

     "All the historicals of the Word are truths more remote from Divine doctrinals themselves, but still they are serviceable to infants and children as means of introducing them by degrees into the interior doctrinals of truth and good, and at length to Divine doctrinals themselves; for the Divine is inmostly in them. When little children are reading those historicals, and from innocence are affected by them, then the angels who are with them are in a pleasant heavenly state, for they are affected by the Lord with the internal sense, consequently with those things which the historicals represent and signify. It is the heavenly pleasantness of the angels that flows in and causes the delight with the little children. In order that this first state may be, or the state of infancy and childhood with those who are to be regenerated, the historical parts of the Word have been given, and so written that all things therein contain within themselves things Divine." (A. C. 3690.)

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HEREDITY AND THE FUTURE OF THE NEW CHURCH 1925

HEREDITY AND THE FUTURE OF THE NEW CHURCH       Rev. THEODORE PITCAIRN       1925

     What the future of the New Church is to be, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven. It would, therefore, be most presumptuous on my part to attempt to make a prophecy. Still, we may know certain laws, and can make certain predictions of what will take place, so far as these laws are not countered by other laws, and by conditions that we know not of.

     As the state of the world and of the church is largely due to the effect of heredity, any prospect of alteration in heredity is of interest. Environment and free-will, in the long run, will probably have a greater effect upon the church than heredity; and as we can alter our spiritual environment, it is here that our duty primarily lies. Nevertheless, it may be of interest and value to attempt to see what heredity may promise for the future of the church, leaving out, for the time being, the other important factors.

     Until very recent times it has been the generally accepted theory that acquired characteristics are not transmitted hereditarily. If this were so, the only possible way of improving the heredity of the New Church would be by some kind of natural selection. Such a selection might be brought about in one of two ways,-(1) by the better element of the church having more children than the spiritually inferior, or (2) by the inferior element leaving the church in each generation.

     The theory that acquired characteristics are not transmitted to offspring means this,-that anything natural to parents, such as physical height, cleverness or naturally good health, tends to be transmitted to the children, while acquired characteristics, such as education and muscular development due to physical exercise, have no effect upon the heredity of the offspring. If this were so, any improvement in environment, spiritual or natural, would have no effect upon the succeeding generation.

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     In the last year or two, more of the scientists have been coming to recognize that acquired characteristics are more or less transmitted, and this is also the teaching of the Writings, especially of that well-known passage in Conjugial Love where it is said that the offspring of parents who are in conjugial love have a greater tendency toward the reception of good and truth than others. (C. L. 202-205.) Still, we are of the opinion that acquired characteristics are not inherited to the extent usually supposed by people not acquainted with this branch of science, and that it will take many generations to show any marked effect.

     Leaving out of account, for the rest of this paper, the effect that the heredity of acquired characteristics will have upon us, let us consider what effect the heredity of natural characteristics will have upon the future of the New Church.

     Although the laws of breeding, as applied in the animal world, would be altogether revolting, if applied on the plane of human life, this fact in no way invalidates the operations of the laws themselves on the human plane. The laws themselves are laws of creation. We also believe that the laws of heredity on the spiritual plane are similar to the laws of heredity on the bodily plane, and that the latter are representative of the former.

     In recent times, eugenic societies have been attempting to improve the quality of the heredity of the human race. With their ideals and their methods we can have no sympathy. It is true that we also wish to improve the quality of the race; but our whole aim is to improve the spiritual quality, and this cannot be done by any artificial method. The very thought is revolting. Still, it is the nature of spiritual laws to make one with natural laws, and in following spiritual laws we may find that they make one with the natural laws of heredity. For example, it is a spiritual law that marriages should be contracted within the church; in its effect, this spiritual law makes one with the natural law of heredity, looking forward to the establishment of the New Church.

     Our ideal is a race of men and women who love spiritual good and truth. The fact that a person comes into the New Church is usually a sign that he has something of this love. Now it is well known that, in the second generation of a selected type, a large proportion revert to the original type, which, in the case before us, would be represented by those having little interest in spiritual things.

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And when the quota of the second generation have reverted to type, and have been removed, the third generation will see comparatively few reverting, the fourth still fewer, and so on until a pure strain is reached.

     We, of the Academy, have boasted that we keep 90 per cent. of our young people in the Church. From the standpoint of heredity, in the light of what we have just said, that may be an undesirably large proportion. In fact, we cannot deny that, in the light of the same view, the Convention, which loses a large proportion of its young in each generation, has a certain advantage. On the other hand, the Academy consists, for the most part, of a twice-selected group, most of them having first come from the Old Church into the older bodies of the New Church, and the most earnest of these, often of the second generation, coming to the Academy.

     It will greatly strengthen the Church, if all who are lacking strong spiritual affections will leave it, from generation to generation. And yet no man is able to judge who are the elect. It is our duty to keep all we possibly can within the Church; and then, if it is best for some to go, the Lord will bring about a judgment.

     There is one other consideration, which may be of great importance. One of the ideals of the Academy-having large families-is becoming more difficult to fulfill. And as the ideals of the Academy weaken in any part of the Church, the size of the family is apt to grow smaller, thus decreasing that strain in the Church. But from the standpoint of heredity, a family of eight in which four leave the Church is of far more value than a family of four in which none leave, provided the heredity of the two families is equal.

     Within a few centuries, at the present rate of growth, we will be one of the large Churches. The paradoxical conclusion of this paper is, that losing a certain proportion of our numbers may be of far more value to the growth of the Church than gaining many new members from without. At least, this is true,-that the all-important aim of our Church must be to preserve its spiritual ideals and standards, its purity of doctrine and intensity of spiritual affection, and numbers will look after themselves.

     By what we have said in this paper we do not mean to deprecate missionary work. A certain increase from among earnest people outside of our body is of great value.

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Our only fear should be that we may find within our Church a growing strain of indifferent membership. Every great movement in the world's history has degenerated. This is an enormously strong tendency in human society. If our body of the New Church does not follow this course, it will be something wonderfully new in the world. The seeds of decay are ever present. To do our utmost to eradicate them, from ourselves individually, and from the Church as a whole, is our supreme duty. What part heredity and environment will play in this struggle for spiritual existence is a problem of the greatest interest and importance.
CHRISTIAN SYMBOLS IN THE NEW CHURCH 1925

CHRISTIAN SYMBOLS IN THE NEW CHURCH       GEORGE F. POOLE       1925

     It is held by Some New Churchmen that, as far as ceremonies and ritual are concerned, the New Church is not differentiated from the Christian Church, as the Christian Church was from the Jewish. This idea has an able exponent in the Bishop of the General Church, as shown in his paper on "Christian Rites and Ceremonials in the New Church" which appeared in NEW CHURCH LIFE for November, 1924. It is interesting to note in this connection that Peter advocated the retention of some of the Jewish observances in the Christian Church, particularly circumcision. Paul, however, strongly opposed this, confessing that he had "withstood him to the face." (Galatians 2:11). And being a very domineering man, Paul got his way.

     Now, although the apostles made a clean cut of Jewish practices in the new Church then arising, the early Church adopted some of the customs of those called "Pagans." Writing on this subject, a Rector of the Church of England, recently deceased, states:

     "The early Christians showed their charity and their wisdom by retaining some of the religious customs of their pagan brethren. They thus showed their discernment of the reverent aspirations of those whom they could tell of a glorious Gospel of Truth and Love."

     He then goes on to Say, in defense of the charge of idolatry, brought against ritualists:

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     "Swedenborg, the Swedish seer, has impressively pointed out that that worship which, as it is directed upwards to God, recognizes on the ascent to Him the marvels of His creation as the symbols of His wisdom and love, is in no way idolatrous. Only they are idolaters, says he, whose thoughts are never uplifted beyond the material objects of their contemplation. In harmony with the utterances of the great mystic, whose teaching has found a welcome in England, where he, too, found a home in his later years, are the words of Roberston of Brighten, who tells us that idolatry may also take the form of an ignoble conception of God for the exalted one who has presented Himself to, and been recognized by, devout minds. This unworthy conception, like the material symbol, may be allowed to eclipse the translucent glory of the Eternal One."

     An appropriate symbol which, we submit, the New Church should adopt from the former Church, is that of the cross, the Rev. T. S. Harris to the contrary notwithstanding. (NEW CHURCH LIFE, January, 1925.) When our Lord tells us, in Matthew 10:38 and elsewhere, that we are to take up our cross and follow Him, it shows that that symbol has a good signification. Surmounted by a crown, as it is in one of our London churches, it means not only the temptations and victories of the Lord, and His glorification thereby, but also our regeneration by like means. Because the Old Church attaches a false meaning to this symbol is no reason for its utter rejection by the New Church, not only on her altars, but also in her hymnals.

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Church News 1925

Church News       Various       1925

     COLCHESTER, ENG.,-February 10th.-The period which has elapsed since our last report is considerable, and it would be inadvisable to take up your valuable space with a detailed account of all the happenings since the dedication of our new church building last August. But though you have received no report, we cannot be accused of stagnating, for since entering into the use of our new building the attendance at all services has shown a marked increase. Another encouraging sign is that we have been visited by strangers at practically every service. On the occasion of one visit of the Rev. R. J. Tilson, an experiment was made by distributing a thousand handbills in the district, advertising the service and subject of the sermon. The result was that
twenty-four strangers attended the evening service.

     During November, a Sale of Work was held, the proceeds proving a record, is the sum of ?36 was raised. On Christmas Day a delightful service in the morning concluded with the Holy Supper.

     December 31st was the occasion of our New Year's Social, with thirty- three present, including Miss Adah Nelson, of Glenview, Ill., who is visiting in England. After a sumptuous repast, served by the social committee, the toasts to "The Church," "The Old Year," and "The New Year" were honored, and followed by diversions and competitions until the hour of 11:30, when a short service was held to usher in the New Year. After the exchange of greetings, the festivities were resumed, and continued until 2 a.m. On the following day, young and old attended a children's social, when 36 sat down for tea. Then came the usual romps and games, and by 9 o'clock everyone was tired out. The first Swedenborg's Birthday celebration to be held in our new building was a great success. Although bur Pastor was absent, and we missed his swinging method of carrying through a celebration, we were fortunate in having Mr. Colley Pryke as a substitute toastmaster, who stepped manfully into the breach and executed the duties well. We were also fortunate in having the Rev. R. J. Tilson with us on this occasion, among the gratifying attendance of 34, which also included Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Wells, of Bryn Athyn, Mr. and Mrs. Boozer, of Maidstone, and four other friends who have manifested an interest by attending services regularly since the new church was opened.

     After toasts to "The Church" and to "Emanuel Swedenborg," Mr. J. Potter gave an interesting address on "The Nature and Quality of Time." This was followed by a paper entitled "Some Reflections on Man's General State," by Mr. F. R. Cooper. It had been hoped that Mr. Orme, of Michael Church, London, would attend and read a paper, but as he was prevented by business engagements our toastmaster substituted on short notice and gave us a fine paper on "Swedenborg in His Maturity." Mr. A. H. Appleton then read a paper with the title, "To Grow Old in the New Church is to Grow Young," this being preceded by a toast to "The Greyheads."

     The Rev. R. J. Tilson wound up the evening with a stirring address on "The Fathers of the Church." It was a historical review of those who could truly be listed as such. He dwelt particularly upon Robert Hindmarsh, the first ordained priest in the Church; then of the Rev. Richard de Charms, who held a strong and whole-hearted belief in the Divinity and Authority of the Writings; of the Rev. W. H. Benade, who introduced New Church Education; and of our living Bishops W. F. Pendleton and N. D. Pendleton.

     The series of papers was interspersed with toasts of every description and with songs.

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The refreshments partaken of prior to the formal program were tastefully arranged and decorated by the social committee, and they are to be congratulated upon the very inviting and appetizing spectacle the table presented. The meeting was pervaded by a fine sphere throughout, and will long be remembered by those who were present.
     J. F. COOPER.

     REPORT OF THE VISITING PASTOR.-On the way home from the Council Meetings at Bryn Athyn, I visited MIDDLEPORT, OHIO. The work opened with a children's class on Thursday afternoon, February 12th. Instruction was given concerning man's awakening in the spiritual world, and his first experience there. In the evening, a doctrinal class was held, at which fifteen persons were present, and the subject considered was "The Lord's Fulfilling the Law." (Doctrine of the Lord 8 to 11.) Another class was held on Friday evening, at which the doctrine concerning "Looking to the Lord" (D. L. W. 129, 130) was presented.

     On Saturday afternoon there was another children's class, when a talk was given on the words of the Psalm: "When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars which Thou hast ordained, what is man, that Thou art mindful of him) and the son of man, that Thou visitest him?" (8:3, 4) Teaching of great interest to children can be drawn from these words, both concerning the heavens of this world and those of the other world.

     Services were held on Sunday morning, with an attendance of fifteen, eleven of whom partook of the Holy Supper. In the evening the final doctrinal class was held at the church. There were twenty-one present, and our subject was "The Divinity of the Lord," presented in a missionary way, in adaptation to the state of some who were with us.

     We must add the good news that about two months ago a Sunday School was begun, which is attended by old and young, the average number present being about fifteen. All join in the worship, and during the time of the classes the adults read from the New Church Sermons pamphlets.     
     F. E. WAELCHLI.

     THE HAGUE, HOLLAND.-In the November-December issue of De Ware Christelijke Godsdienst-the official journal of the Dutch Society of the General Church-the Rev. Ernst Pfeiffer reviews a criticism by Dr. M. van Rhijn, a Dutch minister of the Old Church, of a treatise by Dr. Martin Lamm, a Swedish Jew. This work appeared about ten years ago in Sweden, and was translated into German. Both the treatise and the review are designated by Dr. Pfeiffer as "unworthy." The original work maintained that Swedenborg changed his views considerably between the writing of the Principia and the Economy of the Animal Kingdom; that his faith in angels and spirits was phantasy and hallucination; that his views were stolen from ancient writers, and that he was allegorical. The critic-Dr. Rhijn-affirms these views, and adds that Swedenborg was a pantheist and sensual, and claims that Dr. Lamm's book is a reliable guide to the study of Swedenborg. Mr. Pfeiffer points out that this critic proves to have had no direct acquaintance with the principal works of Swedenborg, and naturally gives a satisfactory defense of Swedenborg, the philosopher and theologian, by pointing out the errors of the treatise and its criticism.

     The number concludes with extracts from the Writings on the state of the present-day Christian Church, and quotes Spiritual Diary 5933 on the relation of man with heaven. The usual publicity notices occupy the last page.     
     B. E.

     THE SOUTH AFRICAN MISSION.-From letters recently received from headquarters, we learn that the work of the Mission is being steadily maintained. The "Alpha" day school in particular shows signs of progress-at least as far as numbers are concerned.

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In 1923, the roll of attendance was: Girls, 65; Boys, 20. During 1924, the roll stood at: Girls, 88; Boys, 49. Owing, however, to the custom of the country, in which the junior members of the family are called to assist in pastoral and agricultural pursuits, the actual attendance was: Girls, 83; Boys, 35. With a limited staff of teachers, who have other duties besides the school work, these statistics are at least a sign of encouragement.

     In the agricultural section of the school, which is now being more fully developed, tree planting, vegetable culture, summer fallowing, deep ploughing and daily harrowing are being vigorously attended to. That such instruction is necessary to an agricultural people, and especially in view of the custom just referred to, it will no doubt appear to the reader as somewhat of a superfluous educational need. The fact remains, however, that even with the natives of South Africa there is too strong a tendency to rely on traditional methods, which are in the long run detrimental to any progress. The idea, therefore, of giving such instruction is to demonstrate by actual experiment and example that improved methods of tilling the ground will ultimately improve the home conditions of native life, and this in their own native sphere. At the same time, provision is made for an object lesson in the demonstration of "use."

     The Leaders of the various centers of the Mission have recently assembled at "Alpha," and are receiving a further course of instruction in Theology and allied subjects under the Rev. Theodore Pitcairn, assisted by Mr. F. C. Frazee. This class, it is reported, is making good progress.

     In reference to Alpha-Durban activities, it seems that, as at Christmas, 1923, so during the recent Christmas "summer holidays" there was quite a house party at Alpha, formed by a number of the young people from Durban. Mr. and Mrs. Frazee recently paid a visit to Durban, and the latest addition and interest at Alpha is their little adopted son, Keith Ivan, who was baptized by the Rev. Theodore Pitcairn at one of the "homestead" family gatherings for worship.     
     F. W. E.

     GLENVIEW, ILL.-Since our last report, the Woman's Guild provided Valentine parties for the children at the homes of Mrs. L. S. Cole and Mrs. Jesse V. Stevens, and a fancy dress ball for adults on February 14th, at which Mother Goose characters appeared, were numbered and guessed, led through the dances, and finally served with refreshments. Mr. and Mrs. Crebert Burnham were host and hostess.

     On Friday the 13th-lucky day-the Rev. Fred. E. Gyllenhaal spoke at our Friday Supper, giving an account of his work in England, and, in place of our doctrinal class, delivered a paper on "Spiritual Conjunctions, and the Meeting of Friends in the Spiritual World." This paper was of great interest, and dwelt upon the fact that the meeting and consociation of spirits in the other world, although it appears to be spontaneous and unrestricted, is nevertheless restricted to certain conditions, and follows definite laws, the most universal of all being that of the Divine permission.

     On Sunday, February 15th, Mr. Gyllenhaal preached an excellent sermon on "The Two Ways of Life." On the evening of the same day, a men's meeting was called, at which our guest delivered an address on "Philosophy: Its Nature and Problems." There were visitors from Sharon Church, including the Rev. W. L. Gladish, and a visitor from Denver, Mr. Alvin Lindrooth, who is in the Middle West on business, but prefers to live "out in our country." We had the feeling that Mr. Gyllenhaal's paper was not discussed as ably as it should have been, though it was much enjoyed. He brought out the idea that the Writings properly should not be thought of as containing philosophy, but should be regarded rather as doctrine; but that the true philosophy per se of the New Church is found in the Philosophical Works of Swedenborg, as a "second foundation of truth."

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A problem for the New Church is to put forth this philosophy in such a way as to reach those who cannot be reached by doctrine, so that, through the philosophy,-they might be led to the doctrine.

     This men's meeting was followed by another, held in Chicago on February 25th under the auspices of the Sharon Church. Mr. Gyllenhaal had left us, but we again took up a philosophical subject,-the paper by the Rev. Hugo L. Odhner on "Non-spacial Substance," which recently appeared in the Journal of Education. This was considerably more pertinently discussed, and favorably to the writer. Dr. Farrington sang a group of songs that were much enjoyed, and afterwards Mr. Wm. Junge sang a very "philosophical" song, the burden of which was, that the people and children of the Sharon Church can scarcely be told apart from those of the Immanuel Church, and that logically the former should move out to live in the Park!

     After the doctrinal class on Friday, February 27th, Mr. Alvin Lindrooth gave us a talk on the Mining of Coal. Some of the residents who have installed oil burners were curiously inquiring, "What is coal?" Mr. Lindrooth explained, and spoke of many different kinds. We didn't know half. "The miner's life 'out in our country' is pleasant and profitable," he said, "but people are not buying enough coal to keep him at work." Many of us had thought that this was one use we were performing very well indeed.

     The Bryn Athyn Post frequently breaks into our quiet life. A late issue contains a leading article on being "A Gentleman." This article took us by surprise, as we had not supposed there was so much to know about this subject. One lady was overheard to exclaim, "My, a man has to watch his step, doesn't he!" A man for whose opinions I have the highest regard, after considering the article, declared to me: "The man who is like that description is not a gentleman; he's an angel!"

     A Washington's Birthday Party for the School was held on the Friday preceding that day, in combination with the regular dancing class, which is now an interesting feature of our curriculum, under the successful direction of Miss Janet Lindrooth.

     The Doctrinal Class is reading the True Christian Religion.

     The Pastor has recently presented a series of sermons on the Gospel of Matthew, beginning with the Sermon on the Mount.

     Mr. Jesse Stevens has been contributing rather heavily this year to the cultural and social life of the Society, in a way that everybody appreciates, by his devoted work with the Orchestra. His ultimate goal s seems to be to get everybody into it.

     If players for certain instruments cannot be found, the matter of attracting musicians from other New Church centers may be considered. Viola players are much in demand. The Orchestra and its leader are very good-natured, and are willing to furnish music for almost any occasion. The Pastor hopes they will some day play in the services of worship.
     G. S. P.

     BRYN ATHYN.-Our community has received a good deal of newspaper publicity since the cathedral was erected, and the building continues to attract enterprising journalists, who descend upon us at intervals with their cameras and notebooks. The most recent visitation of this kind gathered material for the article by William A. M'Garry which appeared in Henry Ford's weekly, The Dearborn Independent, of February 28th. It bears the title, "Cathedral of the New Jerusalem-A Sermon in Stone is Inspired by the Followers of Swedenborg," and is illustrated by photographic views of the church, interior and exterior, of the procession of priests at the dedication, and of Swedenborg's design for an airplane. While not devoid of inaccuracies, as where we are told that Swedenborg was a "preacher and lecturer," the article is well written and appreciative, and gives a good running account of the architectural and educational undertakings at Bryn Athyn, with a brief outline of the history of the movement which led to the founding of the community.

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Something is also said of the "Swedenborgian cult" in general, but without entering into doctrinal matters, except to give a list of the Theological Works.

     The cathedral seems to be an object of undiminished interest to sightseers, who come from far and near, singly and in groups, especially on Sundays and holidays, when their automobiles constitute quite a traffic problem. The building is not open to inspection on Sundays, but visitors attend the services, sometimes in considerable numbers.

     Teachers' Meetings.

     The question of holding a periodical "Conference of Elementary School Teachers " was brought up recently in the Council of the Clergy, and it was recognized that such meetings of the teachers of the General Church had always proved beneficial, notably in the case of the one held at Toronto in June, 1922. In the course of the discussion of this subject, it was suggested that the uses of such a conference would be realized if teachers from elsewhere could visit Bryn Athyn at the time of the Annual Council Meetings in February of each year. The Academy Schools are then in session, and the joint meetings of ministers and teachers offer an occasion of inspirational value to those who are engaged in the work of education. At such a time, also, there would be abundant opportunity for the informal discussion of problems of common interest to our teachers.

     The Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal sailed for England on February 28th. After the Council Meetings, he paid a visit to Glenview, and on his return conducted a doctrinal class and preached in Bryn Athyn. His sojourn in America was rather strenuous, both in ministerial n activity and socially, and we trust the ocean voyage has proved restful and refreshing to him.

     Candidate Elmo Acton has accepted a call to become Minister of the Durban Society, as assistant to the Pastor, and will sail for South Africa in June.

     The Rev. George de Charms has gained in health during his stay in Florida, and will return to Bryn Athyn about April 7th.

     LONDON, Michael Church.-A very successful Sale of Work was held on Dec. 9, 1924, under the presidency of Mrs. Tilson, assisted by other members, both ladies and gentlemen. The stalls were well provided with useful and fancy articles made during the year, and most of these found a ready sale, as also did the contents of the grocery stall. "Teas" and refreshments of varied character and excellent quality were available at low rates throughout the evening, and gentlemen saw that appetites were maintained by engaging vigorously in the "Sports." A sum of ?50 was handed to the Treasurer, a result upon which all concerned are to be congratulated.

     The service on Christmas morning was a full and appropriate one, including the reading of the Roll of Honor by the Pastor. The special prayers, the well-chosen music, the tasteful decorations, and the most impressive sermon, all contributed to a Christmas Feast which culminated in the administration of the Holy Supper to 43 communicants.

     Two of the Social Club meetings deserve special mention. At the "Fancy Dress " on Jan. 6, many ingenious and artistic costumes were worn, and it was difficult to recognize one's friends! The program of dances, songs and games kept going merrily until a late hour. A "Surprise Evening " on Feb. 24 proved to be a lecture on "A Cycling Tour through Wales" by Mt. Sam Lewin, whose perfect familiarity with his subject, clear enunciation and easy extemporaneous manner, as he described the scenes presented in the succession of splendid lantern slides, combined to make the evening as delightful as it was instructive to all present.

     During the absence of the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal in America, our Pastor, in addition to his own work, which seems ever on the increase, has been visiting Colchester on alternate Sundays after conducting our own morning service, and his ministrations there seem to be much appreciated.     
     K. M. D.

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     SYDNEY, N. S. W.-A fortnight before Christmas, the Sunday School children gave a successful concert, every child taking part in a play entitled "The Motley Court." Historical characters in the reign of Queen Elizabeth were represented, and there was also a fairy queen and some pretty fairies and elves. The teachers were greatly assisted in its preparation by Mrs. Hill, a new friend, who devoted much time to the training of the children. The performance was thoroughly enjoyed, and the proceeds of the collection taken up were given to the piano fund.

     The Christmas Tree on the previous Saturday evening looked most inviting to youthful eyes, with its lighted candles and a gift for each child. The Pastor spoke on the meaning of the Nativity, how we should all feel thankful to the Lord for His willingness to be born for our sakes, that we might be rescued from the dominion of evil. Christmas hymns were heartily sung, the children being especially fond of "From the Eastern Mountains," and the distribution of gifts followed. The next day, at the Sunday Christmas Service, the Pastor preached on "The Advent of God, the Word Made Flesh," and a week later on "Thanksgiving for Redemption." His sermons are very much appreciated.

     Our sympathies have gone out to our Pastor, who lost his only son, Major Morse, D. S. O., on January 26th. His last illness was the result of strenuous military service during the Great War, where he served among the electrical engineers in front of the front lines. The Sydney press has referred to him as one of our most prominent engineers and distinguished soldiers, and the clergyman officiating at the grave spoke of his "nobility of character as a citizen, and of his bravery on the field of battle which had won him high recognition."
     M. M. W.

     PITTSBURGH.-February 14th, St. Valentine's Day, was most appropriately celebrated this year by reason of the marriage in our church on that day of Miss Grace Horigan to Mr. Lester Asplundh. The ceremony was followed by a reception to which the entire Society was invited as the guests of Mr. and Mrs. D. E. Horigan.

     The Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal stopped over on his way east on February 18, and addressed the Society in connection with our observance of General Church Day. The following evening he read a paper to the Philosophy Club, pointing out the superiority of New Church philosophy. During the social hour that followed, he recounted many of his experiences in India and South Africa. As a mark of our appreciation, he was elected an honorary member of the Club.

     We had the pleasure of a visit from the Rev. Alfred Acton on March 6th to 8th. He came as a guest of the Philosophy Club, which he addressed on Friday evening on the subject of "Psychology." In his usual masterful manner, speaking without notes, he held the meeting spellbound, every word driving home ideas of keen interest which we can "philosophize over" for Some time to come. On Saturday, Mr. Acton addressed a general meeting of the Society, and preached on Sunday in the absence of our Pastor who was officiating in Washington.

     A cafeteria supper, arranged by Mrs. S. S. Lindsay, preceded the semi-annual business meeting on March 11th, the proceeds of $70 going to the Treasurer for the benefit of the temporalities. The meeting which followed brought forth the usual compile an interesting financial report of the Treasurer, Mr. S. S. Lindsay, as well as reports from our other officers. Of prime importance at this meeting was the launching of a movement, sponsored by the Social Club, to secure a new organ for the church. The present organ has served us well, as also has our organist, Mr. Arthur O. Lechner, who has been on the job for many years. "The old order changeth," however, and the Society recognizes that we need a new organ, as well as to provide relief for Mr. Lechner.

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The proposition was unanimously approved-at least, we heard no dissenting voices-which means that we will gee that organ somehow in the next few months.
      J. E. B.

     KITCHENER, ONT.-On Swedenborg's Birthday, the children were invited to a dinner at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Kuhl, after which they read compositions, one on the life of Swedenborg and others on the inhabitants of the planets. A banquet for the Society was held in the evening, the general subject being "Personal Contacts of Swedenborg." Mr. Harold Kuhl spoke of Swedenborg's gracious and unassuming friendship with servants, artisans, etc. Mr. Theo. Kuhl referred to his contact with the nobility, and of his tolerant attitude toward men in making known new things to them. Mr. A. H. Scott described the free, cordial and respected relations Swedenborg had with the royal family of Sweden. Finally, our Pastor spoke of his contacts with the clergy, dwelling especially on the visits and correspondence with Drs. Beyer and Rosen and the Rev. Thomas Hartley.

     After our Pastor's return from the Annual Meetings at Bryn Athyn, he gave us reports of what he had seen and heard, chiefly after the Friday Supper on Feb. 13. A week later, by an exchange of pulpits, the Rev. Hugo Odhner came to visit us, arriving in time to give us a most interesting talk after supper on the work of the New Church Mission among the Basutos, illustrated by lantern slides. It was a special pleasure to welcome Mr. Odhner himself, who is very affectionately remembered in Kitchener as our former Pastor. We were glad to hear him preach once more, and on Sunday afternoon he contributed vocal solos to the program of the musicale which included numbers by the orchestra, the chorus, the ladies' chorus and other soloists.

     The Pastor is conducting a special class on Sunday evenings fortnightly for young people of about high school age. The subjects are based upon correspondences, taking objects from nature and telling of their uses and spiritual meaning, or such topics as "Santa Claus," "The Christmas Tree," "The Eclipse," etc. No text book is used, but the subjects are presented in a conversational talk. After about an hour, the time is spent socially, and the evenings are being found very enjoyable. The class meets at the various homes.     
     L. W. T. D.

     TORONTO, ONT.-Sunday evening services, resumed on Feb. 1, will be held regularly on the first Sunday of each month. The Pastor gave an address on "The Sole Divinity of Jesus Christ," as the first of a series that will answer the question: "What, then, are the Fundamentals of the True Christian Religion, as seen in the Light of New Revelation? "The sphere of the whole service was powerful and beautiful.

     We had the pleasure of a visit from the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal on February 15, and in the evening, in place of the doctrinal class, our Pastor gave an account of the meetings in Bryn Athyn, interspersed with "interludes" from Mr. Gyllenhaal, as he himself termed them. Between the two, we had a feast of reason and a flow of soul, and we hope Mr. Gyllenhaal will come soon again, and stay for a longer time.

     At the February Ladies' Meeting, the Pastor gave an address on "Garments in the Spiritual World," Miss Gladys Brown read a useful and instructive paper on "The Public Library and its Functions," and Miss Edina Carswell gave a humorous reading.

     The Forward Club meeting on February 19th had a banner turnout. Mr. Odhner gave us an outline lecture on "The Theory of Creation," which took us "pretty deep," and made us realize how vast is the theater of unexplored knowledge.     
     F. W.

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MAGIC OF THE NAME 1925

MAGIC OF THE NAME       Rev. HUGO LJ. ODHNER       1925




     Announcements.






NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. XLV          MAY, 1925          No. 5
     The intuition that lies at the root of every religion is to the effect that the ultimate and final power is not the power of numbers, not the power of force, not the combined power of all men, but the power of God. If God will, He can by His presence strengthen the weakest of men to withstand the assaults of strong enemies.

     To court the aid of this Divine power, men have been wont to gather to worship God, to pray for salvation, whether natural or spiritual, to invoke His blessings and protection. And the devotees of every religion claim that the God they invoke protects His own worshipers above others, and grants them boons which others do not receive. Usually these worshipers claim that they are the only beneficiaries of the power of their God. They often picture Him as an arbitrary Being who gives salvation to His worshipers and merciless punishments to everyone else. But behind all these more or less cramped notions of perverted religions there lies a powerful truth; and into this truth we now purpose to inquire by the aid of Divine Revelation. For where a universal belief exists, there some universal truth lies hidden.

     The Lord, while teaching His disciples, often referred to the relation between Himself and His disciples, or between Himself and His Church. He taught most definitely that He could offer salvation only to those who believed in His Name; that God-whom He called "The Father"-would grant their prayers only if they asked in His Name; but that if they did ask in His Name, all their prayers, whatever they were, would be fulfilled.

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If two or three were gathered in His Name, He Himself would be in the midst of them, strengthening them, granting their requests.

     And to the disciples He gave the power to heal diseases and drive out evil spirits by the sole use of His Name. There seemed to be a miraculous power associated with the use of His Name. It is also related that one who was not a disciple of the Lord began to use the Name of Jesus to drive out diseases and evil spirits, and with equal success. And later it is told that Simon the Magician envied the apostles and desired to purchase for his selfish trade the power he knew they possessed by virtue of the Name which they uttered.

     All this, to a man of our age, seems almost unintelligible. And it so seems because we are so sadly ignorant of that ancient world into which our Lord and Saviour was born, and wherein He lived and taught. We sometimes call it an age of superstition. Yet the superstitions of that age were mixed with a hidden wisdom now entirely forgotten. And over against the superstitions of the past we may place the superstitions of the present, both the vast follies of materialism and the self-deception of churches based on such absurd persuasions as "faith alone" and the vicarious atonement. The great error of the ancient world was the belief in magical salvation,-an error which finally infected the Christian Church also, and became the cause of its downfall.

     Let us go back into history. In the ancient religions, it was believed that a name had magic properties. Among the Egyptians, it was held that the soul of man, after death, passing into the underworld, would perish unless he knew the secret name of the gods. If he could pronounce their names in the right way, he would pass safely on his way to paradise, and would obtain the power of the gods whose names he knew. Their power was then his power. And by an elaborate ceremony he could even put on the name of Osiris, the ruler of paradise, and obtain his power, and thus eternal life.

     When Moses was summoned by the Lord to lead Israel out of Egypt, he asked of the Lord His hidden Name, and it was revealed to him as Jehovah-the I AM,-a Name then long forgotten, unknown to Moses, as it had been unknown to Abraham. By the power of this Name were the Israelites led across the desert and established in Canaan. To the men of that time it was as the magic of Egypt,-a ritualistic salvation.

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They gathered in the Name of Jehovah, who had "put His Name in the midst" of His particular chosen people. The time came when the worship of Jehovah became but sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal-a hollow mockery-a nominal religion-the worship of a mere name-without any obedience to His precepts. What the Name of God meant was unknown in the Jewish Church, even as in idolatrous Egypt.

     And so God descended on earth, assumed the human, and, according to prophecy, revealed His holy Name. And to that Name were evil spirits obedient; in that Name miracles were performed. Omnipotence rested in that Name. And as the warning to the Jew had been, "Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain," so now the Christian was to pray, "Hallowed be Thy Name." Into the Name of Jesus Christ was focused the power of all the representatives of the past. He could truly say, "Unto me is given all power in heaven and on earth." For in the universal spiritual world the power of representative worship had ceased, and the abuse of correspondences was henceforth made impotent and ineffectual.

     The ancient religions of Egypt, and of other nations, were nothing less than perverted and vague remnants of the prophecies concerning the Lord to come. When the Lord fulfilled the more direct prophecies of the Old Hebrew Scriptures,-the so-called Messianic prophecies of the Jews,-He at the same time fulfilled the many foreshadowings in the mythological religions. He fulfilled in Himself all truth, wherever found. And while He abolished all empty representatives, and forbade the use of magic, yet, in adaption to the times, He retained expressions which went back to the origin of magic. This is why Be taught that whatever men asked the Father in His Name would be granted; and that if two or three were gathered together in His Name, He himself would be in their midst. He went so far in this accommodation that we find in the Apocalypse these words: "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it" (2:17); and upon him that overcometh "I will write the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and my new name." (3:12.)

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We read here how the Lord writes His Name upon His worshipers, and endows them, even as the Ancients believed would come to pass when their souls after death would be called by the secret name of their god.

     II.

     The many problems and difficulties so far suggested can now be solved. The man who would partake in the Name of God, who would gather together with others in His Name, who would pray the Father in His Name, and be unfailingly answered-such a man must think and act in consonance with The Divine will. The Lord's Name is not a mere name, but it represents His Divine qualities,-the truths which show His Divine character, the laws by which He acts. All that man prays the Divine Love in agreement with the laws of Providence will inevitably come to pass. And wherever men call upon the Lord according to the doctrine of faith and love, which is "to gather in His Name," there He is in their midst. And those who believe in His Divine mercy and wisdom, and walk after His truth, these, through His Holy Name, are saved. And contrariwise, "he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed on the name of the only-begotten Son of God." (John 3:18.)

      Still stranger may it seem when the Lord said to His disciples: "Verily I say unto you, What things soever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in the heavens." (Matt. 18:18.) Here again the Lord speaks of the miraculous power associated with His Name or His Truth. His disciples, by virtue of having the Truth, represented spiritual truths; and spiritual truths have the marvelous power of confirming within the minds of men the states which govern there. With the good, they confirm their good while on earth, and loose man's spirit into free entrance to heaven. But with those who from evil deny the truth, this very denial binds their spirit, so that it is bound after death when they seek entrance to heaven in vain.

     In the Ancient Church, it was from the knowledge of this marvelous omnipotent power of spiritual truth that the later practice sprang of seeking to appropriate the names of their gods by various ritualistic and magical ceremonies. They tried to force themselves into the protection of their god by artificial means.

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Their temples became more and more magnificent. Their vast tombs were covered with sacred writings about the gods and the after-life, Their funeral rites grew longer, and their care for the dead more solicitous. But they had lost the perception of what is meant by the Name of God. Their worship was only of the lips.

     So in every consummated church; after the love of God has waxed cold; and the perception of His quality and of His ways hits been lost, salvation has been sought by some magical way. Some in the Christian Church claim that salvation comes by a profession of faith in the vicarious sufferings of Christ; some by our accumulating merit for alms-giving or other good works, or for pious fastings and penance; others believe that all will eventually be saved by the power of the mere will of God. Some believe that those who do not enter the Christian Church by baptism will be forever condemned in the hereafter. Others claim for the priesthood the power to admit to heaven and condemn to hell. Yet all these take the Name of the Lord in vain. Their Christianity is merely traditional, man-made, nominal. And of such the Lord said, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy Name? And in Thy Name have cast out devils, and in Thy Name done many wonderful works? Then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity." (Matt. 7:21, 22, 23.) There is no magical way into heaven, or into the favor of God. But we must learn to know His secret Name, and walk in His Name alone.

     When the Lord created the universe, He impressed it all with His Name-with His eternal laws of order, unchangeable from age to age. These laws of order-or this, His holy Name-He has now revealed to men. Untold suns swing to the rhythm of these Divine laws. Every living thing is inmostly governed by them. In the least atom of matter is the Divine life immanent. But the Lord can give salvation-that is, eternal happiness-only to those who attune themselves willingly to the law of the Lord, and acknowledge that His provisions are for the best; who overcome envy and bitterness and hatred, and learn to cooperate gladly and patiently with their fellowmen, to the end that the greatest good may prevail.

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These are they that "believe in His Name." These are they who-perhaps only by twos and threes-"gather together in His Name." These are they that pray the Father-the Love Divine who gave of His substance to create the two worlds-that pray in His Name, and are granted whatsoever they pray for-so that it be in His Name. For in His Name lies omnipotence; and those who walk in His ways partake-in their finite measure-of His Name and power, and need fear no evil from hell, but may boldly undertake the works which they see before them.

     Not so they who in heart deny the Divine provision, and strive against the end-in-view of creation, which is that good may rule among men. It is less apparent on earth than it becomes in heaven, yet may be seen even now, that there is no evil which does not deny some truth-some law of the Lord. The wilful denial of some law of truth can similarly have no other source than evil. And it is by reason of this that the Lord says that "he is condemned already who hath not believed in the Name of the Only-begotten Son of God."

     There is no partiality with the Lord. He condemns none. He allows for our ignorance and weakness. He came to save the world, to reveal His Name more fully, as a means of saving those whom the evil would mislead. He knows that the happiness which is heaven comes only by a free and grateful acknowledgment of His provisions for men. He therefore leaves man free, even to deny His Name and power when they are revealed. But to those who believe in Him He grants life more abundant.

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WRITTEN WITH A PEN OF IRON 1925

WRITTEN WITH A PEN OF IRON       Rev. F. E. GYLLENHAAL       1925

     "The son of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond; it is graven upon the table of their heart, end upon the horns of you altars." (Jeremiah 17:1)

     Everything that comes to the senses of a man is registered on his mind and remains forever. It is because his soul, spirit and mind are immortal that everything registered on the mind is rendered permanent, preserved for all time in this world and forever in the spiritual world. This is true of every man. It is as true of the evil as of the good. It is as true of what is evil and false as of what is good and true-of what is against order and opposed to God, as of what is of order and from God.

     The permanency of whatever enters the mind through the senses or flows in through the soul is established in the two memories with which God has endowed every man. These are called the exterior memory and the interior memory. The former is organized in the substances which are the beginnings of the fibers, or in the purest substances of nature in the brain. The latter is organized in the substances of the spiritual world, or in spiritual substances that are also in the brain. The two are not continuous but contiguous; they are of discrete degrees, and communicate by correspondences. The interior is within the exterior, and, while a man is in the natural world, it appears as if they are one and the same, even as soul and body appear as one; but in the life after death the discreteness of the two manifestly appears.

     The interior memory is a man's "Book of Life." Every least thing that he has ever experienced or been affected by, or that he has ever thought, spoken or done, from the first breath of life to the last gasp of death, is inscribed indelibly and imperishably on his interior memory-on the organized, spiritual substances of his spiritual brain; and, in the other life, he can be brought successively into the full recollection of them. The evil as well as the good have this interior memory-this Book of Life-and according to it every man is judged.

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     Man also has his exterior memory after death, but he is not then allowed to use it. Although this memory is organized in the purest substances of nature, it is imperishable, like the interior memory. It is in the Limbus-the Border-and remains forever below the heavens and above the hells, where it serves, among other uses, as a connecting link between the two worlds, the spiritual and the natural, or as a medium of conjunction between spirits and angels, on the one side, and the human race on the other. It is possible for spirits, and even for angels who have been thousands of ages in heaven, to be brought into full recollection of everything of this memory, but it is not allowable. It is permitted at times, however, for certain uses. And no spirit is judged according to this exterior memory. Everything entering the two memories enters by motion induced on the organized substances, whether purest natural or spiritual, and effects a change of state in those organic substances. The organic substances are capable of indefinite changes of state. Also, the soul has the faculty, God-given, of acting upon the organic substances in a mode to recall any state. The exercise of this faculty brings recollection.

     The fact that memory is effected by a change of state of organized substances,-a change induced or impressed by motion, and causing motion of the organized substances,-is taught even in the two Testaments, although the teaching may not be perceived without the light of the spiritual sense. We read that the Law was inscribed on tables of stone and written with the finger of God (Ex. 31:8; Deut. 4: 13, 9:10), which signifies that it must be impressed on the life. In Jeremiah, we read: "I will give my law in the midst of them, and will write it on their heart" (31:33), which signifies to impress on the love.

     In the Apocalypse Explained, treating of the words "To write upon one," it is stated that this " means to implant in the life, because to write is to commit to paper anything from the memory, thought or mind that is to be preserved. In the spiritual sense, therefore, it signifies that which is to endure in man's life, inscribed on it and implanted in it. Thus the natural sense of this expression is turned into a spiritual sense; for it is natural to write upon paper or in a book, but it is spiritual to inscribe on the life, which is done when anything is implanted in faith and love, since love and faith make man's spiritual life.

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Because 'to write' signifies to implant in the life, it is said of Jehovah or the Lord that 'He writes,' and that 'He has written in a book,' meaning that which is inscribed by the Lord on man's spirit, that is, on his heart and soul, or, what is the same, on his love and faith." (A. E. 222.) And in the Arcana (9416) we learn that "writing" and "engraving" on "tables" signify in the Word those things which must be impressed on the memory and on the life, and which are therefore to be lasting; as in Isaiah, "Write it before them on a table, and impress it on a book, that it may be for the latter day forever even to eternity." (30:8)

     The text is an example of a man's writing on his own memory and on his own life,-of the writing of what is evil. And a closer examination of the words of the text, in the light of the spiritual sense, shows that it is an example of hell's writing on a man's memory and life. The truth is, it is either the Lord who writes on man's memory and life, or it is hell. Yet there is constantly the appearance that man himself is the agent. This appearance is for the sake of his freedom and rationality, thus for the sake of his eternal happiness. "The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond; it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars."

     Every falsity and evil, every transgression and iniquity, every sin of which a man is guilty, is written deeply on his memories, and remains eternally. Some falsities and evils may be more lightly written than others; yet all are permanent, and none can ever be obliterated. Not only are they permanently impressed upon the memories of the man himself, but he passes on the impression of some of them to his posterity,-an evil heritage to his children. For the soul, derived from the father, has a certain formation of its purest natural and outermost spiritual substances organized after the pattern of those in his own mind and body. So deeply written may these be, that they may persist through many, even thousands of, generations; just as, in ancient times, the writing or engraving on stone was deeply and sharply cut with an iron pen or instrument having a point of adamantine quality like a diamond, and filled with lead, that the writing might remain forever.

     It might seem from the picture presented by the text, as also from the doctrine in the Writings concerning the memories, that there is no hope of salvation for any man, and that, because a man's sins can never be obliterated, it is impossible for him to be saved.

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It may even seem that there is no mercy in God. But such is not the case. The Lord is merciful. He reveals His mercy and compassion again and again. He gives hope continually to every man. And He stands ready with omnipotence to save all who look to Him, who depart not from Him, and even to save those who do depart, but who return again to His easy yoke. "I, even I, am He who blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins." (Isaiah 43:25.) "I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and as a cloud, thy sins; return unto me, for I have redeemed thee." (Isaiah 44:22.) "I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." (Jer. 31:34) "In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found; for I will pardon them whom I reserve." (Jer. 50:20.)

     Even though what is once impressed on the memories remains forever, and cannot be obliterated, the Lord forgives and forgets, provided only that a man repents, and sins no more. And the Lord does more than this: He causes man finally to forgive and to forget. Moreover, upon the man who regenerates He writes His new name; He writes on the memories what is good and true; also, He awakens to recollection with the angels, and to some extent with regenerating men, that alone which He Himself had inscribed upon the man's memories and life, and fills the recollection with new truths, inspires new thoughts, leads to new actions-to works of true charity and usefulness-to works of love towards the neighbor and of love to the Lord. The other writing-the writing of hell-is indeed there, but forgiven and forgotten. The angels have no recollection of their evils, of their sins, while they are in heaven, but they can be let down again into their old propriums, and again can have the recollection of all things of their life on earth. The Spiritual Diary relates that "one who died an infant, and became an adult in heaven, was remitted among spirits, that he might know the quality which he had acquired from hereditary evil. He had been born a prince, and it was perceived that he retained a hereditary disposition to exercise dominion over others; also that he made light of adulteries, as had also his ancestors.

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From this it was evident that hereditary evil adheres without receding, and that when opportunities offer it breaks out. He was otherwise such as to be capable of being imbued in heaven with mutual love in an eminent degree."

     The "sin of Judah" was, in general, the idolatrous worship of the Jewish nation. This was so deeply rooted that it could not be removed, which is signified by the words: "The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, with the point of a diamond; it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of their altars." Deeply rooted falsity is meant by, "It is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond;" and deeply rooted evil by, "It is graven upon the table of the heart, and upon the horns of their altars." It is said "upon the horns of the altars," because idolatrous worship is meant.

     This appears still more clearly from the spiritual sense of the verse following: "Whilst their sons remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hill." The "sons" whom He calls to mind signify falsities of evil; "altars" idolatrous worship from evil'; "groves by the green tree," such worship from falsity; " upon the high hill," signifies adulteration of good and falsification of truths. For at that time, when all things of worship were representatives of celestial and spiritual things, they had worship in groves and upon hills, the reason being that "trees," of which groves consist, signify cognitions and perceptions of truth and good, and this according to the kind of trees. And because "hills" signified goods of charity, and the spiritual angels, who dwell upon hills, are in such goods, so, in ancient times, worship was performed upon hills. But this was forbidden the Jewish and Israelitish nation, lest they should profane the holy things that were so represented; for, in respect to worship, that nation was in externals only; their internals were purely idolatrous. (A. E. 39124)

     The text will be still more clearly understood when it is known that "iron" means voluntary things, "the point of a diamond," intellectual ones, and "written on the table of the heart and on the horns of the altar," the things of the will and of works respectively, in order that they may be remembered. (Schmidius Marginalia.)

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With the Jews and Israelites, both the will and the understanding consented to their idolatrous worship, for they were totally depraved; and as they were an obstinate, unrepentant people, their sin of idolatry became ever more deeply written in their hearts with every succeeding generation, and ever more deeply engraved upon their memories. Their hereditary evil became so overwhelming in its enormity that there was no hope of their redemption, no hope of their salvation, no hope of eternal life in heaven for them.

     Moreover, there was what was profane in their idolatrous worship. This appears more clearly when it is known that the specific sin of Judah, the son of Jacob, was adultery. The Arcana gives three origins of the tribe of Judah, and thus of the Jewish nation,-one from Shelah, the son of Judah by his Canaanite wife, another from Perez, and the third from Zerah. The last two were the sons of Judah by Tamar his daughter-in-law. The whole Jewish nation was from those three sons of Judah, thus from illegitimate unions. For marriages with the daughters of the Canaanites was strictly forbidden, and adultery with one's daughter-in-law was a capital offence. This shows whence and of what quality was the origin of the Jewish nation. (A. C. 4818.) There was what was most horribly profane in that origin. From it arose all the idolatry-all the idolatrous worship-of the Jewish nation. It destroyed utterly the supreme love of the Lord. It also destroyed utterly the fundamental of all human loves,-love truly conjugial. This sin was graven so deeply on the heart of Judah, and of his posterity, that it could not be removed. It utterly destroyed the church and heaven with them. The Law could not be "written on their hearts," nor "on the horns of their altars."

     And yet there was a way in which this sin could be removed,-a means by which this writing could be erased. It was this fearful heredity that the Lord took upon Himself when He was born of the Virgin Mary, who was of the house of Judah. The writing of hell- with "pen of iron" and the "point of a diamond"-was so deep that it reached, or touched upon, the human assumed. But hell wrote no jot or tittle upon the Divine within that human. There never was cause to weep for Him,-only for the sins of men. From the first breath of the Babe of Bethlehem, only what was good and true was graven upon the memories of His mind. What was inherited-the "writing" inherited-was in Him gradually and successively removed, obliterated, completely erased, even as the Human was glorified completely, down to the flesh and bones; and there remained only the Divine Writing, indeed, the Divine Word.

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Also, His memories were not books of life, because He was Life itself. And He was the great, eternal Hope of the human race. He is its Hope and its Comforter forever.

     The condemnation of Judah's sin is not expressed in the text. The grievousness of the sin is taught, and the devastation of the church and the degeneration of man by reason of it, but the judgment and condemnation is stated in the 13th verse: "O Jehovah, the hope of Israel, all that forsake me shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken Jehovah, the fountain of living waters. Heal me, O Jehovah, that I may be healed." (Jeremiah 17:13, 14) "To be written in the earth," is to be condemned on account of the state of life, since "earth" signifies what is condemned (A. E. 222 6). Judgment and condemnation are declared at the Lord's advent. Not that the Lord condemns, but the evil condemn themselves in the light of the Divine Truth. They who have departed from the Lord find in the light of Divine Truth that they have nothing written by the Lord on their hearts, in the internal man; or, as expressed in Luke, they have not their names "written in heaven" (10:20). Only "in the earth" is their writing.

     And so, when He came, the Lord signified this judgment and condemnation upon the Jewish Church, and upon all who depart from and forsake Him, turning aside to evil ways, by twice writing on the ground in the temple, as is related in the Gospel of John 8:1-11. The woman was forgiven her sins. The scribes and Pharisees, her accusers, were condemned, because they had adulterated the goods and falsified the truths of the Word, and thus of the Church. They were representative of the Church which had come to an end, because it had forsaken the fountain of living waters. The woman represented the remnant of that Church which, in spite of its evils and sins, could be redeemed and saved, because of the affection of truth and good. These, if they sin no more, have a new name "written in their foreheads," and also have their names "written in heaven." Amen.

     Lessons: Jeremiah 17:1-14. John 8:1-20. A. C. 10505.

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SWEDENBORG IN HIS MATURITY 1925

SWEDENBORG IN HIS MATURITY       COLLEY PRYKE       1925

     Maturity, when spoken of the mind or intellectual faculties of a man, has relation to state, and not to time. Some reach a state of maturity earlier than others, but whether a man reach it early or late, he cannot enter upon his maximum use until something of maturity in mind and thought has been achieved. What have we in mind when we speak of maturity in this sense? To me it means ripeness, full development, a bringing within the scope of present outlook the lessons of past experience. It means mental poise or balance. Not the heavy stolidity that is born of intellectual indolence, nor the blas? indifference of the small mind which dares to say that it has experienced all things, and that no new sensation awaits it, but the humble, trusting mind which has discerned the hand of Providence throughout the course of life, and which, from the quiet confidence thus engendered, endeavors to trace through the turmoil of the moment the eternal purposes of the Lord.

     The state of maturity, then, may be said to be the gathering up of the past for use in the present,-the light of experience focused on the present use. If this be so, it is clear that earlier states and experiences must profoundly affect, and, in fact, must be formative of, the state of maturity.

     As has so often been said, Swedenborg from his youth was prepared by the Lord for the high calling of his mature years. Indeed, the Writings give us warrant for believing that, even in prenatal states, this preparation was going on. He was born of wise and God-fearing parents. The lot of Bishop Swedberg was cast in the court of a king at a period when courts were rarely places of learning or of piety, but the Bishop is on record as a faithful and fearless preacher of the Word of the Lord. Of Emanuel's mother, less is known directly, but of her share in the formation of his character there can be no doubt. It will be remembered that, when in the fullness of time his spiritual eyes were opened, he was on one occasion permitted to see his mother in the spiritual world.

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We can believe that in such a household the promise of a child was an occasion of great and solemn joy, and that, ere the promise was fulfilled, many a prayer had been raised for its spiritual welfare in the journey through life.

     There is no need to follow him through all the subsequent years,-his childhood and youth, the strenuous studies of his early manhood, the prolonged travels in search of knowledge, the patient questioning of all who could add to this store of knowledge, the tireless labor of the pen. These are familiar to us all. And yet we shall do well to let thoughts of this long and arduous preparatory period form a background for our consideration of his glorious maturity, when, under the Divine auspices, his spiritual eyes were opened, and he was admitted step by step into the spiritual world, in order that he might, as a willing instrument of the Lord, convey to future ages the truth that the Lord God Jesus Christ doth reign.

     Maturity cannot be predicated of a narrow mind. The very word brings with it a conception of the whole sweep of a full life. Our revelator was no patient scholar in a hermit cell, but a man engaged for a considerable period in the active uses of the world. He has set us an example of calm and exalted patriotism, of unremitting search for truth,-something, by the way, to be clearly distinguished from the search for facts to bolster up a preconceived notion, which so often passes for learning amongst the scientists of our own time. In all his inquiries, in all his studies, use was the predominating idea. In all his physiological investigations, his reasonings were always based upon the use which the organ had to perform; to him, a useless organ in the human structure was an impossibility.

     So may we trace this busy life through all its wanderings and vicissitudes, until, at the age of fifty-five, when he was nearing the threshold of that state of wisdom which is the rightful heritage of the regenerating man as he reaches the age of sixty, he was called to his great work by the Lord Himself.

     The Church awaits the mind and pen that shall do adequate biographical justice to those eventful years between the ages of fifty and sixty in Swedenborg's life. My reading, alas, is limited, and I speak under reserve, but I have so far seen no really adequate attempt to portray the states through which Swedenborg must have passed in his transition from natural philosophy to spiritual revelation.

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In endeavoring to gain some idea of this period, we must remember that we are dealing with no mystic to whom the transition from dreams to visions would seem natural and almost imperceptible. Our subject is no monk, who by fasting has worn down the body in the hope of freeing the soul, but a man to whom rational scientific thought has been the breath of life, whose labors as a painstaking investigator of physical phenomena had covered almost the whole range of the world of nature. Such minds today are amongst those who seem most remote from spiritual thought, and in whom it seems almost impossible to arouse either interest or belief in higher things. "Proof! Proof!" they cry. "Bring us proof, and we will believe!" But though one rose from the dead, they would not believe. That such investigations in the realm of natural science can be carried on without destroying a belief in God and the spiritual world, without closing the mind to the influx of heaven, is forever proved by the example of Emanuel Swedenborg,-the man of science and the servant of the Lord.

     Yet one feels,-indeed, we are told in pages of living interest,-that this battle was not won without a terrible struggle. No New Churchman can read unmoved the wonderful history set out in the Documents collected by Dr. Tafel. Dire infestation and temptation preceded the calm of the period of maturity. But, having once entered upon his great use, all else is subordinated to it. Science takes up her rightful position as the handmaiden of Revelation. In this use of his maturity, Swedenborg drew to its service all true knowledges gathered throughout his long period of preparation. And what was this crowning life work? Nothing less than to be the human instrument by means of which the Lord, in His infinite mercy, once more revealed to man the truths that lead to eternal life. Here was a work that will cause the name of Swedenborg to be forever honored on this earth. As the Church spreads, so will the day of his birth be ever more widely observed, as an anniversary to be kept with joy and thanksgiving.

     In the performance of this stupendous use, we see unfolded the ripe wisdom of the scholar, combined with the humility that comes with advancing years to those who have suffered themselves to be led by the Lord. We see linked with the unsparing condemnation of evil a kindly charity and tolerance towards those about him, and, most touching of all, an abiding love for little children,-the eternal hope of the Church.

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For they shall grasp the torch when we may no longer bear it. It can be seen at once that such a use could not be performed by an immature mind.

     Let us endeavor to see what the office of revelator involved. First, a full intromission into the spiritual world; the companionship, not only of spirits recently passed over, but also of the angels of the highest heavens; intercourse with the great minds of previous ages; journeys to the spiritual dwelling places of those who had previously been inhabitants of other earths. It carried with it a profound yet rapid development of his rational grasp of the great truths revealed. He saw in the spiritual world the upheavals of the last judgment upon the first Christian Church, and was instructed in their spiritual significance. Finally, he received from the Lord Himself, whilst reading the Word, the truths which are embodied in the Divine Revelation of the Second Coming, and which give to us the True Christian Doctrine and the Internal Sense of the Old and New Testaments. By this light, the humblest of us may walk safely in the path of regeneration. By this same light, the true Church of the Lord will go forward until the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.
GLEANINGS FROM NEW CHURCH HISTORY 1925

GLEANINGS FROM NEW CHURCH HISTORY              1925

     A FIGHTER OF '54.

     A glimpse of the conflict waged in the New Church in America Seventy years ago, when the Rev. Richard de Charms stood almost alone for those distinctive principles which were afterwards espoused by the Academy, is afforded by the following from the pen of that valiant defender of the faith. While this is quoted from the Introduction to a work on Homeopathy, he is referring to the stand he found it necessary to take in favor of sound New Church doctrine in general. The passage reads:

     "It is with extreme reluctance that the author of the following work consents once more to enter the arena of controversy. To those who do not know him,-and his heart tells him there are very few who do know him intimately,-it must appear that he is fond of "the sports of the king," or delights in intellectual pugilism. Nothing can be farther from the truth.

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Often, indeed, has he been obliged to take up the two-edged blade, and handle it in too rough disregard of other men's overweening attachment to their own opinions; but he imagined-perhaps vainly-that he was only actuated by a love of truth for its own sake, and was fulfilling the injunction of true charity in convicting men of their errors, for their own good in their reclamation from them.

     Unfortunately for his own reputation and popularity, he has never proposed to himself the end of pleasing any man or set of men, in his utterings either from the pulpit or the press. Looking only to his Divine Master, and endeavoring sincerely to see what was true in the light of His benign countenance, he has honestly spoken the truth, without regard to the favor or affection of any person whatever. Especially has he been too careless in putting what many regard as his club foot foremost-in assuming too much the functions of "castigating spirits," which Swedenborg informs us are not always of the "worst sort"-and in recklessly casting aside those ready-made garments of factitious charity, and outside amenity, which are everywhere so abundantly put on, or exposed for sale, not only in the old "slop shop," but in the professing New Church around us. Nor did he engage in his warfare without first sitting down and counting the cost. He well knew from woeful experience that, in this seeming headlong course, he must everywhere be butting up against the salient points of men's self-love, and lacerating himself by every collision. In fact, at all times, and in every place, he has been equally successful in alienating his few friends and multiplying greatly his many enemies.

     "All this he anticipated at the start. Having been thrust, against his will, into the position of leader of an opposition to what was deemed arbitrary authority, his plausible friends have abandoned him in the hour of peril, or of need, and have left him to stand alone, when they have served their own purposes, or when the cause and principles which they and he advocated have become disreputable or unpopular. Pushed forward into the front rank of controversialists in our Church, by skulking warriors who designed to advance, in the garb and with the white flag of charity, over his body when he had fallen, he has got the unenviable reputation of a rancorous denunciator and virulent abuser of his brethren.

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Doubtless his style is too hard in material and too rough in point for the tissue paper on which he has been compelled to write; and he has sometimes torn where he only intended to make a legible mark. But his confessed sins and errors will not fail to be sufficiently condemned. For, in these piping times of spurious New Church charity, the ministers of our Church's truth are her only members who are not to enjoy any immunity for their opinions, or any mantlings of their "multitude of sins."

     "Still, whatever may be the appearance of the contrary, the author of this work does not love controversy. Naturally most diffident, and instinctively retiring from all public gaze, nothing but a sense of imperative duty has ever availed to bring him forward to anything like battlings for truth of any sort. Harassed in body and mind by his theological publications,-hurt in spirit by the almost entire desertion of those from whom he had a right to expect support, and too successfully assailed by the imputation of the worst motives for all his acts, whereby his opponents have sought to weaken the force of his truths, when they could not invalidate them by any other means,-he has fervently prayed to the Lord to allow him to retire from all conspicuous station in the Church, and pass out of sight into the shades of the most entire obscurity. And he has strained every nerve, left no stone unturned, to find some secular calling, by which to support and educate a young and numerous family.

     "But all avenues to secular business being closed to him, and being called to the discharge of important duties to the Church by the most manifest awards of the Divine Providence, he feels constrained to buckle on his armor for a renewed or continued defense of what seem to him to be vital principles of the Church. Placed as a sentinel in the outposts of the army of the Lord of Hosts, he dare not desert his post, because dangers thicken around it, and a safe, though ignominious, retirement would be more congenial to his natural love of peace."-(Introduction to A Defence of Homeopathy against her New Church: Assailants. Philadelphia, 1854)

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NOTES AND REVIEWS. 1925

NOTES AND REVIEWS.              1925

     
NEW CHURCH LIFE
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     THE SECOND ADVENT-WHEN?

     In the degree that New Churchmen confirm the idea that the Second Advent of the Lord and the coming of the New Age is by a subtle permeation of the present-day Christian World, in the same degree they tend to ignore His actual and historical Advent in the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem. This latter took ultimate form in the Books published in both worlds. Upon each volume in the spiritual world was inscribed: "This Book is the Advent of the Lord." The same upon two copies of the Brief Exposition in this world, one of which now reposes in the British Museum. For the Second Advent was to take place by means of a man who could receive the Doctrine of the New Church in his understanding, and publish it by the press. (T. C. R. 779.) But those who cite these facts are accused of confining the Second Coming to the publication of the Doctrine in Books, and of looking for the Lord in the pages of the Writings, while neglecting that more real and living advent in the enlightenment of the individual understanding and the moving of the heart and life. Too often, however, this accusation is made by New Churchmen who conceive the Second Coming of Christ to be a quickening and enlightening of men today apart from any knowledge of the Writings.

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And they fail to see that those who look for the Lord in the Writings do so in order that they may receive Him in heart and life, and this by receiving Him first in that Doctrine which alone reveals Him to the men of the New Church.


     Dealing with this question of supposed enlightenment apart from instruction in the truths of Revelation, a recent editorial in THE NEW-CHURCH HERALD very well says:

     "In the New Church we realize that the Inner Light of Divine Truth must needs remain darkness to the human subject unless there is material in the mind upon which it can fall, and which can reflect its glory. This means that we must be taught outwardly, from the Word in its written form, and from instruction based on its contents, in order that the mind may be furnished with thought-forms which may be illuminated from within. Spiritual perception is equivalent to revelation, of which all may be subjects, but the Inner Light of perception comes only to those who have earnestly wrestled in thought. We need both the Inner Light and the outer symbols of thought, if we are to enjoy spiritual poise; to depend upon the former in utter disregard of the latter is to encourage vagaries and to lose our mental balance." (February 21, 1925, p. 110.)

     This, we believe, is sound doctrine, agreeing with such teachings as this: "The man whose internal is opened is in the internal sense of the Word, even though he does not know it. Hence he has illustration when he reads the Word, but according to the light which he is able to have by means of the knowledges that are with him." (A. C. 10400 end.) Sometimes, indeed, a statement like this is used to confirm the idea that all good Christians are in the light of the internal sense, and this without knowledges from the Writings. We can agree that all good Christians are potentially in the internal sense, and especially if they have something of genuine doctrine from the letter of the Word. For the internal sense is nothing but the doctrine of faith in the Lord as God, and of the life of charity according to His commandments. Christians of this kind are rare at this day, but they are potential New Churchmen, and become actually so, having the bright light of illustration in the internal sense of the Word, in the degree that they receive the knowledges revealed in the Writings, and have "earnestly wrestled in thought" until they understand them.

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     But those who claim that the Lord is making His Second Coming in the light and glory of the spiritual sense to men who have no knowledge and understanding of the Writings are confusing the potential with the actual, and awarding the prize to those who have not run the race.



     As we have noted above, New Churchmen of this type have little to say about the Advent of the Lord in the Books of the Writings, but much to say about the "presence of the Lord in the world today," and about the all-pervading influence of that presence, enlightening and quickening " men of all denominations." And here again we believe there is a confusing of the potential and the actual. The post-judgment influx from the other world is indeed setting men free in matters of faith, rendering them potential recipients of the newly-revealed light of Divine Truth; but actual reception is another thing, and rare. The coming of the Divine to men is universal and eternal; the Divine Human is omnipresent; this universal presence and coming is actual with those who receive Him,-receive Him in the forms of His written Revelation of Divine Truth in which He had made a specific advent, and in which He has a specific and abiding presence. And we err if we make much of the universal, hidden presence and coming of the Lord, while minimizing or ignoring those particular and specific advents which He has made to reveal Himself in definite forms of doctrine, to perform judgment and order a new heaven, and to institute a new church. The Second Advent was and is such an abiding fact of history, even as the First Advent. The Lord in His Divine Human is present in the Books of the Heavenly Doctrine, and all in the Christian World are exhorted to receive Him as He has revealed Himself there. His Second Advent is made in living actuality and reality with all who so receive Him from this time forth, who pass their individual judgment, rejecting the old and embracing the new, who thus enter that New Church which was instituted in the year 1770, and which will progressively fulfill its destiny as the New Jerusalem seen by John in vision.

     The Second Advent is thus past, present and future. A timely treatment of this theme is contained in the following communication to THE NEW-CHURCH HERALD of February 28th:

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     "THE SECOND COMING OF THE LORD.

"Dear Sir,
     "In your issue of the 7th of February, there is an article, reprinted from the NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER, which opens thus: 'I prefer to use the present tense in the treating of this topic: "What is the Second Coming of the Lord," rather than "What was it?" I believe that the Second Coming of the Lord is still in progress; indeed, in the earliest stages of its bright approach.' This opening paragraph invites questions and compels thought. Why this preference for the present tense, and for it only! Is there no past or future tense? Is there any doctrinal principle behind this restriction of the Second Coming of the Lord to the present tense? I fear there is a subtle doctrine involved, and I desire to point it out and test it.

     "It is, of course, true that the Second Coming of the Lord is still in progress. There is, and always will be, a present tense, but there is also a past and a future tense. There is danger in thus overlooking, or ignoring, and perhaps even denying, the past. The true doctrine is, that the Lord HAS MADE AND IS MAKING His Second Advent. The writer of the article seems to overlook the fact that there was a historic Second Coming, just as there was a historic First Coming. Many so-called advanced thinkers-not of the New Church-more or deny the historic Christ, and fondly cling to what may be called a mystical or subjective Christ, and there seems a tendency in certain quarters of the New Church to follow the same course as regards the Second Coming. This article is a case in point, and from beginning to end its purpose seems to be the preaching of a merely spiritually subjective present-tense doctrine of the Lord's Second Coming. For the New Church to adopt and hold such a doctrine will be a fatal error. The recognition of the historic fact of the Second Coming is vital.

     "The First Coming took place when Jesus was born in Bethlehem; it is a historic fact, and it is now 1900 years in the past; but, to very many in the world to-day, it is still in the present, and even in the future. The same is true, and indeed must be true, of the Second Coming. It is also a historic fact that is now in the past by some 150 years; for there was a point in time when the Lord made His Second Advent by the opening of the spiritual senses of the Word through His servant.

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That point in time is now past, and it WAS the Second Coming of the Lord. But this fact does not in any way invalidate the complementary fact that the Second Coming is still in progress, and will be so for ages of ages. All the same, it is essential that the New Church-its men and women-shall be loyal to the true doctrine, and acknowledge the historic Coming.

     "It may be that the writer of that article is giving only one side of the subject; but if so, he should have made that clear, for a partial truth emphasized is liable to lead into error. And the inference drawn by most readers from this article will be that `all the Comings of God must be spiritual comings,' and are subjective, and subjective only. That, I gather, is the whole trend of the article, and is the doctrine that the writer, all through, is seeking to enforce. Such a doctrine is in effect a denial of the ultimate basis of the New Church doctrine. It leaves the Holy City without a foundation.

     "This same insidious doctrine appears to have crept into the creed as printed in the new Sunday School Hymn Book. In the second paragraph, the past tense is used for the First Advent, but only the present for the Second. The whole paragraph ought to read: `I believe that our Lord Jesus Christ came into the world for our redemption, and that He has made and is now making His Second Advent through His Word with power and great glory. In the creed, as printed, the words 'has made' are wanting. The omission may be an oversight, or it may be deliberate; and when the creed is read in the Queen's Drive Sunday School, I always feel inclined to correct it, and say to the scholars that the Lord 'has made, and is now making, His Second Advent.

     "The New Church has yet in many ways to realize that power is in ultimates, and that to ignore or deny the historic First Advent of the Lord, or calmly to pass by the historic Second Coming through His servant as if it were not, is to sap the very foundations on which the Lord's Church rests and can be built.
     "I am, yours faithfully,
          "ANDREW EADIE."

     [THE NEW-CHURCH HERALD, February 28th, 1925, p. 138.]

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CONAN DOYLE ON SWEDENBORG. 1925

CONAN DOYLE ON SWEDENBORG.              1925

     As is well known to our readers, the author of the Sherlock Holmes detective stories has become one of the foremost spiritists of the day. He prefers to be known as a "spiritualist," and would "like to see the Swedenborgians and Spiritualists all unite under the name of the New Church," since he regards Swedenborg as the "first and probably the greatest of mediums." We called attention to this matter a year ago (1924, pp. 237, 351), quoting at length from editorials in THE NEW-CHURCH HERALD which dealt with the subject as it deserved. The same journal again takes it up in the issue for March 14, 1925. And as the relation of spiritists and spiritism to the New Church is of interest and importance historically, if not otherwise, we are reprinting herewith a good part of the recent editorial observations of the HERALD:

     "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has produced an article on Swedenborg. It appeared in the spiritistic periodical, Light, for February 7 and 14, 1925. The writer does scant justice, and much injustice, to his subject in a lucubration which betrays hasty conclusions, gross misreadings, and hurried scribbling. The literary style of this article compares very badly with the delightful periods found in Sir Arthur's works of fiction. From a literary point of view, Sir Arthur, as a propagandist, is a sad come-down from Sir Arthur as an imaginative writer. And it is apparent that what we cannot regard as any other than his spiritistic obsession has prejudiced his mind and warped his judgment. He seems to exhibit a childish credulity towards anything that favors his predilections, and an utter impatience of anything that does not agree with them. He ignores Swedenborg's wonderful spiritual philosophy and vainly attempts to discredit his theology. The only use he has for Swedenborg seems to be found in such psychic facts mentioned in his writings as can be forced to square with the modern and highly debatable phenomena of mediumship. . . .

     "Our readers will remember that we dealt with a communication from Sir Arthur some time ago. We wrote-at considerable length, dealing principally with his suggestion that the New Church should join forces with the spiritists. We showed how impossible such a co-operation would be, and it would seem that, because we are not prepared to whistle to the tune of Sir Arthur, we are to be dubbed a narrow-minded and hopeless lot.

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In the article referred to, the New Church is spoken of with scant respect. The writer would 'place him (Swedenborg) in the general scheme of psychic unfolding' from which his Church, in its narrowness, would withhold him. Sir Arthur might, for the sake of clarity, tell us what he really means by 'the general scheme of psychic unfolding.' To us, the term is nebulous and vague. It may be high-sounding, but it "cuts no ice," seeing that its meaning is not clear. Then what of "his" Church? The New Church is not Swedenborg's Church! And as to the accusation of narrowness, who is really narrow-the Church which Comprehends the whole gamut of revelation and spiritual life, or the man who wilfully limits himself to one aspect of experience, and that not of paramount importance?

     "For, after all, is it a matter of first importance that we should establish communication with discarnate spirits? Is such communication calculated to settle the problems with which we are presently faced? Does it tend to increase spirituality and improve human motive? We deem it far more important that we should enter into the duties of the present life in a religious spirit and with an understanding heart, and it is for this reason that the New Church is determined not to be side-tracked into the narrow channels of psychic inquiry, and to keep to its appointed business of seeking the Kingdom of God through the interpretation of the Word and the development of spirituality on the lines of Divine revelation. Are we to be deemed narrow because we prefer the light of God to the dark mysteries and the puerile inanities of the dance-chamber? . . .

     "Our readers will be interested in Sir Arthur's reference to the New Church, but we do not think they will be impressed or beguiled by it. He says: 'The New Church, which was formed in order to sustain the teaching of the Swedish Master, has allowed itself to become a backwater instead of keeping its rightful place as the original current of psychic knowledge. When the spiritualistic movement broke out in 1848, and when men like Davis supported it with philosophic writings and psychic powers which can hardly be distinguished from those of Swedenborg, the New Church would have been well-advised to hail this development as being on the lines indicated by their leader. Instead of doing so, they have preferred, for some reason which is difficult to understand, to exaggerate every point of difference and ignore every point of resemblance, until the two bodies have drifted into a position of hostility.

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As a fact, every spiritualist should honor Swedenborg, and his bust should be in every spiritualist temple, as being the first and greatest of modern mediums. On the other hand, the New Church should sink any small points of difference, and should join heartily in the their churches and organization to the new movement, contributing common cause.'" (NEW-CHURCH HERALD, March 14, 1925, pp. 157-159)
THREE THEORIES OF HUMAN DESTINY. 1925

THREE THEORIES OF HUMAN DESTINY.              1925

     RATIONAL EVIDENCE OF IMMORTALITY. By the Rev. J. G. Dufty. London: The New Church Press, Ltd., 1924. pp. 12. Price 2 d.

There are two general modes of presenting New Church truth to the world; one, a plain and direct declaration of the teaching given by revelation from the Lord in the Writings; the other, a presentation of that teaching in a more or less veiled and accommodated manner which avoids dogmatic assertion.

     The first, we think, is the method more likely to arrest the really inquiring mind, the mind that is seeking for something new because it is dissatisfied with the old. While this method may repel by its bluntness those who are not prepared to receive anything different from what they already believe, the rejection of the truth in such cases is not an unmixed blessing. Still, if we wish to interest a Methodist in the Doctrines of the New Church, it is a questionable policy to begin by telling him that Paul is in hell. This would be like throwing a stone at a fish we are trying to catch. On the other hand, in our efforts to accommodate, if we act too much from the fear of offending, we may so gloss or varnish the truth as to hide the real teaching of the Doctrines, and thus leave the hearer where he was before, with no new and distinct idea such as the New Church has to impart.

     There is a middle course, which is neither too bold nor too backward, which is tactful and gentle without yielding anything of a firm fidelity to the truth. Suaviter in modo, fortiter in re. The pamphlet before us is of this latter type.

     The writer addresses himself to what he calls the "three theories of human destiny prominent in the world today: that of annihilation, that of conditional immortality, and that of everlasting life."

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In the compass of this short treatise, he undertakes to examine these three theories "in the light of reason, experience, and the teachings of the Divine Word."

     Considering the doctrine of human annihilation as the "outcome of materialism," he first applies the test of reason, and then, on page 51 among quotations from the poetic lines of Cooper, Thackeray and Tennyson, we are told that "a New Churchman finely says, 'Genius, enterprise, character, are not fugitive substances, but things to reckon with. Otherwise, the disappearance of a Ruskin or a Gladstone would imply a waste of faculty for which life, on any of its levels, affords no warrant.'" He continues: "Then what shall we say of that wealth of testimony of seers and prophets of all ages, races, and creeds, who declare in unequivocal terms that they have seen and heard, and bear witness to the continued existence of friends and foes long after so-called death? . . . The testimony is too weighty, too abundant, too detailed, to be scornfully brushed aside. . . . Then, too, what shall we say of the claim of Emanuel Swedenborg, the world's greatest seer?" He thereupon comes out plainly with a brief account of Swedenborg, and quotes his declaration from the True Christian Religion: "For it has pleased the Lord to manifest Himself to me, and to send me to teach those things which will belong to His New Church, which is meant by the New Jerusalem in the Revelation. For this purpose, He has opened the interiors of my mind, etc." (851.)

     He now takes up the second theory,-the idea of conditional immortality, which holds that "only the righteous have everlasting life, after the supposed general resurrection, whilst the evil are subject to extinction." As this notion is derived from the Scriptures, by interpreting the "spiritual death "of the wicked to be their total extinction, Mr. Dufty is content to refute it by other teachings of the Word which promise "everlasting punishment" for the evil.

     Finally, he addresses himself to the doctrine of immortality for all men, giving brief statements of New Church doctrine, reinforced by what "Swedenborg says," and confirmed by Scripture.

     While we might question the plan of treatment which postpones any mention of the New Church to the sixth page of a 12-page pamphlet, we think that, on the whole, the tone of this missionary brochure is such as to engage the attention and interest of reasonable minds in the world at large.

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NEW BOOKS FROM SWEDEN. 1925

NEW BOOKS FROM SWEDEN.              1925

     The Academy Library has recently received three new volumes published for the Rev. Gustaf Baeckstrom by the Bokforlaget Nova Ecclesia, Stockholm. The contents are in part from Mr. Baeckstrom's fertile and gifted pen, and in part consist of his translations into Swedish of various articles and sermons by other writers of the New Church. The text is accompanied with illustrations here and there, the typography is of the best, and the volumes are bound with attractive paper covers. Doubtless they will be accorded the favorable reception and wide circulation that have attended Mr. Baeckstrom's books hitherto. For in Sweden, more than elsewhere, there seem to be many among the reading public who are willing to examine the teaching of the New Church, and to attend missionary lectures. The titles of these new volumes, with brief descriptions of their contents, follow:

     1. Se Manniskan, en framstallning av tron pa Den Ende Guden. (Behold the Man, a Presentation of Faith in the One God.) 1925. Pp. 80. Includes translations of articles and sermons which appeared in NEW CHURCH LIFE: "Messianic Prophecies" and "The Divine Man," by Bishop N. D. Pendleton (1994, 1905); "Behold the Man," by Bishop W. F. Pendleton (1906); " The Three Gods in Christian Art," by Rev. C. T. Odhner, illustrated (1916). The latter half of the volume contains a number of sermons and doctrinal articles by Mr. Baeckstrom.

     2. Barnen efter Doden, och varfor de do. (Children after Death, and Why They Die.) 1925. Pp. 32. By the Rev. Gustaf Baeckstrom.

     3. Sann Kristendom, framstalld i samtal med barn och ungdom och varje sanningssoare. (True Christianity, presented in conversation with children, young people and other truth seekers.) 1925. Pp. 216. By the Rev. Gustaf Baeckstrom, who acknowledges his indebtedness to other writers for some of the material.

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VOLUME OF ESSAYS 1925

VOLUME OF ESSAYS       WILLIAM HYDE ALDEN       1925

     THE LORDSHIP OF JESUS AND OTHER ESSAYS. BY Charles Albert Hall, F. R. M. S. London: New-Church Press, Limited, 1924. Pp. 128. Cloth, Price $1.00.

     This little book by the Editor of THE NEW-CHURCH HERALD is pleasingly written. It is embellished with apt poetical quotations; its tone is generally optimistic. We find in it, indeed, all the graces of literary art,-everything that a New Churchman might desire,-except the doctrine of the New Church. Somewhere, back in the brain of the author, it is to be presumed there lodges some knowledge of the truth of the New Age; for it crops out in an occasional allusion which in a sort of far-away fashion reminds us of Swedenborg; but the allusion is carefully guarded, in order, we presume, that the reader may not find it sectarian.

     The nearest we find to the direct employment of the Heavenly Doctrine is to be found in the first chapter, which gives its title to the book. But even here the teaching is drawn from, and sought to be based upon, not the Heavenly Doctrine, but the experience of the first disciples, and of those who have accepted the Lordship of Jesus since. Thus we read, referring to the disciples: "Those highly privileged men knew in their hearts that Jesus was Lord, and the knowledge of the heart is the only firm basis of conviction. If men today are doubtful about the Lordship of Jesus, it is because they have not submitted the truth to the test of experience; let them surrender themselves to the teachings and living spirit of the Lord, and they will soon be able to cry from the heart, 'The Lord, He is God!'" (P. 10.)

     Mr. Hall insists that Jesus is God manifest, but ignores the means by which we may know Him, namely, the Word of His Second Coming. Clinging only to the story of Him in the Gospels, emphasizing what he calls the "Person of God," to be recognized " with the understanding of the spirit," he makes the understanding of Him to be a vague sentiment rather than a definite concept.

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It is because men have been unable to understand Jesus that the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem was given. Mr. Hall knows this. Why, then, does he teach as if that Doctrine did not exist and was not necessary?

     In his second chapter, he speaks of "the superior spiritual idea of worship of the newer and truer Christianity " (p. 34), but gives us no other explanation of this "newer and truer Christianity" than some nebulous new vision of the spirit. In a later chapter, in commenting on the Psalmist's words, "Bless the Lord, O my soul," he speaks of the two personalities in man, the one of which, "the soul," is " perhaps termed by us 'the spiritual man'" (p. 57), as if the notion of "the spiritual man" was a happy thought self-evolved, instead of given to us by Revelation.

     In the chapter on "The Descending City," we look for some suggestion of the coming of the Holy City, New Jerusalem, in the Doctrines revealed through Swedenborg. After references to Plate's Republic and other formulations of ideal commonwealths, we find the Holy City mentioned, indeed, but what is the definition? The description given by John is "obviously figurative," and "portrays the enlightenment of men who look to the Lord." "The holy city is the plan and specification of the constructive spiritual life: it is the doctrine that is learned by those who do the Father's will." "The Holy City is more than a frail ecclesiasticism; more than a formulated creed. It is broad, big and high, capable of indefinite expansion." (P. 75-77.) "It is not as a skeleton that we are to present the truth of the New Age, but as a 'bride adorned for her husband,' a thing of quivering, vibrant flesh and blood, with a magnetic appeal to the deepest spiritual affections: an ideal vital and stimulating that shall arouse all the latent poetry and love of beauty and manliness in the human soul." And more of similar sentimental sort, with abundant embellishment of the poets. But not one distinct word to show what the Holy City really is, beyond what they conceive who have no light of the Heavenly Doctrine given by the Lord in His Second Coming.

     We look to the next chapter with a flutter of hope. Surely the "Message of Good Cheer" is to be found in the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem! But no; it is the same theme repeated, "Christianity is a religion of good cheer." And not one word is to be found in the chapter beyond what might be found in the writings of many an enthusiast of the Old Church.

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     The meditation upon "The Witchery of Music" might be found in any secular work, and we pass over this chapter. But our hope of clearer light persists as we read next of "The Power of an Ideal." We indeed find in this chapter a mention of the name of Swedenborg, and an appeal to the "Swedenborgian psychology," but we look in vain for any suggestion that the ideal which has power is more than an ideal which is self-derived, or at best derived from the letter of the Bible. "An intelligently conceived ideal, based upon the laws of the Divine Word, becomes a mighty inspiration." "An ideal may be defined as a clear-cut mental picture of what we wish to become." (P. 112.) "By imagination we construct ideals. A true ideal or any worthy thought is not an airy abstraction; on the contrary, it is a substantial entity. Says the poet. . . ." (P. 115.) And so on and on,-an abundance of pretty sayings, but nothing to direct the mind to a Divine ideal given from the Lord, more than is contained in the literal Bible.

     The last chapter, on "The Ministry of Sorrow," is a presentation of many comforting thoughts derived from the Bible, but not a hint of the deeper significance of sorrow and its purpose, which is to be derived from the Heavenly Doctrines.

     One wonders what is the use of the preparation of a work like this. That it is pleasant reading, there is no doubt. That it has helpful thought, I would not question. But many writers who have had no light from the Lord in His Second Coming have written pleasant thoughts and helpful things, and an abundance of them. Ought not the New Church leader to do more than this? The author would hardly assume that he has done this better than a thousand others. Why should he undertake it at all, unless he can give something beyond that which others can give? Is it believed by the author that there is no light beyond the poetic insight to which he makes appeal in his calling to witness so many rhythmic lines! Would he declare that this poetic insight is, in fact, the Lord giving light to the minds of men from within, and that the Writings, in which the Lord specifically and emphatically makes His Second Coming, are not needed? Mr. Hall would hardly assert this. But why then does he not use the Doctrines? Is it that he fears to offend, and believes that he will secure converts to the truth of the New Church by avoiding its own terms and philosophy? If so, we have the curious paradox of the hope to secure converts to a new Revelation by the careful ignoring of the fact that such a Revelation exists.

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It would seem almost a parallel reasoning to the case of one who would endeavor to teach algebra by mathematical formulas alone, with an utter avoidance of algebraic terminology.

     Let us not deceive ourselves. The world does not desire the teaching of the New Age. Nor will it be allured to the New Age by any poetic camouflage. Those who will answer to the call of the Lord in His Second Coming,-and there are a few, if we can but find them, will rejoice to hear His voice speaking plainly His own words. Let us be heedful that, in what we give, we avoid the snare of seeking to allure by our own pretty sayings, but that we give men what the Lord has given us, trusting, not in the power of our own literary or poetic ability, but in the power of the Lord in His truth to call His own to Himself.     
     WILLIAM HYDE ALDEN.
WHEN IT IS DENIED THAT THE WRITINGS ARE THE WORD 1925

WHEN IT IS DENIED THAT THE WRITINGS ARE THE WORD       Rev. E. E. IUNGERICH       1925

     When it is denied that the Writings are the Word of the Lord, they are reduced to the level of human doctrine derived by an enlightened man from a reputed Sacred Writ. Swedenborg's early preparation as a philosopher, having for its object that a rational form might be given to the spiritual truths he subsequently expounded (Influx 20 and Letter to Oetinger); his subsequent open intercourse with the spiritual world, declared to exceed all miracles (Invitation); and his repeated testimony that what he wrote came from no spirit or angel but from the Lord alone (T. C. R.; D. P.; De Verbo); while showing that he was prepared, guided, and guarded more marvelously than the scribes of accredited portions of the Word, seem then to indicate an uncalled-for degree of care in regard to one who was merely the pattern or forerunner of all zealous men in the Church who labor to draw doctrine from the Word.

     When it is denied that the Writings are the Word, any confession of the authority or infallibility of what Swedenborg wrote only registers a personal reliance on him as a human leader. It is conceivable that men may be scrupulously nice about deferring to the Writings.

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It is not the Lord they are then following, but merely a human interpreter. Some are even willing to call the Writings a "Divine Revelation," "Divine Doctrine," and "Divine Truth"; not realizing that by such affirmations they have, according to the express teaching of the Writings themselves, acknowledged them to be the Word. But since they still refuse to them the appellation "Word," it is clear they do not mean what the Writings do by the expression "Divine."

     There is no middle ground. Either the Writings are the Word of the Lord to establish the New Jerusalem, and Swedenborg their inspired prophet, or they are but one in the series of commentaries on Divine Writ, and Swedenborg is only one in the series of its expounders. For if they are not the Word, but only the doctrines of the Church, they must be constantly examined to see whether they need amendment and revision to make them applicable to the new conditions that have arisen since they first appeared as human formulations of belief. For we read: " Those who are in the affection of truth for the sake of truth do not remain simply in the doctrinal things of their own church, but search from the Word as to whether they are true." (W. H. 8.) "For they are not true merely because the leaders of the church have said so. . . . To no one, therefore, should be denied the right to scrutinize the Scriptures from the affection of knowing if the doctrines of the church within which he is born are true, for otherwise he cannot be illustrated." (A. C. 6047.) It is claimed, therefore, that the Writings must be constantly revised and corrected by comparison with books written seventeen or more centuries ago by writers less remarkable than Swedenborg, but who are yet considered to have been empowered by the Lord to write His Word, whereas Swedenborg was not!

     When it is denied that the Writings are the Word, the inevitable alternative is to regard them as fallible productions that will eventually be amended, if not superseded, by brilliant theological writers of subsequent ages. It may not be realized that this alternative is the inevitable consequence of such denial, especially by some who feel they yield to none in bowing down to their Divine authority, while still harboring certain intellectual reservations that prevent their calling them "the Word." I feel, therefore, that their attention should be called to the matter.

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And no better way of doing this occurs to me than to cite the frank utterances of a New Church writer, bred in the concept that the Writings are not the Word, but only a fine commentary upon it.

     Writing in the Lausanne MESSAGER, in a serial article that ran through Nos. 9-12 of the year 1924, and entitled "Word or Doctrine," Mr. Paul Antoine Eberle addresses himself to the problem of how a living church is to get formulations from the Word to serve it successively as doctrines during its onward progress. It never occurs to him that the Writings themselves are such a Word, and thus the source of successive formulations of doctrine by the enlightened priests of the New Church. To this writer, the Old and New Testaments are the sole palladium, and the Writings only an excellent example of how in one age successful formulations of doctrine were made by Swedenborg, accompanied by a series of well-worked-out precepts or laws to show how the subsequent formulations must be made by inspired writers in ages to come.

     The conclusions he comes to, though startling, are quite consistent with his premises. Briefly stated, they are: 1. The Writings are only of temporary value, and must be superseded by newer formulations better suited to new conditions as they arise. 2. To be satisfied with Swedenborg's formulations, indicates, if not a lazy, at least an unprogressive, state of mind. 3. Swedenborg himself doubtless is now far ahead of his own formulations while on earth. 4. To make a just formulation of doctrine, we must go to the Word without any preconceived notions, whether from Calvin, Luther or Swedenborg. 5. Modern theology and higher criticism are in close accord with the methods prescribed by Swedenborg as to how to collate and compare Scripture passages in order to elicit their genuine sense. 6. New Churchmen have hitherto erred in stressing the importance of the internal sense, for doctrine should be derived from the letter of the Word, and confirmed by it. 7. Each man, according to the degree of light in him, must strive in some small degree to make such formulations of doctrine, and not neglect to cooperate in this with his brethren in other Christian denominations who base their religion upon the same inspired Word.

     In regard to the first three of these seven points, Mr. Eberle writes: "There exist people more royalist than the king, as there are also, I fancy, persons of the New Church who will assert that, once we have granted Swedenborg's special mission as a revelator of new truths, all individual study in the line of formulating doctrines ceases to be necessary.

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I will not go to the point of saying that laziness dictates this attitude. But it seems to me that . . . such persons ignore their own mission, and that Swedenborg would hardly be flattered at having furnished them in his turn a merely 'historical faith,' against which he inveighs. . . .They are not to serve the sickened world with prescriptions couched in citations from A. C. or T. C. R., but to interpret and spread the truths in those works, by making over by themselves and for others what Swedenborg has done, while going to the Word of God, and, in their turn, drawing thence the doctrine of life. . . .Let them not be content with repeating purely and simply what Swedenborg affirms. . . . Let them not say what a certain lady said to me, 'Swedenborg is good enough for me.' To this lady I replied, 'I am sure Swedenborg is not good enough for himself, and that at this very moment he is busied with some fascinating problem about which neither you nor I understand anything.'" (P. 284.)

     In regard to the danger of preconceived notions, he writes: "If we go to the Word, and read it in the light of a previously ready-made doctrine, we will only confirm ourselves in our preconceived ideas, as the disciples of Calvin, Luther, or other founders of sects confirmed themselves in theirs. As long as we keep putting our doctrines in the first place, and search for them in the theological works of Emanuel Swedenborg, while relegating the Word to the second place of only serving to prove to us that we are in the truth, we shall be neither more nor less than a sect (from the Latin sequi, to follow); we shall be only following and repeating what Swedenborg has said. . . .In the eyes of the world, we shall resemble vendors of knickknacks, who repeat in public places, 'Come, good people, and buy spectacles of the first quality, the spectacles of the celebrated doctor, Swedenborg, which will make you see the truth in rosy hue!'." (Pp. 229, 230.)

     Mr. Eberle then devotes the greater part of his articles to the affirmation of the statement, given in the Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture, that doctrine is to be drawn from the letter of the Word, and confirmed by it, citing S. S. 56 to the effect that "doctrine is not procured by means of the spiritual sense of the Word, which is given through a knowledge of correspondences."

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He then directs considerable banter at New Church people who like to dwell in the spiritual sense of Scripture passages with a comparative lack of interest in the literal sense, comparing them to balloonists pleased with their position of superiority over conditions on earth. He has not noted, of course, the important qualification that the passages from the letter of the Word, from which the said doctrines are to be drawn, are those in which the internal sense stands forth bare; nor the pertinent teaching of A. C. 7233, that "doctrinals being from the Word does not make them Divine Truths; for any doctrinal whatever can be hatched from the sense of the letter." And to this are then added words which it would be well to ponder,-" but it is not so, if doctrine be formed from the internal sense."

     Standing thus upon a single set of passages not well understood, Mr. Eberle commits himself to a purely literalistic way of estimating the message of Scripture, and so discovers he is on common ground with modern theology and higher criticism, which he lauds with the following encomiums:

     "Swedenborg, long before modern criticism had been truly recognized and received, already used that method." (P. 230.) "I greet higher criticism and textual criticism today, because they are precious aids to the New Church . . . in the search for facts according to scientific methods. I like to imagine the joy of Swedenborg, who had been in a way the precursor of these sciences, had he seen the principal ancient mss. that have been discovered since his era. . . . To understand the Word in its literal sense, we must use all the methods at our disposal now, . . . such as the reliable texts, the circumstances of their composition, the history of religious thought, the development of spiritual experience, and, for the New Church, the light of the internal sense of the Word." (P. 256.) "The methods employed by modern theology are very close to those Swedenborg used, as when they say: 'Scripture must be read in the light and presence of Christ.'" (P. 259.) "Everyone, according to my opinion, ought to be familiar with, and in contact with, the progress and results of religious and profane science. . . . Faith progresses with the progress of humanity. If you stop with a creed that is an absolute summary of your beliefs, you indicate thereby your intention to stop thinking. . . .

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Every one of us, therefore, should apply himself to theology, unpretentiously and in a certain measure, according to his spiritual needs, but by himself and for himself." (P. 282.)

     It seems strange that our incisive and frank writer could not have seen that, as the words the Lord speaks "are spirit and life," so the passages from which the genuine doctrine is to be drawn are those in which the spirit and life, or the internal sense, stands forth bare. When the Lord was upon earth, the Old Testament had become a sealed book, and He alone could unfold to His apostles how it treated everywhere of Him, and of love towards the neighbor. But He did not commission them simply to resort to the Old Testament as the source from which to make their formulations. No. By prophetical inspiration of some of them, He gave a new Word, which was to be the source of their Church doctrines. When this Word in turn became a sealed book, He then made no less than a Second Coming, in no sense less vital than His first; and by the inspired prophet, Swedenborg, He gave not only the ability to open up the interior messages of the former Words, but also His newest and crowning Word, which is to be the Divine Source from which New Churchmen shall primarily quarry their formulations of doctrine. Here is an internal sense appearing in a translucent and luminous garb, and yet in a literal sense adapted to the philosophical and scientific thinking of the men of today!

     Doctrines drawn from the Writings, and confirmed thereby, are the living processes by which the New Jerusalem is being fed and established on the earth at this day. No New Churchman,-not even those who claim this should be done to the Old and New Testaments, and not to the Writings,-can avoid doing this very thing. Even Mr. Eberle, in trying to prove the other alternative, is yet doing nothing else than drawing arguments from the language of the Writings, and trying to corroborate these arguments by other citations from their letter! But he has failed to accentuate those passages in which their "spirit and life," or their "internal sense," stands forth unmistakably to view, and so has not seen that the Lord is immediately within them, and that they are naught else than the Word from His mouth.
     E. E. IUNGERICH.

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SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSONS NOTES 1925

SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSONS NOTES              1925

     LESSON No. 24-ELISHA AND THE ARMY OP SYRIA. (2 Kings 6.)

     Analysis:
Elisha recovers the lost ax                     ch. 6: 1-7
The plan of the King of Syria disclosed          : 8-11
He attempts to capture Elisha               : 12-18
Elisha leads the army into Samaria               : 19-20
They are dismissed in                               : 21-23

     Two distinct incidents are treated of here. The end of the chapter, from v. 24, is omitted, because it belongs to the things described in chapter 7.

     The Sons of the Prophets were students of the Law, and they gathered into colonies for mutual support and assistance under the guidance of the prophet. There seem to have been several such schools, and the great prophets traveled from one to another. The house they lived in signified the doctrine which has been drawn from the Word, and by which it is understood. At times this is felt to be narrow, and there is always need of growth. Yet, in constructing new doctrines there is danger of devising fallacious and false systems; the danger lies in separating truths from good.

     The ax-head signifies the letter of the Word; the handle, good of life; when separated, the truth of the letter is lost in the falsities of the natural and sensual mind. The prophet is the internal sense, which shows that good must be joined with all truth. When this is done, the truth of the Letter is restored, and we may safely go forward with the study and development of doctrine. (See Exodus 15:25, A. C. 8354, 8355, 9011:4; A. R. 148, 847)

     Verses 9 and 10 appear contradictory; for the King of Israel is made to act against the warning of the prophet; the fault is in the translation. The prophet said to the King, "Guard the passage of that place, for thither the Syrians are coming down."

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So the King sent men to defend the place. It may have been a pass through the hills or a crossing of the river, and the enemy was surprised and defeated. This kind of thing happened more than twice, and naturally the King of Syria suspected treachery in his councils. But the Lord had opened the spiritual ears of the prophet so that he knew the thoughts of the enemies of Israel. (D. P. 29; H. H. 255.)

     Dothan (6:13) is still so called; it is ten miles north of Samaria. Here Joseph was sold by his brothers (Genesis 37:17). The record shows the nearness of the spiritual world, and especially that the heavens are gathered close to those who love the Lord's Word and live according to it. For those horses and chariots of fire are guardian angels whose love is to protect from and deliver from falsity and evil. Chariots and horses also mean heavenly doctrine and the understanding of it; for it is intelligence from heavenly truths that gives the power to protect. (A. C. 4720.) When the time came, as the Syrians drew near to Elisha, the presence of the angels blinded the eyes of the Syrians, so that they did not recognize Elisha, or even the town of Dothan; and they were easily led into Samaria as prisoners of war (6:22). Here we are also taught to exercise mercy toward those who are placed in our power. The effort of hell, and of evil people, is only to kill and destroy; but the effort of heaven is to protect, preserve, and give life.

     LESSON NO. 25-THE DELIVERANCE OF SAMARIA. (2 Kings 6 and 7.)

     Analysis:
The siege of Samaria and famine          ch. 6: 24-33
Elisha prophesies plenty               ch. 7: 1-2
The adventurous lepers                : 3-5
The empty camp                    : 6-11
The doubting king investigates           : 12-15
The people find plenty                : 16
The fate of the skeptic                :17-20

     The story is continuous from 6:24 to 7:20. The words of Elisha in v. 1 are in answer to the words of the messenger in v. 33. The general idea is that of temptation, which comes when there is deficiency of the truth of faith and the good of charity.

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Good is meant by the "barnfloor," and truth by the "winepress." (Ch. 6:27.) The despair of temptation is expressed by the woman of the city (6:26-29), by the king (vs. 27, 30, 31, 33), by the lepers. (Ch. 7:4.) The Syrians represent the falsified doctrines of the church, which, when they have power, take from men all knowledge of the Lord, of heaven, and of charity, and also all unselfishness, justice and happiness; thus they destroy the church. (Coronis, summary 32-49; and Abomination of Desolation.) Samaria besieged represents the spiritual church almost destroyed by the attack of those falsities. Elisha represents the spiritual truth of the Word which declares the Lord's redemption and is the primary means of its accomplishment. The lord who was trampled to death at the gate signifies those who give up hope and become cynical and skeptical, denying that the Lord either cares or is able to help and to save. His words (7:2) Were a way of saying: "It is impossible; it cannot be done; there is no Divine Providence." Such a one can have no part in the restored life of the church, for he has confirmed himself against the Lord.

     There is no need, with children, to dwell upon the horrors of a besieged city; Samaria is one of many of which history tells. The "piece of silver" (6:25) was worth about sixteen cents; a "cab" was almost four pints; a "measure" (Heb. seah) (7:1, 16) was about one-and-one-half pecks, and a silver "shekel" about sixty-four cents.

     Verses 6 and 7 show how little power those have who are in falsities in the presence of the Lord. Those who think and love falsity live their whole lives in unreal things, in suppositions of what is not so; truth and fact mean little to them, while falsity and fantasy are powerful realities in their imagination. The "noise of chariots and horses" was caused by a more full presence of the Lord, which changed the state of the companies of spirits that were associated with the Syrian army. The sound was heard with the spiritual ear of each man, but they all imagined it to be something else, something physical, and thought they were entrapped between two new armies, and so fled in terror. Observe that an army from Egypt would approach Samaria from the south. The Hittites dwelt in Syria, especially in the broad plain between the Euphrates River and the mountains near the sea, in the long valley of the Orontes River, and all through the mountains of eastern Asia Minor.

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Carchemish, Aleppo, and Hamath were among their large cities. Thus an army of Hittites would come through the passes between Hermon and Lebanon, and approach Samaria from the north. Picture then the Syrians, driven by fear, fleeing headlong to the Jordan, eastward, the only way open, as they imagined.

     When infestations have been removed, the spiritual life of the church is quickly restored. The spoil of the camp is the body of doctrine in the church from the Word, which, when those who pervert and falsify are made impotent, is found to be serviceable for the restoration. Verse 16 means abundance of celestial and spiritual truth. "Wheat" is the celestial, "barley" the spiritual; "flour" and "meal" is truth, and when made into bread signifies application to life, that is, good and charity. (A. R. 794; A. C. 7780, 7966, 91392)

     LESSON NO. 26-JEHU. (2 Kings 9 and 10.)

     Analysis:
Jehu anointed king                         ch. 9: 1-13
Jehu rides to Jezreel                          :14-20
The slaying of the two kings                     : 21-29
The death of Jezebel                         :30-37
Extermination of the family of Ahab               ch. 10:1-11
Extermination of the friends of the slain kings      : 12-17
Extermination of the Baal worshipers           :18-28
The remainder of Jehu's reign                :29-36

     Here we are to note one of the dynastic changes which were so characteristic of the Kingdom of Israel, as compared with the Kingdom of Judah; but this change is more important than others, because the two greatest dynasties or ruling families of Israel are involved. The House of Omri raised the kingdom into real importance politically, though the sons of Ahab added nothing to the accomplishments of their father; they now came to a tragic end. But the House of Jehu, during its century on the throne, maintained the kingdom, and toward the end brought it almost to the power and glory of Solomon's time. Jehu's accession was about 842 B.C. This might be a good opportunity to review Kings Omri, Ahab, etc.

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     Teachers should also read chapter 8, as it mentions several things that should be known in connection with the lesson; verses 28-29 tell of the war in which Jehu was fighting when the prophet sent his messenger to him.

     Note that Elisha was instrumental in placing new kings in Damascus, as well as in Samaria (8:7-15), and indirectly in protecting the throne of Judah from the foreign infection. (8:16-27, 9:27-29.) For through Athaliah, daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, the corrupt idolatry of Canaanitish Tyre was being introduced into Jerusalem. (I Kings 16:30-33) Ahaziah, King of Judah, was killed by Jehu, not because he was king, and of the house of David, but because he was of the family of Ahab, and in his heart a Canaanite. The whole story tells how the Divine command given to Elijah (I Kings 19: 5-18) was fulfilled. Comparison may also be made with I Kings 22, which tells how Jehoram's father met his death in consequence of an expedition against the same stronghold of the Syrians.

     The location of Ramoth-Gilead is not known certainly. The two most probable places are: 1. Twelve miles east of Jordan, and thirteen miles south of Jabbok brook, modern name Es-Salt. 2. Eighteen miles east of Jordan, and six miles north of the Jabbok, modern name Reiman. Ibleam (9:37) is the same as Bileam, and is thirteen miles north north-east of Samaria; Megiddo is twenty-one miles north of Samaria. Note that Jehu went first to Jezreel, where the son of Ahab was, and afterwards to Samaria.

     Elisha the prophet represents the Divine Truth which governs interiorly, and here especially Divine Foresight and Providence. Ahab and all his household represent the profanation of religion when the things of a corrupt and falsified church, its doctrine and life, are commingled with the things of the true church. They were married with the Canaanites, and born from a Canaanitish mother. Jehu was a pure Israelite, untainted with foreign blood, and shows the vigorous life and activity of the distinctive life of the true church. His slaying so many,-every descendant of Ahab, and every worshiper of Baal,-teach us that we must not compromise with any hereditary evils, or any false teaching, or spare a single besetting sin; also that, as we overcome one evil love fully, we are given power over all its kindred or related lusts and tendencies.

     Jehu was a soldier raised up to destroy Baal out of Israel. (10:28.)

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He shows the power of truth that is seen clearly and directly. Note his perception as to what to do and how, and his swift action. The things especially connected with him are horses and chariots, and the bow and arrow (9:16:20, 24), all of which signify intelligence and rationality which is from the genuine doctrine of truth.

     LESSON NO. 27-ATHALIAH AND JOASH. (2 Kings 11 and 12.)

     Analysis:
Athaliah seizes the throne                    ch. 11: 1-3
Jehoiada's conspiracy                     : 4-8
Coronation of Joash                          : 9-12
Athaliah is slain                         : 13-16
Joash rules in peace                         : 17-21
                                                   ch. 12: 1-3
The repairing of the temple                     : 4-16
Closing years of his reign                     : 17-21
                                              2 Chronicles ch. 24: 15-27

     The things here told occurred in Jerusalem, in the royal family of the southern kingdom-Judah. The record steps aside from the line of the preceding lessons, which were concerned with the northern kingdom and the work of the two great prophets, Elijah and Elisha. No prophet figures here, excepting Zechariah, mentioned in Chronicles, who is important, not only as a victim of the evil temper of the people and king, but also because the Lord refers to him while rebuking the Jews of a later day. (Matthew 23:35; Luke 11:51) There is, however, a connection with what precedes, since the acts of Athaliah follow as a direct consequence of the revolution of Jehu when he slew her son, the King at Jerusalem, at Jezreel. Athaliah, also, was the last survivor of the family of Ahab and Jezebel, and so must be removed from life; for she was doing the same thing that her mother had done, that is, destroying the worship of the Lord and introducing the idolatry of Baal. Ch. 11:1 shows how a false religion agrees with destructive wickedness, and how there is love of self and lust of dominion in it.

     In this incident of the history we find, instead of the prophet, the High Priest Jehoiada, who was the Lord's instrument in correcting the evils of the time.

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Priests represent the Divine Good, and the High Priest the Divine Government, which is a government of good and love. (A. C. 1728, 2015; T. C. R. 114.) Note that the Kingdom of Judah represents the celestial church. In the Kingdom of Israel there were no priests (except those of Jeroboam's golden calves), but instead there were prophets who taught concerning the Lord and His Law. They represent the Divine Truth governing the spiritual church.

     It was only through this little infant, saved from the slaughter of all the princes of the Davidic line of kings, that the descent was continued to Joseph and Mary.

     Jehoiada arranged the proclamation of the boy as king on a Sabbath day, when the courses of priests and Levites were changed. (11:9) For the whole body of ministers was in groups, each group having a turn of service in the temple, and then going to their homes until their next turn came around. (See Luke 1:5-23.)

     Thus, by detaining one course for a few hours, he would have twice as many armed men in the temple to defend the king against Athalikh; and at the same time their Presence would not arouse suspicion before all should be accomplished. (See Lost Prince Almon, by Louis Pendleton, a story of this period.)

     Notice that in the coronation service a copy of the Law was put in the hand of the king. (11:12.) It was in the Law, and on it as a basis, that the covenant was established (11:17), so that the king would rule in righteousness, in the name of the Lord, and with the consent of the people. (See Deuteronomy 17:14-20.)

     The names given to the king may seem a little confusing, but "Joash" is simply a shortened form of "Jehoash." There are several similar cases in the Book of Kings.

     The reason for the powerlessness of Joash against Hazael, and for the conspiracy against him (12: 17-21), does not appear here, but see 2 Chronicles 24:23. This can be used as an example of the truth that a man cannot do good or regenerate by himself, but only as he looks to the Lord for guidance and strength.

     The campaigns of Hazael, while of no lasting consequence, mark the peak of the military power of the Syrians. They are of interest because Elisha, in his interview with Hazael, foresaw the injury he would do to the people of the Lord. (10:32-33, 12:17-18, 13:3; 8:7-13.)

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     LESSON NO. 28-KINGS TO JOTHAM AND PEKAH. (2 Kings l3-15)

     Kings of Judah.
Jehoram-8 yrs.           ch. 8:17
Ahaziah-1 yr.           8:36
Athaliah-6 yrs.           11:3
Jehoash-40 yrs.           12: 1

     Amaziah-29 yrs.           14: 2
Uuiah (or Azariah)-52 yrs.      15:2
     (2 Chronicles 25-27.)

     Kings of Israel.
Ahaziah-1 yr.           I Kings ch. 22: 51
Jehoram-12 yrs. 2 Kings ch.      3: 1

     Jehu-28 yrs.                10:36
Jehoahaz-17 yrs.           13:1
Jehoash-16 yrs.           13:10
Jeroboam 11-41 yrs.           14: 23
Zechariah-6 months           15:8
Shallum-1 mo.           15: 13
Menahem-10 yrs.           15: 17
Pekahiah-2 yrs.           15:23
Pekah-20 yrs.               15:27

     Analysis:
Syrian dominion over Judah and Israel.               ch. 12: 17
                                                       to 13:7
Death of Elisha; a last prophecy and miracle           13: 14-25
Restored power of Israel                          13: 25
                                                       to 14: 29
Assyrian interference                              15: 19, 29, 29

     The list of kings is a continuation of that given in the 15th Lesson. Dates have not been given, because it is impossible to determine them exactly; but this list covers the period from about 854 B.C. to about 735 B.C. There were times when two kings ruled jointly, especially Uzziah, at the beginning and close of his reign. In 2 Chronicles there are given many additional details about three kings of Judah,-Amaziah, Uzziah, and Jotham.

     This part of the history of the Israelitish people is a little tedious, and teachers should exercise care in drawing from it those things that will interest children. It is a period of "marking time," and of preparation for the fateful end that is impending. In the brief analysis, we have endeavored to bring out the most important phases.

     Mention is often made of "the sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat." This refers to the idolatry of the golden calves set up at Bethel and Dan as a means of keeping the people of the northern kingdom away from the temple at Jerusalem. (I Kings 12:26-33) Every king of Israel maintained this policy.

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On the other hand, we hear no more of Baal, showing that the reform of Jehu had lasting results. The dynasty of Jehu continues to Zechariah, the last of the house. (See the prophecy, ch. 10:30; 15:12.) During the days of Hazael, the fortunes of Israel were very low, but under Jehoash, grandson of Jehu, there was the strong beginning of a restoration; and the next king, Jeroboam II, was able to establish his dominion, toward the north and east, practically to the boundary of David's empire. At the same time, under Amaziah and Uzziah, the realm of Judah was extended to include all the southern part of David's empire. Uzziah and Jeroboam kept peace with each other, and the kingdoms enjoyed the greatest prosperity and wealth since the days of Solomon. But after Jeroboam's death, contests for the power in Samaria quickly caused that dominion and prosperity to vanish.

     See the 14th Lesson for the general internal sense. Here something must be added about the new enemy of Israel, Assyria, which signifies the rational mind and faculty. (A. C. 119, 1186; S. S. 18, 79; A. R. 2062; D. P. 2513.) Here it represents reasoning from falsities and false reasoning, which attack and finally destroy the spiritual life,-reasonings in favor of nature and worldly life against the Lord and heavenly life. The "sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat" signifies the hidden evil in the heart,-love and worship of self, and its external advantage or good. And this, with those who should be loyal to the Lord, opens the reasoning mind to the entanglements of false reasoning, and at last to bondage and destruction. The Assyrian is first alluded to (13:5) as the savior of Israel, for at that time one of the great Assyrian kings, Adad-Nirari III, attacked Damascus and added most of its territory to his dominions, but the next kings were so fully occupied at home as to give Jeroboam his opportunity. After a few years, however, the Assyrians returned to assert their sovereignty. The act of Menahem (15:19) involved acknowledgment that the Assyrian king was his master; otherwise he would have been dethroned, and another set up who would be subordinate. In ch. 15:29 is mentioned the first captivity of Israel. Tiglath-pileser III inaugurated a policy of moving the subject peoples of his empire to remote districts and mixing them, so as to destroy the local patriotic feelings and reduce the inclination and power to organize rebellion. Here we read of the beginning of the application of this policy to the nation descended from Jacob.

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Find on the map the towns and districts mentioned, mostly in the extreme north of Palestine.

     Note especially the account of the close of Elisha's life. Elijah and Elisha are two prophets standing in a class by themselves. They were in close personal relation to each other. Their work was much the same, and continued from one to the other without a break. They belonged to the middle section of the history of their people. Many deeds and miracles are recorded of them, and but few words. At their passing to the other life, the same-words are said. (Compare 13:14 with 2:12, and A. C. 27622.) They both represent the Word, and the Lord as the Word, and especially the Divine power in its letter. The "chariot" signifies the doctrine of love and charity, and the "horsemen" the doctrine of faith, both of which are the Word understood and applied to life. The living Divine power in the ultimate or letter of the Word is signified by the power in the bones of Elisha to restore the dead to life. There is power in the letter to give men spiritual life or lead them to heaven. After Elisha, there comes a series of great preaching prophets whose books are preserved by the Lord for our use.

     The words of Elisha to King Jehoash were prophetical of the deliverance of Israel. (Compare 13:15-19 and 13:25.) In the internal sense, they depict the preservation of the spiritual church. But it is shown that the church fails of full restoration through the lack of zeal in attacking its enemies. (v. 18-19.)

     LESSON NO. 29-AHAZ. THE FALL OF SAMARIA.

     (2 Kings 16 and 17)
Analysis :
Ahaz an idolaterch.                     16: 1-4     
Syria and Israel attack Judah                :5-6
Ahaz buys the help of Assyria           : 7-9
Ahaz sets up a pagan altar in the temple     : 10-18
Hoshea, the last King of Israel          ch. 17: 1-4
Siege of Samaria and captivity           :5-6
The Divine Providence therein           : 7-23
Strange nations brought into the land     : 24
Their mixed religion                    : 25-41

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     A somewhat more extensive account of the reign of Ahaz is given in 2 Chronicles 28. He was one of the worst of Judah's kings; for he persistently turned away from the Lord to idolatry and evil. (See also Deuteronomy 12:30-31) Neither did he look to the Lord for help against the enemies of his country, but robbed the temple to get the assistance of the King of Assyria. Thus he be- came a vassal of Tiglath-pileser, as the kings of Samaria had already done. (Ch. 15:19.) In his own record, Tiglath-pileser mentions Ahaz of Judah among his many subject kings. He did, in a sense, give help, for in 732 B.C. he captured the city of Damascus, ended its line of kings, and transported its people. Partly because he believed that the Assyrian gods were more powerful, and partly to win the good will of his overlord, Ahaz caused a new altar to be built in the temple, and rearranged it for heathen worship.

     It was about this time, 731 or 730 B.C., that Hoshea seized the throne of Samaria. (Ch.15:30) Pekahhad been the close ally of Rezin of Damascus, (15: 37 and 16: 5), but Hoshea saved his country for a while by becoming the servant of the Assyrian kings. Shalmanezer came to his throne in 727 B.C. Samaria was besieged from 724 to 722, When it was captured. Shalmanezer died in 722, and was followed by Sargon, who tells us that the final taking of Samaria was the first act of his reign. So it was Sargon who caused the transfer of nations described here. References and prophecies as to this event are to be found in Amos 5:26-27, 6:14; Hosea 5:13, 7: 11-13, 10:58, 14, 11:5-6, 12: 1; Isaiah 7:8, to, 8:4, 17:13, 28:1-4. In the long run, however, the destruction of Damascus, and then of Samaria, did not help the kingdom of Judah; it was only a removal of obstacles from the path of the steady advance of the powerful kings of the east. The border of Assyria was now within ten miles of Jerusalem, and Sargon had also annexed all the Philistine country to the frontier of Egypt, so that a much reduced kingdom of Judah remained isolated on her limestone hills waiting only for a convenient time to be seized.

     Locate Assyria on the map, far to the northeast of Palestine along the river Tigris, with its capital Nineveh, the remains of which are just across the river from the modern Mosul. Habor (17:6) is really the name of the river; the word by should be omitted. It is still called by that name, and flows southward through the middle of the plain of Mesopotamia into the Euphrates.

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The country of the Medes was beyond Assyria eastward, between the Zagros Mts. and the Caspian Sea, and was at that time subject to Assyria. The names in verse 24 are of cities near Babylon, except Hamath, which was a Hittite city in Syria on the Orontes river.

     The various peoples brought in to fill the place of the Israelites were the origin of the race called "Samaritan" in aftertimes, who were thoroughly despised by the Jews, though they eventually accepted the Scriptures in what we now call the Samaritan version. It contains only the Five Books of Moses. (John 4: 9, to and Ezra 4:2, 3, 9, 10.)

