PRAYER FOR THE LORD'S LEADING 1962

PRAYER FOR THE LORD'S LEADING Rev. W. CAIRNS HENDERSON 1962

Vol. LXXXII
January 1962

A Prayer for the Lord's Leading     1
     A Sermon on Psalm 90: 12     W. Cairns Henderson

The Distinctive Purpose of Academy Education     3
     Charter Day Address     George de Charms

The Life of Use     Kenneth O. Stroh     5

Much Ado about Swedenborg's Skull     Hugo Lj. Odhner     7

Patrini     Ormond Odhner     9

Superstition     Geoffrey P. Dawson     10

Notes on the Calendar Readings     Frederick L. Schnarr     11

Review     12
     The Holy Supper

Editorial Department     13
     In This New Year
     The Source of Assurance
     Conjunction with the Lord
     Why Swedenborg's Birthday

Communications     14
     How to Stop Communism     Sig Synnestvedt
                         Dandridge Pendleton

Church News     16

Announcements     19
     Baptisms
     Confirmations     20
     Marriages     21
     Deaths     22
     Annual Council Meetings-Program     23

February 1962     24

Eternal Life
     A Sermon on John 17:3     Elmo C. Acton

The Uses of Friendship in Marriage     Morley D. Rich     27

Holy Fear     David R. Simons     29

Superstition     Geoffrey P. Dawson     31

Divine and Human Spheres     Frederick L. Schnarr     33

Storge: Spiritual and Natural     Geoffrey S. Childs     35

Notes on the Calendar Readings     36
     Frederick L. Schnarr

Review     37
     The Last Judgment

Editorial Department     38
     A Noteworthy Distinction
     The Salt of the Earth
     Wasted Experience

Communications     39
     Cognitions     Freda G. Griffith
     Foundations of Truth     Louise G. Coffin

Church News     40

Announcements     42
     Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages, Deaths

March 1962     46

The God of the Scriptures     William R. Cooper

Habits     48
     A Sermon on Matthew 7: 13, 14     Hugo Lj. Odhner

Judgment     50
     1. The Judgment of Man     W. Cairns Henderson

By Little and Little     52
     A Television Talk     Douglas Taylor

Notes on the Calendar Readings     Frederick L. Schnarr     54

Editorial Department     56
     As the Tree Falls
     A Unique Concept of Government

Communications     57
     Are We Over-accommodating?     Raymond B. David
     Doctrine and the Layman     Fred C. Frazee

Church News     59

Announcements     61
     Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages, Deaths

April     66

Freedom in the Choice of a Bishop

The Lord's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem     67
     A Sermon on Mark 11: 7     George de Charms

The Risen Lord in the Word     69
     An Easter Talk to Children     David R. Simons

Judgment     70
     2. Judgment of Men     W. Cairns Henderson

To the Seven Churches     Robert S. Junge     71

Notes on the Calendar Readings     Frederick L. Schnarr     72

ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS     74
Council of the Clergy Sessions     W. Cairns Henderson
Joint Council Session     Hugo Lj. Odhner     75
Annual Reports     77
     Secretary of the General Church     Hugo Lj, Odhner
     Secretary of the Council of the Clergy     W. Cairns Henderson     78
     Corporations of the General Church     Stephen Pitcairn     79
     Treasurer of the General Church     Leonard E. Gyllenhaal     80
     Editor of "New Church Life"     W. Cairns Henderson     81
     Publication Committee     Hugo Lj. Odhner     82
     Pension Committee     Edward H. Davis     83
     Religion Lessons Committee     Karl R. Alden     84
     Sound Recording Committee     W. Cairns Henderson     85
     Visual Education Committee     William R Cooper     86

Editorial Department     88
     As Ye Have Seen Him Go

Church News     89

Announcements     92
     Annual Corporation Meetings-June 16, 1962
     Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages, Deaths
     Academy of the New Church-School Calendar, 1962-1963
     23rd General Assembly-Program

May 1962     98

The Call from Spiritual Apathy
     A Sermon on Isaiah 21: 11, 12 Geoffrey Howard

Miss Vida Gyllenhaal     99
     Memorial Address Elmo. C. Acton

The Divine Proceeding to Create     101
     Address to the Council of the Clergy George de Charms

Divine Authority in the Church     J. Durban Odhner     102

Review     103
     All Things New     Kurt Asplundh

Notes on the Calendar Readings     Frederick L. Schnarr     104

Judgment     105
     3.     Judgment of the Works of Men     W. Cairns Henderson

Editorial Department     106
     Crime, Punishment and Mercy
     Spiritual Fermentations

Communication     107
     A New New-Church Organization     Paul Hartley

Church News     108

Announcements     111
     Annual Corporation Meetings-June 16, 1962
     Academy of the New Church-Joint Annual Meeting, May 18
     Swedenborg Scientific Association Annual Meeting-May 16
     Baptisms, Confirmations, Deaths     112
     Academy of the New Church-School Calendar, 1962-1963     115
     23rd General Assembly-Program      116

June 1962     117

The Holy City
     A Sermon on Isaiah 62: 1-3     Frederick L. Schnarr

Accommodation and the Visible God     118
     Address to the Council of the Clergy     Kurt H. Asplundh

In Our Contemporaries      119

The State of Betrothal     Raymond Pitcairn     120

Notes on the Calendar Readings     Frederick L. Schnarr     122

Review     124
     Divine Providence     Norbert H. Rogers

Editorial Department     125
     The Twenty-third General Assembly
     Unto Ages of Ages

Church News          126

Announcements     130
     Annual Corporation Meetings-June 16, 1962
     47th British Assembly-July 20-22, 1962
     9th Peace River District Assembly-August 5, 1962
     Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages, Deaths     131
     23rd General Assembly-Program     136

Vol. LXXXII     July 1962     137

Horses and Chariots of Fire
     Sermon on II Kings 6: 16     Frank S. Rose

The Writings and the Contemporary World     William R. Kintner     138

Variety and Diversity     Kenneth O. Stroh     139

The Holy Supper     A. Wynne Acton     140

A Scandinavian Summer School     Donnette and Lennart Alfelt     142

Notes on the Calendar Readings     Frederick L. Schnarr     144

Editorial Department     146
     Distinguishing the Writings
     The New Church and Communism

Church News     147

Announcements     149
     Peace River District Assembly-August 5, 1962
     Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages
     47th British Assembly-July 20-22, 1962-Program

Vol. LXXXII August 1962     153

Willard Dandridge Pendleton     Frontpiece

Willard Dandridge Pendleton
     Fourth Bishop of the General Church

TWENTY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
     Bryn Athyn, Pa., June 15-19, 1962

The Perpetuation of the New Church     154
     Address at First Session     George de Charms

One God and One Word     155
     Episcopal Address     Willard D. Pendleton

The New Church in the Wilderness     157
     A Sermon on Revelation 12: 14 Dandridge Pendleton

Listening     158
     Commencement Address     E. Bruce Glenn

Ordinations     159
     Declarations of Faith and Purpose
          Kurt Horigan Asplundh
          Douglas Taylor

Notes on the Calendar Readings     Frederick L. Schnarr     160

Editorial Department     161
     The Episcopal Office
     Implications of a Ballot

Church News     162

Announcements     164
     Ordinations, Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages, Deaths

Vol. LXXXII     September 1962     170

TWENTY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Report-Part II

The Root and Offspring of David
     A Sermon on Revelation 22: 16     Louis B. King

"The Following is Not a Written Constitution"     172
     Address at Third Session     Erik Sandstrom

"The Most Fruitful Field"     173
     Address at Fourth Session     Richard R. Gladish

Correspondence and Representation     175
     Address at fifth Session     Martin Pryke
     Assembly Impressions     Lorentz Soneson     177

Notes on the Calendar Readings     Frederick L. Schnarr     178

Laying of the Cornerstone of the New Carmel Church     Loella Eby     179

Editorial Department     180
     Instruction in Truth
     The Doctrinal Class
     Authority and Freedom

Church News     181

Announcements     182
     Charter Day-October 19, 20, 1962
     Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages, Deaths

October 1962     187

Vol. LXXXII     9

Take No Gift
     A Sermon on Exodus 23: 8     Kenneth O. Stroh

TWENTY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY     189
Report-Part III

What is the "Good" of the Church?
     Address at Sixth Session     Elmo C. Acton

Assembly Banquet     191
     New Church Men at Work     Alec Craigie
     The New Church Home     Hugo Lj. Odhner     192

Journal of the Proceedings     Hugo Lj. Odhner     194

Assembly Messages     201

Notes on the Calendar Readings     Frederick L. Schnarr     202

Editorial Department     205
     Reading with Understanding

Local School Directory     206

Church News     207

Announcements     210
     Charter Day-October 19, 20, 1962
     Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages, Deaths

Vol. LXXXII     November 1962     215

The Reverend Gustaf Baeckstrom     Frontpiece

Thanksgiving
     A Sermon on Exodus 23: 14-16     Willard D. Pendleton

Seedtime and Harvest     216
     A Thanksgiving Talk to Children     0rmond Odhner

The Episcopal Form of Government and the Office of Dean     Willard D. Pendleton     218

Samson     219
     Address at British Assembly          Frank S. Rose

The Rev. Gustaf Baeckstrom     221
     Memorial Address and Biographical Sketch     Bjorn A. H. Boyesen

Forty-seventh British Assembly     222
     Report of Proceedings     Frank S. Rose

Man's Relation with the Spiritual World     224
     Presidential Address to Swedenborg Society     Eldin O. Acton

Notes on the Calendar Readings     Frederick L. Schnarr     226

Editorial Department     228
     I Shall Yet Praise Him
     The Sensual Man

Church News     229

Announcements     231
     Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages, Deaths

Vol. LXXXII     238
December 1962

Faith in the Will and the Spirit of Anticipation
     A Sermon on Luke 1: 25-32     Dandridge Pendleton

In Our Contemporaries     239

The Wise Men     240
     A Christmas Talk to Children     Kurt H. Asplundh

Eighteenth Century Swedish Betrothal     Ormond Odhner     241

The Consistory     242

Conference-General Church Young People's Weekend     Harold Sandstrom     243

Notes on the Calendar Readings     Frederick L. Schnarr     245

Reviews     246
     The New Church Readers' Guide
     The Doctrine of the Proprium

Editorial Department     247
     Punishment and the Innocent
     No Room in the Inn
     Gentile or Pagan?

Directory of the General Church          248

Church News     249

Announcements     251
     Baptisms, Confirmations, Deaths
     Annual Council Meetings-January 28-February 2, 1963

NEW CHURCH LIFE

VOL. LXXXII
JANUARY, 1962
No. 1
     "In numbering our days make known what is right, that we may put on a heart of wisdom." (Psalm 90: 12)
     The Lord's inmost leading of men is effected through those changes which are known as alternations of state. Although they affect man deeply, these alternations maintain and protect his freedom to act in accordance with what he conceives to be of reason; and under the constant care and government of the Lord-who regards them as a whole, and changes them in part only as is best for the whole-they go on continually from infancy to old age. It is through them that the Lord leads man to everything that is conducive to eternal life, and it is by means of them that He regenerates men and perfects the angels. As each state serves its use, it is brought to an end by the Lord, and is arranged and disposed by Him according to the quality imparted to it by man's reaction to what was involved in it; and if this has been such as to make it possible, the disposal is for man's development spiritually.
     Our text is a prayer to the Lord that our states may be ordered by Him in a certain way. It is a prayer that they may be so disposed by His providence that His truth will be revealed to us, and this in such a manner that we will be affected by it spiritually, and will therefore love and desire wisdom and eventually be introduced into it. For by "days" in the Word are meant states, and by their regular procession is signified our constant periodic changes of state; and to "number" is to survey, preside over, and thus arrange, dispose, and set in order. The Lord alone can survey our states, because only to Him is their inmost quality and its eternal consequences known; and if our whole life becomes a prayer that He may do so, He will order and arrange them in such a way as to lead us to wisdom.
     While the Lord is the only source of wisdom, however, and it is He alone who can so order our states that Ave may receive it, we must, entirely as if of ourselves, desire wisdom and co-operate in its reception by complying with the conditions set forth in the Heavenly Doctrine. As though it were to emphasize this, Providence has allowed our text to be rendered in the familiar words which stress this as-of-self activity: "So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." Yet it should be noted that even so, it is the Lord who is asked for the inclination and the power to do this. However, man must use the power as if of himself. Therefore it is important that we should understand what is the nature of true wisdom, how we may prepare ourselves for its reception, and what are the qualities that will make any reception of wisdom impossible.

     What is the wisdom that we are to seek from the Lord? It is not to be confused with wide learning, deep erudition, or profound scholarship! True wisdom is as possible of attainment by the unlearned as by the most highly educated, and there may be more of it with the simple in heart than with those who are universally admired for their intellectual attainments. This should not be misunderstood. Knowledge and reason, facts organized into true ideas about heavenly and worldly things, are essential if man is to become intelligent and wise, and the more of them that man has the wiser can he become. But wisdom itself is of life: it is, indeed, one with the completely unselfish life. Without that life, the most prodigious learning is entirely devoid of wisdom; yet in itself that life only introduces man into the ability and capacity to understand and be wise, and these are developed to the extent that he learns spiritual and natural truths and applies them to his life-no more, and no less. Thus there are indefinite degrees of wisdom, but they all concur in this. No one who is truly wise lives for himself alone but for others. He lives that life of spiritual uses in which wisdom reigns; and the very essence of wisdom is interior innocence-that God-given quality of willingness to be led by the Lord alone in all things of life which causes man, from the good of love and faith, to behave toward the Lord in a manner that is represented by the behavior of little children toward their parents.
     Those who receive this gift of innocence from the Lord are they who believe in and acknowledge Him from the heart. They are those who under His leading, and His teaching in the Word, shun evils as sins against Him and as hurtful to the soul, to society, and to the body, and who do goods because they believe that they are profitable to these. Thus they receive the presence of the Lord in good and truth.

They do not merely know what is good and true, they are good and true, for they will and think and live according to the truths they know and understand; and because this is their primary concern, they are given by the Lord a perceptive insight that enables them to see in the light of heaven what is good and true, to distinguish it from what is evil and false, to choose what is most suitable, and to apply it to the uses of their lives. In numbering their days the Lord makes known what is right, and from Him they put on a heart of wisdom. For to do and receive all these things is to be wise from the Lord. It is to be in love and charity, and in these two dwells all the wisdom of life and therefore all truly human wisdom.
     So it is that wisdom can exist with the simple as well as with the learned, though a less ample wisdom. But there is nothing of wisdom whatsoever with the so-called learned. Man never has any wisdom except from spiritual love. Self-love removes man far from wisdom, and so does the conceit of self-intelligence. The delusion that he has already attained to great wisdom, or even the comfortable conceit that he has at least enough for his purposes, will hold a man back from the first step toward wisdom as long as it is entertained. Wisdom exists only as man does not attribute anything of it to himself, and sincerely believes himself to be the least wise of all, and this because he perceives and acknowledges that the things he knows, understands and is wise in are as a drop to the ocean in comparison with what he does not yet know and understand and in which he has no wisdom. Only this true intellectual humility, together with a love of becoming wise that he may better serve the Lord and the neighbor, can lead man to the palace of wisdom and introduce him into its precincts.

     It is true that, for the sake of his conjunction with the Lord, wisdom appears to be man's own when it has been attained. But it is the Lord's alone with man, and its only source is the spiritual truth of the Word. Although wisdom is indeed of life, the life of wisdom is a life according to that truth. Man has no instinctive wisdom, neither can he acquire it through his own reflection upon the meaning of life or from any other human source. If he would enter into wisdom he must read and study the Word, learn its teachings, reflect upon them, and try to understand them and to see their application to his own life and uses. This does not mean that he must be able to enter deeply into profound theological and philosophical studies; for that belongs to scholarship, and wisdom is not reserved for the scholar! But it does mean that he becomes wise only in the measure that he learns and applies the spiritual truth of the Word to life, and to every man who really desires it the Lord gives the ability to understand the truths that he needs.

     That is why it can be taught in the Writings that wisdom is not reserved exclusively for a certain class or group within the church but is offered by the Lord to every man and woman in the church who desires it from the heart-not in the same measure to all, but to each in the fullest measure that is needed. But without serious application to the Word, according to his ability and capacity, in the belief that he can understand if he looks to the Lord for light, no man may ever attain to wisdom, since the gift is for the man who prepares himself to receive it. Nor, as has been said, will any amount of knowledge and learning in itself make man wise. The truth of the Word leads to wisdom, and is the only thing that does so; but it is only the good of life received through spiritual truth that actually introduces into wisdom.
     In the patient and unremitting search for wisdom in the ways of the Lord's appointment man comes into the true order of his life. His regeneration and conjunction with the Lord, and therefore the future of the church, depend upon wisdom. Through wisdom alone can love produce those spiritual uses in the performance of which men receive genuine intelligence and rationality and are introduced into true and lasting happiness. When the quest for wisdom has been successful, therefore, everything else that is necessary for eternal life and happiness follows. That was what the Lord meant when He said: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His justice, and all these things shall be added unto you."*
* Matthew 6: 33.

     To man alone has been granted the faculty of reflection-of surveying his past states in the light of his present affection and knowledge of spiritual truth, and of ordering his conclusions into principles for his future guidance: and whenever we are impelled to survey the past, that we may draw from its experiences principles under which to shape the future as it becomes present, there is nothing we can do of greater significance than pray that we may allow the Lord to introduce us into the wisdom of life. There is much in our experiences, especially our mental ones, that we can understand but dimly if at all. At times the doctrine which applies seems to be cold, abstract, and remote from our actual needs. Yet if we look to the Lord in His Word, and go to Him there, seeking patiently for truth and for the understanding of its use, the Lord will do for us that which we could not possibly do for ourselves. Whatever may be the appearance, He will order and dispose our states in such a way that His truth will be revealed, and we will be led step by step into the wisdom of life. This the Lord will unfailingly do, if we will but believe it and do that which is our part.
     Not all men so number their days as to apply their hearts to wisdom, for some will not suffer themselves to be taught by the Lord.

The prayer for wisdom, which is of the life rather than the lips, comes from a certain state and quality of mind. The Psalm in which our text is set is, spiritually, an acknowledgment that man is nothing of himself, that the Lord alone is life, and that man must perish unless restored by the Lord by means of His coming. It is entitled "A Prayer of Moses, the man of God." And the prayer for wisdom it contains can be set only in this heartfelt acknowledgment, and offered by those only in whom speaks the heavenly Moses: the interior truth that enters from within into the minds of those who are in the sincere endeavor to do the Lord's will because it is His, and because they love Him. Amen.

LESSONS: Psalm 90. Matthew 6: 19-34. Heaven and Hell 351.
MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 500, 474, 458.
PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 103, 123.
IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1962

IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1962

     In a recent article published in the NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER, the Rev. William F. Wunsch offers some suggestions for translating the Writings from the Latin into English. Many will agree that there has been an unnecessary adherence to Latin word order and sentence structure. His examination of terms difficult to translate is interesting and deserves thoughtful consideration; but there will be disagreement that clearer meanings will be attained by following some of his suggestions, notably the substitution of "marital love" for "conjugial love."
     A contributor to the NEW-CHURCH HERALD asserts that the Lord's help can be received directly by those only who help themselves to it in His Word. It is time, she says, for the members of the church to overthrow the comfortable belief that Providence will not let the church fail. It certainly will not. But the organization will fail if the church's doctrine does not become a living force in each person's mind.
     The Rev. C. V. A. Hasler has an interesting article "On Betrothals" in the NEW AGE. In it the state and period of betrothal are evidently regarded as identical and coterminus with the state and period of engagement. One wonders why-since the rest of the doctrine is so clearly presented, and its implications so thoughtfully considered-this assumption is made, and why the writer neither recognizes nor pleads for a solemn rite of betrothal. The Rev. Richard H. Teed, again resident in Australia, has undertaken a Questions and Answers department.

DISTINCTIVE PURPOSE OF ACADEMY EDUCATION 1962

DISTINCTIVE PURPOSE OF ACADEMY EDUCATION GEORGE DE CHARMS 1962

     (Delivered at the Cathedral Service, October 20, 1961.)

     The celebration of Charter Day was inaugurated by the late Bishop N. D. Pendleton, forty-four years ago. It was designed as an annual festival of rededication to the cause of New Church education. A special service in the Cathedral was made the first feature of the program in order to emphasize the great importance of maintaining an intimate relationship between the school and the church.
     The reason this relationship is so important is the fact that, according to its Charter, the Academy was founded for one purpose only, namely, that "of propagating the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem and establishing the New Church." In pursuance of this ultimate goal, the Academy undertook a number of related uses, among which was the use of "education in all its forms." Education, however, was never regarded as an end in itself, but rather as an instrumentality necessary to the establishment of the church. Apart from the church, therefore, that is, apart from its allegiance to the revealed truth of the Heavenly Doctrine, which is the living soul of the church, the Academy has no reason to exist.
     In an address in 1930, Bishop Pendleton stated: "When Charter Day was chosen as an occasion to be memorialized, the desire was to make it a day for the school, for its officers, teachers, and the entire student body, present and past; in other words, a day for all who are being and have been educated by the Academy."* It is altogether appropriate that there should be such an Academy Day; yet there is every reason why all those who belong to the New Church, whether they have been educated in the Academy or not, should participate in this celebration, for the very life of the Academy depends upon the church organization as a whole. The inmost center of the church, and the citadel of its defense, is the home. There all education begins; and although of necessity it extends beyond the home into institutions of elementary and higher learning, it is the parents of each home who must determine what kind of institutional education they will seek for their children, and what kind they will actively support.

Without their support no New Church educational system could exist. History testifies that every effort on the part of the leaders of the church to establish day schools proved abortive until there was a sufficient number of parents who were convinced of the vital need to provide a New Church education for their children. The growth of the Academy, therefore, will always be measured by the increase in the number of such parents, and by the depth of their conviction; for out of such homes must come, not only the students of the Academy, but also its teachers, its administrative officers, and the financial means necessary to acquire and maintain its educational facilities. That is why, although the Academy is and must be legally an independent body, organized and administered with specific regard to its special function of education, it is nevertheless essentially and inseparably one with the General Church.
* New Church Life, Feb. 1931, p. 67.
The Academy began as a reform movement in the general body of the New Church. It was a movement based on the conviction that the Writings are the second coming of the Lord, who, by means of them, speaks to men "as one having authority, and not as the scribes."* Those who embraced this movement accepted the teaching of the Writings in the same spirit of humble and unquestioning faith as that in which the disciples, at the time of the Lord's first advent, accepted His teaching. In their endeavor to spread this belief, to perpetuate it, and to make it not only a matter of intellectual faith but a way of life, they established the Academy as a school which was at the same time a church. However, when the General Church was formed, the Academy relinquished its ecclesiastical use, while retaining the functions of an educational institution. At the request of the General Church, and on its behalf, the Academy undertook the work of higher education. It agreed to provide professional training for the ministers and teachers of the General Church, and also to educate the young people of the church at the secondary school and junior college levels, always looking forward to the time when it might be able to complete their education by providing university courses in all the fields of human learning.
* Matthew 7: 29.
Because that which first gave rise to the Academy, and which from the very beginning inspired its work of education, was a profound belief in the Divine authority of the Writings, the Academy stands in a unique relationship to the General Church. Every other church sponsored school, as far as it retains its religious objective, seeks by means of its education to perpetuate in each succeeding generation a loyal allegiance to that particular form of religious faith and worship which characterizes the church or the sect that supports it.

To the casual observer it would appear that this also is the purpose of the Academy; yet in reality it is not so. Loyalty to teaching received from others is sufficient neither for the regeneration of the individual nor for the spiritual development of the church. In the individual it does not produce genuine understanding or deep insight; and in the church it perpetuates human error and ascribes unwarranted Divine authority to man-made doctrines. Young people should indeed have confidence in their parents and teachers. They should receive affirmatively, and with a sense of loyalty, whatever their church teaches them to regard as true and right: this because they have no other criterion of judgment. But the loyalty of childhood and youth can and should be modified when they come into their own right and their own reason. It should be modified, on the one hand, by new knowledges which they acquire from nature by personal experience, investigation and study; and on the other hand, it should be modified by their individual reading of the Word, and by their reflection upon what the Lord Himself teaches in the revelation of His second advent. Young people, therefore, must be inspired to search out the truth for themselves, and they must be prepared to do so with good reason and sound judgment.
     What, then, is the distinctive goal of Academy education? It is to prepare young people for the opening, at adult age, of the truly rational mind. No system of education, nothing that parents or teachers can do, will suffice to open that mind. It can be opened only by the Lord, and only with those who individually love the truth and seek it with the whole heart.
     Nevertheless, education can do a great deal either to pave the way for the opening of the rational mind or to interfere with it and render it difficult. Modern education renders it difficult by turning the minds of young people away from the Word, and by encouraging them to believe that every human problem can be solved merely by the intelligent application of scientific knowledge. The Academy, on the other hand, seeks to inspire in its students confidence in the Word as the only source of genuine truth, in order that when they reach adult age they may individually look to the Lord for Divine instruction and guidance.
     It should be understood, however, that in pointing to the Word as the only source of truth, the Academy does not in the least detract from the importance, and indeed, the absolute necessity, of accurate scientific knowledge. We are taught that there are two foundations of truth, the Word and nature.* But what does this mean? The Lord Himself is the only teacher of truth, and He can impart truth to human and angelic minds only through the Word of revelation.

From nature men derive no truth whatever, but only isolated facts and sense impressions that have no meaning in themselves but gain all their significance from the way in which they are ordered in the mind to form mental pictures, ideas and thoughts. This ordering is done by some love, which gathers sensations, experiences and memories to promote the achievement of its end. As means to this end all things are interpreted and understood. The loves of self and the world, which look to the attainment of purely personal and temporal ambitions, produce ideas and opinions contrary to the teaching of the Word, which always has regard to what is eternal, spiritual and Divine. Only love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor, which have their origin in the Word and are inspired by its teaching, can mould the knowledges derived from nature into forms that are appearances of genuine truth. It is clear, therefore, that nature is not the source of truth but merely its outer clothing or embodiment, and that it becomes such an embodiment only when seen, ordered and interpreted in the light of Divine revelation.
* SD 5709.
Yet nature can rightly be called a foundation of truth for two reasons. First, because it is created by the Lord. It is the product of His infinite love and wisdom. Everything in it, from the greatest to the least, is a form of use Divinely ordered to promote man's spiritual life, and thus minister to the supreme end of the Lord's creation, the formation of a heaven from the human race. In the sight of the Lord it is a theatre representative of His heavenly kingdom. Thus it is indeed truth in the ultimate of order. Only when distorted by ignorance and perversity does it become the embodiment of what is false. Falsity exists, not in nature, but solely in human minds.
Furthermore, nature is a necessary foundation of truth because only by means of it can truth be seen. As the Writings teach: "All man's thoughts are terminated in natural things which are connected with his senses. Whatever is not said from and according to these natural things, is not comprehended, but perishes, like sight that has no bound in some ocean or universe."* Apart from the objects of nature, man can have no idea whatever. Apart from sensation, memory and imagination, all of which are derived from nature, the mind is completely unconscious. That is why man must be born on earth, and must experience physical sensation before he can live consciously in the spiritual world; and that is why all the appearances of the spiritual world are similar in form to the objects of nature. Only in terms of man's earthly experience can spiritual truths and goods be given visible and tangible forms.

Out of sensual experience and knowledge, man gathers the material with which to clothe spiritual ideas and thoughts; and this material he carries with him, in the external and internal memories, as the basis for all his conscious life after death. In this sense nature is indeed an indispensable foundation of truth.
* AC 2553.
     From this it follows that scientific knowledge is of tremendous importance to man's spiritual life. It is important that this knowledge should be accurate; that is, in harmony with nature as the Lord has created it-not twisted into fantastic shapes by man's ignorance or perverted imagination. Only by constant vigilance, by painstaking examination, by a persistent search for the ultimate facts on which all true concepts must be based, can man overcome, in some degree, his natural proneness to error. But this is only the beginning, for facts are not truth. They are only the raw material out of which the clothing of ideas is woven and fashioned. According to the pattern of the weaving, the ideas produced may be either true or false. The pattern is determined by our love, the end or purpose we have in view. Only love that has its origin in the Lord, that is inspired by the teaching of the Word, and that looks to use can organize knowledge into a visible form of truth.
     The truly rational mind, therefore, is opened and formed by love to the Lord, charity toward the neighbor, and the love of use; and man derives these loves solely from the Word. Only these loves can impart genuine light to the mind, the light from which comes all human intelligence and wisdom. Yet every one is tempted to believe that he can discover truth for himself by exercising his own intelligence and by reasoning on the basis of his personal knowledge and experience, without recourse to any Divine instruction. This is well illustrated in the story of Abraham and Sarah, as told in the twentieth chapter of Genesis, which describes how the truly rational mind comes into being.
     Abraham, at that time, was sojourning in the land of the Philistines, and because he had said that Sarah was his sister, Abimelech, the king of the Philistines, admiring her beauty, sought her hand in marriage. However, he was warned in a dream that Sarah was really the wife of Abraham, and must be restored to him lest a great evil be done. When Abraham was asked why he had committed this deception, he said: "Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake. And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother."*
* Genesis 20: 11, 12.
     Abraham and Sarah here represent the two faculties of the human mind, the will and the understanding. These two faculties are organs of love and of thought, which have no life in themselves but are animated by life constantly inflowing from the Lord.

The Lord's love inflowing produces what man feels as his will; and the Lord's wisdom inflowing produces what man perceives as his understanding. The Divine love is here called Abraham's "father," and the Divine wisdom is called his "mother." But although man can be moved by the Divine love, the Divine wisdom is completely beyond his comprehension. It can be understood only in terms of man's sense experience. When so understood it is only an appearance of truth, a partial and very imperfect representation of it. This appearance is what is called "Sarah," who therefore is said to be the "daughter" of Abraham's father, but not the daughter of his mother. Nature is the mother of all human consciousness, and thence of all human understanding. But isolated facts drawn from experience, knowledges stored in the memory, unorganized and jumbled together just as they happen to enter the mind, have no meaning. Because their application is not seen they cannot serve the purpose of any love. Yet knowledge is intimately related to love, because without it love can accomplish nothing whatever. That is why it is called Abraham's "sister." Nevertheless, when knowledge has been selected, ordered and woven into a pattern, it can serve to reveal the truth. It can become the "wife" of Abraham, a helpmeet for him, the "way" to the fulfillment of the heart's desire. But this ordering cannot be done by man without the guidance of the Lord. Every one at first imagines that he can discover truth for himself by his own intelligence; that is, "Abimelech," enamoured of Sarah's beauty, seeks her hand in marriage. But this marriage can lead only to dire falsity, frustration and spiritual death. Fortunately, every man is gifted with some idea of God, some perception that there is a Divine law to be obeyed, and something of conscience that prompts him to seek instruction from the Word. In the Divine Providence, "Abimelech" is warned in a dream that "Sarah" is really the "wife" of Abraham; that is, that knowledge must be ordered by the Lord through the teaching of His Word if it is to lead man into genuine intelligence and wisdom.
What, then, is the real purpose of Academy education? It is to prepare its students to recognize for themselves, when they attain adult age, that "Sarah," the intellectual understanding of truth, is not only the "sister" of Abraham but is truly his "wife"; that is, it is to prepare them to acknowledge that genuine intelligence and wisdom must be inspired by the loves that inflow from the Lord by means of His Word, and that to seek them apart from this can lead only to gross error and insanity. This purpose is distinctive. It sets the Academy apart from all other educational institutions, whether religious or secular. Modern religious education seeks to perpetuate a traditional faith, and present-day secular education encourages the belief that truth can be discovered and applied by human intelligence apart from Divine revelation.

But the supreme goal of Academy education is to impart accurate factual knowledge in every field of learning, ordered, interpreted and understood, not in the light of man's puny intellect, but in the light of the Lord's own teaching, the light of love inflowing through His Word. To this end priests and laymen must work together, each recognizing their own limitations and the imperative need for one another. Professional theologians must probe deeply and persistently into the vast spiritual storehouse of the Writings; able and devoted scholars in every field of secular learning must search unceasingly for the true facts of nature; and both must realize that wisdom can be achieved only so far as these two foundations of truth are brought together in harmonious relationship; with the facts of nature as the material from which love to the Lord, charity toward the neighbor, and the love of use inspired by the Word and directed by its teaching, create forms of genuine truth and good in the minds of men. In no other way can they prepare for the opening of the truly rational mind in the next generation. In no other way can the Academy achieve the purpose for which it was founded; namely, to propagate the Heavenly Doctrine, and promote the permanent establishment of the New Church as the kingdom of the Lord on earth.
ELECTION OF A BISHOP 1962

ELECTION OF A BISHOP Editor 1962

     At its annual meetings this month, the Council of the Clergy will be called upon to make known its choice for the office of Bishop of the General Church. Since that church was organized in 1897, there have been only three occasions on which a Bishop has been elected, and it is now twenty-five years since the last time the office of Bishop had to be filled. It may therefore be useful to enumerate the steps involved in the election of a Bishop.
     According to the order of the General Church, the Bishop is selected by the General Assembly acting for the entire church, but his choosing is progressive and is a process rather than an election. He is first named in and by the Council of the Clergy, and the choice of that body is then submitted to the Board of Directors for its consideration. When it has been approved by that body the joint Council determines the mode whereby the name is finally to be placed in nomination for action by the General Assembly. These are the steps that will be taken this month in preparation for the action to be taken by the General Assembly in June.
     THE EDITOR

LIFE OF USE 1962

LIFE OF USE Rev. KENNETH O. STROH 1962

     Most men and women are conscious of an inner longing to feel needed, to have a special place in the lives and affections of others; and all are searching for that happiness which can bring a sense of deep content and peace of mind, to each in his own way. Many are laboring to find that niche in society which only they can fill. Many are striving to ease the effects of those tensions and disorders which block the way to a life of happiness and peace, on the international scene as well as among individuals-and much effective work is being done.
     Yet man's sense of fulfillment and happiness must be most limited as long as its ingredients are only of this world; for the things of the world are fleeting, and come to nought upon the death of the earthly body. Man is essentially a spiritual being, having a mind which can love and grow wise; and this mind, with its will and its understanding, is the spirit of man, the man himself, whose home is in the spiritual world. Therefore the real nature of man's needs and his happiness is spiritual, and can be known only from the spiritual world; and because men have closed their minds to the things of the spirit, these things can be known only by the mercy of the Lord, who has revealed them out of heaven in His Word.
     The Divine Word makes known the origin of man's innate desire to feel needed, and it discloses the true source of all happiness, for in the Heavenly Doctrine we are shown that all of these things are from the Lord alone. The Heavenly Father's love, by its very nature, longs to go out to others and to make them happy; and in creation all things have been formed to serve this burning purpose of the Lord's love: that is, all things have been formed to serve, in some way, the communication of happiness from the Lord. Man is the crowning form of this creation, made in the image of his Creator, and all creation looks toward man's reception of the Lord's blessings. But to enjoy these blessings, man must be free to choose to receive them or not; and he chooses to receive them when he chooses to give them unto others.
     So we are told that man is born for no other end than that he may perform a use to the society in which he lives and to the neighbor, while he lives in the world, and in the other life to eternity. Thus the Lord creates him to be a form of use, and even provides that he may love the uses that are suited to his genius.

Therefore the soundness, the health, of both man's mind and his body demands that his affections and his life should be determined toward the serving of some use. This is true no matter what may be the person's age or condition of life. For idleness is the devil's pillow because, when a person's mind is not determined to anything useful, that mind is weakened and the way is opened for the entrance of impurities which bring disorders, distress and unhappiness; whereas, when a man is interested or active in some study, business or occupation, his mind is limited and circumscribed as in a circle, from which, as from a house, he can look out upon the disordered thoughts and filthy lusts that would consume him, and can refuse them entrance. This is why uses are called the bonds of society.*
* AC 1103; HH 517; Love xv; SD 6072; CL 18, 249.
     This also is why men and women can find peace, happiness and the consequent delights only when their minds are thus circumscribed and protected-only when their thoughts and affections are directed toward the performance of some use; for all delights are granted in accordance with use. So the Lord's kingdom is a kingdom of uses; and we are told that the angels in heaven have joy and happiness only in accordance with their uses, and that the delights they experience are various, according to the degree of their affection for their uses.*
* AC 3796: 3; HH 112.
     This is illustrated by comparison with the external senses of man. The sense of sight is delightful because it performs a use to man's mind, helping him to understand the beauties of creation, serving as a means to the opening of his inner sight. The sense of hearing is delightful because it performs a use to man's will and its affections as well as to his understanding, helping him to give attention to others, to discern moods and harmonies. Similarly, all the senses have delight according to their functions, and this they have by means of an inflowing of heaven, where every delight pertains to use and is in accordance with use. If this is true of the most external, sensual plane of life, how much more must it be true of the things of man's spirit!*
* HH 402.
     Yet men search for pleasure and comfort as though these were ends in themselves. They are often engaged in a reckless pursuit of happiness, as though it were an elusive entity, set apart and to be gained by those who have the 'courage' to capture and hold it. They also speak of happiness as a God-given right of man, as though he deserved it from birth. These attitudes have produced, in some places, the dreary spectacle of a pleasure-loving culture which promises no hope of inner happiness or peace. For all true and lasting delights are in and from use.

     How, then, can the man of the church turn his mind to use? What are uses, really? In the Word they are called fruits. "Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?" the Lord asked; "wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."* They are also called works. And the Lord said, "My reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be."** Uses, then, are good deeds, which are the "works of God."
* Matthew 7: 16, 20.
** Revelation 22:12.
     Yet use is not material. It does involve the doing of external acts. But these acts are done for reasons; and the reasons are to be found in the loves from which, and the wisdom by means of which men act. All men are led by their loves; and whatever a man loves, he seeks for the way to express and to bring forth into being. His acts, then, are products of his love and his wisdom; his love being the end or purpose of the act, and his wisdom providing the means to its accomplishment. So it is that use is the product of love, working through wisdom; and in this sense, use is the effect.*
* Wis. iii: 2; DLW 213.
     But the nature and quality of the use is measured, not by external acts considered in themselves, but by the purpose which prompts them. Uses represent and bring into being the ends or purposes which give them life. And so it is said in the Writings that man's soul is in the use and the end, whereas his body is only in the performance of them.* Love, together with its wisdom, is the real man. If he acts from a good love, his use is good; if he acts from an evil love, his use is evil. Thus his use is not a physical thing, but it is his love in act; and love in act is the real life of man, which endures after death and according to which he is happy or unhappy to eternity.
* AC 1807: 3.
     The men and women of the church may well ask themselves the questions: "How may I perform use? How may I become truly a form of use?" And the Heavenly Doctrine gives the answer: "To perform use is to will well to others for the sake of the common good."*
* HH 64: 2.
     "To will well to others." This means that in what he does a man should not have regard primarily to himself, or to his acquisition of riches, reputation or personal honor. It also means that he should not have. regard primarily to members of his own family, or to those friends and acquaintances who please him or pay him court. For to love these is relatively easy. They are one's own. They are part of one's own life. A man naturally, and properly, wishes well to them. But a concern for the welfare of these alone may be characteristic of an evil man as well as of a good man, and may be no more than an expression of the love of self. Man ought also to learn to love others who are not of his own.

This love of the neighbor is of charity, and is from the Lord, who "maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." His love goes out in fulness, and alike, to angels in heaven, to devils in hell, and to faltering men upon the earth. We are therefore enjoined to be perfect, even as our Father in heaven is perfect.* We should will well to others.
* Matthew 5: 45, 48.
     Yet we must be on guard lest, in trying to do so. we become indiscriminate. For to love the neighbor means to love that in him which is from the Lord, not from self. In other words, we should look for what is good in others: we should learn to will well to others for the sake of the common good. The common good is defined as the general use, which is the complex of all uses, arranged in their order, according to their degrees. And if this general order is not known, the common good cannot properly be served.*
* Cf. HH 392.
     For example, it is good and useful that a man should take steps to provide the necessities of life-food, clothing, shelter and recreation-for himself and his family: if he does not do this, he cannot work effectively. Still, his actions are not of charity unless they are done with the purpose that they may serve, in ascending degrees, the good of the community, of the country, of the Lord's church on earth, of the Lord's kingdom in the heavens and on the earth; and finally, that they may serve the Lord Himself. If he would have regard to the common good, man must be aware of these degrees of the neighbor: and when faced with a choice, he must strive to choose the higher good in preference to the lower.*
* HD 84-99.
     And it should be emphasized that the main area of life where these choices are to be made is in the field of his employment or work. For it is here that his charity takes form and comes to life, while other areas of his life are, as it were, appendages. This is why it is so vital to spiritual health that all should have some work to which they may apply themselves, whether it be in the forum of the world of business, in the making and running of a home, or in the ministering professions of the law, medicine, education or the priesthood, or in other occupations. For it is in the just performance of his or her work that each can learn to will well to others for the sake of the common good, and thus can truly perform use.*
* Cf. Love vi; CL 16: 2.
     However, man should not fall into the error of thinking that his usefulness can be measured by the number of his deeds. He should keep himself busy, if possible. But he should know that there is no merit attached to the number of his good works; for all merit belongs to the Lord alone.

When a certain poor widow threw two mites into the temple treasury, the Lord said to His disciples: "This poor widow hath cast more in than all they which have cast into the treasury: for all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living."* There is no merit attached to constant, restless activity, and giving, no matter how useful.
* Mark 13: 43, 44.
     Those who deceive themselves by placing merit in good works are represented in the Word by the Gibeonites, who practiced deception on Joshua and the Israelites, and who were then forced to perform menial tasks as hewers of wood and drawers of water. In the world of spirits, those who have claimed merit for their many deeds may be seen cutting wood and doing vile tasks in an effort to deserve heaven.* But if they are not evil they can eventually be taught that the Lord has regard, not to the number of a man's deeds, but to his love in act; and then they can begin to understand that to perform use, essentially, is to will well to others for the sake of the common good.
* AC 1110.
     After all, even the evil serve the cause of use, albeit unwillingly and without delight. For in creation the Lord permits nothing that cannot serve some use, no matter how lowly. From the loves of honor and gain, the evil may sometimes be prompted to do good works in greater abundance than others. But if their acts are evil and destructive the Lord permits that these, too, can be bent to some good. Firstly, they may serve the cause of equilibrium by effecting a balance between the forces of heaven and of hell, in which balance man may be free to turn to one side or the other. Secondly, these evil influences may serve the cause of relation, by pointing up the relationship, the distinction and the opposition that exist between good and evil. And thirdly, they may serve the cause of purification by providing man with the means of temptation whereby he may be strengthened spiritually, if he refuses to identify himself with the evil. These are some of the many uses served by the evil. For "the Lord provides that there shall be [even in hell] no person by whom, or no thing by means of which, some use is not accomplished.*
* Cf. DP 21-26.
*
     How, then, can the New Church man tell what is the true nature of his acts? The love of self is much more easily perceived than love of the neighbor and of the Lord. Thus, when he is working, man does not know whether he is laboring for the sake of uses or for the sake of self. The knowledge of this very fact should provide some hope for those who are burdened with feelings of self-love and guilt. For no one in this world can accurately sense the inmost origin of his acts.

But he does have one indication. He can ask himself the question: "Do I, or do I not shun evils and the lusts of evil because they are sins against God?" If he knows the answer to this question, he can know something of the source of his motives. For evil is of hell and good is of heaven; and when man turns away from one, he turns toward the other: when he shuns evil, good enters in its place. Only by this yardstick can the quality of a man's uses be known.*
* DP 215: 13; DLW 426: 2.
     For man becomes a form of use by regeneration, and no man need be discouraged by seeming inadequacies and failures; for uses do not depend on him, despite all appearance to the contrary, since man is but an instrument by means of which the Lord performs use. In His mercy the Lord has given man to share in this performance so that he may receive the blessings of use.* But use itself is from the Lord, indeed the Lord is use. This is why there is always hope for anyone in the world who is willing to lift up his eyes unto the mountains, from whence cometh his help. For the Lord gives help gradually, patiently, to all who ask it, saying, as He said to those others whom He had forgiven and healed, "Go, and sin no more.
* AC 8719.
     For those who turn to Him, the Lord will provide help, that they may learn to will well to others instead of to themselves, and this for the sake of the common good. So will they perform use, and so will they be drawn ever closer to the Lord and His heavenly kingdom. This is why John was close to the Lord, and was the first of the disciples, and not Peter, as is commonly supposed. For while Peter represents the life of faith, and James charity, John represents the works of charity, the life of faith and charity in act, or the life of use. So it was John who sat next to the Lord and lay on His breast at the institution of the Holy Supper.*
* AE 229: 3; 444.
     All men and women who live the life of use are likewise close to the Lord and are in the interior worship of Him. And for such the Lord can open the way to interior blessedness, so that they are prepared to enter into the joy of their Lord.
ORIGIN OF ALL ERROR 1962

ORIGIN OF ALL ERROR 1962

"The origins of all errors in the church have been these: that they have believed that man lives from himself, or from his own life, and that life had been created in him; when yet man is only an organ of life, and is kept in the middle between heaven and hell, and thus in equilibrium or free will." (Invitation 26)

MUCH ADO ABOUT SWEDENBORG'S SKULL 1962

MUCH ADO ABOUT SWEDENBORG'S SKULL Rev. HUGO LJ. ODHNER 1962

     (Emanuel Swedenborg's Cranium. A Critical Analysis by Folke Henschen, Upsala, 1960.)

     Swedenborg would no doubt be much amused if he learned that seventeen learned professors, doctors and experts were solemnly using all available techniques of modern research to ascertain whether the fragile bones resting in a beautiful granite sarcophagus in Upsala Cathedral are really his!
     In 1910 the matter was thought to be settled in the affirmative, to every one's satisfaction, by a committee of the Royal Society of Sciences of Upsala. A report by Prof. J. V. Hultkrantz-in more than a hundred folio pages with ample documentation and photographs of Swedenborg and his alleged skull-analysed the story of the Mortal Remains of Emanuel Swedenborg, and came to the conclusion that the skull in the sarcophagus "may, with the greatest degree of probability, be regarded as genuine."
     Why should this ever have been doubted? Why should Prof. Hultkrantz's conclusion now be questioned half a century later? And why should a learned world which cares so little for the Seer's spiritual accomplishments be so solicitous about his bones?
     It should, of course, be remembered that the Swedish government in 1908 ceremoniously conveyed Swedenborg's coffin from the vault of the Swedish Church in London to his homeland, in the cruiser Fylgia. From Karlskrona the coffin was brought to Upsala, which was adorned with flags for the procession to the Cathedral. The Swedish Parliament voted a 10,000 kr. appropriation for the sarcophagus, and its dedication in 1910 was a central feature of the bicentennial celebrations of the Royal Society of Sciences of Upsala, which lauded Swedenborg as one of its pioneers. A new interest in Swedenborg as a scientist had been stirred up, especially by Dr. G. Retzius in Sweden and Dr. Neuburger in Vienna, and Upsala University and the Royal Society of Sciences had published many of Swedenborg's early poems and learned works, some in festival phototype editions.
     Under these circumstances it would have been an embarrassing fiasco if the bones so solemnly enshrined had turned out to be those of a man of common breed.

It was fortunate that Prof. Hultkrantz, after a historical and scientific analysis, could in good conscience write: "Hitherto no facts have come to light which contradict the supposition that the cranium is that of Emanuel Swedenborg."
     But the persistence of the scientific temperament is something to be reckoned with . A few suspicious facts raised some scruples, and in 1957 Prof. Folke Henschen prompted by his studies in anthropology, reopened the question amid a succession of articles in the Swedish press. He was given a grant from "The Nordenskjold-Swedenborg Fund" of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. His Critical Analysis occupies 57 folio pages and contains learned reports by a formidable array of collaborating specialists, several charts, four plates, and a bibliography of 127 references. His conclusion is that the Upsala skull was not Swedenborg's. His theory is that a skull had been stolen from Swedenborg's coffin-not once, as formerly admitted, but twice; and that the first thief had placed a substitute cranium in the coffin. By these suppositions he seeks to minimize the contradictions in the existing historical records. Thus the account becomes a scientific detective story in several chapters!
     The adventures of the Seer's bones thus began long before their stately voyage to Sweden. We can only indicate the confused outlines. It is of record that in 1790, Swedenborg's leaden coffin was opened to satisfy a fanatical Rosicrucian who insisted that the philosopher's body had been translated and immortalized. Robert Hindmarsh and some other New Church men inspected the coffin more closely a few days later and found nothing amiss. In the next quarter century the vault of the church was opened for burials some nine times.
     In the spring of 1823, an article in the London Times on a robbery of the skull of Swedenborg from his coffin "sometime after his interment" contained so many erroneous statements that the editor received several letters written with a view to correct the impressions it had conveyed.
     The first was from the Rev. Samuel Noble, the prominent New Church clergyman, who confirmed that the skull had indeed been taken, "a few years before," from the same motive that had "led Drs. Gall and Spurzheim to possess themselves of similar relics of other eminent men." He reported that it had now been restored.
     The second was from Mr. Hawkins, also a New Church man. He reported that one Ludvig Goranholm, a lieutenant in the Swedish navy had called on him near the end of 1817 with a skull, relating with macabre detail how he had taken it from Swedenborg's coffin, wrapped it in a handkerchief and carried it off, hoping to sell it to some Swedenborgian for a large sum of money. He was disappointed to find that Swedenborgians were not relic worshippers.

     Mr. Noble, who was the editor of the INTELLECTUAL REPOSITORY, may have consulted Mr. Hawkins later, for in his magazine (July-September 1823) he names Goranholm as the thief and adds that this "skullduggery" had been perpetrated at the funeral of the Swedish Ambassador's lady (actually his widow). This funeral, the record shows, took place on July 9,1816, although the magazine mentions 1817.
     The third letter to the Times was from J. P. Wahlin, pastor of the Swedish Church in London between 1818 and 1830. He corroborated that Swedenborg's "coffins" had been opened already "before 1816 when the skull was taken out'; and he added that the culprit had since died and that the skull had now been restored after a cast of it had been taken. It is evident that Pastor Wahlin knew nothing of any other violations of the tomb. In a later Swedish publication of the story he indirectly admits that it was Goranholm who took the skull, but in the Swedish translation of his Times article the year is somehow changed to 1817. Goranholm had found no sale for his goods and died penniless. Wahlin seems to have attended his deathbed and to him Goranholm entrusted the skull. The pastor had grave doubts about its genuineness, but the church council ordered him to take every care of it "in order that it might not again come into unauthorized hands."*
* Minutes of the Church Council, July 4, 1819.
     What then happened is not quite clear. Probably Pastor Wahlin thought it best to turn the skull over to a museum for safekeeping. At any rate, by 1822 a skull purported to be Swedenborg's was exhibited in the phrenological collection of Charles Augustus Tulk, M.P., an "unorthodox" Swedenborgian and an adherent of Berkeley's philosophy. The next year, partly owing to the entreaties of Countess von Schwerin, he returned this skull to Pastor Wahlin who in the presence of witnesses placed it in the coffin. But a plaster cast had first been taken of it, and this corresponds exactly with the cranium which now reposes at Upsala.

     The Second Skull

     The first rumors about a rival skull came in 1908. A Mr. William Rutherford-whose testimony at the time was accepted with caution since he was periodically confined in an insane asylum-informed Upsala University that his father had known an old herbalist whose shop was near the Swedish Church in London and who claimed to possess the genuine skull of Swedenborg. Later Mr. Rutherford traced some of the old herbalist's progeny, and actually saw this skull, which had the letters "E. S'berg" pricked into the bone. The skull had come into the hands of a Mr. W. A. Williams-described as something of a phrenologist and a student of Swedenborg-and after his death in 1956 it is with his daughter, Dr. Charlotte Brandt.

     Where had this skull come from? To answer this, Prof. Henschen harks back to the suggestion of Mr. Noble that the thief was a Swedish gentleman with an interest in phrenology. One such man was John Didrik Hoom, a wealthy sea captain who had become closely associated with Dr. Gall, the founder of the pseudo-science of Phrenology. It appears that followers of Gall about this time competed in making collections of skulls of eminent men and did not draw the line at grave-robbery.
     The fact that Holm was a phrenologist does not of course, prove that he had ever taken or possessed Swedenborg's skull. From the published letters of Mrs. Anna Frederika Ehrenborg, a noted Swedish writer and Swedenborgian, we learn that Holm had seen Swedenborg's skull. In the perfection of its proportions and harmony "it was the most distinguished he had ever seen." So he told here in 1852, after having shown her his own collections which he had inherited from Gall and Spurzheim. He insisted, however, that the skull in the coffin was not the genuine one.*
* Nagra Bref Fran England, 1853-1853. Upsala 1854, p. 121. An anonymous publication. ANC library.
     Hole died in 1856. In 1958 Prof. Henschen received "a personal communication" for a descendant of the sister of Captain Holm, to the effect that in the eighteen-forties Holm had "told a visiting niece, under promise of secrecy, that he had Swedenborg's skull in his collection . . ."*
* Henschen, pp. 47a, 9a, 46.
     What value this hearsay evidence has it not clear. But Prof. Henschen accepts it as corroborative of his theory, believing that Holm's collection-when Phrenology was no longer the vogue-was dispersed, and that the "old herbalist" of Wellclose Square might have acquired the precious skull which, through Rutherford's efforts, was identified with the Swansea specimen.
     Prof. Henschen supposes that Mr. Noble was referring to a different grave robbery than that told by Mr. Hawkins and Pastor Wahlin; thus accounting for some striking discrepancies. But this theory is weakened by the fact that Mr. Noble was the editor of the Intellectual Repository, which clearly identifies Goranholm as the thief. All the accounts seem partly to be based on hearsay. Mr. Hawkins' testimony seems most direct. Mr. Noble did indeed say in the Times (Apr. 1, 1823) that the thief was a follower of Gall and was then still living in London; which was not true of Goranholm, who died in 1819. But Noble may not as yet have heard of his death, and he, like Wahlin, may easily have mistaken Goranholm for a phrenologist.

     It is human to err. Prof. Hultkrantz seriously misquotes Noble's article. Pastor Wahlin mentions 1816 as the time of the grave robbery, but in his Swedish version this appears as 1817. Noble, in 1823, places it as "a few years before," and later as 1817. Hawkins gives the date as December 1817, while Noble specifies that it occurred at the funeral of Baroness von Nolcken; yet this funeral is known to have taken place on July 9, 1816.* Somebody was obviously wrong. Yet the Hawkins story of Goranholm's visit is fairly detailed and in the main borne out by Pastor Wahlin's son in a later statement.**
* Intel. Repository 1823, p. 473, versus Hultkrantz, p. 11, note.
** Tafel's Doc. II., pp. 1207f.
     The historical evidence that Holm ever took the skull rests principally on his alleged boast to his niece. And despite the discrepancies of their accounts, neither Noble or Hawkins or Tulk or Wahlin give any intimation that they knew of more than one robbery. None of them mention any Captain Holm. That some doubts as to the identity of the skull should have been expressed by Wahlin, and later by Captain Holm, is quite natural, since grave robberies were common and each phrenologist seemed to have his own system of recognizing character from cranial shape. However highly the phrenologists and the noted sculptor Flaxman* praised the skull in Tulk's museum as indicative of a genius such as Swedenborg's, matters little today, for phrenology is now a fossil science and artists are known to differ. But Prof. Hultkrantz, in 1910, was at least satisfied that this cranium was that of a normal head and that its shape fitted well with the best extant paintings of Swedenborg-those by Krafft and Brander.
* Tafel, Doc. II., p. 555.
     Already in 1912, Prof. Hultkrantz, on the evidence of photographs, a cast, and descriptions of the Swansea skull, rejected it as not genuine but called it "an exceptionally fine specimen of the pathological deformity which is known as scaphocephaly." It bore a slight scar as of a sabre cut (or spade?); which did not seem to suggest any incident in Swedenborg `s pacific life. Besides, its peculiar boat-like (scaphocephalic) shape suggested to him a similarity with a cranium which had belonged to a poor tinsmith with dementia paralytica; although he admitted that such a shaped head "does not exclude a high intellectual and moral development."
     On the other hand, Prof. Henschen and some of his experts inclined to think that the Swansea skull was the genuine one, and that a wig could well conceal its peculiar features. They suggest that the beautiful portraits by Brander and Krafft may have been idealized. Instead they point to a portrait painted by L. J. de Loutherbourg after 1770, which was not much discussed by Hultkrantz, as indicative of the authenticity of the Swansea skull.

The Henschen report recalls that the Seer had mentioned to Cuno that a set of new teeth were growing in his mouth in his old age, and points out that the right maxilla of the Swansea skull actually contains an "unerupted" canine tooth-which suggests a basis for the story. Further, an expert in the British Museum showed that both skulls indicated the same blood group, "A." Both skulls, when examined by spectrum analysis, were found to contain infinitesimal traces of lead, the proportion being a little higher in the coffin skull. The Swansea skull however had no traces of manganese or titanium. It was found that "the time is not yet ripe to tackle the Swedenborg problem by means of micro-elements." I.e., by a neutron-activation analysis. (The layman is sometimes lost, as all the expert opinions are prepared with much technical detail and advanced with scholarly caution.) Several doctors refused to believe that the Swansea skull was that of a man above sixty years. There was no agreement as to whether scaphocephaly can indicate mental instability or any other deficiency.
But the coffin-both in 1908 and 1958- also contained some short reddish hair which, it was argued, could not have come from Swedenborg's head. For he scarcely could have had red hair at 84, when he was said in his lifetime to have had dark brown hair which later turned gray-white.* And so, on the evidence of an impacted tooth, a trace of lead, a bit of reddish hair, a newly refound portrait (which from the photograph looks amateurish), and some second-hand stories, Prof. Henschen concludes that another skull had occupied the coffin and that the Swansea skull is the one which-scaphocephalic though it be-deserves a place among Sweden's great.
* Tafel, Doc. II., pp. 554, 403, N.C. Mag., Aug. 1885, p. 17, Rise and Progr., p. 196.
What the dignitaries of Upsala will do about it remains to be seen. Will both skulls be placed in the sarcophagus? Or will there be more erudite reports? To New Church people, though we may have a sneaking admiration for scientific persistence, the matter seems trivial. We are more interested in what went on inside of Swedenborg's skull while he was still on earth.
TO HIM THAT HATH 1962

TO HIM THAT HATH 1962

"A man who knows all goods and all truths, as many as can be known, but does not shun evils, knows nothing. His goods and truths are swallowed up or cast out by the evils, so that he becomes foolish, not in the world, but afterwards; while the man who knows few goods and few truths, but shuns evils, knows these goods and truths and learns many more and becomes wise, if not in the world, yet afterwards" (AE 1180).

PATRINI 1962

PATRINI Rev. ORMOND ODHNER 1962

     At least four times in the Writings, Swedenborg uses the unusual Latin word, patrinus, in speaking of the baptism of infants. In the Swedenborg Concordance and in the Standard Edition of the Writings it is translated "sponsor," as in the following: "The priest then turns to the sponsors and asks whether they renounce the devil and all his works . . . to which the sponsors reply, in the infant's stead, Yes."*
* TCR 655. See also TCR 530; AR 224: 2, 11.
     In other editions of the Writings, however, the word is translated "godparents": and because of the baptismal customs with which I am familiar, it struck me as strange that the Writings would mention god- parents in an affirmative tone. I therefore decided to see if the word had been properly translated. Surely, I thought, it must be "parents." The search took longer than I had anticipated, but it turned up some very interesting information.
     First of all, no classical Latin-English dictionary that I could find contained the word patrinus at all, nor any other word which could be turned into it; although the root, pater (father), was, of course, obvious. What next? Had Swedenborg coined the word? But, no. Further research by several Latin scholars of the church finally located it in an old all-Latin glossary of medieval and "Low" Latin, where it was defined-at great length, and all in Latin!-in such a way as to leave no doubt what it meant: "sponsor, godfather."
     My next question was whether the custom of having the godparents make the promises for the infant was in use in the Swedish Lutheran Church in Swedenborg's day. (Today in that church there are god- parents present at baptisms; but they remain silent, the parents answering the minister's questions.) Through the kind efforts of a Swedish student in the church, I discovered that such indeed had been the case in Swedenborg's day.
     A Swedish ecclesiastical law of 1686 recommends the continuance of "the good Christian custom of old" of having godparents witness the baptism of an infant. The same law allows only those persons to serve in that role who are "of our religion, have reached adult age, and who are well versed in the catechism."

Excluded are those known to have some vice or to have committed some crime. A still earlier law allowed up to six godparents, three of each sex.
     The Academy Library does not own any copy of the Swedish Lutheran liturgy which would have been used at Swedenborg's own baptism; but it does possess such a liturgy, printed in 1786, which, in turn, is a reprint of the Swedish Lutheran liturgy of 1695. It is, then, the liturgy with which Swedenborg was familiar, and it gives the baptismal ritual in full. In it, godparents play an important part.
     At the beginning of the ceremony the minister asks-it is not said to whom the questions are put-whose child this is, whether he has already been baptized at home, and what his name is. An exhortation follows and then the minister makes the sign of the cross over the child's face and breast. A prayer is said, following which the minister places his hand on the head of the child while the Lord's Prayer is recited.
     At the baptismal font itself the minister asks what name the child is to be given, and the godparents pronounce the child's name. The minister then addresses the child: "Do you renounce the devil?" The godparents, on behalf of the child, answer: "Yes." The minister, again to the child: "and all his deeds?" Again the godparents answer: "Yes." The same formula is followed with questions concerning renunciation of the devil's "essence," and concerning belief in the tri-personal God. Each time it is the godparents who answer on behalf of the child.
     Once more the minister asks the name of the child, and three times he then puts water on the child's head. A prayer and a benediction follow, and the service ends with the minister delivering an exhortation to the godparents. He tells them that, as witnesses to the baptism, it is their fist duty to instruct the parents to raise the child in the fear of God and in all Christian virtues. Their second duty, he says, is to "keep an eye" on the child during his years as a minor, to make sure that he keeps the promises just made for him; and to this exhortation the godparents again answer in the affirmative.
     This, then, is what Swedenborg was referring to when he wrote in the Writings about the promises made for a child at his baptism by his godparents or sponsors (patrini). He was not advocating the custom of having godparents at infant baptisms; he was simply describing baptism as he knew it. Very definitely, he teaches nothing in opposition to our own firm belief that it is the chief duty of the parents themselves to make the baptismal promises for the child, and, as long as he is a minor, to keep those promises for him.

In closing, I would note that the Academy has a photostatic copy of the page from the official record book on which Swedenborg's baptism is recorded. In the first column are given the names of the parents, Jesper Swedberg and Sarah Behm. The second column is headed Patrini, and in it their names are inserted. Swedenborg had six of them!
SUPERSTITION 1962

SUPERSTITION GEOFFREY P. DAWSON 1962

     (Delivered at the New Church Club, London, England.)

     According to the dictionary, "superstition" is something referring to the supernatural standing over man, of which he is in awe. In this essay it is considered legitimate to classify as superstitious all codes of behavior which men adopt as means of averting misfortune and of obtaining benefits from things unseen or supernatural. By abiding by the rules, they hope to sustain the favor of beneficent forces and placate the malevolent. Thus superstition is not a thing that springs fully formed from the imagination, but something which is cultivated by education like all arts, being developed from a knowledge of the relevant scientifics constituting its laws. Superstition must not be dismissed as the dark forebodings of the uncivilized mind, since this fails to grasp its fundamental principles. These do not vary, but in expression may appear more or less refined according to the society in which they flourish. It is not limited to avoiding paths under ladders, throwing salt over the shoulder, praying to images, or addressing totem poles. The interest of the subject lies, not in the contortions to which men may be driven in their rituals, but in the interior principles whence the practices spring, however primitive or sophisticated these may be.
     It is notable that those who are satisfied that they have reached some pinnacle of wisdom often pity others who appear below their own eminence as creatures struggling in the shackles of cruel superstition, from which it is charity to wish that they might be freed. Others have taken for a watchword the gospel phrase, "Know the truth, and the truth shall make you free"; supposing that nothing is so practical as to illuminate the rational mind from the Word in order to strike off the chains of psychological slavery. Indeed it has been said that if all men could be given full knowledge of self-evident truth-which was never so self-evident that it did not need to be revealed-then they would cease from being superstitious and become rational, wise and good. But technically at least, New Church men might be expected to avoid this error, since it is a fallacy contrary to the true order of things.

They know that there is no such thing as natural influx; and whereas there may be sincerity in calling an idea a "spiritual truth," it stays obstinately what it was when first uttered in the natural world: a natural expression in all respects, consisting of ideas significant to the natural mind, transmitted in material atmospheric oscillations emitted from material mouths and received through material ears. Analyze these "truths" as we may, they can never be spiritual as such. At best they are natural ideas or appearances fashioned by men to give illustration to the intelligence of the natural mind.
It is not hard to dispose of the idea that wisdom consists in a mere knowledge of doctrinal mechanics. At the other extreme, we have those who are pleased to think very little of mere knowledge. They point to the "schoolmen" as the warning example illustrating that knowledge alone is a useless thing. Often they proceed to deliver a doctrine that man's real business in the world is performing the works of charity and entering into uses for the sake of good. It is not what you know, but what you do that counts! Mere greediness for the sordid lucre of intellectual riches is but another expression of the loves of self and the world. It is difficult for a rich man to enter heaven. Let him sell what he has and buy the pearl of great price. Men are wise, not because they know truth, but because they love good. Yet New Church men might also be expected to avoid this contention, for it breaks down likewise on the same principle that natural influx does not happen. The "goods" which men do in the world are as natural as the "truths" they speak, being done from natural judgment according to the morals of the worldly society to which they are required to conform; and everyone knows that uncritical conformity to the natural social pattern leads into all sorts of moral difficulties, shades of distress, and, in fact, to obvious injustice and glaring evils. It would seem clear that neither natural truth nor natural good may be raised up on its own merits, to be sublimated into some rare and beautiful spiritual utopia.
The abuses of superstition cannot be banished from the world by natural ideas of truth or good. Men are always able to make new superstitions out of the ideas they took up to put an end to the old ones. The routine is familiar. To knock down the reigning idol, a determination to love and worship something different must be established first. Then the old god can be removed with more or less violence. This done, the new god fills the shrine, and its cult endures until the cost of maintaining the establishment proves inconvenient to the expanding interests of enough of the devotees, when another revolution takes place.

Justification is always required for these changes, both for the conscience of those wanting them and for the discomfiture of those who do not. A superstition therefore demands acquiescence and assistance from the rational faculty by every means of education available, and by every promise of charity that can be imagined. The new god must promise to adjust the errors which were due to the incompetence of the old one in coping with the social, moral, and religious evils that protrude from between the advancing wheels of the chariot of human progress. Get the science right, and all will be well; do good according to the prescribed pattern, and all will appear true.
From the foregoing it may be evident that superstition is not essentially an article of faith but a principle from which a faith is adopted. The doctrinals, whatever they are, are commodities with the natural, sensual and corporeal man. They are, in fact, the whole natural life of every man before he is regenerated. They are acceptable to his love of self and the world for the sake of what they promise, whatever the distress they may inflict upon his body and mind; and they are built into his mind out of all manner of things which he is taught to receive as true and good, both from the pages of revelation and from profane sources. It is important to realize that no amount of formal education, however well intentioned, however scientifically and logically applied, however apparently well adapted for the reception of genuine truth, is going to make one jot of difference to the probability of cultivated superstition. The basis for this unpalatable situation is to be found entirely in the characteristics of man himself, in the causes of his existence; thus resting squarely in the nature of the focus of all this trouble to engineer an infallible system of salvation. Man has one over-riding and incontestable freedom-either to permit himself to be saved or to send himself to perdition; and since that freedom is spiritual, it is not to be impaired in the least by any ideas of natural truth or good, however well contrived. Did not Adam and his posterity succeed in falling away? Yet it is alleged that he dwelt in paradise. This freedom is declared to be as the apple of His eye with the Lord, for it contains the possibility of a heaven of angels from the human race. Without this freedom heaven could not be created for man. Into it are gathered all the things which the Lord provides for the sake of good, and permits in His foresight on account of evil, for the sake of the same end.

"Thus the Divine Providence is continually in the work of saving men; but no more can be saved than are willing to be saved, and they are willing . . . who acknowledge God and are led by Him; and they are not willing who do not acknowledge God and are led by themselves; for these do not think about eternal life, but the others do. . . .

Now, because the Lord foresees the states of all after death, and also foresees the places in hell of those who are not willing to be saved, and the places in heaven of those who desire to be saved, it follows . . . that for the evil He provides their places by permitting and by withdrawing, and for the good by leading; and unless this were done from everyone's birth to the end of his life heaven would not exist, nor hell; for without that prevision, and at the same time provision, neither heaven nor hell would be anything but confusion."*
* DP 333

Now the question arises: How is it possible for the superstitious man to become truly rational, wise and good from the Lord, if he is incapable of receiving into his natural understanding ideas which are other than natural, sensual and fallacious? Like Pilate, we may sigh: "What is truth?" We cannot take up in our hands a quantity of either good or truth; we can only think about them remotely by parallels. For this we need a working model of the system of the human mind, thus of degrees. Your essayist declines to draw any pictures, believing that such geometric designs lead to very mechanical conclusions. The human mind is an organic affair, not to be nailed to a blackboard within the confining patterns of colored chalk. Diagrams divide the mind into spaces where spaces do not exist, and leave a concept of the continuous instead of the discrete. The celestial is drawn at the top or in the middle and its influence denoted by arrowheads of blind force which are as unlike the laws of influx by correspondence as death is unlike life. But since we must have some kind of familiar model, your indulgence is sought for conceiving the system as a building having three storeys. Yet the structure is unique, and visitors are warned that none entering at the bottom can ever ascend into the top; for the mansion is not equipped with stairs or elevators by which those below may reach those above, or those above descend to those below.
"There are three infinite and uncreated degrees of altitude in the Lord, and there are three finite and created degrees in man."* These degrees are likened in their relationship to end, cause and effect, and for any degree to endure at all the other two must exist at the same time. The effect, or ultimate, cannot be unless formed by influx through and by means of the two higher or prior degrees, and these are nothing without an ultimate in which to take effect. Foundations are vital in the construction of buildings, but it is easy to see that the arrangement of the foundations is determined entirely by the plan of the building which rests upon them. Likewise, the planning of the lower storeys has reference to what is required in the major floors above; and if, as in our case, the most important level is the top one, then the lower stages must assume an accommodating organization for the sake of that one. This building is not a "sky-hook" fantasy of exhibitionism.

What happens lower down really does signify something concerning what goes on above. All the dispositions at each level function in this scheme with impeccable taste. But we must be absolutely sure that what is in the natural or lowest level can never be hoisted into the spiritual or middle storey, nor anything from the middle be taken up into the top or celestial degree where abide all the prospects and uses of delight, for the support of which all that is below has been contrived to serve. The uses at the top govern everything that is below, and what is below must remain firmly in its appointed place; otherwise celestial things would pass away like an idle dream.
* DLW 230.
Philosophies down the ages have been corrupted by theories of sublimation. These ideas are useless to the New Church man, and, in the last resort, to anyone else. We require, in our material world, appearances having a certain fixity of definition, not materials which can be vaporized by the refining metaphysics of our own imagination. For us, spades must persist as spades, unless we choose to be very earthy and call them shovels. We need dependable natural tools which are reliable for digging about in the natural world, so that it may be brought into order and kept that way. Revelation does not call upon us to find some silken thread by which we must compel our propria to ascend into the rarer air of the loftier stages of our mansions. Instead, it declares that what is beneath corresponds to what is above, and that the higher levels are to be inhabited by creatures better adapted to appreciate their excellence than is the toiling serf keeping the gate at the bottom. This does not deny to the natural its special interest and necessity. It is said that in man there are three finite degrees of altitude representing as in an image the three infinite degrees in God. Likewise, in the natural there appear as in a continuous image three degrees in one plane corresponding to, and representing, the three finite discrete degrees in the whole human mind. The celestial is seen as the initiating desire, the spiritual as the accommodating mode, and the natural as the satisfying application. Consequently, although all his ideas are indeed natural, and in their definition take their pattern from the sensual geography of the material world it is possible for the natural man to have an idea or system of ideas, a philosophy, if you please, which can be an image fitted to sustain the delights and uses of the celestial and spiritual man, as their containant and support by correspondence. These things may be confirmed from the work Divine Love and Wisdom as follows:

"The natural degree of the human mind considered in itself is continuous, but by correspondence with the two higher degrees, while it is elevated, it appears as if it were discrete.

This, although difficult of comprehension by those who do not yet possess a knowledge of the degrees of altitude, must nevertheless be revealed, because it belongs to angelic wisdom, and this wisdom, although it cannot be compassed by the thought of the natural man in the same way as by the angels, yet may be comprehended by the understanding, whenever this is raised up to the degree of light in which the angels are; for the understanding can be raised up even thither, and enlightened according to its elevation. The enlightenment of the natural mind, however, does not ascend by discrete degrees, but it increases by a continuous degree, and as it increases, that mind is enlightened from within by the light of the two higher degrees. How this occurs can be comprehended from a perception of the degrees of altitude, in that one degree is above the other, and that the natural degree, which is the ultimate, is a kind of covering to the two higher degrees; in that case as the natural degree is raised to the degree of higher [light], so the higher from within acts upon the exterior natural, and illuminates it. The illumination is effected indeed from within by the light of the higher degrees, but this light is received by the natural degree which envelopes and surrounds them by continuity, therefore more lucidly and purely according to the height of ascent; that is, the natural degree is enlightened from within by virtue of the light of the higher degrees, discretely, but in itself continuously. From this it is evident that man, as long as he lives in the world, is thereby in the natural degree, and cannot be elevated into wisdom itself such as it is with the angels, but only into higher light reaching to the angels, and into receiving enlightenment from their light, which flows in from within and illuminates."*
* DLW 256.

     The end of Creation is said to be that men may be led to dwell in heaven to eternity from the Lord, and this in the delights of love by means of wisdom. To provide beings capable of being so delighted, it is not possible to create them immediately into these delights, since this would eliminate finite definition in creation and resolve the activity into no more than an extension of the Lord Himself. This would not be creation at all. Finition requires the formation of a reactive agent, receptive of delights from the Lord, and therefore implies a creature which, considered in itself, is empty of such delights. For this reason men are born natural, and not into spiritual and celestial life immediately. The whole matter is set out in Divine Love and Wisdom, which states that because the natural mind covers, includes and contains the higher degrees, and these must be held together in form, it is reactive. If the higher degrees are not opened, it reacts against them; if they are opened, it reacts with them. In the first instance, the man loves evils, acknowledges nature as the creator, and perverts the goods and truths of the church, thus shutting up the spiritual mind more and more closely. When the higher degrees are opened, however, the opposite is the case, for then the spiritual mind acts from within upon the natural mind, which is subordinated to it.*
* See DLW 260, 262, 263.
     (To be Concluded.)

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1962

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS Rev. FREDERICK L. SCHNARR 1962

Our readings from the Writings this year are taken from the first two volumes of the Arcana Coelestia. Those who have not previously studied this work might find it somewhat confusing that some of the terminology employed is not the same as that used elsewhere throughout the Writings. The same thing will be found to be true of the Spiritual Diary. For example, the inhabitants of the three degrees of heaven are called good spirits, angelic spirits and angels, respectively. Later in the Arcana, and indeed throughout the Writings, the angels of the three heavens are called natural, spiritual and celestial; and the heavens themselves are called first, second and third, or lowest, middle and highest. When the words "angel" and "angelic spirit" are used later, they can refer to any heaven and "good spirit" refers to a good spirit in the state of the world of spirits. Many other examples could be found to show how some of the terminology used by Swedenborg gradually changed and crystallized.

This change in the terminology of the Writings should cause neither confusion nor disturbance. It need not confuse, because the context, if closely examined, will clearly indicate what the meaning should be; and it need not disturb because it is a part of the nature of a rational revelation. The spiritual sense of the Word and the Heavenly Doctrine were not dictated to Swedenborg, word by word. He was educated and instructed by the Lord in the spiritual world so that his rational mind knew and understood the truths that were to be revealed as the Lord's second coming. The Lord did not miraculously give Swedenborg a new natural language whereby to express His Divine truth to our earthly minds. The natural clothing of worldly language wherein the goods and truths of heaven were to be revealed had to be drawn from Swedenborg's memory. The words and phrases already known by men had to be used; sometimes a new meaning might have to be given to a word, at other times an old root meaning might have to be revived. Swedenborg's work was to find those words and phrases which would best express the truths of a rational revelation. As he commenced his task by expounding the spiritual sense of the book of Genesis, we see him searching for those terms which would best serve the purpose of his Divine commission.

As he worked and progressed, so did his terminology change as better expressions were found and used. Gradually, with sure purpose and with the clarity of an understanding enlightened through heaven, the external form of the Writings came into being.
We feel that one of the greatest confirmations of the rationality of the truth of the Second Coming is the manner in which that truth has been given. That is what we find reflected in the first parts of the Arcana. We see the Lord instructing, and providing His Divine truths; we see the Lord preparing and ordering the things of a human mind for the reception of those truths; and we see that human mind-Emanuel Swedenborg's-working as of itself to think and reason in freedom, and arduously and faithfully serving the Lord in the effort to bring a new revelation to the earth.
REVIEW 1962

REVIEW 1962

     THE HOLY SUPPER. By George de Charms. With Notes by Robert S. Junge. General Church Publication Committee. Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, 1961. Paper, pp. 42. Price, 50 cents.

     This pamphlet, the importance of which far exceeds its size, begins with an essay by the Right Rev. George de Charms on "The New Church Observance of the Holy Supper." That sacrament, Bishop De Charms notes, has been carried over from the worship of the Christian Church because it is commanded in the Heavenly Doctrine, but it is to be new and entirely distinct. Therefore it is important that we should know wherein the difference lies, what is now to be accomplished by means of the Holy Supper that could not be done before, and how we may receive the benefits it is now intended to impart. It is to these matters that the essay addresses itself.
     The institution of the Holy Supper and the ideas concerning it that developed in the Christian churches are traced briefly, and it is shown that, despite the fact that these ideas were false, the sacrament was, and is, a powerful instrument in the hands of the Lord for the salvation of the simple in heart. Yet no one could enter into the supreme use of the sacrament, or receive its greatest benefits, until the internal sense of the Word was revealed at the Second Coming; for without that the real meaning and purpose of the Holy Supper could not be understood.
     Bishop De Charms then shows that the supreme use of the Holy Supper is to strengthen and confirm the man of the church continually in the life of regeneration.

His approach to the sacrament is an outward sign of his desire to receive love from the Lord and of his determination to be instructed in the spiritual truth of the Word and to live according to it from conscience-the very things by which man is regenerated. Thus he approaches the Lord as He appears in the Heavenly Doctrine; and the Holy Supper was ordained to strengthen man's will in the constant endeavor to do these three things. When this is understood, the Holy Supper takes on an entirely new meaning. Its purpose is to effect a reciprocal conjunction of the Lord and man, not by the bread and wine, but by the love and faith of the man who has done repentance. It still remains an arcanum, but in it there is nothing mystical.
     The Notes supplied by the Rev. Robert S. Junge take the form of questions and answers. Mr. Junge has brought together the questions that are most frequently asked by serious and inquiring laymen about the elements in the Holy Supper and the ritual of its administration, preparation for and frequency of communion, and participation in the sacrament. These he answers briefly, clearly, and in all instances, we believe, satisfactorily; wherever possible by direct quotations from the Writings, or with citations to explain or support the statements made. Twenty-five questions are thus dealt with, and there is a short list of suggested readings.
     These questions cannot be listed here, nor need they be, since the pamphlet itself should be read; but some indication of their scope may be given. The reader who wishes to know why the Holy Supper is the most holy act of worship, why we use unleavened bread yet fermented wine, why the bread is broken and not cut, why the bread is taken first and the wine afterwards, why we come forward and kneel, why we use the common cup, and why the sacrament is called a supper, to mention a few, will find here the answers he seeks. This sacrament is indeed the most holy act of worship. But it is also a simple act, and this pamphlet may do much to resolve uncertainty, reveal that simplicity, and thus assist some to a clearer and more rational view of what communion means.
     Like Our Funeral Customs, published earlier by the same committee, this pamphlet is not designed for missionary work, although it may be of use there, but for the guidance of our own people. Uniform with that publication in its format, the subject matter and the treatment make it truly a pastoral pamphlet. It should interest all members of the General Church, and might usefully be given to young people as they approach the age at which they may begin to partake of the Holy Supper. A companion pamphlet on Baptism, similarly considered, would be a welcome addition to this series.

IN THIS NEW YEAR 1962

IN THIS NEW YEAR Editor 1962

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.

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     What other hopes, desires and aspirations he may have, every sincere member of the church will wish that in this new year he might live according to the Heavenly Doctrine, and thus be led by the Lord to the good of life; that there may be at least a beginning of the establishment in him of faith and charity, rationality and freedom. How this may be brought about is made clear in the Writings-by shunning evils. If this is to be effective, however, two conditions must be met. Man must shun evils as sins, and he must do so as of himself.
     It is in connection with the second of these that difficulty may seem to arise. How can a man shun evils as if of himself? The Writings assure us, however, that every man is able to do so by the power of the Lord, if he implores it, and that he will supplicate the Lord for help if and when he sees that evils are sins against Him and desires to shun them for that reason. And if the power to do and the faith to believe seem to be beyond us, we are told that they will be given by the Lord if we simply act as though we had them.
     If we will but shun as sin some one evil that we see and acknowledge in ourselves, but believe that the power is from the Lord, we shall be in the way of regeneration. Spectacular changes are not to be expected. Yet day by day we will learn what are good works. The affection of doing what is good will grow within us, and with it the affection of learning truths for the sake of good. Thus may we, in the year of days that lies before us, come a little closer to the Lord and His kingdom, and have His church upbuilt a little further within us.

SOURCE OF ASSURANCE 1962

SOURCE OF ASSURANCE Editor 1962

     It has been said that men are afraid of death because they dread the unknown, and that certain knowledge of a future life and what it is like would allay their fears. In this there is some truth. The Writings teach that there is a life after death; and they describe the spiritual world, life in it, and the nature of man in that life so rationally and with such a wealth of detail that no one who believes in them can possibly doubt his personal survival, or feel that in leaving this world he is journeying to an unknown country.
     Yet it is not really the revelation of the spiritual world that robs death of its terrors, but rather the teaching of the Heavenly Doctrine that the universe and its inhabitants are the creations of a God who is infinite love and wisdom. It is the revealed truth that His end in the creation of men is an angelic heaven from the human race; and this because the essence of the Divine love is to have others outside itself whom it may love, to be one with them, and to make them happy from itself, and the Divine wisdom is capable of achieving these ends.
     Here is the real source of a faith of love which casts out fear. From it we may know that in the creation of every man the Lord wills only his eternal life and happiness in heaven; that all of man's life on earth is under the government of the Lord's love and wisdom; that death is the means of entrance into life; and that the spiritual world in which man lives after death has been designed by the Lord to provide for the fulfillment of His purpose in creation. In this knowledge man need not be afraid; what might be feared can be averted by new life.
CONJUNCTION WITH THE LORD 1962

CONJUNCTION WITH THE LORD Editor 1962

When the Writings teach that conjunction with the Lord is the end of all true religion, the word, end, is used, not in the terminal sense, but as meaning purpose. All ends are in the Lord, wherefore they are infinite and look to what is eternal; and the attainment of complete conjunction with the Lord, in the sense of that which cannot become any closer, would be at once the consummation and the annihilation of religion. Conjunction with the Lord is therefore a process-infinite on His part, continuing indefinitely to eternity on man s.
This does not mean that conjunction never becomes a reality, but is merely a state desired. What it does mean is that when man is brought into conjunction with the Lord he has not reached the terminus of his spiritual progression; that he is not introduced into a state that will remain static to eternity.

The reciprocal conjunction of the Lord and man is said in the Writings to be mutual; which means, as far as man is concerned, a state in which he co-operates with the Lord; and this co-operation becomes closer and more perfect to eternity.
Because the Lord is infinite, He can to eternity draw the spirit of man into a conjunction with Himself that is closer and deeper without that spirit ever reaching a limit beyond which no further progress is possible. That is what is meant by the teaching that the angels are being perfected to eternity. Conjunction with the Lord is, then, a reality; yet its attainment is not an end but a new beginning which has no end. It is this that gives meaning and purpose to eternal life, that makes it what it is, and that makes possible eternal happiness.
WHY SWEDENBORG'S BIRTHDAY? 1962

WHY SWEDENBORG'S BIRTHDAY? 1962

     There have always been some in the church who have questioned the usefulness and propriety of celebrating Swedenborg's birthday. It must be admitted that there could be a type of observance that would be neither useful nor proper. Yet that for which we honor the day of his birth, the achievements and qualities in his life to which we pay tribute, are such as by their very nature to turn our minds from Emanuel Swedenborg to the Lord whose servant he was, and to the Divine revelation which came to mankind from the Lord through him.
     When a friend expressed warm praise in a letter, Swedenborg replied: "The praises with which you overwhelm me I receive simply as expressions of your love for the truths contained in my writings; and I refer them, as their source, to the Lord our Savior, from whom is everything true because He is the truth itself." When the observance of Swedenborg's birthday is animated by that love, surely few will cavil; and indeed it may be wondered if the occasion can be celebrated truly by any except those who are in the love of the truths revealed in the Writings.
     With this granted, the observance of Swedenborg's birthday provides occasion for several important things. It provides for consideration of, and gratitude for, what the Lord has given to men through His servant. It provides for reflection on the unusual revelation of the operations of the Divine Providence as they are manifested in Swedenborg's life and preparation. And by no means least, it provides opportunity to sustain the affectionate remembrance of one who was not an automaton, but a man who, as of himself, chose to follow the Lord's leading.

Communications HOW TO STOP COMMUNISM 1962

Communications HOW TO STOP COMMUNISM SIG SYNNESTVEDT 1962

Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:
     The Rev. Kurt Asplundh's observations on "How to Stop Communism" in the October 1961 issue are well written and interesting. Are they equally logical and realistic? No one would deny that we must fight evil within to have some basis for fighting it outside of ourselves. Yet the effect of his communication suggested to me that the two processes are inclined to be mutually exclusive. Are they not rather joint processes which should be carried on simultaneously and continuously?
     The note further seems to imply that Communism is not much different from other evil movements in history or present day trends such as the increasing governmental activity in the United States. Yet is not Communism almost in the nature of a discrete degree worse? A comparison may illuminate the point. Juvenile delinquency is an evil and dangerous trend. No right thinking person is in favor of it. A good man should fight it both by fighting its cause within himself and by making what contribution he can to the protection of society from its depredations. Yet it surely does not present the same type of danger as the Communist thrust. Lacking a firm ideology, a singleminded commitment to deceit and an international organization, juvenile delinquency can only effect occasional disturbing outbursts. Such may have tragic consequences for a few persons, but the freedom and rationality of the mass of men is not endangered. Moreover, conventional police protections are reasonably adequate to control and punish offenders.
     With Communism the opposite prevails at every point. Its carefully articulated materialistic philosophy, its mastery of the techniques of deceit, and, above all, its hardened Party cadres operating from a firm base, do threaten the freedom and rationality of every citizen within and without its growing empire. To imply that it can be handled simply by tending to the weekly problems of individual regeneration is inadequate. I am reminded of Bertram D. Wolfe's vivid observation that viewing the Communist challenge as essentially one more political movement is like concluding that kicking over the checker board is just one more way of playing checkers.
     Surely we must look to our daily motives and the tasks of life and family which lie immediately before us. This is the way to heaven. However, we must also, in the present crisis, spend every possible energy effectively opposing further Communist advance, with specific efforts in the field of civil affairs. More than this, we must work for its eventual complete demise. If we do not, and the free world loses, the path of regeneration for the entire human race can be altered for centuries to come. A man who enters the forest in search of walnuts for his family, and not only ignores the prior bear warnings in the area but continues to pick up walnuts after he hears heavy growling, invites disaster for both himself and those who depend on him.
     SIG SYNNESTVEDT
HOW TO STOP COMMUNISM 1962

HOW TO STOP COMMUNISM DANDRIDGE PENDLETON 1962

Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:
The Rev. Kurt Asplundh's article titled, "How to Stop Communism," was of considerable interest to me, as it certainly must have been to many readers. I am in entire sympathy and agreement with his basic concern: that our battle against Communism shall not become one merely on the natural, or materialistic, level. We, as New Church men, have something unique to offer to this battle. However, I would like to comment on several points in the said article.
Mr. Asplundh indicates, quite correctly, I believe, that we cannot solve the problem of Communism by information alone, nor by an external mobilization and organization of forces alone. He then goes on to say that "our thinking should rather take into account the spiritual causes for these natural threats." [Italics added.]

I wonder if he does not mean that our thinking should also take into account these spiritual causes? Surely information and the external mobilization and organization of forces are an imperative part of the conflict against any force of aggression?
     Mr. Asplundh states further that "the most important single thing a New Church man can do to help to fight Communism is to live the life of his religion." I would agree with this, but only if two important qualifying clauses are attached: 1) that while our own regeneration is the most important single thing, it is not by any means the only important thing, nor the only necessary thing; 2) that our own regeneration is the most important contribution in end but not necessarily in time. This second point hears closely upon Mr. Asplundh's statement that "to fight global Communism, we must first of all fight the tendencies in our own hearts and minds which partake of Communism." First in end, yes: first in time, not necessarily. This differentiation and distinction is notably absent from Mr. Asplundh's presentation.
     When we speak of our "first duty" in anything, we should observe the distinction between first in end and first in time. Otherwise a perfectly legitimate point of doctrine may become in men's minds a dangerous half-truth.
     A judge-while he should act from conscience, and thus further his own spiritual state and thereby his spiritual effect upon others-at the same time stands obligated to convict and sentence the proven murderer. Parents, while looking to their children's spiritual development as an end, must at the same time, and indeed in advance, institute external discipline and order. New Church men, while desiring for themselves, their children, and mankind in general, a spiritual state of life, must stand ready to do everything in their power to combat those ultimate forms of evil in the world which would prevent that spiritual state from coming into existence.
     We must indeed fight the many evil lusts within ourselves, and I would agree that we must fight them first in end. But the ultimate forms which those interior lusts take on, both with ourselves and with others, and in which they spread to affect the lives of many men, can, and sometimes must, be fought and defeated first in time.
     DANDRIDGE PENDLETON
OUR NEW CHURCH VOCABULARY 1962

OUR NEW CHURCH VOCABULARY 1962

Confession. This term has two usages-confession of the Lord and confession of sin. In the first of these it can mean simply a declaration of one's faith before the Lord, but interior confession involves humiliation and the affection of good. Confession of sins is to know evils, to see them in one s self, to acknowledge them, to make one's self guilty, and to condemn one's self on account of them-this as contrasted with the idea of a general confession. (See AC 2329, 3880, 8388.)

Church News 1962

Church News Various 1962

     DAWSON CREEK, B. C.

     The project of putting a basement under the church got under way in the early spring; also an extension was added to the building as a study for the pastor. Much still remains to be done, such as heat for the basement, kitchen facilities, etc. It might be mentioned here that services were sadly missed for a couple of months.
     June 18 dawned bright and sunny for the church picnic. A crowd of 79 came out to enjoy the afternoon. After running races, climbing trees and romping around, the children particularly enjoyed the icecream and soft drinks, while the adults-especially the men, with a couple of tough ball games behind them-settled for chicken, salad, fresh buns, etc., and coffee.
     Welcomed into the group early this year were Mr. and Mrs. Eddie Friesen and family, formerly of Roblin, Manitoba. A doctrinal class, with 17 members present, was held in their home shortly after their arrival. Also welcomed, but more recently, were Mr. and Mrs. Pete Friesen and family from Roblin. This family had been here for a visit in July, and we were happy to see that they liked it well enough to come back to stay.
     The ladies meet on alternate Thursdays for a reading class; and for a very nice change, one evening last summer they traveled the 50 miles to Fort St. John to meet with three of our members up there: Mrs. Merle Hendricks, Mrs. Fran Scheaffer and Mrs. Dorothy Friesen. A good discussion and visit followed the reading period, after which a delicious lunch was served.
     Visitors from Bryn Athyn were Bishop and Mrs. De Charms and Miss Margaret Bostock. Miss Bostock was the guest of the Fransons. We were delighted to meet her, and a treat for the children was an art class she conducted for them one afternoon. These three good sports were seen cruising around Dawson Creek in a Model-T Ford. Bishop and Mrs. De Charms visited with each family while here, and on Friday evening the Bishop addressed the doctrinal class. He gave a talk on the state of affairs in the world today, and the false concept of the welfare of mankind that prevails, and showed that the only true answer to the problems resulting must be a true concept of the Lord and His Word. By going to the Word we find the answer to all the questions arising from human struggle and hardships. Our responsibilities in the New Church are to go to the Word, and to teach the truth to our children that the world in the future may benefit from it. There is also the use of our schools. We must learn to see this use, work for it, and hope that in the future many more schools may be built. The Bishop also preached on Sunday, and as it was a family service, he also gave a short talk to the children.
     Other visitors last summer were Loraine Carbury and sons from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; Mr. Jake Friesen of Robin, Manitoba; Mr. Eric Goble from Victoria; and, a recent visitor, Mr. Bill Evens of Oyen, Alberta.
     The Rev. and Mrs. Franson, accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Wilkinson, motored to Seattle to attend the Assembly held there in August. They reported meeting many New Church friends from the western states as well as from Bryn Athyn and Vancouver. On their return a very good time was reported.
     Miss Viola Friesen was home for a couple of weeks visiting her mother and other members of the family. On her return to Bryn Athyn she joined the teaching staff of the elementary school. We here at home wish her every success.

     A social get-together was held to say farewell for a while to three of our young people who were leaving for Bryn Athyn and school: Miss Lena Franson, Miss Karen Hendricks, and Michael Hendricks. A lovely addition to the church, and one which also adds beauty to the services, is a Wurlitzer electric organ purchased by the members not long ago. The ladies group held another successful rummage sale.
     TINA WILKINSON

     PHILADELPHIA, PA.

     The 1960-1961 season opened in September with a pleasant banquet at the Verdi restaurant. This preceded an active annual meeting in which Mr. Rogers reminded us that the Advent Church must continue to function as a firm base on which future societies may build. Thus the Society began its 59th year with hopes for continued development on all planes.
     The doctrinal classes, which began later in September, included a series on the Ten Commandments. There were also a few classes devoted to discussion of questions presented by the members. In the spring we enjoyed several classes given by candidates from the Theological School. Following one of these, the group repaired to the Goerwitz residence nearby for a delightful surprise housewarming party.
     Our Thanksgiving service was inspiring and the traditional children's fruit offering enhanced its sphere. The fruit was later given to the nearby Frankford Hospital.
     The first major social event of the year was the annual bazaar in December, which is always well attended and much enjoyed. We realized a substantial profit, topping the previous year's record intake. An even more successful bazaar is planned for this year.
     Christmas followed close on the heels of the bazaar, with a lovely children's service during the afternoon of Christmas Eve. After this service the congregation gathered to sing carols and to present gifts to the youngsters. The occasion was all the more joyous because we celebrated two engagements: those of Miss Wendy Rogers to Mr. Malcolm Cronlund and Miss Claudette Bingham to Mr. Anthony Walter. Miss Judith Renn, who organized the Christmas party, announced her engagement to Mr. James Davis later in the year.
     Bad weather was a constant source of annoyance to the far-flung members of the Society last winter. Snow caused the cancellation of two doctrinal classes and one Sunday service. Illness also made its mark on the attendance during the winter. However, the entire group was gratified to see that, in spite of the toll taken by colds and like ailments, Mrs. Rogers made a remarkably good recovery from a serious back operation.
     It was a great privilege to have Bishop De Charms conduct a service here in April. Since he was also our pastor in the Advent Society a number of years ago, he holds a special place in our hearts. He gave us a fine sermon on the Lord's mercy. George Graham of Bryn Athyn took pictures of the Society during the social hour that followed as an occasion to visit with Bishop De Charms and his wife. The best one was selected to be framed and presented to them as a memento of the occasion. Although that was his last visit as Bishop of the General Church, we look forward to many more visits from Bishop De Charms and his wife.
     After many years and miles of faithful service, the red and white station wagon which has served as our school bus became too great a financial burden; so, with the help of several generous friends, the Society purchased a new stationwagon-bus. With an additional seat in back, the "Blue Maria carries a total of 14 elementary and secondary school children back and forth to Bryn Athyn every day. Fortunately, some of them are still very small, the pastor notes, and only rarely do all of them travel in it at the same time. Besides these students, four of our young people are attending the Academy as residents, thus bringing to 18 the total of Advent Church children going to school in Bryn Athyn.

     There have been several pleasant open houses at the manse throughout the year. One, in April, was held in honor of the Alvern Kingdons, who had taken a trip to South Africa and gave us an account of it illustrated with excellent slides that evening. They have since moved to Ocean City, New Jersey, and the Society has missed them. Another person whose absence has been felt is Miss Eunice Bond, who took up residence in Toronto in July. There was an informal gathering to say goodbye to her and to express our thanks for her many years as an active member of the Society, particularly for her faithful service as secretary. We enjoyed an open house in August to welcome our old friends, the Morley Rich family, and to see how much their offspring had grown since they were the Advent pastor's children.
     John J. Walter, who is recuperating from a long battle with rheumatic fever, asked if he might be relieved of his duties as treasurer. We are sorry to see an end to his capable tenure, but are grateful for the excellent job he did, and we give him our heartfelt thanks. The vacancies made by the resignation of Miss Bond and Mr. Walter leave the Society with the necessity of choosing replacements for our two most important lay offices at the next annual meeting. We are looking forward to the success of the officers elected then, and to that of the whole Society, in the coming year.
     CATHLIN D. GOERWITZ

     TUCSON, ARIZONA

     Multiplicity is the keyword in describing activities within the Tucson Circle since the coming of our resident minister, the Rev. Douglas Taylor, and his charming wife and children. He has kept things moving at a spirited pace. Hence there have been many "firsts."
     On the Sunday before Christmas, 1960, our children's Christmas service was held. Tableaux were given after it. Organized by Mr. Taylor, who read extracts from the Gospels of the Christmas story, with tape-recorded music from Bryn Athyn's Christmas service, operated by Christine Taylor, and with behind-the-scenes costuming etc., by Marion Hartter and Elsie Waddell, the presentation was brief, artistic, lovely. Gifts from the church were then presented to the children. Afterwards a luncheon was held at the church. At that time Barbara Carlson was hospitalized. Her presence, help and delight at all church activities were very much missed. For the first time since our beginning we had an adult Christmas service on Christmas Day.
     January and February brought us visitors. The Rev. and Mrs. Harold Cranch came on the way from the Council Meetings. Mr. Cranch conducted a Holy Supper service and a doctrinal class, and he and Jean visited with friends of many years standing. The Seid Waddells attended a service in February. He has re-enlisted in the Air Force, and they soon left for a tour of duty in Maine.
     Bishop and Mrs. Willard D. Pendleton paid us a visit in March. Their great friendliness and charm held us all in a sort of spell. What a surge forward in ambitions, hopes and gratification for the future of our small Circle such a visit bestows upon our members! Their visit was much appreciated by everyone. Bishop Pendleton conducted a doctrinal class, after which a get-together was held at the Robert Carlsons. Mr. Taylor was on the chancel the following Sunday, when Bishop Pendleton preached the sermon. Afterwards a luncheon was served at the home of Mrs. Irma Waddell. Large roasting pans and snowy white cloth-covered dishes going into Irma's front door was reminiscent to many of us of Glenview Friday suppers. Due to a last minute unavoidable change of plan which was not known to many, the final meeting with Bishop and Mrs. Pendleton at the Pat Waddell home was not attended by everyone, so that a formal "goodby-and-thank-you" to our distinguished visitors from all of us was regrettably not possible.

February also brought us the presence of Mr. and Mrs. Lester Asplundh and their daughter Leslie. Miss Eo Pendleton also paid a flying visit to her niece, Rosamond Spicer. Joel Trimble, who formerly came quite often from a nearby base, was in the West again and came to a service.
     About this time, the trustees of the Circle made a bid on a home to be used as a manse. The house, about a mile from the church, is spacious, finished, landscaped, etc. The minister's family moved in some time before the deal was closed in September. We marvel at our good fortune.
     New Church Day was celebrated on Sunday, June 18, by impressive tableaux, a service preceding. They consisted of three scenes: 1) The Holy City; 2) Swedenborg before the Open Word; 3) The Apostles in the Spiritual World. Again soft, tape-recorded music was a background for these effective scenes.
     Early in July the Taylors had a new son, who was baptized Jonathan Douglas by Mr. Taylor on July 30. Also, with the month of July we began having church at 9:00 a.m., instead of the usual hour. This is customary and feasible in this part of the country. During the summer months more visitors came to Tucson. Dan Ebert, Paul Mergen, Bruce Fuller and Lawson Cronlund stayed at the Pat Waddells. Mr. and Mrs. Jack Moore, and daughter Beth, of El Paso, Texas, with Ed Brown Lee of Pittsburgh, stopped over long enough to attend church and visit friends.
     Doctrinal classes have been held on alternate Fridays. The subjects chosen by Mr. Taylor were a series on the seven churches in the Apocalypse and a chapter by chapter series on the work The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine. With the coming of fall, we instituted the traditional Friday supper preceding class. Since September, Mr. Taylor has been going to San Diego, California, one Sunday in each month. He will visit San Diego and Phoenix, Arizona, eight times a year. Douglas, Arizona, will receive four visits; and Prescott, Arizona, and El Paso, Texas, will each receive one visit.
     Some newcomers, inquirers who come to church and classes somewhat often, are a source of encouragement and hope that our numbers may he increased at a later date. Some of these are friends of members in other places; some have shown an interest as a result of advertising in local papers Helen Keller's book, My Religion.
     Mrs. John Barry of Glenview gave some excellent advice in a former issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE with her amusing injunction to "write less more often." Unfortunately, her advice could not he followed this past year.
     VIDA P. GYLLENHAAL

     THE CHURCH AT LARGE

     General Convention. The Journal of the General Convention states that in 1961 that body had 5,381 members and 73 societies. There were 64 ministers, 12 outside North America, and 20 licensed lay readers.
     The New Church Theological School, Cambridge, Mass., did not hold regular classes during the fall semester because of the intensive summer session. Three of the seven students were involved in their internships and the other four continued their related studies at Andover Newton, Emerson College and other institutions. Regular classes will be resumed at the end of this month.
     A meeting of the Maryland and Pennsylvania Associations was held at Wilmington, Delaware, last October to consider the formation of a Middle Atlantic Association, to use more effectively the "manpower, facilities and stewardship of congregations in Washington, D. C., Baltimore, Wilmington, Frankford, Pa., and Philadelphia." The Rev. Ernest O. Martin was appointed chairman of a committee to take the necessary steps for inviting the two associations to dissolve, to form a new association, and to apply for admission to Convention at the meeting of the national body in 1962. Mr. Martin was empowered to select a committee.
     The cornerstone of the 100-year old Church of the New Jerusalem of Glendale, Ohio, was dislodged last November so that new documents might be placed so it when the centennial was observed with a rededication ceremony.

At the invitation of the pastor, the Rev. Bjorn Johannson, the Rev. B. David Holm, General Church pastor in South Ohio, took part in the rededication ceremony. An account of this event and a photograph showing the Mayor of Glendale and the two clergymen appeared recently in the NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER, of which Mr. Johannson is editor.
General Conference. The statistical table in the Year Book shows that the General Conference had 3899 members in 1961. There were 55 societies and 24 ministers.
It is reported in the NEW-CHURCH HERALD that the Joint Committee of the Advisory Council and the Conference Council has prepared an interim report on ministerial strength and present problems of the church. The report has been approved generally by the Conference Council, but the views of the Advisory Council had not yet been expressed. Consideration is being given also to amending procedure at the annual session of Conference. The next annual meeting will be held at Kensington, London, on the invitation of the three North London societies.
TWENTY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1962

TWENTY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1962

     Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania

     Friday, June 15, to Tuesday, June 19, 1962, inclusive

President's Reception: Thursday, June 14, 8:30 p.m.*
Commencement Exercises: Friday morning, June 15 *
Registration:     Friday afternoon, June 15
First Session:     Friday evening, June 15, 8:00 p.m.
Banquet:     Tuesday evening, June 19, 7:00 p.m.

     * All Assembly guests are cordially invited to attend the President's Reception and the Commencement Exercises of the Academy Schools, which immediately precede the Assembly.
     Accommodations will be available Thursday night, June 14. Catered meal service begins with breakfast on Friday morning.
     The first general mailing will be late in February. Address all earlier correspondence to:
Robert H. Asplundh, Chairman
2700 Alnwick Road
Bryn Athyn, Pa.

Adele Gladish (Mrs. Richard R. Gladish),
Housing and Registration
2941 Marlin Road
Bryn Athyn, Pa.

Geoffrey Cooper, Treasurer
2685 South Avenue
Bryn Athyn, Pa.

ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS 1962

     Announcements

JANUARY 22-28, 1962

Monday, January 22
     3:00 p.m. Meeting of Headmasters
     4:30 p.m. Meeting of Pastors
     8:00 p.m. Meeting of Consistory
Tuesday, January 23
     10:00 a.m., and 3:30 p.m. Council of the Clergy
Wednesday, January 24
     10:00 a.m., and 3:30 p.m. Council of the Clergy
Thursday, January 25
     10:00 a.m. Council of the Clergy
     3:30 p.m. Committee Meetings
Friday, January 26
     10:00 a.m. Council of the Clergy
     3:30     p.m.     Board of Directors of the Corporations of the General Church
     7:00     p.m.     Society Supper
     7:45     p.m.     Meeting of the Bryn Athyn Society
          Address by the Rev. Robert S. Junge
Saturday, January 27
     10:00 am. Joint Council of the General Church
     3 :30 p.m. Corporation of the Academy of the New Church
Sunday, January 28
     11:00 a.m. Divine Worship

ETERNAL LIFE 1962

ETERNAL LIFE Rev. ELMO C. ACTON 1962

VOL. LXXXII
FEBRUARY, 1962
     "This is eternal life, that they should know Thee the only true God, and Him whom Thou didst send, even Jesus Christ." (John 17: 3).
     Throughout the New Testament, eternal life is identified with knowledge of and belief in God and His only begotten son, Jesus Christ. The appearance of duality was necessary because the Lord while on earth was not yet one with the Father. His glorification was progressive. He assumed and glorified the Human successively, and the work was not completed until after the resurrection, when He declared: "All power is given unto Me in heaven and on earth."
     In the risen Lord the union between the Father and the Son, between the Divine in itself and the Divine in and with men, was complete. The Lord Jesus Christ is the one God of heaven and earth. In Him the Divine soul is the infinite and eternal God, the Divine esse; and the Divine body is the Divine in heaven and the church, the Divine existere-the eternal presence of the Lord with angels and men. To know the "only true God" and "Jesus Christ" is to know and acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ, the Divine glorified Human in which the Father is plainly revealed.
     Since the glorification, eternal life is to know the Lord our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Hereafter no one can enter heaven until he acknowledges the Lord as the one God of heaven and earth. Belief in eternal life and acknowledgment of the Lord are inseparable. There can be no genuine acknowledgment of the Lord apart from the belief in the eternal existence of the human spirit; and there can be no genuine belief in life after death apart from the acknowledgment of the Lord as God.
     The revelation of the Divinity of the Lord therefore required the revelation of the reality of the life after death. For eternal life is to know the true God and Jesus Christ.

     The falsification of the doctrine of the Lord, by the division of the Godhead into three persons, caused the loss of any real belief in life after death. What is Divine and eternal cannot be divided without destruction. For this reason the Second Coming could be accomplished only through a man who was in both worlds at the same time and through whom the Lord could reveal, not only Himself, but also the nature and quality of eternal life.
     Without a belief in eternal life the whole of religion becomes natural, and all its purposes and goals come to rest in the betterment of man's life in this world. Theology is then destroyed. It becomes a moral science or a philosophy of ethics concerned only with systems of behavior and patterns of thought.
     The work Heaven and Hell opens with the teaching that since the man of the church knows scarcely anything about the life after death, and many especially among the learned doubt and deny it, "it has been granted me [Swedenborg] to associate with angels and to talk with them as man with man, also to see what is in the heavens and what is in the hells ... so now from what I have seen and heard it has been granted me to describe these, in the hope that ignorance may thus be enlightened and unbelief dissipated."* Belief in eternal life is not an abstract theological doctrine. It is absolutely essential to the knowledge of God and to the genuine good of life.
* HH 1.
     The abstract principles from which man thinks, and which give form to his loves and affections determine not only the quality of his words and deeds but also, in time, the external forms of the words and deeds themselves. This can be clearly seen in systems of political and educational philosophy, where eventually the everyday life and thought of the people are determined by these philosophies, even though they themselves are ignorant of it. This is still more true of theology.
     Doctrine is not a mere intellectual pursuit reserved for theologians and those intellectually inclined. It is the only form in which man can receive the Divine truth and bring it forth in the good of life.
     Man has eternal life by reception of the Divine of the Lord, which alone is eternal. And the Divine of the Lord is received by man in the good and truth of the Word. The wonder of creation is that man can receive and feel as his own the Divine of the Lord. Man is a vessel receptive of life. As to his soul, this reception is unpervertible, and therefore every man lives to eternity, whatever the state of his conscious life. But when man by learning the Divine truth of the Word and living according to it also receives the Divine of the Lord in his will and understanding, then he becomes receptive of the eternal happiness of heaven as well. Man, as to anything properly his own, is not eternal; but the Divine of the Lord when man is regenerated, can be so intimately conjoined to him as a receiving vessel that from it he can endure to eternity.

     We use the word, eternal, in two ways. Eternal can, in reality, be attributed only to the infinite God. God does not endure to eternity, He is eternal. All the past is to Him present, and all the present is to Him eternal.
     Man, on the other hand, endures to eternity. For he had a beginning in time and by reception of the eternal endures to eternity. He must first live in a world of time and space, which are neither eternal nor infinite in order that he may receive the eternal from the Lord and that he may perceive and feel it as his own. Even after death the appearance of time and space is necessary to preserve man's sensation and enjoyment of the eternal as if of self-the sensation that that which is the Lord's alone is his own.
     In the text, eternal life is identified with the only true God and Jesus Christ. The only true God is the eternal itself, which, as to reception, is outside of creation. Jesus Christ is the same eternal in creation, accommodated to reception; especially it is the Divine in heaven and in the church.
     Upon these teachings or doctrines belief in eternal life is established and preserved. Without some understanding of them, such belief will fade and finally die.
     This may be seen in the former church. In the beginning there was a firm and sure, though simple, belief in eternal life. But as the teachings of the Word were gradually perverted to serve worldly pleasures and selfish ambitions, the belief weakened. Heaven became a reward-a merited return for sacrifices and for the performance of external good works. Or else it became a thing of grace, given to the elect out of a capricious mercy; or an absorption into the infinite, with the loss of all self-life; until finally it was denied by many. The result now is that while many profess belief in eternal life, such belief has little if any influence upon forms of thought and behavior, and the churches have given themselves over to worldly and social endeavors.
     Surely genuine religion can be restored only by a revelation of the true nature of man's spirit and the reality of its eternal existence in a future life. This has been done in the Word of the Second Coming; and the hope is expressed that thus ignorance may be enlightened and unbelief dissipated.
     The practicality and necessity of abstract or theoretical doctrine is clearly evident in the doctrine of eternal life.

However, it must be realized that no one believes in eternal life unless he is in the life of shunning evils as sins against God. An evil man may profess belief in eternal life, but he cannot know and believe in it. Unless man is to some degree receptive of the eternal, he cannot believe in eternal life.
     The man who believes in eternal life looks in all things to what is of eternal value. From every experience he seeks to elicit something of lasting worth. He is confident that whatever befalls him is for his eternal benefit. When misfortunes and calamities occur he bears them with an interior calm, even though he may be in a greatly disturbed exterior state. He cannot be overwhelmed by despair. He may be greatly concerned and dejected, but he cannot be utterly cast down. He may be greatly distressed about his own evils and disorders and those of others; he may work hard to change external conditions; he may be cast down with sorrow and dejected by failure: but inmostly within there is a calm and confident trust that the Lord through these things provides what is of eternal use for those who love Him and keep His commandments.
     He knows that the temporal is relatively nothing and becomes nothing when it is past. In all temporal things he looks to what is eternal. A spoken word is temporal, but the truth from which the Word is spoken is eternal. A work is temporal, but the good use promoted by the work is eternal.
     This does not mean that he despises temporal things, such as riches, honors and dignities, but merely that he regards them as means of receiving and establishing what is eternal. He never regards them as ends in themselves. For in this world eternal things can be known and received only in and through temporal things, and even after death only in and through the appearance of temporal things. The spiritual man thinks in the present of what is eternal. "When a man so thinks, and at the same time so lives, the Divine going forth in him, that is, the Divine Providence, looks in its entire progress to the state of his eternal life in heaven, and leads towards it."*
* DP 59.
     Eternal life is to know the "true God" and "Jesus Christ." The true God is the infinite and eternal beyond all finite understanding and reception; Jesus Christ is this same infinite and eternal God manifesting Himself in His new creation and accommodating His infinite and eternal esse to man's reception, so that man, from and in Him, may live in peace and happiness to eternity; so that the eternal, which can be predicated only of Him, may be communicated to man as if it were his own. Therefore He says of Himself: "I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die." Amen.

     LESSONS:     John 17. Divine Providence 220.
     MUSIC:     Liturgy, pages 455, 458, 456.
     PRAYERS:     Liturgy, nos. 44, 71.
IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1962

IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1962

In an article, "Towards Relevant Religion," published in the NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER, the Rev. Clayton S. Priestnal says: "A large part of the fears of mankind are spawned from an ignorance of the true nature of God and the all-inclusiveness of His divine providence. So long as man believes that God is outside of the events and concerns of the world and the individual, that He is preoccupied with things apart from human destiny, man will continue to tremble at death and panic at any threat to his happiness and security. An understanding of the laws of the divine providence and how they work unceasingly to fulfill the purposes of an all-loving and wise Heavenly Father, is a long, important step towards the acquiring of a buoyant spirit which can ride the heavy seas of life."
Writing in the same journal on spiritual healing, the Rev. Paul B. Zacharias submits that we must admit the reality, the truth, of such healing. However, he continues: "We should at the same time realize that spiritual healing, at least up to the present, is rather rare; and that even Jesus did not heal all of the sick whom He encountered. There were times when He could not, because the person involved would not cooperate and would not have benefited by this healing experience. . . . So it appears that spiritual healings can occur, but with no regularity nor great frequency. It is important that we bear this in mind-that spiritual healing is only one phase of religion-it is not the main cornerstone. It must be viewed in the total context of the religious life. . . . We must realize that physical well being, good physical health, is not the highest value in life."
CORRECTION 1962

CORRECTION Editor 1962

In the article on "Swedenborg's Skull" (NEW CHURCH LIFE, January, 1962), the second line of page 22 should read: "Dr. Charlotte Brandt, of Swansea, Wales." The latter phrase was left out of the manuscript by error.
H. L. O.

USES OF FRIENDSHIP IN MARRIAGE 1962

USES OF FRIENDSHIP IN MARRIAGE Rev. MORLEY D. RICH 1962

     All of the general teachings given by the Writings in regard to friendship are applicable and relevant, in a supereminent degree, to the friendship of marriage or conjugial love. Our best course, therefore, is to begin this subject with a short review of those teachings.
     The Writings classify friendship as one of the moral virtues.* As such, it is, therefore, like all other moral virtues, an intermediate, or a connecting and necessary link between the purely spiritual plane of human life and the merely natural. Furthermore, being an intermediate, friendship has two aspects; the one internal and partaking of the spiritual, the other external and partaking of the natural.
* See CL 164.
     As to its internal character or spirit, friendship may be either good or evil, and this quality will then enter into and affect its external appearances to some extent. Or, to relate it to ordinary human life, all human friendships have something of both good and evil in them. One or the other will predominate; and the effort of the man who would regenerate is to reject gradually whatever of the spirit of evil he may see in himself in regard to his friendships with others.
     So we are taught about the two contrasting kinds of internal friendship. The one kind, which is evil, is often called the "friendship of love," and it is cultivated consciously by evil men in the effort to bind the minds of others to themselves and thus take possession of and rule them. This kind of friendship is also entered into unwittingly and innocently by those who are not yet aware of the need for exercising rational discrimination, and who believe that loyalty to friends must include loving them despite their evils-perhaps even loving their evils as part of the sum total of their personalities. Finally, it is indulged in by such religious sects as the Moravians as a religious principle; by some knowingly, and therefore blameworthy, by others innocently and ignorantly.
     Internal friendship, however, which is of good, is that in which a man regards his neighbor and loves him for the genuine and spiritual good which may be in him, and not for his evils. Such friendship, also, continually looks as its end to the spiritual and natural uses to the kingdom of heaven which may be performed thereby.

And, we are taught, as this kind of friendship becomes exalted and is purified of evil, so does it approach the higher degree in which is mutual love; though when it actually attains to that level it is no longer called friendship but charity.* For then it becomes that which charity really is: a love of what is good and true, an affection of good and truth directed to use-a love which reaches out and embraces goods and truths wherever they may be found, whether in the Word itself or in the hearts and minds of men and women who are receiving the Lord through the Word.
* See AC 1158, 3875: 5
     In view of these teachings we can better understand not only the necessity for friendships in all external affairs but also, and particularly, in the uses and functions of the New Church. Very little could be done, as far as its external functions are concerned, without something of external friendship and courtesy being present; and even that little would have nothing but coldness within it. But in order that genuine spiritual uses may be performed thereby, there must be more than mere external friendship for the sake of maintaining externals. For that would be nothing but a shell; a vessel capable of receiving, containing and concealing intestine hatred just as easily as mutual love.
     Nor can even that internal spirit of friendship have any "moravian" quality if it is to serve effectively as an instrument of the spirit of the New Church. For it must spring from good, flow through truth, and be bent toward use; and to the extent that any of these three are lacking, or are regarded as unessential, to that extent the quality of friendship will be lacking in that spirit which the Writings call mutual love.
     Humanly speaking, however, there is always some element of the proprium mixed in with even the best of friendships, both in the natural world and in the church. Thus even our highest aspirations toward mutual love are never unaccompanied by something of self, of proprium, of evil. Indeed it seems clear that no man is capable of perfectly pure mutual love while he is still in the natural world. So it is that we do not feel the same affinity with those who differ from us as to basic interpretations of doctrine or as to which uses of the church are most important, or as to particular ways of applying the doctrines to our lives; and this lack of affinity may be but a natural and even a justifiable final consequence, having nothing of evil within it.
     On the other hand, there may be evil within it-a possibility of which we must take notice, and the existence of which within ourselves we can discern only by means of self-examination: scrutiny not only of our loves and motives but also of such evidences of them as may be discovered from the general pattern of our words and acts.

The very extreme of the love of self in relation to friendship is exemplified in the misanthrope who refuses to participate in any uses or functions whatsoever, simply because they do not agree, either in kind or in mode, with his particular ideas of what is good and true; and from this extreme we may have light upon ourselves, as to just how far toward that extreme each one of us tends to go.
     Friendship is based upon mutual confidence; and when we think about that internal friendship which is essential to the spirit and life of the New Church, we must add to this that the confidence necessary to that friendship cannot be primarily a confidence in person alone, for by themselves men are nothing, are, in fact, nothing but evil. Such confidence can have its origin only in spiritual things, and these are: a common belief in the Lord Jesus Christ as the one God; acknowledgment of the Word as the only source of authority and enlightenment in life; and evidences of some effort to shun evils, to apply truth, and to seek the good of life. To the extent that these are present, to that extent can there be confidence among the men and women of the church; and from thence only can be born that internal friendship which is so essential to the New Church: that friendship which, descending into the externals of courtesy, imparts or infuses life and warmth, and at the same time aspires and ascends to the realm of mutual love and charity, or rather, is slowly elevated into that realm by the Lord, who worketh in the secret places of the human heart.

     We may see, therefore, that the uses of friendship in general are both spiritual and natural: spiritual, in that it acts as an intermediate between spiritual and natural life, and in that it is one of the rungs of the ladder of degrees leading toward mutual love and love to the Lord; natural, in that a genuine spirit of friendship inspires man to the external acts of courtesy, co-operation and assistance in functions which are so necessary for the continued nourishment of the inner spirit-for those ultimations of itself in externals without which the internal of friendship can neither exist nor grow and improve.
     It may now be seen that these general ideas have a close relation to that thing which the Writings term "conjugial friendship" or the "friendship of marriage." In passing, we would remark here that the teachings given on this subject constitute another powerful confirmation of the Divine authority of the Writings; for although Swedenborg himself had never had the actual experience of this kind of friendship, yet in words of human language we find it exactly and even exquisitely described through his pen; so described, in fact, that those who have experienced such friendship, or any similarity to it, may see what has been written as a perfect description of the very state itself.
     The principal passage from which we take our theme is the following:

     "With those who are in love truly conjugial, conjunction of minds, and therewith friendship, increases; but with those who are not in conjugial love the latter with the former decreases. That this conjunction increases as friendship conjoins itself to love is because friendship is as the face of that love, and also as its garment; for not only does it adjoin itself to the love as a garment, but it also conjoins itself to it as a face. The love preceding friendship is similar [the same as] to the love of the sex, a love which, after the marriage vow, passes away; but love conjoined with friendship remains after the vow, and is also strengthened. It also enters interiorly into the bosom; friendship introduces it and makes it truly conjugial; and then that love makes this its own friendship also conjugial, which differs greatly from the friendship of any other love.
     "That the contrary is the case with those who are not in conjugial love is known. With these the first friendship, which is insinuated at the time of betrothal and then during the first days after the nuptials, recedes more and more from the interiors of the mind, and successively departs from them, at length to the cuticles. And with those who think of separation it passes away altogether, but with those who do not think of separation the love remains in externals, but is cold in internals."*
* CL 214.

     This teaching is extended further in another passage, in which it is written:

     "This conjunction is effected successively from the first days of marriage, and with those who are in love truly conjugial it is effected more and more deeply to eternity. The first heat of marriage does not conjoin, for it derives from the love of the sex, which is of the body and thence of the spirit; and what is from the body in the spirit does not long endure. But love which is from the spirit in the body is enduring. Love which is of the spirit, and is of the body from the spirit, is insinuated into the souls and minds of married partners together with friendship and confidence. When these two conjoin themselves with the first love of marriage it becomes conjugial love, which opens the breasts and breathes into them the sweet things of love; and this more and more deeply as that friendship and confidence adjoin themselves to the primitive love, and that enters into them, and they into it."
* CL 162.

     Finally, another passage further names this friendship and speaks of its progression to eternity:

     "The states of this love are innocence, peace, tranquillity, inmost friendship, full confidence, mutual desire of mind and heart to do the other every good; and from all these blessedness, happiness, delight, pleasure; and from the eternal fruition of these, eternal felicity. The reason all these things lie within conjugial love, and thence are from it, is that its origin is from the marriage of good and truth, and this marriage is from the Lord. And because love is such that it desires to communicate joys to another whom from the heart it loves, yea, to confer them upon him and from thence itself to take its own joys, infinitely more is this the case with the Divine love- which is in the Lord-toward man, whom He created a receptacle both of the love and of the wisdom proceeding from Himself. And because He created him for the reception of these-man for the reception of wisdom, woman for the reception of the love of man's wisdom-therefore He, from the inmosts, infused into men conjugial love, into which He might bring together all things blessed, happy, delightful and pleasurable, which, together with life, flow in only from His Divine love through His Divine wisdom, consequently into those who are in love truly conjugial, because these alone are recipients.

Innocence, peace, tranquillity, inmost friendship, full confidence and the mutual desire of mind and heart to do the other every good are mentioned, because innocence and peace are of the soul, tranquillity of the mind, inmost friendship is of the breast, full confidence is of the heart, and the mutual desire of mind and heart to do the other every good is of the body from these."*
* CL 180.
     We cannot refrain from remarking here that such passages as these are from a work which has been called by some New Church men only "a book of morals," and by others a Divine revelation but not infinite truth. We have no doubt that, beset as men and women often are by many conditions of heredity and environment which are adverse to the state here described, the inevitable temptation is to becloud, to dim, if not to darken entirely, the warm and inspiring color of these Divine truths. Indeed, if and when there is danger of interior profanation, the Lord mercifully draws in front of His gleaming covenant of truth a veil which clouds and darkens His designs. But if, failing in their lives, New Church men and women themselves interpose the veil and the cloud, and this deliberately, then they are in danger of entering into condemnation. The contrast between the glories here revealed and some of the grim realities of natural life and its accomplishments may well induce despair.
     The many alternating stages of progression and regression are beyond human ability to assay; and any over-all growth is so slow and complex as to be imperceptible to the human understanding. Innocence and peace of soul are built in by the Lord so slowly, and they so largely and successfully hide themselves, that rare may be the times when husband and wife are conscious of them. True and spiritual tranquility of mind between partners is usually indistinguishable from a merely natural contentment when external things are going well for them. Confidence of the heart between them is by no means full all at once; and it may be, it usually is, severely shaken by the various testing vicissitudes and temptations of life. And the mutual desire of mind and heart to do the other every good is not only weak and faulty, and more than tinged by the love of self and of dominion in the beginning; it is also fitful and foolish in its proceeding into and through the acts of the body. All of these limitations inevitably affect and retard the full state of that inmost friendship which is of the breast.
     On account of these things there is difficulty in comprehending, there is a tendency to doubt, and at last there is danger of actual denial of the shining state of conjugial friendship described in the Writings. And what lies at the bottom of such non-comprehension, doubt and possible denial, is the same evil present in other aspects of human life, namely, man s desire to judge of the truth of Divine revelation from his own state of will and understanding and natural life.

