NEED FOR SPIRITUAL REFLECTION 1956

NEED FOR SPIRITUAL REFLECTION GEORGE DE CHARMS 1956

NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. LXXVI JANUARY, 1956           No. 1
     "Be wakeful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God." (Revelation 3:2)

     Man may be said to live because he has power to reflect. Indeed, without reflection he is consciously aware of nothing. Human life is a continual awakening. The new-born infant is wrapped in a profound and dreamless sleep, out of which the Lord is ever seeking to rouse him. His mind is a delicate instrument, sensitive to all the myriad forces of creation whereby the Lord constantly touches it, and stirs it into life. Without ceasing, the Divine command goes forth: "Let there be light." But consciousness arises only where the touch of the Lord's hand meets with a deliberate response on the part of man. Moment by moment, throughout life, countless impulses are pouring in upon the brain, exerting a subtle pressure upon the mind, of which, however, man is not in the least aware. By means of these unconscious sensations the Lord secretly governs and directs our life according to His eternal ends. But He does not ruthlessly force His will upon us. In order that He may lead us gently, according to our own free will and choice, it is mercifully decreed that we shall become aware only of those impulses to which we pay attention. Thus it is that the Lord stands without at the door, and knocks. Secretly He gives us the power and ability to open the door; but He leaves us free to open it or not, as we will. And only when we answer His call, and open the door, does light break upon the mind.
     We pay attention to the things we love. From the constant stream of sense impressions that beat upon our minds, love selects and orders whatever serves to promote its end, allowing all the rest to pass unnoticed. From things selected, it forms a mental picture, a goal or an ideal; and thenceforth it searches for the means to bring that ideal to realization. In this lies the struggle, and also the joy, of man's life. The mental world in which we live is made up solely of those things of which we become consciously aware; and what these are is determined not so much by our physical surroundings as by the love that governs the mind.
     Where does this love come from? It is not a thing of earth. It does not belong to the material world. It inflows from the sun of heaven, and moves the mind from within, by way of the soul. The soul of every man is an immediate gift of God. It is formed to receive His love in a very special way. Indeed, the way each one receives the Lord's love makes him an individual, endowing him with qualities, faculties and abilities, that distinguish him from all others and enable him to fill a needed place and function in the Gorand Man of heaven. Because men are created individuals, endowed by the Creator with a love that is characteristic of each one-a love that belongs to each one alone and that is the very man himself-therefore human beings differ widely in tastes and preferences, in aptitudes and interests, finding delight in different kinds of activity, in different occupations and professions of service to society.
     The love that inflows through the soul, and that gives to each person his individuality, is eternally fixed and determined by the Divine Creator. It cannot be changed, far no one can become other than he is. But every man is touched and moved also by loves that impinge upon his mind from without; not, however, from the world of nature, but from spirits and angels who are associated with him in the spiritual world. From these invisible companions we receive affections and delights; and because we know not whence they come, we feel them as our very own. We are constantly surrounded by spirits, both good and evil, who inspire us with conflicting desires that draw us in opposite directions. This is why we seem to have a dual personality, for both these opposing loves appear to be our own. These pressures from without do not change that fundamental love which enters through the soul; nor do they alter the special gifts, talents and abilities, derived therefrom; but they prompt us to use these abilities in one of two opposite ways, either for self-advancement and worldly gain, or for self-forgetting service to the neighbor and to the Lord. The Lord empowers us, nay, He requires us, to choose between these opposing forces that play upon us from without. We cannot go in two directions at once. We must reject one impulse and select the other. This is a choice we cannot escape; and it opens the door of the mind either to the loves of heaven or to those of hell.
     In infancy and early childhood angels stand guard to protect the nascent mind. While they are present, evil spirits cannot approach, and the child is kept in the sphere of heaven and imbued with heavenly delights.

Only by degrees does the hereditary tendency to find delight in the loves of self and the world assert itself and become increasingly dominant. As this occurs, innocence declines, the guardian angels withdraw, and evil spirits progressively take possession of the mind. This is done so subtly that there is no realization of what is taking place. But when the mind is animated by the love of self attention is fixed upon the things of earth, upon the pleasures of the body and the ambitions of the world. These things seem all important. The mind is keenly alive to whatever seems to promote personal advancement, to increase personal wealth, or power, or prestige in the sight of others. Everything is viewed as a means to this end. Even the ideals of morality and religion are made to serve this all-dominating purpose. Attention is paid to those teachings of the Word which can be interpreted to favor our personal desires, while all else is disregarded. This is the characteristic state of youth, when, without realizing it, we are keenly alert to the things of the world, but remain spiritually asleep. This is the sleep out of which the Lord seeks to waken us in order that we may become aware of Divine and heavenly things, of things eternal. For it is His will to bless us with the joys of everlasting life. And this is why He says, in the third chapter of Revelation: "Be wakeful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God."
These words occur in the message to the angel of the church in Sardis, concerning which we are told that it is directed to those who carefully observe the outward forms of religion, but give little heed to the knowledge, understanding and life, of spiritual truth. This attitude is by no means confined to the period of youth. It is not hard to convince ourselves that the external observance of religious custom, and a careful regard for the accepted moral code, is all that is required of us. To do this is relatively easy. It has been instilled by early training, and has become habitual by constant practice. It leaves us free to devote our real energies to the tasks immediately before us. It allows us to become absorbed in the pursuit of worldly ambitions, finding no time for thought or reflection upon the deeper meaning of the Word, no time to search out the laws of eternal life which lie concealed within the Sacred Scriptures, while yet we feel well satisfied that we are doing the Lord's will. This is a grievous error to which we all are prone. It is a state into which we fall repeatedly, drawn by the loves of self and the world that are our natural inheritance. But if this state is wilfully confirmed, if we deliberately choose it and make it our own, we close our minds against the entrance of the Lord and the influence of heaven. Fortunately, the memory of the innocent delights of childhood abides with us and may be recalled, especially in states of worship and of reflection upon the teaching of the Word, when the door of heaven is temporarily opened again.

By this means the first love is kept alive, and the ability to choose it is repeatedly restored.
     That we may be given the opportunity, again and again, to "cleanse" our way "by taking heed thereto according to [the] Word" (Psalm 119:9), is one of the reasons the Lord has placed us in a world of time wherein there are fixed and stated periods of change and progress that invite reflection, and give occasion to pause and take account of our life. All men recognize the beginning of a new year as a time for self-appraisal, a time to amend the mistakes of the past and to direct their steps anew. But too often the effort at self-examination is only cursory and superficial. Too often it is merely an endeavor to achieve more effectively by our own intelligence the personal aspirations that have eluded us. Too often it is prompted only by a momentary emotion which is soon forgotten because the habits and traditions of a lifetime are too strong to be resisted.
     Yet, as long as we do not deliberately focus our minds upon the task of learning and progressively understanding spiritual truth, however sedulously we may keep the external requirements of a religious life, the love of self will remain entrenched within, and will continue to dominate our thought. We will remain spiritually asleep. Unless we are roused we will sleep the sleep of eternal death; for the door of love to the Lord and of genuine charity toward the neighbor-which alone opens before us the uses and the joys of heaven-this door will be permanently closed against us in the other life. To warn against this greatest of all tragedies, the Lord says in Matthew: "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" (6:22, 23).
     We are all prone to lope darkness better than light. But light is come into the world; and the Lord calls to all men to come out of the darkness into the light of His opened Word. He invites us to sit at His feet, and to learn of Him the only Way that leads to inmost peace and lasting happiness, that we may walk therein. When Mary did so, even while her sister Martha was careful and troubled about many things, the Lord excused her, saying: "One thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:42). Far this, above all else, the reflection to which we are invited by the beginning of another year is intended by the Lord. It is His will to waken us to the incomparable value and importance of spiritual truth, that we may learn to know, at least in this our day, the things which belong unto our peace (Luke 19:42); things which heretofore have been hidden from our eyes. And this is why He says unto us, whenever we fall into the state represented by the church in Sardis:

"Be wakeful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God." Amen.

     LESSONS: Matthew 6:16-24. Luke 10:38-e. AE 187:1.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 448, 474, 502. Psalmody, page 23.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 5, 113.
EASTERN CANADA ASSEMBLY 1956

EASTERN CANADA ASSEMBLY MAUDE SWALM 1956

     TORONTO, ONTARIO, OCTOBER 8-10, 1955

     Sessions.-The First session, on Saturday afternoon, was opened with the Lord's Prayer and a reading from the prophecy through Isaiah. In his opening remarks, Bishop De Charms deplored the fact that Assemblies could be held in the individual societies only once every four years. They are of great value in that they bring the people of the church together and strengthen them in their resolves, and they are of especial use to members who are isolated from the larger centers.
     The Rev. Martin Pryke took the chair for the first session and welcomed all who were able to attend. He hoped that we would not feel too crowded, as it was now obvious that we had outgrown existing facilities, but that at the next Assembly in Toronto the surroundings would be more spacious. He then called upon Bishop De Charms to deliver the episcopal address, the subject of which was "Religious Toleration" [see NEW CHURCH LIFE, December, 1955, pp. 529-536].
     In the discussion that followed the address Mr. Pryke reminded us that there is no exclusiveness of salvability, and that this teaching from the Writings is a doctrine unique to the New Church. Though the present body of the church is small it is the nucleus of the church to come. Mr. Nathaniel Stroh quoted from AC 1834: "where there is charity there may be all types of religious persuasions in harmony"-the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth light. Mr. Reuter reminded us that in the Writings and throughout life there are many warnings that we must hold to some convictions at any stage of our lives, even though some of them will change as we learn. We must not permit the natural to determine the level of tolerance, but the rational. The Bishop, in closing the meeting, observed that the proprium must be subdued, charity received, and regeneration effected, if true tolerance is to be attained.

     On Sunday afternoon the second session of the Assembly was held, again in the chapel.

Bishop De Charms took the chair, and after his opening remarks called on the Rev. Norman H. Reuter for his paper on "Enlightenment Through the Word."*
     * It is hoped that this paper may be made available for publication. EDITOR.
     Bishop De Charms introduced the report of the committee to investigate possible uses of an Eastern Canada District Organization. The report was then read by Mr. Alec Graigie, secretary of the committee, which consists of: the Rev. Norman H. Reuter, chairman; Messrs. John Kuhl, Robert Knechtel, Sydney Parker, Robert Scott, and Alec Craigie, secretary. The Rev. Martin Pryke was invited to attend the meetings.
     The report was discussed and some questions were asked. The Bishop pointed out that the report of the committee requested only a temporary organization for two years, and a grant of $100.00 a year from the Board of Directors of the General Church for that purpose. At the end of that period the interim committee will file its report and action will be considered. On motion of Mr. Ray Orr, seconded by Mrs. William Charles, it was resolved that the report and recommendations be accepted.

     The Bishop took the chair for the third session, on Monday morning, and called on the Rev. Martin Pryke for his paper on "Natural Good" [PP 9-17]. During the discussion which followed the address the Bishop pointed out that everyone must go to the Lord Himself for good. Each man is responsible for his own regeneration. It is not something that can be inherited. Even the children in heaven must be taught by the angels to say "no," that they may learn to think for themselves. If there is a willingness to live according to the truth the mind is open to instruction. Mr. Robert Scott remarked that natural good is not a saving grace, and that to be socially adjusted in an evil society can be a serious obstacle in the way of receiving truth. Mr. Alec Craigie felt that as the human instinct for good is deeply rooted and based it cannot be dismissed lightly. Mr. John Kuhl said that as the borderline between genuine and spurious natural good is difficult to recognize, so is it difficult to fight the latter. Mr. Pryke reminded us in his reply that even in the Most Ancient Church there was need for regeneration, but there was no hereditary evil to fight against before the Fall, and not so much after it as there is now.

     Assembly Dance.-When we entered the hall on Saturday evening we were greeted by a welcome sign trimmed with riotously colored autumn leaves glittering with dewdrops. Then, waiting to do as the sign said, was the receiving line consisting of Bishop and Mrs. De Charms, the Rev. Martin Pryke and his fiancee, Miss Zara Bostock, and Mrs. Lenore Bellinger.

When the handshaking was done we were swept onto the floor by the music of a four-piece orchestra, the first event of the evening being a Gorand March led by Bishop and Mrs. De Charms. Then the regular dancing began, and there were spot dances and elimination dances to help increase the gaiety. The comment most often heard was that it was wonderful to see so many New Church people at a dance. The evening was competently run by Mr. and Mrs. Ivan Scott and Mr. and Mrs. Robert Anderson; and when the time to leave came, many satisfied and weary but still high-spirited bands of dancers turned into party-goers.

     Assembly Banquet.-In happy and festive mood we gathered at the Seaway Hotel on the Lakeshore on Monday evening to hold our banquet, the concluding event of the Assembly. The sumptuous dining room with its new and modern decor provided a pleasing atmosphere for a delightful occasion.
     After we had enjoyed our dinner the toastmaster, the Rev. Jan H. Weiss, presented the topic of the evening, "Our Attitude Toward Time," and introduced in turn the three speakers. Mr. Robert Scott spoke first on "Our Attitude Toward the Past," pointing out the value of a knowledge of history to New Church men for an understanding of the spiritual laws by which society functions. Mr. Keith Niall spoke next on "Our Attitude Toward the Present," stressing the importance of an affirmative response to the teachings of the Lord's Word, and our responsibility to perform uses which will lead to a life of unity and charity in the church. The third speaker, Mr. John Parker, Sr., spoke on "Our Attitude Toward the Future." He mentioned the necessity of a closely knit society life as a means of building the church, and emphasized the use of New Church education and the establishment of elementary schools as supports in the development of our way of life.
     Bishop De Charms summed up the thoughts expressed by the three speakers in moving words, reminding us of our wonderful privilege in knowing that the Lord is guiding the destiny of our race through all time toward the establishment of His kingdom on the earth. With this thought in mind we rose to sing "Our Glorious Church," and with the drinking of the toast our Assembly closed.

     Services.-The children's service on Sunday morning was conducted by the Rev. Jan H. Weiss. The 22 children and 26 adults present heard the story of Ahab and Naboth, with its lesson against the evils present in covetousness.
     At 11 a.m., the chapel was crowded to capacity with a congregation of 151 people worshiping together in an atmosphere of mutual affection.

Three priests took part in this beautiful service, and the Bishop's sermon on "Deliverance from Bondage" brought a wonderful message so simply expressed that all could receive it.
     There is an undefinable sphere about an evening service, and on the Assembly Sunday evening it was more evident than usual. The Bishop administered the Holy Supper, assisted by the Rev. Norman H. Reuter and the Rev. Martin Pryke, and a congregation of 114 took part in the service. It was a deeply moving occasion which stirred our affections and impressed us with the quality of the riches with which we have been endowed.
     Conclusion.-It was felt by all who were able to attend that the Assembly had been a success. Before the statistics are given, mention should be made of the people who had charge of the mechanics of the affair. They were too numerous to be named, but individually and collectively they did a tremendous job. The entire Assembly ran on oiled wheels of carefully planned and timed work, to the comfort and enjoyment of all the participants. The natural man was amply fed, well housed, and most delightfully entertained; and thus the spiritual food could be taken in without distraction, and if not immediately digested at least held for future nourishment.
     The total registration for the Assembly was 164-135 members of the General Church, 7 friends, and 22 young people. Visitors came from Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania; Kitchener, Ontario; Ottawa, Ontario; St. Catherines, Ontario; and Victoria, British Columbia. The attendances at the three sessions were 142, 120, 120. The average attendance at meals was about 135, and 134 persons attended the banquet.
     MAUDE SWALM
MEN AND WOMEN IN THE WORD 1956

MEN AND WOMEN IN THE WORD 1956

Adam and Eve

"By Adam and his wife the first men that were created on this earth are not meant, but the men of the Most Ancient Church; and their new creation or their regeneration is thus described. Their new creation itself that is, their regeneration, is described in the first chapter of Genesis by the creation of heaven and earth; their wisdom and intelligence by the garden of Eden; and the end of that church by their eating from the tree of knowledge" (Divine Providence, 241).

NATURAL GOOD 1956

NATURAL GOOD Rev. MARTIN PRYKE 1956

     (Delivered at the Eastern Canada Assembly, Toronto, October 10, 1955.)

     Good, as it appears in the natural life of man, may come from many sources. We are familiar with this idea. We know that natural good may spring from a genuine love of the neighbor or from a spurious love, that it may be built upon a true idea of what is good or upon entirely false concepts. In other words, a man's life of natural good, or the external life of a community, may not be truly indicative of his, or its, true spiritual state.
     This makes it important that we should learn more about the real nature of the good of man's natural life, so that we may better assess our own worth, as well as the worth of the society in which we live. Here is a field in which misunderstandings and wrong judgments may so easily be made that it is our duty, both to ourselves and to our fellow man, to make some study of it in the light of revealed truth.
     In making this study, we need to begin by defining our subject, so as to understand clearly what it is that we are discussing. Firstly, let it be well understood that when we speak of "natural good," we are not discussing good works, or mere deeds. We all know pretty well what these are; and we know that, however altruistic they appear, they may yet spring from the most deliberate hypocrisy and be part of a preconceived plan for achieving power or wealth. No, we are speaking of good in the natural mind of man; good as it is in his natural affections, and not necessarily as it shows itself in ultimate deeds.
     We are concerned, then, with the natural of man's mind, which is the mind's lowest plane. Man's mind has three planes, the celestial, the spiritual, and the natural. The first two are closed at birth, the last is in disorder. By reformation the natural mind may be brought into order, which is a state of obedience to revealed truth; and by regeneration-the spiritual (or even the celestial) degree may be opened (which is a state where good is done, not from a sense of obedience, but from a genuine love of truth and good, of the neighbor and the Lord-(cf. Char. 210).
     We may see in others not only what they do but something of the natural affection from which they do it. Indeed we do not see much more in ourselves most of the time.

Thus when we speak of the natural of man's mind, we speak of that lowest degree of the mind which is turned outward to the deeds of this world and which is most manifest to the neighbor. This natural degree is that wherein the higher degrees rest and through which they speak.
     "The natural of man, like his rational, has its good and its truth; for everywhere there is this marriage of good and truth" (AC 2184e, cf. AC 3293: 2). The understanding, or truth, of the natural is concerned with scientifics-both with scientifics of the material world and of the Word-and it stores these things in the memory of man. But the good of the natural, which we are now considering, is the operation of the will of this most ultimate plane of the mind; it is concerned with natural affections and delights (AC 3293:1). "Natural affections and delights"-that is our subject: the affections and delights of man which are directed to ultimate things, to civil and moral things, to the clothing of spiritual delights which themselves look to eternal rather than temporal ends and uses.
     Before the Fall, in the time of the Most Ancient Church, man was not born with the celestial and spiritual degrees of the mind closed, and with the natural degree in disorder. He was born into order with all planes of the mind open, and there was a true correspondence between the celestial, spiritual, and natural within him. Thus the Divine form was imprinted upon him from inmosts to outmosts. He possessed, therefore, a genuine good of the natural which sprang from the spiritual, celestial, and Divine good within.
     After the Fall, however, man is not thus possessed of genuine natural good from birth, for he is no longer born into true order. Yet man may still possess natural good, though it will be one of two kinds. It will either be genuine natural good, which is the result of successful combat in temptation, of regeneration; or it will be a spurious natural good which the Writings call "merely natural good." It is the need for a clear distinction between these two which we have felt to be important, and which has led to the writing of this paper. There is a vital body of teaching in the Writings on this subject, and it is one that we cannot overlook if we are to live intelligently in the world of today, or if we are to have a real understanding of our own state. We shall deal with these two kinds of natural good separately, and shall take up first the genuine good of the natural which can come only with regeneration.

     Genuine Good of the Natural

     Genuine good of the natural should first be noted on account of its origin: it is "a good which is spiritual in respect to its origin" (AC 4231). That is to say, "it comes forth from no other source in man than interior good, that is, from the good of the rational" (AC 3563).

Thus it is similar to the natural good enjoyed by man before the fall; but now it is "that which [man] has from the Lord by means of regeneration" (AC 7920). It is not, in other words, a husk, but a living, growing thing, because spiritual life is within it. Spiritual good cannot remain in existence with man unless it is ultimated in natural uses, and this can be done only through the genuine affection of the natural man-which is the genuine good of the natural. Thus this form of natural good is spiritual good revealing itself on a lower plane in an endeavor to fix and perpetuate itself in worldly uses.
     Such good can be established only by effort, by combat in temptation. It is the result of a spiritual love of the neighbor having replaced, in regeneration, the love of self and the world. Such a change must be based upon an idea, or, in other words, directed towards a vision or ideal. Thus truth must be its basis-something is done and loved because it is seen to be right. Natural good, we are told, "has its origin in the truths of faith, their abundance and connection it saves all" (AC 7761). In so far as the truths of faith are known, acknowledged, lived and loved, so far the spirit of man is regenerated and life is thereby given to the natural-now an orderly, living natural. This is the good of the natural.
     Sometimes, however, the good of the natural is established on the false doctrines of religiosities. The good is not then genuine, in a certain sense, for it will not be in a true form, but it is the sign of a salvable state. Good of the natural is "from the doctrine of faith and of charity, or, with the gentiles, from their religiosity" (AC 4988). The essential is that there shall be a conscience which rules the natural (cf. AC 8002:2), and not some selfish motive or inherited evil tendency. The genuine good of the natural is, in short, a living and permanent characteristic of this plane of the mind, and as such can exist only from the man's determined exercise of his freewill in a battle against evil which is directed by the truths of faith, or by what he conscientiously believes to be the truths of faith. Such truths build a conscience which, in regeneration, he makes spiritual; and this spiritual good flows down into the natural, forming a corresponding state of good there.
     This is the true ultimation of Divine good itself, which flows down through the soul of man-through the spiritual within him, which is now regenerated-and appears in a genuine and corresponding form in the natural mind, and so ultimately in the words and deeds of the body. This state, and the joy it brings, is described thus in the Writings: Good of the natural is "all the delight and pleasure that comes from having as an end service to what is spiritual, thus to the neighbor, still more to the public weal, yet more to the Lord's kingdom, and above all to the Lord Himself" (AC 3167e; cf. AC 2184:7, 2781, 3021:8, 3293).

     It is, then, the spiritual delight of performing uses which gives life, indeed existence, to the delight of natural affections which is the good of the natural. This is spoken of further in the following quotation: Good of the natural "is proper to the man who acts from reason, and consequently knows how to dispense what is good in various ways in accordance with uses. This dispensing of what is good is taught by the doctrine of what is just and fair, and in a higher degree by the doctrine of faith and charity, and with those who are truly rational, is also confirmed in many ways by reason. [Such] are borne along by an internal obligation" (AC 4988). This number also speaks of the need of truth and the formation of a conscience-the "internal obligation"-if genuine good of the natural is to be found. Then the things of the natural mind, as well as of the natural world, will be disposed and used for spiritual ends.

     Spurious Natural Good

     The Writings make it very clear that this genuine good of the natural, which is acquired only by regeneration, is to be distinguished from another good of the natural which is spurious. This is referred to as "merely natural good'' or "domestic natural good," and by it is meant an orderly external which contains no genuine internal. Remember, however, we are not speaking of external, or natural acts, but of natural affections. It is quite possible for us to love to do good, as far as the natural or external mind is concerned, while having no interior or spiritual love of good at all. Such a natural affection of good appears exactly like that genuine good of the natural of which we have been speaking. That is why it is important for us to know of the distinction and be able to recognize it, to a degree at least. The distinction is made clear when we read that those in spurious natural good "do it from no conscience of what is just and fair, still less from any conscience of spiritual good and truth" (AC 4988).
     Such a spurious natural good may arise from several causes. It may be inherited, or it may come from the circumstances and accidents of our environment. We shall consider these causes.
     We frequently speak of a person being born with an inherited tendency to evil, and we emphasize that this dwells in the natural man and is not imputed to him unless he makes it his own by confirming it in his life. But we often forget that we also inherit certain tendencies to good, which also dwell in the natural mind; and that these, too, are not imputed to man unless he confirms them in himself by a life of regeneration in which he shuns evils, not from inherited inclination, but because they are sins against God.
     There are many people who seem to find no difficulty in doing kind and charitable acts-their delight is in it.

We say of them that they are "naturally good," and in doing so we speak more wisely than we know; for they are indeed in natural good-an inherited state which has no spiritual love of good within it.
     "Everyone knows what natural good is, namely, that it is the good into which man is born. . . . For the good into which man is born he derives from his parents, either father or mother; for everything which parents have contracted by frequent use and habit, or have become imbued with by actual life until it has become so familiar to them that it appears as if natural, is transmitted into their children, and becomes hereditary" (AC 3469; cf. AC 7920). The number goes on to say that if parents have lived in such merely natural good and "are in this state when they conceive offspring, then the offspring receive an inclination to like good" (ibid.).
     In other places we read: "There are many who enjoy an hereditary natural good, by virtue of which they feel delight in doing well to others. . ." (AC 6208; cf. AC 4988, 5032; HD 83). And again: natural good is "that good which a man derives from his parents, or into which he is born, quite distinct from the good of the natural which flows in from the Lord [that is, the genuine good of the natural]" (AC 3518). According to familiar laws of heredity we are also told that "every man receives domestic good from his father and from his mother, which goods are in themselves distinct; that which he receives from the father being interior and that from the mother exterior" (ibid.).
     Consideration will show us that this spurious natural good cannot save. It is an inherited tendency, not an acquired quality; it is not really part of the man, for that only is properly his which accords with his ruling love. At death, if his ruling love is evil, all such natural good will fall away in the world of spirits. If, however, by shunning evils as sins against God, he infills this natural good with spiritual love of the neighbor, then it becomes living natural good and remains with him to eternity.
     A man also may acquire a spurious affection of good in the natural of his mind on account of adventitious circumstances, or accidents of his environment. Merely natural good, we are told, "arises by accident, or by misfortune, diseases and the like" (AC 7761). Certain circumstances of environment, such as early childhood training, living amongst people who always practice the externals of charity, the influence of social custom and pressure-all these may establish natural affections of good which are still not clothing any genuine spiritual love of the neighbor. Even misfortune or disease may, with some people, spark a reaction which finds its only solace in doing good and feeling natural charity towards the neighbor. It need hardly be added that states of good which spring from such external circumstances, and not from a shunning of evils, can reside in the natural only, and do not remain with the man beyond the grave.

In other words, whereas some will naturally respond to affliction and suffering with despair and bitterness, others will just as naturally respond with a delight in doing good to the fellow man.
     We have spoken of the need of the true good of the natural being established upon an idea, directed towards an ideal. Truth, or what is taken to be the truth, is learned, established as a goal, and becomes the basis of a conscience. Life from that conscience is the beginning of reformation and regeneration. Any life or love of good not so established on conscience is mere natural good, having no living concordant soul. Thus we read: "There are many who enjoy an hereditary natural good, by virtue of which they feel delight in doing well to others, but who have not been imbued with principles of doing what is good, either from the Word, the doctrine of the church, or from their religiosity. Thus they could not be endowed with any conscience, for conscience does not come from natural or hereditary good, but from the doctrine of truth and good and a life in accordance therewith. When such persons come into the other life, they marvel that they are not received into heaven, saying that they have led a good life. But they are told that a good life from what is natural or hereditary is not a good life, but that a good life is from those things which belong to the doctrine of good and truth and the consequent life; for by means of these, men have principles impressed on them that concern what is true and good, and they receive conscience, which is the plane into which heaven can flow" (AC 6208; cf. DP 14).
     The Writings compare this merely natural good which is done from external and not internal causes to the life of the animals. We are told, for example, that natural good is "that which is born with man . . . it is in itself a mere animal affair, for it exists also with animals . . . although it appears as good, it may still not be good, and may even be evil; for it may receive falsities, and believe what is evil to be good. Such natural good exists among nations of the worst life and faith" (AC 3408). In another place we learn "that natural good has in it only natural life, which life is not unlike that of the beasts, for they also are in good when they are gentle; but beasts cannot receive spiritual life" (AC 8772; cf. AC 4988, LJ 38). In other words, the actions of animals do not spring from any spiritual love, nor do they result from the exercise of freewill. It is a purely natural love or instinct which does not, and of course cannot, indicate any spiritual state. This is exactly the case with natural good; it is not acquired by struggle, but is purely instinctive.
     Such, then, is the state of merely natural good. What may we say of its consequences? Perhaps the most marked is the ease with which falsities and evils can attack such people.

Because those in natural good have not established truth in their lives, however much they may know it, therefore they have no conscience, as we have seen; and he who has no conscience does not have the means of protecting himself against the onslaughts of the hells-attacks of either evil or falsity. Hence they are said to be "pliant and prone to evils of every kind," and "to suffer themselves to be easily led astray" (AC 3469:4; cf. 5032:3, 1197, 8315, 10,184:2).
     In another place it says that they "allow themselves to be led into every kind of evil and falsity, if only the appearance of good is induced upon the evil, and the appearance of truth upon the falsity" (AC 3963e). Because such men have never set themselves definite spiritual standards, but have remained content with that degree of external good which has come naturally to them, therefore they are open to attack from either falsity or evil; for they have no defense, no discrimination or basis for judgment. Thus, provided the falsity or evil is hidden and presented in the guise of good, it will be accepted. This is frequently an extremely sentimental state which sees the appearance but does not recognize the reality underlying it. Thus the state of natural good is a weak state-a state of vacillation, a highly vulnerable state.
     It need hardly be added, perhaps, that such a state does wt permit any consociation with the heavens and therefore with the Lord (AC 5032:3, 8002; TCR 537; AC 7761). Angels flow only into that which is genuinely good with a man; the association is with the man's spiritual state, and not with his natural. If there is nothing genuinely good, no conscience based on the Word-or even on the teachings of a false religiosity-then there is no basis for a heavenly association. Cut off from the enlightening and saving power of heaven, it is not surprising that man is likened to "chaff in the wind." There is nothing to hold him stable and he is left to the mercy of such evil influences as may seek to affect him with stealth and guile.
     The essential and final consequence of natural good is, of course, seen after death, when man's true nature is revealed by the removal of natural coverings, and he must be judged thereby. Note this number: "Those who are in natural good only, in the other life suffer hard things, and sometimes complain much that they are among the infernals, when yet, as they believe, they had done what is good equally as well as others. But they were told that they had done what is good only as gentle animals devoid of reason might do it, and had not been solicitous about any good or truth of the church; and that as for this reason they have not in the internal man any receptacle for good and truth, therefore they cannot be defended by the angels; and also that they had done many evils under an appearance of good" (AC 5032:4; cf. SD 4561).

     Conclusion

     At the beginning of our address we said that we felt the subject to be important because it is one that we must understand if we are going to be able to assess properly our own worth and the worth of the world about us. A natural affection of good is not necessarily a sign of spiritual good, of regeneration, or of salvability. A recognition of this fact will materially affect our evaluation of spiritual states.
     In the field of self-examination we have, then, this additional reason for being thorough in discovering the real motives of our lives. Does the good which we do spring from any affection of good, or is it patently from ulterior motives? If we do perceive an affection for good within ourselves, we have yet to be confident that it is not simply an affection that se have from inherited inclination or that has come to us on account of some adventitious circumstance of our environment. For it to be genuine, it must spring from a spiritual love of the neighbor which is acquired only by means of shunning evils as sins against God. A persistent struggle in temptation will gradually achieve this, but we do not even begin the struggle unless we conduct a thorough self-examination, courageously facing the facts. Then must we confess our sins before the Lord and demonstrate our repentance in a new life.
     Nevertheless we are not intended to become so introspective and fearful that we lose all power to move forward. Self-examination should be periodic and not continuous. It is the effort to shun evils as sins that must be continuous. If we establish this habit in ourselves then we need not fear; then the Lord will flow in and gradually and mysteriously turn natural good to genuine good of the natural. It is the Lord who will do this, not we ourselves, and it is well to recall this when the task seems too great.
     The teaching concerning natural good should also have some bearing on our examination, or judgment, of the world about us. While it is true that we should never make specific judgments of the spiritual state of individuals, or even seek to do so, yet it is sometimes necessary for us to make some kind of judgment or estimation of general states around us. We cannot tell how best we may live in, and serve, society, unless we have some idea of its real worth and needs.
     The Writings tell us clearly of the state of the world since the decline and consummation of the Christian Church: "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 . . ." (LJ 38).

And again: "At the present day most people who in the Christian world are in natural good, are born into these so-called goods of evil and falsity [i.e., merely natural good], because their parents have by actual life contracted the delight of evil and falsity, and thus have implanted it in their children, and thereby in their descendants" (AC 3469).
     Now teaching such as this cannot just be ignored. It is a simple fact of revelation that in so far as people do not turn to the teaching of the Word-or of their religiosity, which will provide some kind of code of moral conduct-they cannot be in anything but natural good. Yet when we see so much good about us, as we may do in even the most wicked and corrupt periods of history, we are inclined to assume that this is necessarily spiritual good, or genuine good of the natural, which testifies to the regeneration and salvability of those demonstrating it. We would like to think that this is the case; it appeals to the optimism and the sentiment which lies in all of us. Nevertheless, we know that such a judgment is not sound and is not in accord with the teachings of revelation. Much good in the world today, although we certainly do not say all, is merely natural good, and it is well that we should recognize that this is the case.
     We speak of this because it is very easy for us to blind ourselves to the states and consequently to the needs of the age. The urgency of the message of the New Church may be dimmed, the vital necessity of the Lord's second advent may be lessened, if we do not clearly appreciate a state about us which cries out for help and salvation.
     Our subject, then, indicates the need for a fearless facing of facts, and a refusal to base judgments and decisions-be they concerning ourselves or concerning the world about us-on appearances which may so readily deceive. This, of course, is characteristic of the rational revelation of the Writings. Clear demarcations are drawn between good and evil, between truth and falsity, between appearance and reality, between the internal and the external, between one discrete degree and another. Such clear distinctions must be the basis of a rational understanding of truth, and we are blessed indeed to have been led to such a revelation of the Word of God.

EVENING AND THE MORNING 1956

EVENING AND THE MORNING ANONYMOUS 1956

     I have been ill so long that I have lost track of time. Night follows day, the weeks add up into months, the seasons come and go, the years pass me by. The words of an old song ring in my ears:

     The sun comes up and the sun goes down
          and the day and the night are all as one.
     The year grows green and the year grows brown
          and what is it all when all is done?

     Until I had fulfilled the threescore years and ten allotted. by the Scriptures I had been wonderfully blest. A vigorous constitution enabled me to meet the obligations of life with confidence. Wifehood and motherhood, with all the attendant responsibilities, had been mine; joy and sorrow aplenty had fallen to my lot over the years, but my faith had been high and my health adequate. I had never met a situation I could not deal with, given time.
     And then at seventy I found myself face to face with blindness: the kind no surgical skill can alleviate, no amount of courage or determination delay or prevent the swift progress of the disease.
     It is a bitter thing to be deprived of light and freedom at one fell blow. Never to see again white clouds billowing against the blue of the sky, the beauty of the sunset, the faces of little children. Not to be able to solace the long hours with books, those unfailing companions of a lifetime. To be dependent always upon others, where you had been free to come and go; to be confined to creeping along, tapping a white cane, feeling your hesitant way; learning to wait always on the convenience of others-the realization that one is a burden, helpless and useless.
     Eventually one adjusts. I learned gradually to make the best of my life, and to keep my rebellion under decent control for the sake of those about me. Everyone was kind: family, friends, even strangers. So much is done today for those who sit in darkness: Braille, recordings, the radio-everything the ingenuity of man can devise in this age of scientific magic.
     Braille I might have mastered had not another and more vicious enemy attacked me, that disease of the old that cripples the joints and reduces its victims to utter helplessness and merciless suffering. In my case it came suddenly and took over with astonishing rapidity as though determined to make up for lost time.

In a few months it accomplished what often takes years.
     So I lie helpless on my bed as quietly as I can to avoid the agony occasioned by the slightest movement, a burden to myself and to all who care for me. Truly the Psalmist wrote: "The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away."
     The long lonely night watches are worst of all. I am a prey to punishing spirits constantly calling to remembrance my sins of omission and commission even from early youth. Thoughts and deeds long forgotten come back to plague and torment me. It is useless to plead that those states are past, that I have repented my sins of yesterday and struggled earnestly to overcome my evils, inherited and acquired; that I have striven to love the Lord and the neighbor and to shun evils as sins, conscious always of how feeble have been my efforts and how miserably I fail.
     "He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" But for the childhood faith in the Lord and His providence which is my precious heritage from my parents I had utterly failed. For my tormentors insinuate doubts as to the very existence of God; insisting that my sufferings are but proof of their contention, that such torture is useless and hopeless, that nothing is gained by it, that the very Writings to which I cling teach that no man regenerates in sickness, that this condition which has existed so long has no point or meaning as far as spiritual values are concerned.
     Truly "all Thy waves and Thy billows are gone over me. As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God?"
     It is dawn. A kind voice breaks the silence. "You have had a good long sleep," the night nurse assures me with professional cheerfulness as her skillful fingers take my pulse. I smile. It is good to face even the ritual of the sick room after a night in hell.
     I have reason to hope that the glad day of deliverance is not too far away. Because I lie quietly, afraid to move lest my enemies attack me, and because usually my eyes are closed, those around me think me sleeping or unconscious. My mind is as clear as ever it was and my hearing acute. I do not mean to eavesdrop, it is only too much trouble to let them know I am here. So often I have heard them ask the doctor or nurses, "How much longer can it go on?"

     The answer is always the same, "As long as the heart holds out." The heart-the heart. I am reminded of my father's heart in those last weeks. How it pounded strong and regular in his emaciated old frame, holding captive the soul that so longed to escape its prison house.
     This morning I am encouraged to hope. A strange sinking sensation, a few moments of fear, ending in brief unconsciousness.
     I heard the doctor's voice: "It is the beginning of the end." I wanted to cry out, "O thank you, thank you," but was too weak. Instead, foolish tears brimmed under my closed eyelids, and the doctor and nurse blamed themselves for alarming me. Alarming me! I longed to embrace them both in my gratitude. It will be a great release for all of us, for me and for my children-"children'' by courtesy only. Hard as it is for me to realize, they are middle-aged men and women now, parents and grandparents in their own right. So long they have been gone from my care that they seemed almost like strangers until my own troubles made me no longer able and adequate. It is I who am now helpless and in need of love and protection, and they have responded in full measure according to their various natures. I am grateful to them all and seem closer to them than since they were children. But it has lasted long enough. They have their own lives and their many responsibilities and I am so tired. It will be good to break all bonds.
     I have a new night nurse. She is young and sweet and very gentle. I like feeling her near me. Sometimes one of the family keeps vigil with her. She is so silent. But I have only to make the slightest movement and she is there to comfort me.
     As the life of my body ebbs my spirit seems to gather strength, as though standing with outstretched wings only awaiting the glad moment when the bond is broken and it can soar into the unknown. The past and the future are strangely commingled, daydreams that shift and roll. All about me there is movement. Thoughts, impressions, memories, crowd around me.
     I am standing in the very early dawn on a wide verandah, overlooking a mountain lake, surrounded by forest trees. A shifting mist reveals and hides, now the lake, now the dark woods, wrapping all the landscape in mystery. Wherever the mist can be pierced the moon above touches with silver the black waters of the lake, the white trunk of a birch. The only sounds are the lapping of the water on the sandy shore and the bumping of my boat against the dock. I am possessed with the feeling that I can escape the dying body which holds me captive if I can but gain the boat and push off from shore. But first I must get the oars. The vision fades.

     "And when He had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour." Silence in heaven about the space of half an hour? What a strange thought! Where have I heard it-where? Now I remember. It is a verse from the Apocalypse and follows the description of the redemption of the souls under the altar who came out of great tribulation, to whom it was promised that they should hunger no more, neither thirst any more, and that God would wipe away all tears from their eyes, for the former things are passed away.
     And after the silence came titanic upheaval: thunderings and lightnings, earthquakes, hail and fire mingled with blood, burning mountains cast into the sea, falling stars and locusts with power to torment as scorpions. "And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them."
     Dear Lord, how long?
     I am trying to find my way back. The Apocalyptic vision terrifies me. I must turn my face to the "holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband."
     I have been trying to recall all I have learned from the Writings about the awakening in the after life, but because I am so weak things are confused.
     The two young people keep their patient vigil, one on each side of the bed. They sit silently. I feel their presence and am grateful. It is as if two angels waited to see me off and wish me well. Perhaps-they will help me into the waiting boat, quietly push it from the shore, and together wave me farewell and wish me "bon voyage."
     Outside a cold rain, half sleet, beats against the windowpanes and an angry wind howls round the house. Within all is warm and quiet. I can hear the hall -clock ticking off the minutes. A bunch of hothouse violets one of the girls brought in today fills the room with fragrance.
     It is very still.
     The nurse's gentle fingers touch my wrist. "It is all but over," she says.
A wonderful peace wraps me round. All my doubts and fears are put to flight. The other watcher, kneeling beside my bed, lays a gentle hand over mine. Softly he repeats the hallowed words of the Lord's Prayer. Just at the end I am able to whisper: "For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen."
     Peace enfolds me, the "peace of God which passeth thought."

     (To be concluded)

WORSHIP 1956

WORSHIP Rev. FREDERICK L. SCHNARR 1956

     (Delivered at the Chicago District Assembly, Glenview, Illinois, October 15, 1955.)

     Because of the importance of worship to the spiritual welfare of the church on earth, and because of its importance to the spiritual life of the individual members of the church, it is essential from time to time that the uses, types, and ultimate forms of worship should be reviewed and studied.
     Every church that has existed on earth, from the revelation it has been given, and from the state of the minds of its various members, has developed a form of worship which was distinctly different from that of every other church. Such distinctive forms of worship arose gradually, generation by generation, according to the true or perverted perceptions of its members, and they reflect the general spiritual state of each church.
     With the founding of the New Church upon a rational body of newly revealed truths there has now arisen a new worship. This new worship is to endure forever as the essential of all redemption and salvation among men and angels.
     As members of an organized body who are attempting to promulgate and establish the life and teachings of the New Church, it is well for us to reflect upon our knowledge of its doctrines in respect to worship, that we may carry on our responsibilities with wisdom and with continued integrity of purpose. For while the truths of doctrine are always the same, their application to the various uses and concerns of worship may vary to a greater or lesser extent from one generation to another.
     Our position in regard to worship is very much like our position in regard to regeneration. That is, whereas the Lord has revealed to us the spiritual truths, and even certain natural laws, for the mode of regeneration in the New Church, He has not dictated what external forms and applications of truth are to be employed in carrying out and accomplishing any particular use. These He leaves to the rational judgment and perception of men. It is similar with worship in the New Church. The Lord has plainly revealed what the internal of worship shall be. He has also established certain forms which are to be used in the New Church; such as Baptism, the Holy Supper, Betrothal, Marriage, Ordination, and Confirmation. He has not established, however, how these sacraments and rites are to be held, nor as a rule with what ultimate forms they are to be surrounded.

This He leaves to the knowledge, perception and judgment, of the members of the church, as these qualities exist and develop generation after generation. Thus in every generation there is the responsibility to study anew the internal teachings concerning worship, and from these to review the forms, rituals and practices, which we use.
     Only in this way will there gradually be developed a distinctive New Church worship wherein the external forms will provide the most proper ultimates for the influx of spiritual thought and affection, and for the holy presence of the Lord.
     The Writings define worship as all that which is effected by prayers, adorations, confessions and the like, which proceeds from the internal love, charity, and faith in a man, and is elevated to the Lord by the Lord (AC 10,177:7, 10,206). In a more general sense, true worship is simply to live according to, and to love, the Lord's commandments (AC 10,143:5).
     The reason worship is defined in this way is because all worship has as its end that man should be purified from evils and falsities, and consequently that goods and truths may be implanted in him by the Lord in order that he should thus be regenerated (AC 10,022, 10,042:5). And from this reason for worship there follows the second, which is that man should be brought into communication with heavenly societies, and that through these should be effected the conjunction of the Lord with man (AC 10,436:3).

     Now the Writings make it clear that the New Church is to have both internal and external worship (AC 1618, 1175; HH 222). And they also make clear the nature and uses of each and their proper relation to each other. If we are to carry on a proper and distinctive form of New Church worship, our first task then is to gather the teachings of the Heavenly Doctrine concerning these worships, and then attempt to understand and apply them in their orderly relationship.

     The Essence of Internal Worship

     These are the four essentials which the Writings give us as the essence of internal worship. They are:

     1) The acknowledgment of the Lord's Divine Human.
     2) Love to the Lord.
     3) Love to the neighbor.
     4) The acknowledgment that the Word is Divine. (AC 3454, 10,370)

     The Lord's Divine Human is given as the first essential because the sight and acknowledgment of the Lord as a Divine Man, that is, of the Lord as a Divinely Human God, is the primary concept of all religion, and thence of all salvation.

Unless we are able to think of the Lord as a loving, merciful, and patient God, from whom come all human qualities and capacities, it is impossible for there to be any true worship. For the human mind can acknowledge and love that only of which it can have some real idea. And there can be no real idea of God, no true concept of His qualities and attributes, when He is thought of in mystical and phantasmic terms. The human mind cannot approach and love a mere force or power, unless there is in that force or power some reflection of human quality and love. The only way the mind can form any true idea of God is not by endeavoring to meditate on what is infinite and eternal, but rather in seeing how the infinite and eternal God has revealed Himself in His Word-revealed Himself as Divinely Human in truths perfectly adapted to man's comprehension. This sight and acknowledgment of a Divinely Human God is the central directing concept of internal worship, for it qualifies man's every thought and love.
     Love to the Lord is the second essential of internal worship, because the Lord is the source of life, the essence of all that is good and true. Since all human loves are possible only from the Lord's love, it follows that in any endeavor to form good loves man must look to the source of all love. For only when we turn our hearts to Him, only when we raise our thoughts to Him, can we be drawn out of the sensual and selfish desires of self-life-that life which ever inclines us to the source of all hatred, revenge, and perversion.
     Love to the neighbor is the third essential of worship because all loves and thoughts must ultimate themselves in use in order to become fixed and permanent. The neighbor, in which is included all man's relationships with his fellow creatures, is the means which the Lord has provided for this ultimation to take place. For there is no truth, no matter how abstract that truth may at first appear, that does not in some way have a relationship to the goods of life, and the goods of life always relate to the neighbor.
     The acknowledgment that the Word is Divine is the fourth essential of internal worship because it is the ultimate basis by which the Lord reveals to man the purposes of the Divine will. Without this means of knowing the Lord in His Divine Human, there could be no love for Him, no spiritual life of internal worship, and hence no redemption and salvation. The acknowledgment that the Lord is present in the truths of His Word for the purpose of saving the human race is the starting point of all worship and all religion.
     These then are the four essentials of internal worship, essentials which must ever be the guiding and directing principles of all our thoughts and loves, not only in the formal periods which have been set aside for worship, but in every work of our life, and especially in those states of private meditation and prayer wherein we fully open our hearts and minds to the Lord.

     Besides presenting the four essentials of internal worship, the Writings mention two qualifying concepts concerning man's state which are necessary for there to be internal worship. These are that man must be in a state of humility, and that his approach to the Lord must be made in freedom (AC 2880, 8271, 10,646: 3). He must be in humility, because it is only when he humbles himself before the Lord that his proprial loves of self and the world recede-and these must recede before he can truly love the Divine will more than his own. He must be in freedom, because it is only in a state of absolute freedom that he can confirm goods and truths with the consent of both his will and his understanding and thus make them his own. There can be no internal worship from compulsion.
     From these teachings it is clearly evident that internal worship is the essence of all worship, of all salvation, and of all spiritual states of the church on earth. In any effort, therefore, of an individual, of a group, or of any organized church, to attempt to discern the quality and nature of their worship, or in any attempt to develop ultimate forms of worship, the doctrines concerning internal worship must be the guiding and fundamental principles.
     From what we have said concerning the importance of internal worship, it may be thought that external worship is of little use. And perhaps if we were all of celestial disposition this would be true, but we are not. The Writings leave no room for doubt as to the necessity and usefulness of external worship.

     The Use of External Worship

     The reason internal worship must be clothed with external worship is primarily that the mode of man's regeneration is one of going from external to internal things. That is, man's understanding is formed gradually, first by sensory experiences, and then by external knowledges, and these lay a groundwork on which he can slowly approach internal and spiritual knowledges. In so far as he is in knowledges of truth, in so far can his love be formed accordingly (AC 1083). This is the way man approaches the essential internal things of worship.
     But even after man knows the internal things of worship, and attempts to live according to them, external worship is still necessary. For man's thoughts, even if they be of internal things, must be ultimated in natural ideas if they are to be put to the uses of life.

And so the Writings define true and orderly external worship as natural and external thoughts of the mind which spring from the internal things of worship (AC 1618; Char. 173-83). Let it be clear that external worship refers to the thoughts and affections of the external mind, and not to the forms, symbols, and practices of worship. Thus in the Doctrine of Charity, number 175, we read concerning external worship that it is: "1) Thought and meditation concerning God, and concerning heaven, eternal life, and salvation; 2) Reflection upon one's thoughts and intentions, as to whether they are evil or good, and that the evil are from the devil, and the good from God; 3) Aversion of one's mind from impious, obscene, and filthy language; 4) Besides thoughts, there are also affections which come to the sight and sense of a man."
The use of external worship, however, is not only that the internal things of worship should be clothed by external things so that they may be applied to the uses of life. The Writings teach that external things are also a means of exciting and leading man's thought to a consideration of internal things. For example, when one reflects upon the use of impious, obscene, and filthy language, or of taking the Lord's name in vain, he may be led to think of the real cause for such language; how it springs from a disregard for the Lord and for the neighbor, how it is prompted by the influx of the loves of hell, and how therefore it is actually opposed to and destructive of the things which proceed from the Lord. Then too, by means of external worship, external things are kept in a state of holiness, so that internal things can flow into them, thus bringing to man's mind the very spheres and delights of heavenly life (see AC 1618).
Now it is clear that the relation of internal worship to external worship depends entirely on the application of truth to the things of life. There is no mystical or abstract relation apart from this. But there is a danger, and it can be a very subtle one, that external worship may become separated from internal worship. The Writings warn about this over and over again, and they take considerable time to explain the nature of external worship when it is separated from internal worship, and this because of the danger of the former to the spiritual life of the individual and the church. Because of the rational nature of the revelation that has been given to the New Church there is, perhaps, a stronger and more serious danger in external worship alone than there has been in any previous church. This is so because it is the innate nature of man to reason, to rationalize, to speculate, to spin theories and draw conclusions, which are quite apart from the life of regeneration. In spheres where doctrinal and religious problems and questions are continually under discussion one is apt to feel that he is in the life of religion; when yet, if one does not think of these things in terms of use, charity, and love to the Lord and the neighbor, he is actually in external worship, in mere rites and ceremonies (AC 7884, 9393, 10,645:2, 1078, 1091-4, 1175, 1205:1).

If he knows the internals of worship, and uses them for the sake of self, that is, for the sake of reputation, honor, wealth, power, and such things, his worship is not only external, but it is profane and idolatrous at the same time (AC 1205, 1295, 1326; DP 250).

     The Form and Ritual of Worship

     Besides internal and external worship, there is another phase which is very important to the life of the New Church because it is the ultimate expression of worship. This ultimate expression is what we call the form and ritual of worship.
     Now it has been mentioned above that the Writings set forth certain forms of worship for the New Church: Baptism, the Holy Supper, Betrothal, Marriage, Ordination, and Confirmation. And in speaking further about the external forms that pertain to worship, they enumerate: going to church; listening to sermons; devoutly singing; praying on the knees; praying morning and evenings, and at dinners and suppers; conversing with others about God, heaven, eternal life, and salvation; reading the Word and other books of instruction; instructing children; and with priests, preaching and giving private instruction (Char. 174).
     We would note, however, that while the Writings present this rather complete list of forms for the observance of worship in the New Church, and while they fully explain the purposes and uses of each, they do not dictate concerning the details of the forms. They do not give an order of service for the sacraments and rites. They do not say what songs are to be used for worship and what are not. They do not say what a minister may and may not preach about, and many similar things.
     It must not be thought, however, that because the Writings do not legislate about these things, but leave them to the free perception and judgment of the members of the church, they are unimportant and unnecessary. The Writings do not convey such an impression. Indeed, these things are left to the judgment and perception of man so that he will feel a certain protection and responsibility for the external things of worship.
     Although the Writings do not give the rituals of worship, they do give certain principles to guide in the selection of ritual. The first principle is that rituals are to be representative, that is, they are to be drawn from the Word (AC 8943, 9925, 10,436). The reason for this lies in the second principle, that rituals are to convey spiritual ideas and affections to the worshiper (AC 1618). We noted above that the thoughts and affections of external worship are a means for exciting the things pertaining to internal worship, and we would now note that the same is true of the symbols and rituals with which all worship clothes itself.

Thus, for example, in the Holy Supper service bread and wine are used, not for the sake of nourishing the natural body, but because they represent spiritual things. When we think of the bread and wine in approaching the Holy Supper, our thoughts are led by these symbols to ideas of good and truth, and to thought concerning the Divine love and wisdom. The like is also true with the symbols that surround Baptism and the rites of the church. In marriage, rings are given not only because they are a symbol of the marriage bond, but also because the sight of the ring from time to time will inspire the couple with thoughts concerning the spiritual teachings about conjugial love. This does not mean that the thought in worship should be centered upon the signification, but that the consciousness of its meaning should serve as a background to which the mind reverts upon reflection.
Because ministers study and reflect upon the doctrines concerning this subject, it is of order that the essential forms of worship used in the church should be determined by their taking counsel together. But there are many parts of ritual which are to be developed by the laity. Music, art, and poetic expressions which bring forth the feeling and beauty of the spiritual teachings of the New Church, are a few aspects of ritual which require the skill and study of artisans and craftsmen. Every effort should be made so that our ultimate rituals-the harmony of sound, motion, color, order and arrangement-are proper means of expressing the internals of our worship. There is no virtue in elaboration or ornateness for its own sake, nor of plainness and barrenness for its sake. The proper simplicity and beauty must depend on the conditions available. What may be suitable in a cathedral, for example, may be entirely inappropriate in a small chapel. Just for the sake of a desired distinctiveness we do not want to make up purely imaginative and artificial forms. Such would take away from the sphere and meaning of New Church worship, rather than add to it. And for this reason we do not want to rush hastily into the development of ritual. We must work gradually and according to need, using only those things which are indicated by our judgment and perception from a study of revelation.
In regard to the danger and abuse of ritual, there are two thoughts which it is well to keep in mind. The first is fully amplified in the churches which have preceded the New Church. Through a strict crystallization of ritual which has been carried on traditionally through the ages, the prior churches have come to regard their ritual as holy in itself. This is a falsity. Ritual is not holy in itself, but is holy only in so far as it is a containant and means for expressing the internal things of worship. This means that we have a responsibility to study and review our ritual from time to time, and to allow freedom for the possibility of change and experiment.

     The other danger we must watch for involves the universality of the New Church. The New Church, and by that we mean the teachings of the Second Advent of the Lord, is for all nations and races. Wherever it is established, the genius and disposition of the people will surround the internals of worship with rituals that are suitable to their own culture and temperament. For example, the nations of the orient will probably not use the same style of music for their worship as western nations. What will be a proper and useful form of ritual for one people, may not be for another. Our thought concerning the development and preservation of ritual must, therefore, be one in which we are careful to safeguard the freedom of others. This is essentially a matter of thoughtfulness and charity towards the neighbor. And we may rest assured that in taking such an attitude we more fully prepare our minds for the guidance and leadership of the Divine Providence.
     Now while the Writings emphasize the necessity and importance of external worship and ritual, let us not forget that these are of use only when they have the living internal of worship within them. The meaning and integrity of the life of the New Church lie in its internal worship, for internal worship is one with regeneration.
     When we attempt to see the Lord in His Divine Human, as that Human is revealed in the truths of His Word, and as we endeavor to form our lives and our loves in accordance with that truth, we are led into internal worship. And when man is in internal worship, his every work and his every deed will have this internal of love, wisdom, and use within it. This is the Divine promise, the hope of men on earth, the life of angels in heaven.
DIVINE AND HUMAN PROVISION 1956

DIVINE AND HUMAN PROVISION 1956

"What is temporal bears no relation to what is eternal; as what is finite in time bears no ratio to the infinite of time. What endures to eternity, this is; but what has an end, this relatively is not. That which is the Divine provides; but not that which is not, except in so far as it conduces to that which is: for Jehovah, which is the Divine itself, is, and that which is from Him also is. From this it is evident what is the quality of that which is given and provided by the Divine for man, and what is the quality of that which a man himself procures for himself" (Arcana Coelestia, 10,409: 3).

DISTINCTIVENESS AND EDUCATION 1956

DISTINCTIVENESS AND EDUCATION ROBERT GLADISH 1956

     (Delivered at the Chicago District Assembly Banquet, October 15, 1955.)

     Today the future of American education stands at a crossroads. In a great many areas of this country schools are understaffed and over-crowded; there is the ever present problem of how to pay for increasingly expensive schools; and, with it, the extensive arguments for and against
Federal aid to schools that stem from this problem. In the South the troublesome question of desegregation is turning attention away from curricular considerations to the pigmentation of the students' skins. The President has called a conference on education, and those both interested in and alarmed at the educational situation anticipate great things stemming from this conference.
     I submit, however, that, great as these problems may be, a far more insidious force is gnawing at the educational vitals of this country-more insidious because so few bother to recognize it as a problem at all, preferring to think of it as the schools' "adjustment" to the stresses and strains of our modern times. I am referring to the stronger and stronger emphasis placed upon "standardization" and "normality," and the growing lack of favor that "individuality" and "excellence" are receiving. For it is, in my estimation, a sad and deplorable fact that attempts to provide superior training for superior students are called "undemocratic"; and that attempts to stiffen the curricula-in those rare places that have not yet wholly given up the fight-are resisted by the swelling horde of those parents who insist that what really counts is not the scholastic disciplines their children master, how intellectually stimulated they are, or how their imaginations are fired, but how "adjusted" they are when they stand up to receive their diplomas; ready to assume their rightful places among their fellow morons who will make their journey through life with closed minds and open fists.
     Can there be any doubt that excellence will become a rarity when it is considered only an excuse for snobbishness on the part of the talented, or that the average will seldom be exceeded when it is worshiped as a god under the multiple guise of "integration," "normality," and "standardization"?

Is it any wonder that some of the leading thinkers today are concerned over this situation when they envisage a future generation of beautifully integrated, wonderfully amiable nonentities?
     Naturally, all this affects us very directly as New Church men and women, simply because we can never create a completely new environment for ourselves in which what we like to call our Old Church neighbors will not have a distinct and powerful influence upon us. But does it affect our schools? The very fact that we maintain our own schools such as the one here in Glenview, and send children to it at a considerable financial sacrifice, the very fact that we have not yet reached the state when "distinctiveness" has become a dirty word to our ears, shows that we are far from the present trend toward standardization. Or are we? Is it enough for New Church parents to send their children to our schools because their New Church neighbors do the same thing? In that event they are only aping-in a New Church way, of course-the advocates of "normality" who surround them. The parents must believe actively that our schools can produce individuals who are not so much "integrated" as prepared: equipped to deal with problems that go far deeper than how to acquire a car, a home, or a state of mind integrated with that of their neighbors. It is not enough for our schools to expose their students to the Writings, and then be satisfied that their graduates are almost as well trained as students in other schools, or that they are equally well trained. Before they emerge our students must have been at least exposed to a training superior to that afforded by secular schools. We must train a type of mind that disdains mediocrity, that can penetrate the arguments for slavery by "integration"; we must mold a mind and a spirit that seeks, and we must show the seeker where he may find the light that never fails.
     The New Church has always been tolerant of individuals. But we must be more than passively tolerant, we must actively encourage individuality: not individuality characterized by the "me against the world" philosophy, or the individuality that recognizes only the unutterable sanctity of personal wish and whim, but an individuality that is a personal striving to enlarge one's capabilities for excellence while guided by an authority that ever acts as a rein.
     Whenever we New Church people get together and the discussion turns in the direction of our ancestors, we are continually recalling the doings of odd aunts and uncles or the peculiarities of great-grandparents; and we tend to nourish in the back of our heads the idea that in those days the internal strength of the church was considered to be directly and mathematically proportional to the number of eccentrics it contained. This, of course, is a risible overstatement, but it is a fact that those people were not afraid to be different. Integration held no magic charm for them.

When the pressures of the world conflicted with what they felt and understood from the Writings, they chose as individuals to alter their immediate environment whenever they could, not their principles.
     If we are to continue to grow externally, and become stronger internally, we must develop men who can think-individuals. Please do not misunderstand me and infer that I am making a plea for screwballs who cannot get along with anybody. I am merely making a plea for men and women who can think and dream beyond the trivia and the banalities that the world displays as ideals; men and women who, having studied and thought, can choose in true freedom the course of their lives: a freedom that is true because it leads to a choice made from a training and education as complete and thorough as we know how to give, and as can be assimilated by the total capacities of the individual. For education without a challenge is no education at all.
     Our schools are not yet extensive enough to supply the needs of all New Church men for higher education, but we can and must prepare a groundwork for the mind that is capable of making such a choice. In this way, distinctiveness is more than a mere by-product of going to private schools or of belonging to a numerically small church. It is a way of life that a man lives because he chooses to exercise his rationality by looking to the Word and the Writings as the source of inspiration and guidance.
     The paramount importance of New Church education is that in a sea of variables it recognizes one constant; and that although different men do and should see this constant in varying lights and shades, the constant, as a source, remains the same for all. This is the anchor at which we ride, and which is our salvation in stormy seas. We can only come to grief if we toss it overboard as superfluous weight and. venture on trusting our own erring intellects. This is why secular education is forever crashing on one reef after another; for instead of an anchor it possesses a pilot, or a battery of pilots who cannot decide in which direction the vessel should proceed, and who compromise by getting a consensus on what route the passengers would like to travel rather than the route they should travel.
     The dangers of this anchorless, secular ship of education have been noted by several men. In an article called "The Fifth Freedom," published in the Saturday Review, of Literature, Seymour St. John describes this "fifth freedom" as the freedom to 6e one's best, and then goes on to make this observation: "Here are some of the most influential tenets of teacher education over the past 50 years: there is no eternal truth; there is no absolute moral law; there is no God. Yet all of history has taught us that the denial of these ultimates, the placement of man or the state at the core of the universe, results in a paralyzing mass selfishness; and the first signs of it are already frighteningly evident."

     Nothing can be truer than these words, but their truth serves only to point up the whole grand dilemma-what eternal truth which moral law, whose God? Recognizing the historic need of an anchor does not forge a new one for our present times. In desperation, men who think seriously of the problem are merely deploring the educational trend toward netting along, fitting in, adjustment, social living, group fulfillment, uniformity, and other delightful absurdities that are palmed off on the students in the name of that much abused word "education." I agree that, no matter what anyone says, social living is not a reasonable substitute for English literature, basket weaving does not quite fire the intellect as well as history, and mathematics has a few advantages over glass blowing. This is the problem, but who has the answers?
     In another article appearing in the Saturday Review, of Literature, "Is the Common Man Too Common?" by Joseph Wood Krutch, the problem is pointed up in another way. The author says: "Instead of asking, 'What would a good education consist of?' many professors are asking, `What do most college students want?' Instead of asking, 'What books are wisest and best and most beautiful?' they conduct polls to determine which books the largest number of students has read with least pain. Examination papers are marked, not in accordance with any fixed standard, but in accordance with the usual level of achievement; the amount of work required is fixed by the amount the average student does; even the words with which the average student has trouble are edited out of the books he is given to read. How, granted such methods, is it other than inevitable both that the average will seldom be exceeded and that the average itself will gradually drop?"
     In the plight of modern education the New Church could well see a warning. The fact that this softening of the educational brain has been diagnosed by so few points to the great danger of the disease. You cannot fight something of the existence of which you are unaware, and you do not care to fight something when you have deluded yourself that that thing is normal and reasonable. The fact that this situation is sanctioned by the mass illusion concerning the sacredness of the majority makes it doubly difficult to reason with it. If this is the level of the majority, it is said, then that level is the best for all. Any attempt to go beyond it is pure snobbery.
     But go beyond it we must. Perhaps other schools feel that they can afford to issue diplomas to students who have satisfied the residence requirements, without having the slightest concern over what has been assimilated, but we cannot. This is a time of many challenges for us, but it is one of great opportunity, too.

Every year the New Church schools are enrolling more and more pupils. As the number of pupils who leave our schools increases, we may reasonably expect the influence they exert on their fellows and on other schools to increase also. But this influence can be a force for the good of the church and the community only if we continue to rely on our anchor, and strive ever harder to provide a distinctive education to produce distinctive men and women; men and women who are leaders, not disciples and addicts of a fatuous mental paralysis. This country is crying out for men of vision and leadership, both for itself and for the rest of the world, but it is tooling itself to mass produce a generation of lackeys. The job our New Church schools must perform for our students is crystal clear. We cannot afford to fail.
IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1956

IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1956

Our readers will be interested in the frank discussion of a dilemma now going on in the NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER On which that journal is to be congratulated. In a letter published on October 29, 1955, the Rev. William H. Beales, veteran pastor in Detroit, drew attention to the "pitiful condition" of Convention-societies closed or closing, small attendances. Editorial comment invited constructive suggestions, Mr. Beales having stated that he had no remedy but felt that the matter should be brought into the open; and the replies so far published indicate that serious thought has been given to the problem and that a wide variety of opinions is held.
One correspondent attributes the present position of Convention to a policy of appeasement; asks why the New Church is classified as a Protestant sect or denomination, why ministers taking part in interdenominational meetings soft-pedal all the principal doctrines, and why special efforts are seemingly put forth to avoid our appearing different; and suggests that we proclaim the truth from the housetops. This view is shared in part by two other correspondents. One of these thinks that Convention is too afraid of being thought fanatical, and asks how a church to which the Writings are entrusted can expect others to be interested if it does not love and honor them: the other inquires why the attempt should be made to make the church as much like the old church as possible, and thinks that the ministers have taken over certain lay functions. Practical suggestions have included devoting an entire session of Convention to the problem, placing more emphasis on religious education, having lectures by successful ministers, and even following literally the injunction to go out into the world two by two as evangelists. However, most of the writers believe that the decline stems from fear of being different.

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1956

     The January readings introduce us to the most cryptic part of the New Testament Word, the book of Revelation, In the Christian Church attempts have been made to interpret the Apocalyptic visions by the continuous historical, the contemporary historical, and the futurist methods, and under the view that they tell of the eternal principles by which God rules the world and the church. These views agree that the book deals with world events, and differ only as to the time of its fulfillment. Most modern forecasts of the end of the world are based on alleged conclusions drawn from its text.
     We are instructed in the Writings, however, that the book does not treat of world events, or even of the successive states of the church, but of the last state of the church in both worlds, and then of the Last Judgment and of the New Church (AR 1e, 2; LJ 41:2); and that in it are unfolded the evils and falsities of the church which are to be shunned, and the goods and truths that are to be done-which last relate to the Lord, to faith in Him, and to eternal life from Him (AR 932, 957: 2).
     This is a warning against regarding it as only a spiritual-historical record, for the evils and falsities disclosed still exist.
     Part I of Heaven and Hell is concluded in this month's readings (nos. 389-489), and we enter into the doctrine of the world of spirits. That the angels have occupations disposes of the literal idea that work is the curse of Adam. An eternal life without useful employment would be unbearable, and the labor from which the faithful are promised rest in heaven is combat against evil and falsity.
     Our concept of the world of spirits differs radically from that of purgatory. In Catholic dogma, purgatory is an intermediate state after death for expiatory purification-a place of punishment wherein the souls of those who die in God's grace may expiate venial sins, or satisfy Divine justice for the temporal punishment still due to remitted mortal sin. The world of spirits is an intermediate state and place to which all, both good and evil, go, with certain exceptions, that they may be prepared for heaven or hell. Preparation consists in bringing the external mind into full correspondence with the internal by separating from it all that does not accord with the love. Exceptions are children, and adults in whom that correspondence has been effected.

REVIEWS 1956

REVIEWS Editor 1956

THE INFINITE AND THE FINITE. By Clifford Harley. Swedenborg Society (Inc.), London, 1955. Pp. 16.

     This pamphlet contains the text of a lecture on Part I of the work Divine Love and Wisdom delivered by the author at Swedenborg Hall, London, in October, 1954. In a clear and simple manner Mr. Harley shows that the part of the book with which he is concerned answers the chief question put by philosophy: What is the ultimate reality! Of interest also is his brief analysis of The Infinite and the Final Cause of Creation, and his statement that this book "establishes positions which led to the providing of vessels in his [Swedenborg's] mind which could be filled with the truths revealed to him by the Lord, and which are set forth in the later work, Divine Love and Wisdom."

OUR CUSTOMS AT WEDDINGS. Bryn Athyn Church of the New Jerusalem, Bryn Athyn, Pa., 1955. Pp. 14.

     The spirit and purpose of this attractive brochure is thus explained in the closing paragraph: "These Notes are submitted for the information of brides and their families who often feel uncertain about the formalities and procedures which should be encouraged in the Church. . . . The New Church must gradually guild up its own distinctive customs to express the high ideals of that love truly conjugial which, the Heavenly Doctrine promises, will be restored to those who are received into the Lord's New Church."
     In this spirit the orderly approach to marriage described in Conjugial Love is reviewed, and it is noted that the doctrine points out three elements in a marriage: 1) the legal covenant; 2) the consecration of the marriage; 3) the festive celebration. These are discussed in their order; formalities and procedures are described; and the practices and customs developed in the Bryn Athyn Church in connection with each element are recorded and explained. The resulting information cannot but be helpful to those for whom it is intended, and it may have a wider circulation than in Bryn Athyn; for while there are national and even local variations, our customs at weddings are basically the same throughout the General Church. At the same time, the brochure will be misunderstood if it is taken as anything else but an informative statement of what has come to be accepted as desirable in the Bryn Athyn Church, and as a step toward the goal that lies before the Church.
      THE EDITOR

LETTER AND THE SPIRIT 1956

LETTER AND THE SPIRIT Editor 1956

NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly by

THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.

Editor                         Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Bryn Athyn, Pa,
Circulation Secretary          Mr. H. Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Treasurer                     Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address, and business communications, should be sent to the Circulation Secretary. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.

     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$3.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy, 30 cents.
     The place of the Sacred Scripture in the New Church has long been the subject of serious thought and open debate. Some have made it central, regarding the Writings as, at best, a revelation shedding light on the Word which they themselves are not; others, sincere but perhaps more enthusiastic than well instructed, have inclined to the view that the Writings would increasingly displace the Old and New Testament Word. Although we do, in practice, draw our doctrine from the Writings and confirm it by them, this is no longer held, as far as we know. If a consensus were taken, it would undoubtedly be that the Heavenly Doctrine is not intended to displace the Sacred Scripture, but the relation between them is not always clear.
     It may be seen in outline, however, from two statements found in the Gospels: the Lord's own saying that He was not come to destroy the law and the prophets, but to fulfill; and the testimony of John the Baptist to his diminishing role in relation to the Lord: "He must increase, but I decrease." This that was true of the Lord in His first coming, and of the prophet who represented the letter of the Word, must surely be true also of the second advent. The Lord has not come in and as the Heavenly Doctrine to destroy the Sacred Scripture by displacing it. The letter will always be read. But as the knowledge and understanding of the internal sense increases, the elements of person, time and place, in the letter will decrease-will detain the attention of the church less and less; and the letter will be fulfilled, filled full with the internal sense. It will become the means of thinking of the internal sense.

OLD FOES WITH NEW FACES 1956

OLD FOES WITH NEW FACES Editor 1956

Although the Writings name as Babylon and the Dragon those elements in Roman Catholicism and Protestantism which are confirmed in the love of dominion and in salvation by faith alone, we are not to suppose that these churches are the only embodiments of those evils, and ever will be. As waning influence makes ultimates less effective, evil loves and their falsities seek new ones; descending into those best suited to the purpose and most powerful in their impact on men. Thus the love of dominion operates today over a large part of the earth through communism and the police state. There are many to whom salvation by faith alone, like salvation itself, is an outmoded concept; but they believe as passionately as does the most fervid evangelical in his creed that knowledge alone will save man from all that threatens his true welfare.
The old evils, the old falsities, have simply reappeared in new guise, despite the fact that the rejection of the former one is hailed as a sign of progress. The doctrine of predestination may be rejected as abhorrent, yet many are quite ready to accept theories of determinism which deny any freedom or dignity to man. Men who regard religious belief as the acme of credulity accept blindly, without either the ability or the desire to evaluate it, any statement that is made in the name of science. Militant atheism, which no longer seems so daring, has been replaced by the more subtle humanism which takes the name and style of a religion. If some men are rejecting the doctrine of the Trinity as an 18th century dogma, they are getting rid at the same time of any idea of the Lord's Divinity. All the old enemies of religion, faith and reason, are still with us. Only the faces have been changed. And to the close observer there is still a striking family resemblance.
INSPIRATION: THE AS OF SELF 1956

INSPIRATION: THE AS OF SELF Editor 1956

There is evidence in the Writings that the "as of self" was exercised in varying degree by the human instruments through whom the Word was given. The inspired writers of the Ancient Word seem to have enjoyed considerable use of this faculty in composing their factitious but representative historical series. How far it entered into the historical portions of the Old Testament is not clear, though there is indirect evidence that suggests its presence. However, there is definite teaching that the law was dictated to Moses, and that the prophets wrote as the Spirit of Jehovah dictated. The only direct statement made about the inspiration of the Gospels (TCR 154) indicates the exercise of the as-of-self to a considerable degree, and there is evidence of this in the preface to Luke's Gospel (1:1-4) and in John 20:30, 31.

But it is when we turn to the composition of the Writings that we find the use of this faculty allowed to the highest degree. Swedenborg's testimony that the Writings were Divinely inspired is confirmed fully when viewed in the light of the Writings themselves. Yet he discriminated between what came from the Lord and what from the angels (AE 1183:2); wrote and published according to his enlightened judgment (AR 134, 752); and followed his conscience in making truth known (Infl. 18). His announced projects were not always carried out as planned. One major work, though evidently intended for the press, was abandoned uncompleted. And an examination of his methods of work and his manuscripts shows that, as he says, he acted as of himself (DP 290).
While this preserves the freedom of the reader, and grants liberty to those who will to deny the Divinity of the Writings, it was not for this reason alone that they were so given. The nature of the revelation made through Swedenborg, the plane of the mind to which it is addressed, and the kind of church to be established on it, all precluded the giving of Divine truth by any other mode. As the instrument through whom the Lord was to reveal rational truth, Swedenborg had to see the phenomena of the spiritual world in both spiritual and natural light, to reflect upon and analyze what he saw, and then describe it in terms understandable to the rational mind; and this required the use of the as-of-self in a higher degree than had ever been possible or necessary before.
REPRESENTATION IN THE WORD 1956

REPRESENTATION IN THE WORD Editor 1956

It has been believed by the Christian Church that the men and women whose acts are recorded in the Word were chosen in preference to others because of superior personal qualities. As a result, they have become holy in the estimation of many Christians. Their defects of character have often been ignored or explained away; lessons have been drawn from their personal lives as idealized by traditions which cannot be reconciled with the record; and they have been held up in the pulpit as examples to be followed in the crises of life. On the other hand, skeptic and unbeliever have cited the blemishes of certain biblical characters as ground for doubting or denying the Divine inspiration of the Word.
The teaching of the Writings deprives the critic of his ground and invites the believer to reconsider his approach. It is that the men and women whose names and acts are preserved in the Word, some of whom had but little regard for Divine worship, were chosen to represent the Lord, and the things of heaven and the church or their opposites.

They have holiness from no other source than this; they enjoy nothing beyond the common lot of humanity; and although some of them were received into heaven, they are quite unknown as scriptural characters in a realm at the threshold of which the elements of person, place and time, in the letter of the Word perish.
     All the persons named in the Word represent something, the acts attributed to them were representative, and the record of those acts in the Scriptures is significative. That is the teaching, and it answers the questions that might be raised by stating that a representative does not affect the person; that in representatives the person is not regarded but the thing represented; and that there is therefore no reflection upon the person but only upon the thing represented. The use of representing Divine and spiritual things was, of course, performed unconsciously; and with the possible exception of the apostles the doctrine does not imply that the persons were such as the things they represented, or that they were in any sense identified with it. It is of the essence of a representative that it is a symbol of something which in itself it is not. In the presence of the thing itself a representative is not needed.
     Under this doctrine the evil as well as the good could represent the Lord and the things of His kingdom; for the representation was in the kingly, the priestly, the prophetic use, and so on, and was entirely separated from the person. Holy things could be represented by men whose interiors were unclean, even idolatrous, if their externals were disposed to holiness while they were in worship; and since the person is not regarded, and is not perceived in heaven, it did not matter of what quality the person was as long as he was in external worship according to the laws and statutes given by the Lord through Moses.
     This teaching gives the New Church a unique approach to those men and women who are usually spoken of as biblical characters. Our interest is not in them but in the things they represent, and we are not required to explain or defend their personal character-though in the internal sense even their defects take on a positive meaning. And the lesson we draw, that which we offer for consideration, is not these men and their reactions to situations but the things represented by them.
     The Writings frequently speak of the advantages to man of reading the Word with some knowledge of the internal sense. This general knowledge can be gained by familiarity with the representations of the leading characters; and to assist in forming such knowledge we propose to publish this year passages giving the representations of those men.

REVELATOR OR PROPHET? 1956

REVELATOR OR PROPHET? LESLIE MARSHALL 1956

Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:
     Your June issue only just now coming to my attention, and not having seen succeeding numbers, possibly the Rev. Frank S. Rose's communication in that edition ["Revelator or Prophet?"; NEW CHURCH LIFE, June, 1955, pp. 299-301] already has been commented upon in LIFE, as the solution of his problem seems rather obvious, to me, unless his question hinges upon his definition of "technical," as used in the closing paragraph of his letter.
     Always I have supposed that the all-inclusive description Swedenborg gave of himself, and his mission, is to be found on the title page of the True Christian Religion, where he wrote as a designation of its author "Servant of the Lord Jesus Christ."
     Unlike the practice today, when publishers not only write the jacket "blurbs" of their new books, but the title pages too, which may be quite different to those the poor authors intended, Swedenborg followed the general practice of the times. As we know, some of the Writings carry the author's name, and some don't; a few give a description of the book's writer, while most lack any at all.
     A "technical" or specifically composed appellation might be some such as this writer used in the course of his public relations duties for the Church, and which appears on Convention publicity literature, etc., including "Philosopher, Scientist, Theologian," occasionally alternating the latter with "Religious Reformer," which "technically," in a popular sense, well describes Swedenborg, in my poor opinion, for as the teachings of the New Church essentially are to serve in the reformation of man, surely their use equally extends to religion.
     LESLIE MARSHALL,
          St. Petersburg, Fla.

     [EDITORIAL NOTE: Mr. Rose's question illustrates the difficulty of describing accurately a unique commission. Most of the names suggested may be used among ourselves without misunderstanding. Yet the Lord is the only Revelator; "Prophet" may be acceptable by definition, but it fails to take into account the difference in Swedenborg's inspiration and seems to make him a herald of the Second Coming rather than the instrument through whom it was effected; "Seer" would be misleading to many, fatally so to a transcendentalist; and Swedenborg was not a religious reformer like Luther or the Wesleys, but the instrument through whom was given the Heavenly Doctrine by which the Lord reforms men. There remains, then, "Servant of the Lord Jesus Christ"; and its inscription on the title page of the last published work is surely significant.]

Church News 1956

Church News Various 1956

     GLENVIEW, ILLINOIS

     It would be rather difficult to relate all the events that have occurred during the last three years, during which Glenview has had no reporter, so we will try to give a picture of our regular program for the winter, now under way.
     First and foremost is Divine Worship every Sunday morning at 11:00, with the Rev. Elmo Acton or the Rev. Ormond Odhner officiating. During the year we have had eight visiting ministers who joined with our regular staff: Bishop De Charms and the Rev. Messrs. Hugo Lj. Odhner, Henry Heinrichs, Frank Rose, Bjorn A. H. Boyesen, Frederick L. Schnarr, Robert S. Junge, and Victor J. Gladish. The average attendance at these services was 163, and about 18 of them were recorded in full under the direction of Mr. Harold Lee. During the winter we have a mixed choir; a staff of six volunteer organists operates all the year round.
     On the first Sunday of each month there is a Family Service preceding the eleven o'clock service. This provides an opportunity for parents to bring their children and to initiate them into the sphere of worship. The average attendance in the past year was 156 adults and children, with an all-time high of 309 on Faster morning. In a church that comfortably seats about 200 this was quite a feat.
     In addition to church services we continue the practice of having Friday Suppers. The Women's Guild and the Sons of the Academy meet once a month, Theta Alpha from time to time. Nearly every night of the week there is a class in one of the homes. On Monday nights the Rev. Victor Gladish conducts a class in fundamentals for those interested in learning the basic doctrines of the New Church. On Tuesday night there is a meeting of the Philosophy Group, too profound for women to attend! Two classes are held on Wednesday evening one for the young people, the only minority group in the Society, conducted by Mr. Odhner; the other a married people's class, currently under the direction of Mr. Acton. This year the latter is meeting as a discussion group, using subjects suggested by its members.
     The Park Social Club provides a calendar of events ranging from the annual Fourth of July outing to the New Year's Eve party. There is usually some kind of entertainment for each month, a sports program for the children, and parties for the older school children sponsored by the Club.
     In the over-all picture, Glenview is a society with growing pains. Situated in a booming village with ever-rising real estate taxes, we are rapidly being encircled by homes or airplanes on every side. Room for expansion, if obtainable, is far beyond our means. There are still some lots available on Gladish Lane, but when they are sold there will be no way to go except up. Even the air is pretty well filled with jets and "Weekend Warriors"-pilots of the Naval Reserve who save all their flight time until Sunday mornings during church. Within the Society we are outgrowing our church and school buildings. The rooms added to the school a few years ago are already inadequate. The present second grade, the largest in our history, has 15 pupils; it has not been uncommon until now to have classes of three or four children. Plans are under way for more school-rooms, for which money is collected monthly. Considering the fact that 18 babies were baptized this year this is essential.
     The church itself can no longer accommodate the congregation at Christmas and special services. Our celebration of Christmas is spread over three separate services, each of which fills the church to capacity. On the preceding Sunday there are tableaux for the children, followed by the presentation of gifts from the church. The children's service is on Christmas Eve, and the adult service is held on Christmas morning.
     The big room, or hall, is not really large enough for banquets, although we usually manage to squeeze in. All these problems stem from the growth of the church; and with this encouraging fact in mind we can manage somehow to make the necessary changes, knowing that the results will be worth the effort.

     The most important event of the season was the Chicago District Assembly, held during the weekend of October 14-16. Bishop De Charms called this gathering, and the Immanuel Church invited the members of the district to meet in Glenview. We hope that we will have the privilege of being hosts to this Assembly for a long time. The Assembly itself was reported fully in the December issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE, pp. 551-554.
     In closing we should like to mention the fact that one of our members now convalescing in Bryn Athyn is very much missed by all of us. Mr. Oswald Asplundh-"O. E." or "Ozzie"-has become identified with the beautification of the church and park grounds, as well as providing flowers for all church functions. As far back as we can remember he has spent many hours in the gardens around the church, and no one is more conscious of his absence than the Acting Park Commissioner, Mr. Donald Alan.
     GLORIA S. BARRY

     DURBAN, NATAL

     We commence this report with a brief account of the Rev. and Mrs. A. Wynne Acton's mission trip in October, 1954. They visited Mr. and Mrs. de Wet at Vrede; and Mr. and Mrs. Mansfield, Mrs. Wilson, Mr. and Mrs. Bongers, Mr. and Mrs. Merry, Mr. and Mrs. Royston, Mr. and Mrs. fades, and the Rev. and Mrs. Brian Kingslake, all of Johannesburg. A doctrinal class was held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. fades, and a Sunday service at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Bongers. At the latter, 27 adults and children were present. In Pretoria an afternoon meeting was held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Kuyler, and an evening class at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ball. Short visits were paid to Mrs. Hunt of Vereeniging, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson of Heilbron, and Mr. and Mrs. John Lowe of Balgowan.
     December was, as usual, rather a busy month. We started off with a bazaar on the 4th, at which ?56:11:0 was raised towards church funds. Kainon School closed on the 14th with the usual charming little play; written, on this occasion, by Miss Mongredien, and most capably produced and directed by Miss Pemberton. On the following Saturday the Women's Guild invited all the children to a Christmas party at the hall. It went off very well, and Mrs. Helm was thanked for securing the services of a professional conjurer who provided entertainment for the children, so that they were not tempted to run about and tire themselves. Col. and Mrs. Lowe invited the Society to a carol singing session at their home the following evening. It was most enjoyable.
     On Christmas Eve we had the usual children's service in the church, followed by the presentation of tableaux in the hall, and in the morning a combined Christmas service was held with a congregation of 120. As the next day was Sunday we had the customary combined service, and the Holy Supper was administered on the following Sunday.
     January is always a quiet month, as many families are away for the school holidays; also Mr. Acton and Mr. Holm were attending Ministers' Meetings at Bergville from the 11th to the 17th. On the day after their return, however, a very jolly picnic was held for the children.
     On Friday, February 4th, two children's parties were arranged in celebration of Swedenborg's birthday, instead of the classes that would normally have been held. Mrs. Storrie kindly lent her home for the younger children's party in the afternoon, and the older group had a special dinner in the hall later on.
     From the 23rd to the 28th of February, Mr. and Mrs. Acton were visiting the isolated in Zululand. These included the Brian Busses, the Howsons, the Liversages, and Mrs. C. O. Ridgway and family. On Sunday Mr. Acton conducted a service at the Kent Manor Mission Church, which some 70 Africans attended.
     On the same day Mrs. Mumford invited us all to a most enjoyable party at Mrs. Schuurman's home in celebration of Willard Mansfield's coming of age. After drinking his health, and partaking of the delicious fare provided, those who were still mobile made tracks for the tennis court and the swimming pool. Others subsided in deck chairs and on rugs on the lawn.
     During March a special general meeting of the Society was held. It was unanimously resolved that all our land at Westville be disposed of and that the proceeds be utilized for the improvement of the Musgrave Road property.
     The month of April brought the usual Easter celebrations-a combined service on Palm Sunday to which the children brought offerings of palms, an impressive evening service on Good Friday, and a combined service on Easter Sunday at which the Holy Supper was administered.

At that time the Rev. David Holm was on a combined mission trip and visit to the isolated.
     The marriage of Moira Ridgway and Tom Gibson was solemnized on April 27th. They have since settled in Southern Rhodesia. Others who emigrated to the same country at about that time were Mr. and Mrs. Max Poynton (Jean Cockerell). We hope this does not become a habit!
     Mr. and Mrs. Derick Lumsden invited the Society to hold the 19th of May Picnic at the grounds of Scottsburgh School, of which Derick is headmaster. This proved a huge success, and between 60 and 70 people were there to enjoy informal tennis, net-ball, rugby and other games, while the small children competed in their own organized sports.
     The next big social event was the New Church Day Banquet, held last year on the evening of June 18th. The hall had been attractively decorated by Miss Pemberton, and about 80 people were present. This was as usual a most happy occasion; and the Rev. Wynne Acton, as toastmaster, had the pleasure of welcoming to the banquet for the first time no fewer than seven young people, to each of whom he presented a copy of Heaven and Hell.
     The natural man having been well catered to, we proceeded to the more important business of the evening, which was the reading of interesting and instructive papers by Mrs. Lowe, Mrs. Doreen Buss, the Rev. David Holm, and Messrs. W. M. Buss and R. W. Cowley. The subject was "The Growth of the Church," and the Rev. Wynne Acton gave us first a brief but explicit resume of the topic. The evening was rounded off with informal dancing to the radiogram.
     A service the following morning was devoted to the celebration of the beginning of the New Church on earth and included the administration of the Holy Supper. At the children's banquet, held towards evening, five papers were read.
     On June 22nd Mr. Acton left Durban on an important three-purpose journey: to call on members in the Pretoria-Johannesburg area; to visit Native Missions; and to meet Mr. Edward C. Bostock, Miss Zara Bostock, and Mr. Leonard E. Gyllenhaal from the U. S. A.
     A reception for our American visitors was held on the evening of July 8th at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Billy Schuurman. About 60 people were present to meet our fellow New Church men, to listen to what they had to tell us, and to revel in the rare treat afforded by their presence. On July 14th the Sons of the Academy invited the men of the Society to meet Mr. Bostock and Mr. Gyllenhaal. The meeting, which was very well attended, was held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. W. G. Lowe, and during the evening Mr. Gyllenhaal addressed the Sons.
     Our visitors left again on July 19th, visiting Alpha and Harrismith on their way to Johannesburg. Their departure was keenly felt by those who had looked forward to and enjoyed their stay so much. We might mention here that about a week after their arrival home we heard that the engagement of the Rev. Martin Pryke and Miss Zara Bostock had been announced. We were all delighted with the news, and wish them both every happiness.
     August was rather a quiet month, but one item which merits special mention was the "Amateur Night" held on the 26th. We had all been warned to provide some sort of entertainment, and everyone fell in wholeheartedly with the spirit of the thing. Of the 75 people present, 52 participated in the 14 different events, all different in character; and our thanks were due to the Rev. and Mrs. David Holm for organizing and directing this novel and entertaining evening.
     Two months later the social committee held a very well organized Hallowe'en party for the adults, and on the following evening the Women's Guild staged the annual children's Hallowe'en party and braaivleis. The children had a wonderful time and the party was voted one of the best ever.
     Earlier in the month-on October 10th, to be exact-the marriage of Charles Pereira and Gwynneth Levine was solemnized by the Rev. A. Wynne Acton. This was followed by a well attended and most enjoyable reception and dance in the Town Hall at Verulam, where Mr. Lou Levine is headmaster of the local school. A shower had been given previously, on September 1st, for the young couple at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Billy Schuurman.

     On the evening of September 20th the Rev. Wynne Acton conducted an impressive dedication service at the newly finished home of Mr. and Mrs. Bill Browne in Westville. About 30 people attended.
     This brings us to the end of our report of happenings in the Durban Society. We hope to be able to bring out the next one with a great deal more despatch.
     DIANA BROWNE

     CONNECTICUT

     The first meeting of a group of General Church members in Connecticut was held on December 10th and 11th with the Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, visiting pastor in New England. A doctrinal class was held on Saturday evening, the subject being the spiritual meaning of the Christmas story. This was followed by an interesting discussion. Eight adults were present at this class, which was held at the home of the E. E. Simons in West Haven.
     On Sunday morning we had a service at 11 a.m., with a talk for the children before the sermon and the administration of the Holy Supper at the close of the service. Twelve adults and 5 children were present, and there were 9 communicants.
     This service was held in the same home. Our next pastoral visit is scheduled for February 4th and 5th, and will be at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ed Seemer in Stamford.
     ELMER E. SIMONS

     THE CHURCH AT LARGE

     General Convention.-The New-Church Messenger reports that at a recent meeting of the Massachusetts Association the suggestion was made that a project similar to the Wayfarers' Chapel be started in New England, either on Cape Cod or in the resort area of New Hampshire or Maine.

     General Conference.-The General Conference of the New Church Year Book (1955-1956) mentions that 21 societies report an increase in membership, while 22 show a decreased membership. Twenty-eight societies report 366 children attending their morning services; and 30 societies, of which 12 have no morning service, report 139 children attending their evening services. The practice of making the morning service a children's service is noted, and whether this is an altogether healthy development is questioned. Twenty-nine societies hold some form of meeting during the week "in which the deepening of conviction and the building of the life of the church is the dominant theme."
SOME GENERAL CHURCH USES 1956

SOME GENERAL CHURCH USES 1956

     GENERAL CHURCH RELIGION LESSONS. Graded lessons and other material from preschool through Grade 12. Address inquiries to: Pastor-in-Charge, Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     GENERAL CHURCH SOUND RECORDING COMMITTEE. Tape-recordings of services, sermons, doctrinal classes, children's services, etc. Address: General Church Sound Recording Committee, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     GENERAL CHURCH VISUAL EDUCATIONAL COMMITTEE. Biblical and other slides. Address: Mr. William R. Cooper, Director, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     NEW CHURCH EDUCATION. Published by Religion Lessons Committee monthly, September to June, inclusive. Subscription, $1.50. Editor: Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1956

GENERAL ASSEMBLY GEORGE DE CHARMS 1956

     Announcements.

     THE TWENTY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held in London, England, from Tuesday, July 24th, to Sunday, July 29th, 1956, inclusive.
     The program and other information will be given in later issues of NEW CHURCH LIFE.
          GEORGE DE CHARMS,
               Bishop.

ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS 1956

     JANUARY 23-29, 1956

Monday, January 23
     3:00 p.m. Meeting of Headmasters
     4:30 p.m. Meeting of Pastors
     8:00 p.m. Meeting of Consistory

Tuesday, January 24
     10:00 a.m., and 3:30 p.m. Council of the Clergy

Wednesday, January 25
     10:00 a.m., and 3:30 p.m. Council of the Clergy

Thursday, January 26
     10:00 a.m. Council of the Clergy

Friday, January 27
     10:00 a.m. Council of the Clergy
     3:30 p.m. Boards of Directors of the Corporations of the General Church
     7:00 p.m. Society Supper
     7:45 p.m. Open Session of the Council of the Clergy Address by the Rev. Martin Pryke

Saturday, January 28
     10:00 a.m. Joint Council of the General Church
     3:30 p.m. Corporation of the Academy of the New Church

Sunday, January 29
     11:00 a.m. Divine Worship

HEAVEN FROM THE HUMAN RACE 1956

HEAVEN FROM THE HUMAN RACE Rev. ERIK SANDSTROM 1956

NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. LXXVI FEBRUARY, 1956           No. 2
     "How amiable are Thy tabernacles, O Jehovah of hosts! My soul hath desired, yea, hath pined away for the courts of Jehovah; my heart and my flesh sing for joy unto the living God. Yea, the bird hath found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young. Thine altars, O Jehovah of hosts, my King and my God. Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house: they will be still praising Thee." (Psalm 84:14)

     It is affirmed in the Writings of the New Church that the end of creation, and therefore of the Divine Providence, is a heaven from the human race (DP 27). This being so, it follows that the end of everything pertaining to the church-faith, charity, worship, instruction, education, and so forth-has heaven for its end; and heaven is eternal happiness.
     That heaven is not outside of man. It is a fallacy to suppose that going to heaven is like leaving one place and entering another. It is indeed permitted to speak from this fallacy, because it is a fallacy of appearance, but it is not permitted to confirm it. Regarded in itself, that is, from truth and not from the appearance, or from within and not from without, man's going to heaven is nothing else than heaven's coming to him. This truth is established from the fact that heaven is not a place but a state.
     When, therefore, the Psalmist pours forth his longing for the tabernacles and the courts of Jehovah of hosts, his words, internally regarded, are expressive of that inner drawing or attraction which tries to lift man up from his lowly state of selfishness and worldliness into the free and lofty state of conjunction with the God of life. The Lord speaks concerning this when He says, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all unto Me" (John 12:32); and again, "No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him" (John 6:44). This drawing has its origin in the Divine desire or longing for conjunction with man, that is, it has its origin in the Divine love; and the drawing or attraction itself is the greatest power in heaven and on earth-is, in fact, the Divine omnipotence in saving souls.

     But here again there is somewhat of confusion in the appearance. It appears that man from himself looks to the Lord, prays to the Lord for conjunction with Him, and climbs with effort and fatigue the stony and winding path to heaven. But the truth, as stated in the Writings, is this: "Be it known that of himself a man cannot come near to the Lord and be conjoined with Him; but the Lord will come near to the man and be conjoined with him. And because the Lord draws man to himself (John 6:44, 12:32), it appears as if man of himself comes near and conjoins himself" (AC 9378:2). This is summarized as follows: "To look above one's self is to be uplifted by the Lord; for no one can look above himself, unless he is uplifted by Him who is above" (AC 7816). In a word, to come into heaven is to receive heaven, and to be conjoined with the Lord is to receive the Lord.
     In view of these things it is plain that the first meaning of our text, regarded from its essence, is that the longing for the tabernacles and the courts of the Lord of hosts is a longing from above, a longing of the Lord that He may draw man to Himself in His kingdom of conjunction. In the highest sense the Psalmist represents the Lord Himself, and it is as if the words were in the Lord's own mouth: "My soul hath desired, yea, hath pined away for the courts of Jehovah," that is, for the state of conjunction. But there is also a second or derived meaning, and this refers to man's reciprocation as from himself-to man's response when he has permitted the Divine power to catch hold of his fluttering affections and groping thoughts. Then he, too, as an echo of the Divine call, speaks the words of desire: "My soul hath desired, yea, hath pined away for the courts of Jehovah." "How amiable are Thy tabernacles, O Jehovah of hosts! . . . My heart and my flesh sing for joy unto the living God."
     Hence we acknowledge, therefore, that the longing for heaven is not from man, but is derived from an influx from the Lord through the internal man; and that the touch of that influx in the natural man-as it were an insinuation of it into, and a blending with, the everyday hopes and concerns of life-is what calls forth the sensation of a yearning desire for the house of God. But if this is not from man it is nevertheless with every man; for it is with him by way of his remains, and no man is without remains. This is seen from the circumstance that if it is difficult for man to grasp, or to believe in, eternal life, it is far more difficult for him to grasp or entertain the idea of complete and final extinction. As soon as he endeavors to enter into such an idea he at once begins to wonder what it will feel like to be extinct, or what will become of him after extinction!

But on the other hand, it is possible for man to close his ears to the inner dictate which at one time or another speaks to every man, and with stubborn finality avert his eyes from the light-giving sun of heaven. In that case the gift of eternal life is not received: he is left with a mere existence, which is spiritual death, and the stream of progressive creation flows past his door.
     Yet the rational man is now permitted to ask further about eternal life, so that the hope he has once perceived will not vanish or his faltering acknowledgment dissolve into indifference or denial. The rational man may ask: How can we know that there is eternal life? How can we know that our hope is not but a vain dream, like so many dreams of a glorious and prosperous life on earth? And if there is a heaven after death, where is it and what is it like? These and other questions are permitted, because now is the second advent of the Lord, in which He reveals the inner things relating to Himself and to His kingdom.
     The answers given by means of this His advent are in general as follows: There is a God of the universe who is life in Himself, and who is life itself, and who is therefore the one and only source of all things whatsoever that exist and that can exist. This God is all-love, for it was love that impelled Him to create; and He is also all-wisdom, for His creation is according to perfect law. Since this God is love itself and wisdom itself, He longs for conjunction with His creation in order that the gift of life may be bestowed upon others outside of Himself and that those others, receiving the proceeding gift, may perceive the everlasting blessedness inherent in it. Having so received, they will never be deprived of their gift, for what has been conjoined to God, and has been reciprocally confirmed, that cannot die.
     But in order that the existence of God and the nature of His love and wisdom might be known to men He gave His word and called His prophets. To these prophets it was granted to see the manifestation of God, the "Angel of Jehovah" or the "Angel of His Presence" (Judges 13; Isaiah 63:9), and to view His kingdom and its inhabitants; and also to write their inspired portrayal of what they had seen and heard, their warnings and injunctions, the history of wayward men, and the leading and hope of Providence. Ultimately it was granted to a generation to see the Lord God Himself incarnate in His Human, and to testify concerning it to later generations, so that they too might see and live. His prophets in this instance, the Evangelists, likewise envisioned His kingdom: especially John who, in solitude on the Isle of Patmos, saw the heavens opened, and also hell-the kingdom of death-and the turmoil of the multitude of spirits from the earth who had not yet arrived at the final destination of their choice.

     And then, when the ages of the past declined into their final night, a revelation was sent to the earth such as had not been given nor was possible before, and by this the Lord God of the universe manifested Himself to men a second time; not in person, that is, not in the flesh, but in spirit, that is, as to His Human glorified and made Divine on earth. By this means He set forth to men the quality of the affections of infinite love and the quality of the thoughts of His infinite wisdom which are the laws of His providence. A man on earth prepared by a comprehensive knowledge of the sciences and a most penetrating vision in philosophy, Emanuel Swedenborg who styles himself "Servant of the Lord Jesus Christ," was the instrument and prophet of this second advent of the Lord. To him it was given, not only to see the Lord God as He appears to the angels of heaven, but to see the heavens also, and the world of spirits and the hells, to converse with their inhabitants, and to gather experiences from all parts of that universal world into which all men from the countless inhabited earths of creation come after death, after their preliminary existence in space and time. And more for to Swedenborg, through whom was given the crown of revelations, it was granted not only to see and hear, but also to understand and explain, and to publish in inspired language addressed to the rational. All this was necessary because the state of the world is such that nothing but a bold answer to its every question will save it from confusion, denial, and consequent utter destruction.
     In regard to the spiritual world, which is the human world itself and the proper home and destiny of all men, two things pervade the entire revelation concerning it. One is that in it there is no space and time; the other is that in it there is the appearance of space and time. Unless these two things are seen together, and each by itself is as clearly seen and acknowledged as the other, there can be no genuine acknowledgment of the other world, nor even a firm conviction of its existence.
     The fact that there is no time and space in it is illustrated in the human mind, which from birth is essentially an inhabitant of that world and is itself a little spiritual world. We know that the affections and thoughts of the mind are not spatial, and we have also experienced how the time below us is relative in its flow to the state of our mind. But the appearance of space and time in the spiritual world is illustrated also in our minds, for when we think we always, quite without deliberate purpose, form a basis of thought in picture images, which appear, of course, to be bounded by space and time. In fact, no thought of any kind is possible without such a basis. Even the most abstract thought, as it is called-as, for instance, the philosophic thought concerning the thing in itself-will construct for itself a picture of motion and an image of some minute thing to be moved.

For the same reason, we are told, the angels can never think of the infinite God-Man except in the human form, although they know that the Divine Human in itself is not of space and time (see DLW 11; AC 8705:5). To quote: "Those who think of God not from themselves, nor from the flesh, but from the spirit, think of Him determinately; that is, they present to themselves a conception of the Divine under the human form. The angels in heaven thus think of the Divine; and thus the wise ancients thought, to whom when the very Divine appeared He appeared as a Divine Man" (AC 8705:5).
     When we take our own experience into our reading and reflection about the spiritual world, then, it becomes easy to confirm the eternal verity that there is no time and space in that world, but that there appears to be. In fact, it is then seen that without this dual aspect the spiritual world would have no reality. For the thought of reality apart from a time-space ultimate vanishes into an ethereal, shapeless, and undefined nothingness; and a concept of a spiritual reality which is not liberated from the laws of fixation will present nothing but the idea of another material, that is, a non-spiritual world.
     Because the spiritual world is of such a nature as just mentioned, there are seen in it all things that pertain to human life. The angels and spirits appear in human bodies; they live in houses; they tread on solid ground in which flowers and trees grow, and which curves in valleys, hills and mountains, forming here and there lakes and streams of water.
     But these things are not fixed, and they are not the spiritual world or heaven itself. Heaven is attached to what is fixed, for as our own thoughts and affections are based on ideas of space and time so the entire spiritual world is actually based on the natural world. Hence we read: "The spirits of every earth are near their earth because they are from its inhabitants, for every man after death becomes a spirit, and because they are thus of a similar genius, and can be with the inhabitants and serve them" (EU 47). Indeed, the Writings reveal that every individual spirit retains the finest things of nature as his ultimate covering or embodiment; these things remaining in the realm of nature, there to serve for the preservation of his individuality forever (see TCR 103; DLW 257; Wis. viii: 7.)
     But while heaven is thus attached to what is fixed, it is not itself fixed. It is not for the natural veiling of the spiritual world that the inmost soul of man is longing, but for the habitation itself and the courts themselves of the Lord most high. The attraction of the Divine influx would lift the mind above what is worldly unto that which is truly free. It would cleanse and separate what is not angelic, that is, genuinely human, from the concepts we entertain, and from the affections that are inspired within us and that have been made one with our love.

It would raise the mind to the world of order and peace-to the state in which Divine influx is received without resistance, that is, the state in which the Lord and man will dwell together.
     In that state everything pertains to worship. The heart and the flesh sing for joy unto the living God. The spiritual thought, and the natural thought, build for themselves a house and a nest in the altars of Jehovah; and every awareness of man is "still"-or as it may be translated, "again and again," forever-praising the Lord: praising Him, not by idle praying or singing, but by performing the uses of love and wisdom, or of charity and faith, for in such uses the worship of the living God essentially consists.
     In these the heart and the flesh sing for joy. Not the heart and the flesh of the natural man, not man's native proprium with its inclinations to all that is selfish and material, but the new proprium, vivified and made angelic by reception of the Divine influx. Amen.

     LESSONS: Psalm 84. John 14:1-14. Arcana Coelestia, 7814-18, 7821.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 497, 510, 438.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 49, 63.
EVERY DAY-A PRAYER 1956

EVERY DAY-A PRAYER WINIFRED WHITTINGTON 1956

Every day, upon my way,
     bring me nearer, Lord, to Thee.
Every day, although I stray,
     still, Good Shepherd, search for me.

Every day more clearly may
     I my faults and failings see.
Every day, though fierce the fray,
     sufficient find Thy strength to be.

Till that day, Lord-so I pray-
     from all fears and doubting free.
In Thy day O let me stay,
     Sun of Heaven, eternally. Amen.
               WINIFRED WHITTINGTON

EVENING AND THE MORNING 1956

EVENING AND THE MORNING ANONYMOUS 1956

     (Continued from the January issue.)

     What a wonderful sleep! Never in my life have I experienced anything to compare with it. When I first came to consciousness I seemed to float, lighter than air, on gentle waves, with neither fear nor concern, borne up by the everlasting arms, secure and at peace. At times I have almost touched the shore, only to be carried back into blissful oblivion. Each time I have sensed a stronger vitality-perhaps a dawning interest in what lies beyond. Ineffable peace surrounds me, love warms and enfolds me-peace like that of a newborn babe in the safe haven of his mother's arms.
     From long habit I lie still, my eyes closed. Last night's storm has passed over, for surely the windows are open. A gentle breeze plays with my hair and touches my face. There is a sweet scent of flowers, perhaps the violets on my bedside table. But I hear birds calling to one another, and there have been no birds for many months.
     Midway between sleeping and waking the truth dawns upon me. I have escaped from my earthly body. I am free. This is the morning of my resurrection. I realize that the peace which enfolds me is from the presence of celestial angels sent by the Lord to protect me from evil spirits who might otherwise take advantage of my helplessness to infest me. The angels do not speak, but I sense them. For the moment I am content, as never before, to be emptied of everything that is my own and to await passively whatever Providence has in store for me.
     Gradually there is a change. I find myself beginning to be restless. I want action-to discover for myself. The silence has become oppressive. I long to hear voices and feel things happening. Because the first state of total submission is passing the celestial angels can no longer serve me, and angels from the Lord's spiritual kingdom replace them. Their ministrations are very different. They busy themselves with my eyes so that a dim light results. Then a covering is gently removed from my face and I know that I am in truth a spirit. Dare I open my eyes and put my knowledge to the test? Until now I have not moved, so strong has the habit of immobility become. But a power beyond my control takes possession of me. Simultaneously I raise my arms and open my eyes.
     It is my father's face that I see looking down on me from the foot of the bed.

"Welcome to life," he said, and called me by the childish pet name I had not heard in many years. He looked so well, so strong, so vital, so different and yet so much the same.
     "We have changed places," I said. "You have grown young and I have become old."
     "To grow old in heaven is to grow young," he quoted.
     "It is not so in the world we come from. Yours is the first face I have seen clearly in fifteen years; and for the last five I have been a helpless cripple, useless to myself and a burden to my family."
     A cloud passed over his face. He looked at me with tender pity. "You stand on the brink of eternity. The former things have passed away. In a little while it will all seem like a bad dream and be forgotten. Are you ready to venture forth?"
     For a moment I hesitated. He came around to the side of the bed and took both my hands in his as though I were a little child again. And I, with a child's implicit trustfulness, found myself safe in his loving embrace.
     Together we walked to the french window overlooking the garden, beautiful beyond description, from which had come the delicious fragrance I had noticed earlier. Realizing that we were going out I looked down at my clothing with some concern. I had been confined to bed for so long that I had had no need of street clothes. True, the dress was white, but perfectly suitable for daytime wear, and on my feet were shoes that seemed my very own. I could only hope that my hair was presentable; but as my father made no comment I soon forgot myself in wonder at the beauty and harmony which surrounded me on every side.
     Against a background of luminous blue sky great cumulus clouds sailed majestically, alternately bathing the wooded landscape in sunshine and shadow.
     Crossing the terrace we followed the path through formal gardenbeds, planted with flowers familiar and unfamiliar, bordered by trees and shrubs of exotic loveliness. At the foot of the garden we passed through a gate and turned to look back at the house. Architecturally it was of the order of a French chateau, with casement windows reaching to the floor and opening out on to a wide terrace. Built of gleaming white stone, framed by stately trees, and facing the colorful gardens, it shone like a jewel in the midst of nature's solitude. Before and behind high mountains surrounded it-a precious gem enhanced by a perfect setting.
     We entered the forest, following a footpath beside a mountain stream threading its way between moss covered boulders, fallen trees, and tall bracken. Sometimes it was lost to sight, only to reappear, rushing towards its appointed goal.

     A verse from a well loved poem came to my mind:

     The waters know their own and draw
          the brook that springs in yonder height.
     So flows the good with equal law
          unto the source of pure delight.

     We walked beside the stream for some time, my father leading the way. Progress was necessarily slow and conversation limited. Presently we came to a comparatively open space where the ground was covered with pine needles and sunshine sifted through the branches far above us.
     There were lichen covered boulders at our backs and room to make ourselves comfortable. Father took from the knapsack he carried two packages of sandwiches wrapped in damp linen napkins, and from a silver flask poured into goblets wine that looked like liquid sunshine. Smiling, he lifted his glass and touched mine, with the time-honored toast, "New Church forever!" The food was delicious, the wine had a bouquet indescribable, and the fruit a familiar yet unfamiliar taste that is impossible to describe.
     When we had finished, father filled the glasses a second time, settled himself against his boulder, and asked the question so familiar to readers of the Writings: "What news from the earth? Tell me first about the state of the church and then about the family."
     I told him the church was growing gradually but steadily from within and from without; that the families were not as large as in the old Academy days but that, considering the changing conditions of the world-unbelievable even since his time-they were creditable; that the leaders were strong and able men, faithful to the doctrines; that the clergy were well trained and loyal, and the Academy schools were growing beyond capacity every few years. We still have the problem of mixed marriages, I told him, but a surprising number turn out well. And I spoke also of all that is being done to reach the isolated by means of pastoral visits, the printed word, and the tape-recording of services and classes-something entirely new in the last few years; and of the effort to give every child who desired it a New Church education.
     He was pleased by my report. "And now," he asked, "what about the family? Have they married in the church? Are they raising families and taking their responsibilities for carrying on the uses of the church?"
     "Not quite one hundred percent," I answered, "but you have a creditable number of descendants who give promise of carrying on down the ages and keeping faith with the church that we love."
     For a long time we discussed personal matters. He seemed deeply interested. Finally he said: "I have been permitted to perform the use I most desired while in the world-to meet and instruct newcomers in the Heavenly Doctrine. It has been my privilege, too, to welcome old friends and take them to the places appointed for their temporary abodes.

It has been a long time since one of my contemporaries has come over. They are all here. You are the first of the next generation. So I was delighted when I learned that I had been chosen to welcome you, my dear child."
     There were many questions I longed to ask about those who had preceded me. But, somehow, this didn't seem the time. Father had risen and we resumed our walk through the deep woods beside the mountain brook. Presently we came out on a wide meadow. Around us rose the wooded mountains; ahead a beautiful lake lay reflecting the afternoon sunshine; and to the left a long, low, rambling house nestled among the trees.
     "I am taking you to friends of mine who will make you welcome and care for you until you are ready to move on. I know you will be very happy here," my father said, as we crossed the intervening meadow.
     As he spoke a woman standing on the wide veranda came forward to meet us, her eyes shining, her hand outstretched, her lips smiling. Instantly I knew I should "be very happy here."
     After warm greetings, and promises to return in a few days, my father left me in my new friend's care. She watched him with a kindly expression on her face as he walked quickly toward the forest, pausing to wave before he entered it. "What a man he is," she said, as much to herself as to me. Then, turning, she put her arm through mine and led me toward the house.
     We sat for a long time on the shaded porch overlooking the sparkling waters of the lake, hemmed in by the forest trees and the low mountains on the further shore, and talked of many things as the dusk descended, things of interest to women, drawing ever closer to each other. I felt as though I had known her all my life.
     Her husband, she told me, was headmaster of a boys' school where adolescent children both from heaven and from earth were prepared for institutions of higher learning. Her use was to welcome and care for those recently come from earth, and to help them adjust to the new life. "Sometimes I have a house full, and sometimes, as now, only one. I am glad, for you have been a long time ill and need rest and quiet. Having been born and raised in the church you will understand instinctively much that others have to learn gradually."
     The house door opened and a young girl stepped out. She carried two trays which she set down before us. On them were thin slices of buttered bread, tall glasses of milk, and delicious fruit.

"My husband has been detained tonight," my friend said, "so I thought it would be pleasant to I have our supper out here."
     Gradually the shadows lengthened and the dusk enfolded us. My hostess was a woman in her prime: intelligent, mature, gentle, and understanding. But I had not thought of her as beautiful until suddenly her expression changed. A warm color suffused her face, her lips parted in a tender smile, and her eyes became lustrous. A moment later I understood. In the doorway behind her chair a tall man stood. Taking both her upraised hands in his he leaned forward and kissed her lips.
     "Our friend's daughter has come," she said. "This is my husband." He moved across to me and took my hand in his. I felt twice welcome. For a little while we talked on quietly, he describing the events of his day, she telling of my arrival and our long interchange of thoughts. "It is many years since we entered this life," the husband said, "and as a rule I think very little about that brief time on earth. But when a newcomer arrives I find myself curious and remembering. Tell me, what news from earth, especially in regard to the religious element in education? Is there any growth of spiritual interest?"
     "Perhaps," I answered; "but so little compared with material and scientific development that one finds one's self despairing of any real progress." "And yet," he said, musing, "all must end here."
     My hostess rose. "I am taking our guest to her room," she said.
     "This has been a very full day. She needs to rest. There will be plenty of evenings to discuss the realities of life and death." Her husband rose and again expressed his pleasure at my being with them. "Sleep well," he said.
     We ascended the broad staircase to a wide upper hall and entered a charming guest room. Everything had been thought of for my comfort. The covers of the bed had been laid back and across the foot were a lovely gown and negligee. On the floor a pair of red kid slippers such as I had worn for years caught my eye. On the bedside table was a reading lamp, a copy of the Word bound in red tooled morocco, and a slender volume of verse which had been among my favorites.
     While I bathed in the perfectly appointed bathroom adjoining my room, my hostess busied herself opening the wide windows and rearranging a few details to her better liking. When I returned she kissed me quietly. "Sleep well," she said, "sleep well, my dear," and closed the door softly behind her. I turned off the lamp. Immediately the room was flooded with moonlight. I went to the window and looked out. Lake and forest and meadow lay bathed in silver light. Such wondrous loveliness I had never beheld.
     Already the dreary years of my long illness were fading into the background.

The family and friends who had been so kind to me were part of the past. What was real and thrilling and vital was today and tomorrow and eternity.
Concern for the future slipped away. The Lord who created me in the beginning, and who had watched over me all the days of my life, knew what my use in this world would be and who would share it with me. Whatever lay ahead was of His providing. If I put my trust in Him, His rod and His staff would comfort me. I need fear no evil. The words of the Psalmist drifted through my mind like a benediction as I slipped into bed: "I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for Thou, Lord, alone, makest me dwell securely."
MR. OSWALD EUGENE ASPLUNDH 1956

MR. OSWALD EUGENE ASPLUNDH Rev. HUGO LJ. ODHNER 1956

     From a Memorial Address

     When we must part with the partner of our life, or with a father, brother or friend, who has been called into the invisible kingdom beyond the grave, we may be assured that while he will rest from his earthly labors, his works do follow him. The friend whom we knew as Oswald has lost nothing of his human quality by leaving the material body which was the tool of his spirit here on earth. We knew him as a warmhearted, generous friend, intellectually modest, but zealous and faithful in the tasks he assumed for the church. His love and care for the beauties of nature is something which does not perish with the body. It is the external form of an inward state of mind-a form well adapted as a vehicle of inward charity. It is indeed revealed that in heaven there is an abundant growth of plants and trees of various kinds which germinate from the soil there, each having its external spiritual use of refreshing the minds of the angels, and its internal spiritual use of representing Divine things and thus elevating the mind. Those who on earth were skilled in botany and horticulture come in the other life into a knowledge of the spiritual uses of plants and trees and find therein the greatest delight (AE 1214, 1211).
     For all things in the spiritual world are living from within. It is a world where every color and form bespeaks the perfection of its Creator, and every object seems to laugh and play and express an inner blessedness (HH 489).
     Our friend Oswald is freed from the pain and travail and confusion of bodily disease.

Attending angels have ministered to his dormant spirit and he is now awakening to resume his life where he left off, to be guided by stages and degrees into the true way which leads out of the maze of tangled natural affections into the freedom of spiritual loves that center, not about ourselves, but around the Lord and the needs of others; the way by which he may enter into the interiors of his use.
     We can never evade the challenge of death and the readjustments for which it calls. Even knowledge about the externals of the spiritual world avails but little. But healing comes with the enlightenment that dawns when we think, not from the appearance, but from the truth. The truth is that, hidden behind all events, there lies an end of Divine mercy as an inner beauty that sanctifies and explains: a truth that makes our human burdens light and easy to bear-the Spirit of Truth which the Lord promises as our Comforter.
     There is no parting from those whose spiritual ends are the same as ours. However our natural uses may weave our lives together, there are always barriers that separate us while on earth. But when a spirit has passed into the other life the bonds of love bring a spiritual presence; an influx the more potent because it affects our minds from within, affects those unperceived depths of motive and meditation where our keenest perceptions are conceived and the inmost purposes of our lives are fashioned. Such is the bond that persists between spirits and men wherever common loves are active.

     Biographical Sketch

     Oswald Eugene Asplundh was born on April 13, 1890. The death of his father made it necessary for him to leave school at an early age in order to help to support the family. After a few years in nursery and tree-trimming work he went into business for himself in 1908. A hard worker, and an excellent salesman, he soon had a thriving business in which he provided work for his younger brothers and thus enabled them to go through college. Many students of the Academy worked for him during the summer and holidays over a period of years. He considered it a pleasure to provide this work for them, and they will all continue to remember him with warm affection and be thankful for the opportunity he gave them to earn money. Many of us worked for him, making the gutters along the roads in Bryn Athyn, planting the trees in front of Benade Hall, and establishing the nursery north of the cathedral. These works will remain a memorial to him.
     In 1938, Oswald joined his brothers in their line clearing business and moved with his family to Glenview, Illinois. There he established a branch of the business covering many of the Midwestern, Western, and South-Western states. In a few years his division was large and thriving-a monument to his industry and ability.
     When he moved to Glenview he soon started to take an active part in the worship and work of the Immanuel Church.

The value of his contributions to its uses may best be expressed by excerpts from a letter to Mrs. Asplundh on the occasion of his death:
     "From your and O.E.'s (as he was affectionately called by many) many friends in the Immanuel Church I wish to send you and your family our sincerest sympathy and good wishes.
     "On every hand I hear people express their admiration and affection for your husband and father, and their thought and concern for your good. He was liked by all in the Society, for he was a friend to all. His support of and work for her uses were much valued and appreciated. Many will have to labor to carry on the work done by him alone. He on his part loved the Glenview Society, and his pleasure and faithfulness in working for her good was a joy to all.
     "No task was too small, no work too menial, but that if it needed doing he did it. He was often seen sweeping the porches, planting and weeding the gardens, putting flowers in the church or on the Friday supper tables, taking charge of this or that, as well as serving with thoughtfulness and distinction on the councils and committees of the Society. Truly we of the Immanuel Church wish to express our sincere affection for O.E., and our deep sympathy for you and your family. O.E. is not only indelibly implanted in our thought and affection; his work around 'the Park' is also a living monument to his memory.
     "But in his passing we are reconciled in his resurrection into the joys of life in heaven. We are told that newcomers in the other world are shown the gardens and beauties of heaven. How the gardens with their 'living' flowers will delight him. He will ask many questions about them, and soon will be planning a garden and nursery of his own. "Surely his thoughtfulness of others and his delight in making them happy have well prepared him for the eternal joys of the Lord's kingdom."
     Mr. Asplundh married Miss Bess Heilman on May 29, 1917. Two children preceded him into the spiritual world: a daughter, Marine, who died on February 21st, 1935, and his only son, Oswald Eugene, 3r., who was killed in an air accident on April 22, 1944, while in military service. At his death on December 16, 1955, he was survived by his wife; three daughters, Mrs. H. Patzman, Mrs. W. Harer, and Mrs. R. Tennis; and seven grandchildren.      (CONTRIBUTED)
HAPPINESS AND USE 1956

HAPPINESS AND USE 1956

"Some think that heaven consists in a life of ease, in which they are served by others; but they are told that there is no possible happiness in being at rest as a means of happiness, for so everyone would wish to have the happiness of others made tributory to his own happiness; and when everyone wished this, no one would have happiness. Such a life would not be an active life, but an idle one, in which they would grow torpid, and yet they might know that there is no happiness except in an active life. Angelic life consists in use, and in the goods of charity" (Arcana Coelestia, no. 454).

MESSIAH ABOUT TO COME 1956

MESSIAH ABOUT TO COME Rev. MORLEY D. RICH 1956

     There is a little work, translated by the Right Rev. Alfred Acton a few years ago, called The Messiah About to Come. The purpose in using it as a basis here is to highlight two general ideas. The first of these has to do with Swedenborg's personal evaluation of the use and importance of the natural sciences to the understanding of spiritual things. The second theme is one which has been the subject of much discussion in the New Church for many years: namely, the relationship and relative value of Swedenborg's scientific and philosophical works to the Writings themselves.

     The Place of "The Messiah About to Come"

     Perhaps the most interesting and significant fact about this little work is that it consists of the very first study and notes which Swedenborg made and wrote after the Lord appeared to him, and gave him his commission.
     Recall to your minds that it was in the middle of April, 1745, that the Lord appeared to Swedenborg for the fourth time. In 1743, the Lord appeared to him in Amsterdam in a kind of dream. In 1744, the: Lord again appeared to Swedenborg, this time in Delft. Then, on this April day of 1745, in London, the Lord appeared to him as he was eating dinner. It was on this occasion that the words, "Eat not so much" were said to Swedenborg; but he did not realize that it was the Lord who spoke. Later, in the evening, after he had retired to his room, the Lord again appeared to him, made Himself known, and fully and formally gave him his commission. In Swedenborg's own words: "The same man revealed himself to me again. . . . He then said that He was the Lord God, the Creator and Redeemer of the world, and that He had chosen me to declare to men the spiritual contents of the Scripture; and that He Himself would declare to me what I should write on this subject. Then, on that same night, the world of spirits, hell and heaven, were opened to me with full conviction. There I recognized many acquaintances of every condition of life. And from that day I gave up all practice of worldly letters, and devoted my labor to things spiritual" (I Doc. 34-36).
     To my mind, at least, it is deeply significant and affecting that immediately after this momentous event, Swedenborg began writing The Messiah About to Come.

For, indeed, the Messiah was about to come-to come with His truth through the rational mind and the racing, prolific pen of a ready writer; and, moreover, a writer who was affected to the very core of his being by the ardent flame of the Lord's love for revealing Himself, His truth, to the human race for its redemption.
     To orient ourselves more exactly here it may be useful to point out again that at this time Swedenborg was in London. And, beginning this work after the middle of April, 1745, he finished it about the middle of July, when he left for Stockholm; or, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that he stopped work upon it. When he arrived in Stockholm, about the middle of August, he began to make an Index of the Bible, for the sake of preparing himself for that work which was shortly to follow, The Word Explained.
     But before he stopped work on the Index, and before he started on The Word Explained, he wrote a short treatise on The History of Creation, which now composes the first pages of The Word Explained. And it is useful to know that in The History of Creation (no. 10), he says that, after examination, he is "amazed at the agreement" between his earlier work, The Worship and Love of God-a work which can be regarded as a summary of his whole previous philosophy of cosmology and creation-and the Word itself.
     Following this History of Creation, as we learn from Swedenborg's note at the end of The Messiah About to Come, he began The Word Explained itself on Nov. 17, 1745 (The Messiah About to Come, XIV).

     Principal Content and Message of the Work

     The Messiah About to Come was the fruit of Swedenborg's effort to learn as of himself the teachings of the Old and New Testaments concerning the second coming of the Lord. In order to do so? he first put down the general headings under which the confirmatory Scripture passages were to be entered, allowing a number of blank pages for this following each heading. Then he went through the Bible, copying the passages he selected under their proper headings (cf. Preface).
     Of much more than casual interest are these headings, which are the subjects which Swedenborg examined and studied in these first weeks after his intromission into the spiritual world. They are as follows:

     1. The Kingdom of God.
     2. The Kingdom of God which is to come. (Four separate headings and sections-passages selected from various parts of the Word.)
     3. The Messiah about to come into the world. (Two headings and sections.)

     4. The Messiah again about to come that He may lead back the Jews. (Explanation.)
     5. Babylon.
     6. The Tree of Knowledge.
     7. Wisdom.
     8. Moses.
     9. Prophecy.
     10. Note written Nov. 17, 1745. (Some months afterwards.)

     As we have indicated, the principal content of this work is composed of straight quotations from the Old and New Testaments confirmatory of these subjects or statements. In addition, however, there are interspersed, here and there, a few brief comments on them. Also, immediately under a few of the main headings, we find a number of sub-headings. And many of these are quite enlightening when viewed in the light of the seer's ordained mission and the sequence of events therein. Furthermore, some of them furnish striking and unique confirmations, to the affirmative mind, of the Divine nature of Swedenborg's commission and work, of the historical fact of the second coming of the Lord, and of this being, indeed, a fulfillment of prophecy in time and space as well as in spirit.
     In support of this, we need quote and consider only one or two passages.
     Thus, we find in the last four sub-headings of the third section (p. 13), these phrases:
     "That Jesus Christ our Savior is the Messiah about to come, of whom prediction is made in the Scriptures.
     "And Who is to judge the world.
     "That the time is now at hand, and is to come shortly.
     "The signs which were foretold (in prophecy) have been and are to be made now in the present century."
     Other confirmatory passages are found in some numbered paragraphs at the end of the eighth section (p. 98, Nos. 6-8).
     "That the same Messiah, Jesus Christ, Who has already come into the world, is again to come, and is to establish that kingdom."
     "This kingdom is to be both an earthly and a heavenly kingdom; that is, inhabitants of earth will live a unanimous life with those of heaven."
     "They will return to the state of integrity; will be led by the Spirit of God and Christ, and so will persevere in righteousness. Hence there is to be a holy society."
     We daresay also that when the New Church student closely examines the order in which the passages are selected and written; when he asks himself why Swedenborg, in the Divine Providence, chose the particular passages he did in this work under its various headings; he will undoubtedly dig up a great deal of hidden treasure-ideas which will be greatly illuminating as side-lights on the truths of the Revelation itself.

While we would not, nor, I believe, logically could, place this little book in the same category as the canon of the New Church-with the received Writings themselves-yet we must remember that it was composed after that exalted and powerfully affecting experience which Swedenborg had when granted his commission by the Lord himself, and after he had been fully intromitted into the spiritual world; and to this may be added that even so, this was not the only such appearance of the Lord, for it was preceded by three other manifestations over a period of two years. We think it: not too much to say, therefore, that this work must have been undertaken in quite a different spirit and manner than any before; and that Swedenborg, in the course of it, must have been receiving and reflecting to some little extent the new light, the new ideas or truths which were later to be so clearly stated.
     In this view, I find it thoroughly pleasurable and enlightening to read, near the end of the work, some additional passages which seem so apt and fitting to Swedenborg's nature and work as a Revelator.
     So, in the section on Moses, we find him selecting first, quite significantly, we think, these words of the Lord addressed to Moses (in the book of Numbers): "I will take of the spirit with which thou hast been endowed, and will put it in them" (11:17). By "them," here the Lord is referring to the seventy elders of Israel. Hence, the next quotation follows: "He (Jehovah) took of the spirit with which Moses was endowed, and put it in the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied without cease" (11:25). And the third and final quotation of this section consists of Moses' reproof, when Joshua complained that the young men, Eldad and Medad, had stayed in the camp, and had prophesied there, instead of coming out to the tabernacle as had the others-"Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, inspired by His spirit!" (11:29).
     Again, in the next and last section, on Prophecy, we find Swedenborg choosing and quoting another passage from the book of Numbers in reference to Moses-a passage which almost startlingly describes the manner of the revelation to Swedenborg as well as to Moses: "If one of you be a prophet of Jova, I will make Myself known unto him by visions, and will speak with him in dreams. But not so with My servant Moses, whose faith is accounted the faith of My whole house. But I will speak to him in his presence, being present with him; and he shall look on Jova visible before him, and without dark sayings or an image" (12:6-8).

     Swedenborg and Moses

     That Swedenborg should have selected these particular passages suggests a parallel between him and Moses-a parallel which may well have been in Swedenborg's own mind. This is further suggested by the fact that, in this work, he treats so often of the kingdom of God about to come, and about the Jews being led back to the land of Canaan in this second coming of the Messiah. As is abundantly clear, Swedenborg did not mean this in any literal sense. But the various similarities and parallels give strength to the truth that, as Moses did literally with the Jews, so he, Swedenborg, was to be the instrument, the spiritual leader as it were, by whom those who would receive the Lord in His second coming would be led to the New Jerusalem and the heavenly Canaan.
     The number of other similarities between Moses and Swedenborg would furnish material for a full thesis. Some of these likenesses are, in fact, of a quite ultimate and earthy nature. And, while we cannot here pursue the subject, we might point to just one of these as an example. Both Moses and Swedenborg were unready and halting public speakers. For this reason, Aaron was chosen to speak for Moses to the people, and the priesthood itself was established with Aaron and Levi and their sons. Similarly, Swedenborg was never led to the actual work of establishing an external New Church. But he was, as it were, protected from this by means of even this physical fact-and this in order that he might fully and effectively serve his prime use as a revelator. Had he been a fluent public orator, it would have been natural for him to exercise his talent to establish that in which he had vision and faith; and, as a consequence, it is probable that the Word of the Lord could not have been fully written and printed for the future of the human race.
     And there is another side to this small detail. It stems from, or is based upon, that discovered law which, for want of a better term, may be called "the law of compensation." This law is, that if an organism-mineral, vegetable, animal or human-is lacking or deficient in one sense or ability essential to its survival and usefulness, that lack of deficiency is eventually compensated by the greater development of some other faculty or ability. Thus, it is a well-known fact that, with the person who is blind, the other senses are more acutely developed to make up for it. The person who is deaf develops a keener sight by which he may read the lips of those speaking to him, and so on. The same thing pertains to the abilities of speaking and writing which, it appears, are closely related. Thus, a person who is handicapped when it comes to reading and writing usually develops, to a greater extent than would be normal to him, the power of listening and speaking, in compensation.
     So it was with both Swedenborg and Moses.

Because they had not the gift of ready speech, at least in public gatherings, they undoubtedly became more proficient and prolific writers of letters. Hence Moses was eminently equipped to write the first five books of the Old Testament. And, likewise, Swedenborg had the practice and facility so necessary for the writing of the many volumes of the Writings, which he would not have had otherwise.

     The Seer

     Following the passage concerning the manner of the Lord's appearances to Moses which, like His appearances and revelation to Swedenborg, was "without dark sayings or an image," comes a passage describing the revelation to Balaam. And then comes one of the passages from which we call Swedenborg a Seer rather than a Prophet. It consists of the words of Saul's servant. Saul had despaired of finding his father's asses, which had strayed. And so, his servant suggested going to a wise prophet, Samuel, to ask him to reveal their whereabouts. Of this name, "prophet," the servant said, "He who today is called a prophet, of old was called a seer" (I Sam. 9:9).
     It is interesting that Swedenborg should have chosen to include this passage; interesting because primarily Swedenborg was not, in fact, to be a prophet: not a prophet who was to forecast any future Last Judgment or coming of the Lord or kingdom of God, or any far-future immense spiritual event; since these were now to be accomplished, as had been foretold, and "in this century," and there are to be no more of them. He was, rather, to be a seer-a see-er and recorder of all those things which had been foretold: the imminent events of the last and final judgment, the second coming of the Lord, and the kingdom of God-now, "in this century," to be established and effected. Thus, the kingdom of God is not only "at hand." It is here. It has arrived.
     Finally, the next quotation again has to do with the manner of revelation, this time to Saul. And there is a curious thing here which we may notice. As translated from Swedenborg's quotation of it the passage reads: "When He answered him [i.e. when the Lord answered Saul], it was not by dreams, nor by clarity, nor by prophets:' (I Sam. 28:6, 15). In the stream of our present thought our first reaction would be to accept this passage as being but further elaboration of the manner of revelation to Swedenborg himself. For the Lord likewise answered or taught Swedenborg, not by dreams in which his rational mind did not participate, nor by clarity, meaning the representative visions and dancing lights of the Urim, nor by mere prophetic words uttered in his ear. It seems indicated that the Lord did speak to Saul, but not by those particular means, either; but clearly, by manifest and waking experience in the spiritual world, as in the case of the Seer.

     Yet we know that this method and mode was unique to Swedenborg. And, when we go back to the literal story in which these words occur, we find that such was not at all the case with Saul. The story is about how Saul went to consult the witch of Endor for advice, a thing forbidden to the Jews; and how she evoked the spirit of Samuel. Saul said that he did this because at this time "Jehovah answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets"; a meaning quite different from that conveyed by the opening phrase of the translator's version-"when he answered him. . . ." And Saul repeats this same thing in a later verse.
     But Swedenborg must surely have known the story itself accurately. And we find, indeed, when we check the Latin where he later quotes this same passage, as in the Word Explained and in the Writings themselves (WE 6154-55; AC 3862), that he was quite familiar with it. Lacking the Latin of The Messiah About to Come, however, we must be content with the assumption of an error in translation.
     But we can content ourselves also with the thought that, just as the Lord did not answer Saul in the traditional manner of former Divine revelation, so He did not answer or teach the Seer in that manner; but by living, daily experience in the spiritual world, and through the as-of-self operations of his rational mind in the composition of the Writings.
     This whole last section, titled "Prophecy," finishes by making three quotations from the book of Job. These are not only intriguing as further showing the manner of the future Revelation, but also because they are from a non-canonical book of the Bible, one not a part of the Word. Before he began the Writings themselves, Swedenborg made frequent use of these non-canonical works. And the obvious explanation is that he did not yet know which of the books of the Old and New Testament are Divine, and which are not.

     The Tree

     With this, we would like now to draw your attention to two statements made on the page preceding all these later quotations: two statements which are highly meaningful as showing a certain basic attitude and idea of Swedenborg's mind-an idea and an attitude which he had developed as-of-himself before his spiritual eyes were opened, and which were undoubtedly an essential part of all the equipment he needed to perform the office of revelator. These are the sole statements made in section X; and the title of this section is "The Tree of Knowledge" (p. 104).

     "The Tree of Knowledge leading to the Tree of Life."
     "Science is the key of natural things whereby things heavenly are opened up."

     We must bear in mind, of course, that this book cannot be classified with the Writings. And yet, we submit, it was written after Swedenborg's commission, and after his intromission into the spiritual world; in fact, plenty of evidence shows that he was having experiences there for a considerable time before this, though not so fully and consciously. Dare we not say, then, that some degree of illumination, of a new sight of their truth, lies behind these statements? some light, indeed, which was new in these ideas, which was not present in them before, even though the ideas themselves were not new to Swedenborg?
     Let me examine each of them briefly, and see if we can gain something of that light behind. Note first of all, the changed relationship which is here implied between the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life. You will remember that in the beginning the tree of life was in the midst of the garden of Eden, as was also the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This was the state of the Most Ancient or Celestial Church. The tree of knowledge had, apparently, no direct function in that garden-state. Indeed, to eat of it was forbidden. Yet it was there. And being there, it had a use, for nothing exists which has not a use. Its use, then, was that of potential temptation. Knowledge existed at that time as a means by which men might, if they so chose, be tempted to make their proprium, their loves of self and the world, their self-intelligence, paramount over heavenly things. And, we daresay, it was a knowledge of good and evil-not a knowledge or self-conscious awareness of actual evil, since that did not exist as yet-but a representative awareness, almost you might say a theoretical knowledge of its possible future existence, a cognizance of the possibility of it existing in the downward-pulling tendencies of the proprium.
     When Adam and Eve ate of the tree of knowledge, it represented the way in which the Most Ancients actually and consciously entered into evil; knowing full well, we believe, just what they were doing. From being aware of evil only as a potentiality, they then acquired a living knowledge of it from self-conscious and first-hand participation in it. And so, for the first time, "they knew that they were naked." They became aware of the need of the clothing of falsity to cover their evil, or to justify and rationalize it. Gone was the innocence of childhood; "and they hid themselves from the Lord God." And so it was that the human race cast itself out of that particular kind of celestial state known as "the garden of Eden."
     Yet the garden remains. But there is now a difference. For it has become a city-a garden-city, if you please-the city of the New Jerusalem. And this city has not only the tree of life in its midst but also the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for as it was in the beginning, so shall it be with men to eternity.

     The human race cannot now avoid the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. For now, without some vivid awareness of evil and falsity, either from Revelation, through self-examination, or by actual experience, men cannot learn and understand what good and truth are. They cannot otherwise be led to eat of the tree of life, and thence to appropriate those heavenly things which will "preserve their souls unto everlasting life." So it is that the tree of knowledge leads man, if he so chooses, to the tree of life.
     This contrasts with much of Christian dogma, in which it is implied that evil may be induced to go away, if you just do not pay any attention to it! Thus, by public pressure and a nice censorship, you can avoid arousing the animal in the masses, and keep everything below the surface, making it easy for decent citizens to throw a veil over their minds, and pretend it is not there!
     This does not, of course, mean that evil must be deliberately sought out for knowledge, or done in order to acquire a vivid awareness of it. In fact, that is not necessary, since evil is only too expert and inevitable in forcing itself upon our attention! But it does mean that it must be admitted and faced by men in the loneliness of their hearts, and by self-examination. Otherwise, the tree of knowledge can never open the eyes and lead the mind to the tree of life. The assaults of the hells are inevitable, such is the nature of man's proprium. "Offenses must needs come," said the Lord. But man must see to it that there is "woe to them by whom they come"; that is, woe to the hells by whom they come.

     The Key

     But there is much more contained in the tree of knowledge than actual or theoretical evil. It is also a tree of the knowledge of good. And this implies as well a conscious knowledge of natural things, of creation, of the universe, in the scientific and rational sense or degree. It is primarily in this aspect that the tree of knowledge leads to the tree of life. Viewed in this way, it is then possible for us to see added meaning in the second statement, which follows as an inevitable consequence: "Science is the key of natural things whereby things heavenly are opened up."
     There are, in general, two major characteristics which show Swedenborg's attitude toward natural science, an attitude which consistently prevailed with him throughout his life.
     The first of these is his view of the indispensable use of the natural sciences. For he saw them, not merely as permissions due to the fallen state of the human race, but as good and true tools provided by the Lord so that men might be led back to the tree of life.

Indeed, this attitude was undoubtedly the whole burden and spur of his as-of-self efforts in that field before he was called to his office.
     Thus he was not afraid of the sciences as tools of the devil, or as potential instruments for multiplying political and civil oppressions and tyrannies. He did not, then, fall into the feeble, dogmatic trap of the old Christian Church which, utterly fearful of natural science at that time, continued to fulminate against it as atheistic.
     His typical reaction to this is well shown in his youthful words, uttered in dire impatience at the stodginess and stifling restrictions of his own country. "It was certainly discouraging to me, to find that my mathematical discoveries were considered as novelties which the country could not afford. Would that I had more of these novelties, yea, a literary novelty for every day of the year, so that the world might find pleasure in them! There are enough men in one century who plod on in the old beaten track, while there are scarcely six or seven in a whole century who are able to generate novelties based upon argument and reason."
     Swedenborg, then, saw the natural sciences as able to furnish many powerful confirmations and illustrations of the nature of the Creator. And he regarded the mental and philosophical sciences in the same way. For he himself made the attempt, in his work On The Infinite, to demonstrate to the learned world of his time the existence of a Final Cause or Creator; and he did it by the use of metaphysical logic and philosophy, using the known laws of the mind.
     In addition, he saw, even before revelation, that the sciences could lead men to the tree of life. And he made the attempt to discover the soul by that means. This he failed to do, as he frankly confessed before abandoning the effort. But this was not the fault of the natural sciences in themselves. It was because he had not yet firmly the one essential, namely, the guidance of the Lord. Indeed, he learned by that failure one of the key-lessons in his preparation; that self-intelligence, mere human intelligence by itself, cannot lead man to the Lord and His kingdom through the natural sciences. But if man looks for it, the Lord from His Word can lead him through the natural sciences to eternal life.
     Indeed, even though Swedenborg himself did not fully see the right mode or process until his eyes were opened, yet it is easy for us to see that this is exactly the manner and way by which the Lord led him, and by which the Lord may lead every man. For the Lord led the Seer from the Word through the natural sciences-a rigorous path of mental discipline and as-of-self labor which occupied over a third of his natural life-time, and over one-half of his adulthood.

     And even though the specific knowledges of the sciences which were available at that time to Swedenborg were comparatively primitive and general, they were yet indispensable as tools, both directly and indirectly, for the revelation which he later made. And the demonstration of this point is easily gained from the most cursory glance at the Writings. For we see there mentioned such things as atmospheres, elements, chemicals, the laws of logic, mathematics, geometry, matters of geography, of political and economic science, and even such common ordinary things as the earth turning on its axis rather than the sun going around it-a little fact which is indispensable to illustrating and understanding the relationship between love to the Lord and love of self. And this substantiates the reflection that the New Church is not to be simply a new pietism, a new ecclesiasticism, or even only a new theology, but a new religion, with its spiritual roots deep in the common ground of natural life and the natural world.
     Yet Swedenborg did not make the opposite error, that is, he did not over-estimate the natural sciences as to their use and importance. And this is the second of the two characteristics of his attitude. For he increasingly realized that Divine revelation, the Word, is necessary as a primary guide before man can rightfully and truly be led through the sciences to a knowledge of the soul, of God and His kingdom. Consequently, he was also saved from the pit and the net of the merely self-intelligent scientists of his day. Indeed, it was primarily from this awareness that he wrote The Infinite in the vain hope of showing his erring brothers the true way to wisdom.
     As a finale to this part of our subject, we might consider a general proposition which seems logically inevitable, and which connects with the subject of the relationship and relative value of Swedenborg's scientific-philosophical works to the Writings. The proposition is this: No person is capable of a good understanding of the Writings who does not have at least a rudimentary knowledge of the Primitive scientific facts known in Swedenborg's time, and brought forward in his pre-revelation works. And, to carry this a step further, we cannot fully grasp what various terms of the Writings mean without at least a little knowledge of what they meant to Swedenborg as he used them in his pre-revelation life. We could demonstrate this with a review of his progressive use of the term "soul," for instance, as it developed throughout his mental life.

     The Testimony

     The Messiah About to Come closes with a short section called a "Note," which is composed of four deeply affecting and unique items: four sentences so weighty, so full of fire and humility, of prayer and of exaltation, that each one of them is worth repeating and considering.

     The first is a bare announcement: "Nov. 17, 1745. I began to write."
     Let us review the chronology here. In the middle of April, 1745, after the Lord had appeared to him for the fourth and final time, Swedenborg began The Messiah About to Come. This was in London. By the time he left England for Stockholm, about the middle of that July, he had apparently finished, or at least, he left off, the writing of The Messiah. He arrived in Stockholm in the middle of August, and did not return to The Messiah, but commenced his Bible Index, an annotated study of the letter of the Word. This continued until the middle of November. Some time during this period from August to November he must also have written the History of Creation, which, as we said, appeared in the first pages of The Word Explained. Finally, on Nov. 17, 1745, he writes as a note at the end of the manuscript pages of The Messiah About to Come: "Nov. 17, 1745. I began to write." Obviously, he means that he began to write The Word Explained which followed.
     The words which follow these, all three sentences, may thus be considered as throwing a somewhat different light upon The Word Explained than is the usual opinion in the church about it. New Church men are still, of course, in freedom to regard that work as not properly a part of
the Divine revelation itself. And this will allow them to avoid certain awkward and obvious conclusions from the statements of this note, not only in regard to the nature and authority of The Word Explained but of the Writings as well. For, as may easily be seen by the affirmative mind, these three sentences add much weight and light to the unequivocal classification of the Writings as the Word, the Word of the Lord in His second coming.
     The second sentence of this Note is a most humble and ardent prayer of Swedenborg. Faced with the knowledge of the high, the Divine mission which was his, conscious of feelings of inadequacy, aware of the many spiritual and natural things in his own nature which might interfere, he fervently writes: "Lord Jesus Christ, lead me to and on the way on which Thou wiliest that I shall walk." It is a prayer which might well be uttered by any sincere New Church man when confronted with the state of temptation, or when called to some duty or use for which he has the highest respect and the deepest longing to perform.
     The translator notes that this prayer and the sentence preceding it, in which the Seer said he began to write, are written in Swedish. And, we reflect, perhaps they were so written because they were of such a personal nature, of a nature personal to Swedenborg alone.
     Following this comes the third sentence, this time a compound one which seems to be an injunction and admonition addressed to himself. It is: "Be ye holy; be ye gifted with the spirit of God and Christ; and be ye persevering in righteousness."

"Be ye holy." Thus does Swedenborg adjure himself to continue in the life and love of the Lord. "Be ye gifted with the spirit of God and Christ." The use of the three terms, "spirit," "God," and "Christ" here more than suggests the thought of the Divine truth which Swedenborg was to reveal; and so he is admonishing himself to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit-the power of understanding and translating the universal language for men into the written Word. "And be ye persevering in righteousness." In other words, be a faithful and a persevering witness to the truth, to the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
     Finally and climactically, comes the tremendous announcement: "This will be the testimony of the Kingdom of God." Surely, when we think deeply about these words, can we not glimpse the holy fire which dames behind them? "This will be the testimony of the Kingdom of God." What more, let us ask ourselves, could have been said to point with the cherubims' flaming sword to the Writings as the very Word of God, as the crowning part of that Word which shall not pass away, which is the testimony, the covenant and the witness, of His kingdom? And, even more, how greatly is this strengthened when we find the meaning of the word "testimony," as it is used in the Writings.
     Thus we read, ". . . in the universal sense, 'the testimony' means the Word; and the Word is truth Divine, thus the Lord" (AC 8535). Since Swedenborg writes that what is to follow "will be the testimony of the kingdom of God," and since what followed was the Writings, and since "testimony" is the Word, what further is needed?
     And thus we read again, ". . . `The testimony of the Lord is firm, making wise the simple.' . . . From these things it may be evident that 'testimony' is the Divine truth, which bears witness concerning the Lord, thus the Word; for this, in the supreme sense, treats of the Lord alone, and then, in the internal sense, bears witness concerning Him, that is, teaches Him, and the truths of faith and the goods of love which are from Him. . . ." Could any other description more exactly fit the Writings themselves, which eminently bear witness of the Lord, which teach Him and the truths of faith and goods of love from Him, which in their supreme subject-sense treat of the Lord alone, and which omnipotently can make wise the simple, if they so desire?
     It would be possible to continue indefinitely in this vein, but it is a well-known and well-loved doctrine among us. Were we speaking with others who do not hold that doctrine, we would bring this forward in greater detail. For there is no doubt in our mind that the final note of this little work, "This will be the testimony of the Kingdom of God," is but one of the many large and small indications given in the Lord's Providence; given so that there may be judgments made, given so that all men who read them "may know, and not make it a pretext that they have been ignorant" (AC 3488: 8).

     For this is the explanation given in the Arcana concerning the Lord's words to His disciples in predicting the Last Judgment, when He said: "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a testimony unto all nations; and then shall the end come" (Matt. 24:14). The explanation of this refers to "all nations" as meaning evils. But it may also be taken in its wider, human sense, as signifying all men; i.e. the gospel of the kingdom will be a testimony to those who are willing to receive it, to those who are lukewarm, and to those who "will not believe, though one were to rise from the dead." It is of these last especially that it is said that the gospel of the kingdom is to be preached to them for a testimony, "that they may know, and not pretend that they have been ignorant" (ibid.).
     For by these many things which are said, the plainest of them being in the works of the Writings which were not published by Swedenborg himself, some of them in works such as this one we have considered, which are open to doubt as to their Divine inspiration and authority; by these many things which are written concerning the nature of the revelation, it is at least assured that no one can pretend ignorance of them, and thus avoid making a clear decision and choice about them. No one can do any more than doubt and flout the authenticity and authority of each such statement which would controvert the logic of his own opinion. Every man is still free to say that the statements do not mean what they say. But no man can deny that they were said and written by Swedenborg. And every conscientious New Church man will observe more caution and respect for every word behind which there may flame a degree of the holy fire; at least a greater caution and respect than has been the case not infrequently in the past history of the church. He will not lightly say that certain statements contained in any of the post-commission works of Swedenborg do not mean what they seem to say. He will not easily assume that any certain statement is an error on the part of the Seer. Nor will he be quickly led down the broad trail of determining the canon of the Writings for himself, by his own intelligence.
     Lastly, in relation to our subject, it must be said that neither The Messiah About to Come, The History of Creation nor The Word Explained, much less the early numbers of the Spiritual Diary, can be lightly dismissed as of no consequence, of no value to the New Church man. If nothing else-and I for one believe that there is much else besides-but if nothing else they constitute powerful testifications to the testimony of the Writings themselves.

IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1956

     The correspondence on the condition of Convention initiated by the Rev. William H. Beales continues in the NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER. A senior minister of that body asks whether the issue is as simple as emphasizing uniqueness and calling a halt on appeasement; pleading that we do stand in the Judaic-Christian line, that Swedenborg had no thought of departing from the Christian message but every intention of reinterpreting it, and that there is a general Christian message in which to set "specialties" such as the exposition of the spiritual sense of the Word and the concept of the glorification.
     Two correspondents, writing jointly, think that fear of seeming different is not the reason for Convention's weakness but an evidence of it. Citing the current interest in religious study in the colleges, the Wayfarers' Chapel, the radio work being done in Wilmington, Delaware, and the activities of the Swedenborg Foundation, they conclude that the New Church should be a teaching church. They see the organization as absolutely necessary for implementing activity, but conclude that "to make regular worship-services the objective of church organization is like putting the cart before the horse." In other words, "it is not our organizations and Sunday services which should be built up, but our methods of teaching and study and our contacts with the world at large."
     Another writer admits the justice of Mr. Beales' plea but observes that he does not suggest a remedy; and he appeals to the work done in San Francisco to urge the establishment of neighborhood Sunday Schools as a means of interesting children and their parents in the teachings and the work of the church. He thinks that this would bring gains, and that it would be a useful service to plant the leading doctrines of the church in the minds of the young.
     In different vein, yet another correspondent remarks that the Divine truth will prevail, will prove itself to all who give it a chance, whether we have as great a part in proclaiming it as we should. The New Church, she says, does not gain members through emotional or persuasive methods, but through enlightened reason and the insight into truth that comes from love; and she pleads for conviction on our part, for study groups, and for an endeavor to live up to the name, "Church of the New Jerusalem," instead of a desire to change it.

EXTERNALS OF THE PREMARITAL PERIOD 1956

EXTERNALS OF THE PREMARITAL PERIOD Rev. JAN H. WEISS 1956

     We are taught very clearly in Conjugial Love that men and women through many changes of state before and after marriage (184). These changes are apparent only by intervals of time, because they are progressive from moment to moment and thus continual (185). Such changes of state occur from infancy to the end of life, and afterwards to eternity (184). Our attention in this article will be focused on the period that lies before the celebration of the nuptials and after the moment that "maturity and immaturity meet, and there comes the conjugial inclination" (187).
     Though we heed the warning, given in Conjugial Love, that there are variations and diversities of these changes of state in different-subjects (190), we feel that there is a need among our young people to know which externals of conjugial love should properly accompany the internal changes of state. Certain customs in regard to external behavior have arisen in our church, and our young people as well as older people have asked why we have them. It is our conviction that such questions can be answered only after we have derived from the Word a general outline of the internal changes of state before marriage. For when we see where distinct changes of state occur, we can mark off distinct periods or states and describe the internal characteristics of those periods. After we have such an outline of distinct periods, we can then consider the problem of which externals should properly accompany the internal changes of state.
     While considering this article the reader should therefore first see for himself whether our outline of the internal changes of state follows logically from the quoted teachings of Conjugial Love. Then he should face the teaching of the Writings that in the New Church every internal will have its corresponding external (AR 918). Only then should he consider the description of the different externals that should, as we believe, be employed successively in every approach toward marriage.

     Premarital Internal Changes of State

     The first period lies between the moment that "maturity and immaturity meet" and the moment that the man entertains in his mind a first and external choice.

This period is described in Conjugial Love as one of choosing, and is characterized by the presence of the general love of the sex (98).
     The second period is entered upon when the man feels a first attraction towards one of the sex. He is not any more in the general love of the sex, but has made a first and external choice that gives him a desire to come to a closer acquaintance. As this choice is at first only external, man may vacillate between the first and second period.
     While man may have entered the second period, the woman may not be ready to give her time exclusively to one man, and so this second period lasts until she has consented to his proposal to employ the externals that belong to the third period, and thus to enter together with him into this new state.
     The third period is one in which the two people know concerning each other that there is a mutual attraction that needs further exploration. It is in this period that the man may consider a proposal to marry, and when he comes to a formal proposal the couple have entered the fourth period.
     The fourth period is one of consultation and deliberation. For we are taught that after the proposal of the man, "the woman ought to consult her parents, or those who are in the place of parents, and then deliberate with herself, before she consents" (CL 298). The reasons for this consultation are set forth very clearly in numbers 298 and 299 of the work Conjugial Love, to which we refer the reader.
     The fifth period lies between the moment that consent is given and the moment that the two are betrothed before a priest.
     The sixth period is the one of betrothal, and is extensively described in the work Conjugial Love.

     Proper Externals

     We will now consider the problem of proper externals. At the outset it should be clear that New Church social life is what is sought. Such social life will not be colored by national customs or limited by geographical boundaries. It will be a social life in which all externals have been formed and brought into order by true internals of charity and love. All New Church external modes of behavior will express true and orderly states of affection and thought.
     In the approach towards marriage this means that no external of conjugial love, or the love of the sex, will be employed unless the corresponding internal exists already in the minds of the man and the woman. Such an external behavior not only protects the freedom of the woman, and provides for an orderly development of her affectional changes of state, but also guards the man from hurrying into the use of externals that are beyond his actual state.