     Both before and after the fall of Samaria we notice the religious confusion and mixture of the people dwelling in that land. But the Israelites had become profane; for they began with the knowledge of the Lord and then became idolaters; hence they had to be "spewed out" of the land. They represent a church falsified as to faith, which is finally carried into captivity by false reasoning, and so destroyed. But the Samaritans who came after began in idolatry, and then learned something of the Lord and His Word, and in all their falsities they began to learn and cherish some truth; hence they could be tolerated in the land. To turn from truth to falsity is
spiritual death, but to turn from falsity to truth is the way of life. (A. C. 2220, 9156:2, 9466:4. A. E. 391:28, 29, 34)

     Afterwards, the Jews had some realization why it was permitted of the Lord that these kingdoms should come to an end, as 17:7-23 shows. Yet it makes us sad to read of their downfall. For seven hundred years, beginning with Moses, the Lord had done everything possible to teach them the way of life and give them a taste of heaven, but they could no longer be kept from profaning their holy law and worship, and so it had to cease entirely for a time.

     (To be Concluded.)

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WHAT SHALL WE DO? 1925

WHAT SHALL WE DO?       PHILIP OYLER       1925

     THE ENVIRONMENTS OF TOWN AND COUNTRY CONTRASTED AS TO THEIR INFLUENCE UPON THE GROWTH OF THE NEW CHURCH.

DEAR MR. EDITOR:
     As I have never trespassed upon your space (except with a few insignificant verses) I hope that you will for once allow me your pages for some words on material things and practical politics, so to speak. And may I beg each reader to bear in mind that my remarks are not intended as adverse criticism of any individual or existing conditions, but solely to arouse general inquiry.

     Our Church has taken one definite and firm stand, to which all of us who are members whole-heartedly assent. It holds the Writings to be the Word of God. In doing so, it has inevitably separated itself from other New Church organizations, who do not share this fundamental belief, and from all other religions. It recognizes that this is the case, and does not desire that it should be otherwise, because there can be no compromise. That being so, is it consistent with our belief that we should compete in commerce, professions, games and other kinds of activities with fellowmen who, having a different belief, have such a different conscience from what we have or ought to have? Surely this is a serious question to which we have to find an answer.

     It is clear that we must have some contact with the world outside of our Church, but how, where, and to what extent? That is a problem which every layman has to solve, and one which his pastor cannot solve for him. The pastor's use is a spiritual one, here and hereafter-to teach us truths. Our uses as laymen are only incidentally so, because we have to earn our daily bread by material uses; and our duty, therefore, is to find out how to apply truths known to our daily life. Have we all done that? If not, the fault is certainly not with our pastors, who feed us continually and bountifully with the truths of heavenly life.

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Since religion does not belong to a part of our life, but to the whole of it-to our work as well as to our words, thoughts and worship-is the ritual of our daily life less important than the ritual of our Sunday services! Does it not matter what work we do, so long as we earn a living? If not, why are we told to love the Lord with all our strength, as well as with all our heart, soul and mind? Can we do any work for the love of God that we don't love doing? Are we all doing the work that we love? Are we all doing the work that enables us to put our special gifts to their best uses? Are we all doing work that conduces to our spiritual growth! Are our hands at one with our hearts and minds? If we cannot answer these questions in the affirmative, have we not need to alter our life, even if it implies self-denial and sacrifice?

     We are agreed that the purpose of our education is to train boys and girls for their eternal homes, and yet many of them, when they grow up, enter into the commercial life of towns. Are any boys or girls so regenerate at that age that they can withstand the strong worldly sphere of any town? Do any loving parents really like to see their children enter into such a life? Is it not self-evident that the physical, moral, social, intellectual and industrial atmosphere of any town is detrimental to health and the process of regeneration! If we realize this, should we not train our children for something other than a town life? Should not our education instil into their minds a longing for something better than the towns can offer, something better for physical and spiritual health? Is a country life to be ruled out, because it offers fewer pleasures and less material wealth? Can children, when they grow up, be expected to choose a country life, when they have learned no craft that will provide for them a living in the country? Does our present system teach any such crafts? Does it encourage a real, deep love of the countryside, which bears so intimately the impress of our Creator's hands, and of a peaceful, happy, work-a-day world that corresponds to and represents the essentials of heavenly life,-the world of those who till and reap, who spin and sow, bake and build? Is it not a fact that things which have a good correspondence are good in themselves?

     We call to mind that it was the common people who heard the Lord gladly; that His disciples were simple fisher folk, and so on; but that the scribes and Pharisees rejected Him and His teachings.

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Is it different today in the world? Do not those who have great possessions (mentally) always find it difficult to "go and sell all" that they have, and accept any simple truth! We know, of course, by the Writings that the historicals of the Word have an inner sense; but have they not a practical application too? We remember also that at our Lord's birth the shepherds were in the country round about Bethlehem (which represents regeneration), that they heard the good news of the angels, and came direct to Bethlehem. The wise men came from afar, guided by the star (sight), first to Jerusalem (the doctrinals of the Church), where they had to ask the way to Bethlehem. Has this fact nothing to teach us? Does it not show that our education should provide the way that the shepherds took, as well as the way of the wise men?

     Let us consider, too, our Lord's own life. In His childhood, He was at home. Is there any substitute for a loving mother's care? In His boyhood (from twelve years up) He was still subject to His parents, we are told, and, as the custom was, learned His father's trade-carpentry. That He had not an academic training, is evident from the words, "How knoweth this man letters, never having learned?" (John 7:15) If such a training were more conducive than handicraft to spiritual growth, should He not have had it, and advised His disciples to have it! Are not things the same today in this respect? Do the graduates of the world's universities accept the Writings any more than the scribes accepted His teachings! Have those who are the staunchest members of our Church had what the world considers the best education!

     The essentials of education appear to be: 1. Love to God and our neighbor. 2. Knowledge of truths. 3. Ability to perform some practical use.

     For those whose wish is to be pastors, a knowledge (for example) of Hebrew, Greek and Latin is eminently desirable, because such knowledge will be used. But for the rest of us, surely there is as little to gain in accumulating more knowledge than we can apply to life as there is in eating more food than we can assimilate. What other conclusion can we draw from this correspondence between mental and bodily food?

     In the towns, children have around them, wherever they look, the works of men's hands.

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There is a constant change of fashion in dress, art, science, philosophy, speech, amusements. Each thing is of paramount importance-for the moment only. Does this promote steadiness of purpose, constancy of thought? There is, too, a continual passage of people and vehicles before the eyes. Is it surprising that thoughts are equally fleeting and kaleidoscopic? Is it to be wondered at that minds are so lacking in peace and control that few can govern their thoughts when they wish to do so! How can one expect the townsman to thank God for day and night, sun, moon and stars, the earth and the fruits thereof, the rain, the frost, the wind, the dew, the good sweet air, the flowers, the songs of birds, the music of the brook, the hills, the vales, the woods, the broad expanse of sea and plain? How can one expect the townsman to thank God for these and countless other daily miracles, when he sees so little of them, and knows them more in print than in experience? How can one expect him to thank God for the senses that can enjoy all these blessings to the full, when his ears bear so many noises, his eyes so many sights, his lungs the kind of air and his nose scents, which he would gladly shut out? How can one even expect him to thank God for the gift of life, which to many is but a slow process of death, from the cradle to the grave?

     Everyone will agree that the external life and surroundings of a man, city or nation, represent in general the inner life, or at least are an indication of it. Do those who like dark deeds carry on their operations in the sunlight? Of course, there is not particular representation, because with the man of the world the will is not the life. But since the will should be the life with us of the Lord's New Church, should not our external life represent our inner life-each of us doing the use which is our delight,-doing it, of course, for the love of God and our neighbor, and doing it in surroundings that delight us, too?

     We know that the external things of worship-its rites and ceremonies-are nothing unless identified with life, but that when identified, they nourish and sustain the spirit. Likewise our work-the ritual of our daily life. To the man who does not work for the love of God and the neighbor, it matters little what he does. But should it not be different with us of the New Church? As the glove fits the hand, should not the outer life fit the inner?

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Surely, if we are being changed inwardly, an external change is bound to follow, or the law of correspondences remains unfulfilled. Such a change may imply-and almost certainly will imply-some forms of self-sacrifice and self-denial. Did not our Lord tell us so, and practise it?

     All will presumably agree that, if the Writings were accepted universally, the whole of our present visible civilization would be most radically changed. Would it be changed by more perfect mechanical inventions, as the scientist pictures it, or would it revert to very much simpler conditions? The latter obviously is the answer. Since, then, the New Church has been established, not only in the heavens, but also as a human organization on earth, and since it is destined to grow, is it not advisable to take some practical steps towards making our external life (collectively as well as individually) compatible with our creed? While our numbers are small, this would be much easier than when they have increased.

     Many perhaps may wonder what can or should be done. A suggestion can be presented by means of a small sketch. All over England (and, of course, other countries) there are sweet little villages standing away from the main roads, and (to a large extent) from the tide of our modern civilization. In each of them you will find a blacksmith, a carpenter, a miller, a saddler, a mason, a tailor, and so on, each doing his own work in his own way in his own time; each his own master, and lord of his home and garden (however small), each knowing that his neighbor depends upon him, and he on his neighbor, and all on the farmers around. None is wealthy, none is poor, none is unemployed. All have or can have the riches of a healthy, contented life. All are performing some necessary use. They lack one thing to make life full indeed,-the New Church and all that that means. If we picture ourselves turning to such a life, individually and collectively, what should we lack that promotes our spiritual growth?

     We hold fast to essential truths. Can we not leave the world to get on with its constantly changing philosophies? We need not study or know anything about them. If we know our Revelation, we have an answer to them all, just as our Lord had (in the Scriptures) an answer to the devil's temptations. As we love essential truths, should we not also love essential uses, and leave the world to get on with the production and consumption of those articles which it seeks in one generation and despises in the next?

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What are essential uses? The Writings tell us that the necessities in heaven are food, clothing and shelter-the same as here. Essential uses are, therefore, performed by those who produce these things, directly or indirectly; for without these things people cannot live. In a perverted world these uses are despised as menial, for it does not realize its dependence for all things on the countryside. Should we not put them in their true place, and do them?

     If we are not humble in spirit, we rebel against these occupations; but if we wish to be humble, they are a help. In days gone by, all children, even in royal families, had to learn to serve,-an excellent lesson that our children should practise; for if they do not learn to serve their parents whom they can see, they will find it difficult (when adult) to serve their heavenly Father, whom they cannot see. Furthermore, our Church itself is in its childhood, and therefore should, like a child, learn to serve-not only in spiritual, but also in material ways. Are we not also told that the Church, while it is a child, should remain in the wilderness (i.e., obscurity) to escape the dragon? Does this not indicate a country life?

     We are told, it is true, that we may enjoy all things in this life-except evil things; but what, one wonders, is not mixed up with evil in any large town? Surely the dragon could not be better expressed than by the spirit of any big town of today. It is true that adults brought up in a town are very rarely able to adapt themselves to a country occupation, but it is still more true that God creates every child with hands as well as brains, and with the ability and love to use them, though this love of active use is early destroyed where it has no encouragement or opportunity for expression. But put any infant in the country, feed it on New Church truths and simple, wholesome food, and it will love some material use as surely as it will love the Word of the Lord. And it will learn as the baby angels do-by playing at doing active uses.

     Environment is strong, stronger than heredity, as our Bishop has reminded us. Where environment cooperates with our Doctrines, the spirit can more easily resist the worldly sphere, which, like gravitation, always tends to draw us down. Where environment opposes, as in towns, how many have the strength to keep their eyes on the Eternal Sun?

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     No wise man of business would put his son into a "soft" job with a big income. He would insist-and rightly-on his learning the business from the bottom up. Surely this is also true of spiritual growth. As the Old Testament says, it is "good in one's youth to bear the yoke." A boy does not become physically a man without some work that develops his muscles, any more than he becomes spiritually a man without trials and struggles. It is good, too, to learn the A B C of life-the basis on which all is founded-that one's first need is food, one's second is clothes, one's third is shelter, and that one gets none of them without work. "He that will not work, neither shall he eat," expresses a fundamental thing that we should all learn. Many never learn it; some do not learn it till they are penniless. Many do not value health till they have lost it. Many regret, in later life, that they chose a calling that holds them to the town. Few can expect to succeed in a country occupation, unless they begin it early in their teens. But surely there must be some New Church boys and girls who can see the advantages of a country life, and are prepared to sacrifice the pleasures of the town, and turn to the land with an enterprising and adventurous spirit, and with a determination to make good, so that their children will not have to be brought up in conditions that are detrimental to physical and spiritual well-being.

     Where home-making is held the noblest occupation of a woman, where a man would rather make with his hands the thing that is good than buy a machine-produced article, where children learn by imitation and apprenticeship instead of en masse, where the maypole and country dances take the place of organized competitive games, where the creatures and creation of God surround all, and the New Church is in the will of all, then heaven can begin to materialize, so to speak, on earth. Heaven is a kingdom of uses. So is this world. If we delight in doing material uses here for the love of God and our neighbor, we shall delight in doing spiritual uses there.

     If this suggestion seems too material to merit serious consideration, let us bear in mind that the "Word was made flesh"; that it is in written visible form; that the Church has places of worship, external rites and organizations; that there would be no heaven. if there were no earths; that the spirits from our earth form the skin in the Gorand Man, and for that reason pay much attention to external things.

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Are we wrong in doing so, if the spirit that prompts our action is true?

     If others feel that a simple country-life does not give scope for ambition, let us remember that there is no higher form of charity than the faithful performance of our daily duty, and that the value of our deeds is not estimated by their magnitude, but by the spirit in which we do them. The greatest art is the art of life-as our Lord showed us by His.
     PHILIP OYLER.
Godshill, Fordingbridge, Hampshire, England, March, 1925.
MORNING PRAYER. 1925

MORNING PRAYER.              1925

Give me the sunrise and the early air,
The bird's thanksgiving chorus and the dew,
The grateful peace, the fragrance everywhere,
The feeling that the earth is born anew!
Give me a cloudless sky above me!
Give me a glorious view!
Give me the strength for every new day's need!
Give me the love of rising with the light!
Harden my hands for great or humble deed!
Give me a sense of duty-done at night!
Give me my dearest ones around me,
And keep us in Thy sight! - PHILIP OYLER.

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Church News 1925

Church News       Various       1925

     RIO DE JANEIRO.-The arrival of No. 14 of A Nova Igreja (Oct.-Dec., 1924), and of letters from the friends at Rio, brings news of the Church there. We hear with keen regret that business and political conditions in Brazil have seriously affected a number of our members, and we deeply sympathize with them in the financial trials and anxieties which they are undergoing. At the same time, we are assured that it has not been found necessary to curtail the uses of the Church, and that services are regularly maintained at the new location, 173 rua de Rosario.

     Snr. Xafredo writes of his projected trip to Portugal, and his hope of doing something for the New Church in his native land. Speaking of the services at Rio, he pays high tribute to the Rev. Joao de Mendonca Lima, and says that "he is developing subjects of the most enlightening kind with inspired proficiency, so dearly set forth as to come within the gasp of all."

     Snr. Lima himself writes as follows: "Our new place of worship is somewhat better than the former one, seating 120 persons. When shalt we have our own temple? The Lord alone knows. Of late, the preparation of a sermon for Sunday has fallen to my lot regularly, and my mainstays have been the magnificent New Church Sermons pamphlets, which I have received since October, 1921. If it were not for their precious aid, I could scarcely have fulfilled my mission, since my military duties make it impossible for me to prepare a sermon of my own every week. But the pamphlets are an inexhaustible spring, from which I can imbibe the needed teaching for a sermon every Sunday. I do not preach them as they are written, but apply myself with great care to the subject they expound, and, after due meditation, make notes to serve me in setting forth the lesson." [He preaches extemporaneously with great eloquence-E. E. I.]

     He continues: "If possible, I should like to have all the numbers of the Sermons prior to 1921, so as to make my collection of this precious publication complete. The General Church is thereby performing a great service to its isolated members, and to those who are in my position of being obliged to preach constantly without the necessary theological training. Our brethren here immensely appreciate these sermon pamphlets. To me, it has been a real happiness to count upon this precious source, for I can thus compose a sermon without any fear of losing myself in subjects that are not perfectly in agreement with the Doctrine. After studying them, I have the certainty that I shall not stray from the true way, as I am certain they are absolutely orthodox. At present I am reading Words for the New Church, which has awakened a great interest in me. As this is my vacation time, I have time for doctrinal reading and study, and am seizing the opportunity to increase my knowledge of spiritual things. But I constantly cherish the hope that I shall some day go to Bryn Athyn to attend the lectures in Theology under the Academy."

     This latest issue of A Nova Igreja contains sermons and articles by seven pastors of the General Church, translated into Portuguese by Snr. Alvaro de Castilho. Snr. Jeudy contributes a short article on the union of will and understanding in man, and Snr. Xafredo an expository study of the Four Gospels, in which he shows how fully the doctrine of the Lord's Divinity appears in the letter of the Word.

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As one instance of this, Snr. Xafredo cites the Lord's answer to the devil,-" Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God," as the strongest evidence that He was no other than the same Jehovah concerning whom those words were said in the Old Testament.
     E. E. I.

     FRANCE.-The Rev. Fernand Hussenet writes the following news items to La Nouvelle Jerusalem (1924, No. 4):

     "Mile. Oliva Hussenet was married on March 22, 1924, to Mr. E. Jeunechamp, an officer in the Spahis. This young man has genuinely accepted the doctrines of the New Jerusalem. He possesses the Croix de Guerre, the MCdaille Militaire, and has just been named an officer of the Legion d'Honneur.

     "Mr. and Mme. L. Lucas have lost their son Rene, who died on August 9, 1924, at the age of 20 years. He had always been an ardent receiver of the Doctrines."

     REPORT OF THE VISITING PASTOR.-I was my privilege, during the month of March, to visit circles and isolated members of the church in several of the Southern States.

     I arrived at ATLANTA on Monday, the 2d, and was heartily welcomed, and entertained during my week's stay, by Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Fraser. All meetings were held at their home. During the week, preceding Sunday, two doctrinal classes were held, at which I had the pleasure of meeting, amongst others, Mr. John Colley, formerly of Bryn Athyn, and Mr. Henry Barnitz, formerly of Glenview. Several calls were made at the homes of members. At services on Sunday there was an attendance of thirteen, of whom eight partook of the Holy Supper. Miss Helen Colley, of Bryn Athyn, was with us on this occasion. During the afternoon, the infant son of Mr. and Mrs. T. D. Crockett was baptized at their home, and instruction was given to three of their children. In the evening we had our final doctrinal class. Although most of the members of the circle are of the General Church, some are of the General Convention. All unite in the meetings that are held from time to time. Mr. Fraser was in poor health at the time of my visit, and confined to the house. However (what we may perhaps call the silver lining of the cloud), we were thus enabled to have many conversations on topics relative to the church.

     Three days were spent at OAK HILL, FLORIDA, where live Mrs. Minnie Hilldale and Mr. and Mrs. Harry Hilldale. Mrs. Waelchli was there as a visitor. A doctrinal class was held, and instruction was given the children. On invitation of the JACKSONVILLE circle, all the members of which are of the General Convention, I conducted services on Sunday, the 15th, and a class in the evening, the attendance being seventeen and ten respectively. It was delightful to meet the members of this circle, and to be in the sphere of their affectionate interest in the Heavenly Doctrines. An especial pleasure of the visit was my Sunday afternoon in the home of the Misses Warriner, who frequently make their summer home at Bryn Athyn.

     Returning to OAK HILL for four days, three evening meetings were held. The first was a class, at which the general doctrine concerning Baptism and the Holy Supper was considered; the second, a service of Baptism for the two youngest children; the third, a service with sermon and the administration of the Holy Supper. Further instruction was given the children. The friends of this isolated group, at Bryn Athyn and elsewhere, will appreciate how much these ministrations meant to them.     

     Next, MIAMI. Here we have but one member of the General Church,-Mr. Joachim Fritz; and, excepting a daughter, he is likely the only New Church person in this city. However, in zeal and enthusiasm he is equal to a large society. Only one formal meeting was held, but the entire four days of my visit was a continuous meeting, from morning until late at night, or rather until early the next morning. Riding about the city all day, seeing points of interest, and my host at intervals attending to business matters connected with his great projects, we conversed on the Doctrines and their application to the various planes of life; and in the evening there would be a session, combining the qualities of a class and a social.

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The one formal meeting was on Sunday evening, the 22d, When twenty-five persons gathered on invitation and a missionary address was given. Mr. Fritz's optimism as to the future of the Church in Miami may be evident from the fact that he plans that his present residence shall some day be that of the minister, and that the church will be built on the corner lot adjoining. May it all come true! It will, if his energy can accomplish it.

     On Wednesday, the 25th, I arrived at ST. PETERSBURG, where I was the guest of Mr. and Mrs. Seymour Nelson, of Glenview, who have their winter home' at this place. The Rev. George de Charms was also there, greatly improved in health. The St. Petersburg circle is composed of members of both the General Church and Convention. Some are permanent residents, others during only part of the year. Throughout the winter season, services are held every Sunday at the house of the Nelsons, led by Mr. Nelson. A simple form of service is used, like that of family worship. Previous to my arrival, Mr. de Charms had officiated several times. A doctrinal class was held on Thursday afternoon, at which seventeen persons were present and many questions were asked. On Sunday morning there were services, with an attendance of eighteen, of whom seventeen partook of the Holy Supper.

     Leaving Sunday evening, I arrived next morning at VALDOSTA, GEORGIA, the home town of the Pendletons. My visit was to Mr. Alexander Pendleton, a brother of the Bishop. I found him very ill. During my two days' stay, services were held each morning at his bedside, members of the family attending. I also called upon him four other times, remaining for a short while. Since my return home, word has come of his passing to the other world. An earnest New Churchman, a man beloved of all who knew him, ever kind, gentle and considerate of others, has passed to that eternal home to which he looked forward, and for which all his life of genuine charity here was a preparation.

     The last place visited was KNOXVILLE, TENN. Here reside two New Church families,-the Hutchinsons, members of Convention, and the Remingtons, of the General Church. My stay was with the former. A daughter of the family, Miss Ethel Rae, attended the Academy Schools for several years. Her friends will be pleased to hear that she is, and, I am sure, always will be, a true and loyal member of the Church. Mr. Hutchinson takes great interest in Swedenborg's Philosophical Works, and we had considerable conversation along that line. A doctrinal class, in the family circle, was held the second evening. Several delightful hours were spent with Mrs. Remington and her daughter, Miss Yseulte. Mrs. Remington resided at Philadelphia when I was an Academy student there, and we enjoyed reminiscences of those days, and of the old friends, many of whom are now in the other world.

     This report would not be complete without reference to the excellent work that has been done for many years, at most of the places that have been mentioned, by the Rev. J. B. Spiers, Missionary of the General Convention in the Southern States. Everywhere I found the evidences of his good work. Members of the General Church, as well as of Convention, have the benefit of his ministrations, and are happy to receive them. In turn, members of Convention, as well as of the General Church, extended to me a hearty welcome, and a kind invitation to come again.
     F. E. WAELCHLI.

     STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, The Rev. Gustaf Baeckstrom mentions in a letter that, in connection with the play "Outward Pound," by Sutton Vane, now being given in a Stockholm theater, he has been delivering a lecture on the subject of the Spiritual World.

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He has found it necessary to give this lecture nine times, the room being overcrowded on each occasion. He has now begun delivering a second lecture on the same subject, and has given it three times. Many books are sold at these lectures, and the attendance includes persons who have come several times. [See p. 285 of our present issue.]

     GLENVIEW, ILL.-Palm Sunday was observed as is customary with us, the children participating in the service with an offering of flowers at the chancel, and with special recitations and songs. This is always a bright and happy occasion. A special service for the administration of the Holy Supper was held on the evening of Good Friday. On Easter morning our church was crowded, many visitors from Chicago being present. An anthem by the choir, being a recitative of Matthew's account of the Resurrection, was so much enjoyed that it deserves special mention. In the afternoon, a pageant prepared especially for the children was presented in five scenes: 1. Peter's Denial. 2. Judas Returning the Silver. 3. A Group of Passers-by Returning from the Crucifixion. These railed upon the Lord as they passed the women who had viewed the crucifixion from afar. Lastly came the centurion, through the thunder and lightning, who exclaimed: "Truly this was the Son of God!" 4. The High Priests and Soldiers Sealing the Tomb. 5. The Angel Announcing the Resurrection to the Women. Music by a string quartet accompanied the scenes.

     Any effort to exalt the Easter Festival is commendable. But as Santa Claus so greatly detracts from the central idea of Christmas, so the thought, among children, of eggs and rabbits diverts the mind from the central theme of the Easter season.

     The Pastor has instituted a series of short talks at the Friday supper table, and hence called "Table Talks." They are similar to the war time "Four Minute Lectures," and deal with practical matters connected with our church and social life. A Young Men's Class is also a new development with us, meeting at The Manse once a week to consider subjects of New Church teaching and philosophy. At present they are studying Mr. Acton's pamphlet on "The Origin of Man."

     A Spring Festival and a Cantata are in course of preparation with the children. Mr. Jean O. Rydstrom, who has been teaching music in our school this year, is training classes for the cantata entitled " Flora."

     Chicago is rapidly extending out toward Glenview. The elevated railroad now has a terminal at Niles Center. One can also travel by the elevated from Chicago to Wilmette, and there take a bus for Glenview. Bryn Athynites visiting Glenview-May their number increase!-may now use the elevated to Niles Center, if they should miss the "milk train" (which every New Churchman should ride on at least once in his lifetime), and then telephone someone in the Park to meet him by auto. Nearly every family is now possessed of an auto, some having two or three, and the Fords are disappearing, like the horses.

     The General Church statistician will shortly receive official confirmation of two events which in the old days would mean the running up of the Academy red and white flag, namely, the arrival of sons at the homes of Mr. and Mrs. Carl Fuller and Mr. and Mrs. Harold McQueen. Also, at a little dinner party arranged by Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Lindrooth (they are fond of doing that) an engagement was announced,-that of Miss Jennie Cole (alas, one of our teachers!) to Mr. Trumbull Scalbom.
     G. S. P.

     KITCHENER, ONT.-Theta Alpha Chapter chose St. Patrick's Day to entertain the ladies of the society at a tea in the school room which was appropriately arranged with rugs and easy chairs. Small tea-tables stood here and there, and daffodils lent a sunny and cheerful atmosphere to the room. Each Theta Alpha member wore an apron of green and white crepe paper. The entertainment, which aroused 'hearty laughter', consisted of a burlesque of Italian dancing, and of selected scenes from J. M. Barrie's "The Old Lady Shows Her Medals."

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The refreshments preserved the color scheme of green and white, and disappeared rapidly.

     A dance was given by the young people on Friday the 13th of March. The members of the society were invited for thirteen minutes past eight! It was hoped that the observance of such a date might portend something big, but nothing unusual happened. But it was a very enjoyable dance. The room was decorated with colored balloons which magically stuck to the walls all around the room. It was soon discovered that when a balloon was rubbed against a coat sleeve or any heavy cloth, and applied at once to some surface, it would stick owing to the electric energy thus generated.

     The children recently gave a musicale which showed the progress they are making in the study of the violin. Special arrangements have made it possible for most of the school children to possess their own instruments and to take lessons. Miss Edina Carswell, of Toronto, was with us at a musicale in March, and gave us much pleasure with her violin playing. The Easter season began with a special service for the children on Palm Sunday. On the Friday evening following, there was a service in commemoration of The Passion. New and appropriate chants were sung, and the choir rendered the 22d Psalm. The address treated of the conspiracy against the Lord (Mark 15:1), and showed how the Jewish priests, scribes, and elders represent evils and falsities that endeavor to destroy what is of the Lord in man.

     It is always a joy to sing, and on Easter morning we did so in full measure, the service being liberally provided with beautiful Easter hymns. The sermon set forth the representation of Mary Magdalene who first came to the tomb, and found it open,-the interior affection of truth through which the Lord first makes Himself known in the church, and by which the church is restored. Comparison was made with Rachel, who also represents the interior affection of truth, and who came to the well that was covered with a stone, which Jacob removed that her hock might be watered. In the afternoon, a service was held for the administration of the Holy Supper.

     On Easter Monday (a holiday in Canada), we held a very fine bazaar, the results of which were gratifying in both a social and financial way. Supper was served in the supper room, which was attractively decorated in purple and yellow hangings with ferns and pussy willows. There was a good attendance, the tables being served twice. Then came a rush for the booths, while the children made for the fish pond, where great excitement prevailed as they received mysterious packages to open. In the basement, the men and boys found amusement throwing balls at the head of a certain Mr. E. Bony, and received prizes for good shots.

     A number of visitors over the holiday included Miss Mina Rothermel, Dr. Alfred Ahrens, Mr. and Mrs. A. Sargeant, Mr. and Mrs. P. Barber, Miss Eliza Izzard, and Mr. Gerald Schnarr.
     G. K. D.

     TEACHER WANTED.

     Carmel Church, Kitchener, Ont., invites correspondence from ladies who are prepared to teach in New Church elementary schools, with a view to the position of teacher in the Day School of this society. Address: Rev. L. W. T. David, 20 Willow Street, Kitchener, Ont., Canada.

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LOCAL ASSEMBLIES 1925

LOCAL ASSEMBLIES              1925




     Announcements.


     During the month of May, the Bishop will visit several societies of the General Church, conducting services or presiding at Local Assemblies on the following dates:

May 2- 3.-New York.
May 9.-Washington, D. C.
May 10.-Arbutus, Md.
May 15-17.-Kitchener, Ont.
May 22-24.-Toronto, Ont.

     Members and friends of the General Church are cordially invited to attend these meetings.
ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH 1925

ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH       WILLIAM WHITEHEAD       1925

     The Annual Joint Meeting of the Faculty and Corporation of the Academy of the New Church, to hear and consider the reports for the school year 1924-1925, will be held at the School Buildings, Bryn Athyn, Pa., on Saturday, June 13, 1925, at 10 a. m. and 3 p. m. The public is cordially invited to attend.
     WILLIAM WHITEHEAD,
          Secretary.

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THEOSOPHY 1925

THEOSOPHY       Rev. E. E. IUNGERICH       1925


NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. XLV          JUNE, 1925           No. 6
     THE THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT. 1875-1925. A History and a Survey. Authors Anonymous. New York: E. P. Dutton & Company, 1925. Pp. 705, With Preface and Analytical Index of Contents. Cloth, $5.00.

     The publishers of this bulky volume state that it is the "first collected and authentic history of the Theosophical Movement, the only book which adequately covers the subject, and one which is essential to the complete understanding of Theosophy." We find it a candid presentation of the conditions of the movement since its inception. It is frank to the verge of washing soiled linen in the open. Bias it has none, unless it be to present two of the three co-founders, Mrs. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (H. P. B.) and Mr. William Q. Judge (W. Q. J.), as saintlike and unsullied instruments for Mahatmas to communicate truth to the human race. They shine by contrast with Colonel H. O. Olcott, the third founder, Mrs. Annie Besant, Mr. Leadbeater and others, who, on the evidence presented, appear as ambitious personages brooking no opposition to their lust of rule, and stooping to mean intrigue and patent injustice to secure their own ends. Serious charges of immorality are also preferred against Olcott and Leadbeater, of which each seems to be guilty and resigns, only to be subsequently reinstated. On the whole this is a tawdry picture of bitter personal jealousy and vindictiveness, in which distrust of intimate associates flares up again and again into murderous hatred.

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     In 1874, Mrs. Blavatsky (1831-1891), a Russian of noble family, met Col. Olcott (1832-1907) near Chittenden, Vermont, where he was located as an interested spiritist investigating spiritistic phenomena. His conversations with her soon convinced him that she possessed a deep philosophy to account for mediumistic phenomena, and that she could, if necessary, produce even more startling ones, though herself despising them as puerile matters that were of neutral value, and might or might not prove anything. He says that one summer evening, just after dinner in New York, . . . and while it was still early twilight, he was standing by the mantel while H. P. B. sat by one of the windows. Then: "I heard her say-look and learn;-and glancing that way, saw a mist rising from her head and shoulders. Presently, it defined itself into the likeness of one of the Mahatmas. . . Absorbed in watching the phenomenon, I stood silent and motionless. The shadowy shape only formed for itself the upper half of the torso, and then faded away and was gone; whether reabsorbed into H. P. B.'s body or not, I do not know. . . . When I asked her to explain the phenomenon she refused, saying that it was for me to develop my intuition so as to understand the phenomena of the world I lived in. All she could do was to help in showing me things, and let me make of them what I could." (P. 376-77.)

     In the winter of 1874-5, they jointly attended several spiritistic seances, and attracted attention by defending the fact of mediumship and the necessity of impartial investigation of the philosophy and facts of spiritism. Mrs. Elavatsky soon acquired a reputation of being able to perform mediumistic feats,-even though then and thereafter she sedulously refused to lend herself to the production of phenomena at other people's instances or under their direction. (P. 18.) She was at first received with open arms by spiritists, but their ardor chilled when they found she did not believe their phenomena came from spirits or "the rational moral elements of once-living men." (P. 49.) And when her Isis Unveiled appeared, she was denounced by them as a traitor to the cause, and slandered by others as a trickster and dishonest medium, coming to be regarded as much the foe of spiritism as of orthodox religion or materialistic science. Favoring, as came out later in her life, the oriental doctrine of reincarnation and the transmigration of souls, she could not endorse the idea that mediumistic phenomena came from dead relatives of the bereaved, as these were probably undergoing purgative reincarnations in various human or animal forms.

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Only a few,-the Mahatmas or adepts,-had attained to such a state of excellence as to need no longer such terrestrial purification. From these, therefore, came the messages that were of genuine value.

     The objects of the parent Theosophical Society, formed in 1875, and subsequently adopted by all others saving a few Indian branches, were: "I. To form the nucleus of a Universal Brotherhood of Humanity, without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste, or color. II. The study of ancient and modern religions, philosophies and sciences, and the demonstration of the importance of such study. III. The investigation of the unexplained laws of nature and the psychical powers latent in man." (P. 20.)

     Isis Unveiled, which was offered to the newly organized Society as the basis for their meditations, was an affirmation of the existence of Masters, of a wisdom-religion, and of her own intimate acquaintance with them and their philosophy. "Here is implied the existence of an actual Brotherhood of living men, of perfected human beings who have become such through self-induced and self-devised exertions; herein is affirmed the perfectibility of man, the possibility of a fraternity of peace and good-will through the means and the example afforded by acquaintance with and study of these adepts and their science. Centuries of sectarian theological teaching that man is a poor miserable sinner, inherently imperfect and never by any possibility to become perfect save through an act of faith in a vicarious Savior; centuries of materialism in thought and action on a one-life basis-over against these deeply imbedded and dominating ideas is set, sheer and clear, the fact of Masters; not as some far-off, remote abstraction, some longed-for but impossible ideal, some unique and special creation of a favoring God, but veritable Divine Beings who have reached physical and mental, no less than moral and spiritual, perfection under Law. Here is the tremendous assurance that the realization of Brotherhood is not an impossibility to any man who will follow the path They show, by creating in and of himself the conditions precedent to the acquisition of Their knowledge and nature." (P. 43-4.)

     Theosophy centers its attention upon man's capacity of self-perfection, and leaves untouched the thought of a loving God who wills to shower blessings on mankind.

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Except for a few references to law, there is little in this book of 705 pages to indicate any thought along the line of even a provident force that creates, governs, and maintains the universe. It is opposed to every suggestion of authority and dogmatism in regard to absolute truth, and strives as far as possible to make each man the arbiter of what shall be his own beliefs. Its Utopia is personal religious experience of self-advancement in perfection, rewarded by psychic testimonials of the good-pleasure of the Mahatmas in having such a perfect tool for them to use on earth. Its goal, therefore, is the state condemned in Deuteronomy and Isaiah,-the state of those who would do whatsoever is right in their own eyes, and be wise in their own eyes. (Deut. 12:8; Isaiah 5:21.) It recognizes no revealed Word, and no use in any organized religious movement about such a Word. "The world," says Isis Unveiled, "needs no sectarian church, whether of Buddha, Jesus, Mahomet, Swedenborg Calvin, or any other. There being but One Truth, man requires but one church,-the Temple of God within us, walled in by matter, but penetrable by anyone who can find the way; 'the pure in heart see God.' The trinity of nature is the lock of magic; the trinity of man the key that fits it. Within the solemn precincts of the sanctuary, the Supreme had and has no name. It is unthinkable and unpronounceable; and yet every man finds in himself his god." (P. 38.)

     Baldly put, this is nothing else than the blasphemy of the Godship of man,-a dire persuasion whose serpentine hue is expressed in Genesis III in the words, "Your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." Its appeal to fallen men of all ages has, of course, been proverbial, and forms the burden of one of the Lord's prophecies: "If another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. How can ye believe, which receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh from God only?" (John 5:43, 44) Were we obliged to conclude from their mediumistic phenomena that theosophists are en rapport with a brotherhood of Mahatmas in the beyond; and that these are not spirits in the world of spirits who lust to obsess men, because while on earth they placed the all of life in pleasures of the body, such as drunkenness and adultery, and can thus for a time enjoy again their heart's delight; we would have to conclude that one of the hells closed at the Last Judgment in 1757 had been temporarily opened, and that the theosophists were in touch, if not with the Antediluvian Nephilim and Rephaim, at least with that society in which each acknowledged his companions, though grudgingly, to be gods, but himself a god of gods.

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     The doctrine of reincarnation is dismissed by Swedenborg in the Economy of the Animal Kingdom II, 351 in the words: "Nor can the soul again migrate back into life by means of an ovum, according to the dreams of the old philosophers; for the volume of the soul's fluid is great, and cannot possibly begin e minimo. Therefore, the soul is under the permanent necessity of living in its own state, and in no other." And the phenomenon that originally suggested such a view,-namely, a man's sensations of having been in certain places or situations before, when he is positive he has not been there in his present existence,-was revealed by the Lord to him in the work on Heaven and Hell, where it is said to be due to the fact that a spirit injects something from his own memory into that of the man. "Hence there was the opinion with some of the ancients that after some thousands of years they would return into their former life, and into all its acts; and also that they had returned. They concluded so from this, that sometimes there had occurred to them, as it were, the remembering of things which they had never seen nor heard. This took place because the spirits had inflowed from their own memory into the ideas of their thought." (H. H. 256.)

     Fifty years' history of Theosophy shows that very few of the thousands that flocked to it were attracted by the object of a brotherhood of man. In fact, the Hindu members, because of their Brahministic leanings, considered that this idea savored of Buddhism, which is offensive to them. The greater part were lured by curiosity and the desire to experience some stupendous phenomena. Others who were philosophically akin to Rosicrucians, whom Bulwer Lytton has depicted in his Zanoni, felt a certain intellectual thrill like that of new explorers in developing some pioneer field; and still others felt that if such trials as self-abnegation in the matters of eating meat, and in controlling resentful feeling over the imperfections of others, could lead them to self-development and perfection, the task was well worth a try. The apologists for Theosophy feel that it is the keynote or essence of the present age, and has distinctly influenced Edmond Holmes, Havelock Ellis, Dean Inge, Fosdick, Bernard Shaw, W. B. Yeats, and Tagore (p. 693); putting the Fundamentalists with their backs to the wall against the ever-increasing power of Modernism in religion.

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"Those who still believe in the Bible literally, and in a carnalized Christ, have been reduced to a minority in number and in influence, and placed on an apologetic defensive. The day when the clergy exercised a despotic authority over the public conscience has reached its gleaming." (P. 693)

     To the New Churchman, the interesting feature in their philosophy of the relations of Mahatmas in the beyond to pupils here is that they dimly glimpse a condition that prevails on other planets where men have not fallen, and which can never obtain on this earth, where man has fallen. They are even at pains to claim that man has not fallen, and that there is no hereditary evil, although the painful experiences of fifty years of implacable resentments among Theosophists must be a sorry argument to the contrary.

     Now the Writings teach that, on other planets, as in the early, upright days of our earth, men live practically alone in small family groups, with hardly any external contacts with others. Their guidance comes by an internal dictate as to what is right or wrong, which is inspired by God. In cases where some shadows or difficulties have crept in, the dictate is reinforced by the appearance of some angel, who may utter an admonition, but never any systematic instruction; and where there is need of serious preparation to receive this admonition, a punishing spirit comes, first to inculcate a state of humiliation in which to receive it. It will be readily seen that, in such a simple state of society, there would be little opportunity to communicate one's experiences in these lines to others, and that what had come through a chastening and mortification of one's spirit would hardly be a subject that one would feel like divulging to another. Their state of uprightness would certainly not impel people to parade these experiences as a testimony of their own superiority above others as accredited messengers of Mahatmas, which Mrs. Blavatsky and others of her group did and do.

     But with the fall of man on this planet, (nowhere better evidenced than among Theosophists, to judge from the candid admissions in the book before us), it became necessary for people to group themselves in external societies in which each might act as a check upon the other's innate depravity, and none be any longer led by that internal dictate which is impossible for a perverted mind, but all guided by a Divinely revealed Law to repentance and character building with some, and to a neutralizing of uncurbed evil propensities with others.

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Such has been the history of our race since the fall; and its epochs have been marked by successive Words, the last being the Writings of Swedenborg, which herald Christ's Second or Spiritual Coming.

     Phenomenal materializations, such as that witnessed by Col. Olcott in the emanating mist from H. P. B., and the precipitations of astral letters with distinct writings from the Mahatmas, which Olcott, Judge, H. P. B., and others claim to have received and preserved in archives, if these were true experiences, still they could have no vital bearing to man in this age. They certainly do not add to his happiness, while they may seriously becloud and hamper his mind by directing his attention away from the serious problem of his uses of service to mankind into channels of profitless conjecture or superstition. Nevertheless, they may give some clew as to how the spiritual world did operate into the natural world in some of the instances recorded in Revelation, and in this way serve a meager use in adding their little testimony to the belief of God-fearing men that the spiritual world is a daily and ever-present factor in their lives. Swedenborg does say that he saw writings sent down from heaven to earth, and even received some himself; though we have no reason to suppose this meant any actual precipitation on this terrestrial plane in some enduring shape. He also states in the Adversaria (I:1457) that those in the beyond can materialize by virtue of particles interfluent in the ether and air; yet this is modified in De Domino 13, 14 by the teaching: "It is believed in the Christian World that angels assumed human bodies, and thus appeared to men; yet they did not assume them, but the eyes of man's spirit were opened, and they were seen thus."

     The spiritual and the natural worlds are interdependent, and each performs deeds of service to the other. But for the right performance of those deeds, it is necessary that neither the men on our earth nor their spiritual attendants should have a distinct sense-perception of each other. "Man was so created by the Lord that while he lived in the body he could have spoken together with spirits and angels, for he is one with them, because a spirit garbed with a body.

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But because, in course of time, men have so immersed themselves in corporeal and mundane things that they care for almost nothing else, therefore the way has been closed." (A. C. 69.) Of course, after death, when these corporeals recede, the way is again opened, and he is then a permanent associate with spirits to eternity. But there is no likelihood that the hold of corporeal things upon men of this earth will ever relax again to make the primeval conditions an orderly state here.
ORDER AND THE PRESENCE OF SPIRITS 1925

ORDER AND THE PRESENCE OF SPIRITS              1925

     Because evil is increasing, and has been augmented hitherto and up to this time, man goes more and more contrary to order, thus contrary to faith or the truths of faith. And so there is greater need for the immediate help of the Lord. The more one acts contrary to order, the greater the force needed to reform him, consequently the more spirits; for those who are led in accordance with order require fewer spirits present with them. In like manner, all things in the body which follow according to order, as do the operations of the internal viscera which are called "natural," have no need for the immediate help of spirits, because they proceed according to order. (Spiritual Diary 2839)

     "That man is ruled by the Lord by means of spirits, is because he is not in the order of heaven; for he is born into the evils of hell, thus into a state altogether contrary to Divine order. Wherefore, he must be reduced to order, and he cannot be so reduced except by means of spirits. It would be otherwise if man were born into the good which is according to the order of heaven; then he would not be ruled by the Lord by means of spirits, but by order itself, thus by general influx. By this influx a man is ruled as to those things which proceed from his thought and will into act, thus as to his speech and actions, for these flow according to natural order; with these, therefore, the spirits which are adjoined to man have nothing in common. Animals likewise are governed by influx from the spiritual world, because they are in the order of their life; nor have they been able to pervert and destroy it, because they have not the rational faculty." (Heaven and Hell 296; S. D. 2378)

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TABERNACLE THAT SHALL NOT BE TAKEN DOWN 1925

TABERNACLE THAT SHALL NOT BE TAKEN DOWN       Rev. GEORGE DE CHARMS       1925

     "Look upon Zion, the city of our stated festivals; thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down. Not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken." (Isaiah 33:20.)

     There is a power in the Sacred Scriptures that is felt by all who read them with reverence. It is a power that clearly sets them apart from all human productions, that causes them to exercise a telling influence upon the development of the race, to mold the loves and thoughts of widely separated nations, to place an indelible mark upon the art, the literature, the manners and customs,-in general, upon the whole civilization that receives them. Men are moved, and have been moved through all the ages, by the strong appeal of the Divine Word. Their hearts have been stirred, their minds illuminated, their lives inspired by its teaching. Yet, at this day, no man discerns the secret of this power. Men praise the external style of the Word, its sublime poetry, the harmonious music of its literary form. They point to the exalted patriotism and self-forgetting zeal of Moses and the Prophets, and to the complete devotion of the Evangelists to their Divine Master. They extol the depth of moral insight, the lofty idealism in human conduct, which the Scriptures contain in a greater measure than any other writings known to man.

     But none of these, nor all together, can account for the unfailing appeal of the Word to every age and people. There is nothing in its literal content which can adequately explain its power. It is because a deeper meaning lies within it,-a meaning that is hidden from the eyes of men, but clearly open before the sight of angels. It is because, when the Word is read with reverence by men on earth, angels can be present with them, can perceive the internal meaning of the Scripture, and can derive therefrom exquisite delights in marvelous variety; it is because something of this heavenly joy can be imparted to him who reads on earth, not openly, but in secret, so that he feels in the reading a deep stirring of the spirit which no other writing is able to effect,-an uplifting of the soul which he clearly feels but cannot understand, or analyze, or follow to its source;-in short, it is because the Word effects a communication between men on earth and the angels of heaven, and through them with the Lord Himself, that it exercises so vast a power over the thoughts and loves of men.

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     This communication with heaven by means of the Word is effected according to order,-according to the laws of operation impressed upon the human mind at creation. It is not a magical, arbitrary thing that defies human understanding, but it can be studied in the mental experience of every day. The whole of heaven is as the mind of a Gorand Man, whose soul is the Infinite and Divine Life of God, and whose body is the organized society of men in the natural world. The communication between this racial body and this racial mind may be illustrated by the corresponding intercourse between our individual body and mind. When our eye falls upon an object of nature, or sound strikes the ear, or any sensation comes to us from the world around, there is at once called into our imaginative thought, not only that particular sensation, but many things associated with it,-objects of similar color or form, some particular occasion in our life when those objects were seen, with a full sensation of our mental state of sadness or of joy at that time,-a full reconstruction of all we thought and felt, of all we said and did. All this follows even a single, fleeting sensation that comes upon us unawares, flashes through our mind, and is gone; it is stored in the memory, buried there, perhaps unheeded, forgotten, for months or years. Yet the things thus impressed can be stirred to life bringing back a sensation of their joy or pain, through some single sight or sound associated with them. Thus things which are in themselves dead and valueless become mementos of priceless worth, because they have the power to recall to mind states that are delightful, and to make forgotten joys live again in the human heart.

     So it is with the communication between heaven and earth by means of the Word. In the spiritual world, where dwell all who have ever lived upon earth, the ages of the past are still alive and present, stored, as it were, in the racial mind.

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Every age has bequeathed to posterity its own loves, its own ideals, its human emotions of joy and sorrow, that strike an answering chard in every heart, that are capable of forever inspiring and uplifting those who come after. The very center of all these human loves is to be found in the warship of God, in the aspirations and hopes of the religious life, in the secret prayers and longings of the soul.

     Such external objects, such mental images, such historic situations, as most powerfully recall these spiritual stages of love and worship through which the race has passed in its development, the Lord has gathered together into a wonderful and continuous series in the Sacred Scriptures. They are the spiritual mementos of the angels, the outward objects by which are brought back the precious states of love and faith that formed the center of their life on earth, that gave quality to their joys and delights. And when such a spiritual memento, preserved in the Divine Word, is read by man, and the idea of it becomes impressed upon his mind, then all those spirits in the other world, all those societies of heaven, who have been peculiarly affected by that idea on earth, for whom it has been filled with deep religious meaning by the associations of their life, are brought present, as if recalled from the racial memory. And as the Word is being read, and its ideas brought to the mind in a series, one society after another is thus stimulated, fed, brought near to men, that its life, its love, its heavenly delight, may be imparted to them, to each according to his ability to receive.

     Here is the reason for the universal power of the Scriptures, in illustration of which we cite the spiritual effect of the word "tent" or "tabernacle," so frequently found in the Sacred Writings. This word, isolated from its historic associations, has but little value. It calls to mind a definite picture, together with various natural ideas, thoughts and loves, according to the experience of the reader. For the soldier who has lived in a tent, under fire of the enemy, through terrible days of doubt, anxiety and fear, it brings back associations quite different from those recalled to one for whom tent-life has meant care-free rest and enjoyment far from the worries and distractions of business. But with us all, when that word is read in the Sacred Scripture in a state of reverence, whether we realize the fact or not, it brings the presence of the celestial angels.

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It brings out of the distant past a holy sphere of love to the Lard, a subtle beauty, an intangible power, derived from the presence of those most ancient people who dwelt in tents, who belonged to the Church of the Golden Age, when, in simple, childlike faith, men loved the Lord and worshiped Him alone.

     In that earliest age they dwelt in tents, and the idea of such a dwelling recalls all the living emotions of their day, In tents they found protection for themselves and their loved ones from the elements of nature. Here was their home, about which were gathered all the associations of their family life,-their loves and hopes and aspirations. Here, by precept and example, the father of the family imparted the wisdom of age to another generation, that the children might be initiated into the delights of heaven. Here they worshiped Jehovah their God, pouring out upon the altar of a living faith the libations of celestial love, with its inmost trust and peace. These deep human emotions are still the living affections and delights of the celestial heaven where those departed peoples dwell. And whenever the idea of a tent or tabernacle is aroused in the mind of a man on earth, conjoined with a state of holiness or of reverent worship, such as ought to attend the reading of the Word, then those who so long ago dwelt in tents, who loved that life, who found in it all the fulness of heavenly happiness, inflow, that their joys may be recalled, may be felt by man, to inspire and uplift his spirit.

     All do not receive this heavenly influx alike. Each perceives it according to his own state. With some, the mind is entirely closed against it. But with nearly all men there is some affection that has been implanted in infancy and early childhood, some long-forgotten state of innocence, when, by the Lord's merciful providing, these same celestial angels came to him and left some memory that now is stirred by their presence, that answers to their knock, and opens the door for their entrance into the heart. He may have no knowledge as to why it is, but the Word, in consequence, moves him strangely, causing deep loves and longings to vibrate in his inmost being. This, too, is the means whereby the Lord protects men from evil, and calls them back to Himself. The angels are ever ready, ever anxious, thus to inflow, and to impart their loves to men. They bend over the earth in patient and unceasing effort to lift human souls into the light and joy of heaven. And because they thus serve the Lord in guarding men, therefore heaven itself, and especially the celestial heaven, is compared in the Word to a tent.

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In Isaiah, the Lord Himself is described as "He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in." (40:22.) Eternal life in heaven is described as dwelling in a tent, in the words of David, "I will abide in Thy tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shadow of Thy wings." (Psalm 61:4.) And in another place, "O Lord, who shall abide in Thy tent? Who shall dwell in the mountain of Thy holiness! He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart." (Psalm 15:1, 2.)

     Heaven is called a tabernacle because it gives spiritual protection, even as a tent gives natural protection. It is so called because it is a spiritual home, as in ancient times a tent was a natural home. It is so called because it imparts spiritual blessing, delight, happiness, even as the inmost blessedness of life among the most ancient people was associated with the tabernacles in which they dwelt. Finally, heaven is so called because it is the dwelling-place of the Lord, whence He reveals Himself and imparts spiritual life to the angels, just as the tent-home in the Golden Age was also the temple of family worship, the sanctuary of the Divine indwelling with men, where He gave them spiritual guidance and counsel. And for the same reason the term "tent" is applied to the Church, which is the kingdom of God with men. If we think of the church, not as to place, not as to external building and organization, but as to the love and worship of the Lord in the hearts of men, then does it appear that heaven and the church are one. Wherever the Lord is worshiped from the heart, and in full sincerity of life, there is the church, and there is heaven with men. Wherefore we read in our text: "Look upon Zion, the city of our stated festivals. Thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down. Not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken."

     By "Zion" is represented the church as to love, and by "Jerusalem" the church as to doctrine. Together, they are here compared to a "quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down." The perfect church, where love and faith are joined in the covenant of heavenly marriage, is pictured as a tent stretched forth with stakes and cords, to afford a peaceful home for human hearts, an abiding place where man may find rest for his soul.

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     To us, the church appears as a small body of men engaged in a desperate conflict. We see it as a weak and struggling organization, made up of men from every walk of life, with an indefinite variety of tastes, with wide differences of temperament, with all the faults and failings to which mortal man is heir, thus not only small in numbers, but often divided against itself. It is the prey, both of the world, the forces of which continually tend to draw men away from spiritual ideals, and of the vain ambitions, the petty jealousies, the selfish interests, that find lodgement in the hearts of its members. Surely, this being so, the effort to reestablish the kingdom of God among men gives promise rather of unending strife and bitter warfare than of peace and rest. And yet, unless we are given the vision of the church as "a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down," we shall lack the courage, the conviction, the inspiration to maintain the battle. It is the vision of home, of family, of peace restored, that sustains the soldier in the midst of hardship and desolation. And this vision of the church, as the ultimate, the final, goal of human happiness,-the Divinely provided cure for the ills and sufferings of the world,-has been given us in the Lord's Word to sustain us in the way, to give us strength and purpose to endure, even to the end.

     What is this church described in our text? It is not the visible and organized church of fallible human beings, weak, blind, and erring. It is something vastly more perfect than this. Nor does Isaiah's prophecy refer to that human organization as it is intended to become countless ages hence, when we shall long have passed away. It is something that never exists in all its perfection, in fulness, and in beauty, exists for us as a haven of rest, above all human strife, untouched by the warring passions of mankind, and yet here, with us, round us, in us, if only we will turn our steps thither, and enter in to dwell there.

     If we would see the church thus, we must look upon it from within, from above. If we will but "look upon Zion, the city of our stated festivals," that is, if we will but reflect upon the things of the church in a state of holy worship and adoration of the Lord, wherein our thought is lifted up from the world into the light of heaven, then will we be given to see the church as a tent which the Lord by his Coming has already prepared, which He has already spread out over the earth, by His Divine mercy and infinite power, that we and all men may find therein rest from conflict, peace after worldly strife, reward as the crown of victory.

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     If we lift our eyes above the external things of outward human life; if we can dissociate ourselves from the dust of the conflict and the smoke of battle, in which all things appear uncertain and confused and we seem to be facing extinction and death; if we can but draw aside a little to behold the entire panorama of human history, of which the present moment is but a minute, inconsequential part; we shall then gain a vision of the Lord, who is operating above the conscious strife and battle, laboring calmly, surely, undisturbed, to the fulfilment of His unchanging purpose. With Him are the hosts of heaven, the great army of Jehovah, spread out over the face of the earth as a protecting tent, under whose shadow all may come through the Word of God, through the genuine love and worship of the Lord therein.

     The Lord, by His First and Second Advents, by conquest of the bells, by the glorification of His Human, has already established His Church. It is already an accomplished fact, perfect in beauty, and in holiness,-a spiritual reality against which no power of evil, on earth or in the hells, can possible prevail. The Church, in its essence, is none other than that inmost love of the Lord, that intimate knowledge and worship of Him which was made possible for every man by His Divine Redemption. "Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it," saith the Lord. That door is the entrance to heaven, the entrance to the spiritual church, the entrance to the tabernacle of peace and rest which the Lord in His mercy has prepared. It seems to be our problem to build the church. The responsibility for erecting this mighty tent, for driving her stakes, for making fast her cords, seems to rest upon our inadequate strength. In the midst of a raging storm, with the wind tearing at the canvas, rain pouring in torrents that blind our eyes, the trees of the forest falling across our path, a handful of men, scattered over the world, seem to be struggling vainly to raise up this tabernacle,-the church. But the truth is we are not called upon to build this church. The Lord has already done so, and "except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it." We are called upon, rather, to enter it, that "our feet may stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem."

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The storm is in our own hearts. The struggle is against our own natural loves. Whatever the state of the world, given the Word of God, given the Heavenly Doctrine of the Lord's Second Coming, we are free, as individuals, to receive the Lord's love into our hearts, to confirm our faith in Him, and to keep His law, that we may "abide in His tabernacle forever, and trust in the covert of His wings."

     The labors for the church that He requires of us are but the means provided that we may thus draw near to Him in spirit and in truth. Without labor for the church, we cannot learn to love the Lord. Without labor for the church, we cannot see our own faults and those spiritual enemies which draw us away from His kingdom. Without an external, visible organization, that calls upon us for effort and for sacrifice, we would become supine in spiritual things; the world and its allurements would carry us away. We would have no protection from the forces of evil that assail us.

     But the Lord gives us a vision of the church, of its beauty and its delight. And then He calls upon us to fight for that vision, for its realization, so that, in the conflict, the love and faith which make the church may be received into our hearts. In the degree that this takes place do we come into consociation with the angels,-do we come as to the spirit into heaven, and enter into the tabernacle of the Lord's building.

     This tent of heavenly love and faith, which the Lord at His Coming has stretched forth over the whole world of men, will be preserved eternally. It is above the power of man to injure or destroy it. It is a "tabernacle which shall not be taken down. Not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed; neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken." Enter into that tent, and you will find inmost peace and rest; you will find all the heavenly joys that are associated in the minds of the angels with the word tent. As men on earth turn toward its protecting shadow," whither the tribes will go up, the tribes of the Lord," then will be fulfilled the prophecy of John: "Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God." Amen.

     Lessons: Isaiah 33. Revelation 20:11 to 21:7. A. C. 6631.

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SOME EDUCATIONAL PROBLEMS OF A SCIENTIFIC AGE 1925

SOME EDUCATIONAL PROBLEMS OF A SCIENTIFIC AGE       WILFRED HOWARD       1925

     (Delivered at a Joint Meeting of the Council of the Clergy and General Faculty, Bryn Athyn, Pa., February 4, 1925.)

     The age in which we live is conspicuous for its scientific attainments. The victorious march of science is heralded not only in an increasing number of publications devoted exclusively to scientific interests, but also in the columns of the daily newspapers, our weekly periodicals and our monthly magazines. The proceedings of the Franklin Institute, or of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, are no longer the sole possession of a small, select group of individuals who have devoted their lives to such subjects, but are of interest to all who are capable of reading our daily newspapers.

     By suitable appeals to the popular imagination, the man of the street is invited to appreciate our successes, to realize that he belongs to a scientific age which has much to commend it, and at whose progress he may well be proud. He is further invited to enjoy the thrill that comes with the discovery that the great apes are intellectually closer to man than we have hitherto imagined; that, like himself, the chimpanzee thinks; and that the inhabitants of Mars are either cave-dwellers or that they hibernate in winter like polar-bears!

     Our age is therefore described as an age of triumphant science. We are repeatedly told that our civilization is based upon science. Those in high places remind us that the future of civilization depends upon science, and warn us of our responsibility.

     With the aid of an ever-increasing army of scientific investigators, the frontiers of knowledge are being pushed forward with startling rapidity. In all fields of investigation, the horizon is continually extended by the discovery of new facts and the consequent readjustment of explanatory theories. And so marked is our acceleration that Dr. Otis W. Caldwell and other prominent educators have declared with dismay that a textbook on science is practically out of date before it is even published.

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     In fields other than its own, science is equally triumphant. The scientific spirit and scientific method are today the approved means of approach or investigation, whether in the fields of religion, philosophy, psychology or physics. No thinking is considered sane or rational unless the investigator is well equipped with a proper infusion of the scientific spirit, and it is held that this spirit alone can rescue him from the toils of a superstitious past and the truth-destroying influences of a non-scientific age. In other quarters, less enamored of the scientific spirit, there is naturally something of a reaction. Much is recorded, and in no uncertain terms, by those who are more interested in the deeper question of the effects of science, of the quality of our civilization. They regard the progress of science as by no means an unmixed blessing. We are accused of living in an age of scientific gluttony, wherein everything is scientized, from religion to the lunch counter, and of worshiping the new trinity of scientization, standardization and acceleration.

     Thus Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler continually deplores the shallowness of the times, and calls for an aristocracy in education that will uphold standards and ideals. Professor Jacks, of Manchester College, Oxford, speaks of that increasing body of social writers, on both sides of the Atlantic, who seem to glory in exhibiting the appalling mess we have made of things, which has lowered the self-respect of civilization, and made it greatly ashamed of itself. John J. Chapman declares that science, which filled the air with so loud a bray, is really a branch of domestic convenience, and that the scientific prophets have lived up to none of their prospectuses. Arthur Little deplores the fact that, whilst the world suffered grievously in the past from the lack of knowledge, it suffers today from misapplication. Professor Soddy of Oxford, in his book on Science and Life, states his belief that, in laying bare the deepest secrets of external nature, we do not approach nearer to the solution of the problems of life; that the advance of science is rather away from life than towards it, and that the clouded horizons towards which we move, whatever they may contain of wonder and revelation, are likely to afford little of moment to the real mystery of life. Equally cheerful is Dean Inge, who declares that the secrets of nature have been penetrated, and that its forces, one after another, have been harnessed to a car of juggernaut which seems now to be crushing its own worshipers.

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     II.

     Such, then, is the atmosphere of modern thought with which we are surrounded. On the one hand, an unrestrained glorification of scientific achievement, and of so-called scientific fact; on the other a spirit of pessimism as to the final outcome of such achievement. And, in the midst of this chaos of conflicting voices, unheralded and unsung, is the spirit of New Church Education, with its organized body of loyal workers, strong in the faith that they possess the means that will ultimately regenerate and correct the disorders of an unbalanced civilization.

     It may well be said that with the founding of the Academy the work began as a well organized force in regard to education. Two generations have now toiled with unremitting zeal, and we enter into the fruits of their labors. The doctrine of the Authority of the Writings is an established fact with us. The necessity of New Church education is no longer a matter of speculation; nor is our undertaking an experiment of uncertain value. That "the New Church is everything" is still unquestioned, but that "everything else is bosh" is usually accepted with reservations. Our perception of the value of Swedenborg's philosophic works has not diminished, although viewpoints differ somewhat. The crumbling forms of modern Christianity everywhere confirm with increasing power our doctrine in regard to the state of the Christian World. It is with these doctrines as forces that the present generation of workers finds itself well equipped.

     A sweeping change, however, differentiates the environment of the earlier workers in the field of New Church education from that of the workers of today. The modern world, under the benign influences of an industrial and scientific age, has grown apace. The conflict of science and religion continues with increasing warmth, the Modernists being for the most part victorious, in spite of the fact that many affirm there should be no such conflict; which, however, satisfies neither science nor religion. Modern religion has largely descended to the plane of social service, wherein even doctrinal differences, formerly antagonistic, have become more or less socialized into a state of harmony, expressive of a so-called breadth of mind and Christian tolerance. But this, in its essence, is the outgrowth of a state of spiritual indifference, wherein creeds and dogmas have lost value, not because of a higher conception of true Christian charity, but because creeds of any kind are no longer believed in.

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For Dean Inge reminds us that the modern educated man has no God, no devil, and no superstitions, but an abiding faith in science and the omnipresent force of nature, which, of course, is not a superstition.

     Others insist that civilization has established a new standard of values, wherein things predominate rather than principles. Not only is progress measured by more things, but things, as such, are now in the saddle, and ruling with an iron hand. As a product of an industrial age, reality begins and ends in things which have a definite value and can be sold as so much merchandise. Even convictions and religion must descend to the plane of salable commodities, in order to exist as realities. Men are now "sold" to this or that belief or idea, for only that which is objective and salable exists as a reality to the modern mind.

     We are also told that the present predominance of things rather than principles has resulted in a state of mind wherein the average man has no time to compare and weigh and estimate for himself. Neither can the citizen of today be expected to form judgments, because the formation of judgment involves time, thought, and often the contemplation of factors removed from things, and hence removed from the plane of reality, and thus unworthy of serious consideration. The average citizen, therefore, accepts conditions as they are. Opposition involves conviction, and conviction is impossible without reflection, feeling, and perhaps indignation, which cannot be described as "things," which involve the factor of time, and are all more or less removed from the plane of our present realities.

     But it is unnecessary to extend the story. The state of the Christian World has ever been a favorite theme of New Churchmen. And the Academy has never been accused of neglecting this subject, or of being uncertain in its beliefs regarding it. At present, we seem to have been largely relieved of the performance of this unpleasant but necessary task. To find a really painful and vivid description of the present state of the Christian World, we may go outside of the current literature of the New Church. Many thinkers in the Christian World are keenly sensitive to its failures; it is undergoing an almost abnormal state of self-examination at their hands.

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     III.

     Of the many factors that have molded our civilization into its present form, science is considered as by far the greatest. For good or ill, science is considered the power of first magnitude in the shaping of our present and future destinies. The application of science has made possible the industrial age in which we live, with its attendant forces of standardization and acceleration. It is necessary, therefore, to review briefly the place of science in the Writings, even at the risk of covering ground that is more or less familiar to all students of the Doctrines.

     In A. C. 6917, we read: "Scientifics, in themselves, are neither true nor false; but they become true with those who are in truths, and false with those who are in falsities. Their application and use does this. Scientifics with man are like riches and wealth with him. Riches and wealth with those who are in evil are pernicious, because they apply them to evil use. But riches and wealth with those who are in good are useful, because they apply them to good uses. If, therefore, riches and wealth which are with the wicked are transferred to the good, they become good. So also with scientifics."

     Again, from Earths in the Universe, 62: "On our earth, the sciences are means of opening the sight of the understanding which sight is in the light of heaven; but because such things as are of the merely natural and sensual life rule, therefore the sciences to the men of our earth are means of becoming insane, that is, of confirming them in favor of nature against the Divine, and in favor of the world against heaven." . . . "The sciences, in themselves, are spiritual riches, and they who possess them are like those who possess worldly riches. They are also means by which a man may perform uses to himself, his neighbor, and to his country; as they are also a means of doing mischief. Besides, they are like dress, which serves for use and ornament as well as for nourishing pride, with those who would be honored for that alone."

     "To rational wisdom pertain all the sciences into which youths are initiated in schools, by which they are afterwards initiated into intelligence; as philosophy, physics, geometry, mechanics, chemistry, astronomy, jurisprudence, politics, ethics, history, and many others, by which, as by doors, they enter into things rational whereby rational wisdom is formed." (C. L. 163.)

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     "By scientific truth is meant every scientific by which spiritual truth is confirmed, and by which it has life from spiritual good; for through scientifics a man can be either wise or insane. He is wise through scientifics when he confirms the truths and goods of the Church by them; he is insane through scientifics when he weakens and refutes the truths and goods of the Church by them. In the former case, they are called scientific truths, and also living ones; in the latter, scientific falsities, and also dead ones." (A. E. 5072)

     "Hence it is evident that the inhabitants and spirits of our earth have relation to the external sense, and that they are corporeal; but although the men upon this earth are such, still they have from the Word the knowledges of the truths of faith, which serve as it were far a ground in which the spiritual and celestial truths of faith can be inseminated, since without such a ground they could not easily be inseminated. Therefore the Lord has loved our earth more than others. For to the end that order may be perfect, celestial and spiritual truth ought to be inrooted in natural truths." (S. D. 1531.)

     The Writings also state that the genius of the men of this world is essentially scientific. The love of science is a normal instinct with us, and when properly subordinated has spiritual values that are well recognized. Moreover, the sciences are instrumental in opening the understanding, as they are also a means of closing it. They serve the rational mind as an ultimate basis of thought. They are, indeed, the very foundations of thought. For we are told that "faith must act upon scientifics, and acquire scientifics, that they may serve it for a body, and thus act as a fulcrum for the understanding; for, except from the objects of the memory, man can scarcely comprehend anything."

     IV.

     The chief distinguishing characteristic of New Church education is its training in the ability to think clearly, or the development of a well-balanced rational mind. Whatever external deficiencies may be charged against our education, we believe they will be more than offset by the training of this most valuable faculty. It is ever our cherished hope that something of this will be accomplished even with students who are conspicuous for their shortcomings along scholastic lines, and that they will at least absorb the atmosphere of our work. The value of "absorbing a sphere" may seem to the average man somewhat intangible, and, as an educational factor, extremely doubtful.

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Yet this sphere carries a vital element, and affects the states of life profoundly. It has sometimes been said that this "sphere of our work" covers a multitude of inefficiencies, and perhaps rightly so, when that work is viewed from external standards alone. At this point, therefore, let us briefly review the nature of our work, that we may see clearly the essential factors in it, which are basic to a true New Church education.

     What are the features that differentiate our schools from all others? What do we mean by the development of the well-balanced rational mind, the development of the faculty of clear thinking? What, in brief, are the qualities of life and thought that should be the possession of one who has received in full measure, as vital and living forces, the things which it is our end and purpose to impart?

     Such a graduate, if he have gained a clear conception of the Divine ends in creation, will be clearly aware of the two most powerful enemies of spiritual progress,-the enemy within, or his proprial self, and the enemy without, which is the sum of those forces which are the product of a consummated Church, and of an age which has almost ceased to believe in values other than temporal. His ability to think clearly would in no sense be a nebulous or sentimental factor. Well-trained in the knowledges relating to the two worlds, the spiritual and the natural, the reality of both would be clear and distinct, and the reality of the natural would not obscure the reality of the spiritual; for by his possessing a true philosophy of life, he knows full well that spiritual values are only attained by a life of active uses in this world.

     He would, indeed, be a man of the world, with the distinction that he would enjoy a discriminating sense of uses, involving the knowledge that the essence of true usefulness is to serve the spiritual kingdom, as well as the natural, or, more properly to serve the natural as a basis for the spiritual, which cannot be done with success unless spiritual truths are acquired and loved equally with natural truths. A man of the world, he would yet differ from his fellows in his sense of values. The natural and modern tendency to overvalue things that are temporal and relatively unimportant would be strenuously resisted by him, and here a bitter warfare would often be waged, not to the end that temporalities of any sort might be excluded from the field of action-for this is both impossible and undesirable-but to the end that they may be held as subjects well disciplined, serving with efficient power the ends for which they were created.

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     The so-called "spheres of the world" would not cause him much uneasiness; he would control them, and not be controlled by them. Ever conscious of their tendency to obtain dominion, he would realize that they can only do so when the opposing spiritual force is weak or uncertain. The constant reception of such spiritual powers would be the chief factor in his ability to think clearly. It would preserve his sense of values, correcting the temporary aberrations incident to a life lived among spheres of spiritual hostility, and opening the way of that heavenly influx without which no true rational perception is possible.

     Nor would he continually quarrel with the times, however disjointed they might appear, but he would realize his obvious duty to conquer them. Neither would he be uncertain as to the present drift of modern civilization, or the present tendencies of religion, philosophy and science. He would see these with an uncompromising clearness, and in so doing would recognize his responsibility and duty as a New Churchman to receive instruction from the Doctrines of the Church to the fullest extent of his faculties. He will thus enjoy a full measure of that influx which alone can rescue him from the appearances and natural affections that press in with increasing power to the destruction of spiritual insight, leading inevitably to an impaired and weakened vision of those ends in human life which are most worthy of attainment. He would realize, therefore, that it is not so much the world, or the so-called spheres of the world, that are at fault, but the spheres of the natural affections of man, which, chained to appearances, need that correcting influx of spiritual truth which will destroy their dominating influences and place them where they belong.

     And so he would not blame the spheres of the world for results that are due to his own weakness, his own lack of spiritual insight or limited control. He realizes where the responsibility for a non-reception of spiritual force rests, and for his natural tendency to hold fast to those entangling alliances which it is his duty to disentangle. He knows that to conquer self and one's environment is the end and purpose of the Church to which he belongs, and of the education he has received.

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     In spite of the appalling mess that the civilized world is reported to be in, he would yet find it a very pleasant world to live in,-a world in which the reception of spiritual truth is always possible, a world teeming with riches, temporal and scientific, everywhere; at his disposal in the degree that he has the ability to use them well. He would indeed find a rich harvest in the fields of science, and it is here that he would enter into the fruits of the labors of other men. For his education has trained him to heed well the warning given by Bishop Emeritus W. F. Pendleton: "You who wish to investigate the laws of nature; you who wish to investigate the realm of natural truth; you who wish to sail on a voyage of discovery into the pathless ocean of the interior world of nature; take passage on the good ship built by Emanuel Swedenborg. He sailed in it himself, and he left it as a legacy to us; it has survived the dust and decay of over a hundred years, and its timbers are as sound today as when they first passed from the hands of the builder."

     In heeding this warning, our graduate would realize that the ability to use well the scientific riches of the day means more than the accumulation of material. If natural truth is to serve the rational, and thus to become itself rational, a philosophy is needed as a medium of interpretation; and if that philosophy be true, the resulting interpretation should also be true. He would not scorn with egotistic spirit the scientific riches that the genius of the world has produced; nor would he brand them as essentially inimical to spiritual progress; or blame them as causes of a materialistic age. But he would always reserve the right to reinterpret them in the light of a purer and truer philosophy,-one that reaches back to the realm of cause, and reveals the fatal weakness and utter hopelessness of a task that lies before the Church. Not that reinterpretation, and the gaining of a rational perception of nature's laws and forces, should in themselves be a laborious task; for truth is ever simple, when once the faculty of sight has been acquired. But it is because the present inheritance of mankind is so largely tainted with an acquired characteristic of confused and foggy thinking, with an inability to lift the thought above the plane of sensual experience, and with a natural tendency to think from below rather than from above, that true rational perceptions are difficult of attainment, and an interpretation in the light of a spiritual philosophy no easy task.

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     Such, then, in brief epitome, are the qualities possessed by one who has faithfully entered into the spheres of our work, and translated them into permanent values in the higher education of life's experiences. Some heresies may have entered into his composition, but that is natural. He may have absorbed more than our atmosphere, which, after all, is what we hope for, if it is an evidence of a progressive tendency. He may also appear too self-reliant to possess the virtues with which we have endowed him, but that is an appearance. In reality, his reliance upon self was thoroughly demolished in the early history of his development, and successively replaced with a more powerful reliance upon the doctrines of the Church and the principles derived therefrom.

     As we have previously stated, there are two ends of major importance with which New Church education is concerned-namely, the two opposing forces, one from within, the other from without. Both belong to our province as educators. The outward opposing forces of the times must ever be our concern. We are not inseparably bound to the ways of modern civilization, to its habits of thought and life. We yield to no authority from without. In borrowing freely from fields of science and education, we accept with a due sense of appreciation the valuable materials that have been gathered, and are not insensible of our obligations to those who have labored so earnestly. But, in regard to the primary ends of education, we find that we have much to give and little to receive. The objectives of New Church education are refreshingly clear and distinct, and are in no sense compromised by an endeavor to meet the materialistic tendencies of the age.

     The fact remains, that the opposing forces of the times are no mean antagonists. In producing problems that are the grave concern of Christian and social thinkers, they also produce problems that very intimately concern us. It is obvious that we cannot dismiss them with the easy assurance that we possess a New Church viewpoint in regard to them. Our education, as an arm of the Church, is keenly interested in the false philosophies of the times, the totality of which has created the prevailing atmosphere of materialism that is in direct conflict with the ends of the Church and of our educational work. While it is a fact that such an atmosphere has always existed, it has increased in density in recent times, and has spread its dominion over wider fields.

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The graduate from our schools may not feel the conflicting forces until long after his period of education, but it is clearly our business to arm him as far as possible for these later periods, so that, when they arise, he will be equipped to recognize and resist their all-absorbing and dominating tendencies, and remain more or less undisturbed in the midst of them.

     Does not the increased opposition of the times call for a sharper and more distinct training of our perceptive faculties, to the end that we may analyze these opposing forces in a manner that is both rational and convincing, and carry the results of such an analysis into the spirit of our education with a strength of purpose and clarity of insight commensurate with the needs of the times?
TOPICS FROM THE WRITINGS 1925

TOPICS FROM THE WRITINGS        W. F. PENDLETON       1925

     XXVI.

The Uses of Baptism.

     To baptize signifies to dip, to immerse? to cleanse or purify by washing. At first, baptism was by immersion of the whole body (A. C. 10239), but afterwards by applying water to the head, as representing the same as when applied to the whole body. (A. C. 10011.) The word "baptize" does not occur in the Old Testament, but the thing is there in the term "wash" and other terms signifying purification,-especially in the term "circumcision," which signifies the same as baptism, namely, purification from evils, or regeneration. The Most Ancient Church knew nothing of circumcision. Its origin was in the Ancient Church, and the custom spread to many nations. It was enjoined upon Abraham and his descendants, not as anything new, but as a rite to be restored on account of its representation, as was the case with all the rites of the Israelitish Church. They were not new, but adopted by the Lord in order to continue the representatives of the Ancient Church. (A. C. 4462.)

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     But these representatives were abolished by the Lord, and in their place He established Baptism and the Holy Supper (T. C. R. 610), to represent and include in one compass all the rites of the Ancient and Israelitish Churches. The historical, and at the same time the spiritual, reason why baptism was substituted for circumcision and all the washings of the Jewish Church, was that the Christian Church might be distinguished from the Jewish (T. C. R. 674), having in view the establishment of an internal church in place of the external church which preceded. For the Israelitish Church was a wholly external church, and the Christian Church was established and began as an internal or spiritual church, but ceased to be so after the Council of Nice. The form remained, but the spirit was gone.

The Use of Baptism in General.

     Baptism is in itself a spiritual use. As a form, it is representative of that spiritual use. It is represented in the ultimates of nature by water as a cleansing and purifying agent, the purification of the soul by spiritual truth; even as the Holy Supper is representative of the nourishment of the soul in the uses of the bread and wine as nourishment for the body.

     In the chapters on Baptism and the Holy Supper in the True Christian Religion, the teaching is that the uses of these two sacraments cannot be known without a knowledge of the spiritual sense of the Word. (T. C. R. 667, 698, also in 614.) This knowledge has now been given, in order that the New Church may know the real uses of the two great Sacraments. The reason why these real uses of the Sacraments cannot be known without the spiritual sense, is because that sense reveals the true idea of God and a knowledge of the spiritual world, revealing at the same time the Divine presence, and the presence of the spiritual world, when Baptism is performed and the Holy Supper administered. Thus, without a knowledge of the spiritual sense, the spiritual world and heaven itself is closed, or not yet opened, and we do not know the true God and eternal life. The arcana of regeneration are as a book that is sealed. And so, without a knowledge of the spiritual sense, the Christian is like a man who travels alone in a dense forest at night without a torch or lantern, without the lamp of life, without the light to guide him on the way to heaven. Such is the ignorance of all men without a knowledge of the spiritual sense of the Word.

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The First Use of Baptism.

     There are three uses of Baptism. The first use is introduction into the Christian Church, and at the same time insertion among Christians in the spiritual world. (T. C. R. 677.) In order to understand this first use, it is important to know what is meant by the Christian Church, into which man is introduced by Baptism.

     Broadly considered, the term Christian Church includes every religious body that bears the name of Christian, and into which a person is introduced by Baptism. They who are so introduced on earth are inserted among those in the spiritual world who are of the same religious belief; even as we read, "In the spiritual world, everyone is inserted into societies and congregations there according to the quality of the Christianity in him or outside of him." (T. C. R. 680.) It will thus be seen that anyone who bears the name of Christian, of whatever sect or denomination, Baptism inserts him into a society of his own faith in the spiritual world, and into no other. He cannot go elsewhere than among his own. If he is baptized into a body of the Christian Church that holds a belief in a trinity of Divine Persons, he is inserted among those of the same faith in the spiritual world, and it cannot insert him into any other society; for instance, it cannot insert him into a society of those who believe in and worship one Divine Person, the Lord Jesus Christ. For "everyone is inserted into societies and congregations according to the quality of the Christianity within him or outside of him." Outside of him (extra illum) means round about him,-the Christian consociation in the midst of which he is in this world. He is introduced into a similar consociation in the other world, at the time of his baptism; and he cannot possibly be inserted elsewhere. We have before us, then, the first use of Baptism, which, as we have seen, is twofold, taking place at the same time in both worlds.

What is meant by the "Christian Church."

     We are not left in doubt as to the meaning of the term "Christian Church." There are three passages which make the matter clear, as follows: 1. "The spiritual sense of the Word is revealed at this day because the Christian Church, such as it is in itself, is now first beginning; the former Church was Christian only in name, but not in reality and essence." (T. C. R. 668.) 2. "The Christian Church which the Lord founded when He was in the world is now first being built up by Him." (T. C. R. 674.)

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3. "The spiritual sense is now disclosed, because hitherto Christianity has existed only in name, and with some a kind of shadow of it; for up to this time men have not approached and worshiped the Savior Himself, as the only God, in whom is the Divine Trinity. . . . But because Christianity itself is now first arising, and a New Church . . . is now being instituted by the Lord, in which God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are acknowledged as one, because they are in one Person, it has pleased the Lord to reveal the spiritual sense of the Word, that this Church may come into the very use itself of Baptism and the Holy Supper." (T. C. R. 700.)

     This teaching makes clear, leaving no doubt, that the New Church is now the Christian Church. And when we are told that the first use of Baptism is introduction into the Christian Church, the Doctrine is speaking interiorly and essentially of a true Christian Baptism, a Baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and of introduction by Baptism into the new Christian Church. For it is said later that the second use of Baptism is that Christians may know and acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ, and follow Him. This makes clear that Christian Baptism is Baptism into the true Christian Church, wherein the Lord our Savior is worshiped as the only God; and that other Baptism is Christian only in name, but not in reality and essence.

Insertion Among Christians in the Spiritual World.

     Baptism is not only introduction into the Church on earth, but it is insertion at the same time (simul tunc) among Christians in the spiritual world. What is done in this world is done at the same time in the other, for we are there as to our spirits. What a man does in his body, he also does in his spirit, and his spirit is in the spiritual world. He is, by the act of baptism, inserted as to his spirit among spirits in the spiritual world who are of his religious faith, whatever that faith may be. If his faith be a faith in the true God, Jesus Christ our Savior, and his life has been a life of obedience to Him, he is inserted among those Christian spirits who are in the same faith, and who are being instructed and prepared for the New Christian Heaven,-performing the same use that the New Church on earth is performing, namely, preparing men for heaven. These societies are the Christian Church, are the New Church, in the spiritual world.

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     It will be observed that the term "spiritual world" is used in a universal sense, even as the term "Christian" is so used; and like the term "Christian," it is also used in a specific sense, meaning not the whole spiritual world, but that state or region in the world of spirits where true Christians are, and are being prepared for the New Heaven.

     The word insertion signifies to sow, implant, ingraft,-a more complete word than introduction; it is a more interior introduction; for their entrance into a heavenly society is imminent, the final work of introduction is being performed, and they are about to enter upon their reward. The word ingraft is expressive. It signifies to insert a branch of a tree or shrub into another tree or shrub for the sake of propagation; and the dictionary gives it a figurative sense,-"to insert or introduce in such a way as to make it a part of something," thus establishing an organic, a living, connection. The truth is, that by baptism at the beginning of regeneration, a man is implanted, ingrafted, as to his inmost life in a heavenly society, and his insertion among Christians in the spiritual world is but a necessary step towards this goal of his life.

Instruction to Follow Baptism.

     The indication given in the chapter on Baptism (T. C. R. 677) is that instruction in the doctrine of the church should be given after Baptism. This indication is given as follows: "That not only infants are baptized, but also foreign proselytes, . . . and this before they have been instructed, merely from the confession that they wish to embrace Christianity." (T. C. R. 677.) Infants are not instructed before baptism, and the passage quoted establishes it as a general rule of order for the church. All that is needed is a spirit of affirmation, a general confession of belief in the Lord Jesus Christ as God, and that evils are to be shunned as sins against Him; according to the requirement in our baptismal service.

     This general affirmation is what is represented by the tribe of Dan, namely, "the affirmative of truth and good, which is the first of all things when faith and charity begin with man." (A. C. 3923.) The tribe of Dan was situated at the northern entrance into the Land of Canaan, which Land represented the church, and Dan signified entrance into it by "the affirmative of truth and good." This "first of all things when faith and charity begin" is when baptism takes place.

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Instruction in doctrine then begins, to follow through life in the world with a never ending increase after death, entering through the gate of baptism in a state of ignorance having ever in view the goal of knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom. It is as if one should say, "I do not know, but the Lord knows, and His Word is truth. Give me understanding that I may see!" Man, indeed, is always ignorant. At every step in life he is ignorant; for an infinity of knowledge is always ahead of him. We are told that the celestial angels, the wisest of all, acknowledge their ignorance more than others. Something of this spirit should be in every act of baptism.

The Baptism of Infants.

     The importance of the baptism of infants, or of little children before the age of seven years, is made plain to us. Baptism may take place later, even in adult life. (H. D. 206.) But its use in the period of infancy is taught as follows: "Without the Christian sign, which is baptism, some Mahometan spirit, or some one of the idolaters, may apply himself to Christian infants newly born, and also to children, and infuse into them an inclination for his religion, and thus draw away their minds and alienate them from Christianity, which would be to distort and destroy spiritual order." (T. C. R. 678.) This is a danger which is seen when it is understood that children are in a state similar to that of Gentiles, and hence have a tendency to go off in spirit and live among them by doing the things the Gentiles do, and even to stay among them, and become as pagans in adult life,-a state which a large part of the Christian world is in now, and one that is on the increase. (A. R. 750.) It is well known that children love the things the Gentiles love, such as camping in the woods or by the sea, fishing and hunting, and other things of a similar nature. These things are useful and safe enough, if the children, by an early baptism, have been introduced among true Christian spirits. Then, even if they wander away, the tendency will be to return to the true Christian fold. As they advance in years, a similar danger will arise from the spirits of a false Christianity, but which also will be guarded against by a New Church baptism, followed by instruction in home and school. For the whole of New Church education is involved in New Church Baptism.

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The Instrumentality of the Priest.

     Baptism is not fully understood until it be known what the instrumentality of the priest is who performs the office; that is, until it be known that the spirits who are with the priest when he functionates come into communication with the person baptized, who is, in fact, transferred into the midst of them, inserted among them, by the act of baptism. Before baptism, he is in the midst of one class of spirits, but by baptism he is placed among the spirits who are associated with the priest in his office as priest. This transfer and change is effected when the person baptized, in answer to the inquiry of the priest, declares his faith, and when the priest touches his forehead in applying the water, and by the laying on of hands when the blessing is administered. Touch is communication. It is transfer. It is introduction. It is insertion. And in the case of the true church it is insertion among Christians in the spiritual world,-all effected through the office of the priest, and on the confession of the applicant for baptism.

     But if the priest is a priest of a false religion, the introduction is not into a true church on earth, nor is there any insertion among true Christians in the spiritual world. It is insertion among those spirits who are represented by the priest of a false religion on earth; for the candidate has just affirmed his belief in the false God of a false religion. For what the priest is, and what he represents, passes over to the novitiate, and it cannot be otherwise. And no future change or transfer can be made, except on the basis of a sincere confession and a sincere repentance, a sincere turning to the true God, our Lord Jesus Christ. For, as the Lord Himself said, "Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 18:18.)

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GLEANINGS FROM NEW CHURCH HISTORY 1925

GLEANINGS FROM NEW CHURCH HISTORY              1925

     ROBERT HINDMARSH DESCRIBES HIS FIRST ACQUAINTANCE WITH THE DOCTRINES OF THE NEW CHURCH.

     On the first of January, 1782, I paid a visit to my father, James Hindmarsh, who then resided at Canterbury, being a preacher in the connexion of Wesleyan Methodists. Our conversation turning on the subject of Swedenborg's Writings, he informed me that Mr. George Keen, a Quaker gentleman of that city, was in possession of some of them, and probably would favor me with a perusal of them, if requested to do so. The next day, Jan. 2, I waited upon Mr. Keen, who kindly lent me, though a stranger to him, the Treatise on Influx, or on the Intercourse between the Soul and Body, and the Treatise on Heaven and Hell. These works I read with the utmost avidity, and instantly perceived their contents to be of heavenly origin. I therefore as naturally embraced and delighted in them as the eye embraces and delights in objects that reflect the golden rays of the rising sun. The same day that introduced me to a knowledge of these Writings introduced me also to the first interview with the young lady who, on the 7th of May following, became my wife, and with whom I had the happiness of living in much harmony and affection nearly fifty-one years, that is, until the time of her decease, which took place on the 2d of March, 1833. Thus I found myself doubly blessed by the events of the before-mentioned day.

     From that time I began to search out other readers of the same Writings in London, in order to form a Society for the purpose of spreading the knowledge of the great truths contained in them. I expected at first that almost every person of sound judgment, or even of common sense, would receive them with the same facility as I did myself, and would rejoice with me that so great a treasure had at length been found in the Church. But I was mistaken. And such was the prejudice in the minds of men of apparent candor in other respects, that so far from congratulating me and their own good fortune in the acquisition of such spiritual information, I was absolutely laughed at, and set down by them as a mere simpleton, an infatuated youth, and little better than a madman, led away by the reveries of an old enthusiast and impostor.

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     I heard these vituperations with surprise, and could not help thinking in return that the accusers were themselves mad, or at least under the influence of a strong delusion. One in particular, a great professor of religion whom I had hitherto regarded as a friend, and a sincere follower of Jesus Christ, declared that it would give him pleasure to see the Writings of Swedenborg consumed by fire, and me on the top of the pile. He was a Predestinarian or rigid Calvinist, who perhaps thought he might do his God a service by burning his adversaries, or by blotting them out of the map of existence. I smiled at his zeal, and recommended him to consider "what manner of spirit he was of," as our Lord on another occasion advised His disciples James and John, Luke IX, 54-55.

     Another, a bookseller, by whom I was employed to print periodical and other publications, was much offended by the zeal which I displayed in favor of the truths of the New Church. He plied me both with promises and threatenings; by promises of wealth and riches from the abundance of employment with which he would supply me, if I would but decline the printing of Swedenborg's Writings, and attend to his interests only; and by threatenings that, if I persevered in the propagation of such idle notions as I had adopted, he would withdraw his support from me, and give his patronage to another. To this I answered, that I felt grateful for all his favors, but that I could not conscientiously accede to his proposal. He then said, in allusion to the doctrine of the Divine Trinity, which, among other things, he understood Swedenborg dwelt so much upon, "What does it signify to you or to me how many Divine Persons, or how many Gods, there are? Let them settle the matter between themselves: that is their business, not ours!"

     Some few individuals listened for a time with apparent attention to the report which I had to make of the Writings; but on hearing the Author's account of the state of man after death, as the result of his own personal observation, they soon went off as it were in a tangent, and I lost sight of them for ever. Even my own father, at this time, and for two or three years after my reception of the new doctrines, cautioned me to beware how I gave way to them, lest I should be seduced by mere flights of imagination, and estranged from the common faith of professing Christians.

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As I knew his heart to be good, (of which I had had many proofs in the course of my education), I gave him full credit for the sincerity of his advice, being well assured that he, as well as myself, was desirous of truth for the sake of truth, and that he was incapable of giving countenance to any system which he did not in his conscience believe to be true. He already approved of some of the fundamental doctrines taught by Swedenborg, particularly that of the Divine Trinity. But he did not as yet see that that doctrine, rightly understood, and permitted to branch out into all its consequences, involved every truth of the Mew Church, and negatived, yea nullified, every doctrine of the Old Church. He did not as yet see that the doctrine of atonement, as generally taught, is altogether inconsistent with the Divine Unity and the Divine Mercy; that it presupposes a Trinity of distinct Persons, as so many Gods, with attributes and properties in collision with each other; that while one of these Divine Persons, the Father, is represented as
vindictive against the human race for the crime of their first parents, and refuses to be appeased by any thing short of the bloody sacrifice of an innocent victim, and that victim the Son of His own bosom,-another of the Divine Persons, even the Son Himself, willingly lays down His assumed natural life to allay the burning wrath of His Father. He did not as yet see that the consummation of the age, or end of the Church, as predicted by the Lord in the Gospels, had already taken place; that the sun was darkened, that the moon did not give her light, and that the stars had fallen from heaven. Neither did he as yet perceive the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, or the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. But he was, what every upright man ought to be, open to conviction. After diligent application to the Writings of Swedenborg, particularly to the work, entitled, True Christian Religion, containing the Universal Theology of the New Church, and a renewed examination of the Scriptures, he at length became a full convert to the new doctrines, and afterwards (as will be noticed in the proper place) had the high honor of being the first person who publicly and avowedly preached the heavenly doctrines of the New Jerusalem in England, and probably in the world.

     (Rise and Progress of the New Jerusalem Church, pp. 10-13.)

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SECOND ADVENT IN THE WORD 1925

SECOND ADVENT IN THE WORD       Editor       1925


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office a Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly By
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.

Editor                    Rev. W. B. Caldwell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager          Mr. H. Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address and business communications should be sent to the Business Manager.

     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
In the United States, $3.00 per year; Elsewhere, $3.25 or 14 shillings; payable in advance
Single Copy          30 cents
     "Without the advent of the Lord into the world, no one could have been saved. It is similar at this day; wherefore, unless the Lord come again into the world in Divine Truth, which is the Word, no one can be saved." (T. C. R. 3 end.)

     Among those In the world today who have been blessed with a knowledge of the truths of the New Church, and who have professed a belief in them, few outside of the General Church of the New Jerusalem accept the idea that the Writings are the Word in which the Lord has made His Second Coming. Most of those who reject this idea cling to the belief that the term "Word" can be applied only to the Hebrew Scriptures and the Greek Gospels, thus to the Old and New Testaments. Apparently they cannot bring themselves to recognize that in the Writings there is a completion of the trine of written Revelations, in the Latin form of the Heavenly Doctrine, and that herein the Lord makes His Second Coming "in Divine Truth, which is the Word," according to the statement in T. C. R., quoted above.

     It is, of course, generally acknowledged by New Churchmen that the spiritual sense of the Word has been revealed by means of the Writings of Swedenborg, but it is not generally seen that this spiritual sense of the Word, which is hidden within the letter of the Old and New Testaments, now comes to us embodied in its own ultimate form in the Writings, and that in reality the Divine Truth of the spiritual sense is the Lord Himself coming as the "Spirit of truth," and is the fulfilment of the prophesied coming of the "Son of Man in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."

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     The prevailing idea is that this opening of the interiors of the Scriptures by means of the Writings is Swedenborg's "interpretation" of the Word, "throwing light" upon the Word from without, as it were, even through a "Divinely given illumination," and so on. Writers labor to find terms to express this roundabout process, and to avoid admitting that the Word can only be opened by Him who is the Word Itself, and that He has come in His Own Divine Truth in the Heavenly Doctrine, to reveal Himself and His Kingdom as the interior "power and glory" of the Sacred Scriptures, which are as "the clouds" through which He now shines forth. " Elsewhere than in the Word, the Lord does not reveal Himself, nor otherwise there than by the internal sense; "power and glory" also signify the Word in the internal sense." (A. E. 36.)



     If we are to judge by what is published in the periodicals of the New Church, the refusal to acknowledge the Writings as the Word is becoming more and more confirmed in the older bodies of the Church. In place of this, they more and more quote "what Swedenborg says," and we seldom see either an open or implied admission that the Lord has made His Second Advent in the Theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, and that these Writings are therefore the form of the Word in which He has come. But, as is well known, it is the "Academy view," or the view held by the members of the General Church, that the Lord has made His Second Advent in the Divine Truth of the Heavenly Doctrine, just as He made His advent to the Christian Church in the Divine Truth of the Gospel, His advent to the Jewish Church in the Divine Truth of the Hebrew Scriptures, and His advent to the Ancient Church in the Ancient Word. The men through whom these earlier forms of the Word were written were but instruments in the Lord's hands for the revealing of Himself and His Kingdom in Divine Truth, and Swedenborg nowhere claims anything more than this for what he was given to write for the New Church. Why, then, should professed New Churchmen do otherwise?

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When they quote Moses, the Prophets, or the Evangelists, they know and believe they are quoting the Lord's Word. Why are they unwilling to quote the Writings in the same way, when Swedenborg avows that he wrote not one word from himself, or even from angel or spirit, but from the Lord alone? It is the Lord's Truth, not Swedenborg's, and we believe that, if he were among us in the world today, he would have great objection to the manner of quoting him which has become the vogue in the nominal New Church today. And another sign of the times is the spelling of the term "Writings" without the capital "W," although from the earliest days of the New Church, and by universal practice since, a recognition of their Divine contents has been embodied in the designation Writings." Fortunately, the elimination of the capital is confined to a few writers, who belittle themselves by so doing, and also indicate their unwillingness to acknowledge the Lord's presence in the books upon which Swedenborg was commanded to write: "Hic Liber est Adventus Domini."



     We have referred to the successive forms of the Word in which the Lord has made His advent to the successive Churches of this earth. Is it not logical that He should come to the final and crowning Church in a form of His Word,-in fact, in the most excellent of Divine Revelations since the foundation of the world? Is not the Lord's coming to the human race-angels and men-always and only in His Word? "Elsewhere than in the Word, the Lord does not reveal Himself." The Divine Good of Love can only approach finite beings in the clothing and accommodation of Divine Truth, which is the Word. Thus, in creation, "He spake, and it was done," and "by the Word of the Lord were the heavens made." He became incarnate as the Logos or the "Word made flesh," and men "beheld His glory, as of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth,"-the Divine Human revealed only in and as the Word. How else than in His own Word should He come again to reveal the glories of His Divine Human to that Church which is forever to worship Him "in spirit and in truth"? It is our solemn belief that He has so come in the Writings of the New Church. And we also believe that anything short of this acknowledgment is either a half-hearted reception of the Lord at His Second Coming, or it is a rejection of Him.

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This latter is assuredly the case with all who are intelligent and well-informed in the reading of the Writings, but who refuse to accept the advent of the Lord there.

     Doubtless there are receivers of the Doctrines who simply and sincerely believe that the Lord speaks to them in the Writings, even as He speaks to them in the words of Moses, the Prophets, and the Evangelists, but who find some barrier to an expressed acceptance of the faith that the Writings are the Word of the Lord. There will be a great variety of reception among those in the Christian World who come to a knowledge of the New Church. Prejudices, both hereditary and acquired, are obstacles to be overcome in all minds today. Reception of the Lord will necessarily be progressive, from few to many, and over a long period of time. It was two hundred years before the canon of the Gospel became established in the early Christian Church. Yet there was full recognition with a few from the beginning. And the same is true of the New Church. From its earliest days, there were some who accepted the Writings as the Lord's Word to His New Church, while others held the contrary opinion, as at this day. The choice must be made in light, and thus in freedom.



     In this connection, we may recall what Roger Bernet wrote in the year 1799, a few years after the New Church was organized in England. To quote from his letter:

     "I have, in my journeys from place to place lately, met with two different classes of the readers of the Honorable Baron Swedenborg's works: One class holding it as a fixed principle with them that the Baron's writings are really the Word of the Lord, as positively as the writings of any of the four Evangelists,-Matthew, Mark, Luke or John, as also of St. John in his Revelation. . . . The other class readily allow the Baron to be a person highly illuminated by the Lord, and that his writings are highly useful in opening the spiritual sense of the Word, and thereby the true nature of the New Jerusalem church state; but still they cannot allow his writings to be upon an equal footing with the Word itself; for, say they, this would be raising the Baron and his writings rather above their proper place, for none can be the Word but the Lord alone. . . ." (Quoted in Testimony of the Writings, pp. 35, 36.)

     As there were thus New Churchmen from the beginning who saw the Writings to be the Word, so doubtless this view was consistently held by some during the period between 1799 and 1861, in which year we have one of those definite and vigorous statements of the Rev. W. H. Benade which initiated the Academy movement and eventually led to the establishing of a new and distinct body of the Church, founded upon the belief that the Lord has made His Second Coming in the Writings as His Word to the New Church. Addressing the Pennsylvania Association at its meeting in Philadelphia on February 22d, 1861, in the form of a "Report on the Nature of Swedenborg's Illumination," Mr. Benade set forth the following conclusion:

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     ". . . As the Lord has made His Second Advent through the instrumentality of Swedenborg, the truths which he has been the means of revealing to us are Divine; that they are the Lord's spiritual "Word, being the spiritual sense contained in the natural sense of the Sacred Scriptures, wherein the Divinity of the Word resides; that these truths have all Divine authority, as the Lord's Word to His New Church, as Himself in His spiritual coming for the establishment of His last and crowning dispensation to the world; and that therefore, because this is the crown of all former dispensations, it is also, and must be received and acknowledged as, a finality.

     All of which is respectfully submitted,
          W. H. BENADE,
          THOS. WILKS."

     Again; in 1873, Mr. Benade fully demonstrated the truth of this position in a paper entitled " The Standard of Authority in the New Church," which he read before the American Council of Ministers in that year, and which was reprinted in NEW CHURCH LIFE for July, 1902.



     Bearing upon the general subject we are considering, our readers will also be interested in a statement of the Academy view of the Writings which occurs in the first volume of NEW CHURCH LIFE, and which has recently been brought to our attention. It forms part of a Report of the 61st Meeting of the General Convention, held in Washington, D. C., in May, 1881, and reads as follows:

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     As doubtless all the readers of this paper have heard of the somewhat famous "Academy," and as the stories floating about as to what it is and what it advocates are very conflicting, the reporter thought it might be of interest to the New Church public to interview a member of the institution in question, and with this end in view, he cornered a prominent Academy man at the Ebbitt House, and said, "Want to interview you." "Well?" he replied. "I want to know," said the reporter," if you would have any objections to answering a few plain questions about the Academy, and to having them published?" He replied that he would be glad to answer any questions, and at this easy surrender, the reporter produced his note-book and asked:

     "Is the Academy a secret or oath-bound society?"

     "No, not by any means-not intended to be; and secrecy, as you use the term, was never thought of."

     "Well, but you don't invite the public to your meetings."

     "Is it customary to invite the public to the business meetings of any society or association?" replied the Academy man.

     The reporter said, "Well, no-o; but will you tell me what the Academy is, anyhow?"

     He smiled at this question, and said it was a rather large one, but he would try to answer briefly yet clearly. Said he: "It is a body of New Churchmen, founded upon the acknowledgment of the immediate revelation made at this day, which is meant by the Advent of the Lord, and upon the consequent Divine authority of the Writings by which that revelation is given to the world."

     "Then," said the reporter, "I am to understand you say the Writings are the Lord's, and not Swedenborg's; hence Divine, and this is what you mean by authority?"

     The Academy man intimated that that was what he meant, and the reporter, after musing a moment, asked what was the aim and object of the Academy, and the reply was: "Its aim is to bring forward, and by rational presentations of the truth, as revealed from the Lord, to establish among men this authority of the Writings, as coming from the Lord." The next question was: "Will you tell me what is the difference between this idea and that generally held by New
Churchmen who oppose the Academy?"

     He answered: "The difference, as we conceive it, is that the Academy regards the Doctrines of the New Church, as contained in the Writings of Swedenborg, to be the Divine Truth of the Lord, now revealed to the world out of the literal sense of the Word; and because they are revealed as the spiritual sense of the Word, they are that wherein the Divinity of the Word resides, and, therefore, infallible; or, in other words, the infallible Word of the Lord to the New Church. This is what the Academy believes." (New Church Life, June, 1881, p. 9.)

     Another notable declaration was that made by Bishop Benade in the course of his address at the 62d Meeting of the General Church of Pennsylvania, reported in NEW CHURCH LIFE for 1887 as follows:

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     "When, as a Church, we shall be ready to offer to the world the Divine Doctrines of the New Church as the very Word of God, given at this day by immediate revelation from the Lord, in accommodation to the present state of humanity, then, and not till then, will the world hear the heavenly sound of the good tidings of the Lord's Second Advent. When we cease to separate in thought and word the Spirit from the Body of the Divine Truth, by discriminating between the Doctrines of the Church and the Letter of the Word, as if they were not one Word, one Lord, then, and not till then, shall we be able to approach the rational minds of men with the highest reason for their acceptance of the truths of the New Church, in the affirmation: 'Thus saith the Lord.' Every New Churchman ought to know that a truth does not take on the form, the real form of truth in his mind, until he sees that it proceeds from the Lord, who is the Truth itself." (P. 185.)
NOTES AND REVIEWS. 1925

NOTES AND REVIEWS.       Rev. E. E. IUNGERICH       1925

     THE APOSTLE PAUL.

     We have recently received a 16-page pamphlet in German by Mr. L. H. Staden, who styles himself a "private student of the New Church, Brooklyn, N. Y." The title on the cover is sensational and startling:

A Real Novelty
In the Domain of Theological Literature!

THE APOSTLE PAUL
His Epistles not the Basis for the
Formal Doctrines of the Christian Church.
His Fate After Death!

The Most Dazzling Intellect
A Dead Thing if it Lacks the Love of Good.

     The writer deals with the subject in a sound and trenchant manner.

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A brief foreword apprizes the reader that he will witness a dramatic portrayal of the results of an intellectual faith which lacks charity within. Then follow comments upon Paul's life and writings, with quotations from The Spiritual Diary,-and the real Paul is brought to view by this revelation of his state in the other life. A short epilogue concludes the pamphlet, and conveys a timely homily. In the course of the pamphlet, Mr. Staden refers to the advice given him by other New Churchmen, who warned him not to publish anything of this character, as the unfavorable light thus cast upon Paul might tend to prejudice outsiders against the New Church. But he declares that he considers it timely to bring forward the truth on this subject, and believes that the moral lesson to be drawn from Paul's bad example is one of great value.

     An article entitled "The Spiritual Word" by the same writer was reprinted in NEW CHURCH LIFE for November, 1924.
     E. E. I.
DUTCH TRANSLATION OF THE "BRIEF EXPOSITION." 1925

DUTCH TRANSLATION OF THE "BRIEF EXPOSITION."              1925

     We have just received from the Rev. Ernst Pfeiffer a neat octave volume of 130 pages, bound in strong paper cover and well printed, this being the worthy form in which the Swedenborg Society at The Hague has just published the Brief Exposition of the Doctrine of the New Church; in a Dutch translation, which we understand to be the work of Mr. A. van Pernis, a member of the Society.

     The Preface quotes Swedenborg's Letter to Dr. Beyer, dated March 15, 1769, in which he stated that copies of the Brief Exposition had been sent by him to all the clergy in Holland. The Preface also comments upon the fact that Swedenborg inscribed the notable words, Hic Liber est Adventus Domini, Scriptum ex mandate, upon two copies of the work in Holland, one of which is now preserved in the British Museum. A striking feature of the new volume is the facsimile of this inscription upon the cover, and also upon the fly-leaf within. The writer of the Preface seeks a reason for the placing of the inscription upon so small a work as the Brief Exposition, and one which is of a "negative" nature, rather than upon the larger theological works. The suggestive answer is made that the Ten Commandments are of such a negative character; that the Revelation to the New Church is not only a revealing of good but also of evil; thus that the Brief Exposition discloses the evils and falsities of the First Christian Church, in contrast with the Doctrine of the New Church.

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SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON NOTES 1925

SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON NOTES              1925

     LESSON NO. 30-HEZEKIAH. (2 Kings 18, 19, and 20.)

     Analysis:
Hezekiah, a good king, reigns     ch. 18:1-8
He pays tribute to Assyria           :13-16
First Assyrian threat                :17-3 7
Hezekiah is firm; the threat fails     ch. 19:1-8
Second Assyrian threat           :9-13
The King prays to the Lord           :14-19
The Lord's answer by the Prophet      :20-34, 35
The death of Sennacherib           :36-37
Hezekiah's illness               ch. 20:1-7
A miraculous sign                :8-11
Judah is allied with Babylon           :12-19

     The very wicked reign of Ahaz is followed by the exceptionally good reign of his son Hezekiah. (18:5-6.) He took action against the idolatries of the heathen nations, and also against those of his own people. Thus he removed the high places and images that were in all parts of the country, and even the serpent made by Moses (Numbers 21:9), which was now being used as an idol. He called it "a piece of brass" (Nehushtan). He caused the temple to be cleansed of the desecrations of Ahaz, and reinstituted the observance of the Passover. (2 Chronicles 29:15-17; 30 and 31:1.)

     The arrangement of incidents is not according to the order of occurrence. The illness of the King and the Babylonian embassage preceded the Assyrian invasion. Ch. 20:6 refers prophetically to the things told in chs. 18 and 19. The order is that of relative importance,-the great national danger first, the personal danger of the King second, and the indication of a future danger last.

     Hezekiah reigned from about 728 B.C. to about 699 B.C. His illness was in the fourteenth year of his reign, and he was granted fifteen years more of life.

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The embassy from Babylon came to inquire of his health,-an act of duty and courtesy between friendly kings. But they had a more important mission, which was to bring Hezekiah into an alliance against Assyria. This was why he showed them his treasures. In this he sinned; for Israel was forbidden to make covenants with the gentiles, and he, as it were, sold himself to the Babylonians. Hence it was prophesied that Judah and Jerusalem would be conquered and enslaved by the Babylonians, which took place a century later.

     Judah and Jerusalem represent the church as to celestial things, or as to its love to the Lord; here it is being assailed by falsities and evils. Love to the Lord suffers, but is not destroyed by the attack of falsities. Faith alone (Israel as an enemy), falsification of the Letter (Syria), reasonings of natural philosophy (Assyria),-all recede, and the citadel still remains. Babylon signifies the love of dominion for the sake of self, or self-love; and if this be entertained, the very heart of religion is corrupted, and the entire church made captive in hell or destroyed. But here this consummation is but prophesied.

     Merodach-baladan reigned in Babylon from 722 to 719 B.C., when he fled before the Assyrians. He intrigued for some years to regain the throne, but never succeeded. Sennacherib, the son of Sargon (see Lesson 29), was King of Assyria from 705 to 681 B.C. His campaign in Palestine was about 701 B.C. In his inscription, he describes this war and has much to say about Hezekiah. He defeated Taharka, the Ethiopianruler of Egypt, in a great battle at Eltekeh, eleven miles northwest of Jerusalem, and pursued him to the border of Egypt, where a terrible and mysterious disaster befell his army (19:35). Herodotus records it, and says that it was at Peluslum, at the northeast corner of the Nile delta. The destruction was caused by an outbreak of the hells on account of Sennacherib's blasphemy. (A. C. 7879. See the story "Ismi-Dagon," in NEW CHURCH LIFE for 1888.)

     Hezekiah had given him some cause to attack; for Hezekiah was trying to rebuild his kingdom, and had invaded the districts of Ephraim and Manasseh as well as Philistia (2 Chronicles 31:1; 2 Kings 18:8). He had withheld tribute, and strengthened the city (2 Chronicles 32:1-8), and had conspired with Babylon and Egypt. (18:21, 19:9.) These alliances were sinful, and were rebuked by the Lord. (20:14-19, Isaiah 30:1-7, 31.)

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Hence the deliverance could be only temporary.

     The names in ch. 18:17 are really titles. Tartan means commander-in-chief. Rab-saris means high chamberlain. Rab-shakeh means high cup-bearer. For the sign of the shadow going backward on the sun-dial in ch. 20:8-11, see Apocalypse Explained 706:16.

     LESSON NO. 3I-ISAIAH. (Isaiah.)

     Analysis:
A preacher of righteousness:           Chapters 1; 3:9-26; 5:8-30; 9:3-21; 10:1-6; 30.
A prophet of the Messiah:           Chapters 9:2-7; 11; 25:6-9; 40:3-11; 42:1-16; 52:7-10, 53; 50:16-21; 60:2; 61:2; 62:11.
A prophet of the living church:      Chapters 33:14-22; 60; 61; 62; 63; 65.

     Among these references, it will be best to make a selection for class use. In any case, the one leading theme,-justice, the Redeemer,-should be strongly brought out, to avoid confusion.

     Isaiah tells us that his "vision" and office was during the reigns of four kings of Judah,-Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (1:1),-probably from near the end of Uzziah's reign, as the other three kings reigned sixty-one years. Uzziah is also known as Azariah. (2 Kings 15:2, 13, 32.) Practically nothing else is known about Isaiah's personal history; but ancient Jewish tradition says that he was of the royal family, his father Amoz being brother of King Amaziah. According to tradition, he was cruelly slain at the age of eighty-four, by Manasseh, Hezekiah's evil son, supposedly because he had reproved the king's wickedness. But it is evident that he had the full confidence and friendship of Hezekiah. Hosea and Micah were contemporaneous with Isaiah, who died about 698 B.C.

     Isaiah has been well called "preacher, statesman, historian, poet, and prophet." He influenced considerably Hezekiah's action and policy, and showed the folly of his unwise acts, such as the Babylonian alliance and his dependence on the feeble help of Egypt. (Chs. 30, 31, 39)

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Even in translations, his language ranks with the finest poetry that has ever been written. Yet in him the office of preacher and prophet looms far above all the rest.

     He is a preacher of righteousness, of right living and right thinking. "Wash you! make you clean! put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well! " (1:16.) "Woe to them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no room, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!" (5:8.) "Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (5:20.) But evil is rarely denounced without holding out the hope of mercy and forgiveness for those who sincerely repent. "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." "If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land." (1:18, 19.)

     Beautiful descriptions are given of the peace and abundance which bless a true church,-a church that loves and worships the Lord truly, and where there is charity. Compare these with the description of the New Jerusalem in the Apocalypse.

     But it is especially as the prophet of the Messiah that Isaiah is known and loved. Again and again, he writes of the coming of the Lord, and of His endless reign, often in poetry and in majestic imagery. And it was given him to see that the Lord was to come, not to the Jews alone, but to all the gentiles as well,-to all mankind. Note especially how clearly Isaiah taught that it was Jehovah God Himself who was to come as Redeemer and Savior. (2:6; 40:3; 43:3, 14; 44:6; 49:26; 63:5.)

     In discussing these prophecies, dwell upon the more obvious applications and interpretations, which the young mind can plainly see to be the thing taught there.

     LESSON NO. 32-MANASSEH, AMON, JOSIAH. (2 Kings 21, 22, 23.)

     Analysis:
Manasseh an evil king               ch. 21:1-9, 16
Prophecy of destruction               :10-15
Amen likewise an evil king                :17-26
Josiah was a good king               ch. 22:1-2, 23-25

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How the book of the Law was found          :3-11
The king inquires of Huldah                :12-20
A covenant is made                    ch. 23:1-3
Cleansing of the Land               :4-14, 24
Cleansing of Bethel                     :15-20
The great Passover                     :21-23
Battle of Megiddo; Josiah's death           :29-30

     It is remarkable how there could be such an alternation of very wicked kings and very good ones as is found in this part of Jewish history, fathers and sons having Such diametrically opposite characteristics. Josiah is a great reformer, like Hezekiah; he purified the land, "repaired the temple, and celebrated the Passover, as did Hezekiah. These two are extolled as the greatest kings since David. (23:25 and 18:5-6.) On the other hand, Ahaz, Manasseh, and Amon are the worst of all the kings of Judah. This shows how there is preparation for a judgment (here the destruction of Jerusalem), by drawing out a stronger difference between good and evil, and thus a separation, as the evil become more and more wicked, and the good fight harder against evils, and for the protection of their life of religion. Solomon himself was somewhat good and somewhat bad. After him, there were several kings who are called good, and others who were evil; but none of them are described in such strong terms as these last.

     There is also shown here the difference between the real nature of the Jews and their representative character. They were always strongly inclined to idolatry, and repeatedly fell into it. It was only by disaster or fear that their thoughts were turned to the Lord. The reigns of the evil kings set forth clearly this real character. Still, they represented a church that loves and worships the Lord alone, and is built upon His Law or Word. The labors of Hezekiah and Josiah restored the representation, so that under them the nation represented heaven and all that is good; yet they could not change the real nature of the people. Hence it is said that, "notwithstanding, the Lord turned not from the fierceness of His great wrath. . . . And the Lord said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem. . ." (23:26-27.) That form of representation was drawing to a close.

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     The whole period was one of peace. It was unusually long, The battle of Megiddo was in 609 B.C., approximately one hundred years after the invasion by Sennacherib. These kings were contemporaneous with Esarhaddon and Asshurbanipal, two of the greatest kings of Assyria, both of whom sent armies through Palestine to Egypt. But the kings of Judah were faithful tributaries. It was Josiah's duty as a vassal to go against the Pharaoh of Egypt. Megiddo is 56 miles north of Jerusalem, at the edge of the plain of Esdraelon. There Josiah was slain, and this was the end of the peace and prosperity of Judah. Practically, it was the end of the Kingdom, for those who came after were mere puppets, put up and removed at the nod of a foreign master.

     It is almost incredible that the books of the Law should have been, lost, so that even the priests were ignorant of their existence. It was the great and providential accomplishment of Josrah's reign that those ancient scriptures were found and restored to the knowledge of the people. The Law was read to them, and they pledged themselves to obey it. Though Jerusalem fell, and the people were taken away, there were always, from that time on, some loyal and devoted men who protected, preserved, and also taught the Law as the Divine Word, and as God's most precious gift to men. And now, after 2500 years, it has become the peculiar duty of the New Church to cherish that same Law, and to proclaim its Divine origin and authority, and to lead men to it as the Way of Life.

     LESSON NO. 33-LAST YEARS AND FALL OF JERUSALEM.