     But let us penetrate a little further into the implications of the passages themselves in regard to conjugial friendship. We should notice first the place and use of this friendship in relation to conjugial love itself. The love which precedes marriage is a state which may, and ideally should, foreshadow the potentiality of conjugial love. There may be, and usually is, even with couples who do not know of the second coming of the Lord in the Writings, at least a vague feeling and idea of eternity in their relationship. With New Church men and women there will be even more specific knowledges concerning the nature and development of conjugial love. But largely, as the Writings reveal, this first love will partake of the natural love of the opposite sex: a love which, after marriage, passes away to a great extent after it has been satisfied, and which, being from the body in the spirit, does not long endure.
     If the marriage is to be eternal, if love truly conjugial is to be established, another and deeper state of relationship must then be insinuated slowly. The first love must be conjoined with and elevated by friendship. As this occurs, the friendship thus cultivated introduces the primitive love into the inner minds of the partners and transmutes it into love truly conjugial; and as this happens, that love, which is now of the spirit and thus enduring, descends through the friendship, and enters into the body in all its acts and words, and there is both internal and ultimate communication between the minds and hearts of the partners.
     From these teachings we may gain some idea of the high uses which conjugial friendship performs to individual regeneration and to mutual love. But it is not so easy to see many of the implications-the possibilities of necessary external applications involved in these teachings; and it may be of value to follow a little further the directional signs furnished by a few phrases in the passages that have been quoted.
     First of all, we would note the general law that no internal can be established, let alone have permanent existence, save on the basis of some external expression of it. This means that man can have no internal love or affection or truth to eternity except on the basis of his as-of-self effort action and speech in the externals of the body. That, in fact, is the supreme reason for his being born into the physical universe-in order that he may be prepared for the spiritual world; and he cannot be so prepared except through the life of the body. So it is that his as-of-self effort to live the truth even in the body is the absolute requirement for his reception from the Lord of the inestimable gift of real life in heaven.

     So it is that neither conjugial love nor its friendship can be given to men and women save through effort, both internal and external. Before they can make that effort, they must endeavor by imagination, by memory, by rational thought-all from the teachings of the Word-to see, to understand, and to project the various possible ways and means in the body by which they may seek and find that state between them the nature and promise of which have been so graciously revealed by the Lord in His second coming.
     For, let us mark well, that love which is enduring is of the spirit in the body. There is no such thing as a spirit by itself or a love by itself; it must be in a body, and in the natural world it must be in a physical body.
     So it is that, for the conjugial and its friendship to come into being, to grow and to flourish, they must be constantly nourished, encouraged and reassured by as many and as frequent acts and words of courtesy, regard, kindness and consideration, of mutual aid and encouragement, of entertainment and recreation, as possible; in short, by the doing of every good to each other that lies within the heart, the understanding, the imagination and the means of each one. And this must be a mutual undertaking which rises imaginatively and tenderly above the obscurities and traditional attitudes of the human race as it is presently constituted; for only so can there be that communication between the two spirits on the basis of which their eternal life together may be constructed by the Lord: the communication of both spiritual and natural thought and affection, and the resultant weaving of a harmonious pattern of high delights-the conveyance to the wife of whatever quality of masculine wisdom the husband may possess at any one time, the conveyance to the husband of whatever quality of feminine love the wife may possess.
     Primarily this love and its friendship must originate from a mutual desire to seek the Lord where He may be found; and it is principally in the fields of the Word, the church, uses, children, the family and the home, that their eternal establishment with a married pair is effected. Yet this statement, if left by itself, even though it be acknowledged as true, is not sufficient. The fullness and permanence of conjugial friendship cannot be brought about without further search and reflection.
     For after the first, prophetic states of marriage, when the natural love of the sex has somewhat quieted and receded, there comes to man and wife something of a state of bewilderment, confusion and loss of direction. Certain new and hitherto unforeseen duties and responsibilities present themselves. Old habits of proprial thought and feeling begin to re-assert their presence and influence. Chilling states of self-doubt, and doubt of the partner, creep in where at first there had been nothing but warmth and tenderness.

And if there has been nothing of religion present, or if, even with religious principles, there ensues a failure of effort in these trials, then there may come increasingly nothing but a life of dull, apathetic and bored endurance of one another. Even worse, there may begin that contest for supremacy which increases the cold; a rivalry which, if it does not flame out in public, yet lives and moves through dire hatred in private: a state which is baldly and terrifyingly revealed in Conjugial Love, where it is written
     "Conjugial love, among its first things, looks to union of wills, and thence to freedom of doing what one desires. Emulation for supereminence, or for rule, casts these two out of marriage; for it sunders and separates the wills into parties, and changes freedom of doing what one desires into servitude. While this emulation lasts, the spirit of the one meditates violence against the other. If their minds were then opened and observed by spiritual sight, they would then appear as if fighting with daggers, and it would appear that they regard each other with alternate hatred and favor-with hatred in the violence of their emulation, and with favor while in the hope of dominion and while in lust. After the victory of one over the other, the battle withdraws from externals and betakes itself to the internals of the mind, and there abides in restless concealment. Thence the subjugated slave or man has cold, and also the victress or dominant wife. That she also has cold is because there is no longer conjugial love, and the privation of this love is cold. Instead of conjugial love he or she has heat from supereminence; but this heat is utterly discordant with conjugial heat; yet it can agree outwardly, through the medium of lust. After tacit agreement between them it appears as if conjugial love had become friendship; but the difference between conjugial friendship and servile friendship in marriages is as the difference between light and shade, between living fire and fatuous fire, yea, as between a man in full flesh and a skeleton."*
* CL 248.
     On the other hand, if the married pair are genuinely seeking spiritual things, are striving to overcome such states, and are reflecting actively on the ultimate significance of the truth, they will begin to see that there is much, much more to life, both spiritual and natural, and to genuine love, besides the merely physical satisfaction and delights of the love of the sex. Furthermore, their minds will be opened and awakened to the innumerable variety even of external things which may and should enrich, infill and ultimately establish the internal friendship that they seek.
     Every human love has its derivation from the Divine love; and, further, acquires its existence in and feeds upon not only the specific spiritual truths of the church and the Word but also, and almost as important and as fully, in the wonders of the Lord's creation-the evidences of His love in the immense variety of human interests and activities of all kinds, the wide scope of possible human experiences of all kinds. Hence even such a lowly affection as a simple desire and effort to succeed in their external occupations, even this can and does contribute to the fullness of conjugial friendship between husband and wife.

Almost as essential to conjugial friendship, as originating spiritual principles and ideals, are such confirmatory and enriching external things as mutual interests in and discussion of the worlds of artistic, literary, scientific and civil affairs. Conversely, a premature and over-zealous narrowing or shutting off of the world of human affairs can result in a state of inelasticity, rigidity, monotony and boredom which may well pinch off the first buds of conjugial friendship, as well as narrowing unnecessarily the scope and power of natural life as a preparation for spiritual life and as a great source of those necessary confirmations which illustrate even spiritual truths.
     As with individuals, so with married pairs; they cannot live outside of, or shut themselves away from, the human community. And while they may, indeed must, reject the evils and falsities which they see revealed in that community, yet, to go to the extreme; if they artificially withdraw out of pharisaic disgust from all its legitimate external interests and activities, not only will they fail to become full-fledged citizens of heaven, but they will do irreparable harm to the potentiality of a full confidence and friendship between them. For such friendship and confidence are constituted of buoyancy and happiness as well as determination and faith, of humor and grace as well as of serious and religious intent and thought; and these qualities are of the rational degree-a degree which, for its development, must have added to it in fullness many ideas and knowledges from the world as well as from heaven. Indeed it must have these things from the world in order that the things of heaven may find a resting place, an earth on which to stand or to take root. This also the Lord means when He commands men not only to subdue the earth but also to fill it; meaning by the earth their natural minds, the highest plane of which is the rational.
     In this short time it has not been possible to present much more than faint suggestions of the applications of conjugial love through friendship. However, what has been said has perhaps contributed a little to the understanding of how conjugial friendship differs from the friendship of any other love, because, as the teaching is, the friendship of the conjugial is full and complete: full and complete, that is, because it has both the inmosts of the spirit and the outmosts of the body in a measure that is impossible in other relationships.
     As for the high and also the ultimate uses of this friendship, we have seen that it initiates the primitive love into the quality of conjugial love. We have seen also that such friendship afterwards acts as a connecting medium between the conjugial and the externals of marriage.
     As a final thought, we may now realize a further use of such friendship. For we may understand what a powerful aid and ally such friendship can be to a married pair-what a source of strength it can be to them in their temptation combats, in their efforts to shun as of themselves, both individually and together, the obsessive, evil spheres of hell, as these come to them through their heredity and environment.

And on the positive and constructive side, it can be seen how this friendship may also stimulate and inspire them to the doing of every good to each other; not merely for the sake of each other, but for the sake of good itself in order that the kingdom of heaven may be established upon the earth; and to the speaking and receiving of every truth to and from the other, not only for the sake of each other, not merely for the sake of intellectual gratification and pleasure, but for the sake of the truth itself in order that the kingdom of God may come to earth conjoined with the good of heaven.
This friendship, further, is said to be as the face or garment of conjugial love. This means that it has also a protective and concealing use; and it may show us why, when, as happens, this friendship departs for a time under stress and temptation, it is important that it be emulated by the partners, that they maintain its appearance and simulations as a protection. Notice, however, that this is not the mere pretense of friendship for the sake of public opinion and life which is spoken of in a passage previously quoted.* It is a simulation or emulation maintained for the protection of the marriage itself, and in the hope for and purpose of the eventual return and restoration in greater fullness of the genuine conjugial friendship. It is not, in other words, a mere outward friendship for the sake of concealing inward enmity and hatred. It is for the sake of amendment of life, and even for the sake of preserving the possibility of reconciliation and of a return to that former happy state of true friendship and confidence through communication and conjunction.
* See CL 248.
BOUNDS OF IGNORANCE 1962

BOUNDS OF IGNORANCE 1962

"At the present day no one knows what is meant by faith from love, and what by the wisdom and intelligence thence derived. External men scarcely know of anything but scientifics, which they call intelligence and wisdom, and faith. They do not even know what love is, and many do not know what the will and understanding are, and that they constitute one mind. And yet each of these things is distinct, yea, most distinct, and the universal heaven is ordinated by the Lord in the most distinct manner according to the differences of love and faith, which are innumerable" (Arcana Coelestia 111).

HOLY FEAR 1962

HOLY FEAR Rev. DAVID R. SIMONS 1962

     The fear of the Lord is essential to the life of religion. Holy fear prepares the mind to receive the inmost blessings of heaven. The complete subordination of self and the things of self-the fear lest these break out to harm the neighbor, or to destroy our own spiritual states-is the highest and noblest of human feelings. Without holy fear, our approach to the Word, to religion, to the life of regeneration, can have little sincerity in it. "The fear of the Lord is clean."* It is the foundation of all true worship; it is essential to spiritual life. For this reason the Lord says in His Word: "Come ye children, hearken unto Me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord."**
* Psalm 19:9.
** Psalm 34:11.
     Fear and life are inseparable. Living things fear and shun whatever threatens their existence. Wild animals are instinctively alarmed by that which could bring them harm. Fears make them timid and alert to danger. Yet strong though these fears are, animals sometimes exhibit higher instincts which makes it possible to overcome them, even to sacrificing life itself for their fellows, their offspring or their mates.
     Man also has fears. From experience he learns to be afraid of that which can harm his body-extremes of heat and cold or of height and speed, violence and war. As well, he has other anxieties. He worries about his health, his economic security, his social position. More intense fears enable him to control those which are less intense. Immediate pain, with all its apprehension, is endured to escape greater pain in the future. Economic necessity enables men to control lesser fears, to put aside timidity and faintheartedness; and concern for his honor and reputation will cause a man to face extreme hazards, even death.
     These basic animal fears are not the curse of civilization they might appear to be. In its proper place, fear is not a negative emotion which must be totally removed, as so many mistakenly suppose; rather is it the gift of an all-wise providence. It is the presence in living things of spiritual laws at work guarding and protecting uses and the forms of uses. An all-wise Creator endows His creatures with the ability to sense danger, and thus prepare themselves against it. Fear is life acting to preserve itself.

     Fear and anxiety are important to the wellbeing of human society. If mankind, in its present state, had no fears-physical, economic or social- there would be no order and no uses. The fear of pain and disease is a force which compels many to care for their bodies and to live lives that are at least externally in order. Anxiety for the necessaries of life drives many to do worthwhile work for the neighbor. Fear of the law and its penalties holds floods of evil in check; and fear for reputation moves countless men to give up their lives in service to others. Without these basic fears, human society could not long exist. They are the means whereby Divine Providence, flowing from without, provides an order in which uses and the forms of uses may flourish. The Writings teach that unless evil in the hearts and minds of men was

"kept in check by fear of the loss of honor, of gain, and of reputation on account of these, of legal penalties, and of the loss of life, [these evils] would burst forth openly, and thus such men would rush more than the obsessed into the destruction of others, and into blasphemies against the things of faith. But these external bonds [of fear] cause such men not to seem to be obsessed, although they are so as to their interiors, but not as to their exteriors. This is very manifest from such in the other life, where external bonds are removed. There they are devils, being continually in the delight and desire of ruining others and destroying whatever is of faith."*
* AC 5990:2.

     Yet all these fears, which are basic to order in this world, are external. Man has them in common with animals. Living in social order merely from these fears has no spiritual significance in our lives. Such a life by itself does not make us spiritual men, nor does it bring eternal salvation. Only those who learn to fear the Lord can receive the blessings of eternal life.
     Fear is essentially a manifestation of love. It is the quality of our love which determines the nature and the intensity of our fears. That which we love, that which we value above all else, we fear to lose. We are careful not to harm it; we stand ready to guard and protect it; it is one with our very life.
     The fears which move the good, and those which plague the evil, are of a totally different character. Fear with the evil is a negative, restraining force from without which compels them to control their malicious hatreds. But with the good fear is a positive thing. It is not imposed from without, but comes from within. It is a fear lest they themselves injure others in any way. Whereas the love of self focuses on self and fears injury from others, the love of others is focused on the neighbor and fears lest he be harmed by self in any way.
     The evil in the other life must be ruled by their fears-fears which remain from their lives on earth, or new fears which arise from punishments. Concerning these fears we learn: "The state of evil spirits in the other life shows clearly that those who are in evil and falsity are afraid of everybody."*

Those who think lies and will evil to others are in perpetual anxiety, for they are constantly in danger of being discovered and punished. Like criminals on earth, they never know when they will be caught and brought to justice. False ideas have no foundation outside the mind which conjures them up; they are spiritually weak and shifting as sand. A lie cannot endure. Evil must inevitably bring its own retribution. Also, the wicked suffer from insecurity and dread because they have no one to trust, no one to whom they can turn. "They are afraid of everybody," we learn, "because they have no one to protect them."** They will not turn to the Lord, whom they hate; and they do not trust the neighbor, thinking all others to be like themselves. Men in the world who fear only for the things of the body, and who disregard and are indifferent to "him who can destroy both body and soul in hell," have a miserable lot after death. Of these the Lord says: "I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth. And they shall fall one upon another, as it were before a sword, when none pursueth."***
* AC 391.
** AC 390e.
*** Leviticus 26: 36, 37.

But with the good it is different. Their fears do not look out, but in. They fear, not what others may do to them, but what they see in their own hearts: the loves of self and the world, their own natural man, their proprium, their own hereditary nature. They care lest they should offend against the neighbor or the Lord; lest they should destroy the talents for knowing, loving and doing good with which all are endowed by Him by means of their own evil loves. The Writings tell us that "the fear of the spiritual man is holy fear lest by the evil of life and the falsity of doctrine he should turn away and thus do harm to the Divine love in himself."* This is fear of "him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell." Although the angels know "that the Lord does not do evil to any, much less does He destroy anyone as to body and soul . . . but that He does good to all and desires to raise up everyone as to body and soul into heaven to Himself."*
* AE 696: 23.
The true fear of God is not natural-a "fearfulness, terror and dread of dangers and punishments, and thus of hell. [It is not a fear] which believes that the Lord does evil to the evil, and condemns them, casts them into hell, and punishes them."* For such are merely external bodily fears, and are not spiritual. A true fear of the Lord is described as being, "not so much a fear of hell and damnation as it is of doing anything against the Lord and against the neighbor, and thus anything against the good of love and the truth of faith.

There is no fear of hell and damnation with those who are in the good of faith, and still less with those who are in the good of love."**
* AE 696: 23.
** AC 2826: 13.
     With regeneration, the fear of the Lord with the good gradually changes from an external fear and awe to an internal reverence and love, so that, although fear is present, it does not appear as fear, for its quality is entirely changed. "The greater the amount of the love of good and truth, the greater is the fear of injuring them; and yet in the same proportion fear does not appear to be fear. Whereas the less the amount of good and truth, the less the fear on their account, the less this fear appears to be love but appears to be fear."*
* AC 3718.
     In our present day world fear is, for the most part, considered harmful and detrimental to human welfare. So completely have its negative aspects been emphasized that men have forgotten its necessary and proper use. Freedom from fear has all too often led to license and to the unbridled exercise of the loves of self and the world. Our society has spawned a youth that is all too free from restraining fears. A proper fear of parents, of elders, of those in authority, and even of the law, is on the wane. Just fear and respect are being replaced by reckless independence and self-assertion, and by uncontrolled speech and action. Nothing but a right education in the home and in the school can establish proper fear and respect. Nothing but an education based on the fear of the Lord can save men from themselves, from destruction by their own evil loves.
     The Heavenly Doctrine leaves us in no doubt as to what our children should be taught; namely, that the Lord is angry when evil is thought and done, and that He always punishes the wicked. But, we read:

     "This most general truth, which must be taught to children, youths and the simple, should afterwards be illustrated, that is, by showing that evils are from man although they appear as if from God, and that it is so said in order that they may learn to fear God, lest they should perish by the evils which they themselves do; and afterwards may love him; for fear must precede love in order that in love there may be holy fear. For when fear is insinuated in love it becomes holy fear from the holy of love; and then it is not fear of the Lord's being angry and punishing, but lest they should act against good itself."*
* AC 6997: 2.

     Children are to be taught that the Lord punishes the evil so that they will fear to do evil, and so that their worship and thought of the Lord will have something of holy fear and awe in them. The teaching is:

     "All worship of God must begin with holy fear within which is the thought that God will reward the good and punish the evil.

The simple and little children must believe this, because they do not yet understand what permission is . . . And when [little children]begin by not daring through tear to do what is evil, there is gradually insinuated love together with good; and they begin to know that nothing but what is good is from the Lord, and that evil is from themselves, and at last that all evil is from hell."*
* AC 6071:5.

Parents and teachers are to instill by instruction and proper punishments an external fear of doing evil, and of being punished by the Lord, which can with growth be transformed gradually into an internal fear. The letter of the Word often speaks of the Lord punishing and destroying, we are told, so that they who are in no love may be kept in fear, and thereby stand in awe of the Lord and flee to Him for the sake of deliverance. This shows that it does no harm to believe the sense of the letter, even though the internal sense teaches something else, provided that it is done from the affection of good. Because children are ruled by external loves they have to be taught external truth and led thereby. When a proper fear of the Lord is established in the human heart, when "in all things of worship there is a holy and reverent fear, which is that the Lord is to be honored and in no way injured; [then] it is as with children towards parents and parents towards children, with whom there is a fear of injuring, and also respect. Such a fear with respect is in all [true] love and in all [true] friendship, so that love and friendship without such a fear and respect is like food without salt, which is insipid."* From a fear of the Lord children and youths can learn to be fearless about themselves-fearless about admitting mistakes, fearless in telling the truth, fearless in obeying their parents, fearless in standing up for what is right, fearless in controlling themselves and in protecting others from their own evils. Such fearlessness comes from heaven and brings genuine happiness to all who practice it.
* AE 696: 4.

We live in a world which is striving to eliminate fear from the human mind by every conceivable external means. Our concern about health is eased by new foods and medicines; our economic worries are softened by social insurance schemes or by contracts which guarantee work; our social inferiority is cured by clubs or by education in how to get along with others to our best advantage. But all these external cures are but palliatives. They are superficial remedies which leave the internal causes of fear untouched. The fears and worries of life can be truly cured by one thing only-confidence in truth. There is only one source of genuine security, that is, faith in the Lord: a faith which comes from a rational insight into the workings of His Divine love and wisdom, a faith which inspires a holy fear and love. Only a living faith in the Lord, acquired from His Word, can prepare our minds to recognize the quality of our natural fears and enable us to face them and put them in their proper place.

Only when we see life in the perspective of eternal truth can we find true and lasting freedom from fear.
     It is right and proper to fear bodily harm. We should beware of anything that might bring sickness or injury and thus destroy our usefulness to others. We may well fear lest our sensual appetites and self- gratifying pleasures dull our sense of wellbeing and sap our physical ambition. But such fears can protect us. They can lead us to form habits of self-discipline and order which promote health. When we recognize that the body is but an instrument for the mind and spirit, that it is but a temporary garment to be cast off at death, but it exists so that we may develop our own spiritual character; when we see the body from the rational light of eternal truth, then not only can we act to promote its health and protect its uses but we can accept sickness and infirmity, disease and even death itself with an inner fearlessness.
     It is right and proper that we should care about economic security. Such care can spur us on to greater endeavors and greater usefulness. A sense of responsibility for the welfare of our families and anxiety lest they suffer from our inadequacy or failure can come from good and selfless loves. But when we allow our minds to dwell on such thoughts to the point of self-pity, when our love of success and the good things of this world makes it impossible for us to be content with our lot, when anxiety for higher standards of living than our neighbors poisons our minds, then all our fears and worries stem from the loves of self and the world and we become the victims of our own selfish ambitions. Yet those who shun these worldly loves as sins against God, who assume their responsibility to work sincerely and honestly to the best of their ability, and who fear lest love of the world rule them, can be freed from this affliction, can be made content with their lot. For the Lord, as He says in His Word, "shall give [them] rest from sorrow, and from fear, and from the hard bondage wherein [they] were made to serve."*
* Isaiah 14:3.
     It is right and proper, also, to be concerned about one's social relations. Social life exists that the mind may relax and be recreated. Through social contacts friendships are strengthened, ideas and ideals are exchanged, and a basis for that closer understanding and co-operation so essential in the performance of our uses is established and maintained. Nevertheless, social life can become an end in itself. The number of social occasions, our being included in special social groups, self-centered dread lest somehow we be left out-these selfish goals can cause harmful fears, jealousies and hatreds. They can open the door of hell in our minds. They are to be shunned as sins against God.

Only when we govern our social life for the sake of uses; only when we learn to control our social ambitions and to share our social favors; only when we learn to fear lest by inordinate social life we harm our own uses and those of others, harm families, our work, and our ability to approach the Lord with rested minds; only when the fear of the Lord and what He intends for us comes to rule in our hearts can these selfish worries be driven out, to be replaced by the proper and orderly concerns for the neighbor which make heaven.
As we strive, in every area of our lives, to think and act from a fear of the Lord-a fear lest we act contrary to His will, a fear lest we fail to live up to the clear teachings of His Word, a fear lest our own self-love and worldly ambitions cause us to bring harm to our neighbor and to our own spiritual states-then our fears can be purified and elevated; our external fears will melt away; and our internal fears will be transposed into love itself. They will be changed into that angelic love of the Lord from holy fear which is so pure and clean that it does not appear to be fear at all.
OUR NEW CHURCH VOCABULARY 1962

OUR NEW CHURCH VOCABULARY 1962

Conjugial. One of the most important terms in our New Church vocabulary, "conjugial" is to be distinguished carefully from "conjugal." The conjugial is said to be that truth which is capable of being conjoined with good, and that good which is capable of being conjoined with truth; and conjugial love is described as the affection of good in truth and the affection of truth from good, which descends from the marriage of good and truth in heaven. Conjugial love may therefore be defined as the love of wisdom in the mind of a husband for good in the mind of his wife, and the reciprocal love of this good for that wisdom.
Thus it is not a love of the proprium of the other from what is proprial in self, but the love of that which is from the Lord in the mind of each for that which is for Him in the other. It is not achieved by the husband and wife looking to each other, but by both looking together to the Lord; for which reason it is said to go hand in hand with religion, with regeneration, and with the interior development of the church in the mind By the marriage of conjugial love is meant the union of two in thought and will, in good and truth, in mind and life; which union causes them to love to will and think each as the other, and to dwell together in all things of life. (See AC 3942, 3081, 9961, 10,169.)

SUPERSTITION 1962

SUPERSTITION GEOFFREY P. DAWSON 1962

     (Continued from the January issue.)

     Now, although the passages previously quoted describe how a man is formed at birth so that he may be created truly a man by regeneration, this does not yet explain superstition; and since that is our real object, the reader is asked to follow the growth of the human mind from its beginnings up to the point when regeneration can begin. This is found in the Arcana series concerning Abram from the time when he was called forth from the land of his nativity until the birth of Isaac, thus also concerning Lot until the destruction of Sodom. Space allows only for a brief sketch, but certain principles must be kept in mind, namely, that life flows only from internals into externals, that the external is thus illuminated from this influx alone, and that internals can have being only if there are externals receiving influx according to correspondence-thus providing the basis for definition.
     The first part reviewed here is that telling of Abram's coming forth with his wife Sarai, together with Lot, to the land of Canaan; the famine, whence they descended into Egypt; Sarai's being called sister instead of wife, and Pharaoh's discomfiture; the return to Canaan with possessions; the separation of Abram from Lot; Lot's descent to the cities of the plains; the war of the kings; Lot's capture and the subsequent rescue by Abram.
     In the beginning, the human mind is no more than a bundle of appetites revolving round the needs of the stomach and the tenderness of the flesh. It knows no more than the difference between comfort and discomfort in the sensual. These it deeply appreciates, and they are, respectively, its entire heaven and hell. On this basic distinction are raised all future concepts of good, truth, evil and falsity. The natural feels nothing merely on its own account. The two superior degrees exist within, and as reaction in comfort and discomfort prove the identity of the new creature in the natural, in the reaction, by correspondence, the higher degrees are delineated as finite substances. We cannot avoid the fact that the reaction is immersed in the loves of self and the world, but the state is without reflection and therefore innocent, wherefore there is communication with heaven, thus between the internal and the external, by correspondence.

     The things established by this communication in the higher degrees are called, technically, remains of good and truth; but as the elements which are the fabric of the internal man, that which really lives and from which the natural derives the appearance of life, not as doctrinal ideas of good and truth. But no virtue extends to the natural on account of remains, for the reaction is altogether in the fallacies of the senses, as may be seen when the infant learns enough of itself and of the world to note the distinctions of corporeal life. In states of comfort he is willing to bask in sweet content; but let those conditions be disturbed and he is willing to scream and tear the universe to pieces, if only this will bring back the satisfactions craved. Infant rage and frustration are not heavenly in origin, and he would be utterly carried away by appearances of seeming good and truth unless, betimes, he could be brought back to a measure of discipline. Usually parents are unable to indulge their offspring to a dangerous extent, and infants are beguiled into regulating their habits within a rhythm of times and seasons devized for the sake of broader uses. To the expanding curiosity of the child, restraint may appear to be the dominant feature of life; but natural order with the innocent corresponds with interior order, and the young mind is gradually drawn up by instruction and control from blind sensual response at birth to a more objective sense of pleasure and displeasure which is superior to mere comfort and discomfort. Thus intellectual things begin to be manifest; mere scientifics, as a sensual end, are subordinated to uses; the external man descends ever more consciously into the heredity of his proprium and its appearances, whence he would be carried away unless brought back by superior wisdom.

     The second series is that which pertains to the giving of Hagar to Abram by Sarai, the conception of Ishmael, Hagar's despising her mistress and fleeing into the wilderness, her return to submission and the birth of her son.
     With the separation of the internal and external man consequent upon the conscious descent of the latter into proprium, it is urgent upon the internal to provide itself with an heir. But as yet the only thing acquired with scientifics is an affection for them, whereby they are collected. By means of this, at the instigation of the intellectual on account of its own needs, the internal flows into this external affection and the first rational is conceived. But this affection has no regard for intellectual things as an end, only for the delight of knowing scientifics. Left to itself, it would carry the mind aimlessly from one novelty to another in the organization of scientific things to demonstrate its own rational, and nothing of genuine value would be produced.

The formalities of instruction appear to destroy scientifics even while they are provided in the natural mind, just as Pharaoh was plagued when he took Sarai; and now, after scientifics are obtained together with their affection, unless that affection is subordinated to the service of affirming truths for the sake of goods with which they ought to be conjoined, the rational cannot be brought to birth according to true order.
     Therefore the affection of science must be sent back to do the bidding of genuine intellectual life which has eternal uses as its end. Rationality and freedom are usually defined in the world at large as the faculties of distinguishing correctly between natural things and thence of selecting that which is preferred. But this is a caricature compared with the definition given in the Writings: "By rationality is meant the faculty of understanding truths, and thereby falsities, goods, and thereby evils. By liberty is meant the faculty of thinking, willing and doing those things freely."* Nevertheless we must not forget that the goods and truths seen by the natural man are not goods and truths as they are in themselves, but are in the appearances of finite uses in the material world, and are illuminated in so far as they are raised up in the continuous degree of the natural mind.
* DLW 264.

     The Ishmael rational born of the external man is devoted to his concepts of truth, which he regards as true chiefly because appearances have been made to conform, or because they have been received from those having authority over him, thus on account of discipline and rewards. In these things this rational sees virtues accruing to himself from their mere possession. Hence he is willing to fight for truth against evil, to protect his position, to judge, to condemn, to chastise and to contend violently about the doctrine of faith. The Ishmael rational is often regarded as a regrettable incident in the progress of the human mind, and some are anxious lest the proprium should capture it. But this is a needless anxiety, for the proprium is already in the saddle and rides the understanding furiously, with its hand against every man. Yet it is orderly that this condition be endured; otherwise none could ever acquire any ideas of truth as of himself and take possession of them as his own. Indeed Ishmael is circumcised by Divine command, Abram is renamed Abraham, and Sarai is called Sarah. The state in which the functions of reformation and regeneration can begin has now been constructed in the natural.
     The Arcana series now treats of two things in succession. First it refers to the visitation of Abraham, the promise that Isaac will be conceived by Sarah, the intercession for the cities of the plain, and the departure of the angels in that direction. Next it unfolds the sense of the visit to Lot sitting in the gate of Sodom, the assault in the night by the men of the city against his guests and himself, the rescue and departure of Lot and his family from the city before its destruction in the morning, the death of Lot's wife when she looked back upon the holocaust, the desertion from Zoar to the cave in the mountain, the incest of Lot with his daughters and the births of Moab and Ammon.

     On attaining to rationality, man is prepared to enter fully into the uses of natural life, which interiorly have for their end his eternal life in heaven. Preparatory to this he has, as it were, learned all about the chambers of his natural house in so far as he has obtained keys for the doors, furnished them with taste according to the limits of opportunity and interest, and, finally, has been brought to appreciate the uses which his dwelling ought to serve. From these things he must now contend for a position in the world, to be admitted to uses among his fellows. But being reflective, and since his doctrine tells him what it is to be in charity as well as what is to be his faith, it is discovered that truth is not merely a weapon for despising others but a lamp which sheds unwelcome light upon his own native loves. A different sort of battle begins, which consists of a defense against the assaults of his own nature. The comprehension that "what is sauce for the goose is also sauce for the gander" can give potency to the doctrine that the universe is really governed from pure mercy by means of truth, and is not to be judged from truth alone lest everything should be destroyed. From doctrine a man may know the academic proposition that he ought to be regenerated, but this is a very different thing from the actual experience that the old man must die before the new man can be born. The sorrows and miseries of men from the beginning have all come from efforts to evade the unavoidable.
     There is a variety of states in the natural man. Some are salvable because of order, others are not and must perish. The power of freedom with every man from the Lord is that he may select and confirm whichever of these states he desires to make his own. In general, the chapter in Genesis describing the destruction of Sodom and the subsequent history of Lot and his family is explained in the Arcana as the progression and decline of the spiritual church, which must perish unless the Lord saves it, for it is external worship only. We read:

     "The first state of that church when its members are in the good of charity, and acknowledge the Lord and are confirmed in good by Him . . . that they are saved. The second state, when evils with them begin to act against goods, but are powerfully withheld from evils and kept in goods by the Lord. . . . Their weakness is described . . . [but] they are saved. The third state, when they no longer think and act from the affection of good, but from the affection of truth . . . and that they are saved. The fourth state, when the affection of truth perishes, which is Lot's wife becoming a pillar of salt. . . . The fifth state, when impure good, or the good of falsity, succeeds, which is Lot in the cave of the mountain . . . . The sixth state, when good is even more adulterated and falsified . . . and in like manner truth . . . Whence is conceived and born something resembling a church, whose good, so called, is named Moab, and whose truth is called Ammon."*
* AC 2313.

     This is extended in the following numbers.

     "Moreover, in the internal sense, by the inhabitants of Sodom is described the state of those within the church who are in opposition to the good of charity; how the evil and falsity grow with them in the course of time until there is nothing in them but evil and falsity. . . . Their first state, when they are contrary to the good of charity . . . and the Lord. Their second state, when they obstinately harden themselves, notwithstanding their being informed about the good of charity and the delight of its affections, which they might enjoy. They also attempt to destroy the very good of charity, but the Lord protects it. . . . Their third state, when they become at length such that they cannot see truth and good, still less that truth leads to good. . . . Their being possessed by evil and falsity, they must needs perish. The fourth state, which is their destruction, is described . . . and that all goods and truths are separated from them. That the good are separated from the evil, and that the good are saved by the Lord's Human made Divine is [also] described."*
* AC 2314-2316.

     In the present case it is intended to refer the contents of these quotations, indeed the explanation of the chapter at length, to the individual as well as to the external institutions of the church. In this context we have an outline of the process by which superstition comes to be devized as well as for its causes. Before the regenerate man can be manifest, the old man, or those things in the external man which are not compatible with the spiritual life, must be destroyed or die. Such is the Sodom with every man in whom the church may be established, and therefore such it is with institutions. On the other hand, there are affections for good and truth into which men and institutions are brought when first setting out on the life of their own responsibility. These things can be saved alive, with men, to eternal life, but with institutions only from one generation to the next, for institutions have no internal or external life apart from the men who constitute the corporate body. Whether men remain in those things which are salvable or not is according to the extent and manner in which they consent to the development of the internals of life and worship with themselves. The fortunes of life in the world essentially consist of nothing more than the fluctuations of the internal struggle, which cannot be judged from any mere external signs of success or failure. Misfortunes are permitted that the loves of self and the world may be weakened; but by them, on the other hand, men may choose to confirm their evils. Apparent success is allowed to men that they may be in the exercise of the good of charity and the truth of faith, yet they may only regard these things as evidences of their own pre-eminence and virtue.
     During the life in the body, unless genuine internals are cultivated and permitted to grow with those who at first are in external worship alone, this spiritual church gradually declines as the erosion, the wear and tear of material life, tarnishes and obliterates the promise of the ideals which were present in the beginning.

Successively charity is submitted in the face of evils, and at last even the affection for truth perishes. Thereafter the appearances of good and truth in the natural prevail in accordance with the loves of self and the world; and since men must worship something, even if this is only themselves, the appearances of good and truth are perverted that they may bring forth something resembling a church, and in this state the seeds of superstition, which were theirs from the first, take root, grow up as weeds, and fructify. From those who first conceive it superstition is then conveyed to following generations by instruction in the falsifications of truth and the corruptions of good. Thus the Word is falsified in its externals by the innovations of men, until the Lord comes again to judge the church which has led men astray and restore that by which they can be instructed in truth and brought to the good of life. We understand that the last general judgment of this kind has now taken place; yet it is clear that as long as men inhabit the earth they will have the liberty to falsify the externals of the Word with themselves and to preach superstitious things to their offspring. Where, then, is the safeguard?

In the case of former revelations, the external expressions of good and truth in the natural have followed a sequence of decline similar to that described concerning Lot. The first revelation was not written. When it was written by rule it was destroyed in its representatives with those who set it down, for it was meant to be a revelation according to life from the will. But the codified representatives were taken up for the sake of others with whom, as yet, there had been no church and were vivified that by them the Lord's kingdom might again be conjoined with men in the world. Again, men perverted the literal sense of the Word with them by innovations from themselves, and this church thereby declined and perished. This sequence of resurrection and decline has occurred in four successive dispensations; and by it men have passed through history from the morning state of the first beginning through the afternoon and evening into the night. About us now we see only the gradual dissolution of all the things which have constituted the good of charity and the truth of faith that have had an origin from the first beginning. There can only be a new beginning.
The new revelation is different from the former ones as to externals. They started from the perceptions of the internal rational of the first genuine church, and demanded from the external man a faith relatively blind. With the new revelation, the terms of expression pertain to the requirements of the natural or external rational; but at the same time they are governed from the same essential principle of love to the Lord which was the life of the internal rational of the Adamic church.

Logic is that which determines the quality of rational perception, for in analysis logic may be seen to be the charity which directs thought to its end. Logic is often despised and believed to be destructive of human emotion, the mystical, the romantic, indeed of all that is commonly considered spiritual in human life. And indeed it is destructive of such ideas of spiritual life. But who is to justify the idea that the mystical and the romantic are the spiritual things of human life? Are they not more evidently the delusions of the unregenerate will which desires to think that there can be genuine good for itself, in which faith is imbibed like a narcotic drug to acquire a taste of heaven without suffering the tribulations of reformation; thus a condition in which the rational is deprived of spiritual functions and granted no more than acquiescence in the sensual?
     The Writings of the new revelation have a logic and unity of purpose of their own. Since these are expressed in terms appealing to the natural rational, the understanding of what they actually do teach in their own text-thus not what men, from time to time, would like to think they teach-cannot fail to provide the natural mind with those vessels which, in being raised up according to the continuous degrees of the natural mind are capable of being illuminated from within by correspondence with spiritual and celestial things. Institutions, or rather the men who are in them, may close the Word. Schools of thought may divert the understanding. But no one coming to these works and consenting to discipline his rational thought by them, can fail to gather into his memory representatives of genuine truth arranged in a corporate order according to correspondences. Such a one will obtain that by which he can he regenerated by the Lord. Yet apart from this use, those things which are gathered from the Writings can only decline, as natural things always do, until they persist in the contortions of superstitious life, first with the men who so abuse them, and thereafter with the institutions of which they have been the parts.

     Author's Note

     The discussion which followed the reading of this essay seemed to indicate that what is called superstition might be confused with profanation. It is understood, however, that profanation is something carefully guarded against by the Lord, since it plunges men into eternal torments from which they cannot be freed. Profanation requires that the individual shall have entered somewhat into the essentials of good and truth, and thereafter shall have wilfully mixed these things with evils and falsities which flow from the proprium, thus rendering the mind subject to being torn in pieces.

Profanation is therefore an internal thing. Superstition, on the other hand, is derived from externals which have been received, but which have not been implanted with internals. The Jewish Church was, and is, superstitious, and the Jews were kept in superstition to preserve them from profanation, which they would have committed had they been admitted into a knowledge of the interior significance of their faith. The Roman Catholic religion is called superstitious also; but Roman Catholics are not necessarily condemned for profanation, and it is said that the simple and obedient among them are more easily saved in the other life than those from Protestantism.
TWENTY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1962

TWENTY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1962

     Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania

     Friday, June 15, to Tuesday, June 19, 1962, inclusive

President's Reception:     Thursday, June 14, 8:30 p.m.*
Commencement Exercises:     Friday morning, June 15 *
Registration:     Friday afternoon, June 15
First Session:     Friday evening, June 15, 8:00 p.m.
Banquet:     Tuesday evening, June 19, 7:00 p.m.

     * All Assembly guests are cordially invited to attend the President's Reception and the Commencement Exercises of the Academy Schools, which immediately precede the Assembly.
     Accommodations will be available Thursday night, June 14. Catered meal service begins with breakfast on Friday morning.
     The first general mailing will be late in February. Address all earlier correspondence to:

Robert H. Asplundh, Chairman
2700 Alnwick Road
Bryn Athyn, Pa.

Adele Gladish (Mrs. Richard R. Gladish),
Housing and Registration
2941 Marlin Road
Bryn Athyn, Pa.

Geoffrey Cooper, Treasurer
2685 South Avenue
Bryn Athyn, Pa.

DIVINE AND HUMAN SPHERES 1962

DIVINE AND HUMAN SPHERES Rev. FREDERICK L. SCHNARR 1962

     The revelation that has been given to the New Church through the Lord's second coming not only re-confirms the truths of faith which have been presented through the Old and New Testaments; it also sets forth countless new truths which, up to the time of its being given, had remained secrets hidden in the wisdom of the heavens. The truths which constitute the Writings of the Lord's second coming are called heavenly truths, or heavenly secrets, because they did indeed come forth from the heavens under the Lord's immediate direction.
     Since the Writings are a revelation adapted to the understanding of man's rational mind, and since so many of the truths which they present are entirely new and foreign to men on earth, it is only natural that much of the language of the Writings is new and foreign. Most of the terms employed in the Writings are not in themselves new to us; what is new is the distinct meaning and usage of many terms. Very seldom can we take a term that is used in the Writings, and by looking it up in the dictionary find a definition that adequately expresses what the Writings mean by it. The only way we can find out what the Writings mean by a term they use is to discover how they themselves define it.

     One of the terms used in the Writings that has a distinct and different meaning from any dictionary definition is the term "sphere." It is used extensively, not only throughout the Writings themselves, but throughout the literature of the New Church, especially in sermons and classes. It is a term used in the Writings to present a number of new and very important truths. Unless we have a general understanding of what spheres are, and of what they do, we cannot properly understand either the relationship of God and man or that of man and his fellow man. Nor will we be able to understand many of the states of marriage or realize our responsibilities in the education of children. It is important, therefore, that we should examine the meaning of the term, sphere, as an example of a term that is used in the Writings with a distinct and utterly new meaning.
     The Writings define a sphere as being "all that which flows forth from a subject, and encompasses and environs it."* It is that which proceeds or goes forth from an object or being in creation.** Thus with the physical objects of nature there is a sphere.

The sphere of the sun, for example, is the heat and light which surround and proceed from the sun; or the sphere of a magnet is the force of attraction that surrounds and proceeds from the magnet.*** Every mineral, every vegetable, every animal each has its own distinct sphere, that is, that which proceeds from it. Every man also has a sphere. Man's sphere is as it were an image of himself extended outside of himself-the proceeding forth from him of everything that is within him.**** It is not so difficult to think of a sphere as being something real if we but think of the fact that every one of us has a physical sphere surrounding our bodies, a sphere which comes forth from the physical substances of the body. The physical sphere of each body is distinct from that of all other bodies, and it is distinctly perceived by keen-scented animals.*****
* CL 386.
** See AC 9303.
*** See CL 386.
**** See AC 1505.
***** See AC 7454.

As a sphere proceeds from our bodies, so does a sphere proceed from our minds, but this sphere is spiritual and not natural. It is the nature and quality of our loves, affections and thoughts which make up the sphere that proceeds from our minds; and what is marvelous is that in the other world this spiritual sphere of the mind can be consciously felt and perceived by the angels. Here we come to the reason that the Lord provided for the existence of spheres. The Lord so created man that he could live in eternal happiness and delight in heaven. But man cannot know that happiness and delight by himself; he must have it through communication and association with others, first in the marriage relationship, and then in society. Angels are able to perceive the spheres of others because that is a means whereby delights and happiness are carried from one being to another, and this in a way that would not be possible through sight and speech alone.* Do not we, even here on earth, feel delight when we perceive the delight of another? Certainly we do! However, what we perceive here is relatively nothing in comparison to that which the angels perceive.
* See AC 1388, 1392.
The reason that angels perceive the spheres of others more clearly that can men on earth is that when the spirit is released from the gross material substances of its earthly body, its faculties of sensation and perception become much more acute. Also, in the other world the mind is in a freer state to observe and feel the states of others. It is no longer clogged up by disorderly and infernal states; it is not occupied with vain imaginations, or by anxieties about the things of the future-cares for food, clothing, housing, protection against war or from the disorders of one's local environment. When all of these cares and anxieties are removed, as they are in heaven, the mind is far more free to appreciate the states of others, to be aware of their spheres, and to find new delights and happiness thereby.*
* See AC 1389.

     The Writings make it plain that if we would understand the nature of human spheres, we must understand something of the origin of spheres, and how they proceed from the Divine to the ultimate things of creation. We are taught that the Lord's love and wisdom proceed from Him into the various forms of creation, and that each form receives this influx according to the use for which it was created. Therefore each form receives influx, that is, the Lord's sphere, in a different way; and it is this different reception of the Lord's love and wisdom that causes each form in turn to have a sphere of its own. The spiritual sun is said to be the first manifestation of the Lord's sphere, because it is the first of creation. It is not the Lord, but the Divine love and wisdom in its first correspondence. The sphere of the Lord's love and wisdom passes through the spiritual sun, and from the spiritual sun into the heavens; from the heavens it passes into the world of spirits; and from there it passes to earth and into the hells, where it is perverted.* It is because a sphere of love and wisdom proceeds from the Lord to all things of creation in this way that spheres exist with every created form-both natural and spiritual forms.
* See DLW 290-294.

     The sphere of each mineral, vegetable and animal is set from its very creation. An animal, for example, has no power or ability to accept or reject more or less of the Divine sphere; it simply manifests the sphere that has been given to it according to the form of its created use. This is not the case with man, however. The Lord has given man the responsibility of choosing what his eternal form shall be. He has given man the capacity and ability to decide what of the Divine sphere, what of the Lord's love and wisdom, he wills to receive. Man is a vessel that receives life, and the sphere of the Lord's life; but what he receives depends on how he prepares himself as a vessel for reception.
     The sphere of the Lord's love and wisdom is not different in its approach to each created form. It contains at once all the various qualities that proceed from the Lord. Thus, when we read in the Writings about the different spheres which proceed from the Lord-as the spheres of love, of wisdom, of use, of conjugial love, of innocence and peace, countless different spheres-we are not to think of them as proceeding separately from the Lord to the forms of creation. They are all immediately present with each form, with each man, and are received and perceived according to the nature of the form. Does not the sphere that proceeds from each man consist of all the various things that constitute his nature and quality?

His sphere proceeds as a one, just as does the Lord's sphere, and yet contains within it indefinite variety.*
* See AC 3645: CL 222 386.
     What we are able to feel of the Lord's sphere, and, for that matter, what we are able to feel of another's sphere, depends on two things; one over which we have no control, the other of which we have control. That over which we have no control is the form in which we were created; not just whether we were created male or female, but the unique form of the soul. The form that we are given by the Lord at creation determines partially what we are able to receive of the Divine sphere and how. For example, the feminine form receives an immediate influx of conjugial love because of the very created nature of that form. This influx the masculine form does not receive immediately. It cannot, because the Lord has not formed the masculine form to receive it in this way. The freedom of our development lies within the bounds of the form the Lord has provided us with at birth. This does not mean that each human being is not free to develop the highest possible loves of the heavenly loves; it simply means that the mode of development is somewhat different with every human being.

     That over which we do have control in receiving and feeling the sphere of the Lord's love and wisdom is what we do with the capacities and qualities the Lord has given us with which to work. Do we use them to co-operate with the Lord's purposes in our creation? Or do we use them simply to follow our own natural loves and desires?
     If we strive to order our lives according to the Lord's Word, the structure of our minds is gradually changed in such a way as to receive and feel more and more of the Lord's sphere; and not only the Lord's sphere, but also the good spheres that emanate from every human association we have. The changes in the structure of the mind when it is put to orderly and good uses are just as real as the changes in the structure of the body when it is properly conditioned and used. The hands of a man who practices the piano are different after he has learned to play than they were before. Through work, through use, a new form has been induced on the structure of the hand. The same thing occurs with the spiritual substances of the mind; the form that is impressed upon them depends upon what use is made of the materials that are in the mind-the knowledges of good and truth. These knowledges are part of the Lord's sphere which every man can feel consciously; and the presence of the Lord's sphere through them either grows with their use, or disappears with disuse or abuse. In proportion as we use the goods and truths of the Word, so do we partake of the Lord's sphere, and of the delights and happiness which it brings to us.

     When we speak of the sphere that proceeds from a good man or an angel of heaven, what we are really referring to is a finite, partial and human image of the Lord's sphere of love and wisdom. The quality of the sphere that proceeds from a good man or an angel depends upon the degree of love for what is good and true that has been formed; therefore the quality of the sphere is either natural, spiritual or celestial. This quality, whatever it may be, combined with the distinct nature that each human being is given at creation, is what makes up the over-all sphere that proceeds from a good man or an angel. With an evil man, or a devil, there is the opposite sphere to that which there is with a good man or an angel. An evil man rejects the Lord's sphere because it is in opposition to that which he loves, or wills to love. His sphere is a love of what is evil and false, and it is foul and terrible in the degree to which they are loved.

     Because spheres are so acutely perceived in the other world, the nature and quality of each person's love, thought and delight are manifest. Spheres that are opposite instantly collide and repel each other when they are brought near. The only place where opposite spheres can meet at all is the world of spirits, where there are states very similar to those of life on earth; but even in the world of spirits, such meetings of opposite states can be only temporary. An angel cannot endure being in the sphere of an evil spirit, nor can an evil spirit endure being in the sphere of an angel. This perception of spheres is what causes the good and the evil to separate from each other after death. It is also what causes a good spirit to find the heaven, and the society of heaven, that is to be his permanent and eternal home.* And when he is there, his happiness and delight are ever renewed and extended because he feels and perceives the loves and delights of those who are to be his eternal companions, especially the love and delight of his conjugial partner.
* See AC 6206, 9109.
     Spheres are not nothing, simply because we cannot see them or examine them with our natural senses. Surely everyone has felt the sphere of innocence that flows forth through a little infant. Surely everyone is aware of how keenly a little child senses the spheres that proceed from its parents. The fact is that a sphere proceeds from every one of us-a sphere of our delights, our loves, our thoughts; and this sphere affects others, though we are, perhaps, all unconscious of it. It affects them, and is a means of inspiring either good or evil delights. This is a most important teaching for us to remember, for while we live in this world our spheres alternate greatly between what is of heaven and what is of hell; and while we cannot keep our loves and thoughts focused constantly on the things of heaven, we can clothe our internal states of temptation, despair, frustration or discouragement in the garb of external order, so that they are not brought out through open spheres to burden others and affect them similarly.

Every day of our lives each one of us receives countless states from the spheres of others, both from our natural companions and from our spiritual associates, as others receive from us; and it is an orderly work of charity and another means of expressing consideration for others to exercise care in what does proceed from us. Many of the spheres we receive we invite by the very nature of our own states; others we do not invite but have forced upon us-good and evil, true and false. Through countless and repeated choices we select the spheres with which we desire to associate ourselves; and we select them, not just by mental selection or imaginations, but by works and deeds. More and more we associate ourselves with and find delight in certain kinds of spheres, until finally the delight we find in them becomes the delight of our lives. Where there is a state of freedom and rationality, we form our eternal sphere while we are here on earth. Therefore the Writings say that "man carries the sphere with him that he has formed in the world."*
* AC 4464.
Through the truths revealed at His second coming, the Lord gives us the means of knowing not only what spheres are and how they operate, but also what spheres are orderly and from heaven and what are not. Through this knowledge we have the power to shun evil and false spheres wherever they may arise. We have the means to protect and guide more properly the tender states of the children who are placed under our care. Through the uses of our own lives we have the means to be of help to others; that the spheres of heavenly life, with all its happiness and delight, may once again descend to nourish and inspire the hearts of men on earth.
PROGRESSION OF FAITH 1962

PROGRESSION OF FAITH 1962

"The progression of faith with those who are being created anew is as follows. At first they have no life, for it is only in the good and the true that there is life, and none in the evil and the false. Afterwards they receive life from the Lord by faith, first by faith of the memory, which is a faith of mere knowledge; next by faith in the understanding, which is an intellectual faith; lastly by faith in the heart, which is the faith of love, or saving faith" (Arcana Coelestia 30: 2).

STORGE: SPIRITUAL AND NATURAL 1962

STORGE: SPIRITUAL AND NATURAL Rev. GEOFFREY S. CHILDS 1962

     How can a man tell if his love of his children is good or evil, spiritual or natural? There are specific teachings in the Writings which distinguish between spiritual and natural storge and allow man to judge his own attitudes. We are taught that since it is based on the innocence in children, "storge recedes from parents according to recession of innocence from children, and that it recedes with men even to the separation of the children from the house."* Spiritual storge is willing to let go, to grant independence to children-become-adults. Natural storge never loses its possessiveness, never desires to let go. Love of self cannot release: it must possess.
* CL 398

     "To appearance, the love of infants with spiritual married partners is similar to the love of infants with natural married partners; but with the spiritual, storge is more internal and thence more tender . . . The spiritual love their children according to their spiritual intelligence and moral life; thus they love them according to their fear of God, or piety of life, and at the same time according to their affection for and application to uses serviceable to society, that is, according to the virtues and good morals with them.
     "With natural fathers and mothers the love of infants is indeed also from innocence, but this, received by them, is wrapped about with their own love. . . . They love them, not on account of any fear of God and . . . piety of life, nor for any rational and moral intelligence in them, and little . . . do they consider their internal affections and thence virtues and good morals, but only things external for which they have regard."*
* CL 405.

     Natural parents adjoin and attach their love to things external in their children for which they, as parents, have regard, excusing and favoring them, and closing the eyes to their faults. "The reason is that the love of their progeny is with them also the love of themselves; and this love clings to the subject outwardly, but does not enter into it."*
* CL 405.
     In the true order of things, deepest remains are stored within the parent- child relationship. The parents truly stand for the Lord and the church to the child, and their deepest feelings of heavenly innocence are associated with their children. In the Lord's providence, no child is deprived of celestial remains, no matter what the state of the parents; but after infancy a child can be deeply hurt, spiritually hurt, by the absence of spiritual storge.

In true order, certain remains-celestial, spiritual or moral-are to be implanted at every stage of life, and the parents are often the means through whom they are implanted. Evil parents very often fail here. It is through gentleness, patience and thoughtful attention that remains are implanted; but where parents are evil, the child does not find in them these loving qualities. Rather is there a false demonstrativeness; or inattention, impatience, and even careless cruelty. A child is extremely sensitive to such attitudes, for he lives in a garden of tender and fragile loves. Where there is parental rejection, or false possessiveness, the child suffers deeply; spiritually he loses most precious affections.
If this were all, the harmful effect of evil storge would be enough; for the deepest harm man can do is in the family relationship, where loves are most innocent and tender. But there is more, for when love is not implanted its opposite inflows. When the Writings mention hereditary evil they are speaking realistically and of the inmost things of hell in man s life. In the family relationship, hereditary evil makes its impression in hatred of father and mother, hatred of brother and sister. Such hatred inflows when evil storge fails to supply heavenly love, but rather supplies the opposite. The fact that the serpent of Eden is found in the family relationship is a horrible thing-but so is hereditary evil! When evil parents fail, hereditary evil can inflow. Such an exposure of hatred and rebellion in the family relationship is appalling. Yet it is a discovery that is far from new. It has been known since Cain and Abel. Today it is much talked of in psychiatry. The value in this knowledge is that the enemy, hell, is uncovered. The secret hiding place of hereditary evil is disclosed-and what is known can be shunned.
But hereditary evil can, to a large extent, be kept out of the family relationship where parents strive to attain spiritual storge; try to be fair to all their children, looking only to spiritual qualities. Where patience and interest are substituted for impatience and disinterest; where thoughtful action is substituted for false sentimentality; where, in a word, good is substituted for evil; spiritual storge is attained. As is always the case, this is achieved through the shunning of specific evils by the parents. If this is done, then the purity of the family relationship is maintained. Then highest remains with the children are instilled and protected, and the sweet innocence of storge is not trammeled by the love of self.

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1962

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS Rev. FREDERICK L. SCHNARR 1962

     In our readings from the Arcana for this month we come across the term "fluctuation." This is a term much employed in this particular section of the Writings, but scarcely used again throughout the entire Second Advent revelation. We would examine this term briefly here, for it sheds significant light on the state of mind which follows temptation, and on how it is that a new perception of truth is born therein.
     It will be remembered from last month's readings how, in the regeneration series, the story of Noah and of the great flood wherein it rained forty days and forty nights described a state of temptation. Now, in our readings for this month, the state following temptation is described. The rain stopped; the waters began to recede; the ark rested on Mt. Ararat; a raven, then a dove, were sent forth from the ark; the covering of the ark was removed; and, finally, Noah left the ark, to walk on dry ground.
     The Writings tell us that after every state of temptation there follows a state of fluctuation-a period when the mind is in something of doubt and obscurity. We are taught that if the temptation has been of a celestial nature, the period of fluctuation following is between good and evil; if the temptation has been spiritual, the fluctuation is between what is true and what is false; if the temptation has been natural, the fluctuation is between the things that belong to and those which are contrary to man's cupidities.*
* See AC 847.
     We often think of the mind as coming into a period of rest immediately after a temptation, but we need to be careful what we understand by this. The teaching concerning fluctuations makes it clear that we do not come into a new peace of mind, a sense of rest and a new perception of truth immediately after a temptation.

The active state of temptation must gradually subside; for in temptation something of man's former life has been destroyed, and it takes time for this to be replaced by something of heavenly charity and faith. Thus from the climax of temptation-the height of the great flood-to the beginning of a new life on dry ground wherein there is a state of peace, a number of things must happen during which the mind goes through fluctuations of state.
At first the mind is as it were submerged in falsities and evils. However, after the height of temptation, the waters begin to recede and fail. The mind still fluctuates in states of obscurity and confusion; the black raven of falsity as it were sweeps back and forth over the boiling sea of the mind. But it has started to lose its hold, for the mind, having gone through temptation, has come to rest in a new love and a new understanding from the Lord-the ark resting on Mt. Ararat. Although it is not at first evident, states of good and truth have been formed in the mind by the Lord. These are the dove flying forth to find a permanent resting place. However, it is only gradually that the life of falsities recedes and the newborn states of good and truth come into their full freedom and being. At first only an olive leaf is brought back by the dove, that is, only a little of the states of good and truth begins to appear. As more and more of the land appears, the influence of falsity steadily decreases, until finally the fluctuations between truth and falsity cease altogether and a new state comes into full being. A new love has been formed through temptation. As it comes into fulness it gives to the understanding a new sight, a new light; the covering of the ark is removed. The mind is released from a prison and enters the freedom of heavenly love; and a new state of trust in the Lord, and of peace, is born.
REVIEW 1962

REVIEW 1962

     THE LAST JUDGMENT. By Emanuel Swedenborg. Translated by Doris H. Harley. The Swedenborg Society Incorporated, London, 1961. Cloth, pp. 144.
     The volume under review contains the two works, The Last Judgment and A Continuation concerning the Last Judgment and concerning the Spiritual World, published, respectively, by Swedenborg in London in 1758 and in Amsterdam five years later. This is not a revision but a new version; and it is indicative of the Swedenborg Society's constant concern to provide new and fresh translations of the Writings that it follows by only ten years the entirely new translation made by the Rev. Philip H. Johnson in 1951, and published in the hope that it might have a greater appeal to the modern reader.
     Translation is at once an art and a trust. The translator owes complete fealty to his author and to his public. Yet this is not always given in slavish literal adherence to the original. His responsibility is to express in the language in which he is working-accurately, clearly, and with as much depth as possible-the meaning intended to be conveyed by the author through the exact words he wrote. When he is dealing with Divine revelation this responsibility is enhanced.

This does not sanction paraphrase or interpolation; yet is cannot always be done on a precise word for word basis, and communication may be impeded at times by too close a following of the word forms, word order and sentence structure of the original.
In line with other recent endeavors of the Swedenborg Society, Mrs. Harley has here attempted a translation into modern English. Her vocabulary and constructions follow good current English usage. The result is a fresh and very readable translation which, on a sampling, appears to be entirely faithful to the original Latin. Inevitably there will be differences of opinion, and here and there the reader may find something that he feels could have been more smoothly or unambiguously expressed. But we would congratulate Mrs. Harley on having given the church a very good translation, and we would recommend it, not only for the intrinsic interest of the work, but as deserving of fair and careful study by all who are interested in the rendering of the Writings into good modern English and the problems that are involved. The Swedenborg Society's desire to provide new and better translations is indeed a worthy one; but it cannot be achieved and maintained unless the new translations are read and tested as they appear.
This latest offering of the Swedenborg Society is handsomely styled, has good typography, and is easy to read. Biographical notes on personalities mentioned in the text, prepared by J. J. Garth Wilkinson as an addition to his translation, are included as being useful and informative, and there is an Index of Subjects for the entire volume. Mrs. Harley gratefully acknowledges the help of her consultant, the Rev. J. E. Elliot, for helpful suggestions offered and accepted, and her indebtedness to Mr. John Chadwick for his helpfulness in elucidating obscurities in the Latin.
RECEIVED FOR REVIEW 1962

RECEIVED FOR REVIEW 1962

DIVINE PROVIDENCE. By Emanuel Swedenborg. Newly translated by William Frederic Wunsch. Swedenborg Foundation Incorporated, New York, 1961. Paper, pp. 420.
MESSAGES FROM BEYOND. Narrated experience of Life after Death. As Recorded by Margaret Scott Houts. Expositon Press, New York, 1962. Cloth, pp. 346. Price, $3.50.

NOTEWORTHY DISTINCTION 1962

NOTEWORTHY DISTINCTION Editor 1962

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 Business Manager. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.

TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$5.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy 50 cents.
An interesting note published last month pointed out that when the Writings speak of godparents, they are not advocating such sponsors but are describing baptism as Swedenborg knew it. Similar instances can be adduced. Thus when the Writings counsel that a man should examine himself two or three times a year before taking the Holy Supper, they are not prescribing the frequency of Communion. The teaching there is that an appropriate time for self-examination is before receiving the Holy Supper, and the reference is simply in adaptation to a prevailing custom. Similarly, when the ultimates of piety are enumerated, we may take it that the customary practices are being described, and that all of them are not necessarily prescribed.
Social customs change, and often rightly so; the practices of one church, one country, one generation do not always become those of another. The fact that a practice or custom is not mentioned in the Writings does not in itself mean that the practice or custom is wrong and should therefore have no place in the church today. Swedenborg could only describe the customs with which he was familiar; and in seeking to develop from the Writings a distinctive life we must distinguish between what they describe and what they prescribe; lest, confusing one with the other, we limit ourselves to a custom of the eighteenth century under the mistaken idea that it is taught, or change a perfectly valid custom because it did not then exist. We should not restrict our freedom to seek, find and develop appropriate means of ultimating what is prescribed in the Writings by binding ourselves to what is merely described.

SALT OF THE EARTH 1962

SALT OF THE EARTH Editor 1962

     When the Lord told His disciples that they were the salt of the earth, He spoke, as always, by correspondences. Salt is at once a preservative and a condiment, and that which is represented by it is what preserves man unto everlasting life and gives zest and savor to that life. This is the affection of truth and the truth of the church that longs for good, which longing is conjunctive of both. The presence of this affection in their minds is characteristic of the Lord's disciples in every age, and it is His gift to them by constant renewal.
     That the affection of truth and the longing of truth for good is what preserves man's spiritual life and gives flavor to it would seem an abstraction to some, though not to the New Church man. Yet many are learning the opposite by experience. The attainment of wealth, status and possessions, the realization of long cherished ambitions, the long awaited fruits of success, even robust health, may excite for a while. But if that is all there is, life will eventually become flat, insipid and more and more unpalatable; and if these things are loved as ends in themselves destruction follows. That is the salt without savor.
     The love of truth and of its conjunction with good introduces the mind into the heavenly marriage and into genuine delights which never fail to eternity. How, then, may we "have salt in ourselves"? The Writings assure us that if we will but go to the Lord in the Word, affirm the truth we find therein, and use the power we have from Him to compel ourselves to live according to it, He will give us the affection of truth, and with it the longing of truth for good that conjoins.
WASTED EXPERIENCE 1962

WASTED EXPERIENCE Editor 1962

Disappointment and frustration, trouble and sorrow, crisis and even tragedy are common in this life. No one would wish for them; no one need seek them; sooner or later one or another of them comes to all men and women. But of all the tragic waste in the world, none, perhaps, is so pathetic as wasted sadness. To undergo some trying experience and gain nothing through it, that is waste indeed. Yet if, after the event, we try to see the Lord's leading and providence in it, try to see what it is that the Lord would have us learn from an experience He did not send, then we may obtain that for which so great a price has been paid. We may see these experiences as permitted that the works of God might be done in them, and through the bread of sorrow gain food for our souls.

COGNITIONS 1962

COGNITIONS FREDA G. GRIFFITH 1962

Communications
Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:
     While appreciating that the definitions in "Our New Church Vocabulary" are necessarily condensed, I wonder whether the distinction there drawn between scientific, and cognitions is valid.
     It is obviously impossible in a brief letter to do justice to meanings of words which occupy fifty pages of references in Potts' Swedenborg Concordance, but there are certain passages in the Writings which define them very precisely.
     "There are scientifics which concern natural things; those which relate to the civil state and life; those which relate to the moral state and life; and those which relate to the spiritual state and life. But for the sake of distinction those which relate to the spiritual state and life are called cognitions" (HD 51).
     "In the natural mind there are scientifics of various kinds; there are scientifics concerning earthly, corporeal and worldly things which are the lowest . . . there are scientifics concerning the civil state, its government, statutes and laws, which are a little more interior; there are scientifics concerning those things which are of moral life which are still more interior; but those which are of spiritual life are more interior than all; these are the truths of the church, which in so far as with man they are only from doctrine are nothing else than scientifics" (AC 5934).
     "The cognitions of good and truth are the scientifics of the church" (AC 9723). [All italics added.]
     There are, of course, undoubtedly instances where cognition, is used to convey some idea of perception and understanding, something more than mere knowledges, but this is by no means universally true.
     "By the scientifics of the church are meant all the cognitions of good and truth before they have been conjoined with the interior man" (AC 5402).
     "The things in the natural mind are all scientifics, thus also all cognitions of every kind in a word, each and all things which are of the exterior or corporeal memory" (AC 3020).
     "By the cognitions of good and truth are meant interior scientifics which are those of the church concerning faith and love" (AC 9945).
     There are many more similar passages.
     It would rather seem that in general both terms are "things known," "knowledges," that cognitions differ from scientifics chiefly in the quality and kind of things known rather than in the quality of the knowing, especially where they are used together. And either term is sometimes used by itself to include all classes of knowledges (this is already clear in relation to scientific, from the passages quoted; and there is a reference in Arcana Coelestia 1453 to "cognitions of worldly things," and in Apocalypse Explained 126 to "cognitions of things in the world." There would seem little justification, therefore, for the statement that "cognitions are intermediate between scientifics and truths."
     It may be of interest to readers to know that the Advisory and Revision Board of the Swedenborg Society has made a considerable study of these words in context, and its resulting ruling for translators is that scientifica shall be translated "knowledges" and cognitiones by the English word "cognitions." Where the two words are linked together, they may be translated as "knowledges of spiritual and natural things." The important point is, of course, that the distinction between the use of the two words shall he preserved in translation.
     FREDA G. GRIFFITH,
     Secretary, Advisory and Revision Board of the Swedenborg Society

FOUNDATIONS OF TRUTH 1962

FOUNDATIONS OF TRUTH LOUISE G. COFFIN 1962

Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:
     In the October number you have an editorial, "Foundations of Truth"; in it are you strictly fair to Mother Nature? When you speak of the Word in the broadest sense-"the Divine truth that proceeds from the Divine good" (AC 9468)-doesn't it include nature? "In universal nature each and all things relate to good and truth for in nature are represented the celestial and spiritual goods and truths which are in heaven" (AC 3703). "All things of nature are like sheaths around spiritual things. This is the cause of all the wonders and miracles in nature" (Docu. 3O2Ae). "Hence the Divine truth is the inmost of the spiritual world and it is this from which nature took its origin" (Ath. 191). "The ultimate of Divine order is in the nature of the world" (AC 10634).
     Mankind in this world turned away from the Lord. Therefore we inherit a topsy-turvy natural mind; but am I not right that Mother Nature went on obeying her Creator? Isn't she still in the order of her creation, responding directly to spiritual law, and man's natural mind alone of all creation is in disorder? The Word (in the limited sense, as written revelation) is, we are told, imperative for the salvation of fallen mankind. It forms, by means of special influx, a basis of conjunction of heaven and earth. However, the Writings speak of the letter that killeth and the spirit that giveth life, in reference to written revelation as well as to nature. It seemed to me that you considered nature only in that derogatory sense of the empty ultimate apart from the Lord's spirit within it, counting the very hairs of the head and noting the fall of a sparrow.
     With the truths of revelation as a basis, a garden may become a spot such as Jacob's ladder rested upon, with "the angels of God ascending and descending; and, behold, Jehovah standing upon it." The organic gardener is constantly seeking to work with natural law and to unlock the secrets of nature. He may become aware of the interdependence of the three kingdoms-mineral, vegetable and animal-described in Divine Love and Wisdom 65 and following. A garden is a good vantage point from which to view the natural laws of an individual's development from birth, when the infant receives those first tender impressions of the Lord's tender, loving, omniscient care through nature's provision of a mother's nourishing love; and soon after, impressions of the Lord's omnipotent strength from nature's provision of a father's protection.
     One may mull over the infinite wisdom demonstrated by nature's provision that the young man or woman on the threshold of life's use is roused to desire for a conjugial partner. That, in turn, leads to the responsibilities of home and family. With these, he can scarcely resist giving of his time, energy and affection to an ever widening circle with a foretaste of heavenly happiness along the way. Mother Nature provides that one may have his eyes opened to his evils through their effects on those he loves. With his children he recalls his own past, and appraises it from the parental viewpoint.
     Nature, you say, can't teach, yet it is proverbial that experience is the best teacher. Isn't experience the result of man's activities in juxtaposition with the laws of nature? When these are in conflict, man goes through states of vastation and desolation. Arcana 2694 gives the reason for these states. Man may know the truths of faith from revelation, but only as he feels and acknowledges his own helplessness and proprial inadequacy may he receive the perception of goods and truths. Isn't all natural law directed by the Lord's end in creating, that is, a heaven from the human race? As the Psalmist says: "The firmament showeth His handiwork."
     LOUISE G. COFFIN

Church News 1962

Church News Various 1962

     GLENVIEW, ILLINOIS

     Ten days until Christmas-and where has the year gone? Before it fades from memory, there are two significant developments that stand out from the regular flow of society life.
     The first of these is the official welcoming of the Detroit Society into the Midwest District. This was effected on the weekend of November 10, when members of the present District gathered here at a meeting much like an Assembly. There was no banquet, and meals were served to guests by the families who were their hosts; otherwise the spirit of an Assembly prevailed. The Rev. Norman Reuter addressed the meeting on Friday night on the subject of "Sincere New Church Education." This served to turn our thoughts to the use previously adopted by the District.
     Something new was added on Saturday morning by the students of Mr. and Mrs. Bradley Smith (physical education). Boys from 6th through 8th grades played flag football, Blue v. Gold. In flag football each boy wears a tail of white cloth tucked into his jeans behind, and a tackle is made when an opponent snatches this tail. It was a good, well played game, showing the efficiency of Mr. Smith's teaching. Between the halves the girls of the same age gave a short exhibition of field hockey as taught by Mrs. Smith. During the football game they doubled as cheerleaders, waving the black and white pom-poms of the Girls Athletic Club. The sun shone, everyone who came enjoyed the show, and we hope it becomes a tradition.
     The annual meeting of the Midwest Academy was held on Saturday afternoon. After various reports and election of officers, the Rev. Elmo C. Acton, as chairman, reported on the progress of the Academy so far. He asked all to consider carefully whether our goal-a tenth grade in the very near future-should he pursued or abandoned completely, using the text: "How long halt ye between two opinions?" There was a good discussion, during which we felt that new life will be given to this movement by the addition of Detroit. Several comments were made by members from Detroit. Especially interesting was one from Mr. Robert Brown, a newcomer to the church. He spoke as a teacher of sophomores in public schools, and his affirmation of New Church guidance at their age carried weight. The meeting ended on a note of hope for the future, with all encouragement being offered to the committees to go ahead with definite plans and report back next year.
     Instead of a banquet there was a social on Saturday evening. Pendleton Hall was narrowed down into an almost rosy setting with tasteful decorations by Messrs. Robert and Richard Brickman. Soft lights and music helped to make it a gay occasion. The Rev. Geoffrey Howard, Mr. Harvey Holmes and Mr. Robert Coulter spoke briefly on the serious side; Mr. Kenneth Holmes, as standing toastmaster, read some delightful telegrams received from Moscow, Boston, and so on; and there was a period of "Singing Along with Mitch," courtesy of the record committee, which ended in spontaneous dancing. Mr. and Mrs. Hunter Reynolds offered an impersonation of the Arthur Murray Party, with apologies to the originals. They showed us how to do the Twist, with demonstrations by their professional help, and there was a contest among the champions of Park Drive, Park Lane, Gladish Lane, Linneman Street and Longmeadow Drive. The last, the Henry Mellmans, won hands down, with help from a partial applause meter.

Their version might not have been the most authentic, but it was highly diverting and athletic. Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Arvid Tessing for managing this lovely evening.
     The weekend culminated in two services on Sunday morning. Mr. Reuter preached at the adult service, his text being: "Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, 0 ye of little faith?" (Matthew 6: 30). This sermon invited us to have confidence in the Lord in all our future undertakings.
     The other new venture of which we would speak has to do with Theta Alpha. In the past few years the Glenview Chapter has achieved new stature and much growth, due to vigorous work by its efficient officers. Perhaps this was leading unknown to a new and wonderful goal, only recently reached. It could not have been accomplished if the organization were not in such a sound position.
     In the early fall, Mr. Acton invited our Theta Alpha president, Mrs. Burwood Kitzelman, to consider sponsoring a Sunday school for New Church children in this area who must attend public schools. After thoughtful consultation with the parents of these children, Mrs. Kitzelman brought the matter before the members of Theta Alpha for consideration. With the approval of all, and by a resolution replete with "whereas" and "be it resolved" this new project was launched almost immediately.
     Miss Sally Headsten was appointed director, with a staff of eight teachers to help her. Two teachers conduct the class at a time, for a period of two months. It is held every Sunday morning in the upstairs classroom during the regular church service. Nineteen children, representing eight families, have attended, their ages being from four to nine years. It would he hard to say who has shown the most enthusiasm, the children or their teachers.
     The program is something like this. First, worship, which includes some singing. A story is told, and also read from the Word. After a short break for cookies and relaxation the children divide into two groups, one for children up to and including kindergarten age, the other for those in the primary grades. With visual aids such as the flannel-board, the two teachers then review the story just read, the children being encouraged to participate as much as possible. Next they engage in creative activity such as coloring pictures or making something related to the story. Finally there is a period of marching, singing songs, etc., and sometimes the children are reluctant to leave when school is over.
     Mrs. Kenneth Holmes has made some lovely drawings of the Lord, the Word, and other subjects, which the children color. The group works under the leadership of Mr. Acton, and it is so successful that parents of children in the Park are just a little envious!
     Tonight we begin the Christmas celebration with a Christmas class, followed by carol singing and a party sponsored by Mr. and Mrs. Louis Cole, Jr. Since it will be too late to wish you all a Merry Christmas, we hope you will have a happy and busy New Year.
     GLORIA BARRY

     THE CHURCH AT LARGE

     General Convention. The NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER reported that a family night meeting of the Portland, Oregon, society featured a panel discussion by three clergymen on their beliefs (Peace Brethren, Methodist, New Church). The report notes that "the similarities and distinctive features of each religion were discussed."
     General Conference. The NEW-CHURCH HERALD recently extended congratulations to the Rev. Charles Newall, who had just celebrated fifty years in the New Church ministry. As he began his 51st year, Mr. Newall also entered his fourth year as Leader of the Hastings Circle.
     The Rev. and Mrs. John O. Booth left England for South Africa in December. Mr. Booth will succeed the Rev. Brian Kingslake as Superintendent of the New-Church Mission in South Africa and Principal of the Mooki Memorial College.

GOD OF THE SCRIPTURES 1962

GOD OF THE SCRIPTURES WILLIAM R. COOPER 1962

     Announcements

VOL. LXXXII
MARCH, 1962
     The doctrines of the New Church proclaim consistently that the Lord Jesus Christ is the ONE God of heaven and earth. Does this differ in any way from the doctrine put forth in the Old and New Testaments?
     Many professing Christians will agree that the Bible contains the Word of God, and that its prime purpose is to teach men who God is. That being the case, is it not reasonable to expect that at least somewhere in its pages we shall find a direct answer to this most important of all questions?
     Let us, then, search the Scriptures to see just what they do say about it. In so doing, it is important to remember that when the Lord referred to the Scriptures, saying, "they are they which testify of Me," He was referring only to the Old Testament. The New Testament had not yet been written. But it is equally important to remember that when the New Testament scriptures were subsequently written, they, too, testified of the Lord, and in the same manner.
     First of all, the first commandment says:

     "I am the Lord thy God; Thou shalt have no other gods before My face." (Exodus 20: 2, 3)

     Secondly, Moses, in his exhortation to the children of Israel before his death, said:

     "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." (Deuteronomy 6: 4, 5)

     Now pay special attention to the various prophecies concerning the Messiah who was to come, and note that they make it perfectly plain that the promised Messiah is Jehovah Himself.

     "Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel." (Isaiah 7: 14) Immanuel means "God with us."
     "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9: 6)
     Who else but Jehovah the Creator could be designated "the mighty God, the everlasting Father"?
     It will be seen that the expression, "in that day," is used frequently in the Word. This always refers to the coming of the Lord.
     "And in that day thou shalt say . . . . Behold, God is my salvation. . . . For the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; He also is become my salvation." (Isaiah 12: 1, 2)
     "And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." (Isaiah 25: 9)
     "The Lord is our king; He will save us." (Isaiah 33: 22)
     "Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; He will come and save you." (Isaiah 35: 4)
     "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God." (Isaiah 40: 3, cf. John 1: 23)
     "I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel." (Isaiah 41: 14)
     "I am the Lord: that is My name: and My glory will I not give to another.' (Isaiah 42: 8)
     "For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior." (Isaiah 43: 3) "Ye are My witnesses, saith the Lord ... that I am He: before Me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the Lord; and beside Me there is no Savior." (Isaiah 43: 10, 11)
     "Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, and He that formed thee from the womb." (Isaiah 44: 24. Similarly in Isaiah 45: 5, 6,15,18, 21, 22)
     "As for our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is His name, the Holy One of Israel." (Isaiah 47: 4, cf. 49: 26)
     "In that day ... they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced." (Zechariah 12: 9, 10)
     "And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem." (Zechariah 14: 4)
     "And Jehovah shall be king over all the earth: in that day there shall be one Lord, and His name one. (Zechariah 14: 9)
     "And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them there shall he no rain: (Zechariah 14: 17)

     The above quotations are but a few of the many statements in the Old Testament about the coming of the Lord. Now that He has fulfilled all these prophecies, and has come to "save His people from their sins.' let us see what He says about it in the New Testament.

It should be noted that in the following statements the Lord makes it abundantly clear that He is the ONE God of heaven and earth.
     "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth." (Matthew 28: 18)
     It is recorded that, after the Lord's resurrection, two of His disciples were on the road to Emmaus, and He joined them and talked with them for some time without being recognized: "And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." (Luke 24: 27)
     John the Baptist said: "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias." (John 1: 23)
     "Ye search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me." (John 5: 39)
     "For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me: for he wrote of Me." (John 5: 46)
     "Then said the Jews unto Him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast Thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM." (John 8: 57, 58)
     Note how, in the last of these quotations, the Lord identifies Himself with Jehovah, who spoke to Moses out of the burning bush. (See Exodus 3: 1.-.14)
     "If ye had known Me, ye should have known My Father also: and from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him." (John 14: 7)
     "Philip saith unto Him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself: but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me." (John 14: 8-11)
     "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty." (Revelation 1: 8)
     "Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death." (Revelation 1: 17, 18)
GOD OF THE SCRIPTURES 1962

GOD OF THE SCRIPTURES 1962

We have here quoted but a few of the verses in the Old and New Testaments which make it abundantly clear that THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IS THE ONE GOD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH. There are many more verses to the same effect. But there is not a single verse in the entire Word, or even in any of the Epistles, which actually says that there are three persons in God.

100

Where, then, did the Christian churches get such an idea? Ignoring the plain teaching of the Word, and the fact that for nearly three hundred years Christians had worshiped the Lord Jesus Christ as God, the Council of Nicea (AD. 325) was led to accept this doctrine of a tripersonal God. Afterwards, at the time of the Reformation, when Martin Luther took issue with the Roman Church in regard to many of its abuses, and rejected some of its doctrines, he did not reject that of a tripersonal God. In consequence, for nearly five hundred years the doctrine of a tripersonal God has been accepted in most Protestant churches-this in spite of the fact that Paul, who is obviously their greatest authority on most matters, says, in Colossians 2: 9: "In Him [Jesus Christ] dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily."
     Surely, then, anyone who goes to the Scriptures with an open mind, and without bringing any preconceived notions to the task really searches them to find out what they actually say, cannot avoid the conclusion that the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed the ONE GOD of heaven and earth.
     Was it not said of certain early disciples in Berea: "These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so"? (Acts 17: 11)
     If men would follow their example, they would surely conclude, concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, that indeed "His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9: 6)
BISHOP PENDLETON NOMINATED 1962

BISHOP PENDLETON NOMINATED 1962

At the second session of the Council of the Clergy meetings, held on Tuesday afternoon, January 23, 1962, the Right Reverend Willard Dandridge Pendleton was named as the Council's choice for the office of Bishop of the General Church of the New Jerusalem. The Board of Directors approved that choice at its meeting on Friday afternoon, January 26, 1962. Bishop Pendleton's name will therefore be placed in nomination at the Twenty-third General Assembly in June, and the Assembly will be called upon to take action on the nomination.

101

HABITS 1962

HABITS Rev. HUGO LJ. ODHNER 1962

     "Enter ye in at the strait gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that go in thereat. But strait is the gate and narrow the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." (Matthew 7: 13, 14)

     From the Lord's parables there are out-flashings of truths so undeniable and universal that every thinking man must accept them for his own sphere of life, even if he is blind to their more profound spiritual meanings.
     So it is with the parable about the Two Ways. Every one can confirm from experience that those who have reached the goals of natural life have generally had to struggle to attain them. The road to success in any field of use and in any accomplishment lies always through the narrow gate of arduous training or practice; and the uphill way is that of intensive discipline and sustained, plodding effort. To avoid work-relying only on one's native abilities and merely following the bent of one's inclinations or the path of least resistance-is to spend one's patrimony for fleeting gains or pleasures, or in pursuing idle dreams, and at the last to be left without, to regret and envy while others enjoy.
     The choice between these two roads faces every one again and again as he travels from childhood to old age. Similar difficulties face all men. Whatever ambitions men entertain, there is a constant call for self- restraint, patience and preparation, if they are to succeed. They must sacrifice present comfort for future achievements. They must recognize their faults and failures. They must learn to take discipline and criticism from others and to subordinate themselves to masters, to practice, exercise, accommodate and chastise themselves, and learn by slow training to use their brawn and brain until that which is difficult, tedious and awkward becomes easy and natural.
     Except for those who enter into an open rebellion against society, all, both good and bad, do in some manner seek to walk the narrow way of self-compulsion and eventually learn to act and speak as civil and moral men. The Writings show that every person, if rightly educated, is rational and moral.

102

If he is not sincere as to his moral principle of doing unto others as he would that they should do to him, yet he finds it the easiest way to get along in the world. He becomes so accustomed to holding his inner lusts under control, and so practiced in hiding his evil intentions, that his social graces, his moral virtues and surface charm, may at last become delightful and spontaneous and deceive even himself. No longer does he seem to walk a narrow, uphill road, but he is borne along with others on broad and smooth paths and life opens its gates wide to welcome him.
     Swedenborg recounts that he saw, in the world of spirits, such a broad, attractive road on which multitudes of newly arrived spirits were going, both good and wicked, as friends and companions. The road tended to the left. He perceived that this was the way of civil and moral life, which the evil as well as the good must walk, so that there is seemingly no difference between them.* And since the rewards of natural life come only to those who have become trained and accomplished in this facile adjustment to society and to moral laws, thus to those who act as if they were sincere and just, the Writings comment that it is really not so hard to live the life that leads to heaven. Here on earth, the difference between the good and the wicked is usually hardly discernible. For it is not so much in external demeanor, or in duties done, as it is in inner purpose that this difference lies.
* HH 534; SD 5798.

     But in the spiritual world, the real opposition between the good and the evil comes out. The ample road on which all newcomers walk together ends of a sudden, and a large stone stands there, at the head of two ways. It is the crossroads of human life. For, strange to say, evil spirits will, to their injury, stumble on the stone, and in blind rage run down a broad way towards the right hand which slopes towards hell; while the well-disposed spirits will instinctively recognize the stone as a landmark and turn into the left on another path, which is steep and narrow at first, but which leads by degrees to heaven.
     What is this "stone" which thus serves as the touchstone of judgment, separating those who are in a moral life from spiritual motives from those who are in a merely natural and social morality? Did not the Lord speak of Himself as the stone which the builders of the church rejected and which was yet to be the head of the corner? And did He not say: "Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken"?*
* Matthew 21: 44.
     To follow the crowd in one's public life is easy. Yet if the motive of self-interest and of reputation and praise be taken away, moral principles will be abandoned unless there be a love of truth higher than self to sustain them: a love of truth that acknowledges in utmost humility that selfless love lies at the heart of the universe, that life in its origin is Divinely Human and that man is man only so far as he receives of that love and is governed by the laws of Divine truth.

103

     The man who spurns this acknowledgement and rejects the religious motive of a moral life, is soon shown to be moral only in externals, from training or habit. And thinking people the world over are well aware of the prevalence of such hypocrisy and of the selfishness greed, and sensual passion which are hidden beneath the pleasant veneer of moral virtues and social decorum that enables our unregenerate race to seem civilized; until many have concluded that man is but an animal with conditioned reflexes and that an unselfish or spiritual motive is impossible to him. Civilization, morality and religion, they say, are but artificial ways to refine and disguise the brutal instincts of the flesh. And many men, observing how the customs of society and of individuals tend to become thoughtless routines, which are merely imitative and thus devoid of real meaning, conceive a fear of any habits, any forms or set rituals of life or worship, lest their liberty of thought and action be unconsciously restrained or lest they become ruled by habits and thus be committed to walking a way from which there is no returning!

     But in so thinking they forget that life is not their own; that man is but a vessel receptive of life, responsive to the influx of heaven or of hell; and that his apparent life is but a continual choice of the elements that are to mould him into a tool either to heavenly uses or of self-indulgence. Man cannot prevent that his life, his character, is gradually crystallized and confirmed by the unending series of his own decisions and acts. Even as his body grows up, and its tissues, nerves, and muscles mature and receive form and strength by training in various skills, so his mind itself is formed as a spiritual and immortal body within his material body. But it is form "of goods and truths which flow in from the Lord through the spiritual world and are received by man inwardly in such things of his as are from the natural world and are called civil and moral."* And the further teaching is that no one's life can be changed after death. A change of organization of the character and direction of his spirit can only take place in the material body.**
* TCR 583.
** BE 110.
     From the first years of infancy, therefore, the child needs to be moulded into a form which can become receptive to good and truth. By shaping the habits of childhood, parents and teachers seek to lay a representative foundation for future charity and wisdom. Habits of cleanliness of orderliness, of obedience, of courtesy and reverence are the ultimates on which the order of the whole mind-yea, the whole of life-is to rest secure.

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And what is prophetically true of childhood, is actually true in later life. It is though the formation of external habits that every use is perfected and made facile. The formation of habits of thought and of action cannot be avoided. It is only by habit formation that our unwieldy body can become a tool of our mind. It is only by continually repeated self-compulsion that our rebellious natural mind can be disciplined into obedience to our rational aims and convictions, so that new affections can be engendered by which even the natural mind can come to feel something of heavenly delights.

     It is vain, then, to think that life is possible without depending on habits, which are the organic channels of mind and body. Life settles into accustomed ruts, rivulets of thought and action. Habits of thought become unknowingly the highways of the spirit; and they are so represented in the spiritual world, where a spirit can see and walk only those ways which were staked out by his intentions and paved and widened by his repeated thoughts and confirmations.
     This is the reason the New Church is instructed that there is no instantaneous conversion, no sudden regeneration. The fibres of our spirit are in their own fashion as solid as our flesh and can suffer no abrupt change. Habits of thought and endeavor are slow to establish, and, when formed, are still harder to unbend or reverse. The important thing in life is therefore to see by repeated self-examination that the impulses of self-love and the ambitions of the love of the world are not hardening into habits of thought and feeling. Man cannot be responsible for all the variant lusts and impulses that the hells awaken in his hereditary will and which manifest themselves in his imagination and in his senses. But he must be most watchful lest they be condoned in his understanding and maintained as purpose; for thus they become habitual and confirmed.
     And because man is born into tendencies to all kinds of evil, it is easier for him to follow his native self-will down the broad way of sensuality, intemperance, social rebellion and depravity. It is so that evil spirits, if a child or man has once or twice been spurred by their influx deliberately to commit a theft, however trivial, can gain control and cause the lust of theft to increase and breed a pleasure in stolen goods or stolen delights, and thus lead into lying and deceit-a long road of infamy that has no ending except in the destruction of well nigh everything of childhood remains, every thing of sweetness, tenderness and modesty, so that the marrows of man's character are consumed.* Evil must therefore be resisted and controlled in its very beginning, before it gains momentum.

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For evil becomes harder to shun the more it is indulged. More and more it leaves its scars upon man's character-dulls him to the truth, hardens his heart against charity. And therefore the Lord in His mercy provides repeated opportunities for man to turn aside from his evils. The Lord stands at the crossroads, again and again pointing to the way back, to the narrow road which appears steep and difficult but which is still the way of salvation, the way by which new habits of though can be established, such as are indicated in the Word, in the Divine doctrine in which the Lord Himself has come again to men.
* AC 6203.

It is indeed true that a man's spiritual life does not consist of personal habits of speech or action, or even of thought; any more than it can be said that the church consists of religious rites and ceremonies and of distinctive social customs. All these externals, however good and proper, may degenerate into empty habits which have no living soul. With a man, the best of habits may, as he grows old, stiffen into unyielding rules by which he judges or condemns others, or into set opinions stubbornly insisted upon from conceit or self-love. But even the regenerate man cannot neglect to adopt distinctive habits; without this, he could have no stability of character, no individuality of usefulness. There would be little incentive for a man to bend low to go through the strait gate, and to labor upwards by the narrow way of self-humiliation and temptation, if he did not know that this would turn into the best road, an ever broadening way to freedom and peace and widened usefulness. By arduous devotion to his duties, therefore. he develops skill and judgment and ease and delight in his work, for he is establishing habits which channel his energy without reflection and preserve his strength for ever new uses. These are the rewards of the passing years. Yet his habits are not inflexible in externals, not brittle but adaptable. His mind is not set on preserving what is his own, but what may serve the uses of charity to which his life is consecrated.
It is the habits that men develop through education and self-compulsion and from a sense of duty and justice, that form the foundations of their inner life. By examining our habits we may find some indication how far we are the slaves of the flesh, or have-by the Lord's strength- conquered our native will; how far, indeed, the world, with the tyrant Time, has mastered our lives. Habits of action and thought are the foundations of character. They supply the spirit both with tools and determination. They make the spirit articulate and effective. But they also show the limitations which finite every man's life and indicate his eternal uses.

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     There are many habits, good and bad, which are merely reflections from a man's environment or unconscious imitations of what others do. Such habits lose their hold in the other life. But those habits which a man recognizes as good, and freely and intelligently cultivates, are as it were elevated into his spirit. Whatever thus comes to be of a man's life, the doctrine explains, vanishes out of the external memory, even as man becomes unaware of the gestures and expressions that have become natural and spontaneous to him. Yet only those things come to be of man s life which have entered his will and form the delights of his loves. These things-while they are no longer reflected upon or noticed-are yet elevated into his spirit and remain inscribed on his interior or spiritual memory."*
* AC 9394.
     It is so that the Lord leads men along paths which He alone knows. First, unseen, He leads them by civil and moral restraints and the pressure of public opinion. Then-at the crossroads-He reveals Himself openly in His Divine doctrine; calling them to repentance, helping them by the discipline of spiritual truth to face temptation and walk the narrow road of reformation. And finally-if they can follow Him He leads them, through their own chastened love, along to wider pastures, into the broad and sunlit highways of heaven. Amen.

LESSONS     Isaiah 35. Matthew 7: 1-14. Heaven and Hell 533, 534.
MUSIC:     Liturgy, pages 451, 501, 462.
PRAYERS:     Liturgy, nos. 28, 90.
FROM KNOWLEDGE TO FAITH 1962

FROM KNOWLEDGE TO FAITH 1962

"It is one thing to know truths, and quite another to acknowledge them, and still another to have faith in them. To know is the first thing of regeneration, to acknowledge is the second, to have faith is the third. What difference there is between knowing, acknowledging, and having faith is evident from the fact that the worst of men may know, and yet not acknowledge . . . and that unbelievers may acknowledge, and in certain states preach, confirm, and persuade with zeal; but none can have faith who are not believers. . . . Merely to know what is of faith is of a man's memory, without the concurrence of his reason. To acknowledge what is of faith is a rational consent induced by certain causes and for the sake of certain ends. But to have faith is of conscience, that is, of the Lord working through conscience." (Arcana Coelestia 896)

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JUDGMENT 1962

JUDGMENT Rev. W. CAIRNS HENDERSON 1962

     (The first of three doctrinal lectures.)

1. THE JUDGMENT OF MAN

     The subject of these lectures is judgment. As the term is used in the Writings, judgment means essentially acceptance and rejection, especially that acceptance and rejection which result in the separation of the good from the evil.* The exercise of judgment is therefore an integral part of freedom; and as freedom, together with rationality, makes the human itself, judgment enters into the life of every man.
* See AC 5078: 6, 4810, 1850: 5.
     There are three specific areas of human life in which judgment is involved. Eventually every man becomes himself the subject of judgment, Before that, during his life on earth, he faces the problem of judging other men whose uses directly affect his own. At the same time, he is called upon as a free and rational being to pass judgment on human affairs and events, and also, to a greater or less degree, to attempt to judge the works of men, whether works of art or works of utility. We propose to consider one of these areas in each of these three lectures, directing our attention now to the judgment of man, by which is meant the judgment after death.

     The Day of Judgment

     It is well known in the church that mankind is not awaiting a universal judgment day on which time will cease and history end in catastrophe. There have indeed been general judgments on religious dispensations, but the last of these occurred in 1757, and since then the last day, the day of judgment, for every individual man is when he dies. Men and women are judged according to their lives when they pass from the earth into the spiritual world. Thus there is a final judgment for everyone immediately after death; for he then enters the other life, and when, in it, he comes into the real life that he had in the body, he is adjudged either to death or to eternal life.*
* See AC 4638: 4; AE 875.
     Man's judgment could not take place earlier, nor need it be delayed any longer, for it can then be effected with perfect justice. As long as man lives on earth he is not judged, for he is then in a natural body and no one is judged from the natural man.

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It is the spiritual in man that is to be judged, not the natural, for this cannot be held guilty of any evil since it is merely the instrument by which the spiritual acts. But when man enters the other world he is in a spiritual body. In the second state of the world of spirits he becomes the image of his own love, not only in face and form but also in speech and action. His true qualities can be known as they could not be on earth, can be made manifest to others and inescapable to himself; and he can be accepted or rejected and thus separated. So it is that a man's judgment comes when he dies. He remains in the last state of his life-which is, interiorly, the product of all the states that have gone before-and according to that he is judged. That state, indeed, is his last judgment.*
* See LJ 30; AE 187: 2; AC 2119.

     The Lord and Judgment

     If men are so judged after death, who is the judge? Who accepts or rejects them, and thus separates the good from the evil and the evil to their like? It is written in the Gospels: "The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son. . . . And hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man." Yet the Lord who announced, "for judgment I am come into this world," made a vital distinction when He said also, "I judge no man." And as though to make that distinction clear He added, on two other occasions: "He that rejecteth Me, and receiveth not My words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." "Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me: for he wrote of Me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe My words?"* These inspired statements, far from being at variance, are different facets of one truth; and they are readily harmonized when we consider the essential nature of man's judgment after death.
* John 5: 22, 27, 9: 39, 8: 15, 16, 12: 47, 48, 5: 45-48.
     In the Writings we find a similar variety of statement. All judgment, they say, is of the Lord. The Lord alone, who is omniscient, and knows the hearts of all, judges and is able to judge, and He does so as the Word. Yet the Lord does not judge anyone to hell, but causes the Word to judge everyone, He Himself directing that all things be done according to justice. Evil spirits cast themselves into hell, and every man carries his judgment with him, because he carries his life with him and is judged according to it. Therefore every man judges himself.*

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Here also various aspects of the same truth are being brought out; and they are as readily unified and brought into harmony when the nature of the judgment after death is rightly understood.
* See AC 2129: 3; SS 51: 7; Lord 23e; AR 233; Lord 25; AC 4663, 2258: 3, 4807e.

     Self-Judgment

     The Writings make clear that man's judgment is not arrived at by any other-world judicial proceedings, and that the condemnation of the evil is not effected in a moment. The purpose of man's judgment is that there shall be a total acceptance and rejection and thus a complete separation; that from those who are in evils and falsities every last vestige of apparent good and knowledge of truth shall be removed, and from those who are in good and truth, the final residue of external evil and falsity shall be taken away. And in the case of the evil the intention is that this shall be done in such a way that they themselves see that they cannot but be condemned because they have not lived differently, and that angels and spirits may know what their true character is so that they can no longer excuse themselves or be excused by others.*
* See CL 524: 4; AR 948; AC 7273.
     Evidently, then, it must be the real life of man that is judged, the love and life he has freely made his own, and this is indeed the case. Judgment does take place in the lower and ultimate things of the mind, and we are therefore taught that men are judged according to their deeds. Yet by this is not meant the deeds in themselves, but in so far and in such manner as they have proceeded from his will. Thus when it is said in the Word that a man shall be judged according to his deeds, the meaning is that he will be judged according to the thought and affection from which his deeds were, or which are in his deeds. In so teaching the Writings are unique. Everyone is judged according to his end or intention; the thoughts of the heart, which are the purposes of the will, are what justify or condemn; and both the faithful and the unfaithful are judged according to the intentions of the mind and the consequent deeds. If a man should do good to others from a selfish end he is judged according to that end; and if another should innocently do evil from a purpose of good he, too, is judged according to his purpose. Thus all judgment after death is according to the use that man has made of freedom of choice in spiritual things.*
* See AC 1311: 2, 8911e; HH 358; AC 4493e; CL 523: 2; 5M 19; SD 2451; TCR 497e.
     However, it is not to be supposed that the deeds of a man's life are formally recited at the bar of Divine justice and a verdict rendered, or even that he is punished for the evils he had committed on earth. Since death is a continuation of life, with the difference that man cannot then be reformed, man is judged according to his deeds, as the ultimate and expression of his will and thought, because he returns to them and acts in the same way!

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Man carries with him into the spiritual world after death all the states of his life, so that he is entirely such in his mind as he had been in the life of the body. If, in that life, he had despised others in comparison with himself he continues to do so; if his delight had been in the unselfish performance of uses to the neighbor, that is still his delight. There is nothing of his thought and will, not even the least thing, which does not draw him to death or carry him on to life, for he continues in the life that he has made his own and which he loves more than any other.*
* See DP 277b; AC 4663, 1850: 5.

But, it may be asked, as the will is the man himself and is therefore that which is to be judged, how can man be judged after death according to his deeds in such a way that judgment falls upon his will? How can we be sure that this is a judgment of perfect justice? The answer is in the teaching of the Writings that when external bonds are removed-such as fear of the law or of the loss of honor, possessions, reputation or life-will and deed are not at variance. When all such restraints are taken away, everything that is of man's internal life, his will or love, ultimates itself in the intentions and efforts of his mind or in the words and actions of his body. Everything that is not really of his internal life does not so manifest itself. Therefore, in these conditions, a man's internal life can be judged in externals; for his will, his love, his ends, his life, are all in his works, and nothing else.*
* See AC 8911; AR 868.
The conditions necessary for such judgment can rarely be set up on earth, though they can be imaged, approached, and approximated. It is in the world of spirits that provision is made for the gradual removal of external bonds and therefore for judgment; judgment that is perfectly just because it is self-imposed in freedom. After the spirit has passed through the first state of the world of spirits, the state of externals, he is introduced to the second state, which is that of internals. There all restraints except those which conscience imposes from within are successively removed, and the spirit, freed from them, begins to live his own proper life; not necessarily the life he lived before men, but the hitherto secret life of the imagination in which he projected the ends and intentions of his ruling love and the secret thoughts of his heart. More and more the spirit becomes in externals what he really is in internals. He begins to lead openly the kind of life he had chosen for himself secretly and in freedom. By the quality thus self-revealed he knows himself to be, and shows himself to others as, a potential angel or infernal spirit; and, led by that quality, he freely seeks entry into the hells or submits to instruction and preparation for admission into heaven.

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     In the course of this process total acceptance and rejection is achieved. and therefore complete separation. Newly arrived spirits, both good and evil, quickly separate themselves from those whose states are opposed to or different from their own, and move about until they come to spirits who are like themselves. When interiors are opened, as they are in this state, the spirit can, fully and voluntarily, accept the good or the evil, and in so doing reject the other; and by his choice, the choice he has made on earth, he is completely separated-separated from the evil, or separated to evil.*
* See AC 2119.
     This is what is meant by the judgment after death, and we may see that in the process it is man himself who is the judge. He is not arraigned. tried and sentenced to life or death, either by the Lord Himself or by angels or spirits acting for Him and in His name. In the second state of the world of spirits man is given a freedom he could not be granted on earth-freedom to live openly in externals the life that in internals he has already made his own; and in following that life to where it leads he judges himself to heaven or to hell. The sentence, if sentence there be, is not handed down as a formal verdict, but is written in his way of life.*
* See AC 2335: 2, 2763: 3; SD 2452.

     Divine Truth and Judgment

     Yet it is true also that the Divine truth of the Word judges. All judgment, we are told, is executed by the Lord through the Word; that is, men are judged according to the Divine truths of the Word, and thus also according to its goods. What this means must, however, be rightly understood. Although man is judged according to Divine truth, the Divine truth itself does not judge anyone. It flows in, and disposes that it may be received, and judgment takes place according to the reception. If man does not receive the Divine truth he thereby judges himself to hell, for he burns to destroy both the truth itself and those who are in it from the Lord; whereas, if he receives it, he judges himself to heaven, for the Divine truth received leads to heaven.*
* See AR 821, 505; AC 8972; AR 629; AC 8685; AE 907: 3,4.
     In other words, in that disclosing of man's interior states which is the judgment after death, he can bring forth to view nothing of his own that would judge him to heaven, and, indeed, nothing that was his from birth that would judge him to hell. It is the Divine truth received in the heart that judges a man to heaven, because it is such reception that makes man a potential angel; and it is the Divine truth rejected that judges man to hell, because it is the denial at heart of that truth which makes man a potential devil.

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The truth itself, therefore, does not judge; man is judged, or judges himself, according to his reception or rejection of the truth of the Word.
     It is in the light of this distinction that we must understand such teachings of the Writings as the following. The Divine good judges no one, but the Divine truth, for the former examines no one, but the latter explores everyone. The point here is that the Lord does not judge anyone from the Divine truth which proceeds from Him, for this is so united to the Divine good that they are one. The spirit judges himself, for it is the Divine truth received or not received by him that judges him, and it is only because this appears as if the Lord were judging that it is said in the Word that all will be judged by Him.*
* See AE 297.

     The relation of the Lord, and of Divine good and truth, to the judgment of man should be thoroughly understood. The Lord never judges anyone except from good, for He desires to raise all men into heaven, even to Himself; and this because He is mercy itself and good itself, and these can never condemn. It is man who condemns himself because he rejects good. As he had shunned it in the life of the body, so does he continue to shun good in the other life, and with it, heaven and the Lord; for the Lord is not in anything except good, not even in truth separated from good. He is indeed present with all when judgment takes place, and from His Divine love wills to save all and to turn and lead all to Himself. Those who are in good and truth follow His leading; but those who are not turn themselves away from the Lord, and thus to hell. Evidently, then, the Lord does not judge anyone; the Divine truth received judges to heaven those who have received it in heart, and the Divine truth rejected judges to hell those who have not received but have denied it.*
* See AC 2335: 3; AE 297: 2.
     Divine good adjudges all men to heaven, and the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord condemns no one because it is from the Divine good. Evil men condemn themselves to hell because they separate themselves from the Divine good, reject mercy, and in so doing subject themselves to judgment from truth alone, which does condemn. Thus the Lord judges all from justice and hears all from mercy. From justice, because from Divine truth, He judges those who do not receive the Divine good; and from mercy He hears those who do. And even in the final condemnation of the evil the Divine good is not absent; for unless these were separated they would do harm to the good and would seek to destroy order.*
* See AC 2258:2,     6148:     6, 7602:2, 3921, 2255e.

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     Judgment is of the Lord Alone

     However, the final truth is that man's judgment is of the Lord alone. Without the Lord to regulate it, the process could not be one of perfect justice. Only the Lord knows the inmost quality of man's spiritual life. He alone sees the ends and intentions and purposes, the causes and thoughts, from which man's acts proceed. He alone sees simultaneously every one of man's states from infancy to the end of his life in the world, and what the state of his life will be afterwards to eternity. When we reflect on this, and think of the countless thousands of spirits who are being judged continually, we may readily see this truth: only the Lord can so regulate the intromission of spirits into the state of interiors, and control their environment and experiences in it, that their responses will be the full and free expression of the life they have chosen, of their inmost acceptance or rejection of Divine truth, of their will to be separated entirely from evil or from good.*
* See AC 2284: 3, 8620:2; AR 262, 259, 260; AE 687:4.
     Thus, although the Lord judges no one, it is true that all judgment is of the Lord-of His love and of the omniscience of His wisdom. No man need fear that in the judgment after death he will stand before an awful Divine tribunal. What man then faces, and accepts freely and fully, is himself; and that it is really himself, that there can no longer be any uncertainty, is of the omniscience of the Lord.

     Conclusion

     However, man is not involved only in the judgment after death. Throughout his life on earth he is under the necessity of accepting or rejecting other men and thus passing judgment on them. This raises certain problems. What judgments are permissible, and what are not and in the area of allowable judgments what are the criteria that should be adopted? These and related questions will be considered in our next lecture.
BISHOP DE CHARMS NAMED BISHOP EMERITUS 1962

BISHOP DE CHARMS NAMED BISHOP EMERITUS 1962

By unanimous action of the Council of the Clergy and the Board of Directors meeting in joint session on January 27, 1962, the Right Reverend George de Charms was named Bishop Emeritus of the General Church of the New Jerusalem. It is believed that the entire church will approve the granting of this honorary title, traditionally bestowed after retirement as a mark of affection and esteem and in recognition of long and faithful service.

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BY LITTLE AND LITTLE 1962

BY LITTLE AND LITTLE Rev. DOUGLAS TAYLOR 1962

     A TELEVISION TALK

     (Delivered over KVOA-TV, Tucson, Arizona, on the weekly "Clergy of Tucson" program, December 10, 1961.)

     Good morning! Welcome to the Church of the New Jerusalem. The subject chosen for consideration this morning is the matter of spiritual growth-the way we can gradually make the change from loving nothing but natural, worldly things to being concerned for spiritual things, spiritual values.
     Perhaps the most important thing to remember in connection with this is that in all growth there is a gradual progression and development. Any seemingly hasty or accelerated growth is short lived, and in the end proves to be no growth at all. This is true in every field of life-the natural or physical, the mental and the spiritual.

     We hardly need to be reminded that in the maturing of natural things, including the growth and maturation of the body, a certain stated period of time is necessary. There is a fixed and unchanging order through which all growing things in their genera and species must pass. and for any one who already believes in God, this fact is one of the most telling confirmations of the existence of a Divine and Infinite Creator and Sustainer of the universe. All the laws of growth are expressions of the Lord's Divine love and wisdom, and all growth itself is accomplished by means of a general influx from the Lord into all things that are in the order of creation. In this man has no part, for, as the Lord Himself said: "Which one of you by taking thought can add one cubit to his stature?"*
* Matthew 6: 27.
     The case is similar with regard to the laws of mental growth. There is a definite series or progression of states through which all must pass before reaching the state of maturity. The fact that some people pass quickly through some of these states, though lingering longer in others, does not alter the essential fact that all these states must be passed through at some time, quickly or slowly. There has to be a gradual unfolding, step by step, of the potentialities of each individual, and any attempt to advance these states is fraught with great danger. Everyone can see the folly of expecting ten-year olds to be as responsible as youths of twenty or men of thirty.

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Time is needed for the development of mental maturity; mental growth is never instantaneous, any more than physical growth is instantaneous.
     The same law of growth holds true in the matter of spiritual growth. It, too, cannot be anything else than gradual, step to step, "by little and little." Spiritual growth is the development of certain qualities of mind, certain loves or affections that only the Lord can give and implant. These loves reign in heaven, in the heavenly state of mind; and, in general, they are called celestial love, or love to the Lord, and spiritual love, or love towards the neighbor. It is the development and increase of these heavenly loves, as the motivating forces of our thoughts, words and deeds, that is meant by spiritual progress or growth.
     At birth man has none of these heavenly loves whatever. He does have the potentiality of acquiring them, however, and this is what makes him to be human. This is what makes him an image and likeness of God. But as far as his actual loves at birth are concerned, they are only animal appetites. They are not evil: they are provided by the Lord for the sake of self-preservation. They only become evil when man, from fixed purpose, decides to rest content in his natural or hereditary loves, and forsake his spiritual inheritance. For spiritual loves, the loves of heaven, are the birthright of every one. Of the Lord's mercy, every one born into the world is capable of coming into a heavenly state of mind, into heavenly blessedness. Every one is capable of receiving spiritual loves from the Lord, or in other words, every one is capable of having his mind reborn, or regenerated by the Lord. Whether or not a man is actually so regenerated is a matter of his free-will and of his cooperation with the Lord, who is eternally and unceasingly operating to this supreme end, that there might be a heaven made up entirely of people from the human race.

     This rebirth or regeneration, like all birth, generation and growth, is never instantaneous or accomplished in a moment. For the whole structure of the mind has to be made over anew. It has to become of a different quality. From inclining towards selfish gratification, it has to be turned in the direction of loving the Lord above all things and the neighbor as one s self. This is a profound and fundamental change, which cannot be wrought in a moment. It involves a re-arrangement of every cell of the spiritual organic, or the mind. For the human mind is an organism-it is an organization of spiritual substances just as surely as the body is an organization of natural substances. Just as the body consists of an orderly arrangement of natural organs, so does the mind consist of an orderly arrangement of spiritual organs. And what is more, the organs of the body correspond in the minutest detail to the organs of the mind, and so do the functions of each of them.

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Thus, for example, there is spiritual sight or seeing, and its organ is the understanding, which corresponds to the eye, the organ of natural sight or seeing. So we sometimes say that we see, when we really mean that we understand. This correspondence applies in all cases; but the point of interest at the moment is this; that the spiritual organic, or the mind, can no more be changed suddenly or grow to maturity in a moment than can the natural organic, or the body. Even if it were possible for a man to be regenerated (or saved from selfishness) instantaneously, he would be spiritually torn asunder and destroyed. All growth must be gradual and according to order; it can never be unduly hastened.
     From this it is obvious how serious a mistake it is to suppose that one can be instantaneously converted or saved by a sudden and irresistible inrush of faith in the Lord. It is simply against the nature of things for anyone to be able to state the day and the hour of his salvation. For no man can be saved or turned completely to the Lord in a moment. This can be done only successively, according to certain ordered steps, and can in no wise be speeded up. As we have seen, it involves a complete turning around and re-orientation of the mind that man inherits by birth. And this mind inclines to be delighted by, and therefore dominated by, the loves of self and the world. It has to be gradually changed and reorganized so that it is pervaded instead by love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbor. Between these two extreme states, there is a great gulf fixed, and this cannot be bridged except after a considerable lapse of time, together with persistent effort.

     Now, all this is involved, in general, in the biblical story of the conquest of the land of Canaan by the Israelites, and in particular by the words of Moses addressed to the people on the eve of their entrance into the land: "And the Lord thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beast of the field increase upon thee."* But before expounding these words any further, something needs to be said, by way of explanation, about our entire approach to the Bible, because in some respects it will seem somewhat different, if you are as yet unacquainted with the teachings of the Church of the New Jerusalem.
* Deuteronomy 7: 22.
     This church might well be called the Church of the Open Word, because it teaches that there is an internal sense within the stories of the Bible; a heavenly meaning, if you like, within the earthly stories. This, of course, is a more or less familiar idea, because, after all, the Lord Himself, while on earth, spoke all the time according to this principle.

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     We can see this from His parables. They were earthly stories which had a heavenly or internal meaning within them. Take, for example, the parable of the Sower. In that the Lord seemed to be talking agriculture- He spoke of a Sower going forth to sow, and of the way certain kinds of ground did or did not receive the seed. But, as we all know, He was really talking about spiritual things-about the way the truth of the Word, which acts like a seed in the mind, is received by certain states of mind, and rejected by others. It is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.
     But it is not only the parables that are written in this way. The entire Word is so constructed. Every jot and tittle of the Old Testament and the New Testament has this internal meaning within it, even those parts that are taken from Jewish history and from the life of the Lord. They are facts of history, certainly; but they are much more than that. They were selected by the Lord to be an embodiment, or a vessel, for this internal sense.

     If you think about it, you can see for yourself that this idea really opens up the Word, and makes it no longer a closed book. When we see that the Word has to do first and foremost with the laws of the human mind, and that even in the most barbarous Bible story there are concealed spiritual principles that apply to our lives here and now, then our attitude to the Word begins to undergo a change.
     However-as you have no doubt said to yourselves already-it is one thing to state that there is an internal meaning within the Bible, but it is quite another matter to show that this is the case. Let us, therefore, take this new view of the Bible and return to the proposition that all that has been said about spiritual growth is involved in the biblical story of the conquest of the land of Canaan. The part that concerns us at the moment is the speech made by Moses just before sending the Israelites forth to enter into the land. He said, in part: "When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast our many nations before thee . . . seven nations greater and mightier than thou; and when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them. . . . For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. . . And thou shalt consume all the people which the Lord thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shall thou serve their gods; for that will be a snare unto thee. If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them? . . .

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Thou shalt not be affrighted at them: for the Lord thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible. And the Lord thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little; thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee." (This is from Deuteronomy, chapter 7.)
     Now, as we have just read, the Israelites were a chosen people, "a special people" unto the Lord, "above all people that are upon the face of the earth."* This does not mean that they were to be better or more exalted than any other race of God's creatures. It simply means that, because of their inborn nature, they were more suitable than any other race for performing a very special use, namely, that of acting out (or portraying by outward acts) the regeneration of the human mind. For every man of the church has his exodus from Egypt, the land of bondage to sensual things; every man has his years of wandering in the wilderness, and his battles to possess the holy land, the land of Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey. The land of Canaan represents the kingdom of the Lord, or that state of mind where the Lord is the king reigning over the whole mind. As a land flowing with milk and honey, it stands for the heavenly loves that are meant to be the inheritance of mankind, the celestial and spiritual loves which the Lord promises will be possessed by the natural or conscious mind, represented here by the sons of Israel.
* Deuteronomy 7: 6.

     Now, the great obstacle to attaining and possessing these heavenly loves is the presence of evil desires and false reasonings in the deepest recesses of the mind. These are the enemy nations-the Canaanites, the Amorites, and all the rest enumerated in this chapter. And because these evils and falsities are banded together and connected one with another by means of alliances, they do indeed seem formidable, great and mighty, and cause the man of the church to say within himself: "These nations are more than I how can I dispossess them?"*
* Verse 17.
     But it is added: "Thou shalt not be affrighted at them: for the Lord thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible."* The whole might and power, the omnipotence of the Lord's Divine Providence, that is, of His love and wisdom, is behind the driving out of our evils; and if the Lord is with us in this campaign, who can be against us? The Lord works unceasingly to bring our evils before our gaze. He delivers them up before us, and it is our part to shun them, to have nothing to do with them, and show them no mercy or pity whatsoever, because they are our spiritual enemies. This is the meaning of the words: "And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them."**
* Verse 21.
** Verse 2.

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     Hence it is that what seems in the literal sense of the story to be nothing but a cruel and barbaric command, is in reality, that is, in the spiritual sense, a most essential spiritual law and rule of conduct; that we are to shew no mercy to the evils that the Lord allows us to see in ourselves. For these are a snare unto us; enemies and usurpers of the land-the state of mind-that properly ought to belong to us.

     But let us note that two things are said: First, that the Lord will show us our evils, which we are subsequently to destroy; and secondly. on the other hand it is said that the Lord will drive these evils out. Who, then, does drive them out? Do we? or does the Lord?
     The answer is to be seen acted out within the recorded history of the Israelites: whenever they acted on the Lord's instructions and followed His commandments to the letter, when they acted as if they alone had to do the work but yet went into the battle with the firm conviction that the Lord was on their side and went among them into battle, they invariably succeeded. Or, rather, the Lord aided them and brought about the victory. If, however, they forgot about the Lord and contrived to do it all from themselves and for their own sake, they suffered the most humiliating and pitiable defeats.
     The spiritual lessons contained within all these incidents are too numerous to be elaborated at this point, but chief among them is the doctrine which we call "the as-of-one's self." It is simply this: that if we fight against the evil delights that the Lord uncovers in our minds and shun them for no other reason than that they are sins against the Lord, if we act against them as of ourselves, as if we alone desired to do it, yet nevertheless acknowledge that this desire and this endeavor are inspired by the Lord; if we do this, we shall be delivered from those evils. This is what is meant by the term "as-of-one's self."
     And we are further taught that to the extent that we turn the mind away from some forbidden delight, to the same extent, and no more, can the Lord take away our subconscious appetite for that evil. He cuts it off at the source, as it were. But this cannot be done immediately, the first time we shun the evil. The reason is that all evils are so connected together and organized that they cannot be dispersed in a moment. This must be done "by little and little." It may take years of shunning a delight forbidden in the Word before our subconscious craving for it can be driven out by the Lord.

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Yet, of course, if we do not shun that delight whenever it crops up in the mind, if instead we give our consent to its presence, and in fact enjoy it, then we slow down the process; we hinder the Lord by not co-operating with him in the removal of our more interiors evils. Thus we do have a part in determining by how much or by how little our evils are remitted, or forgiven.
     We cannot get rid of our evils all at once. We cannot consume the nations at once, lest "the beasts of the field" be multiplied against us. The "beasts of the field" mean the false reasonings that try to make our bestial desires allowable and even praiseworthy, the fallacies of the senses that would consume us and shut up the mind against anything spiritual, if our evils were suddenly to be removed. Then our last state would be worse than our first.

     How this comes about can be very vividly seen also by considering the literal, earthly story. We can all see that if the evil nations had been hurriedly driven out, the land would have become desolate. Even the evil nations performed some use to the Israelites simply by being in the land, for, at least, they made it habitable. They tilled and cultivated it and made it productive. Moreover, they were able to kill off some of the wild beasts, and keep them in check. It was much better that they should be allowed to continue doing that than that they be driven out en masse, and leave the Israelites, described as "the fewest of all people," to do it all. This would have been an impossible task. The land would have gone to rack and ruin, and the beasts of the field would have multiplied unchecked.
     The same kind of desolation and wreckage would exist in the human mind if our evils were to be taken away suddenly without good affections being implanted in their place. While we are still largely unregenerate, our very life is in our evils, in things forbidden by the Word. To pluck them out instantaneously would be to pluck out our life. Besides, they do perform a very useful function. For example, our pride and self- esteem, such essentially evil motives as a fear of losing our reputation, our social standing, or our employment, even these unworthy motives can be a spur to controlling our baser, sensual evils and their falsities, the "beasts of the field." If our merely natural motives were suddenly taken away before genuinely good and spiritual motives were implanted, there would be nothing to check our corporeal and sensual evils. Thus our last state would be far worse than our first.
     That is why man can be regenerated only "by little and little." Although we know this only too well, we are apt to forget it, and find ourselves impatiently wishing that the Lord would hasten to drive out our evils, and make us more speedily the kind of spiritual beings we long to become.

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But we can be sure of this: that every single time we shun an evil as a sin against the Lord, even though that may seem to be but a little thing, every time we do that, a good affection is implanted. For the very desire to shun an evil, in fact, the light by which we see it in ourselves, this comes from the Lord. Of ourselves, we would revel in every imaginable evil. The fact that we resist is a sign that a good affection is present. It is a sign that "by little and little" the Lord is putting out the nations.
Let us go forward, then, step by step, with the Lord among us, to possess the land flowing with milk and honey, the land of our inheritance. Amen.
[EDITOR'S NOTE. The giving of the above address was a notable occasion. It was the first presentation of New Church doctrine on television in the history of the General Church.]
IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1962

IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1962

With the permission of the author and of the CHRISTIAN HERALD, the Swedenborg Foundation has reprinted an article, Religious Offbeat, by Earl L. Douglass, published in that journal and originally presented as a study of Emanuel Swedenborg to a group of clergymen and educators at Princeton, N. J. In his impartial study Dr. Douglass says, quite correctly, that Swedenborg did not accept all the books of the Old Testament; and that of the New Testament books he accepted only the Gospels and the Apocalypse. "'The rest,' he said. 'have no continuous internal sense.'"
This, the Foundation says, shocked "Swedenborgian readers." Swedenborg, the Foundation insists, "accepted the traditional Protestant canon of both Old and New Testaments. The Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is the inspired Word of God, which he calls `The Crown of Revelation.' " Swedenborg "deletes nothing. Rather he imparts a further holiness to the Bible." It is indeed strange to find the Foundation contradicting a Presbyterian minister who is far more in the right here; and it passes comprehension how anyone aware of what the Writings teach can insist that the entire Bible is the inspired Word of God and the internal sense simply a characteristic of some books of the Word. This is not accommodation. It is misrepresentation-and no good can come of it.

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NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1962

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS Rev. FREDERICK L. SCHNARR 1962

     Our readings from the Arcana Coelestia for the past few months have included numerous teachings concerning the nature and constitution of the hells. Many of the descriptions of the living quarters of evil spirits, the scenery of hell, the terrible perversions, the punishments and tortures meted out by evil spirits to one another, seem almost out of place when we think of the beauty of truth and the radiance of good that are revealed in the Lord's second coming.
     The descriptions of the hells are so unpleasant that many, from natural inclination, tend to avoid them, shun them, or skip hastily through them. There is, perhaps, a feeling of disgust and revulsion, a feeling that one is being introduced to unclean thoughts and states. When the general attitudes of modern thought-the denial of the reality of hell, of evil, of falsity and of sin-are added to natural sentiment and inclination, disturbing questions arise which, if not answered by study and reflection on the Word, may lead to a partial and thus false acceptance of the nature and authority of Divine revelation. Are all the varied descriptions of hell necessary? Do evil and false states need to be described in such crude and open terms? Does Divine revelation need to deal so often with the nature of the loves of self and the world? Surely, if the Lord is loving and merciful, the hells are only temporary? Surely, evil spirits will be raised up into heaven after they have seen the error and futility of their ways? Needless to say, these questions have arisen among some New Church men, and in certain areas seem to be finding a definite and confirmed reception.

     But let us beware of pursuing such thoughts! They call into question the very wisdom of the Lord in formulating Divine revelation as He did; they call into question the authority of that revelation; and they place the judgment of human inclination and sentiment above that of Divine truth.
     If we but look, and pay attention to the instruction the Lord has given us, we will see that He explains, clearly and amply, why it is necessary for evils and falsities to be disclosed; not just as mental abstractions, but as real forms of life, of love, of thought, of action and deed, of pleasure, and even of physical surroundings.

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So external and perverted are man's inheritance and his selfish love that he needs to see evil and falsity in living fullness. This cannot be seen clearly merely by an examination of life on earth; it can be seen only from the sight of life in hell itself. In no other way can the Lord impress upon us the dreadful nature of the loves and inclinations into which each one of us is born-real loves and real inclinations from the eternal and terrible power of the evils and falsities of hell present with us. It is of the utmost importance to our salvation that the Lord has made this disclosure of hell, that we may examine ourselves, see the presence of evils and falsities in our loves of self and the world, fear them, abhor them, shun them, and seek the Lord's help in fighting and conquering them.
This is the wisdom and love of the Lord, and the mercy of the Lord, that we have the means to be freed from the infernal life of our heredity, and to be protected by the Lord all the days of our lives, even though we "should be encompassed by all hell, both within and without."*
* AC 968.
OUR NEW CHURCH VOCABULARY 1962

OUR NEW CHURCH VOCABULARY 1962

Conjunction. Only in the Writings do we find the expression, conjunction with the Lord; and find it used, not of a mystical state, but of one that may be understood rationally. A common love, thought and purpose are what bring men together; and by conjunction with the Lord is meant a state in which man, from the Lord's love received as good in the will, and His wisdom received as truth in the understanding, is engaged finitely in the same uses as the Lord performs infinitely. It is a state in which the Lord is in man as the source of the good he wills, the truth he thinks and the uses he does, and man is in the Lord because in good and truth which are the Lord and are from Him.
It may be useful to note the distinctions among the terms, union, conjunction and consociation. Union is used of two things which together make one, and is therefore reserved for the relation of the Divine and the Human in the Lord after glorification, and for the conjugial marriage in which the minds of husband and wife make one mind. Conjunction is used to describe the regenerate man's relation with the Lord, in which man becomes a vessel receptive of life, whereas the Lord by union with the Divine became life itself in the Human. Consociation describes the regenerated man's relation with the angels as with brethren. (See TCR 725: AR 819; AC 2021; AR 818: EU 64.)

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AS THE TREE FALLS 1962

AS THE TREE FALLS Editor 1962

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 Business Manager. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.

TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$5.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy 50 cents.
     Thoughtful New Church men are often perplexed by the teaching that such as a man is at the time of his death, such he remains to eternity. The longest span on earth scarcely seems sufficient for the making of an eternal choice, the forming of an eternal love and life; and there are countless men and women whose upbringing, education, training and lifelong environment are such that it does not seem that they have ever had the opportunity to make a real choice. These are serious questions, not to be sloughed off, nor answered lightly or quickly.
     However, there are certain things that may usefully be recalled. What has been determined at the time of man's death is his inmost love, and this is known only to the Lord. Also, what has been determined is the kind of things the man will love more than anything else when they are set before him in a state of freedom, and in many instances that cannot be done until after death. The Divine Providence which enters into the time of every man's death is the providence of the Lord who sees the end from the beginning, who knows what man is and wills to be.
     Without spiritual truth, the spiritual mind cannot be opened here on earth. But it is not necessarily closed. Those whom the Lord foresees will choose spiritual life when it is set before them He withholds from interior confirmation of evils and falsities; and this in ways that are unknown to us, and no matter how seemingly hopeless their external situation may seem to be. The tree indeed lies as it fell; but it falls along the line that man has chosen in genuine freedom, or that the Lord foresees he will choose when he comes into that freedom.

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UNIQUE CONCEPT OF GOVERNMENT 1962

UNIQUE CONCEPT OF GOVERNMENT Editor 1962

     In his address to the First General Assembly, held in 1897, Bishop W. F. Pendleton said: "The quality of a church is according to the quality of its government, or according to the idea of government which rules within it. If a natural idea of government rules, then the church will be natural; but if government is seen under a spiritual idea, this idea reigning in all its parts, then the church will be a spiritual church." These words, always pertinent, have peculiar force today, when for many democracy has become a religion, and the church, always susceptible to pressure from without, hears more and more frequently that its government should be democratic.
     The form of government proposed and accepted under that principle is known among us as ecclesiastical government, and by that term a unique concept is expressed: not government by the church, either by a priestly hierarchy or by the laity through a congregational form of organization, but government of the church by the Lord through His teaching in the Writings and through the leading of His Divine Providence and of the Holy Spirit. This that the church may be in a state of order and freedom, and so receive that influx which keeps open communication with heaven, and makes it competent to perform its uses of teaching and leading.
     Under this concept there are no human governors in the usual sense of the term. It is true, of course, that while the Lord governs the church with the individual immediately, He governs it as an organized body through men as instruments. But these men are administrators of Divine law, not directors of the church's affairs; and that there may be freedom, their administration is not by command or by any external compulsion. The function of the priesthood is to mediate influx from the Lord; to present what it believes to be the Lord's will, and this in such a way that there may be free and rational consideration, and then a willing response to that which is felt to be indeed the Lord's leading.
     We know that unless the Lord is present in His Divine Human, the church is dead and the way of eternal life is closed. We know also that the Lord's presence in the church is manifested by the operation of the Holy Spirit, and this especially in the enlightenment of the priesthood. To judge the spiritual state of the church is forbidden, and it would be unrealistic to claim that all the efforts made in the past have been unqualifiedly successful. But we believe that the Lord is with the church, and so believing we look to the priesthood for leadership in those matters which pertain to the administration and the spiritual uses of the church, yet retaining the power to reject by orderly process that which would seem on serious consideration to represent some other leading than the Lord's. In this our government is unique.

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ARE WE OVER-ACCOMMODATING 1962

ARE WE OVER-ACCOMMODATING RAYMOND B. DAVID 1962

Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:
     I have just been reading in the October, 1913, NEW CHURCH LIFE. This is, of course, a small sample from which to draw conclusions, but it seems to me that contributors to LIFE at that time were considerably more outspoken than they are today. At times they used pretty strong language in defending the basic premises of the General Church. It makes very lively reading.
     It has always been assumed, as far as I know, that personal contact of New Church men with those not in the church is the most effective means of evangelization. I would question this assumption on the following grounds: the church has grown at a rate of about forty per year, and this has been very nearly constant for the past sixty years. And yet today there are nearly 3,000 General Church contacts with those not in the church, while sixty years ago there were only 500. The church, then, should be growing at five or six times the rate of sixty years ago.
     Now the church growth statistics do not take into account an increasing death rate. But, significantly, the average number of new membership certificates per year has increased from 67.3 (1910-1919) to 74.5 (1910-1959). I do not know what percentages of these figures represent growth from outside sources, but there seems, at any rate, to be no correlation of the number of new members with the number of contacts.
     From this we may conclude that the principle in question is invalid. Or is it possible that the principle is true, but that it is not being applied in the same way that it was? I am inclined to believe the principle in spite of the statistics. I wonder whether the fire and zeal of the early men of the church could have produced six times the results of our present efforts? What other conclusion can we reach?
     It may be that some of the adaptive spirit of the Convention has invaded our own missionary efforts. Certainly we believe that the truth must be adapted to the vessel that is to receive it. We apply this every day with our children in the home and school. Perhaps we are adapting more than we should in our contacts with adults outside the church.
     RAYMOND B. DAVID
Glendale, California
DOCTRINE AND THE LAYMAN 1962

DOCTRINE AND THE LAYMAN FRED C. FRAZEE 1962

Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:
Commenting on your editorial, "Doctrine and the Layman," it seems obvious that the formation of the doctrine for the church is a priestly function. However, does not the function of the layman involve the effort to understand at in the light of the genuine doctrine, as found in the Writings? And when, at times, it seems to differ, is it disorderly for him to say so?
For instance, it seems confusing when you fail to discriminate between the Word and the Writings, as you have done in your article. And some of our ministers have stated that this should be done. But this does not mean that we fail to acknowledge that the essential of the Word is in the Writings, any more than that we should fail to acknowledge that the essential of man is his spirit within his body. An example is also to be found in the Animal Kingdom, where it is made understandable that when the blood is mentioned, the red blood is meant, within which is the purer blood and the formative substance or spirituous fluid.

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But when the latter are dealt with, those terms are used to prevent confusion.
     When some ministers of the church repudiate Dr. Iungerich's presentation of the doctrine of the Divine mercy toward the unborn, they prove beyond all doubt that they have not read his arguments, and the references he gives, with strict attention. One of the ministers admitted that he had not read the work, yet denied the truth of it. Is it, therefore, not my function to disagree with the ministers in question? But where Dr. Iungerich tells us in his Palace of Wisdom that while man is free to reject heaven and choose hell, he is not free to reject the use which he was ordained to perform if be had chosen heaven, he claims that his use is the same, but a vile phase of his ordained use; whereas I conceive that heaven is all that hell is not, and therefore his rejected heavenly use is all that his infernal use is not, therefore not the same use.
     All this seems to imply that a layman must needs use his powers of discrimination, which the Writings also teach him so to do-although not to the extent of causing a disturbance in the church. But it may also imply greater appreciation of the ministrations of the priests of the church in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
     FRED C. FRAZEE
     Victoria, B. C., Canada
NEW TRANSLATION 1962

NEW TRANSLATION 1962

     Those who love the Writings will always rejoice when some part of them is for the first time made available to a people in their own tongue. News of such an event has come from Stockholm, where a mimeographed translation of Conjugial Love, Part I, into Norwegian has been issued in a limited edition. The translation is the work of Mr. Michael Eckhoff of Stavanger, and as it can be read in Denmark as well as in Norway this edition can be used by New Church people in two countries.
     Funds for the publication of Mr. Eckhoff's MSS. by letterpress were not available, and as the use was more important than the format it was decided to go to mimeographing. Under the direction of the Rev. Bjorn Boyesen, the work then became a Scandinavian enterprise. Mrs. Borghild Berner of Stavanger, daughter of the translator, prepared all the stencils, which were donated by the Liden Company; and although the binding was done professionally, the mimeographing and assembling was done in the Stockholm Society. As a result, the volume sells for the modest price of 7 kr., Swedish, Danish or Norwegian.
     It is regretted that publication of the entire work was not possible at this time. Size alone would have made a two-volume work desirable; but Mr. Eckhoff's death, in 1952, came before he had translated the second part of Conjugial Love, and that part of the work awaits another scholar. Those concerned decided, wisely, that the importance of making Part I available far outweighed any consideration of waiting until the entire work could be offered. They are to be congratulated.

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Church News 1962

Church News Various 1962

     GENERAL CHURCH

     On February 1, 1962, the following gentlemen, second year students in the Theological School of the Academy, were authorized as Candidates for the priesthood: Robert Hudson Pendleton Cole, Kurt Paul Nemitz, and Lorentz Ray Soneson.

     NORTH OHIO

     It is about time that NEW CHURCH LIFE had a report of the activities of the North Ohio Circle. We meet monthly for worship at the Cuyahoga Falls Women's Club. Cuyahoga Falls is a few miles north of Akron and about eight miles south of the Ohio Turnpike, so it had proved to be a most central spot for the group, which is divided between the extreme east and west of Cleveland, to say nothing of Youngstown, 60 miles east.
     The Rev. Louis B. King is our visiting pastor. On Saturday evening a doctrinal class is held in one of the homes. After the service on Sunday morning a simple luncheon is served to the children. Then they gather around tables according to their age group and are instructed by the pastor in their class work, while the adults settle the affairs of state in another room. The average attendance is 12 children and 18 adults.
     At the annual meeting in June 1961, Mr. Oliver Powell was elected treasurer to take the place of Mr. Frank Norman, who died in December 1960, after having served many years in that office. Dr. Philip de Maine is secretary. Our good friend Stella Norris died in October, and we miss her loyal support.
     The area covers so much territory that there are no Circle activities in between the monthly meetings. Each family has to assume full responsibility for its own worship and study.
     NORAH NORMAN

     PITTSBURGH, PA.

     The Pittsburgh Society is blessed in having the services of two ministers: the pastor, the Rev. Louis B. King, and his assistant, the Rev. Kurt H. Asplundh. Working as a team, their efforts certainly show in our spirit and in the increased attendance at our functions.
     One of our most impressive services occurred on September 24, last year, when Mr. King baptized the entire Clifford family-Mr. William H. Clifford, his wife Mary, and their three children. Two weeks later, on Sunday October 8, at Freeport, Mr. King baptized the entire William Heilman family-Mr. William Heilman, his wife Dorothy, and their five children. At our annual meeting in October we noted that two new names were called, those of Mr. Paul Simonetti and Mr. Robert Hunsaker, who had been baptized in the spring.
     Our school started its 75th year last September. The enrollment of 44 pupils included those in the kindergarten and the ninth grade.
     Theta Alpha was on the job early in the fall. The chapter held a rummage sale in a business section of town and netted over $100.00. This money is being used to help pay Sunday school expenses, for gifts to the school and the library, and to pay for the Swedenborg's birthday banquet for the school children. Theta Alpha also sponsored a shower for Joyce Schoenberger, who was preparing to attend school at the Academy. The Sons of the Academy were also active, sponsoring a picnic which was held through the courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. A. H. Lindsay at their farm in Freeport.

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The Sons presented two volumes of the Writings to each of the four young men on their way to the Academy: John Abele, Jeffrey Carr, Robert Kendig and Timothy Stevens.
     In October we had a delightful visit from the Rev. Fred Schnarr and his wife Edna, who formerly taught school here. Mr. Schnarr gave us a fine class on "The Moral Virtues" in which he came right down to externals, where truth can be applied to life. After class, we were all invited to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Gareth Acton to meet the Schnarrs and visit with them. Mr. Schnarr also preached a fine sermon on Sunday.
     On November 11, we had a wonderful episcopal visit from Bishop Willard D. Pendleton. On Friday evening we had a special supper with toasts and songs, ending with a toast by Bishop Pendleton to the societies, circles and groups all over the world which, like our own, are carrying on the uses of the church. He followed with an address on the doctrine of the Word and the doctrine of the Lord, in which he told us how the Lord had revealed Himself in the Old and New Testaments, and then how He came again in the Writings in power and great glory; for nowhere did He say that He would come in person, but in and as the Spirit of truth. After the class, Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Asplundh and Mr. and Mrs. Quentin Ebert held an open house so that we could all visit with Bishop Pendleton. The Bishop also preached on Sunday, met with the Sons of the Academy at Lee Horigan's on Sunday night, and then gave a talk to the school children on Sunday morning. Both in his class and in his sermon Bishop Pendleton stressed the importance of reading the Word in the letter in order to understand the Writings.
     The Pittsburgh Society, situated as it is in Pennsylvania, entertains many visitors, particularly at holiday times. This all adds to the sphere of our worship. Thanksgiving weekend was such a time. We had a large Thanksgiving service. On Friday there was a square dance, put on by our social committee, Mr. and Mrs. Quentin Ebert, and on Saturday night the school put on a very fine performance of the play, "Tom Sawyer," which was directed by Mrs. Robert Blair. It was both work and fun for the children and we all enjoyed it thoroughly.
     The Christmas tableaux were among the best we have ever had and the attendance was the largest on record. Mr. Harry Abele did a magnificent job in staging the scenes. They were simple but most effective, done as they were with ancient music played on records in the background. There were four scenes in all. The first depicted Isaiah's prophecy, the second the Annunciation. A light was used to represent the angel, and there Mary stood alone to receive the greatest news of all time-that the Lord was to live on earth, and that she, Mary, would be His mother. The third tableau presented the shepherds, with a panoramic scene of the starry sky in the background. The fourth was the Nativity scene. After the tableaux each child received a gift. This year more than one hundred names were called. With most of these children present you can well imagine the powerful sphere that we felt.
     During the Christmas holidays we had several social occasions worthy of note. The Saturday before Christmas the Society was invited by Mrs. A. P. Lindsay to attend a Christmas sing at her beautiful home. There was a large attendance and the singing lifted our hearts. Then, on the Friday after Christmas, we had a grand ball, complete with orchestra and superb decorations. We were so happy to have many of our students present besides many guests. On Sunday afternoon the pastor and his wife invited all the adults to an open house at their home. The entire family gives you a hearty welcome.
     The Rev. Daniel Heinrichs preached on January 7th. With his wife, the former Miriam Smith, and daughter he was here from Durban, South Africa. They brought with them a sphere of zeal and devotion for carrying on the uses of the church. Mr. Heinrichs gave us a talk on Friday, January 12, which was a graphic story of his work, its related difficulties, and real accomplishments in South Africa.

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     Our Friday classes have been consistently successful this season, and well attended, as is evidenced by the fact that we have regularly had to put up extra tables and chairs. The Rev. Kurt Asplundh gave a series of classes on the Ten Commandments, and the Rev. Louis King a series on the Divine Proceeding.
     There were 22 baptisms in our Society last year-a record.
     Obituary. Mr. Walter H. Faulkner passed into the spiritual world last December 11. He was the oldest member of the Pittsburgh Society. Back in old Allegheny City, now Pittsburgh, he, as well as his sister Nellie (Mrs. Charles H. Ebert), attended our New Church school at the time of its beginning in the 1880's. Uncle Walter was so friendly and kind that it was said of him that he had the wisdom of life.
     LUCILE S. BLAIR

     THE CHURCH AT LARGE

     General Convention. At a meeting held last December, the Boards of Managers and Directors of the New Church Theological School, Cambridge, Mass., unanimously adopted in principle a new program of study for the school, took steps to make further studies in regard to remodeling the present buildings or the building of entirely new facilities, and heard preliminary reports on proposals for a possible relocation of the school itself and for an experiment in new approaches to the ministry and church programming. The new training program will be put into practice gradually for students now enrolled in the school, and should be in full operation for the next entering class.
     The Rev. Richard H. Tafel, president-elect of Convention, will be the preacher at the annual meeting, to be held this year at Pawnee Rock, Kansas. At that time Mr. Tafel will begin his three-year term in office.
     The NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER reported recently that an "Agreement of Accord" between the Southeastern Association and a minority group has been worked out, implemented, and approved by the Judge of the Circuit Court of Pinellas County, Florida. Under the terms of the agreement, which constitutes a complete bar to any further litigation, the Association's name will be changed. A new incorporated association is being formed with the name, Southeast Association of the New Jerusalem Church, Inc. When its charter is granted by the State of Florida, this new association will apply to the General Convention for membership and recognition as the duly accredited member body of Convention in the Southeast. The Rev. Leslie Marshall and the Rev. Ernest L. Frederick will continue to serve the body. The minority group, which will have no connection with Convention, has changed its name and incorporated as The Southern Swedenborg Federation, Inc.

     Australia. Under the auspices of its president, the Rev. C. V. A. Hasler, the "New Church in Australia" has launched a study scheme for 1962. The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine has been chosen for the first course, and the Rev. Richard H. Teed has agreed to prepare the lessons, which are designed to give a short weekly commentary on the assigned paragraphs of the book. The scheme, which is intended to supplement the work of study groups in societies, has been undertaken in the belief that it would be of great value if the entire church body were to follow a course of study and go systematically through one book of the Writings.

     SWEDENBORG FOUNDATION

     A model of an aircraft designed by Swedenborg was presented to the Smithsonian Institution by the Rev. Karl R. Alden on behalf of the Swedenborg Foundation in New York last December. The model was built by Mr. Gustav Genzlinger of Bryn Athyn from drawings made by Swedenborg. It was received by Dr. Paul Edward Garber, Curator of the Air Museum, Smithsonian Institution, in which it is now a permanent exhibit.

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TWENTY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1962

     Announcements

     Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania

     Friday, June 15, to Tuesday, June 19, 1962, inclusive

President's Reception:     Thursday, June 14, 8:30 p.m.*
Commencement Exercises: Friday morning, June 15 *
Registration:     Friday afternoon, June 15
First Session:     Friday evening, June 15, 8:00 p.m.
Banquet:     Tuesday evening, June 19, 7:00 p.m.
     * All Assembly guests are cordially invited to attend the President's Reception and the Commencement Exercises of the Academy Schools, which immediately precede the Assembly.
     Accommodations will be available Thursday night, June 14. Catered meal service begins with breakfast on Friday morning.
     The first general mailing has been made. The program will appear in the April issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE.

Robert H. Asplundh, Chairman
2700 Alnwick Road
Bryn Athyn, Pa.

Adele Gladish (Mrs. Richard R. Gladish), Housing and Registration
2941 Marlin Road
Bryn Athyn, Pa.

Geoffrey Cooper, Treasurer
2685 South Avenue
Bryn Athyn, Pa.

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FREEDOM IN THE CHOICE OF A BISHOP 1962

FREEDOM IN THE CHOICE OF A BISHOP EDITOR 1962

VOL. LXXXII

     APRIL, 1962
     It is known that there is on the part of some a feeling that our mode of procedure does not grant to the Assembly, and therefore to the church as a whole, sufficient freedom in the choice of a Bishop. This is, of course, a grave matter, and it deserves serious consideration. For it is important not only that the Assembly shall be in freedom but that it shall understand what that freedom is, feel and exercise it, and assume with clear comprehension the responsibility it entails.
     Is this feeling well grounded, or may it yield to a better understanding of what that mode seeks to accomplish and of what the real function of the Assembly is? If the only action permitted the Assembly were that of ratifying the decision of the Council of the Clergy and the Board of Directors, it would have no freedom whatsoever; but this is not the case, for the Council only initiates the choice and the Board concurs or asks for a reconsideration. And if there is freedom only where there is opportunity to choose between or among candidates, then there is no freedom either. But that is not the only kind of freedom there is, and it is not the freedom we are trying to establish in the church!

     In a recent editorial it was pointed out that the church is not a democracy. It is under ecclesiastical government, which is not government by the church-priesthood or laity-but government of the church by the Lord. What we are trying to establish is a spiritual church governed by the Lord from within through the conscience of individual members: through the willingness of each one to follow what he sincerely believes to be the leading of the Lord's providence. In such a church, the freedom to be desired and striven for is internal, spiritual freedom and concerning that kind of freedom two things should be noted. A man is not really in freedom until the relevant truths, facts or information have been placed before him; and then his choice is not really among a number of possibilities.

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Essentially it is a choice between accepting or rejecting the Lord's leading; of saying, Yea, yea, or Nay, nay, to what the Divine Providence sets before him. That is the real choice within spiritual freedom, and this is true in all things of life.

     This conviction led, in the past, to our mode of selecting a Bishop. The Assembly is not asked to go through the mere formality of giving the stamp of approval to a fait accompli; nor is it intended, under the order of the General Church, that the choice should originate on the floor of the Assembly by the naming of one or more candidates, and that one of those so nominated should be elected by vote of the Assembly. This would be a radical departure from our order, according to which the choice is initiated in and by the Council of the Clergy.
     If it is not the function of the Assembly to make a choice from among individuals, what is its real function in the selection of a Bishop, and wherein does its freedom consist? As the body best qualified to do so by virtue of its intimate knowledge of the men and the uses involved, the Council of the Clergy has named, from its entire membership, the priest whom it considers to be most suited for the office of Bishop of the General Church. In so doing, it expresses its hope and belief that it has followed the leading of the Divine Providence in recognizing the preparation and qualifications of that man.
     However, the Council of the Clergy does not claim infallibility, and it neither can nor would desire to impose its choice upon the church. What the Assembly, acting for the entire church, is asked to do is to consider freely whether it sincerely believes that the nomination made is according to the Lord's leading, and then record its belief by an assenting or a dissenting vote. If the Assembly believes that the nomination is indeed of the Divine Providence, then its affirmative vote should be a solemn, conscious, responsible expression of that belief and of its sincere desire to act in accordance with the Lord's will. On the other hand, if an Assembly should ever believe sincerely that the nomination placed before it is not in accord with the Lord's leading, then it has the duty and responsibility, and should have the moral courage, to reject the nomination. In that case, the Council would reconsider, and the church would continue under an Acting Bishop.
     There is, then, real freedom, even if it is not what might at first be thought of as freedom. When we come to the Assembly, the name of the candidate will have been before the church for several months. There will have been time for serious thought. The Assembly will provide opportunity for a free and responsible expression of the results of that thinking and reflection.

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LORD'S TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM 1962

LORD'S TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM Rev. GEORGE DE CHARMS 1962

     "And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him, and He sat upon him." (Mark 11: 7)

     The Lord had been traveling down the Jordan valley, stopping at the villages on the way, and advancing slowly in order that He might arrive at Jerusalem just in time for the feast of the Passover. When the Pharisees warned Him that Herod was seeking to kill Him "He said unto them, Go ye. and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected. Nevertheless I must walk today, and tomorrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem."*
* Luke 13: 31-33.
     Ascending the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, the Lord came to the village of Bethany. There He and His disciples supped in the house of Lazarus; and as they were eating, Mary anointed the Lord's feet with spikenard, and wiped them with her hair. When Judas Iscariot protested that the ointment should have been sold and the money given to the poor, the Lord said; "Let her alone: against the day of My burying hath she kept this. For the poor always ye have with you; but Me ye have not always."*
* John 12: 7, 8.
     The next day the Lord sent two of His disciples to the nearby village of Bethphage, on the road to Jerusalem, saying: "Ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him."* They went as directed, and found the colt "tied by the door without in a place where two ways met; and they loose him. . . . And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and He sat upon him."
* Mark 11: 2.

     It is evident from this series of events that the Lord was preparing to undergo the most grievous temptation and suffering of the cross. All through His life the Lord had been in continual conflict with the hells. He had passed through an endless succession of temptations and victories. States of glorification, when He was fully aware of His Divine nature, when He spoke with authority, and performed miracles of infinite power, alternated with states of exinanition; when He seemed to be alone, when He prayed to the Father as to another, and when He was called upon to think and to act as if from the infirm human, as if He were an ordinary man facing the conflict that every man must face in the process of regeneration.

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The state to which our text refers was one of glorification. The Lord had ascended the Mount of Olives. His mind was lifted up into the full light and glory of the Divine love. In that light He saw beyond the death on the cross. He saw the ultimate fulfillment of the end for the sake of which He had come into the world.
It was an end that could be accomplished only by means of the crucifixion, but it was an end of such surpassing and eternal value that, compared with it, the suffering of the cross was as nothing. It would insure a complete and permanent victory over the hells, the perfect union of the Human and the Divine; and together with this, the power to impart to men the truth which would be for the healing of the nations, and for the final redemption of the whole human race. With this vision before Him, the Lord could contemplate the approaching climax of all His temptations with calm assurance, and indeed, with an inner sense of peace and joy of heart. Later the Lord would know the bitterness of the prayer in Gethsemane, when He would be moved to ask that, if possible, this cup might pass from Him; and also He would know the utter despair that wrung from His lips the cry: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" But even then, the memory of this vision on the Mount of Olives would remain to give Him strength, as if from the infirm human to do what He knew was the will of the Infinite Father.

As is the case with all men, Jesus Christ, at birth, had a soul and a body, but no conscious mind. With Him, as with every human being, the mind had to grow gradually by interaction between the soul and the sense impulses received through the body; but the soul of Jesus Christ differed from all others in that it was the infinite love of God. Because of this, even from earliest childhood, the Lord enjoyed an inmost perception of truth such as no one else could possibly know. This perception at first was extremely vague, general, and purely theoretical. Only as knowledge and experience increased could it become progressively focused. clearly delineated, and seen in application to actual conditions of life but step by step the light of the Divine love descended until it illuminated every plane of the Lord's mind, from the highest to the lowest. As it did so it brought all things into perfect order; dissipating every false idea that came to Him from men, rejecting the evil passions that were insinuated by the hells, and at last bringing even the sensual degree of the mind into complete harmony and correspondence with the Divine truth.

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At every stage of this descent, the human assumed from Mary, with all its finite limitations and its hereditary tendencies to evil, was put off; and in its place the Lord put on a Human altogether Divine, a Human not only conceived but also born of Jehovah.
     That this process of glorification was now almost complete was represented by the fact that Mary anointed the Lord's feet with spikenard, to indicate that He was the Anointed of Jehovah, and that He had been made holy even to the lowest ultimates. What Mary did was a simple act of love and devotion. She had no idea of what it signified. What had taken place in the Lord's mind was known only to Himself. The process of glorification was completely unknown to men on earth; nor could it be revealed in fullness even to the angels. Yet without some idea of it no one could possibly realize the true nature of the Lord's Divinity. It was imperative, therefore, that this process should be represented before both angels and men; not that men could understand it at the time, but that they might recognize the Lord when He rose from the grave, and be prepared to worship Him.

     When the two disciples brought the colt to Jesus and placed their garments upon it, they knew that they were re-enacting the ancient ceremony of coronation. So it had been done from time immemorial. He whom the prophet of Jehovah anointed to be the ruler over Israel had ridden into Jerusalem on the colt of an ass, acclaimed by the multitudes eager to offer him their allegiance. There he had received the crown and the scepter of his office. Remembering this, the disciples thought that their Master needed the colt because He was about to be crowned as their king. Had it not been foretold by the prophets that when the Messiah came He would ascend the throne of David? Surely Jesus was this promised Messiah. In imagination, therefore, they pictured Him performing some great miracle whereby their nation would be liberated from the yoke of Rome and restored to its ancient glory. They could not possibly conceive of any other reason He should enter Jerusalem riding on the foal of an ass.
     Yet it was essential that the idea of Jesus Christ as the King promised in the Scriptures should be deeply impressed upon the minds of the disciples before the crucifixion. Had this not been done they would not have been prepared to receive the risen Lord. In this preparation the heavens also had a part to play, and for this reason it was important to the angels also that the coronation ceremony should be enacted. They were able, at least in some measure, to grasp its true significance even at the time. Later, when the disciples remembered it, the angels could inspire them with a deeper perception of its meaning.

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That this is the real reason the Lord made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, even though His kingdom, as He openly declared, was "not of this world,"* is clearly implied where it is written: "These things understood not His disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things unto Him."**
* John 18: 36.
** John 12: 16.
     Everything recorded concerning the triumphal entry into Jerusalem has reference to the Lord's glorification, whereby He was to become completely one with the Father above the heavens, and yet was to remain ever after visible, both to angels and to men, as God-Man, Divinely and infinitely Human. Every detail of the story is important; and we would note that while three of the Gospels mention only the colt, Matthew states that the two disciples were to find "an ass tied, and a colt with her."*
* Chapter 21: 2.
     Both animals were brought to the Lord, and were used by Him. Not otherwise could the internal sense be fully represented, for, as we are told in the Writings, an "ass" represents the truth of the natural mind, while the "foal of an ass" represents the truth of the rational mind."*
* AC 2781: 5.
     That the Lord should ride upon these represented that in His mind all natural truth and all rational truth had been subjected to His will, and so ordered as to serve the supreme ends of His Divine love. In all things, therefore, He became Divinely wise.

     How this was brought about is depicted by the fact that the ass and her colt were found "tied by the door without, in a place where two ways met." The Lord, even as is the case with every man, was constantly receiving sense impressions from the world about Him. He was gathering knowledges from His own experiences and from the ideas expressed by others with whom He was associated in the world. Thus He was continually gathering into His mind the materials of thought and of perception. These were stored in the memory as a chaotic mass. Only by gradual stages could they be reduced into order. That which is held in the memory may be compared to food in the alimentary canal which has not yet been assimilated into the body. It is, as it were, outside the "door" of the inner mind, which alone is man's true self. It cannot yet be used because its application to life is not seen. Therefore, in our text it is compared to a colt that is tied. Furthermore, this is said to be in a place where two ways met," because here, in the memory, every experience derived from the world of nature is lifted up to meet the loves and affections that inflow from the spiritual world.
     It is by means of love that the things in the memory are ordered and adapted for use.

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The light of love reveals that use, and how it may be accomplished. In the case of the Lord, the love that dominated His life was the infinite love of God for the salvation of the human race. This love ordered everything that entered His mind through the bodily senses. This is implied by the fact that the "colt" was loosed and brought to the Lord, that He might ride upon it. His whole mind was set free from the bondage of ignorance, from all fallacies and deceptive appearances, that the inmost truth concerning all things might come into view, and that everything might be made to serve the eternal ends of the Divine love. No human being can possibly attain to such infinite wisdom. The love that inspires men and angels is the love of some particular use, a finite use that distinguishes each individual from all others. The wisdom concerned with this use may be perfected to eternity, but it will always remain finite and separated from the wisdom of the Lord by an impassable gulf. That is why it is said that the "colt" which the disciples brought to the Lord was one "whereon never man sat."
     The disciples placed their garments on the colt, and strewed them in the way as the Lord rode toward Jerusalem, in token of their allegiance to the king. For the same reason the multitudes who came out from the gate of the city to meet Him cut down branches from the trees and strewed them in the way, singing the traditional song of coronation: "Hosanna; Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord: Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest."*
* Mark 11: 9, 10.
     So doing, they pictured the final establishment of the Lord's eternal kingdom, both in heaven and on the earth, wherein He will be acknowledged as King of kings, and worshiped in His Divine Human as the one God of all creation.
     When the Lord rose from the sepulchre, we are told that He ascended to complete union with the Father, "together with and in His glorified Human."*
* Canons, Redeemer VIII.
     The mind He had formed during His life on earth was indestructible. That infinitely perfect form of truth with which His Divine love had clothed itself provided a new mode of approach to men, a new means whereby they might be taught and led. Yet a long period of preparation was necessary before the minds of men could be made ready to receive and understand this truth. When the time was ripe, the Lord had to raise up a human servant through whom this truth might be so accommodated, and expressed in human language, that men might learn to understand it, and this with ever deeper insight and perception, through all the ages of the future. Such is the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem.

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It is the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord's glorified Human; and in it He makes that Human visible, that men at last may know Him as He truly is; a God of infinite love and wisdom, the Creator and Preserver of the whole vast universe, the Ruler of heaven and earth, and the Redeemer of all mankind. "Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord." Amen.

LESSONS:     Zechariah 9: 9-17. John 12: 12-16, 20-28. AC 3195, 6716. Canons Redeemer VII, VIII.
MUSIC:     Liturgy, pages 547, 596, 557, 546. Psalmody, page 107.
PRAYERS:     Liturgy, nos. 53, 119.
IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1962

IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1962

"Swedenborg: Carnegie's First Mentor" is the title of an article by the Rev. Leon C. Le Van in the January 1962 issue of Carnegie Magazine. In it the pastor of the Convention church in Pittsburgh touches on Andrew Carnegie's early association with the North Side Swedenborgian Church; sketches Swedenborg's biography and lists his accomplishments; and outlines some of the principal teachings of the Writings-all this in explanation of the celebration of Swedenborg's birthday. If there is a tendency to exaggerate Swedenborg's accomplishments, and a certain vagueness as to how the new revelation of Divine truth which is the Second Coming is made, the article is interesting, informative, and often challenging to the inquiring mind. Its appearance in a magazine with a circulation of about 9,000 that is sent to the members of the Carnegie Institute Society insures its being presented to readers who may be supposed to have an active interest in education and in cultural matters.
Since going into retirement, the Rev. Charles A. Hall has found a pleasant occupation in evaluating religious scripts for a publisher. In "Random Reflections," offered in the NEW-CHURCH HERALD, he notes that in his reading he has missed "what might be termed the background of eternity." There is, he finds, the undoubted understanding that man is a spiritual being and that formation of spiritual character is a sine qua non; yet conceptions of his personal identity as an immortal denizen of the eternal realms seem to be nebulous. There are assurances of immortality and that all will be well with those who love the Lord, but it is often said that the nature of life in the Great Beyond is a mystery we cannot understand in our present existence.

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RISEN LORD IN THE WORD 1962

RISEN LORD IN THE WORD Rev. DAVID R. SIMONS 1962

     An Easter Talk to Children on Luke 24

     The Resurrection was the most wonderful of all miracles. The disciples did not know what to think when, on Easter morning, they found the tomb where the Lord had been laid open and empty. They did not know what to think, for no one had ever raised himself from death!
     So filled with wonder, astonishment and excitement were two of these disciples as they journeyed to Emmaus, a few miles from Jerusalem, that they paid little attention to a stranger who joined them and asked what they were talking about. The two disciples told this stranger of the events of the last few days: the crucifixion and the opening of the sepulchre, and the tale of the two women, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, that the Lord had risen. And their voices showed their doubt. They could not believe this miracle. Then the stranger scolded them, saying: "O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself."*
* Luke 24: 25-27.
     We know who this stranger was. Who but the Lord could know the Word so well? But what did the Lord tell these two disciples? How do we find the Easter story in Moses and the Prophets?
     All of the Word is the Lord's story. If we look deeply, we can learn about Him in all the stories of the Old Testament. The story of Noah and the ark tells about the flood, which was like the hells acting through wicked men to bring about the destruction of the Lord on the cross. The ark is the sepulchre, and Noah's deliverance when the waters abated pictures for us the Lord's resurrection.
     The story of Joseph, put into the pit by his wicked brothers and then sold into slavery in Egypt, where he was first imprisoned and then raised up to be a great ruler, is also the story of the Lord. It is the story of the Lord captured and crucified, and then raised up to be the supreme ruler in heaven and earth.

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     In the Prophets the Easter story is clearly foretold. Elijah was taken from Elisha, as the Lord was taken from His disciples; and was seen ascending into heaven by a whirlwind in a chariot of fire, even as the Lord showed Himself to the disciples ascending in glory. And seven hundred years before the crucifixion and the Lord's resurrection Isaiah wrote: "He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth."* "Arise shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth . . . but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee. . . . Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool."**
* Isaiah 53: 7.
** Isaiah 60: 1, 2; 66: 1.
     The whole history of the Jews involves the Easter story, and all the details of the Lord's life on earth are hidden in that history. As they were bound in slavery in Egypt, so the Lord was bound with grave clothes in the tomb. As they were led forth to conquer the land and become a great and prosperous nation under King Solomon, so, too, the Lord conquered the hells, and came forth from the tomb, and was elevated to His place as the greatest King of all.
     If we search the Scriptures, we can come to see and know the Lord. And to help us to know Him, the Lord has given us the Heavenly Doctrine. In the Writings He shows us how completely and fully He is in the Word: that there is a spiritual meaning in all the Scriptures-that "they are they which testify" of Him.*
* John 5: 39.
     But at first the Lord seems like a stranger to us. We hear the stories of the Word, but we do not recognize Him in them. Only gradually, as we learn to read and understand the Word with a willingness to see and believe, does the Lord reveal Himself to us.
     And how do we recognize Him and know that He is the Lord? Our hearts "burn within us" with a new love, a most wonderful love-the love of truth which fills our minds as we hear the Lord Himself speaking to us. And when we invite Him into our minds by learning and obeying His Word, then He will be known to us in the "breaking of bread"-in the affection of good that He will kindle in our hearts. Amen.

LESSON:     Luke 24.
MUSIC:     Liturgy, pages 548, 551, 552, 556.
PRAYER:     Liturgy, no. C4.

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JUDGMENT 1962

JUDGMENT Rev. W. CAIRNS HENDERSON 1962

     (The second of three doctrinal lectures.)

2. JUDGMENT OF MEN

     It was said last time that judgment means acceptance and rejection, and we noted that there are three ways in which it enters into human life. We then considered the teaching of the Writings about the first of these-man's judgment after death-which was seen to be, essentially, self-judgment. Throughout his life on earth, however, man is frequently under the necessity of judging other men whose lives and uses touch and may affect his own-of accepting or rejecting them entirely or in part.
     This raises certain questions. What kind of judgments may properly be made, and indeed must be made for the preservation of freedom? What judgments are beyond man's ability and should therefore not be attempted? In those judgments which are allowable, what are the criteria that should be followed? Our purpose in this lecture is to present the teaching of the Writings which bear upon these and related questions and to consider some of their implications.

     The Judgment That Is the Lord's

     Even the most ardent literalist would have difficulty in maintaining that "Judge not, that ye be not judged" is the whole teaching of Scripture on the subject; for on another occasion the Lord said: "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment."* It is not judgment that is forbidden, but judgment from the proprium and according to the appearance. Without civil and criminal courts, without moral sanctions and the judgment of public opinion they imply, without character judgments in public life, business and social life, society would disintegrate. Therefore the Writings teach-and the teaching is quite well known-that judgment of the natural lives of men, of their civil and moral life, far from being prohibited, is altogether necessary for the preservation of society and of human freedom.**
* Matthew 7: 1. John 7: 24.
** See AC 2284: 3; CL 523; Verbo 15.
     Yet there is a judgment that is forbidden to man, not because the Lord arbitrarily reserves it for Himself, but because He alone can make it!

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That is spiritual judgment-judgment of a person's spiritual state and therefore of his eternal lot after death. Here man could judge only "according to the appearance"; and appearances are never more deceptive than in this area. In this world, the Writings note, a man who is evil interiorly can counterfeit what is good in externals, and one who seems to be evil may have good within; with the result that a thousand persons may appear alike in externals, may even speak and act alike, and yet be altogether different as to the interior things of faith, love and life.*
* See AC 2284: 3; SD 4426.
The ends of a man's life, which determine his eternal lot after death, are known only to the Lord. He alone knows the quality and extent of the remains with a man, according to which he has bliss and happiness after death, and therefore the quality of his spiritual life. Therefore it is only the Lord who knows what a man's spiritual state is, what it will be, and thus what will be his lot after death; and as we cannot know these things we are forbidden in the Writings to make spiritual judgments.* As they themselves say: "It is altogether another kingdom in the other life: another form of government, another principle of government, other laws, nay, other wars, namely, against evils and against infernal spirits and other consociations which are according to the interior ends of life; these never appear before others in the life of the body, wherefore we are not to judge concerning them."**
* See SD 4426; AC 2284: 3; CL 523; Verbo 15.
** SD 4426.
Some men will, of course, persist in making spiritual judgments. either because they do not know of the prohibition or because they suppose that in some way they are exempt; but theirs is an impossible task. The Writings insist that man can never be judged from external habits as to what his life will be after death. Frequently, they tell us, they of whom men judged harshly are good in the other life, and they of whom men judged well in the life of the body are evil; because men do not know how to judge except from externals, nor do they know whether others act from ignorance, and what was their end, since the end is known to the Lord alone. In the life of the body men can, to a considerable degree, conceal their true character, or else that character may not appear as it really is; and for this reason, and because of human limitations, Swedenborg was able to testify from much experience in the spiritual world that many of those concerning whom the world had judged evil as to their interiors are among the blessed, and that many of those of whom men have judged well are among the unhappy.*
* See SD 2459, 1299, 4426e. Cf. AC 2284: 4.

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     We are not, then, to judge the spiritual states of others, either assigning them positively to heaven or definitely consigning them to hell; though it is of charity to hope and even assume that our friends and loved ones go to heaven and to give others the benefit of the doubt! It is true that the Writings permit a general, conditional judgment. The teaching is that a general judgment such as this is permitted: if you are in internals as you appear to be in externals, you will be saved or you will be condemned. But a singular judgment such as this is forbidden: you are such and such in internals, therefore you will be saved or condemned.* Obviously this conditional judgment is of a very different kind. It takes into account the possibility of externals being misleading; it allows for a possibility of change; and it is made, not for the purpose of disposing of other men, but as a basis for appropriate action-for exercising free choice, and for determining how charity is to be shown to them as the neighbor. It is a means of deciding our proper relation to them now, without prejudice to their future lot.
* See CL 523.

     Implications of the Doctrine

     Such is the teaching. We cannot judge other men spiritually, for good or ill, and we are therefore forbidden to try; and the teaching is given without exceptions. Nowhere do the Writings indicate that regenerating men are able to judge the spiritual states of others. The uniform teaching is that only the Lord, who alone sees everything that is in man, can do so; and although the states of spirits are manifest to angels in the sphere of ends in which they dwell, they do not judge these states, but perceive what is disclosed in the light of heaven. The love and faith which are of man's spiritual life lie hidden away in his interiors, where they are not known to anyone except the Lord, and for this reason it is said that we are not to think evilly about them.*
* See AC 4633e, 6214: 2; AE 629e.
     Yet this does not mean that evil is not to be judged! Evil is to be recognized as such, condemned, dealt with decisively and appropriately, whenever and wherever it appears. Wickedness is not to be ignored, condoned or explained away, but combatted firmly as what it is. Only, the judgment must be just. Without imputing a spiritual motive to him, without presuming to judge his spiritual state, we can and should judge the evildoer for the evil he has done, and impose on the wicked the sentence merited by their wickedness. It is just here that confusion may arise. Men may hesitate to condemn evil and wickedness, lest in so doing they make a spiritual judgment; and it has happened that those against whom appropriate action was taken for specific transgressions have complained bitterly that they were the victims of unlawful spiritual judgments when, in fact, no such judgment was passed or intended.

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Men can be judged guilty of certain evils without any reference to their spiritual state and final lot being involved; and for the protection of society and of the church this distinction needs to be understood and preserved.*
* See SS 51: 5.
However, if we cannot judge the spiritual states of others, except conditionally and in general, neither can we pass final judgment upon our own spiritual states."* This is for our protection, and to keep the way open for repentance and reformation. Paradox though it be, if a man knew beyond all doubt that he was saved he would surely be lost, for he would cease from all further striving; and if a man were convinced that he was lost it is certain that he could not be saved, for he would not begin to make any effort. The Writings offer us many aids to self- examination, and by following their wise and searching counsel we may learn a great deal about ourselves. Yet we can do no more, and nothing more is really necessary, than judge ourselves conditionally and generally; saying to ourselves: If I am in internals what I seem to be in externals and do not change, I may be saved, or, I will be condemned. And even such a judgment as that should not be made except as a basis for appropriate action in the form of repentance of life. It should not be passed as an end in itself, or to gratify a morbid delight in self-accusation, but as a means to the acceptance of good and the rejection of evil.
* See AC 2284: 3, et al.

Before we leave this phase of the subject it should be noted that among the judgments which the Writings forbid is judgment as to the presence or absence of the conjugial in marriage. Concerning this we are not to presume to judge in our own marriages, and certainly not in those of others. An obvious reason for this is, of course, that the development of conjugial love goes hand in hand with regeneration and with entrance into the interior things of the church. But, more specifically, we are instructed that there are marriages in which conjugial love does not appear, and yet is, and there are marriages in which conjugial love appears, and yet is not. Appearances in externals decide nothing in relation to the imputation of conjugial love, the teaching continues; the only thing that decides is the conjugial state, and this may lie too deeply hidden to be noticed or be inscribed in the progress of the life. From these considerations results this conclusion: that no inferences must be drawn concerning anyone from the appearances of marriage as to whether there is conjugial love or not.*
* See CL 531.

147

     This teaching is given as one of the things meant by the Lord's injunction: "Judge not, that ye be not judged," and its implications for the men and women of the church should be obvious. There are, of course, other teachings that bear on the matter. But what is forbidden here is a spiritual judgment that could lead to serious disorders and could certainly close the door against any further progress toward the conjugial in or through marriage.

     The Judgment That Is Man's

     On planes of life other than the spiritual, however, judgment of men is not only permitted by the Lord, it is necessary for the proper functioning of society, and for protection and the preservation of freedom in the home and in social life. The segment of human life to which we are exposed contains men and women in a great variety of states both good and bad and animated by many different motives-and not all of them are necessarily what they profess themselves to be. Candidates for elective office cannot always be accepted entirely on the testimony of their own campaign literature; prospective business associates or employees may or may not prove to be trustworthy; and we naturally wish to exercise some judgment in the formation of intimate friendships and in trying to influence those of our children.
     There is need for judgment in these things, and the Writings assure us that it is perfectly proper for us to examine the civil and moral lives of men from their words and actions with a view to discovering as accurately as possible their usefulness in public life, their probity in business, their reliability and suitability for certain kinds of work, their character, and whether they show the qualities that would make them desirable friends for our children or ourselves. Without judgments of this kind freedom would be impossible, there would be many disasters and tragedies, and society could scarcely survive.*
* See SD 1220, 4425.
     We are warned, however, that while everyone may judge as to the civil life of another, man's morality may be judged properly only in so far as it concerns the civil plane, and that it is not permitted to judge how far a man's moral principles or virtues co-operate with faith, and what he is as to faith.* Judgment of this kind is to be entirely apart from spiritual judgment in intent, scope and implication; and the things that are here expressly forbidden infringe on spiritual judgment. When we judge a man's civil life, and his life in societies as far as its quality shows itself, there should be no intention on our part to judge his spiritual state, and that should be understood by others as clearly as possible.
* See SD 1220, 4425.

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     And in those areas in which judgment is our responsibility we should strive to "judge righteous judgment." The judges in Israel, we are told, were not to judge from themselves, but from the Lord. They judged from the law of Moses, and thus from the Word which is from the Lord; and it is added that even at this day judgment is administered from the Lord when it is done from conscience, in accordance with truths.* From conscience, in accordance with truths! If we would judge our associates justly, and with mercy, the judgment may not come from ourselves or from other men. Our own prejudices, and those stereotypes which image the engrained prejudices of religious, racial and political groups, can only subvert or pervert the course of justice when our task is to assess the qualities of individual men and women.
* See AC 9160.

     It should be our hope and intention that our judgments may be from the Lord, and from good as well as truth; that while our judgments will be formed only by our understanding of the truth of the Word, they will be charged with compassion. In this way we shall be able to avoid many miscarriages of justice. We will try to judge of men as their words and deeds show them to be, not as we presuppose them to be or want them to be, or as our own self-advantage might be affected by our judgment. We will realize that it is the part of charity to recognize, condemn and punish evil; but having done so, we will be able to show a compassion that is worlds apart from sentimentality. We will not be among those self-appointed censors whose main task and delight in life seems to be judging others, usually harshly and often unjustly. We will come to realize, gradually, that there are many judgments that need never be made at all-that there are many instances in which we can estimate an action without having to judge the person at all. And more and more will we come to understand that one of the highest forms of judgment is confidence; confidence in our fellow New Church men and in others-a confidence that will lead us to suspend judgment until all the relevant facts are in, and dispose us to give others the benefit of the doubt whenever there is reasonable ground for so doing rather than assuming their guilt or unworthiness until they confess it.
     The judgment of men in civil and moral life poses serious problems, and it would be a dangerous oversimplification to suppose that if we only look to the Lord, then without further effort on our part all our judgments will inevitably be just.* For one thing, the right exercise of judgment calls for rationality, and for this reason it would seem that we should exercise great care in making our stronger judgments known to our children, lest they take them over as a body of prejudices.

149

For another thing, how are men to be judged?-by their words, or by their deeds. We realize the importance of motive, understanding also that the deepest motive, the ruling love, cannot be uncovered, and that what we can discern is only a relatively external motive.
* See AC 3759, 8121, 5382; TCR 317e.
     Certainly what men intended in what they did must qualify our thinking about the deeds themselves, and we may sometimes have to take their word for it! But a man's words may be sadly at variance with his deeds. Good intentions if sincere, and we must not judge too quickly that they are not, will eventually find a way to ultimate themselves in good deeds, even if they may be frustrated for a time; and if the gap between protestation and performance is too long in being closed, or remains unalterably open, we may base ourselves on the Gospel adage that men shall be known by their fruits. But it is only by frequent and thoughtful resort to the Writings that we may learn to "judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment."
     Finally, it may be asked: To what extent can we judge ourselves on the civil and moral planes? On the civil plane, self-judgment is relatively easy and can be extensive. To the extent of our knowledge of the law we know when we have broken it, and without probing too deeply we can discover, with a little honesty, why we stay within the law and what is our reaction to the belated discovery that we have broken a law. We can see whether we really regard ourselves as under the law or above it. On the moral plane, self-examination may not hope to discover so much. We may scarcely hope to be able to judge ourselves as to the entire range of the moral virtues at all times. But we can know when we are in certain virtues, even if it is not clear why we are. We can know when we are being temperate, sincere, assiduous, and that may help us to further examination and judgment of ourselves.

     Conclusion

     But human judgment goes far beyond ourselves and those whose lives directly touch and affect our own. In human events and affairs, in works of art and of utility, we are influenced by other men, in larger groups or as individuals, with most of whom we may have no direct contact at all. There also we are called upon as free and rational beings to form judgments. What do the Writings have to say that may help us, in this third area, to "judge righteous judgment"? That will be the subject of our third and final lecture.

150

TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 1962

TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES Rev. ROBERT S. JUNGE 1962

     (Delivered at an open meeting of the Bryn Athyn Society, January 26, 1962.)

     Introduction

     In the Apocalypse Revealed we read: "In what is written to the seven churches is described the state of all in the Christian Church who can receive the doctrine of the New Jerusalem, and live according to it."*
* AR 88.
     Few of our families have been more than three or four generations in the New Church. We are, therefore, essentially a remnant gathered and built up from the former church. The letters to the seven churches, which portray the state of all in the Christian world who can receive the Heavenly Doctrine, describe the state of many in the New Church at this time. We are very much influenced by the Christian world in which we live and from which we have so recently come. We cannot expect to shed the weaknesses and faults of that world all at once. We have to suppose some fairly extensive regeneration to presume that we are rid of what the Lord holds spiritually against the seven churches. It is much more reasonable to suppose that these faults and failings describe the things He yet has against us.
     We talk a lot of the influence that the world has upon us. But we tend to emphasize the faults of the world, and to miss seeing in our midst the clearly detrimental effects of that pressure upon us. These false forces may seem abstract and general, but they actually relate in varying measures to each of us. The Writings unfold these different spiritual states in the internal meaning of the messages to the seven churches. Not only are the challenges pointed out, but we are also taught how the Lord wants us to meet them. With the task of examining ourselves in mind, we turn to the first letter to the churches.

     Ephesus

     He that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand saith to the church of Ephesus: "I know thy works, and thy labor and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil . . . and for My name's sake hast labored, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love."*
* Revelation 2: 2-4

151

     The picture is one of a church with a powerful zeal for instructing, striving to know and understand, studying with patience.* Yet they have left their first love. They scrutinize abstract truths, but neglect to apply them in the life of charity.
* AE 101.
     There are many intellectual movements in the world that are guilty of this neglect of the application of truth to life. Some in the scientific movement have advanced ambitions beyond legitimate theory, beyond the realm of science. They say: We have applied science to things, now all we need is to apply it to man and society. They have led to supposed scientific explanations of creation, the nature of the human mind, of ethics and morality, even of life; theories so withdrawn from fact that they are not really capable of application.
     In a fancy jargon, that not even they can define and explain, they make all sorts of fantastic claims. A leading intellectual puts it: "We find that ethical philosophy consists simply in saying that ethical concepts are pseudo concepts and therefore unanalysable."* Or, on the other hand, Look magazine popularizes the spirit with the statement: "In the next 25 years, it is likely that man will create life in a test tube. He will transform dead chemicals into living material that can grow and reproduce itself. He will perform an act of God."** Philosophers, human relations experts, psychologists, educators, are all caught up in a sort of blind allegiance to the idea that somehow the scientific method can solve the human problems of life.
* Language, Truth and Logic, Alfred Ayer, p. 112.
** Look, Jan. 16, 1962, p. 44.
     Among many who are struggling with genuine problems, there are a growing number who call themselves analysts, and who are seeking hidden subtleties of meaning, laboring for analytical definition of a truth they seem never to apply. They look down their noses upon those who are not interested in these so-called vital issues, which rarely get farther than pondering the definition and meaning of terms.
     Now we believe that the New Church has the answers to meet genuine scientific and philosophical issues. But even we must always meet them with a truth that looks to life.
     In science, philosophy, even business, we seem to live in a world where seeking knowledge is king. These are the extrinsic pressures which would make of our church an Ephesus, an edifice of abstraction that has left its first love. For seeking knowledge, even if it be true knowledge, can never be allowed to supplant love, mercy and charity.
     But intellectualism can strike us from within as well as from without. The urge to know and understand is a universal human desire.

152

Many newcomers have joined the New Church because they were "seeking answers." Certainly we hope that our students in the schools are seeking understanding. But this very zeal for instruction as an all-absorbing goal can tend to lead away from charity.
     Yet to Ephesus the Lord says: "But this thou hast, that thou hatest the works of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate." The works of the Nicolaitanes are meritorious works. Many newcomers complain of the hypocritical works, and the false "do gooding' that they see in the world. Many of our members, too, are adamant about anything that smacks of hypocrisy. When we think that we have found the answers that we have been searching for, it is so easy to forget that these answers are from the Lord, and are only lent to us.
     The joy of finding the truth can so easily give way to pride, a false pride asserting with conceit that we have the answers that others lack. But if we leave charity behind, we have no real answers at all.
     Do we not see the internal danger of claiming merit for understanding alone and neglecting life? It is easy to examine those who "sax' that they are apostles, and are not, and [to find] them liars." It is easy for "old timers" in the church to sit back and say that others do not really understand our distinctive doctrines, yet in their own world of abstraction neglect to apply that which they accuse others of not appreciating. Or, on the other hand, for newcomers it is easy to frown at the workers in our society and say that they are claiming merit, and yet neglect to volunteer or seek uses in the congregation themselves.
     Study and discussion of the deepest doctrines is essential. It is good to shun meritorious works. But such study and such shunning can be merely the cover for a false intellectualism, one of the primary temptations of our church.
     Intellectualism without charity is not always an attack by world movements. It is more often a subtle thing, invading our schools, our attitudes, and even our priestly instruction.
     And the Lord said to Ephesus: "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent."*
* Revelation 2: 5.

     Smyrna

     We now turn to the next and quite different state of Smyrna. Of that church we read: "These things saith the first and the last which was dead and is alive, "I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty. . ."*
* Revelation 2: 8.
     The men of Smyrna mean those who accept falsities of doctrine, but who are still in the good of life.*

153

There are many in the world who do not understand the truths of the Word, but instead suppose that some false ideology is indeed the only truth. They want to learn, yet are unable.** The whole of the hells attacks the spiritual affection for truth.*** They drive that truly human desire to know and understand into spiritual poverty and affliction.
* AR 91.
** AE 112.
*** Cf. AE 130.
     The primary falsity that is among them, we are taught, is that they do not acknowledge the Lord's Divine Human and therefore do not approach Him.* In our day, more and more, human formulas of salvation take the place of approaching the Lord in His Word. Such religiosities may have a "good of life," but they are based upon primary falsities, even open denials of truth.
* AR 97
     In a recent survey, over half the Christian theological school students interviewed denied the virgin birth and bodily resurrection of Christ. When the leaders and future leaders of the churches themselves do not acknowledge the Lord's Divine Human, is it any wonder that their flocks do not really understand God? A man who has no vision of God is indeed in spiritual tribulation and poverty.
     While there are many man-made panaceas-spiritism, healers, fanatics-one leading falsity of doctrine is the Social Gospel in secular as well as religious life. Such churches believe that man is inherently good and can find the good of life essentially without spiritual repentance by doing what comes naturally.* They are dedicated to bringing comfort to the lonely, to soothing man's fears for the future by giving him "busy work" in the present. They formulate so-called "positive" approaches rather than supposedly "negative" self-condemnation and shunning of evil. They claim to have the good of life. In the words of the apostle: "they say they are Jews, but they are the synagogue of Satan."** They even say that their social gospel of belongingness is the only salvation open to a dying Christianity. The Writings do not wholesaledly condemn such activities, but say of such works that without repentance they are either pharisaical, meritorious, or come from an innate natural disposition towards good.***
* AR 97.
** Revelation 2: 9.
*** AR 97.
     These churches, with their social methods of group dynamics, show tremendous external growth and development. Their vigorous programs are even tempting to the New Church to bolster its numbers. But these methods, for all their dynamics, do not see the Lord in His Divine Human as He is revealed in the Word, and therefore they do not carry the essential message of human repentance; that message which alone in the wilderness can prepare the way of the Lord. Unless we see the Divinely human example and ideal clearly, we see no need to change our way of life.

154

The advocates of the Social Gospel, and those who peal forth the praises of positive thinking, know many successes. "Think positively, and incidentally believe in God, and you cannot fail," is their essential claim. But when an inevitable failure hits them, as it does all of us from time to time, their disillusionment is tremendous. They know tribulation and poverty, for their whole formula for life has fallen down around them.

     We can expect more and more influence from these psychological and sociological theories, as they demonstrate their natural worth, and as more and more of our membership have been trained under such secular guise. This is not to say that we cannot benefit tremendously by borrowing these new tools from the Egyptians.
     Social methods, the power of feeling a part of a group, are important tools, not entirely new to us. We use these forces throughout the church. They are very powerful means with young and old alike. New Church social life and customs are vital. But if social swirls and pressures come to dominate our interests, then the means are mistaken for the end, to the positive detriment of the church. Then such distinctive uses can become simply pharisaic or meritorious traditions. In using these wonderful and powerful tools, the New Church must never lose sight of acknowledging the Lord in His Divine Human.
     It would seem difficult to imagine the New Church ceasing to know about the Divinity of the Lord. But this is not the whole meaning. It is not only the knowledge of the Lord, but the acknowledgment of Him also that is lost when man makes natural good the primary goal and forms a glut of external activities. Social pressures become so great, people become so wrapped up in social functions, that there is little time for studying the doctrines, and still less time for the reflection that leads to self-examination and repentance.
     Among our church's temptations will be to let our young people grow up. "sphered" into the church, mistaking its external life, even its social distinctiveness, for the real acknowledgment of the Lord and the internal life of repentance that makes the church. Newcomers can be brought into the church by its sphere, too, never knowing the Lord as revealed in the Writings, the Savior, the answer to spiritual anguish and poverty. It is a strong temptation, the second great temptation of the church, if you please, to take its teachings for granted, and to forget its inner message of repentance and the healing power of the Lord Himself.

155

     If we allow ourselves to adopt a New Church social gospel, we face great disillusionment. It is not just by being in New Church society, by taking part in its many activities, by enjoying fellowship, that we find spiritual happiness. If newcomers are sphered into our way of life and feel that in it they have the balm for all life's tired and aching muscles, they will find a sad awakening. Perhaps even sadder is the disillusionment of our own youth, if they have made just "belonging" the formula for spiritual satisfaction. The New Church as a purely social organization is just as inadequate to life's challenges as any other.
     To the good in the state of Smyrna, the Lord says: "Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer." An excessive fear for the church betrays a lack of faith in the Lord, our Divinely Human God, and in His secret ways. Such fear betrays too much concern over the church's external functions. To the good states in the church, to those who in their desire to learn may be misled for a time by falsity, the Lord says: "Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer . . . be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."*
* Revelation 2: 10.

     Pergamos

     He that hath the sharp two-edged sword saith to the church in Pergamos: "Thou boldest fast My name, and hast not denied My faith . . . "*
* Revelation 2: 13.
     In contrast, but closely related to the church in Smyrna-which represents those who accept false doctrines, but retain the good of life- Pergamos means those who place the all of the church in good works and not anything in the truths of doctrine.* They reject any doctrinal positions whatsoever, even false ones.
* AE 130.
     Certainly our age knows the ecumenical movement, in which one doctrine after another is watered down or not emphasized in order to bring a supposed unity among all Christian sects. Even the Pope is making overtures to the Greek Orthodox Church and the Church of England. But they do not find common bonds in doctrine; they find it in a blind tolerance and dedication to a supposed charity and morality.
     The Councils of Churches will accept almost any belief in the name of unity. It is tempting to some in the church, such as some in Convention, to seek to join them and to try gradually to "permeate" their efforts with the truths of the Writings. Unfortunately, such efforts are more likely to allow the sacred truths of the Second Coming to become absorbed by the non-doctrinal doldrums; very much as the invaders of ancient, unresisting China were simply absorbed.

156

     This ecumenical spirit is a tremendously powerful force. Efforts are made to get the support of the Councils of Churches for control of the population boom, integration in schools, and such issues. This united social opinion may back some very worth-while causes, or some detrimental ones, but our freedom may become very hard pressed by such mass opinions. To teach a particular doctrinal position even in private schools, for example, is considered by many such to be "undemocratic."
     Philosophy, too, has made its contributions. The larger schools of modern philosophy deny all possibility of absolute truth. All truth is relative. The best the philosopher can do is to define problems and become an expert in the co-operative efforts of his fellows. But questions about truth, reality, heaven or hell, or good, are all nonsense. Peculiar as it might sound to us, that is their exact word for such spiritual questions. They are "nonsense," have no solution, and are therefore "meaningless."

     This spirit reaches right to the man in the street. How often do we hear: "I don't go for all this doctrinal controversy and all these churches:
we're all trying to get to the same place, and I think we'll find out all about it when we get there."? Among New Church men, too, we hear:
"We don't need to worry about all these abstract things they give us in doctrinal class. What good is it to know all about how many heavens there are, or the degrees of the mind, etc., etc.? We need something we can sink our teeth into and apply so that we can really be New Church men." Hidden secretly within such claims is a feeling that we are basically pretty good and will merit heaven. The Lord warns Pergamos of this false claim of merit: "So hast thou also the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes [corresponding to the doctrine of merit] which thing I hate."*
* Revelation 2: 15.
     One of our teachings that strikes a particularly appealing chord with those outside, when not fully understood, is that all men will be saved who are sincerely trying to live by what they believe. This is truly a beautiful teaching which should lead us to a true respect for all men. But New Church men, too, can be caught up in the spirit of blind brotherhood. There is such a difference between leaving some one in freedom and a wishy-washy tolerance that not only avoids argument, but avoids a search for the truth as well!
     We have seen the danger of the New Church becoming too abstract and intellectual in its approach, forgetting its first love. But those who would reprove us for this must guard lest they urge a position which fosters a complete lack of interest in doctrinal matters. A church cannot exist without doctrine.

157

The sight of new truth, new ideas never before seen, kindles man's love of his church. The strength of the New Church is that it can grow in its perception of doctrine as a whole to all eternity.
     We must always remain a teaching church. If we do, the Lord will give us a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it."*
* Revelation 2: 17.

     Thyatira

     The Son of God with eyes like a flame of fire, and feet of brass, saith to the church in Thyatira: "I know thy works and charity, and service and faith, and thy patience, and thy works, and the last to be more than the first."* These statements tell of charity, faith and good works united in the affection of charity. They speak of wonderful progress, where the last is better than the first."**
* Revelation 2: 19.
** AR 124.
     "Notwithstanding," the Lord said, "I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel which calleth herself a prophetess to teach and to seduce My servants to commit fornication."*
* Revelation 2: 20.
     Having Jezebel among them, means claiming salvation by faith alone. Such claims are still widespread in the world.* The evangelists such as Billy Graham can still pack the crowds in. Less dramatic purveyors of faith alone can be heard every Sunday by visiting the local churches.
* AR 132.
     This same false doctrine can be a temptation to us. But I believe many of us mistake faith alone for the intellectualism we have already described. We often hear it said among our members that the New Church will also be tempted by faith alone. By this we seem to mean that we will have concern for the doctrines alone, without application to life. But this I believe is only a small part of the meaning. The real danger is the claim of salvation through faith alone.
     Often the criticism is leveled at us: "Do you think you are holier than anybody else?" or: `What makes you think you are so much better than the big bad world?" If these criticisms are true, they could indicate that we are on the road to a claim of merit or even salvation, just through membership in the church.
     Of course we would all deny this. Like the man who has been "saved by accepting his personal Savior," who readily admits that he sins every day, we may solemnly repeat that we might be in the New Church because we were so evil it was the only way we could have a chance of being saved. Certainly we would deny any claim of salvation, or even of being better than any one else. It is the teachings of the Writings that make the New Church better, not us.

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     But the very treatment of the church Thyatira should cause us to pause and think further. Thyatira is a mixed state: wonderful spiritual progress is pictured on the one hand, with faith, charity, and good works united, the internal loves making a perfect one with the externals of life.* Yet, we are taught, Jezebel is among them.
* AE 151.
     In this connection, it might be well to reflect for a moment upon our teachings regarding marriage, the sensitive and pure doctrine of conjugial love. Here some are tempted to assume that simply because they are married in the church, they will find true marriage happiness. Things go well; then, suddenly, they find all their hopes in peril. Marriage is not built by faith alone. We have many hard teachings: watching for symptoms of cold, loving our partner's freedom, full confidence, shunning wandering lusts-the list is long. True, we have high ideals, distant mountains to which we can aspire. But we are very wrong if we assume that our marriage is saved by just being aware of these beautiful teachings in Conjugial Love. It should not surprise us to know struggle and hardship within the home as well as joy and contentment. Marriage, as does every genuine human state, requires that we shun the claim of salvation by faith alone. To avoid this duty is a clear temptation to our church.
     It is no accident that Jezebel portrays the consequences of faith alone in life. There is no more sorry picture of perversion than whoredom and adultery. But it is scarcely ever blatant and open. The prostitute does everything she can to appear beautiful and feminine. This subtle covering over of conceit and false spiritual pride is exactly what we would expect in any human state of faith alone. We would not expect a New Church man openly to claim salvation by virtue of his faith, any more than we would expect him to brag openly about living in adultery.
     It takes deep individual self examination to uncover the hidden claims of salvation which we know to be a potential danger to our church. No man can do this for us. The spiritual threat is there, and we know it will be subtle and deeply hidden. Yet if this spiritual conceit is not met, it will prostitute our church.

     Sardis

     He that hath the seven spirits of God and the seven stars saith to the church of Sardis: "Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.*
* Revelation 3: 2.
     The church Sardis describes those who are in dead worship without the goods of charity and without the truths of faith.*
* AR 54. Cf. AR 107.

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     We may point quite readily to those who think that there is spiritual life in hollow acts of worship-those who follow the billboards' "Go to Church this Sunday." Most of us know quite a few who feel it is vital to go to church, but it does not seem to matter which one. We can also find a number who lament the purely "Sunday" attitude towards religion; in effect, lament dead worship. Some even say that they find church meaningless and without any life in it. Dead worship without charity and faith is clearly one of the leading states in the world. And the condemnation is even more universal if we remember that worship is of life. One of the things that plagues modern man almost more than anything else is a double standard between the practical "musts" and the spiritual "oughts."

     Now worship is to kindle the affections and to instruct. It is an act of devotion and love, as well as a time for learning. Our services reflect many similarities to other churches as far as external form is concerned. But this is not a great concern. If each new Liturgy contains a few new steps towards distinctive ritual, we should be well satisfied. But the effort to be an understanding church does not eliminate the affectional power of participation in all things of worship. We can become too afraid of emotion. With just the intellect, without love and affection, ritual becomes dead. Do we tend to talk as good New Church men, but not feel and know the loves that make a New Church man?
     Such participation from love involves much more than just Sunday morning. It involves everything of life, man's use in its fullest sense. If man strives with all his heart to follow the Lord during the week, family worship, weekly services, communion, take on new meaning and importance. But the man who is ashamed of his day to day life does not readily participate with all his heart in worship. His mind and life are divided.
     We may have those who would be a conscience for others about going to church or doctrinal class, but few New Church men would claim salvation from churchgoing. But just as in church worship there is a potential double standard, so in our daily lives a double standard tempts us. Are we trying to do our regenerating among New Church men, but neglecting it among others? In effect, if this is true, it makes our life in New Church society a dead worship.*
* Cf. AE 182.
     Just as we fully participate in a church service when our affections are stirred, so we should come to find delight in doing what is right in our work. Gradually we learn not to lament, when we must represent our products faithfully, when we must not use false pressures and influence, when we must not "appropriate" things that belong to the company or the government and the like.

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     In its fullest sense, worship relates to all the external acts of life. We must learn to face the temptation and not be like Sardis, having a name that we live, yet, in action, be dead.*
* Revelation 3.

     Philadelphia

     The message to Philadelphia from the Lord, who is holy, true, and hath the key of David, contains no rebuke. Philadelphia represents those who are in truth from good. Throughout the world there are those who love the Lord, and from a deep perception sense what is good and true. They are the church universal. Without their spiritual fiber, it is difficult to imagine how the world could survive. There is no conceit and false pride in their hearts; they simply perform the uses that they know they must even in the alien world in which they live.
     It is particularly interesting that to Philadelphia alone the Lord speaks specifically of the New Jerusalem. "I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from My God: And I will write upon him My new name."* This state, then, is singled out with a particular call to the New Church. The new name means all the qualities of the New Church, which is to be separated from "the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews and are not."**
* Revelation 3: 12.
** Revelation 3: 9.
     Philadelphia clearly seems to imply those who withdraw from the evils of the society around them and quietly go about their own uses. There is no conceit in this withdrawal, for they acknowledge that all power is from the Lord. The new name that is written upon them signifies the worship of the Lord alone, and the new things which were not in the former church.
     To establish the true state represented by Philadelphia involves a separation from the old church. We recall the temptations in New Church history between the separatists and non-separatists. There were many who felt that the New Church could be established, like new wine, in old bottles. There are still many who feel this. But our movement has come to be known for its separatism, even to the establishment of distinctive schools and communities. But humility must rule such a shunning of the past. Like Philadelphia, we must learn simply to perform the uses that we know we must.
     The meaning of the church Philadelphia indicates a distinctive New Church separated and leading its own life. But while there is no definite temptation mentioned regarding Philadelphia, there is an implied one.

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To it the Lord says: "Thou hast kept the word of My patience. Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown."* Holding fast, with patience, is the warning that is given to us. We may look at our size and become discouraged and impatient. We may feel that our growth is too slow through education and distinctive life. We ask ourselves: Perhaps we have outgrown these things? Perhaps if we mingled more?
* Revelation 3: 10, 11.
     But we have something precious. a small but vital educational system that can help keep the hearts of our children centered on the Lord. Our distinctive social life can, if we hold fast, help keep our children and ourselves from what is described as, "the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world."* The New Church has marvelous ideals which can become the direction for youth and early manhood if these young people are protected. These are sacred treasures. With humility, shunning all conceit and pride, we must learn to hold fast, that no man take this crown from us.**
* Revelation 3: 10.
** Revelation 3: 11.
     Our great temptation in distinctiveness will be impatience. It seems that the more we love the gifts the Lord has given the New Church, the more we are impatient that whole world see these blessings. It is not easy to keep calm when we are so few, apparently so weak. Yet we must apply ourselves diligently and distinctively to the uses of our homes, and our duties to our children, and even to ourselves. The new message must be brought to the world from a position of quiet strength. Our unique example is our strongest missionary tool. If we lose patience and weaken our position with compromise, the door that the Lord has opened before us will slowly close.

     Laodicea

     The faithful and true witness says to Laodicea: "I know thy works that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of My mouth."*
* Revelation 3: 15-16.
     The Laodiceans signify those who sometimes "deny that the Word is Divine and holy and at other times acknowledge it."*
* AR 153
     As we think of this lamentable state, we cannot help but reflect upon the modernists' attitude towards the Sacred Scriptures. They defend what they like and can accept from their own intellects, but they undermine what they cannot readily accept. This state is not always the denial of all authority that we mentioned before.

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Often it is a constant vacillation of conviction that plagues the modern theologians.
     We cannot help but think of the Word of the Lord in His Second Coming in this connection. We think of those who do not fully accept this New Revelation, who may even say: "I am [spiritually] rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing."* From its very beginning, the New Church has been divided among those who acknowledge the Writings as the Word, and those who do not. As we think of these things, we should remember that it is the alternating which the Lord laments here, not so much the steady denial. But it profits us little to look for profanation among others, and certainly not to accuse them of it.
* Revelation 3: 17.
     When we look for this temptation, let us look to our own hearts and lives. Our organization of the New Church professes a belief in the full Divine inspiration of the Writings. We believe in what has long been called the "authority"; an authority of truth which is denied by almost every modern philosophical school of any note, and indeed by most popular theologians. We believe that the New Church is truly new because it is founded upon the rock of the Writings themselves, the Lord Himself in His second coming.
     But the danger of profanation with us works in secret. What is our inner reaction when we read of life on other planets? When troubles strike our marriages, do we yield to the social standards of the world, or do we let the Lord guide us by His commands regarding separation and divorce? Do we bring true moral pressures to bear on such situations, or do we ignore and condone? In a world where many are fearful of a "population boom," do we think as clearly as we should from the Writings concerning birth control?
     As we face these and many other contrasts between world opinion and the teachings of the Writings, a temptation to dodge and compromise, to seek the lukewarm way, is always available. No mount of historical faith which we have gleaned from our parents will bring the answers. These are the problems of our generation.
     We cannot overthrow the past. Traditions are the bones of society, a strong protection against self justification. To see these issues apart from the heat of the day, in the perspective of what other generations thought, can bring a calm and stability to our vision. But we cannot simply yield to historical faith. In the light of this faith, we must seek the Lord's answers in His Word for ourselves.
     No one can say who among us genuinely lets the Writings pattern his life.

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We cannot say it of individuals, groups, or of church organizations. But we must remember that the temptation to profane is with those who have accepted and acknowledged the truth. Profanation of the Lord's Word is the last great temptation in this series. The Lord says to Laodicea: "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent."*
* Revelation 3: 19.

     Conclusion

     In taking this sweep of the temptations we must meet, we have spoken, among other things, of the states of pure intellectualism, false social ideologies, do-gooding with blind tolerance, faith alone, dead worship, impatience with distinctiveness, and vacillation. I hope that no one feels left out! If you do, let me assure you that there is a multitude of unexplored avenues contained in these messages to the seven churches. The number seven means what is complete, and no on should be left out.*
* AR 203.
     You may have noticed that in each instance I paraphrased the description that the Lord gives of Himself to each church. These, too, give very powerful insights into the character of the church described, and of the Lord's approach to it.
     What I did not read was the familiar phrase that follows each description: "He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." Reflecting on the meaning of this phrase, and all these potential dangers, makes us realize just how important it is to acknowledge the Writings as the Word. In no other way can we truly hear and obey what the Spirit saith unto the churches. In no other way can the Lord build the house.
     If we make the Writings our guide in thought and will, and in everything we do, we are hearing what that Spirit saith. If we really let the Writings guide our missionary work, the Lord will protect the church. If we see New Church education from the Writings in the home and in the school, and pattern it from their teachings, the Lord will raise up those who can meet the challenges of modern thought that press upon us. We will not lack adequate theological and philosophical defenders of our faith. If we, with daily habit, look to the Lord in His New Revelation, and foster that precious affection for truth in our hearts, no pressures from within can alter our course. If each one of us, in everything we do, strives to seek the truth, not for ourselves or even on account of our concern for the church, but seeks it rather for its own sake, we need have no fear. In His time, in His hands, the Lord will be preparing a church on earth that can only be described by the beautiful words: "Behold, I make all things new."

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NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1962

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS Rev. FREDERICK L. SCHNARR 1962

     For the last few months our readings in the Old Testament have been from the Psalms of David and the book of Isaiah. When we leave the Books of the Kings, and turn to the Psalms and the Prophets, we notice that the style of the Word in the letter changes abruptly. No longer is there a story to be followed: not the allegorical stories of the first chapters of Genesis, nor the historical recounting of the lives of the patriarchs and the rise and fall of the Israelitish nation.
     In the Psalms of David we find a style of writing that is musical and poetic, and filled with the expression of affection and love-a style that is intermediate between the prophetic form and that of common speech. We are not able to see how the Psalms are formed into a connected series in the literal sense, and only slightly are we able to see even the series of the internal sense. References to different portions of the Psalms may be found scattered throughout the Writings, and a synopsis of the internal sense of the Psalms and the Prophets is given in the second volume of Posthumous Theological Works.
     The Writings tell us that the Psalms treat inmostly of the Lord's states of humiliation and glorification. Even so, the student of the Writings will find that the series of the internal sense of the Psalms and the Prophets cannot be examined in a progressive story, as can the series of the internal sense of the other books of the Old Testament. Nevertheless, the average reader can gain much spiritual food from reading the Psalms, even although he has, perhaps, only a general idea of the internal sense of the Word. Because the language of the Psalms does approach common speech, if we take each Psalm as a unit we will see clearly some different quality of the Lord's love and wisdom shining forth in the song and poetry of the letter. In many places the spiritual sense stands forth to view, warming and stirring the heart to acknowledge with love the Lord as Creator, the Lord as Protector, the Lord as Judge, the Lord as Redeemer and Savior, the Lord as mercy and love.
     When we come to the prophets, beginning with Isaiah, much of the letter seems broken and utterly unconnected. The style is still poetic, but the language is not that of common speech but rather the symbolism of prophecy.

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At times the letter is crude, and so vulgar as to raise a question as to its use in public worship; at other times a vision of prophecy is given, clear and beautiful, and so powerful in its implication and message as to raise a feeling of holy awe at the nature of the Divine wisdom. Such, for example, is the prophecy in the ninth chapter of Isaiah which begins: "For unto us a child is born."
It is well to remember when reading the Psalms and the Prophets that the language, while of the Lord's choosing, was made necessary by the perverted and external states of mankind. Spiritual truths had to be given in written revelation; but they had to be clothed in language that would protect them from misuse and save mankind from entering into terrible states of profanation.
It is well to remember also when we read the Word that apart from the use which is served to our spiritual life there is an important use to the heavens, and this whether we understand what we are reading or not. In De Verbo 10: 2 it is stated: "When I ran through the propheticals of the Word from Isaiah to Malachi, it was granted me to see that the societies of heaven were excited in their order, and they perceived the spiritual sense corresponding to them." The use to the angels, and their delight when men read the Word, are made clear in the Writings.
ANNOUNCEMENT 1962

ANNOUNCEMENT WILLARD D. PENDLETON 1962

     The Immanuel Church Book Room, Glenview, Illinois, has been commissioned by the Board of Directors of the General Church to serve as a General Church book center. This means that it has been authorized to supply the general public with copies of the Writings and the collateral literature of the New Church; to act as an agent for the book stewards of our various societies and circles; and to carry on publicity designed to stimulate interest in the literature of the church.
     WILLARD D. PENDLETON.
          Acting Bishop

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ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS 1962

ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS W. CAIRNS HENDERSON 1962

     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 23-26, 1962, with Acting Bishop Pendleton presiding.
     In addition to the Acting Bishop of the General Church there were present one member of the episcopal degree, twenty-four members of the pastoral degree, and four members of the ministerial degree, a total of thirty, namely: the Right Rev. George de Charms; the Rev. Messrs. Elmo C. Acton, Karl R. Alden, Geoffrey S. Childs, Harold C. Cranch, Roy Franson, Alan Gill, Daniel W. Heinrichs, Henry Heinrichs, W. Cairns Henderson (secretary), B. David Holm, Robert S. Junge, Louis B. King, Hugo Lj. Odhner, Ormond Odhner, Dandridge Pendleton, Martin Pryke, Norman H. Reuter, Morley D. Rich, Norbert H. Rogers, Frank S. Rose, Frederick L. Schnarr, David R. Simons, Kenneth 0. Stroh, William Whitehead: Kurt H. Asplundh, Raymond G. Cranch, Geoffrey H. Howard and Douglas McL. Taylor.
     A meeting of the Acting Bishop's Consistory was held on Monday evening, January 22nd. There were six regular sessions of the Council, four in the morning and two in the afternoon, and one joint session with the Board of Directors of the General Church. The usual meetings of pastors and headmasters were held, this year with the Acting Bishop, on Monday afternoon, January 22nd. The Church Extension Committee met on Thursday afternoon, January 25, and the General Church Publication Committee held its annual meeting on Monday, January 29.

     Bishop Pendleton, in opening the first session, noted that the attendance was the largest for some years, and advised that priority would have to be given to the selection of the Council's nominee for the office of Bishop of the General Church. The principle and procedure involved in our mode of selecting a Bishop were discussed at the first and second sessions; the discussion being marked by a deep concern that the church should understand, feel, and exercise the responsibility of the freedom which it has in this important matter.

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It was resolved, after due consideration, to initiate the Council's choice by inviting the members to submit their individual choices in writing before any name had been presented, the secretary to act for absent members who had communicated with him. The tellers reported that two names had been offered: those of the Right Rev. Willard D. Pendleton and the Rev. Elmo C. Acton; whereupon these gentlemen left the Council Chamber. A secret ballot was taken after further discussion, and the tellers reported that Bishop Pendleton had received 33 votes and Mr. Acton 1 vote. It was then resolved, by unanimous vote of those present, that the Council of the Clergy now name the Right Rev. Willard Dandridge Pendleton as their choice as Bishop of the General Church, and that the secretary communicate their choice to the next meeting of the Board of Directors.
     Standing reports made during the week were those of the Liturgy Committee and the Church Extension Committee. The first of these reports, presented by Bishop De Charms, reviewed the work that has been done by the committee since its formation, and dealt appreciatively with the work being done by Miss Creda Glenn on the Liturgy music. A report was heard also from the General Church Publication Committee; and the Secretary of the General Church and others, whose reports are made to the Joint Council, spoke briefly on points of particular relevance to their colleagues.

     Three addresses were given at the regular sessions. These were presented by the program committee under the chairmanship of the Rev. Louis B. King, and were on the general subject, "The Divine Proceeding." Mr. King himself offered the first of these related studies, a paper on "The Divine Proceeding and Human Reception." Bishop De Charms followed with an address entitled, "The Divine Proceeding to Create"; and the Rev. Kurt H. Asplundh concluded the series with a consideration of "Accommodation and the Visible God." These studies, which were hailed for their thoroughness, depth and scholarship, were spread over two sessions. Mr. Kings' paper, unfortunately, did not lend itself to publication, but it is hoped that the other two will appear in NEW CHURCH LIFE. The business before the Council this year did not make it possible to hear as many papers as usual; but notes on some questions in connection with betrothal, submitted by the Rev. Erik Sandstrom in connection with his address to the last British Assembly, were read by the secretary and were discussed briefly.
     Messages of greeting from several absent members and from the clergy of the South African Mission assembled in their annual meetings were received with applause. Several resolutions, in addition to the one to be transmitted to the Board of Directors, were adopted during the regular sessions.

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The Bishop was again requested to appoint a program committee for the following year's meetings; and the secretary was instructed to convey the thanks and appreciation of the Council to Miss Creda Glenn for her dedicated work in connection with the Liturgy music, to the Religion Lessons Committee for outstanding work which supports the pastoral use, to the Glencairn Foundation for the handsome leather-covered chairs with which it had furnished the Council Chamber, and to the ladies who furnished refreshments during the morning recesses.
During the week there were, as always, several organized social functions, as well as many private ones to which various members of the clergy were invited. On Wednesday evening the members of the Council dined and enjoyed an evening of social intercourse and discussion both serious and jovial at the hospitable home of Dr. and Mrs. Hugo Lj. Odhner, while Mrs. De Charms entertained the wives of the clergy in her gracious home. Mr. Raymond Pitcairn was host at luncheons on Friday and Saturday to members of the Joint Council, faculty men and others; and on Friday evening, after a meeting of the Bryn Athyn Society which was addressed by the Rev. Robert S Junge members of the Council and their wives were again guests of the Civic and Social Club at an Open House in the Club House-once more a pleasant opportunity for the clergy and the laity to meet and mix socially. These social events are always happy interludes in the often exacting routine of meetings and conferences, affording as they do opportunity for relaxation and for the renewing of friendships, and it is always a pleasure to mention them in this report as a means of expressing the thanks of Council members for the hospitality so generously shown them during their meetings.
Respectfully submitted,
W. CAIRNS HENDERSON,
Secretary, the Council of the Clergy
JOINT COUNCIL 1962

JOINT COUNCIL STEPHEN PITCAIRN 1962

     JANUARY 27, 1962

     1. The 68th regular joint meeting of the Council of the Clergy and the Directors of the Corporations of the General Church of the New Jerusalem was convened by the Acting Bishop, the Right Reverend Willard D. Pendleton, on January 27, 1962, at 10 am., in the Council Chamber of the Bryn Athyn Church.
     2. All joining in the Lord's Prayer, a selection from John 17 was read.
     3. Attendance was as follows:

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     OF THE CLERGY: Right Rev. W. D. Pendleton (presiding), Right Rev. George de Charms; Rev. Messrs. E. C. Acton, K. R. Alden, G. S. Childs, H. C. Cranch, Roy Franson, Alan Gill, D. W. Heinrichs, Henry Heinrichs, W. C. Henderson,
B. D. Holm, R. S. Junge, L. B. King, H. L. Odhner (Secretary), 0. D. Odhner, Dandridge Pendleton, Martin Pryke, N. H. Reuter, M. D. Rich, N. H. Rogers, F. S. Rose, F. L. Schnarr, D. R. Simons, K. O. Stroh, K. H. Asplundh, R. G. Cranch, G. H. Howard, and D. M. Taylor. (29)
     OF THE LAITY: Messrs. D. E. Acton, K. C. Acton, Esq., R. S. Anderson, E. T. Asplundh, Lester Asplundh, R. G. Barnitz, R. W. Childs, Esq., E. H. Davis, Esq., R. C. Hilldale, Esq., J. F. Junge, E. H. Kitzelman, A. H. Lindsay, Esq., H. K. Morley, P. C. Pendleton, Esq., Raymond Pitcairn, Esq., G. M. Smith, D. H. Stebbing, Arthur Synnestvedt, Esq., S. E. Lee, Stephen Pitcairn (Secretary of Corporations), and L. E. Gyllenhaal (Treasurer). (21)
     4. The Minutes of the 67th meeting were accepted as printed in NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1961, pages 171-176.
     5. The Secretary read the following special Report from the BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

     Dear Dr. Odhner:
     As Secretary of the Board of Directors of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, I am transmitting to you the following resolution which was unanimously adopted by the Board of Directors at a meeting held January 26, 1962.
     WHEREAS: As, the Council of the Clergy has transmitted to the Board of Directors the following communication:
     "WHEREAS according to the order observed in the General Church, a Bishop, as the chief governor thereof, shall he elected by the General Assembly, but be first named in and by the Council of the Clergy, and the choice then submitted to the Board of Directors for their consideration; after which the Joint Council of both bodies shall determine the mode whereby the name is finally to be placed before the General Assembly for election, BE IT RESOLVED that this Council [of the Clergy] now name the Right Reverend Willard Dandridge Pendleton as their choice as Bishop of the General Church, and that the Secretary communicate their choice to the next meeting of the Board of Directors of the General Church, Incorporated
     and WHEREAS the Board of Directors has considered the nomination of Bishop Willard Dandridge Pendleton-now Acting Bishop of the General Church of the New Jerusalem-as the Bishop of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, now therefore be it
     RESOLVED, that the Board of Directors hereby unanimously records its confidence in Bishop Willard Dandridge Pendleton and in his qualifications to lead our Church and to preserve freedom and order; and be it
     FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Board of Directors is in unanimous accord with the action of the Council of the Clergy in nominating Bishop Willard Dandridge Pendleton as the Bishop of the General Church of the New Jerusalem and hereby approves such nomination; and be it
     FURTHER RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the Joint Council.
Sincerely yours,
STEPHEN PITCAIRN
     Secretary, Corporations of the General Church

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JOINT COUNCIL SESSIONS 1962

JOINT COUNCIL SESSIONS HUGO Lj. ODHNER 1962

     6. The Acting Bishop noted that the next order of business is for this Joint Council to consider the mode by which this nomination is to be presented to the General Assembly in June. The record of the 16th General Assembly in 1937, when Bishop De Charms was elected, shows that the Secretary of the Council of the Clergy had made a special report of the nomination which it had forwarded to the Executive Committee, and that the Secretary of that body had then read the message of concurrence which they had sent to the Joint Council. The Secretary of the Council of the Clergy then placed the name before the Assembly and the nomination was seconded by the Secretary of the Executive Committee; which was followed by various speeches from the floor, after which a voice vote was taken.
     This Council is not bound by this order at all, but can decide whatever we desire.

     Mr. R. W. Childs read a portion of the statement of Bishop De Charms on the point, from NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1962, page 153, paragraph 3. He suggested a resolution modeled on this statement.

     Rev. Ormond Odhner agreed that the procedure followed in 1937 be used again this year; but with one very important exception.
     Man's essence is composed of freedom and rationality. The atmosphere of the Assembly will be very emotional, with easily stirred affections. Bishop Pendleton is the overwhelming choice of both the clergy and the laity, and many speeches will be made along a personal line. After they are made, no one would dare to rise and say anything against them. Therefore, to protect both freedom and rationality, he strongly urged that a secret ballot he arranged on that occasion.

     Rev. K. R. Alden sustained that idea. He had heard a lot of talk that the Assembly vote was only a "rubber stamp." A secret ballot of Yea and No may not be necessary now, but it might be needful in some future situation, and a precedent should he set now.

     Rev. B. D. Holm took a similar stand with the proviso that only one name be voted on. But, he pointed out that if in the future the name be turned down by the Assembly, another name would have to be nominated by the Council of Clergy.

     Rev. N. H. Reuter saw it as important that this discussion should assure people that we are concerned about the freedom of the church. While a certain formality must be observed, the real essence of it is consent. He noted that before a marriage ceremony, the consent is already given. Yet the consent must he finally solemnly confirmed by a ceremony which gave it dignity and importance-even though the process of choice had involved many stages. Rev. M. Pryke saw no objection to the suggested method. Mr. H. K. Morley noted that unless a negative vote had some real effect, the semblance of choice would be mere formality.

     Mr. Alec Lindsay cautioned that the use of a secret ballot might involve technical questions of membership cards, proxies and a lot of impedimenta. Rev. B. D. Holm thought it useful to discuss sending out proxy ballots to the entire membership.

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     Bishop De Charms said that the real question was how to impart a sense of freedom to our people. If that is present, it would be unnecessary to make a change. But it had been reported by some of the ministers that some of the young people and others did not feel that they were free in electing a Bishop-that indeed the matter was decided before they came to the Assembly, so that the vote was only a "rubber stamp." If that is so, it must be taken into consideration, for our church is made up of all the people and the process we have followed was to give the greatest freedom to the church. The difficulty is that there may be a misunderstanding as to the kind of freedom we are trying to provide. This is a spiritual church-at least we are trying to make it a spiritual church, a church governed from within, by influx from the Lord. The freedom we seek is a spiritual freedom rather than one which is the expression of individual feeling, such as on the floor of a political convention. If you go back and read what is said about it in the time of earlier administrations, the whole purpose in selecting a Bishop is to find the best possible way through which there shall be a leading of the Divine providence in the selection of a governor of our church. And if possible this leading of Providence should be recognizable to all our people at the time when the choice is finally made-so that the response is a Yea or Nay to what is seen as a leading of Providence.
     Possibly the feeling of a lack of freedom on the part of some is due to a lack of instruction about this. Our older people may sec the deeper side of the matter when young people see only the shell of the thing. In this case it is important to do what we can to remove any feeling of lack of freedom; for if our people do not feel free, we have failed in our purpose.
     How to do it is the responsibility of this body-where laity and clergy counsel together. When we look to our goal there are also practical considerations (as Mr. Lindsay pointed out), and we need the council of laymen as to how best to proceed. We may have fallen short in the mode of presentation. We are trying to promote real freedom-not the freedom, certainly, to select a Bishop on the floor of the Assembly. That is something which we could not possible agree to, for the whole essence of our procedure involves that the choice begins with the Council of the Clergy. If the choice is initiated on the floor of the Assembly we would be giving up an idea that is characteristic of our church and drawn from the Writings. But if possible we should make clear that we are trying to protect the real freedom, the freedom of conscience, that comes from being able to assent to something which they see and acknowledge to be of Divine Providence.

     Rev. D. Pendleton noted that although the Council of the Clergy had used a secret ballot, the Board did not. It might seem strange that the Assembly should vote by a different mode than the Clergy. Mr. Raymond Pitcairn said that the Board used a simple voice vote because they were unanimous. Rev. H. C. Cranch believed that a ballot would make no difference whatsoever in the outcome; but there were even some older people who were unaware why the Bishop should be named first in the Council of the Clergy and had asked whether it was disloyal not to vote Aye in a voice vote. In order to give a sense of freedom the basic need is for education-a realization that the essential is not a choice between candidates but an expression of the consent of the governed.

     Rev. M. Rich agreed with this but pointed out that the technical difficulties which Mr. Lindsay recited could easily be overcome.

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     Rev. K. O. Stroh felt with others that we should think of what we are doing this year not so much as a matter of choosing as showing our consent to the leadership provided by the Lord. In the Council of the Clergy there was an element of choice, and the first ballot was not unanimous. But when the nomination took the form of a final resolution it was a unanimous one. It is important to record that the consent was unanimous. Mr. R. Pitcairn noted that it is common to make a vote unanimous after discussion.

     7. Rev. K. O. Stroh moved: "Resolved, that it is the consensus of this Joint Council that a ballot should be conducted at the General Assembly in June, 1962, to determine the Assembly's acceptance of the nomination to be put before it at that time by the Secretaries of the Council of the Clergy and of the Board of Directors for the office of Bishop of the General Church."
     The motion was seconded.

     Rev. W. C. Henderson understood that the function of the Secretary of the Council of the Clergy was simply to pass over to the Board of Directors the resolution adopted by the Council of the Clergy, not to give the Board of Directors any counsel, but only the record. The record to be published in the April issue of the LIFE will show that the ballot was not unanimous but that the resolution sent to the Board was adopted by the unanimous vote of those present. That makes it perfectly clear for the church. But "as a man well instructed to discretion" he felt that while the Board probably wanted to hear what was in the mind of the clergy, he for one, wanted to hear from the Board members.

     Rev. K. R. Alden: "Our ballot was 33 to 1. It was not unanimous. Some one wanted to make it unanimous. But the nominating resolution was unanimous; it was not made unanimous by a later vote. It was unanimous."

     Mr. P. C. Pendleton had no pat answer to a serious problem. He was concerned over the report that there were people who did not feel free. While they are just as free to get up and say No at a public meeting as they are writing a secret ballot, he recognized that some are too timid to do so. What concerned him was that there seems to be a lack of instruction. We have a new generation very much influenced by the teachings of the universities that ours is a "democracy" rather than a representative government. The concept of representative government has been undermined by referring to it as a "democracy." He did not think that a secret ballot would satisfy the demand. What some wanted was a choice on the floor of the Assembly between a number of candidates.
     The Bishop had referred to spiritual government. From his earliest days this ideal had been impressed on the speaker; and basically this meant the determination of the choice by the clergy as a group because they had the greatest illustration on this point-a group closest to the problems involved and thus able to give us a wise judgment as to who should be the next Bishop. The Board could approve or reject, but could not substitute another nomination. The executive Board is not really qualified to make the choice although it is made up of men from all over the church who have much experience in the affairs of the church and know more about it than the rank and file. Naturally some might have the feeling that they are not getting a chance to express themselves. (Their chance will come later.) Some might think that they have been passed over. Some may know little about the real situation.

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     Before something is done [to change our order], there should be serious consideration. People talk of the "economic man," etc., but the speaker had considerable experience with the "political man" and feared the possibility of campaigns among those who do not know the background. But if it was decided to have a vote by ballot, he felt it important that the vote be limited to those who attend the Assembly, who can at least evaluate the situation.

     Mr. R. W. Childs agreed that whatever form the vote take (and the Assembly can, of course, make its own rules) it should be participated in only by those members who are present. If owing to the growth of the church a different situation arises in the future, this is not our present concern.

     Mr. Arthur Synnestvedt wished that the helpful instructive comments made here by Bishop De Charms be also made before the Assembly acts; explaining in simple terms that the question before the church is one of consent or not to the nomination which to those who nominated appears as the leading of Providence.

     Mr. A. H. Lindsay spoke of the difficulty of seeing, from a spiritual viewpoint, the qualifications of a man to be Bishop of this church and noted that the technical qualifications could best be determined by the priesthood. It was different with political appointments which are often due to a popularity contest. He would be sorry to see the selection of candidates be thrown open on the floor of the Assembly.

     Rev. N. H. Reuter did not think that there was any demand for us to follow the "democratic procedure. What was required of the Assembly is an expression of consent given with a sense of freedom.

     Rev. D. R. Simons was opposed to a ballot. Even if we supposed that a third of the votes were negative, we would still need a Bishop. But we feel sure that Bishop Pendleton will have the unanimous support of the church. In the clergy-meetings, the speaker had pointed out that the lack of a sense of freedom came simply from the feeling that when Bishop Pendleton had once been elected Assistant Bishop, it was inevitable that he would become our next leader. A Bishop has a right to pick his assistants and judge among the men under him as to who is capable of performing episcopal uses.
     He felt that the Bishop would enter his office with the assurance that the whole church is behind him. He hoped that the future administration would provide several men in the third degree from which a multiple choice may be possible at least in the Council of the Clergy. As one priest had remarked, the church had actually elected the next Bishop over the last ten years. His qualities of leadership had now been recognized and in that spirit we should go to the Assembly, following the mode used last time.

     Mr. Raymond Pitcairn agreed with Mr. Synnestvedt's wish that Bishop De Charms teaching on the subject be clearly brought out and suggested that an explanatory article be also published in the LIFE prior to the Assembly.

     Rev. Alan Gill had earlier in the week been favorable to the use of a ballot at the Assembly, but had now serious doubts. If there ever were a general feeling that there was a threat of abuse of our church government, there would he no hesitation on the part of Assembly participants to rise and protest at the name submitted for acceptance.

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But as it is it would be sufficient if the pastors clearly teach their parishioners bow to protect against abuse, and that this could be done by vocal assent as well as it could by ballots.

     Rev. B. D. Holm did not believe any one desired a so-called "democratic" election. He felt strongly that the nomination should be initiated in the Council of the Clergy. But he felt equally strongly that the laity had a real responsibility for preserving the purity of the church. The priesthood exists for the sake of the laity, not the reverse. And in the history of past churches perversion had first set in in the clergy. (Jer. 5: 30, 31) The laity therefore had to maintain their right and duty to give or withhold consent.
     He could see the reason why only those attending the Assembly should vote. But there is another phase to be considered. There are areas of our cosmopolitan church that cannot well be represented. Our church is a "General Church."

     8.     A 15 minute social interlude followed during which delicious refreshments were served by the ladies of the Bryn Athyn Women's Guild.

     9.     Bishop Pendleton offered two suggestions.
     First. It would he extremely valuable, if, prior to the presentation of a nomination to the Assembly, we would ask Bishop De Charms (who has had the confidence of this church for so many years) if he would address the Assembly on the real issues involved, and our concepts of them; putting before the Assembly the real question, which is not that of a man or a personality, but the question whether the Assembly wishes to express its confidence or lack of confidence in the nomination presented to the church by the clergy-which has passed the second step by gaining the confidence of the representative body of the laity, and now has to come before the body of the church.
     Secondly. After all, is it not the Assembly which must determine its own procedure? After Bishop De Charms has spoken, the Assembly could decide whether they desired a secret ballot. Would that give some of that sense of freedom which we are trying to provide? The one thing we do not want is to have a substantial number of our people leave with the feeling that some way or other freedom has been neglected.
     If we decide the mode here, well and good. But he doubted whether we can decide here. Let the Assembly decide for itself. If they desire a ballot a committee will have to be charged with the practicalities. We would have to have tellers ready, and ballots. And many present will not be members of the General Church.

     Mr. R. Pitcairn also felt it most desirable for this body not to tell the Assembly how to proceed. But he added that if the Assembly calls for a secret ballot they might have to decide whether to have a secret ballot to decide whether to have a secret ballot!

     Rev. H. C. Cranch wondered if, in a future election of a Bishop, it would not be wise to set up some representation, inasmuch as the consent should be given by the entire membership and a great many cannot attend. Various other matters should be voted on only by those at an Assembly, for the discussion often changes one's opinions about the things proposed.
     But this is not the time to change our mode of selecting a Bishop.

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The publication of the nomination and other suggested instruction will unify the church and demonstrate that the acceptance is universal.

     10.     Mr. R. W. Childs made a substitute motion:
     "Resolved, That the question raised in this Joint Council as to whether the nomination of the Right Reverend Willard D. Pendleton as the Bishop of the General Church be voted on by ballot or by viva voce vote, be referred to the General Assembly without recommendation." The motion was seconded.

     Mr. Lester Asplundh did not believe the freedom which some seemed to feel was withheld had anything to do with the manner of voting. He thought rather that a small minority wished to be free to pick another candidate on the floor of the Assembly. But we believe that the nomination should be made in the Council of the Clergy. If the Board does not like this name we will tell the clergy so. But if we do agree with it, the Assembly does not have a choice to put up another man, but a choice to consent or reject. That is what we need instruction about.

     Rev. H. L. Odhner called attention to one principle to which we ought to hold fast-that the government of this church is founded on the idea of "Assembly." That implies that those most active in the church represent the people at our assemblies.
     It is an important principle that those most interested and concerned are to make decisions as to the government of the church and other vital matters. If you really want to have a voice in the church you attend its meetings as an active member. It is of course perfectly true that the representation is somewhat lopsided because many local members may also attend who do not represent so active a leadership. But the principle still holds.
     As secretary, the speaker proposed-if the tape recorder is reliable-to condense the discussion as fairly as possible for publication in the LIFE. If there is any objection to that, this should be stated.

     Mr. R. Pitcairn remarked that at the founding of the General Church, there were two principles stressed-those of "Council and Assembly"; and that people who do not attend Assemblies do not have a part in the affairs of the church.
     11. The motion made by Mr. Stroh (Minute 7) and the substitute motion made by Mr. Childs (See Minute 10) were read. The substitute motion was carried.
     12. The mode of presenting the matter to the Assembly was next discussed. Reference was made to the records in NEW CHURCH LIFE 1937.

     Rev. H. L. Odhner suggested that when the matter of the election of a Bishop comes up on the agenda of the General Assembly, the simplest way was for the Secretary of the Joint Council to report to the Assembly the motion we have just made. This report should also inform the Assembly of all the actions taken in the process of nomination. The two bodies which collaborated in the nomination would then, by means of their representatives, put the name before the Assembly in formal nomination-as a motion by the clergy representative seconded by the representative of the Board. The rest of the procedure could be safely left for the Assembly itself to decide.

     Mr. D. H. Stebbing suggested that a request for a secret ballot would confuse the proceedings.

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     13. Mr. James Junge moved that the Acting Bishop be asked to appoint a committee to decide procedure. This was seconded by Mr. R. W. Childs, and opposed by Rev. H. L. Odhner who wished to relieve the Bishop of the embarrassment of selecting a committee to set the conditions for his own election. Mr. A. Lindsay said that the resolution regarding the mode of voting should be offered from the floor.
     Rev. W. C. Henderson led the discussion back to the mode of placing the name before the Assembly. The Secretary of the Council of the Clergy should report its nomination and the Secretary of the Board of Directors should follow with a report of its action. Mr. R. W. Childs felt that we had no need of any committee. As to procedure we had a simple situation. Whether each secretary makes the motion and second or whether it is first presented by the Secretary of the Joint Council, does not seem important.
     14. The motion of Mr. Junge was withdrawn, and a confused discussion followed. It was then, on motion,
     Resolved, That we follow the procedure of the 1937 Assembly. (Passed)
     15. The SECRETARY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH summarized his Report. (See pages 180-483) No statistical report had as yet been received from the South African Mission.
     16.     The TREASURER OF THE GENERAL CHURCH, Mr. Leonard E. Gyllenhaal, submitted his Report for 1961 which is printed herewith on page 191. In addition he commented that the encouraging increase in our income from regular sources this year was especially welcome because of expected expenses incident to the coming Assembly. Last year's contribution appeal, directed by Mr. James Junge (See Minute 17), was a tremendous task of letter writing resulting in definite success. But a study of the accomplishment of Protestant churches led him to feel that there is room for improvement. Many returns manifested that our appeals were confused with those of the Academy, the Sons of the Academy, and local societies. He had on his desk hundreds of letters requiring special replies. With adequate time and talent such replies could strengthen the ties of the church.
     The treasurer's office could nor much longer act as the Communications Center of the General Church, but we must soon establish a separate Communications Center under the Office of the Secretary or under a new official. (See the text of the Report.) We need to publish a booklet, perhaps entitled "Know the Work of the General Church," to describe with pictures and text our various fields of endeavor, useful not only for new members but even for oldtimers. Only through such information and through closer contacts can we build up a better understanding of the uses of the church.
     As to the support of our ministers he said that our basic salaries compare most favorably with other churches. But we are behind in the so-called "fringe-benefits"; such as life and medical insurance administered in other churches by Pension Boards, and allowances for the everyday costs of the upkeep of a pastor's office and library and car and other necessities. Whimsically, he pictured what the curriculum of the Theological School would otherwise be like if we expected our ministers to be efficient. First year: Typing, use of stencils, mimeographing, etc. Second year: Use of projectors and films, publicity, telephone-ethics, church-decorations, flower-arrangements, etc. Third year: The Minister as errand boy, philosophy of lawn care, personal finance and budgeting of salary, skills in repairing the car and finding substitutes (bicycles, scooters, walking), care of church property, carpentry, maintaining appearances.

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Electives, which can be omitted if they hinder the required courses: Bible studies, Church History, Doctrine, Homiletics.
     17.     Mr. James Junge reported for the GENERAL CHURCH CONTRIBUTIONS COMMITTEE:
     "Over the last few years it has been the purpose of the General Church Contributions Committee to broaden the base of contributors. The problem we faced was a declining trend in the number of contributors which began back in 1945 when 48% of our membership was contributing. This trend continued until 1958 by which time we had only 34.5%. Analysis showed that it was the young people we were failing to reach; and if we did not find a solution to this, we could expect the trend to continue downward.
     "In 1958, 1959 and 1960, we experimented with mailing technique in the Bryn Athyn area and demonstrated to our own satisfaction that these methods could be effective in arresting and reversing this trend. By 1960, we had struggled back up to 37%, representing 773 contributors.
     "In 1961, the committee decided that the time was right for an all out effort-that is, so far as you can have an all out effort based on volunteer help from busy men.
     "I think you will be interested in what we did in our campaign: First of all, we established an objective for ourselves. We knew that the committee would be called upon to make a report for 1961 at the coming General Assembly this June. As this Assembly will herald the beginning of a new era in the church, we felt that this was a propitious time to have a re-dedication to principles and uses. A tangible way for the church body to express this is by their contributions. Hence, we asked ourselves: "Would it not be fitting at the General Assembly to be able to report that in 1961 more than 48% of our members contributed-thus breaking a fifty-year record set in 1945. We established this as our goal.
     "Recognizing that we should have to have the whole-hearted support of pastors and treasurer's agents, if we were to achieve our goal, a check was made with the pastors for suitable candidates. Bishop De Charms was then asked if he would write the treasurer's agents appointing them as non-resident members of the General Church Contributions Committee. This he did on June 7. The response was good and set the stage for a serious campaign throughout the church.
     "The next step in our campaign was to inform members of the General Church throughout the world of our objectives. The treasurer's office prepared 2000 letters setting forth our objectives, which were mailed out October 9. Along with these letters, a slip with four statements to check was enclosed:
     1. I have already contributed for 1961.
     2. Enclosed, you will find my contribution.
     3. You may expect my contribution by [blank] date.
     4. Sorry, circumstances prevent me from contributing this year.
     This slip had the prospective contributors name and address on it. Also, a stamped return envelope was enclosed and we asked everyone to return his slip.
     "Eight hundred letters to Bryn Athynites and isolated members not served by a treasurer's agent were sent out over my name. Less than 50% sent the slip back. The other 1200 letters were sent in packages to treasurer's agents for their use. A letter was sent to the treasurer's agents putting the responsibility squarely on them to follow up these letters and asking for a progress report by November 15.

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In all, counting letters acknowledging contributions, more than 8,000 letters were addressed. While the majority of these were form letters, many required individual answers. Both the treasurer's office and my office have been busy trying to keep up.
     The important thing, of course, is what kind of results we obtained. In my own mind, I had hoped that we would get 50% or more to contribute. We fell short of this mark, getting 48.6%. However, we did reach our stated goal of breaking the fifty-year record established in 1945 when 47.6% contributed. Perhaps, more impressively, we raised the number of contributors from 773 in 1960 to 1,026 in 1961. This is a gain of more than 250 contributors and marks the first time that we have had over 1,000.
     "But, before we start feeling too complacent about this, let us do a little analyzing. It troubles me that with the effort expended, we still do not have a good return. Somehow, we are failing to get our message through. Something is wrong when less than 1/2 of our members feel vitally enough about General Church uses to make any contribution. Part of our problem seems to be in making our members generally, and young people in particular, realize that even a very small contribution will be gratefully received. I think that we may be missing an opportunity in our schools. If the relationship of the General Church to our societies and schools were explained to our high school and college students, and contributions were started on a nominal basis while the students were still in school, I believe we might get a very good reaction.
     "For example, one of my children recently made this remark to his uncle, Dean Cole: "I think kids would try to co-operate with the school more if they knew how much work it is to give us a New Church education." He was prompted to make this remark after spending several hours addressing and stuffing General Church envelopes with me. Note that he had no difficulty in seeing the relationship of the uses when his own efforts were involved.
     "Adult education is also possible, and I believe that our experience in Bryn Athyn, which we used as a pilot area in '58 and '59, shows that constant efforts do get results. Over 100 more contributors are now giving to the General Church than gave in 1958, and our percentage contribution has come up from 45 to 63%. The most significant gain was made last year.
     "It is interesting to me that in seeking to broaden the base of contributors, we have automatically raised the total dollars received substantially. Yet, throughout the year, we never stressed this aspect of contributing. Still, several people sent in additional contributions to encourage us. As the Treasurer's Report shows, a gain of about $7000 was realized this year. (A paper tape four yards long was here exhibited, to show what the listing of $48,000 of contributions looks like!)
     "As you can see, from studying the statistics of the Treasurer's Report, our treasurer's agents did an outstanding job for us this year. The ability to get substantially better results in some areas than we have been able to get in Bryn Athyn with four years' effort, reflects the individual initiative of the treasurer's agents. While it will never be possible to set up a system where each member is approached personally and the uses explained to him as an individual, this would certainly be ideal. Mr. Gyllenhaal's suggestion that we improve our communications and our records certainly makes a lot of sense to me."
     18. Rev. D. R. Simons, believing that there would be considerable pastoral changes in the future, felt that an opportunity should he provided to discuss the mode of selecting a pastor.

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He thought that multiple choice for pastors as well as for bishops is a useful thing, and that the presentation to a society of one name at the time for acceptance or rejection should be considered-perhaps in the Council of the Clergy first. Bishop Pendleton suggested that it might be taken up next year.
     19. The Report of the SALARY COMMITTEE was called for. Mr. P. C. Pendleton, as chairman, explained that there was more work to be done before a formal report. Mr. Gyllenhaal's picture of the many expenses facing a minister made the efforts of his own committee seem to fall pretty flat. But these needs had been considered in the past. We have investigated the possibility of group insurance and medical insurance, etc., but found many complications. We would need the time of another man to take charge of arrangements such as fringe-benefits involve. So far we have sought to take care of them in other ways. The main need, on which a recommendation was in the making, is an increase in ministerial salaries. He promised to do his best within the limits of our circumstances, for his heart was in it.
     Rev. M. Rich and Rev. F. L. Schnarr affirmed that Mr. Pendleton had done a wonderful work. Mr. Schnarr called attention to the Treasurer's suggestions for the bettering of our communications in our uses, and that the Treasurer's office had gradually become overloaded with work. This should he relieved, if we could only afford another man.
     Bishop Pendleton regarded our communications as an area in which there could be improvement. He also realized that we must look forward to having a separate Treasurer for the General Church. This had been seriously considered by the Board of the Academy some years ago, whether it be in the best interest of both bodies, but it seemed then not possible. Yet he had long felt that gradually the organization of the General Church must become more distinct from that of the Academy. The joint arrangement had worked well up to this time, but the General Church had slowly matured. If a change is needed it can only be effected gradually. For the General Church is not a wealthy church; and the Academy is not a wealthy organization, but it faces many difficulties with an anticipated increase in our facilities needed for the near future. He viewed the Academy as the educational arm of the General Church, and it is now and probably will always be our most expensive undertaking. When you consider that the cost of educating a child is constantly going up, it calls for an increasing consciousness on the part of the individuals of the church of the need for its support. But we must have patience and proceed slowly.
     20. By rising vote, the meeting unanimously Resolved, That this Joint Council recognize Bishop George de Charms as the Bishop Emeritus of the General Church.
     21. On Motion, the meeting adjourned, at 12:30 p.m.
     Respectfully submitted,
HUGO Lj. ODHNER.
     SECRETARY

180

ANNUAL REPORTS 1962

ANNUAL REPORTS Various 1962

     SECRETARY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH

     The calendar year of 1961 brought 80 new members into the General Church, while one resigned and six were dropped from the roll. Deaths totalled 36.
     Membership, Jan. 1, 1961     2942
     (U.S.A.-1845, Other countries-1097)
     New members (Cert. 4873-4952 incl.)     80 (U.S.A.-60, Others-20)
     Deaths reported (U.S.A.-19, Others-17)     36
     Resignations (U.S.A-1)     1
     Dropped (U.S.A.-3, Others-3)     6
     Losses     43
     Net gain during 1961     37
     Membership, Jan. 1, 1962     2979
     (U.S.A.-1882, Others-1079)

     NEW MEMBERS

     January 1, 1961 to December 31, 1961

     THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

     Alabama: University
Mr. Hansell Edwards Wade
     Arizona: Phoenix
Mr. James Fuller Barry
     Arizona: Tucson
Mr. Bruce Owen Wilson
     California:     Glendale
Miss Suzanne Shubert Cranch
Mr. Eliot Walter Cranch
     California:     San Diego
Mrs. Bradford Kent Williams (Caryl Elsie Betz)
     Colorado: USAF Academy
Mr. Frederik Allen Fiedler
     Florida: Fort Lauderdale
Miss Mary Janet Kerr
     Illinois: Chicago
Miss Nancy Lou Clipper
Mr. Richard Clinton Helding
Mrs. Herbert Warren Horricks (Marguerite Sari Wood)
     Illinois: Elk Grove Village
Mr. Robert Dorlan Smith
Mrs. Robert Dorlan Smith (Carol Ann Neumuth)
     Illinois: Glenview
Miss Rachelle Nicholson
Mr. Donald O'Neill Synnestvedt
Mrs. Donald O'Neill Synnestvedt (Lee Glenn Coffin)
     Illinois: Oak Park
Mr. Robert Bradstock Smith
Mrs. Robert Bradstock Smith (Naoma Ruby Clapp)

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     Michigan: Detroit
Mr. Willard Lewis Davenport Heinrichs
     Michigan: Manistee
Mrs. Norman Philip Synnestvedt (Georgia May Fifarek)
     Michigan: Royal Oak
Mr. Howard Buckingham Gurney
Miss Patricia Ann McCardell
     Michigan: Troy
Mr. Justin David Reuter
     Minnesota:     Minneapolis
Miss Irene Elizabeth Lindgren
     New Jersey: Park Ridge
Mr. Donald Craig Schmucker
     New Jersey: Princeton
Miss Jean Dorsey
     New Jersey: Shrewsbury
Miss Emily Irene Lyman
     New York: Carmel
Mrs. Richard Odhner Acton (Margarite Leonard)
     Ohio:     Cincinnati
Mr. Harris Lorenz Behlert
     Pennsylvania: Bryn Athyn district
Mr. Christopher Brooke Asplundh
Miss Emily Jane Asplundh
Mrs. William D. Bruckerl (Lillian Virginia Dierks)
Miss Anita Sue Coffin
Miss Sandra Ormes Cooper
Miss Nanette de Maine
Miss Hannah Finkeldey
Miss Marjorie Ellen Grubb
Miss Cynthia Hyatt
Mr. Martin Erlend Klein
Miss Gertrude Louisa Link
Mr. George Unger Naill
Mrs. Joan Goodwin Cooper Slaughter
Mr. Yorvar Evan Synnestvedt
Mr. Willard Dean Thomas
Miss Dorothy Joan Timmins
Mr. George Woolley, Jr.
Mrs. George Woolley, Jr. (Martha Simpson)
     Pennsylvania: Philadelphia
Mr. Norbert Bruce Rogers
     Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh
Mr. William Harrison Clifford
Mrs. Mary Regena Buch Clifford
Miss Jeryl Glenn
Mr. Robert Burns Hunsaker, Jr.
Mr. Samuel Jameson Leezer
Mrs. Samuel J. Leezer (Natalie Osborn Jones)
Mr. Walter Lydick Williamson
     Pennsylvania: Venitia
Mr. Paul John Simonetti
     South Carolina: Spartansburg
Mr. Bruce Charles Coffin
     Washington: Spokane
Miss Helen Marie Hansen
Mrs. Marie Elisabeth Casperson Hansen
     Washington, D. C.
Miss Jane Kintner
     BRAZIL
     Rio de Janeiro
Mr. Ariel Correa de Padua
Mrs. Arid C. de Padua (Marly Santos)
     CANADA
     British Columbia: Fort St. John
Mr. Cornelius Friesen
Mrs. Cornelius Friesen (Dorothy May Williamson)
     Ontario: Toronto
Miss Doreen Mary McMaster
Miss Ruth Elizabeth Parker
     Ontario: Waterloo
Mr. Melvin Samuel Riepert
     AFRICA
     Natal: Durban
Mr. Peter Martin Buss
     AUSTRALIA
     New South Wales: Hurstville
Mr. Hugh John Keal
     New ZEALAND
     Auckland
Mr. James Walter Brasell

182

Mrs. John William Flood (Doris Martha Lovett)
     HOLLAND
     The Hague
Miss Sara Elisabeth Sophia Heersink
Mr. Daniel Lupker
Mrs. Daniel Lupker (Jeane Henrietta Stock)
Rev. John Durban Odhner
Mr. Rolf Leo Frans van Ravestijn
Mrs. Rolf L. F. van Ravestijn (Huberta Lailah Gryseels)
Mr. Nun Freerk Witbaard
     NORWAY
     Oslo
Mr. Ragnar Bovesen
     UNITED KINGDOM
     Scotland: Glasgow
Miss Helen Frances MacLean Swanson

     DEATHS

     Reported during 1961

Amendola, Mrs. Ernestine Johanne Helene (Lehmkuhl), of Clearwater, Fla., date unknown. (76?)
Astrom, Miss Johanna Emilia, May 9, 1961, Stockholm, Sweden. (77)
Aye, Mrs. Thomas (Genevieve Tassey), May 6, 1961, Sarver, Pa. (84)
Barnitz, Mr. Rudolph McLean, Nov. 26, 1961, Chicago, Ill. (61)
Boyesen, Mrs. Eyvind Andreas (Agnes Winsnes), Aug. 21, 1961, Oslo, Norway. (90)
Carroll, Mr. Edward Albert, Nov. 30, 1961, Riverside, N. J. (61)
Cole, Mr. Louis Snowden, May 27, 1961, Glenview, Ill. (84)
Coley, Mrs. Joseph W. (Ida Reading Maddock), Mar. 8, 1961, Lansdale, Pa. (87)
Cranch, Mr. Walter Appleton, Aug. 21, 1961, Glendale, Cal. (76)
Delissanti, Mr. Michele Maria, July 20, 1961, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (93)
Dicks, Mrs. Henry George (Emily Elizabeth Cowie), May 25, 1960, Whitstable, England. (82)
Eblin, Mr. Kail Bradbury, July 18, 1961, Columbus, 0. (63)
Goranfelt, Capt. Nils Daniel, July 21, 1959, Stockholm, Sweden. (?)
Hachborn, Mr. Herbert Henry, Sep. 27, 1961, Brantford, Ont. (82)
Halterman, Mr. James Douglas, May 18, 1961, Bryn Athyn, Pa. (46)
Mamann, Mrs. Hugo Dutra (Leila Julia Leonardos), July 12, 1961, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (60)
Hanlin, Mr. William Arthur, Oct. 4, 1961, Cadiz (?), 0.
Hart, Miss Tovia Esbester, Mar. 14, 1961, Barnstaple, Devon, England. (66)
Homer, Mrs. Walter Reginald (Hannah Robinson), June 30, 1961, Melbourne, Australia. (81)
Kitzelmann, Mrs. Herman (Jessie Burkhardt), May 21, 1961, Chicago, Ill. (77)
Kuhl, Mr. George Harold, Jan. 16, 1961, Kitchener, Out. (70)
Levine, Mr. Louis Isaac, July 19, 1961, Durban, Natal. (58)
Lucas, Mme. Louis Jules (Bertha Emilie Mack), July 8, 1961, Paris, France. (91)
Mays, Mr. Paul Kirtland, June 30, 1961, Camel, Cal. (74)
Miehm, Mrs. Walter Raymond (Anna Heinrichs), Oct. 20, 1961, Kitchener, Ont. (63)
Nelson, Mrs. Alvin Emmanuel (Helen Farrington), June 18, 1961, Muncy Valley, Pa. (86)
Norris, Mrs. Randolph Carlysle (Estella Naomi Dyne), Cuyahoga Falls, 0. (58)
Northgraves, Mr. Ivan William, Oct. 16, 1961, Kitchener, Ont. (77)
Pollock, Mr. Thomas F., Nov. 16, 1961, Fort Worth, Texas. (76)

183

Poulsen, Mr. Roy James, Mar. 4, 1961, Chicago, Ill. (67)
Scott, Mr. Archibald, Nov. 6, 1961, Toronto, Ont. (73)
Searle, Mrs. Alfred Harold (Mary Ann Tarelli), Jan. 24, 1961, Hayes, Kent, England. (87)
Smith, Mr. Bertrand Louis, Jan. 8, 1961, Huntingdon Valley, Pa. (64)
Smith, Mrs. Gilbert H. (Nora Mary Potts), Dec. 20, 1961, Bennington, Vt. (81)
Stroh, Mrs. Emil Frederick (Ruth Evelyn Frankish), May 22, 1961, Ontario, Cal. (81)
Strowger, Mrs. Arthur Raywood (Ruby Hickman), Mar. 11, 1961, Toronto, Ont. (69)

     RESIGNATIONS

Cronlund, Mr. Laurence Murray. Union, N. J.

     DROPPED FROM THE ROLL

Chalitha, Mr. Jorge, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Gomes, Mr. Carlos Ernesto, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Jenks, Mr. Marcus Richard, Philadelphia, Pa. (Deceased)
Kirby, Captain Paul Cecil, Address unknown.
Leonardos, Dr. Othon Henry, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Sponseller, Mrs. Harvey S., Columbiana, 0.
     Respectfully submitted,
Hugo Lj. ODHNER,
Secretary


     COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY

January 1, 1961 to January 1, 1962

     MEMBERSHIP

     There were two inaugurations into the priesthood and no deaths or resignations during the year. One member resigned from the work of the priesthood, but not from the Council. Thus the total membership increased by two to thirty-nine. Included in this total are two priests of the episcopal degree, thirty-one of the pastoral degree, and six of the ministerial degree. The active and semi-active membership is thirty-five. Four members of the Council are retired or in secular work; some of them, however, giving assistance to the pastoral office.
     At the present time there are no Authorized Candidates in the Academy of the New Church Theological School. But there is one Authorized Candidate in Brazil; the British Guiana Mission has one priest of the pastoral degree; and in the South African Mission there are seven priests of the pastoral degree and two of the ministerial degree, the same as last year. An Authorized Leader is still appointed to the Circle at The Hague. A list of the clergy of the General Church and its Missions appears in NEW CHURCH LIFE for December, 1961, pp. 570-573.

     STATISTICS

     Statistics concerning the Sacraments and Rites of the Church administered in 1961, compiled from 34 reports received up to the end of February, 1962, together with the final though still incomplete figures for 1960, are as follows:

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                              1961     1960
     Baptisms (Children 139; Adults 28)     167     187      (-20)
     Holy Supper: Administrations     182     178     (4)
     Communicants     4957     4988     (-31)
     Confessions of Faith     27     45     (-18)
     Betrothals     16     21     (-5)
     Marriages     36     41     (-5)
     Funerals or Memorial Services     33     47     (-14)
     Ordinations     2     2
     Dedications: Homes     13     8     (+5)

     The above figures do not include administration of Sacraments and Rites in the South African Mission. There was one blessing on a civil marriage which is not included in the total. The proportion of adult to child baptisms remains fairly constant. Attention is drawn to the sharp drop in the number of Confessions of Faith. The other decreases shown would probably be reduced or eliminated if all the reports were available.

     REPORTS OF MEMBERS OF THE CLERGY

     The Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton reports that during the first six months of the past year he served as President of the Academy and as Assistant Bishop of the General Church. With the retirement of the Rt. Rev. George de Charms as Bishop of the General Church On June 30, 1961, he assumed the offices of Acting Bishop of the General Church and Acting Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church, and continued to serve as President of the Academy. During the year he made episcopal visits to the following Societies and Circles of the General Church: Tucson, Arizona, March 18-20; Los Angeles, California, March 31-April 2 (Easter weekend); Kitchener, Canada, May 5-7; Toronto, Canada, October 6-8; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, November 10-12.
     The Rt. Rev. George de Charms, Bishop of the General Church of the New Jerusalem and Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church up to June 30, 1961, Dean of the Bryn Athyn Church since September 1, 1962, and President Emeritus of the Academy of the New Church, reports as follows:

     BISHOP OF THE GENERAL CHURCH

     INAUGURATIONS: On June 18, 1961, he officiated at the inauguration into the first degree of the priesthood of Candidate Gudmund Ullrich Boolsen and Candidate Geoffrey Horace Howard.
     ASSEMBLIES: As representative of the Acting Bishop of the General Church he presided over the Northwest United States District Assembly, held in Bellevue, Washington, August 19-20.
     He paid personal visits to the members of the General Church in Dawson Creek, B. C., Canada, and to isolated families in the vicinity of Spokane, Walla Walla, and Pine City, Washington, and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, during the month of August.
     EPISCOPAL VISITS: He made episcopal visits to the Immanuel Church, Glenview, Il., over the weekend of March 17; to the Advent Church, Philadelphia, Pa., April 16; to the North Jersey Circle, Morristown, N. J., over the weekend of May 13; and to the New York Circle on June 4.