     In the approach towards marriage externals or ultimates can influence internal states in two ways, namely, positively and negatively. A negative influence results when externals are used before the corresponding internals are actually in the mind. Premature affections and thoughts are awakened which conflict with actual affections and thoughts. And such a conflict causes feelings of frustration and dissatisfaction. The result is chaos and disorder. A positive influence results when externals are used only after internal states have become actual and real. Then externals confirm, strengthen and deepen, our affections and thoughts.
     The Lord has ordained that we go from one state to another for a definite reason. For it is the purpose of one state to prepare us for the next. Internals that come into existence in one state may be expressed in the next one.
     The first period is characterized by the words general and external choice. This suggests immediately that in this period social life with the other sex should be general, and not confined to one of the other sex. Externals that suggest a first choice on the part of the man should be avoided, and preserved or reserved for the second period. In this first period young people should be able to come together on an informal basis without the man having to ask the woman for a date. Women will be able to attend such general social gatherings without the feeling that they are not wanted or are not popular. Such a general social life, arranged for and attended by everyone, would provide plenty of opportunities to meet women and men, and also chances to meet people outside of one's own age and state.
     Having come into the second period a man could change his external social life, and seek to have dates with the woman of his choice. But because the woman has not yet given up her general social life, the man should only date her on private occasions, not on occasions of general social life. Such external behavior would suggest to the man, and to others, that the woman is not ready to give up social life with other men, and would also leave with the woman a real feeling of freedom. In the first period there has been ample opportunity for the man and woman to observe each other in public. The second period should therefore be one in which the young people have time together, during which they can get to know each other better than during the period of purely general social life. It is the period in which the man may come to see that his first and external choice is confirmed more and more. Or he may come to the conclusion that it would be wiser to return to general social life.
     In the third period externals that were avoided in the second period may now be employed. It seems therefore natural and orderly that the young people date each other in this period both privately and publicly.

By doing so they indicate, without any public announcement, that there is a mutual agreement between them to come to a closer understanding.
     This is the period during which the man will see his first choice confirmed to such a degree that he will want to propose marriage to the girl of his choice. And as the woman knows that such a proposal might be forthcoming, she should have a social life with the man that is as it were an imitation of the state of marriage. Yet this imitation should not include the externals that belong only to the periods of betrothal and marriage. It should be confined to things like being invited to parties together; receiving visitors together; visiting, working and reading together; and making trips together. Externals which involve the sense of touch should be avoided here, for we believe that the sense of touch is meant to confirm and strengthen affections that belong to the period that follows after the consent to marry.
     This third period of mutual investigation is very important, and it should be passed through with great patience and care. Should the man to hurry through this state, then he would find himself ahead of the woman, and various efforts on his part to enter the fourth period would cause frustration for both the woman and himself. And if the woman should endeavor to pass through this state quickly, and incite the man to a premature proposal, only disaster and disappointment can follow. Also, if this period should be entered too quickly, then the consent of the girl to employ the externals of the third period would create premature feelings of hope in the man that might result later in disappointments and unhappiness.
     The fourth period should not be entered when the proposal of the man would immediately evoke a negative response on the part of the woman. No man should determine the length of this period, for then the woman might feel that her decision was not made in full freedom and with plenty of time.
     The fifth period is one of privacy, wherein the couple will be together a great deal. It should be seen as a preparation for the betrothal service and the period of betrothal. Externals of the sense of touch are now in order, but also a reading together of the Word, specifically Conjugial Love, should take place.
     Whenever the couple feel ready, and arrangements can be made, they may have the betrothal service, and thus enter the sixth period. On this period the work Conjugial Love gives us ample teachings, and here we only refer the reader to the respective chapter.

     Consequences and Advantages of the Proposed Outline

     Were this general outline to be accepted in the church we would have to foster our general social life more extensively than before, but it would result in a more frequent and diversified intercourse between the two sexes and between different age groups.

Young men and women who have, for all kinds of reasons, not been able to adjust themselves to social life would have much more of a chance to do this. There would be an accentuation of the teaching that performing a use to the neighbor is having a good influence on him, and helping him or her to become a happy and accepted member of the church.
     Social intercourse between people of different ages would result in a far more orderly development of the church. Younger men could learn from older ones, while they in turn could benefit from the energy and enthusiasm of the younger men. Problems of the society and the church would be discussed between young and Old, and not always between young and young, or old and old. And finally, an unhappy ending of a love affair would not result so easily in loneliness and the hardships of readjustment to society.
     With every state it should be stressed that a change of state should never be forced. It should come about in the Lord's time, for He is the one who leads us from state to state, and not we ourselves. But especially with the third state this emphasis on trust in the Lord's providence should be made. For rushing through it would result in broken betrothals, and every young person cannot be impressed enough with the great importance of a complete surrender to the Lord's leadership in this period.

     Engagement

     "But where, then, do you place engagement in this general outline? This question, which has been asked many times, is quite a natural one, as we have always heard about engagements in regard to the approach to marriage. The answer is quite simple. We do not know where the period of engagement fits in, and also we do not really care to know. This answer is given for two reasons. It has been noted by some already that the word "engagement" does not occur in Conjugial Love. And also, the word might be left out of the general outline just as well, as it has a connotation in the outside world: that is entirely foreign to New Church ideas concerning marriage. Add to this the fact that the connotation of the word "engagement" is different in various parts of the world, and then it seems even useless to try to prove that it covers the same conception as the word "betrothal."

     Public Announcement

     The general outline of the internal and external approach towards marriage also helps us to see more clearly when there should be a public announcement of the intent to marry. It is obvious that an announcement should be made when a new period has been entered.

At the beginning of the first four periods there is really nothing to announce, so we must choose between the beginning of the fifth and the sixth period. And as the fifth period will usually be short, depending on how soon a betrothal service can be arranged, it does not seem to make a great deal of difference. However, it might be observed that it would give both the couple and their friends a greater feeling of joy to hear the announcement of their betrothal than of their consent. For betrothal immediately associates the intention to marry with the Lord.
     An announcement of the intention to marry should not be a great surprise to others, for where two people have carefully passed through previous states, it will be known to their friends that they might come to such a step. The sphere of amazement and surprise that is sometimes present at an announcement party is not only embarrassing for the couple and the guests, but also does not promote their being accepted as a unit of society. For, after all, it is the purpose of the announcement party to share feelings of joy and happiness, to provide for a sphere of acceptance and support of society, and perhaps even awake memories of past happiness with the married people. Therefore it would seem far more desirable to announce that a couple have been betrothed before the Lord on a certain date, and that they hope to see their friends at a reception that will be held at the home of the bride. An example might further clarify what we have in mind. It could be announced in the Bryn Athyn Post or the Chronicle, or a similar periodical, that a certain couple have been betrothed before the Lord, and that there will be a reception for their friends on the following Sunday afternoon between 4 and 6.
     If the announcement of a betrothal is a surprise, then the friends and acquaintances of the couple would have ample time to digest their feelings rationally, and they would be able to come to the reception only with feelings of joy and happiness. A reception between certain times also provides more opportunity for the couple to talk to their friends. Engagement parties are sometimes rushed and crowded affairs that leave little time for a real sharing of happiness and for the offering of best wishes. They also, because of their very nature, limit the number of people that can share the happiness of the couple, which goes against the whole purpose of a public announcement.

     A New Approach

     It will be obvious to every affirmative reader of the work, Conjugial Love, that the concept of marriage in the New Church is entirely different from that in the world. After the teachings of Conjugial Love have once been assimilated, it seems as if every other concept of marriage is dead and surrounded with an aura of sensual futility and temporal happiness.

There is no idea of eternal femininity and masculinity, no sight of feminine and masculine responsibilities, and no real feeling for the holiness and blessedness of marriage.
It seems, then, that there is only one worthwhile thing to do, namely, to return to these pages of Conjugial Love from which comes a sphere of holiness and peace. Such a return is not made to find something new and different for the sake of being different, but for the sake of extracting again and again life-giving teachings on every phase and moment of marital and premarital life.
In so doing we become aware of the necessity of not concerning ourselves with our previous concepts of marriage and the approach toward it, but of reviewing our present behavior and customs again and again in the light of the Divine rational. For only if we rigorously struggle for a fuller sight of this concept, and endeavor earnestly to realize it in our internal and external life, will it come to pass that heaven shall be oh earth, I and the warmth and blessedness of love truly conjugial present in our homes.
MEN AND WOMEN IN THE WORD 1956

MEN AND WOMEN IN THE WORD 1956

Cain and Abel

"As Adam and his wife, as has been said above, mean the Most Ancient Church, so Cain and Abel, their first sons, mean the two essentials of the church, which are love and wisdom, or charity and faith, Abel meaning love and charity, and Cain wisdom and faith; strictly, wisdom separated from love, or faith separated from charity; and wisdom as well as faith when so separated is such that it not only rejects love and charity, but even annihilates them; and thus it kills its brother" (Divine Providence, 242).

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1956

     In the last two chapters of Revelation the New Church is described: as to life in the form of a bride, as to doctrine under that of a holy city of truth. The Apocalypse was given through John to signify that it will be received interiorly by those only who are in the good of life.
     The opening chapters of Genesis (1:1-11:9), which describe the rise and fall of the Most Ancient and the Ancient Church, are in a made-up historical style and were copied by Moses from the Ancient Word. In the rest of chapter 11, dealing with the Hebrew Church, the style is intermediate. True historicals, which are yet representative, begin with the call of Abraham, who represents the Lord's celestial man.
     Our February readings in Heaven and Hell (nos. 489-577) describe first the three states through which man passes in the world of spirits. The first, in which man resumes the life he had led on earth, is a state of externals in which the good and the evil are still together, and is provided for continuity. The second is a state in which, by the removal of external bonds, the spirit freely speaks and acts as he thinks and wills interiorly. In this state of internals the good voluntarily separate from the evil, who judge themselves to hell; for that is what judgment is coming into the freedom of one's love. For the evil the third state, which is one of preparation, coincides with the end of the second state, since they are then fully prepared for hell. For the good, however, it is a separate state of instruction, at the end of which they are received into heaven as angels.
     That no one enters heaven from mercy apart from means is a teaching with implications so obvious that they need not detain us here. What is meant by the familiar teaching that it is not so difficult to live the life that leads to heaven is simply this. Because there is no difference in externals between moral and spiritual life it is not necessary, as both Catholics and Protestants have supposed, for a moral man to begin living an entirely different type of outward life to become spiritual. The change that is to be made is internal, that is, he must come to live the moral life from a spiritual motive.
     The idea of hell presented in the following chapters differs radically from the punitive one of Christian theology. Devils and satans were once men; they have chosen their abode; and they are punished only when they exceed the bounds fixed for them.

LABEL THAT MISREPRESENTS 1956

LABEL THAT MISREPRESENTS Editor 1956

PEOPLE-OR THINGS? Editor 1956

Much is said in the Writings about the distinctions between man and the Lord's creations in nature. Implicit in that teaching is a dividing line between people and things that should not be crossed, but is often ignored in human relations. It is not necessarily unlawful to use or exploit a thing, to treat it as a means to an end; for the uses of created things ascend by degrees to man, and through man to the Lord, and it is spiritually wrong to regard them as means only when they are exploited for man's ends instead of being used as the Lord intended. But it is never legitimate so to use another person. To exploit another human being, to treat him as though he were a means to an end instead of an end in himself, is a gross violation of moral and spiritual law.

It is to dehumanize that person, to make of him or her a mere thing.
Here we see the simple expression of a fundamental distinction between love of self and love toward the neighbor. Those who are in self-love regard other men and women, not as human beings, but as things to be used as means to their ends, or to be treated with contempt and hatred if they decline to be exploited. And such an attitude in any human relationship can only be self-destructive, no matter how willing the other is to be exploited. In that case, indeed, it may be mutually destructive. But those who are in love toward the neighbor realize that other men and women are created to serve, not their ends, but the Lord's, and treat them as people, not as things: as human beings equally endowed with will and understanding, liberty and rationality, and the opportunity to be regenerated by the Lord. And this is the only basis for truly human and lasting relations which endure all change and trial and promote increasingly the real happiness of those who enter into them.
USE AND OLD AGE 1956

USE AND OLD AGE Editor 1956

In a recent editorial it was said that uses cannot be done except through occupations. That is the law in both worlds; but there is one notable exception here on earth, and a clear understanding of it may be of aid and comfort to those who are in the evening of their days. Because the spirit does not grow old with the body it is understandable that those whose minds still desire active employments should chafe under the physical infirmities of advanced age which place them beyond such pursuits. It is even understandable that they may think of themselves as useless, especially if sickness claims them, and resign themselves with as much grace or fortitude as possible to a period of waiting until they shall be called into the spiritual world.
But while this is understandable, the Heavenly Doctrine gently rebukes such thinking. As was pointed out previously, a man's spiritual use is the influence he has upon others, for good or ill-the impact of his character upon other men. In this interior view, use does not cease with compulsory retirement, or even with the weakness of more advanced years. A character formed by the choices of a long lifetime of experience, and expressing something of the real wisdom of life, may have a far greater effect upon others than its possessor realizes; even if that character is revealed mainly in a truly patient attitude toward the limitations or infirmities of age. Wherever its sphere is received it has much of value to give, much that only wise old age can give.

Every age has its own particular enemies to which it is especially vulnerable. And if undue self-confidence is the foe of youth, and self-justification and self-excusing the evils characteristic of middle life, perhaps it may be said, with understanding and sympathy, that disguised self-pity is the weakness to which old age is peculiarly susceptible. Self-pity, and the awful prompting to doubt the Divine Providence because they are kept here when their use on earth has apparently ended; these are surely the temptations peculiar to the old. Like all other temptations, however, they may be broken by affirmation of the truth assailed, that the capacity for use continues to the end of earthly life, though the use may be more interior and less readily seen.
NEW ART OF WRITING 1956

NEW ART OF WRITING Editor 1956

Elsewhere in this issue is published the second and concluding installment of a story entitled "The Evening and the Morning." The story is, needless to say, a work of fiction, and although it appears now for the first time it was written several years ago. The publication of this story has led to a little research and reflection. The Wedding Garment and The Invisible Police are well known, but stand almost alone, and the Fifty Year Index of NEW CHURCH LIFE lists only four stories. "The Strange Adventures of a Bishop," by Eldred E. Iungerich, was published in 1907, and was followed in 1913 by "A Sunday Morning," from the same author. "The Great Crossing," Louis B. Pendleton, appeared in 1918; and "Eleanor," a story by E. P. Anshutz, was published serially in 1919 and 1920.
There are others who have written short stories directly inspired by the Writings. But when we reflect on the fewness of the offerings, and that most of what has been written describes the resurrection of man, it becomes evident that the new art of writing which must develop in the church is of slow growth. As far as man is concerned, there is, perhaps, no more glorious revelation in the Writings than that of the spiritual world; and the drama of death and resuscitation is of perennial human interest because it is one in which all must inevitably take part. Yet there are other human dramas awaiting the New Church novelist of the future-the drama of regeneration, of the operation of the laws of Providence. Perhaps we have not yet lived long enough with the Writings to be able to use them easily except didactically and in a documentary manner, and in that case it would be better to wait rather than force a new form. But a rich field awaits the man and the hour.

Church News 1956

Church News Various 1956

     DETROIT, MICHIGAN

     Unless you are willing to endure a nail by nail, brick by brick, description of our new church building you do not even whisper "What's new?" in these parts. The fact is, almost everything is new. We have four walls, a number of apertures, row upon row of structural steel, several little shacks, and almost unheard of quantities of black, viscid mud. It's really quite beautiful. Every week something new is added-a door frame, a section of the roof, or maybe a whole maze of electrical wiring. Not So much as a brick is laid without the whole Society taking note with a certain satisfaction. After the builders have completed the basic structure, all the self-help committees will be able to go into action. Floor tile will have to be laid, the painting done, drapes made, and equipment bought. The dedication date has been set tentatively for April 22nd, and we hope all our friends from far and near will be able to join us on that historic day.
     Hallowe'en offered another delightful means of putting our spacious church grounds to use, this time for a bonfire party. Fortified with cider, donuts and hot dogs, with minimum of three layers of clothing, and also a roaring fire, we scarcely felt the bitter cold. The gathering round the fire gave a lusty treatment to every last song in the Academy student's repertoire, including here and there a strain reminiscent of the Cherry Street School!
     Because of the pressure of other Society uses our fair last year was held in simplified carnival style. The Sons arranged a number of imaginative games for old and young. The needlework and children's stalls had many willing buyers. After the activity had ceased we all enjoyed an excellent dinner in quiet and comfort.
     In keeping with our new method of recording such events is the following: Vance and Jean Genzlinger-a son; Dick and Lit Doering-a daughter. In this extreme case we will relax the rules to congratulate both of these couples on their new responsibilities.
     Before presenting the Christmas tableaux, director Sandy Odhner made it known that, again owing to pressure of other uses, they were to be greatly "simplified" and would possibly be a "bit rough." This advance information turned out to be misleading. The so-called simplicity and roughness produced a delightful effect which enthralled the children and delighted the adults.
     In December this writer had the pleasure of accompanying Mr. and Mrs. Rogers on one of their monthly visits to the Toledo group. At the home of ex-Detroiter John Howard the pastor conducted a lively children's class, showing slides of the tabernacle. After a delicious Eunice Howard dinner we moved to the home of Jim and Mary Riley for an adult class on heaven and hell. This most pleasurable trip served as a fine illustration of the enthusiasm and desire with which the frontiers of the church are being established and maintained.
     Fast becoming a tradition is the Theta Alpha-Women's Guild Christmas party, which was held again at the home of Bea Childs. The evening opened with a short business meeting, followed by a requested address from the pastor on "Why the Lord was Born as an Infant." Scrumptious refreshments and a hilarious exchange of gifts concluded a most interesting and enjoyable evening.
     Saturday, the day before Christmas, brought with it a great deal of work and a great deal more fun. A children's service was held in the afternoon and was followed by a light supper for the whole Society. This meal is always a hurried affair, as the excitement running through the children is hopelessly contagious. Then came the party. The older children entertained on a variety of musical instruments; the younger children recited and sang; the tiniest little tots, scarcely able to talk, amazingly managed to sing. M.C. Wendy Rogers called the next act on stage, and so it went on. To close the happy day, Mr. Rogers presented a little gift to each child.

     The social committee provided a variety of activities for New Year's Eve. A cocktail party at the Barr Asplundhs', a refreshing dance at the Oakridge Women's Club, and finally a haven for the hungry horde at the Vance Genzlingers', made an excellent end to an excellent year. The old year saw a number of important decisions. It saw old friends go and new friends come. It saw hard work, effort, and determination. It saw also the arrival of new babies. But, best of all, it saw the start, the beginning, of what we hope 1956 will see achieved for us.
     BARBARA FORFAR

     HURSTVILLE, AUSTRALIA

     At our Nineteenth of June celebration we established a precedent by having some of the children present. They manifestly showed great interest in the proceedings, and by their presence added remarkably to the prevailing sphere of happiness and joy.
     Mr. Norman Heldon proposed the toast nearest to our hearts, that to "The Church," which found zestful response in the singing of "Our Glorious Church." Our Leader then read letters of greeting from Bishop de Charms and the Right Rev. Williard D. Pendleton, whereupon a toast proposed by Mr. Ossian Heldon found a ready response. Other greetings were received from the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal, the Rev. W. H. Hickman of Perth, and Mr. and Mrs. Charles Norton of Adelaide.
     Mrs. Morse gave a short but nonetheless interesting reading; and our Leader gave an address which was followed by discussion, all interesting but carried on in simple language such as could be understood by the younger ones. A number of toasts were interspersed. One was to Swedenborg; and our first student from this continent in the Academy, Brian Heldon, was remembered in another.
     Saturday, August 27th, was selected as Sunday School prize-giving night. Mr. Simmons gave an address and then presented the prizes to the children. Mrs. Simmons (Nellie Taylor) then showed with her projector a film taken on the occasion of Brian's departure in the Oronsay, some comedies, and some pictures taken at the zoo. A lively program of games took up the rest of the evening.
     At the annual meeting, held on September 29th, all the officers for the previous year were re-elected, and Mr. T. Taylor was elected as an additional member of the Business Committee.
     Discussion centered mainly in financial matters, including ways and means of supporting a pastor on his arrival here in, it is hoped, the not too distant future.
     Theta Alpha arranged another film night at which Mr. Reg Brittel showed slides made from color-pictures taken by him on a survey trip from Adelaide to Darwin. These proved to be most interesting as they gave us a better understanding of what the "land of the never-never" is really like. This was followed by a sale of work, an array of artistic and useful articles, and also refreshments, which added a considerable sum, about ?30:0:0, to Theta Alpha's scholarship fund for girls.
     An unexpected pleasure was the arrival, just in time for the service on November 13th of Mr. and Mrs. Claire of the Auckland, New Zealand, Society. After all-round introductions had been completed we soon felt that we all belonged, and we realized more than ever the great bond of brotherhood, and sisterhood, that exists in the New Church. This became even more evident at the luncheon provided by our Leader, Mr. Lindthman Heldon, and his good wife at their home. Conversation flowed freely as our visitors gave us a clear outline of the existing state of affairs in the Auckland Society, and it continued until they suddenly realized that they had to leave in a hurry to meet another engagement.
     There was an overflow attendance at the wedding of Miss Laurel Stephenson and Mr. Reginald Brittel, and quite a number of people had to remain outside. Thanks are due to Mrs. Fletcher and Mrs. Heldon for the very nice floral adornment of the church. It was feared that it would be very wet for the occasion. But the rain, which had been falling heavily, stopped just as the bride arrived; and when, after the ceremony, the bridal pair and their attendants posed before the cameras, the sun suddenly came through and they were enveloped in glorious sunshine. Laurel presented a picture of innocence and beauty, and the unalloyed happiness which radiated from her and her husband affected all present, and brought sincerest wishes for their future happiness from our hearts and our lips.
     ALFRED KIRSTEN

     LONDON, ENGLAND

     At Michael Church, as in all other New Church communities, all the activities of the Society stem from, and have as their center, Divine worship. On October 2nd, a Holy Supper service was held, and the address by the Rev. Erik Sandstorm-based on the chapter on the Holy Supper in True Christian Religion-was profoundly stirring; bringing a realization of the great power of this most holy sacrament in a living church.
     Last autumn our pastor preached a most illuminating series of sermons on redemption, reformation, and regeneration. On December 2nd, in a new series, he preached a sermon, "The Voice in the Wilderness," on the Word of the Lord: "the living Divine truth that proceeds from God, having in its bosom the Divine life itself. In itself this Word is the Lord Himself, nor is there any other Word than He." This sermon brought out dearly that although we rightly call the written scripture "the Word," it is but the ultimate plane into which there is influx of Divine truth; and this, received by men, is heard as the voice in the wilderness. This is its use, and the letter of the Word is thus as John the Baptist, preparing the way of the Lord. The prophecies concerning the first advent are fulfilled anew in the second coming of the Lord.
     Since the middle of September two series of doctrinal classes have been held on alternate Wednesday evenings at Michael Church and Swedenborg House, respectively. In the former the subject is the fundamental doctrines, and in the latter the Apocalypse is being studied. These classes are most highly appreciated by all who are able to attend, and there has been high praise of the quality of the instruction given.
     On September 11th the wedding of Mr. Frederick L. Cole and Miss Edith Cooper took place. The Rev. Erik Sandstrom officiated.
     The first social of the season was held on October 8th, with Mr. Norman Turner as M.C. It was a most enjoyable event, with some fine singing, music and games. During the course of the evening a brief address on marriage was made to the newly married couple by our pastor on the presentation of a gift from friends in the Society. Another event that delighted us was the gift of a reproduction of a painting of Swedenborg from Mr. and Mrs. Sandstrom to hang in the schoolroom of Michael Church.
     The Chadwell Heath group continues to hold its monthly meetings. It is now having a series of classes on the Sermon on the Mount.
     On October 15th the first of a series of classes on the Hebrew Word, held by the Rev. F. F. Coulson in the schoolroom, was attended by students of all ages and was much enjoyed. In the words of our teacher: "The purpose of these classes is to demonstrate some of the heavenly characteristics of the language and its special use as a means of conjoining angels and men. Something of the history and structure of the Old Testament will also be explained." New Church education is dear to the hearts of all of us here, and it is pleasing to have this evidence of its natural growth in England in this way on a more mature level.
     In September Mr. and Mrs. Roy Griffith left London for their new home in Ashby de la Zouch (near Derby), to the regret of the Michael Church Society to which they have contributed so much. They will, however, be frequent visitors to London. The Women's Guild especially appreciates the outstanding services of Dr. Freda Griffith as president last year, and a gift of table linen was presented to her as a token of gratitude.
     Mr. and Mrs. Colin Greenhalgh and their family have now moved to Colchester. They also are greatly missed by the Michael Church Society, to which both have rendered very valuable services.
     Under a new president, Miss Edith Elphick, the Women's Guild held its first meeting of the season on September 23rd, when the Rev. Erik Sandstrom read a paper on "Introducing Newcomers into the New Church." This was of great interest and most helpful in a city society where members are in daily contact with the outside world. At the October meeting Mr. Reginald Law read a paper on "Time and Space" an interesting subject which led to much discussion.
     Our annual Sale of Work, on November 19th, proved highly successful financially and also afforded an occasion for much social enjoyment. Mrs. Sandstrom's puppet show was very popular with the children and the grownups. The evening's excellent entertainment, arranged by Miss Mary Lewin, included music, recitations, and some very humorous monologues by Mr. Victor Tilson.
     The Michael Church Society would feel lost without its continual stream of visitors throughout the year.

In the past three months we have welcomed them from Norway, Sweden, Montreal, Kitchener, and Pittsburgh, not to mention our constant visitors from Colchester and the Open Road. Miss Joan Adams made brief but welcome return en route from Bryn Athyn to South Africa. Some of these visitors make a more prolonged stay in London, and as such we welcome to our Society Miss Korene Schnarr of Kitchener and Miss Anne Timmins of Montreal, both of whom add a very delightful Canadian flavor to our community. The London Society has had the great pleasure also of meeting Mrs. Frank Rose.
     On Sunday, December 11th, on the occasion of the Rev. and Mrs. Erik Sandstrom's visit to Derby, Mr. Sandstrom was invited to preach at the Conference church there. The Rev. Clifford Harley, the pastor, in introducing Mr. Sandstrom, said that he represented another New Church tradition, and expressed the thought that there should be friendly relations between the two bodies of the church.
     In the absence of our pastor, the service at Michael Church on that Sunday was conducted by the Rev. Frank Rose. The text of his talk to the children, and of his sermon, was that beautiful passage from Haggai: "Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord."
     IRIS O. BRISCOE

     GLENVIEW, ILLINOIS

     Thanksgiving Day was the beginning of our busiest festival. In the morning there was a family service at which the school-children, carrying offerings of fruit, followed the choir marching into the church. Afterwards the younger children came forward with their offerings until the chancel was decorated with an abundance of colorful fruit. As is usual with family services, there were more people than places to sit inside the church, so that a number followed the service by means of a loudspeaker placed in the lobby. On the Sunday after Thanksgiving the celebration of the Holy Supper marked the climax of our festivities.
     "Christmas was celebrated in the usual manner." This frustrating sentence is common in the pages of early copies of NEW CHURCH LIFE, vainly studied by our pastor recently in an effort to trace the origin of our method of observing Christmas. For those who might wonder what the "usual manner" is, a complete account follows.
     After the beginning of December most of the sermons and doctrinal classes led up to the Lord's advent. This was particularly appreciated as a counter to the blast of advertising and commercialism that is common at Christmas time. Mr. Acton and Mr. Odhner presented sermons and classes on the subject of the Divine Human, with special emphasis on the fact that no celebration of the church is complete without the administration of the Holy Supper as the crowning observance. Mr. Odhner gave a series of classes on the origin of man, pointing out the fallacies in recent articles in Life magazine on the same subject. He is in the position of an inside observer, being enrolled at Garrett Biblical Institute, where his Old Church education continues to astonish him.
     On Friday the 16th the final doctrinal class was held, without supper, and was I followed by the singing of Christmas carols. Mr. Acton told us that Mr. Oswald Asplundh had passed away earlier in the evening, which brought to the memory of everyone the flowers so generously provided by him for occasions such as this.
     Poinsettias and evergreens were much in evidence for the Christmas tableaux on the 18th. In recent years this presentation has taken place on the Sunday before Christmas, since the children's service on Christmas Eve became too long when they were combined. This year Mrs. Ralph Synnestvedt, Jr., joined the staff of hard workers who devote their evenings annually to the tableaux, especially Miss Jean Junge and Mr. Acton. To fulfill a longtime need for props, Mr. Boy Burnham made some spectacular stage furniture which increased the effectiveness of the scenes.
     In the first tableau the angel appeared to Zacharias as he performed his duties in the Temple. There was an eight-foot candelabrum in the foreground, as well as a table of shewbread made to scale, and the horned altar was in the background. These are made of a composition type board and can be used each year. The second scene was a dimly lit picture of the wise men, the only light coming from the star above and a glowing campfire on the ground. Two large camels, about half life size, were made for this scene.

The nativity scene also was newly staged, with a wooden railing and a manger to give the proper setting. During these last two scenes the seated audience quietly sang "We Three Kings" and "Holy Night"; and during the last tableau we rose to sing "The Lord God Jesus Christ Doth Reign" as we saw a representation of Christmas with the angels in their crimson robes kneeling before the open Word, and then rising to stand before it. This last tableau is truly unique, and with the Word in the center is always beautifully lighted.
     Immediately after the tableaux came the presentation of gifts from the Immanuel Church to all the children of the Society, from the new babies to the pupils in the ninth grade, and 180 gifts were presented. The younger children received dolls and toys, while the older children were given volumes of the Writings, New Church books such as The Golden Heart, bookmarks for the Word, school pins, and religious pictures. Because of the increasing number of children this practice has been questioned, but since there is a definite use involved it seems best to continue one of our favorite projects. Each child receives his gift from the pastor, so he really associates this first gift of the season with the church and the Lord.
     At four o'clock on Christmas Eve the Church was lovely with evergreens and poinsettias for the children's service. The choir marched in, preceded by the pastor and followed by the children of the school. All brought offerings in envelopes, and again the little children came forward, alone or with their parents. It often takes more than one complete rendition of "From the Eastern Mountains" to accomplish this. Mr. Odhner gave a talk to the children on preparing a manger for the Lord in our own hearts.
     On Christmas Eve a group of young people, many of them students home from Bryn Athyn, serenaded the houses in the Park with carols. They were led by Mr. John Alan, who wore a miner's head-lamp for finding the pages. Christmas Day was sunny and snowless, and the Society was well represented at church. This was the final opportunity to sing the favorite songs, and everyone made the most of it. Mr. Acton's sermon described the meaning of Bethlehem and the many other correspondences contained in the Christmas story.
     In the past months there have been some personnel changes in Glenview. The James Barrys of nearby Northbrook moved to Phoenix, Arizona. Edmund Smith and his family have gone to Dorset; Vermont, to live near the Gilbert Smiths. On the other hand, Mrs. Margaret Ewald is now living in the renovated Coffin house, as are the William Hugos and two children, all formerly of Chicago. And Mr. and Mrs. Raoul Vinet and two children are looking for a place to live in this vicinity. Mr. and Mrs. Carl Lau are living in the little house formerly owned by Mrs. John Headsten. Mrs. Lau is the former Barbara Lee Williams. We are sorry to lose Mrs. Kenneth Cole, who on New Year's Eve became the wife of Mr. Ivan Smith of Bryn Athyn, but we wish Dorothy and her three sons happiness in their new home in Bryn Athyn.
     In closing may we wish everyone a happy and useful New Year.
          GLORIA BARRY
FIRE AND THE LIGHT OF LIFE 1956

FIRE AND THE LIGHT OF LIFE 1956

"There is in man the fire of life, and the light of life. The fire of life is his love, and the light of life is his faith. The love of good, that is, love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor, makes the fire of life in a good man and in an angel of heaven; and the love of truth and the faith of truth make the light of life in them. But the love of evil, that is, the love of self and the love of the world, makes the fire of life in an evil man and in a spirit of hell; and the love and faith of what is false make the light of life in them" (AC 9141:2).

PERMEATION 1956

     Announcements.

     "It was a spring evening. The peach trees stood arrayed in pink and looked as though a more substantial covering would be more comfortable. The other trees had a suspicion of green among their branches which somehow gave the impression of blue noses as they stood shivering in the cold rain that was driving over the country. The chickens were collected in various groups in sheltered spots and many of them were standing on one leg and trying to make themselves balls of feathers. The Horse had ensconced himself in a sheltered nook of the wagon shed, and that honest citizen of the farmyard, the Gray Goose, was standing on one leg near him.
     "'You cannot deny,' said the Gray Goose, continuing the conversation, 'that we are moved by a noble and unselfish feeling. We enjoy the blessings of our peaceful farmyard and we yearn to extend its folds to all the denizens of the surrounding forests, swamps, and jungles, and when one of our young goes forth into those regions and never returns we rejoice to think that he is performing a great use; we know that he is permeating those regions with the peaceful influence of the farmyard and, if I may so speak, giving food to the poor outcast and hungering natives. There is nothing selfish about us. We are animated by noble thoughts to unselfish actions.'
     "'And you are so modest in publishing your good points,' said the Horse. 'Yes we are, very-Well?' 'And there is no doubt but that your young who stray forth do permeate the hungering foxes!' 'Yes, yes,' said the Gray Goose, after stealing several covert glances at his companion, and sought his nightly quarters" (Anshutz, Fables).

TWENTY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1956

     LONDON, ENGLAND, JULY 24-29, 1956

Tuesday, July 24
     11:00 a.m. Meeting of Ministers. Wynter Room, Swedenborg House
     2:15 p.m. Ministers' Luncheon
     7:30 p.m. Reception at Victoria Hall

Wednesday, July 25
     11:00 a.m. First Session of the Assembly Episcopal Address
     2:15 p.m. Luncheon
     6:00 p.m. Second Session of the Assembly
     8:00 p.m. Supper

Thursday, July 26
     11:00 a.m. Third Session of the Assembly
     2:15 p.m. Luncheon
     6:00 p.m. Fourth Session of the Assembly
     8:00 p.m. Supper

Friday, July 27
     Morning No Session
     2:15 p.m. Luncheon
     3:30 p.m. Sons of the Academy Meeting in Victoria Hall
     3:30 p.m. Theta Alpha Meeting in Swedenborg Hall
     6:00 p.m. Fifth Session of the Assembly
     8:00 p.m. Supper

Saturday, July 28
     10:00 a.m. Sixth Session of the Assembly
     No Luncheon
     7:00 p.m. Assembly Banquet. Provisionally at Connaught Rooms, Kingsway

Sunday, July 29
     11:00 a.m. Divine Worship
     2:15 p.m. Luncheon at Coventry Street Corner House
      4:00 p.m. Administration of the Holy Supper
     6:00 p.m. Tea (?)
GOING TO SWEDEN? 1956

GOING TO SWEDEN? 1956

The Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner has prepared a few pages of notes on places connected with Swedenborg's life. Assembly visitors who plan to visit Sweden while in Europe this summer, and who would be interested in seeing these places, any obtain a copy of the notes by writing to Dr. Odhner at Bryn Athyn, Pa.

TRUST IN THE LORD 1956

TRUST IN THE LORD Jr. Rev. GEOFFREY S. CHILDS 1956

NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. LXXVI MARCH, 1956           No. 3
     "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's Sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest mine head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." (Psalm 23)

     This is a song of trust in the Lord-a song of gentle willingness to be led by Him. But although its words are hauntingly beautiful, their real meaning is perhaps not clear. For in what does trust in the Lord really consist?
     The Lord Himself, when on earth, defined such trust in this manner: "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:25, 26, 31-33).
     The literal teaching here seems clear. We should trust that the Lord will provide us with all things, material and spiritual.

We should not care for and worry over our material and spiritual needs; rather we should trust that the Lord will provide. "Take therefore no thought for morrow," the Lord taught, "for the morrow will take thought for the things of itself" (Matthew 6:34). Yet despite the force of these literal teachings, we cannot help having doubts about them when it comes to our material needs. We secretly wonder, if we do not take care for the material needs of the morrow, who will?
     This questioning of the literal meaning is justified, for the Lord is here speaking in appearances. This is not a statement of open truth, of genuine truth. It is a case, like myriads of others in the Word, in which the genuine truth lies within, in the spiritual sense, and in which the letter of the Word is speaking in appearances. Thus we read: "He who looks at the subject [these words in Matthew] no deeper than from the sense of the letter may believe that all care for the merrow is to be cast aside, and thus that the necessaries of life are to be awaited daily from heaven" (AC 8478:2). And then follows this essential teaching: "It, [care for the morrow] does not mean the care of procuring for one's self food and clothing, and even resources for the time to come; for it is not contrary to order for anyone to be provident for himself and his own" (ibid.). The doctrine here is clear. We must give thought and care to our future material needs, for the sake of our families and ourselves. To do so is according to order. To trust blandly that the Lord will provide for our material needs is to cast aside a responsibility that is actually our own.
     But though we should care for the material needs of the morrow, we should not worry and be anxious about them, for all worry and anxiety originate in hell. The words, "care for," have two distinct meanings. The first is, "taking care of, or providing for"; the second is, "worry about, or being anxious about." When the Writings teach that it is orderly to care for the material needs of the morrow they are using the first meaning, namely, that we should provide for those needs. They never advocate worry or anxiety, emotions that originate in hell.
     There is, then, a certain literal truth in the Lord's words: "Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat! or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?" Once we have planned and provided for these things to the best of our ability, we should then take no thought in the sense of worrying about them. It is very, very seldom that our barest needs are not taken care of in Providence.
     It is interior care for the morrow that the Lord is condemning in Matthew, and in the spiritual sense His words are words of warning. What is meant by them in that sense is revealed in these words: "Those have [interior] care for the morrow who are not content with their lot; who do not trust in the Divine, but in themselves; and who have regard or worldly things, and not for heavenly things.

With such there universally reigns solicitude about things to come. They grieve if they do not obtain the objects of their desire, and feel anguish at the loss of them; "and they have no consolation, because of the anger they feel against the Divine, which they reject together with everything of faith, and curse themselves" (AC 8418:2).
     The states we have experienced may seem far removed from such interior care for the morrow. But although it may seem this way at first glance, further reflection will disclose the truth: such care for the morrow plagues every human life. For every man is plagued by a ruling evil until he has been completely regenerated. This ruling evil cries out to be indulged. And when it is blocked or thwarted, man is thrown into deep depression. In such depression, whether we are aware of it or not, we "reject the Lord, together with everything of faith, and curse" our fate. This happens whenever our ruling love has been frustrated and we are consequently in a low and depressed state.
     We are taught that the case is very different with "those who trust in the Divine. These, notwithstanding they have care for the morrow, still have it not; because they do not think of the morrow with solicitude, still less with anxiety. Unruffled is their spirit whether they obtain the objects of their desire or not; and they do not grieve over the loss of them, being content with their lot. If they become rich, they do not set their hearts on riches; if they are raised to honors, they do not regard themselves as more worthy than others; if they become poor, they are not made sad; if their circumstances are mean, they are not dejected. They know that for those who trust in the Divine all things advance together toward a happy state to eternity, and that whatsoever befalls them in time is still conducive thereto" (AC 8478:3).
     These are most beautiful words, words describing a state that is unforgettable. Yet how can such a state of complete trust ever be reached when we are plagued by interior care for the morrow? The answer of Divine revelation is clear. There is only one thing that stands between man and complete trust in the Lord, and that is his ruling evil. And if he will but concentrate all his spiritual strength into shunning that evil, he will find peace and trust. He will lose all care for the morrow.
     There is nothing more difficult than giving up the delight of our ruling evil. Yet there is nothing that is more rewarding. For this is the straightest path to heaven, to that state in which all anxiety and care fade away.
     With all the care of His providence the Lord helps man to find this path, and to walk upon it. He does it, first of all, by allowing man to experience occasionally the peace and trust of heaven, so that he may know what he is working toward.

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Thus we read: "With those who are to be regenerated, the case is that first of all they are in a state of tranquillity, or in a state of external peace; this is produced from the Divine state of peace that is inmostly within. But as man passes into a new life, he also passes at the same time into an untranquil state; for the evils and falsities with which he had before become imbued come forth and disturb, and this . . . to such a degree that he is then in temptations. Yet inmostly the man is in a state of peace, for unless this were with him inmostly he would not combat; for in his battlings he is continually looking to this state as an end, and unless he had such an end, he would in no wise have power and strength to combat" (AC 3696:1, 2).
     Thus it is that before man faces the struggles of regeneration he is permitted to experience states of peace and trust. This happens especially in childhood and in youth. Thus man knows something of what heavenly: happiness and trust are like, and there is implanted in him the desire to work for those things. In his adult life, when he faces the awful power of his ruling love, he remembers what true peace and trust were like, and he begins to fight against his own evil.
     He finds encouragement and strength to make this fight when he turns to the Lord, especially when he turns to the Lord in His Word. And it is then that the 23rd Psalm may be of particular help; for this psalm is one of trust in the Lord, and it evokes the memory of that trust as it was in childhood: "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters." It is this same trust that will enable us to fight against our ruling evil in the present.
     But the 23rd Psalm is also a picture of trust as it is with the near regenerate and the regenerate man; that is, it describes states that may be ours in the future. The first verse, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want," is a statement of open truth. "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures." We read: "When instruction or doctrine from the Word is spoken of in heaven, then there are represented to the sight meadows green with grass" (AC 5201 1:4). Grass and the herbs of the field represent truths and delight in truths; and into such luxuriant pastures is the regenerating man led-the man who is willing to renounce his ruling love and give his whole soul up in trust to the Lord. "Lying down" represents a state of tranquillity, and the regenerating man finds complete tranquillity of mind in the pastures of interior truth. It is such tranquillity that is spoken of in these quiet words: "I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for Thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety" (Psalm 4:8).
     "He leadeth me beside the still waters." Still waters represent Divine truths in ultimates, the truths of the letter of the Word. Within these still waters the regenerating man discovers the infinite depth of truth; and this brings to his spirit a stillness and rest that penetrate inmostly.

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These quiet waters soothe his heart, and give him an unshakable sense of trust.
     It is the interior truth signified by "green pastures" and the ultimate truth signified by "still waters" that restore man's soul. It is these truths tat lead him "in the paths of righteousness."
     Moreover, it is the love of truth, and belief in it, that make a man fearless in the time of temptation. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me." The Divine staff is the Divine good
with man. His rod is His truth with man. These comfort man in temptation and depression, protecting him from fear and failure. The Divine rod and staff protect man because the Lord's truth and good have irresistible power. So it was that Moses struck the rock in Horeb, and water came forth; and he raised the rod of God over the host of Amalek, and it went down to defeat.
     It seems to man that the evil of his proprium is so great that it can never be overcome. Yet if man trusts in the Lord, and fights evil, then the enemies of his soul will be overcome and held in subjection, and he will be fed with the bread of heaven. "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies." This is the table of spiritual food-of interior affections and loves. Such interior loves are insinuated into man despite the presence of the hells within him; and the man to whom they are thus given is blessed with wisdom-signified by the anointing of the head with oil-and is gifted with an abundance of heavenly intelligence-the overflowing cup.
     The 23rd Psalm tells of the delights given to those who completely trust in the Lord. Its words urge man to forsake the interior care for the morrow caused by his ruling love, and to find rest by the green pastures and still waters. The gentle message of this psalm finds its complement in the abrupt words of the Lord in Matthew: "Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?" Here the Lord warns man against the infernal food of his ruling evil, the cheap wine of its excuses, and the clothing of its justifications. If man takes no thought for these things, but shuns them, he will eat at that table which the Lord prepares. Then "goodness and mercy shall follow [him] all the days of [his] life: and [he] will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." He will find that completeness of trust which is given to the angels. Amen.

     LESSONS: Psalm 37. Matthew 6:19-34. Arcana Coelestia, no. 8478.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 500, 487, 507.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 20, 101.

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PALM SUNDAY 1956

PALM SUNDAY Rev. ORMOND ODHNER 1956

     When its genuine natural significance is understood, every event connected with the Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, commemorated on Palm Sunday, is found to be concerned with the proclamation or coronation of a king. If we forget all the customs of our present day, and steep ourselves in Jewish law and tradition, we can see that the Lord Himself deliberately and Purposely set in motion on that day a chain of events which, for His disciples and for all the Jews in Jerusalem, could have only one meaning: the Messiah, the Promised One-or, to doubters, He who said He was the Messiah-had come, and today was proclaiming His kingdom.
     The story begins, perhaps, on the Mount of Olives, near the villages of Bethphage and Bethany, across the brook Kidron from Jerusalem. It is the time of Passover. Perhaps as many as a million Jewish pilgrims from all over the known world have flocked to the holy city for this most sacred of festivals: this feast that was instituted to celebrate Israel's deliverance from one great tyrant, Egypt, and was now celebrated under another tyrant whose rule became more oppressive every day.
     That well known, homeless, wandering preacher and healer the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head-is reportedly headed toward the feast. His disciples claim that He is the long promised Messiah-the Anointed One, the Deliverer; and one of them will not wait much longer before he decides to force this Messiah to proclaim His kingdom. His name has suddenly skyrocketed into nationwide prominence: for in nearby Bethany-and none can doubt or belittle this miracle-He has brought back to life a man not only dead, but dead so long that his putrefying body stank. Surely this must be the one!
     And Jesus proclaimed that He was indeed. He and His disciples were journeying to the capital city, the royal city, where surely now, they thought, He would restore the kingdom. The mother of James and John had just asked of Him that her two sons might sit at His side in the coming day of His glory. Clearly, His disciples were excited with great expectations. And now the Master did that which could have but one single meaning: the day had come.

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     The Royal Entry

     He sent two of His disciples into the nearby village, that they might bring Him the colt of an ass on which to ride into Jerusalem. For over a thousand years this had been a sign of kingship or of rule among the Jews. The great judges of old had ridden on asses and their colts. Kings returning victorious from war had done the same. And now He who claimed all judgment as His alone, He who spoke so often of His kingdom, He it was who commanded them to bring the ass's colt for His entry into the capital. And one thing more He specified, filled with meaning from ages past when connected with Him who stated His own holiness, His equality with God. The colt would be one as yet unridden: and since the days of Moses, the unyoked, unbroken animal had had attached to it something of sanctity; no other could be used for sacrifice or for any holy work. And had not the prophet said: "Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass"?
     Thus did the Lord proclaim His day and purpose. He needed not to say anything else. The disciples understood at once. They went and brought the colt. And when they had put their outer garments on it for a kind of saddle-a sign of allegiance to a king-they set Him on it. A multitude had now come together about Him, and all were aware of the meaning of the event. They did that which had been done in leading a king to his coronation at least since the days of Jehu, nine hundred years before: they paved His way with their garments, or, in lieu of that, with the clothing of the trees, the palm trees.
     And their every cry that rent the air was prefaced with that familiar word with which the Jew opened a petition to his king or ruler: "Hosanna!"-"Save, now, we beseech thee!" "Redress our grievances, O King!" "Hosanna to the Son of David"-the promised Messiah was to be of that royal seed. "Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord"-David himself had said this of the Messiah. "Hosanna in the highest! Blessed be the kingdom of our father David!"-for this was its restoration. "Peace in heaven! Glory in the highest!"
     To hypocritical Pharisees who urged Him to command the mob to silence He replied: "I tell you, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out." He acknowledged the tribute of the throng, called it right, proclaimed Himself the king from eternity.
     The multitudes that hailed Him grew so great as almost to obscure the sight of Him. The jubilant procession now approached the city. But look, now; what is this! Something happens which gives the first indication that their expectations are awry. Jesus, beholding the city, weeps over it, proclaims its utter blindness in this its day, and prophesies its complete and total destruction.

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     And thus, "weeping in the day of His triumph," He enters the city, Crowds there ask, "who is this?" "This," the multitudes reply, "is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee." And the mob well knew whom they meant. This was He who had resurrected Lazarus: this, the proclaimed Messiah. But, lo! the royal palace is far across the city, and He turns instead to the temple-for that alone was His in all the city. He enters the temple and looks around it, all around. Crowds follow Him everywhere, crowds so great that the hostile Pharisees say to each other: "Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing! behold, the world is gone after Him." And then?-nothing: nothing at all. Evening has now come, and He leaves the royal city to lodge for the night in the little village of Bethany.

     The Hidden Purpose

     The Palm Sunday story, then, shows the Lord deliberately setting in motion a ceremony which He knew to be that of coronation-a ceremony the meaning of which the disciples could not mistake-when yet He knew, and frequently said, that His kingdom was not of this world. Why, we may ask, did He do it?
     The royal entry was, of course, a prophecy of its spiritual counterpart, which would take place a week later when He rose from the deepest meekness and humiliation, fully glorified and united with the Father, to reign as King of heaven and earth forever. But it was more than that. The Word in the letter is written as it is primarily for the sake of angels, and only secondarily for the sake of men. The Lord on earth was the Word, and we must therefore conclude that His every word and act was primarily for the sake of the heavens, and only secondarily for the sake of the men on earth who heard and saw him.
     He had, of course, to show His disciples that He was indeed their King, the King, in fact, of all. Moreover, He did that which showed what type of king He was: He went to the temple, not to the palace, for He rules the hearts of men by truths, and not their bodies by force and might. "But these things understood not His disciples at the first"; nor have most men understood them ever since.
     For the heavens, however, the results of His Palm Sunday triumph were tremendous, There is no time in the spiritual world, nor in anything Divine. That which is said or done in prophecy is already present in the heavens. Internally, the events of Palm Sunday prefigured the full glorification of the Lord's Human, His reception in the hearts of men, and His final ascension above the heavens as the one and only God. To the heavens, then, these things were already present, were already accomplished: and perhaps we may say that this gave them the strength they would need to sustain them through the terrible bitterness that lay just five days ahead; that and assurance of His ultimate success in the work He had come to perform.

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With this in mind, let us investigate the particulars of the Lord's triumphal entry into the holy city.

     The Signification

     The Mount of Olives. The story begins on the Mount of Olives, that same mountain from which the Lord would ascend into heaven forty days after rising from the tomb. A mountain signifies love, for love causes spiritual elevation. With the Lord it signifies His Divine love of saving humanity-the love that brought about His incarnation, carried Him to victory in temptation, and effected His glorification. Especially does the Mount of Olives signify this love, for olives signify the good of love-celestial, heavenly loves. It was from this love that the descent to His coronation began; it was in this love that He was finally united with the Father. No other love, in fact, ever motivated any act or word of His life; and it would seem to be of providence that-although it is there out of its chronological order, and was given from another mountain-the first recorded teaching of the Lord to be found in the New Testament is the Sermon on the Mount. The Lord never taught truth except from love, the love of saving souls.
     In regard to man, the significance of the triumphal entry starting from the Mount of Olives would seem to be that it is only from love, love to the Lord or toward the neighbor, that the process of regeneration can begin. The process whereby the Lord, through His truth received into life, establishes His kingdom in man's heart must start from such love.

     Bethphage. Even the village of Bethphage has a spiritual significance. Its name means "the house of unripe figs"; and figs, a food, represent spiritual food, or truths. The barren fig tree was cursed, and withered and died, to represent the fact that the Jewish Church, because devoid of all truths, had come to its end and was deserted. The Lord, descending the Mount of Olives, came to Bethphage, the house of unripe figs. From Divine love He entered into truths not yet ripe for human consumption, not yet prepared to give spiritual nourishment. But He would make them ready: He would show the genuine meaning of all truth.
     But what is the significance in regard to man? When, from love, he enters the path toward the kingdom of God, the truths he has are as yet unripe; but through the temptations ahead, trust in the Lord will make them fit and perfect spiritual food.

     The Two Disciples. Which of the two disciples were sent to get the colt is never said.

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We simply note, therefore, that "two" signifies conjunction, and that, spiritually, it is good and truth, love and wisdom, that are conjoined. Not a knowledge of truth alone, for that is fruitless, nor yet a love of good alone, for that is pointless, but the two conjoined are what bring to the Lord this animal on which He may ride in His glory.

     The Colt. Three of the four evangelists tell of the bringing of the colt. John does not, though he mentions the Lord riding upon it. Matthew tells of the Lord saying to the two disciples: "Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her loose them, and bring them unto Me. And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them" (21:2, 3).
     Mark mentions only the ass's colt. The disciples would find it as soon as they entered the village. It would be a colt "whereon never man sat." The disciples found it "tied by the door without in a place where two ways met." The bystanders asked what they meant loosing the colt. They repeated the words, "the Lord hath need of him." And they were immediately allowed to depart, taking the colt (11:2-6). Here we note that the Revised Standard Version, with what authority we cannot imagine, substitutes "out in the open street" for "in a place where two ways meet." Both the original Greek and the Latin of the Writings, however, clearly term it "a place where two ways meet"-"meet," or it can be "divide."
     Luke also says that the colt would be one on which a man had never sat. But he gives little additional information except that it was the owners who questioned the disciples' action, and permitted the borrowing of the colt because "the Lord hath need of him" (19:30-34).
     It should be remembered that horses were somewhat of a rarity in ancient Canaan. Even mules and asses were prized possessions. The ass, though humble and recognized as such, was yet the animal to carry the judge or the king in his triumph: and does it not befit the greatest: judge, the most triumphant king, to be humble before his God? But as a steed the ass, like the horse, signifies the rational mind (AC 5741); for is it not rationality that "gets man places," spiritually speaking?
     It was, then, the ass's colt that was the Lord's steed on this day of His triumph. It was by taking a rational mind to Himself and completely subordinating it to Himself-riding upon it, glorifying it-that the Lord restored the means of entering into conjunction with men. And it is by the use of his God-given faculty of rationality that man can enter into mutual conjunction with his God: in no other way can man allow Divine truth to establish the kingdom of God within him than by gaining a rational understanding of it. The Lord rules heaven and earth, we are taught, because regenerate men receive from Him alone every truth of their faith and all the resultant good and happiness (HH 5).

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     But the colt is one as yet unridden. In the regenerating man it is that which has never been yoked with any evil love or affection, never put to any proprial or merely human use, which serves as a mount for the Lord's advent as King into his life. And the rational mind which the Lord took to Himself, and glorified, was indeed one on which man had never yet ridden, nor ever would, save He alone.

     The She-Ass. It would seem that the mother ass never served as a steed for the Lord that day, though one account gives her that role, too, and it is supremely true that the Lord fulfilled the significance of riding on a she-ass. The female signifies affection. The she-ass signifies the affection of natural truth (AC 2781), and this indeed is the "mother" of genuine rationality. Natural truth, it should be remembered, is different from natural fact. The sight of truth always entails a vision of the Lord, a perception of His will. Natural truth therefore entails a vision of the Lord, or a perception of His will and purpose, in natural and scientific facts; hence the she-ass signifies the love and desire of gaining such vision and perception. This, and this alone, can be the mother of a genuine, spiritual rationality: not just a desire to learn natural facts and science, but a desire to find the Lord's purpose and will in all things of nature.
     With man it is this which gives rise to genuine, spiritual rationality. In the Lord also it was this, though in an infinite degree, that gave birth to that rational which with Him was glorified-an infinite longing to open up for men a sight of the will of God on the plane of their natural lives.
     The Lord's riding upon the ass's colt signifies, then, not only that He took to Himself a rational and glorified it but also, though this is really the same, that He subordinated His rationality to the Divine will that was inmostly within Him. Riding upon the she-ass represents the fact that the natural with Him was also subordinated to His Divine will or love. And the man who would have the Lord rule his heart and mind as King must also subordinate his own rationality, and the natural plane of his mind as well, to the will of God.

     Where Two Ways Meet. It is significant also that the ass's colt and its mother were found at a place "where two ways meet." For this is said in the Writings of the rational mind itself.
     "There are," we read, "two ways which lead into man's rational mind: a higher, or internal, one through which good and truth from the Lord enter; and a lower, or external, one through which evil and falsity come up from hell. The rational mind itself is in the middle, and to it these ways tend" (AC 2851).

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     This, of course, calls to mind another passage, frequently read at the Rite of Confirmation. "There are two principles, one of which leads to all folly and insanity, and the other to all intelligence and wisdom. The former is to deny all things, or to say in one's heart that he cannot believe them before he is convinced by what he can grasp or feel. This . . . is to be called the negative principle. The other is to affirm those things which are of doctrine from the Word, or to think and believe within one's self that they are true because the Lord has said them. This . . . is to be called the affirmative principle" (AC 2568).
     Concerning the two ways to the rational mind we read again: "Two ways lead to man's rational, one from heaven, the other from the world. By the way from heaven good is introduced, by the way from the world truth is introduced. So far as the way from heaven is opened . . . so far man is affected by truth and becomes rational. But if the way from heaven is shut man does not become rational, that is, see truth from the light of truth; for he does not see truth, and yet it is truth from the light of truth that makes the rational. He can, indeed, reason about truth, and from reasoning or from memory can talk about it; but he is not able to see whether truth is truth. . . . Through the gate that is opened from heaven the spiritual affection of truth from the Lord enters . . . but by the gate . . . that is open from the world all knowledge from the Word and from preaching enters. . . . The spiritual affection of truth joined with such knowledges constitutes man's rational, and enlightens it according to the quality of the truth conjoined to the good, and according to the quality of the conjunction" (AE 208:3).
     Some writers in the church, however, have understood the phrase, "a place where two ways meet," as meaning either a crossroads or a fork in the road where two ways part. Both the original Greek and the Latin would allow these interpretations, and both, moreover, would be significative. A crossroads, the most important in history-the decision as to whether the faculty of rationality shall be used for selfish purposes or for the glory of God. And the fork in the road? We recall the description in Heaven and Hell: The common way of life in which all men walk together; the stone at the corner, representing Divine truth; the good who see the road turn into the narrow, straitened way toward the left, leading to the light of heaven; the evil who, blind to the truth, fall upon the stone and, hurt by it, pick themselves up and rush down the broad and easy way to the right, the way that slants obliquely down toward hell (see HH 534).

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     The Owner's Question. The owner of the colt and its mother now asks the disciples: "What do ye, loosing the colt?" "The Lord hath need of him," they reply, and straightway he lets them go. Free will, free assent to the will of God: this, and almost this alone, is put into man's power to give, and this that man gives willingly who would have the Lord establish the kingdom of God within him.
     As to the Lord Himself, with Him there was, of course, no other desire or love than to carry out the purpose for which He had come on earth. His maternal heredity, at this juncture of His life, might question His avowed purpose of going on to death and glory, submitting all things to the will of God. His maternal heredity might tempt Him, but it would not stand before His single purpose: "The Lord hath need of them."
     This whole incident of the ass's colt and its mother is one of the dearest indications the Lord gave of His omniscience. From afar He saw where the ass's colt was tied; from the present He told the future words and actions of its owner. He was omniscient of the present and also of the future.
     And man must acknowledge the Lord's omniscience, His infinite wisdom, if the Lord is ever to rule his life as King. For until man at least acknowledges that the Lord's wisdom is superior to his own he cannot, and will not, trust in God. And acknowledgment involves consent to a thing with the will as well as with the understanding.
     Yet what would this mean with the Lord, this which with man is acknowledgment of the Lord's omniscience) It means, perhaps, the perception that only what came to Him from the Father was to be acknowledged, and nothing from the maternal heredity that pressed upon Him from without. "Father, if Thou be willing, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not My will, but Thine, be done."

     Garments and Palms. And now the disciples have made a saddle or blanket for the Lord to sit upon with their outer garments. Others in the throng, now hailing Him as King, pave the way He rides; some with their clothes, others with branches, palm branches.
     The clothing of the disciples and the clothing of the trees: it is truths that clothe the loves of the heart and mind. All the truths man knows are now subordinated to the Lord as the supreme Judge: all truths, including those learned from revelation, which are specifically meant by the palm branches. And in the Lord, every fact, cognition and perception, is now ordered by His Divine will.

     The Progress. The Lord now starts the ride toward the holy city as King and Judge; meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt, the foal of an ass. He became King, indeed, through judgment.

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He glorified His Human by judging and casting from it all that was evil, mortal and finite. And He becomes King in man when man allows Him to judge between the good and the evil in his life.
     It is truth that judges. The Father hath committed all judgment unto the Son. Indeed the first effect of truth, received into life, is judgment; and we may humbly say with certainty that if truth has not brought judgment into our lives, judgment between good and evil, then truth is not yet in us.

     Hosanna to the San of David! "Hosanna," the crowd now cries to Him. "Save now, we beseech Thee! Hosanna in the highest!" The Lord came to save those beseeching salvation. The angels lament when the church is at its end, and supplicate the Lord to make His advent speedily and to raise up a new church.
     "Hosanna to the Son of David! Save now, we beseech Thee, Thou who art both conceived and born of Jehovah! Blessed be He that cometh in the name of the Lord"-in the full quality of Divinity. "Blessed be the kingdom of our father David"-that Divine Human mind now fully ordered and established by the Divine love of saving the human race. "Peace in heaven!" Not, as on the night He was born, peace on earth; but peace in heaven because the fulness of peace was restored there through the Lord's victory over the hells in temptations. "Glory in the highest!"

     The Pharisees Answered. The Pharisees tell the Lord to command the throng to be silent. But He replies: "I tell you that if these should hold their peace the stones would immediately cry out." Those who acknowledge the Lord as King are simply putting into thought and word that truth, that very foundation of truth, which is eternal: the Lord Jesus Christ is the one and only God of heaven and earth.

     The Lament for the City. But now, as they near Jerusalem, the Lord looks upon the city and weeps, proclaims its spiritual blindness, foretells its utter destruction. It is recorded twice that Jesus wept; never that He laughed. Love weeps-weeps from sadness, from mercy, for joy. Love also exults and is joyous. But most laughter, though not all, has in it something of derision.
     The Lord, then, looked upon the city and wept. He was coming now as King; but He became King only through judgment, and judgment is never pleasant, nor is it an end in itself. There was an infinity of sorrow in the Lord's victories over evil; sorrow that many would deliberately refuse His salvation.

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This, indeed, must have been present terribly in all His temptations-sorrow that man must be allowed to go to hell. And in also there is sorrow before the Lord can finally become his King, the deep sorrow and grief of temptation.
     Weeping, the Writings say, signifies the utmost of grief over the desolation of truth (AC 2869). It is, they say also, significative of both sadness and love (AC 6566). But when, as here, it is predicated of the Lord it means to have mercy, for mercy is nothing but love grieving (AC 5480). And Jerusalem, over which He wept, represents the church, the last days of which He now saw: the last days when, it is said, there would be no charity, and consequently no faith (ibid.) Obviously this does not refer to the" Jewish Church, which was already dead, but to the Christian Church the Lord was now about to found. His reign in His church would be short, until He came again; but He wept now for the church, not for Himself.

     The City and the Temple. They enter into the city, and the multitude asks: "Who is this?" The answer is given: "This is Jesus, the Prophet of Nazareth of Galilee"; for a prophet signifies the Word, and the Lord was, is, and will ever be, the Word.
     Then He enters the temple and inspects all things therein: His holy temple, the temple of His body, His human mind now glorified and made Divine; to see, as it were, that all things therein were now in order and in readiness for His ascension. And thus, perhaps, He brought to the heavens as already present the fulness of His glorification.

     The Pharisees' Complaint. But the Pharisees say among themselves:-"See ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the world hath gone after Him"-"the world," or as we would say, "everybody." These are the hells, now lining up for their final assault upon Him. The good have turned to the Lord, the evil have turned away. On earth and in the world of spirits judgment has been rendered between them. The sides have been chosen. Only the final conflict and victory yet remain to come.

     The Retirement. And then the Lord retires to the village of Bethany, whence, later, He would ascend above the heavens into union with the Father: this Man, once born on earth, who by judgment had now become King, and as King had become God-the one and only God of heaven and earth, our Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ, whose reign shall endure forever.

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PROFESSOR CAMILLE VINET 1956

PROFESSOR CAMILLE VINET Rev. WILLIAM WHITEHEAD 1956

     From a Memorial Address

     (Delivered at a Memorial Service, Bryn Athyn, Pa., January 29, 1956.)

     Thus in heaven there are "many mansions"-infinite varieties of spiritual state, innumerable societies of those who are brought together according to the states of the good of love and faith in which they are. As it is beautifully presented in the work Heaven and Hell: "Like are brought as of themselves to their like; for with their like they are as with their own and at home. . . . When with their like they are also in their freedom, and so in all the enjoyment of life" (HH 44).
     Death therefore has no terrors for those who have been so led by the Lord. It is but the stepping across a threshold into the home which their hearts have desired: a home in which disease and evil, unhappiness and the tyranny of space and time, will oppress no more, and in which men and women and children may at last taste of the peace and innocence of a life filled with the Divine love and wisdom.
     Let us then, be glad and rejoice; for our friend and neighbor, Camille Vinet, has gone to his happiness and freedom in his lasting home. But a few days short of ninety years, he has from early boyhood been deeply interested in acquiring knowledge, especially as to spiritual and abstract things. Born in a tiny village in southwest France, his early religious atmosphere was that of his parents, simple, hard-working country people whom he always loved and respected. They were of the Roman Catholic faith. Camille first partook of communion in the Roman Church at the age of twelve. But his mind, even as a youth, was soon immersed in the works of scientists and philosophers and their theories. Books were his passion and his luxury, and this throughout his life. Yet he never read a Bible until he was twenty-two years of age; and then, by the urging of Protestant friends, he managed after great difficulty to secure the permission of his Catholic bishop to purchase a Bible. In order to secure a degree, he early studied the sciences, and later he was a student in the medical school of the French navy for four years.
     The reading of the Bible, however, and the spiritual problems aroused in his mind, absorbed him more and more, and for three months he was a member of the Salvation Army.

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Here he was quickly disappointed in his search for a faith that would satisfy his reason; but it was at this time that an elderly man in one of his audiences told him of the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg and gave him a copy of Heaven and Hell.
     In a very short time he came to the conclusion that these teachings were Divinely inspired. They appealed to his reason as the fulfillment of the Christian Gospel, and as answering his difficulties about the Old Testament. He argued that no human being could create out of his imagination the inner truths of the spiritual world revealed in the Writings.
     For two years he taught French in a well known school in Holland-the Institut Noorthey Voorschoten-one of the pupils being the Queen of Holland. In Paris, about 1895, he met members of the New Church from the United States, and he was invited to study for the New Church ministry. He promptly declined this suggestion, saying: "A minister has such a great responsibility. It is necessary to know perfectly well the Writings and the Bible, and to put them in practice much better than anyone else, to be, I daresay, an angel on earth" (Letter to the Rev. C. T. Odhner, July 22, 1897).
     But in 1897, the year of the organization of the General Church, he was prevailed on to come to this country as a member of the faculty of the Academy of the New Church. Here he taught for nearly half a century; and not only French but, at various times, Botany, Chemistry, Physics, and Mathematics. His scholarly contributions to the intellectual- life of the church, especially in the fields of science and philosophy, were highly regarded.
     As a man he had the respect and affection of all his colleagues, and of a host of ex-pupils now scattered around the world. The government of France accorded him signal honors for his work in fostering good will between nations.
     His chief absorption, however, was the living out of the teachings of his faith, which he persistently did to the end of his days. He was truly an unworldly man. He was not interested in material prosperity. It was enough for him to have a place to sleep, enough food on which to subsist, and clothes with which to protect the body from the elements. He was pleased that he needed so little money. The business of life, he said, was to keep busy with one's mind and hands, and to help anyone who needed one's aid. This doctrine of use was ever on his mind.
     To a friend he said a few years ago: "I think that you and I will work up to our last day on this earth. Even if all bodily strength had left us, let me pray that we retain at least to the very end enough mental, moral, Christian energy to bend our backs humbly and pick along the road that rare and priceless flower that is called wisdom."

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These words are the measure of this our friend.
He loved nature-all the things of creation-especially trees, plants, herbs, and insects, and attended them even after he was blind. He loved the neighbor; speaking evil of none, helping all who asked his aid. In great humility he sought to love God and to do His will. In all the trials of his life we find no trace of thoughts for self or of self-pity. And when, in reciting each day the Lord's Prayer, he said, "Thy will be done," that is what he meant, and that is what he did.
Truly it can be said of this our friend: "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in His way. For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not His saints; they are preserved forever" (Psalm 37:23, 28). Amen.
HOLY SUPPER 1956

HOLY SUPPER Rev. ERIK SANDSTROM 1956

It could be said that the chapter on the Holy Supper in the True Christian Religion (nos. 698-730) contains all the laws relating to this most holy act of worship that may ever be discovered. From the instruction there given it is apparent that the Holy Supper is the sacrament of conjunction with the Lord. For we read: "Those who worthily approach the Holy Supper are in the Lord, and He in them; consequently, conjunction with the Lord is effected by the Holy Supper" (TCR 725). And as conjunction with the Lord is the same as regeneration, it is clear that the Holy Supper is at the same time the sacrament of regeneration. Baptism, the first sacrament, is, on the other hand, the sacrament of preparation for regeneration and conjunction (see TCR 667-691). Together they make one, and each sacrament-the first leading to the second, and the second presupposing the first-contains within it everything that pertains to religion and hence to salvation. These are the things that are explained comprehensively in the respective chapters of the True Christian Religion.
It is sometimes thought that the two sacraments were instituted merely as reminders of what relates to spiritual life. And they are reminders, it is true, but they are not merely or even essentially that. For the Lord would never institute something that was in itself just an external thing. To Him the external has no worth whatsoever, save as the external of an internal; or, as we read: "The Lord's Divine Providence, in all that it does, regards what is infinite and eternal from itself, especially in saving the human race" (DP 55).

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In regard to the sacraments, this means that the Lord, so to speak, presupposes that the man who is baptized, or the parents of the child, do most sincerely and firmly intend to live, or to educate, according to the laws of God which lead to regeneration; and that the person who partakes of the Holy Supper desires most earnestly to live from the Lord alone, but nevertheless as from himself-which is conjunction. That this is so, as regards Baptism, is implied in the words "into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." For the Lord, in inscribing His name on the forehead of man as it were (cf. Revelation 22:4), operates primarily on the internal man, and only from the internal on the external, that is to say, the living baptism is administered primarily to the internal man. In respect to the Holy Supper, it is implied in its institution in an "upper room" (Luke 22:12), which, in reference to the individual, is the internal mind.
     The point being discussed is stressed in the following two statements concerning the sacraments, the first concerning Baptism: "It is for a sign and a memorial that man is to be regenerated" (HH 329). The second, concerning the Holy Supper, reads: "For those who approach it worthily it is like a signature and seal that they are sons of God" (TCR 728). The use of Baptism, therefore, is to direct the man solemnly to the development of the nascent internal mind, whereas the use of the Holy Supper is to confirm and establish the development of that mind which to some extent has already taken place.
     In each instance, the duty of man to regenerate is laid before him in a holy covenant. It is utterly futile for a man to suffer himself to be baptized, or to confirm his infant baptism through the rite of the church called Confession of Faith, and then not strive sincerely and continually to live according to revealed doctrine. In like manner, the Holy Supper will be of no avail unless that same striving is perpetuated, and from time to time renewed, especially in connection with that sacrament itself; for such continual endeavor makes for conjunction.
     Clearly, then, the power of the two sacraments is derived from the fact that the ultimate-in this case, the correspondential sacramental ultimate does confirm and strengthen the internal which flows into it and manifests itself by it, provided there is such an internal with the man. Apart from this activation from within the ultimate has no power whatsoever. It is empty; it does not stir the affections, leave an impress on the mind, or renew one's holy resolve to live by the Lord; but passes by like a fleeting moment. It is like a handshake without friendship, which leaves the persons cold. But very different is the ultimate that does manifest a corresponding internal.

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Such an ultimate is like a handshake between friends, which does convey a message of mutual affection. And, indeed, both the sacraments are like a clasping of hands with the Lord.
     Let us, therefore, review at this time the doctrine of the Holy Supper as set forth in the eight articles of the chapter concerning it in the True Christian Religion.
     1. Without a knowledge of the correspondences of natural with spiritual things no one can know the uses and benefits of the Holy Supper (see TCR 698-701). The truth of this is seen when that knowledge directs the mind to the essential of the Holy Supper, which is celebrated with the Lord in the mind itself. It is to that Holy Supper that the sacramental act corresponds.
     2. From a knowledge of correspondences it may be known what is meant by the flesh and blood of the Lord, and that the same is meant by the bread and wine; namely, that by the flesh of the Lord, and by the bread, is meant the Divine good of His Divine love, and also all the good of charity; and that by the blood of the Lord, and by wine, is meant the Divine truth of His Divine wisdom, and also all the truth of faith; and that by eating is meant appropriation (see TCR 702-710). The internal Holy Supper therefore takes place when a man eats, that is, receives in his will the essence of Divine good, and so makes the good of charity to be one with his will, or appropriates it; and when he likewise drinks, or receives in his understanding by means of that vivified will the spirit of truth, whereby he takes to himself as his own the genuine truths of faith, and makes them to be the very light of all his thoughts.
     3. From an understanding of what has been said above, one may perceive that the Holy Supper contains, both as to universals and as to particulars, all things of the church and all things of heaven (see TCR 711-715). That this is so is established from the circumstance that the Divine good of love and the Divine truth of wisdom-the holy bread and wine-constitute the Divine life which proceeds among men in order to redeem and save them forever.
     4. In the Holy Supper the Lord is wholly present, and the whole of His redemption (see TCR 716-718). The reason the Lord is peculiarly present in the Holy Supper is not only that all the truths of wisdom which are with man and all the goods of love he has embraced-his entire reception of the Lord-are totally represented in the wine and bread of the holy sacrament, but also that by his eating and drinking of the sacramental elements the influx of these things is into the very ultimate of the mind. Not that the bread and wine are in the least holy of themselves, or that the bread is Divine good and the wine Divine truth, for the bread and wine are purely material things and remain such after their appropriation by the body, but that the eating and drinking engage the natural mind so that it also may rest fully in the Lord.

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In this, indeed, the words of the prophecy are fullfilled: "The Lord is in His holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before Him" (Habakkuk 2:20, cf. Zechariah 2:13).
     In dealing with this article the True Christian Religion adds the following explanation: "Where the Lord is wholly present, nothing of redemption can be absent. On this account, all who worthily approach the Holy Communion become His redeemed. Since redemption means deliverance from hell, conjunction with the Lord, and salvation . . . therefore those benefits are imparted to man in the Holy Supper; not indeed in the degree that the Lord wills, for from His Divine love He wills to impart to all, but in the degree that man receives; and he who receives is redeemed according to reception" (TCR 717).
     5. The Lord is present and opens heaven to those who worthily approach the Holy Supper; and He is also present with those who approach it unworthily, but does not open heaven to them; consequently, as Baptism is an introduction into the church, so the Holy Supper is an introduction into heaven (see TCR 719-721). The Lord is merely present when He is shut out of our will and operates from without by law and command, and not by our loving consent. But He is both present and conjoined when He is both without and within the will. In the latter case He is said to "open heaven" to man because He is heaven itself and peace itself. In the degree, therefore, that the Lord is received in the will, and through the will in the understanding, in that degree the state of heaven is experienced.
     Possibly the Lord is sometimes merely present with us, and not conjoined, when we partake of the Holy Supper. If so, however, let us consider that His presence may be the prelude to conjunction if we humble ourselves and pray that He will truly guide us in our lives. Or perhaps He is conjoined in some small degree, but largely is present only from without. That is not for us to say. Nevertheless, the truth stands that something happens to those communicants whose interiors have to some extent been opened to receive the Lord. To such there is an invisible Holy Supper at the same time as the sacramental act, and in their hearts will ring an echo of the Lord's words: "I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me" (Revelation 3:20).
     6. Those approach the Holy Supper worthily who have faith in the Lord and charity toward the neighbor, thus those who are regenerate (see TCR 722-724). It would be a fatal mistake to suppose that these words imply that man should feel worthy in partaking of the Communion. In fact, true worthiness, as the Lord in mercy would call it, is rather in proportion to a complete sense of unworthiness. It is the regenerating man who feels that the Lord is speaking to him when He says: "I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Matthew 9:13).

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The truth will ever stand that the kingdom of heaven is for the poor in spirit (see Matthew 5:3).
7. Those who worthily approach the Holy Supper are in the Lord, and He in them; consequently, conjunction with the Lord is effected by the Holy Supper (see TCR 725-727). By this is meant that if there is an internal Holy Supper in the man's very will and understanding, then the humble approach to the Communion will serve to corroborate and establish that internal-conjunction with the Lord; even as a handshake, a kiss or an embrace, serves -to bring forth and to confirm a genuine affection of friendship.
Or, as is stated in the eighth article: The Holy Supper, to those who worthily approach it, is like a signature and seal that they are sons of God (see TCR 728-730). These, being "sons of God," are brethren among themselves. And so the Communion, that most holy act of worship, is at once the "marriage supper of the Lamb" and the supreme feast of charity.
FREDERICK EMANUEL DOERING TRUST 1956

FREDERICK EMANUEL DOERING TRUST 1956

     Applications for assistance from the above fund, to enable male students to attend the "Academy of the New Church," Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., for the school year 1956-1957 should be received by one of the undermentioned pastors (who will be glad to give any further information that may be required) before April 15, 1956.
     Before filing their applications, students should first obtain their acceptance as students for the forthcoming year from the Academy. A new policy has been adopted in order that funds may be built up for larger calls on the Trust which are expected in the future. Students will be required to pay their own Registration Fees which amount to $60.00 in College and $50.00 in High School. They will also be required, as before, to do ten hours of "student work" each week.

Rev. Martin Pryke          Rev. Norman H. Reuter          Rev. Roy Franson
35 Elm Grove Avenue          139 Union Boulevard           Box 3385
Toronto, Ontario           Kitchener, Ontario                Gorande Prairie, Alberta

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SOUTH AFRICAN MISSION 1956

SOUTH AFRICAN MISSION LEONARD E. GYLLENHAAL 1956

     A Layman's Impressions

     In the year 1915, the pastor of the Durban Society, the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal, was approached by a small group of interested South African natives in Basutoland to give instruction and guidance in the doctrines of the New Church. This unsolicited request led to the formation of the General Church Mission in South Africa.
     Forty years later, on Friday, July 15, 1955, Mr. Edward C. Bostock and the writer had the privilege of meeting with the Native Ministers' Council in South Africa in the Rev. Wynne Acton's study on Musgrave Road in Durban. It was an inspiring occasion.
     For several hours we discussed the work of the Mission with the Revs. Wynne Acton and David Helm and four native ministers, the Revs. Aaron Zungu, Stephen Butelezi, Benjamin Nzimande, and Peter Sabela. The outstanding impression was that given by the ministers themselves. They are not only intelligent, educated men who understand the meaning and purpose of the New Church and its doctrines, but they are men who have dedicated their lives to the work of the New Church and, in some cases, at great personal sacrifice. We left the meeting with a strong conviction that the South African Mission holds real hope for the future and has a rightful place among the uses of the Church.
     "But the work is not without its problems and discouragements. In recent years the changing social and economic conditions in South Africa have made some of these problems acute. It was in order to gain a layman's point of view of the situation at first hand that Bishop De Charms had requested our visit to the Mission.
     This article is written in the hope that the Church as a whole may gain a better understanding of the work of the Mission from observations we were able to make during our four weeks stay in South Africa.
     Beginning with a group of about 160 Basutos in 1915, the Mission has grown today to a reported membership of 902 adults and children, nearly all of whom are Zulus. Under the supervision of the Rev. Wynne Acton with the assistance of the Rev. David Helm-both of whom also serve the Durban Society-10 active native ministers carry on the work of the Church among these people in eleven different Societies widely scattered throughout the Union.
     The following statistical tabulation was compiled from the pastors' reports to the Superintendent for the year 1954.

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While the figures cannot be considered to be entirely accurate, they will give an idea of the size of the groups and the extent of their activity.

                                                                      1954 Sunday
                                                                      Attendance
                                                  Membership           Services      Average
Society                    Pastor                     Adults Children      Held           Attend.
Alexandra           Rev. Paul Sibeko               45      35           52               49
Greylingstad          Rev. Solomon Mkize                44      67           45           21
Dannhauser          Rev. Johannes Lunga           13      15           52           14
Hambrook                Rev. Stephen Butelezi           41      44           49           29
Durban                    Rev. Aaron Zungu               27      25           49           18
Deepdale           Rev. Benjamin Nzimande           28      36           41           18
Kent Manor          Rev. Mafa Lutuli               82      109           45           33
New Farm (Ohlange)     Rev. Peter Sabela               15      20           51           15
Sterkstroom          Rev. Johnson Kandisa           15      20           4           21
Queenstown          Rev. Johnson Kandisa           9      4           41           9
Quthing                Rev. Jonas Motsi               25      7           50           26
Other Groups                                        27      46           5           17
TOTAL                                                        371      428                         270
     Total Adults and Children                          799
Total Isolated Members                          103
Total Active Members                          902

     The prime essential of the Mission work, just as for any church organization, is a theological school for training its ministers. At the present time classes are being held in a Native Hostel in Durban. Here two young men are being trained for the ministry by Mr. Acton, Mr. Holm, and Mr. Zungu, and it is hoped that two more candidates will enter the school next year.
     For a good many years the Mission was operated on a hand-to-mouth basis, being held together principally by the late Rev. F. W. Elphick, who was regarded by the native ministers and laymen alike as their father, confidant, and friend. But after his death in 1950, a critical time arose in 1951 when the church had to make a decision on the future of the Mission. An excellent report by the Rev. Martin Pryke, showing our responsibilities and outlining a progressive program, led to the General Church Board's decision to continue the work on a sounder financial basis. Since then, however, tremendous changes have taken place in South Africa, and once again it has been necessary to make a decision on the future course of the Mission. Information gained from our trip last summer has prompted further backing of the work with an attempt to match our operations to the changing times.

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But there are many problems ahead and it seems important now that the Church have some idea of what is involved.
     In a broad sense the problems might be said to arise from three causes: 1) those resulting from only part-time supervision of the Mission; 2) those arising from the lack of an established center and permanent theological school; 3) and those caused by the social and economic conditions under which the natives live.
     The long distances that separate the different societies make it extremely difficult for the Superintendents to serve the European society in Durban, run a theological school and make more than one or two visits a year to the Mission societies. From Durban to Alexandra in the North is 1400 miles, equal to the distance from Bryn Athyn to Cleveland, Ohio. Quthing is 660 miles the other way, and can only be reached by a round-about route farther than the distance from Bryn Athyn to Detroit-and art of this journey must be made on horseback! This imposes an even greater hardship on the native ministers who must come to Durban by train, which for some involves many days' travel. The result is a lack of that contact which is so necessary in appraising and furthering the work among the societies. A further handicap is the language barrier, which makes it impossible for the white ministers to have any useful contact with the members of the congregations, except for the few who speak English.
     The fact that there is no established Mission center has resulted in a feeling of insecurity among the natives. For a long time they regarded Kent Manor as headquarters, but now the Government says that all natives but those who actively work on the farm must leave Kent Manor. The theological school operates in a hostel in Durban, and the Mission Superintendent's office is on the church property of the Durban European society. So they no longer have a church center they can count on. The situation is further complicated by the fact that the present quarters for the theological school are temporary and at any time may no longer be available.
     The most serious problems, however, arise from the social and economic conditions in South Africa. To understand what this means and how the Mission is affected, it is essential to have briefly the background of the situation.
     The Union of South Africa is equal in size to the four states of California, Arizona, Utah and Nevada. Its population numbers 12 1/2 million, of which nearly 70% are native. Its population density is half that of the United States.
     While the economic development of the Union has been tremendous, the resulting prosperity has not spread throughout the whole economy.

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Along-side the modern mines and factories of the European there are large districts where life is primitive. This is particularly true of the native reserves, which have become economic backwaters. The right of Africans to acquire land outside these reserves has practically vanished except in a few native townships, yet their holdings are largely overcrowded and do not yield sufficient crops under present farming methods to sustain life.
     As a consequence, there is a continued movement of the male population to the cities to work temporarily in the mines, factories, and homes of the Europeans, at very low wages, while the wives and families remain in the reserves to cultivate small patches of land.
     The resulting instability has led to the government policy of Apartheid, which seeks completely to segregate the native and his land and educate him to serve his own community.
     There are three Acts of legislation that particularly concern the Mission.
     1. The Group Areas Act, effective in 1951.
     2. The Bantu Education Act, effective April 1, 1955.
     3. The Soil Conservation Act.
     The Group Areas Act has been passed with the object of controlling ownership and occupation of land to insure, so far as possible, that different racial groups will eventually own and occupy separate areas. It implies the eventual removal of the native from the cities into his own community. If the Act is fully carried out it might have a considerable, effect on the future location of a Mission center. This Act also is the essence of the problem at Kent Manor, where for years natives have been; living on the farm which, it is expected, will be designated as European territory.
     The Bantu Education Act seeks to educate the native to serve his own community and be progressive among his own people. It implies the eventual elimination of all native schools except those teaching the government curriculum. Strangely enough, this could conceivably work to our advantage. At present, we have no New Church schools nor are there plans for their establishment. Most New Church native children must go to Catholic or Protestant schools for their education.
     The Soil Conservations Act is a program to control the proper use of farm land to overcome the tremendous soil erosion now existing in South Africa. Under the law we are required to have Kent Manor planned by the Soil Erosion Board, but as long as natives live on the farm the Board will not undertake a study. As we desire to comply with all government regulations we are now compelled to have the natives move off the farm. This does not, however, prevent its use for church purposes.
     While the Mission now owns property suitable for the establishment of a Mission center, it appears unwise to tie down its location until some trend has developed as to the possible movement of the native population from the urban districts.

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     That is a very brief, overall picture of the Mission and some of its problems. It is impossible, of course, to convey the whole complex story in a few written pages. But with this brief sketch let me fill in some background, with a description of some of the societies we visited.

     On June 24th we stepped off the plane at Johannesburg into a cold South African winter night. The Rev. Wynne Acton was at the Airport to meet us and the next day, with weather in the thirties, we visited our first Mission Center in Alexandra.
     Alexandra-The Rev. Paul Sibeko, Pastor
     Alexandra is a large native township, one of the few, outside of the reserves, entirely owned by natives. It is located on a sloping hillside on the outskirts of Johannesburg in the Transvaal. The tract, several miles square, is crisscrossed with rough mud and gravel roads, lacks any modern sanitary sewers or electricity, and has only an occasional public water tap.
     Although the crowding is extreme and the living conditions very poor, yet this is reported to be one of the largest and most active of our Mission Societies. With a total membership of 80, the average attendance at 52 Sunday services last year was 49. Further, it is the only society in the Mission actually paying a stipend to its pastor.
     This situation results from the following unusual circumstances. First, most of the people in Alexandra work in Johannesburg with wages above the average, and either own their own houses or rent from other natives. Secondly, many of our Church members in Alexandra have come from other societies such as Greylingstad to work in the city and have been interested enough in the Church to look up and join the Alexandra Society. Perhaps most important is the fact that Mr. Sibeko, himself a full-time builder in Johannesburg, is a real leader with unusual zeal and devotion for the work of the Church.
     The Rev. Mr. Sibeko is a short, quiet, unassuming man, who, like his family, is well-dressed to the point of being out of place in his surroundings. In spite of his secular employment he devotes a great deal of time to the work of the church. The Mission here is growing and holds real promise for the future.
     The Alexandra Society church building is a modest brick structure with concrete floors and a corrugated iron roof. The original building was constructed by the society itself on one of the few open lots in the township, given to the Church by the Rev. Timothy Matshinini. At present, an addition is being built to house the pastor. Most of the material for this building has been contributed by individual members, even if only a few bricks, and work is being supervised by the Rev. Mr. Sibeko, and one of the leading laymen.

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     Our first Sunday morning in South Africa we attended an inspiring service at Alexandra. We were the first ones to enter the church and were seated on three chairs on the front row with a bamboo mat under our feet. The rest of the congregation sat for two hours on small wooden benches placed on the concrete floor.
     Gradually the tiny hall filled to capacity with some 40 adults and 43 children. Then an elderly man neatly dressed in a business suit came forward and parted the red curtains in front of a small chancel strikingly beautiful in its simplicity. The center altar and two side pulpits were covered with clean white cloths embroidered in large Zulu letters with inscriptions from the Word.
     Suddenly the whole room was filled with a tremendous burst of singing. Deep male voices blended with the magnificent higher tones of the Zulu women to produce a rich harmony full of feeling.
     The service itself, excepting the sermon, was very similar to the general office, but was conducted in Zulu. The singing, led by Mrs. Sibeko, was adapted from the General Church Liturgy. The Rev. Wynne Acton gave the sermon in English. This was translated phrase for phrase into Zulu by the Rev. Paul Sibeko, who stood beside Mr. Acton. One difference worthy of note was the singing of the Lord's Prayer. While kneeling they sang the verses slowly but beautifully twice forward and once backward.
     After the service there was a simple marriage ceremony followed by an informal gathering in the front yard of the church property.
     Greylingstad-Rev. Solomon Mkize, Pastor
     From Alexandra we traveled by car to visit the church at Greylingstad.
     Greylingstad is about 60 miles south of Johannesburg. It is a small country hamlet consisting of a feed mill, a store, and a few houses, offering little opportunity for native employment. The New Church there is an attractive stone-walled building with a corrugated iron roof, placed high on a hill above a native area where several hundred people live.
     The Rev. Mr. Mkize is a quiet, intelligent man and a full-time minister of the Church. His work is considerably handicapped by the fact that he must travel as far as 15 miles, much of it on foot, to visit some of his scattered parishioners. Although the Greylingstad Society has a reported membership of 44 adults and 47 children, the average Sunday attendance is only about 21, made up almost entirely of women and small children. The prospects here did not seem too encouraging to us, as many of the people have been forced, for economic reasons, to move away. Of those families which remain, most husbands must seek employment in Johannesburg.

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     Dannhauser-Rev. Johannes Lunga, Pastor
     Our next stop was at Dannhauser, midway between Johannesburg and Durban.
     Dannhauser is the location of an extensive coal mining operation. The Society's church building stands on the edge of a large native reserve which adjoins the mine property with its tremendous mountains of culm and waste. The structure is typically native, constructed of mud walls, thatched roof and cow dung floors.
     The Rev. Mr. Lunga, a full-time minister, is an older man who speaks very little English. It was difficult to gain much information from him, yet he is reported to be one of our best ministers at holding regular services and classes, especially so for children.
     It was a particular pleasure to meet Mr. and Mrs. Kunene, who live in Dannhauser with Mr. Lunga. Mrs. Kunene, a former school teacher, is a charming, intelligent woman and secretary of the Society. Her enthusiasm appears to have helped considerably in holding the Society together. Mr. Kunene, who is presently a candidate in the native theological school in Durban, was home on vacation and we enjoyed a cup of tea in their native rondaval. But the society in Dannhauser is faced with many problems and has declined to a reported membership of 28 with an average Sunday attendance of only 14.
     Strangely enough, this native reserve is sparsely populated. The soil supports practically no agriculture and is used only for grazing. Furthermore, the land is largely owned by a few natives who, under tribal custom, received it by inheritance. The high rents charged by these natives, combined with the lack of fertility, make it impossible for most natives to live in the area. The few who do come to church must walk long distances across the reserves.
     A stone's throw from the church property is a sprawling native compound housing the natives who have been brought in to work in the mints, where disorders and delinquency are reported rife.
     The mission here seems to hold little hope for future growth as long as the present system of land tenure continues and the mine workers roam the area. There is the further possibility that the mining company might succeed in its attempts to obtain land in the Reserves, including that where the Church building stands, to extend its mining operations.
     Hambrook-Rev. Stephen Butelezi, Pastor
     Our fourth mission visit was at Hambrook, a beautiful rural area located at the base of the Drakenberg Mountains at the approximate geographic center of the Mission, some 160 miles northwest of Durban.
     The Society here is what one might imagine as a typical native mission and seems to hold real promise for the future.

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While the district in general is European-owned land, a large area around the church has been left in trust for sale to natives, and indications are that it will remain native, territory.
     The church building, located on the same property as the pastor's home, is an attractive native structure maintained in excellent condition standing in the open countryside far from the nearest gravel road. Like other country districts, Hambrook at present is handicapped by its distance from the industrial towns to which the men must go for employment. It is further handicapped by the fact that Mr. Butelezi is a full-time teacher of a school some 15 miles away and is not able to make the journey home every weekend. In spite of this, services are held every Sunday and Mrs. Butelezi decorates the church with flowers and clean linen for every service. One hundred and twenty persons filled the church at Hambrook to celebrate the 19th of June last. The service was followed by an outdoor feast and speeches from many of the congregation. In many ways Hambrook was the most impressive of the missions we visited. The Rev. Mr. Butelezi is an outstanding leader among his people and the work should continue to grow in this area. Arrangements are being made to enable the pastor to devote more time to this Society.
     From Hambrook we drove on to Durban, and after a week's stay there, went up to Kent Manor.
     Kent Manor-The Rev. Mafa Lutuli, Pastor, Frederick Parker, Manager.
     Kent Manor's 191 members make it our largest society. Located 20 miles from Eshowe and 137 miles north of Durban, the 2,300-acre farm stretches over miles of steep, rolling hillsides. From the homestead on a central summit, one can see the farm in all directions. At a casual glance, the endless countryside appears completely uninhabited, but a closer scrutiny reveals many native kraals and small cultivated plots scattered around the hillsides.
     The church buildings are located several hundred yards from the homestead, where Mr. Parker lives, and consist of three rather attractive stone-walled native structures. The average attendance here is 33, made up largely of women and children, some of whom must come long distances across the hills. As in other Mission centers, most of the men in Kent Manor find it necessary to go to Durban or other cities to work.
     It was a particular pleasure to meet Mr. and Mrs. Fred Parker at Kent Manor. They are a charming, hospitable couple with a deep love of the Church. Since Mr. Parker took over management of the farm in 1952, considerable capital improvements have been made to the property. The homestead has been substantially improved, a new water system has been installed, and considerable fencing has been completed.

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     While government regulations now make it necessary to prohibit natives from living on the farm, it is still permitted to use the property for church purposes and it is conceivable that the farm will in the future be of importance to the mission. But until the native situation crystallizes it is impossible to determine the proper use for Kent Manor. With the difficulty of obtaining land in this area, to dispose of the farm or let its manager go might present additional problems in the future. In the meantime, it is hoped that farming operations can be undertaken until some future decision can be made. Actually the removal of natives from Kent Manor should not have too serious an effect on the church society. Many of those who regularly attend do not now live on the farm, and it is expected that some of those who do will move into the adjoining Reserves.
     We attended our second Sunday service at Kent Manor. At ten o'clock the church bell was rung to start the congregation on its long trek across the hills. The service was scheduled for eleven o'clock but by eleven twenty, only one member had arrived. We stood around the church lot and talked with the Rev. Mr. Lutuli while a few more trickled in. By quarter of twelve a small group of w-omen and children had arrived and we could hear a large crowd coming over a nearby hill. So the service got under way. One by one the congregation continued to all the hall until the last one of some sixty adults and children came through the door at twelve forty-five. He had obviously walked a long distance and was dripping with perspiration. The service lasted till two o'clock, but long before it was over women began to leave in increasing numbers. Through it all, some twenty or thirty small children sat in perfect order in the front rows. Once again, the singing was magnificent and the reading was all in Zulu. It was particularly interesting to hear the Rev. David Holm read the office in Zulu, which we were told was done quite fluently. I wish I had space adequately to describe all the details of this Sunday morning. It was certainly the experience of a life time.
     From Kent Manor, we returned to Durban, where we attended a Sunday service with the native society of Durban of which the Rev. Aaron Zungu is pastor. This was a particularly interesting occasion. Held in the schoolroom of the European Society's church building, the service included the sacraments of Baptism and the Holy Supper and the rite of Confirmation. The small chancel was filled with five native and two European ministers in a most impressive ceremony.

     The foregoing is not a complete description of all the societies of the Mission. Unfortunately we did not have personal contact with them all. This report covers only those ministers and societies with which we had such contact and is intended to give a typical picture of the whole Mission.

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We are indeed fortunate that what might be said of one minister's ability seems equally true of another.
     Some may doubt the ability of the simple African to grasp the real significance of the teachings of the New Church. Indeed it is difficult to estimate the degree of their ability to receive these truths. Yet all those who have had experience with the work and contact with the natives agree that in their own way they have a love for and understanding of the doctrines.
     It may usefully be added that in the General Church Mission, every effort is made to teach the distinctiveness of the doctrine, that it is a new dispensation and not just another Mission. In this connection, the doctrine of the Lord is particularly appealing, since the Zulu tribes have always believed in one God. But it is because this distinctive approach has been maintained, as it has been in the General Church itself, that growth has not been more impressive and congregations tend to remain small.
     There is no doubt, however, that the native ministers do grasp the teachings of the Church, understand their significance, and are anxious to pass them on to their people. It is impossible to imagine that these ministers have been working fruitlessly for forty years with a people who cannot follow them.
BUILDING REVOLVING LOAN FUND 1956

BUILDING REVOLVING LOAN FUND 1956

     This is a new Fund of the General Church. It has been donated by several contributors to provide the means whereby loans may be made to Societies to assist them in acquiring church or school buildings or in expanding their existing church or school facilities. Therefore, it will now be possible for the General Church to grant a loan to a Society under certain conditions. Among these conditions are: 1) That money is available in the Fund; 2) That the loan is not obtainable from other sources than the General Church; 3) That the loan is sufficiently secured by responsible undertakings of the borrowing Society; and 4) That repayment of the loan, is adequately assured.
     Society inquiries should be addressed to Leonard E. Gyllenhaal, Treasurer, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, U. S. A.
     Additional contributions to this Fund would be most useful and also would be very welcome.

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ORDINATION 1956

ORDINATION ROY FRANSON 1956

     JANUARY 29, 1956

     DECLARATION OF FAITH AND PURPOSE

     I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the one and only God of heaven and earth, in whom there is the Divine Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
     I believe in the Word of God in its trinal form of the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg.
     I believe that these latter Writings constitute the Second Coming of the Lord, as foretold in the New Testament, and since they are addressed to the rational, or highest degree of the human mind, I believe that they are the final manifestation of the Lord to man on earth.
     I believe that the acceptance of the Lord in His Divine Human, and the shunning of evils against Him, are the sole means of acquiring, from the Lord, the life of charity and use which alone can lead to eternal life in heaven.
     I believe that the distinctly new doctrines revealed for the New Church concerning the Lord, heaven, and the church, necessitate a distinct New Christian Church, whose aim it should be to guide and lead men throughout life to the acknowledgment of the Lord's Divine Human; for only in this acknowledgment and in a life accordingly can man be said to be a man.
     I believe in the doctrine of the priesthood as set forth in the Writings, that it is Divinely ordained and providentially appointed to serve as means for the existence and subsistence of the New Church, which the Lord established through His Second Coming.
     In presenting myself for ordination into the second degree of the priesthood of the New Church, I pray that the Lord may enable me to perceive His guiding hand in all my undertakings in this holy office, and that I may be given strength to direct my words and actions accordingly. For only thus, I believe, can the Lord use me as an instrument in leading men to Him.
     ROY FRANSON

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NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1956

     A large portion of the patriarchal history is covered in our readings from Genesis (16-31:35), which relate the birth and eventual banishment of Ishmael, the birth of Isaac and his marriage to Rebekah, and the story of Jacob to the time of his departure from Laban with his wives, his cattle, and the eleven sons born to him in Haran. In the supreme sense, Ishmael is the first rational, from which the Lord willed to separate Himself; Isaac is the Divine rational, in the inmost of which the Divine Human began; and Jacob is the natural as to truth which was to be made Divine. Esau is natural good, which must first serve, although Divine good in the natural is destined to be first in the end.

     Heaven and Hell is concluded this month, and the numbers assigned (578-603) discuss topics relating to the hells. The superiority of spirits over men results, in hell, in malice and artifices unknown on the earth; and the use in reading of these is that the disclosure of hidden horrors undreamed of within evil may lead to more interior repentance. The structure of hell may be seen from the fact that each kingdom, heaven, and angelic society has its opposite in the hells; this because each part of heaven is the form of some good or truth, and every good and truth has been turned into the opposite evil and falsity by some men. Because the Lord governs both heaven and hell there is an equilibrium between them that is perpetual, though its point in the world of spirits has shifted at various times in the spiritual history of the race. It is by means of this equilibrium that man, whose mind is in the world of spirits, is in freedom. Note that the maintenance of equilibrium does not require an equal number of inhabitants in heaven and hell.
     We are introduced this month to two small treatises, Divine Love and Divine Wisdom, written in 1762 and 1763, respectively, and not to be confused with Divine Love and Wisdom, published at Amsterdam in 1763. Evidently written as a first draft of the published work, they are to be found in Apocalypse Explained, and have been issued also under the editorial title "The Doctrine of Use." Divine Love teaches that love is the life of man; that the Lord is love itself; and that life is in a form which is a form of use in its whole extent. It then traces the successive derivations of love, which are forms of uses, and develops the doctrine of uses and their relation to the heavenly life.

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REVIEW 1956

REVIEW KARL R. ALDEN 1956

AND I SHALL BE HEALED. A Study in Spiritual Therapy. By Gwynne Dresser Mack. Published by the Author. Pp. 51.

     The author of this booklet is a well known New Church woman whose father was a New Church minister. She has contributed many articles to the NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER and the NEW CHRISTIANITY, and has an ardent student of the Writings for many years. Her purpose in writing the booklet was to search the Scriptures and the Writings and endeavor to find out whether there are any general principles which apply to the healing of diseases. She is careful to call her work "A Study in Spiritual Therapy," not "A Study in the Cure of Bodily Diseases."
     She defines "health" as "to be made whole or perfect"; and "since God is the only Perfect Being, to be made whole implies a definite relationship between man and God" (p. 44); "Spiritual therapy is not just the remarkable work done by highly qualified healers, but is especially the learning by any individual of how to keep himself in order. . . . Whether it is called mental, spiritual, or faith healing, or even psycho-therapy, there is a healing process which is known to operate at a super-natural level" (p. 4). Her main thesis is that "the Divine Life continually flowing through us labors to restore order, and succeeds-if we do not block or obstruct the process" (p. 5).
     The things that obstruct the way are: disbelief in the Holy Word, failure to realize that man is created in God's image, failure to turn to our Maker for guidance, and all the disorders that arise from selfishness. If these obstructions can be removed, she argues, then a clear path of influx which will restore order to the body will be established, and with the restoration of order, health. "Spiritual healing applies to all disorder of the body and mind, for disorder itself is an evil no matter whence its cause-and is therefore always subject to spiritual power" (p. 8).
     Our author next analyzes many of the miracles of healing which the Lord did while on earth. Since all power was given unto Him in heaven and in earth "He made it clear that in order to connect with this power man must have the will to be well, and he must have the faith that it is possible" (p. 10). To this must be added the belief "that it is always God who does the healing: that the power for restoring order is Divine" (p. 11).

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     She next turns to the Writings of Swedenborg and in a section of thirty pages she brings together in paraphrased form many passages which teach that man does not die, that God is with every man, that the body is the likeness of its soul, that the life of man is in thinking and willing, that it is the will that must be healed, and that order is restored by the Lord. This is a rich collection of truths and will reward anyone who reads the book. "Swedenborg emphasizes over and over that regeneration is the basis of order and wholeness in man, and that the body is the external means of expressing it. This is the fundamental law of spiritual healing" (p. 45).
     The author does not find herself opposed to the use of medicine. "The skeptics," she says, "are disturbed by the thought that spiritual healing is opposed to the practice of medicine. There is no such opposition. . . . The curative properties of medicine are not invented by man; they are simply discovered, and applied by those who have studied how to do so. The laws of drug-therapy were established by Divine intelligence just as were the laws of spiritual therapy, and intelligent man endeavors to learn them all and make use of them" (pp. 3, 4).
     "Spiritual therapy must not try to prevent death. For death is God's way of graduating human beings into wholly spiritual life" (p. 47). "Healing, then, may mean a return of healthy functioning at the level of physical activity, but it can also mean release to the higher level of spiritual life. When each one is ready for this release, the Lord knows and provides for it. Therefore the healer must not work against death, but only against suffering and the disorder of lingering infirmity" (p. 48).
     She gives some directions as to when spiritual therapy should be used, and her general position may be summed up in her own words thus: "Remember always what healing is: the restoring to that order which was created by God. Healing-prayer asks for this restoration, but leaves detail and direction to the Creator. 'Father, all things are possible unto Thee I . . . nevertheless, not what I will, but what Thou wilt'" (p. 47).
     The work closes with a section headed "Healing Thoughts from the Word of God" which is a collection of many beautiful passages from the Old and the New Testaments.
     The reviewer could have wished that the work had been more completely documented, but as it stands it seems to us to be a useful study of an important subject.
     KARL R. ALDEN

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WHERE GRAVE THY VICTORY! 1956

WHERE GRAVE THY VICTORY! Editor 1956

NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly by
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.
Editor                         Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Bryn Athyn, Pa,
Circulation Secretary          Mr. H. Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Treasurer                     Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address, and business communications, should be sent to the Circulation Secretary. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.
     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$3.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy, 30 cents.
     If men are not very careful, the victory of the grave may soon lie in its being so wilfully hidden. Modern man believes in progress, if he believes in anything. He likes to think in terms of beginnings rather than of endings which imply finality and at least hint of decay. And because it is not known that death is a beginning and a progression, because death is regarded as an unforgivable break with the future, man tries to sidestep the event. Our entire culture winces at death. The funeral customs of the world, its very vocabulary concerning death, indicate a desire to evade the issue when it cannot be ignored. People no longer die; they "pass away" or even "sleep away." This may be a defense against the finality of death, or reaction against linking the dead with the tomb, but it does not encourage thought of a future life.
     The New Church man does not subscribe to a gloomy "in the midst of life we are in death" philosophy. He does not think of himself as living under the shadow of death, or of death as a ruthless enemy stalking the earth and seeking to strike where it is least expected. But he has, or should have, a wholesome attitude to death. He knows that human development spans two worlds, and that death is not only the normal means of passing from one world to the other but is also necessary for human progression. He is trained to think of earthly life, not as an end, but as an indispensable preliminary to life in the spiritual world, and to believe that an all-wise and merciful Providence governs the passing of men. And when this is truly believed, and death is seen as the normal end of a training period, death can have no sting, the grave no victory.

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NATURE OF MAN 1956

NATURE OF MAN Editor 1956

     It is a practice of our age to read current views into ancient documents. So we need not be surprised at the discovery of some modern scholars that the Old Testament has, all the time, presented man as a psychosomatic unity; and that the Bible, essentially democratic, consistently teaches naturalism, as opposed to the aristocratic dualism contributed to Christianity by the Hellenic culture which began in the fourth century B.C. The discovery is worth examining from the New Church point of view, and it may be helpful if the terms are first defined.
     By naturalism, which is here used in a special sense, is meant a positive and accepting attitude toward the physical, material world; dualism is defined as a point of view which regards the realm of matter as illusory or evil, or both, and displays a marked preference for the "spiritual." As the term is here used, it is quite true that the Hebrew Word is naturalistic in the sense of the letter. When the work of creation had been completed "God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good." The physical, material world was created by God, and as His handiwork it is to be accepted and enjoyed with thanksgiving. That is the literal teaching, and it is sustained by many statements in the Heavenly Doctrine about the proper love of the world and the life that man may live in the world. Sin is not the love of the world but the exaltation of the world over heaven: the setting of the heart on earthly and worldly things.
     On the other hand, there is in the Word no trace of dualism as here defined. Neither in the literal Scriptures nor in the Heavenly Doctrine is there any suggestion that matter is intrinsically evil, or that the conflict between good and evil is the conflict between mind and matter. All the teaching is in the opposite direction. Nothing of affection and thought originates in the body; and the conflict between good and evil is entirely within the mind-between its higher and its lower and lowest planes. The body is not an evil prison from which the virtuous soul finally escapes; for good and evil are both in the mind and man takes with him into the eternal world whatever of either he has made his own.
     In another sense of the term, however, the Writings are unmistakably dualistic. They teach plainly that there are two worlds, the spiritual and the natural; and they insist that these two worlds are entirely distinct, that each is of a different essence from the other, that they are discretely separated, and that they are related only by correspondence, by the influx of the spiritual into the natural. The spiritual is the world of causes, the natural that of effects; a description which preserves the distinction while asserting the interdependence of both worlds. And man is an inhabitant of both these worlds, although he is conscious only of the natural.

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His affections and thoughts originate in the spiritual world, and, as causes, ultimate themselves in the natural as the words and deeds of his body.
But whether this makes of man a "psychosomatic unity," as the term is now used, is open to serious question. We may accept the claim that he is so presented in the letter of the Word in so far as it means that man's acts are to be understood as springing from his mind, not that the acts of the body are evil and the mind is in conflict with the flesh. We may accept it also in so far as it relates to the total personality. But thereafter confusion may arise because the concept we are examining was formed without awareness that by "flesh" the Word does not mean the body, and because the concept assigns to the body itself what the Writings attribute to the ultimate plane of the natural mind-the plane on which is lived the life of the bodily senses.
The Writings do teach that man is a whole being, but they nowhere teach that man is mind and body. Man, they say, is a spirit clothed with a body; and that body, though not evil in itself, is put off at death and is never again assumed. The spirit, the mind, is the man, and the body is an obedience. So while man is indeed a whole being, the oneness we find in him is not a unity of mind and body. It is a spiritual unity, a unity in trinity of soul, mind, and proceeding; and it results, not in an inextricable mingling of soul and body, but in a cause and effect relation that gives to man's words and deeds the quality of the affections and thoughts that inmostly inspire them. Therefore is it said that men will be judged by their words and by their works.
DETROIT, MICHIGAN 1956

DETROIT, MICHIGAN Editor 1956

Dedication of Church Building

The building being erected by the Detroit Society is to be dedicated as a place of worship on Saturday afternoon, April 21, 1956. In connection with this dedication there is also to be a banquet on Saturday evening and children's and adults' services on Sunday morning. All members and friends of the General Church are invited to attend. If desired, public lodgings will be reserved nearby for those who notify Daniel B. McQueen, 28234 Edward Avenue, Royal Oak 4, Michigan, on or before April 1, 1956. Please state the date(s) and number of persons for whom accommodations are desired, and accompany the request with a remittance of $5.00 per person per night as a deposit on the room.

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Church News 1956

Church News Various 1956

     GENERAL CHURCH

     On January 30, 1956, the following gentlemen, second year students in the Theological School of the Academy, were accepted as Authorized Candidates for the priesthood: Mr. Daniel Winthrop Heinrichs, and Mr. Donald Leslie Rose.

     FORT WORTH, TEXAS

     We of the Fort Worth Circle wish our many friends everywhere the very best of years. We are starting out with high hopes that this will be a bigger and better year for us as well. We ended 1955 on an optimistic note by joining the Western District Society under the pastorate of the Rev. Harold C. Cranch, with the Rev. Robert S. Junge as our regular visiting minister. We shall miss the visits of the Rev. Ormond Odhner, but feel that by joining a larger group we can better serve and be served by the church. A larger group working together with one common interest can do more than a few working alone.
     Last November we welcomed the Rev. Robert S. Junge on his first visit to us. Besides a ladies' meeting and a service we had two doctrinal classes, and at one of these the invitation to join the Western District Society was extended to us. At that time we were told of the obligations, responsibilities, and advantages involved in joining. No decision was made at that time, but a vote was taken at the last class; and as the majority favored joining, that action was taken, and we were welcomed as members by Mr. Junge. We are now anticipating a visit from Mr. Cranch, and as many of us here are old friends of his the visit will be especially welcome.
     Our Christmas service was, as always, made more complete by the presence of the very young generation. We now have in our midst two infants, two toddlers, two young preschool children, and a number from first grade age up to the teens.
     We have two new babies in our Circle. A daughter, Edith Sue, was born to Mr. and Mrs. George W. Fuller (Elizabeth Pollock), and a son to Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Jones (Marcella Williamson). This young man was named Kenneth Robert. Both babies were baptized by Mr. Junge.
     At our annual meeting, held early in a January, the following officers were elected to serve for one year: president, Herbert Schoenberger; treasurer, Louise Griffin; secretary, Raye Pollock. As outgoing president, Robert Pollock will serve as vice president for the coming year.
     The need for different grouping in the Sunday School became clear as our children became older. We now have four classes to meet this need; two groups receiving instruction during the first part of the service, while the two younger groups have their classes during the sermon. Our four teachers are Marjorie Williamson and Sonia Hyatt, who take charge of the younger groups, and Louise Griffin and Bob Pollock, who teach the two older classes. Our present activities consist of service every Sunday morning, doctrinal class twice a month, and a ladies' meeting once a month. We average four banquets a year-on Swedenborg's birthday, the Nineteenth of June and whenever a minister comes our way.
     RAYE POLLOCK

     STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN

     At the beginning of August our new pastor, the Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen, arrived here with his family. The passage had been very trying, as both Mother Boyesen and little Birgitta had suffered much from the strain of traveling. When they arrived in Stockholm, however, their trials were not yet over. The church council had decided to purchase a house to be used by our pastor, but wished Mr. and Mrs. Boyesen to look at two or three houses at Bromma that were for sale so that they might choose the one they liked best. Of course it took some time before that matter was settled, and the Boyesens' furniture was delayed and did not arrive until the end of September but they faced these inconveniences with patience and cheerfulness.

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As soon as possible they turned the new house into an attractive home, which has actually become the center of our church activities and has thus filled a real need. In October the entire Society was invited to a dedication service and the house was kept open to all the visitors.
     Regular services were resumed on the first Sunday in October. We knew that Mr. Boyesen was a fine preacher, and our expectations were fulfilled. His command of the Swedish language was also very good; remarkably so, as he had been aboard for twenty years. After the service the Society held a reception for the Boyesen family at a restaurant.
     Mr. Boyesen began organizing his pastoral work step by step In regard to the religious instruction of the children, he felt it was most important to get into close touch with the parents, discuss the program with them, and explain the philosophy behind his plans. He therefore invited them to two dinner parties and talked with them, and as a result of these meetings it was decided that a children's service should be held once a month, and weekly classes given in the pastor's home for two groups. The younger ones were to come right after school and have refreshments, class, and handwork. The older ones were to gather late in the afternoon, have dinner and class, and then play some games. Mr. and Mrs. Boyesen started with a party for each group to bring the children together and let them meet on the social plane Mr. Boyesen runs a "micro bus," and to the great delight of his pupils he fetches them from their homes or trains and then drives them back.
     The classes for adults are organized as they were in Pastor Sandstrom's time. The younger and middle aged people meet in each other's homes on certain days, and the older people meet twice a month in the early afternoon. But the whole Society can also gather at the pastor's home for "Thursday dinners" with doctrinal instruction and discussion following. This is something new over here, and would not be possible if Mrs. Boyesen had not been willing to take the responsibility of planning the meals and doing the greater part of the work. We are thankful to her for her unselfish devotion.
     Means were provided by members of the Society for presenting Christmas gifts to the young ones. With the help of a committee Mrs. Boyesen, very skillfully indeed, made toy animals. Certain of Miss Gertrude Nelson's stories from the Word were translated, suitable illustrations were picked out, and then text and pictures were duplicated at Mr. Lennart Fornander's printing office at Jonkoping. The sheets were then bound into attractive little books meant for those of the younger children who could read them. For the older children there were copies of Heaven and Hell. On Christmas Eve, Mr. and Mrs. Boyesen invited all the children, their parents, and anyone else who liked to come, to attend a short service in their home. After the short service with its strong sphere, Mr. Boyesen made a warmhearted speech to the children, reminding them that our hopes for the future of the church in this country rest with them. He then presented a gift to each child, and they seemed to receive them with delight.
     On New Year's Day our pastor delivered a sermon on Micah 6:8 that was especially appreciated. He pointed out that "there is something intrinsically right in the endeavor to contemplate and resolve on changes of state when there are changes of time"; but in doing so we should realize that this "does not mean so much to examine the states of the church and heaven in others about us as it means to examine these same states in ourselves." Mr. Boyesen continued by showing how easy it is for us to be self-righteous, since we do not realize that "our salvation does not lie in other people's repentance "; and that it would be of no use "to fight against their faults unless we fight against those same faults in ourselves" The sermon contained many more deep thoughts and teachings that we ought to apply to everyday life, and we left the church with the feeling that we had been given something to ponder over for the coming year.
     SENTA CENTERVALL

     KITCHENER, ONTARIO

     September brought renewed activity to the Society as classes and meetings recommenced for another year: all, that is, but the High School Religion Class, most of the members of which left for the Academy Schools in Bryn Athyn. There are twelve young people from Kitchener in the Academy this year.
     September brought also the last summer visitors. Mr. and Mrs. Sydney Lee visited us on September 7th, occasioning an enjoyable social evening at the church when Mr. Lee showed beautiful colored pictures taken in England to illustrate his lecture, "Our British Heritage," on homes and gardens.

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     September brought also our most welcome assistant to the pastor, the Rev. Jan H. Weiss. While we share his able assistance with the Toronto Society, he resides in Kitchener and visits Toronto every second weekend. This makes it possible for Mr. Weiss to assist in the school, in which he teaches three days a week. He also preaches one or two Sunday mornings a month.
     The Carmel School opened on September 6th with 15 children enrolled, 2 girls and 13 boys! Six of the eight grades are represented, the fifth and seventh grades being missing. Miss Rita Kuhl, Mr. Reuter, and Mr. Weiss are doing all the teaching. Miss Alberta Stroh assists by playing the piano for opening worship, and some of the parents and women of the Society supervise the noon hour. A school picnic at which the children had a lively time playing games was sponsored by Theta Alpha in October. Another school outing occurred in November, when the older grades went to Toronto and joined the Olivet Day School in a trip to the Royal Ontario Museum. It was quite a memorable occasion for the children.
     Friday Supper and doctrinal class were well attended last fall, with Mr. Reuter giving a comprehensive series of classes on the degrees of the natural and the spiritual mind. The Men's Assembly held a supper meeting in November and heard a second paper on the history of the church in Canada prepared by Mr. Robert G. Schnarr. The Sons were ad dressed at two meetings by Mr. Weiss on "Organized Missionary Work in the Church" and "Parliamentary Procedure." In November a joint Sons meeting was held with visitors from Toronto and Detroit, Mr. Fred Hasen addressing the group on "Contented Canadians." The Philosophy Club is studying the Principia this year, and the young people in their fall meetings discussed in detail "The Present Order and Organization of the Academy" and "A Statement of the Order and Organization of the General Church of the New Jerusalem." The Women's Guild keeps busy with practical matters, and each meeting begins with the pastor reading from The Divine Allegory. Theta Alpha expects to try its collective hand at making Christmas representation figures.
     A high-light of the fall was the Eastern Canada Assembly held in Toronto. It was greatly enjoyed by all who attended.
     In the afternoon of October 1st, at Laurel, Ontario, the Rev. Norman H. Reuter officiated at the marriage of Mr. Leon Stroh and Miss Jeanne Pratt. In the evening a reception was held at the groom's home in Waterloo at which many members of the Society met to extend their best wishes to the bride and groom. The Society had held in September at the Harold Kuhl home a shower at which Leon and Jeanne received many beautiful gifts. The newlyweds are living in Waterloo. When a Hallowe'en social Was held on October 28th, the church hall fluttered with colorful paper ghosts and twinkling jack-o-lanterns. Nursery rhyme characters greeted one another with quizzical looks. The prize winners were Rita Kuhl as "Mrs. Bond"; Mr. Reuter as "Simple Simon"; and Roger and Sandra Schnarr and Betty Steen as "Three Blind Mice." Vanny Gill and Carolyn Kuhl arranged the program of games, which everyone entered into with alacrity, and Keith Niall entertained with two hilarious readings. Everyone had a good time.
     Two special Society meetings were held on November 25th and December 2nd to hear a report from the Community Committee and to consider the purchase of a specific property a few miles outside the city. The first meeting ended without any action being taken as the pastor had to catch a train for Montreal. The meeting held the following Friday was spent in hearing the Society's feelings about the forming of a community and considering modes of procedure. Mr. Reuter had not taken any lead in the project up to this time as he was waiting for the Society as a whole to express a desire for the move. At this meeting he was appointed chairman of the Community Committee as it was felt that this very large undertaking requires pastoral leadership. No action was taken on the property under consideration, but it was requested that a choice of several properties be presented to the Society. The following week a meeting was held at which it was decided to form a private stock company to handle the purchase and sale of property. On December 9th, Mr. Reuter presented an interesting doctrinal class on the community idea. On December 13th, the Executive Committee turned down a request for an option to purchase our present church property for $105,600.00.

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     Because of all these happenings Christmas arrived rather suddenly for the Society, but by December 18th the celebration of the Advent had begun with sermon by the pastor on the Divine conception, and in the evening the Christmas tableaux were presented to the great enjoyment of the children. Six scenes portrayed the story of the Lord's birth from the Annunciation to the Flight into Egypt. The Christmas Eve children's service was very lovely as always. This year the school children very effectively gave their recitation during the lesson, and the older school children sang two hymns. Fifty-three children and babies came forward at the end of the service to receive their gifts from the Society. The next day an adult service, with a sermon on the birth of the Lord, marked Christmas Day.
     The New Year was welcomed by the Society at a dance in the church hall. A surprising number of young people, many home for the holidays, danced for three hours before midnight to tape-recorded music. The decorations were really outstanding. Doorways and the center post had been turned into marble while the wall spaces, including the numerous windows, were covered with gold and silver foil and white paper. Blue and white stars sparkled on the walls, and streamers and balloons covered the ceiling. Before midnight the girls modeled fancy hats created for the party. When the New Year had been welcomed, and all had exchanged greetings, lunch was served on gold tables. Two humorous readings, a monologue, and spontaneous singing provided supper entertainment. Keith Niall was master of ceremonies, and Roger Schnarr and the rest of the social committee had planned the party.
     During the past year the Society acclaimed the arrival of five new babies and welcomed many visitors. Those who have spent some time with us include Vida Elphick of Durban, South Africa, who spent a year in Kitchener and is now living in Toronto before returning home next summer; and Jane Gill of Colchester, England, who spent last summer here before going to school in Bryn Athyn and returned for the Christmas vacation. Felix Duquesne of Montreal is attending the sixth grade of the Carmel School and living with Mr. and Mrs. Reuter, and John Heinrichs of Dawson Creek, B. C., is spending the winter in Kitchener. It is a pleasure to welcome these young people to the Society.
     VIVIAN KUHL

     TORONTO, CANADA

     One of the most important and enjoyable events for us was the Eastern Canada District Assembly held last fall. Toronto was host on that occasion, and it was a pleasure to welcome so many visitors. A full report of the Assembly proceedings appeared in the January issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE [pp. 5-8].
     Our Thanksgiving service was held on Sunday morning, October 16th. As the congregation sang the first hymn, the children walked down the aisle and offered their gifts of fruit to the Lord. Mr. John Raymond later made his confession of faith.
     On Sunday, October 30th, the infant son of Mr. and Mrs. John Parker, Sr., was baptized and the service centered in the subject of Baptism. After the sacrament had been administered our pastor talked to the children, giving them a clear picture of the meaning of the ceremony they had just witnessed. His sermon on the same subject rounded out a very lovely service. In the afternoon Mr. and Mrs. Parker had Open House for all their friends.
     Mr. Denis Jean Marie and Miss Betty Charles were united in marriage on Saturday evening, October 15th, the Rev. Martin Pryke officiating. Mrs. John Parker, Jr., attended the bride as matron-of-honor, and Miss Barbara Charles was bridesmaid. Mr John Parker, Jr., acted as best man and was assisted by Mr. Keith Jean-Marie. The reception was held in the church hall, where a delightful sphere prevailed as we all wished the happy couple eternal happiness.
     Another wedding took place on Saturday evening, November 26th, when Miss Martha Wilkins became the wife of Mr. Jack McDonald, with the Rev. Martin Pryke officiating. Attending the bride were the Misses Jewell Albright and Alethe Starkey as maid-of-honor and bridesmaid, respectively, while Mr. John Parker, Jr., acted as best man. After it the ceremony a brief reception was held in the assembly hall, where members and friends had an opportunity of extending their best wishes to the happy couple.
     The children's Hallowe'en party, sponsored by Theta Alpha, was held at the church on Friday afternoon, October 28th. It was a dress-up affair, and there were many bright and gay costumes.

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After playing games, marching, and ducking for apples, the children sat down to supper, at which they intermingled the art of eating with the telling of riddles.
     That evening the young people held a masquerade party, also at the church hall. The evening was spent playing games and dancing, after which refreshments were served. Prizes for the best costumes were given to Miss Sheila Brown as a mouse, Miss Nancy Carter as a candy-cane girl, and Miss Doris Zorn as a cheer leader, with honorable mention to Miss Phyllis Izzard who went fully prepared to attend the General Assembly in London. Those responsible for the enjoyable evening were the Misses Barbara Charles and Evelyn Barber, and Messrs. Frank Jean-Marie and Tom Fountain, Jr.
     A square dance was held on November 4th. Under the leadership of Mrs. Tucker and her assistant we managed to learn a few new dances and repeated expertly some of the old ones. During the short intermission the Rev. Jan Weiss directed a competitive game, during which the roars of laughter and the cheers completely exhausted both the competitors and the audience. Cider and apples were to be had throughout the evening, and refreshments in the form of coffee and donuts were served later. The social committee-Mrs. Ethel Raymond, Miss Evelyn Barber, and Messrs. Jorgen Hansen and Dennis McDonald-was in charge of this social.
     On Sunday evening, December 18th, the Christmas story was presented in the chapel in tableau form. There were five scenes in all, the first showing John the Baptist as "the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord." The Nativity came next, and the third tableau showed the wise men presenting their gifts. The next scene showed the angel appearing to Joseph in a dream, and the last represented the Flight into Egypt. Between the tableaux there were two vocal solos by Mr. Haydn John and a violin solo by Mrs. Jorgen Hansen. Afterwards, in the assembly hall, the children each received a book from the Ladies' Circle, and Theta Alpha presented the day school with a gift. Fruit and candy were given to the children as they left the church.
     For the Christmas service the chancel was specially decorated in an abundance of fresh greenery, large red candles, and poinsettias. The Christmas music selected by the organist, Mrs. Clara Sargeant, was particularly pleasing, and the Rev. Martin Pryke preached a sermon on the Christmas theme.
     Mr. and Mrs. Frank Longstaff celebrated their golden wedding anniversary, on December 28th; and their family, assisted by a few intimate friends, held a big reception in the church hall for all their friends. The program commenced with a formal reception, Mr. Frank (Toby) Longstaff, Jr., acting as master of ceremonies. The Rev. Martin Pryke proposed a toast to the Church as being the most important factor in fifty years of happily married life. Mr. Alan Longstaff, from Denver, Cole., spoke next, giving us some humorous and touching incidents in the lives of his parents. Mr. Garnet James and Mr. Frank Norman, from New Toronto and Cleveland, Ohio, respectively, jointly proposed a toast to "the bride and groom." Mr. Tom Fountain's speech was followed by the presentation by his daughters of a gift from the Fountain family; and Mr. Pryke, on behalf of the society, presented a gift to Mr. and Mrs. Longstaff. The Gorand March was headed by the guests of honor, and led into square dancing under the guidance of Mrs. Tucker. There was a life-size wedding cake, which was cut in the traditional manner, and refreshments were served later.
     With New Year's Eve falling on a Saturday we commenced the evening earlier than usual, starting off with a turkey supper prepared by Mrs. Ethel Raymond, Mrs. Kaye Fountain, Mrs. Doris Orchard, Mrs. Clara Swalm, and Miss Frances Raymond. Mr. Frank Longstaff rose to thank the Society for the gift received by Mrs. Longstaff and himself on their anniversary and graciously requested that the Olivet Society accept it as a contribution to the building fund. This most generous gesture was greeted with loud applause. There was dancing from 9:00 to 11:45, with Mr. Donald Barber as M.C. Just before midnight we sang together the Welsh carol which we had rehearsed, and we then heard a short speech from Mr. Pryke on the subject of "Change." This was followed by the singing of "Then Together Let Us Stand" and "Auld Lang Syne." With the usual merry commotion caused by everyone wishing everyone else a Happy New Year another social evening came to an end.
     On January 3rd, 1956, Mr. Fred Longstaff passed into the spiritual world. Since an automobile accident just before Christmas he had been in a coma most of the time, and as he had multiple injuries it is clearly of the Divine mercy that he has been spared further suffering.

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He was a zealous supporter of the Church and will be greatly missed by our Society.
     Mr. and Mrs. Tom Bradfield and their daughter moved to Hamilton, Ontario, last spring, and Mr. and Mrs. Peter Bevan and family moved to Hamilton last fall. Losing these two couples has been a sad blow to us. We now hear that Mr. and Mrs. Bradfield have been moved to St. Catherine's, Ontario, and even though that city is a little further removed from Toronto we hope they will be able to attend our gatherings as often as before.
     KATHERINE BARBER

     CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

     We began 1956 with the feeling that we have continued to make progress in the last few months. Mr. Schnarr has formed several committees to take care of our various activities. This distributes the work more evenly and enables more people to take an active part, rather than having a few do the same things year after year. It is working out well, and seems to be leading to a greater appreciation of what others have done in the past.
     A new venture for this society, and one which has received most favorable comment from all over the church, is our Sharon Report, a monthly pamphlet ably edited and assembled by Mr. and Mrs. Alan Childs. It gives the monthly calendar for Sharon Church members and is helpful in keeping our scattered members in touch with what others are doing.
     Mr. Schnarr has been giving a very interesting series of doctrinal classes on "A Journey Through the Spiritual World." He is following the states through which a man passes from his awakening in the other world to the reaching of his final destination. These are thought provoking classes and they have led to interesting discussions.
     In November we cleared about $456.00 at a bazaar, which we think is doing very well for our little group. The bazaar was efficiently managed by Mrs. Charles Lindrooth, who found something for all of us to do; which always means that in addition to the acquiring of extra funds a pleasant evening is spent. As always, our friends from Glenview added greatly by their pleasant company as well as their purchases.
     We sometimes have the pleasure of greeting new members; but more often, and much too often, we know the sorrow of saying farewell to some of our little group. The John Caldwell family and Mrs. Robert Caldwell have moved to Madison, Wisconsin, and we have lost also a whole family and another member to Glenview. Mrs. Margaret Ewald accepted the request, and challenge, to renovate the old Barnitz home, and she made such a success of this venture that the William Hugos welcomed the chance to take the first floor apartment and thus make it much easier for their little girl to attend the Glenview school. The Hugos and Mrs. Ewald come to Sharon Church every other Sunday and to other activities as much as possible. They are the type of member every society likes to have, and we are thankful that they have not left us entirely.
     Our many out of town visitors have included Mr. and Mrs. Ray Frommer (Berith Schroder) and their two little daughters from Africa; Mrs. Bengt Carlson (Martha Schroder) from Sweden; Mr. and Mrs. Geoffrey S. Childs from Saginaw; Mr. and Mrs. Sam Lindsay from Doylestown; and this month, Mrs. R. R. Schnarr, Mr. Schnarr's mother, and his grandfather, Mr. George Schnarr, from Kitchener. There were four generations of the Schnarr family present on Sunday.
     Mr. and Mrs. Schnarr had open house on New Year's Eve. We played games until midnight and then had a delicious meal. Due to illness, and to several being out of town, there were not many there, but those of us who were had a very good time.
     The latest innovation, cleverly carried out by Mr. Ed Kitzelman and Mr. Robert Riefstahl, is a loudspeaker in the upstairs room. Whoever is taking care of the babies can now hear the sermon.
     Our annual meeting was held on January 15th. Mr. Alexander McQueen and his brother, Mr. Noel McQueen, were reelected unanimously as secretary and treasurer; they are too valuable for us to risk a change! The trustees for the coming year are Messrs. Ed Kitzelman, Charles Lindrooth, Rudolph Barnitz, Robert Riefstahl, and Alan Childs. We had a surprise birthday cake for our faithful organist, Miss Vivian Curtis.
     VOLITA WELLS

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ORDINATION 1956

Announcements
Franson.-At Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, January 29, 1956, the Rev. Roy Franson into the Second Degree of the priesthood, the Rt. Rev. George de Charms officiating.
NEW CIRCLE 1956

NEW CIRCLE 1956

On February 2, 1956, a group of receivers in Copenhagen, Denmark, was recognized by the Bishop of the General Church as the Copenhagen (Denmark) Circle of the General Church of the New Jerusalem under the pastoral care of the Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen as visiting pastor.
ASSEMBLY ACCOMMODATIONS 1956

ASSEMBLY ACCOMMODATIONS 1956

Visitors to the 21st General Assembly who wish to secure accommodation in London through the Assembly Committee, and have not yet done so, should communicate immediately with Mr. Robert E. Bruell, 63 Jennings Road, St. Albans, Herts., England.
GOING TO SWEDEN? 1956

GOING TO SWEDEN? 1956

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TWENTY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1956

     LONDON, ENGLAND, JULY 24-29, 1956

Tuesday, July 24
     11:00 a.m. Council of the Clergy. Wynter Room, Swedenborg House
     2:15 p.m. Ministers' Luncheon
     7:30 p.m. Reception at Victoria Hall

Wednesday, July 25
     11:00 a.m. First Session of the Assembly
               Episcopal Address
     2:15 p.m. Luncheon
     6:00 p.m. Second Session of the Assembly
               Address: Rev. Harold C. Cranch
     8:00 p.m. Supper

Thursday, July 26
     11:00 a.m. Third Session of the Assembly
               Address: Rev. Alan Gill
     2:15 p.m. Luncheon
     6:00 p.m. Fourth Session of the Assembly
               Address: Rev. Elmo C. Acton
     8:00 p.m. Supper

Friday, July 27
     Morning No Session
     2:15 p.m. Luncheon
     3:30 p.m. Sons of the Academy Meeting in Victoria Hall
     3:30 p.m. Theta Alpha Meeting in Swedenborg Hall
     6:00 p.m. Fifth Session of the Assembly
               Address: Rev. David R. Simons
     8:00 p.m. Supper

Saturday, July 28
     10:00 a.m. Sixth Session of the Assembly
               Address: Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton
     No Luncheon
     7:00 p.m. Assembly Banquet. Provisionally at Connaught Rooms, Kingsway
               Toastmaster: Mr. John Cooper

Sunday, July 29
     11:00 a.m. Divine Worship
               Sermon: Rev. A. Wynne Acton
     2:15 p.m. Luncheon at Coventry Street Corner House
     4:00 p.m. Administration of the Holy Supper
     6:00 p.m. Tea (?)

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LORD IN GLORY 1956

LORD IN GLORY Rev. HUGO LJ. ODHNER 1956

NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. LXXVI          APRIL, 1956               No. 4
     AN EASTER SERMON

     "Fear not; I am the Fist and the last: I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am living for ever and ever, Amen; and I have the keys of hell and of death." (Revelation 1:17, 18)

     The message of Easter is that God stands revealed as Divinely Human, visible and approachable and immediately present to the men of His church (TCR 787, 109; SS 99).
     The Gospels record that the Lord, having risen from the sepulcher, came repeatedly before His disciples as a Divine Man, whom they could hear and see, touch and worship. And then, after forty days, He "was received up into heaven and sat on the right hand of God" (Mark 16:19).
     Yet the Lord had promised that He would not leave them comfortless, but would come to them as the Spirit of Truth, which-He told them-"dwelleth with you and shall be in you" (John 14:17, 18). "Where two or three are gathered together in My name," He said, "there am I in the midst of them" (Matthew 18:20).
     But ever since His ascension from the sepulcher the Lord has been invisible in the world (SD 5742). He is seen only by the eyes of man's spirit, or by mental sight. This does not mean that He is not omnipresent with men in the world. For there are many things in the natural world which our physical eyes cannot discern, but which can yet be visioned by the eyes of our mind, or by our understanding. In fact, all our seeing is done by our mind; for without a mind the eyes of the body are blind even to physical light. How, then, could they see the presence of the Lord, whose glorified Human is one with the infinite God! Would not even the eyes of a man's spirit be utterly inadequate for seeing the infinite God?
     It was known in ancient times that no man could see God and live; for they knew that the Divine, as it is in itself, was invisible and incomprehensible.

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Yet His existence was known, and He was worshiped as a Human Deity, in whose image man was created. Many of the ancients knew that the Lord was to come into the world and make the Human in Himself Divine (AC 6846, 6876). Their thoughts of Him were holy and reverent and purged of unbecoming notions of infirmity and evil. Yet their ideas of Him were not derived from an actual knowledge of God as visible, but from the fact that in heaven the invisible Divine, which is called Jehovah, appeared at times by infilling some angel-who thus was used to represent God as in human form-for the purpose of revealing His will and speaking to the prophets.
     As long as men did not fall into mere externals, there could be conjunction of God with man by means of such an appearance of the Lord in a borrowed angelic form. Indeed, this is the normal way by which the Lord has always led and taught men on all other earths in the universe, and by which His essence could be perceived by the celestial men of the most ancient church on our earth. Through such revelations, the celestial in their innocence could progress to an inmost wisdom of love which fulfilled the Divine purpose in creation. But when mankind became so degraded that it could no longer distinguish the Divine from the human of the angels, it was necessary for the Lord Jehovah to reveal His Divine Humanity in another and final way; so that He could become visible in His own Divine person, in a manner never before possible, and thus manifest His Divine things to human perception. For by glorifying the Human which He put on in the world the Lord could, in His Divine Natural, "conjoin Himself to man in his natural, yea, in his sensual, and at the same time to his spirit or mind in his rational, and thus enlighten man's natural human with heavenly light" (Coro. 51).
     There were new potentialities of progress opened after the Advent, new ways of seeing and understanding the Divine Human-ways which will gradually become available to all who can use them, all in heaven and all in the universe, whenever the need arises. All the churches on our earth before the Lord's coming "were representative of spiritual and celestial things; but those after His advent were made spiritual-natural and celestial-natural" (DLW 233). The men of the Ancient Church were external and natural as to religious life, whereas men after the Lord's coming can become internal and spiritual (Coro. 51).
     For now the Lord can be seen in glory, even by those who are not celestial in genius; even by those who cannot perceive His Divine through representatives. Therefore the prophet foretold: "In that day shall the light of the moon be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days" (Isaiah 30:26). And the angels testify that when the Lord came on earth the sun of the angelic heaven shone out with greater splendor than before (DLW 233).

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For He was the Sun of righteousness rising with healing in His wings.

     How, then, is the Lord now seen in His Divine Human?
     The doctrine reveals that after the Lord had risen, His Human being united with the Father, "He returned into the Divine, in which He was from eternity, together with and in the glorified Human" (Canons, Redr. viii). By this union He assumed all power in heaven and in earth, exercising the Divine omnipotence which is meant by His sitting "on the right hand of God" (Mark 16:19). For He is the God of heaven and earth, in whom is the holy trinity of Father, Son, and Spirit; one in person and essence, as soul and body and proceeding are one.
     "This one God in His Human is above the angelic heaven," yet omnipresent in the created universe (Canons, HS iii). The person of the Lord is constantly encompassed with the spiritual sun (HH 121). Yet it is not to be supposed that God is a sun, for that sun is but the first veiling of His infinite love and wisdom, which give spiritual light and heat to angels and men; nor is that sun localized in the sky of heaven, for there is neither space nor time there. The spiritual sun is omnipresent as the underlying and only substance of creation. Wherever the angels turn, that sun is before them as a brilliant orb of heavenly fire. And sometimes, when their thoughts are centered Upon the Lord, they are given to see Him in the sun as a Man (DLW 97; AC 7173, 10,809). It is told that when certain spirits, who had known the Lord in the world, beheld Him appearing in the sun, they all confessed that it was He whom they had known on earth. Yet spirits from other planets similarly proclaimed Him as their only Lord, who had appeared to them on their earths, as if walking among them (AC 7173, 7252, 7477, 10811; SD 3292).
     The Lord does not, like an earthly monarch, sit upon a throne in heaven. His love is like a consuming fire-a sun whose rays are tempered by radiant belts and atmospheres. And yet the Lord also, and frequently, is seen outside of the sun-among the angels, and even below heaven. He then appears in angelic form, distinguished by the radiance of His face and figure. For then-even as He did in ancient times-"He fills an angel with His aspect and thus with His presence from afar" (AE 412:16). The proprium of the angel is laid asleep and the Lord's Divine fills his internal. And although the Lord is not willing to change the form and nature of the angel altogether, it is known no otherwise than that the Lord Himself is present and speaking (SD 2990). But such manifestations occur with much variety, not the same in one society as in another; for the angels behold Him from their own good, and are affected according to its quality (HH 55).

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     When John visioned the Son of Man walking amidst the seven lampstands and proclaiming, "I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last," it was the Lord appearing through an angelic human (AE 401:3). His face shone as the sun and His feet like glowing brass. Even the prophets of Israel had seen the Ancient of Days in similar ways, as the "angel of Jehovah." But He whom John saw was not Jehovah under the form of an angel, but was "Jehovah Man," the risen Christ, united with Jehovah yet veiling Himself in an angelic human (AC 9315:5).
     In a sense, this appearance of the Lord among the angels is not His presence in person but by "aspect"; still, it is the Divine person of the Lord who so appears. And hence it said that He appears in person to the angels, sometimes in the sun and sometimes outside the sun (DLW 97). In every case, and whatever media He employs, "His Divine cannot appear to any man nor even to any angel except through the Divine Human, nor the Divine Human except through the Divine truth which proceeds from Him" (AC 6945).
     It is the truth about the Lord that reveals His presence. Did not the Lord explain the Scriptures about Christ's passion before the two disciples at Emmaus could recognize Him? Did not John at Patmos recognize the Son of Man because the risen Lord was clothed in the imagery of ancient prophecy? The Lord is visible only when one's spiritual understanding is opened-which is impossible with those who are in falsities of evil, possible only by truth seen and loved (TCR 777). How could the Lord have manifested Himself before His servant Swedenborg, unless that man had searched the Word in which every truth is a mirror of God? (AR 938; Inv. 41; TCR 6).
     The seer of the second advent testifies that the Lord appeared to him in person to call him 40 his mission (Inv. 43, 52; TCR 779, heading). Yet the Lord's second advent to the church was not His coming in person, but His revealment in the Word which is from Him and is Himself (TCR 776). The doctrine assures us that it is in the literal sense of the Word, and nowhere else, that the Lord is present with man to enlighten and teach, and to conjoin Himself with man according as he understands the Word and lives it (SS 53, 78).
     Therefore it is shown that an angel sees God not only outside of himself but within himself. By external thought the angel sees the Lord as if in space before him, whether in the sun or in an angelic Human in heaven. But by interior thought-when he thinks from love and wisdom-he sees the Lord within himself, intimately present in the truths and goods of the Word which are the Lord's own with man, and which the angel never confuses with his proprium or claims as his own (DLW 130; AE 195:4).
     This is true of angels and it is true of men.

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The sight and real presence of the Lord comes when the truths and goods of the Word are seen as His own with us. He came on earth and made Himself a form of all Divine truth, and glorified His Human "even as to flesh and bones, to the end that He should be able to operate from primes to ultimates from Himself and not, as before, from men" (AE 1086:5). It is the Divine truths of the literal sense of the Word by which He now is in His fulness and omnipotence, for in these He dwells and by these His operation reaches down to men in the world by "His immediate influx" (AE 726:6, 7; 806: 3).
     The Lord is therefore the First and the Last, and holds the keys of hell and of death. As the one Divine Man, He is present and visible in primes, within the spiritual sun, and in ultimates He is present and visible as Divine Man in the truths of the Gospel. And from primes through ultimates He is present and visible in intermediates-among the angels.
     The proceeding Divine truth, or the Holy Spirit, which reveals Him is said to proceed "from the single things of His body, interior and exterior" (Ath. 177). His power to save is exerted on every degree of creation, for His Human is not only the Divine Celestial and the Divine Spiritual which are called "Jehovah" or "the Divine Human from Eternity," but the Divine Natural which He entered into actually when He rose from death.
     The Lord is omnipresent, even if men fail to see Him. He is visible so far as man forms the states of his mind from revealed truths. The Gospels thus reveal His Divine person, His Divine Natural. The Writings of His second advent disclose also His Divine Rational-the mind of God-in order that we may think of His person from His Divine essence.
     By His Holy Spirit and the teachings of His mouth the Lord now operates on men perceptibly, enabling them to comprehend spiritual truths in a natural way (Q 5). After death, our spiritual eyes may indeed be opened to see the Divine Human in objective appearance, both in the sun of heaven and through angelic mediations adapted to our states. But in both worlds the Lord can now be immediately present by "aspect," or by internal sight, within the truths of His revelations; present in every human condition, to save or to judge. For His Human descended to all states, and is still with us, as the First and the Last. And He has the keys of hell and of death. Amen.

     LESSONS: Mark 16. Revelation 1:9-18. AE 1087:4.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 470, 557, 478.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 37, 81.

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WHY THE LORD ALLOWED HIMSELF TO BE CRUCIFIED 1956

WHY THE LORD ALLOWED HIMSELF TO BE CRUCIFIED Rev. DANDRIDGE PENDLETON 1956

     An Easter Talk to Children

     The Lord came on earth to teach the truth-truth that had once been known and loved by men, but which was now lost and forgotten. There were many men who came to love the Lord when He was on earth. They followed Him wherever He went. They listened eagerly to everything He said. And because they loved His teachings, they found peace and happiness. The evil spirits from hell could no longer hurt them, for they had put themselves under the Lord's protection.
     But there were also many men who did not love the Lord. They hated Him. For a long time these wicked men had ruled over the poor people. They had taken away their lands and their money. They did not wish to learn the truth, nor did they wish to let others learn it, because the truth would show their evil love of rule for what it really was.
     So it was that these wicked leaders did everything in their power to stop the Lord from teaching the truth. First they tried to ask the Lord questions that would make Him appear foolish in front of all the people. But this failed, because the Lord always answered them with a truth that made His enemies appear foolish instead. In this way more and more of the ordinary people turned to the Lord, which meant that their evil leaders began to lose more of their power. Finally, in desperation, those men who hated the Lord decided that the only way to be rid of Him was to put Him to death. And this they did, crucifying Him-a terribly cruel and unjust thing to do.
     Now, in reading the Gospels, which are the story of the Lord's life when He was on earth, we find that the Lord Knew that He was going to be put to death. He even knew the exact time when it would happen. Long before it actually happened, He told His disciples that He would be crucified by those who hated Him.
     Of course, it is not at all strange that the Lord should know this. For He was God, and therefore He could foresee the future-a thing that no man can ever do. But you may wonder: if the Lord could foresee what was going to happen, why did He not make it not happen?

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If He had gone on living for many more years on this earth could He not have taught men just that much more truth?
     It is true that the Lord can do anything. If He had wished to, He could certainly have made it impossible for the men who crucified Him to touch Him, or even come near Him. And yet the Lord deliberately allowed Himself to be put to death.
     In order to understand this you must realize first of all that no man, however strong, could ever really kill the Lord. The physical body that He lived in on earth could die. But His Divine body, the real Lord, could not be harmed. And it was this Divine body that the disciples saw when the Lord appeared to them after they had laid Him in the sepulcher, thinking that He was dead and gone forever. Also, we are told in the Writings for the New Church that the two most important things the Lord had come to teach men were, that He is God, and that there is a life after death-a heaven into which all men can come, if only they will live according to His Word.
     At first the men who followed the Lord had thought that He was a great man, a prophet, but still just a man. But as His miracles became more and more wonderful-stilling the wind and the waves, casting out devils, raising people from the dead-the disciples began to realize that here was no ordinary man, nor even a prophet, but someone who had far greater power than any man. He spoke to them of His kingdom in a life that was to follow death. They wanted to believe Him, and at times they did believe Him with all their hearts. But at other times their belief failed and they became fearful and doubting.
     There was only one way in which all doubt and all fear could be removed from their minds. And that was for the Lord Himself to die as to His natural body, and then to appear and talk to them in His Divine body. In this way they could know, once and for all, that there really is a life after the death of the natural body, and that the Lord really is the all-powerful God and ruler of the entire universe.
     This is the reason the Lord allowed Himself to be put to death. He allowed those who hated Him to take Him prisoner, to bind Him, to spit upon Him and make fun of Him, to accuse Him falsely, and finally to crucify Him. All this He allowed to happen, knowing that they could do Him no real harm, and knowing that in this way His disciples would come to believe in Him so completely that there would no longer be room for fear or doubt in their minds.
     At Easter time, then, we should not think too much about the Lord's death on the cross. Rather should we think of the fact that He came back to life, that He rose from the tomb, that He appeared to those who loved Him but who had given up hope that they would ever see Him again.

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We should rejoice with exceeding great joy, even as did His disciples when they saw Him whom they thought they had lost. Now they knew with absolute assurance that there is a life after death. Now they knew why the Lord had seemed greater than any man. For they realized at last that He was God himself.
     We see, then, that the Lord could be put to death as to His natural body only because He allowed it, and that He did allow it only when that death would serve the purpose which He alone could foresee. He had taught men all the truth they could understand at that time. Now His death and resurrection were to bring them to a belief in that truth which could not be shaken. This was the Lord's way, and because it was His way it was the only way. In this, as in all things, it was the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes. Amen.

     LESSONS: Isaiah 53:3-9. Matthew 28:1-10, 17, 18.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 548, 551, 552.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. C4, C9.
MEN AND WOMEN IN THE WORD 1956

MEN AND WOMEN IN THE WORD 1956

     Seth and Enosh

     "These three churches, 'Man' [Adam], 'Seth,' and 'Enosh,' constitute the Most Ancient Church, but still with a difference of perfection as to perceptions: the perceptive faculty of the first church gradually diminished in the succeeding churches, and became more general. . . . Perfection consists in the faculty of perceiving distinctly, which faculty is diminished when the perception is less distinct and more general; an obscure perception then succeeds in the place of that which was clearer, and thus it begins to vanish. . . . 'Enosh,' as before observed, is a third church, yet one of the most ancient churches, but less celestial, and consequently less perceptive, than the church 'Seth'; and this latter was not so celestial and perceptive as the parent church called 'Man' " (AC 502, 505).

     Enoch

     "There were some at that time who framed doctrines from the things that had been matters of perception in the Most Ancient and succeeding churches, in order that such doctrine might serve as a rule whereby to know what was good and true. Such persons were called 'Enoch'" (AC 519).

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PRIEST AND LAYMAN 1956

PRIEST AND LAYMAN Rev. MARTIN PRYKE 1956

     (Delivered to the Council of the Clergy (Open Session), Bryn Athyn, Pa., January 27, 1956.)

     It is not my intention this evening to submit a learned address to this Open Session of the Council of the Clergy, but rather to draw your attention to certain teachings and derived principles concerning the functions of the priesthood and the laity, and concerning the proper relationship between them. There could hardly be a more suitable occasion for such a consideration; priests and laymen are here gathered together in goodly numbers, and might usefully give some thought to their respective uses in the church and to the proper relation which should exist between those uses.
     It might be well to add that we are not expecting to propound some new or startling theory. Instead we shall survey familiar teachings and attempt to see how they will affect our daily life, our daily working together, in the uses of the church.
     The need for a priesthood made up of men who are called, set apart and ordained by the Lord, is made clear in the Writings. We are taught that the first requisite of the general good of society is that the Divine shall be among men (Char. 130); this we can plainly recognize, for where the Divine is not present, there is only disorder, misery and evil. It is the presence of the Divine that alone can remedy these conditions, which are of man's making. But the teaching continues to say that it is the priesthood which is responsible for the Divine being in society (Char. 134, 135). This, then, is the use to which a priesthood is dedicated: that the Divine may be among men. Inasmuch as this use looks to the eternal salvation of men, we cannot doubt that this is the most exalted use to which a man may be called! While all other uses may be said to look indirectly to the spiritual welfare of mankind, the use of the priesthood looks to this directly and supremely. Thus the priesthood is described as being "the first of the church" (AE 229:4).
     In other places the need for a separate priesthood is expressed in another way. It is shown that in the present day world in which men, from an inherited tendency to evil, seek to rule over others and to possess the goods of others, order can be maintained only by means of selected governors (HD 312).

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"There are two things which ought to be in order with men, namely, the things which are of heaven, and the things which are of the world. The things which are of heaven are called ecclesiastical, and those which are of the world are called civil" (HD 311). Therefore governors are of two classes: firstly, those concerned with civil affairs-preserving what is just and moral in society-who are our temporal rulers, whether they be kings or presidents, judges or magistrates, legislators or enforcers of the law; and, secondly, those concerned with ecclesiastical affairs-or the things of heaven, of the spirit-who are priests (HD 314). "The priesthood is for the sake of order" (AC 10,798).
     That the priesthood is intended to be, not simply an additional use of those already occupied in other functions, but a separate and dedicated use, is also indicated by the number which tells us that "good may be instilled into another by any one in the land, but not truth except by those who are teaching ministers; if others do so, heresies spring up, the church is disturbed and torn to pieces" (AC 6822). The need for protecting the truths of the church by confining the teaching of them to a called, trained and ordained priesthood, is manifest. While there can be no guarantee that heresy will never enter the church through its priesthood, human frailty being what it is, yet the possibility is minimized by having a chosen and separate priesthood which is enlightened in the performance of its high use and protected from gross falsity by means of careful training and continued study of the Word.

     The function of the priest, then, is to preserve the Divine among men and thus is the work of salvation; not that any man can save another, but that the priesthood becomes an instrument in the Lord's work of salvation. This it does by two basic and fundamental means: instruction in the truths of the Word, and leading to the good of life (AC 10,794; TCR 422; Life 39; AE 624:17, 18). The first in end is, of course, leading to the good of life. This is the very purpose for which the priesthood has been established; this is the Lord's work of salvation. But the first in time must be instruction in the truth; for it is only by means of truth that man can come to the good of life.
     It is important for the priest to recognize that both of these means are his proper function. In the intellectual atmosphere of the New Church there is a danger that priests may think that they do their part simply by giving instruction in the doctrines of the church. "Priests who teach truths and by means of them lead to the good of life, and thus to the Lord, are good shepherds of the sheep; but those who teach, and do not lead to the good of life, and thus to the Lord, are evil shepherds" (AC 10,794).