     (2 Kings 23:30-37; 24 and 25.)
Analysis:
Jehoiakim king, Egypt dominant               ch. 23:31-37
Jehoiakim king, first Babylonian attack           ch. 24: 1-7
Jehoiachin king, second Babylonian attack           : 8-16
Zedekiah king, third attack, siege                : 17, ch. 25:7
Temple and city destroyed                    ch. 25:8-17
Principal men executed                     :18-21
Some rebellious Jews flee to Egypt                :22-26
Last days of Jehoiachim's reign                :27-30

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     The prophet Jeremiah was preaching in Jerusalem during this whole period. The book of his writing is full of allusions to this history, and gives many additional details; for the prophet was intimately concerned with all these events.

     The whole time, from the death of Josiah to the destruction of the temple, was twenty-two years and a few months. (609 to 586 B.C.) It divides in half, with two kings reigning eleven years each, and two, three months each, thus: Jehoahaz three months, Jehoiakim eleven years, Jehoiachin three months, Zedekiah eleven years. Note that the first, second, and fourth of these were brothers, sons of Josiah. Jehoiachin was his grandson. Note also that the two who had long reigns also had their names changed, the one by Necho, the other by Nebuchadnezzar. This was a sign of their oaths of obedience and of servitude.

     Necho of Egypt overwhelmed Josiah, carried off Jehoahaz to Egypt, and made Jehoiakim his tax-gatherer in Judah in 609 B.C. He went on to conquer the whole of Syria, even to the Euphrates river. Riblah (23: 33) is in Syria, about seventy miles north of Damascus. In 605, Nebuchadnezzar met Necho at Carchemish on the Euphrates and utterly defeated him, after which he proceeded to annex Syria and Palestine to his Babylonian dominions. He also made Riblah his headquarters. In 601, he arrived at Jerusalem, and Jehoiakim swore allegiance. (24:1.) Three years later, 598 B.C., Jehoiakim rebelled, and the Chaldeans, with their allies, besieged and captured the city. Jehoiakim died during the siege, and his son took the throne; but he was soon removed by Nebuchadnezzar, and his uncle was made king with the name Zedekiah.

     With Jehoiachin 18,000 captives were carried away to Babylon. (24:14-16.) This was the first captivity of the Jews (tribe of Judah), which Jeremiah prophesied would last for seventy years. (25:12, 29:1-14.) After reigning some years, Zedekiah conspired with Egypt add rebelled against the King of Babylon, whereupon Nebuchadnezzar again attacked Jerusalem, and captured it after a siege of about seventeen months. (25:1-3.) This time the city was completely destroyed; the temple and everything of value was carried away, and many more of the people. (Jeremiah 39:8-10.) Zedekiah had tried to escape from the city as soon as breaches had been made in the walls, but was seized and severely punished for his treachery. (25:4-7)

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Other leading men were executed, presumably because they had counseled or consented to the conspiracy with Egypt. (25:18-21.) Jeremiah was singled out from among these and saved. (Jeremiah 40:1-6.) The city was destroyed B.C. 586.

     The king had scarcely appointed a new governor before rebels slew him, and in fear of vengeance fled to Egypt. Other Jews also were afraid, and left the country for Egypt. These took Jeremiah with them, and apparently he died in that country.

     For the siege and final captivity of Judah, read Jeremiah 32 to 34, and 37 to 43. See also Isaiah 39, 2 Chronicles 36:11-21, and Ezekiel 12:12-13; and chapters 17 and 19. Jehoiachin is sometimes called Jeconiah and Coniah. It was through him that the royal line of David was preserved and carried on to the time of the Lord's Advent (Matthew 1:11-12). His being taken to Babylon was providential, for thus he was prevented from entering into conspiracies and meeting the fate of others of the family (e. g., Zedekiah); and he was among his own people, for the principal part of the Jewish nation was now in Babylon; also, his eventual elevation to some dignity and honor gave a standing of respectability to all the Jews there. Among the Jews in Babylon, there developed a devoted group of students of the Divine Law, and a movement for reformation, which afterwards had great results. From among them a remnant was gathered which was brought back to Jerusalem, and by means of these, preparation was made for the coming of the Lord and the gathering together of the disciples.

     LESSON NO. 34-PROPHECIES OF A RESTORATION.

     The Four Major Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel.
The Twelve Minor Prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.

     These are the books that comprise the last part of the Old Testament, and that part of The Word which follows after the histories and Psalms. The names should be committed to memory in their sequence. The distinction between "major" and "minor" is concerned mostly with the size of the books, but reflecting somewhat an idea of the relative prominence of the men themselves in the Jewish mind.

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Remember that these are also the names of men who lived during the last years of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah and during the captivity, and some even later in the period of restoration. Thus they were the preachers to the people in the darkest phase of their national life.

     Their chief interest for us is as prophets of a restoration. For in very many places in these books we find the promise and description of a future state of glory, happiness, prosperity, and peace for Israel and Jerusalem.

     There are three themes of predicted restoration: (1) The return of the Jews from Babylon to Jerusalem, with the rebuilding of the temple and restored national life and worship. (2) The Advent of the Lord in the flesh, and the gathering together of the people into the Christian Church. (3) The New Church, which the Lord is now establishing by means of His Second Advent, and which is called the New Jerusalem because it is the fulfilment pf prophecy and is the true Church that was represented by the ancient Jerusalem. The obvious sense of the passages in the Prophets is sometimes one of these themes, sometimes another, sometimes all together. But interiorly they all look forward through the first and second to the third for in the New Jerusalem are to be realized genuine charity and faith, with the heavenly blessings that can be given only in a church truly internal and spiritual. Also, the Jews were brought back to Jerusalem in order that some of them might be prepared to receive the Lord when He should come. The First Advent and the Primitive Christian Church were a preparation for the Second Advent and the Revelation of the Heavenly Doctrine. In general, the fruits predicted for the restored Jerusalem, and the prosperous enjoyment of them, described the abundance of spiritual good and truth that is given to men in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem.

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CROSS 1925

CROSS       Rev. R. J. TILSON       1925

     AS A SUITABLE SYMBOL TO BE USED IN PUBLIC WORSHIP.

     In Matthew 16:24, it is written: "Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." The mention of the cross in this trinity of duties in the regenerate life brings before the mind the orderliness and utility of using the cross as a symbol in public worship. Many in the New Church have an altogether too narrow view of the cross and its symbolism.

     Dr. Cobham Brewer, in his Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, very cogently remarks: "We are accustomed to consider the sign of the cross as wholly a Christian symbol, originating with the crucifixion of our Redeemer. This is quite erroneous. The ancient Egyptians employed the same as a sacred symbol."

     And the late Professor C. Th. Odhner, in his book on The Correspondences of Egypt-A Study in the Theology of the Ancient Church, speaks of the cross as "the most sacred emblem of the Christian faith." Bearing upon the subject, we read as follows in that most interesting work:

     Of all the symbols of the Egyptians, the one most frequently seen is the peculiar cross which is known as the "anch" or "crux anchata,"-formed by the combination of a cross and a loop which was, perhaps, originally a circle. Almost every Egyptian divinity carries the "anch" in one of his hands, while with the other he grasps the long staff or scepter, known as the "tcham." The rays proceeding from Aten, the god of the solar disk, terminate in hands, each of which extends an "anch" to the worshippers. The resurrected spirit is often represented as rising out of the sepulchre, holding an "anch" in each hand, and on his final entrance into "Amenti" or Heaven, the justified spirit is again presented with the "anch" and the staff, as the symbols of eternal life and spiritual power of progress and usefulness.

     While all Egyptologists admit that they do not know the origin of this symbol, or what natural object it represents, they unanimously declare that it signifies life, and especially life after death, eternal life.

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The reason for this signification they do not profess to know, but they tell us that the earliest Christians in Egypt adopted it as the symbol of the crucifixion, and it is frequently found on the Christian monuments in Egypt.

     To a New Churchman this interesting symbol suggests many things,-most obviously the crown of eternal life which is won by the cross of temptations. The signification of the cross, as meaning temptation, suffering, and death, was known to the Ancient Church throughout the world, long before the crucifixion of the Lord made it the most sacred emblem of the Christian faith. Its very form suggests at once the idea of the self-will of man, (the downward stroke), being broken by the level stroke of rational truth, the experience, when successful, resulting in the circle of eternal happiness. (Pp. 11, 13.)

     As to the signification of the "cross" in the words of the Lord to His disciples, quoted above, we read in the Apocalypse Revealed: "The spiritual temptations suffered by those who have faith in the Lord and live according to His precepts, while they are driving away the evil spirits that are with them, who act as one with their lusts, are signified by 'taking up the cross, and following the Lord'" (A. R. 639. See also Doct. Life 66; A. C. 4599, 10490; T. C. R. 126; A. E. 864, 893.)

     According to this Divine teaching, the cross at, once becomes the rightful symbol of a very important part of regeneration, which should ever be remembered by us in our worship. It should remind us of that "last temptation which the Lord endured as the Greatest Prophet, as it was the means of the glorification of His Human, that is, of His union with the Father." (T. C. R. 126.) Since the Lord's glorification is the pattern of man's regeneration, the cross should remind all worshippers of the need and use of temptations, wherein man resists and shuns all evil as sin against God. To bring this to remembrance, both what is done on the Lord's part and what is to be done on man's part, can assuredly be nothing but of the greatest use.

     Then, too, that the cross as a symbol should be given a place in our worship, is indicated in the following teaching in the True Christian Religion: "In baptism, an infant receives the sign of the cross upon his forehead and breast, which is a sign of his inauguration into the acknowledgment and worship of the Lord." (682.) And in the same Divine Book of the Second Advent, we read further: "That baptism involves purification from evils, and thus regeneration, may be very well known to every Christian; for when the infant is baptized, the priest with his finger makes the sign of the cross upon the forehead and the breast, as a memorial of the Lord." (685.)

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     Surely that which is a "sign of inauguration into the worship of the Lord" and a "memorial of the Lord" is not out of place in the offices and ceremonials of worship.

     Bearing in mind the teaching thus offered, it is assuredly neither seemly nor correct to refer to the cross as an "infernal thing," or as "the accursed tree, of which the gallows, the guillotine, and the electric-chair are but modern developments," as was done in the communication on "The Cross" by the Rev. T. S. Harris, published in NEW CHURCH LIFE for January, 1925. (P. 53.)

     Mr. Harris also states that "the cross on which the Lord was crucified signifies the evil of the Jewish nation,-that hatred of what is holy which inspired them to crucify Him who alone was holy." And for confirmation of this statement he refers the reader to A. E. 655. Careful reading of that passage will yield no support for the statement that the cross signified the "evil of the Jewish nation," but will indicate that the "punishment" desired by the Jews had that signification.

     That the First Christian Church, in its decadence, has abused the symbolism of the cross, is no reason why those of the truly Christian Church should do so with its Christian sign of Baptism. Abuse does not take away use, save with those who abuse. (D. L. W. 331.) That scientifics and symbols are abused and perverted in one Church or Dispensation does not prevent the same things from being of great value in a true Church, because rightly used there. (See A. C. 6917.)

     Let the New Church rejoice in the utility of displaying this "most sacred emblem of the Christian faith," especially on the Baptismal Altar, when the chancel permits of such. But let this emblem be associated always with the Crown; for it is eternally true that without the Cross there can be no crown; that is, without the successful combats of temptation there can be no regeneration, thus no entrance into life eternal.

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Church News 1925

Church News       Various       1925

     REPORT OF THE VISITING PASTOR.-On Saturday, April 25th, I officiated at the funeral of Mr. Oliver Bradbury at Pomeroy, Ohio. Mr. Bradbury's parents were among the early members of the New Church in Meigs County, in which Pomeroy and Middleport are situated. He was born in 1845. During the Civil War, he served his country as a soldier for almost the entire duration of that great conflict. After its close, he studied law, and entered its practice at Pomeroy. Always a New Churchman, however, for many years took little part in the life of the organized Church. But in recent rears he has been active in the Middleport Society. Here he will be greatly missed, especially at the doctrinal classes, where his keen interest, and at the same time his extensive knowledge of the Doctrines, contributed much to the success of these occasions. He was a man of strong convictions, which he put forth in vigorous words. And whoever knew him, knew that he was a New Churchman, and why.

     The day following the funeral being Sunday, I spent this with the Middleport Society. Services were held in the morning, with an attendance of twenty-nine, including children. In the evening, there was a doctrinal class at the church, at which twenty were present. A question which had arisen at Sunday School (which is now held regularly) was made the subject of consideration, namely, what is meant in the creed by the words, "I believe . . . in the communion of angels and men." It was shown that herein is involved the great doctrine of the relation of the two worlds and their dependence, each upon the other.
     F. E. WAELCHLI.

     THE SOUTH AFRICAN MISSION.-The outstanding event since the last report is the visit of the Rev. E. J. Pulsford to the Headquarters at Alpha. Mr. Pulsford is now visiting the South African New Church Native Mission of the English Conference. On March 15th, he conducted a service at the Alpha Church, and gave an impressive address to the native congregation. He also held a service at the Homestead, which was thoroughly appreciated by the small circle of General Church members who are stationed there. Owing to heavy rains and impassable roads, Mr. Pulsford's stay was prolonged. This gave opportunity for more intimate acquaintance, and also provided time for him to give some useful addresses to the native leaders of the General Church Mission.

     A further communication gives evidence of native initiative, which, in mission work, is always welcome. The teachers and Senior pupils of the Alpha School have instituted a "Literary Society." The program for the 1925 session-printed by the Mission Press-commences with a "Business Meeting" on February 11th, and concludes with a "Concert" on June 10th. The intervening Wednesdays provide the diversions of Debates, Reading of Essays, Oral Narratives, Lectures and a Musical Entertainment.
     F. W. E.

     THE HAGUE, HOLLAND.-Since our last communication two numbers, of De Ware Christelijke Godsdienst have come to hand, covering the months of January and February, 1925. Both numbers contain extracts from the Arcana Celestia on the internal sense of the Word in connection with a course of lectures being delivered by the Rev. E. Pfeiffer during the spring. Extracts from De Verbo and the Spiritual Diary, together with the usual society notices, complete the issues.

     The February number is accompanied by a list of the members-over 60-of the Swedenborg Society of the Hague, the majority of whom are also members of the General Church.     
     B. E.

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     CHICAGO, ILL.-At the Annual Meeting of Sharon Church, held in April, the Rev. W. L. Gladish, Acting Pastor, read his annual report, a copy of which has been sent us, and from which we learn that the total membership of this Society is now 62, having been increased by 17 new members during the past year. During the past year and a half, the new members totaled 28, a number of these having formerly belonged to the circle presided over by the late Rev. John Headsten.

     The present home of Sharon Church at 5220 Wayne Avenue, part of which is used for meetings, and the remainder as the residence of the Rev. Mr. Gladish and his family, was purchased two years ago, and since then the Society has been able to make a substantial reduction in the mortgage. The attendance at services averages about 40. Two Friday Suppers, with a Doctrinal Class, are held every month; the Young Peoples' Class, studying the work on Divine Providence, meets on two other Fridays in the month, with an average attendance of 19, and supper is also served on these occasions, making four Friday suppers a month at the church. The Ladies' Auxiliary meets once a month, when the Pastor presides at a reading from Worcester's Physiological Correspondences. The Auxiliary has an important place in the work of the Society, and has given notable help in meeting the payments on the property.

     In his address, the Pastor spoke of the cultivation of brotherly love as a means of upbuilding the church in ourselves and others. "The first thing toward this end is to refrain from gossip, to say no evil and think no evil of one another, to put the best possible construction upon the words and acts of others, to cultivate loyalty toward others because of their loyalty to the Church and the Doctrines. Love to the Lord is cultivated through love towards the neighbor. Nor is unselfish love of the neighbor a plant that grows spontaneously. To promote its growth, time and thought must be given to it. The ground must be prepared by searching self-examination. Weeds must be gathered by care in speech and action. And we must not expect too much perfection, in others, who are possibly as frail and sinful as we ourselves are. After these things have been done, then love of the neighbor may be positively cultivated in all ways. We might cultivate friendship with those from whom we hope to receive great favors, but the great favor we here seek is the strength and joy that come from the growth of true friendship with those who love the Heavenly Doctrine, the Lord, and the welfare of the human race. Let us earnestly strive to make Sharon Church known for its spirit of kindly charity, both among ourselves and toward others."

     NEW YORK.-Since the last report, all the different meetings have taken place regularly, at the homes of those same members who so kindly place them at the Society's convenience on all necessary occasions. During the Pastor's visits to Washington, services were conducted by Candidate Alan Gill and Candidate Elmo Acton, respectively.

     Our Local Assembly was held May 2 and 3. Proceedings began with a meeting at the home of Mr. and Mrs. G. S: Childs on the afternoon of Saturday, when Bishop N. D. Pendleton read a paper on "Scriptural Interpretations." In it he showed the inherent characteristics of the spiritual, which is ever towards ultimation on the natural plane, and dwelt most dearly and simply upon this necessity, in order "that the Scriptures might be fulfilled." Discussion followed, after which we partook of a buffet supper, which inaugurated the "social" of this year's Assembly. A thoroughly enjoyable evening was spent, friends from distances meeting and greeting one another, the whole occasion being graced and mellowed by the benign and sympathetic presence of the Bishop.

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     On the following day, Sunday, services were conducted at the Studio, with a very good attendance. Bishop Pendleton preached the sermon, his subject being "The Marriage of Isaac and Rebekah,"-the conjoining of the spiritual rational to natural truth. The congregation then adjourned to Hotel Emerson, where the banquet was held. After dinner, speeches and toasts were the order of the day, subjects on the program being: "The Church, in relation to the business world," by Mr. Kesniel C. Acton; "The Home," by Mr. Curtis K. Hicks; and "The Church, in its relation to the social order, as it affects the rising generation of the New Church," by Mr. Francis Frost. It is not our intention, to discuss the respective merits of the papers in these columns, but one would like to remark that this last by Mr. Francis Frost gave evidence of serious and rational thought on this most vital question; that Mr. Hicks had a happy inspiration when he used the Hebrew letter Beth as his simile for the home; and that Mr. Kesniel Acton is to be congratulated upon never coming into contact with the "bad" or unchristian-like type of business man. Unfortunately, we are not all so lucky, for he impinges upon most of us continually, even unto the daily necessities of life, in that the most needed things are "ringed," "combined," "held up," or "underproduced," in order to swell the profits of this same type. However, the papers were very interesting.

     Toasts to "Our Visitors," (of whom there were quite a number), "The Academy," and "The Church," were proposed, and the ever-fresh Academy songs were sung by the whole company. The Bishop, being requested by the toastmaster to speak again, graciously complied, dwelling earnestly and feelingly upon the society's future; the young people the Church at large; and, in concluding, manifested that large love and understanding, scope of vision, and beautiful balance, which endears him to all of us, and makes of his presence a veritable beatitude. All our celebrations are a success in the real sense of good fellowship and the rich sphere emanating therefrom, but when the Bishop is with us it is immensely increased. Would that we could have him oftener!

     The toastmaster, Mr. G. S. Childs, then proposed a toast to "Our Pastor," in which he drew attention to the many years of faithful service given the society by the Rev. Alfred Acton, speaking also of his impending resignation. Mr. Acton's reply to the toast was brief and graceful. This brought the Assembly to a close, after the Benediction by the Bishop. Came many hand-shakings, good-byes, good wishes till we should meet again, and the consciousness of having enjoyed a thoroughly good time.
     F. A. W.

     GLENVIEW, ILL.-April showers were more welcome than usual this spring, because on two occasions "it wasn't raining rain at all," but every kind of pot and pan and Pyrex baking dish. One such shower blew in the front door of the Alvin Nelson home, where Eleanor Lindrooth and David Gladish were unsuspecting guests. The opening of the gifts was enlivened by gems from the local poets, and by impromptu songs and quips from the side-lines. Later in the month, Hope and Werner Hager were similarly deluged.

     The children took their Spring Party very seriously, but they enjoyed it too, and were a pretty sight against the flower decorations, with their eager faces and colorful costumes. Every child took part, some in group dances, some alone. There was music too, ranging instrumentally from violin to mouth-organ. Incidentally, the talent displayed bodes well for the future of our Little Symphony Orchestra. After the program, ice cream and cake were served by the Woman's Guild, under whose auspices Vera Burnham acted as hostess for the occasion.

     It has been said that all men may be divided into two classes, those who like picnics,-and those who don't.

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The Glen-Chi Social Club is unanimously in the affirmative, to judge by the adjournment of its members to the woods after the last business meeting. The weather was one, and (summer visitors take note) there are never mosquitoes this early-even in Glenview!
     G. N.

     WASHINGTON, D. C.-On March 7th and 8th, we had the pleasure of a visit from the Rev. Homer Synnestvedt, of Pittsburgh, who exchanged pulpits with Mr. Acton. On this occasion we also enjoyed having Mrs. Horigan and her daughter Madeline, who were on a visit to Mrs. Betty Grant.

     Mr. Acton was with us on April 11th and 12th. We were glad that his visit came at Easter. It is rarely that we have our Pastor with us at Church Festivals, the New York Society generally having this privilege. Mr. Acton chose for his subject on Saturday, "The Uses of Angels." He brought out that, while we are in this world, we are performing our spiritual use, although this may not correspond with our natural use; and he warned us against thinking of spiritual uses from natural ideas, as such uses require spiritual ideas to comprehend them. Meeting but once a month, we take a different subject each time, as we find this more suitable. During the supper which followed the class the subject of "Prayers for the Dead" was discussed. The reporter gathered the impression that such prayers were not generally favored, the chief use of prayer being to the supplicant.

     Mrs. Coe and the genial Captain are leaving us for some months. We shall miss them, and hope they will eventually return to Washington. Our Theta Alpha Chapter is very small, but meetings are held frequently, and we endeavor to justify our existence.
     M. M. S.

     BALTIMORE-WASHINGTON ASSEMBLY.

     The Second Assembly of the Washington-Baltimore Societies is now history. The first session was held in Washington on May 2d at the home of Mr. Schott, and was presided over by the Bishop. The Rev. Messrs. Acton and Harris were also present. Over a dozen members of the Arbutus Society motored over, a distance of 35 miles. The Bishop read a most instructive paper in which he traced the gradual decline of the Church, necessitating the giving of a written Word, and showed how wonderfully the Word was written, in that, while it appeared to give incidents in the lives of nations and individuals, in its internal sense it was one connected whole, dealing with the Lord and the Church. After the reading of the paper, refreshments were served and the paper discussed. Owing to the distance to be traveled by our visitors, and the mode of transportation, the meeting closed early.

     The final session was held at Arbutus on Sunday, the 10th. Nine of us attended from Washington. The Bishop, in his sermon, gave us a wonderful exposition of the story of Ishmael and Hagar, showing the experiences through which the spiritual must pass, even until they are willing to acknowledge that of themselves they can do nothing; then the Lord can help them by opening their sight to see the "well of water" He has provided for them. The text chosen afforded a remarkable illustration of the manner in which the Word was written, as told by the Bishop's paper referred to above.

     Following the service, a banquet was provided by the Arbutus Society. Mr. Acton was toastmaster. The formal speeches were on "The Growth of the Church within us; its growth from the children, and its growth from without." Responses were made by Mr. Harris, Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Philip Stebbing. The toastmaster spoke on all these subjects, much to our edification and enjoyment. The last toast was to our Bishop, in which Mr. Acton expressed our appreciation of the benefits we had derived from his visit. The Bishop, in reply, emphasized the importance of preserving the group-spirit even though our numbers are few, and illustrated its power by reference to societies in the Church which had struggled along far years, and, while not growing in numbers, had contributed members to other New Church centers.

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We must keep up our courage, and remember that the Lord has said that where two or three are gathered together in His Name, He would be with them. The singing of "Our Own Academy" brought a most instructive and delightful Assembly to a dose.
     M. M. S.

     TORONTO.-Following the eventful period of our change of pastors, we settled down to the even tenor of our ways during March and April, the various uses being maintained with regularity and active interest. Sunday evening, May 3d, saw the final special monthly missionary service for this season. The subjects dealt with by our Pastor, under the general question, "What, then, are the Fundamentals of the True Christian Religion?" have been intensely interesting and instructive, clarifying our own thought and strengthening our faith in the Heavenly Doctrines. While there have been visitors at all these services, and always some who were hearing the Doctrines for the first time, we are unable to measure the success that has attended the effort. The seed has been well and faithfully sown, and we trust it has fallen on good ground. "The Lord giveth the increase."

     The Young People's Class meets on Sunday evenings at the various homes to study Divine Love and Wisdom. The general Doctrinal Class has concluded the study of the New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine, and has begun the True Christian Religion, so that, with the Society at Glenview, this work is being studied at two of our centers.

     On Sunday afternoon, April 26, the Ladies' Choral Club gave us another of their delightful musical entertainments, combining in several numbers with the children of the Day School, the latter also contributing as the "Rhythm Orchestra" to a very enjoyable program. By a skillful arrangement of plants, flowers, rugs and furniture from various homes, our basement room became a large drawing room, and this, with the serving of afternoon, tea, brought quite a homey sphere to a very successful and pleasing event.

     The Ladies' Circle held its annual election on May 5th, when Mrs. Craigie succeeded Mrs. Peter Bellinger as President, the other officers being: Vice-President, Mrs. F. Wilson; Secretary, Mrs. H. P. Izzard; Treasurer, Mrs. Fred E. Longstaff. Here's the best of good wishes for a successful year in the realm of their work! Among the men, the question of the hour is: "Are you going to Pittsburgh?"
     F. W.

     ALEXANDER SHAW PENDLETON.

     In the passing of Mr. Pendleton, a staunch and affectionate New Churchman has gone to join the fold in the other life. An isolated member of the General Church, he was always deeply interested in the uses of the general body, and gave liberally of his means to their support. A man of quiet and retiring demeanor, a closer acquaintance revealed a keen mind, a warm heart, and a genuine modesty which made him beloved of all who knew him.

     A son of Major Philip Coleman Pendleton, who, during the Civil War, became a receiver of the Heavenly Doctrines, Alexander was one of a family of nine who followed in their father's footsteps by entering the New Church. He was ten years older than his brother, Nathaniel Dandridge, our Bishop, and ten years younger than the Bishop Emeritus, William Frederic Pendleton, who is the eldest of the family. Early choosing the career of a merchant, he established a large and successful wholesale business, and was held in the highest regard in his own community, as well as in the South generally.

     Bishop N. D. Pendleton went to Valdosta to officiate at the funeral, and Mr. Louis Pendleton accompanied him.

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     LOUIS J. SCHOENBERGER.

     The Pittsburgh Society has lost one of its most loved and most useful members in the departure of Louis Schoenberger for the other world. For many years active in the councils and works of the society, his affection centered most strongly upon the use of educating the children in the sphere of the Heavenly Doctrines. He loved the Church with his whole heart, and supported it to the fullest extent of his ability. It was especially the quality of his affection that was so much appreciated by our teachers; for he was both interested and helpfully critical, and never anything but most warmly affirmative,-a quality that is also most helpful to a pastor.

     For in these early days of the Church our numbers are small, and the difficulties correspondingly great. We have no powerful sphere of established authority, nor are our most cherished traditions always well understood or appreciated. The idea easily obtrudes itself that our schools are merely private schools which ought to cater to family preferences in all things. Instead of the backing of a wide public, with all the political power behind us, we must shift as best we may, keeping our worship, our religious truths, our high standards of loyalty and duty, uppermost, and at the same time seeing that our pupils excel the average in secular subjects. To do this requires special training, a deep-seated New Churchmanship, and extra skill, on the part of our teachers. We must be unremitting in following up our assignments of work, putting pressure upon the lazy or unwilling pupil. As long as a child is naturally bright and quick, and the reports are favorable, all goes well. But when it becomes necessary to find fault, and to begin the steady process of making life uncomfortable for the shirker, the parents also find it hard to "stay with us."

     Here is where our friend was of such a great help, keeping in friendly touch with the teachers, and appreciating what was needed and intended,-the kind of backing that is essential to such a great and fundamental use as New Church education. He appreciated how short-sighted it is to allow pupils to become deficient in elementary subjects, thus feeling handicapped later on instead of satisfied with their attendance at Church School. While it is indeed necessary to sacrifice something for the religious element, the lack of which produces a generation that has not the Word of God as the center of its thought and affection, yet the continued growth of this most vital use demands that we bring it up to a thoroughly efficient standard as to essentials, both secular and religious. Louis was interested in such an improvement, but he also realized that, in spite of imperfections, there was a living loyalty in it all to which he owed his dearest inheritance,-his knowledge of the New Church, and an ability to appreciate its finer things.

     Generous, patient, but clear-sighted, possessed of unfailing courtesy, he was naturally well-liked, and will be missed accordingly. But he has left us a goodly residue, who will no doubt carry forward his work; and surely we shall not lose the inspiration of his spirit from the other side.
     H. S.

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ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH 1925

ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH       WILLIAM WHITEHEAD       1925




     Announcements.



     The Annual Joint Meeting of the Faculty and Corporation of the Academy of the New Church, to hear and consider the reports for the school year 1924-1925, will be held at the School Buildings, Bryn Athyn, Pa., on Saturday, June 13, 1925, at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
     WILLIAM WHITEHEAD,     
          Secretary.

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STATEMENT BY THE ORPHANAGE COMMITTEE 1925

STATEMENT BY THE ORPHANAGE COMMITTEE       Various       1925

     The Orphanage Committee desires to call the attention of the Members of the General Church to the following:

     The Orphanage has just been called upon to assume added financial responsibilities, so that its expenditures now slightly exceed $200.00 a month, or $2,400.00 a year; and it is probable that this amount will be increased to at least $230.00 a month. The income of the Orphanage Fund last year amounted to $1,075.00, of which $210.00 was from interest on investments, and $865.00 from contributions. Under the circumstances, therefore, unless the contributions to the Orphanage Fund are increased in the very near future, the Committee will be obliged to draw upon, its invested fund. This fund is the aggregate of three or four testamentary bequests that have been made to the Orphanage, and now amounts to $4,000.00.

     It has been the desire of the Orphanage Committee to use these bequests as the beginning of a permanent fund. Such a fund is a necessity in the case of an institution such as ours, upon which wholly unexpected demands may come at any time. The Committee is, therefore, extremely loth to draw on its invested fund, and does not wish to do so without giving this information to the Church. The Committee, however, is still more anxious to maintain the support of those fatherless children who are now under its financial care. It is -in the hope, therefore, that when the members of the Church realize the situation, the support in voluntary contributions will be so increased as to make it unnecessary to reduce what we hope will be the nucleus of a permanent investment fund.

WALTER C. CHILDS,
ANTON SELLNER,
ALFRED ACTON.

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HUMANIZING THE DIVINE 1925

HUMANIZING THE DIVINE        N. D. PENDLETON       1925


NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. XLV          JULY, 1925           No. 7
     The central idea of New Church theology-that which distinguishes it from every variant form of the Christian religion-is expressed by the phrase "Divine Human,"-a phrase which, as it stands, presents an apparent contradiction of terms, much as if one should speak of an infinite finite. And is not this an irreconcilable contradiction? For is not the Divine infinite, and the human finite? A finite can only become infinite by the removal of all its limits, in which case the finite, as such, ceases to be. And may not the same be said of the human and the Divine? If the human of the Lord became Divine, as by glorification, whereby the human from the mother was put off, and the Divine of the Father put on, was not that which may fairly be called "human" eradicated? Could anything be left after such a process save the abstract Infinite, the pure and unconditioned Infinite, which was before the world came into being, or men and angels were created? This putting of the case seems severely logical. Yet we note that the God whom we are called upon to worship by New Church doctrine and ritual is not this limitless invisible, but instead the God-Man, called in the Writings the "Divine Human."

     Granted that by glorification the human from the mother was put off, and the Divine of the Father put on; yet that which stood forth after the resurrection was not the primordial Infinite, as it was in and from eternity, but Jesus Christ glorified. In other words, while the glorifying process made the human Divine, did it not also make the Divine Human?

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That is to say, were there not two modes involved in the glorification,-two movements, as it were,-the one whereby the Human ascended to a Divine status, and the other whereby the Divine descended to Human conformation?

     Of these two reciprocal movements in the process of the Lord's glorification, the last is especially important to our present argument. For if we only see the human ascending and becoming Divine, then is our Lard lost to view in the Infinite, and we shall not know where or how to find Him. But if, on the other hand, we are given to perceive the Divine descending to human conformation, we behold a process of conditioning the Divine to finite reception, and so also to permanent presence and visibility. Now the Divine, thus become Human, is the true Divine Human, and the process of its making is not only that first mode by which the Divine assumed a material human from the mother Mary, but specifically that later process of glorification whereby the Divine by successive stages let Itself down into, and conformed itself to and with, the Human form; so that it is lawful to say that the Divine Human was in this way continuously born, and ever more fully conditioned to the Human structure, and therefore to visibility, becoming in the process even as if finite, but never actually so.

     It should be clearly seen that if glorification was effected by a single process,-a simple upward movement to a Divine status by a mere elimination, whereby the finite put off its parts and became infinite;-if, in such manner only, the human became Divine, then there could be no other result than an unqualified return to the status quo ante; that is, to the abstract Infinite, to the invisible Divine, aforetime seen only through finite representatives. But if, on the other hand, a counter process in glorification be recognized, if the Divine becoming Human be perceived in the way described, then may we see that a new and different conditionment of the Divine was provided for by the glorification, which gives us that which is so aptly called in the Writings the "Divine Human,"-the God become and remaining Man.

     In speaking of those ancient divinings of men by which was foreshadowed one side of the Lord's glorification, Jane Harrison remarks that many men in ancient days ascended the ladder which led to Godhead, but that in so doing they vanished from human sight; such vanishment being the inevitable end.

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She notes, however, that some of them, a few, were for some reason arrested on the way, and so retained a faint degree of visibility, becoming vague mythological personalities, gods of low visibility.

     Now truly these gods, one and all, were but prophetic forecasts of Him who was to be born into the world, only to reascend to the Father, and who, in His coming and going, was to present, not only the idea, but also the fact, of man's becoming God, and of God becoming Man. But here note again, that if this Man became God, and this only, He thereby withdrew into the invisible Infinite, never more to be seen; but if, by a reciprocal process, the God became Man, and ever more Man as glorification advanced, then the Divine thereby took to itself a form and presence even as a new and Human Divine of permanent presence and power, and this in the Person of a single individual, a Man, by whom and in whom the Divine was conditioned as never before.

     For the doctrine is, that before the assumption and glorification God had not a Human of His own, or individual to Himself, but that afterwards He had. He indeed had an aforetime Human, called the Ancient of Days, but this Human, while in Itself Divine, was not His very own; that is, it was not individual to Him. This ancient Divine Human was none other than the Divine as it was received and conditioned by the angels of the celestial kingdom. This in time, as we know, and with the fall of man, became inadequate; and because of this, the necessity arose for a further conditionment, a more ultimate humanizing of the Divine, and this by a special individualization of it, to be in the world of men, and for a time a Man among men, but not thereafter as an angel among angels. Instead, the risen, the glorified Lord transcended both earth and heaven; and yet, even in His transcendence, He maintained His intimate Human touch with both heaven and earth, by virtue of the fact that the Divine had become an individual Human, and as such was competent to maintain that touch which is possible only to the human form and structure, that is, a touch with all the create planes of life, which involved, not only the full presence of the Divine Human on those planes, but also its visibility to the spiritual sight of angels, and as well to the inward sight of those men who, like the angels, worship the Lord glorified.

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     If, by glorification, man became God, and if by the same token God procured for Himself an individual Human, which now stands in place of the ancient Divine Human,-the Divine, as conditioned by the celestial angels,-then may we conclude that there is a marked difference, not only in the relation of this individual Human of God to men and angels, on the one hand, but also to the Divine Itself, on the other. And both of these conclusions are strictly borne out by the teachings of the Writings.

     This teaching is, that by the procuration of an individual Human, God not only drew nearer to man, but the Human procured also became more fully united with the Divine in se, or the Father, than was possible to the former, the ancient Divine Human. This has a strange sound. But consider. The former Divine Human, while clearly Divine in Itself, was yet at all points involved in finite human relations, in that it was embodied in a multitude of angels, imperfect beings at best, on which account that Divine partook, as it were, of the angels' imperfections, and was in that degree separate or apart from the Divine above the heavens, because of its being drawn down into so many incomplete forms of recipiency. It was because of this that the ancient Divine Human, at the call of falling man, was found wanting, unequal to the need. However, its impotency became evident only when the need arose for the exercise of a greater power than that Human was capable of, under the circumstance of its imperfect angelic embodiment. Just here it was that the individual Human of God, when procured by glorification, fulfilled the need by presenting a perfect medium, at once Divine and Human.

     In this it is that Christ is more, inexpressibly more, than all the angels, since He in Himself provides a medium of competent contact and adequate power,-a Divine Human medium individual to God, and therefore no longer dependent on angelic mediation, with its accompanying fallibilities. Hence the saying, and the truth thereof, that this new and individual Human could be, and therefore became, more one with the Divine Itself than was possible to the former Divine Human with and among the angels. Necessarily so. For though the angels, in their integrity, received and conditioned the Divine of the Father, making it as if Human, yet such reception by them was always partial, broken, divided into many.

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Because of this fact, the Divine in and with the angels did not and could not bring about the glorification of the heavens, that is, of the angels constituting heaven; but this was just that which came to pass with the individual Human assumed, namely, it was truly, fully, and clearly glorified.

     The angels, though very good, were ever imperfect; though immortal, they ever remained finite. It was otherwise with our Lord, who, when a man in the world, received into his bosom the Divine fire of Love and appropriated it to Himself, and was thereby glorified, so that even as to His Body He was exalted above the heavens. But here let me repeat, that in so doing, or in so becoming, He did not vanish from spiritual sight, was not lost to view in the primordial Infinite, but that, in making His Human Divine, He at the same time, and by a reciprocal process, made His Divine Human, which now outstands as the very God of heaven and earth. This outstanding Human is now visible to every spiritual eye, is now competent to every human need, and equal to every adaptation called for by human states of life; and this apart from, though of mercy joined with, angelic administrations. This, then, is that Divine Human of which the Scripture and the Writings bear testimony.

     II.

     It is not my purpose in this paper to inquire as to whether this individual Human of God, this personal Divine Man, requires some special physical basis in nature, some peculiar ultimate foothold, as in the reliquiae of the former material body, in order to bind and hold the proprial Human in form and permanent standing, that is, to hold it back from relapsing into the invisible Infinite; or whether, on the other hand, the derivation and production from the infinite Divine into the mold of the human organic was of such virtue, and carried with it such self-potency and permanency of form, as to enable it to maintain itself in the lines and flow, the function and service, of the Human form Divine, and this by virtue of its own inherent composition, whereby it presents an outstanding Divine Human, not other than the Infinite, yet as a new issue thereof, derivative from the Infinite, and composed to finite human needs. To me this latter is unbelievable. But in any case we must acknowledge the Divine Human as a permanent accommodation, an abiding conditionment of the Infinite to finite human reception.

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This is fundamental.

     Certainly the ancient Divine Human was also an accommodation of the Infinite, and as such still holds, and will ever hold; that is, as long as the heavens endure and angels continue to be. But that Human no longer stands alone. It is now sustained, around and about, beneath and above; for it is embodied within the individual Human of Christ the Lord, whose lifelines not only encompass the former Divine Human, but also infill and enclose total creation, spiritual and natural.

     But is there here any differing from the original status of the former creative Divine,-the Word in the beginning? And did the glorifying of the Human of Christ make any change in and from the original Divine? Did it result in any alteration in the modes of the primordial Infinite? For myself, I can only answer in the affirmative. It seems to me that twice within the range of the Infinite procession there came a change of mode. The first was when the lifelines of the pure and continuous Infinite turned upon themselves as a result of the will to create, thereby producing circling foci in the primal Infinite, in image of the after finites, which foci became the initiaments of creation. And that once again there was given a change of mode when an individual Divine Human was produced after the manner of man's regeneration, by infilling an individual human form and structure, from inmosts to outmosts, with Divine Life, which Life was thereby so accommodated and adapted, so conditioned by and to the original material human, that the Divine thereafter maintained Itself as Human, that is, as a Divine Human in likeness to a natural man.

     My point is, that the Divine Human of the personal advent, though one with the Infinite, by virtue of its nature and derivation, is not as that Infinite in its inscrutable Infinitude, but is in fact and now a Human form Divine, in essence Infinite, and one therewith, but in its self-construction, and in likeness to perception as the finite form of man, by which form it was conditioned when by glorification the Divine became Human and the Human Divine. It will be observed that my thesis turns upon a teaching not so often insisted upon, namely, that by glorification God became Man,-the Divine Human,-and the Infinite as if finite.

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     Now the Infinite is in the finite of its creation always and everywhere, though it bears no ratio thereto. Yet it may be said that, as the Infinite is thus in the finite, it is there so conditioned that it may be therein as if finited. However, if once the finite be destroyed, the Infinite therein will resume its own Infinite status; that is, it will no longer be as if finited, but become again the pure continuous Infinite.

     But let us suppose that on some occasion, on one occasion, by Divine miracle, there was given a process of Divining other than that of mere destruction of the finite, other than a simple process of elimination,-namely, a process of glorification whereby the finite, even as the bush at Sinai, burned with Divine fire, and yet was not destroyed, and this because that finite, by a graded process of elimination and restoral, was so infilled with the Divine that, while it became one therewith as to the substance thereof, it nevertheless retained its adaptation to finition. This is but a crude illustration of that which we may presume to have come to pass with the body of the Lord at its glorification, His finite body. And certainly that body was once finite, and must needs have undergone a gradual change,-a change from material to Divine substantial, which enabled it me and more to meet, receive, and incorporate in itself the descending fire of Divine Love.

     What shall we say of this process? What of the result? And what of the original finite organism which was the base of the operation?

     The process in question was indeed one of elimination and restoral, so far as the body was concerned. The result in the end, however, was not a mere relapse into the abstract Infinite, but an outstanding Divine Human, maintained as one with the Infinite, though this oneness was not a simple identity or sameness. This oneness was that of a body in perfect correspondence with its soul; only in this case there was an infinitely perfect correspondence (A. C. 1414), as of an Infinite Soul with a body made Divine. This was a correspondence such as had never existed between the soul and body of any man or any thing, but only in the case of our Lord; for such an infinite and perfect correspondence could be given only between an Infinite Soul and a Divine Body.

     At this point I refrain from calling the glorified Body of the Lord infinite, lest it be taken as abstractly infinite, and vanish from the sight of thought; but instead, I would speak of it as Divine and also Human.

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For it seems to me that, by its glorification, the body maintained its as if finite form and quality, for the sake of its presence and address in and with the actual finite form of man; that is to say, the Divine Human retained that human conditionment called in the Writings its "accommodation," which was insisted on by the infillment of the material human vessel with the Divine. Such infillment was the necessary mode by which the Divine took upon Itself the lines and structure of the Human Body, and, it seems to me, took them on in perpetuity, and now and ever maintains that Human form Divine, even by a new flow and movement within and from the In- finite. It seems to me that, by virtue of this fact, our Lord may now present Himself in His own Divine Human form before the eyes of spirits and angels.

     It may be held that a new movement, a different flow within and from the Infinite, is inconceivable, since the Infinite comprises all possible movements at all times. But this is an abstraction, from which it may be dangerous to reason with severe logic, since to do so would not allow of that notable change in the movement of the Infinite which arose from the will to create. If it be held that there always was an ultimate will to create, it follows of necessity that creation always was; and this is not tenable. We must assume a time when the will to create effected itself; for then, and not until then, creation arose, and this by virtue of a change of movement within the Infinite. And so also there was a time when the Divine willed to take to Itself a human form create, and glorify it. This also involved a change of movement in and from the Infinite. And this I think we must allow, in the face of the truth that the Infinite is ever the same and changeless, from eternity to eternity.

     But the things here said are of necessity according to the appearance, and, as it were, in a manner of speaking. The word "change" may not always have the same significance. Yet the fixed power of words is great, and we can never be quite rid of their dominance, so as to reason from pure ideas; and even ideas are limited things, and more or less in the way. Also, there is ever the danger of too much abstraction, especially in our thought of the Lord and His Infinity. We are warned that we cannot grasp the Infinite, and are admonished to direct our thought to the Divine Human.

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     Happily, we are given to see that Human in the New Testament, and the impression of Him there can never be effaced. We are also given in the Writings a revelation of the inner modes of His glorification, and this revelation demonstrates His union with the Father, and thereby confirms the New Testament vision of His Person. And while this demonstration exalts His Humanity to Divinity, yet it does not permit His Person to vanish in the infinite void, but, on the contrary, gives a counter-revealing of that Infinite in the Human form Divine,-a manifesting of the Father in the Son, whose glorious beauty and world-compelling love takes hold of the hearts of men with redeeming power. And this, because of the veritable Divinity made manifest in His Person, in His Human so aptly called in the Writings the "Divine Human,"-a phrase of seeming contradiction, indeed, but this to the end that men may by reflection grasp the fact that, if the Human by glorification became Divine, then it must needs be that by a reciprocal mode the Divine also became Human. And if we have grasped this last, we shall, I think, have in mind that deep secret without which we may fail to comprehend, even in a general way, the essential virtue, and as well the especial purpose, involved in the fact and process of glorification.

     The point in question has been stated with some iteration, because it involves the definition of a counterprocess to that expressed in the almost invariable formula employed in the Writings, namely, that "by glorification the Human was made Divine." This is the phrase everywhere current. It is also the outstanding fact of His progressive glorification; that is, we see Him at the beginning of His life, and outwardly, as human; at the end of His life, we perceive Him as Divine. His obvious progression was, as it were, from the human to the Divine. Hence the constantly recurring phrase, that "by glorification He made His Human Divine." Only once, to my knowledge, is the other, the counterprocess, which we have called the "Humanizing of the Divine," formulated concurrently with the first and usual formula. In A. C. 2034, it is said that "when in the Lord the Human was made Divine, and the Divine Human, then was there given an influx of the infinite with man which could not otherwise have existed." In brief, when the Divine was made Human, then was the Infinite accommodated, because by that means only could it be adapted to human reception.

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Note the confirmatory statement in A. C. 6982, that "in order to be heard, the Divine must first become Human." This of old by passing through the heavens, but now by virtue of the interrelation between the Divine and its own or proprial Human.

     However, we are not dependent for our knowledge of this Humanizing of the Divine upon the phrasing of a single number, for the principle thereof is clearly given in all that is said concerning the glorification as a reciprocal process of union. The term "reciprocal" implies an advance to union on both sides. (A. C. 2004.) From the Infinite or Jehovah side, the advance was from good, while from the Human the advance was from truth. (A. C. 2005.) Approximation was accomplished, however, by the Divine putting on something natural, and the Human putting on the celestial. (A. C. 2137.)

     Another statement is, that the Lord continually implanted the Human in the Divine, in order that a reciprocal marriage might take place. (A. C. 2574.) And this union was effected on the part of the Human by Truth, and on the part of the Divine by Good. (A. C. 2665.) Hence that which is called the Divine Human came forth from the Divine Good, and was born of the Divine Truth. (A. C. 3194.) It was not born of the Virgin. The Truth in the Human thus became receptive of the Divine Love descending. (A. C. 6834.) And this progressively; for it was by virtue of the fact that the Human, in its development, formed itself into successive receptacles, into which the Father might enter. (T. C. R. 73.) And so it follows that the Human gradually "acquired" the Divine. And it is stated that, when the Human had in this way "acquired so much of the Divine," the Lord could then unite the Divine Itself to the acquired Divine. (A. C. 2636.)

     Here, then, we see as it were two Divines,-the one above, the other below, the one of the Infinite extense, the other in the Human form. And in that form the Divine was "acquired." These two Divines were for a time as distinct, yet were to be united by glorification. The point to note is, that the "acquired" Divine stood as below in Human formation,-as the Divine Humanized. Moreover, we are given to believe that, when this lower Human Divine was reunited with the Supreme, it was not thereby dehumanized, else it could never have been said that the Divine Human stood forth an Essence by Itself.

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And it is to be further noted that the bearing of many revealed teachings is, that the Divine Human did so stand forth to be and to become a perpetual Mediator, without which the Infinite could not be accommodated to human reception. And hence the saying that no truth can pass to angels or men save by way of the Divine Human. (A. C. 2016, 2359, etc.)

     This Divine Human is therefore a specialized Human conformation of the Divine, given in mediation; and so it is called the Lord's "proper Divine" (Ath. 119), His "Proprium Divine" (A. C. 4735), and as well a Human "additamentum" (A. C. 1461), which, by virtue of its Divine self-potency (A. C. 2025), stood forth as an Essence per se (A. C. 3061), and which, as His own individual Human, made Divine, embodied within Itself, not only the Supreme, but also the former Divine Human, established aforetime in and with the angels, but which is not now dependent in any degree for its virtue and potency upon any or all of the angels. This Divine Human is Infinite, because of its union with the Father. It is Human, because of its formation in the Person of the Lord. It is Divine, because of its pure derivation, its clear out-drawing from the unknowable Infinite. It is Human, because this derivation fell into the Human of Christ the Man. This Divine Human, both by virtue of its derivation and its conformation, presents itself upon all the planes of the human organic in creation, thereby making the Divine adaptable, visible, approachable and conjoinable, to and with the human race, and therefore competent to racial salvation.

     How significant, then, is the phrase "Divine Human!" And how that phrase tells the story, not only of our Lord's outer life as a Man in the world, but also of His inner Divine constitution; of His outer life, as it reveals the Man ascending to and at length becoming God, and of His inner constitution, as it defines the God continually descending and becoming Man; and both of these by and through the miracle process of glorification! And all this in fulfillment of the Divine will that salvation should be brought within the reach of vast numbers of men who would otherwise be lost, which last was accomplished by the Divine bringing Itself by this means within the purview of men, making Itself visible, and thereby establishing contact, whereby was opened the way of communion. For without this communion between man and His God, there is no salvation.

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BURNT OFFERING 1925

BURNT OFFERING       Rev. GILBERT H. SMITH       1925

     "This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations, at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord." (Exodus 29:42.)

     What of the ancient, historical burnt offering? What does it signify and represent? How did it originate? The holocaust or burnt offering, in which whole animals were burnt upon an altar, signified worship from love. Worship of the Lord from love is the highest and holiest worship. The burnt offering, therefore, stands at the head of a long list of offerings. We read in the Word about burnt offerings and sacrifices, meat offerings, peace offerings, trespass offerings and sin offerings; but the burnt offering was the chief among them. It signifies worship of the Lord from love.

     The burning of an entire animal upon an altar originated in the end of that Ancient Church which was called Noah. Before that Church arose, there was an open communication of men with heaven, and consequently an internal worship such as never afterwards existed. Men saw in natural things, in all that their eyes looked upon, something heavenly and Divine. When they looked upon a mountain, their thought was led immediately to the abstract idea of height and elevation, and thence to heaven, and at last to the Lord. This is the very reason why the Lord was called the Highest and the Most High. When they beheld the dawn, they thought not of the coming of a new day only, but their thought was led on to the idea of the dawn in the mind and the coming of the Lord with light. Hence they originated other names for the Divine. He was called the Morning, the Dawn, the East, and the Day-spring. When they beheld a tree, their thought was not arrested by the tree itself, but they saw in it the representative of man. The fruit of the tree gave them the thought of charity and love; the leaves, truth and faith. All nature was thus living and happy and joyful to them, for visible things in nature always turned their thought to things heavenly. Thus animals of all sorts meant to them, and reminded them of, the affections of love in great variety.

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And since they knew that all worship consists in love and affection for the Divine, they said that they offered animals to Jehovah in worship, and that the animals were burnt whole, although they never actually burned or offered them upon an altar. It was only their correspondential way of saying that they worshiped Jehovah altogether from love.

     But after that time, in the Ancient Church, called Noah, when men no longer looked upon nature as a theater of heavenly and Divine things, their minds were held in the natural objects themselves. Yet there remained a knowledge with them of what the various things in nature were representative of,-the knowledge of correspondences. Natural objects no longer enlightened their thought spontaneously with heavenly and Divine ideas, but they still had from doctrines a knowledge of what different things meant or signified. These doctrinal knowledges were handed down to them through men who are called in the Word Cain and Enoch. Therefore it is said of Cain that "a mark was set upon him, lest anyone should kill him." And of Enoch it was said that he was "taken by God," that is, saved from destruction.

     It was from their doctrinal knowledge of what a mountain signifies that they began having worship in mountains. They also held worship in groves and among trees, because of their knowledge of what trees signify. And they began to burn animals upon an altar, a thing which Jehovah had never required them to do actually, but which He permitted them to do because it was representative of worship, and also because, by permitting them to offer animals, He thus prevented their offering sacrifice of human beings.

     Thus worship by means of burnt offerings upon altars was not a new thing with the Jewish Church. Originally, altars were built merely to stand as memorials of the Lord. Altars were built long before men began to offer oxen and sheep upon them. It was not desired by the Lord, but permitted them, because they could do nothing more than act as representatives of worship. Hence we read: "Sacrifice and offering, O Jehovah, Thou hast not desired. . . . Burnt offerings and sin offerings, Thou hast not required. . . . I have desired to do Thy will, O my God; yea, Thy law is within my heart." "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings." Yet, to us, the knowledge of God and of heavenly things is to come through the interpretation of these very sacrifices and offerings as practiced with the Jews.

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The Lord commands in the text that there shall be "a perpetual burnt offering throughout our generations, before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation."

     The burnt offering with the Hebrews was the most holy thing of their worship, because, it represented the celestial things of love. The burnt offering differed from other sacrifices, in that the flesh and the blood were entirely consumed by fire, and nothing of it was eaten. Thus they who worship the Lord from love worship Him wholly. There is nothing of self-interest or self-intelligence in it, as would be represented by saving a part of it to eat, or not burning it with fire completely. Such is the complete purification of man. The burning of whole oxen, bullocks, and he-goats represents the purification of the external man; and so it is said of the church and of worship, when in its perfection: "Then shalt Thou be pleased with offerings and whole burnt offerings; then shall they offer bullocks upon Thine altar." And the purification of the internal of man is represented by the burning entire of rams, kids, and she-goats; but the purification of the very internal itself, or the inmost man, by the sacrifice or burning whole of lambs. Thus the various kinds of whole burnt offerings among the Jews represented the entire purification of men, from their external to their inmost,-soul, mind, and life,-body, soul, and spirit.

     Men make sacrifices to the Lord in the first state of their regeneration, when they cast false ideas out of their minds, and receive truths. But this is different from making the whole burnt offering. A man makes this when he loves the truths that have been implanted in his mind, and acts from them. There are two states represented by sacrifices, on the one hand, and by burnt offerings on the other. Thus the burnt offering signifies the conjunction of Divine Truth with good in the man, or the giving of the will of man fully to the Lord's leading by truth. The burnt offering signifies the state when the will and the understanding are being united. In the highest sense, however, which relates to the Lord, the Old Testament sacrifices signify the casting out of evils and falsities from the Lord's human, and the burnt offering represents the unition of that Human with the Divine and Infinite Life of Jehovah within Him. The burnt offering, in His case, denotes His complete glorification.

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And this is why the smoke of the burnt offering is said to be "an odor of rest unto Jehovah."

     The various kinds of sacrifices, which were partly to be eaten, represent the state with men when they obey Divine Truth from duty and self-compulsion. But the burnt offering is the state in which men obey it from affection and from love. Then, also, because the man begins to make himself wholly the Lord's, temptation ceases, and it is said to be perceived by the Lord as an "odor of rest."

     The burnt offering was to be made wholly by fire. It was to be complete. It also differed from other offerings in that it must always be a male without blemish from the flock or from the herd. A female from the flock or herd might be sacrificed in other kinds of offerings, but not in the burnt offering. To be completely burnt by fire means a worship filled with the fire of love, a will fully obedient to the Lord's will. And the fact that it must be a male without blemish signifies that it must be pure truth that is loved and obeyed.

     Thus the "continual burnt offering, which shall be throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation of the Lord," is the worship of the Lord from love, which is the very entrance or door to heaven. For heaven is what is meant by the "congregation" of the Lord. The tabernacle signifies worship, and the very door to true internal worship is the worship that is from love. Without the love of pure truth from the Lord, there is no continual burnt offering at the door of the tabernacle.

     Among the Jews, there was to be the burnt offering of two lambs every day; the bullock and the oxen and the ram at other times, but the lambs daily. This signifies that in every state it is only innocence that receives the Lord; and to be innocent is to wish to be led by Him. By this wish, the inmost man is purified from day to day, and makes possible the purification finally of his spirit and the life of his body.

     So it may be seen that many heavenly ideas are contained in the ritual of the Jewish Church connected with the burnt offering. Otherwise, nothing so low and unpleasant would ever have been commanded, or recorded in a Scripture that is Divine and Holy. Nothing so particular and trivial would ever have been required of men to do in worship, were it not in accommodation to their low state,-made use of, however, as the means of teaching Divine things. There is nothing heavenly or holy about the burning and seething, the waving and eating of the flesh of animals.

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But the signification of this kind of ritual was perceived in heaven according to its spiritual meaning. And amid all such offerings, the burnt offering signified the highest worship and reception of the Lord, which is the yielding of the whole will in obedience to the Lord's Divine commands. This also is what is meant by the "tree of life,"-the will of good,-the will to yield to the Lord's will. Then man becomes like a paradise as to his intellectual life, in the midst of which is the tree of life.

     In the ancient account of the Garden of Eden, there were two trees in the midst of the garden,-the tree of life and the tree of knowledge. Now the "tree of life" signifies the love of good, the will of good, and the "tree of knowledge" signifies the understanding of truth. And it was forbidden to eat of this tree of knowledge, because a man who is regenerated should no longer be led by the understanding of truth, but by the will of good. Not that he should then care less for knowledge, but that he should not be led by knowledge without the love of good within it. To return to the former state is meant by Lot's wife looking back behind him; and a warning against doing so is meant by the command not to look back after setting the hand to the plow, and not to come down from the housetop, when the Holy City is surrounded by armies, to take any garment of clothing out of the house. But a man eats of the tree of life in the midst of his intellectual garden when he is led from within by the love of what is good. And it is he who makes the whole burnt offering upon the altar at the door of the tabernacle of the Lord God.

     As the perpetual burnt offering of a lamb,-the daily offering in the old Jewish system of religious rites,-was the central feature of their system, so that which is of innocence, the thing that is celestial, should be within all intellectual things of the Church, and even in all action. It is the celestial quality in men that gives all the value to their intellectual pursuits. By this we mean the innocence,-the perpetual burnt offering. But this celestial thing,-the worship of the Lord from love,-the will to do as we think He would have us do,-this innocence, which ought to be the inmost in all, and the tree of life in the midst of the paradise of God, is not a thing that can be seized roughly in the hands and possessed in a moment.

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An angel guards the way to the tree of life with a flaming sword, lest any should approach who are not prepared. It is only to be had by great efforts of thought. Men must think great thoughts, constantly purifying and correcting the intellectual life, constantly sacrificing their own thoughts in favor of greater ones from the Lord, by constantly turning to His Word. We mean by this that men must suffer themselves to be led by truth, before they can be led by the will of good. The Lord gives the will of good as men prepare themselves for it by truths from His Word, and by making great efforts of thought in regard to the way in which they will live,-the things they will do, and those they will not do.

     The door of the tabernacle before which the burnt offering was to be made was in reality a curtain, the work of the "weaver" and of the "designer," and of the "embroiderer." The "weaver" is the will of man, the "designer" is the understanding, and the "embroiderer" is the memory of man stored with knowledges of many colors. Our understanding of the Word is the designer of the fabric of our lives. Whatever that understanding is, such is the design of them. But the weaver of the texture, the giver of the quality of our lives, is the will,-the will of good,-the celestial thing,-which the Lord causes to work within us, if the design we pattern for ourselves by the effort of spiritual thought is worthy of being wrought to completion.

     No matter how simple the design of our lives, that celestial thing is possible to us which is meant by the continual burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle, which is the highest thing of all offering and sacrifice,-which is also called innocence,-the daily offering of a lamb wholly burnt with fire. And it manifests itself by this, even in the simplest things of life-namely, whether we make the great resolve of thought to be led by the Lord, to do as we think He would have us do. We may not possess sufficient wisdom to "receive a just man in the name of a just man," nor sufficient learning to "receive a prophet in the name of a prophet," but if we have but this simple quality of innocence, we shall be like those whom the Lord describes as giving "but a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple," and who shall "not lose their reward." Amen.

     Lessons: Numbers 28. Mark 12:28-44. A. C. 10042.

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MIRACLES OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS 1925

MIRACLES OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS       Rev. F. E. GYLLENHAAL       1925

     The miracles recounted in the Old and New Testaments present no essential difficulty to the New Churchman, because he is secure in his faith in the absolute Divinity, infallibility and integrity of the Books of the two Testaments, and in the Divinely revealed knowledge that the miracles are all explicable, and this faith is unshaken by the destructive attacks on those Books by the Higher Critics. Yet it is well for him to study the doctrine concerning miracles, both for the purpose of strengthening and increasing his faith, and in order to gain a more interior understanding of the manner in which the Lord has worked in the past for the salvation of mankind. Not only do the accounts of the miracles occupy a considerable portion of the two Testaments, but they also take a conspicuous place in the order of the subject-matter, because they manifest the continual operation of the Divine omnipotence during practically the whole period of the Jewish Church, and in the institution of the first Christian Church.

     In the Writings, the miracles are classified as "Divine" and "not Divine." The former are sometimes called the "Lord's miracles," "the finger of God," or simply "miracles," and include in a broad sense the "works," "mighty works," "prodigies," and "signs and wonders," mentioned in the two Testaments. Miracles not Divine are also called "magical," "diabolical," "false," and "other miracles," as also "great signs and wonders." Both Divine miracles and miracles not Divine were performed manifestly before the eyes of men in the world, and sometimes appeared alike in external form. There was, however, a great internal difference, as great as that between heaven and hell.

     This difference is expressed in Matthew, where we read: "The Pharisees said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of devils. And Jesus said, But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you." (12:24-28.)

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Here is taught the difference in agency and source between the two classes of miracles, and also the fact that the two may be alike in outward appearance. Their similarity on the external plane is due to the fact that miracles of both classes "flow from order, and order appears alike in the ultimates where miracles are presented." (A. C. 7337.) There is the same total difference in their ends or purposes, miracles not Divine having as their end the destruction of the things of the church, but Divine miracles having as their end the establishment and building up of the things of the church. And this internal difference is illustrated in the Writings by "two beautiful women, one of whom is inwardly defiled from whoredom, and the other wholly pure within from chastity or genuine conjugial love." (A. C. 7337.) A further difference appears from the fact that Divine miracles signify Divine things, such as relate to the Lord, heaven and the church, because the Divine is in them, and there is a spiritual sense in every least particular of the description of them in the Word. But miracles not Divine signify nothing, because there is nothing of the Divine within them, and they were wrought by the evil to acquire power over others, and thus were done from a most depraved cupidity or lust.

     But these differences are not noticeable in the external form of the miracles; and, therefore, it is said of some of the miracles of Egypt that the magicians did likewise with their enchantments. For the same reason, it is written in the Gospel: "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." (Matthew 24:24.) "And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; . . . And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast." (Revelation 13:11-14.)

     II.

     The Divine purposes in performing miracles may be summed up under the following headings:

     1. In general, for the sake of the human race, spirits and angels.

     2. For the effect on the persons upon whom they were done.

     3. For the effect on the people who witnessed them, and on those who heard report of them.

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     4. For the sake of the Word.

     5. Thus for the sake of representing and signifying Divine things relating to the Lord, heaven and the church; also spiritual and celestial things.

     6. Their spiritual sense is for the sake of the salvation of man, thus for his reformation and regeneration.

     7. In their entirety or completeness, they are for the sake of the glorification of the Lord.

     Men, spirits and angels are affected by every Divine work, even though they may be wholly unconscious of the fact. And this is true of every Divine work, not only at the time of its doing, but also to eternity. What the Divine does once is done for all time, and is never repeated in the exact form of its first doing. The reason is, because Divine Truth is eternal. The internal of every Divine work is full of the Divine Truth, and is a manifestation of the Divine Truth. A further reason why spirits and angels are affected is because Divine miracles are operations of Divine Truth flowing down through the spiritual world, and from it.

     The effect of miracles on the persons upon whom they were performed is evident from the descriptions of the miracles of healing. However, it should be noted that faith cannot be inrooted in any man's mind by means of miracles; that no miracle ever made any man spiritual, or instantaneously saved a man. The reason is, that miracles are compulsory in their external form, and man is saved only in a state of freedom. The miraculous plagues of Egypt, the miracles of healing, and all other similar miracles, were from Divine mercy, but were not acts contrary to the Divine laws of salvation. The effect of miracles on the people who witnessed them, and on those who heard report of them, was to compel an external state not corresponding to their internal state,-necessary, however, not only to them, but also to the fulfilment of the Divine ends. The Jews were in a worse idolatrous state than the Gentiles, but were held to the worship of Jehovah because He did more and greater miracles than any other god. Their worship of Jehovah was merely idolatrous, as it was merely on account of the miracles, and not because He alone was God. "Their chief external was, that they should confess Jehovah; for Jehovah was the Lord, who was represented in all things of that Church." (A. C. 4208.)

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And they were kept in this confession for the sake of preserving some communication of the Lord through heaven with man. (Ibid.) Further, by miracles they were compelled to observe the statutes of their Church in their outward form; thus they were held in externals of worship separated from internals, in order that the representatives of a church might be preserved until the time when men would be able to be in both internals and externals, and a true church could be established on earth. The Jews were of such a nature that miracles were not hurtful to them; that is, outside compulsion as to the things of worship and of the church was not hurtful to them; for they could be compelled without danger of profaning what is holy.

     At the time of the Advent, and subsequent to it, the miracles served to form a miraculous faith, which is the first faith with those among whom a new church is established. The principal feature of this faith is the confession of the Lord as almighty, because He is able to do miracles of Himself. This was not a saving faith. It was the same as the historical and traditional faith of the present time, and will forever be the first faith of men in the church. To this end, the miracles done by the Lord are described in the Word, and are preached in the world. This faith must precede, because it is essential that there should first be a belief in the Lord as God of heaven and earth, as omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, infinite, and one with the Father. By means of the miracles done by the Lord Himself, and by His disciples at His command, and so by Him through them, both before and after His resurrection, this first faith was formed with a few, and it became a saving faith with all who lived the life of charity according to the Divine precepts. (A. E. 815.) It is directly stated that the first Christian Church, or the Apostolic Church, could not have been established without miracles done by the apostles. But as soon as the Church received doctrine, -the doctrine of the written Gospels first, and then the doctrine of the Church formulated by men,-or as soon as there was a saving faith (and saving faith is from doctrine understood, loved and lived)-a saving faith with a few only,-then Divine miracles ceased. (See S. D. Min. 4724; S. D. 4770, A. E. 815:9.) Miracles not Divine continued even to the present day, and gradually destroyed the Church, other causes also operating, however, in the destruction.

     From what has been stated, it should be evident that a Divine purpose in doing miracles was for the sake of the Word.

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A written Word is necessary, not only for this earth, but for all the earths in the universe, and for all the heavens. Indeed, it is necessary even for the hells, since by means of it the evil are restrained or withheld from sinking into ever more grievous states. Divine miracles were necessary to the production of the Word, because the description of them was the only possible means of accommodation to the peculiar minds of the men of this earth, and because they were the perfect garment for internal truths accommodated to spirits and angels. The Word is full of Divine Truth, because it is the Divine Truth; and it is Divine Truth that is accommodated to angels, spirits and men; it is Divine Truth by which miracles were done.

     Moreover, the descriptions of the Divine miracles in the Word bring together the Divine laws operative in the two worlds, even down to the ultimates of nature and of man's body, as well as the Divine laws of a man's redemption and salvation, of his reformation and regeneration, and show their entire agreement, and that the sole end of all Divine laws is the salvation of man, thus an angelic heaven. It follows that the Divine miracles were for the sake of representing and signifying Divine things relating to the Lord, heaven and the church, or spiritual and celestial things; also, that their internal form, or their spiritual sense, is Divine doctrine for the sake of the salvation of man, thus for his reformation and regeneration.

     In this connection, it is well to bear in mind that, not only was the Word written with a view especially to the internal sense, but also many, perhaps all, of the things described in it were done and spoken actually with the same end in view. For we are taught that the Jews were led to do certain things in certain ways for the sake of the spiritual sense, and that names were given for the same reason. Just as the body of a man is for the sake of his soul, so the body of Divine Truth is for the sake of the internal sense. And as the whole Word of the Old Testament, in its highest purpose, was for the sake of the glorification of the Human of the Lord, therefore the miracles also served the same supreme purpose.

     The very descriptions of the miracles in the Scriptures were of service to the Lord when He was in the world, not only in His work of glorification, but also in His work of subjugating the hells and reordering the heavens.

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This will be evident from the teaching that the miracles or wonders done in Egypt signify the means of Divine power whereby those who are in evils and falses are subjugated; and they also represented and signified the order of Divine Truth in the condemnation of the evil to hell, which differs wholly from the order by which the good are saved. This does not involve the addition of anything to the Lord Himself, but manifests the omnipresence and omnipotence of Divine Truth, as also the perfect circle of Divine Truth in its proceeding downward and outward from the Divine Itself into ultimate formation in miracles, and in written descriptions of them, as well as the reception of these through the senses of the incarnate God, and their return through the degrees of His mind to the Divine Itself. In the Lord Jesus Christ alone was there the complete circle of the Divine Truth, and the fulness of it. In other words, the whole of the Word was in His mind, because He was the "Word made flesh."

     III.

     The complete record of Divine miracles is in the two Testaments. Others were done, indeed, as is evident from what was stated respecting the Apostolic Church, and also from the last verse of the Gospel of John. But there is no record of these. The Ancient Word did not relate any Divine miracles, as it consisted of made-up historicals. The Writings contain much about miracles, and record miracles of the spiritual world, but do not add any miracles to the record in the two Testaments. And from these facts, taken in conjunction with S. D. 4770, where it is stated that the Jewish and Christian Churches had been founded by means of miracles, the conclusion seems justified that the age of Divine miracles was co-extensive with the Jewish Church, including the end of the preceding Church-the Hebrew Church-and the beginning of the succeeding one-the Apostolic Church.

     Miracles not Divine extend over a much longer period; yet it is probable they were first done in the decline of the Ancient Church, and ceased with the loss of all knowledge of the science of correspondences. For the magic of the present day is largely, if not entirely, fraud and deception, and even what is actually done is probably explicable apart from correspondences. However, we are plainly taught that Divine miracles are not done at the present time, because they would compel men to believe, and whatever compels takes away freedom: Nor are they necessary, since man now has revealed doctrine.

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     This is particularly true of the New Church, which has the Heavenly Doctrine, and which was not instituted and established through miracles. Nevertheless, the New Church has its miraculous, or historical, or traditional faith, as a first faith. And it should be noted that it is even more difficult to accept the writted record of a miracle as altogether true than to accept the witnessed miracle. For the man who reads the written record is in greater freedom to disbelieve than the man whose mind is overawed and stupefied by witnessing a miracle. Also, the following is stated concerning the New Church:

     "The fact that I converse in the spiritual world with angels and spirits, that I have given a description of the states of heaven and hell, and of the life after death; and further, the fact that there has been disclosed to me the spiritual sense of the Word, besides many other things; is worth more than all these miracles. Such an intercourse, as far as I am aware, has not been granted by the Lord to anyone before. These are evidences that this has taken place for the sake of the New Church, which is the crown of all the Churches, and which will last forever. Being in the spiritual world, seeing the wonderful things of heaven, and the pitiful things of hell; and being there in the very light of the Lord in which are the angels; surpasses all miracles. Evidences that I am there may be found abundantly in my Writings." (Invitation 39.)

     "The manifestation of the Lord in Person, and the introduction by the Lord into the spiritual world, both as to sight and as to hearing and speech, is superior to all miracles; for it is not stated anywhere in history that such an intercourse with angels and spirits has been granted to anyone since the creation of the world. For I am daily with the angels there, even as I am in the world with men; and I have now been so circumstanced for twenty-seven years. Evidences of this intercourse are the books which I have published concerning Heaven and Hell, and also the Memorable Relations in my last work entitled The True Christian Religion; etc. In addition to these most palpable evidences there is the fact that the spiritual sense of the Word has been disclosed by the Lord through me, which has never before been revealed since the Word was written among the Sons of Israel; and this sense is the very sanctuary of the Word.

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The Lord Himself is in this sense with His Divine, and in the natural sense with His Human. Not a single iota in this sense can be opened except by the Lord alone. This surpasses all the revelations that have hitherto been made since the creation of the world." (Invitation 43, 44.)

     IV.

     A Divine miracle is defined in the Writings as a special effect of the Divine Truth, or of the Divine omnipotence, produced according to Divine order in ultimates, or in the natural world by a special influx, termed an illation, from the spiritual into the natural world. But before we consider how a miracle is done, or the passages in the Writings which explain at least the general modes, or give the general truths and the spiritual laws, in the light of which we are able not only to interpret the miracles, but also to comprehend the mode of their operation, let us present a very brief and general summary of the doctrines of creation, degrees, influx and correspondences.

     The universe, including both worlds, was created by God out of Divine Truth proceeding from Him. God Himself is infinite and uncreate Substance Itself, which is also called Divine Truth Itself; but He emitted from Himself this Divine Truth or Substance Itself, and at the same time withdrew from it all Life Itself, and thus formed it successively into spiritual and natural substances and matters, that is, finited it, and this successively down even to the ultimates, such as are the rocks of the earth. In this manner, the created substances and matters were made recipient vessels, and, by the perpetual immediate and mediate influx of life from God into them, were saved from the destruction and annihilation that would be visited upon all things separated utterly from God.

     The created substances are continued successions, descending or receding, from the first down to the last; and each successive is a discrete degree, or is contiguous with the preceding or higher degree, as also with the succeeding and lower one, though it is not continuous with either. The influx of the Divine Truth is according to these successives, and thus is mediated; and with every successive it becomes more general, grosser, obscurer, slower, more inert and colder.

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At the same time, however, the Divine Truth, in its form as the third-successive, which is the first atmosphere, and the Divine of use, or the atmosphere of use, flows down without successive formation, or unmediated, into the ultimates of order, and in them, immediately from the first, rules and provides each and all things, and in so doing holds all the successives together in their order and connection. In other words, there is both immediate and mediate influx from the Lord into every successive or discrete degree, from the first atmosphere of the spiritual world down to and including the ultimate degree of the natural world.

     Creation was according to correspondences, and the preservation of creation is likewise according to correspondences. And in the beginning everything of the natural world was a perfect correspondent of the things of the spiritual world. Even after evil was produced by man, the relation and conjunction of the two worlds was still by correspondences; but then evil things on earth correspond to evil things in the spiritual world, and only by the law of opposites with good things there. The relation and conjunction of all discrete degrees is according to the laws of correspondences. The same is true of influx. And note this in particular, that "it is a universal law of correspondences that what is spiritual fits itself into the use, which is the end, and actuates and modifies the use by heat and light, and clothes it by provided means, until it becomes a form subservient to the end; and in this form the spiritual acts as the end, use as the cause, and the natural as the effect; although, in the spiritual world, the substantial takes the place of the natural." (D. Wis. 2:4.)

     Returning now to the point as to how the Divine miracles were done, we can see that they were done by the Divine Truth which is omnipotent by means of correspondences, by a special, actual influx, termed illiation (which means a bringing in), of such things as actually exist in the spiritual world into such corresponding things as actually exist in the natural world, producing a desired effect instantaneously or with unusual rapidity, yet without interrupting or inverting any Divine laws of order. But a miracle is done only when "the spiritual fits itself to use, which is its end," that is, when the Lord pleases to represent states of His kingdom in the heavens or of His church on the earth. But hear what the Writings have to say concerning this:

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     "Divine miracles proceed from Divine Truth, and advance according to order, the effects in ultimates being miracles, when it pleases the Lord that they be presented in this form." (A. C. 7337.)

     "A miracle is that which is effected by the Lord when anything concerns Him, or faith in Him, His heaven, or the church in a universal sense. The miracle thus passes through His heaven, and the spirits effect it, but without any of their co-operative powers; this is a miracle, and is called the finger of God." (S. D. 655.)

     "Divine miracles were done according to Divine order, but according to the order of the influx of the spiritual world into the natural; concerning which order no one has hitherto known anything, because no one has known anything of the spiritual world." (T. C. R. 91.)

     "In respect to miracles, I told them that all things which appear in the three kingdoms of nature are produced by an influx from the spiritual world into the natural world, and, considered in themselves, are miracles, although, on account of their familiar aspect and their annual recurrence, they do not appear as such. I told them further that they should know that the miracles which are recorded in the Word likewise took place by an influx from that prior world into this posterior one; and that they were done by means of an illation of such things as are in the spiritual world into corresponding things in the natural world. For example, that the manna, which descended every morning upon the camp of the Sons of Israel, was produced by bread from heaven being illated into the recipient vessels of nature; that in like manner bread and fishes were thus illated into the baskets of the apostles, which they distributed to so many thousands of men; again, that wine out of heaven was instilled into the water in the pots at the wedding where the Lord was present; further, that the fig-tree withered, because there was no longer any influx into it of spiritual nutrition, by which it was fed from the roots; and finally, that such was the case with the other miracles, and that they were not produced, according to the insane notions of some of the learned at the present day, by causes summoned from all parts of nature. Miracles, therefore, are the effects of the Divine Omnipotence, and take place according to the influx of the spiritual world into the natural world, with this difference only, that such things as actually exist in the spiritual world are actually introduced into such things in the natural world as correspond.

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And I finally concluded, that the cause of such things being done and being possible is due to the Divine Omnipotence, which is meant by the finger of God, by which the Lord produced His miracles." (De Miraculis 60.)

     V.

     All the Divine miracles are explicable by the general teaching of the last quotation, applied with a knowledge of the doctrines of creation, degrees, influx and correspondences, and of two other numbers, namely A. E. 401 18 and S. D. 4250, which will be considered shortly. And many of the miracles not Divine, particularly the magical miracles of the declining Ancient Church, are also explained by it. For the magicians in the time of the Ancient Church knew about the spiritual world, as also about correspondences and representatives; and when they got into communication with spirits, they learned deceptive arts by which they performed miracles. (See A. C. 5223.) However, we do not propose to say anything further here about magical miracles.

     All the Divine miracles actually happened in the world. Of this fact we are left in no doubt by the Writings, and have especially the definite statement that Jonah was actually swallowed by a whale, that the miracles of Egypt were actually done, and also many other miracles. (S. D. 1391; A. C. 1188, 1709.) Yet they were not all done exactly according to the appearance from the description. This is the teaching in A. E. 40118, in explanation of the sun's standing still in Gibeon, and the moon in the valley of Aijalon, at Joshua's command. (Joshua 10:12, 13.) It is stated that "if this miracle had occurred just in this way, the whole cosmical order would have been overthrown, which is not the case with other miracles recorded in the Word. And yet, without a doubt, there was given to them a light out of heaven, and a light in Gibeon like that of the sun, and a light in the valley of Aijalon like that of the moon." The miracle here was the production of light by illation, causing the two effects,-a sun and a moon standing still. This event had been prophesied in the Ancient Word, and the miracle was produced by the Lord when Joshua spoke the words of the prophecy, indicating clearly that even the Divine miracles performed through the agency of men were nevertheless the effects solely of the Divine omnipotence.

     The statement quoted from A. E. 401 probably explains also the miracle of the shadow going backward ten degrees in the dial of Ahaz. (2 Kings 20:8-11. Isaiah 38:4-8)

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At any rate, the principle involved in this teaching is applicable to many other miracles, namely, that the appearance in the description, and even in the miracle, was not always a genuine appearance. I hasten to add that it does not follow that the miracle was not done, or that there was any fraud or deception about it, or that it has not been described accurately, for that is not my meaning, but rather that it is impossible for a man or even an angel to escape appearances. Take the miracles of Egypt as an example. From the descriptions, one would conclude that all the waters of Egypt had been turned into blood by Moses and Aaron, and yet the account immediately adds that the magicians did the same miracle. There is no inaccuracy here, since the law of appearances demonstrates that the minds of the Egyptians, and even of Moses and Aaron, were struck so forcibly by the miracle, and they were so stupefied by it, that it appeared to them that all the waters had been turned to blood. The same may be said of several others of the miracles of Egypt, and of other miracles of the two Testaments.

     In S. D. 4250, it is stated that it is easy for a man to be reduced to a state of interior wakefulness, and in that state see angels, but that this is not permitted at this day. The angels seen by the men of the Jewish Church, as by Abraham, Lot, Gideon and many others, were seen in this state. Undoubtedly some of the miracles can be explained in the light of this teaching; as, for example, the miracle of the Lord's eating the fish and the honey after His resurrection. (Luke 24:41-43)

     There is a reasonable explanation of all the miracles of the two Testaments, not only of their internal meaning, but also of the mode in which they were done. And, therefore, the New Churchman may rest secure in his faith in the absolute Divinity, authority, accuracy, integrity and reasonableness of the Word of the Lord. And no straining and twisting of any part of it, to fit a probable explanation commending itself to the individual, is required, because there is a perfect correspondence between the spirit and the letter, this being a garment of literal, sensual truth, Divinely, as well as correspondentially, accommodated and adapted for clothing the Divine Truth, and even the Lord Himself.

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TOPICS FROM THE WRITINGS 1925

TOPICS FROM THE WRITINGS        W. F. PENDLETON       1925

     XXVII.

The Second and Third Uses of Baptism.

     It has been shown that there are three uses of baptism. The first use has been explained, and much that was said casts a light upon the second and third uses. Hence it is not necessary to enter at large upon the two uses that follow. It was also shown that a plenary ignorance exists in the Christian World concerning the spiritual uses of baptism. This is because the spiritual world is not known; nor is the Lord God our Savior acknowledged. Without this knowledge and acknowledgment, and without obedience, no baptism is true baptism, no baptism is Christian baptism; and he who knows, and does not acknowledge, does not really know; and he who does not obey by following the Lord ceases to acknowledge and after death will not even know.

     The second use of baptism is therefore the instruction which follows baptism, by which the spiritual world becomes known, and the God who has all power in heaven and on earth, God in His Human, our Lord Jesus Christ, is obeyed by keeping His commandments. This introduces to the third use, which is regeneration itself, the final use, the end in view from the beginning, the one idea in all the uses, for which all that precedes is a preparation, and in which baptism is made complete,-complete in the knowledge, acknowledgment of, and obedience to, the Lord; in the love of Him and conjunction with Him, which is salvation and eternal life. By the second use, the spiritual mind or heaven is opened. By the third use, this opening is established and confirmed, and the angels are present with man. Hence baptism is regeneration; for regeneration is concealed in it, and is gradually unfolded from it by a process of spiritual evolution, by a successive ascent from earth to heaven, and a descent from heaven to earth,-as revealed in the vision of the ladder of Jacob,-occupying the whole period of life on earth, and continuing after death.

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The spiritual use of baptism is a use that has a beginning but no end.

The Baptism of John.

     The uses of baptism are not fully understood until it is known what is involved in the baptism of John, and in the baptism of the Lord by John; and when at the same time the distinction between the baptism of John and Christian baptism has been brought into view.

     Elijah the prophet was to come and prepare the way for the Lord, and the Lord taught the multitudes that John was the Elijah who was to come. (Matt. 11:14.) John and Elijah both represented the Lord as to the Word, especially the Word of the Old Testament, and in particular the prophecies of the Old Testament concerning the Lord and His coming into the world. And since, in its broad aspect, the entire Old Testament is such a prophecy, all looking to the advent of the Lord, it can be seen why John and Elijah are coupled together, when the representation of the Lord in His coming as the Word is under consideration,-the two prophets representing the same thing.

     John, appearing in the wilderness of Judea, proclaimed the advent of the Messiah, and preached the baptism of repentance, calling upon the Jews to repent of their sins. It was necessary that they should repent, because they had made the commandments of God of none effect through their traditions. (Matt. 15:6.) They had perverted and profaned the Law, as given to Moses on Mount Sinai, and for that reason the communication with heaven by the externals of their worship was about to be severed; the breaking of which meant the ruin and destruction of that nation and of all mankind. Hence a reformation must take place; a restoration of their representative worship, even though temporary, must be effected in order that the Lord God the Savior might descend and be present among them, to do His work for the salvation of men. For the Lord, when He comes, enters only into His own, into that which is from Himself, into that which is of Divine order, with men.

The Wrath to Come.

     It is recorded that "when John saw the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" (Matt. 3:7.)

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It was the Pharisees and Sadducees by whom the communication with heaven was about to be severed. This they did not know, but they knew from the Prophets that the coming of the Messiah was to be a time of great wrath, They knew not the nature of this wrath, or its spiritual cause, but a prophet was proclaiming in the wilderness that the great day of wrath was at hand, and He was calling upon the Jews to come and be baptized, repenting of their sins, and in this manner to prepare for the great day of Jehovah. And they believed that, if they heeded the voice of the prophet, the Messiah would come and deliver them from a foreign yoke, and make them the greatest nation in the world, subjecting all people to their dominion. They were to be led by their fears, and at the same time by their ruling love, to prepare for the Messiah. And so there "went out to John, Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, to be baptized of him in the Jordan, confessing their sins." (Matt. 3:5, 6) Crowds came to him from the whole land, and so there was a reformation practically of the whole Jewish nation, in preparation for the coming of the Lord.

     The repentance to which they were called was not the repentance of the Christian Church which was to come, but a representative repentance. "Unless this representation had preceded, the Lord could not have manifested Himself. . . .Unless that nation had been prepared by a representative of purification from falsities and evils by baptism, it would have been destroyed. . . . The baptism of John could produce this effect, because the Jewish Church was a representative church, and with them all conjunction with heaven was effected by representatives." (A. E. 724) Thus the baptism of John was not the baptism of a spiritual church, but a representative of it.

Smiting the Earth With a Curse.

     "John prepared the way by baptism, and by proclaiming the Lord's coming; without that preparation, all in the world would have been smitten with a curse, and would have perished." (T. C. R. 688.) This is foretold in the closing words of the Old Testament. "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord; and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to the fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." (Mal. 4:5, 6.)

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By the "fathers" in this passage (and in Luke 1:16; 17) are meant the angels of the ancient heavens, who, because of the intervening imaginary heavens, had been separated from the children, that is, from the simple good in all the religions of the world. This communication must be restored; the "fathers" and the "children" must be reconciled, or a mighty curse would follow. This reconciliation was represented in the baptism of John, on the basis of which the Lord effected a last judgment upon the imaginary heaven, casting the evil of that false heaven into hell, and receiving the simple good into the heaven that had been occupied by the evil. This last judgment was the great and dreadful day of the Lord, the day of great wrath, the day of a mighty curse, unless the fathers and the sons could be reconciled. But the wrath predicted was not the wrath of an angry God, nor was the curse the curse of God, but a wrath and a curse that had its origin in hell. For it was the rescue of men from the impending wrath and curse of hell that the God of infinite love and mercy came into the world to effect. Hence the first effect of the baptism of John was the closing of the hells, that the way might be prepared for the descent of Jehovah God into the world, in order that the good might be saved, and the race of men preserved from destruction. A God of infinite love could do no other.

The Baptism of the Lord.

     The baptism of the Lord was similar in the outward form, and in its general effect, to the baptism of others by John. But with the Lord Himself, in Himself, the effect had no finite limitation, as with men. These effects were infinitely more far-reaching and universal, extending through all time into eternity itself. Let us remember that baptism is introduction and insertion, as has been explained. With the Lord it was introduction on earth into the Jewish Church, now reformed and brought into its former order externally and temporarily by the baptism of John; and it was thus prepared to receive Him; and the Lord Himself was made ready actively to begin His work of salvation; for which all His previous life with men had been a commencement and a preparation.

     By the baptism of John, the Lord also inserted Himself among those in the spiritual world who were looking for the Messiah. In all the ancient religions, there was some kind of expectation of a Messiah, who was to come into the world to be the Savior of men. (See what is said of the wise men from the East. A. C. 324913762, 9293.)

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All these,-the simple good of all nations,-continued this looking after death, and were gathered together in the spiritual world. The Lord must place Himself among them, to lead and teach them, to form a new heaven of them, from which a new church could descend, "the future church of the Lord." He at the same time closed the hells, that the good might be led safely into heaven, which He entered more interiorly, making His presence felt by the angels more than ever before. And infinitely more than all, He was introduced into a more complete union with the Father, which, when finished by the work called glorification, and the bringing of the hells into order, He would be placed in a position to preserve this order, and regenerate men to eternity, and thus ever to fulfill the justice of God.

The Baptism of John and Christian Baptism.

     In what manner does the baptism of John differ from the Christian baptism which followed? The fact that the Apostles re-baptized those who were converted to Christianity, and who had been baptized by John, indicates clearly that they saw a distinction. Concerning this we learn from the Book of the Acts (19:1-6) that the action of the Apostles was based upon the teaching of the Lord, that what is meant by the Holy Spirit was not in existence when John baptized. (See John 7:39, and T. C. R. 158) Hence there was a distinction in the representation of the two baptisms. "The baptism of John represented the cleansing of the external man, but the baptism which is at this day among Christians represents the cleansing of the internal man, which is regeneration." (T. C. R. 690.) For, as has been shown, John's baptism had in view a reformation of the Jewish Church, and a restoration of its representative character, having as its basis a representative repentance. But the purpose in Christian baptism was a true spiritual reformation, a spiritual restoration of the internal order of the Ancient Church; for the internal of the Ancient Church and of the Christian Church was similar (A. C. 1083, 1141), but not that of the Jewish Church. And so the baptism of the Christian Church was representative of a true spiritual repentance from sin.

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This distinction was also indicated in what was said by John to the Pharisees and Sadducees who came to him. "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance; but He that cometh after me . . . shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit, and with fire." (Matt. 3:11); and in what John said to the Lord, "I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?" (Matt. 3:14) Also in what Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Except a man be born of water, and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." (John 3:5.) By the "kingdom of God " is meant the Christian Church which the Lord was now about to establish, and which was to receive a baptism of the spirit.

The Teaching Concerning the Baptism of John.

     "By the Baptism of John, a way was Prepared that Jehovah God might descend into the world and perform redemption." (T. C. R. 688.)

     "That John will be sent before the Lord, lest that nation should then perish." (P. P. Mal. 4:3, 4.)

     "Without this sign in heaven before the angels, the Jews could not have subsisted and lived at the coming of Jehovah, that is, of the Lord, in the flesh." (A. R. 776.)

     "John was the prophet sent to prepare a way for Jehovah, that He might come down into the world and accomplish the work of redemption; and he prepared the way by baptism, and at the same time by proclaiming the Lord's coming; and without such a preparation, all therein would have been smitten with a curse, and would have perished." (T. C. R. 688.)

     "A way was prepared by the baptism of John, because by it they were introduced into the future church of the Lord, and were inserted in heaven among those who waited for and desired the Messiah; and thus they were guarded by angels, that the devils might not break forth from hell and destroy them." (T. C. R. 689.) The future church of the Lord was as yet in the new heaven, which was then being formed by the Lord; it afterwards descended on earth through the work of the Apostles. It is similar now.

     "All would have perished, . . . unless a way had been prepared for Jehovah by means of baptism, which caused a closing of the hells, and the Jews were guarded from total destruction." (T. C. R. 689.)

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     Hence it appears "with what a curse and destruction the Jews would have been smitten, unless they had been prepared by the baptism of John to receive the Messiah, . . . and they were prepared by this, that they were enrolled and numbered in heaven among those who in heart expected and desired the Messiah; hence angels were sent to guard them." (T. C. R. 691.)

     "Unless a representative of purification from falsities and evils by baptism had prepared that nation for the reception of the Lord, it would have perished by diseases of every kind at the presence of the Divine. This is what is meant by the words, 'Lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.' (A. E. 724:7.) The remnant escaped spiritual death, and all were rescued from natural death "by diseases of every kind." In this we have an intimation of what the world escapes now by the new Christian baptism.

     "The baptism of the Lord Himself signified the glorification of His Human. . . .Therefore, when He permitted John to baptize Him, He said, 'Thus it becometh us to fulfil all the justice of God' (Matt. 3:15), . . . which signified to subjugate the bells, and to bring the hells and the heavens into order, and to glorify His Human." (A. C. 10239, T. C. R. 144.) Thus it will be seen that the Lord, when in the world, did all things according to His own order which is meant by "fulfilling the justice of God."

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FRENCH FEDERATION SERVICES-A CORRECTION 1925

FRENCH FEDERATION SERVICES-A CORRECTION              1925


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office a Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly By
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.

Editor                    Rev. W. B. Caldwell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager          Mr. H. Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address and business communications should be sent to the Business Manager.

     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
In the United States, $3.00 per year; Elsewhere, $3.25 or 14 shillings; payable in advance
Single Copy          30 cents
     NOTES AND REVIEWS.

     FRENCH FEDERATION SERVICES-A CORRECTION.

     In an editorial entitled "Under False Colors" which appeared in our April, 1925, issue (p. 232), we stated that "a notice of the services of the French Federation is printed in the list of Paris Churches in the Almanach du Printemps as follows:

Eglise de la Nouvelle Jerusalem,
Eglise St. Sauveur, mission catholique liberale,
rue Thouin 12.

In English:
Church of the New Jerusalem,
Church of the Holy Savior, Liberal Catholic Mission."

     It was this apparent advertising of the New Church as a "Liberal Catholic Mission" which we characterized as a "traveling under false colors." But it seems that the friend who sent us the Almanach was mistaken in assuming that the French Federation of New Church Societies-had thus advertised the services held in Paris under its auspices. For we have received a letter from the Rev. Alfred G. Regamey, General Secretary of the French Federation, assuring us that the Federation has never advertised its services in any Almanach du Printemps, and that their services have never been held at rue Thouin 12.

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We hasten, therefore, to express regret that the incorrect statement was made in our April issue, and we trust that our friends of the Federation will accept this explanation.

     This, however, leaves a mystery unsolved. How did such an advertisement find its way into the Almanach du Printemps? Can it be that the place of worship at rue Thouin 12, where formerly New Church services were held, has come into the possession of a "Liberal Catholic Mission" which has failed to remove the sign of the "Church of the New Jerusalem"?
TERMINOLOGY OF THE WRITINGS AND EXPOSITORY SERMONS 1925

TERMINOLOGY OF THE WRITINGS AND EXPOSITORY SERMONS              1925

     An editorial in THE NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER for April 29, 1925, deals with the "New-Church preacher's supreme problem," in making plain to the world the interpretation of the Scriptures contained in the Writings of Swedenborg. "Students of Swedenborg," it reads, "generally feel that his writings contain exactly the spiritual interpretation of the Bible which the world needs and wants; yet the fact is that of all his teachings this is the one for which it is always hardest to win even popular interest, to say nothing of agreement. Does the fault lie with Swedenborg? We cannot think so. The vastness and the novelty of the concept of a spiritual sense of Scripture alike forced him to set it forth with a comprehensiveness which yields results only to the thorough and laborious student. Experience shows that such a student will almost invariably be convinced and satisfied. But the world is not, and can never be, made up of students. How can it be helped to share the benefits of this latest revelation?" (P. 284.)

     This is indeed the "New-Church preacher's supreme problem,"-to be the means of imparting the spiritual sense of the Word to the student and the less informed alike, though his problem is simplified when he is inspired with a zeal to be an instrument in the Lord's hands of unfolding the interiors of the Word to men in the light of the Heavenly Doctrine, this being the Lord's own mode of revealing the "power and glory" of the Word at His Second Coming. "For not one iota of the spiritual sense can be opened but by the Lord alone." (Invitation 44.)

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As we remarked last month, the language of the editorial quoted above has become the vogue among Convention and Conference writers, who have: much to say of "Swedenborg's teachings," and use a small "w" in referring to the Writings.


     Speaking further of the "preacher's supreme problem," the editorial says: "In the measure in which he has earnestly and intelligently steeped himself in Swedenborg, in the measure in which he had made his own the Seer's immense theological, philosophical and psychological background, such interpretations as are found, for example, in Arcana Coelestia, will have come to have red, personal meaning for him. Phrases like "spiritual rational," "falsity of evil," and "remains" will have been identified for him, at least in his own mind, with experienced realities. But what of his preaching? If he seeks in the pulpit to interpret a text of Scripture in such terms as these, he will go over the heads even of most of the members of a New-Church congregation, while to the casual visitor he will seem to be talking nonsense. His duty, therefore, is to interpret the interpretation; to find ways of expressing separately and intelligently what for him are integral parts of a system that includes his whole mental apparatus. The task is so difficult that in point of fact he usually gives it up. Really expository sermons are rare in the New Church, and are steadily becoming rarer; and this despite the fact that every New-Church minister probably feels that the case ought to be exactly otherwise." (P. 284.)

     
          We will give the Editor of the MESSENGER the benefit of the doubt, and regard it as inadvertent on his part when he makes such a sweeping statement concerning the rarity of expository sermons in the New Church. For he cannot be unaware of the fact that, of the forty sermons printed every year in the periodicals of the General Church, nearly all are expository in character, setting forth the spiritual sense of the Scriptures in the light of the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem.

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In these sermons, also, the terms of the Writings are freely used, not only because the ministry of the General Church regard it as their sacred duty to follow the mode revealed by the Lord Himself in His Revelation of the spiritual sense of the Word, but also because their congregations are readers of the Writings, and have been educated from childhood in the terminology of the Heavenly Doctrines. Perfection is not claimed for these sermons, but our listeners and readers would not be satisfied if the preacher were only to "interpret the interpretation," or if he were to accommodate the pure truth of the Second Coming so completely under the terms of modern Christian preaching that the light of the spiritual sense would be effectively "hidden under a bushel." This latter is all too common in the New Church elsewhere, though in justice it should be said that the expository sermon is not so rare in Convention and Conference as the editorial in the MESSENGER would have us believe.


          What, then, is the cure for the condition so frankly stated by our contemporary, a condition of things in which the terms of the Writings cannot be used in the pulpit without going "over the heads even of most of the members of a New-Church congregation." We venture to suggest several. 1. As the MESSENGER suggests, let the preacher "earnestly and intelligently steep himself in Swedenborg,"-or rather, in the Revelation of the spiritual sense of the Word which the Lord Himself has given in the Writings of Swedenborg. 2. Let him expound the Word, not out of his own "experience," but in the manner and the terms indicated in Divine Revelation, with legitimate accommodation to the present-day thought and need of New Churchmen. 3. Let him feel less anxiety about the "casual visitor" to whom he may "seem to be talking nonsense." The "casual visitor" who is at all likely to receive the Message of the New Church is not as unintelligent as we may think. Pay him the compliment of not "talking down" to him. The world knows that this is not the way to win men to new ideas. When the Lord Himself preached a new doctrine in the world, men "were amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this?" (Mark 1:27) Moreover, "He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes." (Matthew 7:29.)

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4. Let the New Church preacher lead the members of his congregation to become regular readers of the Writings, and give them regular doctrinal instruction, explaining the terms in which the Lord has revealed the Heavenly Doctrine. Read a Lesson from the Writings in the Sunday service. 5. Educate the child and the youth by reading the Writings in the home, and in family worship. 6. Establish schools in which religious instruction from the Word and the Writings is made the primary essential. From the age of fourteen, if not before, boys and girls can read the Writings orally in class, finding great delight in doing so, having the terms explained to them, and thus becoming accustomed to the Divine language of the Lord in His Second Coming. The future congregations, composed of these boys and girls grown up, will not be satisfied with anything less than the expository sermon which is said by the MESSENGER to be so "rare in the New Church."

     We have indicated in brief form some of the ways in which the General Church has endeavored, and is endeavoring, to solve the "New Church preacher's supreme problem." And we would humbly recommend them to the Editor of the MESSENGER as worthy of a trial.
RIGHT TO MAINTAIN PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS 1925

RIGHT TO MAINTAIN PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS              1925

     Those of us in America who have espoused the cause of distinctive New Church education, and have regarded as essential the maintenance of separate schools, breathed more freely when the Supreme Court of the United States, on June 1st, declared the Oregon Anti-Parochial School Law unconstitutional, and held that the Oregon Law violates fundamental rights guaranteed by the Federal Constitution.

     For the benefit of those of our readers who have not followed the case, and as a matter of record for the use of future historians, we give herewith the following details:

     The Oregon Law was enacted by a close margin by popular vote in the election of 1922, and would have been effective September 1, 1926. It required every parent, guardian or other person having charge or custody of a child between eight and sixteen years of age, to send him to a public school.

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Its enactment was attributed to the influence of the Ku Klux Klan, and its open and avowed purpose was to close the Catholic parochial schools. A Catholic organization took the lead in attacking the constitutionality of the law, and was later joined by organizations representing Jewish and Protestant denominations. They won in the lower courts, and the State of Oregon appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States, whose decision contained these statements of special interest to us:

     "No question is raised concerning the power of the State reasonably to regulate all schools, to inspect, supervise and examine them, their teachers and pupils; to require that all children of proper age attend some school, that teachers shall be of good moral character and patriotic disposition; that certain studies plainly essential to good citizenship must be taught, and that nothing be taught which is manifestly inimical to the public welfare.

     "The inevitable practical result of enforcing the Act under consideration [The Oregon Law] would be the destruction of appellees' primary schools, and perhaps all other private primary schools for normal children within the State of Oregon. Appellees are engaged in a kind of undertaking not inherently harmful, but long regarded as useful and meritorious. Certainly there is nothing in the present records to indicate that they have failed to discharge their obligations to patrons, students or the State. . . .

     "Under the doctrine of Meyer vs. Nebraska, 262 United States 390, we think it entirely plain that the Act of 1922 unreasonably interferes with the liberty of parents and guardians to direct the upbringing and education of children under their care. As often heretofore pointed out, rights guaranteed by the Constitution may not be abridged by legislation which has no reasonable relation to some purpose within the competency of the State. The fundamental theory of liberty upon which all Governments in this Union repose excludes any general power of the State to standardize its children by forcing them to accept education from public teachers only. The child is not the mere creature of the State; those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right, coupled with the high duty, to recognize and prepare him for additional obligations."

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MYSTERY OF SLEEP 1925

MYSTERY OF SLEEP       GEORGE DE CHARMS       1925

     THE MYSTERY OF SLEEP By John Bigelow. New York: The New-Church Press, 1924. Memorial Edition. Pp., 201. Price $1.50.

     John Bigelow, though born of earnestly religious parents, experienced in his early manhood a total loss of faith in religion, and even in the reliability and authenticity of the Bible. In 1853, however, while serving in editorial partnership with William Cullen Bryant on the NEW YORK EVENING POST, he became acquainted with the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, and found in the New Church Doctrines a means of renewing his shattered faith. He became a constant reader and student of the Writings. Being convinced by the teachings there found that many of the popular notions regarding sleep were fallacious, he wrote, in 1896, a monograph intended to dispel these superstitious ideas and replace them with a more rational view. This monograph was later enlarged, and published as a book of about 200 pages.

     From the many literary productions of John Bigelow, this little work has now been chosen for reprinting by the New-Church Press, as best suited to commemorate the reception of the teachings of Swedenborg by this prominent journalist and statesman. The new volume also reproduces an address delivered by Henry Van Dyke at a memorial meeting before the Century Association, New York, shortly after the death of John Bigelow. Written in a most delightful style, and paying a tribute of affection and regard to the author of The Mystery of Sleep, it forms a fitting foreword to the book. Horatio W. Dresser, in a Preface to the Memorial Edition, gives a brief summary of the present scientific interpretations of the phenomena of sleep, all of which have their roots in a naturalistic philosophy, and contrasts these with the suggestions of John Bigelow, which were grounded in a deep-seated conviction as to the preexistence of the human soul and of the spiritual world.

     Mr. Bigelow's conception of sleep will commend itself in many respects to all New Churchmen.

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By reason of its daily recurrence, sleep is one of those phenomena which become commonplace and thus discourage investigation. It is too continual an experience to excite our curiosity. And for this reason, having heard the traditional explanation of it,-namely, that sleep is a necessary rest, or cessation of activity,-we passively accept this answer as conclusive, and put the whole subject from our mind. In John Bigelow's treatment of it, we find original thought guided by a spiritual philosophy, and conclusions which at least give us pause. He declares that we would not be condemned by an all-wise Providence to spend one-third of our lives in complete inactivity. Reason demands that we look for some spiritual purpose in the phenomenon of sleep,-some end that accords with the Divine scheme of creation. The supreme end of creation being the regeneration and salvation of mankind, sleep must in some positive manner contribute to our eternal welfare. It cannot, therefore, be a mere cessation of activity, but must be a periodic change of our state of life, involving, indeed, an interruption of our relations with the phenomenal world, but at the same time a continuation of vital processes of spiritual growth.

     To support this view, the writer traces briefly the important role which sleep has played in human history, and points to the prominent place allotted to it in the Sacred Scripture. Further he shows that "all virtues favor sleep, and all vices discourage it." Indeed, he goes so far as to claim, or at least to contend, that sleep and death are the same in kind, and differ chiefly in duration. "It is true," he says, "that from sleep we awaken sooner or later to a consciousness of our incorporate limitations, while from death we do not awake. But is the difference any more than this-that in one case our carriage is left standing at the door to take us back again, while in the other we have no animus revertendi? Having reached home, we have no further use for our carriage, and it is dismissed." (P. 151) This temporary death, this ever-recurring association with the denizens of another world, is a necessary and highly important part of our preparation to become a permanent inhabitant of that spiritual sphere. A similar use is performed by everything that serves to take away from us the control of our own life, that abstracts us from the sole contemplation of material things, and gives evidence of a higher existence. He finds, therefore, in any state of mental lapse or deficiency that wholly or in part removes the individual from the conscious reaction to the phenomena of nature, a tool in the hand of God for the molding of the spirit.

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There is a Divine purpose in lunacy, idiocy, and all degrees of unbalanced rationality, which should be taken into consideration in our attitude toward such afflicted persons, and should influence our treatment of them.

     The book is notable for its clarity, simplicity, and evident conviction. It makes intensely interesting reading, especially to one familiar with the teachings of the Writings, and sympathetic with the basic point-of-view from which the author speaks. If it does not solve the mystery of sleep, and, in fact, raises more questions than it answers, still it provokes thought, and along lines far more productive of a rational answer than those pursued by modern scientific investigators. If the claim that sleep is only a temporary death appears extreme, and arises from too scant a knowledge of the relation between these two phenomena, there is room here for further study, in the effort to see more clearly the distinctive character of sleep. If we accept the suggestion that the sleep of man is provided wholly for the sake of his regeneration, what, then, is the purpose of sleep with animals? What shall we say of the evidences that some animals dream? Here is a field of psychological study that may yield highly interesting results to the inquiring student.

     The answer to the problems presented may be different in many respects from those suggested by this first pioneer in the field of New Church thought on the subject. But he has blazed a trail. He has demonstrated the mental road by which this fascinating country may be reached. He has pointed the explorer to the Writings as containing a Divine Chart and Compass for his safe direction in the new land. It is to be hoped that others will follow him, and carry the exploration into the interior, to the end that future generations may enjoy the rich natural resources of this spiritual region. Such thought as John Bigelow has given to this commonplace phenomenon from the philosophy of the Writings, and thereby discovered a new world, is the kind of thought that will be characteristic of the New Church through all the ages, until the Lord, by His Divine Revelation, shall in very truth "make all things new," giving to mankind a spiritual conception and understanding of every phase of human life.
     GEORGE DE CHARMS.

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DEFENCE OF THE BIBLE 1925

DEFENCE OF THE BIBLE       Rev. GEORGE DE CHARMS       1925

     THE BIBLE UNDER TRIAL. By James Orr, D. D. London: Marshall Brothers, 1907.

     It is perhaps a bit unusual to review a book that has already been eighteen years in circulation. It might naturally be taken for granted that such a work had either found its deserved place, and been brought sufficiently to the attention of the reading public, or had been consigned to a well-merited oblivion. But the material discussed in The Bible Under Trial has been given such a prominent position in the literature of recent years that this defense of the Sacred Scriptures by an able scholar acquires fresh interest. There is so much to be read in this day of mass-production in publication that this contribution to the present "Modernist" and "Fundamentalist" controversy may well have been overlooked. As an unusual work in the field of Christian apologetics, it is to be recommended to the New Church public.

     Dr. Orr was a Professor of Systematic Theology in the United Free Church, Glasgow. He was, of course, imbued with all the traditional doctrines of the Christian Church,-the tripersonality of God, the vicarious atonement, salvation by faith alone, and all the rest. But he was inspired by an unshakable faith in the Divinity, though not the sole Divinity, of Jesus Christ. He held tenaciously to a belief in the integrity, authenticity, and infallibility of the Bible. And to the defense of these two cardinal principles of Christianity he seems to have devoted his life. In the pursuance of this task, he directed himself to the examination of the claims of modern criticism and the overthrow of those tendencies of thought which have weakened the hold of the Scriptures on the average mind, with the result that he relegated Dogmatic Theology to a secondary place, so that it does not interfere with a just presentation of the main issues involved in his work.

     What lends a particular power to his book is the fact that he made himself thoroughly conversant with the data collected by both the "lower" and the "higher" critics. We live in an age in which the scientific mode of thought has been universally exalted.

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In the unprejudiced investigation of demonstrable facts, it is conceived that men have found at last an impregnable stronghold of truth. Set free from the restraining bonds of traditional beliefs, a host of scholars have devoted their lives to the task of setting up the ultimate truth concerning every possible subject of human inquiry, in this inmost citadel of certainty. Experience in the field of the natural sciences has marvelously vindicated this mode of procedure, and secured for the scientific investigator a position of authority and prestige never before enjoyed. Men who have attained a standing in the learned world by this kind of research are respected and revered by all. Men look to them for guidance. Around these giants of modern scholarship, our university professors, educators, and lesser students, all flutter as moths around a candle. Whatever has their sanction is regarded as already tested, tried, freed from impurity. It is considered as in the highest degree trustworthy, and is too often accepted without serious effort to probe its foundations. Who is a mere teacher, or professor, or undergraduate student, that he should question the dictum of an accredited master of scientific research, a specialist in his own domain?

     In the field of religious controversy, and particularly in that of Biblical Criticism, this weight of learning has largely supplanted the authority of the Church. Ministers of the Gospel, who, by reason of their calling, have been regarded as the rightful expounders of the Sacred Scriptures, faced by this growing attachment to a rival power which has done so much to undermine the basic principles of Christian faith, have too often been content to inveigh against the results of criticism, and to call down anathemas upon the heads of the critics by a mere appeal to the traditional teachings of the Church. They have not donned the armor of actual knowledge by minute investigation of the grounds on which those results have been attained. They have not adapted themselves to the scientific temper of the age, that they might meet the critics on a common basis.

     As the belief in the superior quality of this scientific mode of thought increased and has gripped the minds of an increasing number of educated men and women, an appeal to retain a faith in the Bible that does not really answer the objections put forth by modern scholars has lost much of its effect. We have, on the one hand, the arguments of the critics, which come to the unlearned from a source they have been taught to respect, and which, superficially at least, are highly persuasive. We have, on the other hand, the appeal of the Church to a higher reason, which causes the mind instinctively to revolt against the destructive effects of scientific investigation.

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But the two do not come together. Their swords do not cross. Their shots fly wide of the mark. Neither can come to grips with the other.

     Dr. Orr has sought to meet this condition of affairs by invading the country of the critics. He has studied their works minutely, has examined their original material, analyzed their methods of reasoning, and weighed their conclusions in the light of their own pronouncements. While he has thus appropriated to himself their learning, he has at the same time carried into his inquiry a preexistent belief in the Divinity of Christ and in the authenticity of the Sacred Scriptures. And having done this, he discovers that what have come to be widely regarded as "settled results" under the weight of scientific prestige are in reality far more the offspring of a preconceived disposition to deny these two fundamental doctrines than the legitimate children of unbiased research. Under his critical analysis, the facts, upon which theories antagonistic to the acceptance of the Bible as a veritable revelation of God's Word to men, shrink to surprisingly small proportions. He discovers that many of them are indeed established on sound foundations, but that most of these prove to be even more serviceable as a confirmation of the authenticity of the Bible than as levers to overthrow its authority. He finds that a host of alleged "facts," accepted as undeniable truth by one school of critical thought, are impugned, denied, and effectively disproved by opposing scholars of equal standing.

     The outcome of his investigation is to strip the pronouncements of the critics of much of their pretended authority, and to relegate them to the realm of fallible human theory and deduction. And he the more forcibly establishes their errancy by ably demonstrating that the scientific investigators, instead of starting, as they maintain, with a clean slate, and attempting to piece together the facts just as they find them, with a view to discovering what sort of pattern may result, have in actuality brought to their researches a very definite plan, already matured in their minds, according to which they insist upon arranging the data that are presented.

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The presuppositions with which they begin are: that science has already proved the development of the world to be according to natural laws of evolution; that there is no evidence of a supernatural power; that there can be no such thing as "miracle"; and, that all religious phenomena must be consistent with the belief that man has risen by slow stages from a state of animalism and absolute barbarity. Having accepted these ideas as the corner stones of their faith, they proceed to interpret the Scriptures in accordance therewith, tearing it to pieces, explaining away its obvious miracles, and erecting in its place a new history of the race that is confirmatory of their premises. All that their diligent labors ultimately prove is, that if these premises are correct, the Bible cannot be what it appears to be, and what men have for ages supposed it to be. It must be something else, which it is the business of a scientific examiner to demonstrate. In the matter of destroying the traditional view of the Bible, they are all in substantial agreement, and it is this destruction that has been widely hailed as a "settled result." But in the far more important and difficult task of building up a constructive theory that will explain the existence of the Bible as we find it, they are utterly at variance. In the claim that the Books of the Bible were not written by the authors traditionally ascribed to them; that they were produced at a much later time, for purposes of religious propaganda; and that the now lost sources of tradition from which they were eventually compiled were altogether different in form and substance;-in these "settled results" they agree. But as to the manner in which they were written, by whom they were written, when they were written, and what really are the historic facts underlying the "distorted myths" of the accepted Bible,-with regard to these, each eminent scholar stands virtually alone and in violent opposition to all the others.

     This being the case, Dr. Orr remarks, with telling force, that these so-called "settled results" are seen to stand on very shaky ground, if we demand for them a strictly scientific basis. This he shows by a multitude of references, which the inquiring reader may investigate for himself, and thus establish the truth of this "criticism of the critics" from their own statements. And finally, on the basis of the very evidence which the archeologists and other specialists have brought together, he builds a powerful defense of the common-sense interpretation of the Scriptural history and authorship which embraces a recognition of its inherent Divine character and authenticity.

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     There are portions of the book that will not stand analysis in the light of New Church doctrines. Dr. Orr accepts a modified view of evolution, too vague to be effectively demonstrated. He, of course, lacks all knowledge of the internal sense of the Word, and for that reason is driven to take some rather absurd positions in his eagerness to defend the literal stories of the Bible against destructive attack. He knows nothing of the representative character of the leading figures in the Scriptural narrative, and in consequence his effort to protect them from charges of immorality is quite unsatisfactory. He sees nothing farther than the First Christian Church, and his resultant view of the increased enlightenment that is supposedly pouring in upon modern Christianity gives unwarranted hope of spiritual progress under the old Dispensation, But, through it all, he stands firmly upon the unshakable rock of an inner faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as Divine, and in His Word as holy and authoritative, demonstrating that these fundamental verities of true Christianity have not been successfully undermined by the progress of scientific research, but that, on the contrary, wherever theory is replaced by solid fact, they have been marvelously strengthened and confirmed.

     It is my present thought that the contents of the book may be of use particularly to young New Churchmen, who, through their contact with the "learned world," have fallen into something of "perplexity, owing to the multitude and confusion of the opinions that prevail in these times regarding the Sacred Book." (P. v.) The successive chapters of the work were originally published as separate articles in a religious magazine. They were written for "the general Christian reader "; and while they deal at times with matters extremely technical, the style is clear, simple, and understandable throughout, and " they confine themselves to tracing broad outlines of defense and vindication." One who is troubled by the concentrated attack upon the Divinity of Christ and the authenticity of the Bible, brought widely to public notice by the present controversy in the Christian Church, if he is anxious to find a defense of these principles on scientific rather than purely spiritual grounds, will be well repaid by a careful perusal of The Bible Under Trial.

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TOWN OR COUNTRY? 1925

TOWN OR COUNTRY?       HORACE HOWARD       1925

     Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:

     An appreciation of the important subject brought forward by your correspondent, Mr. Philip Oyler, who writes in your May issue on the relative value of town and country in their influence upon the growth of the New Church, makes me crave leave for a little space in your pages for a few words in extension of the subject. The large majority of New Churchmen, perforce, get their living in large towns, competing for their bread and butter with men, who, in most cases, have no religious principles or, at best, only spurious ones, to guide them, who are governed by selfish ends, and not by the love of use,-the principle which is to be the controlling factor in the lives of New Churchmen.

     The appearance in business that use is the object for which a firm exists is very deceptive. For it looks as though the article produced by an organized firm is that for which the firm exists. New Churchmen know from the Word that that is not so. Making a living, or "succeeding in business," is the object; the article produced is only the necessary means. The governor of a firm, or the managing director of a company, will not remain satisfied to go on producing articles merely because they are useful (although the profit may be a fair one), if he sees a good chance of making more money out of a thing which is not only worthless but maybe injurious. Without scruple, he will drop the one and take up the other. Or if he can buy a bankrupt's material, he will put it into the article made, and undersell his fellow salesman, thereby robbing him of his customers. So accustomed are men to this way of dealing that they actually gloat over it, calling it a "lucky hit" and fair dealing. This is done everywhere and every day. And we are all in it, more or less. It is not our fault; we are born in those conditions, permitted by Providence, as hell is permitted.

     The center from which the activities of the world emanate today is the love of self, from the governmental brain down to the subordinate ganglia of the communal body.

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The Writings tell us it would be so, and from this we see that it is so. But happily they also tell of a Second Coming of the Lord to redeem and save His people by establishing a New Church through which He would make all things new,-a new Word, a new Religion, a new Conjugial.

     We, in the General Church, through the faithful teaching of our beloved priests, have long seen the necessity of preserving these sacred gifts by separating from the Old Church. We can no longer commingle our worship with those who believe in a Trinity of Gods, or who deny the Divinity of the Lord. Nor can we have any real fellowship with them in their social life. We have seen the necessity-and, where possible, have put it into practice-of separating our children from the contaminating influence of the schools of the world. Are we to stop at those three steps? Your enlightened contributor asks: What about withdrawing our youth from competition with the world in our everyday life concerning our mundane requirements?