185

     OTHER ACTIVITIES: He presided over the Annual Council Meetings of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, held in Bryn Athyn, January 24-28; and over the meetings of the Corporations of the General Church and their Board of Directors held from January through June, 1961.
     PASTORAL CHANGES: The Rev. Geoffrey H. Howard accepted appointment as Assistant to the Pastor of the Immanuel Church, Glenview, Ill., his duties to begin July 1, 1961. The Rev. Gudmund U. Boolsen was appointed Assistant to the Visiting Pastor of the Circle in Copenhagen, Denmark, effective September 1, 1961. On June 30, 1961, he retired from the office of Bishop of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and the Assistant Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton, became the Acting Bishop, pending the selection of a new Bishop of the General Church at the Twenty-third General Assembly, to be held in June 1962.
     In October 1961 he accepted appointment as chairman of the Committee on the Revision of the General Church Liturgy.
     He wished to acknowledge gratefully the valued assistance in the conduct of the episcopal office afforded by the Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton during the closing months of his administration.

     PASTOR OF THE BRYN ATHYN CHURCH

     From January through June he presided over the meetings of the Bryn Athyn Church, the Board of Trustees and the Pastor's Council. He preached four times between January and June. conducted services regularly, and administered sacraments and rites.

     DEAN OF THE BRYN ATHYN CHURCH

     On June 30, 1961, he resigned his pastorate, and at the Annual Meeting of the Bryn Athyn Church, held on September 29, in response to a suggestion made by the Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton, he was elected Dean of the Bryn Athyn Church, pending such action as may be taken by the new Pastor after the General Assembly in June, 1962.
     In that capacity he was given charge of worship and instruction. From September through December he preached three times, and presided over the meetings of the Pastor's Council.
     He would express deep gratitude to the Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton and to the Rev. Messrs. David R. Simons and Kenneth O. Stroh for regular assistance in the conduct of the pastoral office. Grateful acknowledgement is made also to the Rev. Messrs. Hugo Lj. Odhner, W. Cairns Henderson, Ormond de C. Odhner and Dandridge Pendleton for their voluntary assistance on the chancel, in the pulpit, and in the conduct of doctrinal lectures.

     PRESIDENT EMERITUS OF THE ACADEMY

     During the year he taught one course in education to the Senior College, and one course in the Theological School. From January through June 1, 1961, he conducted a seminar for teachers on the philosophy of New Church education.

186

     On September 1, 1961, he was appointed head of the Department of Religion, which is charged with the responsibility of formulating a report for the Accrediting Committee of the Middle Atlantic States Association, and also with making recommendations relative to the improvement of the Academy Library's holdings in the field of religion.

     Rev. A. Wynne Acton continued to serve as Pastor of the Durban Society and as Superintendent of the South African Mission.
     Rev. Elmo C. Acton, Pastor of the Immanuel Church, Glenview, Illinois, and Acting Pastor of Sharon Church, Chicago, also served as Headmaster of the Immanuel Church School, in which he taught Religion, Hebrew and Algebra.
     Rev. Karl R. Alden, Director of General Church Religion Lessons and Editor of New Church Education, visited in May the committees of teachers working on the Religion Lessons in Pittsburgh, Youngstown, Akron, Cleveland, Detroit, Toronto and Kitchener. He preached in all of these places, gave doctrinal classes in some, and met with Epsilon groups. During the year he preached also in Bryn Athyn, North Jersey and Philadelphia, and conducted summer services in Wallenpaupack.
     Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen was engaged as Pastor of the Stockholm Society; as Visiting Pastor to the Oslo and Copenhagen Circles, the Jonkoping Circle and the group in Goteberg; and as Editor of Nova Ecclesia.
     Rev. Geoffrey S. Childs, Pastor of the Carmel Church, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, and Principal of the Carmel Church School, reports that the new building and community projects continue to be major external challenges to the Society.
     Rev. Roy Franson was engaged as Pastor of the Dawson Creek (British Columbia) Group; and as Visiting Pastor to the groups in Fort St. John and Vancouver, B. C., Edmonton and Oyen, Alta., Seattle and Spokane, Wash., and Portland, Oregon. In addition to these places, where distinct groups have been formed, he visited isolated members in Crooked Creek, Alta., Port Angeles and Walla Walla, Wash., Gerhart and Joseph, Oregon, and Victoria, B. C.
     Rev. Alan Gill, in addition to his duties as Pastor of the Colchester Society and Headmaster of its school, served as Chairman of the British Finance Committee and of the British Liturgy Subcommittee, and presided at the 46th British Assembly.
     Rev. Victor J. Gladish, in secular work, assisted in the maintaining of services at Sharon Church, Chicago, where he preached 21 times. He also conducted two adult services and two family services in the Immanuel Church, Glenview.
     Rev. Daniel W. Heinrichs continued to serve as Assistant to the Pastor of the Durban Society and Assistant to the Superintendent of the South African Mission.
     Rev. Henry Heinrichs was engaged as part-time Assistant to the Pastors of the Kitchener and Toronto Societies, his appointment in Toronto terminating on September 1, 1961. In the course of his duties he preached 31 times, conducted 11 doctrinal classes, and gave 12 introductory classes.
     Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Secretary of the Council of the Clergy, Editor of New Church Life, Visiting Pastor to New England, Chairman of the General Church Sound Recording Committee, and a Professor of Theology in the Academy of the New Church, in addition to monthly visits to New England, preached and/or gave classes in Bryn Athyn, Philadelphia and Washington, D. C.

187

In the Academy he taught two courses in the Theological School and two in the College. During the fall he conducted a special religion course for members of the General Faculty.
     Rev. B. David Holm was engaged as Visiting Pastor of the South Ohio Circle, resident in Glendale, Ohio. Since September he has served also as Visiting Pastor of the Erie (Pennsylvania) Circle.
     Rev. Robert S. Junge continued to serve as Visiting Pastor to Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Louisiana and Nebraska.
     Rev. Louis B. King, in addition to his duties as Pastor of the Pittsburgh Society and Headmaster of the Pittsburgh New Church School, served as Visiting Pastor to the North Ohio Circle.
     Rev. Joao de Mendonca Lima was engaged as Pastor of the Rio de Janeiro Society, Brazil.
     Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner, Secretary of the General Church, a Professor of Theology in the Academy of the New Church and Dean of the Theological School, preached on seven occasions. His work in the College and the Theological School included courses in Theology, Philosophy and Religion.
     Rev. Dandridge Pendleton, an Instructor in Religion in the Academy of the New Church, preached three times in Bryn Athyn and also conducted several children's services.
     Rev. Martin Pryke continued to serve as Pastor of the Olivet Church, Toronto, Canada, and as Visiting Pastor of the Montreal Circle.
     Rev. Norman H. Reuter, in addition to his duties as Pastor of the Detroit Society, preached and delivered an address in Glenview, Illinois.
     Rev. Morley D. Rich was again engaged as Resident Pastor of the Miami Circle, and as Visiting Pastor to the East-central Florida and Atlanta, Georgia, groups, and to the Southeastern States.
     Rev. Norbert H. Rogers served as Pastor of the Advent Church, Philadelphia, Pa., as Visiting Pastor to the Northern New Jersey Circle, as official but inactive Visiting Pastor to the New York Circle, and as a teacher of Latin in the Academy. He expresses his indebtedness to various colleagues for assistance in filling his pulpits, and is especially appreciative of the help given by the Rev. Ormond Odhner in taking active charge of the New York Circle.
     Rev. Frank S. Rose served as Visiting Pastor to the isolated in Great Britain, Holland, Belgium and France, and to the Circles in Paris and The Hague, and, since March 28, 1961, as Assistant to the Pastor of the Colchester Society. In addition to his regular duties he preached twice in London and acted as Headmaster of the Third British Academy Summer School. In Colchester he preached 11 times and has conducted two classes every week.
     Rev. Erik Sandstrom, in addition to his duties as Pastor of Michael Church, London, England, continued to serve as Chairman of the British Academy, as President of the New Church Club, as a member of the Advisory and Revision Board of the Swedenborg Society and as Chairman of the Society's Arcana Coelestia Editorial Committee, and as Secretary to the British Liturgy Subcommittee.

188

He also addressed the British Assembly, gave two public lectures at the invitation of the Swedenborg Society, preached and gave classes or lectured in various places, and taught at the British Academy Summer School.
     Rev. Frederick L. Schnarr continued to serve as Pastor of the Washington, D. C., Society and as Visiting Pastor to North and South Carolina and Virginia.
     Rev. David R. Simons was engaged as an Assistant Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church and as Principal of the Bryn Athyn Elementary School. He preached eight times in Bryn Athyn, twice in Philadelphia and once in Toronto, gave a series of doctrinal classes in Bryn Athyn and conducted two private classes. He taught one course in the Academy's College.
     Rev. Kenneth O. Stroh was engaged as an Assistant Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church and as Director of Music of the Bryn Athyn Church.
     Rev. William Whitehead was engaged as a special teacher in the Academy of the New Church College, where he taught one course in Religion and one in Church History. He reports that he has completed the final drafts of Volumes 2 and 3 of Annals of the New Church. In addition, he preached and gave an address in Glenview, and in Bryn Athyn conducted four young people's classes and one private service.

     Rev. Kurt H. Asplundh, in addition to his duties as Assistant to the Pastor of the Pittsburgh Society and as Instructor in Religion in the Pittsburgh New Church School, made five visits to the Erie (Pennsylvania) Circle and one visit to the North Ohio Circle to conduct services and classes.
     Rev. Gudmund U. Boolsen, as Assistant to the Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen, served the Copenhagen Circle in Denmark as Resident Minister since September 1, 1961.
     Rev. Geoffrey H. Howard was engaged, since July 1, 1961, as Assistant to the Pastor of the Immanuel Church, Glenview, Illinois. He began in September, 1961, his duties also as Visiting Minister to the Madison and St. Paul-Minneapolis Circles and to the Rockford and St. Louis groups. With the beginning of the school year, he served as an Instructor in Religion and Hebrew in the Immanuel Church School.
     Rev. Donald L. Rose continued to serve as Minister of the Hurstville (Australia) Society and as Corresponding Minister for the group in New Zealand. He made one visit to New Zealand and one to Adelaide, South Australia, preaching, conducting classes and administering the sacraments on each visit; and reports that the New Zealand group plans a monthly general gathering for which he will supply material tape-recorded by him.
     Rev. Douglas McL. Taylor was engaged as Resident Minister of the Tucson (Arizona) Circle, and as Visiting Minister to the San Diego (California) Circle and to the isolated in Phoenix, Prescott and Douglas, Arizona. In addition to his regular duties he gave three addresses to audiences not of the New Church, and on December 10, 1961, he appeared on the TV program, The Clergy of Tucson, giving a 30-minute talk.

189

He reports a definite air of progress and hope in his area. Regular attendances have been maintained in San Diego, where the group has been recognized as a Circle, and in Tucson there is an increasing interest in the doctrine with a consequent interest and increase in attendance.
     Respectfully submitted,
          W. CAIRNS HENDERSON,
     Secretary
GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM (A Pennsylvania Corporation) and THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM(An Illinois Corporation) 1962

GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM (A Pennsylvania Corporation) and THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM(An Illinois Corporation) Various 1962

     REPORT OF THE SECRETARY

     FOR THE

     YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 1961

     MEMBERSHIP

     During the year 1961, the number of persons comprising the membership of both Corporations decreased by 1 from 281 to 280 in accordance with the following tabulation:
          Date of     Net     Date of
          12/31/1960     Change     12/31/1961
Members of
Illinois Corporation only     8     Less 1     7
Both Corporations     273     Less 1     273
     Total Persons          281     Less 1     280
None
     Total Members of
Illinois Corporation     281     Less 1     280
Pennsylvania Corporation     273     None     273
     The several Net Changes consisted of:
     4 New Members of both Corporations:
     Holm, B. David
     Walker, Marvin John
     Junge, Ralph Doering
     Wille, Gerhardt King

190

     4 Deaths of members of both Corporations:
     Cole, Louis S.
     Kuhl, George Harold
     Pollock, Thomas F.
     Smith, Bertrand L.
     1 Death of member of Illinois Corporation only:
     Cranch, Walter A.

DIRECTORS
     The By-Laws of both Corporations are identical in making provisions for election of thirty Directors, ten of whom are elected each year for terms of three years. The members of both Boards are the same, and presently consist of thirty Directors. At the 1961 Annual Meeting eleven Directors were elected, one for a term expiring in 1962, and ten for terms expiring in 1964.
     1964 Acton, Daric E.
1962 Acton, Kesniel C.
1963 Anderson, Reginald S.
1963 Asplundh, Carl Hj.
1964 Asplundh, Edwin T.
1964 Asplundh, Lester
1963 Barnitz, Robert G.
1962 Blackman, Geoffrey E.
1964 Childs, Randolph W
1962 Cockerell, Gordon D.
1963 Coulter, Robert I.
1962 Davis, Edward H.
1962 De Charms, George
1963 Doering, George C.
1964 Hill, Murray E.
1962 Hilldale, Robert C.
1964 Howard, John
1962 Junge, James F.
1963 Kitzelman, Edward
1963 Leeper, Robert
1964 Lindsay, Alexander H.
1963 Morley, H. Keith
1964 Pendleton, Philip C.
1962 Pendleton, Willard D.
1962 Pitcairn, Raymond
1962 Pryke, F. G. Colley
1963 Smith, Gilbert M.
1964 Stebbing, David H.
1964 Stevens, Marvin V.
1963 Synnestvedt, Arthur
     The Honorary Directors are Marlin W. Heilman and Sydney E. Lee.

     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 17, 1961, were:

President     De Charms, George
Vice President     Pendleton, Willard D.
Secretary     Pitcairn, Stephen
Treasurer     Gyllenhaal, Leonard E.

     CORPORATION MEETINGS

     The 1961 Annual Corporation Meetings were held at Bryn Athyn, Pa., on June 17, 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.

     BOARD MEETINGS

     The Board of Directors held three meetings during 1961, the President presiding at each of them. The average attendance of Directors was 19 with a maximum of 20 and a minimum of 19.

191

     The business of the Board of Directors transacted during the first half of the year was covered in a report submitted to the Annual Corporation Meeting held in June 1961.
     Since that time the organization meeting and one regular meeting have been held. At the organization meeting Officers of the Corporations were elected. Members were appointed to the various standing committees, and the Treasurer was authorized to expend funds for the pamphlet The Holy Supper by Bishop George de Charms and to help defray traveling expenses of Miss Margaret Bostock on her trip west in connection with the Religion Lessons. Certain administrative salary changes were recommended by the Salary Committee and approved by the Board to adjust for the coming changes in administration. During the October meeting Bishop De Charms formally resigned as President of the Corporations of the General Church. Bishop Willard D. Pendleton was elected to the office of President, and Bishop George de Charms to the office of Vice President. Favorable reports were received from the Contributions Committee and the Kent Manor Farm. Consideration of a New Church Book Center was referred to committee, and funds were authorized for ministers' traveling expenses to the Council Meetings in January and the 1962 General Assembly. Further expenditures were authorized to cover Assembly meal tickets for all attending ministers and their wives, and for pre-Assembly expenses. Other matters of importance were discussed upon which no action was taken.
     Respectfully submitted,
     STEPHEN PITCAIRN,
     Secretary

     TREASURER OF THE GENERAL CHURCH

     REPORT FOR 1961

     1961 turned out to be an unusually successful year, financially, for the General Church. Income from regular contributions and investments increased substantially. With the help of a special $14,000 dividend, total operating revenues added up to a tidy $157,000.
     At the same time, expenses increased by an amount that might be considered only a normal increment for our present rate of growth. This was largely the result of expanding pastoral extension work and reflects the growing cost of travel plus a full year's services of an additional pastor.
     The unexpected gain could not have come at a better time, for it has enabled the General Church to make funds available to bring ministers and their wives from many of the church centers around the world to either the Council Meetings or the Assembly in 1962. For this purpose, the Board of Directors appropriated $8,000 from the 1961 surplus, anticipating an appropriation in 1962 for the balance. In addition, $1,000 was appropriated for the Liturgy Publication Reserve and $10,000 for the Moving Reserve. The latter now totals $30,000, a comfortable cushion for the inevitable chain reaction of pastoral moves.
     Last year's most interesting development were the results of the contributions program. Under the able direction of Mr. James F. Junge this appeal was a new approach, involving the mailing and receiving of thousands of letters and forms through a variety of channels.
     The statistical results of this tremendous task speak for its success. In addition to approximately $48,000 and 1,026 donors, however, a wealth of information was gained.

192

It is truly amazing to find the misunderstanding that exists concerning the uses of the General Church and its need for support. It is equally amazing to find the lack of information the church has concerning its members.
     Many returns were confused with the Academy, the Sons of the Academy, and the local Societies. Others came from persons whose only claim to contact with the church was through appeals for money. And quite a few came from persons who no longer consider themselves members of the church.
     At the present time the treasurer's office is the Communications Center, such as we have, of the General Church. Last year we processed some 900 address changes, handled Over 72,000 items through the Addressograph, and wrote thousands of letters. This job has become a major operation-one which disrupts our principal work of finances and one to which we are unable to give the careful consideration it deserves. Yet, here is a tremendous opportunity to build up public relations for the General Church.
     We believe the time has come to establish a Communications Center, either under the office of the Secretary or, if necessary, under a new title. Such a move could accomplish the following important benefits:
     1. A greater flow of information between the General Church, its pastors, and its members could he developed.
     2. Societies, Circles, and pastors could be quickly furnished with more accurate statistical information.
     3. Better statistics could be developed on membership as to Societies, Circles, isolated, etc., particularly important when so many are changing addresses every year.
     4. Better mailing classifications could he developed; for example, a contributions category that would eliminate those members whose situation is inappropriate for an appeal.
     Such an office would gain a feeling of the pulse of the church and could be a valuable source of advice in planning pastoral changes and special pastoral visits, timing salary plan amendments, avoiding conflicts with local uses in contribution appeals, and many other areas.
     By a process of education and closer contact with church members, we can expect not only a better understanding of the General Church but also expanding support of its uses.
     While 1961 was a good year for the church, it was not so, financially, for the clergy. To relieve pressure of growing demands on Society budgets, no amendments to the salary plans has been made since September, 1960. Yet, the vise of taxes and inflation continues to squeeze our ministers and teachers.
     Part of the problem is a failure to recognize that the cost of pastoral leadership should be budgeted in two parts:
     1. The first part is compensation. It should cover living and housing costs. It should also anticipate the young minister's problem of unusual family expense and make possible the accumulation of some savings against emergencies and housing after retirement. In this respect, the General Church Salary Plan has come a long way in up-grading basic salary rates. We anticipate, however, the need for a substantial increase in the near future.
     2. The second part consists of items that congregations generally charge against the minister's salary but are, in fact, operating costs of the congregation and should be set up as a separate account on the Church budget. These include the cost of maintaining an office and study which every minister must have; the cost of keeping his library up to date; the cost of hospitality on behalf of the church; the cost of pastoral telephone calls; the substantial cost of using a car for pastoral work; and the many other items with which we are all familiar.

193

     Here is an area that deserves special consideration by every employing body. For if it is overlooked, a minister's salary can be substantially reduced by his contribution of these costs to the church.
     In the following pages comparative statements are presented, giving the financial condition of the General Church and its sources and dispensation of operating income.
     Respectfully submitted,
LEONARD E. GYLLENHAAL,
     Treasurer

     OPERATING INCOME

Where it came from . . .
     Contributions               1961          1962
     Individual Gifts               $47,995.     $39,459.
     Special Endowment Income     26,656.     26,656.
     South African Mission Gifts     1,745.     1,566.
     TOTAL                         $76,396.     $67,781.
Investment Income
     From General Fund               42,062.     30,021.
     From Endowment Funds          32,927.     22,286.
     New Church Life Sales          5,421.     4,787.
     Sundry Sources               611.          76.
     TOTAL INCOME               $157,417.     $124,851

What it was spent for . . .
     Administration
     Episcopal Office               $11,977.     $11,630.
     Financial and Corporate Affairs     9,934.     8,819.
     New Church Life               13,099.     12,573.
     Religion Lessons               3,396.     3,246.
     Committees and Councils          1,166.     1,292.
     TOTAL                         $ 39,572.     $37,560.
Pastoral Extension Work               46,675.     36,982.
Support of Salary Plans               18,639.     16,576.
South African Mission               13,703.     12,070.
Other                              3,476.     5,391.
      TOTAL Expanse               $122,065.     $108,579.
Special Appropriation for
     Liturgy Reserve               1,000.     1,000.
     Moving Expense Reserve          10,000.     5,000.
     Reserve for 1962 Assembly Travel     8,000.     -
     Balance to Net Worth          $16,352.     $10,272.

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     COMPARATIVE STATEMENT

Assets
                    December 31
                         1961          1960
GENERAL FUND
     Cash                    $40,377     $4,710
     Accounts Receivable           3,331.          3,096.
     Investments
     U.S.A.     Bonds          1,000.     1,000.
     Group Holdings          399,044.     389,044.
     Other Securities          22,696.     22,696.
     Real Estate           37,635.     37,635.
     Prepaid Expense          5,063.     5,423.
     Due from Other Funds          3,020.     2,563.
     TOTAL               $512,166.     $466,167.
     LOAN FUNDS
     Cash               $(-138.)     $1,421.
     Investments-Group Holdings     12,423.     11,011.
     TOTAL          $12,285.     $12,432.

ENDOWMENT and TRUST FUNDS
     Cash               $83,857.     $115,532.
     Investments
     U.S.A.     Bonds     47,976.     47,976.
     Group Holdings      1,174,284.     1,039,492.
     Other Securities     1,341,753.     1,325,849.
Real Estate               11,000.     11,000.
Assets in South Africa          45,602.     45,030.
     TOTAL               $2,704,472.     $2,582,879.
TOTAL ASSETS          $3,228,923.     $3,061,478.

195

OF FINANCIAL CONDITION
     Accountability
     GENERAL FUND
                    December 31
               1961          1960
Accounts Payable          $5,349.     $10,379.
     Special Contributions for
     Future Expenditure     35,581.     36,731.
     Due to Other Funds                     604.          -
     Reserve for Liturgy          6,224.     5,242.
     Reserve for Moving Expense     30,298.     21,444.
     Reserve for Publication     (-457)     1,848.
     Reserve for 1962 Assembly Travel 3,882.     -
     Net Worth Balance          $512,166.     $466,167.
     LOAN FUNDS
     Building Revolving Fund     $12,285.     $12,432.
     TOTAL          $12,285.     $12,432.

ENDOWMENT and TRUST Funds
     General Endowment     $210,478.     $205,659.
     Specific Endowments
     Income Restricted     487,461.     450,708.
     Income Unrestricted     288,063.     277,641.
     Special Endowment     1,597,364.     1,530,411.
     Trust Funds          121,106.     118,460.
     TOTAL          $2,704,472.     $2,582,879.
     TOTAL FUNDS          $3,228,923.     $3,061,478.

196

     EDITOR OF "NEW CHURCH LIFE"

     Additional extra pages were required for the report of the Annual Council Meetings, and as four of these were not recovered, the normal total of 576 pages was extended to 580. In order of space used, this total was made up as follows:
                    Pages
Articles               303
Sermons               61
Church News               47
Reports               44
Editorials               38
Announcements          26
Miscellaneous          15
Communications          13
Reviews               13
Talks to Children          12
Directories               8
                    580

     These figures follow what has become a normal pattern. Among the few variations, all of them minor, the increase in the number of pages required for Communications is welcomed. Excluding editorials, news notes and reports, the contents of NEW CHURCH LIFE in 1961 came from 42 contributors-28 ministerial and 14 lay, the latter including two ladies. To all of them, and to our news correspondents, grateful appreciation is expressed, for it is they who have made the journal.

     CIRCULATION

     Figures as of December 31, 1961, supplied by the Business Manager show that paid subscriptions increased by 32, from 986 to 1,018, which more than offsets the loss of 28 paid subscriptions reported last year. Total circulation is shown in the following tabulation.
               1961     1960
Paid subscriptions     1,018     986
Free to our Clergy,
     Public Libraries,
     New Church Book Rooms,
     Exchanges, etc          164     162
               1,182     1,148
     Respectfully submitted,
     W. CAIRNS HENDERSON,
     Editor

     GENERAL CHURCH PUBLICATION COMMITTEE

     1. During 1961, the General Church Publication Committee issued two brochures of the "pastoral pamphlet" type, each in an edition of 1500 copies.

197

One is called What the Writings Testify concerning Themselves, and was prepared by Dr. H. L. Odhner to take the place of a former work by the late Rev. C. T. Odhner, with a somewhat similar title. The new pamphlet of 69 pages is priced at 60 cents. The second pamphlet, The Holy Supper, has 42 pages and is available for 50 cents. It contains an article by Bishop de Charms on "The New Church Observance of the Holy Supper" and "Notes" supplied by the Rev. Robert S. Junge.
     Promising material has been submitted towards pamphlets on "Baptism into the New Church" and `The Confession of Faith," and the Committee has been encouraged to issue a social songbook for the use of our people.
     3. A second, slightly revised edition of 1250 copies of The City of God, by the Rev. K. R. Alden, was arranged for by the Committee. The Swedenborg Foundation took 250 copies.
     4. We regret that the publication of the illustrated stories "In the King's Service has been temporarily held up, but will be issued, we hope, within the year.
     5. It is the consensus of the Committee that copies of all works published by the church should be sent, for publicity, to members of the Council of the Clergy and book rooms of the Church, and, for review, to all editors of New Church periodicals, at the discretion of the Secretary, the cost to be defrayed by the Publication Committee.
     6. Our Committee has held five meetings, one with a full attendance.
     7. Progress has been reported on the Hymnal for Schools and Families, which is being prepared for the press by Mr. and Mrs. Warren F. David, in Detroit. All of the liturgical material is now typeset and is being laid out in pages. In consultation with the Liturgy Committee several revisions in wording have been made. About ninety percent of the copying of new music has been completed. When it is finished, the manuscript will be sent out for bids on the engraving. It is estimated that 46 pages of the book will he typeset, 92 pages (of new or revised music) engraved, and 96 pages reprinted by the photo offset process. Present indications are that there will be about 200 pages of music and about 56 pages of printed matter.
     Respectfully submitted,
Hugo LJ. ODHNER,
     Chairman

     REPORT OF THE PENSION COMMITTEE

     The Pension Committee granted two pensions during the year 1961. They were calculated on the formula established by the General Church Pension Plan.
     There are now 13 former employees of the General Church who are receiving pension payments and 6 widows of former employees who are receiving gratuities pursuant to resolution of the Board of Directors.
     Respectfully submitted,
EDWARD H. DAVIS,
Chairman

     RELIGION LESSONS COMMITTEE

     There are 241 isolated families with 445 children who receive General Church Religion Lessons and special Festival Lessons.

198

     There is a staff of 83 Theta Alpha women who correct the individual lessons. All lessons except those dealing with the Life of the Lord are sent out from my office in Bryn Athyn. The Life of the Lord lessons are sent out from Glenview.
     A new feature of the work this year has been the 10th, 11th, and 12th year high school classes who are this year studying my book The City of God. There are nineteen pupils enrolled and up to the present time the response has been very encouraging.
     Five of our counselors and their teachers are situated out of Bryn Athyn in Pittsburgh, Glenview, Detroit, Kitchener, and Toronto.
     New Church Education, which is published monthly from September to June, now has a paid subscription list of 524 for 1961-1962. In addition to our paid staff we received 1025 hours of voluntary office work. This has enabled us to keep out of the red.
     We now have in process of publication a new children's story book by Rev. Kurt Asplundh, illustrated by Mrs. Richard Bostock.
     Our office equipment has continued to be modernized. We have acquired the very latest Rex-Rotary mimeograph machine, a new executive-type electric typewriter, and a very interesting device that enables us to record tapes on our Edison Voice Writer. This unlocks a wide range of children's talks given extemporaneously in Bryn Athyn, Glenview, Pittsburgh and elsewhere.
     I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have contributed so generously to the pages of our magazine.
     Respectfully submitted,
K. R. ALDEN,
Director

     SOUND RECORDING COMMITTEE

     The latest directory, issued with the catalog supplement in the fall of 1961, shows that in addition to four officers and four department heads, the Committee has 15 other members and 5 associates. Members and associates, most of whom are engaged in recording operations, are to be found at 8 locations within the United States, in Kitchener and Toronto, Canada, in London, Stockholm, Durban and Southern Rhodesia. When it is added that our subscribers are to be found in many more locations, and in other countries as well, it may be realized how wide is the circle that supplies and is served by the Sound Recording Committee.
     This was reflected also in the catalog supplement, which lists the 259 tapes added to our library in the past year. Of these, 121, nearly half, originated as follows from centers outside of Bryn Athyn: 3 each from Durban and Colchester; 9 from Chicago; 12 from Glendale, California; 15 each from Glenview, Toronto and Washington; 20 from Kitchener; 29 from Pittsburgh. This represents another step toward what has long been one of the Committee's main objectives-to make its offerings as representative as possible of the General Church clergy.
     Circulation has decreased somewhat during the year under review; but so many factors enter into circulation that only a major drop would be cause for serious concern. Some subscribers are lost, happily, to societies and circles; circles may receive more pastoral ministrations, and as a result may have fewer tape-recorded services, or may be encouraged to have more.
     Respectfully submitted,
W. CAIRNS HENDERSON,
     Chairman

199

     VISUAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE

     RECEIPTS

Cash on hand January 1, 1961                          $267.22
Rental on slides, etc                    $35.35
Three sets of Tabernacle slides sold     45.48
Donations                              26.72
                                             $104.55
                                             $371.77

     EXPENDITURES

379 New slides acquired for our library     $123.43
Three sets of Tabernacle slides bought     36.00
Paper, envelopes and mimeographing new
     list of available slides in our library, etc.12.26
Postage                              2.00
Balance on hand December 31, 1961                    173.69
                                             $198.08
     Respectfully submitted,
     WILLIAM R. COOPER
Director
OUR NEW CHURCH VOCABULARY 1962

OUR NEW CHURCH VOCABULARY 1962

Connate Good. The word, connate, means `existing from birth"; and the term, connate good, is therefore used in the Writings to describe the natural good that is born with man and which in itself is a mere animal good, existing also with beasts and with nations of the worst faith and life. Connate good is characterized by the fact that it is interiorly evil. By this it is distinguished from spiritual good in the natural, which is not inborn but is acquired through regeneration, and which is said to be real natural human good. or the good of the natural. It is this connate good that has been mistaken for genuine good by certain theories of psychology and education; theories which hold that man is inherently good and will become such fully if there is no interference with his development. (See AC 3408.)
Conscience. Here is another instance of a term being used with a meaning strikingly different from that given to it in ordinary speech. Conscience is generally thought of as an inner voice which warns us when we are about to do wrong, or reproaches when we have already done so, and which is originally possessed by everyone-although it may be stifled. In the Writings, however, this term means, in its highest sense, the new will received by regeneration. (To be concluded)

200

AS YE HAVE SEEN HIM GO 1962

AS YE HAVE SEEN HIM GO Editor 1962

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 Business Manager. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.

TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$5.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy 50 cents.
     It is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles that as the eleven stood on the Mount of Ascension they were addressed by two angels. Their message was: "This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.' The apostles could not then have understood that this inspired prediction would indeed be fulfilled-or how. They did not know that they had seen the risen Lord with the eyes of the spirit, and that His apparent ascent into the sky was actually the gradual closing of their spiritual sight. Therefore they could not have known that He would return in like manner: by gradually opening the spiritual sight of a man-Emanuel Swedenborg.
     By His glorification and ascension the Lord did not vanish into the Infinite. His Human was not absorbed into the supreme Divine, but was united with it as a body in infinitely perfect correspondence with its soul. The Divine Human remains to eternity, visible to the angels and to the eyes of love and faith; and it is the Divine Human, risen and ascended into perfect union with the Divine itself, that is revealed in those Writings in which the Lord has made His second coming.
     So it is that on Easter morning we do not seek the Lord among the dead. Nor do we, like the Magdalene, seek conjunction with the infirm human which was put off by the Lord. For us, the place of His living presence is the opened Word, in and through which He achieves the end of His incarnation and glorification, His resurrection and ascension: the conjunction of the human race with the Divine in and through His Divine Human. In the Heavenly Doctrine is the life and the light of men.

201

Church News 1962

Church News Various 1962

     DENVER, COLORADO

     The past year was a very pleasant one for the Denver Circle. Our visitors included Fred Gyllenhaal, Miss Ashley, Mrs. Amy Junge, Glen Klippenstein, Joan Smith, and Mr. and Mrs. Norwin Synnestvedt. During the summer, Mr. and Mrs. O. A. Bergstrom had as their guests their two daughters and their husbands-Mr. and Mrs. John Schoenberger and Mr. and Mrs. Harry Abele. We were delighted to receive a visit from Mr. Ted Fiedler, who is now living in Holland. At the time of Mr. Fiedler's visit his son Fred was confirmed in our little chapel. We congratulate Fred.
     We were most pleased to have the Donald Cronlunds and their daughter Carol move to Denver and join our Circle. It was a pleasure to meet their other daughter, Mary Beth, at the traditional Christmas party at our pastor's home.
     During the first part of the year the Donald Drinkwaters returned from a six-month world tour and showed their home movies to a small group.
     Our New Church Day picnic was a huge success, particularly from the standpoint of the children. A game was played in which a bucket strung on a rope was to be kept from reaching either end by means of a stream of water from a hose. It was amusing to see the antics of our children and their fathers.
     The class for newcomers that was organized recently is continuing to meet once a week at the home of Mrs. Mildred Evans. Trying to spread the doctrines in this way is a good work. At the moment Mrs. Evans is touring in the Orient. We will he happy to have her return.
     Last summer the Rev. and Mrs. Robert Junge became the parents of a little daughter, Erin by name. During the year we had a bit of sickness, as do most societies. Mrs. Albert Anderson underwent surgery, but is convalescing nicely. Mr. O. A. Bergstrom had the misfortune to be struck by an automobile while he was taking his constitutional, but is quite well now. Mrs. Bergstrom lost her brother last spring. On a happier note, we can report a baptism in our chapel-that of Kerry Lee Lyon, infant daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Lyon.
     MARIAN DICE

     FORT WORTH, TEXAS

     It has been rather a long time since a report has appeared from the Fort Worth Circle. Consequently there is much to tell. A very joyous event was the wedding of Sue Brantley and Brad Williamson, which took place in September 1960. We are happy to have a new family unit in our congregation. Also in 1960, Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Jones (Marcella Williamson) had their home dedicated. The sacrament of Baptism was administered for Donald and Miriam Haworth's son and for the son of Douglas and Dawn Schnarr. Another home dedicated, in 1961, was that of the Donald Haworth family in Arlington.
     In November 1961 we lost a member of the Circle when Mr. Tom Pollock passed into the spiritual world after a long illness. He was one of the original members of the Fort Worth Circle, having moved into the area in 1947, and held the office of treasurer for many years of his active membership. He will be missed here, but we know that his life is now full and free from worldly burdens.
     Two babies were baptized in 1961. They were the son of Mr. and Mrs. Brad Williamson and the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Billy Williams (Kristen Williamson).

202

     We have been most fortunate in having regular monthly visits from the Rev. Robert S. Junge. This has done much to help build a stronger and larger group. Mr. Junge generally comes on the third week end of the month, during which time a doctrinal class and a service are conducted. On alternate visits the Holy Supper is administered.
     Mr. Junge presented very interesting and stimulating classes, beginning in September with a class on the authority of the Writings and the necessity for recognizing and accepting them. A very lively discussion followed. This theme was continued in October, in a class emphasizing why an absolute truth is necessary. Again there was considerable discussion, which is always a sound situation. Because of inclement weather and unpredictable airline schedules we were unable to have a class in November. However, there was a lovely Thanksgiving service at which the children presented their offerings of fruit. It was inspiring to see how the group is growing through its children.
     Since it concerned the Virgin Birth, the class in December was most appropriate. Mr. Junge had done considerable research in preparing the material for this class, and he presented a clear, concise analysis of the historical and spiritual events which point out the certainty of this doctrine. He also delved into the scientific aspects, which serve to prove further the soundness of the doctrine. The Christmas service was held in a public meeting room, centrally located. There were forty-seven persons present, which lent much to the sphere of the service. After the service, Mr. Junge showed slides of the Christmas story. This was done primarily for the children but was greatly appreciated by the adults as well.
     The members of the Circle have decided to use the meeting hall every Sunday until a more suitable place can he obtained. The group is now too large to use a private home as had been the practice. Great appreciation must be expressed to Mr. and Mrs. Sam White, who have opened their home to the Circle for church services every month during the past year.
     We have now resumed Sunday school activities, which had been suspended during the past year. There are twenty-three children in the Circle, which points out the great need for this function. Marjorie Williamson is teaching the children in the age three to nine group. They are studying the story of David, the stories being more vividly told with the aid of the flannelgraph. The writer has the age ten to thirteen group. This class is studying John in the Isle of Patmos. The enthusiastic response of these children makes it a joy to be teaching!
     The lay doctrinal classes will be continued on the first Thursday of each month in private homes. The current classes (taped) are by the Rev. Frederick L. Schnarr and are on "The Inhabited Universe." It is a pleasure to send news of these activities, and there should be much more forthcoming.
MIRIAM P. HAWORTH

     DETROIT, MICHIGAN

     Preparation for the Advent season began last December with a special singing practice for the children. Classes I-IV met on the 12th, and Classes V-VIII on the 13th. Their practice included festival hymns from the Liturgy and First Songs for Little Children. Tableaux were presented on Saturday December 16 at 7:30 p.m., and, as in the previous year, they were short, simple, and interspersed with caroling by all present. However the addition of two instrumentalists contributed greatly to the spirit of the occasion. Mr. Vance Genzlinger played the french horn and Mr. Nelson Howard the trumpet. Mrs. Hildegarde David was at the piano, and Mrs. Freda Bradin at the organ.
     The children's festival service was at four o'clock on Christmas Eve. The earlier hour seemed agreeable to all, especially the carolers, who got an earlier start for their round of church homes. The adult service was held on Christmas morning, and our pastor, the Rev. Norman Reuter, chose as his topic for the sermon "Prince of Peace."

203

     Doctrinal classes began last October, with Mr. Reuter presenting the first of a series considering various phases of the doctrine of the Word; that is, doctrine concerning the nature, function and holiness of the Word. The Saturday doctrinal class, which follows the once-a-month supper, opened with the first of a series on the rituals of worship. On Sunday September 24, a new doctrinal class which is to be known as the Study Group was formed, with twenty people seeking admission. These gatherings have been held twice a month and are designed for those who want to do research and study under the leadership of the pastor. A study of correspondences, or the whole field of this subject, has been undertaken. The Discussion Group has been converted into an instructional period addressed to: 1) newcomers, or those inquiring about our church and its doctrines; and 2) young people in their teens and early twenties, of whom we have a good sized group this year. This group meets once a month. An eighth class has been added to the children's religion classes this year, which makes it necessary to have three afternoons of classes each week, and calls upon Mrs. Reuter to carry her teaching beyond Class III.
     The annual meeting of the Midwest Academy, held in Glenview last November, was attended by twelve representatives from our Society. There was a unanimous decision at the meeting to proceed with plans for starting a tenth grade in the 1963-1964 school year. The Rev. Norman Reuter and Messrs. Walter Childs and Warren David were elected to the Board of Directors of the Midwest Academy. A special "thanks' from those of us who were so nicely entertained by the people of Glenview.
     As Mr. Reuter had been requested to speak at the Women's Guild meetings, he though it would be useful to hand out in September a list of subjects in order to find out what would be of most interest to the women. The subjects most preferred, and on which he spoke at the meeting on November 14, were: Leading and Ruling, Reasoning with Children, and Punishment of Children. Other subjects will be taken up at future meetings. The Guild had a successful rummage sale at the church last October and made a profit of $88.82. In November they planned a "Fun Night" for the whole Society.
     In the September issue of the Detroit New Churchman, Mr. Reuter announced that after many years of faithful service in putting out our monthly news calendar the editors, Beatrice and Walter Childs, felt it best to retire at this time. After several earnest pleas for a new editor, one of our newer members, Mrs. Lovelle McClow, took over this tremendous job.
     We in Detroit were greatly saddened by the accident which befell Michael Tyler of Bryn Athyn while he was visiting here last September. The courage he showed has been a good lesson for all of us. He was ever conscious of the kindness shown him by others rather than of his own discomfort, which was surely great.
     The marriage of Margaret Reuter to Hubert Heinrichs took place at the church on June 10, at 7:00 p.m. The wedding was beautiful, and all were invited to a reception at the manse afterwards. It was a beautiful evening, which made it possible for the reception to be held on the manse grounds, which had been decorated festively for the occasion. Another summer wedding was that of Mr. Norman Synnestvedt and Mrs. Georgia Lynch on Saturday July 2, at four o'clock in the afternoon.
     Mr. and Mrs. William Cook celebrated their golden wedding anniversary on November 22. Congratulations and best wishes were extended to them from all in the Detroit Society, and a beautiful lamp was presented as a special remembrance of the occasion.
     There are four new babies to report: boys to the Michael Klocs and Bruce Elders, girls to the Ronald Shaws and the Owen Birchmans. From the September Detroit Newchurchman we quote the following; concerning another new arrival: "Welcome to a new addition to the Bradin family, to the Religion Class III, and to the whole Society-Richard Lea Bradin, newly adopted son.

204

We are delighted to see him, and hope he will like us as much as we already like him." Richard is eight years old.
     The Henry Wiebes (Barbara Forfar) have returned from Europe to live with the senior Forfars for a year while Henry is working for his master's degree at Wayne State University in Detroit. It is nice to have them and their son Robin here.
FREDA BRADIN

     PHILADELPHIA, PA.

     Late in September, the Advent Society attended a social hour and supper, in what has become an enjoyable tradition preceding the annual meeting. The most important business of the meeting itself was to elect a new treasurer and secretary to fill the posts vacated by Mr. John Walter and Miss Eunice Bond last summer. The Society voted unanimously for Miss Edith Hansen as treasurer and Mr. Richard Goerwitz, Jr., as secretary. Both have since been doing their jobs commendably.
     With the onset of the busy autumn season, no activities additional to the weekly service and doctrinal class were organized until the bazaar early in December, although people were busy sewing, baking, and rounding up white elephants well in advance of the event. As in past years, the bazaar was very successful, and though it fell a mere $6.00 short of 1960's record net, it was a welcome opportunity for us all to get together.
     On Christmas Eve, a Sunday. Mr. Rogers held a festival service in the morning, beginning half an hour earlier than usual to allow for the children's party that followed. After the children had received presents from the church, and were happily consuming cocoa and cookies, we all gathered to sing carols and enjoy the warm congenial atmosphere. We thank Mrs. Minard Smith for organizing the party and selecting the gifts from the church, which seemed to delight and suit each child.
     The highlights of the winter's activities was the tenth anniversary celebration of the dedication of our chapel. A special service was conducted on Sunday, January 28, the preacher being the Rev. Morley D. Rich, who was the Advent Society's pastor at the time of the dedication. Mr. Rich gave an inspiring sermon on "The Salt of the Earth," and tied the children's talk in with the same theme. After the service, the men rearranged the church into a dining room, and we had a luncheon at which all of the fifty-two present were seated at tables-an amazing accomplishment, considering the size of the room. After the luncheon itself, Mr. Rogers presided as toastmaster over a program of informal speeches by Mr. Rich, and by Messrs. John Walter, Herman Gloster, and Bryndon Heath, who had worked in the transformation of a nightmare of faulty wiring and flimsy partitions into a lovely chapel. The speeches were interesting and brief: they caught the spirit of inspiration and determination which had moved the Society to proceed with its vision despite the many obstacles it encountered-some of which were also nostalgically recalled. A photograph album recording the chapel's renovation was circulated, complete with snapshots of work parties and people in work attire as they looked ten years ago. This added humor to an already happy occasion. We all felt afterwards that our spiritual energies had been refreshed when we considered what the church had led us to accomplish a decade ago.
     There were two weddings of Advent Society young people during the year. Anthony Walter married Claudette Binghman of Philadelphia in September, and his cousin, Judith Renn, married James Davis of Bryn Athyn in December. Both couples now live in Philadelphia. The Society was delighted by the news that it can look forward to another wedding, since Bruce Rogers and Barbara Charles, of Toronto, have just announced their engagement.
     In November one of our staunchest members passed into the spiritual world. Mr. Edward Carroll died on November 30, in his 61st year, after a short illness. The loss of his warmth, humor and wisdom is felt by all of us.

205

     The Orville Carters of Toronto moved to Philadelphia with their three children in January. We welcome them and appreciate the pleasant addition they make to our group.
CATHILIN D. GOERWITZ

     ASSEMBLY MUSIC

     The following selections will be used in Divine Worship held during the Twenty-third General Assembly:
Offices 4 and 5 and pp. 63-66
Hymns nos. 9, 47, 55, 37
Chants p. 38, nos. 40, 46
Antiphon p. 69
Anthems nos. 2, 4,12
Psalms nos. 24, 45
     The following will be sung at the opening and closing of the sessions:
First Session: Hymn no. 30, Anthem no. 5
Second Session: Anthem no. 8, Hymn no. 24
Third Session: Doxology no. 17, Hymn no. 17
Fourth Session: Hymn no. 39, Anthem no. 10
Fifth Session: Hymn no. 50, Doxology no. 51
Sixth Session: Anthem no. 13, Hymn no. 53
FREDERICK EMANUEL DOERING TRUST 1962

FREDERICK EMANUEL DOERING TRUST 1962

     Applications for assistance from the above fund, to enable Canadian male students to attend "The Academy of the New Church," Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., for the school year 1962-1963 should be received by one of the undermentioned pastors (who will be glad to give any further information that may be required) before April 30, 1962.
     Before filing their applications, students should first obtain their acceptance as students for the forthcoming year from the Academy. This should be done immediately, as dormitory space is limited.
     Students will be required to pay their own Comprehensive Fees, which amount to $100.00 in the College and $70.00 in the Boys School. They will also be required to contribute eight hours of "student work" each week towards the cost of their fees.

Rev. Martin Pryke
2 Lorraine Gardens
Islington, Toronto
Canada

Rev. Geoffrey S. Childs
178 Bristol Street
Waterloo, Ontario
Canada

Rev. Roy Franson
1108-96th Avenue
Dawson Creek, B. C.
Canada

206

GENERAL CHURCH CORPORATIONS 1962

GENERAL CHURCH CORPORATIONS STEPHEN PITCAIRN 1962

Announcements
The 1962 Annual Corporation Meetings of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will he held in the Benade Hall Auditorium, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, on Saturday afternoon, June 16, at 3:30 p.m., D.S.T. Notices will be mailed.
STEPHEN PITCAIRN,
Secretary
ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH 1962

ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH 1962

     SCHOOL CALENDAR: 1962-1963

     Eighty-sixth School Year

     1962

Sept. 6     Thur.     Faculty Meetings
     7     Fri.     Dormitories open
     8     Sat.     8:00 a.m. Student workers report to supervisors
          3:00 p.m. Opening Exercises
          3:30 p.m. Lawn Party
          8:30 p.m. President's Reception
     10     Mon.     Registration: Secondary Schools and College
     11     Tues.     Chapel and classes begin in Secondary Schools
          College registration
     12     Wed.     Chapel and classes begin in College
     Oct.     19     Fri.     Charter Day
     20     Sat.     Annual Meeting of Corporation
Nov.     22-25     Thanksgiving Recess
Dec.     21     Fri.     Christmas Recess starts at 12:30 p.m.

     1963
Jan.      7     Mon.     School Exercises resumed
     28-Feb. 1     Semester examinations
Feb.     4      Second Semester begins in Secondary Schools
     11     Mon.     Second Semester begins in College
     22     Fri.     Washington's Birthday holiday
Mar. 29-Apr. 7     Spring Recess
Apr.     8     Mon.     School Exercises resumed
May     30     Memorial Day. Schools dismissed to attend civic ceremonies
June     13     Thur.     8:00p.m. President's Reception
     14     Fri.     10:00a.m. Commencement Exercises

208

TWENTY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1962

     BRYN ATHYN, PA., JUNE 15-19, 1962

Friday, June 15
     10:30 a.m.     Commencement Exercises
     4:00 p.m.     Academy Tea
     8:00 p.m.     First Session of the Assembly
               Address:     The Rt. Rev. George De Charms
     9:00 p.m. Report of the Joint Council of the General Church on Procedure

Saturday, June 16
     10:00     a.m.     Second Session of the Assembly
          Action by the Assembly on the nomination of the Bishop of the
           General Church
     11:00     a.m.     Address: The Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton
     2:00     p.m.     Young People's Meeting: The Rev. Kurt H. Asplundh
     3:30     p.m.     Meeting of the Corporations of the General Church
     3:30     p.m.     Women's Guild Tea
     8:00     p.m.     Third Session of the Assembly
           Address: The Rev. Erik Sandstrom

Sunday, June 17
     11:00     a.m.     Divine Worship
               Sermon: The Rev. Dandridge Pendleton
     3:00     p.m.     Administration of the Holy Supper
     4:30     p.m.     Administration of the Holy Supper
     8:00     p.m.     Fourth Session of the Assembly
               Address: Professor Richard R. Gladish

Monday, June 18
     10:00     am.     Fifth Session of the Assembly
               Address: The Rev. Martin Pryke
     2:30     p.m.     Theta Alpha Meeting
     2:30     p.m.     Sons of the Academy Meeting
     8:00     p.m.     Sixth Session of the Assembly
               Address: The Rev. Elmo C. Action

Tuesday, June 19
     11:00     a.m.     Divine Worship
               Sermon: The Rev. Louis B. King
     4:00     p.m.     Children's Nineteenth of June Festival Service
     7:00     p.m.     Assembly Banquet
          Toastmaster: The Rev. Geoffrey S. Childs

     All Assembly guests are cordially invited to attend the President's Reception, which will he held on Thursday evening, June 14, at 8:30 o'clock.

209

CALL FROM SPIRITUAL APATHY 1962

CALL FROM SPIRITUAL APATHY Rev. GEOFFREY H. HOWARD 1962

VOL. LXXXII
MAY, 1962
No. 5
     "The burdensome prophecy concerning Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will enquire, enquire ye: come again." (Isaiah 21: 11, 12)

     The prophetic Word contains many things which are obscure in the literal sense. The reason for this obscurity is revealed in the Writings. The prophets were permitted to use their spiritual eyes, and were thereby allowed to see happenings in the spiritual world. After witnessing these spiritual happenings, the prophets were inspired by the spirit of the Lord to write them down; but since they did not understand the meaning of what they saw, it follows that the literal sense of the prophetic Word is obscure. When, however, these prophecies are regarded from the internal sense, something of their spiritual truth becomes visible, and this is necessary for the upbuilding of the Lord's church.
     Our text is one such prophecy. It was addressed to the inhabitants of a district in northern' Arabia named Dumah. The Writings tell us that by this name is signified a quality of the spiritual church. The Hebrew name, Dumah, means "silence"; and in the internal sense it represents a state of peace, innocence and rest-a state of inmost confidence and trust in the Lord. Such a state can be achieved only by man's going to the Word, constantly seeking new truth, and living according to it.
     But in our text the prophet Isaiah utters what is described as a "burdensome prophecy" concerning Dumah. In this context, the regenerate state of peace and silence is not meant; the reference is to a state of silence that exists with the natural man prior to the commencement of regeneration.

210

It is a state of placid contentment that is experienced when things of natural or material value are sought and achieved, as ends in themselves. But this state, which comes from external success and comfort, has within it only a shallow satisfaction. It is a state experienced by all men, and it is not dangerous as long as it is recognized for what it is and as long as man advances beyond it. It is a state in which there is little of spiritual life. To remain in it dulls the mind in the pursuit of things of spiritual value; it tends to destroy our sensitivity to forms of good and truth as they are represented to us in nature.
From the beginning of creation, man was made in such a way that he had to will to enter into spiritual life, and his gradual failure to do so resulted in the fall. Life was never intended to be easy! There is a tendency in human nature to value least those things which are most easily achieved. The appearance that we have life in ourselves is given in order that we, as individuals, may be identified with the spiritual choice which we make amid our struggles and achievements in life. There are many in the natural world who attain material success in circumstances that make them seem undeserving of it, but there is no one who achieves spiritual success without considerable effort and hardship. It is against a state of apathy or indifference toward spiritual' things that the Lord speaks in our text; and unless that state is checked through the agency of the human will and understanding, the tragedy of spiritual death results. It is incumbent' on every human being who desires to serve the Lord to seek that truth which will lead to everlasting life. That truth is, of course, from one source only, and that source is the Word of God.

Every human mind is endowed with an affection for truth by virtue of which man can come to love spiritual things. By its very nature this affection seems to draw truths to itself, that through them its activity may be expressed in the, charitable acts and deeds of one man toward another. This was the essential reason for its being implanted in man. Truth, is contained in knowledges, and it is from knowledges of truth derived from the Word that spiritual progress is made. But, in general, knowledges are of two kinds. There are knowledges which are from the, Word, and which "contain in their inmost Divine things; and these receive into them spiritual and celestial truth and good, possessing this capacity from the Divine which is within. . . . But knowledges which do not contain within them what is from the, Divine admit only what is false and evil. . . . If the vessels [or knowledges] are such as to admit, in to them genuine goods, then the man is enlightened from the Divine that is within them and this successively, more and more; but if they are such that genuine goods cannot be within them, then the man is not enlightened."*
* AC 3665.

211

     The danger that always threatens the church is that of failure to realize the power contained in apathy or indifference toward spiritual truth. It is a danger which has to be faced, recognized and overcome by every generation, and, indeed, by every individual in the church. It is too easy for us to hide behind a cloak of false security, believing that a mere fragmentary knowledge of the doctrines of the church is sufficient, and that a proper environment will shield us from the allurements of the world. The dangers which threaten the New Church are with us all the time; and, as was the case with the serpent in the paradisal garden, the form of evil is often very subtle. The world in which we live seeks to capture our imaginations and attention and to center our time and thought on matters of temporal importance. There is indeed a universal appeal that is made' to the affection of truth, but the attempt is to satisfy its yearnings with those knowledges which do not "admit into them spiritual and celestial good and truth."* The danger becomes real when the mind becomes satisfied with such knowledges, which are, unfortunately, useless in regard to spiritual and eternal life. This is the state signified in our text by the name Dumah, against which Isaiah Proclaimed his "burdensome prophecy."
* AC 3665.

     The state signified in our text by Dumah is subtle in nature; but everything that is subtle contains deceit, which, essentially, is nothing but the sphere of the hells taking root in the mind of man. But of this we are fully warned in the Word. "It is to be known that the hells are continually assaulting heaven and endeavoring to destroy it,"* and to destroy in man his ability to discover heaven from the truth of the Word. It was for the purpose of breaking this sphere of the hells that the Lord came into the world and glorified His Human.
* HH 595.
     It was not until after the Advent that the minds of men could be opened to see spiritual truth. The Lord had made His Human Divine, and men could now approach Him immediately through the Divine Human. In general, it may be said that the glorified Divine Human of the Lord is the Word, and specifically the Word of the New Testament and the Writings. It was through the truth revealed therein that the Lord could be approached directly: not through the angel of Jehovah, nor through the sayings of the prophets alone, but immediately through the spiritual truth disclosed in the New Testament Word and in the Writings. When the three revelations are seen together as a single body of truth, ordered by the Divinely Human spirit of the Lord; when this is assimilated by the mind, reflected upon, rationally understood and believed with faith; then the assaulting hells are rendered powerless.

212

Their persuasive falsities, together with the insidious lust of deception, can be seen and judged for what they are from the clear and unmistakable light of the Lord's inflowing wisdom shining forth from such knowledges of truth as we possess.
     Although men fail the Lord often, by not availing themselves of the full protection which He offers in His Word, nevertheless, the way of repentance is never closed as long as man lives in the natural world. This is true, no matter how diabolical his sins may be. There is "a Divine sphere from the Lord which is a perpetual endeavor to save all."* "It must be understood that God is unceasingly present with all, continually striving and acting with man, even touching his freedom of will, but in no way violating it. For if God should violate man's freedom of will, God's dwelling place in man would be destroyed."** This perpetual sphere emanating from the Lord is an endeavor to restore all things to a state of order. It is referred to in our text as the voice calling out of Seir. It is only through reflection upon the truths which we as individuals receive from the Word that we can hear this call, and, like the watchman, can see the dangers of the night. Man has the power of reflection by virtue of the fact that his understanding can be elevated out of the realm of natural thought into that of spiritual thought. It is from spiritual truth seen with the understanding that we can hear the voice of the Lord speaking to us through the Word, saying: "Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?"
* HH 595.
** TCR 74.

     "By watchmen, in the internal representative sense, the Lord is meant, and by their watch, His continual presence and protection."* In the case of the individual man, the watchman is the presence of the Lord as light in the understanding and as heat in the will. Since the Lord must be present in both these faculties the question is asked twice: "Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?"' The Lord dwells potentially in the man whose understanding receives light, but He dwells actually in the man whose understanding and will are conjoined to form a unity of good and truth. Although, in this twice asked question, identical words are used, in the internal sense the meaning and application are quite different.
* AC 8211.
     This question can be asked of any human state, regardless of how regenerate or unregenerate the person may be. In the sight of the Lord no man is perfect. When exterior evils no longer induce active states of temptation, it does not mean that we are any more perfect in the eyes of the Lord. There are many who apparently do not break the Ten Commandments in their literal sense, but there is no man who can comply fully with their internal meaning.

213

Indifference toward spiritual things may well disguise our interior evils. How often do we have difficulty in discovering just one evil against which we can direct our offensive in order to rid our lives of it? If we are in such states of apathy, and do not seek the Lord in His Word, then there is no way in which we can hear His question to us: "Watchman, what of the night?" For "except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain."*
* Psalm 127:1.
     To break ourselves of spiritual indifference we must first of all have faith. We must be willing to believe that the general teachings of the Word are true. If we are willing to accept this, we must then bring ourselves to learn about the Word and its teachings. At first there is little or no delight in searching the Scriptures, but the delight increases when we live a new life based upon the new truth which we have come to see for ourselves. It is only when this effort is made by man from a humble desire to serve the Lord that he may hear the voice of the Lord. The Word is full of the spirit of the Lord's mercy, urging man to make a new beginning: "Today, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness."*
* Psalm 95: 7, 8.

     The Lord's merciful urging is constant and unceasing, but in man's life this challenge must be met continually. It is too easy for us to defer the day when we will seek to change our lives. Yet the effort required for us to change-to read the Word and to love its truth-is never made easier by deferring our duty to another time. "Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping."* In human life the present is the one time when we are in freedom to change. The present is always the most precious moment of our lives. In it we determine the spiritual environment that will be ours to eternity.
* Mark 13: 35, 36.
     For those who go to the Word to seek the Lord and His kingdom the morning cometh -that state of enlightenment in which we are led from the Word to see our duty. But even for the righteous the application of truth to life is not without its hazardous states; for the watchman warned not only of the morning but also of the night. Nevertheless, if we remain steadfast and unyielding during states of temptation, the light of morning will appear with increasing brilliance and splendor. Let us heed the Lord's call in His Word. Let us return, and inquire of Him anew, for the door is constantly open, so that our eyes may see His salvation. Amen.

214

LESSONS:     Isaiah 21: 1 -12. Mark 13: 24 -37. Arcana Coelestia 3665.
MUSIC:     Liturgy, pages 473, 474, 448.
PRAYERS:     Liturgy, nos. 33, 113.
MEMORIAL ADDRESS For Miss Vida Gyllenhaal 1962

MEMORIAL ADDRESS For Miss Vida Gyllenhaal Rev. ELMO C. ACTON 1962

     (Delivered in the Immanuel Church, Glenview, Illinois, January 28, 1962.)

     Our sister and friend, Vida Gyllenhaal, affectionately known to many throughout the church as Miss Vida, is now fully conscious in the spiritual world; clothed in a spiritual body, enjoying most exquisite sensation, and possessing all the mental faculties of will and understanding. Her quiet passing over into life in the spiritual world seems almost symbolic of the faithful, quiet and loving way in which she ultimated, through use and works, her love of the Lord and towards the neighbor.
     The Divine love provides that the first state after death shall be one of joy and delight. We, in our interior thought and feeling, can join with the angels in that happy state; especially in the resurrection of one who, having concluded a long life of outstanding love and use, has entered upon the eternal fruits of her life's work.
     The joy and delight are not only from the release of the spirit into free and full life but also from the reunion, shortly after resurrection, with family and friends. Vida is now being welcomed by her family-a family outstanding in the uses of the church-and by friends who with her in this world were engaged in the same use. With them, after a period of rejoicing, she will find her society in heaven; where she will enter into the interiors of the use she performed here, and will continue to inspire and encourage us to work unselfishly and wholeheartedly for the establishment of the Lord's kingdom upon earth. We shall miss her. We shall miss the encouragement of her quiet. but firm confidence in the spiritual things of the church, and her loving concern for the natural and spiritual welfare of all; But this, our sorrow and regret, is dispersed in contemplation of her joy and delight in the happy reunion with family and friends, and their pleasure in introducing her into the beauties and wonders of life in the spiritual world.

215

     From man's birth, the Divine love is drawing him every moment to conjunction with itself in heaven. `When, then, the man dies, his spirit is drawn forth from the body by the attractive force of the Divine love and' is established in life in the spiritual world. When man, throughout his life on earth, has received and reflected the Divine love in love to the Lord and toward the neighbor, then his spirit is drawn into conjunction with the Lord in heaven, and the Divine love blesses him with eternal joy and delight in heavenly uses.
     Use-the faithful, honest and sincere performance of use-is the essential reflection of the Divine love. That love is reflected in that, by it, man strives to communicate to others all things that he has received from the Lord. Thus the whole of his life is turned, outward to others, and in his striving to improve and perfect his own life he looks to the good of the neighbor.
     All the delights and joys of heaven are defined in terms of use. They are received by man in use, from use, and according to use. From heaven man is seen in the light of his use. He is seen as a form of use, and the beauty and perfection of his spirit are according to his life of unselfish and devoted use.
     In this light we see Vida -Miss Vida, to many of us -as being possessed of a face and form of ineffable beauty and grace. For her life was spent in the service of others, in the high use of education -especially the use of New Church education. For seventeen years she taught in elementary schools and in several schools outside the church. Beginning in 1921, she taught science in the Academy's Girls School for thirty years, and for twenty of those years she managed the Dining Hall. What an outstanding service of devoted use! Truly, those who love New Church education are deeply grateful for her services, and from the heart wish her every blessing.
     But her usefulness is not to be confined to this work, however well done, in which she was engaged. This is but a small part of that use which is the man and which gives eternal form and quality to the spirit. A man's use is essentially the quality of the love from which he performs his work: the work not only of his calling, but also all those deeds and services which he performs in his daily contacts outside his calling -those deeds and services which give some evidence of the love which is the man, those things through which the love `can affect and influence others. The love is the real eternal man; and it is the love of others, here and in the spiritual world, that is of the greatest service to the fellow man.
     In woman this is especially hard to define, and it escapes us when we try to describe it; yet it is a most real and living thing.

216

It is the thing that endures after a loved one has departed to the spiritual world. So it is, we feel, with Vida. If we ,try to describe her deeds and words that' have encouraged and heartened us they seem trivial and of little consequence, and yet they had a tremendous impact upon our lives. What would society be without the steadfast love of good women?
     What a tower of strength has been Vida's obvious love for and devotion to the good of the Immanuel Church, the church as a whole, and its doctrine and worship and life! What a support and help especially to those whose lives are occupied fully in the uses of the church! Only at times are we conscious of this sustaining power; for the most part we are insensible of it. One of the great uses of a service such as this is to bring to our realization our debt to women, such as Vida, who have done so much to strengthen us in the things of the church and to cause us to feel the reality and the eternal quality of a truly spiritual life.
     We recall these blessings we have received through Vida, not as if they were now to cease, for in actuality they will continually increase, but rather to encourage ourselves in a truly spiritual life, that we may continue to receive them and to be eternally joined with her in them.
     Vida is now about to enter upon the eternal fruits of her life of eminent and devoted service and use. She is about to enter fully into the interiors of the use she performed so faithfully, honestly and sincerely here, and the sphere of that use will increase' eternally in the depth and breadth of its effect for the good of all men.
     The promise is that she will not enter upon this new and eternal `life alone. Somewhere a conjugial partner has been provided for' her. Him she will meet as if by chance, and they will know, as if from instinct, that they were made for each other. At first sight they will inmostly love each other. Together they will enter some society in heaven, and begin a life of eternal blessedness, joy and peace. Amen.
IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1962

IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1962

In "Protestant Unity and the New Church," published in the NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER, the Rev. Louis A. Dole concedes that we can cooperate with others in external good works, but concludes: "The move, toward unity represented by the National and World Councils of Churches is a move toward unity in the First Christian Church, which is based on doctrines formulated by men. The Church of the New Jerusalem is a new church. It is neither Roman Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant. It is not based on the Apostles' and Nicene and Athanasian creeds, but the teachings of the Lord in His Word understood in the light of its inner meaning, whose opening to men was the Second Coming of the Lord."

217

DIVINE PROCEEDING TO CREATE 1962

DIVINE PROCEEDING TO CREATE Rev. GEORGE DE CHARMS 1962

     (Delivered to the Council of the Clergy, January 24, 1962.)

     I.     The Problem Stated

     The Divine Proceeding, although it interpenetrates all things and extends to the outmost bounds of the universe, remains infinite and uncreate. The teaching is that the "finite cannot proceed from the Infinite; to say that it can is a contradiction; yet the finite can be produced by the Infinite, but this is not to proceed, but to be created."* The Divine Proceeding, therefore, is the Infinite in and with the finite. Because it is infinite it is the same everywhere. Thus we read: "The Divine is not various and mutable, as everything is which belongs to space and time, or everything which belongs to nature, but is invariable and immutable; and hence is everywhere and always the same."**
* DP 219.
** DLW 77; AR 961; TCR 366.
     In creation, on the other hand, "there is no least thing which is the same with any other."* Yet these diverse created things all receive the Divine; wherefore it is said that "the Infinite is in finite things as in its receptacles."** It inflows into all things the same, but is differently received by each one, whence comes the law of reception; namely, that influx is according to the form of the receiving vessel.***
* DLW 226.
** TCR 33.
*** HH 569.
     From this it follows that variety exists only in created forms; yet the origin of variety must be not in created forms, but in the Lord Himself, who alone is the Creator and Former of all things. It is evident, therefore, that the law of reception, namely, that influx is according to the form of the receiving vessel, cannot be the law of creation. It does not explain how the forms which receive the Divine Proceeding came into existence in the first place. They had to be created before they could receive. Creation must precede in order that reception may follow.
     In creating different forms of use the Divine cannot operate everywhere the same. In creating a plant, an animal or a human being it must operate differently, not only in general, but as to every least particular that goes to make up each one. This it must do in spite of the fact that it is everywhere the same. How can this be?

218

     II.     The Origin of Variety Is in God

     God is one and indivisible. He is the same from eternity to eternity. Yet the oneness of God is not simple, but infinitely manifold. "In God Man infinite things are distinctly one."* "He is not infinite by virtue of this alone, that He is very Esse and Existere in Himself, but because there are infinite things in Him. The Infinite without infinite things in Him is not infinite except in name only."** The Divine Proceeding, although it is everywhere the same, even to the outmosts of creation, contains within itself infinite things which are distinctly one. This is possible because in the Divine Proceeding distinctions are not actual but potential. They are present only as a conatus or endeavor, from which the various forms of uses derive their origin.
* DLW 17.
** ibid.; TCR 366.

     III. The Divine Proceeds by Means of Atmospheres

     "There are in the Lord three infinite and uncreate degrees of altitude, because the Lord is love itself, and wisdom itself . . . [and] also use itself."* The Divine of love is spiritual heat, and the Divine of wisdom is spiritual light. "The light and heat which proceed from the Divine Sun cannot proceed in nothing, thus not in a vacuum, but in a continent which is a subject; and this continent is the atmosphere which surrounds the sun, and takes Him up in its bosom, and carries Him to the heaven where the angels are, and then to the world where men are, and thus makes the presence of the Lord everywhere."** The spiritual atmospheres, we are told, "are discrete substances, or least forms, which originate from the [spiritual] sun."*** These least forms are not the Divine Proceeding because they are finite and created; but they are carriers of Divine love and wisdom, so tempering them that they may be received by men and angels as spiritual heat and light.
* DLW 230.
** DLW 299.
*** DLW 174.
     There are, we are told, three degrees of spiritual atmospheres surrounding the sun of heaven, and three degrees of natural atmospheres surrounding the sun of the world, these latter conveying natural heat and light to men on earth.* The spiritual atmospheres are called "living" because they serve to convey love and wisdom, as spiritual heat and light, from the sun of heaven; and the natural atmospheres are called "dead" because they convey natural heat and light from the sun of the world. The spiritual in its essence is love, and love is life. The natural sun in its essence is "pure fire," which is mechanical energy; and this is called a "dead force" because it has no life or power in itself, but is impelled by the life forces of the spiritual sun.

219

The mechanical forces of nature, originating in the sun of the world, tempered by the three natural atmospheres, are conveyed to the surface of the earth; but they all are dead forces. Yet they are empowered and directed by the living activities of the Divine love and wisdom, because the units of the natural atmospheres surround those of the spiritual atmospheres as a shell surrounds a kernel.** Also, they are environed by the spiritual atmospheres.*** Thus the natural atmospheres are activated by the spiritual atmospheres both from within and from without.
* DLW 179, 302.
** TCR 76.
*** DLW 175.

     IV. Why the Spiritual and Natural Atmospheres Together Are Called the Divine of Use

     The atmospheres are called the Divine of use because they convey in their bosom not only the Divine of love as heat and the Divine of wisdom as light, but also the living forces by means of which all the forms of use are created. Concerning this we read in number 1209 of the Apocalypse Explained:

     "In everything spiritual there are three forces, an active force, a creative force, and a formative force. The active force, because it is spiritual, proceeds from the fountain' of all forces, which is the sun of heaven, and that is the Lord's Divine love, and love is the active itself, from which the living force, which is life, proceeds. The creative force Is the force that produces causes and effects from beginning to end, and reaches from the First, through intermediates to the last. The First is the sun of heaven itself, which is the Lord; intermediates are things spiritual, afterwards things natural, also things terrestrial, from which finally are productions. And as in the creation of the universe that force proceeded from the First to the last, so afterwards it proceeds in like manner in order that productions may he continual; otherwise they would fail. For the First continually regards the last as an end; and unless the First looked to the last continually from itself through intermediates according to the order of creation, all things would perish; therefore productions, which are especially animals and plants, are continuations of creation. It does not matter that' the continuations are effected by seeds; it is still the same creative force that produces. Moreover it is according to the observations of some that certain seeds are yet being produced. The formative force is the last force from ultimates, for it is the force that produces animals and plants from the ultimate materials of nature which are collected in the earth. The forces that are in nature from its origin, which is the sun of the world, are not living forces, but dead forces. These do not differ from the forces of heat in man and animal, which keep the body in such a state that the will, by means of affection, and the understanding, by means of thought, which are spiritual, can flow in and do their work in it. They do not differ from the forces of light in the eye, which simply cause, the mind, which is spiritual, to see by means of Its organ. The light of the world sees nothing, but the mind by the light of heaven. The same is true of plants. He that believes that the heat and light of the sun of the world do anything more than open and dispose the things proper to nature that they may receive influx from the spiritual world, is very much deceived."

220

     It is evident that by "everything spiritual" in which these three forces - the "active," the "creative" and the "formative" -exist, the spiritual atmospheres are meant. The active force is the Divine love, the love of a heaven from the human race, and this contains within itself the love of producing all the means whereby `that ultimate end may be attained. Thus it is the love of use, the love of producing forms of use, in which lies the origin of all such forms. The creative force is that whereby this Divine purpose to produce forms of use is focused and determined toward the creation of specific forms. It is the force that produces seeds, which are `the souls of plants, and animals, and men. But the formative force is that which actually builds the bodies of plants, and animals, and men out of substances and matters in the earth. In this process the mechanical and the chemical forces of nature are employed, but only as tools which are constantly and minutely directed by the "formative forces". in the spiritual atmospheres.
     Moreover, there is an answering or co-operative endeavor or conatus in the substances and matters of the earth which disposes them to become forms of uses. They derive this conatus from the fact that they

"are the ends and terminations of atmospheres which proceed as uses from the spiritual sun. . . . And because the substances and matters of which earths consist are from that origin, and their congregates are held together in connection by the circumpressure of the atmospheres, it follows that from this ground they get a perpetual effort to produce forms of uses. The very quality of being able to produce they derive from their origin, which is that they are the last or ultimate things of the atmospheres, with which they therefore concord. it is said that this effort and this quality are in earths, but the meaning is that these things are with those substances and matters. out of which earths originate, whether they are in earths or exhaled from earths in atmospheres. That the atmospheres are full of such things is well known. That the substances and matters of earths possess such effort and such quality is plain from the fact that seeds of all kinds, opened by means of heat to their inmost core, are impregnated by the most subtle substances, which cannot be from any but a spiritual origin, and from this ground have the power of conjoining themselves to use, whence they become prolific, and then, through conjunction with matters from a natural origin, they are able to produce forms of uses, and thereafter to deliver them forth as from the womb, to come at length into the light, and thus germinate and grow. This effort is afterwards continuous from the earths through the root all the way to ultimates, and from ultimates or last things to primes, in which the use itself lies in its origin. Thus uses pass Into forms: and out of use, which is like a soul, forms, in progression from primes to ultimates, and from ultimates to primes, derive this, that all and singular things of forms are of some use. Use is said to be like a soul because its form is like a body."*
* DLW 310.
     "The first production from these earths, when they were still fresh and in their simplicity, was the production of seeds; the first effort in them could not be any other."*
* DLW 312

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     V. As the Atmospheres, in Successive Steps, Carry the Heat and Light of the Spiritual Sun down to the Surface of the Earth, They Carry also the Divine of Use, in Corresponding Degrees of Perfection

     The units of the atmospheres are discrete forms. These individual forms are pictured in Swedenborg's philosophical works as bullae. The individual forms or bullae, of which the highest atmosphere consists, are extremely minute, but intensely active. The forms of which the lower atmosphere consists are more compounded, more limited, larger in size but very much less active, and therefore less perfect. This is the case with each atmosphere in succession; each is more compounded, more limited, less active, and less perfect than the one above it, and as the forms decrease in perfection, so also do the forces; that is, the active forces, the creative forces, and the formative forces. Thus we read: "Perfection of forms, and perfection of forces make one; with this difference only, that forms are substances, but forces are their activities; wherefore to both belong similar degrees of perfection."*
* DLW 200.
     As has been noted above, the "creative forces" are those which produce souls or seeds. The most perfect of these creative forces produce the souls or seeds of human beings; the less perfect produce the souls or seeds of animals; and the still less perfect produce the souls or seeds of plants. That the human soul is also formed within the Divine Proceeding is clear from the statement in TCR 103 that this "soul is woven of such things as are in the spiritual world." Because man is a being distinctly superior to any animal, his soul must be formed by the most perfect creative forces.
     That the plants and animals which exist in the spiritual world are produced in a similar way by the creative forces in the Divine Proceeding, is plainly taught in number 1210 of the Apocalypse Explained, as follows:
"From the spiritual, by means of these forces, both plants and animals, both those that appear in heaven and those in the world, have their existence. Such things exist also in heaven because these forces are in the spiritual in things greatest and in things least, in its firsts and in its ultimates, thus in the spiritual both in heaven "and in the world." By this we understand that creative forces in the spiritual atmospheres produce the plants and animals that appear in the spiritual world, while these same forces, operating in conjunction with the natural atmospheres, create the living organisms of the natural world. From this it would follow that the plants and animals which appear in the spiritual world are Divine creations just as truly as are those that exist on earth.

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How they are created, and in what way they differ from natural creations, will be described presently.

VI. How Seeds Are Created

The forces present in the atmospheres can produce nothing by themselves. The forces present in the atmospheres are merely potential. They are but a conatus, effort or endeavor to produce forms of use. Production takes place only when an active force meets something passive or reactive. Thus a hammer produces nothing without an anvil. In order that seeds may be created, the creative forces in the atmosphere must come into contact with substances and matters which are passive and reactive. These must come, in the last analysis, from the ultimates of nature because of the universal law that "the Divine operates from primes through ultimates, thus from Himself through things that are from Himself in ultimates."* And again we read: "When the Lord operates He operates not from first things through mediates into ultimates, but from first things through ultimates and thus into mediates. This is why the Lord is called, in the Word, the First and the Last."**
* AE 328.
** AE 1086.
Before seeds can be produced, therefore, there must be provided in the atmospheres substances and matters reactive to the creative forces there. It must be to these that reference is made in DLW 310, where it is said that there are in the atmospheres substances and matters "exhaled from earths." "That the atmospheres are full of such things is well known," the number continues. These substances contain within themselves a conatus to clothe uses, a conatus which they derive from their Divine source. By virtue of this, they as it were possess life in themselves, and exercise something analogous to freedom of choice. "There would be no such thing as metal, stone, or indeed grain of sand unless there were something analogous to freedom of choice in every metal and in every stone, or even a grain of sand; for even this freely absorbs the ether, emits its natural exhalations, throws off its' worn out elements and restores itself with new. From this there is a magnetic sphere about the magnet, an iron sphere about iron, a coppery sphere about copper, a silver sphere about silver, a golden one about gold, a stony sphere about stone, a nitrous sphere about nitre, a sulphur sphere about sulphur, and a different sphere about every particle of dust. From this sphere the inmost of every seed is impregnated, and its prolific principle vegetates; for without such an exhalation from every least particle of the earth's dust, there would be no beginning of germination, and no continuance of it."*
* TCR 499; Documents 302 I6.

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     That all the material substances of the earth are radioactive in varying degree is well known to modern science. That such emanations are essential to the creation of seeds, as well as to their germination, is clear from the number quoted above. The creative forces in the atmospheres select these substances, and form from them an inmost vessel called a seed, through .which they may act to produce a plant. In the Writings, the atmosphere in which are the creative forces that produce vegetable seeds is called the "ether." Modern science `tends to question or to deny the existence of such an atmosphere, but if the Writings are true there must be such a medium of Divine operation. It must be a natural atmosphere within which there are spiritually creative forces, an atmosphere `by means of which the Lord Himself, the Divine Proceeding, is immediately present with the infinite power, the infinite love and the infinite wisdom to create the seeds of all manner of vegetation.

     The Michelson Morley Experiment seemed to prove that there was no such atmosphere as the ether. But I have been greatly interested in certain findings in the realm of atomic physics which indicate discrete planes of force or energy. The force of gravitation, when compared to the force of electrostatic repulsion, is found to be something on the order of 1 to 3 X 10 [to the 35]. It has not been possible to get a similar comparison with nuclear forces because the inner structure of the atomic nucleus has not been discovered; but the phenomena of nuclear fission demonstrate the existence in the nucleus of a degree of energy far exceeding that present in the electrons. It can confidently be assumed, therefore, that there must be forces in the nucleus incomparably greater than in the electron. When fission takes place, the energy released represents only a small fraction of that present in the nucleus, and yet it produces forces of unimaginable impact and velocity. These are all dead forces, and the discrete planes of such forces thus indicated are at least reminiscent of what Swedenborg says in his philosophical works concerning the three natural atmospheres.
     The seeds of animal forms are created in a manner similar to that described in regard to the seeds of plants, as is clearly indicated in number 1209 of the Apocalypse Explained above quoted; and in DLW 200 it is certainly implied that this must take place in a higher and more perfect atmosphere, in which are creative forces of greater perfection: this because animals more fully reflect, and more perfectly represent, the Divine qualities of the Infinite. But here again there must be substances and matters originating in the ultimates of creation, yet so refined that they may be reactive to these more perfect creative forces. Although I know of no direct teaching to that effect, it appears to me that these substances must be derived from the exhalations, the spheres given off from the vegetable kingdom.

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This would explain why, in the process of creation, the vegetable kingdom had first to be created before animals could come into existence.'
     Since the mode of Divine creation is evidently the same in the case of human beings, it would seem to follow by unanswerable logic that exhalations or spheres from both the vegetable and animal kingdoms must first be provided in order that a still higher and more perfect atmosphere may create the primitives of human life, or the souls of men. What else can be implied by what is said in CL 183, as follows: "All fructification, all propagation, and all prolification are originally from the influx of love, wisdom and use from the Lord; from immediate influx from the Lord into the souls of men; from mediate influx into the souls of animals; and from still more mediate influx into the inmosts of plants; and all these effects are wrought in ultimates by the primes. That fructifications, propagations, and prolifications are continuations of creation, is evident; for creation cannot be from any other source than from Divine love through Divine wisdom in Divine use; wherefore all things in the universe are procreated and formed from use, in use, and for use." In AE .1201 it is specifically taught that the souls of human beings are formed in a higher atmosphere `than are the souls of animals. To quote: "The souls of beasts are not spiritual in the same degree in which the souls of men are spiritual, but in a lower degree. For there are degrees of things spiritual; and although affections of a lower degree, regarded in their origin, are spiritual, they must be termed natural. They must be so called because they are like the affections of the natural man."

     The same is clearly implied in Divine Wisdom XII 5. Note also, the following from "The Angelic Idea of the Creation of the Universe by the Lord:" "[The angels] said that from [the spiritual] sun as a great center proceed circles, one after another, and one from another, even to the last where their end is subsisting in rest. The circles, of which one is from another and one after another, appearing as spread out in breadth and length, are spiritual atmospheres, which are filled with the light and heat of their sun, and through which the light and heat extend themselves to the last circle; and in this last circle, by means of these atmospheres, and afterwards by means of the natural atmospheres from the sun of this world, the creation of the earth, and of all things on it which are of use, was accomplished, and this creation is afterwards continued by generations from seeds in wombs or in eggs.
     We take this to mean that the creative forces which produce plants and animals are in the third or lowest spiritual atmosphere.

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When these
forces, act through or by means of the highest natural atmosphere, they create the seeds of animals; and when they act through or by means of the lower atmosphere called the "ether" they create the seeds of plants. This conclusion would seem to be confirmed by the following from 346 of DLW: "Both the animal and vegetable kingdoms, as they are led forth into their forms, draw their origin by spiritual influx and operation from the sun of heaven, where the Lord is, and not out of the influx and operation of nature and her sun: although they get their fixation from nature. . . . All living creatures, great and small, draw their origin out of `the spiritual in the ultimate degree, which is natural; man alone from all the three degrees, the celestial, spiritual and natural."
     This teaching would seem to imply that perpetual creation, through propagation and procreation, is provided for this, that the growth of a plant, from the first shoot through the production of branches, leaves, flowers, fruit, and finally seed, provides within itself those substances and matters which may react to the creative forces in the ether, and thus offer the material from which new seeds may be created. So also animals, by growth, maturation and development, so refine the gross substances of the earth that they may at last serve to provide substances and matters reactive to the creative forces of the higher natural atmosphere, and thus make possible the procreation of offspring; and it would also seem to follow that in both cases, that is, in the case of both plants and animals, the creative forces are those present in the ultimate spiritual atmosphere, the difference being that these forces operated in the one case through the ether, and in the other through the higher natural atmosphere.
     In the creation of human beings, however, all three spiritual atmospheres would seem to be involved. This would seem to be confirmed by the representative description of "the primitive of man" in the last number of Divine Love and Wisdom:

     "There was seen, as it were, a least image of a brain with a subtle delineation of somewhat of a face in front, with no appendage. This primitive in the upper convex or gibbous part was a compages of contiguous globules or spherules, and each spherule was compacted of others still more minute, and each of these, in like manner of spherules most minute. Thus it was of three degrees. In front, in the flat part, a kind of delineation appeared for a face. The gibbous part was covered round about with a most fine membrane or meninx, which was transparent. . . . Moreover it was shown in the light of heaven, which shone effuigent, that the compages of this little brain within, as to make and fluxion, was in the order and in the form of heaven, and that its outer compages was in opposition, contrary to that order and that form. After these things were seen and pointed out, the angels said that the two internal degrees, which were in the order and form of heaven, were the receptacles of love and wisdom from the Lord; and that the exterior degree, which was in opposition, contrary to the order and form of heaven, was the receptacle of hellish, love and insanity; because man by hereditary fall is born into evils of every kind, and these evils reside there in the outmost things. . . .

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Because love and wisdom is very man, for love and wisdom in its essence is the Lord, and this primitive of man is a receptacle, it therefore follows that in that primitive there is a continual effort into the human form, which also it puts on successively."
     Certainly here the "two interior degrees" would seem to represent the celestial and the spiritual atmospheres surrounding the sun of heaven, whereby the Lord's love and wisdom are accommodated to human reception. The outmost degree can refer only to the organic covering formed from the substances and matters derived from the earth, for these alone could be perverted by human sin and rendered opposite in structure to the order of heaven.
     We conclude, therefore, that the creative forces in the ultimate spiritual atmosphere are directed to the creation of forms of use for the natural world; that is, animals and plants. But the creative forces in the higher spiritual atmospheres are directed to the creation of forms of spiritual use; that is, forms of human love and human wisdom whereby man may be eternally conjoined with the Lord, and thus continue to live in the spiritual world after the death of the body. It is these spiritual forms of love and wisdom that are represented by the visible and tangible objects that surround spirits and angels. From this it follows that such objects could not come into existence until men had been created. Thus without angels there could be no visible, tangible or objective heaven. Yet these spiritual objects are actual creations, produced by the creative and formative forces in the higher spiritual atmospheres, operating through the minds of human beings. In heaven they are not phantoms, but realities. In the hells, on the contrary, they are phantoms or "mere appearances" arising from spiritually insane and distorted minds.

     VII.     Spiritual Creations

     The Divine end in creation is a heaven from the human race. We are told that the Divine of the Lord, that is, the Divine Proceeding, makes heaven, while the angels constitute it.* But the heaven, which the Lord "makes" by means of the Divine Proceeding, consists not only of angels but also of a whole world of spiritual objects. What would heaven be without an objective world in which the angels might live? The objects of heaven -its lands and seas, its mountains and plains, its plants, and animals and birds, its homes, its cities, its temples-all these are spiritual creations. Thus we read:

     "Let it be known that the spiritual world in external appearance is quite similar to the natural world.

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Lands appear there, mountains, hills, valleys, plains, fields, lakes, rivers, springs of water, as in the natural world; thus all things which belong to the mineral kingdom. Paradises also appear there, gardens, groves, woods, and in them trees and shrubs of all kinds hearing fruits and seeds; also plants, flowers, herbs and grasses; thus all things which make up the vegetable kingdom. Animals appear there, birds and fish of every kind; and thus all things which make up the animal kingdom. Man there is an angel and a spirit. This is premised that it may be known that the universe of the spiritual world is quite similar to the universe of the natural world, with only this difference, that the things which are there are not fixed and settled like those in the natural world, because there is not anything natural there, but all is spiritual."**
* HH 7.
** DLW 321.
     "That the universe of that world in an image resembles man may appear manifestly from this, that all the things just mentioned appear to the life, and exist around the angel,' and around the angelic societies, as produced or created from them; they remain around them and do not pass away. That they are as things produced or created from them is evident from this,' that when an angel goes away, or when a society passes to another place, the same things appear no longer. And when other angels come in their place, the appearance of all the objects around them is changed; the paradises with their trees and fruits are changed; the flower gardens with their blooms and seeds are changed; also the fields with their herbs and grasses; and the species of animals and birds are also changed. Such things exist as they do, and change in this manner because they all exist according to the affections and derivative thoughts of the angels, for they are correspondences; and because those things that correspond make one with that to which they correspond, therefore they are an image representative of it. The true image does not appear when all these things are regarded in their forms, but it appears when they are regarded in uses."*
* DLW 322.

     We would emphasize that these spiritual objects are real creations. Although it appears as if they were produced from the angels, they are not created by the angels, but by the Lord, through the creative and the formative forces in the higher spiritual atmospheres. They are just as truly Divine creations as ate the objects of nature. The "things" to which they correspond and which they represent are all "uses" potentially present in the Divine Proceeding. They were present there, in potency, before there were any angels. In essence they are uses foreseen by the Lord, and provided by Him from the first beginning of creation. They were present in the Divine Proceeding, not in tangible or visible form, but in the Divine will, the Divine endeavor or conatus to use. Thus they are outside of the angels, and are independent of them, just as truly as the objects of nature are outside of men, and independent of them here on earth.
     There is, however, this vital difference: the objects of nature, not only as to their essence but also as to their form, are fixed, constant, and independent of human states; but the objects of the spiritual world, while as to their essence they are completely independent of the angels, are entirely dependent upon them for their form. The reason is that they are created by the Lord, even as are the objects of nature, from primes through ultimates.

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Just as there had to be in the natural atmospheres passive and reactive substances and matters in order that the creative forces in the ultimate spiritual atmosphere could produce seeds, so also there must be provided passive and reactive substances in the higher spiritual atmospheres in order that the creative forces in them may produce seeds, and from seeds, plants and animals. These passive things are necessarily derived from nature, but they are not material. They are sensations ideas, imaginative pictures and thoughts produced in the minds of men through sensual contact with their material environment.

     Thus they carry over the forms of nature but not their material qualities or attributes. They are forms of love and wisdom, created in human minds by the creative forces in the higher spiritual atmospheres. They are spiritual "seeds" through which the formative forces in those atmospheres create spiritual objects, which the angels see, and hear, and touch with exquisite sense. Because they are immaterial they are not fixed or constant, but change as the states of reception change with the angels. Yet they are real because the "things," that is, truths and goods, which they represent are real and have existence independently of the angels. They are real because they represent and correspond to "uses" present in the Divine Proceeding of the Lord. If we reflect upon it we may perceive that the `objects of nature are real, not because they are fixed and constant, not because their forms are independent of human states, but solely because they, too, represent and correspond to uses present in the Divine Proceeding.
     From this we may see that the law of creation is the same in both worlds. This law is, that when the creative forces present in the Divine Proceeding come in contact with substances and matters that are reactive to them, they produce seeds, and through seeds the formative forces there present then create forms of use that are visible and tangible to human beings. Thus we read: "All things which are created by the Lord are uses; and they are uses in that order, degree, and respect in which they are related to man, and through man to the Lord their origin."*
* DLW 327.
     This applies to things created in the spiritual world just as truly as to things created in the natural world. Both are "uses" and both are "real" because they have their source in the Divine of the Lord, and thus are things eternal, completely independent of either men or angels. Both are created by the Lord, operating through the Divine Proceeding. The fact that in the spiritual world such creations are produced in spirits and angels, and take form according to their states of reception, does not detract in the least from their reality.

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Only in the distorted minds of evil men and spirits are they turned into unreal fantasies that have no basis in the Divine of the Lord. That the law of creation in the spiritual world is similar to the law of creation in the natural world -except that on earth creations are fixed and permanent, while in the spiritual world they are not -is specifically taught in Number 1211 of the Apocalypse Explained:

"[In the spiritual world] there are lands as with us; but nothing springs up from seed sown, but only from seed created; and creation there is instantaneous, sometimes enduring for a long time and sometimes only for a moment; for they exist there by means of the forces of light and heat from the sun of heaven, which is the Lord, and apart from the forces that serve as substitutes and aids from the light and heat from the sun of the world. This is why the matters in the lands of our globe are fixed, and the germinations are permanent; while the matters or substances in the lands that are in the heavens are not fixed, and consequently the germinations from them are not permanent. There all things are spiritual with a natural appearance; but in the lands that are subject to the sun of our world it is not so. These things have been mentioned to show that in everything spiritual, both in heaven and in the world, and both in the firsts and in the ultimates, there are these three forces, namely, the active force, the creative force, and the formative force; and that these forces proceed continually to their ultimates, in which they close and subsist; and for this reason there are lands also in the heavens, for the lands there are these forces in ultimates. There is this difference, that the lands there are spiritual from their origin, but here they are natural; and the production from our lands are effected from the spiritual by means of nature, but in those lands without nature."
DIVINE AUTHORITY IN THE CHURCH 1962

DIVINE AUTHORITY IN THE CHURCH Rev. J. DURBAN ODHNER 1962

To make a true and useful evaluation of the doctrinal position known to most as the Hague Position, in contrast with that of the General Church, it is necessary to adopt an objective attitude; acknowledging the multi-sidedness of every doctrinal question and therewith the possibility, in any controversy, of positive and negative elements on both sides. For in a controversy -especially in such a one as led to the split twenty-four years ago -people are driven to take an extreme stand. Much as we all like to think we represent the exact middle of the road, this is usually an erroneous assumption.
The sad thing about a split is that it leaves an atmosphere of bitterness and puts up a barrier. The one side is isolated from the sphere of thought of the other side. A prejudice comes to exist toward any thoughts which may bear even a slight resemblance to the ideas of the "other side." In the organization built about "De Hemelsche Leer," there has been quite a consistent reaction against ideas, customs or rituals which were characteristic of the General Church. The same was true within the General Church toward anything which had symptoms of being related to the so-called Dutch Position.

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     Basically, there is no need for splitting when charity is regnant within the church, provided that all hold to the essentials.* And although the issues leading to the separation of the Hague Society from the General Church had to do with the nature of the New Word, it cannot be maintained that either group fails in the acknowledgment of its holiness.
* See DP 259.
     It is clear, however, that the General Church was charged with committing this failure on a more interior plane, on account of her inability to accept the proposition propounded in the magazine of the Dutch Society. It was an alarm that certain enthusiasts of the position sounded vigorously in the days of the controversy, and have reiterated against the would-be critic of the fascicles ever since: namely, that to reject these articles as being the Doctrine of the Church meant that one was in a natural state of the New Church, and that one rejected the Divine Human of the Lord on an interior plane. It was maintained by some that the appearance of De Hemelsche Leer constituted an interior coming of the Lord to the New Church. The giving of the New Word and the appearance of De Hemelsche Leer were related as esse and existere, and those who rejected the latter were like the Jews, who worshiped the invisible Father (Esse) alone, and rejected the Son (Existere).
     The presumptuousness of warning against a rejection of the Lord's leading; of claiming, in effect, an enlightenment from deeper regeneration; and of announcing the commencement of an internal of the church whence the Lord would visibly teach and lead: all this had the inevitable effect of arousing the opposition of the General Church. It is understandable that the General Church scholars should have rejected the position on account of these elements, which deprived it of objectivity and the calmness of true rationality.
     But how can we account for the fact that many sincere, thinking people of the New Church nevertheless saw this to be the call to a new state? Many felt that an essential of the church had now been brought into clearer light than ever before.
     The central points of the controversy were the question of the Writings as the Word and the nature of the doctrine of the church.
     From the time that the Academy took the position, as clearly formulated by Bishop W. F. Pendleton in the Principles of the Academy, that the Writings are the essential Word, the question ultimately raised by the Hague Position became an impending issue.

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For if they are the Word, it follows that the laws governing the Word apply to the Writings. The Hague Position as it developed, however, resolved into two general points: 1) That the teachings of the Writings concerning the Word apply to them as well; and, 2) That the doctrine of the church, drawn from the Latin Word by those who are enlightened, is Divine.* We shall here devote a separate consideration to each of these points.
* Cf. Theses of De Hemelsche Leer.

1. The Word and the Writings

     Without Difference or Reserve. The objections to the first idea, with its ramification into the concept of an internal sense and a correspondential literal sense of the New Word, were mainly caused by the statement that the Doctrine Concerning the Sacred Scripture applied "without difference or reserve" to the Latin Word. The General Church, taking the opposite view, argued that the laws apply differently and with reserve because the nature of the letter, and thus the type of correspondences used in the Writings, are different from those of the previous revelations. To this it was replied that this does not make the application different, for the Divine law governing revelation does not alter just because the character of the letter of revelation changes.
     Exception was taken to the "without difference or reserve" expression as a result of attempts at exegesis of texts from the Latin Word, made in order to illustrate the point. An internal sense was offered to such natural, historical or personal concepts as the date, June 19, 1770, or the places London and Amsterdam, or the man Swedenborg, or the Catholics, Protestants and Jews, under the assertion that persons, places and historical ideas do not enter the thought of the angels who are with the man when he reads the Word. Some felt that there was something in this idea. Others felt that there was no way of checking the result. Still others felt that the exposition was not worth the effort because no new teaching had emerged from it. Thus the readers of these articles.
     Quite apart from the validity of the exegesis which was presented, or of its value as a contribution to the understanding of the Writings, we are definitely of the conviction that the Latin Word is Divinely inspired even to its most singular things, comparable to the jots and tittles of the Hebrew Word. It is scarcely credible that a special Providence would order the general ideas -termed by some, rational correspondences -and not at the same time the singular words. Nothing of it was Swedenborg's even though it may appear so, just as was the case with the prophets and the evangelists. We may be quite sure that every letter and every number is in a Divine series and laden with an infinitely deep significance; and each man should be left free to see whatever he may see in the text of the Word, provided he does not deny the essentials, or try to force his interpretations upon others and thus disturb society.

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     The argument that nothing new comes out of the kind of exegesis demonstrated appears to be somewhat misplaced, even if true. For this could be said of any kind of exegesis whatever, especially in view of the fact that all doctrine must find its confirmation in the letter of the New Revelation. The purpose of exegesis is not necessarily to discover something new, but to bring teachings of the Word into light which have been lying in shadow.
     There are as many ways of understanding the Word as there are mansions in the Father's house, and every man can profit from an affirmative listening to the thoughts of others. But as soon as one wishes to dictate to another, then he is out of bounds. The ultimate, common bond for all is the letter of Revelation as it stands, which may, like the Urim and Thummim of Aaron's breastplate, communicate perceptions or give answers to one mind in quite a different manner, series and combination than to others.

     Correspondences. While the New Revelation addresses itself to the reason, it does not actually claim to be written in rational correspondences. All things of the natural mind are found in its text -rational, scientific and sensual. What we call rational may be quite sensual in the view of the angels.* What appears sensual to us in the letter of the Old Testament's creation story was highly rational to the most ancients. The important. thing about the letter of the Word in any age is that it conveys Divine truths to the mind to which it is addressed, unless that mind is closed; as were the minds of the Jews around the time of the Lord's first coming, and those of Christians at the time of His second advent.
* Cf. SD 2185.
     It is therefore to be recognized that every revelation is actually addressed to the rational; but that the rational, as a natural faculty, has been developed to different levels in the various periods of mankind. In the measure of his scientific acuteness man has striven to name abstract things distinctly; yet we find in the study of language that all abstract terms are evolved from concrete ones.
     It is important for this reason to realize that the rational minds of men have always, when open, distinguished between the concrete and the abstract values of the term, even when they did not possess a separate term for the abstraction. For example: when "fire" signified fire, and when it signified love. If we say: "My heart is afire," then we know that love is the subject.

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So it was with the ancients in their use of correspondence; and so it is to this day in the Chinese and related languages.
     Thus the evolution of a name for the abstract qualities was not a sign of spiritual progress, but rather of a natural development of the reasoning faculty; and every revelation was directed to the rational mind, in which those knowledges were present that could serve as a keyboard for the heavens. We are therefore taught that the Ancient Word consisted of remote correspondences, and that the revelations which followed were written in correspondences less remote.* By the same token, the New Word, which, by means of re-definition, seeks to extricate man's thought from the merely natural, is laid down in correspondences which are indeed the least remote, but still not un-remote from the internal sense. The letter of revelation is of necessity somewhat remote or removed from its spiritual content. Men of today must labor in their minds equally with men of old in order to penetrate to the essence of their Word, the Divinely given link with the world of ends and causes.
* See SS 102.

     The Problem of Exegesis. Thus we may be sure that the laws of exegesis are given to us for a good reason. They teach us how to approach the Lord by means of His Word, and how not to approach Him. What are these laws?
     First of all, a man must read the Word holly. This will open his mind to enlightenment from the Lord, and enable him to see truths here and there, shining through from the Lord, who is the very soul of the Word. Compared to the hands and face, these shining truths are naked for one who searches the Word for the sake of life, and, when gathered together, are called the doctrine of genuine truth. When this doctrine is acquired, man is said to have a lamp for further progress, which, if he possesses some knowledge of correspondences, enables him, by comparison of passages and the drawing of conclusions, to understand truths which had previously lain veiled in obscurity.*
* See SS 19, 53-59; De Verbo xi, xxi.
     Deep reflection upon this shows us, therefore, that the Divine truth, even in the New Word, does not lie primarily on the surface, where it can be plundered by the conceited and roughshod quasi-rational of the non- regenerating. Even the genuine truth lying at the surface is passed over by such `a mind. And such a man, though his, memory may be full of scientifics of the New Church, will trip over the "great stone" that was seen at the parting of the ways in the spiritual world. For, although he supposes that he knows much, in actuality he knows nothing at all, only empty, terms.

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     A revelation of Divine truth, which is called the Word, is given to provide a connecting link with the heavens and with the Lord for those who are in the natural world. Therefore Divine Revelation, though it may leave certain things concealed from mankind at certain stages, always contains those holy places where man may meet. the Lord as it were face to face, or find His guiding hand. This link has never been lacking, nor will it ever be lacking, for those who ask, seek and knock; for this is universal Divine law, more exact than gravity or magnetism. The asking is for enlightenment; the seeking is for genuine truth as a lamp; and the knocking is that what is veiled may be opened unto us.
     In summing up this first subject we would therefore offer the following conclusions:
     1. The New Word has been given according to the Divine laws and order of revelation.
     2. Its letter consists of correspondences, though less remote from the internal sense than those of previous revelations.
     3. The laws of exegesis laid down in its pages apply to the New Word itself.
     4. The correspondences which veil over the interior burden of this Word are not only in the general ideas but also in the particulars and singulars.
     In connection with the last point, it may be well to observe that the knowledge of the generals not only precedes but is the main basis for the thoughts of men on earth. We are taught, for example, that the horns and points of the Hebrew Word contain arcana for the angels of heaven, scarcely any of which come to the perception of men.* But the little which can be understood by men is of great significance in leading us to acknowledge the Divinity and holiness of the Word of the Lord. So also with the singular words and letters of the later revelations of the Word, some of the significance of which may from time to time be communicated to the minds of men who are reading holily.
* See HH 260; SD 4671.

2. The Doctrine of the Church

     Reference has already been made to the fact that the proponents of the Hague Position designated the doctrinal material contained in the magazine entitled De Hemelsche Leer as a coming of the Lord to the church. This was the result of the conviction that the genuine doctrine of the church, drawn from the New Word, is Divine in origin and in essence. More than anything else, the differences which led to the separation, and which caused numerous further dissensions and alienations thereafter within the organization of the Hague Group, hinge upon this question.

235

     In the magazine, numerous articles and much correspondence were devoted to the question of the Divine with man. Teachings were quoted by the score to confirm the Divine origin and essence of good and truth with man and angel. It often looked very much to the General Church as though the Hague Position was making man Divine, but to the proponents of that position it seemed as though the General Church was depriving the man of the church of any connection whatsoever with the Divine.
     The General Church view has most often been represented within the Hague Movement as being that the Divine is Divine until it is received, and that it then becomes human; and that good and truth with man are merely representative and not real. On the other hand, the Hague Group was often represented within the General Church as considering itself to be regenerated; to be able to judge the internal states of others; and to be able to think, speak and write Divine truth.

     The Doctrine of the Church. How far there may have been a tendency in the heat of battle to humanize good and truth with man is a fruitless question. We know from the Word that this tendency is proper to all men prior to and during the early stages of regeneration.* On the other hand, that the Hague Position tended quite obviously to qualify and seek the recognition of human products as being Divine cannot, and probably would not, be denied by anyone who has read the magazine.
* See AC 9,1661: 3; DP 87.
     Much emphasis and importance were laid upon such teachings as that the church is according to the integrity and purity of her doctrine from the Word, thus according to her understanding of the Word;* that priests are to teach according to the doctrine of their church from the Word;** that the Word is not understood without doctrine;*** and that the doctrine is Divine and is the Lord.****
* See TCR 245.
** See HD 315.
*** See AC 10,400; AE 256; SS 51.
**** See AC 2859, 5321, 2719.
     Our view is this. By the doctrine which is Divine is meant the Word,* or the good and truth therein which comes to the perception of the church.** In this relation, however, there is no separation of the "Word" and "doctrine" into distinct entities. The doctrine is the Word perceived, understood and received, whereby the Lord is conjoined with and dwells in man in what is His.***

236

The difficulty arises when we regard the two ultimately distinct entities, the Word (the Writings) and the doctrinal writings of the church.
* See AC 2533.
** See AC 2859, 5321, 2719.
*** See DLW 114.
     That the doctrine as first defined is purely Divine and is the Lord appearing to His church, no one gifted with any understanding would deny. But when speaking of the doctrine in reference to the writings or formulations of men, assuming these to be expressive of the Word understood, a definite qualification becomes most urgent: the very qualification, we believe, which has been lacking on the part of the Hague Movement, and the absence of which has caused most of the difficulties.
     The vital question at issue is not whether something brought forth by man can be from the Lord, and thus in a sense Divine. The question is whether, having human things adjoined,* it can be pure and can qualify as, authoritative.
* See AC 2719, 2720.

     Authority. The very desire to label a thing with such a qualification as Divine -which also implies nothing less than perfect -is equivalent to making a "father" on earth or to being called "master."* The origin of papism (fatherism) is thence, the fruit of which is the setting up of saints and the establishment of councils to decide what things men shall believe and to play the part of judge in their lives. An authoritative vicar then inevitably replaces the risen, glorified Christ, that is, the Divine Word itself.
* See Matthew 23: 9, 10.
     The acknowledgment that all truth is from the Lord, and is the Lord, must include the realization that the Lord's Word is the only ultimately Divine expression of truth. When we see the truth there, we are seeing the Lord in His own Divine body. The human things in which the Word has clothed itself are glorified, and thus Divine; while the doctrinals of men inevitably have something of themselves adjoined and cannot be a means of conjunction. Truth in this state admonishes: "Touch Me not, for I am not yet ascended unto My Father"; or, in the terms of the New Word: "for if not confirmed [in the sense of the letter of the Word], the truth of doctrine appears as if only man's intelligence were in it, and not the Lord's Divine wisdom."*
* SS 54.
     The Lord in what is His with man, or the Divine dwelling in man as in Himself,* really means the Word in him -in understanding and in life -according to his faculty of perceiving and loving it. In the broader sense, one could . speak of the Divine dwelling in the church; this being the Word received in men and women of the church, which, when communicated through man to man by the operation of the Lord's Holy Spirit, teaches, and is therefore called doctrine.
* See DLW 170.

237

     This doctrine is the living Word itself, which could not but be dethroned in the church if men, imagining the Holy Spirit to be inherent in their thinking,* should wish their own intelligence to play some important role, instead of denying themselves, taking the lowest seat, and watching the Lord build the house. Only when they do the latter can the doctrinal things communicated be such that the Divine good can nevertheless have a kind of abode in them;** and the human things adjoined are such that they still have no part in the doctrine.***
* Cf. Can. HS, iv:4
** See AC 2719
*** See AC 2720.

     The Divine with Man. The reception of the Divine by man can be illustrated by means of the sun, and the heat received in subjects upon the earth. This illustrates how the Divine received by man remains itself, even when dwelling in others as if it were theirs.
     The illustration is valid also in representing the human things of man relative to the Divine Human things of the Lord. On earth, the matter is in a passive state and receives heat to maintain it while in the sun it is in a highly active, or elemental, state, and does not receive heat but is heat, as it were.
     Now, just as each animal, plant and mineral receive the sun's rays differently, so each man receives and understands the Word differently. Like the heat in various subjects, the Word as received in individual minds is subjective.
     When men see the Lord in His New Word, they become receivers or subjects of the Lord in His second coming-the Lord Jesus Christ in His glorified Human in the sun of heaven. Individual reception of this Divine radiation is various; and for this reason, if one attempts to identify one's subjective state with the objective, instead of acknowledging the objective outside of one's self, one is encroaching upon the Lord.
     We read: "When the angels think interiorly of the Lord, then they think no otherwise of Him than in themselves. . . . Let everyone guard himself against falling into the detestable heresy that God has infused Himself into men, and that He is in them, and no longer in Himself; for God is everywhere, both within man and outside of him."*
* DLW 130.

     "De Hemelsche Leer." "De Hemelsche Leer" is Dutch for "the Heavenly Doctrine." The name was explained on one occasion as implying, not that the fascicles were the Heavenly Doctrine, but that they concerned it, just as a book called The Starry Heavens would concern but not claim to be the starry heavens.

238

     From the very beginning of the movement, however, there were, sown among the sincere and provoking studies of De Hemelsche Leer, tares of a kind which spelled future conflict and even the possible failure of the organization. We refer especially to the tendency to demand recognition and acknowledgment of the writings of men as being comings of the Lord to the church. This took away doctrinal objectivity and weakened the simple regard for the New Word itself as the only objective and authority. The conflicts resulting from this tendency to force subjective things upon others have been primarily responsible for the departure of many from the Hague Movement, a number of whom have returned to the General Church, where they were assured that there was full respect for the freedom of interpretation of anyone who acknowledged the "Writings" as the sole authority.
     Within the General Church there is an increasing number of people who hold to a qualified acceptance of the Hague Position; and few would deny that this has been a positive stimulus to her own development. The name, General Church, clearly implies the idea that she should embrace all those who see the New Word as the foundation of the church, regardless of their particular doctrinal views. It is sorely to be hoped that such a spirit will continue to grow, and will be adopted by others, so that this breach between sincere people of the New Church may be healed.
     Summarizing the latter part of our consideration, we would offer the following conclusions:
     1. The doctrine of the church, regarded as the Word itself received, is Divine.
     2. Men's formulations and expressions of the doctrine, because of the human things adjoined, are subjective and lack authority.
     3. The only ultimately Divine expression of doctrine is the letter of Revelation itself.
REVIEW 1962

REVIEW KURT ASPLUNDH 1962

     ALL THINGS NEW. By Basil Lazer. Published by the Author. Canberra, Australia, 1962. Paper, pp. 16.

     This is a new missionary pamphlet and a welcome one. It makes the clear and direct claim that all things are "made new" in the truths contained in the Writings.
     Building on the prophecy of Revelation 21: 5, "Behold, I make all things new," the author, as a comparative newcomer to the church, is in an excellent position to show what new things are to be found in the Writings.

239

Among these he mentions new spiritual vision; new conceptions of love, faith, conscience and regeneration; new knowledge of the life after death; and perhaps most important, opportunities and hope for making new our own lives, in every situation and circumstance with which we are connected.
     The pamphlet is small-"only a bare outline of what can be found in the Writings"-but designed to take the seeker after truth to the source, to see for himself that the claims and enthusiasm of the author are amply justified by the Writings themselves. It is a plain invitation to "all who love the Lord, and are searching for His truth, to read and see for themselves what amazing revelations these books contain."
     We hope that wide distribution of this pamphlet in Australia and other countries will plant seeds of interest that may lead eventually to the fruitful increase of the New Church.
     KURT ASPLUNDH
NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1962

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS Rev. FREDERICK L. SCHNARR 1962

     In our notes on last month's readings we commented on the various styles of writing that are employed in the Word, noting particularly the styles used in the Prophets and in the Psalms. We referred to the uses that are served when we read the Word, whether or not we understand what we are reading.
     While various uses are served when we read the Word without understanding of the spiritual sense, it should nevertheless be our constant endeavor to enter with the understanding more and more fully into the spiritual sense. There is no greater or more powerful confirmation of the Lord's existence, and of the reality and purpose of His love and wisdom, than to see how the Lord dwells in the internal sense of the Word: its order, its organization, its series within series-spiritual food from the Lord adapted to all degrees of human life, and prepared to feed man's spirit with heavenly intelligence and wisdom to all eternity. Such is the treasure stored within the Word.
     In a different way, both our current readings from the Word are difficult. In the Prophets we try to grasp something of the spiritual sense, but at first see very little. Names and places spring before us; strange visions and sayings, repetitions and judgments.

240

Indeed, we are thankful when we come to a clear prophecy of the Lord's birth, or, here and there, some explicit instruction arrayed in the beauty and feeling of poetic language. On the other hand, in our readings from the Arcana, we are presented with a view of the spiritual sense of Genesis that causes us to stagger in amazement and bewilderment, such is the complexity and the detail brought suddenly before us. We are faced with a multitude of correspondences and representatives for each word, each name, every place; and we find not just one story to follow in the internal sense but three-the stories of the Lord, man and the church.
     What each reader is able to see of the spiritual sense of the Prophets, and is able to understand of the spiritual sense presented in the Arcana, will depend on many things: his preparation, his study, his effort to understand. It is of particular importance to the young reader of the Word, including the Writings, that he should not try to absorb too many details at once, -that is, in one reading. How often we have heard young people, and young adults, confess that the Arcana is too difficult for them to follow!

     The learning of the Word follows the same universal order as the learning of all other things: elementary knowledges, general rules and laws, must come first before one can see the connection and relationship of particulars. In reading the letter of the Word, and also the spiritual sense, for the first few times, we should try not to be confused and bewildered by a host of details, least we become restless and impatient. Read everything in reading the Word, but let the mind rest on those things it is able to grasp. When a universal law is stated, as is done here and there throughout the Writings, it should be given special attention and an effort made to remember it.
     In reading the letter of the Word for some meaning, it will be helpful to note those names or objects which occur over and over again, and to look up their meaning in the Swedenborg Concordance. In our readings from Isaiah, for example, the cities of Zion and Jerusalem are constantly mentioned, and the expressions "daughter of Zion" and "daughter of Jerusalem" are often used. Many things may be signified by these words, depending on how they are used; still, the reader will be helped by knowing that Zion usually refers to the affection of good, or love to the Lord, and Jerusalem to the affection of truth, or love toward the neighbor. it is similar with other expressions.
     Let us be patient in our reading, and not expect too much at once. If we read sincerely, then each time we will reap with greater fullness the essential truth that the Lord is in His Word.

241

JUDGMENT 1962

JUDGMENT Rev. W. CAIRNS HENDERSON 1962

     (The last of three doctrinal lectures.)

3. JUDGMENT OF THE WORKS OF MEN

     So far we have considered in these lectures man's judgment after death, and the judgments which may and may not be made concerning those men whose lives, uses and actions directly affect our own. In the first instance, it was seen that man judges himself by accepting or rejecting good or evil; thus separating himself completely from evil or entirely to it. In the second, it was learned that we cannot judge men to be good or evil, but that we may and should judge and condemn evil whenever and wherever it is found in the deeds of men, in order that we may reject and separate ourselves from it. There is, however, a third area in which judgment enters human life, and we would devote our attention to it in this final lecture.

     The Area Defined

     Our lives are not influenced only by those men and women with whom we speak face to face. They are touched-sometimes deeply, sometimes fleetingly-by the aspirations, the thinking and the activities of a host of men; most of whom we may never meet in the flesh, or even know of as individuals, while some of them live on here only in their works. Human affairs-international, national and local-challenge our thought even when they do not change the pattern of our lives. Human events make their impact, and leave their benefits or their scars. We are concerned, or should be, about issues in public life, and about the theory, activities and objectives of various organized groups in human society. The things by which men live-their philosophies, ideologies, values and goals-cry out for appraisal. In the mass media we are exposed to techniques which compete for our favor or our acquiescence in their basic assumptions. And whatever our level of cultural interest may be, the arts-literature, music, painting, architecture, sculpture-make their claims to be evaluated.
     This is the area with Which we are now concerned, and the question is not whether we judge in it but what kind of judgments we make.

242

We do evaluate all or some of the things that have been mentioned-reach conclusions, form opinions, take sides. As free and rational beings we can do no less, yet in so doing we may be neither free nor rational. What principles may we hope to discover in the Writings, then, that will enable us, in this area also, to "judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment"?* In order to find out, we must first look at the faculty of judgment itself.
* John 7: 24.

     The Faculty of Judgment

     Judgment is one of the marks of the adult mind, and with men it is of rational wisdom. Not that women are without judgment, but that the particular judgment upon which the rightness of masculine uses interiorly depends is not a part of the feminine mind.* Yet the faculty of judgment is not innate in man; its development is dependent upon the formation of certain mental planes on which it rests; it varies in range and soundness from one man to another; and there are certain factors in a man's environment that can encourage or retard its growth.
* See AC 2304; CL 164, 175:2.
     As a mental operation, judgment involves sifting, weighing, comparison and discrimination, and thus implies a perception of the relations of things and of relative values. It is therefore an operation of the rational, and before that plane of the mind can begin to function, the sensual and natural planes must be opened and formed. Sensations and scientifics must be received, ordered, and stored up in the mind as a ground plane on which judgment may afterwards grow; with one person more, with another less. This goes on throughout infancy and childhood, indeed throughout the process of formal education; and while it is true that there is judgment on these lower planes, it is imperfect. An infant thinks and understands from the things of sense, a child from scientifics; and if an adult is content to remain on these lower planes-and some are-his judgment, which is really that of the body-of the mind from the external senses-is gross and obtuse, and he has little discrimination from it. Furthermore, the first truths which a man learns are very general. Only later are they infilled with particulars; and only later still can he view them from the internal.*
* See AC 6751, 1434, 5774: 2; CL 57; AC 6089.
     So it is that judgment increases from infancy, and its growth can be promoted or discouraged. Freedom of speech and writing encourages freedom of thought by furnishing its proper ultimates, and it fosters, as it demands, the exercise of judgment. But influx always adapts itself to efflux, and where these freedoms are denied, or severely curtailed, freedom of thought is affected and the mind is constrained to things of the memory rather than invited to the exercise of judgment.*

243

Freedom of speech and of writing is therefore requisite for the exercise of judgment. Only it must be genuine! License and prejudice are just as destructive of judgment as the most rigorous attempt at thought control by police action.
* See AC 6098; TCR 814:2.
     Now this involves that a body of scientifics, of factual knowledges, is a necessary basis for judgment in any of the fields we are considering- a truth that has several implications. Without a sufficiency of facts, we cannot judge rightly, and without the utmost respect for the facts we cannot judge soundly. It is true that our understanding may not always be in accordance with the facts, or that some of the facts which would lead to the possibility of a correct understanding may be lacking; but if we ignore facts, at least those which are inconvenient, our so-called judgments are more likely to be expressions of our wishful thinking, and if we change them to fit the hypothesis our conclusions will be worthless. A deep respect for facts is indeed essential. Informed particular judgment usually calls for a background of specialized knowledge, and he is a wise man who knows the limits of his competence in a subject-field and stays safely within them.
     But this does not mean that without special training in a discipline or a subject we can make no judgments at all! For judgment is to be made from truth, from principles, and there are universal truths and principles of universal application. If a man brings to the evaluation of what is set before him more than is in his memory, he can see both sides of a question; and if his intellectual is enlightened by the Lord, he perceives immediately when he hears or reads them whether many things are true or not. There are many instances in which he can discriminate between apparent and real truths, and especially between truths and falsities and also between good and evil. There are many times when, without specialized knowledge, he can see at once whether something is good, honorable, just and fair, or not. He may lack the technical knowledge that would tell him just how or why a thing is wrong, or how it should be put right; but a man of enlightened reason-one who believes in his heart that love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor are indeed the essentials of human life-can judge widely and soundly in human affairs and events, and can evaluate wisely much of the thinking and many of the objectives of the world in which he lives.*
* See AE 652:2, 695:4; DP 168:2-5; AC 7233e; AE 629:14.

     Principles of Judgment

     For our guidance in making such judgments the Writings offer a number of principles, some of which may be indicated here.

244

We note first the all-inclusive teaching that all proper judgment is from what is just and fair, and is predicated of what is right; that there is what is right when judgment is from the law and from conscience; and that man can judge concerning evils and falsities only from goods and truths. We note also that without judgment man can neither understand nor believe what is contrary to appearances, and that this must be the judgment of an enlightened rational.*
* See AC 4167, 2235, 1661:2, 3, 1838:2, 2943:2.
This is of vital importance. While judgment is a rational process, and therefore belongs to the intellectual, it is not made apart from the will. And it is the explicit teaching of the Writings that the understanding does not lead the will, that wisdom does not produce love, but that it simply teaches and shows the way. The will leads the understanding, and causes the understanding to act as one with it; and, furthermore, the will calls that in the understanding wisdom which agrees with itself.* The implications of this statement will at once be evident.
* DLW 244e

In attempting to make contemporary judgments the New Church man has an entirely different approach from others. The widespread denial of an authoritative Divine revelation, and the repudiation of evil and sin as outmoded medieval concepts of interest only to theologians who are out of touch with reality, has left a large part of society without any absolutes. For it there are only value judgments. We believe in absolute good and truth, and we believe that they are revealed to us in a Divine revelation which has full authority. But our finite, fallible judgments may not be in accord with that Divine revelation. In judging men movements and events we are evaluating motives and ambitions, analyzing thinking, appraising objectives and goals and implied concepts of the highest good; and while this is an intellectual process involving comparison and discrimination, the conclusions we reach will be influenced deeply by the ends which we ourselves secretly regard as the most desirable and the means which we really believe to be the most effective for attaining those ends. Unless we go back constantly to the Word of the Lord, therefore, for instruction, clarification and correction, our judgments may not be in accord with revealed Divine truth, even if they seem to be sustained by the facts. Especially, as a foundation for just judgment, should we make it our business to learn, reflect upon and understand those teachings of the Writings which define and explain civil and moral good and truth, expound the spiritual truth about human society and place before us the doctrine concerning the degrees of the neighbor.

245

     Only to the extent that this is done-and it is not as large an undertaking as might be supposed-may we hope that our judgments will be from truth. And only to the extent that our judgments are from truth will they not be from the proprium, with its heavy reliance upon prejudice, and the distortions which the loves of self and the world make for the sake of self-advantage.*
* See AC 6405; CL 231:4; DP 208.
     There are, however, three principles that can lead us to sound judgments which might be mentioned briefly. The first of these is that causes do not produce effects continuously but discretely; wherefore to judge of causes by inductions which are continuous with effects does not lead to the causes themselves. All primary causes are spiritual. From effects nothing can be learned but effects. To think from them only is to think from fallacies, and to try to search out causes from effects is to depart from the way of wisdom; whereas to know effects from causes is to be wise. This principle, which is drawn from several statements in the Writings, is of wide application in all subject fields that are concerned with cause and effect.
     Historians, political scientists and economists, psychologists, sociologists and criminologists are all concerned with the causes of the phenomena observed in their respective fields. As New Church men and women trying to form judgments' from the Writings, we should be alert to recognize inductions which are continuous with effects when we examine the theories these specialists propound or analyze the solutions they offer for current problems. For all too often it will be discovered that this law has not been satisfied; that the alleged cause is continuous with the effect, and is, therefore, not the true cause at all.

     The second principle, which also is enunciated many times in the Writings, is that end, cause and effect are integral parts of a homogeneous series, and that as such they cannot be separated, for one will always qualify the others. To translate this from philosophical into homely terms: Nothing that is basically wrong can ever lead to what is fundamentally right. Yet one of the most common errors to which modern man is prone is that of isolating the ends that are desired from the means by which they are to be attained. Under this principle we can evaluate and form judgments about many of the solutions that are currently being proposed for social and economic problems and even in the realm of international relations.
     Closely related to this is the third principle, namely, that good never comes out of evil. Evil can be, and is, bent to an end of good by the Lord, but evil will never develop into good. This might seem to be self-evident.

246

Yet ideologies have flourished that would not have been tolerated had it not been that men, in concentrating on an apparently good end, have become blinded to the moral depravity of the means adopted for its attainment; tacitly assuming that means can be separated from ends, or that something evil in itself will eventually turn into something good. Too many men and women have become the victims of insidious propaganda through their very concern for the welfare of society; and all too often those who should have been best equipped to criticize false ideologies have become their protagonists. If our judgments are made in the light of these principles we will not be so deceived. We will remember that, as the Lord said, men do not gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles.
     With these and other principles that can be drawn from the Writings we may hope to judge righteous judgment. If we would do so, however, we should attempt to judge from the Standpoint of use rather than utility, and go beyond the external result to the moral principle. That which seems to yield satisfactory results may be morally undesirable and spiritually indefensible. We should realize also that one of the marks of righteous judgment is impartiality. This does not mean that we should not have convictions or that we should never be partisan. It is to be hoped that we have strong convictions about the church, and that we are partisan where the revealed truth of the Word is concerned! But if we would judge justly, we cannot afford to be partisan in the sense of thinking that there can be only one political theory for the church-or, indeed, that there can be only one of anything where variety is quite legitimate-or that nothing of any worth can be found outside the cause one espouses.

     Other Forms of Judgment

     Judgment of works of art is an entire subject in itself, and while there would be interest and value in developing it on some future occasion, there is no time for real consideration now. We would observe only that, a popular belief to the contrary, it is impossible to judge the artist, whatever the medium in which he works. We can judge only the work itself, and then we must be extremely careful to distinguish between what the work evokes and what we may superimpose upon it: this, of course, in those areas wherein the standards and methods of the trained critic do not apply. We can no more judge the spiritual quality of an artist from his works than we can judge the spiritual state of a man from his life, except conditionally.
     One aspect of judgment which has not been touched upon in these lectures is that which involves arriving at wise decisions or conclusions on the basis of indications and probabilities when the facts are not clearly established.

247

This may call for specialized knowledge and long experience that has been well digested, reflected upon and evaluated. Experience may be the best teacher, but some of her reluctant pupils are confirmed non-learners! But when the lessons of experience have been learned, the result is a practical wisdom that may be called the wisdom of life-a quality not to be confused with spiritual wisdom, but one that does not necessarily require deep erudition. Such wisdom can do two things for a man. It can enable him to see clearly where he has no competence - to judge, or where his competence is limited and to what extent; and in his own field it can enable him to read the indications and weigh the probabilities correctly, and so arrive at a sound judgment.