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All the work of the church must be done in the light of an underlying acknowledgment that truth exists only for the sake of good, and that unless it leads to good it is utterly fruitless. The sermon, for example, is intended not simply to instruct, but to inspire to good, to strengthen the weary heart, to arouse the sleeping purpose, to encourage the hesitant soul.
     Nevertheless, it is just as fruitless to concentrate primarily and completely on leading to the good of life in such a way that no real or significant instruction is given in the doctrines. Truth is the only rock upon which the new life of man may be built; simply to enjoin, exhort, cajole or threaten, will not build upon anything but a sandy foundation. It is impossible to lead to the good of life without first giving instruction in the doctrines of the church. In time, the first duty of the priest is to see that all who are under his pastoral care are thoroughly grounded in the essential doctrines of the church; all must, according to their ability and need, be fed with the heavenly manna. The priest who fails to do this is starving his flock.
     There is need, then, for the priest constantly to be judging his work to be sure that he is giving the proper weight to each part thereof. No two men will do this in the same way; no two men have the same abilities in each field; but all must endeavor to find the right balance, lest their work, over a period, lose something that is essential.

     From these two essential elements of the priestly use spring the many derivative uses which make up the priest's daily work. All that is properly a part of his task can be related to one of these two: either to the "prophetic" function of instruction, or to the more strictly "priestly" function of leading to the good of life.
     The field of instruction is a very wide one as well as being very varied. The core of it is, of course, the regular instruction given to the adult members of the church, be it the expositional teaching of the sermon, or the more strictly doctrinal teaching of the weekly classes. If this is to be as effective as possible, it must be organized and progressive. While there will always be a need for repetition, yet there should also be some systematic, progressive study which will plan for an opening of the mind to the boundless truths of Revelation.
     While the established members are being led deeper into the field of doctrine, others, the newcomers, are being introduced into it. Their particular need must be met with patience and understanding. Sound instruction progresses from generals to particulars, which means that the newcomer I must be provided with a clear appreciation of the fundamental teachings before he is rushed into the intricacies and confusion of questions which are matters of dispute, or at least of obscurity, within the church.

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     Our children and young people will need special instruction which will not only ground them thoroughly in the Scriptures but will also instruct them in the fundamental doctrines of the church, so that they will be prepared for the time when they will reach adulthood and must make their own choice of faith before making public declaration of it and joining the church.
     Beyond this, however, there is a further responsibility concerning the young, for in the General Church we have recognized that education is not purely secular and cannot be separated from religious training; therefore we recognize the education of children to be a proper function of the church. This brings education under the charge of the priesthood, and rightly so; because all true education has as its end instruction in both spiritual and natural things, so that their relation to one another, to mankind as a whole, and to the Lord Himself, may be seen. Our philosophy of education can be built only upon the revealed truths of the Writings; manifestly this is a function of the chosen, prepared and ordained priesthood, whose prime use in the teaching of truth and leading to the good of life.
     A further field of priestly instruction is that of evangelization, which is a wide one. It includes publication of the Writings, as well as of collateral literature, lectures and sermons, radio and television work, and also those unexpected opportunities to speak to groups small or large which occur every little while in the experience of most priests. While the General Church has rightly placed its first evangelical emphasis on education, this does not mean that it does not believe that these other forms of evangelization are not proper uses for the church. Perhaps we are now approaching a time when more activity may be expected in this area.
     There remains one vital field in the function of teaching the doctrines of the church which is often overlooked. If the church is to be truly living, living intellectually, its priests must be making independent doctrinal studies and original researches. Teaching cannot be alive if it does not spring from a mind that is kept alert and refreshed by means of real study. Pastoral duties often make this type of work difficult if not impossible, and yet we must not be content that this should be so. There is a need for the heavy schedule of our pastors to be relieved so that original study may be undertaken in such spheres as may particularly interest a man, or for which he may be particularly fitted.
     The General Church, compared with other bodies of the New Church, has a great advantage in the existence of an educational center such as is provided by the Academy. From such a center, where professorial priests have opportunity and purpose for making this type of study, inspiration and enthusiasm may reach out to pastoral priests in the borders of the church.

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Perhaps we have not always given sufficient thought to this function of the Academy. The church needs such an institution; but its scholars must be left free to make these researches and studies without being too tied by a heavy teaching load. This is the very life of our intellectual and doctrinal development, and is one upon which the pastors depend and draw.

     So much for the prophetic function of instruction; what now of the priestly function of leading to the good of life? Here the derivative uses may be less clearly defined, but they are none the less vital.
     First comes the conducting of Divine Worship and the administration of the sacraments and rites. These offices come entirely and solely under the guidance of the priest, whose duty it is at all times to preserve the sphere of holiness upon which the value and inspiration of our worship depends, and to protect even the church building itself, the chancel, the music, the vessels and vestments, from profanation. The laity will give much assistance in this field-organist, chancel guild, ushers-but the guidance must come from the pastor, whose responsibility it is to protect these vital uses. Sometimes it is difficult to carry out this responsibility without offending individuals; those about to be married want to use music which the priest may see to be undesirable, a donor may wish to present something for the chancel which may not be appropriate. These delicate matters can be met without catastrophe only if there is an understanding of the priest's duty in this regard and an acknowledgment of his authority in this sphere.
     Next there is the responsibility of governing in those matters which are ecclesiastical. Every society requires some guidance in maintaining order and in administering its uses. The priest must be acquainted with all the various activities taking place and see that each is fitting into its proper place, so that the total program is a balanced and orderly one.
     What we usually mean by "pastoral functions" also come under this heading of leading to the good of life. The pastor should be available, in every sense of the word, to young and old, so that they may approach him with their problems and look to him for guidance. But the priest of the New Church will not usually lay down definite laws regarding action, and the laity should not expect that he will do so. This is not the Jewish Church, which was told precisely what to do under every circumstance; it is a rational church in which each layman and laywoman must make his, or her, own decision in the light of the teachings of the church. He goes to his pastor to receive further instruction concerning this teaching, to be given some guidance as to what principles may bear on his problem; he must then himself make his application and accept the responsibility for it.

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This particular pastoral function is, however, one that has been somewhat neglected in the General Church; perhaps both because the priests have been loath to overstep their duties by advising too specifically, and because the laymen have been reluctant to go to their pastors, not realizing that much help might thereby be afforded them.
     A related subject to which we might make brief reference is that of "pastoral calling." There is a great difference of view about this in the church; some priests have little gift for it, others do most useful work in this field; some laymen expect it of their pastor, others come near to resenting it. I imagine that most of our pastors call on the elderly and infirm or sick who cannot attend the normal functions of the society-and certainly would be glad to administer the Sacrament privately for all those who would like to receive it. Some of the laity are dissatisfied when the pastoral calling does not reach beyond this bare minimum. Yet there is a simple remedy which lies in their own hands: they can always invite the pastor to their home, when he will feel sure of his welcome, will feel more at ease, and so more able to be of help.
     There remains one other, and perhaps the most difficult of all, aspect of the duties relating to leading to the good of life. A pastor has a certain responsibility in protecting the moral standards of social life within the church. He does this at all times by his preaching, and this is the only way in which he can properly influence it within the homes and the individual lives of the members; but in the official activities of the church there is a more ultimate responsibility to see that such matters as customs of behavior between the sexes, chaperonage of the young, the appropriateness of entertainments offered, gambling in its many forms, and other such matters are ordered according to the principles of Revelation. No pastor wishes to appear in the role of policeman, and yet no conscientious pastor can ignore manifest moral disorder in the official life of the church. This is not an easy matter to handle without giving offense on the one hand, or being so lax as to set no example on the other. An almost super-human judgment and tact is necessary; but the understanding support of the laity as a whole is the pastor's greatest asset in meeting such problems.

     Now we have said much concerning the functions, duties and responsibilities, of the priesthood; it will come as a refreshing change to speak of those things which are outside its province and which cannot rightly be exercised by it. We shall see later how it is that the priest should not encroach upon the functions of the laity, but the Writings speak of other important limitations.

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     "Priests must not claim for themselves any power over the souls of men, because they do not know in what state are a man's interiors; and still less must they claim for themselves the power of opening and closing heaven, because this power belongs to the Lord alone" (AC 10,795). These are claims which no thinking man could desire to make unless he were in an inordinate love of power, which, however, is, perhaps, the greatest temptation with which most priests have to contend.
     "Priests must teach the people, and lead them to the good of life by means of truths. But they must not compel any one, because no one can be compelled to believe contrary to what he thinks in his heart to be true" (AC 10,798). While, in fact, we cannot compel any one to believe; yet it is vital to the priest that he shall not seek to do so. In other words, while on the one hand the priest must be mindful of his great responsibilities and the exalted nature of his calling, he must, on the other hand, be mindful of his limitations and the boundaries of his use. The priest, as the instrument, can do only certain things; the rest can be done only by the Lord.
     Furthermore no priest, bishop or pastor, nor any council of priests, can, or should seek to, settle matters of doctrine. For us there is only one authority-the Word of God. Priests must study, and they will teach only what is from their own understanding of what they read; but no man is to claim anything more for his words than what is proper to a frail, imperfect human vessel-although he be chosen, prepared, ordained and enlightened in his use. The Writings enjoin us: "But do you, my friend, put faith in no council of men, but in the Word of the Lord, which is above all councils" (TCR 489).

     What are the qualifications necessary for a man who chooses to embark on this high use? He will need to be well equipped for his undertaking.
     Above all, the priest must be in the love of those two constituents which we have seen to make up his use; he must be in the love of teaching the truth and in the love of leading to the good of life. He must be brought to his office by a burning desire to serve as an instrument in the hands of the Lord in the salvation of souls: nothing less will carry him through his times of difficulty and discouragement, nothing less will inspire him rightly to perform the manifold functions of this high office. This love must be greater than anything else; more important, certainly, than any thought for worldly gain. The same material sacrifices are not now required of a priest as were inevitable in an earlier generation, but we must still retain its selfless devotion; for any demanding of specific standards of living, or particular facilities or comforts, or even conveniences, may be destructive of the use; both on account of its soul-destroying effect upon the priest himself and also because of its effect upon those to whom he ministers, who rightly expect him to demonstrate the same sense of values in his own life that he teaches to be necessary in theirs.

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     The further derivative qualities which are necessary in a priest are legion in number and are never, of course, all to be found in one man. He needs, above all else, perhaps, tact and understanding-an ability to see another person's point of view, even when it is hidden behind a veil of incoherence; he needs to understand how to reach the states of children and young people; he must be clear thinking and capable of expressing himself coherently and logically; he requires organizing ability; he should be able to see essentials without being confused by external non-essentials. He must, in short, be a man of wisdom and discrimination, a man of justice and judgment.
     Assuming that we find such a paragon, we must then train him in the specialties of his profession. He must have a basic secular education as a background for all else; he must bear the evidence of being an "educated" man. He must undertake a pre-theological school training which will include the ancient languages, comparative religion and philosophy, among other subjects; he must have some training in the principles and practice of New Church education. In theological school he must have a thorough and comprehensive training in the doctrines of the church which is to be the backbone of all his future studies; and the theological student who imagines that he will be able to make up his deficiencies in this field later on in his pastoral work will have a rude awakening. Not to be forgotten is the instruction that he will need in the presentation to others of the truths he has learned; he must learn how to prepare classes and must study the art of exposition and of sermon writing. He must also learn how to deliver his classes and sermons so that his congregation may be able to hear him: and may, preferably, remain awake. Here is a field which has been much neglected in the General Church.
     If I may add a personal note, I might say that in my own fifteen years in the priestly office, I have found, in addition to all the above, a need for fluency in the French, Dutch, Zulu, Sesuto and Xosa languages; for an ability to teach mathematics, science, anatomy, art, gymnastics and swimming; for a knowledge of land-surveying, architecture, building construction, real estate dealing, book-keeping and plumbing. Needless to say I was not equipped with all these knowledges and skills, and so those who have suffered under my ministrations have had to be very patient and understanding-qualities which the priesthood certainly hopes, and needs, to find in the laity.
     But to return to the list of more important qualifications of which we have spoken, it must still be said that no priest can ever possess all of them in full.

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Each man will have his own weakness as well as his own strength: this is one reason why, at not too short intervals, pastorates must be changed so that our societies may benefit from different minds and not be confined to the limitations of one. As the church grows we shall increasingly be able to find the proper use for each man; scope will be found for all forms of minds, all degrees of ability. In the meantime men must often be called upon to fill functions for which they are not ideally suited, simply because of our small size. This situation requires understanding, tolerance and patience, on all sides.

     We may, perhaps with justice, turn now to a consideration of the responsibilities of the laity. The basic and underlying responsibility is, of course, to benefit to the full from all those blessings of the Lord which come through the office of the priesthood: the instruction in the truths of the Word, and the guidance and inspiration to the good of life. This response is, in short, the life of regeneration; it is the road to salvation, which is the inmost purpose of the priesthood; a road which the priest himself also has to find and follow.
     In a derivative and more ultimate sense, the layman's responsibility in the church is to give its affairs a proper place in his life, so that the spiritual value of its work is demonstrated and recognized by himself, his family, and those around him. There is a responsibility to support the activities of the church by as faithful an attendance at its functions as is possible. The work of the church cannot prosper if a substantial number of its membership are leaving these things to others-merely participating when the mood suits them.
     The civil, or business, affairs of the church are the proper responsibility of the laity. As we have seen, the Writings draw a clear line of demarcation between matters ecclesiastical and matters civil; and, clearly, the church has certain civil matters-including the actual provision of funds-which do not rightly come under the charge of the priesthood. These should be handled solely by the laity, who should have full responsibility for, and power over, them. It is of immeasurable help to the pastor of a society for him to be able to feel that all these matters are being capably and responsibly handled by the laymen, and that he does not need to concern himself with them. He is thus set free to attend to those matters which come properly within his own sphere of use.
     There is a further way in which the pastor can be set free to concentrate on his priestly functions. Most pastors have to devote a good deal of their time to purely clerical or office duties. One of the first ways of expanding the work of the pastoral office-perhaps before providing an assistant pastor, or an additional teacher-would be to provide some secretarial assistance, even if it be only part-time.

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This would be a less expensive way of easing the pastoral burden and would be using our manpower to the maximum advantage.
     The final responsibility of the layman, and we confess to having covered these more hurriedly than is perhaps justified, is to provide affirmative, although certainly not blind, moral support to the work of the priest. This is a support which should be manifest in the home, before the children, and throughout the church; not because the priests are perfect and above criticism, but because it is only by a restrained, constructive and affirmative attitude to our leaders that we can possibly expect to work together for the fruitful good of the church.
     Where criticisms arise, or objections to policy or practice are felt, then they should be dealt with carefully and in an orderly manner. Our laymen are not asked to keep silence, or to give unreasoning support; but they are asked to make their criticisms in a manner which will build up, and not destroy, the work of the priest and thus the work of the church itself. This means that the criticism, and such is bound to arise on occasion, shall not become the subject of common gossip; nor should it be raised without warning in public meeting; indeed, nothing should be done to spread the sense of dissatisfaction-certainly not to bring it to those who do not already feel it. In addition, it is not orderly to criticize one priest to another, who is then placed in a most embarrassing position. The orderly way is rather to approach the pastor directly or to raise the problem, either one's self or through a fellow member, in Pastor's Council; unless, of course, the matter is of little importance and is better put out of one's mind and forgotten entirely. It requires more self-control, more determination, perhaps more courage, to bring the matter directly before the pastor himself; but it is the only way which will serve any useful purpose for the church. Such a procedure, of course, requires also a proper response from the priest. It is not always easy to accept criticism of what one is doing, but the priest must train himself to respond with the same frankness which has led the layman to come to him with his problem. When both manifestly have the welfare of the church at heart, and nothing else-no personal pride to defend, or love of dominion to assert-then nothing but good can come of such a mutual exchange of ideas. Certainly for the priest who is accustomed to hear criticism after it has passed through many hands, it is refreshing and encouraging to have a person come to him directly and privately with it.
     All this does not imply, on the part of the laity, a sentimental attachment to a man, but rather a rational loyalty to an office. A church, or a society, which is established on a purely personal loyalty will not prosper in the real uses of the church; nor will it outlive the particular personality to whom it has become attached. "It is the good and truth of the church which should be loved, and for the sake of these the priesthood, which only serves, and as it serves it is to be honored" (TCR 415).

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The love of the church demonstrates itself in a love of the office of the priesthood; but no mere love of a priest will establish a love of the church.

     Now, some concluding words concerning the proper relation between the priest and the laity; for this is really as important as a proper exercise of their distinctive functions. There are three important principles of government which must here be applied; ones that we see clearly illustrated in the government of heaven as well as in the government or order of the human body.
     The first principle is that true government is from and by the Lord alone. In the heavens this is acknowledged at all times by the angels and is implicit in the teaching that it is the Divine of the Lord that makes heaven, while the angels, as vessels receiving that Divine, constitute it. The corresponding principle in the human body is that life comes through the soul, and thus when the soul is withdrawn the body ceases to live as a functioning organism. In the church we must come to acknowledge the same basic concept; it is the Lord alone who governs the church. Man does not govern either civil or ecclesiastical affairs from himself; the Lord, if order is to exist, governs them through the teaching of His written Word and through an influx from the heavens which may be with those who seek to place themselves in the stream of the governing Divine Providence; human governors are simply instruments in the hands of His Providence. Both priest and layman must recognize this, not only by an intellectual acknowledgment, but also by the attitudes and deeds of their daily life in the church.
     The second principle is that a proper demarcation of functions which are properly distinct must be recognized and preserved. In the human body each organ, each vessel, each muscle and each part of a muscle, is separated from its neighbors; there is no merging of one with another; each is covered with its own membrane, and each is protected to perform its own function without interference from another. The same is true of the societies, and homes, of heaven. Each remains within its own sphere, separated and protected. Without such distinctions the body could not properly function-it would be simply a conglomerate mass; and heaven would be an entirely disorganized multitude with no means of performing uses. Such a distinction must exist between the priesthood and the laity in the church; there must be a mutual recognition of the boundaries of one's own uses, and the scope of the other's. The priest must be mindful that he does not encroach upon those uses which are properly lay, does not extend his own field to include functions which are civil in character; for our church is not a papacy, and we know clearly of the bounds placed upon the responsibility and the power of our priesthood.

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     Similarly it is improper for the layman to encroach upon the priestly office, for our church does not subscribe to the congregational form of government. The trend of modern democracy, which is a form of government by the masses, and the lure of the old adage that "he who pays the piper, calls the tune," inclines the layman to feel that he has a "right" to the final say in all matters of the church-ecclesiastical or civil. He does have the right, individually, to accept or reject the church as a whole, and collectively to accept or reject an individual priest, but having accepted the government of the church and its priesthood, he does not have the right to dictate in matters ecclesiastical; for this is just as harmful as it is for the priest to interfere with, or dictate in, matters civil. Each is called by the Lord to his proper office, and each must be left to fulfil the functions of that office according to his conscience and the best of his ability. It is, of course, the office, rather than the person, which has these powers and responsibilities.
However, the third principle to which we have referred, is that there shall also be proper communication between those parts which are distinct. In the body every part communicates with the whole and the whole with every part, chiefly by the blood and the nervous systems; if this communication is severed, then that part will die and fall away. Similarly, in heaven there is a communication by influx between the Lord and each society, indeed each angel; and there is also a communication by influx between one heaven and another and between one society and another. Thus is the whole held together in an organic functioning form.
     In the church it must be the same. If there were no communication, that is, no communication in the field of government, between the priesthood and the laity, then the two would fall apart and the church would be destroyed. This communication must be mutual and must be concerned with the functions of both parties. Thus, in a society, the pastor communicates with the laity in the performance of his priestly uses by means of his Pastor's Council, which is not an executive body, but which serves as a means whereby the pastor may make clear to his people the end that he has in view in the work that he is doing, and the reasons for any particular action. At the same time, it is a means whereby the pastor may learn, in a sphere of counsel and mutual charity, the reaction of the society to his ministrations; so that he may know more of the states that he has to meet, of the success or failure of his various programs, of uses which are not being fulfilled, and of many other matters which it is imperative that he should know if the work is to be fruitful.
     There needs to be a similar communication and counsel in the field of lay uses.

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This is customarily provided by the pastor being the chairman of the society's finance board, or simply, and perhaps preferably, an ex-officio member without a vote. In this practice three important needs are provided for: the pastor is kept acquainted with all that is going on in his society; he is able to present needs to the board-needs which will have to be met by lay support, and which can be adequately elucidated and described only by the pastor in person; and he is also able to give some guidance in matters of principle, sometimes moral principle, which from time to time arise. In addition, the pastor is often able to bring forward the fruit of work in other societies, and in his own knowledge and experience, which may be of great help.
     The same communication between the priesthood and the laity in the church as a whole is provided, in the General Church, by the Bishop being the presiding officer of the Board of Directors and by the Annual Joint Council Meeting, when the Council of the Clergy and the Board of Directors meet together.
     I foretold that there would be nothing new or startling in what I had to offer tonight; but it is my hope that by a reconsideration of these basic principles we may be able to understand better the order of government in our church, to appreciate better our respective responsibilities and duties, and so come nearer to that happy collaboration of which we sing:

     "Priest and laymen hand in hand,
     Brothers in the church we love,
     Servants of the King above."
THOUGHT EXTENSION 1956

THOUGHT EXTENSION Rev. GILBERT H. SMITH 1956

     That thought is extended into the spiritual world is an arcanum not previously known. These selections are retranslated from Apocalypse Explained, no. 1092.

     Thought is Like Rays of Light. "All the thoughts of man diffuse themselves into the spiritual world in every direction, not unlike the diffusion of rays of light from a flame. This is an arcanum not known before.
     "And since both heaven and hell consist of innumerable societies, human thoughts are diffused and extended into them. It is impossible for any single thought to exist which is not so extended."

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     Swedenborg testifies this from years of experience.

     "In a word, everyone, as to his head, is in the spiritual world, and as to his body in the natural world. But the head here means the mind-that is, the intellect, thought, will, and love. And by the body is meant the five physical senses."

     Mental Activity is in the Spiritual World. "Since the activity of one's mind is in the spiritual world, it is either in heaven or in hell. His 'head' is in the one or the other of necessity; and where his head is, there his 'body' is also when he becomes a spirit."

     The Source of Character. "Everyone's quality or character depends altogether on the nature of those societies into which his thoughts extend and on his conjunction with them, whether they be in heaven or in hell.
     "All human thoughts are extensions into such societies, otherwise they would not be thoughts. For thought is like the eyesight: unless it has extension to objects outside itself it is not sight.
     "But it is one's love that diffuses or extends the thought into those societies: an evil love into the societies of hell, a good one into those of heaven. For heaven and hell are arranged into societies solely according to the varieties of the affections of love.
     "Thoughts from good loves are truths and are like rays of light. Those springing from evil loves, however, are falsities, and tend toward hell, so conjoining themselves with societies there that a man is altogether one with them."

     In Apocalypse Explained no. 1174 and following, these interesting teachings are found.
     Everyone is in Conjunction with Heaven. There is not, and cannot be, the least iota of human thought that is not given reception in some society of the spiritual world. This does not take place consciously with the individuals in a society, but it is the prevailing affection of love that receives the influx. The angels severally are unconscious of anything connected with the reception of the thought, nor does it disturb the society in any way.
     The truth is thus evident that each one is in conjunction with heaven while he lives in the world and is consociated with angels, although both men and angels are unaware of it. The reason they are unaware is that the thought of man is natural and that of an angel is spiritual, and the two kinds of thought make one only by correspondence.

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     Since man is inaugurated by the thoughts of his love into societies either of heaven or of hell, when he enters the spiritual world by death his quality is known merely by the extensions of his thoughts into societies there. In this way everyone is explored, and is sometimes reformed by the admission of his thoughts into heavenly societies. But one might also be condemned by the immersion of his thoughts into societies of hell.

     But There is no Extension at Birth. Man at his birth is not in any society either of heaven or of hell since he is without thought. But since he is born for eternal life it follows that in course of time he opens to himself either heaven or hell, entering into societies and becoming an inhabitant of them while still living in the world.

     Our Real Country. This is because the spiritual world is man's real habitation, his real country, for there he is to live to eternity after a few years in the natural world. How necessary it is, then, for man to know what opens heaven or hell to him and introduces him into societies there.
     It should be added that man successively lets himself more and more into societies according to the increase of his wisdom, and into societies more and more interior according to the increase of his love of good. And in the degree that heaven is opened, hell is closed. Yet the Lord alone opens heaven, while hell is opened by man himself.
     The affections of a man, from which are all his thoughts, extend into societies of the spiritual world in every direction. And it is according to the quantity and quality of his affections that the societies into which his affections extend are greater or fewer in number.

     Man's Spirit Tied. The spirit of a man is as it were tied to those societies as if by elastic cords which circumscribe his walking space. And as he passes from one affection to another he passes from one society to another. In any part of the society in which the man is, there is the center from which the affection and the thought spread to the circumferences. Thus the circumference of the society is in continual connection with the center, or with the affection there prevailing; and from that affection the man thinks and speaks.

     To Each His Own Sphere. During his natural life a man acquires a sphere-the sphere, that is, of his affections and thoughts. If he is an evil man his sphere is in hell, but if he is a good man it is in heaven. Of this, however, man is ignorant. He knows nothing of such things. But through those societies that receive his sphere the man, that is, his mind, walks free, although bound, and the Lord leads him. He does not take a step into which and from which the Lord does not lead.

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But He continually gives to the man to know no otherwise than that he goes of himself in full liberty.

     The Spirit Travels. If one's affection is evil he is carried about as to his spirit through infernal societies, and if he does not look to the Lord he is brought into those societies more deeply and completely. But the Lord still leads him as if by the hand, by permitting and withdrawing as far as the man is willing to follow in freedom.

     Deliverance from Evils is Deliverance from Societies. One who looks to the Lord is brought forth successively from those societies according to their order and connection, for this order and connection is known only to the Lord. Thus one is conveyed upward out of hell toward heaven and into it by continual steps. Man knows nothing about how the Lord does this, for if he knew he would disturb the progression by leading himself.

     What Affection Is. The same is meant by affection as by love; but love is the fountain, and affections are like streams from it, or continuations. Love, the fountain, is in the will of man; but affections, or the streams from the fountain, flow into the intellect, and there produce thoughts by means of truths.
     Love is also the heat of heaven and truths in their origin are rays of light, the light of heaven; while thoughts are the germinations of the marriage of good and truth, or of heavenly heat and light.

     What Are the Consequences of These Most Important Teachings? Reflecting on these teachings, which have just now extended our thought into spiritual societies, one may easily reach several conclusions. And first of all, he may say to himself: "If these things are true, then I am a link between the spiritual world and the natural." The Writings put it more beautifully when they declare that the Lord's purpose is to make of every man a "way of heaven" (via coeli)-an outlet in the world for influx from angelic societies.
     The more our thoughts expand among the societies of heaven, furnishing a natural basis for their spiritual thought, the more surely can the Lord lead us step by step, changing our former affections for new and better ones. For while "truth springs from the earth," or extends from the natural world into the spiritual, "righteousness looks down from heaven," or good affections flow from angelic societies. Although he is ignorant of the fact, man is a conductor for a two-way influx, or a perfect connecting link. And space and distance are not in the least concerned in the extension of spheres in both directions.

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     Secondly, you are of inestimable value to the societies of the spiritual world; and what you say to them in thought is extremely important, although they do not know you personally and although you may have no audience or outlet among men for your thought. Your thought is always extended to spiritual societies, otherwise it would not be thought. It is like rays of light. And what you think, and love to think, may always be heard in the spiritual world, and through the spiritual world may have an effect upon the minds of men in the world. It makes a tremendous difference what men think. Then, again, the strength of your own affection of good and truth is increased as your thought expatiates into spiritual societies.
     Spiritual societies into which a man wanders as to his spirit may correct him, or fill him with new inspiration. The judgment that angelic spirits perform upon the ideas one extends to them, though unconsciously to both parties, may cause a man to change his ideas by a kind of perception. It may cause him to lose confidence in a specific idea, or it may cause him to feel more strongly that it is true. This may account for the many moods through which we pass. It may also account for the fact that when one has fully expressed certain thoughts, especially by writing them out-has "got them off his mind"-the very expression of them brings relief. It may be the reaction of those in the spiritual world to whose society he is tied.
     Truth springs from the earth, meaning from the men of the church; and it is ordained that through them angelic spirits should be enlightened, satanic spirits reproved, and a judgment or separation made between them. We may see, therefore, the necessity and blessing of reading the Word and the Heavenly Doctrine from it; for those in certain societies of the spiritual world are reading with you. Your thought is extended to them, and their real affections are extended to you; or so one might conclude by reflecting upon the teachings here mentioned.
ASSEMBLY VISITORS TO SWEDEN 1956

ASSEMBLY VISITORS TO SWEDEN 1956

The Rev. and Mrs. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen would like to know the names of friends who intend to visit Stockholm this summer, either before or after the General Assembly. If those who plan to do so will write to them soon, giving the date of their arrival and the length of their stay, accommodation can be arranged for them either in a New Church home or in a nearby hotel. Services will be continued in Stockholm throughout the summer. The address is Aladdinsvagen 27, Bromma, Sweden.

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NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1956

     The Old Testament readings for April (Genesis 31:36-47:17) begin with the covenant between Laban and Jacob and then describe Jacob's return to his own land-his vision, his wrestling with an angel, and his meeting with Esau. The treachery of Jacob's sons toward the men of Shechem, the birth of Benjamin, and the death of Isaac are related, and the story then centers in Joseph-Joseph the dreamer, Joseph in Egypt; culminating in his reconciliation with his brethren and the establishment of Israel and his sons in the land of Goshen.
     In the supreme sense, the Jacob series here refers to the glorification of the Lord's natural; it is significant of the separation of good and truth therein from collateral good for the sake of conjunction with the Divine, and of the inversion of state, effected through the wrestling of temptation, whereby good is given the first place, and Divine good natural is conjoined with the truth of good. On a lower plane, however, there is reference to the Jewish nation; for example, to its being incapable of receiving internal things, and thus conjugial love, and to its destruction of the truths of doctrine of the Ancient Church, which things are involved in the wrestling of Jacob and the slaying of the men of Shechem.
     For the most part, the book of Genesis deals, in the internal sense, with the glorification of the Lord's Human; in Exodus the subject is the redemption effected by means of the glorification. The Joseph series connects these two main streams of teaching; for by the varying experiences of Joseph, and the changing relations ending in reconciliation with his brethren, are signified the opposition to the Divine Human of those who are in faith alone and the gradual conjunction of the Divine Human with the natural of those in the church.

     Divine Wisdom, the second of the small treatises mentioned last month, is concluded in April. This posthumous tract deals especially with man, with the interior organization of the human mind as the receptacle of love and wisdom from the Lord. It describes the will and the understanding, the formation of the embryo by influx through them, and the analogy between gestation and reformation. The functions, conjunctions, relations, and correspondential ultimates of these two receptacles are worked out in detail, and the mode by which creation subsists is shown.

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ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS 1956

ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS W. CAIRNS HENDERSON 1956

     COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY

     The Annual Meetings of the Council of the Clergy of the General Church of the New Jerusalem were held in the Council Chamber of the Bryn Athyn Cathedral Church, January 2427, 1956, with Bishop De Charms presiding.
     In addition to the Bishop of the General Church there were present one member of the episcopal degree, seventeen members of the pastoral degree, and five members of the ministerial degree, namely: the Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton; the Rev. Messrs. Elmo C. Acton, Karl R. Alden, Geoffrey S. Childs, Jr., Harold C. Cranch, Charles E. Doering, Frederick E. Gyllenhaal, W. Cairns Henderson (secretary), Louis B. King, Hugo Lj. Odhner, Dandridge Pendleton, Martin Pryke, Norman H. Reuter, Morley D. Rich, Norbert H. Rogers, David R. Simons, Kenneth O. Stroh, William Whitehead; Raymond G. Cranch, Roy Franson, Robert S. Junge, Frederick L. Schnarr, and Jan H. Weiss.
     A meeting of the Bishop's Consistory was held on Monday evening, January 23rd. There were six regular sessions of the Council, four in the morning and two in the afternoon, one open session, and one joint session with the Board of Directors of the General Church. On Monday afternoon, January 23rd, meetings were held in the Bishop's office with the pastors and with the headmasters of local schools; and on Friday afternoon, January 27th, members of the Council interested in the work of the Missionary Committee met at Glencairn with the Rev. Harold C. Cranch. Bishop De Charms, in opening the first session, welcomed all who had gathered for the meetings. He reviewed the unusual number of ministerial changes, all seemingly beneficial, which had characterized the past year; spoke of the encouragement to the isolated societies there that had resulted from Bishop Pendleton's visits to Hurstville, Australia, and Auckland, New Zealand; referred to the value of the visit made to South Africa by Mr. E. C. Bostock and Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal in attempting to appraise the difficult situation of the South African Mission; and mentioned that preparations for the General Assembly in London had been going forward steadily.
     Standing reports made during the week were those of the Liturgy Committee, which presented for consideration proposed changes in the Baptismal and Holy Supper services; and the committee appointed last year to receive corrections of the more glaring errors found in the standard versions of the Bible.

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No report was received from the Committee on Ecclesiastical Garments. The Secretary of the General Church, the Secretary of the Council, the Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE, the Chairman of the Sound Recording Committee, and the Director of the Religion Lessons Committee, whose reports are made to the Joint Council, commented briefly on matters which they wished to bring to the attention of the Council. The Hymnal was discussed, and it was resolved that a list of the material which it is planned to use in it should be sent to all members of the Council, who would thus have opportunity to offer their suggestions.
Six addresses were given at the regular sessions. Two of these were heard at the second session, when the Rev. W. Cairns Henderson and the Rev. Elmo C. Acton (chairman), serving as a committee on the modes of administering the Holy Supper, spoke, respectively, on "The History of the Administration of the Communion" and "The Essentials of the Holy Supper." At the third and fourth sessions the program committee presented two papers on "The Authority of the Writings"; the Rev. David R. Simons considering "The Authority of the Writings in Ultimates," and the Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner (chairman) offering an analysis of "What is Meant by the Divine Authority of the Writings?" This committee had wished to raise the subject of the relation of science to the Writings, and after an extended discussion it felt that there had been a good response. The Rev. Harold C. Cranch, who had been appointed to make a study, brought to the fifth session an address-report on the need to form a Missionary Council within the General Church. There was unanimous agreement that the need exists, and that such a body should be formed; opinion differed only as to whether it should be a Council of the General Church or, for the present at least, a committee of the Council of the Clergy. The sixth session heard a paper by the Rev. Dandridge Pendleton on "Divorce and the Permissions of Conjugial Love" which led to an extended discussion.
Several resolutions were adopted during the regular sessions. It was resolved to hold the Annual Council Meetings in 1957 from Tuesday, January 22nd, through Saturday, January 26th, and the Bishop was again asked to appoint a program committee to provide for two of the sessions. It was resolved also that a Missionary Committee should be appointed, that one of the regular sessions of the 1957 Meetings be set aside to hear a report from that Council, and that arrangements should be made for a meeting of the Missionary Council during the week of the Annual Council. Meetings next year.

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The Secretary was instructed to send a message of thanks and appreciation to the ladies who provided refreshments during the morning recesses, and was directed also to send a reply to a message of greeting from the Annual Ministers' Meetings in South Africa which had been received from the pen of the Rev. M. M. Lutuli.
     The following Memorial Resolution was adopted by rising vote:

     "Whereas it has pleased the Lord in His all-wise Providence to remove our brother, Walter E. Brickman, to the spiritual world, the members of this Council would express that they rejoice with him in the wider sphere of usefulness and greater opportunities the Lord has provided for him for teaching the interior truths of the Lord's Word, the dissemination of which truths was the delight of his life while he was with us.
     "And be it Resolved that this Preamble and Resolution as a mark of our esteem be spread upon the Minutes of this Council, and that a copy be sent to his wife, and a copy be published in NEW CHURCH LIFE."

     The Open Session of the Council was held on Friday, January 27th, following the usual Friday Supper of the Bryn Athyn Church. Bishop De Charms presided, and an address on "Priest and Layman" was given by the Rev. Martin Pryke. The address is published in this issue, pp. 153-165.
     A gracious tradition sanctions the inclusion in this report of social functions which, although not part of the Annual Council Meetings, provide for relaxation and entertainment that are much appreciated and enjoyed. Bishop and Mrs. De Charms entertained the clergy at a luncheon on Wednesday, and that evening there was a social supper and gathering at the home of Dr. and Mrs. Hugo Lj. Odhner. Mr. Raymond Pitcairn was a host at two luncheon parties which brought together members of the Joint Council and the Board of Directors, and there were many private social functions to which various ministers were invited.
     W. CAIRNS HENDERSON,
          Secretary of the Council of the Clergy.
JOINT COUNCIL 1956

JOINT COUNCIL HUGO LJ. ODHNER 1956

     JANUARY 28, 1956

     1. The sixty-second regular joint meeting of the Council of the Clergy and the Directors of the Corporations of the General Church of the New Jerusalem was held in the Council Chamber of the Bryn Athyn Church on January 28, 1956, at 10 a.m., with the following members present:
     OF THE CLERGY: Rt. Rev. George de Charms (Presiding), Rt. Rev. W. D. Pendleton, Rev. Messrs. K. R. Alden, G. S. Childs, Jr., H. C. Cranch, C. E. Doering, F. E. Gyllenhaal, W. C. Henderson, L. B. King, H. L. Odhner (secretary), Dandridge Pendleton, Martin Pryke, N. H. Reuter, N. H. Rogers, D. R. Simons, K. O. Stroh, R. G. Cranch, Boy Franson, R. S. Junge, F. L. Schnarr, and J. H. Weiss.

174

     OF THE LAITY: Messrs. D. E. Acton, K. C. Acton, C. H. Asplundh, E. T. Asplundh, Lester Asplundh, R. G. Barnitz, G. E. Blackman, E. C. Bostock, G. S. Childs, R. W. Childs, E. H. Davis, G. C. Doering, T. N. Glenn, Hubert Hyatt, P. C. Pendleton, H. F. Pitcairn, Raymond Pitcairn, G. M. Smith, Arthur Synnestvedt, and, by invitation, L. E. Gyllenhaal (treasurer).
     2. Bishop De Charms opened the meeting with prayer and the reading of Revelation 14:1-7.
     3. The Minutes of the 61st meeting were approved as printed in NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1955, pages 175 to 181.
     4. The Rev. W. C. Henderson gave a summary of his Report as SECRETARY OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY. (see pages 184-189)
     5. The Rev. H. L. Odhner submitted his report as SECRETARY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH. (see pages 180-184) According to his superficial analysis of the new accessions this year, 34 had come into our church from other churches, 22 from other New Church bodies, and 41 came from General Church families. The 97 new members came-62 from the U. S. A. (including 32 from the Bryn Athyn district), 6 each from Canada and Sweden, 8 from Australia and 9 from New Zealand, 6 from other countries. He also read a letter of thanks from the Auckland Society (New Zealand) to the General Church for making it possible for Bishop Pendleton to visit their society.
     6. Mr. Hubert Hyatt submitted his Report as SECRETARY OF THE CORPORATIONS OF THE GENERAL CHURCH. (see pages 190-193)
     7. Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal summarized his Report as TREASURER OF THE GENERAL CHURCH. (see page 193)
     8. An oral Report of the General Church SALARY COMMITTEE was given by Mr. Philip C. Pendleton, who said that no changes were contemplated this year in the matter of ministerial salaries, but that a plan would be presented for action by next September to remedy the gap existing between our teachers' salary scale and that of the public schools. Our present minimum of $1600 was entirely too low.
     9. As Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE, Rev. W. C. Henderson submitted a written Report. (see page 194) He pointed out that the past year was the seventy-fifth year of the journal, which now had 902 paid subscriptions and a circulation of 1075.
     10. Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal gave his Report on the GENERAL CHURCH RELIGIOUS EDUCATION PROGRAM. (see page 195)
     11. The Report of the Committee on a HYMNAL FOR CHILDREN was read by the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal. (see pages 195-196) This was discussed, and the Bishop noted that a questionnaire would be sent out promptly to the ministers before the final decision was made as to the contents of the Hymnal. On this question the ministers had different opinions because they meet very different conditions, and the problem was to decide what was best all round for the church.

175

All desires could not be met because they contradicted one another. It must also be determined whether to publish the third section of the Hymnal adapted for small children-as a separate booklet to be used mainly in the homes. As to the introduction of new music and musical advice in general, Miss Hildegarde Odhner has been giving counsel. She has collected new pieces of music and words, composed by members of the church, and made selections from them. The new music is to be copied professionally and reproduced by the offset process to save expense. This work is to be prepared within the next few months.
     Mr. R. W. Childs commented that, in view of Mr. Pryke's comprehensive address the evening before, it is interesting to note the uses which are within the competency of the ministers and those within the scope of the laymen. He granted that if the selection of hymns were thrown open to the whole laity, the problems would become endless. He had, however, been amazed that in the 1939 revision some selections had been dropped out, such as "By the rivers of Babylon," "Little lamb, Who made thee? . . . ," "Fierce raged the tempest o'er the deep," "Still will we trust . . . ," etc. Not knowing why or in whose wisdom they were dropped, he still thought it a fine thing for the laymen to have something to find fault with.
     12. The Rev. W. C. Henderson reported for the COMMITTEE ON SOUND RECORDINGS. (see pages 196-197) He explained, in reply to a question, that each of our societies is free to make any arrangements it pleases for listening to tape recordings. But as to establishing a recording station, this is differently handled. Once the society and the pastor have agreed to let the Committee establish a station in the society, the Committee appoints the men who are to do the recording. It could be embarrassing if a society appointed someone unsuitable for carrying out the work. The Committee is now putting in its own equipment in the societies and this is not to be used for any other purposes. The net worth of the Committee's equipment, etc., is about $14,000. Appointments are made by the Bishop acting on recommendations by the officers of the Committee.
     13. The Secretary read the Report of Mr. William R. Cooper, Director of the VISUAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE. (see page 197)
     14. The Bishop noted that the matter of the SOUTH AFRICAN MISSION had been very fully treated in the Reports by Messrs. E. C. Bostock and L. E. Gyllenhaal on their return from South Africa. Mr. Bostock stated that since then nothing distinctively new had happened. Rev. A. W. Acton had written that the work was going forward and that the Mission was pleased to have a little more liberal budget to go on.

176

     15. The Secretary mentioned that the work of the MILITARY SERVICE COMMITTEE is going on on exactly the same lines as in previous years. The Committee, under Mrs. P. C. Pendleton, was keeping in touch with those in the Services and sending them whatever literature they requested.
     16. The Secretary read a Report from the COMMITTEE FOR TRANSPORTATION to the 1956 General Assembly, in which Mr. Ralph Klein stated that ninety-nine persons had booked passage through his Committee; among them sixty-six for the Brittanic eastbound from New Verb, July 12, nineteen returning August 9 on the Queen Elizabeth and fourteen on the Queen Mary, August 16. There are, of course, others who have made their own arrangements by ship or air-line. While the Committee estimated that the total from this continent might be between 100 and 110, Bishop Pendleton and others gave 150 as a more likely figure. During the discussion that followed it was brought out that it is important to notify the British Committee, especially if rooms are to be engaged through that Committee. The cost of meals during the Assembly was estimated at about 820 (U. S.) but no final information was as yet available. It was expected that the British Committee would soon send out some information about the matter.
     17. After a Recess for refreshments served in the Undercroft by the Women's Guild, the Report of the SALARY COMMITTEE was again brought up for discussion. Rev. R. S. Junge wondered if a representative of the Committee should not try to revitalize interest in the increase of teachers' salaries by personally visiting the societies involved. Mr. P. C. Pendleton noted that there was a growing resistance to increases, and that the societies were anxious for consultation before such were put into effect. There was some objection to decisions being made at the center, which the societies had to implement without being consulted, or else lose their feeling of independence by having to rely on the General Church for the sum they could not themselves supply. In the discussion it was shown that Mr. Pendleton had gained the cooperation of the societies by a personal visit three years ago, but that possibly this could be obtained by correspondence instead; that one of the issues the Committee had to face was the determination of ratios for different countries and districts, based on statistics from the U. S. Department of Labor and those of the United Nations bureaus; and that it was not always necessary to await unanimous agreement by the societies affected. The Bishop said that the Committee and the Board of Directors will present the matter to the church.
     18. A Report by the Rev. William Whitehead as Secretary of the ACADEMY PUBLICATION COMMITTEE was read. (see page 197) In the course of the discussion, Rev. D. R. Simons asked whether the Academy Publication Committee could be approached for the mimeographing of works like his text-book on Science for Elementary Schools, or whether it concerned itself only with works to be printed.

177

He was concerned about anything that might encourage individuals to write. The Bishop noted that up to now only manuscripts for printing had come before the Committee. Rev. M. Pryke felt that duplication by mimeograph was particularly suitable for manuscripts in a formative and experimental state. Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal said that such mimeographed editions can be published through the office which handles the Religion Lessons. As an instance of this, 600 copies of Bishop Pendleton's "Stories from Genesis" have been done by his office and sold. One series on "The Life of the Lord" was also published by mimeograph. Mr. Raymond Pitcairn said that although the Committee must give encouragement to prospective writers, the Board must distinguish between those manuscripts which are desirable in book form since there is a prospect of their being purchased and used, and other manuscripts, however scholarly, which will meet with little demand.
The Rev. H. L. Odhner voiced the need for a greater coordination in the work of the various publishing agencies of the church and the Academy. The Academy Publication Committee meets only from year to year or when some manuscript is offered directly. In the meantime publication is going on which the members are not aware of-reprints by the Book Room and mimeographed editions by other church agencies. The APC exists merely to recommend to the ANC Board what it is desirable to print or subsidize. Yet we would not want to duplicate Committees, such as a separate one for the General Church, if one Committee existed which has the whole field in view. The new Committee now organized to study what is needed for extending the knowledge about the church will presumably also study and recommend the printing of suitable literature which might implement its work. But some one Committee is called for which prevents duplication and is aware of all the needs, and can present these needs to the church. Rev. D. R. Simons suggested that we, like the Catholics, might be able to use public school Readers by having certain pages inserted containing our own illustrations and texts, thus saving printing costs. Rev. Martin Pryke, cited the procedure of the Swedenborg Society, which has an Advisory and Revision Board that from time to time goes through the stock list and decides what new translations and publications are needed. The right order is that the planning should stem from such a Committee rather than from the business office, although there should be close collaboration.
The Rev. W. C. Henderson was glad that the Academy had not taken the position of many institutions toward their faculty-"Publish or get out!" But, as Mr. Pryke had pointed out the evening before, the ministers have a need for the studies that members of the faculty should (theoretically) have time to make.

178

There is need for encouraging the incentive to write. An author is usually prejudiced in favor of his manuscript, even when it has relatively limited use. But the Publication Committee cannot judge of the needs unless they have the whole field before them. Every professional writer must of course study his "market" and write to the needs existing; but he should have confidence that there is a live Publication Committee which will meet regularly and give sympathetic and intelligent consideration to the manuscript submitted to it. Any writer worth his salt would not want more than that.
The Bishop stated that up to now the policy of the APC had been to meet only when manuscripts were presented to it, not to consider future needs. But it might be well to change this policy. Dr. Odhner's request for a Committee better informed was fair, and it might be good to have Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, representing the Academy Book Room, as a member of the Committee in addition to those engaged in editorial work. Mr. Gyllenhaal noted that the Book Room had always gone directly to the ANC Board for authority to reprint, not to the APC. Dr. Odhner pointed out that a revolving fund once at the disposal of the APC had many years ago been turned back to the Academy, and the APC had since acted merely as a consultative body. Mr. Gyllenhaal said that the Book Room had a general fund and a publication reserve fund. The practice has been to pay from the general fund for the publishing, purchasing or reprinting, of those books which, like the Liturgy and the Word, are in constant demand and eventually pay for themselves. But when something special comes up-like the Latin edition of the Arcana-this is paid for out of the publication reserve fund. For several years the Academy has appropriated $2,000 annually out of surplus as a reserve for future publications. What is not expended goes back into the general fund, to support the publication of the books paid for out of the general fund.
In the further discussion various members spoke of the need of reorganizing the Committee somewhat, to make it more active and informed, with at least three regular meetings a year. Duplication of effort should be avoided and ways and means sought to consolidate our enterprises. The Academy was mainly interested in publishing the theological Writings (in various languages) and educational works of value. Some of this and other material, could be done by mimeographing. The interests of the General Church should be represented on the Committee. In our small body only one agency was needed, since funds are limited and our market small; the Academy Publication Committee could serve the Church as a whole. Mr. E. H. Davis suggested that the LIFE might acquaint the church with the fact that the APC will consider manuscripts offered to it. One speaker noted that the church is in desperate need of children's stories, and thought that some might be available.

179

     The Rev. H. C. Cranch said that the General Church needed material to educate our isolated members and young people in our distinctive thought and also a literature to introduce the New Church to enquiring friends. For developing the General Church in its own characteristic way, educational work is imperative. The cost of such publications should not be computed merely by the intake from sales, for even if they did not pay for themselves, they have at times caused an increase in the actual income of a local church; as was the case where sermons have been distributed, etc. The costs might therefore be taken out of local funds, as in the Western Mission where money is spent for recordings and mimeographing, etc.
     One of the first duties of the new Committee on Missionary Work (the title of which is not determined as yet) will be to produce a new living literature adequate to our day. We must not depend on dead hands to do our work. He referred to the mimeographed talks by the Rev. K. R. Alden as representative of this effort to meet the new needs. A course of introductory lectures was also being prepared which should be made available to others beside present subscribers. Our strength is in educational work. This is most effectively carried on in centers where there are schools, but where there are none it can be done by the printed word. He strongly recommended that the uses of the General Church as a whole should be represented in the reorganization of the Academy Publication Committee and that these be implemented with the realization that the returns will be primarily through increased church support. The Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal explained that his office has published by mimeograph 300 copies of 15 doctrinal addresses by Mr. Alden, of which about 200 copies had been sold. Also 300 copies of Mr. Alden's talks on the Lord's Prayer; which are sold at 25 cents. Rev. H. C. Cranch said that the new literature now available is being used by all our visiting pastors. But it is important that that which meets with special approval when it is used in mimeographed form should be published in printed book form to give it dignity and effect. Every business office presents its appeals on good stationery and an organization is judged by the way it presents its products.
     The Rev. W. C. Henderson supported Mr. E. H. Davis in his suggestion that we let the church know that the APC will consider manuscripts offered to it. It will be good for the church when there is a certain amount of healthy competition among writers, and as editor he had dreamed of the time when NEW CHURCH LIFE could send out rejection slips. At present we know one another so well that we are reluctant to solicit any manuscript unless we are prepared to accept it sight unseen.
     The Bishop proposed to give consideration to the valuable suggestions here presented. He favored adding Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal to the APC. He appreciated what the Rev. H. C. Cranch had said and anticipated that in the Missionary Committee now authorized specific problems would arise which needed special organization and which would have to be taken into account.

180

It was therefore best to proceed slowly to meet the needs in the most effective way, especially in the matter of the publication of General Church material.
     19. By standing vote, the Council associated itself with the sentiments expressed in the Memorial Resolution occasioned by the passing into the spiritual world of the REV. WALTER E. BRICKMAN and inscribed on the Minutes of the Council of the Clergy. (see page 173)
     20. A vote of appreciation was passed to the ladies of the Bryn Athyn Women's Guild who had provided the refreshments for the Recess.
     21. The meeting was adjourned at 12:30 p.m.
          Respectfully submitted,
               HUGO LJ. ODHNER,
                    Secretary.
ANNUAL REPORTS 1956

ANNUAL REPORTS Various 1956

     SECRETARY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH

     Ninety-seven new names were added to the roll of the General Church during 1955. Four names were dropped, and there were 33 deaths and two resignations, leaving a net increase of 58 persons. The total membership, on Jan. 1, 1956, stands at 2851. (Separate figures for the U.S.A. are included because often called for by statistical agencies.)

Membership, Jan. 1, 1955                                    2793
(U.S.A.-1707, Others-1086)
New members (Cert. 4399-4495)                     97
(U. S. A.-62, Others-35)
Deaths (U.S.A.-18, Others-15)                33
Resignations (U.S.A.-1, Others-1)                2
Dropped from the Roll (U.S.A.-3, Others-1)      4
Losses                                        39
Net gain in membership                                    58
Membership, Jan. 1, 1956                                    2851
(U.S.A.-1747, Others-1104)

181

     NEW MEMBERS

     January 1, 1955, to December 31, 1955

     A. THE UNITED STATES

     Arizona: Tucson
Mr. Robert Fred Carlson

     California: Glendale
Mr. Kenneth Vernon Hultgren

     California: Long Beach
Mr. Billy Joe Gilbert

     California: Nontona
Miss Kay Joyce Orr

     California: North Hollywood
Mrs. David Harris (Rosemary Brooks) Campbell
Mrs. John Ronald (Patricia Ann Sable) Grant

     California: San Carlos
Mrs. Jerome Jack (Norma Elizabeth Folsom) Bundsen

     Colorado: Denver
Mrs. Albert Francis (Eva Margaret Carlsen) Anderson
Mrs. Fred C. (Marian Eleanor Drinkwater) Dice

     Colorado: Holyoke
Mr. Theodore Frederick Fiedler

     Florida: Miami
Mr. Emmit Edward Collins

     Florida: Sarasota
Mrs. Harold Jerome (Edith Agnes Goerwitz) Brooks

     Illinois: Glenview
Miss Gertrude Price

     Iowa: Des Moines
Mr. Theodore William Brickman, Jr.
Mr. Arthur Henderson Dunham

     Maryland: Baltimore
Mr. Alpha Kersey Reynolds

     Massachusetts: Medford
Mrs. Walter Smith (Maralyn Morton) Schoenberger

     Massachusetts: Sharon
Mr. Robert Walter Furry

     New Jersey: Vineland
Miss Laura Hochheimer (6-14-55)

     New York: New York
Mr. Robert Smith Schoenberger

     Oregon: Creswell
Mrs. Evangeline Victoria (Iler) Pearson

     Oregon: Eugene
Miss Viola Corinne Iler

     Oregon: Milwaukie
Mr. Henry Mellman

     Pennsylvania: Bryn Athyn and district
Mr. John James Boericke, Jr.
Mrs. John J. (Janet Hall) Boericke, Jr.
Mr. Gudmund Ullrich Boolsen
Mr. Mark Bostock
Mrs. Mark (Kareth Rosamond Ridgway) Bostock
Mr. Roy Edward Rovee
Mrs. Roy E. (Mardete van Gilder) Bovee (3-7-55)
Miss Joanne Hough Cranch
Miss Cathlin Davis
Miss Gail Joanne Down
Mr. Geoffrey Horace Howard
Mr. Waynne Sumner Hyatt
Mr. Robert Maurice Kirby
Mr. Robert Frankish Klein
Mr. Robert Dunmore Miller
Mrs. Jared Thorsten (Marlowe Jean Sinksen) Odhner
Miss Josephine Odhner
Miss Marilyn Elizabeth Parker
Miss Gael Pendleton
Mr. Harry Fred Fletcher
Mr. Eric Rohtla
Mrs. Eric (Margit Nagy) Rohtla
Mr. Charles Edwin Schmucker
Mrs. Charles E. (Dorothy Burson Connor) Schmucker
Mr. Jerome Sellner

182

Mrs. Jay Randolph (Lois Jean Stewart) Sharpsteen
Mr. Glenn Wesley Smith
Miss Miriam Gretchen Smith
Mr. Philip Marshall Smith
Miss Fay Synnestvedt
Miss Joan Aileen Synnestvedt
Miss Anna Woodard

     Pennsylvania: Erie
Mrs. Robert Frank (Annette Johnson) Siple

     Pennsylvania: Philadelphia
Mr. John Francis Griffeth
Mrs. John F. (Anne Marie Ropey) Griffeth
Mrs. George Martin (Dorothy Lois Schmucker) Sensenig

     Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh
Mr. James Murray Carr

     South Carolina: Pineville
Mrs. William Palmer (Marie Cozby) Gourdin

     Washington: Walla Walla
Miss Carol Vernus Johns

     B. CANADA

     Ontario: Kitchener
Miss Ruth Evangeline Bond
Miss Carolyn Dorothy Kuhl
Mr. Denis Major Kuhl

     Ontario: Minett P.O.
Mr. Denis Arthur Jean-Marie
Mr. Keith Jean-Marie

     Ontario: Toronto
Mr. John Robert Raymond

     C. EIRE

     Dublin
Mr. Thomas Paul Lee

     D. FRANCE

     Seine et Oise: Saint Cloud
Mr. Claude Hussenet
Mr. Roger Hussenet

     E. SWEDEN

     Djuusholm
Mrs. Margit Ann-Kajsa Ostenson Strom

     Gothenburg
Miss Lillemor Ingrid Edda Weise

     Kortebro
Miss Ragnhild Margareta Fornander

     Nasby Park
Mrs. Sonja Kristina Hallen Allstrin

     Stockholm
Mrs. Arne (Gota Elisabeth Westborg) Boyesen

     Orebro
Miss Ingrid Elisabeth Wiksjo

     F. SOUTH AFRICA

     Natal: Durban
Miss Ione Serene Schuurman

     Transvaal: Johannesburg
Mr. Leonard Collis Wilson
Mrs. L. C. (Naomi Ethel Waters) Wilson

     G. AUSTRALIA

     New South Wales: Hurstville
Miss Laurel Patricia Stephenson

     South Australia: Mitcham
Mr. Charles Ridgway Norton
Mrs. C. R. (Daphne Edna Emily Pearce) Norton

     South Australia, Vermont
Miss Anne Elizabeth Stielow

     Victoria: Lancefield
Mr. Christopher Olaf Horner
Mrs. C. O. (Grace Anne Henden) Horner
Mr. Walter Reginald Horner
Mrs. W. R. (Hannah Robinson) Horner

     H. NEW ZEALAND

     Auckland
Mr. Lloyd Thomas Bartle
Mrs. L. T. (Marie Elizabeth Tuckey) Bartle
Mrs. Bernard (Charlotte Steward) Ferner

183

Mr. Malcolm Clifford Millett Fleming
Mrs. Sarah Griffiths Horsfall
Mrs. John Charles Graham (Kathleen Miss Edith Raymond Tuckey Hilda Batty) Keyworth
Mrs. Francis Munroe (Amy Marion Smythe) Mills
Mrs. George (Elsie Maud Clare) Watson

     DEATHS

     Reported during 1955

Acton, Mrs. Alfred (Emeline Carswell), July 22, 1955, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Ashley, Miss Nora Lilian, July 21, 1955, Drexel Hill, Pa.
Asplundh, Mr. Oswald Eugene, Dec. 16, 1955, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Bergman, Mrs. Nels G. (Hilma Osterberg), April 18, 1955, Chicago, Ill.
Bovee, Mrs. Roy Edward (Mardete van Gilder), Aug. 20, 1955, Jenkintown, Pa.
Caldwell, Mr. Robert Beebe, June 13, 1955, Chicago, Ill.
Carter, Mr. William Henry, Toronto, Ont., date unknown.
Carter, Mrs. Wm. H. (Margaret Swayze), Toronto, Ont., date unknown.
Christensen, Miss Ane Margrethe J. J., June 2, 1955, Stockholm, Sweden.
Defillet, Mr. Eugene Jean Louis, Belgium, data incomplete. (19517)
Doering, Mr. Harold, June 9, 1955, Bethayres, Pa.
Fuller, Mr. George Woods, July 31, 1955, Fort Worth, Texas.
Green, Mrs. George Peter (Ethel Blanche Herrman), Baltimore, Md., date unknown.
Headsten, Mrs. John (Hulda E. Young), April 24, 1955, Glenview, Ill.
Hes, Mr. Wilhelm Albertus, Aug. 28, 1955, Rijswijk, Holland.
Izzard, Mr. Albert E., Aug. 30, 1955, Montreal, Quebec.
Izzard, Mrs. Herbert Percy (Vera Louise Kuhl), Jan. 22, 1955, Toronto, Ont.
Lemky, Mrs. Johan (Helena Hamm), Oct. 25, 1955, Gorande Prairie, Alta.
Lundegren, Mrs. Per L. (Maria Martenson), Feb. 13, 1955, Stockholm, Sweden.
Lunden, Mrs. George Edvard (Martha Zenobia Anderson), Sept. 15, 1955, Stockholm, Sweden.
Nelson, Miss Emelia, July 30, 1955, Glenview, Ill.
Nordenskiold, Miss Sophie Hedvig Eleonora, July 1, 1955, Stockholm, Sweden.
Petersen, Rev. Adolph Christian, Nov. 2, 1955, Racine, Wisconsin.
Ridgway, Mrs. Charles Stedman (Mabel Lambert), Sep. 13, 1955, Pinetown, Natal, South Africa.
Ridgway, Miss Elsa Melville, Aug. 20, 1955, Durban, Natal, South Africa.
Ridgway, Mrs. William N. (Mary Eleanor Owen), July 15, 1955, Durban, Natal, South Africa.
Schneider, Miss Emilie Emma, Oct. 5, 1955, Meriden, Conn.
Schoenberger, Mr. August John, Texas (?), data incomplete.
Schwindt, Mrs. Orlando B. (Lidie Cumming), May 14, 1955, Abington, Pa.
Synnestvedt, Mrs. Paul (Anna Elizabeth Lechner), Aug. 16, 1955, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Unruh, Mrs. Cornelius P. (Helena C. Deckert), Aug. 10, 1955, Corona, Calif.
Vaughan, Miss Helen Tupper, Aug. 10, 1955, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Woelfle, Miss Elmina, Oct. 27, 1955, Kitchener, Ont.

     RESIGNATIONS

Carmichael, Mr. Neil, Toronto, Out.
Hochheimer, Miss Laura, Vineland, N. J.

184

     DROPPED FROM THE ROLL

Coffin, Mr. Roscoe Tristram, Baltimore, Md. (Cert. 3481).
Green, Mr. David Philip, Baltimore, Md.
Green, Mrs. David P. (Elizabeth Langan), Baltimore, Md.
Wareing, Mr. Philip F., Sale, Cheshire, England.

     MISSION IN SOUTH AFRICA

     The statistical Report of the General Church Mission in South Africa for the year 1955 has not yet been received.
     Respectfully submitted,
          HUGO LJ. ODHNER,
               Secretary.

     COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY

     January 1, 1955 to January 1, 1956

     MEMBERSHIP

     There were three inaugurations into the priesthood during the year, and there were no deaths or resignations. The total membership of the Council has therefore increased from thirty-six to thirty-nine.
     This total includes three priests of the episcopal degree, thirty of the pastoral degree, and six of the ministerial degree. Although some of them still give assistance to the priestly office in varying degree, nine members of the Council are retired or engaged in secular work; and the active membership is thirty, an increase of three.
     There is one Authorized Candidate in Brazil; one priest of the pastoral degree in the British Guiana Mission; and nine priests of the pastoral degree-one of whom, however, is retired-and two of the ministerial degree in the South African Mission. Authorized Leaders are still appointed to the Hurstville Society in Australia and The Hague Circle in the Netherlands. A list of the clergy of the General Church and its Missions appears in NEW CHURCH LIFE for December, 1955, pp. 565-568.

     STATISTICS

     Statistics concerning the SACRAMENTS AND RITES Of the Church administered in 1955, compiled from 32 reports received up to February 27th, 1956, together with the final though still incomplete figures for 1954, are as follows:

                                         1955           1954
Baptisms (Children, 142; Adults, 33)           175           187 (-12)
Holy Supper: Administrations                145           164 (-19)
Communicants                               3674           4345 (-671)
Confessions of Faith                          24           30 (-6)
Betrothals                               23           19 (+4)
Marriages                                    29           30 (-1)
Funeral or Memorial Services                32           41 (-9)
Ordinations                               3           2 (-1)
Dedications: Homes                          13          9 (+4)

185

     The above figures do not include administration of Sacraments and Rites in the South African Mission. In addition to the 29 marriages performed, two civil marriages were blessed, and the Leader of the Hurstville Society officiated at a marriage by special authorization. As well as the homes mentioned, one school building was dedicated. Again it should be stated that the decreases shown are at least not as great as might appear; no reports have been received from the pastors of three societies, and their figures would undoubtedly close some of the gaps. The number of adult baptisms reported is again interesting, in that it accounts for nearly 19% of the total.

     REPORTS OF THE MEMBERS OF THE CLERGY

     The Rt. Rev. George de Charms, Bishop of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church, and President of the Academy of the New Church, reports as follows:

     BISHOP OF THE GENERAL CHURCH

     ORDINATIONS: On June 19, 1955, Messrs. Robert Schill Junge, Frederick Laurier Schnarr, and Jan Hugo Weiss, were ordained into the first degree of the priesthood.

     PASTORAL CHANGES: On January 3, 1955, the Rev. Morley D. Rich tendered his resignation as Pastor of the Michael Church in London, England, because of a severe illness.
     The Rev. Erik Sandstrom resigned from the pastorate of the Stockholm Society on January 8, 1955, to accept a call from the London Society.
     On April 10, 1955, the Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen, having resigned as pastor of the Pittsburgh Society accepted a call to succeed Mr. Sandstrom as Pastor in Stockholm.
     In May, 1955, the Rev. Louis B. King resigned as Pastor of the Sharon Church in Chicago in order to accept a call to the pastorate in Pittsburgh.
     In June, 1955, the following appointments were made:
     Candidate Frederick L. Schnarr was appointed Resident Minister to the Sharon Church of Chicago, and Visiting Minister to the South Ohio Circle, immediately after his ordination.
     Candidate Robert S. Junge was appointed assistant to the Rev. Harold C. Cranch. It was arranged that he should reside in Denver, Colorado, ministering to the Circle there, and visiting other groups and Circles under the jurisdiction of the Rev. Harold C. Cranch.
     Candidate Jan H. Weiss was appointed assistant to the Pastors of the Carmel Church in Kitchener and the Olivet Church in Toronto, Canada, effective September 1, 1955.
     The Rev. Morley D. Rich was appointed Visiting Pastor to the groups and isolated families in the Southeastern United States, following the resignation of the Rev. Dandridge Pendleton. Mr. Rich entered upon his new duties on September 1, 1955.

     NEW CIRCLES: On April 23, 1955, Bishop Willard D. Pendleton acted on his behalf in extending recognition as a Circle to the group in the San Francisco Bay area, California.

     EPISCOPAL VISITS: He visited the North Jersey Circle on March 5th and 6th; the New York Circle on March 13th; the Advent Church in Philadelphia on April 23rd and 24th; the Pittsburgh Society, April 30th to May 1st and again on May 14th and 15th; and the Sharon Church in Chicago on June 11th and 12th.

186

     ASSEMBLIES: He presided at the Eastern Canada District Assembly, held in Toronto, October 8-10; and the Chicago District Assembly, held in Glenview, October 14-16. Due to the prospect that a new church building would be dedicated in Detroit early in 1956, to which members and friends of the General Church residing in the Western Pennsylvania-Ohio-Michigan District would be invited, no District Assembly was held there in 1955.

     OTHER ACTIVITIES: During the year he presided at the regular and special meetings of the Pennsylvania and Illinois Corporations of the General Church, and at the meetings of the Boards of Directors of those Corporations.
     He wished to express grateful appreciation to Bishop Willard D. Pendleton, who made an episcopal visit to the society in Hurstville, Australia, and also visited the friends of the General Church in Auckland and other parts of New Zealand, besides giving other valued assistance to the episcopal office throughout the year.
     Several members of the independent New Church Society in Auckland had joined the General Church; and while we could not do so at the present time, it was hoped that we might be able to provide pastoral ministrations for them in the not too distant future.

     PASTOR OF THE BRYN ATHYN CHURCH

     As Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church he preached eight times, conducted services regularly, and administered the sacraments and rites. He also presided at the meetings of the Society, of the Board of Trustees, and of the Pastor's Council. On February 21st, 1955, he dedicated the new primary school building, which has proved a source of delight both to teachers and pupils.
     He wished to record his appreciation of the valued assistance rendered to the pastoral office during the year by Bishop Willard D. Pendleton, the Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner, the Rev. David R. Simons, the Rev. Kenneth O. Stroh, and the Rev. Karl R. Alden.

     PRESIDENT OF THE ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH

     As President of the Academy he presided during the year at the meetings of the Board of Directors, the General Faculty, the President's Council, and the Faculty of the Theological School. In addition, he taught a course in education in the Senior College and two courses in the Theological School.

     The Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton reports that during the year he served as Assistant Bishop of the General Church and as Executive Vice President of the Academy of the New Church. In the former capacity he made an extended trip to Australia and New Zealand, where he visited with the Hurstville Society in Australia and with the Auckland Society of the New Church in New Zealand. In both places he held services, conducted doctrinal classes, and administered the sacraments of the church.
     Both of the societies visited had been endeavoring to maintain their uses without pastoral leadership, of which there was urgent need; and he wished to pay tribute to the lay leaders who had so faithfully and ably served in the interim.

187

The church owed a debt of gratitude to them, and to the men and women who had supported their work, and he hoped that a pastor would soon be provided for each society.
     En route to Australia he had the privilege of visiting with the Los Angeles Circle, and on the way home that of visiting with our people in San Francisco. The able administration of the Rev. Harold C. Cranch had resulted in a new and most promising beginning on the west coast. While in San Francisco, Bishop Pendleton, acting on behalf of the Bishop of the General Church, recognized the group there as an official Circle of the General Church.

     The Rt. Rev. Alfred Acton reports that although he has not been engaged in any work for the General Church, he has completed the second volume of The Letters and Memorials of Emanuel Swedenborg, and that he has rearranged the two Indices of the lost work, Angelic Wisdom Concerning Marriage, to show the plan and contents of the work.

     Rev. A. Wynne Acton served as Pastor of the Durban Society, Superintendent of the South African Mission, and head of the Mission Theological School.
     Rev. Elmo C. Acton continued to serve as Pastor of the Immanuel Church of the New Jerusalem and as Headmaster of its school.
     Rev. Karl R. Alden, a teacher in the schools of the Academy of the New Church, with occasional pastoral duties in the Bryn Athyn Society by invitation, preached once in Bryn Athyn, conducted 15 classes for beginners at his house, and preached 6 times at Lake Wallenpaupack during the summer.
     Rev. Gustaf Baeckstrom, Visiting Pastor to the Circle in Oslo, Norway, visited Oslo, Stavanger, and Gothenburg during the year. In Stockholm he had charge of the Book Room and of the magazine NOVA ECCLESIA.
     Rev. Geoffrey S. Childs, Jr., was engaged as Pastor of the Advent Society in Philadelphia and Visiting Pastor of the New York and Northern New Jersey Circles.
     Rev. Harold C. Cranch, Visiting Pastor to the Western States and Resident Pastor of the Los Angeles Circle, reports a decided step forward in the District, and refers to the enthusiastic assistance of the Rev. Robert S. Junge. Denver now receives many more ministrations; Glendale has also made progress, and the church building is nearing completion; the Tucson Circle now has its own building; San Francisco has become more active since its recognition as a Circle; and the Fort Worth Circle has been welcomed into the community of the Western District.
     Rev. Charles E. Doering, engaged as a special teacher in the Academy of the New Church, preached once in Bryn Athyn during the year.
     Rev. Victor J. Gladish, in secular work, preached thrice in Glenview and twice at the Sharon Church in Chicago. He also conducted seventeen informal classes in Glenview for some of the congregation who felt a desire for a, simple presentation of the primary doctrines of the church.
     Rev. Frederick E. Gyllenhaal, in addition to his duties as Director of the General Church Religion Lessons, preached twice in Bryn Athyn, twice in Philadelphia, and once at Glendale, Ohio.

188

From January until June he taught one course in the College of the Academy of the New Church.
     Rev. Henry Heinrichs, engaged in secular work, preached 6 times in Kitchener, and 3 times in Toronto, and gave one children's address in Kitchener. He also preached once in Detroit and Glenview, and gave an address in Glenview.
     Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Secretary of the Council of the Clergy, Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE, Chairman and Editor of the General Church Sound Recording Committee, and Professor of Theology in the Academy of the New Church, accepted appointment for one year as Visiting Pastor to the isolated in New England. In connection with this work he made two visits to Sharon, Mass., and one to West Haven, Conn., conducting a doctrinal class and a service on each occasion. In addition, he preached twice in Bryn Athyn, and once in Cleveland, Philadelphia, Wallenpaupack, and Washington, D. C., and gave a class in Cleveland and in Washington. In the Academy, he taught one course in the Theological School, two in the College, and one in the Girls' Seminary.
     Rev. Louis R. King served as Pastor of Sharon Church, Chicago, until the end of June, 1955. Since the beginning of September he had served as Pastor of the Pittsburgh Society and Headmaster of the Pittsburgh New Church School.
     Rev. Joao de Mendonca Lima has been engaged as Pastor of the Society of the New Church in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
     Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner, Secretary of the General Church, Assistant Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church, Professor of Theology in the Academy of the New Church, and Dean of its Theological School, preached 9 times in Bryn Athyn and 5 times elsewhere. He also gave 12 doctrinal classes and 2 addresses to the Bryn Athyn Society, and 4 addresses elsewhere. In the Academy, he taught two courses in Theology, one in Religion, and one in Philosophy.
     Rev. Ormond de Charms Odhner continued to serve as Visiting Pastor in the Midwestern United States and as Assistant Pastor of the Immanuel Church in Glenview.
     Rev. Dandridge Pendleton, Pastor of the Washington and Baltimore Societies, resigned as Visiting Pastor to the Southeastern United States in June, 1955. In addition to his regular duties he preached once in Bryn Athyn and in Pittsburgh, and once at Glen Tonche during the summer.
     Rev. Martin Pryke continued to serve as Pastor of the Olivet Church, Toronto, Canada, and as Headmaster of its school.
     Rev. Norman H. Reuter, Pastor of the Carmel Church in Kitchener, Headmaster of the Carmel Church School, and Visiting Pastor of the Montreal Circle, also preached twice in Toronto, Ontario, and visited isolated members; conducting services and classes in Goderich, Hamilton, and Brantford, Ontario.
     Rev. Morley D. Rich resigned as Pastor of Michael Church, London, England, in January, 1955. Since September he has been engaged as Visiting Pastor to the Southeastern United States with residence in Miami, Florida.

189

     Rev. Norbert H. Rogers was engaged as Pastor of the Detroit Society, Visiting Pastor to the North Ohio Circle, and Visiting Pastor to the Toledo, Ohio, Group. He refers appreciatively to visits by the Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner and the Rev. Henry Heinrichs to Detroit, and by the Rev. W. Cairns Henderson to Cleveland; notes that a further loss of members has made it impracticable for the Cleveland members to continue renting a room for their regular lay services; and mentions that Toledo is now visited on a fairly regular basis.
     Rev. Frank S. Rose, Visiting Pastor to the isolated in Great Britain, Holland and Belgium, and to the Circles in Paris and The Hague, reports that 103 doctrinal classes and 43 services were held in various places in Great Britain. Manchester was visited 9 times; Bath-Bristol, 8 times; other places received an average of 4 visits each. Ten classes and 9 services were held during two visits to the Continent. He preached also in Colchester, London, Glenview, Bryn Athyn, Kitchener, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Toronto.
     Rev. David R. Simons served as an Assistant Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Society and as Principal of the Bryn Athyn Elementary School. In addition, he preached in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Washington, and taught one course in the Academy of the New Church.
     Rev. Kenneth O. Stroh reports that he has been engaged as Assistant to the Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church.
     Rev. William Whitehead was engaged as Professor of History in the Academy of the New Church. He preached once in Bryn Athyn, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh.

     Rev. Raymond G. Cranch, in secular work, continued to serve as Visiting Minister to the Erie Circle, preaching there 3 times and giving 3 doctrinal classes and 3 children's talks. He also preached once in Pittsburgh.
     Rev. Roy Franson was again engaged throughout the year as Minister to the Dawson Creek, B. C., and Gorande Prairie, Alberta, Groups. He also visited the isolated in the Peace River District.
     Rev. B. David Holm served as Assistant to the Pastor of the Durban Society and as Assistant to the Superintendent of the Mission in South Africa.
     Rev. Robert S. Junge has served, since September 1, 1955, as Assistant to the Pastor of the Western District, resident in Denver, Colorado.
     Rev. Frederick L. Schnarr became Minister of the Sharon Church, Chicago, and Visiting Minister to the South Ohio Circle, on July 1st, 1955, and served in these capacities for the rest of the year.
     Rev. Jan H. Weiss has served, since September 1st, 1955, as Assistant to the Pastors of the Kitchener and Toronto Societies, and as Assistant to the Headmaster of the Carmel Church School.
     Respectfully submitted,
          W. CAIRNS HENDERSON,
               Secretary.

190

     GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM

     (A Pennsylvania Corporation)

     and

     THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM

     (An Illinois Corporation)

     REPORT OF THE SECRETARY FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 1955

     MEMBERSHIP

     During the year 1955, the number of persons comprising the membership of both Corporations increased by 4 from 258 to 262 in accordance with the following tabulation:
                                        Date of           Net               Date of
Members of                              12/31/1954      Change           12/31/1955
Illinois Corporation only               11           Deduct 1                10
Both Corporations                     247           Add 5                252
Total Persons                         258          Add 4               262
     Total Members of
Illinois Corporation                     258           Add 4                262
Pennsylvania Corporation               247           Add 5                252
     The several Net Changes consisted of:
7 New Members of both Corporations:
Blah, James E., Jr.               Gunther, Marvin J.
Gates, Byron D.               Orr, Raymond C.
Gunther, Carl R.               Pendleton, Lawson A.
Weiss, Jan E.
     1 Death of member of Illinois Corporation only: Wiley, William H.
     2 Deaths of members of both Corporations: Asplundh, Oswald E. Caldwell, Robert B., Jr.

     DIRECTORS

     The two Corporations each have the same thirty Directors, ten of whom are elected each year for terms of three years. At the 1955 annual meetings, ten directors were therefore elected for terms expiring in 1958. As a result, the present Directors, and the year in which the term of each expires, are as follows:

191

1958 Acton, Daric E.      1957 Childs, Geoffrey S.      1958 Loven, Tore E.
1956 Acton, Kesniel C.      1958 Childs, Randolph W.      1958 Pendleton, Philip C.
1957 Anderson, Reginald S.      1956 Cockerell, Gordon D.      1956 Pendleton, Willard D.
1957 Asplundh, Carl Hj.      1956 Davis, Edward H.      1956 Pitcairn, Harold F.
1958 Asplundh, Edwin T.      1956 De Charms, George      1956 Pitcairn, Raymond
1958 Asplundh, Lester      1957 Doering, George C.      1956 Pryke, F. G. Colley
1957 Barnitz, Robert G.      1958 Glenn, Theodore N.      1957 Reuter, Warren A.
1958 Blackman, Geoffrey E.      1956 Hyatt, Hubert           1957 Smith, Gilbert M.
1956 Bostock, Edward C.      1958 Kuhl, John E.           1957 Synnestvedt, Arthur
1957 Brown, Robert M.      1957 Lee, Sydney E.           1958 Synnestvedt, Norman P.
     The Honorary Directors are Marlin W. Heilman and Charles G. Merrell.

     OFFICERS

     The two Corporations each also have the same four Officers, each of whom is elected yearly for a term of one year. Those elected at the Board Meetings of June 15, 1955 were:

President De Charms, George
Vice-President Pendleton, Willard D.
Secretary Hyatt, Hubert
Treasurer Gyllenhaal, Leonard E.

     CORPORATION MEETINGS

     The 1955 Annual Corporation Meetings were held at Bryn Athyn on June 15, these being the only Corporation meetings held during the year. The President, Bishop De Charms, presided, and the attendance numbered 48 persons, each a member of both Corporations. Reports were received from the President, the Secretary, and the Treasurer, and from the Committees on: Audit of Securities, Nomination of Directors, and Salaries. And the Articles of Incorporation and the By-Laws of the Pennsylvania Corporation were both amended, as to certain membership qualifications, in order to comply with Pennsylvania law.

     BOARD MEETINGS

     The Boards of Directors held nine meetings during 1955. The maximum attendance of Directors was 21, the minimum 9, and the average 14.4. The President presided over, and the Treasurer attended, all nine meetings. Consideration has been given and action taken with regard to a wide variety of matters in connection with the affairs of the Church. The results, for the most part, are reflected in other reports. For the rest, there is the foregoing and the five following items.

     MINISTERS MINIMUM SALARY PLAN

     As an addition to the Report for the year 1954, it was recorded that, on January 28, 1955, this Plan was amended, effective September 1, 1955, and the Plan, as so amended, was quoted in full. Refer to NEW CHURCH LIFE for April 1945, pages 192-93.

     SOUND RECORDING COMMITTEE

     At the meeting held December 16, 1955, three officers of this Committee submitted a comprehensive report of its activities.

192

As one result, a resolution was adopted whereby the Board expressed its deep appreciation of the most useful and excellent work which has been accomplished for and on behalf of the Church by this Committee, and whereby the Board also expressed its trust that the Committee will continue with ever increasing usefulness to serve the Church in the future as it has in the past.

     BUILDING REVOLVING LOAN FUND

     This is a General Church fund which recently has been donated by several contributors to provide the means whereby, under certain conditions, loans may be made to assist Societies in acquiring church or school buildings or in expanding existing church or school facilities. It is expected that an announcement thereof will appear in NEW CHURCH LIFE for March 1956.

     GENERAL CHURCH PENSION PLAN

     AND

     U.S.A. SOCIAL SECURITY COVERAGE

     Effective January 1, 1955, U.S.A. Social Security coverage became available to all those eligible employees of the General Church, its Societies, and its other organized groups, who undertook the required taxation liability which presently amounts to 2% of earnings, but not exceeding $84 yearly, to be paid by the employee, plus the same amount to be paid by the employer. Thereafter, for new employees of those same Church employers, which adopted Social Security, the coverage and corresponding taxation became mandatory.
     The General Church Pension Plan provides for the payment by the employer to the Pension Fund of 10% of all salaries. But, for the employee who has Social Security coverage, the employer's payment to the Pension Fund is only 8% of the salary. This is because of the 2% tax paid by the employer for the employee's Social Security coverage.
     The General Church Pension Plan provides that Social Security benefits to the pensioner be deducted from Pension Plan benefits. But, for the pensioner who receives Social Security benefits, only one-half of the primary Social Security benefits are to be deducted from his General Church pension. This is because the pensioner himself has paid one-half the tax for his Social Security coverage.
     However, the foregoing does not apply to the Minister who is "in the exercise of his Ministry" because the law regards him as "self-employed" and provides that he, at his own option, may or may not elect to take coverage. If he elects to take coverage, he thereby undertakes the entire taxation liability which presently amounts to 30% of earnings, but not exceeding $126 yearly. Because the obtaining of coverage by such a Minister is at his own option, and entirely at his own expense, his General Church pension is not affected thereby. Therefore, the employer's payment to the Pension Fund continues to be 100/o of the Minister's salary, and the amount of his pension is computed in accordance with the Pension Plan without any deduction therefrom by reason of any Social Security benefit granted him by the U.S.A. Federal Government.
     The General Church personnel, who are or may presently be affected with respect to Social Security, chiefly comprise two groups, namely: (1) Those Ministers who are eligible for coverage; and (2) The lay Teachers of the Elementary Schools in Bryn Athyn, Glenview and Pittsburgh.
     The above is a statement which omits a very large number of relevant details with which both employer and employee need to be acquainted and which should be obtained from U.S.A. Government sources.

193

     1956 ANNUAL CORPORATION MEETINGS

     These meetings will be held at Bryn Athyn on Friday, June 15 at 8:00 p.m. in the Auditorium of Benade Hall.
     Respectfully submitted,
          HUBERT HYATT,
               Secretary.

     TREASURER OF THE GENERAL CHURCH

     REPORT FOR 1955

     It is an encouraging fact that our Church is growing, but with this growth there is an ever increasing demand for the services of the General Church.
     Last year was perhaps the most active period in its history and much was accomplished. Substantial improvement was made to the ministerial salary scale; Social Security was adopted for teachers and employees on an integrated basis with the Pension Plan, and is available for ministers on a self-employment basis; additional pastoral assistance was provided for the U.S.A. Western Mission; the work in the South Eastern U.S.A. was consolidated under a resident Pastor; interest in Australia and New Zealand was stimulated by an Episcopal Visit; firsthand information was obtained from a layman's visit to the Mission in South Africa; a new Building Revolving Fund was established by special contributions to aid in society building problems; and many other activities that could be mentioned.
     All of these things, of course, cost money and last year for the first time in over 20 years the General Church overspent its operating income by $1,200. This comes as no surprise, as early in the year it became obvious that to meet all the current needs unprecedented action would be necessary.
     By year end expenditures added up to a sizable $109,000 which was 350/0 above the previous year and $28,000 more than was ever before spent in any one year.
     The largest single expense, and the greatest increase during 1955, was for salary payments. Yet the full effect of the improved scale that went into effect last September will not be felt until next year.
     The extension of pastoral visits throughout the Church and the heavy expense of moving ministers and their families doubled disbursements in this category. With an Assembly coming up this will undoubtedly increase in 1956.
     Actually every item of expense except NEW CHURCH LIFE increased substantially.

     Fortunately, income also increased from both contributions and investment returns, and the final deficit was less than expected. But there were some heartening aspects. While we over expended operating income, the resources of the General Church grew substantially. This was due to some generous gifts to capital including the Endowment Funds, the Building Fund, the General Fund, and the South African Mission Fund.
     Everything considered, it was a good year for the General Church and one which shows real promise for the future.
     Respectfully submitted,
          LEONARD E. GYLLENHAAL,
               Treasurer.

194

     EDITOR OF "NEW CHURCH LIFE"

     The appearance of the December 1955 issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE marked the end of the 75th year of continuous publication. This, though worth recording, was scarcely noticed by the editorial desk, however, for the work goes on without ceasing. By the time the December issue is out, the January issue is well under way and the February number is in the planning stage. We think it may fairly be said that the journal has remained faithful to its purpose and status throughout these years. By taking 16 pages from the issue for July-a month that in 1955 was not conducive to serious reading anyway-we again provided an enlarged issue in April without exceeding the total of 576 pages. This total, in order of space used, was made up as follows:
                                             Pages
Articles               292
Sermons                     60
Church News                48
Reports                     45
Editorials               38
Announcements           23
Miscellaneous           22
Reviews                16
Communications           14
Talks to Children           11
Directories                7
                              576
     This represents very little variation from the normal pattern over the last five years; and it seems to present the thought, life, and official transactions of the General Church in fair proportion-roughly 79%, 12%, and 9%, respectively. Excluding editorials, news notes, and reports, the contents of NEW CHURCH LIFE in 1955 came from 39 contributors-24 ministerial and 15 lay, the latter including 4 ladies. Thanks are due to them, and to the loyal corps of writers who fill the Church News columns month by month.

     CIRCULATION

     Figures as of December 31, 1955, supplied by the Circulation Secretary show that paid subscriptions increased by 28, from 874 to 902. Total circulation is shown in the following tabulation:
                                              1954      1955
Paid subscriptions                              874      902
Free to our Ministers, to Public Libraries, New
     Church Book Rooms, Exchanges, etc.               128      128
Free to Men and Women in the Services                60      45
Total                                         1062      1075

     Of the 902 paid subscriptions, 100 are received from Canada, 19 from England, 9 from Sweden, 27 from South Africa, and 10 from Australia, a total of 225. The others, 677, are paid direct to Bryn Athyn, but they are not all received from, or in respect to, addresses in Bryn Athyn or even in the United States.
     Respectfully submitted,
          W. CAIRNS HENDERSON,
               Editor.

195

     RELIGION LESSONS COMMITTEE

     The lessons, question and answer papers, and outline pictures produced by this Committee during the past year (1955) included 45 simple drawings of Animals of the Word, the Garden of Eden, and the Story of Moses, for pre-school children (ages 4, 5); 50 lessons and outline pictures for kindergarten; 40 for grade 1; 40 lessons, question and answer papers and outline pictures for grades 2, 3, 4; 40 lessons, question papers without any outline pictures or other regular hand work for grades 5 to 7, and for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years of high school; and a two year course for 8th grade and 1st year high school in The Life of the Lord, the lessons for which are produced and distributed from Glenview under the able leadership of Miss Jean Junge.
     The lessons for grades 5 and 7 are distributed from Pittsburgh and Detroit respectively; Mrs. Russell Stevens being the counselor in Pittsburgh, and Mrs. Leo Bradin the counselor in Detroit. All the other lessons, and all the festival lessons-those for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Swedenborg's Birthday, Palm Sunday, Easter, and June 19th-are distributed from Bryn Athyn; and the total cost of envelopes and postage for all the lessons is paid by Theta Alpha.
     The total enrollment is upward of 650 children of 263 families, all of whom are in the United States and Canada. Lessons in bulk are sent to England, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and even to New Guinea, the total being upward of 100. The counselors distribute monthly lessons to upward of 450 children. The 200 children seemingly receiving no lessons are of ages from birth to 5 years, or kindergarten, of whom about fifty receive the pre-school or simple outline pictures in the three booklets mentioned above three times a year, or a booklet of fifteen pictures at a time. Altogether more than 100 ladies, and some young men-college boys-assist in the distribution, and in writing to the children and their parents.
     Most of the art work is now done by Mrs. Andrew Klein. All of it is speed-o-scoped by Mrs. Richard Bostock, who also has drawn all the outline pictures of Animals of the Word. Their help, paid for at extremely low prices, is invaluable. And so is the work, likewise underpaid, of Mrs. Byron Gates and Miss Elizabeth Whitehead, who help in the office.
     Although there is much to be improved, changed, and developed in this work, the returns by way of increased requests for lessons, and letters of commendation, are encouraging and indicate that it is of constant increasing usefulness in the whole work of the General Church.
     Respectfully submitted,
          FREDERICK E. GYLLENHAAL,
               Director.

     HYMNAL REVISION COMMITTEE

     It was decided to publish by the offset photography process, a Revised Hymnal consisting of words and music from the old Hymnal, the Liturgy, and new doxologies and hymns, the latter adapted to older as well as younger children. This Hymnal was to consist of 96 sheets or 192 pages. The first part was to be printed in an edition of 1200 copies, 200 bound in paper covers and made available immediately to the Bryn Athyn Elementary School (which urgently needed 150 copies); the second and third parts to consist of 1000 copies, and the whole three parts then bound in board covers to be available to the general public. This was reported to the Educational Council in August, 1955, with the result that at the demand of the headmasters of other elementary schools for immediate use of part one in paper covers, it was decided to print 1400 copies of part one and bind in paper covers 400 copies.

196

     As a contract with The Cuneo Eastern Press, Inc. had been signed for part 1-a contract of approximately $275.00-Mr. Dan Echols, a representative of that company through whom the arrangements had been made, on his own responsibility agreed to a part one of 1400 copies, 400 to be bound in paper covers; the Academy Book Room, by which the Hymnal was to be published, paying something for the extra 200 copies paper bound.
     The Cuneo Eastern Press, Inc., immediately after signing the contract with the Academy Book Room received from an old customer an order for offset printing amounting to over $100,000, the work to be done by September 1st. Accordingly it "farmed out" our order and $20,000 worth of the larger order. This delayed delivery of our order by two weeks, and when the 400 paper bound copies were delivered, all of them were found to be imperfect and some to be so imperfect as to cause the Treasurer of the Academy to refuse to pay for the whole order; and The Cuneo Eastern Press, Inc. was reported to have also refused to pay for the $20,000 worth of printing it had farmed out. However, the principal of the Bryn Athyn Elementary School took delivery at once of 150 copies least imperfect, and now the Academy Book Room is offering copies of the remainder at 15? each. And while the contract is not settled yet, it is now in the hands of the Treasurer of the Academy, and so are the books.
     Together with all the material of part one, all the Festival hymns-Thanksgiving, Christmas, Palm Sunday, Easter and June 19th hymns-from the old Hymnal and the Liturgy were selected, and it was planned to put them in part two, inserting between the two parts the new hymns. Part three was to be devoted to prekindergarten and kindergarten songs and hymns, and to instruction in teaching them.
     The selection of all the doxologies, hymns, recitations, and other items of part one; also of the festival hymns for part two; and of the kindergarten or very simple hymns, such as "Little lamb, who made thee," from the old Hymnal for part three; was made by Bishop De Charms, Miss Hildegarde Odhner, and myself. But the preparation as well as selection of new songs and hymns was left to Miss Hildegarde Odhner.
     It is hoped to have the complete Hymnal ready by June 1st, but experience has too amply proved that hopes, especially in respect to the printing of books, are usually unrealized.
     Respectfully submitted,
          FREDERICK E. GYLLENHAAL.

     SOUND RECORDING COMMITTEE

     With a total circulation in 1955 of 930 tapes, we can again report an increase in the use of our services. The figures for 1950-1955, both inclusive-428, 653, 780, 814, 888, 930-show that the circulation has more than doubled in six years. Last year's operations represent an average borrowing of 77 tapes per month, the average contribution being $1.12.
     The fixed assets of the Committee-$11,872.00, less depreciation $2,226.00-amount to $9,646.00. The net worth is set by the treasurer at $14,470.00.
     Operations for 1955 began with a cash balance of $3,789.00. Total receipts amounted to $4,463; $1,640 coming from users, and $3,410.00 in the form of special contributions. Total disbursements were $3,447.00, leaving an effective balance as of December 31, 1955, of $4,824.00.
     Special mention should be made of the following things. On December 16, 1955, three of the officers of the Committee had the pleasure of making a comprehensive report to the Board of Directors of the General Church concerning the activities of the Sound Recording Committee.

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Plans are going forward for professional recording on locally rented equipment of the 21st General Assembly in London. Finally, the Committee's service is now being extended to New Zealand.
     The new catalog mentioned in our last report was duly issued, and the first set of supplementary sheets will be in the mail shortly.
     Respectfully submitted,
          W. CAIRNS HENDERSON,
               Chairman.

     PUBLICATION COMMITTEE

     As the Academy Book Room serves as the publication house for both the General Church and the Academy, this Committee is composed of those who edit our periodicals, who read and often edit manuscripts for publication, as well as recommend them for publication to the Academy's Board of Directors. At present the Committee consists of Bishops De Charms and Pendleton, Mr. Bruce Glenn, and the Revs. W. C. Henderson, F. E. Gyllenhaal, H. L. Odhner and W. Whitehead.
     During the past year, the Word has been reprinted and bound in England; and the Book Room reports that this edition of 300 copies is already almost sold out. A new edition of Bishop De Charms' John in the Isle of Patmos was published; and the Committee has recommended publication of Dr. Acton's work on Swedenborg's missing treatise on Marriage, the indices of which have been rearranged to show the plan and contents of the lost manuscript.
     The work on the new children's Hymnal is now in the printer's hands; and the first part thereof has already been published, for use in homes and schools. The Hymnal is under the charge of the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal and Miss Hildegarde Odhner. A discussion at our last meeting favored the publication of research theses done by our own ministers and professors, when their usefulness and quality warranted their publication by the Academy Book Room.
     Respectfully submitted,
          WILLIAM WHITEHEAD,
               Secretary.

     VISUAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE

     Herewith is the annual report of the General Church Visual Education Committee: On January 1st, 1955, we had a balance on hand of $225.64. Receipts during the year amounted to $34.35 most for rental and postage on slides loaned. Expenses amounted to $15.15, leaving a balance on hand on January 1st, 1956, of $244.84.
     Since the middle of July we have had a series of slides going at two-week intervals to New Zealand. It takes six or seven weeks each way, so that many of them are always in transit, and many have not yet arrived back in Bryn Athyn.
     We have also sent some to Stockholm this year, which also are not back yet, and we anticipate that we shall be making a series of slides for Mr. Boyesen in the near future.
     As usual, our books have been audited and approved as correct by Mr. Ariel C. Gunther.
     Respectfully submitted,
          WILLIAM R. COOPER,
               Director.

198

REVIEWS 1956

REVIEWS Various 1956

DET NYA JERUSALEM OCH DESS HIMMELSKA LARA (The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine). By Emanuel Swedenborg. Published by Gustaf Baeckstrom, pp. 104.

     The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine was issued by the Swedenborg Society in twenty-one languages in 1938, on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of Swedenborg's birth. The Swedish version, which was identical with that published by NOVA ECCLESIA in 1930, being now out of print, the Rev. Dr. Gustaf Baeckstrom has reissued it from his NOVA ECCLESIA Book Room.
     The translation, that of Mr. T. Holm, is now revised by Dr. Baeckstrom. It comprises only 104 pages, the many references to the Arcana Coelestia being omitted. Nor does it contain the introductory biography of Swedenborg which marked the English Memorial Edition. The editor notes that the price of printing twenty-five years ago was 350 Swedish Kroner for 1,000 copies, while today it cost 1,869.60 Kroner to print the same number.
     The Swedish versions of 1930 and 1955 retain the phrase "From Things Heard out of Heaven" which Swedenborg used as a sub-title, but which was left out of the London edition of 1938. Mr. Helm's translation of the work from the Latin was briefly but favorably reviewed in NEW CHURCH LIFE for February, 1931, pp. 117-118.
     HUGO LJ. ODHNER

BETTER THAN GOLD. By Dennis Duckworth. Published for The Missionary Society of the New Church by New Church Press, Ltd. London, 1955. Cloth, pp. 73.

     This appropriately designed little volume is offered as "a pocketbook for young people of the New Church (and others)." It opens with a statement on "What the New Church is," and then presents a short biography of Swedenborg, to which is added a well chosen bibliography. A section entitled "The New Church Writings" follows, and includes a chronological list. "The Sacred Scriptures" are then treated in a section which enumerates the five dispensations; and there is an explanation of the Ten Commandments in their three senses, a simple statement of New Church faith (from TCR 3), and "The Creed of the New Church (As adopted by the General Conference in 1952)."

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These are followed by a section curiously entitled "Pegs and Pins of Doctrine"-paraphrased and undocumented statements concerning God, the Lord, the Divine Trinity, Providence, Faith, Charity and Good Works, Regeneration, Baptism and the Holy Supper, Heaven and Hell, Marriage, and the Second Advent. "How the New Church Began" and "The New Church Today" are surveyed; and the book closes with a section, "Going to Church," in which the uses of the various parts of worship are examined; the Lord's Prayer; and the threefold blessing given in Numbers 6: 24-26. An easy reference Index is added.
     The book is engagingly written, though the author sometimes seems to be addressing children rather than young people, and much information has been condensed in few pages. However, there are one or two things to which we would draw attention as points of difference or criticism. The insertion on page 1 of the first chapter heading in Doctrine of Life, without quotation marks or reference, as "A New Church motto" is misleading. The statement on page 3: "If our faith is true, and our intentions towards other people are good and sincere, we shall belong to the Church. It is possible to 'belong' to the New Church in this way, even though we may never have heard of the New Church body" rather suggests "permeation" as it stands. Under the conditions he lays down one may belong to the church universal, but not to the church specific. Mr. Duckworth naturally presents the Conference viewpoint, that only the Old and New Testaments are the Word; but when he says of the New Church that "its doctrines are drawn from the Word of God in both the Old and New Testaments" (p. 4), we are prompted to ask: What about the doctrines of the glorification, conjugial love, influx, correspondence and degrees? Also, it would be interesting to know what the author means when he says, on the same page, that the New Church is "the Christian Church reborn and renewed." The General Church is presented quite informatively, but Mr. Duckworth must surely know that it does not differ from the Conference and the Convention only in having an episcopal form of government.
     This handbook contains many fine things, and it would be of interest to those of our people who wish to study other New Church viewpoints; but with our belief in the nature of the Writings we would not wish to use it in our own extension work.
     WILLIAM R. COOPER

THE LIFE OF THE LORD. Volume 10. General Church Religion Lessons. Published by Pools Press, Inc., Glenview, Illinois, 1956, for the General Church Religion Lessons Committee.

     This is the second of two volumes offering a course of instruction for pupils in the 8th and 9th grades.

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Carefully revised, it contains the 9th grade course, and consists of 17 lessons equipped with answer papers for review. Uniformly with volume 9, the text is handsomely reproduced by the offset photography process, on one side of the page only; the illustrations are reproductions in black and white of selected pictures by well known artists, and the 11 by 81/2 sheets are preserved in an accopress binder.
This volume also has been revised, produced and distributed, under the auspices of the Glenview Chapter of Theta Alpha. As with volume 9, the lessons have been prepared and written by Miss Virginia Junge and Miss Helen Maynard, the Rev. Elmo C. Acton approving the revisions. Much research and work has gone into this task, and these ladies are to be congratulated on it. The Gospel through Matthew continues to be followed, but other Gospels are drawn upon to complete the story of the forty days between the Lord's resurrection and the Ascension.
THE EDITOR
ACADEMY PERSONNEL CHANGES 1956

ACADEMY PERSONNEL CHANGES E. BRUCE GLENN 1956

     The following changes in the teaching staff of the Academy of the New Church will become effective at the beginning of the 1956-1957 school year:
     Dean Wertha P. Cole will retire at the end of the present academic year after teaching in the Academy for twenty-eight years and serving as Dean of College Women for ten years. That office will not be filled at present, but Miss Margit K. Boyesen has been appointed Assistant to the Dean of the College.
     Miss Jean Horigan will relinquish her position in the Home Economics Department at the close of the present year. Miss Rhona Synnestvedt has been engaged as an Instructor in Home Economics in the Girls' Seminary and in the College for the school year 1956-1957. She will serve also as dietician in the Dining Hall.
     Miss Judith Pendleton has been engaged as an Instructor in Physical Education in the Girls' Seminary and the College, and as an Instructor in American History in the Girls' Seminary.
     Miss Sally Smith will teach French part time in the Girls' Seminary.
          E. BRUCE GLENN,
               Editor, News from the Academy

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TE DOMINUM 1956

TE DOMINUM Editor 1956

NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly by

THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.

Editor                              Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Bryn Athyn, Pa,
Circulation Secretary               Mr. H. Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Treasurer                          Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address, and business communications, should be sent to the Circulation Secretary. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.
     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$3.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy, 30 cents.
     In one of the most beautiful passages in the Writings (AC 2034) it is revealed that the cause of the Lord's union with the Father was His conjunction with the human race. In the union of His Human Essence with the Divine Essence, it is said, the Lord had at heart, and view, the conjunction of Himself with the human race. This was His end, and this His love, the love that led Him into union with the supreme Divine and through everything by which that union was effected; and His love was such that the salvation of the human race, as beheld in the union of Himself with His Father, was to Him the inmost joy.
     "As we reflect upon this teaching, we may understand that for the Lord Himself His resurrection on the first Easter morning was the fullness of His joy, though we can scarcely begin to understand the nature and depth of that joy. And we may see also wherein the true joy of Easter consists-joy that because the Lord had glorified His Human the race had been withheld from total destruction, and the salvation of all who would accept Him in heart and faith had been made sure. This was the joy the angels received from the Lord, those angels whose love is the salvation of men. And it will be inmostly present within the happiness of all who have received from the Lord a spiritual love toward the neighbor, causing them to sing from the heart: "We praise Thee, O Lord, we acknowledge Thee to be our God; we magnify Thy holy name, and worship at Thy footstool."

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QUOTATION IN "THE MESSIAH ABOUT TO COME" 1956

QUOTATION IN "THE MESSIAH ABOUT TO COME" COLIN M. GREENHALGH 1956

Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:
     An article by the Rev. Morley Rich in NEW CHURCH LIFE for February (pp. 63-76) entitled "The Messiah About to Come" refers to Swedenborg's quotation there of I Samuel 28:6, 15, and assumes an error in the translation from the Latin of this word. "When He answered him" (i.e., when the Lord answered Saul), is compared with "Jehovah answered him not" [see pp. 68, 69]. The author of the article also states that a meaning quite different is involved in the opening phrase of the version attributed to the translator [p. 69]. Yet in this work Swedenborg by no means kept to direct quotations. His notes are often in commentary form, and sometimes there appears to be no distinction made when these run into direct quotation. The passage in question would not appear to be an exception to this rule.
     That any difference of meaning should be involved as a result of this is not made clear. Swedenborg's commentary, "When He answered him," is in agreement with the inmost sense, whether Swedenborg so intended it or not. It states the truth relative to the Lord and Divine revelation; that is to say, not relative to Saul's representation and the appearance of truth from this. In the proper sense, the Lord does answer; and in the supreme sense, He alone answers. The article, of course, takes account of this when it says: "the Lord did not answer Saul in the traditional manner." The agreement of the meaning involved is actually confirmed by Swedenborg in this way, when he refers to this very subject in the work that was soon to follow, the Word Explained. There the exposition of I Samuel 28:6 reads: "It is also permitted evil spirits to tell things that are to come; but this is from God Messiah by means of good spirits, to whom, in a like case, it is permitted to rule the speeches of evil spirits entirely at their nod" (WE 6157). [Italics added] That the Lord answered Saul is finally established in the internal sense of I Samuel 28: 18, which says: "Because thou didst not obey the voice of Jehovah, nor didst carry out the fierceness of His anger upon Amalek, therefore hath Jehovah done this word unto thee this day." [Italics added]
     According to the translator of The Messiah About to Come, it is inconceivable that Swedenborg should concentrate his thought on Jewish people (i.e., on Saul) and the earthly Palestine when reading the Word. One thing appears certain: the Lord was preparing Swedenborg for the Divinely inspired truth relating to the nature of His second coming, and about this time the insinuation of that which was about to come was applying itself to the scientifics of the Word here under consideration, already secretly adapting them through Swedenborg's mind to effect the rational revelation of Divine truth; that the Lord would indeed answer man, not through appearances, but in His own glorified Human.
     COLIN M. GREENHALGH

203

MISSIONARY COMMITTEE FORMED 1956

In accord with the action taken at the recent meetings of the Council of the Clergy (see page 172), the Bishop of the General Church has appointed the following committee to study and develop the extension work of the General Church in the United States and in Canada:

Rev. Messrs. Harold C. Cranch (chairman)
Karl R. Alden
Geoffrey S. Childs, Jr.
Raymond G. Cranch
Roy Franson
Robert S. Junge
Louis B. King
Ormond de C. Odhner
Dandridge Pendleton
Norman H. Reuter
Morley D. Rich
Norbert H. Rogers
Frederick L. Schnarr
David R. Simons
Jan H. Weiss

It is understood that the committee will form its own organization in adaptation to the needs as they become apparent. Eventually the work will undoubtedly be extended to other countries; but it is thought well to limit its scope until the machinery of operation has been set up and the functions of the committee have been more clearly defined.
TRUST IN THE LORD 1956

TRUST IN THE LORD 1956

"Trust belongs to love through faith, consequently trust in the Lord is possible with those only who are in love to the Lord and toward the neighbor" (Arcana Coelestia, 8240).

204

ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH SCHOOL CALENDAR: 1956-1957 1956

     Eightieth School Year

     1956

Sept.     7 Fri.      Faculty Meetings. Dormitories open
     10 Mon.      Registration
     11 Tues.      First day of classes-Secondary Schools
Oct.      12 Fri.      Charter Day
Nov.     11 Wed.      Close for Thanksgiving after classes
     26 Mon.      Classes resumed
Dec.     21 Fri.      Close for Christmas after classes

     1957

Jan.     7 Mon.      Classes resumed
     25 Fri.      End of First Semester
     28 Mon.      Second Semester begins
Feb.     22 Fri.      Washington's Birthday Holiday
Mar.     29 Fri.      Close for Spring Recess after classes
Apr.      8 Mon.      Classes resumed
     21 Sun.      Easter
May      30 Thur.      Memorial Day Half Holiday
June     14 Fri.      Commencement Exercises
AID TO SELF-EXAMINATION 1956

AID TO SELF-EXAMINATION 1956

"All spirits in the other life are distinguished in the following manner: those who desire evil against others are infernal or diabolical spirits; but those who desire good to others are good and angelic spirits. A man can know among which he is, whether among the infernal or the angelic: if he intends evil to his neighbor, thinks nothing but evil concerning him, and actually does it when he can, and takes delight therein, he is among the infernals and also becomes infernal in the other life; whereas the man who intends good to his neighbor, and thinks nothing but good respecting him, and actually does it when he can, is among the angelic spirits and also becomes an angel in the other life. This is the distinctive characteristic. Let everyone examine himself by this in order to learn what he is" (Arcana Coelestia, 1680: 2).

205

Church News 1956

Church News Various 1956

     SOUTH OHIO

     On February 19th, 1956, a memorable event occurred in Urbana, Ohio; an event which we believe will be of interest to all the members of both the General Convention and the General Church. For the first time in the history of the New Church in Urbana, a joint service has been held between the members of the Convention Society in Urbana and the General Church members of the South Ohio Circle.
     For several years now the Rev. Ernst Tolle has been conducting monthly services for the Convention Society in its church building in Urbana. While this was being done, the General Church members of the South Ohio Circle, first under the leadership of the Rev. Louis B. King and now under that of the Rev. Frederick L. Schnarr, were also holding monthly services in Urbana, in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Barnitz. Since the two groups did not hold services on the same Sunday of the month, many of the members of each group attended both services, with the result that a general feeling gradually arose that it would be desirable to hold regular combined services.
     As this feeling became increasingly stronger, the Rev. Ernst Tolle, at a recent meeting of the Convention Society, proposed a motion to extend an invitation to the South Ohio Circle of the General Church to join in combined services in the church of the Convention Society in Urbana. The idea behind the motion was that when Mr. Tolle conducted the service, the Convention order and form of worship would be used; and when Mr. Schnarr conducted the service, the General Church order and form of worship would be used. This motion was passed by those present at the meeting; but to insure that the motion was clearly understood, a ballot was prepared and circulated by mail to all the members of the Urbana Convention Society. The returns confirmed the acceptance of the motion. Letters were then exchanged between the secretaries of the two groups, and after it had been considered by the members of the South Ohio Circle the invitation was accepted.
     The first joint service was conducted by the Rev. Louis B. King, visiting from Pittsburgh, Pa., and the Rev. Frederick L. Schnarr, visiting from Chicago, Ill. Mr. King gave a special talk to the children, and an inspiring sermon on "Happiness" to the adults. Mr. Schnarr officiated at the baptism of Mrs. Rudolph Barnitz of Glenview, Ill., who was visiting in Urbana. This baptism added greatly to the sphere of the occasion, both because of the happiness shared in welcoming a new member into the church, and because of the fact that Mr. Rudolph Barnitz himself had been baptized in the same building by the Rev. Russell Eaten, in 1901.
     The attendance at this first official joint service was most encouraging. Members and friends of both the Convention and the General Church were present from Columbus, London, and Cincinnati, Ohio; Louisville, Kentucky; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Glenview and Chicago, Illinois. With the renewed and combined efforts of both groups we have every reason to believe that our attendance will steadily increase.
     What is taking place in Urbana is somewhat of an experiment for both the Convention and the General Church. No one can foretell what the outcome will be. However, both the members of the Convention Society of Urbana and the South Ohio Circle believe that where there is a spirit of charity, and a sphere of comradeship and of common purpose to establish the New Church, their efforts cannot but bear fruit. We look forward to the further development of the New Church in this part of Ohio with hope and confidence; resting in the sure knowledge that where men strive with sincere endeavor to further the life and the uses of the church, the Lord will guide and lead them through the operations of His Divine providence.
     FREDERICK L. SCHNARR,
               Visiting Minister to the South Ohio Circle.

206

     SWEDENBORG SOCIETY

     Swedenborg Birthday Meeting

     The 268th anniversary of the birth of Emanuel Swedenborg was celebrated by the Swedenborg Society in traditional manner at Swedenborg Hall. The meeting-beginning with tea, and giving people plenty of time for that social intercourse which is so much enjoyed by New Church people-was attended by more than 120 members and friends. The President, Mr. Colley Pryke, welcomed all to the meeting; he thought it a fine thing to be at a Swedenborg's birthday celebration in London, the city which Swedenborg visited so often, in which he published the Arcana Coelestia, and in which he died. Mr. Pryke gave a number of apologies to the meeting; reading letters from Mr. Harold Goyder Smith, who had just had his 87th birthday, and from Miss Millman, both of whom had in the past done great work for the Society.
     Two papers were given on the general subject of "Swedenborg and Some of His Contemporaries." The first, by Miss Hilda Stacey, ranged over the period from Swedenborg's first visit to London in 1710 to his death there in 1772. She described the people, famous and otherwise, whom Swedenborg met, talked to, or wrote about, and at the same time gave a vivid picture of eighteenth century England. She drew with particular clarity an outline of the changes in English life and thought between 1110 and Swedenborg's visit to London in 1748 to publish the Arcana Coelestia, and she linked the decadence and immorality of the period with the dead church described in the Writings.
     The second paper, by the Rev. Erik Sandstrom, dealt with the series of events between 1768 and 1778 which became known as the Gothenburg trial. Mr. Sandstrom described Swedenborg's own reactions to these accusations of heresy and socinianism which were made by members of the Gothenburg Consistory, and showed the importance that Swedenborg himself attached to the whole affair. The speaker described the two clergymen, Dr. Rosen and Dr. Beyer, who accepted the Writings and shared the persecution. He summarized briefly the history of the accusations and the defense, and finally indicated the significance of this "most important trial for 1700 years" in the establishment of the New Church.
     These brief summaries do not do justice to the excellent papers; it is hoped that they may be printed in full. The Rev. Dennis Duckworth expressed the thanks of the meeting to the two speakers for the able and interesting way in which they had presented their subjects.
     The audience had the privilege also of hearing a violin recital by Miss Violet Pusey who, with her accompanist, Miss Phyllis Norbrook, delighted all with her accomplished performance.
     THE SWEDENBORG SOCIETY
SOME GENERAL CHURCH USES 1956

SOME GENERAL CHURCH USES 1956

207

GENERAL CHURCH CORPORATIONS 1956

GENERAL CHURCH CORPORATIONS HUBERT HYATT 1956

     Announcements.
     The 1956 Annual Corporation Meetings of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held in the Benade Hall Auditorium, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, on Friday, June 15, at 3:30 p.m., D.S.T. Notices will be mailed.
     HUBERT HYATT,
          Secretary.
Title Unspecified 1956

Title Unspecified 1956

"The Lord does not openly teach anyone truths, but through good leads to the thinking of what is true, and unknown to the man He also inspires the perception and consequent choice that such a thing is true because the Word so declares, and because it accords therewith" (Arcana Coelestia, 5952).

208

TWENTY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1956

     LONDON, ENGLAND, JULY 24-29, 1956

Tuesday, July 24
     11:00 a.m. Council of the Clergy. Wynter Room, Swedenborg House
     2:15 p.m. Ministers' Luncheon
     7:30 p.m. Reception at Victoria Hall

Wednesday, July 25
     11:00 a.m. First Session of the Assembly
               Episcopal Address
     2:15 p.m. Luncheon
     6:00 p.m. Second Session of the Assembly
               Address: Rev. Harold C. Cranch
     8:00 p.m. Supper
Thursday, July 26
     11:00 a.m. Third Session of the Assembly
               Address: Rev. Alan Gill
     2:15 p.m. Luncheon
     6:00 p.m. Fourth Session of the Assembly
               Address: Rev. Elmo C. Acton
     8:00 p.m. Supper

Friday, July 27
     Morning No Session
     2:15 p.m. Luncheon
     3:30 p.m. Sons of the Academy Meeting in Victoria Hall
     3:30 p.m. Theta Alpha Meeting in Swedenborg Hall
     6:00 p.m. Fifth Session of the Assembly
               Address: Rev. David R. Simons
     8:00 p.m. Supper

Saturday, July 28
     10:00 a.m. Sixth Session of the Assembly
               Address: Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton
     No Luncheon
     7:00 p.m. Assembly Banquet. Provisionally at Connaught Rooms, Kingsway
               Toastmaster: Mr. John Cooper

Sunday, July 29
     11:00 a.m. Divine Worship
               Sermon: Rev. A. Wynne Acton
     2:15 p.m. Luncheon at Coventry Street Corner House
     4:00 p.m. Administration of the Holy Supper
     6:00 p.m. Tea (?)

209

WHAT IS MEANT BY THE DIVINE AUTHORITY OF THE WRITINGS? 1956

WHAT IS MEANT BY THE DIVINE AUTHORITY OF THE WRITINGS? Rev. HUGO LJ. ODHNER 1956

NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. LXXVI MAY, 1956               No. 5
     AN ANALYSIS

     (Delivered to the Council of the Clergy, Bryn Athyn, Pa., January 25, 1956.)

     1. THE ACADEMY PRINCIPLE AS TO THE AUTHORITY OF THE WRITINGS

     Every traditional view of doctrine must from time to time be examined, not only as to its basis in revelation, but as to its history and as to the way in which it is understood by later generations.
     Two years after the formation of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, Bishop W. F. Pendleton made a carefully worded statement of what the men of the "Academy movement" had come to understand as the teaching of the Writings about themselves. He used these words:
     "In the Writings . . . is contained the very essential Word, which is the Lord. From them the Lord speaks to His Church, and the church acknowledges no other Authority, and no other Law."
     This principle was a consensus, in the nature of a derived doctrine, a doctrine drawn by men and reformulated by them. It carried no Divine authority of its own, but its peculiar force was that it disowned authority to itself and to any statement or thought constructed by men, and left that authority outside of man, in the Writings as "the essential Word," the Word revealed before the rational sight of men's minds.
     In describing the Writings as "the very essential Word," Bishop Pendleton presumably referred back to the Arcana statement that "the internal sense is the ipissimum Verbum in which the Divine is most immediately" (AC 3432, cp 1540 and AE 759). "Ipsissimum" had been translated as "essential" by Dr. R. L. Tafel in his book, Authority in the New Church, which in 1877 most powerfully presented the Academy position before the Council of Ministers of the General Convention and was published by its Board of Publication.

210

     One of the founders of the Academy, Dr. Tafel wrote the notable articles on "Science and Philosophy in the New Church" in the Words for the New Church. He is also known as the compiler of the Documents Concerning Swedenborg and as the translator of The Brain.
     Writing from the conviction that the Writings, in which the Lord made His second coming, present the internal sense which "is doctrine itself (AC 9380, p. 37) and "the law of the New Church" (P. 38), Dr. Tafel cites the teaching that one must view things of reason from the doctrine of faith, by "first believing the Word or doctrine thence, and then confirming them by rational considerations" (AC 2568). The affirmative principle which alone can "lead to all intelligence and wisdom" consists "in affirming those things which belong to doctrine from the Word, or in thinking or believing that they are true because the Lord has spoken them" (ibid.).
     Noting that the doctrines of the New Church, including the memorable relations, were written by Divine command and by the Lord through Swedenborg, Dr Tafel shows that the spiritual things in these Writings are as the soul, while the natural things, or the natural truths contained there, are in the place of the body, and that their relation is as intimate as that existing between the soul and the body (page 44). If the body is removed, the soul becomes powerless. The spiritual truths in the Writings derive their power from the natural truths in which they are mirrored (page 45). And, having shown how Swedenborg had from his youth acquired natural facts which the Lord later adopted as the ultimate vessels of revealed doctrine, he concludes:

     "All the natural facts, therefore, contained in the theological writings of Swedenborg have acquired the force and power of natural truths; and by means of these natural truths the whole field of natural science may be reformed and regenerated, even as the whole field of philosophy and theology will be reformed and regenerated by the rational and spiritual truths which are contained in the same writings" (page 46).

     Even as the serpent, in the prophecy, would attack the seed of the woman by bruising His heel, so the foes of the New Church would assail the scientific elements in the Writings.
     That the Writings-as to their spiritual message-are of Divine origin, is in various ways affirmed by all who claim to be of the New Church. But you can place no "authority" in anything so intangible as a soul without a body. If there is to be a Divine authority in the Writings, it must be vested in their text, or at least in the obviously intended meaning which the text conveys to any reasonable reader.

211

     2. THE MEANING OF "AUTHORITY"

     Authority implies authorship. The Divine authority of the Writings means that they are written not by Swedenborg as a man but by the Lord through Swedenborg as an instrument or agent. But authority also implies the right to command. The Writings, if they are of Divine authority in the New Church, must convey the Lord's commands and the Lord's instruction.
     An authority is also a court of appeal. It must be objective, outside of man, a criterion or measure by which our own concepts and our own understanding can be continually checked, disciplined, or confirmed. And it must stand as the source from which authentic truth is drawn. It must not be confused or commingled with man's own convictions, opinions, thoughts, desires, or impulses.
     The Writings ascribe Divine authority to the Holy Scripture or Word, which is to be believed "because the Lord has spoken it" (AC 2568, cp. 2588:2, 2533, 2538). Those who believe only in a "natural theology" in heart invalidate the "authority" and holiness of the Word (SS 115). "The Divine authority of the Word" is perverted and perishes with those who believe that the Pope has the right to determine the meaning of the Word (AR 742).
     In Holy Scriptures, or the Old and New Testaments, are thus of Divine authority in the church. But let us note that the Old Testament is partly written as "made up" history, which is not literally true, and it also contains certain laws of the Hebrews which are not authoritative at the present day. In the Old Testament the spiritual element is deeply veiled in symbolism derived from Jewish concepts of the nature of the world and its history, and of the moral and civic duties of man, as well as in prophetic allusions and visions which seem to have little relation to spiritual life. And even the New Testament is largely couched in parables and prophecies such as the predictions of the last times.
     We can readily sense the holiness of the Word which is present in the correspondential language of the Scriptural Word. But for authority we must look to a clearer element in the Scripture. We recognize authority in those places where the truth is given openly-as in the Ten Commandments and the teachings about the one omnipotent God. We can see authority in the factual history of Israel, where the Divine Providence operates openly. Especially do we see authority in the Gospels, where every statement is historical, even to the acts and words of the Lord and the description of His birth and life and death and resurrection. These are authentic facts, so confirmed in the Writings. The Lord's words, although veiled in parable, are yet transparent enough to let us see naked truths which display the essentials of His doctrine. (See De Verbo 26, SS 55.)

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And He spoke as one having authority.
     Doctrine should be drawn for the church from the open or naked passages of the literal sense of Scripture, and confirmed thereby. This was recognized in the Christian Church. But because charity waxed cold and false prophets arose, Christians were soon unable to draw the authoritative doctrine from their Word. This was the reason the Writings were given. In the Writings the Lord has caused the open truths of Scripture to be collected into a doctrine of genuine truth-not by giving a new "letter" or a "merely natural sense" such as the Word of the Old and New Covenants, but a "natural sense from the spiritual," which is also to be called the spiritual-natural sense. (See AE 1061.)
     This was the coming of the Son of Man in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. All the naked truths of the former Word which had carried authority were now presented anew as Divine doctrine. The authority of Scripture for the adult New Church man was transferred to the Writings, in the light of which the shadows of the letter take on new meaning and are seen to contain spiritual truths of Divine authority (AR 911, 914). He sees the Scriptures as of Divine origin and authority because they contain the Divine doctrine as an internal sense. And it is undoubtedly so that the angels also see them. (Compare CL 24.)
     A word needs here be said as to "power" and "authority." The power of the Word is in its ultimates-in the sense of its letter. (DLW 221, 217; AC 9836:2; TCR 223; De Verbo 25, 54-57.) But the power of the correspondences of the letter is particularly a Power for conjunction and communication, which the spiritual sense by itself does not possess (De Verbo 55, 48; AE 816:2, 3, and 832). On the other hand, it is the naked truths which have power to convince. This is rational power, which gives authority to doctrine. Thus doctrine has power and "prevails" when "confirmed from the sense of the letter as to genuine truth, but less so in so far as one abides in appearances (De Verbo 57, 48; cp. the Latin of AE 1088:4, 5). The naked truths of the Word, devoid of correspondential veilings, "serve for the doctrine of the church, because in themselves they are spiritual-natural truths" (De Verbo 26).
     The Writings are revealed spiritual-natural truths and are therefore of Divine authority. They are plain or open statements intelligible by direct rational apperception (Compare AC 5094.) They are indeed also written in symbols, for all words are symbols; but the symbols are rational terms corresponding to rational ideas. And it is in these rational ideas that the Divine inspiration terminates; and it is thus in these rational ideas that the Divine authority lodges.

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     3. HOW RATIONAL IDEAS ARE PRESENTED IN THE WRITINGS

     The Writings address themselves to the rational mind, always conveying Divine doctrine, but by various modes. In many volumes the doctrine is presented as an internal sense of Holy Scripture. In others, it is found in systematic form, under classified propositions rationally confirmed by arguments and illustrations. In still others, it is given in the form of narratives and descriptions of things seen and heard by Swedenborg in the other world. And finally, in others, the doctrine is explained philosophically, confirmed by scientific data known to Swedenborg, or projected on the background of the domestic, civic, and even economic situations of life, and thus applied as rational principles which show the relationship between spiritual and natural things.
     To show this relationship between the spiritual and the natural, the natural world must be presented not only in symbolic fashion, as in Scripture, but as it is in itself. The Writings could not have been written before the empirical study of nature had commenced. Swedenborg was prepared "by the sciences." He studied the physical world, learned its general laws, pondered its cosmogony, the constitution of the human body, and the connection of brain and mind. Even his explorations of the spiritual world were in the nature of empirical research.
     The Heavenly Doctrine as such came to him a priori, by inspiration. Yet it is obvious that he could not by "influx" receive factual knowledge about the natural world, or speak about planets which were then unknown, or employ terms not yet in use. What was not in his memory as knowledge, could not be used by the Lord to embody the new revelation. On the other hand, he unhesitatingly teaches certain things about the natural world which he himself had arrived at in his previous studies. He rejects various scientific errors of his contemporaries which have since been discredited. He advances many natural truths which have since been confirmed. Even in assigning the first ten or eleven chapters of Genesis to the realm of "made-up" history or sacred legend, he was anticipating the learned world. But he also made many statements in the Writings about the history and nature of the natural world, which modern learning rejects or contradicts. And he emphasizes certain philosophical doctrines which had been known in variously distorted forms to the ancients, and which he now is led to "restore": such doctrines as those of Influx, Correspondences, and Degrees, and the doctrines of the Gorand Man and of Man as a Microcosm. He confirms certain phases of the philosophies of Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, and Descartes.
     Besides these scientific and philosophic elements in the Writings we find a great many testimonies about historical or contemporary person ages and biblical characters.

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There are applications of doctrine to natural life injunctions about the orderly introduction to marriage, about the rituals of Baptism, the Holy Supper, betrothals and inaugurations into the priesthood; and about ecclesiastical and civil government, the organization of the commonwealth and the duties of citizens.

     4. THOUGHT FROM AUTHORITY AND THOUGHT FROM REASON

     In confessing that the Lord speaks in the Writings to His New Church, which acknowledges "no other Authority and no other Law," the men of the Church may hesitate as to what is meant by this authority. Because it is said that "in the church there must be a filleted primate" (Coro. 17), this does not necessarily mean that a bishop must wear a band about his head! When the Heavenly Doctrine states that the king, "where such a form of government obtains," is the chief in which royalty centers, it is an indication that a principle, which is in itself eternal, must be applied according to need. The rational man is here instructed and must then act with judgment. The Ten Commandments also have to be rationally understood before their Divine authority can be seen. The Lord's parables have to be digested in meditative thought before their intended meaning is perceived. The things written in Conjugial Love, Swedenborg states, "have for their end that the reader may see truths from his own rational and thus may assent. For thus his spirit is convinced, and those things in which his spirit is convinced are allotted a place in the mind above those which enter from authority and its faith without any consultation of reason . . . " (CL 295). [Italics added]
     Indeed, we are told that there are two contrasting states with the man of the spiritual church. The first state is one in which he receives the immediate influx of the Lord-and wills and acts from no other source than from the fact that "the Word has said so" (AC 8692). He is then in "good from obedience," not yet from affection or freedom; and this good is really truth "done only from command," and does not come to perception (AC 8690). Thus men are "disposed in conformity with revealed truth" in everything.
     This first state is signified by Moses judging the people alone. The church is then led by truth and thus by the Divine authority of the Word. But Jethro warned Moses that if this kept on he would soon wear out both the people and himself. Indeed, reliance on authority alone would have the result that the truth thus implanted would perish (AC 8699). What was needed was that Moses should appoint subordinate officers to handle the easier decisions, while retaining the final say-so on really important issues-issues which could be decided only by God, whom Moses would consult.

215

     The second state is signified by the introduction of delegated authority. It is a state in which there is charity, and an enlightenment of the rational mind. Such rational perceptions of truth do not carry any final or Divine authority, but only the relative or rational prestige of human judgment.
     Yet this is necessary for spiritual progress. When this judgment does not satisfy, the issue must be referred back to the final arbiter, which is the Divine teaching itself-Moses. For Moses is "for the people with God" (AC 8704f).
     There are many warnings against accepting truth on merely human authority, whether that of councils, creeds, leaders, or persuasive fanatics. Those in a spiritual affection of truth "utterly reject the dogma that the understanding must be kept obedient to faith," and to the assertion of some dogmatist the angels are apt to reply, "Do you think you are God, whom I must obey?" (D Faith 4; compare AC 3395e)
     The "doctrine of the church" must therefore be again and again reexamined in the light of the Word itself. To avoid a merely literalistic concept of any passage, one is advised to collect all the plain teachings, and by comparing them in the light of the general doctrine form doctrine for one's self from the internal sense; for this stands forth from the text to those who are in charity and thence are enlightened as to their intellectual. But it is not the task of man's intellectual to "judge about truths themselves in themselves" (AC 7233). The final truth-truth in se-is only in the Word.

     5. ARE ALL THINGS IN THE WRITINGS EQUALLY AUTHORITATIVE!

     The question is sometimes raised as to certain errors of text, language, or fact in the Writings. For we find a few apparent slips of Swedenborg's pen or memory in his manuscripts, and in the published texts; errors which do not affect the doctrine. It is customary to regard them as errors permitted to remind us that the Writings are meant to be taken rationally; for there is no indication that Swedenborg was verbally inspired, as were the prophets.*
     * Two classical examples of such slips may be mentioned: In AE 1146:2, ivory is said to come from camels; whereas in the published work, AR 774, the elephant is mentioned. Both animals signify "general knowledge" (SD 4705). In TCR 632, and BE 31, the date of the Nicean Council is mentioned as 318 instead of 325.
     But there are those who believe that Swedenborg sometimes excludes certain things from his authoritative doctrine. For instance: In the Universal Theology, n. 75, he recites certain universals about creation, but adds that "to explain and demonstrate those things . . . does not properly enter into such a system of theology as this as a lemma or argument. . . ."

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And in the Last Judgment Posthumous, n. 315, after a treatment on degrees, he writes: "But these things concerning degrees and atmospheres are for the most part theoretical, and theoretical things are drawn and concluded from experience and also confirmed thereby. Unless empirical things as it were lead man by the hand, he can be deceived in matters theoretical, and, from some imaginary principle seizing the imagination, can easily be carried by a succession of conclusions into falsities altogether opposite to truths . . . so that a man may believe that they are truths themselves. I wish therefore now to produce some experiences by which . . . what has been said may be confirmed." He then adduces descriptions of things seen in the other life.
     In Divine Love and Wisdom, after showing that the creation of organic forms in the world takes place by a spiritual influx into corresponding matters, and commenting that he once saw some dust in his garden converted into a mass of small insects, he writes: "Whether such things come forth from eggs conveyed thither or whether they spring from the damp and stenches themselves, will now be of question. That such noxious animalculae . . . are hatched from eggs . . . every experience does not support. . . ." He then shows that the experience of some favors those who believe in an immediate origin; and notes that the fact that every animal afterwards multiplies by generation, "does not disprove their immediate origin" (DLW 342). [Italics added]
     A careful reading shows that he leaves the question to be settled by future scientific evidence, as far as this world is concerned; while at the same time he maintains, as a principle, that life on earth must have originated by spiritual influx.

     6. HOW SHOULD WE VIEW THE NATURAL FACTS IN THE WRITINGS?

     Is there then, any principle involved by which we may determine the authority of the Writings in regard to what they present as natural facts?
     It is clear that there are numerous cases in which New Church doctrine rests unmistakably upon the verity of some natural fact or philosophical postulate.
     The doctrine about the Word rests on the historicity of certain parts of the Old Testament and the New, and on the fact that the text of the Word has not been mutilated. The doctrine of regeneration requires belief that acquired spiritual traits are transmissible. The doctrine of the five dispensations rests on the existence of the Most Ancient Church. The doctrine about the soul and the after-life rests on the philosophical concept of a dualism of spiritual and natural substance. The authenticity of Swedenborg's spiritual experiences depends on the existence of human life on other earths and on a wide variety of other facts. The doctrine of a correspondence between the two worlds cannot be divorced from the existence of three natural "atmospheres."

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The many anatomical teachings in the Writings are basic to the understanding of the doctrine of the Gorand Man in its many phases.
     And finally, the doctrine of the Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ is inseparably bound up with the natural truth that the soul of every man is an offshoot from his father's soul.
     Whether or not the world at present regards these natural facts as proved, or as doubtful, or as confuted, they are inbuilt as integral parts of the rational structure of our doctrine. For the rational must rest on natural truths, thus on facts.
     It is not the purpose of Divine revelation to reveal new natural facts such as men can discover for themselves. But It would seem obvious that in the course of the giving of a Divine revelation, certain new or unrecognized facts must emerge, and that these, being basic to the doctrine, must acquire a Divine authority, whether men can check their validity or not.

     7. THE SEMANTIC APPROACH-INTERPRETATIVE PHILOSOPHIES

     Even for those who accept the authority of the factual basis of the Writings, there may arise questions as to what the terms used by Swedenborg meant to him and should mean to us. Plain rational ideas are couched in terms, but each philosophical approach claims the right to reinterpret these terms in harmony with its own system.
     Thus various questions might be asked: What is meant by space and by time? by substance and form? If there is no time in the spiritual realm, could Swedenborg see the heavens and the hells, or the spirits on other earths, in any stage of their development? Did he on occasions visit the past, on others, the future? When saying that matter is formed from spiritual substance, does Swedenborg teach Idealism? Is the natural world only an ordered illusion? Or is the material world of space and time the only substantial world, and spiritual substance only a finer natural, while human minds are appearances of the states of material substance?
     The introduction of an interpretative philosophy into the "plain statements" of the Writings can have the effect of evading and nullifying the authority of the doctrine. This is the immediate danger; for while the Writings are philosophically based on certain Aristotelian principles, modern thinking is veering away from the classical postulate that "substance" is a necessary concept. Yet the progress of New Church thought is impossible except by means of a philosophy.

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The only way by which the Divine authority of the Writings can be maintained is to make certain that such a philosophy is drawn by comparison of passages from the plain statements of these Writings.

     8. THREE VIEWPOINTS ON THE WRITINGS

     The position of many in the Convention and the Conference has been that the doctrine, or the internal sense, is expressed-at least in part-in the Writings; but that the Writings are not the doctrine, but contain also many of Swedenborg's ideas that have no binding authority. Some writers go as far as to select certain doctrinal interpretations of Swedenborg's as stimulating, and dismiss other teachings as quaint and outmoded. For the last word such writers look to the learned of the universities.
     Another tendency of opinion is represented by those who follow out the theories of William McGeorge and of the "Dutch Position" to their logical end, and feel that the Writings do not give any direct authoritative teaching on government, marriage, or any natural facts, but that genuine truth comes by translating the text of the doctrine into corresponding spiritual terms, leaving the final "authority" to the regenerate perceptions of men. This vests authority in a spiritual sense, despite the statements of the doctrine to the contrary.
     And between these two positions stands the General Church, with its belief that in the Writings the Lord gives us authoritative doctrine in the form of plain rational ideas.
MEN AND WOMEN IN THE WORD 1956

MEN AND WOMEN IN THE WORD 1956

     Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth

     "Noah, Shem, Ham, Japheth, and Canaan never existed as men: but because the Ancient Church specifically, and in general every church, is such that it is true internal, corrupt internal, true external, and corrupt external, therefore the abovementioned names were given in order that all the differences in general might be referred to them and their sons as to their heads" (Arcana Coelestia, 1238).

     Eber

     "As something of a church arose that was separate from the Ancient Church, there sprang up thence as it were a new church, which may therefore be called the second Ancient Church. The first institutor of this was Eber, and therefore this church is called after Eber" (ibid.).

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HEALING POWER OF THE WORD 1956

HEALING POWER OF THE WORD Rev. FREDERICK L. SCHNARR 1956

     "Thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague." (Mark 5:34)

     The Lord's miraculous healing of the woman with an issue of blood describes, in the internal sense, the power of the Word to raise man from the diseased and vitiated state of evil and falsity to the healthy and wholesome state of good and truth. Or what is the same, it tells the story of regeneration, wherein man is brought from the delights of worldly and selfish loves, with their accompanying scientifics and worldly knowledges, to the delights of heavenly loves and affections, with their accompanying truths.
     Here, in the story of the New Testament, the miraculous power of the Lord's love and mercy, acting through the forms of truth, is manifestly demonstrated to all who approach the Word with the sincere desire to learn of God and His heavenly kingdom.
     The "woman which had an issue of blood twelve years," represents a state of historic faith, which must precede the state of saving faith. Historical faith is a faith based on the memory of scientifics, knowledges, and the historic events of Scripture. It is a faith borrowed from parents and teachers, from experiences and impressions. It has not been confirmed by reason and has not been accepted by love. It is a body of mingled truths and falsities, completely set apart from what is man's own. Yet it is given by the Lord that the states prior to the maturing of the rational faculty may be held in temporary order and obedience.
     Historical faith, although at first set apart from what is man's own, is still the ultimate body of natural knowledge into which all the affections of remains must first inflow, and in which they endeavor to express themselves. The interior delights of good and truth which the Lord plants in every human infant gradually awaken and respond to every truth that enters the mind through the senses, even though this truth be obscured by fallacious appearances. Especially is the delight of remains perceived, however, when the truths of the Word are presented and made known.
     That the woman in our story was diseased with an issue of blood signifies that the interior goods and truths of remains did not have a proper natural ultimate of goods and truths froth the Word to proceed into, but flowed out unreceived and useless.

220

For even as blood is the carrier of all the life forces and substances of the body, so remains of goods and truths, are the very life force and inmost substance of man's spiritual life. And just as the blood is carried through the arterial and venous vessels in order that the individual cells and organs of the body may be built up, so the delights of remains must be directed through the open truths of the Word in order that man may do the goods of life from the confirmation of reason, and thus build his spiritual body.
     That the woman had bled for twelve years signifies that the state of historical faith, at first represented by her, had come to completeness. For twelve signifies that which is full or complete.
     "And she had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse." When reason and rationality begin to stir, during the state of historical faith, raising questions which increasingly disturb the sleeping knowledges in the memory, doubt and confusion arise in tumultuous upheaval. The simple truths impressed on the memory in childhood states are no longer sufficient to meet the challenges which logic and the experience of sensual demonstration demand. And feeling that the abstract and unprovable teachings of religion have failed to meet and answer the concrete and provable things of science, the mind turns more and more to the study of natural law and natural phenomena. It investigates the various sciences and observes the secrets of nature, endeavoring to find in them the modes and purposes of creation. It analyzes and dissects the anatomical structure of the human form, attempting to touch the nature and substance of the mind and the soul. It seeks vainly to lay bare the force or power which sustains all life.
     These studies when viewed in themselves, without the background of spiritual principles, are the physicians of our materialistic age. Jumbled in an environment of open evil, and influenced by the false and dead dogma of the Christian religions, they not only fail to heal the diseased state of historical faith, but cause it to become increasingly worse. The mind becomes enmeshed in a state of utter confusion as to the true realities of life. It is frustrated because it has failed to find the answers to the interior questions of human existence. And it despairs because it feels no real happiness in its accomplishments, and no real hope for peace.
     The spiritual truths, which are necessary to answer the questions of human existence, the meaning of human life, the nature of the mind and the soul, of the Divine Creator and His heavenly kingdom-these cannot be found in the realm of scientific investigation.

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The things of the natural world cannot by themselves reveal the things of the spiritual world. For it is a law of creation that a lower degree cannot open or reveal the things of a higher degree (DP 34). Man would know nothing whatever of the Divine if it were not revealed to him by the Divine, nor would he know the least thing concerning the spiritual unless this were also revealed to him through the Word.
     Now when the mind has reached the last state of historical faith and has failed to find in the things of the world satisfactory reasons for its own existence; when it is unable to explain the powerful force and expression of human loves; it turns again to reconsider the teachings of religious instruction which have lain dormant in the memory. It approaches them with grave doubt, yet with hope, for this is now the last resource-the only remaining place where lies a possibility of having answered the inquiries which human loves and problems have raised. It is the last stronghold, before the mind turns to the meaningless life of materialism and atheism. And it would so turn, were it left to itself-but the Divine love and mercy never leave man desolate.
     Wherever man turns to inquire concerning God, though it be amidst doubt and confusion, the Lord inspires his heart with the affection to know the truth for the sake of truth, and from remains to delight in it. This is the influx that opposes the hells and makes it possible for man to be in a spiritual equilibrium, giving him the power to choose freely between the forces of good and evil.
     "And when she had heard of Jesus, she came in the multitude from behind, and touched His garments." Going back to the truths learned in childhood and youth, the mind is led to inquire further into them, and so to approach the Word itself. And here in the pages of the literal sense it sees the testimony of the ages concerning the reality and power of God. It comes upon the open teachings regarding the importance of a life of faith and love, and the rewards of eternal peace and happiness that such a life promises. And as the mind considers these truths, the delight of remains flows into them, reviving the earlier states of confidence and trust, and filling the heart with the desire to return to a state of peace and love. Gradually, as human reason puts its questions before the light of Divine truth, the conviction arises that the teachings of the Word contain the only real answers, the only truly rational answers, to the meaning of human life.
     This is the beginning of the change from a state of historical faith to one of healing and saving faith. It is the first step from doubt, confusion, and despair, to trust, peace, and hope. Diseased with evils and falsities, and fearful lest it be too unclean, yet trusting in the promise of the Divine mercy and love, the state of historical faith approaches the Lord's garments from behind-the cardinal and open truths of the Word.

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It reaches out to touch the hem of His garment, that it may be cleansed and healed.
     "For she said, If I may touch but His clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of the plague."
     Once we begin to meditate on and study the truths of the Word, we find that our thoughts begin to come forth from the darkness and confusion of merely natural concerns, from the cares and countless worries and problems which beset our daily lives. We find that we are ever increasingly rewarded by interior states of contentment and happiness. When we know the will of God, the Divine laws that are to govern our lives, and live according to the new conscience that is being formed by them, the vitiated and diseased state of evils and falsities exerts less and less influence. And gradually, if we persist and compel ourselves in the way of the Divine command, the Lord performs the miracle of removing the desires and lusts of our former state, and makes our spiritual body whole.
     "And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that virtue had gone out of Him, turned Him about in the crowd, and said, Who touched my clothes? And His disciples said unto Him, Thou seest the multitude thronging Thee, and sayest Thou, Who touched Me! And He looked round about to see her that had done this thing."
     The healing power of the Divine truth comes from the Lord's Divine Human. When we turn to the Word with an open heart, with an acknowledgment of the Divinity of Jesus Christ, the Lord is able, as it were to transfer to us some portion of His love and wisdom. It is as though He turns His face towards us, shedding upon us the heat and light of his countenance. Spiritual truths, which have seemed somewhat abstract and apart from the realities of life, gradually unfold like the petals of a beautiful flower, displaying their wonderful colors and releasing the fragrant odors of the inmost juices. The Lord opens the interior degrees of our minds ever more fully as we approach in sincerity and humility the holy truths of His Word. He opens our eyes to see that the laws of Divine Providence are the expression of the Divine love and wisdom, guiding and caring for each man in the most particular manner.

     But with the knowledge of spiritual truths there comes the inevitable influx of the hells, to tempt and destroy man. "Thou seest the crowd, and sayest Thou, Who touched Me?" The most subtle influx with which the hells can tempt man, is to inspire doubt that God has the power to save him from the evils which he sees thronging among his loves.

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This indeed was the greatest temptation the Lord himself suffered, for the hells induced the appearance that the human race could not be saved.
     The hells delight in causing strife and doubt, in profaning and destroying all forms of good and truth. They instill into man the thought that repentance is useless because the condemnation of truth is too great. But the hells know nothing of mercy and love; nothing of confession, repentance, prayer, and forgiveness.
     "And the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before Him, and told Him all the truth." When we examine the state of our interior loves, searching out our evil desires, then we must go to the Lord, confessing our sins and making ourselves guilty of them. We must approach Him with sincere prayer, falling down before Him in humility, and ask that He preserve us and give us strength to combat and conquer. And though we tremble and fear at the condemnation of His truth, we know also that the promise of His truth is that the Divine love will raise man up from condemnation and fill his heart with the living delights of heavenly uses. Truth teaches and brings man into a state of repentance and humility; love inspires and brings him into a state of happiness and peace.
     "And He said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague." The faith that saves man is the faith that applies the truths of religion to the good of life. This is the only way in which heavenly loves can be formed. When man resists temptation from his knowledge of truth, the Lord is able to form in his heart the spiritual loves of heaven. He is able to heal man's spirit so that he will not always be tempted by the infernal frustrations of the diabolical crew. He will remove his evil desires and natural loves of self and the world.
     As the uses of man's physical body are hindered and obstructed by diseases, so the uses of his spiritual body are kept from their Divinely created functions by the interference of lustful passions and desires, by evils and falsities of every kind. Only when we approach the truths of Divine revelation with confidence and trust is the Lord able to heal and cleanse our spirits; only then can He perform the miracle of salvation. Only then can the celestial and spiritual delights of remains inflow into our consciousness; only then can the fountain of blood be directed into its proper vessels for reception, and the plague finally taken away. And the promise of the Divine truth is that such faith shall find the rewards of heaven. The Lord's treasury shall be opened to pour forth the blessings of love, the delights of wisdom, and the eternal peace that is the happiness of His heavenly kingdom.

224

For "thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague." Amen.

     LESSONS: Psalm 30. Mark 5:21-43. DP 282.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 460, 472, 593.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy nos. 31, 58.
REV. WALTER E. BRICKMAN 1956

REV. WALTER E. BRICKMAN Rev. ELMO C. ACTON 1956

     From a Memorial Address

     With solemn and fitting rites we have just disposed of the body in which we knew and loved our husband, father, grandfather, and friend. And now we gather here in the house of the Lord to celebrate his resurrection into eternal life. This is the third day since his death; the day of his resurrection, the day on which he awakes to full consciousness in the spiritual world. A blessed and happy day for him, for we are assured that in his awakening he is surrounded by angels and friends who joyfully welcome him and introduce him into the beauties and joys of the life after death.
     Dwelling upon these things, and with thankfulness to the Lord for making them known to us, we put off the sorrow of the temporary parting, and put on the joy of the resurrection. We join with the angels in Walter Brickman's rebirth into eternal life; knowing that "all who have lived a good life in the world, and have acted from conscience, who are such as have acknowledged the Divine and have loved Divine truths, especially such as have applied those truths to life, seem to themselves, when let into the state of their interiors, like one aroused from sleep into full wakefulness, or like one passing from darkness into light"" (HH 506).
     For if one quality describes Walter Brickman, it is the acknowledgment of the Lord and the love of Divine truth from Him-the Divine truth of the Heavenly Doctrine. His loyalty to the Heavenly Doctrine was outstanding, and he was willing to bear the consequences of that loyalty rather than compromise it for worldly success and comfort. He was ordained a priest of the Lord's New Church in 1900, and although he was blessed with only a few years of service in his chosen use, he remained in the love of that use throughout his life in this world. He was outstanding in his ability to explain and expound the doctrines, and he was instrumental in introducing many to them and in stirring an affection of them with many others.

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It was a disappointment to him that he could not enter fully upon this use and devote his whole time to it. However, his reading and study of the Heavenly Doctrine resulted in work that will be of use to the church on earth for all time.
     His disappointment in not being permitted to devote himself fully to the use of the priesthood was eased by the comfort and strength derived from a loving, loyal, and devoted wife. Together they built a New Church home, and reared and educated their children in the doctrines which they loved and lived; and this with such care and devotion that all of them, with their children, have either accepted the Heavenly Doctrine as their own or are being trained and educated in it. And what use can have more far reaching effect in the spiritual as well as in the natural world than that which is faithfully, sincerely and honestly, performed in the building of a New Church home? The home, husband, wife and children, are the very basis and foundation of heaven and earth. Therefore man-husband and wife-can perform no greater use than that of establishing a truly New Church home, in which the children are nourished spiritually as well as naturally, and sent forth prepared to meet the moral problems of natural life and the spiritual temptations of the regenerating life.

     And now Walter Brickman is beginning his conscious eternal life in the spiritual world. From the evidence of his lifelong interest in proclaiming and teaching the spiritual truths of the Lord's second coming we picture him as soon entering fully upon the use of the ministry and the office of the priesthood; and with this return in fulness to the work of his life's love we can imagine his joy and delight and the blessedness of its fruits. In this he will still be upheld by the sphere proceeding from the love and devotion of his wife, and she in turn by the spiritual sphere going forth from his love for her; for partners truly united are not separated by death.

     Biographical Sketch

     Walter E. Brickman, youngest son of the Rev. and Mrs. Arthur O. Brickman, was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on June 5th, 1874. When he was four years old the family moved to Baltimore, Maryland. While teaching later in the Convention Sunday School there he became so deeply interested in the doctrines of the New Church that he decided to enter the ministry. He enrolled in the Theological School at Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he spent four years, and was ordained in 1900.
     His first charge was as pastor of the Allegheny (now Northside Pittsburgh) Society of the General Convention, where he remained until 1903, and where he met his future wife. It was during this pastorate that he met the Rev. E. C. Bostock, whose teaching turned him to the Academy.

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He was accepted as a theological student in the Academy, graduating in 1905, in which year he was called to the Convention Society in Berlin (Kitchener), Ontario. Three years later his teaching that the Writings are the Word resulted in his being voted out. Mr. Brickman then left Kitchener and returned to Pittsburgh, where he operated a newspaper route for a while and then entered the employ of Lechner and Schoenberger as a piano salesman, in which work he continued for twenty-five years.
During this period he was active in the Wallingford Street Society, mostly under the Rev. Homer Synnestvedt; preaching in the absence of the pastor, conducting Sunday School, and preparing lessons under the Rev. Karl R. Alden for the General Church Sunday School Committee. When the piano business slumped he moved with his family to the Rio Gorande valley in Texas and purchased a citrus grove, and it was there that he met the Kitzelman family, which was to become so closely affiliated with his by marriage. While in Texas he devoted himself to revising the Swedenborg Concordance, which work he finished in 1954, adding at least one more volume to the original six. His health failing, he and his wife moved to Glenview where they could be near their children. On Tuesday, January 17, 1956, he passed quietly into the spiritual world.
On September 18, 1901, Walter and Miss Anna Schoenberger were united in marriage, and their union was blessed with eight children, one of whom, Elizabeth, preceded him into the spiritual world. Surviving are his wife and seven children: Robert in Albuquerque; Elmer in Pittsburgh; Theodore, Otho, and Vera (Mrs. Burwood Kitzelman) in Glenview; Eunice (Mrs. Sydney Childs) in New York; and Louise (Mrs. H. H. Griffin) in Fort Worth.
STREAM OF PROVIDENCE 1956

STREAM OF PROVIDENCE 1956

"Be it known that the Divine Providence is universal, that is, in things the most minute; and that they who are in the stream of Providence are all the time carried along toward everything that is happy, whatever may be the appearance of the means; and that those are in the stream of Providence who put their trust in the Divine and attribute all things to Him; and that those are not in the stream of Providence who trust in themselves alone and attribute all things to themselves, because they are in the opposite, for they take away providence from the Divine and claim it for themselves. Be it known also that in so far as anyone is in the stream of Providence, so far he is in a state of peace; also that in so far as anyone is in a state of peace from the good of faith, so Tar he is in the Divine Providence. These alone know and believe that the Divine Providence of the Lord is in everything both in general and in particular; nay, is in the most minute things of all, and that the Divine Providence regards what is eternal" (Arcana Coelestia, 8478:4).

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SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT MUSIC EDUCATION IN THE NEW CHURCH 1956

SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT MUSIC EDUCATION IN THE NEW CHURCH HILDEGARDE ODHNER 1956

     (Delivered to the General Faculty of the Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa., February 7, 1956.)

     Probably all of you realize that in our schools the teaching of the fine arts has lagged behind, while philosophy, science, social studies, English and foreign languages have been developing. This lag is especially noticeable in the case of music. I would like to convince this faculty that, of all subject fields in our schools, the one that most needs development, from college down to first grade, is music.
     It is true that we cannot develop any field very far until the Lord provides a new leader in that field. But it is also true that there must be among us a vision of what is desirable. This vision will inspire someone to become that leader, and will help us to recognize, encourage and support him. If we still had the inspiration of sixty years ago, we could not fail to produce several music teachers out of the college classes we have today. And if we still had that inspiration we would inspire and teach classroom teachers to carry on their own music programs when necessary, at least as efficiently as many public school teachers have been doing for many years.
     With this thought in mind, I invite you to go back with me through the pages of NEW CHURCH LIFE, and recapture from the early Academy the inspiration of which I speak. The first article on music in NEW CHURCH LIFE was by Dr. E. A. Farrington in the year 1883, in a series called "Suggestions for the Reformation of the Arts and Sciences." "The Divine enunciation, 'Behold, I make all things new,' extends," he writes, "to all the arts and sciences." The art of music is the first field which he examines in the light of the Writings. "Sound and music are of spiritual origin. Such sounds as the songs of the birds and the sound of the wind correspond, more or less fully, to the celestial heavens. But there is another form of sound, represented by human speech and song, which is not spontaneous, springing from the will, but articulate, recitative, discrete (AE 323). It flows from the understanding, and expresses the affections only as these are contained in the ideas which the vocal organs form into words.

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These two forms of sound are also represented by two kinds of instruments, the legato instruments, such as winds, expressing the celestial, and those emitting interrupted sounds, such as harp and piano, expressing the spiritual."
     He recommends the use in worship of both kinds of instruments to express affections both celestial and spiritual, and vocal music of two kinds, that of continuous harmony favoring the celestial, and the chant or recitative type, favoring the spiritual.
     "The chief object of music is to arouse the affections, that we may thereby be associated with angels. When our thoughts and affections are pure, appropriate songs introduce us into choirs and we receive the more abundantly of Divine blessings. True music delights the soul, restores harmony in the body and actually tends to aid in the normal performance of bodily functions." (I would insert the comment that the author of this article would be happy to see the present therapeutic use of music, but would be sorry that it is not New Church men who are developing it.) "Hence we see how essential it is to cultivate music. In the Church it tends to exalt the mind and to prepare for holy worship; in the home, it enlivens the social sphere, softens the passions, and refines the manners. And when sociability grows so strong that joy and happiness overleap the bounds of voice and song, the affections, stimulated by music, come forth still more ultimately in the dance. So is the affection that started from the soul converted in its progress, first in the glowing but silent fluxion of the purest nerve-fibre, then in the motion of the cortical glands of the brain into conscious thought, then in articulate sound and joyous song, and finally into the dance. Dancing and sports denote interior festivity, for all festivity is from the delight of the love in which man is, and internals are expressed by externals (AC 10,416)."
     "There is much good music today," says Dr. Farrington, "but that adaptation of music, which in olden times was so complete that it affected angels with joy by reason of its full correspondence with the choirs of heaven and with the rhythmical speech of the angels, needs New Church composers to bring it forth anew."
     He regrets that the talented New Church musicians of his day are not beginning on this new work, and shows the need for better translations of the letter of the Word, the learning of Hebrew for singing, the writing of music for literal quotations from the Word, and hymns treating of the internal sense. It was in connection with such songs of the Ancient Church that the Writings told of the angels present with the men, who were also in the glorification of the Lord, and of such gladness with angels and men, singers and listeners, as to make the men feel as if raised into heaven. "Such an effect also such songs might have at this day" (AC 8261).