     The first three steps were only seen to be essential by a few idealists,-men of vision who believed in the working of Providence through men as willing cooperators. Their faith has been proved, and these three steps have become undeniable factors in the growth, maintenance and purity of our beloved Church. But a further extension of the life of the Church is now called for. Has the time come for a consideration of the question of forming an industrial environment wherein our children would be still further safeguarded from the evils of the commercial sphere,-that sphere which has engulfed so many of our boys and girls, especially those who have not had the advantages of the soul-preserving influence of the education faithfully given by the self-sacrificing teachers of our beloved Academy.

     It is not a question of withdrawing from the world. That is impossible. We must be in the world, and yet not of it. We can only do that by gradually creating new conditions of life.

     Your correspondent, if I read him aright, does not want elderly persons to carry out his idea, nor those who love the existent system of life; but he wants our blessing, our children, and our acceptance of the use in principle, so that from a small beginning a self-supporting industrial community might be formed in time, and directed in every detail by the light of heaven, as drawn from the Heavenly Doctrines by our priests.

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This would be assimilated by the masters of industry, as well as by the workers under them; and all conditions of labor would be mutually arranged according to the justice of the Writings, thus eliminating the wasteful and hellish contest of Capital against Labor.

     If this step is not taken some day, how can the Church descend to the ultimates of use? How pleasant it is to meet our New Church friends in spheres of holy worship? How delightful to converse with them for a few hours upon the truths of life, away from the distracting cares of the world! And when the time comes for New Churchmen to work together under the ministrations of a priest of the General Church, life will be fuller, and, instead of a competition with our fellowmen, as now, it will be a pleasure to go to our several callings where each can do his part in the grand use of building up the institutions of the Church by means of the uses of daily life.

     I cannot see how otherwise the prophecy will ever be fulfilled, "That in this New Church there will be spiritual peace, glory and internal blessedness of life, because there will be true faith and true charity."

     This cannot be, at any rate in Europe, under the present wasteful system of industrial competitive production.
     Yours sincerely,
          HORACE HOWARD.
24, DRURY ROAD, COLCHESTER, ENGLAND.

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Church News 1925

Church News       Various       1925

     DENVER, COLO.-Readers of the Life have no doubt observed an absence of news from the Denver Society. It is proposed, therefore, to give a brief resume of the outstanding events of the year. The first of these was the annual meeting, held in September. The report of the Treasurer was of chief interest. In addition to the usual report of a deficit, he informed us that the mortgage on our property would have to be paid, as he had received notification that no further extension would be granted. The discussion centered on ways and means. Our ladies organization came to the front with the suggestion that we hold a bazaar, which idea received a unanimous welcome. At the next Ladies Meeting, after the address given by the Pastor, the subject of interest was, of course,-the bazaar. Mrs. Howland, the President, took over the responsibility of it, ably assisted by Mrs. Schroder. We have nothing but praise for these two ladies, for their energy and application to the task in hand; and they were given loyal support by all the other ladies. We noted again, what is the common experience, that when necessity arises there is a banding together, and the spirit of self-sacrifice prevails. The bazaar proved most successful, realizing about $200.00, which amount, added to a gift from Mr. Lindrooth, and sundry funds already in the possession of the Society, enabled us, not only to lift the mortgage, but also to wipe out our last year's deficit. This state of affairs called for a celebration, and accordingly, as soon as the mortgage was returned, the Society met at a banquet. It was suggested that the document be given to the flames in the presence of all, but prudence asserted itself, and it was decided that a better way to dispose of it would be to frame it. In the end, it was left in the hands of the Treasurer for safe-keeping.

     The Christmas season was attended with the usual festivities,-a special service for the administration of the Holy Supper, a children's festival, and a children's social.

     The next event of importance was Swedenborg's Birthday, on which occasion the Society met at a banquet, with Mr. and Mrs. Schroder as host and hostess. From the point of view of attendance, it was the most successful banquet we have held. The room was tastefully decorated, and the dinner excellent. Swedenborg's "Rules of Life," as the sum of New Churchmanship, were the theme of the evening, each of the four speakers addressing himself to one of them.

     A new development in our society is the Young People's Club, which meets fortnightly. The order at these meetings is: a business session, an address by the Pastor, and refreshments and social intercourse. The doctrinal subject so far presented is "The Five Churches." The membership is as yet very small; due to the paucity of young people, but we hope for increase and stimulation when our young people return from Bryn Athyn.

     The addition of a Service of Praise to our regular sabbath worship proved a very enjoyable feature of our Easter celebration this year. For many weeks the singing practices were given over to the preparation of appropriate music. When the time came, therefore, the music was of a quality worthy of the Easter theme, and, together with the setting of beautiful plants with which the chancel had been decorated, formed an ultimate for a very delightful sphere,-the sphere of the presence of the Lord and Holiness.

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Carrying this sphere, the service fulfilled its designated purpose,-"the end in view," which was the partaking of the Holy Supper. During the year, we have had the pleasure of brief visits from Mr. Bundsen, of San Francisco, and formerly a member of the Denver Society, from Mr. Ray Brown, of Toronto, and from Miss Helen Colley, of Bryn Athyn. It was indeed a pleasure to see them. We hope that the next year will bring us more visits from our New Church friends.

     We regret very much the departure to Bryn Athyn of Miss Agnes Tyler, who, besides being one of out very few young people, was also a teacher in our Sunday School; also of Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Bray, who sojourned with us for year, and have now removed to their former home in Tampa, Florida. Their absences felt as a very serious loss to our limited circle. We have, on the other hand, had an increase with the coming of Dr. Vos and his family, and Miss Wheelright, all of Cincinnati, and who were members of the Convention Society in that city.

     As this is in the nature of a chronicle of the outstanding events in the year's activities, we will anticipate and include mention of the 19th of June. It is proposed to celebrate this memorable day with an outing in Elitch's Gardens, which is advertised as "America's most distinctive amusement park." A service commemorating the event for which the day stands will also be held on the 21st. This will mark the dose of our active church year.
     H. H.

     BRYN ATHYN.-The absence of the Assistant Pastor during the first three months of the year made it necessary for the Bishop to call upon other resident ministers to assist in the Sunday services and the Friday doctrinal classes, and there was a ready response on the part of the ministers, in spite of the exacting nature of the their regular duties in the Academy Schools. The Society has benefited, therefore, by a greater variety than usual in the instruction given in sermons and classes. On Friday evenings, the following subjects were presented: A series by a phase of the Divine Providence, by the Rev. E. E. Iungerich; five talks on the History of New Church Education, by the Rev. C. E. Doering, who hopes to prepare this material for publication in book form; two classes on the subject of Baptism, by Bishop W. F. Pendleton, the substance of his remarks now appearing under "Topics from the Writings" in New Church Life; while Bishop N. D. Pendleton continued his very interesting series on The Origin of Religions, which he has dealt with in our doctrinal classes at intervals during the last two years. The members of the Society have also availed themselves of the opportunity to at tend weekly lectures on the subject of "The Brain," which the Rev. Alfred Acton has given as a College Extension: Course open to the public.

     The Easter Festival was observed as usual with a series of three services, beginning with one on the evening of Good Friday in commemoration of the Lord's Passion. This year, the children's service was held on Easter morning, the children entering in procession, bearing an offering of living plants in gorgeous bloom, and singing with childish sweetness a hymn of joy and praise on account of the Lord's Resurrection. The Rev. K. R. Alden delivered a stirring address, showing how the Lord, by His conquering of the bells and the glorification of His Human, had set men free from the binding dread of evil, and had restored a sense of security and peace to all who acknowledged His living presence in His Word. Following this service, the adults gathered in the cathedral for the administration of the Holy Supper.

     The Spring Meeting of the Society was held after the Friday supper on May the 8th, the Bishop opening the proceedings with a brief report in which, he spoke of the encouraging progress made in our uses during the past year, and emphasizing the need for the continued maintenance of interior thought, and a constant renewal of our love for spiritual truth, as the living seed of our movement. After the reading of sundry reports, Mr. O. W. Heilman, as Principal of the Elementary School, gave an extended account of the educational work among the children of the Society, and called attention to the display of their work which might be viewed after the meeting.

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He also spoke of the need for an immediate increase in the teaching force, as Miss Sigrid Cyriel Odhner has been granted leave of absence to enable her to spend a year in Europe in the interests of Swedenborg manuscripts. This will also necessitate changes in the faculty, and Miss Elizabeth Ashby, who has had charge of the Kindergarten for some years, will now have the Fourth Grade, while Miss Dorothy Cooper has been engaged to teach the Kindergarten. Miss Venita Roschman will teach the girls of the Seventh and Eighth Grades. Mr. Heilman's report was followed by a general discussion. Warm appreciation was voiced for Miss Ashby's long and capable work in the Kindergarten. The various speakers touched upon such topics as school discipline and manual training, and the meeting dosed among some humorous sallies on the subject of borrowed and "stolen" tools.

     The Rev. George de Charms returned to Bryn Athyn on April 5th, much improved in health by his sojourn in Florida, but will not resume all of his duties as Assistant Pastor until after the summer vacation. The Rev. Alan Gill has accepted an engagement to preach for the Bryn Athyn Society during the summer, after which he will enter upon duties as Minister of the New York Society, to which he has been called.
     G. DE C.

     REPORT OF THE VISITING PASTOR.-May 17th to 20th was spent with the circle at WINDSOR, ONT. and DETROIT. At the services in Windsor on Sunday morning, the 17th, there were three infant baptisms,-a boy of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Bellinger, and the twin boys of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Schnarr. (Here I may be permitted to say that this is the third time it has been my privilege to baptize twins.) There was an attendance of twenty-two, of whom eleven were children. Ten persons partook of the Holy Supper. In the evening a doctrinal class was held in Detroit, at which the subject was "The New Heaven and the New Church," what each is, their relation to each other, and their conjunction. Fourteen persons were present. Monday evening there was class at Windsor, the subject being "Wisdom," showing how there is eternal progress therein according to conjunction with the Lord. Tuesday evening, another class was held at Detroit, with an attendance of eighteen. The subject was "Seeing the Lord,"-the seeing of Him according to a natural idea as the Divine Man in human shape and figure, and the seeing of Him according to a spiritual idea as the Divine Man whose Substance is Divine Love and whose Form or Body is Divine Wisdom. Monday afternoon and Tuesday forenoon were given to the instruction of the children at Windsor.

     At ERIE, PA., ONT meetings began with a doctrinal class on Thursday evening, May 21st. At the opening of the class, reference was made to the recent passing to the other world of Mr. Miltiades Glenn, who was associated with the Erie Circle during his entire life. His wife and children have moved to Bryn Athyn, and will make their home there. Six weeks previous to Mr. Glenn's death, his mother also passed to the other world. And so a name that has been on the roll of the Erie Circle almost from its beginning appears no longer upon it. But, associated with that name, the memory of eminent usefulness to the church will be cherished, the benefit of which always remain. The class dealt with a portion of Divine Love and Wisdom, to the study of which work one evening of each visit is given. On Saturday afternoon, instruction was given to five children of two families. In the evening another class was held, at which the subject was "Happiness, and its Attainment."

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On Sunday morning, at services, there was an attendance of twelve, of whom nine partook of the Holy Supper. In the evening the concluding class was held and the doctrine concerning the Lord's fulfilling the law was considered.
     F. E. WAELCHLI.

     GALLI-CURCI IN AUSTRALIA.

     The Rev. Richard Morse has sent us the Sydney Morning Herald of April 4, 1925, wherein Mme. Amelita Galli-Curci is quoted as follows:

     "The books that I love best to read tell of the science of the future life, and my choice, above all other authors, is Swedenborg, because of the simple beauty of his style and his deep thought. I do not see why people devote so much more time to the science of material things than to those spiritual things which are eternally enduring. My belief is that we should use to the best advantage this life which prepares for an everlasting future, and get, too, all the real happiness that we can out of it. However, in eternity, I expect to go on working just as I do here, and trying to make those about me happy by my singing."

     Mr. Morse was moved to write the following letter to Mme. Galli-Curci:

     "Dear Madam: "That paragraph on the books you love best, in your interesting story of your life, appearing in the Morning Herald of April 4, is a veritable oasis in the desert of general literature, so far as spiritual things are concerned.

     "Your desire to make others happy, in the other life, by your singing, shall certainly be fulfilled; for the kingdom of heaven is a kingdom of uses, and each one in that kingdom performs the use he or she loves best, but with wonderfully increased powers of mind and body.

     "As the only minister, in Australia, of the New Church,-the Church that has been established by the Divine Revelation given through Emanuel Swedenborg,-I wish you and your dear husband every spiritual happiness, and as much wordly prosperity as the Lord, in His Providence, may grant."

     GLENVIEW.-The Little Symphony Orchestra, which is becoming indispensable to our social life, gave a concert on May 10th in honor of Mother's Day. The program was ambitious and very successful. There was a pleasing combination of the more intellectual music with such familiarly loved songs as "When you and I were young, Maggie." The soloists, the orchestra: and especially Mr. Stevens, the director, deserve every encouragement. Theta Alpha served punch and cakes after the concert, and little flower girls presented violets to all the mothers.

     Perhaps there is no way in which a society's cooperation is more conspicuous than in their unition to raise funds for a special purpose. It was so with the two comedies which Theta Alpha gave, the proceeds of which were for kindergarten equipment. Candy and ice-cream bars were sold, and the material results were far above the most sanguine hope. The first play, "Joint Owners in Spain," dealt with the situation in an Old Ladies' Home, when two old women, with whom no one could live, were put together as room-mates. The other play was adapted by Mrs. Sydney Lee from the short story by Octavus Roy Cohen, and renamed "Highly Financial." The finances were the tips which two rogues, traveling on a Pullman, lavish upon the bewildered but unprotesting porter-unconscious custodian of their booty. During the intermission there were musical numbers, notable among which was the doubt of Phyllis Burnham as a cellist.

     The School, under the direction of Mr. Rydstrom, give a charming production of "Flora," an operetta admirably suited to the ability of children. As the name suggests, it is a woodland theme with a May Queen and her flowery attendants, and of course a Maypole dance.

     Memorial Day was commemorated with military pomp by the American Legion. The ceremonies took place in the village, and we were officially represented by our orchestra, and by a squad of men in uniform.

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The Park celebration began with the children's out-door luncheon, and ended with the impromptu singing which followed the general picnic in the evening. The young men of the society accepted the school boys' challenge for a game of in-door, and later the best base-ball game in years was managed by Reynold Doering and Stuart Synnestvedt. Everyone enjoyed it, though we heard some philosophizing on how times have changed among the older men who were asked to take a field position. There was even a photographer to snap the spectacular plays.

     On May 31st, Mr. David Gladish and Miss Eleanor Lindrooth were married in our church, the short and impressive ceremony closing with the Mendelssohn Wedding March, which the orchestra played with great spirit. The reception was held in the Ivy Courtyard.

     The following Saturday evening, Miss Katherine Weirbach was married to Mr. Neville Wright from the home of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Cole. Miss Lucy Wright and Mr. Norman Jasmer accompanied the bride and groom. It was a beautiful wedding, and when the service was over the people gathered in the Parish Hall to wish the young people every joy.

     On Sunday afternoon, June 7th, funeral services were held for Mrs. Hugh L. Burnham, who has passed into the other world. Her presence at our gatherings will be sincerely missed, but we rejoice with her in the happiness which she will find in resuming an active life in that higher world.
     G. N.

     KITCHENER, ONT.-The Bishop arrived on May 16th for his annual visit, and in the evening there was an informal reception at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Rudolph Roschman. The Bishop always has some good anecdotes to relate, and though we delight greatly in the spiritual matters which he brings before us, we enjoy this other side too.

     At the service on the following morning, the Bishop preached on the subject of Ishmael, as representing the spiritual man. In his showing that the water giving out in the wilderness signifies man's lack of truth during temptation, and the well of water being shown from heaven denotes the peace and illustration received after temptation, we were inspired with a feeling of deepest humility that fittingly preceded the Communion Service held in the afternoon. The evening was spent with the Young People, where there was a very interesting discussion of the organization of the Church and kindred subjects.

     At a general meeting on Monday evening, the Bishop delivered an address on the subject of "Humanizing the Divine," and carried us with him to the heights of spiritual intellectuality, which we greatly appreciated. Such an experience must always have a lasting effect for good, even though we be able to retain very little in our conscious memory. From the idea of the Lord's being born upon earth for the salvation of ourselves, it seemed to me to lift the thought to a higher and wider concept,-that man's idea of God, and the idea in the heavens, might be made more perfect.

     In the spacious living room of the new home of Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel Stroh, the women of the Society gathered on Tuesday afternoon, to meet with the Bishop, and thus to keep abreast of the Men's Club, which claimed him for the evening of the same day. It was a delightful occasion, strengthening the bond of love which binds us as societies and individuals to the center of the organized Church at Bryn Athyn. The Bishop appealed to us to send our children to Bryn Athyn to school, that we might have strong and loyal women for the future. Various other topics were discussed, including the different types of music used in our services,-Psalms, chants and hymns. As to woman's use and position in the church, the Bishop stated that they, as every one else, must be in freedom to carry on the uses they prefer, and no rules can be laid down, though, as we all understand, woman's primary use is domestic.

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     In the evening, at the Men's Club, the Rev. Hugo Odhner, of Toronto, was a welcome guest, and contributed greatly to the interest and discussion. After the men had dined, Dr. R. W. Schnarr, President of the Club, introduced the subject of "Practical Ideals." Mr. Samuel Roschman then read the paper, "What Shall We Do?" by Mr. Philip Oyler from the May number of New Church Life, a lively discussion following. During his remarks, the Bishop presented a very pleasing and attractive picture of the home of Mr. Oyler in the New Forest, England, which he had visited a year ago.

     At the banquet on Wednesday evening the subject was "Assembly Values." In responding to the toast to "The Church," Mr. Odhner spoke of the "voice of the trumpet," which is the voice of Divine Truth coming with a mighty power to save. At an assembly time this voice of the trumpet is loud and clear, because the presence of many joined in worship and discussion helps to clarify our perception of the truth. Mr. Rudolph Roschman responded to the second toast, "The Organized Church," which is the congregation convoked or called together by the voice of the trumpet. He spoke of cooperation and harmony in the church, of the meetings for discussion held by novitiate spirits in the other world, and of the lasting benefits which we hope to derive from the General Assembly in 1926. In responding to the third toast, to "The Church Progressive," the Rev. L. W. T. David spoke of the ideal that is set before us by the vision of the Holy City in Revelation. Our desire should be to see the Church spiritually and firmly established on earth. To accomplish this, each one must be ready to fight for the right, and be zealous that the enemy shall not infest the land, just as the Israelites of old "went forward to battle" into the Land of Canaan. The last toast, "Our Common Bond," was responded to by Mr. Nathaniel Stroh, who spoke of the necessity for our having time for reflection, and of the gladness and delight derived from truth. In conclusion, the Bishop made some remarks about the "trumpet." The church-bells of today signify the same thing; their vibrations may affect one most powerfully. Similarly, the vibrations made by music may so far affect the physical man as to influence or cure sickness. The "bells" or "trumpets" have always meant power from heaven communicated to the people.

     According to worldly time, the Bishop was with us only half a week, but spiritually I am sure it was much longer, as the talks with and by him seemed to make a perfect cycle, which, in the other world, would complete a week or year, that is to say, a full state.
     G. R. D.

     SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION.

     The 27th Annual Meeting of the Association was held at Bryn Athyn, Pa., on June 4th, 1925, with President Lewis F. Hite in the chair, and with a gratifying attendance, considering the excessively hot weather.

     At the afternoon session, the reports of the year's activity were very encouraging. Prof. Alfred Acton gave an interesting account of things accomplished in his field, especially in connection with the Photostat work in reproducing the original manuscripts of the philosophical works, which has made rapid progress, about 1200 pages of the negatives having been received from Sweden, and being ready for reproduction here. The Treasurer, Prof. C. E. Doering, gave a comprehensive statement of the finances of the Association, and reported the accession of 29 new members during the year, bringing the total to 255. The Association had been active in supplying members with books needed, mostly at half-price, according to the standing arrangement.

     As further concerns the work of reproducing the manuscripts, the Association had sent invitations to five organizations in the New Church, inviting them to buy copies of the Photostats. Favorable replies had been received from two.

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The Association agreed to accept the following offer made by the Academy of the New Church:

     Whereas the Academy agrees to make and to give three copies of the Photostats to the Association, providing the Association will give the negatives now in their possession to the Academy; and the Academy also offers to underwrite the Association to an amount not to exceed $300.00, to ensure completion of the work in Sweden; be it Resolved, That this offer be accepted by the Association.

     At the conclusion of the business, the remainder of the afternoon session was devoted to the hearing and discussion of Prof. R. W. Brown's paper on "An Interpretation of Swedenborg's Theory of Light and Color."

     In the evening, the Rev. Lewish F. Hite delivered his Presidential Address, the subject being "Swedenborg's Philosophy of Matter." Miss Sigrid Cyriel Odhner gave a resume of her work in collecting documents relating to Swedenborg. Prof. Acton spoke on the present status of the Photostat work, and exhibited copies of the reproduced manuscripts which were of great interest to those present.
     WILFRED HOWARD,
          Secretary.

     TORONTO, ONT.-The Bishop's Canadian visit this year was not made the occasion of the usual Ontario District Assembly. Instead, Local Assemblies were held in Kitchener and Toronto.

     The Toronto meetings commenced on Thursday evening, May 21st, with the Bishop's address on "Humanizing the Divine." [See page 385 of this issue.] His treatment of the subject came as a timely warning, both against too much abstraction and too mechanical ideas in our thought respecting the glorified Human of the Lord. The nature of the subject limited the discussion to various expressions of general appreciation, and to resolutions as to lines of possible future study.

     On Friday, the Bishop visited our Day School, his visit coinciding with Empire Day celebrations in all the public schools of the British Empire. Accordingly he, on behalf of the Ladies' Circle, presented to the School a beautiful flag,-the Merchant Flag of Great Britain bearing the Canadian coat of arms, which, in the absence of a distinctive Canadian flag, has come to be looked upon as such.

     In the evening, a banquet was held, at which there was a splendid attendance. Our Pastor, the Rev. H. L. Odhner, was toastmaster, the subject for the evening being "Phases of Local New Church Development." In his introductory remarks, Mr. Odhner pointed out that worship and instruction, as exemplified in Sunday services and the doctrinal class, are the two fundamental and outstanding features of the work of the New Church, around which it is organized as a church specific to become the heart and lungs of the Gorand Man of salvable souls on earth. We cannot attempt to give even a resume of the various speeches. It will suffice to show the scope of the evening's study to give the headings, as follows:

     "Special Study Classes" was spoken to by Mr. Craigie, who based his remarks upon the Parable of the Talents. "The Sunday School" was dealt with by Mr. A. Thompson, the Superintendent, "Young People's Movements," by Mr. Frank R. Longstaff, and "New Church Periodicals" by Mr. F. Wilson. The Rev. L. W. T. David, who had come down from Kitchener to be present at our Assembly, made an interesting contribution to the program in speaking on "The Welfare of our Local Schools," which he described as institutions that lay the basis for the building of the structure of the angelic man. He advised an active interest on the part of parents, to be evidenced by their becoming well acquainted with the teachers and their work. But he discouraged "meddling," and also the loading up of the curriculum with too many things. Education is not so much an acquiring of knowledges as "an outlook on life," having heaven in view, and a building up of character, stability, and dependability.

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Mr. Carswell, a veteran supporter of New Church Education, said that nothing is more important than education as distinct from the mere acquiring of knowledges.

     On these occasions, we have come to expect from our Bishop, in his summing-up of the remarks and speeches, something good that we can take away with us as a help and guide through the days to come. Nor are we ever disappointed. This time he gave us a message, of which the following was the purport: "The spiritual ideals that we conceive constitute the very spirit of our Church. But spiritual ideals alone are not enough. Societies cannot be held together merely by spiritual ideals; these must be brought down into the living ultimate plane. The thing to cultivate is a genuine liking for each other,-to like a man, and to feel that you like him. A machine without oil, however perfectly it may be built, will not go very far. And so we shall not go far without that oil of the good of love,-that quality of sincere and genuine affection for one another."

     On Saturday, May 23d, a men's meeting was held under the auspices of the Forward Club. The usual Club program was followed, the chairman being Mr. A. Thompson, President. Supper was served, followed by the fourth and last of a series of "survey lectures " by the Pastor on Swedenborg's Science and Philosophy, treating this time of "Swedenborg's Discovery of the Correspondence of Spiritual and Natural Things." The lecturer showed how Swedenborg, in his scientific studies, actually attained to a knowledge of the surviving natural organics of the spirit, and then, in the Rational Psychology, is found looking for the spiritual form of the soul, which could be understood only by its analogy to natural forms (498). From the need of analogy he then came to the discovery of the wanted "universal mathesis," or science of sciences (ch. xxxii), in the correspondence of natural and spiritual arcana which is developed in his Hieroglyphic Key and his work on Correspondences and Representations. Mr. Odhner traced the history of Swedenborg's concept, and illustrated the subject from the cited works, showing also why Swedenborg had to have the germ of the law of correspondences before he entered into his work of exploring the spiritual world.

     Following the very able presentation of the subject, an interesting and well-sustained discussion was participated in by at least fifteen speakers, a feature of which was the "versatile" Mr. Arthur Carter's contribution on Egyptology. The Bishop's remarks encouraged the cultivation of such intellectual studies as those the Club is pursuing, as affording a strong bulwark against the pervasive naturalistic thought of the world.

     On Sunday morning, the Bishop, assisted by the Pastor, conducted the service and preached on the representation of Hagar and Ishmael (Genesis 21:13), describing in a vivid and impressive way the perverse state of the men of the spiritual church, as contrasted with the celestial, and showing how there is salvation even for them, which fact is directly traceable to the separation of the first or merely human rational in the process of the glorification of the Lord's Human. The Ladies' Choir sang Mendelssohn's anthem, "Lift Thine Eyes." There was a large congregation, and a very powerful and reverent sphere pervaded the whole service. In the afternoon, the sacrament of the Holy Supper was administered to fifty-eight communicants. In the evening, the Ladies' Circle gave an At Home at the church, where tea and cake were charmingly dispensed, together with delightful music and much happy conversation, an altogether fitting close to a day which had been marked by a sphere of restfulness.

     Monday, May 25th, a national holiday, proved too cold for the proposed sight-seeing tour, and so we foregathered downtown for luncheon. With Mr. T. P. Bellinger, veteran of the Great War, as toastmaster, we had a good old-fashioned patriotic time, the speeches giving a clear and concise exposition of the significance of our new flag, accompanied with patriotic and church songs.

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The feature was that the ladies were the main speakers.

     And so we came to the end of our Local Assembly, which remains memory that is still an inspiration. The Bishop gave us generously, unstintedly of his time, energy and affectionate counsel, and we feel better for his having been with us. The certainty, the sincere conviction, he has of the mission of the New Church radiates a strength and encouragement which is infectious, and moves us to look forward with hope and courage unabated to another year of endeavor in the uses of our Church.

     We gratefully acknowledge the Pastor's assistance in the compilation of these notes.     
     F. W.

     REPORT OF THE VISITING PASTOR.-The spring visit to COLUMBUS, OHIO, was made June 3d to 5th. Two evening meetings were held in the family circle of Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Wiley, the one a doctrinal class, the other a service including the administration of the Holy Supper. Instruction was also given the three children of the family.

     From Columbus I went to MIDDLEPORT, OHIO. Services were held on Sunday morning, the 7th, with an attendance of thirty-seven, including children. Nineteen persons partook of the Holy Supper. There was also the baptism of the infant of Mr. and Mrs. William Powell, who, together with Mr. A. S. Powell, came from Pike County for the occasion. We also had with us Messrs. Richard Kintner and Richard Waelchli, of Huntington, W. Va. After the service, the entire congregation adjourned to the lawn of Mrs. Lucy Grant Boggess, where a picnic dinner was served and we had a most enjoyable time. Old Middleport members, scattered her and there throughout the Church, as they read these lines, will recall the many delightful similar occasions at the same place in which they participated during the course of many years.

     Announcement had been made in the newspapers that a lecture on the subject of "Fundamentalism and Modernism" would be given in our church on Sunday evening. We had an attendance of fifty. The lecture was confined to the idea of God entertained by each party. It was told what each side says of the other, and shown that in each case what is said is true. Then the New Church doctrine was given. Announcement was made of three further lectures. At these the attendance was not so good, averaging twenty-two. Each time some strangers were present. The Monday evening lecture was also on "Fundamentalism and Modernism," but with reference to the attitude towards the Sacred Scriptures, blind faith on one side, and rejection on the other; then the New Church doctrine. On the next two evenings, the present immoral state of the world was the subject. It was shown that the merely natural morality now taught will bring no betterment, and that the only hope lies in the spiritual-natural morality which the New Church teaches in the doctrine that evils are to be shunned as sins against God. (On this subject, let the reader consult T. C. R. 564.)
     F. E. WAELCHLI.

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ORDINATIONS 1925

ORDINATIONS              1925




     Announcements.



     Acton.-At Bryn Athyn, Pa., June 14, 1925, Mr. Elmo Carman Acton, into the First Degree of the Priesthood, Bishop N. D. Pendleton officiating.

     Gill.-At Bryn Athyn, Pa., June 14, 1925, Mr. Alan Gill, into the First Degree of the Priesthood, Bishop N. D. Pendleton officiating.
CORRECTION 1925

CORRECTION              1925

     On page 345 of the June issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE, the sentence in the middle of the second paragraph should read:

     "But he would always reserve the right to reinterpret them [the scientific riches of the day] in the light of a purer and truer philosophy,-one that reaches back to the realm of cause, and reveals the fatal weakness and utter hopelessness of a system of interpretation that is based upon the evidence of the senses alone. In this he would realize the stupendous nature of the task that lies before the Church." We regret that the italicized words were accidentally omitted in the printing, thus conveying a meaning entirely foreign to Mr. Howard's intention.-EDITOR.

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GOSPELS AS HISTORIC TRUTH 1925

GOSPELS AS HISTORIC TRUTH       Rev. HUGO LJ. ODHNER       1925


[Frontispiece: Photographs of the interior and exterior of the Church of the Society at Durban, Natal, Dedicated March 16, 1924.]

NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. XLV          AUGUST, 1925           No. 8
     "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, . . . full of grace and truth." (John 1:14.)

     "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise partook of the same. . . . For verily He took not on Him the [nature of] angels, but He took on the seed of Abraham." (Paul in Hebrews 2:14,16.)

     "For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty." (Peter in II Peter 1:16)

     "Try the spirits whether they be of God. . . . Every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God, but is that of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come. . . ." (John in 1 John 4: 1, 3.)

     The religions of the ancient world were based upon representatives pregnant with a prophetic burden; and men saw God in these symbols and shadows, each according to his own discernment and wisdom. Mankind depended upon its own clearness of vision for the sight of God; and when their vision grew confused, their entire perception of the Divine presence was degraded or lost. "The light shone in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not."

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     But the Christian religion is founded, not upon any symbolic inferences, not upon any uncertain and subjective "inner light" of esoteric thinkers, nor upon the acute wisdom of the few, but upon a fact known to the many. This fact is the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

     The enlightening Word-the Light of men-became flesh, dwelt among us. Men received the truth of God's wisdom in the form of Jesus Christ, received it by afflux from without, through their eyes and ears, their senses. His life spake aloud of the Love of God. His mouth spake the Divine Truth. His power showed His Divinity. In Him were all prophecies, all shadows, fulfilled in spiritual and overflowing measure. His death and resurrection, which demonstrated the reality of His truth, was testified to, not only by the Twelve, but by a "cloud of witnesses." For He was seen after His death by above five hundred brethren at once, most of whom still lived at the time of Paul's recording the fact in his letter to the Corinthians. (I Cor. 15:6.) Neither of His life as material man, nor of His resurrestion as Divine Man, was there any lack of testimony. And this is well, since it is necessary above all else that the fact of the life of our Lord Jesus Christ be firmly established as historic, as accomplished in matter, time and space, as the rock bottom of all faith in the actual Humanness of God; and this, not only for the sake of all future generations that are to live upon this earth as heirs of redemption, but also for the marking of the particular use of the spirits borne into the spiritual world from this our planet; in that we, coached in this external truth, may serve the universal heavens of other worlds also, as the organs of sense through which the knowledge of God as actual incarnate Man may enter in.     

     It may be questioned why there is such utter need for the knowledge of the fact of the Incarnation. And one answer lies in the truth that interior truths have no organic coherence or holiness except in their ultimates, i.e., in facts. The doubt which suggests that God is not Love and Wisdom, is not Infinite Man, is not the conscious, wise Creator and the providing Spirit of the two worlds, can never be entirely done away with, except by the knowledge that He did come as MAN, clothed with mortal substance, equally lowly as man; come in the flesh by the gate of birth; that He was tempted as to all the human in Him, and that He glorified His Divine in forth standing Divine Humanity.

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No lesser thing than that actual fact can afford a complete defence to the falsities which suggest that God is not Love, nor Human, but that He is but the inward powers of nature, the mechanical energy within physical forms, and that His universe is in no wise imbued with any eternal destiny, or fashioned as the tool for any Divine plan, but merely the blind unfolding of the laws of chance and necessity.

     Even the perceptive wisdom of the celestials,-the angels of the inmost heaven, who always, even in most ancient times, when they lived on earth, enjoyed a perceptive wisdom,-even their perception of the Divine as Human, the source of every good and truth, would fail of an ultimate foundation and wall of defence and final strength, if there was not in lower heavens the knowledge of the accomplishment of the Incarnation which they always perceived as a possibility.

     And the Writings of the New Church confirm that all the truths of heaven are founded in this truth of the Lord's advent in the flesh; and that hence the angels treasure that truth, and love it as the holy ultimate of all truths,-the corner stone; which is true, not only as a representative symbol, but also as a holy fact in itself,-the essence of all the facts of natural and human history. And we might add to this that all the efforts of hell, concentrated once upon the destruction of the Lord Jesus Christ, are still focused with the utmost hatred upon the destruction of our faith in the evidence of His existence as Man on earth.

     All this, of course, means nothing to atheists, to materialists, or to the large class of those in the Christian World who believe in a "natural religion," that is, who believe in a more or less impersonal God, or who claim that God is so detached from His universe that He cannot reveal Himself, either by inspiration or by incarnation. The fact of the incarnation as recorded in the Gospels is a confirmation and a means of salvation to those only who, from free religious choice, wish to acknowledge God as God-Man. The growth of Christianity is due to just this, that it shows the potential Humanity and Fatherhood and Providence and Mercy of God-towards which all true religious feelings tend-having become proved in the actual manifestation of God in the life and glorification of Jesus Christ.

     Yet no truth, however historic and actual, is forced upon anyone who does not wish to believe it. This is in Providence, for the sake of man's spiritual freedom. Such a one cannot see the value of it, has no use for it.

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He asks first, Why should it be so then, How could it be so? and finally, he would try to deny that it is so. He would, if possible, invalidate all historic testimony advanced to prove that the Lord ever existed.

     II.

     It is to the historicity of the Christ of the Gospels that I wish to address myself in these pages. For while, to us, the proof of Jesus Christ is a matter of internal perception, rather than of external testimony, and rests on Revelation and reason, rather than on mere fact, yet we must be furnished with facts of history as part of our armor, Whereby to oppose the doubts Of the age. The real reason why the origin of Christianity has been attacked in modern times is that the Christian Church, as an ecclesiasticism, has become corrupt and consummated from inmosts, and has, by continual stress upon worldly and profane things, made the teachings of the Lord unintelligible and His ways impracticable. Moreover, the perception of the need for the Incarnation as a means of salvation has been lost, and with this perception gone, faith has become fickle, and easily shaken by every adverse wind.

     The chief evidence of the fact of the Incarnation is, of course, the Christian Church itself. Its very existence presupposes an origin or a founder. And the history of the Christian Church reaches back far. Even at the time of Trajan (A.D. 98-117), Christians were growing so numerous that Pliny (the younger), then Governor of Bithynia, as well as the Emperor himself, seemed undecided how far to go in suppressing them by persecutions.* An extract from the works of Tacitus, the Roman historian of a somewhat earlier date, contains a contemptuous reference to the Christians: "Nero, in order to stifle the rumor (that he himself had set Rome on fire), ascribed it to those people who were hated for their wicked practices, and called by the vulgar 'Christians': these he punished exquisitely. The originator of that name, one Christus, had been executed in the reign of Tiberius, by order of the administrator, Pontius Pilate" (Tac. Annals, xv. 44.) This historian, who is called "the Gibbon of the ancient Roman world," may have had his information from the official archives of Rome, perhaps from the very report of Pilate himself.

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The event of which he wrote, Tacitus may have himself witnessed, being about ten years of age when Nero thus ordered the first general persecution of the Christians, testing their faith "exquisitely" by tortures unmentionable. This was in 64 A. D., only thirty-five years after the Crucifixion.
     * See Pliny's Letters, x. 97.

     The biographer Plutarch has nothing to say about Christ, although he was contemporary with Tacitus. But his interests were preoccupied with the great men of Greece and Rome, not with the heroes of other lands. When we turn to Josephus, the Jewish general and historian, we find in his extant works, not only a very full sidelight upon the conditions in Judea at the time of the Lord, but also a quite friendly mention of Jesus Christ,* and of James his brother, who was one of the first Christian martyrs;** also several notices of John the Baptist,*** who had a political importance which, to the eyes of the Jewish historian, Jesus could never have had; for John had openly reprimanded Herod for his morals, and was for that reason put to death.
     * Josephus Ant. xviii. 3. 3.
     ** Ibid. xx. 9. 1.
     *** Ibid. xviii. 5. 2.

     This nearly exhausts the direct historical evidence of the reality of Christ derived from the non-Christian literary sources of the first century that are now known. Perhaps, however, we should take into account the fact that the Jewish "Jerusalem Talmud" (Mishna, Jabamoth, 49a), in the effort to spread scandal about the origin of Jesus, refers to an official record of the birth of Jesus, found in Jerusalem in a book of genealogies by one Simeon ben Azzai who flourished at the end of the first century, A.D. The name "Jesus," however, was expunged in all Talmudic references to Him, probably in late Christian times,* and a symbol inserted instead of His name. The citation really confirms the Virgin Birth of the Lord, as it would appear from the Jewish viewpoint.
     * See McClintock and Strong, Encyclopedia (1891), s.v. Talmud, p. 172; and Thorburn's Mythical Interpretation of Gospel, p. 21.

     But, after all, no contemporary mentions of Christ in non-Christian literature or available records, other than those already cited, could well be expected. For, not only was the first century of our era peculiar for its literary barrenness, but the Gospels show the Lord's life to have begun in obscurity.

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When official attention was drawn to Him as a babe, He was taken secretly to Egypt. Quietly He was taken back to Nazareth, a town so obscure that they asked, "Could anything good come thence?" There He lived the life of a common man. Then, for three years, He became a public figure, was acclaimed by the populace as a great prophet and healer, and by John the Baptist-with some doubt-as the Messiah of popular expectation. But His own disciples had a growing knowledge of His Divine origin. As soon as there was any apparent danger of the Lord's becoming a power of political significance, He was crucified as expeditiously as possible, and as quietly. Histories were not written of such events. For our further information about the Lord's life, we must, therefore, rely upon Christian sources.

     III.

     The first of these to be examined is the New Testament, the first three Gospels of which are called the Synoptics, being synopses of the Lord's life. The attacks against their truth would first of all be directed against the date of their composition. How, then, do we know that these were not written long after the time of the Lord, written from imagination rather than from inspired memory, written to confirm already manufactured fancies about the Lord, instead of to record His character and mission?

     That the synoptic Gospels were written about the middle of the first century, i.e., about the years 37-65 A.D., has become evident to experts within the last twenty years from a wealth of papyri dug up from ancient rubbish heaps and mummy-cemeteries in Egypt. From these manuscripts, many of which were dated letters, the language of the New Testament can be recognized as the vernacular Greek dialect of the first century.*
     * The "Orthodox" date for the Apocalypse is placed at A.D. 96. In A. R. 947, Swedenborg says that it was written in the beginning of the first century (principio seeculi primi).

     But the same is also very plain from the topographical knowledge of the different Evangelists, from their different styles, their obvious attitude of taking for granted all the peculiar features and customs of that age and place in which the Gospel story is laid. Only a miraculous genius, so great, so unprecedented, that his name could not possibly have been hidden, could in later times so marvelously have caught and carried the spirit and knowledge of the time and of the place as to be able to write the Gospels, or even one of them, to say nothing of the other books of the New Testament, from the point of view of an eyewitness to this unique and marvelous theological drama of untold profundity!

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Imagination will not stretch to the paint of conceiving it possible for the Gospels to have been of later date than is generally claimed for them, when we have all the facts before us.

     Nor could there ever have been a series of frauds or fictions created that would be so living, so consistent, so convincing, so infinitely surpassing in literary power and diction anything that the world has yet seen, as the Books of the New Testament, the Epistles and Acts included. And the character of Jesus, given from four, nay, from six or more points of view, is not a fraud. It can never be said to have been created, but is itself creative.

     And the internal evidence is so fraught with vivid truth! Archeological research has traced the very stones on which Jesus walked, has almost independently reconstructed the same scenes, the same life; has made the truth of historic Jesus as stable as any fact in history; at least, to any but those who refuse to give it a hearing, or to use their reason. Indeed, it is true of the whole letter and surface meaning of the Word, that it can be understood more fully with every passing year, as each expression and allusion finds some parallel in the rediscovered ancient world. The more we read, the more clearly can we see the people of that day, learned and ignorant, anxious or self-satisfied, and understand their emotions, trace their fears, and thrill to their hopes. The characters of the Bible are coming to life, in a peculiar sense, after having been mere names, with repeating automatic action, for long literalistic ages.

      Surely it is so that we must read the Gospel. Yet, in itself, "the letter killeth, the spirit maketh alive." Even though the personnel of the Gospel drama spring into life, there is no real gain unless we pierce the outward relations of the story, and view it from within. It is of no use to follow the story of the Acts of the Apostles, and, as we travel with Paul and Barnabas, see the ancient monuments, recently unearthed, become resurrected and peopled with saints and sinners, unless we are able to see the message which the Evangelists brought, and see it in the light of the Divine teaching spiritually understood.

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And so it is only to the New Churchman that the full understanding of the nascent Church is possible. For he, by the light of the inner purpose of the Lord, as revealed in the Doctrine of the Church, can see the Soul of the Christ in His assumed body, can see the Spirit of the Church laboring to be born amid a world of gross idolatries, false hopes and unconscious spiritual blindness.

      Unless we have the doctrine of the Lord's sole Divinity, and of His final glorification and union with the Divine in Himself, we are under no protection against the spirit of antichrist, of which John spake,-the spirit which denies that the Lord Jesus is come in the flesh. For historical criticism, though generally convinced at last of the authenticity of the Gospel record, has become intoxicated with the sense of its own power; and so each student seeks to impose his own interpretation upon the historic figure of the Lord.

     It is well known in the New Church that the inspired character of the Scriptures cannot be proved by any other external rule than by the law of correspondential interpretation, that is, by the presence of a continuous internal sense which can be expounded by the laws of correspondences. The lack of this test renders the Old Church helpless before those critics who, unable to prove the non-authenticity of the Gospels as historic documents, turn their efforts towards invalidating the truth of the Lord's own claims, and those of the Evangelists, in respect to the Divine Incarnation. Such critics deny the Divinity of the Lord, and often try to present Him as a fanatic, yet allow His position as the wisest and most far-seeing man yet known. Not the real Christ, but Christ as an idea or idealization, will be the ground of the religion of the future. Imagine building on such quicksand, when the Lord told them to build on the Rock! The main fear that seems to be at the bottom of such a weird interpretation is a passionate distrust in miracle. What has not happened before, they say, cannot happen. God's assumption of human nature by a virgin, they hold impossible. The same impossibility has always been posited about unusual happenings, which none the less occurred. Electricity was "impossible" before it came into use. The recent world-war was declared " impossible." Creation seems impossible; but so is the idea of no beginning. Our own birth occurred but once, and will not be repeated. Nor did God, in whose image we are created, ever make a law against His own Incarnation taking place in the fulness of time, when there would be no longer any spiritual reception of Him inwardly in the church on earth.

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     IV.

     The internal testimony of the Gospels to their own theological truth is something that only those who are eager to benefit from the message of Christian teaching can possibly perceive. Only by faith can that message be read. Only to those who, in humility, sense the need of a Divine Redeemer, can His truth come.

     It was this need of redemption that was foremost in the minds of the early Christians. The kingdom of God was at hand! That was the essential Gospel, the good news. No time for doubt or hesitation, but urgency to repent. Before that generation would taste of death, the kingdom of God would come, and Christ would return in triumph. They were so sure of this that the Gospel writers all recorded that promise while that generation was still alive.* And after it had passed, those words of the Lord were looked upon, first with disappointment, then as charged with a mystical meaning, but always as too sacred to tamper with, although often made the occasion for an attack upon the Gospel. All of which dismisses from the thoughtful mind at one blow any doubt as to the period in which the Gospels were composed.
     * Matt. 16:27, 28. Mark 9:1. Luke 9:27. John 21:22. 23. I Thess. 4:15-17II Peter 3:1-8.

     The kingdom of God was coming, and the disciples went forth with absolute assurance to preach belief in the Lord's Name. The idea of God as the source of love and truth and justice was a radical one in that age,-revolutionary. And the Lord, as the Son of God, manifested the Fatherhood and Love of God. If they could only dare to believe God such! The Jewish converts saw in Jesus-the crucified, and risen, and to return-each their own Messianic hope fulfilled. For the Lord had taken all the Messianic lore of the Jewish nation, and centered it in Himself, spiritualizing the resurrection idea of the Pharisees, elevating the popular idea of the Messianic kingdom to a higher plane, focusing each individual Old Testament prophecy, as understood in that generation, into some direct act of His own life. He led their hopes and their faith to Himself. He was the real Messiah, yea, all the Messiahs that had ever been imagined,-the Divine fulfilment of human hopes.

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     At first, all this was too new, too vast, to be written about. The apostles and their converts preached by the living voice. In the Law and the Prophets they saw only Jesus, only the preparations for His advent. This they preached. But as their field of missions widened, and even Gentiles came to the light, there was need for a written record, for a Gospel in writing. Luke says in his preface: "Many have taken in hand to set forth in order the things that are most surely believed among us, even as they delivered them unto us, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word" . . . Fragmentary "Sayings" of Jesus have recently been found on ancient papyri in the sands of Egypt. But four accounts, more complete, are preserved as Gospels Divinely directed and inspired by the Lord Himself. And besides these four Gospels, the history of the early Church is preserved in the Acts of the Apostles and in the Epistles or Letters of Paul, James, John and Peter, all possessing the internal and external marks of historic truth.

     The name "Christians" was only thirty years old when, in 70 A.D., Jerusalem was totally destroyed and the Jews dispersed. At the same time, the Christians, formerly persecuted only by the Jews, now began to be regarded no more as merely a Jewish sect. As Jews, they had had a legal right to worship in relative freedom. This they now lost. The Church had to retire into secrecy. Still, it grew among Jews and Gentiles in the main cities of the Mediterranean littoral. It received more publicity than it wanted. Its fervor of faith was tested by thousands of martyrs. At the close of the first century A.D., it is supposed, the disciples were all dead, mostly as martyrs for the cause. The New Testament had not been collected into one volume. Yet the disciples of the Apostles, men such as Clement of Rome, Ignatius and Polycarp, in their writings, preserved as separate works or in citations in the later Church Fathers, refer freely to the Epistles of Paul, reflect unmistakably the words and teachings of Peter, Paul and John, and treat all the articles of the Gospel doctrine, such as those represented in what is known as the Apostolic Creed, as if all were well known, both from tradition and from the Gospels. And this includes the doctrines of the Virgin Birth, the Crucifixion by Pilate, the Resurrection, the Second Advent, and the Last Judgment.

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     In other words, even up to historic times, the chain of the Christian tradition, and of the testimony of the historic claim about the Incarnation, is unbroken. For after the aforementioned Apostolic Fathers came a great many Christian "Apologists," who publicly defended the Christian Faith against the attacks of Gentile philosophers. But even from the citations of the Gospel in the early Fathers can the Gospels be practically reconstructed in a form almost identical with the text of our present versions. Polycarp had a friend named Papias, who, like Polycarp, may have been one of the disciples of John. This Papias gives the traditions about the composition of the Gospel of Mark from Peter's instructions, and of Matthew having been written first in the Hebrew language. And in his works, as cited by Eusebius (H. E. iii), he avers the canonicity of Matthew and Mark and John, quotes from one Epistle of John and one of Peter, and maintained the "Divine inspiration" of the Apocalypse of John. But Papias nowhere mentions any of Paul's Epistles; and he likewise is silent about Luke, and about the Acts of the Apostles, written by Luke. The human element may have been responsible for this apparently deliberate exclusion, for he must have known them both very well; but he no doubt considered himself the guardian of the exclusively "Apostolic" tradition, and therefore did not recognize Paul, nor Luke, who was no apostle, nor an eyewitness, but a compiler, and, as we know, an inspired one, of a Gospel composed from many sources. Papias is thought to have written his works about 140 to 150 after Christ. And to show the close connection of these men with the time of Christ, we may quote a claim advanced by Quadratus, named "a disciple of the Disciples," and who wrote about 127 A.D. at the time of Hadrian, that some of the beneficiaries of the miracles of the Lord survived even to his own time. (Euseb. H. E. iv. 3.)

     V.

     Even from the present partial survey, therefore, we may take the historicity of the Gospels as undoubted. The claims of Christianity were opposed by Jews and by Gentiles, but the basic historic origin of their doctrine was not questioned. The stories of the New Testament are in a convincing historic setting. The public men of the times, as well as the places, are mentioned, and it occurred to no contemporary to dispute these facts.

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Heresies arose about the Lord's character, and about the inspiration of this or that work; Gnostics and mystics and polytheists borrowed from Christianism; but for several centuries the body of the Church withstood their subtle influence.

     The New Church, through the Divine Revelation contained in the Writings of Swedenborg, can alone open the eyes of the rational Christian to the fact that the four Gospels and the Apocalypse are of Divine origin, and contain a spiritual sense. This spiritual sense speaks of the Incarnation of the Divine Word, and of its Advent into the human individual heart by regeneration. This internal sense, to those who can receive it, is self-evidencing, and causes us to regard the Writings as the Divine Truth, and as the means of the Second Advent of the Lord, promised of old. But let us never forget that the same authority urges the spiritual import of the Lord's First Advent in the flesh of material nature, to bear the temptations of the flesh, and by combats against evil and hell to liberate mankind from imaginary heavens, and from the rule of falsehood and sin. Our regeneration, even as our immortality, is a thing of the spirit. But He, when He came, glorified also the Body of His Humanity, and is not now a phantom, nor a spirit, but has flesh and bones, being the living Truth in ultimate Human Form, the Omega as well as the Alpha,-Truth Divine, Divine Spiritual and Divine Natural.

     And natural truth we call Historic Fact.

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     * See McClintock and Strong, Encyclopedia (1891), s.v. Talmud, p. 172; and Thorburn's Mythical Interpretation of Gospel, p. 21.
SALVATION OF THE SPIRITUAL 1925

SALVATION OF THE SPIRITUAL        N. D. PENDLETON       1925

     "And God said unto Abraham,. . . And also, the son of the bondwoman I will make into a nation, because he is thy seed." (Genesis 21:12, 13.)

     The Lord was born into the world to save the spiritual, who could not otherwise have found the way to heaven. They had no internal perception of the Divine presence. Only after that presence was brought down and presented to them in the form of Scripture, and later as a Divine Man, could they be conjoined therewith. This Divine Man was so accommodated that the obscure conscience of the spiritual could be touched and enlightened. And this was the point and purpose of the advent of the Lord.

     His glorification when on earth is represented in the story of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, throughout. And as that story, with its Divine significance, unfolds before us, Abraham is still the central figure. Isaac is indeed born, but not yet grown to full estate, has not yet taken on the leading representation. Ishmael in like manner is born to Abraham, but is now separated from the representative family,-that group which figures the Lord's Human in its varying states of glorification, and the interplay of forces connected therewith. Ishmael, when in the family of Abraham, signified the Lord's first formed rational, about to be separated to the end that the glorification might advance. This separation, having been effected by the banishment of Ishmael, that non-legitimate son of Abraham puts on the representation of the spiritual, of those who could not be saved, except by the Divine Man come into the world, and who were inbound in the Lord's first rational, and who could, in fact, only be saved when that rational was separated, whereby their bonds were broken.

     However, when this was accomplished,-when Ishmael was banished,-God said to Abraham, "Also, the son of the bondwoman I will make into a nation," which signifies that the spiritual were to be saved, but that they would constitute another, a second, kingdom of the Lord, which was to stand apart, as on its own basis, that is, on the intellect separately formed and developed, having a will of its own.

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These spiritual were those "other sheep," of whom the Lord spoke, as not being of His first celestial fold. Besides, the salvation of the spiritual is also represented by the historic turning of the Christian Church to the Gentiles, who, in relation to the Jews, represented the spiritual, as distinguished from the celestial.

     The term "spiritual," as here used, is vastly inclusive. In general, it defines the genius of all, or almost all, salvable men subsequent to the fall, who depended for their salvation upon a reformed understanding more or less infested by a corrupt will. Moreover, it should be noted that the salvable men of this day are for the most part numbered among "the spiritual." And this fact makes all that is revealed concerning the nature, the limitations, and the prospects of the spiritual of no little importance to us.

     The section of the 21st chapter of Genesis that is now before us treats of the state of these spiritual. It describes their vacillation prior to reformation, their reduction to a state of ignorance and their grief for lack of truth, their comforting by the Lord and their enlightenment by instruction from the Word, and especially their apperception of the Divine Human, from whence came their salvation.

     In their first state, they were gifted with but little of spiritual value, which is meant by the "bread and a little water" that Abraham gave to Hagar when she and her child were sent away. It was little indeed, but was as much as they could receive. However, that little was a gift from Abraham, and it was genuine. Even so, the water failed them; their meager truth disappeared under stress of temptation, and they were reduced to a state of ignorance and grief. They grieved, because they desired to learn what is good and true, with a view to becoming rational. This, their nature, might be anticipated from their close connection with the Lord's first rational, which was banished. They desired truth, and to become rational, but from science, from knowledge and experience; for Ishmael, though the son of Abraham, was also the son of Hagar, the Egyptian bondwoman.

     The spiritual desired truth, and they would make of it a science yet, as noted, they were devoid of internal perception, and so were disposed to think that the good and the truth appertaining to them were their own, something proper to themselves.

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When told otherwise, they did not reject the truth, yet hardly believed it; at least, there was no heart or perception in their acknowledgment, for they did not, and could not, feel that all things good and true with them came solely by influx from the Lord. That is, they did not perceive it so, but thought that there was something good in themselves, in their proprial life. And Providence, for the time, left them under this delusion; and yet they were being unconsciously led by the Lord, even while they thought they were leading themselves. They could be so led, because they reflected on matters of faith and the life hereafter, although their thought on these matters was much tinged with selfish considerations. Because of this, conceit was engendered, and they vacillated in doctrinal matters, seizing upon any ideas which struck their fancy. However, it was their tendency to recur to the fundamentals of the faith of their childhood. Through these, for the most part, their regeneration was brought about.

     In their first state, they were like Unripe fruit, having as yet no shape, beauty, or savor. Like children, the most of their thinking was erroneous, but it was provided that their errors should be serviceable for future growth. When their reformation began, the things that constituted their mental pabulum were gradually differentiated. In part, those things were cast off as useless; in part, they were retained as ground and nourishment for future and better things, and in part they embodied genuine goods and truths as ultimate planes of spiritual service. This differentiation was provided, and became effective, in so far as they suffered themselves to be led by the Lord. But this differentiation was dependent upon a preliminary vastation, a reduction to a state of ignorance of truth, and consequent grief. This is signified by Hagar's casting the child under a shrub to die, when the water was spent.

     It may be asked why the spiritual were thus reduced, why so vastated. The reason was, that they were at first under a serious delusion as touching their self-importance, and their powers of self-reliance. They were thus in a strongly persuasive light. The purpose in their reduction was that this light of persuasion might be extinguished, and their self-confidence broken. A further purpose was that they might be led, by actual experience, to acknowledge the law of influx,-that nothing good was inherent in themselves.

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This desolation as to truth is one of man's first, and also continuing, temptations. It is, therefore, much treated of in the internal sense, and is frequently represented in the letter of Scripture, as in the text before us. If man is regenerating, a knowledge of the nature and purpose of temptation is of importance to him; but if he is not regenerating, such knowledge is of no consequence. The first sign that he can be regenerated is that he thinks about doctrine, the life hereafter, and his own salvation. But if he cannot be regenerated, such thoughts are never a serious consideration with him. And as there are few who believe that they have a spirit or soul which lives after death, there are few comparatively who are undergoing a spiritual regeneration.

     When the water was spent in the bottle, Hagar went and sat by herself over against the child, and wept. And she said, "Let me not see the death of the child." This represents a state of solitary grief, increased and aggravated to the last degree. Those who cannot be reformed never know such grief as this; nor can they understand that anyone should experience it. Anxieties because of some external loss they well understand. But such an internal loss as is here indicated can be appreciated only by one who has experienced it,-by one who has seen the way to heaven, and then lost sight of it; for the truth, of which the spiritual are deprived when in temptation, is the truth which reveals this way. Remove that truth, and the mind is darkened. It cannot see. In such a case, the spiritual are desolate; for they have good affections, and they love the child of light that seems to be dying in them.

     The spiritual are held by the Lord in the affection of good, and also in the thought of truth; and when they are deprived of these, they grieve. All anxiety and grief is a result of some deprivation, either fancied or real, either threatened or accomplished. If man is deprived of anything that appeals to him as good, or for which he has an affection, whatever its nature, he grieves. For the man's whole life is an affection of love. And so, when the spiritual suffer deprivation as to truth, they are grievously hurt, their injury is internal.

     The spiritual are a peculiar class. Unlike the celestial, they have no inner perception, only an obscure conscience. From childhood they are taught religion, and they affirm it. By life and experience their affirmation grows stronger.

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At length, they acquire the power of victory in temptations. Those who do not become spiritual in after life are also in the affirmation of religion during childhood, but later they become subject to doubts, and begin to trench upon this affirmative. At length, they encourage; negative states of mind. Should these persons be in any degree tempted, they yield. Usually they are exempt from spiritual anxieties, since they cannot sustain them with any good result. In states of negation, evils are nourished. Such evils at length become affections, and then truth is rejected; or, if certain truths are retained, they cease to be true; they become as a voice having no heart in it, and such a voice is always false.

     The spiritual are tempted by the removal of truth from their conscious realization. But this removal, and the consequent desolation, is only temporary. "The angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, . . . Fear not, for God hath heard the voice of the child." At the crisis in temptation, help is given, and also consolation by influx from the Lord. That which inflows on the occasion is indeed "called out of heaven," but man perceives it in himself, in his thought and affection, as something moving him, bringing about a change of state. This change not only brings a realization of truth, but also blessed and happy states of mind. With the spiritual, these states are realized by contrast with their opposites, that is, by contrast with the distress of temptation.

     To illustrate: Those who are given to self-confidence may be convinced that Providence prevails in their lives, but they are convinced only momentarily, while they are in the light of the truth. Even the effect of some experience demonstrating the rule of Providence may last for but a short time, affecting the thought only, not changing the affection. But if, by some inner anxiety, the affection of self-confidence is broken, and a sense of helplessness intervenes, then the persuasive sphere is dispersed, and the state is actually changed, and a real contrast thereby afforded, on the basis of which spiritual blessings may be realized. So also it is with those who are persuaded of their own righteousness, and believe that they are no longer in any evil. A thousand reasonable proofs to the contrary will not convince them that they are only withheld from evil by the mercy and presence of the Lord. But when they are brought into a state in which they perceive the evil of hell in themselves, and in consequence despair of being saved, then their persuasion is broken, and also their pride, their contempt of others, and their spiritual arrogance; and then also a state of humiliation is induced.

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When this occurs, there is given an opening of the interior sight to spiritual verities. It seems as if there was given an outward revelation, but in reality there is an inflowing from the Lord by the unknown way of the soul, whereby truths are perceived in light. But this comes after there is an emergence from vastation. And then truths are so readily learned that the man seems to be spontaneously imbued with them. For the Lord is present, because man has now acquired the ability to receive Him.

     But the end is not yet. It is difficult for the spiritual man to find rest. His good is intellectual; it is not primarily of the will. He has inherited a corrupt will, and the will is the chief thing of life; from it, evil continually inflows into the intellectual, that is, into the thought, as a drop of poison into pure water. For this reason, the spiritual have not genuine love to the Lord, nor that sincere humiliation which is necessary to worship. They are by nature elated, not humble, and their love of the neighbor is constantly infected by an evil influx from the old will. The good they do is not cleansed from selfish considerations. They are unconscious of this; yet their real state is betrayed by the fact that in doing good they think of recompense, if not here, yet in the life hereafter. There is also defilement from the thought of merit. This is shown by the fact that they would make known their good deeds, and thereby set themselves up, to the increase of their pride.

     The spiritual man struggles along a hard way. He has no inward intuition of truth, nor yet any instinctive knowledge of evil. He believes in the Commandments, even as he has learned them from childhood, but he goes little beyond their letter. He rarely reflects upon selfish affections in himself, and so he permits the delights he feels in them to deceive him into thinking they are good, whence he is disposed either to approve or excuse them, not knowing that their presence in him affects his spirit for ill. He does not realize that a good life is essential to faith, and he can only be convinced of this by hard experience. Even so, the Lord can reach this kind of man with saving power, but this only through the Divine Human.

     At this point the Writings give us a notable piece of information.

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They say that if the Supreme Divine should inflow to conscious perception with the spiritual, that Divine would be defiled by the presence of so many evils and falsities; and that if this Supreme Divine should be actually received, the result would be an infernal torment so great that the man would perish. But, it is added, such is not the case when the Divine Human inflows with them. That Divine is so accommodated that its influx may be received with safety, even when many evils are present, if only there be some good and some truth, as a basis of reception. Thus it appears that the accommodation of the Supreme Divine by the Human made Divine is not only the greatest of all the mysteries of faith, but is also the greatest boon to the human race, being the means of saving very many who would otherwise be lost. Amen.

     Lessons: Genesis 21:1-21. Matthew 15:21-39. A. C. 2979.

     * See McClintock and Strong, Encyclopedia (1891), s.v. Talmud, p. 172; and Thorburn's Mythical Interpretation of Gospel, p. 21.
TOPICS FROM THE WRITINGS 1925

TOPICS FROM THE WRITINGS        W. F. PENDLETON       1925

     XXVIII.

The Three Great Evils.

     The three great evils to which mankind is subject are war, pestilence, and famine; and there are three great spiritual evils to which the three former correspond. (A. C. 1327, 2799, 10219. A. E. 38610.) So long as the spiritual evils exist and are active, their corresponding natural evils are permitted; nor can the latter be prevented so long as evil passions have control of the human mind and spirit. With the descent of the New Jerusalem, and the consequent increase of spiritual enlightenment with some, and in the wider spread of natural enlightenment, or enlightened self-interest, as it is called, a diminishing of the three great evils mentioned may be expected; but a total wiping out or removal of them may not be looked for until many ages elapse. Human hopes have been aroused, especially during the past century, looking to a diminution or removal of these great evils; but the experience of the late world-war did not exhibit many phases of encouragement looking to that end.

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In the opinion of some, no greater savageness and ferocity has been exhibited in the wars of the past. In addition to the horrors of war, a pestilence spread rapidly over the world, causing the death of thousands; famine in many places showed its ugly head; and a cry was heard, doubtless in both worlds, "O Lord, how long!" Surely the time has come for a looking to the Divine Source of remedy and healing for the woes of man. It will not come from human help, except a palliative healing, but only from the Source indicated in the cry of the Psalmist, "Lord, help us, for vain is the help of man." (Psalm 60:11.)

The Evil of War.

     War as a great evil is depicted in the Writings; yet the permission of war is pointed out as inevitable; and it is even shown that there is such a thing as a righteous war. The subject is unfolded at length in Divine Providence (no. 251), where we read "that it is not of the Divine Providence that wars should exist, because they are united with murders, plundering, violence, cruelty, and other enormous evils which are diametrically contrary to Christian charity; but still they cannot but be permitted." And the reasons are given why they are permitted, all looking to this, that every man must be allowed to act in freedom according to his reason, and that without permissions man cannot be led out of evil by the Lord, and be saved; also, that unless evils were permitted no one could see them, nor acknowledge them, and so could not be led to resist them,-and further to the same effect. Other reasons also are referred to why wars are not repressed by the Lord, "neither in the beginning, nor in their progress, but only at the end, when the power of the one or the other (of the combatants) has become so reduced that he is in danger of destruction." When this is the case, the Lord in His mercy intervenes. The spiritually enlightened mind, scanning the pages of history, sees all this confirmed.

     That war is not according to Divine order is shown in the fact that there is none in heaven, that there was none in the Most Ancient Church on this earth (A. C. 8118), and that there is none on the planet Jupiter. "When I was about to tell them that on this earth there are wars, they turned away, and were unwilling to hear." (A. C. 8117.)

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Righteous Wars.

     Those who go to the extreme of "pacificism" see no righteous war. But such minds do not look to Divine Revelation for the guidance of their thought; or if they do, they quote the words of the Lord where He said, "Resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." (Matt. 5:39.) The New Churchman needs only to be told that in these words the genuine truth is concealed, and that it is not possible for them to be literally carried out. They were spoken in this form by the Lord for the sake of the spiritual sense. And so we read: "That these words are not to be understood according to the letter, is evident to everyone. For who is bound by Christian love to turn the left cheek to him who smites the right. . . . In a word, who is not allowed to resist evil?" The spiritual sense of the words then follows. (See A. E. 556:8, and A. C. 9049.)

     That there is such a thing as a righteous war, in the present condition of the world, the Doctrine makes plain. "Wars which have for an end the defense of one's country and the church are not contrary to charity." (T. C. R. 407; Cf. S. D. 4346.) It is taught further that a war for defense is justified, but rarely a war for invasion; and even the angels of heaven defend themselves, but evil spirits attack. (D. P. 252.) And a commander, who is in charity, "does not go to war except for the protection of his country, and he becomes the aggressor only when aggression is defense." (Charity 164.) There are some examples in history where aggression or invasion of another country was defense. But more often it is the other way. The Spiritual Diary (no. 1397) speaks of those "who in war love nothing but carnage and plunder, and have especial delight therein." Then, on the other hand, the passage speaks of soldiers seen in the other life who are among the blessed.

Wars in the Future.

     Wars cannot be abolished, but they may be diminished, and their horrors mitigated; and labors to this end call for sympathy and encouragement. We are informed that the state of the outer world will be similar after the Last Judgment to what it was before, and among the things that are to continue are mentioned wars; but the state of the church will be dissimilar hereafter; (L. J. 73.)

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Hence those who labor for the wiping out of all war are attempting the impossible. This is not a work of wisdom. But it is wise to endeavor to reduce wars to a minimum, and especially to lessen the horrors that have usually attended them. This is a work of Christian charity. We may look for a gradual increase of charity in the degree that the New Jerusalem comes down from God out or heaven. Genuine charity with a few will have some effect on the many. The self-interest of men will help. The earth helps the woman. If there is a real spiritual charity, having its spring in the spiritual affection of truth, in a love of the heavenly things that have been revealed,-if this love is rare, and increases slowly, we may at least hope for the growth of an enlightened self-interest that will diminish war and bring an increase of external peace, looking to the preservation of natural and civil order among men. In this way the modern utilitarian philosophy will have its place in preparing the way for the establishment of the Lord's kingdom on earth.

The Love of the Human Race.

     From the Doctrine of Charity (no. 85), we learn that "to love another kingdom more, by promoting its use more, would be contrary to the good of the kingdom in which one is; for which reason one's country should be loved in a higher degree." The importance and use of patriotism, or love of country, is shown here and in many passages of the Writings. But a distinction is made between the love of another country than one's own and the love of the human race as a whole. Hence we read that "the object of charity is a man, a society, one's own country, and the human race; and all are the neighbor in a strict and in a wide sense " (Charity 72), and that "the human race is the neighbor in the widest sense." (Charity 87.) Thus we are to love our country, and love her more than we love another country; but a love of the good of the human race as a whole is a wider love than the love of one's country.

     Like every love, the love of country may be perverted, and become a selfish love, a love of rule, a love of conquest, a will and purpose to dominate over other countries; and thus the love of country, inspired by the Lord for the sake of salvation, may be turned into its opposite. History gives many examples of such a perversion of the love of country. Take, for instance, ancient Rome.

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It began by fighting wars of defense, but in the course of time, as success attended their arms, their wars became wars of aggression and conquest, and what was at first a spirit of patriotism was perverted into its opposite. Wars were fought for the purpose of dominion over the world, depriving other nations of that liberty which is Divinely given and Divinely provided for the good of mankind.

     On the importance and use of patriotism or love of country, see A. C. 6821; H. H. 64, 517; T. C. R. 412, 414. On the selfish love of country, see T. C. R. 441; S. D. 5399. On the love of the human race, see as above. But there are still higher loves,-the church, the Lord's kingdom, and the Lord Himself; see A. C. 2425, 6023, 6818-6824.

Who is My Neighbor?

     In answer to a certain lawyer who tempted Him, saying, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" the Lord expounded the doctrine of charity as contained in the two great commandments. "But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?" Then followed the story of the good Samaritan, closing with the question, "Which now of these, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among thieves?" The lawyer answered, "He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise." (Luke 10:25-37.) "The Samaritan who showed mercy signifies the Gentiles, who are in the good of charity," (A. E. 444:14), for "to have compassion signifies to exercise mercy and charity from within, since mercy and charity are one." (Ibid,) Hence "those who are in good are the neighbor " (A. C. 6708), and "every one is the neighbor according to the quality of his good." (A. R. 32.) The evil are also the neighbor, but good is to be done to them in a different manner. (A. C. 708.) It is the same with nations as with individuals. If they be in good, they are to be treated according to the quality of their good; but if they be in evil, they are to be treated in a different manner, looking always to the good of mankind in its degrees, widening and ascending to the Lord Himself.

Combat.

     There are three spiritual activities that cannot be separated, namely, temptation, combat, and prayer. Temptation is the anxiety attendant on combat. To combat is to fight, to resist an enemy.

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     Prayer is an essential element of combat,-prayer for help, for light to see and strength to resist. Without prayer, a looking to the Lord (Charity 2), without supplication for help, without acknowledgment of the source of help, the combat is from self; self is the end in view, and the combat is of no avail. Prayer is the acknowledgment of the need of help in resisting evil. Man is to fight as if the fighting depended upon himself and his own unaided powers, but acknowledging that all power is from the Lord alone.

     The end in all combat is to protect or preserve something that is in danger of loss or injury; and the need of help appears when the opposition or attack is too strong to be overcome by individual effort. Then comes in the need of the appeal for help to the only Source of help. "I will lift up mine eyes to the mountains, from whence cometh my help. My help is from the Lord, who made the heavens and the earth." (Psalm 121:1, 2.) The Lord brings help when there is resistance to evil on the part of man. The Lord then enters, fights for man, and removes the evil.

     Let us see clearly these three essentials of all spiritual growth,-temptation, combat, and prayer; and that unless these three are together, temptation is not temptation, combat is not combat, and prayer is not prayer. And seeing clearly, acknowledging in heart, we shall realize that " if a man by combat against evils as sins has procured for himself in the world something spiritual, even though but little, he is saved, and his uses afterwards grow, as a grain of mustard seed grows into a tree, according to the words of the Lord in Matthew." (13:32. D. Love, XVIIe.)

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GENTILES AND THE REMNANT 1925

GENTILES AND THE REMNANT       Rev. R. J. TILSON       1925

     AMONG WHOM THE NEW CHURCH WILL BE ESTABLISHED.

     Little though the natural mind will admit it, yet it is an eternal truth, as revealed in the Arcana Celestia, that "If the Lord's Church were utterly extinct on earth, mankind could not exist, but all and each of them must needs perish." (A. C. 637) This seems incredible to the merely natural mind, because that mind is ignorant of the real purpose of creation. The natural man thinks that the creation of the world was for the purposes of this life, and nothing beyond. But Divine Revelation tells us that the great purpose of creation was that a heaven of angels might be formed from the inhabitants of the world. Thus this world was created to serve the ends and purposes of the spiritual world; for a life in heaven is the intended goal of all the Lord's creatures.

     What heaven is in the other world, the church must be in this world. Hence it is written: "That which constitutes heaven with man, also constitutes the church." (H. D. 241.) This being so, it must needs be that there has always been a church upon earth, even from the foundation of the world, Never was the earth without a church, or at least the representative of a church, which played the part of a church when a true church could not be established, owing to man's essentially external condition, as was the case with the Jewish Church and people. Thus the most general ages or dispensations of the Churches upon earth have been five in number. One after another, the four dispensations preceding the New Church have come an end, each with a specific judgment, but the New Church is to endure to all eternity.

     Now, all that the Lord does must contain within it an image of His eternity and infinity, Hence the Lord's church upon earth has never ceased to exist. Ages and dispensations have come and gone, but the Lord's church has endured through all ages. And it can never die; for, like its Founder, it is eternal. This feature of the Lord's church, namely, that it is eternal, has been provided for by the Lord at the end of each age or dispensation, by His causing a remnant to be preserved, which, so to speak, has passed the church on from one age to another.

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Another feature has been that when one age or dispensation has come to an end, the church has been reestablished among the gentiles of that dispensation, and not among those who have constituted the former age.

     The materials, therefore, out of which a new church has been formed, have been: 1. The remnant from the former Church. 2. The gentiles outside of that Church.

     That such has been the case, is seen from the following teaching of the Heavenly Doctrines: "The case with churches is, that they decline until nothing of the goods and truths of faith any longer remains; and then it is called in the Word a church 'vastated.' But still remains are always preserved, or some among whom the good and truth of faith remain, although they are few. For unless the good and truth of faith were preserved with a few, there would be no conjunction of heaven with mankind." (A. C. 530.) Again: "When a church is consummated and perishes, then the Lord always raises up a new church somewhere, yet seldom, if ever, from the men of the former church, but from the gentiles, who were in ignorance." (A. C. 2910.)

     Those who remain at the end of a former dispensation of the church are called the "remnant" or "remains," because with them there yet remains in potency the same intrinsic good and truth which characterized the former church in its purity, although that good and truth may be in great obscurity with the remnant. And carefully note here the essential similarity of state between the gentiles and the remnant among whom the church is to be established. In essence, or in internals, they are one. The remnant from the former church must be in a gentile state, or they could not carry over, and carry on the real and eternal church of the Lord into the new dispensation or age. And the foundation is that of really good works;-a good living-a doing of to Lord's will, so far as it is known. There will not be at first the knowledge of specific truth; yea, there may be an ignoring of any doctrine as doctrine; but there will be a genuine charity, and a continual endeavor to do unto others as one would wish others to do to them.

     Hear the following teaching: "The gentiles are those who have been in good works, but not in any truths, because they did not know the Lord, and had not the Word.

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Similar are those in the Christian World who are in works alone, and in no truths of doctrine; wherefore, they cannot be called anything but gentiles. They know the Lord, indeed, but do not approach Him; and they have the Word, but do not search for the truth it contains." (A. R. 110.) And, therefore, it is written of the angels: "When the term 'nations' (gentes) occurs in the Word, the angels never dwell in the idea of a nation, according to the historical sense of the letter, but on the idea of the good and truth with the nation named." (A. C. 1258.)     

     Confirmations from the Letter of the Word, as to the establishing of the new church among the gentiles, may be found, among many others, in the intensely interesting narrative of the Lord's raising of Lazarus from the dead. (A. C. 2916.) And of the establishing of the church by means of the remnant, in the remarkable reply the Lord gave to Peter's question concerning the Apostle John. "And what shall this man do?" In His reply the Lord said: "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?" To which the Lord added the words, "Follow thou me, John!" (John 21:21, 22. A. E. 250.) John represented those who are in good works,-the good of use, the good of life; thus he represented the remnant, which never dies, but always "tarries" until the Lord comes in the establishing of a New Church. Hence John was the apostle who "saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven." John, moreover, was the only disciple at the cross; and it was to John the Lord confided the care of the mother Mary, by whom the church is represented.

     And here, as in parenthesis, it may also be remarked, with force and interest, that in the three forms in which the Word exists with men today, there is the preservation, in each Word, of a remnant of the former Word. In the Word of the Old Testament, there is the remnant from the Ancient Word, as in the first seven chapters of Genesis there is a reproduction of that which is in the former Word. In the Word of the New Testament there are many quotations from the Old, acting as a link between these two forms of the Word. In the Word of the Writings there are seriatim explanations of the first and last Books of the two prior Words, and also innumerable quotations from both, carrying, as it were, remnants of the letter of both into the latest Revelation given by the Lord to His Church.

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Thus is the Word of the Lord continuous, and that continuity is maintained by means of the remnant passing over from the one form into all the succeeding forms. Even so is it with the Church.

     It is in this sense that the passage in the Writings which speaks of the Christian Church being "revived" by the Lord at His Second Coming is to be understood. This does not and cannot mean that the First Christian Church was to be revived by the Lord, for that would be contrary to all history, and contrary to order. But it means that the true Church of the Lord, founded at His First Advent, which was Christian in name only (T. C. R. 668) during the dispensation of the apostles and down to the time of the Second Coming, would, after the Second Advent, become truly, because internally, Christian,-Christian in internals and externals,-because it has descended from the Lord Jesus Christ out of heaven, and because its Revelation is the Divine Human. (See A. C. 4772)

     But before proceeding to deal further with the remnant, it will be useful to deal briefly with the statement that a new church is always established among the gentiles.

     II.

     The heading of No. 5807 of the Spiritual Diary reads: "Concerning the separation of Christians and gentiles. That the Lord has betaken Himself to the gentiles." With utmost profit may the subsequent numbers be read. And especially would one commend to most careful study Nos. 4770-4783, the heading of which is: "Concerning the beginning of a New Church."

     In the very last paragraph of the Book of the Second Advent on The Last Judgment and Babylon Destroyed, following the heading, "The State of the World and of the Church hereafter," it is written: "I have spoken at various times with the angels concerning the state of the Church hereafter. They said that . . . they have slender hope for the men of the Christian Church, but much for some nation far distant from the Christian World, and therefore removed from infesters, which nation is such that it is capable of receiving spiritual light, and of becoming a celestial-spiritual man. And they said that interior Divine Truths at this day are revealed in that nation, and are also received in spiritual faith, that is, in life and heart, and that it worships the Lord." (L. J. 74)

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The nation here referred to is Africa.

     And in this connection it is well to recall the teaching as given in the Sacred Scripture (117), and also in the Coronis (39), that "The Ancient Church was diffused throughout Asia, . . . and thence again into all the countries of Africa."

     The following brief summaries of the teachings of the Gospel of the Second Advent will be both interesting and encouraging:

     "The Church which is now perishing in Europe will be renewed in Africa; and this is done by the Lord alone, by means of revelations, and not by missionaries from the Christians." (S. D. 4777)

     "The Africans are more receptive of the Heavenly Doctrine than others in this earth. They are of a celestial genius." (S. D. 4783)

     "The African race is the one in this earth which is able to be in illustration beyond all other races, because they are such that they think interiorly." (S. D. 5518)

     "Interiorly in Africa are the best (Africans) and the wise; those who are not good are near the Mediterranean Sea, also near Egypt, and at the Cape of Good Hope. The tract where the good are lies from Ethiopia toward the middle, to which part strangers from Europe are not admitted." (L. J. Post. 24.)

     The human instrument of the Lord's Second Coming was "told from heaven that the truths now published in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Concerning the Lord, Concerning the Word, and in the Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem, are orally dictated by angelic spirits to the inhabitants of that portion of the globe." (Cent. L. J. 76.)

     Further, we learn that they had other Books of the Lord's Word to His New Church, namely: Heaven and Hell; Last Judgment; Earths in the Universe, and The White Horse. (S. D. 5946)

     Still further, it is stated that "they also possess a Book, which is their Word, but it is not like ours. It is written in like manner by correspondences. It was written through illustrated men." (S. D. 5809.)

     To this wondrous story, there may be added that among the Africans there has been for a long time: 1. A true religion. (S. S. 117) 2. The idea of one God. (Cent. L. J. 74) 3. A true idea of the Divine Human. (S. D. 5809, 5811) 4. A true idea of the conjugial. (Cont. L. J. 77)

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5. A true idea of the life after death. (S. S. 117) All these statements are supported by direct references to the Writings themselves. And still more may be added, upon the authority of the Arcana Celestia and of Heaven and Hell, to the effect that in heaven the Africans are most loved of all the gentiles, because they receive the good and truth of heaven more easily than all others. (A. C. 2604; H. H. 326)

     Why is it that these gentiles are preferred to all others? Divine Doctrine gives the answer. It says: "Gentiles live a better life than Christians." (H. H. 139) "They can be initiated into choirs . . .in a single night, whereas most Christians can scarcely be so in thirty years." (A. C. 2595) "Christians live less according to doctrinals than the gentiles do." (A. C. 2597) There lies the answer to the question why these gentiles have been preferred. It is all a question of life, and living the truth, so far as that truth is known.

     Is it not a cause for greatest gratitude to the Lord that, for upwards of 160 years, His New and Crowning Church,-the Church of His Second Advent,-has been established upon the African Continent, and in a form more interior and more pure than any yet known to those of so-called civilized races! (S. D. 4777) The movements now being made, both in America and in England, on that which is called the Dark Continent, have not, of course, touched even the circumference of this African Church of the New Jerusalem. They may be doing something towards preparing the way for the ultimate spread of that Church; but as yet they are working within the shadow of Protestant Missions, and on those who have been contaminated by their falsities. The great and abiding hope for the gentiles, therefore, is that they live the life. For the Arcana Celestia asserts: "He who is in the works of charity, or, what is the same thing, in the life of faith, is in the faculty of receiving faith." (A. C. 4663.)

     III.

     Far, far otherwise, is the case with the so-called Christian World today. It is written:

     "That faith is at this day separated from charity, is evident; for churches separate themselves according to their dogmas, and he who believes otherwise than as the dogma teaches is cast out of their communion, and is also defamed; but he who is guilty of robbery, who deprives others of their goods without mercy, if only he does not do so openly, who plots deceitfully against his neighbor, who brings disgrace upon works of charity, and who is guilty of adultery, such a one is still called a Christian, provided he only frequents sacred worship and speaks from doctrine.

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Hence it is evident that at this day it is doctrine which constitutes the Church, but not life, and that the fruits which they adjoin to faith are only in their doctrine, and nothing in their minds." (A. C. 4689.)

     Speaking of the decadent and consummated Jewish Church, it is written in the Arcana Celestia:

     "That the Lord was less received by them than by the nations which were outside the Church, is known. The case is similar at this day in the Church which from Him is called Christian. There the Lord is indeed received doctrinally, but only by a few with an acknowledgment at heart, and by fewer still from an affection of love. . . . For on account of His having been born a man, He is with difficulty acknowledged at heart there as God. They make His Human similar to their own human nature, although they know that His Father was Jehovah, and not a man." (A. C. 9198.)

     But, despite the fact that the First Christian Church is now in the throes of its consummation, and has lost its hold for good upon the world, there are some-a few comparatively-scattered broadcast throughout Christendom, who are in simple good, living conscientious lives of genuine charity, though knowing little specific doctrine, but who are engaged in deeds of disinterested usefulness and honest kindness. These are the "good ground" into which the seeds of the truths of the Second Advent may fall and bear living increase.

     The direful influences, subtle and callous, of that which is termed "Modernism," and the still more recent "C.O.P.E.C," are working, on the one hand, to the destruction of all real religion, and, on the other hand, in the merciful Providence of the Lord, to the forcing of others who may be of a better spirit into a state of apparent indifference, which may end in a condition of gentilism, and thus may increase the remnant. For this remnant is composed of all those who worship the Lord in simplicity, and from a conscientious endeavor to shun evils as sins against God. Where these are, is known only to the Lord, and He has them in His keeping, and shields them from their fellows, even from some who may profess and eagerly propagandize the truths of the new dispensation.

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And how great is the need of protection from this source may be seen in the terrible amount of self-love and self-intelligence which may lurk within the zealous efforts of propagandists and missionaries.

     But beware of a pitfall here, as to the simple good in the Christian World I They are not of the Lord's New Church as yet. They cannot be. For the only source of spiritual truth which they as yet know is the Letter of the Word; and that, by itself, will never make a New Churchman. For the real New Church must be built upon the foundation of that distinctive Revelation which was specially given to that Church,-the spiritual sense of the Divine Word, as revealed in the Writings of the Church. The simple good, however, though not as yet in the Church of the Second Advent, are kept by the Lord in a salvable state (A. C. 4754), aloof, it may be, from the organizations calling themselves the Church, yet within reach of the many agencies of the Church, as they may be overruled by the Lord to their good.

     As to the simple good, hear this from the Arcana Celestia: "Whosoever is in simple good, and in simplicity believes the Word according to its literal sense, is gifted with the faculty of perceiving truths when he is instructed in the other life by angels. And in the meantime the few truths which are with him are vivified by charity and innocence; and when charity and innocence are in truths, then the falsities which had also infused themselves in the shade of his ignorance are not hurtful, for they are not adjoined to good, but are withheld therefrom, as it were in the circumferences, and thus can easily be cast out." (A. C. 3436)

     Moreover, those who are in simple good act as a deterrent and check upon the more rabid of those in faith alone. For again it is written: "Those who are in simple good acknowledge that the Lord's Human is Divine, and that works of charity are to be done, if man is to be saved. They who are in faith separate know this; wherefore, they do not eagerly insist on this faith before everyone, and scarcely at all before those who are in simple good. . . . If they denied such things, the simple good would say that they were fools; for they (the simple good) know what love is, and what works of love are, but they do not know what faith separate therefrom is." (A. C. 4754.)

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     These simple good form the invisible and universal Church of the Lord. Of this invisible and universal Church of the Lord, we are assured in heaven's latest Revelation that "it exists on earth also, but that the societies which constitute it are scattered throughout the whole world, and consist of those who are in love to Him and in charity towards the neighbor. But these scattered societies are collected by the Lord, in order that, like the societies in heaven, they also may represent one man. These societies are not only within, but also outside, the Church; and, taken together, they are called the Lord's Church, scattered and collected from the good in the entire world, which Church is also called a communion. This communion, or this Church, is the Lord's Kingdom on earth, conjoined with the Lord's Kingdom in the heavens, and thus conjoined with the Lord Himself." (A. C. 7396.)

     Let us remind ourselves again that this Church, and those who constitute it, are known to the Lord alone. Man can say of it neither "Lo! Here!" nor "Lo! there!" It is good for man to know that it is, but it would not do for him to know where it is; for he might be tempted to injure or destroy it. From this universal and invisible Church of the Lord will come the material for the formation of the crowning Church of all the ages,-the Church of the New Jerusalem.

     IV.

     As to the coming out of those who will form the Church of the New Jerusalem, a curious circumstance confronts the careful student of the history of the Church,-that the number of the remnant coming out of so-called Christian communities seems almost to have stopped. Go back in thought fifty years, and see how many at that time came out and eagerly embraced the Doctrines of the New Jerusalem, and this without the paraphernalia of lantern slides, orchestras, and solo singing! Where do you find today such response to the efforts that are put forth to disseminate the heaven-sent Message of the New Jerusalem? And why not? Has the remnant been pumped dry? That cannot be. For the very ragged condition of the organizations of the New Church today makes manifest the fact that many more, and better, must come in before the New Church as an organization can make a really becoming and powerful appearance before mankind.

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     Then why does not the remnant come in greater numbers? Is the fault with the remnant? Is it with us, with those who already stand before the world as professed disciples at His Second Coming" Such are searching questions; and we may profitably endeavor to find some solution of the difficulty hidden within them. The remnant is there. We know that, though we know not where. The Lord knows, and He will provide.

     What does Divine Revelation say as to the establishment of the Church? Among many things, this: "It is of the Lord's Divine Providence that the Church should at first be among a few, and that its numbers should gradually increase." (A. R. 547) In the Apocalypse Explained 732, three chief reasons are given as to why the New Church will at first be only among a few. The first reason is, that its Doctrine can be received only by those "who are interiorly influenced by truths." The second reason is, "that the doctrine of that Church can only be acknowledged, thus received, by those who have not confirmed themselves by doctrine, and at the same time by life, in faith alone." The third reason is, "that a new church on earth grows according to its increase in the world of spirits." The paragraph from which these quotations are made also states that " the New Church . . . is at first among a few, that in the meantime provision may be made for it among many."

     What, exactly, is meant by the "provision" which is to be made for the New Church "among many"? "Provision." The Latin term thus translated in both A. R. and A. E. is "provideatur," and signifies "that which is provided." The term has sometimes been rendered "prepared," and the preparation has been deemed to refer to the "state" of the remnant. But I would suggest that this does not sufficiently express what is involved in the term "provideatur." Rather am I inclined to think that it was intended to convey the idea that the New Church would at first be among a "few," in order that the New Heaven might be "provided," which must precede the New Church upon earth, and also that that New Heaven might descend into the world of spirits, and there be established;-all of which must be "provided " before the Church can be established "among many" upon earth.

     For many degrees of development are essential before the Church of the New Jerusalem can be established in all its glory as the Lord's crowning Church upon earth.

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And for all this, it may be that time,-much time, even extending to ages,-may be necessary; but time counts not in the establishment of the Church as a spiritual institution among men. Nor need we be anxious about the remnant. Again, the Lord has them in His keeping, and He may be protecting them even from us, with the crude methods of our designing in our various organizations.

     Rather let those who, in the Lord's mercy, have been called into the Church of the New Jerusalem, make it their one anxious care to see to it that our part,-priests and laymen,-is well, duly, and faithfully performed; that by diligent reading of the Revelation given, careful reflection upon the same, and a continual effort to live according to its holy teaching, we may come into closer association with those on the other side, may get from them powerful aid in our struggles, and provide for them planes into which they can send their radiant influx, so that the Church may grow and increase upon earth.

     Truly has it been said that the New Church must grow mainly from within; though that has received an all-too-narrow application by some minds. It has been taken to mean, and only to mean, that the New Church must grow in and by means of our children. That is only a partial application, and falls far short of the truth, unless it be extended to mean that the Church must grow from within our hearts and minds by the increased love of the truth for truth's own sake, and by a faithful application of it in the constant shunning of all evils as sins against God. Individual regeneration! That is the best service that man can offer to his Maker, and to his fellow man.

     V.

     In brief conclusion, let us get back to absolute fundamentals and essentials. For this, it is necessary to distinguish between the church specific and the church universe. The church specific is as the heart and lungs in the body ecclesiastic; while the church universal is as the combined parts of the body which are kept alive by the heart and lungs. (A. C. 2853; S. S. 104.)

     Of the church specific, it is written: "The Church is nowhere else than where the Word is rightly understood; and such as is the understanding of the Word among those who are in the Church, such is the Church." (S. S. 79; T. C. R. 245.)

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The good of life among the gentiles and the remnant is indeed good of life, but not such as to form the constituent of the church, "thus not yet truly spiritual, save only as to its capacity to become so." (A. C. 3310)

     In the Divine Providence of the Lord, we have been called to be, not merely potential members of His universal church, but actual and practical members of His specific Church. The specific Revelation, by and upon which that Church must be established, has been made known to us. Our primary duty is to know well, and to understand thoroughly, the principles for which we profess to stand; to enter more and more interiorly into the rational understanding of them, and with ever increasing sincerity to reproduce them in our daily life and conduct. Thus doing, not only shall we attain unto individual regeneration, but shall also be living planes and instrumentalities through whom those who have passed over into the Church above may flow down with revivifying force into the hearts, minds and lives of those who, whether remnant or gentile, are ready to come in.

     But "one thing is needful,"-that one thing which Divine Revelation tells us has been "fundamental" with all the Churches of the past. That "one thing" is real, living, spiritual charity (A. C. 2910), such a charity as fits the statement of the Arcana Celestia: "According to the quality and quantity of truths, so is charity with man." (A. C. 2189.)

     Truly, ours is a goodly heritage, and the responsibility is indeed great. But the Church is the Lord's, and not man's. Strength will be given us according to our needs. And He has promised that "a little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation. I the Lord will hasten it in His time." (Isaiah 69:22.)

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CHARLES BYSE 1925

CHARLES BYSE       E. E. IUNGERICH       1925

     A NEW CHURCH PIONEER IN THE PENUMBRA OF PROTESTANTISM.

     Pastor Charles Byse, who initiated the New Church movement at Lausanne, Switzerland, and was Honorary President of the Federation of New Church Societies of the French Language, recently passed to the higher world at the age of ninety years. He was generally respected in the Protestant world as a man of intellectual vigor and unshakable courage, and was widely known among the French on account of the admirable literary style in which he couched the prolific concepts of his mind.

     Born in 1835 at Vevey, twenty miles from Lausanne on Lake Geneva, and an orphan at the age of eleven, he was brought up at Bale, and went to Lausanne in 1854 to study theology in the Free Church. From 1858, when he was consecrated, until 1880, he was engaged as a Protestant pastor, mainly in Paris, where for seven years he was also editor of the religious paper, ARCHIVES DU CHRISTIANISME. In 1870, he married a Miss Lee, daughter of a London surgeon, who preceded him to the spiritual world in 1911. Their two daughters survive them. In 1880, he accepted a call to the Belgian Christian Missionary Church at Brussels, but his connection there was abruptly severed by a trial for heresy which caused him to realign himself, together with a majority of his congregation, under the banner of those who believed in Conditional Immortality.

     According to this belief, the human soul is perishable unless it secure eternal existence by coming into communion with God through regeneration. Consequently, there are no hells, because the unregenerate, having no such communion, are soon dissipated. Pastor Byse held to this view even after he became interested in Swedenborg and the spread of the Heavenly Doctrines; for it would appear that he never came to regard the Writings as more than an inspired commentary on Scripture, and thus as liable to fallibility in many respects.

     In 1885, he returned to Lausanne, where he spent the last forty years of his life, being engaged in civic activities as a leader in a campaign against alcoholism, and as Secretary of the Society for Public Service.

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He also did secular work for a time, but was always active in religious affairs, this taking the form mainly of public lectures and private classes, all without remuneration, according to his settled conviction that such work should be done gratuitously.

     He first heard of Swedenborg from Baron Alphonse Mallet in Paris, but did not begin the study of the Writings until his return to Lausanne. Then, little by little, he introduced subjects from the Writings into his Sunday lectures before the members of La Societe Vaudoise de Theologie. The Rev. Gustave Regamey, a former Protestant pastor who was won to the New Church by attending these lectures, writes of Pastor Byse's hopes for Protestantism as follows:

     "He was forced to the conviction that these attempts were badly received, and that the theologians of that date were far from favorable to his works. But he was not discouraged by this, being certain that the preaching of the doctrines of the New Church would be well received later on. Too novel for that epoch, they must perforce meet the fate of all novelties in theology. 'They pass through three phases,' he says. 'First, they are rejected as antibiblical, false, or absurd. Next, people recognize that they have an appearance of truth, and that there is something good in them. Finally, they assert that they have always believed them. Protestantism is in the first of these periods; but already certain signs lead us to presage the beginning of the second.'"

     His disciple, however, does not share this optimism, and goes on to deplore the policy of silence, faint praise, covert innuendo and jocular indifference exhibited toward the New Church in Protestant quarters up to the present time.

     During my visit to Lausanne in 1914, I had the pleasure of a two hours' visit with Pastor Byse, when he urged me to tell him all about the General Church movement, stating that this was his first opportunity to obtain a complete account from an affirmative viewpoint. In the course of the conversation, I cited the case of Nicedemus and the Lord's Apostles, to illustrate why it was better to break with the Old Church and join a separatist New Church organization. On my departure from Lausanne, he gave me the address of Pastor Labeille, a retired Protestant minister in Paris, who was an ardent New Churchman, and whom I found great pleasure in visiting a few weeks later.

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     The account of the General Church which I gave Pastor Byse, with comments upon the way it has been treated by factional journals of the New Church, seemed to touch a sympathetic chord in him, which is reflected in a paragraph of his Le Scientisme et Swedenborg (p. 27), in which he pays a graceful tribute to the General Church. (See NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1915, P. 340) His former colleague and convert, the Rev. Gaston Fercken, then a minister of the General Church, was called to Lausanne in the summer of 1915 as the first pastor of the New Church people there; but in the two years he spent there, he was not successful in uniting them under a definite policy of constructive New Churchmanship. It seems likely, also, that Pastor Byse was not then ready to favor separation from the Old Church, and that the predilection of the General Church for internal doctrinal development impressed him as too unpretentious a field for a Church possessing so many claims to public favor. For he always enjoyed taking part in the devotional exercises of the Protestant Churches.

     But while Pastor Byse never came fully to our viewpoint of the Writings, he labored zealously for the spread of the Heavenly Doctrines. And if the conversion of a learned man of his caliber and integrity did not accomplish more for the growth of the New Church, the cause is to be found in the deeply-rooted perversions of mental view existing throughout the Protestant world, making it as implacably hostile to the new Doctrine as the young of the owl are to the young of the dove. (B. E. 103.)

     LE MESSAGER DE LA NOUVELLE EGLISE for March, 1925, contains a photograph of Pastor Byse, accompanying an obituary by the Rev. Gustave Regamey. And Mr. D. Winter, of London, contributes an appreciative account of his life to THE NEW-CHURCH HERALD Of May 9, 1925. See also our review of his book, Le Mariage Ideal et ses Contrefacons, in NEW CHURCH LIFE for 1922, p. 195.
     E. E. IUNGERICH.

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SOME PHOTOGRAPHS OF RECENTLY DEDICATED CHURCHES. 1925

              1925


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office a Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly By
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.

Editor                    Rev. W. B. Caldwell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager          Mr. H. Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address and business communications should be sent to the Business Manager.

     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
In the United States, $3.00 per year; Elsewhere, $3.25 or 14 shillings; payable in advance
Single Copy          30 cents
     NOTES AND REVIEWS.

     During the past two years, the General Church Societies at Durban, Natal, and Colchester, England, and the Native Missions in Basutoland and Orange Free State, have erected churches and dedicated them to the worship of the Lord in His Second Advent. As visible evidence of the establishment of our principles and practice in this ultimate form in various parts of the world, our readers will be interested in the photographs of these modest little temples which we shall print as a frontispiece in the present and future issues of NEW CHURCH LIFE. While unpretentious in size, architectural design and appointments, they represent much. Those in Durban and Colchester are the culmination of many years of society growth, during which there was always a desire for a more fitting environment than the halls in which the worship was held. The two churches erected for the use of the South African Natives are significant of the hope and promise of the development of the New Church among them.

     We take this opportunity to thank the friends who have kindly sent us the photographs of these churches, and would extend an invitation to those in other centers to send us suitable pictures, which we shall be glad to print so far as means permit.

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For there is an undoubted desire among members of the General Church to see photographs of the people and places about which they read so much in our pages.
REVEALED PRINCIPLES OF GOVERNMENT. 1925

REVEALED PRINCIPLES OF GOVERNMENT.              1925

     IS THERE A DOCTRINE OF ECCLESIASTICAL GOVERNMENT FOR THE NEW CHURCH? By the Rev. Jas. F. Buss. London: The New-Church Doctrinal Research Association. 1925. Paper, 32 pages.

     At first sight of this pamphlet, one exclaims: "A superfluous question!" with not a little surprise that it should be asked by Mr. Buss. Along about the tenth page, however, we find that the question has actually been raised by professed New Churchmen, and that Mr. Buss has gone about answering it in his usual thorough manner. After citing the chapter on "Ecclesiastical and Civil Government" in The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine, and quoting a good part of Nos. 311-318, treating of government by priests, he remarks: "It will at once be seen that, on the face of it, the mere fact that an authentic book of the Writings of the New Church, bearing such a title, contains such a chapter, seems to carry with it an affirmative reply to our question, beyond the possibility of doubt. . . . How is it possible to escape the position that such directions and prescriptions, published in such a book, are doctrine concerning Ecclesiastical Government for the New Church? The contrary contention, namely, that a chapter in a work entitled The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine is not New Church Doctrine, and is not given 'for the New Church'-that is, for the New Church to act upon-is, indeed, on the face of it, so wildly absurd and irrational that it is difficult to conceive of anyone in his right mind advancing it. . . . The astonishing thing is that there are those who advance it!"

     Specific cases are then given. One writer says: "It seems incredible to most of us that our great author should frame an ecclesiastical ritual for a Church which he was not sure would exist as a separate entity." (NEW-CHURCH HERALD, 1921, p. 249) The same writer also says: "In giving an illustration of church government and ritual," Swedenborg "was quoting the one which he thought the best existing in his day.

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He did not suggest that it was a heaven-descended system." (Ibid.) Another writer asserts: "The entire chapter concerning Ecclesiastical and Civil Government is simply a citation of civil and religious institutions existing in the writer's time, and known to everyone-which he enumerates rather than legislates upon." (Theocracy, Democracy, and the Ministry, p. 8.) The little work here quoted was published in 1920 by an anonymous author, and was reviewed in NEW CHURCH LIFE for that year. (P. 687.) Mr. Buss then quotes another New Churchman, who writes: "I ask for any sort of foundation that the doctrines of the New Church prescribe anything in connection with the forms of church government." (NEW-CHURCH HERALD, 1921, P. 346) This writer also claims that, in particular, "H. D. 312-313, where higher and lower governors on earth are mentioned, cannot refer to the priesthood, as it is not their function to reward or punish, or to keep assemblages of men in order. It can only refer to the tribunals of justice." (Ibid. p. 345)

     An appraisal of such opinions readily classifies them as coming from persons who have either read the Writings very superficially, or object to the revealed doctrine concerning government because they have a bias against anything that savors of priestly rule in the church. The question under discussion, however, is not concerned with forms of government, but rather with principles,-general principles which apply to all government, both ecclesiastical and civil, and which are revealed as general doctrine for the use of the New Church. "Governors set over those things which relate to the world, or civil affairs, are called magistrates, and their chief, where such a form of government exists, is called the king." (N. J. H. D. 314) So in the church; forms of government will vary, as they do in the heavens. But one principle operates in all, namely, that order is the prime purpose of government. "There are two things with men which must be in order; namely, the things which are of heaven, and those which are of the world." So the chapter opens. It continues; "Order cannot be kept in the world without governors, who will observe all things which are done according to order, and all things which are done contrary to order." (Ibid. 311, 312.)

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     This is the burden of the chapter on Ecclesiastical and Civil Government,-the principle that there must be government for the sake of order, and this as a protection against the love of dominion, thus for the preservation of the freedom of the individual, that he may live and perform uses in freedom; in the church, that the individual may be regenerated in freedom. Nothing here to bind the church as to a form of government. For even in the heavens there are various forms of government, which yet "all agree in this, that they regard the common good as their end, and in that the good of the individual." (H. H. 217)

     The principles set forth in this chapter are revealed to us as Divine principles, and they are in accord with the enlightened opinion of mankind, as has become, increasingly clear since the Great War. Objection to them comes only from radicals and Bolshevists, who, in their own attempts at government, outdo all others in despotic tyranny. And we have always had our "radicals" in the New Church, who are unwilling to accept the teaching of the chapter on Government "as doctrine, or legislation, but only as history."

     Referring to this writer's statement, Mr. Buss rightly says: "How anyone writing, with the book before him, and fresh from the reading of the chapter, could make it, simply passes comprehension. It is egregiously and ridiculously contrary to the plain fact." With great patience, however, he analyzes and refutes the opinions quoted above, and says in conclusion: "We think we may justly claim that the examination demonstrates the hollowness of them all, and that not one of them can be regarded by a candid person as weakening to the smallest extent the initial presumption that the chapter in question is as surely a doctrine of the New Church, and consequently doctrine 'for the New Church,' as that it treats of 'Ecclesiastical Government.'" At the close of the pamphlet, this is further confirmed by showing that the contents of this chapter are also found in the Arcana Celestia under the heading, " The Doctrine of Charity and Faith." (10789-10806.)

     Mr. Buss also promises a further treatment of the subject of government in the New Church, to which we shall look forward with pleasant anticipation.

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PAMPHLET ON "SPIRITUALISM." 1925

PAMPHLET ON "SPIRITUALISM."       WILLIAM HYDE ALDEN       1925

     MODERN SPIRITUALISM. By the Rev. W. A. Presland. London: The New Church Press, Ltd., 1925. Paper, 12 pages.

     This neat little tract is designed to give a helpful view of the modern phenomenon which is coming to be known as "Spiritualism," although it ought not to be confused with " the much older and properly so-called philosophic doctrine of belief in spirit as distinct from matter," as Mr. Presland observes. And he would prefer to call it "Spiritism," as consisting of some form of conscious communication with those who have departed from the natural world. A certain air of respectability has been lent to such phenomena during the past few years, because of the attention given to the subject by sundry notables in the literary and scientific world, prominent among whom are Sir Oliver Lodge, the scientist, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the writer; who have both delivered lectures on "Spiritualism" in the United States in recent times.

     The author of the tract before us assumes that such men are competent witnesses, and accepts their findings. "I for one," he says, "accept their testimony on this matter with no more need to prove it for myself than I have to prove what they or other men of science tell me about the ether," etc. He also believes "it must be admitted that many of these phenomena appear to go very far to prove that the departed survive, and are able to communicate with us," and that some "who have never grasped the clear teaching of Sacred Scripture as to the future life, or for other reasons have doubted survival" have, it is claimed, become "fully convinced of it by the phenomena of Spiritualism," which "may or may not have been for their good." (Pp. 3, 4.) He warns them, however; that the conviction will avail them nothing, unless they live a life of repentance by "ceasing to do evil, and learning to do well."

     Mr. Presland goes on to set forth his objection to the practice of Spiritism, in the light of the prohibitions of the Scriptures of both Testaments and the warnings given in the Writings of Swedenborg. In very clear and pointed language, he shows how meager and imperfect are the messages received by even the most skillful scientist, and how unwise it is to permit spirit-control.

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While men would take the greatest pains to verify the ability and honesty of any witness present in the body, the messages of spirits are received without question, although in the very nature of things it is not possible to know the character of the spirit from whom the message comes, nor whether he is the person he claims to be. A New Churchman who reads this pamphlet will feel that the writer is doctrinally sound on the subject, and will find his way of putting things interesting. Yet he will be disappointed to note something of compromise in his attitude, in that he seems to stress unduly the value and influence of those prominent men of the world who have in these latter days "betaken themselves to familiar spirits."

     The meticulous observations of exact science are not the paths to a knowledge of the things of the spiritual world. Such methods of approach are a seeking after things which are above by digging below. For the phenomena of the spiritual world cannot be ascertained by sensual investigation. And I venture the positive assertion that absolutely no fact of consequence has ever been disclosed by the means employed among spiritists, and that many things disclosed, purporting to be facts, are not only not facts, but debasing falsities. There is really no middle ground or possibility of compromise in this matter. To the New Churchman, the results obtained by spiritistic methods, whether through a medium who works for hire, or through the eminent scientist who investigates in the name of science, are trivial and inconsequential, and inevitably open to the suspicion of fraud. To accord them any standing before rational men is not a fair presentation of the New Church view of the subject.

     Mr. Presland admits that "such abnormal states and uncanny experiences frequently end by telling seriously against health and even sanity," and quotes Sir W. F. Barrett to the effect that "there seems to be in many cases a deteriorating influence." The very authorities quoted in the pamphlet give serious warnings, but these warnings seem insufficient, giving the impression that if the things be done with the right motives, or if they be done by "scientific men who go into the examination of these phenomena in a spirit of simple, honest inquiry, as one might take up any other research work, it is a different thing altogether."

     The nature of these warnings is evident from the one quoted from Sir Oliver Lodge's Raymond: "Self-control is more important than any other form of control; and whoever possesses the power of receiving communications in any form should see to it that he remains master of the situation.

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To give up your own judgment, and depend solely on adventitious aid, is a grave blunder, and may in the long run have disastrous consequences. Moderation and common sense are required. . . ." (P. 12.) Strange to say, this compromising attitude toward what is in reality a playing with fire is emulated by Mr. Presland, who says: "So soon as anyone is satisfied that the spiritualist explanation is the correct one, he should desist from further inquiry. For him the existence of a future life is proven. Unfortunately, it is just here that the critical point is reached, and one is tempted to continue. Many weakly yield, and fall into the habitual pursuit of these practices." Stranger still, this counsel is followed by a genuine warning: "And-be sure of this-good spirits will not transgress God's laws, nor will they come at the call of people who know that they are doing what He has forbidden. The only spirits who will respond are mischievous and evil spirits, who care neither for God nor for His laws." (P. 7.)

     For the New Churchman, or for the Christian who will obey the Word of the Lord, there can be no such thing as a "moderate" dabbling with spiritistic practices. The Word of the Lord forbids, and for him who receives the Revelation given to the New Church there is not only the prohibition but also the reason for it. The pamphlet before us, we regret to say, has not distinctly set forth this reason. It is very simple, namely: Spirits who are with man are of his own quality, good as he is good, evil as he is evil. These spirits are assigned by the Lord Himself, and in such a way that the man is left in perfect freedom to act according to his own rationality. That this freedom and rationality may be preserved, the spirits do not know that they are with man, and man does not know the spirits who are with him. To seek conscious intercourse with the spiritual world is to break down this wall of separation as to consciousness, and bring the man who effects it under the influence of the spirits with whom he communicates. And because the good spirits who are with him, in their regard for his freedom, will not respond to any overtures made by him, the only spirits who will communicate with him are of his own sort as to the unregenerate part of him,-those who are in his unregenerate evil lusts, and who seek to encourage and strengthen those lusts. Their influence is to encourage evils in him, and to discourage his putting them away.

495


They, therefore, prevent his regeneration. This is the simple explanation of the dangers which our scientific friends warn us against, and the reason for the "deteriorating influence," the "disastrous consequences," which have been referred to. And this is also the explanation of the outward moral evils into which those are apt to fall who are addicted to spiritistic practices. Why could not this light from the Revelation given the New Church, as to the real cause of the dangers of spiritism, have been shed unmistakably upon the subject in a pamphlet which doubtless is intended to be of missionary use?

     Moreover, it should have been made abundantly plain that the New Churchman, as well as the Christian, needs no confirmation of the spiritual world by means of spirit mediums. The very feeling of a need for such confirmation implies a loss of faith in the Word of God. From such a source, not a whit is added to the knowledges that have been vouchsafed in the Writings by lawful means. And in making this assertion we are fully aware of the eminence in the minds of men of the names of those who are trumpeting worldwide the claims of wonderful and new information respecting the spiritual world. We have been pleased to note that the Editor of THE NEW-CHURCH HERALD (Conference weekly) has taken a more uncompromising attitude in dealing with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle than Mr. Presland in this pamphlet on Modern Spiritualism, as has already been noted in these pages.
     WILLIAM HYDE ALDEN.
ANOTHER WORK IN SESUTO 1925

ANOTHER WORK IN SESUTO       REGINALD W. BROWN       1925

     JERUSALEMA E MOCHA LE LITHUTO TSA EONA TSA LEHOLIMO (New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine). By Emanuel Swedenborg. Ladybrand, O. F. S., South Africa: General Church Mission. 1925. 70 pages.

     A copy of this neat octave volume, bound in a brilliant red board cover, has just reached us. The translation into the Sesuto language is the work of Mr. George Mokoena, one of the native leaders at Alpha, and the printing was done at the Mission Print Shop there.

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Knowing well the difficulties that have been encountered, both in the matter of translating and in the printing, we extend congratulations to the Mission for its accomplishment in producing this book. Its value in bringing the leading Doctrines of the New Church to the natives in their own language can hardly be fully estimated.
     REGINALD W. BROWN.
SWEDENBORG NOT OBSCURE 1925

SWEDENBORG NOT OBSCURE       H. C. SMALL       1925

     Under this title, the NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER of July 1st publishes a communication from the Rev. H. C. Small which we herewith reprint in full:

To the Editor of THE MESSENGER:

     I hope some time our New Church people will have the good sense to cease putting the Writings of Swedenborg in the false light which characterizes the communication of Mr. W. H. Dennison in THE MESSENGER of May 27th. It is becoming the habit of many to deplore what they are pleased to call the difficulty of understanding Swedenborg, the necessity of having somebody define and interpret him as if he spoke in a foreign tongue, and to excuse people for not reading him because it is such a ponderous and practically hopeless task. How absurd! How mischievous! Swedenborg is the simplest, dearest, most luminous writer on religion that the world has ever known. Anyone who finds him otherwise either has no love for the kind of thing which is found in his Writings, or else, by constant disuse of the thinking faculty, has unfitted himself for taking in anything except the simplest narrative. Education has almost nothing to do with the understanding of Swedenborg. The illiterate are often his most intelligent and appreciative readers. Some people balk at the least exertion of their thinking faculty. Such find, not only Swedenborg, but every other writer on serious and practical themes, both secular and religious, "too much for them." Some have a distaste for religious matters, and because of this cannot concentrate their minds on such reading, however clear and luminous, long enough to form and carry away any distinct idea. How absurd to attribute their difficulties to the author of the book!

     No doubt some words in Swedenborg's Writings can be made clearer by an attempt on the part of the reader to understand more thoroughly their exact and full import; but is not this the case in reading anything? But it is a rare case where anyone has made Swedenborg's meaning as clear as Swedenborg himself. Swedenborg would be a plain contradiction to his own message if, in the presentation of truths hidden from the wisest from the very foundation of the world, everything therein could be taken in at a glance. The subjects themselves are often profound, and of necessity often outrun the present range of our experience and our knowledge; but such difficulties are inherent in the nature of the wisdom itself, and not due to obscurity of treatment. Swedenborg is a marvel in his ability to treat the profoundest things in a simple and luminous way.

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While unusual words are sometimes employed to convey his meaning, the reader is seldom left without a practical, even if not an exhaustive, idea of that meaning. Religion in Swedenborg is for the first time in history really and truly in an understandable and practical form. The truth about these Writings is just the reverse of what Mr. Dennison's article would lead us to think. And it would be the height of folly, because entirely misleading, to put forth a pamphlet of definitions with Swedenborg's works, as if they demanded a glossary or a dictionary to make them intelligible.

     Think what this implies, and see how utterly stupid we are to be ourselves responsible for creating such a millstone to hang about the neck of the most glorious revelation of truth it is possible to conceive. Swedenborg's subject is religion-real, everyday, practical Christianity. Are we to be silly enough to make it appear that this genuine Christianity is so abstruse in itself, or so badly handled by Swedenborg, that a pickaxe is needed to dig into it? Could we implant this notion in men, nothing more would be needed to blast what little religion the world possesses and to damn Swedenborg as its great herald and advocate. Happily, the whole conception is a monstrosity.
     H. C. SMALL.
DATE OF THE APOCALYPSE 1925

DATE OF THE APOCALYPSE              1925

     In a footnote on page 454 of our present issue, the Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner, referring to 96 A.D. as the commonly accepted year in which John wrote the Apocalypse, calls attention to the statement in the Apocalypse Revealed, no. 947 that "the Apocalypse was written in the beginning of the first century." We venture to suggest that this means about the year 100 A.D., according to an old method of designating what we would now call "the beginning of the second century:" A relic of that custom survives in Europe today, where some refer to the present century as the 19th, because it began with the year 1900. In any case, John the Apostle could not have written the Book of Revelation at the beginning of the first hundred years of the Christian era, which would be about the time of the Lord's birth; but it was written long after the Lord's resurrection, when, according to history or tradition, John was banished to the Isle of Patmos, or, as stated in the Writings, when he had been "commanded to betake himself thither, in order that the things which were to take place at the end of the Church might be revealed there." (Apocalypse Explained 50)

     That Swedenborg meant the year 100 A.D. when, in A. R. 947, he spoke of "the beginning of the first century," seems evident also from his stating in the same number that the New Church "appears and exists now after seventeen centuries."

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He wrote this in the year 1765, or 1665 years after A.D. 100. In this passage, however, he is not dealing with the mere matter of dates, but is showing that the prophetic words of the Apocalypse apply to the Christian Church at its end, not at its beginning. The number explains the meaning of the words: "And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book; for the time is at hand." (Ch. 22:10.) In the spiritual sense, this "signifies that the Apocalypse must not be closed up, but is to be opened; and that this is necessary at the end of the Church, if any are to be saved. . . . It is manifest that nearness of time is not meant, because the Apocalypse was written in the beginning of the first century, and the Advent of the Lord, when there is a Last Judgment and a New Church, now after seventeen centuries appears and exists." (A. R. 947)

     Possibly Mr. Odhner has another solution, in which case we shall be pleased to hear further from him on the subject.
"THE SHORTER BIBLE." 1925

"THE SHORTER BIBLE."              1925

     The Old Testament portion of The Shorter Bible (Scribners, 1923) has recently come to hand, and serves to recall our brief editorial remarks on the New Testament version of the same work when it appeared several years ago. Under the title of "A Wineless Bible," we then said:

     "That the prohibitionist, in his puritanical fanaticism, will not hesitate to purge the Scriptures themselves when it suits his purpose, is shown in The Shorter Bible (Scribners, 1918), the New Testament portion of which, translated by Charles Foster Rent of Yale and others, omits all reference to wine, and even leaves out the 2d Chapter of John altogether, with its account of the first miracle at Canal We shall be interested to see what they will do with the many references to wine in the Old Testament." (NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1922, P. 191)

     A cursory examination of the Old Testament reveals the same devastating process of elimination at work, but with no such thoroughness as that exhibited in the New Testament.