     Conclusion

     We have now considered the three areas in which judgment may be exercised, and if these are reflected upon it may be seen that there is one thing that links them together. In any area, judgments should be made only for the sake of use-for the sake of seeing what is good, and what evil, in order that good may he accepted and evil rejected and thus separated from the good. Otherwise judgment will degenerate into pointless, destructive criticism and condemnation, which may harm uses and certainly does not help the critic. Where no use will be served, we may well ask ourselves whether judgment is necessary; and when there is a use, judgment should be restricted to that which properly comes within its province.
     This is important, not only that justice may reign in human relations, but for our own future. It is true that with what judgment men judge, they are judged; and that with what measure they mete, it shall be measured to them again. If we judge consistently from the proprium, then we shall become the kind of people who eventually bring upon themselves the judgment of those in whom the evil proprium has become dominant. But if we have tried sincerely to judge righteous judgment-to judge from the Lord, from the Word and from conscience instead of from self-then we will ourselves be judged, not according to the appearance which might condemn any man, but with perfect justice.

248

CRIME, PUNISHMENT AND MERCY 1962

CRIME, PUNISHMENT AND MERCY Editor 1962

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 Business Manager. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.

TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$5.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy 50 cents.
it is a teaching of the Writings that the separation of the evil from the good is of mercy; for unless it were effected, the evil would do harm to the good and would be continually endeavoring to destroy order. Thus that the good may not be harmed is the purpose of the separation, and this is what is of mercy in it. In discussing the principle, the Writings note that if evils were not punished on earth, the entire country would be infected with evils; wherefore, they add, kings and judges show more mercy in punishing evils and expelling from society those guilty of them than by exercising in their behalf an unseasonable clemency.
This principle would seem to be entirely absent from the thinking of many today. Apparently reluctant to recognize the existence of evil, and therefore of guilt, they would make society the co-defendant in all criminal actions and then plead for "unseasonable clemency." Yet if society cannot always be entirely absolved, the law-abiding citizen is always an interested party, tacitly pleading for the protection of the law through the courts. Perhaps the most dangerous fallacy which - has to be met is that all punishment is retaliatory and thus uncivilized. The truth is that in just punishment, sternly but wisely meted out, there is genuine mercy and charity itself: mercy toward the one who receives it, if he is willing to benefit from it; mercy toward society, which is protected from further depredation and its order maintained. Clemency is indeed of mercy. But unseasonable clemency is not, whatever the appearance may be; and in the end no one really benefits from it.

249

SPIRITUAL FERMENTATIONS 1962

SPIRITUAL FERMENTATIONS Editor 1962

     In the Lord's kingdom of uses it is provided that those who conjoin evil and falsity in themselves shall still be of service for the conjunction of good and truth in others. One of the ways in which this is done is by spiritual fermentations. These are effected in both worlds, and by many methods. There are evils and falsities together, which, when introduced into societies, do a work like that of fermenting agents in new wine; and by means of them, when truth conquers, heterogeneous things are separated, homogeneous things are united, and purity and clarity result.
     That is practically all the Writings say on a fascinating topic: just enough to intrigue, yet enough to spark the disciplined imagination. We may not make spiritual judgments-the more so in this instance, since it is added that on earth it is not known what fermentations are or how they are effected. But in seeking to reach a spiritual understanding of history, and of what is happening now in the world and in the church, we should take into account the fact that spiritual fermentations are going on; and that while they excite evils, and cause commotion, they can be means through which good will result.
     No society on earth-whether it be the church, the state, or any segment of either-is as good as it may become. Even those societies which we think of as standing against evil and falsity are not without what is evil and false themselves. In providence, however, that evil and falsity can be seen, acknowledged and shunned, little by little. In providence, also, though not of it, fermentations will be introduced, both within and without, as means through which this can be effected. It is true that these can never be positively identified. But if we can preserve an awareness that they are taking place, and seek the wisdom to evaluate that which excites evil and causes commotion and then examine our own reactions, the process may become a means through which good is done by the Lord. It will be possible for evil and falsity to be separated, and our minds integrated as more perfect instruments of use.

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NEW NEW-CHURCH ORGANIZATION 1962

NEW NEW-CHURCH ORGANIZATION PAUL HARTLEY 1962

Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:
     It must surely be of interest to the readers of NEW CHURCH LIFE to learn of a new New Church organization, based on loyalty to the Writings as a distinct revelation from the Lord, that has come into being in this country. It is not competing with the existing bodies such as the General Church, or any other New Church body, for members. In fact, the original plan was to affiliate with an organization, as a body; but inasmuch as this plan could not be realized, the members of this new organization, being of Latvian stock and desiring to remain together, then proceeded to organize as an independent church organization, the Latvian New Church-Latvja Jaund Basnica.
     The membership is rather widely scattered. The spiritual leader, and translator of the Writings and author of related literature, is Rudolfs Grava, residing in Baltimore. The Latvian New Church now has even a small printing press, operated by Mr. Janis Kreicbergs in Hackettstown, N. J. Already some literature is available to Latvian New Church people. In the spring of 1954, a Latvian translation of Heaven and Hell, Debress un Elk, had been completed and was in print. Since then there have appeared a translation of New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine and some tracts; and now a translation, from the Latin, of True Christian Religion is well under way.
     In order to give the Latvian New Church believers a sense of belonging together, a special periodical, Jaunais Laikmets, is being published. The title page hears the significant threefold inscription: the Hebrew words of "Let there be light" (Genesis 1: 3); the Greek words of Revelation 21: 5, "Behold, I make all things new"; and the Latin words of True Christian Religion 308, "Now it is allowed."
     Until the Communist take-over, there was a Latvian New Church in the then still independent Baltic country. Indeed it boasted of some fifty members. A few of them managed to get away, being settled temporarily in various refugee camps in Germany; and some, including Rudolfs Grava and the Kreicbergs, finally reached this country.
     The Latvian language, like the better known Lithuanian, is an Indogermanic language, and is related to the ancient Sanscrit of India in much the same manner as the modern Romance languages, such as French, Italian and Spanish, are related to the Latin. The alphabet is fundamentally Latin, but there are a number of sounds in Latvisn that require certain diacritical marks added to some letters. In this and some other respects the Latvian language is somewhat akin to the Czech language. For instance, the Latvian word for man, cilveks, is very like the Czech word, cloviek, meaning "man."
     The writer has been privileged to be in close contact with these Latvian New Church people, and can vouch for their intense loyalty to the Lord in His second coming through the Writings of the New Church.
PAUL HARTLEY

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Church News 1962

Church News Various 1962

     THE HAGUE, HOLLAND

     The Rev. Frank Rose visited us, April 21-23, 1961. In Arnhem there was a large gathering at the home of the Bruil family, where Mr. Rose spoke on the subject, "Charity and Use." Visits to isolated members were made the next day, and on Sunday there was a service at my home, the text of the sermon being: "Take up thy bed and walk" (John 5: 8, 9). After refreshments were served, a class was given on "Charity and Use." Eighteen adults and four children attended the service; the Holy Supper was administered to eight persons.
     The celebration of New Church Day took place at my home. A sermon by Bishop De Charms, "The Last Judgment and the New Church," was read. Afterwards there was a toast to the Church, and an account of the last year's activities was given.
     In October we had a remarkable event. Five members of the Nova Hierosolyma church, who had resigned, became members of the General Church, and one person who had been interested in that church was baptized.
     Mr. Rose's next visit was October 24-29. Again there was a meeting in the home of the Bruil family in Arnhem; and on Saturday there was a gathering at my home at which Mr. Rose gave an explanation, with slides, of the General Church in Bryn Athyn. The service on Sunday was at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Lupker, who are new members. Their larger rooms make it easier to hold services as the attendance has grown a bit, this time to twenty-five persons. Mr. Rose preached on "Horses and Chariots of Fire" (II Kings 6: 16), and the Holy Supper was administered to sixteen communicants. After luncheon there was a children's class, followed by a class for the grownups on the subject, "Good and Evil."
     Christmas was celebrated at my home, with ten adults and two children present. A sermon by Bishop Willard D. Pendleton, "The City of David," was read; after which we had a Christmas luncheon and the children were each given a present.
     HERMAN G. ENGELTJES

     HURSTVILLE, AUSTRALIA

     The last quarter of 1961 was a busy and exciting time for the Hurstville Society. A fancy dress party for the children, with spring as its theme, was held late in September. It was a gay affair and was enjoyed by the adults, too. The Hurstville Sons and Theta Alpha chapters held a combined banquet in October. There were addresses on the Academy and on New Church education by Mrs. Fletcher and Brian Heldon. There was also a delicious meal served-in fact, there was a touch of genius in the preparation and serving of it.
     South Africa's loss is Australia's gain. Mr. and Mrs. Keal and their four young boys arrived in October. A welcome evening was held at the church a few days after their arrival. The Rev. Donald L. Rose and Norman Heldon read some verses specially written for the occasion, and Mr. Keal showed a selection of slides on Africa. The Keals have settled in well in their adopted country and adopted society. We would now like a family with eight young girls. This is an invitation-are there any acceptances?
     At Christmas time it seemed that we felt something of the wonder of the shepherds, and, indeed, some of the humble reverence of the wise men, as we received with delight teachings concerning the glory and significance of the Lord's birth.

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On Christmas Eve there was carol singing at the church, when, too, a beautiful film strip was shown. Looking upwards, children sang songs by the light of two candles held by four-year-old boys. After the service on Christmas Day, the children each brought a gift for the church.
     A week after Christmas, the Keal family invited their new-found Hurstville friends to their home. After we had sung "Our Glorious Church," Mr. Rose conducted a service of home dedication. He announced that a copy of the Word had been ordered and would be presented to the Keal family. Then we enjoyed a buffet supper, during which there was lively conversation, and Hugh Keal showed movies and slides of Africa.
     We are now looking forward to the wedding of Brian Heldon and Miss Bronwen King. Bronwen will make a beautiful bride, without a doubt. New to the church, she has entered into its activities and has already read some of the Writings.
NORMAN HELDON

     COLCHESTER, ENGLAND

     Although we have not appeared in print for several months, the Colchester Society is up and doing-several things. The regular services give us plenty of food for thought and guidance for living-and often hit us in vulnerable spots! The two series of doctrinal classes, and the two young people's classes for different states and age groups, have all been much appreciated. A very interesting series of sermons by our pastor on "Joseph and His Brethren" comes to mind, and the Rev. Frank Rose's Arcana classes are a real eye-opener.
     It has been of great benefit as well as a pleasure for us all to have Mr. Rose as assistant to the pastor. He was the instigator and inspiration of the most successful Summer School so far, which was thoroughly enjoyed by the young people, both in their classes each morning and the fun and recreation of the rest of the day.
     The most recent British Assembly, reported elsewhere in NEW CHURCH LIFE, was held here in Colchester and was a happy and useful series of meetings. We were glad to have the Rev. Bjorn Boyesen and the Rev. Martin Pryke with us, as well as several other welcome visitors from overseas.
     Our day school carries on happily and busily with Miss Hilda Waters as fulltime teacher. The Christmas entertainment by the pupils was particularly enjoyable. There have been several socials for the children as well as others for the rest of the Society. Banquets were held to celebrate New Church Day and Swedenborg's birthday. The Sons and Theta Alpha have had regular meetings in the various homes. The few ladies who meet to sew under the guidance of Mrs. Harold Wyncoll and Mrs. Edna Pike were delighted when the sale of work brought in ?62:0:0, which is to go to a new school building.
     There have been three infant baptisms and one wedding-that of Miss Jane Gill and Mr. Fred Elphick. It was a very happy occasion.
     A few days after the return from Bryn Athyn of the Rev. and Mrs. Alan Gill, Miss Enid Gill, and the Rev. and Mrs. Frank Rose, an informal social evening was held to enable us to hear accounts of their experiences. Unfortunately our pastor was not well enough to attend, but Mr. Rose gave us a lively and sometimes amusing account and showed some colored slides he had taken.
     The Society is now discussing plans for adding schoolrooms to our present building, so that this can be used for worship only. It seems that a period of changes, and, we hope, growth, is about to begin. One of the changes, the necessity for which we regret, is the just announced decision of the pastor, the Rev. Alan Gill, to retire in September because of his uncertain health. We hope, as he does, that Mr. Gill will be able to perform many uses for the General Church in this country for some time to come.
     The Rev. Frank Rose will be acting pastor, pro tern. He has already had considerable experience in dealing with these British Islanders, and we are sure the work will be carried on happily and successfully.
MURIEL GILL

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     LONDON, ENGLAND

     Our first event of the autumn was a social held at Burton Road on Saturday, October 14. This had been designed to welcome the many South Africans now in our midst, but because of one thing and another few of them were able to attend on the night. Nevertheless, the Society was indebted to Mr. and Mrs. John Frost, who spent the morning decorating the church hall-which gave a very festive air to the occasion. With young Harald Sandstrom as master of ceremonies there was never a dull moment, and one hilarious event followed another before we had time to rest our aching jaws. It was generally agreed that the prize event of the evening was a struggle between Geoffrey Dawson and Bob Bruell, who, dressed in plastic raincoats-a necessary precaution-contested to see which of them could drink a bottle of lemonade the fastest while preventing his opponent from lighting a candle. It was indeed a happy, carefree get-together, and we look forward to the next.
     It is with gladness that we welcome to Michael Church so many fresh members of the Ridgway family from South Africa. In addition to Mr. and Mrs. Lyall Ridgway, we now have Mr. and Mrs. Don Ridgway, Mrs. Grace Ridgway and Miss Dawn Ridgway. We have also, of course, Mr. and Mrs. Palmer and Miss Janelle Schuurman still with us.
     Hard on the heels of our social came the Christmas celebration on Sunday, December 17. This followed the sacrament of the Holy Supper, and was attended by nearly sixty people. As is customary on these occasions, we all had lunch together, interspersed with snippets of conversation in all directions, surrounded by a very happy and congenial sphere. Bernice Sandstrom presented the small children in three tableaux representing scenes from the Christmas story to a background of Bach, and this was followed by some Christmas songs sung by our own quartet augmented by the pleasing voices of Janelle Schuurman and John Frost. The speaker was John Frost, who gave an address on the New Church in South Africa-and most interesting this proved to be! He stressed the relaxed atmosphere surrounding the way of life in his own land compared to the bustle and hurry of Britain; but he also brought out the troubled political aspect and related its consequences for the church and the ministry, thereby highlighting some of the difficulties under which the Rev. Wynne Acton works. Not the least of these would seem to be the great difficulty of making mental contact with the native Africans and learning what they are actually thinking in connection with the Writings. Mr. Frost is to be congratulated on presenting such a vivid picture of South Africa and its present-day problems.
     It is interesting to note that the London Society now has about forty children ranging in age from one to eleven years, and that it has been found necessary to reorganize the Sunday school arrangements. This has been done by setting up a nursery for the tots under school age in the room drawn from the caretaker's apartment, with a roster of parents, both male and female, to take charge. A second class has been formed for children from five to nine years, and a third for children over nine, each of these being held in the schoolroom. At the moment, the biggest groups are in the first and second classes, but in the natural order of things these groups will eventually swell the third class.
     In order to give more comfort to the congregation and a more unified look to the church, it was decided to clean up and upholster the seating. This was done by some members working on Sunday afternoons under the supervision of Mr. Geoffrey Dawson, our inspector of works. The benches now look very smart in their padded red coverings and it is in- tended that members' private kneeling boxes will be treated in the same way. A concert is being held in March to pay the cost of the materials.
     Some of our recent and very welcome visitors from overseas have been Donald Barber from Toronto and Vannie Gill from Kitchener, Canada; Bob and Bea Pitcain from Bryn Athyn; Ronald Coffin, on leave from the U. S. forces in Germany; and Birgett Ganting from Upsala, Sweden, staying by way of equal exchange with Mr. and Mrs. Paul Rinaldo.

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We have enjoyed them all, and are very grateful for this constant contact with our farflung neighbor societies.
ISABEL ROBERTSON

     TORONTO, ONTARIO

     Religion, education and social life may be three different things, but in endeavoring to give a news report under these headings we find that for the most part they are combined in our functions.
     We are indeed privileged in hearing very fine sermons each Sunday on the doctrine of the church in serene surroundings. The Reverend Martin Pryke is responsible for this, and it is fitting that we express our gratitude. The best way to do so would be to carry with us through the week what we learn; and could we but do so, heaven would be near! Other ministers we have had the honor to hear have been the Right Rev. Willard D. Pendleton, the Rev. Henry Heinrichs and the Rev. Daniel Heinrichs. The Rev. Roy Franson, with Mrs. Franson, was in town for a brief visit, but not on a Sunday. However, Mr. Franson did give us a very interesting Wednesday doctrinal class.
     Thanksgiving was assuredly a time for which we could well give thanks, when Bishop W. D. Pendleton visited Toronto. The episcopal address, given to 125 partakers of a delicious banquet, dwelt on the importance of each of the three Testaments of the Word. The address also emphasized the responsibility and privilege New Church men have to preserve the knowledge of the Word against the day when the world will be prepared to receive the revealed doctrines. Thanksgiving Sunday was a very special occasion. May we quote Miss Korene Schnarr's description.
     "To the gentle glory of golden chrysanthemums and russet leaves, caught here and there in rays of autumn sun, were added, with the first notes of the Introit, the color and splendor of movement in procession. The white of chancel and priestly vestments mingling with the brilliant hues of the fruits of the earth, brought as offerings by the children, made impressive indeed the final setting of the chancel for the service of thanksgiving, marking the close of the episcopal visit. Vividly, for the children, Bishop Pendleton traced the pattern of this most ancient festival, when, long before the birth of the Lord, the tribes of Israel had brought to the temple at Jerusalem their appointed offerings of fruit and flocks."
     Wednesday doctrinal classes are very much a combination of religion, education and social life. We enjoy a tasty dinner together; we learn to sing the Psalms, hymns and chants, before sitting down to study the doctrines as expounded by our pastor. This season he has considered parts of Divine Love and Wisdom, and is now speaking of the Word and the New Church canon. There are several other classes held during the month: these include classes for the high school young people, the young married group, the married group, the out-of-school young people, and the Philosophy Reading Group.
     The day school commenced the year with 18 pupils, under the tutelage of Mr. Pryke, the Misses Joan Kuhl and Sylvia Parker, and, giving part time assistance, Mrs. Mary Parker, Mrs. Ceri Pritchett and Mrs. Nancy Wyncoll. A pre-kindergarten class is being added. In addition to their studies, the children have enjoyed a harvest party, a trip to the Royal Winter Fair, and a Swedenborg's birthday celebration, among other things.
     At this point we have to acknowledge help from our biweekly periodical, Chatter-Box. In one of its issues it quotes three of the children's essays on "Snow"-of which we have had plenty of samples this year. Speaking of education, the front page of Chatter-Box usually has a worthwhile thought expressed by one of the members.
     The Christmas tableaux took a somewhat different form-that of a clever theatrical production portraying the story in silent motion with a taped annotation and musical background.

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The opening scene showed Mary quietly sewing when the angel of the Lord appeared to her. Next we were taken to the marketplace, where soldiers stood guard at the taxation place, and where Mary and Joseph were turned away because "there was no room for them in the inn." While shepherds were abiding in the fields, we saw the angel appear to them with the good tidings, and followed them to the scene of the Nativity. This was in the days of Herod the king; so he was shown consulting with his chief priests and scribes when he called the Wise Men to ask what time the star appeared and sent them to find the young child. Finally, we saw Mary and the Babe, as the Wise Men arrived, to leave their gifts, worship, and depart by another way. It was very colorful, with excellent costuming, lights and direction-the result of the co-ordinated efforts of many willing hands.
     The Thanksgiving Dance was a very happy event which was marred only by the fact that Mrs. Willard Pendleton had been forced to return home due to the illness of her son. We much missed her graceful, happy and friendly presence. During the season a bridge tournament has been in progress and is now nearing a successful close. A Christmas family partly, held on December 16 with a large attendance of all ages, was voted a very fine affair. Then, on December 31, we all welcomed in the New Year with much hilarity. The evening included a buffet - supper, games, dances, and a variety of entertainment for all. Swedenborg's birthday was celebrated on January 31, at a sumptuous banquet. Mr. John Raymond was a capable toastmaster, and the speaker was Mr. Alec Craigie, who gave an eloquent paper on "Swedenborg and Charles XII." The material was new to us and held the interested attention of all. A different type of evening was enjoyed on February 17, when a travelogue was given. Five famous theaters were imported into various parts of our building, and travelogues were shown in them by the various members who have seen far away places and brought back their own views. The Canadian Rockies,
Italy, South America, Jamaica, Bermuda and the Maritime Provinces were all enjoyed in armchair journeys, and Theta Alpha was richer by $56.00.
     The Ladies' Circle, the Forward-Sons and Theta Alpha have been very active, as has also been the Epsilon Society. We have had the pleasure of attending two weddings. Seymour Starkey and Sylvia Gesner were wed on December 10, and Dr. Basil Orchard and Miriam Melville were married on December 15. These Were two joyous occasions. We are now anticipating five more weddings in May and June-although one of them is to take place in Regina. The showers have commenced already.
     We cannot close without expressing the loss felt by every one of us with the passing from this world of Mr. Archie Scott. He was a never failing, active member of the Society, and his cheerful presence was always an asset.
     A different break in our ranks was brought about by the departure of Mr. and Mrs. Orville Carter and family. But they are happily established in Philadelphia, with our good wishes.
     This report by no means covers all our activities, but we hope it will let you know that we are still functioning. Come and join us!
VERA CRAIGIE

     THE CHURCH AT LARGE

     General Convention. The 1962 sessions of the General Convention will be held at Pawnee Rock, Kansas, Wednesday, July 11, through Sunday, July 15. The theme this year will be: "Probing our Spiritual Frontiers for a More Relevant Faith." For this purpose Friday will be set aside as "Faith and Life Day."

     General Conference. Early last month the Rev. Rupert Stanley left the Kensington, London, pastorate after an eight-year stay. His move came after careful discussion by the Ministerial Advisory Council of the distribution of ministers. Mr. Stanley offered to move to the Yorkshire Province. There he will minister to the Dalton Society, Huddersfield.

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     SWEDENBORG SOCIETY

     Swedenborg's Birthday Meeting

     The 274th anniversary of the birth of Emanuel Swedenborg was celebrated by the Swedenborg Society in Swedenborg Hall on Monday, January 29, 1962. The president of the Society, Mr. Eldin O. Acton, was in the chair.
     The meeting began at 6 o'clock with refreshments. In spite of an Underground Railway strike, which caused a certain amount of traffic congestion on the roads, about 80 members and friends of the Society gathered in the Hall to hear an address by Mr. Alan F. Turner and musical items by Miss Janet M. Whittaker.
     The president, in his opening and introductory remarks, reminded us that Swedenborg was the contemporary and friend of many leading scientists and inventors. As a young man he was keenly interested in science and mechanics, and drew up plans for a number of mechanical inventions. Mr. Turner was to speak on two of these inventions and their place in the development of flight.
     In the first half of his talk, entitled "Flights of Fancy," Mr. Turner gave a brief history of man's search for the means of flight. Swedenborg's plan for a flying machine was described, and also his plan for a tank for the use of model ships as a means of improving performance. A logical corollary to this would have been a wind tunnel, though this is not specifically stated; and it was from this idea that the modern wind tunnel, which has been of such great value in the testing of airplanes, was developed.
     Miss Janet Whittaker, delightfully accompanied by Mrs. C. H. Presland, then played with great accomplishment a viola suite by Vivaldi.
     The second half of Mr. Turner's talk was illustrated by some interesting and amusing lantern slides, including slides of Swedenborg's diagrams for the two abovementioned inventions.
     To close the evening's entertainment, Miss Whittaker again delighted her audience with her viola playing. She had chosen a suite by Schumann, the last movement of which was particularly beautiful and a fit ending to an enjoyable evening.
MINISTERIAL CHANGES 1962

MINISTERIAL CHANGES 1962

The Rev. Alan Gill will retire from the pastorate of the Colchester Society, England, in September for reasons of health. Mr. Gill went to Colchester in 1946 from Kitchener, Canada, where he had been pastor for eighteen years.

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GENERAL CHURCH CORPORATIONS 1962

GENERAL CHURCH CORPORATIONS STEPHEN PITCAIRN 1962

     Announcements
     The 1962 Annual Corporation Meetings of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held in the Benade Hall Auditorium, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, on Saturday afternoon, June 16, at 3:30 p.m., D.S.T. Notices will be mailed.
     STEPHEN PITCAIRN,
Secretary
ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH 1962

ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH E. BRUCE GLENN 1962

     Annual Joint Meeting

     The Annual Joint Meeting of the Corporation and Faculty of the Academy of the New Church will be held on Friday evening, May 18, 1962, at the Assembly Hall, Bryn Athyn, Pa., at 7:45 p.m., preceded by a supper at 7:00 p.m.
     All friends of the Academy are invited to both the supper and the meeting, to hear and discuss informal reports on the Academy's uses and activities.
E. BRUCE GLENN,
Secretary
SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION 1962

SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION MORNA HYATT 1962

     The Sixty-Fifth Annual Meeting of the Swedenborg Scientific Association will be held in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, in the Auditorium of Benade Hall, at 8:00 p.m., Wednesday, May 16, 1962.
     There will be reports and election of president and members of the Board of Directors, after which Professor Edward F. Allen will deliver an address entitled "Cause and Modern Science."
     All interested persons are welcome.
     MORNA HYATT,
Secretary
ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH 1962

ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH 1962

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TWENTY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1962

261

HOLY CITY 1962

HOLY CITY Rev. FREDERICK L. SCHNARR 1962

VOL. LXXXII
JUNE, 1962
     "For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God." (Isaiah 62: 1-3)

     This beautiful prophecy from the book of Isaiah is a Divine promise of how the Lord would work and prepare unceasingly to give to mankind the means of salvation, the means by which to form the loves of heavenly life. It is a Divine description of the establishment of the New Church, and of how the spiritual goods and truths forming that church would serve the Lord in carrying out the Divine end of His creation-a heaven from the human race.
     From the time of the fall of the Most Ancient Church, the minds of men had become more and more external, until any sight or understanding of the spiritual goods and truths of heavenly life was utterly lost. Because the loves of heaven cannot be formed except through the knowledge and acknowledgment of spiritual goods and truths, the Lord's constant effort and endeavor has been to prepare man s mind in such a way that it can receive, understand and love the revelation of spiritual goods and truths. This Divine effort and endeavor is what is meant in the first part of our text by the words: "For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth."

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     Herein is described how the Lord prepared the church in the celestial and spiritual heavens to receive Him in His second coming. "Zion" refers to the celestial church in the heavens, or to those who receive the Lord from a love of good. Here it was that the New Church was first to be established; and its reception there is what is meant by the words, "until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness." "Righteousness" refers to the good of love, through which the Lord's coming was received; and "brightness" refers to the new perceptions of truth, and the new delights of good, into which these angels came when they received the New Church. By "Jerusalem" is meant the spiritual church in the heavens, or those who receive the Lord from a love of truth. There it was that the New Church was next established; and its reception there is what is meant by the words, until "the salvation thereof" goes forth "as a lamp that burneth." "Salvation" refers to the love of truth through which the angels of the spiritual heaven received the Lord in His second coming; and the burning "lamp" refers to the way in which their understandings were enlightened by new truth. Once the New Church had been established in the heavens, the angelic love of its goods and truths would go forth into the world of spirits and into the hearts and minds of men on earth; there inspiring delight in order that the doctrines of the New Church might be received with gladness.
     This reception of the New Church by the angels, and the going forth of their love for the goods and truths of the New Church from heaven, is what is described later in the book of Revelation by John's vision of the New Jerusalem, "coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband."* The "bride"-beautiful, living and radiant-is the New Church received by the angels; and that the bride is prepared for her husband represents that man is prepared through the reception of the New Church to be conjoined with the Lord, who is called the Bridegroom and Husband of the church.
* Revelation 21:2.

     The second part of the prophecy in our text is a predictive description of the states of men on earth that will be receptive of the goods and truths of the New Church. "And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory." By the "Gentiles" are here meant all of those who are in a love of what is good, however simple and undeveloped that love may be: those who do not have the means for their love of good to be nourished and fed, and formed into a heavenly love. Such has been, and still is, the state of many of the multitudes of men. However, it is the Divine promise that everyone who is in the love of good will be able to see and acknowledge the Divine nature of the spiritual goods of the New Church when these are presented to them.

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This is what is meant by the words, "shall see thy righteousness." That "all kings" shall see "thy glory" means that all those who are in a love of truth will see and acknowledge the spiritual truths of the New Church when these are presented. "Kings" here represent those who are in a love of truth, but have not been able to distinguish what is true from what is false because the means of doing so have been lacking. This, too, has been, and still is, the state of countless numbers of men. However, those who are in the love of truth will see the glory of the New Church; that is, they will see and acknowledge the truths of the spiritual sense of the Word.

"And thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God." The city of Jerusalem was regarded by the Jews as symbolic of the center of the Jewish Church; for there it was that the temple of Jehovah was located, that the sacrifices were to be offered, and that worship was to be conducted. In the internal sense of the story of the Jewish Church, Jerusalem actually represents the state of the church on earth, that is, it represents the manner and degree in which the goods and truths of the church were either received or rejected. With the Jewish Church, Jerusalem represents the external goods and truths of the Word, for that is all that could be received by the members of that church. No spiritual goods and truths were seen by them. In the fall of the Jewish Church, even the external goods and truths of the Word would be cast out and crucified by evils and falsities. Concerning this state of the church, represented by Jerusalem, Jeremiah lamented, saying: "Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is removed: all that honored her shall despise her, because they have seen her nakedness: yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward."*
* Lamentations 1:8.
Because the Lord was frequently in Jerusalem, healing and teaching, and because it was there that He glorified His Human, Jerusalem also came to represent the Christian Church, that is, the goods and truths which formed that church. However, these goods and truths were also to be perverted through evil and falsity, and the Jerusalem of the Christian Church was to fall. Concerning this the Lord prophesied, just before He spoke the promise of His second coming in the clouds of heaven: "When ye shall see Jerusalem encompassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. . . . For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled . . . there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled."*
* Luke 21: 20-24.

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The church which the Lord established at His second coming was also to be represented by Jerusalem: not the city of Jerusalem in this world, but the representative Jerusalem of the Apocalypse. It was to be "called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name." Thus it is that when the prophecies of the nature and establishment of the New Church are made, it is no longer called, Jerusalem, but, the new Jerusalem. It is called new because the things that form its life are new, namely, the spiritual goods and truths of the Word. Never before has a revelation been given, and a church established from it, where the Lord can be seen in the fullness of His glorified Human; where the inmost ends and purposes of His creation can be known and understood; where every human being, both small and great, can approach the Lord with intelligence and wisdom, and in loving Him can find the happiness and delights of heaven here on earth. The spiritual truths represented by the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven are new, and they are to establish new life, new love, new wisdom. They are distinct from anything that has ever before been revealed by the Lord. They are what the Lord referred to when He said, concerning the descent of the New Jerusalem: "Behold, I make all things new."

In John's vision of the holy city, New Jerusalem-which was actually a representation of the New Church in the celestial heaven-every detail that was seen and is described is symbolic of something pertaining to the nature and quality of the church.* Thus the great high walls that surrounded the city signified the Word in the sense of the letter, for this protects the spiritual sense which lies within as walls protect a city and its inhabitants. The sense of the letter is the guard, lest the interior truths of the Word be injured and profaned.** "I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night."*** The twelve foundations of the walls of the city, formed from precious stones, are the ultimate Divine truths of the sense of the letter of the Word, upon which the doctrines of the New Church are founded.**** These truths of the letter are described here as precious stones or jewels, which signifies that in the New Church the spiritual sense of the Word will shine through the truths of the letter, just as the light of the sun shines through precious stones, making them sparkle and come to life.*****
* See AR 875, 194; AE 717; AC 9863: 2, 9643.
** See AR 898, 914.
*** Isaiah 62: 6.
**** See AR 902, 992; AE 717.
***** See AC 9863, 9873; AE 717; AR 914, 875.

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     The twelve gates of the holy city, each gate being made of a pearl, represent the various truths that introduce man into the life of the church. They are all made of pearls because pearls signify the acknowledgment of the Lord Jesus Christ as the one God of heaven and earth. The knowledge of the Lord is the universal of all things of doctrine, and thence of all things of the church. Because of this, no one can possibly enter into the church, and thus into the life of heaven, unless he does so through the acknowledgment of the Lord. "I am the door; by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved."* The gates of the holy city were not to be closed at any time, by which is meant that everyone will always be received into the New Church who approaches it from a love of good and truth, or, what is the same, a love of the Lord and the neighbor.**
* John 10: 9. See AR 916, 875.
** See AR 875, 922.

     It is especially appropriate for us at this time to turn our thoughts to the prophecies of the establishment of the New Church, to the vision of the holy city descending from the heavens. For it was on the nineteenth of June, 1770, that the Lord called together His twelve disciples in the spiritual world, and sent them forth to proclaim that the Lord God Jesus Christ doth reign-a gospel that could now be preached because the spiritual sense of the Word had been revealed, and a new church, called the Church of the New Jerusalem, was about to be established upon its goods and truths. The Writings tell us that this New Church is to endure forever, and that it is to be the crown of all the churches that have heretofore existed in heaven and on earth. The reason this is so is that the knowledges of good and truth which the Lord has revealed in His second coming are spiritual knowledges, which appeal to the highest faculty of the human mind-the rational faculty. The Lord cannot approach man through truth on any higher plane.
     With the opening of the spiritual sense of the Word, the Lord has indeed uncovered before our eyes the beautiful and precious treasures of His heavenly kingdom-treasures shining with all the light of His Divine wisdom and with all the radiance of His Divine love. He has shown us the nature and quality of the one and only Divine Human God, who is mercy, love and wisdom itself; who has formed all things of creation with purpose and intelligence; who has fashioned man in His own image and likeness, giving him freedom and rationality that he may receive, and enjoy to all eternity, the delights and happinesses provided by the Divine love and wisdom. He has shown us the Divine laws of order whereby the universe is governed, and the laws of the Divine Providence wherein He works unceasingly for man's salvation. He has given us the means to see what is true and what is false, what is good and what is evil.

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He has given us the means to examine our interior loves and thoughts, to know our human nature, that we may co-operate intelligently with His Divine end in our creation. He has confirmed our hope of eternal life by revealing the reality and the wonders of heaven. He has shown the Divine origin and the holiness of marriage, its purity and cleanness. He has shown how the mind of a man and the mind of a woman can be conjoined in a love that is truly conjugial, and how conjugial love continues to grow and develop in heaven to all eternity.
     These truths are the treasures of the holy city, the New Jerusalem, which the Lord now gives as a Divine gift to mankind. They are the means whereby man is to approach the Lord in order that the Lord may form the loves of heaven within him. Therefore the Lord calls men to enter into these truths, to go through the gates of the holy city, and learn to love the goods of heavenly life. "Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people. Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughters of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him. And they shall call them, The holy people, the redeemed of the Lord: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, a city not forsaken."*
* Isaiah 62.

     Thus does the Lord, in this prophecy of Isaiah, invite man to enter into the life of the New Church, to partake of its heavenly treasures. He invites him to partake, not just with his understanding, not as a miser hoarding his treasures without use, but fully: to use the spiritual truths in his understanding to ferret out his evil loves and shun them as sins against God; to do good and charitable works in life; to learn to love the Lord and the neighbor.
     If we truly accept the Lord in His second coming, then we must use the revelation of spiritual goods and truths He has given us for the purpose the Lord intended in giving them, and that was, and is, that we should have the means to become angels of heaven. We co-operate with the Lord's Divine purpose in creation when we, to the best of our understanding and endeavor, do the works of regeneration and thus enter into the life of His New Church. When we do this, the spiritual goods of the New Church serve the purpose for which the Lord revealed them. They become a "crown of glory in the hand of the Lord." And the spiritual truths of the New Church then become a "royal diadem in the hand of thy God." Amen.

LESSONS:     Revelation 21. Doctrine of the Lord 63, 64.
MUSIC:     Liturgy, pages 479, 438, 468.
PRAYERS:     Liturgy, nos. 93, 100.

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ACCOMMODATION AND THE VISIBLE GOD 1962

ACCOMMODATION AND THE VISIBLE GOD Rev. KURT H. ASPLUNDH 1962

     (Delivered to the Council of the Clergy, January 24, 1962.)

     We are told in the Apocalypse Explained that "there is implanted within everyone from heaven . . . a desire to see what he regards as the Divine, and this, indeed, under the human form."* This is not a matter of idle curiosity, but a vital necessity for spiritual life. The human mind is of such a nature that "what cannot be thought of cannot become a matter of faith, nor, therefore, an object of love."** "All conjunction requires an object."*** Man's conjunction with God, then, requires an objective vision of God. For this reason the New Church is called the "crown of all the churches"; that is, "because it is to worship one visible God in whom is the invisible like the soul in the body."**** The more perfect our idea of God, the more perfect will be our state of heavenly life.***** Does the New Church have any more exalted mission than that of rendering God visible, so that "every eye shall see Him"?******
* AE 52.
** AC 10,067; cf. AE 96.
*** AC 8705: 4.
**** TCR 787.
***** See DLW 13.
****** Revelation 1: 7.

     How Our Faith in a Visible God Differs

     It is the faith of the New Church that "the one God who is invisible came into the world and assumed a Human, not only that He might redeem men, but also that He might become visible, that thereby conjunction with man might become possible."* By this assumption of the Human the Lord acquired the ability to "conjoin Himself to man in his natural, yea, in his sensual."** This was accommodation on the part of God; He became a Man.*** Thus the infinite Divine was "adapted to reception."**** "Thus, and not otherwise, is a conjunction of God with man possible, because man is natural, and thinks naturally, and conjunction must exist in his thought, and thus in his love's affection, and this is the case when he thinks of God as a Man."*****
* TCR 786. [Italics added.]
** Coro. 51.
*** See TCR 370: 3.
**** See TCR 173: 5.
***** TCR 787.
     This we believe; and yet, how does it differ from the faith taught in the New Testament? Why was the Christian Church inadequate to perform the function of making God visible?

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     One reason was that that church became infested with heresies which separated Divinity from the Lord, or taught a belief in three co-eternal, invisible persons in the Godhead.* These heresies exist still, for nothing can heal them apart from the doctrine of the New Church. We sometimes fail to teach with conviction what the Writings say in regard to the false dogmas of the Christian churches. This is on the ground that those churches no longer teach these dogmas, or at least that the people do not know them. There is in this, however, an element of disbelieving what the Writings teach.
* See TCR 786.
     A further reason for the inadequacy of the first Christian Church is that it is not equipped with rational doctrine to explain in what way the risen Lord is still visible. The thought and doctrine of that church have centered on the person of God, and not upon His essence. The glorification and bodily resurrection of the Lord, while they exalt and raise the idea of Jesus Christ above the natural degree, at the same time add much difficulty to the understanding of how He remains visible.
     It is the teaching of the Writings that the Lord "became invisible." And "He has been invisible in the world since His ascension from the sepulchre."* He "passed out of the world";** and "as to the Human also was made the Divine esse or Jehovah."*** "Existere can no longer be predicated of Him, as it was when He was in the world."****
* Dom. 6; SD 5742.
** AC 2288e.
*** AC 6880.
**** AC 3938: 3.
     This is the problem, stated in rational, theological terms, which the Christian Church is unable to face in a satisfactory way. The question voiced by the disciples still remains unanswered today: "What is this that He saith unto us? A little while, and ye shall not see Me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see Me . . . because I go to the Father.... We cannot tell what He saith."*
* John 16: 17.
     The answer provided in Christian thought is that God will make a personal return at His second coming, and that in the meantime there is some mystical operation of the Holy Spirit. But this answer does not satisfy the real and ever present necessity for man to see what he regards as the Divine under a human form.

     How God Is Seen by Men on Earth

     How does the doctrine of the New Church explain how it is that the Divine Human, now infinite and one with the Divine esse, remains as our visible God? First, how is the Lord visible to men on earth?
     It has been said that the Lord "has been invisible in the world since His ascension from the sepulchre."*

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Yet the Lord appeared to His disciples after His body was raised from the tomb. Did not the Lord also appear to Swedenborg, and commission him to the office of revelator? Concerning these appearances of the Lord, there is evidence that He appeared in the body which He had in the world. Did not Thomas see the print of the nails and the wound in His side? Did not Swedenborg report that the Lord's countenance was such as that which He had had on earth?-though how he knew this is a question.** Further, this is noted in the Writings: that when angels appeared to men, they appeared as to the "bodies which belong to spirits"; the Lord, however, "appeared as to the body which He had in the world."*** How, then, can we say that the Lord's Divine Human is invisible? Has it not been seen?* SD 5742.
** Journal of Dreams, 1918 ed., pp. 22ff.
*** Dom. 14.
     In the cases mentioned, the Lord was seen with spiritual sight.* Consideration of them will be deferred, therefore, to a later section on "How God Is Seen in the Spiritual World." But what of that vast majority of men who have not experienced an opening of the spiritual eyes, and who have not been granted a vision of the Lord in that way? How does the Lord appear to them-to us?
* See TCR 777.

     We know from the Heavenly Doctrine that "the Lord is not [again] to appear in person" in the manner in which He appeared in His first advent. Instead, "He is to appear in the Word."* But what are we to understand by this statement? Does the Lord appear in the Word in the same sense that a personality appears to us in the pages of any book? That is, is our vision of the Lord confined to the descriptions of Him that are given and that we remember from the Gospel stories? While this is a plain concept of how we may see God, it is not a satisfying one. God, thus seen, is a part of ancient history; and while the account of how He dealt with the problems and needs of the men of those times may be of great interest, it gives no feeling of our immediate relationship to the Lord. It may inspire us, as may the biography of any great man; but it gives no vision of the loving God "spreading forth His hands and inviting to His arms" those who need His aid and comfort.**
* TCR 777.
** TCR 787.
     We must go further and understand what is meant by the "Word" in which God now appears. By the Word, we learn, is meant all Divine truth from the Lord in His kingdom and in His church.* This would include the Gospels; and yet we have seen that it is not enough that the Gospels are available to all Christians. Although they are a part of the Word, and thus are the Lord because from Him, they may yet in themselves offer no vision of God.

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The truth is that the Lord does not reveal Himself in the Word "except through the internal sense."** The Lord's presence in the Word is by means of the spiritual sense, "and in no other way."*** "God is a spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth."**** The Lord told the disciples that He would return as the "Spirit of truth."*****
* See AC 2894.
** AE 36
*** TCR 780.
**** John 4: 4.
***** See John 16: 13.

     When it is said that the Word refers to all Divine truth from the Lord in heaven and the church, reception of that truth is implied. Where there is no reception of this Divine truth there is no Word; for the Word is not merely a book of symbols, but must be a body of living forms taken up into human minds. Thus it is that access to the Divine, as it is to be found in the literal sense of the Word, can be barred, and has been barred to many, by the so-called "learned of the world."* Doubts respecting the truth of the historical accounts of the Word may be injected by the biblical scholars and critics to the extent that the value and holiness of Scripture are completely eroded from the minds of other men.
* AE 52.
     For the defense of the literal sense of Scripture, the New Church must be established. It is important that there be this defense and protection, for "the Lord's 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."* This Divine truth proceeds from the Lord by a series of degrees, even to the most ultimate, which is the Word as to its literal sense.** If any of these degrees of truth is lost to man, or he is debarred from it, a vital link in the chain of the Divine proceeding is sundered, and man is cut adrift from faith in a visible God.
* AC 6945.
** See AC 8443.
     Our vision of God depends upon two things: Divinely ordered knowledges from without, taken from the Word; and the influx, or aspect presence, of the Lord from within. "Faith in God enters into man through a prior way, which is from the soul into the higher parts of the understanding... knowledges about God enter through a posterior way, because they are drawn from the revealed Word by the understanding, through the bodily senses."*
* TCR 11: 3.
     "These inflowings," we are told, "meet midway in the understanding; and there natural faith, which is merely persuasive, becomes spiritual, which is real acknowledgment. Thus the human understanding is like a refining vessel, in which this transmutation is effected."*
* TCR 11: 3.

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     There are different planes of the human mind on which there may be a meeting and a conjunction with God. Some are conjoined to God in respect to His Divine rational; others in respect to His Divine natural; and still others in respect to His Divine sensuous. Therefore, "as regards the Lord's Human, men think in various ways; one in one way and another in another, and one in a more holy way than another."*
* AC 4715. Cf. AC 4211: 3.
     Concerning these appearances of God on different planes it must be borne in mind that although the lower degrees are said to be from the Lord's Divine natural and sensuous, in the Lord these things are not lower, "because in the Lord and in His Divine Human all are infinite, inasmuch as He is Jehovah as to each essence, but it is so said because it is so in man."*
* AC 4715. Cf. AC 4211: 3.

     Constants and Variables in Man's Sight of God

     In dealing with the seeing of God, we are dealing with certain constant factors and certain variable factors. The constants are these: the Divine Human, the Divine proceeding, and the Divine truth even in its ultimate forms. These, of course, are essentially one.
     While it is said that the Divine proceeding is the extension of the Divine into the universe,* the truth is that "the Divine is not changeable in itself and is not extended."** "God is not extended, and yet He is present throughout all extension, thus throughout the universe from its firsts to its lasts."*** "That which is not extended, whatever it may be, is such as it is."**** "To proceed is to present one's self before another in a form accommodated to him, thus to present one's self the same, but in a different form."*****
* See Ath. 145, 191.
** Wis. VII: 1.
*** TCR 78: 3.
**** Wis. VII: 1.
***** AC 5337; DP 52. [Italics added.]
     The like is true of the Divine truth in its ultimate forms. These forms are accommodated to men, and yet, in them, the Divine presents Himself the same as He is in Himself. "That the Divine truth is the Lord Himself is evident from the fact that whatever proceeds from anyone is himself."* "The Sacred Scripture or the Word is the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, and the Divine proceeding is the Lord Himself in heaven and the church."** "The Word not only is from the Lord but is also the Lord Himself."***
* AC 9407:     12.
** AE 635: 3.
*** Lord 2.
     How the Divine Human-the Divine proceeding-and the Divine truth are to be thought of as distinct, when yet they are a one, is a puzzle that must be solved before we can understand how man is enabled to see God. To solve this puzzle we must introduce our variable factor-finite man.

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"There would be no need to distinguish the Divine proceeding from the Divine in itself if there were not a finite creation outside of the Divine. For the Divine proceeding may be defined as the Lord in others created by Himself," thus the Lord "in men and in angels."*
* DP 55.
     Further, there would be no need for the Divine to be accommodated as Divine truth in ultimates unless there were finite men to be communicated with; but since there is that need, there must now be accommodation and communication of the Divine itself to man. "Any one thing must be adapted to another before it can communicate with it or operate with it or against it."* "The Infinite cannot be conjoined with finite things . . . except by the putting on of something finite, thus by accommodation to reception."**
* TCR 125.
** AC 8760.

     When we are speaking of the Divine proceeding and the Word, therefore, we are speaking of God as He is in relation to His creation. In this relation there is much variation, for that relationship differs with every single thing created. Still, the Divine proceeding and the Divine truth, even in finite creation, must be what have been termed constants. The infinite and the finite must at all times be kept distinct. Even though the Divine proceeding depends upon means such as finite forms,* finite intellectual ideas,** clothing from a lower sphere,*** and so forth, it is never anything but infinite.
* See AC 3404.
** See AC 4075, 6996, 5110: 3.
*** See AC 5689, 8760: 2, 10,126.
     The reason this can be so is that "it is one thing to acquire something from a means, and another to acquire it by a means";* and the Lord, while He acquired what was necessary for His Divine purpose by means of the heavens, took nothing from these heavens.
* SD 4065. [Italics added.]
     Note this: "The infinite can proceed from the finite, although not from the finite but from the infinite through the finite." * Therefore, nothing of the infinite is lost, although "it was provided.., by the Divine that the Divine may pass over, by means of man, from the spiritual world into the natural world . . . and thus, through man, there should be a connection of the spiritual world with the natural world."** Nor does good lose its Divine quality even though God cannot do good to man immediately, but only mediately through men.*** This is possible because "what is Divine in itself can become Divine with man by his applying it."**** "But how the Divine proceeding, which is the very and only life, can be in things created and finite shall now be told.

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This 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."***** "Uses, which are goods, are from the Lord, and consequently are Divine; yea, they are the Lord Himself with man."****** It must ever be remembered, however, that what is Divine with man is not his own, but the Lord's from whom he receives it.
* DP 219: 2. [Italics added.]
** SD 4607.
*** See TCR 457: 3.
**** AE 195: 4. Cf. AC 2531, 8781.
***** Love IV.
****** Love XIII.

     A Helpful Concrete Illustration

     There are many puzzling things about the relationship between the infinite and the finite. How can we understand, for example, how the Lord presents Himself the same, but in a different form? How can that which is accommodated by putting on what is finite remain infinite still?
     Usually, if we can find some concrete illustration of an abstract doctrine we are able to understand it more easily. There is, of course, the danger that the illustration is not adequate to convey a perfect idea of the doctrine. But if the illustration is used in Divine revelation, we can feel some confidence in using it as an ultimate of thought.
     It seems helpful, therefore, in pursuing these ideas, to recall to mind that collection of passages which refers to the Word as the mirror of God. "Before everyone who has formed the state of his mind from God the Holy Scripture stands like a mirror wherein he sees God."* Here is a concrete illustration of the doctrines we have been considering. We read again: "The particular truths therein are so many mirrors of the Lord."** "The Divine truths of the Word . . . are like mirrors in which the Lord's face is seen."*** When we analyze a mirror image, we find that it is composed of three essential things: a reality, which is reflected; a light, which carries the form of the reality for transmission; and a reflector, in which the image of the reality is seen.
* TCR 6.
** TCR 508e.
*** AR 938.
     A comparison may be made between the three elements of a mirror image and the three aspects of the Divine which we have termed "constants." The Divine Human in itself, now one with the Divine esse, may be compared to the "reality"; the Divine proceeding may be compared to the light which carries the form of the reality for transmission; and the Divine truth, or the Word, even in ultimates, may be compared to the mirror or reflector.
     When we see a reflection in a mirror, we do not see the object itself, but an image that has been carried by means of light from the reality and that has been presented on the surface of the mirror. There we see the same object, but in a very different form. For one thing, the mirror reflection is two-dimensional, while the object itself is three-dimensional.

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So, too, when we see the Lord in the Word, we see the same infinite Lord who is the one God from eternity, but in a form accommodated to finite perception.
     There is a great difference, however, between seeing an object in a mirror and seeing the Lord in the Word. The Word is the Lord, but a mirror is not the object. A mirror and an object are distinct and different, for a single mirror can reflect different objects. Between the Lord and the Word, however, there is unity. Thus, in functioning as a mirror, the Word reflects only the image of the Lord, and the Lord cannot be seen elsewhere than in the Word. The Lord, by His assumption and glorification of the Human, made the Word one with the Divine. Thus He made the Word the perfect reflector.
     While God may be seen perfectly in the Word, man sees but imperfectly. His sight is variable, and this because his reception of truths from the Word is various. The variation introduced by man, however, does not in the least impair the perfection of the constants. The Divine Human never changes. The Divine proceeds according to established order with every man. The Word is a Divine ultimate in perfect correspondence with the Divine itself. But the Word with man, the reflecting objects taken into his mind by instruction and reformation-this is not a perfect mirror. It may be a mirror providing for a rational vision of God, a natural vision, even a sensuous vision."* For when the Divine flows into man's rational, it is there received "according to the truths which are therein; thus variously, and not with one as with another. In so far as the truths with man are more genuine, so far the Divine which flows in is received more perfectly, and so far the man's understanding is enlightened."** The variation, however, lies with man, and depends upon his reception; depends, indeed, upon the receptacle which he has formed in himself. Thus we are taught:
* See AC 4211:3.
** AC 2531:2.

     "Everyone should guard against the belief that the Divine life with anyone, even with the evil and in hell, is changed; for . . . the life itself is not changed or varied, but the life produces an appearance of the recipient form, through which and from which the life is transmitted; much as everyone appears in a mirror such as he is through the light, the light remaining unchanged, and simply presenting the form to sight; and just as the same life presents itself to be perceived according to the form of the bodily organ, thus after one manner in the eye, after another manner in the hearing, and otherwise in the smell, taste and touch. The belief is from an appearance that life is varied and changed, which belief is a fallacy."*
* AE 349: 6.

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     It is clear that the genuineness of truths, which determines the reception of the Lord's life in man, depends upon the purification of the will as well as upon the enlightenment of the understanding; for the kind of looking to the Lord which conjoins is "not a mere intellectual looking, but an intellectual looking from the affection of the will; and the affection of the will is not given unless man keeps His [the Lord's] commandments; wherefore the Lord says: 'He that doeth My commandments, he it is that loveth Me; and I will come unto him, and make an abode with him' (John 14: 21-24)."*
* AR 933.

     From these teachings we can see that our vision of God depends upon our faith and charity. It is a highly individual thing. It can be changed, and certainly does change with us, as we pass through our general stages of development from infancy to manhood. Our vision of God should not became static even then, but we should seek to develop it more perfectly throughout life. In doing this we will never lose the genuine sensual and natural ideas we had of God from the Word in infancy and childhood. These will form that person of God into which we may think as we perfect our sight of His essence.
     "The Divine which forms the inmost, and is draped by things adapted to the perceptions of angels and men, beams forth like light through crystalline form8, although variously in accordance with the state of mind that man has formed for himself. . . . Before everyone who has formed the state of his mind from God, the Holy Scripture stands like a mirror wherein he sees God; but everyone in his own way. This mirror is made up of those truths that man learns from the Word, and that he appropriates by living in accordance with them."*
* TCR 6:2.
     How the Lord, now infinite, maintains a living and personal relationship with each individual, and at that individual's plane of life, is the miracle which we are now trying to understand. It is accomplished in the Word. Now, we often think of the Word as a book of stories about the Lord; or, if we think also of the Writings, a deeper explanation of the Lord's qualities. It is in the Word that we are first introduced into an idea of the Lord. There is no other way in which we can come to know Him. Those who reject the Word as a revelation about God, therefore, cannot think of Him in any other way than as of some one whom they have never met and thus do not know. Thus they can have absolutely no love of God. Loving the Lord as He is described in the stories of the Word, as if it were an ordinary book, is little better. For although we may love the qualities which are exhibited through Him, if we do not associate the Lord Himself with those qualities, if we do not place Divinity in Him but attribute it to another, invisible Divine being, then it is not possible for us to feel a direct relationship to that God.
     But the Word is no ordinary book. It is Divine. The Lord, by His life on earth, fulfilled all things in the Scriptures, that is, made them full of His Divine life.

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His power is in the Word itself; and in the Word we find a visible God whom we may worship and who will, in turn, respond to us. This is what we mean when we speak of the "Academy" or "General Church" position, that the Writings are the Word. For if we do not regard the Writings as the Word, then they are merely descriptive of the Lord's qualities, having nothing Divine in them, and so have no power to affect us personally. Only when we recognize that the Word is the Lord's truth and power bearing directly upon us as individuals do we truly worship a visible God.
     This God is visible in our thoughts and not before our physical eyes. Yet what we are speaking of here is more than a mental picture of the Lord. We are all given the desire to see the Divine under a human form. When we speak of form, or the human form, often we think of configuration, shape or features. We think of the human body. Yet we are told that "the material form that is added and superinduced in the world is not a human form by itself, but only by virtue of the spiritual form, to which it is added."* The human form, rather, is the form of love and wisdom. In this human form, we are told, "are all terminations of love and wisdom, which in God-Man are infinite, but in His image, that is, in man, angel or spirit, are finite."**
* DLW 388.
** DLW 389.

     When we say, then, that the New Church is to worship a visible God, we do not mean that the New Church will have one single mental picture of the physical shape of God. That, indeed, is impossible. No single physical shape can possibly contain the infinities of love and wisdom which flow from the Lord. As children we may have certain definite pictures of the Lord in our minds; but as we learn more about the Lord's essence, a single picture will be inadequate to give us a satisfactory expression of that essence. This is true even of other people that we come to know. At first sight, we notice people's features and appearance. Perhaps we think of them as more beautiful or more ugly than they actually are, because of the qualities which we know lie within as we get to know them better and overlook their appearance. It is harder to fix in your mind's eye a mental picture of one who is very close to you than it is to remember the features of an incidental acquaintance. We think of the people we know in relation to the many things they do-how they perform uses and thus express the love and wisdom that is their essential human form.
     Take an inanimate object, a chair. A child may learn the word, chair, in association with a single chair that is in his room. But as the child grows, and experiences different forms of chairs, he begins to generalize his picture, to enlarge it so that it may contain an idea or representation of all the kinds of uses for which chairs are made.

277

     It is significant that none of the stories of the Word give a specific description of the Lord's appearance. Perhaps the nearest thing to it is to be found in the story of the Lord's transfiguration on the mount. We are told that "His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light."* In the spiritual world this must be as full and perfect a vision of God as angels and spirits can have. We are told that the highest of the angels see the Lord as a sun, and within the spiritual sun.
* Matthew 17: 2.
     Throughout the Word, however, the Lord is pictured in the form of a man. The Writings insist on this; stating that God is a Man, having a body and everything pertaining to it:

     "that is, a face, breast, abdomen, loins and feet . . . And having these, He also has eyes, ears, nose, mouth and tongue; also the parts within man, as the heart and lungs and their dependencies, all of which, taken together, make man to be a man. In a created man these parts are many . . . but in God-Man they are infinite; nothing whatever is lacking, and from this He has infinite perfection.'*
* DLW 18.

     Whatever we may know of God ultimately comes to rest in our minds in a form-the human form.

     How God Is Seen in the Spiritual World

     There is an appearance from certain teachings of the Writings that the Lord is actually seen as to His person, sometimes within the sun of heaven, and in some instances outside of that sun.

     "Suddenly the sun again appeared, and in the midst of it the Lord, encompassed with a solar circle: on seeing this the spirits of Mercury humbled themselves profoundly. Then also the Lord, from that sun, appeared to the spirits of this earth, -who, when they were men, saw Him in the world; and they all, one after another, and thus many in order, confessed that it was the Lord Himself. . . . Then also the Lord, out of the sun, appeared to the spirits of the planet Jupiter, who declared aloud that it was He Himself whom they had seen on their earth when the God of the universe appeared to them."*
* EU 40.

     Again, call to mind the instances of the disciples seeing the Lord, and also those in which Swedenborg saw Him. If we associate these visions of the Lord with the teaching that He appears, not as the angels in a spiritual body, but "as to the body which He had in the world,"* do we, then, conclude that the Divine Human is immediately visible in the spiritual world? This thought would seem to find confirmation in the statement of True Christian Religion that the glorified Human "cannot appear to any man unless the eyes of his spirit are first opened."**

278

Does not this imply that then the Lord may be seen as to the glorified Human? It is also said that "an angel can see God, both within himself and outside himself";*** and yet, "if the Lord appears to anyone in outward form, still it is the interiors which are affected, for the Divine penetrates to the inmosts."****
* Dom. 14.
** TCR 777: 2. [Italics added.]
*** DLW 130.
**** AC 6849.
     It is our feeling that the general teachings given to us qualify the particular instances cited above. For while it is said that the Lord "often" appears in heaven, and this "in the form of an angel," yet "He is not there in person, for in person the Lord is constantly encompassed by the sun, but He is present by look [aspect] ."* Indeed, "the Lord is presented before man in no other way than by an internal looking."** Men and angels are able to perceive the Divine presence, but only under and through a veil of finite appearances.*** It is in this sense that we are taught that "the Lord Himself is present in heaven, but in a way suited to reception."****
* HH 121. [Italics added.]
** AC 6849. [Italics added.]
*** See AC 4075.
**** Love III.
     We have an illustration of how the Lord appears "suited to reception" in the story of His appearances to the disciples, and again, later, to Thomas. The Lord appeared in a bodily form adapted to their reception. They saw the print of the nails and the wound in His side. However, the glorified Human, in itself, would admit of no such imperfection.
     Societies in heaven are said to see the Lord according to their quality. Only the celestial angels continually see Him as a sun. Others see Him as a moon, and others again as a light.* Thus, while angels perceive the Divine as present with and within themselves, it is only under the guardianship of modifying appearances.
* See HH 55, 118, 159.
     We have shown that the Lord is present by aspect. The interesting thing about this teaching is that we see the Lord, not as we look at Him, but as He looks at us. His is the active power. Now, of course, the Lord is constantly looking to each man, and it is the man himself who turns away from or towards the Lord. Still, when a man turns to the Lord, it is the Lord who flows into him, giving the perception of Himself in the man's interiors. "The Lord grants Himself to be seen through the influx of love into their understanding."*
* AE 427: 1.
     That it would be impossible, in any instance, to see the Divine Human in itself without a veil of modifying appearances seems clear from the teachings concerning the Infinite looking, of necessity, to what is infinite from itself in things finite.*
* DP 52ff.

     "The Lord can have an abode in man or angel, and dwell with them, only in His own, and not in what is their own, for that is evil; and if it were good it would still be finite, which in itself and from itself cannot contain the Infinite.

279

All this makes clear that it is impossible for a finite being to look to the Infinite; but it is possible for the Infinite to look at what is infinite from Himself in finite beings."*
* DP 53. [Italics added.]
Now the fact is that what is infinite with the finite is what is taken up from the Word; and no finite being, even the most perfect of the angels, has a perfect knowledge of the Word. The Lord alone had that in His Divine Human. Therefore, the manner in which the Lord can appear to an angel is entirely dependent upon what that angel has from the Word. If this were not the case, why would there be need for the Word in heaven? Yet it is there.*
* See SD 5603 et al.
IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1962

IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1962

     Many facets of the Academy's life and work-current, past and future-are presented in recent issues of periodicals. Imaginative editorship has brought together in the Literary Number of the ACADEMY JOURNAL three institutions representative of diverse activities which yet blend into one harmonious whole: the Benade Hall Chapel, the reconstruction of Swedenborg's library in Room 17, and the Asplundh Field House. "Fine Music on the Campus" focuses attention on current cultural interests-an article on the work of the Academy Extension Committee carries the reader into the future, while another, on scholarly work unpublished, pays tribute to that research which is essential to such an institution.
     The THETA ALPHA JOURNAL offers a fascinating excursion into the past in "Bryn Athyn: September 1909-June 1910" by Bella Campbell Glebe. In the same issue, tribute is paid to an outstanding Academy woman of the past, Miss Vida Gyllenhaal; and the Rev. Elmo Acton's article, "The Use of Hebrew," invites reconsideration of a conviction strongly held by the early Academy. There is also a constructive looking to the future, not now in buildings but in those whom they will house, in Principal Morna Hyatt's address on how to prepare girls for entering the Academy.
     In the SONS' BULLETIN, Martin Klein's "Academia: Extra-curricular" is a stimulating review of the resources available to Academy students outside of the classroom. The Academy Library, the science labs and the recent Science Fair, the music and sports programs, the activities open to those interested in writing and speaking, and opportunities for social life are described succinctly, but with the wholesome warning that the Academy is primarily a house of learning.

280

STATE OF BETROTHAL 1962

STATE OF BETROTHAL RAYMOND PITCAIRN 1962

     The eloquent and sensitively written address, delivered to the British Assembly by the Rev. Erik Sandstrom and published in last December's issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE, has given us new thought on the subject of betrothal, that marriage of the spirit which precedes the full state initiated by the wedding. One hesitates to take exception to the new concept and thesis presented in his study of the three steps leading to the marriage state. However, differences which have arisen among both priests and laymen, and specifically as to Mr. Sandstrom's interpretation of views held in the General Church and his construction of certain teachings given in Conjugial Love, would seem to justify an effort to clarify, if possible, our thinking.

     Is it not true that in the minds of a New Church couple who plight their troth in accordance with the teachings on conjugial love, the desire to be united in spirit is immediately and progressively present from the time of consent? And unless their state is thus regarded as one of betrothal, the sacred rite administered in confirmation of that betrothal will lack its essential quality.
     Even the sacrament of baptism is only a sign and memorial of introduction into the church. For we are admonished: "Let those therefore who are baptized know that Baptism confers neither faith nor salvation; but that it testifies that they may receive faith and be saved if they are regenerated."* Thus also, the Lord opens heaven to those who come worthily to the Holy Supper, which is "the other gate . . . through which every man who has suffered himself to be prepared and led by the Lord, is admitted and introduced into heaven."** The state of preparation and what is involved therein is of utmost importance. By the same token, is it not the quality of the state of betrothal preceding the rite itself which gives spirit to the act? If the rite is done merely in compliance with custom or to gratify the desire of one of the parties, it is only a formality lacking spiritual meaning. Indeed, with the unchaste, "the state of betrothal . . . scarcely answers any other purpose; than that they may fill their concupiscences with things lascivious and from them contaminate the conjugial of love."***
* Liturgy, p. 239.
** Liturgy, p. 241.
*** CL 304.

281

     Mr. Sandstrom opens his address with an assertion that "the Writings have no special word for engagement, but only for betrothal." I confidently believe, as do many priests and laymen, that the Writings have a word for engagement and it is "betrothal." Failure to recognize this, I think, is the cause of confusion inherent in the new view.
     Mr. Sandstrom's thesis opens with the statement that "the Writings have only three steps in the orderly progression towards marriage." With this I agree. But to call these three steps, "Consent, Betrothal and the Wedding," is confusing. Nor can I agree with his assertion that: "Against this there are in the General Church, for the most part, four steps: Consent, Engagement, Betrothal and the Wedding."

     The claim that this idea exists "for the most part" in the General Church is, I believe, contrary to fact. That some members of the church hold the belief as stated by Mr. Sandstrom is no doubt true. The variety of beliefs held by sundry persons in the church on matters of doctrine and practice is indeed surprising! In general, I believe the General Church has always held that there are three, not four, progressive steps which culminate in marriage, namely: I. Betrothal, which is the pledge to marry. II. The betrothal rite, which solemnly confirms the betrothal before a priest, and III. The wedding or marriage rite, through which a priest solemnizes the marriage.
     The four-step idea cited by Mr. Sandstrom, so far as it may be held by members in our church, may be due to a misapplication of the terms used in the Writings.
     Nor do I follow Mr. Sandstrom's view that in the General Church the concept of four steps "has grown up as an unintentional compromise between what has been inherited from the world and what is prescribed in the Writings."
     To my mind the initial misconception in Mr. Sandstrom's view is that the consent is a step separate from the betrothal or engagement. Consent or the "declaration of consent"* is not separate from the engagement. Consent is the initiament, indeed it is the essence of the betrothal or engagement of the "two who have promised marriage," as is evident from number 300 of Conjugial Love.**
* CL 300.
** See also AC 3157.
     Before the church, and also before the law, engagement, or betrothal-the name used in the Writings, and to some extent in the Christian world-is the agreement or contract of the partners to marry. Consent, in short, is the essential element in this contract.

282

     It should be noted that consent is a general term. For Consent is as essential in the rite of betrothal and in the wedding ceremony as it is in the betrothal or engagement. And because consent involves the essential meeting of the minds of the partners in each of the three steps, consent is not a proper or distinctive term to denote betrothal or engagement.
     That the term used in the Writings for the engagement to marry is betrothal, was clearly recognized by Bishop W. F. Pendleton in the early days of the General Church, as appears in his inspiring "Notes on the Service and on Ritual," published originally in NEW CHURCH LIFE for 1919, wherein, concerning the betrothal service, he writes:

     "We are to keep distinctly in mind that it is a promise of marriage that is being celebrated, and not the marriage itself. The state of privacy in which their first mutual promise was made is still the leading feature,* except that now another step is taken, which is, that their promise is to receive the approval and countenance of the Church, in their formal acknowledgment that their betrothal is a thing of religion, preparatory to the holy state of marriage, which, after an interval of time, is to follow, and which is to survive the death of the body. It may be added that the interval between the formal betrothal and the marriage should not be long, for a betrothal of the kind herein described should not take place until marriage is in view, as an event of the immediate future."
* This concept of continuing privacy as the leading feature has been questioned. However, it is clear that Bishop Pendleton was not advocating secret engagements. In his own family, engagements were publicly announced.

     The relation of the betrothal rite as looking to the marriage seems clearly indicated in number 300 of Conjugial Love.
     Whether most General Church ministers and laymen today agree with Bishop W. F. Pendleton's statement, I do not know. It would be interesting to know. In any case, I believe most of our ministers would hold that Swedenborg uses the term, betrothal, to signify what is commonly called engagement. If not, this, too, would be of interest in the discussion. And I should like to request Mr. Sandstrom to cite from his point of view the passages, if any, in which the term "betrothal" in Conjugial Love refers to the step which he calls consent; secondly, the statements in which betrothal is used to denote the entire state of betrothal; and thirdly, those in which betrothal is used to denote the religious rite of betrothal. In my reading of the chapter on Betrothal the numbers which refer to the state of betrothal are many, while those that refer to the rite are very few.
     In this connection note that in the Arcana,* treating of the betrothal and marriage of Isaac and Rebekah, it is said that "the conjunction is the marriage itself, but the initiation is the betrothal, or the state preceding marriage."**
* Nos. 3155-3158.
** AC 3132.

283

     To understand the use of the word "betrothal" in the Writings, it is necessary, I believe, to recognize that in the Writings both the ceremony by which the state of betrothal is confirmed and the state of betrothal itself are at times expressed by the same term. This frequently occurs in the usage of the Writings, as it does in common speech where a containing form bears the name of the thing contained. Thus the term "marriage" is used to denote both the state of marriage and also the wedding or marriage ceremony.
     While the term "betrothal" is used in the Writings to denote the private covenant of engagement between the couple, and far more frequently to mean the state of betrothal or engagement, it is used also to denote the religious rite of betrothal, as in heading IV in the Chapter "Concerning Betrothals and Nuptials" in Conjugial Love. Here, in dealing with the "pledges which are to be given after declaration of consent," Swedenborg says "concerning two, who have promised marriage and have strengthened the promises by presents, that they are pledged, thus confirmed." And as "confirmations," says Swedenborg, "they are tokens of consent" and "memorials," "especially if they are rings, perfume bottles, and ribbons, which are appended in sight." And Swedenborg declares:
"It should be known that it is at their option, to confer those before the act of betrothal or after it." Here, obviously, by the act of betrothal is meant the betrothal rite. If given before, "they are confirmations and testifications of consent to betrothal; if after it, they are also confirmations and testifications of consent to the nuptials."*
* See also AC 5317.
     In any case, the pledges mentioned in Conjugial Love pertain to the general state of betrothal following the "declaration of consent" of the "two who have promised marriage."

     Those holding the new view would urge that the rite of betrothal should follow forthwith upon the "consent," in the belief that the betrothal state is not initiated until the ceremony, and that no announcement should be made until the rite is solemnized. Practically speaking, this is well-nigh impossible. Would not love radiating spontaneously from engaged couples often declare their troth without a spoken word! Be that as it may, it is clear that upon the happy conclusion of courtship there must of necessity be a pledge of betrothal between the couple, an agreement between themselves to be married, which is according to the order of the church and the law. Of necessity this must precede both the spiritual and natural preparations for the confirming rite of betrothal that should follow: and these preparations should be undertaken, not in haste, but in mutual study of the Word in counsel with each other, so that the rite may be spiritually enfilled.

284

May not a just interval before the rite of betrothal provide a useful and blessed opportunity for the couple to read the Writings together, especially the teachings in Conjugial Love concerned with preparation for the solemn betrothal rite that will confirm the marriage of their spirits, and advance their union.
     Mr. Sandstrom notes that "there are various situations of danger resulting from an over-prolonging and likewise of an over-hastening at the time of betrothal." With this we are all in full accord, even as we are aware of the harm that may result from precipiated engagements and hasty marriages.
     Mr. Sandstrom says of his doctrine of immediacy of the betrothal ceremony following consent, "Many hearing this view will bring forward their fear that early betrothal might lead to broken betrothals instead of just broken engagements; and they will say the former will be more serious than the latter -and so they would." Who the many are, spoken of by Mr. Sandstrom, I do not know. But I do know that any idea of broken or trial engagements has always been utterly abhorrent to General Church tradition. The source of such fears and the mistaken belief held by some or "many" that the General Church favored postponing the rite of betrothal for this reason, doubtless was derived from a mistaken application of Bishop W. F. Pendleton's purpose in commenting on ancient betrothal law, as quoted from Wheatly on the Common Prayer: "On account of many of the espoused parties breaking their engagements, one of the Eastern Emperors 'commanded by an edict' that the espousals and marriage should both be performed on the same day." It was far from Bishop Pendleton's intention that this should be applied in the practice of the General Church.
     Nor do I believe that the General Church has ever taught that the time for the betrothal ceremony should be determined or influenced by the fear of broken betrothals, because betrothals if broken after the ceremony are more grievous. The view of the General Church on the time of the betrothal rite is surely predicated on no such negative grounds.
     On page 559, Mr. Sandstrom makes the curious statement: "I do not wish to be facetious, but it occurs to me that if there is to be a special period of engagement prior to the period of betrothal, then that would have to be winter!" Surely not winter! For even courtship is a harbinger of spring. And is not the state of consent to a New Church marriage, with its pledge of troth, to be likened to springtime or budding to be followed by blossom time, solemnized with the betrothal rite and blessing administered therein? And following the betrothal state comes marriage and the time of bearing fruit.*
* Man's initiation into the marriage of good and truth, that is the spiritual marriage, is like the blossoms that the tree brings forth in the springtime." (DP 332.)

285

     In failing to distinguish justly between the initial state of betrothal and the state begun with the rite of betrothal, does not the article ignore the teaching "that there are in every progressive movement a commencement, and a beginning, an initium and a principium; the initium or entering into, always precedes, and the principium or second step in the progress follows."* As Bishop W. F. Pendleton says in his Topics from the Writings: "So it is in all progression, in all development, from first to last; the preparation to begin and the beginning itself: the introduction to a work and the work itself; and finally the entering into the presence of the Lord and then conjunction with Him. There is not anything done without these two states of progression.
* See AC 1560.
     As Mr. Sandstrom's thesis rules out a period of preparation for the rite of betrothal as related to the time of the wedding because no such timing is provided or mentioned in the Writings, should he not by the same token refrain from pressing his case for immediacy-for which also there is given no sanction in the Writings?
     Is the case not one in which no definite time and no hard and fast rule should be laid down? Preparation for and timing of the ceremony by which the marriage of two minds is given ultimate expression should not be reduced to a formula. Betrothal, as a state and as a confirming ritual, is an essential aspect of the church's doctrine on marriage. In this, I know, we are all in accord.
     And in closing I would pay tribute to Mr. Sandstrom's beautiful and affecting treatment of conjugial ideals revealed in the Writings, concerning the states leading to New Church marriage. For in this our age in which much attention is given to sex education and the sensual side of courtship and marriage-sometimes indeed prematurely with injury to states of innocence-there is need for, and joy in, the hope and inspiration revealed by the Lord for the men and women who will be of His New Church.
PROCESS OF REFORMATION 1962

PROCESS OF REFORMATION 1962

"At first they perceive something of temptation, but when they persist and overcome, the Lord has an abode with them, and confirms them in good, introduces them unto Himself in His kingdom, and dwells with them, and there purifies and perfects them, and at the same time appropriates good and happy things to them, and this by means of His Divine Human and Holy proceeding" (Arcana Coelestia 2343: 2).

186

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1962

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS Rev. FREDERICK L. SCHNARR 1962

Our readings from the Arcana Coelestia this month include the exposition of the spiritual sense of Genesis, chapter 11: the story of the tower of Babel, and a genealogy from Shem to Terah, the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. We believe it is particularly important to pay attention to this chapter, for it not only contains basic instruction about the source and character of the entire first eleven chapters of Genesis, but also sets forth the general history of the Ancient Church. The Writings tell us that the first eleven chapters of Genesis, up to the appearance of Abram, Nahor and Haran, are stories taken from the Ancient Word. That Word was written entirely in the language of correspondences and significatives. Its stories do not portray historical events, nor the deeds of the personalities there described. Thus what is written concerning creation, Adam and Eve and their children, the flood and Noah and the ark, the tower of Babel, and the genealogy from Shem to Terah, are not accounts of historical events and persons.

Because the most ancients had thorough knowledge of correspondences through open intercourse with the heavens, they used made-up events and persons to represent things pertaining to the Lord, to the church, and to man's regeneration, in all their communications. This knowledge of correspondences had been passed on by word of mouth from one generation to another as the Most Ancient Church began its decline. Near the time of the final fall of that church, those represented in the Word by Enoch collected the correspondences, and connected them in a codex. This, because it was inspired and secretly organized by the Lord, was the first written revelation given to the human race.* Thus did the Ancient Word come into being. In its fullness it was to serve the first Ancient Church, represented by Noah. However, in the fall of that church-represented in the story of the tower of Babel-much of the Ancient Word was to be lost. In the second Ancient Church-the Hebrew, represented by Eber-even more was lost; so that in the third Ancient Church, the Israelitish or Jewish Church, all that remained of the Ancient Word was the first eleven chapters of Genesis and a few fragments.
* See AE 728: 2.

287

     Our readings make it clear that, beginning with the story of Abram, the spiritual sense is embodied in the history of actual events, lands, nations and persons described in the letter. There are some minor exceptions having to do with certain numbers, times, miracles, and so on, where changes were made to meet the needs of the spiritual sense.
     The Writings do not describe the Ancient Word in great detail, but they do mention certain books that formed a part of it: the book of Jashar, the Wars of Jehovah, and books of the prophetic enunciators or the Prophecies.* We are also taught that the Ancient Word is still preserved in Great Tartary among the people who dwell there. "Seek for it in China, and perhaps you will find it there among the Tartars."**
* See AC 2686; SS 103: 3; AR 11: 2.
** AR 11: 2.
     Perhaps in the ages to come, when the New Church shall have grown in integrity and in spiritual love and wisdom, the Ancient Word will be recovered from its resting place. Perhaps it will serve in the end as it served in the ancient days, the testimony and confirmation that the Lord God Jesus Christ doth reign, "beginning and end, first and last."*
* Lord 36.
OUR NEW CHURCH VOCABULARY 1962

OUR NEW CHURCH VOCABULARY 1962

Conscience. As used in the Writings, this term means, in the highest sense, the new will received from the Lord by regeneration. This is conscience in its essence, which is to do evil to none and good to all. As thus defined, conscience is possessed only by the good; the evil have none, and the idea that the torments of hell are the stings of conscience is merely a pious fancy. As a perception of what is and what is not to be done, conscience can be possessed by all; but as it is formed with a man from the particular religion in which he is, and only according to internal reception thereof, it is not uniform and is not true of necessity. Thus there is a spurious conscience in those Gentiles who are in simple good, and what is called a false conscience with those in natural good, the latter being so called because natural good is inwardly selfish, worldly and evil. It is this that has been often mistaken for conscience itself, and its existence that has led men to postulate a norm of conscience. But conscience is a relative thing, the bad conscience of a good man being the good conscience of a bad one; and the true idea of spiritual conscience is to be found in the teaching that it is to act according to religion and faith.
(See AC 1033, 1076, 1077, 2144, 2831; TCR 666.)

288

REVIEW 1962

REVIEW NORBERT H. ROGERS 1962

     DIVINE PROVIDENCE. By Emanuel Swedenborg. Newly translated by William Frederic Wunsch. Swedenborg Foundation, Inc., New York, 1961.

     Most, if not all, of the English translations of the Writings in general use today were made by scholars of earlier generations and adhere closely to the Latin phraseology and sentence structure. While this does permit the reader to form a fairly accurate idea of what is said in the Latin, and how it was said, it certainly does not make for good meaningful English. This mattered little when Latin dominated education and had a marked influence on literary styles. The reading public was then quite at home with Latin-style English. But this is no longer the case. For some time the trend in education has been away from classical studies to the point that Latin is regarded generally as a very minor incidental, if not as superfluous. The Latin scholar has become increasingly a rather lonely rara avis! English grammar and literary styles are no longer influenced by Latin, and resemble it not at all. With no knowledge of Latin, or with but a brief "exposure" to an introductory course, by far the majority of the reading public is ill equipped to cope with the pedantic circumlocution of Latin-style English. It finds that style awkward, repetitious, repulsive and hard to understand. A vital need of the New Church today is thus for fresh translations of the Writings in good modern English literary style and idiom.

     The new translation of Divine Providence under review is an effort to meet this need. Indentation and more paragraphing make the pages of the text less formidable and more inviting. A serious effort has been made to break down the long, complex Latin sentences, with their predilection for passive structures and double negatives, into shorter, more active and positive English sentences. There has also been a serious effort to render the Latin phraseology into modern idiomatic English, and in translating individual words to select wherever possible English equivalents that are known and used today rather than those that have become archaic. As a result of these efforts, this new translation is more readable and meaningful than its predecessors had become; and, what is far more important, the sense of the Latin seems for the most part to have been expressed in English quite adequately and sometimes very felicitously.

289

     That the effort at times falls short of the mark, while a pity, is quite understandable, for, like all pioneers in virgin country, the translator had not the experience of others to help and guide him. Besides, as everyone who has tried his hand at the task has experienced, at times a translator becomes so immersed in the Latin that good English goes out of the window, and at other times he is in such hot pursuit of the happy English phrase that the Latin becomes somewhat obscured. Then, too, a translator is apt to repeat to himself the various possible English renditions of a phrase, and to select the one that sounds best; but it often happens that a phrase, colorful and meaningful when spoken, becomes quite awkward and meaningless when written.

     In the translation under review these and other possible pitfalls seem not always to have been avoided with complete success, unfortunately. For instance, it contains numerous long sentences the meaning of which is difficult to grasp, despite their new phrasing. And this reviewer, at least, failed to understand what was meant in more than a few idiomatic sentences and clauses, even when taken in context. For example: "It is form which enables all this" (no. 4: 2); and, further in the same number, where it speaks of a form being the more perfect as its constituents are distinctly different "and yet severally united." Again: "An image of the infinite and eternal offers in an angelic heaven formed from a redeemed mankind" (no. 47: iv).
     Avoidance of repetition whenever possible is a maxim of readibility followed in this translation. Certainly, Latin words and phrases have different meaning and connotations when used in different ways and in different connections, which should be brought out in translation. Certainly, too, translating a Latin word or phrase variously for the sake of variety frequently does more good than harm; or if not, it is of little importance. But it also happens that at times just how a word or phrase is translated is important, and that variations for the sake of variety obscure rather than illuminate what had been meant. This is to be avoided, particularly in translating the Writings which profess to be the second advent of the Lord; and it is regretted that numerous instances were noted of changes and variations in translation which were needless or of questionable value.
     The idea of "oneness," expressed by one of the uses of unum in the Writings, does not seem to be helped when the word is sometimes translated as "one" and sometimes as "unit"; especially when the variation occurs in the same sequence of thought, as in no. 4, in the presentation of a concept already difficult to grasp. In many places, forms of distincte are variously translated "distinctly" or "distinguishably." No doubt both English words have the same Latin root, but they have quite different connotations, which affect what is meant.

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For example, in no. 4: 4, the translation reads: "They also illustrated the fact from the marriage of good and truth, in that the more distinguishably two these are, the more perfectly do they make a one: similarly, of love and wisdom. The indistinguishable is confusion, they said, whence comes imperfection of form." It would seem that "more distinctly," and "What is not distinct," would have been better. It would have seemed better, also, to render amorem non sapientiae, in no. 16, as "a love not of wisdom" rather than as an "unwise love," which connotes something else. Also, in no. 221: 1, in sapientiam rerum spiritualium seems to be speaking of the wisdom pertaining to spiritual things rather than of wisdom about spiritual things.

     The "as of self" with respect to man is a concept basic to the doctrines taught throughout the Writings, and the phrase sicut ex se and the like are very common in the Latin text. In the translation under review these phrases are well translated in all places noticed except in no. 4, where the sicut, "as," is unfortunately left out. Here, speaking of the angels of any given society, the Latin reads: quod quo quilibet distinctius suus est, ita liber et sic sicut ex se et ex sua affectione amat consocios, societatis forma per fectior sit. This is rendered: "For as these are different and free and love their associates from themselves and from their own affection, the form of the society is more perfect." The omission of the very important sicut, "as," in the translation here is probably not due to intention, but rather to an oversight in editing or in proofreading.
     The same reasons may also explain the omission of a whole sentence at the end of no. 64, and again at the end of no. 164: 5; also the erratum of translating decem as "two" in no. 49. That these omissions exist, and especially that they were found in a cursory examination, tends to nullify the value of the new translation as presently published.
     We regret that the bulk of this review consists in fault-finding, when yet the translator in his admirable effort seems to have succeeded quite well in most of the volume. It is only fair to point out that most of the faults were found in the first three chapters, which are extremely difficult, and which, for that reason, were given particular attention.
     NORBERT H. ROGERS

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TWENTY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1962

TWENTY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY Editor 1962

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 Business Manager. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.

TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$5.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy 50 cents.
     Twenty-five years have passed since a General Assembly was called upon to choose the next Bishop of the General Church. It is appropriate that we meet to do so this month in Bryn Athyn, the episcopal seat of the church. Many who desire to be present will be unable to come; but the holding of this Assembly in Bryn Athyn will insure the largest possible attendance, and that is important in a gathering which, according to our order, represents and acts for the entire membership of the church.
     It will be the hope of all concerned that the church will gain from these meetings the spiritual benefits that may be received from all Assemblies. But, this Assembly, by its very nature, will provide special opportunities. There will be occasion to feel and express gratitude to the Lord for His leading of the church during the past twenty-five years, and for the devoted leadership given by Bishop De Charms. There will be occasion also for confidence in the Lord's leading now, and for dedication to the following of His continued leading in the future.
     However, the lasting benefits of an Assembly are those which are carried back into the societies and circles of the church, and which remain long after the final song has ceased. The year after the Assembly will be one in which arrangements will be made for a number of changes to become effective in September, 1963. Not all of these will be welcomed by everyone involved, and some may be deeply regretted. But if, in our societies and circles, we can learn to think of and desire that which is for the good of the church as a whole, we will have gained lasting benefits from an Assembly called to think of and act for that good.

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UNTO AGES OF AGES 1962

UNTO AGES OF AGES Editor 1962

     Unlike many other anniversaries, New Church Day does not simply commemorate an event the significance of which may fade with the passing of the years. It marks the beginning of a continuing process-the inauguration of a spiritual kingdom which in both worlds will endure "unto ages of ages." On June 19, 1770, time was again divided in two. For the New Church which was instituted on that day had been foreseen from the creation of the world and will, we are assured, endure to eternity: to form with the New Heaven that everlasting kingdom in which the Lord God Jesus Christ reigns.
     Nothing finite can so endure except by perpetual renewal from the Lord. While that renewal is spiritual, there must be created beings in whom it takes place and uses of the Lord through men by which it is effected-the teaching, and the reception in life, of the Heavenly Doctrine; and the hope and promise thereof, of generations to come, lie before our eyes in certain events connected with New Church Day.

     The Academy's commencement exercises, traditionally held near that day, are of profound significance. The steadily growing procession of faculty and students, the ranks of the graduating classes from secondary schools to theological seminary, are a promise in flesh and blood, as well as in purpose and dedication and achievement, of the continuance of New Church education. The same heartwarming yet challenging promise is to be seen in societies and circles throughout the church as the children march in procession into the services of celebration arranged for them. And in inaugurations into the priesthood and ordination into further degrees thereof, also largely associated with New Church Day, there is the hope and promise of the perpetuation of the work of evangelization begun by the Lord through the apostles in the spiritual world on that day.
     Yet the fulfillment of the hope and the realization of the promise depend upon there being at all times a living church which is continually receiving spiritual things from the Lord: a church which can provide and inspire priests and teachers, schools and the children to fill them and profit by them, and a spiritual home which these children may seek as such when they become adults. On New Church Day, therefore, we go back to our beginnings-back to the Lord who is the source of all true beginnings-in search of renewal. We return, with hearts and minds open to the Lord, to seek from Him that which will insure the continuance in us, and in the church among us, of the eternal work which was begun on the first New Church Day and which will never cease.

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Church News 1962

Church News Various 1962

     GENERAL CHURCH

     Authorized Candidates in the Theological School of the Academy will assist and gain experience of pastoral work in the following societies during the summer: Mr. Robert H. P. Cole in Kitchener; Mr. Kurt P. Nemitz in Toronto; and Mr. Lorenz R. Soneson in Bryn Athyn and Washington, D. C.

     ST. PAUL-MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.

     The St. Paul-Minneapolis Circle has been growing somewhat. Our attendance now numbers sixteen adults and ten children. The latest additions are Mark, the son of the Richard Carlsons (Peg Johnson), and Cheryl Dee, the daughter of the Donald Bokers (Janice Chick).
     The taped services conducted by Lloyd Johnson are being held quite regularly. When the weather permits the attendance will improve. We are a far-flung group, some members having to travel forty or fifty miles, so the attendance problem can be well understood.
     We are enjoying the services and classes given by our new visiting minister, the Rev. Geoffrey Howard, and have felt that the Circle is becoming more closely knit under his guidance. The Sunday school classes are becoming more meaningful as there are now more children who have reached the age of understanding and look forward to them.
     In May, 1961, the Rev. and Mrs. Elmo C. Acton visited us. Mr. Acton's class and Sunday service were sincerely appreciated. The dinner at the Pool and Yacht Club added to the enjoyment of the weekend.
     The Christmas service was as delightful as usual. A children's address was given, and the telling of the story that never grows old was beautifully done. The showing later of the Nativity slides impressed young and old alike. Gifts were given to the children, and to satisfy the body as well as the mind a buffet dinner was served.
     In March we renewed a friendship that really needed no renewal, because the Rev. Ormond Odhner has been with us in our hearts ever since he left. Mr. Odhner fought a blizzard to come here to give us a class and a Holy Supper service. Our feeling for him is deep and lasting, and a mere "Thank you for coming" seems quite inadequate. We hope he can bring Joan with him in - the not too distant future, and that their stay will he considerably longer than the two days he could spend with us.
     As our Circle slowly moves forward, may we travel gratefully, showing appreciation for the many things that are being done by others for our good.
HELEN A. BOKER

     SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA

     After many years as a group, San Diego was recognized as a Circle of the General Church by Acting Bishop Willard D. Pendleton on October 25, 1961. In the past two years our membership has been increased considerably by the arrival of the Robert Brown and Eugene Bets families in the San Diego area. At present we have eighteen adults and fourteen young people; our newest member being Lt. (j.g.) Gordon McClarren of the United States Navy, recently assigned to the submarine Scamp, based in San Diego.
     An attendance of thirty is not uncommon, with our furthest distant members, Mr. and Mrs. Russell Boothroyd, traveling over a hundred miles round trip every Sunday, bringing Mr. and Mrs. Gus Welander with them.

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Weekly services are being held in the homes of members with the aid of excellent general and festival service tapes, furnished to us through the fine work of the Sound Recording Committee.
     The Rev. Douglas Taylor, our visiting minister, conducts a service monthly, with special music tapes. On his visits, doctrinal classes are held on the text of The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine after a young people's class and a church supper.
     We have been fortunate to have the Holy Supper administered periodically during the year by the Rev. Harold Cranch of Los Angeles. We are always pleased to see Harold and Jean.
     The activity of our Circle has been increased largely through the efforts of our secretary, Mr. Marvin Walker, our treasurer, Mr. Robert Pollock, and our tape secretary, Mrs. Russell Boothroyd. "Project Building Fund" is under way, with Mrs. Helen Brown at the controls, and the women of the Circle are now saving silverware coupons-from a well known brand of cake mixes-looking forward to the day when we will have our church building.
     In the past year we have enjoyed visits by such members of the church as Mr. Norman Synnestvedt of Manistee, Michigan; Mr. and Mrs. Fred Grant of Washington, D. C.; Miss Madge Horigan from St. Petersburg, Florida; the Raymond Davids and the David Campbells of Los Angeles; and Chip Rose and Cory Glenn of Bryn Athyn. The Circle is always looking forward to visits from members and friends of the church, and we are hoping to see many more of them in the future.
CARYL BETZ WILLIAMS

     CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

     Although summer breezes may be on hand when these notes are being read, winter is still rampant in Chicago as they are being written. The weatherman tells us, though, that spring officially arrived today, which is the best news we have heard for some time. "Snow and colder," has been the most usual weather report in Chicago this winter. However, in spite of rugged weather, members of Sharon Church have faithfully trudged, driven or ridden through the snowdrifts to get to church.
     "Attendance at services and classes has been regular, and a good spirit has prevailed," according to the Rev. Elmo C. Acton, who presided at our annual meeting on Sunday, January 28. This meeting made us realize that another year of worship and activity, under the fine leadership of Mr. Acton, had passed for Sharon Church. The Rev. Victor Gladish, who continues to assist Mr. Acton by conducting our services twice each month, spoke affectionately of the history of our Society, a part, of which took place under the guidance of his father, the Rev. Willis L. Gladish. We feel most grateful to Mr. Gladish for the time and attention he gives to Sharon Church, but he says he feels grateful to us for giving him the opportunity again to study and prepare sermons from the Writings! We could think of no proper rebuttal to this generous statement.
     As usual, business at our meeting was done with dispatch. We reelected Alexander McQueen as secretary and Robert Riefstahl as treasurer. Our other trustees are Edward Kitzelman, Charles Lindrooth, and Richard Helding, the newest member.
     Meetings always include statistics and ours was no exception. Statistics gave data on attendance, number of baptisms, and other matters. When we look behind these statistics, several events stand out which illustrate the important uses that a small society in a great city can perform. For example, on March 26, 1961, three adults were baptized at our Sunday service. There was a special feeling of joy after that Palm Sunday service when Mr. Acton welcomed Richard Helding, Marguerite Horricks and Nancy Lou Clipper into the life and uses of the church.
     A most unexpected and happy climax to this event was the wedding of Richard and Marguerite on July 8. Of course, they were married at Sharon Church, where they had first met! The ceremony was performed by Mr. Acton.

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We had not had a wedding for several years, and we all entered into the joyous spirit of the occasion. Many members, as well as friends and relatives of the bride and groom attended. The bride looked beautiful in a gown of blue silk, and the groom appeared to be amazingly calm and composed. After the ceremony there was a reception, with toasts to the church and to the bride and groom. it is very satisfying to have a dramatic and yet true story to tell, especially one like this, with a happy ending. We wish Richard and Marguerite the very best of everything.
     The news of another wedding also made us happy. Irene Lindgren, who attended services and classes at Sharon Church several years ago, was married to Carl J. Leasing on January 26, 1962, in Elgin, Illinois. The ceremony was performed by Irene's brother, the Rev. Emory Lindgren. Two members of Sharon Church attended the wedding and also the festive supper which took place at the Baker Hotel in St. Charles. Irene was a lovely bride and wore a pale pink wedding gown that she had made herself. Since she is a home economist, and for some years has been using her talents via TV, books and other media to tell folks how to plan and cook tasty meals, we imagine she had a hand in planning the wedding supper. The decorations and flowers, all in pink, were pleasing to the eye, and the food tasted as good as it looked. Irene has many New Church friends in Bryn Athyn and Minneapolis as well as in Chicago, and we know they will be glad to hear this news of her Mr. and Mrs. Lessing are now living in Roselle, Illinois, which is not far from Glenview and Immanuel Church, where they have been attending services.
     In addition to the adult baptisms, we have had two infant baptisms. On October 29, Carolyn Ann, the new little daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alan Childs was baptized by the Rev. Geoffrey Howard. After the service we had a toast to the church and a song to the new baby. On January 28, our other new baby, Yvonne, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Roger Echols, was baptized, the Rev. Elmo Acton officiating. Yvonne's mother and father continue to live in the apartment above our church in the absence of a resident pastor and also continue to take care of many uses that make affairs at Sharon Church run smoothly.
     We warmly welcome the new babies and eagerly await the time when they can attend Sunday school along with their big sisters and/or brother. The "big brother" is Danny Echols, almost three, who is already a faithful Sunday school attender, along with Janna and Martha Childs and Melissa Mayo. During the past year the membership of our school has been young in years and small in numbers. But quality always makes up for quantity. Besides, just a few weeks ago a new little girl appeared, as is often the case in a city society, and she is now attending our Sunday school.
     There is always natural sorrow at the temporary parting that comes when good friends and loved ones pass into the other world. But we know that the events are in providence and that those who have gone are moving on to their uses in the other world-uses that will also aid and enrich the performance of our uses here. On November 26, 1961, Rudolph Barnitz passed into the spiritual world. Although we miss Rudy's friendly cheerfulness, his kindness, and the courage he showed during his illness, we know these qualities will continue to sustain his wife, Gretel, and the two little boys whom they adopted. The resurrection service was conducted by the Rev. Elmo Acton in Glenview and was attended by New Church friends and many business associates. Rudy's work was in the field of interior decoration and he was especially interested in the harmony of colors. At the resurrection service Mr. Acton spoke of the splendor of colors in the other world-much more beautiful than we can ever imagine-and the joy Rudolph would feel in seeing these heavenly colors. It is difficult to understand just how uses are performed in the other world because we tend to think of them in natural ways. But we would hazard a guess that even now Rudy is taking great pleasure in helping to plan harmonious homes, brilliant with heavenly colors, for new angels.

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     Roy J. Poulsen, another valued member of Sharon Church, passed into the spiritual world on March 4, 1961. During the last several years Mr. and Mrs. Pouisen lived in Fenton, Illinois, but they visited us now and then. In fact, one visit was made through storm and snow just a short while before Roy passed away. Roy and Ruth were married by the Rev. Willis Gladish. Roy had been a member of Sharon Church for thirty years and for a long time he served faithfully and well on our Board of Trustees. Now Mrs. Poulsen has come again to live near Sharon Church and it is wonderful to see her at our Sunday services. We know that Roy's long and faithful service to the church is being put to good use in the other world and will remain a source of strength to us.
     On May 21, 1961, Mrs. Herman Kitzelman, the mother of Edward Kitzelman, passed into the spiritual world in her 77th year. She had suffered from a long illness which she bore bravely. For many years she was associated with the uses of the New Church, and her father and husband were staunch New Church men. Now her son Edward carries on this tradition. At the resurrection service, the Rev. Elmo Acton said that our thoughts and affections followed her "in the joy of her realization that she is now restored to health, free of all infirmity and sickness and enabled again to enter upon a life of love and use. But especially our thought and love follow her in her reunion with her husband."
     Sharon Church members have enjoyed several joint occasions with Immanuel Church in Glenview. For instance, the Midwest District of the General Church met, November 10-12, to welcome the Detroit Society as a member of the District. Meetings began on Friday night with an excellent address on New Church education by the Rev. Norman Reuter. Sharon Church was well represented at the meetings and at the banquet. Some of us also attended the Swedenborg's birthday banquet in Glenview, where we had the pleasure of seeing and hearing again the Rev. Ormond Odhner. The address was in Mr. Odhner's usual style-thought-provoking and stimulating.
     We have a completely new roof on the Sharon Church building, all paid for, too, and a remodeled kitchen is in process. The kitchen is being "improved" so that our ladies may more easily cook the suppers for our Wednesday doctrinal classes. We should make it clear, though, that the purpose of this is not to improve the meals themselves. It is hard to see how our natural or spiritual food could be improved. Suppers are always delicious, and the Rev. Elmo Acton has been giving us a most interesting series of classes on the twelve sons of Jacob.
     On March 17, we had a spring party, or perhaps we should call it a hat-making festival. Since it was St. Patrick's Day, our napkins were green and white with shamrocks, but the party had a distinctly Swedenborgian flavor. Mrs. Ella Grenman had suggested the hat theme, and in addition to guessing games and other entertainment, each of us made an Easter bonnet. Hats were made of brown paper bags or colorful cardboard cartons and trimmed with a variety of trinkets, veils and flowers. The creations were worthy of Bes Ben, a famous Michigan Avenue designer, who trims his hats with such odd decorations as plastic dogs and small merry-go-rounds and then sells them for huge prices. No one got any money for these "originals," but some hats did get prizes. First prize for the most original hat went to Mrs. Grenman herself, whose creation might have been called "Spring Symphony," as it was decorated with musical notes.
     Easter will soon be here. The celebration of Easter and the wonderful truth of the Lord's resurrection in His glorified Human always seem to bring new hope into all areas of life. May it strengthen us in our determination to work for the growth of the Lord's New Church on earth.
MILDRED McQUEEN

     THE CHURCH AT LARGE

     General Convention. The Rev. Brian Kingslake, until recently superintendent of the Conference Mission in South Africa, has accepted a call from the Philadelphia Society. Beginning in September, he will serve for a period of three years as associate pastor with the Rev. Richard H. Tafel.

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He proposes to return to England in 1965, there to take up pastoral work again in the General Conference.

     General Conference. At the invitation of the three North London Societies, the annual meeting of Conference will he held at Kensington, London, commencing Monday, June 25, 1962. On the evening of that day, all male lay members of Conference will be invited to a meeting to hear Sir Thomas Chadwick, treasurer of Conference, explain the finances of that body, and to discuss the financial policy of Conference during the coming year.

     West Africa. The Rev. Eustace R. Goldsack, superintendent of the Conference Mission in West Africa, will be present at the annual meeting of the General Conference in London. The purpose of his journey is to place the whole subject of the New Church in Nigeria before the general body.

     ASSEMBLY MUSIC

     The following selections will be used in Divine Worship held during the Twenty-third General Assembly:
     Offices 4 and 5 and pp. 63-66
     Hymns nos. 9, 47, 55, 37
     Chants p. 38, nos. 40, 46
     Antiphon p. 69
     Anthems nos. 2, 4, 12
     Psalms nos. 24, 45
     The following will be sung at the opening and closing of the sessions:
First Session: Hymn no. 30, Anthem no. 5
Second Session: Anthem no. 8, Hymn no. 24
Third Session: Doxology no. 17, Hymn no. 17
Fourth Session: Hymn no. 39, Anthem no. 10
Fifth Session: Hymn no. 50, Doxology no. 51
Sixth Session: Anthem no. 13, Hymn no. 53
NEW PUBLICATIONS 1962

NEW PUBLICATIONS GEORGE DE CHARMS 1962

The Doctrine of the Proprium

Six doctrinal lectures dealing with the following topics: The Lord alone Has Proprium. How the Proprium First Arises. The Proprium of Childhood and Youth. The Proprium of Adult Age. How the True Rational First Arises. The Heavenly Proprium. Paper, pp. 55 (approx.).
Unity in the Universe 1962

Unity in the Universe DAVID R. SIMONS 1962

A philosophy of the New Church as applied to the world of nature. Illustrated by Leon S. Rhodes. Cloth, pp. 168 (approx.). Price $3.00.
These two publications will be available this month.

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GENERAL CHURCH CORPORATIONS 1962

GENERAL CHURCH CORPORATIONS STEPHEN PITCAIRN 1962

Announcements
The 1962 Annual Corporation Meetings of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will he held in the Benade Hall Auditorium, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, on Saturday afternoon, June 16, at 3:30 p.m., D.S.T. Notices have been mailed.
STEPHEN PITCAIRN,
Secretary
BRITISH ASSEMBLY 1962

BRITISH ASSEMBLY WILLARD D. PENDLETON 1962

The Forty-seventh British Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held in London, England, July 20-22, 1962, the Rev. Alan Gill presiding by episcopal appointment.
All members and friends of the General Church are cordially invited to attend.
WILLARD D. PENDLETON,
Acting Bishop
PEACE RIVER DISTRICT ASSEMBLY 1962

PEACE RIVER DISTRICT ASSEMBLY WILLARD D. PENDLETON 1962

     The Ninth Peace River District Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada, August 5, 1962, the Rev. Roy Franson presiding by episcopal appointment.
     All members and friends of the General Church are cordially invited to attend.
     WILLARD D. PENDLETON,
Acting Bishop
FREE COPIES OF THE WRITINGS 1962

FREE COPIES OF THE WRITINGS 1962

Free copies of the Writings, in paperbound edition, are available. Write to: The Epsilon Society, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
It is understood that these copies will be supplied for missionary use only.

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TWENTY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1962

     BRYN ATHYN, PA., JUNE 15-19, 1962

Friday, June 15
     10:30 a.m.     Commencement Exercises
     4:00 p.m.     Academy Tea
     8:00 p.m.     First Session of the Assembly
               Address:     The Rt. Rev. George De Charms
     9:00 p.m. Report of the Joint Council of the General Church on Procedure

Saturday, June 16
     10:00     a.m.     Second Session of the Assembly
          Action by the Assembly on the nomination of the Bishop of the
           General Church
     11:00     a.m.     Address: The Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton: "One God and One Word"
     2:00     p.m.     Young People's Meeting: The Rev. Kurt H. Asplundh
     3:30     p.m.     Meeting of the Corporations of the General Church
     3:30     p.m.     Women's Guild Tea
     8:00     p.m.     Third Session of the Assembly
           Address: The Rev. Erik Sandstrom: "Not a Written Constitution"

Sunday, June 17
     11:00     a.m.     Divine Worship
               Sermon: The Rev. Dandridge Pendleton
     3:00     p.m.     Administration of the Holy Supper
     4:30     p.m.     Administration of the Holy Supper
     8:00     p.m.     Fourth Session of the Assembly
               Address: Professor Richard R. Gladish: "The Most Fruitful Field"

Monday, June 18
     10:00     am.     Fifth Session of the Assembly
               Address: The Rev. Martin Pryke: "Correspondences and Representation"
     2:30     p.m.     Theta Alpha Meeting
     2:30     p.m.     Sons of the Academy Meeting
     8:00     p.m.     Sixth Session of the Assembly
               Address: The Rev. Elmo C. Action: "The 'Good' of the Church"

Tuesday, June 19
     11:00     a.m.     Divine Worship
               Sermon: The Rev. Louis B. King
     4:00     p.m.     Children's Nineteenth of June Festival Service
     7:00     p.m.     Assembly Banquet
          Toastmaster: The Rev. Geoffrey S. Childs

     All Assembly guests are cordially invited to attend the President's Reception, which will he held on Thursday evening, June 14, at 8:30 o'clock.

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HORSES AND CHARIOTS OF FIRE 1962

HORSES AND CHARIOTS OF FIRE Rev. FRANK S. ROSE 1962

VOL. LXXXII
JULY, 1962
No. 7
     "Fear not; for they that be with us are more than they that be with them." (II Kings 6: 16)

     These words were spoken by Elisha at a time when there seemed to be no possible avenue of escape. There was war between Syria and the kingdom of Israel. Having been severely, and unexpectedly, defeated in two pitched battles with the Israelites, the Syrians attempted to take their army by surprise, and on a number of occasions set an ambush for them. "But the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are come down."* These prophetic warnings enabled the king to save his army "not once nor twice."
* II Kings 6: 9.
     Not understanding the true cause of these escapes, the king of Syria suspected a traitor in his own camp, and said: "Will ye not shew me which of us is for the king of Israel? And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O King; but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber."*
* II Kings 6:11, 12.
     This at once revealed where the strength of Israel lay, and made it quite clear that if the Syrians were to be victorious they must first capture the prophet of God. Thinking that even such a man could not escape, they sent horses and chariots and a great host to take him at Dothan.
     The army arrived by night and surrounded the city, so that when Elisha and his servant rose early in the morning, they found the invaders facing them from every side. The servant said: "Alas, master, how shall we do? And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them."*
* II Kings 6:15, 16.

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     By itself this statement must have been incredible to the frightened boy. His natural eyes told him that they were completely surrounded, without any hope of escape. But in this his eyes deceived him. Elisha therefore prayed, and said: "Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. 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: 17.
     This was an actual seeing into the spiritual world-the world which surrounds and infills the natural world and is nearer to our minds than the things of time and space. Therefore the servant was not seeing something imaginary. Indeed, it was the first time he had been permitted to see things as they were. For this radiant army was present with Elisha wherever he went. It consisted of societies in the spiritual world who were in the love of understanding the Word and defending those in good. Such armies are often seen in the spiritual world where the intelligent and wise live'* and the Writings describe how Swedenborg saw "bright horses and chariots of fire when some were taken up into heaven, which was a sign that they were then instructed in the truths of heavenly doctrine, and became intelligent and thus were taken up."**
* AC 2762.
** WH 3.

     The Syrians, of course, saw nothing. They were not aware of the forces arrayed against them in the spiritual world. Indeed, from the story we wonder what part this heavenly host played in the protection of the man of God. This part is not obvious, because it is a law of order that the natural world should seem to be sufficient to itself lest men be forced to believe things which they should accept in freedom according to reason.
     Far from seeing the horses and chariots of fire, the Syrians were blinded, and in this condition became helpless and were easily led. Elisha said to them: "This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. But he led them to Samaria."* He led them into the midst of the capital city of the kingdom of Israel. When they were surrounded by its walls and were at the complete mercy of the king of Israel, Elisha prayed to the Lord that their eyes be opened again. "And, behold, they were in the midst of Samaria."**
* II Kings 6: 19.
** II Kings 6: 20.
     The King asked if he should smite this their enemy; but Elisha reminded him that his soldiers would not have killed the Syrians if they had themselves taken them captive in open combat; why do so when the Lord had led them into their hands?

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As he said: "Thou shalt not smite them: wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master. And he prepared great provision for them: and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel."*
* II Kings 6:22, 23.

     Turning now to the internal sense of this story, we note first of all that Elisha represents the Word. That is why he is called "the man of God." Israel represents the spiritual church, whose strength comes, not from the intelligence of men, but from Divinely revealed doctrine. Syria represents falsities, which, although apparently rational, are yet contrary to the Word of the Lord. Modern thought is full of them. They all arise from a denial of the Lord and the belief in nature without a belief in God. This is the "naturalism" spoken of in the Writings-the worship of science, and complete slavery to human reason and the evidence of the senses. This naturalism, although a consistent enemy of the church, does not always attack it openly, but seeks to undermine it by casting doubts on its fundamental doctrines; using fallacious appearances to suggest that there can be no life after death, that the Word is no different from other books, and that the Lord was only a man.
     A dead church is easily trapped by these specious arguments, but not so the New Church. This is not due to any special wisdom of her own, but is simply because the Lord has provided a new revelation, which, like the man of God, penetrates into the very bedchamber of naturalism, and easily escapes from the attacks of falsity. People who use the arguments against a New Church person that have so devastated the Christian churches, find that the New Church has an uncanny ability to foresee and understand the intended ambush. This is because the Writings clearly reveal both the patterns of truth and also the workings of falsity. A person who understands the truth can understand its opposite, but a person who thinks falsely cannot even know what genuine truth is. Therefore the New Church has a distinct advantage in the battle of beliefs. "The prophet that is in Israel telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber."*
* II Kings 6:12.
     This is why the attack must not be made against the individual, but against the Writings themselves, for all of our strength comes from that source and to them we constantly turn. Like Elisha's servant, we may fear that we are outnumbered, and we momentarily draw back when faced with the argument: "Well, if Swedenborg was such an important man, why is it that so few know about him today?" and, "if the Writings are a Divine revelation, why is it that only a handful accept them, whereas countless thousands, many of them very intelligent people, believe otherwise?"

304

We seem to be outnumbered. The atheistic beliefs of the world, equipped with ingenious arguments and supported by men of great learning, are like the Syrian hosts with chariots and horses. It seems that they must prevail because they are so many, and we are so few.
     The momentary fear is easily dispelled when our spiritual eyes are opened to see the internal wisdom that is present in the living understanding of the church and in the flaming doctrines drawn from the Word. These are horses and chariots of fire because from the Lord Himself. Self-intelligence and arguments based on external appearances alone are by comparison slow and powerless. When we reflect that the doctrines of the New Church are believed and loved throughout the entire angelic heavens there can be no doubt: "They that be with us are more than they that be with them." Of course, this is not a question of numbers but of quality, for one truth is able to prevail over a thousand falsities. Yet some look at the Writings without having their eyes opened to this heavenly host. For them the Writings stand as a lonely and feeble voice from the past. They see no horses or chariots of fire, but only what appears to be an old and helpless man. But surely this is not the opponent they seek! As Elisha said: "This is not the way, neither is this the city; follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek."*
* II Kings 6:19.

     When our beliefs are attacked, we must lift our eyes to the Lord, and call to mind the strong horses of spiritual intelligence and the swift and flaming chariots of doctrine that are provided as a protection for all who love Him. With these in mind there is nothing to fear from the crude falsities of self-intelligence. Not seeing the heavenly host that gives us confidence, atheists and naturalists cannot possibly attack us. They grope blindly to find their opponent, and yet they cannot come to grips with our inward beliefs because they cannot even understand them.
     When Elisha led the Syrian army into the camp of Israel, it was not in order to destroy them, but rather to open their eyes and feed them. They were blinded in order that they might see. In the end he did in fact lead them to the man they sought, but they could not recognize him outside of Samaria.
     Inmostly the Man is the Lord Himself, for He alone is the Word, and He alone is doctrine, the chariot of Israel and the horseman thereof. Dothan represents the particulars of doctrine as present in the mind of a sincere New Church person.*

305

Now a person who is negative to the essentials of the church, and doubts the Divinity of the Lord, the holiness of the Word, life after death and so on, can hardly hope to combat the living internal convictions of the church, because he has not even accepted the foundation of those beliefs. In the presence of this living understanding he finds that his attack is defeated by his own inability to see the truths which are so essential to the men of the church and yet so far beyond his grasp. If he is to find the church for himself, as well he might, he is to go a different way. As Elisha said: "This is not the way, neither is this the city; follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek."** That way is through a study of the revealed truths of the Writings-the source of all the doctrines of the church-represented by the city of Samaria.
* AC 4720.
** II Kings 6:19.
It has often happened that people who set out to ridicule or even destroy the New Church have been led in the end to accept it for themselves. They found that the belief of individual members was beyond attack, and they were led to the Writings for themselves in order to see what it was about this church that gave its people such strength. Because of their blindness at Dothan, they could be led into the midst of Samaria, there to study the Writings for themselves. And, like the Syrian host, their eyes were opened. Instead of being faced with an attack, they were offered spiritual food and drink; and whatever else the end result may have been, they at last returned to their former spiritual home with respect for this new Word of God, and the people who serve the Lord. They no longer sent attacking bands into the land of Israel.

So far we have treated the text as it applies to the church as it struggles for existence in a hostile world. Yet, in the internal sense, all of the elements of the story answer to different states within our own minds. If we have ever felt intimidated by negative arguments it is, after all, because these arguments answer to doubts in our own hearts. The Syrian army, therefore, represents the falsities and doubts in the natural mind. These may be aroused from time to time, as if preparing to destroy the host of doctrines which make up our faith. But the Writings have taught us to understand the nature of doubt, and we find ourselves escaping from the attack before it is fully formed. In the end we realize that if our doubts are to be effective they must be directed, not against individual beliefs, but against the Writings themselves.

306

Accordingly, we turn to the Writings and wonder whether they could possibly be the Word of God. Judged from their appearances, they are the works of a man, written in a curious style. As we reflect, countless arguments seem to mount up against them, prominent among them being the fact that the New Church is small and is growing slowly in a world where other beliefs are growing fast.
     As the ring of false argument surrounds us, and our affection of serving the Lord is in danger, we are reminded of the many glorious internal truths we have perceived in reading the Writings, the living understanding they have inspired in our hearts like horses of fire, and the doctrine of spiritual charity and usefulness like the chariots of fire. This army is countless, extending through the mountains of the internal mind, and communicating with the entire angelic heavens in whose light we have seen the light and glory of the Lord Himself.

     But our doubts can hardly hope to grapple with these inner perceptions, for they are on a different plane entirely. We can safely say, therefore, that our internal convictions are beyond doubt. However, it is important that the difficulties of the natural mind be answered, for until we can come to reconcile our convictions with the fallacious appearances of earthly life, our faith is vulnerable. Dothan, representing the particulars of belief in the internal mind, was where the servant of Elisha stood and saw the mountains full of chariots and horses of fire. But this is not the way for the natural mind to find the Man whom we seek. For this we must enter into a careful re-study of the actual words of the Writings, taking them up and reading them as if we were new to the truths there revealed. This re-study is often attended with some surprising results as we discover that the Writings are infinitely truer than our memory of them, and if allowed to speak for themselves can explain fallacious appearances and at the same time open up new wonders of heavenly wisdom. In Samaria our eyes are opened, and we receive new nourishment from the Lord as a merciful reply to our turbulent and negative attitude. Ultimately our doubts can be answered altogether, for the Lord wills that there shall be peace in our hearts. As was said of the Syrian army: "And he prepared great provision for them; and when they had eaten and drunk he sent them away, and they went to their master. So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel." Amen.

LESSONS:     II Kings 6: 8-23. Revelation 19: 11-21. HD 36-44.
MUSIC:     Liturgy, pages 466, 462, 464.
PRAYERS:     Liturgy, nos. 48, 52.

307

WRITINGS AND THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD 1962

WRITINGS AND THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD WILLIAM R. KINTNER 1962

     New Church men facing the contemporary world scene cannot ignore the profound impact of the Writings, particularly the Second Coming, on the present social and political order. It is now commonplace to say that we live in an era of revolution-a revolutionary period which might well terminate in the disappearance of the world order which history had so pleasantly provided for western man. The New Church was born nearly 200 years ago. In a comparable period of time the first Christian church had already established strong roots within the Roman empire and was prepared for a dynamic expansion at the very center of the pagan Roman world. It has been argued that the acceptance of Christianity hastened the collapse of the universal Roman order. While Christianity spread most rapidly among the barbarian gentiles who destroyed Rome, the foundations for the growth of the church were laid in a civilization destined to die at Christianity's birth.

     Can any parallels be drawn between the spread of Christianity and of the New Church? We are told in the Apocalypse Explained that during the "time, and times, and half a time" in which the woman who bore the man child is to be protected from the dragon, the church will be with but a few. Yet, somehow, we take for granted that the progression of the church to many will occur in the social order that surrounds us. We know that the woman hid in the wilderness, a waste barren of truths because there was no good, or where truths were maligned and falsified. We know also that the New Church must first grow in heaven before it can be fully received on earth.
     There are two other obstacles to be overcome in this world before the church will spread. There must be men who "can be interiorly affected by truths" and who have not destroyed their intellectual faculty by the loves of self and the world. Also, the influence of the doctrine of faith alone-in all its modern variations-must diminish.
     On the ultimate plane the dominant world conflict appears to be between societies ruled by totalitarian materialists, on the one hand, and pluralistic, increasingly secular nations on the other. Intellectual persuasions that block the genuine affection of truth hold sway on both sides of the Iron Curtain.

308

In fact, spiritual turmoil and upheaval is probably ultimated in the revolutionary conflict within and between societies dominating this 20th century. This condition has implications to both the immediate and future life of the New Church.
     We of the church recognize that the Writings have introduced new spiritual freedoms to the human mind. The anarchy and confusion which reign in contemporary thinking reflect the shattering of spiritual bondage formerly contrived by now vastated religions. However, it is a far step from this admission to recognize the existence of forces that may influence the duration of the troubled period of "time, and times, and half a time."

     The world around us increasingly corresponds with the picture of modern man drawn in Revelation. We see everywhere a rebellion against the once cherished values of the West-the culture in which the Writings were first introduced; we witness the breakdown of ancient cultures, many of which are the spiritual descendants of former perverted revelations; and we see the enshrinement of science as the modern god which will lead man to some unspecified earthly heaven. Finally, we live in a conflict, global in scope, between the advocates of "scientific materialism" and those who, in varying fashion, embody the residual values of Christianity wedded to the humanism of the renaissance and the enlightenment of Swedenborg's century.
     This pervasive struggle in the political sphere has been described by Sir Winston Churchill as the "most rending schism ever to affect humanity." Most key protagonists in this conflict, and most astute observers of it, agree that its peak will be reached-in fact, the conflict may be decided-before the end of this century. If the communists should triumph, scientific materialism will become for a long time the enforced political and spiritual dogma of mankind. The tribulation of "the woman in the wilderness" will be correspondingly extended.
     At issue in the global struggle between vast political systems are basic human values regarding the nature of man and his role in the universe. Yet an anomaly of the conflict is that the leaders, at least, of the communist world appear to advance their materialistic philosophy with more ardor and dedication than do the adherents of western pluralism. It seems evident that the communists have been able to marshal, thus far, a greater effort in their campaign to destroy spiritual and political freedoms than the West has been able to muster in their defense.
     It is commonplace for man, whatever his circumstance, to hearken back to the good old days when virtue and commitment to values were far more apparent than in the stormy present.

309

This notwithstanding, it is revealing to see how candidly our contemporaries outside the New Church assess today's spiritual darkness. The following examples selected at random are illustrative.
     "The great religions of the world are dying," states Rabbi Arthur Lelyveld, a leader of the Jewish Reconstructionist movement, "although there are no visible death throes . . . religion is simply no longer an effective force in our society for it is no longer the measure by which a culture evaluates itself."
     The Reverend Doctor Robert W. Spike of the United Church of Christ, says that thinness of feeling plagues the nation, resulting in religiosity instead of religion. "The much touted increase in church membership . . . is a cover-up for a real loss of faith." He also stated that the threat of ultimate secularization may be the best things that could happen to Christianity because it may force the church to shake off its complacency and face the world as it is.
     The British author Desmond Fennell, in an article in Spectator magazine reports on the inward dissatisfaction of the Swedish people living under the model welfare state. He comments that free love and excessive drinking replace respect for the king and religion. "Religion and shame are things you must feel ashamed of. . . . The only people who disagree radically with the reigning orthodoxy-Communists and Catholics, for their different reasons-are regarded officially as bad Swedes." He goes on to say: "A special consequence of the thesis or the assumption, 'There is no world but this,' is the importance which death acquires. If there is no life after this, then, obviously, the most important event in life is death."

     Perhaps more significant is the philosophical insight of the perceptive British historian, R. G. Collingswood. He anticipated the consequences of the rejection by the West of its established values long before they were flaunted by the open nihilism and anarchy of this century. In his autobiography, Collingswood described the influence of the "realist school at Oxford" in which the learned dons advanced the principle that people can act morally without moral philosophy. His description of the intellectual school which has come to dominate western man bears repeating. "The 'realist' said to his pupils, 'If it interests you to study this, do so; but don't think that it will be of any use to you. Remember the great principle of realism, that nothing is effected by being known. That is as true of human action as of anything else. Moral philosophy is only the theory of moral action. People can act just as morally without it. I stand here as a moral philosopher; I will try to tell you what acting morally is, but don't expect me to tell you how to do it.'"

310

     Since Collingswood's day the confusion of values which he perceived has become apparent in almost every facet of western social life. For example, Margaret Meade, a leading anthropologist has written copiously on the blending of functional uses between man and woman. She has commented on the process of feminine emancipation which, in the more advanced societies, has sometimes led to the subordination of man. All too often the virile family leader has been transformed into a domestic servant of his wife and an overworked Aladdin whose sole aim is to placate an ever more demanding matriarch.
     Perhaps, the most illustrative of the Last Judgment's description of the human situation is Philip Wylie's capsule description of American society, circa 1942. In his chapter entitled, "Catastrophe, Christ, and Chemistry," he stated:

     "We have cancer-cancer of the soul. Religion has failed. Indeed, its widespread adoption and the holocausts which followed strongly suggest that religion, as we have known and thought about it, will never reappear importantly in the councils of man. Germany, as I said, was religious. So was Russia; so was Italy. But the behavior of Germany is in no way different today from the behavior of Japan, a country known to be heathen, barbaric, and full of grisly mummery.
     Some time ago, the organized churches of the world took a body blow from science. Science revealed their orthodoxy as sham-a business largely pagan in origin, and partly cheap psychology in practice. The subsequent retreat of the church, or its demoralization, had a more sinister effect upon people than is generally imagined."

     In such a milieu even the idea that the core of the present disturbance is between communist scientific materialism and western humanism, has almost disappeared. A defense against totalitarianism is deemed negative. In its stead, the present friction between western democracies and totalitarian communism is asserted to be but another phase of the recurrent struggles between one or another competing idea. A distinguished American, Eleanor Roosevelt, wishes us to be more positive: "There seem to be no slogans today . . . but in prose, if not in poetry, we can specify the ends towards which our foreign policy should be directed. The aim of the United States should be to build a peaceful world of autonomous, prospering democracies . . . perhaps the phrase 'world welfare' can serve to summarize them here."
     At the same time, there are others who have thrown away their spiritual moorings, altogether. They contend that the West is at fault because it hypocritically gives superficial adherence to the religious ideas in which it no longer believes. Typical of this view is the following observation by Robert Bendimer, a former editor of the Nation: "It is not the avowed agnostic who threatens the health of society . . . it is the religious communicant who does not mean what he says, who uses religion to maintain his status or advance his career."

311

     Others equally as concerned as Bendimer with the hypocrisy of our time, take a more sanguine view of the present confusion. They find comfort in the belief that man has always conquered the various isms that individual men have tried to impose on him. They conclude that the current conflict of values is basically no different than any of the other philosophical and spiritual crises that have hitherto plagued mankind.
     Some take a more optimistic view. To them this is familiar stuff.
     But the "we've been through all this before" assessment overlooks some novel characteristics of the contemporary communist system which has usurped the fascist role of the forties. Spiritually speaking, the most important challenge which communism represents to the western world in general, and to the New Church in particular, is its deeply held concept that man is totally a creature of the environmental forces impinging upon him. Environment is the omnipotent force of communism. Heredity is almost completely ignored as a factor shaping the human personality; and the Swedenborgian idea that unseen spiritual life might influence the birth and development of the human being is dismissed as archaic phantasy.
     If the Masters of the Kremlin should triumph, the communist future heaven on earth will not be peopled by New Church men but by the new communist man. This model person will be in turn created by a rationally designed process of conditioned reflex-the mechanics of communist soul surgery. A communist variant of faith alone is the belief that man is inherently good. In short, man does not need to atone for wrongdoing since environment is alone responsible for whatever man does, good or bad. The evidence for the contention that the communists plan to remake man is quite comprehensive. Hadley Cantril, in his book, Soviet Leaders and Mastery over Man, presents many examples of communist adherence to this belief.

     "The theme of creating a new Soviet man has been stressed incessantly. In 1927, a leading Soviet educator stated that the 'over-all task of Soviet education is to change the character of the Russian people.' A leading Soviet psychologist has recently written, 'It is possible to develop all socially indispensable characteristics of the personality in every type of person.' After a thorough review of the way Soviet psychology regards the nature of man, Robert C. Tucker, an American expert on the Soviets concluded '. . . nothing is more striking than the insistent endeavor to empty man of all inner springs of action, to visualize human nature as motivationally inert.'
     "In its discussion of 'morality,' the Great Soviet Encyclopaedia . . . denies the importance of the uniqueness of the individual due to genetic factors, to personal feelings or anxieties stemming from his unique personal history, as well as denying the value of satisfaction associated with independence, with the capacity to make decisions concerning what goals should be pursued, a denial of personal development and emergence, etc. . . .