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     Ten years later, the hopes of this writer for New Church music seemed to be well on the way to fulfillment. In 1893, the Philadelphia Orchestra of the Academy of the New Church played for a service for the first time. Three more orchestras were founded that year in Berlin (now Kitchener), Pittsburgh, and Chicago. The orchestras were founded "not so much for present use in worship or even giving of concerts for pleasure, as to afford an ultimate for heavenly influx at the same time agreeable to the natural man and disciplinary in a high degree." (Rev. L. G. Jordan, Phila.) Many of the social songs of the Church were written about this time by Walter C. Childs, C. Th. Odhner, and others. Sermons and articles on music in the Ancient Church and music for the New Church were heard and read throughout the church, and the toast to "New Church Music" was answered by many a fine speech. The real news behind all this was the new music of Whittington, set to a new translation of the Psalms.
     One of the early uses in a service of the earlier psalms was in Berlin, Ont., at the dedication of the Academy school there. The new orchestra also played with the singing, and the service was very impressive and moving.
     I quote from Mr. Schreck's speech after this dedication service. "The Lord is now providing the church with music which may be said to surpass all other music on earth, and our duty diligently to cultivate it is plain. It is equally plain that as soon as the Lord leads youth to us who have a great love for music and some ability, we should do all in our power to train them in our University for the profession of music in the New Church."
     Mr. Blackman, who founded the Chicago orchestra, and drilled the orchestra and singers of Berlin for their dedication service, added these words to those of Mr. Schreck. "The new sacred music of the Academy must form the center of all our efforts in music. This music in the future will lead to all that is desirable, not only in worship, but even in all degrees of secular music. The Lord has given us this music. Our duty is clear. We must be prepared to receive it. We must learn it." He earnestly besought those who could not read music to make every effort to learn, and admonished the parents to do everything in their power to encourage the children if they showed any love or inclination toward music.

     Now we have seen both the aims and the achievements of the early Academicians in the field of music both sacred and secular. And I hope that through their words the teachings of the Writings are clearly visible; those teachings which inspired their efforts toward a New Church philosophy of music, and New Church music itself.

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Since that day the music of Whittington has indeed been the center of our study, especially under the great champion of music in the Academy, Mrs. Bessie Smith.
     How do we stand today! Has the new music of those early years led to all that is desirable in both worship and secular music, as promised then? Many of you will ask: "How could it? We are no longer living in the Victorian era, and some of our most respected musicians today say that Whittington's music is no good."
     To this I say that whatever our individual tastes may he, the General Church identifies itself with the Psalms and with such pieces as "Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem," "Calm on the Listening Ear of Night," and "Our Glorious Church." Take them away, or destroy them by criticism, and what is left as an ultimate for our affections for worship. Much of this music is good. I hope that before long the good will be separated from the not good, and set in a new Psalmody or Anthem Book, together with settings of more psalms and selections from the letter of the Word, composed or arranged by New Church musicians of our time. Mr. Blackman did not say the new music of his time was all that could be desired in New Church music. He said it would lead to all that is desirable because it was an attempt to apply the principles of music in the Writings; and the diligent study and application of those principles would inevitably lead to true New Church music-in a few hundred years.
     But from the early Academy we have derived much that is musically good. The church orchestras still exist. If we continue to develop them they will provide an ultimate for an increasingly true expression of heavenly affections.
     The custom of congregational singing in four-part harmony also dates from the early Academy. What other congregations in the world sing this way? Only the celestial Africans and their remnants, the American Negroes. We sing in harmony because harmony corresponds to love, and harmony singing in worship can bring us into a spiritual harmony which we may carry into other phases of life. But harmony singing has this effect only as far as the music is in correspondence with good affections sincerely felt by the singers.
     What do we still lack? We are still in need of those many hymns expressing the internal sense of the Word-real New Church hymns. We need settings for many more psalms and other selections from the letter of the Word. For these hymns and psalms we need poets, and a translator who can combine the correctness of the translations used by Whittington with the beauty of the King James version. We need musicians, composers and arrangers, who will give further study as to what Corms and styles in music are appropriate to New Church worship. We can discover, in the forms of earlier churches those which have not been perverted, and these are our heritage.

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Some of our musicians and poets have progressed in this study and have produced such fine hymns as "Savior, Redeemer, God of Love," and "Father, all holy, Lord of creation." But our good hymns are still so few! Even more urgent than these needs is the need for a program of music education in our schools and in our church "which will prepare us," in the words of Mr. Blackman sixty-three years ago, "to receive this New Church music."
     The Writings define song as a "bursting forth of gladness of heart." The singing of the Ancients, who understood and loved the spiritual sense of their songs, brought them into company with angels in a like glorification of the Lord, so that "those who sang and those who listened felt carried up into heaven. It might also be so at this day." But how often do we feel this way, when we sing or listen to the singing in our services? I do not speak of any particular society now. The General Church has set itself a goal of singing difficult four-part music in church, and it is, to many, a burden and a chore rather than a spontaneous expression of joy or reverence. Why?
     The basic reason, in my opinion, lies in the vocal music program throughout our schools. Let us make a comparison between that program, and the instruction received by a child of a Protestant family in a good community today. This child is receiving instruction in sacred music and worship through a junior choir at his church, which was founded for that purpose. At the same time he is expected during the six grades of elementary school to learn in his public school music classes to carry a tune independently, to carry a Fart in two or three-part music, and to sight-sing music that most of our college students could not even begin with. Soon he will graduate to the high school choir at church and to the high school glee club at school. He will have opportunity all through school to belong to instrumental classes, band or orchestra. In high school he will be offered elective courses in music theory. And this is the paradox; as a grown man he will very likely sing all the hymns in church in unison with the sopranos!
     Our children are not learning to read music in school, but they will be expected to sing in harmony as adults in church. The parts will be hammered into their heads in high school. Many of them will be so tired of this process by graduation that they will carefully avoid congregational singing practices for the rest of their lives.
     Such a hammering out of parts destroys, with many people, the spontaneous joy of music, especially if their tastes are far above their skills. But the learning of sight-singing in elementary school need not destroy the joy of singing; for it is carried on through drills that are fun, and the effort of learning is not connected with our church music.

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When young people graduate to high school, then to the choir and the congregation, after elementary school training in sight-singing and part-singing, they can give all their attention to the expression of the affections within the words and music of songs. Our present system is comparable to teaching adults the psalter and prayers of the Liturgy, after neglecting to teach them to read English in school. This is a matter that can be corrected in a few years, if the Church so wills it. A curriculum, with sight-reading charts, can be planned which could be used by any teacher who can sing a scale and blow a pitchpipe. A somewhat more specialized skill is that of remedial help for children who cannot sing. Classroom teachers, properly instructed, could help most of these, however. And since the ear corresponds to obedience, the training of the ear is important. Harmony singing in elementary school also requires more specialized teaching, but could be achieved before too long in some of our schools where it is not taught.
     No criticism of our former or present teachers is here intended. They have done the best possible under the circumstances. The next step depends on a central curriculum planning committee for music.
     We need an organized music department in the Academy which will develop a New Church philosophy of music and music education, and will provide a clear, thoroughly worked out music curriculum for the lower schools of the church. I believe it must be a misunderstanding on the part of our young people that the Academy doesn't want to spend the money for a better music program, and that it is useless to go into that field with the hope of working here. It is common in schools to charge extra fees for music classes, especially private work. Music programs are expensive. But we could use at least two teachers in the Academy and the Bryn Athyn School right now, and still have less than many comparable schools. And when students take over to provide for themselves in these things, it easily becomes a case of the blind leading the blind; and although he will add them up in his mind, a musician may not speak of the bad results without doing even more harm.
     When a more complete Academy music department is established I'm sure something will be done about an instrumental program, which is necessary for the future development of church music. Only instrumental training, because of its exacting discipline, develops real musicians. An instrumental program would provide for the students who, coming from musical backgrounds, are too advanced for our regular music classes. The needs of such students should also be provided for in glee clubs, in which students may be instructed in conducting and in solo work and in accompanying The dearth of pianists and organists trained to accompany church singing is already a serious problem, which the Academy can help to solve.

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I say the time for these things is as soon as possible, in spite of our busy program. The student body is due to increase, and with it, the inadequacy of the present program. Also, I feel that the High School Glee Clubs of 1950-51 were highly successful.
     As for the College, it would be desirable for all the courses formerly taught by Mrs. Smith to be reinstituted. Most important is the course in music education for all future elementary school teachers. This is so important that I feel a teacher from another College should be brought in to teach it until we have a teacher of our own. The New Church philosophy of the subject would then have to come in a general education course. But here is the future of all our church music in the bud, and something should be done. Such a course is required in every teachers' college of which I know.

     I would like to add a few remarks on the subject that I was supposed to speak about this afternoon, a New Church philosophy of music education. We believe in music as an expression of the affections. We believe in cultivating and expressing only good affections. Therefore we, like Plato, would like to banish all music expressive of what is weak and sensual, and cultivate that expressive of what is courageous, cheerful and loving, and what is spiritual. But do we read of the spontaneous song of the angels and of the ancients and think that we can be the vehicles of such a spontaneous expression of celestial and spiritual affections! We know that, at this day, good can be expressed only through forms molded by the discipline of truth.

     Music is a skill, not only with the musician, but with anyone who uses it. Athletics are skills. Reading is a skill. Skills differ from pure fields of knowledge in purpose and in the manner in which they are taught. The educational value in arts and skills for the New Church is that the acquiring of any skill is a regeneration in a small area. It provides, when properly taught, an example to the learner of the method by which the whole man may be regenerated. It also provides practice in self-discipline, which is basic to regeneration.
     When we learn music we must start with a store of musical remains, a love for beautiful sounds and the affections they express, a feeling for rhythmical motions and beautiful ideas. These remains are stored up in many ways in infancy and childhood, through hearing the family sing and hearing singing in church, as well as through the sounds of nature and instrumental music. We add to these remains all through elementary school in teaching worship songs by rote; but we serve this purpose only if we teach songs as expressions of ideas and affections connected with worship.

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I was shocked, recently, to realize the meaning of many hymns that had escaped me through years of singing them. And this led me to teach differently. I introduced three hymns on one subject to third graders as a unit of study, telling them about the subject they all treated. Their little eyes popped out with excitement as I told about the beautiful city descending from heaven, and they learned the songs with great eagerness.
     After the implanting of remains, the second and third steps in musical regeneration are to learn truths about music and to shun what is unmusical. So, with children, we must ask only for musical responses that are within their ability, and must persevere until they achieve a correct response. We must not feel that we will destroy the affection if we correct an unmusical response. We must be teachers in this as in other subjects, imparting truth without destroying the interest.
     Then gradually we must learn more truths about music, and must apply and practice them. This is fun, because learning is the proper use of a child.
     With each step the learner achieves new skills which become a part of him, created by a conjunction of affection with truth in application. And he is rewarded by a new affection and a new vista of truth into which he may enter.
     The disciplinary and regenerative effects of properly guided music study were known to the Greeks. But the Writings reveal much more than they. The Writings tell us all we need to know to be lifted up into heaven through music and through regeneration.

     [EDITORIAL NOTE: The writer of this article, now Mrs. Warren David, is a daughter of the Rev. and Mrs. Hugo Lj. Odhner. A graduate of the Westminster Choir College, from which she received the degree of Master of Music, she was Director of Music in the Bryn Athyn Society and in charge of the music in the Bryn Athyn School from the fall of 1955 until shortly before her marriage.]
USE OF AFFIRMATION 1956

USE OF AFFIRMATION 1956

"The first means [of regeneration] is one that affirms or is affirmative of internal truth-that it is so. When this affirmative comes, the man is in the beginning of regeneration; good is being worked by the internal, and causes the affirmation. This good cannot inflow into what is negative, nor even into that which is full of doubt, until this becomes affirmative. But afterwards it manifests itself by affection, that is, by the man's being affected with truth; first in knowing it, and then in acting according to it" (Arcana Coelestia, 3913:5).

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FORMATION OF A MISSION COUNCIL 1956

FORMATION OF A MISSION COUNCIL Rev. HAROLD C. CRANCH 1956

     A REPORT

     (Presented to the Council of the Clergy, Bryn Athyn. Pa., January 26, 1956. It was resolved after discussion that a Missionary Committee, not a Mission Council, should be formed. See NEW CHURCH LIFE, April, 1956, pp. 172, 203.)

     I am sure we are completely agreed that our life as a church is dependent on our whole obedience to the Lord's will. This is embodied in the reply of the Jews when the commandments were given: "All that the Lord hath spoken we will do" (Exodus 19:8).
     And because we have clearly seen that internal evangelization and worship, and the proper spiritual and natural education of our children, are Divinely commanded we are performing these uses to the very best of our ability, developing them more and more successfully.
     But there is a further external evangelization commanded by the Lord which has not been fully recognized, defined and organized, in the General Church. For the welfare of that church, and the furtherance of the Lord's work, it is important that we examine this use; to the end that, if it is a valid and important one, and especially if we believe it is necessary and commanded, we may enter into it, organizing some of the church's available resources, scholarship, energy and devotion, to perform it.
     Let us first look to some of the teachings of the Word concerning this type of evangelization. The Lord said: "Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19, 20). "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15). "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves; be ye therefore prudent as serpents, and harmless as doves" (Matthew 10:16). "The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth laborers into His harvest" (ibid., 9:37, 38). When the Lord gathered His disciples He said that He would make them fishers of men (ibid., 4:19); that they would gather men into the church, which seems to be the explanation in the Writings of these words (see AE 513:15). Isaiah prophesied: "Out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among the nations" (Isaiah 2: 3, 4). Jonah was sent to the Assyrians to turn them from their evils (Jonah 1:2, 3:2); and the essential evangel teaches that if men will tom from their evils, the Lord will forgive and lead them to heaven.

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So the Lord told the apostles that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem (Luke 24:27). And the events of the Nineteenth of June, 1770, show that evangelization is to be continued in the new dispensation, as do the teachings that the doctrines are to correct falsities and destroy evils. All from the Christian world as well as the Gentiles were invited to enter into the doctrines and form the New Church (AE 948:2, 331:5; Inv. ix; Coro. lv). The field for genuine Christianity is said to be the world itself (Matthew 13:37, 38); and John was given the vision of an angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to proclaim unto them that dwell on the earth (Revelation 14:6).
That evangelization is specially commanded in the Writings also can easily be seen. If we keep in mind that the Lord's love is to save all men, then we need but read that salvation is now possible only because the New Church is being established to see that evangelization of the new revelation is commanded. This is emphasized further by the teaching that men must worship the Lord as God, or at least not confirm themselves in the idea of three separate persons, to be saved; for this is taught only in the New Church, but it is needed by everyone. It can be seen in the fact that the new revelation was to be spread abroad by means of the press (TCR 779; cf. AC 9353-54); in the prophetic beginnings of the New Church in the spiritual world (TCR 4, 108, 791); and in the many teachings that the whole Christian world is invited to this church and exhorted to receive the Lord worthily (Coro. lii-lv; AE 331:5, 948:2). In Matthew we read: "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations" (24:14); which the Writings explain to mean: "that this should first become known in the Christian world" (AC 3488:8). It can be seen in the fact that the judgment on the falsities of the former church must be continued on earth to prepare for the New Church, which is possible only from the newly revealed truth; a fact which emphasizes that missionary work is not confined to the Gentiles but should be done first among Christians. It is implied also in the statement that "this new church, which is called the holy Jerusalem, will first begin with a few, will afterwards be with many, and at length be filled" (AE 732). That the remnant of good from the former church must be gathered to form the nucleus from which the external of the church will be formed is clearly taught in the explanation of these words in Matthew 24:31: "He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other" (see AC 4060:8, 9).

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     Now these and many other passages seem to make it clear that we are given the duty of entering into the uses of missionary work. But we can see the need for organizing this use from another standpoint also, by looking to some General Church statistics. We have today fifteen pastors and ministers visiting circles, groups, and isolated receivers. Such work, to be most effective, requires skills and training somewhat different from those needed for ministering to established societies. On a schedule of visits of from one a year to, at most, one a month, we try to care for the basic needs of the children and the adults. We try to establish Sunday school programs, the most effective use of the Religion Lessons, the principles of home worship and of individual reading, and the effective use of tape-recordings in group work and for individual study; and we encourage the cultivation of a distinctive social life. We try also to establish regular services, lay conducted, to preserve regularity in group and circle worship. To achieve any real success in this field we must know the services available in the church itself, such as the Religion Lessons material, the Visual Education material, the various subjects and services provided by the Sound Recording Committee, as well as the techniques and materials developed by various Old Church organizations.
     Now the fact that there are fifteen priests serving in this field, which is so highly specialized because of its peculiar needs, points up the value of organizing and perfecting this use to hold and care properly for our own members, apart from any development or extension program.
     But there is yet another side to this subject, which demonstrates the need for a development program. Although New Church education is the primary use of charity of the General Church, and must remain in first place as to purpose, the fact is that only seven of our organized societies have been able to enter into this use up to the present time. Nine have no schools, and the eighteen circles and five recognized groups have no educational program except that which is offered by the Sunday school, and many of them do not have even that. So while the first of charity is our educational program, that use cannot exist fully as the essential work of charity of more than half our members, for they have no way of ultimating this use save by external support. They can plan for it, and to a degree they can ultimate it through the Sunday school. But in most cases, while it remains first in end, there must be a development program which becomes the first in time. The problem is twofold, with them and with the general body. It is to establish the General Church with them to the level of understanding and effectiveness which we desire, and to increase their numbers so that they may grow to the point at which they can establish the uses of the New Church in fullness. All our missionary work should be aimed not only at increasing our membership, but principally at educating and leading our members to full participation in our church program.

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     We have had some notable failures in establishing and preserving the church with isolated groups. Either we could not give sufficient time, or we lacked sufficient men or a sound program for isolated societies and groups. Spokane and Denver, both considered societies of our church, nearly disappeared; and only recently have they been revived, one as a group, the other as a circle. Several efforts to establish New Church communities were premature and had to be abandoned. The society in Middleport has disappeared entirely. The societies in Philadelphia and Chicago have fluctuated, being at times very weak and at others quite strong. Abington, Mass., Atlanta, Ga., and Cincinnati, Ohio, have all had resident pastors and are now much reduced. Concordia, Kansas, at one time even had an Academy school, and there is now no trace of the New Church in it.
     We have most often had our successes, and as a general church body we have been quite successful, in accomplishing the purposes for which we are established; that is, internal evangelization and the development of a general church body completely devoted to the Writings. But we often do not see where we have failed in our work with those who have trusted in us, those who were in our care-as has just been said with regard to the societies mentioned. Those who were in these groups have not always been lost to the church, but we have failed to provide for the groups themselves.
     Now there are several goals to be achieved by organizing missionary work:

     1) Answering our church duty, as expressed by the commands of the Lord which were read earlier.
     2) To further the judgment and to gather the remnant from the ends of the earth.
     3) To establish and maintain General Church standards with the isolated and with new receivers.
     4) To train those ministers who will be sent to places where no New Church schools exist.
     5) To gather and increase the isolated members into groups, small groups into circles, circles into societies, and societies into communities with schools.

It is not implied that this work is not going forward in the General Church at the present time. We are aware of some of these needs, and some of us are aware of all of them. But what is lacking is a program that is generally accepted, the organization of this use, and its full acceptance as a responsibility of our organization.

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     When the Academy was organized, Convention and Conference were in the golden age of missionary work. We allowed them to continue in that work, which in many instances was being done very effectively, while we entered into the field of church uses that were almost entirely being neglected. That was our call, and it was essential that we answer it, as it is essential today that we preserve the formative use in our hearts, and as our prime use.
     But now the missionary work of those other bodies is at a new low. Even those brought into their organizations do not know in some cases that it is a new church. To all intents and purposes, missionary work is not being done in a manner that we would consider satisfactory. The evangel of the Second Coming is not being announced, nor the giving of the new Word, nor the death of the Old Church and the establishment of a distinctly new church-a new dispensation.
     These major differences exist between missionary work done in other New Church organizations and its purposes and methods in the General Church, where practiced:

     1) In other churches there is little difference between missionary lectures and services and the ordinary services and classes of their organization. Our regular services and classes would look to General Church standards, and missionary services prepare for them.
     2) Missionary work in other organizations has led to community church type of organization and activities, with emphasis on reading the Bible, but little or no distinctiveness. With us it would lead to a distinctive church, and to reading the Writings as the Word for the New Church.
     3) With others there is no effort to establish New Church education, New Church social life, and so on. With us, again, such work would look to the eventual establishment of schools, of societies, and of communities.
     4) Others have tried to add the beautiful teachings of the New Church on the life after death and so on to the old doctrine, with little distinction even by the missionaries themselves. In our work, as a general rule, we set the doctrines in opposition, as soon as possible according to the state of those who are interested, so that the doctrines may make a judgment. We show the need for, and the nature of, the New Church.

     By the publication work of the Swedenborg Society and the Swedenborg Foundation, carrying on the tradition established by the teaching in True Christian Religion that the new revelation was to be made public by means of the press, seeds of the New Church are being planted all over the world. But they need cultivation where they have been received. It seems utterly impossible that the remnant able to receive the New Church should be confined to only a few cities, states and countries, in which we have New Church organizations; and that no one at all is able or willing to receive in thousands of other places.

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There are whole states in this country in which, as far as we or the Convention are concerned, there are no New Church people, no people interested or able to be interested in the New Church. Our work in this field is to announce the Second Coming and the establishment of the New Church, the Lord's kingdom, and to gather those who will hear. This is a continual work. But the remnant is to be the seed of the New Church; it is to be gathered, organized, and instructed. It is the nexus between the old and the new, and from it come those educated few who are the means for its spread to the many. That church with the comparatively few is to be established in Christian countries, I believe, by evangelization; and the preparation for its spread to the many is accomplished, I believe, by education.
     Now although the Lord does not need man's help, it is said that He allows man to help, that He performs His uses through men. How, then, is the New Church to spread to the many except by means of the church? But the church must be willing to do the work.
     We suggest that a Council be formed of those interested in cultivating this use from the teachings of the Word: interested in doing it, not with the expectation of tremendous increase, but because it is taught as a spiritual duty in the Word; knowing that if we are faithful we will gain an increase, and that it will be from those who will give strength to the church, not weakness. We suggest that such a Council be formed also to preserve and strengthen the essential character of the General Church, so that we are united in purpose and in means. By this we mean to strengthen the essential character of the General Church with those who are members of it today, but who are in many cases in the Convention state. We would like to educate them to full participation and full acknowledgment of our principles of New Church education so that schools can be established with them as soon as they are able and willing to enter into this use.
     The uses of such a Council would be many, such as the following:

     1) To consider the specific needs for a missionary program at this time to achieve our most important needs. For the Lord leads us as we are willing and as we try to answer the needs of each moment. We would not legislate for the future, but try to discover our essential needs now, and answer them to the best of our ability.
     2) To prepare, in committee or by considering individual presentations, a course in external evangelization that might be added to the curriculum of the Theological School.

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     3) To develop an adequate Sunday school program of lessons, organizing for the present time those already available from the Religion Lessons Committee, which are very useful and acceptable, and will supply us with all that we need, but which must be made more effective for group work; a program of teacher training aids, and of teaching aids; with help for our theological students to prepare them for their part in this work.
     4) To search out the principles in the Writings that govern this work, and develop their applications.
     5) To study the methods of successful evangelization in use in other organizations.
     6) To analyze the work of successful missionaries in the past to discover where, and how, they achieved their success.
     7) To gather the methods and results in this field of our pastors in the General Church in advertising, lecturing, missionary services, motion picture, slide, and taped programs, missionary courses, lay committees, and other methods already used, that we may analyze their effectiveness and cost.
     8) To prepare acceptable pamphlets or missionary courses, and to consider the applications today of the various uses of the printed word in this field.
     9) To consider the principles that should govern in setting up home missions, their support, and a development program.
     10) To analyze, going somewhat into particulars, the true situation of the membership of the General Church as to location in societies and circles, or as isolated receivers, in order to provide the most efficient visiting service possible. This is not to imply failure in the past, but to suggest a more efficient following up of the isolated, those who have been through our schools, and so on.
     11) To encourage general participation in this use by giving adequate reports to the whole church, and to discover acceptable methods of support and of participation.

     These are some of the things that are immediately in front of us. It is suggested further that the first membership of the Council be identical with, or drawn from, the Council of the Clergy, but that consideration should be given to opening the membership later to those laymen who are interested in church extension, as there is an important place in this work for lay cooperation and for drawing counsel from the enlightenment of men in many lay uses.
     While it would be eminently desirable to have separate meetings of such a Council, if that were found to be impracticable, one or two meetings could be coordinated with the meetings of the Council of the Clergy, much as the meetings of the Educational Council were for several years.

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An executive committee could meet and arrange the program for these sessions, and committee work could cover the material to be presented, so that our few meetings could be efficient and successful. Occasionally, if needs warranted, a special set of meetings could be called by the Bishop to consider a specific problem.
Many subjects that should be presented to such a Council as matters requiring the formation of a policy and a program are even now before the church. We have entered into those uses whether we want to or not; the difference between this and other uses is that in missionary work, at present, we are muddling through. Those in the field are operating as visiting pastors-pastors visiting our own members, teaching our own children. Any development work apart from this we consider desirable, but there is no specific provision for it either in training or in financial support. Thus it is extremely difficult to provide for lecture work, renting halls, publishing notices and pamphlets, advertising in most forms, using radio or television for talks or notices, for preparing and using slide and motion picture programs and the other means for development and educational work with the general public which are available at this day. Such problems, as well as the discovery of the distinct principles of New Church external evangelization as given in the Writings, will provide ample subject matter for consideration by such a Council for many years to come.
SENSES: FIRST, OR LAST? 1956

SENSES: FIRST, OR LAST? 1956

"Whether sensuous things are in the first or last place can easily be perceived by man if he pays attention. If he sanctions everything to which the sensuous prompts or which it craves, and disapproves of everything that the intellectual dictates, then sensuous things are in the first place,
and the man is governed by the appetites and is wholly sensuous. Such a man is but little removed from the condition of irrational animals, for they are governed in the same way; nay, he is in a worse condition if he abuses the intellectual or rational faculty to confirm the evils and falsities to which sensuous things prompt and which they crave. But if he does not sanction them, but from within sees how they stray into falsities and incite to evils, and strives to chasten them and thus reduce them to compliance (that is, subject them to the intellect and the will which are of the interior man), then sensuous things are reduced into order, that they may be in the last place" (Arcana Coelestia, 5125:2).

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NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1956

     We are instructed in the Writings that no other historicals are recorded in the Word than such as express in the internal sense the arcana of heaven. In the May readings from the Old Testament (Genesis 47:18 to Exodus 14:18) events are thus selected from a segment of Israel's history to form a significant series which contains striking contrasts. In succession so rapid as to telescope the actual time sequence we read of Israel as a preferred family of migrants in Goshen, a cruelly oppressed nation of slaves, and a people, miraculously delivered from bondage and rescued from pursuit, being led through the wilderness to Mount Sinai, where it will become the representative of a church.
     The spiritual drama involved in these events is that of the redemption of the human race. In the book of Genesis the glorification series is dominant; in the spiritual sense of Exodus the main subject is the redemption which the Lord effected by glorifying His Human. The sons of Israel, we are told, represent those of the spiritual church who had lived on earth before the Lord's coming, and could not be saved except by the Lord. In the spiritual world, prior to His advent, they had been preserved and detained in the lower earth, where they had been infested by the hells that were round about. But when the Lord had come, had made the Human in Himself Divine, and had risen again, He liberated them; and after they had undergone temptations He raised them into heaven. These, then, are the things contained in the internal sense of this book. The Egyptians signify those who had infested; by the exodus is signified liberation; the forty years in the wilderness, temptation; and the introduction into Canaan, elevation into heaven (see AC 7932a).

     Our assignment in the Heavenly Doctrine (AE 932-1020: 2) introduces us to a partial, sectioned treatment of the Ten Commandments which is subjoined to the numbers that expound Revelation chapters 15 and 16. Beginning as a consideration of the goods of charity, these articles establish that the only good works are those done by the Lord in man, and then point out that for such works two things are requisite on man's part-acknowledgment of the Lord, and a life according to the Decalogue. This leads into an extended consideration of the eight precepts which forbid evils. Other treatments of the Decalogue will be found in the Arcana and the True Christian Religion; differences will be noted later.

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UNIVERSAL DOCTRINES 1956

UNIVERSAL DOCTRINES Editor 1956

NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly by
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.
Editor                              Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Bryn Athyn, Pa,
Circulation Secretary               Mr. H. Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Treasurer                          Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address, and business communications, should be sent to the Circulation Secretary. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.
     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$3.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy, 30 cents.
     There are certain doctrines in the Writings which may be described as universal because they enter into every phase of our revealed theology. The doctrine of discrete degrees at once comes to mind. It is the doctrine that enables us to understand the threefold order of the heavens and the structure of the human mind; the distinctions between the spiritual and the natural and their relation to one another; the distinctions between the internal and external man, between men and beasts, and among the three kingdoms of nature; the processes of reformation and regeneration; and without it scarcely anything can be known of causes or of interior things.
     A knowledge of discrete degrees is necessary for an understanding of influx and of correspondence, and the doctrines concerning these may also be described as universal. Here we mention only these three. What other doctrines may be called universal, both in theology and in the philosophy which we draw from the Writings? The question is not as easily decided as might at first be supposed. The concept of the Divine Human is, of course, supreme; and the related doctrine of the human form, the organized teaching concerning order, the Divine Providence, and good and truth may occur. But are these, and perhaps others that have not been mentioned, universal in the same sense as those to which we have referred! We would welcome some discussion of this subject by interested readers who are willing to state their views and the reasons on which they are based, because we believe that clear thinking on the subject is important.

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INSPIRED HISTORY AND FREEDOM 1956

INSPIRED HISTORY AND FREEDOM Editor 1956

The New Church reader of the Old Testament may sometimes find himself wondering how the Jews could possibly have been in freedom. For does it not appear as if they must have been constrained to do the representative things recorded in order that the internal sense might be signified by the historical Word? The Writings assure us, however, that such was not the case. It is known that the Decalogue was written twice, and that on the second occasion the writing was still that of the Lord, while the tables were not now His work but that of Moses; and this is explained as meaning that the letter of the Word would have been different if it had been written with a different people, or if the Jewish race had not been such as it was (see AC 10,453).
Elsewhere the Writings explain that the polygamy and concubinage of Jacob and his descendants was tolerated, and recorded in the Word, because of its representation (see AC 2868). Here, then, was no forcing into a relationship, but the permission of one to which they were naturally inclined; and the conclusion is that if they had been averse to it, the representation would have been expressed in some other manner. And this is true of the entire Old Testament Word. Whatever is recorded of the Jews in the sacred history was according to their genius and within their freedom; and even the rigorous discipline of their religion was one to which they inclined. Jewish history is no longer representative as it was in biblical times. But in the patterns into which Jewish life was apparently forced during the ages since the fall of Jerusalem, especially during the Middle Ages in Europe, the thoughtful New Church student of history may see the same principle at work.
LIVING WORD 1956

LIVING WORD Editor 1956

Every so often a national advertising campaign is launched on behalf of some modernized, condensed and topically arranged, or lavishly illustrated edition of the Scriptures which, the reader is assured, "makes the Bible come alive." The inference is obvious. Even some serious scholars are perturbed by what they regard as the alien assumptions and conceptions of the Bible; and feel that if it is to be made relevant, we must remove its outdated concepts-formulated in terms of a cosmology, a philosophy of history, and a psychology which are not admissible to thinking men today-and replace them by the framework of an acceptable contemporary philosophy.
To the New Church man, who looks at the letter, not in terms of an outmoded symbolism, but as a correspondential ultimate, the prospect is alarming.

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Equipped with knowledge of the laws of accommodation involved in the giving of Divine revelation he can explain the biblical concepts, assert what is eternally true in them, and deal with them in a manner that is constructive rather than drastic. The fact is that neither the popular nor the semantic approach will produce a living Word! We have authority for the statements that the flesh profiteth nothing, it is the spirit that quickeneth; and that the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
There is only one way in which the Word can become living for those to whom it is a dead letter, and that is for them to see within it the internal sense-those words within the Word of which the Lord said that they are spirit and they are life. The Word becomes truly living when it is seen that within the recorded history of an ancient Semitic people there is an internal sense which has specific application to every human state and need in all ages; when it is perceived that within every law, statute and judgment, even those which have been abrogated as to outward observance, there is an eternal spiritual law which applies to life today and will always be of present significance. That is the task: not to rework the letter into a form acceptable to our generation, but to bring out the internal sense which is applicable to all generations.
STYLE OF THE WORD 1956

STYLE OF THE WORD 1956

"The style of the Word is the Divine style itself, with which no other style, however sublime and excellent it may seem, can be compared; for it is as thick darkness compared with light. The style of the Word is such that there is holiness in every sentence and in every word; yea, in some places in the very letters: hence the Word conjoins man with the Lord and opens heaven. There are two things which proceed from the Lord, Divine love and Divine wisdom. . . . The Word in its essence is both of these; and because, as has been said, it conjoins man with the Lord and opens heaven, therefore the Word fills the man who reads it from the Lord, and not from himself, with the good of love and the truths of wisdom. . . . Hence man has life through the Word. Lest, therefore, man should be in doubt whether the Word is such, its internal sense has been revealed to me by the Lord, which in its essence is spiritual, and is within the external sense, which is natural, as the soul is in the body. This sense is the spirit which gives life to the letter; it can therefore bear witness to the Divinity and holiness of the Word, and convince even the natural man, if he is willing to be convinced" (Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture, 3, 4).

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Church News 1956

Church News Various 1956

     TORONTO, CANADA

     At our celebration of Swedenborg's birthday last January we were privileged to have the Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner with us. The evening opened with a banquet prepared by Mrs. Rose Raymond, Mrs. Margaret Longstaff, and Miss Frances Raymond. The Rev. Martin Pryke opened the formal part of the evening by presenting a volume of the Writings to Mr. Dennis McDonald and Mr. John Raymond, a gift from the Olivet Society on the occasion of their confirmation. Messrs. Dennis and Keith Jean-Marie and John Starkey were unable to be present to receive their books. Mr. Pryke proposed a toast to the Church, and we all sang "Our Glorious Church." Dr. Odhner was then introduced and he gave us an enlightening address on "Swedenborg and His Spiritual Diaries," in which he retraced Swedenborg's life during the time he was coming to the end of his natural resources and was gradually being instructed to write. After we had sung a toast to Dr. and Mrs. Odhner a full and happy evening came to an end.
     Dr. Odhner was present also at the February meeting of the Reading Group, a group of people who meet together monthly to discuss philosophical subjects. They are currently reading and discussing the Principia.
     On February 3rd, the elementary school children honored Swedenborg's birthday at a party given by Theta Alpha. Games were played before supper, and after all had eaten, the younger children gave recitations and the older children in turn read papers on Swedenborg's Rules of Life.
     A games night was held at the church on January 21st, and a variety of games were played that taxed us either mentally or physically. There were 53 persons present, all of whom entered into the fun that had been prepared by Mr. and Mrs. Jim Swalm and Mr. and Mrs. John Parker, Jr.
     The social in February took the form of a Valentine's Dance. There was dancing in the church hall, and card tables were set up upstairs for those who felt inclined to play bridge. Just before refreshments were served we all relaxed and sang some old favorite songs. The committee consisted of the Young People's Club, to which a vote of thanks was given for an entertaining evening.
     On Saturday, March 17, the Ladies' Circle held a cafeteria supper at the church hall to raise funds for the many activities it performs in the Society. This was followed by the showing of three enjoyable movies, and a candy sale.
     During one week in March our day school was visited by two student teachers from Bryn Athyn, Miss Trudy Hasen and Miss Sylvia Parker. These young ladies both observed and did practice teaching in our local school, and although it was a busy week for all concerned it was evidently very successful and enjoyable.
     Instead of doctrinal class, the semi-annual meeting of the Society took place on Wednesday, March 2lst. Reports from the different organizations were read, and occasionally a question was asked.
     Our Society again held a bridge tournament during the winter months, with the proceeds once more going to the building fund. This affair was arranged by Mrs. Ceri Pritchett and Mrs. Lenore Bellinger. The grand finale was held at the church hall on Friday, March 23rd. Congratulations went to Messrs. Stanley Hill and Dennis McDonald, who had top score, and Mr. and Mrs. Robert Scott, who came second.
     During the fall season the Rev. Martin Pryke gave us an interesting series of doctrinal classes on the fundamental principles of ritual and worship. The Rev. Jan Weiss has conducted the doctrinal classes since Christmas, his subject being the letter of the Word. He has taken us through many of the journeys mentioned in the Word, providing us with maps and charts that were most helpful.

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Mr. Weiss also preaches in Toronto every other Sunday, and has been giving us a series of sermons on the book of Revelation.
     KATHERINE BARBER

     BALTIMORE, MD.

     Our annual business meeting was held on September 17, 1955, without any startling developments. After the meeting we adjourned to the George Doering home for a final farewell to Ed and Gladys Seemer Their many contributions to our Society were relived in song and verse, and in appreciation for all that they have done for us the Society presented them with a set of the Writings. Their home is now in Stanford, Conn., where they have been active in helping to organize a new group of the church.
     Charter Day caused an exodus of half of our adults to Bryn Athyn. The event was particularly encouraging to those attending in showing how the school has grown, not in numbers alone, but also in the specific held of making its curriculum "new" from the teachings of the Heavenly Doctrine.
     October 29th found our chapel gaily adorned with vines, bright leaves and fall flowers, and unusually fragrant with the odor of wild red honeysuckle-all this for the wedding of Miss Constance Needer and Mr. Charles Aubrey. The happy bride was becomingly dressed in tulle and lace, with a fingertip veil capped with a pearl headband. Her sister, Miss Mary Lou Needer, accompanied her as maid-of-honor, and Mr. Thurman Tapscott was best man. This was a joyous and memorable event, for it was the first wedding in the chapel in more than twenty years. A delightful reception and buffet supper followed the wedding. All present will long remember the bride as a troop of little girls surrounded her and danced around her, singing as they went. Connie and Charles have made their home in Moline, Illinois.
     Our last report failed to mention the memorable visit of Miss Joan Adams from South Africa, and Mrs. Viola Ridgway of Bryn Athyn. The few of us who were able to dig out from hurricane Diane met at the Trimble home, where we saw some beautiful and fascinating slides made from pictures taken by these ladies on a tour of the United States which included many New Church societies. Miss Adams' artistic photographs of the Bryn Athyn Cathedral were especially lovely.
     On Thanksgiving Day we had a service specially adapted for the children, who brought offerings of fruit. The week before Christmas we all gathered at the home of Dr. Roscoe Coffin for the annual children's party. Each family with children was presented with a copy of the new edition of Bishop De Charms' John in the Isle of Patmos, and each child received small individual gift. Mr. Pendleton showed some beautiful slides of the Christmas story, after which we had refreshments and then caroling. An especially affectional note was added to our inspiring service on Christmas afternoon when Miss Karen Doering, accompanied by the organ, played some lovely Christmas music on the flute.
     Earlier in December, the Baltimore men were hosts to the Washington-Baltimore chapter of the Sons of the Academy at a dinner given in the chapel. Your reporter was told that the speaker, Mr. William Kintner, gave a wonderful if frightening talk on Russia and the Communist menace.
     Our Swedenborg's birthday celebration was a great success, especially for the children. After the banquet, the toastmaster opened the formal proceedings informally with questions about Swedenborg addressed to the youngsters. With their interest thus aroused, Mr. Rowland Trimble then gave what can be described only as a beautiful talk on our seer, setting the background with an illuminating description of the geography and the historical times in which Swedenborg was raised.
     We are most sorry to report again losing a family from Baltimore. Mr. and Mrs. Dandridge Cole and their four small children left us for Denver in March, but we know that our loss will be that group's great gain.
     During the fall Mr. Pendleton gave us a most comprehensive series of doctrinal classes on the present day teachings of the Christian Church. He pointed out that although their emphasis is not on the falsities common when the Writings were given, nevertheless the Writings predict the present turn of events when they say that "Arius will rule to the end." More and more the trend is to see the Lord as just another mortal, to deny His Divinity, and thus to undermine the authority of the Sacred Scripture. This series was followed by a class on what should be our attitude toward these fallen Christian churches, and an interesting class was then given on the differences in doctrine existing within the New Church.

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All in all, our pastor has given us much food for thought.
     Pfc. Dale Doering is a frequent visitor from Fort Meade, and Mr. Joel Trimble is now home again after his stay in the army. We are delighted to have these young men with us.
     JANET H. DOERING

     LONDON, ENGLAND

     The three months under review begin with our Christmas celebrations. On Sunday, December 18th, a Communion Service was held in the morning. In the afternoon, after a most enjoyable luncheon prepared for the Society by Mrs. Dawson and the ladies of the catering committee, our Christmas celebration took the form of readings from the Word by five young stalwarts of the London Society: Messrs. David Cummins, Alfred Sandstrom, Frederick Elphick, Jack Waters, and Colin Colebrook. The readings were selected to give us a truer awareness of the Lord's gift to man in His coming into the world, and to bring out the contrast between the erroneous belief in a Son of God born from eternity and the truth that the Son of God was born in time.
     Before each reading there was a musical prelude. First, Mr. Robert Bruell sang very beautifully "Comfort Ye My People" from Handel's Messiah; and in the following intervals Miss Irene Briscoe, accompanied by Mrs. Ada Hall, gave fine and sensitive renderings of "Air" by J. S. Bach, "Andantino" by Padre Martine, "Solemn Melody" by Walford Davies, "Minuet" by Mozart, and Svendsen's "Romance." The beauty and harmony of the whole musical performance lent themselves to the sphere of peace and reflection which was so evident in the church hall that afternoon, so much so that music indeed seemed a handmaid of truth.
     The young people of Michael Church have now, over a number of years, built up their own tradition of carol singing, visiting members of the Society who for various reasons are unable to join in the Christmas festivities; and so, late on that Sunday afternoon, they mustered cars and motorcycles and toured the city, visiting on this occasion the homes of Mrs. Briscoe and of Mr. Priest, who celebrated his 90th birthday on January 31st. With their singing of the well loved carols and their merry greetings they bring much delight to those whom they visit.
     On Christmas Day the morning service was a joyous one, with the singing of carols, a talk to the children, and an illuminating sermon on "The Only Begotten Son." The morning service on New York's Day began with the confirmation of Miss Madeline Waters. This was a moving ceremony, and it added very greatly to the spirit of the service. In his sermon, "Trust and Blessing," the pastor gave us much guidance and food for reflection as we went forward into new states.
     The first Saturday of the New Year found the church hall ringing with the merry voices and laughter of little children, 22 in all, at a Christmas party, at which the pastor gave a talk to the children and presented each child with a gift. The children took part in a program of dancing, singing and recitations, and the games were under the direction of Mr. Norman Turner. It is of interest to note that on the evening of that day the Kensington (Conference) Society invited Mr. and Mrs. Sandstrom to their New Year's party. There the Rev. Rupert Stanley made a speech of welcome to them, and extended through Mr. Sandstrom the cordial wishes of his Society to Michael Church. Mr. Sandstrom, in his response, returned equally cordial wishes on our behalf.
     Doctrinal classes were resumed at both Swedenborg House and Michael Church. The attendance is regular and very good-and so is the teaching. The series commenced last fall continue: on fundamental doctrines at Michael Church, and on the book of Revelation at Swedenborg House.
     Among visitors to Michael Church have been Col. and Mrs. Lowe, bringing with them South African sunshine; Mr. Alec Craigie from Canada, who with his family will now be living in London; Mr. Arthur Atherton and Mr. Walter Lewin from the West Country; and, of course, friends from Colchester. The Hebrew classes held by the Rev. Frank Coulson every month are always greatly appreciated. At the most recent one, held on March 18th, great interest was aroused in the fascinating study presented of the significance of the name, David, in the Hebrew language.
     On January 29th, both the Rev. Erik Sandstrom and the Rev. Frank Rose officiated at the morning service. The celebration of Swedenborg's birthday was held in the afternoon.

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A provided luncheon was much enjoyed by all. Mr. Sandstrom acted as toastmaster and gave us some glimpses into the personal life of Swedenborg-his piety, sincerity, and keen sense of humor; illustrated by incidents in his life taken from Documents Concerning Swedenborg: II, pp. 732-734, 725. We had the pleasure of listening to Mr. Victor Tilson playing Rossini's "Stabat Mater" on the organ, and Mr. Arthur Atherton giving selections from Schubert and Chopin on the piano. Miss Edith Elphick read what, as Mr. Sandstrom remarked, may be regarded as perhaps the greatest description of beauty ever given in literature-the Memorable Relation on conjugial love; and in the delightful way in which it was read that beauty shone forth. The Rev. Frank Rose was then introduced, and he gave an interesting paper on the temptations by means of which Swedenborg was mentally prepared for the great work he was to undertake.
     The Young People's Class commenced in February. Instruction is being given on The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine, and members of the class read chapters as homework.
     We are now well into the year and preparations are going forward for the keenly awaited General Assembly in London. The curiosity of an outsider might be stirred by the weighty portfolio carried about at all social functions by a certain Mr. X, whose advice and assistance are constantly sought by all and sundry.
     The annual meeting of the Society was held on March 11th this year and was presided over by the Rev. Erik Sandstrom. In addressing the Society, Mr. Sandstrom expressed his thanks for the confidence shown in him, and brought out the points that sound progress can be made only on the basis of actual work or use done and that in every home there should be some reading and reflection every day. The strength of the Society as a whole will always depend on the strength of each part. The reports of the various committees were then read, new officers were elected, and problems were discussed. The general feeling seemed to be that the various committees were very active and were doing good work, and that all was well with the Society.
     We were delighted to have a visit on that same Sunday from the Rev. and Mrs. Alan Gill. Mr. Gill was on the chancel with Mr. Sandstrom at the morning service and preached an excellent sermon on "Protection in Temptation"; the text being from the Lord's Prayer-"Lead us not into temptation."
     IRIS O. BRISCOE

     PITTSBURGH, PA.

     We can report a very busy time under the guidance of our pastor, the Rev. Louis B. King. First in importance is our Sunday worship. Our church services and the sermons have been excellent. To meet a need, Mr. King has made a change in the children's services. The regular children's service is held every Sunday except once a month, and on that Sunday we have a combined service for adults and children; a short talk is given after the first lesson, and the children of fifth grade age and under then retire to the schoolrooms where further instruction illustrated with pictures is given. This monthly service attracts about as large a congregation as Christmas and Easter used to, and what a joy it is to feel the sphere of so many worshiping together.
     Our Christmas celebration is the main event of the year, starting with doctrinal classes and sermons that prepare us for it spiritually. Just before Christmas we had a large Christmas Sing at the home of Mr. and Mrs. John Schoenberger. It was a happy occasion with all the students home from school. On Christmas Eve was held the children's festival, which was as large and wonderful as ever; and the chancel never looked more beautiful than it did at the service on Christmas Day, with all the large green spruce trees standing in the background and two gorgeous bouquets of red roses on either side of the chancel.
     The wedding of Miss Zara Brown and Mr. Frank Edmundson took place during Christmas week. The church was lit with many candles and decorated with white flowers against a background of greens. The ceremony was simple, and a sphere of innocence and sincerity prevailed. Two flower girls were in attendance. A reception in the auditorium followed at which we all joined in giving the couple our best wishes. The bridegroom had joined the church about two years previously.
     On January 3rd, the blessing of a civil marriage between Mr. Willard Thomas and Miss Phyllis Stroemple took place.

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Mr. and Mrs. Stroemple later invited the Society to their home, where we all greeted the young couple and the pastor gave a speech of welcome. Pittsburgh is very happy to have another couple in its midst.
     Miss Anne Pendleton's marriage took place in the Bryn Athyn Cathedral last January. Three showers were given in Pittsburgh for the three brides.
     The Swedenborg's birthday banquet was held on February 3rd. Our pastor had invited Bishop Acton to speak, but as he was unable to come an excellent paper written by him was read by Mr. King. We thank Bishop Acton for this paper. The children's banquet followed the next day. There were speeches about Swedenborg, little incidents in his life were acted out and the titles eagerly guessed at by the children, a Swedish dance was done in costume, and the affair ended with a lively Virginia Reel. The remarkable part of this banquet was that the children who live out of town, and do not attend the church school, gave the papers. This gathering together of all our children has been stressed by the pastor, and all the main parties for the children are given on days on which all the children can come, not just those fortunate enough to attend the church school. So it is that all are happier and closer together.
     The children in the school have been having a most successful year. But the sad fact that had to be faced was that next year we could expect to have only 17 pupils in the school. Now whether it was because the children are so happy and well adjusted, because we have a fine teaching staff, or because the pastor was determined to go forward, Mr. King started working toward a ninth grade and a kindergarten. When the curriculum had been worked out and the teacher problem solved, the proposal was brought by successive steps to a well attended meeting of the Society, where favorable action was taken after discussion. Mrs. Gareth Acton has kindly undertaken to teach the kindergarten three mornings a week, and Miss Gertrude Hasen, who will graduate in June from the Academy of the New Church College, was engaged as an additional teacher for next year.
     We have an active social committee this year, consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Russell Stevens and Mr. and Mrs. Chester Stroemple. The committee seems to have a genius for picking the right dates and giving us a number of wonderful parties. They started with a lively Hallowe'en costume party, the proceeds of which went to the library fund-a noble custom instituted by our former pastor's wife, Lois Boyesen. At Thanksgiving time there was a real old square dance with a professional caller and live music. This was a great affair for the young folk, and they surely went to it with a will. On New Year's Eve the auditorium was still decorated with the beautiful spruce trees brought in from the Lindsay farm for Christmas; and the committee had arranged dancing to high-fi records, singing, a toast to the New Year at midnight, and then a breakfast. The party gave us all a chance to start the New Year together. In March the committee pulled another trick out of the bag with a cabaret supper, or rather, a turkey dinner. We ate at candle lit tables, and then, to our surprise at the hidden talent, twelve different acts never seen before were performed; some expert, others hilarious.
     Gilbert Smith-the aging scout, as he calls himself-had a winter camp one weekend in February for the boys of school age and some a little older. We understand that they had a grand time and that they love those mountains, come rain, wind, or snow! A girls' camp is in the offing.
     Our Women's Guild is one of our most active organizations, taking care of all the numerous housekeeping needs of the Society, and running the Friday suppers, of which we are rather proud. This year we have bought for the pastor a blue school robe, and have ordered a new white robe. We have also purchased some new equipment for our kitchen. Mrs. Edwin Asplundh is our able president.
     To complete the news, our pastor has made two trips, one to Erie, Pa., and one to Urbana, Ohio. He has had four baptisms. Council meetings are large and are held every month. The young people's class and the married people's class are each held twice a month, and a high school religion class meets once a week. Some of the men have formed a philosophy group which meets once a month.
     Two of our members in the services were home for Christmas: Nadine Brown, who is in the Waves, and Lt. Barry Smith. Walter Williamson has finished his army service, Kenneth Blair has graduated from Penn State University, and both boys are continuing their studies at Pitt and have joined in the active uses of the Society.

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Last fall we had the pleasure of a visit from the Rev. Elmo C. Acton. He gave a doctrinal class, preached on Sunday, and baptized the infant son of our pastor and Mrs. King. The Rev. David R. Simons was invited to Pittsburgh by the Sons of the Academy in February. He addressed the Sons, preached, and gave a class. Both ministers came with their wives, which made a delightful time for all.
     LUCILE S. BLAIR

     THE CHURCH AT LARGE

     General Convention. The NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER announces that the 133rd Annual Session of the General Convention of the New Jerusalem in the United States of America will be held in La Porte, Indiana, centering at the Church of the New Jerusalem, from Friday, June 22, to Sunday, June 24, with preliminary meeting of auxiliary bodies from June 19th.
VISITORS TO BRYN ATHYN 1956

VISITORS TO BRYN ATHYN 1956

A committee exists to secure accommodations for those members of the church who wish to visit Bryn Athyn. Those wishing accommodations are asked to communicate with Mrs. Winfred A. Smith, Bryn Athyn, Penna.
SOME GENERAL CHURCH USES 1956

SOME GENERAL CHURCH USES 1956

     GENERAL CHURCH RELIGION LESSONS. Graded lessons and other material from preschool through Grade 12. Address inquiries to: Pastor-in-Charge, Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     GENERAL CHURCH SOUND RECORDING COMMITTEE. Tape-recordings of services, sermons, doctrinal classes, children's services, etc. Address: General Church Sound Recording Committee, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     GENERAL CHURCH VISUAL EDUCATIONAL COMMITTEE. Biblical and other slides. Address: Mr. William R. Cooper, Director, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     NEW CHURCH EDUCATION. Published by Religion Lessons Committee monthly, September to June, inclusive. Subscription, $1.50. Editor: Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal.

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GENERAL CHURCH CORPORATIONS 1956

GENERAL CHURCH CORPORATIONS HUBERT HYATT 1956

ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH E. BRUCE GLENN 1956

     The Annual Joint Meeting of the Corporation and Faculty of the Academy of the New Church will be held in the Benade Hall Auditorium on Saturday, June 2, 1956, at 8:00 p.m. After reports by officers of the Academy Schools, and discussion thereof, an address will be delivered by Dean Eldric S. Klein. The public is cordially invited to attend.
     E. BRUCE GLENN,
          Secretary.
SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION 1956

SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION WILFRED HOWARD 1956

     The Fifty-ninth Annual Meeting of the Swedenborg Scientific Association will be held at Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday, May 23, 1956, in the Auditorium of Benade Hall, at 8:00 p.m. The usual reports will be given, and after the election of officers the Annual Address will be delivered by Mr. Joel Pitcairn.
     WILFRED HOWARD,
          Secretary.
CORRECTION 1956

CORRECTION Editor 1956

In the announcement of the Lau-Williams marriage, (NEW CHURCH LIFE, March, 1956, p. 142) the name of the bride should have been given as Mrs. Barbara (Lee) Williams, not Miss Barbara McQueen Williams, as reported to this journal.
ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH SCHOOL CALENDAR: 1956-1957 1956

ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH SCHOOL CALENDAR: 1956-1957 1956

     Eightieth School Year

     1956

Sept.     7 Fri.      Faculty Meetings. Dormitories open
     10 Mon.      Registration
     11 Tues.      First day of classes-Secondary Schools
Oct.      12 Fri.      Charter Day
Nov.     11 Wed.      Close for Thanksgiving after classes
     26 Mon.      Classes resumed
Dec.     21 Fri.      Close for Christmas after classes

     1957

Jan.     7 Mon.      Classes resumed
     25 Fri.      End of First Semester
     28 Mon.      Second Semester begins
Feb.      22 Fri.      Washington's Birthday Holiday
Mar.     29 Fri.      Close for Spring Recess after classes
Apr.      8 Mon.      Classes resumed
     21 Sun.      Easter
May      30 Thur.      Memorial Day Half Holiday
June     14 Fri.      Commencement Exercises

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TWENTY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1956

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DEDICATION OF THE DETROIT SOCIETY'S MULTI-PURPOSE BUILDING 1956

[Frontispiece: Interior and exterior photos of Detroit Society's multi-purpose building]

NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. LXXVI          JUNE, 1956               No. 6
     The newly constructed building of the Detroit Society of the General Church of the New Jerusalem was dedicated by Bishop George de Charms to the uses of worship, instruction, and social life, on Saturday afternoon, April 21, 1956.
     The service opened with the singing of "Hark, the Song of Jubilee," during which the pastor, the Rev. Norbert H. Rogers, preceding the Bishop, bore the altar copy of the Word on to the chancel. At the end of the introit, the Bishop opened the repository, and, receiving the Word from the pastor, set it in its appointed place, and opened it. The Sixth General Office was used, and the Lessons were I Kings 8:22-30, 55-61, Revelation 21:1-7, and Arcana Coelestia, nos. 3702 and 8439. For the interlude a choir sang a specially composed Anthem of Thanksgiving. And after the Forty-Seventh Psalm has been sung, the pastor delivered the following Address:

     DEDICATION ADDRESS

     The Lord, we are taught, is the Beginning and the End, the all in all things. For all things that are, from greatests to leasts, in heaven and on earth, were made by Him, and without Him nothing can have any existence whatever. All things were and are created and formed by Him alone. The life that animates them flows forth to them from the Lord, and is received variously by each one according to its particular form; and according to its reception of life, each thing is endowed with its own distinct characteristics, qualities and powers. By His providence, the Lord also provides His creations at all times with every necessity for their continued existence and for their use.

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He governs them in generals and in singulars, constantly preserving them in their proper order and form that they may continue to receive the influx of life from Him, and ceaselessly disposing them and their relation one to another, that the effects they produce in response to the influent life may serve their Divinely intended uses-uses which fulfill the purpose of their creation, which are the reason for their existence, and without which they could not exist.
     And the uses which all things are intended and caused to serve all have regard to one eternal end. This is the Divine end of the Lord's infinite love, which is that there shall be a heaven from the human race, where every man born into the world may dwell to eternity within the Divine sphere in a perfect state of human life, wisdom and happiness. This is the unifying and unchanging purpose of all that the Lord does, from eternity to eternity. To this end the Lord created the universe and formed the heavens, and governs them. To attain this end most fully and perfectly, the Lord has ordained that man shall begin his life on earth, and there be prepared as of himself for life in heaven. To this end the Lord has caused man to have an immortal soul, and clothed it with the wonderfully fashioned human mind and body. To this end He has equipped man with a will and understanding capable of receiving and responding to the Divine influx of love and wisdom. To this end the Lord has given man the faculties of freedom and rationality, and constantly provides him with the means and the opportunities to use them and to develop them to their full capacity. To this end the Lord continually leads man in freedom and according to his rationality, both from within and from without, both secretly and openly, both gently and forcefully. And to this end the Lord has formed all things, and governs them, so that each one may serve man in some way, either directly or indirectly; each in some way ministering to the needs of his life and happiness, and each in some way contributing to his eternal welfare.
     Among the many means provided and used by the Lord in attaining His Divine end with man, the external things of the natural world are of the utmost importance. For they are the lasts of creation, the ultimates of order, and are therefore the containants, bases and supports, of all interior things.
     This is so because creation proceeds according to order from firsts through intermediates to lasts, and this by successive degrees or planes of composition. The things of each plane are composed from and out of the things of the plane before, and so are more complex and gross, and therefore less active. The material things of the plane of nature are the most gross, complex and inert of all, being so complex, gross and inert, that no further compositions from them are possible. They are therefore the lasts of creation, and as such they complete the order of creation.

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     Because ultimates of nature are so gross and complex they conceal the interior things from which they are and have their being, giving the appearance that they are the only things that exist, and that they live from themselves. This appearance is essential to the preservation and use of human freedom, and therefore also to human life and happiness. And this is the reason the Lord has ordained that all men should begin their life in the natural world.
     Because each plane of creation is composed from and out of the plane before it, the things in each plane contain within themselves all that belongs to the prior plane, and transmit them in turn to the next plane below. Thus the ultimates of nature contain all the things, qualities and characteristics, belonging to all the successive planes of creation. For this reason all prior things are said to be together, simultaneously present, in ultimates; and in them they are complete and full.
     Because interior things are active and volatile, they become diffused and dissipated unless they are contained in what is exterior, which is less active and relatively more stable. For this reason the Lord has provided that the things of each plane shall serve as containing vessels for the plane above. And at the same time, He causes all interior things to be in the constant effort to find lower things into which they may inflow. Thus the things of each plane continually seek to descend into the plane below, and finally into the ultimates of nature. And only when they have entered into these ultimates do interior things become really stable and permanent. For this reason we are taught that interior things become actual only when they have entered into their ultimates; and also that if ultimates are taken away from them, interior things are dissipated and become nothing.
     Interior things must also descend into exteriors, and at last into ultimates, to produce effects. For until it comes up against some resistance which challenges and calls forth its powers, an active force can only go forward in a straight line, as it were, unable to accomplish anything. Only when it meets opposition can an active force exert its power, and by acting in and against what resists, produce effects and perform uses. The greater the resistance, the greater is the power needed and called forth to produce effects. For this reason we are taught that in ultimates, where there is the greatest resistance, the power of interiors is exercised to the greatest extent possible; and since all interiors are simultaneously present in ultimates, in them the maximum power of all interior things is concentrated. And so we are taught that in ultimates all interior things, Divine as well as celestial and spiritual, are present and are manifested in their fulness and power to affect man, to serve him, and to delight him. This is why the Writings teach that the Lord is actually and wholly present with man in ultimates; that in them and through them He leads man most powerfully; that uses are performed actually and fully by means of ultimates; that all joy is perceived in its fulness and power in ultimates; and so likewise with all other interior things.

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     As the case is in general, so is it with man in particular. His interior things, which are the man himself, the inmost life and quality of his soul, and all the things of his will and understanding, come into their fulness and power, becoming actual and complete, only in so far as they are invested in ultimates. For this reason, as is the case with all interior things in heaven and on earth, the life inflowing into man, his loves, affections and thoughts, are all inspired by the Lord with the constant tendency to descend into ultimates. And so it is that whenever something enters into man and affects him interiorly, he feels impelled to express it in some ultimate form, that is, in words or in deeds, finding satisfaction and pleasure in so far as he does so suitably. And that he may do so the Lord provides man with a material body and with all the other ultimate things he needs. For at all times the Lord causes each man to be in that particular natural environment and society, to be affected by those particular natural circumstances, and to have at hand those particular external things, which at every moment will serve him best, enabling him to express his interiors in ultimate forms most suited to his state, and in ways he most needs, that will enable him to perform the greatest possible uses, and that will best promote his eternal welfare and happiness.
     For this reason, in recent years, the Lord has caused the number of those who acknowledge Him in His second coming to be rapidly increased in this region of the earth. He has placed them in circumstances through which He has activated their love and faith, and led them to organize themselves into a society of His New Church. He has caused them to see the need, He has caused them strongly to feel the desire, He has provided them with the opportunities, and He has made the means available to them, to construct this building in which we are gathered on this solemn and happy occasion of dedication and thanksgiving.
     The Lord has brought this about, in His providence and mercy, not only that they might find delight and that their love and faith might be manifested and strengthened in the ultimate acts of construction, but also that this building may continue to serve as an ultimate basis and powerful means for the continued strengthening, development and increase, the continued purification, renewal and perfection, of their love, faith and happiness. This exalted purpose of the Lord will be fulfilled according to the manner in which this building is used. In so far as the men, women and children, of the church gather together here to worship the Lord, to be instructed in His Word, and to do His will; in so far as they seek to apply His teachings in the activities they here carry out; and in so far as they here freely and actively strive to perform in ultimates all the varied uses of the church, looking to the Lord for help and guidance; so far will the celestial things of love and the spiritual things of faith inflow into their hearts and minds; and so far also will the Divine descend into the ultimates of use here performed, so far will the Lord here manifest Himself with power and great glory, and so far will this building be hallowed by His presence. Amen.

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     PRESENTATION

     The offertory hymn having been sung, Mr. William F. Cook, Construction Supervisor, came forward and addressed Bishop De Charms:
     BISHOP DE CHARMS: the members and friends of the Detroit Society offer this key as a token that this building is now ready for dedication to the uses of New Church worship, instruction, and society life.

     ACCEPTANCE

     Receiving the key, BISHOP DE CHARMS said:
     In accepting this key I gratefully acknowledge the gift of the building which it represents, and which I now receive in the name of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, to be devoted to the uses of the Detroit Society. May it serve as an instrument in the hands of the Lord to promote the spirit and the life of the Heavenly Doctrine with all who worship here, and so to establish the kingdom of heaven in their hearts.

     The presentation key was placed on the altar. With his hand on the open Word, Bishop De Charms then pronounced the dedication:

     DEDICATION

     And now in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the one God of heaven and earth, who has come in the Heavenly Doctrine to establish His everlasting kingdom in the hearts of men, I dedicate this building, and set it apart for the uses of worship, instruction and social life, in the Detroit Society of the General Church of the New Jerusalem. Amen.
     A prayer and the Benediction followed, and the Word, having been closed, was left in the opened repository. The service ended with the singing of "Father all Holy," after which the chancel curtains were closed.

     BANQUET

     In the evening more than a hundred and fifty members and friends of the Society reassembled in the building for a banquet.

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The toastmaster, Mr. Norman P. Synnestvedt, opened the program by reading messages from Societies, Circles and Groups of the General Church in all parts of the world. The theme of the evening was the growth of the Detroit Society under the auspices of the General Church, which the toastmaster introduced by playing a recording of a dedication prayer by the late Rev. Homer Synnestvedt, and by reading reports of visits by the late Rev. F. E. Waelchli to isolated members and friends of the General Church in Windsor, Ont., and Detroit, Mich. He then called on his speakers, introducing the Rev. Norman H. Reuter as "The Shepherd of our Childhood State," the Rev. Kenneth O. Stroh as "The Shepherd of our Adolescence," and the Rev. Norbert H. Rogers as "The Shepherd of our Young Manhood." Bishop De Charms concluded the program by speaking movingly on how the Society was now equipped to enter more fully into its proper uses, especially that of educating its children in the sphere of the church.

     DIVINE WORSHIP

     At the service on Sunday morning, April 22, the 48 children of the Society came forward during the processional hymn to present an offering of gifts for the building. The pastor received their offerings and opened the service; the Rev. Norman H. Reuter read the lessons and gave a talk to the children on "The Joy of Worship"; and Bishop De Charms preached on "The Opening of the Temple in Heaven," using Revelation 11:19 as his text.
     The powerful sphere of worship at the service provided a fitting climax to a most significant and happy occasion which will long be remembered not only by the members of the Detroit Society but also by the many friends who were able to join them from Bryn Athyn, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago, Glenview, Toronto and Kitchener, and also from the Convention Church in Detroit.

     (EDITORIAL NOTE: For an account of the development of the Detroit Society and a brief description of its multi-purpose building see pages 297-298 in this issue.)
FAITH OF THE HEAVENS 1956

FAITH OF THE HEAVENS 1956

"It is an eternal truth that the Lord rules heaven and earth, and also that no one besides the Lord lives of himself, consequently that everything of life flows in-the good of life from the Lord, and the evil of life from hell. This is the faith of the heavens" (AC 6325).

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SPIRIT OF PROPHECY 1956

SPIRIT OF PROPHECY Rev. W. CAIRNS HENDERSON 1956

     "And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." (Revelation 19:10)

     In prophetic visions-dark, dramatic, violent-John had seen the Last Judgment on the Christian Church, as represented correspondentially in Hebrew symbolism. After thus witnessing the destruction of Babylon he heard the heavens resound with angelic glorifications, and the coming of the Lord to establish a new church proclaimed as the marriage of the Lamb. And when the angel who showed him these things said that these were the true sayings of God, the Seer of Patmos fell at his feet to worship him. But the angel forbade him, saying: "See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God."
     This was the giving of a new truth, though one that would not be openly revealed until the second advent had actually occurred. For the Jews regarded angels either as emanations from God, continually created and reabsorbed in the Infinite, or as personal and immortal spirits indeed, but purely spiritual beings, created for the most part before the world and therefore a race apart from men. And in Christian thought angels became a separate creation, a celestial family over which God presided; beings like unto whom men would become when sin and death should be no more, but a distinct order of beings having no origin in the earth. Only when the Heavenly Doctrine was given would the truth about angels, and the meaning of what was said to John, be plainly disclosed-that angels are not superior to men, but only their equals, and therefore equally the Lord's servants, because they have all been born men in the world and none of them immediately created; wherefore they are associated with men who worship the Lord as brethren with brethren.
     The worship of angels was foreign to Jewish thought, for the just Israelite was considered superior to them since they ministered to him. But when the Lord sent angels to men, as to the prophets and to John, He so filled them with His Divine that they spoke from the Lord and not from themselves; wherefore neither they nor those to whom they spoke the Word knew otherwise than that they were the Lord.

264

So it was that John fell down to worship. Only, when the angel had spoken, he returned into himself and knew that he was nothing but an angel; knew that he was like men on earth who receive Divine truth from the Lord; knew that with him there could be no conjunction, which is the end of all worship, but only consociation; and knew that the Lord alone is to be acknowledged and worshiped from the heart by angels and men consociated as brethren, since only with Him is conjunction given. Therefore the angel of the Apocalypse spoke to John as he did, from that wisdom given in the light of heaven in which alone angels excel men. And then he was inspired to add, as the reason the Lord alone was to be worshiped: "for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

     Although prediction stands out most sharply it was not the only element in prophecy. The accurate foreannouncement of future events was indeed a mark of the true prophet, for we read in Deuteronomy: "When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken" (18:22). But the essential test was whether the prophet's words led to good or to evil, whether he taught truth or falsity; for it is written also in the same book: "If there arise among you a prophet . . . and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spoke unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet" (13:1-3). In other words, the prophets were not so much foretellers as forthtellers. Their essential function was not to disclose the future but to reveal Divine truth, and thereby lead to the good of life.
     As those to whom the Word was revealed, and who then wrote and taught the Word in immediate application to the urgent needs of the time, the prophets of the Lord represent in the scripture the Word itself and the doctrine of genuine truth from the Lord through the Word; and also the doctrine of the church and of faith from the Word, Divinely accommodated to human understanding and needs, and leading to the good of life. And because the prophetic Word is the Word in the letter, and worship is from and according to the Word, they represent as well the externals of doctrine and of worship. This, then, is what is meant by "prophecy" in our text, for prophecy has the same signification as the prophets-the Word itself and the doctrine of genuine truth from it, and the externals of doctrine and worship in the church.
     By the "spirit of prophecy" is therefore meant the life and soul of these things, for in the Word "spirit" and "life" ever mean the same-that in which their very life consists, which animates them as forms of life, and which imparts spiritual life through them to those who are able to receive it.

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This inner life, which is the Divine truth proceeding from the Divine good, the Holy Spirit, is said in the text to be the "testimony of Jesus." What, then, is meant by that testimony, and by the revelation through the angel to John that it is the indwelling life of the Word, of doctrine thence, and of all genuine worship in the church on earth?
     To testify is to bear witness. In the absolute sense, only the Lord can bear witness of Himself, and this by means of the Divine truth which proceeds from Him. With reference to the Word itself, the truth here revealed is that the very life of the Sacred Scripture is in, and from, the indwelling threefold internal sense; and that in that sense the Word treats only of the Lord-of His glorification and work of redemption, of how He is to be acknowledged and worshiped, and of how man ought to live that he may be regenerated and brought into conjunction with the Lord.
     These are actually the only things that are taught in the Word from beginning to end; for the persons, places, and events mentioned in the letter are not its subjects but the ultimate forms in which those subjects are expressed. And this universal truth concerning the internal of the Word, that the Word is the Lord and treats only of Him and the laws of His kingdom; this truth now openly revealed in the Writings and foreshadowed in the words of the angel, is what is meant by: "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."
     But these words relate also to the doctrine the church draws from the Word and to the worship which is offered from that doctrine. And in this connection they mean that the very soul and life of doctrine and worship is the acknowledgment of the Lord in His Divine Human as the God of heaven and earth, and conjunction with Him through a life according to His precepts. Because of the very nature of the Word now revealed, that it is written concerning the Lord alone and His kingdom, nothing else but these two essentials is taught in all doctrine that is from the Word; and only when they are taught, therefore, is the doctrine genuine and infilled with life from the Lord. Similarly, because the end of all true worship is conjunction with the Lord, and obedience to the commandments is the only means thereto, the life and soul of all worship that is derived from the Lord, and therefore the one end all its external forms seek to promote, is the more perfect confession of the Lord and the more complete understanding and acceptance of His precepts as the Divine law of spiritual, moral, and civil life.
     And this it is that testifies of the Lord, that bears witness in heaven and on earth in the church. For the Lord, who alone can witness, testifies concerning Himself in those who are in love, charity, and spiritual faith. He flows, secretly, into their heart and life and teaches them in the Word, especially about His Divine Human, for He gives them to think of God under a human form.

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And they alone can be given to testify in heaven and the church who are thus in conjunction with Him. Indeed, they are themselves the testimony of Jesus. For by these words is signified also the attestation of the Lord in heaven that man is His, thus that man is in heaven among the angels; and this attestation can be given to those only who have been brought into conjunction with the Lord through acknowledgment of His Divine Human and the keeping of His commandments In the sense that life is use, the Lord's life is the salvation of men; and heaven and the church are that in which His life is, and the means to their formation are what bear witness of Him.

     The revelation of these truths in the Writings-the revelation of the Lord and of the Lord as, and in, the Word; and the revelation of the internal of the Word, of genuine doctrine, and of true worship-is what is meant by the second coming of the Lord. It is the meaning also of the new gospel which the apostles were commissioned to preach in the spiritual world. For when the Divine Human is seen and acknowledged as the God of heaven and earth, when the Lord is perceived as the inmost of the Word and the Word as a revelation of Him and His kingdom, and day by day obedience to His commandments as the very life of worship, the Lord God Jesus Christ can reign in the hearts and minds of men as never before and establish in them an everlasting kingdom.
     Until the Heavenly Doctrine was given, it was not really known wherein lay the holiness of the Word. Men of simple faith indeed believed that the spirit quickened, and sought to find it within the letter which killeth. They believed that the words which the Lord had spoken to them were spirit and life, but what the spirit and life of His words was eluded them. Then, as the Christian Church declined, doctrine led further and further away from the acknowledgment of the Lord and a life according to His precepts, and the real purpose of worship came to be more and more completely misunderstood. The Word became a dead letter. Doctrine and worship were reduced to lifeless forms. And the truth that "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" existed nowhere under heaven, save potentially in the minds of good spirits and of some men on earth with whom the New Church could, and would, be formed.
     It is this truth that has now been restored by the second coming of the Lord in the Heavenly Doctrine; restored, and also revealed as it could not be before. The Writings not only give the church an entirely new conception of the Lord. They give an entirely new conception of the Word as being, inmostly, the Lord Himself; not merely about Him, or even His own statements about Himself, but the Divine wisdom which is Himself, adapted to all human states and needs, and giving form to His Divine love.

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They reveal that in its internals the Word speaks only of the Lord, of His Divine operations in leading and saving men, and of the means He has provided for their conjunction with Him. And in so doing they not only resolve the agelong mystery of the holiness of the Word. They also show plainly what should be the sole purpose behind the systematic study of the Word and engagement in that external worship which the Word enjoins on men-the more full and rational vision and acknowledgment of the Lord, and the more complete and intelligent application of His precepts to every phase of life.
     In the true church on earth that is formed by the Lord these things will be perceived and done. Therefore we are told that in that church there will be no doctrine which does not look to the life of His precepts from acknowledgment of Him, and no external worship that does not have within it a living internal. This means, in effect, that the organized church truly lives, is in active communication with heaven through the presence of the Lord, only to the extent that all its derived doctrines are animated interiorly by the acknowledgment of the Lord and look to obedience to His commandments, and that its worship expresses a heartfelt willingness and desire to be led by the Lord away from self and the world to conjunction with Him. This must be the supreme aim in all our systematic study of doctrine and interest in it-that we may see the Lord more clearly, expand and infill our conception of Him, and so be able to confess Him more perfectly; and that by learning more and more of His teachings, seeing their interior meaning, and reflecting upon their application to our lives, we may understand better how to keep His commandments. For nothing else is taught in the Writings, despite their vast extent, and their many teachings have been given solely that we may do these two things. Similarly, behind all the external pressures of custom, habit, public opinion, and mixed motives of satisfaction and desire that lead men to public worship there must be formed, or sought, a purpose of submitting to the Lord's leading in all things of life. For it is these aims that give life to our doctrinal studies and formal devotions.

     The Christian Church has always believed that it has a commission to bear witness, but what that mission was has been understood only externally. Now, however, the internal truth is revealed. The truth witness of the church is spiritual. It is borne as the church is given by the Lord to testify concerning Him; and this is given in the measure that men enter interiorly into the Heavenly Doctrine-as they acknowledge the Lord from the heart, believe in Him from spiritual faith, and keep His sayings by doing the uses of charity.
     As this is done, the church will maintain the purity of its doctrine while advancing more and more into interiors. It will receive from the Lord that perception of truth from good which ever opens new avenues of truth and of use.

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And its members will be consociated, as brethren with brethren, with the angels of the New Angelic Heaven in the worship of the Lord. Its State, the state represented by John in the Apocalypse, will make it a fellow servant with the New Heaven, and a brother to those angels who have the testimony of Jesus; and the church in heaven and on earth will be united in the worship of the Divine Human. The New Heaven will become the internal of the church on earth, and from it the Heavenly Doctrine will descend into the minds of men. And then indeed will the tabernacle of God be with men, and God will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and He will be their God. Amen.

     LESSONS: Revelation 19:1-16. Apocalypse Revealed, 819.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 435, 478, 480.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 81, 93.
HEAVENLY CITY 1956

HEAVENLY CITY Rev. JAN H. WEISS 1956

     A New Church Day Talk to Children

     The apostle John, who was a man of God, was given a special privilege while he was living alone in the Isle of Patmos. He was chosen by the Lord to see into heaven. Most people can never see into heaven while they are living on this earth. They may even be in heaven as to their spirits, but they cannot see all the wonderful things there. They can only feel a little of the peace of heaven. Only with a few people does the Lord open the eyes that can see heaven, the eyes of the spirit, and when He does so He always has a special purpose in mind.
     One of the things that John saw in heaven was a wonderful city which was called the New Jerusalem. It was a city made by the Lord, and lived in by those only who love the Lord and are good.
     Before you can live happily in a city you need a number of things. First of all, you need to believe that the city really exists. Then you need to know how to get to it, how to enter the city, and how to find your way from one place in the city to another. For if you did not know these things you could never come near to the city or live in it. But above all, you need a home there in which to live, eat and sleep.
     But do you think that these things would be sufficient? Could you be happy in a city in which you did not have any friends! Would you be safe on the streets if you did not know the traffic laws of the city? The answer is, of course, No.

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Without friends you would be very lonely and unhappy, and if you did not know the traffic laws you would not dare to go out on the streets.
     The city that the apostle John saw is the heaven to which all good people of today go. When you are in that city you are very close to the Lord, for He Himself lives there. And the people who live in the city are all very happy, for the Lord gives them everything they need-food, clothing, a house, and many other wonderful things.
     Every one of you is invited by the Lord to come and live in that city, just like all the other angels. But if you would like to live there, you must first believe that there really is such a beautiful and happy city of the Lord. And then you will have to find out how you can reach that city, how you can enter it, and how you can receive a house there. Then you will need to learn how the city is planned so that you can find your way around in it. But above all, you will need to learn the laws of that city, for otherwise you would not be safe and happy there.
     Yes, before you can live in that city you must learn quite a number of things: And while you are learning them you may sometimes become discouraged, for the task may seem very hard. But those boys and girls who give up learning can never reach the city. They can never be happy there. So do not give up, because it is well worth while to keep on trying.
     But, you may ask, where do I learn all these things? Is there a map? Is there a book with laws in it? Yes, there are. The Lord Himself has written books in which He tells us all about the city, New Jerusalem, how to reach it, and how to live in it safely and happily. These books, taken together, are called the Lord's Word. From them you can learn many things about that wonderful heavenly city, and through them each one of you may become one of its citizens.
     On this Nineteenth Day of June we are all thinking joyfully about the fact that the Lord explained through Swedenborg more fully than He ever did to John just how we may come to that city. It was on this day that the Lord announced to everyone in the spiritual world that He had made this new city, and through Swedenborg He has told the people of this earth about it.
     And you are fortunate indeed to hear these glad tidings every year, for as yet only a few people know about that city. Listen carefully, therefore, to what the Lord says in His Word about it, and about how you may one day live in it. Do the things that the Lord requires of you, and also tell others about this city. Only then will you be able to enter into this heavenly city and live in it. Only then will you be near the Lord, forever and ever.

     LESSONS: Revelation 21:1-14. Apocalypse Revealed, 879.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 479, 425, 438.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. C12, C16.

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MEMORIAL ADDRESS for The Right Reverend Alfred Acton 1956

MEMORIAL ADDRESS for The Right Reverend Alfred Acton GEORGE DE CHARMS 1956

     (Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, April 30, 1956.)

     "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." (Psalm 116:15)

     The Lord has called into the spiritual world one who, by a long life of complete devotion and outstanding service, has won the profound affection and gratitude of New Church men everywhere in the world. Being deprived of his visible presence among us will unavoidably bring to all who knew him a deep sense of loss. Yet we know in our hearts that although his Divinely appointed task on earth is ended, his use will go on; indeed, it will be increased beyond measure in that new life which now is opening before him. His mind, with all its wealth of knowledge acquired by years of constant study, and his heart, imbued with a passionate love of spiritual truth, still live, liberated from the binding limitations of the material body, free as never before to perform uses of surpassing value, both to those with whom he will be consciously associated in the spiritual world and to the cause of the New Church on earth, which he loved so well. The uses of the two worlds, although they seem to be utterly distinct, are so inseparably intertwined, under the merciful providence of the Lord, that in His sight they are one, each performing an indispensable service to the other. Death is not a distant removal to some alien realm. Our lives are being profoundly influenced every day and every hour by those who have passed through its gates. Their invisible uses bring us perpetual enrichment and untold spiritual blessing, in ways that were not possible as long as they remained on earth. Such are the eternal uses to which the Lord constantly looks, and for which He secretly prepares each one during the life of the body; and this is one reason why it is said, in the words of the Psalmist: "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." The reference is not primarily to the death of the body, but rather to the death or rejection of those evil affections and false ideas which spring from man's proprium.

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As far as these are rejected they are said to "die" because they are deprived of their power to influence man's thought and will. Just in that degree man can receive heavenly love and wisdom from the Lord. By "saints," when mentioned in the Word, are meant, in the abstract sense, Divine truths (AE 610), and in a relative sense, all who receive the truths of heaven in faith and life (AE 695). "Death" signifies regeneration; and this is effected solely by the Lord, just so far as men seek the truth of His Word, learn to love it, and to live according to it. That man may do this is the supreme purpose of human life, the end of providence, that is most precious in the sight of the Lord, because it enables Him to give of His life to man, full measure, pressed down and overflowing, with eternal increase of happiness and use.
Our beloved friend, Alfred Acton, gave his entire life to a diligent search for the spiritual truth revealed by the Lord in the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem; and this solely to the end that he might thereby promote the genuine growth of the New Church in his own life, and in the lives of all whose minds could be opened to receive that truth. To this task he brought rare gifts of profound scholarship, outstanding ability as a teacher, and that spirit of charity which springs from a deep regard for the freedom of others. He was a man of strong convictions, fearless and outspoken in defense of whatever he believed to be the truth; but he never permitted differences of opinion to destroy a personal friendship nor to detract from his concern for the protection of the uses in which others were engaged. His was a constantly inquiring mind, with wide and varied interests, never satisfied with superficial knowledge, but probing to the core of any subject that attracted his attention. His boundless energy and powers of concentration were a source of wonder and admiration to all his fellow workers. His keen analysis of the doctrines, his ability to accommodate them, to illustrate their practical application and bring them vividly to the minds of his hearers, both children and adults, will long be remembered with deep affection and appreciation.
This is neither the time nor the occasion to undertake an account of Bishop Acton's long and astonishingly active life. We can do no more than mention a few of those outstanding accomplishments which may remind us how deeply both the Academy and the General Church are indebted to him for his indefatigable labors on their behalf. He devoted more than half a century of uninterrupted service to the Academy as a teacher, a professor, and for many years as Dean of the Theological School. In addition to his scholastic work he ministered to many societies and circles as visiting pastor in response to the needs of the church, and everywhere inspired the affection and gratitude of all who benefited from his able ministrations. Since his ordination into the third degree of the priesthood in 1936, he has given invaluable assistance and counsel to the episcopal office, and we would bear affectionate testimony to his unfailing loyalty and kindly friendship.

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By his skill and arduous labor in translating the works of Swedenborg from the original manuscripts, Bishop Acton has made available to the church many volumes, both in the field of theology and in that of philosophy. A prolific writer, he has bequeathed to future scholars a rich heritage of thought from which the church Will derive untold benefit. His voluminous notes on every phase of Swedenborg's life will be the basis for a definitive biography of the seer, which Bishop Acton himself would have dearly loved to write, and which will go far toward silencing the many detractors of Swedenborg who would seek to discredit his claim to be the servant of the Lord and the instrument of the Lord's second advent.
     Bishop Acton was deeply impressed with the importance of Swedenborg's philosophical works as essential to his preparation for his Divine mission, and as necessary to the full understanding of the spiritual truth revealed in the Writings. He was a charter member of the Swedenborg Scientific Association, and for a long time was editor of its official journal, through which, as a publishing medium, much of his translation work was carried on. He was a prime mover in the task of photolithographing and making photostat copies of the original manuscripts to insure their preservation for posterity. And by diligent search during his travels in Europe he was instrumental in collecting the replica of Swedenborg's library, at present placed at the disposal of students in Room 17 at the Academy.
     But we loved Bishop Acton also for his personal qualities as a sympathetic and understanding friend, as a genial host whose home was a center, not only for the discussion of spiritual subjects, but for the jovial and happy sphere that was so characteristic of the old Academy. Several generations of students will long remember with keen delight the songs and laughter that enlivened their gatherings there, as well as the valuable instruction they received.
     We cannot help thinking, on this day of Bishop Acton's resurrection, of the great joy that awaits his reunion with his beloved wife, the gentle companion who shared all his earthly trials and achievements, and who preceded him into the other world by less than a year. It cannot be long before they will enter their eternal home where together they will take up those spiritual and heavenly uses for which their life on earth prepared them. Surely it would be their dearest wish that the bonds of affection and gratitude which bind us so closely to them might bring the spiritual world nearer to us, make its reality more tangible, and strengthen our hearts in the love of the Heavenly Doctrine to the end that their labors might bear fruit in establishing the New Church with us and with our children.

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For this was the hope and the goal to which they gave their all. They would wish us to lift up our hearts in praise and thanksgiving unto the Lord for His merciful care of His church, knowing that in calling them into His heavenly kingdom, He is ever mindful of His own. For "precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." With them we would say: "O Lord, truly I am Thy servant; I am Thy servant and the son of Thine handmaid: Thou hast loosed my bonds. I will offer unto Thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto the Lord in the presence of all His people, in the courts of the Lord's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem." Amen.

[EDITORIAL NOTE: No biographical sketch could do justice to the life and work of the Right Rev. Alfred Acton. The first installment of a biography covering his career in uses in the General Church, the Academy of the New Church, and the Swedenborg Scientific Association will appear in our July issue.]
MEN AND WOMEN IN THE WORD 1956

MEN AND WOMEN IN THE WORD 1956

     Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob

     "There are in every man an internal man, a rational man that is intermediate, and an external which is properly called the natural man. With the Lord these were represented by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the internal man by Abraham, the rational by Isaac, and the natural by Jacob. The internal man in the Lord was Jehovah Himself. . . . The Divine rational itself is represented by Isaac; but the first rational before it was made Divine, by Ishmael" (Arcana Coelestia, 1893).

     Sarai and Hagar

     "Sarai, who was the mistress or lady, represents and signifies truth adjoined to good, as already said. Truth adjoined to good is intellectual truth in the genuine sense, but rational truth is beneath this and is therefore lower; and this rational truth is born from scientifics and cognitions vivified by the affection that corresponds to them, and this affection, being of the exterior man, ought to serve the intellectual truth that appertains to the inmost man, as a handmaid serves her lady, or a household servant her mistress; and therefore this affection is what is represented and signified by the 'handmaid Hagar' " (Arcana Coelestia, 1895).

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ADMINISTRATION OF THE HOLY SUPPER 1956

ADMINISTRATION OF THE HOLY SUPPER Rev. W. CAIRNS HENDERSON 1956

     A Brief Historical Survey

     (Delivered to the Council of the Clergy, Bryn Athyn, Pa., January 24, 1956.)

     Apostolic and Sub-apostolic Usages

     There is evidence that the Holy Supper, though not yet a liturgy, was established as a formal observance in the apostolic and sub-apostolic churches. The first Epistle to the Corinthians describes the institution and refers to the Holy Supper as a rite observed by the Christians in Corinth as the chief feature of a religious meal, in connection with which abuses had already arisen (I Corinthians 11:23-26). And Paul also refers to the cup as the "cup of blessing" (ibid., 10:16).
     These references are too allusive to be of much assistance; but Justin Martyr's account of the administration of the Eucharist in his day-about fifty years after the death of the apostle John-has been preserved and is possibly the earliest record. He describes a simple administration, associated with thanksgiving, of bread and of wine mixed with water. The administration, which was restricted to baptized believers, took place every Sunday after the sermon, with the bishop officiating; and the elements were not only received by all present but were also carried by the deacons to those who had been absent. It is implied that a common cup was used. Finally, in the catacombs of St. Calixtus there is a representation of the Eucharist, probably earlier than 150 A.D., a fish bearing two baskets of small round leaves, and in the center of the bread a flask of red wine.

     Post-Nicene Practice

     An examination of early liturgies shows a fairly uniform rubric, with the thanksgiving becoming increasingly elaborate. The Eucharist was administered in both kinds; the wine was still mixed with water, and thus diluted was quickly identified with the blood mingled with water that flowed from the Lord's side; and emphasis was upon communion. Where the rubric makes specific reference it is to a common cup or chalice.

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     Transubstantiation: Mass and Communion

     With the adoption of the doctrine of transubstantiation in the 12th century, after hundreds of years of controversy, the idea of the Holy Supper was radically changed. Attention came to be centered on the act of consecration as the supreme mystery of religion; Thomas Aquinas maintaining that the Eucharist was completed in the consecration, whereas the other sacraments were completed in the application of their matter to the sanctification of the individual (Summa III., Ixxx:12). Sacrifice became dominant, and the idea of communion was displaced by that of adoration and worship.
     Among other changes, this led to the elevation and adoration of the host-the elevation of the chalice following a century later-and to the withdrawing of the cup from the laity. This last began in the 12th century and was defended by Aquinas in the 13th, though he held that communion in both kinds was permissible and that it was required of the celebrant. Communion in both kinds continued even at Rome into the 14th century; but the Council of Constance, 1415 A.D., made communion in one kind compulsory for the laity in the churches that follow the Western Rite, on the ground that "the body and blood of Christ are contained entire both under the species of bread and under the species of wine." Modern Catholics regard the withholding of the cup from the laity as a discipline based on convenience (Maynard, The Catholic Way, p. 100); and point out that they are encouraged to receive communion in both kinds occasionally in a church following the Eastern Rite. But the hidden reason, disclosed in the Writings, is that the division of the Communion was permitted under the Divine Providence lest the Holy Supper be interiorly profaned; for when the elements are separated, the wine signifies profaned truth and the bread adulterated good (see DP 257:6; AE 1054e; SD 6059; cf. AR 793e). The Roman usage may also reflect the fact that that church gives the people natural good, but withholds the truth from them.
     The most profound effect of the doctrine of transubstantiation on Catholic practice was that it led to a distinction between Mass and Communion that is not always realized by non-Catholics. The Mass itself is a sacrifice, an "unbloody Calvary," renewed and represented. It is not thought of as a service which the layman attends but as one in which all assist; for all the baptized are held to have a real though not a sacerdotal priesthood, and the sacrifice is offered by all present along with the officiating priest. Christ is the Victor, but the priest and the worshipers are victors also by identifying themselves with Christ as members of His mystical body. Each worshiper undergoes a kind of mystical death by which he is united to the sacrifice on the altar.

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     The Communion which begins with the Domini non sum dignus, "Lord, I am not worthy"-is not necessarily partaken of by those who have thus "assisted" in the sacrifice; and many who go to Mass regularly present themselves infrequently for Communion. Mass must be attended on Sundays and all holy days of obligation, and to neglect this is mortal sin; but Communion is required only once a year as part of the Easter duties. The distinction is summed up in the phrase "It is the Mass that matters." The consecrated bread and wine are believed to be transubstantiated-converted, in all except appearance, into the flesh and blood of Christ, who in every particle and drop is really and truly present as God and Man; and the essential union with Him takes place, not in Communion, but with the sacrifice on the altar.

     Protestant Concepts

     The effect of the Reformation on the Holy Supper was much greater than the restoration of the cup to the laity. It led to numerous interpretations, ranging from a non-sacrificial memorial and a pledge of Christian fellowship to sacramental presence in which special grace is offered, and even to divisions. Luther's doctrine, reaffirmed in the Formula of Concord, is that there is a sacramental union between the substance of the bread and wine and that of Christ's body, the bread and wine remaining bread and wine; and that the benefits of the real presence depend upon the communicant's state, although he is the recipient of grace. Calvinism held that the sacraments are external symbols of grace-blessings peculiar to the elect; and that the Lord's Supper offers through its earthly symbols both a spiritual fellowship and the mysterious presence of Christ mediated by the Spirit. The Supper is therefore more than commemorative, the view of Zwingli; and in contrast to the real bodily presence of Lutheran doctrine, it is essentially a covenant of spiritual influence. A number of other views were developed; and each one, together with the theology behind it, has had its effect upon the modes of administration of the Holy Supper.

     Modes of Administration

     These vary so widely that we can do no more here than summarize the leading practices.

     The Celebrant. In most Christian churches only an ordained priest or minister may celebrate Mass or Communion. However, in the Presbyterian Church, and in some other denominations, the elements are carried to the communicants by the elders, although the minister officiates; and in those evangelical sects which do not have an ordained ministry the "breaking of bread" is presided over by a lay elder or other functionary.

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Christian Science has no Holy Supper; spiritual communion with the one God is said to be its Eucharist.

     The Elements. Unleavened bread, broken, is used in the Roman Church; leavened or bakery bread, cut, in the Greek Orthodox. Protestant churches differ in their practice, and some use either kind of bread according to convenience. Similarly, some denominations will use only fermented wine, others prefer grape juice, and in a few sects water takes the place of wine.

     Place of Reception. In the Roman Church and the churches of the Anglican communion the Holy Supper is received at the altar, the communicants kneeling at the altar rail. Protestant custom varies, for in some denominations the communicants advance to the communion table, which takes the place of the altar, and in others the elements are brought to them in the pews. It is possible that there are still small congregations in which the elements are distributed as the communicants sit around the table.

     Mode of Reception. Both the bread and the wine are distributed variously in different churches. In the Roman Church the consecrated wafer is placed on the tongue; in Protestant churches it is either placed in the hand by the distributing clergyman or offered on a paten to the communicant, who takes a portion himself. In some churches each communicant eats the bread as he receives it; in others it is customary for the table to wait until all have been served, when all then eat the bread together. The wafer of the Roman Church is dipped in wine when carried to the sick and infirm.
     As far as the wine is concerned, the main difference, already mentioned, is that Western Rite Catholics receive Communion only in one kind, the wine being reserved for the priest. In Protestant churches the wine may be distributed in a common chalice or cup, or in individual cups. There is so much variety here, and not necessarily on denominational lines, that it is impossible to enumerate; but individual cups are never used in the churches of the Anglican communion, although they are commonly found in the Lutheran and Methodist Churches. In some churches both wine and grape juice are offered at the same administration. We have not been able to establish the approximate date of the individual cup. Although hygienic and esthetic reasons predominated in its introduction, there seems also to have been pressure from the temperance groups in those churches which used fermented wine and distributed the elements in the pews; the feeling being that it was not safe to trust the weaker brethren with a common cup in the pew!

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     Frequency of Administration. There is considerable variety also in the frequency with which churches observe the Sacrament of the Supper. In the Roman Church, of course, Mass is celebrated daily, attendance on Sundays and on holy days of obligation is required, and the Lateran Council (1215 A.D.) fixed reception of Communion once a year at Easter as the minimum for remaining in communion with the Church. In most Anglican churches Holy Communion is celebrated at least once a week, and a minimum attendance at Easter Communion has become a tradition for many if not a requirement. In other Protestant churches the Lord's Supper may be offered monthly, quarterly, or two or three times a year; and there are some evangelical sects which observe a "breaking of bread" every Lord's Day. Perhaps it might be mentioned here that the few references in the Writings to receiving the Holy Supper "two or three times a year" or "several times a year" are not necessarily indicative of what should be our practice; they occur in passages dealing with self-examination, which teach that the period of preparation to receive the Holy Supper is a useful time for such examination, and the reference may simply be to the current practice.

     Access. Some churches have a closed communion, reserving the Holy Supper for baptized members who must also be in good standing; the Church of England, for example, refuses Communion to divorcees. In other churches there is what may be called a "closed congregational communion." That is, it is not sufficient for the communicant to be a baptized member; he must be a member of the specific congregation in which he desires to partake of Communion. The closed communion involves, of course, the concept of the priest as guardian as well as administrator of the sacraments. Many churches, however, have an open communion; though both in them and in those which do not there are differences as to the minimum age for receiving Communion.

     The New Church

     General Convention. The most recent information we have been able to find is contained in the report, published in 1926, of a committee appointed by the Council of Ministers. This includes a study of the communion wine from the standpoint of those who regard fermented wine as the proper element; a study from the point of view of those who prefer grape juice; and a study leading to the view that the precise form of the external observance is unimportant, what is important being the affection and thought of the worshipers.

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The committee recommended that no attempt be made to legislate in regard to the bread and wine of the Holy Supper, deprecated agitation, and urged fuller and more regular communion. The statistics appended are, of course, now thirty years old, and may not reflect present usage, but they are of interest as showing the practice of Convention churches in 1926.
     Thus the Holy Supper was received in the pews in 61 societies and at the altar rail in 19; 2 societies preferred the latter course, but found it inconvenient. Matzoth were used in 33 societies, crackers in 19, unleavened bread individually prepared in 25, bakery bread in 2, and 2 reported using any kind of bread that was convenient. Fifty-four societies reported using fermented wine, grape juice was used in 24, 4 used either according to convenience, and 1 used both. The common cup was in use in 40 societies, 37 used individual cups, and 2 reported using either, presumably at different administrations.

     General Conference. We have not been able to find a comparable report for the General Conference. However, the following things may be stated from experience, and with the proviso that some of them may have changed in recent years. The history of the administration of the Holy Supper in that body has been colored by the "wine question" and by an occasional raising of the view that the affection and thought of the communicant are all that matter. The tendency in the past was to follow local usage; in the London societies the communicants knelt at the altar rail, in the Scottish societies the elements were distributed by the elders to the communicants in the pews. The common cup and individuals cups were used in different societies; some congregations used unleavened bread, others bakery bread which was sometimes cut. In some societies fermented wine was used, others preferred grape juice. In at least one society both wine and grape juice were offered in individual cups at the same administration, the tray being divided down the middle and a small ticket on each side indicating what was contained in the cups; and at the administration of the Holy Supper at the Annual Conference, when the elements were distributed in the pews, one side of the church was set apart for those who wished to receive wine, the other for those who preferred grape juice. Statistics indicate that the total number of communicants per year equals a little more than one-fourth of the total membership of Conference, and that the number of administrations per year in the societies ranges from two to fifteen.
     As far as we know, all societies in Conference and Convention have an open communion.

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It is a matter of record, however, that at one time in the past the "New England heresy" led to a dosed congregational communion where it was accepted.
HOLY SUPPER 1956

HOLY SUPPER Rev. ELMO C. ACTON 1956

     (Delivered to the Council of the Clergy, Bryn Athyn, Pa., January 24, 1956.)

     In this study I have tried to discover from the Writings what things, in the administration of the Holy Supper, are essential to effect its full use. I have come to the conclusion that the following are such: the priesthood, unleavened bread and fermented wine, the breaking of the bread, the eating and drinking of the bread and wine, and the use of the words spoken by the Lord in instituting the Sacrament of the Supper (see Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19, 20).
     Last year there was some difference among us in the use of the word "essential." I think the following number clearly explains how that word may be used. "Essential and instrumental are relative terms, that is, an essential is so called because it acts by means of another thing as by its instrument or organ. But when another thing acts by means of that which was essential, then this becomes instrumental, and so on. Moreover, in the created universe there is not anything essential in itself; this exists only in the Highest, that is, in the Lord, who, because He is Esse or the Essential in itself, is called Jehovah from esse. All other things are only instrumental" (AC 5948:3). When I say that the abovementioned things are essential to the administration of the Holy Supper, I mean that without them what it is instituted to effect cannot be fully realized with man and in the church.
     From the studies of last year I think we are in agreement about the use of representatives in the New Church; namely, that while all adopted representatives have been abolished, other representatives may, and should, be used in the external worship of the church. But this general principle cannot apply in the same way to the two sacraments, Baptism and the Holy Supper, for the number which speaks of representatives being abolished says that these two were retained: "When the Lord came into the world, He annulled representatives . . . and instituted a church, all things of which were to be internal. . . . Of all these representatives the Lord retained but two, which should include in one complex all things pertaining to the interior church" (TCR 670).

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     Therefore we are left no choice in regard to these two external representative rites. However, the new law of representatives applies even to these, namely, that "since the coming of the Lord . . . man is not regarded in heaven from external things, but from internal ones" (AC 1003); and that "what are called the holy things of the church are not holy unless they are solemnly received; for unless they are solemnly received, the Divine does not flow into them, and all the holy things with man are holy merely from the Divine influx" (AC 10,208: 3). The correspondence now must be in the worshiper as well as in these two external representative acts of worship (see WE 5478; AC 1295, 4208, 4288).
     We are not here considering the internal of worship. Our question is: Given the internal of worship-the Lord, charity and faith-what external things are essential? In these notes we take the internal state for granted.
     We would first point out that no external act of worship, even the sacraments, is essential to an individual's salvation. "No one is damned on account of the omission of external rites; but on account of evils of the heart, thus on account of the omission of them from evil of heart" (AC 9965:2). Note the emphasis of the closing phrase-"the omission of them from evil of heart." We believe that it is of great importance to have this in mind. For if the Holy Supper were essential to salvation we would possibly be permitted to make many accommodations in its administration; but since it is not, we need not feel that we are withholding the means of salvation from anyone when we refuse to make an accommodation to a particular state. For example, if we determine that fermented wine is essential to the full use of the Holy Supper, and someone has scruples about the use of such wine, let him refrain from taking the Supper; we need not make an accommodation to his state. So is it with all the other things of its administration. It is only when true external order is omitted from necessity (SD 6059) that internal states remain unharmed.
     For what purposes was the Holy Supper instituted? This must be considered first if we are to determine what is essential in the mode of its administration. "The Holy Supper was instituted by the Lord that by it there may be conjunction of the church with heaven, thus with the Lord: therefore it is the most holy thing of worship" (HD 210). It is therefore "the primary thing of external worship, because it is the Lord's Divine Human that is there given" (AC 2811). It was instituted that "heaven might be conjoined with the human race, and in particular with the man of the church" (AE 475:21); and that what is holy might be preserved with the men of the church, since "without some outward symbol there would be scarcely anything holy with them" (TCR 55; cf. AC 1083).

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"The Holy Supper includes and comprehends the whole of the Divine worship instituted in the Israelitish Church . . . hence also the Holy Supper is its completion" (HID 214). "Of necessity, every church must be both internal and external" (AC 1083): and we are taught that the Holy Supper was instituted by the Lord "in order that by it there might be a conjunction of all things of heaven, that is, of all things of the Lord, with the man of the church" (AC 9393:5); that man might be introduced into the practice of repentance, and be confirmed in the regenerate life (AR 531:6, 224); that he might receive the benefits of the Lord's redemption (TCR 717); that he might be fed with spiritual food (ibid. 709); and that the church and the man of the church might look to the Lord alone, and the whole doctrine of the Divine Human be established and confirmed (ibid. 700).
     In these teachings we see two general things which must be separated in thought although in actuality they are one. These are: 1) The use of the Holy Supper in establishing the essential use of the church-the conjunction between angels and men, between heaven and the human race; 2) The use of the Holy Supper to the individual man of the church in his regeneration.
     In regard to the latter, we think that accommodations might be made which would not be permissible in a church administration. Since the Holy Supper is not necessary to the salvation of the individual, certain accommodations might be permissible if made from a necessity arising from the state of the individual; but the official administrations of the church should be exactly according to the order revealed in the Word. We would not have you think that the communication between heaven and the church call be established apart from the individual man of the church; yet we think that in our ideas a distinction should be made between the individual as a subject of salvation and the individual as a man of the church. In the one we see the individual and the needs of his state; in the other we see the use of the church-the use which is the Lord's and in which man cooperates, looking, not to himself and his own salvation, but to the Lord's end in creation.
     We are thinking of the teaching that the people outside the church, who are not in possession of the Word, have light through those with whom the Word is rightly understood; through a church "where the Word is, and the Lord is thereby known" (TCR 268). For this church the Divinely ordered celebration of the Holy Supper as revealed in the Word is essential to its use (see SD 5842); then its use can extend to others.
     The doctrines of series, degrees and ultimates, demand that for the church on earth there be ultimate acts in which all interior things are closed and brought together.

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Baptism and the Holy Supper are those ultimates in the church; and without them all the interior things of the church would be dissipated, for they would lack that in which they are closed and brought together (AC 4735, 8762:2).
     What, then, are the ultimates necessary to the right administration of the Holy Supper? That the priesthood is essential was established last year. So we go on to ask: Are unleavened bread and fermented wine essential? Let us first examine the sequence of the teachings given in TCR 667-669.
     In these numbers we are taught that the use of the Holy Supper cannot be known except from the spiritual sense of the Word, which involves a knowledge of correspondences, representatives and significatives; that without a knowledge of the spiritual sense of the Word no one can know what the two sacraments, Baptism and the Holy Supper, involve and effect; and that the spiritual sense is now revealed because the Christian Church, such as it is in itself, is just now in its very beginning.
     In nos. 700 and 701 of the same work it is stated that because for the first time Christianity itself is beginning to dawn, and a New Church is now being established, it has pleased the Lord to reveal the spiritual sense of the Word in order that this church may enter into the real use and benefit of the two sacraments. And it is added that without a revelation of the correspondence of natural things with spiritual, the holiness of the sacraments here treated of can no more be interiorly recognized than the existence of a treasure hidden in a field. Nos. 702-710 treat at length of the correspondence, representation and signification, of blood, flesh, wine, bread, flour, oil, eating, and drinking; and the bread and wine referred to are the bread and wine of the representative church-unleavened bread and fermented wine. Then, in no. 711, it is said: "When all this is understood . . . it is clear for the first time that as the Lord's flesh and blood, and in like manner the bread and wine, mean Divine good and Divine truth, both from the Lord and both being the Lord, so the Holy Supper contains all things of heaven and the church, both in general and in particular;"
     This "is clear"-from what? From the spiritual signification of the elements and of the eating and drinking of them; and from the fact that in the whole treatment of the sacrifices it is clear that only unleavened bread and fermented wine have the correspondence and representation mentioned. The actual correspondence as given in the Writings is well known, and need not be spoken of here in particular. The statements concerning leavened bread in regard to the sacrifices are so strong that no one could possibly think of it as representing and corresponding to that which is given in the Holy Supper; and unless the correspondence can be seen the holiness cannot be seen and known, but can be attributed only in a general kind of way.

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Therefore without the use of unleavened bread and fermented wine there is not the ultimate correspondence necessary to the full use of the Holy Supper. For "correspondences have all power, insomuch that what is done on earth according to correspondences avails in heaven, because correspondences are from the Divine" (AC 8615:3).
     Note in this connection the statement that angels asked Swedenborg whether it had been disclosed by means of the science of correspondences what is signified by Baptism and the Holy Supper, and he replied that this was now disclosed (see CL 532). The men of the declining Christian Church had been withheld from any knowledge of these arcana lest they profane them (see AR 314); for knowledge of what is false produces a perverted understanding (ibid., 244e). But the arcana concerning the two sacraments are now disclosed for the use of the New Church.
     "The greatest power is in correspondences; because in them heaven and the world, or the spiritual and the natural, are together" (Inv. 59). "The two sacraments are correspondences of spiritual with natural things; thence is their strength and power" (ibid., 45). When men are in the ultimate idea of bread and wine, the angels are in the idea of charity and faith; and this cannot be with any bread and wine, but only with the bread and wine of the Holy Supper-unleavened bread and fermented wine (see AC 6987, 3464:2, 3735, 5915).
     How could the angels be in such thought from leavened bread when it is said: "'Whosoever eateth that which is leavened, that soul shall be cut off from the assemblage of Israel' . . . signifies that he who adjoins falsity to his good is damned, and will be separated from the spiritual church" (AC 7907); that "all evil is contagious, and pollutes as lees do the dough" (AC GG66e); and that unleavened bread signifies what is sincere, thus from a sincere heart, and free from uncleanness (see AC 2177:5).
     Although the Writings nowhere specify in so many words that unleavened bread and fermented wine must be used, they imply that such are the bread and wine of the Holy Supper. So when they say the bread and wine of the Holy Supper they mean, and can mean nothing else than, unleavened bread and fermented wine; for only these contain the correspondence of natural with spiritual things.
     From the law of the Holy Supper, the law of the correspondence of natural with heavenly things, it is plain also that the bread must be broken. Bread broken, not cut, signifies celestial things-bread broken by the hands, lips, teeth, muscles and fibres; which involves also that the bread should be chewed (see SD 2626, 2627; cf. AC 5405).
     That it is necessary to use the words of the institution-"bread," "body" and "flesh"; "wine" and "blood"-is clear to me from the following.

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"That the Lord so spake, namely, that he called the Divine good that proceeds from Him His flesh, and the Divine truth that proceeds from His Divine good His blood, was because the Word, which is from Him, was the Divine that fills the universal heaven. Such a Word must exist by means of correspondences, consequently must be representative and significative in each and all things, for thus and no otherwise it conjoins the man of the church with the angels of heaven" (AC 10,033:9; cf. AC 3316:3; AE 329:4-7, 71). The last of these numbers, in speaking of why water is mentioned instead of the truths of faith, gives the general law governing the conjunction of spiritual with natural things (see also AE 16).
     To emphasize this further we refer to the teaching that every interior idea with man must arise in the first place from some sensual image (see AC 2520, 9300). The sensual idea of flesh and blood, and then of bread and wine, gives an ultimate idea of the Divine good and truth as being real and substantial-the most real and the most substantial-without which full conjunction with the thought of the angels could not be effected. Thus, those in heaven are said to be in the Lord's body.
     How important this subject is becomes clear from those numbers which treat of the profanation of the Holy Supper with the Papists. We read: "To prevent their profaning the Holy Supper they were permitted, under the Lord's Divine Providence, to divide it, and to give the bread to the people and drink the wine themselves, for the wine in the Holy Supper signifies holy truth, and the bread holy good; but when these are separated the wine signifies profaned truth and the bread adulterated good and still further, they were permitted to make it corporeal and material, and to adopt this as the primary purpose of religion" (DP 257:6). In other words, by the separation of the bread and the wine in the administration of Communion to the people they were held to external profanation only (see also SD 6059; AC 10,040:2; AE 1054:4). The very fact that there could have been interior profanation seems to indicate that the law of representatives in the pre-advent churches still exists in regard to these two sacraments, which were retained from them. What would the Writings have said about the present practice of some Protestant churches?-using leavened, cut bread, and, or, grapejuice in the administration of the Holy Supper!
     The power of the Holy Supper to effect conjunction with the angels of heaven, and the importance of the kind of bread and wine given therein, are further strengthened and confirmed by the following numbers treating of spiritual and natural food. Because there are spirits with every man, they enjoy their food with the spirit of man when the body of man enjoys his (SD 3566). Natural foods correspond to spiritual foods; as bread to the good of love, wine to the truths thence derived, and all other meats and drinks to their own goods and truths in particular (AE 386:1).

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When a man is partaking of food, the angels with him are in the idea of good and truth, and, wonderful to say, with a difference according to the kind or species of the food. Thus when a man in the Holy Supper receives the bread and wine, the angels with him are in the idea of the good of love and the good of faith, for the reason that bread corresponds to the good of love and the wine to the good of faith; and because they correspond, they also signify the same in the Word (AC 5915).
     We read further that they who are spiritual nourish the blood from such things in nature as correspond to things spiritual, but they who are merely natural nourish it from such things in nature as correspond to them (Wis. x: 6[3]); and that food that is soft, and in which there is what is sweet, oily, and spirituous, is at once absorbed by the veins and carried into the circulation (AC 5175). The same applies not only to the substance of the food itself but also to the material spheres given off in the air. For we read that things from the atmosphere "man sucks in through the lungs and through the pores of the whole body" (TCR 470:2; cf. Wis x: 3 [2]); and that the blood attracts from the air in the lungs such things as are suitable to it, and such things are suitable to it as correspond to the affections and their love (DLW 420).
     Finally, what is said of feasts, and of the Holy Supper as a feast, shows that it should be an eating together, not only an individual feast (see AC 5405, 6078, 7996, 8352:3). We are told, for example, that the Jews ate together of the flesh of the sacrifices in order that the heavenly feast might be represented, that is, conjunction by the good of love and charity; and that this is what is now signified by the Holy Supper (AC 4211).
     All other externals of administration are of great importance, but they are not essential as means to the use itself of the Communion. They should, however, be founded upon representatives, significatives and correspondences, derived immediately from the Word in its three Testaments.
     These should be established by the church, and not by individual ministers and congregations. There is power in rituals being similar throughout the church, and it might be useful sometime to discuss the variations an individual pastor may feel free to introduce.

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AUTOCRAT 1956

AUTOCRAT NOEL AND MILDRED MCQUEEN 1956

     (A Play for Radio)

CHARACTERS

     Old Lady

     Chauffeur

     (Sound effects required for production are indicated by the word Sound.)

     THE AUTOCRAT

     INTRODUCTION: It is late on a chill, grey Autumn afternoon, and along a country road, a somber black limousine noses its way through a heavy mist. Behind the wheel sits an elderly chauffeur, his eyes riveted on the semi-circle of glass kept clear by the windshield wiper which clicks back and forth . . . back and forth like an inverted metronome. Seated in solitary splendor in the rear, blankets tucked about her, is an old lady. She is so old that the skin on her face is like parchment, and her beady little eyes seem to look oat of deep holes. Yet she sits erect, her head held high, her chin pushed out arrogantly, her mouth a thin straight line. This is Mrs. Emily Herrick who has controlled the great Herrick fortune for over half a century. She speaks sharply . . . imperiously to the chauffeur.
     Sound: Sound of Car Moving Along: Motor Purring
     OLD LADY: Perkins!
     CHAUFFEUR: Yes, Madam!
     OLD LADY: It'll be pitch dark before we reach the city. Drive faster!
     CHAUFFEUR: Very good, Madam, but it's hazardous in this mist.
     OLD LADY: Nonsense-you ought to know every foot of this road. You've been over it often enough.
     CHAUFFEUR: True, Madam, but knowing the road is one thing, and being able to see it in this murky weather is another-and might I add that I'm afraid you're jeopardizing your health by coming out in it. It's so damp, Madam.

288

     OLD LADY: Humph, just because I'm eighty years old doesn't mean I've got one foot in the grave like that old fool, Jason.
     CHAUFFEUR: Jason, Madam?
     OLD LADY: (Sarcastically) Yes, Jason, the man we're going to see-my lawyer-or had you forgotten, Perkins?
     CHAUFFEUR: No, Madam, but it's his son-in-law, Mitchell, who handles your affairs now. Jason is dead.
     OLD LADY: (Chuckle) So he is, the old fool! Needn't have been if he'd had more will-power. Look at me-I'm not dead!
     CHAUFFEUR: No, Madam.
     OLD LADY: And Jason or Mitchell, it's all the same. Mitchell's another weak one. The idea-calling me up-sniveling about a cold in the nose-couldn't drive out to see me-
     CHAUFFEUR: Sometimes the common cold can be very vicious, Madam.
     OLD LADY: Humph, common cold. He's afraid of me, that's all. (Chuckling) Everybody's afraid of me. Well, I'11 show him-I'll talk to him if I have to get him out of bed! When I decide to do a thing, I do it! I'm going to make a will, Perkins.
     CHAUFFEUR: Very good, Madam.
     OLD LADY: What's good about it? You won't get any of my money!
     CHAUFFEUR: No, I didn't expect, Madam-but the grandchildren-their father always said-
     OLD LADY: I know, I know, he always said just divide it up between them. But don't forget, Perkins, their father was my son. Had I died, then he'd have got the money. He'd have been the one to divide it up for them to squander. But I didn't die, did I? No Because I didn't want to die. That's will power, Perkins.
     CHAUFFEUR: No doubt, Madam.
     OLD LADY: Yes, will power. And it's my will that's kept the Herrick fortune together for over half a century, because I always knew what was best for all of them. My husband-you don't remember him, Perkins-he died before your time-but he was a dreamer-wanted to travel and write books. "Poppycock," I told him. "Invest what money you've got. Put it in oil!"
     Sound: Sound of Car Stopping
     OLD LADY: What are you stopping for!
     CHAUFFEUR: An arterial highway, Madam. It's the law to stop. Sound: Car Starting Again
     OLD LADY: Ridiculous! There's nothing coming. Well, now, maybe you'll stop dawdling. What was I talking about?
     CHAUFFEUR: Your husband and oil, Madam.

289

     OLD LADY: Yes, oil. He tripled-his money in the first year. And that was only the beginning. When he died the Herrick estate was a power in Wall Street, and it was mine then-every cent of it. A good thing, too, because our son was just like his father in some ways-a lot of fool notions! When he was young he had an idea he wanted to go on the stage. Did you know that, Perkins! Your late master wanted to be an actor.
     CHAUFFEUR: Indeed; Madam? Perhaps he would have lived longer had he been one. I always felt that he seemed-uh-one might say-miscast-in his role as president of the Herrick Trust and Savings Bank.
     OLD LADY: Nonsense! He did what I told him to do and made millions. . . . And now this younger generation-do you know what I'm planning for them?
     CHAUFFEUR: No, Madam.
     OLD LADY: In my will, I'm going to divide the fortune-split it equally-a third for Charles, a third for Frederick, and a third for Ellen.
     CHAUFFEUR: Very good, Madam. Just as their father wanted it. I'm sure they'll be pleased.
     OLD LADY: Well, don't be too sure. (Chuckle) There are strings tied to it-strings, Perkins. You know how Charles talks of taking that silly wife of his to California?
     CHAUFFEUR: Yes, Madam.
     OLD LADY: Wants to build a home out there-thinks he can get away from me that way-but he's not going to do it. No, instead he'll come to live with me in the old home for the rest of my days and if he doesn't, then-poof goes his share. I'll give it away-libraries-museums-anything!
     CHAUFFEUR: I see, Madam.
     OLD LADY: These youngsters who don't like my telling them what to do-they'll see, Perkins! Frederick, he's got to give up trying to compose music-where'll that ever get him? He's got to pay more attention to his father's bank.
     CHAUFFEUR: Oh-er-I begin to understand.
     OLD LADY: Humph . . . And Ellen, she's got to stop mooning about after that young architect fellow. He's a fortune hunter. If she marries him she won't get a cent.
     CHAUFFEUR: But I happen to know, Madam, that the young fellow worked his way through school without financial assistance. If he were a fortune hunter, I scarcely think-
     OLD LADY: That's the trouble. You scarcely ever think, Perkins! No more than my grandchildren do. I do the thinking. I'm the only one in this family who ever has.

290

I know what's best for all of them and just you watch-they'll do as I say!
     CHAUFFEUR: No doubt, Madam, but isn't it possible that you've overlooked the fact that your grandchildren are human beings?
     OLD LADY: What do you mean by that?
     CHAUFFEUR: Just this, Madam. The God-given freedom to choose our own way of life is what distinguishes us from the animals. Might I point out, Madam, that even God doesn't force us to obey his will.
     OLD LADY: Humph-all the more reason why the strong have to see that the weak don't make fools of themselves. Will power, Perkins! . . . Well, now what are you slowing down for?
     CHAUFFEUR: I think something's coming, Madam. It sounds like a heavy truck.
     Sound: Rumble of Truck in Distance
     OLD LADY: Of course it's a truck. . . . Why, the fool-he's on the wrong side of the road!
     Sound: Rumble of Truck Nearer
     CHAUFFEUR: Coming right at us! He can't see us in the fog!
     OLD LADY: Good heavens. Well, do something, Perkins!
     Sound: Truck Roaring Nearer
     CHAUFFEUR: We shall have to take to the ditch. Hold on, Madam. It's not very deep here but it'll be a jolt.
     OLD LADY: (More annoyed than frightened) Oh-h!
     Sound: Sound of Brakes and Car Jolting to Stop in Ditch: Motor Off: Truck Roaring Past with Horn Blowing and Fading in Distance Pause for Several Seconds
     OLD LADY: (Few little moans as though coming to) Oh-h . . . Oh-h . . . Where am I?
     CHAUFFEUR: May I help you, Madam?
     OLD LADY: (Gasping a little but getting stronger) No-no-I'm all right now. Stay where you are. What happened, Perkins?
     CHAUFFEUR: You will recall the truck, Madam, and driving into the ditch.
     OLD LADY: Humph, yes. Fool man must have been drunk-and I lost my senses, didn't I?
     CHAUFFEUR: Yes, Madam.
     OLD LADY: (Chuckle) And you thought I was dead, didn't you, Perkins? I know. You thought now the grandchildren can be human beings-now she won't be able to make that will.
     CHAUFFEUR: Will, Madam?
     OLD LADY: Don't tell me you've forgotten again, Perkins-we're going to my lawyer's.
     CHAUFFEUR: Ah, yes, your lawyer's.

291

     OLD LADY: And this is a fine mess-stuck in the ditch! How are we going to get out?
     CHAUFFEUR: Drive out, Madam, when you feel up to it. The ditch isn't deep here.
     OLD LADY: Well, then, what are we waiting for? I'm all right. Take more than a little bump like that to hurt me! Get up on the road again. No use wasting any more time.
     CHAUFFEUR: Very well, Madam.
     Sound: Motor Starts: Sound of Car Pulling Out of Ditch in Low Gear
     CHAUFFEUR: There, that does it, Madam.
     Sound: Car Rolling Along Again
     OLD LADY: The fog's lifting, Perkins, so there's no excuse for dawdling-and we can make up for lost time.
     CHAUFFEUR: Lost time, Madam?
     OLD LADY: Of course, lost time! How long were we in that ditch?
     CHAUFFEUR: Why, I'm afraid I really couldn't say, Madam.
     OLD LADY: Perkins, you're getting denser all the time!
     CHAUFFEUR: Indeed! I'm sorry you think so, Madam.
     OLD LADY: Humph! . . .
     Pause
     OLD LADY: (Chuckle. Then quite a cackle)
     CHAUFFEUR: Something amuses you, Madam?
     OLD LADY: Yes. Not that it's any of your business but I was thinking of Mitchell. Wait till I tell him we bumped into the ditch and out again! That sniveling fool-it would have killed him! And Perkins, don't you go telling him I passed out.
     CHAUFFEUR: Oh, no, Madam, I have no intention of telling Mr. Mitchell anything.
     OLD LADY: Well, see that you don't.
     Slight Pause
     OLD LADY: Perkins, are you sure you're on the right road?
     CHAUFFEUR: Yes, Madam.
     OLD LADY: But those trees to the left there-I don't remember seeing them before.
     CHAUFFEUR: They've been there a long while, Madam.
     OLD LADY: Hmmm-m, expect they have, but things do seem strange. . . .
     CHAUFFEUR: Don't worry, Madam. . . .
     Sound: Sound of Car Slowing Down: Then Stopping
     OLD LADY: Oh-h! Now what are you stopping for! What's that in the middle of the road?
     CHAUFFEUR: A wooden horse, Madam-with a detour sign. We must take the dirt road to the right.

292

     OLD LADY: Oh, no, Perkins! You're not going to take me bumping over miles of those mud ruts! Drive around that barricade! There's nothing wrong with this road. Anyone can see that;
     CHAUFFEUR: But you'll notice what the sign says, Madam. "Danger. Road condemned. Travel at your own risk."
     OLD LADY: Nonsense, don't argue! I'm giving the orders.
     CHAUFFEUR: Of course, Madam, but the highway patrol doesn't put up these signs without a reason.
     OLD LADY: Perkins, do as I say. Drive on!
     CHAUFFEUR: Yes, Madam.
     Sound: Sound of Car Starting Again and Rolling Along
     OLD LADY: There, you see, me road's all right. Condemned! Whoever put that fool sign up must have been out of their head! Shut your window, Perkins! It's making a draft.
     CHAUFFEUR: My window is shut, Madam, but you'd best have another blanket about you. It's getting colder out and sleeting a bit.
     OLD LADY: Don't know why I ever picked this climate to live in-changeable! -never know what to expect! I'm using all my blankets, Perkins-give me one of yours.
     CHAUFFEUR: Very good, Madam. Here . . . can you reach it?
     OLD LADY: (Grunt-as though stretching) Yes. Perkins!
     CHAUFFEUR: Yes, Madam?
     OLD LADY: Turn your head again so I can see your face! . . . Why-why-you're not Perkins-
     CHAUFFEUR: No, Madam.
     OLD LADY: But-but-your voice-it-it sounds like Perkins. . . . What's the meaning of this? Who are you?
     CHAUFFEUR: Just another chauffeur, Madam-and I imitate voices rather well-it's part of my job. You mistook me for Perkins and I saw no reason for causing you any unnecessary alarm.
     OLD LADY: Alarm! Listen to me, you-you-whoever you are-when did you get into this car? I'll have you jailed! Where's Perkins?
     CHAUFFEUR: I took over for him in the ditch, Madam.
     OLD LADY: In the ditch!-Oh, so that's why things didn't look right-we-we've been on the wrong road ever since then. Where are you taking me, you fool? Stop this car, I tell you, stop it!
     CHAUFFEUR: (Very calmly) I'm afraid I can't, Madam.
     OLD LADY: Can't? What do you mean?
     Sound: Fade Out Motor: Whistling Sound of Wind as Car Goes Faster and Faster
     CHAUFFEUR: The sleet, Madam. It's making ice on the pavement. We're skidding down this hill-the car is out of my control. See? The motor's off and we keep right on moving. . .

293

     OLD LADY: But you've got to do something!
     CHAUFFEUR: There's no particular danger, Madam. We'll stop when we reach the bottom.
     OLD LADY: But I want to go back, you idiot! How will we get back up?
     CHAUFFEUR: You won't, Madam. I always drive back alone.
     OLD LADY: Alone. . . . You always drive back alone. . . (Thinking to herself) Alone, eh? . . . No-no-it can't be-but in that ditch when I though I only lost my senses, maybe-maybe I-(Panicky) You-you-listen to me-you've got to tell me!
     CHAUFFEUR: Yes, Madam?
     OLD LADY: That detour we passed, that old mud road winding up the hillside-where did that lead to?
     CHAUFFEUR: Lead to, Madam? Why, that was the road to Heaven.

     THE END
GENERAL ASSEMBLY NOTES 1956

GENERAL ASSEMBLY NOTES 1956

     Music. The following selections will be used in the Divine Worship held during the General Assembly:

Offices:      Second General Office, pp. 15-18, 20
          Holy Supper Office, pp. 63-66, 69ff
Anthems: pages 583, 604
Chants: pages 20, 375, 380
Hymns: pages 437, 444, 446, 456, 459, 466, 468, 470, 471, 476, 479, 482, 501
Psalms: No. 15, page 48; no. 48, page 325

     Information. The following items are taken from a booklet prepared by the Assembly Committee.
     At 11:00 a.m., on Friday, July 27th, there will be a Scandinavian "11 o'clock Coffee" at Swedenborg House under the chairmanship of the Rev. Erik Sandstrom, for review of the sessions in Swedish and exchange of information from home countries.
     The Annual General Meeting of the Swedenborg Society will be held on Monday, July 23rd, in Swedenborg Hall at 7:30 p.m. All interested in the work of the Society are invited to attend.
     On Friday, July 27th, Dr. Freda Griffith will conduct small parties over the Swedenborg Society's Library and Archives.
     The British Museum will do its best to have on special display some of the first editions of the Writings, including the copy of Summaria Expositio with the "Hic liber est" inscription.
     A trip to Colchester is being arranged for the Sunday before the Assembly; and a short tour of London of special interest to New Church people is being arranged for Tuesday, July 31st, after the Assembly.

294

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1956

     Our June readings in the Old Testament (Exodus 14:19-29:28) relate the crossing of the Red Sea and the drowning of the Egyptians, the first temptations in the wilderness, the arrival at Sinai, and the giving of the Ten Commandments and other Divine laws. The tabernacle, its furniture, and the priestly garments are then described in detail; and the assignment closes with an account of the ceremonies for the consecration of Aaron and his sons.
     When the spiritual man has been finally delivered from the state of damnation, he must still be formed into an individual church through regenerative temptations, the establishment with him of the Divine law, and the construction in his mind of a dwellingplace for the Lord in which the work of his salvation may be effected. These things are the subjects, in the spiritual sense, of our readings. Redemption and preliminary temptations are signified by the pre-Sinai events. The Ten Commandments are the truths Divine that are to be implanted in good. The tabernacle with its three divisions represents the Divine Human, the angelic heavens, the church on earth, and the regenerate mind; and the priesthood set apart to perform its functions in the tabernacle represents the Lord's perpetual work of salvation in that mind.
     The exposition of the Decalogue is concluded in the readings from the Apocalypse Explained (nos. 1021:2-1115:5), and a series of theological topics is begun. In the Arcana, the pre-judgment work of the Writings, only a general opening of the internal sense could be effected; and in that work, which treats of the giving of the Decalogue in its historical context, the Ten Commandments are explained as the common rules of angelic life. But in the Apocalypse Explained and the True Christian Religion, given after the judgment to unfold the doctrine of life for the New Church, there is a successive opening of the natural, spiritual, and celestial senses of the Ten Precepts, and a consideration of their civil, moral, and spiritual implications. In general, it may be said that the treatment in the first of these works is intended to perform an initial judgment on our states, that in the second to guide us in self-examination and repentance, and that in the third to amplify the doctrine of life for those who have repented and are ready to be initiated into the keeping of the commandments as the laws of heaven.

295

GARB OF ACADEMIA 1956

GARB OF ACADEMIA Editor 1956

NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly by
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.
Editor                         Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Bryn Athyn, Pa,
Circulation Secretary          Mr. H. Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Treasurer                    Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address, and business communications, should be sent to the Circulation Secretary. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.
     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$3.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy, 30 cents.
     The garments that protect and adorn the angels correspond to the intelligence from Divine truth which clothes and beautifies their minds and qualifies them for their uses. And when spirits have been prepared by instruction they are dressed in angelic raiment as a sign that they are now ready to enter into heavenly uses. A like significance of special garb is not unknown on earth. Priestly vestments, the judicial robe, the professorial gown, indicate that their wearers have been prepared to exercise their professions; that their minds have been equipped with the requisite knowledges and that they are regarded as skilled in applying those knowledges. And the same is true of the cap and gown of the college graduate, though with this distinction in the Academy.
     With us, the special garb of graduation is more than a sign that academic work leading to a degree has been successfully completed. It is also a mark of the Academy's belief that the graduate has been specially trained and is equipped to think rationally from the Writings, to comprehend their teachings, to understand how the Word is Divinely inspired and is therefore the authoritative basis for faith and life; to evaluate the philosophies, customs, and moral codes of the world he is about to enter; to perceive how the faculty of choice may be exercised on more interior planes than those of expediency or social obligation; and to grasp increasingly the real nature of spiritual life. All these things are involved as well; for to provide a basis for them as well as a sound academic training is the distinctive aim of New Church higher education.

296

DETROIT SOCIETY 1956

DETROIT SOCIETY Editor 1956

     The story of the Detroit Society and the dedication of its building exemplifies, in flesh and blood as well as in steel and concrete, one phase of our perpetual hope for the increase of the church-the gathering of the isolated into groups, and the development of groups into circles, circles into societies with schools, and these societies into communities. Such growth is not rapid, and it cannot be forced. Indeed it is best nurtured slowly under the leading of Providence. For strength must be built up, both from within and from without; there must be a deepening of the love and understanding of the Heavenly Doctrine; and the enthusiasm of steady purpose must be tempered with wise patience which neither dulls alertness nor dissipates energy.
     The building recently dedicated in the city of Troy, Michigan, is the fruit of all these qualities, and of devotion, sacrifice and labor, offered steadily over the years. Some who saw the vision, and gave generously of these as well as other gifts, have experienced the joy of seeing their efforts crowned with success. Others who did not see the vision realized in their lifetime, but never lost it, were not there; but their faith and other contributions were built into the whole just as surely as if they had been present. And in paying tribute to the leadership under which the society has grown, we would recall the truth that no fruit can exceed the limitations of its seed. The Detroit Society is the product of wise leadership and loyal, intelligent response; and all concerned will surely acknowledge that they could not have built so well had they not been able to base the structure on the sound foundations laid on the early years by the Rev. F. E. Waelchli.
     Our friends in Detroit are well aware that the dedication of their building is not an end but a beginning; that the building itself is an ultimate for the performance of those uses through which the church may be further established in their own minds and in the minds of their children. And in congratulating them upon what has been achieved, it will be the heartfelt wish of their friends throughout the church that the building may serve as such an ultimate; that, in the words of the Bishop's acceptance, it "may serve as an instrument in the hands of the Lord to promote the spirit and the life of the Heavenly Doctrine with all who worship here, and so to establish the kingdom of heaven in their hearts."

297

Church News 1956

Church News Various 1956

     DETROIT, MICHIGAN

     History. If, thirty years ago, some casual observer had foretold the establishment of a flourishing society in the Detroit area, his prediction would in all probability have been put down to the unrealistic exuberance of youth. Had he thought to add the likelihood of a church building he might have been laughed clear across the river. In reality this never happened, nor could it have happened, for the few Detroiters were themselves guilty of this same "unrealistic exuberance."
     For nearly fifty years the occasional visits made by the Rev. F. E. Waelchli met the needs of the few church families living in the area as adequately as was then possible. These people made the long journey to and from a prearranged meting place without regard to distance or even national barriers. Our history records the arduous efforts made by these pioneering families which, on the occasion of a pastoral visit, would set out at the crack of dawn, travel miles in a variety of unreliable conveyances, cross the great Detroit River by ferry, and clamber aboard yet another series of rickety vehicles to arrive at their destination-all this without loss of wit or life! It is small wonder that this hardy group survived, and grew to add luster and spirit to the Detroit Society as it exists today.
     From 1937 to 1950 the group progressed slowly but steadily under the guidance of the Rev. Norman H. Reuter. His monthly visits invariably caused a hurry of activity: a lively adult class, a service, a swift succession of children's classes, and always at least one delightfully chaotic meal. Interesting and lively discussion was always assured; enjoyment was unavoidable.
     In 1948 the group was recognized as the Detroit Circle of the General Church, and the Rev. Kenneth O. Stroh was appointed assistant to Mr. Reuter and became the first resident minister. The city itself, having survived the great depression and the war, was becoming increasingly attractive with its new business and expanding industry. With a resident minister, an enviable business boom and a promising future, Detroit was in a position to encourage New Church settlers. Several families, considering these prospects, decided to move here. Others soon followed. The Circle grew.
     The first effort to establish a permanent building fund began in 1949. This was the piggy bank movement. In a matter of weeks "porkers" appeared everywhere. "Every mantel its pig, and every church its building" seemed to be the slogan of the day. Red pigs, yellow pigs-fill them, empty them, and fill them up again! In those days a guest was considered ignominiously skillful if he managed to flee the home of a host without having first fed the domiciled porker. This animal was found to consume loose change with impoverishing appetite.
     The building fund was well under way when, in 1950, the Rev. Norbert H. Rogers was appointed our first resident pastor. The need for a building was now very apparent. More and more families had recognized the wisdom of settling in an area which provided for both their spiritual and their natural needs. Children had grown up and married; their children would need New Church education; and to provide this a building was essential.
     In 1954 the Circle was recognized by the Bishop as the Detroit Society of the General Church-the first new society in a generation! Then events moved rapidly. After many weeks of searching, five acres of flat, healthy land were secured in what is now the city of Troy. To have acquired land within 18 miles of downtown Detroit was a major achievement; it was also a great relief to those who thought that any further delay would have reduced available property to a few inaccessible lots on the shores of Lake Superior. And so the Detroit Society undertook the most exciting project in its short history.

298

     The Building. As you drive between two tall ash trees on to a spacious parking lot you can see the building through a curtain of tiny elms. It stands well back from the road, looking, at least to Detroiters, like a dream in modern architecture, with overtones suggesting California in autumn. On the walk down the path towards the front entrance Your attention is immediately drawn to the eight enormous panes of glass which, but for a few feet, make up the entire east wall. Built principally of glass, steel and cinder block, the structure is typically modern in style-low slung, flat roofed, and delightfully angular. At the approach to the main door is a concrete area, designed by a discerning architect to be the scene of many an after church tete-a-tete. From this porch you step through large double doors into the vestibule: coats, boots and umbrellas on the rack to the right, please. You are not inclined to linger long in the vestibule, for although it is spacious enough to permit easy passage, it is too small to encourage crowds.
     You now move into the main room of the building, 30 by 65 feet. This will be, at different times, church, school, banquet hall, meeting place, dance floor, and gym. At the far south end, behind dark red velvet drapes, stands the chancel. These drapes remain closed except when a service is being held; then they are electrically drawn, to reveal the beautiful but simple chancel furniture, set on a carpet of old rose against a back ground of blue wall. With the drapes closed you notice the pearl grey-cocoa shade decorating the other walls and the trim. You notice, too, that the floor tile appears to have been laid with an eye to perfection, and the paint applied with the care, if not the skill, of a Rembrandt. This is because "the boys" did it all themselves. If you had been here on a recent Saturday or Sunday you would have paled to see the horde that descended on the building, armed to the teeth with paintbrushes, hammers, caulking guns, and other weapons. From dawn till dusk they rushed around, painting here, sawing there: gang inside hammering, scraping, sweeping; another outside shoveling, raking, clearing-and all of them noisy, efficient, and dedicated.
     The room to the front of the building is the pastor's study. It is just large enough for his desk, bookcases, and a few chairs. Three other rooms lead off on the right of the main hall. These are the one permanent classroom, the kitchen, and the boiler room. The first is a large, airy alcove, eventually to be used as a separate classroom and a meeting place for various committees. The boiler room is fascinating if you are particularly smitten with furnaces, mysterious little boxes, fat white plugs, endless lengths of copper wire, and things of that nature. But the middle room, the kitchen, is, of course, entirely different. Here is a room for which any housewife would give her very best paring knife. Notice the practical service counter built by "the boys." Notice the separate entrance and exit. The appliances are all brand new, as are the cutlery, china, glassware, and cooking utensils. Added luxuries included a dishwasher, a garbage disposal unit, two ranges, a refrigerator, sturdy cabinets, and Venetian blinds. The titles "galley slave" and "mess serf" have vanished into the past.
     Including the four thousand square feet occupied by the building, the total area of the property is a little more than five acres. Eventually the playing fields and picnic areas will be cleared, or planted with attractive flowers and shrubs. Soon, too, the tiny American pines planted last year will be tall enough to define the side boundaries. In time, the Society's plans call for two additional buildings in the form of wings. The present all-purpose hall is the stem of a "T," and the proposed church will extend to the east, the school to the west.

     The Society. In the Society there are 54 proud, happy and thankful adults, and 48 proud, happy and thankful children. Theirs is not the individual pride of the self-satisfied, but rather the collective pride of New Church men everywhere, whose wish is to achieve that which the Lord wills for His church. They are happy and thankful that they have been permitted to share in this building. They are thankful, too, for the incalculable help, guidance and counsel, given by their many generous friends throughout the church; and to each other the members owe an inestimable debt of gratitude.
     Now the Detroit Society has a building. To a few it took a lifetime to build, to others it took less. But today there is a church, standing proudly yet humbly in the city of Troy, Michigan. May it illustrate to all the growth of the Lord's New Church on earth.
     BARBARA FORFAR

299

     WASHINGTON, D. C.

     The Washington Society enjoyed a cold but fairly open winter with little snow. This helped most of our members to attend services fairly regularly, and we had a good average attendance all winter. One member, Mr. Robert Hilldale, was ill with a heart attack for some weeks, and at the time of this writing we hope that he will soon be back with us. Meanwhile, Mrs. Hilldale has been faithfully playing the piano at our services. In October we had a Friday supper and class followed by a bazaar. This was arranged and worked on by Mrs. Lewis Allen, Mrs. Lewis Nelson, Mrs. Frank Mitchell, and others. They planned games, which we paid to play, and had made articles and flower arrangements to sell.
     Our Thanksgiving service was well attended, with the children bringing the usual offerings of fruit. Our pastor, the Rev. Dandridge Pendleton, explained in his sermon that the Lord allowed men to bring offerings and sacrifices because this gave them opportunity to think of Him and brought them closer to Him. The essence of Thanksgiving is thought of the Lord, and so, later, men brought plants and fruits in thinking of the Lord. We rejoiced to have a Christmas Day service, something that seldom happens in Washington. A few days before, the children had a happy party at the William Kintner home, where they received their gifts from the church. Swedenborg's birthday was celebrated with a chicken dinner at the home of the Fred Grants; and other suppers have been served by various members at the usual meeting place for our classes, the David Stebbing recreation room.
     A series of classes described some of the modern churches and their ideas on religion as these differ from ours. There were classes also on the distinctiveness of the New Church, and both series led to some discussion. Our building fund grew rapidly last winter, some large amounts being donated by several of our members in a campaign inspired by the hope that we could start a building; but there is yet far from enough to pay for even a small church building. We will need to keep working at it. However, if we could settle on a suitable location, for we are scattered to the four corners of the District of Columbia and out of it, we might get started in the next few years.
     Mrs. Lewis Allen has brought greens and flowers as decoration for the chancel all year. The flowers and the burning candles make our simple chancel seem more like one in a regular church, and draw our attention away from the fact that we meet in a public auditorium. At Easter time Mrs. William Kintner decorated the chancel with Easter lilies and the children carried flowers to the altar.
     The Women's Guild, the men's doctrinal discussion group, and our card club have met at the homes of the Allens, Boatmans, Grants, Kintners, Nelsons, and Stebbings. The Frank Mitchells entertained the society at a shower and a party. We have had showers for three recent brides-Mrs. Anne P. Kunkle, Mrs. Ann D. Rinaldo, and John Walker's bride. Three engagements were announced-those of Miss Nancy Allen, Miss Carol Smith, and Mr. Karl Doering; and we were glad to have a newly married couple, Mr. and Mrs. Norwin Synnestvedt, join our group. We were invited to a joint party with the Baltimore Society to celebrate the announcement of the engagement of Miss Marcia Trimble and Mr. Tom Gladish of Glenview. Our pastor, the Rev. Dandridge Pendleton, has just announced to us his engagement to Miss Anna Woodard of Bryn Athyn. They were given the best wishes of the Society at an after church gathering in the home of the Fred Grants. We look forward to the marriage of our pastor, which should help us to be even more active in church affairs.
     We have had quite a few visitors during the past year-too many to list; but from other countries we have had Miss Ruth Motum from England and Miss Telse Hansen from Denmark. The last weekend in April, Mr. Pendleton exchanged pulpits with the Rev. Louis B. King, pastor of the Pittsburgh Society. We are looking forward to a joint Sons dinner with the Baltimore group, meeting at College Park, at which the Right Rev. Willard D. Pendleton will speak. Bishop Pendleton will also preach to both societies at their separate Sunday services. We are again counting on entertaining the senior boys and girls when they come on their annual sightseeing trips to Washington; we enjoy becoming acquainted with these boys and girls from all the different societies of our beloved church.
     ELIZABETH H. Grant

300

     GLENVIEW, ILLINOIS

     Spring is in the air, and so is the mud! Our famous natural product is excavated by house builders, loaded into trucks, and exported; at the same time, truckloads of foreign soil in equal quantities are imported from other home sites. Some New Church mud has been stirred up by work parties spring cleaning the church grounds. It takes many willing hands to fill the vacancy left by our late friend "O. E." Asplundh. The Park road has been ironed out; the grounds around the former Coffin house have been partially landscaped; and preparations are under way to install sewer and water pipes along the undeveloped portion of Gladish Lane, so that future home builders may avail themselves of property along our last frontier.
     The first major event of 1956 was the celebration of Swedenborg's birthday. Because the Ministers' Meetings occur late in January we have been celebrating it a month later. The event takes place at a Friday Supper, graced by the presence of a visiting speaker. Our guest this year, on February 17th, was the Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, who discussed the manifold phases of Swedenborg's preparation for his work as revelator. He brought forth some character traits that we do not usually associate with Swedenborg, such as his fearlessness in the presence of evil spirits, and his kindness and understanding in conversations with them. To this writer at least our speaker seemed to make Swedenborg a more real and human subject. Mr. Henderson remained to preach in Glenview on the following Sunday, which gave him the honor of being our first visiting minister this year.
     In February, also, the Park Social Club elected the following new officers: Bruce Holmes, president; Arnold Smith, vice president; Gwladys Hicks, secretary; and John Barry, keeper of the budget. A new staff of editors for the Park News has been appointed since the former editor, Arvid Tessing, is now working on the Sons Bulletin. Four brave young married women are co-editors: Sue Holmes, Greta Reynolds, Barbara Synnestvedt, and Patsy Umberger. Their first results are very promising.
     The Immanuel Church School Orchestra, under the direction of Mr. Jesse Stevens, presented its spring concert on March 11th. Including alumnae, the orchestra numbers around twenty-one persons. According to custom, the younger children made a flurry of debuts on the piano, violin, and wind instruments. Featured on this program were three original Christmas carols composed, and accompanied, by Marvin Stevens. These were sung by the older girls and boys of the school, and both the singers and the audience hope to hear them often. Mr. Stevens also did the impossible by assembling an adult chorus of twenty-four, whom he trained in singing a portion of the "Gloria in Excelsis" from the St. Cecilia Mass by Guonod. He hopes to present this chorus again in June. His programming is always a delight to young and old, a combination of good music and enough special effects and costumes to keep the children enthralled. These concerts offer our only opportunity to show appreciation for Mr. Stevens loving work in establishing a love for music with the children.
     In order to retire the old, heavy china which is used for Friday Suppers, the Women's Guild has been raising funds for a new set of dishes. They received an unexpected boost from the Girls' Club Rummage Sale in March, which happy exchange of usable surplus articles netted over $100.00. There is enough money for a complete set of new Pyrex dishes, only lacking enough service for banquets. Opportunity will be provided to make donations. New drapes of a soft, bright red were installed in the vestibule in time for the Palm Sunday service. They replaced an ancient, badly worn pair, and were the handiwork and gift of Mrs. Harvey Brewer.
     A family service was held on Palm Sunday, both in the church and in the adjoining lobby. A copy of the Word was opened in each place, and those unable to find seats in the church could take part in the service with the help of a loudspeaker in the lobby. Because of the large attendance this practice was repeated at the children's Easter service. On both occasions the school children marched into the church and were seated at the front. Their beautiful offerings of flowering plants on Easter Sunday became decorations for the Holy Supper service in which the celebration of the Lord's resurrection culminated.
     The Society has resumed the custom of having singing practice on alternate Friday evenings after the doctrinal class. The 22nd Psalm is a yearly project, worked on in preparation for the Good Friday service.

301

Because of the length of this well loved music it has been divided into three sections, one of which is sung after each of the three lessons. Nineteen children are entered in prekindergarten every Wednesday, the largest group to date. This brings to mind the problem of larger classes in school-rooms no longer adequate.
     During the Easter weekend Mr. and Mrs. Archibald Price announced the engagement of their daughter, Trudy, to Mr. John Horigan of Bryn Athyn. In Laurel, Maryland, Mr. and Mrs. Rowland Trimble announced the engagement of their daughter, and our teacher, Marcia, to Mr. Thomas Gladish. This familiar situation arouses mixed feelings of happiness for the young couple and regret at the loss of a fine teacher. We hope that Marcia will join the ranks of former teachers living in the Society.
     GLORIA BARRY

     GENERAL CHURCH

     Authorized Candidates in the Theological School of the Academy will assist and gain experience of pastoral work in the following centers during the summer: Mr. Daniel W. Heinrichs in Pittsburgh and Glenview; and Mr. Donald L. Rose in Kitchener and Toronto, with some time in Detroit; their assignments beginning on July 1st.

     THE CHURCH AT LARGE

     General Convention. In acceding to the request of the Rev. Everett K. Bray that he be relieved of the presidency of the New-Church Theological School at the end of the current school year, the Board of Managers expressed its affectionate appreciation of his services. Mr. Bray will continue as a member of the faculty. The Rev. Edwin G. Capon has been elected as president of the New-Church Theological School. He has taught at the school for four years and has held the position of vice-president for the past three years. The other members of the faculty in 1956-1957 will be the Rev. John C. King, the Rev. Antony Regamey, Dr. Howard D. Spoerl, and Mr. Horace B. Blackmer.
SOME GENERAL CHURCH USES 1956

SOME GENERAL CHURCH USES 1956

302

GENERAL CHURCH CORPORATIONS 1956

GENERAL CHURCH CORPORATIONS HUBERT HYATT 1956

     Announcements.
     The 1956 Annual Corporation Meetings of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held in the Benade Hall Auditorium, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, on Friday, June 15, at 8:00 p.m., D.S.T. Notices have been mailed.
     HUBERT HYATT,
          Secretary.
ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH 1956

ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH E. BRUCE GLENN 1956

     The Annual Joint Meeting of the Corporation and Faculty of the Academy of the New Church will be held in the Benade Hall Auditorium on Saturday, June 2, 1956, at 8:00 p.m. After reports by officers of the Academy Schools, and discussion thereof, an address will be delivered by Dean Eldric S. Klein.
     The public is cordially invited to attend.
          E. BRUCE GLENN,
               Secretary.
SONS OF THE ACADEMY 1956

SONS OF THE ACADEMY HARVEY J. HOLMES 1956

     The Annual Meetings of the Sons of the Academy will be held on Friday, June 22nd, and Saturday, June 23rd, 1956, at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

     All men interested in New Church education are cordially invited to attend. For reservations write to Mr. Leander P. Smith, 71727 Willard Street, Pittsburgh 8, Pa. Phone: PEnrose 1-3672.
     Program: Friday, 8:00 p.m. Address by the Academy Representative (Professor Edward F. Allen).
     Saturday, 9:30 a.m. Reports and business. Election of officers.
Luncheon. Address by Corporation of the Academy Representative (Mr. Leonard E. Gyllenhaal).
     Saturday, 7:00 p.m. Banquet. (Toastmaster, Mr. Oliver Powell).
     HARVEY J. HOLMES,
          Secretary
VISITOR'S TO BRYN ATHYN 1956

VISITOR'S TO BRYN ATHYN 1956

304

TWENTY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1956

     LONDON, ENGLAND, JULY 24-29, 1956

Tuesday, July 24
     11:00 a.m. Council of the Clergy. Wynter Room, Swedenborg House
     2:15 p.m. Ministers' Luncheon
     7:30 p.m. Reception at Victoria Halls

Wednesday, July 25
     11:00 a.m. First Session of the Assembly
               Episcopal Address: Bishop George de Charms
     2:15 p.m. Luncheon
     6:00 p.m. Second Session of the Assembly
               Address: Rev. Harold C. Cranch
               Subject: "Church Extension"
     8:30 p.m. Supper

Thursday, July 26
     11:00 a.m. Third Session of the Assembly
               Address: Rev. Alan Gill
               Subject: "Responsibility"
     2:15 p.m. Luncheon
     6:00 p.m. Fourth Session of the Assembly
               Address: Rev. Elmo C. Acton
               Subject: "The Human Soul or Spirit"
     8:30 p.m. Supper

Friday, July 27
     Morning No Session
     2:15 p.m. Luncheon
     3:30 p.m. Sons of the Academy Meeting in Victoria Hall. Chairman: Harold P. McQueen
     3:30 p.m. Theta Alpha Meeting in Swedenborg Hall.
               Address by the Rev. Elmo C. Acton
     6:00 p.m. Fifth Session of the Assembly
               Address: Rev. David R. Simons
               Subject: "Education"
     8:30 p.m. Supper

Saturday, July 28
     10:00 a.m. Sixth Session of the Assembly
               Address: Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton
               Subject: "The Temptation on the Mount: A Consideration of the Divine and the Human"
     No Luncheon
     1:00 p.m. Young People's Luncheon
     2:30 p.m. Young People's Meeting in Swedenborg House Chairman: Rev. Frank S. Rose
     6:30 p.m. Assembly Banquet. Napoleon Suite, Cafe Royal, Regent Street
               Toastmaster: Mr. John Cooper

Sunday, July 29
     11:00 a.m. Divine Worship
               Sermon: Rev. A. Wynne Acton
     2:15 p.m. Luncheon at Coventry Street Corner House
     4:00 p.m. Administration of the Holy Supper
     6:00 p.m. Tea at Victoria Halls

305

REDEEMED LAND 1956

REDEEMED LAND Rev. HUGO LJ. ODHNER 1956

NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. LXXVI          JULY, 1956               No. 7
     "And He hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, a land that floweth with milk and honey." (Deuteronomy 26:9)

     When the Lord brought Israel out of its Egyptian bondage, and led the people by many miracles into its promised land, Israel became a representative of a spiritual church, formed of those who hear the Lord's voice and obey His laws and are given a place in His eternal kingdom in the heavens.
     In the spiritual sense of the story which Israel enacted, the temptations and consolations which attend man's journey to heaven are described. The conquest of Canaan signifies the purification of man's interiors from the deeply entrenched evils-the loves of self and the world-and the ancient falsities that have taken root in his mind. As far as the idolatrous nations were driven out, the promised land- "a land flowing with milk and honey"-came to represent a heavenly state, where there is gladness and joy of spirit because of an abundance of spiritual and natural delights, a plenty of spiritual instruction and a fulness of charity in all its forms, even to the ultimate delights of the home and of social pleasures.
     But even when we take the story of Israel in its natural sense-as a people which immigrated into a new land, braving the dangers of the wilderness and the hostility of native tribes, and meeting the challenge of a pioneer existence before it could unite its tribes and develop a culture of its own-we may discern many historical parallels in the formation of colonies which later became nations.
     Israel's exodus from Egypt was at once a flight from intolerable economic oppression and a search for religious liberty. In these respects it was a pattern of the settling of North America and the formation of the Union which merged the original Colonies by a common declaration of independence one hundred and eighty years ago.