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"Wine to gladden man's heart" is retained in the 104th Psalm, but markedly left out of the opening words of Isaiah 55, "Yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price," which are reduced to, "Buy and eat without money!" "Wine which cheereth God and man" (Judges 9:13) becomes "juice that gladdens gods and men." Passages which condemn the abuse of wine are made more "modern" and vivid. Thus Isaiah 5:22, " Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink," is rendered, "Ah! they who are mighty in guzzling wine, and valiant in mixing strong drinks!" An astonishing number of chapters and groups of verses in which wine is mentioned are wholly omitted, along with many incidents of the Old Testament history which are doubtless regarded as unsavory by the purist, because he is not acquainted with their spiritual significance.

     In justice it should be said that the object in preparing such a shortened edition of the Scriptures was laudable enough. As the preface explains, it is "not intended as a substitute for the complete text or the time-honored versions. It aims rather, through the selection of certain parts which have seemed to the editors especially well suited to this purpose, to kindle the interest of the busy modern reader in the Bible as a whole." But our objection is to the Puritanical prudence and bias manifested in the selection made. And in the effort to eliminate repetitions, and to rearrange the material "to secure a clearer picture of the origin and development of Judaism and Christianity," as well as in the translation of the original into "modern English equivalents," much of the beauty of the Authorized Version has been lost, to say nothing of the violence done to the spiritual sense, which the New Churchman alone can appreciate.

     That Christians of the old school, in their veneration for the English Bible as the Word of God, have been shocked by modern versions like The Shorter Bible, is made clear in the reviews now appearing in various periodicals. One of these we may quote in part:

     "The infallibility of the Bible suffers a severe shock at the hands of these modern editors who have dropped two-thirds of the Old Testament and one-third of the New in their efforts to improve it. No matter how much one may approve of the idea of editing the Bible to make the reading easier and more coherent, and of retranslations of parts to bring out the original meaning more clearly,-though that often destroys the literal beauty of the Authorized Version, one is nevertheless forced to the conclusion that some other motive besides pure scholarship has prompted the issue of The Shorter Bible. That motive is not hard to deduce.

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The rigid Puritanism that is fast engulfing the United States has always been hampered by the Sacred Books of Christendom. Discussions on these movements often contain disturbing references to Scriptural sanctions for the use of wine, etc. . . . The fanatical zeal of the reformers is leading them inevitably to discard the Sacred Books. And The Shorter Bible furnishes what must be for them a delightful compromise,-the dropping of the inconvenient portions. Yet the close connection that generally exists between Puritanism and Fundamentalism makes it extremely strange to see a puritanical, voluntary censoring of the Word of God which amounts to a denial of the infallibility of the Book." (Toronto SATURDAY NIGHT.)
ROMAN CATHOLIC OPINION. 1925

ROMAN CATHOLIC OPINION.              1925

     The May issue of DE WARE CHRISTELIJKE GODSDIENST (The True Christian Religion), the Dutch periodical edited by the Rev. Ernst Pfeiffer, quotes a number of passages from an article on "Emmanuel Swedenborg and the Church of the New Jerusalem" which appeared in the Roman Catholic Dutch weekly, THE NEW AGE, for April 16th last. Some of these passages have been translated for us by Mr. Hendrik Beef, as follows:

     "It is not to be wondered that, in the midst of the separations in the Church, and of developing movements on the part of various persons outside of the Church who are searching for things which transcend the material point of view, the thoughts and writings of Emanuel Swedenborg should excite interest, and be propagated successfully by Swedenborgians and The Swedenborg Society. . . .

     "There are many things in the service of the Church of the New Jerusalem that remind us of Roman Catholicism. . . .

     "After a certain period, and until the day of his death, Swedenborg was in connection with the supernatural world. He made voyages to such unknown regions as the sun, moon and stars, and explains the Holy Scripture after his own views thence acquired. . . .

     "We are not to suppose that there was deceit in Swedenborg. Several writers suppose him to have been insane, and ripe for a psychiatrical institution.

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However this may be, it is certain that Swedenborg, with his revelation in the year 1770, and his thoughts of the Holy Trinity, Creation, and Jesus Christ, entered a path against the revelation of God. . . .

     "The thoughts of Emanuel Swedenborg are theosophically closely connected with a spiritistic mentality, and their propagation produces a stream that goes toward spiritism. His works lead to the region of mystery, and only Catholicism takes a stand against this modern pernicious and destructive movement.

     "His works are not popular, and are intelligible only to those who have been initiated. It is said that he brought the Religion for which everyone is unconsciously searching; nevertheless, it is a Religion for the most learned, and the Church of the New Jerusalem a Church for intellectuals. The wisdom and doctrine of Swedenborg, proclaimed as the hidden sense of Holy Scripture, is deemed sufficient. But if God's revelation has been given to mankind through Swedenborg, then are we still in darkness, and in a miserable condition.

     "After examining all the fantastical things in the revelation of Swedenborg, which he received from above, we are still led to ask how it is possible that intellectuals can pass by, or even deny, the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church, and believe on the sole authority of Swedenborg what he gives as the solution of the problems of human existence, present and future. We agree with that Swedenborgian, G. Barger, who did a great deal for the propagation of Swedenborg's works in our country, that the ignorance of the world is very great in matters pertaining to the spiritual world and the nature of spirit. But that Swedenborg has brought light, we deny.

     "Swedenborg's works are a great deviation from the truth. In him we see where independent Biblical investigation can lead. In all things he refers himself to the hidden sense of the Scripture, and his explanation of the Bible is now the Word of God to the members of the Church of the New Jerusalem. . . .But the light of the world is Jesus Christ and His doctrine, which can only be found pure and unfalsified in the Church founded by Christ. The system of Swedenborg is diametrically opposite to the doctrine of this Church. I am sure that many a Swedenborgian, if he could penetrate into what is to him the hidden sense of the doctrine of the Roman Church, would discover with amazement that the truth did not first descend in 1770, but that it descended with the birth of Immanuel, Jesus Christ, upon earth.

     "All the fantasies of Swedenborg cannot give the delicious fruits of a devotion to the holy of God in Jesus' Church. . . . Life in the truth eternal of Catholicism guards us against false doctrine, including that of Swedenborg. Blessed is he that clings to the doctrine of the Holy Catholic Church!"

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Church News 1925

Church News       Various       1925

     PITTSBURGH, PA.

     Sons of the Academy, June 20-23.

     Modestly aspiring to the privilege and responsibility of entertaining the annual meeting of the Sons of the Academy, some of us feared at first that we could not manage a meeting the size of that held last year at Kitchener; but as we recalled the enjoyment of that gathering, and realized the importance of the uses involved, we all swung blithely into line and resolved to do our best. And when the number of prospective visitors mounted from eighty to a hundred, there was too much blood pressure to be daunted in the least. Now we are congratulating ourselves upon a most satisfying and stimulating treat. There were 76 men, 29 women, and 4 children, a total of 109, who came to Pittsburgh for the occasion,-41 from Bryn Athyn, qr from Glenview and Chicago, 11 from Toronto, 4 from Kitchener, and It from other points. And, to our surprise, we had room for more!

     On Saturday, June 20, they began to arrive, and the informal supper at the church in the evening was a happy opportunity for greetings all around. The paper that evening by the Rev. Walter E. Brickman on "Factors of Education in Worship" was a most timely one, and gave to our thoughts the best kind of a "first state." He divided his subject into four heads: 1. Worship at Church. 2. Worship at the Doctrinal Class. 3. Worship in the Home. 4. Worship in the Sunday School. The discussion following the reading of the paper dealt mainly with the first two, until, in answer to direct questions, Mr. Brickman spoke at some length about the work of the Committee which prepared the Sunday School Lesson Notes that have been appearing in New Church Life. And the great need of more literature of a religious kind for our children was dwelt upon.

     Sunday dawned bright and cool, and the sermon by the Rev. Gilbert H. Smith on "Zeal for the New Church" was listened to with eager attention by the largest congregation our upper room has ever known. The singing of the Twenty-fourth Psalm, accompanied by piano and organ, was truly inspiring, as also was the Hymn, "Hark, hark my soul! Angelic songs are swelling." The service included the Rite of Confession of Faith for Mr. Winfred Farrington.

     At the meeting held Sunday evening, the Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner read a paper entitled "The Challenge of the Age." It was itself most challenging, and quite out-Odhnered the speaker's famous uncle, dealing with great keenness of the state of the present-day Christian World, and especially with its philosophical and educational ideals. Later, at one of the luncheons at the University Club, the refrain of all the songs was: "And he thanked Mr. Odhner for his paper!" The discussion of the paper on Sunday evening was prolonged, but the Chairman managed to bring about adjournment at 11 o'clock. But It was midnight before the crowd dispersed, some to sleep, others to settle the matter of Evolution!

     The business sessions of the Sons of the Academy, on Monday and Tuesday mornings, were vigorously conducted and most warmly harmonious. For particulars, we must refer the reader to an early issue of The Bulletin of the Sons of the Academy, which will also print the text of the various papers read at the meetings.

     On Monday evening, the Philosophy Club gave its supper and entertainment. First, we listened to a heart-to-heart talk from our Bishop, which was a far-seeing and most impressive laying open with startling frankness of the trend of our development, the serious lessons of the past as to our needs in the future, and especially the need of freedom.

503


In due course, the evening program took on the form of humorous "Initiations," which afforded great merriment and relaxation. On the same evening, about sixty of the ladies met at the mansion like home of Mrs. Alexander P. Lindsay for a picnic supper on the grounds, which overlook Frick's Woods.

     The Canadian visitors had charge of the luncheon on Monday, and introduced the problem of our Local Schools and the promotion of the teachers' use. The luncheon on Tuesday was made notable by Mr. Gilbert Smith's "black-face" talk, which excelled anything we have had heretofore in its line. There is nothing like keen wit and satire to drive home some shrewd truths.

     Everybody was wondering how we could seat 200 at the Banquet on Tuesday evening. Well, we didn't; but we came within a score of it. And a rare treat they all had, with the Rev. William Whitehead as toastmaster, and set speeches as follows: 1. Mr. Donald Rose on "The Future of the Academy Home." Surely, if gales of laughter be good for the digestion, we were in prime condition for the serious points of his speech, and for those that followed. 2. Mr. Otho W. Heilman on "The Future of our Elementary Schools," treated as a matter of promoting regeneration, and not the various educational fads that rule the field outside, one after another. 3. The Rev. K. R. Alden gave us a keen and eloquent exposition of "The Aims of our Secondary Schools,"-the distinctive quality of work that we are striving to do. 4. Mr. Whitehead himself, in the absence of another speaker, dealt with "The Future of Higher Education in the Academy," showing its truly cultural quality, and how it must prepare not only skill in worldly things, but chiefly cultural appreciation and the power to think and be interested in thoughtful problems. The Rev. Homer Synnestvedt gave a brief review of the growth of our Church, and its efficacy as "The Greatest Missionary Institution in the World."

     Following these subjects, Mr. Randolph W. Childs gave a luminous explanation of what is involved in the recent decision of the United States Supreme Court on the Oregon Parochial School Law. Mr. Robert B. Caldwell, Jr., was warmly cheered when he spoke of the beginnings of the Sons of the Academy and the growth since. As a final treat, Mr. Whitehead induced the Bishop to say a few words. Nobody needs to be told how much the Bishop is beloved!

     Thus ended one of the most successful and happy meetings of recent times. At the conclusion of the banquet, the younger folks cleared the room and danced until late, just by way of expressing the fulness of their overflowing spirits. That such an overflowing fulness of interest and zeal, with all the expressions of happiness, social and otherwise, should show itself like a new first-love state, is truly cause for rejoicing; for there is all too little of this in the world today.
     H. S.

     COLCHESTER ENG., June 11.-Since our last report, the uses of the Church have been well maintained. Owing to our Pastor's absence in America, it was not possible for us to concentrate upon missionary work during the early months of the year as fully as we had hoped to do, but with the help of the Rev. R. J. Tilson, of Michael Church, London, much was accomplished. We are much indebted to him for his services on several occasions. The subjects of the sermons were advertized, with the result that visitors were present at each service.

     On April 12th, our Pastor administered the Sacrament of the Holy Supper to 21 communicants, and on April 19th he officiated at the baptism of Garth Daniel Cooper, the infant son of Mr. and Mrs. J. F. Cooper.

     On Monday, May 11th, after the doctrinal class, an interesting event transpired. The presentation of a very useful gift in the form of a traveling bag was made to Miss Phyllis Cooper, who has filled the post of organist for us for about eighteen months, and who sailed on May 16th to take up a position in Bryn Athyn.

504


Our Pastor, in presenting the gift, spoke in appreciation of her services to the Society, of our affection for her, our wishes for her success, and also of our hope for her speedy return. After a toast was honored, Mr. Potter, our music leader, spoke of the loss sustained by the Society in Miss Cooper's departure. Mr. F. R. Cooper then expressed thanks for the token of affection and appreciation, and voiced the confident hope that the post of organist would be suitably filled.

     Miss Adah Nelson, after an extended stay in England, departed from our shores on May 16th. We have very much enjoyed her visits in Colchester, and her strong affection for the uses of the Church has done much to stimulate and help us. Mr. Harold Pitcairn has been with us on two occasions during the present month, and we much enjoyed having him with us. It is a great help to smaller societies to have the friends from Bryn Athyn and other centers visit them, and Colchester owes not a little to these friendly calls.

     On May 31, Mr. James Pryke, of Northampton, and Mrs. Pike, of London, were present at our evening service. Mr. and Mrs. Conrad Howard and daughter are spending the Whitsuntide holiday in Colchester.
     F. R. C.

     HIGH KILBURN, York, Eng.-The "Overdale" circle, members of Michael Church, London, have deeply enjoyed the benefit of a pastoral visit paid by the Rev. R. J. Tilson, who was accompanied by Mrs. Tilson, happily restored to comparative activity after her unfortunate accident of nearly four years ago. Their stay extended from the 12th to the 27th of May, two services being held on each Sunday.

     On Sunday the 17th, the subject of the morning sermon was "The Six Cities of Refuge" (Numbers 35:6), and the evening sermon was founded on Genesis 2:1; in each case, needless to say, important spiritual instruction being drawn from the text.

     Sunday, Mat 24th, was a double Red-letter day. Empire Day was celebrated at the morning service with special Hymns and Lessons, and a most eloquent sermon on "Love of Country." The evening service took the form of a Thanksgiving in celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the marriage of the head and heart of the household, concluding with the administration of the Holy Supper. The sermon dealt in an exceedingly inspiring and instructive manner with "The Love Story of the Old Testament" (Genesis xxix) and the account of the marriage of the Empress Elizabeth of Russia and Count de la Gardie in the spiritual world (Spiritual Diary 6027).

     The Pastor's visit was, as usual, the occasion of much helpful and delightful intercourse, interspersed with pleasant, healthful enjoyment of the natural beauties of the surroundings. Two outstanding week-evening events were the reading of papers by the Pastor on "Prayer" and on "The Gentiles and the Remnant from the Christian World," both being followed by an interesting discussion of their more striking points.     
     W. C. J.

     CINCINNATI, OHIO.-Our active church season dosed with the celebration of New Church Day, which, owing to the absence of several members of our congregation, was held on the 20th, followed by a beautiful service on the 21st. At this time, Mr. Geoffrey S. Childs, of New York, was spending a day or two with the Pastor and Mrs. Waelchli, and we had an informal gathering on Thursday, the 18th, which was really the beginning of our observance of the 19th of June. There was no formal program, but those who know Mr. Childs can appreciate that everyone thoroughly enjoyed the evening, singing the Old Academy songs and hymns.

     On Saturday evening, June 20th, we all met at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Charles G. Merrell, where a delightful banquet was served under a large maple tree overlooking the gardens.

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Mr. Colon Schott, the founder of our Circle, spoke of his delight in seeing the society grow from one lone member to a group of seventeen adults and several children. Mr. Richard Kintner spoke of the strength and help the Doctrines are in business life. Mr. Allen Smith addressed us upon the subject of the coming of the Lord to the individual, or the state of accepting the truth for one's self, in contrast with the state of merely attending services because our parents wish us to do so. Mr. Charles Merrell, the toastmaster, then introduced Mr. Waelchli as principal speaker, and expressed the gratitude of the society for his inspiring leadership and faithful ministrations since his coming to Cincinnati. In response, our Pastor spoke of the greatest work a man can do to further the uses of the New Church, namely, to go to the Word, read with affection, and meditate upon it; the daily reading by the individual forming a basis for the influx of the heavens, and strengthening the earthly organization of the Lord's Church.

     On Sunday, June 21st, the administration of the Holy Supper was preceded by a particularly appropriate sermon by the Pastor on the subject of the Second Advent.
     D. M.

     BRYN ATHYN.-A rapid succession of events filled the week of June 13-20, including the many activities attendant upon the end of the school year, society gatherings in the form of special services of worship, three weddings, and a banquet in celebration of the 19th of June. Immediately after the banquet, about forty-one residents left by train or automobile for Pittsburgh to attend the meetings of the Sons of the Academy.

     The largest attendance in recent years heard the annual reports of the various departments of the Academy at the Joint Meeting of the Corporation and Faculty on June 13th. These reports will be published in an early issue of the Journal of Education. In the afternoon, there was a discussion of the question of continuing the one-session day in the schools, or returning to the former morning and afternoon sessions; and there were advocates of both plans.

     The same evening the Alumni Association met in the auditorium. After a business session, during which the officers were reelected and new members received, the alumni present sat down to a supper. The Rev. K. R. Alden presided, and a paper was read by the Rev. E. E. Iungerich on "The Word, the Church and Worship," which was discussed by several speakers. Mr. Fred A. Finkeldey then addressed the meeting on the comparative merits of swimming and other forms of athletic exercise, closing with a description of various kinds of swimming pools and their cost. The members debated these questions until a late hour.

     The central feature of the service on Sunday June 14th was the ordination of Candidates Alan Gill and Elmo Carman Acton, the Bishop officiating. The Rev. Alfred Acton preached an eloquent sermon on the subject of "The Holy Spirit." On Sunday evening, Theta Alpha held its annual meeting, and was addressed by the Bishop Emeritus on the cultivating of the religious life with children. The same organization gathered for a delightful banquet on Tuesday evening.

     At the dosing exercises of the Bryn Athyn Elementary School, held on the morning of June 16th, seven Eighth Grade pupils received their certificates. The Rev. Enoch S. Price spoke to the children on the rewards of obedience to law and the punishments of disobedience, explaining the words of Isaiah, "If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land."

     On the following morning a large audience of parents and visitors gathered in the auditorium for the Academy Commencement, the higher schools entering in long procession singing, followed by members of the Board and Faculty, who took places upon the stage. The Bishop Emeritus opened the exercises with prayer, and Dean Doering read the Lessons. The Commencement Address was delivered by Mr. Edward C. Bostock, who chose as his title the motto of his class of 1909, "Be Faithful!"

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The President then presented the awards as follows: Diplomas to 6 graduates of the Girls Seminary and 13 graduates of the Boys Academy; Junior College Certificates to four students; and the Degree of Bachelor of Theology to Candidate Elmo C. Acton. He also announced that the Theta Alpha full scholarships for 1925-6 had been awarded to Miss Muriel Gill and Miss Lynda Hamm, the Deka Medal to Mary Scalbom, the Phi Alpha Upsilon Medal to David Powell, and that Dallam Smith had been chosen as the Sigma Delta Pi Honor Student. A number of other prizes were also bestowed.

     The enrollment in the Academy Schools for the year 1924-5 was as follows:

Theological School           5
College                     26
Girls' Seminary                37
Boys' Academy                28
Elementary School           119
Total                     215

     Our observance of New Church Day began with a children's service in the cathedral on the morning of June 19th. The address was by the Rev. George de Charms, whom the children were delighted to hear once more after an absence of six months during which the weekly children's service had been suspended.

     For the banquet in the evening, the auditorium was beautifully festooned with red and white streamers, and Mr. Raymond Pitcairn as toastmaster provided a very fine program. It is seldom that the spirit and sphere of the early days has been stirred as by the speeches and songs on this occasion. Bishop Emeritus W. F. Pendleton spoke on "The Perception of the Presence of the Lord in the Writings," Mr. Randolph W. Childs on "The Distinctive Social Life of the New Church," the Rev. Alfred Acton on "The Distinctive Quality of the New Church," and Bishop N. D. Pendleton on "Marriage as the Very Center of the Church." The remarks were strongly reminiscent of the early Academy, and with Mr. Walter Childs leading the songs as of old the reviving of affectionate memories was complete.

     During the busy week briefly described above, the cathedral was the scene of three pretty weddings,-Mr. Otto Rofod and Miss Irene Gregson on the 13th, Rev. Alan Gill and Miss Dorothy Waters on the 15th, and Rev. Elmo Acton and Miss Ione Odhner on the 18th. When, on June 27th, Miss Jean Pendleton, daughter of Bishop and Mrs. N. D. Pendleton, was united in marriage to Mr. Samuel Croft, II, the number of our June weddings was increased to four.

     Bryn Athyn has now settled down to her wonted summer quiet, with many out of town for the vacation season. It was a pleasure to welcome more than the usual number of visitors who came for Commencement,-parents of the graduates, ex-students who "simply can't stay away" from the Alma Mater, and members and friends of the General Church from far and near. From abroad came Mrs. Gerrit Barger, of The Hague, Mrs. Wm. Gill, Mrs. W. Rey Gill, and Miss Phyllis Cooper, of Colchester, England, and Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Ridgway, of Durban, Natal.

     ST. LOUIS, MO.-A copy of the St. Louis Daily Globe-Democrat of June 15th has been sent to us, and contains an account of a sermon by the Rev. Allen T. Cook, Convention minister at the Church of the Glorification, St, Louis and Rauschenbach Avenues. The heading reads: "Lord's Second Coming an Accomplished Fact, Says Rev. A. T. Cook. Consists in a New Body of Revealed Truths to the World, He Asserts."

     We cite the following from the sermon, as quoted: "The Christian Church has waited so long in vain for the Second Coming of the Lord that the subject has long been a matter of indifference to the average man. The Bible, in the hands of modern scholars, has been discredited as an authoritative Book, and so very few take the Lord's Second Coming very seriously. But the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is an accomplished fact.

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The return of the Lord consists in a new body of truths to the world in the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. . . .What men need is instruction,-authoritative yet reasonable' instruction in spiritual matters. This new revelation given to the world is distinctly about spiritual matters, and is founded upon the Bible. . . . Is it reasonable to suppose that the Lord, who promised to come again, would leave men forever in their spiritual quandaries? All these things are provided by the Lord in the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. These Writings are the Doctrines, the new theology, for the New Christianity,-the New Jerusalem which John saw descending from God out of heaven."

     GENERAL CONVENTION.

     The New-Church Messenger for June 17th was entitled "Cincinnati Number," and a cordial invitation was extended to the people of that city to attend the meetings of the General Convention which began with the Council of Ministers on June 17th. The contents of the number were largely of a missionary character, and we understand that the issue was sold at the street corners and railroad stations of Cincinnati. From clippings of local newspapers sent us we learn that this bid for publicity was rewarded with front-page attention in the Times-Star, which featured a photograph of six of the Convention ministers under the heading: "Speaker Stirs Swedenborgian Ministers when he Gives Approval of Birth Control." And we are told that an address on this subject caused a sensation among the fifty ministers composing the Council, and that "the conservative ministers denounced it bitterly, assailing it as faithless to the teachings of the Church," while a "body of liberal members hailed the paper as marking a great forward step in the recognition by the Church of progressive sociology." A few days later, according to another newspaper, Roman Catholic Society, at its quarterly meeting, "reaffirmed its opposition to the propagation of what the organization believes is an unchristian practice, as favorably considered at the Convention of the Swedenborgian Church."

     On other days during the Convention we find such newspaper headings as these: "Psychoanalysis Cited as Aid to Study of Bible," "Swedenborgians Boast of Fewer Divorces than any Protestant Denominations," and "See Victory for Modernists in Convention Act." This last refers to the action of the Convention in accepting the report of the Rev. E. M. L. Gould as Editor of the Messenger. "For the first time in several years," we are told, "this report was accepted without opposition. Mr. Could is the leader of the Modernist group in the Church, and has been bitterly opposed by the Fundamentalists. By accepting his report, the Convention tacitly approved the policy of the Messenger during the past year, which has been Modernist in the extreme, it was stated. The Modernists hailed this action as forecasting an important development in the management of New Church affairs. They declared that this will mean that the New Church will be recognized all over the country as the leader of progressive religious thought, and will thus attract many a liberal thinker who cannot find a place in other churches. The Rev. Gould, as Editor, has been leader of a movement to interpret the teachings of Swedenborg psychologically instead of accepting them literally and without question. He had also suggested the study of the Bible on the same basis, taking into account the personalities of the writers in determining the purpose and significance of what they produced."

     We set this down for the information of our readers. The fact is, however, that the report of the Editor of the Messenger was not accepted without being "bitterly opposed by the Fundamentalists" or that more distinctive group which, at every Convention in recent years, has consistently stood out against the so-called "Modernist" trend, but without avail against the majority who favor it.

     In connection with this rather sensational and unsavory publicity, the opportunity was seized upon to print also some good statements of New Church views.

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A Creed was printed by one newspaper, and it closed with the words: "The Second Coming of the Lord has already taken place. It is not a coming in Person, but is a revelation of Him in the internal sense of His Word, and is the beginning of a new Christian Church of Divine promise, and a new era of enlightenment and progress among men.

     A further account of the General Convention meetings is deferred until the official report of the proceedings is before us.

     STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN.-As no news has been sent from our Society for a considerable length of time, let me go back to the beginning of the year, and tell how we celebrated Swedenborg's Birthday. A subscription banquet was given at the home of Mrs. Anna Mathiesen. Two tables, each shaped like the letter T, were placed in the dining room and the adjoining hallway, and with their short sides facing each other they made, as it were, one long unbroken table, running through the broad doorway, and seating fifty persons. A profusion of many-colored magnificent tulips and enormous white hyacinths, most beautifully arranged in bowls and vases, produced a very festive effect, not to mention the exquisite china and artistic glasses which adorned the tables.

     Mr. and Mrs. Baeckstrom sat at the head of the larger of the two tables, and the other guests were seated according to place-cards. Mr. Baeckstrom acted as toastmaster, and spoke first of the importance of Swedenborg's personality, as contrasted with the importance of the mission he fulfilled. He then introduced the various speakers, skillfully finding a way of combining a great variety of subjects. Dr. Joseph Boyesen spoke of the period between the Lord's First and Second Advents; Miss Nordenskiold emphasized the importance of a separate New Church education; Mr. Sigstedt expressed his view of the influence New Church ideas might have upon art; Mr. Liden appealed strongly to all of us not to forget our obligations toward the Church as an organization; and the writer of these lines gave a short talk on Bryn Athyn as the center of the General Church. Mrs. Sigstedt was with us on this occasion for the last time, and recited one of the Memorable Relations from the work on Conjugial Love in a kind of paraphrased rhythmic prose. No speaker was allowed more than ten minutes, and is this way the attentive interest of the hearers was maintained throughout. Several of the speeches were heartily applauded. The banquet was over at midnight, when the guests departed, taking leave of Mrs. Mathiesen and voicing their thanks for her splendid arrangements, which had made this gathering such a great success.     

     One of the outstanding events of the year in the Stockholm theatrical world has been the performance of "Outward Bound," by the English writer, Sutton Vane,-a play entirely based upon a New Church outlook upon life and death. Mr. Baeckrstrom found it useful to give two different lectures upon the leading ideas of this play. He wanted to explain the real meaning of the action, and thus briefly set forth the New Church doctrine concerning the state of man immediately after death. These lectures met with a success so great, and aroused an interest so genuine, that he found it necessary to repeat them thirty times in all. He regards these lectures as a kind of missionary work, and will continue them during the summer at various places in southern and western Sweden where "Outward Bound" has already been given, and where an interest has been awakened in its uncommon ideas.

     Mr. and Mrs. Liden, two of the most popular members of our Society, and the parents of we young children, were the victims of a grave automobile accident at Easter time. They were motoring from Upsala to Stockholm in the company of some friends, when another machine, traveling at great speed, struck them from behind, throwing them all into the ditch and burying Mr. and Mrs. Liden under the automobile in which they were riding.

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They were extricated in a state of unconsciousness, while their friends escaped all injury. At the Academy Hospital, to which Mr. and Mrs. Liden were hurried, it was found that both had sustained serious injuries, Mr. Liden especially being in a critical condition from broken bones. But they have both now recovered from the effects of the accident, and, after an absence of two months, have been restored to their children at home. Mr. Liden has taken action against the owner of the automobile which caused the accident, and we all hope he will be awarded the large damages which we believe he is fully entitled to.

     We have recently lost one of our most valuable members in the passing of Mrs. Nancy Liden Sigstedt, who was one of the founders of our Society. After much physical suffering, she left this world on the thirteenth of June. She contemplated death in a most joyful manner, regretting only the parting from her deeply mourning husband. To us, her going is a great loss. She not only believed in the Writings, but lived in them and through them with earnest ardor; and the daily reading of the Writings had become a dear necessity to her. Thus she was an example to us all. The funeral ceremony was conducted with great solemnity in the chapel of the hospital wherein she was a patient until her death. Interment was in the Bromma churchyard, which surrounds a small country church that dates from the twelfth century, a quiet, picturesque spot situated a few miles outside of Stockholm, not far from Appelviken, where Mr. Sigstedt resides.

     On the nineteenth of June we met at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Einar Boyesen, twenty-two persons being present. Mr. Baeckstrom spoke on the meaning of the Day, and then Mr. Liden, whom we were very glad to find quite well again, conveyed the thanks of the Society to Mr. Baeckstrom for his excellent and successful work during the past year, as well as for the personal interest he takes in the members of the Society, an interest which never manifests itself so strongly as when anyone has heavy troubles. Mr. Liden could speak from experience.

     Our Sunday services have now been discontinued for the summer, and will be resumed in September.
     SENTA CENTERVALL.

     GLENVIEW.-Graduation, this June, aroused those warm feelings of satisfaction and hope which come of fulfilment. Who will forget the exhilaration of first referring to himself as a High School Freshman? The ceremony, conducted by the Pastor, was impressive without being austere. In addressing the school, he spoke of the purposes of New Church education, the success of which may be measured by the children's love for spiritual things. Essays were read by six of the ten graduates, and the school sang a number of songs. After the formal program, there was an exhibition of work in the school rooms, to which the serving of ice cream and cakes added sociability. Later the graduating class presented the school with peony plants for the garden.

     The children celebrated New Church Day on the eighteenth of June. Their banquet was preceded by a service in the church, an arrangement which was also used on the nineteenth, when the Society honored the day. At this latter service the keynote of the Pastor's message was a call to every individual to realize his very great responsibility as a member of the only Church which is binding heaven to this earth.

     Mr. Sydney Lee, as toastmaster of the banquet, succeeded in giving to the program much of the old time spirit. Toasts were sung with orchestral accompaniment, the responses being made by the Rev. George Starkey to "The Church," the Rev. G. H. Smith to "The Nineteenth," Miss Burnham to "The Academy," the Rev. W. L. Gladish to "The Priesthood," and Mr. Fiske to "The Laity."

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Members of Sharon Church and many semi-isolated friends were out for the day, increasing our numbers to almost 150, in spite of absentees at the Pittsburgh meetings.

     The Glen-Chi dance was the month's big event for the young set. It also attracted a friendly circle of dignitaries to watch, and the usual group of young hopefuls to peep in the windows. During the evening, an engagement "got out" unannounced, and the festivities ended with the singing of "Happy" for Edwin Burnham and Laura Mathias.

     Our celebration of the Glorious Fourth began with a flag raising and an excellent patriotic speech by Captain Bert Henderson. Handsome bronze medals were awarded at the races which followed a short parade. The first child victors were borne in triumph to the prize table by some of the young men. As the races progressed, the winners became bigger and heavier, but all insisted on being carried across the field for their prizes. The bearers were considerably embarrassed by this precedent when it came to the adult races, but they somehow managed to keep it up. A barbecue picnic was served at noon, in the grove where the Assembly Banquet was held in 1923, and the afternoon was devoted to baseball.
     G. N.

     EVOLUTION.

     The New York World for July 6th contains the following communication from Louis Pendleton:

     Darwin Quoted.

     To the Editor of The World:

     No attentive reader of The Descent of Man can fail to be surprised at the current assertions that Darwin did not teach the doctrine of the ancestral ape. Many passages in that work reveal his belief that the ape was man's immediate or nearest ancestor in the long line, although descent is traced through the ape from still lower forms.

     In No. 273 of The Descent of Man he says: "The early progenitors of man must have been once covered with hair, both sexes having beards; their ears were probably pointed and capable of movement; and their bodies were provided with a tail, having the proper muscles." In No. 1014 he more explicitly states: "By considering the embryo logical structure of man-the homologies which he presents with the fewer animals-the rudiments which he retains-and the reversions to which he is liable, we can partly recall in imagination the former condition of our early progenitors; and can approximately place them in their proper place in the zoological series. We thus learn that man is descended from a hairy, tailed quadruped, probably arboreal in its habits."

     After tracing the evolution from the lowest forms up to these "hairy, tailed quadrupeds," or Simiadae (apes), in No. 277 he still more definitely declares: "The Simiadae then branched off into two great stems, the New World and Old World monkeys, and from the latter, at a remote period, man, the wonder and glory of the universe, proceeded." In No. 1024 Darwin says he is aware that his conclusions "will be denounced by some as highly irreligious." In his defense he points out that all must admit descent from barbarians, and for is part (No. 1038) he "would as soon be descended" from a "heroic little monkey" he tells of, or a certain "Old baboon" which he describes, as "from the savage who delights to torture his enemies."
     LOUIS PENDLETON.
Bryn Athyn, Pa., July 1, 1925.

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SEPTEMBER NEW CHURCH LIFE 1925

SEPTEMBER NEW CHURCH LIFE       Editor       1925




     Announcements.




     Subscribers are hereby notified that the September number of NEW CHURCH LIFE will be issued on October 1st, and mailed with the October number.

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CORRECTION OF A MISPRINT IN THE BISHOP'S ADDRESS 1925

CORRECTION OF A MISPRINT IN THE BISHOP'S ADDRESS       Editor       1925

     By an error in proof-reading, a misprint occurred in Bishop N. D. Pendleton's Address on "Humanizing the Divine," published in our July issue. The sentence at the bottom of page 389 should read: "To me this latter is believable" instead of "To me this latter is unbelievable." We very much regret that the Bishop was thus made to say the exact opposite of what he intended, and at a vital point in the argument of the Address. The entire paragraph, with the correction made, reads as follows:

     It is not my purpose in this paper to inquire as to whether this individual Human of God, this personal Divine Man, requires some special physical basis in nature, some peculiar ultimate foothold, as in the reliquiae of the former material body, in order to bind and hold the proprial Human in form and permanent standing, that is, to hold it back from relapsing into the invisible Infinite; or whether, on the other hand, the derivation and production from the infinite Divine into the mold of the human organic was of such virtue, and carried with it such self-potency and permanency of form, as to enable it to maintain itself in the lines and flow, the function and service, of the Human form Divine, and this by virtue of its own inherent composition, whereby it presents an outstanding Divine Human, not other than the Infinite, yet as a new issue thereof, derivative from the Infinite, and composed to finite human needs. To me this latter is believable. But in any case we must acknowledge the Divine Human as a permanent accommodation, an abiding conditionment of the Infinite to finite human reception. This is fundamental.

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TOPICS FROM THE WRITINGS 1925

TOPICS FROM THE WRITINGS        W. F. PENDLETON       1925


[Frontispiece: Photographs of the interior and exterior of the Church of the Society at Colchester, England, Dedicated August 17, 1924.]

NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. XLV SEPTEMBER, 1925          NO. 9
     XXIX.

A Special Providence.

     What is called a "special Providence" is a special Divine interposition for the benefit of an individual or group, in which others are not included. This special intervention of Providence will often come, it is supposed, in answer to prayer. The fallacy of this belief will appear, where it is known that what the Lord gives to one He gives to all. But all do not receive alike. The difference is not in the Lord, but in the man who receives. The Lord cannot possibly refuse to one what he gives to another, even as a wise parent is the same to all his children. Prayer is good when it opens the way to the action which prepares the mind to receive what the Lord is giving to all who can receive.

     The Divine Wisdom is omnipresent,-everywhere and with everyone. And influx is according to form. It is man that refuses to receive. That the Lord is present with every man, and wills to be received, and that man may receive or reject, is shown in the words: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." (Rev. 3:20.) The Lord is present with all, urging to be received; but man is free to receive and free to reject. He may open the door, and he may not. This Divine gift of freedom is ever preserved, even with the most depraved.

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If a man thinks that what is granted to him is for himself alone, and not for all, the way is opened for a conceit of his own good, since he believes that he is a special object of Divine favor.

     It indeed appears as if there were a special Providence, both in the Word and in human experience. But this appearance is in itself a fallacy, and if confirmed becomes a falsity. But it is better to believe in a special Providence than not to believe at all.

Do the Writings Teach a Special Providence?

     The following passages present the appearance, and also the real truth:

     We read of "a peculiar (or special) Divine Providence of the Lord." (A. C. 6025.) The Israelites are spoken of as "a peculium* above all people, signifying that in such case the Divine Truth will be with them more than with others." (A. C. 8768.) "The Lord's mercy is universal, that is, towards all, and is also special towards those who abstain from evils." (A. C. 8307.) Because of abstaining from evils, they are receptive more than others.
     * Translated "peculiar treasure" in the Common Version. (Exodus 19:5.)

     The genuine truth is given in many passages, as follows:

     "There is not a special mercy for one more than for another." (H. H. 364.)

     "The Lord in no wise acts upon any one particular without acting simultaneously upon all." (D. P. 124, 125.)

     "The influx of life from the Lord is varied according to the forms receiving. . . . But it is to be known that life itself is not changed and varied." (A. E. 349:3.)

     "The Divine is not different in different subjects, but one created subject is different from another." (D. L. W. 54.)

     "Many think that the Divine of the Lord is divided, . . . because when the influx descends, it falls into forms not correspondent; but the form itself varies it." (T. C. R. 8.)

     In several passages it is stated that "the Lord appears to everyone according to his quality, because according to reception." (A. C. 6832:2, 8819 and elsewhere.) And the subject is illustrated by examples from nature in many places. (See A. C. 3001, D. P. 160, D. L. W. 348, T. C. R. 584. See also Matthew 5:45.)

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From all of which it may be seen that to favor a single individual by a special Divine interposition in his behalf is contrary to Divine order, but that still it is permitted so to appear for the sake of the simple or uninstructed mind, and for children.

Further Concerning a Special Providence.

     It was shown above that by "standing at the door" (Rev. 3: 20) is meant the omnipresence of the Lord; and that since He is present with every man, asking for admission, there is no such thing as a special Providence for one man more than for another; and that the appearance of a special Providence arises from the fact that one man "opens the door" (by repentance) and another does not, making it possible for the Lord to enter in and bless the one and not the other.

     A change of scene reveals to us the devil standing at the door, knocking for admittance; and the freedom of man, Divinely given, is shown in the fact that he may admit the Lord or he may admit the devil; and it can be seen from this, that the devil or hell also has a kind of omnipresence, like that of heaven. Heaven and also hell are, as it were, omnipresent; that is, within the bounds of the created universe. Beyond is the Infinite.

     Now there is no law of heaven that is not turned into its opposite in hell; and it is not a passive opposition. Hence the ever-present danger to mankind. But, through the omnipresent mercy of the Lord, man is placed in the midst, between the two opposing forces, and it is given him, as it were, to hold the balance of power, and to turn the scale, admitting the one or the other, thus of deciding his final lot. And so we reach the conclusion that there is no special Providence, except in the outward appearance. The Lord interposes with His Divine Power when the individual himself opens the way, according to the laws of order granted him to exercise.

     Every man will finally open his door to that which comes from above, or to that which comes from below; and as his lot is thus decided, so it remains.

Names and Their Significance.

     A name is that by which anyone is known, and by which one is distinguished from another. (A. C. 2009:9.) Inanimate objects also have names, as mountains, lakes, rivers, etc.; and many of them have received names from certain notable characteristics. In ancient times, this rule was followed in giving names to persons. (A. C. 1946.)

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"And thou shalt call his name Ishmael, because the Lord hath heard thine affliction." (See also the naming of Jacob's sons in Genesis, chapters 29 and 30.)

     The names of this world do not pass into heaven (A. C. 10216, T. C. R. 300), but a new name is given to every one according to the quality of his life. And the Lord Himself speaks of His "new name" (Rev. 3:12), by which is signified that "those who will be in the New Jerusalem will acknowledge the Divine Human of the Lord,. . . which was not before acknowledged in the church." (A. E. 224.) And as the angels acknowledge and worship the Divine Human of the Lord, it is said that the name of the Lord in heaven is not the same as on the earth with men. (A. E. 1022.) It is also said that every angel has a name, but not the name he had in the world. (A. E. 676, A. C. 10216, T. C. R. 300.) It is indeed stated that "no angel in heaven has any name" (A. C. 1705); but the context shows a full agreement with the teaching elsewhere, which is, that "there are no names in the spiritual world as in the natural world; for in the spiritual world all are named according to the quality of their life." (A. E. 676, 735:3, 892, A. R. 8.) Thus every angel, on entering heaven, receives a new name; and no name in the world, or in the literal sense of the Word, whether of the Lord or of man, passes over into heaven. (A. C. 10216.) The name of the Lord in heaven is His Divine Human, signifying that in His Human He is God Himself; for it is the Divine Human by which God is known, and there is no other name in heaven or under heaven by which man can be saved. (Acts 4:12.)

The Book of Job.

     The book of Job, like other ancient books, was written "by pure correspondences;" but the spiritual sense in that book "does not treat of the holy things of heaven and the church, like the spiritual sense in the prophets; therefore, that book is not amongst the books of the Word." (A. E. 543:16.) In the story of the Trojan Horse (A. C. 2762) a natural or historical event is described in the language of correspondences, for by that time they had lost a knowledge of the spiritual sense, "like that in the prophets." Writing by correspondences, however, still existed, but they described in that language the doings of men and the phenomena of nature, etc.

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Further information on this subject is given in the Arcana Celestia (1756, 9942) where we are informed that the ancient profane writers continued to write in the ancient style, though they no longer described the things of heaven and the church in that manner, but instead thereof things historical, civil, and moral. And it is added that the Book of Job and Solomon's Song were written in this way; therefore, neither are they books of the Word. (See also A. C. 3901, 3540:4, S. S. 20, 21, A. E. 740:14.)

     All the planes of truth exist in the Word. Besides the celestial and spiritual senses, which treat of the Lord, of heaven, and of the church, there is an internal natural sense or internal historical sense, treating of "things historical, civil, and moral," even down to the things of nature. There is no truth that is not originally in the Word. But in ancient times a knowledge of its spiritual truths was gradually lost; the science of correspondences remained, but men did not receive by it a knowledge of things spiritual. Remains of this science continued to later times in the traditions of mythology, in the hieroglyphics of Egypt, in fables, and in the form of poetry (S. S. 20); but it finally disappeared, making it necessary for the Lord to restore it to men by a new revelation.

Spiritism.

     When the movement called "spiritualism" began, it was proposed in the New Church to call it "spiritism,"* since there was in it nothing spiritual, but merely the gross materialism of the other world. The spirits who speak through the mediums make plain that they know nothing of the Lord, nothing of the spiritual truths of the Word, nor anything of a truly spiritual heaven. The truth is, the Lord alone speaks with man-to every man. (A. C. 904.) The angels do not desire it, knowing that it is contrary to order. It is not permitted to evil spirits. If it occurs, it is because man invites it, and opens the way, violating the order and commandment of God (Isaiah 8:19, 20); just as other evils are forbidden, and yet are permitted for reasons of Divine Wisdom, looking to the freedom of man and thus to his salvation. (D. P. 134, 275.)
     * The suggestion is said to have been made by Mr. Sampson Reed, of Boston.

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     The New Church was disturbed for a time by the claim of certain ones to complete the work of Swedenborg by revealing the celestial sense of the Word, since, as was asserted, Swedenborg revealed only the spiritual sense. They were ignorant, or unwilling to believe, that the revelations of Swedenborg were made by the Lord Himself, and that the celestial sense appears in the Writings everywhere, shining on every page. For the celestial sense treats of the Lord alone, and of His Divine work for the salvation of men. (A. C. 8943, 9389, S. S. 80, A. E. 435:4.)

     A germ of spiritism does exist, however, with some in the belief that open communication will be restored to the New Church, as it existed with the most ancient people. But the danger threatening in such a view will be removed when it is realized that open communication is not to return, because it will not be needed. In those most ancient times, there was no written Word. But now all communication with heaven is to be by the Word. This is now the true way, and the only way, that heaven is opened to the mind of man. Any other way is contrary to order, and is attended with danger to spiritual life. "To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them." (Isaiah 8:20.)

The Danger of Intercourse with Spirits.

     The danger of modern spiritism was foreseen (Isaiah 8:20, and in the Writings throughout), and provision made that the church should be protected from the threatened loss of spiritual life, as shown in the numbers which follow.

     "If spirits were allowed to use the exterior memory [of man], the human race would perish. . . .Man would not then be able to think from his own memory, but only from that of the spirit." (A. C. 2477, 2478.) He would no longer be free, but a slave.

     "No one is reformed by visions and by discourse with the dead, because they compel." (D. P. 134) In this number the words of Abraham to the rich man in hell are quoted, in which it is plainly shown that communication with heaven is by the Word only, and not by speech with spirits (see Luke 16:27-31), the Word being the sole medium of communication and of salvation.

     In D. P. 321, the teaching is that, if man were instructed by spirits what to believe and do, human rationality and liberty would perish.

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     "It is believed by many that man can be taught by the Lord by means of spirits speaking with him. But those who believe this, and desire it, do not know that it is associated with danger to their souls." (A. E. 1182.) It is then stated that neither men nor spirits know that they are with each other, and the indication is given that in this is the safety of man. (See also A. E. 1183, S. D. 1622, 1902.)

     Swedenborg was not a spiritistic medium. Spirits did not speak through him, nor any angel, but the Lord alone.

     "No angel wished, nor spirit dared, to speak anything to me, still less to instruct me, concerning anything in the Word or any doctrine from the Word; but the Lord alone has taught me." (D. P. 135.)

     "I testify in truth . . . that from the first day of that call I have not received anything which pertains to the doctrines of that Church from any angel, but from the Lord alone while I read the Word." (T. C. R. 779.) He was the medium of the Second Coming of the Lord, and of that only. But the only is the all.
SOUL'S RECIPROCATION 1925

SOUL'S RECIPROCATION       Rev. RICHARD MORSE       1925

     "Bless Jehovah, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless Jehovah, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits." (Psalm 109:1, 2.)

     In its spiritual meaning, the Psalm of which these words are the commencement is a song of praise or celebration of the Lord for redemption and reformation or re-creation, because the heavens and the earth are His, as stated in the 19th verse: "Jehovah hath established His throne in the heavens; and His kingdom ruleth over all."

     And all "His angels," "His hosts," and "His works" are invited to bless Jehovah:

     "Bless Jehovah, ye His angels, that excell in strength, that do His commandments, hearkening to the voice of His Word!
     Bless ye Jehovah, all His hosts; ye ministers of His, who do His pleasure!
     Bless Jehovah, all His works, in all places of His dominion; bless Jehovah, O my soul!"

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     The Lord redeemed everyone from the hells for all time,-from the hells by which, during the ages, mankind had become completely enslaved. And for such a work everyone owes the Lord eternal gratitude and eternal service. Prompted by infinite Love, guided by infinite Wisdom, God by His incarnation took on man's enslaved nature and cleared it completely of evil, and consequently of the hells with which the evil was associated. And thus He set man-every man and woman-spiritually free,-free to return to God, the Father in heaven, and to the home for which he and she were born. For everyone is born to become a prince or princess in the eternal home of the Prince of Peace, by means of the redemption which was effected by the Divine incarnation. No one is now able to say, as might have been said before the incarnation: "I cannot keep the Commandments, and thereby be reformed." The choice of a princely and eternal home in heaven is now possible for every one born, because the Lord Himself, when on earth and clothed in man's degraded nature, kept the Commandments, and, by so doing, illustrated the only way of man's return to the image and likeness of Himself, his Creator.

     That the Lord, the infinite Father, and not any second Person, redeemed man from the slavery of the hells, is made clear in the first and fourth verses of the Psalm. In the first verse, the "soul, and all that is within me" is called upon to "bless Jehovah," which name is the most sacred of all by which the Creator and perpetual Sustainer of the universe is known. And in the fourth verse Jehovah is said to be He "Who redeemeth thy life from the pit," that is, or from the bells, and "Who crowneth thee with mercy and tender compassions," or, as rendered in the common version, with "loving kindness and tender mercies." And this is one of many instances in which the letter of the Word shows that Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, is the one only God, the Creator of all things.

     But the spiritual degradation into which the human race had gradually fallen has so distorted man's understanding that the negative principle, rather than the affirmative, rules. Yet nothing is more eminently rational than to believe that there is one God, who is Creator, Redeemer and Savior. But in this day passages in the letter of the Word which appear to show a separateness between the Creator and Jesus Christ are eagerly seized upon, while the many which prove the identity of Jesus Christ with the Creator are not regarded.

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And the reason for this spiritual distortion is not far to seek. In man's utter spiritual degradation, which is a state of non-regeneration, the loves of self and the world are most active, which is the same as saying that the hells have control of man's will and understanding, or of his love and consequent thoughts. And the devils and satans delight in nothing more than to destroy the idea of the unity of God in the minds of those on earth with whom they are in association.

     Moreover, the false idea of a God who is angry with the human race; and who would destroy it on account of its wickedness, and in a second God who is willing to die for the vilest rogue, to take on his merited punishment, and so permit him to attain eternal life by a mere belief without the works of repentance,-such a belief provides a false theological system which is in agreement with man's degraded spiritual condition. Evil is spiritual insanity, which is the reason why the love of self will not see the irrationality of such a system. So long as man remains in the native loves into which all are born, he is in a state of spiritual insanity, in which good appears as evil, and evil as good; in which truth appears as false, and the false as truth. He is then lower than the brutes, because he is on their plane only, while yet he is endowed with the capability of reasoning which the lower animals have not.

     Until anyone commences to regenerate, by means of the doing of spiritual truths, the two higher of the three degrees of the mind are closed, and the man-or the woman-is said to be external only. For, unlike the lower animals, the mind of man, which is the man himself, is both internal and external, both spiritual and natural. Man is so created as to be in both the spiritual and the natural worlds at the same time, or in heaven with the angels and at the same time with men on earth. But the Lord's redemption is clear evidence that man failed to fulfill the loving purpose of his Heavenly Father. He became like those to whom the Lord, during His work of redemption, said: "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not." (John 8:44-5)

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Consequently, the evil, or those who will not take advantage of the Lord's redemption, and become born again by means of spiritual truths, have no internal, but are merely external. They see nothing from the light of heaven, but only from the light of the world or nature. The things of heaven are in darkness with them, whilst those of the world are in light.

     It is not cause for surprise, therefore, that, at the end of a Church, such as is the case at the present time, all the wonderful things resulting from the operation, in act, of human intelligence, is ascribed to some mysterious action of nature, and that the human being is decreed to be but a development from the vilest of animal life, instead of a degraded form of his God-like ancestors of prehistoric times. Spiritual insanity reaches its limits when it decrees human intelligence and moral conduct to be the criterion of human perfection, and is blind to the heart's corruption, which may go hand-in-hand with the highest intelligence during man's brief sojourn upon earth.

     From what has been said, it may be seen that the words of the text apply to those only who, by the work of regeneration, have come out of the natural, and have become internal men and women, who, as to their spirits are angels of heaven. Only such can call upon their souls, and all that is within them, to bless Jehovah. For the internal of man "is an angel of heaven, and also, during his sojourn upon earth, is in society with angels, notwithstanding his ignorance of the fact. He is in heaven and its light as to his internal or soul; and, as to his external, he is in the world and its light, which is illuminated by the light of heaven, so that the internal and the external act in unity, as the efficient cause and its effect."

     The soul is the internal of man, and is in its normal activity in the external when man is regenerate, or in the order of heaven. The external is not the material body alone, for that is merely an appendage, and is put off when the short stay in the material world is ended; but the internal and external are what constitute the spirit of man, which lives for ever. Thinking and willing are from the internal, and speaking and acting are from the external. After death, everyone is more substantial than before, because of the removal of the material and unsubstantial body.

     When anyone has made some progress in the spiritual life, he realizes-and shall realize more and more to eternity-that the Lord is indeed a Father whose infinite Love finds expression in the operations of infinite Wisdom in all the minute details of the individual life.

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And such a one can fully appreciate these lines of the poet:

"If God had but one single care,
     One only child, and thou wert he,
He could not give a fuller share
     Of love than now He showers on thee;
Living thro' all, to every soul
     Not less the undivided whole.

     If there were no evil in the world, if everyone lived in love to the Lord and the neighbor by daily obedience to the Commandments, there would be such a plenitude of blessing, spiritual and natural, that no one would want for anything. It was so in the Golden Age,-the age of the celestial church. The worshiper of nature would not, could not, believe this; for he believes that the beautiful evolved from the unbeautiful, the strong from the weak, the man from the brute, and everything from nothing in the very remote past. The more remote, the more certain that everything evolved from nothing!

     But the true worshipers of the Lord not only believe, but know it to be true, that they "who trust in the Lord shall not want any good." They know, that "the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them," that "they who seek the Lord shall not want any good." They know that "many are the afflictions (or spiritual temptations) of the righteous; but the Lord delivereth him out of them all." And all who have truly come into the New Church know that in heaven is the eternal home of regenerate people. There, in the Father's House, is wealth beyond words to explain, beauty and magnificence beyond comparison with anything this world contains, happiness and peace beyond the highest conception of those desirable qualities possible in this world.

     All this, when the six days of re-creation have been completed. In this age, in which so much evil is active, and so little spiritual good even with those who are endeavoring to regenerate, it is not possible for anyone who is being transformed from the devilish into the angelic state to escape these "many afflictions" of the righteous. The earth journey is paved with sorrows. Nevertheless, as even the "Man of Sorrows" had states of glorification during His work of redemption, so every regenerating soul shall have periods of rest by the way,-periods of peace and happiness quite apart from the permanent peace deep down in the soul,-in which the heart's fulness will find expression in the words of the text: "Bless Jehovah, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless Jehovah, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits!"

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     Remembering that the regenerating man or woman lives in the internal of the mind, which is heaven, and that this internal is ever pressing to be one with the external, it will be evident that, even in states of affliction in the external, this realization of the Lord's goodness and bounteous mercy can never be wholly lost, though it may be obscured. Man can bless Jehovah, not by mere words, but by bringing the external of his mind into conformity with his internal or heaven. He then comes into inward peace and happiness, which ever adores the Divine and infinite Source of all blessing. It is the soul's reciprocation.

     To bless is to confer a benefit, when the word is used in reference to human beings; but when used in reference to the Lord, it means adoration and worship; and neither adoration nor worship is possible apart from the re-creation or regeneration which the Lord's redemption has made possible. And that redemption includes all blessings, ever more and more to eternity, according as man reciprocates these blessings by permitting the Lord to re-form or re-create or regenerate him into an angel of heaven.

     The word bless is from the Anglo-Saxon word blood, probably from the custom of consecrating by the sprinkling of blood. The blood is the life. When we are blessed with anything that is prized, we feel more alive. Unhappy states are relatively states of lifelessness. And, from the human viewpoint, there is no better way of blessing Jehovah, of making Him happy, so to speak, than by reciprocating His blessings, which are made possible by His redemption. As children of the Lord, we may say that by so doing we should make the Lord happy; for in the ardency of His Love He desires to bring all to Himself. His purpose in creating us is a heaven of blessing and happiness from the human race; and the satisfaction of that desire, and the fulfilment of that purpose, is surely the only way in which we can make our Father in Heaven happy. Happiness or blessedness is the satisfaction of the love.

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And, indeed, in the fulfilling of the Lord's purpose regarding us, there is sensed, ever more and more fully, the desire to give everything, even our very lives, to the Lord, knowing full well that they really belong to Him, since from Him we live every moment; while yet, out of love for our freedom, He has given us to feel that we live from ourselves.

     The giving of our lives to the Lord is to bless Him in acts of internal adoration and worship. When we say our lives, intention and action are meant; for life is life from purpose and its fulfilment. And this is what is meant by the additional words, "And all that is within me, bless His holy name!"

     "All that is Within me" means internal thought or understanding from the will, which is of the soul or internal of the mind. The will's affections find expression in the daily life by means of the thoughts of the understanding; but in this case,-the case of a regenerating person,-it is the affection and thought from the internal or spiritual mind, not from the natural or evil mind, which has no affection and thought regarding spiritual things.

     The members of the New Church are richly privileged in being able to bless the Lord's holy name; for it has been revealed to them that a name is something more interior than the mere word. Name means quality. And the name or quality of the Lord is Divine Love and Wisdom, which are absolutely one in the Divine Human of the Lord Jesus Christ. That Divine Human is the eternal result of the Incarnation and Redemption, and made the existence of the human race possible to-day, and also made it possible for every man and woman to be eternally blessed.

     The last words of the text complete the trine of love, wisdom and use: "Bless Jehovah!, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits!" That one word, "benefits!" So small, yet so infinite in the tangible comforts which are given without stint by the Lord to those who, like the Prodigal, will "arise and go to the Father!"

     Let us all so conduct our lives, during our brief period of probation, that the words of the text shall often flow into our minds, from our very souls, in heart-felt gratitude. Then the words will n6t be of the memory only, but of the life. Then, as the ages pass, we shall grow more and more spiritually childlike, and will love nothing so much as to be led in all things by the Lord our Father. Amen.

     Lessons: Psalm 145. Luke 19:11-24. A. C. 3887, 3890.

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NINETEENTH OF JUNE-A GREAT DELIVERANCE 1925

NINETEENTH OF JUNE-A GREAT DELIVERANCE       J. S. PRYKE       1925

     It is sometimes said that the distinguishing characteristics of a nation are to be seen in its public monuments. There, we are told, are recorded in permanent line the aspirations and achievements of the men and women who made the age. No doubt there is some truth in this assertion, although observation tends to the reflection that human vanity has more than once inscribed upon a public shield a catalogue of desirable virtues rather than a tale of good deeds actually done. Be that as it may, and conceding the use of public memorials, it can probably be said with greater exactness that the spiritual and moral qualities of a people are to be read in its Days of National Observance, and more particularly in the spirit in which their call is heeded. This applies to the New Church also; and as the Nineteenth day of June is perhaps the day of highest significance to that Church, we shall be well-advised once again to seek an answer to the question: "Why do we celebrate it?"

     In the cold light of natural appraisement, the wondrous event which stands most prominently before our minds at this time has no importance whatever. Probably not one person in ten thousand has even heard of it. No place is found for it in the world's histories, and if perchance some literary browser should stumble across the obscure paragraph towards the end of an unknown volume of theological speculations, of what purport would it be? At its face value, it merely claims to relate that the Lord collected His twelve disciples, and sent them throughout the whole spiritual world to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ's reign. "Where is that spiritual world, anyhow, and what about the traitorous one?" we may imagine him asking; "and, as to the overlordship of Jesus, we, of course, have been proclaiming that for nearly two thousand years already. Nothing very startlingly novel here, although there may be something a shade hallucinatory.

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Besides, this event was supposed to have happened no less than 155 years ago, and the intervening century and a half have seen the rise of no more than a mere handful of believers, of whom most are totally unknown by the great world which matters, and many of the others cannot with due regard to veracity be described as ardent."

     All this may be indisputable upon natural grounds. And yet, when the Lord brought His twelve disciples into commission on the Ninteenth of June, 1770, He entered upon what might be called the last general phase of that great plan for human happiness, conceived before the world began, ordered in unerring wisdom, unfolded in unfailing love, and carried out step by step to be the very perfection of completeness.

     The commissioning of the disciples was a pivotal act, occurring between the descent of the New Jerusalem and that series of cataclysmic happenings which had been taking place for some fourteen years in the World of Spirits, and known generically as "The Last Judgment." Some knowledge of this must be precedent to an understanding of the quality and destiny of the Church subsequently established. But in order to arrive at this knowledge, let us make an effort to rise above the parochial, beyond the view of our particular society, or of our church organization, beyond the aspect of Christendom, and of humanity itself, to some conception, faint though it be, of the Divine purpose and providence, as the Lord has revealed it and desires that it should be known.

     II.

     In the revelation which was the precursor of His New Church, He tells us that His Divine love could have no other design in creating the world than to conjoin man to Himself, and Himself to man, and thus to dwell with him; and because there can be no such conjunction with an invisibility, He has ever purposed, according to the measure of potential human receptibility, to manifest Himself under the human form, first by means of angels of quiescent selfhood, and eventually by the assumption and glorification of His own Human. May we never forget,-for the doctrine is vital,-that no real faith or worship can center in an invisible God. A God unseen is a God unknown; and an unknown God is a God denied. This is why all the attacks of evil are aimed at the destruction of man's idea of God, and why, when its destruction was on the verge of accomplishment, the Lord drew near and once more disclosed Himself.

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     In general, four Churches have been on this earth: one before the flood, one after it, the Israelitish Church, and the first Christian; none of which, by virtue of the mental quality of those who composed it, has been in truth. Be it noted, however, that the men of each dispensation had truths adequate to their salvation; and that many of those belonging to earlier ages did, in fact, lead the life of charity is proved, inter alia, by Swedenborg's visits to their heavenly societies.

     When a church declines, it is not because of a deficiency of truth, but because man grows satisfied with something lower than the standard he has originally adopted. We read that the Most Ancient and Ancient Churches both worshipped an invisible God. The Israelitish Church worshipped Jehovah, Who, in Himself, is invisible; but it did so under representatives, and so was a representative church. Its fall came when worship was made to consist in the performance of representative acts, while the living God so represented was forgotten; it then became merely idolatrous. The fourth Church, which was called "Christian" after its Divine Founder, and not from its own intrinsic quality, did indeed offer labial tribute to one God, but at the same time divided Him into three persons, with dire consequences.

     It was upon this fourth, nominally Christian, Church that the Last Judgment in the year 1757 was carried out. For, in the progress of the human race there grew up in relation to the first Christian Church a condition of affairs the like of which can never be seen again. The sojourn of many Christians in the intermediate state after death, where the final sifting takes place, was lengthened, and they were permitted to form semi-permanent societies. They were such as were capable of acquiring a knowledge of truth, and yet did not will to commit it to life. They indeed preserved decorous externals, but solely for the sake of reputation, and in disregard of the Divine; in other words, they lived lives which were moral but not spiritual. They lived under the eye of man, but not under the eye of God. This quality persisted after death, and the numbers grew so large in the World of Spirits that at length imaginary heavens were formed, communicating on the external with the lower heavens and on the internal with the hells themselves. These imaginary heavens were actually of use to the lower heavens, serving them as foundations.

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But since the prevailing lust of their inhabitants,-the unbridled lust of domination, reached up to the face of heaven, threatening to inundate the simple in the lower heavens, and obstructing the flow of good and truth to men in the natural world to such an extent that the universal economy was being perverted, therefore they were judged.

     The judgment was upon what is called the "former heaven," and was effected by the Lord's withdrawing the good in preparation for heaven, and in gathering together the wicked for their final destination. Many terrifying scenes accompanied this process, but as description here we need say no more than that they were the outcome of Divine solicitude for the evil no less than for the good, and that their general effect was the liberation of the latter from the thrall of those who persisted in their inordinate self-love.

     The judgment extended over the whole World of Spirits, although technically it was confined to the "former heaven" of those in whom good and evil were intermingled. It descended upon the Papists, the Reformed, the Mohammedans and the Gentiles, all of whom had contributed to the formation of the counterfeit heavenly societies; and its resultant was a spiritual freedom never before experienced by mankind. In this new condition, it was possible-possible, because now unattended with human harm-for the Lord to make a further and final advent, revealing Himself upon a permanent human plane, as God-Man, Creator, Redeemer and Preserver. That total damnation was only just avoided at this point, is bound up in the teaching that our earth is in the ultimates of creation, and that God never intervenes until a given state is full.

     III.

     The Writings tell us that the Apostolic Church knew that God was one, and that He was a Man, but that it was puzzled to establish the connection between God and man; still less was it able to conceive of God-Man. Yet, had it been willing to rely upon the Scriptures and their light, it would have been found sufficient to its development and salvation. Alas! the old Babylonish spirit reared its head, taking full advantage of the dissensions engendered by the discussions upon the respective natures of the Father and the Son.

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Arius and his adherents first assaulted and then denied the Divinity of the Lord's Human, to combat which the Council of Nicea was convoked, and eventually promulgated the tripersonal heresy. And although this was permitted, in order to hold back the deluge of evil, since, if the Lord's Divine is denied, the Church expires, yet we read that the light of the Word was extinguished, and the Lord removed from His Church, both by the heretics who lived before the Council of Nice and by those who derive their heretical opinions from it. We ought to keep in mind that this was the result, not of any lack of doctrinal guidance upon God's part, but from perverse love,-the diabolical love of ruling over earth and heaven. Had they never read in John that the Jews sought to kill Him, because He made Himself equal with God?

     A church becomes a Babylon when charity and faith cease, and the love of self begins to rule; and this love, if unchecked, rushes on, aiming to dominate all, not resting until it climbs to the very throne of God, and transferring His Divine power to itself. We are distinctly told that the new heresy of a Trinity of Divine Persons was formulated in order that it might be represented that God the Father had transferred His power to God the Son, and that He in turn, had passed it on to His earthly representatives, who thus were given power over the gates of heaven and hell.

     From that time onwards this wicked spirit of universal domination has never ceased to grow or to plot to bring others under its subjection. Indeed the Babylon of the Apocalypse is more pernicious than that which existed before the Lord's Coming, because it profanes the interior goods and truths of the Church which the Lord revealed to the world when He revealed Himself. Its aim is to render God invisible once more, so that it may itself be worshiped in His stead. They who belong to it "remit sins, they sell salvation, they send to heaven, they cast into hell; they adulterate and falsify the Word, they take it away from the people, acknowledging a divinity in the decrees of Rome superior to what is Divine in the Word. They strive with all diligence to extinguish the light of heaven by prohibiting the reading of the Word, and by substituting masses destitute of Divine Truth in a language unintelligible to the common people. Moreover, they teach the vulgar that they may have life in the faith of their priests, and not in their own.

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They place all worship in devout externals, and induce idolatries of various kinds. They multiply saints, they boast of their miracles; and, in short, in every conceivable way, they turn the mind of all from the worship of God to the worship of men." (L. J. 55.)

     Consider for a few moments the utter enormity of all this in relation to God's declared will to manifest Himself. A more devastating indictment it is impossible to frame. To such a frightful pitch had this spirit grown, even on earth, that in order to curb it, and so to restore some balance of freedom, Henry VIII was used as the Scourge of God, and the Reformation took place. Yet was that movement a palliative only. Occasionally it is discussed as though it involved a new Revelation. Nothing of the kind. It is true that the Word was freed, and that those who could do so were permitted to read it. But the question of interpretation remained. The fundamental falsities derived from the Nicene Creed were unchallenged, and the abominable belief that the Passion of the Cross was redemption itself held sway. Babylon was unbroken, and the state went from bad to worse, until the Day of Judgment. With the consequent clearance of the World of Spirits, it was possible for the crowning Revelation of God-Man to be made, and for the disciples to commence their universe-wide mission. A Great Deliverance and a Great Promise,-the tabernacle of God for ever to dwell with men!

     IV.

     And what of the future? Do we really belong to this Crowning Church? Shall we see its human side grow under our hands? Will it in very deed endure to eternity? In one aspect, to ask these questions is to answer them. There can be no vestige of doubt, because God Himself has so declared, that upon its supra-human side this Church is humanity's crowning mercy, and is destined to see no end. That, however, might also be said of the earlier Churches, since not one of the Lord's words can ever fall to the ground. In point of fact, they are still in existence, ministering to those of their respective ages, and will ever continue doing this, although closed to new accessions centuries ago. The cardinal distinction between the New Church and them is this, that whereas they are closed to fresh comers, the New Church will increase without ceasing. For the plane of the human mind to which the Church appeals, once being opened, can never be closed; accordingly, men will ever seek entrance to that City, the gates whereof are never shut night or day.

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Furthermore, the witness of the Writings would seem to be that the Church will endure upon this very globe; that here, in our dear land, the "knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea."

     The thought is suggested, that if it had been consonant with the Divine purpose to remove the Church from this earth, and so to abandon it to destruction, it would have been done at the pre-advent time, when it was, in fact, so very near its doom. But in that case would there not have been some shortening of the Divine arm for salvation, since the ultimates would not have been reached? Conversely, we are explicitly told that the procreations of the human race on this earth will never cease, and for the following reasons:

     (a) The human race is the basis upon which heaven is founded, and is the seminary of heaven.

     (b) The extension of heaven is so immense that it cannot be filled to eternity.

     (c) That they are respectively few of whom heaven is at present formed.

     (d) That the perfection of heaven increases according to plurality.

     (e) That every Divine work has respect to infinity and eternity.

     A five-linked chain of New Church hope!

     Nevertheless, though we must entertain no apprehension as to the ultimate triumph of the Church itself, we may with profit consider what our own lot is to be therein, this being one of the most valuable uses of our New Church Day celebrations.

     V.

      Then what is our personal relation to the Church? We are told that the state of the world hereafter will be similar to what it was hitherto; that the great change which has taken place in the World of Spirits will not induce an immediate and corresponding change in the outward form of the natural world; that the relations between individuals, societies and nations will remain, in general, as they previously existed; but-also, that though the state of the Church will be similar in its outward form, it will be dissimilar in the inward. It is clear, then, that the answer to our question must be spiritually conceived.

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     The vital change which took place at the Last Judgment was the withdrawal of the permission to remain in the intermediate state any longer than is necessary for the interiors to be disclosed. Now spirits must pass to their final abodes; and so the stream of influx to men is left unimpeded. Never again will spiritual freedom be filched from man; Slaves there will be, but they will be slaves who connive at their own servitude, and who will be living witnesses to the law that he who commits sin is the servant of sin.

     But mark well! the gift of this freedom is a double-edged sword. In addition to the general judgment, there is judgment for the individual: 1. For those who, when they leave this world, are permitted to remain in ignorance of truth; and 2. For those who are in the Church, when they depart this life, and also when the Doctrines first reach their consciousness. No man can ever be the same again after that experience. From that time, life grows more expansive. We may either ascend closer to the Lord, or be left more unrestrictedly to our own devices. Let the New Churchman ponder this, in order to take his spiritual bearings. So long as he lives in the natural world, he is the center of influxes from that world, and it behooves him to examine them, and to discriminate between their different qualities. We have seen how widespread the love of domination is. It does not change. Babylon is still busily engaged upon the nefarious work of enticing or intimidating souls away from their allegiance to the Divine. The only safe refuge is in the opened Word of God, understood and lived.

     Fifty years ago, the Reverend Augustus Clissold, in a splendid preface to the work on the Consummation of the Age, pointed out that the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church was unaltered, her claims to spiritual domination unabated. Quoting from the Temporal Mission of the Holy Ghost, a work written by our own English Cardinal Manning, he shows that the Church claims to be identical with Jesus Christ; that it is inerrable, immutable, infallible, irresponsible, impeccable, divine. The Cardinal declares: "The decrees of pontiffs, speaking as the head of the Church, whether by bull, letter, encyclical or brief, undoubtedly emanate from divine assistance, and are infallible." "The sole tribunal on earth which can guide and direct the consciences of men is the Church of God, and this office centers in its head.

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This, then, is the personal sovereignty which is inherent in the pontificate of the Vicar of Jesus Christ." And, again: "The Church of God is the presence of God, and the mind of the Church is the mind of God, and the voice of the Church is the voice of God. Take away the one universal Roman Church, and I ask you, Where is Christianity!" We may ourselves be permitted to ask, "Where is Christianity, Catholic or Reformed, judged by the standard of God made manifest!" We have seen the interior quality of these claims, some of them inconsistent with the others; and they show how utterly the Divinity of the Lord's Human is denied.

     The Great Deliverance, again, was the exposure of these fallacious ratiocinations in the light of heaven, and the restraint of the malignity of those who make them of their lives. This purpose of blurring the image of the Divine is not necessarily achieved by means of external, open tyranny, but the appeal to the proprium is no less deadly, if more subtle. Remember certain societies whose rulers gain their dupes by promising them everything they desire, if only they will accept their rule.

     VI.

     It seems now to be accepted as an historical fact that the Nicene Creed was signed on the nineteenth day of June, and it is no mere interesting coincidence that the New Church was also established upon that very day. It took some fourteen and a half centuries for the train of evil then started to reach its culmination. As the sixteen hundredth anniversary of the event was recently celebrated with great ecclesiastical pomp, we may recall some of the incidents connected with it.

     The Council itself was summoned by an unbaptized layman,-the Emperor Constantine the Great,-and political considerations were not absent. Arius, attempting to solve the riddle of the universe on philosophic lines, identified the Heavenly Father with the Supreme Being, but found in Christ an intermediate through whom the rest of creation was brought into existence. He was begotten before the world, but was not eternal. As a creature, He was distinct from God, but Divine in comparison with other creatures. The danger which this teaching (there is a parallel at this day!) was becoming to the existence of the world is forcibly spoken of in the. Writings, and is witnessed to by the historians who record its popularity.

535


Arius actually put his theories into phrases which were sung to the tune of comic songs! It led to flippant gossip on deep subjects. "Ask about peace, and the tradesman will discuss the generate and the ingenerate. Inquire the price of bread, and he will say, 'Greater is the Father, and the Son is subject.' Say that a bath would suit you, and he will define that the Son is out of nothing."

     The disease had indeed grown desperate, but what was proposed as a remedy was no less drastic. Constantine exhorted to unity, and burnt letters of accusation which had been sent by rival parties. The Arian case was repudiated with practical unanimity. Then Eusebius of Caesarea, who was under suspicion of the heresy, brought forward formal phrases-"Word of God," "God from God," "Life from Life," "Son only-begotten," "first-born of every creature,"-which might have been held to guard the belief of the Church if the Arians had not been caught whispering to each other and winking with their eyes, suggesting evasions of the meaning of the terms used. Eventually, again on the proposition of the Emperor, the momentous decision was taken to insert the words "of the essence of the Father" and " of one essence." On the appointed day the Creed was read, and signed by the bishops in order, save two from Egypt who were exiled with Arius. It is not without interest to note that the Bishop of Rome was himself too old to attend, and so was represented by two priests.

     At the end of a long controversy the Nicene Creed was ratified by the consent of the undivided Church, and, comments a modern writer on the subject, "the objection to the use of the term 'of one essence' can be met by proving that, though not Scriptural, it guards the sense of Scripture. It is so general that it does not commit the Church to any scheme of philosophy."

     The New Churchman knows that Arius really reigns in the Christian Church, and that the Divinity of the Lord is denied there. The True Christian Religion states that, in consequence of separating the Divine Trinity into three Persons, men's minds are reduced into a state of delirium; for they do not know whether there is one God, or whether there are three. They confess to one God with their lips, while they entertain the idea of three in their thoughts, so that their words and ideas are at variance; the consequence being that they deny the existence of any God.

536


And yet, so wonderful are the workings of Providence, in the Athanasian Creed itself there are safeguards for the simple-minded.

     As New Churchman, it is incumbent upon us to cultivate the habit of thinking from the conditions of the other life, and of trying to trace their ultimations here. It would be a glorious thing for the Church if some historian were to arise capable of comparing the state-of the Apostolic Church, at the time the Nicene Creed was formulated, with the state of the Christian Church when it was judged; tracing through the pages of history the story of its declension from relative integrity to open denial of the Lord; seeing also the rise of spiritual domination after the first era of Christian fellowship had passed, until the head of Babylon reached upwards to heaven; its persistent attempts to enslave; the multiplication of priest-inspired laws, the manipulation of the temporal power, the several movements which, under the Divine hand, held these encroachments in check; the liberation made possible by the Reformation, and, alas! the wider dissemination of that same Babylonish spirit amongst the people where formerly it had been restricted to the ranks of the higher clergy.

     A study of this character would throw much light upon the statement that it is comparatively easy for the Catholic laity to be led into heaven after this life-the distinction between the dominated and the dominating-and above all it would assuredly warn of the danger of attempting any fanciful interpretation of Holy Writ.

     VII.

     What conclusions may be drawn from the foregoing? One is, that the purpose of a judgment is always to separate evil from good, the true from the false, in order to set both free. Another is, that God's changeless purpose is to manifest Himself as God-Man, while human perversion ever strives to destroy the image of the Divine' and substitute an idol. This has a personal application to thought and act. The devilish ingenuity of it can be seen from the fact that, when God is not visible, there can be no association with Him. This serves to remind us that we must rise above the letter of Revelation, even the last, if we would enter into spiritual light. We may see doctrine in Revelation, may see it in human form, but if our vision is not elevated to the Lord Himself, to discern Him in the midst of His Word as the Divine Teacher, our worship rests upon a representation.

537




     Have New Churchmen this perception of the intrinsic quality of the body of doctrine which forms the foundations of the Holy City? Or do they place the Writings as being "a little higher than human, but a little lower than Divine," and thus, though perhaps unrealizingly, say "Divine" with their lips while thinking "human" in their hearts? The effect of the divergence in creedal utterance adopted sixteen hundred years ago furnishes the warning.

     Would it not be well to reflect upon what the Lord said to the Jews in an analogous case: "Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father; there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me "Surely, if we believe the Letter of the Word, we see that it testifieth to the Word in the Spirit. And that Word says of itself: "A knowledge of the Lord, and a consequent acknowledgment that in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, is not attainable except from The Word of God, which is the crown of revelations!"

     In view of the importance of seeing God in human form, we might speculate as to why some authentic likeness of Him was not bequeathed to the Church. It would have been perfectly easy for an artist or sculptor to be raised up, so as to transfer those Divine lineaments to canvas or marble. Or the knowledge of photography, and even of moving photography, might have been advanced, and in this way a genuine picture of the Lord as He appeared on earth might have been preserved. But a moment's reflection will show that, had this been done, the way would have been opened at once to sheer idolatry; for in those circumstances the human mind would not have risen beyond the human representation, and this would have proved the very means of obscuring the Divine vision. No, the Lord in wisdom has made known His Divine attributes. The revelation is individual as well as general, and men must learn for themselves what the Divine features are;-always Divine Love and Wisdom going forth into beneficent act. And according to their appreciation of these, so have they God in them and before their eyes; and so is their place in heaven.

     A third reflection is monitory: Let us take heed lest we strain Divine Truth so as to fit our own predilections, or so as to evade its teachings. The old proprium is ever restless, ever suggestive, ever striving to draw away from rectitude.

538


We are of those who believe that the Last Judgment is accomplished, that the Lord for ever shows Himself in all the splendor of His Human made Divine, and that in the revelation which inaugurates His crowning Church He provides for the everlasting felicity of all who are willing to see and to follow Him.

     "Lord God of Israel, there is no God like Thee, in heaven above or in earth beneath; Who keepest covenant and mercy with all Thy servants who walk before Thee with all their hearts."
ESSENTIALS AND INSTRUMENTALS 1925

ESSENTIALS AND INSTRUMENTALS       Rev. R. J. TILSON       1925

     (An Address delivered at the Nineteenth British Assembly, 1925.)

     For the proper establishment of the Church, not only as an institution in the community, but also and equally in the human soul and life, there must of necessity be order and subordination. Without these, and without these in rightful relation, there can be no kingdom of the Lord among men. Hence the necessity for a realization of a due sense of proportion in all things of the regenerate life, and for the cultivation of a knowledge of true relativity in all matters.

     Among the many things which the Lord has now said unto His disciples at His Second Advent, in the Divine Doctrines of the New Church, there is to be found the doctrine of Relatives or Relations, which discloses the Divine harmony and beauty of the Angelic Word. This doctrine, variously given in different parts of the Writings, may well and profitably be approached under the caption of Essentials and Instrumentals. It is a wonderful doctrine, simple yet sublime, and of utmost importance to be known, in order that progress may be made from earth to heaven.

     What, then, is the true and living relationship between essentials and instrumentals? Manifestly the answer to this query is, that essentials must always hold the prior place, and that instrumentals must be subordinate to them, and serve them. Indeed, the whole value of an instrumental lies in its capacity to serve the essential.

     The complete doctrine on this important theme is most beautifully revealed in the Arcana Celestia, in the explanation of that portion of Genesis xlv in which Pharaoh urges Joseph to tell his brethren to return to their father Jacob, and to bring him and all his household into the Land of Goshen.

539


It is written:

     "In regard to service, which is signified by 'bringing their father,' the case is this: things which are lower ought to serve those which are interior; . . . lower things are formed for no other use than to be servants; they are formed that the interior may live and act in them and through them, and, indeed, in such a manner that, if the interior be taken away from them, they are nothing else but vessels without life and action, thus altogether dead." The whole of paragraphs 5947 to 5949 should be carefully read by those who would understand the right relationship between, and the use of, essentials and instrumentals.

     It is necessary that we quote further, yet briefly, from the heavenly teaching. It is written:

     "There are things essential, and there are things instrumental. In order that the essential may accomplish a deed, it must have an instrument through which it may act; and, according as the instrument is formed, so it acts. For example, the body is the instrumental of the spirit; the external man is the instrument of the internal; the scientific is the instrument of truth, and truth is the instrument of good, and so forth. . . . But it should be known what the essential and the instrumental are respectively. The essential is so called, because it acts by means of another, as by means of its instrument or organ; but when another thing acts by means of the thing which was an essential, this latter then becomes an instrument; and so forth." (A. C. 5848.)

     From this it follows that there are many degrees of essentials, and of instrumentals. The instrumental on one plane may become the essential on a lower plane, and this in a long series. It thus becomes the faculty of the rational mind to discriminate, and to see all things in due proportion, that essentials and instrumentals may be of the nature and relation which is described in the True Christian Religion 62, wherein it is written:

     "But relatives have respect to the disposition of a variety and multiplicity of things, in such an order that they fit together and harmonize like precious stones of different colors in an ornament on the breast of a queen, or like different colored flowers beautifully arranged in a garland."

540




     But here let us be sure that we begin at the beginning. Nothing in all the universe of worlds can be an essential in itself. Only of the Infinite and Uncreate can it be predicated that it is an absolute Essential. As to this important starting point in our study, it is written in the paragraphs before referred to:

     "Moreover, in the created universe, there cannot possibly be anything essential in itself; this is possible in the highest alone, that is, in the Lord, Who, inasmuch as He is the Esse or Essential in Himself, is called Jehovah from Esse (to be); all the rest are only instruments." (A. C. 5948.)

     Thus the Lord is the only real Essential. In rightful order, He is the End; those things which we call essentials are causes, and those we call instrumentals are effects. Hence the emphatic and remarkable assertion of Spiritual Diary No. 1313: "The Lord God alone lives."

     All angels and men are vessels, recipients of life; that is, they are instrumentals, and not essentials, save on a lower plane, and in an infinitely less degree. Were this truth acknowledged by men of science, in their great and valuable labors, the world would no longer hear of the ordinary doctrine of Evolution, which doctrine makes its adherents appear to spiritual vision as those who stand upon their heads and beat the air with their feet!

     The Lord, therefore, is the only essential in His Own right. And His first instrumental is His Divine Human-His Word-in all its senses-each sense by itself a Word on its own plane, as accommodated to angels and to men. And yet all senses are but one Word; for as there is but one God, so there can be but one Word, in Itself; for the "Word was with God, and God is the Word." (John 1:1.)

     Now, according to the Divinely revealed law that firsts enter into all succeeding things, it must follow that, as the Lord is the only Essential, He must enter into all man's states, from firsts or highests to lowest or last things, if man is to reach unto the Divine end in his creation, namely, that he should eventually become an angel of heaven. It further follows that, in man's life and living, all things of that other and higher life, thus all things of the spiritual world, must be regarded as essentials, in comparison with all things of this lower world of space and time.

     In this connection, it is interesting and important to pass in review the various statements made in the Writings as to the number of the "essentials of the church."

541




     In A. C. 10033:8, it is declared that to "acknowledge the Divinity of the Lord . . .is the very essential of all things which are of faith in the church." This is the first of the church,-the acknowledgment of the Divine of the Lord. And when essentials are sought after, and are traced to their source, this acknowledgment will be found to involve that all that the Lord has revealed is also Divine, and that all that comes from the Lord is Divine, thus that man can receive nothing of the Divine in himself, save in that which is of the Divine in him. The one essential of the Church, therefore, is to acknowledge-interiorly acknowledge-the Divine of the Lord.

     In A. C. 4723, it is revealed that "there are two essentials which constitute the church, and hence two principles of doctrine; the one, that the Lord's Human is Divine; the other, that Love to the Lord and charity to the neighbor constitute the church." (See also D. P. 328:8.) This second statement as to the essentials of the church embraces the two great Commandments of the Law, love to God and love to the neighbor.

     In the work on the Divine Providence, it is taught that "there are three essentials of the church,-an acknowledgment of the Divine of the Lord, an acknowledgment of the holiness of the Word, and the life which is called charity." Herein we have a trinity of essentials, and in this teaching the stress is laid upon the "life which is called charity." For the passage continues: "According to the life which is charity everyone has faith; from the Word is the Knowledge of what the life should be; and from the Lord are reformation and salvation."

     Finally, we have another classification given in the Cartons of the New Church (Redemption 1:7), where we read: "The four essentials of the church are: The knowledge of God, the knowledge of the goods of charity, the knowledge of the truths of faith, and a life according to them." This is the most general assertion of the essentials of the church. But, embracing them all, there is the one universal essential, namely, the knowledge and acknowledgment of the Divine of the Lord as the one and only God of heaven and earth.

     These various statements concerning the essentials of the church are as steps in the understanding of what the church really is.

542


Its foundation consists of the one solid stone which the "builders " of the consummate Church have rejected, namely, the everlasting Gospel that the Lord God Jesus Christ reigns,-a visible God in that Divine Human wherein the Divine was "Humanized," and the human made Divine.

     II.

     Thus far for Essentials. Now for Instrumentals. The very existence of essentials predicates and anticipates instrumentals. Creation was the bringing forth of instrumentals. The Divine created all worlds, and men in them, so that He might have beings outside of Himself, whom He could love. That was the Esse of the Divine,-to love those outside of Himself. Therefore He must create instrumentals, by which that purpose and end might be attained. Thus everything of creation, even unto its crown, which is man, became, in its order and turn, an instrumental. For all creation serves the purposes of the Divine, and therefore is an instrument of the Divine.

     The first great instrumental in the order of creation was the spiritual sun, which is not the Lord, but in which the Lord is, and which was the first of finition. Through that instrumental, all the spiritual world was made; and through the sun of this world,-another great instrumental,-all things of this world were brought forth into being. Thus instrumentals have ever accompanied essentials, and on their plane have ever been, and must ever be, essentials in their order, having instrumentals beneath them.

     It is all a matter of degree and accommodation; yea, it is all a question of the operation of the third of the three essentials of the Divine, namely, Divine Use. But, as in the Divine Trinity the first is the end, which is Divine Love, so in the matter of all essentials and instrumentals it is the end,-that which is made the end,-which gives real spiritual value to them, and which decides their relative worth and use.

     Now the Divine law, so clearly revealed, is, that things essential should always be regarded as the end, and things instrumental as the means. This is beautifully illustrated in the paragraph from the Arcana Celestia which has been quoted above, where we read:

     "The case herein is like that of the body and its soul.

543


Man should take every care of his body, to nourish it, to clothe it, to let it enjoy the delights of the world, but all this, not for the sake of the body, but for the sake of the soul, in order that the soul, in a sound body, may act correspondently and rightly, and may use the body as an organ altogether obedient to it. Thus the soul should be the end; yet man should only care for the soul itself as a mediate end, thus not for its own sake, but for the sake of the uses it has to perform in each world. And when man has uses as an end, he has the Lord as an end; for the Lord arranges both things for uses, as well as the uses themselves." (A. C. 5949)

     If now the question be asked: What exactly is meant by the end, then the continuation of the passage just quoted gives the answer. It says: "Having a thing for an end is loving it above all other things; for what a man loves he has for an end."

     The Divine end in creating man was and is that he should eventually become an angel of heaven. Man came from God, and it is the Lord's desire that man should return to God. And the way and means of that return is by regeneration, a being born again,-or, more strictly translating the Word, being "born from above." (John 3:7)

     It is written: "Essentials ought to be for an end, not instrumental or formal things, which are subservient; . . . for as far as instrumentals are regarded as an end, in the same degree things essential withdraw themselves and vanish away." (A. C. 5948) Again, it is all a matter of degree and accommodation. The degree may easily be seen, but not so clearly the matter of accommodation. For this term "accommodation" has been greatly misunderstood and erroneously used by many in the past, even in the organization of the New Church. In some sections of the Church, accommodation has been taken to mean the concealment of doctrine, lest it should offend; and by this action, doctrine has been robbed of its healing power, because deprived of its distinctiveness. That is not accommodation as heaven knows it. The accommodation of heaven is the bringing down into instrumentals of those essentials that are necessary to salvation, which could not be appreciated or received in their own essential state.

     The Divine Himself accommodated Himself to creation by creating the spiritual sun, God Himself accommodated Himself to man by becoming incarnate by means of the Virgin Mary,-that unique instrumental of the First Advent.

544


And the Lord further accommodated Himself, in the fullness of time, when He revealed His final Word, in the Writings of the Church, by the means of another unique instrumental, Emmanuel Swedenborg.

     Accommodation is of the order of heaven. Compromise is of the world, worldly, and is oft allied with self, which is hell. Accommodation rightly used is of mutual love; it is of order, and leads to order. Compromise with principles is of selfishness, and grows out of self-love, and of these it is written: "That which disjoins the external man from the internal is principally the love of self; and that which principally unites . . . is mutual love, which is never possible until the love of self recedes." (A. C. 1594.)

     III.

     But it may be asked: What shall govern in the decision as to what is essential and what is instrumental? The Gospel of the Second Advent supplies the answer in direct terms. In A. C. 1589 it is revealed that "the rational is that through which the internal man is conjoined with the external. Such as is the rational, such is the conjunction." The rational is formed by means of truths from the Word, and these teach very clearly, in connection with the subject of essentials and instrumentals, that the lesson of life is this: That the natural must serve the rational, the rational must serve the spiritual, the spiritual must serve the celestial, and the celestial must serve the Lord. (See A. C. 5948; also 4341.)

     Verily, brethren, we must return to the statement with which we opened this paper, namely, that for the proper establishment of the church, not only as an institution in the community, but also and equally in the human soul and life, there must of necessity be order and subordination. Without these, and without these in right relationship, there can be no kingdom of the Lord among men.     

     In conclusion, we would stress the words in right relationship. As between essentials and instrumentals, it is all a question of order and subordination. This is illustrated in the summary of the spiritual sense of the well-known words of the Fifty-first Psalm: "For Thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it," etc. The spiritual sense of these words, in a summary, is: "The Lord desires not external, but internal worship." This is a relative truth.

545


The Lord does desire external worship, for such is clearly the teaching of A. C. 1618, and also of the Doctrine of Charity 114-117. But relatively the Lord does not desire external worship as an essential; that is, He desires external worship only so far as it shall assist and make permanent the internal worship of a life devoted to the shunning of all evils as sins against Him. In heaven, they have external worship with beautiful accompaniments, furnished by most lovely representatives of all the virtues of the heavenly life.

     Surely, then, the daily prayer that the Lord's will may "be done upon earth, as it is done in heaven" should teach the Lord's Church on earth to make use of all representative aids in her worship, that an internal truth and good may find an external suitable to make the benefits of worship permanent and eternal. That for which we now contend is involved in the description given in Luke 10:38-42 and in John 11:5 and 12:2, concerning those in the little home at Bethany. Mary chose the essential,-that "one thing needful,"-the good of faith; but Martha was "cumbered about much serving; "still "Martha served." And it is written: "Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister, and Lazarus."

     True it is that there is the risk of making the externals of worship too attractive, so that the mind is drawn away from the essentials within. So, too, is there the danger of making them so crude, so irrational, and so disorderly, that they prevent the reception of the more interior things, by giving these an altogether incongruous and unsuitable setting.

     The question has been asked of those who incline the head when passing the Books upon the altar: "Why bow to Books?" In reply, the thought is urged that anyone who is so external as to bow to mere books had better give up such idolatry. But, to those who believe the Word to be above all books, the slight inclination of the head is a fitting gesture in acknowledgement of the Divine Authority of those Divine Truths which are contained within those unique Books.

     So it is with all things essential and instrumental. Give each and all their relative worth, under the guidance of Divine Revelation. For the Divine teaching is: "These things ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone." (Luke 11:42. See A. C. 6325.)

546


REV. CARLOS BRAGA-IN MEMORIAM 1925

REV. CARLOS BRAGA-IN MEMORIAM       E. E. IUNGERICH       1925

     On the 18th of May, almost instantly and without suffering, there departed this life one who had witnessed the beginning of the New Church in Brazil; who was, in fact, the first disciple won to its cause by Snr. de La Fayette in 1892. "He was 71 years old and of a hardy constitution," writes Snr. Leonardos. "His death came upon us as a real surprise. On the day before, having been at work all day, he had gone out visiting in the evening, and on his return had retired without complaining of anything. When the news of his death was spread, friends of all classes and categories came to his house, and the expressions of grief were genuine and sincere on the part of all. He was known widely for his kindness and willingness to serve. How many times had he not dispossessed himself, and even incurred debt, in order to aid others! His home, which never knew abundance, was yet a shelter for friends in misfortune, and for orphans. . . .Many noteworthy personages took part in the funeral cortege, . . . and by intercession with the head of the Department of Public Roads, in which he worked, his daughter will be promoted to the position he held with them, as a testimony of their appreciation of his services."

     Snr. Braga was authorized by the Bishop in 1921 to perform the uses of a pastor pending ordination. To him, possibly even more than to Snr. de La Fayette, are due the accessions to the New Church in Brazil, and he was among those who joined the General Church of the New Jerusalem during the first six months of its inception at Rio de Janeiro. My meetings and excursions with him were not-to-be-forgotten events in my two visits to Brazil, and I cannot forbear recounting here the following items from my reports of those visits:

     "Before closing this brief account of our stay at Rio, I wish to say a word about that grand old worker of the early days of the New Church in Brazil, Senhor Carlos Frederico de Oliveira Braga, who has now been authorized by the Bishop to perform ministerial functions. As Senhor Xafredo was my literary mentor, so Senhor Braga was my cicerone and guide on many street-car rides and pastoral visits.

547


His love has been to visit people, and to talk to them heart-to-heart about the doctrines of the New Church. He also dearly enjoys a tilt with Protestant ministers over the doctrine of faith alone, and to corner Catholic priests when they will let him. It is hard to say what language he and I conversed in most, as we followed each other around from Portuguese to French, then to English and to German, with the added spice of an occasional quotation from the Latin." (NEW CHURCH LIFE, Oct., 1921, p. 585.)

     On one occasion, he discoursed with three Protestant pastors somewhat as follows: "You attach much weight to Paul's saying in Romans that man is saved by faith alone without the works of the law. I suppose you have never noticed that by 'works of the law' he meant merely the Jewish sacrificial ritual." They insisted, however, that good works were meant. "But good works mean a life in obedience to the Commandments," he said. "Don't you believe in keeping the Commandments?" Their reply was that nobody can. "Then you must have a singular idea of God, if He, knowing that 'nobody could keep them, yet gave the Commandments, and asked men to obey them. What would you say of me if I invited you to a collation, and set before you sealed dishes, and asked you to partake, knowing all the time the covers could not be taken off!" He then asked: "Do you not believe in loving the neighbor either? Or do you think the Lord also enjoined this commandment, knowing that it couldn't be kept?" To their indignant denial he then asked in conclusion, "Will you tell me how a man can love the neighbor if he cannot keep the Commandments?"

     The following details are taken from the JORNAL DE COMMERCIO of May 19, a clipping from which was sent me by Snr. Leonardos. The account occupied nearly a column:

     "Professor Carlos Frederico de Oliveira Braga died yesterday at his residence, no. 283 rua Mariz e Barros. The deceased, who was well known, bore the degree of Bachelor of Science from the school at Ouro Preto, his native town. He also had a diploma in pharmacy, which he had practiced for several years in the state of Mines Geraes. He was subsequently a replace professor in the College of Pedro II in various chairs, but mainly in Latin, a language in which he was regarded as one of the greatest connoisseurs and competent masters, having been the examiner at the College in that subject from 1888 to 1924.

548


For the last sixteen years he has been a functionary in the Federal Inspection of Harbors, Rivers and Canals, every acquaintance he made there becoming a sincere friend, such was the delicate and kindly manner in which he treated those whom he met. He leaves as widow Donna Hortenciana Soares de Oliveira Braga and four children,-Carlos Frederico de Oliveira Braga, an employee in the Department of Agriculture, and his daughters, Judith, Alexina, and Aurelia. His funeral, which took place at five o'clock yesterday afternoon, with interment in the Cemetery of St. Francisco Xavier, showed how much the old professor was esteemed. Himself a minister of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, a funeral service of that Church was held, the Rev. Henry Leonardos officiating. Among the twelve wreaths deposited upon his tomb, we note one from Dr. Costs and his family, one from Snr. F. Xafredo, and one bearing the inscription: 'To the Rev. Carlos Braga, from the Pastors of the General Church of the New Jerusalem.'"
     E. E. IUNGERICH.
WAITING ON THE OTHER SIDE 1925

WAITING ON THE OTHER SIDE       H. S       1925

     Old age is not only a period of "putting off what is merely human, and putting on what is heavenly" (A. C. 3016), as also of repeating and resuming states in order to infill them for fuller use hereafter, but sometimes it is also a state of besetting anxieties, a remnant of states of distrust in Providence. Of such a nature undoubtedly is the worry that besets some, lest their married partner who has passed on, and whom they still love, may not wait for them on the other side. This is intensified by the well-known passage in Heaven and Hell, no. 426, which reads: "Some remain in the world of spirits only a few weeks, others several years, but not more than thirty." As the shadows lengthen upon the dial of their memory, and the first thirty years of separation is over-past, they sometimes begin to doubt whether the cherished hope of reunion will ever be fulfilled. But let them be reassured, for the sacred love of the inmost soul is entirely above all vicissitudes of both space and time. Moreover, there is a statement in the Spiritual Diary which moves the clock forward to fifty years. "With those who come from the world, vastation lasts with some only a week, with some for months, with some for years, even to as many as fifty, entirely according to their use there; for they attend on man, and serve the rest as subject spirits." (S. D. 5529.)

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     Now, inasmuch as thought brings presence in the other world, and "love is conjunction," we can conclude that it must be true, as so often promised, that we shall meet our loved ones on the other side. Especially do married partners meet and dwell together for a time; but if their love is not truly an internal one, and most fully reciprocal, they presently separate, sometimes the man from the woman, sometimes the woman from the man, and sometimes each from the other; and then suitable partners are given to each. From the details in the account of the wedding of the Count De la Gardie and Queen Elizabeth of Russia (described in S. D. 6027, which is reproduced in Vol. IV of the Potts Concordance, p. 547), it would seem that divorces are east and quite usual in the world of spirits. This is no doubt due to the fact that we are living at the end of an age, when internal things have become wholly transitory and are no longer regarded, or are altogether unknown, as is the case with many. But where there is any love truly conjugial that has been made actual by the shunning of wandering lust as sin against God, this cannot but endure, for it is of the soul itself.

     However, those who are entirely honest, naturally feel some uncertainty as to the record of their thoughts and looks, even if their deeds have been within the law. As in all other matters of our salvation, we are driven at last to fall back upon the Lord's mercy and grace-and this we know cannot fail. In that is our hope and our trust.
     H. S.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE CREATOR 1925

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE CREATOR       Editor       1925


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office a Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly By
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.

Editor                    Rev. W. B. Caldwell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager          Mr. H. Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address and business communications should be sent to the Business Manager.

     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
In the United States, $3.00 per year; Elsewhere, $3.25 or 14 shillings; payable in advance
Single Copy          30 cents
     Strictly speaking, the strife between Fundamentalist and Modernist in the Old Church, or between Religionist and Evolutionist in the Christian World at large, is not our quarrel, and need not be imported and adopted as though it were. Nevertheless, the New Churchman is an interested spectator. He finds therein a confirmation of the revealed truth concerning the spiritual devastation today, and of the after-effects of the Last Judgment. In addition, he notes in the basic differences between the two schools of thought a replica of the rifts in the New Church itself, as between loyalists to Revelation and those who would impose man-made interpretations. Moreover, even among those of the New Church who have already adopted the higher ground of a full acceptance of the Heavenly Doctrines, there is the continual need of adjusting revealed ideas to the findings of experimental science and the conditions of human life in general. For these reasons, we who have been blest with certain truth concerning God the Creator and the mode of His creation must look on with keen and sympathetic interest while those not so blest are warring in the dusk of latter-day Christianity.

     There are lessons, too, which the New Churchman as an observer of events may derive from the conflict, chief of which must pertain to our thought of God the Lord. A searching of hearts may not be amiss as to the actuality of our choice between the worship of God and the worship of nature, or as to the possibility of our mixing the two.

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To what extent are we returning to the state of those most ancient men who had full sense and perception of the Divine presence in nature? Has our rational acknowledgment of the presence of the Lord in His creation becoming such a living reality that we are moved to humility and adoration when we contemplate the marvels of the universe finding ever new evidence of His infinite wisdom, power and mercy in the world He has made for us to dwell in? Is our meditation upon the works of His hands confined to times of reading and the Sunday service, while during the week we suffer the natural man to be carried away with the pride of human discovery and achievement? Do we think. of Him daily and hourly in our lives, and speak of Him to our children as we sit at home or walk by the way, as we lie down and rise up? Do we speak to them of the "wonders of nature" or of the wonders of His creation," that they may "remember their Creator in the days of their youth"? In answering these questions, we may realize how far we have progressed beyond that state of the modern world which questions the very existence of God the Creator.

     If Christians acknowledged the Lord Jesus Christ as both Creator and Redeemer, they would see and acknowledge Him as the God of the Word and the God of nature; and they would confess His providence in human affairs with a living sense of its reality. If they did these things in heart and life, and not only with the lips, they would not now be engaged in such disputes concerning the Virgin Birth, the Divinity of Christ, the Authority and Sanctity of the Scriptures, the Immortality of the Human Soul, and the Origin of Life. And then more of them would be coming to the light of the Second Coming, as they have had abundant opportunity to do, and would there find clear answer to those great questions. But few are doing so, and the reason is that, underlying the whole mental fabric today is the naturalism which is indifferent or opposed to Divine and heavenly things,-the naturalism which closes the rational above to the entrance of any spiritual light. With the religionist and professed churchman, it is this state reigning interiorly which produces doubt of the Divinity of Christ, the holiness of the Word, the life after death, and the presence of God in nature.

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With the scientific investigator who has divorced himself from the religion of his childhood, this naturalism is the origin of his denial of the Creator and of spiritual influx, and so he spends his life in the search for the palace of the Goddess of Nature in the hidden realm now opened to him by the microscope. That there are exceptions among both classes, we cannot doubt. Among churchmen we discern remnants of a true Christian faith and light, and among men of science a proportion who refuse to banish the living God from His universe. But these exceptions are relatively few. It is not difficult to confirm the truth, as revealed to us in the Writings, that the denial of God, and in the Christian World the denial of the Divinity of the Lord, reign almost universally. And so it is largely as a spectator standing upon a vantage ground apart that the New Churchman looks out upon this present-day quarrel between contestants who are fighting like birds of prey in the night. "For wheresoever the carcass is, there shall the eagles be gathered together."

     The credence accorded the theory of the aboriginal ape is of more than passing significance, in view of the revealed fact that those who are wholly ignorant of God and those who have denied God appear like apes in the spiritual world, some of them salvable, some not. We may here recall the statements concerning both kinds:

     "I have been permitted to see peoples who had been born in remote islands, who were rational in respect to civil matters, but had known nothing whatever about God. In the spiritual world, such appear like apes, and their life is very similar to that of apes. But having been born men, and consequently being endowed with a capacity to receive spiritual life, they are instructed by angels, and made spiritually alive by means of knowledges concerning the Lord as a Man." (S. S. 116. More fully described in Diary 5822 and 5880.)

     As to the evil of this kind, we are told that "they who deny the holiness of the Word and the Divinity of the Lord are like apes dressed in human clothes, and wearing a mask like the face of a man." (T. C. R. 148.) Certain idolaters were seen in human bodies, but with the faces of apes. (Diary 593.)

     That those among Christians who attack the Spiritual Sense of the Word now revealed to the New Church, as signified by the White Horse in the Apocalypse, have a like appearance in the spiritual world, is evident from the Relation:

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     "I looked forth into the world of spirits, and saw an army upon red and black horses. They that sat upon them appeared like apes, with their faces turned toward the tails of the horses, and their backs towards the horses' heads. And they cried out: 'Let us fight against them who ride upon the white horses!' The angels then explained: 'They are from the place which is called Armageddon, where they have been assembled to the number of some thousands, to fight against those who are of the Lord's New Church, which is called the New Jerusalem.'" (A. R. 839.)
GIVING 1925

GIVING       H. S       1925

     There are two kinds of givers in the Church-those who give in the hope of reward that is yet to come, and those who give as a mere token of acknowledgment of the reward already theirs. In A. C. 4353, these two states. are described. In the first state, man does what is good from truth-from an obligation acknowledged by the understanding, and thus from conscience. This is useful and necessary. But as he progresses into the second state, wherein he acts from good, he then begins to perceive something of blessedness, and, as it were, something of heaven in it.

     We are taught that it is more blessed to give than to receive, but until one senses that what he is giving is only a token or tithe out of the thousandfold abundance he has already received, he is not getting full value. He is not yet receiving the real blessing in his giving. There is no self-righteous merit in this giving, for he already has his reward, though not at all in the sense of those who give for the sake of show and the estimation of others. When the members of any society begin to hold back, and to magnify what they give, and to study jealously whether others are giving their full share, the machinery certainly needs oiling!
     H. S.

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"HIC LIBER EST ADVENTUS DOMINI." 1925

"HIC LIBER EST ADVENTUS DOMINI."       ERNST PFEIFFER       1925

     WHY WAS THIS INSCRIBED UPON THE "BRIEF EXPOSITION"?

     Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:

     In reading the note on the Dutch translation of the Brief Exposition, appearing in the June issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE (P. 364), I have the impression that the reviewer's interpretation of a remark in the translator's Preface, regarding the reason why Swedenborg placed the words "Hic Liber est Adventus Domini" just on this particular book, does not convey with sufficient clearness the real purport of the writer. In view of the great doctrinal importance of this question, I would like to offer you a literal translation of that passage. The Preface begins with the words:

     "It is not customary to provide the theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg with a preface. These Writings are acknowledged in The Church of the New Jerusalem as the Word of God in its third or Latin Testament (John 19:20), and it is a just demand that they should be left to speak for themselves without commentary. However, the Summaria Expositio Doctrinae Novae Ecclesiae has such a special place among Swedenborg's Writings that it does not seem superfluous for the editor to point out in a few words the special significance of this work. In Swedenborg's Posthumous sketch, Historia Ecclesiastica Novae Ecclesiae, he relates: (Here follows the quotation from the Ecclesiastical History concerning the glorification of the heavens after the publication of the Brief Exposition, and concerning the "Hic Liber" inscription, and also Swedenborg's letter to Dr. Beyer concerning the same subject.)

     "In reading the Brief Exposition, there will be many who ask why it was that the Lord commanded Swedenborg to call just this particular work the Second Coming of the Lord,-a work which is essentially of a negative character, unfolding and condemning the falsities of the first Christian Church. Would not one rather have expected that for this purpose one of the great principal works, as, for instance, the Arcana Coelestia or the Apocalypse Revealed or the True Christian Religion, should have been chosen?

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However, we are here reminded of the negative character of the Ten Commandments, which is according to a fundamental law of regeneration, namely, that not he is being regenerated who does good, but he who shuns evil. Likewise, also, it was not the revelation of the good and of the truth of the New Church which was the decisive moment in the Second Coming of the Lord, but the manifestation and condemnation of the evil and falsities of the old dead Church. It is the same thing with everyone who wishes to come to the Lord's New Church; it is not the fact that he acknowledges more or less the importance of the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, and that he sees the Divine Mission of Swedenborg in some measure, that makes him a member of the New Church, but only the fact that he has resolved to turn away from the Old Church in every respect, because he distinctly realizes its full state of consummation. This has also its representation in the Sacrament of Baptism; for the waters of Baptism signify the purification of the mind of evil and of falsities; and, therefore, the introduction of man into the New Church does not take place before he is baptized."
     Sincerely yours,
          ERNST PFEIFFER.
THE HAGUE, July 14, 1925.
DATE OF THE APOCALYPSE 1925

DATE OF THE APOCALYPSE       HUGO LJ. ODHNER       1925

Editor, NEW CHURCH LIFE:

     In reference to the statement in A. R. 947, to the effect that the Apocalypse was written "at the beginning of the first century," but that the Last Judgment and the New Church there promised came only "after seventeen centuries," I would join you in emphasizing that Swedenborg is not here intending to teach chronology, but to stress the long time elapsing between prophecy and fulfillment.

     To place the Apocalypse after the second general persecution (under Domitian, about 95-96) is to my mind unnecessarily late, and an alternative interpretation is possible.

     There were roughly seventeen centuries in the history of the Christian Church, which started about 30 A. D., and, from our point of view, closed about 1757 or 1770.

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The first century of the Church was thus not coincident with that of our era, but included A. D. 30-130, and the first half or beginning of that century ended about A. D. 80. The contents of the Apocalypse suggest that, at the time of the writing, the seven churches were already established in Asia, and Rome had already been visualized by John as the archenemy of the infant church. The first sign of this was in A. D. 64, when the bestial Nero instituted the first of the general persecutions against the Christians. The Apocalypse may have been written shortly afterwards, perhaps in A. D. 65 or 69.

     Since the Apocalypse is not a historical book, the date may with equanimity be left to be determined by future scholars of the New Church, who will balance the claims of tradition (which generally favor the reign of Domitian as the time of John's exile at Patmos) and those of archeology, which is at present enriching Biblical science with a wealth of material.
     HUGO LJ. ODHNER.
Toronto, Ont., August 14th, 1925.
REPRESENTATIVE WORSHIP IN THE NEW CHURCH 1925

REPRESENTATIVE WORSHIP IN THE NEW CHURCH       GEORGE F. POOLE       1925

     The statement in the Writings, that the representative worship of the Jewish Church was abrogated at the Lord's First Advent, and in its place, and for the use of the Christian Church, the two sacraments of Baptism and the Holy Supper were instituted, stimulates the inquiry how far, and to what extent, this teaching is to be understood and applied. It is plain, of course, that the Jewish representatives were abolished, though even on this point there was not agreement among the Apostles, Peter advocating some retention of them, Paul opposing him vehemently. (Peter may be described as the first High-Churchman, Paul as the first Protestant or Puritan.) And the Christian Church subsequently has interpreted the matter with much latitude and variety, the Roman Catholics and High Anglicans adopting an ornate and representative ritual, Protestants a low and Puritanical worship.

     In the Church of the New Jerusalem also there is not absolute agreement as to what is meant by this teaching of the Writings.

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Tafel was for understanding it literally; De Charms, Benade, and Sewall advocated a more enlightened, and hence more spiritual, interpretation. It is well known that the word "represent" is often used in the Writings; indeed, the worship of the New Church is representative, whether ornate or severely Protestant. Are not, for instance, the robes of the Priesthood representative? While, of course, as loyal New Churchmen, we must bow to the authority of revealed truth, we must also respect the considered conclusions of the Priesthood on this matter. It will not do to say, as has been said, "This is only human opinion." It is human opinion; but is it not given with the authority of those who have the illustration of their sacred office, from the Bishop downwards? Loyalty to the Writings certainly; also loyalty to the Lord's ministers, called and ordained to the sacred ministries of the Priesthood.

     In that beautiful Memorable Relation in Conjugial Love where a marriage in heaven is described, we are shown what importance is given to representation. May I quote?

     "The bridegroom wore a mitre on his head, and was dressed in a bright purple robe and a tunic of shining linen, with an ephod on which was a golden plate set round with diamonds. The bride was dressed in a scarlet robe, underneath which was a garment ornamented with fine needlework. Beneath her bosom was a golden girdle, and on her head she wore a golden crown set with rubies.

     "Then a certain wise person, one of the marriage guests, said to the strangers, 'Do you understand the meaning of what you have seen?' They replied: 'Only a little of it.' And then they asked him why the bridegroom was dressed in that singular manner. He answered: 'Because the bridegroom represented the Lord and the bride represented the Church. This is the reason why he wore a mitre on his brow, and was dressed in a robe, tunic and the ephod like Aaron, and why the bride had a crown on her head, and wore a scarlet mantle like a queen. Tomorrow, however, they will both be dressed differently, for this representation lasts only a day.'"

     After the marriage ceremony was concluded, and the company had said, "May the Divine blessing be upon you!" the antechamber was filled with an aromatic smoke-incense-which was a token of blessing from heaven.
     GEORGE F. POOLE.
London, England.

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NINETEENTH BRITISH ASSEMBLY 1925

NINETEENTH BRITISH ASSEMBLY       N. D. PENDLETON       1925

     The Nineteenth British Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem met in London on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, August 1st to 3d, 1925, the Rev. R. J. Tilson, under appointment of the Bishop, being President.

     The Assembly program consisted of two Divine services, four sessions and a social. The two services and three of the sessions were held in Michael Church, Burton Road, Brixton; one session and the social were held in Longfield Hall, which adjoins Michael Church. Tea on Saturday, and dinner and tea on Sunday and Monday, were served in Longfield Hall, at a total charge of eight shillings for the five meals.

     The first Session was held in Longfield Hall on Saturday, August 1st, and commenced at 7: 30 p.m., the opening service being conducted by the President. After declaring the Assembly to be in session, the President announced his appointment as President of the Assembly and Celebrant at the administration of the Holy Supper. He then read from the Bishop's letter as follows:

     "Kindly give my greetings to the Assembly; and express my hope for all that is good as an outcome of the meetings. It lies somewhat heavily on my heart that the General Church in England has lost a member society, but there is consolation in the prospect of strengthening the other two societies. In all human affairs, we must at times face apparent decrease, in order that, in Providence, a larger expansion may follow; and it not this, at least an improvement in state and quality should result. Beyond this we may not go, in reasoning about such a matter. Better than reasoning is an attitude of confidence in the disposals of Providence, and a simple trust that the Lord guides His Church to better ends than we can possibly foresee or prescribe. Human prudence has its place, and its range of operation, and within that range its workings are legitimate, but we should realize that Divine Providence not only overrules, but also in-rules by and through those things that are seemingly of human provision.

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In other words, we are allowed to act as of our selves, knowing the while that, in so far as; our deeds are of order, the Lord is the Doer, and that in so far as they are of disorder, yet they are of His allowance, and for the sake of further ends which may also be counted as His provisions. This view does not relieve us of responsibility, but it grants an insight into the Divine mode whereby the Lord at once leads us and yet preserves our freedom.

     "The Church is the object of our love and our inspiration to labor, and in serving it we serve the Lord to our own benefit, and to the spiritual well-being of others. The first requirement in this service is the putting aside of self-interest and vain imaginations, and this in order that the clear light of Revelation may enlighten and guide. Otherwise we shall not court the Lord's leading, and shall certainly fail in our purpose to forward His work,-that is, that part of His work which He would do through us as laborers in His vineyard.

     "I should like to write you more at length, but time and many concerns press me at this moment. Give my love to all our friends, and encourage them in the faith.
     As ever yours, (Signed)
          N. D. PENDLETON."
Title Unspecified 1925

Title Unspecified       F. E. GYLLENHAAL       1925

     The Bishop's greetings and message were received with prolonged acclamation.

     The President then read greetings to the Assembly from the Revs. Bjorck, Deltenre and Baeckstrom, from Mr. Philip Oyler and family in the New Forest, Mr. S. R. Lewin and family of Bath, Mr. and Mrs. Jubb and Miss Shaw of York, and Mr. and Mrs. Parker of Deal; and a cable from the Gill family in Bryn Athyn. Later, a cable from the Cooper "clan" of Bryn Athyn was read to the Assembly.

     The Secretary read the Minutes of the previous (1924) Assembly, which were approved and signed.

     The President extended a hearty welcome to the Rev. W. H. Claxton and Mr. F. A. Gardiner, of the General Conference, and to other visitors, and extended to them the privilege of addressing the Chair at all the meetings.

     The Presidential Address, on the subject of "Essentials and Instrumentals," was then delivered.

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This was appreciatively discussed by the Revs. Claxton, Robinson and Gyllenhaal, Messrs. A. H. Appleton, E. W. Misson, R. W. Anderson, F. R. Cooper, J. S. Pryke and Conrad Howard.

     At the Sunday morning service, which was conducted by the Rev. R. J. Tilson, the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal preached, his subject being, "What is Truth?" Texts: Luke 19:38 and John 18:38.

     The central service of the Assembly was held on the same afternoon, when the Holy Supper was administered by the Rev. R. J. Tilson, assisted by the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal.

     The Second Session was held in Michael Church on Sunday evening at 7 o'clock. After an opening service, led by the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal, Mr. J. S. Pryke read a paper on "Remains." This was followed by an excellent, clear and well-sustained discussion, always to the point, to which the Revs. Tilson, Claxton and Gyllenhaal, Messrs. H. Howard, Stanley Wainscot, Conrad Howard, William Priest, A. H. Appleton, R. W. Anderson, A. E. Orme, Alfred Godfrey and Miss Waters contributed.

     At the close, the President suggested that both of Monday's sessions be held in Michael Church, a building less subject to external interruptions and of better acoustic construction than Longfield Hall. The suggestion was adopted unanimously.

     The Third Session took place on Monday at 11 a.m. The President having conducted a short opening service, the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal read a paper on "Religion and Life." This led to another excellent discussion, characterized by the fidelity with which the speakers kept to the point. It was taken part in by the President, the Rev. T. F. Robinson, Messrs. F. R. Cooper, Colley Pryke, V. R. Tilson, R. W. Anderson, H. Howard, A. E. Orme, Conrad Howard, William Priest, and Miss Dowling.