312

There is opposition to all attempts to account for human behavior and its motivational roots on any level except by socioeconomic determinization."

     The experimentally derived theories of Pavlov provided the theory for implementing the philosophical structure of Marxism. The debt which communism owes to Pavlov is immense. He gives "scientific" verification for the most unscientific thesis advanced by Marx. Pavlov contends that a person's beliefs and his actual behavior can be affected by modification of the functioning of the cerebral cortex, which will in turn influence the physiology of man's higher nervous activity, which is the closest equivalent that the communists come to with respect to the more prevalent understanding of the mind.
     Pavlov says, "The total integrity of the higher nervous activity I present thus. In the higher animals, including man, the first mechanism for the complex correlation of the organism with surroundings is the neighboring sub-cortex with its intricate unconditioned external agents. Hence the limited orientation in the milieu and with it a weak adaption. The second step in the correlation is made by the cerebral hemispheres, but without the frontal lobes. Here arises with the help of the conditioned connections, associations, a new principle of activity."
     Contrast this with the Doctrine of Life (par. 86).

     "Man possesses a natural mind and a spiritual mind. The natural mind is below, and the spiritual mind is above. The natural mind is the mind of man's world, and the spiritual mind is the mind of his heaven . . . man is discriminated from the animal by possessing a spiritual mind."

     From Pavlov have come the "brain washing" techniques. The non-communist world has learned about them through the famous trials resulting from the notorious purges of the thirties and through the writings of sensitive former communists such as Koestler, whose Darkness at Noon was an expose of the application of modern techniques to the destruction of human personality. Yet, in all fairness to the communists, it should be noted that these "new" techniques are not altogether new. The British psychologist, William Sargant, for example, described comparable techniques employed by Wesley and others in the process of conversion.
     The mechanics of the conditioned reflex are repugnant to individualistic western man. But one should not overlook the goals to which they are applied. Ever since the renaissance, the West has extolled the individual, often to the neglect, if not at the expense, of his proper contribution toward society. Communism represents the other swing of the pendulum.

313

Its most moving expression, "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs," might well be the motto of the spiritual heavens, whose inhabitants love their neighbors better than themselves.
     There is, however, one fundamental difference that we must not ignore. The human being, growing up under an organized communist society, is conditioned by group education and participation to think, at least externally, in terms of his social contribution, rather than his individual gratification. Western man, reared in a pluralistic and individualistic society, is often trained to think of himself first and only secondarily of others. Nevertheless, the ideal of genuine service toward others is never dismissed. Indeed, in the West, the willingness of the individual to make a social contribution is encouraged. If a man reared in our society genuinely wants to place the needs of those around him foremost, the commitment is a personal and spiritual one rather than a conditioned response to the form of collective education.
     The Soviet educational system to which we have alluded is part of the total communist effort to manipulate and create a new type of Soviet man through completely restructuring the external environment. This effort is consistent with the Marxian belief that materialistic forces shape all human activity, and that human consciousness itself is but a manifestation of material forces.

     If the foregoing manifestations of communist philosophy and implementing techniques were not wedded to an increasing array of physical power, the problem that they pose to human freedom would be less significant. But, unfortunately, the communist movement since the time of Lenin has emphasized the acquisition of power to the exclusion of almost all other considerations. In the long context of history the geographical expansion of communism and the increase of its physical-industrial base in a period of less than three generations is almost without parallel. We see the future but dimly. It does seem apparent, however, that, in Providence, the ideas which communism represents-essentially that men can be as gods in a universe in which a loving and all-wise Creator has been denied-are a formidable challenge to the residual values that western man somehow retains.
     The promise of the New Church is that man could enter intellectually into the mysteries of faith. It has been accompanied by an equal freedom to deny, in a far more profound and scientific manner, the base of all faith.
     In the two centuries that have passed since the advent of the Writings, humanity has experienced the now shattered optimism of the 19th century. This disillusionment seems to have been a preparation for the moral and intellectual anarchy of the present age.

314

The 20th century of "isms" has demonstrated the power of compelling ideas and the tyranny of man toward man when he rejects all transcendental authority over his actions. Under fascism, the inherent evil of man once he rejected the external veneer of morality was nakedly revealed. The communists, however, have been far more astute in masking their drive for unlimited power and dominion over men under the banners of an apparently constructive moral appeal.
     This rending conflict of values would be serious enough were it not aggravated by the tremendous technological change brought about by the introduction of thermonuclear weapons. One can dismiss the view that a nuclear war, if one should ensue from this conflict of values, would be the complete end of human life. The immense destruction implicit in such a type of war is horrendous enough to make many people tend to believe that there are no issues at stake important enough to justify fighting over them. In the West this point of view has led to an ever growing school of thought that the pursuit of peace is more important than any other goal. This belief carries with it the potential demise of that political order in which the New Church has thus far found its only reception.
     Throughout the West there is a crisis of will and a lack of consensus as to how to meet the challenge imposed by materialistic totalitarianism. At the same time, the growing secularism of the West has tended to obscure the underlying values which are at stake. New Church men should understand that the West, with all its imperfections, still stands for political and spiritual freedom. It is only such freedom which permits an individual to accept voluntarily the truths of the Writings.

     The acceptance of the New Church by man is far more dependent upon an external environment of genuine freedom than has been the case in previous dispensations. Many conversions to Christianity and Islam were made by the sword. Freedom, as we have come to know it in the West, is a relatively rare phenomenon in human history. Dr. Herbert J. Muller, Professor of English and Government at the University of Indiana, in Freedom of the Ancient World, says that except in some of the Greek city-states, there was little freedom in antiquity. He maintains that the absence of freedom was particularly noticeable in ancient Sumaria, Egypt, Babylon, Assyria and Persia. Since the renaissance, politically and spiritually free societies have been largely confined to western Europe and the areas colonized by Great Britain. The existence of such free societies was a precondition of Swedenborg's revelation, just as it is for the initial acceptance of the Writings.
     What are the implications to the New Church man of this situation?

315

The Writings state that the acceptance of the New Church will take a considerable period of time. During this time three things must be accomplished. These are: 1) the barriers standing in the way of interior affection of truth must be lowered; 2) the deceptive doctrine of faith alone must lose its appeal, and 3) the new heavens must grow in numbers. The early Christians could not have converted the barbarians without the mediating influence of Rome. Nor can we reach the Gentiles bound by totalitarian materialism or seduced by western secularism without an environment of freedom. We in the New Church, however, cannot take for granted the protections provided by existing freedoms available to the western world. It should therefore be apparent that New Church men, as far as they can, should make every effort to contribute to the defense of those countries which comprise the West, in order to insure that the "woman" will be secure during a "time, and times, and half a time." Communist hegemony of the world, for what ever period, could extend the spiritual travail of man for an exceptionally long time.
It should be incumbent upon the men of the church to contribute, as they can, to the protection of the pluralistic environment which can best nurture the church's future growth. At the same time, this environment, although it does provide the protection of external freedom, is in many ways as hostile toward spiritual truth as is overt materialism. While we live in this spiritual wilderness, so graphically described in the Apocalypse Explained, we must arm ourselves with the knowledges that alone can protect us from the seductions and intellectual phantasies of the world around us. Like the Revelator, we must make a determined effort to understand and deal with the intellectual trends pervasive to the modern mind. As long as communism is contained, the New Church man will not face martyrdoms comparable to those of the early Christians, but he will have to cope skillfully with the equally deadly rational deceptions which characterize modern western man. The Lord will work in marvelous ways His wonders to perform. But He works through human instruments who are both dedicated and intelligent. By striving now to preserve what is worthy in our inheritance we can help spread the Writings to all mankind.
Colonel William R. Kintner 1962

Colonel William R. Kintner Editor 1962

[Colonel William R. Kintner, United States Army (retired), is deputy director of the Foreign Policy Research Institute and professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a co-author of Protracted Conflict and A Forward Strategy for America. His latest book, The New Frontier of War, is an analysis of communist psychopolitical warfare. Formerly members of the General Church society in Washington, D. C.. Col. and Mrs. Kintner and their family now live in Bryn Athyn. EDITOR.]

316

VARIETY AND DIVERSITY 1962

VARIETY AND DIVERSITY Rev. KENNETH O. STROH 1962

     It is a marvellous thing that in all of creation, both spiritual and natural, no person or thing is exactly the same as another. For everything that the Lord makes looks toward the performance of some use to eternity: every Divine work has regard to infinity and eternity. Wherefore there is never one animal, one tree or one stone that is exactly the same as another. No two human faces are either alike or identical, nor will they be to eternity. No two fingerprints are precisely the same, which is why the fingerprint can be used for positive identification. Neither is anyone's mind, his thoughts and affections, quite like the mind of anyone else. For every human being was created to lead a life that is distinct from the life of others.
     Yet men often expect others to be the same as themselves. They are inclined to judge the worth of another man's life and work on the basis of the extent to which his inclinations, his thoughts and affections are identical with their own. They tend to regard differences of thought and feeling as matters of opposition, involving a basic antipathy. As this attitude is contrary to the doctrine of charity, and destructive of unity in the life of the church, it may be useful to reflect on the true nature and purpose of variety, on the one hand, and diversity on the other.*
* Cf. LJ 13.

     Every created thing that has form, and thus existence, must be made up of various parts. If it does not consist of various parts it can have no form, and therefore no quality, for the form and quality of anything is according to the order and arrangement of the parts which constitute it. Likewise, the unity and the harmony of anything arises from the mutual relation of its parts and from their inclination and consent to unity; wherefore the perfection of any form is according to the order and the arrangement of its parts, and the perfection increases according to the number and variety of the parts which compose the form.*
* Cf. LJ 12.
     As variety is essential to the perfection of all forms, so is it necessary to the health and well-being of the human mind. For if the mind is kept from day to day in the same ideas, without change, it becomes dull, weak, and open to the influence of evil spirits.

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So, if the eyes look only at one object or continually at one color, the power of sight is weakened. "Thus, if one looks continually at the snow the sight is destroyed; but it is enlivened if he looks in succession or at the same time upon many colors. Every form delights by its varieties, as a garland of roses of different colors arranged in beautiful order. Hence it is that the rainbow is more charming than the light itself."* For variety gives delight to the mind; and the nature of the delight is determined by the nature of the variety.
* Char. 190.
     Thus the Lord's kingdom in the heavens, His kingdom where the angels know delights that cannot be expressed in worldly language, contains innumerable varieties. Heaven is divided into two kingdoms, the celestial kingdom whose angels are inmostly in love of the Lord, and the spiritual kingdom whose angels are inmostly in love of the neighbor or charity. There are three heavens-the first or lowest heaven, the second or middle heaven and the third or highest heaven, and the heavens consist of innumerable societies or groupings of angels. These divisions and groupings of the angels are according to the differences of charity and faith among them, the differences of good and truth. These differences are without number. Yet, taken together, all of the angels form one heaven before the Lord. The perfection of the form of this one heaven is according to the variety in it, and its variety is in direct proportion to the number of angels who dwell there.

     In the Heavenly Doctrine this perfection in the form of heaven is compared to the perfection in form of the human body which corresponds to it. For in man's body there are different parts, different organs, different viscera with so many little viscera within the visceral parts which cannot be counted for multitude. Each has an activity, power and motion that are slightly different from those of all of the others. Yet the entire body is one and acts as one; for all of the parts are governed by one motion of the heart and one motion of the lungs, and they all contain one soul. Likewise all of heaven is as one man before the Lord, each of its functions corresponding with some part of the human body; and they all act as a one because they are all governed by one influx of life, an influx of affections from the Lord, from His mercy and from His life. For love of the Lord and mutual love or charity bind all of the angels together in common purpose; and the same thing must be true of the Lord's kingdom on earth, which is His church, if it is to be united before Him as one man.*
* Cf. AC 1285, 3986.
     The fact is that in its essence all good is one, but it becomes various by means of truths. Indeed, each man has his own use, his own loves, his own delights, thus his own good.

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But he has this good from the inflowing life of the Lord, who alone is good, and regarded in itself this good is one. Yet this good is made various in different men by means of truth, for it is truth which qualifies good, which gives it form and therefore existence. Truths are countless. Therefore when truths are joined with and give form to goods or uses, then goods become countless. Swedenborg illustrates this by noting that "from only twenty-three letters, put together in different ways, there can arise the words of all languages, and even with a perpetual variety if there were thousands of languages. What, then, may not arise from thousands and myriads of various things such as truths?"* So good, although one, still can be various with every individual, so various that to all eternity it cannot be exactly the same with one as with another.
* AC 7236. Cf. AC 4149.

     This infinite variety has its source in the Lord Himself, for all things originate from the Divine, which is infinite. This is why there is everywhere an image of the infinite and the eternal. For instance, the seed of any tree, grain or flower is so created that it may be multiplied to infinity and endure to eternity. From only one seed many more are produced; and if each of these were to bear fruit in an uninterrupted fructification, the earth, indeed many earths, could soon be filled with its produce; for in all things of creation there is an image of infinity and eternity, because all things were created by the infinite God-Man. Hence in the angelic heaven of men and women angels there is the highest form of this image.*
* Cf. LJ 13.
     Now, because there are infinite things in God, there are also things without limit in the spiritual sun, which is the first proceeding from Him. By means of the spiritual sun the Divine love and wisdom proceed, that these numberless things may take form, as in an image, in the universe. To this purpose certain constants are created, so that the varieties of things may exist within their framework. Thus there are things relatively constant, such as the regular revolutions of the earth, the consequent times of day and seasons of the years, the atmospheres, waters and lands. All these relatively constant things have been created in order that infinitely varied things may have existence by means of them. And all are created by the Lord God, who is infinite and eternal.*
* Cf. DLW 155; DP 190.
     Yet it should be emphasized that, in the Lord's kingdom in the heavens and on the earth, the varieties of form, of face and body, of love and wisdom do not arise from the influx of the Lord's life, but rather from the way in which His inflowing life is variously received by men and angels.

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For while there are infinite things in the Lord, still, in Him they are distinctly one; and the inflowing life from the Lord is one, for He is unchanging and is everywhere and to eternity the same. This is like the life of man, which flows in and acts upon the different parts of his body; but the eye sees in one way, the ear hears in another, the tongue tastes in still another, the hands and feet move each in their own way, the heart, the lungs, the liver and the stomach act each in its own way. Nevertheless one life moves them all, not because the life moves in different ways, but because it is differently received. Variety in the Lord's kingdom does not arise from the influx of life, but from its reception.*
* AC 4206, 3890.

     Hence also is diversity. For while variety involves differences among things of one kind, diversity involves differences between things that are opposite. For example, in heaven there are myriads of angels, with unending variety as to their faces, the tone of their voices, their affections and thoughts, their minds and their souls: yet they all act in harmony, for the Lord has arranged them into one form, in which there is full unanimity and internal agreement. Thus is the variety in heaven. But diversities are the opposites of these varieties, which are in hell. The devils and satans in hell are diametrically opposite to the angels in heaven, and the varieties in hell are the complete opposites of the varieties in heaven; hence they are diversities.*
* CL 324.
     Man, while in the world, has freedom of choice in spiritual things, whereby he may determine the nature and degree of his reception of love and wisdom from the Lord. He can turn his mind toward the Lord, worship Him, pray to Him, obey His commandments and follow the leading of His Providence; or he can turn away from the Lord, inwardly reject holy things, break the Lord's commandments in spirit and deny the Divine Providence at heart. There is an infinite variety of ways in which a man may follow and serve the Lord. Likewise there is a variety of ways in which he may reject and deny the Lord. But between the life of heaven and that of hell there is not variety but diversity; for hell is opposed to heaven, and would destroy it if it could.
     It is the duty of the men and women of the church to attempt to distinguish between what is of heavenly variety on the one hand, and of infernal diversity on the other. In all things of church life we must look for that which is of the Lord, and must endeavor to follow His leading; and we must reject that which is opposed to the teachings of the Divine Word, for that which is opposed comes from hell and would destroy the church.

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But we must also be very careful not to confuse variety with diversity. We must be careful not to succumb to the notion that because something that is proposed or done is not in accordance with our customs or ideas, therefore it is not good for the church. That is diverse which is destructive of mutual love, or the spirit of charity; and the men and women of the church ought to shun all that is opposed to the plain teaching of the Heavenly Doctrine, and that would tend to weaken the power of the Divine Word in their lives, and turn them away from the Lord.
     For there are three things that are essential to the church: a belief in the Lord as the God of heaven and earth, a belief in the holiness of the Divine Word, and the life of charity. And there is room in the church for differences in the understanding of doctrine, for varieties of emphasis and application of this or that doctrinal matter, and for different tastes regarding the external forms of worship. There is room in the church for different forms of application of the doctrine of church government, and for different opinions and habits in the realm of social life. But if the three essentials of the church are strongly held, if the men and women of the church are sincerely trying to follow the Lord as His will is revealed in the Heavenly Doctrine, and if they are ruled by mutual love or charity, then differences will not be divisive, but will perfect the church, and will be as the various precious jewels in the crown of a king.* This is why the entire New Church in the aggregate is represented in the Apocalypse by the "seven churches which are in Asia," by the seven golden lampstands in the midst of which was one like unto the Son of man; and it also is why all the goods and truths of the church are represented in the Old Testament by the twelve sons of Jacob and the tribes of Israel.
* Cf. DP 259; AR 66; AC 1285.

     For true unanimity in the New Church must come from the internal harmony amongst its members. Because unity, that it may be perfect, must be formed from variety. In the Heavenly Father's house there are many mansions. And reflection on this truth should provide both comfort and inspiration to the New Church man. For not only should it lead him to be tolerant of those differences which do not violate essentials, but it should also bring him to realize that there is a place for him in the church and a need for him to serve it. For every person was created to perform a use to the church and to heaven; and the origin of the varieties in the forms of use are to be found in the Lord God Jesus Christ who created them, and in whom infinite things are one.
     So it is that the church is perfected as it grows, and is enriched by an increasing variety of human minds. As this happens, the Lord's life and love flows into the church through charity, and thus the Lord works in the church in various ways, in accordance with the genius of each person.

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So the Lord can dispose all things into His order, so that the church is united and is one, as heaven is one. And then the will of the Lord is done, as He Himself teaches, "as in the heavens, so upon the earth."
HOLY SUPPER 1962

HOLY SUPPER Rev. A. WYNNE ACTON 1962

     (Delivered at the Ministers' Meetings of the South African Mission, Kent Manor, January 14, 1962.)

     Throughout the Christian era, countless persons have received strength and comfort from partaking of the Holy Supper in furtherance of the Lord's commandment: "This do in remembrance of Me." Despite the many fallacious ideas that have arisen concerning its meaning, any person who approaches this sacrament in a truly humble spirit-seeking the Lord's help in his life-will receive benefit from it. To the New Church its full significance is now revealed that we may receive still greater benefit from partaking of this sacrament which is said to be the most holy thing of the church. We read: "It has pleased the Lord to reveal the spiritual sense of the Word, to enable the New Church to enter the real use and benefit of the two sacraments, Baptism and the Holy Supper."*
* TCR 700.
     The New Church teaching is based on the idea that there is a spiritual world and a natural world, the one within the other, although on entirely distinct planes. The natural world, and everything in it, is a perfect counterpart of the spiritual world, having come forth from it as a cause, so that everything in the natural world has something exactly corresponding to it in the spiritual world.
     Man dwells in both worlds at the same time; as to his spirit in the spiritual world, and as to his body in the natural world. The spirit has the same five senses as the body, and they are as perfectly adapted to life in the spiritual world as the bodily senses are adapted to life in this world. For this reason man's spirit needs its nourishment as much as his body needs it. The spiritual food which can build a healthy spirit descends from the Lord out of heaven, and we may receive it through the Divine truths of the Word. As we learn its holy teachings, and make them to be a part of our lives, our spirit is being fed just as really as our body is fed by natural food.

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     In the Holy Supper especially are we invited to partake of this spiritual food; as the bread and wine are absorbed into our bodies, so do the corresponding love and wisdom enter into our spirits. The bread is the Divine love, which is the only substance in itself living. Therefore the Lord said: "I am the bread of life."* This is not merely a figure of speech, for the "bread of life" corresponds to the Divine love, and this is the substance out of which the universe was created, and from which it continues in being. Thus in partaking of the bread we acknowledge that every living thing we have, both spiritual and natural, is from the Lord. The bread is unleavened to represent the purity of the Divine love inflowing.
* John 6: 35.
     The wine, as a symbol of the blood of the Lamb, corresponds to the Divine truth, which is the form of the Divine love and the means of its operating. In partaking of this we may be reminded that our spiritual life comes to us by the teaching of His Word. Differently than the bread, the wine must be fermented, for the truths that we learn are immediately mingled with our own falsities. Through trial and temptation these false ideas must be cast out, as dregs of wine in the process of fermentation, that we may receive the purified truth inflowing from the Lord which is represented by the pure wine.
     Because of the close correspondential relation of everything natural with its spiritual cause we are actually offered spiritual food in this sacrament. But the degree to which we can profit by it will depend on our own state, for we are told: "The Lord is present and opens heaven to those who come worthily to the Holy Supper, and He is also present to those who come unworthily, but He does not open heaven to them."*
* TCR 719.

     What, then, qualifies us as being worthy? Certainly it is not our own goodness; not that we, as the Pharisee, see ourselves as better than other men. For the conceit present in this attitude savors of the love of self, which would render us most unworthy. On the contrary, it is the honest recognition of one's own unworthiness which enables him to approach this sacrament worthily. Let no man ever think he is unworthy to approach the Lord, provided he does so humbly and sincerely, with the firm determination to make his life stronger in the way of the Lord.
     General preparation for the Holy Supper is our daily life of religion, and so we are told that "those come to the Holy Supper worthily, who have faith in the Lord and charity toward the neighbor."* This continual striving to lead a regenerate life, however, must as it were be reinforced by a more particular preparation, namely, that of self-examination.

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This will enable us to see particular evils in our lives, and we can then approach the Lord humbly, asking His help in overcoming them.
* TCR 722.
What benefits may we expect to derive from the Holy Supper? In the first place, it is looking toward conjunction with the Lord and the opening of heaven to us; and to those who approach it worthily there is a building up and securing of spiritual states which are of eternal benefit, though we can but dimly be aware of them. After all, regeneration is a Divine work, for the most part beyond human consciousness, and this is one way in which we permit the Lord to effect His work within us. In a similar way, good states formed during childhood and youth-without active awareness at the time-are a source of strength in later adult trials. But how far these internal blessings are effective is entirely dependent upon our more external response. We may be strengthened by realizing and remembering that we have entered into a new covenant with the Lord; we have ultimated before Him our desire to overcome certain evils and to amend our lives, and this very fact should give us fresh inspiration and courage. We are not to expect some mysterious result but to know that in the degree of our sincerity and the effort following, the Lord will strengthen us in our spiritual aspirations.
We have in a small degree touched on the meaning of the Holy Supper, and it is proper that we should give much study and thought to this that we may enter more fully into its benefits. But far more important is our general attitude. The essential thing is that we are seeking help from the Lord in our spiritual efforts; and that even if our understanding is very limited, we are humbly following His injunction: "This do in remembrance of Me." Realizing in all humility our own weakness, we may rejoice that the Lord has established this sacrament as a pillar of strength for us, and say in the spirit of the Psalmist: "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord."*
* Psalm 122: 1.
USES OF PATRIOTISM 1962

USES OF PATRIOTISM 1962

"Our country is to be benefited from love, according to its necessities, which chiefly regard its sustenance, its civil life, and its spiritual life. He who loves his country, and from good will benefits it, in the other life loves the Lord's kingdom; for there the Lord's kingdom is his country" (Arcana Coelestia 6821).

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SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER SCHOOL 1962

SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER SCHOOL DONNETTE AND LENNART ALFELT 1962

     Last summer many Scandinavian New Church men were heading for Jonkoping and the first New Church summer course there. The advance notices about the course promised an interesting and rewarding time. Three subjects were on the program: "The Doctrine of Use," "The Land of Canaan" and "The Life of The Lord." The Rev. Bjorn Boyesen had composed the classes and was also the lecturer, while the technical arrangements were in the able hands of the members of the Jonkoping Circle, headed by Mr. Lennart Fornander.
     On the afternoon of July 27th, a beautiful Swedish summer day, the participants began to arrive at Jonkoping, wonderfully situated at the southern end of the second largest lake in Sweden. The city has been known the world over as the manufacturing center of matches "Made in Sweden." There for some decades, a group of New Church men have been active and now constitute the second largest group in Sweden belonging to the General Church. The activity of the Circle is centered in an apartment remodeled by members of the Circle into a simple but dignified room for worship, a room for doctrinal classes, socials etc., a small kitchen and an entrance hall, which now served as a registration bureau.

     The registration was quickly done, everything being well prepared and organized in advance. Of particular interest was a folder for each of the participants, containing not only course material, but also a wealth of information about the city and its surroundings.
     The same evening we gathered for a social at the Fornanders' suburban home. There were glad shouts in several languages as friends met after several years of separation. Of course the three Scandinavian tongues were predominant. Miss Margit Boyesen of Bryn Athyn charmed her audience (and perhaps confused some) by elegantly and unknowingly switching over from Swedish to English, sometimes in the middle of a sentence; and Karen Doering of Baltimore, U. S. A., en route home after a lengthy stay in France, had much to tell us in her soft Gallic accent. We thus got a good opportunity of renewing old friendships and establishing new while we enjoyed the delicious sandwiches prepared by Mrs. Lennart Fornander. We were reminded of the purpose of the gathering by words of welcome by the Rev. Bjorn Boyesen and by a poetical prologue, written and recited by Mr. Stig Svensson.

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     The activities of the following day, as well as of the rest of the conference days, were begun by a service in the Church Hall. The sessions of the Summer Course were held in the room adjoining the Church Hall.
     The first subject taken up was "The Doctrine of Use." Mr. Boyesen caught our interest from the beginning by placing the question of uses right in the middle of our daily life and by expounding the teachings of the Writings on the subject in such a way, that use stood forth as a practical reality to our minds. The course was an adaptation of a study on the subject Mr. Boyesen had made for the British Assembly 1961. (See NEW CHURCH LIFE, November 1961.) After each session time was reserved for questions. It was particularly interesting to note from their many questions how eagerly the large Danish group had followed the lectures in spite of the difficulties in fully understanding the Swedish language.

     After a short recess the second lesson of the day started. The subject was now "The Land of Canaan." During this and the following lectures on the subject Mr. Boyesen unfolded the marvelous significance of the Middle Eastern area in general and of the Land of Canaan in particular in the Lord's revelation of Himself, His kingdom, and of the workings of His handiwork, the human mind. Eloquently the speaker showed how by means of correspondences the Lord uses the ultimates of His creation in that particular area, its seas and rivers, its mountains and valleys, its plains and forests, its cities and fields and its peoples to describe and guide in the Divine drama of preparing men for heaven.
     After a recess for lunch the lectures were taken up again in the afternoon on the same subjects. In the evening of the first work day the Jonkoping circle invited us to a social gathering with coffee and entertainment by members of the Circle. The program comprised songs and music performed by Mrs. Rune Fornander, Mrs. Stig Svensson and Mr. Lars Cronsjo. Mr. Stig Svensson again showed his poetical vein by performing his duty as master of ceremonies in verse. The guests had an opportunity to participate in the many unison songs from different nations interpolated here and there. It was a delightful and happy evening.
     On Saturday Mr. Boyesen introduced the third subject, "The Life of the Lord." This course fitted well against the background of the previous one on "The Land of Canaan" and gave us a deeper understanding of and feeling for the significance of the Lord's life and travels in the Holy Land.

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     The social in the evening gave an opportunity to the guests of contributing. Miss Margit Boyesen, Dean of Women at the Academy College in Bryn Athyn, gave a much appreciated talk on the Academy schools, advising parents and youths how to avoid many of the difficulties foreign students experience on entering their studies at the Academy. Concert singer, Miss Elsa Sigfuss, accompanied by her mother, Mrs. Valborg Einarsen, delighted us with songs from the Nordic countries, performed with a deep feeling and perfected style which kept the audience spellbound.
     The following Sunday morning we all met for Divine Worship followed by the Holy Supper service. Against the background of the past days' studies there was a particularly deep sphere of reverence and thankfulness towards the Lord for his marvelous ways in revealing Himself and His kingdom. After the services the participants in the course had an opportunity to exchange reflections and viewpoints around the coffee tables. Following some words of thanks by Mr. Boyesen, Miss Senta Centervall and Mr. Lennart Fornander it was time to part.
     The success of the Summer School created a widespread wish that it would become an annual event. The reasons are well expressed by Mr. Sven Strobaek from Copenhagen in an article in the Swedish New Church Journal NOVA ECCLESIA. "We in the Scandinavian countries need instruction in order to understand rightly the wonderful truth in the Writings. We do not have the same possibilities of schooling or access to translations as exists in the English speaking countries. We ought to do what we can in making gatherings of this kind annual and of use to our life here on earth and later in the higher world. It is principally through the understanding and knowledges we enter into the church."
REPORT OF THE ASSEMBLY 1962

REPORT OF THE ASSEMBLY 1962

Publication of the Report of the Twenty-third General Assembly will begin in the August issue with the printing of the addresses given at the first and second sessions. The report will be continued in the issues for September and October and will contain the text of the other addresses, the sermons, 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 1962, under the sub-entry "General Assembly, Twenty-third."

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NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1962

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS Rev. FREDERICK L. SCHNARR 1962

     Our readings from the Arcana Coelestia this month refer us to the spiritual sense of the story of Abram's first entrance into the land of Canaan, his sojourn in Egypt because of the famine in Canaan, and his return to that land. We learn that the story, in the inmost sense, tells of the Lord's childhood states. It describes how He began to form the ultimate vessels of His Human Essence through the acquisition of the natural scientifics and cognitions of the Word. This He did in the same order as that in which man acquires such knowledge. But with the Lord there was this difference: that whereas man learns such knowledge from the mere delight of knowing, and nothing more, the Lord learned from the delight and affection of truth.*
* See AC 1487.
     This chapter of the Arcana is of particular interest to parents and teachers, for in the unfolding of the progression of the Lord's childhood states much is revealed about the order and progression of all childhood states. Here we find some of the basic teachings that have led to the development of New Church education, whether in the home or in the school. Anyone having a question about the nature and quality of instruction for young minds may gain a great reward from a close study of this chapter. Without elaborating, we would mention briefly a few of the teachings given on this subject.
     We are here taught that sensuous truth is the first that should be insinuated into the mind of a child, because in childhood the judgment does not rise any higher. This teaching might not in itself seem new to anyone, or objectionable to educators. But it does not stop there, for the Writings teach what the essence of sensuous truth with a child should be, and it is in this that the concept of childhood education takes on a new and distinct meaning for the New Church man. "Sensuous truth consists in seeing all earthly and worldly things as being created by God, and each and everything for a purpose, and in all things whatsoever a certain image of God's kingdom."*
* AC 1434.
     Closely connected with the implication of this teaching is another which tells why it is so important for children to be taught the knowledges of the Word itself. The external of man can receive what is spiritual and celestial only when there are in it appropriate receiving vessels.

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What are these vessels-just any kind of external and natural knowledge? No! "The knowledges must be from the Word"; for these are the only knowledges that are "open from the Lord Himself."*
* AC 1461.
Much is said about the order and use of natural knowledges to guide the parent and teacher in instructing children. For example, we read: "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."*
* AC 1487. Cf. AC 1472.
What delight do children have in learning scientifics, and what kind of knowledges delight them most? "The higher things are, the more they desire them; and still more when they hear that they are celestial and Divine."* Must some knowledges be destroyed with children? "Unless the knowledges which in childhood have performed the use of making the man rational are destroyed, so that they are as nothing, truth can never be conjoined with what is celestial. . . . 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 1472.
** AC 1489.
OUR NEW CHURCH VOCABULARY 1962

OUR NEW CHURCH VOCABULARY 1962

Consummation. This term refers generally to the state that exists when evil reaches its height; specifically to the end of a religious dispensation, which comes when there is no longer any charity or faith because the church has turned away from the Lord entirely. Note that this end is spiritual, that the church itself is unaware of it, and that it may continue as an organized body although it has come to an end as far as performing the use of the church is concerned. (AC 2243, 2905)
Corporeal. This term does not refer to the body itself but to the ultimate plan of the mind. Thus it is not applied to the bodily senses, but to that ultimate plane of mental life which operates through them, and also to the cupidities, pleasures and appetites of the body. A man who lives only on the plane of these ultimate things, immersing the mind in the body, is called a corporeal man. (AC 911, 4038; AE 496)

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DISTINGUISHING THE WRITINGS 1962

DISTINGUISHING THE WRITINGS Editor 1962

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 Business Manager. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.

TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$5.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy 50 cents.
Some time ago a correspondent expressed the opinion that failure to discriminate between the Word and the Writings results in confusion. Every Divine revelation has its own characteristics, and for the consideration of these it is necessary to distinguish the Writings from the Old and New Testaments together, just as it is necessary to distinguish these Testaments from one another. But among us the term, the Word, is not a synonym for the inspired books of the Old and New Testaments; it stands for the totality of Divine revelation to which we are the heirs: the threefold Divine revelation consisting of the Old Testament Word with its fragments of the Ancient Word, the New Testament Word and the Writings. The parts of a whole may be separated for comparative study, but is it proper to separate a part from the whole by excluding it?
If all New Church men acknowledged, as our correspondent does, that the essential of the Word is in the Writings, there would be no difficulty. But the phrase, the Word and the Writings, has traditionally been used by those who discriminate in such a way as to deny Divine authority to the Writings, exclude them from the body of Divine revelation, or make them inferior to or different from the Word while saying that they are from the Lord. We prefer to look to a time when "the Word" will be understood as referring to the Word of the Lord in the Sacred Scripture and the Heavenly Doctrine, or either; and when we will speak of the Old Testament Word, the New Testament Word, and the Writings only when there is need to make specific reference. In this way, we believe, there will be discrimination without confusion.

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NEW CHURCH AND COMMUNISM 1962

NEW CHURCH AND COMMUNISM Editor 1962

     Another question raised recently was this: As NEW CHURCH LIFE traditionally avoids politics, why does it publish letters and articles on the subject of communism? This journal is non-partisan, and properly so for two reasons. The Writings do not teach the principles of any one political party, and the General Church, whose organ the journal is, is established in a number of countries. But the Writings are not silent on the issues with which politics is concerned; and it scarcely needs to be said that communism is not an alternative within the existing order-a theory and program competing for favor within that order.

     Communism is a major force which can attain its announced objectives only by overthrowing the existing order in the western world, and which has perfected a crisis technique for so doing. It reinterprets, and seeks to restructure, the whole of life and culture. Its avowed purpose is to revolutionize society-the family, education and culture as well as politics and economics-within the totalitarian thesis that the state is absolute and that man, in every phase of his life, exists solely for the state. There is need for New Church men and women to know and understand this; to see clearly and calmly, and entirely without hysteria, its implications for the church, and its total opposition to the aims and teachings of the Writings.
     Furthermore, while it is natural for us to identify communism with those who have espoused it and seek to force it on others, we must realize that communism itself is not a nation or a bloc of nations and satellites. Communism itself is an ideology, a philosophy of history, a way of looking at man and the world; and while it makes use of military force, or the threat thereof, to frighten people into inaction and to enforce its will, military aggression in this instance is simply the implementation of a false philosophy. It is essential that we distinguish between the two.
     The free world must indeed defend itself against the communist movement by developing, and as far as necessary using, the weapons of military, economic and ideological warfare. To suppose that the communist nations can be conquered by words would be foolish. But it is equally foolish to imagine that communism itself can be defeated by force of arms. The real struggle is for the minds of men. A false philosophy can be defeated finally only by truth, and the Word of the Lord is the ultimate deposit of truth on earth. We do have a responsibility to seek for those truths of the Writings which expose the falsity of the communist ideology, and to use them as opportunity affords.

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Church News 1962

Church News Various 1962

     DURBAN, NATAL

     A committee was formed last August to raise funds for the purchase of a new organ. The pastor stated that the old organ had lasted very well and had seen many years of service. It has since been learned that there was a magnificent response to the appeal; and a new Hammond organ has been installed, much to the delight of the entire congregation.
     The annual table tennis tournament was held in the church hall on Friday, September 15. Thirty-eight people were present, both spectators and competitors. Refreshments were served toward the end of the evening and were very much enjoyed by all. Malcolm Cockerell, Lorna Cockerell and Carol Bongers were the winners in the three sections-men's, women's and junior sections.
     It was on a windy afternoon that Donald Ridgway and Margaret Sivier were married. The gusty conditions certainly did not mar the simplicity and reverence of our church service. Margaret looked very lovely in a full-length white satin wedding gown, and she carried a delicate bouquet of white tulips and freesias. Two days after the ceremony the newlyweds left for England, where they propose staying indefinitely. We have since heard that Don has secured a position in TV in England. Well done, Don.
     A second New Church marriage was that of Bob Wood to Jean Ridgway. Jean, with her dark hair, made a lovely bride, dressed in white embossed satin. After the wedding ceremony, friends and relatives gathered at the Norwegian Hall for the reception. The Woods also have since left for England, where Bob hopes to gain experience with Rolls Royce. It is indeed sad for the young people of the Society to have two of our newly married couples going off overseas. Our loss is the Rev. Erik Sandstrom's gain, however, but we hope to be able to welcome them back soon.
     On October 1, a farewell tea was held at the manse to enable the Society to bid Bon Voyage to Doreen and Hugh Keal and their family of four boys. They left for Australia on October 9, and for the Hurstville Society. We shall miss them, but we know that the Rev. Donald Rose will welcome them to Australia.
     The social committee came up with a very entertaining evening on October 13, with the showing of the film "Carry on Nurse." These film evenings have proved extremely popular, and on numerous occasions the house was brought down with shrieks of laughter. The evening ended with the serving of tea and biscuits.
     The Halloween party for the children was held on Saturday afternoon, October 29. Unfortunately the weather was wet, but this did not dampen the spirits of the children. The mothers, and grandmothers, are to be congratulated on the ingenuity shown in the costumes. The party ended about six o'clock with the traditional peanut scramble.
     Mr. and Mrs. Schuurman opened their garden to the social committee for the year's celebration of November 5. Several tempting looking fires were lit, where young and old alike had a hilarious time "braaing the vleis." After the "braas the evening was rounded off with a lovely display of fireworks. Mr. Weatherman let us down terribly, with the result that there were a few damp squibs at the end The enraptured expressions on the faces of the wee ones during their own little sparkler display was something that will not be forgotten.
     On Friday, December 8, parents and friends of Kainon School pupils attended the closing and prize-giving. A short service was conducted by the Rev. Wynne Acton, after which Miss Pemberton gave her report and Miss Elsie Champion presented the prizes.

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The pupils then entertained the audience with a series of delightful recitations and songs. After tea had been served the children took part in a charming play based on nursery rhymes. Miss Pemberton is to be congratulated heartily on writing and producing such an ingenious and original play.
     The annual children's Christmas party was again held in the hall, on the afternoon of December 10. The traditional tree with its colored lights, and balloons and candles everywhere, made the hall look very beautiful. The play, Nursery Rhyme Laud, was acted by the children of Kainon School, and was thoroughly appreciated by the young audience. After tea, which disappeared from the tables with amazing speed, Mr. Acton presented each child with a gift from the Society.
     A Christmas flower decoration display was given by Odette Gersigny in the hall on December 13. Once again this function proved to be a great success. We all went, expecting to see real flower decorations, but there wasn't one real flower! All were made out of white and colored tissue paper, silver glitter, and silver and gold spray. What is more they had all been made by Mrs. Gersigny herself. There followed a most absorbing morning, and there were many members of the Society who struggled away for the next two weeks making the decorations for the Christmas table.
     A delightful evening of carol singing was held at the Neville Edley home on Sunday, December 17. About fifty-five members of the church were spread out in the spacious lounge, inter-leading dining room and verandah. At the conclusion of the singing refreshments were served, and groups of people sat on the lawn and verandah to enjoy a social chat and the magnificent view of the harbor and the city lights.
     During the Christmas services the church was beautifully decorated with evergreens and frangipani blossoms, and massed bowls of blue and white hydrangea and pink gladioli, while the many candles gave a soft glow to the chancel. During the service on Christmas Eve, which was attended by 97 adults and 42 children, Mr. Acton gave a talk on the giving of gifts at Christmas time. The joy and delight of Christmas, he said, should be in the giving of gifts and in making others happy, rather than worrying about what we are to receive. The tableaux, which followed immediately, differed from those of previous years. The first two depicted the rejection of the Word by man and the turning away of Mary and Joseph from the inn. The Christmas story was depicted in six scenes altogether, and the rapt expressions on the faces of the children were confirmation that the wonderful story would remain in their minds for many months.
     The following day, Christmas morning, the church was again filled to capacity by a congregation of 141. It was a truly moving service. Mr. Acton preached on the Lord's declaration, "I am the light of the world." His theme was that the Divine truth is that light, and Mr. Acton said: "The Christmas story of the Lord's advent reassures us that the Lord's new light continues to shine in the world-that He is the light not only of heaven but also of the world and thereby He shows the way of salvation to all who will receive it, even though the selfish loves and personal ambitions of many obscure this light which has been revealed to us anew in the Lord's second advent."
     Every year members and friends of the Society get together to welcome in the New Year, and so it was at the end of 1961. The film show which had been arranged had to be postponed as the projector, which had been borrowed, broke down. However, a lovely evening was had by all, and everyone partook of a delicious smorgasbord which had been well prepared by the social committee. The New Year was seen in with the traditional singing of Auld Lang Syne, and there was dancing, which was enjoyed by all, well into the New Year.
     From 2:30 on Sunday afternoon, January 28, families began to arrive at the Schuurman home, which was the venue for a swimming and tennis party.

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Some sat in the shade of the trees, relaxing, chatting, and watching the more energetic members playing tennis, while most of the youngsters spent the afternoon cooling off in the swimming pool. At tea time Mr. Acton called everyone together and congratulated our dear friends Miss Elsie Champion and Miss Beryl Mongredien on reaching the age of eighty. As he finished speaking, two large, beautifully iced birthday cakes, each complete with eighty candles, were presented to the "birthday girls," who were completely taken by surprise. The table of delicious "eats" was almost entirely cleared in ten minutes, which was proof that everyone thoroughly enjoyed their tea! The afternoon was a great success for all, and some enthusiasts were still on the tennis courts at 7:15, virtually trying to play by the light of the street lamps I
     The annual Ministers' Meetings of the Mission were held in our church at Kent Manor, January 9-14. Every morning and afternoon meetings were held at which papers were read and various church problems discussed. Excellent papers were presented on "Temptation," "The Church Universal and the Church Specific," and "The Divine Providence." During the Friday sessions a group of lay-delegates joined in discussion of the more practical aspects of the church's work. At the open session on Saturday afternoon there were five short papers on different aspects of applying the teachings of the New Church to life. The meetings ended with the Holy Supper service on Sunday morning, at which the superintendent preached on the meaning of the Holy Supper.
     Swedenborg's birthday was celebrated by the children on Friday, February 2. The party was well attended, and the children sat down to a delicious dinner prepared by the Women's Guild. Mr. Acton, after giving a talk on the life of Swedenborg, organized a blackboard crossword puzzle, which was filled in by the children, on the subject of his talk.
SERENE DE CHAZAL

     SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION

     The Sixty-fifth Annual Meeting of the Swedenborg Scientific Association was held on May 16, 1962, at Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, with an attendance of 54 members and 51 guests.
     Mr. Edward F. Allen was re-elected to the office of president, and the following were elected to the Board of Directors: Messrs. Lennart O. Alfelt, E. Boyd Asplundh, Charles S. Cole, W. Cairns Henderson, Hugo Lj. Odhner, Joel Pitcairn, Kenneth Rose and Tomas H. Spiers, and Miss Morna Hyatt. At a meeting of the Board later in the evening the following officers were elected: Vice President: Mr. Charles S. Cole; Secretary: Miss Morna Hyatt; Treasurer: Mr. E. Boyd Asplundh; Editorial Board: Mr. Edward F. Allen, Mr. Donald C. Fitzpatrick, Jr., Rev. W. Cairns Henderson and Mr. Kenneth Rose. Mr. Spiers and Mr. Alfelt were welcomed as new members of the Board, and appreciation was expressed for the services of retiring members: Randolph W. Childs, Esq., and the Rev. David J. Garrett.
     The Treasurer reported an increase in the total balance of funds as a result of contributions to the publication fund. Dues, subscriptions, and contributions to the NEW PHILOSOPHY, however, ran about $390.00 short of the cost of publishing it. Twenty-three new members gave a net gain of five, and nine new subscribers gave a net gain of two.
     Dr. Odhner, on behalf of the Board of Directors, presented to Miss Beryl Briscoe some flowers and a gift with affection, gratitude and admiration for her services to the organization as Treasurer from 1947 to 1961, and for her work on the NEW PHILOSOPHY.
     In his report, the Editor of the NEW PHILOSOPHY stated that the subject matter appearing in the journal has broadened and that new members had been encouraged to write. The Association needs academic leadership provided by the work of many. He expressed hope that many more would be inspired to study and write in New Church philosophy; thanked Mr. Rose and Mr. Fitzpatrick especially for seeing copy through the press; and also thanked Mr. Asplundh, who has been acting as a corresponding secretary as well as Treasurer. Mr. Allen noted an awakening of interest in the use and purpose of New Church philosophy among younger men.

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Five men had volunteered to write articles, and a group of Academy teachers has held a series of meetings to discuss the problems of New Church philosophy. There has been an increasing number of comments on the articles published, and some of these may result in further contributions. He did not feel the same cheerless approach of deadlines that he had felt in previous years.
     Chapter reports were read. Mr. Alfelt then reported for Dr. Odhner and himself as a committee to oversee the preliminary study by Mr. Bruce Rogers for a proposed translation of The Brain.
     Mr. Allen then presented his paper entitled "Cause in Science" in four parts. Part I discussed the most prominent present-day view of cause, originating in an interpretation of Hume's treatment. Cause has become largely identified with determinism, and this in turn with mechanistic philosophy based upon Newtonian mechanics. Deeper meanings of cause have been cast aside, and the narrow deterministic view falls under the impact of recent interpretations of probability relations. In Part IL, Mr. Allen expressed belief in the existence of ideas and also of a real substratum in the world. It is within physical reality that cause and effect take place. This philosophically naive point of view is the same as the practical experimenter's point of view. Part III was devoted to an example from physics, the Compton effect, in an effort to show the existence of a microscopic world one discrete degree removed from the world of human sensations. Effects which become immediately known to man take place in the world of human sensations, whereas their causes are in that other world, one degree removed. Finally, a few ideas concerning cause were taken from the Writings. For example, if existence is perpetual creation, the relation of cause and effect can be simultaneous as well as successive in time. Again, since ultimately in our progress through discrete degrees we leave the world of time and space, these two are not necessary properties of cause and effect. We have a basis for thinking about causes from the Writings, even though our ability to do so develops continuously while we are on earth, and depends also upon effects in the world of human sensation. The speaker added a number of questions about cause that indicated in some respects the magnitude of the subject. The paper will he published in the July issue of the NEW PHILOSOPHY.
     Some questions were asked from the floor, and the following contributed to the discussion: Mr. Joel Pitcairn, Mr. Bruce Glenn, the Rev. Theodore Pitcairn, the Rev. Philip Odhner, and the Right Rev. Willard D. Pendleton.
MORNA HYATT,
Secretary
BISHOP PENDLETON CHOSEN 1962

BISHOP PENDLETON CHOSEN 1962

The Right Reverend Willard Dandridge Pendleton has been chosen as Bishop of the General Church of the New Jerusalem. This action was taken at the second session of the Twenty-third General Assembly, on Saturday, June 16. The Assembly had already determined to proceed by ballot, and 810 ballots were cast. Of those voting, 801 approved the Council of the Clergy's choice of Bishop Pendleton, one abstained, five disapproved, and there were three blank ballots. A biographical sketch and an account of Bishop Pendleton's career in uses will appear in the August issue.

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PEACE RIVER DISTRICT ASSEMBLY 1962

PEACE RIVER DISTRICT ASSEMBLY WILLARD D. PENDLETON 1962

     Announcements
     The Ninth Peace River District Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada, August 5, 1962, the Rev. Roy Franson presiding by episcopal appointment.
     All members and friends of the General Church are cordially invited to attend.
WILLARD D. PENDLETON,
Acting Bishop
General Church of the New Jerusalem FORTY-SEVENTH BRITISH ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT: THE REV. ALAN GILL 1962

General Church of the New Jerusalem FORTY-SEVENTH BRITISH ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT: THE REV. ALAN GILL 1962

     Members and friends of the General Church of the New Jerusalem are cordially invited to attend the Forty-Seventh British Assembly, which will be held in Swedenborg House, London, July 20-22, 1962.

     Program

Friday, July 20
     5:30 p.m. Tea at Swedenborg House
     7:30 p.m. First Session. Address by the Rev. Erik Sandstrom:
          "Milestones in the History of the General Church"
Saturday, July 21
     11:00     a.m.     Second Session. Presidential Address
     1:30     p.m.     Luncheon
     5:30     p.m.     Tea
     7:00     p.m.     Third Session. Address by the Rev. Frank S. Rose:
               "Samson"
Sunday, July 22
     11:00     am.     Holy Supper Service. Preacher: Rev. Erik Sandstrom
     12:45     p.m.     Assembly Photograph
     1:30     p.m.     Luncheon
     3:00     p.m.     Children's Service. Address: Rev. Frank S. Rose
     5:30     p.m.     Buffet Tea and Concert

     The Sessions and Services and the Sunday evening concert will be held at Swedenborg House. Meals, unless otherwise stated, will be taken at Lyon's Tea Shop, 3 Southampton Row. For accommodation write to Mr. and Mrs. Percy Dawson, 28 Parklands Road, Streatham, London SW. 16, or to Mr. Reginald Law, Manager, 29 Kilmartin Road, Goodmayes, Essex.

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WILLARD DANDRIDGE PENDLETON 1962

VOL. LXXXII
AUGUST, 1962
No. 8
     Fourth Bishop of the General Church

     The Right Reverend Willard Dandridge Pendleton, who became the fourth Bishop of the General Church by the choice of the recent Assembly, is the second son of the late Bishop and Mrs. Nathaniel Dandridge Pendleton (Beatrice Walton Childs). Born in Pittsburgh on April 7, 1908, he came to Bryn Athyn with his family six years later and there received his elementary and secondary education, graduating from the Boys' Academy in 1926. The next four years were spent at the University of Pennsylvania where he majored in pre-law and English, receiving in 1930 the degree of Bachelor of Science in Economics. Mr. Pendleton then entered the Academy of the New Church Theological School, and in June, 1933, was granted the degree of Bachelor of Theology and was ordained into the first degree of the priesthood.
     For a year after his ordination, Mr. Pendleton served in the Academy schools as an Instructor in Religion and English. His marriage to Miss Gabriele Pitcairn, eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Pitcairn, took place in June, 1934. Of this marriage there are six children, three sons and three daughters. In September of that year he was ordained into the second degree and moved with his wife to Pittsburgh, where he served as pastor for ten years. It was during his pastorate there that two highly successful General Assemblies were held at Shadyside Academy. When the United States entered World War II, he became one of the founders of the Communique. Keenly concerned for the spiritual welfare of our young men and women in the services, and warmly interested in the work of the Military Service Committee, he was a valued counsellor up to the end of the war.
     In 1944, Mr. Pendleton was recalled to Bryn Athyn, and for the next two years was an Instructor in Religion and English in the Academy and visiting pastor to the New York Circle and the group in Westfield, New Jersey.

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At the Eighteenth General Assembly, held in Bryn Athyn in June, 1946, he was ordained into the third degree of the priesthood. At the same time he was elected Executive Vice President of the Academy of the New Church, and by episcopal appointment became Assistant to the Bishop of the General Church.
     As Assistant to the Bishop, Bishop Pendleton presided with distinction at National and District Assemblies and made many episcopal visits. He was responsible for the separation of the Educational Council Meetings from those of the Council of the Clergy, and planned and carried through the reorganization of the former body's activities. The Twentieth General Assembly, held in Bryn Athyn in June, 1954, selected him as Assistant Bishop of the General Church; and with the retirement of Bishop De Charms at the end of June, 1961, he became Acting Bishop of the General Church. In that capacity he showed the same high regard for the interim nature of the office that he had displayed ten years earlier, when, on account of Bishop DeCharms' prolonged illness, he had been recognized by the Councils of the Church as Representative of the Bishop.

     The office of Executive Vice President of the Academy was a new one, upon which fell the bulk of the administrative work of the Academy. To it Bishop Pendleton brought a deep interest in the philosophy of New Church education and a keen insight into the educational philosophies of the world; together with the executive ability to cope with the Benade Hall fire and its aftermath and with the many problems of accreditation. He had led the postwar movement for the development of the Junior College; and on the academic side has organized and successfully launched three valuable combination courses in the college-Great Books; Education 28, which includes observation and practice teaching; and a course on the basic principles of Swedenborg's philosophy and their application. His book, Foundations of New Church Education, published in 1957 and revised in 1960, is a permanent record of his interest in education, as it is a valuable contribution to our literature in that field. He was elected President of the Academy in November, 1958.
     Bishop Pendleton's special theological interests are in the doctrine of the glorification, particularly as it is unfolded in the Arcana series, and in the doctrine of correspondences. Although he has not been a frequent contributor to NEW CHURCH LIFE, several studies reflecting these interests are to be found in its pages under his name; studies which show him to be a theologian as well as educator and administrator.

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PERPETUATION OF THE NEW CHURCH 1962

PERPETUATION OF THE NEW CHURCH Rev. GEORGE DE CHARMS 1962

     (Delivered to the First Session of the Twenty-third General Assembly, Bryn Athyn, Pa., June 15, 1962.)

     There is a significant statement in the Writings to the effect that since the time of the Last Judgment no one remains in the world of spirits for a period longer than about twenty or thirty years* This is in marked contrast to the situation that existed prior to the Lord's second coming. Before that time, those who died remained in the world of spirits through all the centuries during which one church continued in existence, and until the Lord came to establish a new church in its place. As long as the church was in its integrity, those who passed into the other world were formed into societies of angelic spirits; but as decline set in, errors increased and evil practices multiplied, all based on false interpretations of the Word. These falsities and evils were inspired by the loves of self and the world; but because they were apparently supported by the teaching of the Word, and thus vested with Divine authority, the simple in heart were deceived. They innocently supposed them to be the pronouncements of true prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord, or of wise men inspired to perceive the real meaning of the Word. Thus in the course of time there arose various forms of idolatry by which the church was divided into warring sects, and religion was made to serve the natural and selfish ambitions of evil men, whose true nature was concealed under a cloak of external piety which the simple could not penetrate.
* HH 426; AR 866.
     When those who belonged to these false religions passed into the spiritual 'world, they formed there "imaginary heavens" in which the good and the evil were mingled together; nor could they be separated except by means of a new advent of the Lord and the giving of a new Divine revelation. They were like the "tares" and the "wheat" of the parable, which must be allowed to grow together until the "time of harvest," lest in removing the "tares," the "wheat" also should be destroyed.* These "imaginary heavens" grew up around those angelic societies among whom the faith and charity of the church had been preserved in their integrity. They formed what may be compared to an incrustation, becoming continually heavier, until in process of time it threatened to cut off all influx and communication between the heavenly societies and the minds of men on earth.

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Then, in order that conjunction of God with the human race might be preserved, it was necessary for the Lord to come, unmasking the falsities and evils that had deceived the simple, revealing the true meaning of His Word, and thus performing a judgment in the spiritual world whereby the good were separated from the evil. The good were then organized into a new heaven, and the evil into a new hell.
* Matthew 13: 24-30.
     Thus it came about that the heaven of the Most Ancient Church was not formed until the time of "Noah" and the "flood." The heaven of the Ancient Church came into being only when the Lord came into the world, and by His conflicts with the hells again cleared the imaginary heavens out of the world of spirits, performing a judgment that was symbolically represented when He drove the money-changers out of the temple at Jerusalem.* And finally, the Christian heaven could not be formed until the Lord made His second coming, and performed the Last Judgment foretold in the Apocalypse, a judgment which was accomplished in the spiritual world in the year 1757.**
* John 2:13-17; Matthew 21:12, 13.
** LJ 67.
     Since that time, societies both of Christians and of Gentiles have continued to form, as those who belonged to various religious bodies on earth have entered the spiritual world. Imaginary heavens have resulted, as in the past, but these have not been allowed to accumulate there from generation to generation. There have been periodic judgments whereby the world of spirits has been constantly purified, the good being instructed and prepared for heaven, and the evil deprived of their power and cast into hell. This is now possible because the Lord is present in His Divine Human, present in a rational revelation of Divine truth, with infinite power to teach and lead, to disperse human errors, and to renew perpetually the understanding and perception of His Word with all who are willing to receive His instruction. Therefore a new Christian heaven is being formed continually from the innocent among both Gentiles and Christians who enter the spiritual world, a heaven in which the Lord Jesus Christ is worshiped as the one God of heaven and earth.
     It is out of this new Christian heaven that the Holy City, New Jerusalem, is descending, to establish the Lord's universal kingdom on the earth, Spirits, arriving in the world of spirits from all races and nationalities and from all religions, are there being instructed in the truth of the Heavenly Doctrine and organized into societies of the new Christian heaven. Of course, they receive the Lord in His second coming variously, each according to his own form of mind, and according to the background of knowledge and experience which he has derived from his life on earth. Societies formed from the Gentiles will be quite distinct from those formed from Christians.

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Indeed, there will be distinct societies from each Gentile religion, and probably from the leading sects of the Christian Church. Each of these will perform a different use. Yet all societies, both from Gentiles and from Christians, will be united in a common faith in the Divine Human of the Lord, who alone is now the object of worship in all the heavens; and furthermore, among these variant societies there will be a bond of mutual charity, so that each one will perform essential services to all the others, and receive spiritual blessings in return. In addition, each society will perform a special function with reference to men on earth.
     Because of an influx from each of these societies into the minds of those in the natural world who are still in the religious persuasions from which they have been liberated, those of all religions are being secretly prepared to receive the Heavenly Doctrine. In this way there is provided a means of connection between the new Christian heaven and the simple in heart in every religious faith, who, taken together, constitute the church universal. This is the truth back of the idea of permeation. It is true that there is an influx from heaven, since the Last Judgment, which tends to dispose the minds of men everywhere to receive the Lord in His second advent. It is not an influx of ideas, but rather of heavenly affections which serve to protect and preserve a simple faith in the midst of the growing doubt, skepticism, and materialistic thought that has become so widespread throughout the modern world.
     Concerning the formation of the new Christian heaven the Writings testify as follows:

"Immediately ... after the Last Judgment was completed, a New Heaven was created or formed by the Lord. This heaven was . . . [composed] of all those who, from the . . [first advent] of the Lord to the present time, had lived the life of faith and charity, since these alone were forms of heaven."*
* HD 2.
     "Since this heaven was formed of all those who had ... [lived since] the coming of the Lord until the present time, it follows that it is composed both of Christians and of Gentiles; but chiefly of all infants from the whole world, who have died since the Lord's coming; for all these were received by the Lord, and educated in heaven, and instructed by the angels, and reserved, that they, together with the others, might constitute the New Heaven; whence it may be concluded how great that heaven is."*
* HD 3.
     "The Lord is preparing at this time a new heaven of those who believe in Him, acknowledge Him as the true God of heaven and earth, and look to Him in their lives, which means to shun evil and do good; for from that heaven the New Jerusalem is to come down . . . [Swedenborg says:] I daily see spirits and angels, from ten to twenty thousand, descending and ascending, and being set in order.

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By degrees, as that heaven is being formed, the New Church likewise begins and increases."*
* Documents 234, February 1767.
     "I saw that those who were reserved by the Lord were taken up [into the new heaven], to the number of tens of thousands" (SD 5882). "Afterwards I saw an immense number, both sent forth from the heavens and rising up from below, and also of those who had been left, who were allotted their places, mansions, and habitations."*
* LJ post 165.
     "I am certain of this, that after the appearance of ... [the True Christian Religion] the Lord our Savior will operate both mediately and immediately, towards the establishment throughout the whole of Christendom of a New Church based upon this 'Theology.' The New Heaven, out of which the New Jerusalem will descend, will very soon be completed."*
* Documents 245 BB, April 20, 1771.

     We understand this to mean that the heaven formed from those who were in the spiritual world at the time of the Last Judgment was soon to be completed; but there were still to be continuing additions to that heaven from those who were daily entering the world of spirits from the earth. Indeed, from these that heaven has been growing in numbers and in perfection ever since.
     The fact that the Lord, now for the first time in the history of the race, is able to effect periodic judgments in the world of spirits, provides for a degree of spiritual freedom never possible before. It explains why, since the time of the Last Judgment, the tempo of change, especially in the Christian world, has increased so remarkably. In earlier ages, the imaginary heavens, through which all influx into the minds of men necessarily passed, produced a continually growing weight of tradition that made it difficult for men to change their ideas and adopt new modes of thought and life. We still see this in Eastern countries, where people cling to the old ways and resist every suggestion of change. Two hundred years ago, the same was true in the European civilization. In the Middle Ages, those who ventured to propose new ideas were persecuted for witchcraft or subjected to the Inquisition. The Christian Church, with its authoritative pronouncements, had established an imaginary heaven on earth, whereby the simple were held in intellectual bondage, from which it was impossible to escape.
     But since the middle of the eighteenth century there has been apparent a growing determination to break loose from these shackles. The authority of tradition has been successfully challenged, and a new era of scientific discovery has brought to light marvels beyond all imagination. New inventions, new concepts, new discoveries have followed one another in rapid succession, opening up possibilities undreamed of before.

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The pace of scientific progress has quickened with every passing year, as men have probed deeper into the secrets of nature, laying bare the wonders of the submicroscopic world on the one hand, and of the vast reaches of outer space on the other. There is no end in sight in either direction, and the urge to explore knows no limit. None of this could have come to pass if the Lord had not performed the Last Judgment, and set men free from the overpowering weight of tradition that had been accumulating in the spiritual world for seventeen centuries. The effects of the Judgment were first made manifest in the Christian world because the Word was there, and because the falsification of the Word there was the great power that held the minds of men in bondage; but that the spirit of liberation is spreading to all races and nations is becoming increasingly evident as they challenge the old order and demand a larger measure of self-determination.

It is true, of course, that what has been liberated is merely the external or natural mind. In regard to spiritual things, men are still lost in a dense fog of falsity and ignorance. Those who are unaware of the Lord's second coming are confronted with only three possibilities, when contemplating religious faith. They may confirm as true the traditional dogmas of their church without attempting to analyze their real meaning; being unable to do this, they may reject all religious belief, and fall into complete agnosticism with regard to whatever lies beyond the realm of sensual demonstration; or, ignoring all doctrinal abstractions, they may simply believe in God, and try to live conscientiously according to what they have been led to believe is the law of God. In none of these cases can men escape from spiritual bondage, because they have no knowledge of the truth, which alone can make them free.
There is only one source from which that liberating truth can be derived, namely, the new Divine revelation given by the Lord at His second advent. Truth cannot be perceived apart from knowledge, and knowledge must be acquired from without through the bodily senses. That alone which inflows from the spiritual world is affection or love. This does not impart knowledge, but merely sheds light upon whatever knowledges are present in the mind. If only natural knowledges are present, inflowing love may produce understanding, insight and perception as to how they may be made to serve external and worldly needs and desires of mankind; but their relation to man's inner or spiritual life will remain in complete darkness. For this reason the spiritual knowledge revealed in the Heavenly Doctrine is indispensable to the establishment of the New Church. It is vain to suppose that either Christians or Gentiles will, in some mysterious way, absorb the spirit and life of the New Jerusalem apart from the Writings. Only the Lord Himself can teach men the true nature of God. Only He can expound the true internal meaning of His Word, reveal the laws of Divine Providence, the nature of the spiritual world, and the life of regeneration that alone can lead to heaven.

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     This being the case, it is evident that a great responsibility rests upon those who have been blessed with the knowledge of these things; a responsibility to share that knowledge with others, to transmit it from one generation to the next, and by all possible means to make it available to people of every race and nation in the world. The Writings must be translated into many languages; they must be published, and spread abroad. The magnitude of this task is so great, and the number of those entrusted with it are so few, and so ill equipped to carry it out, that it seems at times utterly impossible. In spite of heroic efforts in this direction over the past two hundred years, there are still vast reaches wherein the very existence of the Writings is unknown. Progress is painfully slow because scholars competent to translate the Writings from the original Latin are few indeed, and because the cost of translation and publication is very great. Even among those for whom it has been made available, the Heavenly Doctrine is received by so few that from our human standpoint the slow growth of the New Church seems very discouraging.

     How important it is, therefore, for us to realize that this is only one side of the picture. To those in the other world the prospect is by no means so disheartening. There the Last Judgment has already been accomplished, and the new heaven from which the New Jerusalem is descending is receiving new additions, to the number of tens of thousands every day. Although only the Lord can know who they are, there must be millions of people in the world who are sincerely trying to lead a life of religion according to their best understanding. The fact that they have no opportunity to learn about the New Church must be in providence, because they are not yet prepared to receive it. But the Lord is secretly leading them, protecting them, and preserving with them an open mind and a spirit of humility that will enable them to receive instruction after death. There, within the short space of twenty or thirty years, they can be imbued with a genuine faith in the Lord as the one God of heaven and earth, and prepared for their allotted place in the new Christian heaven. This being so, that heaven must be growing at a rate which it is hard for us even to imagine! Surely the influence of that heaven must be increasing in like measure, and subtly hastening the day when the New Church on earth will begin to grow much more rapidly, whatever the outward appearance to the contrary.
     Such is the secret operation of the Divine Providence in forming the new Christian heaven in the spiritual world, and preparing men on earth for the gradual descent of the Holy City, New Jerusalem.

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But if the Lord, through the Divine revelation of His second coming, has taken to Himself the power to perform periodic judgments in the spiritual world, and thus prevent the accumulation of long standing imaginary heavens there, it is equally true that He is now able, by the same token, to prevent the progressive decline of the church on earth. Every church in the past has, in process of time, forsaken its first love. "Every church at its beginning," we read, "respects goods of life in the first place, and truths of doctrine in the second; but as the church declines, it begins to respect truths of doctrine in the first place, and goods of life in the second; and at length in the end it respects faith alone; and then it not only separates the goods of charity from faith, but also omits them."*
* AR 82.
This is a natural human tendency because it is so much easier to accept a faith superficially, on the testimony of others, than to perceive its true meaning for one's self, and to bring one's inmost love, and thus one's life, into accord with it. Knowledge can be passed from man to man. It can be transmitted by instruction from one generation to another, but perception comes only from the Lord, by individual reading and reflection upon the teaching of the Word. Children and young people can be taught the formulas of faith, they can be imbued with an affection for the externals of worship and of religious life, and thus with a sense of loyalty that binds them to the faith of their fathers; but unless they approach the Lord directly, and acquire for themselves an inner perception of truth from the Word, unless they examine the traditional faith of the church in the light of their own day to see how far it accords with the genuine doctrine of the Word, and establish their own external modes of life expressive of their own love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor; no matter how faithfully they abide by the outward forms of religion, the church with them will have forsaken its first love. The doctrine of the church will be misinterpreted and misapplied in such a way as to condone and excuse the loves of self and the world. The truth of the Word will be falsified, and the life of religion will become the tool of worldly ambitions.
That is the way in which all churches in the past have fallen into error. It is the way in which imaginary heavens have been established and perpetuated from generation to generation. Nor is the New Church by any means exempt from this human tendency. It is no more possible now than it was in the past to impart to a rising generation the perceptive understanding of spiritual truth, and thus the inner essence of religion; but there is this great difference: the Lord is now present in His Divine Human.

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He is present on earth with that same Divine revelation which has enabled Him to perform periodic judgments in the spiritual world, and thus to prevent the building up in that world of imaginary heavens from generation to generation. By means of the Heavenly Doctrine He is now empowered to renew the inner spirit of religion with each new generation on earth, if only those who are raised in the New Church will go to Him directly when they reach adult age, and learn from Him the way of life. That is why the Lord admonished the church in Ephesus to "repent and do the first works, lest I come unto thee quickly, and remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent."*
* Revelation 2: 5.

The first responsibility, and the inmost purpose of the New Church, must be to provide, as far as is humanly possible, that the living spirit of genuine charity, the perceptive insight into the truth of the Heavenly Doctrine, and the vital essence of love to the Lord may ever be born anew with each successive generation of those who are raised in the faith of the New Church. The purpose of parental instruction and leading, the purpose of all training and education of the young, is not to insure a loyal acceptance of those forms of religion and modes of life which have become endeared to us, but rather to inspire our children to go to the Lord directly, when they become adult, to search out for themselves the truth of the Heavenly Doctrine, and to live according to that truth in their own way, with the Lord alone as their Teacher and their Guide.
That is the only way in which the living spirit of the church can be perpetuated; but if this be done, the church will grow continually in spiritual intelligence and wisdom, and in the Lord's own time will spread from the few to the many, until it embraces all the nations of the earth. For the promise is sure: "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God";* by which is meant, that to all who truly seek Him as He appears in the Writings of His second advent, the Lord will impart the good of love and heavenly charity, together with all spiritual intelligence and wisdom. May this be the prayer of our hearts at this General Assembly, that the Lord may preserve and perpetuate in the church we love so deeply, the essence and the life of true religion; for "the Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosever will, let him take the water of life freely. . . Even so, come, Lord Jesus."**
* Revelation 2: 7.
** Revelation 22: 17, 20.

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ONE GOD AND ONE WORD 1962

ONE GOD AND ONE WORD Rev. WILLARD D. PENDLETON 1962

     (Delivered to the Second Session of the Twenty-third General Assembly, Bryn Athyn, Pa., June 16, 1962.)

     The idea of God is the fundamental of faith. Thus it was that when the Scribes and the elders challenged the Lord's authority in the presence of the people, the Lord appealed to an ancient prophecy concerning Himself. He said unto them: "What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner?"* To all believing Christians it seems that this prophecy was fulfilled by subsequent events, for the Lord, having been rejected by the Jewish Church, was in time received and acknowledged by the Christian Church. But what men have failed to perceive is that the New Testament, even as the Old Testament, is in essence a prophecy, that is, a revelation of the future states of the church. Is not this what is meant when it is said in the Book of Revelation: "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy";** and does it not follow from this that the Word in its letter contains within itself a spiritual sense? Thus it was that in speaking of the stone which the builders rejected, the Lord was not merely speaking of Himself as a person, but of the doctrine of the Divine Human, which is the essential teaching of the Word.
* Luke 20:17; Psalm 118:22.
** Revelation 19: 10.

     Simply stated, the doctrine of the Divine Human is that there is one God, in one person, who is the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the faith of the New Church. It was to this faith that the Lord referred when He identified Himself with the stone that the builders rejected; and also when He said unto Peter, "Upon this rock I will build My church."* To the disinterested observer, however, this exclusive claim to the truth seems not only presumptuous, but also contrary to the teaching of Scripture; for did not the Lord time and again speak of the Father as of another, and of the Holy Spirit as one who was to come in His place? Here, to all appearances, is not one, but three persons, and it is in terms of the appearance that the Gospels are formally interpreted by orthodox Christians at this day.

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Thus in all those churches which subscribe to the Athanasian Creed the following statement from that creed applies: "As we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every person by himself to be God and Lord, so are we forbidden by the Catholic religion [or by the Christian faith] to say [or name] . . . three Gods or three Lords."** Concerning this, however, the Writings state that

"this amounts to saying, although it is allowable . . . to acknowledge, or think of, three Gods and Lords, yet it is not allowable . . . to say, or name, more than one God . . . [or] Lord. And yet it is acknowledgment and thought which conjoin man with the Lord. . . . Besides, no one can comprehend how the Divine, which is one, can be divided into three persons, each one of whom is God, for the Divine is not divisible. And to make . . . three one through . . . essence or substance does not take away the idea of three Gods, but merely conveys an idea of their unanimity."***
* Matthew 16: 18.
** Athanasian Creed.
*** Lord 57.

In this address, however, we are not concerned with the Athanasian Creed, but with the appearance to which it is addressed. If, as the Writings teach, God is one, not only as to essence but also as to person, why is the appearance of three persons found in the New Testament? The reason is that in this, as in all the appearances in which the letter is written, there is a truth involved. The truth is that in all unity there is a trinity, and apart from the trinity, the unity of a thing cannot be seen. In God, as in the man whom He created after His image, there is a trinity-a trinity of soul, body and mind. Were this not so, God would not be Divine Man; neither would the man whom He created be man. But whereas in God these three discrete degrees of life are infinite and uncreated, in man they are finite degrees receptive of life. In God, as in man, therefore, there is a trinity of being, and apart from this trinity the unity of God cannot be seen and understood. Hence it is said in the Writings that "the doctrine of the Athanasian Creed agrees with the truth, provided that by a trinity of persons is understood a trinity of person, and that this trinity is in the Lord."* Also, it is said: "Take the idea that there is one person, with a trinity in that person, and you will see that the creed of Athanasius will coincide and agree from beginning to end without any paradoxes or things that must be of faith although not understood."**
* Lord 55.
** Ath. 110.
The doctrine of the trinity, however, applies not only to God and to man but also to the Word, for the Word comes to us in the form of three apparently distinct revelations, namely, the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Writings of the New Church; yet in this trinity of revelation there is a unity, and apart from the trinity, the unity of the Word cannot be seen. What we have here, therefore, is not three Words, but one Word; that is to say, three revelations which, when taken together, constitute one Word.

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Even as there cannot be three gods and three lords, neither can there be three Words; for as we read in the Old Testament, and again in the New Testament, "The Lord our God is one Lord";* and because He is one, His Word is one; it cannot be divided. Thus when seen in the light of the Divine doctrine, that is, in the light of the doctrine of the Divine Human, the apparent contradictions of the letter are dissipated, and the Old and New Testaments make one with the spiritual sense.
* Deuteronomy 6: 4; Mark 12: 29.

     II

     While many at this day subscribe to a faith in God, there are few who regard the Old and New Testaments as an authoritative statement of truth. For the most part, men think of the Old Testament in terms of an historical document which bears record of a people whose religious experiences opened the way progressively to a monotheistic concept of God. The Writings say that the reason for this is that the historicals of the letter are of such a nature that "the mind of the reader cannot but be held in them; especially at this day when most persons . . . do not believe that there is . . . [a spiritual] sense."* Yet they also say: "That these historicals cannot be the Word . . . might [be known] from the mere fact that when separated from the internal sense there is no more of the Divine in them than in any other history . . . [for it is] the internal sense [which] makes the Word to be Divine."* Apart from the spiritual sense, therefore, how can men believe that the Old Testament is Divinely inspired and is holy in every word? Is it not that sense which imparts meaning to the letter and enables the mind to perceive the holiness and unity of the Word?
* AC 1540.
     But if in the Old Testament the truth is heavily veiled by historical appearances, what of the New Testament? On coming into the world, did not the Lord reveal His Divinity through the Word which He spake? By its own testimony, however, the New Testament is presented in the form of parables, which, by definition, involve a meaning that is not directly explained in the text. The question immediately arises, therefore, as to how these parables are to be interpreted; and this becomes a matter of particular importance when we reflect on the statement that "without a parable spake He not unto them."* How, for example, are we to understand the teaching, "whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also"?** Did the Lord intend to teach the doctrine of non-resistance to evil? But if this places a strain upon faith, what of the injunction that man is to take no though for the morrow?*** What seems to be advocated here is an improvident way of life.

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But this cannot be. In these, as in so many things that are said in the New Testament, there must be a meaning that is not openly stated in the letter. Was it not, therefore, to the spiritual sense of the Word that the Lord referred when He said to His disciples: "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth"?****
* Matthew 13: 34; Mark 4: 34.
** Matthew 5: 39.
*** Matthew 6: 25, 34.
**** John 16: 12, 13.
     Three times the "Spirit of truth" is mentioned in the New Testament. In each instance the reference is to one who was yet to come. Thus the Spirit of truth is identified in the Writings with the Holy Spirit, or Comforter, who is said to signify "the truth, thus also the Word."* By the Holy Spirit, or Spirit of truth, therefore, is not meant some third person in a trinity of Divine persons, but the Word in its spiritual sense. Hence the teaching of the Writings that the "second coming of the Lord is not a coming in person, but in the Word which is from Him, and is Himself."** Was not this He of whom the Lord spake 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."***
* TCR 139.
** TCR 776.
*** John 14: 16, 17.
     Who is it, then, that "the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not"? Is it not the doctrine of the Divine Human which is now plainly revealed in the spiritual sense of the Word? But the perception of the Lord in His Divine Human is dependent upon a faith in the Word. By this we do not mean a blind faith in the letter, nor a general acknowledgment that the Scriptures are somehow inspired, but the faith that the Word contains in itself an authoritative statement of truth. Hence the Writings teach that "the Holy Scripture or Word is Divine truth itself";* that "in the Word there is a spiritual sense hitherto unknown";** and that it is "from the spiritual sense . . . that the Word is Divinely inspired and is holy in every word."*** And because it is this sense which "gives life [or meaning] to the letter, it can therefore bear witness to the Divinity and holiness of the Word."**** This is the faith of the New Church, and it is in the light of this faith that the Divinity and unity of the Word may now be seen and understood.
* SS 1-4.
** SS 5-26.
*** SS 18, 19.
**** SS 4.

     III

     But if the Word in its letter cannot be understood apart from the spiritual sense, neither can the spiritual sense be understood apart from the letter.

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The reason for this is that the sense of the letter is the basis, the containant, and the support of the spiritual sense.* In other words, it is the letter which provides those basic concepts of God, of good, and of truth upon which the Writings rest. The Writings, therefore, do not stand alone, but make one with the former Testaments. That is why the letter of the Word has been miraculously preserved to this day.
* SS 27.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in the doctrine concerning the Lord, for it is the primary thesis of all Divine revelation that God is Divine Man. In this the Writings do not differ from the New Testament, nor the New Testament from the Old Testament. Yet let us ask ourselves, What idea do men have of God at this day? For the most part, men think of Him as a metaphysical entity, or as a philosophic abstraction; that is, as some kind of Being without substance or form. But to think of God in this way is to think indeterminately concerning Him; and, as the Writings state, "an indeterminate idea is no idea."* The reason for this is that every idea must be determined to some object of thought.* Hence the Writings also teach that "no one can think of the Divine itself unless he presents to himself the idea of a Divine Man; still less can anyone be conjoined through love with the Divine itself except by means of such an idea."* One cannot love what one does not know, and one cannot know him of whom he can form no idea. It is therefore as Divine Man that the Lord is revealed in the Word, and it is in this that the three Testaments constitute one Word. Nevertheless, there is a difference in the idea of God as Divine Man which is presented in each of the three Testaments; but despite all appearances to the contrary, the difference does not involve a contradiction.
* AC 8705.
In infancy and early childhood the idea of God that takes form in the mind is represented through the person of others. There is no other way in which the little child can form an idea of God. In this first or primitive idea of God, therefore, the Lord is seen through the instrumentality of those who temporarily stand in His place. Thus the little child thinks of God as he thinks of his parents; that is, as one who possesses human attributes such as love, wisdom, judgment and authority. But this idea is qualified or limited by the person or personality through whom it is re-presented. It is in this that the Old Testament differs from the New Testament; for whereas in the Old Testament, God is known through the persons of those who represent Him, such as the prophets and the kings, in the New Testament He is seen and known in His own Divine person; that is, in the person of Jesus Christ.

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     There is a world of difference between the idea which we form of one who is known to us through the representation of others, and one who is directly known to us in his own person. Thus it was that by birth into the world the Lord opened the way to a new concept of God; for while it is true that the ancient Israelite thought of Jehovah as a person, it was not until the Lord came into the world that God was seen and known in His own person. It is this that accounts for the striking difference between the Old and the New Testaments; for whereas to the ancient Israelite, Jehovah seemed remote, that is, a God who was known only through the representation of others, to the Christian the Son of God became a personal Savior whose presence was felt in His deep concern for all men. Here was a God who not only understood the frailty of human nature, but willingly forgave the transgressor if he would but take up the cross and follow Him. At this later day we can scarcely conceive of the impact of the Lord's teachings upon the minds of men. Here was a new doctrine-a doctrine so utterly different from the Mosaic law of retaliation that the Scribes and Pharisees openly accused Him of perverting the law. But the Lord answered them, saying: "I am not come to destroy the law, or the prophets . . . but to fulfill."*
* Matthew 5: 17.

     But now the Lord has come again, this time not as to person but as the Word; that is, as the spiritual sense of the Word, "which is from Him and is Himself."* For God is a person, but He is also a Spirit, even as the Lord said to the woman of Samaria: "God is a Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth."** To worship the Lord "in spirit and in truth" is to think spiritually concerning Him. Hence the teaching of the Writings that we are to "think of God from His essence, and from this of His person; and not from His person, and from this of His essence";*** for "to think of God from His person, and from this of His essence, is to think naturally concerning Him; but to think of God from essence and from this of His person, is to think spiritually concerning Him."*** The reason for this is that in God, even as in the man whom He created after His own image and likeness, the person is but the manifestation of a deeper reality, whom the Writings refer to as "the essential man."
* TCR 776.
** John 4: 24.
*** AR 611.
     To see God, therefore, is not merely to envision Him as a person, but to see and acknowledge that in essence He is good and truth. If this seems abstract it is because for the most part our idea of God-Man is derived from the thought of man as a person.

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But in reality, or in essence, man is not man from his person; he is man because he is a form receptive of good and truth from the Lord. Were this not so, man would not be human, but would be like the beast of the field, which knows neither good nor evil. Hence we are also taught in the Writings that "to love the Lord does not mean to love Him as to His person, but to love the good which is from Him."* In regard to the neighbor, the same law applies. He, too, is to be loved for the good that he does, and not on account of his person.** But it is to be noted that he who loves the good that is with the person also loves the man as a person, and this, not on account of his person but because of the good or the use that the person administers.*** Here is a new concept of human relationships. It differs from the Christian concept of the neighbor even as the concept of the Lord in His Divine Human differs from the thought of the Lord as a person; for what is involved here is a spiritual idea of the neighbor, that is, the idea of the neighbor as a form of use and not merely as a person. So we are told that in heaven when one sees another he does indeed see him as a man, but he thinks of him as a use.****
* HH 15.
** TCR 417-419.
*** DP 217.
**** Love XIII.

     IV

     What is it, then, that the Writings offer us? Is it not a new concept of God, that is, of a God who in essence is good and truth? Yet it may be asked: "What is new about this; have not men always believed that God is good?" But what the Writings offer us is a new concept of good. It is as different from the Christian concept of love for the person as the Christian concept is different from the Old Testament concept of moral perfection; for whereas in ancient Israel men thought of good strictly in terms of the moral integrity of the individual, in the New Testament the thought is directed to the ideal of a selfless love for the person of others. It is this ideal of unselfish devotion to others that has ennobled Christianity, but if man is to attain truly to this ideal, he must look beyond the person to the use of which the person is but a form; that is, to Him who alone is good. But as good, or God, cannot be revealed to the sight of the understanding except in the form of truth, it is as the Word that the Lord is made visible to man.
     Apart from the Word, man could have no knowledge of God, for there is no other way in which God can communicate with man. Thus it was that the Lord instructed His disciples, saying, "If ye continue in My Word . . . Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."* Yet we live in an age in which all claim to truth is suspect, particularly the claim that truth is revealed.

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Like Pilate, men say, "What is truth?"** "Is it anything? If it is it must agree with experience, and as all experience is relative, we are forced to conclude that truth, too, is relative. It is one thing to one man, and something else to another." Yet the Writings insist that truth is prior to all experience, and that by definition, truths are the laws of Divine order;*** hence the laws of Divine Providence, which, as revealed in the Writings, open the way to an entirely new concept of the relation between God and man. In these laws, as in all the other doctrines of the church, it is the Lord who is seen; not as He was seen in ancient times, that is, through the human of others, nor as He was seen as a man in the world, that is, in a human derived from the mother; but as He is seen in those laws of Divine order which proceed from His own Divine Human and constitute the spiritual sense of the Word.****
* John 8: 31, 32.
** John 18: 38.
*** HH 523.
**** AC 6723.

But if the Writings afford a new concept of God, of good, of truth, and of the Lord's providence, do they not also open the way to a new concept of man, of freedom, of marriage, of the spiritual world, and of the meaning and purpose of life? In these doctrines, as in all the other doctrines of the church, the Lord has fulfilled the promise given in the Apocalypse: "Behold, I make all things new."* Yet it is said: "If this be so, why is it that after almost two hundred years, these doctrines are acknowledged by so few?" It is a fair question, for it does seem as if men, in every-increasing numbers, would perceive that the Writings are what they claim to be. It is the testimony of the Writings concerning themselves, however, that the first state of the church will be one in which the acknowledgment of the Divine doctrine will be confined to a few. The reason given for this is that the Divine doctrine "cannot be received except by those who are interiorly affected by truths."** Man may be exteriorly affected by many things, but he is interiorly affected only by that which he receives with delight. Thus in the history of the New Church many have expressed interest in the doctrines, and some have endured for a time, but it is only through those who delight in the doctrines that the church can be established and perpetuated. That is why the General Church has placed so much emphasis upon internal evangelization; that is, upon instruction and education, for like any other spiritual love, the affection of truth must be nourished and cultivated.
* AE 732.
** Revelation 21: 5.
The interior affection of truth, however, is not merely a matter of doctrinal interest.

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In itself it is the delight which is to be found in the application of doctrine to the uses of life, for as the Writings insist, the life of religion is to do good;* but as good cannot be done unless man is of use, the spiritual measure of a man is his devotion to use. The doctrine of use, therefore, is the doctrine of charity for the New Church; and it differs from the Christian concept of charity, even as that which is done for the sake of the use which a person performs differs from that which is done for the sake of the person. This does not mean that we can do good without thought of the person, but it does mean that in the doing of goods which are of use to the neighbor the love of use should determine the good that is to be done. Thus the doctrine of use is also a new concept; and only in so far as this doctrine is applied to human relationships can the New Church actually be established on earth.
* Life 1.

In speaking of the slow growth of the church, we are reminded of a conversation which Swedenborg once held with certain angels who inquired of him as to what was new upon earth. He answered them, saying: "This is new: The Lord has revealed arcana which in excellence surpass the arcana hitherto revealed from the beginning of the church."* When the angels heard this they rejoiced, but in the midst of their rejoicing they perceived in Swedenborg a sense of sadness. When they inquired as to the cause of his sadness, he said: "Because the arcana now revealed by the Lord . . . are yet esteemed on earth as of no value."** Yet the reason for this is not hard to understand. When new truth is given, it not only contravenes human intelligence but requires all that is adverse to be put aside. Men are therefore slow to yield to its claims, particularly to its claim to authority. Few are ready for this, especially when it calls them out of the faith into which they were born. Think, for the moment, of those Jews who saw the Lord face to face. Did He not appear to them as any other man? Did they not openly challenge His authority? Yet there was a division among them. Some said, "Of a truth this is the Prophet." Others said, "This is the Christ."*** And when the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to take Him as He taught in the temple, they returned without Him, saying, "Never man spake like this man."****
* CL 532.
** CL 533.
*** John 7: 40, 41.
**** John 7: 46.
In this, the second coming of the Lord does not differ from the first. For the most part, men dismiss the Writings as the works of Emanuel Swedenborg, an eighteenth century mystic whose theological speculations are of no interest to the modern mind. Others pay passing tribute to his genius, and in acknowledging his contribution to the learning of his day express regret that a man of his intellectual stature was diverted from the field of scientific investigation by a religious obsession.

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Still others hold that Swedenborg's Theological Works comprise an enlightened commentary upon Scripture, and advance the thesis that he was an outstanding example of that higher type of religious experience which lends respectability to faith. There remain only a few, who, having read more deeply into the Writings, are increasingly convinced that "never man spake like this man." This is the beginning of faith. But it is not until men come to see who it is that is speaking to them in the Writings that faith becomes a matter of conviction, and conviction is a matter of life.
Once it is seen that the Writings are a revelation of the Lord in His Divine Human, there can be no further question of authority. The Divine doctrine is supreme, and it permits no equal. But how many at this day are prepared to believe this? Men are reluctant to admit to any authority, in that they prefer to be led by their own intelligence. Yet there is no reason why we should be discouraged by the slow growth of the church, for the Writings assure us that in first states the church is to be with a few in order that "provision may be made for . . . [its growth] among more."* What is this provision? Is it not a progressive understanding of the interior doctrine of the church, and an increasing perception of the Divinity, the holiness, and the unity of the Word? After all, it is only as our own faith is increased and strengthened that we can serve as the instruments of providence in the extension and growth of the church among men.
* AE 732.
EDITORIAL NOTE 1962

EDITORIAL NOTE 1962

[EDITORIAL NOTE. The discussion which followed the addresses given at the First and Second Sessions of the Assembly will be published in the October issue as part of the Journal. Discussion of the other addresses will be published with the addresses themselves.]
REV. GUSTAF BAECKSTROM 1962

REV. GUSTAF BAECKSTROM 1962

News has just been received of the death of the Rev. Gustaf Baeckstrom, who ministered to the Stockholm Society from 1915 until his retirement from the pastorate in December 1953. A biographical sketch will be published shortly.

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NEW CHURCH IN THE WILDERNESS 1962

NEW CHURCH IN THE WILDERNESS Rev. DANDRIDGE PENDLETON 1962

     (Preached at the Twenty-third General Assembly. Bryn Athyn, Pa., June 17, 1962.)

     "And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time from the face of the serpent." (Revelation 12: 14)

     In dramatic symbolism, the Word treats of the advent of the New Church, its initial rejection by men, and its establishment and protection amongst a few until the way is prepared for its promised growth among many. A careful reading of this section, in both its literal and its internal sense, is of importance; for with only a partial concept of the message here proclaimed, we may succumb to serious miscalculations in thought and action which will lead the church astray in its organizational development.

     It is the repeated and unremitting statement of the Writings that the old Christian Church is dead; nor can its revival be hoped for. The salvation of mankind on this earth depends henceforth upon the up-building of the New Church and its communication with the New Heaven that was formed as a consequence of the Last Judgment in 1757. This assertion concerning the death of the old Christian Church and the unique function of the New Church seems arrogant beyond belief to men who do not acknowledge the Writings. There have been some within the New Church itself who have found this doctrine unpalatable or, at best, embarrassing. Yet we cannot escape the plain teaching on this subject; nor can we hide our faces from certain equally plain implications stemming from that teaching. It is in this latter area-the area of so-called 'plain implications'-that inevitable difficulties arise. For what is plainly evident to one man may be in obscurity to another, and may be considered a falsity by still another. It is not the need for the New Church that is questioned in our body; it is the method whereby this need is to be met.
     Shall we retreat as much as circumstances will allow within separating walls of social and intellectual exclusiveness; or shall we advance boldly into an alien world, flinging wide our gates to all who would enter and examine?

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Shall we proclaim openly the doctrine that Christian tradition and creed have descended into their grave; or shall we whisper this only amongst ourselves and seek to join in with, and so "permeate," the old forms with new life? Shall we teach our young people that marriage -with one who has had hereditary and environmental background within the organized church should be regarded as more desirable than marriage with one whose foundation of thought and affection has been laid along the lines of a false belief; or shall we consider marriage with one born and educated outside of the organized church as a primary and providential means of evangelization, whereby new and much needed strains of vitality can be injected into the bloodstream of our spiritual and mental life as a church? Shall we state categorically that birth control is a permission, and therefore in itself a thing of evil; or shall we consider this subject under the wider series of those things which "mediate" between the Lord's will on the one hand and His permission on the other, namely, the things which are said to be of His good pleasure and of His leave? An endless list of such questions awaits our decision. One generation cannot answer these questions for the next, but can only prepare the way by education toward truly rational thinking for the new generation to achieve its own enlightenment in forms sufficient to its own understanding.

The Lord has indeed said, "Behold, I make all things new." This we believe, and to this we assent, however little we may be able to discern its accomplishment. But by what means-under what mental concepts and organizational applications-shall we co-operate with this Divine declaration, here and now, on the plane of natural life? Individual regeneration is assuredly part of the answer, and the most important part. But when it comes to basic directional activities in the church as an organization how shall we conclude in this matter? For conclude we must! Our young look to us for instruction; and however much they may appear outwardly rebellious against our instruction at times, inwardly they cling to us as the very foundation of their security. Nor are these conclusions which we draw needed only by our children. We ourselves need them, as those indispensable ultimates within which our own thought and convictions can find their chief strength. Each man, whether right or wrong in his opinions, must take his stand, in conscience, and act accordingly; if he fails to do this, he will gain neither self respect nor the respect of others.
The New Church has been given; but it is in its early stages. We are, all of us, as little children in our comprehension of the Writings.

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We have only begun; and this beginning, according to the prophecy, is to be in a "place prepared of God," yet environed on all sides by a "wilderness"-a wilderness which will protect the church until the way has been prepared that she may take her place "among the many." It is notable in this connection that the woman fled into the wilderness twice: once immediately after her man-child had been born; and again after the dragon had been defeated in the war against the heavens, and had returned to persecute her. The two incidents, while virtually identical in kind, represent two different levels, or planes, of spiritual activity. The first flight denotes the initial effort by the hells to destroy the new doctrine of truth as it was being given in the other world, before the Last Judgment had occurred; while the second flight tells of their continuing endeavor to infest the New Church in its establishment and progression with men on this earth. Observe that the "man-child" had been caught up "unto God" immediately following his birth. This signifies the guardianship that was rendered by angels to the new doctrine at its inception; a guardianship which has continued, and will continue, to protect that doctrine from destruction, despite the frailties of human understanding and the mistaken notions that are bound to arise in men's minds as the church on earth makes its difficult way toward its fulfillment. This continuance of Divine protection with the New Church on earth since the Judgment is indicated by the words of the text: "And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place."* Here we must exercise care: first, in discerning the true meaning of the literal text; and secondly, in deriving our concepts and applying them in the life of the church itself.
* See A. E. 532-565 for entire doctrine on subject.

We refer often to the "wilderness states" of the church. By this we mean generally the church in its beginnings and the protection that is given by Providence to those beginnings. In this, we speak rightly; that is, we speak according to the stated doctrine on the subject. There have been times, however, when our use of this phrase-the "wilderness states" of the church-has assumed, or at least included, an additional meaning: namely, a withdrawal from the world, not the world of sense experience or natural living, but the world of human contacts outside of the organized church. Yet we must exercise the utmost of caution when it comes to making applications on the natural plane of things from the letter of the Word whose meanings are essentially spiritual. This does not say that such natural applications are never to be made, but that extreme caution must be observed in their making.
When we turn to the series in both the Apocalypse Revealed and the Apocalypse Explained wherein the book of Revelation is expounded verse by verse, and read those numbers in which the internal sense of the 12th chapter is given, we find that the "wilderness" into which the "woman" fled for safekeeping does not represent states of the New Church, but those vastated states of the Old Church, in evident connection and association with which the New Church is to take root and grow.

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Vastated states are states which, having been deprived of all genuine good and truth, are reduced into ignorance as to what true spiritual life is-ignorance in which there can be innocence, and therefore the potential of receptivity. It is of interest here to note the original meaning of the word that is translated as 'wilderness' in the King James version of both the Old and New Testaments. By a 'wilderness' in the original was not meant a place of barren desolation, but a place relatively uncultivated and uninhabited, yet quite capable of cultivation and habitation, thus of productivity. It is of equal interest to observe that the Writings, in giving the internal sense of the term 'wilderness,' follow out this original meaning, defining the 'wilderness' spiritually as a state of mind, either with a man or an entire church, which possesses little or no genuine truth and good, but which, by virtue of the innocence of ignorance, is open to receive instruction and thus to turn again to God.
Such, we are told, are the Gentiles; and such also are many Christians at this day. It is not the "wilderness" that is to be feared; that is to say, it is not the vastated states of a former church that endanger the new dispensation. It is the "dragon"-those active loves of evil and the falsities springing therefrom which, being deprived of their former dress, have entered into new and more subtle garb, and thus clothed proclaim themselves as heralds of truth and enlightenment to a befuddled race of men.

Yet how are we to discern between a vastated state in the world around us-a state which, being one of ignorance, is spiritually harmless in itself-how are we to discern between this and a state which, while apparently harmless on the surface, has become the lurking-place of an insidious evil and its attendant falsity, ready to grasp and destroy the minds of good men? We must discern in this regard, if the "place prepared of God," that is, the protection of Providence, is to be enabled to serve its function. There are some who say that it is time for the New Church to come out of the wilderness. But it is not time to come out of the wilderness, for the "wilderness" is the only place, that is, the only state, in which it is possible for the New Church to be received. Recall that the "wilderness" here refers to those vastated states of the Old Church, both among the Christians and the Gentiles, in which and with which the New Church is to develop, and not necessarily to a physical, nor even a mental, separation from those states.

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     Yet the danger remains-deep, abiding, and subtle. For to be in the wilderness" involves an association, and as it were a laboring side by side, with those elements of "worldly" endeavor which are not hostile to a belief in God and religion. Whereas to leave the safety of the wilderness," and thus to face certain death at the mouth of the "dragon," is to conjoin ourselves with those forces of human endeavor whose inner spark is the desire to turn men's thought away from reflection on spiritual things, and so to destroy their belief in God. Yet it is not an easy thing to determine the difference in many human situations. A state that is primarily one of spiritual ignorance in the world at this day is often difficult to identify as opposed to a state of active falsehood which seeks to discredit religious belief; for the former may appear as the latter in externals, yet within they differ completely as to their outlook upon, and their reaction to, the things of spiritual life. The falsity of ignorance by itself does not stand opposed to truth. The falsity of evil does.

     We must work as no church before us has ever worked, to develop our powers of scrutiny, in order that we may discover, assess, and draw conclusions as to what states of the world we as New Church men may safely and productively associate with, and what states we must shun as the very plague of death. To suppose that we have nothing to fear, that somehow the Lord will protect and propagate His church apart from our actions, would be the height of doctrinal and practical folly. Yet to assume the opposite extreme, to withdraw from every contact with the world's affairs except those which cannot be avoided, is a derivation nowhere given in the Heavenly Doctrine. To assume this latter extreme would be to dissociate ourselves from the "wilderness" as well as the "dragon"; when yet it is in the "wilderness," and not apart from it, that there is a "place prepared" for the New Church. And it is there, in the wilderness of vastated Christianity and Gentilism, that we are to bend our efforts toward spreading the church; a spread which we are assured will be guided by the Lord "with circumspection,"* that the accession of the church may not be held back overlong, nor yet advanced prematurely.
* AE 562.
     This concept of working in the "wilderness" states of the world's vastated religions in no way precludes certain obvious necessities of physical and mental "exclusiveness" which sound reason has shown, and will continue to show, as requirements to the sustaining and upbuilding of our efforts. New Church education is a prime example of this necessity; for our distinctive philosophy of life could not be formed educationally, were it not set up and maintained within a separate, and therefore exclusive, framework of its own, apart from all other educational systems and institutions.

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We may safely join ourselves with men in their ignorance; and to them we have a gift to offer which is not ours to withhold. We may not safely conjoin ourselves with men in their falsities of evil, that is, in their endeavors to do away with the things of religion; for these are they of whom the Lord warned: "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs; neither cast ye your pearls before swine.

The challenge is becoming ever more pressing, and at an increasing tempo. We are to be innocent, but not naive. We are to be tolerant, yet uncompromising as to principle. We are to be "as wise as serpents" in our discernment of falsity and its subtleties; yet as "harmless as doves" in our refusal to pass unwarranted or self-authorized judgments upon the human race or any segment thereof. These are qualities which cannot be attained apart from a balanced awareness of the new doctrine of truth in its various facets-an awareness that can accumulate only from an understanding of the Writings in depth as well as in breadth. Let us bear in mind, then, that both the "dragon" and the "wilderness" refer primarily to states of and with the old Christian Church. The former states we must shun as things damnable and damning; but the latter states we are to employ, by association and communication, as vital means toward the increase of men's preparation for the new civilization that is to come. Our discernment in this matter, and our ability to shun the one state and utilize the other, are not far advanced; we are only beginning to learn in this regard. Yet does not the proper method of the church's development as a spiritual and natural organization depend upon this? How are we to forward the cause of the New Church in the world, while retaining and advancing the essential distinctive elements of worship, education and the genuinely spiritual life? How shall we strengthen our position in that spiritual wilderness, once a veritable Garden of Eden, but now lying fallow, in such a way that the desert itself "shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose," according to the prophecy of Isaiah?* This is the question that urges our attention. It may well take many generations of New Church men to find the answer. Still, each generation must add its quota of enlightenment to the obscurity that clouds our vision. Perhaps there is no final solution; yet each generation must search for its solution as though it were final, and work toward its fulfillment, all the while admitting that there may be other and better solutions forthcoming in the future. In this way, through men, the Lord can increasingly and unendingly fulfill the promise of His own words, when He said: "One soweth, and another reapeth . . . other men labored, and ye are entered into their labors."** This is the order of all true human progress, in heaven and on the earth. Amen.
* Isaiah 35: 1.
** John 4: 37, 38.

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LISTENING 1962

LISTENING E. BRUCE GLENN 1962

     (An address delivered at the Commencement Exercises of the Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa., June 15, 1962.)

     Bishop Pendleton, Dean Ebert, ladies and gentlemen of the Faculty and Corporation, friends of the Academy, students of all her schools, and especially those whom we honor today-the graduating classes:
     Why do we honor you? What have you done, that we, your parents, your teachers, your friends and fellow students, are gathered here this morning to acknowledge? What do your degrees and diplomas, for which you now wait in happy expectation, represent? Certainly yours is a measurable achievement, else these awards could not be granted-measurable in terms of courses and credits and grades. And these are important; for some of you, as the requisite to further education, for others, as the recognized foundation for the uses of an occupation.
     Yet the intellectual achievement of your courses and grades, like the degree or diploma, is representative of a deeper attainment, something more truly human and thus more permanent. The knowledges now resting on or near the surface of your memory are remarkable in number and variety; but as the years pass, many of these will sink further beneath the surface, and some will not emerge again into conscious thought. In a superficial sense, you will never again know as much as you do at the close of your formal education. Yet the disappearance of these knowledges will not be a loss in a deeper sense, nor has their acquisition been a waste. Like the sculptor's molds that make possible the permanent shaping of a malleable substance, these molds of learning-science and literature and history and philosophy and religion-have helped to form the permanent you, your immortal mind.
     It is for a successful forming of your minds that this Commencement gathering honors you. Of course, others have helped-your parents, above everyone else, a fact which you ought not to forget when you meet them after these exercises; and your classmates, however unwittingly at times. Specifically, your teachers are to be honored for your achievement-those who developed the molds of your courses and watched over the material being shaped therein; and this is acknowledged by the rising of those present at their entrance.

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In an infinitely deeper sense, it is the Lord whom we honor together, as our worship before His open Word has testified; for He alone is the giver of all knowledge and the former of the mind. But here the analogy of the sculptor fails; for his material lies passive under his shaping hand, but your minds have responded actively to the process of their forming.
     In this active response your minds have made use of two servants about which we heard in the reading from the Heavenly Doctrine-the senses of sight and of hearing, "means of receiving the things whereby the rational is formed, and also the things by which man is reformed."* During your education you have read and observed, and you have listened. And of these two, listening has been the more important activity. For, teaching machines and other technology notwithstanding, the essential of the educational process is the teacher speaking and the student listening and responding.
* AE 14.
     The importance of listening, compared with sight, is made clear in the same passage from the Writings: "The things that enter by the sense of sight enter into man's understanding. . . . The things, however, that enter by the sense of hearing enter both into the understanding and into the will."* The affections, as well as the intellect, are engaged in the act of hearing.
* AE 14.
     Looking back upon your classroom experience, you may think this a theoretical distinction. To pass your courses, to get your diploma or degree, you had to listen, just as you had to read the assigned material or look through the microscope. And there were moments, undoubtedly, when your mind turned away from listening, and drifted out the window or on to the weekend. But that is the point; it was your will that declined to listen, just as, when the teacher's words caught your attention, it was the will that attended.

     But why linger in the classroom on a June morning? Commencement addresses traditionally look to the future. The past is secure, safely tucked away in those thick white envelopes awaiting you. What does it matter, now, why you listened and how well, or how often you did not?
     It does matter now and for your future-for the further forming of your mind and the uses to which you may put it. Only those things really remain which are received with affection-that is, those things that enter into the will as well as the understanding. Hence the quality and direction of your listening matters in the making of the permanent you. The most brilliant record of intellectual achievement will be of no real and enduring value if you have not learned to listen truly-to receive in your will, as well as in your understanding, the truths of your education. For "the understanding does not lead the will . . . wisdom does not beget love, but only teaches and shows the way-teaching how a man ought to live, and showing the way in which he ought to go."*
* DLW 244.

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     You have received the knowledges that teach and show the way-knowledges of the natural universe, of man and his world of uses and values; and-because this is the Academy of the New Church-the new knowledge of God revealed in His open Word. What, now, will you do with them? Not only externally, in adding new ones by further education or in applying them to an occupation, but inwardly, in the forming of your immortal mind? The answer to this question depends on the quality and direction of your listening.

     To what and to whom will you listen? The selection and discrimination are now yours in a freedom you could not exercise in the classroom. And at this moment each of the three graduating classes has its own choice of selections. Those leaving the secondary schools have been hearing voices urging a variety of ways to go-college, work, the armed forces; what college, on the basis of what set of values, and toward what goal established by the will? The junior college graduates are listening to arguments among the fields of educational specialization, looking toward a use to which they can respond wholeheartedly-or perhaps hearing of the money and prestige to be gained. And for those receiving the bachelor's degree, their occupational course already somewhat determined by past choice, the voices are more subtle, reaching to the inner ear where the will selects between self and use, kind where the response is most permanent, though others may never discern it.
     The voices clamoring for your attention are multitudinous. They tell you what to buy, what to do, what to think, how to live. Some of them are low and seductive, whispering your own desires. Others are strident, arrogantly demanding your submission to their views. Still others are gay or fearful, mocking or melancholy. Together they make a Babel mingled and amplified by the marvels of modern communication.
     It is one of the ironies of our time that while the means of communication have developed wonderfully, our greatest failure is characterized as a failure to communicate. We hear of this in every field of human relations. International conferences drag on with no clear advance or agreement, their lack of effect reported instantly and clearly to the world. News analysts plead for government, business and labor to come together and "talk things over." Families drift apart, we are assured by magazine articles, for want of the ability to say anything to one another. Meanwhile, doctors' and lawyers' offices are filled with voices of pain and confusion; and the modern theater delights in depicting creatures who grope for each other but never achieve contact.

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     Thus do men find themselves ironically isolated from each other in a world made small by material advance. They sigh, "If only we could understand each other!" But the fault does not lie in the understanding; it lies in the will, where the currents of communication are shut off by selfishness. If men cannot understand one another, it is because they do not listen to each other with a desire to serve the ends of mutual understanding. And if this is a prevailing symptom of our time, it is because men do not listen to the Lord's voice, but hearken instead after strange gods, the echoing images of false ideas and evil affections.
     You have heard the Lord's voice-directly in His Word, and as understood and interpreted by your teachers in all the subjects you have learned and all the activities of your life in the Academy. For, as in the days of the boy Samuel, the Word of the Lord is precious; there is no open vision, and thus we must listen. It was to bring the church's children to hear the Lord's voice that the Academy was founded. This, in its essence, is the meaning of the Academy and of your life here. It is that simple.

     This essential meaning is beautifully and compellingly envisioned in the Lord's calling of Samuel "ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord," and in the child's response: "Speak; for Thy servant heareth." A picture of simple trust and immediate response, it serves well to illustrate what the Writings say of hearing, that it signifies perception and obedience. And what are these? Perception may be simply defined as the understanding of truth from love; and obedience, the willingness to follow the truth.
     Perception and obedience-these are the fruits of hearkening to the Lord's voice in the will. They are not yet yours by virtue of attentive listening during your years in the Academy. It is the hope and faith of your parents and teachers that their seeds have been implanted here. But their growth and fruition must be the attainment of time, a lifetime. You will spend that time, not in the comparative quite and order of an educational center whose voices speak with an inner harmony of purpose, but amid the clamor of the marketplace, with its tumult of conflicting ideas and ends. If, amid that clamor, you will continue to hear the Lord calling while the lamp of His truth is still bright in the temple of your mind-if you respond in a new ordering of knowledge that is called wisdom because it is of the will and of life-if, like Samuel, you will reply, again and again, "Speak; for Thy servant heareth," then your education in the Academy will have been fulfilled in the molding of your mind as an eternal form of use.

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ORDINATIONS 1962

ORDINATIONS KURT HORIGAN ASPLUNDH 1962

     Declarations of Faith and Purpose

     I believe that the Lord God Jesus Christ doth reign as the one only God of heaven and earth; the Creator, Redeemer and Savior of the world.
     I believe that the Writings are a Divine revelation, the crown of dispensations, the second coming of the Lord; and that they speak with Divine authority throughout.
     I believe that man is to see and acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ in the Word as the infinite God made visible; to have confidence that He alone saves; and to live rightly by shunning evils as sins against Him.
     I believe in a priesthood of the church inaugurated into the promise of the Holy Spirit and Divinely appointed to teach the doctrine of the church from the Word and to lead thereby to the good of life.
     I present myself for ordination into the pastoral degree of the priesthood with humble recognition of the sacred duties which pertain to that office, and in the hope and conviction that, with the Lord's leading, I may serve to upbuild that new heavenly kingdom which is to endure for ages of ages.
     KURT HORIGAN ASPLUNDH
ORDINATIONS 1962

ORDINATIONS 1962

     I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the one only God of heaven and earth, in essence and in person one, and that in Him is the Divine Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit; the Father being the Divine soul, the Son the Divine body, and the Holy Spirit being the Divine operation.
     I believe that the essence of God is Divine love and wisdom, and that the essentials of the Divine love are to love others outside of itself, to be conjoined with them, and to make them eternally happy from itself.
     I believe that these three essentials explain the purpose of creation and of providence, namely, that there might be a heaven drawn from the human race to which eternal happiness might be imparted.
     I believe that all good and truth are from the Lord alone, and that man of himself has nothing of good, being inclined by heredity to evils of every kind. If man is to receive heavenly happiness, he must shun evils for no other reason than that they are sins against the Lord.
     I believe that through the ages the Lord has shown man the path of life: first by immediate revelations, then in the Ancient Word, in the Old and New Testaments, and finally in the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, which, no less than the preceding Divine revelations, is also to be regarded as the Word of God.

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     I further believe that the church founded upon the Heavenly Doctrine is as distinct from the Christian Church as the Heavenly Doctrine is distinct from previous revelations. I believe that if the Lord is to reign in this church, the revealed doctrine concerning the priesthood must at all times be heeded by priests and laymen alike.
     In presenting myself for ordination into the second degree of the priesthood of the New Church, it is my earnest prayer that I may be of use to the Lord in the work of establishing His church both widely and deeply. And since no man can be an influence for good except from the Lord alone, I therefore implore Him to preserve me from every secret and open abuse of this sacred office, that I may be a faithful and diligent laborer in His vineyard.
     DOUGLAS TAYLOR
     June 19, 1962
NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1962

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS Rev. FREDERICK L. SCHNARR 1962

The Writings tell us that every truth of Divine revelation is a little mirror in which we see imaged some distinct quality of the Lord's Divine love and wisdom. The truths relating to each doctrine set forth some different aspect of the Lord's Divine nature. In the truths of the doctrine of the glorification we find the inmost image of the Lord's Divine Human; in the truths of the doctrine of regeneration we find the interior image of the nature and order of man; in the truths of the doctrine of the church we find the interior image of the relation of God and man. The truths of each doctrine present a different and distinct picture of the Lord and His creation. Yet, when brought together, these truths harmonize perfectly, blend together, and unite to form a most perfect image of the love and wisdom of God in His Divine Human.
In our readings from the Arcana Coelestia for this month there is included a description of the scenery of the Lord's heavenly kingdom. As if they were painting a picture for us, the Writings reveal the magnificent splendor and indescribable beauty of the atmospheres, lands, vegetation and dwellings of heaven. In all the literary and artistic portraits that the mind of man has drawn from the imagination, nothing begins to compare with the perfect beauty of the reality-the reality which the Lord now gives as an added gift to His New Church.

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     The truths describing the scenery of heaven, while beautiful and delightful to our senses, might seem somewhat external when compared with those which tell of the glorification or of regeneration. And so they are. But it does not follow from this, as some have suggested, that they are therefore relatively unimportant. The Lord does not reveal unimportant things-not even relatively unimportant things!
     When we reflect upon the external state of life into which man has fallen, one in which he knows nothing of heaven and scarcely believes that it exists at all, can we wonder that the Lord should seek to rouse him from his lethargy by presenting a detailed description of life after death by telling of a world of real substance and objects? When we think of the unhappy, disease and war ridden states of man on earth, can we wonder that the Lord should seek to raise his eyes to another world where there are happiness, order and beauty; and through this to inspire him with new hope and courage, and to awaken in him the beginnings of a new concept of God?
     Not only to awaken and inspire belief, but to confirm and express it. All interior truths are clothed with ultimates, in heaven as well as on earth. Interior truths, to become part of man's life, must express themselves and perform uses through ultimate things. The same law applies in the relation of man's mind and body. All interior truths are abstract ideas when first learned, even though they may be received with delight. They are confirmed and become part of a living faith when they are seen to have an application, a use, to the very meaning and purpose of life, and are then so employed. With those who are learning the doctrines of the church, the description of the scenery of heaven is a perfect confirmation that those doctrines are true. For the order, beauty and harmony, the wonderful art and craft of the forms of heavenly scenery, perfectly reflect and confirm the order, beauty, harmony, Divine art and craft of the heavenly doctrines, from which they indeed have their very life and existence. In the Writings the Lord has presented Himself to man on every possible plane: as He is seen on each plane, so is He seen in the full glory and honor of His Divine Human.

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EPISCOPAL OFFICE 1962

EPISCOPAL OFFICE Editor 1962

NEW CHURCH LIFE
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THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
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     Each of our Bishops has contributed uniquely to the episcopacy, and in so doing has made an impress that was of lasting benefit to the General Church. There can be no doubt that in this as in other respects, Bishop Willard D. Pendleton will follow worthily the three Bishops who have preceded him in office. He brings to his demanding duties administrative experience in the General Church and a background in pastoral work and in teaching, and has shown himself eminently qualified to lead and govern and to provide wisely for the uses of the church.
     The overwhelming acceptance of his candidacy must assure Bishop Pendleton that he has assumed office with the confidence, affectionate support and complete good will of the General Church. He may feel certain that he has the trust, understanding and backing of clergy and laity alike in the tasks and responsibilities that lie ahead. The church looks forward to his administration of the episcopal office; and in so doing it extends affection to his wife, whose support of his use will mean so much to him and to the church itself.
     Yet the episcopal office, under the Lord's leading, passes from man to man, and it would be ungracious at this time not to pay tribute again to Bishop De Charms, whose distinguished leading of the church for nearly twenty-five years was affectionately acknowledged by the Assembly. The quality of the episcopal government which resulted from his free response to the duties and obligations of his office as he saw them from the Writings has left its mark upon the church, and has provided much of value on which the church will build in the future.

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IMPLICATIONS OF A BALLOT 1962

IMPLICATIONS OF A BALLOT Editor 1962

     It is now a matter of record that the recent Assembly acted by ballot on the nomination presented to it for the office of Bishop of the General Church. It should be well understood that no precedent has been established by the use of the ballot on that occasion. Our principle of not legislating for the future implies that the future shall not be bound by precedent or by traditional practice. When similar action has to be taken again, the Assembly concerned will be as free to reject the ballot for good cause as, for good cause, this Assembly was free to adopt it. There should be no doubt about that.
     Furthermore, it should be clearly understood that no change whatsoever was made in the order of the General Church. The change from a voice vote to the ballot that was made was entirely procedural in nature; and it was made, not to alter the essential order of the church, but to maintain that order in a new situation; for the principle of council and assembly upon which the church is founded cannot be implemented except in a state of freedom. There is a vital distinction here between essentials and instrumentalities or means and modes; and we have the authority of the Writings for stating that the latter can be changed without detriment to the former, and should be when the need arises.
     The question of a ballot arose out of a sincere desire that no one should go away from the Assembly with any feeling that his freedom had been restricted. If the ballot itself is indicative-all but a fraction of the vote being affirmative-the cause of freedom was well served. Nor need it be feared that the Assembly, in departing from past practice, took a backward step. Rather may it be felt that, without any disloyalty to the past or prejudice to the future, we moved forward to ultimate our essential order in the present state of the church.
AFTERMATH OF AN ASSEMBLY 1962

AFTERMATH OF AN ASSEMBLY 1962

One of the strongest and most general feelings carried away from the recent Assembly would seem to be that of entering into a new era. This has not come only from our awareness that a new administration has begun, but from many things that were said and done. The future will hold problems and present challenges as surely as its promise is a source of encouragement; and we will do well to recall frequently that, in providence, the development of the external church is not likely to exceed by far the progression of the internal church in the hearts of men.

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Church News 1962

Church News Various 1962

     THE ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH

     Commencement

     The Academy's eighty-fifth Commencement Exercises, held in the Asplundh Field House on June 15, were a most appropriate prelude to the General Assembly. Fifty-seven graduates of the senior and junior colleges and the secondary schools received their diplomas and certificates before an audience greatly augmented by Assembly guests after being addressed by Professor E. Bruce Glenn. Professor Glenn spoke to the graduating classes severally and collectively on "Listening" bringing out the importance of listening, compared with sight, and emphasizing the continued importance of that activity in the further forming of the mind. His address is published in this issue. A list of the graduates and honors follows this account.
     Valedictorians were: for the Senior College, Eliot Walter Cranch, Glendale, California; for the Junior College, Michael Xandry Odhner, Bryn Athyn; for the Girls School, Rachel Odhner, Bryn Athyn; and for the Boys School, Alan Davison Longstaff, Glenview, Illinois. Their expressions of thanks showed a keen appreciation of the purposes of New Church education as a unique preparation for life. President Willard D. Pendleton responded suitably to the valedictories, expressing the confidence of the Faculty in those who had just graduated from the schools of the Academy to enter into the life of the church.

     ACADEMY SCHOOLS

     Awards, 1962

     At the Commencement Exercises on June 15, the graduates received their diplomas and the honors were announced as follows:

     Senior College

     BACHELOR OF SCIENCE: Diana Carpenter, Doris Eleanor Cranch, Eliot Walter Cranch, Marian Glenn Elmont, Hugo Valdemar Odhner, Ruth Elizabeth Parker, Lois Ellen Walton.

     Junior College

     DIPLOMA: Wilbur DeWitt Andrews II, Joanna Cole, Suzanne Shubert Cranch, Karen Doering, Ronnye Lynne Gauzens, Barbara Beth Glenn, Cynthia Hyatt, Jane Kintner, June Elaine Kitzelman, Denis Major Kuhl, Michael Xandry Odhner, Michael Rich, Cora Jean Schoenberger, Paul Craig Smith.

     Boys School

     ACADEMIC DIPLOMA: James Alexander Doering, Robert Lee Glenn, Alan Davison Longstaff.
     GENERAL DIPLOMA: Charles Edward Doering, Glenn de Charms, George Rupert Kuhl, Seid Wilson Waddell, Robert Billings Walker.
     CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION: Asbjorn Boyesen, Thomas Dudley Davis.

     Girls School

     DIPLOMA: With Honors: Alison Glenn, Bonnie Hope Glenn, Barbara Tryn Grubb, Valerie Anne Latta.
     DIPLOMA: Elizabeth Barnitz, Merle Black, Carol Virginia Brown, Sidney Jane Coffin, Sylvia Cranch, Donna Emily Day, Cheryl Ann Ebert, Terry Faulkner Ebert, Melinda Echols, Meredith Glody,

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Carol Ann Gurney, Rachel Halterman, Barbara Ann Kendig, Carol Ann Lindsay, Joann Kay Lockhart, Rachel Odhner, Louise Deep Smith.
     CERTIFICATE OF GRADUATION: Judith Boatman.
     CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION: With honors: Carol Jane Schnarr.
     OTHER CERTIFICATES: Carol Anne Friesen, Donna Lee Gauzens, Carolyn Johnson.

     Theta Alpha Award

     Miss Diana Carpenter and Miss Jeryl Glenn received the Theta Alpha Award.

     LONDON, ENGLAND

     The children's New Year party was the first official celebration of 1962. Held on Saturday, January 6, it had a record attendance of 33 children ranging from 2 to 12 years of age. The catering was done by the parents, and Paul and Ann Rinaldo courageously supervised the games. As usual, it was a happy, boisterous affair, brought unwillingly to a conclusion at 6:30 p.m., with each child being presented with a gift off the carefully preserved Sandstrom Christmas tree. Once again, a goodly portion of the gifts were band-made by the Misses Marith and Rinnah Acton.
     The party was followed by our Swedenborg's birthday celebration on Sunday, February 4. The attendance at morning service, nearly 100 people, was unusually large, and more than 80 remained to take lunch together and join in the festival. Miss Elizabeth Pethard surprised and delighted the gathering by presenting a huge birthday cake, decorated and inscribed with Swedenborg's name. This was cut by the pastor and enjoyed by all. After the luncheon the pastor welcomed our many guests, who included Dr. and Mrs. Berridge and family from Reading, England; Miss Birgitta Ganting from Upsala, Sweden; several members of the Ridgway family; and Col. and Mrs. Loew from South Africa. Col. Loew took the opportunity to pass on a goodwill message from the Rev. Wynne Acton and the Durban Society. Toasts were sung, and the program was presented by our toastmaster, Mr. Norman Turner, who had also arranged it. His theme was "Swedenborg the Philosopher," and his subject "The Three Kingdoms: Animal, Vegetable and Mineral." With the assistance of Messrs. Ken Taylor and Fred Elphick, he presented this in a studious but interesting way. A happy and informative day was concluded with the singing of the 19th Psalm.
     On February 8, the annual general meeting of the Women's Guild was held, and the retiring president, Miss Elizabeth Pethard, was given a hearty vote of thanks for her services during two years of office. Miss Pethard is to be congratulated on the many interesting speakers she invited to address the Guild, a goodly number of these being drawn from the members themselves. Among the women speakers, your reporter recalls Miss Muriel Gill from Colchester, on "Greek and Roman Mythology"; Mrs. Ann Rinaldo, on "Children in Heaven"; and Mrs. Bernice Sandstrom, on "Sleep"; all of whose talks were followed by animated discussion. Very sincere thanks were extended also to our treasurer, Mrs. Helen Colebrook, for her devoted service over a number of years, and she was persuaded to remain in office. The Guild then elected its new president, Mrs. Bernice Sandstrom, with unanimous approval.
     The day of our long-awaited concert arrived at last, on Saturday, March 3, to be exact. The concert was designed to replace the Guild's annual sale of work, and the collection of funds in connection with a presentation of work had been going on for some time. Spectators were already sitting on the results of the efforts of the latter, namely, the new seat covering. At 4:30 p.m., a buffet tea was served, and at 6:15 the doors were opened in the ball to more than 80 people. Much preparation and effort had gone into this affair, and the reception given to the many performers must have been very gratifying to them. Space prevents the enumeration of each item, but mention must be made of a four sketch charade, composed and presented by Miss Edith Elphick, which drew gales of laughter from the delighted audience. The total sum raised by the concert and the furniture repair fund was approximately L63:0:0.
     ISABEL ROBERTSON

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     THE CHURCH AT LARGE

     General Convention. As reported earlier, the Boards of Managers and Directors of the New Church Theological School have appointed a joint, fact-finding committee to provide the material upon which to base a decision as to whether to relocate, re-model the present buildings or rebuild the school on the present site. Copies of the curriculum were sent to theological seminaries in New England, New York, Ohio, Illinois and California, and exploratory discussions have now been held with eight theological schools. It is reported also that Harvard University has made a substantial starting offer for the present property.
     The Rev. John King, who died in May, was Instructor in Homiletics and Scripture Interpretation at the New Church Theological School, Cambridge, Mass. Formerly pastor of the Urbana, Ohio, Society and a teacher at Urbana Junior College, he was keenly interested in the work of Convention as well as that of the theological school.

     General Conference. At the recent Annual Session of Conference the Rev. Arthur Clapham of Jersey, Channel Islands, took office as president. Mr. Clapham has twice before served as president; and during his ministerial career, which began in 1922, his committee work and offices have covered almost the whole of Conference's activities. A short report of the Annual Session will be published later.
     To encourage a greater use of its Film and Tape Library, the National Missionary Board has prepared a bulletin, to be issued periodically, giving suggested items for inclusion in programs that could be arranged by societies and affiliated organizations. The library contains also material suitable for Sunday school work.

     New Zealand. The Rev. E. C. Howe has arrived in New Zealand to enter into the pastorate of the Auckland Society. Changes in the neighborhood had made a move desirable; and the Auckland Society, after a careful survey, has purchased a site in a residential district which is thought to have considerable possibilities. The Society had been without a pastor since the return of the Rev. Richard H. Teed to Australia.

     West Africa. The Rev. Eustace R. Goldsack left Nigeria in order to report to the General Conference on the West African Mission. At present it appears uncertain whether he will return, or whether a European Superintendent will again be appointed.
ORDINATIONS 1962

ORDINATIONS Editor 1962

     Announcements
     Asplundh.-At Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, June 19, 1962, the Rev. Kurt Horigan Asplundh into the second degree of the priesthood, the Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton officiating.
     Taylor.-At Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, June 19, 1962, the Rev. Douglas McLeod Taylor into the second degree of the priesthood, the Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton officiating.
5,000TH MEMBER RECEIVED 1962

5,000TH MEMBER RECEIVED 1962

On June 27, 1962, Miss Marcia Carolyn Mergen of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, became the five-thousandth member to be received into the General Church since its inception in 1897.
Spiritual Diary 1962

Spiritual Diary 1962

The first volume of this valuable work, long out of print, is now available in a new translation from the Latin by the Rev. A. Wynne Acton. published by the Swedenborg Society, Inc. Priced at $3.00, it can be ordered through any local society book steward, or by mail from the General Church Book Center, 55 Park Drive, Glenview, Illinois.
ROOT AND OFFSPRING OF DAVID 1962

ROOT AND OFFSPRING OF DAVID Rev. LOUIS B. KING 1962

VOL. LXXXII
SEPTEMBER, 1962
No. 9
     (Preached at the Twenty-third General Assembly, New Church Day service, Bryn Athyn, Pa., June 19, 1962.)