306

To many, since then, these United States have indeed seemed a land of promise, a land flowing with milk and honey. And who, on looking back over the years, can doubt that the hand of the Divine Ruler has been present in the shaping of the destinies of this our nation, which was born immediately before the organization of the New Church, and which from the first was dedicated to the cause of freedom of worship?
     It is not to be forgotten that the Heavenly Doctrine in which the Lord has made His new advent to men is not confined to abstractions of theology or to the disclosure of the spiritual sense within the Holy Scripture. In that doctrine the New Jerusalem surely came down from God out of heaven, with a revelation of angelic wisdom touching the Lord we worship and the hitherto unknown world into which the souls of men will all be called on the death of the body. But the holy city of truth descended also to create a new earth as well as a new heaven. The Writings came to show us the path of human life in both worlds; to guide our reason when confused by the complicated situations and the competing obligations of earthly society; so that we may rationally see the true order and purpose of church and state, and balance the relative values within our uses and learn to do justly, as well as to love mercy and walk humbly with our God.
     An example of such instruction is found in the posthumous work called The Doctrine of Charity. In this work-especially in nos. 78-89, 126-136-the basic principles of the structure of human society are laid down, and the relation of the individual to society is defined. And, as is explained in many places in the Writings, there can be no true charity except so far as a kingdom, republic, state or society is seen to be a greater form of man. All its laws, both the laws of justice and its economic laws, are enacted as for one and all (Char. 83). It must be recognized that there can be no order without a government and no government without laws. In the church "the laws of that order are as many as there are truths in the Word; the laws which look to God will make its head, the laws which regard the neighbor will make its body, and ceremonies will make the clothing; for unless these hold the others together, in their order, it would be as if the body were stripped naked and exposed to the elements" (TCR 55). But in civic society, or in the country, "the laws of justice make its head, political laws its body; and economic laws its dress: wherefore these, like the dress, may be changed"
     Yet it is not laws that make a country but uses. "Every man is born to be of use and that he may perform uses to others. . . . In a well constituted republic, therefore, it is provided that no one shall be useless," but if necessary he would be driven to some work (Char. 128).

307

The common good comes forth from the goods of use which individuals perform, and again, the good of use which each individual performs subsists from the common good and depends on it (Char. 127). It is therefore essential to know that there must be, for the common good of every society, uses which provide: 1) that the Divine be with man; 2) that there should be justice and 3) morality; 4) that there should be diligence, knowledge, and honesty; 5) that there should be the necessities of life; 6) the things necessary to carry on the various occupations; and 7) whatever is necessary for a common defense. And finally, there must be 8) a sufficiency of wealth, for upon this the other three necessities depend (Char. 130).
     These uses, carried on by priests, by civil officials, by laborers and merchants, by farmers, by soldiers and others, make the commonwealth perfect and strong, according to the quality of each contribution to the uses of others, and the order and cooperation that exists among the people (Char. 132). A country becomes great, not from the multitude of its people or from the richness of its resources, but from the coherence of its uses. It can then act as one man-distinguished by a special genius. It can be represented before the angels as a human form in the likeness of its quality-with a face according to the affection of its spiritual good, with a body in the image of its civil good, and with manners and speech that manifest its rational good. And a spiritually minded man will likewise think of his country as such a larger man, who is to be loved as one's neighbor in a greater and fuller sense than any individual person.
     It is not to be believed that a nation is one's neighbor merely in proportion to the number of people it contains. True charity, or love to the neighbor, is not directed to persons but to uses; or what is the same, it is the love of the good of the neighbor, according to its quality.

     Here the patriotic New Church man may indeed hesitate. For he is faced by a paradox. "Birth," he reads in the doctrine, "does not make one more the neighbor than another, not even mother and father; neither does education. These are from natural good. Neither does propinquity or affinity make one more the neighbor than another; nor, therefore, one's native land. This is to be loved according to the qualities of its good . . ." (Char. 85). And charity primarily regards the goods of spiritual life (Char. 77).
     What spiritual good can we find to love in this or any other country at this day? Do not the Writings reveal that the churches of Christendom, as to their internal state, are so vastated by falsities and evils that scarcely anything of charity and thence of faith remains in them? (AC 4535, 3489).

308

Except for a remnant with whom, eventually, a New Church can be established, the Christian Church has reached its state of spiritual "consummation." "The church is consummated by various things, especially by such as make the false appear as the truth: and when the false appears true, then the good which in itself is good and is called spiritual good no longer exists. The good which is then believed to be good is merely the natural good which a moral life produces" (TCR 754).
     This is the judgment of the Lord, not that of men. No man can discern the internal states of men or of nations. Some indication of the possible presence of spiritual good can indeed be seen where there is an acknowledgment of the Divinity of the Lord, of the holiness of the Word, and of the life of charity (DP 259). But are the churches and the thinkers and leaders of our or any other "Christian" nation today any nearer to these essentials of faith than those of two centuries ago? Are the ideals of marriage more pure? Or the lives of men less blighted by cruelty, deceit and crime, their minds less haunted by doubts and spiritual indifference? Was the intellectual and scientific renaissance which came in the wake or the Last Judgment, and caused many to abandon the illogical creeds of the old churches, followed by an acceptance of the spiritual truths of the Word?
     Nay. The love which we hear to our country must not depend on any optimistic presumptions about the spiritual state of its individuals, but on the uses which the country performs. If a country should take away from us our freedom of belief and worship, then indeed no New Church man could love it because of its spiritual use, or its spiritual good. And as far as its morals and its customs derive their character from a perverted religion or a denial of the Lord, the country cannot be loved because of its moral and civil good. No true patriot can love the corruption and delusion that is rampant in his country. To love what is evil, or what is the same, to love one's country indiscriminately, is to be its enemy, and to confirm it in its falsity and evil. Yet there are many other moral and civil goods which do not flow from spiritual denials-moral standards, rational goods, civil laws and popular customs which are good and true and wise, directed for the good of all (Char. 86).
     And when a republic or kingdom protects the spiritual freedom of its citizens by wise laws which promote religious life, it performs a spiritual use, a spiritual good, irrespective of how few of its citizens may actually be in genuine spiritual good. Indeed, such a country, even though its churches be consummated and spiritually stagnant, is then a tool in the hands of the Lord for spiritual good.

309

Therefore we find that the Writings speak of some nations as noble, as "the noble English nation," "the noble German nation," and-though under papal rule-the "noble" French nation. The use for which the nation stands can exceed the uses of its citizens and to some extent counter the effects of the spiritual desolation of its churches.
     So far, then, a country can be loved because of its "spiritual good," and its civil life can serve as a foundation on which spiritual life can be rebuilt. It is then an image and type of the promised land of the Scripture, a land flowing with milk and honey. It is a land in which the New Jerusalem can be planted. It is a redeemed land, where men may build their spiritual homes and sit every man in safety, under his own vine and his own fig-tree.
     There are many such lands. Yet one's own land is that of one's allegiance. Birth, abode, citizenship, bring with them that we should love our country "according to the quality of its good." But beside this discriminating love the Writings also place certain duties. It is a duty and a privilege to benefit one's own country before other kingdoms and to do more to promote its uses. It is a duty never to regard our oven country as an adversary, even if the country hates us (Char. 85, 86). For in that land we have been nourished and protected, as by a parent. Here lies our field of use-the contribution we can make to the common good most directly and perfectly, and thus return a modest part of what we have drawn from the common good. The human race as a whole can best be served by developing the talents and strength of our own nation.
     And it is inscribed on the human heart that if the ruin of one's country is threatened by an enemy, it is honorable to die for it, and glorious for a soldier to shed his blood for it. Those who love their country from good will to it, after death will love the kingdom of the Lord (TCR 414).
     True patriotism is born of gratitude. Gratitude to the Lord who in His providence "has brought us into this place and given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey"; but gratitude also towards men who in generations past braved the wilderness and fought and labored to establish the uses and institutions which we inherited, and who maintained the ideals of freedom and justice and order and developed the knowledge, skill and culture, that will pass on to our children's children.
     But love of country may appear in many other forms. There is the simple love of the soil-love of the calm beauty of the forests and the stretching prairie lands, of the mountains and the rivers. Such love-a nostalgia for home and for familiar scenes, and a strong sense of possession-may exist without regard for the public welfare. It may spring from a pride in our wealth and resources, or from a pride of race or family and a contempt for lesser breeds.

310

It may flare out as unjust prejudices and violent suspicions and jealousies; and may lead to an aggressive nationalism that aims at the destruction of any that oppose its greed for power and gain.
     It is well then to remember that there are other lands than ours, each with its fair skies and its beloved hills, each with its virtues as well as vices. The human race is our "neighbor" in a wider sense than even our country, and every kingdom or republic should be loved according to the good of its religious life and its customs, and according to the uses it performs for our country and for the mutual good of the community of nations (Char. 87).
     But the central theme in our doctrine of charity is always this-that no good is genuine and eternal if it is severed from spiritual truth. It is only the leaves of the tree of life-the tree that grows on the banks of the pure river of water of life in the New Jerusalem-that can serve at last "for the healing of the nations." The water of life, clear as crystal, the truth which reveals the Divine Human in every phase of life, has not yet watered the earth. Yet the prophecy is that by the holy Jerusalem is meant "a New Church among the nations after the church of today which is in our European world has been vastated" (AC 9407:7). Although we may live in a land spiritually vastated, it may yet become fallow and fertile. And we may love it with a true and genuine love-a love which labors to support and establish whatever may promote the spiritual good of mankind, and make of each nation a land of promise, flowing with milk and honey. Amen.

     LESSONS: Deuteronomy 8. Doctrine of Charity 126, 130-132.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 570, 458, 433.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 47, 124.
MEANS OF EDUCATION 1956

MEANS OF EDUCATION NORMAN TURNER 1956

(Delivered to the New Church Club, London, England, November 11, 1955.)

"It is by means of knowledges and sciences that man is made spiritual . . . these are the means of becoming wise" (HH 356:3). The topic of New Church education has been before the membership of the church for many years, and its declared objects may be said not only to be familiar but to claim widespread assent. It is felt, however, that while the ends of such education may be well recognized, the means are deserving of further study; and this paper constitutes a halting attempt to explore some of the teachings of the Writings bearing on education, more especially the education of children.

311

     It is by means of knowledges and sciences that man is made spiritual. But it is quite obvious that knowledges and sciences do not make man spiritual, for man in the world may be instructed in all manner of sciences with but little obvious progress toward the spiritual state. Indeed, the Writings constantly speak in condemnation of the spiritual state of "the learned." The rightful place and function of the sciences-using the term in its wider connotation-must therefore be determined, and a passage from the Arcana Coelestia may be quoted to throw light on this:

     "The science of knowledges is attended with this, and it is something natural in it, as is manifested in children when they first begin to learn, namely, that the higher things are, the more they desire them; and still more when they hear that they are celestial and Divine. But this delight is natural, and arises from a desire that is of the external man. With other men this desire causes them to feel delight in the mere knowledge of scientifics, without any further end; when yet the knowledge of scientifics is nothing else but an instrumental means having for its end a use, namely, that the knowledges may serve celestial and spiritual things as vessels; and when they are thus serving they are then for the first time in their use, and receive from the use their delight. Anyone can see, if he pays attention, that in itself the knowledge of scientifics is nothing but a means whereby a man may become rational, and thence spiritual, and at last celestial; and that by means of the knowledges his external man may be adjoined to his internal; and when this is done, he is in the use itself.
     "The internal man regards nothing but the use. For the sake of this end also, the Lord insinuates the delight that childhood and youth perceives in scientifics. But when a man begins to make his delight consist in scientifics alone, it is a bodily cupidity which carries him away, and in proportion as he is thus carried away-that is, makes his delight consist in mere scientifics-in the same proportion he removes himself from what is celestial, and in the same proportion do the scientifics close themselves toward the Lord, and become material. But in proportion as the scientifics are learned with the end of use-as for the sake of human society, for the sake of the Lord's church on earth, for the sake of the Lord's kingdom in the heavens, and still more for the Lord's own sake-the more are they opened toward Him. On this account also the angels, who are in the knowledge of all scientifics, and indeed to such a degree that scarcely one part in ten thousand can be presented to the full apprehension of man, yet esteem such knowledge as nothing in comparison with use" (AC 1472).

     The view is commonly held in the world at large that the acquisition of knowledge is in itself noble and elevating, and that satisfaction is to be derived from the single-minded "pursuit of truth," as it is as likely as not to be termed. It is therefore salutary, and chastening, to observe that the motive behind the study of the sciences may spring from nothing more elevated than a corporeal lust.
     While this is the case with adults, our passage states that children perceive a delight insinuated by the Lord in the acquisition of knowledges. Though natural, this delight is orderly and useful in the states of childhood. But perhaps we might remind ourselves of the successive states of children by reading another passage in the Arcana.

312

     "A man from his infancy even to childhood is merely sensuous, for he then receives only earthly, bodily and worldly things through the senses of the body, and from these things his ideas and thoughts are then formed-the communication with the interior man not being as yet open, or only so far that he can comprehend and retain these worldly things. The innocence which he then has is only external, and not internal; for true innocence dwells in wisdom. By external innocence the Lord reduces into order what enters through the senses; and without an influx of innocence from the Lord in that first age, there would never be any foundation upon which the intellectual or rational faculty which is proper to man could be built.
     "From childhood to early youth communication is opened with the interior natural by learning what is becoming, what the civil laws require, and what is honorable, both by instruction from parents and teachers and by studies. And from youth to early manhood communication is opened between the natural and the rational by learning the truths and goods of civil and moral life, and especially the goods and truths of spiritual life, through the hearing and reading of the Word; but in so far as the youth then becomes imbued with goods by means of truths, that is, in so far as he does the truths which he learns, so far the rational is opened; whereas in so far as he does not become imbued with goods by means of truths, or in so far as he does not do truths, so far the rational is not opened, and yet the knowledges still remain in the natural, namely, in its memory, and thus as it were on the threshold outside the house.
     "In so far, however, as he then and in subsequent Years disregards goods and truths, and denies and acts contrary to them, that is, instead of them believes falsities and does evils, so far the rational is closed and also the interior natural; nevertheless of the Lord's Divine providence so much of communication still remains as to enable him to apprehend goods and truths with some degree of understanding, yet not to make them his own unless he performs serious repentance and for a long while after wards struggles with falsities and evils. With those, however, who suffer themselves to be regenerated the contrary comes to pass; for by degrees or successively the rational is opened in them, and to this the interior natural is made subordinate, and to this the exterior natural. This takes place especially in youth up to adult age, and progressively to the last Years of their life, and afterward in heaven to eternity" (AC 5126:2-4).

     In brief, then, the orderly progression is from the sensual or exterior natural in infancy, through the interior natural in childhood, to something of the rational in adolescence. But by way of illustrating in some greater detail the modes of education appropriate to these successive states let us read something of education in the heavens.
     First, then, the education of infants. Similar accounts occur in the Arcana Coelestia and Heaven and Hell, but a concise presentation in the Spiritual Diary will suit our purposes here:

     "THE EDUCATION OF INFANTS. 1) They are with nurses whom they call their mothers. 2) They read the Lord's Prayer, and learn prayers from the nurses, by means of influx out of heaven. 3) There are preachers for them. 4) Intelligence, and wisdom too, inflows, which excels the intelligence of the learned in the world. 5) There are with them representatives out of heaven. 6) They are dressed according to their industry, principally with flowers and garlands. 7) They are led into paradises.

313

8) They are tempted. 9) They grow in accordance with the state of reception. 10) They are of diverse dispositions. 11) Nurses are appointed them who have loved infants in the world, who also are like mothers; and there is granted them a perception as though they were their own babies: but this is not granted to others than those who are in good, and are able to receive influx out of heaven. 12) Those infants who have been brought up there do not know otherwise than that they were born in the other life. 13) They do not know what time is, what space is, and such terrestrial matters. 14) Within a month they speak the angelic tongue" (SD 5668).

     It will be seen that education commences before any knowledges at all are acquired. "They are with their nurses" reminds us that in infancy celestial things are implanted without knowledges, but celestial things with knowledges in childhood (see AC 1451).
     The first mention of any instruction is their learning the Lord's Prayer; thus the recognition of the Divine is the first lesson learned consciously from their nurses. Infants are subsequently instructed by preachers, and then it is said that "intelligence and wisdom flow in"; that is, into the truths imparted by the preachers. Confirmation of this formal instruction, as we might call it, takes the form of representations-you will recall the description of a representation of the Lord's resurrection, especially adapted to the tender understanding of infants (see I-III 335). That they are dressed according to their diligence, and that they are led into paradises, are reflections of their growing states of truth and good; but we may also, it is thought, see these as somewhat in the nature of rewards. No mention has yet been made of punishments.
     They are tempted. An instance of infantile temptations is given in AC 2294, where it is described how spirits could not forbear attempting to lead them to think and speak; but the infants were indignant, not being willing so to think or speak. In this way they learn not to speak, think or act from others, but to be led by the Lord alone. Finally, "they grow according to their state of reception"; and on emerging from the state of infancy they leave their nurse-mothers, are transferred to other societies, and come under the care of instructors of their own sex.
     The education of boys in childhood seems to receive comparatively little mention in the Writings. They come under the tutelage of masters-just as we learn in Conjugial Love that it is the duty of the husband to educate boys in the world; and it is recorded also that they go to the schools of wisdom which are described in several of the Memorabilia. These centers of learning are, in fact, attended by boys, youths, men, and old men. Education in the schools of wisdom is noticeably free from dogmatism. A subject of discussion is proposed, and different speakers are called upon in turn to state their understanding of the problems. Not until a full exchange of ideas has taken place is anything in the form of a decision given as to the truth of one view or another.

314

In this is the mark of true education, as distinct from mere instruction.
     While the boys are thus occupied, what of the girls? Here we may read again from the Spiritual Diary:

     "How MAIDENS ARE EDUCATED IN THE OTHER LIFE AND IN HEAVEN. Three, four, or five are kept together, and each one has her own room and in it her bed; near that is a tiny little chamber for their clothes and for necessaries. There is also given them a cupboard with cases or drawers, so that they may put away in them things which they value. In these they take much delight, and store such things up in them.
     "They are always kept at their work, which is embroidery worked upon white linen. They embroider flowers and such things; and the things they produce by their labor are either for their own use or they give them to others; they do not sell them.
     "These groups, unawares to themselves, receive garments with which they clothe themselves every day; a better garment for feast days.
     "And they have a little garden, also; and as long as they are maidens there are only flowers in them, but no fruits until they become wives.
     "When they see spots on their clothes it is a sign that they have been thinking ill, and that they have done something which ought not to be done. The spots cannot be washed out, as from clothes in the world. When they find out what they have thought and done-for at such a time they always think about that-they then see their blemishes and their evils. If they then get the better of them again, the spots disappear from their clothes of their own accord. In like manner, when they see in their chamber that any one of their garments is missing, they then immediately know that they have done amiss. Hence is their self-examination; and if they do not themselves know, a wife comes who tells them. If they see that there is a new garment in their chamber they rejoice inwardly, because they know that they have done well.
     "When, also, they see that the flowers in their little gardens become dim, or change into worse ones, their attention is arrested; if into better or more beautiful ones, they rejoice, because it is a token that they have thought well.
     "Also, there are given them coins of silver or of gold. These they carefully treasure up, because they are tokens of industry or of virtue.
     "They have the written Word and Psalters, and they take them with them to the preachings. They likewise read in them; and if they do not read, either some garment is taken away, or the little garden disappears.
     "The preachers sometimes visit and examine them" (SD 5660-5667).

     Reasoning about the things taught would appear to play less part in the education of girls, and this Re should, in fact, expect. It is comforting also to note that even in heaven application to studies does not occur without some coercion! As with the infantile state, their rewards, and now punishments, are correspondent in nature with their states.
     Young men and maidens in the heavens marry in the first flower of youth, but education continues. You will recall that it is recounted how on one occasion young men who had spoken well in one of the schools of wisdom were rewarded with robes, caps and wreaths.

315

They then returned home to find their wives similarly adorned, "at which circumstance they wondered" (CL 136).
     Certain general lessons could be drawn from these accounts of education in the heavens which may be applied in an imperfect way in this world of time and space. For instance, while nothing as perfect as heavenly representations can be hoped for, there is an indication of the usefulness of learning otherwise than by verbal instruction alone. The use of pictures, plays and so on, is especially to be recommended in the earlier years. Paradises cannot be produced to order, but the benefits of a beautiful environment should not be overlooked. Rewards and punishments are in order, if they serve to encourage diligence; but the maximum freedom that is consistent with the states of development should be permitted.
     But to return fully to the world of space and time, where the process of education would seem so vastly more complicated, and to a consideration of those knowledges which serve to form the rational. Some of these are enumerated in the following passage:

     "To rational wisdom pertain also all the sciences into which youths are initiated in the schools, and by means of which they are afterwards initiated into intelligence; which sciences also are called by various names, as philosophy, physics, geometry, mechanics, chemistry, astronomy, jurisprudence, politics, ethics, history, and many others, through which, as through doors, an entrance is made into rational things, out of which there is formed rational wisdom" (CL 163e).

     Note "as through doors." These sciences are apparently to be passed through rather than remained in, as is confirmed by the following:
"In the civil and economic affairs of a kingdom or republic what is useful and good can be seen only by a knowledge of many statutes and ordinances there; or in judicial matters only by a knowledge of the laws; or in the things of nature, like physics, chemistry, anatomy, mechanics, and so on, only when man has been well instructed in the sciences. But in things purely rational, moral and spiritual, truths are seen from the light of truth itself, provided man has from a right education become somewhat rational, moral and spiritual" (DP 317).
     We may read further from the Arcana:

     "As regards scientifics the case is this. In childhood they are acquired for no other end than that of knowing; with the Lord they were acquired from the delights and affection of truth. The scientifics acquired in childhood are very numerous, but are disposed by the Lord into order so as to serve for use; first, to give the ability to think; then that they may be of use by means of thought; and lastly that this may take effect, that is to say that the very life may consist in use, and be a life of uses. These are the things performed by the scientifics acquired in childhood; and without them the external man can never be conjoined with the internal man, and at the same time become use. When man becomes use, that is, when he thinks all things from the end of use, and does all things for the end of use-if not by manifest reflection, still by tacit reflection from a nature acquired by so doing-then the scientifics which have served the first use-that the man may become rational-being no longer of service, are destroyed.

316

     "Unless the knowledges which in childhood have performed the use of making man rational are destroyed, so that they are as nothing, truth can never be conjoined with what is celestial. These first scientifics are for the most part earthly, worldly, and corporeal. However Divine may be the precepts that a child learns, he still has no other idea concerning them than that which is obtainable from such knowledges; and therefore, as long as those lowest knowledges cling to him, from which are his ideas, his mind cannot be elevated" (AC 1487, 1489).

     We read again in the Arcana:

     "There are two things with man which prevent his becoming celestial, one of which belongs to his intellectual and the other to his will; that which belongs to the intellectual consists of the empty scientifics he learns in childhood and youth; and that which belongs to the will consists of pleasures from the cupidities which he favors" (no. 1542).

     The Spiritual Diary speaks of the frequent abuse of scholastic studies in these passages:

     "As respects mechanical [science], when one indulges too much in mechanical praxis, he then [so] forms his mind as to believe that not only all nature consists of nothing but what is mechanical, but also spiritual and celestial things; which, if he cannot reduce to mechanical principles and their powers, he believes nothing, so that he becomes merely corporeal and earthly.
     "As respects geometry and the like, even this [science] as it were concentrates the mind, and impedes it from advancing into universals, besides that it supposes nothing to exist but what is [according to] geometric or mechanical [principles], whereas geometry extends not beyond terrestrial and corporeal forms.
     "As relates to historical [studies], they are such as not to injure [the mind], provided they be not [made] merely things of memory.
     "To devote the mind to, natural experience or science, as horticulture and the like, does not prevent the [reception] of spiritual knowledges; because such persons can, in like manner as those who are not learned, be perfected [after death], as I have observed in the case of a certain [spirit who was of this character].
     "All kinds of knowledge are not injurious or detrimental, provided a man does not place everything therein, but regards an ulterior end. For knowledges are spiritual riches, on which the understanding of things can be founded; they are like [natural] riches or treasures and powers, which, if esteemed for their own sake only, in that case such a man becomes in the other life most perverse (pessimus); but if esteemed only for the sake of ulterior ends, so that they be only means thereto, and thus be considered of no value if without an end, in that case they are injurious to no one" (nos. 768-770, 772, 773).

     While this principle is readily acknowledged, its application is not always straightforward or obvious. It has been remarked that the Word seems to contain many truths which we are incapable of applying, somewhat as the vegetable and animal kingdoms produce seeds vastly in excess of the number which come to fruition.

317

It is the same in the course of our education; we commit many miscellaneous facts to memory for which we can see no use, certainly no immediate use. But a problem arises in attempting to judge whether these are indeed "vain and empty scientifics," or whether, after a long period of dormancy, they may find application to some future use as yet unseen.
     A final quotation from the Diary may illustrate the dangers of the sciences when not properly subordinated:

     "I conversed today with the spirits and angels around me concerning various things, and afterwards concerning the sciences or the wisdom of the present day, which is of such a nature as not to be capable of serving as a plane for spiritual truths, still less for celestial truths; but [they form a plane] like [the present] ultimate heaven,* which immediately perverts the truths descending from the [interior] heaven into the contrary. For at the present day whatever is taught by the sciences concerning the natural causes of phenomena, as of those things which are in the human body, and concerning the senses and similar things-all these deductions are full of false hypotheses in which not a single truth comes to sight. Moreover, by these hypothetical and false deductions the way [to interior things] is closed, so that the thoughts cannot be extended beyond nature even in its grossest sphere, on which account spiritual and celestial things are considered as nothing. Now as there is such a plane into which spiritual truths fall, they must needs be kept back [or withheld from view]; nor can they penetrate, for there is no natural truth to receive, continue, and confirm them, for they are either repelled or perverted into the contrary. Hence it may be concluded what use scientific truths, or truths concluded or deduced from the sciences, may serve.
     *By the "ultimate heaven" is here meant the imaginary heaven which was destroyed at the Last Judgment. EDITOR
     "I say, What use, but I mean in respect to those who study the sciences in such a way as to be unwilling to believe anything without them; but not that use [which is made of the sciences] in schools, where nothing but such things are delivered and taught by the philosophers; and even by those who are intended to perform offices in the priesthood; and also because such things form the exercises of youth, since they are in accordance with their natural desires; besides the use that in this manner spiritual things let down from heaven are not so perverted, and do not so blind the mind, and lead it insensibly into doubt and unbelief" (nos. 249, 250).

     May we now consider, in a very general way, a curriculum of secular subjects, such as might be the means of leading the young towards the rational state.
     Languages. We may well envy those who die in infancy, who have but one language to learn-and this they accomplish "within a month." All natural thoughts must find expression in words, and language must be learned to provide a fit vehicle for the communication of ideas. One's native language must, of course, take precedence; but recognizing the teaching that written language exists on this earth primarily for the sake of the Word, the New Church curriculum must devote some time at least to each of the sacred languages, Hebrew, Greek and Latin.

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Both the classical and modern languages serve a further use in clarifying the understanding of one's own language-both by contrast and by comparison of common linguistic roots.
     History, geography and the social studies generally, those, that is, dealing with the relationships of men with men, provide an obvious basis for learning in what practical charity toward the neighbor consists. We are suitably warned against teaching mere historical facts.
     Mathematics is of value in the formation of logical habits of thought. It is in the nature of a language-a language peculiarly adapted to describe the things of time and space, a handmaid of the other sciences. It may be studied also quite apart from any ideas of use; its theorems have a validity and a beauty quite independent of whether they describe any physical reality or not. The orderly application of mathematical processes enables many problems to be considered which are of a complexity that would defy treatment without its aid. If not properly taught, mathematics may also stifle active thought by immersing the mind in mere formulae. It is a powerful tool in its proper field, but as an example of the negative principle the limits of its applicability must be clearly defined.
     The mechanical sciences serve to show the order in all creation, and the teaching of them is effective in so far as general laws are illustrated and a unifying philosophy is presented. Again, the limits of their applicability must be defined with care. As an example, we may study light and color in physics as phenomena of the external world, but the nature of our subjective perception of colors will carry us beyond the frontiers of physics into the realm of philosophy.
     Natural experience, the term used by Swedenborg, would cover the botanical and biological sciences as well as such subjects as horticulture. These may open the eyes to the wonders of life, showing its Divine origin; they may also show something of Providence in the delicate balance of nature, and especially in such subjects as horticulture may provide a means of cooperation with the Divine. The horticulture may consist of no more than planting a bulb in a pot and watching it grow, yet even that may provide a valuable lesson.
     The Arts-visual, aural, and manual-must not be forgotten; and while the mechanics of them must be learned no less than grammar or multiplication tables, the emphasis should be on appreciation of beauty and form, whether in painting, in architecture, or in music.
     We would make a plea, however, that the various divisions of academic study should not be regarded as watertight compartments. Let the study of history illustrate the development of our languages; let us see the relation of mathematics to musical harmony, of geometry to perspective drawing, and so on.

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     In all branches of learning there is a distinction between instruction and education. The understanding is first instructed by truths, and true education consists in using those truths, thus appropriating them in life. Thus, in the study of English, we must first be instructed in grammar, but the appreciation of literature is in the nature of education. We must learn the facts of history, but education consists in making judgments on the basis of those facts. We must be instructed in the theorems of mathematics and the laws of physics, but we are educated by applying them to useful problems.
     We have said nothing so far about education as a training for one's intended career or employment, largely because we believe this to be secondary in importance. All education must regard use, but the primary use in the education of the young is the formation of the rational. Looking to use must not be taken as meaning a specialized vocational training. Nevertheless, it will be obvious that the curriculum in New Church education cannot be so very different in externals from that of any other educational system.
     After all, what is taught is of less ultimate importance than how it is taught. The means must be subservient to the ends. But it is hoped that this rather elementary review of the means will arouse some interest.
SOURCE OF DOCTRINE 1956

SOURCE OF DOCTRINE Rev. ERIK SANDSTROM 1956

All creation is governed by Divine law, and no man can change it. We see this for instance, when a stone dropped from the fingertips falls to the ground; and we see it again when we reflect, for example, that a happy feeling immediately accompanies an endeavor to obey the commandments of God, and that a feeling of unrest and dissatisfaction is the sure fruit of disobedience. No man can do anything about these laws of the natural and the spiritual creation. They are there from the beginning of the world, and they will be there forever. Man can only choose to live in harmony with these laws, or to oppose them and therefore continue in constant conflict with them.
In the laws of creation the omnipresence of the Lord is seen. Without ceasing they proceed from Him. In the heavens and in the earths there is no thing which does not owe its existence to law. By it all things are held together; by it, also, all things are enlivened and caused to move and change and act as if of themselves; that is, by means of the law of the Lord all things receive the gift of life and are thereby empowered.

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The atom is kept in unity because of the law that is in it: and the live cell likewise; the atoms gather into molecules, and the cells into live tissues: because of the law that propels them; and uses grow out of the molecules and tissues because of the qualities that are given to each by the law that governs it.
     This omnipresent law is the Word of God, and the breath of His mouth. It is said to proceed from God, because to the finite mind the idea of going forth into space is suggested. But the Divine Proceeding does not go out of the Lord in the sense of traveling in space from point to point, for the Divine is omnipresent, and is in all space without space. In the spiritual idea, therefore, proceeding has nothing to do with space. Rather, proceeding means the issuing forth of Divine power, the unburdening of potent gifts; that is, the production of effects, or uses, from the Lord in the realm of creation. For this reason "Divine Proceeding" and "Divine operation" are identical ideas in the language of the New Church. The Divine Proceeding, therefore, is nothing but the Lord operating-the Lord present and at work.
     From this it is seen that the omnipresent law of the Lord is the Lord Himself-the Lord operating in His creation; and it is because of this that it is said that the Lord is the Word.
     When the stone falls to the ground, or when happiness is experienced in consequence of obedience to God, then the presence of the living Word becomes manifest. This Word infills and permeates the entire universe, visible and invisible. It keeps all things together so as to grant existence, and it imparts as it were the gift of life to them all. There is no other Word. For "in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life" (John 1:14).
     Yet we call other things, "the Word." We take the Old and New Testaments in our hands and say, "This is the Word." Or we pick up a volume of the Writings of the New Church and say, "This is the Word." Yet it is clear that the books did not create the universe, nor does life issue forth from the books as such. Why, then, is it that we call them "The Word" and why is it that we have the right to do so? Is not the Lord alone the Word? And is there any other Word than Himself? And what of the Word in heaven, which likewise manifests itself in the form of books? Are all these books the Lord?
     Indeed they are. Yet not regarded from their paper or print, nor even from their stories, parables, or doctrines. They are called, "the Word" solely because in them, and in them alone, the Lord is revealed. The books are not the Word, but the Lord seen in the books is the Word.

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Therefore, if the Lord is not seen in the stories, parables, or doctrines of the Word, then these stories, parables, and doctrines are not the Word to the man who reads them. The holy books can be entirely divested of all holiness whatsoever to whoever shall read them, and shall see in them anything else than the love and wisdom of God-Man. In fact, the books will become the objects of idolatry if holiness is attached to them for any other reason than that they reveal the Lord God Jesus Christ.
     And if it is asked how it is that the books, which are properly to be called "the Word" do reveal the Lord alone, than the answer is, because they were written by Himself. No man can reveal the Lord. No man could mold human language so as to portray God omnipotent without distorting His features. Like Philip, man can bear witness, saying: "Come and see" (John 1:46); but the Lord alone can shed light, and give sight. Therefore, the books in heaven or on earth which compose the Word of God are different from all other books. They are like them, in that they employ finite picture images, and present ideas within the scope of finite, human language; but different in that these images and ideas do not set forth the mind of a human author, but do reflect, as so many mirrors, only the Divine Human of the Lord (cf. TCR 508:e). For the stories, parables and doctrines, are not only, as separate Divine messages, perfect in themselves; they are also formed together into a Divine pattern, which is the pattern of Divine use itself, that is, the Divine Human itself operating.
     And so it is said in the Word: "He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap. He putteth the deeps in treasuries." These waters of the sea are the Word as expressed in human language; and the deeps are the infinite contents which lie stored up within as numberless Divine treasures of good and truth. Therefore the waters of the sea are the ultimates of the Divine Proceeding-the breath of His mouth condensing in the regions of creation. And He gathereth them together as an heap, a storehouse of Divine testimonies, as it were saying unto man: "By this thou shalt live. By this, if thou wilt, thou shalt be formed into the image of God after His likeness. In this, if thou art pure in heart, thou shalt see God. And let all the church fear the Lord: let all the goods and truths with man stand in awe of Him. For the Lord spake, and the spirit of man, the new creation of God, was formed; He commanded, and it stood."
     It is because of these things that it is taught: "The doctrine of the church ought to be drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word, and to be confirmed by means of that sense" (SS 50). There is no approach to God except by means of the written Word, and no conjunction with Him outside of that Word. For, whereas the law of heaven and earth is omnipresent and all-potent with the love of God in all parts of creation, yet man cannot see it except by means of the written Word, nor come into conjunction with it except by a life in accordance with the commandments of that same Word.

322

Therefore we read: "The Lord speaks with the man of the church in no other way than by means of the Word" (AC 10.290). And again: "A medium was provided by the Lord, to be in the place of a basis and foundation for heaven, and also for the conjunction of man with the Lord, and his fellowship with angels. This medium is the Word" (HH 304, 305).
     The main point in this connection is not whether the Word is written by means of sensuous correspondences or not, but whether it is written at all. For it is the ultimate expression of divine truth in human language that matters, or in other words, the manifestation of the law of God in a fixed and unchangeable form, so that the living truth itself, the Divine Proceeding, may have a firm and solid basis-a basis of its own making-on which to rest.
     This basis is of threefold order, like three floors in the house of God. The lowest basis is provided by the Old Testament, the middle basis by the New Testament, and the highest basis by the Writings. They are all ultimate, they are all as it were floors on which the Divine dweller of the house may tread; for His Word itself is not language but the living law of God which proceeds, and operates as it proceeds.
     Compared to this law itself even the language of the Writings is "gross," as certain spirits once said to Swedenborg (see SD 3240). For any articulate sound is gross as compared to the ideas themselves which are expressed by means of the sound; and again, as might be added, even the idea as entertained by the angels are gross in relation to the living laws themselves which the ideas seek to embrace. Yet the language of the Writings is the highest possible form of expression on earth, for it is the language of internal thought, the earthly language of the doctrine of heaven.
     Therefore the Writings, too, not only the Old and New Testaments, qualify as a "medium of conjunction" and, indeed, they are the medium of the highest perfection. In them, more than in the Old and New Testaments, the God of heaven and earth is seen revealed; and from them, more immediately than from the Old and New Testaments, the doctrine of the church is to be drawn, and also is drawn.
     The Writings, too, have a "letter," for the simple reason that they are given in a human language; and such language never compels thought. Any human language, therefore also the language of the Crown of Revelations, leaves scope for interpretations which are in agreement or in disagreement with the ideas contained. And this is precisely the purpose of the written Word: that freedom of faith and freedom of will may be preserved.

323

An immediate revelation, that is, an immediate influx of truth into the ideas of the mind, could not do this, but would extinguish every whit of freedom, depriving man as it would of all judgment and all reason, and therefore of everything that makes up his "as-of-himself."
     But the letter of the Writings is very different from that of the Old and New Testaments. True, it is like a cloud; but it is the bright and silvery cloud in which the Lord appears in His second advent "With power and great glory" (Matthew 24:30). The purpose of that cloud is not to hide the sun of heaven from our gaze, but to modify its brilliance to the vision of man. On the other hand, the cloud of the Old Testament did hide for the most part; for it was then said: "No man can see Me and live" (Exodus 33:20). And again: "Go, and tell this people, Hear ye in hearing, but understand not; and see ye in seeing, but perceive not" (Isaiah 6:9). Likewise the cloud of the New Testament, though this cloud is not so dense. As the Lord said: "Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand" (Matthew 13:13). Certainly, the clouds of the Old and New Testaments did transmit the rays from the sun of heaven, as any cloud will let through some light from the sun; yet the rays were divested of their brilliance; nor did they, for the most part, set forth their origin to view. In the Writings, however, the language of the parables gives place to the language of the doctrines themselves, in accordance with the promise of the Lord on earth: "These things have I spoken unto you in parables: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in parables, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father" (John 16:25).
     So, now man is invited to look behind the veil which did hide the holy of holies; for, "Behold, the veil of the temple was sent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent" (Matthew 27:51). Thus the Lord as the Word appears to view. "And there was seen in His temple the ark of His covenant" (Revelation 11:19).
     But as in the case of the Old Testament, and that of the New Testament, so He again "gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap, putting the deeps in treasuries." Each time there is a new revelation He must do so, for the living law of God can otherwise not express itself in language. And again He brings the children of men before His testimony, so that all the church might fear Him and everything good and true might stand in awe of Him alone; and thus recognize no other law and no other authority than the threefold Word now laid open.

324

ALFRED ACTON 1956

     A Biographical Sketch

     (Based, up to 1944, on notes and recollections prepared by the Right Rev. Alfred Acton at the end of that year.)

     Alfred Acton was born in Liverpool, England, on Sunday, December 29, 1867. His father, Edward Acton, came of a long line of county gentlemen; his mother, Charlotte Parry, was the daughter of a well-to-do foundry owner in Chester. Edward Acton's parents had died when he was a minor, and their estate was left in trust; but through some mishap there was little or nothing left for him when he came of age, and he went into the drapery business. His marriage to Miss Parry, a second marriage for him, took place about 1857, and nine children were born of their union: Sarah, William Henry, Thomas Robert, Charles Edward, Charlotta, Alfred, Annie Elizabeth, Harold and Arthur. Except for William Henry, Charlotta, Alfred and Annie, all had died before 1885. Edward Acton himself died in 1892, and his wife in 1917.
     The Acton family was introduced to the New Church just a short time before Alfred was born. Some months before his birth a gentleman came into their shop to shelter from the rain, and in conversation with Mrs. Acton spoke of the New Church. Her husband was out of town, but she said she was sure that he would be interested. The visitor called the next day to return the umbrella that had been lent to him, and lent Mr. Acton a copy of Bayley's Brighten Lectures. After reading this, Mr. Acton, an Anglican, and Mrs. Acton, a Unitarian, came into the New Church; and shortly after Alfred was born he was baptized into the New Church by Mr. Henry Cameron, then minister of the Liverpool Society.
     Alfred's first schooling was at Blackburn, to which town his parents had moved; and his recollections of his life there include the Blackburn cotton riots, during which the palatial home of a colonel who owned one of the mills was burned to the ground, and his Saturday night task of selling red handkerchiefs outside the small draper's shop owned by his father. When the family moved back to Liverpool he attended the Queen's Road Board School-where Miss Leather, later Mrs. Edward Hyatt, was a teacher on the girls' side-and there passed the fifth standard, equivalent to our eighth grade. That was his last schooling in England, though he studied shorthand and writing at the Y.M.C.A. later, and received some lessons in Latin from an older sister who was a teacher.

325

     At the age of fifteen he went to work, and during the next few years he was employed as an office boy in various places, tried unsuccessfully to enter the service of the Midland Railway Company, and finally assisted his father, who had become an accountant and collector of debts. It was during this time that three lifelong interests in which he was to achieve distinction began to be formed-in the study of the Writings, the Hebrew language, and the translation of Swedenborg's works. In 1879 the Rev. Robert J. Tilson, then newly ordained, had become the minister of the Liverpool Society, and from the time Alfred was fifteen his interest in the Writings had been so aroused by Mr. Tilson's teaching that he was a constant attendant at his classes. He started reading the Doctrine of Life every night, and was so impressed by the teachings of that work that he resolved to burn all the lurid journals then favored by boys which he had been surreptitiously reading! Somewhat later, when working as office boy in a lawyer's office, he used his lunch hour endeavoring to learn Hebrew-a baffling process since he did not know the Hebrew alphabet; but a few lessons from a young Jew were enough to set him on the right road. During these lunch hours, also, he translated Swedenborg's Hieroglyphic Key from the Latin, with the help of a dictionary and grammar. Even at that early age no task was too formidable for him.
     In later years Bishop Acton recalled that soon after leaving school he tried to run away to sea, an attempt that was foiled by the suspicions of the ships' officers he met, and that the experience cured him of any desire to leave home. But he was to leave home a few years later, under different though still remarkable circumstances. Owing to the influence of Dr. R. L. Tafel, Mr. Tilson was very friendly to the Academy movement; and through his influence in turn, William Henry Acton and Edward Hyatt, who had completed their third year in the Conference Theological School but were dissatisfied with their training, applied for admission to the Academy Theological School in Philadelphia in the summer of 1885. They were accepted, and entered upon their studies there in September of that year.
     All this greatly interested Alfred, and he felt a strong desire to enter the ministry in which he was encouraged by Mr. Tilson. His brother also encouraged him, and both he and a fellow member of the Liverpool Society, John R. Stephenson, applied to the Academy for scholarships as theological students in 1886. William Henry returned to Liverpool in the summer of that year for the holidays, and it was their father's plan that if Alfred was accepted the two brothers should sail for the United States together. When the time for departure had come, however, no answer from the Academy had been received; so his father decided that he should go anyway, and that if he was not accepted he could find work in Philadelphia.

326

The Acton brothers, together with John Stephenson and Joseph E. Boyesen of Stockholm, therefore sailed; and when Mr. Acton returned home after seeing the travelers off, he found that Mr. Benade's letter rejecting Alfred's application had been delivered during his absence.
     The four young men traveled steerage and had to provide their own blankets and knives and forks, sleep in a crowded dormitory, and wash at a pump on deck. But Alfred at least enjoyed the voyage, which was a stormy one, and recorded that when he arrived in Philadelphia on the evening of September 17th, he saw a sunset more beautiful than he had ever seen before. Many years later Bishop Acton recorded that when searching the Academy archives for material on the history of our theological school he came across a letter from Mr. John Pitcairn to Dr. Boericke, Sr., then Treasurer of the Academy, saying: "Young Acton will learn that we will decide the date of his coming, and not he"-or words to that effect.
     However, the matter was otherwise decided. When the circumstances had been explained to Mr. Benade the Council of the Academy reconsidered the case, and viewing Alfred's arrival as an indication of Providence decided to give him a year's trial. At last he was an Academy student for the ministry. He was never told whether the trial was successful or not, but was simply continued as a stipendiary student, with an allowance of eight dollars a week, cut down in 1888 to six dollars.
     This was the beginning of an active association with the Academy, first in Philadelphia and then at Bryn Athyn, that was to continue for nearly seventy years Alfred Acton's studentship was to account for the first seven of these years. For it was in 1891, after an examination in Hebrew, Greek and Latin by Mr. Price, that he was given the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and a day or two later was made an authorized candidate for the priesthood by Bishop Benade; and in 1893 that he received the degree of Bachelor of Theology and was ordained.
     A student's life is not usually an eventful one, if he is a conscientious student; but Mr. Acton's was marked by several incidents, some of which proved the value of his early training while others showed the shape of things to come. Thus it was during a visit home in 1888 that he attended the General Conference at Heywood and for the first time met his future father-in-law, Mr. Carswell. Early in 1889 the first of a long series of articles from his pen, one on the human brain, appeared in NEW CHURCH LIFE, which two years later published the first of his many reviews. In 1889, also, he was employed by the General Church of Pennsylvania to take a shorthand report of the annual Convention at Washington, D. C. the session which took the measure that led later to the separation of the General Church from that body; and later in the same year he was again employed to take a shorthand report of the meeting of the General Church of Pennsylvania held at Pittsburgh at which the members of the General Church, with few exceptions, signed a document resigning from the General Convention.

327

A year later he reported in shorthand the meeting of the Canada Association which led to the separation of the Academy Society in Berlin from Mr. Tuerk.
     It was during his vacations that Mr. Acton undertook his marathon walks-to New York in a spring vacation, and as far as Berlin, Ontario, in the summer; working his way and sleeping in barns as he went. His visits to Berlin, now Kitchener, and to Milverton, Ontario, were to be the beginning of a long and happy association. During a visit in 1890 to Toronto, where he stayed with Mr. Hyatt, he met his future wife, Miss Emeline Carswell, for the first time; and in 1892 he was given by Mr. Schreck the editorship of Whittington's Psalmody, which was being published in fascicles. He continued this work until the Psalmody appeared in book form in 1898, and during part of that time was on a committee with Bishop Pendleton and the Rev. Enoch S. Price for the revision of the Psalmody.
     As already mentioned, Mr. Acton was ordained in 1893. During the summer of that year he preached in Milverton and Wellesley, Ontario, and was one of the six priests who assisted Bishop W. F. Pendleton in dedicating the church building in Berlin; and in September he was married to Miss Emeline Carswell of Toronto. Their union lasted on earth for nearly sixty-two years, and was blessed with nine children: Roena, Kesniel Carswell, Loera, Daric Edward, Edreth Parry, Elmo Carman, Winyss, Benita, and Alfred Wynne; two of whom, Loera and Winyss, did not survive.
     When Mr. Acton returned to Philadelphia with his bride in the fall of 1893, he was appointed assistant headmaster, under Mr. Schreck, of the Boys' School on North Street. Three years later he was elected assistant pastor of the Philadelphia Society, the pastor being Bishop W. F. Pendleton who was then preaching to the branch of the Society in Huntingdon Valley; and after the summer he was appointed a Theological Instructor in the Academy. As a reporter, Mr. Acton had already witnessed events of the greatest importance in the history of the New Church on this continent, and he was to play a part in other events of equal significance. But these, although already pressing, lay in the future. For the present, he had embarked on his long career as teacher, scholar, and pastor.
     (To be continued)

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RIGHT REV. ALFRED ACTON 1956

RIGHT REV. ALFRED ACTON HERBERT G. MONGREDIEN 1956

     A Tribute

     The following is from a letter addressed to the Bishop of the General Church by the Rev. Herbert G. Mongredien, then President of the General Conference of the New Church in Great Britain:

"Dear Bishop De Charms:
     "I have learned indirectly that last month the organized New Church on earth lost a loyal servant and a fine scholar by the passing into the spiritual world of Dr. Alfred Acton. I would like to express to you and to the members of the General Church as a whole (but especially to the members of the Doctor's family) the cordial sympathy of those of us who belong to the General Conference. His many labors here are concluded; his friends and colleagues will miss him; but surely his real work is only just beginning, and his present experiences will take on something of the nature of a great adventure.
     "Certainly, Dr. Acton was known to nearly all of us by repute. And many of us had the great pleasure of hearing his address in London at the time of the bicentenary of the publication of the first edition (vol. 1) of the Arcana Coelestia. This was delivered with great vigor, I believe without a single note. Since then, of course, the Swedenborg Society has published the address as a Transaction. Then there was his editorship of the NEW PHILOSOPHY, which some of us know; and again we recall the great labor that must have gone into the editing and translating of the Adversaria, now the Word Explained, with its Introduction; besides other translation work. Some of us have purchased copies of the first volume of the Letters and Memorials of Swedenborg, and hope to obtain the second volume shortly. So you will see that Dr. Acton is most definitely known to us as a scholar of no mean repute, besides being a most energetic worker. You, of course, will have many more memories of your colleague, memories of a more intimate kind, and he will be remembered with appreciation, even with affection. We would like our friends of the General Church to know that we sympathize with them in their loss.
     Sincerely yours,
          HERBERT G. MONGREDIEN"

329

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1956

     Exodus is finished this month, and in the portion assigned for reading the description of the rituals, furnishings and equipment of the tabernacle is completed. The apostasy of Israel and its consequences are related in the worship of the molten calf, the breaking and renewal of the tables of the law, and the covenant entered into between Jehovah and the people. Moses is placed in a cleft of the rock and allowed to see the back parts of Jehovah; and the book ends by describing the erection and consecration of the tabernacle.
     We can here comment on only three incidents. The worship of the calf involves that a church could not be instituted with the Israelites because they were wholly in externals without internals; the renewal of the tables signifies that the Word would have been written differently if it had been written with another people, or if the sons of Israel had been different; and the vision granted to Moses means that the Divine Providence can be seen, in states of enlightenment, only after the events in which it operates, never before or even during the events.
     The book of Leviticus, which is taken up this month, is not mentioned in the Writings, though many passages in it are expounded in their pages. Closely connected with Exodus at its beginning and with Numbers at its close, it contains the laws and ceremonies regulating the service of the sanctuary by the priestly tribe of Levi. There is little historical narrative; and the New Church reader will remind himself that the laws, chiefly ritual and ceremonial, contain an internal sense which speaks of the Lord's work of salvation.

     Our readings in the Heavenly Doctrine continue to be in the serial articles subjoined to the expositions of Revelation in the Apocalypse Explained (nos. 1116-1188). These treatments have been collated by the Swedenborg Society and published under the editorial title "God, Providence, Creation." The July assignment considers several aspects of the doctrine of God, and after showing that salvation is the end of creation proceeds to expound the laws according to which salvation is effected. The reader will find it interesting to compare the laws of the Divine Providence as enumerated in no. 1136 with those given in the work of that title. The point of the treatment is that there is no salvation without means, and that these are not arbitrary but of the Divine order.

330

COMING ASSEMBLY 1956

COMING ASSEMBLY Editor 1956

NEW CHURCH LIFE Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
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     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$3.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy, 30 cents.
     Twenty-eight years have passed since a General Assembly was held outside these United States. It is appropriate that, as in 1928, we should meet at the call of the Bishop in London. There Swedenborg ended his long and spiritually eventful life on earth. There the New Church had its organic beginning. And there the nature of the Writings as a Divine revelation was first recognized by Robert Hindmarsh, who in his day defended the essential of that for which the Academy and later the General Church have ever stood.
     The General Church recognizes neither national nor geographical limits. Although numerically small, its societies and circles are established in eleven countries, and it has individual members in others. And although Bryn Athyn is the episcopal seat, and the greater part of our membership is in this country, a General Assembly represents the whole General Church, wherever it may be held. At no Assembly can we hope that the entire membership will be in attendance, but Whoever the absentees may be, they are fully represented by those who are present.
     Members of the church from many lands will constitute the coming General Assembly in London, which this year makes the British Assembly unnecessary. It will be the hope of all that they will be enriched in the understanding of the Heavenly Doctrine and in zeal for promoting the uses of the General Church; and that these treasures, together with the joy they have felt in coming together, will be carried back to their home societies; that the entire church may share, if not in the meetings, yet in the spiritual blessings of the Assembly.

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DELIVERANCE FROM GUILT 1956

DELIVERANCE FROM GUILT Editor 1956

     Sin has become a most unpopular word in many modern circles, yet the thing for which the word stands has not been abolished and will not be denied. Thus at the present time, as interest in the concept of sin has waned, there has been an upsurge of preoccupation with the guilt complex. But many who discuss and try to analyze this universal phenomenon seem to overlook its most simple explanation-that perhaps a sense of guilt persists with men because they are guilty.
     Men have sought for deliverance from sin and guilt in many ways. Some have acknowledged their guilt, and believed that it was taken away by an act of faith or a string of penances. Others have tried to get rid of it by denying their sin. Many have denied that there are any absolute moral laws, and contend that sin and guilt have no existence outside the medieval minds of theologians.
     No such evasions or denials are tolerated by the Writings. The first requisite for salvation, they teach, is that a man shall see evils in himself, acknowledge them, make himself guilty, and condemn himself on account of them. This is not the exacting demand of a self-righteous and offended deity. The Lord forgives men all their sins, but He will not conspire with man to act as though they had never been committed. For the Lord to say to man, "It does not matter what you have done," would be equivalent to His stating, "I do not care what you have done"; and that would be contrary to His Divine love, and a disavowal of His tender care for men.
     But the sense of guilt is not intended to be developed into a complex, a burden which man must carry to the grave, and which will crush his spirit and fill his days with torment or frustration. Once sincerely felt, it is meant to be resolved in actual repentance; in turning away from self and introspection to the Lord and a new life of charity and faith. But it must first be felt. It is written: "If Thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquity, O Lord, who shall stand! But with Thee there is forgiveness, that Thou mayest be feared." When much that justice alone would condemn has been forgiven out of pure mercy, and it is humbly acknowledged to be so, love is born; and in that love is holy fear-fear of injuring in any way that which is from the Lord by departing henceforth from His precepts. In this holy fear, and in it alone, is final deliverance from sin and guilt, for those who are in it are utterly averse to evil. And that there may be such deliverance is the only reason the Lord wills that man shall feel a sense of guilt. He indeed forgives all sins, but He can remit those only for which man has asked forgiveness, believing that the Lord is merciful as well as just.

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Church News 1956

Church News Various 1956

     THE ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH

     Joint Meeting

     "Foreign Students" was the subject of a paper given by Dean Eldric S. Klein to the Annual Joint Meeting of the Corporation and Faculty of the Academy, held on June 2nd in the Benade Hall Auditorium.
     Opening his presentation with a statistical survey of the attendance of foreign students in the Academy schools, Dean Klein emphasized the international character of the institution and its uses. At present, 14% of the entire enrollment comes from outside the borders of the United States. The cumulative record of Academy history shows 403 foreign students, 18% of the total.
     The speaker then went on to discuss, in the body of his speech, some of the problems encountered by these students: the severance from family and homeland, immigration laws, financial support, health, and adjustment to the many differences of life. Among these last, Dean Klein noted the size of Bryn Athyn and the Academy as New Church groups, the reality of life here compared to the preconceived ideal, differences in educational organization and objectives when compared with the European schools, lingual distinctions-even between English-speaking nations-and distinctive social attitudes and mores.
     As an aid in guiding foreign students, prospective as well as present, to overcome these problems, the advice of pastors and visiting ministers was noted as an important work of liaison. Dean Klein also mentioned the usefulness of a committee in the Academy, to which a foreign student might apply for discussion and advice.
     Listeners to Dean Klein could feel confident that in his new position as Dean of Faculties, this important aspect of the Academy's work in spreading and strengthening the teachings of the church will be well cared for.
     In the reports of administrative officers, which preceded the address, one common note was heard-that of growth. Expanding student enrollment means a larger faculty, broadening of curricular offerings, and new physical facilities-all betokening life and growth in the schools of the Academy.
     E. BRUCE GLENN

     SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION

     The 59th Annual Meeting of the Swedenborg Scientific Association was held on Wednesday, May 23rd, 1956, at Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, with an attendance of 83, 49 of whom were members of the Association.
     Officers for the coming year were elected as follows: president: Professor Edward F. Allen; Board of Directors: Messrs. Randolph W. Childs, Charles S. Cole, W. Cairns Henderson, Wilfred Howard, Ralph McClarren, Hugo Lj. Odhner, Joel Pitcairn, Kenneth Rose and Leonard I. Tafel.
     The following officers were elected by the Board of Directors at their organization meeting: Vice President: Mr. Charles S. Cole; Editorial Board: Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Executive Editor, Miss Morna Hyatt, Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner, Mr. Edward F. Allen; Treasurer: Miss Beryl G. Briscoe; Secretary: Mr. Wilfred Howard.
     The Treasurer reported a balance in the General Account of $1,293.33, and in the Publication Account of $529.07. The total number of books sold during the year was 163. The present membership of the Association was 282. Of the 25 new members received during the year, 10 were reported by Mr. John Raymond of Toronto as the result of the renewed interest of the Toronto Chapter in the work of the Association.
     Actions of the Board of Directors were reported in regard to the financing, advertising and promotion of the latest publication and reprints of the Association, namely, Letters and Memorials of Emanuel Swedenborg, volume II, Economy of the Animal Kingdom, Generation, and Psychological Transactions.

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Chapter reports were received from Glenview, Illinois, and Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
     A Memorial Resolution was presented by Dr. Hugo Lj. Odhner, expressing on behalf of the Association a deep sense of loss at the recent passing into the spiritual world of the Right Rev. Alfred Acton, and was carried by a rising vote.
     The Annual Address was given by Mr. Joel Pitcairn. The address dealt largely with certain mathematical and philosophical concepts that have been developed in recent years in the field of higher mathematics, and gave particular attention to the theory of sets. The speaker expressed his conviction that many of these abstract ideas would in time be of value to the New Church philosopher in gaining a deeper insight into Swedenborg's doctrines of the pure intellect, of discrete degrees, of the nature of spiritual substance, and other related doctrines.
     The President, in expressing his appreciation of the address, discussed some of the mathematical problems involved. Mr. Kenneth Rose discussed briefly the certainty with which many of our modern philosophers and mathematicians hold to the uncertainty principle of Heisenberg and others. The address will be published in the July issue of the NEW PHILOSOPHY.
     WILFRED HOWARD,
          Secretary.

     THE CHURCH AT LARGE

     General Convention. An Institute for New Church ministers and theological students will be held from the 16th to the 21st of this month at Blairhaven, South Duxbury, Mass. Under the leadership of Convention ministers, four topics-The Church, Doctrine, The Ministry, and Swedenborg and His Writings-will be studied daily from Monday to Friday through twenty sessions.
     South Africa. The Conference Mission Year Book for 1955-1956 reports a total membership of 5,646 (4,353 adult and 1,293 junior members) in 129 societies and groups organized into 17 circuits, and states that 260 members were received during the year. The work of the Mission is carried on, under the Superintendent, the Rev. Brian Kingslake, by 8 presiding ministers, 13 ministers, 9 probationary ministers, 3 evangelists, and 217 lay preachers. The Mission has 25 Sunday Schools with a total enrollment of 567 pupils, and owns 19 church buildings.
MEN AND WOMEN IN THE WORD 1956

MEN AND WOMEN IN THE WORD 1956

The Twelve Sons of Jacob

"By the twelve sons of Jacob are here described the twelve general or cardinal things by means of which, while being regenerated or made a church, man is initiated into what is spiritual and celestial. For when a man is being regenerated, or made a church (that is, when from a dead man he is becoming alive, or from corporeal heavenly), he is led by the Lord through many states. These general states are what are designated by the twelve sons, and afterwards by the twelve tribes; for which reason the twelve tribes signify all things of faith and love; for generals involve all the particulars and singulars, and these latter bear relation to the former" (AC 3913).

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PEACE RIVER DISTRICT ASSEMBLY 1956

PEACE RIVER DISTRICT ASSEMBLY GEORGE DE CHARMS 1956

     Announcements
     The Fifth Peace River District Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held on Sunday, July 15th, 1956, at Dawson Creek, B. C., Canada, the Rev. Roy Franson presiding by appointment to represent the Bishop.
     All members and friends of the General Church are cordially invited to attend.
          GEORGE DE CHARMS,
               Bishop.
IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH 1956

IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH Rev. ORMOND ODHNER 1956

NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. LXXVI          AUGUST, 1956           No. 8
     "God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." (John 4:24)

     All worship corresponds to the nature of the God to whom it is directed. The Jews believed in a God who was a Man-"Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." But, as nearly all men do, they patterned their God after their image. He was Man indeed, but man like unto them-vengeful, sensual, corporeal: a God-Man concerned primarily, if not solely, with the acts of their bodies; a God-Man who commanded bodily washing for spiritual purification; a God-Man up above who drank in with delight the smoke and the odor of their burnt offerings.
     They might have known more. They were told more-"Thou shalt not covet." "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me!" "Seek judgment, love mercy, and humble thyself in walking with God." They might have seen that worship is something more than bodily act, but they did not so choose. Their God was a Man, but a man as they were; and each passing year their own true manhood was further submerged in inhuman sensuality, vengeance and corporeal greed. Their own true manhood was lost, and God's true manhood was forgotten.

     "God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." These words of the Lord set off a revolution in human thinking which continues even yet. God is Man, our Heavenly Father; but though Man He is a spiritual being, not one corporeal and sensual. And since worship ever answers to the nature of its God, the Christian worship of the Heavenly Father must itself be primarily a thing of mind and spirit; above, though not separated from, the body.
     Humanity was started on a long first step upward toward a true concept of religion as a thing of the spirit.

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"Ye have heard that it hath been said to them of old time, Thou shalt not kill but I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment." Lust, the Lord taught, is the very essence of adultery; it is lust that is to be shunned as sin. Again and again He depicted the infinite love and compassion and mercy, the infinitely wise and powerful yet tender care of our Heavenly Father. God is a Spirit, to be worshiped in spirit and in truth.
     Yet the body and its acts were not removed from the sphere of religion. "He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me." "Why call ye Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say?" Religion, spiritual in essence, would yet find ultimation in the body, and without that it could not exist. But it was from the spirit that would be judged, and not the body apart therefrom, that the prodigal son was forgiven, the sanctimonious Pharisee condemned.
     God is Spirit, and seeketh such as worship Him in spirit and in truth. This was true Christianity, a thing to remain unchanged at the future second advent; when the internal meaning of the Lord's every word would be revealed, taking precedence thereafter over the literal statement. The statement that God is a Spirit would, however, remain unchanged; for in it the internal meaning shone through the letter, and further revelation would only add to the obvious message of the text itself. Yet add to its meaning the new revelation did immeasurably For it showed how God is a Spirit, and what a spirit really is; and it gave new and distinctive meaning to what it is for man to worship his God in spirit.
     "God is a Spirit" but the spirit is fully in human form-so much so that we are taught that the real man himself is a spirit, his body merely clothing him. The former church had for its God our Heavenly Father; truly a Spirit, and also even a Man-but only in a vague, undefined way. In Himself He was invisible, nor was His visible Son the Father Himself. Primarily God was a Spirit, secondarily a Man: a spirit, a power, a force pervading the universe-as it were Man, but Man that none could see or know.
     It is difficult for us to comprehend the confusion resulting from such belief. If the Heavenly Father is God, but is invisible; if no man hath seen Him at any time; then what is He really like? What are His ends and aims and purposes! How does He effect His works of redemption and salvation? What loves and passions motivate His life? How can we be sure of anything concerning Him?
     The formal prayers of Christian worship evidence such confusion. Christians believe rightly that the Son of God set the Father forth to view-that Christ taught the Father's nature. But they still believed the Father to be a distinct Person in the Godhead.

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They did not see that the Lord was the Father Himself made manifest to our understanding, and that nothing comprehensible by man was in the Father save that which could be seen in the Son. Their prayers, filled with a multitude of vain imaginings and idle hopes, gave evidence of such belief; prayers to a God not fully understood. And yet prayer, a part of worship, always answers to the nature of the God toward whom it is directed. So there was confusion. God was a Spirit, but was God a Man? If so, what kind of Man?

     One Divinely Human, the Lord now teaches. The Divine Human!-a term so common in our church that we but rarely think of what it means, though its meaning and ramifications are infinite; yet a term that by its own power has brought men into the church.
     The God of the New Church is the Lord Jesus Christ alone. He is our Heavenly Father: a Spirit indeed; Divine, yet fully Human. And in His mercy the Lord has shown us what "Human" really means. In its essence it is that infinite life which is love taking form and direction through pure wisdom. In its ultimates it is still spiritual, though for a time on earth it was clothed in a corporeal body. In its ultimates it is what we mean by "human" as distinguished from "inhuman." It is wisdom in choosing what is good, intelligence in understanding what is true. These are what build a truly human character in man. But in the Lord these latter things are not merely human. Even they are Divine and infinite. He, in freedom, cast out of himself all that was tainted with evil, all that was merely mortal; and so was able to formulate for our instruction in finite words and phrases that infinite truth which in itself surpasses human understanding; phrases which each of His worshipers may penetrate toward infinity.
     Think of it! Take the phrase: "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation." How true this is of a society, a country, or the world itself. How true it is on the plane of the mind, which cannot be divided as to will and understanding or between good and truth. How true it is on the plane of the spiritual world: He who rules heaven must also rule hell. There is no end to the thoughts of the human mind that can spring forth from any one of His statements.
     That anyone, even God, could do this, could speak in mortal words and phrases and yet speak truth that is unending and infinite, this is a miracle above man's comprehension; for it is a work of the Infinite alone, and all that is infinite is beyond finite grasp. Yet is a factor so common in our lives as New Church men that we rarely think of it at all. In Jesus Christ infinity, in itself incomprehensible, is set forth to mortal comprehension.

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     The Divine Human-this is our God, the Spirit we must worship in spirit and in truth. He is Divine, yet even as to His inmost He is Human, because He is that infinite love and wisdom which constitute infinite humanity; yet He is Human also even to the lowest plane of humanity-that humanity which differentiates man from the beasts; wisdom in choosing what is good, intelligence in understanding what is true. This Spirit who is our God is fully and completely Human, yet Divine. And this, in simple terms, is why the New Church is called the crown of all the churches that have hitherto existed-because it is to worship a visible, knowable God, within whom is the invisible Father. "Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship" (John 4:24). We worship our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This is the miracle of the ages!

     It is Him we must worship in spirit and in truth. We must worship Him in more than bodily acts; we must worship Him in our spirits. But even more than that: the term "spirit," When it passes from the letter to the internal sense, has a peculiar meaning when applied to man. It signifies, not just life, but that part of human life called intellectual. Hence we are here commanded to worship the Lord with the life of our intellects, not with the life of our innate will or loves.
     This is not to say that our worship is to be merely intellectual, a thing of mere thought. That would be no worship-"Why call ye Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say?" Yet the only worship acceptable to Him is that which we offer from and by means of those intellectual truths He has taught us in His Word. Never, in any instance, may we trust our own instinctive loves and desires to tell us right from wrong.
     The hereditary will is corrupt from birth and beyond any hope of reformation. We must be given a new will that we may enter heaven, and this new will-conscience-is built up only in the intellect or understanding; and the only material out of which it can be built that it may suffice for heaven is the truths the Lord has taught in revelation.
     This is why we must worship in spirit that God who is Spirit. Our worship of Him must be from the intellectual part of our minds: out of those teachings which He has given that we are permitted to study and understand, as if of ourselves, and that we are able to force ourselves to obey, until the Lord at last grants a love of those truths themselves; grants us a new will built within our understandings, a new life that is His within us. For it is only when we accept His teachings, understand them rationally and live them, that our lives themselves become that worship which He, our God, can accept with pleasure. And this is why it is said also that we must worship Him in truth-His truth, not our own or the world's idea of right and wrong, but the teachings He gives in the New Testament and in the Writings.

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     For God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Worship answers to the nature of its God. He, our God, our Divine Human God, is infinite, and nothing finite can contain the infinite. That alone is suitable for the worship of Him, therefore, which is from His Word. That is the truth we may receive in the intellectual part of our minds, to give us new life from Him. And in all the fulness in which man can ever understand it, that truth is now revealed.
     Therefore the hour has indeed come when all true worshipers shall worship the Father, Jesus Christ our Lord, in spirit and in truth; for He, our Father, seeketh such to worship Him. Amen.

     LESSONS: John 4:1-29. True Christian Religion, 339.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 446, 444, 480.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 20, 85.
DEAD SEA SCROLLS AND THE PRESERVATION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 1956

DEAD SEA SCROLLS AND THE PRESERVATION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT Rev. HUGO LJ. ODHNER 1956

     (The first of two articles on the Dead Sea Scrolls.)

     It is a doctrine unique to the New Church that the invention of writing was necessary on this earth in order that a revelation of Divine truth might be provided in an external form which could be preserved without change "to all posterity." The Lord's birth on our earth can thus be recorded for ever in the written Word and can thereby be manifested "even to all in the other life" (EU 113-122). For the wisdom of the angels rests "upon the knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom of men from the sense of the letter of the Word." And for this reason "it has come to pass of the Divine providence that the Word as to the sense of the letter from its first revelation has not been mutilated, not even as to an expression (vocem) and letter in the original text, for every expression is a fulcrum, and sometimes even a letter" (AE 1085). "The Word, as to every jot and tittle, has been preserved from the time when it was written, especially the Word of the Old Testament" (AC 9349).
     It is of interest to note that until recently no manuscript of the Hebrew text of the Old Testament was known, older than from the ninth century A.D.; and since Jewish scribes used to destroy outworn or older copies, scholars declared with assurance that they did not expect ever to find one of greater antiquity.

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     Imagine then the surprise, doubt and consternation when, in 1948, the news began to leak out that a number of ancient leathern scrolls with biblical and religious texts written in Hebrew script had been found by chance in caves near the Dead Sea. Still greater was the excitement when competent scholars claimed that the writing probably dated from the second century B.C. up to 70 A.D. Other professors persisted in regarding the whole find as a hoax or as no more ancient than medieval times. But in the meantime the experts set to work to unroll and publish the text of the scrolls and piece together the innumerable fragments that were found. And in November of 1955 the first extensive popular account of the find became available in a book by Professor Millar Burrows,* who also edited some of the more important scrolls for the American School of Oriental Research. The present article draws heavily on the information given in Dr. Burrows' book, as well as on the volumes of transliterations and photographs already published by Dr. Burrows** and Dr. E. L. Sukenik.***
     * The Dead Sea Scrolls, by Millar Burrows, with translations by the Author. Viking Press, New York, 1955 (435 pages).
     ** The Dead Sea Scrolls of St. Mark's Monastery, Vol. I (1950), Vol. II, fasc. 2 (1951).
     *** The Dead Sea Scrolls of the Hebrew University (1955).
     In general, the find consisted of two types of manuscripts-Old Testament texts and sectarian literature. The first scrolls, found by Bedouin goatherds in 1947, included seven different manuscripts which had been placed in pottery jars and hidden in the cave now known as 1Q. The book of Isaiah was represented by an almost complete manuscript, tentatively assigned by Dr. Burrows as dating from "a little before 100 B.C. or possibly a little later." This scroll (DSIa) is about 24 feet long, and has 54 columns of beautifully preserved Hebrew writing. But a second manuscript (DSIb) was also found which is now supposed to have been made in the first half of the first century A.D. It contained a large portion of Isaiah, especially from chapter 38 on, and its text agrees closely with the "Masoretic Text" now used in our printed Hebrew bibles. The book of Habakkuk is cited in a strange sectarian commentary (DSH). Another scroll contains a Malzual of Discipline for a monastic Jewish sect (DSD). A paraphrase of Genesis (DSL), a collection of non-biblical Thanksgiving Psalms (DST), and another sectarian scroll, The War of the Sons of Light and the Sons of DarRness (DSW), complete the main contents of the first cave. Excavations of this and other caves soon unearthed fragments of about ten books of the Old Testament, of commentaries and apocryphal writings, some hitherto unknown, some written in the Old Hebrew or Phoenician script.

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The first cave contained originally some seventy manuscripts, one of the others at least a hundred-mostly crumbled into dust but still testifying to the extensiveness of the literature of that age and, incidentally, to the existence, hitherto disputed, of an Aramaic literature at the time of Christ, Other caves yielded further finds of similar type; and two copper scrolls which turned out to contain directions for finding hidden treasure. According to latest reports, all the books usually bound in our Bibles were represented among the fragments, with the possible exception of the book of Esther! And a further search in the Wady Murabbaat, some distance away, was rewarded by texts from the second century of the Christian era, with letters written by or about Bar-Cocheba, the leader of the Jewish revolt ending in A.D. 135.
     Several questions naturally arise. Why, when, and by whom were these books hidden in caves? How authentic were these texts of the Word which are now recovered-more than a thousand years more ancient than any previously known manuscript of the Hebrew Scriptures! How do they coincide with, or differ from the Masoretic Text which was used for our English translations and cited in the Writings as the basis of the spiritual sense of the Word? And finally, What effect will these momentous finds have on the religious faith of Jews, of Christians, and of New Church men?

     The Hiding of the Scrolls

     It must not be thought that this is the first time that manuscripts have been recovered from caves. Origen, the scholarly Church-father of the early third century A.D., used Hebrew and Greek manuscripts which had been found in 217 A.D. "in Jericho" concealed in earthenware vessels.* A letter by a Syriac Christian, written about 800 A.D., also tells of some Jews who found, in a cave near Jericho, many books of the Old Testament in Hebrew including two hundred (!) psalms "of David."**
     * Sukenik, op. cit., p. 20; Burrows, op. cit., p. 116.
     ** Burrows, op. cit., p. 41.
     The find in 1947 immediately reminded Professor E. L. Sukenik (of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem) of the ancient custom of the Jews, who disposed of their holy books, when these had been too worn to be reliable, by placing them in earthen vessels and piously burying them or concealing them "at a scholar's"-or in some storeroom in a synagogue.* Such a hiding-place is called a "genizah."

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The hiding of scrolls in a genizah was done reverently and with meticulous care, to prevent profanation. But it is also noted that not only defective or unauthorized copies of Scripture, with variations or too many corrections, were relegated to the Genizah, but also religious works which the rabbis pronounced apocryphal. All of these types of manuscripts were found in the Dead Sea caves.
     * Sukenik, op. cit., pp. 22-24.
     But these caves contained not merely a few discards, as would be expected, but hundreds of manuscripts, suggestive of a mass deposit at some one time. And near the shore of the Dead Sea, close to the caves, lie the ruins of a settlement-centered in certain buildings at Khirbet Qumran-which archeologists with some assurance declare to have been destroyed when the Roman armies devastated Judea, or, to credit Josephus, in June of the year 69 A.D. The community is thought to have flourished in Maccabean times, after about 135 B.C., to have had a brief revival up to about 31 B.C., and then a third period of growth until the Romans destroyed it. The central buildings, laid out like a monastery, contained kitchen and community dining hall as well as meeting halls, and apparently it had a scriptorium where manuscripts were copied, for bronze and clay inkstands were found, one with some dried ink still remaining in it.* The obvious conclusion was drawn that the scrolls found in the caves had been the work of these scribes and their pupils. And since the contents of some of the scrolls gave signs that the Jewish sect at Qumran was related to one which apparently settled at Damascus, it was a tempting surmise to suppose that the Qumran "covenanters" had, when the Roman armies approached, hidden all their older documents in the caves and fled to Damascus with the more reliable manuscripts of their library. Other scholars believe that the community at Damascus was formed when the Romans under Pompey first occupied Judea (c. 63 B.C.); and Pere de Vaux, representing the Catholic opinion, thinks that "Damascus" was simply a symbolic name for Qumran, regarded as a place of exile.
     * Burrow's, op. cit., pp 64 seq.
     However this may be, the new method of determining the age of organic materials by their remaining radio-activity-or by the Carbon-14 test-as applied in 1951 to the flax of some linen cloth that had been wrapped about the cave scrolls. The result in general confirmed that the flax had been grown about 33 A.D. or within two hundred years before or after. This did not fix the age of the scrolls but suggested that they could well have been placed in the genizah in 69 B.C. Another factor to be considered was that the jars were finally classed as Roman of the first century A.D. The dating of the scrolls themselves was quite another matter. Dr Burrows reviews all the available evidence derived from archeology, paleography, text, and language, and discusses various interpretations Some of the scrolls were obviously old and dilapidated when placed in the caves, others had been hidden for different reasons. To judge from the lettering alone is not a safe procedure. Certain fragments or Leviticus were placed by various scholars from 450 B.C. to 50 B.C.

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For they were written in an archaic Hebrew script, also called Canaanite or Phoenician, which preceded that which we know as the Aramaic or square Chaldee lettering. The square script came into gradual use after the return from Babylon. It is employed in the Habakkuk Commentary (DSH), but the Divine name, Jehovah, is there written in the archaic script!* The Hebrew of the Isaiah manuscripts (DSIa and DSIb) is written in the Chaldee script which was used in the time of the Lord, who refers to the letter yodh as if this were the smallest of all the letters (Matthew 5:18). The same letter in the archaic form was larger than the waw. From various studies of this kind, Dr. Burrows concludes that the manuscripts were written at various times within the period of 300 B.C. to 70 A.D.; dating the "St. Mark's" Isaiah scroll (DSIa) a little before 100 B.C. or somewhat later, and the "Hebrew University" Isaiah manuscript (DSIb) in the first half of the first century A.D.
     * Burrows, op. cit., p. 97, Plate iv; p. 84.

     The Masoretic Text and the Septuagint

     But what about the text and language of the scrolls! Our printed Hebrew Bibles of today contain a text which was fixed by the Masoretes, a school of Jewish scribes which became particularly active at Tiberias in Palestine from the sixth century of our era. The Masoretes (so called from the Hebrew word for "tradition") introduced the vowel points which show the pronunciation of the Hebrew letters, which otherwise consist only of consonants. In this work they had access to ancient manuscripts which no doubt contained minor variations and to a long record of traditional readings by generations of rabbis. In cases of doubt they wrote a marginal note containing what they regarded as the true reading. The earliest manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible known before the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls consisted of this "Masoretic Text" (MT) and date variously after the late ninth century.
     The Writings speak appreciatively of the work of the Masoretes (SS 13, LJ 41, De Verbo 14, SD 2414). To fix the sense, they counted the letters and put in periods and vowel marks. For the letters or consonants alone could give rise to many anomalies and the reader might thus torture the sense. Therefore the points were attached. And "whether these were Divinely inspired may be known to some extent from the prophetical Scriptures, where the meaning is understood by no one except the Lord and those to whom it pleased the Lord to reveal it" (SD 2414).
     But among the early Christians the Old Testament was known especially in a Greek version called the Septuagint (LXX), which, it is believed, had been translated from Hebrew originals several centuries before Christ. The work had been started by the order of Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, about 280 B.C.

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This Greek version was widely used by the Jews in Alexandria and in the East generally up to the time of the Lord and was sometimes read in the synagogues. Some of the quotations in the New Testament seem to have been taken from the Septuagint.
     The differences between the Septuagint version and the Masoretic Hebrew text have led to the supposition that there were two somewhat different Hebrew texts current some centuries before the time of the Lord. This is confirmed by the Dead Sea scrolls, which include two slightly varying texts of Isaiah found in the same cave. One (DSIb) conforms remarkably with the Masoretic text, while the other (DSIa) is full of minor variations in spelling and grammar, although a passage which the scribe omitted has been inserted between the lines in another hand, and this insert agrees with the Masoretic. It may be concluded that the Masoretic text "rests on manuscripts both older and better" than the DSIa.* And the fragments of Leviticus, written in the archaic Hebrew of earlier centuries, agree with the Masoretic, while the fragments of Samuel agree consistently with the Septuagint version.**
     * Burrows, op. cit., pp. 107, 113.
     ** Burrows, op. cit., pp. 108, 109.
     A curious feature of the DSIa scroll is the use of "vowel letters"-the insertion of certain consonants such as aleph, zerazer, dyin and heh to indicate vowel sounds. Such vowel letters occur occasionally in ancient inscriptions, become frequent in Maccabean times, and may have been used in unofficial copies of the Scriptures such as the DSIa. Dr. Sukenik, who edited the DSlb, showed that that manuscript followed an older text, which preserved the old spelling which was without vowel letters, and in this and other respects agrees very closely with the Masoretic orthography.* The DSIa, on the other hand, is conceded to have been written rather carelessly, as if from dictation or memory. It is "obviously inferior at a great many points to the best medieval manuscripts."**
     * Op. cit., pp. 113, 314.
     ** Op. cit., pp. 114, 303.
     It must be remembered that age does not necessarily make a manuscript more correct. The Jews always distrusted worn scrolls, and were meticulous in selecting only the most perfect for use in the synagogue. Yet no one could become a good scribe without practice, and since even the defective copies took years to produce, they were used in the schools and for private reading before being consigned to the genizah cave or being ceremonially buried. Books were rare in those ages-before printing had been invented.
     There is therefore no reason for believing that the Dead Sea texts were in any way superior to the Masoretic text of the printed Hebrew Bibles of today.

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Even though the DSIa here and there may point to some reading that possibly might be closer to the original text, yet, says Dr. Burrows, "by and large it confirms the antiquity and authenticity of the Masoretic text. Where it departs from the traditional text, the latter is usually preferable." In making the recent Revised Standard Version of the Bible, the translators used thirteen readings from DSIa in preference to the printed text, but Dr. Burrows now feels regretful about some of these. Yet in some cases which he cites, the Septuagint (LXX) supports the DSIa reading.*
     * Op. Cit., p. 305 seq.
     Swedenborg also sometimes prefers the LXX version to the accepted Masoretic text. In citing Isaiah 19: 18, "In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the tongue of Canaan. . . . One shall be called the city of destruction," Swedenborg followed Schmidius in using the Greek reading and translated the last phrase "the city of the sun." The Masoretic text has ha-heres (destruction). But we note with pleasure that the Dead Sea scroll (DSIa) has ha-cheves (the sun), confirming both the LXX and Swedenborg! (See AE 391 and 654, AC 402 and 1462.) History also confirms that there was a City of the Sun in Egypt-Heliopolis, where a Jewish colony existed.
     The miraculous preservation of the Hebrew Word and the remarkable accuracy of the Masoretic text are attested as never before by the Dead Sea scrolls. Yet from the beginning of the New Church there have been two views as to the meaning of the revealed assurance that the Word, since its first composition, has not been mutilated (AE 1085, AC 9349). The Rev. Robert Hindmarsh held that the Word in its integrity was preserved in an individual copy; while the Rev. Samuel Noble believed that its real text, though preserved, must be sought from various manuscripts.* But since the Writings often cite passages in paraphrase or summary, and since the New Testament often cites the Septuagint version, it would seem that the principle (AC 9349) that the Word was preserved as to every jot and tittle-"especially the Word of the Old Testament"-may have to be interpreted as a general, rather than as an absolute rule. The expression "especially" suggests exceptions. The reflecting mind would hardly demand absolute literal inerrancy in any document. The real purpose of the Word for men lies in its sense, not its letter.
     * See the Intellectual Repository, 1823, pp. 518-528, and 1824, pp. 12-30, and passim.
     The repeated statements found in the Writings* that the Jewish nation, despite its dispersion in many lands, was preserved for the sake of its use in the transmission of the Hebrew Word, are given a new meaning by the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls.

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Yet it is to be realized that these scrolls, after all, were not always careful copies such as the official texts used in the temple at Jerusalem, but were the products of the Jewish sect which had its headquarters in the Wady Qumran, near the caves where the scrolls were found. Who these sectarians were, what special tenets they held to, and what their relation was to the movement led by John the Baptist and to Christianity itself, will be the subject of an article to follow.
* DP 260:3) LJ post 254e, De Verbo xvi (39), SD 5619.
MR. CHARLES GEORGE MERRELL 1956

MR. CHARLES GEORGE MERRELL Rev. HUGO LJ. ODHNER 1956

     From a Memorial Address

     (Delivered in the Bryn Athyn Cathedral, May 21, 1956.)

     "Man has eternal life according to his affection of use" (Love, xvii). For "in the spiritual world uses are laid bare, and their origin is revealed, as also their place in the spiritual Man which is the Lord in the heavens. There everyone is rewarded according to the nobility of his use and at the same time according to his affection for the use" (ibid., xii). The reward lies not in outward recompense but in the delight which can be found only in the joy of serving a use, a cause, a community, a society; in the consciousness of being a willing instrument which promotes the welfare and spiritual happiness of one's partner, one's neighbors, and, in the final sense, the kingdom of the Lord.
     Indeed, it is this inner delight which is heaven-a heaven which men can enter in an image and degree even while on earth, but which opens in fulness when in the Lord's good time they may be called to "walk before the Lord in the land of the living" (Psalm 116:9).
     Our friend, Charles George Merrell, waited long and patiently for this call. As men count years, he nearly reached the age of eighty-nine. But these years were neither empty of meaning nor barren of results. His work in the chemical industry fully occupied his time until for reasons of health the family moved to Florida. He took an active interest in the problems of economics and civil order. But his deeper concern was for the integrity and true progress of the New Church. He recognized the vanity of success in worldly uses unless it served the larger end-the spiritual uses which were the design of Divine Providence. He came from a family associated with the New Church in Cincinnati, and there he found his wife. But his faith in the distinctiveness of the New Church and his conviction of the authority of the Writings caused him to become a member of the General Church, in whose policy of education, he felt, lay the real hope for the future.

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After 1910 he was lung the mainstay of the Cincinnati Circle, and the home of Mr. and Mrs. Merrell was always hospitably open for the activities of the church and as a gathering place for its members. For forty years he occupied a place on the Boards of the General Church, and for thirty years he was a member of the Corporation of the Academy. His zeal was well illustrated by his remarks at the General Assembly in 1954; in which he stressed that a church, to be living, must not depend only on endowments from the dead but have the support of its living members. And he has seen three generations of descendants associated with the New Church.
     His latter years were spent in Bryn Athyn, where his wife, three years ago, preceded him into the spiritual world. His own final illness confined him closely for twenty months with a partial paralysis. During recent months he lived only partly in this world. Past and present and future, times and places, were mingled in his mind as if in preparation for that world in which time shall be no more, nor place, but where all things are present at the call of love.
     He is now ready to renew the spiritual friendships of past years. For he was on terms of the deepest and warmest friendship not only with many former ministers and leaders of the church-such as the Rev. F. E. Waelchli, Bishop Acton, and Bishop N. D. Pendleton-but also with several lay students of the Writings.
     Old age is in an unconscious quest for eternal youth, such as is possible only in the spiritual world. And the reader of the Writings loves to note that while an old man enters the other life much as he was when he left the world, yet while he retains the wisdom he has gathered, his spiritual body and mind regain their spring and increase their vigor, and he progresses toward a prime of life. It may be thought that this is merely a result of the removal of the natural body with its frailties and diseases. But it is only in heaven that it is true that "to grow old is to grow young" (HH 414). For it is the spirit of conjugial love, and the love of the uses of charity, that can move man to shuffle off the coils of age. And we can conceive that this is the more readily done when one's partner is waiting for reunion in the spiritual world. This should make the road to heaven easier, and the journey through the world of spirits swifter.

     Biographical Note

     Mr. Charles G. Merrell passed into the spiritual world on Saturday, May 19th. He is survived by his son, Fred, and daughter, Cora (Mrs. Hobert Smith), and by 12 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren. He had been President for 25 years of the Merrell Chemical Company in Cincinnati, which was founded by his grandfather, William S. Merrell. His long association with the uses of the General Church and the Academy is noted in the above address.

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DOUBT 1956

DOUBT Rev. STEPHEN E. BUTELEZI 1956

     (Delivered at the Ministers' Meeting of the South African Mission, Alexandra Township, Johannesburg, January, 1956.)

     The work of a priest is to teach truths diligently from the Word; because when he teaches them he teaches from the Lord, who is not only the Word but also the way, the truth, and the life, and the door; wherefore he who enters by the Lord as the door into the sheepfold is a good shepherd.
     This use of charity among men can be a success when the priest shuns evils as sins, so that by his faithful performance of his duties and by a loyal obedience to the laws and order pertaining to his office he is led in the path of heaven and eternal life. True eternal life is the life of a regenerating will, a will desiring the spiritual good of others. If man continues in this life he becomes a form of charity, and in heaven they are nothing but forms of charity. It is goodness and charity that form them, so that they are the very forms of charity. All the angels are such forms, with innumerable variety (see AC 553). Men who have been inspired by the truths and goods of the Lord in His second coming form a society among themselves which may more or less correspond with the form of heaven, depending on the truths and goods which flow in and are disposed with them into a like form by the Lord alone. But because man may not be aware of the Divine operation of the Lord with him, and still less how far he may be regenerating, he admits doubt in various states.
     "Things or truths that have not been conjoined in accordance with the forms of the heavenly societies have not yet attained to life. . . . They first receive life when the form is similar on both sides, or when man's little heaven is a correspondent image of the grand heaven" (AC 1928). This brings us first to natural forms which, while they may be regarded as effects, should yet represent their causes, as we read: "Such as are the recipient forms, such are the modifications of light in connection with them. In the spiritual world the modifications are spiritual; and therefore in that world such as are the recipient forms, such is their intelligence and such their wisdom. Hence good spirits and angels appear as the very forms of charity, while wicked spirits and infernals appear as forms of hatred" (AC 3484).
     In nearly every field occupied by men there is doubt as to the perfection of its form.

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From this line of thought it could be said that such doubt arises, perhaps, from our high expectations. As servants of the Lord's kingdom, which is the church in our midst, we also have high expectations for that kingdom. However, the Lord alone, properly received, can give it a perfect form; and because that form cannot be expected without doubt, it follows that we should look at doubt.
     Doubt is usually mixed up with sensual ideas drawn from time and space. Swedenborg writes: "I have conversed with the third generation of the Most Ancient Church, who said that in their time, when they lived in the world, they expected the Lord, who would save the whole human race; and that it was then a common saying among them that the seed of the woman would tread down the serpent's head" (AC 1123).
     It is a common expectation that in His second coming the Lord will save His church, and in so doing the whole human race. But when we notice the shortcomings of what we regard as the church representative of the Lord's kingdom, the shortcomings existing among nations, and consequently the whole human race, we soon doubt the truth, even as Thomas doubted the Lord. Thomas, like the serpent, signified the sensual or external man. If things were to happen as the sensual mind expected, they would follow miraculous principles, which at this day is not permitted. In a word, if we should expect that external growth of the church which we think would be the real correspondence of spiritual things, we would be expecting a miracle; thus forgetting that miracles are not done with those who are in internal worship because they are in charity and are forms of uses. Of necessity, therefore, the sensual and proprium of man-which is the love of self and the pride of self-intelligence referred to as the serpent's head-must be completely reduced to order, and thereafter everything must be ascribed to Providence.
     "The Divine Providence works thus invisibly and incomprehensibly in order that man may in freedom ascribe an event either to Providence or to chance; for if Providence acted visibly and comprehensibly there would be danger of man believing from what he sees and comprehends that it is of Providence, and afterward changing into the contrary. Thus truth and falsity would be conjoined in the interior man and truth would be profaned, which profanation is attended with eternal damnation" (AC 5508:2).
     The Lord at one time said to Thomas: "Thomas, because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed; blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed" (John 20:29). The church gives instruction to men in order that by means of its teaching they may lead the life of heaven; but if men doubt the instruction given them from the Word of God they do so from the sensual or external man, the evils of which blanket heaven with its true forms of charity and faith. And when, in Providence, they happen to acquire knowledges both scientific and spiritual, the best they do with these is to confess that they believe merely because they have seen.

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Such a state of belief is not unlike the lip confession which any man may make in states of doubt. On the other hand, they who have not seen, and yet have believed, are blessed.
     If men, or a society, applied to the works of regeneration whatever of Divine truth they have received they would become internal men, and with such men states of doubt are never felt. They desire truths from the Word, and by believing them and living according to them become true forms of charity; and it is to a society of such people that the Lord looks.
     But no internal man can be formed in a moment because the Word of God possesses no persuasive truths that will remove all doubt. This is because if anything is to be accepted rationally, opposites should be presented also so that man may act from the most perfect freedom. But man cannot be said to be ill that freedom, for such freedom is of the regenerate man who has a dictate from the affection of good and truth. As doubt exists even in such a state as this it is more refined as it is between truths and goods, and it is therefore felt less. It therefore follows that "we are not to doubt concerning the things of faith because we do not apprehend the causes, and because they are not according to the appearance; when yet they are truths because the Lord, the truth itself, has said it" (SD 2546).
     Doubt which exists in temptation does not remain doubt at the end, for as the Writings state: "In temptations the spiritual life is for the most part brought to this extremity I doubt and almost denial of the Divine presence and aid" for in this way the natural life is extinguished, because then, in the midst of the despair, the inmost is kept by the Lord in combat against falsity; and therefore this despair is soon dissipated by comfortings that are in the next place insinuated by the Lord; for after every spiritual temptation there is consolation, and as it were newness of life" (AC 8567).
     It is doubt that we need to remove from our midst so that we may become forms of charity. It is doubt that we need to remove likewise from our societies, in full hope that the Lord has the same end in the establishment of His kingdom on earth as He has in heaven: a kingdom which cometh not with observation because it is within us.

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HOLY SPIRIT 1956

HOLY SPIRIT Rev. BENJAMIN I. NZIMANDE 1956

      (Delivered at the Open Session of the Ministers' Meetings at Alexandra Township, January, 1956.)

     We have chosen to speak about this subject because it is of great importance to have a right idea of the Lord. The Lord is the source of all theology and of everything of the church. This is because He is the Word; and through the Word He gives light to the minds of the men of the church, and salvation is from no other source than the Word which is from the Lord.
     When the church has lost a right idea of the Lord its whole theology becomes perverted, all the truths of the church perish, and the light which is given by the Lord to the minds of men is turned into darkness. When the men of the church are in this state, they see darkness as light; what is false appears to them as true, and what is evil as good. They are not unlike the owls and bats which see the darkness of night as light, while the light of day appears to them as darkness. We have said that the Lord is the source of all theology, and that if the church has a right idea of the Lord everything that follows will be in order because it is governed by that idea. The reverse happens if the church has a false idea of the Lord. Everything that follows is false because from an unclean fountain, like water that is unclean at the source.
     It is for this reason that the Christian Church has come to its end, and the New Church is beginning to dawn and to bring back to the minds of men the light that has been lost through a false idea of the Lord. The Christian Church perverted its theology when it started to believe that by the Father is meant one person, by the Son another, and by the Holy Spirit a third person, and yet called these three persons one God while thinking of three. We are told that in the spiritual world it is impossible for anyone to speak contrary to his thought.
     When we read the Writings of the New Church, which are the Second Coming, we find them distinctly telling us that a man who has the idea of three Gods, and has confirmed himself in it, in the other life cannot be elevated into heaven, where there is only an idea of one God.
     There is only one God, and that God is the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom is the Divine Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Divine Trinity is in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thus in one person.

354

This Trinity can be explained by reason that can be comprehended by the mind of man. Thus we read: "All those of the clerical order who have cherished any right idea of the Lord our Savior, when they enter the spiritual world . . . receive instruction first about the Divine Trinity, and particularly about the Holy Spirit, that it is not a God by itself, but that the Divine operation proceeding from the one and omnipresent God is what is meant in the Word by the Holy Spirit. They are thus particularly instructed about this because very many enthusiasts after death fall into the insane fantasy that they themselves are the Holy Spirit; also because many belonging to the church, who had believed while in the world that the Holy Spirit spoke through them, terrify others with the words of the Lord in Matthew (12:31, 32), claiming that to speak against what the Holy Spirit has inspired into them is an unpardonable sin. Those who after instruction relinquish the belief that the Holy Spirit is a God by itself are then taught that the unity of God is not divided into three persons, each one of whom is singly God and Lord, according to the Athanasian Creed, but that the Divine Trinity is in the Lord the Savior, like the soul, the body, and the proceeding energy in every man" (TCR 138).
From this it is plain that the Trinity is in one person, that is, in the Lord Jesus Christ. His soul was Jehovah, the Father and Creator; His Divine Human is what is called in the Word the Son of God; and the Holy Spirit is the proceeding Divine. We must bear in mind the great underlying truth, that the Lord had no human father in His conception, and thus that His soul was Divine. And because the Divine cannot be separated from itself, as the soul of a mortal son is separated from that of his father, therefore Jesus the Messiah, although called the Son of God, was really God Himself. Nothing in all the scriptures is more explicit and certain than that the Lord was conceived differently from any man; that there was, in fact, no human father; and that therefore He was God in human form, accommodated to life on earth with men that He might meet temptation as men do, overcome, and deliver all men. This is the great secret of all ages, the deep wisdom of the ancients-that God, the Creator of the world, would become Man. And this is the great truth upon which all wisdom and blessing in future ages is to be founded-that God has become Man, and that Jesus, the babe born in Bethlehem, is that God and the only one. To know this is what makes the Word of the Lord intelligible. It is the key with which alone one may enter into the deep, interior things of the Word and become wise.
From every person there goes forth life and activity: so there goes forth from the Lord Jesus Christ Divine life and activity, or Divine work and operation, which is called the Holy Spirit. The true Trinity is in the Lord Jesus Christ.

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The Father is in Him as the Divine soul; the Holy Spirit is that which goes forth from Him, that is, love and wisdom. Thus it is clear that the Holy Spirit is not a third person, but the Lord Himself in respect to the life of His wisdom.
     That the Trinity is in the one person of the Lord Jesus Christ is confirmed in many passages of scripture. Thus that the Lord rose from the tomb with His Human made Divine, differently from man, who rises as to the spirit only, is confirmed in this passage: "Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; handle Me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see Me have" (Luke 24:39).
     The Christian Church not only divided the Godhead into three persons, each of whom singly is a God by Himself; it also divided the Lord into two, saying that His Human is like that of another man and that the Divine in Him is by itself. Thus it thinks naturally about the Lord, and because His Human is not acknowledged to be Divine thinks that His second advent is a coming in person; and yet the truth that His Human is Divine is the cornerstone which the builders have rejected, as was foretold in the Word. That is why it is said: "Verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. I am the door; by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved" (John 10:1, 9). The Christian Church prays to the Father for the sake of the Son, which, in fact, is climbing up some other way; and this is plainly the way of thieves and robbers.
     That the Lord is one with the Father is plain from this: "He that seeth Me seeth the Father" (John 14:9). Concerning the Holy Spirit the Lord said: "I tell you the truth: it is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I go away, I will send Him unto you" (John 16:7). "I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you orphans: I will come to you" (ibid., 14:16-18). "He [the Comforter] shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak; and shall show you things to come. . . . All things that the Father hath are Mine: therefore said I that He shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you" (ibid., 16:13, 15). "The Holy Spirit was not yet, because that Jesus was not yet glorified" (ibid., 7:39).
     From these passages it is very evident that the Lord sends the Holy Spirit, that is, effects those things which at this day are ascribed to the Holy Spirit as a God by Himself; for He says that He will send the Comforter from the Father, and that He will send it unto them.

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It is said that "the Holy Spirit was not yet, because that Jesus was not yet glorified." And after the glorification He breathed on His disciples, and said, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit." Also, the Lord said: "Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do"; and that the Comforter should take of His what He was to declare.
     That God the Father does not send these activities of Himself through the Son, but that the Lord sends them of Himself from the Father, is evident from the following: "No man hath seen God at any time: the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath brought Him to view" (John 1:18; cf. TCR 153:2).
     Further, we are taught in the Writings: "The Divine energy and operation which are meant by the 'sending of the Holy Spirit' are, with the clergy especially, enlightenment and instruction. The operations of the Lord enumerated in the preceding proposition, namely, reformation, regeneration, renewal, vivification, sanctification, justification, purification, the forgiveness of sins, and finally salvation, flow in from the Lord both with the clergy and the laity, and are received by those who are in the Lord, and in whom the Lord is (John 6:56). But enlightenment and instruction are communicated especially to the clergy, because these pertain to their office, and inauguration into the priesthood carries these along with it but in addition to these two are two intermediate operations, which are perception and disposition Thus there are four things that with the clergy follow in order: enlightenment, perception, disposition, and instruction. Enlightenment is from the Lord. Perception pertains to man, and is in accordance with the state of his mind formed in him by doctrinals. If these doctrinals are true, his perception becomes clear from the light that enlightens; but if they are false his perception becomes obscure, although from confirmations it may seem to be clear, this arising from a fatuous light which to the merely natural vision resembles clearness. Disposition is from the affection of the will's love, and that which disposes is the delight of that love. Instruction follows from these as an effect from causes. Thus in each man enlightenment, which is from the Lord, is turned into various kinds of light and heat in accordance with the state of his mind" (TCR 145, 155).
     In conclusion, therefore, we might state the following: That the Divine Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is in one person, that that person is the Lord Jesus Christ, and that His Human is Divine, is because in Him God and Man are in one person, as is said by Paul; and that those are saved who approach the Lord alone, and live according to His commandments, is because He has all power in heaven and on earth and beside Him there is no other God. The Holy Spirit is not a God by Himself, but is the Divine life proceeding from the Lord Jesus Christ, giving enlightenment and spiritual life to those men who suffer themselves to be regenerated by Him.

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Thus the Holy Spirit is no other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
ALFRED ACTON 1956

ALFRED ACTON 1956

     A Biographical Sketch

     (Continued from the July issue, pp. 324-327.)

     The duties performed by the Right Rev. Alfred Acton were so many and varied that it would be difficult to present a clear idea of his total service by continuing to follow his life chronologically. From this point, therefore, his activities are described in the several fields of use in which he was engaged. Of these we mention first the General Church.
     When the Rev. Alfred Acton was elected assistant pastor of the Philadelphia Society in December 1896, the separation from Bishop Benade was impending. On January 10, 1897, he was ordained into the second degree of the priesthood by Bishop W. F. Pendleton; and on February 5th he was installed as pastor of the Philadelphia Society by Bishop Benade, Bishop Pendleton having withdrawn meantime from the Academy and the General Church of the Advent. One week later, Mr. Acton also resigned from the Academy and the General Church. At the request of Bishop Benade he wound up the affairs of the Philadelphia Society, and a day or two later he joined the General Church of the New Jerusalem.
     That seven-days pastorate was the only resident charge ever held by Mr. Acton; but for nearly fifty-five years he served as visiting pastor to several societies, his able ministrations being received with affection and appreciation. From 1898 until 1904 he was visiting pastor to both the
Allentown and the Brooklyn Societies, visiting each once a month; and he resigned from Allentown only because the Brooklyn, now the New York Society, had decided to hold services twice a month. In 1910, while still ministering to the New York Society, he became visiting pastor also to the circle in Washington, D. C.; and he continued to serve both groups until 1925, when he resigned at New York after twenty-seven years of ministrations. His pastorate at Washington, which for many years he visited every third weekend, continued until 1952, when he was eighty-five-a total period of forty-two years. In 1950 the Washington Society celebrated with warm gratitude and deep affection the fortieth anniversary of the beginning of his pastorate.
     Mr. Acton served the General Church also in what has come to be regarded as a wider pastoral use, or one that involves a pastoral relation with the entire membership of the Church.

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In 1900 he was appointed a member of the Council of NEW CHURCH LIFE, of which the Rev. George Starkey was the editor; and when Mr. Starkey resigned in the following year to become secretary to Bishop W. F. Pendleton, the Rev. C. Th. Odhner was appointed editor-in-chief, and Mr. Acton assistant editor, a post which he occupied until 1911. In 1917, when Mr. Odhner was in Florida for his health, Mr. Acton returned briefly to the journal as temporary editor. Through the years he was a generous contributor to NEW CHURCH LIFE; and the list of his addresses, articles, editorials, reviews, sermons, and translations-which reveal his variety of interests, wealth of knowledge, and vigor of mind-fills nearly six pages in the 51 Year Index. His first appearance in the journal was in April 1889; his last communication was printed in October 1955; and his last major article, "Some Little Known Facts Concerning Swedenborg's Memorabilia," was published in March, 1953.
     When the first Consistory was appointed by Bishop W. F. Pendleton in 1905, the Rev. Alfred Acton was one of the original members. He was to remain a member of Consistory for the rest of his life, serving later under Bishop N. D. Pendleton and Bishop De Charms, and his counsel was highly valued. Although his appearances were less frequent during the last year or two, he attended meetings until shortly before his death. For several years also he served as secretary of the Orphanage Committee.
     On April 5, 1936, the Rev. Alfred Acton was ordained into the third degree of the priesthood. His Declaration of Faith appears in NEW CHURCH LIFE for that year, on page 176. Bishop Acton thus had the unusual experience of having been ordained into the three degrees of the priesthood by three bishops: into the first degree by Bishop Benade, into the second by Bishop W. F. Pendleton, and into the third by Bishop N. D. Pendleton. Although he was never appointed or elected to an executive office in the General Church, Bishop Acton gave invaluable assistance and counsel to the episcopal office; presiding on several occasions at National, District, and Local Assemblies, and at times recognizing circles and societies in the name of the Bishop.
     Bishop Acton was a prominent figure at the General Assemblies of the Church, and until he spoke for the last time at the Assembly in 1950, on "The Holy Supper," there were very few such gatherings at which he was not invited to give one of the sessional addresses, and at which he did not make a thought provoking contribution. He was active also in the deliberations of the Council of the Clergy-especially during the controversy concerning the bodies of spirits and angels, in which he was one of the principals, and the later controversy on the Dutch Position. In his last years he attended the Annual Council Meetings but rarely, for deafness made it increasingly difficult for him to follow discussion; but even when he was seemingly in repose his alert mind was quick to catch a point of argument, and to the social gatherings of the clergy he brought the jovial spirit of the old Academy.

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     In the Bryn Athyn Society, Bishop Acton will be remembered for many things, not least for the scholarly but always human addresses delivered year by year in commemoration of Swedenborg's birthday. These double-feature addresses, punctuated by the "Acton recess," were delivered for more than a quarter of a century, and were repeated for many years in other societies of the General Church; and they made available his profound and prodigious knowledge of Swedenborg's thought, life and work. Although the burden of travel to other societies finally became too great, Bishop Acton's delivery and matter were as vigorous as ever when he gave what was to be his final address to the Bryn Athyn Society on February 3, 1956.
     But his services to the General Church were not confined to the United States and Canada; though he must at one time or another have occupied nearly every General Church pulpit in those two countries, including some that no longer exist. In the service of the General Church, and of other causes that claimed his allegiance, he was an indefatigible traveler; visiting Great Britain and Continental Europe, and establishing and maintaining many valuable contacts with isolated members of the Church in Europe as well as ministering by his visits to those in the societies there. Although he complained that his Swedish was better understood in Denmark than in Sweden, he did not hesitate to preach in Swedish, and even in Italian. His last extended foreign journey was made in 1949, when he was eighty-two years of age, and brought him dangerously near to the Iron Curtain.
     Yet Bishop Acton's work for the General Church was but a segment of his busy life. During it all he was engaged in teaching in the Academy and in arduous literary labors on behalf of the Academy and the Swedenborg Scientific Association. Rut these must be considered next time.

     (To be concluded)
WHY MAN IS BORN ON EARTH 1956

WHY MAN IS BORN ON EARTH 1956

"Man is in this world in order to be initiated by his activities there into the things which are of heaven, and his life in this world is hardly a moment in comparison with his life after death, for this is eternal" (AC 5006:4).

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NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1956

     In the portion of Leviticus assigned for August (6:8-19:37) the laws concerning sacrifices in general are concluded; the consecration of Aaron and his four sons is described; and the death of two of them, Nadab and Abihu, for offering unbidden incense is recorded. Dietary and hygienic laws are given; the procedure for recognizing leprosy and the ceremony of cleansing are prescribed; and the ordinance of the Day of Atonement is set forth. The slaughter of animals, unlawful marriages and lusts, are dealt with; and the portion closes with a repetition of various laws.
     The unbeliever might contend that there is surely little or nothing of the Divine in all this; and certainly some of the laws, in the acts they forbid, reach down to the lowest depths elf human depravity. Yet even in the letter the purpose of all these laws is clearly declared to be a Divine one: "Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy." "I am the Lord your God" is the constantly reiterated theme; and at once the unifying purpose of the laws and the spirit in which they are to be observed is declared in what the Lord called the second of the two great commandments: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."

     Our readings in the Heavenly Doctrine take us to the end of the sectioned treatments in the Apocalypse Explained and then carry over into the Doctrine of the Lord. The laws of the Divine Providence are concluded in the former, which then consider creation, omnipotence and omniscience. It is noteworthy that the first of these topics is treated in such a way that it is essentially a consideration of the Lord's creations in their discrete degrees and of their relations; and that the Lord's spiritual creations, heaven and the church, are similarly dealt with under the second and third subjects.
     At the close of the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Concerning the Lord it is said that "in the church now to be established by the Lord there will be new doctrine, which was not in the former church" (no. 65). This little work, referred to by Swedenborg and published as the first of The Four Doctrines, contains the new doctrine of the sole Divinity of the Lord, the incarnation, and the glorification; and the organized doctrinal statements are confirmed copiously at every point from the letter of the Old and New Testaments.

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POWER AND CORRUPTION 1956

POWER AND CORRUPTION Editor 1956

NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly by

THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.

Editor                         Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Bryn Athyn, Pa,
Business Manager               Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address, and business communications, should be sent to the Circulation Secretary. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.
     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$3.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy, 30 cents.
     It was an eminent writer who said: "Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely." As an observation on human conduct his dictum expresses an undoubted truth. Many men have proved unworthy to exercise power; many have deteriorated rapidly or eventually when in power; and few if any have emerged unscathed from the enjoyment of absolute power, by which we understand arbitrary power or power without responsibility. Indeed the Writings warn that kings and magistrates who place themselves above the law are evil men.
     Yet the statement has been debated, and with good reason; for it is doubtful whether it does not confuse the appearance with the reality. Does power carry in itself the seeds of corruption, or even a tendency thereto; or were those who became tyrants when in power already corrupted by the lust of dominion latent within them? Did power make them tyrants, or did it simply give them the opportunity to become the tyrants they had always secretly wanted to be?
     Surely the latter is true. There have been men whom power did not spoil. But these were men with a strong sense of responsibility, and a keen awareness that the power was not their own. This is eminently true of the one power in which there is never corruption-the power that is given by the Lord to the angels. That power is used only for good. And if an angel should think for a moment that it is his own, he at once loses it and becomes weak. In the fact that an angel apparently can so think we may, perhaps, see the truth: it is not power that corrupts, but the thought from an affection of the proprium that it is one's own.

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Church News 1956

Church News Various 1956

     THE ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH

     Commencement

     The seventy-eighth Commencement of the Academy was held on June 15 in the Assembly Hall on the campus in Bryn Athyn. The gathering was addressed by K. C. Acton, Esq.
     Taking his text from the lesson read by the Right Rev. Willard D. Pendleton, "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's," Mr. Acton discussed with the graduates their duties to church and state, and the relationship between the two. Both, he noted, are the neighbor in a high sense, and are to be loved according to their good, which is the spiritual and natural welfare of their members.
     The speaker pictured briefly the historical conflict between church and state, from the early struggles of the Christian Church to the endeavors of various groups to win freedom from Catholic domination. But true religious freedom has been possible only when church and state were separated, as provided by the Constitution of the United States. Today the Academy is strong, despite pressures upon private schools, because of two groups-the civil founders of the
United States and the founders of the Academy. The latter set the Academy's goal as education not only for this world but essentially for a life of use to eternity. The speaker concluded by reviewing some of the uses upon which the graduates should now enter, both as members of a civil state and as New Church men and women.
     Lists of graduates and honors are published in these columns. Valedictorians for the various schools were: for the Girls' Seminary, Vera Kitzelman; for the Boys' Academy, Peter Lockhart; for the Junior College, Bruce Pitcairn; and for those receiving the Bachelor's degree, Pelle Rosenquist. The last, in opening his remarks, noted that there are still some occasions when formality is decorous and proper; and the tone of serious purpose that marks these occasions was present in the Assembly Hall this year, not simply as a time-honored tradition, but because these young men and women were graduating before the open Word, a symbolic fact that sets Academy commencements apart from all others. As Bishop De Charms told the graduates of the Senior College: "You are entering upon the work of the growth of the New Church, for which the Academy has endeavored to prepare you."
     E. BRUCE GLENN

     ACADEMY SCHOOLS

     Awards, 1956

     At the Commencement Exercises on June 15th, the Graduates received their Diplomas and the Honors were announced as follows:

     Senior College

     BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (cum laude): Sally Smith.
     BACHELOR OF SCIENCE: Claire Campbell, Elizabeth Hasen, Gertrude Hasen, Martha Lindsay, Pelle Rosenquist.

     Junior College

     DIPLOMA: With Distinction: Doris Acton, Patricia de Maine, Vera Powell.
     DIPLOMA: Men: Richard Acton, Kenneth Cole, Frank Cracraft, James Forfar, Roderick Heinrichs, Hugo Henderson, Conrad Iungerich, Gordon Jorgenson, Bruce Pitcairn. Women: Ladice David, Naomi Gladish, Judith Kuhl, Joan Parker, Thelma Pike, Raquel Sellner, Marilyn Stroh.

     Boys' Academy

     DIPLOMA: With Honors: Michael Brown, Robert Frazier, Richard Lavine, Kurt Nemitz, David Stebbing, Jared Synnestvedt.
     DIPLOMA. Robert Brickman, Robert Heinrichs, Bruce Henderson, Robert Klein, Peter Lockhart, Peter Saranto, Gale Smith, Peter Stevens, Jared Odhner, John Starkey.

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Certificate of Completion: Brian Heldon, Harald Sandstrom.

     Girls' Seminary

     DIPLOMA: Diana Carpenter, Corinne Coffin, Gale Coffin, Virginia Cranch, Renee Cronlund, Katherine Doering, Nancy Gladish, Peggy Harris, Vera Kitzelman, Gretchen Mack, Joanna Queman, Gail Walkemeyer. Certificate of Graduation: Janice Acton, Emily Gladish. Certificate of Attendance: Jane Gill, Edith Kuhl.

     [NOTE: A Certificate of Completion is granted to seniors in the Boys' Academy and the Girls' Seminary whose academic standing would enable them to graduate but who have not met the two years residence requirement for a Diploma.]

     GENERAL CHURCH CORPORATIONS

     The 1956 Annual Meetings of the General Church Corporations were held in the Auditorium of Benade Hall, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, on June 15, 1956, Bishop De Charms presiding. Forty-one members attended from a total membership of two hundred and sixty. The Board of Directors consists of thirty members, whose terms expire at the rate of ten per annum. The ten Directors elected for terms expiring in 1959 were: Bishop George de Charms, the Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton, Kesniel C. Acton of Bryn Athyn; Edward C. Bostock of Bryn Athyn; Gordon D. Cockerell of Durban, South Africa; Edward H. Davis of Bryn Athyn; Robert C. Hilldale of Washington, D. C.; Harold F. Pitcairn of Bryn Athyn; Raymond Pitcairn of Bryn Athyn; and F. G. Colley Pryke of Colchester, England. Mr. Hubert Hyatt was elected an Honorary Member of the Board.
     Bishop De Charms announced that for reasons of health Mr. Hyatt had found it necessary to resign as Secretary. He has served the Church with distinction for many years both as Treasurer and as Secretary of the Corporation, and there was a unanimous expression of appreciation for his long and devoted service. Bishop De Charms announced also the recognition of the group in Copenhagen, Denmark, as a Circle of the General Church. Mr. Philip C. Pendleton, for the Salary Committee, reported the need for further amendment, increasing both the Ministers and Teachers Salary Plans, and favorable action was taken to implement the proposed increase.
     At a meeting of the Board of Directors which was held immediately after the Corporation meeting, and which was attended by eighteen members, the following Corporation officers were elected, namely: Bishop George de Charms, President; Rt. Rev. Willard n. Pendleton, Vice-President; Leonard E. Gyllenhaal, Treasurer and Acting Secretary; Philip C. Pendleton, Assistant Acting Secretary.
     LEONARD E. GYLLENHAAL,
          Acting Secretary.

     PORTLAND, OREGON

     The most important advance we have made this past year is the establishment of a regular get-together on the second Sunday of each month for a children's class and an adult service on tape. Mrs. White (Ethel Westacott) and myself take turns having these gatherings. Included in the agenda is a pot-luck dinner, which enables us to have a little social time together. The average attendance has been from ten to twelve. The gatherings have been discontinued for the summer but will be resumed in September.
     It was in October, 1955, that we had our last visit from the Rev. Harold C. Cranch. This was supposed to be a district gathering, but with only eleven adults and three children present it could scarcely be classified as such. The meetings were held in a beautiful resort hotel overlooking the Pacific Ocean at Gearhart, Oregon. The Ted Hawleys (Laurine Doering) live at this hotel, and as a result of their "pull" we had the run of the place. It was an ideal spot and could have accommodated quite a crowd, but weather, illness and business obligations complicated matters for many who would have liked to attend. The highlight of these meetings was the baptism of Henry Mellman, which surprised everyone-even his wife! Florene Smith prepared the meals, which were excellent. Much was accomplished at a business meeting; among other things it was resolved to have the monthly gatherings.
     We have been visited three times by the Rev. Robert S. Junge, last August, and again in February and June. Each time we have had a class for the children, a doctrinal class, and a combined children's and adult service on Sunday.

364

We note that the children especially are benefitting from the more frequent and regular pastoral visits. Mr. Junge gives them definite work assignments, and they look forward to the next class. It is a thrill to see their animated expressions and their hands raised in response to questions.
     Because we are so few in numbers we seem like one big happy family. Mr. Junge keeps us full of enthusiasm, and our hopes for the future run high.
     SYLVIA MELLMAN

     GREAT BRITAIN

     Report of the Visiting Pastor

     Since our last report [NEW CHURCH LIFE, May, 1953, p. 249, the work on the "Open Road" has undergone gradual development. Some places are no longer visited, namely, Birmingham, Derby, Liverpool, Oakham and Worthing, while new names have been added to the list. The new places are Shelsley Beauchamp, Worcester, Great Yarmouth, Enfield, Burgess-Hill, Launceston and Newport. Four of our members have been called to higher uses in the spiritual world: Mr. Harry Dean and Miss Eunice Holland of Criccieth, Mr. Joseph Smith of Oakham, and Mrs. Edward Waters of Shenfield. Two families have moved to Toronto, Canada, and one lady has moved to London. To take their places we have eight new members and three children.
     There must be number of places in the world where small groups spring up without any encouragement from the organized bodies of the church. One such group suddenly appeared on the Open Road. It started when a young man, who had come into contact with the New Church through his school friends in Colchester, moved far west to the town of Launceston in Cornwall. At a Toc H meeting there he heard someone refer to "correspondences," which he immediately recognized as a New Church term. He said, "That's Swedenborg," and the other acknowledged that it was. Since then these two men, John Lang and John Clarke, have been the center of a little discussion group that now numbers nine men. On their own initiative they have been studying the internal sense of the parables, and other religious subjects. They have invited the pastor of the Open Road to visit them three times a year ever since his first visit there in the summer of 1954.
     As the face of the Open Road has changed, so have the character and frequency of the visits. We began by visiting every member or group four times a year; now we concentrate more heavily on the larger centers, giving monthly services in the Manchester area and in Bristol-Bath. There are approximately 110 souls on the Open Road, including members, friends, young people and children. Over a third of these are able to attend our functions in these two centers; and what is more important, over half of the members of the General Church on the Open Road are with either the Manchester or the Bristol-Bath chapter. Our Manchester functions moved into a public hall in Blackley two years ago and are now held in the Middleton Community Centre. This is central, and it has a piano-which enables us to have musical services. The Bristol-Bath chapter was able to obtain a public hall for one of our meetings, but as yet we have no permanent home in the area.
     By June, 1955, we had completed our series of classes on the four leading doctrines and the doctrine of regeneration, and could begin a three year series: the first year dealing with the acknowledgment of the Lord, the second with the holiness of the Word, and the third with the life of charity (DP 259). The most popular class recently has been on the Tabernacle. The excellent slides provided by the Visual Education Committee have been used in connection with it, and these have been shown a score of times in Great Britain and in almost a dozen places on the Continent.
     FRANK S. ROSE

     DURBAN, NATAL

     We in the Durban Society are living in the shadow of uncertainty. There is no actual written assurance that our pastor and his wife will not have to leave South Africa before the end of June. Our treasurer, Mr. Gordon Cockerell, has received a certain amount of verbal comfort from the powers-that-be in Capetown that their visas may be extended, if not indefinitely at least for another two years. With these crumbs we must be satisfied for the present, and rest content in the knowledge that the Divine Providence has all things under control. Mr. and Mrs. Acton themselves are setting us a wonderful example in that direction, and continue quite serenely with their uses and activities.*
     * See p. 368.

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     Society happenings were last reported up to December, 1955. December is, of course, always a particularly busy month, and last year was no exception. We started off with a bazaar in the hall on the evening of the 3rd. Although this function was poorly attended, and was rather disappointment to the conveners, the sum of L53 was realized towards the church sinking fund. On the following Friday, Kainon School broke up for the Christmas holidays, and in spite of the fact that nearly two-thirds of the pupils were absent, owing to various epidemics, Miss Pemberton was able to stage a charming little play called "In Nursery Rhymeland."
     The children's Christmas Party followed on Saturday the 17th. A delicious tea was provided by the Women's Guild, after which the Rev. Wynne Acton told the story of how the wise men brought their gifts to the infant Jesus. He then distributed the children's presents from the tree, and they were finally entertained with a movie show by Mr. Hugh Keal. The next night we all met at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Cockerell for a most enjoyable carol evening. The house was bright and festive with Christmas decorations, the whole gathering was in fine voice, and Mrs. Mumford was indefatigable at the piano.
     At 7:00 p.m. the following Saturday evening the children's Christmas service took place. The church had been most effectively decorated by Mrs. Masson and Beverley, and was practically full. From the church we filed into the hall to watch the tableaux, which were most artistically produced and staged by Miss Pemberton. The Christmas Day service in the morning was most inspiring. The Rev. David Holm delivered the sermon, and the Rev. Wynne Acton spoke to the children. The address and the sermon were both reverently received by a large congregation. Finally, on the morning of January 1st we had a Holy Supper service to conclude our Christmas festivities.
     During January there was very little happening in Durban as many families were away for the summer holidays. In Johannesburg, however, where Mr. Acton and Mr. Helm had gone to attend the annual Ministers' Meetings of the South African Mission, there was much activity. There were nine African ministers present, six of whom delivered papers; and proceedings ended with Divine Worship on Sunday morning, attended by 119 adults and children, and a special Holy Supper service in the afternoon. On the Friday evening of their visit, Mr. Acton and Mr. Holm conducted a meeting of the European group at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ball in Irene, and on Sunday evening a service was held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Bongers.
     Mr. Acton was back in plenty of time to preside at the celebration of Swedenborg's birthday. This took the shape of an afternoon party for the very young children on the front steps of the manse, on January 29th, followed by a dinner in the hall for the older children at six o'clock. We adult people received our talk about Swedenborg on the following Wednesday evening, when our pastor gave us most absorbing outline of Swedenborg's life as a member of the House of Nobles and a man of keen and practical insight into the problems of his day. He pointed out that even when engaged on his theological Writings, Swedenborg was able to devote much time and energy to the welfare of his country.
     Before we go on to February events, it would be as well to say a brief farewell to several members who have left our midst this year to take up residence in the Transvaal. These are Mr. and Mrs. Kugh Real (Doreen Lumsden), and their three young sons. Hugh has had an excellent promotion to Pretoria; and while we congratulate him, we will miss him and Doreen, not to mention John, Hughie and Ian. John and Hughie were pupils at Kainon, and Ian was to have followed in their footsteps. Willard Mansfield's transfer from Natal University College to the University of the Witwatersrand was inevitable and should be only a matter of about two years, by which time he hopes to have attained his M.Sc. degree. The Bob Cowleys' move to Benoni, where Bob has been appointed Legal Adviser to the Department of Native Affairs, is of a more permanent nature, and we shall all miss Bob, who has done yeoman service in the Society ever since his Air Force days.
     However, this business of moving has not been entirely one-sided; Jacqueline Bongers, from Floriday, has come to Durban to attend the University, where she has joined three other charming young members of our church in the persons of the Misses Rosemary and Jennifer Bamford of Durban, and Miss Jean Ridgway from Ladybrand.

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Two members of the stronger sex who are freshmen this year are John Frost and Martin Buss. A later newcomer, or rather returnee, to Durban is Moira (Ridgway) Gibson with her baby daughter, whom we were very pleased to welcome back in April.
     To return to our doings in February: the highlight of the month was the marriage of Gillian Edley to Owen Johnson on Friday, February 3rd. The Rev. Wynne Acton conducted the beautiful wedding service, which was followed by a reception at the Country Club. The Rev. David Holm proposed the health of the bride and groom, to which Owen responded most ably.
     The out-of-school young people's classes commenced on Sunday, February 5th, and were followed by the resumption of children's classes and young people's classes the next Friday. March saw the taking up again of weekly doctrinal and ladies' classes, plus the monthly meetings of the Women's Guild and the Sons of the Academy, social suppers, and so on. It also marked the beginning of Easter, which started early this year.
     The Palm Sunday service, on March 25th, commenced as is customary with the procession of children carrying palm leaves; the sermon was on "The Cleansing of the Temple" and was delivered by the Rev. David Holm. On Good Friday an evening service was held and the Rev. Wynne Acton preached on "The Meaning of the Crucifixion." The chancel, artistically decorated by Mrs. Masson, was a thing of beauty on Easter Sunday with tiers of candles, red and white gladioli, and white chrysanthemums. After a talk to the children on the Easter story, Mr. Acton preached on the new spiritual peace which the Lord had brought by His glorification. This was followed by the administration of the Holy Supper.
     A jolly if somewhat strenuous time was had by all who participated in the scavenger hunt on April 27th, organized by Serene Schuurman assisted by Maurice de Chazal. While congratulating the owners of the winning cockroach, the writer maintains that the best horse didn't win! The jumble sale held the next morning in Grey Street was equally strenuous, but in a slightly different way. The amount realized was about ?29.
     The next item of interest will be the Nineteenth of June celebrations, which will be described in our next bulletin, and to which we are all looking forward most eagerly.
     DIANA BROWNE
MEN AND WOMEN IN THE WORD 1956

MEN AND WOMEN IN THE WORD 1956

Moses and Aaron

"That this signifies the doctrine of good and truth is evident from the representation of Aaron, as being the Lord as to Divine good or the priesthood; but here, before he was initiated into the priesthood, the doctrine of good and truth: and therefore also it is said that `he should be to Moses for a mouth, and Moses to him for God'; for by Moses is represented the Lord as to the Divine truth which proceeds immediately from the Lord; consequently by Aaron, the Divine truth which proceeds mediately from the Lord, and which is the doctrine of good and truth. The truth which Moses here represents is truth which cannot be heard or perceived by man; but the truth which Aaron represents is truth which can be both heard and perceived by man; hence Aaron is called the 'mouth,' and Moses his 'god'; and hence Aaron is called a 'levite,' for by a Levite is signified the doctrine of good and truth of the church, which ministers to and serves the priesthood" (AC 6998).

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MINISTERIAL CHANGES 1956

     Announcements.

     The Rev. Norman H. Reuter, pastor of Carmel Church, Kitchener, Ontario, has accepted a call, effective September 1, 1956, to the pastorate of the Detroit Society, succeeding the Rev. Norbert H. Rogers, who has resigned.
     The Rev. Geoffrey S. Childs, Jr., pastor of the Advent Church, Philadelphia, has accepted a call, effective September 1st, to the pastorate of the Carmel Church, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.
     The Rev. Norbert H. Rogers has been called to the pastorate of the Advent Church, Philadelphia, and has been appointed visiting pastor to the New York and Northern New Jersey Circles, his new duties to begin on September 1st.
DURBAN, NATAL 1956

DURBAN, NATAL Editor 1956

Since the news report from Durban (pp. 364-366) was written, word has been received by the Bishop that the Rev. and Mrs. A. Wynne Acton have had their visas extended for another two years.
EDITOR.
ANGELS AND SPIRITS WITH MAN 1956

ANGELS AND SPIRITS WITH MAN 1956

"There are with every man at least two evil spirits and two angels. The evil spirits excite his evils, and the angels inspire things that are good and true. Every good and true thing inspired by the angels is from the Lord; thus the Lord is continually speaking with man, but quite differently with one man than with another with those who suffer themselves to be led away by evil spirits, the Lord speaks as if absent, or from afar, so that it can scarcely be said that He is speaking but with those who are being led by the Lord, He speaks as more nearly present; which may be sufficiently evident from the fact that no one can ever think anything good and true except from the Lord. The presence of the Lord is predicated according to the state of love toward the neighbor and of faith in which the man is. In love toward the neighbor the Lord is present, because He is in all good; but not so much in faith, so called, without love. Faith without love or charity is a separate or disjoined thing. Wherever there is conjunction there must be a conjoining medium, which is nothing else than love and charity, as must be evident to all" (AC 904).
VISITORS TO BRYN ATHYN 1956

VISITORS TO BRYN ATHYN 1956

A committee exists to secure accommodations for those members of the church who wish to visit Bryn Athyn. Those wishing accommodations are asked to communicate With Mrs. Winfred A. Smith, Bryn Athyn, Penna.

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CHARITY THAT MAKES THE NEW CHURCH 1956

CHARITY THAT MAKES THE NEW CHURCH GEORGE DE CHARMS 1956

[Frontispiece: Photo of Rt. Rev. Alfred Acton]

NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. LXXVI      SEPTEMBER, 1956          No. 9
     (Delivered to the First Session of the Twenty-first General Assembly, London, England, July 25, 1956.)

     The fact that a beneficent providence has made it possible for us to gather here in London lends to this Twenty-first General Assembly a very special significance. It gives us an opportunity to meet with members and friends of our church from many lands, to join with them in the worship of the Lord, and to strengthen the bonds of affection and mutual understanding that alone can unite us in the common task to which the Lord, in His second coming, has called us. For this we are profoundly grateful. Few in numbers, and widely scattered as we are, the importance of intercommunication and personal contact can hardly be exaggerated. Not only our separation in space but the differences in language, in national customs, and in modes of thought and life that distinguish our several nations, all conspire to make understanding and cooperation difficult.
     Yet the New Church, to which we belong, is universal. It exists wherever the Lord, as He appears in His Divine and glorified Human, is known and acknowledged from the heart. He comes, in His mercy, to redeem and save the whole human race. His infinite love reaches across every racial and national barrier to embrace all mankind. Every human being, regardless of his religious, moral, cultural or social heritage, has been endowed by the Creator with the ability to receive that love, if not in this world then in the life to come. And as far as the Lord's love is received it brings into internal and spiritual harmony people of every conceivable variety. It produces a spirit of charity and mutual love that inspires each one to contribute gladly of his special talents and abilities for the enrichment of all, and to receive gratefully untold benefits from others in return.

370

There is no limit to this harmony. It forms a heaven from men of every age and from every inhabited planet in the universe, a heaven that appears before the Lord as a single grand man, growing in beauty and perfection to all eternity as new varieties are added. Furthermore, the promise is given that as far as the Lord's love is received by men in the natural world, the hearts of men here also will be formed together. As far as the Lord's will is done on earth as it is done in heaven, the inner cause of enmity and conflict will be rooted out, that all nations may learn to dwell together in mutual friendship, and may enjoy the prosperity and happiness of lasting peace.
When we contemplate the present state of the world, the ruthless struggle for dominion and the greed for wealth that turn nation against nation, and race against race, holding the imminent threat of war and destruction over all men everywhere, this promise of world-wide harmony and peace seems indeed like a vain dream, devoid of substance or reality. Yet it is realized by everyone that there is no hope of survival unless force is restrained, and men learn to rely upon friendly negotiation for the settlement of international differences. In all Christian lands men are engaged in a desperate search for some basis of cooperation, some common moral ground on which to build a bulwark of understanding and mutual confidence wherewith to stem the tide of jealousy and hatred that threatens to engulf the world. This is the paramount issue of the day. Every hope for the future depends upon our meeting it successfully. We are told, therefore, that nothing must be permitted to interfere with united action in pursuit of that all important objective. We are urged to forget racial antagonisms, to set aside national ambitions and cultural traditions, and to disregard all differences in matters of religious faith and practice, subordinating these lesser considerations to the common cause of peace. Our very self-preservation demands that all men exercise forbearance, toleration and charity toward one another.
This is the state of the world in which we find ourselves. It is the mental atmosphere in which we live. The need is so urgent that we cannot fail to support the hands of the political and religious leaders in our Christian civilization who are laboring so earnestly to combat the forces of materialistic and communistic tyranny that are seeking to bring us all under their cruel domination. And why should we not do so wholeheartedly, and without reserve? Is not charity the first essential of the church, as well as the primary requirement of the times? Surely no one can deny that this is so; but what kind of charity? If we examine the Heavenly Doctrine we find that we are called upon by the Lord to exercise a kind of charity that is quite different from that which is demanded of us by the modern Christian thinkers who are striving to solve the riddle of survival.

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It is most important for us to see the distinction clearly, lest in yielding to the pressure of the times we compromise our faith, and unwittingly betray the Lord. This is the crucial test of our New Churchmanship. The charity the Lord requires of us is a new gift to mankind. It is a gift made possible solely by the revelation of the Lord's Divine Human. It is a gift whereby the New Church is to be distinguished from all other religions. The nature of this charity is altogether unknown in our modern world; yet only as far as men strive for this kind of charity can the Lord bring them into real internal harmony, and establish His universal kingdom throughout the world. Nothing is more vital to New Church men, therefore, than to know what this genuine charity is, that they may learn to love it supremely and live according to it. This is why we have felt impelled to make that subject the keynote of our Assembly.
The Writings tell us that charity "is an internal affection which consists in a heartfelt desire to do the neighbor good, in this being the delight of life, and this without any reward" (AC 8033). This is perhaps the broadest and most inclusive definition of charity. I suppose that every one: outside of the New Church as well as within it, would subscribe to it as an abstract ideal. One can hardly fail to recognize its truth from common perception; but there is nothing about it that is distinctive of the New Church. Instances of such charity may be found in every land, and among those of every religion. If we regard as signs of such charity the sacrifice of self for the sake of family or friends, selfless devotion to duty in the performance of one's use or calling, adherence to principle in the face of violent opposition, or the willingness to lay down one's life in defense of one's country or one's religious faith, then we must acknowledge that "a heartfelt desire to do the neighbor good" is widespread among the nations of the earth. It must be admitted, of course, that the outward appearance of such charity may be assumed from hidden motives of self-interest; but wherever this spirit of charity is sincere, the Lord is in it, and heaven is in it. It is, in fact, this charity that makes what the Writings call the "church universal." Every one who belongs to that church is saved by the Lord and brought into heaven, regardless of the religion to which he may have belonged during his life on earth; but this is possible only because he is willing to receive instruction after death, to reject the falsities of faith he had innocently believed to be true, and to repent of the evils he had committed without realizing that they were contrary to the law of God. There are millions of such people in all parts of the world, but who they are only the Lord can know.
This kind of charity enables the Lord to save people everywhere who are innocent of deliberate wrongdoing-to save them in spite of their ignorance and error; but it provides no adequate means whereby He can effect the redemption of the race.

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Taken by itself it will not bring men into internal harmony. It has no power to remove falsities of belief or evils of life. The faiths men live by are extremely diverse; they are mutually incompatible and contradictory One cannot be deeply loyal to his own faith without coming into conflict with those of opposing faiths. Surely, if a person is convinced that his own religion is the only true one he cannot fail to be impelled by every consideration of charity, by every heartfelt desire to "do the neighbor good," to rescue others from their false beliefs which can lead only to unhappiness and frustration. Yet in all history such fanatical promotion of one's own faith has merely turned religion against religion and sect against sect, to the utter destruction of charity. This is why so many are now saying that no one should have the temerity to proclaim his faith to be the only true one. After all, who knows what is right and what is wrong in matters of religious belief? What is best for one may not be best for others. Charity demands that we recognize the good in all religions and disregard the differences of faith that now so tragically divide us. Every one should be free to choose the religion he personally prefers without impugning the right of others to do the same. If this be done, all may join as brethren, the children of one Heavenly Father, and work together to promote peace and good will among all nations. If we fail to do this we perish. Such is the ideal of charity that is being advocated by the leading thinkers of modern Christianity.
All this would be true if, according to the prevailing opinion, religion were merely the product of man's fallible imagination. Unfortunately, this is what the religions of the world have actually become. While they all claim to have Divine authority, it will be found, on close examination, that they are based on human interpretations Jewish faith reflects the opinions of learned rabbis. Christian creeds were determined by ecclesiastical councils. All distinguishing sectarian doctrines have been formulated by great theologians whose pronouncements have been accepted by their followers as definitive. Every one may rest comfortably in the faith with which he has been imbued from childhood; but if he examines other faiths and compares them with his own, doubts and questions inevitably arise. This is what men, in increasing numbers, are doing. It is not surprising that as the spirit of inquiry grows, the denial that there is any such thing as Divine revelation is becoming more and more widespread. This denial is what lies at the root of the modern concept of charity.
But suppose there is one true religion, one Divine law of human life established from the foundation of the world by a God who is infinitely wise and infinitely merciful?

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Suppose that law has been revealed in such a way that men may learn progressively to understand it and to bring their lives into accord with it. And suppose because that law is not known, the religions of the world are floundering in spiritual darkness and error, deceiving the simple into believing what is false in the sight of God, and perpetuating traditional modes of life that are contrary to His will? Surely in this case the kind of charity that encourages men to be indifferent to all spiritual truth-confirming their minds in the popular idea that nothing is known or can be known with assurance concerning God, or heaven, or the way of salvation-surely such charity can offer no adequate solution to the vital problems with which the nations of the earth are so sorely beset.
This is where we must part company with the generally accepted thought of our day. We know that the Lord has made His second coming. We know that He speaks to us directly in the pages of the Writings, setting forth in clear rational terms the way of life which He has ordained for all men-the only way in which men may learn truly how to love God, and how to live in genuine charity toward the neighbor. To search eagerly for that way, and to walk humbly therein, this is the only true religion. Knowing this to be true, every consideration of charity demands that we declare it openly and proclaim it from the housetops. Yet, to do this is to run directly counter to the urgent appeal for a charity that denies the validity of any spiritual truth, and turns men away from any positive or dependable Divine guidance and instruction. Those who deny the very possibility of Divine revelation cannot but regard such a claim as narrow-minded and bigoted. They can think of it only as an insistence upon the superiority of one's own religion, one's fallible human concept of faith, which in the past has brought nothing but division, enmity, and cruel conflict into the world.
But this is not our religion; it is the Lord's own religion. It is not the interpretation of any man or council of men to which we ascribe Divinity, but solely to what the Lord Himself teaches. We demand no loyal allegiance to traditional beliefs or to any established modes of life, but call upon every one to go to the Writings to hear "what God the Lord doth speak," believing that He alone can "form the hearts of men together" and unite them in true charity and mutual love. The Writings are an inexhaustible source of spiritual truth, the infinite wisdom of God mercifully brought within the grasp of human minds. To love that truth supremely, to search it out unceasingly, and to look to it always as the guiding light that is to direct our steps day by day, this is to love the Lord above all things. This is to love the neighbor, because in no other way can we learn how to do good that is really good, to the neighbor.

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You remember the story in the Gospels of the young man who said to the Lord: "Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?" And the Lord said unto him: "Why callest thou Me good? there is none good but one, that is God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments?" The commandments of God are the truths of His Word. To live according to these truths is the essence of genuine charity. Wherefore the Writings tell us that "charity is a life according to truths Divine" (AC 10485). No one can live according to truths Divine who does not know them. The love of spiritual truth, the truth that the Lord teaches, is therefore a necessary prerequisite to charity. This is what inspires man to search it out, to learn it, and to enter progressively into an understanding of it in order that he may live according to it. This is why, in regard to the life of charity, it is said "that with those who are being reformed and regenerated [charity] is continually being born and growing up, and receiving increments, and this by means of truths; therefore the more of truth there is insinuated, the more is the life of charity perfected; wherefore according to the quality and quantity of truth, so is the charity with a man" (AC 2189:2). Elsewhere we are told that "the tribe of Levi signifies the love of truth, which is the very love from which the church is a church" (AR 357). Faith is nothing but the love of truth; wherefore it is defined as "an internal affection which consists in a heartfelt desire to know what is true and what is good, and this, not for the sake of doctrine as the end in view, but for the sake of life. This affection joins itself with the affection of charity through the desire to do according to the truth, thus to do the truth itself" (AC 8034). And finally, we are taught that "there is no genuine, that is, living charity, except that which makes one with faith, and the two look jointly to the Lord; for these three, the Lord, charity, and faith are the three essentials of salvation, and when they make one, charity is charity, and faith is faith; and the Lord is in them, and they are in the Lord" (TCR 450).
Charity, to be living, must make one with faith, and the two together must look jointly to the Lord. By faith, here, is meant "an internal affection which consists in a heartfelt desire to know what is true for the sake of life. This affection joins itself with the affection of charity through the desire to do according to the truth, thus to do the truth itself." The affection of charity and of faith look jointly to the Lord when the truth that is loved and sought is that which the Lord teaches. The charity, therefore, that makes the New Church, is a charity that has its origin in love to the Lord; that is, in the love of learning and doing what the Lord wills. The Lord makes known to us what He wills solely by means of truth, the truth of His Word; and especially, in our day, by the internal sense of His Word as openly revealed in the Heavenly Doctrine.

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This charity, therefore, cannot exist apart from a profound love of the Writings and a constant endeavor to search out, understand, and apply the spiritual truth therein contained.
This is very different from that sectarian idea of charity which is identified with the uncritical and emotional acceptance of a specific set of traditional doctrines and religious practices. Also, it differs mightily from the modern concept of a charity which has been disengaged from all specific doctrine, and has been identified with no positive faith except perhaps the belief in some invisible God concerning whom we can know nothing. The sectarian view perpetuates division and conflict; and the modern view is designed to promote external harmony by separating charity from faith; that is, from dependence upon any positive Divine teaching, believing that man, by his own unaided intelligence, can then wisely direct the destiny of the race. But the faith of the New Church is founded on the conviction that if men are to be brought into real internal harmony they must look to the Lord for instruction and guidance, for His infinite wisdom alone is equal to the task. The charity of the New Church is nothing but the supreme desire to learn, to understand, and do what the Lord teaches by means of the Heavenly Doctrine. As far as men look to this Divine truth for guidance; as far as, in common, they love this truth and follow it faithfully in thought, in intention and in act, it will build in their minds and hearts a dwelling place for the Lord. It will lead them to the holy city, New Jerusalem, which, by its twelve gates, provides a way of entrance from every quarter of the globe for people of every race and every nation, welding them into an harmonious unity of love and charity, and use. This is a miracle which only the Lord, by the truth of His infinite wisdom, can accomplish. For "except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that built it; except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain."
REPORT OF THE ASSEMBLY 1956

REPORT OF THE ASSEMBLY Editor 1956

Publication or the Report of the Twenty-first General Assembly begins in this issue with the printing above of the text of the Episcopal Address by Bishop George de Charms which was delivered and discussed at the first session. The report will be continued in the issues for October through December and will contain the text of the other addresses and of the sermon, the Journal of the Proceedings, the reports of officials, and accounts of the Banquet and other features of the program. A complete index of the report will be included in the Index for 1956 under the sub-entry "General Assembly, Twenty-first."
EDITOR

376

EDITOR THE LEADING SPIRIT 1956

EDITOR THE LEADING SPIRIT Rev. MORLEY D. RICH 1956

     "But My servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed Me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it." (Numbers 14:24)

     Spiritual leadership is the responsibility of those who are, or who will be, of the New Church. Yet if it is to be a genuine use with the individual, it must be clearly understood that such leadership is not what it is commonly supposed to be by men today, and that the same is true of responsibility for it. It must b, asked: Who are those who are of the New Church? What is spiritual leadership, as distinguished from natural! And what is the measure and quality of the responsibility that is placed on the shoulders of the man of the New Church?
     Light is thrown on these questions, and the answers to them, by the actions of and the relations among Moses, Aaron and Caleb, in the historical event in connection with which our text occurs. The false report of the spies sent into the land of Canaan, concerning the giant sons of Anak dwelling there, had thrown the sons of Israel into a turmoil of terror; and as is usual in such instances of mass panic, their fear was translated after a time into an hysterical wrath against the leaders who seemed to be responsible for their predicament, in this case, Moses and Aaron.
     They had forgotten all the leading of the Lord, and all the mighty miracles He had performed on their behalf. And it was therefore but natural that they should, in their obscurity, place the entire responsibility for leadership, and for what they now believed to be an error, squarely upon the shoulders of Moses and Aaron; thus unwittingly making their human leaders alone the objects of their distrust and recrimination, as formerly they had given them all their trust and praise. The fact that they, one and all, shared the responsibility through their own actions, attitudes and words, this they did not comprehend, or perhaps did not wish to understand. More than this, the truth that it was really the Lord who had led them-and who would continue to lead them, if they could but trust in Him; this basic truth they had forgotten in the heat of the moment.

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     The strange thing is that, in this incident, Moses and Aaron apparently shared in the people's state of obscurity. They, too, felt that they were mainly responsible for this debacle. And this is indicated by the fact that when their people threatened them with death by stoning, Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in terror toward the people, instead of turning their faces toward the Lord in trust and in hope of His aid in their distress.
     So it was that Moses and Aaron were weighed down and hampered by a spurious sense of responsibility: the state of feeling that unless one says or does just exactly the right thing at the right time, all the people dependent thereon, and all the things involved, will inevitably fall into disaster and ruin; a state, in other words, in which, the Lord's providence forgotten, all that remains for the effecting of progress is human intelligence and determination.
     In Moses and Aaron this state was undoubtedly intensified by their long association with and knowledge of the intellectual giants of Egypt. It was undoubtedly intensified also by Moses' training in the Egyptian court, with its flatteries and tortuous diplomacy; for there was an atmosphere which bred a deep fear and mistrust of other people, and in which the gods were regarded, not as manifestations of one infinite and omnipotent God, but as glorified emperors and kings, as it were, whose favors were to be sought by praise, flattery, gifts and sacrifices, and perhaps a little judicious pressure from time to time.
     So it was that Moses and Aaron, in terror, entreated the mercy of their people instead of turning to the Lord. And so it was, also, that when the Lord threatened the destruction of the sons of Israel, Moses resorted to the stratagem of tactful pressure. For he said to the Lord: "Then the Egyptians shall hear it . . . and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that Thou Lord art among this people, that Thou Lord art seen face to face, and that Thy cloud standeth over them, and that Thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night. Now if Thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of Thee will speak, saying, Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land which He sware unto them, therefore He hath slain them in the wilderness" (Numbers 14:13-16).
     In this incident, then, the two leaders typify a certain state of mind which comes at times to all. It is a state of fear of the straight application of a principle or truth; a state in which a man not only mistrusts his own capacities, and dreads the consequences of such an application, but has also lost any knowledge he may have had of the Divine Providence, of how the Lord Himself sustains and gives victory to him who strives to live the truth.

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And this fear brings with it grave doubts as to what is the right or correct application of the principle, the final intent of the hells being so to confuse man that at length he does not even know whether positive, active good is to be done or not. In doing this the hells make use of all the man's native intelligence, stirring up every knowledge and piece of information he has that will militate against, and finally negate, any application of the truth whatsoever. Forgetting the Lord's operation in good and truth, the man thinks that he has only himself, that he alone is responsible; and knowing himself, he rightly doubts his own strength to defeat the forces he sees lying across the path of life-to apply straightforwardly in action the truths which he sees. And just as Moses and Aaron, on account of this lapse, were not permitted to enter the land of Canaan, so this state of mind, or the man who is confirmed in it, can never inherit the kingdom of heaven.
     But "the steps of a man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in His way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with His hand. I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the just forsaken, nor his seed begging bread" (Psalm 31:23-25). And in these words of the psalm may be seen repeated what is eternally true: that if any man allows his steps to be ordered by the Lord; if, despite the potential terrors and dangers which he may foresee, he perseveres in some application of the truths of the Word, no matter if these applications may afterwards seem to have been erroneous; if he does this, then the Lord will be with him, and will lead him surely to His kingdom.
     And this is the contrast which is furnished by the action and speech of Caleb, who was one of the princes of the tribe of Judah. For Caleb, differently from Moses and Aaron or the people, encouraged the host to go forward, urged them to go in and possess the land of Canaan; telling them that they were perfectly able to overcome its inhabitants Caleb indeed clung to his primitive trust in the Lord's power, having faith, not in himself, but in the Lord's power to endue him with the necessary strength and wisdom and love. And in this he represents the children of God, those who are willing to become even as little children and hence to be led to heaven. This, indeed, is the quality of true spiritual leadership, of trust, and of the innocence of wisdom, concerning which the Word declares: "A little child shall lead them" (Isaiah 11:6).
     It is this leadership that is represented by Caleb-adherence to the principles of revealed truth despite trial and suffering and temptation, and attention to the needs of one's own state as to regeneration rather than a spurious sense of public responsibility toward others. And it is this kind of unassuming and unostentatious individual leadership that is the responsibility of those who are really of the New Church.

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Significantly enough we find, in this connection, that Caleb also represents those who are, or will be, of the New Church.
     Of Caleb, therefore, the Lord said that, differently from the others, he should be brought into the land whereinto he went, and that his seed should possess it; "because he hath another spirit with him, and hath followed Me fully." This promise was indeed literally fulfilled. For when the sons of Israel finally entered the land of Canaan, Caleb and Joshua were the only ones among the former leaders to go in with them. When, later still, they arrived at Kirjath-arba-the city of the sons of Anak, of whom the Israelites had such great fear-it was Caleb who fought, defeated and subjugated it. And then he was given by the Lord the city and surrounding territory for his immediate family. The name of the city was then changed to Hebron; it became one of the cities of refuge; and it was also the headquarters of the Levites.
     Hebron, it should be noted, represented the celestial center of the heavenly Canaan. And so it was that Caleb, representing those who are to be of the New Church, came into that geographical location which represented the celestial center of the kingdom of heaven.
     Caleb typifies also that state of childish forthrightness and contentment with his lot in which a man says within himself: I have run through my finite knowledge in regard to this thing; I have gone as far as I can in the exercise of my rational powers. I can never be certain of the absolute correctness of what seems to be the wisest course of action, of application of the truths which relate to it. But here and now, this I see and this I will do; trusting in the future good and all-wise dispensations of the Lord, trusting that He can and will forestall or amend any hurt or temporary harm that may come from it; and this even though it seems to me, with my finite understanding, that damage has been done and only failure experienced. For I am weak, but Thou, Lord, art mighty. Wherefore, into Thy hands do I commit my spirit. Hold me with Thy powerful hand.
     This is the spirit and quality of that genuine leadership which will establish the New Church in every man. It is not the public mask of piety and spurious responsibility; it is the private face of sincerity itself. And it will grow in the earth, not spectacularly to be seen of men, but as a mustard seed-slowly, unobtrusively, unnoticed by the giants of the earth; unpretentious, and at first even primitive in its externals; not striving for grudging recognition and power at the expense of principle, but hoping only for reception in the fastnesses of each man's spirit. It is, in short, and in essence, the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who stands at the door of every man's mind, quietly knocking; who wills to enter and to impart to man the qualities of the spiritual Caleb, of the New Church-the qualities of real innocence and trust, fortitude, and rational love and wisdom.

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If man opens his mind to the Lord in this fashion, then the Lord can lead him to Hebron, to the celestial center of the new heaven. And that state of heart and mind which is the New Church will grow and flourish among the children of men and become a city of refuge unto all men. Amen.

     LESSONS: Numbers 14:6-25. Joshua 14, 15:13-19. AC 2909.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 368, 482, 416.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 10, 97.
WHEN MAN IS IN HEAVEN 1956

WHEN MAN IS IN HEAVEN 1956

"A man is not in heaven until he is in good. If he is only in the truths which are called matters of faith, he merely stands before the door; and if from these truths he looks to good, he enters into the vestibule. but if from these truths he does not look to good, he does not see heaven, not even from afar. It is said that a man is not in heaven until he is in good, because while a man is in the world he ought to have heaven within himself, in order that he may enter into it after death. For heaven is in man, and in mercy is given to those who, while they live in the world, suffer themselves to be brought through the truths of faith into charity toward the neighbor and into love to the Lord, that is, into good" (Arcana Coelestia, 9832).
NEW CHURCH EDUCATION 1956

NEW CHURCH EDUCATION 1956

      (Formerly PARENT TEACHER JOURNAL)

     Published by General Church Religion Lessons provides material for the use of parents, teachers, and children in the field of religious education. EDITOR: Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     Issued monthly, September to June, inclusive. Subscription, $1.50, to be sent to the Editor.

381

DEAD SEA SCROLLS AND THE NEW TESTAMENT 1956

DEAD SEA SCROLLS AND THE NEW TESTAMENT Rev. HUGO LJ. ODHNER 1956

     (This is the second of two articles on the Dead Sea Scrolls. See our August issue.)

     One of the problems raised by the sensational find in 1947 of ancient Hebrew leather scrolls in caves near the Dead Sea is concerned with the relationship of the religious community at Khirbet Qumran to any known Jewish sect, and its possible relation to John the Baptist. To discuss this question is the purpose of the present article.
     For among the cave scrolls were certain sectarian writings which present the state of Judaism at the time of the Lord's advent in a somewhat fresh perspective. The New Testament tells of priests and scribes and lawyers, and of a religious rivalry between Sadducees and Pharisees. It tells also of John, the preacher of repentance, who baptized Jesus in Jordan and who was eventually imprisoned and beheaded; some of his followers becoming the Lord's disciples and many being rebaptized into the name of Jesus. Nothing is said in the Gospels about the sect of Essenes mentioned as active at that time by the contemporary Jewish philosopher Philo Judaeus and by the historian Josephus.* But Pliny** tells that the Essenes had their abode along the west coast of the Dead Sea; and the recent excavations at Khirbet Qumran reveal the existence, before A. D. 70, of a flourishing community which at least partly answers the descriptions given by Josephus of the Essenes. And among the documents found in the near-by caves are regulations and writings which seem to confirm these ancient testimonies.
     * Philo, Probus, par. 12 seq. Josephus, War ii., 8, 2-15; Ant. xiii., 5: 9, xv. 10:4 seq., xviii. 1, 2.
     ** Pliny, Hist. Nat. V., ch. xvi, xvii.

     Josephus on the Essenes

     Josephus describes the Essenes as a brotherhood of pious Jews, mostly celibates, who took great pains to study "the writings of the ancients." They sent sacrifices to the temple in Jerusalem, but did not themselves sacrifice, having purification ceremonies and ritual bathings of their own. They dressed in white, and had meals in common. They observed the Sabbath most strictly, cultivated continence and self-control, lived frugal and austere lives, rejecting pleasure as sinful.