     The Fourth and final Session was at 3 p.m. on Monday. After verbal reports from the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal concerning the meetings of the Priests' Council, and from Mr. Colley Pryke, Representative in Great Britain of the Treasurer of the General Church, treating of the latest financial statement from the Treasurer, written reports were read by Mr. F. R. Cooper, the Hen. Sec. of the Colchester Society, Mr. A. E. Orme, the Hen. Sec. of Michael Church, and Mr. R. A. Stebbing, the Hon. Sec. of the late London (Peckham Rye) Society.

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The last report was a sketch of the general history of the late Peckham Rye Society. This was so lucid in style and well- balanced in matter that it is to be hoped it will find its way into the pages of the LIFE, as being of present interest to the whole Church and possibly of value to the future historian.

     The afternoon's discussion, which in the main dealt with the contents of Mr. Stebbing's report, was carried on by the President, the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal, Messrs. H. Howard, J. S. Pryke, Colley Pryke, E. J. Waters, Jr., and R. A. Stebbing. At the close the following resolution was proposed, seconded and unanimously carried:

     "Resolved: That this Assembly, although recognizing the circumstances which led to the dissolution of the London (Peckham Rye) Society, expresses its regret that a New Church Society has ceased to exist. At the same time, the Assembly rejoices in the uses which that Society was able to perform to the Church, and in the knowledge that the essential of those uses will be continued.

     Resolved further: That this resolution be recorded upon the Minutes of the Assembly."

     The Rev. W. H. Claxton then expressed gracefully his enjoyment of the Assembly.

     The Assembly proper closed with the Benediction, pronounced by the President.

     The usual Assembly Social was held in the evening at Longfield Hall. After general greetings, felicitations and conversation, the more formal programme was introduced by the singing of "God Save the King." A choir then sang the following Assembly song:

O may our hearts be free
At our Assembly.
May we be strengthened one and all,
True to our Church whate'er befall.
Growing in charity,
So will our meetings be
Times of great joy, without alloy,
At our Assembly.

     This was repeated with great heartiness and volume by the whole Assembly: Then followed this program:

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     1. Song. "Onaway! Awake, Beloved!" Mr. Alfred Cooper.
Encore: "Melisande in the Wood."

     2. Recitation. "The Wreck of the Watsername." Mr. W. D. Pike.

     3. Song. "Oh Lovely Night!" Miss J. Stebbing.
Encore: "Song of the Highway."

     4. Violin Solos. "The Swan." (St. Saens.) Miss M. Stebbing.
"Bagatelle." John Ireland.

     5. Song. "Sing, Joyous Bird!" Mrs. W. Lewin.
Encore: "I Love the Moon."

     6. Recitation. "Mind in the 'ole in the road." Mr. W. D. Pike.
Encore: "Carry on!"

     7. Song. "Angels guard thee!" Mr. E. W. Misson.
Encore: "Invitation."

     8. Entertainment by "The Concert Party."

     During the refreshment interval, there were several toasts and songs, the Rev. R. J. Tilson acting as toastmaster. When he rose to propose the first toast, he was greeted with the song:

     How-d'ye-do, Mr. Tilson, how-d'ye-do, Mr. Tilson?
How are you, how-d'ye-do, how are you, how-d'ye-do?

     repeated several times. This was an importation from the United States, and proved very effective in melting the ice that frequently forms at this particular point in our social gatherings. Proposing the toast to " The Church," after the singing of "Vivat Nova Ecclesia," Mr. Tilson called on Mr. Gyllenhaal to respond. The second toast was "Loyalty to the Church," the song, "Then together let us stand, priests and laymen hand in hand," being sung with ringing voices. Mr. H. Howard fittingly responded to this. Mr. Anderson next very suitably and cordially proposed the third toast, to "The Visitors," to which the Rev. T. F. Robinson responded humorously and Mr. Sam Lindsay briefly, both being appreciative in their remarks. The toast, "The Academy and Academy Schools," was offered by Mr. Gyllenhaal, and was well responded to by Mr. William Priest. As is always the case, "Our Own Academy" was sung fervently. The last of the formal toasts, that to "The Priesthood," was then proposed in moving terms by Mr. A. H. Appleton, and was accompanied by the following song:

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Make strong Thy priests, O Lord,
Servants who bear Thy Word
     From Thy bright Throne;
Clothe them in robes of light,
Aid them to serve in might,
Faithful before Thy sight,
     Thy will alone.

     In his response, the President called attention to the sentiment of the words just sung, and said that he felt so moved as to add simply, "Amen."

     A few spontaneous toasts followed: one to "The Young People," proposed by Mr. R. A. Stebbing and responded to by Mr. Wilfred D. Pike; another to Mr. R. W. Anderson and Mr. R. A. Stebbing, who were responsible for the splendid arrangements made to ensure the comfort and enjoyment of members and visitors to the Assembly, proposed by the President and responded to by Mr. Stebbing; a third to the President, in recognition and appreciation of his splendid service throughout the Assembly, proposed felicitously by Mr. J. S. Pryke and responded to by the President. The young people then danced until the hour of breaking up, when "Auld Lang Syne" and "God Save the King" brought to a close the Nineteenth British Assembly.

     The only visitors from abroad were Mr. and Mrs. Paul Carpenter, of Bryn Athyn, Miss Iris Briscoe, who has returned to her home in England for a short visit, and Mr. Sam Lindsay, of Pittsburgh.

     The Assembly was a useful one. It was an enjoyable Assembly. It was harmonious to an unprecedented degree. It showed those present the incalculable possibilities of New Church men and women in their associations, social, intellectual and spiritual. And it made evident the great need of such annual gatherings.
     Respectfully submitted,
          F. E. GYLLENHAAL,
               Secretary.

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Church News 1925

Church News       Various       1925

     COLCHESTER, ENGLAND.

     July 21st.-On Whitmonday afternoon and evening, about thirty of the friends and their children spent a very pleasant time at the home of Mrs. Rey Gill, who was about to depart for a visit to the United States. Mr. Horace Howard and Miss Howard spared no pains to ensure our enjoyment, and Mr. and Mrs. Conrad Howard, with their daughter, were also with us on this occasion. Tea was served on the lawn, and both young and old had a delightful time.

     Mr. Horace Howard, upon his retirement from business life in London, decided to take up his residence in Colchester. This is now an accomplished fact. He and his sister are now occupying their new home, which was completed last April, since which time we have all benefited by their cooperation in the uses of the society.

     Our Pastor, too, has been in the throes of the disposal and purchase of properties and removal for several weeks, but is now fairly settled in his new home. With his residence in our midst, we shall look forward to a furthering of the uses of the society in a manner that has not been possible in the past.

     Another family,-Mr. and Mrs. E. J. Waters and their two children,-are hoping to find a home in Colchester. They are residing temporarily at 11 Hospital Road. Mr. and Mrs. Boozer and family have also decided to take up their residence here as soon as indications are favorable.

     Colchester is the oldest town in England. Its New Church Society has been in existence for forty-five years, and now possesses a church building suitable to its needs, and a resident pastor. Surely no greater attractions are needed to lead New Churchmen and women to gravitate in this direction! May the stream continue to flow!

     Our celebration of New Church Day was a very happy one indeed. It was the first held in our new building, and was well attended, thirty-five being present, including the Rev. R. J. Tilson, of London, Mr. and Mrs. Seymour G. Nelson, of Glenview, Ill., and Mr. James S. Pryke, of Northampton. The presence of Mr. and Mrs. Nelson added greatly to the sphere of the meeting, and it is when we are fortunate enough to have these visitors from distant societies to join us in our celebrations that we can more fully appreciate the teaching that the New Church is a Church for all people, and truly a general or universal Church; the common love for our glorious Church obliterating all national feeling, and drawing us together to work in our humble way in the great and glorious task of establishing the Church upon earth.

     Our Pastor had arranged what was practically a spontaneous program, the speakers having only a few hours' notice. All responded splendidly, and stirring speeches were delivered, interspersed with toasts which were all musically honored. At the end of the formal program, and for the space of just over an hour, the glasses were kept busily clinking in honor of numerous impromptu toasts. The first was to our visitors, Mr. and Mrs. Nelson, who had brought greetings to us from Glenview. The next was to Mr. Horace Howard; then to Mrs. Appleton, Senior, whose birthday is June 19th, and to Mrs. Gyllenhaal and Mrs. Potter, all of these ladies making very happy responses; it was good to hear them. Lastly, a wedding toast to the Rev. and Mrs. Alan Gill, who had been married in Bryn Athyn on June 15th. Our thanks are due the Committee and their helpers who so tastefully arranged the tables for this occasion. It was as nearly perfect as possible.

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     P. S. Since writing the above, definite news has come that Mr. and Mrs. Boozer and family, of Maidstone, are shortly to take up their residence in Colchester.
     F. R. C. and J. F. C.

     WASHINGTON, D. C.

     For a society of our size, the past year was one of rather noteworthy activity. We bad numerous social events, and quite a number of visitors,-thirteen, to be exact. That may sound like a small number of visitors, but we rate visitors by quality rather than size and quantity.

     Services have been held monthly, conducted by our Pastor, the Rev. Alfred Acton, except that on one occasion the Rev. Homer Synnestvedt officiated, and on two Sundays the Rev. T. S. Harris, of Arbutus, Maryland.

     During the past year, the society just held its own in numbers, as we lost one member and gained another. The average church attendance was 11, communicants 9, and at supper and class 9. As we meet but once a month, these figures were lowered considerably by a small attendance at one or two meetings. During the year there has been one Confession of Faith and one Baptism.

     The social side of our church life was not forgotten, several parties being held at the homes of various members. The Theta Alpha Chapter, though small, has been very active, and, among other uses, presented to the society a linen set for Communion Service.

     The most significant event of the whole year was the holding of 9 Local Assembly in May, 1924, attended by the members of the Arbutus Society, and followed by services and a banquet in Arbutus the next day. At the session in Washington, Bishop N. D. Pendleton read a paper on "The Meaning to New Churchmen of the Debates between Fundamentalists and Modernists," which was followed by an interesting discussion.

     Miss Chara Schott has performed a great use in the society, not only by supplying the instrumental music for our services, but also by conducting a Sunday School class for the children on the Sundays when the Pastor was not present. We wish also to express our thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Schott for the use of their home for the services, and for their labors in connection with the suppers.
     F. M. Grant. June, 1925. Secretary.

     LONDON, MICHAEL CHURCH.

     On the two Sundays preceding New Church Day, the services, according to our Pastor's custom, were those of preparation for the coming Festival, with special instruction concerning the descent of the Holy Spirit. On the evening of "June 19th, Day of days," Divine service was held, and centered round T. C. R. 4, 108, and 791, while on the following Sunday, June 21st, the full service in the morning included the administration of the Holy Supper to 47 communicants, and a most appropriate and instructive discourse on Apoc. XV, 5. In the evening, a Feast of Charity was held, which was well attended, and of which the main feature was the Pastor's report of his work during the now completed church-year. This report is always looked forward to with interest, and leaves us wondering how so much is accomplished in the time! The Pastor also referred to the pleasure felt by all at the presence among us of Mr. and Mrs. Seymour Nelson, whose acquaintance we had already made at an "At Home" given by the Pastor and Mrs. Tilson at "Stanley House" on June 14th. Both on that occasion and at the Feast, Mr. Nelson gave us some interesting information about the Church in Glenview.

     Now, with the celebration of New Church Day, we usually expect an interval in the more active phases of our church life; but this year seems to be an exception, for since June 19th there has been "just one thing after another." On June 24th, the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal, assisted by our Pastor, conducted a marriage service for Mr. Donald Dyne and Miss Iris Elphick, at which the floral decorations were remarkably beautiful.

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On Friday, June 28th, the Annual Business Meeting of the Society was held, and proved to be quite an intelligent and lively gathering. On Saturday, July 4th, came the (equally annual) "day in the country"-this year to Oxshott Woods, redolent with pine and fir trees. The arrangements for the "shepherding" of upwards of fifty "wandering" (very literally) sheep were in the hands of Mr. V. R. Tilson, and he proved himself entirely equal to the task. Cricket, luncheon, more cricket, tea and sports followed in quick succession, our Pastor adding to the "activities" already noted by scoring sixteen runs, and coming in a very close second in the veterans' race (those over 40!), which was just won by his son-in-law.

     On the Sunday following, the subject of the discourse, based on Is. XXXV, I and also Song of Solomon II, I was "Roses and Lilies," in preparation for a Flower Competition held on July 7th at the home of Mr. and Mrs. V. R. Tilson. There was a most creditable number of entries, Mr. Cooper made a very efficient judge, and fifteen "cards of merit" were awarded. A sale of the specimens by auction, with the host as a most persuasive auctioneer, resulted in a sum of L1.1.6 being added to the flower fund.

     On July 12th, the Rev. Elmo Acton, recently ordained, preached at the morning service, and we were glad to have the opportunity of hearing him, and of making the acquaintance of his bride.

     Finally, for this present record, an "At Home" was held at "Stanley House" on July 12th under the auspices of the Sewing Circle. The main item on this occasion was a Cake Competition. Again there were numerous entries, and the judging proved an onerous and delicate task! A sale by auction-the Pastor exhibiting unsuspected talent as Auctioneer (he really is a many-sided man)-resulted in the President of the Sewing Circle (Mrs. Tilson) being enabled to add the sum of L2.9.1. to her funds for the purchase of materials.

     Shortly, there will be the closing of the school for the summer holidays, and then the Assembly, after which surely we shall have an interval in which to gather strength for new efforts in the new session!
     K. M. D.

     GLENVIEW, ILL.-August 6. Mid-July found the members of the Immanuel Church almost anywhere but in Glenview, the unit of our social life crumbling into private parties and excursions. However, there were a few noteworthy events preceding this vacation exodus.

     One very pleasant occasion was the twenty-fifth wedding anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Scalbom. Old and young gathered at their home to offer congratulations and to present, through our Pastor, a silver bonbon dish and cream and sugar set. It was very evident that the genuine affection of a whole society accompanied the gift. Later in the evening, someone had the happy thought of placing a violin in the hands of Mr. Jesse Stevens, and so a perfect ending to the day was ensured.

     On another evening, a long parade, armed with mops, pails, and cooking utensils, serenaded Phyllis Burnham, the bride-to-be, but the familiar strains of "Happy" were cut short by the information that Phyllis was not at home. It seemed that she and Alan had been lured away for an auto ride designed to cancel any suspicions of the impending shower. When they returned a few minutes later, it was to find the parlor overflowing with friends and kitchenware. Later in the evening the singing of toasts gave a serious tone to the occasion.

     The Theta Alpha Chapter banquet was held in the lobby of the Parish Hall. The tables formed a rectangle around a center banked with roses, and on the walls the paper reproductions of class banners gave an Academy atmosphere. Margaret Henderson was toastmistress, and gracefully introduced the theme of the evening,-"Enthusiasm."

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The speeches, dealing with various kinds of enthusiasm, were made by Miss Gertrude Nelson, Miss Dorothy Burnham, and Miss Adah Nelson, respectively. There were appropriate songs, suggested by these and by the many impromptu speeches which followed, ending with "Here's to the Babies!" in honor of the Bryn Athyn graduates who were among our guests. The second part of the program was given in the Parish Hall, which was decorated to resemble a formal garden. A one act skit was presented on the stage, and there was a farce "beauty contest," the outcome of which must forever remain a mystery.
     G. N.

     BRUSSELS, BELGIUM.

     We regret to hear that the Rev. Ernst Deltenre has been suffering from a serious illness which has confined him to his bed for over two months. He writes cheerfully, however, that his sickness has not interfered with his studies, and that, with the assistance of his daughter, Miss Claire Deltenre, he has been able to edit the forthcoming issue of La Nouvelle Jerusalem. This number will contain an article on Bryn Athyn, illustrated with the aerial photograph which has appeared upon the cover of The Bulletin of the Sons of the Academy, the management of our contemporary having kindly loaned him the plate for that purpose. M. Jean Jacques Galliard, the painter, a member of the Mission at Brussels, has recently attracted much local attention by exhibiting his painting of a garden which involves a New Church symbolism and is entitled "Un Jardin Malade."
     E. E. I.

     A SERMON IN STONE.

     Preaching at the City Temple, London, on November 23d, 1924, the Rev. F. W. Norwood, D.D., referred to the Bryn Athyn Cathedral as an illustration of individuality in building, which he contrasted with modern methods of mass production by machinery. He said:

     "Recently, near Philadelphia, I visited a church of the Swedenborgians, still in course of construction, the gift of some wealthy brothers, where only the general design has been decided upon, and every workman adds his own quota according to his own individuality. No two windows, no two pews, are of identical design, and the sculptured flowers or other ornamentation upon the stonework reveal each workman's personal taste. The effect is full of variety, but perfectly harmonious. I came away with the impression that they are not only erecting a structure in stone, but are also building character, and this I believe should be the ultimate moral goal of all industry."

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WANTED 1925

WANTED              1925




     Announcements.



     To engage young New-Church lady to live in our home and assist is the care of children. Address: Mrs. Randolph W. Childs, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
FALL ASSEMBLIES 1925

FALL ASSEMBLIES              1925

     The Bishop of the General Church will preside at the following Assemblies during the month of October:

     Pittsburgh District Assembly, October 9-12.

     Chicago District Assembly, Glenview, Ill., October 16-19.

     Denver Local Assembly, October 23-25.

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WAYSIDE NOTES 1925

WAYSIDE NOTES       A LAYMAN       1925


[Frontispiece: Photographs of the Church Luka's Village, Basutoland. Dedicated March 11, 1923. Revs. H. L. Odhner, Theodore Pitcairn and Native Leaders.]

NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. XLV      OCTOBER, 1925          No. 10
     EVOLUTION.

     While the controversy concerning Evolution does not trouble New Churchmen as it does the Fundamentalists who adhere to the literal meaning of the Word, we cannot but feel sympathy for them in their fear of losing all things of their religion, if they concede anything to that science which refuses to acknowledge a Divine Being. It must be granted that there is great danger in the teaching of scientific theories as if they were established truths. Read the following in A. C. 2348, explaining the words in Jeremiah ix, 21: "`Death is come up into the windows, is entered into our palaces, to cut off the little child in the street, young men out of the lanes,' where little child' denotes truths in the first stage of their growth, which are cut off when 'death enters into the windows and palaces, that is, into things of the understanding and the will." Does not this picture what is taking place today in the education of the young?

     READING OUR MAGAZINES.

     At the last meeting of the English Conference, in the discussion concerning the circulation of the Conference periodicals, one of the speakers asked whether the eighteen societies which did not take a single copy knew of the activities of the New Church in South Africa, India, and in the Federation of German and French societies In Switzerland. He also said we needed an intelligent and well-informed New Church public.

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These remarks could well be applied to those members of the General Church who do not take and read NEW CHURCH LIFE. How disappointing it is to meet members of the Church who have only a very limited knowledge of what is taking place in the New Church world, both at home and abroad! This lack can easily be remedied by reading the magazines of our various organizations.

     HOW TO THINK OF THE LORD'S SUPPER.

     Our ministers give much helpful instruction as to the attitude of mind and heart which should be present when partaking of the Holy Supper, but I do not remember having heard it put in quite the same way as the following from A. C. 3376 After showing how the angels perceive spiritual ideas as different and remote from natural ideas, the passage continues: "If man thought in like manner while he is in a holy state, and while he is at the Holy Supper, and instead of bread had a perception of love to the Lord, and instead of wine had a perception of love to the neighbor, he would then be in a like thought and perception to that of the angels, who would then approach nearer to him, until at length they might be able to consociate their thoughts, but only so far as the man was at the same time in good."

     SENDING CHILDREN TO CHURCH.

     Many people send their little children to church, but do not go themselves, except occasionally. This seems to be a mistake on their part, especially in the New Church, where it is well known that children are influenced more by what their parents do than by what they say. What a pleasant thing it is to see the whole family worshiping together in the Lord's House! Let us not send but take our children to church.

     MISSIONARY EFFORTS.

     A man opened a store. He provided a wonderful display of goods, and spent large sums in advertising. The opening week was a great success. People came from all quarters to test the quality of his merchandise, and went home satisfied.

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About three weeks after the opening, the Monday morning shoppers arrived in good numbers and found the place closed, with a notice on the door stating that the store would be closed for one week, as the proprietor had gone on a fishing trip. This happened more than once during the year. Sometimes the notice stated that business would be conducted "mornings only" until further notice; at other times it would be "evenings only." Meanwhile, the customers became fewer and fewer, having gone back to their reliable sources of supply. The effect upon the business can easily be imagined.

     Although not an exact picture, is there not some resemblance between the methods of this merchant and those used in New Church missionary efforts in past years in all sections of the Church? The Church on earth is the store which supplies spiritual riches to the whole world. Much effort has been put into the forming of new societies, and great enthusiasm has been manifested at the start, only to be followed by a gradual dwindling of interest and ultimate extinction. It may have been that such societies were prematurely established, and point a lesson to present-day leaders of the Church concerning the unwisdom of organizing societies without securing a very sound basis of earnest, as well as intelligent, believers in the Heavenly Doctrines, who would be likely to continue the work in the face of all obstacles. All honor is due to those who do their share in spreading the truths of the Second Coming, but our ministers have their regular work to do, and cannot be expected to do external missionary work. The Bishop of the General Church has said more than once that there must be men specially prepared, whose hearts are filled with a great zeal for this use of evangelization. In the future, the Lord will no doubt provide such men, but in the meantime our church organizations can learn the lesson from past experience, that little success can be expected from spasmodic efforts. I would add the suggestion that when we start a campaign, we should give the world the impression that we "mean business."

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PERCEPTIVE FAITH 1925

PERCEPTIVE FAITH       Rev. W. B. CALDWELL       1925

     "Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught. And the Jews marveled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned? Jesus answered them, and said, lily doctrine is not mine, but His that sent me. If arty man will do His will, he shall Know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or I speak of myself." (John 7:14-17.)

     Our Lord thus testified before the Jews that His doctrine or teaching was Divine, was from the Divine within Him, and that this would be recognized by any who had done the will of God the Father, which had been revealed in the Law and the Prophets. All who had sincerely kept the Commandments, as the laws of Divine order given by Jehovah their God through Moses, and who believed what the Prophets had said of His coming into the world, would be able to know and believe the truth of the Gospel doctrine proclaimed by the Lord. Having believed and lived the former revelation, they had been prepared to receive this new revelation,-this new doctrine,-the central idea of which was that in Jesus Christ the promised Son of God had come to reveal the Divine will, the Divine Love, anew, and with it a new law of charity to inspire men in the keeping of the Commandments. "If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or I speak of myself." Men of this type were also described by the Lord when He said, "It is written in the Prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me." (John 6:45.) But of those who would not receive His doctrine, because they had not kept the former Revelation, He spake in the words following our text,-" Did not Moses give you the law, and none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?"

     The fact was that those who did the will of God by sincere keeping of the commandments had already the spirit of the Gospel doctrine within them. They were in the good of life and in charity at heart, and this alone is the genuine origin of faith.

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For it is good that receives truth, that recognizes, perceives and thus acknowledges its own truth when this is revealed to it. It is good in the will that makes the understanding receptive of the light of truth, while evil in the will interiorly rejects the truth. For what a man wills and does is of his life, and is his life, and this longs to be fed and enlightened by its own proper truth. And the genuine good of charity, which is grounded in religion and the fear of God, has such a longing for the truth of faith,-the truth of Divine Revelation. If any man "will do the will of God," he shall know of the doctrine; and also he shall be "led to the Lord by the Father," that is, by the Divine inflowing through the will of good, giving him to know and perceive, and thus to believe and acknowledge the Divine Truth spoken by the Lord,-to acknowledge it as Divine, and not merely human, to confess that He spake not the words of man, but the Word of God. "My doctrine is not mine, but His that sent me. If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or I speak of myself."

     But there were few of this character, as there are few of this character among Christians today. As in the Lord's time, so among Christians today they ask: "Who is Jesus Christ, and what of His doctrine?" "Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" He inquired of the disciples. There were some who said: "Is not this Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph? " But a few confessed, as did Thomas: "My Lord, and my God!" The same must be the case today, that the few who perceive and acknowledge the Divinity of Christ are such as have lived the Christian doctrine, and have not destroyed this faculty of perception by the conceit of self-intelligence and the love of the world. The Lord comes at a time when interior good has perished from the minds of most men. The inclination and faculty to perceive the Divine Truth is then lacking, because good at heart is lacking. Most of those who looked upon the Lord when He was in the world could not see beyond the veil of the human with which He had clothed Himself, and they judged according to the appearance that He was a man like themselves. They could not perceive that the Divine was in Him, and that He spake from the Divine, from the Divine Soul, the Father. Nor is it different at this day, when Christians might believe in the Divinity of the Lord and His doctrine, if they had not lost perception.

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For with frequent declaration the Lord taught in the Gospel doctrine that in Him God was made Man,-the Divine manifested in a Human,-and that He spake only from the Divine, and thus that His doctrine was Divine Truth. "I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, He gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. Whatsoever I speak, therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak." (John 12:49, 50. See also 8:28 and 14:10.) "He that loveth me not keepeth not my saying; and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me." (John 14:24.)

     The Divine Truth of Revelation had always been revealed in the world through the instrumentality of men, and with a solemn declaration that it was from God. And when Jehovah God Himself put on the human of man, and appeared in the world like a man, it was necessary that He should declare His Divinity, and should testify that every word and work was a Divine word and work. For no word or act of His was from the merely human, but all from the Divine within Him. It was necessary that He should so testify, both for the sake of those who perceived the Divine Truth that He uttered, that they might be confirmed in the faith which they had from perception, and also for the sake of the evil in that generation, that they might be brought to judgment, that they might reject, and so not receive and afterwards profane His holy teaching. For this cause were they permitted to ultimate their denial of the Truth by condemning Him to death for blasphemy, because He claimed Divinity, which, according to the Jewish law, no man was suffered to do. When the Jews took up stones to stone Him, He answered them, "Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? They answered Him, saying, For a good work we stone Thee not, but for blasphemy, and because that
Thou, being a man, makest Thyself God." (John 10:30-33.)

     Although the Jewish Church, at least by word of mouth, had acknowledged Jehovah as God the Father, and looked for the Messiah, the anointed of the Father, who should come to deliver them from oppression, and die a sacrifice for their sins, they had never thought spiritually of this advent of the Son of God, but only materially of a King who would restore their national preeminence. For the most part, they were not prepared for the coming of Him who declared Himself to be the Son of God, one with God the Father, a Divine Teacher come to establish a spiritual kingdom.

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Nicodemus indeed said, "Rabbi, we know that Thou art a teacher come from God; for no man can do these miracles that Thou doest, except God be with Him." (John 3:2.) But unto others Jesus said: "If God were your Father, ye would love me; for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but He sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? Because ye cannot hear (that is, perceive) my word. He that is of God heareth God's words; ye therefore hear not, because ye are not of God." (John 8:42, 43, 47.)

     It was in accommodation to minds of simple cast that the coming of the Divine in the Human was described in the Gospel under the terms of two Persons,-Father and Son. This, indeed, was a plain declaration of the truth that Jehovah God Himself,-the supreme, infinite and invisible Divine,-was the Soul that had assumed the body in the Lord Jesus. "And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us." (Isaiah 25:9.) Thus the Lord was God the Father who had spoken the Law and the Prophets to the Jewish Church. And this truth was in some measure perceived by the first true Christians, who were those who had sincerely kept the Law and believed the Prophets as the revealed will of God, who received the new Gospel as the spirit and life of the Law and the fulfilment of prophecy. "My doctrine is not mine, but His that sent me. If any man do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or I speak of myself."

     The doctrine taught by the Lord when in the world was a new doctrine,-new, because it was an interior revelation of Divine Truth, unknown to any then living, although it had been known to the Ancient Churches, and was involved in all former Revelations. And so the proclaiming of the new Christian doctrine astonished the men of the time. "And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this!" (Mark 1:27.)

     In many respects the Gospel teaching seemed to contradict the Jewish law. "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth" became "Resist not evil." "Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy" became "Love your enemies." In appearance, the Lord abrogated the former law, but in reality He revealed the spirit that should animate the keeping of the law,-the spirit of charity.

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"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another as I have loved you." Because of the hardness of their hearts, this spirit of truth and love had been hidden under the former giving of the law, but still it was there. Many things could not be openly revealed to the Jewish Church, as also many things involved in the new Christian doctrine taught by the Lord could not be disclosed to the first Christian Church. The Lord described heaven under the form of parables; He described His glorification, or the unition of the Human and the Divine, under the terms of two Persons. He could not yet "tell them plainly of the Father." The Divine rational doctrine, opening the interiors of the Word and of heaven, and interior knowledge of the Lord Himself, could not then be given, because it would not have been understood, either in the early Christian Church, or later when even the Gospel doctrine was falsified, profaned, and thus rejected. "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit, when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth." (John 16:12, 13.)

     This would be fulfilled after the Christian Church had been consummated and judged, and when a preparation in the spiritual world had made possible the opening of a new plane in the minds of men,-the plane of the interior rational, with its perception of truth from love, for the enlightening and forming of which the Lord would come in a new revelation of Divine Truth,-Divine Rational Truth proceeding from His own Divine Human, and manifesting this to men. This would be possible after the former Church had undergone its last judgment, when a New Heaven of Christians would be formed, from which the prophesied New Jerusalem would descend, and when "He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new." (Rev. 21:5.)

     Now we are specifically told in the Writings that this "making of all things new" means that "in the Church now to be raised up by the Lord there will be a new Doctrine, which was not in the former Church, because, if it had been, it would not have been received; that if it had been given from the mouth of the Lord before, it would not have remained; that it does not remain at this day, except with those who approach the Lord alone and acknowledge Him as the God of heaven and earth; and further, that this same doctrine was indeed given before in the Word, but could not be seen from the Word because of false doctrine." (Doctrine of the Lord 65.)

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And then it said that this New Doctrine, which is meant by the prophecy, " Behold, I make all things new," is unfolded "in the little works concerning the Lord, the Word, Life and Faith," which comprehend in a sum the truth now revealed for the use of the New Church.

     And whereas, in the giving of the new Gospel of the First Advent, our Lord declared, "My doctrine is not mine, but His that sent me," so the New Doctrine of the Second Advent is given with a like testification as to its Divine origin: "The Lord has manifested Himself before me, His servant, and sent me to this office. . . . And I have received nothing whatever pertaining to the Doctrines of the New Church from any angel, but from the Lord alone, while I read the Word." (T. C. R. 779.) Human instruments of Divine Revelation have always so testified, and the Lord Himself, appearing in the world as a man, so declared in respect to the Christian doctrine: "My doctrine is not mine, but His that sent me. He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory; but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him." (John 7:18.)

     Furthermore, it may be said of the New Doctrine, as of the Gospel, that it will be received and acknowledged by those who have believed and lived the former Revelations. "If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or I speak of myself." An important general truth is embodied in these words of the text, which is, that every new revelation given by the Lord to the Church rests upon former revelations; that a new revelation of Divine Truth from the Lord Himself out of heaven, when it takes form in the world, is drawn forth from former revelations, and confirmed by them as fulfilling a prophecy; that a new revelation does not abrogate, but fulfills former revelations; and consequently, that the revelations given to the series of Churches upon this earth have been a connected series from first to last, from the Ancient Word to the crown of revelations now given in the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem.

     We know that the first written Word, provided for the Ancient Church, was gathered from the traditions of the Most Ancient Church. From this Ancient Book, Moses derived the beginnings of the Hebrew Scriptures. Of the Gospel, our Lord said: "I am not come to destroy the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill."

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So now, the revelation to the New Church is a new Divine Doctrine, unfolding the spiritual sense of the Scriptures, drawn forth from them and confirmed by them, not abrogating, but fulfilling.

     And we know also the interior cause of this connected series of revelations, which is, that all Divine Revelation is essentially a manifestation of the Lord Himself in His Divine Human, and an adaptation to the degrees of the human mind of the race man. Thus the Hebrew Scriptures are said to be a manifestation of the Divine Sensual of the Lord, the Gospel a manifestation of the Divine Natural, and the Heavenly Doctrine a manifestation of the Divine Rational,-and each a form of Divine Truth revealing the Divine will to the corresponding planes of the human mind, to open and form each plane when received in faith and obedience. The reception of the Law prepares for the reception of the Gospel, and both for the reception of the Doctrine. The revelation to each Church has prepared the racial mind in heaven and on earth for a revelation to be given to a later Church, and all revelations given hitherto are preserved for the use of the man of the New Church.

     In the mind of the man of the New Church the new Doctrine now revealed, affecting and enlightening the interior rational, enters a plane within and above the truths of the Scriptures with him. He knows and keeps the Commandments; he believes and cultivates the spirit of the Gospel; he understands and rationally perceives, and also wills and does, the truth of the Heavenly Doctrine; that is, if he "wills to do the Divine will," as revealed on each plane. And this state of willingness is the inmost essential of the Church,-a state of innocence,-a willingness to be led by the Lord, to do the Lord's will,-humbly to submit in all things to the revealed will of God. It is from this inmost attitude of the will and life of man that his understanding is opened to receive light from the Lord,-the light of an instant perception of the truth of Divine Revelation, the light of an inner dictate which produces acknowledgment and faith, causing him to know that the truth is true. It is this perceptive faith,-the faith of love,-with one who is in the good of life from obedience to the Word of God, that is meant by our Lord's promise, " If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or I speak of myself." Amen.

     Lessons: Deuteronomy 6. John 7:1-31. A. C. 9409.

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SEALS, THE TRUMPETS, AND THE VIALS OF WRATH 1925

SEALS, THE TRUMPETS, AND THE VIALS OF WRATH       Rev. E. E. IUNGERICH       1925

     In an article entitled "The Seven Churches of the Apocalypse" (NEW CHURCH LIFE, April, 1923), it was shown that these Seven Churches, like the seven days of creation in Genesis, represent the series of the seven stages of man's regeneration. In the cycle of regeneration, the successive stages of his improvement are:

     1. Ephesus.-The intellectual reception of truths of the Word, accompanied with an ardent desire to propagate them.

     2. Smyrna.-Efforts to put into practice the goods of the natural enjoined by the Word.

     3. Pergamos.-Temptation-combats whereby the internal man is to be imbued with the benefits of the two former stages.

     4. Thyatira.-The conjunction of the internal man with the external man, or the conjunction of charity with faith, those being the "two great luminaries" of the new will and the new understanding which are then being established with the regenerating man.

     5. Sardis.-The opening of the degree of the natural heaven with a man, or the plane of moral works performed from obedience to spiritual principles.

     6. Philadelphia.-The opening of the degree of the spiritual heaven, where love towards the neighbor reigns.

     7. Laodicea.-The opening of the degree of the celestial heaven, characterized by love to the Lord.

     But with the man who does not suffer himself to be regenerated there is likewise a cycle, though of seven stages of deterioration, signified by the vices which these seven churches are exhorted to avoid. Considered in this aspect of increasing deterioration, their significations are:

     1. Ephesus.-The exaltation of truth or faith above good or charity, when the latter are not considered to be saving in the same degree as the former.

     2. Smyrna.-A good that is merely natural, being inspired solely by natural ties and matters of self-interest.

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     3. Pergamos.-The inability to undergo temptations without succumbing. The works done, though good in appearance, are not so, because unconjoined with any truths of faith.

     4. Thyatira.-As a result, the internal man is more and more separated from the external, and faith withdraws from charity in order to conjoin itself with evil deeds.

     5. Sardis.-The man sinks into the mire of the natural hell, all his activities being inwardly defiled by the love of self and the world.

     6. Philadelphia.-The further descent into the "Synagogue of Satan" or the satanic hell where hatred of the neighbor and a love of the false prevail.

     7. Laodicea;-The final stage of degradation in the diabolical hell where the love of evil and a wrath against the Lord border on profanation.

     When a religious dispensation has passed through these seven stages of deterioration, its consummation has come, and a last judgment is pronounced upon it in the spiritual world. So, as the Apocalypse, in its internal historical sense, treats solely of the Last Judgment which was performed upon the men of the Christian Era in the year 1757, involving not only Catholics and Protestants but Mohammedans and Gentiles, it follows that the deeper theme of its message is the description of the cycle of the seven stages of man's deterioration, as portrayed by the degradation of mankind in the Christian Era.

     Thus the reader will see in what follows concerning the opening of the seven seals on the book of Him who sat upon the throne (Apocalypse 5:1), the sounding of the seven trumpets, and the casting forth of the contents of the seven vials of wrath, that their constant burden is a manifestation of the complete deterioration of the man of the First Christian Church, made in the presence of three distinct groups in the spiritual world.

     THE SEVEN SEALS.

     Chapters v and vi of the Apocalypse treat of the book sealed with seven seals, and of the opening of the first six seals by the Lamb. Chapter vii then intervenes, whose burden is the marking on the brow or "sealing in the forehead" of those who were being prepared to bear the consequences of the opening of the seventh seal, which is described in chapter viii.

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     The group in the spiritual world, for whom the instruction involved in the opening of the seals was intended, is plainly designated in the Apocalypse Explained as follows: "And when He had opened the third seal, signifies a prediction as to the subsequent state with those who are of the Church where the Word is; . . . but it should be known that such predictions were not seen and read in a book after its seals had been opened, but that they were manifested through the heavens by the Lord before the angels of the inmost heaven. . . . The things (seen by John) were appearances before the angels of the lowest heaven, and signified the things which were heard and perceived in the inmost heaven, where there were not such appearances." (A. E. 369.)

     Thus the opening of the seven seals had as its end the informing of the angels of heaven concerning the state of mankind at the time of the Last Judgment, disclosing that men had already passed through seven stages of spiritual degradation.

     The "book sealed with seven seals" represents the Word become unintelligible to angels and men, because of obstacles which the fall of the Church had placed between them and this source of light. But because, since the flood, man's mental evolution derives from his attitude towards a specific written revelation, it follows that, when this revelation becomes unintelligible, the conditions of human mentality become equally unfathomable to men. Only the Lamb, our Lord Jesus Christ, can open the true sense of His Word, and He alone knows the actual state of mankind. Without Him, and without His present Revelation, given by the intermediation of Swedenborg, no one could ever have perceived the meaning of the Apocalypse, nor have known that mankind in our era was in a state of spiritual corruption similar to that in the days of Noe. (Matthew 24:38, 39.)

     In the Lord's sight, the spiritual world and the natural world are as a single man, in whom the heavens represent the brain and its appendages; the world of spirits, the alimentary canal, with its stomach and intestines; and men on earth, those peripheral bases and supplies which ultimate and replenish its system. During the fourteen centuries prior to 1757, the world of spirits had become congested with an illy assorted horde of people, who, as the parable of the wheat and the tares informs us, had to be held together "until the time of the harvest."

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The good and the evil there were thus for a long time inseparable, and as this brought the good under the control and dominion of the evil, it gave rise to increasing affliction and unhappiness.

     In a body suffering such a congestion, because of the non-removal of waste matters and the non-absorption and assimilation of salutary aliments, the first notification of this deplorable state is made to the cerebellum,-the inviolate seat of God in every organism,-and thereby to the cerebrum. So in the Gorand Man of humanity. First of all, the angels who correspond to the brain were apprized by the Lord of those conditions in the world of spirits and in the church on earth which were keeping new members from the heavens, and which were preventing the reading of the Word by the faithful on earth, with its salutary effects upon the angelic understandings.

     1. The opening of the first seal evoked in the ultimate heaven the living representation of a white horse, whose rider held a bow, wore a crown, and went forth conquering and to conquer. Before the angels of the inmost heaven, this signifies the same as Ephesus, namely, the understanding of the truth of the Word such as it is at the beginning of a church. This truth being sacrosanct (A. C. 1093), and the representation being before angels to whom the things of evil are softened in their presentation so as not to grieve them (A. C. 1007), it follows that this first stage is set forth as uncorrupted, and as not yet having undergone its perversion.

     The discourse of the Lord to the angels involved in this first sign might be summarized thus: "I have given them my Word, and the understanding to perceive the doctrines of good and of truth, and, so far as they will read it faithfully, they will find the means of preparing themselves for eternal life by a purification from evils and falses. This Word is incorruptible, saving with those who would defile it; and even then it may still enlighten their understandings whenever these are not under the empire of their wills. But, by the signs to come, behold what took place among so-called Christians!"

     2. The red horse and its rider announce the second stage of deterioration, when the understanding of the Word is destroyed as to good. (A. E. 361; A. R. 305.)

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This is the stage represented by Smyrna when it signifies the impulses from a false natural good.

     3. The black horse and its rider, who held a pair of scales in his hand, signify the small estimation given to the wheat and the barley, or the perception of good and truth when despised and lacking because a corrupted will had dominated the understanding until its receptivity of truth had been destroyed. (A. E. 873.) Then man no longer has any weapons for the combat of temptations, meant by Pergamos. The exhortation made here, "See thou hurt not the oil and the wine," indicates the operation of Providence to safeguard the goods and truths of the internal sense of the Word from all injury (A. E. 376, A. R. 316), as is the case when the Divine Providence withdraws men from spiritual temptations.

     4. The pale horse surmounted by death, and with hell in its wake, portrays the corrupt stage of Thyatira; for a settled separation between the internal and the external is nothing else than the expression of death; and as this is a condition preliminary to the three subsequent stages of submergence in hell, it is well described in the words, "And hell followed after it."

     5. The opening of the fifth seal shows us a typical infestation of the natural hell upon those in "the place beneath the altar," a condition in which faithful ones who would subsequently be delivered to constitute the natural heaven were as yet under the empire of evil associates. This corresponds to Sardis in its perverted sense.

     6. The opening of the sixth seal presents the lurid spectacle of the synagogue of Satan, or the satanic hell, when confronted by the truths of the Lord which annihilate the false reasonings by which they justified themselves. (A. R. 333-4.)

     Hereupon chapter vii intervenes, in order that the faithful may be marked or sealed in the forehead before being exposed to the striking events consequent upon the opening of the seventh seal.

     7. "And when He had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for the space of half an hour." (Apocalypse 8:1.) This agrees strikingly with the signification of Laodicea in its evil sense as the seventh or last stage of deterioration, when there is submergence into the diabolical hell bordering on profanation. Pertinent here, too, is the following from the Arcana: "Because it treats here of profanation, the mention and representation of which are not tolerated in heaven, but are at once rejected, therefore expressions of a softened character, and even of a quasi-ambiguous sense, are used in the words of this verse, in order that it may not be known in heaven that such things are contained therein." (A. C. 1007.)

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As the instruction represented by the phenomena of the opening of the seven seals was directed to the angels, it follows appropriately that when the state of profanation, which fills them with a horror that renders them incapable of all expression, was to be signified, the Word restricts itself to the statement that "there was silence in heaven for the space of half an hour."

     THE SEVEN TRUMPETS.

     The trumpets, and their sounding in the spiritual world, signify "the descent of Divine Truth from heaven" (A. R. 37; A. E. 502), and "its augmentations in power during the descent." (A. E. 55.)

     The sending of angels with a trumpet signifies "a separation and a choice effected by the inflowing of holy good and holy truth from the Lord by the angels." (A. C. 4060.) At the Last Judgment, "the Lord was seen in a white cloud with the angels, and a sound as of trumpets was heard thence. This was a representative sign of the protection of the angels of heaven by the Lord, and of the collecting of the good from all sides." (Cent. L. J. 28.)

     We may thus say without hesitation that the sounding of the seven trumpets of the Apocalypse was the approach of the heavens to the faithful in the world of spirits, to notify them of the real state of the abominable tares with which they were intermingled.

     Then follows the disclosure of the same seven stages of deterioration, although expressed in a manner less euphemistic and more salient than that used before the angels.

     1. The sounding of the first trumpet brought to view "hail and fire mingled with blood and cast upon the earth, to burn the trees and the green grass." (Apoc. 8:7.) This signifies the manifestation of the state of those who were interiorly in the faith of the Christian Church, and whose infernal falses and evils, "the hail and the fire," had destroyed the perception of truth, and all the vitality within faith. (A. E. 502-7; A. R. 348, 401.) Evidently, it treats here of the stage of Ephesus after its corruption.

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     2. Upon the sounding of the second trumpet a great burning mountain was cast into the sea, which was made of blood, and brought death to the creatures living therein. This fiery-red mountain and blood-red sea relate closely to the red horse of the second seal, and likewise signify the perverted natural good of the stage of Smyrna.

     3. Upon the sounding of the third trumpet, a great star named Wormwood, burning like a torch, fell from heaven upon the streams and the springs of water, making them bitter as wormwood, and causing the death of many.

     The Word cannot be understood unless those who receive illustration from the Lord draw thence true doctrines which render it applicable to the spiritual needs of mankind. See T. C. R. 227-8, where such doctrines are compared to the lighted lamps on a candelabrum. But when those read the Word who are in the pride of their renown or in the lust for worldly gain, they only draw thence false doctrines which make it more obscure and less serviceable to human needs. This is because the blackness of the proprium rules their understandings and makes them the black horse of this stage. Obviously, when one reads the Word to make out that one can be saved by faith alone without any need of doing good works, such a doctrine poisons all its streams and springs of waters. One who does this would not be able to cope with the spiritual temptations of Pergamos. And so, to avoid profanation, the Lord withdraws him from them.

     4. Thereupon the destruction or extinction of the great luminaries of the fourth day of creation arrives. (Apocalypse 8:12, 13.) And just as the corruption of Thyatira, typifying the same fourth stage, was a prelude to submergence in the hells, and as the fourth horseman was followed by the same hells, so here, too, there is the dread warning of three woes that are to come with the sounding of the trumpets of the remaining three angels. Two of these woes are unchained directly in chapter ix. At the end of the fifth stage (Apocalypse 9:2), it is again foreboded: "One woe is past; and, behold, there come two more woes hereafter." And at the end of the sixth stage (Apocalypse 11:14), it is again said: "The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly." We have no hesitation, therefore, in saying that these three woes, denounced by the last three trumpets, like the last three churches in their evil sense, represent the successive submergence into the three hells.

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     5. The sounding of the fifth trumpet brought to view a star falling from heaven, to which was given the key of the pit of the abyss, which it then opened. This signifies the opening of the hell which girdled those who, at the opening of the fifth seal, were shown as tormented under the altar or in the lower earth. From this abyss issued a darkening smoke and locusts, whose torment caused men to seek for death. In fact, the dogma of the Old Church that the understanding of man has nothing to do with faith, and that the impulses of his will contribute nothing to his salvation, remove from him all hope of spiritual progress.

     6. Upon the sounding of the sixth trumpet, the four angels chained by the great river Euphrates were loosed, and the armies of their cavalry were let loose destructively upon men. This is nothing else than the letting loose of the synagogue of Satan, or of the satanic bells, whose false reasonings by means of a bestialized sensual call into question all spiritual truths.

     The Euphrates, as a boundary of Canaan in its widest extent, represents that which links the spiritual to the rational. The loosing of the four angels who were bound there has also a good signification for those who, being principled in the Everlasting Gospel, may avail themselves of it; namely, the guerdon of entering intellectually into the mysteries of faith.

     Again, as there was an intermission after the opening of the sixth seal, so a chapter and a half now intervenes before the sounding of the seventh trumpet to herald the seventh stage. Evidently this is to prepare the simple good in the world of spirits, that they may endure the disclosure of the profanations done to the Word of God (chapter x), and that they may come into love to God and love towards the neighbor, which are the two witnesses mentioned at the beginning of chapter xi.

     7. The sounding of the seventh trumpet (11:15), disclosing the last stage or the diabolical hell, is not greeted here with the silence with which the angels met the same instruction given on the opening of the seventh seal. For it is recorded that "great voices were heard in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of the world are become those of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ages of ages."

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     The group now addressed by the Divine Influx is beneath the heavens, and in contact with the evils and falses in question. And the silent horror of the heavens, on perceiving the depth of the profanations of the Old Church, cannot but have augmented the power of the Divine Truth in its descent into the world of spirits, where it enabled the faithful to struggle with vigorous protestations against those abominations. This struggle, which is a courageous resistance to the persecutions of those falsifiers, is dramatically set forth in chapters xii and xiii, while the protection of the faithful by the Lord through the heavens is the subject of chapter xiv. All is preparing, especially in chapter xv, for a visitation of Divine Truth among the falsifiers themselves.

     It is not difficult to understand why this preparation should be slow and gradual, when we take into account the fact that the simple good who were to be delivered from their bondage in the world of spirits were carried by impulses of natural goodness to refuse to believe any evil of their tyrannical associates, even to the point of being willing to sacrifice their own chances of salvation, in order that their enemies might lose naught of their disorderly enjoyments. These simple good had to be prepared to recognize the justice of the punishment meted out to their oppressors, and to look upon it without flinching from any sentiment of false compassion or pity.

     THE SEVEN VIALS OF WRATH.

     It should be noted that the seven angels, who were to transmit the Divine Truth that would smite the falsifiers as with plagues, had not previously had their vials, but that these were given to them by one of the cherubs. (Apoc. 15:7.) This signifies that the mode of presenting these truths to the corrupt group that is now addressed was guided by Providence, to the end that the falsifiers might be in perfect freedom to exhibit their preference for the evil and the false.

     "If vials were given to the angels, it is because it treats of the influx of truth and good into the Church to lay open evils and falses; and because naked goods and truths cannot inflow, since they are not received; for only truths clothed, such as those in the sense of the letter, are capable of reception." (A. R. 672) "It is said that the vials were filled with the wrath of God, because they were filled with plagues which signify the evils and falses of the Church.

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Nevertheless, they were not filled with these, but were full of pure and genuine truths and goods from the Word, by means of which the evils and falses of the Church were to be uncovered. In reality, there were no vials containing truths and goods, but by them is signified the influx of heaven into the church." (A. R. 673) "This influx was made into the Church of the Reformed Protestants, where are those who are in a faith separated from charity as to doctrine and as to life, in order to deprive them of their truths and goods, and to bring to view the falses and evils in which they are, and so to separate them from those who believe in the Lord, and by Him are in a faith of charity." (A. R. 676.)

     It is needless to say that this new manifestation was but a repetition of the cycle of the seven stages of deterioration of the Christian Church, and that the pouring from each vial typifies precisely what is involved in the same one of the seven stages of seals, trumpets, or Apocalyptic churches.

     1. The first vial was poured upon the earth, just as the first trumpet produced an effect upon the earth.

     2. The second vial was poured upon the sea, which was turned to blood, and all the living souls therein died. The same came to pass under the sounding of the second of the seven trumpets.

     3. The third vial, like the third trumpet, produced an effect upon the streams and springs of water.

     4. Note that the fourth vial was poured on the sun, while the effect of the fourth trumpet was to darken the sun and the other heavenly luminaries. But here, instead of preluding the oncoming submergence into hells, there is added as tantamount-thereto: "And they blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues, and they repented not to give Him glory." (Apocalypse 16:9.)

     5. On the sounding of the fifth trumpet, the abyss, that is, hell, was opened. Here it is said, "And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast," which signifies the same thing.

     6. The effect of the sixth trumpet was the order to loose the four angels chained by the great river Euphrates, signifying, as has been shown, the unbridled outpouring of sensual reasonings against spiritual truths. The same manifestation of the satanic hell is described here in almost identical terms: "And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates."

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Mention is then made of three unclean spirits like frogs who made signs to assemble the kings of the earth to make war against God, which signifies the same sensual reasonings. And then, to point to the good results of this event at the Euphrates upon those who are of the New Church,-that is, the permission to enter intellectually into the mysteries of faith,-it is added here: "And the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared."

     7. The sounding of the seventh trumpet produced great exclamations in heaven. Here mention is made of the grosser medium on which the seventh vial was poured, as it was necessary to designate the lower and grosser environment in which the same manifestation was now being produced. "And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven from the throne, saying, It is done." (16:17.) By the "air" here is signified the thought of the falsifiers, to which the operations of their minds are to be restricted forever (A. E. 1012, A. R. 708); for those in the hells are restricted by severe punishments from any more ultimate actualization of their perversions.

     CONCLUSION.

     These four septenaries of churches, seals, trumpets, and vials relate primarily to the effect of the Last Judgment on the understanding of the man of the Christian Church. That is why their specific application is mainly to Protestantism,-its most salient illustration of a perversion of the understanding. But Roman Catholicism is also involved here, wherever the perversion of the understanding implies a relation to a corrupt will, and is even twice mentioned in these chapters under the name of Babylon. (See 14:8, 16:19.) But it is mainly after the pouring out of the seventh vial, or after the Laodicean profanation has been manifested completely, or for the third time, that Roman Catholicism, with its religious trickeries that seek to dominate over the souls of men and appropriate their worldly goods, comes to the bar of judgment as a barefaced profaner of the hallowed sanctities it has made sacrilege of Chapters xvii and xviii of the Apocalypse quite appropriately take up this burden.

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     In some future age, when the Protestant and Catholic persuasions shall have disappeared from off the face of the earth, or shall have no more importance than the sects of Pharisees or Sadducees have today, the drama of the Apocalypse will be more readily taken as a guide to individual self-examination far the sake of uncovering the falses of one's understanding and repenting of the intentions of the corrupt will which they hide under deceptive appearances.

     Then, with the development of Swedenborg's psychology, it will be recognized that this cycle of seven stages is none other than the cycle of the seven states which follow one another rapidly in the cortical glands before the presentation of each new sensation. According to the Rational Psychology; these seven states are: Intellection, Thought, Judgment, Election, Conclusion, Will, and Action.

     The septenary of the Seven Churches will then serve for man's instruction, that he may learn to develop in an orderly way these seven successive functions. Next, when embroiled in the problems of his life, the septenary of the opening of the seven seals before the angels will be with him the examination of his difficulties before the tribunal of the conscience. And finally, the septenaries of the trumpets and the vials will serve to effect a separation of the truth and good from the false and the evil, in order that he may retain the former and reject the latter. With each repetition of this cycle, the rainbow luster of his conscience will become more radiant, and the blackness of his proprium be pushed further into the background so as to cease from troubling.
WHERE HEAVEN IS 1925

WHERE HEAVEN IS              1925

     "That Heaven is not a Place, but a State of Life.-All who come from the world bring with them the opinion that heaven is on high, thus in place; wherefore, they say that they wish to be elevated into heaven. But they do not know that heaven is not a place, but a state of life,-namely, of the life of love, charity and faith, and that although the angels appear in a higher place than others, place is then an appearance. I saw that certain ones ascended on high, but they said when there that they were just like they were before, and that they saw nothing; and so they wondered that heaven should be there. But if the state be changed into good, with those in whom this can be effected, it becomes heaven with them, to just such an extent as they receive the state of love." (Spiritual Diary 5125.)

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TOPICS FROM THE WRITINGS 1925

TOPICS FROM THE WRITINGS        W. F. PENDLETON       1925

     XXX.

Evangelization.

     To evangelize signifies to announce good tidings, to proclaim the advent of the Lord (Isaiah 52:7, 61:1), and the proclamation is made by printing (T. C. R. 779, A. C. 9353) and by preaching (A. C. 3488:8.) Evangelization is external and internal. External evangelization is, in part, what is usually called missionary work. In its broad aspect, it is addressed to all who have hitherto been in the darkness of ignorance. (Matt. 4:16.) There are three classes of them,-the simple good in the Christian world, children, and the gentiles. The good tidings are to be conveyed to all of these, but with variety according to their state. (A. R. 66, 73.)

     Evangelization is instruction. External evangelization is instruction in the genuine truths of the literal sense of the Word, and internal evangelization is instruction in the truths of the internal sense. Thus there are two states of the church; the first is the beginning, the calling, the invitation, the preparation; the second is the upbuilding by instruction in the particulars of truth. This subject is referred to in the parable of the good Samaritan. "To bring him to an inn and take care of him,' signifies (to bring him) to those who are better instructed in the knowledges of good and truth." (A. E. 444:14, 375:42.) The, two kinds of evangelization are also involved in the explanation of the words, "and His wife hath made herself ready," (Rev. 19:7), by which is signified "that those who are to be of this church . . .are to be collected, initiated, and instructed." (A. R. 813.) And in general in what is said of the "angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to evangelize to them that dwell on the earth." (A. R. 626, 627) Evangelization is also a call to repentance. (Matt. 3:2, 8; 4:16, 17.)

     The "better instructed" are those who teach the internal sense of the Word, The first instruction is by those who teach the literal sense of the Word or the genuine truths therein.

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The Field of Evangelization.

     "The field is the world." (Matt. 13:37, 38.) By the "field is the world" is meant the whole human race, but in particular those of mankind who, after the Last Judgment, can be formed into a church, on account of their being affirmative to the truths of revelation, and who are signified by the " remnant." (Isaiah 1:9.) The spirit of affirmation exists with them, because they are in the good of charity. (A. C. 9295.) This is the field of evangelization in general, or of external evangelization. It is with the children and youth of the church; it is with all in the Christian world whose minds are open to receive; and it is with the gentiles. This form of evangelization is first in time, preparatory, and introductory. But internal evangelization is first in end, and builds the church itself. Neglect this internal field, and the church remains external, and its course will be downward and outward.

     Internal evangelization involves the formation of church societies, with pastors trained and prepared to teach the particulars of the Heavenly Doctrine, or the internal sense of the Word, whose field will be primarily and essentially the adult mind of the church, especially the minds that have become intelligent in the truths of the church through the reception of instruction based on the reading of the Writings. This work of internal evangelization is parallel with the work of those societies in the world of spirits that are preparing good spirits for introduction into heaven.

     Evangelization is not a single but a perpetual announcement of the Lord and of His coming, and a perpetual call to repentance. "The people that sat in darkness have seen a great light. . . . From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matt. 4:16,17.)

The Mode of Evangelization.

     Evangelization is effected by means of the printed and the spoken Word. The art of writing and printing "was provided by the Lord for the sake of the Word " (A. C. 9353), that it might be made known to all men. After the fall, the written Word became a necessity for the salvation of the human race. It was not needed in the Golden Age, for men at that time had immediate communication with heaven.

     There have been several written Words in succession.

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First, the Ancient Word for the Ancient Church; then the Israelitish Word, as embodied in the Old Testament; then the Christian Word, or the Gospels and the book of Revelation; and finally, the Word for the Church of the New Jerusalem, being the internal sense of the Word as given in the letter of the previous Revelation. In all and each of these, the Word was and is to be made living by evangelization and worship. (A. C. 9925.)

     As with all previous written and printed Revelations, the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem was to be written, printed, and published to the whole world. (T. C. R. 779.) But the printed Word and doctrine was not intended to exclude the spoken Word.* There is to be evangelization or teaching and preaching, first by individuals, then by speakers trained and prepared for this use, or else all that is said in the Writings about teaching and preaching will go for naught. The whole world knows the importance of expert work in every line of human endeavor. Is the New Church to be an exception to this rule? The question answers itself to a thinking and reasoning mind. And the work of the evangelist should not be temporary and hitting, but constant and continuous, that the work may take on the form of a permanent endeavor and establishment.
     * It has been held by some that the indication given in T. C. R. 779 looks to printing and publication societies only, and that no other form of organization is needed.

The Dragon.

     It is important to take a comprehensive view of what is meant by the dragon. When the dragon is mentioned, we usually think of justification by faith alone, but it covers a larger field. It includes all forms: the pride of self-intelligence; the belief that man lives from himself, and not from God; all the activities of the love of the world from the love of self. He is called " the prince of this world." (John 12:31; 16:11); he is "that ancient serpent, the Devil and Satan " (Rev. 12:9); he is the serpent in the Garden of Eden; he is Lucifer, son of the morning (Isaiah 14:12); and he is called by other names and titles in the Word throughout, especially where the imaginary heaven, and the judgment upon it, is treated of; for he is that heaven. And since there is an imaginary heaven at the end of every church, judged by the Lord, we can see how universal is the falsity of evil represented by the dragon; for he is the author of all the falsifications and perversions of the Word.

594


And the dragon still exists. He is still the prince of this world "that deceiveth the whole world" and "them that dwell on the earth" (Rev. 12:9; 13:14), from whom there is no deliverance except by the Lord through His Divine work of redemption, and through the regeneration of the individual man by Him.

     Since the dragon is also called a "flying serpent," and appears as such in the spiritual world, it may be interesting to note the tradition of a flying serpent in ancient times. Herodotus says that they existed in Egypt. But modern historians find themselves unable or unwilling to confirm the statement of Herodotus.*
     * The seraph is translated "flying serpent" twice in Isaiah (14:29; 30:6); and the Israelites were bitten by the seraph in the desert. (Numb. 21:6.) Gesenius, after saying there was no such thing as a flying serpent, remarks that it was probably a flying lizard, which is not venomous. (See seraphim.)

     It is well to remember that the dragon's influence may invade the New Church itself.

The Dragon as Revealed in the Writings.

     The dragon is the same as the serpent in the Garden of Eden, signifying the sensual. (A. C. 6952.)

     The dragon is a serpent "which not only creeps on the ground but also flies." (A. E. 714:3.)

     By the dragon is meant those who made God three and the Lord two. (A. R. 537, 565.)

     All who are sensual, that is, who reason from appearances in the Word, and at the same time from appearances in nature, are meant by the dragon. (A. R. 550, 563, 841.)

     The state of those meant by the dragon shown in a Memorable Relation. (A. R. 655.)

     For a long time the spiritual sense of the Word will not be acknowledged, because of the persecutions of the dragon. (T. C. R. 207.)

     By the dragon is not meant those who deny God and the Lord, and who reject the Word and the doctrine of the church; for these never appear in heaven, but are cast into hell immediately after death. (A. E. 737.) By the dragon is meant those who acknowledge these truths, but are inwardly in evil.

     The interior falsifications of the Word, signified by the dragon, "exist only with the learned leaders," but not with the common people.

595


By these latter the church is helped. (Rev. 12:16. A. E. 764.)

     It was the dragon who persecuted the Lord when He was in the world, and excited the priests and elders against Him. (S. D. 502-505.) Hence every imaginary heaven existing before a last judgment is called "the dragon."

     "That the dragons there stead around and opposed vehemently (the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem), and with all their might, and this even to the crying out and torment of those who were in favor of that Doctrine, I can testify. Thence it is evident that those who are like them in the world will also oppose the reception of that Doctrine." (A. E. 711.)

     Let us not forget that all falsification of the doctrine of the New Church itself is included in the signification of the dragon.

A Phase of Regeneration.

     Certain evils may be active in the natural or external man, and appear to others, and yet the regenerative process may be going on within. Evils are active in the natural of every man during regeneration, but they do not always appear outwardly. By introspection everyone can illustrate this by what he sees in himself. Some are more skillful than others in concealing their evils, or in hiding them from the eyes of the outer world; and some are not as yet consciously aware of them; still others are aware, and are fighting, but the removal is long delayed.

     It is an essential teaching of the church that the internal man is regenerated before the external; as we read: "The internal man is first regenerated by the Lord, and afterwards the external. . . . The internal man is regenerated by thinking and willing the things of faith, but the external by a life according to them." (A. C. 8746.) For "to regenerate the internal by means of the external is contrary to order." (T. C. R. 593; see also 591, 596, 600.) And closely allied is the doctrine that regeneration is a long process, "from the beginning to the end of life in the world; and after this it is continued and perfected." (T.C.R. 610, 611. See also Exodus 23:30, explained in A. C. 9333-9338.)

     This teaching is a help to the attitude of charity, when the evils of others outwardly appear.

596


A sign that the internal is being regenerated is when there is a love of the spiritual truths of the Word; for where genuine love is, there is a will and an endeavor to do. The spiritual law here set forth is also a law of nature. The human body requires a number of years for its growth; a tree does not reach its full growth in a year; etc. Hence the fallacy of instantaneous regeneration by faith alone.

     In the attitude of charity there is mercy. To exercise mercy is to receive mercy.

Given Gratis.

     "All things come to the angels gratis from the Lord. Clothing, food, and habitations are all given them gratis." (H. H. 266.) By gratis is meant that which is given out of good will, without thought of recompense, as parents in giving to their children. The Lord gives all things gratis to all in both worlds, but the law has its fullest operation with the angels of heaven; for they are more fully prepared to receive what the Lord has to give. So fully are they attuned to the Divine will to give, that they have but to desire a thing, and it is given them at once. This is but the outward effect of their internal state of love and wisdom from the Lord. They have no care or anxiety in the acquisition; and so they are contented with their lot, with happiness inexpressible. They ask of the Lord only for what they need, wishing for nothing more. With them the petition is fulfilled, "Give us this day our daily bread."

     The Lord requires no return for what He gives, except the acknowledgment that it is all from Him; but even this is not for the sake of Himself, but for the sake of man. For He is in need of nothing from man, but man is in need of all things from Him. (A. C. 6482, 8719.) Filled with the Divine spirit of giving, and in the image of the Lord, the angels do good to one another, wishing for nothing in return.

     Now every law of the spiritual world is illustrated in the natural, which the discerning eye may see; for even here all things are given gratis by the Lord. For example, the heat and light of the sun, the ether by which we see, the air which we breathe, the water we drink, and other things innumerable. Thus the same law operates in both worlds. The difference is, that in the spiritual world it operates more quickly, more completely, and more manifestly, even to sight and sense.

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REFLECTIONS BY A PROSPECTIVE 1925

REFLECTIONS BY A PROSPECTIVE       G. W. GUTHRIE       1925

     NEW CHURCHMAN.

     (A paper by Mr. G. W. Guthrie, read at the 19th of June celebration in Sydney, N. S. W., Australia.)

     The span of human life, be it long or short, never passes without there being felt, some time or other, the impulse of those unspoken words, "Awake, O soul, awake!" causing man to search high and low, by means of his inherited receptacles of the Divine influx which illumines every thought, in order to satisfy the hungry soul.

     All things vital to human existence, both physical and spiritual, are supplied freely, without money and without price. Yet, in the vast expanse of thought, one confesses to having been tossed to and fro by various winds of doctrine, until, at last, by that power of Infinite Love operating upon the aspiring mind, the soul is wafted into a new light, and landed in a secure haven of refuge.

     Then, standing back, as it were, and taking a perspective view of the past, one wonders Why? Why all this past of buffeting and tossing by the waves of adversity? Why the foaming billows; the sea and the waves roaring! The answer comes in the still small voice, "God is infinite love and infinite wisdom"; and, at last, man realizes that he cannot comprehend, in the least degree, the wisdom of Divine Providence.

     We read of Enoch's being translated; of Jacob's wrestling with an angel; and of Abraham's offering up his only son as a Sacrifice, in obedience to the will of God. What wonderful representations! What examples of transition! What marvelous periods of ascendency! Not into heights as measured by natural science, but into higher and nobler realms of thought; into a more expanded view, Proving the smallness of the past, and giving only the smallest idea of the eternal future.

     Realizing, then, that God is infinite love, and no respecter of persons, I realize also, in the deepest spirit of humility, that the Divine Providence has led me out of the mists of darkness and delusion into the new light of truth, by means of those sublime truths which alone can make one free.

598


Still, be it far from me to disdain the path that I have trod, which has brought me into a state of subjection. Happy is the man whose mind is receptive of the glorious light from the Spiritual Sun, of which we should know nothing, were it not for the revelation of the internal sense of the Word.

     The world today is too prone to judge a book by its cover. Who, without the New Revelation, could have known of those glorious and eternal truths that are contained in the letter of God's Word, and which lay concealed therein, protected from violation, until the time arrived for the dawn of a new era? And which, moreover, were still further preserved for those only who are willing to sell all they have, and take up their cross, in order to follow the Lord in that regeneration about which so little is known outside the Revelation to the New Church.

     New Church! Why a new Church? The answer is simple: Because the old Christian Church is dead. It died because it separated itself from the Alone Source of life, by denying the Lord and falsifying every truth of His Word. The New Church is established by the Lord to teach that He is a God of infinite love and wisdom, and not of anger and wrath; to teach that He is one and indivisible; to teach that He came on our planet to prove that He never places an obligation upon man that man cannot fulfill. The doctrine of the New Jerusalem teaches that the Lord came down to redeem mankind, not from the wrath and anger of God, or from well-merited punishment for sins committed, but from the power of hell, which, at that time, threatened the entire human race with destruction and damnation.

     We well know that evil is like an avalanche which increases in volume and destructive power generation after generation, until, at successive periods, God sees the necessity for revealing Himself afresh. Never does He reestablish the old, which, like a worn-out garment, has outlived its usefulness. Hence, today there is established the New Church, which is the fifth and last, and the crowning Church of all the ages. "The former things are passed away; and He who sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new!"

     We view with great rejoicing this new City, and the beautiful Temple not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Into it let us strive to enter by the sacred ordinance of Baptism, which was instituted by our Lord, and which He exemplified representatively in the river Jordan; and which, also, represents an outward visible sign of an inward and spiritual desire for an inward and spiritual grace, proving a desire to apply the new truths to life.

599


Let our entry through the gate of Baptism be a complete discarding of that which has been left behind.

     As Baptism is a spiritual act within a natural ceremony, and brings us into consociation with the angels, who draw us nearer in the worship of the one only God, so it prepares us for the second and most sacred ordinance. The sacrament of the Lord's Supper is the holiest act of worship. In this sacrament, let us be most worthy, not imputing any carnal superstition, but ever recognizing its representative character.

     O may the eating and drinking of the natural elements ever represent to us the communication and appropriation of the Divine Good and Truth, and fit us by the life of regeneration to receive the Divine commendation: Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord! Amen.
     G. W. GUTHRIE.
MAN AND THE BRUTE ANIMALS 1925

MAN AND THE BRUTE ANIMALS              1925

     "Because with man there is a nexus with the Divine, and his inmost is such that he can receive the Divine, and not only receive it, but also appropriate it to himself by acknowledgment and affection, thus by reciprocation, therefore man, since he is thus implanted in the Divine, can never die; for he is in what is eternal and infinite, not only by influx thence, but also by reception. Hence it may be seen how unlearnedly and inanely those think concerning man who compare him to the brute animals, and believe that he will not live after: death any more than they, not considering that with brute animals there is no reception, and no reciprocal appropriation of, and consequent conjunction with, the Divine, by any acknowledgment and affection; and not considering that, since the state of animals is such, the recipient forms of their life must necessarily be dissipated; for with them the influx passes through their organic forms even into the world, and is there terminated and vanishes, and never returns." (A. C. 5114)

600


OUR APOSTOLIC FUNCTION 1925

OUR APOSTOLIC FUNCTION       E. J. E. SCHRECK       1925

     INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE ENGLISH CONFERENCE.

     (Reprinted, with slight omissions, from The New-Church Herald of June 27th, 1925.)

     We are gathered together for the most sublime purpose committed to men on earth. Unworthy though we be, yet our Lord has led us to be His Apostles, and it is His will that we shall confer together and be prepared, strengthened, and inspired by Him for another year's joyful service in proclaiming throughout the world that He, the Lord Jesus Christ, reigns. . . .

     It is a commonplace among us that the great spiritual freedom brought about by the Last Judgment which the Lord executed in the year 1757 has led to a gradual emancipation from such false doctrines as that of faith alone, the resurrection of the material body, the vicarious atonement, the literal inerrancy of the Scriptures, etc. That emancipation is far from complete. It is still in progress. But whither is the trend of those so delivered from the shackles of manmade creeds?

     A growing humanitarianism and the progress of science are most prominent by-products. But the methods adopted by the leading men of natural science have invaded the realm of theology. While the gross falsities of the old theology, repugnant to the common sense of any naturally rational man, are being given up, illusions of a more subtle character are taking their place, destructive of belief in a direct or immediate Divine Revelation. Ishmael-natural reason-son of the Egyptian handmaid, is born. And Hagar despises her mistress. Scrutinizing the Bible in a merely scientific way, with evolution as the guiding principle, theologians conclude that the Jews were of a peculiarly religious genius, and that from the time of Abraham, with the crude idolatry, they gradually evolved a clearer and clearer conception of God, and of the life pleasing to Him, culminating in Jesus, with His sublime character, teachings and life, in whose unique personality the nature of God has been supremely reflected, and who in this sense is our Lord.

601




     It is a subtle reversion to Arianism. And I feel strongly that the President of this Conference of the New Church must call the Church to arms to combat this insidious new, yet old, error. We must arm ourselves anew with the Scripturai teaching and the general philosophy revealed from Heaven concerning the Lord's Deity and concerning the existence of inner senses in the Scriptures. Yet this is not enough. Modern scientific warfare must be opposed by adequate weapons. We need to lay deep and broad foundations in the training of our ministers, so that they may be familiar with the whole extent of modern thought, and able to recognize what is true and what is fallacious, where its supposed strength and where its actual weakness lies. We must enlarge the scope of the New Church College. This is imperative. We have been recognizing this to the extent of encouraging and assisting students to take special University courses. But this is not enough. We should have a definite plan of an enlarged curriculum of our own College, and work towards it, gradually building up a larger staff, so as to provide a regular course in art, science, and philosophy, preparatory to the distinctly theological course. Our ministers must be equipped with up-to-date knowledge, that they may clearly understand the point of view, the premises, the method of reasoning, and the conclusions of those whom they meet. We dare not, in our training of our ministers, leave them ignorant of the progress of the world, either in truth or in error.

     For this, and for every other reason, we should at once strengthen the finances of the College. We must look forward to engaging early the whole time of our professors, that they may devote themselves to the training of men for the ministry, relieved of such limitations, anxieties, and responsibilities as they may have to labor under at present. This is vital to the success of the Apostolic function committed to us.

     But, while it is our duty to work in every way so that those whose specific use it is to provide that what is of God should be among the people may be most carefully trained ever to have the Lord before them in their studies and in their life, every one of us should have Him constantly before our eyes in every phase of our daily round. This, so we are assured, is the case with the angels of Heaven, who so see Him in every turning of their body. Our religion should be so real, so directive a force, that it permeates all of our activities, especially our family life.

602


There it should govern and glorify the conversation at table, where the family meet in actual recognition of our Lord's daily Providence. The family life should so affect the children that it develops in them an ineradicable love for the New Church. And as a very great part of the parental function is turned over to the school, it raises the very serious question whether we as a New Church organization are sufficiently alive to our responsibilities in this regard. Does the Lord Jesus Christ reign in the training of mind and soul which those day-schools afford to which our children are sent? What is our Apostolic function toward our children?

     Among the prominent movements of the day are the sciences of Eugenics and Education. Where can men get the eternal principles, concerning these great factors in the development and regeneration of human life and the attainment of the ends of our Divine King, but in the Revelations which He has made for the New Church signified by the New Jerusalem? To what extent are we making use of the wonderful privileges which are ours as custodians of those Revelations? How very clear, distinct, and full are those Divine Revelations concerning the purpose of the Lord in creating the world and man in it; concerning the provisions which He makes for the attainment of that purpose, in the structure of man's soul, mind and body, and in the constitution of the spiritual world; concerning the Divine Law of marriage, and preparation for it; concerning the opening and development of man's dual mind, and concerning much more that educators of the young should be acquainted with, and which should determine their training of the young. Should we not make the utmost use of all this by the establishment of our own schools, that so the children whom the Lord commits to our care may have the advantages of realizing the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ in all departments of human life?

     Is it good enough to train children for the world? Is not training for heaven in the world of at least equal importance? The Sunday Schools, with all the loyal and praiseworthy devotion of teachers and officers, are wholly inadequate to meet the Divine demand. Religion has relation to life, not only in a general way, but to all phases of life and of the knowledge and understanding and wisdom of it. The spirit of true Christian religion should ensoul all secular teaching, and, what is still more important, all the training of character.

603




     More than a century's very bitter history, both in America and in Great Britain, shows that, except where both parents are strongly imbued with New Church principles, and judiciously impress them upon their children in everyday contact and conversation, the majority of the youth of the New Church are apt to stray away from the Church. Why? Because the pull of the world is fearfully strong, and because they have failed to obtain that training which enables them to resist it, and steadfastly to keep the Lord and heaven before them. They have not been trained to see God the Lord Jesus in all things of life; in nature, in history, in family life, in economics, in politics, in industry, in trade, in manners and customs, in the very language which they speak.

     Who that loves the Lord, and loves children, and loves the New Church, can read any of the best books and dissertations that modern educationists put forth without realizing that, splendid as has been their research, yet how much, how very much, they fall short of such a programme as would ensure the aims of education such as the Lord calls for. The science of the outer apparatus of man's mind, so carefully studied at the present day, needs to be the handmaid of the higher science of the soul, which the Lord has revealed to us in the Writings.

     I plead with you to realize to the full your Apostolic function, and to subordinate earthly considerations to heavenly considerations in the education of our children, as, indeed, in all things of life. Put an end to the lamentable state of so many of our New Church youth,-that of utter indifference to, or, at best, of merely mild interest in, what we consider the most vital of all things, the Truth and Love revealed to us by the Lord at His Second Coming.

     The Lord Jesus Christ reigns. Loyalty to His reign must be fostered from the very beginning in the young, so that they may grow up fully trained to love the Lord with all their heart, and all their soul, and all their mind, and all their strength, and the neighbor as themselves.
     E. J. E. SCHRECK.

604


LIGHT ON THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION 1925

LIGHT ON THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION              1925


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office a Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly By
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.

Editor                    Rev. W. B. Caldwell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager          Mr. H. Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address and business communications should be sent to the Business Manager.

     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
In the United States, $3.00 per year; Elsewhere, $3.25 or 14 shillings; payable in advance
Single Copy          30 cents
     NOTES AND REVIEWS.

     LIGHT ON THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION.

     As a number of friends have written us asking for New Church literature dealing with the theory of Evolution, and the popular interest in the topic is no doubt shared by our readers generally, we take this opportunity to mention several treatments of the subject by General Church writers, as follows:

     The current issue of NEW CHURCH SERMONS (October, 1925) reprints a sermon by Bishop W. F. Pendleton on "The Stream of Providence" which treats of the influx of the Divine into forms of life, and its manifestation and reaction in ultimates, involving a spiritual explanation of evolution and kindred laws.

     The JOURNAL OF EDUCATION for July, 1925, contains a paper by Professor Charles R. Pendleton, entitled "Is the Pithecanthropus Human?" which is a thoroughgoing study of the problems presented by the discovery of archaic skulls. The most notable of these are listed, and the writer considers their possible relation to what we are taught in the Writings concerning the Preadamites.

     Three years ago, we reviewed the Rev. Alfred Acton's pamphlet entitled THE ORIGIN OF MAN, which sets forth the various Evolutionary Theories, and deals with them in the light of the Writings and Swedenborg's philosophy.

605


We can but renew our suggestion that this work should be read by every New Church student.
PARENTAL CO-OPERATION 1925

PARENTAL CO-OPERATION              1925

     Addressing a meeting of women recently, a prominent government official emphasized the mother's responsibility in the early years of the child. He said in part:

     "Women can either make or break a nation by what they teach their children before the age of ten. Of what avail can it be to undertake to administer the laws or to carry on the government of a people composed of adults who in childhood and youth have lived utterly without restraint, and have been taught, or at least allowed 'to think, that rules of conduct are made to be followed and obeyed by others, while each can and will do as he pleases? The responsibility for curing, for preventing, this state of mind in the child rests primarily on that child's mother. No nurse, no teacher, no professor, no chaplain, no legislator, governor or judge-nobody-can assume or discharge that responsibility for her. This state of mind, once allowed to become a part of the character of the child, persists in youth, in the grown-up, and is almost impossible of eradication from man or woman."

     Granting this primary influence of the mother in the tenderest years of childhood, the speaker would doubtless agree that the father's support of her, and his influence with the children, especially with boys, are further requisites. Not to mention the benefits of cooperation in promoting their conjugial union, according to the teaching: "The primary things which confederate, consociate, and gather into one the souls and lives of two married consorts are the common care of educating the children, in relation to which the duties of the husband and those of the wife are distinct, and at the same time conjoin themselves by counsels and supports and many other mutual helps." (C. L. 176.)

606


SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON NOTES 1925

SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON NOTES              1925

     The series of Lesson Notes on the Books of the Old Testament were published in twenty-three issues of NEW CHURCH LIFE, September, 1922 to June, 1925. Any or all of these numbers can be supplied at 30 cents a copy, upon application to Mr. H. Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     The Committee on Sunday Schools and Home Instruction has now prepared a series of thirty-four Lessons covering the New Testament, and these will appear in monthly instalments until completed. The Old Testament series closed with the Babylonian captivity and the prophecies of a restoration (June, 1925), and the new series begins with two Lessons dealing with the return from Babylon and the subsequent period of Jewish history, as preparatory to the opening of the Gospel story itself.

     LESSON NO. 1 THE RETURN FROM CAPTIVITY.

     "Whoso committeth sin is the servant of sin," said the Lord; and in the Writings it appears that the foremost means of regeneration is the "shunning of evils as sins against God." When a man fails in this task, he becomes a servant, and is carried away into bondage. Likewise a church, when it becomes a prey to the evils signified in the Word by "Babylon." Such was the bondage represented by the captivity of Judah in Babylon. Jerusalem had been destroyed, and the land laid waste. This disaster, which it seemed must wipe out the nation, was followed by a revival and reformation of lasting effect, even as man, to the very end of his life in this world, has the opportunity for repentance and reformation. Similarly the Lord raises up a New Church in place of one that has perished.

     The Jews were captives in Babylon from 587-538 B. C. They were liberated from captivity when Cyrus, the first king of Persia, captured Babylon. In his first year as king of Babylon, he proclaimed the freedom of the Jews, and gave them permission to return to their native land and rebuild the sacred Temple.

607




     Zerubbabel, of the house of David, led a large number back to Judea, and in the year 536 B.C. commenced to rebuild the Temple. (Read Ezra 1; 2:1-2, 64-70; 3:8-13.) He did not have a peaceful time. The intrigues of the other inhabitants of the land presently stopped the work, and it was twenty years later, after appeal had been made to Darius, that the Temple was completed in 515 B.C. (Read Ezra 4, 5, and 6.)

     The "Seventy Years of Captivity" is technically from the destruction of Solomon's temple to the erection of Zerubbabel's temple. The actual bondage was only from 49 to 60 years, as all the captives were not taken or returned at one time. But the number "seventy" is used to represent the idea of the Sabbath or seventh day, because the land had rest, and was free from profanation by the Jews, during the time of their absence. (See 2 Chronicles 36:14-21; Leviticus 26:31-35 and 25:1-7.) With respect to the Jews, however, the "seventy years" signified vastation.

     The good that may result, even from calamity and misfortune, is illustrated in the Captivity. In Babylon a new spirit was born. Their minds and hopes were kept centered upon their homeland and the ideal of a restored worship there. The great prophets, Daniel and Ezekiel, were products of the Captivity, and under the warnings the Scriptures were brought to a new veneration. The Law, the national history, and the Prophecies became precious in the eyes of the people as never before. They gathered into groups to assist and comfort one another. These groups came to be known as "synagogues," and were the origin of that institution which has remained until today. From the New Testament we learn that, at the time of the Lord's coming, there were "synagogues" in every town of Galilee and beyond Jordan, and in nearly every large city of the Graeco-Roman world.

     Yet laxity soon manifested itself again in Jerusalem, rind after a few years it was necessary for Ezra to go there, and, by rather drastic measures, to reform and purify the people. He brought with him another company of exiles. This was about 458 B.C. (See Ezra 7, 8, 9, and 10.)

     A third leader was prominent at this time of restoration, namely, Nehemiah, who came from Babylon to Jerusalem in 444 B.C.

608


Broad and comprehensive powers were granted to him by the King, and the first thing he did was to attend to the defenses of the city. With the help of voluntary citizen labor, he rebuilt the walls in fifty-two days. Ten years later, he made a second visit, and corrected abuses that had grown up in the interval. (See the Book of Nehemiah.)

     Zerubbabei, Prince of the House of David, rebuilt the Temple in 538 B.C. Ezra, learned priest, initiated reforms in 458 B.C. Nehemiah, Imperial Officer, built the city walls in 444 B.C.

     A bitter enmity grew up between the Jews and the Samaritans, which latter, it should be remembered, were the remnant of Israelites who remained in the land and intermarried with their conquerors; yet they still retained a form of Jehovah worship. (Read Ezra 4:1-10, and compare it with John 4:9 and Luke 9:52-53. For the source of the people, see a Kings 19:24-41, and last year's Lesson No. 29.)

     The reformation which the Captivity had brought about was of the utmost importance. It established the ideal of a moral life as basic to religion,-namely, obedience to the law. It provided a knowledge of the Scriptures among the people, which was a necessary preparation for the Advent of the Lord, and it definitely ended idolatrous practices among the Jews. But, on the negative side, it bred a spirit of self-righteousness and bigotry that are frequently manifest in the New Testament story. The learned priests, doctors, and scribes, in common with the sects of Pharisees and Sadducees, had a hypocritical piety that cloaked an intense hatred of all that was really true and good.

     LESSON NO. 2 THE INTERVAL BETWEEN THE RETURN AND THE BIRTH OF THE LORD.

     For many years, the Persian kings were the protectors of Jerusalem; nor did the Jews resist allegiance to the crown of Persia, because they saw in the kindly reign of these sovereigns the hand of the Divine Providence. (See Isaiah 44:28; 45:1; Ezra 1:1; Jeremiah 91:11.) During these years, there was a constant increase in their numbers, and they enjoyed independence, save in name only.

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But when Alexander marched through Persia, and conquered it for Macedon, he visited Jerusalem. There was no warfare. The Jews accepted the change, and their status remained the same as before. This was in B.C. 332. In the division of Alexander's empire, Palestine was taken by Ptolemy and added to his Egyptian kingdom, but there was still no pronounced interference with Jewish self-government. During all this time the chief magistrate was usually the High Priest, who acted with the advice of a large council, called the Sanhedrim,-the same council which, in later days, passed judgment upon the Lord. (Read Matthew 26:57 and 27:1; Mark 14:53; John 18:13-14; 19-24.)

     In B.C. 198, Palestine was conquered by Antiochus, the Greek king of the great Asiatic portion of Alexander's empire, and after a while these new rulers tried to wipe out the independent Jewish State; and they desecrated the temple with idols and heathen sacrifices. The Jews rebelled, under a family called the Maccabees, and in the course of twenty-five years they defeated several large Syrian armies, and won complete independence. The revolt began in 168 B.C., and this family, as captains, princes and kings, ruled Judea until 37 B.C. But in the last few years it was only at the sufferance of Rome. The Maccabean story is one of the most thrilling and heroic in Jewish history. The temple was purified and rededicated, and eventually the power of the kings was extended over all Palestine, including Samaria, Galilee, and the country beyond Jordan. It included the territory of the two ancient kingdoms of Judah and Israel, and brought back to Jerusalem, as a capital city, some of the dignity and glory of the days of David and Solomon. When we see how the Lord lived in Galilee, and traveled into all the other parts of the country to teach, and especially of His work in Jerusalem, we realize the importance of the previous unifying work of these native kings.

     In 63 B.C., Rome took possession of all Syria and Palestine, and thereafter dictated the government, at first allowing the last of the Maccabean house to govern under Roman direction. But presently Caesar Augustus appointed as king an Idumean, or Edomite,-Herod the son of Antipater. Herod had promised to rule in the interest of Rome, and he had shown a certain political ability. He captured Jerusalem in B.C. 37, and ruled it until B.C. 4, that is, until a few months after the birth of the Lord.

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(Note: The correction of the calendar causes the date of the Lord's birth to fall in 4 B.C.)

     Herod's dominance was somewhat greater than that of the Maccabeans. He proclaimed adherence to the religion of the Jews, and to prove it began building a new Temple, much larger and more magnificent than the old one. The temple built by Zerubbabd, after a service of 500 years, was completely torn down, and the new one placed upon the same spot. The essential plan was the same as that of both the preceding temples, and was derived originally from the Tabernacle. It was Herod's structure that was shown to the Lord, and in whose courts He preached. (See Mark 11:11-15; 13:1-2; Luke 21:5; John 2:20.)

     Herod himself was a cruel and blood-thirsty monster. He married ten wives, and got rid of some of them by death. He murdered the survivors of the Maccabean family, and caused several of his own children to be murdered because he suspected a conspiracy. (See Matthew 2:16-18.)

     Just before the birth of the Lord, Rome had practically completed the conquest of all the lands bordering upon the Mediterranean Sea, and these comprised almost the entire civilized world of that time. As there were no longer any great powers to carry on destructive wars, Rome was supreme, with the result that a general peace, lasting for several centuries, was most favorable to the propagation of the Christian Religion, which spread far and wide. But in the contrast between the material and military power of Rome and the spiritual power of Christ and His followers we have one of the most impressive scenes of the ages. Caesar and his legions are dead, but the Kingdom of the Lord shall stand forever.
AIDS TO PARENTS AND TEACHERS. 1925

AIDS TO PARENTS AND TEACHERS.              1925

     The following works can be obtained from the Academy Book Room, and are recommended by the Committee:

     The Science of Exposition. By Bishop W. F. Pendleton. A Complete treatise on the exposition of the Word, and contains chapters on Teaching Children and the Young. Price, $2.00.

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     Correspondences of Canaan. By the Rev. C. Th. Odhner. Treating of the Lands, Nations, and Historicals of the Word, with their Spiritual Significance. Price, 75 cents.

     On Holy Ground. By the Rev. W. L. Worcester. The Bible Stories in their own language, with copious notes. Fully illustrated. Price, $3.50. In two volumes, $4.00.

     The Story of the Bible. By the Rev. Jesse L. Hurlbut, D.D. The Bible Stories told in simple language. Illustrated. Price, $2.50.
WAY OF SALVATION 1925

WAY OF SALVATION              1925

     "It is known that faith from love is the essential means of salvation, and thus the chief thing of the doctrine of the church; but because it is important to know how a man can be in such enlightenment as to learn the truths that must constitute his faith, and in such affection as to do the goods that must constitute his love, this shall be told in its proper order: 1. Let him read the Word every day, one or two chapters, and learn from a master and from preachings the dogmas of his religion; and especially let him learn that there is one God, and that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, that the Word is holy, that there is a heaven and a hell, and that there is a life after death. 2. Let him learn from the Word, from a master, and from preachings, what works are sins, and that they are especially adulteries, thefts, murders, false witness, and the others mentioned in the Decalogue; likewise that lascivious and obscene thoughts are adulteries, that frauds and unlawful gains are thefts, that hatred and revenge are murders, and that lies and blasphemies are false witness; and so on. Let him learn all these things from infancy even to adolescence. 3. When a man begins to think for himself, which takes place after his adolescence, then it must be to him the primary and chief thing to refrain from doing evils because they are sins against the Word, thus against God." (A. E. 803.)

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CROSS 1925

CROSS       T. S. HARRIS       1925

     The Passion of the Cross was the last temptation of the Lord. The physical agony which He endured was caused by the instrument of torture to which he was nailed. The anguish of soul which He suffered was caused by influx from the hells. He could not have suffered physical pain on the cross, or anguish of spirit from temptation, apart from the infirm human assumed through birth into the world. The cross on which He suffered represents the evil that was in His infirm human. His inherited evil is signified by the term, "His Cross." It was through this inherited evil that He was tempted. "And He, bearing His cross, went forth" is descriptive of all the temptations which He endured during His life in the world. When He had put off all the evil inheritance derived from Mary, He cried: "It is finished!" Then His temptations ceased, and He was taken down from the cross. The Lord in His Glorified Human cannot be tempted, for He no longer bears the cross of inherited evil. He who looks to the Lord as the Glorified One does not think of Him as hanging upon the cross. The evil which was His by inheritance has been put off forever. Between Him and His cross the separation is absolute and eternal.

     The cross which is taken up by one who is being regenerated is the evil that one discovers in one's self. He who sees an evil in himself, and shuns it as a sin against God, is bearing his cross and following the Lord. Blessed is he that overcometh, for in so doing he gets rid of the evil which he discovers in himself.

     The sign of the cross used in the sacrament of baptism is a symbol of the evil which is to be removed by that which the waters of baptism signify. Evil is put away by the washing of water,-by the Word. Truths from the Word cleanse from evil. We purify our souls by obeying the truth. Baptism is a sign to the angels that the one baptized is to be regenerated from the evil of which the sign of the cross that the priest makes upon the forehead and the breast of the candidate is but a symbol. This sign of the cross is a symbol of the evil in the person being baptized, and represents that which he must take up by the process of self-examination, and shun it as sin against God, that he may be a disciple of the Lord.

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     Thus we read in A. E. 8935: "The cross denotes man's proprium or selfhood, against which he is to fight." This proprium, which is nothing but evil, is the cross of the person in whom it exists, and must be distinguished from the Lord's cross. The Lord's cross was His inherited evil, while the cross which a disciple has to bear is the evil belonging to himself. Of each individual who is resisting evil in himself it may be said: "And he, bearing his cross, goes forth,"
     T. S. HARRIS.
BEING CONSCIOUS OF GOOD 1925

BEING CONSCIOUS OF GOOD              1925

     "There are some who suppose that they are not in good, when yet they are, and some who suppose that they are in good, when yet they are not. The reason why some suppose that they are not in good, when yet they are, is, that while they are reflecting upon the good in themselves, the angels in whose society they are instantly insinuate that they are not in good, to prevent their attributing good to themselves and fixing their thought upon their own merit, and thus upon their excellence above others; if this were not done, they would fall into temptations. But the reason why some suppose themselves to be in good, when yet they are not; is, that while they are reflecting upon their good, the evil genii and spirits with whom they are associated instantly infuse that they are in good, for they believe the delight of evil to be good; yea, they suggest to men that whatever good they have done to others from motives of the love of self and the world is a good which ought to be rewarded, even in the other life, and thus that they merit more than others, whom they despise and make of no account in comparison with themselves. And, what is wonderful, if such men were to think otherwise, they would fall into temptations in which they would succumb." (A. C. 2380.)

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Church News 1925

Church News       Various       1925

     SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA.-This year's 19th of June celebration was held amidst cyclonic storms, with heavy hood-rains. As the time drew near, some anxiety was felt for our annual gathering, that the festivities might be spoiled by the weather, but happily it cleared for the people to come, and again for them to go home, so no one got a wetting.

     The children's celebration was held on Saturday afternoon and evening, the 20th of June. All the Sunday School children and their parents, also some friends, were invited to tea, and thirty-eight persons accepted, which was a record number up to that date in our little church building. After tea, our Pastor, in a brief address, told why we celebrated the 19th of June, and gave the teaching of the Writings concerning the Lord's commission to His twelve apostles in the spiritual world. He then gave the New Church teaching relating to the Lord's being the only God, and stated that this truth was what the twelve apostles were sent but to teach throughout the spiritual world, and was also what the New Church was to teach throughout this world.

     Then our Pastor introduced a new speaker, Mr. G. W. Guthrie, who is a comparatively recent but earnest student of the Writings. This address, on "A Wonderful Day," suited the children and also the adults. First of all, he asked the children which day they considered the most wonderful to them in the year. At last one little girl gave the answer, which was "her birthday!" And from this Mr. Guthrie spoke of notable days in the Lord's life on our earth, starting from the most wonderful, that of His birth, to the calling of His disciples, this being the most wonderful to them, until that day of days, June 19th, 1770, when the Lord called them a second time. This then became a wonderful day to all those who were able to see that the New Church is true, because this is the birthday anniversary of the New Church.

     The addresses at this annual gathering with us are always of a missionary character, for parents are present who have only a slight understanding of what the New Church is, but who send the children to our Sunday School. The 19th of June songs were sung very heartily by all present, and the children also recited poems and sang songs. A most enjoyable sphere prevailed throughout the evening, and this was a good foundation for the next day's activities.

     The usual Sunday morning service was held at 11 a. m., when our Pastor preached on the subject of "The Spiritual Commission of the Twelve Apostles." In the afternoon a children's service was held instead of Sunday School. Special singing suitable to the occasion was rendered by the children. At this service the Pastor's address was on the words, "Follow Me!" And he showed that the words applied not only to the men whom the Lord called many years ago in Palestine, but also to every person today, young and old, and that it rested with each person whether or no he were willing to "follow" the Lord in the keeping of His commandments.

     In the evening the members of our little society had tea together. Three friends were also present by invitation. At this gathering we had the toasts, also papers by the gentlemen. Our Pastor, Mr. Morse, responded to the toast to "The Church" by reading a paper entitled, "The Distinctiveness of the New Church." In it he showed what has happened, and is happening, to those in the New Church who do not heed the warning given in the Writings that the Old Christian Church is dead.

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He said that in several generations these Societies cannot be distinguished from the Old Church, and showed the necessity of a constant and earnest study of the Writings, to enable any New Church person or society to escape absorption into the Old Church.

     We then drank a toast to "The Day,-June the 19th," after which Mr. Kirchstein read a paper on the "Benefits Derived from the Daily Reading of the Writings." All those who do so heartily agreed with him.

     The third paper was by our new friend, Mr. Guthrie, and was entitled "Reflections by a Prospective New Churchman." This paper I expect will appear in the Life, so I will not outline its contents here. (See p. 591) It was very warmly received by all present.

     Mrs. Morgan, Senior, who, as a diligent student of the Writings, and a welcome guest that evening, spoke very feelingly of the pleasure it had given her to be present, and urged everyone to be faithful to the Church and to read the Writings,-our most precious heritage. Of course, we did not forget to sing "Our Glorious Church" and other favorites, and Mr. Kirchstein entertained with a solo entitled "Open the Gates of the City," which was much appreciated.

     Our next important gathering was the social in celebration of the founding of our society on the 11th of July, 1905. This was held on the 15th this year, as it suited most of the people better. The social took the form of a "dress up" party, and had a record attendance of 45 persons. This is supposed to be principally a children's affair, but it appears that grownups like such things very much too, which resulted in the good number present. The children dressed very well, and we had various historical and professional characters represented. With games, competitions, songs, and a supper, the evening sped by swiftly and happily.

     The uses of our society are kept up regularly. Every Sunday morning we have a service for worship, and in the afternoon there is Sunday School for the children. In the evening a doctrinal class is held. This latter, however, is not so well attended, because some members and friends live long distances away. But still it is maintained, and those who attend derive benefit from the constant study of the Writings. The True Christian Religion is being read at present, and we are now studying the chapter on "Free Will."

     One of our Sunday School scholars was removed to the spiritual world on June 10th. He is the first one of the children belonging to our school to pass into the other world. We are happy to Be able to imagine him among his new playmates and receiving instruction from angel teachers in heaven.

     Another loss to our school is the removal of Mr. Hill and his family to Queensland. This has taken three children from us, but we hope they will ever retain in their minds the heavenly truths learned here.

     In my last report I omitted the news that our Church building had been given a needed coat of paint. Mr. Kirchstein kindly did this for us.
     M. M. W.

     DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA.

     The New Church Open Letter for July contains an obituary of the late Alfred Sidney Cockerell, senior member of the Durban Society, who passed into the spiritual world on May 31st. "It was he," we are told, "who bore the heat and burden of the day for the many years when the Durban Society knew no church building other than his home, and when he was the Lay Reader who conducted the services for the faithful little circle who were the means of carrying on for our generation the great work of perpetuating the Crown of all the Churches. . . .As a matter of tact, he was a genius at reading a well-written sermon; and the secret was that his heart was in the work." Yet he was of a "retiring disposition, and the last person to think that he was eminently suited by character and his fine voice for the uses which he had entered upon."

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     The same issue prints an interesting article on "Praying for Others," by the Rev. Theodore Pitcairn, and one in which E. M. C. gives an affectionate statement of the relationship of Theta Alpha to the Academy.

     Among the news items, we note the following:

     April 8.-The young men of the Society met the Pastor at the home of Mr. Melville Ridgway.

     June 19.-Social Evening at Mrs. D'Arcy Cocterell's in celebration of New Church Day. Papers were read by Mr. Oliver Braby, Mr. Eric Ridgway, Mr. Garth Pemberton, Mr. J. H. Ridgway and Mr. J. J. Forfar. There were songs by Mrs. George Venton and Mr. and Mrs. Garth Pemberton, a piano solo by Miss Joyce Melville Ridgway, a recitation by Miss Enid Cockerell, and a cello solo by Mr. J. H. Ridgway. The Social Song Book added greatly to the enjoyment of the evening, with the Rev. Theodore Pitcairn in happy vein as toastmaster.

     June 20.-A Church Picnic all day at Sarnia, under the management of Mr. Percy D. Ridgway.

     "Mr. Pitcairn has been giving a series of illustrative and enjoyable sermons on chapters 12, 13 and 14 of the Book of Numbers, and his doctrinal classes have been on the internal sense of chapter after chapter of the New Testament. It is classes such as these which illustrate what a depth of wisdom the Word contains. One constrained to the thought of what untold depths of learning are in store for us in the hereafter, when even in this sphere we can gain so much that is magnificent."

     PACIFIC COAST.-Those having friends on the Pacific Coast will be interested to know of several visits made in that territory by the Rev. Raymond G. Cranch during the past summer.

     Mr. Emil Hansen, of Spokane, Washington, spoke of the progress of the small circle of New Church people there, of their faithfulness in the face of many difficulties, and of the lack of the regular ministrations of the Church. He looks forward to the time when a minister can be placed in Spokane to make a sustained, organized effort to build up and increase a wider interest in the New Church. Services could not be held in Spokane on this visit, because of the serious illness of Mrs. Hansen, at whose house it is customary to hold the New Church services.

     In Portland, Oregon, a most cordial invitation was received to preach to the Convention Society, of which the Rev. Wm. R. Reece is the Pastor. This invitation was accepted, and it was a great privilege to meet this earnest Society of New Church people. A delightful evening was spent with Mr. and Mrs. Reece in considering the problems of the New Church.

     At Berkeley, near San Francisco, it was very pleasant to see again our old friends, the Rev. and Mrs. L. G. Jordan, who have benefited greatly by the California climate. It was with great regret that it was necessary to make so brief a stop in San Francisco.

     The Circle at Los Angeles is the largest group of members of the General Church on the Coast, and is prospering under the summer pastorate of the Rev. F. E. Waelchli and the local leadership of Mr. C. P. Unruh. At Ontario, California, only thirty-eight miles from Los Angeles, another group of earnest New Church people is to be found in the family of Mr. Emil Stroh, formerly of Bryn Athyn.

     But even in California people move away. A farewell party was extended to Mr. and Mrs. Nickell (the latter is a daughter of Mr. Klippenstein), who were about to return to Rosthern, Canada. But what is one society's lass is another's gain, and we do not doubt but that the work of the New Church in Rosthern will be stimulated by the return of Mr. and Mrs. Nickell, who make the fourth family in the group of General Church people now at that point.

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     On the return journey, a brief Stay was made at Denver, where the General Church has many enthusiastic and active members.

     The opportunity for the growth of the New Church in many western centers seems to be opening, and every possible assistance should be given to promote this development.
     R. G. C.

     COVERT, MICH.-The New Church meeting house at Covert was open for eight Sundays and four Friday classes during the summer. It was rather a quiet season. The attendance was a little less than usual. We missed our genial secretary-treasurer and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Seymour G. Nelson, who were absent in Europe. There was talk of a bazaar, but it was finally decided to put it off till next year. Plans were made to have a fine one next summer. All the New Church people who have been guests at Linden Hills or Palisades Park are to be asked to give some article for sale at the bazaar.

     It was voted to give the Sunday offering to the officiating minister. This was in the hope that it might make it possible to have different ministers officiate, those of the Convention as well as those of the Academy. This is perhaps the only place in the world where Convention and Academy hold union services, and we should be glad to have greater variety in the services, which have been left largely in the hands of the Rev. W. L. Gladish for several years.

     Some repairs were made on the church and about $50.00 was subscribed toward paying a debt which still hangs over us. We twice prepared for a baptismal service, expecting at one time eight grandchildren of Mr. and Mrs. Peterson, formerly of Rev. John Headsten's Society in Chicago. The Petersons moved some years ago to a farm twenty miles from Covert, and several of their children have married, and live near them. Only one baby was finally baptized, the son of Mr. and Mrs. George Valkner, but we hope that others of the grandchildren may yet be baptized this fall.
     W. L. G.

     THE HAGUE, HOLLAND.-The June-July issue of De Ware Christelinke Godsdienst contains the Annual Report of the General Church Society, which indicates that the improvements during the past year will be of great value to the future of the Society. The house rented through the generosity of the Rev. Theodore Pitcairn is well located, and has a commodious hall for the services and classes. The Rev. Ernst Pfeiffer was thus enabled to give a series of five missionary lectures, with an average attendance of seventy-six. At Sunday services the attendance has increased from 20 to 28, and at classes from 14 to 27.

     The Report of the Swedenborg Society in the same number states that 257 books are in circulation, whereas 103 were out in 1924? The Society published a Dutch version of Summaria Expositio, and expects soon to bring out translations of The Coronis, Conjugial Love and De Conjugio.
     H. W. BOEF.

     KITCHENER.-When one is busy taking holidays, one is very busy indeed. Thus the pressure of time during the last three months must surely explain the absence of news from Carmel Church. The dosing event of the past season, and the crowning one, as ever, was the Nineteenth of June celebration. All the children were invited, which made the total number present 116. This was not far short of being a so-called "one hundred per cent. attendance." The babies were the only ones who did not appreciate the good things disbursed that evening, owing to their limited diet and mental abilities. But the older children and the adults appreciated the banquet, the speeches befitting the occasion, and the general sphere of brotherhood and love which pervaded the hall.

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     In July, a Women's Guild meeting was held at the summer camp of Mrs. T. S. Kuhl, where all enjoyed the opportunity of visiting the camp, and spent a very delightful afternoon. As it was the holiday season, no class was held, the time passing quite rapidly in social intercourse and a business meeting. The Pastor, however, was not far away, as he and his family were camping in the vicinity. His rustic garb and unministerial employment of fireman made it difficult for the early arrivals to recognize him.

     On August 22d, a fine society picnic took place. By electric car and motors the members were transported to a lovely glen near the river bank. Swimming, baseball and volley ball were popular for men and women alike. A real picnic supper of corn, wieners and rolls was served by the committee, who spent much of the day in setting up benches and tables and making a stove upon which food for about ninety people could be cooked.

     During August the Rev. and Mrs. Hugo Odhner visited Kitchener. Mr. Odhner arrived in time to attend a Men's Club meeting on Friday evening, to which he was made heartily welcome. And on Sunday, August 16, he occupied the pulpit here, exchanging with Mr. David, who preached in Toronto. The sermon was based upon the story of Eldad and Medad prophesying in the camp of Israel, and showed how those who preach and teach the truth are prophets of the Lord; the same is also the case with those who live according to truth and conscience; so that our prayer may be the same today as it was on the lips of Moses, "Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets!"
     G. K. D.

     ANDERS ELIS BERGSTROM.

     In the passing of Mr. Anders Elis Bergstrom into the Spiritual World on August 20th, the Denver Society has lost one of its staunchest and most active members.

     Born in Sweden, Mr. Bergstrom came to America during young manhood, first sojourning in Philadelphia, later moving to Denver, at which place he has since resided. He traces his interest and subsequent membership in the New Church to a circumstance connected with his early boyhood in Sweden,-a discussion of Swedenborg and his gifts by his father,-of which he retained a vague but lasting impression that made him alert at the mention of Swedenborg's name. This impression he carried with him to America, and hearing of followers of Swedenborg in Philadelphia, he inquired as to how he might get in touch with them, but was warned that nothing but evil could result from acquaintance with "Swedenborgians!" On his removal to Denver, he again heard of them, and was again warned against them. This time, however, he was not to be denied. He finally obtained a knowledge of their place of worship, and in the company of one of his co-workers attended a service. His impression of this service was, that the followers of Swedenborg either had the whole truth or a monstrous and diabolical system of falsity. Thereafter he began a serious investigation of Swedenborg's Theological Works, which resulted in his wholehearted conviction of their truth and Divinity. Accordingly he presented himself for baptism into the New Church.

     It was shortly after Mr. Bergstrom's joining the church in Denver that the separation of the Academy from the Convention took place, and he was one of those who, under the leadership of the Rev. Richard de Charms, Jr., upheld the principle of the Divinity and Authority of the Writings, and who subsequently formed the "Denver Society of the Lord's Second Advent,"-a society now consisting of the members of the General Church in Denver. Mr. Bergstrom was the first treasurer of the society and it was during his tenure of office that the present house of worship was built.

     Mr. Bergstrom was a constant reader of the Writings, a faithful attendant at worship and doctrinal classes, and a regular contributor of speeches and papers at the church gatherings.

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For these things, and for his affectionate support and loyalty to the church, he will be missed in this earthly society, but for the same reason will be a useful member of a society in the world of the spirit.

     HENRY HEINRICHS.

     BRYN ATHYN.

     Summer Missionary Services.

     Eleven years ago-June 19th, 1914-the members of the Bryn Athyn Society were assembled in the Chapel of Benade Hall to prepare for an event of deep significance. After a brief service, the congregation formed in procession, two by two, with Bishop W. F. Pendleton at the head, and marched to the site of the church that was to be built on the hilltop nearby. Here a simple but soul-stirring ceremony deeply affected the little band of New Church men and women, as the foundation stone was placed in position. We venture to say that no one present had a thought as to what the world would say about our House of Worship. Our one thought was that it was to be a temple dedicated to the worship of the one only God of heaven and earth.

     In the course of several years the church was constructed, and in a wondrous manner that attracted our attention and stirred our affections. And on October 5th, 1919, during a General Assembly, this cathedral was dedicated. Although not sought after, and, indeed, very far from our expectation, we soon found that the unusual architectural beauty, and the many original features of church construction, attracted a great many visitors, and we assumed that mere curiosity was the motive. Doubtless this was, for the most part, true; but every year saw the stream of visitors increased, so that hundreds, and even thousands, would visit in a day. It was also observed that some returned year after year, bringing their friends, and remarking that they found something new every time they came. And here and there among the merely curious were people who attended services, coming Sunday after Sunday, with the result that today, only six years after the dedication, over thirty persons-men, women and children-originally attracted by this building, have been baptized into the New Church.

     These results, in the Providence of the Lord, have come without any special effort on the part of the society to make converts, although, whenever possible, the ushers and attendants have talked to those who have shown any real interest. And, in addition, thousands of copies of the Writings and collateral works have been sold. Who can tell how many are reading the New Evangel? During the past year it became evident that many of the visitors were interested in something besides the building, as they were asking questions about the Faith of the New Church. Gradually the idea crystallized that it was our duty to proclaim the Doctrines of the New Church to the world, seeing that men were coming to us of their own accord. Finally, the Bishop appointed a Missionary Committee, with the Rev. George de Charms as Chairman, and this Committee decided to hold eight Sunday afternoon services, advertized in the local and Philadelphia newspapers, at which the Rev. Karl Alden would preach the first four sermons, and the Rev. Wm. Whitehead the remaining four, on the following subjects: 1. The Unity of God. 2. The Second Coming. 3. Swedenborg and Marriage. 4. Swedenborg and the Bible. 5. Swedenborg and the Future Life. 6. Swedenborg and the Neighbor. 7. Swedenborg and Evolution. 8. Swedenborg's Idea of the Church.

     The ritual of these special services was made as simple as possible, with well-known hymns, but care was taken to preserve our customs and traditions, to the end that the Doctrines of the New Church might be presented in the distinctive sphere or our own worship. The attendance was beyond all anticipation, never being less than 200, on several occasions over 400; and at some services the seats were filled, and numbers were unable to gain admittance.

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Every service was marked by a very devout sphere, and the sermons of over forty minutes' duration were followed with keenest attention. The world has seldom heard the New Church Doctrine more fearlessly preached. The discourses were delivered with much affection, and were convincing and lucid in style. Those of our own people who were privileged to hear them were stirred with a fervor to do all they can, each in his humble way, to spread the knowledge of the Lord in His Second Coming.

     It may be years before we shall see tangible results of these services, but we feel and believe that the undertaking was thoroughly worth while. Let us hope and pray that something of a spiritual affection touched the hearts of some in those congregations who were hearing the truth for the first time.
     FRED J. COOPER.

     ACADEMY SCHOOLS.

     The opening of the Schools in Bryn Athyn on Wednesday, September 9th, ushered in another year of promise for our educational work. Religious exercises for the Elementary School were held in the Academy Chapel at 9 o'clock. Bishop N. D. Pendleton conducted the service, assisted by Rev. George de Charms, who delivered a short address to the children on the subject of work and play. He reminded them that they were being called from a summer's play to a winter's work, but showed that work is only a stepping stone to a higher kind of play. For play is not, in the broader sense, mere aimless amusement, but use fulfilled from joy of heart. This is the play that makes for happiness. It is the kind of play that the angels in heaven know and love. And the only way to the real enjoyment of this play is one that requires us to work, to become skillful, and so to be able to perform a use with real delight. Mr. O. W. Heilman, the Principal, added a few words of welcome, especially emphasizing the need for a spirit of friendship for one another, and of mutual consideration and politeness, in order that all might work together to accomplish things worth while. Judging by the expression of eager delight on the faces of the children, there were few among them who felt as did the little boy of the story. When asked by a dear old lady how he liked school, this boy replied, "I like it closed!" All, on the contrary, were delighted that the school year was about to begin, with its round of lessons, indeed, but also with its hours of delightful recreation, and the joyous companionships that only childhood knows.

     At 10 o'clock, the higher departments gathered in the same place for a more mature dedication and turning of the mind to the Lord, with a prayer for a spiritual blessing upon the year's work. Bishop N. D. Pendleton again conducted the service, assisted by Rev. C. E. Doering, Dean of Faculties. The Bishop's address, couched in simple language, conveyed a message of deep significance, especially to the students, but also to the Faculty. The speaker essayed to look upon the world for the moment with the eyes of youth, and to see the school year, with its obligations and its benefits, as it must appear to the students themselves. Comparing the world seen by the student, and the world seen by the man of mature years, led to the observation of some striking similarities and also some essential differences. The youth tends to feel that there is plenty of time, that many things can well be put off until the morrow, while age feels the pressure of time and the need of haste and concentration. But it is just as true of youth as of age, that time cannot, without cause for regret, be wasted. Certain things can only be done during the years when we are in the making. Later, if they are done at all, it must be with great labor and uncertain results. It is, therefore, necessary that the assigned tasks be faithfully performed. But more important still is the spirit in which these things are done. For in youth must be laid the foundations of conscience. This cannot be put off. This foundation of conscience is to be found in the observation of what is honorable and becoming.

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The boy who is honorable in his dealings with other boys and with the teachers of the school, who can be depended upon to carry out what he has agreed to undertake, who is manly in his attitude, admitting a fault, saying, "I did it, but I will not lie about it,"-such a boy wins the confidence of his fellows, and this will be a most valuable asset throughout his life. And finally the President urged that, without adopting an attitude of extreme piety, they should cultivate a love for the Church, a respect for all that is good and true, and a reverence for what is holy.

     There has been this year an increase in the enrollment of every department except the Boy's Academy. In the College and the Elementary School we have the largest number of students in our history. We have a total of 247 students, from 28 different and widely distributed localities. Of these, 39 are in the Boy's Academy, 42 in the Girl's Seminary, 32 in the College, 6 in the Theological School, and 128 in the Elementary School.
     G. DE C.

     GENERAL CONVENTION.

     Issues of The New-Church Messenger, July 8th to August 12th, furnish a complete report of the meetings of the Council of Ministers and of the 104th Convention, held at Cincinnati, Ohio, June 16th to 23d, 1925. From a report of the Rev. John Whitehead to the Council of Ministers, we gather the following information of special interest:

     The Marchant Edition.

     Work is progressing on the proposed New Church Version of the Scriptures, for the preparation and publication of which Mr. George Marchant, of Australia, is providing a fund of ?12,000. Committees of the Conference and Convention are cooperating, the English Committee being engaged upon the Five Books of Moses and the New Testament, while the American Committee is devoting itself to the Book of Joshua and the remainder of the Old Testament. The Rev. J. G. Dufty is Secretary of the Conference Committee, and the Rev. W. L. Worcester is Chairman of the Convention Committee. Since January 1st, Mr. Whitehead has been giving much time to this undertaking, and is preparing a book of Hebrew Synonyms based upon one he prepared some years ago, which includes also Swedenborg's Latin translations of the Scripture words.

     The general plan of translation agreed upon is as follows: 1. To follow the Authorized or King James Version as closely as possible. Changing the translation only where the Hebrew calls for a change. 2. To use the word Lord where the name Jehovah occurs in the Hebrew. 3. To indicate other notes in the margin, such as are indicated in the Authorized and Revised Versions.

     Mr. Marchant has expressed the wish that two editions be published, one to be in large form for pulpit and chancel use, and containing no marginal notes; two copies of this are to be presented to each society of the New Church. The second edition, smaller in size, will have marginal notes, indicating translations not desired in the text.

     It is believed that the text of this New Church Version can be prepared in a few years, it the entire time of one man in each country can be given to the work. (New-Church Messenger, July 8, p. 480.)

     A lengthy discussion of the subject in the English Conference developed such a diversity of opinion that it seemed for a time that the Conference would vote to abandon its part in the project, but other counsels prevailed.

     ENGLISH CONFERENCE.

     The New-Church Herald, June 20th to July 25th, contains a very full account of the 118th Annual Meeting of the General Conference, held at Southport, June 13th to 18th. With a roll of 134 in attendance, including 18 Ministers, and with a social gathering of 350 persons at the Conference Conversazione, it was the largest meeting this body has ever held.

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The Herald account is illustrated with many photographs.

     According to custom, the Rev. E. J. E. Schreck, nominated last year, became President, the Rev. E. C. Newell retiring. The Rev. C. A. Hall, Pastor of the Southport Society and Editor of the Herald, was nominated for President next year. Mr. Schreck's address, with its frank appeal for greater interest in educational uses, has been reprinted on page 600 of our present issue, with slight omissions not germane to the main theme. During the Conference, Mr. Robert Jackson, of Embray, and Mr. Frank Hodson Rose, of Melbourne, received Certificates of Leadership, and Mr. Louis Maurice de Chazal was ordained. Mr. de Chazal is to enter into the work of the French Federation on the Continent.