     "I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star." (Revelation 22: 16)

     Abandoned on the lonely isle of Patmos in the Aegean Sea, John, aged and beloved apostle of the Lord, did not die as his Roman tormentors intended; but, in providence, was saved alive to record those dramatic, apocalyptic visions to which his spiritual ears and eyes were soon opened. And although he understood but little of the sublime allegory he penned, this much he knew: that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Alpha and Omega, was the beginning and the end of this prophecy, its key figure and focal point throughout.
     It was the Lord who introduced the prophecy as "the revelation of Jesus Christ." It was the Lord Himself who appeared in the midst of seven golden candlesticks-the glory of His Divine Humanity so brilliant that His earthly witness and scribe fell at His feet as dead. And it was the Lord who, at the conclusion of this prophecy, summed up its content, its end and purpose, by stating: "I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star."
     But why does the Lord here call Himself the "root and the offspring of David," when during His life on earth He would never acknowledge that He was either the son of David or the son of Mary? The answer is to be found, not in the letter, but in the spirit of these words. For David, throughout Scripture, represents the Divine truth of the Lord's Divine Human; and it is with regard to His relationship to the church that the Lord calls Himself the "root and the offspring of David."
     As the Divine truth proceeding to create individual man, endowing him with life as of self, the Lord is called the "root" of David.

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As that same Divine truth made flesh to subjugate the hells, to redeem angels and men, and to establish a Christian church on earth, the Lord is called the "offspring" of David. And as the Spirit of truth in His second advent, come to effect a final spiritual judgment, to create a new Christian heaven in the spiritual world, and to establish the church, the New Jerusalem, on earth, the Lord is called the "bright and morning star."
     These Divine works of creation, redemption and salvation are accomplished from the Divine love by means of the Divine wisdom. The root is Divine love, the offspring is Divine wisdom; and when these essentials are received by the individual as states of charity and faith, the new, regenerate life they produce in the mind is like a bright and morning star-a light at dawn which heralds the sun of righteousness and ushers in a new day of spiritual conscience.
     But if the Lord, from good and by means of truth, is to bring into full effect the Divine works of redemption and salvation, there must be in the individual something of innocence, or a willingness to be led by the Lord. Apart from innocence there is nothing conjunctive in man to which spiritual truth can appeal; and if truth cannot affect man, he cannot be saved.
     A powerful illustration of the relationship of the Lord as Divine truth to states of innocence in those with whom the church is to be established is contained in the story of David and Bathsheba: a story whose inner, spiritual confirmation of Divine order is more dramatic, perhaps, than its outward, literal manifestation of disorder. Thus it is written: "And when the wife of Uriah heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house and she became his wife, and hare him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord."* Note, the action of David displeased the Lord, yet its spiritual representation illustrates the very Divine works of redemption and salvation.
* II Samuel 11:26, 27.
     Thus it happened. Instead of following the ark of God into battle against the dreaded Ammonites, the "Warrior King," contrary to his courageous love of combat, remained in Jerusalem amidst the luxuries and excessive pleasures of palace life. There, on an evening, he looked down from the roof of his royal pavilion, and beheld a woman of extraordinary beauty. Driven by violent passion-although upon inquiry he discovered that she was the wife of one of his most distinguished and faithful generals-he sent for her, and committed that "deed of shame" which ever after darkened his character and caused to fall upon his house one pathetic tragedy after another.

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     In time, David realized that it would be impossible to shield Bathsheba from the death penalty prescribed by Jewish law for an adulteress; and, having failed in several shameful expedients to cover his own guilt, he sent a letter to Joab, his unscrupulous chief officer, instructing him to send the chivalrous Uriah, Bathsheba's husband, into the thickest part of the battle and then withdraw from him, thus making sure his death. On a day soon after, Uriah the Hittite fell in battle-died in the service of his adopted nation, to the glory of his king, unaware of his wife's dishonor. Thus did David become guilty of a second sin as grievous as the first, for which, it was said, "the sword should never depart from his house."*
* II Samuel 12:10.

     We ask: How can David, in view of his conduct in this matter, be called a man after God's own heart? How is it that in these acts, as the Writings teach, he represents the Lord, or even the regenerating man? Study of Scripture and reflection upon its spiritual sense give abundant evidence that this holy representation rests, not upon his personal character, but upon his official status. As, personally, he inclined hereditarily to evils of every kind, so the Lord, through His maternal human, assumed the entire evil heredity of a fallen race. As David was tempted, so the Lord was tempted. But David's temptations were not the Lord's temptations; nor did his weakness in succumbing to temptation have its counterpart in the Lord. On the contrary, David's weakness and spiritual defeat refer, in the inmost sense, to the Lord's strength and total victory.
     Reflection and reason will enable us to see that evil and falsity have no original status. They evolved from man's mind, when, in time, he abused his God-given freedom, perverting good and truth. It is a fact! Evil and falsity were not created by God, but were produced by man. Therefore they have no separate existence apart from good and truth. For this reason, whether evil or false, every reference to disorder appearing in the letter of Scripture has a good as well as an evil representation. The more interior our penetration of the sense of the letter, the nearer is our approach to the good and truth which have been perverted. Hence we are taught that, inmostly, the whole of the Word treats of the Lord and is, therefore, Divinely good and Divinely true.
     More specifically, David's twofold departure from the Decalogue, which involved both adultery and murder, refers to the Lord's temptations which He sustained in effecting the redemption of mankind. These two evils, above all others, are most destructive of society, and are therefore most expressive of the love of self. Certainly, all evil has its tap root in the love of self, for from the love of self evil branches out into indefinite forms of lust which men entertain, and which allure them into acts of sin.

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     Because adultery and murder violate and destroy all that is sacred and precious in human life, because they picture best the real quality of self-love which emanates from the basest hell and produces all temptation, therefore these sins in David interiorly depict how the root of our hereditary evil, which the Lord put on, extended downward into the lowest hell from whence came His most direful temptations. But whereas David succumbed, the Lord conquered: projecting the redemptive power of His Divine love into the lowest hell; so ordering all of the hells that today, no matter how sordid and severe a man's temptations may be, the Lord can be near to him with the power and will to regenerate.

     It is to be noted that, during His temptations, the Lord had connection with both the heavens and the hells, and, while in states of humiliation, permitted the selfhood of angels, normally quiescent, to become active instrumentalities of the hells, that their all-out attack upon His human nature might be effected. And inasmuch as the angels were in a state of elevation and enlightenment, their attacks constituted His most grievous temptations.
     These inmost temptations, inflicted upon the Lord through the medium of activated angelic selfhood, were doubts concerning the establishment of a genuine church on earth through which the human race might once again draw near to the Lord and receive eternal life and happiness. The very angels of heaven, scrutinizing a complete absence of any genuine good and truth in the human race, doubted even the Lord's ability to establish His church among such fallen men. These doubts infused into the Lord's conscious, human mind an unbelievable sense of loneliness and despair. He alone, in His temporarily finite consciousness, trusted in the power of Divine love, which He felt within, yet above, Himself. Thus in states of temptation, when appealing to that Divine love within, He spoke as if to a separate person, to a Father above and superior to Himself.
     Thus did He alone, completely unassisted, sustain the temptations inflicted upon Him by devils and angels alike, and in so doing ordered both the hells and the heavens. Strengthened and enlightened as to His assumed humanity by victory in these combats, He beheld in the gentiles of the human race something of innocence and simple goodness with which He might be conjoined. This good with which the Lord desired conjunction, and which made possible the eventual establishment of a church among the gentiles and consequently the salvation of the human race, was represented by Bathsheba. And what is the nature of this good which causes all those of the church universal in all ages to be salvable? It is, we are told, like the good of childhood. It is simple, yet sincere; beautiful in innocence, yet unenlightened by wisdom; un-elevated by truth, yet desirous of instruction and purification thereby.

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So Bathsheba, a woman of exceeding beauty, cleansed herself beneath the palace of the king.
     And the king was tempted of the hells David's love of self-uncontrolled, uninhibited by moral or spiritual concern-drove him onward into the destructive sins of adultery and then murder. So much for his personal character! But as to his representative character as the Lord's anointed, these same actions interiorly picture the Lord on earth, grievously tempted by angels and satans to doubt the possibility of redemption, yet infinitely desirous of it; yea, longing for conjunction with whatever remnant of innocence He might find with the gentiles.

     As David represents the Lord's Divine Human with regard to the redemption and salvation of the human race, so, by analogy, he can be likened to the office of the priesthood-the Divinely appointed means through which the Holy Spirit operates upon men for the establishment and growth of the church upon earth. In this regard the "root of David" is the love of saving souls. The "offspring of David" is the companion love of teaching the absolute truth of Divine revelation that men may be led thereby to the good of life. The "bright and morning star" is that peculiar enlightenment with which the Lord Himself endows the priest who conscientiously pursues a lifelong study of the Heavenly Doctrine.
     Bathsheba can be likened, once again, to innocence, or a willingness on the part of the laity to be instructed in the truth; a beautiful affection to which the priestly love is ever drawn. And as David was tempted, so will the hells assault the priest of the new evangel: tempting him to teach from the conceit of self-intelligence; to lead to his own personality rather than to the good of life; thus subtly identifying the person with the office, and thereby assigning Divine authority to his own words and deeds. Self-consciousness, whether conceitedly insensitive or morbidly introspective, is hell's curse to the priesthood.
     But the conscientious priest, unmoved by states of discouragement and success alike, will seek out innocence wherever it may be found, endeavoring to conjoin to it the kingly form of Divine truth. And the states of the church brought forth from this union, like the two sons born of David and Bathsheba, will differ in nature. The firstborn died, because conceived in a state of disorder while Bathsheba's husband yet lived. Similarly, there will be states of the church, premature and shortlived, because conceived while an alien faith is master in the household of the mind. As David wept for his dying child, so discouragement and sorrow will beset the priest when he is bereaved of the fruit of his labors. Yet his obvious failures to increase the church in this world, whether in depth of doctrine or numerical growth, may, in the Lord's providence, be the very means of preparing for its growth in the spiritual world.

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Realizing, then, that the Lord as the Divine priest is ever mindful of His church, providing in secret ways for its growth, first in heaven and then on earth, and with an abiding confidence in the Lord's leadership, the representative priest may face his apparent failures with courage, and in heart exclaim with David: "While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept; for said I, Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me."
     Solomon, the second son of David and Bathsheba, conceived after she became his wife, inherited his father's throne and became the wisest monarch Israel would ever know. So is there born another, healthier state of the church, conceived of the priestly love and born of an innocent affection of truth: a princely state of intelligence, humble and wise-a spiritual conscience accomplished in the art of self-compulsion; a regal perception of truth from good capable not only of ruling over the understanding but also of constructing in the will a magnificent temple of worship, wherein the visible God may dwell in that which is His own with man.

     Thus does the Lord, successively and inevitably, establish His church employing as His means the absolute truth of Divine revelation, a sincere and inspired priesthood, and an innocent affection of truth which has its origin in remains God-given to all. And wherever these means are effective, it is because they are, in reality, the Divine of the Lord received and felt by men as if their very own. Who, then, can deny that the Lord alone establishes, maintains and leads His church?
     Let us rejoice in the "root and the offspring of David," in the "bright and morning star." For He is the Lord Jesus Christ in the midst of His kingdom; a kingdom which shall endure for all ages.
     As Creator, Redeemer and Savior He has come for the last time-the "Spirit of truth which leadeth unto all truth." In the Writings of the New Church His Divine Human becomes fully visible as to both essence and person. And in this new revelation of the infinite mind and personal quality of God-man, the end and causes of all things are made known for the first time: why man was created; how sin came into existence, and why; what really was accomplished by the Lord's coming on our earth: what we can expect in the other life; how we can co-operate with the Lord in the upbuilding of His kingdom in this world and in the next.
     And to each individual who would worship the Lord in spirit and in truth, to priest and layman alike, the Lord comes again.

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The Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem descends into his heart, and a star of hope, a bright and morning star, illumines the horizon of his spiritual thought. Then, on the threshold of an eternal day, the New Church man can acknowledge the one and only true light; the true light "which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." For He has come, "a light into the world," a "light to lighten the gentiles." He is "the sun of righteousness, risen with healing in His wings." He is the Lord Jesus Christ, the "root and the offspring of David." And having risen, the one supreme and true light, He will never cease to shine. For the holy city, New Jerusalem, hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it; for the glory of the Lord's Divine truth doth lighten it, and His Divine Human is the light thereof. Amen.

LESSONS:     II Samuel 11. Revelation 22. Apocalypse Revealed 954.
MUSIC:     Liturgy, pages 479, 602, 459.
PRAYERS:     Liturgy, nos. 91, 99.
OUR NEW CHURCH VOCABULARY 1962

OUR NEW CHURCH VOCABULARY 1962

Correspondence. As this term covers a fundamental doctrine which is found only in the Writings, its meaning should be clearly understood. The basic idea can be expressed very simply. Correspondence is both a causal and a functional relation between the Divine and the spiritual or between a spiritual and a natural thing. When a natural object, activity or phenomenon is the effect of which a spiritual thing is the cause, and when the two perform analogous uses to the body and the mind, respectively, they are said to be in correspondence; and the natural thing is said to correspond to the spiritual, or to be a correspondent. Correspondence is therefore also the law or mode of influx. In another usage, the term means agreement that makes influx possible, as where it is said that man's external mind must be reduced to correspondence with the internal mind. (See AC 3225; AE 1080; HH 89, 107.)
As the terms, representative and significative, are related, it may be useful to note them here and observe the distinctions involved. When a natural thing re-presents its cause on another plane and in another form, it is said to be a representative. Note, however, that a representative is, by definition, not the thing that is represented. In general, things have a correspondence; persons and their actions, in the Word, represent; and the actual words of the Scripture which are the symbols for things, persons and actions, signify. (See AC 3225, 2988.)

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"THE FOLLOWING IS NOT A WRITTEN CONSTITUTION" 1962

"THE FOLLOWING IS NOT A WRITTEN CONSTITUTION" Rev. ERIK SANDSTROM 1962

     Some Reflections on a Remarkable Document

     (Delivered to the Third Session of the Twenty-third General Assembly, Bryn Athyn, Pa., June 16, 1962.)

     Every new member of the General Church receives a nine-page pamphlet entitled, A Statement of the Order and Organization of the General Church of the New Jerusalem. It is a document for which we may be thankful. I am always proud to show it to people. We all know something of it, but possibly it is sometimes accepted as an afterthought. The person receiving it has already applied for membership, has already made up his mind. He will think that the Statement contains good things-things he would agree with-but perhaps nothing that would require his serious reflection. Yet the fundamental principle that runs through the entire Statement is of momentous import; it is worthy of close attention and repeated and prolonged meditation. That document is the modus vivendi of the General Church, and is an episcopal interpretation of the teachings of the Writings as applied to the uses and needs of the church. I have felt that the church, by way of response, may wish to give renewed attention to this document at the present time.

     "The following is not a written constitution." That is the introductory phrase in the current issue, as revised by Bishop De Charms. In the previous edition, formulated by Bishop N. D. Pendleton, the corresponding words occurred at the end of the Statement, and then read: "The foregoing is not a written constitution." In the first Statement of all, however-that given out by W. F. Pendleton, the first Bishop of the General Church-we do not find that particular formulation, but instead the following: "In the General Church there is no legislation for the sake of enforcing doctrine, or for meeting future contingencies. Doctrine is to be taught but not enforced; and the possibilities of the future are in the hands of the Lord, who will enlighten those who are active in the affairs of the Church at any given time."* You will note that this manner of speech involves the same thing.

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In the future there will be need for new statements from time to time, as the church develops and expands; but I trust that the principle underlying the quoted words will always be at the heart of the General Church-always!
* NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1914, p. 497.
     The formulations so far chosen are negative in form: ". . . not a written constitution"; ". . . no legislation." But negatives sometimes have the force of the strongest possible affirmation. Eight of the Ten Commandments are prohibitive rather than exhortative. Shunning evils is, in a sense, a negative act. Yet these are negatives directed against negatives. The result, of course, must be an affirmative. Indwelling in all things human there is a negative tendency. In collective society, whether the church or the country, the natural inclination of all is to argue the issue from proprial aspirations. The outcome in such a case is bound to be largely a compromise between power groups. When important issues are involved, the result may be raised to the dignity of what is constitutional, and disciplinary means are adopted to enforce and protect it. As citizens of a country we approve of all this, for we accept such procedure as necessary in a society where evil must be curbed and good promoted by external means. That is of permission; and, once permitted, the Divine Providence is in it and operates through it.
     But the document at present under consideration declares in effect that it is not to be so in the General Church. It declares in effect that the General Church is to be ruled by internal law and by conscience.
     Such, in fact, was the order from the beginning on this earth, except that in the Adamic Church the internal law was not even written in ultimate words. It was inscribed on the lives of the people, and was love of their Maker and charity toward their brethren. That was their only constitution; and they lived under it in happiness and peace, grouped together in families, clans, and small nations. In matters of judgment, the elder or patriarch of each group was the spontaneously acclaimed leader.
     We know that the same general order applied also in the succeeding church, that represented by Noah and his sons, but with the difference that the Ancient Word-the first written Word-was their constitution and law. Even in the Israelitish Church, under Moses and the judges and priests down to Samuel, there was something of the same form of government. At first the only constitution known to the multitudes liberated from Egypt was inside the ark; but, later, the holy scrolls written under the hand of Moses and others were added. All these, like the covenant on the tables of stone, presented the mode of the Divine government among men.
     Then came the time when the people looked with envy to the splendid courts and permanent armies of other nations. They, too, wanted that glory.

386

So they came to Samuel, demanding a king. "But the thing was evil in the eyes of Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord."* And now a departure from the order of old was permitted. It was not of will, but of permission. "And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them."** Then Samuel was commanded to warn them of all the new rules under which they would now have to live. "This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. . . . He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day."*** Nevertheless the people had set their hearts on a king, and, refusing to take warning, they said: "Nay, but we will have a king over us; that we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles."****
* I Samuel 8: 6.
** Ibid., v. 7.
*** Ibid., vv. 11-18.
**** Ibid., vv. 19, 20.

     Thus was a new order introduced in Israel. They had the Ark of the Covenant and the scrolls, but now also the ordinances of the king; and these ordinances became their immediate authority. As so often happens when human prudence asserts itself, there was at first a short period of apparent and external success. Under Saul, David and Solomon the hoped for glory was by steps achieved. Then the inherent hollowness of the new order began to show itself. The ark was forgotten; after the dedication of Solomon's temple it is no more mentioned in the history of Israel. The holy writings also lay unread for centuries; and only when they were brought to light again, as it were by chance, while the temple was being restored in the days of the good king Josiah, were they momentarily read once more. Saul had been chosen in preference to Samuel, and so it continued to be. In the end the true voice of God was heard no more in the land. The law of men had finally superseded the law of the Lord. That is why He Himself came. And He said: "Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your traditions."*
* Mark 7: 9.
     In our day, history is sounding back the echo of these past ages. As in the First Advent, so in the Second. Again the commandment of God is made of none effect. In fact, the fall is deeper; for this is "the night itself in which former churches have come to an end."* Today there are only the laws of men. Even religious rules of piety are of this nature, for they are divorced from the essence of the Word, which is love to the visible God and spiritual charity. Under such an order, evil can only be held within external bounds, and only for a time. Fear is at the hearts of the rulers of the world. They all know that the tide of evil is rising- evil on a worldwide scale as well as evil in its lesser forms as represented by the petty thief or the carefree adulterer. So they try desparately to keep their bulwark under constant repair. In the process it grows and grows, while breaches here or there are hastily blocked up-if they are at all discovered. But the rulers are fighting a losing battle. Their bulwark alone will not withstand the onslaught of evil. Only an internal barrier is fit to stop internal evils, that is, evil ends and evil schemes. The defenses put up through external legislation can do nothing more than check external evil. But what if the internal defenses are no longer there? What if the second line, the real fortress intended to throw the attacker back on his heels, has been destroyed by internal, secret enemies before the attacker throws his weight against the external walls? Then it will be only a matter of time until that wall will fall also, for breaches will be made more quickly than they can be blocked up. Internal evil is skillful and sly, and it will find its way. That is why no human society can survive in the end, unless internal evil itself is checked.
* TCR 760.

     All of this means that a new internal bulwark must be raised up before the external defenses have been broken down also. Conscience alone is a safeguard against disorder. Nor will any other conscience do than that which is built on genuine truths. Men must know what internal evils are, and they must learn what is good. That, and obedience, are what build conscience, the bulwark designed by the Lord of Hosts-"and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."*
* Matthew 16:18.
     In the future we will probably keep on having the order of Saul in most regions of the world. We will have worldly authorities and laws enacted by them. That will be permitted, and will be under the government of the Divine Providence, just as it was in the days when Israel asked for a king. We know that it will be permitted, because the Writings lay down principles for civil government as well as for ecclesiastical government.* But there will be the order of Samuel at the same time. There must be, for the Philistines gain supremacy when the voice of Samuel is silenced and the ark is forgotten. Saul had been anointed by Samuel. He held the office of king under Divine appointment and by Divine sanction. The record is as follows. "As they were going down to the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Bid the servant pass on before us, (and he passed on,) but stand thou still a while, that I may shew thee the word of God.

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Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the Lord hath anointed thee to be captain over His inheritance?"** Therefore it was well, as long as the Ark of the Covenant was revered, and Samuel, the Lord's spokesman, consulted; but times changed, and the record changed. We read: "And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the Word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel. . . And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the Lord repented that He had made Saul king over Israel."***
* See HD 311-325.
** I Samuel 9: 27, 10: 1.
*** I Samuel 15: 26, 35.
     In our day the knowledge and belief must be restored that Saul without Samuel cannot save Israel. The laws and ordinances of Saul can be accepted, but only when there is a recognition of a superior order at the same time. That superior order does not change. There is a truth in the universe which is what it is, regardless of its acceptance or rejection by men. It rules and ordinates human minds and prescribes the order for human bodies. It is flexible in its application, for it is full of love; but the law itself is firm and immutable, and is truly likened to a rock; even as the law of gravity is flexible in its application but is itself changeless. The laws of God are not made, they are only revealed. Statements vary, descriptions vary, forms of Divine revelation vary; but the thing described, the thing revealed, is ever the same. The laws of the internal kingdom of the Lord, as well as the laws of nature, His external kingdom, are nothing but the going forth of the Lord; and He, being infinite, cannot change. It is for this reason that the laws of men-which change and vary according to times and needs, and sometimes according to human whim and fancy-are nothing, unless they fall back on and are derived from that which is forever true and good. There must be the Ark of the Covenant and its servant, Samuel. No human society can survive without Him who speaks from between the Cherubim.

     In the Statement of the Order and Organization of the General Church of the New Jerusalem we have a full recognition of all this. It is not a written constitution. As an ecclesiastical body the General Church has none-none that is man-made. The Writings are the constitution of the General Church: they and the previous forms of Divine revelation, which are illustrative and confirmatory in their outward form, but are inwardly seen to contain precisely the same laws, the same doctrines that have now been laid open for this and all future ages.

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     This being the nature of the General Church, as conceived in its accepted order, there is a warrant for the idea that is also expressed in the beginning of the Statement: "The General Church is a living body developing under the leading of Providence, to the end that it may ever more fully serve those spiritual uses for which it was established." These are proud words, happy words; but they are true only as long and in proportion as the Word of the Lord is indeed the constitution of the church. "A living body developing under the leading of Providence" is a spiritual church. As an organization the General Church is indeed a natural body, an institution in the world; but in so far as the above words are true in practice as well as in conception, it is a body with a living spirit within it, and therefore a living body.
     Nor was the General Church ever intended to be anything but an embodiment in the world of the Lord's new spiritual church. The General Church is not intended to perform any but spiritual uses-those "for which it was established." In the first Statement, that formulated by Bishop W. F. Pendleton, the analogous declaration reads as follows: "The General Church of the New Jerusalem is a body of the New Church, organized for the worship of the Lord Jesus Christ, and for the performance of spiritual uses of charity, which are, in general, teaching men the way to heaven and leading them to walk therein."*
* NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1914, p. 496.
     In all this, however, the General Church would not claim to be the only possible embodiment for the Lord's New Church. It would not even claim to be an embodiment at all events and in all circumstances. All that it would say is that a truly living church is one that takes its directives as to heart, mind and hand from the Word of the Lord alone, and thus from the Lord. And the General Church was established for the purpose of doing that.

     This is what gives character to the whole of the episcopal statement upon which we are reflecting. We find there a summary formulation of the faith of the members of the General Church. We find the following principles, here given in abbreviated form: 1) That unanimity shall at all times be aimed at prior to the taking of important decisions; 2) that no voting or ruling is of order in doctrinal matters, and that the Writings as given are the supreme authority in questions of faith; 3) that apart from the requirements of civil law, the passing of regulations with a view to controlling future actions is to be avoided; and, 4) that the rules of parliamentary order are to be followed for the purpose of transacting formal business.
     We find, further, the rule concerning membership, that it is primarily individual, and thus that there is normally no group admission.

390

We find a reference to the priesthood, that it is recognized as sanctioned by the Writings, and thus as "the Lord's office by Divine appointment in the church"; that it is of threefold order, and that the Bishop of the General Church is the chief governor thereof and the chief of its priests. We find the principle of counsel, provided for by means of the Bishop's Consistory, by means of councils appointed by pastors in local societies, and by means of joint councils, and so on: and we find also that the civil affairs of the General Church, and of local societies, etc., are administered by duly elected laymen; but that the Bishop presides over the Board of Directors, and that the pastor of a local society may preside over the corresponding lay body of that society, and this for the sake of unity of minds and close co-operation between priests and laymen.
Again, we find the principle of Assemblies-that special means of molding the whole of the General Church into a living, operative unit; or, in the case of National or District Assemblies, of promoting smaller harmonious units within the body of the church as a whole. We find the order outlined for groups, circles and societies, composed of members of the General Church who organize together in local districts for the performance of the uses of the church according to their means and circumstances. We find mention of NEW CHURCH LIFE as the official organ of the General Church; and of the Orphanage as the means of aiding orphan children where assistance is required that is beyond the ability of the local societies.

Toward the end we also find reference to two corporations, both organized under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. One of these is the Academy, which, by resolution of its Board of Directors, has been placed under the supervision of the Bishop of the General Church; and whose purpose is to propagate the heavenly doctrines, to promote education in all its forms, including especially the education of young men for the ministry, to publish books and other printed matter, and to establish a library. The other is the General Church as a corporate body. This body is set up for the sole purpose of administering the civil affairs of the General Church, unincorporated. There are, therefore, two bodies under the name of the General Church of the New Jerusalem; yet they make one in purpose and in action. One may be said to be organized under the jurisdiction of the Lord's kingdom, for it recognizes no other authority than the revealed order of that kingdom. The other is organized under the jurisdiction of a civil state, and this in order that it may hold and administer property. It will be noted that the Statement of the Order and Organization of the General Church of the New Jerusalem relates to the General Church as unincorporated, thus as an embodiment of a spiritual kingdom; and that the General Church, Incorporated, has bylaws of its own, registered with and held by the proper state authority.

391

     It should be observed further that all that is said concerning the order and organization of the church in the episcopal Statement serves for guidance and for unity, but not for compulsion. That Statement may be said to be expressive of the conscience of the church, and it is therefore binding by voluntary consent in the manner that conscience is binding. It is not binding in the sense that it anticipates or precludes judgment. To quote its own words: "The Statement is written primarily as a chronicle, lest something of value should be forgotten. It is published for the sake of information as to the present status of the government and organization in the General Church."* Accordingly the Statement asserts that "nothing in [it] is intended to bind the future."** It describes the order as accepted, and as accommodated to the needs of the present. It articulates the desire of the church to be led by Divine revelation as seen, interpreted, and applied to the life, function and mode of instruction of the church, as viewed by its chief officer. In view of this the Statement could not be likened to the edicts of Saul. Rather is it in the spirit of Samuel, who said: "Speak, Lord; for Thy servant heareth."*** But that which is binding by interior consent is all the stronger for it.
* Page 1.
** Ibid.
*** I Samuel 3:9.
     Yet no statement, no order, however closely cut to the pattern of Divine revelation, is able by itself to insure obedience to the Lord and spiritual life. The General Church is such as are its members. Members can fail; groups and societies can fail; and even the church as a whole can fail. The Writings warn that "in process of time every religion declines and is consummated."* That does not refer to the Lord's spiritual kingdom itself. It cannot die, for by definition it is that which lives from the Lord. But men can fail to receive it, and thus fail to be lifted up. Then they decline as to their internal state, and in the end they draw consummation upon themselves. It is in the nature of the flesh to draw away from the Divine, and only the spirit that is drawn by the Lord is able to subdue it and infill it with life.
* DP 238.
     Now, as noted, the Statement asserts that the General Church is a "living body." But a living body, established to call down spiritual uses upon the earth, is composed of living members. A whole, or oneness, is ever qualified by its parts. So when it is said that the General Church is a living body, an assumption is deliberately made. The assumption is that those who come in adult life to the General Church do so because they have seen the principles and faith of that church, approved of these, and desired to make them their own.

392

     Let us therefore repeat that those principles and that faith are, in a summary view, nothing but the desire to be led in thought, affection and action by the Lord Himself as He now speaks to His church and to the world out of the pages of His new and crowning revelation. For the General Church believes that all things were made and are made by the Word, and that without it is not anything made that was made; that in it is life; and that the life is the light of men.* This is the view and the belief that permeate the Statement of the Order and Organization of the General Church. Let us ask, then: How do members make this belief their own; and how do they thus make valid the triumphant claim that "the General Church is a living body developing under the leading of Providence"? What is it, indeed, to be made by the Word?
* See John 1: 3, 4.

     Every man is led by his own knowledges. He cannot make a decision without them. His knowledges spell out for him what is good and what is true in life. There is a mass of them in his mind. Some come from the Word, some from other instruction, some from observation and experience. He makes conclusions based upon them; but there is no certainty that his conclusions will be right, for he may give preference to experience rather than to the Word. There are delights associated with all the senses of his body. He knows that, he has experienced it; and he may therefore say within himself that he knows what is good and what is true. He has knowledges from the Word also; but these may be dormant and asleep while he acts. He does not wake them up; he does not use them. The point is that all men have principles of life, and that their principles of life are those that they use.
     In view of this it is clear that knowledges may be divided into two universal classes. For the sake of easy distinction we will call them memory-knowledges and life-knowledges, and we do so with the sanction of the following teaching: "They who are being regenerated do not learn truths simply as memory-knowledges [or scientifics] but as life, for they do these truths."* In this context, therefore, the primary distinction is not that between knowledges from different sources, but between knowledges that are used and knowledges that are not used. The former alone matter; for the latter-the knowledges that are not used-are only a potential, and a potential is of no value as long as it is only potential. It is like a treasure buried in the earth. It can, however, be transformed into a living thing, and that, in the Divine Providence, is the intention; but then, if transformed, it ceases to be what it was.

393

In all this the point is that the individual member of the General Church, if he is to be a true member, must order and organize his own life according to the same standard that the church proposes to follow on a collective scale. Let us never forget that the church cannot effectively do this unless its members do it.
* AC 3701:5.
     For further emphasis let us attend to more from the passage that was just cited:

     "In order that man may receive a totally new will and a derivative new understanding he must first of all be reborn as a little child, and must learn what is evil and false, and also what is good and true; for without knowledge he cannot be imbued with any good; for from himself he acknowledges nothing to be good but what is evil, and nothing to be true but what is false. To this end such knowledges are insinuated into him as are not altogether contrary to those which he had before: as that all love begins from self; that self is to be taken care of first, and then others; that good is to be done to such as appear poor and distressed outwardly, no matter what may be their inward character; in like manner that good is to be done to widows and orphans simply because they are so called; and lastly, to enemies in general, whoever they may be; and that thereby a man may merit heaven. These and other such knowledges are those of the infancy of his new life, and are of such a nature that while they derive somewhat from his former life, they also derive somewhat from his new life into which he is thereby being introduced."*
* AC 3701: 3, 4.

     In order to understand this teaching correctly it is necessary only to reflect upon the difference between the knowledges that are only in the memory, and are thus under the view of the intellect alone, and those that are of life also and are therefore absorbed by the will as well. Note that the knowledges spoken of in our passage are not true in themselves. It is not true, for instance, that "all love begins from self." But that is not what the Writings are saying. They are saying that such are, in a certain state, the man's knowledges; for they are, in very fact, the principles according to which he thinks and from which he acts. Another way of saying this is that these are the knowledges or principles approved and held by his will. The underlying truth in this is that the man himself is his will, and at the same time the understanding that is derived, and not separated, from the will. The understanding that is derived is nothing but the form of the will; and that alone is, for good or evil, the man's own understanding. The other understanding-that which is separated-is lent to him for his use, but is not his until it is used.
     What holds, therefore, is that the man himself does not have the knowledges that are in his memory and intellectual vision alone. He can look at them as much as he wants to, but he does not have them. For example, any man can assemble doctrinals concerning conjugial love, contemplate these doctrinals, and talk about them; but no man truly knows conjugial love save he who is in it, and in proportion as he is in it.

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In common language there is a recognition of this kind of knowledge, especially when affections are immediately involved, as when, for instance, we say: "This man has never known sorrow." In speaking thus we do not mean that the man does not know anything about sorrow. We are simply saying that he has not known or experienced it within himself, but has only known about it outside of himself. There is a similar recognition also in phrases like this: "Oh, I have known this for a long time, but somehow it has never struck me before." Why had it never struck him before?-because it had never really touched his affections.
     Now we may think that it does not make much difference whether we know and understand a thing in a purely intellectual manner or whether we also know and perceive it in the will. We may take shelter under the truth that it is possible for the understanding to be raised to any height apart from the will; saying within ourselves that what we see-the truth observed-is the same in either case. And that is so. But in thinking thus we are confusing the object seen with the sight itself. The object seen is the same, whatever our approach. That is true, but our sight is not the same; and that, while making no difference to the object, makes all the difference to the man himself.
     The Writings note this difference in many teachings, as, for instance, the following: "Every man is endowed with an understanding that can be raised up into the light of heaven, and can see spiritual things, and even Divine things, and can comprehend them, but only while he is hearing them, and afterwards he can talk about them from memory; but he cannot think about them within himself or from himself."* That is to say, he cannot think about them freely in his own way, or independently of others. What we must realize is that there is no redemption in sight alone, just as there is none in faith alone. A sporadic state of enlightenment is introductory only. Gradually it leaves room for a state of enlightenment of increasing permanence or for growing indifference. Thus it is that the lifting up of the understanding alone is not the lifting up of the man.
* AC 4741: 1.
     After regeneration, however, and in proportion to it, the understanding is nothing but the eye of the will. Hence the teaching that "the will must see in the understanding";* or, as it is expressed elsewhere, "faith is the eye of love."**
* DP 259:2.
** AC 3863: 12.
     But let the Writings speak further on this important matter:

395

     "In the proper sense nothing can be called understanding but that which is from the truths which are from good. . . . Therefore man's understanding is never opened except when the man perceives and loves truths; and the perception and love of truths are from good. Consequently it is truths from good that are the source of the understanding."*
* AC 10, 675: 3.
     "Unless charity flows into faith and gives it life, faith cannot reign universally; for what a man loves reigns, and not what he merely knows and holds in his memory."*
* AC 5130e.
     "No one can be wise and intelligent in regard to truth unless he is in good, that is, in charity; because all truth is from good, and looks to good; so that they who are without good cannot understand truth, and are not even willing to know it."*
* AC 3412: 3. [Italics added.]
     "They who are in no affection of truth ... are not at all enlightened when they read the Word."*
* AC 7012.

     But the multiplication of passages may be tiring to the mind. We would, however, particularly note the remarkable definition of truth in the following statement: "The understanding of good is what is principally called truth, and indeed the truth of faith."* This is what we should search for and try to understand in life-what is good.
* AC 2954. [Italics added.]
     So, then, it is clear that memory-knowledges are of no avail unless they are translated into life-knowledges. Nor are any but the life-knowledges retained after death. What matter are the principles man thinks from and acts from; that is to say, what matter are the principles man loves. And if his life-knowledges-those of his will or love-are from the doctrines revealed by the Lord in His second advent, then he is formed and made by the Word, and by degrees is born, "not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."*
* John 1: 13.
     As already noted, it is in the nature of the General Church to assume that its members wish so to live, and do so live; for otherwise it cannot be "a living body developing under the leading of Providence." The church was formed for the sake of spiritual uses, and there are none save those of reformation and regeneration and preparation for these. The banner has been raised for all the world to see. It is the banner of the Lord's authority; for the church knows no other constitution than what the Lord has revealed. Under that banner, as long as we hold to it and live by it, the General Church cannot fail; but will draw to itself all who would be led by the Lord alone, and who would worship Him together and learn from Him the life of love and spiritual charity.

395

     Discussion of Mr. Sandstrom's Address

     Rev. B. A. H. Boyesen (Pastor of the Stockholm Society), characterizing the address as inspiring, invited comments on it. He felt it as especially fitting that an address dealing with the order and organization of the General Church should be given on this occasion, and that the accent should be on the General Church as a living body. We often hear it referred to as a natural organization-as indeed it must be. But what constitutes the life in that body comes from the Lord through the Word. The Writings therefore are our "constitution."
     Col. W. R. Kintner (Bryn Athyn) was impressed by Mr. Sandstrom's description of the condition of the world as one in which Saul is reigning and Samuel is absent. This has a very serious implication for all of us in the General Church. The world he described presents many difficulties for the human race. New Church men sometimes tend to believe that the affluent material circumstances which now surround us in our part of the world somehow are going to last forever. Yet the contrary seems to be the lesson of Revelation. As Bishop De Charms had pointed out, the unfolding of revelation which brought about a judgment in the spiritual world has increased human freedom here on earth and contributed to the dynamic changes we note around us. These changes are not all beneficent. Some have been destructive, and are likely to be as destructive in the future as they have been throughout this twentieth century.
     Bishop Pendleton this morning told us of some of the conditions under which the New Church will grow and the factors that have to be developed during that growth. He also mentioned the fact that the General Church is not the New Church. The organization of which we happen to be members has to be tested and proven.
     How can we contribute to its development and expansion? We have heard on this very platform the fundamentals we must acquire. They start with the fact that the Second Coming is an intellectual revelation. We are now permitted to enter into the intellectual of faith. And this has two aspects. One is to help us understand the doctrines of the Writings and thus gain a spiritual understanding. But the second is the problem of communicating our understanding to the rest of the world, so that other Samuels can be raised up to help the many societies on this earth. And here, it seemed to the speaker, is the function of the laity of our church-not only to learn to understand the Writings, but also, in their own fields, to endeavor to apply these Writings to the specifics of their use.
     We were told this morning that the generals of religion-such as the fact that there is a God-are accepted outside, while the particulars are missing. We have to bring out the particulars of the Writings and try to match them with the scientifics of the world. If we do that we would make our greatest contribution, since the reception of the church depends on the presence of an interior affection of truth; and this places a tremendous responsibility on us as a living church, in which each member acquires this understanding and applies it to life.
     Col. Kintner wished especially to point out that we are not in an easy period in history and that we may be tested in a way we do not understand. The test will probably be intellectual rather than physical; but in this area-unless we apply ourselves assiduously-we may not be able to contribute much to make this body serve its purpose: to help bring about the New Church on earth.
     Mr. Donald C. Fitzpatrick, Jr. (Instructor in the Academy), thanked Mr. Sandstrom, whose address in a sense re-echoed the phrase, "Behold, I make all things new." Speaking to Col. Kintner's point, he said that we cannot be a defensive church and survive.

397

To develop our understanding of the principles given in the Writings and apply them in various fields of human use as a means of combating what is happening in the world, this is not the solution, but at best a kind of holding action. As Col. Kintner suggested, the time is now for something better to begin. We are a church, small in numbers but blessed beyond telling with men of talents of a great many kinds. And the future of the church rests with these men, and those young men and women who will follow them in all kinds of pursuits: who will be willing to study the doctrines with a view not only to putting them into effect in their personal lives, but to use them as positive means of developing a new approach to the uses in which they are engaged, and then to pass on what they have seen and come to understand to those who follow them.
     We know that our educational system has a great many demands placed upon it by the age in which we live-demands for training for the development of skills, for the acquisition of knowledges for the world's work. This, in a sense, seems to be Saul's demand upon us. But along with this-as Mr. Sandstrom has so beautifully indicated-there is the need for Samuel, not merely as a check-rein or warning voice, but as the voice which gives the inspiration and real direction to this work. And-whether our particular use be that of educator or engineer or business man or lawyer or doctor or other vocation-it is only as we come to see this, and give evidence in our work of the effect of the teachings of the new revelation, that we will successfully preserve the General Church as a living church and overcome its enemies.
      Rev. Douglas M. Taylor (Minister of the Tucson Circle and Visiting Minister in San Diego, California) felt it a rewarding experience to reflect on the statement that the Writings only are the constitution of the church, and that we are to be governed by the Lord through conscience. He was grateful to whoever was responsible for inviting the speaker to address us, and thus for making him better known, for all do not read the beautiful articles he has written for NEW CHURCH LIFE. He praised Mr. Sandstrom's scholarship as showing that not all the theological professors reside in Bryn Athyn, and looked forward to studying the address in print.
      Mr. Taylor wished again to stress the importance of living according to conscience and of being affected by the truth. It is a surprise to many to learn that to have a conscience is to be in a regenerate state. We are not born with a conscience but acquire it as far as we are regenerated.
      The theme of the address linked up with the idea of "the affection of truth." We often speak as if this meant an affection for truth, or the affection for knowledge; whereas it really means being affected by the truth. Only when the truth touches the man, and he is affected by it, does his will undergo a change of state and he comes into "the affection of truth." When our eyes undergo an affection we call that sight. When we are affected by the truth we undergo a similar change of state. Unless truth has affected our will, we will not have the conscience that makes for a living church.

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"THE MOST FRUITFUL FIELD" 1962

"THE MOST FRUITFUL FIELD" RICHARD R. GLADISH 1962

     (Delivered at the Fourth Session of the Twenty-third General Assembly, Bryn Athyn, Pa., June 17, 1962)

     1. The Conviction at the Heart of the General Church

     Bishop William Frederic Pendleton stated as the twelfth Principle of the Academy: "The most fruitful field of Evangelization is with the children of New Church parents. In order to occupy this fruitful field of work New Church Schools are needed, that children may be kept in the sphere and environment of the Church, until they are able to think and act for themselves." Bishop Pendleton made this statement in an address to the General Assembly sixty-three years ago, at Kitchener, two years after the mantle of Benade, first Bishop and Chancellor of the Academy, had fallen upon his shoulders. Bishop Pendleton spoke in a time of relative calm, of building; after the Academy movement, recently having become the General Church of the New Jerusalem, had taken refuge, "after many conflicts and vicissitudes,"* in the seemingly peaceful countryside of Huntingdon Valley. But this idea was not new in 1899: the idea of education in the church for the children of the church had been with Robert Hindmarsh, providentially-chosen leader of the New Church in England; it had been strong with Richard de Charms, who carried the flame from the presence of Hindmarsh to America;** it had become a burning conviction in the heart and mind of W. H. Benade, who added to it the experience of a hundred years of religious education among the Moravians; it was a cardinal concept with the Harmony, forerunners of the Academy; and it burst into reality on September 3, 1877, with the holding of theological classes in the Cherry Street School building.
* The Principles of the Academy, p. 2, ANC Book Room, 1909.
** While it is true that Richard de Charms, Sr., studied for two years under the Rev. Samuel Noble in London, 1830-1832 (De Charms, Richard, Sr., Autobiography, p. 67), he did not receive the doctrine of distinctive New Church education from him, but possibly through him. That doctrine was first stated in print in Reasons for Separating from the Old Church in Answer to a Letter Received from Certain Persons in Manchester Who Profess to Believe in the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem, etc., printed by Robert Hindmarsh, 1788, pp. 7, 14, 15, 17, 21, and was reiterated in Resolutions IX, X and XII of Minutes of a General Conference of the Members of the New Church, etc., held in Great East Cheap, London, April 13-17, 1789, pp. 33ff. Since Robert Hindmarsh was the first ordained minister of the New Church and the recognized leader of Conference until his death in 1835, the author of many of the early documents of the church, and the printer of most of them, it follows that if the first enunciation of the doctrine of New Church education can be attributed to anyone, it should be attributed to him. Samuel Noble first came into the New Church in 1798, ten years after these first statements bearing upon education in the church. (See Annals of the New Church, p. 190.)

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     2.     The Evidence to Date

     What is the evidence to date that this doctrine of the most fruitful field is sound? Well, the most important things in life, such as the existence of God, can never be proved by statistics, nor can the idea of the most fruitful field. However, the evidence is strong. We would submit the history of the English Conference, the history of the American Convention, and our own experience-that of the Academy and the General Church.
     The English Conference, first New Church organization in the world, and therefore our own ancestor, once flourished as the green bay tree. It had great and fine churches, some of them seating more than a thousand; it had eloquent preachers and prominent laymen-five members of Parliament; it had more than a score of day schools, and in the Manchester area, which someone called "the paradise of the New Church," you could stand on a single vantage spot and behold half a dozen imposing churches of the New Jerusalem! (Dr. Bayley in 1856 decided that the New Jerusalem had arrived on earth.) Today, Conference enrollment has fallen from 7,000 to 4,000. Their Sunday schools have one-quarter of their former enrollment, and their day schools, once listing 6,000 pupils, now are non-existent. Why? If education is the answer, you may say, then how about the Conference schools with their thousands of students? A close scrutiny of the records of English New Church schools from 1822 to 1907 shows that the vast majority of these pupils were outsiders, educated by Conference as a public service, and, in the beginning, as a missionary effort. Only two voices were strongly raised in favor of distinctive New Church education-those of William Malins, whose Woodford School lasted four short years from 1828 to 1832, and Dr. Henry Bateman, who began the New Church College in 1845. These two men, able and sincere though they were, did not succeed in enlisting general support from the membership of Conference. And so, eloquent preachers might fill large churches, but unless the children were kept in the sphere of the church in their homes and schools, the congregation would fade away when the preacher ceased. For the school cannot succeed without the home behind it.
     The American Convention, parent body to the Academy, experienced a wave of enthusiasm for distinctive New Church education in the 1830's.

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But when the Convention of 1839 failed to undertake education as an organizational use, and when Convention President Thomas Worcester declared that the church should have nothing to do with education officially, the cause was lost. Later efforts at Urbana and Waltham languished because they were poorly-managed half-way measures, which did not have the support of the membership and were never organized as ecclesiastical uses.
     And so the Convention, also, after experiencing a high-water mark of some 7,000 members around 1900, has been dropping off, with a current membership of about 4,700. In recent months, letters in the NEW CHURCH MESSENGER show that some Convention young people are seeking instruction in the doctrines, and have gone so far as to reproach their church for failing to supply it.
     And what of us? The handful of 1876 has become three thousand adult members; our elementary schools have a total enrollment of over 570; the upper schools at Bryn Athyn, about 250. The grand total in General Church and Academy day school classes is 820. By 1967 it is expected that our secondary school enrollment will double. Plans for a new separate college campus are on the drawing boards; the first building-a college men's dormitory-is even now rising in a field a half-mile away. Moreover, figures indicate that about 75 to 80% of our students stay in the New Church.

     3.     Lessons from New Church Educational History

     The history of formal day schools in the New Church goes back 140 years in England. Still, it must be remembered that almost from the first gathering of New Church men in 1789, there was a stirring, or conatus, toward education of their children; in America it made itself felt in home education, as in the case of the school begun about 1810 by the Rev. David Powell, Sr., in the dooryard of his farm in Steubenville, Ohio, for his own twelve children and the children of neighbors who found out what a good school it was. But while such a conatus was present, and made itself felt, especially in the frontier homes of early New Church men in America, it was only one current, and, numerically, a lesser current. The larger current, the easier sailing, was with those whose optimism led them to suppose that the world was about ready to become New Church, and that, since you and I are spiritually no better than our old church neighbors, why don't we quit trying to be different, and admit how fallible we are, and, incidentally, have more fun?-because reading the Writings is difficult, self-examination is embarrassing, and living according to the Writings is the hardest work of all. So wouldn't it be better simply to join the neighbors and forget about this dream of a heavenly city?

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     Recent Conference writers decry so-called "sterile isolation"* of the New Church. But that isolation is not of our making. What New Church man has ever withheld his faith from a sincere seeker? When the truths of the New Church were let down into the world of Swedenborg's day, though in heaven's light they shone like a star, they were obscured in the prevailing sphere of opposition.** Today rage becomes apathy, fire ice, as Robert Frost says:

     "I think I know enough of hate
     To say that for destruction ice
     Is also great
     And would suffice." (Fire and Ice)

* NEW CHURCH HERALD, May 12, 1962.
** CL 333.
     Is not this urge to soft-pedal our distinctive beliefs the same spirit that W. H. Auden, the poet, has his anachronistic Herod express as

     "the wild prayer of longing that rises, day in, day out, from all these households under my protection: 'O God, put away justice and truth, for we cannot understand them and do not want them. Eternity would bore us dreadfully. Leave Thy heavens and come down to our earth of waterclocks and hedges; Become our uncle. Look after Baby, amuse Gorandfather, escort Madam to the Opera, help Willy with his homework, introduce Muriel to a handsome naval officer. Be interesting and weak like us, and we will love you as we love ourselves.'*
* Auden, W. H., "Herod" from For the Time Being.
     Well, this was not the way of the strict constructionists, as Benade called them: those who saw the church's first work of charity to be a distinctive education for its children. Theirs was the way of conflict and vicissitude. So the Academy and the General Church, as a going concern, has had its conflicts and vicissitudes; its backslidings and its infighting, its splits and its schisms and its emotional storms-all the magnificent display, like the Aurora Borealis, of the human proprium unleashed. But it has had, too, nobility-of leadership and of followership-and, above all, always the serene truths of the Second Coming-lofty mountains whose light and whose inspiration reflect to us from their almost unattainable snows, in one view, and, in another, supply the friendly light that illuminates the home.
     The true history of the New Church, we see, is not just the history of organizations: it is that more subtle record of those in and out of various organizations who have tried to live according to the truths of the Writings; of those who have seen steadily that the Writings blue-print a civilization built upon eternal principles; of those who have listened to the voice of the Lord both when it called them forth into the wilderness and when it led them into green pastures besides still waters. We are separatists: in this age of the world and the church we can see no other way to accomplish the work before us.

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Yet we can appreciate the Rev. John Clowes, sixty years a pastor of the Church of England, who translated the Writings and founded through his efforts fourteen societies of the New Church, but who never left the Church of England because in his angelic simplicity he could not see how mankind could fail to welcome the New Church as the world welcomes the sunrise. Unfortunately, those who love darkness do not welcome the sunrise!
     In the history of New Church day schools, we note an emphasis upon the doctrine of remains. This doctrine stressed the importance of equipping children with certain experiences and attitudes for the sake of their complete mental growth and development. This involved parental responsibility to study children's mental and spiritual states in order to insure that nothing would be lacking for their eternal welfare. Although, perhaps, no deliberate process of surrounding a child with beneficent influence could guarantee that the desired spiritual states would be created within him, still, the conscientious parent felt it his duty to try.
     In the effort, he would be encouraged by this teaching from the Apocalypse Explained:

     "There are several reasons why this New Church that is called the Holy Jerusalem is first to begin with a few, afterwards to be with more, and finally to reach fulness. First, its doctrine, which is the doctrine of love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbor, cannot he acknowledged and thus received except by those who are interiorly affected by truths, and those only can be interiorly affected by truths who have the ability to see them, and those only see truths who have cultivated their intellectual faculty and have not destroyed it in themselves by the loves of self and of the world." *
* AE 732: 2.

     In other words, the spiritual vision necessary to comprehend New Church teachings had little to do with ordinary measurements of intelligence, but depended first, upon a self-subordinating intellectual discipline. The humble shoemaker can grasp the great truths of the New Church far better than the conceited intellectual. The passage continues:

     "A second reason is that the doctrine of that church cannot he acknowledged and thence received [except] by those who have not confirmed themselves by doctrine and at the same time by life in faith alone."*
* Ibid.

     "Faith Alone" (Fides Sola) was Luther's expression, the invention he thought it necessary to employ in his masterwork of breaking away from the Roman Catholic Church. In the Writings, faith alone constitutes the central falsity of Protestantism, the great red dragon, fully as dangerous as the religiosity it fought against. Note well, that it is here asserted in the Writings that anyone who accepts faith as the essential thing of religion, slighting life or good works, would find it not merely difficult, but utterly impossible to accept the New Church.

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And since the Protestant world in general has operated from this premise-and, to a large degree, still does, as Billy Graham's speeches make clear-this passage therefore declares that no one raised on the standard Protestant dogmas or beliefs who also lives accordingly, can come into the New Church. Nor is it possible to exclude adherents of Catholicism or other religions from the possibility, at least, of this same barrier to the New Church: anyone-including New Church men, so-called-who operates from the principle that religion is properly separable from life, would find the same difficulty in accepting interiorly the doctrines of the New Church. The number from the Apocalypse Explained continues:

     "A third reason is that the New Church on the earth grows according to its increase in the world of spirits, for spirits in that world are with men, and they are from such as while they lived on earth were in the faith of their church, and none of these receive the doctrine but those who have been in the spiritual affection of truth; these only are conjoined to heaven where that doctrine is, and they conjoin heaven to man. The number of these in the spiritual world now increases daily; therefore according to their increase does that church that is called the New Jerusalem increase on earth. These also were the reasons why the Christian Church after the Lord had left the world, increased so slowly in Europe, and did not attain to its fulness until an age had elapsed."*
* Ibid.

     What this passage seems to be telling us as New Church men is that we are not to expect any rapid quantitative growth of the New Church beyond, perhaps, the 35% now entering the church from outside; and that quality, not quantity, should ever be the first consideration in everything of the church and of the spirit. If the New Church man, the New Church parent, using all the means at his disposal-including the church itself, and education in the church, both in the home and by the school; if the parents of the church can make of themselves, and of their children, lovers of truth and understanders and doers of the Heavenly Doctrine; then they will be doing the best they can do on earth to build the church. For as the spiritual affection of truth is achieved, the church on earth, communicating by means of associate spirits with the New Heaven, will be extended and increased. But nothing else-gorgeous temples, hordes of converts, eloquent preachers, even stately educational institutions full of learned teachers-none of these things are of significance in themselves compared with the love of truth so eloquently set forth in The Principles of the Academy:
      "From the beginning of the Academy movement it had been seen," Bishop W. F. Pendleton declared, "that an entire change in the policy of evangelization or church extension is necessary." Among the reasons he listed were:
     1. That few adults of the consummated Christian Church will receive the Lord in His Second Coming, a truth plainly taught in the Writings and confirmed by experience over a hundred years;

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     2. That when education in the church has been neglected, few children born in the church remain in the church after reaching adult life;
     3. That it is the Lord's Providence that children of the church should enter into the church in adult life.
     "This most desirable result," i.e., that children of the church should enter into the church in adult life, Bishop Pendleton asserted, could be accomplished "provided that the Lord be acknowledged in His Second Coming; that the distinctiveness of the New Church and the death of the old, be seen; that there be marriage in the church, and the laws of order in marriage be observed; that the sphere of the church be in the home; that there be New Church day-schools, and thus that the children be kept in the sphere of the church, in the home, in the school, and in their social life, until they reach adult age."
     And today the evidence confirms the 12th Principle of the Academy: the experiment of New Church education as practiced under the Academy and the General Church has been successful, in broad terms, but it is a limited success. We must not become complacent. Our education is evolving; in fact it has only begun to evolve as a distinctive thing. Had we started from an established method, as did the Moravians with their Jena University method, perhaps we would have done better than we have. Again, it may have been in Providence that in the New World we inherited no system, no established church, no privileged class or group, no single race or nation. English, French, Dutch, German, Scottish, Irish, Scandinavian-all made their contributions to a church uncommitted to any single folk-way or preconception.

     4. Providence Has Preserved and Prospered Us

     Yet we have entered into and possess now a rich heritage. This heritage exists basically in the Writings, in what Johnny Appleseed called "News right fresh from Heaven"; but it also exists in a record of conflict and vicissitude through which, as the smoke and dust subside from time to time, we clearly see courage, leadership and vision, and obedience to Divine law, operating to establish certain principles to think from and live by.
     We see these qualities in the career of Richard De Charms, Sr., grandfather of Bishop De Charms, who had lit his torch at Robert Hindmarsh's in 1830-1832. Only four years later, as editor of the Precursor in Cincinnati, De Charms had developed the doctrines of the Divine authority of the Writings; the doctrine of the priesthood; the doctrine of order in the church; the doctrine concerning the state of the Christian world; the importance of distinctive New Church education; and the importance of Hebrew in the life of the church.

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All these doctrines taken together constitute the core of what became known as the "Academy Position," and are the foundation of the General Church today. Here was vision, here was scholarship, and here was courage to make the vision known.
      From De Charms the torch of distinctiveness was passed to the Rev. W. H. Benade, Moravian teacher-minister of Nazareth, Pennsylvania, who had had a perception, almost at once upon reading a copy of the Writings, that these Writings were the Second Coming of the Lord.*
* Odhner, C. T., "W. H. Benade," Aug.-Sept. NCL, 1905, Vol. 25, 452.
     With his Moravian training and his quick perception, Benade had a conatus to found a New Church school from the moment in 1844 when he came into the New Church. Within four years he had one started for the children of his society in Philadelphia. In 1856 he had laid the cornerstone of the Cherry Street School and enunciated his famous vision of the New Church University to be. But loose constructionists were strong in his congregation, and they eventually won out. So he went to Pittsburgh, where his conatus ignited a group of young men, including John Pitcairn. Another ten years passed before the Academy came into being, and it was 1877 when the first school was opened at the old Cherry Street place.

     The record of Benade is a record of courageous warfare without compromise, even when, perhaps, compromise would have been better. For more than thirty years his voice rang out in the halls and on the floors of Convention, striving to bring that body as a whole to see the vision that the Harmony-the Academy sympathizers-the strict constructionists-had seen. It was Benade who spoke for the doctrine of the priesthood, and who rallied his forces behind the banner of the Divine authority of the Writings. His lieutenant in all this and in the Academy's first school was another clergyman from the old church, James P. Stuart, whose idea had launched Urbana University and who had been forced out there by the spirit of appeasement. The opposition indeed approved of education, but had no vision of a distinctive education under the leadership of the priesthood.
     Benade's tragic decline, when his former great gifts were beclouded by a cerebral hemorrhage and his 83 years, rocked the church to its foundations as it withdrew from his leadership in 1897. A badly-shaken group met in the society building near where the Inn Annex stands today; but their many fears were changed to joy as the calm voice of Bishop W. F. Pendleton, to whom they had applied for leadership, enunciated the truly revolutionary principles of government by internal bonds; leadership through the priesthood from the Lord; and the organization of the Church from use, for use, and to use; and eschewed, finally, any effort to legislate for future contingencies, trusting, as he said, "with a firm faith, that the Lord will not forsake His church, and that for every occasion He will provide men, and endow them with wisdom, to do that which is for the welfare of the church."

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(Miss Freda Pendleton, then a young girl at home baby watching, heard cheers ring out as her father finished his speech.)
     Bishop N. D. Pendleton, who took over the reins from his older brother, brought to the task a calm, clear statesman's mind, further sustaining and undergirding the concept of the Divine authority of the Writings, and defining for our education the place of science in relation to religion.
     Bishop De Charms then came to the helm of the Academy and the General Church with his beneficent leadership and profound philosophy of education.
     And now we have Bishop W. D. Pendleton, son of N. D., and nephew of W. F. Pendleton, whose executive ability and whose educational flair caused him to be named Executive Vice-President of the Academy schools in 1947. Already he has streamlined the Academy for a new streamlined age; has built up the faculty, the plant, and tightened the organization in many ways. His vision and his courage are in the tradition that goes all the way back to Hindmarsh. And I think he is equal to the charge now placed upon him.
     And now, in 1962, we face new challenges, with courage and confidence, not in self, but in the worth and the need for the task which Providence has placed before us to carry on. The truth is available to us in the Writings and the Word; its applications and provings have been woven into the rich heritage of the Academy and of the General Church. We are of the same flesh and blood as our ancestors in the church; we can sustain what they sustained, if we trust in the truths of the New Church and try to live them. And while we do not seek conflict and vicissitude, when it comes-as come it must, in large doses or small-let us paraphrase the words of a great war leader, and say: "We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end; we shall fight evil in our own minds and lives; we shall fight to see and sustain justice in family and society-we shall defend our Church to the end . . . we shall never surrender." And we need not fail. The Lord Himself will sustain us in this just cause, if we only wish it enough.

     5. The Immediate Challenge

     Today the Academy schools face evaluation by the regional accrediting association of the area where the Academy is situated, the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools.

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Next February, a team of educators from secondary schools and colleges of this area will spend three days in our institution. Armed with check-lists and schedules, and questions representing all that has been learned about education in the first million years of life on this planet, they will test and measure and probe. Always, however, they will attempt to evaluate us in terms of our own philosophy and objectives. What are we trying to do? How well do we carry out our objectives? This will be their stated mission. And although the experience is grueling, it is far better, let it be said, than being exposed to the professional school inspectors released like a swarm of censorious locusts by national systems of education. And so, in keeping with their well worked-out system, the visiting committee will ask us first to state our philosophy and objectives in the operation of our school, and the faculty will answer (approximately) thus:
     "We believe that the Lord has made His Second and final Coming to mankind in a written Revelation given between 1749 and 1772 through the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. We believe that this is a plenary revelation, identifying the Lord Jesus Christ as God incarnated, disclosing the inner meanings of the Old and New Testaments, making available to man s comprehension Divine purposes in macrocosm and microcosm, and delineating a way of life, personal and social, in keeping with the Divine Plan.
     "We believe that there should be a Church established among men to foster and promulgate the teachings of this Revelation. We believe that there should be schools established at all levels for passing on in every generation the study of, and the concepts and doctrines drawn from, this Revelation. We believe that this is the primary function of the Schools of the Academy of the New Church.
     "We believe that, from the viewpoint of the individual, the first duty of man is to allow his nature to be reformed and regenerated through acknowledging the Lord Jesus Christ as the One God, and shunning personal evils as sins against Him, according to the criteria of Revelation. Our responsibility as a school toward the student, in so far as this responsibility can be separated from that of the Church and the home, is (1) to acquaint him with the teachings of Revelation; (2) point to Revelation itself as the source of enlightenment, and (3) hold him in a state of external order in which a true state of order stemming from good motives may grow within him."

     This is our Institution's reason for being, as we see it. What are some of the other things they will ask us?
     Well, they will ask us of the Secondary Schools, "WHAT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SCHOOL TO THE MAINTENANCE OF THE FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY?"

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The Boys' School Faculty has prepared this answer:
     "This school recognizes its responsibility to the maintenance of the fundamental concepts of individual liberty under law, and patriotism. It strives to develop citizens who will be free, orderly, responsible, and devoted to use, willing participants in all mutual endeavor which looks to the betterment of man's lot in this life and the next. Students in this school, whose ages range from 14 to 19, are not yet full citizens, but they are under a gradually decreasing external authority: a decrease which looks toward their assumption of full responsibility to the truth under the laws of God and man, and participation in those uses of society for which their abilities and education have prepared them."
     And when they ask us: "WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE SCHOOL TO OTHER AGENCIES IN PROVIDING EDUCATION? DOES THE SCHOOL HAVE BOTH PRIMARY AND SHARED RESPONSIBILITIES?" we shall answer:
     "This school is ancillary to the home and serves the General Church. As the highest form of society, the Church calls for education of its people. This is to inspire affections of the will as well as instructing the understanding. This school exists primarily to perform the task of educating for the life of the New Church. It is the home's responsibility to see that its members develop their potential for the sake of the individual, and also for the sake of the nation and society in general. The school, under the leadership and guidance of the Church, is an agent for furthering that which has been established in the home; and it has the responsibility for formally educating the student at the secondary school level. The school has a shared responsibility with the Church and the home as to the total development of each student, and it has a primary responsibility of instruction in those knowledges which will prepare for a life of use."

     And finally, to this question of the visiting committee "IS EDUCATION A RIGHT, A PRIVILEGE, OR BOTH?" we answer:
     "Since everything that man has is a gift from God through other men and organized society, it is man's part as God's image and likeness to share all his gifts with the rising generation-the teacher's part to pass on to youth all the education for which he is agent, according to their ability to receive it. In this sense, education comes to the child as a right. However, since the acquisition of true education renders the individual happier and more fulfilled, it is also, for him, a privilege to be accepted gratefully. It is society's duty to see that the individual is properly equipped through education to do his part toward perfecting mankind as a whole. Education is both a right and a privilege; more significantly, it is a duty growing out of man's condition as a human being and a child of God."

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     These are some of the questions, with some indication of our answers. We pray that all parts of our schools will pass successfully through the coming accreditation experience. There will be, no doubt, commendations and there will be recommendations for improvement. But there will be one recommendation which is paramount, and which no accrediting committee can make to us. We must continually revive it and remake it for ourselves, from Revelation. It was expressed most succinctly and eloquently in the words of W. F. Pendleton when he said toward the close of the Principles of the Academy: ". . . the spirit which makes the truth the all in all, was present in the initiament of the Academy, and gave character and quality to the teaching and work which followed. .
     "The love of the truth for its own sake is the love of truth . . . for the sake of the Lord, who is in the truth, and not for the sake of self and the world; a love that will lead a man to sacrifice himself for the sake of truth, and not the truth for the sake of himself; a love that makes him willing to give up fame, reputation, gain, friends, even his own life, for the sake of the truth."

     6. The Nature of Our Dedication

     This must continue to be the nature of our dedication to New Church education today and in the future. Truth is a fresh and flowing stream, having to do with essences as well as forms.
     Suppose in the processes of time and Providence, the world should flock to the New Church in large numbers again, as occurred in the Manchester area in the 19th century. Will this mean the end of the principle of the most fruitful field? Or suppose our schools would stop right now, and in the fall, the 820 pupils and students in our schools would go to other schools. What would be the effect on the General Church in one year, ten years, a generation? To me the New Church without education would be a poor and partial thing, unequal to the tasks that lie ahead. This new religion demands education, more than any other, for all its people, but especially for its children and young people. For one thing, our students receive about 72 hours of formal religious instruction each year; and when you add to that chapel, worship, and the extremely important interpretation of all subjects in the light of the Writings, it is estimated that graduates of our Junior College who have come through our schools, have had more than 1,000 hours of directed thought and study in our faith. No-the more adult converts, the more necessary will New Church schools be to help them bring their children also into the church. Something of this situation is with us now in the Academy, and dealing with children with little background in the church is perhaps the greatest challenge New Church education has yet experienced.

410

     But Benade said that "the New Jerusalem cannot descend, and will not descend [to earth] without education." Benade posited no ordinary education, but a school to shape a spiritual elite-children meticulously shielded from the spheres of the world which steal the brightness from the heavenly doctrines, children carefully nurtured on the finest spiritual food.
     We have learned a few things. We cannot shield our children completely from the knowledge and spheres of the world. But when they are led to the doctrines, they take up the cudgels with the foe for themselves, with encouraging results. The Writings are the superior nutrition which bestows power to fight against the spheres of the world.
     Our hopes for the descent of the New Jerusalem and the return of the Golden Age have been quickened in this Assembly: at the visible signs of growth, at the heartening evidences of professional competency, at the thrilling expressions of truth, at the sphere of affection for the things of the church and for one another. But when you consider that after 2,000 years, Christianity has enrolled less than a third of the earth's population, let us not let down our guard too soon. Is it not altogether possible that such states as we enjoy now are all we can know of the New Church millenium for another thousand years?
     For we are in a war-the great day of Armageddon-perhaps we have passed through a portion of it, but there is more, much more, to come. As Poet Robert Nathan described it in Harper's Magazine of 1942,

"You multitudinous Angels, great Cherubs, broadwinged Seraphs,
Raphael, dark Azrael, Michael of the sword, Gabriel, Speak with the hollow trumpet, cry from the storm clouds, tell us
How goes the battle now?

     "It is an old war,
Gods against gods, Gog and Magog, the Titans,
Lucifer, falling, falling, burning across the heavens,
Searching the dark with doubt. .
Now evil itself is ranged and marshaled against us.
How quickly mortals forget.

     "In their peaceful valleys,
In the fresh spring of the year, with the air like honey around them,
See how slowly they move, drowsy, clinging to summer, . . .
Heaven is peace, they say.

     "But this is the war against evil,
Man's enemy too and God's the soul's implacable foe. . .
What will the valleys be like if the light goes down on the hills?
If the cold comes down forever? If the spirit of man is slain?
But men are quick to forget.

     "They forget the fury,
The son set against father, the children killed at their prayers,
. . . the poison set in the heart,

411

The ramparts stormed with lies.
They cry for peace in the night, for truce in the midst of battle.
There is no peace in heaven, the Seraphim make no truce.
This is the Armageddon, there is a sword in the sky.
Oh, take it and hold it.
Harden the heart against evil forever and ever. Harden the mind
Against the corruptible soft. Never say peace.
Never forget the fury, the dark, incredible malice.
Never forgive the evil. Never forget and forgive it."

And if fresh forces come to our standard-from without, in quantity- we will welcome them as comrades and compatriots in our Lord's war. We are but guardians of the arsenal the Lord has provided for the battle of Armageddon. The New Church must be the war-college for that battle, and with His aid we will prevail, through His church, our homes and our schools.
Discussion of Professor Gladish's Address 1962

Discussion of Professor Gladish's Address 1962

     Rev. M. D. Rich (Pastor of the Miami Circle), in placing the address before the audience for discussion, called it refreshing and challenging, and especially appreciated that it suggested what replies the Academy faculty would give to some of the questions which would be asked by the committee on accreditation as to the objectives of the schools. The replies should be reassuring to those who had doubts as to what "accreditation" might do to the Academy.
     Mr. Otho W. Heilman (Bryn Athyn) testified to the great amount of work Professor Gladish had done in the work he is writing on the history of New Church education, and in his journeys abroad and in this country gathering the material before the records are lost. It might be another hundred years before any one else is inspired to do such a work.
     Mr. P. C. Pendleton (Bryn Athyn) noted that while we are familiar with the expansion of the Academy and the growth of some of our local schools, we must realize that we are now facing a shift in our population, which is spreading out over a much wider territory. Some groups and circles have grown considerably, but no new local school had been established in the General Church, he thought, in the sixty-five years since 1897 when the church was formed, and when we had the same number of local schools on this continent as today; and this despite the dispersal of our people.
     This is something to which the church must give consideration in the years to come. The Teachers' Salary Plan has indeed assisted some societies to carry on their work better, although the teachers are still making considerable sacrifices in those societies. We have a situation in which a very large number of our children are without contact with New Church education. And many people, when their children become of school age, move away-often at considerable sacrifice-to a society where there is a school. This problem needs consideration if we want to see a well-rounded and healthy growth in New Church education.

412

     Rev. Raymond Cranch (Bryn Athyn) traced the past growth of the Academy and felt that there is a great demand for a future substantial expansion, with the objective of establishing a four-year liberal arts college. So far, the senior college was almost entirely confined to preparation for the ministry and the teaching profession. The urgent need now is to provide for the general student. The depth and usefulness of the church depended on the provision of higher New Church education. It should soon be possible to provide courses in the mathematical, physical, and biological sciences in preparation for the bachelor's degree. We need to keep our youth in the sphere of the church for the longest possible time and give them the full foundation for a truly higher education, rather than have them go from the junior college to other institutions. He remarked parenthetically that the University of Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania State University, where the Academy is known, receive our students wholeheartedly and give liberal credits for our courses. Formerly it was difficult to get transfers because the standard of the schools here was not evaluated in terms of the world at large, and we are dealing and working with the world. We must meet the requirements of the universities around us to give our students the greatest opportunities for the future.
     The student today faces a different future than those of a few years ago. In England only a small percentage go to the universities, and the others must have technical training so as to get employment and enter satisfying uses to which their affections draw them and where they will make good. In the United States the danger is that boys are tempted to leave school before graduating from high school, in order to take inferior employment just to get ahead financially. They would not drop out if they realized the necessity of a technical education. At present the Academy has almost no vocational training-only enough to help a future secretary or business man. The Academy should be congratulated on its courses in economics; we now have professors who can look at the subject from all points of view. An institution is not meant for educating only the extreme conservative, but for showing various kinds of economics and their use in government. As we go on, the political science division in our schools will have to be strengthened by more men, better qualified men, and we will have to have a larger number of vocational training courses. For without them many of our boys will drop out and take work far below their mental and physical capacities and below their opportunities as New Church men.
     He pleaded that the whole church put itself behind the work of the Academy. We need a college of liberal arts including all four years of college.
     Mr. Randolph W. Childs (Bryn Athyn), noted that the address reflected a great deal of preparation, years of background. It was fascinating to hear of the efforts of New Church education in the past, and the rise and fall of schools that lacked the distinctiveness which marks the Academy. What in the past had been somewhat of a dream has now, to some extent, become a reality: and that is that all subjects in the curriculum should be regarded from the standpoint of the Writings. Of course, that is a work which will go on to eternity. Our schools have had an increasingly competent faculty personnel, as our parents realize. With deference to the wonderful men and women on the staff around the turn of the century, he felt that the quality of professional scholarship has steadily progressed through the years. After all, the teachers we want are the teachers to whose standards we Would like our children to conform, and we would be very fortunate if our children would imitate them and live up to their ideals.
     With this improvement of the faculty has grown up a tremendous development, not only in the study of our own philosophy from the Writings, but a surveillance of what is going on in the world.

413

We are certainly not teaching the New Church view in a vacuum. We are aware of what is going on in the schools of the world-the record of which is in many ways startling from the standpoint of efficiency but very dismal because of the absence of real standards.
     Mr. Childs felt we were fortunate tonight to have heard samples of what our schools will hand out to the committee for accreditation. He felt that that visiting committee would recognise the real spirit of education when they saw it, and he believed they would be deeply impressed with the high values which are prized in the Academy.
     Mr. Charles S. Cole (Dean of the Academy College) rose to speak because he felt it useful to emphasize to the Assembly the importance that the college should concentrate not so much on secular specializations, as was suggested by Mr. Cranch-even vocational specializations. In time this, too, will come to the Academy. In some future time the college might offer special programs in various scientific and mathematical lines, for instance. But this should not be our immediate concern; considering our history and present stage of development, and considering the very real challenges that face us in other ways. He would rather that we would concentrate upon the emphasis given by Mr. Gladish, and hark back to the essential spirit that motivates the entire Academy and General Church educational effort from kindergarten up. This spirit is the dedication to the purpose for which the Academy was founded-the purpose of propagating the Heavenly Doctrine and the support of that objective in various ways. It is upon this that a college liberal arts program must concentrate, if we are to meet die real needs of our young people of the late "teens" and early twenties. The Academy, he felt, had no serious responsibility, at present, to provide specialized secular education in the third and fourth years of college specifically, except for those courses related to the training of teachers and pre-theological students. He believed we should gradually push our liberal arts courses a bit higher than the present junior college program. But he would not have this meeting get the impression that what we primarily need is further higher secular specialization. What we need-and this affects every teacher on the staff, and is the main responsibility of its faculties now and in the considerable future-is a specific concentration, subject by subject, course by course, committee by committee, faculty by faculty, upon the very simple objective of the Academy stated in our Charter: namely, the propagation of the Heavenly Doctrine.
     Lest this sound too impractical or unrealistic, he stated his conviction as Dean of the college and from a background of secular specialization, which in one line had been considerable, that this concentration on our religious objectives on the part of our specialized teachers is precisely what we need in order to develop a powerful liberal arts program. By "liberal arts" he meant the kind of educational system that frees the mind, opens the mind to see the truth. This is what the world lacks. The world does not need further vocational training; there is loads of it available to our youth, and at reasonable cost, in almost every country, certainly in our own. Young people can and do go out to the world's great institutions and secure for themselves those specializations which they need as a basis for their bread-and-butter work and for their intellectual growth and effective usefulness in a specialized society. They are getting that, and succeeding beautifully, whether they leave our schools at junior or senior high school level or get one or two years of our college. Some day we will have a four-year liberal arts New Church college, but we are not nearly ready for it yet. It is far more pressing now, for the few of us who are privileged to work in the Academy, to have something of this vision which Mr. Gladish so eloquently brought to our attention, and which he has formulated in a scholarly way, so that the world's educators can see and respect it when they come to visit us.

414

This vision is unique to the New Church. Yet it is practical. It will bring us a better understanding of the truth in specialized fields such as chemistry, mathematics or political science-give us the principles from which we can see the truth. All we are after is to help ourselves and our young people to see the truth on every plane. The world's institutions are not succeeding in giving youth a vision of the truth. They twist it, put it out of balance, present it incompletely. Not that our own people are perfect! We have all sorts of technical shortcomings and often fail in getting the truth over effectively. We work on these problems in our professional gathering, realizing that we have far to go to improve. But our principal concentration must be upon the simple theme for which the Academy was founded; not only because the charter so directs and is, in a sense, ethically if not legally binding on us, but for practical reasons. For this is how we are going to build-one day, perhaps sooner than we hope-the world's most effective educational system. We need to pursue the vision of truth given us by the church in its doctrine. If we concentrate on that in our specialized fields we are going to win out. But not if we are led off on sidetracks!
The Chairman, in closing the discussion, expressed his sense of what great benefits we received from the church and the Academy, and hoped that it would ever be true that the first use of charity of the church would be the use of New Church education.
CHURCH AND RELIGION 1962

CHURCH AND RELIGION 1962

"The church is one thing and religion another. The church is called a church from doctrine; and religion is called religion from life according to doctrine. All doctrine is called truth; and its good also is truth, because it only teaches it. But everything of life according to those things which doctrine teaches is called good; doing the truths of doctrine likewise is good. Thus is the church distinguished from religion. But where there is doctrine and not life it cannot be said that there is either a church or religion; because doctrine looks to life as one with itself-just as do truth and good, faith and charity, wisdom and love, understanding and will. There is therefore no church where there is doctrine and not life" (Apocalypse Revealed 923).
"It is one thing for the church to be with a nation, and another for the church to be in a nation. As, for example, the Christian Church is with those who have the Word and from doctrine preach the Lord; but yet there is nothing of the church in them unless they are in the marriage of good and truth, that is, unless they are in charity towards the neighbor and thence in faith; or unless the internals of the church are within the externals" (Arcana Coelestia 4899).

415

CORRESPONDENCE AND REPRESENTATION 1962

CORRESPONDENCE AND REPRESENTATION Rev. MARTIN PRYKE 1962

     (Delivered to the Fifth Session of the Twenty-third General Assembly, Bryn Athyn, Pa., June 18, 1962.)

     It is obvious that any student of the Writings needs to have a very clear idea of what is meant by correspondence and by representation. Not only are these terms used so often, but they are involved with one of the most critical areas of theological study-the relation between the Infinite and the finite, and between the spiritual and natural worlds.
     A knowledge of correspondence is necessary to a proper understanding of the nature of man, the life after death, the relationship between God and man, and, perhaps most notably, the nature of revelation and the spiritual gospel which lies within its literal sense.
     The Writings themselves speak plainly of the importance of a knowledge of correspondence, showing that it is only because there is a correspondence between things Divine and things spiritual, and between things spiritual and things natural, that we can learn anything at all of spiritual and Divine things. We can climb out of the darkness of the natural into the light of the spiritual because there is a correspondence between the two. From a knowledge of natural things, together with a knowledge of correspondence, we can learn something of the nature of spiritual things.*
*AC 3938; HH 88.
     The most ancient perception of correspondences was, of course, lost at the time of the fall. Since the decline of the Ancient Church scarcely any knowledge of them has remained, until at this day the knowledge is lost entirely "because man has removed himself from heaven by the love of self and the world."* Now this knowledge has been restored in the Writings of the Second Advent, and we can find it nowhere else.**
* HH 87.
** HH 110.
     We are not concerned, at this time, with the details of specific correspondence, but rather with the nature of correspondence itself and the nature of representation. If we are to understand correctly the teaching of the Writings, especially in the exposition of the Scriptures, we must have a clear picture of what these terms mean. It is easy to confuse them and to misunderstand them, and it is therefore our intention to set out in summary, and as clearly as we can, the nature of, and the distinction between, correspondence and representation.

416

     II

     We understand correspondence best by observing its origin from creation itself. We know that what is created cannot fail to bear the imprint of its creator. Whatever a man produces shows forth something of that man. Thus, on the whole create realm, there is to be seen the imprint of God the Creator. In the widest sense this is seen in the human form as it appears in so many ways and on so many planes-that human form which in its origin is not human but is Divine, and which is the form of God Himself. This form we see imprinted on the whole of heaven, which is a grand man; on the form of the church; on the form of societies in heaven and on earth; on the form of man, as to his soul, mind and body.
     Thus we see that there is an orderly relationship between the Creator and what He created, between the spiritual and natural worlds, and between the spirit and body of man. This orderly relationship-"orderly" because from God-is called in the Writings "correspondence." Correspondence is a relationship which exists, then, because those things which correspond all bear the imprint of the one Creator and so bear a basic relationship to one another.
     Creation took place, and continues in existence, by means of a series of discrete degrees of increasing finition from the Infinite to the ultimates of this world. In the broadest view we see the spiritual world created from the Divine itself, and the natural world created from the spiritual,* although within each there are many series of such discrete degrees. Thus we may envisage a series of discrete degrees from highest to lowest and from inmost to outmost. Each higher degree is the cause of the one below, with God the very Cause of all. Thus the form of each higher degree is stamped on that which springs from it, and so the effect corresponds to the cause. Correspondence is, therefore, properly described as being the relationship existing between discrete degrees, or between end, cause and effect.
* HH 106, 107.

     We cannot do better, in our attempt to understand correspondences, than to keep this series of end, cause and effect in our minds. We may think of the Lord Himself as the end, the spiritual world as the cause, and the natural world as the effect; or we may apply the same three to a multitude of different series. The essential idea is that the three-end, cause and effect-are discretely different, in discretely different degrees, and yet correspond one to another. This we can see from an example of our own experience. In the building of a house, the end is that there shall be a home and that the uses of a home may be provided for; the cause may be said to be the work of the architect, the planning which is done, the preparation that is made; while the effect is the finished house in which the uses of a home are performed.

417

The end is a use seen in the mind, the cause is the plans, the effect is the completed house. These are three entirely discrete things, there is no merging from one into the other, and yet they are related-they correspond one to another.
     We may note further how each higher degree takes to itself the things of the lower degree and adapts them to its use and brings them into correspondence with itself. Thus the end in view, in the mind of the man building, gathers the knowledges and ideas of an architect and disposes these to its own end, and the plans are produced-the end has disposed the things of the lower degree to produce a corresponding cause; and the cause, in its turn, takes the things of the lowest degree, the bricks and the mortar, wood and tile, and disposes them in a corresponding effect. These things of a lower degree which are disposed to a corresponding use are called, in the Writings, "administrant means."*
* AC 5131:2.
     Because the administrant means are disposed by the higher degree they correspond to it, and it is then able to flow into them and act through them. Thus do the three-end, cause and effect-operate as a one, as with a man who loves to do good to the neighbor. This love, which is the end, flows into his understanding, which is the means; and with the aid of knowledges there disposed, action is produced, which is the effect; but the three act as a one and the man is rarely conscious of the different stages involved.

     We must, of course, understand that when we speak of correspondence as a relation between discrete degrees, we are speaking of a relationship of uses rather than of mere forms or shapes. The Lord's kingdom is a kingdom of uses and therefore, on each plane of creation, it is uses which are provided for. The administrant means of each successive degree are disposed to use.*
* HH 112; DLW 322, 324; AC 4223.
     For example, a society of heaven corresponds to some particular organ of the body-say, the liver-not because in any manner it can be said that the appearance of that society and the shape of the liver are in any way comparable, but because that society performs the same use to the grand man of heaven that the liver performs to the natural body. No correspondence-or relationship of end, cause and effect-can be discovered between the two as long as we dwell on their respective appearances, but only when we consider their uses.
     This concept is a valuable one for two reasons. It demonstrates very clearly that correspondences are not just a kind of dead language, but are a living part of the pattern of creation; and it also demonstrates and reminds us that every detail of creation is brought into being for the sake of a use; without this cause it could not be.

418

     Correspondence, then, is the imprint of Divine order upon creation; it is the relationship existing between the parts which holds them together and unifies them. We can well understand how continuous degrees are able to retain their order and existence, for the gradual change between them preserves an immediate adjunction which makes it possible for one to flow into, affect and preserve another. But discrete degrees are entirely distinct, separate, cut-off, like the soul and body; and we may ask how such as these maintain their order and continue to exist one from the other. We know that the natural receives its life from the spiritual and that without this life it could not be; but how can such life be transmitted from one so different, one on a discretely different plane? The answer is, of course, that a connection between discrete degrees is possible on account of the correspondence between them. Although they are in discretely different degrees, they have a form which corresponds because they perform corresponding uses; and this is, as it were, their common bond, that which ties them together and makes communication between them possible. "There is nothing that can subsist from itself, but only from some other, and this again from some other, and finally from the First, and this by a nexus of correspondences. . . ."* Influx from a higher degree into a lower is possible only if that lower degree is adapted in form to receive it, if there is agreement between the influx and the receiving vessel; that is, if they correspond.
* AC 4044; cf. AC 5377, 6048.

     The function of correspondence, then, is to maintain a connection between the discrete degrees which exist throughout creation. The examples of this are innumerable, but one of the most evident is the connection maintained, during earthly life between man's spirit and body. Man's spirit continues to be invested with a material body only as long as the two correspond; then the former can rest in the latter. As soon, however, as such correspondence is destroyed because of some incapacity of the body-by disease, accident or old age-then the connection is severed and the spirit is released; no longer inhabiting the body of flesh and blood, because there is no longer any correspondence between them.
     The relationship between the spirit and body of man is, in fact, the best example of our whole subject, for it is a matter of our daily experience.* It is clear that those things in the mind which cause effects in the body are not words and actions but thoughts and affections; they are spiritual causes of natural effects. Once we recognize that the thought is discretely different from the word, then we must also acknowledge that the two do, however, correspond to one another, and that by means of this correspondence the thought comes into word and the will into deed.
* HH 91; AC 2988, 4044.

419

     What evinces no wonder in us, because of our own familiar experience, takes place constantly between the spiritual world and the natural in greatests and in leasts. There is constantly such an influx from the spiritual into correspondential forms in the natural; forms which were originally created, and are still maintained, in the same manner as that in which thought flows into speech and affection into act.
     Everything in this world is a natural effect of a spiritual cause, and therefore correspondences extend throughout all of creation.* This is true, not only of the objects of the natural world, but also of the various phenomena arising from the operation of those objects and the states and conditions of them. Thus not only does a "man" correspond, but so likewise does his "walking," "laughing," "talking," "singing," his "age" and his state of "health."**
* HH 106; AC 2992, 2999.
** HH 105.
     While we can see that the things of nature may be correspondential because of their direct descent in the order of creation, we may ask how this can be the case with man's shaping and forming and adapting of nature. The "tree" corresponds, but how the "door" that is made from the wood of the tree? the "water," but how the "basin" which contains it? Yet these, too, come from a spiritual origin-the mind of the man who made them-and so also correspond in every meaning of that word.*
* HH 104.
     It is important that we understand and remember the universal correspondence between the spiritual and the natural; for in this way we recognize that there is a spiritual cause behind the natural effect, and that there is a Divine end behind all creation, and also recognize the nature of the connection and relation between these three. Especially does this recognition lead us to place the worlds in which we live in proper perspective, and prevents us from ascribing causes to "nature" or mistaking this temporal life for the real plane of human existence.

     III

     It becomes important, as we study our subject, to be quite clear in our use of terms. We should, therefore, note at this point various uses of the words "correspondent," "correspondence," and "representative."
     The ultimate degree of a series is called, in the Writings, a correspondent,* or a correspondence.** Thus we see that the term "correspondence" may refer either to the relationship between end, cause and effect or to the effect itself, which corresponds inevitably to its cause and end.
* HH 89, 90, 107.
** HH 91 et at.

420

     The effect, or ultimate degree of a series, the correspondent, is also called a "respresentative" when it is seen to present to view-to "re-present" or represent-the cause which is within it. We know, for example, that the natural world may present to our view the spiritual world; it represents its cause and is therefore said to be representative in every last detail.* We read: "There exists a correspondence between spiritual things and natural things, and the things that come forth from spiritual things in natural ones are representations. They are called correspondences because they correspond and representations because they represent."** Note the last sentence, which clearly states the point that the ultimate degree of a series may be regarded as a "correspondence" because of its relation to its end and cause, or as a "representation" because it re-presents the higher degree in the lower.
* AC 2992, 5116.
** AC 2987, 4292, 2991, 4053, 4360, 5146, 3337, 5423, 9300.
     Thus the term "representative" has particular reference to the appearance of a higher degree in a lower, of the spiritual in the natural. When the appearance, or representation, is not seen or acknowledged, the lower degree is more properly called a correspondence, or correspondent.

     IV

     So far we have spoken of correspondence and representation in the creation series-in the relation between the Divine, the spiritual and the natural, and so between the spirit and body of man. Another area of our subject, of the greatest importance, is the use of correspondence and representatives in revelation. Here the complexities increase somewhat, and fine distinctions in the use of terms must often be observed.
     Before the fall, creation was in its true order, unperverted. There was a perfect correspondence between the Creator, the spiritual world and the natural. This was a time when all that men saw, or otherwise perceived through their senses, was a truly correspondential ultimate of a heavenly cause. Thus all ultimates were correspondents and representatives in the truest sense. Then it could most accurately be said, in a sense in which it cannot now be said, that "universal nature is a theatre representative of the Lord's kingdom."* Then heaven alone was represented on earth.
* AC 4489 et al.
     Men born into such perfect order, both as to their environment and their own state, were possessed of certain facilities which are quite unknown to us today. To begin with, the influx of life from the Lord into their interiors, and so into the exteriors of their minds, was unimpeded by any proprial perversions. Thus they were possessed of a perception from the Lord which enabled them to recognize instantly what is true and good, and what evil and false;* that is, what agreed and what disagreed with the life from the Lord which was within them.

421

This perception is still possessed by the angels of the celestial heaven. Because such men were of an angelic character, they were also so closely associated with the heavens that they had actual open communication with the angels and were instructed by them.** What with us is a dangerous disorder-open communication with the other world-with them was an orderly and normal procedure, possible because of the orderly nature of their lives. This was an essential part of their mode of instruction, although, of course, we must remember that they saw angelic truth only in natural forms.*** Heavenly concepts of truth were accommodated to the understanding of the race's childhood.
* AC 104, 125.
** AC 125, 2891, 10355.
*** Inv. 52.
As a result of their perception and their heavenly associations, they saw and recognized the heavenly things which are represented in the things of nature.* They were not interested in natural things in themselves, but only as a means to a knowledge of spiritual things.** How it was that while they saw the external, they yet thought of the internal, is illustrated by our own experience with reference to speech. When we listen to an- other we do indeed hear every word which is uttered, but we do not think at all of the words themselves; we think only of the ideas conveyed by those words.*** Similarly, when we read, we see each letter and each mark, but we think not of these at all, but only of the idea which is expressed. So it was with the most ancients. From their perception they were enabled to raise their minds above the mere ultimates of this world-which were indeed the letter and word of their revelation-to see their spiritual significance. We are taught that if a man of the Most Ancient Church were able to read our written Word, which is correspondential and representative in form, then he would immediately perceive the spiritual and celestial sense of it.**** Conversely, in their discussion, they expressed themselves in representatives and so arranged these representatives in order, in story form as it were, that they gave a living idea to the hearer. Such was the style of their speech, a style which was written down by their descendants and which we see in the early chapters of Genesis.*****
* AC 2896, 2722.
** AC 1409, 54.
*** AC 241.
**** AC 4493: 4.
***** AC 66.
The fall of man, and the end of the Most Ancient Church, brought about many dire changes in the life of man and in the world in which he lived. It is necessary that we note some of these. In the first place, evil and disorderly things came into existence on earth which were not representatives of the good of heaven, but of the evil of hell.

422

They were not created by God, but through the instrumentality of the evil of man. External acts of men, and things they made, now often represented evil because they were the correspondential effects of an evil spiritual cause in the men who perpetrated them. More than this, the power of evil in the spiritual world as a whole, in the world of spirits and in hell, now manifested itself in ultimates of nature which were contrary to the true unperverted order; thus we have evil animals, injurious plants, disease, and natural calamities such as are brought about by storm and tempest.* Since the fall, the life of the Lord has not only flowed into heaven, and so to the earth, to produce orderly ultimates here; it has also flowed into hell, where it has been twisted and distorted, producing effects in this world which are harmful and evil, and which correspond to, and represent, that spiritual evil which was their cause.
* TCR 78: 5; HH 113.

     Some of the effects of the fall upon man himself are also to be noted. Because he turned to sensual things,* and because, by evil, he had closed the way for an influx from the Lord from within into the externals of his mind, he lost his perception of correspondences. Nature was no longer, to him, a kingdom representative of the Lord, no longer his Word, for he could no longer perceive the spiritual and celestial things which lie within it. In addition, he had cut himself off from open communication with heaven-except for a few who were to serve as prophets and revelators.
* AC 241.
     For the men of the Ancient Church, the understanding of correspondences was no longer a perception from within, but was a knowledge, or scientific, acquired from without.* This knowledge was handed down from most ancient times and was used to interpret their Ancient Word** and to understand their forms of worship.*** To them it was the "science of sciences,"**** but as this church, in turn, declined, the knowledge of correspondences became increasingly rare until it was almost completely lost. Remnants of it did, however, remain through the time of the Jewish Church and even up to the time of the Lord. In our own day, certain customs, such as at coronations, which are based on correspondences are still to be found, although the real nature of the correspondence involved is no longer known.
* HH 115; cf. AC 2722, 4489.
** SS 102.
*** DP 255.
**** Verbo 17; HH 87.
     These conditions meant that the Ancient Church, and succeeding ages, stood in need of a new revelation, for the former revelation of most ancient times could no longer serve. At the fall the proprial will of men had risen up to impede the entrance of light through their inmosts.

423

Continuing to receive life from within, they thus possessed a will and understanding, yet these two were separated and they were granted the gift of recognizing intellectually what they did not love or seek with their will. They could no longer test truths presented to them by their innate perception, but only by comparing them with a fixed revelation from without-a written Word. In order that there might still be a knowledge of the one God and a communication with the heavens, the Lord inspired the Ancient Word and the rituals of that church. By these means a church was established and the communication of the Lord and man was maintained.

     These means, however, a written Word and external rites, had to be cast in forms which would mean something to those for whom they were provided. It is a principle of revelation that it shall he an accommodation of the Divine truth right down to the understanding of those who are intended to use it. The very mode of its giving, the inspiration of the prophets, requires this; for the inspiration was an influx from the Divine, disposing the ultimate which resided in their memory in such a way that it represented and accommodated the Divine truth.
      The necessary ultimates which would be ordered so as to clothe Divine truth were placed in the memories of the revelators by various means. In the first place, their spiritual eyes were often opened so that they might see the representations of the other world. In this way Moses saw the tabernacle which he was to build, and John saw the visions of the Apocalypse which he was afterwards inspired to write down.*
* AC 1532 et al.
      We have already noted that the men of the Most Ancient Church were able to see such heavenly representations and that they also possessed a perception of the spiritual significance of the objects of their environment. This knowledge was passed on to succeeding ages and generations. Hence certain representatives were respected and venerated from a tradition passed down from the most ancient times, and, as such, formed suitable vessels of clothing for the Divine truth in rite and revelation, although there was no longer any knowledge of what their spiritual significance was. These things were suitable and powerful ultimates for these people because they had respect for them, and thus, according to His way, the Lord bent what was with men so that it might serve His purposes. Thus were the ultimates of most ancient times preserved through thousands of years for the later use of the Ancient and Jewish churches.*
* AC 2763, 2179:3.
      In addition, revelators have, as all men have, many things stored up in their memories which are drawn through the senses from their natural environment; from objects as well as from events and states.

424

These also served as a basis of their inspiration. Notably we find such things as the particulars of the geography of the land of Canaan and the histories of the Israelites used in this way. Such things, together with the generals and particulars of their everyday mode of life, their society and marriages, were drawn from their environment, and used to serve the needs of revelation.*
* AC 1408, 1361, 2763.
     Therefore, after the fall, rites and revelations were cast in the mould then present with man; and this included both the good, and orderly, and the evil, and disorderly, things of nature. In this way, the revelation was accommodated to the state of the people, and there was a presentation in familiar terms. Moreover it meant, as we have indicated, that the leading to a good life which should be effected by revelation would be a gradual bending from an evil way already known to them to a new way. There was not to be a sharp breaking of the old before the new was established. The new was to be infused into, and built upon, the old.
     From all this it follows that in the Ancient Word and in the Old Testament we find two kinds of ultimates which clothe Divine truth. Firstly there are those which are true correspondents, truly corresponding to the spiritual sense. These came from those things handed down from most ancient times, from things seen in the spiritual world and also, doubtless, from some of the things in their environment.* But these early revelations also included ultimates which were called upon to represent spiritual things, perhaps even the Lord Himself, to which they in no way corresponded; in themselves they were evil, of an evil cause, but they were used to represent good. This was necessary because of the evil ultimates now present in nature and because ultimates had to be chosen which were in the experience of these men.
* AC 1409, 1361.
     At first it seems a surprising thing that this should be necessary in Divinely appointed rites or in the Word of God; we can understand how it was necessary only by remembering carefully what has already been said, namely, that rites and revelations must be provided within the framework of the knowledge, experience, traditions and terms, of the people for whom they are intended. Outside of this framework they are useless.
     We should here quote from what is probably the leading number on the subject:*

     "The things that were represented in the Jewish Church, and in the Word, are the Lord and His kingdom, consequently the celestial things of love, and the spiritual things of faith: these are what are represented, besides many things that pertain to these, such as all things that belong to the church. The representing objects are either persons or things that are in the world or upon the earth; in a word, all things that are objects of the senses, insomuch that there is scarcely any object that cannot be a representative.

425

But it is a general law of representation that there is no reflection upon the person or upon the things which represent, but only upon that thing itself which is represented."
* AC 1361.

     Everything continues, of course, to be a true representative of that which is its spiritual cause; but now many are called upon to take on another representation which bears no relation to the true correspondence.
     The point is perhaps made clearer by considering a few examples. The most obvious one is that of evil persons mentioned in the Word who are called upon to represent good qualities. The number* which we have just quoted, continues:

     "For example, every king whoever he was, in Judah and Israel, and even in Egypt and elsewhere, could represent the Lord. Their royalty itself is what is representative. So that the worst of all kings could represent, such as the Pharaoh who set Joseph over the land of Egypt, Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon, Saul and the other kings of Judah and of Israel, of whatever character they were. The anointing itself-from which they were called Jehovah's anointed-involved this."
* AC 1361.

      These men took on a representation different from their true correspondence because of their use, and because of the place that they took in the literal sense of the Word. It would appear that throughout the Word there are true correspondences which serve as a scaffolding into which mere representatives can be fitted; fulfilling their function, despite their hollowness, because of the niche they fill. Thus we have read, concerning the representation of kings, that "the anointing itself . . . involved this." The anointing evidently was a true correspondence; by this means a mere representative received its significance and its effectiveness.
     The same idea is taught concerning the sanctification of priests* who by being brought in an orderly way into the representative ritual of the church, were able to represent the Lord Himself. Even Aaron, an idolater at heart, was able to do this.
* AC 9229: 7.
      Time after time, the Writings speak of this representation by persons, in some such phrase as "no regard is had for the person but for the thing represented." This sums up the important issue of these and all adopted representatives in almost epigrammatic form.*
* AC 665, 1097: 3, 2010:2 et al.
      The person-king, priest, prophet, apostle, whoever he may be-is of no importance as a person. We do not study his history, his words and deeds, because of his character or because of his importance as a man. Some may have been saved, many were not; this is not our first concern. What is of importance to us is what they represented and their place in the story of the letter which clothes some spiritual or Divine attribute and its operation among men.

426

We may sometimes wonder that the Writings repeat this one point so often-doubtless it is because it is of vital importance that we raise our minds above the mere letter, if the Word is to be a real light to us in this generation. We are not to be led astray by giving undue consideration to what we think we see to be the spiritual character of persons figuring in the Word, and so try to make our own superficial interpretations. Instead we must seek the real spiritual sense now revealed in the Heavenly Doctrine.
     The same principle applies to the bloody sacrifices and crude rites of the Jews.* We cannot imagine that these are true correspondences of Divine worship; yet such forms held a traditionally sacred place amongst these people. They had come about in the decline of the Ancient Church,** and were a part of the life of that time. Rather than break these strong associations, the forms were taken and bent to represent true worship and were used to bring the Jewish people back to an acknowledgment of one God.
* AC 1832.
** AC 921, 11281241: 2, 2180: 4.
     Circumcision is an outstanding example. Such bodily mutilation cannot possibly correspond to spiritual purification; therefore it is no longer enjoined. Baptism with water does so correspond. Yet, to these people, circumcision was a part of their heritage; they could not be deprived of it without grave possibility of worse abuses. It was better, therefore, that this rite be preserved, with the most precise laws to control it. This perverse form was used to represent a spiritual process, and was able to do so because it was Divinely commanded and integrated into the ritual and revelation of the Jewish people.
     Previous students of this subject have drawn an interesting distinction between the representatives with the Jewish Church which truly corresponded and those which did not, by calling them "representatives from correspondence" and "representatives from adoption."* These two terms seem very descriptive of what was the case. This distinction was taken one step further to suggest that only the representatives from adoption were abrogated at the First Advent; those from correspondence being incapable of abrogation because they form a part of ordered creation itself. Thus sacrifices were abrogated; but inauguration into the priesthood by the laying on of hands, and into the kingly office by anointing, was not. It may not always be easy to see, however, where the demarcation comes between one group and the other. The representatives from adoption remain with us, of course, in the written Word. They are abrogated completely, though, as far as our rites are concerned.

427

The representatives from correspondence need not be abrogated from our worship.
* See: "Report on the Priesthood and Grades in the Priesthood" signed by W. H. Benade for the Committee on Ecclesiastical Affairs, in the Journal of the 55th Annual Session of the General Convention of the New Jerusalem, 1875, pp. 58-60.
     There is one other changed situation after the fall with reference to revelation which bears on our subject. Before the fall, nothing but good was portrayed in the Word of nature; after the fall it was necessary that evil should be portrayed in order that it might be revealed for what it is, and that man might be warned against it, and led from it. This necessity of portraying evil and its consequences led, we suggest, to the double representation which certain ultimates have been called upon to bear-as that "water" may represent falsity as well as truth.
     Another example appears in the case of the "eagle" which, as a bird of prey, has an evil significance; but, when considered with reference to its high flight and keen sight, has a good significance.* Many other examples could be quoted.
* AR 244; AE 281.
     Where the true correspondence is an evil one-as, we suggest, in the case of the "eagle"-then the opposite is an adopted representative; while where the true correspondence is a good one, the adopted representative is that wherein the ultimate is called upon to represent an evil thing. This latter case is apparently what happened with some of the significations of the land of Canaan. This, clearly, in the time of the Most Ancient Church, was a true representative of good things-of the Lord's kingdom; but later, because it was infested with wicked men, parts took on a different signification as required for the new revelation which was the Old Testament.*
* AC 4816.

     V

     In conclusion we would summarize our main points and indicate one or two broader views of the subject which remain. We have seen that the term "correspondence" may refer either to the relationship between discrete degrees, which is a relationship of end, cause and effect; or else may refer to the ultimate degree, the effect, which corresponds to the end and cause which lie within.
     "Representative" describes this same ultimate degree, but with particular reference to the fact that this degree presents to view, or re-presents, the higher degrees which are its origin. Thus representatives treat especially of the effect upon an observer.
     Yet, in the Word, since the fall, objects have been called upon to represent that to which they do not correspond, and so we have both "representatives from correspondence" and "representatives from adoption."

428

     In trying to make these distinctions clear, we have found it necessary to leave out many other areas of our subject. For example, it would be most interesting to pursue the question of representatives from adoption as they may be applied to the unregenerate man-the man who assumes an external appearance, a representative, which does not correspond to his own spiritual state. He has adopted this representative to his own ends.
     We would again emphasize the importance, to the men and women of the New Church, of a proper understanding of this subject. It is indeed basic to knowing what we are, and the worlds in which we live.
     Its application to a proper grasp of the Scriptures needs no emphasis. The science of correspondences has brought them alive for the New Church. Nevertheless, if we do not understand properly what that science is, we may be led into serious error. We may make incorrect applications of it, and may read into the Word what is not there.
     However, the knowledge of the science of correspondences is not only to serve as a key to the Old and New Testaments wherein we may find illustrations and confirmations of the doctrines revealed in the Writings; it is also to serve as a key to the understanding of the natural world and all its marvels, every least one of which is the correspondential form of a spiritual cause. As New Church men progress in their knowledge of the heavenly doctrines, and as they see more clearly the true facts of nature, so will they, with the aid of a knowledge of correspondences, be able to relate these two, for genuine truth is never contradictory. From correspondences we shall be able to see increasingly, in the Word and in nature, illustrations of spiritual principles, and by these illustrations we shall see more clearly and more deeply all that is involved in those principles. We shall see confirmations of heavenly truths which will give us increasing delight as we recognize more and more clearly the absolute unity of the whole of God's creation.
     Perhaps, above all things, it is our hope that we have been able to show that correspondence is not merely a static kind of language which simply needs a good dictionary to explain it. We are inclined to think of it only as the tongue of revelation, but this is just one particular area of its application. It is much more than that; it is an essential part of the order of creation. Indeed, in a sense, it is the order of creation-the living pattern of the organism. We cannot avoid it, or ignore it, if we are to understand creation at all.
     In these teachings concerning correspondence we have an amazing set of basic principles which are essential to all rational and spiritual thought. It seems as if an understanding and application of this subject looks indeed to the promise of the Psalmist: "In Thy light shall we see light."*
* Palm 36:9.

429

     Discussion of Mr. Pryke's Address

     Rev. H. C. Cranch (Visiting Pastor in California), opening the discussion, noted that there is no part of the Writings which does not contain some reference to the essentials brought out by the speaker, who had the rare gift of presenting his subject with vivid clarity.
     Rev. Erik Sandstrom (Pastor of Michael Church, London), endorsed this. Mr. Pryke, in showing the texture, language and structure of the order of correspondence, had emphasized the importance of the subject, which is the science of sciences for us as for the Ancient Church. It is the most living of all sciences, dynamic rather than static.
     Influx and correspondence are two phases of the same thing. When influx comes to rest in the ultimate, then the ultimate may be described as a correspondence. When we contemplate a subject like this we should ever have in mind that this is a key to New Church education: it is the new thing which makes New Church education distinct, for in other schools static things are presented and the student is not made to see the living spiritual origin of these static things. What is presented in the schools of the world is a panorama of dead memory things, heaped up as the sands of the desert without coherence or unity such as a rock possesses, or without such unity as the life-blood of the universe has.
     We must learn to think and to teach in a living manner or else we miss the essential element of New Church philosophy. it is not necessary to memorize that this thing corresponds to that-or that there is this static relationship; "but the idea is to enter in thought into the living bloodstream of the universe, to think from causes and from ends, and enter into the stream of influx as it descends into ultimates; and so let our minds be absorbed in the life of creation and live and think within that life, and consequently see in true light. For light, after all, is of life; so much so that it is said that the life itself is light. In the degree that we can see this thing as living and thus dynamic and inflowing, in that degree we shall see light in all things. As Mr. Pryke so effectively concluded: In that light we shall see light, and it is living indeed."
     Rev. David R. Simons (Principal of Bryn Athyn Elementary School and an Assistant Pastor), noted that the Lord makes all things new when they are regarded from the doctrine of correspondences. A New Church teacher, instructing about gravity, has in his mind that this force of attraction exists because the world was created by a God of love who wills to draw all men to Himself. The New Church teacher can infill external facts with particulars which have their spiritual implications, so that the child mind can grow to see more and more. There is no end to the scientific particulars in which you can see reflections of the spiritual world.
     Even in human history the doctrine of correspondences enables us to see an interior meaning. New Church men can see a truth in the origin of such a superstition as astrology. The ancients, when they said that the stars held our future, were thinking of the stars correspondentially-as the knowledges of good and truth from the Word which tell about heaven and hell and our future life. Later this true knowledge was perverted. But meanwhile, men, while looking at the heavens to find their natural future, came to see an order among the stars, and the Lord led men to a new kind of knowledge-that of astronomy, or of the order of the external universe. And then the Writings come along and enable us to see in this physical order the God of nature and its correspondence to heavenly things.

430

The Writings say that it is because the men of our earth can see spiritual things in the ultimate knowledges of the physical world-can see the Lord from firsts to lasts-the Lord loved our earth more than others.
     Rev. Robert Junge (Resident Pastor in Denver), observed that he was apparently destined to have a lot to do with another kind of "correspondence." He thanked the Assembly for its vote of confidence in making him Secretary and promised to serve to the best of his ability.
     He was interested in one point which had been lightly touched on by Mr. Pryke, and that was that before the Advent the Lord appeared in a representative Human, but that there was a need for the Lord to come in person to establish the Christian Church. In the process of glorification He first reduced the natural to correspondence; and then those natural things, when that process was completed, became Divine. Noting the difference between representatives and vital correspondences, it is very important to think of the glorification process in terms of the natural things being reduced to living correspondences until they became so vital that they received the Divine life itself. This concept is linked with the teaching that the age of representatives has passed.
     Rev. E. C. Acton (Pastor of the Glenview Society), noted that Mr. Pryke had made some very valuable contributions to the subject. The article by Mr. Acton to which reference had been made in the address (NEW CHURCH LIFE 1931, p. 148) treated the topic on a different line.
     Revelation has always had to be given in the terms of the people to whom it was addressed. This is illustrated by Moses breaking the tables of the commandments when finding the people worshiping the golden calf, and new tables being provided by Moses on which the Lord could again write His law. The Israelitish church received revelation in terms of non-correspondential or adopted representatives, which was not of the Divine will but of Divine permission.
     In the New Church there is to be no external which is without its corresponding internal. In our worship, while we use the representatives of the Old and New Testaments, yet we select only the living correspondences or the corresponding representatives. The correspondence is not with the representatives but with the state of the worshiper. There is no power whatsoever in kneeling, for instance, unless there is something of humility in the one who is kneeling.
     One problem to which he had no complete answer bad to do with the relation of end, cause and effect. You must recognize discrete degrees, not only of life, but of the forms receptive of life. One passage of doctrine says that we have discrete degrees of life because we have discrete forms receptive of the life. Life itself remains always infinite and uncreate. You cannot ascribe any shape to it or any form. The end can only be differentiated as it comes down into the cause, and actually it comes into clear view only in the effect. Thus the use of the home comes clearly to our minds only through the actual shape of the house, since this is built for a certain use which we see in the actual shape. As Mr. Pryke brought out, in connection with the body, the spiritual correspondence is not directly with the shape of the organs but with their use. But if you can see the real use of the organ, you can see the correspondence in the very shape itself; but never in the shape apart from the use.
     The problem is whether we are to ascribe a form, possibly a shape, to the cause; or whether there is a difference in the shape of that vessel which manifests the cause from that which manifests the ultimate effect. He thought there was, but would not confirm it too strongly.

431

     Certainly the whole doctrine of discrete degrees and of correspondence and representation is a key to the understanding of natural things. If we forget this, and our students (even of the physical and biological sciences) do not look at them from the two doctrines of causes and correspondences, we would lose what is vital in our system of education.
     Rev. H. L. Odhner (Dean of the Theological School), commented on the important aspect of the doctrine, emphasized by Mr. Pryke, that correspondences are primarily relationships between discrete degrees. This is the key to the understanding of other usages of the term "correspondences" found in the Writings. Correspondence is a law of creation and an effect of the law of influx. It gives the unity in creation to which other speakers have alluded. But there are also correspondences which have nothing to do with discrete degrees. There are "homologies" or similarities in structure and function between animals of different species, or between animals and men-for they have corresponding organs and members. Yet this correspondence is not one between discrete degrees. Similarly, there is a correspondence between the eye and the ether, and between the ear and the air.
     He would like to see many studies made of various aspects of this law of correspondence, which opens up the world to human understanding as never before. Everyone in the world uses correspondences, quite unconsciously; but nowhere, except in the New Church, is it realized that correspondence is a universal law, a law of creation, and is therefore a law not only of influx and of "discrete" degrees, but also a law impressed on "continuous" degrees- making a parallelism between any related series.
     He hoped the people of the church would make diligent use of the marvelous storehouse of correspondences which we may find in the Writings and from studies made in the light of their teachings. There is vast material here for the poets and writers of the future. For here we have the very essence of poetry-since the source of all poetic instinct is the sight of correspondences. We may see an image of ourselves in our surroundings, an image of man's moods in the moods of nature. Poets know how to extract that correspondence; but New Church theologians and hymnologists are needed to express it.
     Professor Gladish (Principal of the Boys School), asked why, in the literature of the world, the valuable concept of correspondences seems now to be ignored. He presumed it was a consequence of the denial of influx. The Chairman suggested that the question be one for future study.
VISITORS TO BRYN ATHYN 1962

VISITORS TO BRYN ATHYN 1962

People coming to Bryn Athyn who need assistance in finding accommodation will please communicate with the Hostess Committee. Please address letters to: "The Hostess Committee, c/o Mrs. Harris S. Campbell, Bryn Athyn, Pa."

432

ASSEMBLY IMPRESSIONS 1962

ASSEMBLY IMPRESSIONS LORENTZ SONESON 1962

     The standing acclamation of a newly elected Bishop was an event that few will forget who were privileged to attend the Twenty-third General Assembly. A gathering of more than eight hundred people rose as one man, and applauded Bishop Willard Dandridge Pendleton, a new leader; everyone sensed the promise and challenge that lie before the church. The wholehearted unanimity of those assembled was reflected in the face of the new Bishop. Visibly moved by such support, he accepted his office "with humility and gratitude."
     The calling of the Bishop immediately lifted all those attending the Assembly in Bryn Athyn this past June into a sphere of exhilaration. That sphere penetrated into every occasion throughout the five-day period.
     Bishop De Charms spoke at the First Session. His address presented teachings from the Writings on the formation of the new Christian heaven after the Last Judgment. In it he showed how, from that heaven, the holy city, New Jerusalem, will descend upon this earth. The New Church is growing in numbers continually in the spiritual world, he said, and its descent into the minds of those in this world takes place as each man is interiorly affected by truth, allowing the Lord to govern his life, and through him to build His church.
     Bishop Pendleton, in his address at the Second Session, also emphasized the importance of every member of the church turning to the Word for guidance and instruction. The doctrine of the Trinity is clearly reflected in the Word, he explained, in its threefold form. Among many enlightening teachings brought out in this address was that the spiritual measure of a man is his devotion to use. Many listeners saw the application of this to the organized church. The measure of each member in the church would be his devotion to use, not only to family and neighbor, but to the entire body. Without such dedication Assemblies would be impossible.
     It is difficult to define a "successful" Assembly; yet all agree that the church experienced one this June. At one of the many small social gatherings interspersed between the sessions, a group tried to express particular highlights. Each guest in turn told of special impressions. There was no duplication of answers. The responses included: the strength felt in seeing together New Church people from all over the world; the faces of those attending twenty-four open houses as they recognized old acquaintances and made new ones; the several services of worship, with excellent sermons and ethereal music; the efficiency of the well organized student-service at the meals in the Assembly Hall; the open-air concert of horns on the school campus under a full moon after an evening session; the magnificent cathedral, illuminated at night and enhanced by recorded music for strolling visitors; the vision of New Church education as evoked by one of the speakers.

433

But all who attended this small gathering agreed that they sensed that the church was on the threshold of a new era. It was a surge, they felt, that was more than growth in numbers. It was a faith in the next generation's potential to expand uses in publications, in stronger societies, in new schools, in more doctrinal study and specialized uses in the church. Though the General Church must realize that many of its great leaders and students are growing closer to retirement, they were encouraged to see others preparing to continue the uses of the church they loved. The outstanding impression, in short, was one of hope for the future!
     High expectations for the future of the church were ultimated in a stream of children marching into the cathedral for the New Church Day festival service. The full nave of the church was reserved for them. The host society provided all the children, including over a hundred visitors, with an assortment of gifts which included red geraniums, coloring books, Hebrew-inscribed Word markers, hand-dressed dolls, and red balls for the youngest.
     Everyone was gratified by the efficiency with which the Assembly was conducted. Bus service to and from events, restful sitting rooms with fresh flowers, ample parking facilities, swimming pool privileges, and entertainment for young visitors, were but a few of the thoughtful touches that enhanced the occasion. The Field House contained striking displays of various church uses-Religion Lessons, Sound Recording, the Epsilon Society, and assorted publications-to illustrate the spirit keeping our complex organization together. Chairman Robert Asplundh's excellent planning left little to be desired by the guests.

     The capacity of the massive Asplundh Field House was tested on the last night of the Assembly, when nearly 1,200 adults gathered for the New Church Day banquet. The Bryn Athyn choir entertained the group with Academy songs, old and new. One hundred and twenty round tables were gaily decorated and ably served. Banquet programs were distributed that included a colored photograph of a painting of the cathedral-a stunning souvenir of an outstanding evening. Well deserved accolades were given to Assembly committees. Special recognition, a present of dining room chairs, was given to the housing committee chairman, Mrs. Richard Gladish, who accomplished the mammoth task of placing over six hundred guests in Bryn Athyn homes.

434

Bishop Pendleton spoke for all assembled in his moving words of appreciation to the retiring Bishop, Bishop De Charms. The gift made to him from the Assembly carried with it warm acknowledgment of his twenty-four years in the executive office.
Tired, but rejuvenated, visitors left the borough of Bryn Athyn for their homes throughout the world. They were amply filled with doctrine to apply to life. All, it can be safely said, were filled with "humility and gratitude."
LORENTZ SONESON
NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1962

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS Rev. FREDERICK L. SCHNARR 1962

     In many passages in the Writings we find the teaching that the Lord was carried in the womb, born and educated, in the same order as man* These teachings in no way tend to make the Lord a mere man in our thoughts, for the Writings make clear beyond all possible doubt the Divine conception of Jesus Christ our Lord, and from this show us the many and profound differences between that which is, and was, Divine Man and that which is merely man.
* AC 1460 et al.
     What we would concern ourselves with at this time is the nature of the exposition of the spiritual sense of the Word as it relates to the glorification series. We are taught in the Writings that, running through the story of the Scriptures in the spiritual sense, there are three series: that of the Lord's states of glorification, that of man's states of regeneration, and that of the states of the church from its beginning. In every story, prophecy or vision recorded in Scripture, we will find these three series present; and they are present even though we may seldom see and comprehend exactly how they are present. Often the Writings, in revealing the internal sense of a verse, will present only a part of one series. For example, in our current readings in the Arcana concerning the war of the four kings against the five, much of what is revealed is concerned immediately with the Lord's states of glorification.
     Now, we are also taught that in the Lord's states of glorification there is reflected a perfect image of man's regeneration and of the states of the church. In expounding a text where only the glorification series is given in the Writings, we legitimately draw forth and see something of the series of regeneration or of the church.

435

That we, and particularly the clergy, are to strive to do this is made clear in the Writings. But that extreme care must be taken as to how this is done was brought to our attention by a number of passages in our readings, in which we are taught, concerning the Lord's states of temptation during childhood, that these "He first engaged in when He had been imbued with knowledges."* Then it is stated, concerning man: "A man does not know what evil is, still less what falsity is, until he has the full use of his understanding and judgment, which is the reason that a man does not come into temptations until he has arrived at adult age; thus every man in his age of manhood, but the Lord in His childhood."**
* AC 1661.
** AC 1661:2.
From this, and many similar teachings, it is clear how we are to understand the statement that the Lord was born, educated, and even tempted, in the same general way as man. But the time sequences were not the same as they are with man, as is obvious from the above reference; nor were the states resulting from the instruction and the temptations entered into by the Lord the same as they are with man. Certainly, the glorification series has its perfect image in that of man's regeneration, and the states of regeneration can be seen everywhere from a knowledge of the states of the Lord's glorification; but this does not mean that a passage treating of the Lord's temptations in childhood has anything to do with man's temptations in childhood-or what we refer to as childhood temptations. Such childhood states of man are revealed, but are not coexistent in the spiritual sense with the Lord's states; and because of this we must exercise great care in the exposition of a specific text.
As another example of what we are striving to make clear, it might be noted how rapidly the Lord's states of glorification progress through the internal sense of Genesis and Exodus as it is given in the Arcana. Even before the building of the tabernacle in the wilderness, we read concerning the Lord, that "as to His Human" He was then above all "infestation from the hells."* Where are the states of man in the internal sense of this story? In the wilderness, in natural temptations, in the state of reformation. Spiritual combat has not yet even begun. That comes with entrance into the Holy Land. Both stories are present, and are seen and understood one from the other; but if they are to be seen clearly, they must not he confused in their order.
* AC 10, 374.

436

LAYING THE CORNERSTONE OF THE NEW CARMEL CHURCH OF THE NEW CARMEL CHURCH 1962

LAYING THE CORNERSTONE OF THE NEW CARMEL CHURCH OF THE NEW CARMEL CHURCH LOELLA EBY 1962

     JUNE 10, 1962

     The Holy Supper service begun on a sunny June morning had ended, and just as people stepped out of the doors of the old Carmel Church the grey clouds that had gathered during the service began to weep. Within a short time thunderclouds burst, releasing long tongues of lightning, and rain streamed onto the earth. Would the laying of the cornerstone of the new Carmel Church take place at 4:00 p.m.? People began to wonder! However, special preparations to meet the emergency caused by wet earth were made; and by four o'clock the rains had stopped and the sun valiantly tried to shine from behind the clouds of a white sky.
     The storm had soaked the earth, leaving pools of water in ditches and hollows; but before the chancel, set up under a tent at the eastern corner of the future chapel, the wet earth was covered by a golden carpet of straw. Softly falling away over the distant fields was heard the music of a violin and some 230 voices singing the words: "Thine Advent, Lord, we hail in Thy new Revelation: / One Source of life and truth, the Hope of every nation!"

     The Stonelaying Ceremony

     Then the Rev. Geoffrey Childs, in the white robes of his office, approached the altar. Having opened the Word on the altar, he said:

     "The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes."

     The service continued with the reading of a number of passages from the Word. After the singing of Chant No. 18 (Psalm 118: 22-24, 26, 28, 29), the ceremony of the laying of the cornerstone took place. The unhewn fifty-pound cornerstone of the old Carmel Church was lifted from a draped table by two laymen on to a fresh cement base in a niche in the foundation, at a point just a little south of the eastern corner of the chapel. Laying his hand upon the stone, the pastor said:

     "In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I lay this cornerstone.
     "May it represent the Lord in His Divine Human, who is the cornerstone of the church.

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     "May the Lord, as now revealed in the Writings, be the foundation of the church.
     "May He be the center of our community, 'first in our hearts' in all things of this life, and in the life to come. Amen."

     The Pastor's Address

     Moving to the lectern, the pastor addressed the people:
     "By this act we have set up a symbol which shall stand as a reminder to us, and to future generations, that the Lord's New Church can be built only upon the unhewn rock of Divine truth, and that the Lord Himself in His Divine Human must ever be the 'head of the corner.'
     "In so far as our individual lives look to the authority of the Writings in all things, so far we 'build our house upon a rock' which no tempest can destroy.
     "The laying of this cornerstone is, then, for each one of us an act of self-dedication. It is a solemn pledge that it is our purpose to establish the Lord's truth as the foundation of our lives, and to seek to forward the building of the Lord's New Church amongst men on earth."

     Conclusion

     After a special prayer and the Lord's Prayer, the pastor closed the service with the words of Revelation 7: 12 and the Benediction. Closing the Word, he left the chancel as the people sang: "O Jesus Christ, Redeemer, Lord,/ Alone by angel hosts adored."
      The people moved off a little way down the hill to talk and enjoy refreshments. There seemed to be a sphere of content and happiness that only love and hope can bring. As the afternoon advanced, barefoot children ran in muddy puddles, birds warbled in the trees along the fence-line, and a sombre sky brooded over all.

     THE FUTURE BUILDING

     The new building is now starting to take shape and we expect to move in at the end of October this year. Let us walk in imagination to the top of the hill on which the church is being constructed. It is autumn, and the trees that dot the countryside, border the fence-line and climb up the rolling hills are beautifully dressed in red and gold, standing regally against a clear blue sky. We leave the country breezes as we enter the semi-secluded court behind a stone wall, and walk in through the front door of the church. Going up three steps, we pass the pastor's study on the left and leave our coats in the cloakroom next door. Before turning left along the bend of the narthex into the schoolroom section, let us see what is behind the closed doors just before us.