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They labored hard in husbandry and cultivated the use of medicinal herbs. They were reputed for their virtue and had the gift of prophecy. Their wealth they-like the early Christians-had in common, and they had stewards to attend to their business affairs. They selected children to be educated into their order.
     They believed in the immortality of the soul, in a heaven or, for the wicked, a dark Tartarus. They seemed to have a great knowledge of the prophets and used their holy books to foretell the future. They had to swear an oath of loyalty not to divulge their doctrines to outsiders and to preserve the books belonging to their sect; but no other oaths were permitted.
     Josephus says, however, that the Essenes had no special city, but that they lived in various towns and in each had a hostel where their initiates found free provisions. When they traveled, they took nothing along except their weapons. (This suggests that they were not pacifists.) In the Jewish war they withstood persecution, torture and death, with utmost bravery rather than break their vows. If, after being fully initiated, they fell into sin, they were separated from the community and would have to live on grass until they famished or, out of compassion, were taken back.
     About four thousand of them were celibates, their order being maintained from new recruits. But there was also "another order of Essenes" which believed in marriage for the sake of posterity.

     The Qumran "Covenanters"

     It is now generally accepted that the cave scrolls found since 1947 were hidden by the sect which occupied the buildings at Khirbet Qumran before 69 A.D. As noted in a former article, the scrolls included several hitherto unknown documents which throw light on the beliefs and practices of these "covenanters"-so called because they believed themselves to have entered a "new covenant" with the Lord, such as is referred to in Jeremiah (31:31), as the condition on which Israel would remain a nation.
     One of these documents has been named "The Manual of Discipline" (DSD).* It enjoins those who enter the community to do truth and righteousness and hate all the "sons of darkness," as commanded in Moses and the prophets. All who enter the covenant must bring all their knowledge and strength and wealth into the community of God. Elaborate curses are prescribed for "men of Belial" and for apostates who had entered the covenant in the wrong spirit. "The spirit of truth and the spirit of error struggle in the heart of a man." Candidates had to take a binding oath to turn from all evil and subject their lives and possessions to the judgment of the "sons of Zadok, the priests," and to the majority of the community.

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Only after a year's probation could they "enter the water in order to touch the sacred food of the holy men." If any one should lie about his wealth, he was severely disciplined (Compare Acts 5:1-11). None must speak to his brother in anger, and before bringing him before the council he must reprove him before witnesses (Compare Matthew 18:15-17). The council of twelve men and three perfect priests will "make atonement for the land"; and certain ones were to be selected to "be separated from the midst of the session of the men of error to go to the wilderness to prepare there the way of the Lord . . . and 'make straight in the desert a highway for our God.'" (Despite the obscure language, the parallel with John the Baptist is obvious.)
     * Translated in "The Dead Sea Scrolls," by Millar Burrows, 1955, pages 371-389.
     The sons of Aaron should continue to administer and regulate the whole community "until there shall come a prophet and the Messiahs of Aaron and Israel" (Compare the Baptist's denial that he was "that prophet," in John 1:21). Through this there would be in Israel "a foundation of a holy spirit, for eternal truth"; which is "more than the flesh of whole burnt offerings." The instructors would give the initiates "understanding in the marvelous mysteries and truth among the men of the community.'' "These are the regulations for the wise man in these times, for his love together with his hate, eternal hate for the men of the pit. . . ."
     An interesting sidelight on the Qumran covenanters comes from a medieval manuscript which was found, in two versions, in 1896 in the genizah of a synagogue in Old Cairo. Ancient fragments of this work were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. It is known as the Zadokite Fragments (CDC),* but also as the "Damascus Document"-the latter because it gives the regulations for a Jewish sect which supposedly had fled to "Damascus." But some scholars doubt that there ever was such a community in Damascus and suggest that this place-name was only a symbolic title for Qumran, where many of the Jews of the dispersion settled with others who had fled from a decadent Jerusalem. The document tells concerning a Teacher of Righteousness who gathered the true remnant of Israel into a "new covenant," concerning a Wicked Priest, and concerning "the Messiah of Aaron and Israel" who would arise; whereas the Manual (DSD) speaks of the future coming of a Prophet and of two Messiahs, a priest and a king.
     * Translated in op. cit., pages 349-364.
     The Qumran covenanters seem to have treasured all the scriptures of the Hebrew Bible and also apocryphal books (like Tobit), sectarian commentaries on various books, and certain apocalyptic writings, among these the "Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs" which gives a series of somewhat contradictory Messianic pronouncements. In the "Zadokite Fragments" reference is made to a rule book described by the letters HGW, and to the book of "Jubilees."

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The complexity and variety of both popular and philosophical thought among the Jews at the time of the Lord may to some extent be gauged from a comprehensive article on "The Sources of Early Christian Thought" published in NEW CHURCH LIFE in 1926 (September and October issues). The cave scrolls, on the other hand, reveal a special aspect of Jewish life and thought, the point of view of a sect which regarded itself as the "remnant" of the true Israel and which sprang from a fervent desire to find the real meaning of the law and the prophets. The essential aim of the Qumran community was the study of Scripture: wherever there were ten memlrers of the council, there should always be one who "searches the law day and night, by turns, one after another."*
     * Op. Cit., page 378.
     It is of little importance whether these covenanters were the Essenes whom Josephus describes. There are indeed strong resemblances. But there might have been many similar ascetic sects, changing during the centuries and differing in practice, precept and prophecy; even as there have been many "Adventist" sects in the last hundred years whose rash hopes and doctrines changed with the times. And Josephus admits that there were various branches among the Essenes. Philo Judaeus speaks of the Essenes as farmers and bee-keepers,* and he and Pliny report them as celibates; while the Zadokite document shows that monogamy was advocated.
     * In June 1956 an interesting and scholarly book on "The Qumran Community, Its History and Scrolls," by Professor Charles T. Fritsch of the Princeton Theological Seminary, was published by the Macmillan Company. In this work, which we received after the present articles were written, the comments of Philo on the Essenes are fully quoted.

     The Dating of the Composition of the Sectarian Books

     Much discussion is going on among scholars as to when these sectarian scrolls were originally composed, copies of which were found in the caves. Besides the Manual (DSD) already described, these include the Thanksgiving Psalms (DST), the War Scroll (DSW), the Habakkuk Commentary (DSH), and various fragments of the Zadokite Document (CDC) and some apocalyptic writings. Scraps of other scrolls are still being examined, and on the basis of unpublished material some scholars, reading historical parallels into the various texts, believe that the sectarian writings belong to the period just prior to Pompey's capture of Jerusalem in 63 B.C. Dr. Burrow, however, states that "it now seems to be fairly well established" that these non-biblical scrolls are copies of writings which "were all composed within a period of about 135 years, from the accession of Antiochus Epiphanes in 175 B.C., or shortly before that, down to about 40 B.C."*

385

The period which would most naturally produce the fanatical nationalism implied in these texts, would be that of pre-Maccabean and early Hasmonean times. And the prominent Jewish scholar, Isaac Rabinowitz, judging by internal evidence, assigns the writing of the Manual of Discipline (DSD) within the period 175 B.C. to167 B.C.
     * Burrows, DSS, page 223.
     The movement which eventually resulted partly in the formation of the pietistic sects of the Chasidim and the Pharisees, and partly in such religious orders as the Qumran covenanters and the Essenes, may thus have arisen when Antiochus Epiphanes, king of Syria, began his massacres and his cruel oppressive measures against the Jews. This persecution aroused the Maccabees, a priestly family, to organize a successful revolt in 166 B.C. Judas Maccabeus temporarily defeated the surrounding nations; and a national government was established under his brother Simon as hereditary prince and high priest (143 B.C.). Some of the Jews, however, had fought as Syrian partisans, and much intrigue, treachery, murder and cruelty defaces the record of the patriotic movement. Dr. Rabinowitz suggests that the Qumran sect was formed or implemented during the revolt by returning exiles from Damascus and that the Zadokite Fragments display the dreams of the zealots for the reorganization of Israel.* For the Wicked Priest and the "men of Belial" there can be found a choice of corresponding characters in Maccabean times. The Teacher of Righteousness might refer to one of the early Maccabees.
     * Op cit., page 229. An article by Dr. Rabinowitz on the subject was published in Vetus Testantentum (a quarterly of the International Organization of Old Testament Scholars), vol. iii (1953), pp. 175-185.
     The special document which seems to fit into the warlike atmosphere of the second century B.C. is that which is entitled "The War of the Sons of Light with the Sons of Darkness" (DSW) and is referred to as the War Scroll.* This war is pictured to take place shortly after the sons of light had returned from the "desert of the peoples" to encamp in "the desert of Jerusalem"-which latter is suggestive of Qumran. But here the sanctuary itself is spoken of as in the hands of the Jews-as it was from 164 to 162 B.C. The War Scroll contains the detailed instructions given to Israel's army in an expected war against the troops of neighboring tribes and against the armed forces of the "Kittim" of Assyria, and later against the "Kittim" of Egypt. In the plan of battle it is promised that the pagan nations would perish without a survivor. The scroll prescribes the exact ceremonies, emblems and field tactics to be used by the invincible army of Israel, which was to be led by the sound of priestly trumpets and be miraculously aided by God.

386

The scroll ends on this note: "Today is His appointed time. . . . He will send eternal help to the lot He has redeemed by the power of the angel He has made glorious to rule . . . to exalt among the gods the rule of Michael and the dominion of Israel over all flesh. . . . And you, sons of His covenant, be strong in the crucible of God until He waves His hand and fills His crucibles with His mysteries, that you may stand."
     * Translated in Burrows, DSS, pages 390-399.
     The "Kittim" here are identified with Assyria and Egypt. But in another scroll, the Habakkuk Commentary (DSH),* they are again mentioned as Israel's opponents; and some students argue that they here refer to the Romans, and the scroll must then belong to the first century B.C. On the other hand, if the date is from the second century B.C., the Romans could hardly be meant since the Maccabees made an alliance with Rome. And besides, the Commentary, in which an allegorical interpretation is resorted to for a new literal fulfillment of prophecy, denounces "the last priests of Jerusalem"-suggesting the days of Judas when Menelaus and Alcimus usurped the high-priestly office. The work also speaks of the Wicked Priest who persecuted "the Teacher of Righteousness to whom God made known all the mysteries of the words of His servants the prophets."
     * Translated in op. cit., pages 365-370.

     Qumran and the Jewish Apocalyptic Literature

     It must be understood that the Syrian oppression and the Maccabean wars kept the religious zeal of Israel at fever heat. No authorized prophets appeared to lead them. But instead there sprang up a number of visionaries and fanatics who adopted the prophetic style of writing to produce a new nationalistic Propaganda now known as the "Jewish Apocalyptic."* The anonymous authors of these works pretended that their compositions were the products of ancient patriarchs. Some of them were modeled after the book of Daniel.** The oldest of the apocalyptic books seems to have been the one purported to have been written by Enoch, which is cited in some of the others and also in the Epistle of Jude.*** Using an extravagant symbolism, it promised an imminent judgment on angels and men, a bodily resurrection of the dead Israelites, and a Messianic kingdom on an earth which would thereafter be incredibly fertile.

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The heavens, Hades, and the cosmos are elaborately described. The Messiah is symbolized by a white bull.
      * See NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1926, Pp. 587-592, for a general account of this literature.
     ** Feeling that the history of the Syrian oppression represents too literal a fulfilment of Daniel's predictions, it is the general custom among biblical historians to place the writing of the book of Daniel at about 168 B.C.
     *** The Book of Enoch here referred to must not be confused with the book of the same name which the Writings speak of as the oldest part of the Ancient Word. See NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1944, pages 221 to 224, where the two are compared.
     Another early apocalyptic was The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, which makes the Messiah to be a descendant of Levi but also indicates a Messiah from the tribe of Judah. At the judgment the gentiles also would be saved; before this event souls and spirits would dwell in a lower earth. The Sibylline Oracles also predicts a last judgment and is possibly referred to in the Spiritual Diary (no. 4094) as containing a prophecy of the Redeemer. The Book of Jubilee has generally been dated as from 109 to 105 B.C., but may be earlier, since it is cited in the Zadokite document. It speaks of a Messiah from the tribe of Judah. Certain parts of the book of "Enoch"-regarded as later additions, made c. 94 to 64 B.C.-call the Messiah the Christ, the Son of Man, anticipating that He would "recall the dead to life and would sit on the throne of His glory to judge angels and men" to heaven or hell, destroy the gentiles and establish a new heaven and a new earth. Some parts speak of a judgment that would follow after a thousand years of Messianic rule, and make the resurrection one of the spirit, not the body. The second book of Esdras ("4 Ezra") which is printed among the Apocrypha in older copies of the Bible, is supposed by R. H. Charles and other scholars to have been written as late as the first century A.D., because it uses expressions like "My Son Jesus," lists the signs of the last times, speaks of the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven (compare Daniel 7:13), and contains some other parallels with the Gospels.* All such apocalyptic literature must have come forth out of sectarian groups like the Qumran community.
     * Compare Luke 11:49-51 with 2 Esdras 1:30-33, as an instance.

     Christianity and the Covenanters

     The Dead Sea Scrolls have naturally been used by many to confirm their ideas about the "evolution" of religions. Christianity, they would say, represented only a further development of the hopes and practices of the Jewish apocalyptists and covenanters-their hopes for a final reckoning with the hated pagans and for the coming of a national liberator. What were the early Christian communities as described in the Acts of the Apostles (3:44f, 6:1seq.), if not replicas of the Essene brotherhoods which held all things in common and which (as later Paul) advocated celibacy as the higher virtue? Did not the Christians call themselves "the sons of light"? (I Thessalonians 5:5). Did not John in his Apocalypse foretell a final war against the nations when the camp of the saints would be delivered by fire from heaven! (Revelation 20:8).
     The uniqueness of Christ is thus placed under suspicion. His ethical teachings, it is claimed, were anticipated by the "covenanters."

388

The sacrament of the Supper was but another form of the sacred community meals of the Essenes, or of the covenanters whose priests had to give a blessing before they ate their bread and wine. Were not the Lord's doctrine about the resurrection from the dead and about heaven and hell virtually the same as that of Essenes and Pharisees? And is it not possible that John the Baptist may have been an Essene, and formed a link between Judaism and Christianity? Was not Christianity, before it came to realize its mission as a world religion, simply another Jewish sect?
     The New Church man will gladly concede many such analogies. For the Lord, in all His teaching, used the mental imagery of the Jewish people as the raw-material out of which He constructed His parables: and "without a parable spake He not unto them." Nor did the Lord create an utterly new and unheard-of pattern for the institutions of His church, which sprang mostly from the needs of the people. There is not even any actual statement in the Gospels that the Lord commanded the disciples to discontinue animal sacrifices The abrogation of this form of worship was probably gradual, from the perception that their value was purely prophetic and representative and no longer needed in an internal church; in fact, was opposed to the spirit of Christianity. But even the prophets had preferred obedience to sacrifices, and later the Essenes and others had reacted against burnt offerings. Finally the Jews also had to abandon them, after the destruction of their temple in 70 A.D. Similarly, the Holy Supper, as a feast of charity, was not a new form of rite; but it was adopted and reconstructed by the Lord for an entirely new purpose-in token of the communion of the church in the body and blood of the Lord. Circumcision was not at once abandoned by Jewish converts to Christianity (Acts 15). Ceremonial washings and immersions are described in the Writings as survivals from ancient times, and were sedulously practiced by the initiates among the covenanters (TCR 670, AE 475:19-21)

     John and the Remnant of Israel

     The mission of John the Baptist was to gather "the remnant" of Israel. His baptism of "repentance for the remission of sins" represented the cleansing of the external man; whereas Christian baptism represented the purification of the internal man (TCR 690). Its effect in the other life was powerful-for those baptized by John were inserted, enrolled and numbered amongst those there who "in heart expected and desired the Messiah," and these "were guarded by angels so that devils from hell could not break forth to destroy them" (TCR 691, 689). Indeed this was provided "lest Jehovah come and smite the earth with a curse" (Malachi 4:6). The Lord Himself sought to be baptized of John and thus took upon Himself the sign of the renewed covenant of Israel, in order that He might be conjoined in ultimates with the good spirits of the "lower earth" below the world of spirits which was then infested with the forces of evil.

389

     John the Baptist was the son of a priest who took his turn to serve in the temple; and his mother was a kinswoman of the virgin Mary, who visited her "in the hill country" of Judah. But instead of being reared for the temple priesthood John was dedicated as a Nazarite and touched no wine or strong drink, and "was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel."
     The deserts here mentioned could well have been the desolate regions near the Dead Sea where the covenanters had their monastic training schools. Some of these initiates-after two years as counselors-were "separated in holiness" to go forth "to the wilderness" to prepare a highway for the Lord (Isaiah (40:3). The Manual of Discipline connects this with a study of the law and of prophecy.* And Josephus says of the Essenes that those separated from the community could eat no food prepared by outsiders; wherefore it is not surprising that John's fare consisted of locusts and wild honey. Fearlessly John warned Pharisees and Sadducees, publicans, soldiers and common people to do works of external repentance, for the axe was soon to be laid at the roots of the trees of Jewish life (Luke 3:7-15). He spoke to all the people, not to a few esoteric initiates. His message, like that of the covenanters, looked to the imminent coming of a Redeemer, but it did not, like theirs, advocate hate of Israel's neighbors. The Lord spoke of John as the Elijah that was to come and as "a prophet and more than a prophet"; for John represented the Word, the literal sense of Scripture. But the Lord also added that "he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he" (Matthew 11:9, 11) John's own claims were modest-he confessed that he was not even Elijah, or "that prophet" (which the covenanters expected), but only a voice in the wilderness.
     * Burrows, op. cit., page 382.
     Whatever John's connection with the covenanters-and it needs to have been no more than a general acquaintance-it is clear that the latter also were laboring, perhaps in misguided ways, for a reform in Israel. Each signified it by ritual washing-John baptizing "with water" in the Jordan, and the Qumran covenanters using special water reserved for the initiates as a token of holiness.

     Conclusion

     Enough has been said to indicate that the Jews, before the Advent, had very confused and conflicting concepts about the Messiah to come. Even John in prison sent to Jesus asking, "Art Thou He that should come, or do we look for another?"

390

For the Jews had embroidered upon the Old Testament prophecies some very fantastic notions of their own. At the same time, Greek philosophy had impressed certain more profound ideas of the survival of the soul in a spiritual world. Some of the apocalyptic writings contain phrases which so resemble the language of the Gospels and the Apocalypse that scholars have habitually regarded them as additions or interpolations effected in Christian times. But the discovery of the new sectarian scrolls has cast doubt on some of these datings. When more of the broken fragments have been identified, it may become more clear what parts of the Jewish Apocalyptic Literature were composed prior to the Advent. Instead of the Jewish "apocalypses" citing Christian ideas, is it not possible that Christians-and the Lord Himself-may not have used the symbolism popular among the Jews?
     The Lord came not to destroy the law and the prophets, but to fulfill them-fill them with new meaning. The things He taught certainly struck His hearers as utterly new. His words came with authority. When He preached in Nazareth, the people who had known Him from childhood were astonished, saying "From whence hath he these things!" (Mark 6:1-3). The disciples of John the Baptist and those who were "just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel" (Luke 2:25), came over to Jesus. The contrast between the ethics of the covenanters and the teachings of the Lord is striking. The former preached eternal hatred for the men of Belial, whereas the Lord taught men to love their enemies. His doctrine was not from human traditions, but "from Him that sent Him" (John 7:16). He was accused of many things, but never of being a sectarian.
     The Lord, "who knew what was in man" (John 2:25), was aware of all the popular concepts of His age. But He could not alter the whole background of the thought of His followers. He spoke instead in "correspondences," in parables couched in terms of the ideas which the Jews had already commonly adopted about the resurrection, the last judgment, and life in both worlds. Yet He corrected His disciples when they erred, and supplied essential answers when needed. He corrected those who considered the possibility of reincarnation (John 9:2; cp. 3:4, Matthew 14:2). He reminded them that the prophets had foretold that the Christ would suffer before rising from the dead-a thing which the Jews seem never to have expected as necessary! (Luke 24: 46, 27).
     The Lord came not to disturb simple faith, but to reveal the love and wisdom of God by giving them a glimpse of the Divine Human, a knowledge of the way of true charity, and a hope of obtaining eternal life. And in order that His coming might be possible without causing the "total destruction" of the Jews, it was provided that by means of a revival of belief in the Messianic prophecies among the people there should be formed a "remnant" of true Israelites from all strata of society who were set apart in the eyes of heaven by the sign of the baptism of John (TCR 688-691).

391

We may well believe that while some of the more belligerent among the Essenes and covenanters may have joined the "Zealots"-the party which stirred up the revolt against Rome in A.D. 66-many of them might instead have joined the early Christian groups, introducing such customs as community of property and carrying over the habit of speaking in terms of "apocalyptic" symbolism such as we find in the book of Revelation.
What stands out with remarkable clarity from the cave scrolls and the apocalyptic literature is that the short-lived reform movement headed by John the Baptist, whose authority not even the chief priests and scribes dared to question (Mark 11:27-33), could easily be confused with the prophetic urge that seethed in Israel during Maccabean and Roman times, which briefly manifested itself in the popular acclaim of Jesus as a secular redeemer at His triumphant entry into Jerusalem, and which finally culminated in the tragic revolt which ended in the martyrdom and dispersion of the Qumran covenanters and in the destruction of Jerusalem, in 70 A.D. But John's mission was not political, nor strictly national. He preached that "God is able out of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham" (Luke 3:8). He did not compromise even with Herod; yet he never preached the extermination of the gentiles, as did many of the apocalyptists, as in the inflammatory War Scroll (DSW). It was by a baptism of personal repentance for the remission of sins that he sought to awaken his followers to watch for the coming Messiah. The Jews who were baptized by John "were merely external men"; but they "became internal men when they received faith in Christ, and then they were baptized in the name of Jesus"-baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire (TCR 690).
WORSHIP OF GOD 1956

WORSHIP OF GOD 1956

"By the worship of God at this day is chiefly meant the oral worship in a temple, both morning and evening. But the worship of God does not consist essentially in this, but in a life of uses; this latter worship is according to the order of heaven. Oral worship is also worship, but it is of no avail whatever unless there is the worship that belongs to the life; for this worship is of the heart, and oral worship, that it may be worship, must proceed from this" (Arcana Coelestia, 7884e).

392

ALFRED ACTON 1956

     A Biographical Sketch

     (Continued from the August issue, pp. 357-359.)

     Bishop Acton's career in the Academy of the New Church began when, in 1893, he was appointed Assistant Headmaster of the Boys' School. Three years later he was appointed an Instructor in Theology in the Theological School; and after one more year, in 1897, Professor of Theology. In that year also he taught his first class in the Girls' School. It is interesting to note that not one member of his first theological class-Henry Cowley, David Klein, E. J. Stebbing-survives him; but that the three young ladies who were his first pupils-the Misses Lucy Potts, Venita Pendleton, and Olive Bostock-are all living today.
     It was in 1952 that Bishop Acton resigned as Professor of Theology and Dean of the Theological School. So he was a member of the faculty for fifty-nine years; and as he continued in retirement to teach certain Theological School courses in his home until the end of the 1954-1955 academic year, his teaching career spanned sixty-two years Early in that career, Mr. Acton lived in Philadelphia and taught in Huntingdon Valley, making the round trip by bicycle every day. During his long years of service he taught in every school of the Academy, and for some years taught Hebrew to the 7th and 8th grades in the Bryn Athyn Elementary School. He taught mainly, however, in the Theological School; in the College, Religion and Philosophy; and in the Girls' Seminary; and he continued to work in these three schools until his retirement. His ability as a teacher was outstanding, for with his powers of keen analysis and lucid exposition he could accommodate the doctrines to any level of reception, show their application, and illustrate them clearly; his influence was profound, for he conveyed his own conviction and intense interest in his subject, invited active response, and encouraged freedom of discussion by treating his student questioners as intellectual equals. Many ex-college men will remember also with affection and appreciation the meetings of the College Gymnasium held in his home, at which they were initiated into the active thought within a sphere of freedom and the genial social life characteristic of the old Academy.
     Administrative as well as teaching duties fell to Mr. Acton as a member of the faculty. In 1904, he was appointed Secretary of the General Council, a non-executive body presided over by Bishop W. F. Pendleton, and consisting of officials of the Academy and the General Church together with Professors of Theology and pastors of leading societies.

393

This body met monthly, and Mr. Acton remained its secretary until it was discontinued, about 1915. Late in 1914 he was appointed Secretary of the Theological Faculty, with executive charge of the Theological School and of the religion curriculum. This latter charge he gave up in 1936. In 1917 he was appointed Dean of the Theological School, which office he held until his retirement in 1952.
     To Mr. Acton came also every scholastic honor the Academy could bestow. As an undergraduate and graduate student he had been awarded the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Theology in 1891 and 1893, respectively. In 1912, together with the Rev. Homer Synnestvedt, he received the honorary degree of Master of Arts; and in 1926, with Bishop W. F. Pendleton, he received also the honorary degree of Doctor of Theology-the first doctorates given by the Academy.
     Yet this does not tell anything like the whole story of Bishop Acton's career in the Academy, for his teaching and administrative duties were accompanied by arduous literary labors as translator, editor and author. A distinguished theologian, he was intensely interested also in Swedenborg's preparation, and was convinced that the philosophical works were essential to it and to the full understanding of the Writings. These interests led him, in the field of translation, to the philosophical and intermediate works as well as to the Writings; and to his labors in that field he brought a sound knowledge of Latin and an increasing skill in reading Swedenborg's MSS. The first of his translations to be published by the Academy of the New Church was The History of Creation (1911); and it was followed, in 1924, by The Worship and Love of God, Part III, which was issued in pamphlet form. Between 1928 and 1948 he made available to the English reader for the first time in its entirety The Word Explained, in eight volumes; a work that had existed previously only in Latin under the editorial title Adversaria, and from which only extracts had been translated. In 1951 he completed this work by issuing a scholarly Index of 227 pages, and in 1953 he completed for the Swedenborg Society a new translation of Conjugial Love. Shortly before his death he saw through the press the two Indices of the lost work, Angelic Wisdom Concerning Marriage, rearranged to show the plan and contents of the work.
     Bishop Acton's labors as a translator left him little time for authorship; but his published works, though few in number, reflected his deepest and most enduring interests. His Nature of the Spiritual World, published by the Academy Book Room in 1914, caused much discussion, and led to memorable meetings of the Joint Council. An Introduction to the Study of the Hebrew Word, published in 1925, was the fruit of several years of work while teaching Hebrew in the Bryn Athyn Elementary School.

394

His Introduction to the Word Explained (1927) stands alone as a scholarly mental biography of Swedenborg during the transition period and as a study of his entire preparation for his mission. The Crown of Revelations, issued by the Academy Book Room in 1934, arose directly out of the controversy in the early 1930's, in which he had played a prominent part, and was considered to be of sufficient importance to be translated into Dutch. Other, smaller works from Bishop Acton's pen appeared in pamphlet form between 1900 and 1946; and in 1947 he edited Cuno, Swedenborg and Emesti, translated from the German by the late Claire E. Berninger, and published by the Academy Book Room.
Yet the translations and works published by the Academy and the Book Room represent only a portion of Bishop Acton's literary output. His conviction with regard to the philosophical works led him, in 1900, to attend the inaugural meeting in New York of the Swedenborg Scientific Association, and to become a charter member. For more than fifty years he devoted himself to the uses of that body with the same boundless energy and unfaltering zeal that he brought to all the tasks he performed. A leader in all its activities, and for many years, indeed, practically the center of those activities, he was a member of the group which originated the photolithographing and photostating of Swedenborg's MSS., and his later researches qualified him as the outstanding authority on Swedenborgiana he was generally recognized to be. As editor of the official organ of the Association, the NEW PHILOSOPHY, from 1909 to 1953, he contributed much to the understanding of the principles taught in the scientific and philosophical works, and much of the journal was filled with his translations.
But his largest contribution in this field was made as Literary Editor-a post to which he was appointed soon after he became editor of the NEW PHILOSOPHY, and which he held until 1954. His first translation for the Association, Ontology (1901), had been published by the Massachusetts New Church Union. As Literary Editor he translated Generation (1912), The Fibre (1918), Psychological Transactions (1920), Psychologica (1923), A Philosopher's Note Book (1931), The Cerebrum, two volumes and volume of plates (1938, 1940),* The Mechanical Inventions of Emanuel Swedenborg (1939), A New System of Reckoning (1941), The Letters and Memorials of Emanuel Swedenborg, two volumes (1948, 1955), and, with the Rev. Norbert W. Rogers, Rational Psychology (1950).

395

These translations were all published by the Swedenborg Scientific Association, and many of them first appeared serially in the NEW PHILOSOPHY-The Cerebrum thus coming out in installments over a period of twenty years. The value of the translations was increased by Bishop Acton's skillful editing, and in certain instances by scholarly prefaces. The intense study that went into this literary work gave him a profound insight into Swedenborg's thought and a thorough grasp of his philosophical doctrines; and the fruit of that study was made available in such contributions from his pen as "Emanuel Swedenborg, A Little Known Physiologist" (1942), and "Swedenborg and His Scientific Reviewers"-translations of all known contemporary reviews and notices of Swedenborg's publications other than the theological works-which appeared serially in the NEW PHILOSOPHY from 1929 to 1945. In 1917, also, the Literary Editor brought out for the Association The Return Kingdom of the Divine Proceeding, by Lillian G. Beekman. It was undoubtedly characteristic of Bishop Acton that his final report to the Swedenborg Scientific Association listed a number of minor works that remained untranslated.
     * Swedenborg's first physiological work, and consisting of the Venice Work (1738) on the Cerebrum, together with the Amsterdam Additions (1740). Not to be confused with the Stockholm Work (1742) and the London Additions (1744) published in Dr. R. L. Tafel's translation as The Brain.
     Excluding pamphlets and reprints, Bishop Acton's literary labors on behalf of the General Church, the Academy, and the Swedenborg Scientific Association amount to an impressive total; for he translated twenty-five volumes, wrote five books, and edited four works-in addition to writing many studies, articles and reviews. And in order to appreciate the magnitude of his labors it is necessary to bring together in thought the various fields of use which have been separated in this sketch; to realize, for instance, that when he wrote The Crown of Revelations in 1934, he was engaged also in translating The Word Explained and seeing the third volume through the press, translating material for "Swedenborg and His Scientific Reviewers," editing the NEW PHILOSOPHY, pursuing his studies in the life of Swedenborg, and ministering once a month to the Washington Society.
     As scholar, translator and editor, Bishop Acton was of inestimable service not only to the General Church, the Academy, and the Swedenborg Scientific Association, but also to the New Church wherever it has been established. One of his most important contributions, a contribution of value to New Church scholars everywhere, was in the comparatively lonely field of Swedenborgiana. Although he did not see Swedenborg's MSS. until 1910, when he went to Europe to attend the Swedenborg Congress, his intense interest made him zealous for the collection and preservation of all relevant documents and an ardent student of the life of Swedenborg. During his visits to Europe he studied Swedenborgiana and retraced as far as possible Swedenborg's journeys; and to make himself thoroughly familiar with Swedenborg's period he studied Swedish and read widely in it.

396

As a result of his prolonged studies he compiled notes on every aspect of Swedenborg's life, on which he lectured in the Academy for several years, and which will provide source material for a definitive biography in the future. By diligent research and patient correspondence he was instrumental in assembling the Swedenborg library and books mentioned and referred to by Swedenborg, commonly known as the "Room 17 Collection" in the Academy of the New Church Library.
So soon after the close of his earthly life, and in such a sketch as this, it would be presumptuous to attempt to state Bishop Acton's unique contribution to the development of the Lord's New Church. Yet this, perhaps, may be said. Outside of the classroom, and the societies to which he ministered, he was best known as a translator and an editor. His peculiar function seems to have been to collect, preserve, translate and make the material available, with whatever explanation of it may have been necessary-and publication is an essential part of the church's use, especially in the day of beginnings. In his deep study of the philosophical works, and of Swedenborg's life, he did not depart from the priestly use; for it was his heartfelt conviction that only through an understanding of the Lord's leading of Swedenborg could the church grasp and enter into the Writings as a rational revelation. In the direct exercise of the priestly function he used profundity to achieve simplicity. And in private life, always a jovial host and a considerate friend, he used conversation to stimulate response, and was never happier than when the sparks from his active and inquiring mind struck fire; for although his own convictions were strong, he respected conviction in others.
FESTIVALS OF THE CHURCH 1956

FESTIVALS OF THE CHURCH Rev. PETER H. SABELA 1956

     (Delivered at the Ministers' Meetings of the South African Mission, Alexandra Township, January, 1956.)

     Every festival of the church is the celebration of a coming of the Lord. For there are four great historical advents which may be commemorated every year, namely, the Lord's comings at creation, by the incarnation, at the resurrection, and in glory.
     Whereas creation itself was a Divine coming, when God, by means of substances sent forth from Himself, formed the finite universe, a festival of thanksgiving may be held in the fruitful autumn of the year. For the Lord's work of creation is preserved and sustained only by perpetual recreation and providence, as it were by a continual coming of the Lord; and this should be held in remembrance.

397

     The incarnation, or the advent of the Lord by the assumption of the Human in the world, is commemorated at Christmas; His resurrection and reappearing at Easter; and His second advent, to manifest His Divine Human to the New Heaven and the New Church, is kept in remembrance by the Festival of the Second Advent.
     As the 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.
     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 Holy Supper becomes the central act of worship in the church festival, and in the worthy partaking of it there is actual reception of the holy gifts of the Lord's presence and advent. For at every coming of the Lord there is a bestowing of the gifts and blessings of His mercy. He comes to give Himself for the happiness of His creatures, and He is received by those who are in a state of mutual love and who delight to share His Divine gifts one with another.
     The festival observance also properly includes the feast of charity, or "breaking of bread." In the Ancient Church the breaking of bread was a customary rite, representative of mutual love. "To break bread and give to another means," we read, "to communicate one's own to another; and when bread was broken among many, then the one bread became mutual, and there was conjunction by charity" (AC 5405). That among members of the church this custom typifies their reception of the Lord and enlightenment from Him is evident from the Lord's being known to the disciples at Emmaus 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 life as from the valley of the earthly life to the mountains of heaven. It was in ultimation of this idea that the festival worship in the Ancient Church was celebrated upon mountains and hills, and that the observance of the Jewish feasts 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 promise of His coming to men in their low estate. And the exaltation of affection flowing from their heart's confession was expressed in glorification of the Lord in music.
     "The songs of the Ancient Church, like those of the Jewish, were prophetic, and treated of the Lord, and especially of His advent into the world, and of His liberation of the faithful from the assaults of the diabolical crew.

398

On such occasions the attendant angels were at the same time in glorification of the Lord; and hence it was that those who sang, and those who heard the songs, experienced heavenly gladness and blessedness which flowed in from heaven, in which gladness 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" (AC 8261).
This, then, is the great theme of the church festivals-the acknowledgment of the Lord's advents from grateful reception of Him. Nor need this be confined to the festival occasions. Every service of worship is a representation of the advent of the Lord; which is then acknowledged in prayer for His coming and presence, in praise for His continual gifts, 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 delight. The man of the church enters spontaneously into this formal celebration 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.
And this perpetual presence of the Lord, and His coming to the individual to impart life and to save, was not manifested and represented only at the incarnation, when He actually appeared before the bodily eyes of men. By that coming, and by His glorification, He took unto Himself a new and more intimate presence with men; even in His Divine Human, in which He is perpetually present and comes in the power of the Holy Spirit to instruct, to lead, and to save all who will receive Him in His glorious Word of truth, wherein He comes with the gift of salvation and eternal life. "I came not to judge the world, but to save the world" (John 12:47).

399

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1956

     The concluding chapters of Leviticus (20-27), which are read in September, legislate against grave social disorders, prescribe ceremonial regulations for the priesthood, and give the laws governing sacred times, seasons and festivals, the sanctuary lights and the showbread. The execution of a blasphemer is described; and the book closes by speaking of the sabbatical year and the jubilee, promises and warnings, vows and tithes and offerings to Jehovah. The perceptive reader will keep in mind the true subjects dealt with under these representative forms.
     Numbers, which is taken up this month, derives its name from two numberings of the people at the beginning and the end of the wanderings in the wilderness. It covers a period of thirty-eight years and two months, from the completion of the lawgiving at Mount Sinai, and is almost entirely historical. This book also is not mentioned in the Writings; but nineteen of its thirty-six chapters are cited, and portions are expounded from every part of the book except chapter 30. However, it is easy to see in this book the progress of the redeemed through regenerative temptations to the border of the heavenly Canaan.

     Our assignment in the Writings takes us to the end of the Doctrine of the Lord and introduces us to the Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture, the second of The Four Doctrines. In the author's preface to the first of these little works it is said that the doctrine of the New Jerusalem "means the doctrine of the New Church which is at this day to be set up by the Lord; for the old church has come to its end." The supreme doctrine of the New Church is that concerning the Lord, and it is here set forth in its essentials. Attention is drawn especially to nos. 31-35, which summarize the doctrine of the glorification.
     Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture reveals the nature and quality of the Word, its internal structure and organization, its characteristics, and its functions and uses. In the Christian churches today, with their increasing emphasis on the appearance of God in history, there is less and less acceptance of the Divine inspiration of the Word; the concept of the Word as God, as a revelation of Himself rather than a disclosure of information about Him, is scarcely grasped; and there is no knowledge that the eternal application of the Word is in its internal sense. This little work therefore has much to teach.

400

ACADEMY PUBLICATION COMMITTEE 1956

ACADEMY PUBLICATION COMMITTEE GEORGE DE CHARMS 1956

     A Statement

     The publication of books, pamphlets and other printed matter is a work of the Academy for which specific provision was made in the Charter. Three instrumentalities have been set up to carry out different phases of the work: 1) The Board of Directors, which is responsible for financial policies; 2) The Publication Committee, which is responsible for examining and selecting MSS. and for recommending books to be published; 3) The Academy Book Room, since 1930 under the business management of the Treasurer, organized to administer the details of publication, distribution and sale of New Church literature.
     Up to now the policy of the Academy Publication Committee has been to meet only when manuscripts were presented to it. The Committee is aware, however, of the importance of writing in developing the thought of the church. For this reason, and to encourage prospective writers, it will now meet regularly, and the submission of manuscripts is invited. Every manuscript offered will receive careful and impartial consideration. But it should be understood that in making recommendations to the Board, the Committee must have in mind the means available and the size of the potential market; and that in reaching decisions it must take into consideration the subject matter of proposed publications, the relative importance of MSS. submitted and their priority, and the effect of publication at any given time, having regard to the state of the church.
     As a part of its new policy, the Publication Committee will be glad to consider and render an opinion on proposed books, outlines or drafts. No commitments for the future can be made, but by such consultation an author might be encouraged to continue with a projected book, or be shown that there was little likelihood of it being published in the near future or at all.
     The Publication Committee at present consists of: The President and Executive Vice President of the Academy; Rev. Messrs. F. E. Gyllenhaal, W. Cairns Henderson, William Whitehead (secretary); Messrs. E. Bruce Glenn, Leonard E. Gyllenhaal. All communications should be addressed to the secretary, at Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     GEORGE DE CHARMS,
          President

401

REVIEWS 1956

REVIEWS Various 1956

THE LETTERS AND MEMORIALS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG (1748-1772). Volume II. Translated and edited by Alfred Acton. Swedenborg Scientific Association, Bryn Athyn, Pa., 1955. Cloth, pp. 295, including Index to both volumes. Price, $4.00.

     The first volume of this notable work, consisting mainly of Swedenborg's letters and Memorials from 1709 to 1748, was published in 1948 to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the Swedenborg Scientific Association. The appearance eight years later of the second volume completes a scholarly project that will be of perennial value to the student of Swedenborg and of the Writings, and an enduring monument to the prodigious labors, painstaking research, and literary ability of the translator and editor.
     In this second volume, all the extant letters and Memorials of Emanuel Swedenborg from 1748 to 1772, together with letters written to him during those twenty-five years, are assembled in chronological order within the compass of 252 pages. The result is a presentation to the scholar of much new material for study, and also a bringing together of private and state papers hitherto distributed among Tafel's Documents Concerning Swedenborg, various periodicals and other books, and sundry libraries-notably that of the Academy of the New Church.
     As in the first volume, the documents are linked by explanatory and biographical material wherever necessary, which gives unity to the text. The background of every letter is given clearly, though never more fully than is required for informed reading; and the editor has drawn upon his extensive knowledge of the social and economic history, internal politics, and foreign relations of contemporary Sweden to explain and discuss the events or circumstances leading to the submission of the Memorials. At the same time, the disposition of these papers is carefully noted.
     Perhaps this second volume makes one of its most useful contributions in restoring the portrait of Swedenborg which has been overlaid by that of the seer. Some New Church men seem to have assumed that during the period of revelation Swedenborg was entirely absorbed in his other world experiences, in receiving the Heavenly Doctrine, and in making it public by means of the press, and for them the man has vanished before the servant of the Lord. Yet this was not the case. When Swedenborg gave up all practice of worldly letters in 1745, he by no means withdrew from the world.

402

Of necessity he was still a man of private affairs and of those business matters implicit in his commission; and by inclination, and as time permitted, of public affairs also. And in the documents before us we see him as a man of various affairs vigorously pursued; as a man of high principle and firm convictions, lively sensibilities and keen intellect, unimpeachable loyalty and serene faith: truly concerned for his country's good in patriotism, searching yet charitable in judgment, staunch and warm in friendship, confident under persecution, frank yet prudent in his unique position as a man of two worlds. The years covered by this volume make up the least understood and most often misrepresented period in Swedenborg's life; and the direct testimony of the documents in it should do much to refute the false charges brought against him by those who had a theological or psychological ax to grind or a cherished theory in search of a peg.

A wide variety of subjects appears in the letters, a few dealing with business and literary matters, while the rest are either personal or political, theological or autobiographical. Here we find Swedenborg corresponding with Joachim Wretman about the purchase of seeds for his garden; with John Lewis, publisher of the Arcana Coelestia; with John Hart, the printer; and with his bankers, Jennings and Finlay. His refusal of a seat on the Secret Committee's Exchange Deputation reveals him as a firm advocate of law and parliamentary procedure and one who had no liking for party strife and personal animosities; and his correspondence with Councillor of Commerce Nordencrantz-author of a book attributing the falling rate of exchange to the corruption of state officials and private persons-shows him as a keen but fair and friendly controversialist. Swedenborg's lengthy correspondence with Dr. Beyer, one of the two central figures in the Gothenburg Trial, discloses in detail his reactions to that infamous persecution and the importance he attached to it. His letter to the King, provoked by the confiscation of copies of Conjugial Love and the proceedings at Gothenburg, is a spirited defense in which righteous indignation gives fire to lucid exposition remarkable for a man then in his 83rd year. The correspondence with the Rev. Thomas Hartley and Dr. Messiter is of interest not only for the autobiographical data it contains, and for the affectionate concern of these two men for the safety of one whose character had moved them so deeply, but for its disclosure in Swedenborg of a certain naive quality touching in a man of his years and attainments. The last letter, a short note, is one in which Swedenborg told the Rev. John Wesley that he had been informed in the world of spirits of Wesley's desire to converse with him. Wesley acknowledged that desire, and answered that he would call on Swedenborg when he came back to London; but when he did return, Swedenborg had already passed into the spiritual world.

403

     Additional interest is given to the Memorials by the fact that they were written after the opening of Swedenborg's spiritual eyes. This, of course, does not impart to them any special authority; for they have no authority other than that of being penned by an ardent patriot with keen insight into the needs of his country and a practical knowledge of how to meet them, a deep understanding of the principles of government, finance, foreign exchange and trade, and economics, and a fine sense of justice tempered with mercy. The Memorials contained in this volume include one on the distillation of spirits, two on the rate of exchange, and one on the export of copper; a Memorial in Defense of von Hopken, another On Upholding and Strengthening the Kingdom in its Freedom, and one addressed to the House of the Clergy on the confiscation of Conjugial Love.
     These memorials exhibit many facets of Swedenborg's mind and character, and show the servant of the Lord as still actively interested in the welfare of his country and ready to place his talents at its disposal in times of crisis. Thus the Memorial on the Distillation of Spirits, dated November 3, 1755, was penned when the liquor question, already acute in Sweden, was aggravated by a severe shortage of grain. In it Swedenborg proposed that distillation should be a state monopoly, the state to regulate the amount of grain to be used; and showed his unfailing fairness by suggesting that the price of spirits be such as to keep the public content, and that peasants and commercial distillers receive compensation in the form of reduced taxes. In his Memorial on the Rate of Exchange, characterized years later by Anders von Hopken as the "most sound and the best penned" of the many on that subject which flooded the Diet in 1760, Swedenborg recommended, among other things, the gradual withdrawing of the representative bank notes then circulated and the bringing into use of real money. It was one of his political principles, in connection with the rate of exchange, that copper should be kept in Sweden for the redemption of the unsecured bank notes; and a petition to the King asking for permission to export 1,500 skeppunds of copper drew from his pen a short but closely reasoned Memorial on this subject, the outcome of which, however, is not known.
     The Memorial in Defense of von Hopken presents Swedenborg in yet another light. At the Diet of 1760 the Privy Council, which governed Sweden between Diets, was attacked for sending troops to Pomerania without calling a Diet. Von Hopken-who had not been guilty of improper behavior, but had lacked the determination and leadership which might have averted the disastrous expedition-was one of three Privy Councillors who were to be sacrificed, with no punishment save dismissal from office; and his resignation was accepted by the Diet with a somewhat unexpected expression of loss.

404

This led Swedenborg to send to the Diet a Memorial in which he defended the conduct of his friend and expressed the highest confidence in his honorable intentions. The Diet's confidence in von Hopken was soon restored and he was again eligible for the Privy Council, and in July, 1761, Swedenborg presented a Memorial, Inoffensive Thoughts Concerning the Upholding and Strengthening of the Kingdom in its Freedom, at the end of which he recommended that the Diet recall von Hopken and the other two Councillors who had been dismissed. Here he made a strong plea for the retention of the present form of government, and the priceless freedom it insured, citing the possibility of religious enslavement by the papacy under an absolute monarch; and for the retention of alliances with foreign powers that were to Sweden's advantage, especially the alliance with France. These Memorials give point to the teaching of the Writings that the regenerating man will continue to be a man of the world, but with an internal difference; and Swedenborg's relations with the Diet show that although he was well known as the author of theological works, and as one who had intercourse with spirits, his contributions on the affairs of the country were received with high regard, and that he was well thought of by his colleagues.
     Bound uniformly with the first volume in dark green cloth, the second volume is also paged consecutively with it. A Table of Contents has been prefixed to the test, and there are four Appendices containing, respectively, an undelivered letter from Oetinger; a list of lost letters other than those mentioned in the text; notes, corrections and additions to the first volume; and a list of authorities cited. This last indicates the voluminous nature of the research necessary for the production of such a work. The Index, which is, of course, to both volumes, will open up the entire work for special studies, and the reader who expects to consult it frequently may save himself some time by memorizing the fact that the second volume begins on page 509. Footnotes are always a test of editorial skill and judgment; and the footnotes employed in this volume, for the most part biographical and explanatory, are used with the discrimination we have come to associate with Dr. Acton's outstanding editorial ability.
     This second volume completes a standard reference work that every serious student of Swedenborg will want to have at hand. But the work is more than that. It is a work of profound and thorough scholarship which, in its presentation of the primary material, enables the discerning reader to meet, understand and appreciate Swedenborg as a man, by encountering the many facets of his character, his qualities of mind and heart, and his many interests, as these are revealed in his letters and in his Memorials.
     W. CAIRNS HENDERSON

     (Reprinted from the NEW PHILOSOPHY, April, 1956)

405

ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING MARRIAGE. Being two Indices by Emanuel Swedenborg to his Missing Draft on Marriage. Arranged in the order of the paragraph numbers by Alfred Acton. The Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, 1956. Cloth, pp. 116. Price, $2.25.

     The "as-of-self" in Swedenborg's inspiration has frequently been discussed. One indication of its presence is certain changes made in his plans, and the book under review is an interesting case in point. It seems evident that Conjugial Love, with its 535 paragraphs, is not the treatise on marriage originally contemplated. Angelic Wisdom Concerning the Divine Love and Wisdom and Angelic Wisdom Concerning the Divine Providence had been published at Amsterdam in 1763 and 1764, respectively; and in Apocalypse Revealed, 1765, Swedenborg indicated that he proposed to continue the Angelic Wisdom series with a work on marriage. The draft treatise Angelic Wisdom Concerning Marriage had already been written, and Swedenborg now began to prepare it for the press. But in the work eventually published the title was changed to The Delights of Wisdom from Conjugial Love, and the number of paragraphs was reduced from 2,000 to 535. The draft treatise itself is missing, and the only remains of it are two Indices-in Swedenborg's handwriting, and now preserved in the Royal Academy of Sciences in Stockholm-which, in translation, form the text of the present work.
     As stated in the Preface, the Latin text and an English translation of the Indices were published by Dr. Samuel H. Worcester in 1886, and the translation, revised by the Rev. John Whitehead, was republished in 1914 in volume II of the Posthumous Theological Works. Working entirely from the phototyped or photostated manuscripts, both of which are in the Academy Library in Bryn Athyn, Dr. Acton has here attempted to restore the missing work from the Indices. To this end, the compiler has arranged the Indices in the order of the paragraphs. The result is not, of course, a complete reconstruction of the missing text; for that much more material would have been required. But the rearrangement is of inestimable value to the student in showing the plan and contents of the lost draft, and in commending it to the reader we may echo the hope of the compiler, in which was the inspiration of his laborious task, "that this work may be the means of furthering our knowledge and understanding of that love which is the precious jewel of human life."
     In his Preface the compiler mentions that during the work "it developed that the published Latin text contains several misreadings, both in the numbers and in the words." A list of these is given in the third of the four Appendixes with which the work is equipped.

406

He notes also that "in restoring the work from the Indices, it has sometimes been necessary to supply connecting words, and also to incorporate two or more statements into one comprehensive statement." The Preface explains further that the index word, or words, from which each paragraph has been taken or constructed can be seen in Appendix IV.
     The Large Index consists for the most part of the section headings into which the different chapters were divided, but includes also many references to individual paragraphs; the Small Index, the more detailed of the two, contains only nos. 1 to 83 and the headings of chapters 3 and 4, but indexes nearly every single paragraph from 1 to 83. The draft itself consisted of 41 chapters as compared with the 26 chapters of the published work. Of these 41 chapters, 22 are included in the published work, though in different sequence, two are mentioned, and two others are suggested.
     We believe that the value of Bishop Acton's careful work in showing the plan and indicating the contents of the lost draft will be appreciated increasingly as the Indices themselves are studied. 12 comparison with Conjugial Love will not only given insights into Swedenborg's Divinely directed methods of work; it can also help to increase our knowledge and understanding of that love which is the subject of the missing work and of the published work itself.

     RECEIVED FOR REVIEW

     TALKS FOR USE IN FAMILY WORSHIP. General Church Religion Lessons Committee, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, 1956. Pp. 124. Price: Paper, $1.50, in Accopress Binder, $2.00.
GENERAL CHURCH SOUND RECORDING COMMITTEE 1956

GENERAL CHURCH SOUND RECORDING COMMITTEE 1956

Tape-recordings of complete church services, sermons, children services, doctrinal classes, children's talks, General Church, Society, and Academy functions. For current catalogue, or any information about this service, write to: General Church Sound Recording Committee, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

407

RECREATION: USE OR TOIL? 1956

RECREATION: USE OR TOIL? Editor 1956

NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly by
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.
Editor                         Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Bryn Athyn, Pa,
Business Manager                Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address, and business communications, should be sent to the Circulation Secretary. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.
     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$3.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy, 30 cents.
     It has often been said lightly that the ideal vacation would include a bonus week in which the vacationer might recover from whatever he had been doing during his vacation. Many an untrue word is spoken in jest, and the speaker is taken no more seriously than he intended. Yet the frequency of the observation suggests an existing attitude, and one that is utterly at variance with the teaching of the Writings. It is no news to the New Church man that his recreations may belong as much to the life of charity as any other phase of his activities; and that virtue may flourish, or be conspicuously absent, in his choice of pastimes and the degree to which he indulges them. Recreation performs its true function when it serves to renew the affection of use, and when it is ended before it tires a man and leaves him unfit or disinclined for uses.
PURPOSE OF THE CHURCH 1956

PURPOSE OF THE CHURCH Editor 1956

At this time of year, when society activities are recommencing, it is always useful to remind ourselves of the ends to which those activities are means. New Church worship, doctrinal instruction, education and social life, have not been established merely that we may learn to lead better external lives-though the possibility and desirability of that should not be overlooked; or that we may lead such lives in a congenial, close knit sphere.

408

The primary concern of the church is the regeneration and salvation of its members, and all its organized uses are but means looking to that one end.
This is but another way of saying that the end for the sake of which the church was founded is conjunction with the Lord in His Divine Human. For this conjunction two things are necessary-sight of the Lord's Divine Human as a visible God, and spiritual love from the Lord of the Divine Human as seen. All the teaching uses of the church are instrumentalities to these two things. The inmost purpose in all preaching and doctrinal instruction is to reveal the Divine Human as it is present in the Writings; and the inmost purpose in receiving such instruction should be that the Lord may be enabled to purify the internal mind, establish His kingdom within it, and from that mind inaugurate the reign of His revealed truth in the external mind and life, so that man may respond to His love with love received from Him. This can never be a self-conscious process, but it is the true purpose of the church.
PRIMARY USES OF EDUCATION 1956

PRIMARY USES OF EDUCATION Editor 1956

Although there has been passionate dissent, many pedagogues still believe that the primary function of a school is to ground its pupils thoroughly in the three R's, and then build surely on that foundation. Our educators, and those who support their work, are dedicated to that proposition; but they are devoted also to what may be called the three R's of New Church education-remains, religion and rationality.
Acknowledging that the Lord alone implants remains, and that to every child He gives the remains necessary for salvation, we yet believe that the school can cooperate with Him. We believe that by teaching all subjects affirmatively in the light of Divine revelation it can make possible the implanting of a larger and more richly varied store of remains of truth, and that to do so is one of its primary uses. To do this use the curriculum must be essentially religious. That is, it must not only contain formal religion courses; it must also make the Lord the center of all instruction by teaching spiritual truth about natural things, so that the Lord is seen in creation and in human life as well as in the Word. And in so teaching the school must seek the development of a rational mind; not the spiritual-rational, which is formed by regeneration, but a natural-rational having within it true and congruous things in which the spiritual-rational may be implanted later. In these beliefs lie the reasons for our schools. As long as we are faithful, the practice of them will constitute their distinctiveness.

409

Church News 1956

Church News Various 1956

     CONNECTICUT

     Three weekend meetings have been held since our last report, all conducted by our visiting pastor, the Rev. W. Cairns Henderson. Last February we met at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Seemer of Stamford for a Saturday evening class, which was on Swedenborg's inspiration. Eighteen attended the service on Sunday morning, which was followed by the impressive dedication of the Seemers' new home. The recreation room was most suitable for our church gatherings, and the conviviality reflected the surroundings.
     In April we met at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Cadden in Sandy Hook. The doctrinal class on Saturday evening dealt with the post-resurrection appearances of the Lord. Our numbers increased to 26 for the Sunday service because the Harry Furrys of Sharon, Mass., joined our group. The sacrament of the Holy Supper was administered. After the service we joined in toasts to the Church, expressing the spirit of unity and enthusiasm we feel. Frank Cadden presented the group with a hand carved reading desk for use in our services. A delicious buffet turkey dinner was enjoyed by all, and made it possible for us to linger until late afternoon.
     Our most recent meeting, on June 23rd and 24th, was at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Arne Larsson of Guilford, Conn. The class was woven round the entirely new doctrines of the New Church, and met with a very responsive audience. Thirty-two people, adults and children, were present at the service. Before the sermon, which was on "The Marriage of the Lamb," our pastor gave a short talk to the children on the meaning of June Nineteenth. Every family contributed amply to the picnic on the Larssons' lawn, overlooking Long Island Sound, which followed.
     We are planning to have our next meeting on September 15th and 16th. All who are interested are cordially invited to attend. For information get in touch with the undersigned at 15 Rock Road, Morningside, Milford, Conn. Phone: (Milford) TRinity 4-3160.

     ELMER E. SIMONS

     Connecticut Impressions

     It was the happy experience of my wife and myself to take part in the June 23rd and 24th gathering of the new Connecticut group. It was our first sight of this state, and our travels were limited to the southwestern part-a land of heavily wooded hills and valleys, with rocks everywhere and stone walls in place of fences.
     We were amazed at the distances the New Church people must travel to their meetings. From the home of our hosts, the Edward Seemers of Stamford, to the Arne Larsson home in Guilford, where the doctrinal class and service were held, is 66 miles-and the round trip was made twice, on Saturday and Sunday. Mr. and Mrs. Harry Furry traveled 125 miles from Sharon, Mass. The Larssons, the Elmer Simons, and the Seemers live near the coast, and the Caddens and Donald Cronlunds live inland; but wherever the meetings are held, the average traveling distance for each family is 60 miles or more. On this account the doctrinal class on Saturday night does not begin until rather late; and this time, as the pastor was delayed on the road, it did not begin until 10 p.m. But this caused no impatience, and the interest was well sustained until the class ended well after eleven o'clock.
     In this same region live a few New Church families connected with the General Convention. Some of them have a friendly attitude and attend the meetings of the group.
     So when you think of Connecticut, think of a land of trees and stone fences, and a rather rocky shore looking across the Sound to Long Island. But above all, think of a little band of earnest New Church men and women whose love for the church enables them to rise above their environment of time and space.
     ROWLAND TRIMBLE

410

     CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

     During the first week in February the men of Sharon Church were hosts to the Sons' Executive Meeting An open house was held one evening, so that we all had the pleasure of meeting the guests. Other visitors who have been here since our last report are the Gordon Smiths from Detroit, the Gilbert Smiths from Pittsburgh, and the Henry Dunlaps from Bryn Athyn.
     At the first supper after the Ministers' Meetings in Bryn Athyn, Mr. Schnarr gave an interesting account of the meetings. It is always stimulating to hear of the activities of this very important body.
     The thought-provoking classes on "The Spiritual Journey continued until the final class held in the last week of May. A new series of classes was started on April 10th. Mrs. Margaret Ewald bought a recording machine and has been sending for series of recorded classes, including "The Growth of the Mind" by Bishop De Charms. She generously offered the use of these recordings to Sharon Church, so in alternate weeks there have been classes on "The Growth of the Mind" on the South Side and on the North Side. We do not have a supper with these classes as we do with the regular ones. Mr. Schnarr took this course in the Academy, and is able to open the listening sessions with interesting sidelights. These classes continued until the end of June. It had been hoped to hold them all summer, but there were too many people going away who did not want to miss them.
     We have lost another member, Mrs. Eric Hankinson. Her illness had made it impossible for her to attend services for more than a year, but she retained her interest in the activities of the church.
     Within the last few months it has been found that some seriously weak places have appeared in the structure of our church building. Adequate repairs would run to several thousand dollars. A committee has looked into the possibility of buying another church, or of erecting one in another locality. Whatever happens, cooperation will be needed-and that necessary but elusive commodity, money start
     Realization of this caused us to earlier with our plans for a bazaar in the fall. Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Betz offered the use of their home for a work party. So on May 20th, a Sunday afternoon, we arrived there in carloads. There is a large, beautiful lawn for the children to play on, and a basement with ideal conveniences for making various things. It was a pleasant social occasion, and Mrs. Betz served delicious refreshments when enough work had been done to call it a day.
     This year the Sunday school lessons have been sent to any children who were not able to attend. Mrs. Schnarr has mimeographed them, and Miss Ingrid Andreasson has mailed them. The last formal Sunday school class of the season was held on June 10th, and the children were given Certificates of Award-statements saying that they had completed the work for the year. Their little faces showed the pleasure that these gave them.
     With the coming of spring we enjoyed again the flowers planted by the Kings, and added to and cared for by the Schnarrs. The church property is now the most attractive one on the street.
     Our church paper, Sharon Report, now has a mailing list of nearly 200. We feel that it has performed a real use for our group. Once a month some of us have an opportunity to help to put the copies in the envelopes for mailing-an assembly line project.
     Our spring Women's Guild meeting was held at the home of Mrs. Rudolph Barnitz, and all contributed to make it a buffet supper. At the same time, half a block away, the men held a meeting at the home of Mr. William Hugo. Our meeting was mainly to have a shower for Mrs. Schnarr and she was really surprised.
     For New Church Day we joined the Glenview Society in a banquet, and one of the four speakers was Mr. Schnarr. A summary of their fine speeches will probably be given in the Glenview news, so no more need be said about them here. Mrs. John Anderson invited us to her lovely home in Lake Forest for the Sharon Church celebration. We left right after church in several cars. As usual, Mrs. Noel McQueen and Miss Doris Klein had charge of the games for the children, and the little ones who were old enough to take part in these had a fine time. Showers had been predicted, and a few drops of rain fell here and there, but not enough to mar a very pleasant occasion.
     For several years the Sharon Church sermons have been mimeographed and ready after the service, so that anyone desiring to take a copy home could do so.

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Mrs. William Schroder has faithfully undertaken the important task of mailing the sermons to those not in church.
     And so we have come to the end of the season, and our first year under the able direction of Mr. Schnarr with the assistance of his ever helpful wife. It has been a happy year, and we hope that they will be with us for many more.
     VOLITA WELLS

     TORONTO, CANADA

     On Palm Sunday the children marched in during the opening hymn, bringing forward their offerings of flowers. The procession was led by two chancel guild girls in white robes, followed by two priests, the Rev. Martin Pryke and the Rev. Jan H. Weiss. During the service, Mr. and Mrs. Orville Carter brought forward their infant son, Glen Martin, to be baptized, and Mr. Pryke officiated. Mr. Weiss gave the talk to the children on the Palm Sunday story, and preached a sermon on "Blessed be the King that Cometh in the Name of the Lord" (Luke 19:38).
     On the evening of Good Friday a service of five lessons was held, with the Rev. Martin Pryke officiating. Our pastor also conducted the service on Easter Sunday, which included the administration of the Holy Supper.
     After the meeting of the Ladies' Circle on Monday, April 9th, a pantry shower was held for Mrs. Martin Pryke. She received a lot of groceries, which would keep her pantry well stocked for some time.
     Then on Friday evening, April 13th, our assembly hall was most beautifully decorated, in a Chinese motif, for the reception for our pastor and his wife. A large crowd came to pay their respects to the happy couple. Mrs. Pryke, dressed in her wedding gown, received the guests with Mr. Pryke, assisted by one representative from each of our Society functions. After our good wishes had been expressed, two gifts were presented on behalf of the Society: the first a pair of lovely candlesticks, the second a calendar clock radio. The balance of the evening was spent in dancing until, after refreshments had been served, a very happy evening came to a close.
     What seems to have become a tradition is the Forward-Sons entertaining the ladies of the Olivet Society with an evening of fun and pleasure. Over 80 persons sat down to the delicious chicken supper prepared by chefs Stanley Hill and Jorgen Hansen on Saturday, April 21st. Toasts to the Church and the ladies were honored with song, and Mrs. Clara Swalm, president of the Ladies' Circle, was presented with a nosegay of sweet peas as a token of appreciation to the ladies. Mr. Frank Longstaff gave an interesting account of the early days of our Society, and we viewed on a screen pictures of friends and relatives from bygone days, shown by Mr. John White. A program of lighter entertainment, interspersed with a good deal of humor, brought another happy occasion to a close.
     On Sunday afternoon, May 6th, we had the privilege of meeting Mr. Philip C. Pendleton of Bryn Athyn, who came to address us on behalf of the General Church on the subject of minimum salaries for ministers and teachers. Mr. Pendleton gave a concise resume of the situation as it now stands, and suggested alterations; then requested that the members ask questions to clarify the matter. This led to quite a discussion. Tea and cookies were then served amidst pleasant conversation.
     In May and June our various organizations again closed their doors on another season. At their May meeting, the Forward-Sons had their election of officers; Messrs. Ray Orr and Jim Swalm were the chefs on that occasion for their supper held at the church. Theta Alpha and the Ladies' Circle also held their last meetings at the church. Theta Alpha opened the evening with a "box lunch" supper; each member purchased the box lunch brought by another, and the proceeds went to their funds. Much business was transacted later in the evening, the last item being the election of officers. On the 11th of June the annual Ladies' Circle party was held. After the supper tables had been cleared the hidden talents of the members at the various tables were called forth as the various groups were asked to produce floral displays, hats, gowns, charcoal sketches and dolls, from the materials supplied by the committee. Our handiwork was much admired.
     The children celebrated New Church Day at a banquet held at the church on June 19th. The supper, before which games were played, was prepared by the ladies of Theta Alpha, and after the meal had been eaten the speeches were given. Brian Carter told about the calling together of the twelve disciples in this world and in the spiritual world; Frank Longstaff, 3rd. spoke about Robert Hindmarsh and how the church began; and Douglas Raymond spoke on Bishop Benade, the beginning of our church, and New Church schools.

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     The adults held their celebration of New Church Day the following evening. After the supper had been eaten and the tables cleared, the toastmaster, Mr. Ray Orr, opened the formal part of the evening by welcoming everyone, extending a special welcome to the visitors who had come from Kitchener. Our pastor, the Rev. Martin Pryke, then presented t to our one graduate from the Olivet Day School, Douglas Raymond, a copy of the Writings on behalf of the Society. Miss Linda Baker and Messrs. Basil Orchard and Frank Jean-Marie were also presented with copies of the Writings on the occasion of their Confession of Faith. After a toast to "The Church" we heard the first speaker, Mr. Stanley Hill, on "The Events Leading up to the Last Judgment." The next speaker was Mr. Basil Orchard, who showed us "The Effects of the Last Judgment. Lastly, Mr. Donald Barber told us of "The Birth and Establishment of the New Church." After the closing remarks had been made by the Rev. Jan H. Weiss, the toastmaster took the opportunity to thank Mr. Weiss for all that he has done for our Society during the past year. The evening ended with the singing of "God Save the Queen and "Our Glorious Church."
     The closing exercises of the Olivet Day School were held on Wednesday evening, June 27th. There was a short service in the chapel, followed by a display in the hall of the children's ability in group singing and recitation. Miss Jennie Gaskill of Bryn Athyn, one of our former teachers, Presented a diploma to Douglas Raymond, who graduated from the eighth grade, and then gave a short address to the school. Presentations were made to the school by Theta Alpha, and to the teachers by the children, and with the singing of "The Queen" and "Our Glorious Church" another school year was over.
     KATHERINE BARBER

     KITCHENER, ONTARIO

     To cover the highlights of society activities since our last report we must go back to the beginning of February, when Swedenborg's birthday was celebrated and the Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner spent three days in Kitchener. On Friday evening, February 3, a banquet was held at the church. Eighty five people enjoyed the special meal prepared by Mrs. Cecil James, Mrs. Nelson Glebe, and Mrs. Fred Stroh, and the tables were beautifully decorated with daffodils. The Rev. Norman Reuter was toastmaster, and he began the program by reading very interesting account of Michael Church's celebration of Swedenborg's birthday a few days earlier, written by Miss Korene Schnarr who is spending a year in England. Mr. Reuter then introduced our guest speaker, Dr Odhner, who gave a very fine address an "Swedenborg and His Spiritual Diaries." The paper traced the various stages Swedenborg went through in his gradual introduction into the spiritual world, and contained a wealth of information concerning his private records and his preparation to become a revelator. The genuine enjoyment of the paper by everyone was expressed by a few of the men who responded from the floor. After the banquet the people of an age to remember Dr. Odhner as pastor of the Carmel Church gathered at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Sam Roschman, while the younger people danced in the church hall.
     The following morning the children celebrated Swedenborg's birthday with a party and luncheon at the church. The children, in Swedish costumes, gave speeches on Swedenborg's life. Dr. Odhner was a guest.
     On Saturday evening the young people's class and the young married people's class joined forces, forty-five strong, to meet with Dr. Odhner at the Reuter home. With the idea of helping in introducing the church to inquirers, the distinctive doctrines of the New Church were reviewed by Dr. Odhner after being named by the class. A stimulating evening was the result. Dr. Odhner then preached to the Society on Sunday morning, and with that ended a memorable visit.

     During recent months Mr. Reuter continued his series of doctrinal classes on the natural and rational degrees of the mind, and on two occasions the Rev. Jan Weiss gave classes on the Word as the Lord during the pastor's absence. Sunday services have been conducted by Mr. Reuter and Mr. Weiss, the latter giving a series of seven sermons last spring on the book of Revelation. A combined service for children and adults is held the first Sunday of each month.

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At Easter, and at the Nineteenth of June, a separate children's service was held, and on these two special occasions the adult service included the administration of the Holy Supper. The Easter service was conducted by the Rev. Henry Heinrichs as the pastor was sick for a few days.
     Since January there have been three infant and one adult baptisms, three confirmations, two weddings, and one engagement. Also, one new family has moved into town-Mr. and Mrs. Walter Stewart and their two sons, whom we were very happy to welcome. Due to poor health three of the older members of the Society were confined to their homes this year and are missed at our affairs. They are Mrs. Alfred Bellinger, Dr. R. W. Schnarr, and Mr. Nathaniel Stroh.
     On Friday evening, March 23, the marriage of Miss Leona Heinrichs and Mr. Jan Buta was solemnized by the Rev. Norman Reuter in a lovely service attended by the whole Society. A reception in the assembly hall followed, with toasts and songs to the bride and groom, after which dancing was enjoyed. At the end of January a shower for the couple had been held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Hill.
     A wedding shower for Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Schnarr, Jr., was held on June 1st at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Schnarr to welcome Maurice's wife, the former Muriel Wallace of Guelph, Ontario, to the Society. Maurice and Muriel were married in Guelph on April 13th.
     At the semi-annual meeting in April, Mr. Reuter was appointed chairman of the Community Committee, and during the spring the committee met regularly to discuss ways and means of forming a community. No definite step has yet been taken.
     A big success on the social program was the formal dance, with an orchestra, held on a night of blizzard in February. The committee consisted of the Misses Vanny Gill, Carolyn Kuhl, Margaret Reuter, Eileen and Sandra Schnarr. The theme of the dance, a deck of cards, was carried out not only in the striking decorations but also in the many novelty dances, and even in the refreshments of sandwiches and coffee. Wherever one looked there were clubs, diamonds, hearts and spades, and, of course, "The Joker," which was the name given to the dance. A number of visitors from Bryn Athyn and Toronto added to the evening's enjoyment.
     The March social took the form of a banquet prepared and served by the Sons. The ladies find it very delightful to be waited on by the men at a supper once year. Keith Niall was the toastmaster; and after we had been told quite cleverly by a male trio of the "Memories" this occasion would provide "For You, Madame," Mr. Fred Hasen introduced the guest speaker of the evening, Professor Stanley F. Ebert of Bryn Athyn. He came as a member of the faculty of the Academy to inform us of the latest plans and developments in the Academy, that we might be kept in closer touch with and have a greater interest in the work of the schools. Our guest's pleasant manner and enthusiasm for his subject resulted in a highly enjoyable talk, from which we learned a surprising number of new things about the Academy.
     The April social also took the form of a supper, sponsored by the Women's Guild to raise money. The sauerkraut and pork supper was consumed by a hundred people, for this was family night and the children were present. It was also a pleasure to welcome members of the Sons Executive Committee, who were here for meetings the next day. Movies were shown after the supper. Special events for the school children were concentrated in June. On the 2nd of the month the second annual field day with the Olivet School of Toronto took place in Kitchener. The children had been preparing for many weeks, learning tumbling, marching, racing, jumping and dancing. The Toronto school won the trophy this year.
     School closing took place on June 14th, with a service in the evening at which the two eighth grade boys, Mark Reuter and Brian Schnarr, received diplomas. After the service the children presented two plays, in which they highly entertained and completely captivated their audience. The plays meant a lot of work for teachers and pupils, but the results were most rewarding.
     On June 16th the children celebrated the Nineteenth of June with a luncheon at which the graduating boys were the speakers. Games were played in the afternoon.
     Celebrating the church's birthday on the correct day, the Society gathered on Tuesday evening, June 19, for a banquet which began as a festive affair, and ended in a state of mixed emotions of joy and sadness produced by two announcements.

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But first as to the banquet: Mr. Robert G. Schnarr, as toastmaster, announced that it was the church's 186th birthday, and that the Society was celebrating for the 66th time. We might add that, due to nature, several precedents were broken this year. For one thing it was a cool evening, and for another, not a single rose was to be among the decorations. Iris graced the tables instead. After the visitors and returned students had been welcomed, three eighth grade students-Diane Kuhl, Mark Reuter, and Brian Schnarr-were welcomed and presented with copies of the Writings. The speakers were: the Rev. Jan Weiss, on "The Significance of June Nineteenth"; Mr. Leon Stroh, on "June Nineteenth and the Last Judgment"; Mr. Robert Knechtel, on "June Nineteenth and the Twelve Apostles and Mr. Cecil James, on "June Nineteenth and Education."
After the last speech and the singing of "Our Glorious Church" the toastmaster said that the pastor had a few announcements to make. Instead of the usual routine items, Mr. Reuter announced first the engagement of Miss Eileen Schnarr and Mr. Gilbert Niall. This caused considerable excitement, as it is the first engagement between two of our own young people in a number of years, and everyone was very happy to hear it. When the room quieted down, Mr. Reuter rose again to announce his resignation as pastor of the Society in order to accept a call to the Detroit Society which had been received earlier in the day. The news came as a complete surprise to many. Mr. Reuter expressed his regret at leaving the Society, and in a Society meeting that was called immediately his resignation was accepted with considerable regret. Several speakers paid tribute to the work Mr. Reuter has done in guiding the Society for the past six years. And so the evening ended on a very sad note. Dancing followed, and before the evening ended the party adjourned to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Schnarr where the whole Society celebrated the new engagement. It was indeed an evening of mixed emotions.
VIVIAN KUHL
VISUAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE 1956

VISUAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE 1956

Complete sets of slides illustrating the Old and New Testaments, a few slides of General Church and Academy interest, and some of interest in connection with Swedenborg's life and suitable for a Swedenborg's birthday celebration The Committee's holdings now include, on slides, a complete set of the paintings of Old and New Testament stories by James J. Tissot. Appropriate map-slides for all New Testament sets.
Slides may be borrowed at a rental of 1 cent per slide per month, plus postage. A complete list of those now available may be obtained on application to the Director: Mr. William R. Cooper, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

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CHARTER DAY 1956

1956

     Announcements
     All ex-students of the Academy of the New Church, and their wives or husbands, are cordially invited to attend the Charter Day Exercises, to be held in Bryn Athyn, Pa., on Friday and Saturday, October 12 and 13, 1956. The program:
     Friday, 11 a.m.-Cathedral Service, with an address by the Rev. William Whitehead, D.Th.
     Friday Afternoon;-Football Game.
     Friday Evening.-Dance.
     Saturday, 7 p.m.-A Banquet in the Assembly Hall. Toastmaster, Dean Eldric S. Klein.
     Arrangements will be made for the entertainment of guests if they will write to Mrs. Winfred A. Smith, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
GENERAL CHURCH RELIGION LESSONS 1956

GENERAL CHURCH RELIGION LESSONS 1956

     Graded lessons and other material from Pre-School through Grade 11
     The purposes of this work are to teach the letter of the Word and the doctrines of the New Church to isolated children and young people, to acquaint them with distinctive New Church religious education and with the principles and practice of the General Church, and to inspire them with the feeling of being within the General Church.
     DIRECTOR: Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
VISITORS TO BRYN ATHYN 1956

VISITORS TO BRYN ATHYN 1956

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CONTINUITY OF TIME AND ETERNITY 1956

CONTINUITY OF TIME AND ETERNITY Rev. A. WYNNE ACTON 1956

NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. LXXVI          OCTOBER, 1956          No. 10
      (July 29, 1956.)

     "Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure." (Isaiah 46:9, 10)

     In the spiritual sense of the Word there is no idea of time-all is in the eternal present. That sense is not concerned with "the former things of old," or with "the things that are not yet done," for in it the past and the future are both together as a one in the present. God is ever present, and His Divine love is always, every least moment of time, fully and perfectly accomplishing His Divine purpose.
     Nevertheless, while man lives on earth time is of prime importance. In our lives there is a beginning, a progression, and an apparent ending. Life itself is above the realm of time, but in this world there are fixed times and seasons, during which we are continually passing out of old states and entering into new ones. Thus man's life is both within the sphere of time and above it, and regular progressions of earthly times provide the opportunity of being prepared for eternal life.
     In the letter of the Word both the spiritual and the natural idea of the eternal God are presented. On the one hand, we see Him as ever one and the same, continually establishing His counsel and accomplishing His will; on the other hand, the letter speaks of what God has done in the past, and of what He will do in the future. So it can speak of the "ancient times" and of "the things that are not yet done" as though they were quite distinct, and yet imply that they are one and the same. Likewise, when the Lord refers to Himself as "Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end; who is, and who was, and who is to come," He is using terms pertaining to time; and yet they clearly refer to the one unchanging, eternal God.

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     Both of these points of view-the temporal and the eternal-are necessary for man during his earthly life. While our spiritual mind can behold the continuity of our lives in relation to the eternal, the natural mind must concern itself with the temporal things of this earth. Only from this double viewpoint may We have a balanced perspective from which to regard the varying states and circumstances of our own lives, of the development of the world in which we live, and of the growth of the church.
     Our regeneration consists in so regulating our temporal life, our day to day existence, that it may be brought into accord with the eternal purpose of God. To encourage us in this endeavor the Lord said, "Remember the former things of old." At the time these words were spoken, the former greatness of the Jewish Church under David and Salomon had dwindled, and the people seemed to be at the mercy of their more powerful neighbors. In such straits the prophet admonishes them to recall how the Lard had fulfilled His promise t, make the seed of Abraham into a mighty nation by miraculously delivering them from the powerful Egyptians, feeding and protecting them in the wilderness, and at length establishing them in the land of Canaan. In the days of adversity they were to recall the wonders of the Lord's past leading, and thus renew their confidence in the Divine leadership. Thus also must we be encouraged, in the time of doubt and trial, to strive against the adversity of the times and the many obstacles which beset our path, confident in the remembrance of His ever-present leadership.
     Our text also directs our minds to the future-to the "things that are not yet done" After earnest reflection on the past, in which we shall have seen our many weaknesses and failures, we must look forward with fresh determination and hope to the new things which the Lord will create. We must allow the constantly present spiritual hope which the Lord inspires within all men to strengthen our steps in the way of eternal life. In this way do we use properly the regularly changing seasons and years of this world to receive a never changing spirit within.
     In our constantly changing states we have need to recall that before God all things are present, that from His one end in creation we may have a central and controlling purpose in our lives-the reception of His eternal life, ever one and the same. Throughout our varying natural states this spiritual purpose must be present within, causing the apparently unrelated and diverse efforts of our worldly lives to be governed by an internal continuity. Although we are not consciously aware of this continuity and oneness of life, yet we know that it is so before the eternal God, whose counsels ever stand, and whose pleasure is ever done, in all ages and in all lands.

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     In thus looking to the eternal we are not to withdraw our minds from the idea of time on this earth, for the Word continually directs our attention to it-to the things that have been, and to those which will be. On the contrary, the temporal and passing things of our daily lives become of the greatest importance in the effect they are having upon our spirits, in the way that they are shaping what is eternal. Thus, from the eternal viewpoint, nothing in our lives is insignificant, for every least external is contributing its part to the continuity of the whole. Each new state that we enter is a result of what has been, and our development therein is the determining factor in what will be. Before the Lord all such states are a one, however diverse they may appear to us externally, and through them all He seeks to lead us to that dwelling-place in heaven for which
He has created us.
     Apart from our individual lives, it is of use to recall this oneness and continuity of life in a world in which all things seem to be in a constant state of change. However much external ways and customs change, nations and leaders come and go, wars and rumors of wars arise, we must realize that the Divine is accomplishing its purpose every least moment, by preserving those spiritual and natural conditions in which men may use their God-given faculties of rationality and freedom as means of building a heaven from the human race. Our natural concern about worldly developments will indeed remain, and it is right that this be so that we may do our duty as responsible citizens; but any feelings of deep anxiety and hopelessness are removed by the assurance that all things which the Lord permits to happen in a changing world are present before Him as one, and that He can direct them toward the fulfillment of His one end in creation.
     The same is true in regard to our thought concerning the church and its progression. The establishment in His second advent of that eternal church which is to be the crown of all the churches was foreseen and provided for from first creation. It was present with the Divine before time commenced, but it could descend and be effective in the world only after man had been prepared by a long series of temporal developments. But since this eternal church was in the will of the Divine from creation, the evils and falsities of men could in no wise prevent its establishment when the time was ripe. It is the state of this church that is the end which the Lord declares from the beginning; declaring from ancient times the things that are not yet done. Surely we may receive great comfort in this thought, knowing certainly that if we do our part the Lord will provide for the establishment and progress of His church.
     This end has now been accomplished in the full revelation of Himself in His Divine Human, and the men and women of the New Church are privileged to be invited to have this end fulfilled in themselves by bringing their lives into conformity with the Divine pattern now revealed.

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As individuals, and as a church, we shall have to go through many vicissitudes; our faltering faith will bring states of doubt, and our selfish loves will bring times of discouragement and temptation. Amid these temporal trials let us recall that God is eternal and that He sees our lives, and the development of His church, as one continuous whole-the past and the future being together in the present. Let, then, a full response to His Divine guidance be our constant intention and purpose-the inwardly integrating purpose of our lives; that He may direct all the temporal states through which we pass, from infancy to old age, as a continual preparation for the performance of our eternal use in His heavenly kingdom. And let us acknowledge, in the words of the Writings, that "the Lord every moment, and every fraction of a moment, regards the eternal in His foreseeing and providing everyone's place after death. This the Lord does because the entire future is to Him the present, and the entire present is to Him the eternal" (DP 333). Amen.

     LESSONS: Isaiah 46:3-13. Matthew 6:19-34. DP 58, 59.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 501, 470, 437.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 75, 123.
CHURCH EXTENSION 1956

CHURCH EXTENSION Rev. HAROLD C. CRANCH 1956

     (Delivered to the Second Session of the Twenty-first General Assembly, London, England, July 25, 1956.)

     One of the important principles of the church teaches that we should achieve essential unanimity of thought and purpose in any endeavor. To this end let us examine the purposes and goals in our church extension to correlate them with our other church uses, and to answer doubts and questions that have been raised in the church in the past and which are present in the minds of many when this work is discussed.
     The new development in this work begun by the Missionary Committee should be understood throughout the church to be given the approval of all our members, so that this may be a united effort; the laity upholding the hand of the priesthood, as they have done so nobly in our other important uses. This is necessary so that the new work now begun-to study and organize our external evangelization-may not be a momentary effort, but may have the stability, support and understanding that we have given, and must continue to give, to New Church education and to our use of distinctive worship. Interiorly viewed these uses are one-each sustaining and developing the others.

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     As with all great uses, this one must have a gradual development. Our first step is to gather the wisdom and principles our past leaders have drawn from Revelation, that we may build upon this, the common heritage of all our members. The first advantage of such a course should be a greater agreement concerning this work than has existed in the past. Some have felt that the General Church neither intended nor performed any missionary work in its history. But the facts are these: The General Church from the beginning intended this work, and to some extent entered into it, and for many years supported a missionary pastor. Even the Academy provided for this use. So the charter reads: "The Academy of the New Church shall be for the purpose of propagating the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem, and establishing the New Church." Our approach to the work has been quite different from that of other churches. We have tried to minister primarily to those in our charge, gradually extending the borders of our organization as opportunities arose in providence. This is not spectacular, but it brings steady growth. It is based primarily on the teaching that spiritual growth proceeds from centers to their circumferences.
     By 1909 our small membership had many small circles and groups which needed pastors. The church was somewhat at a loss to provide for their care and development. At that time the Church Extension Committee was formed. It circularized the church for support of its purposes, which were stated to be: "To help societies which could not sufficiently support a pastor, and to send out men into the field. The chief idea was to assist ministers so that centers might be established." (NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1911, p.606. Mr. Pitcairn and Mr. Nelson.)
     Small societies were given financial assistance, which was gradually reduced as they approached the first, external goal of self-support. Missions in Chicago and Brussels were partially supported, as was missionary work in New England, France and Canada. Shortly after the committee was established, an endowment fund of $100,000 was given, and income from this fund still helps to support the first part of this program. Our visiting pastors, serving isolated members, groups and circles, are carrying on a vital part of our church extension. The real attitude of the General Church in this work is shown by the following quotations:
     The Rev. Fred Waelchli, discussing the first report of the extension committee, said: "Let us earnestly pursue this work which our body has undertaken. . . . Zeal in missionary work is nothing other than zeal for the salvation of souls, which should be the zeal of zeals in every church; and as we enter into it more and more fully, not only will we increase the numbers of the church and heaven, but the church itself will be strengthened, for we are taught that in the societies of heaven there comes increase of life with increase in numbers, provided there be unanimity.

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Of that unanimity I think we need have no doubt as long as we are true to the principles of the General Church."
     The Rev. Mr. Bowers, missionary minister of the church at that time, added: "The time has come for extension work to be done, and that it will have results we cannot doubt. It is a universal principle that all things begin from centers. The thing to do is to establish such centers in which faith and life, worship and instruction, can be carried on."
     Bishop N. D. Pendleton said: "There is nothing more important to our church than church extension. Whatever does not grow surely dies; nothing stands still. We must either have church extension, or we must expect a more or less rapid decline of the church. We need more than anything else a keen realization on the part of all the members, and especially on the part of the priesthood, of the fact that the Second Coming of the Lord is an actuality, and that it is our mission to bring this fact before all men. In the Academy we have not only the duty of educating the priesthood, but of training for the doing of just this work. This is the great need of the church today-not only intellectual understanding, but a fervent zeal and love for the doctrines and for communicating them to others. Let us encourage every legitimate effort. If the Lord puts it into the heart of a man to do a work for the church, in this or that way, it is of providence. It is the Lord's doing and a sign that it ought to be done. The church will grow just as fast as the Lord sees fit. We can ask or desire nothing more." (NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1916, P. 569)
     Dr. William Whitehead wrote on the Ethics of Evangelization: "All the uses of the church are uses of evangelization. One special use, however, is missionary work among adults. When the use of evangelization is undertaken it becomes a duty. We have no right to take up a use we cannot perform. There should be affection for the means as well as for the end. Experience has shown this to be one of the most difficult of the uses of the church. The affection for this use should be kept alive. It is needed for our sakes; a self-absorbed attitude is not a normal relation to the life of charity. The truth of Divine revelation is not the private property of any man or body of men. It is given to all who will receive it and live according to it." (NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1910, p. 499)
     Bishop W. F. Pendleton wrote on evangelization as follows: "There is to be evangelization 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 the thinking and reasoning mind.

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And the work of the evangelist should not be temporary and flitting, but constant and continuous, that the work may take on the form of a permanent endeavor and establishment." (Topics from the Writings, p. 197)
     Discussing the formation of a new council for church extension, the following was said by Bishop George de Charms: "This is a use that in Providence has come to us, and which we cannot avoid. The missionary work of the General Church arises out of the needs to provide for our own people-the formation of little centers from which missionary efforts can spread. It is something that cannot be put off for the future. The need is immediately before us.
     "Our church has grown by concentration on internal evangelization or New Church education. Unless we maintain the spirit of the church with the isolated we will not gain their children for that education. These uses are inseparably bound together. We cannot do our best for one without doing our best for the other. This is a different concept of missionary work. It is the product of the spirit of the General Church."
     The Rev. Norman H. Reuter added: "The time will come when the organized forces of the church will have a background of effort that is comparable to the Academy effort in this direction, comparable in the way of interest and ultimate support also. In order to conserve the very work the Academy is doing today, we must do this other work. Small groups must do evangelizing work to increase their numbers, their New Church environment, that they might have schools."
     In an address on Evangelization the Rev. Karl R. Alden pointed out: "The twofold obligation of the ministry is: 1) to provide for internal growth by leading the church ever more deeply into the truths of religion, and 2) to provide an objective source of inspiration which will prevent the church from becoming self centered. Such is evangelization. Unless there is a spirit of evangelization abroad in our midst, our internal growth also will suffer and we may fail to get active Newchurchmanship even from those whom we have educated. . . . When I state that the General Church never has entered into the missionary phase of evangelization, I mean that it has never seriously, as a church, undertaken a carefully planned and well organized campaign to bring the gospel of the New Church to the people of any one locality, and continued this campaign tirelessly, year by year. . . .When the energy and vitality which made the General Church and the Academy a success are applied to the missionary field, there we can and will succeed also." (NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1918, p. 399).
     The Rev. Professor C. Th. Odhner epitomized the essential attitudes toward evangelization. He said in part: "The founders of the Academy took the stand that true missionary work, like every use of true charity, must begin at home.

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The first person to be converted to the New Church is our own self, and the next to be converted from natural to spiritual men are all the little souls which the Lord has confided to our care.
     "But accusation quickly went forth that the Academy did not believe in missionary work. Certainly this was never the case in the Academy or the General Church, for the people of these bodies always and most earnestly believed in these parting commandments of the Lord to His disciples: 'Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.' (Mark 16:15.)
     "We are taught in the Writings that evangelization in the widest sense includes all the uses of the church, for all these uses are effected by teaching the truth, and thereby leading to the good of life. It includes, therefore, every form of teaching and preaching the Word, and conducting worship according to it. It includes the internal propaganda of truth, education in the New Church, home missions, foreigns missions, and finally, missions to the Gentiles. The love of evangelization means nothing else than the love of the salvation of souls by the extension of the Divine truth as the only means of salvation.
     "We need to cultivate this spirit for the preservation of the church in our midst. For even though missionary work may be or a relatively external character, we need the external as well as the internal. The constant cultivation of interior things alone may lead to the development of vague speculations, and the conceits of would-be 'interior' views, and these again may lead to the splitting of the church into many contending little sects. But a healthy interest in the more external uses of the church always contributes to strength and unity, for all power and cohesion must rest upon something that is external and ultimate.
     "The Christian world is evil, and will become worse, and few will ever come from it to the Lord's New Church. But there still is a remnant, and it is our duty to seek it out. It is useless to say that this remnant will be reached by the Divine Providence without our missionary efforts. We may as well say that our children will get a New Church education by the Divine Providence without our keeping up any New Church schools. We must act as of ourselves, knowing that we are servants of Providence.
     "Whatever be the external results, we need this missionary work, in order to foster and keep alive in our hearts the priestly love of saving souls, for without it the church must perish in our midst.?'
     These quotations express the developing views of the church from the beginning. So that we may realize how many principles were contained in these quotations, let us list them briefly.

     1. External evangelization or missionary work is the zeal for the salvation of souls, the very heart of the church's use.

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     2. The church would die without the practice of church extension. Such a program is needed for our own sakes, for evangelization in all its forms is the Lord's work. It is our duty to enter into it without regard to the number of converts that might result. The truth must be made known.
     3. It is the mission of the church to spread a knowledge of the Lord's second coming before all men, and to gather the remnant from the Christian world who will receive.
     4. The Lord operates through our efforts in this, as in New Church education and all the uses of the church. Unless we do our part we do not furnish the means by which He can do it.
     5. Church extension is a work of charity. It ultimates love of the church, and helps to hold the church together. It unites it in a common effort, helps to prevent the development of ingrowing speculations, and schismatic influences.
     6. Our development of this use must go forth in the order of the performance of all the uses of the church. It must begin with ourselves, as New Churchmen, then it must be extended to the children, then to all others as opportunities arise.
     7. The principles which apply to church extension must be drawn from the Writings, and lead to the Lord to be successful. So we are told that falsities must be cast out before the truth can be really received. The Writings demonstrate this in such works as the Brief Exposition, the
Apocalypse Revealed, the True Christian Religion, and so forth, where the old falsities and the new truths are placed side by side. These works will be essential to any genuine missionary effort.
     8. Internal evangelization and New Church education, viewed interiorly, are the first of missionary work. These things build the strong doctrinal nucleus from which all developmental work proceeds.
     9. In this work our efforts should not be broadcast, but should operate from centers, and to establish centers, constantly expanding.
     10. There is no danger even from great increase if that order is followed. Danger could result only from an increase in numbers without the development of a living internal.
     11. Conservation is the first of extension. Our first duty is to keep our own members and their children.
     12. Lastly, although evangelization is one of the most difficult uses of the church, it must be done consistently, by trained men. This will further the capabilities of all to develop this use in their own way, according to the opportunities that open before them in providence.

     Since these principles have been so clearly stated, why have they not been more widely seen and practiced?

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Although some members have great enthusiasm for this work, the reaction of the majority ranges from mild interest to mild apathy, and a few even express some degree of opposition.
     But we must remember that the teachings quoted were given over many years. They were not codified or emphasized, for these leaders were men busy with the distinctive and developing uses of the General Church. Their recognition of the need for the work, and their understanding of the nature it must take, were well stated. But they had to work according to the needs of the church of their day, and according to their own Divinely given talents. Meanwhile, the results of missionary work in the other bodies of the New Church were mostly discouraging. And our own members found many teachings from the Writings which, taken by themselves, seemed to point out that this work was not to be done by the church, and could not succeed in Christian countries. These teachings must be brought into proper relationship with others before we can unite wholeheartedly in this third general use of the church.
     It is the function of the church to establish living worship, the reading of the Word, and recognition of its applications to life; for, we are taught, if such a church where the Word is read, and by it the Lord is known, exists with only a few, it will still establish conjunction with heaven and maintain spiritual freedom for all mankind. To many that teaching has roused the following question: "Is this not best done by doing our work of education, and maintaining our distinctive worship with our own membership? If we divided our work we might fail in this all important use."
     Obviously that use is best protected by cultivating our distinctive worship and education. But this in no way eliminates evangelization. Spiritual freedom and conjunction with heaven can be maintained when the genuine church is with only a few, but it becomes more full and complete when it is with many. This question would answer itself if we would ask ourselves, "Why is spiritual freedom important?" For it is important so that mankind can receive the Lord's kingdom, and on earth His kingdom is the church. So, obviously, the church with the few performs that spiritual use of preserving freedom for the sake of its spread to the many.
     Several teachings point out that the church will not grow where the former church held sway, but will be transferred to the Gentiles. Reference is also made in the Writings to the analogy of history-as it happened in the former churches, so it will take place in the New Church. From these teachings many have felt it is useless to try to evangelize Christian countries. They feel that we should maintain the church with our children, and those who may be led to us. But let us reflect. A new church was always transferred to the Gentiles by means of missionary work on the part of the remnant from the previous church.

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Preparation for its spread to the Gentiles was always through men. So we are taught that a new church is always raised up among the remnant of the former church, and is nourished and protected for a time in its midst, before it is ready to be transferred to the Gentiles. Thus the Christian Church was established with the Jews in the Holy Land, and the disciples were told to tarry in Jerusalem before they went forth to evangelize elsewhere. Also, the Lord said that He had come to save the lost sheep of Israel. So while it is true that the church will be transferred when the time is right, it cannot be transferred unless it has first been formed among the remnant. During this process the new, unprotected church is sheltered from her enemies in the wilderness, where God has prepared a place for her where she may be nourished, that is, where she may acquire spiritual and natural growth, until strong enough to go forth to conquer and build.
In the work on the Last Judgment we read a number that has discouraged many. It says: "I have had various conversations with angels concerning the state of the church hereafter. They said that they know not things to come, for the knowledge of things to come belongs to the Lord alone; but they know that the slavery . . . in which the man of the church was formerly has been taken away, and now, from restored freedom, he can perceive interior truths if he wills to perceive them . . . but that still they have slender hope of the men of the Christian church, but much of some nation far distant from the Christian world . . ." (LJ 74). From this statement, and those concerning the Gentiles, they conclude that the New Church will not grow in Christian lands, except for a very few who may be led to us.
Any statement taken by itself can lead to a false conclusion. It must be seen in relationship to the other teachings on the same subject. Here Swedenborg quotes a fallible conclusion of some angels, who first admitted their inability to foresee the future. They had some hope for the Christian world because of renewed spiritual freedom, though this was small compared to their hopes for the Gentiles. Their opinions were based on appearances. The inmost temptations the Lord suffered on earth were induced by the angels, because of their fallacies. They insinuated the idea that men would not accept His salvation. So it might be said in regard to the Lord's first coming that they had slender hope that men in freedom would accept the salvation which the Lord offered, just as now they have slender hopes that the men of the Christian world will accept His salvation in the Second Advent. Of this we read: "That the Lord at the last fought in temptations with the whole angelic heaven is an arcanum which has not until now been revealed. . . . These temptations are the inmost of all, for they act only upon ends, and with such subtlety as to escape all observation . . ." (AC 4295). [Italics added.]

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     But most important in our analysis of this statement of the Writings is the direct teaching in other places, given by the Lord Himself, and not as the opinions of angels or spirits. The angels quite correctly perceived the present state of the Christian world, and the difficulty of a widespread acceptance of the New Church; still, we are taught it will be established, and it will grow, first with the remnant and simple good, and with the children within and without the church there (AC 1610) and it will cover the whole earth.
     In the Coronis we read: "The whole Christian world is invited to this church, and exhorted to receive the Lord worthily." And the Arcana teaches that the gospel of the New Church first should he made known in the Christian world (AC 3488:8). And also that the remnant should be gathered together by evangelization (AC 4060:8, 9). In the Apocalypse Explained we have a very definite and important teaching: "The church that is called the New Jerusalem is to tarry among those who are in the doctrine of faith separate while it grows to its fulness, until provision is made for it among many. But in that church there are dragons who separate faith from good works . . . but others . . . who live the life of faith which is charity, are not dragons, although they are among them. . . . The church consisting of those who are not dragons is meant by the earth that helped the woman. . . . Reasonings about faith alone are only with the learned leaders of the church, and are not known to the people . . . because they are not understood by them, therefore it is by the latter that the New Church is helped, and also grows" (AE 765e). [Italics added.]
     Thus the new doctrines are to be announced to the Christian world. They are to be evangelized to draw forth the remnant. And the church will grow primarily from those in the Protestant churches, and it will grow to a degree of fulness before it is spread to the many of the Gentile world. This emphasizes strongly that what is called few from one standpoint might be considered quite large, even to some degree of fulness from another (see Topics from the Writings, p. 56). So, although the angels have little hope that the New Church in its beginnings will fill Christian lands, this should not keep us from performing the missionary work the Lord Himself commands. We could not expect complete success. But definitely the Lord has commanded that the Christian world should be evangelized first, and the remnant should be gathered, and He has promised that the church will grow among those nominally in faith alone until it reaches a state of fulness, while preparation is made for its spread to the many. Certainly this state cannot be reached if we do not cooperate with the Lord's purpose and direction.
     Some have held that although missionary work is a good thing, our work is education.

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Other New Church organizations can perform the necessary missionary work, but if we divide our efforts, and fail to do our primary work, no others call supply our New Church education.
     Here again we can have no real objection to this view, except for the assumption that there would be conflict between uses. If evangelization is an essential work commanded by the Lord, no general church can omit it. There are uses such as publication which can be joint efforts. Members from all New Church organizations support the vital work of the Swedenborg Society and the Swedenborg Foundation. But the various organizations cannot do the evangelization necessary for others, any more than the Protestant churches could proselytize for the Catholic Church. Each New Church organization has its own distinctive doctrinal approach and reason for being. We can wish them all well, but we cannot feel that they will do our work.
     Again there is no conflict between uses in our body. All the work of the church is evangelization, and what we must achieve is the proper balance between its various forms; then each one supports the others. We grow in the church ourselves for our own regeneration, and so that we can train our children in it; that together with them we will form a strong nucleus, in doctrine and numbers, so that we can extend the church. Every new member we gain strengthens our body and its uses. Our education is to build the church, not to prevent its growth with others. Again we have had a mistaken idea that almost all of our growth would come from within, from the children of the church. Although our membership would suffer greatly without them, statistics demonstrate that they provide just over one-half of our growth, and that what brings about a net gain of members each year is in good part our additions from the world around us. Our education supplies the materials for sound evangelization of others. It is the establishment of the strong doctrinal center from which growth proceeds, and it is the internal growth of doctrine meant by tarrying at Jerusalem while gaining power from on high.
     Every church and individual has distinctive abilities and talents. Ours, by principle and adoption, is education. Our pastoral work and our school system are both based on principles of education. To us this seems the answer to the command of the Writings that "Good priests should teach the truth, and thereby lead to the good of life." It has led to techniques of preaching and instruction. Business meetings and councils are led by instruction in uses, not expediency. Our philosophy and method of education has been our strength in pastoral work and with our children. So also should it be in the missionary field. As the Lord taught through Isaiah, we should go "from strength to strength." The vision that inspired the Academy, and the General Church, and the talent given it by the Lord to trade with in His work, is education.

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We must use it wisely that it may bear fruit, that we may be faithful in our tasks.
     Another fear exists with some that great growth would change the very nature of our church, and possibly would put numerical voting control in the hands of newcomers without sufficient doctrinal background to protect the distinctive uses of our body. They use the example of what happened to the primitive Christian Church after the conversion of Constantine. This fear would be well founded if our efforts were to gain members at any cost. It arises from failure to recognize two facts. First, a living internal understanding of the doctrine becomes the basis for membership, and this is protected by the sacrament of Baptism. After instruction men do not enter into this lightly, and they are not eligible for membership before it. Second, the results of any evangelization will be far less than is hoped for, or feared, by those raising this question. We could not expect wholesale conversions after the instruction from the Writings and the experience of years of effort. But we can expect a steady addition to our membership, which, together with their children and ours, educated in our schools, will make a substantial difference in our numbers.
     Although there are discouraging aspects to evangelization, the important thing is to see that it is the Lord's work, that He has said that it must be done by the church, and that the results are in His hands. Swedenborg himself, although given the new revelation, and instructed by the Lord directly that the New Church would be established, still had moments of discouragement. So he wrote: "I received letters informing me that not more than four copies had been sold in two months, and this was made known to the angels. They wondered indeed, but said it must be left to the Lord's providence. The Lord compels no one . . . still there were found those who received, because they were those who were in faith, to whom also the apostles were sent" (SD 4422).
     Discussing this in the spiritual world he was told the situation would not change greatly. So we read: "I spoke with spirits as to in what manner the Writings . . . are to be received, for evil spirits sometimes infuse that no one would receive them. . . . It was given to perceive that there are five kinds of reception: first, those who wholly reject . . . who are enemies of the faith. Second, those who receive these things as curiosities. Third, they who receive intellectually, but remain the same as before as to their life. Fourth, they who receive persuasively, so that it penetrates to the emendation of their lives. Fifth, those who receive with joy, and are confirmed" (SD 2955).
     Despite the natural discouragement that arose from such knowledge Swedenborg wrote: "I am obliged by conscience to make these things known, for what good is it to know, unless what one knows another knows also?

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Without this what is knowing but collecting and storing up riches in a casket, and only looking at them occasionally. . . without any thought of use" (Infl. 18).
     Bishop W. F. Pendleton wrote on this subject thus: "What are we to do with the spiritual riches that have been given us in such abundance? The answer calls first for the proclamation of the truth to the world by all the agencies organized for the purpose, and telling the glad tidings by each individual to his fellow. Second, living according to the truth we know. This evangelizes more than we realize . . . for the Lord by means of what we know and do, and on the basis of it, Himself evangelizes in both worlds" (Topics from the Writings, p. 202).
     Laymen can help greatly in this work. Among the uses of charity with everyone is mentioned conversing with others on matters of religion, and in the case of a priest preaching and private instruction (C 115). The Lord acts through these efforts, as we read: "The Lord teaches mediately by the Word, by preaching and reading, and by speech and intercourse with others" (AE 1173).
     A well known number in the Writings seems to militate against this, yet it really does not, or else such teaching as the above would not be given. Part of that number reads: "Good may be insinuated by anyone in his country, but not truth except by a teaching minister." This has reference to teaching with authority as a priest, on the one hand, or presenting truth because it can help the neighbor, on the other. Conversations on truth preserve his freedom. The way of order is clearly demonstrated in the inner meaning of the story of the Good Samaritan. First he gave of his own possessions to help the unfortunate victim, representing giving of the truth and good he knew to help-Then he took him to the inn to receive greater help. So also, when the time is right, the layman brings the friends he has helped to the Word and to the priesthood for further instruction. Teaching by conversations with the neighbor from the truths of faith we have made our own is not forbidden. So that number itself continues: "Charity is practiced if through the truth which is of the church the neighbor is led to good. Everyone must obtain for himself truth from the doctrine of the church, and afterward from the Word of the Lord. This must be the truth of his faith" (AC 6822). By practicing spiritual charity, and where possible sharing our wonderful doctrine with others, and finally by bringing them to the church, our laymen can do a great service in building the church.

     From the teachings we have gathered here the following conclusions can be drawn:
     1st. Evangelization is a Divinely commanded work. By it the remnant is gathered and instructed.

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By it the New Church will grow to some fulness in the Christian world, the judgment will be furthered, and preparation will be made for its spread to the Gentiles.
     2nd. The General Church has a spiritual duty to perform this work to the best of its ability. Its educational techniques and philosophy are the basic skills to be applied to this use. And the church can only benefit by it. It forms neither a threat to our essential nature nor a danger to our present uses.
     3rd. There should be essential unanimity in this use before it can succeed, and this can be gained by drawing forth the teaching of the Writings to give a philosophy and method of evangelization similar to that developed for New Church education and our distinctive worship.

     To conclude I would like to present some of the goals for this work as we now see them, what is being done to achieve them, and the things now being studied by the Council of the Clergy through the newly formed committee, the Missionary Committee.
     First of all, we should emphasize that the uses of the church are one, interiorly, and are evangelization-the announcement of the truth by which men can be led to the church. Internal evangelization is making known the interior truths to the man of the church, that they may affect his life on every plane, bringing him more and more fully into the church. Our education is the most interior form of external evangelization, teaching the truth to those who, because of age, are not yet part of the church, so that they will be led into it in faith and life. External evangelization leads newer friends into the sphere of the church. Then with them also the other two forms become effective, so that each one may progress more interiorly, and their children may receive our education.
     Although we all acknowledge New Church education to be our prime responsibility, and first work of charity, only seven societies are able to ultimate this use with schools. Others can participate only by external support, unless they enter into the preparatory uses of evangelization.
     Some societies need the internal development of doctrine to bring the unanimity of purpose, effort and sacrifice to make a school possible. Most groups need new members, increased attendance, and greater support to reach this goal. And all would need continued growth to make our school program more effective.
     The process of growth is this. Scattered individuals, by external evangelization, would be helped to form a group of interested friends. Then internal evangelization with the group would prepare it for organic relationship with the General Church as a circle. A circle would grow in members and doctrinal knowledge to society status, then to a society with an elementary school, and possibly to a community.

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Several such societies in a district: would support a high school, and all would unite to support our college, normal school and theological seminary.
     Every child of the church should have the opportunity for a full New Church education. But to bring this about we must develop the other forms of evangelization. We must see that they are one with the use me have espoused. They are the means to its fulfilment, and we are taught: "He who loves the use, loves the means to its fulfilment also" (F. 14; TCR 13; AC 9365).
     Let us look briefly to the plans for furthering this program. Since the priesthood is to initiate church uses, and education is the technique for development, our first step, already taken, is to add a course on evangelization to the Theological School; a course to develop its spiritual principles and methods from the heavenly doctrines. A sub-committee of the Missionary Committee will study available literature, to select material that is suitable or to prepare material where none is available, to arrange a course of lessons introductory to the church. This, too, mill follow our technique of church extension by education.
     Graded religion lessons for children have already been prepared by the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal and his committee. These will be adapted to class room work, and the use of missionary Sunday schools will be studied. Also we hope to prepare lessons providing instruction on the teachings of the Writings as they apply to each course of study in the state schools, to aid parents and visiting pastors in supplementing such instruction to provide some of the advantages of a distinctive New Church school.
     Modern methods of lecturing, and the audio-visual materials available will be studied. A sound and color motion picture presenting our basic doctrines has already been prepared by an artist, Mr. Ken Hultgren, in California, which makes a beginning in this field.
     But the most important use, immediately before us, is to analyze the needs of the church to provide the most efficient visiting service possible. We value every member and family. It is the part of a wise church extension program to care first for our present members and friends to the best possible degree, and in the work for their care to develop the church in every way possible.
     In providence every one of our scattered members is a potential center of a group, and the present groups can become circles, the circles, societies, and societies and districts can progress to perform all educational uses. To provide such a service will cooperate to the fullest extent with the leading of providence, and will help to build the Lord's kingdom with men.
     Lastly, we hope to encourage general participation in this extension of our uses by giving adequate reports to the whole church. This might be considered the first of such reports.

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It cannot be complete, for the work is just organized, but it may help to bring a unity of endeavor and purpose that will speed the use toward fulfilment.
     But a word of warning. Just because we are entering into this work we must not expect a great increase in membership. The use we are entering into is the Lord's work. The Divine truth to be evangelized has many functions in His providence. It is to inspire the man of the church. It is to be the clarion call gathering the remnant from all the earth; and the prophetic voice bringing evils to judgment in individuals, societies and nations.
     These uses must be performed by a true church, but many will not bear the fruit of new memberships. Such uses of teaching and publication may only prepare the way with a few in this generation-to bear a wonderful harvest for the church later, in another generation. Thus it is true that we benefit by the labors of others. We work in the Lord's harvest, and concerning that harvest He taught: "One soweth and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labor; others labored, and ye are entered into their labors" (John 4:37, 38).
     The strength of our church rests in the Word itself, and in those principles drawn from it which were successfully taught and applied by an earlier generation. We have entered into their labors, we have reaped the harvest of their works, and it was a worthy labor and a good harvest. We must pray to the Lord for wisdom and strength to carry it forward, that a new generation may benefit, and feel toward us, as we now honor the men of the past, that we were faithful servants in the Lord's work. They planted the seeds of a new church, of a new education, and a newer spiritual philosophy, confident that the Lord would bring these things to fruition. Let us unite to further their work-to carry it forward bravely, without worry for the results, doing it because the Lord commands, confident that He will use our efforts to build His church with men.

     Discussion of Mr. Cranch's Address

     The Bishop invited discussion, referring to the address as interesting, important, and appealing, opening up for us the question as to the part the General Church may be able to play in extending its efforts in the field of church extension through new forms of evangelization.
     Rev. Erik Sandstrom spoke of the fact that the Assembly was international and encouraged those also who were not traveling on American passports to take part in the discussion.
     Rev. K. R. Alden, in the meantime, told something of the work of Mr. Cranch, whom the Bishop had recently appointed chairman of a new committee to work out new methods. Mr. Cranch had been kind enough to quote Mr. Alden, without mentioning that it was from the first public address given by Mr. Alden after his ordination.

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Mr. Cranch, with one minister to help him, is responsible for the growth of the church west of the Mississippi River. He is a man of independence and indefatigable energy, and gets around to see each of his people at least once a year. He is resident pastor at Glendale, California, and is building a church there, publishing a magazine, etc. As to new methods of missionary work, his project last year was to teach his laymen how to present the doctrine of the Trinity in such a way that they would "just spill over" with information whenever they met anyone who would listen. In this teaching he used every available means. The groups under Mr. Cranch use the sound-recordings issued by the General Church. When he visits his groups he even conducts questionnaires to find out how much they have learned from them. Then he gave doctrinal classes on the Trinity and finally preached a sermon on the subject. Thus he instructed his people thoroughly so that they knew the passages from the Word which particularly present our doctrine; and he encourages them to bring interested strangers to him for further information. The groups under his charge are definitely increasing. He knew how to practice what he preached in his address today.
     Mr. Alden then referred to the man who sold his farm in South Africa to go to look for diamonds, while the person who bought that farm found the Kimberley Diamond Mine; the moral being that your opportunities may lie in your own backyard. This was so in Mr. Alden's case, for after going miles on missionary travels he found the most fertile field in his own parlor, where he has-since twenty-two years ago-conducted a class especially for new inquirers and for the partners of New Church people who have married out of the church.
     No longer can we gain an audience for missionary sermons as did Jonathan Bayley, Arthur Brickman and Chauncey Giles. But our job is instead thorough instruction, year after year, of people who are willing to be instructed.
     Mr. Percy Dawson (London) was diffident in speaking to the paper as he did not exactly understand what program of evangelization we were expected to support by united effort. Mr. Alden's proposed methods were indeed used in the early days of the New Church and resulted in the largest concourse of New Church people the world had so far seen. That was in the Manchester area, and was done through the Rev. John Clowes. Although he never left the Anglican communion, he would teach whoever wanted to know about the doctrines, and so there sprang up, in nearly every village and town in the district, groups of receivers from whom the big societies of that area developed. But later another form of missionary work came to be relied on, when men went out giving public lectures with varying success. While the church grew at first from those who had something of a delight in the Writings, it did not continue to grow. New methods proved a temptation to the church-such as cajoling people, persuading them to join the church irrespective of their understanding its teachings.
     He illustrated this with a personal experience of a society where members objected to doctrinal discussions because they had joined for social reasons and felt the society would prosper better ii they would drop Swedenborg. Such evangelization is based on an appeal to natural good-the kind of charity discussed this morning. What Mr. Cranch is after was apparently a very different thing. He described what has been going on all the time in the General Church.
     Mr. Dawson related how he and his wife became associated with the General Church, although they were warned against it; how they requested visits and information from Bishop Tilson. The General Church did not respond except on urgent invitation, and did not accept any members until after New Church baptism and express application.

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     He doubted that the first Christian Church was a model for the New Church as to missionary methods, for the New Church is from the first an interior church. He felt some uncertainty as to what Mr. Cranch wants us to support with unanimity; whether it is in line with what Mr. Alden described, or whether we are to enter upon something that is a pale edition of what Billy Graham did. But from his association with the General Church he believed that it must be only an expansion of what its ministers had been doing from the first-an expansion required as the church grows.
     Now as to New Church education. We are at fault if schools are not established when this is possible. But at all times the first duty laid on parents is to educate their children in the doctrine of the church and seek to give them every possible advantage of contact with the members of the church and proper instruction from ministers. In our very small groups it is not possible to establish schools. But where parents take responsibility, the church need not worry about losing its people. In this hall there were present many second-generation members because their parents were convinced that something was being established which was new and important.
     He reiterated that-while he did not wish to decry the use of modern methods-he would support the kind of missionary work Mr. Alden described; but if it means spending money on public lectures, hiring halls, trying to make ourselves attractive to other people, as we have seen done in the past-he was "agin it."
     Mr. Colley Pryke proclaimed himself almost a convert to the theme of the paper, which gave much encouragement. Our success will depend on the kind of study promised in the paper. We need to know something of the thought-processes of those who are outside the church, why there is such utter indifference to the doctrine. It means more work, more study, for the priesthood. The Lord commanded us to go and preach to all nations. This should humble us-perhaps we have had the idea of introducing them into our church, rather than the Lord's church. As a layman he asked: Teach us how to interest those around us. Teach our small groups how to encourage those in their neighborhood. We are willing to be instructed.
     The Bishop repealed the invitation given previously, cordially extending the privilege of the floor to all our visitors.
     Mr. M. Rijksen and his Dutch friends had listened intently to the fine address. As they were isolated, except for the occasional visits of the Rev. Frank Rose, the subject had a great appeal. The New Church had spiritual riches which we must bring to others. But the new revelation was a rational one. Billy Graham appealed to the emotions, we appeal to reason. Our fine young people, highly intelligent, upright, honest, are yet often torn in the wrong direction. He and Mr. Windig had spoken to groups in Arnhem about the solutions the Writings give as to the nature and essence of evil, and while their hearers listened attentively, they afterwards asked, "Is it your intention that there should be a new church) There are sects enough." After this Mr. Rijksen changed his method, presenting the doctrines as a new rational revelation.
     Speaking to students of mathematics and physics, he had noted that the old definition that "truth is what conforms with reality," led to the attitude that there is no certainty which goes behind the material realities that we can see and hear and touch. But modern science has gained its remarkable victories on the basis of a new definition of truth: those thoughts are true which belong to a system of ideas in which all theories agree one with another without contradiction. Similarly we can show our young people that what Swedenborg teaches makes one great whole, one system in which all theories belong together and in which no contradictions can be found. This may lead to the conviction that this way of thinking is superior to all others, and when their problems are answered they may be ready to be informed that we are members of a church which teaches these things to people.

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     Mr. John Cooper explained to Mr. Sandstrom that the previous reticence of the English people was because they always give the courtesy of the floor to their visitors. He also was curious about the results of the type of missionary work Mr. Alden-with the help of his violin-had employed earlier, before he started his successful classes in Bryn Athyn.
Rev. H. C. Cranch, replying to Mr. Dawson, explained that "what we are now asking is the co-operation of the church in the effort to learn more about this use, that we might enter into it not so much from ourselves as from the Lord; that we might make as thorough a study of how to present the church to others as we have made a study of how to present the church to our children in New Church education.
     "The Lord must lead in all the uses of the church. If the Lord commands that a use be done, it is up to us as a part of His church to learn how He wants it done, and then to do it to the best of our abilities. Certainly we are in no danger of entering upon a Lilly Graham type of presentation. Our work must be done from principles of education, a leading step by step and precept upon precept, from that truth which has already been accepted, until the church has been received in heart and mind; after which baptism should follow."
     This has been practiced by individual ministers in the past also, but we have not entered into it as an official use of the church aided by the priesthood's sharing its studies, enlightenment and experience to derive the best means for presenting the church to others. No quick growth is expected and in Mr. Cranch's work the average term it takes to prepare an adult for baptism is close to five years of instruction and discussion. Modern educational methods might help to speed up the profess. But as long as we can have a steady growth, with new friends coming constantly, our main objective is gained.
     The Lord leads people to the church. We cannot "convert" anyone, but by the study of the truth they can convert themselves. Mr. Cranch had full sympathy with what Mr. Dawson is trying to protect. We must not change the nature of our church from a desire for new adherents, but we must use the techniques, skills and insights we are given.
     Referring to Mr. Rijksen's remarks, Mr. Cranch felt that they well described our concept of the Writings as one system of truth in which each thing contributes to the beauty of the rest. It is the story of the pearl of great price. We first see truths as separate items; but later we recognize that each truth leads to the next, so that the whole is seen as one pearly sphere-a gate to the New Jerusalem, where each gate is a single pearl. This is a strong argument when we present the doctrine-that we there have something beautiful, consistent, in perfect agreement, and thus a gift which those who understand cannot refute. This is the wealth that the world is now offered, and we hope that they will receive it.

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RESPONSIBILITY 1956

RESPONSIBILITY Rev. ALAN GILL 1956

     (Delivered to the Third Session of the Twenty-first General Assembly, London, England, July 26, 1956.)

     The title of this address as given in the Assembly Program may well have caused a general impression that it is to be on the subject of the importance of assuming our responsibilities as New Church men and women. If this is so we regret it, and apologize for not choosing a title more truly descriptive of the subject to be considered. This might be defined as: "The Problem of Responsibility; Where Does it Begin and End?"-not in specific cases, of course; for as to any of these, including our own, we can never be quite certain; but speaking generally, when are we and when are we not entirely responsible for what we say or do, or for our state? What are the underlying principles which determine whether a person is guilty or innocent of an acknowledged evil? When is the breaking of a commandment of the Decalogue a sin, or when is it an evil for which the evil-doer is not responsible and is therefore to be excused? Can we know? When is an evil-doer a "psychopathic case" and when not?
     Let us assume that I, or a child of mine, has obviously inherited from an ancestor known to have been a hopeless inebriate, or an inveterate and reckless gambler (say the latter) a strong tendency to become the same: has inherited an apparently overpowering and irresistible tendency to indulge some such stupid practice. There is an earnest endeavor to overcome the acknowledged weakness; but a weakness there is-such as is apparently not inherited at all by the brothers in the family; and all personal efforts that are made-plus the utmost assistance and pleas from father, mother, wife, or pastor-do not avail to overcome it. We need not follow the case further. The question is: In such a case, and to what extent, if at all, is there responsibility for the moral decline and fall which results!
     We know from our doctrine, of course, that such a one may be saved just as well as the brother who outwardly led an exemplary life; the latter may, indeed, not be found fit to enter heaven. But the question remains as to whether the hypothetical prodigal was or was not morally responsible, taking into consideration the inherited passion, weakness, and an apparent insufficiency of will-power to conquer? What determines whether such an evil is excusable or inexcusable?

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The loving parents, or wife, excuse; others try to forgive and forget, but may not regard the case as one of irresponsibility, for the man certainly was not insane or an idiot.
     Moreover, and similarly, indeed more importantly-and again taking into consideration his inherited tendencies and weaknesses-when is a man responsible, and when is he not, for his spiritual state? An insane man, other than one who has become such as a result of deliberately chosen indulgence in an evil life, one, let us say, who has suffered a head wound or was born with congenital malformation of the brain, such a one certainly is not responsible for his spiritual state; in fact this is not essentially affected. We know that such a one enters the other world in a state similar to that in which he was before he incurred the affliction, or to that of an infant who dies shortly after birth. In the other life his home will be prepared for him in the Lord's kingdom, and his Divinely-endowed genius plus his inherited disposition, will determine his place in the Gorand Man of heaven. But are there those who, either because of a frightfully evil inheritance or a dreadfully degrading environment and upbringing, can be said to be lost spiritually in consequence; who, in other words, on account of circumstances beyond their control cannot be regarded as responsible for becoming spiritually depraved?
     The question, of course, answers itself. For, obviously, we cannot believe that the Lord would let anyone go to hell through no fault of his own. But does this mean, does it follow, that everyone, you and I, all of us who are here and not in a mental home, are fully responsible all the time for every single thing we contemplate, cherish in our minds, say or do that we ought not to have done, and for all we have omitted to do that we ought to have done? Presumably so. Otherwise we could not regard ourselves as responsible and human beings, but like unto the beasts, who indeed have not the human faculties of rationality and free determination.
     Yet surely some omissions or shortcomings, even of "normal" individuals, under certain circumstances, are-at least to some extent-excusable,
     The question seems to your essayist a very important one. There are such strong appearances, which we know to be fallacious, that we are to some extent, or in certain respects, victims of circumstances beyond our control; moreover, there is much loose and sentimental thinking along these lines, even among-if not more among-the well-educated and learned than by others.
     And yet, are there not "borderline" cases? Are we ourselves always totally to blame if we stray from the straight and narrow path?
     For instance, when we are very very tired and we become more than usually "snappy" with others; or, as is the case more with some than with others, when a person who is physically ill but apparently in complete possession of all his mental faculties, when such a one is unreasonably irritable and inconsiderate, in short, an uncharitable and impatient patient; could these be regarded as "borderline" cases and not fully responsible, not altogether blameable-as we certainly consider and say, in such circumstances, of those whom we love?

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And, what is perhaps a question of even greater concern, may we regard ourselves as excused under such circumstances?
     As regards civil offences, as distinguished from moral or spiritual, in this country the test of whether an accused person is insane, and therefore responsible or not, is laid down in what are known as the McNaughton Rules, formulated in 1843 and ever since received in the courts as the binding authority upon a plea of insanity and hence irresponsibility. For our present purpose they may be summarized as follows:

     1. The accused is presumed to be sane until the contrary is proved.
     2. To establish the defense of insanity, it must be proved that the accused, when he committed the act, was laboring under such a defect of reason, from disease of the mind, as not to know the nature and quality of the act he was committing, or, if he did know this, not to know that what he was doing was wrong.
     3. If the accused was conscious that the act was one which he ought not to do and If that act was at the same time contrary to the law of the land, he is [responsible and hence] punishable. (The Criminal Law, by F. T. Giles, p. 159)

     Note that these Rules make no provision for the psychopath, that is, one suffering from a defect rather than a disease of the mind; nor, be it specially noted, for the defense of irresistible impulse, which is a defense in some of the United States. As a consequence, these Rules have here come in for a great deal of criticism, particularly by modern psychiatrists, who regard them as woefully outdated. On the other hand, a large number of doctors and lawyers hold strongly that the Rules should not be altered, insisting that it is impossible to devise anything better.
     What we are concerned with this morning, however, is not the justice or injustice of the civil or criminal law of this or any other country, interesting and important as that question is; but rather with the alleged "irresistible impulse," and also with the apparently "irresistible" hereditary tendency to specific evils. Can a so-called "normal" person truly claim to be guiltless of an evil because of an impulse, or because of an inherited tendency that was "irresistible"?
     As to how such matters are judged in the other life, where alone man's interiors and hence real character are known-even to the man himself!-it is well to bear in mind the well-known teaching of the Writings, where Swedenborg relates that "I have met with many who in the world had lived like others in externals, [various evils being then described]; and yet the angels charged those things upon some as evils of sin and upon some as not evils; and the latter they pronounced guiltless, but the former guilty.

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To the question why they did so, when yet they had done similar things, they answered that they view all according to their purpose, intention or end, and according to these they distinguish them; and that therefore those whom the end excuses or condemns they excuse or condemn; since all in heaven have an end of good, and all in hell have an end of evil; and that this and nothing else is meant by the Lord's words, 'Judge not that ye be not condemned' (Matthew 7:1)" (CL 453).
     Judge not! We cannot judge, for in this world we do not know the "purpose, intention and end" according to which the angels declare some innocent and others guilty. According to these factors cases are by them distinguished. "The soul of all actions," we are told, "is the intention" and, even in the world, causes men to be charged with guilt or excused; and after death this makes imputations. "For," we are told, "a man is such as he is in his purpose, intention and end; and such also he is before the Lord and before the angels, yea, and such he is also regarded before the wise in the world" (CL 452);-that is to say, in so far as the purpose, intention and end seem to be apparent, or in so far as these can be determined with regard to a man's moral or civil life. We are also taught that the Divine law is fulfilled if from the will and understanding, or from set purpose and confirmation, an evil is abstained from because it is a sin; and that therefore "if through ignorance or any predominant lust of the body one commits an evil, it nevertheless is not imputed to him, because he did not purpose it to himself, neither does he confirm it in himself" (BE 113); or, as it reads in Conjugial Love (Academy Edition) no. 529: if one does evil "unwittingly, or from some prevailing concupiscence of the body, it is yet not imputed to him. . . ."
     In view of this teaching it is not surprising to find, in the same work, the statement that "there are various circumstances in the world which mitigate and excuse crimes, also which aggravate them and make them condemnatory. But still, after death land it is highly important that this qualification be kept in mind], imputations are not made according to the circumstances which are externals of the deed [such as a judge and jury have to take into consideration], but imputations [then] are made according to the internals of the mind, and these are regarded according to the state of the church with everyone" (CL 530). For "the thoughts of the heart, which are the purposes of the will, judge every man" (ibid. 523).
     In passing, and before we proceed to other points to be considered, does this teaching-that it is the thoughts of the heart or the interiors of the mind which judge a man; does this provide the answer to the question, often discussed, as to the effect of "brain-washing"-the hammering into a man's mind of a thesis, proposition, or assertion which he had rejected and vehemently denied; this so persistently that he finally capitulates, confesses, apparently believes and upholds it?

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Are the interiors of the mind, or the heart, and therefore the man himself, touched by this fiendish assault upon his freedom of thought, will, and consequent life? We suggest, as bearing upon this question, that the following teaching from the Arcana Coelestia be carefully considered; which we shall quote quite fully so that it be not thought to have been taken out of its context to confirm a preconceived notion, but clearly understood as to its implications:
"Evils with man have many origins. The first origin is from inheritance by continual derivations from grandparents and great-grandparents into the father, and from the father, in whom the evils are thus accumulated, to one's self. The second origin is from what is actual, that is, what a man acquires to himself by a life of evil. This evil he in part receives by inheritance, as from an ocean of evils, and carries into act; and in part adds thereto many things of himself. From this comes the proprium which man acquires for himself. But this actual evil, which man makes his own, has also various origins, in general two: one, that he receives evil from others through no fault of his own; and the other, that he receives it of his own accord, thus through his own fault. That which a man receives from others without any fault of his own is what is signified in the Word by 'what is torn': but that which he receives of his own accord, thus through his own fault, is signified in the Word by a 'carcass'. . . . [In order that] it may be seen what is meant in the internal sense by 'that which is torn'. . . let us take an example. If a man who is leading a life of good, or who does well to another from willing well, suffers himself to be persuaded by another who is in evil [to believe what is false] . . . if such a person who has lived in a life of good suffers himself to be so persuaded, and then becomes careless in regard to life, and even treats it with contempt, he is said to be 'torn': for 'torn' is predicated of good into which falsity is insinuated, and thereby the good becomes no longer living. Take also as an example the conjugial, which in the beginning someone regards as heavenly, but afterwards one of the married partners or both of them suffer themselves to be persuaded that it is only for the sake of order in the world; and further that the bond of marriage is nothing but a matter of compact which may be dissolved or relaxed by either party, provided that it is done by consent; the result being that after he has received this persuasion the individual has no heavenly idea of marriage; and supposing that lasciviousness is the consequence, there then comes into existence that which is called 'torn'; and so in all other cases. . . .

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As regards . . . the evil not of fault . . . signified by 'what is torn,' the case is, that [this] . . . evil not of fault, which a man has not confirmed by thought, and of which he has not inwardly persuaded himself, does indeed remain [to eternity], but only adheres in externals; for it does not penetrate to the interiors and pervert the internal man" (AC 4171-2). Indeed, the numbers conclude; "such is the evil through which good comes; for the internal man, which has not yet been affected and given consent, can see it in the external as evil, and therefore it can be removed. And as the internal man can see it, it can on that account at the same time see good more clearly; for good is seen more clearly from what is opposite than from what is not opposite; and the man is then also more sensibly affected by good. This then is what is meant by good coming of it" (ibid.).
     May we leave with you the question as to whether or not this teaching provides the answer as to the effects, or the effectiveness, if any, of "brain-washing"?
     Certainly, as the Writings plainly declare, "there are degrees of the quality of evil, as there are degrees of the quality of good" (CL 452); and hence presumably, may we add, degrees of responsibility for either, depending upon many things for which the man is not responsible. Thus, just as an example, we are told that "there are four degrees of adulteries according to which are made . . . after death, imputations. These degrees are not kinds, but they enter into each kind and make its distinctions of more or less evil or good. . . . [For] that circumstances and contingencies do vary everything is known. But they are accounted in one way by a man from his rational lumen, in another by a judge from the law, and in another by the Lord from the man's state of mind. . . . For man, by rational conviction according to circumstances and contingencies, may absolve one whom a judge, sitting in judgment according to the law, cannot absolve; and also a judge may absolve one who after death is condemned; the reason being that the judge pronounces sentence according to the facts; but after death everyone is judged according to the intentions of his will and thence of his understanding, and according to the confirmations of his understanding and thence of his will. Neither of these does the judge see; but yet each judgment is just, one for the sake of the good of civil society, the other for the sake of the good of heavenly society" (CL 485).
     All deeds, regarded in themselves, are simultaneously of the internal and of the external man; consequently, such as is the internal man in the deeds done by the external, such are the deeds, regarded in themselves. But of the quality, the state of development or the condition of the internal man at a given age, at a given moment, or in given circumstances, we can never be certain, either in the case of others or of ourselves.

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Even as to ignorance, which, as we know well, excuses; does one who has been taught about an evil consequently understand and hence really or necessarily "know" its quality? Again, if as is pointed out in the Writings, a certain social evil is committed by a man of extreme simplicity, or by one who by disease is bereft of clear judgment, or even if it be committed in insane drunkenness; then the internal man, or the mind, is not present in the external, similarly as it is not in an irrational person. The deeds of such in such circumstances are therefore predicated by a rational man, according to those circumstances, although a judge may not be able to do so. And after death those deeds are imputed according to the presence, quality and faculty of understanding which was present in the will (CL 486). Thus "the quality of every deed and of everything in general depends on the circumstances, and these mitigate or aggravate. And yet by man they cannot be either excused or accused, or predicated and judged as light or grievous from those circumstances, because they do not appear before him, yea, they are not within the province of his judgment" (ibid. 487). It is similar, we are taught, "if it happens that the lust of the flesh is excited to heat beyond what the spirit can restrain from reason. . . so that the spirit is no longer master of its reason, and hence not master of itself" (ibid. 488). That is to say, the will may be inflamed by contingencies until it is no longer within the person's control, which gives a milder turn to the predications of blame, and so, of course, lessens the degree of responsibility at the moment or for that deed.
Very many more such teachings to similar effect might be quoted; but we trust that sufficient have been presented to make it possible to draw a helpful conclusion regarding our problem of when or where responsibility begins or ends. The answer is, we submit, that in this world we do not know. We cannot know, for sure, because the state of the internal man, which is hidden from us, determines this. Also, that, although contingent causes do affect the degree of a man's responsibility for his actions, as was demonstrated just above from our doctrine, and about which the Lord alone knows; still, except in obvious cases of disease or feeble mindedness, it by no means follows that every evil-doer should be regarded as a psychopathic case; much less that one may excuse one's self for falling short of what it is known to be one's duty to do or not to do. Self-compulsion, in short, which is the exercise of the faculties of rationality and free decision, is always to be exercised in the fullest possible measure of which we are capable; we may not excuse or condone anything less than the utmost effort of which we are capable. As to what extent others, apart from the manifestly "incapable," are responsible, we do not know, we may not judge; and toward them we must at all times show true charity and mercy by giving them the benefit of any doubt that may exist.

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But this we know, of this there is no doubt, namely, that to them and to us the Lord will ever show infinite mercy and loving kindness.

     Discussion of Mr. Gill's Address

     Mr. G. A. de C. de Moubray (Jersey, C. I.) noted that we have not only a right but a duty to judge ourselves. The Writings show that it is important for us to know whether we are on the road to heaven or to hell, and that we can judge ourselves from our delights-whether we have a delight of doing things from the love of others, without any sense of reward, or whether the latter is uppermost. Providence so adapts things to us that we are never burdened by a realization of all our faults, but we generally have one fault that is most prominent and by shunning it we come into the opposite good. The second thing of charity is to do good, and there is a curative effect in doing that good which is opposite to the evil we found in ourselves.
     Mr. Gill had brought up the question of inebriation. The speaker had known many cases of delirium tremens. One man had periods of complete abstention-when he evidently resisted the temptation. Another man had failed to overcome his strong compulsion though he resisted in earnest prayer. No doubt such a one would still find a place in a heavenly abode and would find no difficulty in curing himself of that evil in the other life.
     We cannot escape the feeling of responsibility, yet this varies greatly. If when we commit an evil act we are aware that we are failing the Lord and His church, we confirm ourselves in the evil, and future temptations in this world will be all the heavier, and one will have a harder time with the external of that evil in the other life. But we all are doing evils which we do not realize to be evils. In the course of regeneration we notice these in ourselves one by one. It is essential that we recognize that, though we did not know at the time, we have that responsibility, which necessitates the utmost humility on our part. And even if we cannot cure ourselves entirely of that evil in this life, it will be correspondingly easier to do so in the next.
     Rev. Louis B. King thanked Mr. Gill for an address that was profound in its treatment of the degrees of responsibility which is attached to the things we do, yet appealed to us to judge mercifully of others. We might consider the individual as a responsibility in itself-using the word in the sense of an ability to respond. Could we not define man as an organic vessel which has the ability to receive and respond to the infinite life of the Lord?
     If so, then everything man is, everything he does or meditates, is owing to influx. And lest we confuse the life of an evil man with influx from the Lord the Arcana distinguishes influx into several categories. Life inflows from the Lord immediately into man's soul, endowing him with the freedom and ability to respond affectionately and intelligently to all influx. Because the soul has the two faculties of liberty and rationality, man's free response can be both affectionate and intelligent. This is from the immediate influx of the Lord through the soul. But the life from the Lord also flows through the heavens to be received in the interiors of a man's mind by forms of remains, goods and truths from the Word and from states derived therefrom. When man's mind is open to this influx through the heavens he feels a communion with the heavens, and goods and truths, the good intentions of the heavens become man's life for the moment. On the other hand, in other states, man's involuntary may be open to another form of influx-from the hells-into hereditary and acquired forms of evil.

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It is from influx through heaven that man has the willingness to do what is good; it is from influx through the hells that he has the power and willingness to do evil. But it is from an impartial Divine influx through his soul that he has the faculty to open his mind either to heaven or to hell. And while he is on this earth he progressively makes a decision whether his life shall be a communion with angels or a communion with devils.
     Mr. King gave a further tribute to Mr. Gill, whose many years of unassuming and diligent devotion to the work of the ministry had been an inspiration to those whom he had served as well as to his colleagues.
     Mr. Alan Waters (Colchester) spoke of the responsibility of every man for his own life and his responsibility to his children. The late Rev. Andrew Czerny, then pastor in Colchester and London, had stressed this. The responsibility of parents to provide a New Church education, which is really a way of life, commences with birth and lasts till death. To attend a New Church school means having an early opportunity to be introduced to the Writings, which constitute the second coming of the Lord; and is thus an introduction to the Lord from whom we receive all knowledge and all instruction. This forms in the mind an ability to be a responsible person from the point of view of the world as well as from that of the church. We know that children who have been in our little school in Colchester are taught to think-something that is rather rare in other schools.
     Rev. Bjorn Boyesen said that the address had particularly made him reflect on what the Writings say about mercy. Few men in the world have the ability to recognize what is good and what is evil, although they have a doctrine which tells them to exercise charity and forbearance with the neighbor. The Writings show that man of himself and from heredity is nothing but evil. If this were not so, there would hardly be any ground for mercy. But though we recognize that every man is wholly evil, this does not take away his responsibility. In the world today evils are very often not only excused as of no importance, but are even justified. We even hear the claim that the end justifies the evil means. There is nothing in New Church doctrine to condone such an idea. A good can never justify an evil for it cannot make evil good. Nonetheless a New Church man, recognizing an evil for what it is, can exercise mercy and forgiveness for the man. This is one of the teachings that beautifies the doctrine of our church.
     Mr. Victor Tilson (London), finding the address inspiring, raised the problem as to what a man should do if he had a hereditary bent to drunkenness. Should he declare himself an absolute "teetotaler," laying himself open to the criticism of peculiar conduct or unsociability; or should he run the risk of becoming a mild drinker, fight against the abuse of spirituous liquor, with the possibility of losing the battle? Mr. de Moubray in reply pointed out that there were two types of inebriates. One could become a moderate drinker. The other type of alcoholic must necessarily hold to total abstinence. It was a question for the man's own responsibility to decide it, taking a doctor's advice. Rev. R. R. Alden agreed with this. Where a person could not use moderation, total abstinence could still make his life a wonderful life and save it from being a tragedy. On the other hand, the Lord's very first miracle was the turning of water into wine; wine is a God-given thing.
     Rev. Alan Gill, in conclusion, confessed that he had chosen the topic hoping that it might promote such a discussion as might cast more light on it. Individuals sometimes lose their perception. He was grateful for the response; laymen as well as ministers have a perception as to these matters.

447

ASSEMBLY BANQUET 1956

ASSEMBLY BANQUET PERCY DAWSON 1956

     The Assembly Banquet, with its strong international associations, took place on Saturday evening, July 28th. Ten countries were represented among those present: North America counting as two, and England and Scotland merging as one under the title Great Britain. As it was associated with the Twenty-first General Assembly, it was also a "coming of age" banquet. So romantic an occasion was fittingly set in the Napoleon Suite of the Cafe Royal, Regent Street, London; resplendent in a decor reminiscent of the magnificent days of the Empire period of French history, and redolent of memories of many famous men of the literary world, for whom it has been a rendezvous for many years.

     Mr. John F. Cooper made a virile toastmaster, combining a touch of mordant wit with a charming urbanity. The subject of the evening was "Service," and it was evident throughout, beginning with a demonstration of efficient service by the waiters, whose split second timing was precise.

     With the idea of service uppermost in his mind, the toastmaster began his more public function by announcing his willingness to return to their owner some memoranda on one of the sessions, written perchance for future reflection; and then he called on the Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner to read messages of greeting received from absent friends scattered throughout the world and from societies and groups also present with the Assembly in thought. Their number was such that the reading was divided into two periods. Among them was one from the Rev. and Mrs. Martin Pryke, absent through an accident sustained by Mrs. Pryke some weeks previously. May she soon be restored to health and vigor.

     After the toast to "The Church" had been honored, Mr. Roy Griffith was called upon to speak. His subject was "The New Church Man's Service in the World." He referred to the Episcopal Address, in which had been stressed the need for the development of true charity in place of the present worldly tendency to demand external agreement, even at the expense of principles; and suggested the need for the cultivation of a genuine love of the world for the sake of the spiritual end in view. Such a course would impel the man of the church to take part in public life, and thus share in directing those organized uses which of themselves might not be delightful, but which are nevertheless essential to the building up of a properly organized society suitable as a fitting ultimate for the church, which is the end in view.

448

The expenditure of energy on discussing the pros and cons of lesser points of doctrine to the exclusion of more important uses involving problems of world affairs was deplored; but none of these lesser points was defined, possibly because specifying some of them might encourage diversion from the main effort while the church discussed which points merited such a classification.

     The Rev. Louis B. King spoke on "The New Church Man's Service to the Church and Societies." The church was declared to be one with the Lord's kingdom and to be the kingdom of heaven in ultimates. The duty of the New Church man was to apply the doctrine of the church to life; and this, for the General Church, meant a complete acknowledgment of the fact that the Lord had made His second coming in the Writings, and that from them the man of the church should draw the doctrine which he sought to apply in life. This, however, should never be done in such a manner that the conscience of one man is forced upon another.

     Professor Richard R. Gladish, the last of the three speakers, dealt with "The New Church Man's Service to the Academy." He prefaced his remarks with references to his recent research tour in England and offered some comments on that peculiar institution, the English high tea. He commended to his hearers the practice of reading the Writings each day, to the end that their knowledges might be ordered in the light of heaven; in which case the result would make a one with the work of the Academy, and in this way the aims and purposes of the Academy would be strengthened throughout the church.

     After these three speeches, toasts were honored to our visitors from overseas, each being ushered in by a verse of a specially written song-the words anonymous, but sung to a tune commonly associated with sheep that have lost their way! Responses were made by Roger Hussenet, who was making his first return trip to England, speaking on behalf of France; Mr. Herman G. Engeltjes, especially known in England through the visits of his charming daughter, Hetty, responding for The Netherlands; the Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen, who nearly became the pastor of the Open Road in 1939, replying now for Scandinavia. For the United States and Canada the reply was made by Mr. Harold P. McQueen, a former enterprising Englishman but now a worthy citizen of the U. S. He said that he had intended to pay some tribute to the British hosts, but after hearing Mr. Raymond Pitcairn's beautifully phrased "thank you" earlier in the day he had decided to scrap his carefully prepared speech and instead to relate some of the queer impressions formed in his mind by his recent tour through southern England.

449

We deeply regret that he completely forgot to mention that curious phenomenon of the English roads, the "lay-by," which is always half a mile ahead.

A little before 11 p.m., Bishop De Charms rose to make closing remarks. He described this Twenty-first General Assembly as a wish fulfilled after many years, in that it had been held outside the American continent. He felt that the periodical holding of a General Assembly in one of the countries far removed from the headquarters of the General Church could do much to ameliorate the feeling of discouragement that is sometimes sensed in those countries in which the church is beginning to take root, but where the people are too far away to attend when Assemblies are held in America. The banquet concluded with the singing of "Vivat Nova Ecclesia."
PERCY DAWSON
ASSEMBLY IMPRESSIONS 1956

ASSEMBLY IMPRESSIONS DANDRIDGE PENDLETON 1956

     For the second time in the history of the General Church, a General Assembly has been held in London, England. For those who attended the more recent of these happy and fruitful occasions the experience was one of indescribable delight.
     To define adequately the thrill of it all is beyond our power. Suffice it to say that the spirit of charity prevailed throughout, to such a marvelously complete extent that never a shadow of disharmony appeared. In prayer and sessions, hotels and luncheons, song and toast, three hundred and eighty-four members and friends of the General Church from eleven different countries gathered with a friendship and common purpose that was almost other-worldly in its effect.
     By train, plane, ship and automobile, eager registrants began converging on London and Colchester the weekend prior to the Assembly. From Great Britain, France, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Germany, the United States, Canada, South Africa and Australia they came. Several of the sessions were attended also by representatives of the Hague Position and the General Conference.
     The Assembly really, though not technically, began on Sunday, July 22nd, when ninety-five visitors availed themselves of the Colchester Society's kind invitation to worship and spend the day in this historic town of Roman antiquity. A sphere of friendship was here established that was to deepen in the week to come. It was a real thrill to connect faces with what had previously been only names.

450

     On Tuesday morning a meeting of the Council of the Clergy was attended by ten priests from the United States, three from England, one from Sweden, and one from South Africa. Problems of an international nature pertaining' to the church were brought up, and they lent themselves to considerable discussion and stimulation.

     RECEPTION. On Tuesday evening a Reception was held in the Victoria Halls, in a spacious and lovely room where the sessions also were to take place. On this occasion the place "was jumping"-literally; for the floor of the hall is of a sprung construction-laid over a flexible steel frame in order to prevent large numbers of people from caving in the floor itself.

     SESSIONS. The Assembly Sessions commenced on Wednesday morning in full force and splendor. There are those who have referred to an Assembly as a "spiritual marathon"; the consensus here was rather that we had been treated to a spiritual feast. The addresses were as follows: "The Spiritual Charity that Makes the New Church" (Bishop George de Charms), "Church Extension" (Rev. Harold C. Cranch), "Responsibility" (Rev. Alan Gill), "The Human Soul or Spirit" (Rev. Elmo C. Acton), "Education" (Rev. David R. Simons), "The Temptation on the Mount: A Consideration of the Divine and the Human" (Right Rev. Willard D. Pendleton). These addresses were of such searching scholarship and profound application to the life of the church that we can scarcely attempt to summarize them here. We would urge that they be read and earnestly considered when they appear in the pages of NEW CHURCH LIFE.
     Two impressions in particular were gained from the hearing of the papers. The first stemmed from the fact that each speaker had chosen a topic in which he was especially interested-an interest that inevitably communicated itself as a sphere to the hearer. The second impression was one of delight in the quality of the discussion, both public and private, on the part of the laity after each address. One expects our priests to be well studied and applied in the doctrines; but the real strength of the church is to be measured in terms of lay response-lay study and application. This latter was apparent to an eminent degree in the discussion that took place throughout the Assembly.

     SUNDAY, JULY 29. It was fitting that such a spiritually productive occasion should close with the administration of the Holy Supper. The sphere throughout this sacred service was one of surpassing peace, as the voices of the communicants united in gratitude to the Lord for having so blessed our Assembly and His church.
     DANDRIDGE PENDLETON

451

ROLL OF ATTENDANCE 1956

     Registration

     The Committee on the Roll reports that members and friends of the General Church signed the Register as follows:
United Kingdom                          208
United States                          107
Australia                              4
Canada                               13
Denmark                               10
France                               13
Germany                               2
Holland                              8
Norway                               2
South Africa                               5
Sweden                               12
Total Registration                          384

     Attendance at Meetings

July 25: First Session, 11 a.m.                270
Luncheon, 2:15 p.m.                          225
Second Session, 6 p.m.                     284
Supper, 8:30 p.m.                          203
     July 26: Third Session, 11 a.m.                255
Luncheon, 2:15 p.m.                          209
Fourth Session, 6 p.m.                     268
Supper, 8:30 p.m.                          231
     July 27: Luncheon, 2:15 p.m.                150
Sons of the Academy Meeting                69
Theta Alpha Meeting                     105
Fifth Session, 6 p.m.                          246
Supper, 8:30 p.m.                          221
     July 28: Sixth Session, 10 a.m.               250
Young People's Meeting, 2:30 p.m.               45
Assembly Banquet, 6:30 p.m.               291
     July 29: Divine Worship, 11 a.m.               353
Luncheon, 2:15 p.m.                          276
Holy Supper Service: Attendance                251
Communicants                          232

452

RIGHT REV. ALFRED ACTON 1956

RIGHT REV. ALFRED ACTON HORACE B. BLACKMER 1956

     A Tribute from Convention

     The following letter, dated August 10, 1956, was sent to the Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner, Secretary of the General Church by Mr. Horace B. Blackmer, Recording Secretary of the General Convention of the New Jerusalem in the United States of America:

     "Dear Sir:
     "Very belatedly I am acquainting you, and through you, the General Church of the New Jerusalem, with the fact that the General Convention of the New Jerusalem in the United States of America, at its annual session in La Porte, Indiana, last June, paused in its deliberations to note since its previous sessions the passing into the Spiritual World of Bishop Alfred Acton. The minute in this regard reads as follows:

     "Rev. Leonard I. Tafel asked the privilege of the floor to remind Convention of the recent decease of Bishop Acton, of the General Church at Bryn Athyn, and to recall the invaluable contributions he had made to the Church-at-large by his indefatigable literary zeal in the translation of Swedenborg's hitherto untranslated works. Upon Dr. Tafel's motion, duly seconded, it was voted: That this body through its Secretary send to the General Church a recognition of Bishop Acton's decease and an expression of appreciation of his work for the Church.

     "I am honored to be designated as the person charged with the transmission of this message to the General Church, and to testify that many members of Convention have long viewed with deep satisfaction and highest regard Dr. Acton's exceptional scholarship as an editor and translator.
     Very sincerely yours,
          HORACE B. BLACKMER,
               Recording Secretary"

453

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1956

     The historicals related in our Old Testament readings this month (Numbers 5:1-18:7) are grouped around three main events: the breaking up of the encampment before the Mount, the march from Sinai to the borders of Canaan, and the thirty-eight years in the wilderness. In connection with the first of these we read about the priestly tribe and its duties, the pillar of cloud, and the regulations for the march. The second group includes Moses' appeal to Jethro; the burning at Taberah; the giving of the quails; the sedition of Aaron and Miriam and her leprosy; the sending of the spies, their report, and the murmuring of the people; the rash attack on the Canaanites and its repulse. The rebellion of Korah and his punishment is the main incident of the thirty-eight years described in these readings.
     In this portion of Scripture the reconciliation of human freedom with the requirements of the Word is interestingly illustrated. It was of need that the sons of Israel should spend forty years in the wilderness to represent the fulness of regenerative temptation, yet they were not destined to do so. Two years after their deliverance from Egypt they were led to the border of the promised land. But, discouraged by the adverse report of the spies, they refused to go on, and were then sentenced to spend another thirty-eight years wandering until all that generation had died, and a desert-born generation had been hardened and prepared for conquest. The parallel series in human regeneration is too obvious to require elucidation here.
     Little is recorded of the thirty-eight years except a list of stations. Led by the pillar of cloud by day, and of fire by night, the people ranged the wilderness in search of pasture; for although they were fed with manna and quails, no miraculous provision was made for their extensive flocks and herds.

     Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture is continued in October. We draw attention to the fact that Divine truth in the sense of the letter is in its holiness; the letter of the Word is not holy by itself. And we would invite reflection on this: Since the Writings are a revelation of the spiritual sense of the Word, what is meant by the teaching that henceforth the spiritual sense will be imparted to none but those who are in genuine truths from the Lord (no. 26)?

454

RECENT ASSEMBLY 1956

RECENT ASSEMBLY Editor 1956

NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly by
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.
Editor                         Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Bryn Athyn, Pa,
Business Manager                Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address, and business communications, should be sent to the Circulation Secretary. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.
     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$3.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy, 30 cents.
     There are, we believe, certain spiritual benefits which are common to all Assemblies. Yet it has been our experience also that out of every such gathering comes something peculiar to itself. As to what that is, opinion may differ; but those who were privileged to attend the recent Assembly in London would probably agree in this: it demonstrated that we are indeed a general church in which a common love and faith can and do transcend geographical limitations. Nearly four hundred men and women, representing eleven countries and even more nationalities, met together to consider, to care for, and to renew their faith in, the things of the church; and despite language difficulties, and differences in background and customs, quickly discovered a bond of unity and friendship which grew stronger as the week progressed.
     It would be unrealistic to deny the need for such assurances of unity, or their value when warmly and unselfconsciously given. National feelings and antipathies, easily aroused during and since the war that ended eleven years ago, can enter into the church as a cause of misunderstanding if not an instrument of division. Yet the object of suspicion is often self-created, sustained by distance and lack of full and free interchange; and in an honest mind it vanishes before the reality. This is not to deny that there will be problems in a church such as we are trying to establish. But a gathering which brings men and women together from so many lands with a common purpose, and causes them to open their hearts and minds to one another freely, must surely strengthen the church and enable it better to perform its uses.

455

THEOLOGY AND RELIGION 1956

THEOLOGY AND RELIGION Editor 1956

     The last work published by Swedenborg is a book of doctrine and is subtitled "The Universal Theology"; yet it is named the True Christian Religion. This directs our attention to the indissoluble connection between thought and action, faith and life, truth and good, that is emphasized in the Heavenly Doctrine throughout and is to be characteristic of the New Church founded upon it.
     Some Christians obviously think of religion as being, in effect, only a system of belief. This idea is behind the statement, "He lives his religion"; the evident implication being that others have exactly the same religion, but do not put it into practice. A few even seem to think of religion as a private way of thinking that is entirely apart from a man's life and from the thought he exhibits to other men. Others have seen from common perception that religion is of life; but extremists have so perverted this as to hold that what a man believes is not important as long as he lives a religious life. The fact is, however, that there is no such distinction between what a man believes and what he does; there is a connection between doctrine and theology, on the one hand, and religion on the other, that cannot be broken.
     This connection is brought out very clearly in certain teachings of the Writings. They insist that religion is of life, that the life of religion is to do good, and that religion therefore does not consist in thinking but in willing and doing what is thought. Yet they also make a distinction between those who do good from nature and those who do it from religion; for they teach elsewhere that religion is so called from a life according to doctrine and according to the Divine precepts. The doctrine of love to God and the doctrine of love toward the neighbor, the Writings state, are the two foundations of religion; and for this reason no one can have religion except from Divine revelation, and religion is not to be formed from self-intelligence but from truths from the Lord.
     These teachings would by themselves establish the connection of which we are here speaking, but it is still further strengthened when we consider the essentials of religion. For we are told that the whole of religion is founded upon the idea of God, which enters into everything of it, and that the acknowledgment and adoration of the Lord's Divine Human is the life of religion. These things require a Divinely revealed theology, and there are other teachings which show with equal force the need for doctrine. Thus it is said that religion is the acknowledgment of one God and the worship of Him from the faith of charity; and that to shun evils as sins-which involves self-examination and repentance-and do what is good is religion itself.