     The Herald for September 5th gives an account of a Sunday School Teachers' Training School that was held from August 1st to 7th on a country estate belonging to Mr. Thomas Slack, of Atherstone. The teaching staff consisted of the Revs. E. J. E. Schreck and W. H. Acton and Miss Marlow, and the curriculum included: The Aims of Religious Education, Child Psychology, History and Structure of the Word, The Hebrew and Greek Alphabets, Outline of the Fundamentals of the Faith of the New Church, Methods of Teaching, and Sunday School Organization. Excellent work was done throughout the week, and the students were unanimous in wishing that the school might be held again next summer.

     DEATH OF THE REV. L. G. LANDENBERGER.

     We learn from the Messenger of September 16th that the Rev. Louis George Landenberger "passed on to the higher field of service from the steamship Republic on the morning of September 7th, having suffered from two apoplectic seizures during the voyage from Europe." The same number contains an excellent sermon by him on "The Word of God," which he preached at a religious service on board the steamship George Washington on July 12th.

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PITTSBURGH DISTRICT ASSEMBLY 1925

PITTSBURGH DISTRICT ASSEMBLY       HOMER SYNNESTVEDT       1925




     Announcements.




     The Sixteenth Pittsburgh District Assembly will be held at House of Worship, 4928 Wallingford Street, from October 9th 11th, 1925. Members and friends of the General Church are cordially invited to attend.
     HOMER SYNNESTVEDT,
          Secretary.
CHICAGO DISTRICT ASSEMBLY 1925

CHICAGO DISTRICT ASSEMBLY       GILBERT H. SMITH       1925

     The Twenty-first Chicago District Assembly will be held October 15th to 19th, 1925. The first meeting will be held at Church Rooms, 5220 Wayne Ave., Chicago, on Thursday evening October 15th, at 8 p. m. The remaining meetings will be held at the buildings of the Immanuel Church, Glenview, from Friday evening, October 16th, to Monday evening, October 19th, with Services morning and afternoon on Sunday, October 18th. A cordial invitation is extended to all members and friends of the General Church.
     GILBERT H. SMITH,
          Secretary.
DENVER LOCAL ASSEMBLY 1925

DENVER LOCAL ASSEMBLY       HENRY HEINRICHS       1925

     A Local Assembly will be held at the Place of Worship of the Denver Society, 543 Delaware Street, from October 23d to 25th, 1925.
     HENRY HEINRICHS,
          Pastor

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CHURCH AND ITS WORSHIP AND ORDER 1925

CHURCH AND ITS WORSHIP AND ORDER       Rev. ERNST DELTENRE       1925


[Frontispiece: Side and back photographs of the Church of the South African Mission. At Alpha, Orange Free State. Dedicated January 20, 1924.]

NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. XLV NOVEMBER, 1925          No. 11
     (From La Nouvelle Jerusalem, 1924. Translated and adapted by the Rev. E. E. Iungerich.)

     The universal church of the Lord is with all those on the globe who live in good according to their religiosity. The church specific is where the Word is and the Lord is acknowledged. Those outside the church specific, but who acknowledge one God and live according to their religiosity in a sort of charity toward the neighbor, are in communion with those who are of the church specific, because no one who believes in God and lives well is damned. From this it is evident that the Lord's church is everywhere throughout the globe. But outside the church universal there is no salvation. Everyone with whom the church is saved, but everyone with whom it is not is condemned.

     The church, which is the Lord's kingdom, is not composed solely of the faithful who live on one earth or on all. At death, they and their progeny pass into eternity to enjoy everlasting blessedness, though not without undergoing a preliminary preparation in the world of spirits, when necessary. There are, therefore, two constituent parts to the church in its most general aspect: 1. The Church Militant, composed of the faithful on earth and in the world of spirits, and termed "militant," because the man of this church is continually in combats until fully regenerate and spiritual.

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2. The Church Triumphant, or heaven, which increases continually from the souls that enter into it from earth. To both sections of the church, when united, is given the name,-"The Communion of Saints." This is the kingdom of God so often mentioned in Revelation, which begins on earth and is continued in heaven.

     The church specific is where the Lord is known, and where the Word is. Wherever there is no acknowledgment, in life and doctrine, of the Lord's Human as Divine, or of His oneness with the Father, there is no church; for though the Word may be there, it is of no effect. Thus the sole true church specific is the Church of the New Jerusalem. For only there is the Lord's Divine Human acknowledged, and only there is there a Word by which He is known as the sole and only God of heaven and earth. After death, all those who do good from religion come into that Church,-the only one existent in heaven. "After death, all those who do good from religion reject the doctrine of the modern Church in regard to three Divine Persons from eternity, and also its faith directed to these three Persons in order, and turn towards the Lord God the Savior, and absorb with pleasure all the things which pertain to the New Church." (T. C. R. 536)

     The church specific is internal and external. It is thus both invisible and visible. In the sight of the Lord, it is as a man, and the Lord is its life. Therefore it has a soul and a body; the soul is its internal, and the body its external. Now, as there cannot be a soul without a body, even in the other world, the church in either world is both internal and external. "Those who make Divine Worship to consist in frequenting temples, listening to sermons, and partaking of the Holy Supper, and who perform them devoutly without thought of gain from such practices, but believe they should be done because they were instituted and enjoined, are of the external church; but those who, while believing they ought to be done, yet regard the essential of worship as the life of faith, are of the internal church. . . With whomsoever the church is, there must be both,-the external and the internal. If both are not present, there is no spiritual life with him, for the internal is as a soul, and the external as the body of that soul." (A. C. 8762.)

     External worship, therefore, is necessary, "for by it internals are excited, and it is by means of external worship that externals are held in a state of sanctity, so as to permit of the influx of internals into them.

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Moreover, in this way man is imbued with cognitions, and prepared to receive heavenly things, and also is gifted with states of sanctity, of which he is ignorant. These states of sanctity are stored in him by the Lord for the use of eternal life; for all states of his life recur in the other life." (A. C. 1618.)

     In the Doctrine of Charity (VIII), we read that, among the externals which belong to worship, are: 1. Frequenting temples; 2. Listening to sermons; 3. Devout singing, and praying on the knees; 4. Going to the sacrament of the Holy Supper. So indispensable is external worship that its observance is the burden of the Third Commandment: "Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy." The Sabbath is kept holy, as set forth in T. C. R. 301, when it is made a day for instruction in Divine things, and thus of rest from the concerns of worldly occupations, so that one may meditate on matters of eternal life and devote one's self to the practices of love towards the neighbor.

     External worship, or the outward manifestation of man's feelings towards God, is not only expressly enjoined by the Third Commandment, and by the Writings, but is a law of nature itself. For man is both soul and body, and these must be consociated in Divine worship, no less than they are consociated in the affairs of his ordinary life. Though internal worship is the chief thing, without which external worship is nothing but a lifeless gesture, it is certain that internal worship is stimulated and marvelously sustained by a worship in externals.

     There are some who suppose they can fulfill all the requirements of external worship, and the observance of the Sabbaths, by themselves, and apart from others, and that it is not necessary to maintain, a public worship. Thus they are oblivious to what is taught with regard to the administration of the sacraments, the frequenting of temples, and the listening to sermons. They forget that the Lord's faithful make part of a vast society, and so should all share in the religious manifestations by which it expresses its faith, trust, respect, and love in and towards the Lord. As this is a law of order, it applies to all, to angels as well as men; for the angels also frequent temples and listen to sermons, that is, they have a public external worship. (H. H. 221-227.)

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Above all, the church is a spiritual society. But as souls do not go about without bodies, whereby their presence and operation are manifested, the case is the same with the church. The church, therefore, is also a body,-an organized society. If the church were not organized, the internal or invisible church could not have existence, for the reason that a use without organic form is a nonentity. Thus there must be temples where the faithful can assemble to pray, to praise the Lord, to receive the sacraments, and to have instruction given them. There must also be priests to conduct the public worship, to administer the sacraments and rites of the church, and to preach and instruct. For the Heavenly Doctrine declares that the administration of the Divine law and worship belongs to the priesthood. Thus the use of the priest is to provide that the Divine be with the people, and his duty is to lead by truth to the good of life. It is the organized church which provides the requisite externals for a public worship, and for the existence of a priesthood according to order. This need of being organized is what has given rise to the different organizations of the New Church that are to be found in the world.

     The church consists of priests and laymen. The priests are charged with teaching the doctrine of the church, administering the sacraments, presiding at public worship, and with the spiritual government of the church. The laymen have no sacred ministry vested in them, but are taught, and spiritually governed, and led to the good of life, by their pastors.

     "The priesthood is the first of the church." (A. E. 229.) Yet it is "the Lord who governs all things in the universe, in general and in particular, as King by Divine Truth, and as Priest by Divine Good. . . .This was what Melchizedek represented as King of Salem and as Priest of the Most High God." (A. C. 1728.) That the priesthood also exists in heaven is set forth in T. C. R. 661, where Swedenborg discourses with two angels dressed in apparel emblematic of their functions, one of whom was a prince who presided over the civil uses of a heavenly society, and the other its high priest who, "by his ministry, served his associates in acquainting them with sacred things for the sake of the use of these to their souls."

     It is by Divine order that the priesthood also exists in the church on earth. "From the representatives that still exist today, it is evident that all priests, whatever they may be, and whatever their quality, do by the priesthood itself represent the Divine of the Lord." (A. C. 3670.)

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"Priests should receive dignity and honor because of the holy things which belong to their functions; but those among them who are wise ascribe the honor to the Lord from whom holy things proceed, and not to themselves. The honor of a function does not reside in the person, but is adjoined to the person." (H. D. 316.) "There must be governors to hold companies of men in order. . . . The governors over those things with men which are of heaven, or ecclesiastical matters, (i.e., things of the church), are called priests, and their function is the priesthood." (H. D. 313, 314.)

     In the priesthood there is a hierarchy. "Among the officers there must also be order, lest anyone wilfully or from ignorance should permit evils contrary to order, and so destroy it; which is guarded against when there are superior and inferior officers, among whom there is subordination." (H. D. 313. "For the existence of anything perfect, there must be a trine therein, or three things in just order, one below the other, and a communication among them, and this trine must make one. Man is such a trine, with his head as the supreme, his body as the middle, and his feet and soles as the lowest. In this way, every kingdom resembles a man; . . . likewise in the church, the mitred prelate, the pastors, and under these the parish priests." (Coronis 17.)

     Parish priests, or ministers, are to teach the Word of God, preach, baptize, and receive confessions of faith. They may be called to assist pastors, or to preside over a society of the church under the direction of the bishop.

     Pastors, in addition to this, are empowered to administer the Holy Supper, solemnize betrothals, consecrate marriages, and govern a local society. By delegation from the bishop, they may represent him in presiding at assemblies and dedicating churches.

     Mitred prelates govern a church body. They have the priesthood in fullness, and alone have the power to transmit it to others. In the General Church of the New Jerusalem, its spiritual governor and the head of its clergy is a mitred prelate or priest of the third degree, to whom is given the title of "Bishop." Deriving its meaning from the Greek episcopos, signifying one who oversees or supervises, as the supervisor of the affairs of a Christian community, it would be difficult to find a word better suited to describe the functions of that officer.

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     Ordination is the rite in the church by which a bishop or priest of the third degree consecrates its ministers: "A clergyman is to be inaugurated into the priesthood by the solemn promise of the Holy Spirit, and by the representation of its transference." (Canons. H. S. IV:7.) Inaugurations into the priesthood are performed today by the laying on of hands. (C. L. 396; S. D. 6094.) The laying on of hands is a representative act which signifies the communication and translation of what is with one to another, and the reception thereof by that other. And this is because the hands are spiritual emblems of power. The laying on of hands in ordination signifies the translation of the power to fulfill the functions of the priesthood, and a setting apart from others, as a special ministry, those who have received it. The custom of laying the hands upon those who are being inaugurated into the priesthood of the church is derived from very great antiquity. (A. C. 10023, A. E. 79.)

     Revelation makes a sharp distinction between ordained priests and other church members. The former alone are enjoined to we instruction in temples: "Good may be insinuated by anyone in the country, but truth only by teaching ministers. If others do it, heresies arise, and the church is troubled and torn." (A. C. 6822.)

     A priest may withdraw from or be released from a particular charge, but no one can take from him the powers conferred by ordination, as these were conferred by the Lord Himself. The laying on of hands was the sign and medium of the transference of these powers.

     Priests should not claim to themselves any power over the souls of men, because they know not in what state a man's interiors are. Still less should they claim to themselves the power to open or close heaven, as this power belongs to the Lord alone. Even one who has the first place in a church body, and exercises the primacy of authority and jurisdiction in what concerns discipline and government, cannot of himself, or in a council with others, impose his or their opinions or doctrinal interpretations upon others. Priests are to teach the people, and lead them by truths to the good of life, but they must refrain from exercising constraint upon anyone, "as no one can be compelled to believe what is contrary to what he has thought from the depth of his heart to be true." (H. D. 318.)

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     Consecrated priests administer their liturgical functions clad in special apparel, and wearing a stole which, by its color, indicates their degree in the priesthood. It is the custom of the General Church of the New Jerusalem for the minister or priest of the first degree to wear a white stole; the pastor, or priest of the second degree, a blue stole, and the mitred prelate of the third degree, or bishop, a purple stole. This has its Scripture warrant in the following beautiful description of an ecclesiastical assembly in heaven from which the New Jerusalem on earth has descended. It is given as the concluding Memorable Relation in the Apocalypse Revealed after the words, "Even so come, Lord Jesus."

     "Because it has been given me by the Lord to see the marvelous things which are in the heavens and under the heavens, it behooves me to recount what has been seen. There was seen a magnificent palace, and in its middle a temple. In the midst thereof was a table on which was the Word, by which stood two angels. Around it were seats in triple order. The seats of the first order were covered with a silk fabric of a purple color, the seats of the second order with a silk fabric of a blue color, and the seats of the third order with a white material. High above the table, under the roof, and glistening from precious stones appeared an extended curtain, from the resplendence of which there was a flashing forth as of a rainbow when the sky is made serene after a rain. Shortly thereafter were seen members of the clergy occupying all the seats, all dressed in the garments of the priestly ministry. At one side was a treasure chamber, where stood an angel guard, and therein lay splendid garments in beautiful order. It was a council convoked by the Lord." (A. R. 962, T. C. R. 188.)

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GOLD OF THE TABERNACLE 1925

GOLD OF THE TABERNACLE       Rev. HUGO LJ. ODHNER       1925

     "And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and thou shaft make upon it a rim of gold round about." (Exodus 25:11.)

     The people of Israel had received the law of Jehovah from Mount Sinai, and had sealed the covenant with their God. And Moses was now commanded to rear a place for Jehovah in their midst, to prepare a tabernacle for His worship. It was to be a place set apart,-a tent wherein all things were testimonies of holiness, so that the beholder saw nothing but what suggested and recalled the holiness and mercy of the Lord, and His commands, and the covenant which He had made with men. The treasures of Israel were lavished upon the tabernacle. Within the tent all vessels and furniture were of gold, even to the hooks that held the curtains, and even to the tongs and snuff-dishes for the lights. The boards of the tent were gold-covered, and their bases made of silver. But in the court without all was made of silver and brass.

     In the inmost chamber, called "the Holy of Holies," only one object was placed,-a repository or ark, containing the two tables of stone written by the hand of God,-the Law of the Covenant. This ark was made of shittim wood and overlaid with gold, and upon its cover stood two great golden figures with vast wings that overshadowed the ark. There the Lord was to meet Moses, to commune with him from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims that were upon the ark of the testimony. (Exodus 25:22.)     

     But outside the veil which hid the ark were also golden vessels,-a table for shewbread, and a seven-branched lampstand, and an altar for incense, with their appurtenances, all of gold. Gold was also present on the garments of Aaron, the high priest, a golden breastplate beset with jewels, golden bells and pomegranates on the fringe of the garment, and a golden plate on the miter, inscribed with the words, "Holiness to Jehovah."

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     This tabernacle was but the reconstructed image of a living temple which Moses saw represented in heaven, in a vision which God granted him; a vision meant to display the eternal destinies which the Lord of life vouchsafes to the children of men; a vision of the ideal human life of heaven which as yet could only be realized on the earth as a parable and a distant representation of a tent of worship, a prophetic symbol of heavenly life, and of the conjunction of mankind with its God.

     The inmost of the tent, and especially the golden ark, represented the inmost of heaven, the dwelling place of God with man. It signified the celestial or highest degree of life in heaven and in man's spirit. Every man has such an inmost in the tabernacle of his spirit: but only they whose minds are opened by a complete regenerate life will enter into its life and fulfilment after death, and be raised as angels into the third or inmost heaven of the Lord,-the heaven which is called truly "heavenly" or "celestial," because the law of the Lord is received by them into the will itself and written upon their hearts.

     Much is said in the Writings of the Church concerning this highest heaven. In the earliest age of the race-that age which is called the Golden Age-men were such as to be admitted into the celestial heaven itself. And we are told that through this heaven are ruled all the lower heavens and all the hells, yea, and all men, wheresoever they are. Through this heaven, also, are all Divine revelations given, for a revelation not first inspired through this heaven is not the Word of God. Strange things are also spoken of that heaven: the atmosphere there is said to flame with golden luster, and even fruits and seeds appear to grow as of gold; and the gold which is in use in the spiritual world below is said actually to have come from this highest heaven.

     The reason for all this was well-known in ancient days, before the science of correspondence was lost. Gold signifies the good of love. And this good of love is the universal characteristic quality with all the angels of the celestial heaven, where the very atmosphere is one of love, and where the fruits of love are sensibly abundant; where, indeed, the treasures of the kingdom of heaven are laid up, and dispensed unto all who can receive. The good of love rules in the highest heaven, and yet not only there, for from this celestial heaven it flows into all the rest,-into the spiritual and natural degrees.

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It is the internal, or the soul and life, of all the heavens, and the internal of all things of the church upon the earth. Not alone were the ark and the cherubims made of gold, but the table of shewbread, and the lampstand, and the altar of incense, and all the vessels of the "Holy Place."

     Good-the good of love-is the universal of heaven. It is the inmost of heaven,-its soul. But it is also the very foundation of heaven, the sphere in which heaven is carried. For heaven is not from man. Life is from the Lord. Good, love, is from God. An angel, from himself, has no good of love, no heaven, no salvation, no safety from the infestation of hell and self. But the Lord inspires love into him, and then takes him away from evil, and by a mighty force prevents the exciting of man's evil. The Lord surrounds him with a sphere of love-interposes His Divine sphere as a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day-surrounds him with a sphere of love, through which no evil can penetrate, and thus grants him eternal salvation.

     The explanation of our text is given in the Arcana Celestia as follows: "'And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold,' signifies that all [things of the inmost heaven] are to be founded on good. . . .Gold signifies good. That overlaying implies founding, is because the good proceeding from the Lord as the sun-the heat from that sun being the good of love-encompasses not only heaven in general, but also the heavenly societies in particular, and likewise every angel individually, and thereby protects them from the irruption of evil out of hell. In heaven, that which encompasses also forms the foundation, for heaven leans or rests upon it as a house upon its foundations, and as the ultimate parts of the body rest upon the air and ether which press around them; for that which encompasses limits, encloses, and contains, consequently supports and sustains. . . ." (A. C. 9490.)

     It is even so with the Lord's sphere,-the Divine Love which proceeds from Him. In this we are carried. In the Lord we are and move and have our being. The Lord Himself is heaven. The angels are in Him, and He in them.

     And what is true spiritually about the angels is true in a physical sense with all men. The Lord, as He is in Himself, is omnipresent, and substantially so. In His infinite substance the universe exists. Every object is sustained by the Lord from within and from without.

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From within, the influx of life-the creative activity-represents one hand of God. The other hand sustains each thing from below-encompasses, environs its least particles, upholds its forms by an infinite pressure. The universe is but a feeble network,-a web floating within the infinite life of God. Each atom is sustained by this double presence of the Divine sphere, even as every galaxy of solar systems.

     Yet we look past the stars into the dark spaces, and we see not God. In the physical universe this presence of the infinite God, creating and sustaining, necessarily appears as but natural force. Yet it is not so. From love the Lord created the universe, and from love He sustains. And in the spiritual world, which is built from His own substance in a more immediate way than the natural world, it can be seen and realized that it is the good of the Lord's love that sustains, encompasses, protects all forms of life-that heaven is founded upon good. The angels are keenly conscious of this, and to them, especially to the celestial, all things which they see are alive, living tokens and forms of the Lord's presence and of His life. All things there are known to be created immediately by the Lord from the living ethereal which constitutes the spiritual substance of heaven. All things seen in heaven are derived from the Divine sun of heaven, which is life in its first proceeding. Nothing in the heavens can be dead-nothing natural, or material. All has life within it,-life, the ultimate reality, the only thing which we can actually ascertain to be no delusion. This is the substance of heaven-the ground of angelic existence, both subjective and objective, both creative and sustaining, both from within by influx through their souls and from without by afflux and sensed environment.

     Thus it is that the command went forth to the representative people of Israel to overlay their ark with gold. "Within and without shalt thou overlay it." It is thus that heaven is fashioned. Within the angelic heart there must be reception of the Divine good in the will. And yet this is not sufficient; it will not make a heaven, or a state of safety where love reigns. It were a grave error to suppose that heaven, being within the angel, could be within only; for heaven cannot subsist as a purely subjective state; no life is possible without sensation, and stimulus from without, and communication with others, and all in a setting of a corresponding environment.

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The good of love within must be matched by a sphere of good outside one's self, and this sphere is to be as a field of conscious existence and use,-a harmonious environment where evil and false things, which disturb one's heaven, and cause confusion and discord, are unable to enter.

     The golden ark of celestial life must have a rim or border of gold about it, and golden rings and staves to bear the ark withal, which shall not be removed from it. And above it the golden cherubims of Divine protection and foresight shall forever stand guard, with covering wings, lest the tree of celestial lives be approached profanely. For evil cannot enter into the sphere of good. It is a law of Providence, fundamental and of vast import, that good and evil cannot coexist. Their contact can only be temporary and occasional, in states of temptation and testing. In reality, they are mutually exclusive, and contrary. The evil can indeed put on the semblance of good, as an hypocritical mask or a merely natural convenience. But in the presence of genuine good this external mask becomes transparent, and the evil within becomes apparent, and loses its power to mislead or compel. For all power is derived from the truth which springs from good, and evil has no power when displayed as evil, as hurtful and as inspired with hatred. There is a law of God that He-the Lord-does not resist evil. He does not resist evil by evil, but by good. Men match evil by evil, force by force. The Lord does good to the evil, and sheds His light and sends His rain upon the just and the unjust. He opposes not evil except by good. He governs the evil by good. This is a celestial law which in reality none but the celestial can perceive.     

     If we reflect, we may perceive that the good of love is that which alone protects, shields, sustains, and perpetuates. Hatred, force, warfare, may destroy and tear down; love and peace can alone upbuild and protect. Love strives to preserve, to conjoin, to harmonize. How could heaven be built, except by the gold of love? "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it." The Divine sphere of love is given to those who open their hearts to it. It is given even while men live on the earth, if the law of the Word be but written upon our hearts. And sometimes it may break through the material and corporeal veil and manifest the glory of Jehovah in the camp about the tabernacle, reflecting it as a living fire over our lives.

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Usually the gold of love is restrained by ignorance of how to express it, by hesitation, by fears; or else it is exchanged into another spiritual currency-into the silver of spiritual thought, or into the brass of natural sacrifices. Be it so; yet the good of love, if present within the heart, will also find a home in which to take up an abode, and find a way to express itself. It will more and more recognize the sphere of love which the Lord spreads about to protect it. It will soon find that there is no heaven, whether here or hereafter, which is not founded in love; and it will also see that, whenever our love is held back from its due expression, life seems stunted and barren, and the sustaining sphere of love from the Lord seems also withdrawn, and our protection against evil departs.

     But whether man feels this sustaining, encompassing sphere of Divine Love or not, yet it is there. "Whither shall I go from Thy spirit, or whither shall I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there." With the evil, as well as with the good, the Lord is present from within their souls, and also from without. The Lord reigns universally,-even in hell; yet with a vast difference. "The sphere which encompasses and protects heaven is a sphere of Divine Truth conjoined with Divine Good; but the sphere which guards hell is one of Divine Truth separate from Divine Good. . . .All who are in hell reject the Divine Good, and with this rejection they put themselves outside of the Divine mercy. The Lord's Divine Good still guards from within, lest one should inflict evil on another beyond measure." But in their own minds and lives the evil prevent Divine Good from affecting them. The sphere which sustains hell from without is one of truth-of facts and laws of spiritual limitations, against which the evil continually rebel, only to be continually defeated. (A. C. 9534.)

     Man, when regenerating, must first learn the laws of spiritual limitation; he must learn the Divine Truth. But as long as he is governed by Truth alone, and not by the good of love, he is as yet in hell. When he becomes affected by the Divine Good-when he sees the Divine mercy and love within the laws of reformation and regeneration, and recognizes the good of obeying the precepts of the law,-then he is free from hell, and is in the interstice-the world of spirits-ready to rise further, into the heavens.

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And when the golden rule of love has been inscribed upon his will, he has entered the heavenly kingdom of the Lord, and is under the protecting sphere of the good of love.

     The ark, let us recall, was made of shittim wood-a variety of cedar. By this is meant "the good of the Lord's merit," by which alone man is saved. It would be the same to say " the good of love to the Lord from the Lord." Love of man to man does not save, or protect. For the Lord alone has the power of salvation, or of saving man. And unless man has love to the Lord, received from Him, no love is genuine. Man must be in the Lord, and the Lord in him. From this love of the Lord all good of love flows, and the good which thus comes from the Lord as a source has no thought of human merit in it. It is innocent and naked; it is not self-conscious; it is not afraid of being judged adversely; it has no fear of being misunderstood, no shame of being lavish. It is pure gold, and clear as crystal, of the substance of heaven and of the heavenly city of God. From such love spring, in their order, the goods of mutual love, of charity, and of faith; and all these are comprised, as in an, image, in love that is truly conjugial, in which the creative and preservative spheres of the Lord are united.

     "There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in His excellency on the sky. The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms."
(Deut. 33:26, 27.)

     "I am Alpha and Omega, saith the Lord, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last. Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have power in the tree of life." Amen.

     Lessons: Exodus 25:1-22. Matthew 23:1-22. A. C. 113, or S. D. 4046.

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GLEANINGS FROM NEW CHURCH HISTORY 1925

GLEANINGS FROM NEW CHURCH HISTORY       T. S. A       1925

     THOUGHTS ON PLAIN DUTIES.

     AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BEFORE A SOCIAL MEETING OF THE BALTIMORE SOCIETY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM BY ONE OF ITS MEMBERS.

     [Reprinted from The Newchurchman of April, 1841.]

     In the Old Church, something painful and irksome is associated with the word "duty," because, in just so far as the faith-alone principle is operative, the performance of what is opposed to the selfish feelings is disagreeable. But to those who are receiving the heat and light of the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem, the word "duty" has a pleasant sound. To them, the path of duty does not lead through thorny places and over cheerless wastes, but winds pleasantly amid green meadows and shady groves. Their reward is not the selfish one claimed by the faith-alone principle, but a reward springing from internal delights. The duty required of them by the Lord, they perceive to be that which is to make them useful and happy in the present-not something to be done from an arbitrary command, for the performance of which they are to inherit eternal life in the future.

     Our plainest duties are those of the first importance; and, therefore, a consideration of these, no matter how familiar they may be to us, is always useful. The first and great lesson taught by Swedenborg in practical religion is the shunning of evils. We are directed not only to shun those plainly apparent to us, but to explore ourselves, that we may discover those hidden beneath the surface of our minds, and to put them away also. This is the simple and only process by which the spiritual degree of the mind can be opened and developed. It is by what we do, and not by what we know, that we are regenerated. No matter how extensive may be our knowledge of the Doctrines, we do not advance a single step in the way to heaven unless good is adjoined to the truth we know. How important, then, it is that we consider well the nature of our reception of these Heavenly Doctrines, and that we be diligent in the performance of all the uses that lie in our way.

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     Among our plain duties we propose to consider our duty to our families, our duty to society, and our duty to the Church. In each of these the guiding principle to follow is the shunning of evils. And as our peculiar relation to each involves duties of a different character, and of a limited or wider range, it may help us all to pass a few of them before the mind in brief review.

     The very intimate and constant personal intercourse in our families brings us in contact with the various members in all of our own and their peculiar states of mind-and, at times, when the ruling evils of each have been awakened into activity. It is under these circumstances that the performance of our duty becomes of paramount importance. The indulgence of any evil affection not only injures ourselves, but, by rousing the evil affections of other members of our families, it may cause them also to give way to like indulgence. Naturally we are more considerate of our own evils than of those which show themselves in others; and we are much inclined to call our own "constitutional peculiarities," while we call theirs "evils." It would be well for us under some circumstances to reverse this classification; it would doubtless help us in the entertainment of truly charitable feelings. But there is no way so effectual in keeping us in the right frame of mind in our families as the plain one of ever being in the desire to shun evils as sins against the Lord. If we feel anger rising within us, no matter how just we may think the cause of that anger, we must assign it its true place with evil, and shun it as such; and then the Lord will give us in its stead love for the one who has trespassed against us; and with that love will come the desire to do him good-a desire the very opposite of that which anger would have created. The true precept for us to act upon at all times, towards the different members of our families, is to do nothing to rouse into activity their evils; and this can only be done where we carefully endeavor to subdue our own.

     If our position be that of a head to the family, then our duties are more extended and of increased importance. It is in our power to make order or its opposite the reigning principle. Thus a man can become the gentle but firm governor of his household, or the harsh and arbitrary tyrant; the rigid prescriber of irksome rules, or the weak conniver at irregularities.

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To become the former, the same process of shunning evils is required. If we feel irritated and unkind towards any member who has done wrong, then we are indulging in evil, and the manner of our opposition will produce discord instead of peace and harmony. We are suffering ourselves to come into the company of evil spirits, and in acting from them there can be no good in what we do. But if, from a real ground of love to the neighbor, we reprove or admonish, the sphere of that love will be felt, and if it do not produce immediate visible fruit, the evil will not be aggravated but weakened. And it is as much our duty to reprove, where there is a departure from right, as it is that we should do it from a principle of love to the neighbor.

     It is of the first importance that, in our families, there should exist the highest possible degree of order; and that degree will depend upon the states of regeneration to which the several members have attained; thus there will be a state of regeneration of the individuals of the family, and a state of regeneration of the family itself. To bring into existence this orderly state, much can be done by the head. He can prescribe the general forms to be filled by the united action of the members, and thus direct and aid each one in prescribing individual forms of order, to be filled by individual action. By firm yet gentle decision he may overcome the reluctance of those who are opposed to the general forms, and thus, from orderly action produced by kind compulsion, they may, catching the spirit that pervades the family, be led to practice rules of order themselves from the true principles.

     And here we should remember that untiring patience and long suffering are required of us. Order comes not full formed out of disorder. The regeneration of our families will be as gradual a work as our own elevation from the natural into the spiritual. Some of us are but recently out of the Old Church, and our families still retain many of the falses and evils consequent upon the previous state. The change from this to a state of order must be slow; but if we are in the constant effort to bring about that change, and, as the head of the family, do all in our power from love to put away its evils, we shall soon begin to see the tender buds putting forth; and then, by and by, will come slowly out the green leaves, then the flowers, and, afterwards, in sure succession, will appear the fruits so much desired.

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But we must remember that we cannot force this development of order.

     In the accomplishment of objects so desirable, everything depends upon the state of our own affections. As New Churchmen, we understand the powerful influence of spheres, as connected with spiritual association. If, by constantly endeavoring to put away; our own evils, we call around us the society of good spirits, the sphere thus brought into our families will be felt by every member; and if our own lives be orderly, the influence of an orderly sphere will be felt, and will operate, though silently and invisibly, with certain effect. Thus we see that our plain duty in our families is to shun our own evils. In doing so, a love of order-for disorder is an evil-will naturally be formed, and this love will operate upon every member. It is not necessary for us to fret ourselves because there exist evils in our families which we have endeavored in vain to extirpate. The only weapons that we can turn against them with any hope of success are those with which we fight our own evil affections. When these are subdued, or driven from their ruling position, our influence over our families will be sevenfold. Where before there existed opposition and feelings of unkindness, a gentler disposition will be found unexpectedly to prevail. Love will soften by genial warmth what the violence of anger could never have subdued.

     When we pass from our family circle into the society of those who know nothing of the New Church, our duties become more general, but are not the less binding upon us. And here the same guiding principle, if steadily held in view, will keep us in the right path. If we shun evils as sins, we cannot go wrong. As a member of society, each one's duty is to perform uses to the general body, and, as far as he can, to form a love of use. In no way can he do this but by sincerely shunning the love of self which prompts him to action, and then will he receive its opposite good from the Lord, and have his activities guided by a higher principle. In our business communications with the world we are necessarily thrown into the company of those who are not in the same degree of spiritual light with ourselves, and towards whom, in consequence, it becomes our duty to act with peculiar circumspection. In our intercourse with them we should ever be careful not to excite their evils, but to do all in our power to cause them to indulge in good affections.

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     As New Churchmen, we are taught that the life of the Church should pervade all that a man does. We are as much enjoined to act from a religious principle in our business as in our acts of worship; for love to the neighbor must be adjoined with love to the Lord. In dealings with our fellow man, it is as essential that we consider his interest as it is that we consider our own. This view will indicate upon what false and evil principles the laws which govern trade, as it is now conducted, are founded. Men do business from motives exclusively selfish, and therefore scruple not to take the advantage of ignorance or necessity to obtain, in bargaining, more than a just equivalent for what they pay. This has become so common a thing, even among many who profess a high degree of piety in the Old Church, that, from the small shopkeeper to the merchant who trades with his millions of dollars, it is not, in too many instances, considered wrong to overreach in bargaining. Hence we have speculations which are but the complex or aggregation of these individual evils, involving at times whole communities, and sometimes a whole nation, in commercial ruin. From these reverses men learn to regard speculation as an evil; and it is a favorable sign in this day that a widespread spirit of condemnation prevails against these operations. It indicates that by the light of the New Church, which becomes more diffused and grows stronger every day, men's minds are becoming illuminated to perceive evil in the complex, and to acknowledge, from having felt its painful effects, that it is evil. But the process by which they will be led to see the evil in its minute subdivisions, and as existing in themselves, must necessarily be slow.

     For us, all considerations that would lead us to seek individual benefit in a way to cause loss or injury to another, we know to spring from an evil love of self. In the existing disorderly condition of trade, and while in early states of regeneration, we may be tempted, from the overruling power of this self-love, to favor ourselves in business at the expense of others. And it behooves us to enter into careful self-examination, that we may know, truly, under what principles we are acting-whether from an exclusive self-love, which prevents us from having any consideration beyond individual gain in dealing, or whether from a New Church principle of love to the neighbor. If we are truly in the effort to put away our selfish and evil loves, we will be as careful in our dealings with those out of the Church as we are in our intercourse with those who acknowledge the Lord's New Church.

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     In our social intercourse with those out of the New Church we should be extremely guarded. And if we find that in such intercourse our own sphere is brought under the influence of one that is essentially opposed to the sphere of the New Church, we should, as far as duty authorizes, withdraw ourselves from that association; and while from Circumstances in a degree unavoidable we come within its sphere, we should carefully endeavor to keep beyond its hurtful influence. We are not of the world, so far as its evil loves and false persuasions are concerned, and therefore should remove ourselves from intimate social connection with it. But, in the present early state of the Church, there are but few of us who are not thrown, more or less, into the social sphere of those who know but little of the true principles of charity. Nor can we come entirely out of this sphere. But while in it we should never forget that we are not of it, that we cannot sympathize with its spirit without suffering a great spiritual injury. But even here, if we act up to the principles of the New Church, we may be very useful, not by endeavoring, in conversational intercourse, to impart so much the truths as the goods which we have received from the Lord. Still, under any circumstances of social intercourse with the world, the New Churchman is in danger. Association, by which individual spheres are united, gives a powerful spiritual influence for good or for evil. And whoever is drawn, with any degree of affection for individuals, into either the sphere of the world or of the church, will be almost certain, while in the midst of it, to be governed in some degree by its spirit.

     We now come to a consideration of our duties to the Church. And it may be well for us, at the beginning, to fix in our minds this idea-we can only be useful to the Church in a degree corresponding with our state of individual regeneration. Our first duty, then, to the Church is comprised in the general duty, already more than once alluded to, of shunning evils as sins against the Lord; for the greater freedom we individually enjoy from the predominating influence of an evil proprium, the greater will be our power to do good in the Church collective.

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It is not he who is the most active in the discharge of official duties who is at all times the most useful, or who most effectually aids in the advancement of the Church to higher and more perfect states, but he who, in constantly uniting good to the truth which he receives, brings into the Church a sphere of order, and advances its states of regeneration. The Church, in a larger sense, being made up of individuals, its state must necessarily be a complex of the states of its members, and therefore cannot be in a state of regeneration in advance of the individuals who compose it. One of our duties is, then, to keep this ever in mind; and the next is to endeavor faithfully to practice it, under the conviction that for every evil which we individually put away an evil will be removed from the Church in general, and that for every good spirit which we severally call around us there will be added the power of a good spirit to the sphere of the Church at large.

     In a society of the Church, true concert of action is necessary for efficient operation. The danger is that there be only apparent and not true concert. To obtain this, it is necessary that each member be allowed to think from freedom, and not from another. Each one may become a medium of instruction to the rest, but he is only a medium when his evil proprium is quiescent. If he speak from that, he may influence, but not enlighten. He may cause blind acquiescence, but not action from a conscious sense of right. This view will at once suggest to the mind of every New Churchman that he has duties to perform to the Church of great importance when called upon to deliberate in a society-duties of even superior moment to the Church than the official action itself. For the Church exists, not in external order alone, but in internal life; the external forms are but the ultimates of the internal principle. And what is this internal principle? It is goodness in conjunction with truth; and these, when received into the mind, reform the understanding and regenerate the will, thus causing them to act as one. In such a state of order, there can be no disposition to coerce the states of others, because such coercion causes an individual to act from another's, and not from his own state; and this is a violation of that freedom in which alone man can be regenerated.

     Therefore, it is plainly our duty, when we meet in a society, to act and speak from a desire to promote the interests of the Church, and to separate this desire from individual preferences and prejudices.

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When we do this truly, and at the same time have formed in our minds a New Church principle from which to act, we will have no desire to influence others any farther than they can see our course to be right. Even if we perceive that others are not governed by true principles, it will be less our desire to make them come over to our side, and act with us, than it will be to see them putting away the wrong by which they are influenced. Better far to delay action for months than that evils should be roused into ultimate activity in the mind of a single member. In such delay there may be great use to all the members; for they who, from a religious principle, have subdued the selfhood that prompted to action, in spite of the opposition of one who seemed to all the rest to be in error, will advance their states; and thus, although the society may have seemed to be standing still, it will have actually advanced in the same degree that the states of its members have advanced.

     It is also very essential that, in all the doings of the society in which we take a part, we should set before our minds a New Church principle of action. Whenever called upon to deliberate or decide, we cannot do it properly unless in such deliberation or action we recognize a thorough New Church principle, and are governed thereby. If we neglect to do this, errors and consequent evils will be sure to creep into the society, and produce that disorder which ever accompanies their presence. Even in the simplest of our actions, before entering into them we should have distinctly before our minds the principle upon which we are acting, and determine its character; if it be not founded upon the good and the true, then it is our plain duty to pause. For if we are not acting from the good and the true, then are we acting from the evil and the false, and such action will confirm the latter. Viewing the subject in this light, it will be seen of what great importance it is that, in our acts as a society, each member should be governed by right principles; for anyone, if not thus governed, may bring disorder into the society, and hinder for a time its growth and development. The Lord says, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." And if we love the Church, that love will show itself in our obedience to the holy principles upon which the Church is founded.
     T. S. A.

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CONCERNING REMAINS 1925

CONCERNING REMAINS       J. S. PRYKE       1925

     (A paper read at the British Assembly, 1925.)

     One of the real joys which fall to the lot of the New Church student is the discovery of a new truth. He is engaged, perhaps, in his accustomed reading of the Writings, when he meets with some statement unnoticed before, or which, if noticed, now presents itself to his vision from an entirely new angle. Immediately his interest is awakened, his thought is stimulated, and he begins to read and investigate along hitherto untrodden avenues, until finally, after study and reflection, he is rewarded by the perception of a new phase of doctrine, coupled with the realization that it, too, obeys the unbroken law of proceeding from God to man and back again to God. Then indeed he thrills like some spiritual-"watcher of the skies when a new planet swims into his ken."

     A recent experience of a similar nature prompts me to offer a few more or less random observations upon the doctrine of remains, less in the hope of being able to set forth anything not already present to your minds than in the desire of vivifying what is there, and so leading to further exploration. For assuredly this doctrine is most intimately concerned with the life of every individual member of the church.

     Paradoxical as it may sound to the natural ear, it is nevertheless true doctrine to say that unless the Lord had reserved within the human organism a realm into which man may not intrude, and which, indeed, is entirely beyond his reach, man would have neither freedom nor life. This applies equally to angels in heaven, men on earth and to those unhappy ones who, so far as they possess the power to do so, have dissevered themselves from their heavenly Father.

     There is in every being a zone which is God's very own,-"God's Acre," we might reverently call it; and perhaps no one word will more clearly reveal the fundamental difference between the New Church and the Old than this, applied in the one case to the habitations of the dead, and in the other to the fount of all life-into which man's proprium can gain no admittance.

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It is guarded by a sacred sword pointing in all directions, to the end that, being the link which connects the Creator with His creature, the latter might be prevented from bringing about his own undoing by a violation of it.

     One of the names by which it is called is the "human infernal," and its abode the " heaven of human internals." It is the province of the indwelling Divine; it is that aspect of creation upon which the Lord looked and pronounced "good." And He builds it up in man by the agency of Remains.

     Remains, we learn, are the Lord's things; namely, all the states of good and truth stored up in man from infancy to old age,-and through eternity. These do not come by man's learning them of himself. They are states, not cognitions, and are the gift of the Lord. And just because no one can live unless there be something really living within him-that is, something of innocence, charity and mercy-he receives these as a splendid heritage from his Father in the heavens, when an infant and child.

     Elsewhere we are told that Remains are all the states of affection for good and truth with which man is gifted by the Lord from his infancy to the end of his life, which states are stored up for his use in the after life, where all states return. They are represented in the Word by the seven years of plenty during which Joseph garnered into the great Egyptian storehouses all the harvests of the land-against the time of famine. Indeed, Remains are treated of throughout the Word, and in that view bear witness to the ceaseless operations of the Divine Providence in forming man for a life of heavenly felicity. These Remains, which are also called the "living soul of all flesh," are holy, because they are of the Lord, who alone knows their quality and quantity, according to which man enjoys blessedness in the other life, when these gifts, formerly hidden in his interiors, are laid bare with the discarding of corporeal and worldly things. So much is this the case that, on the one hand, men from every religion are saved, provided they have received Remains as the result of a life of charity; on the other hand, those without. Remains cannot enter heaven.

     While the Lord dwelt upon this earth, engaged in the work of glorifying His Human, He was undergoing states to which those experienced by regenerating men are analogous.

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If we would endeavor to examine our inner selves in the light of what is revealed concerning them, and at the same time, in an attitude of humility and teachableness, ponder over the story of the Lord's combats and victories, we should understand a great deal more than we now do as to what our real uses upon this earth are. The time will be when this is done habitually and faithfully, and more of man's own part in the processes of regeneration will be brought to our knowledge. The hidden things of the Word, we read, are in the power of everyone to conceive, provided he first learns what Remains are, for these, at the present day, are unknown. Mark well, however, the word "learn." The Lord, through His Revelation, is the only Teacher, and there must be no fanciful speculations, no darling theories drawn from the recesses of the human proprium.

     So, then, the Lord also had Remains; but in His case they consisted of all the Divine states of good and truth which He procured to Himself, and by means of which He united the Human Essence to the Divine; or, described in other terms, they were Divine Goods and Divine Truths which He procured for Himself by His own power-predicable solely of the Divine Proprium.

     From the foregoing it might perhaps be imagined that Remains, fundamental as they are to human existence, are nevertheless something with which man is only remotely concerned, something outside his sphere of action, and for the most part even beyond his knowledge. But this is a superficial view. There is nothing affecting man's spiritual life which he himself cannot in turn affect, or rather, cannot determine to what extent it shall affect him. It is not to be questioned that the actual storing of Remains is done by the Lord secretly, and without our knowledge or consent; but the time arrives when that point in our development is reached when we are fitted to learn something about Remains,-that "Seed of Peace,"-and the work of implantation begins. Here man's mind is first enlightened, the formation of his rational starts, and he commences to acquire a duality of his own.

     An extremely interesting number (2280) in the Arcana Celestia instructs us that goods of a threefold kind are signified by Remains; that is, goods of infancy, goods of ignorance, and goods of intelligence.

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The goods of infancy being what are insinuated into man from his first nativity even to the age in which he begins to be instructed to know something; the goods of ignorance being what are insinuated when he is being instructed, and begins to know something; and the goods of intelligence being what are insinuated when he is capable of reflecting upon what is good and true, The good of infancy is inseminated from infancy to the tenth year of age, the good of ignorance from the tenth to the twentieth year, and from this year man begins to become rational, to have the faculty of reflection, and to procure to himself the good of intelligence. These processes are made possible by the presence of Remains, the storing of which, to repeat, is a Divine work, while man must co-operate in their implantation. To illustrate once more by the medium of the letter of the Word, the Lord gave the bountiful harvests, but Joseph had to collect them and ration out the corn to the people during the famine years. At this point man's proprium is really aroused, his first spiritual fights take place, the Spirit of God broods over his troubled waters, and the presence of the Lord with man begins to be perceived in those things which are His Own with man. The promise that if the door of the soul be opened the Lord will enter and dwell therein is abundantly justified.

     By virtue of the Remains with him, man is able to act as a man and recognize what is good and true; can reflect upon each thing, and so thinking and reasoning, can learn the lesson that it is for him to make use of those states which have been stored up within him against the day when his intelligence first comes to the light. And thus, by the formation of his selfhood, he first really lives. Henceforward he is consciously to accept the Divine aid offered to him, and to implement those states which have been given him by others, which will be tinged by the quality of his own action and will. The first steps in the regenerating life are taken at this time; and so vital to human well-being is the storing of Remains that without them man could not undergo one single temptation, and as a consequence would never be truly human.

     The teaching concerning the duty of human reciprocation in this matter is further reinforced by what is said in the True Christian Religion at no. 24: "It has been shown that the unity of God is most intimately inscribed on the minds of all mankind, since it is the centre of all influences from God into the human soul; but the reason it has not descended thence into the human understanding is because hitherto there has been a deficiency of those knowledges whereby a man ought to ascend to meet God, it being every man's duty to prepare a way for God, that is, to prepare himself for His reception, which must be done by knowledges."

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The number, which will repay careful study, goes on to give a list of the knowledges which were hitherto lacking, but have now been revealed, and to show that as man collects them from the Word he prepares a way for God to descend and elevate him.

     The light surrounding this teaching shows how utterly misconceived is the modern idea of hastening the development of the child, which is done in absolute ignorance of its real mentality and needs, interferes with the Lord's work with him, and tends to the abolition of those very states of innocence which it is the especial province of the celestial angels' to guard. The child-prodigy is a pitiful sight, the product of present-day civilization; and, did the world but know, it is depriving itself of an element most badly needed for its own preservation and rejuvenation. The monkey gland is going to turn out to be a very inferior substitute for be spoiled innocence, I fear! Full of significance, indeed, was the Lord's action, when he placed "a little child in their midst."

     There is but one right way of progress for child, adolescent or adult; and that is the way of order, giving to each state full opportunity to unfold with an avoidance of all precipitancy. In point of fact, neither spiritual nor natural growth can be hurried without harm. More than one fond parent who rejoiced in his child's school triumphs has afterwards sadly wondered why the same measure of success was not being maintained in after years. The answer is that his child was the victim of wrong aims and methods, and the very training which should have assisted his reasoning faculties resulted in his mental stultification. Let us, as New Churchmen, see to it that those states of innocence, charity and mercy, which are the Lord's Remains, are not injured, either in ourselves or in others, by unwise action or unworthy ends.

     One of the interior uses of infants and children is to help in keeping alive these states in the world, and so to remind us that we ought to anticipate and prepare for the time when we can re-enter them. This state of preparation is fostered by the rejection of every unworthy thought and suggestion as it arises, and so we "hurt not the oil and the wine" of spiritual life.

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For as man is introduced to the world, the celestial things of his child-life disappear; and although in reality they still remain to temper his subsequent states, they can only as it were reappear as he is instructed concerning them and is willing to act in accordance with them. The conjunction between the Lord and man is so effected.

     In the course of his progress through the natural world, the regenerating man is constantly accumulating new Remains, and this he does by learning new truths and doing them. This may not improperly be called his life's work, though we are also told that in adult life his new states relate not so much to good as to truth; but these, too, are stored up in his interiors for after use. Through these remains of truth, born as they are of the influx of spiritual things from the Lord, we are able to comprehend what the good and truth of civil and moral life are; and the more we co-operate, the greater measure of spiritual truth we can receive, and the more truly rational we grow.

     It might be well to recall for a moment the importance of worship, both public and private, but more particularly public in connection with the storing of Remains. In worship, we read, man is gifted with states of good which return to help him in the future life. These would appear to counterbalance the states of truth, which are more particularly acquired in adult life; and beyond the taking part in worship reverentially, and with the Lord before our eyes, we would seem to be able to make little if any contribution to them. One moral is, that New Church people, spiritually speaking, have not the right to absent themselves from Divine worship-the obligation to attend being primarily to the Lord-and that if we do so thoughtlessly, or without sufficient reason, we do it to the detriment of our soul's welfare. A further point is the teaching that, during worship, all men, even the evil, feel that they are worshiping the Lord, and believe the doctrine which they are preaching or hearing. It would appear to be true that, in all worship directed to the Lord, external and lacking in proper preparation though it may be, God draws perceptibly nearer, and the human proprium is reduced to temporary, relative quiescence. There is not opportunity to explore this teaching now, but it might prove to make one with the law that in heaven the very utterance of the word "gods" is impossible.

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     Remains are always kept in the very center of life, being remitted into the natural man when he is in a state of good, so as to assist him in his temptations, but being withdrawn when he comes into states of evil, so as to prevent their admixture with evils. On the one hand, evil and falsity with those who are good are successively rejected to the sides, while goods and truths, which are Remains, are collected to the middle, until the state is full, when they are elevated to heaven. On the other hand, the Remains which are with those incapable of regeneration are well reserved in their interiors, out of harm's way; although men cannot actually injure them, they are permitted to depart from them in will, and when they do this, they shut themselves off from salvation.

     In particular, it is said that, when man immerses truths in cupidities, he profanes them, and so deprives himself of Remains; and then he becomes the vilest of brutes; and deceit acts like poison which penetrates to the interior and destroys Remains; and also, that Remains with hypocrites have been consumed, and with them everything of spiritual life; and, therefore, hypocrites cannot perform repentance. For the benefit of those who wish to preserve their natural as well as their spiritual comeliness, it may be added that whatever one desires to hide contracts one's face.

     Much concerning Remains is also taught in a more extended sense, applicable to nations and churches, where the same laws hold. When a church departs from true order, and proceeds to its vastation, the Lord always provides in like manner that there shall be Remains,-a remnant from whom faith and charity have not entirely departed, and who consequently can serve as a link with heaven. These are gradually separated and formed into a nucleus through whom the succeeding church may be brought into existence. The classic example of this law is the Antediluvian Church, which in course of time conceived dreadful persuasions, and immersed the goods and truths of faith in filthy lusts, to such an extent that there were scarcely any Remains left with them; and that when this state was reached, they were as it were suffocated of themselves; for man cannot live without Remains. In Remains only the life of man is above that of brutes; through them he can reflect, think, and reason, and in them alone there is spiritual and celestial life.

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     Finally, there is the teaching in its application to conjugial love,-that precious gift which is to restore the church and bring mankind back to a state of integrity. Upon this we are taught that conjugial love is implanted in every woman from creation, and together with it the love of offspring, and from the woman is communicated to the man-the human semblance of the Divine love for creation and preservation; and further, that the conjugial principle is the jewel of human life, and the inner homestead,-the storehouse for Remains,-of the Christian Religion.

     The second essential of God's love is the desire to be one with others, manifested in His conjunction with heaven, with every individual in the church, and with every good and truth that enters into the constitution of man and the church. This universal sphere of the Divine Love affects in a particular manner those who receive the love of God in themselves. Here, it seems to me, we are pointed to the inmost dwelling of the most High, and to the true nature and function of Remains.

     I am conscious that my treatment of this great theme is not remarkable for its attractiveness, and apologize. The theme itself is of transcendent interest and importance, for which reason I have, in dealing with it, tried to keep quite close to the text. With all my heart I believe that the revelation made through the instrumentality of Swedenborg is a revelation of the mind and from the mouth of the Lord. The value of what has been said must stand or fall by that criterion. I have endeavored to show the doctrine of the New Church to be that, were man allowed to range at will over the whole field of his life, it would lead to his destruction, and that, therefore, God has reserved a portion to be kept inviolate, unassailable, indestructible, and that this is effected by the agency of Remains. Also, that though man is not cognizant when this is being done, and how it is done in his own individual case, yet he is responsible for the use to which he puts these great gifts, and for adding to them by the exercise of his spiritual faculties. Upon this his eternal blessedness depends.

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AUTHORITY OF THE UNPUBLISHED WRITINGS 1925

AUTHORITY OF THE UNPUBLISHED WRITINGS       Rev. F. E. GYLLENHAAL       1925

     All the Theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, "Servant of the Lord Jesus Christ," are the Word of the Second Advent. They include his unpublished as well as his published Theological Writings. Or they include everything he wrote, from The History of Creation to the end of The Consummation of the Age. Or, again, they include everything he wrote of a "theological" nature, or relating to the "doctrines" of the New Church, from the "first day" of his "call" by the Lord, in April, 1745, to the day of his death, on the 29th of March, 1772. In other words, all the Theological Writings were written by the Lord through Swedenborg, which means that the Lord is their Author, and that Swedenborg was the instrument through whom they were first received, taught, written out, and published by the press. They are the Lord's Second Advent, even according to the declaration of The Ecclesiastical History of the New Church, that on all of them in the spiritual world was written: " This book is the Advent of the Lord."

     This is my belief, and the position I take throughout this paper. I will endeavor to support this position and to confirm my belief.     

     The Lord alone can give His Word, establish it, and by means of it determine its authority, nature and extent; but He gives men to perceive what He has given, established and determined; to believe what they perceive; and to confirm their belief. The Lord gives His Word by proceeding, creating, influx, correspondence and accommodation. He establishes and determines it by doctrine drawn thence by priests who are in illustration. He gives men, also by means of doctrine and a life according to it, a perception whereby they may have belief. He leads them to confirm their belief by rational, philosophical, scientific and sensual things, in the light of genuine doctrine or guided by it as a lamp. The Theological Writings themselves establish the position that they are "from the Lord alone," given through the instrumentality of Swedenborg.

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They also supply all the rational, philosophical, scientific and sensual truths required to confirm the truth of this position. And the Lord has provided other evidence, both scientific and sensual, with which further to confirm the position.

     The starting-point, however, must be the position that the Theological Writings are the Word of the Lord. There must be a general perception and belief in this principal, universal, and fundamental truth, in order to be able to confirm it by other means. The doctrine concerning the rational is to this effect. The same is true of the doctrine concerning the affirmative and the negative. There is, in fact, a universal affirmative "that the Word is the Word" (S. D. 4533), and this affirmative must be received and cherished, in order that it may be a means to the full reception of the Word and to an enlightened understanding of it. This is not a "teaching" affirmative; yet it is requisite to the acceptance of the truth taught by the external way,-natural Divine truth in objective Divine Revelation form, which with us is the Word.

     Belief, first; confirmation, second; is the way of order. To reverse or invert this order is to create disorder. Man cannot make the Word; he cannot establish it; he cannot determine it. To proceed by the way of disorder is to stray ever farther from the perception of the Theological Writings as the Word of the Lord. Affirmation of the essential unity of all the Theological Writings strengthens perception and belief, and increases the light which flows in through the heartens by the internal way. But the denial of their unity weakens and destroys perception and common sense, dims and extinguishes the light of heaven, and leads to the rejection of all legitimate confirmations. The dividing of the Theological Writings leads inevitably to their total rejection. This has been the experience in the New Church since its commencement.

     Every man of sound reason sees that the only way of order is to believe first, and then to confirm belief, and that it is against order to endeavor to establish belief by sensual, scientific, philosophical and rational means. The latter way is a broad one along which man is led by the hells through his own rational, which imagines it sees and is wise, yet actually is spiritually blind and insane. But the former way is the strait and narrow road along which man is led by the Lord through the Word, yet so wonderfully that there, is preserved with him continually the appearance that he is acting of himself; and his rational truly sees, advances into ever brighter spiritual light, and from the Lord's Life and Light is truly wise.

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     The way of disorder does not lead to belief, because he who pursues it does not sincerely desire belief; or he does not honestly believe in such belief, or does not regard a belief in the Theological Writings as the Word of the Lord as a goal, and the Word as a Star to guide him to the goal. The way of order, on the other hand, will enable man to descend freely from the Olympian heights of belief to the planes of reason and philosophy, of science and the senses, and from these lower levels to view the mountain and its top from all sides or from round about, again to return safely to its heights, and from them see the planes below. In other words, the position that all the Theological Writings are the Word of the Lord, by reason of the light from the sun of heaven streaming down through the Word thus acknowledged and believed, and through the opened internal man, will result in the reception and development of the ability to distinguish and discriminate between the true and the false in all the confirmations investigated for the purpose of supporting the position and confirming the belief, and also will enable the mind to delight in the exercises of its faculties and in its contemplation and enjoyment of the external and internal wonders of all that the Lord has created and revealed.

     II.

     The position here taken is an interpretation of Divine Revelation. Yet it is based upon the unequivocal acknowledgment of the infallibility of Divine Revelation. The doctrine that the Theological Writings are the Word of the Second Advent is the fundamental doctrine of the New Church, and has been recognized and acknowledged by New Churchmen since the beginning of the New Church. It is the professed fundamental doctrine of the General Church. Of course, it is an interpretation; yet it is one that is believed by its professors to be one with, or in entire agreement with, the infallible Divine Truth of the Word. The position of this paper is in entire agreement with that interpretation, but it goes further, for it includes all the Theological Writings from the History of Creation onward, whereas the common understanding and acceptance of the General Church's position has been that it includes only the Theological Writings from the Spiritual Diary onward.

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     So far as I am aware, however, the General Church has never made any limiting pronouncement, but has declared simply a general affirmation of, and profession of belief in, the Divine Authority of the Theological Writings, and that they are the Word of the Lord in His Second Coming. But the aim and purpose of this paper is to support and confirm the position and belief that the Authorship, and, therefore, the authority, of the unpublished Theological Writings is the same as that of the published ones. The General Church; with the exception pointed out above, has consistently professed this to be true, and has defended it. The same may be said of many New Churchmen outside the General Church. The General Conference officially makes no distinction between the published and unpublished Theological Writings, as is evident from the declaration in its yearly book, Minutes of Conference, wherein "the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem" are said to be "contained in the Theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg."

     However, many New Churchmen have drawn a line between the published and unpublished Theological Writings. Some have rejected the unpublished ones; others have made different divisions; many have attacked the Spiritual Diary in particular, and, of course, the works preceding it; and the whole subject has been ventilated in controversy since the commencement of the New Church. This has been done not only in books, articles and debates, but the interpretations against the authority of the unpublished Theological Writings has been introduced by translators and editors into the books themselves, both in prefaces and footnotes, also into the Pott's Concordance. All the positions taken have been interpretations of the Theological Writings themselves, but interpretations which I believe to be erroneous, and some of them utterly false.

     III.

     Let our thought in considering this subject be further guided by such statements as the following:

     "The case is the same in general with the church when it is being established: the doctrinal things of good and truth must be collected into a one, for it is on these that it is built.

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Moreover, doctrinal things have a connection with, and a mutual respect to, each other; and, therefore, unless they are first collected into a one, there will be a defect, and that which is lacking must be supplied by man's rational. And how blind and illusory this is in spiritual and Divine things, when its conclusions are from itself, has been abundantly shown above. For this reason, there has been given to the church the Word, which contains all the doctrinal things of good and truth " (A. C. 3786.)

     "The command given in the representative church, that all truth shall stand on the word of two or three witnesses, and not on that of one, . . . is founded upon the Divine law that one truth does not confirm good, but a number of truths; for one truth, without connection with others, is not confirmatory, but a number together, because from one may be seen another. One does not produce any form, and thus not any quality, but only a number that are connected in a series. For as one tone does not produce any melody, still less harmony, so neither does one truth." (A. C. 41911.)

     The Theological Writings contain the doctrinals and doctrines, or all the witnesses, required to establish and confirm their Authorship and authority; but it is left to men to collect them into one. The rational cannot supply the witnesses, or the truths, doctrinals and doctrines. Yet the, rational can and must collect them, also select and arrange them into series. The interpretation of the Writings depends upon such functioning of the rational. The rational is also guided in this work by the doctrines concerning order and subordination, universals and singulars, generals and particulars. Indeed, there are many doctrines, all of them contained in the Writings, which are required for the purpose of enabling the rational to confirm the Word; in this case, the position that the Theological Writings are the Word. Especially important to our purpose is the doctrine concerning universals and singulars, as it teaches that what is universal reigns in all singulars; also, that a universal, because made up of innumerable singulars, is true, and may readily be perceived as true. And note particularly, that two universals are essential to every form, the one prior and the other posterior. (Science of Exposition, by W. F. Pendleton, p. 32). This is exemplified in good and truth, substance and form, active and passive, soul and body, etc. The application to our subject may be put in these words: What the Lord reveals is with men the Word; and the Theological Writings are a revelation by the Lord from Himself.

     In obedience to the doctrines named and referred to, and to the Divine laws quoted, members of the New Church have collected into one the doctrinals and truths establishing and confirming the doctrine that the Writings are of Divine authority, and are the Word of the Second Advent.

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It is not necessary, therefore, to do this in the present paper. Yet a few quotations will be made for the purpose of calling attention to universal truths. At the same time it will be assumed as generally accepted that the Lord is the Word, that the Old and New Testaments are the Word, that the Lord is the Author of the Word, thus the Author of the Old and New Testaments, and that these are Divine revelations of such things as will give man a knowledge of God, will lead to eternal life, and will conduce to man's salvation. (A. C. 10320.) I will also premise two quotations which have immediate application to the subject in its universal aspect. These read as follows:

     "But here, as elsewhere, there is not the least word that is superfluous and vain; for it is the Word of the Lord. There is therefore no repetition, except with another significance." (A. C. 134)

     "Things written elsewhere cannot be brought into close connection with things written later, unless they are both repeated and viewed together. (D. P. 193)

     The first statement refers specifically to the Old Testament, the second to the Writings; yet both apply to both, as well as to the New Testament; and they also apply in the collection of truths, doctrinals and doctrines for the purpose of formulating a doctrine of the church upon which the church may be built, and upon which man's belief may rest.

     IV.

     Now observe the universal character of this statement: "That which the Divine has revealed is with us the Word." (A. C. 10320, H. D. 251.) This is repeated in the Heavenly Doctrine, and again in the Apocalypse Explained, in this form: "No one has religion except from revelation, and revelation with us is the Word?' (963:2.) Early in the Arcana it is stated thus: "And because truth is meant by the 'Word,' all revelation is meant, and thus also the Word itself or Holy Scripture." (2894.)

     Later in the Arcana we are given this most significant statement:

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     "In the original language (the Hebrew) by 'word' is meant some real thing; and hence Divine revelation is called the 'Word,' and so also is the Lord in the supreme sense. And by the 'Word,' when predicated of the Lord, and also of revelation from Him, in the proximate sense is signified Divine Truth, from which all things that are real have their existence." (5272.)

     These are universal truths, and therefore they appear as true when separated from their context as with it. Yet their context supports the manifest meaning that all Divine revelation to men on this earth, and all Divine Truth, is the Word. This agrees entirely with the doctrine, also abundantly stated in the Writings, that the Word has existed in all times, but not the Word of the Old and New Testaments. (A. C. 2895.) And in the light of these universal truths it can be seen that the Writings are the Word, for they are definitely stated to be "revelation" in the following quotations:

     "Hence it is evident that the meaning of these words of the Lord (Matt. 24:29-31) is, that in the end of the church, when no love, and consequently when no faith, remains, the Lord will open the Word as to its internal sense, and reveal the arcana of heaven. The arcana which are revealed in the following pages are concerning heaven and hell, and also concerning the life after death. . . . Such an immediate revelation is now made because this is what is meant by the coming of the Lord." (H. 1.)

     "Any one may see that the Apocalypse could not be explained but by the Lord alone, since every word of it contains arcana which never could be known without some special illumination and consequent revelation; wherefore it has pleased the Lord to open the sight of my spirit, and to teach me. It must not therefore be supposed that I have given any explication of my own, nor even that of any angel, but only what I have had communicated to me from the Lord alone." (A. R. Pref.)

     "From this new heaven the Lord Jehovih derives and produces a new church on the earth, which is effected by means of a revelation of truths from His mouth, or from His Word, and by inspiration." (Coronis 18.)

     "The 'utterance of the mouth of Jehovah' is, in general, the Divine Truth which proceeds from the Lord, thus all truth of wisdom, specifically the Word, in which and from which are the things of wisdom." (A. C. 5576:4.)

     "In addition to these most palpable evidences, there is the fact that the spiritual sense of the Word has been disclosed by the Lord through me; which has never before been revealed since the Word was written among the sons of Israel;. . . . Not a single iota in this sense can be opened except by the Lord alone. This surpasses all the revelations that have hitherto been made since the creation of the world. Through this revelation a communication has been opened between men and the angels of heaven, and the conjunction of the two worlds has been accomplished." (Inv. 44)

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     The passages from Heaven and Hell and Apocalypse Revealed clearly state that these books are revelations from the Lord alone, but it is obvious the statements are not to be limited to those books. This is further confirmed by the innumerable cross references in all the Theological Writings. Such references show the essential unity of all the books; and when this is recognized, it becomes clearer that statements of universal, and even of general, singular and particular truths, are not to be limited to the context or even the book in which they are written. And all the passages quoted show plainly how all the truths interlace, for it appears from them that the Writings are the Second Advent; also, that Swedenborg received all of the Revelation from the Lord alone; again, that the New Church is to be established by the Theological Writings, and that these Writings are the most excellent of all revelations. It may be remarked further here, that in the light of these passages, as well as in the setting of its own context and book, it is evident that the Word described as the "crown of revelations" in the True Christian Religion, no. 11, is the Word of the Second Advent, the Word of the Theological Writings; and this is further confirmed in the same work by the statement:

     "It is similar at this day: wherefore, unless the Lord should again come into the world, in Divine Truth which is the Word, no one can be saved." (T. C. R. 3.)

     It is also confirmed by the whole of no. 846 of the same work, where we are expressly taught that the revealed arcana of the Theological Writings exceed in excellence the arcana hitherto revealed since the beginning of the church.

     V.

     But returning to our specific subject,-the authority of the unpublished Theological Writings,-we note that two of the passages just quoted were from them, namely, from the Coronis and Invitation. These give the same testimony that the published books give, and there is nothing to distinguish them in the text of the passages of the two classes of books. This applies even to The History of Creation, the Adversaria, and the Index Biblicus, and, in fact, to all the books written prior to the commencement of the Spiritual Diary, as well as to all written subsequent to that work.

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Indeed, the unpublished Theological Writings give us some of the most definite and clear teaching as to the character of all the Theological Writings, notably the Sketch of an Ecclesiastical History of the New Church, which tells us that the books which were written by the Lord through Swedenborg, from the beginning to that time, were to be enumerated; also that in the spiritual world there was inscribed on all these books, "The Lord's Advent;" and that, by command, Swedenborg wrote the same words on two books in Holland. The enumeration of the books was not given, or else it is missing. It is probable that it was not given, because it would certainly deprive men of that legitimate exercise of the rational which seeks and finds in the Word confirmations of its integrity and plenary inspiration.

     But note that it was not the books published that were to be enumerated. There was no need to do that. Even that was done on the last sheet (p. 328) of the original edition of Conjugial Love; but that was because all the previously published books had appeared anonymously. It is obvious that they were published anonymously by command of the Lord, even though this is nowhere specifically stated. It is indicated, however, in a letter from Swedenborg to Gustavus Bonde, dated August 11, 1760, in which he states that he had not answered a certain letter, because it concerned "the writings which were lately published in England, and which appeared without my name, on which account I must not enter into literary connection with anyone abroad, and thereby acknowledge myself as their author." (Docu. II:231.) It is also a reasonable conclusion that he received many commands not revealed, since he received certain commands from the Lord which are revealed in the Writings themselves Undoubtedly it was by Divine command that he signed his name to Conjugial Love and subsequent books, also that he published the list of books to which reference has already been made.

     Note again that the heading of the list is "Libri theologici hactenus a me editi;" but the text of the Sketch is "Recenseantur Libri a Domino per me scripti ab initio usque ad hodie." The books written were to be enumerated, and it was upon them that the inscription, "The Advent of the Lord," was written in the spiritual world.

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As they were not enumerated, and as the whole of the evidence available in the books written is confirmatory of the position that they were all written by the Lord through Swedenborg; also, as it is expressly said "from the beginning," and in the True Christian Religion it is stated that Swedenborg received nothing from any angel pertaining to the doctrines of the Church, but all from the Lord alone, and this from the first day of his "call;" further, as that first day and beginning are undoubtedly the same time, and the evidence is all confirmatory of its having been the month of April, 1745; and again, as the first book written after that date was written between June and November, 1745 which, book is The History of Creation; the conclusion seems justifiable that the books written by the Lord through Swedenborg were all those from The History of Creation to the end of The Consummation of the Age.

     The whole of T. C. R. 779, supports and strengthens this conclusion. The difficulty as to the word "doctrine" is removed by many passages which identify the doctrines of the Church with the internal or spiritual sense of the Word. The difficulty as to the memorabilia is also removed by the doctrine concerning them, as well as by Swedenborg's express statement that he was commanded to publish them. And the whole is further confirmed by the significance of this statement in the Arcana: "As the Word Is a revelation from the Divine, it is Divine in general and in particular; for that which is from Divine cannot be otherwise." (A. C. 10321.) This is but an application to the Word of that universal law which is stated repeatedly in the Writings, that "the Divine is the same in greatests and leasts." Its application to the Theological Writings brings with it a wealth of confirmatory passages of absorbing interest and immense importance. Associate in your thoughts this universal Divine law with the fact of the universal cross references in the Theological Writings, references from one book to another, references from published to unpublished books, and from unpublished to published ones.

     In connection with the T. C. R. 779 statement specifically, but generally with the whole doctrine concerning the Doctrines for the New Church and the derivation of doctrine, note that it there postulates the letter of the Word, the internal sense of which is revealed, and also is to be investigated and seen, by which the doctrine is to be formed.

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The derivation of doctrine was lucidly explained in an address on "The Soundness and Purity of Doctrine," printed in New Church Life for January, 1922. Bishop N. D. Pendleton there showed from the Writings that the internal sense is first to be had from the letter of the Word, and then doctrine is to be formed from that sense. And he compared it to the simple illustration of drawing wine from the wine of a flagon and not directly from the flagon itself. Since this is the way of Divine order, we may expect to find the same process followed in the Divine revelation of the internal sense, for the Lord never acts contrary to His own laws of order. Our expectations are fulfilled; for it is evident that Swedenborg first wrote out the internal sense of the letter of the Old and New Testaments, and then from that sense collected the truths and doctrinals to form the doctrines of the New Church.

     Moreover, the three essentials requisite for the investigation and sight of the internal sense, as laid down in the Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture and De Verbo particularly,-namely, the doctrine of genuine truth, some knowledge of correspondences, and illustration from the Lord,- were acquired by Swedenborg, and given him, in the period of his preparation for the office of Revelator. That period was prior to his call in April, 1745. But Swedenborg did not write the results of his own investigations of the internal sense, and his sight of it; for that sense was revealed to him by the Lord alone; yet it had to come down to earth by the Divinely appointed way, just as the Word became incarnate by taking on a body in the womb of a woman, and by birth from her. And so we find by investigation that Swedenborg acquired the doctrine of genuine truth as if by his own efforts; that he also acquired a knowledge of correspondences, again as if by his own efforts; and that both acquisitions were the fruits of his study of the Word of the Old and New Testaments. Indeed, he repeatedly states that he received the internal sense, and the doctrines of the Church, while he read the Word; and, as we have already stated, it could not have been revealed through him in any other way, or it could not have been carried down from heaven to earth in any other way, for that is the way of correspondences, by which alone there is communication between discrete degrees.

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     But observe the truth that the internal sense was revealed to him in the spiritual world, even in the heavens, by the Lord alone; and for this reason it was necessary that he should be introduced into the spiritual world completely, so that he should be as an angel in heaven, while at the same time as a man on earth. This can be established and confirmed by abundant testimony from the Theological Writings, and is evident from the first Theological Book written by the Lord through him, The History of Creation, which gives the internal sense of the first three chapters of Genesis.

     And it is a significant fact that in that little book he places as a "face" the inscription, "Matthew VI:33. Seek ye first the Kingdom of the Heavens and its Righteousness, and all these things (which are recounted) shall be added unto you." He follows this immediately, and on the same page, with five "Comparisons of the Kingdom of God: 1. With the human body, from inmosts to outmosts; and, therefore, concerning that society wherein the Messiah is the Soul, and which shall form one body as one man. 2. With the kindred in the house of Abraham and Nahor. 3. With the land of Canaan and its bordering countries. 4. With the Paradise of Eden. 5. With a marriage and a feast." And then continues: "Men are men only so far as they walk in the way of truth. But so far as they turn aside therefrom, so far they approach to the nature of a beast." On the next page, he commences with the words, " In the name of the Lord." Then follows the title, The History of Creation as Given by Moses. And note further that the inscription from Matthew is the same as that with which he faces the first volume of the Arcana Celestia and several subsequent volumes of the same work, as well as the New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine. But he never again uses the inscription, "In the name of the Lord."

     The History of Creation, The Adversaria, The Index Biblicus, The Marginal Notes, were not preparatory works, were not practice books or exercise books in any sense, but were Divine Revelation, and are among the Theological Writings. The Word itself is One; but it takes on innumerable forms.

     "As regards truth in an accommodated form, be it known that when Truth Divine descends through the heavens to men, as the Word has descended, it is accommodated on the way to all, both to those who are in the heavens, and to those who are on the earth." (A. C. 8920.)

     "The infinite cannot proceed from the finite; to say that it can is a contradiction. And yet the infinite can proceed from the finite, although not from the finite, but from the infinite through the finite. Neither, on the other hand, can the finite proceed from the infinite; to say that it can is also a contradiction; yet the finite can be produced by the infinite, but this is creating, not proceeding. . . . Consequently, when what is finite proceeds from the Lord, as is the case in many things in man, it does not proceed from the Lord but from man; and it can be said to proceed from the Lord through man, because it so appears." (D. P. 219.)

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     "The infinite cannot be conjoined with finite things, thus not with angels in heaven, except by the putting on of something finite, and thus by accommodation to reception." (A. C. 8960.)

     The doctrine just quoted gives the key to the arcanum. The entering into it must be left to the individual study of those interested. But it confirms the statement that the Theological Writings are the Word of the Lord; and shows how there is no difference of Divine Authority in any of those Writings, but that there is variety of accommodation. It shows further how the internal sense, and later the doctrines of the New Church, descended from the Lord through the heavens, and through Swedenborg.

     To state the case briefly: The Lord revealed the internal sense as written down chiefly in the Adversaria, Arcana Coelestia, Apocalypse Explained, and Apocalypse Revealed; for these are the great expository books. But, together with the internal sense, because they are the same, He revealed the Heavenly Doctrine, which was to be the Doctrine of the New Church. This was collected by Swedenborg in all the expository books, and appears between the chapters, as also in connected form in many numbers in the body of the book. After publishing the Arcana Coelestia, he gathered together these doctrines into the books, Heaven and Hell, New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine, Earths in the Universe, Last Judgment, and White Horse. There were also memorabilia in all the expository books. Thus the trine of exposition, doctrine and memorabilia was in all the books. Memorabilia were also collected and included in the doctrinal works, and in these there was also the internal sense of special passages of the letter of the Word. Thus in every book there was a trine. And the same is true of the Spiritual Diary, which properly should be entitled Memorabilia.

     The process described respecting the Arcana Coelestia and the doctrinal works following it, was observed in the case of the Apocalypse Explained and the doctrinal works which came after it,-namely, The Four Leading Doctrines, Continuation of the Last Judgment, Divine Love and Wisdom, and Divine Providence.

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Then came another great expository work, The Apocalypse Revealed, and after it the Brief Exposition, True Christian Religion, Coronis, and the Invitation to the New Church or Consummation of the Age. All was done according to order. And all the Works, Books, or Writings were woven together in a wonderful manner into a perfect whole,-the Word of the Second Advent.

     We have only adduced a few of the confirmations,-the innumerable confirmations of rational, philosophical, scientific and sensual things that are supplied by the Theological Writings, unpublished as well as published, but perhaps they have been sufficient to give some idea of their number, adequacy and power. As it is granted man to affirm and confirm, and as he is finite and fallible, his success and belief will be qualified and limited, and he may fail entirely, But because it is the Divine Truth that is revealed in the Theological Writings, the possible confirmations are infinite. And as man increases in intelligence and wisdom, he will perceive ever more clearly, not only the Divine Authority of all the Theological Writings written from the beginning or first day of Swedenborg's call by the Lord, but also the confirmations of them as to particulars and singulars, as well as generals and universals, in the scientifics and sensuals of the Old and New Testaments. The Omnipotence of the Unity of the Word, and of God Who is the Word, will thereby become increasingly operative in him, and he will enjoy eternally the fruits of the prophecy and promise: "Seek ye first the kingdom of the heavens, and its righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." And he will perceive ever more clearly the large significance of the Divine Writing: "The Lord gave the Word; great is the host of them that bear the tidings."

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ESTABLISHING A CANON OF THE WRITINGS 1925

ESTABLISHING A CANON OF THE WRITINGS              1925


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office a Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly By
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
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Editor                    Rev. W. B. Caldwell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
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     NOTES AND REVIEWS.

     ESTABLISHING A CANON OF THE WRITINGS.

     In the course of his paper on "The Authority of the Unpublished Writings," which appears elsewhere in our present issue, the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal incidentally sets forth his reasons for believing that additions should be made to the list of Theological Works by Swedenborg which have been commonly regarded in the General Church as constituting the "Writings of the New Church." The list, as given in our Liturgy (p. 324), comprises forty-five works "which contain the Doctrine of the New Church, and constitute the Second Coming of the Lord," and begins with the Arcana Coelestia and the Spiritual Diary, the former published from 1749 to 1756, the latter written from 1748 to 1765, but not published by Swedenborg. Mr. Gyllenhaal would go back of the Spiritual Diary to include the Adversaria and its opening portion, the History of Creation, as well as the Index Biblicus and the Marginalia, and our readers will be greatly interested in his treatment of the subject, and in the arguments he brings forward to confirm his own belief in this enlargement of what may be styled the "Canon of the Writings," as at present recognized among us.

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     In weighing the question as to whether these earlier works should be placed among the Writings, the mere fact that they were not published by Swedenborg would not be a determining factor with us, for our list already includes a number of such unpublished works, and we have long regarded such a discrimination as artificial. The character of the contents must be the final test, although there are many secondary confirmations which may be brought into a rational view of the matter. The Apocalypse Explained not only takes its place with the Arcana Coelestia among the great expository works of the Second Coming, and this because of its contents, but Swedenborg prepared a second draft of the work for the printer, with a title-page dated "London, 1759," indicating a full intent to publish it. Students of the Spiritual Diary have long seen that it differs from the published works only in form, not in essence. Yet there have always been, and are today, those in the Church who would eliminate the Diary from the Books of Divine Revelation, especially when they find teachings therein which are not in agreement with their own predilections and prejudices. Those, for example, who are in favor of having women preachers in the New Church object to the teachings against it in no. 5936 of the Spiritual Diary, and therefore characterize that work as merely a memorandum book for Swedenborg's personal use, and a record of his own opinions.

     But the works written by Swedenborg just prior to the Spiritual Diary, and yet after his call by the Lord in 1745, have not been generally accepted as belonging to the canonical list of the "Writings of the New Church." This discrimination has not been on the grounds that they were not published by Swedenborg, for in the Adversaria, at least, he frequently speaks of the prospective printing of the work; moreover, in his extensive Index to the Spiritual Diary are to be found many references to the Adversaria. The fact is, that the contents of the Adversaria, Index Biblicus and the Marginalia have not been widely known in the Church. Mr. Potts quoted from them all in his Concordance, and thus gave the general reader some taste of their teachings, but it is only in recent years that translations of the History of Creation, the Marginalia and Index Biblicus have brought those writings to the English reader in complete form, while the Adversaria, as a whole, has not yet appeared in an English translation. Meanwhile, those acquainted with these writings in their original Latin have held a variety of views as to their status among Swedenborg's works.

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Some have found in them much that is of value to the New Church, although they were not ready to place them among the "Writings" proper. Others hold that they at least form the record of an important link in Swedenborg's preparation during his transition from the earlier philosophical period to that of Revelator of the Second Coming in its full sense, and that, like everything he wrote, they should be treasured for the use of the Church. Still others, considering that the Adversaria contains much that Swedenborg Could have received only by revelation,-spiritual doctrine, the internal sense of certain portions of Scripture, correspondences, and accounts of his experiences among spirits and angels,-have inclined to the belief that this work should be among the Writings. We need hardly add that there are also those who would belittle the value of any of these works.

     Mr. Gyllenhaal writes as one who is acquainted with the contents of all the works referred to, which he would include among the Theo-Writings that are accepted as of Divine Authority and the Word of the Lord to the New Church. We welcome his contribution to the consideration of the subject, and should be glad to hear from others. The important matter of establishing a canon of the Writings will only be the result of a common acknowledgment in rational light. We have been given to know by revelation which Books of the Old and New Testaments have an internal sense, and are the Word of God. In the absence of categorical statements in the Writings themselves, the New Church is left in freedom to determine by a rational mode of procedure which of Swedenborg's Theological Writings belong to the canonical Word of the Lord in His Second Coming.
LOUIS GEORGE LANDENBERGER. 1925

LOUIS GEORGE LANDENBERGER.              1925

     The NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER of September 16th informed us of the death of our friend, the Rev. L. G. Landenberger, which took place on board the steamship Republic on September 7th during his return voyage from Europe. Readers of NEW CHURCH LIFE will recall his occasional contributions to our pages. Still fresh in mind is his visit to Bryn Athyn some months ago, during his temporary occupancy of the pulpit of the Philadelphia Convention Society.

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     With his home and headquarters at St. Louis, Missouri, Mr. Landenberger served for many years as Missionary Pastor of the Illinois Association of the General Convention and, after the death of the Rev. John S. Saul, became General Pastor of that Association in the year 1920, which office he held until his death. As Missionary Pastor, his parish included a large portion of the Middle West. He also advertised and sold the Writings extensively, and had a large correspondence with persons interested in the Doctrines. As Editor of the German New Church periodical, BOTE DER NEUEN RIRCHE, the monthly journal founded by the late Rev. A. O. Brickman, Mr. Landenberger was in communication with German-speaking New Church people throughout the world, and his summer's trip to Europe had for its main object the visiting of the German societies on the Continent. He also edited and published THE NEW-CHURCH VISITOR, a bimonthly news bulletin of the Illinois Association which also contained doctrinal articles. We can echo the sentiments of the MESSENGER in stating that Mr. Landenberger was one of the most widely and affectionately known of New Church ministers, whose zeal for the spread of the Doctrines was indefatigable. We knew him to be a regular reader and student of the Writings. His preaching and teaching were in a simple and direct style. We have always thought that it was his large-hearted and sympathetic nature which led him to emphasize the doctrine of the Church Universal, and to confuse it somewhat with that of the Church Specific, on which account he wrote much in opposition to Re-baptism, as his not infrequent communications to our pages bear testimony. Yet, in recent years, he belonged to that small group of Convention ministers who have stood out for something more distinctive in the doctrine and practice of that body, against the "Modernist and Permeation" group which musters a majority at all meetings of Convention.

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SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON NOTES 1925

SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON NOTES              1925

     LESSON NO. 3-THE BIRTH OF THE LORD. (Matt. 1; Luke 1 and 2.)

Genealogy                         Matt. 1:1-17
Annunciation to Mary               Luke 1:26-38
Mary visits Elizabeth                :39-56
Annunciation to Joseph               Matt. 1:18-21
The Prophecy thus to be fulfilled           : 22-25
The Roman taxation and census          Luke 2:1-5
The Lord born in Bethlehem               :6-7
Angels tell the news to the shepherds     : 8-20
Circumcision and naming                :21
Presentation in the Temple               :22-39

     The Christmas story is old, yet ever new and wondrous! Of all the events which our minds love to linger over, it is the sweetest, the purest, the holiest. From our earliest childhood days it has moved us to deep thoughts and tender loves. It was indeed the dawn of a new day for humanity,-the "Dayspring from on high"! So is the consciousness of the Lord's continual presence born to each one of us,-born as an infant, yet surrounded by many holy, signs.

     The genealogy with which the Gospel of Matthew commences is of great interest to us; for, first of all, it furnishes the means of reviewing Old Testament history. There we see the names of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; of Judah and Boat; of Jesse, David and Solomon; and of Zerubbabel of Babylonish fame; and many others less familiar to us. But when we realize that names signify qualities, then we see that here, in the interpretation of these names, we are given a list of the human qualities which were assumed by the Lord from His mother at birth.

     The Prophets had ceased to sing almost five hundred years before, and angelic visions were now rare occurrences. But the time had come for the unseen world to break forth with rejoicing. "The Lord bowed the heavens and came down."

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His Divine Life passed through all the heavens before He was born on earth. And so there was a rapture, and a rejoicing there, before it broke the darkness of earth and became a flaming light. This spiritual sphere was so strong that it could not be kept silent. The angel Gabriel announced the glad news to Zacharias, and now again stood before Mary, and told her that she should be the mother of a Son, who should inherit the throne of His father David. To Mary's soul-pondering question, "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?" the angel replied, "The Holy Spirit shall dome upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." To those who doubt the Divinity of our Lord, no better or more complete answer can be given than the simple sincerity of these angelic words.

     Mary did not doubt. She was filled with wondrous thoughts,-the thoughts that come to womanhood when, for the first time, it realizes the consecration of motherhood,-life within life, new creation, all these thoughts and a myriad more revolving about the destiny of her promised Son. She could not keep silence. She must seek out her cousin Elizabeth and share the good tidings. And we can well imagine the intense rapture with which the words of the Magnificat were uttered: "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit rejoice in God my Savior!"

     Meanwhile, Joseph also received an angelic visitation, and the angel of the Lord spake to him concerning the child that Mary was to bear, telling him that it was conceived of the Holy Spirit, and enjoining him to call His name Jesus, because He should save His people from their sins. (Matt. 1:18-21.) Joseph and Mary were betrothed, but not yet married, when this wonderful event was announced. The angels were very near to them, to protect them from dangers and to make them happy.

     Finally, as the days grew near for the fulfillment of the event, a great taxation was decreed by Caesar Augustus. Everyone was to go to the city of his family; and as Joseph and Mary were of the lineage of David, they went up to Bethlehem, the city of David, to be taxed.

     Then came one of the profoundly significative events that sparkle like cut-stones from out the matrix of the story.

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Arrived in Bethlehem, there was "no room in the inn!" The Lord could not be born in an inn, because it represented the teachings of the dead Jewish Church. And so they took up their abode in a stable nearby, and there it was that the glorious event that we celebrate on Christmas took place. There Mary "brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger." The manger or food-box represented the Word which feeds the understanding (the horses) and nourishes the affection (the cattle). So it is that the Lord is born in each one of us; not in that which is represented by the inn, which is our worldly learning, but in the stable,-laid in the manger, which represents the affections of our childhood.

     Again the heavens break forth into view. The lonely shepherds on the hillsides of Bethlehem, watching over their flocks by night, as David had done in old times, were suddenly made aware of heavenly visitors, who said unto them: "Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great; joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord!" With haste, and joy, and wonder, the shepherds came to Bethlehem, and were the first to kneel down and worship the new-born Savior; even as it is our innocent affections which are the first to recognize that which is of the Lord with us.

     Eight days after His birth, the Lord was circumcised, after the manner of the Jews; (See Luke 2:22.) For it became Him to "fulfill all righteousness." Our baptism has taken the place of this Jewish rite, which represented entrance into the Church by repentance and cleansing from evil.

     When the Lord was forty days old, He was taken to Jerusalem to be presented in the temple. (Teachers should read Leviticus 12, where the law of purification is given.) This was a sign that all the firstborn sons in Israel were given to the Lord; and if they were not actually given, then a representative sacrifice was offered in their stead. If the parents were wealthy, they gave a lamb, but if in more meager circumstances, they gave a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. While the Lord was in the temple, an old man by the name of Simeon took Him up in his arms and voiced a remarkable prayer of thanksgiving. (See Luke 2:29-32.) Likewise an old woman named Anna, a prophetess, gave thanks, and spoke of the Lord to all those that sought for redemption in Israel.

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This concluded the Lord's first visit to Jerusalem.

     The name "Jesus" is the Greek form of the Hebrew word Jehoshua or Joshua, and it means "Jehovah saves."

     The story of the birth of the Lord should never be told without constant reference to the events of the spiritual world,-the rejoicing there that manifested itself here in so many angelic visions. Note the following instances: the angelic appearings to Zacharias, Mary, Joseph and the shepherds.

     LESSON NO. 4-THE WISE MEN, AND THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT. (Matt. 2:1-18.)

     Wise men come to Jerusalem                2: 1-2          
Herod makes inquiry                          :3-8
The wise men adore the Lord in Bethlehem           : 9-12
Joseph warned in a dream to flee to Egypt           : 13-15
Herod's slaughter of the innocents                : 16-18

     We learn from the Writing; that these wise men "from the East" came from Syria, probably from the part near the river Euphrates where it makes two great bends, first to the south and then to the east. Exactly what towns they came from is unknown; but they lived in the general region where Balaam had lived nearly 1400 years before. (See A. C. 3249, 3762; Numbers 22:5, 23:7, and Deuteronomy 23: 4.) Pethor, the city of Balaam, was a city beside the Euphrates. Through Balaam the Lord promised His advent as a "star out of Jacob." (Numbers 24:17-19.) Balaam took this knowledge back to his own people, and the knowledge was preserved and cherished in that region. The wise men of ancient times were those who were acquainted with such prophetical writings and sayings, and understood them. And further, they hoped that the fulfillment of this prophecy would bring the greatest spiritual gifts to the world. These eastern people were also astrologers; that is, they were continually studying the stars, and foretelling events by their aspect; consequently, they were on the lookout for any special star that might mean the fulfillment of this prophecy.

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     When the star appeared, the wise men were already prepared to follow it, and we can well imagine the rapture of their long and silent journey across the hot desert, beneath the cloudless canopy of the azure eastern sky. All stars signify knowledges, and this star signified the knowledge of the Lord which always leads us to Him. It leads first to Jerusalem, that is, to the doctrine of the Church, and then on to Bethlehem (the "house of bread") where lay the infant Lord Himself. From Apocalypse Explained no. 72 we infer that the appearance of this star was caused by an angelic host, who had received the news of the Lord's advent. The star could not be seen by Herod, because he had- no knowledge of the spiritual world, but the wise men, by their training and their beliefs, were open to receive such a celestial vision. And so it will always be With faith. The worldly-minded man will never see the bright star that leads to Bethlehem, for it is essentially a spiritual perception.

     The Lord Himself was called "The bright and morning star" (Rev. 22:16), because He is the "true light," the "light of the world," etc. (John 1:4-9, 8:12, 12:35-36.)

     When the wise men adored the infant Lord, they offered gifts unto Him, "gold, and frankincense, and myrrh." The meaning of these gifts is treated of in A. C. 9293 and S. S. 23. They signify celestial, spiritual, and natural good, thus all good. They are also called love to the Lord, charity toward the neighbor, and good works. They brought gifts, because they were acknowledging Him as King and Lord, and no one ever approached the Lord in His temple or a king in his palace without a gift. (See Exodus 23:15.)

     Herod's interest in the news of the wise men arose solely from fear lest he should be removed from ruling in Jerusalem; and he endeavored, first by craft, and then by massacre, to destroy the Lord. When we know the life of Herod, it is not a surprising act; for he did not hesitate to Bill his own children when suspicion entered his mind, and fear or displeasure his heart. The prophecy of "a Governor that shall rule my people Israel" (v. 6) is to be found in Malachi. 2:7; and that concerning "Rachel weeping for her children" (v. 18) is in Jeremiah 31:15. The allusion is to the death of Rachel, which occurred just outside the town of Bethlehem. (Genesis 35:16-20.) In the prophecy, it is as if her name had been given to the town; or the town, in its grief, is personified by Rachel in her suffering and in her death.

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     The prophecy in v. 15- "Out of Egypt have I called my son"-is taken from Hosea 11:1. The descent into Egypt, and the sojourn there, was for the purpose of representing the fact that the Lord, as other men, had first to be educated. His natural memory had first to be stored with sense impressions; but this question will be discussed more fully in the following lesson.

     The wise men did not return to Herod, but "being warned of God in a dream, they departed into their own country another way." This afforded Joseph time to take his family down into Egypt, before Herod discovered the deception.

     LESSON NO. 5-CHILDHOOD OF THE LORD. (Matt. 2:19-23, Luke 2:40-52.)

Death of Herod               Matt. 2:19
From Egypt to Galilee           :20-23
Growth from infancy to boyhood     Luke 2:40
The first Passover                :41-45
Jesus found in the temple           :46-51
Growth from boyhood to manhood     : 52

     From olden times it had been written, "Out of Egypt have I called my son." (Hosea 11:1.) Egypt, from the time of remote antiquity, was a land of science and understanding. Her pyramids stand unto this day, attesting the vitality of her ancient sciences. The genius of her people, and the characteristics of her history, made Egypt the Divinely appointed representative of "Science," in the sense of what is gained by man's mind from his sense impressions. Egypt, in a broad sense, represents all the education which a man must derive through the five portals of his senses. And this education, in the order of time, must come first. To represent this spiritual fact, we find Abraham, Jacob, and afterward all Israel, sojourning in Egypt. And now the Lord Himself is taken to Egypt; for even the Divine life on earth was to find its ultimate basis for reaction in the sense impressions. (Read A. C. 1457, 1460 1, 1461 and 1464.)

     But the Lord was called "out of Egypt," even as every man must be called from a reliance on the merely natural to a sustained conviction in the spiritual.

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The outer reason for the Lord's return to Nazareth was the death of Herod, and the fear that Archelaus, his son, might continue the persecution commenced by his father. But the inner reason was that the Lord might fulfill a prophecy, which said: "He shall be called a Nazarene." Nazareth was a village on the plain of Esdraelon, about ten miles southwest of the Sea of Galilee. During the thirty years which the Lord dwelt at Nazareth, He learned many things. Especially did He become familiar with the Old Testament. The ultimate basis for the Word, which He was to fulfill, was laid in His mind. Joseph was a carpenter, and without doubt the Lord assisted him, as was the custom of fathers and sons at that time. Concerning the details of His life during this period, we have but one incident recorded, and that was His visit to Jerusalem at the age of twelve.

     The Passover was the greatest of the feasts of the Jewish religion, being the remembrance of their deliverance from Egyptian bondage. This festival came in the spring of the year, and coincides with the Christian Easter. Every Israelite went to Jerusalem once a year to celebrate this feast. At twelve years of age a Jewish boy was reckoned to be a man, and was confirmed in the faith; and thus the boy Jesus was taken to Jerusalem in fulfillment of the national custom. We can never forget the scene of the Christ-child in the temple with the learned doctors, of the sorrowing Mary searching for her lost child, of the gentle rebuke which she gave her Son when she found Him, and the glorious answer which He returned: "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business? " Not carpentry,-but the Divine work of the salvation of souls! This marks the beginning of celestial perception with the Lord as to the Divine office which He held.

     He returned with Mary and Joseph to Nazareth, and was subject unto them. And there the "child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him." And again it is said that "Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man." No more is recorded of that long period of thirty years in which He was prepared for the office of Savior of man,-God manifest in the flesh-the Divine Humanity!

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Church News 1925

Church News       Various       1925

     CANADIAN NORTHWEST

     My summer's trip to the Canadian Northwest took me to seven places: Calgary and Benton in the Province of Alberta, La Forte, Rosthern and Davidson in Saskatchewan, Winnipeg and Morden in Manitoba. Lake Francis, which was on my itinerary last summer, was not visited this year, as Mr. John Hamm and family, who resided there, had removed to Rosthern. It was a matter of regret that they moved after I had been at Rosthern, and before I could visit them at Lake Francis. With the exception of Lake Francis, the places visited were the same as on previous trips. At all points I noted with pleasure an increase in interest over last year, which showed itself especially in many delightful conversations relating to the New Church and its distinctive doctrine and life.

     I arrived at Calgary on June 24th, and between trains spent pleasant half day in conversation with Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Bourne. From Calgary I proceeded to Benton for week's stay with the Messrs. Nelson and William Evens and their families. Daily instruction was given the children of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Evens, the subject being stories of the childhood of the Lord. For the adults there were two doctrinal classes and two services. At one of the latter, the infant daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Evens was baptized. I was met at Benton by Mr. Erdmah Heinrichs, who now teaches a school at La Forte, Saskatchewan, and together we motored to his home, where I spent the week-end. A service was conducted on Sunday and a doctrinal class on the day following.

     My next destination was Rosthern. Here I spent six days with the Bech and Lemky families. As at Benton, daily instruction was given the children, of whom there were eight. The subject of last year's classes was continued, namely "The Life of the Angels," from the work on Heaven and Hell. With the adults, of whom also there were eight in the General Church circle, I held two services and two doctrinal classes. At the last service the Holy Supper was administered to nine communicants. Bishop N. D. Pendleton's "Statement of the Order and Organization of the General Church" was the subject of one of the classes, and on this occasion we welcomed seven young people of the General Convention. As there has been some misrepresentation of the government of the General Church among the members of the General Convention in Rosthern, we were especially glad of the presence of these young people, several of whom expressed their pleasure at having been present to hear the "Statement" and the explanations given. I was disappointed at not being able to meet the Rev. John Zacharias and the Rev. Henry K. Peters, Ministers of the Convention whom I have known for many years, and who had been in Rosthern for the Conference of the Western Canada Association of the General Convention, held a few days previous to my arrival. Both Mr. Zacharias and Mr. Peters had left before I arrived in Rosthern.

     From Rosthern I went to Davidson, to the hospitable homes of Messrs. Harold Bellinger and George Pagon. Here again the instruction of the children was the main activity. In accommodation to the varying ages, the children were divided into two classes the younger of whom were told the story of the Journey from the Land of Egypt to the Land of Canaan, and the older receiving instruction from the work on Heaven and Hell. Both classes joined in a children's service.

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Three evenings were devoted to doctrinal classes and one to a service, and in addition one other service, at which the Holy Supper was administered, was held on he Sunday of my stay there.

     At Winnipeg, I spent a quiet weekend with Mr. and Mrs. F. J. Roschman. A service was conducted on Sunday, and on Monday I left for Morden, the last place on my route. Although only one new church family, (Mr. and Mrs. John Heinrichs) is resident at Morden, we had our largest adult gathering of the trip at this place-ten members and one visitor. Mr. and Mrs. Erdman Heinrichs had motored over from La Forte, and were spending their vacations here, as also were the Misses Mary and Anna Heinrichs and Miss Anna Hamm. There was also present Mr. Gustav Soderman, a young man who has recently become interested in the Writings of the Church. In this gathering, the Doctrines were the constant subject of conversation, and this, together with three doctrinal classes and three services, made my eight-day stay in Morden very busy and interesting. At the Sunday service, the infant daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Erdman Heinrichs was presented for baptism, and at the last service on the following evening the Holy Supper was administered to nine communicants.
     HENRY HEINRICHS.

     LOS ANGELES, CAL.

     We, of the Los Angeles Circle, were afforded very much pleasure again this year, when the Rev. F. E. Waelchli paid us his yearly visit, this time for eight weeks. It would be hard to express in words how much we all enjoyed those eight weeks, and how they were all too short when they neared their end.

     Mr. Waelchli arrived on the 26th of June, and that evening we all gathered at the home of Mr. and Mrs. C. P. Unruh to welcome him. During the evening we listened to a very interesting talk by Mr. Waelchli on the question of Modernism and Fundamentalism. Some of our doctrinal classes were also on this subject. The rest of the evening was spent in a social and musical time, after which a little lunch was served. When we departed for our homes, we were all happy in the thought of what was in store for us during the coming weeks.

     We had two doctrinal classes each week, and Sunday School and Church Services each Sunday. One Sunday we journeyed to Ontario, and bad a joint service with the members there, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Stroh. The very lovely outing was enjoyed by everyone. Another Sunday was the occasion for a surprise visit from the Rev. R. G. Cranch, Minister of the Philadelphia Society. We are always glad to see someone from Bryn Athyn or vicinity, and Mr. Cranch's visit was no exception. That Sunday evening was spent at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Abram Klippenstein, North Long Beach, where a farewell social was given in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Nickel, who were returning to Canada to make their home there again. Our farewell to Mr. Waelchli was held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Davis, Hollywood. We started the evening with "Bunco," and later a few of the members presented, (if we may use that word) what was termed "A Radio Hour." None of the participants were visible to the "listening in" audience, being hidden behind a curtain in one corner of the room. It was quite an original "stunt," and was heartily enjoyed by all. A part of the evening was spent in dancing, and very much fun was created by our attempting some old-fashioned square dances. Our orchestra consisted of mouth organ, violin and piano, and so everything was in tune. Everybody joined in; and to prove that he would not be outdone, our oldest member, a gentleman of eighty-four, took part in the dances and proved as spry as most of the rest. This was followed by refreshments, during which time we had speeches and toasts. We were all sorry to bid Mr. Waelchli goodby, but then we have his next year's visit to look forward to, and that will surely help us to "carry on."
     A. U.

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     A EUROPEAN JOURNEY. Editor of New Church Life: As requested by you, I am sending these few "travel notes" of the visits paid by Mrs. Nelson and myself to General Church centers during the past summer while touring Europe with the Bureau of University Travel. Our first visit was to Michael Church in London, where we were welcomed June 14th at a reception given by the Pastor and Mrs. Tilson at their home. This was my first opportunity to deliver greetings sent by the Immanuel Church, Glenview, to all General Church people whom I should meet. There was a hearty response on the part of the friends of Michael Church, and a message of cheer was entrusted to me to be given to the Immanuel Church on my return. On the following Sunday we had the pleasure of worshiping in the pleasant Church in Burton Road, where we were made to feel quite at home. In the evening we attended a Feast of Charity, and listened with interest to reports of their activities during the year.

     It was next our pleasure to attend the 19th of June celebration in Colchester, and to convey to the Pastor and friends there a greeting from the Immanuel Church.

     While we were in London, my nephew, the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal, took us to the British Museum, where we applied for and were given permission to examine the copy of the Brief Exposition upon which Swedenborg wrote "Hic Liber est Adventus Domini; Scriptum ex Mandato." As will be recalled, this copy was presented to the British Museum by C. J. Whittington, Esquire, who purchased it from the estate of the late James Speirs. It was thrilling to be able to take this volume in our hands, and to read the actual words penned by the illustrious revelator. We expected to find that the volume contained only the small work entitled the Brief Exposition, but found that several other works were bound together with it, making the volume quite bulky. This book is very carefully guarded and protected, and can only be seen by entering a special room and making application therefor.

     Learning that the Swedenborg Society was about to remove from its home at No. 1 Bloomsbury Street, we journeyed thither to have a look at the historic place before it was dismantled and the belongings moved to the new location. Here we saw a number of interesting articles associated with the history of the New Church, and many portraits of early leaders of the Church in England. The new quarters of the Swedenborg Society are at to Hart Street, Bloomsbury Square.

     On Sunday, July 5th, while at The Hague, we attended services conducted by the Rev. Ernst Pfeiffer. Although in a foreign tongue, the service was very impressive, and the ritual was familiar because it followed the General Church Liturgy. The sphere of worship was delightful, and we felt very much at home.

     In Brussels I had a short visit with the Rev. Ernst Deltenre, who was just beginning to recover from serious illness. It is to be hoped that he will soon be sufficiently restored to enable him to resume the very useful work he has undertaken in that city.

     In Paris, the Rev. Fernand Hussenet and his daughter visited us at our hotel. As we were not there on one of the Sundays on which they held services, we were not able to meet the members.

     When in Rome, we looked up the Misses Gnocchi, who expressed pleasure at meeting other members of the General Church.

     When we visited Stockholm, Sweden, the Rev. Gustaf Baeckstrom was away on a missionary tour, so that no services were held, but we were invited to meet the members socially at the home of Miss Nordenskiold.

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They spoke of their love for the General Church, and of their appreciation of the work their Pastor has been doing for them. The Society seemed to be in a happy state, with promise of future growth and progress. The capacity of their meeting hall is constantly being taxed, and they will soon need to secure larger quarters.
     SEYMOUR G. NELSON. Glenview, Illinois, October 7th, 1925.

     SWEDEN.

     In a letter to the Bishop, the Rev. Gustaf Baeckstrom gives a brief account of a missionary trip undertaken toward the end of the summer in the western and southern parts of Sweden. The idea was to visit isolated members and administer the sacrament, and also to deliver some public lectures for the purpose of awakening an interest in the Heavenly Doctrines. He writes:

     "The first lecture was given in Dalaro, a small place not far from Stockholm. The minister of the State Church there is somewhat interested in the New Church, and granted me the use of his church for a very small fee. At the close of his service, he announced my lecture from the pulpit. It was the first time I had lectured in a church, as I prefer to do so where I can speak freely. On this occasion the church was filled to its capacity of 225 persons.

     "From Dalaro I went to Kristinehamn, a country town on the way to Gothenburg. Here we have a little circle of seven persons, six of whom were baptized by me about three years ago. Since then I have not been able to visit them, and they were very glad to see me again. I administered the Holy Supper to seven persons, and preached a sermon on the "Use of Old Age," as most of them are advanced in years. In the evening I gave my lecture treating of the play Outward Bound from a New Church viewpoint, the attendance being only 40 persons, owing to the other attractions during the fine summer weather.

     However, I had better success at my next stop, Karlstad, a town of 20,000 inhabitants, where I gave two lectures before audiences of 153 and 120 persons, and sold books to the value of 86 kroner. (A krona about 26 cents.) I had been invited to stay at the home of Mr. and Mrs. A. Torell, who have frequently attended our services in Stockholm. Mr. Torell introduced me to two elderly ladies who have long been interested in the Doctrines. I also found a shoemaker, about eighty years old, who had been interested for a long time but had never before met the others in that place.

     "From Karlstad I went to Trollhattan, where my lecture was attended by 67 persons, and from there to Gothenburg. Here I met Mr. Rosenqvist and other friends, and we held private services, with the administration of the Holy Supper to four persons. Owing to the fine weather I did not expect very many to attend my two lectures at Gothenburg, yet there were 63 and 15 persons present.

     "I next went through the western part of the country, visiting the larger places along the seashore and down to southern Sweden. The attendance at five lectures varied from 40 to 162 persons. From Malmo I crossed the sea to Denmark, and visited Mr. Branniche at Copenhagen. His society has been meeting for worship in a very small and unpleasant place, but they have now acquired a house situated in a central part of the city, and here the center will reside and the services will be held. Two rooms have been thrown into one for this latter purpose, and it was filled to capacity when I delivered my lecture. Mr. Bronniche and I had a very pleasant visit together.

     "I now returned to southern Sweden, and visited Mr. and Mrs. Aug. Magnusson, isolated members residing in Degeberga, with whom I spent a restful two days, although I also delivered a lecture here to an audience of 36 persons. I then gave the following lectures: At Kristianstad, go persons; at Karlshamn, 87; at Karlskrona, 103 and 88.

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At the last-mentioned place I met a new convert, Mrs. Greta Asell, a widow whose husband was much interested in the Church, and I officiated at her baptism during my stay in Karlskrona. Here I sold books to the value of 165 kroner.     

     "My last lecture was held at Vexio on the way home. Miss Jenny Pamp, our member there, had helped me to arrange for a meeting, and did not expect more than ten or fifteen persons, but when she arrived at the lecture the room was crowded, and she was unable to get in.

     "The sale of books on this journey amounted to Kr. 540 ($135.00), and I also received subscriptions to our magazine, Nova Ecclesia. At 19 public lectures the average attendance was 93. An entrance fee of 50 or 15 lire was charged (19 or 20 cents), but this did not meet the expenses, as it might have done in winter, when the attendance would have been larger. The trip, however, performed a great use, especially to our isolated members, and I am hoping to visit such members in other parts of Sweden when the means are available.

     "Miss Sigrid Odhner has arrived in Stockholm, and we are very glad to have her among us again."
     GUSTAF BAECKSTROM.

     REPORT OF THE VISITING PASTOR.-The work on the Pacific Coast began with an eight weeks' visit at Los ANGELES. An account of the activities during that time will be given by the correspondent at that place, so that I shall only say that an encouraging state of the church exists there, and, as evidence of this, give the statistics. The average attendance at services, including children, was 27; at doctrinal class, 15; at Sunday School, 9; and at the Holy Supper, 16 communicants. A delightful meeting of the Los Angeles and Ontario circles was held at the latter place on Sunday, July 19, there being present 24 adults and 18 children, a total of 42.

     I made several trips to near-by places. After the meeting at Ontario, I remained a day longer to instruct the children and hold a doctrinal class. Later, another visit was made, when services were held on Sunday evening, and the children were instructed and a class held the following day. Three days were spent at RIVERSIDE With Mr. A. W. Manning. I had the pleasure of meeting the Rev. Mr. Shuster, the new pastor of the Convention Society there. As a holiday, a trip was made to San Diego, going and returning by auto with Mr. and Mrs. Unruh, of Los Angeles. Some time was spent with members and friends of the General Church.

     On Friday, August 21st, I arrived at SAN FRANCISCO. On the following day, I went with Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Bundsen and family, with whom I made my stay, to spend the week-end at their "ranch" in the Santa Cruz mountains. On Sunday morning, services were held in a secluded spot among the giant red-wood trees. Returning to San Francisco, we had, during the nine remaining days of the visit, five doctrinal classes, instruction for the child of the family five times, and services with the Holy Supper on Sunday. One of the doctrinal classes was held at OREGON, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Jordan. There was an attendance of eleven, among whom were the Rev. and Mrs. L. G. Jordan.

     Eight enjoyable days, September 3d to 10th, were spent with the members and friends at PORTLAND, OREGON. There were services, including the Holy Supper, on Sunday, the 6th, on which occasion the Rev. and Mrs. W. C. Reese, of the Convention Society, were with us. Two doctrinal classes were held. Also, one day we had a delightful picnic on Wapato Island, famous in Indian story.

     The next place visited was SPOKANE, WASH., Where there is a circle consisting of three General Church and two Convention families. Our first meeting was a class of Friday evening, September 11th. On Sunday morning there were services with an attendance of seventeen.

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In the evening there was an adult baptism followed by class. Monday evening, as the Hansen family, with whom I made my stay, and two other members of the circle and I were conversing, suddenly the entire circle came in, calling out "Happy sixtieth birthday!" I was surely taken by surprise, and overwhelmed by the kindness of the friends in remembering the day. A happy social time followed. While we were having refreshments, the circle added to its kindness by presenting me with a gift. During the speeches which followed, mention was made of the wedding, held in this place on this day a year ago, of Mr. Wallace Dibb and Miss Lily Hansen, and greetings were sent to them at their home in San Diego. Three more doctrinal classes were held, and at the services on Sunday, the 20th, there was an attendance of nineteen, all members of the Church. Sixteen partook of the Holy Supper. In the evening there was the final doctrinal class, at which also the attendance was nineteen.

     One week, September 21st to 28th, was spent at WALLA WALLA, WASH., where there is one New Church family and one other member. Five doctrinal classes, largely of a missionary character, were held, with an average attendance of ten. On Sunday, the 21st, there wire services, including the Holy Supper, at which there were seven communicants.

     Then followed three days at LA GORANDE, OREGON. The time was well filled, there being a class or lecture every afternoon and evening, all more or less of a missionary character. At one of the classes the baptism of the infant of Mr. and Mrs. Lee Fine took place. Mrs. Fine was, as Miss Anna Niederer, a pupil of the Academy some years ago. One of the lectures, on "The Life Hereafter," was given in the Baptist church. The average attendance was ten persons.

     The last place visited was BAKER, OREGON, Where another former Academy pupil, Mrs. George Blake (Minna Crandall), resides. She attended the school in my own student days. During my three days' stay, October 2d to 4th, there were three classes, of a missionary nature, with an average attendance of fifteen. On Sunday, the 4th, services were held, at which twelve persons were present, some of whom were from La Gorande.

     The work on the Pacific Coast has grown beyond what one minister can do, in justice to the field, in the course of the summer of each year, even though the time given be fifteen weeks, as this year. If the work is to be continued by summer visits, two men should do it, the one in California, the other in Oregon and Washington. In California, the time should be given principally to Los Angeles; in the north, to Spokane. Let the reader glance again at the statistics of attendance at Los Angeles, and the need of more work there will be evident. Note especially the number of children. At Spokane we have seven young people, including two children approaching that age. Four of these are young men. At Walla Walla, a day's journey distant-which is not far in that country-there are likewise several young people. Work looking to the future strength of the church needs to be done. Yet summer work on the Pacific Coast should be regarded merely as the best we can do at present. What is needed is a resident minister at Los Angeles, who will also care for the entire field. May the day when such can be the case be not far distant!
     F. E. WAELCHLI.

     WASHINGTON, D. C.-During the summer a majority of the members of this Society formed a camp at Laurel, Md., about twenty miles from Washington. The Trimble family live there, and we were joined by Rowland and his sister Charlotte. Most of us spent the week-ends at camp, but a few were more fortunate in being able to enjoy a longer stay. We succeeded in inducing our Pastor to visit us on one occasion, and it was very delightful to have the service beneath the trees, and to listen to a most interesting sermon on the text, "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it," in which it was shown that by "house" is meant the home, and not the structure.

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The attendance at this service was unusually large, as a number of friends from Arbutus were present. On another occasion, the Rev. T. S. Harris visited us, and delivered a lecture on the subject of "Evolution."

     The camp was favored with many visitors, and this sometimes taxed our resources. But in the Misses Chara Schott and Charlotte Trimble we possessed two excellent cooks who could be counted upon to meet any emergency. The camp was such a successful experiment that we hope to try it again. A cordial welcome is hereby promised our New Church friends, and for references we ask them please to apply to the Rev. Alfred Acton.

     Out Society has recently entered upon a new era, in deciding to arrange for semi-monthly visits from our Pastor, instead of monthly as heretofore. The doctrinal class and supper will be held alternately at Mr. Schott's and Mr. Stebbing's, on the Saturday evening preceding the Sunday service, which will always be held at Mr. Schott's, on the first and third Sundays of each month.
     MARGARET STEBBING.

     PITTSBURGH DISTRICT ASSEMBLY.
Although our members were keenly interested in the World's Series baseball games, this did not detract from our Assembly meetings, which began on Friday, October 9th, with a supper served in a charming and colorful setting and attended by eighty-five members and friends. The atmosphere of a church festival prevailed as the Bishop spoke on the general theme of evangelization, and others contributed to the discussion which followed. The Bishop began by pointing out the peculiar task that rests upon the man who possesses the Word, and thus bears upon his shoulders the responsibility of serving the use of the Church Specific. At the same time he indicated the importance of the use performed by anyone, anywhere, whether child or faithful adult, who still reads the Bible in an attitude of reverence. By this a connection of heaven and earth is maintained, even though such persons be surrounded with the wreckage of crumbling beliefs and erroneous religious practices. He went on to show why a New Church must begin in the wilderness, in seclusion from the world, until such time as its full coming forth into the light of publicity is decreed by Providence. In our branch of the Church we started out to evangelize the New Church itself, to urge the need of a more intensive study of the Heavenly Doctrines, and a more loyal adherence to them as the medium of the Second Coming, believing that the current idea of seeking the New Age as a vague, diffused spirit permeating the old sects was a grievous, if not fatal, error, and one calculated to merge the New Church with the Old, and thus cause its final extinction. This aim of the early Academy movement led us to undertake a theological course for the more thorough indoctrination of the ministry itself, and then, growing out of this, came our development of the held of New Church education. This policy has so far succeeded during half a century that we have been blest with a steady and sure growth, even if not very widespread and rapid. But this we believe is the best way, and the right way, for such a deep-acting religion to grow; for it is not a mere variety of sect among the old denominations, but the beginning of a new way of life and thought that will require generations for a full establishment.

     All this, and more, was brought to our minds by the Bishop's address. Under our doctrine of rationality and liberty, it is impossible to "hand down" any views or practices to any very remote posterity, merely as traditions or "faith of the fathers," but each generation must "search the Scriptures" for the vital truths contained in our inherited traditions.

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This may be hard for parents and teachers who like to "grow old in peace," undisturbed by innovations and adjustments. But it is very wholesome and stimulating. And it is here that our Bishop is of peculiar value to us. He is so perennially young and progressive in spirit, while old inexperience. And so we all listen to him with careful attention.

     On Saturday afternoon, the Bishop met the ladies of the Society at the beautiful home of Dr. and Mrs. W. B. Boggess, and here again there was a discussion of the responsibilities laid upon us by the publicity due to our Cathedral. Crowds of people have come asking about our doctrines and worship. We must meet the situation to the very best of our ability, but while doing so beware of the danger of neglecting, the uses already established, which alone can ensure a real church home for converts. There is a temptation to enter the new and stimulating field, but we must meet the condition without changing the center of our equilibrium. By our present policy of placing society building and educational work first we have achieved what success we have had, and even the Cathedral itself is a result of that. In the course of a lively discussion, it was suggested that the Schools at Bryn Athyn might serve as missionary agencies by accepting pupils not of the New Church, But the Bishop pointed out that other New Church schools had lost their distinctive character, and ceased to be really New Church, by just that method of letting down the bars. We are not strong enough in our day to carry much of an adverse sphere, even though we may be able to carry a percentage of those who are not wholly antagonistic.