456

And while we are taught that Christian good is the good of charity toward the neighbor, it is said also that man does not know what Christian good is except through the truths of faith.
Although Christianity is a kind of love and a mode of life, it depends upon theology-upon truths concerning God, faith and charity, and thus concerning the salvation of man; truths systematically organized into doctrines. And the true Christian religion which is now being established on the earth by the Lord must be formed from new doctrine, from a new universal theology, received from the mouth of the Lord Himself; truths which may be seen in the light of reason illustrated by Divine truths from the Sacred Scriptures. For theology, doctrine and religion cannot be separated without the destruction of all three.
BISHOP ACTON: AN AUSTRALIAN APPRECIATION 1956

BISHOP ACTON: AN AUSTRALIAN APPRECIATION W. REGINALD HORNER 1956

Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:
     May I associate myself, as a new member of the General Church, with the letter you published in the July issue [p. 328], just to hand, from the Rev. Herbert G. Mongredien in his appreciation of the work of Bishop Acton? Dr. Acton corresponded with me from 1928, soon after the Academy published his invaluable book, the Introduction to the Word Explained. He was always ready to answer my letters, and appreciated my reviews of his books and translations, which I was able to make in the New Age. He never neglected to send me greetings on suitable occasions. Although we did not meet in the flesh yet we were friends, and the last time I heard from him was when I received a present of the second volume of the Letters and Memorials of Emanuel Swedenborg. This reached me just before his death, and in it was written: "W. R. Horner, with the compliments of his friend, Alfred Acton."
     His energy and the amount of work which he accomplished was astounding. He always acknowledged the assistance given to him by his niece, Miss Beryl Briscoe, and I think we owe a debt to her.
     Dr. Acton was my first contact with Bryn Athyn, and as such he remains in my grateful memory.
     W. REGINALD HORNER,
          Lancefield, Victoria, Australia.

457

LOCAL SCHOOLS DIRECTORY 1956

     1956-1957

     Elementary Schools report the following teaching staffs for 1956-1957:

BRYN ATHYN. Rev. David R. Simons                     Principal
Miss Mary Lou Williamson                          Kindergarten
Miss Naomi Gladish                               Kindergarten (Assistant)
Miss Jennie Gaskill                               Grade 1
Mrs. Barbara Barnitz Acton                          Grade 1
Miss Nancy Stroh                                    Grade 2
Miss Erna Sellner                               Grade 3
Miss Julie de Maine                               Grade 3
Miss Phillis Cooper                               Grade 4
Mrs. Lucy Boggess Waelchli                          Grade 5
Miss Anna Hamm                                    Grade 6
Mrs. Elizabeth Doering Echols                     Grade 7
Miss Sally Smith                                   Grade 8
COLCHESTER. Rev. Alan Gill                         Principal
Miss Thelma Pike                                    Grades 1-5
DURBAN. Rev. A. Wynne Acton                          Principal
Miss Sylvia Pemberton                               Grades 1, 2, 4
GLENVIEW. Rev. Elmo C. Acton                          Headmaster
Miss Gwenda Acton                               Kindergarten, Grade 3
Miss Gloria Stroh                               Grades 1 & 2
Miss Gwladys Hicks                               Grades 4 & 5
Miss Laura Gladish                               Grades 6 & 7
Miss Gladys Blackman                               Grades 8 & 9
KITCHENER. Rev. Geoffrey S. Childs, Jr.                Principal
Rev. Jan H. Weiss                               Assistant to the Principal
Miss Rita Kuhl                                    Grades 1-5, 7
PITTSBURGH. Rev. Louis B. King                     Principal
Mrs. Elsa Asplundh Acton                          Kindergarten
Miss Venita Roschman                               Grades 1-3
Mrs. Angela Bergstrom Schoenberger                     Grades 4-6
Miss Gertrude Hasen                               Grades 4-6
Mr. Carl Gunther                                    Grades 7-9
TORONTO. Rev. Martin Pryke                          Principal
Miss Joan Kuhl                                    Grades 1, 3-6, 8

     Special and part-time teachers, whether voluntary or otherwise, are not included here. The teaching staff of the Academy of the New Church is listed in the 1956-1957 Catalogue, pp. 4, 5.

458

Church News 1956

Church News Various 1956

     OBITUARY

     Mr. Adrianus van Pernis

     On Tuesday, June 12th, 1956, after a short illness, our friend and brother in the faith, Mr. Adrianus van Pernis, entered the spiritual world. The funeral took place at the General Cemetery at Zeist.
     Mr. van Pernis was fervently attached to the principles of Emanuel Swedenborg. In 1917 and 1918 he gave lectures in homes on Swedenborg, although he was teaching at a Christian training college for teachers at Nijmegen. His lectures seemed not to have much result; nevertheless, the propaganda which is going on in the east of The Netherlands is a result of them.
     The separation in 1933 estranged Mr. van Pernis from the church, but he went on studying the works of Emanuel Swedenborg and translating sermons and New Church articles into Dutch. He studied English when he was already an older man, just to be able to read and translate. One of his biggest works was the translation of the Apocalypse Revealed into Dutch. This manuscript is now in the safe keeping of the General Church at Bryn Athyn.
     After my appointment as Leader often visited Mr. van Pernis, and after much conversation he overcame the objections raised by the separation. In 1953, when he was 79 years of age, he was baptized when Bishop De Charms was visiting our country. The visits of the Rev. Frank Rose were always highly appreciated by him and his family, and on those occasions the Holy Supper was regularly administered. Mr. van Pernis was not able to join in our services because of his bad health, but we shall miss him as a true friend and a devoted member of the General Church.
     HERMAN G. ENGELTJES

     FORT WORTH, TEXAS

     Summer is upon us and our activities have slowed down to a certain extent, but we have had a full and busy winter season. The Rev. Harold Cranch visited us in January, at which time we were fully accepted as members of the Western District Society. Mr. Junge had laid the groundwork for this move on his visit a few months previously. We are now get ting four visits a year instead of the two we had been receiving.
     Mr. Junge came again in the spring and we had a full schedule. There were two classes, one on "The Church" and one on "Missionary Work," and the Sunday sermon was on the subject of "Prayer." We are fortunate in that several new people have become interested in the church, and some have been very good at coming to classes, Sunday school and worship. Little by little the church grows. One never knows when mere interest turns into active participation and then into full membership.
     Our Sunday school set-up has been revised and we have been able to give the children a little more. We had been taking them out in two groups during worship, the older group during the opening part of the service and the younger group before the sermon. Now we start the Sunday school forty-five minutes before church, the children having a short group service and then breaking up into classes for further instruction. This has worked out also to the advantage of the teachers, who are now able to attend a full service. Loyd Doering is superintendent of the school, with four teachers doing the wonderful work of teaching. Marjorie Williamson and Sonia Hyatt have been teaching the very young and intermediate children, while Louise Griffin and Bob Pollock have taken the older groups. Loyd Doering has been giving lay talks to the children at the opening service.
     Our doctrinal classes stopped for the summer and will be resumed early in the fall. The Ladies' Guild also stopped until cooler weather came in and vacations went out. Sunday services continue through the summer on the first Sunday of every month.

459

     Some changes are forthcoming in the Fort Worth Circle. The Bob Pollock family is being transferred to San Diego, California, and will leave early in July. This move was quite sudden, but as there are several New Church families in San Diego, and the Los Angeles group is just a short distance to the north, we will not feel a bit cut off from friends. Time brings many changes to all, and we are very sorry to leave many good friends and happy memories, but the love and affection we feel for those here will always be with us.
     RAYE POLLOCK

     Obituary. On August 5, 1956; Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Schoenberger met death in a tragic automobile accident while on their way to Baton Rouge, La., to visit their daughter and son-in-law, Betty and Bernard Bruser. They had just returned from a trip to Bryn Athyn to see Herbert and Shirley Schoenberger, Jr., their son and daughter-in-law. At the time of his death Mr. Schoenberger was our president, and a very able one. Living in Dallas, the Schoenbergers had been members of our Circle for four years. With the passing into the spiritual world of Theda and Herbert, as we all knew them, the Circle will greatly miss two of its members who were regarded with affection. Theda and Herbert brought to our group the sphere of keen interest in and loyalty to the church that they felt, and also a sphere of cheerful spontaneity and warmth. Although they were many times isolated from New Church societies during the course of this life, they nonetheless enthusiastically supported the church in every way. We will remember them for their devotion to each other and to their children, in whom it was their foremost desire to instill a love of New Church doctrine, and for the many uses they unselfishly performed to our Circle.
     SONIA E. HYATT

     PITTSBURGH, PA.

     The annual meetings of the Sons of the Academy have just been held in Pittsburgh, leaving us refreshed and stimulated, not only by the meetings, but most of all by the gathering together of so many New Church people for Sunday worship. However, to record events as they happened since our last report, we will start with the big event in May, which was a full length play, a hilarious comedy entitled "The Valley of the Ghosts." The social committee sponsored this production. Harry Abele was the masterly director, and all connected with it worked very hard. It was almost professional in performance and just full of fun and laughter.
     In the spring the Rev. Dandridge Pendleton of Washington, D. C., exchanged pulpits with our pastor, the Rev. Louis B. King. He gave a doctrinal class, addressed an open meeting of the Sons of the Academy, and preached on Sunday. Not only did we enjoy his class and sermon, but we were especially delighted to have as our guest his lovely fiancee, Miss Anna Woodard.
     Mr. Philip C. Pendleton of Bryn Athyn visited Pittsburgh in May to lay before us a plan for increasing the support of New Church ministers and teachers. This is a matter that has long deserved the attention of the laity. In Pittsburgh history it is to be noted that the first pastor of the Society, the Rev. David Powell, had to resign in 1859 after one year's service because of lack of support.
     Our school closing this year, impressive as usual, was distinctive in that there were no sad farewells. This was because, for the first time, the eighth grade will return in the fall to form the ninth grade. The papers read by the eighth grade bore testimony to the fact that our pastors and a capable teaching staff have developed a high grade New Church school. Each paper was short, excellent and worthy of mention. The students and the subjects of their papers were as follows: Rachel Carr, "Conscience"; Daniel Conn, "Proprium"; Cora Schoenberger, "Deceit"; Wendy Stevens, "Humility"; and Priscilla Stroemple, "Prayer." A large school of thirty-one children is expected in the fall; this number includes the kindergarten.
     A part of the important educational work of the General Church in the sending out of the Religion Lessons is carried on in Pittsburgh by the capable committee consisting of Bertha Abele, Amity Doering, Dolores Gunther, and Gwendolyn Stevens. These women all love the work and have been busy writing letters and sending lessons to fifth grade children living outside of church centers. They report a great deal of response, and feel that the work is well worth while.
     The New Church Day celebration this year took the form of a service in the afternoon, followed by a beautiful outdoor pageant and a basket supper held on the church lawn.

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The pastor made an effort to get as many of our children as possible to take part in the pageant, not only those attending our school but the others as well. This made it a large affair and added greatly to the sphere. The scenes showed how the Word was given to the Jewish, the Christian, and the New Church; and then, what was most delightful, an angel going forth and teaching about the New Church-this last being taken from the Writings. In one scene an angel was teaching a group of little children, the children being dressed in simple garments with garlands of flowers. The scenes had such a sphere of innocence about them that they were like scenes from heaven itself.
     The Sons of the Academy meetings were held Friday, June 22nd, through Sunday, June 24th. Pittsburgh was host to about ninety guests. The Sons have grown so much in recent years that few societies can accommodate all of them in their homes, and it becomes necessary to place the overflow in hotels. Our local committee did a fine job in placing all but a few guests in our homes. The SONS BULLETIN will report on the meetings and speeches, but it may be of interest to note that an afternoon tea was given by Theta Alpha in honor of the wives of those Sons who came to town. The banquet, on Saturday evening, was open to all, and was attended by one hundred and sixty. It was quite an occasion, and was well handled by the toastmaster. There were songs and toasts and different speeches on different phases of education, ending with a powerful one by Dean Eldric S. Klein, who finished by quoting from the Word: "Fear not, for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. . . and the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw; and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha (II Kings 6:16, 17). It left us most inspired, and with a feeling that if we, too, could have our eyes opened, we could see the chariots. Next day the church was full to overflowing. We had special organ music, a special choir, a short address for the children by the pastor, and a wonderful sermon delivered by the Rev. Ormond Odhner.
     Mr. T. O. Rhodes, our oldest member-he is aged 85-was unable to attend the meetings and banquet, but was thankful to attend church on Sunday.
     During the month of July we were fortunate to have Candidate Daniel W. Heinrichs conducting services. Our pastor and his wife, Miss Venita Roschman, Mr. and Mrs. G. P. Brown, and Mr. and Mrs. Daric E. Acton represented us at the General Assembly in London.
     LUCILE S. BLAIR

     GLENVIEW, ILLINOIS

     At a special meeting of the Society in April, Mr. Philip C. Pendleton explained a minimum salary plan proposed by the General Church for teachers as well as ministers. He presented the plan so tactfully and with such humor that everyone enjoyed the discussion very much. Sentiment among the members present was strongly in favor of the system. The method was left for us to settle at another time. A few people protested that the increases should be larger, and everyone agreed that money is not the chief attraction that lures people into teaching. As Mr. Pendleton said, the salaries are low but the marriage rate is high, and we ought to "keep them alive" until they find partners.
     On April 29th a memorial service was held in honor of the late Bishop Acton. While the Rev. Elmo C. Acton was attending services for his father in Bryn Athyn, our Society gathered to pay tribute to one of the church's pioneers. The Rev. Ormond Odhner's address brought out the fact that we came to honor his use rather than the man himself. Even those who did not know Bishop Acton personally were aware of his contributions to the life of the church. No one could regret his passing into another world in which he could begin a life of greater usefulness.
     The school children spent the month of April making posters for the Sons' stamp contest. A lot of interest and enthusiasm was generated by this project. It was surprising to see the variety of ideas that grew out of the simple idea of buying Sons' Stamps. Three first prizes and three second prizes were awarded to groups according to age, and each child who entered received a stamp for his efforts. As a result of this campaign, the ninth grade boys were very busy selling stamps to the children on Wednesday afternoons.
     In May the Women's Guild elected the following officers for the coming year: Mrs. Phyllis Alan, president (second term); Mrs. Ralph Junge, vice-president; Mrs. Neil Caldwell, secretary; and Mrs. Donald Edmonds, treasurer.

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On behalf of the Guild, Mrs. Alan presented Mr. Acton with a check as a token of appreciation for his inspiring talks before each meeting. It was hoped that he could use it on his trip to Europe.
     This meeting will go down in history as the momentous occasion on which action was taken to de-wasp the church. We cannot eliminate the fliers outside the church, but the wasps inside have been flying too low on Sunday mornings. A letter sent to the Board of Finance brought prompt action from Mr. Arnold Smith and his Flit-gun. The corpses of wasps which resulted were proofs of his efficiency.
     Theta Alpha held its second annual banquet on May 13th. Despite very hot weather everyone came, perhaps encouraged by widespread advertising to "get Mother out of the kitchen on Mother's Day." Mrs. Arvid Tessing was our charming toastmaster, and she had a panel of speakers on "Education." Mrs. Herbert Croll compared her children's schooling here with her own outside the church; Mrs. Kenneth Holmes related some of the problems of isolated parents stated in letters written to her; Mrs. John Barry showed the importance of civic education; and, as an inducement to prospective members, Miss Audrey Brickman sketched the history of Theta Alpha. After the speeches a hilarious fashion show was directed by Mrs. Dan Seckleman, with narration by Mrs. Marvin Stevens and music by Mrs. Neil Caldwell. For every ensemble intended for European travel there was an equivalent for the stay-at-home. Mrs. Phyllis Alan was especially ravishing in ancient blue jeans as she showed the proper attire for housecleaning in the States.
     The Sons also held a banquet in May and included the ladies. Mr. Bruce Holmes presided as toastmaster; and Mr. Kenneth Rose, the visiting speaker, dealt with the subject of mathematics from the New Church viewpoint. The Sons officers for the coming year are Mr. John Scalbom, president; Mr. Ben McQueen, vice-president; Mr. John Alan, secretary and Mr. Winton Brewer, treasurer.
     The annual meeting of the Society was held on May 25th. Mr. Acton thanked all members for their support of church uses, and told us that Miss Gwenda Acton would teach this fall in place of Miss Marcia Trimble. Great concern was expressed at this meeting over the Navy's plans to annex a tract of land which would include a section of the Park containing the manse, the purpose being to lengthen one of the runway's at the airbase and to provide a buffer zone for greater safety. Thanks to Mr. Ray Kuhn as our representative, everything possible is being done to present our case to the authorities. Public opinion in Glenview is with us, and because of the early establishment of the Society we can counter the Navy's claim that it was here first. Private citizens and nearly all local organizations have sent letters of protest to Congressmen, and sentiment has been running high since the crash of a jet plane in July showered debris along Gladish Lane. At this writing our representative in the House has pledged herself to the removal of jet operations from Glenview; the only assurance received from the Navy so far is that no land will be annexed for the next two years.
     In view of the alarm over Navy plans the Society is reluctant to erect school buildings just now, although new school-rooms are badly needed. The building committee submitted a plan to the annual meeting whereby the existing rooms could be converted to meet the need without new construction being undertaken. The plan was taken under advisement until the fall.
     On June 15th a class of six was graduated from the Immanuel Church School. The members presented a new American flag to replace the one which has been used since the school began.
     The observance of New Church Day over the weekend of June 16th began with the traditional banquet, attended by a large crowd. Mr. Alfred Umberger was an efficient toastmaster, and he presented a panel of speakers who brought out various aspects of the 12th chapter of the Apocalypse. The Rev. Fred Schnarr spoke on "The Establishment of the New Church on Earth"; Mr. Daniel Seckleman's paper was on "What the New Church Means to Me"; and Mr. Kenneth Holmes based his topic on the words: "He shall feed all nations with a rod of iron." A large industrial fan installed beneath the stage helped to relieve the steamy weather and removed the usual pall of smoke that filled the air. This fan is large enough to circulate some air in the church as well, which made the two services on Sunday morning more comfortable. In the evening there were five beautiful tableaux for everyone, followed by a family style picnic in the courtyard.

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     The regular season concluded with a Homecoming Dance and a rather chilly Fourth of July celebration Fourteen of our number, including Mr. and Mrs. Acton and their son Richard, represented us at the Assembly.
     GLORIA BARRY

     LONDON, ENGLAND

     The month of March was characterized by a continuance of the regular uses of the Society. The alternate weekly doctrinal classes, at Swedenborg House on Revelation and at Michael Church on Fundamental Doctrines, were well attended. At the close of one of these at Michael Church, Miss Korene Schnarr delighted the class with a surprise party of wine and cakes in honor of the pastor's birthday. This was much appreciated. Miss Schnarr has a gift for entering into the uses of a New Church society in many ways, and we rejoice to have her with us.
     The Women's Guild was given an evening of much pleasure and enlightenment the occasion of the reading of a very excellent paper on color by Mr. Geoffrey Dawson. The Hebrew class and the young people's class on Sunday afternoon were also enjoyed.
     On Good Friday the Society was invited to the home of the Rev. and Mrs. Erik Sandstrom. A five o'clock tea was served and the delicious fare was greatly appreciated The happy sphere of friendship was enhanced by the sudden appearance of Mr. and Mrs. Keith Morley and their family, who "flew in" for a few minutes before flying out to their new home in Canada. At seven o'clock the company assembled, as arranged, for evening service The lounge is a long room, and the altar table was effectively set apart with the exquisitely carved seven-branched candlestick-the handiwork of a member of the Stockholm Society. In his sermon on "The Seed of the Woman" the pastor brought home to us in a most illuminating manner the true meaning of the crucifixion-that in permitting the merely natural to die the Lord put off the deadly evils of the hells, thereby conquering and subduing them, and that in this manner the Divine Natural and Sensuous were united in the Divine Human to the Divine good of the Father.
     At the Easter Sunday morning service the administration of the Holy Supper was preceded by the pastor's address on the text: "For a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have.
     In April the Women's Guild had the unique pleasure of hearing a paper on Sweden read by Mrs. Sandstrom. This was very interesting, and at times also very amusing. Many questions were asked about educational methods, social life, and other aspects of life in Sweden. Another interesting Hebrew class was held. This was, unfortunately, the last of the series, owing to the Rev. Frank Coulson's departure for the States.
     News was received on April 27th of Dr. Acton's passing into the spiritual world. His visit to England and Europe seven years earlier is remembered with gratitude by those here who appreciated and loved the special quality of Bishop Acton's spirit and the wisdom of his teaching on May 6th a memorial service mass held at Michael Church. In a deeply moving address the pastor led us to reflect on the rich fulness of Bishop Acton's life here in the use of the priesthood.
     The Rev. Frank Rose conducted the service at Michael Church on May 13th. On that Sunday Mr. Sandstrom preached a sermon in Colchester.
     The young people's annual weekend in London took place during the Whitsun holiday. On Saturday, May 19th, the usual banquet was held, Mr. Frederick Elphick being toastmaster The Rev. Frank Rose was on the chancel with the pastor on Sunday and preached a sermon entitled "Alone. In the afternoon there was a luncheon party, and afterwards a doctrinal class conducted by the Rev. Erik Sandstrom. The weekend concluded with an outing on Whit Monday.
     The Women's Guild held its annual meeting on May 25th. Miss Edith Elphick was re-elected president and Mrs. Colebrooke was elected secretary-treasurer.
     On Sunday, June 3rd, the Rev. Alan Gill conducted the Service at Michael Church. On this occasion our pastor was away on a visit to the West Country for the West Country Gathering, which took place again this year at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Best of Walford Cross, near Taunton. In the words of their reporter, Mr. Douglas M. Taylor, "It was a most enjoyable and fruitful gathering"
     One of the great advantages of being vice a reporter is that one can now and then, as it were, turn from the universals to report the particulars of the life of a society. One such was on June 10th, the ninetieth birthday of Mrs. Charlotta Briscoe, sister of the late Dr. Acton.

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After attending morning service at Michael Church she gave a luncheon party, the guests being the pastor and his wife, Mrs. Briscoe's sons and daughters, including Miss Beryl Briscoe, who flew over for the occasion. Toasts were drunk to the church and to absent friends here and overseas. In the afternoon the birthday party was continued at her home, and the guests now included also her grandchildren, her nieces and nephew, the Misses Marith and Rinnah Acton, Mr. and Mrs. Eldin Acton, and a few members of Michael Church who had links with the early days of her married life in London. Among these were Mr. and Mrs. Victor Tilson, the Misses Janet and Edith Elphick, and Mr. and Mrs. Wainscot. Mrs. Briscoe made a stirring speech recalling past days and many amusing incidents of her childhood days with her brother Alfred in Liverpool. The pastor responded, mentioning the strong sphere of affection that could be felt for our hostess and also for the church.
     On June 17th, after the morning service, we had the pleasure of meeting Professor Richard R. Gladish, Principal of the Boys' Academy at Bryn Athyn, who had arrived by plane that morning. Among other visitors we have welcomed this quarter are Mrs. Craigie and her daughter, Faith, from Toronto; Miss Marie Waters, who has returned from Bryn Athyn; Miss Valerie Ellis from Perth, Western Australia; and Mr. Douglas M. Taylor from Bristol. More recently we especially welcomed Miss Creda Glenn and the Misses Phillis and Elaine Cooper.
     A New Church Day celebration for the children was held at Michael Church under the auspices of the Women's Guild on Tuesday afternoon, June 19th. This was a new venture in the London Society. In preparation for it the children were given passages from the Sacred Scripture and the Writings to prepare, and in the course of the afternoon they read or recited these selections. Each child was presented with a gift from the pastor, who afterwards gave a talk on the meaning of the day. This little ceremony began and closed with the singing of a hymn. Later there were the usual games and tea.
     In the evening of the same day the Women's Guild held its annual supper. The president and members of the committee read a series of most interesting papers which had been delivered on June 19th, 1900, the closing day of the Fourth General Assembly. The papers read were by the Rev. C. Th. Odhner, the Rev. E. C. Bostock, Mr. John Pitcairn, the Rev. E. S. Hyatt, and the Rev. Alfred Acton. In the reading of these something of the earnestness and zeal of the early church leaders was brought back to us. The official New Church Day celebration at Michael Church was held on the following Sunday, June 24th, but concerning this more will be said in our next report.
     IRIS O. BRISCOE

     HE CHURCH AT LARGE

     Nova Hierosolyma. Meetings of the International Council of Priests, and of the Interior Council (a joint council of priests and laymen), of The Lord's New Church which is Nova Hierosolyma were held in Bryn Athyn during April and May, 1956. Those attending were: Rev. Theodore Pitcairn (Bryn Athyn) Rev. Philip N. Odhner (Durban, South Africa), Rev. Harry W. Barnitz (Hunting don Valley, Pa:), Rev. John Durban Odhner (The Hague, Holland), Rev. James Wang Sum (Tokyo, Japan), Mr. H. D. G. Groeneveld and Mr. Anton Zelling (The Hague, Holland); and during some of the latter meetings, by invitation, Rev. Frank Coulson (London, England).
     Various governmental as well as doctrinal developments took place in these meetings which may be of interest to the New Church at large. The Rev. Philip N. Odhner was elected president of the International Council of Priests (an office representative of the Council between meetings, and therefore having various episcopal powers, but which in certain respects is regarded only as of a provisional nature, pending such time as there may be actual bishops with their dioceses). The Rev. Harry W. Barnitz was elected secretary of this Council. The Rev. Theodore Pitcairn was elected chairman of the Interior Council. This latter council derives its name from the fact that its purpose is the consideration and interior development of doctrinal things out of the Word; a use into which laymen as well as priests may enter, and which we recognize as distinct from the ecclesiastical government of the church that is to be administered by the ordained priesthood.
     The Doctrinal Statement that is quoted below was drawn up and unanimously agreed upon in these meetings.

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The first part, defining "The Essentials of the Church," is founded upon many teachings in the Third Testament, and represents our present seeing of those most universal fundamentals which must rule through all the states of the church, being therefore the only essentials for membership. For in respect to these essentials all true members, from the most simple to the most wise, can be inmostly conjoined, despite any doctrinal differences as to more particular things. In the Divine Providence, no. 259, we read: "There are three essentials of the church, the acknowledgment of the Divine of the Lord, the acknowledgment of the holiness of the Word, and the life that is called charity. . . .If these three had been held as the essentials of the church, intellectual dissensions would not have divided but only varied, as light varies the colors in beautiful objects, or as the various diadems give beauty to the crown of a king."
     The second part of this Doctrinal Statement, entitled "The Formation of the Church," is a brief outline of the states of reformation and regeneration, whereby the church is formed in man. These seven clauses are based upon the whole of Genesis, as contained in the Arcana Coelestia, an intensive study and discussion of which took place at these meetings. The first three of these seven clauses describe the external states of reformation, and in general are represented in the Adamic, Noachic and Hebrew Churches. The next three (4, 5, 6) describe the interior, spiritual states of regeneration, and are represented in the stories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The seventh describes an inmost, celestial-spiritual plane that is represented in the story of Joseph.
     The intention of this Doctrinal Statement is, as to the first part, to fill the need for a simple definition of those most universal foundations upon which the church and all her members must ever rest: and as to the latter part, to give a general direction in the study and understanding of the way, or Divine order, of regeneration as contained in the Word, which, as so often indicated, must be the primary object of the doctrine of the church; as well as to afford a help to the priests in their work, the essential of which is to lead in that way to an ever deeper conjunction with Him who is "the way, the truth, and the life.
     It might be pointed out that we do not regard this Doctrinal Statement as having authority for anyone, except in so far as it is seen to be confirmed in the Word itself (the Writings). As to every formulation of doctrine, the man of the church must ever go to the Word to see whether it is in agreement with the Word or not. Nevertheless, the teaching is given that "it is not the Word that makes the church but the understanding of it" (SS 76). We therefore see it to be necessary for the Church to give expression to its understanding of doctrine, even as was done in the "Principles of the Academy"; remembering that it is the "soundness and purity" of the doctrine, or understanding of the Word, that establishes the church (TCR 245). And while we are to strive as of ourselves for an ever more sound and pure understanding and fuller formulation of doctrine, it is to be acknowledged that all genuine doctrine is from the Lord alone, or is of Divine essence and origin (AC 2516-2859). For "except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it." We therefore see this further general doctrinal formulation, primitive as it is, as of great significance for the upbuilding of the church.
     HARRY W. BARNITZ,
          Secretary.

     Doctrinal Statement

     The Essentials of the Church

     1. The acknowledgment of the Lord Jesus Christ in His Divine Human as the one only God of heaven and earth, in whom is the Divine Trinity.
     2. The acknowledgment of the Word of the Lord in its three Testaments; the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, which are the Third Testament. In this Third Testament the Lord has fulfilled His Second Coming, and all the Divine truth of His Divine Human is present therein from first to lasts, in fulness, holiness and power. What is said in this Testament concerning the Sacred Scripture or Word applies also to itself.
     3. The life of faith, charity and love, which is of heaven, and which is the Divine essence of eternal life in man and in the church.

     The Formation of the Church

     1. The presence of the Lord through the perception of His Divine in the Word, and the acknowledgment of His Omnipotence, Omniscience and Omnipresence.

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     2. The reception of the scientifics and cognitions of the Word and the doctrinals of the church in the understanding, looking to its separation from the will.
     3. The life of repentance, obedience and faith in the Lord, and thence the reformation of the external man, in order that the internal may be opened and the longing for the presence of the Lord's spirit to save man may be fulfilled.
     4. The conjunction with the Lord through the opening and forming of the internal man, and the working thence of His Divine Human through love and faith, and the longing for a new human through Him.
     5. The formation of the rational through the affection of the scientifics and cognitions of the Word and the doctrinals of the church, its subordination to the internal, the perception that doctrine is spiritual out of a celestial origin, and the birth of a new rational and natural in which the Divine of the Lord may be present.
     6. The life of charity, acquired by the conjugial of the true of the natural in the sphere of the Lord's Divine Human with the affections of the true of the Word and of doctrine in the human things, and the submission to the good of the natural from the Divine Human, and the conjunction with the rational.
     7. The perception of the Divine Human out of the rational, and thence the appropriation of the good of love and true of faith in the natural, the submission of the external mind opened to the world to the good and true of the internal mind opened to heaven, and thus the presence of the Lord's kingdom on earth.

     General Convention. Taking this year "Power from the Lord" as its theme, the 133rd annual session of the General Convention was held at La Porte, Indiana, June 19-24, with 225 ministers and lay delegates in attendance. The number of young people present, forty-four, was a record for many years. For the first time since 1932, a fraternal delegate from the British Conference came over-the Rev. Claude H. Presland, secretary of the Conference. The following highlights are from the NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER.
     During the meetings of constituent and related bodies, which began on June 19th, the Council of Ministers heard an address from its president, the Rev. Richard H. Tafel, and a paper by the Rev. Clayton S. Priestnal on "June Nineteenth." A public meeting of the Council featured a panel discussion on "The Mission and Purpose of the New Church." The Alumni of the New-Church Theological School held a supper meeting during which there was a discussion of "Recruiting for the New Church Ministry"; the subject being introduced by the Rev. Ernest Martin, the Rev. Richard H. Tafel, and the Rev. Edwin Capon, newly appointed president of the school.
     The 85th annual meeting of the American New Church Sunday School Association discussed the progress made in the production of a new issue of the Hosanna, and heard reports on the new lesson material used by 65% of the schools; the 49th annual meeting of the National Alliance of New Church Women heard reports of an active year which had seen four new groups affiliate with the organization; and the 67th annual conference of the American New Church League reported a stimulating and well balanced program. The Rev. William R. Woofenden was re-elected president of the Association, Mrs. Stewart Poole was chosen as president of the Alliance, and Mr. Philip Lawrence became president of the League. A meeting of the Laymen's Fellowship was addressed by Mr. Edward L. Wertheim, Convention's public relations consultant, on the role of the layman in the life of the church.
     Convention proper opened on Friday, June 22nd, the presidential address being delivered by the Rev. Franklin H. Blackmer, the retiring president. A welcome was extended by the president of the Illinois Association of the New Church, the Mayor of La Forte, and the chairman of the Greater La Forte Ministers Association. A meeting held under the auspices of the Council for Social Action was addressed by Mr. Frederick J. Heimlich, director of the psychology department of Beatty Memorial Hospital, on "The Church as a Force for Mental Health"; and an evening meeting under the auspices of the Board of Missions heard a vivid account of the Conference missions in Africa from the Rev. Claude H. Presland. Mr. John F. Seekamp, president of the Swedenborg Foundation, addressed the Convention on "Tradition or a New Vision"; and there were forums on education, the ministry, and public relations.

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     At the Convention sessions the Rev. David P. Johnson took office as president for the next three years; Mr. George W. Pausch was elected vice president, and the Rev. Bjorn Johannson was reelected editor of the NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER. At the Sunday service, conducted by the La Forte pastor, the Rev. John W. Spiers, the Rev. David P. Johnson and the Rev. Wilfred G. Rice were invested with the office of General Pastor. A sermon on "Power from the Lord" was delivered by the Convention preacher, the Rev. William R. Woofenden, and the service closed with the administration of the Holy Supper.
     General Conference. The 149th meeting of the General Conference of the New Church was held in Glasgow, Scotland, June 25-29, 1956. The opening service, conducted by the retiring president, the Rev. Herbert G. Mongredien, was followed by the opening session, at which Mr. Mongredien gave his address, entitled "Some Conclusions." The Holy Supper was administered on Tuesday morning; and at the session which followed the Rev. Alan Gorange, B.A., minister of the Glasgow Society, became the president of Conference. The retiring president was elected vice-president; and the Rev. Claude H. Presland, who had returned that morning from the United States, was re-elected secretary. Overseas visitors included the Rev. Alfred Regamey of Lusanne, Switzerland, and the Rev. Brian Kingslake, superintendent of the Conference Mission in South Africa. These notes will be continued.
     Green Pastures Camp. Green Pastures New Church Camp held its second session from June 20 to July 8, 1956. Again it was successful in having campers from all branches of the New Church, and all friendly to one another. This year the sum total of campers who stayed over at least one night in camp was 12, as against 16 who did that last year. We conducted our own services each Sunday in a beautiful deli by a brook, and we read the Arcana faithfully each night and morning with whoever was there.
     Green Pastures is a work camp as well as a study camp. We helped Miss Serena Dandridge all we could with her sheep, her pasture (chopping down thistles), her hay and her roads, and we regretted only that rain interfered with some of the haying.
     Green Pastures is a beautiful vacation spot on a sheep farm high among the hills of West Virginia near Shepherdstown. We are fortunate in being well provided with tents, cots and mattresses, nice new dishes, and a good cookhouse for eating in on rainy days. Besides all this there is Miss Serena's own little farmhouse, which houses our possessions between times. Green Pastures is a real farm, where we can perform uses along with our recreations and our study of what the New Church offers to all of us.
     CORNELIA H. HOTSON

     THE ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH

     Enrollment for 1956-1957

Theological School      4
College                11
Boys' Academy           66
Girls' Seminary           59
                    200
     LOCAL SCHOOLS

     Enrollment for 1956-1957

Bryn Athyn                225
Durban                10
Glenview                92
Kitchener                16
Pittsburgh                37
Toronto                16
                         426

     ACADEMY PUBLICATION COMMITTEE

     A statement concerning this committee appeared last month in NEW CHURCH LIFE (p. 400). The name of the Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner was inadvertently omitted from the list of members of the Academy Publication Committee.

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CHARTER DAY 1956

1956

     Announcements.
     All ex-students of the Academy of the New Church, and their wives or husbands, are cordially invited to attend the Charter Day Exercises, to be held in Bryn Athyn, Pa., on Friday and Saturday, October 12 and 13, 1956. The program:
     Friday, 11 a.m.-Cathedral Service, with an address by the Rev. William Whitehead, D.Th.
     Friday Afternoon.-Football Game.
     Friday Evening.-Dance.
     Saturday, 7 p.m.-A Banquet in the Assembly Hall. Toastmaster, Dean Eldric S. Klein.
     Arrangements will be made for the entertainment of guests if they will write to Mrs. Winfred A. Smith, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
VISITORS TO BRYN ATHYN 1956

VISITORS TO BRYN ATHYN 1956

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JOURNAL OF THE TWENTY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM HELD AT VICTORIA HALL, LONDON, ENGLAND 1956

JOURNAL OF THE TWENTY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM HELD AT VICTORIA HALL, LONDON, ENGLAND HUGO LJ. ODHNER 1956

NEW CHURCH LIFE
Vol. LXXVI      NOVEMBER, 1956          No. 11
     JULY 25-29, 1956

     First Session-Wednesday Morning, July 25

     1. At 11:10 a.m. the meeting opened with the singing of Hymn 44, followed by prayers and the reading of Matthew 19:16-26.
     2. Bishop De Charms called for the Minutes of the 20th General Assembly, and-on motion-these were approved as printed in NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1954, pages 401-414.
     3. The Bishop extended a welcome to all those who attended the Assembly, both members of the General Church and other New Church visitors. He said:

     "There are three main uses of an Assembly: the worship of the Lord, instruction in the truths of Revelation, and social intercourse. The first thing in our minds and hearts is to lift up our voices in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord for all His benefits to us as individuals, and for the Divine protection of His providence over the tender beginning of His church. Together with this there must be the constant desire to learn the truth of the Word-to enter into a deeper understanding of the Heavenly Doctrine in order that we may order our lives more fully year by year and generation by generation in accord with the Divine law that is now revealed. This leads us to realize the great importance of social intercourse among us, for we cannot carry out the revealed laws with any fulness apart from our fellow New Church men, or apart from those with whom we may be associated in the uses of life.

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At this Assembly an opportunity is given us to meet one another in the sphere of the church, to come to know each other more intimately, and to cultivate that charity which is the ground in which the seed of spiritual truth can take root and grow in our minds and hearts.
     "This, in sum, is the purpose of every Assembly, and certainly of that which is now opened.

     The Bishop then expressed his pleasure in having received from the Rev. H. G. Mongredien, then President of the General Conference of the New Church in Great Britain, a message of "good wishes for a really useful and inspiring and happy General Assembly in July." This message of friendship was much appreciated and we reciprocate the sentiment that is implied.
     4. The Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner read his Report as Secretary of the General Church. (See pages 484-486.)
     5. Mr. Leonard E. Gyllenhaal gave his Report as Acting Secretary of the Corporations of the General Church. (See pages 486-487.)
     6. On motion of Mr. Arthur Synnestvedt, seconded by Mr. Colley Pryke, the Secretary was instructed to convey our deep-felt thanks to Mr. Hubert Hyatt, who had recently retired from his posts as Secretary of the Corporations and as Treasurer of the General Church. (Applause)
     The letter sent by the Secretary said in part:

     "The members of the General Church assembled in London, England, in their 21st General Assembly, desired and directed me to forward to you an expression of the warm feelings of the church toward you and the deep sense of appreciation of your long and arduous labor for the church as Treasurer and as Secretary of her corporate bodies.
     "During the period of your office the General Church has grown in many ways; her uses have multiplied and her administrative work has become more complex. Two generations have looked to you as the one through whose hands the financial affairs of the church have been channeled, and ministers and laymen alike have looked upon you as a trusted friend and helper. And I can assure you that you have found a secure place in their affections."

     7. The Bishop opened the discussion of the two Reports which, he said, give a very interesting picture of the situation of the General Church-a picture which may give encouragement, in that we have had a steady though small growth throughout the years, and may at the same time stir us to new efforts in spreading the knowledge and reception of the church.
     Mr. Arthur Synnestvedt stressed the usefulness of as many male members of the General Church as possible becoming members of the Corporations, which were created to handle the funds and finances of the church. Male members of five years' standing were eligible for membership in the Corporations.
     Rev. Erik Sandstrom emphasized the Secretary's remark about the attendance at the Holy Supper.

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Sometimes doubts occur as to what "state" one should be in in order to partake of the Communion. Yet the only essential condition is one's sincere desire to be regenerated by the Lord. A disturbance of mind should not be a deterrent but rather an indication of a need for partaking. There is great importance in going to the communion regularly, and so far as possible visits to the isolated are arranged with this in view. For the communion has great value to heart and mind for the renewal of spiritual life.
     8. After a ten-minute recess, the Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton took the chair, and Bishop De Charms gave his Episcopal Address. This address is printed in NEW CHURCH LIFE, September 1956, pages 369-375 under the title, "The Charity that Makes the New Church."

     Discussion of the Bishop's Address

     9. Bishop Pendleton: "This penetrating exposition of the charity that makes the church, which was profoundly beautiful for its simplicity, is now before you for your consideration."
     Rev. Karl R. Alden noted the teaching that conjugial love has its origin in the marriage of good and truth, and that the Writings stress the danger of "faith alone." But the Bishop has also shown the danger of "charity alone." The New Jerusalem is presented as coming down from heaven as a bride adorned for her Husband. There must be a union of charity and faith, of good and truth. In everything real you will find the marriage of good and truth represented. As everything real in this room involves a marriage of substance and form, so everything spiritually real must have spiritual substance (good) and spiritual form (truth). Similarly, this Assembly would not have taken place unless there had been those who wanted it and those who knew how it could be brought to pass. The truth about this had to be sought by all the committees, as arrangements and plans had to be made. And only then could the Assembly be born from an earnest desire and an intelligent plan. In the spiritual world angelic couples do not have natural offspring, but they do have spiritual offspring, from desires and states of wisdom.
     Thus the Bishop has really brought before us the central doctrine of the church-the fact that we have to live the doctrine that we believe, letting "your light so shine before men that they may . . . glorify your Father which is in heaven."
     Rev. Elmo C. Acton warned that we are faced with a real danger from the desire of the Protestant churches to take us into their fold in the manner which the Bishop indicated. He illustrated this by a Community Church which in ten or twelve years had grown from forty members to over fifteen hundred, basing its appeal on the idea that "charity" is the only important thing and that it does not matter what you believe; we can all get together on the basis of social charity. The Bishop had shown us, however, that such an endeavor is futile because founded on the belief that man can from himself find truth and do good and establish peace. In the advanced circles of the Protestant world the Word has come to be regarded as merely man's record of his "discovery" of God. But it is only when we acknowledge that good and truth are from the Lord alone, that the interior quality, which we call spiritual good, can be established. This is difficult to explain to a Protestant particularly, for to the average person spiritual good is synonymous with moral good.
     So the churches of the world are devoting themselves to "the social gospel."

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Mr. Acton told of a marriage or child-care counselor from the Community Church expressing surprise that a New Church man who had consulted them was interested in religion. The counselor indeed thought that the churches were doing wonderful work, but that they were only a means to the end of social improvement. The Bishop's address was extremely timely and should restore with us all that spiritual affection of truth which is necessary to build the church.
     Rev. David R. Simons: "All are familiar with the spiritual law that thought brings presence and that in the spiritual world we are joined together when we hare thoughts in common." He pointed out that even in this world we tend to associate from a common love of good food, or a common social station, or common interests in music or in common professions. But external interests only bring about a superficial meeting of minds. When we gather as New Church men, what joins us is the common ideas we derive from the Writings. Even when we have to speak mostly with our hands, as when we converse with our French and Scandinavian friends, we yet know that internally we worship the same God, think the same thoughts, and have the same faith.
     There is a remarkable statement in the Diary (1531) that the Lord has "loved our earth above others." For, although He loves all men equally, the nature of the written Word is such that the Lord can be known and truths can be received in faith more fully from this revelation. And similarly there can be in the church a mutual love which comes from this love to the Lord. In so far as we learn these truths we as a church can be united into a one.
Rev. Frank S. Rose felt that the Bishop's address had an application to the problems he met in his work. For the world as a whole seems to think that charity can be achieved without the truth. A recent acquaintance had been horrified at the discovery that Mr. Rose thought that he knew the truth, and that there was only one true church in the world which could lead men towards a general state of charity.
     Perhaps we do not realize how unique this doctrine of charity is, and how important to the life of the New Church. Outsiders, brought up to believe that charity can be given without the truth, are necessarily shocked at the idea that charity can only come by means of the Word, and so regard our faith as a colossal conceit; not realizing that they are in danger of confusing enlightened self-interest with charity.
     Yet it was to convey this new, unique doctrine of charity that the New Church was established, for charity is the fulfilment of the purpose of life. The old churches have degenerated to the point of no longer knowing the essence of charity, because the doctrine concerning the Lord was falsified and the God-head divided, until the Lord is now looked upon as an ordinary, if unusual, man. What is missing from the qualities which present-day Christians attribute to the Lord, is Divine truth. He is regarded as a man whose sterling quality was this love toward humanity, but as a man who was certainly not infinitely wise, although He may have been fairly well informed. That Christ had love for them Christians acknowledge; but that He was Divine truth, or the Word, is not seen. No wonder, then, that these churches stress love or affection without any respect for truth. And to their distress they can find better examples of (apparently) unselfish thoughts outside the Christian Church; and that is why these organizations are losing prestige.
     The New Church was established by the Lord's coming in His Divine truth which is the Word and is Himself. He came in the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg-in His Word, if you please-and He is now present among men in this Word, giving hope of a new charity among men. He has united His love and His wisdom, His Divine and His Human, and is present with men in fulness.

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Genuine charity is living according to the truth of the Word. For us to say that we know the truth and belong to the only genuine church may appear as a "colossal conceit"; yet it is really a thing of utmost humility, for it is only in following the truth that we can be in charity and to follow the truth is to be in innocence. And innocence is the quality which makes heaven and the only quality that really makes the church.
     Mr. Richard R. Gladish-walking from the back of the hall, complaining that it was too long a walk to take merely to expose one's ignorance (Laughter)-had noted that the Bishop, in his enlightened and well-timed address, had emphasized the importance that every New Church man go to the Writings to renew the love of the spiritual truth found therein; while in another recent address the Bishop had stressed the need of going to the Old and New Testaments and suggested that in recent years the General Church had not given a proper place to the study of the letter of Scripture, but more exclusively devoted itself to the Writings as a clear fountain of rational truth. Mr. Gladish asked the Bishop for some comments to obviate the confusion on this point.
     Mr. Walter Horigan referred to the Bishop's clear statement that the Writings are the only true source of knowledge of spiritual faith and charity. That fact, and the two encouraging reports given so succinctly this morning, moved him to note that we need more good ministers, men who have a real appreciation of the value of the Writings. We have been fortunate in our church so far in having good leaders. He hoped the Assembly would inspire some more young men to enter the use of the ministry.
     Rev. W. Cairns Henderson was moved by the London air to cite a statement attributed to Winston Churchill, that a certain man "let his heart run away with his head." That, increasingly, is what the Protestant churches are doing. The timeliness of the address had already been commented on. Mr. Henderson had been impressed by its importance for us, in direct ratio with our contacts with people of other churches. It is important that we ourselves see the difference between spiritual and natural charity, not only for the direction of our body, but so that we might be able to defend our position and save the church from being misunderstood. We are not simply playing with an intellectual abstraction when we make this distinction. The spiritual charity which the Writings speak of cannot be attained without spiritual truths. But also we need to understand what many passages in the Writings mean by the "simple" charity which makes the Church Universal and keeps its members in a salvable state, and how it differs from the ordinary undiscriminating natural charity which we find almost everywhere in the world. Perhaps the Bishop would speak to this point.
     Mr. Raymond Pitcairn: "Listening to the Bishop's inspiring address, many of us may have reflected on the effect produced on various leaders of thought-men who have the Gospel and the Old Testament, like the Catholic Bishop Sheen in our country, and Billy Graham and others who have fine moral ideas based on the Scripture-and we wonder, if these men could be asked if they know Swedenborg and would they welcome the opportunity to enter more deeply into these matters and see the truth of this revelation? But that is deflating to a man who feels that he is a great leader of religious thought. It is not so satisfying to the ego to realize that man of himself is nothing but evil-that he has no wisdom of himself. And therefore there is a deep disappointment that so few welcome the opportunity to enter into what is real faith. And yet that real faith, as the Bishop pointed out, is from Divine revelation and from the Lord alone. How long will it be before the world will come to a realization of this through a dissemination of that truth?-so that our church, which seems almost the smallest among the churches, may eventually spread and cover the earth!"

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     Bishop Pendleton: "I have often been impressed by the fact that the term 'good,' as used in the world around us, is used without distinction. Yet when we read the Writings we read of natural good, of civil good, of moral good, of spurious good, of collateral good, of gentile good, of mediate good, of apparent good. The Writings are constantly making distinctions. And then they tell us that none of these goods are in themselves good, but that there is only one good, genuine good-that good which can come only from the Lord. That is what the Lord spoke of when He said, 'There is none good but One, God.' Now, as Mr. Pitcairn mentioned, it is a deflating thing when we learn that these things which we attribute to ourselves as good are not in themselves necessarily good at all! And the real difficulty (as I understand it) is that no one can see good except in the form of truth. This brings us back to the other great question of the Word-'What is truth?' It is not until that question has been answered that men can come to see what 'good' is.
     "And the Lord answered that for us when He was in the world. You remember that He said: 'The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heavens have nests, but the Son of Man has not where to lay His head.' He was speaking there of all the philosophies, all the intellectual vanities and religiosities, of the man-made doctrines and creeds, and the interpretations by religious leaders. Yet the Son of Man-which the Writings say is the Divine truth which is the Word-hath not where to lay His head.
     "We live in an age which-since the second world war-has become what might be called a favorable climate for religion. The world has changed greatly in that regard. There is a tremendous revival of interest in 'religion.' Yet this can be the most dangerous climate of all for the development of the New Church; because sooner or later the issue has to be drawn-not only between the church and the world around it, but in the life of every man: and the issue is drawn by the truth. So the question is now, What is truth?
     "Here lies the great power of the Writings. For they reveal the internal sense of the Word, the Lord in His Divine Human: the Lord as He was never seen and could never have been seen by the Christian Church, because the Divine Human, the Divine Rational, was not as yet revealed. Men were not yet ready: as the Lord Himself said: 'I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. . . . But the time has now come, and the truth has been rationally revealed in the Divinely Human form of Divine doctrine. Truth in its human form is Divine doctrine. It is only from Divine doctrine that men can come to see what is meant by genuine good, for to see good is to see the Divine will. The challenge of the New Church at all times is whether we can sustain that exalted concept of Divine Doctrine, through which and in which alone the Divine good, or the Lord Himself, may be seen."
     Bishop de Charms, invited to respond to the questions raised in the discussion, first noted that there need be no contradiction in the advice given to the church to read the Writings and the advice to read the Old and New Testaments.
     "The same Lord who gave us the Writings gave us the Old and New Testaments, and He gave them for a purpose-a purpose which could be fulfilled only after the Writings had been given. When I speak of the importance of the New Church going back to the study of the Old and New Testaments, it is with the purpose of seeing what the Lord really meant in those scriptures and what the internal sense of the Old and New Testaments really is. How can we find that out except from the Writings? So to say that we are to study the Old and New Testaments is exactly the same as to say that we are to study the Writings.

475

     "There can be a tendency to think, 'Well, if we learn the abstract doctrine of the Writings and study that and forget about the Old and New Testaments, we come to the whole truth.' But that I do not believe. The Lord did not give the Old and New Testaments for nothing. And it is well to ask one's self: How much of the Old and New Testaments do I now understand spiritually, realizing what it means?" The Bishop pointed out that of all those books only Genesis, Exodus, and Revelation were especially expounded in the Writings. What about all the other books? Surely if they contain, as in a casket, the wonderful jewels of the heavenly and eternal truths, they were not put there to be forgotten or left unheeded. And when the race is ready the Lord is surely going to give us the ability to draw knowledge and understanding from them, with the help of the Writings. We should not think that it is only the study of the Writings apart from the letter of the Word that is going to establish the church; but it is both together-the understanding of the letter of the Word in the light of the Doctrine. We cannot understand the letter of the Word without knowing it and studying it and thinking about it. If we do not have this basis in our minds, the light of the Writings cannot inflow to open it up.
     The Word of the Lord is one, even as the Lord is one. And every revelation has been given for the benefit of the New Church, for the discovery of truth for which men have been gradually prepared and to which the Heavenly Doctrine has now furnished the key, or will give the key as the church advances.
     In reply to Mr. Henderson's question, the Bishop replied that a difference of motive is back of the distinction between the external charity of the Church Universal and the undiscriminating "charity" of merely natural good. The latter is only charity in appearance, being stimulated by some form of self-interest. It is very common, with ourselves as well as with anybody else, to be prompted to various forms of external charity with some slight hope that we will get something out of it, some little return, or some privilege or opportunity which we would not have unless we treated others with charity and politeness.
     But what the Writings mean by the charity that makes one to be of the Church Universal seems to be a truly selfless charity based on the belief that there is a God who commands us to be kind to others. It is a willingness to do what God would have us do, without thinking of self. In this there is innocence, a willingness to be led, from which the Lord can lead men, in the other life if not in this, to see the truth, accept it, and then be prepared for heaven.
     The Bishop added that he had chosen the subject because he was profoundly convinced that the contrast of belief as to charity is going to be the basis of an increasing struggle between, the New Church and the churches around us, a struggle the more acute as the church grows. For in this respect we will appear in open conflict with those other churches, as unwilling to follow along with the line they ask us to follow. It is a danger which has already entered the New Church, since there are those who advocate that we cooperate in the various movements for church union. People cannot understand when we say we really believe that we have in the Writings a revelation direct from God and that this is the one spiritual truth on which religion can be based for all men. However different it may be in external form with different people, in different nations and races, there can be only one religion-the religion based on a life according to the revealed truth.

     10. The session closed at 1:30 p.m. with the singing of Anthem 5, followed by the Benediction.

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     Second Session-Wednesday Evening, July 25

     11. Bishop De Charms presiding, the meeting opened shortly after 6 p.m. with the singing of Hymn 58, prayers, and the reading of John 4:31-38.
     12. The Rev. Harold C. Cranch gave his address on the subject of "Church Extension." (See pages 420-434.)
     13. A discussion of the paper then followed. (See pages 434-437.)
     14. The session closed at 8 p.m. with the singing of Hymn 55, followed by the Benediction.

     Third Session-Thursday, July 26

     15. The meeting opened at 11 a.m., with the singing of Hymn 34, followed by prayers and the reading of Luke 19:11-27.
     16. The Rev. Karl R. Alden, presiding, called for the Report of the Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, as Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE. (See page 488.)
     17. The Treasurer of the General Church, Mr. Leonard E. Gyllenhaal, save his Report. (See page 487.)
     18. The Rev. Erik Sandstrom gave a Report for The British Academy of the General Church of the New Jerusalem. (See pages 492-494.)
     19. The three Reports were then discussed.

     Mr. Charles R. Norton (South Australia) spoke appreciatively of Mr. Sandstrom's account of the efforts to establish a New Church school in Great Britain and of the more immediate plan to conduct a correspondence course on the Philosophy of New Church Education. Mr. Norton hoped that people in other parts of the world might also be allowed to partake in that course.
     Mr. Colin M. Greenhalgh (Colchester) felt that one thing lacking in England was a full and open exchange of ideas as to how New Church education differed from other education. Education itself must he understood before we can expect it to be supported. Only by an exchange of ideas can we build up a firm plane of judgment and recruit support and then make decisions that are positive and responsible.
     Mr. Samuel Lewin (Bath) related his experiences in the first Academy school in England, conducted by Bishop Bostock, Mr. Stevenson and Miss Warland. He believed the institution of a school by the British Academy would be a grand thing and yet realized that conditions have now changed, higher standards being required. When finances will allow it, perhaps we may have New Church schools in England even better than those in America!
     Mr. Harold McQueen (Glenview, Illinois) also reminisced about his school days in England.
     Mr. E. O. Acton (London) paid a tribute to the work done by the Rev. W. C. Henderson as a worthy successor of other editors of NEW CHURCH LIFE and spoke of the usefulness of the magazine.
     He was also delighted to know that the British Academy was undertaking the project of preparing a correspondence coarse.
     Rev. A. Wynne Acton voiced a word of congratulation and encouragement to the British Academy, and spoke of the long tradition of New Church education in England. He believed that the school in London began around 1891 or 1892 and continued up to 1928, when a school was opened in Colchester.

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He noted how education within the New Church has developed. At first, in England as well as in America, we lacked the secular advantages provided in the public schools, and in their effort to preserve their children for the church, parents had to decide to make sacrifices. Our teachers had as yet not had time to develop the spirit of the New Church in relation to secular subjects. Mythology was a favorite subject with some of our teachers because it illustrated New Church teachings, but this did not help the pupils much when they went into business or other schools. But now education in our New Church schools is no longer any detriment but is an advantage, both in respect to life in the church and their uses in the world. For it gives the pupils a basis of thought and self-development which is of great benefit to them in performing uses in their work as well as in preparing for heavenly uses.
     He thought that the British Academy had been wise in delaying the opening of a secondary school in order to gain a wider and more enthusiastic support from the members. To begin prematurely and then fail would make a second effort difficult. But the steps taken to prepare our people for the better understanding and support of New Church education are very wise at this time, and he hoped that they would bear the desired fruit.

     20. After a ten-minute recess, the chairman, Rev. K. R. Alden, introduced the Rev. Alan Gill, who gave an address on "Responsibility." (See pages 438-445.)
     21. A discussion followed. (See pages 445 to 446.)
     22. At 1:30 p.m. Anthem 13 was sung and the session closed with the Benediction.

     Fourth Session-Thursday Evening, July 26

     23. Shortly after 6 p.m., after the singing of Hymn 25, prayers were conducted, with the reading of AC 444, 445.
     24. The Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen, presiding, called for an address by the Rev. Elmo C. Acton, who spoke on "The Human Soul or Spirit." (To be printed in the November issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE.)
     25. A discussion followed. (See November issue.)
     26. With the singing of Hymn 24, and the Benediction, the session closed about 7:30 p.m.

     Fifth Session-Friday Evening, July 27

     27. Shortly after 6 p.m., the meeting began with the singing of Hymn 46, prayers, and the reading of a section from the True Christian Religion. The Rev. Erik Sandstrom presided.
     28. The Rev. David R. Simons, after some reminiscences of his last sojourn in England as a pilot during the war, gave an address on "Education." (To be printed in NEW CHURCH LIFE.)
     29. A discussion followed. (A report of these remarks will be printed in NEW CHURCH LIFE after the address.)

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     30. After the singing of Hymn 49, the session closed at 7.30 p.m. with the Benediction.
     Sixth Session-Saturday, July 28
31. The session opened at 10 a.m., with the singing of Hymn 37, prayers, and the reading of Matthew 4:1-11.
     32. Bishop De Charms, presiding, called for an informal Report from the Rev. Wynne Acton, Superintendent of the General Church Mission in South Africa.*
     * The following account of Mr. Acton's speech is based on the sound-record which was made.-H. L. O.

     The South African Mission

     "In place of a formal report, I will seek to give a picture of the work that is being done among the Africans.
     "In his paper on Evangelization, Mr. Cranch noted the general law that a new church begins with a remnant of the former church and is later transferred to the gentiles. It is right that we should continue to spread the church among the salvable remnant of the former church, but it may he that the work we are doing among the Africans will have the more permanent results. Times and seasons are in the hands of the Divine Providence. Yet it must be our concern not to neglect any of our fields, lest we delay the Lord's work of establishing His church on earth. Certainly such a field has been presented to us in South Africa. We have not gone out to seek it, but from the first beginning the Africans have come to us and asked to be taught the doctrine of the New Church.
     "The Writings indicate that the Africans may be the people best prepared among the gentiles to receive the New Church. They are said to be of a celestial genius which immediately perceives and accepts the truths of the Heavenly Doctrine. This also implies that the New Church among them may develop along different lines than among Europeans; and every opportunity is given them so to develop. But the first task is to build up a group of ministers and leaders who are well informed in the actual truths revealed to us in the Writings. And to this end they need, and will probably long continue to need, the instruction and guidance of Europeans. Many of our ministers have a full knowledge and grasp of our doctrine and are fully capable to present the teachings to their people. Yet they lack the background of experience necessary for the actual establishment and preservation of the work of the church. I can assure you that our ministers and our better educated laymen really understand the distinctive doctrines of our church. At our annual ministers' meetings, which last for five days, the discussion of doctrinal subjects (which for the most part the ministers themselves present) is on a high level; and, similarly, discussions of the policies and practices in our church-work.
     "Many of their problems are of a very different nature than our own. But it is always their effort to search in the Writings for the spiritual principles that should guide their thought. And they are delighted when the Superintendent is able to point out certain guiding spiritual truths in the light of which they can form their thinking. These meetings are a source of the greatest delight and encouragement.
     "Of course, we have many members of the simpler type, with whom we could have no direct contact because of the language barrier. I regret that the Superintendent has not had time to learn Zulu.

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There is a kind of Zulu-'Kitchen Kaffir'-that is easier to learn, but to be able to hold an intelligent conversation on abstract and spiritual matters, requires considerable study. The ministers all assure me that these natives appreciate the distinctiveness, of the New Church teachings in their own way, and it is the doctrine of the oneness of God which has the greatest appeal to them. As an instance of their interest is the fact that they eagerly buy every new publication that comes out in Zulu. Through the generosity of the Swedenborg Society, the Doctrine of Faith is about to be published in Zulu, and I am confident that at least a hundred copies will be sold within the first year. The half-crown which they might have to pay for a copy means a great deal to them.
     "The most important work now being done is that in the Theological School. We have three new students training for the ministry and one minister who is receiving additional training. This is the middle of their second year and the course covers three years-based largely on the curriculum of the Theological School at Bryn Athyn, although somewhat adapted. Rev. David Holm and myself teach three courses each and the Rev. Aaron Zungu, one of our most informed African ministers, teaches two. The eagerness of these young men makes it a delight to teach them. And it is good to know that the high standard of our ministry will continue. At present we have ten active ministers who minister to their own societies, and a number of them also have several nearby groups to care for. The total membership is about 1200.* Rev. David Helm is engaged in revising this roll, so that it will represent not merely numbers but the names of people whom we actually know. One of the difficulties regarding our roll is that many of the male population, especially the young men, have to leave their homes periodically and move to populated areas to find work.
     * This apparently includes children.-H. L. O.
     "The condition of the Africans generally is in a state of flux at present. This makes it necessary to adopt a flexible policy in the work of the mission. During the Rev. F. W. Elphick's splendid twenty-five years of work in the mission-and he might be called 'the father of the mission'-things were relatively more settled. When Rev. Martin Pryke came after Mr. Elphick's death, he drew up some general plans later approved by the Board, which met the needs of the Lime. Last year the Mission was very fortunate indeed in receiving a visit from Mr. E. C. Restock and Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, who came to South Africa to gain a knowledge of the Mission, and this resulted in a general plan which should meet our needs for many years to come. "Now I would like to take you on a very brief tour of the Mission. Unfortunately we have no definite geographical center at present, although in fact the office which the pastor of the Durban (European) Society occupies behind the church-building on Musgrave Road serves temporarily as such a center where the ministers and friends of the Mission can come and discuss their various problems. At Durban we have an African Society without a church-building. The pastor, the Rev. Aaron Zungu, holds services in his own home. Its members are scattered throughout Durban and its suburbs. On the opposite side of Durban, some fifteen miles from the center, the Rev. Peter Sabela has a group of forty members. On the 19th of June the two societies gather for a joint celebration. Last year they had over a hundred members gathered in Zungu's house-how they all got in is a mystery.
     "From Durban we could go north-east some 120 miles into Zululand, and come to Kent Manor, where the Rev. Mafa Lutuli is the pastor. Numerically our largest society, it has the problem that the male folk for the most part have to come to Durban or other towns to obtain work. The General Church owns a farm here of some 300 acres.

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We have had some difficulty planning that farm, and it has been necessary to give notice to the native squatters to leave and seek places in the nearby Reserve. When this matter is settled we may build a sounder church there than we have had in the past.
     "Going back to Durban and then due west for about 90 miles, we arrive at Deepdale where we have a society of some sixty members, all living in the Reserve. The law has long been in force that every church must be at least three miles from any other. The larger churches were already there, so we could not obtain a site. But across the river which bounds the Reserve we obtained a 99 year lease of half an acre from a European farmer, and built a church there. Unfortunately, the nearest of our members lives about five miles away and some as much as ten. Still, they have a good attendance. They walk a long way without complaining.
     "From Deepdale we would come back to Maritzburg and then head on the main road to Johannesburg. Before getting half-way, and branching off a little, we come to Hambrook, which is right out in the country. Here we have a very fine, active society over which the Rev. Stephen Butelezi, a fine man, presides. Here they have regular church ministrations, although the pastor has had to continue in secular work, as a school teacher, and lives about 18 miles from his school. Near Hambrook there is also a small group living at Acton Homes.
     "Returning to the Durban-Johannesburg road . . .we come to the coalfields near Dannhauser where there is a small group of New Church people, most of whom are employed in the coal mines. They live scattered in compounds, two or three miles apart, and cannot always get together for a service, but the minister, a man over sixty, manages to get around, walking half a dozen miles to teach a few children in the furthest compound.
     "Continuing northward towards Johannesburg we come to Greylingstad, which has a small group in the 'location' behind the small dorp, mostly women and children, for the men have gone to Johannesburg to work. The pastor, Rev. Solomon Mkize, has a difficult situation to cope with, with scattered members as far as twenty miles away, for though he can take a bus part of the way it leaves ten or more miles to walk.
     "Finally, we come to Johannesburg; and about ten miles from the center is Alexander Township where is probably our most active society. The people there earn more money, can do more, and have a church-building to which they recently added three rooms so that they could have a home for their pastor. Every time you go there you feel the greatest delight and encouragement. On their own initiative these people are going ahead developing the church. Each time I have attended there have been close to a hundred people present, about half of them children.
     "In regard to visiting these societies, it must be done over Sunday. You cannot get the people together except over Sundays, so our visit to Johannesburg really demands being away over two Sundays.
     "If we return to Durban and start south we can visit three other societies in a trip which lasts about two weeks. We travel into the Cape Province to Queenstown, which is about 470 miles from Durban. Here there is quite a small but active group, which worships in the home of the minister, sometimes under rather difficult circumstances. The front door has to be left open to provide light. While preaching there I had to look at a little native boy with his stomach sticking out and nothing at all on except a great big hat; and I had to do some footwork to keep too many of the chickens attending the service. About forty miles away is a place named Sterkstroom, which is also under the charge of the same pastor, the Rev. J. Kandisa.

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On my first visit I had made a definite arrangement that Mr. Kandisa should go to Sterkstroom once a month-say the first Sunday of the month. But later I found that he simply went when it suited him, and maybe the people would be there and maybe they would not. The idea of organizing anything is not natural to the native, and that is one reason why they need the support and guidance of the European. Sterkstroom is rather discouraging, but I hope that one of the theological students when he is ordained may go there for a year and see if any genuine membership can be built up.
     "The final place is Quthing, in Basutoland. You have no roads going across Basutoland, although there are some going in from the Orange Free State side. Basutoland is all very mountainous, the Drakensberg forming the border to Natal, with range after range running north and south. A proposed road from the Free State to Natal is to cross six or seven mountain ranges, and will be most spectacular when it is completed. In Quthing lives the Rev. Jonas Motsi, who studied in Bryn Athyn in 1923-1926. He is the only Basuto minister who did not go over to "the Dutch position," and when he met me he gave a very well reasoned explanation why he could not forsake the principles he learned in the General Church. We had a long talk in the afternoon and he arranged for me to go on Sunday morning four miles by pony from the road to the church where I was to preach. I am not a horseman, so I refused to go by pony over the sharp rocky hills. So we walked. I had planned to use the car battery to show some slides, and a young girl-against my protests-carried the heavy battery on her head all the four miles with the greatest of ease! "I wish to express my conviction to you all that this work is very worth while indeed, and that those who are receiving the teachings are receiving them fully and intellectually, and that the New Church is really being built among the natives of South Africa."

     33. The Rev. W. C. Henderson next gave his Report as chairman of the Sound Recording Committee. (See pages 491-492.)
     34. The Secretary read the Report of the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal, the Director of The Religion Lessons Committee. (See pages 490-491.)
     35. Since a lack of time prevented any discussion of the three Reports, the Bishop called on Mr. Colley Pryke, who presented a Memorial Resolution referring to the passing into the spiritual world of Bishop Alfred Acton.

     Memorial Resolution

     "Since in the exercise of His unceasing care for the welfare of His people, the Lord has called into the spiritual world, full of years and ripe in wisdom, our friend, teacher and leader, Bishop Alfred Acton,
     "This Twenty-First General Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem places on record its deep-felt gratitude for all the blessings which have reached us through him. Alfred Acton enriched the scholarship of the church. He has had a large and unique share in the training of the priesthood. He has stirred the hearts of the people to a growing sense of the Lord's mercy, and has pointed the way by which the church may grow.
     "Our sense of loss is great. Our best tribute will surely be to endeavor to carry on his work."

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     36. The above resolution was carried by a rising vote.
     37. Mr. Raymond Pitcairn: "Bishop, and members of the New Church in England: It has fallen to my lot to say a few words on behalf of your visitors to this Assembly. And I have perhaps this one qualification for so doing, that I believe that no one of your visitors has had as long and affectionate a contact with the church in London as I have. It goes back well over a half-century, to be exact to 1900. When I came here as a boy, Mr. Czerny was your pastor, and I well recall being impressed with the ability to speak of the members of the church here in London and Colchester. Few if any of them were educated college men, but they spoke ably and well, and with affection and earnestness, of the church which they loved so well.
     "All of your visitors who come from many lands and from many nations realize what England has meant. In this world its belief in and practice of justice and freedom is outstanding. In the spiritual world, we know from the Writings, it is at the center of Christendom. Here the New Church first flourished and grew in numbers. Many of us in our country have lately come to realize (through the research that Mr. Gladish has recently made) the extent of this very early work. As one who studied and graduated at law, I have felt a peculiar love for English Common Law, its justice and its support of liberty.
     "The men and women of the London and Colchester societies have contributed in so many ways to the New Church, not only in our own country but throughout the world. We have benefitted by many who have come to our country. I recall as a youth being here a number of times with my sister, a very earnest New Church girl who I believe helped to inspire some of those young people who came to us-Fred Cooper, Wilfred Howard, Will Cooper, later the McQueens and the Rose family. What was our great gain has to some extent, of course, been your loss. And yet there have returned to you, even recently, several. The pastor of the Colchester Society, who went forth to Canada, came back to minister to you. A member of the Rose family is now here doing pastoral work in England.
     "I think that we all feel very deeply and keenly the spirit of this Assembly. It was set forth beautifully and convincingly in the keynote speech of our Bishop. And I verily believe that the Lord's charity, which is the Lord with the church, has pervaded this Assembly. In numbers, as well as individually, we are so inadequate, so weak, so small; and yet in the sphere of this Assembly-which we will take back to the friends and relatives in the various countries from where we came-we have a glorious memory which appreciates deeply what has been done. The fine papers that have been read, the good times we have had, the contacts of New Church man with New Church man, the feeling of charity-it has been a glorious occasion!
     "I have wanted to mention other things, but time has come for the paper and I will close with thanks-and that thanks goes also to the Swedenborg Society and to the members in Colchester who gave us a sort of preview of the good-will which dominates and has dominated this Assembly, and doubtless the same was true for those who met here last Sunday in London. We are very happy and grateful for all the arduous preparation given with so much affection and carried out with signal success for your visitors, for the Assembly, and for the Lord's New Church." (Applause)
     38. Rev. H. L. Odhner: "There is not much to add to Mr. Pitcairn's beautiful words on behalf of the overseas visitors particularly, who have been strangely and deeply moved by the unique atmosphere of this London whose ancient landmarks are still associated with the life of Swedenborg who more than once came here as a guest; and by this England on whose soil the New Jerusalem first assumed visible shape. But I would like to express our sentiments more formally, and-speaking for all those who have attended these memorable meetings-I would offer this motion:

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     "Resolved; that we record our grateful appreciation-first, to the many committees who have by their long and selfless labor so thoughtfully prepared for this delightful Assembly, anticipating and providing for our every comfort; secondly, to our English hosts who by their generous hospitality and inexhaustible patience made us feel as if bound into one spiritual family; and thirdly, to those whose inspiring addresses and studied intellectual contributions offered us so rich a spiritual fare."

     The motion was passed with unanimous applause.
     39. Bishop De Charms: "I should like to add a word of special recognition for the great courtesy and kindness that has been shown this Assembly by the Swedenborg Society in allowing us the use of Swedenborg Hall; and the many things that Mr. Griffith and Dr. Griffith have done in connection with this Assembly."
     The Swedenborg Society, the Bishop noted, performs a very great use to the church, a use that the General Church very much appreciates and with which we are only too delighted to cooperate whenever the opportunity presents itself. And so we express to the Swedenborg Society our profound appreciation; and also to the management of the Victoria Halls for providing for our needs.
     Rev. Alan Gill responded to the remarks of Mr. Pitcairn and Dr. Odhner's resolution. On behalf of the Committee and the members in Great Britain he thanked the guests, and confided that the Committee had felt great enjoyment and inspiration in working together. He hoped that there would be no need to wait twenty-eight years more for the next opportunity to entertain the General Assembly in England.
     40. At 11:30 a.m., following a recess of fifteen minutes, Bishop De Charms called on Bishop Willard D. Pendleton, who gave an Address on "The Temptation on the Mount: a Consideration of the Divine and the Human." (This Address is to be printed in the December issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE.)
     41. A discussion followed. (An account of this will be appended to the Address when printed.)
     42. After the singing of Hymn 53, the session closed with the Benediction.
Respectfully submitted,
     HUGO LJ. ODHNER,
Secretary

     NOTE: The Secretary is deeply indebted to the Sound Recording Committee and their agent in London, Mr. Tom Sharp, for the tape-recordings from which the Journal and the account of the discussions appended to the printed text of the Addresses, were constructed.
     H. Lj. O.

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REPORTS TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1956

REPORTS TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY HUGO LJ ODHNER 1956

     SECRETARY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH

     The reason there is a church on earth is that human souls might be prepared for heaven. This work of preparation is accomplished by the Lord both immediately and through the medium of angels and men. In the spiritual world there are societies especially devoted to the instruction and training of novitiate spirits before they are ready to enter heaven. But spirits "who have been instructed in the world and have been there prepared by the Lord for heaven" are not required to linger so long in the world of spirits, for they have already been introduced into ways of spiritual thinking and acting through the church on earth (HH 513). How far the General Church has been an agency in this Divine work no man can tell. Indeed we are warned against any presumptuous attempt to estimate or judge the spiritual states of the church (which the Lord alone knows)-which is the reason that king David was punished for "numbering the people." But it still behooves your Secretary to present the external aspect of the General Church, to record its membership, its working staff, and the numerical strength of its societies; for such records can serve to point out where we may have failed and how our efforts could best be employed.
     The first external requirement for the growth of the church is the provision of an active priesthood. Aside from twelve ministers whose work lies exclusively in the South African and British Guiana Missions, the General Church has at present thirty active ministers, who devote their full time to work for the church. Of these thirty, two are bishops, twenty-four are of the pastoral degree, and four are in the first degree. As to age, ten of them are between twenty-six and forty, ten between forty and fifty, four between fifty and sixty, and five are over sixty years of age. One minister is active in South America, two in South Africa, four in Europe; and twenty-three have their field of work in North America.
     From this it is clear that the responsibilities of the General Church of the New Jerusalem are irrespective of national boundaries. This fact means that we confront such problems as maintaining our unity in face of language barriers, and that we are constantly in danger of scattering our efforts when we seel; to supply the needs which the Divine providence seems to indicate.
     If we make a survey covering the last ten years-the postwar period-we find that all our societies have maintained themselves as to their various uses; some have made notable progress; yet others have shown statistical declines, which in some cases may be due to removals which in turn resulted in the formation of new circles or groups, some of which are hoping to develop into more permanent societies. The population of the world is no longer as anchored to ancestral abodes as was once the case. A number of circles or groups, administered by visiting pastors, have arisen in the western part of North America. New and different circuits have been arranged to minister to many who otherwise would be "isolated." A notable instance of such a circuit is the "Open Road Society." Both groups and isolated families can now enjoy absent ministrations through the Religion Lessons and sound recordings which are being distributed by special committees. Out of a total adult membership of 2851, there are 2035 who are associated with societies, circles, etc., 816 being counted as isolated.

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     Among the fifteen societies reporting in 1946, Bryn Athyn, Glenview, London, Durban, and Washington show a promising growth in membership. And Detroit, Michigan, has, after many years of persistent effort, achieved the status of a society, signalizing this with the erection of a house of worship.
     With an increase in membership, church attendance increases. A growing society should also normally show a better average attendance at administrations of the Lord's Supper and at doctrinal classes. It is regrettable that this is not always the case. Yet if any external sign can be taken as indicating the spiritual strength of the church, it should be the participation in the communion of the Holy Supper. The general doctrinal class is an institution that is particularly characteristic of the General Church, which endeavors to have an instructed laity able intellectually to meet the challenge of the world's thought and passion with truth fresh from heaven.
     It has always been held that the General Church must be a "reading church," meaning that its people, young and old, individually go to the Writings for inspiration habitually and from a love of spiritual truth. And incidentally, the Calendar of Daily Readings from the Word of Scripture and Doctrine which was instituted at the 1928 General Assembly held in London is still being published each year; and comments on these "unison" readings are being provided by the editor of the NEW CHURCH LIFE.
     It is taken for granted in the General Church that instruction in the truths of the Word should begin in childhood. Seven of our societies maintain day schools for their young children; some only for the lower grades, others up to or including the ninth grade. In other societies and circles pastors or visiting ministers arrange for religious instruction for children in various ways. Sunday Schools or Children's Services are held more or less regularly in at least seventeen places. Besides those who devote time to Sunday School work with children and work connected with supplying Religion Lessons to isolated families, the General Church has twenty-four full time lay teachers in the various parish schools. Twelve are teaching in Bryn Athyn. Each school is also assisted by many part-time teachers who volunteer their services.
     The General Church is truly blessed in the fact that the Academy of the New Church has grown into a strong and well equipped institution which can now provide for higher New Church education through high school and college levels. The present enrollment of 222 students includes 87 in the college. Besides nine ministers who devote at least part of their time to teaching in the Academy, there are on the Academy's staff twenty-four trained lay teachers, thirteen men and eleven women, who give their full time to this use. In all, we have in the General Church and the Academy a body of some forty-eight lay men and lay women devoting their energies to New Church education. And more are ever needed if our uses are to fill the growing needs. These forty-eight, with the thirty men active in the ordained ministry, constitute a considerable force which in various fields will carry on the message of the Heavenly Doctrine to the next generation.
     It is an encouraging fact that, except for one year, the General Church since its beginning in 1897 has steadily grown in membership, even though the growth has been far from startling. The churches of Christendom around us are also growing in numbers at a comparable rate, although from very different incentives and inducements. The New Church can offer its doctrines only to those who are moved by the love of spiritual truths and by a concern for eternal good, and who are not confirmed in the falsities which close the mind to the recognition of the Lord in His second advent.
     In the last ten years, 864 new members have been received into the General Church-an average of 86 a year. During that period, thirty resignations were recorded, and seventy-eight names were dropped to make our roll represent only active members.

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At the same time, 324 persons were translated to the spiritual world; which, after all, is the state for which the church is preparing us all. The net gain of the General Church on earth is thus reduced to 432 during the decennial since 1946-an average gain of forty-three a year. But even this represents a slight upturn in our rate of progress, and it may justly be hoped that the proportion of deaths to accessions will be less rather than greater in the future.
     As may be expected, many of our new members bear familiar names-some 52 percent having been raised in our General Church families or schools. Another 8 percent were formerly affiliated with other New Church bodies. And, despite the fact that the General Church is not much marked for its missionary activities, at least 319 of our new members (or 38 per-cent) came by way of adult baptism out of the old church. Sometimes the previous church affiliation is not determinable.
     The General Church is spread- or shall we say scattered-over many parts of the globe. According to a tabulation of actual addresses made last May, its adult membership in North America is 2228, in other countries 652. The addresses of 91 members are currently not known. The total for the United States is 1875, for Canada 353, for Great Britain 207, for Sweden 102, and for all other countries 343, making a membership of 2880 persons. An interesting fact emerged from our survey-that we have on our roll 1676 women to 1204 men: 58 per-cent women to 42 per-cent men. This is only partly due to the fact that women are admitted to membership at eighteen years of age while the young men have to wait until they are twenty-one. The tabulation also seems to reveal that ninety nine members who originally joined the church in other countries must since then have settled in the western hemisphere.
     Our membership may appear small when compared with that of the General Convention in North America (with 5787 members), and the General Conference in Great Britain (with 4484). We have seen no statistical reports of other bodies of the New Church in Europe or Australia, nor of the Nova Hierosolyma organization. But we know that strength does not lie in numbers, but in a single-hearted devotion to the uses which the Writings point out as distinctive to the New Church.
     HUGO LJ ODHNER,
          Secretary
SECRETARY OF THE CORPORATIONS GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM A Pennsylvania Corporation THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM An Illinois Corporation 1956

SECRETARY OF THE CORPORATIONS GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM A Pennsylvania Corporation THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM An Illinois Corporation Various 1956

Since the 1954 General Assembly, two detailed statistical reports have been given to the Joint Meetings of the Council of the Clergy and the Corporation Directors. These reports are published in the April issues of New CHURCH LIFE for 1955 and 1956. No further statistics will be presented here except to state that during this two-year period membership in the Corporation has increased from 252 by 8 to 260.
Originally the General Church was incorporated in the State of Illinois, U.S.A. In 1949, for technical legal reasons, it was reincorporated in the State of Pennsylvania, U.S.A. The Illinois Corporation could be dissolved were it not for the fact that there could be wills in existence designating the Illinois Corporation. In fact, only last year a bequest was received by this body.

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     Thus, today we have two Corporations charged with the administration of the civil affairs of the unincorporated Church. Each has the same thirty directors, ten of whom are elected each year for a term of three years, and each has the same four officers, who are elected yearly.
     The Bishop is elected President and he presides at all meetings of the Corporations and their Directors, and also consults the Board as a lay body.
     During the last two years, the Corporations have held two meetings and the Board of Directors, thirteen. At the Board Meetings, a wide variety of business matters was considered, covering almost every activity within the scope of the Church.
     In reviewing the minutes of these meetings, two things are most striking: the wide expansion of uses throughout the Church, and the true international aspect of our Church organization. While the business affairs are largely transacted in Bryn Athyn, much of the action involves uses outside of the United States. Let me illustrate by a brief review of some of the matters that have been considered by the Board in the last two years.
     Much time has been spent on the South African Mission work involving many decisions on real estate, financial policy and budgets. Scarcely a meeting was convened at which a Mission problem was not discussed, and two special meetings were devoted entirely to this use of the Church; the matter of an Episcopal visit to Auckland, New Zealand, and Hurstville, Australia, was Presented and expenses approved; the work in the Peace River District of Western Canada was received and extension of pastoral visits acted on; numerous pastoral moves within the United States and to Sweden and England were presented by the Bishop and traveling expenses appropriated; recommendations were received from the Rev. Gustaf Baeckstrom concerning his visits to Oslo, Norway, and acted upon; suggestions were received from the Rev. Frank Rose in connection with his visits to the isolated in Great Britain and the Continent, resulting in a financial arrangement with the British Finance Committee; action was taken accepting a gift of real estate for a church building in Tucson, Arizona, and resolutions passed for recording ownership; a new Building Revolving Loan Fund was established and a loan negotiated with the Detroit Society; the Eastern Canada District Assembly recommendation was received for developing a District Organization and funds were appropriated to initiate the project; a new General Church Publication Committee was authorized; a special committee was appointed which did considerable work in Washington, D.C. to secure an extension of the Rev. Wynne Acton's visa in South Africa; and many, many other subjects.
     In the Corporation Meeting held last June, it was with great regret that Mr. Hubert Hyatt's resignation was received. Many of you in all parts of the Church have known and worked with Mr. Hyatt during the long years in which he has served with distinction both as Treasurer and Secretary of the General Church. Due to ill health, he has now been forced to give up this work.
     With the civil affairs of the Church encircling the globe, this Assembly in London offers many of us a real opportunity to be better informed on how other Church centers function. Such a background should aid materially in the work of the Church in the future.
     Respectfully submitted,
          LEONARD E. GYLLENHAAL,
               Acting Secretary

     TREASURER OF THE GENERAL CHURCH

     A detailed financial report covering the year to December 31, 1955, was recently mailed to members of the General Church. For the first six months of 1956, indications are that both income and expense will be up over the previous year.

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Most encouraging is a substantial rise in contributions, which are over 55% higher than for the same period last year. This is good news for, barring any unforeseen heavy expense, if this trend continues the General Church should be out of the red for 1956.
     If any doubt exists as to the vitality and growth of our church, one need only study the two published financial reports for 1954 and 1955. For in these pages is a story of remarkable achievement.
     During the year 1955, the General Church spent more money than in the four years immediately preceding World War II. To be sure, much of this was due to the increased cost of doing things, but a great deal of it reflects a healthy expansion of uses and a more realistic approach to the support of our ministers.
     Under the comparatively new Ministers and Teachers Salary Plans, the matter of adequate salary scales has received close scrutiny in recent years. Perhaps this is not so vital in some of your countries, but it is of singular importance in the United States and Canada. Here, with the tremendous economic expansion, wages and the cost of living have soared in the last decade. While ministers and teachers have been caught in this spiral, their incomes have not been tied to the rising economy. It is imperative, therefore, that the plans be constantly revised if the usefulness of these people is not to be impaired by financial worry. With growing inflation in many other countries, the importance of these plans will become more widespread.
     To describe the expansion of uses in recent years would take many words, and for this I refer you to other sources; but if we stop to consider that in our whole Church we have little more than 1,800 potential contributors widely scattered around the world, it is rather amazing that so much can be accomplished.
     We are indebted and grateful, of course, to the few large contributors who have helped make this possible. But even with their support, our resources today are being heavily taxed to provide for the ever increasing activity of the Church. If we are to continue to grow in the future as we have in recent years, support must come from an increasingly wider base. Such support not only aids the cause; it is bound to sharpen interest and participation of the contributor in the cause. The wider and deeper the support, the stronger our church organization will grow to be.
     Respectfully submitted,
          LEONARD E. GYLLENHAAL,
               Treasurer

     EDITOR OF "NEW CHURCH LIFE"

     One of the best known slogans in British advertising reads: "Born 1820-Still Going Strong!" Although we appear in less gorgeous raiment, it is to announce that NEW CHURCH LIFE, born 1881, is still going strong. Last January we commenced our seventy-sixth year of continuous publication. So anyone now living who has read every number as it came out has either attained a great age indeed or was a very precocious child.
     It seems appropriate, therefore, that this report should review briefly the highlights of the past seventy-five years, and then look for a moment at the future. Preceded by a manuscript paper started at Philadelphia in the autumn of 1879, NEW CHURCH LIFE first appeared in printed form in January, 1881, as "A Monthly Journal for the Young People of the New Church." The editorial board consisted of Andrew Czerny and E. J. E. Schreck, both known and loved later in this country, Charles P. Stuart, George G. Starkey, and E. P. Anshutz, of fable fame.

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By the following January it had become simply "A Monthly Journal," and it continued under the same management for several years; but it had now become a church periodical-a medium for Academy thought, and a chronicle of church and school activities. In 1890 it was accepted by the Academy; and in 1899, two Years after the organization of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, it was accepted by that body from the Academy. From that lime it has served as the official organ of the General Church, though not as its mouthpiece-a term to which American films have given a rather unsavory connotation anyway!
     Through two world wars and one major depression the journal has recorded in that capacity-month by month, year by year-the varied life of the General Church in all its aspects. It has served as a depository of the teaching given from the pulpits of the General Church; has reflected the states passed through in the progression toward a more interior understanding of the Word; and has been the repository of our ecclesiastical, educational and forensic transactions, and the chronicle of our social activities. In the regular performance of these duties NEW CHURCH LIFE has become the record of four episcopates-those of Bishops William Henry Benade, William F. Pendleton, N. D. Pendleton, and George de Charms; and preserved in its pages are to be found such highlights as the history of the separation from Convention and the
formation of the General Church of the Advent, the organization of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, the Kramph Case, and two major doctrinal controversies; the impact of two world wars on the thought of the church; and the reports of twenty General Assemblies and many National and District Assemblies.
     Since the early years, in which it was conducted by an editorial board, the magazine has, had five editors: the Rev. E. J. E. Schreck (1888-1896), the Rev. George G. Starkey (1896-1901), the Rev. C. Th. Odhner (1901-1918), the Rev. William B. Caldwell (1918-1950), and the present editor (1951-?). To recall the names of the many writers who contributed liberally to the journal would be to call the roll of some of the leaders of thought in the General Church: Alfred Acton, Eldred E. Iungerich, C. Th. Odhner, N. D. Pendleton, W. F. Pendleton, R. J. Tilson, F. E. Waelchli, and such distinguished laymen as James Pryke-to mention only a few who are no longer with us.
     During the seventy-five years of its appearance in print NEW CHURCH LIFE has changed its form once, its dress four times, and its size as often. In 1900 the 16 page newspaper format gave place to that of a 64 page magazine. As a matter of stern necessity the number of pages in each issue was slashed to 32 during the depression; and from this the magazine has never quite recovered, for it has been a 48 page monthly ever since better times returned. Indeed with the present flow of copy 64 pages might prove to be an embarrassment of riches.
     In its long life the magazine has also had various moods, reflecting the changing states of the church. It has been critical, truculent, even pugnacious; and at times the clang of the Swedenborgian hammer has been heard. But always, we believe, it has been characterized by zeal for the Divine authority of the Writings. If circulation is the life blood of a magazine, NEW CHURCH LIFE would not seem to be in dire need of a transfusion. On January 1, 1956, the total membership of the General Church was 2851, and our total circulation was 1075. If every copy is read by two or three people, we may assume that the General Church is fairly well covered. However, this does not mean that the treasurer will frown on new subscriptions.
     And now a word or two about the future. We cannot promise that, at seventy-six, NEW CHURCH LIFE will soon be "out of this world." A former editor once stated his conviction that every issue of the magazine should contain something for everybody in the church.

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So far we have not provided many pictures for those who cannot read; and it is to be hoped that there have been fewer articles for those who cannot think. As the General Church grows there must inevitably be changes. For example, we are the only church scattered throughout the world which is still able to publish all its baptisms, marriages and deaths within the covers of one periodical. In time that must change, and there will be other changes which we cannot now foresee. But this we may hope. Another former editor once said that "NEW CHURCH LIFE can only be successful through the efforts of those who are interested in it"; and it is our hope that as time passes the journal will reflect more and more, in the nature and sources of its literary contributions, the fact that it is the organ of a general church which is worldwide.
     Respectfully submitted,
          W. CAIRNS HENDERSON,
               Editor

     RELIGION LESSONS COMMITTEE

     Lessons have been provided for fourteen years of a child's life, beginning with forty-five full page drawings (for coloring) of stories from the Word for pre-school children, and continuing through kindergarten, the eight grades of the elementary school, and the four years of high school. In this manner the historical books of the Old Testament, the life of the Lord in the New Testament, and some of the essential doctrines of the New Church as revealed in the Writings, also some general information regarding the New Church and its various organizations from its beginning, have been taught. Many full page original drawings (to be colored by the children) by New Church artists, who have also supplied smaller inset drawings illustrating the lessons; and, in the two volumes or years' work on the life of the Lord, many photographs of famous biblical paintings have been provided with the lessons. To this material there should be added numerous question papers and maps.
     There have also been provided a large and ever increasing variety of festival lessons. The festivals provided for are: Thanksgiving, Christmas, Swedenborg's Birthday, Palm Sunday, Easter, and the Nineteenth of June. For each of these festivals at least three grades of lessons, sometimes four grades, are provided: primary, intermediate, and senior. For all but Swedenborg's Birthday a special service is sent providing ritual of worship, lessons-that from the Writings being quoted-and hymns, words but not music. And for all the festival lessons either drawings of suitable pictures, colored or to be colored, or cutouts to be colored and assembled, or some more ambitious representation-such as those sent out for several Christmases-are provided by Theta Alpha.
     The Committee have also mimeographed numerous sermons and papers for parents; a book for parents entitled, Stories from Genesis; Family Worship for Little Children, by Bishop W. D. Pendleton; two books by the Rev. Karl R. Alden, volume one entitled Fifteen Doctrinal Papers, volume two Papers on Heaven and Hell; and now Talks for Use in Family Worship, a collection of 56 such "Talks" or sermonettes by fifteen General Church ministers.
     During the year 1955-56 the lessons were sent out by fifteen lady counselors and their "teachers" or assistants, who included several college boys, to 196 families in the United States, 61 in Canada, and one in each of the following countries: Puerto Rico, Mexico, West Africa, and New Zealand. The lessons were also sent in bulk to Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa, to be distributed in those countries.
     An analysis of the families receiving the lessons yields the following table.

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Particular attention is called to the fact that there are included only the children in a family now receiving the lessons, not the total number of children in a family, as some families of eight or more children now have several in college, or at work, or even married.

One child-75 families.
Two children-83 families.
Three children-56 families.
Four children-29 families.
Five children-8 families.
Six children-5 families.
Seven children-3 families.
Eight children-1 family.

     The total number of children on our files is 634. Of these 145 are pre-school, or up to five years of age. The kindergarten children numbered 38.
     This analysis has been made because a few parents report that they have too many children of lesson age to enable them to supervise the study of different lessons. However, all families begin with one child, unless they have twins or more, and most of our families have only one or two children of lesson age. In families with two or more children receiving different lessons, some suitable arrangement to fit the situation can be made with the counselors concerned. The important thing is to develop with the children a love of hearing and reading the Word that will become increasingly strong in manhood and womanhood.
     While this work is under the direction and supervision of the General Church, and is largely supported from General Church funds, if it were not for the continued voluntary support by actual work as well as by money of Theta Alpha, it simply would not and could not be done. It is the kind of work that naturally belongs to the women of the church, and it is their constant interest, encouragement and general support that makes it acceptable to the isolated children and their parents.
     Respectfully submitted,
          FREDERICK E. GYLLENHAAL,
               Director

     SOUND RECORDING COMMITTEE

     Cynics have suggested that tape-recording exploits a perversion of an old saying: "Give a man enough tape and he'll hang-someone else!" We prefer, however, the loftier slogan with which we were presented gratuitously not far from these halls. Across the front of a nearby establishment which is devoted to the tape-recorder is the phrase "Truth in Sound." Truth in sound! That is our business-the reproduction in sound of the spiritual truth of the Writings as it is presented by the spoken word in sermons, classes and addresses. It is still a fairly new business, and the few years we have been in it cover its entire life. But with us, as with the industry generally, it has been a rapidly expanding business; and the extent to which it has grown may be seen from the fact that the Sound Recording Committee has recently completed a conversion to new equipment to the value of approximately $8,500.00, about L3,000-0-0.
     The detailed operations of the Committee, and the steady increase in its facilities and services, can be traced through the yearly reports made to the Joint Council and published in NEW CHURCH LIFE. In reporting to this particular Assembly we wish to emphasize three things. Firstly, although its headquarters are in Bryn Athyn and most of those who use its services live in the United States, the Sound Recording Committee is neither a Bryn Athyn nor an American committee.

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It is a General Church committee, the members and chairman of which are appointed by the Bishop; and this is perhaps most effectively underlined by the fact that these sessions are being recorded and will be heard as far away as New Zealand in a very short lime. Secondly, the Sound Recording Committee is, and has been from the beginning, entirely self-supporting; it has never drawn upon the funds of the General Church but has been sustained by the contributions of those who use its services and the special donations of those who are interested in the use. Thirdly, the Committee is continuously aware of the fact that it has a responsibility to serve the entire General Church.
     This last involves a two-way operation that is not always, perhaps, clearly understood. Members of societies enjoying the regular ministrations of a resident pastor have sometimes wondered whether tape-recording is any concern of theirs. However, although there may be only occasional or special need in their situation to listen to tapes, these societies can benefit the entire church by becoming recording stations which contribute material to the circulating library. Of necessity, most of the material recorded in the beginning originated in Bryn Athyn, and Bryn Athyn material is still predominant. But it has been the consistent desire of the Committee that its offerings should become as representative as possible of the entire Council of the Clergy. To this end, recording stations equipped by the Committee have been set up, or are being set up, in five other societies in the United States and one in Canada; and a meeting was held this week with the European ministers, the pastor of the Durban Society, and a few interested laymen, which it is hoped will result in the enrichment of the library hg the accession of material from Great Britain, Scandinavia, and South Africa, as well as in the extension of the ministrations of the General Church to its isolated members in those countries.
     These are the things in which the Sound Recording Committee is interested: the accumulation of material which is as representative and varied as possible; the extension of the ministrations of the priesthood to the isolated by the circulation of tape-recordings to supplement personal visits; and the extension of those ministrations also by assisting visiting pastors to set up their own recording programs, especially where there are language barriers. These are our objectives, and as long as the clergy provides the truth, we will furnish the sound.
     Respectfully submitted,
          W. CAIRNS HENDERSON,
               Chairman

     THE BRITISH ACADEMY

     There exists in this country a body which has been constituted under the title of "'The British Academy of the General Church of the New Jerusalem." It is of recent date-less than three years old-and this is the first opportunity to present a report to a General Assembly and at the same time to Bishop De Charms in his capacity of President of the British Academy. The Bishop consented to have such a report laid before this Assembly, and this no doubt for the reason that whatever forms of use the British Academy will ultimately adopt they are certain to have a bearing on the Church at large.
     This Academy is the heir of what was called "The Committee on Education," set up in 1946 in connection with the British Assembly for that year. Limited in its powers and unauthorized to hold property, this Committee confined its efforts to the searching out of the legal requirements and the practical intra-ecclesiastical possibilities under which a New Church secondary school could be established in this country.

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Much valuable material was thus collected; and eventually it was felt that a forward step ought to be taken, so as to ensure a fully constituted body, authorized to hold property and empowered to go ahead with such uses of education as might properly fall under its provision. Therefore the 1953 British Assembly undertook to petition the Bishop of the General Church to initiate such a body, and in the spring of 1954 the Bishop issued a "Deed Poll of Appointment" whereby the British Academy of the General Church of the New Jerusalem came into existence.
     Having been thus formed the Academy saw as its first duty to set up a definite goal. It chose as its tentative objective to commence a small private-tuition secondary school in Colchester in the year 1957. Parents were approached on the matter, a teacher equipped with the proper scholastic degrees was contacted, and information was circulated through the pages of the NEWS LETTER and also those of NEW CHURCH LIFE.
     Last year the British Academy prepared and sent out a "Manifesto and Questionnaire" to the entire membership of the General Church in Great Britain; and on October 22nd, 1955, a meeting was held to consider the replies. 136 copies had been sent out, and 76 forms of the questionnaire were completed and returned. Out of these 76, 34 were affirmative in regard to each of items b) and c), which read: "I agree in principle that the Academy should go ahead with its plans for starting this project in 1957"; and: "I agree with the principle of New Church education, but am not wholly in favor of starting in 1957. (Give reasons)" A total amount of L37l-15-0 in yearly contributions was promised, on the strict understanding that the secondary education as proposed would be inaugurated, and nine persons promised to take out covenants.
     It thus became manifest that (he tentative thought of establishing a secondary school in 1957, or even the thought of at all establishing one, was far from unanimously supported; and there were indications that the reasons for this lack of unanimity were in part connected with a desire with many to have first a major emphasis on the need of New Church education in the homes by the parents, and in part linked up with doubts as to the practical feasibility of carrying out the project at this stage. Therefore the October 22nd meeting last year unanimously resolved: "That in view of the nature of the replies to the Questionnaire, the Academy considers it Not Advisable to start the school in 1957." The Minutes of that meeting also contain the following statement by the then Chairman, the Rev. Alan Gill: "The Academy must now look forward to its next meeting, at which, being the Annual General Meeting, there would be the election of officers, and an opportunity to hear and consider some pertinent and valuable suggestions from the Rev. E. Sandstrom."
     Thus my highly esteemed predecessor gave me an opportunity to place those suggestions-whether valuable or not-before the Academy. As to a small part they have already been acted upon, but in regard to the major proposition action has been purposely postponed, so that in the meantime we may be able to feel our way.
     The suggestions involve the establishment of a New Church Correspondence Institute for any adult or young persons, within or outside the church body, and whether residing in Great Britain or not, who might be interested in a systematic study of the New Church philosophy of life at his or her leisure. The thought is that the teaching staff, or faculty, should consist of all General Church ministers in Great Britain who could spare the time, and all university trained lay members in the country who might be willing and likewise could find the time, and in addition any other New Church teacher outside the country who might agree to add his services.

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Some prospective priestly and lay teachers have been contacted, and have responded most affirmatively in principle.
     The hope is that the courses to be offered would include secular as well as theological subjects, and the thought is to conduct the courses in the generally accepted way, written answers or other returns being required.
     At this point it should be emphasized that these suggestions-and for the time being they are only suggestions under consideration by the British Academy-are not intended as an alternative to the secondary school scheme. Rather, it is hoped that the Correspondence Institute, if established, may prepare the way for the long and earnestly desired secondary school in this country. On the other hand, neither is it anticipated that the Institute need be discontinued when and if the school is set up.
     Now the Board of Governors of the British Academy has decided: 1) to recommend to the Colchester and London Societies that an opportunity be provided for a full address on the proposed plan to be given at one of these societies, this address to be tape-recorded and circulated in whichever of the societies will not hear the address as first given, and also in the "Open Road Society" through the courtesy of the Rev. Frank Rose; and 2) to invite the Rev. E. Sandstrom to commence in the forthcoming autumn a course in "The Philosophy of New Church Education."
     It may be added that as late as yesterday I secured the most willing and, I know, equally efficient help of Miss Muriel Cooper of Warrington in the typing out of the lessons for the aforesaid course, having been previously offered the generous help of Colchester friends in regard to stenciling and mailing.
     Respectfully submitted,
          ERIK SANDSTROM,
               Chairman

     ASSEMBLY MESSAGES

     The following cables were received from Societies and individuals, and read at the Assembly banquet:
     From the Olivet Society, Toronto, Ontario:

     As people of many nations with varied customs and backgrounds come together to deliberate in charity upon the truth, the way of peace on earth and good-will toward men will not be lost. Affectionate greetings to the Assembly from the Olivet Society.
     RORERT G. SCOTT,
          Secretary

     From the Pittsburgh Society:

     The Pittsburgh Society send affectionate greetings to all those present at the 21st General Assembly. Although we can be present with you only in spirit, we share with you the hope and confidence that this Assembly will be an inspiration to all in the church to carry on as instruments of the Lord in the establishment of His New Church on earth.
     CANDIDATE DANIEL W. HEINRICHS

     From the Detroit Society:

     Affectionate best wishes for a successful Assembly, from the Detroit Society.
     GORDON B. SMITH,
          Secretary

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     From a Group of 37 Adults and 32 Children in Shokan, N. Y.:

     Affectionate greetings to all friends of our beloved church at the close of important Assembly, from friends in the Catskills.

     From the Rev. and Mrs. Martin Pryke, Toronto, Ontario:
     We send our affectionate good wishes for an inspiring and fruitful gathering.
     ZARA AND MARTIN PRYKE

     From Marstrand, Sweden:

     Our greetings and the best of wishes for the Assembly.
           OSCAR MATTSON AND FAMILY

     The following messages were received by mail and read at the banquet:

     From the Bryn Athyn Society:

     We pray that the blessing of the Lord may be with you in all your deliberations, and that the inspiration you experience may serve the cause of strength and unity in this church of many lands, and may promote among us all an increasing devotion to the Heavenly Doctrine.
     For the Bryn Athyn Society,
          KENNETH O. STROH

     From Fort Worth, Texas:

     On the occasion of the Twenty-First General Assembly, the Fort Worth Circle sends its warmest greetings to all New Church men in London at this time, and joins with all in the hope that this Assembly, in furthering the uses of the Lord's New Church, will be a happy and successful occasion.
     For the Fort Worth Circle,
          SONIA E. HYATT,
               Secretary

     From the Kitchener, Ontario, Society:

     Greetings to the Twenty-First General Assembly from the Carmel Church Society, Kitchener, Ontario. Though most of us cannot be present in person, we are all of us with you in spirit to share in the joy and inspiration of such a gathering. May your sessions be stimulating, your addresses thought provoking, and your social gatherings engender a true international fellowship within the church. Thus will we all be strengthened to advance the growth of the Lord's New Church among all the peoples of this earth.
     KEITH E. NIALL,
          Secretary

     From the Hurstville Society, New South Wales:

     This is to convey to you all at the Twenty-First General Assembly affectionate greetings from the Hurstville Society and from isolated members of the General Church in New South Wales, Australia. We pray that through this great Assembly will come such an upsurge of affections and elevation of minds as will carry the church forward to new heights of achievement in all its fields of use; and the verses following are offered as expressive of our sentiments at this time:

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In London where New Church men meet
Their friends from other lands to greet,
May naught but harmony prevail,
And may the light of truth Divine
O'er all at this Assembly shine-
That light that lifts the veil.
In faraway Australia we
Wish we could bridge the land and sea
To be among our friends:
To join with priests and laymen too
In gazing on the lustrous view
That from the heavens descends.
But as we can't be present, friends,
Each one of us a greeting sends,
A greeting most sincere.
May New Church men in wisdom grow
And from their hearts renewed love flow
For the Church we hold so dear.
     LINDTHMAN HELDON, Leader

     From the Rev. Robert S. Junge, Wheatridge, Colorado:

     We wish you a most useful and pleasant Assembly. Assemblies are a great inspiration to all of us, even to those who cannot attend. This one is particularly so, as it makes us feel how widespread our Church is. May the 1956 Assembly bring renewed strength and dedication from the Lord to the whole Church.
     THE WESTERN DISTRICT, U.S.A., its Circles, Groups and Members

     From Glenview, Illinois:

     On behalf of the members of the Immanuel Church not now with you in person, may I express to the members and friends of the General Church gathered at the Assembly banquet, an affectionate greeting, and the hope that through your considerations of the Heavenly Doctrine and your deliberations on church policy, the Lord may lead His church to its promised destiny, when the knowledge of Him shall overspread the earth even as the waters cover the sea. Here in Glenview our thoughts this week will often be with you, our friends across the sea. We wish we could be with you at this Assembly, which more than any others in the recent past emphasizes the truly international character of the Lord's New Church, and by so doing emphasizes also the truth that it is His church, not any man's, be he Briton, Continental, American or South African.
     As I continue my studies in a Methodist theological seminary, I become increasingly alarmed at the urgency of the need for the Lord's New Church. Not one of the many Protestant ministers I have met believes that the Lord Jesus Christ is the one only God. Not one believes that God speaks to men today only from His Word. Human "spiritual experiences" and human reason have an equal authority with the Bible. As a result the strangest notions are put forward in the name of Christianity: that there is an evil element in the very nature of God which He can fairly well control but which He cannot eliminate; that belief in an after-life rests only on our surety that God would not waste His time making people to live a few years only, for there is no human soul to guarantee immortality; that the Bible is the best record of Divine revelation, but is a hedge-podge of uninspired writings, rewritten so many times that it takes a German to determine the original; and that the limitation of the size of the family is a Christian duty, lest our brothers of the future starve because of earth's over-population!

497

     It is, then, with feeling that I add my own personal prayer that the Lord may hasten the day when all peoples shall find their haven in His holy city.
     Sincerely,           ORMOND ODHNER,
               Assistant Pastor, Immanuel Church, Glenview, Illinois

     [Mr. Odhner also appends greetings from the Circles and Groups which he visits at Minneapolis-St. Paul, Madison, Rockford, St. Louis, Bourbon, and Baton Rouge.]

     From Miami, Florida:

     This is the 21st General Assembly of the General Church; so it could be said that our General Assemblies have now "come of age." To all of you, our friends in the Church, we send our most affectionate greetings. We trust-no, we know-that your meetings together will fulfill your expectations. We wish for you that the Sunday services will fittingly climax a most rewarding and beneficial week. And, for the betterment and progress of "our glorious Church" in every land, may this Assembly increase our mutual understanding and love.
     MORLEY D. RICH, on behalf of the members and friends of the General Church in the south-eastern United States

     From Athens, Greece:

     Affectionate greetings to the 21st General Assembly. My thoughts are with you as you celebrate the establishment of the New Church on' earth. May this banquet strengthen the ties that link us together the world over. MARGARET WILDE (Care of American School for Classical Studies, Athens.)

     Messages were also received from Mrs. Dandridge Pendleton, Miss Ora Pendleton, and Mr. and Mrs. Philip C. Pendleton, all of Bryn Athyn; from Mrs. Kingdon of Philadelphia; from Rev. and Mrs. Norman H. Reuter, Kitchener; from the Durban Society through Mr. Frank D. Bamford, Durban, South Africa; from Mr. and Mrs. W. R. Horner and Mr. and Mrs. C. O. Horner, Lancefield, Victoria, Australia; and Mrs. Martha White, of Flaxley, South Australia.

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     SOCIETIES OF THE GENERAL CHURCH

Comparative Statistics for Ten Years
                    Members     Average          Average.          Average.          Average.          Enrollment
               Of local          Attendance     Attendance     Attendance     Attendance     Day School
Societies & Circles4     Church1          Public           Holy          Doctrinal     Sunday
                         Worship2     Supper3          Class          School or
                                                       Children's
                                                       Services5
                          1946     1955     1946      1955     1946     1955      1946     1955     1946      1955     1946     1955
Baltimore. Md.           17      14     22      19     121     14     13      6      10
Bryn Athyn, Pa.          475      630      362      427      214      266      264      261     110      185      151      216
Chicago, Ill.               78      64      50      39      35      32      25      14      16      6
Detroit. Mich.               32**      53      33**      54      30**     27      14**     24           5
Glenview. Ill.           177      191      150      177      83      129      125     100      63               63     81
Philadelphia, Pa.          41      40      34      22      20      13      20      13      10      3
Pittsburgh. Pa.           109      101*     67      73*      51      39*     43      37*     25      36*      27      29*
Washington. D. C.      18      28      29      33      17      20      14      17      6
Kitchener, Ont.           97      102      98      89      67      65      53      51           17      24      15
Toronto, Ont.           147      130      82      87      72      91      37      48      5      17      15      12
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil           ?     54      ?     23      ?     35
Colchester, England      60      62*      48      52*      41      40*      17      15*      9           10      ?
London, England      65      86      32      53      35      52      12      20           4
Stockholm, Sweden      93      83*     41      35*      36      30*      14      11*      2
Durban, Natal           50      68      50      59      38     35      20      21      15      18      6     7
Hurstville, N.S.W.      28     25      12      20      12           6      8      8      15
Erie, Pa.                    10      12     11      19           10      9      10      7
Denver, Colo.                    16           26          15           15          8
Los Angeles, Calif.                    39           40           30           24           14
Madison, Wis.                    12           28           11           9
Fort Worth, Texas                    18           18           23           14           8
St. Paul-Minneapolis      15      16      15      17      8      14      10      9
North Jersey           14      25     15      37      10      15      5      15      7      9
New York City           22      12      15      12      10      11      12      13
North Ohio                    35      24      17      17      19      14      9      9      12
San Francisco, Calif.                14           18           12           13
South Ohio                    14           21           10           6
Tucson. Ariz.                    22           40           24           20           19
The Hague, Holland      16      13      6      14           9      6      14
Montreal, Quebec                    8          14           9           8
Jonkoping, Sweden      14      14*     12      12*           11*      9      12*
Oslo, Norway           12      9      30      16      24      12      21      13
Paris, France                    14           14           12           10
Dawson Creek (Group).               11           14           12           10           4
     B.C.
Gorande Prairie (Group)          11          12           11           8           13
     Alta.

1 Only adult voting members are included.
2 Evening services are not included in the averages.
3 Only the principal administrations, usually held quarterly, are considered in the averages.
4 The Circles do not include such circuits as the "Open Road Society" in Great Britain, or the circuit of the Southern States or the circuit of the Western States.
5 No figures are given where only a few children's services are held during the year. Several circles and groups carry on Sunday School activities not here listed.
* Figures for the year 1953.
** Figures for 1945.

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HUMAN SOUL, OR SPIRIT 1956

HUMAN SOUL, OR SPIRIT Rev. ELMO C. ACTON 1956

     (Delivered to the Fourth Session of the Twenty-first General Assembly, London, England, July 26, 1956.)

     The subject of the soul seems an abstract one to consider in an Assembly paper. But when it is realized that man's belief in immortality depends upon his conception of the soul, the subject is seen to be eminently practical. It is not enough merely to acknowledge the soul's existence; definite concepts of its form and qualities must be conceived. Otherwise all ideas concerning it disappear into a vague nothingness, which eventually leads to denial. Exactly this has happened in the former church. In the beginning, the soul or spirit of man was believed to have a separate and distinct existence from that of the body, and a belief in its resurrection immediately after the death of the body was sustained. But in time, as the church directed its loves to self and the world, the concept of the soul or spirit became less and less clear, until it fell down into nature and the soul became identified with the natural mind and its sensual life; with the final result that the life of the soul became inseparable from the life of the body, and the false doctrine of its eventual reunion with the material body was invented to account for the life after death.
     With the learned, or with Christian philosophers, the loss of any distinct concept of the soul as an entity in itself has resulted in their speaking of the influx of the soul into the body, but not of any influx into the soul and through the soul into the body (see AC 4373; Infl. 8). The soul thus became identified with the natural mind, and the idea of its existence apart from the body became untenable. Thus in our day it has come about that any real belief in the life after death has vanished; theology is relegated to the "ivory tower"; and the efforts of the church are concentrated upon preaching the "social doctrine."

     The Man of the Church Must Form for Himself Ideas of His Faith. Can there be a stronger argument for the need of considering the nature of the soul? The Writings say: "Everyone's faith is according to his ideas" (SD 5556). It is the sacred duty of the man of the church, and of each generation of the church, to form for themselves ideas of the tenets of faith which they profess. These ideas may be gross appearances of the truth itself; but if they are taken from the letter of the Word, which is believed to contain the Divine truth itself, and this in a state of genuine innocence, they can receive and hold the Divine, and in time can be fully opened even to the Lord.

500

For this reason Purely Divine things are set forth in the Word naturally and even sensually-as that Jehovah has eyes, ears, and a face; and that He has feelings like a man, such as anger (see AC 2553). The important thing is that the ideas should have their bases in the Word. Each one must form his own ideas for himself from the Lord, or from the Word; but he must not try, by persistence and force, to compel others to clothe the ideas of their faith in his. By so doing he may do harm to the faith of another. We present our ideas to each other with the hope that it may assist them to form for themselves distinct ideas of the things of faith which they profess.
     The important thing is for man to form for himself ideas of his faith derived from the Lord through His Word. For "to believe anything without an idea thereof, and without a natural view of the subject, is only to retain in the memory words destitute of all the life of perception and affection, which is not to believe" (WH 7). "It is of much importance what sort of idea a man has acquired for himself concerning the truths of faith" (SD min. 4622); for "nothing can possibly be retained in the memory, and still less enter into anything of thought, except by means of some idea formed in one way or another" (AC 2249:3). And we are taught further: "The understanding of every subject is according to the ideas; being none if there is no idea, obscure if the idea is obscure, perverted if the idea is perverted, and clear if the idea is clear. It is also according to the affections, by which the idea, even if clear, is varied" (AC 3825). How important it is for each generation, and each individual, to consider anew each doctrine or teaching of the church is clear from the teaching: "He who by his own investigation has not acquired for himself some idea concerning these things [spiritual things] receives but a faint idea, if any, from description; for a man receives only so much from others as he either has of his own, or acquires for himself by looking into the matter in himself; all the rest passes away" (AC 3803).

     Universal Principles. There are certain universal principles or doctrines, spiritual axioms, from which we must approach the subject of the soul to form any clear conception of it. These, as we understand them, are:
     1. There can be only one life that is life in itself. In the whole of creation the Lord alone lives; all other things are created and finite, and live from Him. "Everything that has been created is, in itself, inanimate and dead . . . all things are animated and made alive by this, that the Divine is in them, and that they are in the Divine" (DLW 53). This is true of everything of creation, from the supra-celestial to the grossest material forms.

501

     2. Created and finite things are not connected by continuity but by contiguity. So the whole of creation is one contiguous whole from firsts to lasts. Contiguity means connection by discrete degrees, and discrete degrees are the relations between things on different planes. They are brought about, as receptacles, by composition, compression, confasciculations, and conglobation, so that one is from another and yet the only relation remaining among them is one of correspondence, and one communicates with the other only by influx (see DLW 191).
     3. As there are discrete degrees of the receptacles of life, so there are discrete degrees of life, and "such as are the recipient organs, such is the life which they live" (AC 3484). There is no finiting of life by life, but only by finite created receptacles of life (see Infl. 16). Thus there is a discrete degree between thought and speech because there is a discrete degree between the organic of speech and the organic of thought.
     4. Therefore nothing is finited by reception, but only by the creation of finite vessels receptive of life. The life that is received on every plane remains in itself infinite; it is "as it were" finited by reception because its activity is limited by the receiving form (see AC 8604:3): or life is modified and expressed by the organic receptacles through which it passes (see DLW 209).
     5. There is no quality except from a substance which is a subject. This idea starts with the Divine itself; for the Writings insist that the Divine is substance itself and form itself, although infinite and uncreate. Unless God is seen to be substance itself and form itself all thought of Him vanishes into nothing; eventually it falls down into the interiors of nature, and God is identified with them. Thus God is not love as a pure abstraction; He is love which is substance, and wisdom which is form. That there may be Divine qualities there must be a Divine substance which is the subject of these qualities. This Divine substance and form in God is infinite and uncreate, and therefore it is without time and space, filling all space without space and all time without time.
     6. It is similar with created things. There is nothing unless it be a substance which is a subject. "Anything that is supposed to exist apart from a substantial subject is nothing" (HH 434). Thoughts and affections are nothing but the perception of the changes of state in the organic substances of which man's spirit consists. This is taught everywhere in the Writings. The idea that there can be spiritual or physical phenomena apart from substances which are subjects is called "the insanity of our age" (AC 3726:3). And these substances, in finite creation, are determined to use only in and through organic forms (see AC 444). For the term "finite" means limited, bounded; and to that which is limited or bounded extension must be applicable in some way.

502

These finite substances, as uses, are also organic forms. "Organ" comes from a root which means work. An organic form is a substance, or substances, organized for the effecting of some specific use. Therefore such forms are individualized organic forms which in themselves are finite and extended. These organic forms are not only those seen by the eye; there are still purer organic forms which are the subjects of man's spirit and which, because of their use, are to be called spiritual substances (see AC 4224).
     Lastly: an entity, to be anything, must be in a threefold order. An absolute one is not given. "In everything of which anything can be predicated there is a trine" (DLW 209). This idea has its origin in the Infinite itself. We are taught that in God there are three infinite and uncreate degrees, which are love, wisdom and use (DLW 230). And so we are taught that without the idea of a trinity in God no true conception of Him can be formed. This parallels the teaching that in God all things are distinctly one, or one distinctly (see DLW 17). A one is a complex of many, and the greater the variety of things that go to compose the one-provided they are harmonious-the more perfect it is (see CL 329:2). For as things are divided they do not become more simple but more complex, so that the first of finition, or the first finite thing from which all others are derived, contains the greater variety and is more complex than all the following forms of creation.
     As there are three infinite and uncreate degrees in God, so there are three degrees of height in every finite entity (see DLW 223). These degrees in finite things are finite, and they can be thought of separately; yet to have a true conception of any finite entity the three must be seen as one, for unless they are present there is no entity. "A one is never composed of the same things, but of things various in form, which make a one according to their form" (AC 4149:2).
     In this connection there is a remarkable teaching in the Arcana: "The sense of the letter is such as to separate what the internal sense unites and this for the reason that the man who is to be instructed from the sense of the letter cannot have an idea of one unless he first has an idea of more than one; for a one with man is formed from many; or what is the same, from successive things is formed that which is simultaneous. There are many things in the Lord, and all are Jehovah. This is the reason why the sense of the letter makes a distinction, while heaven by no means does so; but acknowledges God in a simple idea, and no other than the Lord" (AC 3035).
     So is it also in the consideration of the soul. The soul in itself is one, but it is of a threefold nature. Its trine may be separated in thought, but cannot be separated in actuality without its destruction. Things that can be divided in thought, but not in act, are said to be distinctly one; also, the term "distinctly one" is applied to things that can be distinguished in thought but not in operation (see DLW 14).

503

"The form makes a one the more perfectly as the things entering into the form are distinctly different and yet united" (DP 4:4). Hence the idea that the soul can exist without a body is an error flowing in from fallacies (see DLW 14). It is also called the "insanity of our age" (AC 3726:3).
     For this reason the term "soul" is used with a number of different connotations, and in several numbers opposing qualities are attributed to it. These apparent contradictions are reconciled in the concept of the soul as an entity lens) in a threefold, discreted and yet unified order or form.
     We are here concerned with the use of the term as applied to man. When it is used in application to other forms of creation it means the inmost essence of any entity; or that first receptacle of life from the Lord through which it receives life and its own distinctive qualities (see AC 2967:3; cf. AC 1040, 1436, 1742).
     As applied to man, the term "soul" is used most frequently to mean the man himself. We use it this way in common speech, as when we say that so many souls were present. Thus it can be synonymous with "person." In the Writings it is used most frequently to mean the spirit of man which lives after death (see AC 5, 180, 314, 321, 1273, 1381, 1389, 1630, 1876, 1886, 2997, 3644, 6054, ct al.). This use of the term is confined for the most part to the Arcana Coelestia and the Spiritual Diary. In the later Writings the term "soul" is replaced by the word "spirit"-the spirit of man which lives after death. The reason for this is given in the Arcana: "It is preferable that it should not be named soul, but instead thereof spirit, since this is the soul of man which lives after death; or, if you prefer, instead of spirit let it be called the interior man; for it is the man himself which lives" (AC 6054; cf. SD 4618). In this sense, soul is used to distinguish the man himself from the material body with which the man is clothed while in the world, but which is rejected by death.
     In regard to man, the term "soul" may be applied to the third or inmost degree of any thing in his spirit or body which is in a threefold order of discrete degrees; and this both as regards the organics which receive life and the life they receive. For the universal law is that "such as are the recipient organs, such is the life they live" (AC 3484; cf. AC 8603:4). Thus the blood is called the ultimate or corporeal soul, for from it come the body and its activities (see AC 1001). And as we can speak of the soul in regard to the vessels receptive of life, so we can speak of the soul of the lives which are manifested by them. Hence the Writings speak of the soul of the regenerate man as being love to the Lord, and the soul of the unregenerate as the love of self (see DP 199e). Good is the soul of truth and, through it, of every deed or work.

504

The first of any discreted series of three which enters into and forms every least thing of the two lower degrees is called soul. Therefore "the soul is both the soul of the whole and the soul of every part" (DP 162). Apocalypse Explained no. 750 mentions seven different ways in which the term "soul" is used in the Word; namely, as meaning man, the life of the body, the life of man's spirit, the life of man's understanding, Divine truth, spiritual life from truth, and life in general.

     The Soul of Man-Anima. But our special concern is the concept of the soul of man which gives the essential human quality and distinguishes man from beast. First it is to be seen that the soul is a finite vessel receptive of life. It is in a threefold series of discrete degrees (see DLW 432), which together make that organic which is properly called the soul or spirit of man. These three degrees can and should be thought of separately; yet they are one in actuality and operation, which means that they cannot subsist separately and therefore cannot separately effect any work. The three degrees of the soul are to be thought of separately only because of the finite mind, which cannot form a true idea of one except from that of many.
     That the soul is finite is evident from the fact that it is a created substance and that life is uncreatable. It is evident also from the comparison frequently made in the Word between the soul of man and the soul of the Lord's Human born into the world: "The soul of a man is finite from his father . . . whereas the soul of the Lord, being from Jehovah, was infinite, and was nothing else than the Divine good of the Divine love" (AC 10,125:3). And it may be seen as well from the universal teaching: "Man cannot be created of the uncreate and infinite but he can be formed out of things created and finite, in which the Divine can be, and to which it can communicate its own life" (Love ii; cf. AC 1921:3). "Who can think rationally that the Infinite can create anything but finite things, and that man, being finite, is anything but a form which the Infinite can vivify from the life in itself" (TCR 470: 4). "Of created and finite things esse and existere can be predicated, likewise substance and form, also life, and even love and wisdom; but these are all created and finite. This can be said of things created and finite, not because they possess anything Divine, but because they are in the Divine and the Divine is in them. For everything that has been created is in itself inanimate and dead, but all things are animated and made alive by this, that the Divine is in them and that they are in the Divine" (DLW 53).

     The First Two Degrees of the Soul. The first two degrees are the receptacles of love and wisdom from the Lord. They are the esse of man. They are the dwelling place and first entrance of the Lord with man.

505

They are finite created forms, receptacles of life (Wis. ii); and they are formed of spiritual substance, which, it is said, "has not extension but impletion" (CL 220:2). They are the essential human form, which cannot be divided (see AC 1999:3, 4), and which can neither have anything added or taken away (see CL 315:10); and they are everywhere present in the body, which is formed from them. Yet they are not there by extension but by impletion, so that when the body dies or a portion of it is amputated they are not in any way affected. Through these two degrees the Lord communicates His life to man from firsts to lasts. The first degree is the receptacle of His Divine love, the second of His Divine wisdom. They are indestructable and unpervertable-the same in a good man as in an evil man; and they communicate to man liberty and rationality.
     They communicate liberty because the Divine love wills to communicate its life to others outside itself in such a way that they may feel it as their own, although it always remains the Lord's. Therefore, when this first degree is moved by the Divine love, it feels the movement in itself as its own, and this real appearance is communicated to everything below it, so that in everything of the mind and the body there is the appearance of self-life. And they communicate rationality because the Lord from His Divine wisdom wills to reveal Himself to others outside Himself. When this is received by the second degree of the soul, that degree is endowed with the faculty of perceiving truth, of knowing and perceiving the harmony of forms both natural and spiritual. This also the soul communicates to all things below it, and from this comes the ability to understand. Hence the two faculties proper to the first two degrees of the soul are liberty and rationality; and since these in their essence are Divine love and wisdom, and these in turn are the human form itself, therefore everything formed by the soul is in the human form. From it is the mind, and from it is the body.
     But these two degrees are not the distinct individual man, for the qualities they impart to man are common to all men. In regard to these two degrees the souls of all men are common (see DLW 240). Therefore these two degrees alone cannot be called the soul of man; that is, the soul which is distinctly his. If there were only these two degrees no man would ever be formed. They are only potentially man, and until there is added to them, or formed by them, a third degree they cannot be called the soul; for, as said before, everything that is anything must be in a threefold order.

     What is the Third Degree of the Soul? The third degree of the soul is called the natural degree (see TCR 470:2). It is formed from the purest substances of nature and is molded into a form of use.

506

Concerning this clothing of uses we read: "The Divine life applies itself, not to man, but only to uses in man. Uses themselves, viewed in themselves, are spiritual; while the forms of use, which are members, organs and viscera, are natural . . . the Divine life applies itself to the uses themselves in every series, and thereby gives life to every form; from this man has the life that is called his soul" (Love iv). Also: "That these several faculties may exist in effect and in use, they have been made and wonderfully organized from created substances and matters" (ibid., xxi:2).
This third degree we conceive as the organic of the soul. It is from this that the soul can be identified with an individual man. For while all variety is from the Infinite as to origin, it yet first arises as individual forms in the ultimate or natural substances of creation. For this reason also no soul or seed could be created until the material world had been created, and its finer essences freed by heat to be molded into individual forms of use (see DLW 310). It is only when the two superior degrees are enclosed by this ultimate degree that they can properly be called the soul of a man. From this third degree the soul of man is called an organic vessel receptive of life. For the word "organ" means a work, and only in ultimates, in substances of the natural world, can spiritual and celestial and Divine things be organized into individuated forms of use. In regard to this degree the soul or spirit of man is said to be extended (see AC 444). Whereas the soul, in regard to the two superior degrees, is called a formative force which has not extension but impletion, as to its third degree it is an organic form-a term implying extension-of which extension must be predicated; for it is an organic which is a specific form of use.
This third degree is the body of the soul which lives after death. The material body which is added for life in the world is for the formation of the spirit in the body of the soul. The importance of thinking of the soul in this way is evident from what the Writings say about an indeterminate idea of the soul. Because the learned have attributed to man's soul or spirit no organic substance other than the material organs of the body, and have thought of the soul itself as an airy, unsubstantial, ephemeral something, they have eventually come to deny the soul, or else to picture its future life as a reunion with the material body (see AC 445-446, 4622:6, 6053; DLW 14, 40, 386; SD 5556; TCR 769). From their thought of the soul as being mere wind or ether they have assigned to it some organ of the body as its seat, and have placed it in the heart, in the material, visible brain, in the blood, or in some other organ. And when the soul is identified with a material organ of the body which obviously dies, they cannot but come eventually to the conclusion that the soul dies or vanishes with the body.

507

     That the New Church must not go to the opposite extreme and attribute the body of the soul to a substance that has no extension and no predicate or analogy of extension, is clear from the teaching given in Arcana nos. 444-446; where it is said that when extension, or any word implying extension, is denied to the soul it vanishes into nothing and is denied. The soul is an organic substance. An organic substance is a substance organized for a specific use; and organization implies or compels the idea of a number of things and qualities arranged in a certain order for a specific purpose. For there is no mode or quality except from the changes of form and state in organic substances.
     This idea is further confirmed from the teachings concerning the dwelling place of the soul in the material body. We have seen that as to its two superior degrees the soul is everywhere in the body, and that it is there by impletion, not by extension. But how, and by what, does it enter the body! For the general principle taught in the Writings is that nothing can be effected in creation except by some mode. "The first principles of life," we are taught, "are in the same place as the beginnings of the fibers" (DLW 366). That is to say, they are the interior forms within the cortical glands of the brain or nerve cells (see Wis. ii). From them go forth fibers which weave the whole body, so that by them the soul as life is present in every least part of the body. "The primary texture of the human form, that is, the human form itself with each and everything thereof. is from first. principles continued from the brain through the nerves. . . . It is this form into which man comes after death, who is then called a spirit or an angel, and who is in all completeness a man, but a spiritual man. The material form that is added or superinduced in the world is not a human form by itself, but only by virtue of the spiritual form, to which it is added or superinduced that man may be enabled to perform uses in the natural world, and also to draw to himself out of the purer substances of that world a fixed containant of spiritual things, and thus continue and perpetuate life" (DLW 388).
     The nature of this third degree of the soul is made clearer by a consideration of the teachings concerning the seed from which man is born-the seed which contains the soul. The conception of a son from a father is said to be, not the conception of life, but the conception of forms receptive of life, because all life is from the Lord. The soul of man is in his seed, and by the seed the soul of the father is carried over to the son. This soul contains not only the two superior degrees of life which impart to man liberty and rationality, but also the third degree in which is the heredity from the father (see DLW 432). This degree is the ultimate of the soul; it is not extraneous to it; and in this sense the soul is said to be perverted. That this third degree is an essential part of the soul is evident from the fact that the son is born into the likeness of the father, not only as to appearance but also as to loves and affections.

508

Again, if the soul is a form of use, a specific form of use, it can only produce forms of use similar to itself. From this we have the persistence of racial likenesses and family traits. In the beginning this degree was unperverted, and hence man had a perception of all good and truth as soon as it was presented to his senses. But with the fall the two superior degrees of the soul could not impart this perception to the lowest degree; and only enough of the way of influx could be kept open to form the body according to the general order of the human form, and to give man a perception only of certain general natural and spiritual truths.
     The point is that this inheritance from the father is not extraneous to the soul; it is the ultimate form of the soul, the last degree, without which the two superior degrees could not be transferred from father to son. The seed itself is essentially a substance which is a formative force; for the substance of the soul, which is conceived in the womb of the mother, does not increase: all things of the body are from the mother (see AC 1815). It is said that all the coverings of the soul are from the mother, so we may say that the third degree of the soul is that interior substance in which man's heredity is formed.
     When this soul is conceived in the womb of the mother, it begins to form a material body representative of, and corresponding to, its inmost degrees; so that from it, even though its ultimate degree is perverted, it still creates an ordered human body. However, the interior substances of which the mind and spirit are formed tend downward and cause a man to feel evil loves as delightful. This downward trend can be averted and changed only as the two superior degrees of the soul are opened. And they are opened as man learns truths from the Word as cognitions and scientifics, and softens by repentance and temptations the perverted form of his heredity; so that the two superior degrees can from within induce a new form upon its ultimate substance, a form truly human, a form which corresponds to and is receptive of the Divine love and wisdom which is its life. In this way the goods and truths of the internal man or soul which are the Lord's, yea, which are the Lord, descend into man's conscious life and can be felt in himself as his own.
     From this it may be seen that the soul is, in a complete sense, the man himself which lives after death. And it may be seen that while in considering its qualities we must as it were divide it into apparently separate entities, yet in actuality and in operation it is one entity; it is the man himself.

     Conclusion. Because of time the subject of this paper has been presented in a concentrated form.

509

But the hope is that it may encourage you to form for yourselves ideas concerning the nature of the soul or spirit of man from the Lord through the teachings of His Word. And so we close with the quotation given towards the beginning of this paper: "He who by his own investigation has not acquired for himself some idea concerning these things [spiritual truths] receives but a faint idea, if any, from description; for a man receives only as much from others as he either has of his own, or acquires for himself by looking into the matter in himself; all the rest passes away" (AC 3803).

     Discussion of Mr. Acton's Address

     Mr. Harold F. Pitcairn was much interested in the address, but wished to direct discussion to one point and to ask Mr. Acton a question or two, which dealt primarily with the spiritual substance of which the soul is composed. He said:
     "I would like to ask Mr. Acton if he considers that there is a substance that is not Divine and at the same time has no space-qualifications. The reason I ask this question is that I presume that all New Church men will agree, and would unqualifiedly say 'yes,' if you ask them, 'Is there a spiritual substance?' Now, if spiritual substance is defined only as 'the inflowing life of the Lord' (which is sometimes done), then to my mind that is not a definition of a 'substance.' On the other hand, if spiritual substance is defined as a substance composed of material parts which is capable of receiving Divine life as a receiving vessel, on the plane of love and affection, that, to my mind, is merely a definition of material substance. Yet material substance receives the Divine life only on the material plane. Therefore, to my mind, unless we have a substance which is devoid of spatial qualifications, and which is therefore capable of receiving the Lord's inflowing life on that plane of love and wisdom, I do not understand what the Writings mean by spiritual substance."
     Mr. de Moubray felt that an answer to Mr. H. F. Pitcairn's question was contained in AC 1999-as well as in some less direct references elsewhere.
     This paragraph speaks of yet another degree of the soul-of a heaven above the highest angelic heaven-in which are those elements of the souls of all human beings which are the Lord's own habitation and into which comes the influx from the Lord. Swedenborg there speaks of the souls being altogether under the Lord's sight and by this explains the omnipresence of the Lord. For there there is definitely not even an appearance of space, as there is in the three heavens which are open to angelic consciousness.
     Without wishing to appear to add to the learned and informative lecture of Mr. Acton, he noted that the soul, at least from the age when regeneration can begin, is either in heaven or in bell. With every regenerating man, that degree which is opened is in an angelic society in one of the heavens. With the opening of the lowest degree, the soul is in the natural heaven. If the spiritual degree has been opened, the soul is active in an angelic society of the middle heaven. If the mind is opened to the highest degree it is in the celestial heaven.
     And if any of us think spiritually and have put material ideas aside, spiritual ideas are implanted in that degree of our soul. If we happen to be reading the Scriptures, the correspondences are implanted in our soul according to the extent of our knowledge. If we are thinking on a spiritual subject which is not open to that sort of correspondences, the interior degrees have implanted in them the thoughts corresponding-on those degrees-to the state of our present consciousness with all its fulness.

510

Whatever degree has been opened-the plane of effects, or that of causes, or that of ends-when we die we cast off the evil that adheres with the external plane and come into all that knowledge.
     Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner: "We have listened to a very scholarly and interesting paper on a subject which-has been the topic of much difference of opinion and much study. Swedenborg himself was interested in this topic from his youth and he spent a terrific amount of time and labor on it. And it would be vain to suggest that we could settle the view of the church in a moment on such an immensely important question.
     "But I have a point of view to offer which differs in some respects from that of the speaker. The passage brought out by Mr. de Moubray, AC 1999, emphasizes that aspect. For the statement is there made that there is a 'heaven of human internals' above all the angelic heavens. This sharpens the picture of my concept of the spirit of man. There are indeed three degrees of the soul, but this inmost human internal is really above these three definite degrees of the personal soul of man.
     "The three degrees of the soul or spirit which are called 'the celestial mind,' 'the spiritual mind,' and 'the natural mind,' are all of them planes of personal consciousness. They represent the reciprocal reception of the Divine life, and are, if you please, that spiritual organism through which the Lord's life can operate and which can in turn respond to it. And as I read the Writings, I find that this spirit of man with its threefold degrees is a spiritual substance which has a spiritual extension and limitation. The three minds, or internal degrees which live after death, have an extension, but it is a spiritual extension such as we find in our own minds, an extension of love and wisdom, of knowledge, an extension of states, which together compose the sum total of man's personality.
     "All these states make up an organism unified by the soul as a spiritual body. In point of fact, we are told that the memory of man and the truths there are arranged in series, like fibers and organs, in the spiritual organism of the mind; the truths and affections being all bound together in a functional unity and being felt by the man as one.
     "There is a plane of the surviving spirit that never enters the spiritual world. And that is generally referred to as 'the limbus' or 'the cutaneous envelope,' or 'the medium' between the two worlds. Man retains this from the finest substances of nature, as a basis for his earth-born personality. And yet that is not what we see when we come into the spiritual world and meet each other as 'souls.' You remember, in CL 315:11, that the master-teacher, having considered many views about the soul, tells his pupils: 'You are souls-you are the interior, spiritual substance that was present in the body and now you see this as human forms, as souls.
     "Now I believe that spiritual states organize themselves, of the Lord's mercy, into the individual quality that is presented as the spiritual body of an angel or spirit. It is that which we see in the spiritual world. We do not see a spirit's limbus' and we do not see his inmost soul, but we see that personality which is formed by the Lord from all the states that the spirit had undergone on earth. All the gifts of the Lord are embraced in that personal human body which we call the angel; and of course, the devils also are organized states.
     "The bodies of spirits are extended-have spiritual extension. The whole spiritual world is extended. It is not extended into a fixed spatial field, except as to appearance. But it has a real spiritual extension. In the spiritual world we do not have to walk upon nothing-we walk upon an extended plane of spiritual things which are most real to angels and spirits, even as they are real to the human mind. For after all, we on earth also walk upon a spiritual ground.

511

We walk, or stand firmly upon our faith, on those concepts of life and knowledge which experience has brought to us. We are only strangers in this world. We are really at home only in our minds. And
it is only within the held of our own knowledge that we can find any security; it is, if you please, our stamping ground. We cannot, in this life, depart from the world of our own memory. But in the other life, the Lord opens up before us the memories of all men, and the minds of all angels and spirits also; and the spiritual things which are contained in them are represented before us and become a wider field of spiritual ultimates on which our lives can progress into a perfection that the Writings can at times only hint at."
     Rev. David R. Simons felt it appropriate to recall the teaching of the late Bishop Acton, whose son had now given this fine address, that the Lord, inflowing into the soul as life, gives it to have this life as its own. If we feel something with our hand, it seems exactly as if we felt life in the hand. The receptacles of life in the brain do the very same thing as the Lord does, in that they give to that into which they inflow the appearance that life is in itself. This principle is wonderfully illustrated through out nature. All the forces of nature give the appearance to those things which receive them that those forces belong to the receptacle. A magnet appears to have magnetism in itself; yet a magnet is nothing but a piece of matter in which the particles are so ordered that it receives magnetism. We say we weigh so many 'stones' or 'pounds. The force of gravity appears to be in us; but actually it is apart from us and we are only receptacles. We say we see electricity in the light-bulb, but actually this is only a receptacle of electricity. And throughout nature we see the God of nature giving His creatures to feel life as if it were their own.
     Mr. Richard R. Gladish, thinking it useful to keep the clergy in touch with the low estate of the laity from time to time (laughter), raised a question.
     If the soul is from the father, what is from the mother? Is it possible that the two inmost degrees are from the father, and the third or natural degree from the mother! Are all things of the body from the mother? On the other hand, if the total formative and creative substance is from the father, how is it that children can bear a resemblance to their mothers? Mr. Gladish declared that he had already discounted the theory, popular with the distaff side, that the main thing inherited from the father is the proprium. But there remained the question whether there was not something of a creative quality from the mother, too. For if you take some substance and a creative element sets to work on it, it is this creative element alone that will be reflected in its form; as the sculptor's hand is reflected in the shaping of an image. He asked for some comment on this problem.
     Rev. Erik Sandstrom felt that we were in good company if we called the subject of the address profound, which connoted that we might not fully understand it. However, Mr. Acton had helped us to go a little beyond just putting up the question marks. The important thing was to get away from the idea that the soul is an esoteric or nondescript something that simply vanishes in the blue. Until we begin to study and reflect we can do no more than simply acknowledge the soul's existence. If we should feel that we cannot grasp so deep a subject, we may be consoled that if is not necessary to have an intimate acquaintance with such things as long as we have a general knowledge of what is involved, and particularly this, that every thing created must be substantiated in some organic form. It must have a basis in some form of ultimate, otherwise the Divine gift of life will simply not be given. The main teaching in this connection is that love is never satisfied unless it reaches the ultimate. It must be in fulness, must come down to the very bottom. It is the very nature of Divine love to continue down to the rock bottom of creation.

512

     For that reason there is 'the limbus'-which, as was correctly said by a previous speaker, we do not bring into the spiritual world; for since it is composed of the finest things of nature it cannot but remain in nature, although it is the inmost [outermost?] receptacle of the spirit. He wondered if Mr. Acton would agree with him that the limbus constituted the third or lowest degree of the soul and that the interior degrees flow into the limbus as this is formed by regeneration, or not formed by our lack of regeneration; thus confirming, or making stable, the inclination which we have in that third degree from birth, derived from the father and superimposed upon it from the mother.
     What he wished to bring to mind was the essential law that the Divine operates from within and from without at the same time-a general law by which we may cooperate with the Divine. Regeneration thus would mean the forming of the limbus-or that vessel of life which we forever retain-into such a form that it is truly a receptacle of the interior degrees which are truly unpervertible. The two degrees are then opened, for they are then actively received, and there is a response. The influx through these degrees is a universal influx from the Divine, and, if it was only that, then man could act only from instinct like the animals and would give no conscious response to the Divine. But for man the Lord has added the mediate influx through the angelic heavens; and that is not from within but from the side of the limbus-from the "limbi" of other spirits which are activated according to the order of creation. When activated, they would bring forth a sphere by means of the surrounding atmospheres which would affect all the "limbi" that were receptive and in conformity. And so an affection is offered by means of the sphere proceeding. But that affection must be weighed and examined by the one which received it as an impulse; for if you could not scrutinize and select, you would be a mere automaton in the hands of the inflowing sphere, or the angel or spirit from which the sphere issues. And so he has also instruction from without, which is as it were the Lord operating with His left hand. The Lord teaches by means of His Word. A man can see the law of creation therein and select what he will obey and what he will discard. If he regenerates he will receive it as the order of life as this was intended by the Creator, and accept it as his law of conduct, whether it appeals to his proprial nature or not. He superinduces upon his conduct a shape or form which conforms with the flow of life in the internal aspect of the soul. And since he then brushes aside the hereditary taken on from the father in the third degree of the soul, he offers to the interior degrees a recptacle which is not repelling but receptive.
     And that form, thus offered, is nothing but a creation of the Word-the Word being as a sculptor remaking that degree of the soul, refashioning the limbus to such a form that again it becomes an image and likeness of God. And so, the interior things are received for the first lime, when the interior degrees are being opened.
     If we have some idea of these things we may understand why it is important to study the subject of the soul and how this has an immediate bearing on our lives. If we cannot enter into the particulars let us agree on the generals and live according to them. These generals are that we must receive a new form of life from Divine revelation; obeying it because it is Divine and infallible and conducive to eternal happiness, and indispensable for any enjoyment of delight whatever except possibly that which endures for the fleeting moment but leaves emptiness in its wake. What the devils appreciate as a momentary satisfaction of life, we must discard or disregard. True happiness is progressive and increasing, and it cannot be obtained unless the revealed form of the Word is imposed on the ultimates of the soul, so that man can offer a resting place for the Son of Man which He did not before have.

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     Forming some idea of these things also provides a philosophical concept of what the spiritual world is, and eternal life. And unless there be some who understand this we would lack any final answer to those of the critical and dubious world around us who say, "We cannot believe in a spiritual world because we cannot see it." Now we can show it so that it can be seen through the eyes of the understanding. We can show it from the essential nature of the limbus, the ultimate degree [the speaker conceived] of the soul, and the organized resting place of the individual character of the personality.
     Rev. Elmo C. Acton, in replying to the discussion of his paper, reiterated that it was essential for every man and woman of the church to form some idea of the soul. If formed from the Word, it matters little how gross or incomplete such an idea is, if it be the resting place of faith. But if an individual has formed no idea whatsoever, the danger is that when he is separated from the external sphere of others he will fall into denial. Mr. Acton felt the latter attitude was well expressed by Housman, one of the English poets, who said:

"Ale, man, ale's the stuff to drink
"For fellows whom it hurts to think.
"Look [deep] into the pewter pot
"And see the world as the world is not."

     As to Mr. Pitcairn's specific question [Is there a substance which is not Divine and yet has no spatial qualifications?] Mr. Acton said: "If he insists on a direct answer, I think I would have to say, No."
     The passage (AC 1999) about a heaven of human internals presented many difficulties. He did not think that it meant a heaven of individualized souls. But in regard to what we see in the spiritual world he would agree with what Dr. Odhner said-we see the character, the living things themselves. In conclusion he stressed that the important thing was what conception we have of an organic or of a substance. The numbers he had cited in the paper gave the answer, he believed. They state that there are degrees of life because there are degrees of receptacles of life. His thought was that anything that has to do with a receptacle of life is extended, or qualities of extension can be attributed to it.
     In reply to Mr. Gladish's question, Mr. Acton had time only to refer to the general doctrine that everything of the soul is from the father, while the body is from the mother. This fact was the reason why the Lord was not conceived from a human father.

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ASSEMBLY NOTES 1956

ASSEMBLY NOTES Various 1956

     Reception. The Assembly got off to a good start on Tuesday evening, July 24th, with the Reception, held in the North Hall of the Victoria Halls. Visitors from ten countries were officially welcomed by Bishop and Mrs. De Charms, Bishop and Mrs. Pendleton, and representatives of the Assembly Committee. We were all supplied with name cards, which helped to effect speedy introductions. Making acquaintances might be said to have been the primary purpose of this meeting and the justification for such a social function coming first in the Assembly program. It was indeed stimulating to meet in person so many people whom one had known previously by name only, if at all; and, of course, stimulating also to renew many an old friendship.
     An hour or so of dancing preceded an entertainment which followed the pattern that has become traditional at British Assemblies-musical and comedy items. If doubt existed among some as to which of these categories certain items belonged to, this might be attributed to the subtlety of the native humor. The final item was a sketch written by Miss Edith Elphick, and performed by members of Michael Church, portraying archeologists of a future age digging up relies of an early New Church group guess which! Refreshments were served after the stage entertainment, and dancing continued until the Reception was brought to a close by the singing of "Our Glorious Church."
     Other Social Occasions. In a city such as London, where members are widely scattered, we could not conveniently hold "open houses" after the manner of, say, Bryn Athyn. Not that many visitors did not enjoy the hospitality of various homes; we have no doubt that many a supper party or discussion went on far into the night. But for those in hotels or dormitories, as well as for others, the communal meals provided an excellent opportunity to form and strengthen new friendships.
     Saddest of the might-have-beens was the impossibility of taking an Assembly photograph. This had been planned for Sunday, but by then the Florida weather which had graced the Assembly earlier in the week had given place to something more typical of a British summer.
     NORMAN TURNER

     Visitors from Overseas. It has been said that the Twenty-first General Assembly was the most international Assembly ever held. Visitors converged on London by land, sea and air from at least eleven different countries.

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     It was a great joy to meet these people who had previously been known to us only through what we had read or heard. Whether in hotels, at meals, before or after sessions, it was wonderful to be able to join in such interesting conversations and discussions on doctrinal and other subjects.
     There were quite a number of visitors who either did not understand English or had a limited knowledge of the language. We were very pleased that the language barrier did not deter them from attending the Assembly. In fact, they appeared to enjoy every minute of it.
     There were very few opportunities during the Assembly for them to see London's historical landmarks as we were being fed with spiritual or natural food most of the time. However, it had been arranged to make a round of visits after the Assembly, and those visitors who did not have to return immediately after the Assembly was over no doubt availed themselves of this opportunity.
     After supper on Friday evening we were treated to a film show, thanks to some of our visitors from the United States. The film was fifty minutes long, and it gave us an insight into the high school and college life in Bryn Athyn. I am sure that this made many of the older viewers wish that they had had the benefit of New Church education in the Academy. The film was greatly appreciated by all the nationalities present.
     We certainly enjoyed having so many overseas visitors in our country. As Bishop De Charms said: "It is our confident belief that this will prove of inestimable value in binding us closer than ever in bonds of mutual understanding and spiritual affection." May it be less than twenty-eight years before we see them in England again!
     MURIEL COOPER

     Scandinavian Affairs. In that 14% of the overseas visitors were from Scandinavia, a section of our notes can be devoted to the special things done on their behalf. The presidential address was translated into Swedish for all of them to follow in the first session. One other address was translated, and others were summarized at a gathering advertised as "Scandinavian 11 o'clock Coffee" at Swedenborg House. After drinking coffee and talking polyglot for a while, those present heard the Rev. Erik Sandstrom explain the substance of the sessions thus far, and preview the two sessions to follow.
     The Swedes, Danes and Norwegians then greeted each other and spoke briefly of the future of the church in Scandinavia. Miss Elsa Sigfuss, of Denmark, sang two solos. The Rev. Bjorn Boyesen rounded off the meeting with some remarks about plans for growth, noting particularly the need for having translations of the Writings in the Scandinavian languages, and perhaps using the tape-recorder to extend ministrations.
     FRANK ROSE

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     Meals and Accommodation. Before commencing a brief description of the meals and accommodation it might be opportune to mention that arrangements were made also to meet visitors arriving from overseas. Those wishing to use this facility had to contact the Rev. Erik Sandstrom or Mrs. Percy Dawson, and it is reported that a number of parties were successfully met at the various London termini despite the difficulty of finding and recognizing people in cavernous, smoke-filled stations.
     Mrs. Roy Griffith was the member of the Assembly Committee responsible for catering, and she must be congratulated because we were provided with seven excellent meals. Space will not allow a detailed description of each menu, but it might be said that we always had three courses. From Wednesday through Friday both luncheon and supper were taken at the Oxford Corner House, Sunday luncheon being at the Coventry Street Corner House. All the luncheons were in the attractive Brasserie and suppers in the well furnished Empress and Hanway Rooms. Tables for four were used in the Brasserie, but we were able to have larger parties at supper, where tables for six and eight were provided as well. The sale of meal tickets was in the efficient hands of the Assembly Treasurer, Mr. Roy Griffith, while the collection of the tickets was left to the ushers.
     Visitors from home and abroad were accommodated in hotels, in homes, and in a dormitory. The largest number stayed at various hotels within easy reach of the Victoria Halls, such as the Bedford, the Kingsley, the Savoy, the Whitehall, and the Dorchester. Many members of the London Society had the pleasure of having in their homes guests who came from far and near. And last, but by no means least, Michael Church was transformed during the Assembly week into a dormitory in which a total of twelve visitors were accommodated with Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Clennell as host and hostess. While all three forms of accommodation had a proportion of different nationalities, the majority of our friends from across the Atlantic were staying at the hotels, while many of our Continental visitors were installed in homes or in the dormitory.
     Members of the Assembly Committee responsible for arranging hotel and home accommodation were Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Bruell and Mrs. Percy Dawson. A small committee with Mr. Reginald J. Law as chairman arranged the dormitory facilities.
     COLIN COLEBROOKE

     Sons of the Academy Meeting. The Sons met in the Victoria Halls after luncheon on Friday to consider progress in New Church education. After brief announcements, and greetings from absent members, Vice-President Harold McQueen of Glenview, Illinois, introduced four speakers. Mr. Colin Greenhalgh, Colchester, spoke of the need for an adequate exchange of ideas among Sons as a means for fostering the development of New Church education in Britain, urging Sons to keep abreast of developments in modern education and to put their ideas into print.

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Mr. Garth Cooper, Colchester, reviewed the history of the Colchester Chapter, emphasizing the growth of new uses. Among these he noted that the monthly meetings are addressed by local Sons, with each Son taking his turn. Some pick items to read from the church publications, but a gratifying number write their own papers. Mr. Stanley Wainscot, London, pointed to the need for a unified view of Sons uses in the world today, where the Academy in Bryn Athyn is no longer the only institution that Sons support. Mr. Daric Acton, Pittsburgh, spoke of the determination that sparked the founders of the Academy to establish an education based on the doctrines. "Today the worst enemy to the development of New Church education," he said, "is indifference."
     After the speeches some remarks were made by Mr. Percy Dawson, London, who exploded the notion that private schools in Britain are restricted by the government; the Rev. Frank Rose, Colchester, who felt that British Sons would grow if they devoted their energies at least in part to the work of the British Academy; and the Rev. Harold Cranch, Los Angeles, who spoke of the program to unite Sons in the large, scattered Western District Chapter.
     WARREN DAVID

     Theta Alpha Meeting. The Rev. Elmo Acton conducted the opening service, taking as his subject "Conjugial Love." The true concept of husband and wife as one man (home) was contrasted with the present day idea of marriage, in which the man and wife struggle to maintain independence of thought and affection.
     At the business meeting which followed there were reports, telling of how Theta Alpha is developing its main purpose of spreading New Church education.
     HELENE HOWARD

     Young People's Session. How can the young people help to preserve and strengthen the New Church? This was the theme introduced by the Rev. Frank Rose for consideration by the 57 young people assembled at their own session on Saturday, July 28th. Three aspects of the topic were treated by three speakers: Peter Jones from Northampton, England; Roger Hussenet, from Paris, France; and Richard Acton, from Glenview, Illinois.
     Speaking of the peculiar problems faced by the isolated, Mr. Jones pointed out that the church is not merely a building or group, but must be within the individual. Each man is a church, and his first duty is to make this church strong.

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Being without regular pastoral guidance places more responsibility on the individual; yet the isolated member finds a greater opportunity to express his beliefs to those outside the church, though this must be done from charity conjoined with true faith.
     Mr. Hussenet spoke on the problems of a small circle. A circle such as the one in Paris, with pastoral visits only twice a year, must rely on itself for spiritual guidance. Each member must work to prevent the whole group from falling into a state of spiritual stagnation. In Paris this problem was very real, especially because very few New Church collateral works were translated into French. Mr. Hussenet closed with the thought that all New Church men must look to the Lord and His providence for the future growth of the church.
     Mr. Acton, the final speaker, stressed the responsibilities a New Church man faces in a large society, stating that duties-even menial ones-such as preparing for a banquet-must be assumed if the church is to grow. He concluded with the law of responsibility found in the Arcana, that all influx is according to efflux (no. 5828:3); stating that all New Church men must form vessels which will receive Divine influx, cooperating with Divine Providence in establishing the New Church.
     After an interesting discussion the Rev. Frank Rose outlined three specific means by which a man's desire to join in the stream of providence can be shown: establishing a personal library of both the Writings and collateral works, instituting a ritual of family worship, and accepting the financial responsibilities of church membership.
     With the singing of "Our Glorious Church" and the Benediction the session was closed.
          ALFRED ACTON

     Miscellaneous. Members and friends of the British Open Road joined with visitors from Holland, France and Denmark on Thursday afternoon to meet one another and to meet some of the ministers of the General Church. After introductions were made all round, two former pastors of the Open Road, the Rev. Cairns Henderson and the Rev. Wynne Acton, reminisced about their work here.
     Every morning from Tuesday through Saturday the Assembly News was sold, giving extracts from the addresses and items of newsy interest. It was concocted by the editor of the British News Letter, the Rev. Frank Rose.
     For those who had not taken the tours mapped out in the Rev. Dennis Duckworth's Newchurchman's Guide to London, the author conducted a special tour on the Tuesday after the Assembly.
     FRANK ROSE

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[EDITORIAL NOTE: The Rev. Frank S. Rose undertook the entire responsibility for these "Assembly Notes," organizing the staff of contributors drawn from both sides of the Atlantic and seeing that their copy reached the editor. If anything might be added, it would be a word of warm appreciation of the long-extended work done by every member of the Assembly Committee under the chairmanship of the Rev. Alan Gill.]
GENERAL CHURCH PUBLICATION COMMITTEE 1956

GENERAL CHURCH PUBLICATION COMMITTEE HUGO LJ. ODHNER 1956

     In the September issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE (page 400), a statement was made regarding the constitution and policies of the Academy Publication Committee, which up to the present has been the only permanent agency which has received and acted upon manuscripts submitted with a view to filling the needs of the reading public of the church. But as a result of discussions within that Committee the recommendation was made that a General Church Publication Committee be formed, independent of the Academy although cooperating with it, with the function of aiding in the publication of such material as belongs more properly within the sphere of the General Church. The Board of Directors of the General Church has now authorized the institution of this Committee, and the Bishop has appointed the following gentlemen as its members: the Rev. Karl R. Alden, the Rev. Harold C. Cranch, the Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner, and the Rev. Norman H. Reuter.
     The Committee invites the submission of manuscripts which would help to fill some need or demand within the General Church. It is anticipated that one of its projects will be to encourage the publication of material suitable for the uses of church extension work. The Committee would examine proffered manuscripts and make proposals to the Board of Directors of the General Church, who would then decide whether funds were available for the printing.
     HUGO LJ. ODHNER,
          Chairman

520

THANKSGIVING 1956

THANKSGIVING GEORGE DE CHARMS 1956

     "He that reapeth receiveth reward, and gathered fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together." (John 4:36)

     From most ancient times men have recognized that the produce of the earth is really a free and bountiful gift of God. With the advance of civilization the annual yield of fruit and grain has indeed been increased by the application of scientific knowledge and skill; but without living seed and fertile ground, without sun and rain in due proportion, human toil is unproductive. Over these things man has no control. The Lord alone disposes them according to His will. Even man's strength to labor, and the intelligence to direct his efforts into fruitful channels, are purely Divine endowments. The harvest, therefore, is truly a miracle that bears testimony to the life-giving presence of a Divine Creator, whose infinite love and wisdom alone can provide what is needful to sustain man's life. This is why in all ages, especially at the harvest season, men have turned to the Lord in worship, with glad thanksgiving.
     In the sight of the Lord the real harvest is not the fruit of the earth, but the spirit of thanksgiving in the hearts of men: this because the Lord, in all things, looks to what is eternal. Material food is essential to the life of the body, but gratitude is a vital necessity for the nourishment of the soul. This alone can open the minds and the hearts of men to the reception of eternal blessings. The reason is that thankfulness inspires love, and with it the desire to make a return for benefits received. When this love is directed to the Lord it impels man to inquire how he may truly serve the Lord. This is what enables the Lord to feed him with the bread of heaven, providing that spiritual harvest to which He referred when He said to His disciples: "He that reapeth receiveth reward, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together."
     The Lord, from His infinite love, seeks to impart everlasting joy and happiness to all mankind. Everything in the entire universe, from the greatest to the least, is designed to contribute toward this supreme goal of the Divine Providence. To make such a contribution is the only reason for its existence, and is called its use. Use, therefore, is the heart and soul, the living essence of all creation.

521

     Man also is created to perform a use; and each one a very special and individual use. In this his very life consists. Man's life is his love, and his use is the end for which that love spontaneously strives, and in the achievement of which it finds all its delight. If his love is deprived of this fulfillment it languishes; life loses its zest, becomes flat and pointless, a hopeless burden instead of a joy. The body may continue to live for a time, but the spirit dies; and when this happens, even the physical functions rapidly deteriorate. In this is the scripture true that "man doth not live by bread alone" (Deuteronomy 8:3).
     Natural life, the life of the external mind, is sustained by the hope and the ambition of self-advancement, The love of self feeds on the acquisition of wealth and power, dignity and honor, the pride of supereminence over others. Laboring for these, it may acquire the knowledge and the skill to attain its ends by cunning wiles; but uses thus performed bring no return of inmost happiness. They only fill the mind with an insatiable longing that can never be satisfied: this because self-love finds no delight in service to others, but solely in their defeat and degradation, in subjecting them to its own will, and compelling them to promote its own ambitions. It has no regard for the freedom or the welfare of the neighbor, except in so far as this may suit its purpose. For this reason, any success it may achieve is only temporary and apparent; for the Lord does not permit the spiritual freedom of any man to be violated by another. Against the protective power of His providence no mortal man can possibly prevail. All who attempt it are restrained by punishments, so that in the end the love of self is frustrated and rendered impotent, although the love remains a burning flame of unfilled desire. Such is the living death of those in hell.
     Spiritual life, the life of the internal mind, the life that leads to heaven, is sustained by love to the Lord, which is one with the love of self-effacing use to others. When the Lord's love is received by man it inspires the delight of giving increase of joy and happiness to the neighbor. Under the impulse of this love, man does not act contrary to the Lord's will but in accord with it. This is to serve the Lord, and to make the only possible return to Him for all the benefits of His merciful providence. Wherefore, the Lord says of all who perform uses to the neighbor from love to Him: "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me" (Matthew 25:40).
     No man, from his own intelligence, can possibly know how to perform uses of lasting benefit to the neighbor. Whatever a man does from his own intelligence, however charitable it may appear in outward form, is secretly inspired by the love of self. The quality of any use, in the sight of heaven, is determined, not by what man does, but by the love that prompts it, the spirit in which it is done.

522

In the last analysis, therefore, it is not man who performs uses but the Lord; it is the Lord's love received by man, moving his heart, forming his mind, directing his thoughts, and thence governing his actions toward ends that are far beyond his comprehension. The means whereby the Lord performs uses are the truths of His Word, the laws of His kingdom; for these spring from the infinite wisdom of His love, whereby alone the ends of His providence may be achieved. When man, from love to the Lord, submits his own intelligence to Divine instruction, then first can the Lord act in him, and by means of him, to impart the everlasting blessings of His mercy.
     The secret of all the uses of heaven and the church is therefore contained in the truth of Divine revelation. When the Lord, at His coming, makes that truth manifest in a form adapted to man's understanding, He offers man, freely and for the asking, the joy and the blessedness of eternal salvation in heaven. This is the real harvest for the sake of which all else exists. When the Word is given, the way is open, the means are provided. Man is given the power, if he will, to avail himself of them. This is why the Lord said to His disciples: "Say not ye, There are yet four months and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to the harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth reward, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together."
     To reap is to gather from the Lord's Word the knowledge and the understanding of how to keep His law and do His will. It is to learn the truth revealed, impelled by a love that will not rest until it goes forth in deeds of charity and use to others. This is the life of religion that yields an eternal harvest. In reaping this harvest man enters into the joy of his Word, that "both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together."
     "He that soweth" is the Lord. He not only gives the seed of Divine truth, but in marvelous ways He secretly prepares the soil of human minds for its reception. He inspires the love that nurtures it, and imparts the understanding, which, like the gentle rain and the dew from heaven, makes it grow. Man, indeed, must till the soil by a persistent effort to learn and understand the truth. He must plant the seed by a continual effort to guide his life according to the truth. He must tend the growing plant by striving to remove from thought and will every impulse of self-love. But while he must appear to do these things himself, the truth is that the Lord, in a thousand secret ways, does them for him; for the removal of evil from the human heart, and the implantation of good, whereby regeneration is effected, is a work purely Divine. The Lord alone has power to restrain the hells that they may not attack with overpowering strength beyond man's ability to resist.

523

He alone can provide a balancing influence from the heavens, that man's freedom of choice may be preserved, or that when it is temporarily lost it may be repeatedly restored. Of this Divine protection man has no conscious knowledge, yet it is unceasing from the first moment of his life, even to eternity. In spite of all the bitter conflicts that the life of religion demands; in spite of the appearance that the outcome depends altogether upon man's strength of will and determination; the spiritual harvest, like the produce of the earth, is a miracle of Divine omnipotence for which we can only lift up our hearts in praise and thanksgiving unto the Lord.
     The appearance is that "he that reapeth," as mentioned in the text, refers to man. This is true to the extent that man, of his own free choice, must open his heart to the Lord and hearken to the teaching of His Word. This freedom the Lord does not coerce. He leads, as far as man is willing to follow, but He never compels. He provides that man may choose the way to heaven, and may sustain the conflict of temptation as if by his own power, because only in this way can man enjoy the happiness of heaven as his own. To this end the Lord most carefully conceals the operations of His providence, that when the goal is attained, "he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together." But in a deeper sense, the Lord both sows and reaps. His love sows the seed, and His wisdom reaps the harvest. Man makes the choice, but the Lord alone gives him the power to do so. He tempers the influx of the hells, and fights for man the battle of regeneration, even while He leaves man seemingly alone in the hour of temptation. This man may acknowledge from the teaching of the Word, although he has no manifest perception of it. To make that acknowledgment does not take away his freedom, but instead exalts it. Indeed: we are told that the more perfectly the angels perceive that of themselves they are nothing, and that all their wealth of happiness and use is the Lord's free gift to them, the more fully do they feel that they are free, because they will to have it so. In this is the true spirit of thanksgiving that opens the door of the heart to the entrance of the Lord, that He may fulfill His promise given through the prophet Malachi, saying: "Prove Me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." Amen.

     LESSONS: Psalm 145:10-21; John 4:25-38; AC 5293:1, 2.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 570, 568, 561. Psalmody, page 107.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 29, 89.

524

LORD'S HARVEST 1956

LORD'S HARVEST Rev. WILLARD D. PENDLETON 1956

     A Talk to Children

     Of all the festivals which we celebrate during the year the one which has come down to us from most ancient times is the festival of thanksgiving. We know this because we are told in the Word about Cain and Abel, the sons of Adam and Eve, who brought their offerings of the field and the flock and presented them to the Lord. We also know that among: the children of Israel one of the three great feasts of the year was the feast of the ingathering, which came at the end of the harvest when the people had laid up their stores of fruit, oil and wine. And so at this day we, too, have come into the Lord's house to bring Him an offering of the land. In doing this we are mindful of the fact that we are bringing to the Lord a very small portion of all the good things that He has given to us.
     But there is another harvest from which we can bring much-a harvest which is not planted by the hand of man. It was of this harvest that the Lord spoke when He said: "Behold, there went out a sower to sow: and it came to pass, as he sowed, some [of the seed] fell by the wayside, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred [fold]" (Mark 4:3-8).
     Now, the Lord is the Sower, and the Word is the seed that He sows. our minds are the ground upon which the seed falls, and it is the fruit of this harvest that we bring to the Lord as an offering of thanksgiving.
     More than anything else, the Lord wants us to grow up and become useful men and women-men and women who love His Word and want to do His will. But before we can do the Lord's will there are many things that we have to learn. That is why He has given us His Word. If we did not have the Word we would not know the Lord, we would not know about His kingdom in the heavens, and we would not know what it is that the Lord wants us to do. If we think about it, therefore, we will realize that the Lord's Word is our most precious possession, for it is by means of the Word that the Lord plants the seeds of truth in our minds.

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     But seeds are tender things; unless they are cared for they are soon scattered or wither away. This is the meaning of that part of the parable in which we are told of the seed that was wasted because it fell upon poor ground. So it is with truths that we learn from the Lord's Word; unless we love them, unless we care for them, unless we cherish them as tender plants in a garden, they cannot bear fruit for the Lord's harvest. Then we will have nothing that we can bring to the Lord, no offering that we can make to Him.
     You know how it is when we hear the Word read and we do not pay attention; we think of the things that we would like to do, and not of the things that the Lord wants us to do. It is not that we do not want to learn, but our minds are so occupied with other thoughts that we do not make the effort to learn. This is what is meant by the seed that fell by the wayside. It falls by the way because we are not thinking about the Lord; and the birds of the air, that is, the other things which we are thinking about, take the truth away and it is lost to us.
     But suppose we do pay attention, suppose we listen carefully to every word that is said. Useful as this may be, the things we have learned from the Word are soon forgotten unless we love them. What we love we do not forget. You do not forget your parents or your friends. But the Lord also is our parent. He is our heavenly Father. And as He Himself has said, He is our friend, and "ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you" (John 15:14). By the Lord's commandments are meant His teachings, the things that we learn from the Word. If we forget these things as soon as we have learned them because we do not really care about them, then the truths which we learn from the Lord are like the seeds which fell on stony ground, where they have not much earth; immediately they spring up, but because they have no roots in love to the Lord they soon wither away.
     Now, let us suppose that we come to love these stories from the Word; but after a while we find that it is hard to do the things which the Lord wants us to do. It is not always easy to live as the Lord wants us to live, especially when selfish thoughts enter our minds. Then it is that we are apt to neglect the beautiful garden which the Lord has given us, and the selfish thoughts which evil spirits sow in our minds take the place of the Lord's harvest. This is why we must tend the garden with great care, and when evil thoughts enter our minds we must remove them; for if we do not, then, like the seeds which fell among thorns, the truths of the Word are choked by falsities and can yield no fruit in their time.

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     But if, while we are children, we learn to love the Word; and if, each day, we try to do the things which the Lord wants us to do; 'He will give us the knowledge and the strength to keep this garden. And in time it will become like that beautiful garden of Eden of which we are told in the Word. And when we become angels of heaven, then those truths which the Lord planted in our minds when we were children on earth will bring forth fruit: "some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred [fold]." Then will we bring to the Lord an offering of good things-those things which He loves above all the fruits of the ground. What those things are you know, for the Lord Himself has fold you about them in His Word. He Himself has showed you what is good. And as the prophet Micah said so many years ago: "What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk-humbly with thy God" (Micah 6:8). If we will do these things, then we will return to the Lord a rich harvest in which His soul will delight.

     LESSON: Psalm 107:21-43.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 564, 560, 569.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. C12, C16.
MEN AND WOMEN IN THE WORD 1956

MEN AND WOMEN IN THE WORD 1956

Joshua

"That Joshua denotes fighting truth is evident from the fact that he was commanded to fight against Amalek, that is, against the falsities from interior evil. This war must be waged by truth made fighting through the influx of Divine truth. The truth Divine itself which proceeds immediately from the Lord is not fighting but pacific; for it is peace itself, because it proceeds from the Divine good of the Lord's Divine love. But in order that it may become fighting truth, it flows into such angels as are in ardent zeal for truth and good, and who, being excited by this zeal, fight. Hence comes the fighting truth that is represented by Joshua. As this truth was represented by Joshua, therefore he was also made the leader over the sons of Israel after Moses, and brought them into the land of Canaan, and fought with the nations there. For this reason also, when he came into the land of Canaan, there appeared to him an angel of Jehovah with a drawn sword in his hand, who called himself 'the Prince of Jehovah's army'; for by a sword drawn in the hand is signified truth fighting" (Arcana Coelestia, 8595).

527

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1956

     Our readings in the Old Testament (Numbers 18:8-32:42) deal, for the most part, with events of the last year. Thirty-eight years after their first defection the sons of Israel came to Kadesh for the second time. In rapid succession Moses forfeits the right to enter the promised land, Miriam dies, Aaron is succeeded by his son Eleazar and then departs this life; and the people, by defeating Sihon and Og, gain the greater part of the land east of Jordan. Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh are allowed to settle this land on condition that they help their brethren to conquer Canaan proper. On the Plains of Moab, attempts to vanquish Israel through the curses of Balaam fail. The people are again numbered, and Balaam is slain in a successful war against Midian. This portion of Numbers contains fragments of poetry which, the Writings reveal, are from the Ancient Word.

     In our study of the Four Doctrines, Sacred Scripture is concluded, the Doctrine of Life is read in its entirety, and we are introduced to the Doctrine of Faith. The closing sections of the first-mentioned work, in showing the use of the specific church to the entire human race, furnish an interior concept which places that use far beyond mere numbers, yet does not invite complacency but rather emphasizes the great responsibility that is placed upon the church.
     Doctrine of Life shows that man can do good, love truths, have faith, and become spiritual from the Lord alone; and this only by shunning evils as sins-from the Lord, but as if of himself. It then discloses that the Ten Commandments teach what evils are sins, and shows in detail how man comes into the opposite goods as he shuns the evils forbidden in the second table of the Decalogue. Here, then, is a doctrine of life that is still new.
     The Doctrine of Faith defines genuine faith as an internal acknowledgment of truth grounded in spiritual sight of that truth, and then contrasts this with the blind faith of the former church. It carefully distinguishes knowledge from truth, and shows that faith cannot be separated from charity. This is so because faith is "an interior affection which consists in a heartfelt desire to know what is true and what is good, and this not for the sake of doctrine as the end in view, but for the sake of life" (AC 8034).

528

FAITH AND PARADOX 1956

NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly by
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.
Editor                         Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Bryn Athyn, Pa,
Business Manager                Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address, and business communications, should be sent to the Circulation Secretary. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.
     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$3.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy, 30 cents.
     When the Writings treat of the Infinite they speak of that which transcends the human mind. The Divine esse and essence, the infinity and eternity of God, and His Divine attributes, are beyond our comprehension. We can and do acknowledge that they are, but we cannot really understand what they are; for they are uncreate and infinite and we are created and finite. It may be said, indeed, that we accept them in faith, for there is that in them which is beyond rational sight.
     Yet it would not be correct to say that in so accepting them we do the very thing that we criticize in the Christian churches. For one thing, what we accept on faith is the direct teaching of the Heavenly Doctrine, not an article of belief formulated by the church; for another, the kind of faith that is formed from the Writings is not blind. In the many teachings which can be understood by the enlightened mind the Writings are so consistently reasonable to the interior sight of the mind that it is not irrational to conclude that they are true also in those things which we cannot really understand.
     We might save ourselves a measure of frustration by realizing that the declaration, Nunc Licet, does not mean that the finite mind may now penetrate the Infinite! We might save ourselves also from the impasse that arises when we reduce certain things to either-or propositions; realizing that it is not inconsistent with spiritual faith to accept at times what is paradox to the finite mind. With these limitations understood, and fruitless effort avoided, we are free to form those distinct ideas about the Infinite which are possible to us and essential.

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Church News 1956

Church News Various 1956

     WASHINGTON, D. C.

     This time our news goes back to last spring. We entertained both the senior boys and the senior girls while they were in Washington on their respective annual sightseeing trips. We always like to meet these young people and to help them in any way we can. In June we had a final "get-together" at a picnic on the David Stebbing lawn before our pastor, the Rev. Dandridge Pendleton, started on his July vacation. On his return, Mr. Pendleton said that he had enjoyed his short visit in London and had been much impressed with the Assembly. Mr. David Stebbing and son also attended the Assembly, and afterwards toured England.
     Our doctrinal classes last spring were on the distinctiveness of our church, its interpretation of the Writings, and how each generation must study this. At our Nineteenth of June service Mr. Pendleton explained to the children, in his talk before the sermon, why we celebrate the day.
     Mr. Karl Doering was married here after church last May. A reception at the home of the William Kintners followed the wedding. Karl and his wife, Isobel, had their new home dedicated by his father, Rev. Charles E. Doering, in September; and Mr. and Mrs. Paul Rinaldo's son was baptized by Dr. Doering after church the following day. Dr. and Mrs. Frank Doering and Amity, Mr. and Mrs. S. S. Lindsay, Jr., and Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Echols came to Washington for these events. Wedding showers for Miss Marcia Trimble and Miss Nancy Allen were happy occasions. Marcia was married to Mr. Tom Gladish in the Arbutus church on September 1st, and she made a lovely bride in her organza and lace, wedding gown. A reception for 150 at a nearby club followed. Nancy was married to Mr. Edwin Alford, Jr., in Washington, after the service on Sunday, September 2nd. She made a pretty bride in white satin. A reception followed in the garden at Friendship House, where we hold our services
     We missed the annual picnic on the Philip Stebbing farm at which we give farewell gifts to the boys and girls who are leaving for Bryn Athyn. Mrs. Philip Stebbing has now recovered from severe burns received last summer, and we are glad to see her back among us. The going away to Bryn Athyn party for Karen Doering and Ray Kintner, two very nice girls, was held jointly with Baltimore at the Rowland Trimble farm. Miss Anna Woodard visited in Washington several times last summer, and is now living at the Y. W. C. A., with Joan Synnestvedt, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Carl Synnestvedt. Both girls are working in Washington. Miss Jean and Miss Madeline Horigan spent the summer with the Fred Grants before going to St. Petersburg. Florida, where they have bought a house.
     Much to our regret, for we had just begun to know them better, Mr. and Mrs. Harold Kunkle have been transferred to Chicago. Among newcomers to our Society are some bearing well known New Church names. They are Mr. and Mrs. John Caldwell and two sons, Mrs. Robert Caldwell from Chicago, and Mr. and Mrs. Charles Runyon (Millicent Holmes) and their two children. We are happy to have them join our Society. Miss Bobo, aunt of Mr. Ellison Boatman and Emily B. Allen, says that she will join the Society again and be with us on her bi-yearly visits from the Retired Army Nurses' Home in Ohio where she lives.
     The biographical sketch of Dr. Alfred Acton which has been appearing in recent issues of NEW CHURCH LIFE makes the writer realize again what a wonderful opportunity we in Washington had in receiving his instruction for forty years. Your new news writer will start with our annual meeting in September, at which the year's program will be outlined.
     ELIZABETH H. Grant

     BRYN ATHYN SCHOOL

     The Bryn Athyn Elementary School has supplied the following corrected figure: the enrollment for 1956-1957 is 254, not 225, the total previously reported.

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From the number of children whose names are in the baptismal records it is estimated by the school that enrollments for the next four school years will be as follows:

1957-1958, 265
1958-1959, 290
1959-1960, 304
1960-1961, 326

     THE CHURCH AT LARGE

     General Convention.-The Rev. William Beales, who ministered to the Convention Society in Detroit for twenty-seven years, has retired from the pastorate and removed with Mrs. Beales from the city.
     The Rev. Franklin Blackmer, whose term as president of Convention ended in June, is taking up new duties at the Wayfarers' Chapel, Pales Verdes, California.
     The resignation of Mr. Edward F. Memmott as president of Urbana Junior College has raised the question of that institution's future. Several suggestions were discussed at length during a recent symposium, but no decision has as yet been reached.
OF INTEREST TO THE BLIND 1956

OF INTEREST TO THE BLIND 1956

     The following is a list of Braille volumes and Talking Books which may be borrowed by blind readers from several distributing libraries for the blind in the principal cities of the United States.

     BRAILLE VOLUMES

Heaven and Hell, Grade 2, 5 volumes
God the Creator, Grade 11/2, 4 volumes
Doctrine of the Holy Scripture, Grade 11/3, 2 volumes
Doctrine of Life, Grade 11/2, 1 volume
New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine, Grade 2, 1 volume
My Religion, by Helen Keller, Grade 11/2, 2 volumes
Divine Providence, Grade 2, 5 volumes

     TALKING BOOKS

Why God Created Man-3 records
True Christian Religion (survey)-6 records
Divine Providence (survey)-5 records

     For further information write to Rev. Karl R. Alden, Bryn Athyn, Pa., Chairman of the Committee for the Blind of the Swedenborg Foundation.

531

MARRIAGES IN NATURE 1956

Announcements.

"Without a kind of marriage, nothing ever exists or is produced. In the very organic forms of man, both composite and simple, and even in the most simple, there is a passive and an active, which if they were not coupled as in a marriage, like that of man and wife, could not even be there, still less produce anything, and the case is the same throughout universal nature. These incessant marriages derive their source and origin from the heavenly marriage; and thereby there is impressed upon everything in universal nature, both animate and inanimate, an idea of the Lord's kingdom" (Arcana Coelestia, 118).

533

EDUCATION 1956

EDUCATION Rev. DAVID R. SIMONS 1956

NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. LXXVI      DECEMBER, 1956          No. 12
     (Delivered to the Fifth Session of the Twenty-first General Assembly, London, England, July 27, 1956.)

     The Writings teach that there are two universal gates of entrance into the church of the Lord on earth, namely, Baptism and the Holy Supper. "These two sacraments are like two gates to eternal life" (TCR 721). "Baptism is an introduction into the church, and the Holy Supper [an] introduction into heaven" (ibid. 719).
     It is because we are taught that "the former church was Christian in name only, not in fact and essence," that New Church men acknowledge the need for a new baptism, as a sign before angels and men that a man is of the church, and that he-or those who take his vows for him- acknowledges the Lord Jesus Christ as He reveals Himself in His second coming (see TCR 668).
     The uses of baptism as a gate of entrance into the New Church are familiar to us all. We are willing to stand before the Lord to be baptized, or to have our children baptized into His name, and thus to enter into a solemn covenant with Him to care for our own spiritual welfare or that of our children.
     Yet how many of us are prepared to carry out this baptismal promise? How do we bring up our children in the church? How are we to fulfill the obligations implied in this sacrament! How do we as New Church parents, for ourselves and for our children, find the "light and knowledge" to carry out our part in this work of preparing for the reception of the Lord? (Liturgy, pp. 58-60)
     The ultimation of our desire to be baptized into the name of the Lord is fulfilled by some kind of education by which we are prepared to meet our spiritual responsibilities. It is only by an education which leads our own minds and the minds of our children to acknowledge the Lord as God and Father, which teaches the Ten Commandments so that evil may be shunned, and which instructs in the Word of the Old and New Testaments and the Writing-an education based on the new truths revealed in the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem-that we can truly promote our happiness in this life and our eternal welfare in the world to come.

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     New Church baptism is necessary, since "man is born of his parents into natural life, and not into spiritual life, and by inheritance inclines to evils of every kind. [Consequently] he must be born again [before he can] enter the kingdom of God" (Liturgy, p. 56). Baptism is the sign of this new birth, or regeneration (see AC 9032:2; HD 202).
     Distinctive to the New Church are the teachings of the Writings about heredity. New Church men know that the mechanism for the transmission of qualities of the spirit from parents to their offspring exists in Providence so that inclinations to love what is good and true may be passed from one generation to the next; and so that the human race may develop, generation by generation, to an even higher state of spiritual perfection. Yet, with the fall of the Most Ancient Church, this process, designed for the gradual improvement and perfection of the race, was reversed. Instead of inclinations to greater loves of good and truth, tendencies to love evil and falsity came to dominate the natural mind. This trend toward evil grew, generation by generation, to overpowering spiritual proportions, so that only by a process of rebirth could the human race be saved. Because "all actual evil with parents when it often recurs, becomes natural and is added to what is hereditary, and this is transferred into their children," therefore man must acquire a new kind of life from the Lord if he is to go to heaven (AC 494; cf. 4317:4, 5). Baptism is the first gate of introduction to the spiritual qualities which make this new life.
     The world in which we live has no conception of these teachings about heredity, and consequently no genuine idea of the nature of the human mind. It is a common fallacy in the world to think that man is, if anything, innately good. From this false appearance men in the world have come to emphasize the development of self as the end of education. Self-expression, self-realization, self-reliance, self-confidence, self-intelligence, the rights of the individual, preparing the individual to get everything possible from the world in which he lives-these are the common goals of present-day education. It is this egocentric philosophy of life from which what is called the "self-centered" curriculum of the modern school has been organized. In this system of education all things are ordered to promote the appearance that man lives from and for himself which is so opposite to the truth. Many in the world, it is true, recognize the limitations of such a system; but no one can see adequately the fundamental weaknesses of this basic philosophy except from the light of the teachings of Divine revelation.

535

For only where the inner qualities of the human mind are revealed-why it was created, what its potentialities are, how the Lord operates to lead it to heaven-can men truly cooperate with Him to provide the spiritual and natural leading which is true education.
     An education which recognizes that man is born with tendencies to "evils of every kind" will provide a very different environment and a very different leading from those found in the world. When it is acknowledged that self, far from being innately good, tends to evil, the whole emphasis is changed. Self-expression and self-realization are replaced by the subordination of self and the expression of uses to the neighbor. Self-reliance and self-confidence are changed for trust in the Lord and a confidence in the laws of His merciful providence. Self-intelligence is supplanted by thought from the truth; and in place of the rights of the individual, man's obligations and duties to the neighbor are stressed. An education which tries to understand the inner potentials of the human mind and the reasons for its creation will center its curriculum, not in what the individual can get from society, but rather in what the Lord has prepared him to give, and in removing those adverse qualities derived from heredity which block the operation of the inner soul that is created a form of heavenly use.
     But this cannot be done without a struggle. New birth is not possible without temptation. Water is used in baptism to signify the process of purification by which a new life is achieved. "Since everyone who is regenerated also undergoes temptations, which are spiritual combats against evils and falsities, these also are signified by the waters of Baptism" (Liturgy, p. 58).
     Because of hereditary evil, education through the ministrations of an organized priesthood, and through a laity instructed in the Heavenly Doctrine, is vital to the growth and development of the church. If that evil were not present, if the human will were born into order and our inclinations led us spontaneously to receive truth and good will, then there would be no need for education as we think of it; for education means simply the leading out of that which is within. If we were born into the order of our lives all experience would educate us aright. Like the men of the Most Ancient Church, we would select from our environment that which was in harmony with our good hereditary nature, and we would be educated by life itself (see AC 54, 200e, 895). It is because we know from Divine revelation that man is born with a mind which favors evil more than good, and falsity more than truth, that we must strive to lead in the way of regeneration by providing an environment best suited for preparing that mind for rebirth. By a proper education of our children we strive to counteract and control the very heredity which we have passed on to them, to superimpose on the growing mind a new heredity from the Lord.

536

And we do this when we prepare the mind for combats against evil and falsity. The heart and soul of true Christian education is to lead the mind to know right from wrong and to instill habits of order which enable it to carry this knowledge into act-into the life of religion.
     A fundamental of the new Christian life is expressed in the question asked in the baptismal service: "Do you for yourselves, and for this child, acknowledge that evils are to be shunned as sins against Him? [the Lord]" (Liturgy, p. 59) No teaching in the Writings receives more emphasis than that the first step in all spiritual progress is learning to shun evils as sins. "In proportion as anyone shuns evils as sins," we read, "in the same proportion he loves truths" (Life 32). "In proportion as anyone shuns evils, in the same proportion he does goods" (ibid. 21). Man may "know that he is performing uses for the sake of uses in the measure in which he shuns evil. . . . For evil and good are opposites; consequently, as far as anyone is not in evil he is in good" (DLW 426). So essential are these truths about the need to shun evil that New Church men can see that no education can be truly Christian unless it incorporates them in itself. Indeed, we are taught further: "to shun evils as sins is the Christian religion itself" (DP 239). It is apparent from these teachings that the first responsibility of New Church men is to prepare themselves and those for whom they are responsible to combat the enemies of their spiritual life.
     But how can this be done! How can we prepare ourselves and our children for the combats of temptation? The Heavenly Doctrine answers this in its teaching that "everything done according to order is inmostly open to the Lord and has heaven in it" (AC 8513). Preparation for the combats of regeneration means the ordering of all things which affect the growing mind from order itself-from the Word, that is, from the Lord Himself.
     The New Church is called "militant" since its first acts must center in combats against the hells (see AC 59). There are two things that make such combat possible: the weapons with which to fight, and the ability and skill to use these weapons. We cannot expect our children to enter the conflict without adequate preparation and training. We need to arm them with the weapons of truth; and, more important still, we need to initiate them gradually, step by step, into how to use the truth, how to apply it to life. The muscles of true thinking and right action must be developed in preliminary skirmishes at their own level of achievement before we can expect them to take their full spiritual responsibilities. Concerning this the Writings state: "With those who are in a state of childhood and youth, thus who are under twenty years of age, good and truth are not yet so ordered as to enable them to go forth into the army [of the church], and into warfare [against evil] . . . because they do not as yet from themselves discriminate and form conclusions, consequently they cannot as yet by means of their [own] rational dispel anything evil or false, and they who are not able to do this are not let into combats.

537

For this reason a man is not admitted into temptations, which are spiritual combats against falsities and evils, until he is in a state of intelligence, that is, is capable of exercising his own judgment" (AC 10,225:9). It is because children cannot fight from themselves that parents must do this for them. We must furnish principles of truth from Divine revelation with which to fight, and by discipline and example lead our children into the skills of using them; and this until they become of age, when they shall take upon themselves of their own free will to follow the Lord in keeping the precepts of His Word (see Liturgy, p. 59).
     The weapons with which the battles of life are fought are truths from the Word, and the skills needed for victory are habits of order by which religion is applied to life. Both are essential to the establishment of the New Church on earth. But it is one thing to have a full supply of armaments and another to be able to wield them effectively on the field of combat. We see the Holy City in the heights of heaven, but can we be instrumental in bringing it down to earth? The doctrine that evils are to be shunned is ultimated in life in two principles of education; two requirements which we must learn ourselves, and teach to our children, if we would fulfill our baptismal promises to prepare them for the combats that lead to regeneration. These are self-criticism and self-control.
     The ability to criticize ourselves is indispensable to all natural and spiritual development. If we think we are perfect, if we feel satisfied with ourselves, and if we are permitted to remain in this imaginary heaven, how can we ever improve? The first thing that leads to all progress is to see ourselves in the light of truth. Natural and spiritual self-examination, the effort to see the true quality of any present state, is basic to all progress. How can we ever change unless we recognize our faults and imperfections, unless we acknowledge that we are in need of help?
     But we cannot see ourselves from ourselves; for if we do, if we rely on the fatuous light of our own conceited imagination, we will be shown nothing but a distorted picture. The only possible way is for us to stand off and view ourselves objectively; to see ourselves from standards of truth, from the ideals of a true religion, from the Lord Himself. Anything short of this will betray us. If we wish to see ourselves naturally we go to a mirror, to a polished receptacle of light; similarly, if we wish to get a true picture of our spiritual qualities we must view ourselves in the light of eternal truth.
     The mirror in which a child first comes to see himself is his parents.

538

What his parents approve, what they permit, what they encourage; and conversely, and of greater weight, what father and mother disapprove, what they do not allow, what they forbid, what they discipline-these are the things which tell a child not only what he is like but also what he should be like. If, however, this parental mirror is not straight, if parents-and teachers-do not reflect the light of truth, then the child will be misled and deceived.
     Two kinds of mirrors are contrasted in the Writings-two kinds of parents, two kinds of educators: "Those who are in charity conjoin their [natural] love [of children] with love towards the neighbor and with love to God, loving their children for their morality, their virtues, their zeal, and talents for public service. With those, however, who are not in charity there is no such conjunction of charity with the parental love; so that many of them love wicked, immoral, and crafty children more than those who are good, moral and prudent, and thus those who are useless to the public more than those who are good" (TCR 431e).
     All parents are tempted to obey their natural instincts and to act from a spontaneous love of what is their own; from what the Writings call "storge," which "exists with the evil equally as with the good . . . and is also found among beasts" (TCR 431:2). Parents and educators must strive to act from principles of truth, from a genuine concern for the spiritual welfare of children. Discipline from the natural man alone tends to overlook faults and disorders and to compromise principles. We tend to appease the proprial demands of our children when they do not come into direct conflict with our own loves of self and the world. But when they disturb our peace and quiet, when they interrupt pleasures, when they endanger the family reputation or the good name of the school, then retribution is quick and harsh. We sense that such discipline is often unjust, so we try to make up for it by undue material rewards or a relaxed discipline in other phases of life; and the result is the chaos and insecurity which are so prevalent in the world today. Only when instruction and discipline stem from the stable plane of rational truth can any worthwhile lessons be learned. Only when we lead from the Lord, and not from self, can we do our part to prepare children to see themselves in the light of heaven, and thus provide opportunities for them to turn toward this light and receive it into their lives.
     As everyone knows, it is comparatively easy to learn the truth. It is a relatively simple thing to acknowledge our evils when faced with them, to criticize ourselves. Far more difficult, and far more important, is the skill to rid ourselves of evil, to wage the combat of temptation. Because it is hard to correct our thinking and to control our inborn desires, therefore in baptism the sign of the cross is made on the forehead and on the breast.

539

For the cross signifies temptations (see AC 4599:5; AE 122:4). Christian truth must be impressed on the forehead of our spirits, that is, on our loves (see AC 9936, 10,217; HH 145); and this is done by instilling habits of order on the growing mind. For it is only by habits of order formed from the Word that a man can hope for success in disciplining and controlling his proprial nature. Any other control, any worldly discipline, which has national tradition, economic necessity, or personal reputation as its motivating force, cannot stand up in eternity. Discipline apart from true goals is spiritually ineffective. Self-criticism by itself cannot bring order into the mind; it is inadequate and spiritually weak. But criticism from principles of truth, coupled with self-discipline, leads to the blessings of natural and spiritual progress. Self-criticism then brings heaven to the mind, and self-control brings the mind into heaven.
     Conscientious parents and teachers who would fulfill the baptismal obligations need to understand that no other single habit is more valuable in the life of regeneration than that of willingness to obey the truth. For obedience, and more particularly the love of obedience, forms a basis in the human mind for the very life of heaven. Order is said to be heaven's first law. Obedience, however, is heaven's first act! So important is this ability to respond affirmatively to authority that the "province of the ear is in the very axis of heaven; into it, therefore, or into those who are there, the whole spiritual world flows in with the perception that 'thus it must be done,' for this is the reigning perception in heaven. . . . For whatever [these angels] hear about Divine things they receive in the will from love, and make it of their life" (AE 14). This willingness to act according to order is spiritual innocence; and we make this present with our children, together with the angels who inspire it, when we require them to obey what is right, even to the point of compulsion, and this until they learn to compel themselves. This is the gate to spiritual freedom. As we learn: "In compelling one's self there is freedom, that is, what is spontaneous and voluntary, by which compelling one's self is distinguished from being compelled. . . . Without this freedom, man cannot possibly be reformed and receive a heavenly proprium" (AC 1947).
     Although obedience is essential to the life that leads to heaven, still, this is not obedience for its own sake, or for the sake of selfish or worldly goals. The end of obedience is the free love of doing what is right. Consequently, we should strive to be sure that the requirements we make of our children look to worthwhile ends-to uses for their bodies, their minds, or their eternal spirits. No other discipline can promote their spiritual welfare.
     A formal education which puts too much stress on mere obedience, just like one which requires too little, can bring harm to the growing mind.

540

A sphere which destroys the "as-of-self" freedom with which every mind is gifted by the Lord, an authority which is so severe that it represses the budding individuality, is spiritually detrimental to true growth. Habits of obedience which are merely imposed from without, or which look to nothing but materialistic ends, are spiritually ineffective. On the other hand, systems of education which are too lax, which require little or no direct obedience, leave the mind a prey to its own warped natural affections. Far from bringing out the mind's latent talents for good, such license causes the mind to be swamped by its own conceits and self-centered desires.
     New Church education, the true disciplining of the growing will, is neither a traditional nor a modern system. It is neither European nor American. True discipline is rational. It is applied differently to every human state. New Church education must transcend in our minds all national cultures and traditional systems, for it is entirely new. It exists wherever there is the sincere effort to apply the Heavenly Doctrine to life, and thus wherever the spiritual obligations of baptism are met. New Church education is not the invention or property of any one country. It is not confined to the Academy, our Society schools, or to our formal school days. This new Christian education exists wherever there is a willingness to be taught and led by the Lord in His second coming; wherever there is a willingness to go to Him in His Word for the standards and ideals of life; and wherever this leads men to criticize and control their own lives from that truth. In this sense, all who know about the Heavenly Doctrine can contribute to New Church education. They may counteract falsity and combat evil in their personal lives and for their children. Those who have, or have had, no access to formal schooling in the church need not be discouraged. They can work to educate themselves and their children by the means Providence opens before them. They can strive to increase the ministrations of the church which can help them to improve this work; and they can look forward, working and planning, to the day when their education will not be limited to the home, and to church services and doctrinal classes, but the entire mental environment which affects their children will be ordered from the truths of the Writings.
     As in our own regeneration it is the rational, formed from the truths of the Word, which enables us to fight against our natural man, dominated by hereditary tendencies to evil; so in New Church education, in our homes and schools, it is a parental and teacher rational ordered by the truths of Divine revelation that must be focussed on the child's proprial tendencies.
     The Writings show that the way we control our children must agree with their state of development. The truth of command is particularly suited to childhood. Adult reasoning has no place in early childhood, since the rational is not yet formed.

541

If we reason too early with our children we will do more to promote an ability to argue, excuse and justify, than to inculcate a true sense of obedience. Commands which are not enforced, or which cannot be enforced, are equally detrimental to the growth of self-discipline and lead to later habits of procrastination. Without command, and the enforcement of command that is both consistent and just, we cannot hope to cultivate the genuine habits of self-control which lead to heaven.
     As children become youths they should be weaned gradually from dependence on external controls. More and more opportunities to exercise internal controls as-of-themselves must be opened to them as they grow in reason and responsibility. A simple cause and effect reasoning in youth must lead into an intelligent knowledge of the laws of order, and a willingness to cooperate with them which can become the innocence of wisdom.
     In all discipline we should remember the teaching that "if man only believed, as is really true, that all good is from the Lord and all evil from hell, he would neither make the good in him a matter of merit nor would evil be imputed to him. For he would then look to the Lord in all the good he thinks and does, and all the evil that flows in he would cast down to hell from whence it comes" (DP 320). Children are prepared for temptation when the evil they do is shown to come from hell. It is not the child who originates the evil, but the evil spirits who lead him to do what is wrong; yet he is responsible because he allows himself to be so led. It is because the child has permitted the hells to make him do and say evil things that he must suffer punishment, and this so that he will be in freedom to resist those evil spirits the next time they tempt him. From this truth we can place ourselves, not against our children, but rather on their side against the hells. Parent and child together can face the forces of evil.
     It is equally true that it is not the child but the good that is to be rewarded-the good done, the truth spoken, the mercy shown. New Church educators must take care lest they promote a sense of self-merit or conceit by undue praise and unearned rewards. Good is from heaven and brings the reward of heaven with it. Only in a New Church environment can such distinctions in discipline be made, so that an affirmative response to the truth is encouraged in our youth. Then, as they progress, they will come to apply the principles of religion to their own lives in the exercise of self-discipline from a love to the Lord and a desire to do His will.
     But there is more to the baptismal service than the promise of future combat. For baptism involves an "introduction into the Christian Church, and at the same time insertion among Christians in the spiritual world where everyone is inserted among societies and congregations there, according to the quality of the Christianity in him or about him" (Liturgy, p. 58).

542

     Baptism is, as it were, a prayer before the Lord that the inmost name or quality with which the infant soul has already been endowed may be brought out and developed by parental cooperation with the laws of His providence. And this prayer is answered by the presence of celestial angels, who inspire the highest Christian delights into the tender mind. By baptism, by the very sensation of water on the forehead, delights and affections from the highest angels are recorded on the infant mind, so that he is literally "enrolled and numbered in heaven among those who in heart receive the Lord in His Second Coming" (Liturgy, p. 60). These states of inmost affection which are brought to focus at this time are recorded as "remains," which are defined in one passage as "correspondences with societies of heaven" (AC 5344:2). Indeed, it is because man has been introduced to these angelic states, because his tender mind has responded to them, and because these delights do remain, that he can be moved by them in later life and thus be led to heaven. For "when man is being regenerated, these states are the beginning of it, and he is led into them. For the Lord operates through these remains" (AC 1050).
     The establishment of remains is by no means confined to infancy. The doctrine states that "remains are all states of affection of good and truth with which man is gifted by the Lord from first infancy to the end of life" (AC 1906). It is the effort of New Church education to strengthen and enrich remains in the human mind by constant contact with the truths of the Word and with the order of heaven. But how can the mind be affected by good or truth unless these are present in its surroundings, to be seen, heard and felt? By environing the mind with a true Christianity we make it possible for this mind to receive Christianity into itself. The delights of remains thus established are essential to all education, since from them "man has the ability to think and also to understand what the good and truth of civil and moral life are, and also to receive spiritual truth or faith. But he cannot do this except by means of remains of good that he has received in infancy" (AC 1906: 3). Also, it is noted that "the more he has received of remains, the more delightful and beautiful do the rest of his states appear when they return" (AC 1906).
     Fortunately for all educators, the negative qualities of the human mind which spring from our paternal and maternal heredity, and which demand self-criticism and self-control, are counterbalanced by positive gifts from the Lord. They are counterbalanced by the inmost soul, which is in order, and by the remains of innocence just mentioned.
     The Writings teach that although the natural degree of the mind has been perverted, still the interior degrees are in order (see DLW 432). The inmost soul from the Lord weaves a body which is His image, and a mind which can become a likeness.

543

It is this soul which gives freedom and rationality (see DLW 240). It is a form of heavenly use and it urges both body and mind to complete their growth toward perfection. It is this soul which causes "all men [to be born] with a capacity to know, to understand, and to be wise, [and also gives them] an inclination to love not only [knowledge, intelligence and wisdom] but also the neighbor and God" (TCR 335:6, 7).
     Without this inmost soul, and remains from the Lord, no education would be possible. Without these affirmative qualities no one could, or would even try, to receive heaven into himself. They are the Lord's with man. Through them the Lord Himself works from within to establish His kingdom in the human mind. New Church baptism, with its fulfillment in New Church education, fundamentally promises nothing more than that the negative qualities from heredity can be controlled, so that these positive talents which are from heaven through the soul and through remains may become active in uses to the neighbor.
     That the human understanding may grow to be able to criticize itself, it has been gifted by the Lord from birth with curiosity, with a delight in knowing. And this delight can become the love of spiritual truth; for "when this affection [for knowing] is elevated even to spiritual things it becomes the affection of spiritual truth" (DLW 404). It is the function of true education to lead the way, and this is done when all knowledge is related to the Lord Himself. "For in order that knowledges and truths may be anything, they must be brought into a form in which they shall mutually regard each other, which cannot be effected unless they are consociated under a general; and therefore it is this general which holds them together. . . . The most general universal which holds all things together is the Lord Himself, and that which holds it together is the Divine truth proceeding from Him" (AC 6115:2, 3).
     The work of New Church education is an active effort to relate all things, all knowledge and all experience, to the Lord as He reveals Himself in His new revelation.
     When both the understanding and the will are led and disciplined by the truth itself, the mind is prepared to receive heaven into itself from its own right and its own reason, so as to have those qualities which are the name of the Lord as its own. For His name means "everything of faith and love by which He saves man; therefore when that quality is thought [about] by man"-and this is the first purpose of New Church education-"the Lord becomes present with him; and when that quality is loved"-and this is the end of New Church education-"the Lord is conjoined to him. . . . This shows how necessary it is to love that quality which comes by doing those things which the Lord has commanded" (AE 815:12).

544

     Important as New Church education is in fulfilling our baptismal promises, vital as it is in providing for the establishment of the Lord's New Church in the hearts and minds of men, still, like baptism itself, such education "confers neither faith nor salvation, but [merely] testifies that [a man] may receive faith and be saved if [he is] regenerated" (Liturgy, p. 58). New Church education can do no more than provide an opportunity for salvation. Because its purpose is to cooperate with the Lord's working from within, true education seeks to strengthen and enrich those positive qualities of the soul and from remains, and thereby to establish a counter-balance to heredity.
     New Church education endeavors to endow the mind with a better heredity; with inclinations to love what is true and to do what is good, which, if made one's own, can lead to heaven. Genuine education opens up planes for choice, but it does not do the choosing. It builds an historical faith which can become a living faith. It provides that a person may be in the Christian Church, though the church cannot come into him until he lives a Christian life. New Church education is an organized effort to apply the Heavenly Doctrine to life so as to care for the spiritual welfare of the mind; so that it may "take upon [itself] of its own free will to follow the Lord in keeping the precepts of His Word" (Liturgy, p. 59), and so that His will may be done on earth as it is in heaven.

     Discussion of Mr. Simons' Address

     Rev. Erik Sandstrom, as chairman, opened the consideration of the address by noting the pattern into which the subjects of the addresses had fallen. Church extension had been treated as another application of the principles of New Church education. Now we had heard about that education itself. Both these uses are acts of charity-and our Bishop had already noted that charity is essentially the love of truth in act. Later we had a treatment on responsibility, showing that man is responsible in the degree that his rational is capable of thinking and living from truth. And in another paper we were shown the very object of New Church education-that the soul of man may become an image and likeness of the Lord. We looked forward to Bishop Pendleton's address tomorrow on the doctrine of the Lord whom we worship, and from whom all these things previously treated of are derived.
     Mr. Simons was to be congratulated on the keynote of his paper-that education must be the fulfillment of baptism or prepare for that fulfillment.
     Rev. Bjorn Boyesen had for many years the pleasure and privilege of being engaged in New Church educational work on the elementary school level, having had charge of a little school in Pittsburgh. The love of that work was still in his heart. He had while listening to the address been reflecting on the Lord's words in prophecy of the New Church: "Behold, I make all things new. In the New Church the Lord has given us a new way of worshiping the Lord, and, as witness this Assembly, new opportunities for an entirely new life of charity and a new social life. He has also given us the opportunity to develop an entirely new education.

545

     In all this, the first duty of the church is to shun evils as sins against God. This is new in the world today-that we should teach our children to shun evils as sins against the Lord. It points to a distinctive difference between a secular education and a religious education which is not a preparation only for life in this world but a preparation for life in heaven. There is no better definition of our new concept of education. Nor is it possible to have an education for heaven unless we recognize the authority of something beyond man himself. The avowed philosophy of education in the world implies self-education-to discover the base of education in the light of one's own reason. But New Church education is basically to teach the truths of the Word, to keep children in the sphere of heaven and the light of truth, from the beginning of their life to the end and in heaven forever. This is a new thing in education.
     Rev. Louis B. King said that the little school in Pittsburgh still remembers Mr. Boyesen, who is much in the hearts of the children; and he would be pleased to know that the student body next year will be almost twice the size that it was when he left.
     As for ex-pilot (or sky-pilot) Simons, he had accomplished his mission very well this evening, delivering into our hands a powerful weapon to be employed against the greatest single threat against New Church education-the lack of any intelligent realization of its purposes. A superficial affection for New Church education will carry us a certain distance, but unless this affection is founded on a rational acknowledgment and conviction of what the Writings really teach as to the essential uses and aims of such education, our efforts will wane.
     The address enables us to affirm that the Lord is the only educator, that His laws of order govern the development of the degrees of the human mind-degrees which are opened first by sensations, then formed into planes of thought by means of knowledges from nature, afterwards re-formed by means of spiritual truths, and finally regenerated by the descent of spiritual conscience. Such an intelligent approach to New Church education as was given this evening enables us to see that New Church educators are motivated by a philosophy of education which regards the Lord as the only educator-the primary end being a preparation of man for his eternal uses and the secondary one his preparation for a useful life on earth. New Church teachers are also motivated by a philosophy of subject-matter, which regards every conceivable knowledge, when properly ordered and presented, to be a distinctive tool for the development and perfection of some part of the human mind.
     In the endeavor to apply these ideals to our daily lives many problems arise which discourage even teachers, and which frustrate the children and lead them into states of indifference; problems which at times nearly break the hearts of parents. Only those parents who are faced with it can, for instance, realize what it means to send their children away-to break or sever the intimate association with them, perhaps for a number of years, in order that they may have a New Church education. And yet in all such problems, if we can concentrate and direct our thoughts to what the Writings really teach to be the uses of education, then-however tragic these problems may seem at the moment-they will in the Lord's mercy eventually be turned into the strengthening and support of New Church education, within us and without us.

546

     If we are discouraged, let us remember that the Lord from His Divine love creates each man for a specific use in heaven, and to this end He endows man with rationality and liberty, with all the abilities and mental capacities necessary for the right performance of that use. In His wisdom, He compensates for all that evil and false tendency which we as parents pass on as an inheritance. The Lord does this that man may be in freedom to develop his reason according to Divine truth. And if it be of the Lord's will that these little ones, entrusted to our care, be educated rightly, for heaven, how can we refrain from taking every opportunity to cooperate with Him in this Divine work!
     Mr. Colley Pryke thanked Mr. Simons for going to the real root of the matter. He was reminded of the first lesson given in the Christian era on education, when the Lord Himself said, "Suffer the little children to come unto Me. He did not even say, "Lead them"; but, "Suffer them to come." It seems we have to get out of the way. What can we do, we who no longer have children? Every man and woman must help in the cause of New Church education-and to sign a check is a good start. But all of us must in our own minds encourage this use, discouraging criticism of those who "carry the heat and burden of the day," and see to it that every word we utter shall strengthen their hands. We can do that.
     Rev. Erik Sandstrom called to mind that New Church education is by no means confined to New Church schools, but is a continuation of responsibilities undertaken at the time of a child's baptism, or by adult baptism. A parent certainly undertakes to educate his child. And what other education can he possibly offer his child, if be knows of the New Church doctrine, than New Church education? Such education does not begin when a child is five or seven but when the child takes its first breath; and it continues until he takes adult initiative. It is up to parents to provide themselves with the knowledges necessary to proper fulfillment of their responsibilities. If a New Church school is available, fine; but the education must begin before that and then continue, whether there is a New Church school or not. And in such a school the teachers have no other objective than to carry on the efforts of the parents.
     Rev. David R. Simons confided that the subject he had intended to present had been "A Day in a New Church School." But the college class which was to gather his material could not complete the task. "If we could take you into a New Church class room," he said, "you would see that everything in the class room could be taught in a New Church way." In science the teacher would be talking about light and showing that everything that is true of light is true about truth. Light comes from the sun as truth comes from a central source; light is received differently by different objects even as truth is by different minds. Light is a form of energy, as truth is a form of spiritual energy. And each discipline in the class room is distinctive. If first graders line up for recess, and some one gets out of line or talks, the teacher says, "Some one is out of order"-giving an opportunity for the child to correct himself. And order is the important thing.
     New Church education must exist in the home, in the school, and in our minds. It is fundamentally the effort to apply the truths of the Heavenly Doctrine to life. And where two or three are gathered together in the Lord's name, there is He in the midst of them.

547

TEMPTATION ON THE MOUNT 1956

TEMPTATION ON THE MOUNT WILLARD D. PENDLETON 1956

     (Delivered to the Sixth Session of the Twenty-first General Assembly, London, England, July 28, 1956.)

     The Appearance

     It is the faith of the New Church that the Lord Jesus Christ is the one God of heaven and earth, yet the appearance is that He was as other men. Not only was He born of woman, but it seems that He, too, was afflicted by the loves of self and the world. This, at least, is the appearance, for the record is that immediately after His baptism by John in Jordan He was driven of the spirit into the wilderness, where He was tempted for forty days and nights (Matthew 4:1, 2; Mark 1:13). "And the devil, taking Him up into an high mountain, shewed unto Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto Him: All this power will I give Thee, and the glory of them: For that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If Thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be Thine" (Luke 4:5-7).
     Now the question is, why should He, the possessor of heaven and earth, have been tempted by the offer of all the kingdoms of the world? Some say it is a mystery of faith; others hold that it is conclusive evidence that He was as other men. It is the latter opinion which prevails at this day.
     The assumption is that because He was tempted as man, therefore He was man. If there was a difference, men say, it did not lie in the essential nature of Christ but in His unique personality. It is no wonder, therefore, that at this day the Writings are received by the few, for the doctrine of the Divine Human is the primary doctrine of the church; and upon this doctrine, as a house upon its foundation, all of the Writings rest. Hence we are taught that we are not to think of the Lord from person but from essence (AR 611:7). To think of the Lord from person is to think from the appearance, the appearance that He was as any other man. Such reasoning does not take into account the nature of the Lord's temptations; neither does it allow for any distinction between man and He who came into the world as Divine Man.
     To this distinction the Writings are addressed. The teaching is that "in Him was life" (John 1:4), whereas men and angels are but vessels receptive of life (AC 2004, 2021, 2025, 2658, 2889, 3318).

548

This also is implicit in the story of creation; for it is said that "the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" (Genesis 2:7). To this the Writings add the statement: "That there is only one life, which is from the Lord alone, and that angels and spirits are only recipients of life, has been made known to me by experience so manifold that not even the slightest doubt is left" (AC 3142). In speaking of the Divine Human, therefore, the Writings state: "Those who have merely corporeal ideas respecting the Lord's Human, and think of it as the human of any other man . . .do not know that such as the life is, such is the man" (AC 2649). Although He was born as man, yet He was Divine Man. Were this not so, why would He have said to His disciples: "I am in the Father and the Father in Me" (John 14:11); "I and My Father are one" (John 10:3)?
     This is the doctrine which men have denied, the stone which the builders rejected. In repudiating the essential unity of God, men have perverted the Scriptures; and this to the extent that the Writings say that not one genuine truth remains (TCR 758). Nowhere is the truth of this judgment more apparent than in the modern interpretation of the Lord's temptation upon the mount. Here, men say, is documentary evidence of the finite nature of Jesus Christ. Was He not tempted as man is tempted! If not, wherein did He surfer? Surely God cannot be tempted. Yet in so speaking they reason from the appearance that the Lord was tempted from the loves of self and the world. Such loves, however, cannot be predicated of the Lord, for such as the life is, such is the love; and as the Divine love wills nothing but good He could not be tempted from the loves of self and the world. Nevertheless, we know that He was tempted, for the testimony of the Writings is that "the Lord's life from His earliest childhood even to the last hour was one of continual temptation," and that these temptations, "were more grievous than can ever be comprehended or believed by any human mind" (AC 1690).

     The Nature of Temptations

     In order to understand the nature of the Lord's temptations we must bear in mind that all temptations are attacks upon the love in which the man is, and that the temptation is always in the same degree as the love. If the love is not attacked, then there is no temptation (AC 1690). This is the primary teaching of the Writings concerning temptation; and if we will reflect upon it we can see wherein the temptations which the Lord sustained in the human differed from those which are suffered by men, for such as the love is, such is the temptation.

549

Hence we are taught in the Writings that the Lord fought differently from all men, for He fought from the Divine love toward the whole human race whose salvation was what He solely desired (AC 4287, 1813). So great was this love, and of such a quality, that there is no way in which it can be described except as pure love (AC 1619). Against this love, which was His life, "continual temptations were admitted. . . . And because this love was not human but Divine, and because such as is the greatness of the love, such is that of the temptation, it may be seen how grievous the combats were, and how great the ferocity of the hells. That all this was so (the Writings add) I know of a certainty" (AC 1690).
     This distinction is not merely one of degree but of the love which is attacked. Nowhere is this more clearly illustrated than in the distinction which the Writings make between natural and spiritual temptations. Natural temptations are anxieties arising from the love of self; that is, from the fear of the loss of honor, reputation, or gain. Thus the natural man resists any attack upon self as an attack upon life, and suffers in the degree that self is deprived. It is otherwise with the spiritual man in that his primary concern is not for self but for others. There is a world of difference between these two loves, as is evident from the fact that he who wills to do good to the neighbor is conscious of the evil in self, and he fears that from self he may do evil to others. With such, therefore, the recognition of evil in self is sensed as an attack upon life; that is, as an attack upon the love in which the man is. Hence it is said that spiritual temptations are assaults upon the truths of faith which man believes in his heart and according to which he loves to live . . . and also upon the good of love in which he places spiritual life (HD 196).
     Such temptations take form as doubts, particularly as a doubt regarding the end in view. Indeed, the Writings observe that the greater the love is the more it is put in doubt, and if the end which is loved were not put in doubt there would be no temptation (AC 1820, 2334, 2338). In all spiritual temptation the appearance is that the man is condemned. So persuasive is this appearance that man loses the hope of salvation. Herein lies the peculiar power of evil, the power to induce upon man a sense of utter futility in his struggle against evil. If this were not so why would the tempter have said: "All this power will I give Thee, and the glory of them: For that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If Thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be Thine"?
     These words, however, were not addressed to man, but to Him who came into the world as man. But men say, How can this be? Can God be tempted? Upon the answer to this question all else depends; for it is the faith of the New Church that He who came into the world was God, yet as man He was tempted.

550

To understand this we must appeal to the direct teaching of the Writings, where it is said: "The Lord could not be tempted at all when He was in the Divine itself, for the Divine is infinitely above all temptation; but He could be tempted as to His Human." [Italics added.] The passage continues: "That neither the Divine itself nor the Divine Human could be tempted must be evident to everyone simply from the fact that not even the angels can approach the Divine, much less the spirits who induce temptations, and still less the hells. Hence it is manifest why the Lord came into the world, and put on the human state itself with its infirmity; for thus could He be tempted as to the human; and by means of the temptations subjugate the hells, and reduce each and all things to obedience and order, and save the human race which had removed itself so far away from the supreme Divine" (AC 2795).

     The Human

     In Christian theology the human which the Lord put on by birth into the world is identified with the physical body of Christ, but the body is not the man. As to his body man differs but little from the primates, and it is this which has led to the persuasion that man is a superior animal who, by virtue of certain advantageous mutations, has succeeded to dominion over all other species. Yet man is not man because he is endowed with the human figure, but because of all created forms he alone can be affected by truth. It is in this that man differs from the animal, and it is in this that the essential human consists. We say, the essential human, because the affection of truth is primary. Were it not for this affection man could not become man; that is to say, man could not become a rational being capable of determining his life for good or for evil. For man is not born rational, but only into the capacity for becoming rational, as anyone may see from the fact that new-born infants have no power of reasoning, but become rational in process of time; that is, as they are instructed in knowledges acquired through sense experience (AC 1893). But, the Writings observed, "no one could ever become rational unless some delight or affection aspired thereto" (AC 1895).
     When we speak of the human essence, therefore, or of that which is essentially human, we have reference to that affection of truth which distinguishes man from all other created forms. By virtue of this affection man is educable, for it is from this affection that man comes into the delight of learning, that is, into the delight of acquiring those knowledges of which the rational is formed. If, then, we ask, wherein did the human which the Lord put on from the mother differ from the Divine Human which the Lord put on by glorification, does not the answer lie in the distinction which the Writings make between the human affection of truth into which all men are born, and the Divine affection of truth of which the Divine Rational, which is the Divine Doctrine, was born?

551

Were this not so why would the Writings say that "it was the human affection of interior truth which the Divine affection expelled" (AC 4593). Indeed, the passage continues: "In the human affection from the mother there is an heredity which is evil, but in the Divine affection there is nothing but good; for in the human affection there is the glory of self and the world as an end for the sake of self; but in the Divine affection there is an end for the sake of self, that it may be from self to save the human race, according to the Lord's words in John: 'I pray for those whom Thou hast given Me, for all Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine, and I am glorified in them. . . . The glory which Thou gavest Me, I have given them, that they may be one as we are one; I in them and Thou in Me' (John 17:9, 10, 22, 23)" (AC 4593).
     We have here two affections: The Divine affection of truth which was the Lord's from the Father, and the human affection of truth which He put on from the mother. The Divine affection is represented in Scripture by Sarai, the wife of Abram; and the human affection by Hagar, her Egyptian bondwoman. In this connection it is to be noted that the first or natural rational, as represented by Ishmael, was born of Hagar but the Divine rational, as represented by Isaac, was born of Sarai. The inference is that the nature and quality of the rational is derived from the affection of which it is born. Hence it was that the Lord said unto Nicodemus: "Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again" (John 3:7).
     Because the Lord was born as are other men, and because He derived from the mother a human affection for truth, the first or merely human rational which He put on by way of instruction was as that of other men. To this the Writings bear witness in the following passage: "The Lord, being born as are other men, and because He had a nature inherited from the mother, was like other men also in respect to the miraculous formation of the rational by means of knowledges, to the end that by combats of temptations and by victories He might reduce all things into order. Therefore was His rational conceived and born in the same way as with other men, but with the difference that inmostly in all things that were His, in both general and particular, there was the Divine, or Jehovah, and thus the life of love toward the whole human race, for whom and for whose salvation He fought in all His temptations" (AC 1902).

     Two Heredities

     To understand this difference we must bear in mind that man has two heredities: one from the father and one from the mother.

552

The ruling affection, or soul, is from the father (AE 449:3); and because this affection is centered in self, man is born into the delight of evil. But as the Lord had no earthly father, but was conceived of Jehovah, it is said that He had no evil which was actual, or His own (AC 1444). In this He differed from all men, "for all men whatever are born natural, with the power to become either celestial or spiritual [by regeneration from the Lord]; but the Lord alone was born spiritual-celestial because the Divine was in Him" (AC 4592:3, 4594:2). To this the Writings add the statement: "Every infant is born natural . . . and this with all men is ignorant of truth and desirous of evil; but in the Lord alone the natural had a desire for good and a longing for truth; for the ruling affection in man, which is his soul, is from the father; and with the Lord, the affection or soul from the Father was the Divine itself, which is the Divine good of the Divine love" (AE 449:3). Even as it is said in John: "As the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given the Son to have life in Himself" (John 5:26).
Unlike all men, therefore, the Lord was born a spiritual-celestial man; that is, He was born into the affection of truth from the Divine good. Whereas man is born natural, that is, into the affection of truth from the love of self, the Lord alone had a desire for good and a longing for truth from birth. Nevertheless, by birth into the world the Lord put on the human heredity from the mother, and it was through this heredity, that is, through human affection of interior truth, that He was tempted (AC 4593). "No one," the Writings say, "can undergo temptations unless evil adheres to him" (AC 1444); but we must distinguish between those evils which adhere and those which inhere. In the terminology of the Writings that which inheres is of the life's love, but that which adheres is from without and is imposed upon the life as that which is external is adjoined to that which is internal. Hence the following statement from the Arcana: "Its being said that there was with the Lord hereditary evil from the mother may cause surprise, but as it is here so plainly declared, and as the Lord is treated of in the internal sense, it cannot be doubted that it
was so. For no human being can possibly be born of another human being without thence deriving evil. But the hereditary evil derived from the father is one thing, and that from the mother is another. The hereditary evil from the father is more internal, and remains to eternity, for it cannot possibly be eradicated; but the Lord had not such evil, because He was born of Jehovah . . . and thus as to [His] internals was Divine or Jehovah" (AC 1573:3. See also AC 1414). "But," it is added, "the hereditary evil from the mother is of the external man; this did exist with the Lord. . . . Thus was the Lord born as are other men, and had infirmities as have other men" (ibid.)

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     Truth Bound

     Because the evils of the maternal heredity were not of His life, the Lord could not be tempted as to good. In other words, He could not be tempted, as man is tempted, by delight in evil; indeed, this is unthinkable. Yet we are told that He could be tempted as to truth, that is, as to Divine truth bound (AC 2813). Hence it is said that "God did tempt Abraham . . .and [he] bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar" (Genesis 22:1, 9). Herein the Writings make an important distinction-a distinction which is basic to our understanding of the Divine doctrine. By Divine truth bound is meant truth bound by human appearances. The reference, therefore, is not to the Divine truth itself, for this, like the Divine good, is above all appearances, and hence above all temptation. In explanation of this the Writings state: "It is to be known that neither with man, nor any angel, are truths ever pure, that is, devoid of appearances" (AC 3207:3). Also, that "truth Divine in the Lord's Human Divine, which underwent temptations . . . is not the Divine truth itself, but is rational truth, such as the angels have, and is what is called the Son of Man" (AC 2814). This is why it is said in the Scriptures that the Son of Man was to suffer, but never the Son of God.
     Now, as the Lord was born as are other men, and as He put on the human affection of truth from the mother, He, too, was afflicted by the appearances that the loves of self and the world induce upon the mind; for as already noted, "in the human affection of truth there is the glory of self and the world as an end for the sake of self; but in the Divine affection there is an end for the sake of self, that it may be from self to save the human race" (AC 4593). Thus it was that when the Lord came into perception from the Divine, temptations ceased, for His mind was elevated above the appearances which induce temptations; but when He thought from the infirm human the truth was obscured by the appearances of self and the world and He came into doubt regarding the end in view.
     The end in view was the salvation of all men to eternity, but the appearance was that, so great was the evil into which mankind had fallen, none could be saved. It was this doubt that the Lord sensed as an attack upon His life, that is, upon the love which was His life; "and be cause this love was not human, but Divine, and because such as is the greatness of the love, such is that of the temptation, it may be seen how grievous the combats were" (AC 1690). Yet, in this the Lord was not tempted as man is tempted, that is, from the loves of self and the world, but through the loves of self and the world; that is, through the appearances that these loves induce upon the mind. In this He was like, and at the same time unlike, all other men.

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He was like other men in that He was tempted, but He was unlike all other men in that in Him there was no evil that was actual, or His own (AC 1414).
     "It is one thing," the Writings say, "to acquire something from a means, and another to acquire it through a means [per medium] (AC 4065). [Italics added.] The specific reference is to those mediate goods which the Lord acquired through the mother, and which served as a means "whereby He made His natural Divine" (AC 4065). The same distinction applies to those knowledges of which the first rational was formed. These were acquired through a means, that is, through the human affection of truth which He derived from the mother, but not from the means. Hence the teaching that "the Lord did not will to imbue Himself with any other knowledges than those of the Word, which was open to Him from Jehovah" (AC 1461). Yet, although He took nothing from the mother, His perception was obscured by those illusions of self and the world which were inherent in the maternal heredity. Were this not so, wherein would the tempter have said: "All this will I give Thee."? Hence the direct teaching of the Writings that "the devil tempted the Lord through the love of self [per amorem sui], for this," it is added, "is what the high mountain signifies" (AE 405:55). [Italics added.]

     The Primary Issue

     The issue in the Lord's temptation upon the mount, therefore, was not what men believe it to have been. He was not tempted as man is tempted, that is, by the love of dominion. The Divine wills that all should be free, and this to the extent that He never compels anyone. How, then, could He, who from Divine love wills the freedom of all, have been tempted by the offer of all the kingdoms of the world! It is to be known, however, that the kingdoms in question were not of this world; for as the Lord said to Pilate: "If My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight that I should not be delivered unto the Jews: But now is My kingdom not from hence" (John 18:36).
     The Lord's kingdom is a spiritual kingdom which extends from the highest heavens to the states of the church on earth. What was seen from that mountain top, therefore, was not a panorama of the ancient world, but a composite representation of the states of the church on earth. Everywhere evil prevailed. Like the ancient city of Sodom, for which Abraham pleaded with God, the sin of man was "very grievous" (Genesis 18:20). Indeed, the Writings say that it was a state of "all evil from the love of sell" (AC 2220). No statement could be more descriptive than this. So great was the evil, therefore, that the appearance was that none could be saved; and it was this appearance that the Lord perceived as an assault upon His life; that is, upon the Divine love which wills the salvation of all.

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     We cannot grasp this except by way of analogy; that is, by way of those sufferings which man endures when those whom he loves are afflicted by evil. Such suffering does not stem from the love of self but from concern for others. The greater the love, the deeper is the concern; and the deeper the concern, the greater the suffering. This is why mercy is described in the Writings as love grieving-as love grieving for those who are afflicted by evil. What, then, can we say of Him who came into the world in order that all men might be saved? The appearance was that man was utterly condemned. Were this not so, how could the tempter have induced upon Him those states of despair which are characteristic of all temptations? Were this not so why would the Writings say that when the Lord entered into the perception of the state of the human race He was struck "with horror," and this to the extent that "He willed to withdraw from the perception and [all] derivative thought" (AC 2222)?
     This statement is taken from the Arcana account of the visit of the three angels to Abraham in the plains of Mamre. The specific reference is to the Lord's perception of the evil resident in the infirm human. So great was the evil that the appearance was that none could be saved. Hence it is said that the Lord "willed to withdraw from the perception," as represented by the fact that when the angels "looked toward the faces of Sodom, Abraham went with them to send them away" (Genesis 18:16; AC 2217-2222). Then follows the scriptural account of the Lord's intercession for the human race; and it was revealed that despite the evil into which man had fallen, all could be saved in whom anything of good and truth remained. To this end came He into the world, and to this end He effected that judgment which is implicit in the Old Testament account of the destruction of Sodom, and in the New Testament account of the Lord's temptation upon the mount.
     We would note here a striking parallel between these two incidents. Not only is it significant that both involved a judgment, but it is also significant that in each instance the judgment was preceded by an interior perception from the Divine. It is said of Abraham, that "he lifted up his eyes . . . and behold three men standing over him" (Genesis 18:2), namely, the Divine itself, the Divine Human, and the Holy Proceeding (AC 2147). In the New Testament the parallel series treats of the Lord's baptism in Jordan, when "He saw the heavens opened and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him: And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased" (Mark 1:10, 11). In both Testaments the reference is to the Lord's perception of His own Divinity.

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Hence the words of Abraham when he greeted the angels: "If . . . I have found grace in Thine eyes, pass not I pray from Thy servant" (Genesis 18:3). This, we are told, signifies that what the Lord perceived He intensely desired should not pass away (AC 2154). Yet a truth revealed is, in effect, a judgment; in this instance a judgment upon the evil inherent in the maternal heredity, that is, upon the cumulative evils of the human race. Thus it was that when from Divine perception the Lord perceived the evil into which man had fallen, He willed to withdraw from the perception and from all derivative thought. It is ever so. Love does not judge; but for the sake of good, that is, for the salvation of man, judgments must be effected.
     The primary question in Abraham's intercession with God was whether the impending judgment could be avoided. As in every Divine judgment, the appearance is that the innocent are made to suffer with the guilty. This is implicit in Abraham's words: "Wilt Thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?" If, in this, love suffers, how much more did He who willed the salvation of all men suffer from the appearance that all were condemned? Hence Abraham's final appeal: "Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there" (Genesis 18:32); by which is represented a state in which there is something of good and truth. But the city could not be spared, for the loves of self and the world must in time be brought to judgment. Nevertheless, there was a remnant, that is, those in whom there was something of charity, who could be saved from the city. These are represented in Scripture by Lot; and it was for them that Abraham pleaded with God.
     At this day a similar judgment has taken place, a judgment which was essential to the establishment of the New Church. By virtue of this judgment, as described in the Apocalypse Explained and other works of the Writings, a new beginning has been made. Whereas many at this day may demonstrate interest in what may be called the non-condemnatory teachings of the Writings, few will accede to the judgment: which the Writings visit upon the first Christian Church. Yet a truth revealed is an evil exposed, and the one cannot be accepted apart from the other. In the doctrine of the Divine Human, therefore, a judgment is implicit. This is why we are taught in the Writings that the first of the church in man is repentance (TCR 510); and that the beginning of repentance is the acknowledgment of evil in self (TCR 525). The Writings are not addressed to the past; neither can their judgments be explained away by the oft-repeated statement that whereas these things may have been true of Swedenborg's time they no longer apply. Truth is eternal, and its applications remain.
     He who stood upon that mountain, therefore, was not man, that is, He was not man as we are men; for whereas all men are but vessels receptive of life, "in Him was life; and the life was the light of men" (John 1:4).

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By the light, is meant the Divine doctrine which is Divine Man in human form. He it is who is now revealed in the Writings of the New Church, for He has come again in glory, "the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). It was, then, of the Divine doctrine that the Lord spoke to His disciples, saying: "I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: But ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you" (John 14:16, 17). By the twelve disciples are here represented the primary truths of doctrine. These are they in whom is the Spirit of truth, and these are they who at this day testify to the Divinity of the Lord. If the world does not receive Him, is it not because men think of Him from person instead of from essence? Is it not because they think of Him from the appearance-the appearance that He was as any other man?
     It is, then, in its faith in the sole Divinity of the Lord that the New Church differs from every other religion. Herein lies the essential distinctiveness of the Divine doctrine, a distinction which is implicit in every doctrine of the church. The doctrine of charity, the doctrine of regeneration, the doctrine of the Gorand Man, the doctrine of conjugial love, each is a manifestation and application of that primary doctrine which the builders rejected. At all times and in all states, therefore, the development of the church is dependent upon the acknowledgment of the testimony of the Writings concerning themselves; that is, upon the acknowledgment that the Writings are that Divine doctrine which constitutes the second coming of the Lord.

     Discussion of Bishop Pendleton's Address

     Bishop De Charms, in introducing the discussion of what he described as a profound and clear exposition of what the Writings teach in regard to the Lord's temptations, asked a question of Bishop Pendleton concerning the statement that the Lord was born a spiritual-celestial man, while others are born natural with a capacity to become either spiritual or celestial; and that the Lord was a spiritual-celestial man because He was born with a desire for good and a longing for truth: "Is it not true," the Bishop asked, "that man, being created in the image of God, is also endowed with a delight in good and a longing for truth, and that unless this were so he could not possibly be regenerated?" The difference seemed to lie in this, that with the Lord this delight and longing were His own, inherent in Him from Jehovah His Father, while in men they are miraculously given through remains. With man they do not come from heredity but are given by the Lord after birth, from infancy and throughout life.
     Rev. K. R. Alden recalled that when he came to Bryn Athyn to head the Boys' Academy he read a book on "How to be a Principal," and it advised: "Sometimes open the door for one of your pupils.

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Who knows, someday he may become your bishop."
     It was a pleasure to listen to a paper by a former pupil, now a bishop! It was notable that to write on the doctrine concerning the Lord seems to be one of his ruling loves, since we used to listen to the profound studies of his father, Bishop N. D. Pendleton, on the glorification of the Lord. This Assembly would not have been complete unless we had our minds raised to meditate on the Lord's glorification.
     It is a universal teaching that the Lord put off the human from Mary and put on a Human from the Father. In God, infinite things are distinctly one, and man was created in the image of God; so that everything in man must have existed in prototype in God before we were created. When the Lord assumed a body from the virgin Mary, He took upon Himself the hereditary evils and infirmities of the human race, which He put off when He underwent temptations, while He put on an infinite Human from the Father. We have a limited human sight of which God's omniscience is the prototype. But when the Lord was a boy, he also had a limited sight, from the Mary heredity. When He looked at a wall, His sight stopped there. But as He came into states of glorification, He was given infinite sight, or omniscience, wherefore it is said that He saw even into the hearts of men. He could read the thoughts of Simon the Pharisee. His power to heal was irrespective of distance. He manifested Himself as the Divinely Human God, the object of our worship.
     Rev. Frank Rose was always delighted to hear Bishop Pendleton on this subject which showed so prolonged a study, and so deep interest and delight, as to give a broad picture of the doctrine. One specially striking thing was brought out-that the Lord was not tempted by any delight in evil, but by the fact that truth was bound. It was this bound truth that was tempted.
     Before the advent, the Lord was present by the Divine truth proceeding through the heavens and appearing to men in the human form and in the teachings of the Word; and this was called the Divine Human prior to the advent. In the process of descending to men this Divine truth was limited or bound by the nature of the heavens through which it passed, and by the nature of men on earth. And therefore the Lord had to come down into the world for man's salvation.
     But something similar occurred in His taking on of a human in the world. For upon this assumed human were imposed the limitation and binding qualities of the appearances of truth taken from the angels and from men. Thus the temptations of the Lord were possible because of these truths which were as it were bound in appearances. By His victories in temptation the Lord not only became Divine truth itself but also became Divine good, and assumed a power to save which He had not before possessed.
     In this sense the Lord came into the world in order to sacrifice the Son of Man: which seems to be referred to in Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac; the Son of Man meaning Divine truth "bound." Sacrifice in this sense means to "make holy," and is not to be taken in the popular sense. To make truth "holy" is to make it a complete expression of Divine truth. Therefore the Lord could say, "All power is given Me in heaven and in earth." Truth was no longer bound. And in the Writings the Lord can be present with men in Divine truth, clothed in appearances indeed, but not "bound" in them; so that in the Writings the Divine truth has all power in heaven and in earth.
     Rev. A. W. Acton explained that the only place he had taught Bishop Pendleton anything was on the wrestling mat!

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     He was glad that the Assembly ended on this exalted note of the doctrine of the Lord. It is easy for us to "lighten" our doctrine by stressing only social, moral and philosophical aspects of the revealed truth, or the less abstract teachings about the beauties of the spiritual world which the Writings present to us. But all these have no real meaning unless founded in a belief in the Lord Jesus Christ as the God of heaven and earth. And we cannot understand Him as such unless we understand the nature of His temptations.
     The nature of one's temptations is according to the nature of one's love. This is realized by everyone. But the loves into which we are born are those of self and the world. The common idea of temptation is concerned with the love of self and the world. We think we have temptations when our evil delights and selfish thoughts are thwarted. But that is not temptation, in the sense which the Writings use the term, because the love then assaulted is a natural love, our self-esteem and love of reputation. The only way in which we can be really tempted is when we have received from the Divine some genuine love, some love of spiritual things within our hearts. And the temptation then is lest this love be taken away from us, or lest we should prove unworthy of it.
     If we think of temptations in the first sense, then we would think of the Lord's temptations as those of an ordinary man. But if we think of temptation as being the result of what we have received from the Divine, and of the intensity and degree of that temptation being according to the degree in which we have received things from the Lord, then we can perceive the analogy between the Lord's temptations and those of men, and also the difference; since His was an infinite love-a love of saving the whole human race.
     As He looked from the mountain and saw all the evils of mankind, doubt came upon Him, the doubt whether His purpose could ever become effective; not any doubt as to His omnipotence, but as to whether men would react and receive the Divine blessings which He was preparing for them. And as was pointed out, if we have an unselfish love of others, or have some purpose to accomplish from a love of the neighbor, according to the teachings of our religion, we might come into grievous mental agonies from the thought of failure. Perhaps we may, in the first place, feel great distress that we ourselves, through act or omission, may interfere with that purpose, or else that others may render it impossible to fulfill. But it seems a striking thought that if we have a correct idea of His temptations, the idea of the Lord as a mere man can be changed into the idea of Him as a Divine Man.
     Rev. Bjorn Boyesen: "It seems that the most important point is that the Lord was not tempted by the love of self but by the appearances of truth. I take that to mean that He was not tempted by anything of self love belonging to Himself, but tempted through the love of self existing with others in the human race." The Lord could derive from Mary a state in which He could be obscured by fallacies of reason and by appearances.
     This brings to mind how Moses saw the angel of Jehovah in a burning bramble bush, which represented the fallacies and appearances from the letter of the Word. Before the advent, the Lord appeared in a borrowed or adopted human-the human of an angel whence there arose fallacies in men's minds. In the Old Testament the light of truth is obscured by appearances, undoubtedly the same appearances that tempted the Lord when He was in the world. In the New Testament these appearances are not entirely removed; for that is the record of the Lord's glorification, which was not accomplished until near the end of His life on earth. The same is signified by the crown of thorns that was pressed upon the Lord's brow.

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Only in the Writings of the New Church is the internal sense clearly opened and the Divine truth presented without obscuring qualities: The crown of thorns has been replaced by the crown of life.
     Mr. Walter Horigan (Bryn Athyn, Pa.) speaking as a layman, expressed delight with this paper in particular and also with the other addresses and comments. They had been profound, yet also remarkably clear, instructive, and to the point. He also confided that he had heard a lot about the English weather and congratulated the Committee on furnishing us this week with typical Florida weather. It had been wonderful.
     Bishop Pendleton, in conclusion, spoke to the point brought up by Bishop De Charms, appreciating his explanation of the Lord's having been born with a desire for good and a longing for truth. But he noted that this must also have been the case with the men of the celestial church. The Writings can say only one thing at a time. In various places they say that He was born a spiritual-celestial man, a celestial man, and a Divine man, and we have to put these teachings together to see the whole concept.
     As far as man is concerned, it is said that he is born ignorant of truth and desirous of evil. But a baby does not know what evil is, and cannot desire what it does not know. Yet the hereditary tendency to evil exists from birth and that tendency inevitably comes out as the consciousness of self develops. In the first infantile states and in early childhood there is not evil as we know evil, because evil does not enter into the love of self until this love becomes calculating, until the delight of evil begins to premeditate, and until the spirit of deceit enters in. The Writings teach that the love of self is not in itself evil at all. From creation the love of self was good. Certain angels who had died as infants came to Swedenborg and could not understand how evil could enter the world. How could man, they asked, from good become evil? The love of self is from the Lord and is therefore good; and if it is subordinate to the love of heaven or the love of uses it is good. Indeed it is essential to man's existence.
     This brings us back to what has so often been said in these meetings about education. As the Bishop pointed out, there are remains of good and truth implanted in all men from early infancy. In what love are they implanted, if not in the only love that is receptive of the Lord-namely, the love of truth) This love of truth is elevated from the natural into the rational during the process of education. This process is described in the beautiful story of Rebekah, the bride of Isaac who was raised out of the land of the Gentiles, the land of forgotten remains, and brought to Canaan; signifying a conjunction with the rational. It is a Divinely guided process-the elevation and cultivation of remains-which is the spirit and inner life of what we call New Church education.

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GLORY TO GOD 1956

GLORY TO GOD Rev. FRANK S. ROSE 1956

     "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." (Luke 2:14)

     Such is the familiar message of the angels, conveyed to the shepherds at the annunciation of the Lord's advent and repeated throughout the ages. The proclamation is well known, but its full meaning is hidden and prophetic. The angels were announcing something new, and something that could have been achieved only by the Lord's coming into the world.
     There is no verb used in this song of praise. It is a statement of fact and not a command. The angels were not telling the shepherds or the world what to do. They were praising God for His great goodness toward men, and in their words they embodied a summary of the wonders for which men should rejoice. We might be justified in putting the verb "to be" in this statement, although the Greek makes sense even without it. And so it would read: "There is glory to God in the highest, and on earth there is peace, good pleasure is in men." And yet the statement is deliberately made without a verb, because it is timeless and prophetic.
     Turning to the opening words, we first note that "glory . . . in the highest" means in the highest places, or the inmost heavens. The "glory of God," in the supreme sense, refers to the Divine Human of the Lord, or the Word as the Divine proceeding. These words, therefore, echo the teaching that the Lord "bowed the heavens" and "came down" (II Samuel 22:10, Psalm 18:9; 144:5). The glory of God, which is the Word or the Divine truth going forth from the Divine love, descended through the heavens to men. This proceeding of the Word, who was to be made flesh, brought forth a reaction from the highest angels, and they glorified God. Before the Lord's advent, even these heavens were threatened with destruction by the rising tide of falsity and evil. Despite the great wisdom and love of the angels, they could not have sustained this attack by themselves. It is difficult if not impossible for us to imagine how the angels could be so profoundly affected by the sphere of evil in the world, and in the world of spirits. But we know from doctrine that the heavens rest upon the church on earth. When all wisdom and charity perished on earth, the heavens were shaken because the earthly foundation of heavenly love had crumbled beneath them. They longed for the coming of the Lord.

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And when, at His birth, His Divine glory filled the heavens and descended to take on a human in the world, they responded with delight to this new influx. They reflected the light; and so, like jewels in the sunshine that seem to increase the brilliance of day, they glorified God. The dark clouds of falsity and evil were parted, and the glory of the Lord descended through the highest heavens even to the lowest, everywhere calling forth a glad response from the angels. In this descent of the Lord into the world the angels could rejoice, because the work of salvation had begun and in their eyes it was complete. It was this rejoicing in the heavens because of renewed light that expressed itself in the words of the angels: "glory to God in the highest."
     The Lord had manifested Himself to men before this. He appeared to the prophets, and through their words His truth descended to men. But His coming in the flesh established a state of peace that could not be achieved in any other way. This peace on earth is essential to the safety and happiness of the angels. The Lord is called the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6) because all genuine peace comes from His presence with men. Evil always brings with it anxiety and unrest. "The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked" (Isaiah 57:20, 21). This lack of peace with the wicked is not a punishment or retribution. It is inherent in evil itself. For evil continually works on man to make him discontented with Providence, contemptuous of his neighbor, covetous and lustful. Evils thrive on annoyance and unrest.
     These characteristics of evil were not changed by the Lord's advent. The evil must ever live in the unrest of their own desires. But the Lord's presence in the church insures that the good will be protected. They need no longer fear the overwhelming infestation of falsity and evil, knowing that the Lord will preserve them in a state of freedom and internal peace.
     Every Christmas season people take new hope from this promise of peace. But we must remember that the angels were speaking of an actual and immediate effect of the Lord's coming, and that despite the fact that peace among nations has not resulted from His birth, a genuine and far more important peace was immediately made possible. It is vain to look for a cessation of all worldly strife as long as men are born in evil and must struggle throughout a lifetime to overcome it. The Lord did not come to send peace "but a sword" (Matthew 10:34). And yet, marvelously, even as a man takes up the sword of truth to enter into a war against his own falsities and evils, he is inmostly preserved in a state of equilibrium and thus of peace. This was not true immediately prior to the Lord's advent. Equilibrium was threatened, and with it all genuine freedom. When He came, this equilibrium was restored, and so peace had come to earth.

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     When the Lord made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem just before He was crucified and rose again, the multitude shouted "Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest" (Luke 19:38). The angels announced "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace." Many years later the multitudes replied, "Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest." These two statements embody a summary of the Lord's advent. First He proceeded through the heavens in the glory of the Word then being made flesh. By this coming He established peace and equilibrium on earth. This in turn restored peace to the heavens. And in this state of peace the angels could receive a new revelation of "Divine truth from the Lord, which is 'glory in the highest' " (AE 365:11). Through the final temptation which the Lord was about to endure on the cross, the hells would be conquered and the Lord would rise as the Prince of Peace in heaven and on earth. This state of peace would be accompanied by a return of glory.
     This cycle has its image in the regeneration of man. Regeneration begins before man takes an active part. The Lord prepares the mind from within, storing up remains of good and truth, and by means of these He brings a state of spiritual equilibrium. The presence of the Lord by means of these remains, and by influx through them, is a glory to God in the highest regions of the mind. Despite the resistance of man's evils, and the dark cloud rising up from his falsities, the Lord in His Divine Human can descend into man's life even to the point of establishing a kind of earthly peace. He stills the restless waves that cast up mire and dirt long enough for the man to choose for himself the way of life or death. If he, from the freedom thus granted him by the Lord, can shun evils as sins, and turn to the Lord for help, the Lord will secretly prepare an internal stale of peace-a peace in the heavens. In this peace He reveals Himself to the regenerating man, and the glory of His Divine truth returns to enlighten him. "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace": "Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest."
     The Writings teach that "peace is bliss of heart and soul arising from the Lord's conjunction with heaven and with the church, and this from the conjunction of good and truth with those who are therein; consequently, there is no longer combat of evil and falsity against good and truth, or no dissension or war in a spiritual sense; from this is peace, in which all the fructification of good and the multiplication of truth takes place, and thence comes all wisdom and intelligence. And as this peace is from the Lord alone, and from Him with the angels in heaven, and with men in the church, so 'peace' in the highest sense means the Lord, and in a relative sense, heaven and the church, and thus good conjoined to truth with those who are there" (AE 365:18).

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     The angels exclaimed: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good pleasure in men." It is unfortunate that we cannot retain the traditional translation "good will toward men" because it is loved as a warm expression of the good feeling we associate with the advent season. However, this translation does not convey the real meaning of the Greek, and in the interest of having a clear understanding of this song of praise we have taken the literal rendering "good pleasure in men." Good will is an attitude taken towards something or someone. The translation "good will toward men" implies either that God has good will toward men, or that they have good will toward each other. But the Greek original uses a word that describes satisfaction or pleasure in something. The mitre upon Aaron's head bore the words "Holiness to Jehovah." In Exodus we are told that this was to make them "well-pleasing" or "accepted" before Jehovah (Exodus 28:38). In treating of this the Writings say: "that this signifies what is Divine of the Lord in them, is evident from the signification of 'well-pleasing' when said of Jehovah, that is the Lord, as being from His Divine, for that which is well-pleasing to the Lord is that which is from Him with man, spirit, or angel; for it is then in another, in whom it is looked at, and thus is well pleasing" (AC 9940).
     The angels, then, were not announcing that the Lord by His advent, willed what is good for men, but that by virtue of His presence with them, they could be saved and therefore could be in a state which was pleasing to Him. The Lord is not pleased by what is evil among men, although He permits it. But when His Divine is with men, then there is something in which He can take pleasure. This is why, at the baptism of the Lord, a voice from heaven said: "This is My beloved son in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). When the Divine truth, or glory, descended through the heavens, and was received by men in peace, then there was something among men that was from the Lord, and that was well-pleasing to the Lord. This was something new-something that could not have been announced before. Prior to the advent, the human race was in a state of extreme disorder. Evils had blocked the influx of the Lord's Divine qualities, and so His good pleasure was not among men. In regeneration it is similar. Prior to regeneration the Lord loves a man, but it is only when the man in freedom receives the Divine good and truth of the Lord that he is an object of the Lord's pleasure.
     Although we do not like to dwell on matters of translation, perhaps a word should be said about the other rendering-"Toward men of good will." This comes from a variant reading, that is, from another manuscript, which by the addition of a final "s" makes the noun genitive. But even this variant reading would have to be translated "in men of good-pleasure," or "in men in whom the Lord has good pleasure," because the Greek word simply does not mean "good will."

565

The variant, then, does not substantially alter the meaning; which is that, through His advent, the Lord restored to men those qualities which are well-pleasing to Himself. If we reject this variant reading, we find that the angels' words refer to the Lord's Human as "glory," for He was the King of Glory; as "peace," for He was the Prince of Peace; and as "good pleasure," for He was the beloved Son in whom the Divine was well pleased.
     These are the names for which the Lord is to be praised. He came to a world full of darkness and evil. He came to a world with only a small remnant of good. But through His advent He took power to Himself to save and deliver. He restored the hope of salvation to those who were willing to be led back into a state of genuine charity and wisdom. From His Divine will, he brought to men those things which are well pleasing to Himself. Now it could be said that the words "Holiness to Jehovah" were not only written on the miter of Aaron as a bare representative, but could be written on human hearts. And when the Lord is received in holiness, His good pleasure is in men.
     In celebrating the Lord's coming we can rejoice again at His marvelous work. We can once again turn to Him with the sincere desire to learn from Him, and to worship Him as the one source of all blessings. And we can give praise to the Lord whose glory fills the heavens, whose peace descends to earth, and whose good pleasure is once again in men. "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good pleasure in men." Amen.

     LESSONS: Isaiah 9:1-12. Luke 2:1-20. AE 365:11.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 516, 380, 513.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 50, 117.
GLORY TO GOD 1956

GLORY TO GOD Rev. KENNETH O. STROH 1956

A Christmas Talk to Children

Boys and girls: All of you were little babies at one time. And you know that every day, many little children are born into the world. Whenever you know of a family to whom the Lord has sent a new child you are glad; because you know how happy that family is that the tiny baby has come to live with them. And every time a baby is born into the world, the angels in heaven are very glad, and they rejoice. For they know that a baby is a most wonderful gift that the Lord gives to a family, and they hope that the child will grow up to become an angel, and to live the happy life of heaven.

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     So think how much more the angels must have rejoiced on that first Christmas day, long ago, when Mary brought forth her firstborn son, wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger. Because He was no ordinary child. It was the Lord Himself who had come into the world, and who was born in Bethlehem as a little baby. On the outside He looked like any other baby, and as yet people did not know that there was anything special about Him. But the angels of heaven knew He was a very special baby: He was the Lord Himself, come into the world. And the angels were so happy that they wanted to tell everybody they could all about it.
     This is how it was that the shepherds, who were watching their flocks of sheep by night in the countryside near Bethlehem, saw the angel of the Lord with a great light shining, which was the glory of the Lord. When the shepherds saw this wonderful sight they knew that they were near something very holy. And they were afraid. But the angel told them not to be afraid: for he had good news which should bring joy to people everywhere. He told them that the Lord was born that very day, and if they wanted to see Him they would find Him wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. Then, suddenly, the shepherds saw many, many angels who all were rejoicing, praising the Lord, and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."
     Ever since that first Christmas the angels have rejoiced that the Lord Jesus Christ was born into the world as a little baby, to grow up among men and teach them about the way to heaven. Because the angels know that the Lord came into the world in this way to make sure that all who wished might learn about Him, and might have the chance to be saved and to go to heaven. In the same way, all people in this world who have something of good in their hearts rejoice when they remember that the Lord has come. And those who are truly glad give thanks and praise to the Lord in the same way as do the angels, by saying in their hearts: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."
     Do you know what the angels mean when they sing that happy song? "Glory to God in the highest" means that the angels love the Lord above all things, that they praise and worship the Lord because He is the highest and because everything that is good comes from Him. And "peace on earth, good will toward men" means that the angels love other people as much as, sometimes more than, themselves: it means that they want to share the warm and peaceful life of heaven with all who wish to come there. And when the Lord came into the world to make certain that all might go to heaven if they chose, the angels were so filled with joy that they wanted to share it with everybody who would listen.

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     If you love the Lord, you too can rejoice at His birth, as did the angels and the shepherds of old. And, having heard the good tidings, you too, can come to see this marvelous thing which is come to pass. The shepherds went to Bethlehem, where they found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And of course you will not see the Lord in exactly the same way as did the shepherds of old. For you will see, not just the body of a little baby, but you will see the Divine Lord who is the God of heaven and earth, the Maker and Redeemer of men. You will see Him as He tells about Himself in His Word. And every time you see something new about Him, every time you learn a new truth, you will want to share your new joy with others, as the shepherds made known abroad the wonderful news they had learned.
     Then, too, you will want to worship Him and bring Him gifts as did the wise men from the east. Today you brought a gift to Him when you sang, and marched in procession toward His altar. And always at Christmas time you exchange gifts with others to express your affection for them. But the greatest gift of all is not the presents you give and receive, but the love you give to others. And most important of all is the love you give to the Lord.
     For the Lord gives you His love without end. He has made all things so that you and all the people He has created may use His many gifts to help them to learn to live the life of heaven. And He came into the world to make sure that all people who wish may go to heaven. This is why the angels were so happy when they brought the glad tidings to the shepherds. And this is why we rejoice at Christmas time, worship and praise the Lord for all His wonderful mercies toward us, and join with the angels in singing that glad song, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Amen.

     LESSONS: Luke 2:8-20. Apocalypse Explained, 1210 (portions).
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 515, 513, 522.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. C9, 51.
PRAISES OF THE LORD 1956

PRAISES OF THE LORD 1956

"In many passages in the Word the expression 'praising God' signifies to confess Him with the heart and with the lips, thus also to worship. . . . 'To praise God' signifies confession and worship, because the Lord has no wish to be praised and glorified from any love of Himself, but only from His love for man; for man must needs praise and glorify the Lord, that is, give praise and glory to Him, when he acknowledges in heart that there is nothing of good in himself, and that he can do nothing of himself, and on the other hand, that all good is from the Lord, and that the Lord can do all things.

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When man is in this acknowledgment he puts aside what is his proprium [own], which belongs to the love of self, and opens all things of his mind, and thus gives room for the Divine to flow in with good and with power. This is why it is necessary for man to be in humiliation before the Lord." (Apocalypse Explained, 1210, portions.)
GRATITUDE FOR THE LAWS OF PROVIDENCE 1956

GRATITUDE FOR THE LAWS OF PROVIDENCE Rev. WILLIAM WHITEHEAD 1956

     Charter Day Address

     One hundred years ago, on September eleventh, eighteen hundred and fifty-six, the Rev. William Henry Benade, on behalf of the Philadelphia Society of the New Jerusalem, laid the corner-stone of a schoolhouse in Cherry Street. This school was dedicated to the use of education, which that society had elected to perform as its first use of charity. It was the first school conducted according to the principles afterwards formally adopted by the "Academy of the New Church" in 1876.
          * Delivered at the Service in the Cathedral, October 12, 1956.
     In the course of his eloquent address, Mr. Benade uttered some prophetic sentences which deserve to be remembered in this centennial year. He said: " . . . My brethren, we have this day actually begun a great work-however small and insignificant may be its first appearance and however weak and feeble may be the hands which have been laid unto it; a work which, as I verily believe, has a future of unmeasurable extension and untold use. And, having put our hands to the plough, it is not for us to look back, but forward and upward; to gird our loins for the labor which lies before us, to seek for strength and light where alone they can be found, and to do in this our day and generation our duty as in the very presence of God. . . .
     "In contemplating the future of this beginning, we may be permitted to think of the time when this house shall be completed, and, receiving that small flock which shall first enter within its walls, be opened with prayer to the Lord for His presence and aid, and praise for His goodness and mercy in having enabled us so to come together for such a purpose. Happy will be that day for us, and far happier, we trust, for them! And, looking past that period down the vista of coming years, we may suffer our thought to run on other and many more forms of youthful life, gathered together in the same place, and for the same end, and enjoying the benefits of that which we have begun to do.

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     "And then-turning the eye to the right hand, and to the left, and all around-may we not behold many, very many other and like houses, smaller and larger, with their inmates, and their labors, and their uses, and their irradiating spheres of New Church life and heavenly charity. And in the midst of all, and high above all, a Great House-a wonderful house of science and knowledge, of instruction and education, with its youth and young men, and middle-aged and old men; with its learning, and intelligence and wisdom, and its universal sphere of New Church educational life, extending on all sides and to all parts, flowing into, and forming and conforming all the lesser and least houses into accordance and agreement with itself; being to them as a perpetual fountain for the replenishing of their uses, and receiving from them its supplies of needed material-to elaborate and send forth again and again, in the performance of its great universal use?
     "May we not-nay, should we not-look to these as ends also in our present work?
     "Who shall say that these things shall not be?
     "Who will gainsay if we declare that they will be?
     "Who will gainsay the time is even now coming when the New Church shall awake to the importance, the vital importance of the use of providing the means of instruction and education for its children and youth, and for all children and youth, within its own borders?-the time when it will recognize and acknowledge this as one of its first uses, one of its first ecclesiastical uses, one of the greatest of the heavenly uses, for the performance of which it now descends, and is hereafter to be established in the earth! A use, without the performance of which it cannot descend, and will not be established? . . ." (Bulletin of the Sons of the Academy, Oct., 1916: Vol. v. pp. 55-7.)
     One hundred years have passed since these words were spoken; and we have now come-to give thanks to the Lord that the dream, the vision, which He gave to His servant has come true. From whence do such dreams come if not from heaven?
     For, in the middle of the last century, the outlook for the New Church in America and England was indeed sad. The older generation of staunch New Church leaders had passed, or was passing. Within fourteen years from 1850, Samuel Noble (1853), David Powell (1854), Richard de Charms, Sr. (1864), Maskill M. Carll (1856), John Harbin (1851), Christian G. Enslin (1856), Professor George Bush (1859), Frederick J. Kramph (1858), Zina Hyde (1856), Caleb Reed (1854), and a host of other stalwart ministers and laymen went into the other world.
     The general state of the Church was marked by apathy towards the Heavenly Doctrine-by the loss of intellectual freedom at the hands of a smothering piety and conventional puritanism.

570

It was vexed by frequent controversies and quarrels over trivial matters; and pestered by spiritualism, Fourierism, and other heresies. Faith was waning, and charity was growing cold. Only infrequently do we read thorough attempts to penetrate the meaning of the doctrines of the New Church. There were thousands of sermons based on the letter of the Word, with occasional references to the teachings of Swedenborg; but differing little from the sermons to be heard from the average Protestant pulpit. There was an obvious avoidance of the issue of the Divine nature of the Writings; and much verbal quibbling that the Writings were not the Word. Indeed, when the famous writer, Charles Dickens, reported in his magazine (Household Words) that the "New Jerusalem" church was "based on revelations claiming to be Divine," it was a prominent English New Church minister (the Rev. J. H. Smithson) who indignantly issued a public denial.
     The New Church leaders who remained seem to have been well intentioned and earnest; and, according to their training and light, devoted to what they saw to be their duty. But the church lacked an adequately trained ministry, with a sustained passion for the study of the Writings as a Divine revelation for modern man. There were many pastors but few apostles. There was much talk and writing devoted to external and trivial things-a sure sign that great things were departing. In the meantime, the laity, though affirmative and loyal, were spiritually unfed.
     On the external plane the difficulties of the church were great. Months before Bishop Benade's schoolhouse was consecrated a great financial panic swept the United States, ultimately compelling the sale of the first New Church temple in Philadelphia; and the distant rumble of an approaching Civil War was already distinctly heard. Against these adverse circumstances, Bishop Benade, and those who rallied about him, pitted their simple faith and conviction that the greatest thing in the world for man's salvation was to preach unequivocally the gospel of the Lord in His second coming; and especially to begin with the children and with all gentile states.
     This called for a return of loyalty to distinctive standards in doctrine, worship, government and education-the need that only an educated and sound leadership could provide. Such new leaders gathered about the doctrinal standards proclaimed anew, for a new generation, by Bishop Benade; proclaimed by him with imaginative boldness, with intellectual integrity, and with a clear love for spiritual truth for its own sake.
     The New Church was again free; but this time with organized means for bridging the dangerous gap between old and new generations, and so preserving its institutional freedom, especially through education by and for the New Church.

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So was the "Academy of the New Church" born-born of a dream; a dream that became a church and a school system, even a community life. For although Bishop Benade's school was closed in 1863, because of the exigencies of a great Civil War, fourteen years later (Sept. 3rd, 1877), its doors once again opened. In the Divine Providence, loyal laymen were now in a position to furnish the means for the revival of its uses; and in a few weeks a Charter was granted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to the "Academy of the New Church," entitling it to all the rights and privileges of a university- devoted to its own particular philosophy of life and religion, and especially to training leaders therein.
     So did history repeat itself. The very founders of this country came here, in part, for the freedom to educate their children according to the tenets of their faith. The universities of early colonial times were literally the children of the churches. Especially in William Penn's "Charter of Privileges," which remained the fundamental law of Pennsylvania until the American Revolution, it was specifically provided that the Commonwealth should be a refuge and home to "all believing in one God," and who "professed to believe Jesus Christ the Savior of the world."
     And so, in obedience to the Fourth Commandment, and being especially mindful at this time of the disappearance of men's liberties in so great a part of the world, we today give thanks to the Divine Providence that the uses of this church have been so protected and given freedom by this Republic during these eighty years. In many lands, in most lands, it could not be so.
     Indeed, this has been the chief mission of that great movement known as "Democracy," a movement comparable to the Renaissance, the Reformation and the era of Revolutions; the mission of giving freedom and opportunity to the uses of religion and education. For notwithstanding the many and grave defects of democracy-its restiveness against order and authority, its exaggerated faith in the safeguards of legal forms, its fickleness of judgment, its destructive criticism of the neighbor-it has yet been the means of giving freedom and opportunity to civic and moral truth and good as well as to their opposites. It has given freedom and opportunity to captive gentile nations as well as to aggressive national egotisms. It has given freedom and opportunity to the individual who wrestles to preserve the individuality of his own soul and express it in his own use, as well as to those forces which seek to trample the identity of the individual under the feet of the multitude.
     Nor will mankind, having tasted of this freedom, ever be willing to go back into a state of slavery to the evil kings and priests who placed their will above the law, and who would acknowledge no constitution, treaty or charter until an enraged people swept aside their tyranny.

572

For all this, symbolized by the charter which protects our freedom and our use, it is fitting that we should this day give our thanks to the laws of the Divine Providence.
     Certainly, the true members of the New Church will never dissociate themselves from all those currents in the stream of Providence which carry men into greater freedom and broader opportunity. Nor would we lightly imperil the civil liberties of our institutions, or the peace and prosperity of our uses, for any cause less worthy than the freedom of a spiritual church. The very hope of genuine reformation and regeneration lies in the preservation of human freedom. The New Church cannot exist in a state of slavery or tyranny.
     But to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's-to give honor to those who provide the necessary conditions of life and use in this natural world-this is a part of our very faith as a commandment of religion. And during the past eighty years our church has, in its schools and homes, met its obligation to the state by preparing many men and women, in mind and character, for useful service to the neighbor.
     Nor can this training for a higher duality of citizenship-expressed in ideals of devotion to the home, in worthier curricula of education and social culture, and in new standards of rational, discriminating judgment as to the duties of charity-fail, in the course of time, to leaven and influence the life of the civil state, to its public enrichment. For the best friend of a civil state is a true, spiritual church; and its worst enemies, as the pages of history abundantly record, have been the evil and tyrannical influences proceeding from false and corrupted churches. How many of the darkest chapters of the story of modern man would have remained unwritten, had it not been for the Catholic doctrine of Papal rule, or the irresponsible Protestant doctrine of faith alone.
     Herein, then, is involved the ultimate significance of the granting of the Academy's charter; in that it gave ultimate freedom and civil form to a new kind of church university; a university body rejecting the control and influence of the worn out and discredited dogmas of Christendom, and yet at the same time basing its very life, its soul, in a church, in a new church; a university-church to stand in this world for all nations, as the abiding center of a new philosophy of the free man's way of life, and of a new knowledge of the way to eternal life.
     So do we give our grateful thanks and love to the Lord for that "Great House" which one man saw in a dream, and deemed it his duty to bring into being, one hundred years ago.

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COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY 1956

COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY W. CAIRNS HENDERSON 1956

     Meeting in London

     A session of the Council of the Clergy of the General Church of the New Jerusalem was held in London, England, on Tuesday, July 24, 1956, prior to the opening of the General Assembly. On this unusual occasion, the first of its kind since 1928, the Council was privileged to meet in the historic Wynter Room at Swedenborg House.
     In addition to the Bishop of the General Church, who presided, there were present one member of the episcopal degree and thirteen members of the pastoral degree, namely: the Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton; and the Rev. Messrs. A. Wynne Acton, Elmo C. Acton, Karl R. Alden, Bjorn A. H. Boyesen, Harold C. Cranch, Alan Gill, W. Cairns Henderson (secretary), Louis B. King, Hugo Lj. Odhner, Dandridge Pendleton, Frank S. Rose, Erik Sandstrom, and David R. Simons.
     The meeting began at 11:00 a.m. Bishop De Charms explained that no program had been planned; the European members had certain questions they would like to have discussed and the choice of subjects would be left to them. Arrangements for the sessions of the Assembly were discussed briefly, and the Rev. A. Wynne Acton conveyed greetings from the Ministers' Council of the South African Mission-a body consisting of four of the more experienced African ministers, together with the Superintendent and his assistant-to the meeting and to the Assembly. This message was received with warm appreciation. It was also resolved that the Council express its gratitude to the Swedenborg Society for the privilege of meeting in its premises and for the arrangements made for its comfort.
     Two subjects were discussed at some length. The Rev. Frank S. Rose introduced the topic of encouraging young people from Great Britain and continental Europe to attend the Academy schools-a subject on which a need for counsel was felt. The feelings of the parents and societies concerned, the possible effects on the students themselves, and the problems posed by different school systems, national service, language barriers and foreign exchange controls were considered in detail, and it was evident that these things were thoroughly and sympathetically understood by the Council, as they are by the Academy itself. A few of the points made were: that the Academy has always hoped for the establishment of institutions of higher education in centers of the church outside the United States; that it is best not to send students to the Academy when they are too young, preferably not until they are of college age; and that, meanwhile, a study of the figures shows that the situation for overseas societies-in regard to students not wishing to return home, or being dissatisfied-is not as discouraging as it might seem to be.

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     Another topic was introduced by the Rev. Erik Sandstrom, who asked whether societies should feel free to use other hymns and tunes in addition to those in the Liturgy, especially those for which there was a strong national feeling. The matter was discussed generally and the members present could see no reason why supplements should not be prepared, though it would scarcely be possible to include these collections in the Liturgy. It was agreed that within the framework of a general uniformity, insured by the use of the Liturgy in English-speaking societies, our societies should have freedom to develop according to their national backgrounds. A question was raised as to the propriety of making changes in the administration of rites. It was thought that this might be done within limits, but an appeal was made for suggestions to be sent to the Committee on the Liturgy.
     W. CAIRNS HENDERSON,
          Secretary of the Council of the Clergy
PEACE RIVER BLOCK DISTRICT ASSEMBLY 1956

PEACE RIVER BLOCK DISTRICT ASSEMBLY MARGERY M. ESAK 1956

     DAWSON CREEK, B. C., JULY 15, 1956

     The Fifth Peace River Block District Assembly was held in Dawson Creek on Sunday, July 15, 1956. Our meeting place was the South Dawson Hall-five miles west on the scenic Hart Highway. Because of sickness, vacations and other reasons the group was somewhat smaller this year than at the 1955 Assembly. We missed some familiar faces, but in spite of that we felt that we had a very interesting and inspiring meeting, and we hope that next year everyone from far and near will be able to attend the Assembly in Gorande Prairie.
     The service of worship began about 11:30 a.m., with Mrs. Carbury as our pianist. Mrs. Barrett, who was baptized into the New Church, was formally welcomed into our group. The service was followed by the administration of the Holy Supper, after which the ladies all assisted in serving a delicious luncheon.

575

     After lunch we had an intermission which was spent in saying "Hello" and "Welcome" to each and every one. The business meeting was then called to order, with the Rev. Roy Franson in the chair. Many and varied were the subjects discussed and voted on at the meeting. Mr. Ed Lemky and Mrs. Margery Esak were again elected as secretary-treasurer of the Gorande Prairie and Dawson Creek groups, respectively. A report was given on the purchase of a lot in Dawson Creek for our church building, and a motion was passed to the effect that we start a building fund at once and press 6ork on the building. Mr. Nelson Evens started the building fund with a very generous donation of $100.00. Our hearty thanks to Mr. Evens.
     At the conclusion of the business meeting we spread the tables for our annual Assembly banquet, which was enjoyed by one and all. Mr. Erdman Heinrichs, our worthy toastmaster, led the group in several songs and introduced the speakers. The first of these was Mrs. Carbury, whose subject was "Distinctiveness in Social Life." The second speaker was Mr. Franson, who gave us a very vivid talk on "Distinctiveness in Doctrine." A lengthy and lively discussion was started by these two speeches. Everyone entered into it wholeheartedly, and freely and emphatically stated his or her views. Many and varied were the speakers, and many and varied were the arguments pro and con. Perhaps we strayed somewhat from the subject at times, but it was all most interesting and enlightening. Mr. Franson was kept very busy answering questions and giving explanations.
     We all felt, as we left for home, that we had had a lovely day; that we had met many old friends, and had listened to and learned many things. So we reached home, physically tired but mentally stimulated, and happy to know that once again we had had a good Assembly.
     MARGERY M. ESAK,
          Secretary

576

IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1956

     Replying to a letter on declining church membership, the Rev. Othmar Tobisch, in a recent issue of the NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER, deplores making comparison with the General Church, in which he sees nothing distinctive since it has "built an 'old church' medieval cathedral." If such comparisons must be made, he says, we must not only look at numbers. How many new churches have been built by the General Church in the last five or ten years? What new and attractive programs were started by the General Church? Mr. Tobisch then volunteers the information that the membership increase of the General Church comes mainly from its own families, and Convention members who need, as they say, "the power of the bishops to tell them what to do." He then states confidently that "the General Church is incapable by its claims and the language which it employs, of interesting others on the 'outside,' who are unprepared to understand the special lingo which has developed in their collateral writing."
     For one who writes with such assurance, Mr. Tobisch is less than well informed. The fact is that, during the last ten years, some 52% of our increase came from the families of the General Church, and only 8% from other New Church bodies. In the case of 2% the previous church affiliation is not determinable; and 38% came by way of adult baptism from the "outside." The 38% were quite able to accept the claims of the General Church and to understand the language it employs. This last is scarcely surprising, for the General Church strives to use, not a special "lingo," but the language of Divine revelation. Mr. Tobisch may or may not find the answers to his other questions in the pages of the NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER; but if he should ever come east we invite him to visit Bryn Athyn, where we will be glad to show him our cathedral and to tell him of our other buildings and our programs. But a friendly word of warning. If any members of Convention are thinking of joining our ranks because they want the "power of the bishops to tell them what to do" we advise them to look elsewhere; they will not find what they are seeking under the shadow of our medieval cathedral.
     In an article marked by sound doctrine and gentle irony the Rev. Frank Holmes deals, in the NEW-CHURCH HERALD, with the view that, since the Old Church came to an end in 1757, all-Baptist, Methodist, Church of England, and even Roman Catholic-are now part of the new dispensation. His parallels are effective, and his logic seems unassailable.

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NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1956

     Numbers is concluded this month, and our readings then take us to the twelfth chapter of Deuteronomy-the last book of Moses. The final chapters of Numbers (33-36) enumerate forty-two journeys of the Israelites, from Rameses in Egypt to the plains of Moab by Jordan; delineate the borders of the land and name the men who were to divide it; list the Levitical cities and the cities of refuge, and give the laws concerning murder; and deal finally with the inheritance of daughters. This apparent combination of itinerary, topography and law is, of course, significant of Divine and spiritual things. Thus the fact that the Levites received no tribal territory, but were distributed throughout the land in cities, involves the truth that the priestly love and use, the love of the salvation of souls, is universal in every genuine church.
     The name, Deuteronomy, comes from the Septuagint, and signifies "Repetition of the Law." In its ultimate form the book consists mainly of three addresses given by Moses, when in extreme old age, to the people who had been born in the wilderness and had therefore not heard the original promulgation of the Law. Some biblical scholars have assigned to it a much later date; but the Writings affirm the Mosaic authorship of the book, except for the closing verses. Deuteronomy is not specifically mentioned in the Writings; but four of its chapters are cited, and all are expounded to some extent, some copiously. The portion assigned includes the introductory address and part of the second, which is a practical exposition of the entire Law.

     Doctrine of Faith is also concluded this month. In the sections read (nos. 34-72) the true Christian faith is contrasted with that of the time, the quality of faith alone is discussed, the representatives in the Word of those who are in faith alone are enumerated; and the work closes with the warning, always applicable to ecclesiastical organizations, that faith separated from charity destroys the church.
     Divine Love and Wisdom, which is taken up this month, is a treatise on creation and a work of Divine philosophy. Its purpose is to show that the universe was created from the Divine substance but is discontinuous with God, that man is not life but a recipient of life, and that the object of creation is that its uses may ascend by degrees from ultimates to man, and through man to the Creator from whom they are.

578

REVIEW 1956

REVIEW Editor 1956

NOTES AND PAPERS ON RITUAL. By William Frederic Pendleton. Academy of the New Church Book Room, Bryn Athyn, Pa., 1956. Cloth, pp. 178. Price, $1.50.

     The "Notes on Ritual" brought together in this handy volume were first published serially in NEW CHURCH LIFE, appearing during 1919 and 1920 in fourteen installments. The address entitled "Doctrine and Worship," delivered at a service in celebration of the first anniversary of the dedication of the Bryn Athyn Church, appeared in the same journal in 1920. The papers included in the book are: "The New Liturgy" (1908), "Burial" (1921), "The Place of the Clergy in Receiving the Communion" (1918), and "Importance and Frequency of the Communion" (1922). For the sake of continuity the last two have been placed after the notes on the Holy Supper; the address and the other two papers form the concluding sections of the book.
     The Notes comment on ritual in general and then traverse in great detail the successive phases of the General Office, giving the origin and reason for the different parts pf the service, and thus forming a commentary on the various elements in our worship. The two sacraments and the rites of Confirmation, Betrothal and Marriage are considered in the same manner, and there are sections on the procession and on private and individual prayer. In additional notes Bishop Pendleton treats of ritual and instruction, the origin and uses of ritual, a new ritual, and church buildings, and then offers suggestions for improvements in the services. Some of these were incorporated in the 1939 edition of the Liturgy, and others are under study now by the committee entrusted with making a further revision.
     Among many other things, Bishop W. F. Pendleton is remembered as a distinguished New Church liturgist. The compilers are to be thanked for making available in compact form the scattered fruits of his studies, which year by year are more difficult to obtain. The ritual we seek is a thing of slow growth; and the priesthood, concerned with its development, will find here an invaluable book for study and reference. But the volume should be of interest to our congregations also as explaining familiar forms of worship, the meaning of which may not be known, or have been long forgotten.
     THE EDITOR

579

GIFTS FROM THE EAST 1956

GIFTS FROM THE EAST Editor 1956

NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly by
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.
Editor                         Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Bryn Athyn, Pa,
Business Manager                Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address, and business communications, should be sent to the Circulation Secretary. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.
     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$3.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy, 30 cents.
     Hidden in the well loved story of the wise men is this truth: that which man appears to give to the Lord is the product of what the Lord has imparted to him, and it becomes a worshipful gift only when it is returned to the Lord in that true adoration which is the wisdom of regenerate life. For the treasures borne by the wise men signify all the celestial, spiritual and natural blessings which the Lord bestows upon those who receive Him in His coming. They require only to be opened-that man should repent, and so come into their use and enjoyment. And when they are opened in the Lord's presence, there come forth from them the gifts of love, charity and faith or use; gifts received from the Lord, and yielded up to Him again in humble devotion.
     These treasures are in the custody and gift of those remains of truth which the Lord implants with every man in childhood, and in which is stored up the wisdom of the spiritual east. These remains are led, and brought into conjunction with the first states of regeneration, by truth about the Lord. From them alone does man have the wisdom to follow that truth until he can perceive the presence of the Lord in the spiritual truth of the Word and recognize His features. And when the Lord is then acknowledged as King, by glad submission to His teaching and leading, the treasures of heaven stored up within those remains are opened. Happy are they who, amidst all the joyous celebrations of Christmas, thus come to the Lord bearing gifts from the east. For the true spirit of Christmas, so deeply hidden by its externals, has touched their hearts, and they will know its true joy.

580

DIRECTORY 1956

     GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM

     Officials and Councils

Bishop: Right Rev. George de Charms
Assistant Bishop: Right Rev. Willard D. Pendleton
Secretary: Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner

     CONSISTORY

     Bishop George de Charms

     Right Rev. Willard D. Pendleton; Revs. A. Wynne Acton; Elmo C. Acton; Karl R. Alden; Gustaf Baeckstrom; Bjorn A. H. Boyesen; Charles E. Doering; Alan Gill; Frederick E. Gyllenhaal, Secretary; W. Cairns Henderson; Hugo Lj. Odhner; Norman H. Reuter; Gilbert H. Smith.

     "The General Church of the New Jerusalem"

     (A corporation of Illinois)

     "General Church of the New Jerusalem"

     (A corporation of Pennsylvania)

     OFFICERS OF BOTH CORPORATIONS

Right Rev. George de Charms, President
Right Rev. Willard D. Pendleton, Vice President
Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Acting Secretary
Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Treasurer

     BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE ILLINOIS CORPORATION AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE PENNSYLVANIA CORPORATION

Right Rev. George de Charms; Right Rev. Willard D. Pendleton; Mr. Daric E. Acton; Kesniel C. Acton, Esq.; Mr. Reginald S: Anderson; Mr. Carl Hj. Asplundh; Mr. Edwin T. Asplundh; Mr. Lester Asplundh; Mr. Robert G. Barnitz; Mr. Geoffrey E. Blackman; Mr. Edward C. Bostock; Mr. Robert M. Brown; Mr. Geoffrey S. Childs; Randolph W. Childs, Esq.; Mr. Gordon D. Cockerell; Edward K. Davis, Esq.; George C. Doering, Esq.; Mr. Theodore N. Glenn; Robert C. Hilldale, Esq.; Mr. John E. Kuhl; Mr. Sydney E. Lee; Mr. Tore E. Loven; Philip C. Pendleton, Esq.; Mr. Harold F. Pitcairn; Raymond Pitcairn, Esq.; Mr. F. G. Colley Pryke; Mr. A. Warren Reuter; Mr. Gilbert M. Smith; Arthur Synnestvedt, Esq; Mr. Norman P. Synnestvedt. Honorary Members: Dr. Marlin W. Heilman; Mr. Hubert Hyatt.

581

     The Clergy

     Bishops

     DE CHARMS, GEORGE. Ordained June 28, 1914; 2nd Degree, June 19, 1916; 3rd Degree, March 11, 1928. Bishop of the General Church. Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church. President, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     PENDLETON, WILLARD DANDRIDGE. Ordained June 18, 1933; 2nd Degree, September 12, 1934; 3rd Degree, June 19, 1946. Assistant Bishop of the General Church. Executive Vice President, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     Pastors

     ACTON, ALFRED WYNNE. Ordained June 19, 1932; 2nd Degree, March 25, 1934. Pastor of the Durban Society, Superintendent of the South African Mission. Address: 129 Musgrave Road, Durban, Natal, South Africa.
     ACTON, ELMO CARMAN. Ordained June 14, 1925; 2nd Degree, August 5, 1928. Pastor of the Immanuel Church, Glenview, Illinois. Address: 12 Park Drive, Glenview, Illinois.
     ALDEN, KARL RICHARDSON. Ordained June 19, 1917; 2nd Degree, October 12, 1919. Professor of Religion, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     BAECKSTROM, GUSTAF. Ordained June 6, 1915; 2nd Degree, June 27, 1920. Editor of NOVA ECCLESIA and Manager of the Book Room in Stockholm. Address: Svedjevagen 20, Bromma, Sweden.
     BOYESEN, BJORN ADOLPH HILDEMAR. Ordained June 19, 1939; 2nd Degree, March 30, 1941. Pastor of the Stockholm Society. Visiting Pastor of the Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Jonkoping and Oslo Circles. Address: Aladdinsvagen 27, Bromma, Sweden.
     CALDWELL, WILLIAM BEEBE. Ordained October 19, 1902; 2nd Degree, October 23, 1904. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     CHILDS, GEOFFREY STAFFORD, JR. Ordained June 19, 1952; 2nd Degree, June 19, 1954. Pastor of the Carmel Church, Kitchener, Ontario. Address: 178 Bristol Street, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
     CRANCH, HAROLD COVERT. Ordained June 19, 1941; 2nd Degree, October 25, 1942. Visiting Pastor to the Western Stales. Address: 346 Riverdale Drive, Glendale 4, Calif.
     DOERING, CHARLES EMIL. Ordained June 7, 1896; 2nd Degree, January 29, 1899. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     FRANSON, ROY. Ordained June 19, 1953; 2nd Degree, January 29, 1956. Pastor of the groups at Dawson Creek, B. C., and Gorande Prairie, Alta., Canada. Address: Box 487, Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada.
     GILL, ALAN. Ordained June 14, 1925; 2nd Degree, June 19, 1926. Pastor of the Colchester Society. Address: 9 Ireton Road, Colchester, England.
     GLADISH, VICTOR JEREMIAH. Ordained June 17, 1928; 2nd Degree, August 5, 1928. Address: 3508 Linneman Street, Glenview, Illinois.
     GYLLENHAAL, FREDERICK EDMUND. Ordained June 23, 1907; 2nd Degree, June 19, 1910. Pastor-in-Charge, General Church Religion Lessons. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.

582

     HEINRICHS, HENRY. Ordained June 24, 1923; 2nd Degree, February 8, 1925. Address: R. R. 3, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.
     HENDERSON, WILLIAM CAIRNS. Ordained June 10, 1934; 2nd Degree, April 14, 1935. Secretary of the Council of the Clergy. Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE. Visiting Pastor to Connecticut. Professor of Theology, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     KING, LOUIS BLAIR. Ordained June 19, 1951; 2nd Degree, April 19, 1953. Pastor of the Pittsburgh Society. Address: 299 Le Roi Road, Pittsburgh 8, Pa.
     LIMA JOAO DE MENDONCA. Ordained, 1st and 2nd Degrees, August 5, 1928. Pastor of the Rio de Janeiro Society. Address: R. Senador, Vergueiro, 154, Apt. 1100, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
     ODHNER, HUGO LJUNGBERG. Ordained June 28, 1914; 2nd Degree, June 24, 1917. Secretary of the General Church. Assistant Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church. Dean of the Theological School, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     ODHNER, ORMOND DE CHARMS. Ordained June 19, 1940; 2nd Degree, October 11, 1942. Assistant Pastor of the Immanuel Church, Glenview, Illinois. Visiting Pastor, Madison, St. Paul-Minneapolis Circles, Groups, and Chicago District. Address: 2700 Park Lane, Glenview, Illinois.
     PENDLETON, DANDRIDGE. Ordained June 19, 1952; 2nd Degree, June 19, 1954. Pastor of the Washington, D. C., and Baltimore, Maryland, Societies. Address: 800 North Carolina Avenue S.E., Washington, D. C.
     PRYKE, MARTIN. Ordained June 19, 1940; 2nd Degree, March 1, 1942. Pastor of the Olivet Church, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Visiting Pastor to the Montreal Circle. Address: 2 Elm Grove Avenue, Toronto 3, Ontario, Canada.
     REUTER, NORMAN HAROLD. Ordained June 17, 1928; 2nd Degree, June 15, 1930. Pastor of the Detroit Society, Visiting Pastor to the North Ohio Circle. Address: 1541 Eaten Road, Berkley, Mich.
     RICH, MORLEY DYCKMAN. Ordained June 19, 1938; 2nd Degree, October 13, 1940. Visiting Pastor to the South-Eastern Stales. Address: 19820 N.E. 12th Court, North Miami Beach, Fla.
     ROGERS, NORBERT HENRY. Ordained June 19, 1938; 2nd Degree, October 13, 1940. Pastor of the Advent Church, Philadelphia, Pa. Visiting Pastor to the New York and North Jersey Circles. Address: 5007 Penn Street, Philadelphia 24, Pa.
     ROSE, FRANK SHIRLEY. Ordained June 19, 1952; 2nd Degree, August 2, 1953. Visiting Pastor to the isolated in Great Britain and to the Circles at Paris and The Hague. Address: 41 Ambrose Avenue, Colchester, England.
     SANDSTROM, ERIK. Ordained June 10, 1934; 2nd Degree, August 4, 1935. Pastor of Michael Church, London, England. Address: 135 Mantilla Road, Tooting, London, S.W. 17, England.
     SIMONS, DAVID RESTYN. Ordained June 19, 1948; 2nd Degree, June 19, 1950. Assistant Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church. Principal of the Bryn Athyn Elementary School. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     SMITH, GILBERT HAVEN. Ordained June 25, 1911; 2nd Degree, June 19, 1913. Address: South Shaftesbury, R. F. D. 1, Vermont.
     STROH, KENNETH OLIVER. Ordained June 19, 1948; 2nd Degree, June 19, 1950. Assistant to the Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     WHITEHEAD, WILLIAM. Ordained June 19, 1922; 2nd Degree, June 19, 1926. Professor of History, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

583

     Ministers

     CRANCH, RAYMOND GREENLEAF. Ordained June 19, 1922. Visiting Minister to the Erie Circle. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     HOLM, BERNARD DAVID. Ordained June 19, 1952. Assistant to the Pastor of the Durban Society, Assistant to the Superintendent of the South African Mission. Address: Flat 4, Kingsdowne, 191 Cato Road, Durban, Natal, South Africa.
     JUNGE, ROBERT SCHILL. Ordained June 19, 1955. Assistant to the Visiting Pastor to the Western States. Address: 4141 Everett Street, Wheatridge, Colorado.
     SCHNARR, FREDERICK LAURIER. Ordained June 19, 1955. Minister of Sharon Church, Chicago, Illinois. Visiting Minister to the South Ohio Circle. Address: 5220 North Wayne Avenue, Chicago 40, Illinois.
     WEISS, JAN HUGO. Ordained June 19, 1955. Assistant to the Pastors of the Carmel Church, Kitchener, and the Olivet Church, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Address:145 Moore Avenue, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

     Authorized Candidates

     FIGUEIREDO, JOSE LOPES DE. Authorized, August 15, 1951. Address: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
     HEINRICHS, DANIEL WINTHROP. Authorized, January 30, 1956. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     ROSE, DONALD LESLIE. Authorized, January 30, 1956. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     Authorized Leaders

     ENGELTJES, HERMAN G. Authorized, November 4, 1950. Address: Laan van Eik en Duinen 206, The Hague, Holland.
     HELDON, LINDTHMAN. Authorized, July 1, 1950. Address: 13 Alexander Street, Penshurst, N.S.W., Australia.

     British Guiana Mission

     Pastor-in-Charge

     ALDERNON, HENRY. Ordained, 1st and 2nd Degrees, September 1, 1940. Pastor of the General Church Mission in Georgetown, British Guiana. Address: 273 Lamaha Street, Georgetown 4, Demerara, British Guiana, South America.

     South African Mission

     Xosa

     KANDISA, JOHNSON. Ordained September 11, 1938; 2nd Degree, October 3, 1948. Pastor of the Queenstown and Sterkstroom Societies. Address: No. 132, Location, Queenstown, C. P., South Africa.

584

     Basuto

     MOTSI, JONAS. Ordained September 29, 1929; 2nd Degree, September 30, 1929. Pastor of Quthing District. Address: Phahameng School, P. O. Quthing, Basutoland, South Africa.

     Zulu

     BUTELEZI, STEPHEN EPHRAIM. Ordained September 11, 1938; 2nd Degree, October 3, 1948. Pastor of the Hambrook Society. Address: Hambrook Government School, P. O. Acton Homes, Ladysmith, Natal, South Africa.
     LUNGA, JOHANNES. Ordained September 11, 1938; 2nd Degree, October 3, 1948. Pastor of the Esididini Society. Address: Esididini School, P. O. Durnacol, Dannhauser, Natal, South Africa.
     LUTULI, MAFA. Ordained October 3, 1948. Acting Pastor of the "Kent Manor" Society. Address: "Rent Manor," P. O. Entumeni, Zululand, South Africa.
     MATSHININI, TIMOTHY. Ordained August 28, 1938; 2nd Degree, October 3, 1948. Retired. Address: 165, 11th Avenue, Alexandra Township, Johannesburg, Transvaal, South Africa.
     MKIZE, SOLOMON. Ordained August 21, 1938; 2nd Degree, October 3, 1948. Pastor of the Greylingstad Society and District. Address: P. O. Box 38, Greylingstad, Transvaal, South Africa.
     NZIMANDE, BENJAMIN ISHMAEL. Ordained August 21, 1938; 2nd Degree, October 3, 1948. Pastor of the Deepdale & Bulwer Districts. Address: Polela Health Centre, P/B Bulwer, Natal, South Africa.
     SABELA, PETER HANDRICK. Ordained August 21, 1938; 2nd Degree, October 3, 1948. Pastor at Phoenix, Verulam, Tongaat and District. Address: Ohlange Institute, P/B Durban, Natal, South Africa.
     SIBEKO, PAUL PEFENI. Ordained October 3, 1948. Minister of the Alexandra Township Society. Address: 106, 10th Avenue, Alexandra Township, Johannesburg, Transvaal, South Africa.
     ZUNGU, AARON. Ordained August 21, 1938; 2nd Degree, October 3, 1948. Pastor of the Durban District and Assistant Teacher in the Theological School. Address: 2751 Mtiyane Road, Lamontville, Durban, Natal, South Africa.

     Societies and Circles

     Societies

ADVENT SOCIETY OF PHILADELPHIA                     Rev. Norbert H. Rogers
BALTIMORE SOCIETY, MARYLAND                    Rev. Dandridge Pendleton
BRYN ATHYN CHURCH                              Rt. Rev. George de Charms
CARMEL CHURCH OF KITCHENER, ONTARIO               Rev. Geoffrey S. Childs, Jr.
COLCHESTER SOCIETY, ENGLAND                    Rev. Alan Gill
DETROIT SOCIETY, MICHIGAN                     Rev. Norman H. Reuter
DURBAN SOCIETY, NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA           Rev. A. Wynne Acton
HURSTSVILLE SOCIETY, N. S. W., AUSTRALIA          (Mr. Lindthman Heldon)
IMMANUEL CHURCH OF GLENVIEW, ILLINOIS           Rev. Elmo C. Acton
MICHAEL, CHURCH, LONDON, ENGLAND                Rev. Erik Sandstrom

585

OLIVET CHURCH, TORONTO, ONTARIO                    Rev. Martin Pryke
PITTSBURGH SOCIETY                         Rev. Louis B. King
RIO DE JANEIRO SOCIETY, BRAZIL                    Rev. Joao de M. Lima
SHARON CHURCH, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS                    Rev. Frederick L. Schnarr
STOCKHOLM SOCIETY, SWEDEN                     Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen
WASHINGTON SOCIETY, D. C.                          Rev. Dandridge Pendleton

     Circles

                              Visiting Pastor or Minister
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK                              Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen
DENVER, COLORADO                               Rev. Robert S. Junge (Res.)
ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA                         Rev. Raymond G. Cranch
FORT WORTH, TEXAS                              Rev. Robert S. Junge
THE HAGUE, HOLLAND                              Rev. Frank S. Rose
JONKOPING, SWEDEN                              Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA                         Rev. Harold C. Cranch (Res.)
MADISON, WISCONSIN                         Rev. Ormond Odhner
MONTREAL, CANADA                              Rev. Martin Pryke
NEW YORK, N. Y.                               Rev. Norbert H. Rogers
NORTH JERSEY                                   Rev. Norbert H. Rogers
NORTH OHIO                                   Rev. Norman H. Reuter
OSLO, NORWAY                                   Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen
PARIS, FRANCE                                   Rev. Frank S. Rose
ST. PAUL-MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA                    Rev. Ormond Odhner
SAN FRANCISCO                                   Rev. Harold C. Cranch
SOUTH OHIO                                   Rev. Frederick L. Schnarr
TUCSON, ARIZONA                               Rev. Harold C. Cranch

     In order to avoid confusion, it seems well to observe, in the Official Records and the Official Journal of the General Church, the recognized distinctions between a "Society," a "Circle," and a "Group."
     A "Group" consists of all interested receivers of the Heavenly Doctrine in any locality who meet together for worship and mutual instruction under the general supervision of pastors who visit them from time to time.
     A "Circle" consists of members of the General Church in any locality who are under the leadership of a regular visiting pastor appointed by the Bishop, and who are organized by their pastor to take responsibility for their local uses in the interim between his visits. A Group may become a Circle when, on the recommendation of the visiting pastor, it is formally recognized as such by the Bishop.
     A "Society" or local "Church" consists of the members of the General Church in any locality who have been organized under the leadership of a resident pastor to maintain the uses of regular worship, instruction, and social life. A Circle may become a Society by application to the Bishop and formal recognition by him.
     GEORGE DE CHARMS,
          Bishop.

586

     Committees of the General Church

     Chairman
British Finance Committee                          Rev. Alan Gill
Committee on Ecclesiastical Garments                Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner
General Church Publication Committee           Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner
General Church Religion Lessons                    Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal
Committee on the Liturgy                              Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton
Military Service Committee                          Mrs. Philip C. Pendleton
Nominating Committee for Board of Directors      Mr. Geoffrey E. Blackman
Orphanage Committee                              Mr. R. W. Childs
Pension Committee                              Mr. Edward C. Bostock
Salary Committee                               Mr. Philip C. Pendleton
Sound Recording Committee                     Rev. W. Cairns Henderson
South African Mission Committee                    Rt. Rev. George de Charms
Visual Education Committee                     Mr. William R. Cooper
     Address all Committees, Bryn Athyn, Pa. except the following:
Mr. Geoffrey E. Blackman: 18 Park Drive, Glenview, Ill.
Rev. Alan Gill:          9 Ireton Road, Colchester, England

587

Church News 1956

Church News Various 1956

     STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN

     Early in June, the Rev. and Mrs. Bjorn Boyesen visited the Oslo Society with Dr. and Mrs. Gustaf Baeckstrom At a banquet given in his honor Dr. Baeckstrom resigned from the visiting pastorate of the Society. Many thanks for his work were addressed to him on this occasion, and he received a pair of silver candlesticks as a token of gratitude. On the following day, after church the Society gave a typical "Scandinavian Coffee" at which Mr. Boyesen was welcomed as the new visiting pastor.
     On Friday, June 15, there was a children's Nineteenth of June service in the pastor's home. The children were afterwards taken to Skansen for a party and to see Swedenborg's summer house. For the adults there was a Nineteenth of June service, including the administration of the Holy Supper, on Sunday. Immediately after this service the pastor and his family drove to Jonkoping, arriving six hours later in time to take part in the banquet there. The children had their celebration, a service and a picnic, on Monday, and in the evening the adults took part in a service. Tuesday saw the Boyesens back in Stockholm in time to have the Nineteenth of June banquet in their home. So New Church Day was really celebrated!
     For the last week in June and the first week in July, twenty-two children from all over Scandinavia gathered at Mr. Lennart Alfelt's farm for a summer camp. It is hoped that this will become a yearly event, and possibly the forerunner of a New Church school in this country.
     Both before and after the General Assembly in London overseas visitors, not less than thirty-nine in all, came to Stockholm. They were particularly interested in seeing the places connected with Swedenborg's life, and what especially made a deep impression on them was to be allowed to handle the manuscripts and to read Swedenborg's handwriting. Many went also to Upsala, where Swedenborg's sarcophagus stands in the cathedral.
     Several summer services were held in the pastor's home. The coffee parties that followed gave the visitors and the members of the Society an opportunity to meet each other. It was useful for them to realize that their religious convictions are shared by so many from another continent, and to find out how easy it was to feel at home with one another in spite of language difficulties.
     The week that Bishop and Mrs. De Charms were here was like that of a local Assembly. A banquet was given in a restaurant on Wednesday, August 8th, to welcome our honored guests, and among those present we had the pleasure of seeing about half a dozen visitors from Bryn Athyn. It was an enjoyable occasion and a number of fine speeches were made. The Bishop, Mr. Boyesen and others addressed us; and, finally, Mrs. De Charms arose and gave us quite a charming little talk in Swedish. It caused quite a sensation and was thoroughly appreciated. On the following Friday the Bishop met with the Church Council and the Pastor's Council to discuss important questions, and on Saturday evening the Boyesens held a reception at their home. Then there was a service on Sunday at which the Bishop preached. When he and his wife took their leave two days later, to make a short stop in England before returning home, they were missed by the New Church people in Stockholm, who were thankful to them for their careful and genial dispositions which made them so easy to approach.
     SENTA CENTERVALL

     TORONTO, CANADA

     Since our last report another summer season has come and gone, and we are once again enveloped in the routine of a very busy society. During the summer months those who could availed themselves of every opportunity to escape the hustle and bustle of the city.

588

We had five representatives at the General Assembly in London, the Misses Edina Carswell, Joan Kuhl, Edith Carter, Evelyn Barber and Katherine Barber. The young people were particularly active last summer, taking short trips to different summer cottages and having parties and picnics. This year Toronto played host at the Young People's Weekend and it was a very successful affair. We had the privilege of hearing two visiting preachers, the Rev. Henry Heinrichs and Candidate Donald Rose. While Mr. Rose was here he visited most of the summer cottages of our members, and he was guest of honor at a reception held in the home of Miss Vera Craigie.
     During the month of August tape-recordings of the addresses given at the Assembly were heard at various homes and were much enjoyed. On August 9th a shower was given at the church hall, under the auspices of Theta Alpha, for the Misses Sheila Brown, Barbara Charles and Ruth Parker. These girls are attending the Academy schools in Bryn Athyn for the first time, and at the shower they received many useful and beautiful gifts to help them during their year at school. Mr. David Fountain is also attending the Academy schools for the first time, and to express their good wishes the men of the Society met at the home of Mr. Ivan Scott and presented David with a traveling bag.
     School opening exercises were held on Tuesday morning, September 4th. We have 13 pupils in our day school this year, plus 3 in the kindergarten who come two mornings a week.
     The first Wednesday supper of the 1956-1957 season was held on September 19th. Before the tables were cleared we heard about the weekend in Colchester which preceded the Assembly, and an informal report on the Assembly itself, from some of the members who were there. The annual meeting of the Society followed, and the various officers were elected. At the regular doctrinal classes the Rev. Martin Pryke is giving a series on correspondence and representation which is proving to be most interesting and instructive.
     The monthly meetings of the Forward-Sons and the Ladies Circle are held at the church hall. The Sons' meetings are preceded by a supper prepared by the men; at the meetings of the Ladies Circle our pastor has begun a series of papers on the six days of creation. Theta Alpha is again holding meetings in the homes of different members this year; at the first meeting, in September, a tape-recording of an address by the Right Rev. Willard D. Pendleton was heard. The young people have their classes every Sunday evening with the Rev. Martin Pryke, who is taking up with them the life of Swedenborg; and the Rev. Jan Weiss conducts every two weeks the classes for the out-of-school young people and the young married people. We are again privileged to have Mr. Weiss visit us every two weeks, conducting these classes and taking the service on Sunday.
     A service of thanksgiving was held on Sunday, October 8th. During the opening hymn the children marched in and presented their offerings of fruit. Our pastor conducted the service and preached a sermon on the theme of thanksgiving.
     Obituary. In July of this year Gladys Alethea (Brown) Starkey passed into the spiritual world. Her entire life was spent in association with the Olivet Society, except for a few years after her marriage, when she lived in the Canadian Northwest. Throughout her entire life she was a devoted follower of the Writings and was an active member of our Society. Those who knew her will have benefitted greatly by association with her, and her presence among us will be greatly missed.
     KATHERINE BARBER

     CHARTER DAY

     The pattern of Charter Day is such that its celebration is always the same yet ever different. This happy blend of the traditional, the affection for which deepens with the years, and the new which prevents custom from staling, was again experienced on October 12th and 13th, when friends of the Academy in Bryn Athyn and from more than a dozen centers of the church in Canada and the United States joined with the corporation, the faculty and the student body to observe the occasion. All the elements of a typical Charter Day were present in generous measure: mild and sunny weather, organized and private entertainment with its opportunities for conviviality and pleasant reunions; and for all, in what is the heart of the program, the chance to renew their faith in New Church education and rededicate themselves to its ideals and advancement as new light was thrown on the significance of the event celebrated and important uses of the Academy were presented.

589

     This was quickly offered, after the significant procession to the cathedral, in the service of thanksgiving with which the celebration appropriately begins. In an outstanding address which is published elsewhere in this issue [pp. 568-572], Dr. William Whitehead focused our attention on those operations of the Divine Providence in history which have insured for the Academy the freedom to perform its uses; and in reminding us that we met only a day after the 100th anniversary of the laying of the corner-stone of the Cherry Street school, the beginning of the movement for distinctive New Church education, repeated words of vision, challenge and inspiration spoken on that occasion.
     In recent years the Friday luncheon at Casa Conti has become an integral part of the program. It is pleasant occasion, allowing for resumption of the exchange of greetings and news begun on the campus after the massing of the banners and the singing of school songs; and the extent to which it is appreciated was shown by the attendance-194. If the football game lacked some of the excitement and tension which add zest to the day it did result in a decisive victory-Bryn Athyn 26, Hun School O. The dance on Friday evening was arranged, as usual, by the College; and, again as usual, was a pleasant combination of social intercourse and-dancing.
     Five hundred and sixty-seven guests gathered in the Assembly Hall on Saturday evening for the banquet which is the climax of the program. The professional catering, an innovation, left nothing to be desired. In recent years, the banquet program has taken the form of a report on some use or uses of the Academy; and this year the toastmaster, Dean Eldric S. Klein, presented a program dealing with the Academy Library. Mr. Bruce Pitcairn spoke on "The Library and Our Children"; Professor Edward F. Allen, speaking on "The Library and the Scholar," paid tribute to the outstanding work of Dr. R. W. Brown; and Professor W. Cairns Henderson described the Library's collections of Swedenborgiana, with special reference to the work of Bishop Acton. Bishop De Charms' remarks on the uses of the Library to the Academy brought the banquet to close, and with it yet another Charter Day celebration.

     SWEDENBORG SOCIETY (INC.)

     Annual Meeting

     The 146th annual meeting of the Swedenborg Society was held at Swedenborg Hall on Monday, July 23, 1956, at 7:30 p.m. The president, Mr. Colley Pryke, was in the chair, and the meeting was opened with the Lord's Prayer, led by the Rev. H. G. Mongredien. About one hundred and sixty members and friends were present.
     The president began by expressing his pleasure at the unusually large attendance, to which two features mainly contributed: one, the fact that the summer school for the ministers of the General Conference of the New Church was being held that week and a number of ministers outside London were thus enabled to come to the Society's meeting; the other, the holding in London, also that week, of an international Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem brought about the presence in London of many overseas members and friends of the Society.
     After the Minutes of the 145th annual meeting had been read and signed, the Council's report for the year was presented by Dr. Freda Griffith, joint honorary secretary. Mrs. Griftith referred to the prime importance of the work of the Advisory and Revision Board, and the need for drawing into its membership all those specially equipped for that type of work who could possibly spare time for it. The general printing program had been much less this year than for some years past, but this did not mean that there is not still much work to be done. At least three major works merit the Board's attention when the men and the means are available: the Arcana Coelestia, the Apocalypse Explained and the Spiritual Diary. One of the encouraging features in the report was the record number of new members enrolled during the year-95; which included a large number of overseas members. The Council particularly appreciates this support as it seems to indicate a real appreciation of the Society's uses, for, by the nature of things, these members can have little say in the conduct of the Society's affairs. Mrs. Griffith drew attention to the concluding paragraph in the report, emphasizing the increasing cost of book production, which means that new publications have to be paid for out of capital. The Society's work is largely dependent on the legacies received rather than on the support of those who benefit by its publications.

590

     Mr. D. W. Toby, honorary treasurer, then presented the accounts and balance sheet. He emphasized the two main items in the Society's income: investment income was L2,340-0-0, and subscriptions and donations L700-0-0. Printing and binding had cost only L1,000-0-0 this year as against L3,200-0-0 last year, and this more than accounted for the slight surplus of income over expenditure (L95-0-0) as against a deficit last year of L830-0-0. Mr. Toby gave some details of the expenditure in connection with the Society's stand at the Sunday Times Book Exhibition held last November. He ended by expressing his appreciation of the help given to him by Mr. K. F. Chadwick and Mr. R. H. Griffith on the Council, and by Miss Gerrard and Miss Waters on the staff.
     In the absence of the chairman of the Council, Mr. A. A. Drummond, vice president and honorary joint secretary, moved the adoption of the report and accounts. He expressed his regret at the absence of Mr. Chapman and paid tribute to his work as chairman of the Council for the past five years. Mr. Drummond also spoke of the Sunday Times Book Exhibition and the value it had had in drawing the attention of the public to the existence of the Swedenborg Society.
     The motion for adoption was seconded by the Rev. Erik Sandstrom and was then open for discussion. The Rev. Arthur Clapham referred to the work of the Advisory and Revision Board, a committee whose members come to their meetings fully prepared for the work they are going to do. The Rev. A. Wynne Acton spoke appreciatively of the Society and the help it gave to other New Church publishing ventures. The Rev. Karl R. Alden, speaking as a member of the Board of the Swedenborg Foundation and its Editorial Committee, compared the work of the two bodies. The reports and accounts were then formally adopted.
     Mr. Colley Pryke, retiring president, nominated, on behalf of the Council, the Rev. Clifford Harley as president for the coming year. He referred to Mr. Harley's great services to the Society over the past few years in the lectures he had given, particularly the series just concluded on the first volume of the Arcana Coelestia. Mr. Pryke gracefully included Mrs. Harley in his tribute, her quiet and efficient work on the Board being highly appreciated by her colleagues. The nomination was seconded by Mr. Fred Chadwick and carried unanimously.
     Mr. Drummond stated that, under the Articles of Association, Mr. Colley Pryke would become vice-president, and as such, he knew, would give all possible help to the president. Mr. R. H. Griffith moved the Council's nomination of Mr. Douglas W. Toby as honorary treasurer for the coming year. This was seconded by the Rev. G. T. Hill and carried unanimously.
     It was announced that no vote had been necessary for the new Council, which is constituted as follows:
Rev. Clifford Harley President
Mr. Colley Pryke Vice-President
Mr. Douglas W. Toby Honorary Treasurer
Mr. E. O. Acton
Mr. K. F. Chadwick
Sir Thomas Chadwick, K.C.V.O., O.B.E.
Mr. Dan Chapman, M.B.E.
Mr. J. F. Cooper
Mr. P. Guy Dicks
Mr. A. A. Drummond, M.Sc.
Mrs. Freda G. Griffith, Ph.D., B.Sc.
Mr. R. H. Griffith, A.C.A.
Rev. C. H. Presland
Miss H. G. Stacey, M.Sc.
Rev. P. H. Vickers, B.Sc.

     The president expressed the regret of the Council that Mr. Harold Gardiner had felt compelled to retire from the Council. He had played an active part in the Society's affairs for many years, having been president five times, and had given many useful addresses, some of which had been published as Transactions of the Society.
     Mr. Pryke gave his address on "The Menace of Materialism," which is printed separately. At the conclusion, Sir Thomas Chadwick expressed the thanks of the meeting to Mr. Pryke for his address and for all his services during the year. This was warmly acclaimed. Mr. Will Cooper moved a vote of thanks to the officers, which was carried unanimously.
     The meeting closed with the Benediction, pronounced by the Rev. Dennis Duckworth.
          FREDA G. GRIFFITH

591

General Church of the New Jerusalem 1956

General Church of the New Jerusalem HUGO LJ. ODHNER 1956

     Announcements.

     ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS

     The Annual Meetings of the Council of the Clergy and of the Board of Directors of the Corporations of the General Church have been scheduled to take place in the week of January 21st to 26th, 1957, at Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania.
     HUGO LJ. ODHNER,
          Secretary
OF INTEREST TO THE BLIND 1956

OF INTEREST TO THE BLIND 1956

     The following is a list of Braille volumes and Talking Books which may be borrowed by blind readers from several distributing libraries for the blind in the principal cities of the United States.

     BRAILLE VOLUMES

Heaven and Hell, Grade 2, 5 volumes
God the Creator, Grade 11/2, 4 volumes
Doctrine of the Holy Scripture, Grade 11/2, 2 volumes
Doctrine of Life, Grade 11/2, 1 volume
New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine, Grade 2, 1 volume
My Religion, by Helen Keller, Grade 11/2, 2 volumes
Divine Providence, Grade 2, 5 volumes

     TALKING BOOKS

Why God Created Man-3 records
The Christian Religion (survey)-6 records
Divine Providence (survey)-5 records

     For further information write to Rev. Karl R. Alden, Bryn Athyn, Pa., Chairman of the Committee for the Blind of the Swedenborg Foundation.