     On Saturday evening, a session of the Assembly was held, when the Rev. Homer Synnestvedt read paper which happened to be on the same general topic as that of the previous meetings,-"Let your light so shine before men," stressing both the duty of proclaiming the new Gospel, and the need of doing so by our life, so that men may "see your good deeds, and glorify your Father in heaven."

     At our services on Sunday there were twelve visitors. The Bishop preached a sermon on the text, "Resist not evil." The Holy Supper was administered in the afternoon. This concluded our program, except for a men's meeting on Monday evening, when about thirty "fans" gathered to meet our beloved Bishop, and to settle finally all matters of theology, philosophy and science, besides other pressing matters! And so we feel that we are once more on the high road of progress, and ready to fill the coming year with plenty of hard work and worth while results.
     H. S.

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BRYN ATHYN CATHEDRAL 1925

BRYN ATHYN CATHEDRAL       GEORGE DE CHARMS       1925




     Announcements.



     An Invitation to Visitors.

     It is our desire to provide the best available seating accommodations for all members and friends of the General Church who attend services in the Cathedral while visiting Bryn Athyn. If such, on entering the church, will make themselves known to the head usher, he will appreciate the opportunity to give them special consideration.
     GEORGE DE CHARMS,
          Assistant Pastor.

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EMERGING FROM THE WILDERNESS 1925

EMERGING FROM THE WILDERNESS        N. D. PENDLETON       1925


[Frontispiece: Photographs of the interior and exterior of the Buildings of the Immanuel Church in Glenview, Illinois.]

NEW CHURCH LIFE
Vol. XLV      DECEMBER, 1925          No. 12
     (Delivered in Bryn Athyn, Pittsburgh, Glenview, and Denver, October, 1925.)

     A New Churchman is peculiar in responsibilities and power. He is a spiritual natural man. He is a medium between two worlds. This is his function-a medium of exchange-a ladder of ascent and descent. This is said of the Word, but it is true of the Word only as it stands in human minds. The book is nothing by itself and unsensated. The book is lifeless print, a dead page. Only when opened, when read, does it come to life; sometimes with one life, sometimes with another, according to the understanding of it; sometimes as sacred, and sometimes as profane, according to the understanding of it; often as human, and then as Divine. When it comes to life as human, the Divine is there, though hidden; when as profane, the sanctity is there, though concealed.

     Hence the places where the Word is read are important. They are life-giving, if the Word is read as sacred and Divine. But if not so read; yet may it be so heard; and then the Divine that is concealed may come forth, but with difficulty-come forth in the mind of the hearer. This makes important the places where the Word is read. Howsoever read, and howsoever heard, the occasion is made, and the possibility of a spiritual fruition exists. This for the simple, the reverential, the children, the many. It is possible in spite of the presence of a heavy atmosphere of doubt and denial, which is never so heavy but that the Divine Light may break through.

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For the Divine that lies in the Word is never entirely cut off, and cannot be, save for one who is confirmed in denial. A child's presence may be sufficient to work a miracle, to effect an opening to the Divine, through an adverse mental sphere.

     This use we cannot deny even to a dead church. We readily admit all the restrictions that can and ought to be applied to this idea of continued spiritual service to a dead church. But we submit that, after all restrictions have been made, the fact and the use of such reading of the Word still stands out as of no inconsiderable spiritual service to mankind, obscure though it be, and confused by many deadening falsities. But this continued service, as we know, cannot stand alone. Its use would soon depart if it were not sustained by an invisible connection with a true spiritual functioning somewhere. To compose such an ultimate is the use and function of this day of New Churchmen. The need of the ultimate stands over against, and in marked contrast with, that other conception of a diffused influence gradually renovating the dead forms of the Old Church. Those who hold this have little regard for the ultimate of the New Church and the need of its growth in quality and power. But on this we stand as the very and true beginning of the New Jerusalem;-this ultimate, this worshipping group of New Churchmen, in whose midst the Word, when opened, shines with that spiritual light which comes alone from the internal sense, as revealed in the Books of the Second Advent.

     It is an unfailing law that every spiritual state must have its ultimation in the world,-something upon which it may rest as its very own; that is, if the spiritual state mentioned is to increase and rule the world. Such a state, for instance, as that implied by the Second Advent of the Lord, will necessitate a New Church on earth to respond to it. Granted that the Church in se is a state, and not an organization; that it descends from heaven, and does not arise from the earth; yet, even as Adam was made of the dust of the ground, so must any new church arise and stand before the Lord, in order that the breath of life may be breathed into it. The dust of Adam's making was special; the particles were vivified, and fit for their service. This is the point. The ultimate or body of the New Church must in like manner be composed of those human units which are capable of a spiritual vivification by the individual reception of the saving truths of the Second Advent.

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Of these the body of the New Church specific must be composed. Not only this, but all such human units must unite, as of themselves, in a larger body of service, a corporate organization, distinct from every other organization, whether religious or otherwise; distinct, and in the larger sense individual, else there will be no material foothold for the Church on earth, and no meet ultimate for the Church in heaven.

     It has never been the case in history that a new religion came by diffusion merely; nor has a new religion ever successfully clothed itself with the garment of one whose service belonged largely to the past. The jewels of silver and gold have indeed ever been appropriated by the new state, but were incorporated into a newly formed ultimate, distinct and entirely individual to the new state. What would have happened if Israel had refused to march out of Egypt or if the early Christians had held to sacrifices and circumcision, instead of founding the primitive church upon the sacraments of the Holy Supper and Baptism? Israel stood the ground as a peculiar people, and Christianity clearly separated itself from Judaism. So must the New Church of this day secure itself by a distinct organization, and develop an isolated life of distinctive kind and character.

     It is hardly necessary to explain the use of the term "isolated" in this connection. Its implications are clear. Only that which is withdrawn into a favoring environment can develop the higher forms of a new state. The purpose is not a permanent state of withdrawal; quite the contrary. The end is the production of a new creation, and its indefinite multiplication thereafter. If I am not mistaken, the germinating period of isolation is signified by what is said in the Writings concerning the Church "in the wilderness." The Church, we are told, is so circumstanced in its beginning, and this for the reasons given. But a principle of universal application is here involved. That is to say, the analogue of the "wilderness" state conditions every beginning, every new state, which is destined to increase and multiply. Instead of the Scriptural phrase "wilderness," I have used the term "isolation" in the sense of withdrawal into a favoring environment.

     An organized body of individuals having in view a common end provides the favoring environment for the birth, development and multiplication of the states or qualities of that end.

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As we gather together many men of like minds, intent on a spiritual ideal, so do we prepare the ground for that ideal's fulfilment, and even more. The first formal ideal is never the true figure of the final outcome. There is a secret power that lies in this gathering together, in the combined influence of all the individuals united under an idea. And an advance is finally made upon the original plan, at least upon the original idea as it was at first conceived.

     Take, as an illustration, the original grouping of the Academy and the idea that dominated its first formation, and note the changes which it underwent. At first a secret society, and at length a General Church. Seclusion marked its first stage, its generating period. I firmly believe in the necessity of this. That the General Church, as we now have it, could not otherwise have been formed, is evident. Moreover, the general principle of seclusion still applies to the New Church as a whole; it still needs the protection of a quiet resting place, apart from the clashing ideas of the world's intellectual mart. I question whether it could even now maintain itself, if it were exposed to the stress of an open conflict, if its thoughts and perceptions were daily laid upon the altar of current human interests.

     However this may be, it is certain that Providence has so far prevented such a consummation, and this, in spite of continuous efforts of New Churchmen to propagandize the Doctrines. The obvious difficulty appears to have been that our efforts at propaganda have met, not only a mild incredulity, but also a most baffling indifference. I believe that the intelligent of the world, when they think of us at all, regard us as a curious throwback to some eccentric form of medievalism. And this, they say, cannot possibly survive, in the face of modern scientific advance. Hence there is no need of an attack upon that which is already moribund. Only that is worthy of being combated which is new and advancing.

     In the face of this indifference, the New Church has failed utterly in calling any real attention to itself. And this has had a double effect upon New Church organizations. The first effect, and the most valuable, is that the Church has been restrained, as if against its will, from leaving the wilderness, but has maintained its encampment in the seclusion which has, as it were, been forced upon it. The other effect may be described as a kind of evaporation.

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Life in the wilderness is not congenial to many souls. They resent inconspicuity, and would thrust the Church to the front; and when this fails, they are disposed to join some modern movement which they regard as more livingly representing the world in which they live. This process of evaporation has succeeded in preventing much numerical growth. And so the Church, through this first period of its existence, has not only remained in seclusion so far as the modern intellectual world is concerned, but has suffered apparent loss in membership, almost, if not quite, equal to its normal growth.

     However, there is in the mind of all New Churchmen the realization that the primary stage will pass; and they regard affirmatively the prospective advance. But in this they would follow the clear leading of Providence. In other words, we shall hail the coming forth of the Church with the joy of those who enter battle. Meanwhile, our work is at hand-the essential of it-namely, the spiritual function or service of New Churchmen as a medium of exchange between the two worlds, the spiritual and the natural.

     Now this exchange is not like that conceived of, and attempted by, those who are called "spiritists." It is not by a conscious communication with departed spirits, but by the interior way of thoughts and affections derived from the internal sense of the Word. These are at one with the heavens, and are in a certain parallelism or correspondence with all things of the world and the letter of the Word. The parallelism is made a living thing by a certain transcendental circulation, or ascending and descending flux between the two planes, the spiritual and the natural. This is the unique service of New Churchmen as individuals receptive of a spiritual faith,-a chosen people indeed-and this in spite of any appearances to the contrary.

     Natural good is a beautiful thing; it seems to be replete with charities; but it is also deceiving; not infrequently it veils essential selfishness, which is exposed in a crisis; whereas the love of spiritual truth,-a disinterested affection for the Doctrines of the New Church,-is a value entirely genuine, and quite apart from any form of self-love. The mind that holds this value may be incomplete and unregenerate, but there is an eternal something there which in time will work its way throughout the whole man. Therefore, we subordinate every value to this one, seeing in it the way of salvation,-a spiritual ideal which may or may not rest in the mind upon forms of natural good.

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Clearly we must hold to this spiritual ideal; we must recognize that the affection of the spiritual which is called the "love of the Doctrines" is the sole ground, not only for the establishment of the New Church, but also for that distinctive spiritual regeneration which is to characterize the man of the future.

     The New Church belongs to the future. Its present beginnings are scarcely a symbol of that which is to be. In our own hearts we know that in so far as the Doctrines fail in us, in that degree the Church fails;-I mean the real Church, and not merely those external loyalties which seem to carry us much of the time. These, indeed, have this use and service, but they are not the real thing; and in truth they are not permanent, not that which makes the New Churchman as such. Unless the New Church has produced, or can produce, this especial spiritual value, it is not worth while. But that it can do so, we know beyond a doubt; and our faith in this gives us a living response to those marvelous Doctrines which we hold and reverence as the sacred ladder upon which the angels of God ascend and descend.

     If I should attempt to tell you of certain moods in which I anticipated the day of our coming out from the protection of the wilderness, I should perhaps only weary you and tire myself, but if I confess that my foresight brought with it a vein of troubles because of my sense of our weakness, our fewness of numbers, you will perhaps, in the flush of last summer's victory, feel that I underestimated our strength. And in a sense I am disposed to agree with you. However, I am ever a center of troubles, both small and not so small, and often have encountered near failures, it seemed, from a lack of men. Calls have come, demands have been made, arising out of our needs, which I have hardly known how to respond to, or where to turn for the needed help; for it is my fate to command a hard-worked crew. And so I have fancied that I might have to requisition some of our enterprising young men, and commission them to study for the ministry.

     But this only in passing; for, being an Academy man, I would not employ too much persuasion in such a matter. Certainly I would avoid that giving of iterated advice which strikes upon the brain with repeating force, so that the recipient cannot get away from the suggestion.

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Still, I would have you know that our ranks are open, and that, though we are few, we must follow the saying that "the more a man does, the more he can do." Certainly we have lately been testing the truth of that saying. I refer, of course, to the outstanding new work of the year,-the missionary campaign just closed. That work was courageously undertaken, and carried to a successful conclusion. It was a labor of love on the part of those who engaged in it, and the enthusiasm that entered into it was rewarded, not only by an outpouring of visitors, but also by favorable comments on the part of the inhabitants of Bryn Athyn.     

     Many must have been convinced that our religion, reputed to be abstractly philosophical, would lend itself to a strong and convincing statement of faith, of principles securely based on the Scriptures; also, that these principles are capable of appealing to the rational, and even the scientific, mind of the day. This from the standpoint of the outsider, or of one who came more or less out of a liberal curiosity. To ourselves it was impressive, and not without a thrill, to hear our doctrines presented with clearness and power to so many non-New Churchmen, and we were disposed to think that the Church with us was entering upon a new phase of its life. I, for one, was sufficiently impressed by this view to take very seriously the responsibilities thereby thrust upon us. It seemed to me that we must of necessity meet these responsibilities to the best of our ability. I was convinced that the use involved was the inevitable outcome of the building of the cathedral, even as the cathedral itself was a product of the original Academy spirit.

     The words I heard in my youth came back to me: "When the Academy does missionary work, it will do it right!" The men who voiced this sentiment had not in mind the conditions of last summer's efforts. Far from it. They knew that missionary work, as they had observed it from the beginning of the Church, was largely a failure, with certain exceptions. They thought that such work was not backed by the right doctrine, and perhaps not by the best methods; and my feeling was that they imagined that when the Academy got down to that work it would not only put the right spirit into it, but would also devise new and more efficient methods. Be that as it may, no one, so far as I know, ever pointed to a certain means by which a crowd could be assembled to hear the Doctrines of the New Church preached; and without this, any missionary work of the usual kind will surely languish.

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It is just this that Providence has solved for us without our knowledge or intention.

     In this connection, let me remind you of the fact that the Academy, in its founding, was a missionary body. It went out to convert the New Church. It called its work "internal evangelization," yet it must be admitted that it never seriously turned its efforts in the direction of converting the world. For augmenting its numbers, it relied more and more upon its efforts at society building and the education of the children. While never denying that the world should be converted, in so far as it was convertible, it confided more and more in the saying that "our hope lies in our children," and so confirmed itself in a passive attitude toward outside propaganda.

     It is from this state that we have experienced a sudden awakening; for we have found that it is possible to command an audience, almost at any time, the weather permitting; and we have also discovered that we have men able and willing to do the work. What more would you have? Ergo, the work must go on! 'Tis a simple matter, and settled. Yes, the work must indeed go on, indefinitely. That is just the bag we have to hold. And that bag is full of tricks; many devices must be resorted to. We must spread out our thin line of advance.

     Well, the undertaking is full of adventure, and alluring. But we shall be blamed, we shall be held responsible, both on the one hand and on the other; that is, if we fail to go forward in this new undertaking, and if we fail to carry on successfully the great twin works of internal evangelization and New Church education, established with us from the beginning, and laboriously sustained for now quite half a century. These twin works have given us our schools, our societies, and this cathedral,-this cathedral, without which we would beckon to the world in vain to come and hear us.

     I speak of this, because, while earnestly affirming the need and the use of responding to the call for missionary work, it would, I think, be more than a misfortune if we allowed the allurement and the excitement of such work to divert our living interest from the two older employments of our Church. I well know the answer to this. You will say that there will be no such result, but that the whole will be healthfully stimulated. I grant the stimulation. I anticipate a reaction. And I stand for a rational balance, a workable adjustment of our interests and our energies in this matter.

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If not, we shall divide, which is the fate that sooner or later comes upon every body. And the division comes sooner than later if the soul of the body is not large enough to incorporate new issues, new growth, and give them a proportional place in its system, and if those who are enthusiastic about the new undertaking will not listen to the counsels of prudence.

     I make no doubt as to the nature of this missionary spirit. It is a new state with us, an additional something for which we must make place. It has been brooding in and with us for some time, and now it has been touched off, so to speak. Personally, I am keenly interested in its double phase, as to what we shall do with it, and what it will do with us; and the latter is the most important. That it will in time bring us other and new elements is not a case for doubt. The Church in this place (Bryn Athyn) will certainly grow numerically. The prospect is that we shall increase in numbers from several different sources,-from our children, from other New Churchmen coming to live with us, and from converts. And it is also clear that we shall have our hands full in properly caring for these newcomers. In this work we shall need all the help you can give, laymen as well as ministers, women as well as men.

     I also believe, as indicated above, that the Church, at least here in Bryn Athyn, has entered upon a new state. I cannot assert that it is a more internal state, because it has seemingly been forced upon us by our external situation. But certainly it is a more advanced state, and more exposed. We have, as it were, advanced out of our former wilderness seclusion and set our Camp upon a hill; and from thence we have flashed a signal to the world. Moreover, we have received a response, and the world has turned aside to look at us. When the world looks at anyone or anything, a change comes, the wilderness state is passed. We cannot go back; we must stand or fall where we are.

     The first words of the world are idle words,-a superficial inquiry: "What is this?" But the truth will be discovered, and then the issue will be in the hands of Providence,-the issue in men's minds, they being called to judgment, and we being tested in our faith.

     How the cathedral dominates us! When we entered into it, it entered into us. Its invisible spirit is with us day and night.

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It is making us over, fitting us to its purposes, shaping us to its uses. Slowly but surely we shall become cathedral men, its servants, given to the service of all that it stands for,-its uses, one after the other, as they are discovered. "A new use for the cathedral!" That is the cry, and that is the truth,-a new use discovered and imposed upon its servants. Ah, yes, the cathedral is a beneficent tyrant. Its power would not be so great if we did not love it so much. But we do love it, because of that for which it stands, that which it represents, that which it fulfills. We love it, and sometimes we almost fear it.
ELEVATION TO GOD 1925

ELEVATION TO GOD        W. F. PENDLETON       1925

     (On the sixth anniversary of the dedication of the cathedral, October 4, 1925.)

     "I have borne you on wings of eagles, and have brought you unto myself." (Exodus 19:4.)

     The momentous fact appears in Scripture that He who spake to Moses on Mount Sinai, and through Moses to the Sons of Israel, was the same God, the same Jehovah, of whom it is said in the Prophets that He would come into the world and reveal Himself as the one God, the Savior of men. For instance, in Isaiah: "And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us; this is Jehovah; we have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." (Isa. 25:9.) "In that day" is the day of the coming of the Lord into the world; and this passage from Isaiah is a prophecy of the coming of God Himself, of Jehovah, to be the Savior of mankind. "We have waited for Him, and He will save us; . . . and we shall be glad and rejoice in His salvation." Thus it was Jehovah God, and none other, who was to come to redeem and save the world.

     There are many passages in the Prophets to the same effect, and all lead to the conclusion that since it was Jehovah God who was to come, and who did come in the Person of Jesus Christ, therefore the Lord Jesus Christ is none other than God Himself, and He alone is to be worshiped as God; and further, that all worship, and all the instrumentalities of worship, point to Him, and lead to Him alone.

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     We read in the text of the "wings of eagles," that Jehovah God brought them from Egypt "on wings of eagles." In the literal sense, the Lord was speaking to the Israelites, whom He had lately rescued from slavery in Egypt. Jehovah the Lord was Present on Mount Sinai, and the Israelites had arrived at that mountain on their journey from Egypt to the Land of Canaan. It is evident that the words are not to be taken literally. They were not borne through the desert on the wings of eagles. They marched as an army marches. The words are usually regarded as figurative. They are indeed figurative, describing in a figurative manner the power and the means by which Jehovah had performed the great deliverance, effected by Jehovah alone. "Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and that I have borne you on wings of eagles, and have brought you unto myself."

     The text is capable of a more literal translation, and the tense or time may be changed from the past to the future. Such a change of the time is legitimate in the Hebrew Scripture, because in the spiritual sense of the Word there is no idea of time. The words so translated would run as follows, "I shall lift you up on wings of eagles, and bring you unto myself." The words are addressed to the spiritual church which Jehovah God was to establish when He came into the world, and this becomes more apparent when the future tense is used.

     It is interesting to note that a similar use of a flying eagle appears in the ancient mythologies. For instance, it was customary with the Greeks to speak of kings, heroes, and others, as being borne on the backs of eagles to the celestial regions. This figure or representative was derived to the Greeks from the Ancient Word, and the figure in the text is from a similar origin. The men of the Ancient Church understood by it a spiritual elevation, or an elevation of the spirit from earth to heaven; and by Mount Sinai, where the Lord was when He spake to Moses, was represented heaven. "I shall lift you up on wings of eagles, and bring you unto myself."

     The spiritual truth of the internal sense corresponds with the natural truth of the letter, and a knowledge of that natural truth serves as a guide, as an avenue of approach, to the internal sense.

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Applying this principle to the verse which is our text, we find that the natural or physical truth in it conveys the idea of power,-the power by which ascent is effected. An eagle exercises its power by its wings, as a man does by his hands and feet. With a man, it is the power of locomotion, or of performing some work, while still remaining on the ground. But with the eagle it is the power of elevation or ascent, lifting himself above the earth by means of his wings. By the use of his wings he flies high and sees objects far away. His sight is sharp and keen, and he is able to see things on the earth below at a great distance.

     As we have indicated, it is the spiritual mind in its state of elevation that is able to see God, and is able at the same time to look down and see the world as it really is, full of evil, especially the world in one's self, which is called the natural man; for there is a heaven and a world potentially in every man. It is like one on a mountain top, who can see objects far distant, or like the eagle beholding the sun, and the plain of the earth below. It is the Lord, from His sun,-the sun of the angelic heaven,-who gives the light to see, even as an eagle sees by a purer light coming from the natural sun. The Lord gives man the light and at the same time the power to rise to Him, and then to look down and see the world, his own world in himself, and the evils in that world, the light to see and the power to desist from those evils, shunning them as sins against God and against His Divine order. This light and this power, this struggle against evil as sin, brings about not only a state of spiritual elevation, but also a state of spiritual purification, which is meant by the words of the beatitude, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." (Matt. 5:8.) No others can see God, no others can see the King in His beauty, in the land of far distances (Isa. 33:17) where the angels dwell; no others than they whose thought has been elevated into spiritual light by the purification of the heart from its evils, enabling the thought to soar into the atmosphere of heaven itself, and to see God as the angels see Him. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." To see God is also to see the spiritual truths of the Word, which are from God, and even to see a light in nature that was not seen before.

     "I shall lift you up on eagles' wings, and bring you unto myself." These words are a promise of what the Lord will do for those who abide in the truths of His Word.

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"If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." In a true imagery, in a true imagination, if you please, in the imagination of a true poetry,-for the Word of God is the fountain of all poetry,-the words of the text describe the Israelites as being lifted up, and borne along above the desert to the mountain of God, even as the woman in the Apocalypse is pictured as being given "two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place" (Rev. 12:14), in which is also described a state of spiritual elevation, the elevation or lifting up of the mind to heaven and heavenly things by means of the truths of the internal sense of the Word; or rather, by the spiritual affection of truth, signified by the "woman," which has its basis in a life according to the Commandments. For truth is nothing by itself Truth alone, truth merely in the memory, cannot rise to any heavenly height. It is the spiritual affection of truth, the love of truth for its own sake for the sake of heaven and the Lord, and not for anything of self and the world;-it is that spiritual affection of truth, that spiritual love of the truth, which lifts the thoughts of the mind above all that is sordid in this world's life, above all care for the morrow, above all the evils of the natural man, into the atmosphere, into the light of heaven. "I shall lift you up on eagles' wings, and bring you unto myself." It is a Divine promise, a promise of the Lord our Savior, to those who receive Him in His coming, and who receive Him because they have been living a life of obedience to His commandments. No others are able to open their minds and hearts to God the Savior of men, our Lord Jesus Christ.

     The text, in its literal or historical sense, is limited to the Sons of Israel, indicating the Divine power by which they were rescued from the hand of Pharaoh, and brought to Jehovah Himself on Mount Sinai, where He was to reveal Himself to them. But the words in their spiritual sense, in which there is no time, apply to all men in all time, and especially to those men, wherever they may be, who live a life of religion. To these, the words of the text are words of promise,-a promise of heaven to them, if they acknowledge and worship the Lord Jesus Christ with an understanding heart, and in the deeds of the life. "I shall lift you up on eagles' wings, and bring you unto myself."

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The Lord speaks to those who acknowledge Him, or who are yet to acknowledge Him in all the nations of the world. But those who deny, and live their denial in an evil life, closing their minds to the Lord, cannot be blessed by Him.

     In the text there is the appearance that the Lord does all the work, and that there is nothing left for man to do. He who so thinks is greatly deceived. The Word speaks throughout of the duty of man. The language of the Ten Commandments is sufficient evidence that there is much for man to do. For the Lord says, "Without me ye can do nothing." (John 15:5.) Without the presence of the Divine Truth, and the Divine power in the Truth, a man can do nothing; and to do nothing is to do evil. When a man acts from himself, and not from God, he does what the angels call "nothing," because he is acting from hell, and not from heaven. He is doing evil, and not good. This must all be changed, and the change is effected by a life of repentance. There is no elevation into spiritual light, into the atmosphere of heaven, except on the basis of repentance.

     This is now to be man's work, and it is what is meant in Scripture by "doing" and "working." For repentance, in its essence, is resistance to evil. It is resistance. It is combat. It is work. It is a work of cooperation. Man must work, that the Lord may work in him. The Lord cannot work in any man as a passive subject. He must not only know the truth; he must think the truth; he must love the truth, and love the truth by doing it.

     For this the Lord came into the world,-to enlighten and elevate the human understanding by the truth of His Word, and to impart the power to do the truth. This power,-the power to do the truth,-had been lost. Men had lost the power even to see the truth. There could be no elevation of the understanding into heavenly light. Evil spirits had risen from hell into the world of spirits, and had closed heaven by depriving men of the truths they had hitherto possessed; and even those who were in any degree of simple good could not enter heaven. Unless the Lord should come, and put an end to this condition by performing a judgment, no flesh could be saved. For spiritual enlightenment, spiritual elevation of thought, was impossible. Spiritual power could not be imparted. For there is no enlightenment of the understanding, no spiritual power, where there is no spiritual truth.

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It was essential that the Lord should come to teach men the truth, and impart to them the power to cooperate with Him by the truth in the work of salvation.

     And so we reach this conclusion, that the Lord came into the world to bring to men the means of regeneration, that is, the means to the elevation of his spirit into heaven, even while still in the world. These means are the truths of His Word, the truths of doctrine from His Word,-the truths of the literal sense of the Word, and now in the day of His Second Coming, revealing to men the truths of the internal sense, the very truths of heaven itself; and then to found a church, composed of men, who would be His willing instruments in furthering the means of salvation, by all of which the minds and hearts of men can be elevated, as on wings of eagles, into the light and heat of heaven, into the light of its wisdom and into the heat and warmth of its love.

     The church, then, as composed of men, must proceed under the Divine guidance in the establishment of the agencies, the functions, the uses, and thus all the means and instrumentalities for which the Lord came. The ends for which He came are redemption, regeneration, salvation; and the means are many, as many as the truths of his Word. But in the activities of the church there are two essential means, two essential instrumentalities,-instruction and worship, requiring many things, requiring still further instrumentalities, such as buildings with all things pertaining thereto,-such as school and college buildings, and the House in which we are now assembled, built in the Providence of the Lord and most suitably arranged for the uses of instruction and worship.

     It is fitting that we should, from time to time, as it were rededicate this House to the uses for which it was built. May the Lord bless this House and its uses, and make it a continual instrumentality for the elevation of the understanding into spiritual light, and for the growth in intelligence and wisdom of all who worship here, that the prophecy and promise of the text may be fulfilled in mind and life. "I shall lift you up on wings of eagles, and bring you unto myself." And the church shall answer in the words of the Psalm, "I will lift up mine eyes to the mountains, from whence cometh my help. My help is from the Lord, who made the heaven and the earth." (Psalm 121.) Amen.

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DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW CHURCH SOCIETY 1925

DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW CHURCH SOCIETY       Rev. K. R. ALDEN       1925

     (A Communication to the Chicago District Assembly, 1925.)

     The giant oak flings its roots deep into the solid earth, that it may stand against the gale. The General Church is like an oak, with roots deeply planted in a genial soil that gives both genuine support in time of need and nourishment from day to day. The roots from which our Church has grown are deep indeed. It is built, as it were, upon a triple order of events. "The General Church of the New Jerusalem," as we style ourselves today, was born February 6th, 1897,-twenty-eight years ago. But can we say that this, in truth, was the natal day of our dear Church? To do so would be to misread history. That was, perhaps, the day when the sapling put forth its leaves and blossoms, and we became known to men under our present name,-a new organization in the history of the Church. But roots, deep roots, were growing long before that.

     What shall we say of the "General Church of the Advent of the Lord," out of whose dust and ashes the present General Church arose? Or what shall we say of the "General Church of Pennsylvania," which, in its turn, gave birth to the "General Church of the Advent of the Lord"? These were all growths, in God's Providence, which served to spread the roots of the present General Church deeper and deeper under the surface of the earth. These prior movements were engendering affections in the hearts of men for principles which neither time nor personality could remove.

     If we would view the full spread of our Church's roots, we must go back beyond even these immediate parents. In the words of our present Bishop, speaking in Glenview at the Second General Assembly, it was thus stated:

     "This Church claims an inheritance from the very beginning of the Priesthood, down to the present time. We claim that Robert Hindmarsh is the forefather of the Academy. We claim that Richard de Charms is the forefather of the Academy in the second degree. We claim that W. H. Benade is the father of the Academy in the third degree.

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And we honor and respect those men. There can be no question but that there has been in the New Church a contention that will go on to the end,-a contention that has been represented by those three men. This Church is the legitimate offspring of the work of those three men, in their day, and in their time; and, Brethren, we have a noble inheritance. The only thing that we need be concerned about is this, that we have with us those worthy and able to appreciate that inheritance, and to continue it down to those
that are to come after us." (Journal of the Second General Assembly of the General Church, page 31.)

     These are the ringing words of the man who later became Bishop, and in whose hands the continuance of those ideals now rests. 'Tis true we share a rich heritage from the past. Other men, giants of the past, have labored, and we have entered into the fruits of their labors. Robert Hindmarsh, Richard de Charms, W. H. Benade, W. F. Pendleton, were all great men,-noble priests! John Pitcairn was a Captain of Industry, and the Church has reaped a spiritual and material harvest from these men. But the last sentence of the Bishop's remarks forces itself particularly upon our attention at this time: "The only thing that we need be concerned about is this, that we have with us those worthy and able to appreciate that inheritance, and to continue it down to those who are to come after us."

     This is our great task,-to become worthy of the traditions of the past, so worthy that we are active in continuing them into the future. In this connection, the Book of Revelation is a source of inspiration. It is a prophecy concerning the passing away of things that are old, and the instauration or founding of things that are new. "Behold, I make all things new!" This is the central theme about which gathers all the power of a re-creation. A new, a glorious Church, all unstained by the heresies of the past, the virgin soil in which the Lord has planted the seeds of a new Garden of Eden! And these seeds are the Writings, which, we acknowledge, constitute His Second Advent into the world!

     A portion of this priesthood and laity of the General Church are here gathered together, that they may mutually inspire and support one another, and that they may impart courage, faith and hope, each to his brother, in the mighty work which we have undertaken. Into our hands has been given a portion of the fulfilment of prophecy, the prophecy of the Book of Revelation.

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     Convictions throbbing with life are the secret powers that stir men to deeds of self-sacrifice and self-forgetfulness, Without these convictions, we labor in a dying cause, and, like a ship without a rudder, shall sooner or later be driven upon some barren rock. The vitality of the Academy movement is due to the tremendous conviction that gave it birth. The power and energy of the General Church is born of the faith which its members hold; for they believe that she is founded upon a true order of ecclesiastical government, preaching a gospel which has its very roots deep founded in the assurance that the Writings of the New Church are absolute Truth, and bear with them the authority of a Divine message. Without positive belief, the cause of any religious propaganda is foredoomed to failure; but with faith, mountains of doubt can be removed. "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." (Matt. 17:20.) As Reuben was the first-born of Jacob, and Peter the first-called of the disciples of the Lord, so this principle of utter and absolute faith in the importance of the work we have before us is the very sine qua non of success.

     The Book of Revelation must ever stand to New Churchmen as a marvelous inspiration,-the source of dynamic power. The vision it discloses of the New Jerusalem is so beautiful and complete, the utter deadness and decay of the old order of things is so magnificently portrayed, that it should give us courage and confidence in our work. Tonight your attention is invited to one particular passage of that book, because it contains within it the germ of what may, perhaps, spring up into a new conviction,-a conviction as strong as that which started the Academy, and as living as the forces which animate the General Church. Describing the woman who brought forth the male-child, the Book of Revelation tells us that she "fled into the wilderness, where she was nourished a thousand, two hundred and three score days." In explaining this series of verses, the Apocalypse Revealed speaks of a time of isolation in the history of the New Church, during which period the Church shall become firmly rooted in the distinctive doctrines peculiar to it:

     "'Where she hath a place prepared of God, that they may nourish her there a thousand two hundred and sixty days.'

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That this signifies the state of the Church at that time, that meanwhile preparation may be made for it among the many, until it grows to its appointed state. State is signified by place, and by nourishing is signified to provide for it to grow; for so the Church is nourished. Hence, by having a place prepared of God, that they may nourish her is signified the state of the Church, that meanwhile preparation may be made for it among the many. . . . It is of the Lord's Providence that the Church should at first be among the few, and should increase gradually among many, because the falsities of the former Church must first be removed, as truths cannot before be received." (A. R. 547.)

     We have a natural hesitancy in making any definite application of prophecy to present times, but we may with impunity cast our eyes backward over the history of the Church,-the forty-nine years of the Academy, the twenty-eight years of the General Church, and, in the deeds that are written in the book of lives, see, not only the fulfilment of prophecy, but also the hand of the Divine Providence.

     Now the prophecy concerning the woman who represented the New Church, and who was nourished in the wilderness, either has not been fulfilled, or it has been fulfilled, or it is being fulfilled. There are many indications which point to the fact that it has, at least in part, been fulfilled in the days that have gone by. The New Church sprang forth, and flourished for a time without much persecution from the Dragon. But the moment came when the Dragon's attacks became insistent, so insistent, in fact, that he had broken through the walls of the Holy City, and the chief and real enemies of the New Jerusalem were nourished within her walls. This was fast bringing about a state of deadly decay. The vitality of the movement was being sapped away by an internal antagonism to the Writings themselves. It was at this point in the history of the New Church that isolation became necessary to the very preservation of the purity and stamina of the Church. The result was the Academy movement; and if any one thing was characteristic of the early days, it was isolation. The New Church must be separated from the Old. And so we find a series of principles promulgated which have become dear to our hearts under the title, "The Academy Principles." And what did they teach? Distinctive education; distinctive social life; a distinctive and orderly priesthood in three degrees; marriage within the Church.

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In a word,-separation. Of course, the Church never taught that a man should not be a part of the world in a forensic sense; but communities like those at Bryn Athyn, Glenview and Arbutus were formed, that the isolation might be as complete as possible.

     There seem to be reasonable grounds for supposing that all this isolation brought about by the Academy movement, which saved the Church from the jaws of the Dragon, is the fulfilment of the prophecy "that the woman fled into the wilderness." The Writings clearly state that the Church must be isolated until it becomes firmly inrooted in the few, preparatory to its spreading to the many. But this epoch in the Church's history seems to be drawing to a close. In Bryn Athyn, we are no longer able to maintain that strict isolation which at one time enabled the child to exclaim with indignation, "Papa, some Old Church chickens have gotten in with ours!" On the contrary, the Cathedral brings thousands of strangers into our midst weekly, and the quiet beauty of the place has made it one of Philadelphia's summer resorts. This condition is doubtless true, in some measure, of Glenview also. And it brings us face to face with the problem of Church growth and future policies.

     And here I would make an appeal for a new spirit of broad-mindedness. That word, I am aware, is liable to gross misunderstanding and so I hasten to explain my meaning of it. I hold no brief for the type of broad-mindedness which has been put into practice elsewhere in the New Church, the breed that seeks to join the Confederation of Churches, and to minimize the difference between the New and the Old Dispensations. We do not plead for the type of New Churchman who would make the entrance into the Church so gradual that more people would slide out than would slide in. The kind of broad-mindedness we plead for is the kind that can come only when there is a strong mind in a healthy body,-the kind of mind that dares to face all problems, and which at least attempts to solve them. It will not say that this way, that way, or the other way is the only way that the Church can be built up. But it will say: "In the strength of our manhood, let us utilize all of the methods for Church building that the Lord has put into our hands!"

     These means of growth in the Church may be summarized as follows:

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1. The preaching of interior doctrine with authority.
2. New Church education.
3. New Church Sunday Schools, and home instruction.
4. Attractive external equipment.
5. Evangelization.

     The ideal society will strive for the active prosecution of all these methods of church building. And here we are reminded of the Lord's words to the scribes and Pharisees: "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith; these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone." (Matt. 23:23.) The Lord is here pleading for the kind of broad-mindedness that we would like to see applied within the Church. He did not forbid the tithe of "mint, anise and cummin," but He added to it "justice, mercy, and faith."

     It has been all too common in the Church of the past to fix our attention upon some one way of Church-building, and to belittle all other ways. We have said in effect: "New Church education works; why bother about evangelization?" We have, in effect, condemned evangelization, because it has proven a failure in other bodies of the Church. Now this seems to me to be a spirit that will militate against the largest growth of the Church. "These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone."

     The subject of Evangelization was hotly debated at the Second General Assembly. At that time, the net result of the discussion was to affirm the position that the General Church had not then sufficient resources, either in men or money, to undertake systematic missionary work. But the spirit which dominated that decision has lasted pretty well down to the present time; and the question arises: Have we, after twenty-eight years of solid growth, gathered sufficient resources to undertake a new responsibility! The work will not be successful on any very large scale until the General Church throws itself into it with all the energy, patience, and resourcefulness that have made the Academy an established fact, and that have preserved the purity of doctrine in our pulpits. But with this strong center to work from, what may we not accomplish! It is interesting to note, in passing, that during eight weeks of the past summer the New Church Gospel was preached to more than two thousand persons in our own Cathedral.

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     The past has taught us much. It has taught us that scattered efforts, uncentered about a living society, are vain and wasted energy. It has taught us the value of strong, straightforward doctrine, and the power of New Church education. Everywhere our external equipment is becoming better. We now have the facilities for handling the problem of evangelization. Can we not confidently expect that the day is not far distant when the subject of evangelization will receive the energy and the vital enthusiasm which alone are lacking to make it successful?

     A time is coming,-and we know not the day nor the hour thereof,-when the Church is going to spread from the few to the many. The woman has surely been nourished in the wilderness, and a generation of New Churchmen who have been educated in New Church schools is with us. May we not say that they are free from the falsities of Old Church dogma? They never knew them. With that powerful center, why can we not adopt some such scheme as this: First, center our attention upon the preaching of the Word with all the power of the Divine authority of the Writings behind it. Secondly, fight for New Church schools, maintaining those we have, and opening new ones. Thirdly, make use of the Sunday School, conducted according to the principles of the General Church. Fourthly, improve our external equipment. And then, when we have all that capital, that vital strength, to work from, go forth and preach the living Gospel to new hearts.

     Does our religion mean anything to us? Yes, it means life itself. The torch which we uphold sheds light upon our path; it makes each day's tasks easier to bear; it helps in time of trouble, and it spurs on to noble undertakings. Can we, in our souls, believe that this same light, which means so much to us, will mean nothing to our friends outside of the Church, nothing to the world in general? Some will say, "Yes, but the world does not want it." What manufacturer could succeed with that for his slogan? It is true that the world does not know that it wants it. It is true that the world of Spirits did not want the preaching of Swedenborg. He went forth nevertheless, and preached repentance and the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, even to martyrdom and lying dead in their streets, (See A. R. 531.)

711




     How can the world want it, when men have not lived according to it, when they have not had their minds illumined by it? "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." The sower went forth to sow, and it did not seem to discourage him when three places rejected his seed. He rejoiced in the fourth place that brought forth abundantly. Our lack of success in the past is no cause for discouragement, if our faith is real and genuine.     

     Think for a moment what your own lives would be if devoid of New Church principles! You would then have to give up your belief in the sole Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ. You would have to forget that the Word of God is the source of life and the way to heaven. You would then be ignorant of conjugial love. You would be ignorant of the fact that the Lord has made His Second Coming. And when death called, there would be no comfort for you in the fact of a new angelic heaven. Can we imagine our lives devoid of all these things? Yet there are millions who have them not. Let the spirit that animates us be of joy for the blessing which the New Church could bestow upon others, not the zeal merely for attaining converts to ourselves.

     This year we are completing the fiftieth year of the Academy's history. Anon we shall begin a new epoch, with all the accumulated wealth of the past. Let us bring to our task the spirit of new energy and new initiative. It will not be sufficient, at the end of the next fifty years, to say to the Lord who calls upon us to give an account of our labors, "I have kept all that Thou gavest to me hid in a napkin. There, take that is Thine!" Rather must we step forth with brave hearts, and dare to venture into new fields, that the music of our immortal song may float down another half century, ever gaining new hearts, ever consecrating new lives to the service of its ideals.

"Our Glorious Church, Thou Heavenly Bride,
     Jerusalem restored. Within thy pearly portals open wide,
The nations ever shall in light abide,
     To worship in the opened Word the glory of the Lord."

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DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW CHURCH SOCIETY 1925

DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW CHURCH SOCIETY       Rev. HUGO LJ. ODHNER       1925

     (A Communication to the Chicago District Assembly, 1925.)

     Although the request for the transmission of some thoughts on the vital topic of the development of our New Church societies came late, I cannot entirely forego the opportunity so kindly provided to address the many friends, known and unknown, of the Chicago District in the epistolary way, which was the sanctioned means of mutual encouragement in faith and life in the early Christian times.

     Surely the New Church groups now struggling to hold together against the enticements of the world's calls are in many aspects similar to the scattered Christian communities of Apostolic times. The thought that I wish to emphasize here is that the New Church will develop in every locality in the degree that it is able to see the truths of the Second Advent in the ultimates of the Letter of the Word,-in "the clouds of heaven." For the power of universal application and appeal to all states, within and without the Church, lies, omnipotently; within the Letter. This conviction is given additional weight by the fact that it was in this way that the Apostles-who, incidentally, were the first preachers of the Second Advent-also preached the Gospel of the" Word made flesh." They stressed the Messiah, and the Redemption that had been promised in the Law and the Prophets; and they studied these Books of the Old Covenant with unceasing enthusiasm. For it was the authority of the prophecy that suggested the authority of the Messiah who came for its fulfilment.

     The word in its Letter is the foundation of the Church. Let us not, through some absurd misunderstanding of the teaching that it is adapted for the childlike state, forget that it is the most profound work ever forged in the fires of inspiration. Let us not, in excessive blindness, leave the literal sense to be studied only by children. The adult must study it also, in the manner of the rational man; not merely reserving it for a reverent sphere, and reading it only in moments of worship. But he must actually study it, analyze its contents and history and doctrines,-must "search the Scriptures," so that our worship may be filled with wisdom.

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It is thus that our societies shall grow, by being amply equipped to meet all states.

     There is a duty with every society to require tithes from the fine arts and the sciences. This brings growth, cultural and ethical, and brings refinement-although sometimes unnecessary sophistication also. Progress, along certain lines, requires this. But there looms a greater duty, greater even than the worthy and time-taking attempt to find an adequate basis for a future New Church Science,-a natural foundation for our Theology, in the study of the Scientific Works of Swedenborg. To my mind, this greater duty is the scientific and categorical study of the Letter of the Word. For even as the understanding of Swedenborg, the philosopher, is impossible, if we divorce him from the history of his environment, so neither are his later revealed Writings at all intelligible apart from their antecedent,-the Letter of the Gospel and the Law. Only in so far as the Letter of the Scriptures is seen in its historical procession, as a cumulative revelation whose allusions are historically plausible, can we see the Writings and the spiritual sense without misunderstanding them.

     It is the experience of every priestly instructor, that there is reception of spiritual truth, i.e., the perceptive illustration which is to be the essential sign of the New Church,-only so far as the laity see the truths of the internal sense in the truths of the letter of the Word. Where the laity is in possession of an intelligent and distinct picture of the literal sense, there, when the principles of the Heavenly Doctrine are preached, its series of spiritual truths straightway descend as into their welcoming sister forms, and enlighten the faith of the Church, mutually confirming both letter and spirit. But where the laity have not the vivid knowledge or memory of the Letter, there the priest's allusions, with their teaching of the spiritual truth, fall upon unresponsive ears, and arouse little of the delight of faith, and thus little illustration.

     When truths are seen as embodied in the literal sense, by correspondence or as genuine truths, the Church can acknowledge such truths as Divine and holy, that is, as derived from Revelation. The Writings themselves, as a whole, are contained spiritually in the Letter of the Word; but until this is seen by a member of the church, his faith is not whole; it may only be rational, or only historical (persuasive).

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When the light of illustration from the Word in its letter is called forth, that faith is metamorphosed into a spiritual and lasting thing. The path of adolescence leads through such an experience, if there is to be a true growth.

     History, therefore, seems to testify that New Church societies have been in a growing stage as long as there was faithful reading from the Word and the Writings;-not the Word in its letter only, in which case the young people reacted away from the sphere of pietism not understood; nor of the Writings alone, which often degenerated into a philosophical hobby; but both, for the mutual glory of the Divine and the Human in the Lord made One. Let us prolong this stage of growth in the Academy, as we may if we try. Bible classes to instill the love of the Letter of the Divine Word might have their place beside the doctrinal classes which introduce to the spiritual sense.

     Years ago, as I vaguely recall, I read the story of a man, a truth-seeker, who met the devil out walking. His satanic majesty was in a pleasant mood, very tolerant and broad-minded. In fact, I think the devil helped to pick up bits of truth as they went along. The man was astonished and somewhat embarrassed, but the devil explained that he didn't mind, and that truths were, so to speak, tools in his workshop. It seems that the devil rather delighted when men found truths, because he knew that sooner or later they would begin to organize them; and that's where he would come into the picture!

     There's quite a moral to this anecdote. The history of the Christian Church bears it out. The devil, with his love of dominion and his conceit of self-intelligence to impart, is ever close at hand to aid men to build "crazy houses" of the bits of truths that they pick up, and to put their trust in the institutions they make rather than in the spirit of repentance, charity, steadfastness, and in duties individually seen and done.

     We in the New Church are, I think, on guard against the love of rule in its several forms, whether it show itself by a continual insistence on one's own plans and one's personal views, or by the assumption of powers not warranted, and thus perverting the organized church into an instrument of self-interest.

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But, as the duties of the Church to its children, both tender and grown, are gradually perceived in a society, and as we quite rightly meet the demands by organizing one use after another, establishing chapels for worship and halls for instruction, developing the new social life that springs from the charity of a common faith in God, and then sustaining schools and Sunday Schools for the children; do we, I wonder, sufficiently realize the great temptation that goes along with every such ecclesiastical organizing process?-the temptation to regard a use organized as a use performed? and so to end our interest in it, or at least to divert that interest to a lower plane; to say, when we have our priest in the pulpit and our teacher at her desk, their salaries paid (or at least subscribed), "Nows that's done!" It is not "done!" What is done is only a formal recognition of the uses for which these officials stand. The mere possession of a New Church school is not an index of the advance or development of the society. What tells the story of advance is the home, which is the unit of society. Is the faith of the home an active faith, which reaches out for a greater understanding of the Word and a real love of it. A church is a church according to the understanding of the Word.

     There are many artificial ways of progressing, and they have all been tried. But however delightful our tableaux and pageants, however stirring our collateral literature, however profound our philosophical dissertations, I believe that the strength for missionary work and the promise of society-growth lies; as it has done in the past, in the Family Bible. To those who know the Bible it is the most interesting of books-the repository of a nation's hopes, a race's memories, and the record of God's loving leading. Thrill with its poets, tremble with its kings, and thunder with its prophets! Read its story, fitting into it the tales of Egyptian temple walls and Assyrian palaces! Pour upon it the learning of the ages, and it rises ever more glorified before us! All human legend and literature pales before it. And by the understanding of its letter and spirit we must judge the intelligence of the church.

     I imagine it is true that family worship and private reading in the Word do suffer by the demands of our modern routine, and by the allurement of so much unworthy literature and spectacle and skeptical thought. It has even been suggested that it is not as necessary to do private reading, since the generals of doctrine are given in tabloid form by the institutions of the church.

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Still, I venture to say that it is not to inoculate the young against any need to read the Word that our education is provided, but to help to instill the desire to seek truths from the Word, and that there may thus be a contact with the heavenly spheres of affection and perception that focus upon the reader of the Holy Book, provided his heart is right and his thoughts have adequate doctrinal guidance.

     Not on our altars alone, but in our hearts and memories, should be the burning story of the Letter of the Word. Let it be "as frontlets between our eyes" in all our progress. The devil will take leave only if the whole body of our revelation of Divine doctrine is recognized within the holy ultimates of order,-the letter of the Scripture. Then the Divine organizing-power is with us; then the Divine truths of every degree and form are with us in human application to every state, and able to reach to all, within and without the church, as far as there is readiness to respond. The gates of the New Jerusalem are open in the very wall, in the foundations; and through these gates-that is, through the general teachings of the internal sense seen in their letter in the Word,-will the kings of the earth bring their glory into the Holy City.
CONCERNING LOVE 1925

CONCERNING LOVE              1925

     "That love is the fundamental from which and by which heaven exists and subsists, may be evident from this, that there ought to be such a harmony and unanimity, and hence so universal a consociation, that the whole heaven, the whole world of spirits, that is, the whole human race from its first creation, should form a one, as each and all things in man form one body, and thus constitute one man; in which body, if anything whatever were to prefer itself to another, and not love another more than itself, it could not subsist. He who is in true love has an idea of the common good and the universal man, in respect to which every man should be nothing, as is known; wherefore unless he be in such an idea toward a companion that he esteems himself as nothing in respect to the common good, and thus loves his neighbor better than himself, he can never be in the unanimous body of heaven, but necessarily expels himself from it in just the degree that he removes himself from that love." (Spiritual Diary 4046.)

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SEEING OURSELVES AS OTHERS SEE US 1925

SEEING OURSELVES AS OTHERS SEE US       J. W. MARELIUS       1925

     (A paper read at the Chicago District Assembly, 1925.)

     Your kind indulgence is asked for the presentation of the following thoughts suggested by the words of Percival, a distinguished American scholar (1795-1856), where he says: "The real value of any doctrine can only be determined by its influence on the conduct of man with respect to himself, to his fellow creatures, or to God." These words, when viewed in the light of higher truth, present the question of the influence of our Doctrines upon the world at large, as evidenced by the life and conduct of the members of the New Church, when considered as' integral units of human society. The subject, therefore, is worthy of the most serious attention on the part of all who have the present and future Church at heart.

     There may be those among us who feel inclined to doubt the propriety of quoting from outside writers anything that bears upon the application of our Doctrines. However, let them bear in mind that the common sense of mankind often finds apt expression in the well-chosen words of some talented author. Such an author may be likened to a miner who, by patient toil in the right soil, brings to light a precious nugget of gold, the value of which is recognized by all. However, that aside, there can scarcely be any doubt that mankind generally is justified in judging of the value of any doctrine by its effect upon the character and conduct of those who have accepted it as a rule of life. This, then, is a pertinent question, in so far as it relates to our standing in the eyes of the world around us.

     How far are we the embodiment of the doctrines we profess? We claim, with justice, that our doctrines are of supreme value in molding our lives and character. How far have we allowed this molding process to advance? Our doctrines, for instance, unmistakably teach, as regards our relations to our fellow men, that we are all brethren, in a near or remote degree. How far do we exemplify this doctrine in our conduct towards them? Do we exhibit any more genuine interest in the welfare of our fellow men,-even our own brethren,-than those who are not blest with the possession of such sublime doctrines?

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If not, need we wonder that the real value of our doctrines is not appreciated by the outside world? Evidently we have been weighed in the balance, and found wanting in those qualities which the world his a right to expect of us. For, have not we ourselves the right to expect that the doctrines which we hold as eternally true and ideal shall also produce, at least approximately, ideal men and ideal women? The query is pertinent: Now do we come up to such expectations?

     We are, of course, confronted right here with the hackneyed excuse for our shortcomings,-the limitations imposed upon us by heredity, the pressure of the sphere of worldliness around us, and an unfavorable environment generally. All of this, or part of it, is no doubt offered and accepted as a sufficient apology for not boldly following the Divine standard to which we have sworn fealty, while adopting instead the tattered standard of decayed systems of thought. If we allow ourselves to be turned aside from the straight and narrow path by weakly yielding to the allurements of the world, and to the enticements of mere riches and the thousand and one pleasures which they bring, to what does this point? Simply to this,-that these doctrines to which we profess such ardent loyalty have not as yet become our own from rational and sincere conviction, that they are not lived, and so are not really believed and cherished by us as the most precious gift of our Heavenly Father to his erring children, given for their betterment and salvation. For this, I think, can be accepted as an aphorism, or self-evident truth, that men believe only so much of a doctrine as they apply in their daily lives. The test of our faith is the doing of the truths we profess. Out of our mouths the well-known phrases of our doctrines may roll as newly minted coins of brilliant luster, having the ring of pure gold, and yet we may lamentably fail in being the embodiments of such doctrines.

     We are apt to deplore the slow advance of our doctrines among men, and we often wonder why these sublime doctrines do not find a more general acceptance. We know there are reasons for this, and among them the fact that we ourselves fail to prove by our lives that our type of manhood and womanhood presents a higher ideal than the world around us can show. It is a trite saying that "actions speak louder than words." By our actions we are judged, and by our actions our doctrines also come to be judged, by the world.

719


Either they can be lived, or they cannot. Let us hear and heed the Lord's words: "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Let us take courage, then; and not faint or falter in our efforts so to act in every relation with our fellow men that the light of the truths we prize so highly may shed its beneficent light upon all who come within its influence, and that the love which animates and vivifies it may be felt by all who come within its sphere. Thus, and thus only, will the world realize that our doctrines are good and true, when it sees them exemplified in the lives of the members of the Church.

     If, on the contrary, our actions spring from purely selfish motives, self-interest, greed, etc., instead of from genuine goods will and sincere desire, and we forget to apply the golden rule, "to do unto others as we would that they should do unto us," do we not really deny the blessedness of a life according to the truths that are emblazoned on the standard to which we claim to dedicate our lives?

     Let us turn now from these general reflections to a theme which especially concerns the development of genuine New Church character among our youth, and which will clearly demonstrate the power and value of our doctrines. Here, indeed, is virgin soil in which to plant the precious seeds of truth, and from which we should expect in due time to gather much fruit. It is in this held that we may expect to reap the full result of the thorough teaching and training which our youth now enjoys. The evidence of the efficacy of that training cannot but be conspicuous among those so highly favored. We may rightly expect our youth to be animated by the highest ideals, in order to justify in themselves the labor of parents and teachers in their behalf. They should ever realize that much will be required of those to whom much has been given, and that thus their responsibility is greater than that of those who have not had the advantages they themselves enjoy. Let us trust that they are fully alive to the real meaning of the mission they are called upon to fulfill, as citizens of the commonwealth no less than as members of the church of the future. Let us hope that they are mindful of the obligations they owe to their brethren, and to their fellow citizens. Their greater knowledge and greater enlightenment as to their obligations to their fellow men naturally imposes higher duties, heavier responsibilities, upon them.

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     We should expect to see our youth animated by the spirit of true gentlemen, gentle, kind, obliging, and eager to serve others by those little attentions which so plainly reveal the true gentleman. Of course, we expect young New Churchmen to show toward the other sex that reverence, that genuine gallantry, that anxiety to sacrifice their own convenience and pleasure for the benefit of the women so worthy of our esteem, which the spirit of our doctrine demands of its votaries. When we see our young men display such a spirit, we may feel assured that the time and effort spent upon their education has not been spent in vain, but that the church will be honored by the possession of such young men.

     It would be a notable gain to our organization to be able to claim a great number of such young men as the result of a distinctly New Church education; and our fervent hope is that their number may ever increase, and that, as mature men and citizens, they may prove worthy of carrying aloft our sublime standard of virtue and character in their daily life, in the midst of a sordid and self-seeking world. Only thus shall we gain and retain the respect and honor of our fellow men, when they see that our professions are not merely of the mouth, but also of the life. Only thus will the attention of the world be drawn to the value of our doctrines, when they see them exemplified in the life of its votaries. May the Lord speed the day when this hope will be realized!
NEW CHURCH SERMONS 1925

NEW CHURCH SERMONS              1925

     Expounding the Scriptures in the Light of the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem
PAMPHLET ISSUED MONTHLY 1925

PAMPHLET ISSUED MONTHLY              1925

FROM OCTOBER TO JUNE INCLUSIVE.

(Formerly "Weekly Sermons")

Containing Selected Discourses by Ministers of the General Church. Suitable for individual reading, and for use in family worship or other services, as well as for missionary purposes.

Sent free of charge to any address on application to Mr. H. Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

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FESTIVAL OF THE NATIVITY 1925

FESTIVAL OF THE NATIVITY       Editor       1925


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office a Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly By
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.

Editor                    Rev. W. B. Caldwell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager          Mr. H. Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address and business communications should be sent to the Business Manager.

     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
In the United States, $3.00 per year; Elsewhere, $3.25 or 14 shillings; payable in advance
Single Copy          30 cents
     Every festival of the Church is the celebration of a coming of the Lord, and there are four great historical advents which may thus be commemorated every year,-namely, His coming at Creation, at the Incarnation, at the Resurrection, and His Coming in Glory.

     Creation itself was a Divine coming, when God, by means of substances emitted or sent forth from Himself, formed the finite universe,-a work that is preserved and sustained only by a perpetual creation and providence, as it were by a continual coming of the Lord, in remembrance whereof a festival of thanksgiving may be held in the fruitful autumn of the year.

     The Incarnation, or the advent of the Lord by the assumption of the human by birth into the world, is commemorated at Christmas; His resurrection and reappearing, at Easter; and His Second Advent, to manifest the glory of His Divine Human to the New Heaven and the New Church, in remembrance of this is the Festival of the Second Advent.

     As these four comings of the Lord are the supreme events of all history, they are ever to be commemorated in the Church upon earth, and celebrated with joy and thankfulness of heart. For the race of men owes its existence, its preservation, and all natural and spiritual blessedness of state, to these comings of the Lord.

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     The festivals of the Church are observed by formal worship and thanksgiving in praise and acknowledgment of the Lord, and by expressions of mutual love among the members of the Church, united in the bonds of love and faith in the Lord. For this reason the Communion of the Holy Supper becomes the central act of worship in the church festival, and in the worthy partaking of the Sacrament there is actual reception of the holy gifts of the Lord's presence and advent then. For at every coming of the Lord there is the bestowal of the gifts and blessings of His mercy. He comes to give Himself for the happiness of His creatures, and is received by those who are in a state of mutual love, who delight to share the Divine gifts, one with another.

     Therefore, also, the festival observance properly includes the feast of charity or "breaking of bread." In the Ancient Church, the "breaking of bread" was a customary rite expressive of mutual love. "To break bread, and give to another, signified the communicating of what is one's own to another; and when bread was broken among many, the one bread became mutual, and there was conjunction by charity." (A. C. 5405.) That among members of the Church this custom also typifies their reception of the Lord, and enlightenment from Him, is evident from the Gospel incident in which the Lord was "made known to the disciples in the breaking of bread." (Luke 24:35.)

     Thus all festivals of the Church involve a reception of the Lord in holy states of love and faith, which exalt the interiors of men, lifting them up above the common level of everyday things, as from the valley of the earthly life to the mountains of heaven. It was in ultimation of this idea that the festival worship of the Ancient Church was celebrated upon mountains and hills, and that the central feature of the Jewish feast was upon the temple heights at Jerusalem. In the formal worship at such times there was a confession of the Lord and praise for His manifold mercies, especially for the mercy of His coming to men in their low estate. And the exaltation of affection flowing from the delight of this heart's confession was expressed by glorifications of the Lord in song.

     "The songs of the Ancient Church, like those of the Jewish, were prophetic and treated of the Lord, especially of His advent into the world and of His liberation of the faithful from the assaults of the diabolical crew.

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The attendant angels were at the same time in glorification of the Lord, in consequence of which those who sang and those who heard the songs experienced heavenly gladness from the holiness and blessedness which flowed in from heaven, so that they seemed to themselves to be as it were taken up into heaven. Such an effect had the songs of the Church among the ancients, and such an effect they might also have at this day, because the spiritual angels are especially affected by songs which relate to the Lord, His Kingdom, and the Church. For the ancients who were of the Church derived a joy exceeding all joys from the thought of the Lord's advent, and of the salvation of the human race by Him." (A. C. 8261.) Of such, no doubt, was the choir of angels which sang to the shepherds: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will to men."

     This, then, is the great theme of the Church festival,-the acknowledgment of the Lord's advent from a grateful reception. Nor need this be confined to the festival occasion. Every service of worship is a representation of the advent of the Lord, which is then acknowledged in a prayer for His coming and presence, in praise for His continual mercies, and in actual reception of the Divine Light and Life in the instruction from His Word, whereby the heart's affection is stirred to spiritual gladness and moved to newness of life. The man of the Church enters spontaneously into these formal celebrations when he is in a daily heartfelt acknowledgment that the Lord's presence is perpetual with everyone, and that His advent takes place with all who receive Him in the truth of His Revelation and a life in accordance therewith.

     At the Incarnation, this perpetual presence of the Lord, and His advent to the individual to impart life and to save, was not only manifested and represented by His actually appearing before men in the world, but by that coming, and by His glorification, He took unto Himself a new and more intimate presence with men, even in the Divine Human glorified, in which He is perpetually present and coming in the power of the Holy Spirit, to instruct, to lead, and to save all who receive Him in His Word of Revelation, wherein He comes to bless with the gift of salvation and eternal life. "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock. If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."

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SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON NOTES 1925

SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON NOTES              1925

     LESSON NO. 6-JOHN THE BAPTIST. (Luke 1 and 3. Matt. 3 and 14:1-12.)

Zacharias' vision; annunciation          Luke 1:5-25
Birth and naming of John                :55-66
Zacharias' prophecy                    :67-79
John's preaching                    3:1-18
John is imprisoned                    :19-20
John is slain by order of Herod          Matt. 14:3-12     

     The plough must break the sod and cleave the soil before the good seed can be sown. Similarly it is a Divine Law that there must be preparation for every great event. The Lord could not come into the world without this preparation; nor can He come to the hearts of men today unless they are willing to prepare themselves for His coming. John the Baptist was the great messenger, sent before the Lord to prepare men for His Advent. The gospel which he preached was repentance. So now, it is necessary for us to repent of our evils before the Lord can abide with us.

     John's birth involved a miracle. It was an unexpected event in the lives of his aged parents, Zacharias and Elizabeth, who were beyond the time in life when children are born. It was the same with the birth of Isaac and of Samuel. We love to linger upon the scene in the temple when the angel Gabriel announced to Zacharias that he should be the father of a son in his old age. The quiet temple shadows, the odor of incense, the angelic presence,-all charm us with their beauty. For so it is with our own lives. It is the holy sphere of religion, with its truths or ministering angels, that awakens within us the desire for repentance; and often, like Zacharias, we are struck dumb with the marvelous inspiration we have felt.

     The birth of John, as the messenger to go before the face of the Lord, was foretold in Isaiah 40:3-5; 52:7 and Malachi 3:1; 4: 5-6. This brings to our minds the fact that all of our progress in regeneration is foretold in the Word of God.

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Its every step is revealed to us in the Writings. We have but to hearken to the angel's voice, and follow the Divine injunctions.

     John was a Nazarite, an ancient sect whose members set themselves apart for some part in the service of God, and prepared themselves by a life of stern self-denial. (See I Samuel 11.) John grew up in the wilderness until he was thirty years of age, and then he came to Jerusalem and Judea and all the region around Jordan, and preached repentance for the remission of sins; for, said he, "The kingdom of God is at hand!"

     The populace hailed him as a prophet, and went out to him in multitudes to be baptized in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Baptism is the Lord's own appointed means for entrance into the Church. It is a sign that man can be regenerated and washed from his sins by the truths of the Word, and it effects a judgment and a separation in the World of Spirits. John's baptism culminated in the baptizing of the Lord, after which time, he told his disciples, "He (the Lord) must increase, but I must decrease."

     John preached fearlessly against the evils of his time, and so incurred the wrath of Herod, because he denounced his unlawful marriage with his brother Philip's wife. And so, about a year after he had baptized the Lord, Herod cast him into prison, where he languished for another year. Then, on Herod's birthday, at the request of Herodias' daughter, he was put to death.

     Of John the Lord said: "Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist; notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." (Matt. 11:11.) In a broad sense, John represents the letter of the Word, and the "least in the kingdom of heaven " is the truth of the internal sense, which truth is more exalted than the truths of the letter uninterpreted by the glory of the internal sense.

     Angels spoke to the men of the Golden Age, but their coming was heralded by spirits who announced their approach and admonished men to receive the angels in a becoming manner. (A. C. 8028.) This use of heralds may be dwelt upon with children. The Lord first speaks to us in the Scriptures, and thus prepares us to receive Him in the Writings. How John represents the Lord as to the Word in its literal sense is fully shown in A. C. 9372 and elsewhere.

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     LESSON NO. 7-BAPTISM AND TEMPTATION. (Matt. 3 and 4:1-11.)

The preaching of John                Matt. 3:1-12
The Lord is baptized by John               : 13-17
Temptation in the wilderness               4:1-11

     At thirty years of age, Jesus left His home at Nazareth, and began His public -ministry. According to an old law of the Jews (Numbers 4:3, 23, etc.), one could not enter upon the active work of the ministry until he had reached the age of thirty years, and this for the spiritual reason that "thirty" signifies initiation, a full state of preparation, and also combat. John the Baptist, for a like reason, was thirty years of age when he commenced his preaching. (See A. C. 2276, 5335.)

     The Lord, by His life upon earth, accomplished three things: 1. He conquered the bells; 2. He ordered the heavens; 3. He glorified His Human. And by this threefold work He redeemed and saved mankind. All things of His life follow in perfect order, and so He set us a perfect example. When He left His home, His first act was to seek John and be baptized by him. John recognized Him at once as the promised Messiah, and wondered that He came to him to be baptized; but to his question the Lord replied: "Thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness."

     His baptism occurred in the River Jordan, either near Jericho or at Bethabara, which was situated fifteen miles south of the Sea of Galilee. The baptism of a man represents two things: 1. That he may be regenerated, if his sins are removed by true repentance. 2. His entrance into the Church, and insertion among the like in the spiritual world. The flowing waters of the Jordan represented the truth which initiates all into the Church, on which account the Israelites crossed the Jordan on entering the Promised Land.

     We may wonder at first why the Lord was willing to be baptized by John, for He had committed no sin of which He needed to repent. No, but He had taken upon Himself by birth the evil heredity of the human race, and was to fight against it; and in order that He might accomplish this, it was necessary that He should prepare for the state of open combat by means of baptism, which represented the purifying of the human by victories over evil and hell. Thus baptism represented the glorification of the Human, as in the case of man it represents regeneration.

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The Writings tell us that the human was gradually made Divine, as the Lord put off the human He assumed from the mother, and put on a Divine Human from the Father, or from the Divine within Him. As an infant, the Lord had not yet clearly perceived His mission, but at the age of twelve this clear perception had come to Him, as signified by His words to Mary, "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" After He was baptized by John, a dove was seen descending upon Him, and this dove represented the Holy Spirit,-the Spirit of the Divine Soul within Him. And it was an evidence that this Spirit would more and more go forth from Him as the human from the mother was put off, and the Human from the Father put on.

     The Lord's full entrance into His public ministry through the door of baptism brought Him at once into a state of temptation. Forty days and forty nights He was without food in a desert place,-the wilderness of Judea south of Jerusalem. The barren sands and sun-baked rocks of that region typify the state of temptation when there seems to be utter lifelessness in the spirit. The number "forty" signifies temptation in the Word, as in the case of the flood, when it rained forty days and forty nights; and the Children of Israel wandered forty years in the wilderness.

     The few temptations of the Lord described in the Gospel were not the only combats in His life. Rather are they given us as types of the temptations He underwent throughout life, even from first childhood; each of those recorded in the Gospel involving under a representative form a host of others in which the Lord was always victorious over the powers of hell. When it is said that He was "tempted of the devil," it does not mean a personal devil, but all the forces of evil and hell.

     The first temptation recorded in Matthew 4 is thus described: "When the tempter came to Him, he said, If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." To this the Lord replied: "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." This typifies all temptations that seek to force us to gratify physical appetite and natural desire rather than spiritual loves. It is under such circumstances that man must remind himself that he really lives by "every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God," or by the influx of Divine Truth into his soul and spirit.

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     The second temptation was this: "If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down; for it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning thee; and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone." To which the Lord made answer: "It is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." He was thus tempted to invoke the Divine power to perform miracles, and thus to compel faith, and to take away the freedom of men. We are often tempted in like manner to love ourselves, and to trust Providence to bring things out all right, and to care for our personal safety, while not acting as of ourselves according to our own best judgment. It is true that the angels are always present with us, striving to avert evil, but they can only do so when we choose what is good. To expect this to be done without effort of our own is to "tempt the Lord our God."

     The third temptation is thus stated: "Again, the devil taketh Him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and said unto Him, All these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me." To which the Lord replied: "Get thee behind me, Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." This was a temptation to love the world, and to abandon the mission of salvation for which He came upon earth. So are we tempted to receive worldly glory at the hand of Satan, and to abandon worship of the Lord in His heavenly kingdom.

     The Lord met His temptations fearlessly and instantly, and in each case quoted the Word as His weapon of defense. And similarly are we given strength to meet the trials of temptation, even by concentrating our resistance in a sentence of Scripture. When we are tempted to hate others, we may say to the tempter: "It is written, Thou shalt not kill!" And so with all the evils forbidden in the Commandments.

     At the end of these three temptations, it is said, "Then the devil leaveth Him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto Him." For the Lord, by His victories in temptation, removed and subjugated the hells, and conjoined the heavens to Himself. Men likewise, when they conquer in temptation by the power of Divine Truth, are delivered from evil spirits, and are surrounded by angelic spheres.

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     LESSON NO. 8-THE FIRST ACTS OF HIS MINISTRY. (Matt. 4:12-25.)

The time and the place               Matt. 4:12-13
A prophecy fulfilled                    :14-16
The Lord's message                     :17
Calling four men to follow Him           :18-22
Summary of His work in Galilee           :23-25

     Returning northward from the wilderness of Judea, the Lord commenced His preaching in the borders of Zebulon and Naphtali. This well illustrates the stirring truths that come to us from a knowledge of the geography of the Holy Land and its correspondences. Zebulon represents the conjunction of good and truth, while Naphtali represents temptation,-wrestling of the spirit,-which is the means through which good is conjoined with truth. So the Lord's preaching begins to be effective in the heart of every individual as soon as good and truth are conjoined in him through the victories of temptation.

     We should never forget, while studying the Lord's life, that, as He was born into the world, and laid first of all in the tiny manger of an obscure stable, so He is first born with each one of us in the small things of knowledge which we learn about Him. He grows to man's estate with us almost unconsciously to ourselves, even as we have almost no record of His first thirty years. Then He begins to exert an influence over the deeds of our lives, and that is represented by the beginning of His public ministry.

     When John was cast into prison, the Lord took up His message where John left off. "Repent ye; for the kingdom of God is at hand!" For there can be no other entrance into the "kingdom" save through genuine repentance, that is, through learning the truth and doing it.

     Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, when He saw two fishermen casting their net into the sea. Galilee is a lake of rare beauty. It is an expanse of water five miles wide and ten miles long, surrounded by green hills which rise in the north to the grandeur of snow capped mountains. Much of the Lord's ministry was spent upon the shores of this wondrous lake. The two fishermen which He now beheld were Andrew and Peter.

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A fisherman represents one who searches for natural truth; for the sea represents knowledge in the memory, and the net is the doctrine that coordinates that knowledge. Swedenborg was called a spiritual fisherman, because from searching after natural truths the Lord called him to the search for spiritual truths. The same thing was represented by the Lord's call to Andrew and Peter, and that is why He found His first disciples among fisherfolk.

     A little farther on He found two more brothers, James and John, mending their nets, and these He also called. The Lord's disciples were His helpers, and as such they represent the principles in our minds which help us to bring the kingdom of heaven into our lives. Each one of the twelve disciples, like each one of the twelve tribes of Israel, represented some one principle. This furnishes us with a universal key that will make glorious many parts of the New Testament which could not otherwise be understood.

     Peter represents faith, and Andrew obedience to faith. This is the very first faculty that must be brought into the Lord's service. They were casting their net, that is, trying to learn new truths from the Word. James and John represent charity and the works of charity, which are of love to the neighbor and love to the Lord, and these are the next two qualities which must follow the Lord if He is to perform His ministry within us. They were mending their nets, that is, endeavoring to understand the Word more clearly. When we do this, the Lord always calls us to be His disciples.

     The closing verses of the chapter give a general description of His work in Galilee: (1) He instructed the Jews in the synagogues; that is, He preached to those who already knew the Scriptures, and gave them the Divine light upon them. (2) He proclaimed the establishment of His kingdom to Jews and Gentiles alike, showing it to be a universal kingdom. (3) He healed diseases, not with the idea of compelling belief through miracles, but that He might demonstrate His power to forgive sins, that is, to heal spiritual diseases, which lead to the death of damnation. When the Lord healed a blind man, it was to show that He had the power to give spiritual sight or faith to those in ignorance or darkness. When He made the deaf hear, it showed His power to bring men into obedience to the Divine Truth. When He made the lame walk, it showed that He
had the power of causing men to bring His truth down to the life, and make of it a living thing. And so with all His miracles of healing; they are all Divine parables of spiritual healing.

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     LESSON NO. 9-THE BLESSINGS. (Matt. 5:1-16.)

Ascent into the mountain               Matt. 5:1-2
Who they are that are blessed           :3-9
Blessedness and persecution               :10-13

     The "Sermon on the Mount" is the longest single discourse of the Lord that has been recorded. It occupies three whole chapters in Matthew. It is exquisitely beautiful, and contains in a summary the entire doctrine and law of Christianity. In order to give the sermon to His disciples, the Lord ascended a mountain, which represents an elevation of man's affections from worldly things to spiritual realities. We all must ascend the mount with the Lord, if we would be instructed by Him. The mountain in this case was a lofty summit not far from Capernaum, affording a view of he Sea of Galilee and the numerous towns that dotted its shores.

     The sermon opens by the Lord's telling His disciples who are the "blessed." Here we find the completion of a trilogy. In the Old Testament we have the Ten Commandments, and the Ten Plagues, and here we have the Ten Blessings. If man obeys the commandments, he receives the blessings; if he disregards them, he reaps the plagues: Blessedness is heaven, and the blessings give a summary of the various states that can inherit the eternal life of heaven.

     1. The poor in spirit. This does not mean those who are ignorant and lack education. "Spirit" is here used in the sense of pride, and self-righteousness. The spirit of the Scribes and Pharisees partook of merit, and such a spirit was to be shunned. Blessed are they that are "poor in that spirit." For such poverty involves humility before the Lord, and a willingness to be led by His hand. Such can be removed from their worldly interests, and led to spiritual ends; and, therefore, " theirs is the Kingdom of heaven." (See H. H. 357.)

     2. They that mourn. Religion is a joyful thing, and the Lord came that men might "have life, and that they might have it more abundantly," meaning that men may enjoy the very fullest blessedness for which they were created. Therefore, we cannot conceive that the Lord, by this Blessing, meant to glorify a mournful and dolorous external life; for, in another place, He warned men in their fasting not to appear to men to fast. (Matt. 6:16-18.)

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The only mourners whom the Lord glorified were those who mourned over their past and present evils,-those who were sorry for their ignorance, their weakness and their frailty. No one is entirely free from falsity and evil, and it is the part of highest wisdom to recognize and mourn over that part of our nature. All such will receive strength from the Lord to remedy the defect, and thus will they be comforted.

     3. The meek. Meekness is the spirit which controls the external feelings, and is thus a high degree of self-control. Meekness toward the Lord is the acceptance of His Providence with patience and with faith, and a submission to His will without sulking or rebellion. Meekness toward the neighbor is self-control under annoyance or injury. "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." (Proverbs 16:32, Psalm 37:11.) In the internal sense, the "meek" are those who are in the good of charity. (A. E. 304.) Such persons triumph over the earth, because they remove those things in themselves by which the earth holds dominion; consequently, they "inherit the earth."

     4. They who hunger and thirst after righteousness. Hunger and thirst are the craving of the body for life-giving food and drink, and they represent the most intense desire of the soul for spiritual life. Life is made up of desires and their satisfaction. The more noble desires we have, the fuller is our life. Desire for Divine Truth from the Lord and for good towards our neighbors is what distinguishes the regenerate from the unregenerate. "Righteousness," or "justice," is the union of good and truth in the life, and all happiness or fulness of life comes from this marriage; consequently, those who hunger and thirst after this fulness of regenerate life "shall be filled."

     5. The merciful. Mercy is of love. It is love working for the good of those who are in need, or in trouble, or even those who have done wrong. It removes from the heart antagonisms, grudges, unworthy suspicions. Thoughtless gossip and tale-bearing are most unmerciful. Our mercy should extend to the animals which God has placed within our power. All cruelty is from hell, and should never be countenanced in little children's actions toward their pets. Genuine mercy would deliver people from their evils, not merely from the consequences of evil. The Lord said to a sinner: "Neither do I condemn thee.

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Go, and sin no more!" The Lord in His mercy is always forgiving us, but we are unable to enjoy that blessing unless wee forgive one another; for only thus do we "obtain mercy."

     6. The pure in heart. Real purity is in the heart,-in the desire, motive, affection, and thence in the thought. It is simplicity, single-mindedness, cleanness, straightness. It is not two-faced, crooked, or mixed with untruth, or wrong-doing and self-seeking. Purity of heart brings genuine sincerity and innocence; and we know that the most innocent angels are nearest the Lord in heaven, and see Him face to face. Therefore, it is said that the pure in heart "shall see God."

     7. The peacemakers. There is always warfare, except when truth and good are made one in our life, Those in evil and falsity are always at war against the Lord and His Church, trying to destroy religion in men. But the most serious warfare is the interior combat that divides the mind, when we know what is right, and fail to do it. Peace comes when our thought from the Word agrees with our daily life. Thus the real peacemaker is the man who obeys the Lord. From him genuine peace will radiate as from a center; and because he has real peace in his heart, he is in the image and likeness of God, and is therefore called one of the "children of God."

     8. Persecution. (vs. 10-12.) The evil constantly try in every way to discourage those who are seeking the kingdom of heaven. They strive through torments of the mind or body, through ridicule or enticement, through lust or false reasoning, to break down the desire to regenerate. He, then, who would endure to the end must have courage, patience and steadfast persistence, for regeneration is not a battle of the moment, but of the lifetime. The reward of victory is the "Kingdom of heaven."

     Verses 13-16 are an admonition addressed to those who have begun to follow the Lord. They are warned that learning Divine Truths is to be much more than a pleasant intellectual study. It is a call to repentance and reformation, a use and a duty. (Compare Luke 9:62.) The Lord called His disciples "the salt of the earth" and the "light of the world" because of the truth which they received from Him. The New Church has the same responsibility for the truth of the Second Coming today. We have that precious truth among us which causes us to bear the responsibility of being the "salt of the earth" and the "light of the world."

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TWENTY-FIRST CHICAGO DISTRICT ASSEMBLY 1925

TWENTY-FIRST CHICAGO DISTRICT ASSEMBLY       G. A. MCQUEEN       1925

     HELD AT GLENVIEW, ILL., OCTOBER 16-18, 1925.

     Our first District Assembly was held at Glenview in October, 1901, and, with a few unavoidable exceptions, these meetings have been held annually up to the present time. It is interesting to note the various changes which have taken place since the first meeting. The beloved Bishop Emeritus W. F. Pendleton presided over the first Assembly, and our present Bishop was at that time Pastor of the Chicago and Glenview Societies. Now the elder Bishop has retired, and his place is occupied by his brother. Most of the laymen who took part in the first meeting are still with us. The early reports show that the speakers were Messrs. H. L. Burnham, Seymour G. Nelson, H. S. Maynard, John Forrest, and Swain Nelson. The last named was called to the spiritual world a few years ago, but the others still take their part in the work of the church. In addition, as will be seen from this report, they have seen their children grow up, ready to carry on the work when their parents are called from the scene.

     The Twenty-first District Assembly commenced on Friday evening, October 16th, when Bishop N. D. Pendleton delivered an address dealing chiefly with the present development in the life of the Academy and the General Church, in connection with the results of the evangelistic efforts recently made in the Cathedral at Bryn Athyn. The Rev. Gilbert H. Smith had announced that the general subject to be considered at the meetings was "The Development of a New Church Society," and so the Bishop's address came as a fitting introduction to all that followed. He began by defining a New Churchman as a man with a spiritual mind based upon the spiritual truths given to the New Church. It was only with a membership composed of such men and women that the New Church could become a real thing on earth. He told of the recent summer services which had brought so many people to the Cathedral to hear the doctrines of the New Church, in many cases for the first time, and pointed out the difficulties which our organization had to face, if, after many years in the wilderness, it suddenly became popular.

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The danger was that we might be led away from the very Principles which had been at the root of our growth since the formation of the Academy. If we are all true to those principled, we are likely to be attacked for our exclusiveness. Of course, we want every man in the world to come to us who is capable of becoming an Academy man.

     This revival of the old Academy style of speaking was received with delight by the Bishop's hearers, and gave a feeling of satisfaction to those who may have thought there had been a retreat from the original platform of the Academy. Other remarks by the Bishop were to a similar effect. In the discussion following the address, Mr. A. E. Nelson drew attention to the somewhat peculiar fact of our human nature, that we were so delighted to hear about audiences of from 200 to 300 people attending missionary services in the Cathedral, while at the same time we have our schools full of children and young people who are growing up and adding to our membership all the time. He thought the results of our educational work were far more wonderful than the fact that these strangers should come to hear us. He supposed it was quite natural that we should be pleased to see such results from our missionary work, but our temptation will be to overlook our real use in the Church. Mr. Seymour Nelson said he had heard the young people speak of getting back the old Academy spirit; and if they had followed the Bishop's words, they had heard the Academy spirit. He hoped this spirit would remain with us in the future as in the past.

     The Banquet.

     On Saturday evening, a very large gathering attended the Assembly Banquet. The Rev. Gilbert H. Smith was toastmaster, and enlivened the meeting with his somewhat unconventional method of introducing the speakers. At intervals, some of our favorite church songs were heartily sung, as well as one specially composed by the toastmaster.

     The Rev. W. L. Gladish was the first speaker. In treating the subject of the development of a New Church society, he impressed upon his hearers the importance of our preaching the distinctive doctrines of the Church.

736


The doctrine of the Lord, the doctrine of the Word, and the doctrine of life must be preached in their purity, but these were not distinct enough to develop a New Church Society. Our friends, the "permeationists," preach those doctrines, and yet believe that the New Church is coming down all around them, while at the same time they are not able to keep their own children in the Church. These three essentials had been taught in all former Churches. To establish the New Church, we must go further, and teach the Word as revealed in the Writings. We must teach that the Lord, in this new Revelation, has presented Himself anew to His Church for her acceptance; not as He revealed Himself in the New Testament, but as in the Word of His Second Coming through His servant, Emanuel Swedenborg. The doctrine of the state of the Christian World must be preached; otherwise we cannot draw people from the Christian Church, and bring them together for the establishment of a New Church. It must be seen that the Christian Church is spiritually dead, and that its religion and morality is natural, at best. We must also have distinct social life and marriage in the church, as well as New Church education. It is impossible to establish a New Church with the Old Church education, for the science and education of the world is as dead as its theology, and as inimical to spiritual life. It is, therefore, necessary for us to teach our truths from the cradle up to manhood, and to progress in a knowledge of them to eternity.

     Mr. Neville Wright then read an excellent paper on the subject of the evening, from which we quote his summing up, as follows:

     "The things which will promote the development of a New Church society are:

     (1) Further development of the doctrines by the clergy.

     (2) Devotion to every phase of church life.

     (3) Marriage in the church.

     (4) Promotion of one's health in every way.

     (5) Striving to come into mutual friendship with all in the Church.

     (6) Continuing and perfecting our schools."

     At this point in the proceedings, the toastmaster requested the Bishop to say a few words, and he responded as follows:

737




     "The distinctive doctrines referred to by the previous speakers are the very foundations without which any other means of building up a society mean nothing. The Academy, in the beginning, outlined a program which was thought to be necessary for the establishment of the Church. The Writings came to us as a Divine Revelation of the Second Coming. Seeing the feeble condition of the New Church, the Academy outlined a program, and it is my opinion that that program is just as good today as when it was originally outlined, and that the progress of our Church depends upon a strict adherence to it. All things have their beginning, and their state in the wilderness, and then their coming forth into their life and usefulness in the world. Everything that is to live and grow must have the principle of advancement in it, and yet we must continually recur to the foundation in order to draw new life from the great original source. When that ceases to be done, the body begins to die. The original source of our life as a church body is the Academy program, as outlined at the beginning of the movement. You know I have always stood for the renewal of life by the continued formation of doctrine, and have shown that the church ceases to live spiritually when it loses the power of formulating doctrine to its needs; but while I see that as a vital principle of advance, I also see that, if it is to be a true development, it is to rest upon the original ground from which our Church commenced. In a sense, it is true that the New Church first put on an orderly formation through the Academy. I do not mean to deny the New Churchmanship of other men, long prior to the establishment of the Academy, for some of those early men presented the things which afterwards became a fact in the Academy. My mind runs upon the practicalities of church building. The program of principles set forth by the Academy was according to Divine Revelation, and was unique in nature and quality; but they are powerless unless men take them up and carry them out. In that sense, the Church depends upon us. The Divine Teaching revealed to us must be embodied in the minds of men, and ultimate itself in the world. Don't expect the Writings to establish themselves apart from men; that is impossible."

     Mr. Karl Fuller then read a paper entitled "A Few Factors in the Growth of the Church," in which he placed New Church Education first as a means of growth, followed by New Church community life, missionary work, and assemblies.

738




     During the discussion which followed, Mr. A. E. Nelson said he thought there was a temptation for us to become indifferent and to slow down in our activities. If we would continue to grow, we must not stand still, either internally or externally. While we do not believe in setting ourselves up as examples, yet everybody is an example of some kind. The little children look to the older people and follow their example, and this should cause our young men and young women, and all the members of a society, to become good examples of New Church people. The Rev. G. H. Smith thought we should try more fully to get away from the Old Church attitude in many things. The Rev. G. G. Starkey referred to the importance of our attitude towards evil. The Lord comes to us in the Word. The Church will only really come to us by the "self-evidencing reason of love." Mr. S. G. Nelson spoke of the first pastor of the Immanuel Church, the Rev. W. F. Pendleton, and what he did in developing the Church in Chicago. He held before them the importance of putting the uses of the church first. Mr. Harold McQueen thought the development of a society depended upon how much the individual members were strong in the things of the Church. Mr. Smith had spoken of the delight the teachers felt in their work of teaching the young. Might we not all experience that delight by attending to the development of our own children? That would be one of the things we could do in the development of the Church. Mr. W. H. Junge then introduced a vein of humor by reciting a verse of his own composition about the various reasons people give for staying away from Sunday morning worship. Altogether the banquet was a most useful and enjoyable occasion.

     Sunday, October 19th.

     The church was well filled for the service on Sunday morning, and the congregation entered heartily into the singing and responsive parts of the service. The Bishop was assisted in the service by the Revs. G. H. Smith and W. L. Gladish, and preached a sermon on the words of the Lord: "Resist not evil!" In the afternoon, the Holy Supper was administered to about 125 communicants. Between the services there was opportunity for the friends from town to visit in the Park, and this helped to make the social sphere very pleasant.

739




     On Sunday evening, the District Assembly resumed its sittings, and continued the consideration of the subject of the "Development of a New Church Society." In response to a request from the Rev. G. H. Smith, Secretary of the Assembly, papers written for this meeting by the Revs. Karl R. Alden and Hugo L. Odhner were read, and these contributions were greatly appreciated, as they opened new lines thought, and came from men who had given careful study to the subject before the meeting. (See elsewhere in this issue.) Dr. J. W. Marelius then read a paper on "Seeing Ourselves as Others See Us." (See p. 717.)

     The Bishop, in replying to a question as to whether he thought the New Church is still in the position of the "woman in the wilderness," said: "I can only answer by saying that I believe that, so far as our own body is concerned, our period of being in a state of isolation is passing. By a curious turn of events, and under Providence, we moved out to Bryn Athyn, in order to separate ourselves from the city, and in order to gain more isolation. We desired to live apart. Now, if we had remained in Philadelphia, we never would have attracted anything like the attention we now attract. Possibly we would have been known for a few blocks around our church buildings, but little more than that. There was no idea of building a church to attract the attention of the world, yet we did just that thing. So far as the Academy, as a Church, is concerned, it is certainly passing out of the early state of isolation. That no one can help. We cannot go back. As to the New Church in general, I am in grave doubt as to whether it is ready to go successfully out into the world. No one can say; we can only have opinions about such things. We really know nothing about it. But our own period of isolation is largely over at Bryn Athyn. I do think we should go forward in the spirit which Mr. Alden, in his paper, has spoken of. I cannot say that the state is a more internal one, but I am convinced that it is of the Divine Providence. The Academy is simply going on fulfilling the periods of its life. I do not think the Academy will ever have more internal ideals than it had at the beginning. Some other Church may. That has been the history of all Churches. Our Church is going to enter into the fruition of its own ideals. What we have to do today is to go forward with our children, and with all who come to us, and evangelize them with the Doctrines we have received."

740




     Mr. A. E. Nelson remarked that he was interested in what Mr. Odhner had said about the study of the Literal Sense of the Word and the usefulness of Bible classes.

     The Bishop replied that it had been taught among us for years that the doctrine must be based upon the letter of Scripture. Then came the teachings of science. This diverted our attention to New Church science and philosophy. It was seen that the doctrine of evolution and other teachings had changed the face of the world, and had made it necessary for men to have something of a scientific basis for their faith. The period at Bryn Athyn when the study and discussion of Swedenborg's Science and Philosophy was very active was brought about by the dominance of science in the world at large. Mr. Odhner has gone back to the state which existed before that, when, if you could convince a man from the letter of the Bible, you had him. There is another kind of man, who must be convinced by means of science. Both kinds must be reached. Of the two, it is difficult to say which is the more important. Our higher education deals with the scientific and philosophical side, and necessitates the study of Swedenborg's philosophy. Yet the Lord made His Second Coming in the "clouds of heaven," that is, in the Letter of the Word, as Mr. Odhner has shown.

     Dr. Harvey Farrington referred to the many types of mind in the Church, and expressed the idea that, while individually we could not run a New Church society, we might make a pretty good job of it collectively. He had drawn this conclusion from the various views discussed at the meetings. He had been greatly impressed by what the Bishop had said about going back to our first principles. If we continually do this, the other things will follow.     

     The discussion being ended, the Bishop pronounced the benediction, and brought to a close a most delightful and edifying District Assembly.

     On Monday, October 19th, there was a Ladies' Meeting in the afternoon, and a Men's Meeting in the evening. The Bishop addressed both meetings on subjects of great interest to the men and women of the Church.
     G. A. MCQUEEN.

741


DIRECTORY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM 1925

DIRECTORY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM              1925

     OFFICIALS AND COUNCILS.

     Bishop.
The Right Rev. N. D. Pendleton

     Secretary.
Rev. W. B. Caldwell

     Treasurer.
Mr. H. Hyatt

     Consistory.
Bishop N. D. Pendleton.
Rev. Alfred Acton                    Rev. F. E. Waelchli
Rev. C. E. Doering, Secretary      Rev. W. B. Caldwell
Rev. Homer Synnestvedt                Rev. E. E. Iungerich
Rev. George de Charms

     Executive Committee.
Bishop N. D. Pendleton, President
Mr. Raymond Pitcairn, Vice-President
Mr. Geoffrey S. Childs, Secretary
Mr. Hubert Hyatt, Treasurer

Dr. Felix A. Boericke                Mr. Charles G. Merrell
Mr. Edward C. Bostock               Mr. Alvin E. Nelson
Mr. Paul Carpenter                    Mr. Seymour G. Nelson
Mr. Robert Carswell                Mr. Harold F. Pitcairn
Mr. Randolph W. Childs           Mr. Rudolph Roschman
Mr. Alexander P. Lindsay           Mr. Jacob Schoenberger
Mr. Samuel S. Lindsay           Mr. Paul Synnestvedt

     Honorary Members.
Mr. Walter C. Childs                Mr. Richard Roschman

742




     THE CLERGY.

     Bishop.

     PENDLETON, NATHANIEL DANDRIDGE. Ordained, June 16, 1889; 2d Degree, March 2, 1891; 3d Degree, November 17, 1912. Bishop of the General Church. Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church. President of the Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     Bishop Emeritus.

     PENDLETON, WILLIAM FREDERIC. Ordained, 1st and 2d Degrees, September 3d, 1873; 3d Degree, May 9th, 1888. Professor of Theology, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     Pastors.

     ACTON, ALFRED. Ordained June 4th, 1893; 2d Degree, January 10, 1897. Pastor of the Society in Washington, D.C. Dean of the Theological School, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     ALDEN, KARL RICHARDSON. Ordained, June 19, 1917; 2d Degree, October 12, 1919. Principal of the Boys' Academy and Housemaster of Stuart Hall, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     ALDEN, WILLIAM HYDE. Ordained, 1st and 2d Degrees, May 30, 1886. Instructor, Academy of the New Church. Manager of the Academy Book Room, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     BAECKSTROM, GUSTAF. Ordained, June 6, 1915; 2d Degree, June 27, 1920. Pastor of the Society in Stockholm, Sweden. Address: Grefgatan, 57.

     BJORCK, ALBERT. Ordained, 1st and 2d Degrees, August 17, 1890. Address: Calle de Los Banos 15, El Terreno, Palma de Mallorca, Spain.

     BOWERS, JOHN EBY. Ordained, 1st and 2d Degrees, May 12, 1873. General Missionary, 37 Lowther Ave., Toronto, Canada.

     BRICKMAN, WALTER EDWARD. Ordained, 1st and 2d Degrees, January 7, 1900. Address: 419 Evaline St., Pittsburgh, Pa.

     BROWN, REGINALD WILLIAM. Ordained, October 21, 1900; 2d Degree, October 12, 1919. Professor and Librarian, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

743




     CALDWELL, WILLIAM BEEBE. Ordained, October 19, 1902; 2d Degree, October 23, 1904. Secretary of the General Church. Professor of Theology, Academy of the New Church. Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     CRONLUND, EMIL ROBERT. Ordained, December 31, 1899; 2d Degree, May 18, 1902. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     DAVID, LLEWELLYN WARREN TOWNE; Ordained, June 28, 1914; 2d Degree, June 19, 1916. Pastor of the Carmel Church. Address: 20 Willow Street, Kitchener, Ont., Canada.

     DE CHARMS, GEORGE. Ordained, June 28, 1914; 2d Degree, June 19, 1916. Assistant Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     DELTENRE, ERNST. Ordained, 1st and 2d Degrees, May 26, 1912. Missionary in Belgium. Editor of LA NOWELLE JERUSALEM. Address: Rue Edith Cavell, 46, Brussels (Uccle).

     DOERING, CHARLES EMIL. Ordained, June 7, 1896; 2d Degree, January 29, 1899. Dean of Faculties, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     GLADISH, WILLIS LENDSAY. Ordained, 1st and 2d Degrees, June 3, 1894. Acting Pastor of Sharon Church, Chicago, Ill. Address: 5220 Wayne Ave., Chicago, Ill.

     GYLLENHAAL, FREDERICK EDMUND. Ordained, June 23, 1907; 2d Degree, June 19, 1910. Pastor of the Colchester Society. Address: 162 Maldon Road, Colchester, England.

     HARRIS, THOMAS STARK. Ordained, 1st and 2d Degrees, April 8, 1897; Pastor of the Society in Arbutus, Maryland; Visiting Pastor of the Abington, Mass., and Meriden, Conn., Circles, Address: Halethdrpe P. O., Maryland,

     HEINRICHS, HENRY. Ordained, June 24, 1923; 2d Degree, February 8, 1925. Pastor of the Society in Denver, Colorado. Address: 543 Delaware Street.

     HUSSENET, FERNAND. Ordained, 1st and 2d Degrees, October 10,1909. Pastor of the Society in Paris, 84 Avenue de Breteuil. Address: 31 Rue Henri Regnault, St. Cloud, Seine et Oise, France.

     IUNGERICH, ELDRED EDWARD. Ordained, June 13, 1909; 2d Degree, May 26, 1912. Dean of the College and Professor of Theology, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

744




     MORSE, RICHARD. Ordained, 1st and 2d Degrees, October 12, 1919. Pastor of the Society in Sydney. Address: Dudley Street, Hurstville, Sydney, N. S. W., Australia.

     ODHNER, HUGO LJUNGBERG. Ordained, June 23, 1914; 2d Degree, June 24, 1917. Pastor of the Olivet Church, Elm Grove and Melbourne Avenues, Toronto, Canada. Address: 104 Cowan Ave.

     PFEIFFER, ERNST. Ordained, June 20, 1920; 2d Degree, May 1,1921. Pastor of the Society at The Hague, Holland. Address: Laan van Meerdervoort 229, The Hague, Holland.

     PITCATRN, THEODORE. Ordained, June 19, 1917; 2d Degree, October 12, 1919. Pastor of the Society in Durban, Natal. Superintendent of the South African Mission. Address: 125 Musgrave Road, Durban, Natal, South Africa.

     PRICE, ENOCH SPRADLING. Ordained, June 10, 1888; 2d Degree, June 19, 1891. Professor, Academy of the New Church. Pastor of the Society in Allentown, Pa. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     ROSENQVIST, JOSEPH ELIAS. Ordained, June 19, 1891; 2d Degree, June 23, 1895. Address: Skanstorget 7, Gothenburg, Sweden.

     SMITH, GILBERT HAVEN. Ordained, June 25, 1911; 2d Degree, June 19, 1913. Pastor of the Immanuel Church, Glenview, Ill.

     STARKEY, GEORGE GODDARD. Ordained, June 3, 1894; 2d Degree, October 19, 1902. Address: Glenview, Ill.

     SYNNESTVEDT, HOMER. Ordained, June 19, 1891; 2d Degree, January 13, 1895. Pastor of the Pittsburgh Society. Address: 723 Ivy Street, Pittsburgh, Pa.

     TILSON, ROBERT JAMES. Ordained, 2d Degree, June 19, 1892. Pastor of the Michael Society, Burton Road, Brixton, London. Address: 7 Templar Street, Camberwell, London, S. E., England.

     WAELCHLI, FRED. EDWIN. Ordained, June 10, 1888; 2d Degree, June 19, 1891. Visiting Pastor, General Church. Address: 252 Ehrman Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio.

     Ministers.

     ACTON, ELMO CARMAN. Ordained, June 14, 1925. Assistant to the Pastor of the Durban Society. Address: 125 Musgrave Road, Durban, Natal, South Africa.

     CRANCH, RAYMOND GREENLEAF. Ordained, June 19, 1922. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.

745




     GILL, ALAN. Ordained, June 14, 1925. Minister of the New York Society. Address: 478A 16th Street, Brooklyn, N. Y.

     WHITEHEAD, WILLIAM. Ordained, June 19, 1922. Professor, Academy of the New Church. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     Authorized Candidates.

     ELPHICK, FREDERICK WILLIAM. Authorized, October 1, 1925. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     Pastors, Pending Ordination.

     LEONARDOS, HENRY. Authorized, May 2, 1921. Address: 25 rua Sachet, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

     LIMA, JOAO DE MENDONCA. Authorized, May 2, 1921. Address: 25 rua Sachet, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

     Minister in Basutoland.

     NYAREDI, EPAINETUS LEKHABU, Ordained, April 14, 1919.



     NEW CHURCH LIFE.

     The following are authorized to receive subscriptions, renewals, changes of address, and other business communications:

     USTRALIA: Mr. A. Kirschstein, 12 Elizabeth Street, Waterloo, Sydney, N. S. W.

     GREAT BRITAIN: Mr. Colley Pryke, 48 Broomfield Road, Chelmsford, Essex, England.

     HOLLAND: Miss Mary Barger, Laan van Meerdervoort 229, The Hague.

     KITCHENER, ONTARIO: Mr. Fred E. Stroh, 50 John Street West, Waterloo, Ontario.

     SOUTH AFRICA: Miss Sylvia Pemberton, 186 Essenwood Road, Durban, Natal.

     SWEDEN: Mr. Bertram A. Liden, Sveriges Pennfabriks Eftr., Klara Sodra Kyrkogatan Is, Stockholm.

     TORONTO ONTARIO: Mr. Frank Wilson, 50 Cowan Avenue, Toronto, 3, Ontario.

     Subscription price: $3.25 or 14 shillings per year, payable in advance.

746


Church News 1925

Church News       Various       1925

     NEW YORK.-Services were resumed at the Studio in Carnegie Hall on Sunday, September 13th, conducted by our minister, the Rev. Alan Gill. There was very fair attendance, considering that some of us were still vacationing. The subject of the sermon that day was "The Pearl of Great Price," the exhortatory portions being carefully considered, parallels very well defined; altogether an interesting sermon, and, if one may predicate such a quality as tact (of a sermon), it was in the writer's opinion an example of good judgment, in addition to sincerity and earnestness of purpose.

     We will miss Mrs. Warren Potts from our worship and meetings. She was always so happy, and willing to do for the society whatever lay within her power. Mr. Potts and family have our sympathies in their bereavement.

     On Friday evening, September 27th, Mr. and Mrs. Geoffrey Childs gave social at their home to welcome the Rev. and Mrs. Gill to New York, all the members and friends being invited. A very enjoyable time was spent, speeches and singing contributing largely to the pleasure of the occasion. During the evening, our Minister and his wife were the recipients of several handsome gifts.

     On Thursday, October 1st, a meeting of the Theta Alpha Chapter was held at the home of Mrs. Anton Sellner, Howard Beach, and was attended by all of the members, with Mrs. Alan Gill the guest of honor at this first meeting of the season.

     The first doctrinal class of the season was conducted by Mr Gill at the home of Mr. and Mrs, Geoffrey Childs on October 14th, the New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine being chosen for this year's consideration. Later in the evening, a business meeting was held for the election of officers for the ensuing year. There was a good attendance in spite of a heavy downpour of rain.

     Recent visitors among us were Mrs. Ray Gill, on her return journey to Colchester, Miss Muriel Gill, and Miss Beatrice Ashley; and Miss Venita Pendleton now joins us regularly at worship. Mr. and Mrs. Colley Pryke, of Chelmsford, England, were with us on Sunday, October 29th, having arrived the day before to spend a fortnight in this country. On that Sunday, the service was conducted by the Rev. Alfred Acton, who administered the Holy Supper.
     FLORENCE A. WILDE.

     CHICAGO ILL.-The activities of Sharon Church were resumed when we met for the service on the first Sunday in September. Continuing the arrangement of last year, the weekly supper and doctrinal class alternates with that of the young people, the attendance of the latter being somewhat depleted this fan owing to the large number-fifteen-who have gone to Bryn Athyn to attend the Academy Schools. At the first society supper, Mr, Gladish addressed us suggesting that we consider the possibility of a full-time pastorate, as well as the possibility of beginning a day school. We may not be able to accomplish this for a while yet, but we hope to do so in the not too distant future.

     The First Ladies' Meeting was held at the church rooms, with Mrs. Gladish as hostess. Although it happened to be a very hot day, the attendance was large. The officers elected for the ensuing year were: Mrs. Sturnheld, President and Matron; Miss Bertha Farrington, Secretary; and Miss Ruth Cronwall, Treasurer. A Flower Fund was started, the object being to send flowers to the sick. Two weeks later, the ladies were entertained at the home of Mrs. J. W. Marelius.
     E. V. W.

747




     MICHAEL CHURCH, LONDON. On Sunday, September 27th, the new session of church work was inaugurated by the holding of the Harvest Thanksgiving in the morning, followed at 6 p.m. by the Feast of Charity. The Holy Supper was administered by the Pastor to forty-seven communicants, and the offerings of fruit and flowers were subsequently taken to Guy's Hospital, where they were thankfully received. The very appropriate discourse was based upon Genesis 8:22-"seed time and harvest shall not cease." There were seventy-six present at the Feast of Charity, and an encouraging address from the Pastor touching in a general way upon the various departments of church work was followed by a short but telling speech from each of those responsible for the same. All seemed ready and willing to rise to the occasion, and all acquitted themselves well-surely a happy augury for the immediate future!

     The first Social arranged by the Committee was held on October 6th, and was well attended. On October 8th, the Pastor opened the Theological Class with a lecture on "How we got our Bible," or "How the Word of the Lord has been handed down to man through the ages." In the present short notice, it is quite impossible to do even faint justice to this splendid lecture. It must suffice to say that the lecturer's clear exposition of the subject, aided, as it was, by an excellent diagram (prepared by Mr. Victor Cooper, the Junior Vestry Deacon), as well as by a wonderful collection of copies of the Bible published and printed at different periods, and by a variety of other illustrations, combined to make the occasion a very real treat to all those privileged to be present.

     After the morning service on October 11th, the first Social Tea was held, and the Pastor announced an addition of three to our membership, in the persons of Mrs. Greenwood and Mr. and Mrs. A. Stebbing,-an announcement very gladly welcomed.

     The book of study at the Theological Class is Divine Love and Wisdom. And we are studying it, as distinct from merely reading. Questions come thick and fast, and only occasionally does the Pastor say that he must "have notice" of them.

     The very energetic Secretary of the Social Club-Mr. L. Lewin-sees to it that all contribute something, in addition to subscriptions. And Mr. V. R. Tilson, our organist, manages to get in an hour's choir practice previous to the Club meetings. There is no doubt Michael Church is at work,
          K. M. D.

     DENVER LOCAL ASSEMBLY. It has been a great pleasure to us io have had a visit from our Bishop. Owing to the distance, his visits are 'necessarily infrequent, as also are visits by other ministers of the Church. Although we are within the United States, we are, to all intents and purposes, as isolated as the centers of the Church in foreign countries. The last visit of the Bishop occurred in the fall of 1917, or eight years ago. Approximately the same time intervened between this visit and the previous one by Bishop Emeritus W. F. Pendleton. These three visits, the writer believes, are the only ones the Denver Society has known. An episcopal visit, therefore, is a great event, to be cherished and long remembered. In fact, so vivid are the memories and impressions of these occasions that a comparison is possible, according to which the last, by all reports, is adjudged the most happy.     

     The Bishop arrived on Wednesday afternoon, October 21st, and that evening a reception was held in his honor at the home of Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Lindrooth. What is for us a goodly gathering was present. Yet we were not so large but that all could attend to and take part in the flow of conversation, which touched upon a wide variety of subjects, including points in the history of the New Church, the theory of medicine and of government, education, and even prohibition. By this means all became acquainted with the personality of the Bishop, and came to "feel that they knew him."

748


As this was the object of the reception, it was entirely successful.

     This first pleasant impression was built upon the next evening at the banquet, which was held at the chapel. Under the management of Mrs. S. W. H. Schroder, the table presented an elegant and inviting appearance, and the fare was most excellent. The feature of the banquet was the delivery of the Bishop's address, a paper which was characterized by the Bishop as a "breath from Bryn Athyn." It was most timely, and was listened to with absorbing interest. The comment and discussion which followed voiced the appreciation of it, and testified to a new and more complete conception of the function of New Churchmen as "spiritual natural men. A pleasant social sphere attended the banquet, and held us long after the reading of the paper.

     On Friday afternoon, the Bishop met the ladies of the Society at the home of Mrs. Schroder. Inasmuch as the Ladies' Meeting has been considering the subject of Bishop Benade's Conversations on Education for the past two years, and is continuing them this year, it seemed appropriate to have the Bishop address this meeting on some phase of education. At the suggestion of the pastor, he did so, selecting for his subject, "Hypocrisy, and its Beginnings in Child Life." As an introduction to his discussion, he read portions of a sermon he had written on this topic. The statement of the problem as it refers to parents and teachers was most lucid. It was pointed out that hypocrisy is often the result of unwise punishment, and of keeping a child too continuously, by threat or punishment, in a state of fear; that such fear deprives the child of the freedom of its affections, and forces it into habits of dissimulation in order to enjoy the satisfaction of its affections. Yet fear is the ultimate foundation of obedience, and obedience of the regenerate life, and cannot be entirely removed without great spiritual danger; for should it be removed, and the affections given free play, there would be no discipline, and no basis would be laid for the freedom of self-compulsion in after life. On the other hand, it was shown that the principles of leading by affection, if carried to extremes, might also induce dissimulation; for this also may be a deprivation of the necessary freedom of the growing affections of the child. The conclusion was then drawn that there must be a balance between the two methods of controlling a child, and an allowance made for it to live in its own freedom, which is one with its affections. It is safe to say that no one present had ever heard this vital problem so dearly and forcibly stated. After the address, there was animated discussion, nearly all of the ladies taking part. This in turn was followed by a discussion of various topics such as Baptism, the Holy Supper, and the Academy Schools. What the Bishop said on all these subjects came with peculiar force, because from both doctrine and experience, and there is no doubt but that many felt themselves strengthened by what they heard.

     An informal men's meeting was held in the evening of the same day, and was given over to friendly social intercourse with the Bishop. It was our privilege, among other things, to be given a view of the church in other centres, particularly of the work that is being done among the natives of South Africa.

     The service on Sunday concluded the Assembly. A number of things conspired to make this service memorable and enjoyable. First, the fact that it came as a conclusion to the series of meetings, and all the affections aroused found expression in worship. Second, the presence of two ministers on the chancel, which is a very rare incident, if not unique, in this Society. Third, the sermon by the Bishop on the text, "But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil." Fourth, the decorations, which consisted of groupings of chrysanthemums on both sides of the chancel. Fifth, the administration of the Holy Supper.

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A number of people expressed themselves to the effect that this service had been the most affecting and enjoyable one they had ever attended.

     In retrospect, we think that probably one of the main features of the Assembly, contributing greatly to its success, was the informality of the meetings and the dose personal association which that implies. This was due in part to the fewness of our members, and in part to the desire of all to make the most of the Bishop's presence. At any rate, it is certain that a closer bond has been established between the head of the Church and the members in Denver, resulting in a corresponding strengthening of the Church, the fruits of which we hope to reap in the future.
     H. H.

     THE SOUTH AFRICAN MISSION. From the Mission journal and recent letters we learn that the work in Basutoland and the Union Provinces has been maintaining its normal activities during the past few months.

     The last two issues of Tlhahiso have drawn liberally upon the mature thought of the Church. In the March-April number a sermon on "Repentance," by the Rev. R. W. Brown constitutes the leading article. This discourse, was, as a matter of fact, given by Mr. Brown to several of the native Societies during 1921. In the July-August number, Mr. George Mokoena has translated in full text Bishop W. F. Pendleton's article on "Baptism," which appeared in the June number of New Church Life under the title of "Topics From The Writings." Such contributions are of extreme value to the members of the Mission, since they place before them the basic and fundamental doctrines of the Church, In the same issue, Mr. Berry Maqelepo, who is the Leader in charge of the Greylingstad (Transvaal) Society, contributes-in English-a short address in commemoration of the 19th of June; while the usual English section of the paper is devoted to extracts from the late Rev. C. Th. Odhner's compilation, Testimony of the Writings.

     In addition to the purely local news, the Mission officially welcomes the Rev. and Mrs. Elmo Acton, who have recently arrived in Durban. We also hear that the Rev. Theodore Pitcairn is making a tour to the various societies of the Mission; that a day school of forty-four pupils has been inaugurated at Greylingstad, and that the work at the "Alpha" headquarters is progressing favorably.
     F. W. E.

     SUNDRY NEWS ITEMS.

     The New-Church Herald for October 24th prints a short article by "R. R. R.," entitled "What the World Thinks of New Churchmen," which reads:

     "Few things are more pitiful or more amusing than to listen to a conversation by orthodox critics on what we New Churchmen are supposed to teach. Generally speaking, whatever is advanced is a matter of hearsay; it is incorrect, and reflects no credit either upon the speakers or upon believers in New Church doctrines. Probably the most generally accepted belief is that we are a set of good-natured, well-to-do fools. Some people think we are atheists, others that we are a kind of modern Jew, still others that we hold very queer notions about heaven and hell. Generally speaking, we are credited with being dangerously heterodox, and rendering a kind of worship to Swedenborg. It is, of course, quite impossible to correct all the erroneous ideas different people may entertain concerning us."

     The writer then goes on to voice a view of the Writings which possibly accounts for the "queer" opinion some people have of the New Church:

     "In relation to Swedenborg, I may remark in passing, it is undoubtedly true that we accept Swedenborg's interpretation of Scripture, and it is equally true that the doctrines we seek to promulgate are formulated by Swedenborg. We also regard him as the most luminous expositor of the Word of God the world has ever known, and, by an act of simple justice, we place him before all other religious teachers of modern times, but we give him no honors we can not equally offer to all other men of consummate genius.

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Profoundly thankful for the light of truth, by whomsoever given, whether through Confucius, Buddha, Plate, Luther, Darwin, Spencer, Wesley, or Swedenborg, yet we accept no writer as an infallible authority. The Word of God only is our last and final source of appeal. . . ." (P. 646.)

     From the New-Church Messenger of October 21st we learn of the death of Mrs. Mabel Hoskins Spiers, wife of the Rev. Junius B. Spiers, of Richmond, Virginia. Mrs. Spiers passed to the spiritual world on October 4th, while visiting in Washington, D. C. "She was exceptionally well read in the teachings of the New Church, and was active always in bringing them to the attention of others. It was through her that the Rev. Isamu L. Watanabe, of Tokio, came into a knowledge of the New Church while he was studying in Richmond." (P. 739.)

     The Helper, edited by the Rev. J. W. Stockwell, Philadelphia, in addition to the weekly Sermon and Sunday School Lesson, prints short articles and editorial comment on a great variety of subjects, quoting occasionally from General Church publications. The issue for November 18th features an interview which the Editor had with Galli-Curci during her recent concert engagement in Philadelphia, in the course of which interview she expressed the opinion that the Writings of Swedenborg were closer to the original in the Italian versions than in the English, but that "the Latin races today do not seem to care much for reading on spiritual subjects."

     In the same periodical for November 11th the Bryn Athyn Post is quoted in its comment upon the Bishop's sermon of September 11th on the subject of "Hypocrisy." In the same issue the Editor of The Helper asks the question: "Out of the 24,-500,000 pupils attending schools in the United States, how many for Urbana?" The query echoes the Messenger of September 10th, where the Editor observes: "From Urbana Junior College comes an urgent call for more New-Church students this year. The year will begin with a total enrollment of something like sixty, but of these only seven are from New-Church families. . . . The Church has done all but one thing to establish a unique educational institution, and that is to provide it with students." From other sources we learn that courses in New Church doctrine are not obligatory at Urbana, and that the New Church members of the Faculty are decidedly in the minority. Can it be that this accounts for the small proportion of students who come from New Church families? Surely there are more than seven young people in the General Convention whose parents would provide a distinctive New Church education if Urbana furnished it. Where the Old Church influence preponderates in the ratio of 60 to 7, we can hardly blame parents who send their children to schools near at hand, where the influences of a New Church home can offset the effects of public-school education.

     That some members of the Convention question seriously the policy now pursued at Urbana is evident from a discussion of the subject at the meeting of the General Convention last June. We read that "criticism was made that Urbana should be more a New-Church college, with New-Church teachers and students, which was answered very ably by Mr. Schradieck, President of Urbana College, with the statement that the college desired to become just that, but could not remain idle while such an ideal was merely hoped for. This statement was heartily applauded." (Messenger, July 29, p. 530.) One is moved to ask how a thing can really be "desired" when it is "merely hoped for," and how it is ever to be obtained by moving in another direction. The brief account of that discussion manifests the usual cleavage in the Convention between those who favor a more distinctive program and those who do not.

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The former, if we mistake not, would send their children to Urbana, if it were a distinctively New-Church school.

     The New-Church League Journal for November contains an interesting account of the missionary activities of a Mr. Boo in far-off Burma. A letter of his dated March, 1925, is quoted as follows:

     "It is now two years and one month since I began devoting my time and energy solely to the cause of the New-Church Mission in Burma. During this period I have been prayerfully trying my best to bring the True Christian Religion into the minds of men and women of all denominations of Christianity and other religions, among Burmese, Rarens, Talaings, Indians, and Angle-Indians, using the following methods:

     1. Keeping and distributing (at home) a small Free Lending Library of Swedenborg's works, New-Church books and tracts.

     2. Preaching daily, morning and evening; visiting Christian houses and others; making friends, and revealing and discussing with them the True Christian Religion.

     3. Contributing articles in Burmese to one of the vernacular papers, called The Burman Messenger.

     I have traveled as far as Thalon, Mayangon, Rangoon, Ramayut, Insein, and Bassein. I think not less than one thousand persons have had the privilege of hearing me or reading our New-Church literature within the two years, and the number is increasing daily; Missionaries, pastors, preachers, teachers, and the leading members of all the churches here have been supplied with New-Church literature by post to all over Burma. I trust not less than five hundred persons have read, and among them some are reading and studying with real interest; and this leading-circle is widening day by day as the tracts and books are being sent out to different parts of the country."

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ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS 1925

ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS              1925




     Announcements.


     The Councils of the General, Church of the New Jerusalem, and the Philadelphia District Assembly, will meet at Bryn Athyn, Pa., from February 1st to 7th, 1926. A Program will be published in the January number of New Church Life.