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Here are the washrooms, and across the narrow hall to the right is the large chancel guild room, its dimensions providing for the staircase leading to a chapel balcony to hold fifty-six people in future construction. In the far wall of the chancel guild room a door leads into the vestry, which gives access both to the chancel and to the out-of-doors. Back through the chancel guild room and behind the washrooms is the kitchen, and a door leads into the heating plant room, which in this position is central to both parts of the building.
     Walking along the short bend of the narthex, we proceed down three steps and into the classroom section. Through a door to the right of the central hall we come into the assembly room with its stage and seating capacity of 225. The number of tables that might be set up would be sufficient for 160-170 people. To the left, as we enter this portion of the building, are the library and the junior and senior classrooms. At the far end of the building on the right, beside the assembly hall, is the primary classroom, this holds 30 pupils, while the junior and senior classrooms hold 25 each. Light streams in from the windows all along both sides of this area. Light drapes prevent excessive glare from the upper windows, twelve feet above the floor in the second level of the two-level flat roof.
     Having walked to the northwest end of the 153-foot length of the building, and traversed the full 87-foot width between the entry and the kitchen, let us go back and visit the 50 by 50-foot chapel. Opposite the entrance to the building we enter the west end of the chapel, beneath the organ loft. Our eyes come to rest on the Word upon the altar, where soft, indirect lighting gently gilds the pages as it falls from within the sixty-foot tower above. Varied jewels of light illumine the other two levels of the chancel floor, where natural light falls through the colored glass of cathedral glass windows at either end of the chancel. Softened light creeps through the tinted amber windows in the walls of the nave, to light the central and side aisles and the pews for 252 people that form a semi-circle about the chancel.
     Outside in the bright sunlight once more, as we move away from the community towards the city of Kitchener in the north, we look back and see the delicate effect of the building. Natural stone comprises its walls, and laminated beams its sturdy wood construction, while grey cedar shingles cover the three different levels of the triangular roof of the chapel. The high, narrow triangular tower pointing into the blue sky sets this peak of the building approximately two hundred feet above the closest surrounding hills. Its simple beauty conveys a serene and peaceful sphere.
     LOELLA EBY

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INSTRUCTION IN TRUTH 1962

INSTRUCTION IN TRUTH Editor 1962

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 Business Manager. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.

TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$5.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy 50 cents.
     It is a teaching of the Writings that no one is ever instructed by means of truths, but by means of the affection of truth. Apart from affection, truths indeed come to the ear as sound, but they do not enter into the memory. That which causes them to do so, and to remain there, is affection. This is but another way of saying that no truth enters permanently into the memory without some delight that is of love, and in this we may see one of the many reasons for New Church education.
     We are taught also that no affection of truth is genuine unless there be innocence within it, and that the affection of truth cannot be given from the doctrine of those who are in falsities of religion; or, it might be added, in the falsity of no religion. If that innocence which is the Lord's first gift to infancy is to be preserved until the adult mind is capable of being affected by spiritual truth, our children need during their formative years the protective spheres which the homes and schools of the church can afford. And if the delight which children find in learning is to become one which introduces truth into the mind, it must be directed to the Word and to the Lord in the Word. All their studies must be in the light of the Word.
     That is why New Church schools are needed. In no others can there be that instruction in the sphere of the affection of spiritual truth which can aid in the inspiring of affection by leading to the Lord and thus cause truth to remain. It is to this use of instruction in truth, which is a use of the Lord through men, that we re-dedicate ourselves when our General Church and Academy schools re-open this month.

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DOCTRINAL CLASS 1962

DOCTRINAL CLASS Editor 1962

     September is the month in which most of our societies and circles resume their full program. Prominent in that program, and an integral part of it for more than sixty years, is the general doctrinal class-attended by both men and women, and these of all ages-to which the entire adult congregation is invited. Doctrinal classes are given, and supported, in the belief that a full discharge of the duty of public worship and instruction involves, when possible, regular attendance at them as well as at the Sunday services. Each is thought to be necessary for the upbuilding of the church; neither, it is held, should be regarded as a substitute for the other.
     This is not an arbitrary or a traditional view, but a conviction arising from an appreciation and affection of certain uses. The church can be built only by a life according to the spiritual truth revealed by the Lord in the Heavenly Doctrine. Before spiritual truth can be lived, it must obviously be learned and understood, and this in exactly the same way as natural truth. A rational understanding of the Writings must precede living according to them, and in turn must be preceded by the acquisition and ordering of doctrinal scientifics-a process that involves serious reading, study, thought and reflection.
     There is no substitute in that process for the individual's own reading and study of the Writings, supplemented as it usually is by the instruction given in sermons. But the doctrinal class can provide something which relatively few can obtain through any other means: the systematic development of doctrine directed to the rational mind primarily in the sphere of instruction; the orderly presentation of entire bodies of teaching; and the organization into doctrinal series of teachings drawn from many parts of the Writings. This is something that few laymen have the time or the training to do for themselves; and it can help them, as no other means can, to develop their knowledge and understanding of the Writings and the faculty of thinking from them.
     Yet it is known that among the uses to be resumed this month, the doctrinal class will receive less support than it deserves. There are few societies in which attendance at class does not fall short of attendance at Sunday services. In noting this, the church neither chides nor seeks to coerce. It simply invites those who have not yet formed the habit of regular attendance, or have slipped into a fixed habit of non-attendance, to reflect on the uses of the doctrinal class, and then consider whether they can afford to neglect it. The advantages accruing to conscientious, responsive participation are not only to the individual; there is a strengthening of the entire church as well.

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AUTHORITY AND FREEDOM 1962

AUTHORITY AND FREEDOM Editor 1962

     The General Church and the Academy are founded on belief in the Divine authority of the Writings. It has been objected that their acceptance of that authority discourages, or even denies, the free spirit of philosophic inquiry. So it has seemed, at times, to some of our own young people. How can they make up their minds whether the Writings are true, they ask, when we firmly decline to treat the truth or otherwise of the Writings as an unsettled question? The problem is a genuine one, but the real issue should be clearly seen.
     Neither as a church nor as an institution of learning do we want to make up any man's mind for him! We have no desire to force our convictions on others; nor would we wish anyone to believe that the Writings are true because we say that they are. Every generation in the church must discover the truth of the Writings for itself, and must undergo whatever trials and tribulations are involved in the process. Until it has done so, the truth of the Writings is an open question-for it; and we would not have it otherwise. But we cannot, with intellectual honesty, approach it as an open question, and then join hands with the inquirer in an adventure of the mind, seeking with him to find the answer; for we believe in an absolute, revealed Divine truth.
     In any case, the truth of the Writings is not learned by discussion established by argumentation, or arrived at by debate as to whether they are true or not. It is revealed gradually by the Lord in the reading of them when the mind is directed to Him in a search for truths to apply to the uses of life. The question which all young men and women within the church must try to answer, in all honesty and uninfluenced by human authority, is not whether the Writings are true, but whether they can accept the Writings as what they themselves claim to be.
     Men do not make truth; truth is revealed by the Lord, who is the truth itself. There is a vital distinction between that which is true in itself, no matter what men may think about it, and that which becomes truth for the man who accepts it. When this distinction is obscured, nothing but confusion results. It is our faith that the Writings are true, and having arrived at it rationally we cannot teach any other. But with that firmly held and clearly understood, we can and should encourage our young people to face, express and thrash out any and every doubt that may stand in the way of their acceptance. We can examine with them the claims that the Writings make, and consider with them the arguments advanced for and against those claims. Above all, we can encourage them to go to the Writings and read for themselves, that the Spirit of truth therein may eventually lead them into all truth.

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Church News 1962

Church News Various 1962

     STATE COLLEGE, PA.

     Resumption of classes in the fall of 1961 introduced new faces into our group here at State College, among them those of Judy Nemitz and Larkin Smith. Marlin and Linda Ebert helped to make them welcome by inviting everyone to their apartment in Boalsburg for refreshments after church. Michael Tyler joined the Penn State community in March.
     The Rev. and Mrs. Karl R. Alden were guests of the Eberts early in November. Mr. Alden gave a class on the subject of prayer and conducted a service on Sunday morning.
     All the students who were not going home for Thanksgiving were invited to the home of Bob and Laurie Klein in Tyrone for a service and dinner. This was one of our last opportunities to socialize with Burt Friesen, who soon graduated and went back to Canada.
     Kirk Pendleton's wrestling and the baptism of the Eberts' baby girl, Winfrey, brought a large influx of visitors to State College in early March. The Rev. Cairns Henderson conducted a service, with 48 people in attendance. Bishop Pendleton officiated at the private baptism.
     Harvey Klein, our treasurer and "deacon," graduated on March 18. The Rev. Louis B. King visited us in May. Malcolm Cronlund, the new "deacon," obtained the use of the Eisenhower Chapel for the occasion. Forty-seven people attended. A lovely service was held, much enhanced by the organ music played by Faith Halterman of Bryn Athyn. We were indeed fortunate to have both a "live" minister and organist! After the service, the Gilbert Smiths served a delicious picnic at Whipple Dam, where we had an enjoyable social time visiting with Mr. King, the Smiths, the Nemitz family, the Carts, Wendy Rogers, and other guests.
     Gary and Debra (Croft) Moore have moved to New Mexico since Gary graduated in June. Charles Ebert also graduated and was married recently. We miss our graduates and hope that they will come back to visit us often.
     This summer, for the first time, we hope to meet and have services regularly. We regret that we shall be losing the Bancrofts, who are moving to Bryn Athyn in the fall. Dr. Bancroft will be working at the Norristown Hospital. She has been a friend to all of us and has always welcomed the group at her home. She has given advice and counsel, and, in short, has been just wonderful! We wish her all happiness and success in her new life.
     MALCOLM CRONLUND

     PITTSBURGH, PA.

     The General Assembly may be over, but the afterglow lingers on! Most of us were privileged to attend. We met so many friends. We were stimulated by the fine meetings. We saw our former pastor, the Right Rev. Willard D. Pendleton, chosen as Bishop of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and the assistant to our pastor, the Rev. Kurt Asplundh, ordained into the second degree. We are thankful to the Lord for giving us this new Bishop as our leader, and for all the fine clergy who will help to lead and guide us to the good of life in this next era. It was a blessed Assembly.
     There is a new stirring here in Pittsburgh. There is a desire to spread the Writings by various means to more people. The Writings and other church literature have been made more available and easy to buy at our Friday suppers.

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This past year, Mr. Sam Leezer has helped in their sale, with keen appreciation and joy.
     Last February 9, the Society held a surprise party, a banquet, to honor Mr. and Mrs. Edwin T. Asplundh. Mr. Asplundh has retired from business, and the couple are going to live in Bryn Athyn. Gilbert Smith proved himself a superb toastmaster on this occasion. He and his helpers got up so many songs and skits which not only had us doubled up with laughter but also, with pictures and stories about the Asplundhs, gave us a great deal of church history. Mr. Asplundh's keen interest in the welfare of this society, and his mature judgment at meetings, have proved invaluable to us. His wife Marion, with her gift for beauty and design, has inspired a church architect in the creating of a chancel that is beautiful to behold, making, as it does, the altar and the open Word the center of our worship. Together, the love of the Asplundhs for the church has been expressed in so many ways that we can say: "We are so thankful they walked our way!
     Later in February we were delighted to have Bishop and Mrs. Pendleton here for a weekend. We enjoyed seeing them at Friday supper, and we were honored to have Bishop Pendleton preach a wonderful sermon on Sunday.
     On April 15, Professor Bruce Glenn addressed the Society under the auspices of the Sons of the Academy. Mr. Glenn, Professor of English at the Academy, was accompanied by his wife. He gave a fine talk on "Continuity and Communication," presenting us with an idea of the problems involved in the offering of New Church higher education. Then, on April 27, Theta Alpha sponsored an illustrated talk by Miss Margaret Wilde on Greece. Some beautiful slides in color were shown.
     Our pastor exchanged pulpits on May 4 with the Rev. David Holm of Cincinnati. On Friday evening Mr. Holm gave us a class on the forty days work that the Lord performed after the death on the cross and completed when He ascended into heaven. It was a new study and was most interesting.
     The Rev. Karl Alden and his wife visited us also for a weekend in May. Mr. Alden addressed the missionary group and the Theta Alpha Religion Lessons group, preached on Sunday, and gave a class at Freeport. The address to the missionary group was given at the home of the Rev. and Mrs. Kurt Asplundh. All interested in missionary work were invited. The evening started with a delicious supper prepared by Mrs. Asplundh. We learned at the meeting that considerable work has been done by Mr. Asplundh to organize a campaign, called "The Johnny Appleseed Campaign," to spread the Writings in this territory. This campaign will be launched in the latter part of August, and will begin with promotion through newspapers, radio, telephone, public libraries, theological libraries, book stores, and later, perhaps, television. The Swedenborg Foundation is giving some financial assistance in this work.
     During May we were invited to attend the beautiful wedding of two of our members, Dorothea Williamson and William F. Blair, Jr., and a reception following. The chancel never looked more beautiful, decorated as it was with candles, white lilacs and ferns. Our pastor, the Rev. Louis B. King, officiated at the ceremony, and afterwards, at the reception, gave a most inspiring talk about the beauty and reality of conjugial love. We are happy to report that the couple are making their home in Pittsburgh.
     In the latter part of May the social committee sponsored a play, "See How They Run," which was directed by Mrs. Robert H. Blair and given by a very able cast of our members. It surely was a riotous success, for we laughed ourselves sore. We are told that even the cast enjoyed putting it on.
     School closing on June 8 found our auditorium filled to overflowing, with forty students present. Mr. Ed Lee gave the address. Four students were graduated from the eighth grade, and each gave a paper that was well written and well delivered. They were Mark Schoenberger, Normandie Lee, Steven King and Elsa Schoenberger. The pastor announced the retirement of two of our teachers who have long given of their time and talent, with no remuneration except our love and appreciation of their work.

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These teachers, Mrs. Chester Stroemple, who taught singing, and Mrs. Gareth Acton, who taught kindergarten, were each presented with a bracelet. Mrs. Quentin Ebert will continue to teach art. The pastor announced that the regular staff will continue next year, and that Miss Julie Stevens will teach music while Mrs. Robert H. Blair will teach kindergarten. We have had our school for seventy-seven years, but never was it better than it is now.
     Our pastor invited the Rev. Geoffrey Howard to occupy his pulpit for two Sundays while he preached in Glenview. However, on the second of these Sundays, to our delight, our former pastor, the Rev. Bjorn Boyesen, preached the sermon. He and his wife were passing through town after the Assembly. This was an opportunity not to be missed. Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert Smith held a reception for them in their garden to give us all a chance to greet them.
LUCILE S. BLAIR

     GLENVIEW, ILLINOIS

     The snow began about a week before Christmas, and lay heavy on the ground until late in March. Cars floundered about in the church parking lot after the Christmas Eve service; there was a record fall of eleven inches, later superseded by an eighteen-inch one in January. Between times the weather was icy, so that some of us did not get our driveways shoveled until spring. Sometimes the school busses were immobilized; but, unfortunately for our children, most of them walk to school, so they did not get many holidays.
     During some of this weather, workers were busy re-decorating the new manse. Mr. Ralph Junge organized the work schedule, and as usual, many persons helped a little, while a few worked a great deal. The house was built by Mr. and Mrs. David Gladish, Sr., and faces the church building. It was purchased with the intention of providing more modern and gracious housing for our pastors, since the former manse was already more than sixty years old. Behind the house is a small office, which is well suited for meetings and for use as a pastor's study. The Rev. and Mrs. Elmo Acton are now living in their new quarters.
     Mr. Acton and his assistant, the Rev. Geoffrey Howard, keep very busy. Mr. Acton is not only pastor of this society and headmaster of its school, he is also acting pastor of Sharon Church. Mr. Howard travels to midwest circles three or four times each month-Madison, St. Paul-Minneapolis, Rockford and St. Louis-and also preaches at Sharon Church once a month. They also conduct morning worship for the Immanuel Church School, and teach separate classes in Hebrew and Religion to the third through ninth grades. They each preside over a men's discussion group. Mr. Acton has a ladies' study class, and Mr. Howard a high school class; and, of course, they preach Sundays, often twice-not to mention baptisms, weddings, and the sadder duties of a minister.
     Last year they offered Friday doctrinal classes on varied subjects. Notable were a series on death and resuscitation by Mr. Howard and a review of New Church history by Mr. Acton. This latter was designed to prepare us for the choosing of a Bishop at the General Assembly in June. But it was much more than that. One of the most significant things brought out was the consistent refusal of the church's leaders to adopt a constitution, since they felt that the Writings served that purpose.
     We enjoyed hearing several other preachers. The Rev. Messrs. Norman Reuter, Ormond Odhner, Karl Alden, Robert Junge, Louis King and Bjorn Boyesen have graced our pulpit this year. Most of them brought their wives; Mr. Alden also brought his violin, to entertain and be feted during a gala weekend sponsored by Theta Alpha. The Rev. Harold Cranch managed to pass through no fewer than three times without preaching once. This was accomplished by: 1) illness; 2) haste in getting to the Assembly; 3) haste in getting back to California after the Assembly; 4) traveling on Wednesdays instead of on Sundays.

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He did attend one meeting with the Sunday school teachers, after a mad rush along the Illinois Tollway to get there-late!
     In the absence of a minister during the Assembly we even had a layreader for one Sunday. The service was conducted by Mr. Kenneth Holmes, historian and chairman of the Social Studies Department of Glenbrook High School.
     There is a new chapter of the Epsilon Society, initiated by Mr. Howard and interested members. Under the direction of the president, Mr. Dick Brickman, it has had several meetings and made plans for the future.
     This was a good year for culture. The Park Players gave a stunning production of Life with Father, even though sickness among the cast was so wide-spread that someone was missing at every rehearsal until the last one. Mrs. Ralph Synnestvedt and Mr. Bill Hugo directed the play; Mr. Henry Meilman was a thunderous father; and Mrs. Hunter Reynolds was a scatterbrained but effective mother. Everyone, down to the procession of maids unable to hold a job in the Day house, was great.
     The school children heard a 33-piece symphony orchestra in what we hope was the first of a series of concerts. The Music Center of the North Shore offers an in-school program for any school which has a hall and funds. The first need was easily filled by Pendleton Hall, which can hold an orchestra and a large audience. Funds were raised in three ways. Each child was required to bring fifty cents, because the Center feels that the children are more appreciative when they contribute; Theta Alpha invited donations as well; and, lastly, we invited another small school to share the concert with us financially in our hall.
      The Immanuel Lutheran School children arrived in busses while our own school children were marching in; and thirty-three musicians arrived in separate cars, complete with instruments. Despite a scene of apparent confusion all went smoothly. Only one lady slipped in our icy parking lot, carrying her double bass. Children, teachers and groups were favorably impressed with the program, which ranged from Haydn to Prokofieff. Many of our children had never heard a large orchestra before.
     Equally well received was the Boys' Club Minstrel Show, given on May 5th. Boys from fifth grade up were trained, threatened and polished to perfection by the unremitting efforts of their counselor, Mr. Donald Edmonds. While pursuing his daily occupation as a printer, Don ran off daily playbills which were delivered from house to house to advertise the show. The programs carried advertisements from local merchants, phrased in turn-of-the-century style, and fascinating speeches, such as "Will Success Spoil Mayor Daley?" The boys put on an exhibition of high stepping marches that brought down the house. Attired in yellow shirts and green hats, and with blackened faces, they sang Dixieland songs with enthusiasm and delight. "Won't You Come Home, Bruce Reuter?" was their response to a tragic song by Bruce and Rich Nicholson about the grief and woe that befall a boy who leaves a New Church School and becomes a sophomore at Glenbrook. Cliff Barry recited "Richie (Casey) at the Bat," with gymnastics by the mighty batter. The show was a smashing success, and everyone is waiting for Don's next effort-except Mrs. Edmonds, who dyed all the shirts yellow.
     The Sons of the Academy presented Mr. Lawson Pendleton as guest speaker at their installation banquet. Mr. Pendleton, an instructor in the Academy who also works with the Foreign Policy Research Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, gave us some facts about "Communism and the Communist Technique."
     A large number of Glenview residents attended the 23rd General Assembly in Bryn Athyn. We returned with happy memories of the warm welcome given by our hosts, and with inspiration for the continuance of our own uses in the church.
GLORIA BARRY

     Obituary. On March 31, Mrs. Thomas Gladish (Marcia Trimble), in her 31st year, was called into the spiritual world after an illness of two weeks.

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Marcia is the oldest daughter of the Rowland Trimbles of Maryland. She attended school in Bryn Athyn and then came to Glenview to teach in the Immanuel Church School. After her marriage to Thomas Gladish, she continued to perform uses for the church and the school. Marcia, a cheerful, co-operative and lovable person, was held in affection by all in the church and society. Her kindness and gentle nature will be missed and remembered by her friends and family. Our heartfelt understanding goes out to her husband and four little children-Dion, Aaron, David and Elizabeth.
VERA KITZELMAN (Park News)

     HURSTVILLE, AUSTRALIA

     It is some time since news has been sent from Hurstville, but this does not mean that little has happened. This Society has never been more active! The Rev. Donald Rose has been active in missionary work, and has received an encouraging response-sixty replies to an advertisement in the book section of a newspaper. He has sold numerous copies of Heaven and Hell, paperback edition, at ten shillings each.
     We are having an absorbing series of doctrinal classes on the Lord's life, timed appropriately so that the period of the crucifixion and the resurrection was considered around Easter. Later classes have dealt with the interior reasons for the actions and sayings of the Lord in that remarkable time just prior to the crucifixion.
     Mr. Rose conducts a question day in Sunday school once a month, and the results show that the children know well the stories of the Word. We adults who are present would like to be able to answer as well, though we do display knowing looks as if we were able!
     In a talk on Easter Sunday to adults and children, Mr. Rose spoke of Christmas and Easter. Christmas, he said, meant the first truths stored up in the infant's mind, the learning of the stories of the Word; Easter, the infilling of these remains with the rational truths that the adult mind can comprehend.
     New Church Day was celebrated by the children at an afternoon party, and by the adults at a banquet on Sunday, June 17. The banquet was memorable for the delicious meal planned by some of the ladies and served on tables decorated in red and white and for the fine talks given by Mr. Basil Lazer and Mr. Brian Heldon. Selected passages from the Writings concerning heaven were read, and toasts were proposed to "The Church," to "Friends Across the Sea," and to "The Future of the Hurstvile Society."
     The Keal family from South Africa seem to have been happily with us for years. Anyone desiring information about the Hurstville Society should get in touch with Hugh Keal, who promises to be our best publicity agent. A week ago we welcomed the Rex Ridgways, also from South Africa. They also are a family of six: Rex and Lavender and their children Barry, Heulwen, Glynnis and Glendyr. They were given a friendly welcome at an omnibus evening the day after their arrival. Some light verses written especially for them were recited by Norman Heldon. Mr. Ridgway spoke appreciatively in response, mentioning the worldwide "family" that is the New Church.
     Travel News. Mr. Ossian Heldon and Mrs. Irma Salisbury have each visited New Zealand this year. They brought back many beautiful slides, pictures of our friends in the church and of the splendid scenery. We have seen these at our omnibus evenings. Mr. Rose went to Adelaide, and while there baptized the infant son of the Erland Brocks, Benjamin Alexander. Visitors to Hurstville have been Lt. Ken Heldon and Mr. Basli Lazer. The latter mentioned that he had just finished the Arcana. We also enjoyed a visit from Val Hart (Valerie Ellis) of Perth.

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CHARTER DAY 1962

1962

     Announcements
     All ex-students, members of the General Church and friends of the Academy are cordially invited to attend the 46th Charter Day exercises, to be held in Bryn Athyn, Pa., on Friday and Saturday, October 19 and 20, 1962. The program:
Friday, 11 am-Cathedral Service, with an address by the Rev. Dandridge Pendleton
Friday Afternoon-Football Game
Friday Evening-Dance
Saturday, 7 p.m.-Banquet. Toastmaster: Mr. Donald C. Fitzpatrick, Jr.
     Arrangements will be made for the entertainment of guests if they will write to the Hostess Committee, do Mrs. Harris S. Campbell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
CARMEL CHURCH DEDICATION 1962

CARMEL CHURCH DEDICATION 1962

     An Invitation
     The Carmel Church Society (Kitchener) cordially invites the members and friends of the General Church to attend the dedication of the new Society church and school building. The tentative date set for the dedication weekend is November 16-18, 1962. There will be a reception-dance on Friday evening, a banquet on Saturday evening, and the dedication service on Sunday, November 18, at 11:00 am.
     Miss Vanny Gill, 807- Belmont Avenue West, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, is in charge of housing arrangements. We will endeavor to place as many guests as possible in our homes; when these accommodations are filled we will be glad to arrange for motel reservations. Please address all requests for accommodation to Miss Gill, and advise her whether you intend to be present at the dedication banquet on November 17,1962.

449

TAKE NO GIFT 1962

TAKE NO GIFT Rev. KENNETH O. STROH 1962

No. 10
     NEW CHURCH LIFE
     VOL. LXXXII
OCTOBER, 1962
     "And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth those who have their eyes open, and pervert not the words of the righteous." (Exodus 23: 8)

     The giving and receiving of gifts is among the more pleasant and useful customs in human life. For a gift is a token of friendship, esteem and love. Wherefore the exchanging of presents can serve to bring men and women close together within the bonds of mutual love and friendship. The gift serves to carry forth the love and to cement the friendship. Yet the Lord has commanded: "Thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth those who have their eyes open, and perverteth the words of the righteous."*
* Exodus 23: 8. Cf. AR 508.
     To be properly understood, this injunction must be seen in its context. In the books of Moses many laws are set forth. Some are called "judgments," some "commandments," while others are called "statutes." The "judgments" relate to the civil law, which was to be administered by duly appointed officers of that law; the "commandments" are the laws of spiritual life, such as it was with the Israelites-the code of moral behavior which could cloak an inner life of charity and love, such as the Ten Commandments; while the "statutes" are those laws of worship which prescribe the conduct of the sacrifices to Jehovah, and all the other modes of worship. But the law regarding the taking of gifts is among the "judgments," so called because according to them the judges gave judgments in the gates of the city. So this law in its letter does not apply to all human relationships, but is concerned specifically with the behavior of those who exercise judicial functions.*
* Cf. AE 946: 4.
     Certainly, those who pass judgment on persons and cases in a court of law should make just and impartial decisions; and public officials who can influence the moral and material condition of the nation should not show favoritism toward their superiors, toward the rich or their friends, while ignoring their public duty toward their inferiors the poor, or their personal enemies.

450

All persons, in their private relationships and in their judgments of others, should be fair and just after the manner of Him who is justice itself, and who is not a respecter of persons. Take no gift. "For the gift blindeth those who have their eyes open, and perverteth the words of the righteous."*
* Cf. AE 412:24.
     But, it might be asked, does this law have the same force now as it did for the Israelites over three thousand years ago? The Heavenly Doctrine shows that, in their internal or spiritual sense, all the judgments, commandments and statutes in the books of Moses are equally valid for all people and in all times, for in their internal meaning they express Divine truths which have universal application. But in the sense of the letter, some of these laws have been abolished, and are not to be used where the church exists; some are of such a nature that they may serve a use if it pleases men to observe them, though such observance is optional; while others are to be obeyed to the letter. Among those which are to be strictly observed and done is the law: "Thou shalt take no gift."* Thus it is proper that public censure and disgrace should attend those officials who are imprudent enough to accept gifts in a manner that could becloud their official judgment.
* AC 9349.

     However, as the New Church is to be an internal church, all New Church men are to observe this law in its internal implications; for it is by means of the internal sense of the Word that man is associated with the angels and is drawn towards the life of heaven. Here, because it is said to blind and pervert, a gift signifies that which is of advantage to one's self, for a present is a benefit received from another person; and because the internal sense relates to the mind or spirit, therefore to "take a gift" denotes to turn one's mind toward the reception of such benefits. If, in our dealings with others, and especially in our personal regard for them, we think first of all of their material wealth with the hope of benefit from such wealth, then our minds are looking for self-advantage and are turned inwards upon ourselves. If, in our dealings with others, we think first of our possible acquisition of dignity, reputation, or anything else that flatters the natural man, then our minds are focused on matters of self-advantage; and then, internally, we have broken the law: "Thou shalt take no gift."*
* Cf. AC 9265.
     What, then, are the internal consequences of such spiritual gift-taking?

451

The first consequence is a blinding of the spiritual sight. For those whose main attention is given over to worldly things, in the hope of acquiring these things for the sake of personal advancement or pleasure, have their minds turned toward the world and self, and away from heaven and the life of charity. But the life of charity is that which is expressive of the inner realities of life and of love; and as the reality of a situation is the truth about it-so that we may say that truth is reality-therefore those who turn their minds away from the life of love and charity are turning away from the realities of life. They are turning away from the truth, so that they no longer can see the truth. Those who have their inner sight open, and who see, are those who know from the Word what is true, and therefore have some discernment of spiritual realities. But the exaltation of self brings debasement of this spiritual sight, so that truths can no longer be recognized as such, having been replaced by the appearances and blandishments of this world. For a gift "blindeth those who have their eyes open."*
* AC 9266.

A second consequence of such gift-taking is that these worldly appearances and seeming advantages appear to serve the cause of good and truth. A man searching for wealth, dignity and reputation as ends in themselves, comes to be persuaded that it is just and right that he should engage in such a pursuit. He begins to persuade himself that he is serving a use, when he is merely serving himself. He not only fails to perceive the real values of life, but begins to see false ideas and evil acts and motives as being goods and truths. Morbid self-seeking appears to him to be the path of truth and use-matters of self advantage appear to be truths of good. As the righteous denote those who are in good, and as words denote truths themselves, therefore it is said that a gift perverteth the words of the righteous. And even the Divine truth, the teachings of the Divine Word itself, finally can seem to support man's baser longings for self-advantage. Truly, the taking of a gift blindeth those who have their eyes open, and perverteth the words of the righteous.*
* AC 9267.
Yet so often it seems that people are encouraged by tradition and required by custom to give and receive presents. Sometimes the cause of self-advantage seems to be served by this custom, at others the giving of gifts is but a pleasant expression of love and friendship, while often it may be difficult for a person to tell whether his giving is prompted by selfish or by worthy motives. Obviously, the biblical injunction should be applied literally; that is, those in positions of public trust, where they must make judgments regarding the welfare and the future of other men's lives and fortunes, should take no gifts which might tend to influence their judgments.

452

This the Heavenly Doctrine teaches unequivocally. But there are other situations where the giving and receiving of gifts is proper and sometimes necessary, and the propriety of a gift is to be judged by the use which it serves.
     In general, the giving of gifts is of use in two main areas of life-in man s dealings with his fellows, and in his relationship with his God. In the ancient, representative church, it was customary to bring a gift when approaching a person who served a high use; whence the Jewish Church had the custom of giving some present to the judge, and later to the king and the priest. Moreover it was commanded that they should do this, because such presents represented such things in man as ought to be offered to the Lord when He is approached; for kings represented the Lord as to Divine truth, while priests represented Him as to the Divine good.* And the gift had the purpose of initiating a man into communication with the leader, and of soliciting his favorable attention. Thus when Jacob sent his sons down into Egypt to buy corn, he commanded them to carry down the man a present, a little resin and a little honey, wax and stacte, terebinth nuts and almonds, and silver.**
* AC 5619.
** Genesis 43: 11.
     Certainly, among friends to-day, gifts are appropriate tokens of affection and esteem. Regarding the most intimate of friendships, that of marriage, the Heavenly Doctrine specifically recommends that after the declaration of consent to the betrothal or to the marriage, gifts ought to be given as signs and tokens of the consent.* In other areas of life they also are useful and proper in that they initiate friendships and strengthen the bonds of love. When Jacob, returning from Haran to his own country with his wives and sons, met his brother Esau, he offered Esau a substantial present. Esau at first refused, but later accepted. And the Writings explain that "in anyone's refusing and at the same time accepting, the end sometimes is that affection may be insinuated; and moreover this is thereby increased, and thus passes from thinking well into willing well. . . . For if the favor should not be accepted, the end in view would be lost; and therefore the end urges the giver to think of it still more intently, and thus to will it from the heart."** Swedenborg writes that the angels exchange presents of indescribable beauty;*** and he himself received many gifts from the angels of the different heavens which he visited.****
* CL 300: 3.
** AC 4366.
*** AC 6492.
**** Cf. CL 75-77.
     But the use of gift giving and receiving may be seen most clearly in man's relationship with his God.

453

In the Old Testament many statutes were given relating to the various sacrifices which were the offerings or gifts of worship; for these offerings signify the interior things of worship, which are not acts of the body but rather are the things of love and faith, and gifts to the Lord are tokens of man's love of Him, and of his faith in the Lord's power to heal and to save. Any love that is real and enduring wishes to go out to the object of that love, and to give freely of itself, else it languishes and dies. This being true in all human affairs-between married partners, or among family or social friends-how much more is it not true of our love of and faith in the Lord? Thus Jehovah commanded the Israelites that they should not appear before His faces empty.* Thus, the wise men brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the Lord in Bethlehem. Also, for the New Church, it is written in the Heavenly Doctrine that "a present should be given by man to the Lord on approaching Him."** That is why, in the services of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, the making of a gift in the offertory is the first act of worship.
* Deuteronomy 16:16; Exodus 23:15.
** AC 5619.
     Still, all of these things are called gifts or offerings according to the appearance. For the truth is that offerings made to the Lord by man, in their essence, are gifts made to man by the Lord; and the Lord does not accept any offerings, but gives to every one freely.* All material blessings, all spiritual blessings, all the truth which a man infers from and perceives within the knowledges that he learns, all love and good, are from the Lord alone. Men and women do not perceive this truth because, by nature, worldly and earthly things are dear to them, and not heavenly and spiritual things. Yet it is the mark of the wise that they acknowledge that all that is good, true and useful is a free gift of the Lord to mankind.
* AC 9938.
     The fact that it does not so appear is also a gift of the Lord. But unless it appeared to man that love and faith were in himself, he could not be led to appropriate them as his own and could not be regenerated. Thus from creation, as in the garden of Eden, there have been two trees given to mankind-the tree of lives, to signify love and faith in the Lord from the Lord; and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, to signify the appearance that life is man's own.

     So, in our giving of presents, whether it be to the Lord or to our fellow man, and in our reception of the good things of life from others, we should be mindful of this great truth that all that we have is a free gift of the Lord. Men and women are but instruments of use in His hands, albeit instruments who have been blessed with the faculties of rationality and liberty, whereby they are able to choose the direction of their lives. These faculties reach their fullest expression, and man enjoys his only real happiness, as he turns to the Lord, the source of all good gifts, with the acknowledgment and confession of Him in heart and in life.

454

For it is written; "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?" Wherefore the Lord said: "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened."* Amen.
* Luke 11: 13, 9-10.

LESSONS:     Exodus 23: 1-9. Luke 11: 1-13. Arcana Coelestia 9938: 2.
MUSIC:     Liturgy, pages 469, 459, 587.
PRAYERS:     Liturgy, nos. 20, 97.
OUR NEW CHURCH VOCABULARY 1962

OUR NEW CHURCH VOCABULARY 1962

Delights. Those exterior goods which are in the natural, and which are felt as delightful when interior goods flow into that degree of the mind, are called "delights." This is done to distinguish them from the interior goods of love and affection which inflow and produce them. In the singular, however, this term refers to that which is the all of life both with those who are in heaven and with those who are in hell. With the former, this is good and truth; with the latter, it is evil and falsity. What is meant by the all of life may be seen if we consider that in the performance of every necessary action there is a delight, without which the action might be left undone or would be done lifelessly. It is for this reason also that delights are described as means, that is, means by which, though not from which, uses are performed. (See AC 7356; TCR 570; AC 4063.)

Desires. Here we have another term that is used to make a distinction. The derivations of infernal love are affections of evil and falsity, and these are properly called "concupiscences." To set them apart from these, the derivations of heavenly love, which are affections of good and truth, are called "desires." In ordinary speech, desire often has an evil connotation, but in theological discussion at least the term should be used as it is in the Writings. (See DP 106.)

455

WHAT IS THE "GOOD" OF THE CHURCH? 1962

WHAT IS THE "GOOD" OF THE CHURCH? Rev. ELMO C. ACTON 1962

     (Delivered to the Sixth Session of the Twenty-third General Assembly, Bryn Athyn, Pa., June 18, 1962.)

     This paper is an inquiry suggested by the question: "What is the good of the church?" or "What good is made possible by the teaching of the church that cannot come into being without it?"
     If "all religion is of life, and its life is to do good," that good must be the final end of the church, for the church exists that there may be a genuine religion among men. The church is the Lord's kingdom on earth as to doctrine, and religion is the Lord's kingdom as to the good of life. Essentially, and in a very real sense, they are one and the same.
     The good of the church, which in this paper we shall relate to the summum bonum, the highest good, is a good that is good in itself, and all things that flow from it must be good because of its presence in them. It is a good that must be in all lesser goods that they may be called good.
     The answer to the question of the paper would seem obvious to those who believe in God. The Lord's reply to the man inquiring about eternal life, "Why callest thou Me good? there is none good but one, that is, God,"* would seem to be a satisfactory answer to our question. That it is not is evident from the fact that even reason without the aid of revelation can reach this conclusion; for Immanuel Kant, the well-known philosopher, said: "There cannot be a summum bonum, a highest derived good, without a highest original good, God." But this will become a mere pious expression of a blind and empty faith unless we know Him, who alone is good, and how He communicates and establishes that good with man.
* Mark 10: 18.
     Knowing and acknowledging that God is the origin of all good, can we know that good in and with man? Can we know, sensate and perceive what is the highest human good?-not human as to origin, but human in the sense that finite and imperfect states are adjoined to it. The summum bonum with man must of necessity be a continual and eternal approach toward the highest original good. However, if we cannot know the highest good in ourselves which approximates the highest original good that is God, can we direct our course to it?

456

Can we truly seek after it? If it is unknowable, and cannot be perceived by any sense, will not the acknowledgment that there is such a good, and that God is that good, become a profession void of any meaning and reality, a mere ens ratione? Must we not then identify our own personal good with the good that is God; and further persuade ourselves that our private advantage is the common good, and become convinced that nothing is for the common good but what is also to our own advantage?
     Therefore, not only must we know that there is a highest good, it is of great importance to know what it is and how it is approached. The Writings say: "It concerns man's salvation for him to know whether the good he does is from God, or is not from God."* "Nothing is more necessary for man than to know whether heaven be in him or hell; for in one or the other he must live to eternity. In order that he may know this, it is necessary that he should know what good is, and what evil, for good makes heaven, and evil makes hell."** And another passage adds: "It is of the utmost importance to know what good is, and what evil is."***
* Life 11.
** AC 7171.
*** AC 7255.

     II

     Before proceeding further it is necessary to define the word, good. "Good" is from a root common to all Nordic languages. Its root meaning is, "to be fitting, or pleasing." The basic idea is "fitting," "belonging together"-the word "gather" is from the same root. But the way in which we use the word in common speech is by no means so simple! There are fourteen or more different usages of the word as defined in the dictionary, but the definition that seems to include them all is, "the delight of a love." Anything that delights man or gives him pleasure he calls good, whatever its quality. This is the general usage of the Writings, unless the word is qualified by an adjective, as spiritual good, natural good, corporeal good, spurious good, civil good, moral good. Genuine good, then, is the delight of a good love. The delight of an evil love is called good by him who is ruled by it, but in itself it is evil.
     There are two numbers in the Writings that seem to answer the question we are asking, and which may be taken as the text of this paper. The first defines the highest good as to origin.

     "Nothing comes forth from itself, but from what is prior to itself. This is the case with . . . good. . . . Unless there is an internal good in it, it is not good. The internal good in the good of faith is the good of charity, which is spiritual good; but the internal good in the good of charity is the good of mutual love, which is external celestial good; and the internal good in the good of mutual love is the good of love to the Lord, which is the good of innocence, and this good is internal celestial good.

457

But the internal good in the good of love to the Lord, that is, in the good of innocence, is the good Divine itself which proceeds from the Divine Human of the Lord, and consequently it is the Lord Himself. This last good must be in all good in order that it may he good."*
* AC 9473.

     The second number clearly defines the highest good and, as far as we know, is the only number in the Writings which uses the term, summum bonum. Summum bonum is a philosophic term. It was well known by Swedenborg, and was used and defined by him in his preparatory works. In the Writings, however, apart from the number about to be quoted, it is not used. The number says:

     "Since it is unknown what spiritual good is, namely, that it is charity toward the neighbor, therefore in the world, especially among the learned, there is dispute as to what is the sumnum bonum; and scarcely anyone has said that it is the delight, pleasure, blessedness and happiness that are perceived from mutual love, apart from an end on account of self and the world, and that it makes heaven itself."*
* AC 5365:4.

     The "delight, pleasure, blessedness and happiness that are perceived from mutual love, apart from an end on account of self and the world," and which "make heaven itself." This, then, is the summum bonum. This is the "good of the church," that is to say, the good that cannot exist concretely and in reality except in the church where the Word is and the Lord is thereby known. This is the good that must be within all moral and civil good in order that they may be called good. This good is from the one only good. This good is from the Lord's Divine Human love to give itself to others so that they may feel it in themselves as their own. This truly is the Lord's; yea, it is the Lord.

     III

     Before we proceed further to define this good, and to a consideration of how man prepares himself for reception of it, it would seem useful and enriching to review briefly the history of thought on this subject. Philosophers and theologians of all ages have considered the question of the summum bonum and have regarded it as the final end in man s creation. Most of them have defined the summum bonum in terms of happiness or pleasure. With this the Writings agree; for, they say, He who wills that man should live to eternity wills also that he should live in a happy state. What would eternal life be without it? This state with man is indeed the end of creation. The question is: "What are happiness and pleasures, and how are they attained?

458

     Another thing common to most studies of this subject is this: it has been reasoned that knowledge or truth is essential to the realization of the highest good; that only from experimental and theoretical knowledge can man recognize the summum bonum. The highest good presupposes the highest truth. Whatever supports and affirms the highest good is the highest truth.
     The Epicureans held that the highest good is pleasure: not an unbridled indulgence in the pleasures of the senses, for this, they saw, would destroy the very pleasures sought, but a controlled and ordered life with honor and justice, for in this way only can man know true pleasure. There must also be morality and civil order, but these exist in order that pleasures may be more fully enjoyed. Pleasure, to them, is the universal good ruling as the purpose and end in life.
     The Stoics taught that the greatest good is to be found in self denial. They held that there is a universal purpose in creation and that man can find happiness only in submitting his own desires and ambitions to this fixed and pre-established purpose or order. Man must deny himself all corporeal cravings and sensual pleasures to find eventual happiness in universal order.
     The classical Greek philosophers, especially Plato and Aristotle, sought a more interior happiness as the source of the highest good. They believed in an ordered universe which had been created for a universal purpose, and that purpose was that man might find happiness in the loves of the soul. We are, they said, to "fly away from earth as quickly as we can, and to fly away is to become like God." Natural morality and civil good exist that we may be freed from the desires that tie us to earthly. and material things and may come into the happiness of the contemplative life, the serenity and peace of the soul. To be freed from the needs and cravings of corporeal wants and desires so that the soul might contemplate God, good, truth and universal ends, this, to them, is the summum bonum. However, Aristotle did not deny the need for corporeal and sensual pleasures. In his doctrine of the golden mean he developed their use, but he did not conceive of them as being of any especial value in the final end-the contemplative life.

     The great Christian philosophers followed the Greek tradition that the purely contemplative life is the summum bonum. They differed in believing that man could not discover the end of creation by metaphysical reason, but solely from Divine revelation. To them, the highest good is unattainable on earth. Man realizes his perfection and the highest blessedness in the contemplative knowledge of God. This knowledge is intuitive; it is fully attained only in the hereafter. Some expressed it as the "pure ecstasy of continually beholding the face of the Father."

459

The highest good for men on earth became then the complete renunciation of worldly and corporeal pleasures-the monastic life. In this idea morality in itself does not contribute to the good life; it is merely the law by which order is preserved in worldly society. In Catholic thought this led to the doctrine of meritorious works-the establishing of multitudinous acts of piety as the works through which man merits a state of beatitude after death. The observance of the laws of the church became, as it were, the summum bonum of man's life on earth.
     With the Reformation there was a rebellion against this life. It was argued that God alone is good, and He alone can do good. All good done by man is meritorious. Faith, then, became the summum bonum for man's earthly life; for through faith man prepares himself for the reception of the Holy Spirit, which then performs the good in him. Man's highest good is to receive faith. The moral law, even a life according to the commandments and obedience to the civil law, is necessary merely for. the preservation of order in society; such obedience contributes nothing to the highest good or blessedness of the future life. The Reformers still retained the contemplative life as the final end.
     As a reaction against these false theological doctrines the age of reason gradually evolved. Happiness was still retained as the summum bonum, but there was a return to Greek thought. Revelation was discarded, and metaphysical reasoning became the means of discovering the summum bonum. Such reasoning, bolstered by experience and knowledge of the physical universe, gradually transferred the highest good from heaven to earth. The improvement of man's life in the world became the highest good. Science came into its own and every advance in the knowledge of the social and physical world was hailed as an approach to an earthly Utopia.

     This descent came to rest in pragmatism, and finally in instrumentalism and a number of other isms. All final end and purpose in creation was discarded. Absolutes and universals were rejected, and the idea that there is a highest or ultimate good was thrown out. Man failed to discover the summum bonum because there is no such thing.
     Pragmatism is the philosophy underlying much of modern thought. It has entered every field of human endeavor. It is, we believe, utterly antagonistic to the essential doctrines of the New Church, and it is important that New Church men know what it is and what are the answers to the problems it strives to solve. It has thoroughly pervaded the thought of the Protestant world. United Protestantism is essentially a movement to unite the churches, not on any common theology-this is regarded as of little importance-but on the ground that they are all working for the same sociological purposes, and in a vague, undefinable way are worshiping the same God.

460

It is a movement to subordinate theology and make it a servant for the betterment of man's social relations and, eventually for permanent peace in the world. We should not be surprised at this, for the Writings say that in a consummated church "the good that is then believed to be good is merely natural good, such as is brought forth by a moral life. . . . What will then result but that man will regard himself as God and the world as heaven, and will pervert all the truths of the church?"*
* TCR 754.
     Pragmatism allows for no purpose or final end. Life itself is a chance happening, and as it came without purpose or intent, so it must find its own way without any sure road or final goal. There is a complete transfer of interest from the eternal and universal to what is changing, specific and concrete. Change is its god. What works now, what brings the best results, is the present good and truth. Growth, change, development are the only moral ends in creation. There is no relation between the good. of one situation and the good of another. Each result, after careful observation, experimentation and reflection, is the highest good of that particular event, but there is no guarantee that the same conclusion will in the future be the highest good of a similar situation. All that is needed is the acceptance of the view that moral subject-matter is also qualified. spatially and temporally; which means that there is no standard by which we may judge the moral quality or the good of any particular action, foil what may be moral and good today may not be so tomorrow. Nothing is good and true in itself. For example, our present practice of monogamy is good for our present society. From observation, experimentation and reflection we arrive at this conclusion. But there is nothing moral, good or true in monogamy per se; it may be that in a future state of society some other system will be moral, good and true.

     These ideas pervade much of the leading thought of today. We are bombarded by them on every hand, and unless we know and recognize them they will captivate us and we shall not even know it. Pragmatism, is a philosophy based upon Darwinian evolution. John Dewey, one of its. leading exponents, has been called "the philosopher of evolution."
     This philosophical doctrine denies all absolutes and regards change in. time and space as the summum bonum, yet in so doing it must insist upon the absolute truth that there are no absolutes. The very fact that no system of thought or philosophy can be developed unless certain fixed and unchanging principles are first assumed is in itself a confirmation that there is purpose and intent in creation.

461

The particulars of any system of thought cannot hold together unless there is a universal principle to unite them. It is also of interest to note that although human thought has changed in its conception of what is moral, no society has long continued unless it has formed its life according to the laws laid down in the Ten Commandments. The fact that, in essence, these laws have persisted in every civilization, and have ruled in every known form of society, is a further confirmation that there are universal goods and truths without which society cannot exist. And when this is acknowledged, it is only a reasonable and logical conclusion that there must be one universal purpose in creation which holds the parts together, and without which they would fall apart.
     What a contrast between pragmatism and the following clear statement! "One thing is for another, and thence one depends upon another, like the links of a chain. For they are all for the sake of the human race, to the end that from this there may be an angelic heaven. Thus creation returns to the Creator Himself from whom it came."*
* CL 85.
     Men have failed to gain any clear and distinct idea of man's final state and highest good; and while they have concluded in general that it is a happy and blessed one, yet in most instances they have been very wide of the mark in their ideas of the means to attaining it. The reason, the Writings say, is that they have trusted to human reason alone, and have not seen that the true nature of the highest good and the means of reaching it must be from Divine revelation or the Word.

     IV

     What, then, is the limit of human reason, and where does the necessity for Divine revelation begin? Common to all opinions has been the realization that while good is known in terms of blessedness, delight and happiness, it can yet be described only in terms of truth and of external acts. Natural good implies natural truth; moral good, moral truth; and spiritual good, or summum bonum, spiritual or highest truth. Good and truth in God are one. They can for a time be separated in reception; but in the end, or in eternal life, they must again be conjoined, either in an eternal heavenly marriage, or in the opposite in an infernal marriage of evil and falsity. Truth is the form of good, so that when the life is formed by truth it is called good, the quality of the good depending upon the degree of the truth: moral life from moral truth, spiritual life from spiritual truth. "When good is formed so that it may be intellectually perceived it is called truth."*

462

When Divine good or love is formed so that it may be intellectually perceived it is called Divine revelation or the Word. When, then, man's life-the life of his thoughts and acts-is formed by the Divine truth of the Word he becomes a form receptive of Divine or highest original good.
* AC 3049.
     Without Divine revelation, the highest good to which man can attain is moral good. This good and its delights are mistaken by most for good itself, or the summum bonum, for the human mind from its innate faculty of rationality cannot reach beyond moral truth. Even in the church where the Word is, if its genuine truths are not understood, moral good is mistaken for the highest good, and natural good for spiritual good. When the truth of the Word is destroyed in the church, "the good that is then believed to be good is merely natural good, such as is brought forth by a moral life."*
* TCR 754.

     For such good Divine revelation is not necessary. This is clear from the teaching concerning the necessity for the giving of the Ten Commandments. The Writings point out that the laws of life contained in these commandments were already known to the sons of Israel, as they were known to all other nations. They were given for the express purpose of establishing them as Divine law, and therefore they were introduced with the words: "And God spake all these words."* As moral laws they were known throughout the world.
* Exodus 20:1.
     In its lowest form a type of morality exists even with beasts. The Writings say: "There is . . . what is civil and moral with beasts, but they are not above this knowledge."* They are compelled to it by instinct, but still, in external form, they live a civil and moral life. From a right education and from reason man can conclude rightly concerning civil and moral good. "Civil and moral good are learned by means of laws and statutes and by reflection upon the morals of men, and therefore nations outside the church also know such things."** "A man may know from the rational which is possessed by everyone that his neighbor is to be loved and that God ought to be worshiped."*** Man can also be compelled to moral good by misfortune, sickness and the fear of the loss of reputation, honor and gain, or from a love of acquiring and preserving these things. Even a natural man can conclude concerning what is honorable in moral life and just in civil life, and he can conduct his life in external thought and deed according to what is honorable and just, so that before men he can appear exactly like a spiritual man. In a word, the external appearance and form of morality are not the measure of the essential man.
* DP 96.
** AC 3768: 2.
*** AC 4538.

463

     Moral life implies more than the mere observance of the moral law. A machine distributing largesse is not performing a moral act. Morality implies a conscious act, an intent to act justly and honorably. Mercy, pity, integrity, courage, generosity, patience, meekness-all the moral virtues a man can sincerely and honestly study to acquire, and yet remain a merely natural man. This is evident from the fact that many receive these qualities hereditarily, so that in cultivating them they are acting merely according to their inherent nature; in which case the good of these virtues is very similar to that with beasts and birds. The Writings teach: "Moral good without spiritual good is external good; it is of the external will and is not internal good."* In other words, a man can love and cultivate honor and justice in moral life and remain a natural man, for in the internal will he can at the same time be motivated by the loves of self and the world.
* Char. 57.
     Therefore the Writings teach that a life according to the moral law, unless at the same time that law is acknowledged as Divine, will not lead a man to the highest good. However, "a moral life lived for the sake of the Divine is a spiritual life."* Through such a life those of all religions are saved. For when the moral law is obeyed because it is believed to be one with the Divine law, man then regards the breaking of that law as a sin against God, and he acquires from the Lord a resistance to the evils of his interior will. While a moral life alone is not sufficient to lead to the highest good, yet it is the only life in which spiritual good or the good of the church can exist. Apart from a moral life there is no spiritual life, and a moral life from the conviction that it is according to Divine as well as human law is a spiritual life.
* HH 319.
     The doctrine of faith alone in the Protestant churches and the doctrine of meritorious works in the Catholic churches deny this, for they maintain that spiritual life is received by other means than a moral life. Moral life is merely the evidence of the reception of the Holy Spirit. The doctrine of life is then reduced to a moral theology, mainly for life in the world, which is serviceable to the church at its pleasure but is regarded as having nothing of salvation in it.

     V

     Genuine moral good, a moral life lived from the Divine, is still not the good of the church, or spiritual good. For this good can be acquired by those outside as well as by those within the church, or without the aid of the Word. Potentially it is spiritual good, but it is not actual spiritual good.

464

     Divine revelation is needed to know and perceive the good of the church. From the rational, man can know the moral law. He can know that there is a God and that He ought to be worshiped, that the neighbor ought to be loved, and that the spirit of man lives to eternity; but what is within and beyond the moral-who is God, how He should be worshiped, how the neighbor is to be loved, and what is the nature of eternal life-he can know only from the Word. He can know that there is a summum bonum, but except from the Word he cannot know what it is or how it is acquired. As abstract science and knowledge are the first of every advancement in man s material existence, so truth and doctrine are the first in man s spiritual progress.

     "The good with man is not spiritual good until it has been formed by truths."* In reality truth is the form of good, or good formed, so that when man receives truth in love and thought he is in the good of that truth. Good in itself is one, but it is distinguished in degree and in quality by truth. "When good is formed so that it may be intellectually perceived it is called truth."** "Without doctrinals there is indeed the good of life, but not yet the good of the church, thus not as yet good truly spiritual, except only in the capacity [potency or power] of becoming so."***
* AC 8889.
** AC 3029.
*** AC 3310.
     Good apart from truth is called natural good. Man can be born into such good, also it can arise through misfortune, accident, disease and the like. It is easily led astray and it is unstable, being lightly led even into evil, as long as the evil can be made to appear as good. Those in such good are like feathers in the wind.
     The good of the church, or spiritual good, must be formed by truths: not truth as a spoken or written expression, but truth in life. Therefore the Writings define charity or love toward the neighbor as the spiritual affection of truth, and the spiritual affection of truth is the love of truth for the sake of the good uses of life. The man who is in the spiritual affection of truth is charity in form. Everyone who is of the church should reflect long and deeply upon this truth.
     In the formation of spiritual good there is an orderly progression. First doctrine and the love of doctrine, which is the good of doctrine; then the truth of doctrine, and the love of truth which is the good of truth; and finally the good of life, which is the love of the good within doctrine and truth. Man's life, his love or his good, is qualified by the truths with which it is conjoined. His affections are exalted and purified by truth and by his affection of wisdom.

465

For "the good which a wise man thinks is truth, and this becomes good when he wills and does it."*
* Infl. 7.
     Take as an example the truth that man lives to eternity. Deny this truth and you destroy all idea of the existence of any higher good, let alone the highest good. All good becomes natural, relative, external and unrelated to interior motive and final purpose. Kant saw this when he said: "The summum bonum (because it implies continual perfection to eternity) is only possible on the supposition of the immortality of the soul."* Take as another example the teaching in the Writings concerning conjugial love. Conjugial love is to be restored because the truths concerning it are now revealed. Therefore it can be restored only where those truths are known and lived. Too many think that this love is to be restored because a book concerning it has been written; such all too frequently experience a rude awakening! This book must be read and reread all through life if that love is to be restored in the church.
* Critique, Great Books, p. 344.

     The learning and living of the truth of the Word is not all that is required for reception of the highest good. The way must be cleared for the influx of the highest original good into the good formed by man through the life of truth. It is cleared by the shunning of evils as sins against God. This is the essential means leading to the reception of the good of the church. The first of every state of the church with man is the shunning of evil. The first of the church is the shunning of evil; the first of charity is to shun evil; the first of faith is the shunning of evil. The first, in this sense, means the most essential. To shun evil as a sin against God is to acknowledge in life that all good is from the Lord. By such shunning of evil the door is opened, so that He who is good itself may come in and appropriate to man the blessedness, pleasure, happiness and delight of doing the neighbor every good without thought of advantage to self.
     The Lord conjoins Himself to man through good, and man to the Lord through truth.* Man cannot compel himself to love, nor can he compel himself to spiritual good. But man has been gifted with the faculties of liberty and. rationality, and by these he can compel himself to learn and live the truth of the Word, and he can compel himself to shun evils as sins against God. As he does these things, the Lord inflows from within with good, and since in the former things man acts entirely as of himself, he feels the good inflowing from the Lord as his own. Yet in reality it is only adjoined to him, as light is to the eye; it is never his. It is always the Lord's with him; yea, it is the Lord. Charity is a faculty-received from the Lord-of being held in good as long as man shuns evils as sins.

466

If he should cease to shun evils as sins, charity would vanish as light does when the bulb is broken.
* DP 28:2
     The good inflowing from the Lord does not inflow into the truth with man but into the good of truth, into the life of truth; and because man leads the life of truth as if of himself, therefore the good inflowing from the Lord is perceived and sensated by man as if it were his own. This appearance of good being man's own imparts to him the "delight, pleasure, blessedness and happiness which are perceived by mutual love without an end on account of self and the world."* When any evil in intent, thought or deed arises, therefore, it snatches away these spiritual blessings, and so strikes him with horror.
* AC 5365:4.
     This is the effect of the highest good, that it causes man to be horrified by evils and falsities: not horrified by them as seen objectively in other men-even an evil man knows this horror, for he fears lest they touch him-but horrified by them as seen, sensated and known in his own proprium. Blessed indeed is the man who can be so struck with horror at the presence of evil; in such a state the hells cannot approach.

     VI

     This, then, is the good of the church, the good that cannot be fully realized except in the church where the Word is and the Lord is thereby known. The church cannot remain in its integrity unless this good exists. From it there is not only a perception of the quality of the moral and civil life that corresponds to it but also a perception as to the truth of the church, as to the understanding of the Word which makes the church. Only by this good can the doctrine of the church be protected from falsification by the evils of man's proprium. A natural man, from a study of the Word and from reason, can see the evils and falsities outside the church; but only from the good of the church acquired by doctrinals, by the truth of doctrine and by the good of life received through the shunning of evils as sins, can the evils and falsities that arise within the church be seen and rejected.
     The delight, pleasure, blessedness and happiness of mutual love without any end of advantage to self is the summum bonum. It can and does differ in degree and perceptivity in each heaven and with each individual, yet it is the common good of all in heaven. It is recognized in heaven and the church by a love of doctrine, a love of doctrinal truth, and a love of the life of truth which is use. From it an angel and a man of the church feels the joy of another as joy in himself. From it everyone desires to share his delights and blessings with others.

467

This good is Benjamin: the spiritual of the celestial, the truth of good, the conjoining medium between angels and men, the medium through which the Lord can lead and guide His church into its heavenly and eternal use-its use of returning creation to the Creator Himself from whom it came.

     Discussion of Mr. Acton's Address

     Bishop Pendleton: "This searching analysis of the doctrine of good is before you for your consideration. We have heard a very scholarly paper. The Writings speak of many kinds of 'good'-natural good, mediate good, collateral good, good of the common stock, gentile good, spurious good, the good of truth, and the truth of good, etc., etc. Yet there is only one good of the church, genuine good. Mr. Acton defined this good as the delight of a good love, the delight that is perceived in a love that is apart from self and the world. . . . I invite your response to this scholarly address."

     Rev. Ormond de C. Odhner (Instructor in the Academy) stated that he had never heard Mr. Acton give a longer talk nor a better one. Mr. Odhner had given serious thought to this question-What is the "good of the church"? It is taught that in order to be spiritual good it must have spiritual truth within it. But why is this so? The moral life of Jew, Catholic or Swedenborgian-even the moral life of a "good" atheist (if this be possible)-are all much the same. Yet only those who have the genuine good of the church can be in a genuine moral life. This is so because there is only one who is good-God. For man's good to be genuine spiritual good, the good of the church, it must have in it the essence of good from God. God flows into man only if man wants Him to. A man can want God to come to him, to give his life the essence of good, only if he knows the genuine truth of the church and if in his life he applies this to himself by shunning evils as sins. The Divine will not force itself upon any man. And no man can want the Divine to come to him unless he knows the genuine truth about the Divine. Therefore, in order that there may be genuine good, it is truth that must be known and practiced-especially, as Mr. Acton showed, in the shunning of evils as sins.
     He concluded by citing a passage which teaches us not to worry too much about what good we should do. "Cease therefore from asking in thyself, 'What good must I do in order to receive eternal life?' Only cease from evils as sins and look to the Lord and the Lord will teach and lead you." (AE 979)

     Mr. Lorenz Soneson (student in the Theological School) recalled that for the past few days we had been enjoying the largest crowds of friends, beautiful buildings, pleasant surroundings. The talks we had heard-culminating in this evening's address-had been inspiring and had raised our understanding. Our acquaintances, both old and new, have given encouragement and exhilaration. But in a few days this state will pass. Memories will come back, and we will try to revive them with echo- meetings. Yet the time of temptation comes when we will seem to stand alone and in vain reach out for the enthusiasm we so clearly feel tonight. It is well then to remember that we do not stand alone-for even in fighting the hells there is present a power greater than ours, for we have no power of our own. Not only is there no good of our own, no truth of our own, but there is no power except from the Lord. Even during states of temptation when our understanding is not capable of fighting back, the Lord waits without for us to turn to Him not only with our understanding but with our will, so that He can restore us to even greater heights than the strength we feel tonight.

468

And, in time, all those things which we heard of during these few days will all he realized. The true power of good will infill our church, building in each mind a holy temple-as parts of an organized General Church governed and ordered according to the Lord's command. It is His kingdom we are trying to build through this church, and His is the power, and to Him is the glory.

     Rev. Frederick L. Schnarr (Pastor in Washington, D. C.) expressed delight in the address, but regretted that it gave no opening for remarks that Mr. Schnarr had wanted to make on the subject of fear!
     Referring to the topic of the address, he noted that we do not expect our young children to be able to grasp the nature of spiritual good, or even moral or civil good. But as the mind matures it first dwells on such concepts as those of justice and equity in society, and on the nature of the moral virtues as Divine ultimates of order among men. Through the understanding of these ultimate forms spiritual good can in time find its expression. In our educational system the moral virtues are given as Divine ultimates of order which lay a foundation for conscience. This is a totally different thing from learning the moral virtues as forms which can be accepted or rejected because they are of men and not of God. But if a groundwork for a conscience is laid, it can in time open itself to the reception of spiritual good, because it can find in the forms of morality something beautiful and orderly from the Lord which even the child can see and appreciate. We might perhaps pay more attention to these very forms-of honesty and decorum which are listed in the Writings-as ultiniates of Divine order which must be the clothing which spiritual good takes on. If those forms are absent, a man needs to examine himself very closely-for it may be an indication that spiritual good also is missing.

     Mr. Lawson Pendleton (Instructor in the Academy) said that the mention of pragmatism in the address triggered some ideas in his mind. Pragmatism started under the name of practicalism, with a man named Charles Peirce who published an article in Popular Science well before the turn of the twentieth century. William James, who followed him, was the son of a Swedenborgian, using the term in a loose sense. Then came John Dewey, in the early part of the century. When Dewey said anything, people listened, for pragmatism agreed with the American and Western way of life. The view presented by the pragmatists is well expressed in tonight's beautiful paper: "The good that is believed to be good is nothing but natural good." They think up terms of what is practical, and they tell us that "what works" is what is right and good and true. But from what we have been told at this Assembly-What is more practical than the life of religion when that religion reveals what is good!

     Professor E. Bruce Glenn (Academy of the New Church), without intending to discuss Mr. Acton's views on evolution, expressed the feeling that we cannot dismiss change as a human necessity. We cannot arrive simultaneously at civil, moral and spiritual good. There must be a first in time as well as a first in end. Just as men hand together for mutual protection and civil good, and move from that to a fear lest the neighbor whom one has learnt to love should be harmed, just so are we moved from a fear lest we harm the purposes of God, and so into spiritual good. These states cannot be reached simultaneously, as any man struggling toward reformation can testify. As he frequently reminded his students: "If you are tomorrow as you were today, there is something amiss as to how you spent your day." God alone is changeless. God is infinitely perfect, man must always be imperfect.

469

We sing in the hymn: "Amid all change, One changing not ... In whose sight all is now, In whose love all is best ""Best" means the highest good, which can be approached only by our conscious and conscientious changing from what we are today into something better tomorrow.

Mr. Joel Pitcairn (Bryn Athyn) regarded as the worst trouble with philosophy today the idea that truth and good can be determined by man-which is what became the vogue in the Age of Enlightenment after Christianity became unfashionable in the eighteenth century. The Writings therefore warn that it is not allowable to decide whether a religious matter of faith is true by the same kind of reasoning as you would use in a logical argument or in mathematics. This is more than a philosophical error. It is behind the attack which the hells are trying to launch on this church now. It is certainly the explicit dogma of communism. No matter how quietly this idea comes up-that man can see the good for himself and decide for himself what is good-it always carries within it the seeds of brutality and the police-state and like things.
He believed that that is what we are going to have to fight more than anything else in the next several generations. It is the "dragon" that is cast out of heaven and is come down on earth to try to destroy the seed of the woman (Apoc. xil). The Writings indicate that this insistence on investigating the things of faith by reason alone is what always brings about the fall of each church. He thought that the "dragon," although he seems powerful even now, has scarcely begun to stir. We may well be locked in battle with that concept generations from now.
IMPORTANT NOTICE 1962

IMPORTANT NOTICE 1962

     From the Swedenborg Foundation

     It is with regret that due to rising printing costs we are compelled to increase our prices. The following prices now prevail:

Missionary Editions
     Divine Providence
     Divine Love and Wisdom
     Four Doctrines
     Heaven and Hell     per copy     .50
     Swedenborg, Life and Teachings-Trobridge
     Cloth     .75
     Paper     .50
     My Religion-Helen Keller     Cloth     $1.00

     We also wish to bring to your attention that new printings of the Standard Edition will soon be available in more attractive binding and will be priced in the area of $3.50 per copy. Therefore we would recommend that anyone wishing to complete their set in the old dark green cloth binding should order before the old stock is exhausted.

470

ASSEMBLY BANQUET 1962

ASSEMBLY BANQUET ALEC CRAIGIE 1962

     NEW CHURCH MEN AT WORK

     Alone among creatures receiving the gift of life, man is a citizen of two worlds-the spiritual and the natural. The appearance is that he also occupies a dual position in the natural world, for here also he may be, and in fact usually is, living two lives. One life is that of husband and father at home, shouldering or sharing its joys and sorrows, the daily recurring household problems and domestic triumphs. This is a world of budgets and baby buggies; of leaking taps and new spring hats; of lost puppies and good marks in grade five; of snowmen and skipping ropes; of lonely heart breaking bedside vigils and wonderful, crowded, cheerful family parties; that tangled skein of sensitivity which is adolescence, and the joy of welcoming a new son or daughter. This is a world where the man and his wife can walk hand in hand under the trees on a summer evening. This is one world.
     The man lives in another world too-his business world. This is a world of alarm clocks; the financial page of the newspaper; crowded buses or busy airports; lonely evenings in strange cities; sandwiches eaten; hastily, or long expensive lunches scarcely tasted during tense technical: interchange or the urgency of making a point; the fascinating, hypnotizing rhythm of a fine machine perfectly performing an intricate task; factories alive and vibrating with activity-or deserted and dying; long hours over; ledgers which mysteriously refuse to balance; the cheerful chaff of friends on the 5.23; the typewritten slip in a pay envelope which presages another search for work-or unexpected promotion and the urge to rush home and announce it to the family. This is another world.

     Two worlds, sharing common ground to a lesser or greater extent, but only on sufferance-each with the other.
     It was not always so. An earlier generation knew a world where lines were not thus sharply drawn; rustic communities which allowed a simpler life where schooling and scrubbing, preserving and ploughing, taking eggs to market and buying dress lengths with the proceeds, were each a part of one life, one world. The family, and indeed the community, worked and played and lived together; and where one part of life ended and another began, no one could have said.

471

     But more and more the country became industrialized, and with this, specialization was essential to the growth of the machine. The pattern changed, the rural family working unit became rarer. Instead it became necessary for the working member to leave the family circle to perform his or her task, returning to greet the family again when the task was completed. At the same time the producing unit increased in size and complexity, each member taking a smaller part in the completion of the product.
     What has been the result of this development? One unfortunate effect is that from being woven into the rich and varied texture of his family life, the man's work has become a thing apart, with different and less easily defined objectives, and a constant temptation towards the adoption of a double standard of behavior and outlook. The virtues which he can readily accept as necessary and desirable in his home become subject to strains imposed by unrelenting forces of economic pressure and the opinions and values of a different world-a world where the terms toughness, ruthlessness, success and happiness may frequently be considered to be synonymous.

     As a New Church man, the man dedicates his home and his home life to a conviction that true marriage looks to what is eternal, and lives by this creed. But how does he approach his job? What are his objectives? How do they differ from those of the man at the next machine, or the next desk; across the aisle in the plane; or in the next room at the hotel?
     The apparently innocuous question-how should a New Church man approach his job-is really loaded; if such a term may be used in these austere surroundings! There is no simple answer-unless one can comprehend within such simplicity the whole of the doctrines of use and of charity, and, in fact, the relation of man to his neighbor and to his God.
     Even at first glance it can be seen that we are not considering the man s attitude towards a piece of paper crossing his desk, or a machine for which he is responsible. We must find the conception which the man holds of love to the neighbor, whether the neighbor be his employer, his country, his fellow man in total or the Lord. For all these are the neighbor in various degrees. "The Lord," we read, "in the highest sense and in a supereminent degree is the neighbor, from whom originates the relationship."* And this love must find its expression in use, as a form of life differing in each man and defining his relations with his fellow man. The frequently quoted teaching of Divine Wisdom, that "use is to discharge one's office and to do one's work rightly, faithfully, sincerely and justly" is self-evident in its logic and its power. But the thought implicit in this enters a field wider and deeper than pride of workmanship or common loyalty to one's employer.

472

This is not to say that these essential virtues are to be treated lightly or considered of little consequence. On the contrary, to the New Church man at work they have a significance born of convictions deep rooted in the soil of a conscience formed from a study of the Doctrine of Life. There we read of the artificer: "If he applies in good earnest to his work, and loves it as the good of his life, he buys instruments, and perfects himself by means of such things as belong to the science of his work; by these means he causes his work to be good."** To the New Church man his occupation is more than a source of livelihood for himself and his family, it is a form of his use. Not the only form, but a very real one, corresponding on its own particular plane to the function which he will perform as a useful citizen of heaven on his arrival into the spiritual world, when he is free to exercise his use to the full. His occupation, then, to the New Church man, is a focal point into which he pours his desire to ultimate his love of use. No job is so menial that it can completely stultify his wish; no responsibility so great that he cannot undertake it to the best of his talents. For he knows that into a true affection of use there is an influx of wisdom from the Lord. "I said," we are told "what is the third thing? The angelic spirits replied, it is use. Love and wisdom, without use, are not anything, but are only ideal entities, and do not become real until they are in use; for love, wisdom and use are three things which cannot be separated; if separated, neither of them is anything. Love is not anything without wisdom, but in wisdom it is formed for something; and this something is use; and therefore when love through wisdom is in use it is something; nay then for the first time, it comes into existence."***
* HD 486.
** No. 39.
*** AR 875.

We said that implicit in the teaching that use is the performance of one's work "rightly, faithfully, sincerely and justly" is something including, but going far beyond, loyalty and good workmanship. It is, in fact, an opportunity to bring into a form of order the knowledges accumulated in the natural mind, enforcing there a pattern of order brought out of confusion. - The Lord is order itself, and man was created to be an image and likeness of order. The New Church man at work knows that love and wisdom-from the Lord can inflow only into a state where order prevails. "When a man is in any study or business, that is, in use, his mind is limited and - circumscribed as in a circle, within which it is successively co-ordinated into a form truly human, from which as from a house he sees various concupiscences outside of himself, and from the soundness within he banishes them."*
* CL 249.

473

     So does the iron discipline of work help to bring into the man's life a proper subordination of the love of knowledges to an orderly progression of the affections of use. By such discipline also the way is prepared for the subordination of the loves of the wandering and ephemeral natural to those of the constant and eternal spiritual, that man may allow himself to be led by the Lord. This is a significant point, for while man must impose discipline upon the order of his life as of himself, the requirements of his occupation help him to realize that the imposition of order into the natural can open the way to Divine order, and in this realization the man gains strength when his task proves almost too wearying.

     To the New Church man, then, his job is important; it has purpose beyond the face value. In a world of uses it has a place: through his job, be it high or low in man-made values, he practices a form of charity unique to him. Through it he is enabled to do good to the neighbor, as we read: "daily and continually not only to the neighbor individually but also to the neighbor collectively; and this can be done only through what is good and just in the office, business and employment in which a man is engaged-for this is one's daily work, and when he is not doing it, it still occupies his mind, and he has it in thought and intention."*
* TCR 423.
     Note that the definition of use as applied to one's job demands more than pride of workmanship-not less, not less. Ambition, then, is not stifled-quite the contrary. For in his knowledge that his work provides opportunity to use for the benefit of his neighbor the talents given to him, nothing less than his greatest effort will satisfy him; and having exerted his efforts to the uttermost, he is content with his lot. He is a good worker and a good team-mate, for he neither covets the job of his fellow, nor schemes to bring down his senior in ruins. He recognizes and accepts the dispensations of the Divine Providence and in these he is at peace, trusting in Divine wisdom.
     In his work the man deals faithfully and loyally with his employer and others concerned with the product of his labors. But he also conducts his affairs with prudence and sells his labor for a reasonable return. As he is loyal to his employer, he is also loyal to his union, if he believes that its cause is just, and that its actions are within the requirements of civil and moral law. "Unless man as of his own prudence were to dispose all things belonging to his employment and life, he could not be led and disposed from the Divine Providence-wherefore if you wish to be led by the Divine Providence, use prudence, as a servant and minister who faithfully dispenses the goods of his master."*
* DP 210.

474

How does a New Church man approach his job; how does he bring to it the beliefs he has learned as a child, confirmed in his manhood, studied in the quiet of the evening, expressed in his worship at home or in church? The dignity of work is more than a phrase to him. To his work he brings a creed drawn from the unfathomable depths of Divine truth. His belief in a life of use to the neighbor, his obedience to the discipline of truth as a receptacle of good, his trust in the workings of the Divine Providence, his conviction that "a life of religion is to do good"-all these bring to his labors pleasure in accomplishment and courage in failure. The daily perplexities and problems inherent in the vast industrial and commercial complex, he faces with resolution secured by inner strength; neither yielding his principles to the powerful nor deriding those of the weak. He is loyal to his colleagues and honest with his employer-not because it is the best policy, but because a lie is a denial of truth and an affront to the order of heaven. Since he has much for which to be thankful he smiles easily, but cannot share the humor which smears a love of the conjugial or defaces the name of God.
In short, the New Church man at work brings to his job the skills of his mind and the good affections of his heart, and he calls it "worship to the Lord."
NEW CHURCH HOME 1962

NEW CHURCH HOME Rev. HUGO LJ. ODHNER 1962

     The Assembly is fast drawing to a close, and most of us are going back to our homes.
     In that we see a picture of human life-a circle which starts in the home and returns to the home; a circle repeated many times and ever widening. The home is the center to which we gravitate back. The child toddles to kindergarten and then back to mother. The youth, with higher venture, widens the circle-with college as a goal, or "boot camp" as a necessity. But he returns to home; perhaps with a glistening vision of a new home of his own from which to sally forth to his life's work: a home to which he can return to the wife of his choice, who makes his offering of; labor worth while; a home in which the tree of life may bud and blossom and bear fruit.
     The story of the world began as a love-story, in Eden; and its end is visioned in another paradise within a New Jerusalem which is adorned as the bride of the Lord. Indeed, everything begins and ends in the home!
     In ancient days the family or the clan was all important; seen as the center of all loyalties, the origin of strength and the hope of survival, as a united labor force to pit against recurring adversities. The home was the beginning of society; and it is still on the quality of its homes that the destiny of a nation depends.

475

And though it is true that not every one has a family, yet it is obvious that the uses of science and art, of trade and industry, all look to the needs and the welfare of the home.
     It is for the sake of happy and secure homes that civic governments exist. Homes do not exist in order that governments might extract taxes, any more than the Lord created mankind for His own self-interest! The end of the Divine providence is the establishment of the final home of our ruling love in which our souls may find the fulfillment of life.
     Here on earth we could find so many types of homes which fall short of their purpose. There are many modern homes which seem to have no home-life but are merely glorified boarding-houses! There is another kind of home wherein all live oppressed under the tyranny of sentimentality or clannish obligations. There is the "practical" home which often drifts rudderless upon a sea of fussy anxieties, or Martha-worries. So many homes are self-centered, perhaps in a life of routine pleasures, feeling no responsibility towards the society of which they are a part, or to the past which reared them, or to the future generations to whom the home is meant to hand on the wisdom and the skills of the present.
     What do we mean, then, by "a New Church home"? It appears indeed as a new thing upon the earth-an ideal held out specifically to those who seek the wisdom of life taught in the Writings. Yet it is a reality, to some degree within the grasp of man. A New Church home is a gift direct from the Lord-for the conjugial love around which it is built is according to the state of the church with the partners. Everything of the church which affects man has a direct effect upon the life of the home.
     The dominant themes in the New Church doctrine of life are, first, the shunning of evils, and secondly, the concept of use. To the New Church the secret of life has been clearly revealed: that happiness is possible only as the product of usefulness, or of a love of use. In our youth we may believe in the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Men, when grown, may from greed or indolence seek dishonest and unearned profits, or take other shortcuts to happiness by evading their responsibilities. But in the end any stolen delights will turn to ashes in the mouth. When forbidden fruit is coveted, the gates of paradise begin to close.
     And this is especially true within the family, where all things "come home to roost." The happiness that we all envisage when we dream of the perfect home, can never come except from the performance of the uses of the home-the uses of marriage and domestic life.
     It is a distinctive teaching of the New Church that "charity itself is to act justly and faithfully in the office, business, and work in which one is."*

476

This suggests especially the forensic work through which a husband supports his family. The home thus looks outward, beyond itself, not only to secure its own uses but to contribute to the uses and the happiness of others. But women also have their special office, both at home and abroad. And it is for the home that the fruits of every man's use are garnered, for the wife to order into a habitation of love and peace and freedom, and a refuge from the world's anxieties. For in the New Church home neither the man nor the wife rules. But love rules. Or, what is the same, the Lord rules. The qualities of the uses performed outside the home are reflected within the home. And there these blessings can be shared, not only by sons and daughters and helpers, but by chosen friends who are our spiritual links with the community of the church.
* TCR 422.
     It is in the home that all the important issues of life come to a focus, and must be decided. It is there that the church is first born and our standards set for the church as a whole! It is there that the important lines are drawn between what is right and what is wrong. It is there that the twig is bent, and the habits of thought and of practice are formed. There is no better picture of the conjunction of will and understanding than that of a husband and a wife consulting together for the welfare of the family.

     The home-with its mutual problems and common interests-is the first place where we must bridge the gap of misunderstanding which necessarily yawns between one generation and the next.
     Yes. The home is the focal point of man's life. Because external restraints are there relaxed and fears put to rest, the character of each member of the family can be revealed more completely.
     Where could we find a more favorable environment for spiritual and natural growth, where man can seek the wisdom which is to make him a man, and the wife can grow more and more into a woman? Man's efforts are stirred by stronger motives. Woman grows wise in her high maternal function-to give praise or approval at the right time. She cultivates her intuitive power to select the most fitting of material and spiritual gifts to feed the mouths and minds of her dear ones.
     When we realize the truth that man is not born for his own sake but for the sake of others it becomes clear that this has especial reference to the purpose of creation, which is to populate the heavens, that the Lord may impart His blessings to an ever increasing heaven of angels. Therefore we vision in our children's children the higher reasons for our own existence. Thus we are taught that "the first end of conjugial love is the procreation of offspring."*

477

So essential is this use that the Lord reinforces this spiritual love by a natural love of offspring, which is present in man and animals alike; and he rewards our loyalties by delights of profoundest kind. Through our children we come to see our own lacks-but also our own ideals. And as they grow up we are bound up with them into a small society in which they and we can image the responsibilities and larger uses of the community, the church, and heaven.
* CL 385.
     Where this is so, the commonplace things, the routine duties and courtesies of home life, can be transformed into delightful privileges-into rituals of love which mirror in a small way the great destinies of creation itself!

     The home provides a privacy which is sacred to each man-a freedom of individual choice and taste which resents any compulsion from outside spheres. Even the Lord stands at the door and knocks, waiting to be invited when two or three are gathered in His name.
     But the world is not equally considerate. It invades our homes on least pretext and overpowers our frail wills and tired bodies. It clogs our spirits with morbid things. Through the literature of our age its propaganda of falsity beats upon our minds with spheres of spiritual skepticism and indifference. It meets our innocent ideals by hurling statistics of divorce and vice into our faces while appealing for a broadminded tolerance.
     It is essential that we recognize that the New Church home is a besieged village, which can be defended only by perpetual vigilance. The attacks do not come merely from across the frontiers, but from a "fifth column" working within.
     The New Church man of course knows full well that his home is not a New Church home simply because of his religious profession. He knows that his "proprium," and that of each one in the household, tend to ignore the needs of others, to worry, to be selfish and unduly sensitive, to wish to have its own way, and retaliate with angry words. Children have their times of rebellion before they learn the delight of obeying. And when they begin to deserve more freedom, it must be realized that parents also must defend their own freedom-the freedom of their use and function, which is to represent in the home the government of Divine truth, of moral law, and of civil order, as well as the compassion and mercy of the Heavenly Father, and the motherly care of the church, which looks to spiritual protection and nourishment.
     Yet this ideal of the parental function is hard to live up to. The patience of parents has its "limits" and often ends in a show-down at the wrong time, when the barriers of pride are at their highest!
     And mother and father, like will and understanding, cannot always be expected to agree, but sometimes they juggle with the question of responsibility. When we feel sorry for ourselves, we may blame our frustrations on nervous tensions, although we know that the proprium cannot be overcome by the use of "tranquillizers."

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     Nor can we rely on the professional advice of those who do not share our faith and conscience, and who would say: "Lower your standards! Do not have more than two or three children! Do not take your religious ideals so seriously! If your husband or wife gets on your nerves, seek a divorce! As to your children, let them do what they want. Never tell them, No-they might develop a complex!"

     Can parents afford to deny their children the one God-given opportunity for establishing a basis of order in their lives?
     The New Church is promised "an internal blessedness of life" hitherto unknown.* Yet the order which can invite the sphere of the new heaven into our homes, has a source far higher than father and mother! That source is the Lord, whom we daily pray to deliver us from our evils.
* Coro lii-liv.
     How can we demand obedience from our children, unless they know that we also are men "under authority"* and are not simply serving our own will? And how can they know this unless the family turns to the Lord habitually as a matter of order, to be exposed to the steady scrutiny of His commandments, and to examine-in the light of the Divine teachings-what the relative importance is of all the various ambitions and uses of the family?
* Luke 7:8.
     In hectic periods, which cannot always be avoided, the family repository for daily worship is closed-like the ark held captive by the Philistines! Yet it must be reopened again and again, as a symbol of our need to kneel together before our heavenly Father who "seeth in secret" and who alone reveals the remedy for our many ills. He alone can give strength to our efforts. And let us realize that effort and stress are necessary in the process of growth and the building of character. Perfect security is not desirable even for our children.
     Of course the home cannot provide all things needful to equip our children for life in this complicated world. We must turn them to a wider concept of home, to the church as their spiritual mother. We do well to follow the example of Hannah, who brought the child Samuel to the house of the Lord in Shiloh, to be instructed, saying: "I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth, he shall be lent to the Lord."
     And this we do when we send them to a New Church school, where they can be equipped with some of the tools by which to cultivate and harvest the knowledge and skill of the world without being sullied by its evils or blinded by its false persuasions.
     What the church and the school teach is reflected in the home; and the New Church home can thus grow richer with every generation.

479

There is one ideal especially which is first kindled in the home and whose flame must be protected as the hope of the future, and all of us know that it is the distinctive ideal of a love truly conjugial.
     The insinuation of truth, organized as doctrine, is the function of teaching ministers. But "good can be insinuated into another by any one in the country."* The home is based on human affections. And love is the universal solvent for all problems. A little tenderness can level barriers and heal where everything else fails. There is love to the Lord, expressed in worship. There is charity, expressed in uses. There is parental love and filial love. There is love of servant and master. And as the fundamental love of the home, there is conjugial love which ever looks to eternity, and through which the race of man may in time be purged of hereditary evils.
* AC 6822.
     But love cannot work in a chaos, or in the dark. Love must not be blind. Love must be exercised with justice and through moral judgments, guided by a conscience enlightened from the Writings, while reason calmly keeps before us the order and decorum which are the pillars of society and the foundations of the spiritual life of the church.
     For the New Church, this design of life is brought into reach on earth-not as a dream that passes, or a thing possible only in some distant heaven where we might find our eternal home. But it is given by the Divine architect so that the descending New Jerusalem may find a place on earth, and men again shall know how to build their bowers of love.
SOME GENERAL CHURCH USES 1962

SOME GENERAL CHURCH USES 1962

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

480

JOURNAL OF THE TWENTY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM HELD AT BRYN ATHYN, PENNSYLVANIA JUNE 15-19, 1962 1962

     First Session-Friday, June 15, 8 p. m.

1.     After Hymn 30 had been sung, the Acting Bishop, the Right Reverend Willard D. Pendleton, presiding, opened the meeting with prayer and the reading of Revelation 2: 1-7.
2. The Minutes of the 22nd General Assembly were approved as printed in NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1959, pages 453-467.
3.     Bishop Pendleton, as Acting Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church, gave a speech of welcome to the guests of the Assembly.
4.     He then introduced the speaker of the evening, Bishop Emeritus George de Charms, who was greeted by a prolonged standing ovation and then gave a paper on "The Perpetuation of the New Church." (This address was printed in the August issue of the NEW CHURCH LIFE, pages 339 to 346.)
     Bishop Pendleton noted that this beautiful and searching address typifies the spiritual and doctrinal leadership which Bishop De Charms has given the church for so many years. He invited comments.
     Rev. Norbert H. Rogers (Pastor of the Philadelphia Society and Instructor in the Academy Schools) was grateful for the effect of the address in counteracting any feeling of discouragement about the future and about future generations, who see and do things differently. "Our responsibility is to present to others our principles and ideals, hoping that this will kindle some responsive fire in them; and then to let them in freedom carry out and apply their own principles in their own way."
     Mr. Richard Kintner (Bryn Athyn) expressed his appreciation, as a layman, of the Bishop's masterpiece. It was of interest to note that there are many members of our General Church who have gone through our educational system and then feel that they have received all the knowledge they needed about the New Church. The real fact will always be that the strength of the New Church will be according to the strength of the individuals who compose it. Unless we, after our school years, go to the Writings the rest of our lives, there is not going to be much progress made.

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5. Bishop Pendleton introduced the order of business for the evening, calling on the Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner for the Report of the Joint Council-on Procedure with reference to the Nomination of an Executive Bishop of the General Church.
     Dr. Odhner: "As Secretary of the General Church and of the Joint Council of the members of the Council of the Clergy and the Board of Directors of the General Church, I have the honor to report that the Joint Council, on January 27, 1962, was duly informed that the Board of Directors was in unanimous accord with the action of the Council of the Clergy in nominating Bishop Willard Dandridge Pendleton as the Bishop of the General Church of the New Jerusalem. This was published in NEW-CHURCH LIFE, April issue.
     "The order of the General Church calls for an action by the General Assembly to confirm or reject this choice. The Joint Council therefore considered the question whether this nomination should, at the Twenty-Third General Assembly, be voted on by ballot or by viva voce vote; and it was resolved that this question be referred to the General Assembly without recommendation.
     "It was also resolved by the Joint Council that the procedure followed in 1937 in presenting the nomination should be followed. This procedure, to be followed tomorrow, is initiated by the Secretary of the Council of the Clergy.
     "Since the Agenda of this Assembly call for the voting to take place at the session commencing at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning, I would state that convenient arrangements have been made for a vote by ballot in case the Assembly selects this mode of action."

     Bishop Pendleton: "In the past, the General Assembly has acted on the nomination for the office of the Bishop of the General Church by a voice vote. At the recent meetings of the Council of the Clergy, however, it was reported that there are those who feel that this method of procedure does not leave the Assembly in freedom, and that the only way in which freedom can be insured is to proceed by ballot.
     "In the discussion of this question in the Council of the Clergy, and in a subsequent meeting of the Joint Council of the Clergy and the Board of Directors, various views were expressed. It was agreed, however, that this matter could not he determined by council but would have to be decided by the Assembly itself. At this time, therefore, the question before us is how you wish to proceed in this final step in the election of an Executive Bishop.
     "Since the time of the Annual Council Meetings in January there has been ample opportunity to reflect on this subject. Not only have the pastors reported to the societies and circles what took place at these meetings, but a full account of the deliberations of the Joint Council was published in the April issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE.
     "For my own part, may I say that I believe that the most important thing is that we all leave this Assembly with the feeling that there has been full freedom of expression. As the candidate involved, therefore, I am in favor of the use of the ballot.

482

My first reason for this is that I believe that the use of the ballot will create an atmosphere of freedom in which all may express their conviction without being identified by others. My second reason is that in no other way can we arrive at an accurate reflection of the response of the Assembly to my candidacy. Where there is a doubt it should be expressed. If the doubt is indicative of the state of the church, the matter should be reconsidered, particularly when the issue directly concerns the life and government of the church.
     "I realize, however, that the question immediately arises, What if delay is not possible? When such conditions exist we have no choice and must proceed without delay to a decision, but this does not apply in this case. The office of Bishop of the General Church can, and must, await the support of the church. In the meantime, the uses of the episcopal office can be carried on by the Acting Bishop."

     He then invited Bishop De Charms to take the chair.

     Bishop De Charms: "What is before us is the question, to be decided by this Assembly, as to the mode by which you would respond to the nomination by the Council of the Clergy and the Board of Directors of the General Church with reference to an Executive Bishop. I think it is most important to realize that the final decision in this matter must rest with the General Assembly. The selection of the name should, in my opinion, be initiated by the Council of the Clergy and should be considered by the Board of Directors, but the final question as to the relationship of the Executive Bishop to the Church can only be decided by the Assembly itself.
     "The action by this Assembly is not a mere rubber-stamp on something which had already been done; it is a final action which is determinative of what shall be the result.
     "This has always been the case, at least to our understanding, but I know there has been a feeling on the part of some that there was not full freedom in the Assembly, and that the action that was taken was simply a final confirmation of something which has been done before. This is not the case. And we are now faced by a proof that this is not the case, by placing the whole question before you as to whether the name which has been placed before you by the Council of the Clergy is acceptable to the church as a whole, and that every one should be absolutely free to express his opinion as to that. Now, that is the reason Bishop Pendleton himself has expressed his own view in favor of a ballot, because it preserves the greatest freedom of expression on the part of the members of the church.
     "However, the question is up to you, and I now invite you to consider it. It is important to settle tonight the mode by which we proceed tomorrow morning to the actual action of the Assembly in regard to the election of a Bishop. So I invite you now to express your view as to the matter of procedure: Shall we proceed tomorrow by ballot or shall we do as we have in the past, proceed by a voice vote?"
6. Rev. K. R. Alden (Bryn Athyn) moved "that the Assembly proceed on the following morning at ten o'clock to the election of our Executive Bishop by ballot." He had recently visited a number of major societies and had found a difference of opinion on the question of the use of a ballot-some feeling that this implied a lack of loyalty to the candidate. But his mind was made up completely when Bishop Pendleton stated that he will feel much better about the church he is called to lead if he knows-by the only method that is possible-the real state of acceptance or denial. He restated his motion, which was seconded.
     Rev. E. C. Acton (Pastor of the Glenview Society) expressed an opposite view. If there were any doubt in the Assembly it might put us in greater freedom to have a written ballot.

483

But since the Council meetings he had made a considerable study of government in our church and presented a series of classes on it; and he had become convinced that it is proper in this case to use a voice vote. The form of government in our church has arisen over many years of bitter struggle; men have fought for it, given up many things, and it is important to preserve it. The best way to preserve it in this case is by a voice vote.
     Mr. Alexander H. Lindsay (of Pittsburgh): "The matter of voting, whether by voice vote or by secret ballot, is as a matter of parliamentary common law an undebatable question. That is the basic law-aside from the rules which we have been using in the church. Ordinarily the courts, from a legal standpoint, determine our procedure by the custom in our church, which I think has been spelled out clearly by the secretary. We speak of freedom. All of us know that sometimes we can carry freedom so far that it contravenes the rules of order. It is regrettable that this matter of a secret ballot should be raised at this time in connection with the choosing of a Bishop, because it then becomes personal. It ties in with the man, with his election. If we are going to change the custom followed in several generations of the church, it seems to me that the orderly thing is to do it in an off-election year. . . . We are now becoming a large church and it may be necessary to an extent to codify the principles under which we operate our parliamentary procedure. There is no accepted method in this church. At the Joint Council I raised the question as to the technicalities involved in the vote. I think that at this Assembly we should in the most expeditious manner indicate to Bishop Pendleton that we are one hundred percent in back of him. To bring in at this time a question of a technicality of a vote will possibly raise some doubts in this man's mind, and I therefore think it most important that we all support him by a viva voce vote."
     Rev. K. O. Stroh (Assistant Pastor, Bryn Athyn) felt responsible to speak of the matter because be had introduced the first resolution in the Joint Council that we have a written ballot. He had hoped that this would avoid an unnecessarily heated discussion on the floor of the Assembly, and also save time in the Council.
     But we need to reflect whether the use of a ballot means "changing our order." The main purpose of our order is that we are trying to be ruled by the Lord, not by a popular majority or by any one man. We seek to order our government according to what we understand to be the Divinely revealed laws given in the Writings. This is the episcopal form of government, not the democratic form. Thus, in the choice of a Bishop, the choice is progressive-initiated in the Council of the Clergy because the priesthood, we believe, is the first of the church and the operations of the Holy Spirit with the priesthood, the operations of enlightenment and instruction, go along with their use of teaching the truth and leading thereby to the good of life. But the priesthood is not to dictate to the church. If this happened we would have a dictatorship. The priesthood does not rule, the Lord rules. And though the priesthood has the function of teaching and leading, it is the Lord who teaches and rules.
     What we are essentially called upon to do is to consent to what we understand to be the Lord's leading. This is what we did in the Council of the Clergy. We did not choose for the church. There was not complete agreement, at first, in the Council. The Assembly now faces the same question of consent and has an equal responsibility: not simply to follow because the priesthood said something, but to act for the whole church-whatever the mode of voting. The responsibility is really to the Lord and to the Word. We must act, not merely as a body, but each one from his individual conscience.

484

     And when we are asked to consent it implies the power to withhold that consent. It would not be changing our basic order whether we raise our hands or use our pens. Some say people might not feel free unless there be a ballot. If so, they should have this freedom. Some would call this "democracy"; but this is not true. The ballot is only an external means. And should some wish a ballot, even a small minority, should they not have it? An attitude of charity involves a concern for the freedom of others as well as for ourselves.
     Personally, he would just as soon stand on his feet and vote for Bishop Pendleton. But we have always held that we should be firm in internals but yielding in externals. The essential is the internal freedom to act according to one's conscience. The external form is not in itself important. He felt therefore bound in conscience to vote for a ballot, for the sake of preserving the freedom of all and for the good of the church.
     Mr. Andrew Klein (Bryn Athyn) declared his confidence in the Council of the Clergy to guide us in the selection of the proper means and to handle the destinies of our church. Nevertheless, there are those who have expressed, over the years, the view that they would not feel free to make their withholding of consent known. There is no better time than now to clear up the situation. So far as he had been able to discover there is absolutely no dissent from the nomination that has been made. The precedent of a written ballot would, however, be established against a possible future day. You may, many years from now, find an unforeseen situation-like that which arose, with much distress, in the days of Bishop Benade-when you would be glad that you had preserved the written ballot.
     He felt that he spoke for practically everyone in the room when he predicted we would have Bishop Pendleton by acclamation, anyway.
     Mr. Warren F. David, of Detroit, made two points. First, it is a law of Providence that a man shall act in freedom according to reason. If there is a single man in the General Church who feels that he cannot act in freedom without a secret ballot, we should have it. A church that purports to be governed by the Lord should certainly have in its procedures something which reflects the Lord's laws. Secondly, he agreed with Mr. Klein that the seeming unanimity made this an opportune time to make this decision. If he were a candidate he would feel much better over a unanimous secret ballot than over a unanimous voice vote, no matter how loud it was.
     Rev. David Holm (Visiting Pastor, South Ohio) was in favor of a written ballot. He, like Mr. Acton, had made a rather detailed study regarding the government of the church, but had come to an opposite conclusion-which should leave the laity in freedom
     He stressed that we come together in Assemblies not only to elect our bishops but to discuss the many problems and the doctrinal development of the church. Each one comes to take upon himself the profound duty to do all he can to promote, develop and safeguard the New Church. We are here to express ourselves as we feel, and he questioned that we could do this, as individuals, without a written ballot. If we were in heaven, we might do this by our individual celestial smiles. But on earth it is different. It is all very well to say that we can give a voice vote in the negative. But there are very few who would ever feel free to do this. At an Assembly, the emotional sphere would make this difficult. Yet each one has the duty to express himself, if he feels that something is done or said that is not for the best of the church. He pleaded for a written ballot.

485

     Mr. Harold McQueen, of Glenview, had hesitated opposing two clergymen, but was encouraged when his pastor, Mr. Acton, whom he hailed as a good and great man, had opposed the use of a ballot. He urged a simple voice vote and suggested that those not in favor of the nominee could indicate it by keeping quiet.
     Rev. Douglas M. Taylor (Minister of the Tucson Circle) was impressed by the fact that Bishop Pendleton himself wished a secret ballot. The only argument for a voice vote had been that of Mr. Lindsay, who questioned whether this was a suitable time to make changes. Mr. Taylor agreed with Mr. McQueen that Mr. Acton was a great man, and felt sorry to have missed those classes he gave in Glenview. He also regretted that Mr. Acton summarized them merely with the statement: "I've come to the conclusion that the best thing is a voice vote." He called on Mr. Acton to give the reasons for his conclusion.
     Rev. N. H. Reuter (Pastor of the Detroit Society) disagreed with Mr. McQueen. The important thing now before us is to determine a procedure which will do what the Lord wills-to preserve the freedom of every man. This is what Bishop Pendleton was concerned about. And, as said, no argument save Mr. Lindsay's has been offered against a ballot and in preference to past procedure. Mr. Lindsay suggested that a change is involved. But the General Church is a living, growing church, not built, like the Catholic Church, on procedures that will never change from now to eternity. The only evidence of a growth in our understanding as to how the Lord leads the church will take the form of changes in procedure to allow the Lord to speak more clearly than in the past.
     The greatest idea the speaker had gained from Bishop De Charm's address this evening was his warning lest we become fossilized in our thinking. The procedure by which we act is like a garment which can be changed. The principle is not at issue-that there must be consent given in freedom. "And I submit," he said, "that there is no one here who believes that men are in freedom to dissent by a voice vote."
     Mr. Kenneth Rose (Instructor in the Academy) noted that "democracy" is a good thing in its place but is trying to creep out of its place in some ways. There are those who say that our schools and homes should be democratic; but it would not work in either of these places. And there is a real question whether we would want to install a democracy in the dealings of the church. We do not want a general "convention," with each society electing its favorite son. We should stop to think whether what we are after is an election in the sense of a democratic political election or an opportunity to affirm a decision which has been made with careful consideration of the indications of Providence.
     The struggle to protect freedom is a difficult one. Every one is free, no question about that. Every one can speak up and dissent. There are no guards at the doors ready to pounce on him. But some of those people who are free do not feel free, and nothing we can do can make them feel free. But a ballot would make them feel a little bit better. Bishop Pendleton would be gratified to find the Assembly one hundred percent behind him. As a teacher, the speaker was sometimes pleased to have his class forty-two percent behind him.
     But inseparable from freedom stands responsibility. Those who do not agree with this choice of a Bishop have a further responsibility beyond marking their ballot. They should communicate their reasons to their pastors who are their representatives in the Council of the Clergy. In establishing a new precedent by using a written ballot, we should also be very conscious of our responsibility before and even after an election, instead of saying that it is all over now and there's nothing we can do about it.

486

We must be sure, as the church grows larger, not to lose communication because of our size.
     Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner believed that in thinking of protecting our own freedom we might have forgotten the preference expressed by Bishop Pendleton in standing as a nominee. Bishop Pendleton had made it clear that he would feel better if he knew how far the church, left in utter freedom, would be behind him. It was not likely, if we had a viva voce vote, that there would be any repercussions of "No" afterwards. But Bishop Pendleton could not feel sure of that unless there be a written ballot. We are not sacrificing any freedom or any trust in Providence by such a ballot, but simply giving an opportunity to a few people who would like to object - to the form of our election. If we have a voice vote the outcome would be no different, but whether the nominee would feel the same about the response is problematical. The speaker concluded: "I believe we should vote according to the nominee's request-in fact, he was so anxious to put the Assembly in freedom that he did not 'request,' but simply expressed a preference."
     Mr. K. P. Nemitz (of Pittsburgh) had listened to both sides and been swayed by each speaker. He pointed to the value of tradition and agreed with Mr. Lindsay that this was a poor time to make a hurried change. What we do now will affect generations to come. With all due deference to the Bishop's request, he asked that we set this matter aside and decide it in a year or two.
     Mr. Lester Asplundh and Mr. Roy Rose (both of Bryn Athyn) called for the question.
     Mr. Raymond Pitcairn (Bryn Athyn), noting the amount of opinion expressed, felt that we should have a vote by ballot. But he thought it regrettable that in the church we would have to resort to a secret ballot. We ought to come out and be seen for what we stand for. It was interesting to him that in the Council of the Clergy the vote had not been unanimous and that this was made known. If we are going to have the best kind of counsel we should have the courage to come up and express our opinion, whether in Council, Board or Assembly. In the Board of Directors, the vote was unanimous. But if there was a strong desire to have a secret ballot, thinking that this is the best way to preserve freedom, we should have it.
     Rev. Erik Sandstrom (Pastor of the London Society) rose, not to make any recommendation as to the mode of expressing our choice, but to note that in the discussion there had been several references to what the assumed outcome of the vote would he. It seemed to him that this motive should be ruled out when we decide for one mode or another. He also disapproved of the suggestion that freedom could be expressed in a viva voce vote by simply not entering into the vote. That was not realistic; for the silence of some would not be observed in a large assembly. Also, if we think that the conclusion is a foregone one, and that therefore it is opportune to introduce a secret ballot, this again is not a right motivation. The only motive we should have is our concern for the preservation of the freedom of the church.
     Dr. Sigfried Synnestvedt (Bryn Athyn) said that he bowed to no one in his respect and admiration for Bishop Pendleton whose subordinate he had been for the past twelve years. He was going to vote for him by voice vote tomorrow, if so be, but was in favor of the ballot for reasons already spoken of. The only reason submitted for the voice vote was tradition, and, in addition, that to change now to the ballot would personalize the issue. He could not disagree with that more, for just the opposite was the case. What could be more personalized than for a few people to stand before this assembly tomorrow and vote "No" to the name of Bishop Pendleton?

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But the ballot would be completely impersonal. He seconded Mr. Alden's motion and called for the question.
7.     The motion was passed.
8.     The meeting was closed with the singing of Anthem 5, "Pray for the
peace of Jerusalem."

     Second Session-Saturday, June 16, 10 a.m.

9.     The meeting was opened with the singing of Anthem 8, prayer, and
reading from Luke 20: 1-17 and AR 915.
10.     Bishop De Charms, presiding, called the meeting to order. According to the announced procedure, he called on the Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Secretary of the Council of the Clergy.
     Rev. W. C. Henderson: "The Council of the Clergy has named the Right Reverend Willard Dandridge Pendleton as its choice for the office of Bishop of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and the Board of Directors has formally approved that choice. In accordance with our order, it is now my privilege, as Secretary of the Council of the Clergy, to place before this Assembly the name of the Right Reverend Willard Dandridge Pendleton, and to move that he be selected as Bishop of the General Church of the New Jerusalem."
     Mr. Stephen Pitcairn, Secretary of the Board of Directors, made the following Report:
     I have the honor to report that at a meeting of the Board of Directors of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, held on January 26, 1962, the following Resolutions were passed unanimously:
     "WHEREAS, the Council of the Clergy has transmitted to the Board of Directors the following communication:
     "'WHEREAS according to the order observed in the General Church, a Bishop, as the chief governor thereof, shall be elected by the General Assembly, but be first named in and by the Council of the Clergy, and the choice then submitted to the Board of Directors for their consideration; after which the Joint Council of both bodies shall determine the mode whereby the name is finally to be placed before the General Assembly for election.
     "'BE IT RESOLVED that this Council (of the Clergy) now name the Right Reverend Willard Dandridge Pendleton as their choice as Bishop of the General Church,. and that the Secretary communicate their choice to the next meeting of the Board of Directors of the General Church, Incorporated'; and
     "WHEREAS, the Board of Directors has considered the nomination of Bishop Willard Dandridge Pendleton-now Acting Bishop of the General Church of the New Jerusalem-as the Bishop of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, now therefore be it
     "RESOLVED, that the Board of Directors hereby, unanimously records its confidence in Bishop Willard Dandridge Pendleton and in his qualifications to lead our Church and to preserve freedom and order; and be it

488

     "FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Board of Directors is in unanimous accord with the action of the Council of the Clergy in nominating Bishop Willard Dandridge Pendleton as the Bishop of the General Church of the New Jerusalem and hereby approves such nomination; and be it
     "FURTHER RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the Joint Council."
     As Secretary of The General Church of the New Jerusalem, a Corporation, and acting under authority of a resolution of the Joint Council, I second the nomination of Bishop Willard D. Pendleton as the Bishop of the General Church of the New Jerusalem.
     Bishop De Charms invited the members to speak to this nomination, which should be acted on at 10:30 am.
     Rev. Martin Pryke, of Toronto: "It is clear to everyone that the choice that is before us is to offer support of, and confidence in, the decision of the Council of the Clergy, or to express conviction that the Council has been seriously mistaken in the choice they have made. If the latter is the opinion of any one, I believe it should be expressed at this time, and I would be sorry to see the ballot show a negative vote when there has been no opinion expressed to that effect on the floor of the Assembly
     "For myself, I believe that there is no doubt that Bishop Pendleton is the man who has been led in the Lord's providence to lead the church at this time-to lead both the General Church and the Academy. I believe that he is a man eminently suited to perform the uses that will arise in the period of growth that is before us, a growth that was evident to all who were present at the Academy commencement exercises. I do wonder if Bishop Pendleton's confidence in the support of the church may not have been shaken somewhat by the prolonged discussion concerning the need for freedom and concerning the possibility of a ballot vote. It is doubly important that we should show our confidence in him in every way possible.
     "We were all delighted yesterday when we rose to show Bishop De Charms our affection and respect. Today we will have the opportunity to show our loyalty and support to Bishop Pendleton in the same way, that he may go from this Assembly confident that he has the church behind him. I believe the time ahead of us is an important one and that the church will be strengthened (to face it) when united behind a powerful and capable leader who has been given us by the Lord."
     Rev. Bjorn Boyesen (Pastor of the Stockholm Society): "I believe it is the Lord who calls men to office in the church. He calls men to uses in the church by means of men. When a bishop is called to serve as the Executive Bishop of the General Church it takes place by means of the Council of the Clergy, the Board of Directors, and also by the members of the church gathered in Assembly. All these are means . . . I think it is good for all of us to realize that we are parts of that team, and that our love and affection for the uses of the church are what should lie behind our way of action on this nomination. We must also consider that the Lord calls men by the uses they have performed. Bishop Pendleton has shown his ability to all the members of the General Church through many years. He is, we all know, an excellent theologian (and perhaps this is the primary thing which the church looks for in its bishop). He has shown that he has a deep understanding of the uses of education and is an excellent leader both for the church and the Academy. He has journeyed throughout the church and has shown his understanding of its local problems everywhere. He has shown his affection for the people of the church and his wisdom in leadership.

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I therefore come up to give expression not only to my personal confidence in Bishop Pendleton, but-I am sure--also to speak for many members on the other side of the ocean who are here with us in spirit and are with you praying for the wise leadership of the church in the future under Bishop Pendleton.
     Mr. Trumbull Scalbom, of Glenview, spoke warmly as a layman who had known Willard Pendleton when he was a boy. Since then Willard Pendleton had developed great stature both doctrinally and as an administrator, and served in a number of our societies. The speaker would have preferred not having a paper ballot-though a more tangible ultimate-come between him and his expression of confidence. He was sure that after this election (or confirmation of the judgment of the Council of the Clergy and the Board) there would be no dragging of feet. And those who had read the editorial by Mr. Henderson (NEW CHURCH LIFE, April 1962, p. 133) should have no worry about the freedom of choice that we in the Assembly have.
     Rev. D. R. Simons (Principal, Bryn Athyn Elementary School) felt it a privilege to second this nomination, having known Bishop Pendleton as a lover of doctrine and a leader in doctrine, who with great reluctance assumed responsibility as an administrator when his real love was doctrine and philosophy. Yet this call to govern and handle men was a much greater use, for which he is most eminently fitted. It is the call of the church and no one is better equipped for it. Bishop Pendleton's book, The Foundations of New Church Education should be read by all. Bishop Pendleton was also a lover of society life and interested in all phases of our society. The church will be in good hands if it assents to his leadership.
     Bishop De Charms then appointed the following Judges of Election: Mr. Harry C. Walter, Mr. Harold McQueen, and Mr. John Kuhl. The Secretary read the wording of the Ballot and noted that twelve tellers will distribute and collect the ballots and bring them up to the judges, who will later report the result to the meeting.
11.     The election was held.
12. Mr. Raymond Pitcairn made the following remarks: "Bishop De Charms: While the tellers are busy with the ballots may I speak on a matter which I feel of importance for the Assembly record. In the matter of this balloting, as the record now stands, it would appear that there were no good reasons for the desire of many members, including priests, to rise above the provision of man-made safeguards, such as the secret ballot, usually inserted in political constitutions, designed by men to secure freedom.
     "Last night from both priest and lay speakers came statements to the effect that there were no good reasons against secrecy in our elections, and if there were, they should be stated; and since none were forthcoming the inference was there were no valid reasons for the desire to avoid enforced secrecy in our voting.
     "The immediate question before us was: 'Should we, or should we not, have a secret ballot?' And, very understandably, Bishop Pendleton hoped to avoid the feeling that freedom would be lacking if a secret ballot were not adopted, and he made clear that he would prefer a vote by secret ballot. In deference to this wish, and especially because of the insistence of many persons who strongly favored this form of voting, the General Assembly approved a secret ballot by an overwhelming consensus-as indeed it should!

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     "However, I desire to propose, Bishop De Charms, that the principles and the reasons given at the spring meetings held in preparation for this event-made by you, Bishop De Charms, and by others, and as stated in NEW CHURCH LIFE for April-he included by reference in the record of this Assembly; and this for the reason that they present the sublime mode and record of the General Church-new in church history in the world-a mode and record which many members in the church regret to see altered by the adoption of the man-made constitutional provision of a secret ballot, made necessary because of the existing state of the church which now demands such a ballot.
     "I can imagine that if a layman, for example, who believed strongly in the secret ballot could ask an angel for his opinion on the secret ballot, the angel might ask, 'Well, what is the purpose of secrecy in the ballot?" The answer might be made that in the political world, and in labor unions and business and other organizations, a secret ballot is often provided to prevent reprisals and other disorders which take away freedom. Maybe such practices may not enter the minds of people in the church. Then what is the reason?
     "There may be many reasons. In the absence of secrecy people hesitate or fail to express their convictions and opinions, and it is insisted that a secret ballot will provide for much more freedom.
     "And so it may under existing conditions. But the angel might say in answer to the question: "Is secrecy desirable in ballots recording church voting? At least where we are, no member of our society desires to keep secret his view on important matters; and, indeed, he would not be in our society if that were the case. Moreover, even among those who do not find their lot in the heavens, in the spiritual world men's facial expressions and words must agree with what they really think.'
     "However, in the case before us it is clear that many insist that they will be deprived of freedom if they are denied the secret ballot. And therefore I say again, it is abundantly apparent that we should act by secret ballot. But I do feel that the record of this Assembly should include by reference the purpose underlying the ideal - mode adopted and followed since the General Church was founded. This method followed the debacle by which the Academy as a church and ecclesiastical organization was destroyed. And it was destroyed, I believe, for the reason that there was not in the early Academy the freedom that there should have been in the matter of membership and the division made between its so-called celestial and spiritual membership.
     "The ecclesiastical body of the General Church of the New Jerusalem was founded in an outstanding spirit of freedom, in the desire to have the church led by the Lord without the intervention of a constitution (which was also true of the Academy). Their [the founders] action under Divinely given freedom desired by the General Church was a new and a beautiful thing; and I think that the reasons given in support of this mode of freedom should appear, and that the record should not stand, as it was left last night, as though there were no defense for the mode previously followed in selecting a bishop for the General Church.
     "In conclusion, may I say that I believe it is clear to all of us that when we are through with this matter of voting and the manner of voting, it is still the desire in the hearts of all of us that the selection to be consummated is a selection by the Lord, as has been ably said, in which we are privileged to partake as human instruments, and that that selection will be undoubtedly the Lord's work; and that it will be wonderful in our eyes."
     Rev. N. H. Reuter wanted to speak to a point raised by Mr. Pitcairn, for he thought it important that this Assembly does not feel that the use of a secret ballot has been a retrogression in the procedures of the church. He would not have favored it unless he believed it to be a progression. He believed this on doctrinal grounds.

491

As human beings we ought to recognize that the greatest danger to our church is to believe that everything done in the days of its origin was right and good. If that belief becomes fixed in people's minds, no change or progression is possible. The second thing to recognize is that in the establishment of a new procedure we are not dealing with a change in principle. A principle is internal, a procedural change is external. Doctrine teaches us that externals are things that change with time and circumstances and that internal growth demands such changes. It is of order that children should be fed with their mothers' milk, but this is not of order when the child grows up. The church has its days of infancy and its days of childhood, youth and old age. If we do not allow procedural changes the internal development may be cramped. The days are coming when the church will be much larger than the great gathering which gives us such a delightful feeling today. There will he a need for many changes, and we must prepare our minds for them, so that they can be welcomed as stages of progression and not come under the opprobrium of retrogression.
     He believed that the change in the mode of voting was a progression, for another reason: The Lord guards our freedom as the apple of His eye, as the most important in all His provisions. And in order that there shall be the freedom to become an angel of heaven there must be the provision that there may be a hell. This is a hard doctrine for many people, who believe that if the Lord were a little wiser He could have made a heaven without the possibility of a hell. And there are people here who believe that we could have the freedom to assent in secrecy without the freedom to dissent. There is no freedom to dissent without the protection the Lord gives. . . . The Lord protects man a inmost choice, while we are in the natural world, by the separation of the understanding from the will and by other provisions since the fall of man. It is a mistaken notion to believe that we can act as angels. It would be doctrinally unsound to build a church on the theory that we are angels. We must face facts. We are not angels and the Lord provides freedom by this, that we shall not have to expose our hearts until we are regenerate, and then He allows our internals to become one with our externals. But before that His government permits that our externals can at times be a mask for our internals, because this is necessary for the protection of our freedom.
     The speaker therefore believed this to be a historic step, bringing the principles of the General Church to a fuller fruition than was possible in the past. An idealistic approach to things is normal in the beginning days. It is a part of wisdom to preserve ideals but also to become more realistic. He believed the church is maturing.
13.     After some announcements, a five minute recess was declared.
14.     Bishop De Charms, presiding, announced the subject of Bishop Pendleton's address, "One God, One Word." (This paper was printed in the
August issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE, pages 347-356). As Bishop Pendleton entered the rostrum, the audience rose in a prolonged ovation.
     At the conclusion of the address Bishop De Charms opened the discussion of what he called a "profound yet eminently simple explanation of the doctrine of the New Church as to the Divine Human of the Lord and the unity of His Word, which, of course, is the center of all doctrines of the New Church and the fulcrum on which the whole progress of the church will depend in the future."
     Rev. Dandridge Pendleton (formerly a Pastor and now an Instructor in the Academy Schools) was struck by the idea brought out in the address that apart from the concept of a trinity, the unity of a thing cannot be seen.

492

He had met with a curious problem in instructing high school-age pupils about the Trinity. This profound yet simple teaching can be graphed on the blackboard to our freshmen, and again repeated to older classes, yet each time it seems to them new as if they had never been told about it. He conjectured that there may be an influx from the other world which kept their young minds in the important concept of the Trinity without which the unity of God cannot be seen. The thought of three persons may come back to them even in adult life, even though they do think of the Lord Jesus Christ as the one God.
     By the same token, we must be very careful that we do not in effect do away with the Old and New Testaments (which with the Writings constitute the trinal Word). When problems come up, we may often say, Go to the Writings! But the speaker had met with problems for which no adequate answer was found in the Writings-and this because of his state at the time. And the answer has been found instead in the New Testament or perhaps in the Old.
     When speaking to our own people we should perhaps say, then, Go to the Word (which includes the three revelations). For in providence the needs of our lives are so interwoven that at times we need to come back to those first states which are placed within the former revelations. He felt indebted to the Bishop for tying together some of these lines of thought.
     Rev. E. C. Acton (Pastor of the Glenview Society) thought it most appropriate that this address should have been given at the time of a change of administration, Clearly and forcibly it brought out that the two essential doctrines of the church-the doctrine of the Lord and the doctrine of the Word-are essentially one. The teaching that unity cannot be seen apart from a trinity reminded him of a passage which said that an idea of one is derived from an idea of many. And so it is that every truth we learn from the Word, and everything we learn about the Lord, adds to our idea of the unity of God. This we can see in relation to the human body, in that the more we study the individual organs and their uses, the more perfectly we have an idea of the unity of the body.
     In regard to the use of the Old Testament in particular, the Writings teach that every idea we have, no matter how abstract, is in the last analysis based upon some sensual idea, some definite idea based in time and in space. Where can these sensual ideas come from on which spiritual truths can be founded? They are to come from the Word. And that is the great use of the Old Testament more than the New, that it contributes sensual ideas or images which, when implanted in our minds from infancy, are to remain to eternity as a basis for all our interior thought. For every idea thus derived is a truth open even to the Lord Himself.
     A third point concerns the question of particular and general truths. Any general truth of the church will be agreed to by all sane men who have religion: that God is one, that there is a life after death, that he who lives well will be saved, that the neighbor should be loved and good must he done. When our young people go out into the world, they may think that these are "New Church" ideas. They get quite a shock when they find that practically all sane and good men whom they meet will agree with those generals. They do not notice the false particulars with which those generals may be filled. The things which distinguish the New Church are the particulars derived from the spiritual sense: not that there is one God, but who that one God is. Thus the Writings say that general truths are of the letter of the Word, while. particular truths are of the spiritual sense. And our duty as New Church men is, therefore to infill every general idea with true particulars, by reading, reflection, and meditation.

493

     Rev. H. C. Cranch introduced himself as Pastor in California, travelling minister, salesman of the doctrine. He assumed that all had-like himself-been thrilled by the address. The Bishop had begun his official term as Executive Bishop by reaffirming and restating and clarifying in a beautiful fashion the essential doctrines of the Lord and the Word. The address outlined our principles and ideals in regard to the development of the church. This was of special interest to Mr. Cranch, who had since the beginning of his ministry devoted himself to that field. The fundamental idea that "all religion has relation to life" enters into everything we do-into the New Church idea of use. We as an organization have a use; and the New Church as a universal church has a use. And all use is the Lord's with man and looks to man salvation-that there may be a heaven from the human race. This is the use of the church into which we must enter. All human uses have relation to this universal use: that man, through the Lord's work by means of the co-operation of other men, may be prepared for the Lord's kingdom. As a church our use is to make the Lord known, to make the Word known, to make the meaning of a good life known to all people. And it must be done within the framework of the vision which the Bishop presented before us.
     We must see that the church must at first be among a few, so that it can develop and its uses be at the same time protected, in preparation for its spread among many. In the work of the Extension Committee we are endeavoring to bring this ideal into reality in our missionary and introductory work. Our first effort is to learn from the Word what the Lord wants us to do. This is not a matter of expediency, but an effort to see the Word in its entirety, and, as we see the principles, go out and apply them. Some of the fruits of that committee and of the thought of the church are already evident to many of you. The work of the visiting pastors has been going on since the beginning of the General Church, and, of course, there is study with a view to perfect it. But a further fruit of the committee's work is the Readers' Guide which is published in time for this Assembly. This follows the principles of the General Church for the preserving of its ideals. For we must use the wisdom of men to lead men to the Word itself. Therefore all of the ministers of the Extension Committee have reviewed the literature published in the church in the past, with a view to find the best material available to introduce each doctrine of the church. The material has been graded and arranged so that it can lead more and more fully to the thought of the Writings, and so that new receivers may be led to the Writings.
     In this way the vision of the growth of the church, given in the address, can be protected. Men must be led by the truth of the Word to the Lord, the one God of heaven and earth, so that the Lord in turn might lead every man through the stages of his life. For "except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it."
     Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner wished to speak of one phase of the very profound and important doctrine stressed in the Bishop's address. The explanations offered of the relationship of the Writings to the literal sense of the New Testament and the Old have often been challenged in ordinary thinking. But it had always appeared to the speaker as exceedingly important that we, who refuse to worship three persons in God, should not divide the three revelations-which, it must be admitted, appear in their ultimate form as three separate Words. That point was brought out as an essential by the Bishop this morning. There is, in fact, a passage in the Spiritual Diary (no. 5131) which teaches that the Word and the Divine Human are one-are one human form! Not three human forms, each with feet and arms and head, but one human form with all its constituents.
     Now we must not think merely from space. We would be thinking from space when we think of the difference between the material books-the many volumes of the Writings, the five books of the New Testament, and the twenty-nine books of the Old.

494

We would think from time if we thought of them as written in sequence through various prophets down the ages. But we should rather regard them spiritually-as a unified field of thought, as one Word. The passage alluded to is most clarifying, because it shows how the Word is one human form. Would it not follow that the ultimates of that human form are revealed in the Old Testament, in the sensual imagery that immediately presents itself when we read the Old Testament? And the living viscera-the heart and lungs, so to speak-that stir our affections and our will while reading of the love and wisdom of the Lord incarnate, are like the Gospels, which palpitate with the warm charity and compassion of the Lord. And then come the Writings. What are the Writings, in this human body Divine? For all revelations are in the form of ultimates through which the Holy Spirit, or the spiritual sense, presents itself. What are the Writings, except that nervous system, that highest organic of the body of man, through which every single intention and thought is revealed in actions and words! The nervous system, beginning with the inmosts of the brain, has a resemblance to the Writings, which are never separated from the literal sense of the Word. For every statement of doctrine is brought down into the ultimates of the Old Testament or the New; just as the nerves, through their telodendra or nerve endings, enter into every single muscle fibre of the human frame.
     It seems important that we should have such a visual picture of the relationship of these three forms of revelation, which are yet one Word, even as God in His one Person is the God whom we worship.
15.     Bishop De Charms called for the Report of the Judges of Election. Mr. Harry C. Walter read the following:
To the Secretary of the General Church of the New Jerusalem:
     The undersigned, being the duly appointed Judges of Election for the approval of the RIGHT REVEREND WILLARD DANDRIDGE PENDLETON for Bishop of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, do hereby report and certify:
1.     That we received 810 ballots from the Tellers at the second session of the 23rd General Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, held Saturday, June 16, 1962.
2.     That each of the several ballots were handled and examined by each of the undersigned Judges of Election.
3.     That the several ballots were counted by each of the several Judges of Election.
4.     That the said ballots were marked as follows:

Abstaining     1
Blanks     3
NO          5
YES          801
     Respectfully submitted,
(Signed)
J. E. Kuhl, Kitchener, Ontario
Harold McQueen, Glenview, Ill.
Harry C. Walter, Bryn Athyn, Pa. Chairman

495

     Rev. K. R. Alden led the Assembly in a spontaneous singing of "Our Glorious Church."
     Bishop Pendleton: "I would just like to say to the Assembly that I deeply appreciate your confidence in my ability to sustain the uses of the episcopal office. I realize that these uses are increasing in complexity, but I am also certain that with the assurance you have given me we can go forward as a General Church. I am particularly reminded at this moment that the General Church is not the New Church. It is a human organization of the New Church. But our responsibility is the perfecting of that organ, because it is one of the means in the Lord's providence for the establishment of the New Church. It is to our minds, at this time in history, the most important means. There are very great responsibilities resting upon the General Church, and those responsibilities must be sustained by all of us. When we reflect on what it is that is expected of us, we are quite capable of rising above ourselves and doing the tasks that are presented before us day by day.
     "I can simply say at this time: With the assurance you have given me, I accept this responsibility of leadership with humility and with gratitude." (The audience rose with sustained applause.)
     Bishop De Charms: "I should like to add a personal word in regard to the action taken by this body today. I want to express my own individual feeling of deep gratitude to the Lord, who in His providence has through all the years of the past provided for the government and leadership of the church; and particularly at this time my deep gratitude that in the providence of the Lord one has been raised up with the ability, the experience, and the knowledge of Bishop Pendleton, to carry on the work of the General Church, in which I have the fullest confidence for the future. It was in the providence of the Lord, I believe, that I was called upon to serve as the Bishop of this church for some twenty-four years. And what is deepest in my heart is the kindness and co-operation and the confidence which the church has shown to me during those years through which I have done the best I could to carry on the work of the church.
     "And now when I am called upon to set aside those responsibilities and turn them over to a new administration, I wish to express the deepest feelings in my heart that the Lord has provided and is providing for the future of this church. Not only in the person of Bishop Pendleton, but in the church itself-in the ministers who have been raised up, carrying work to every part of the world where the church has some beginning, and the lay members of the church, and the young people who have been raised in the faith of the church. I see nothing but hope and confidence for the future, for I see in the whole spirit of this church, as evidenced in this Assembly, the prospects of a future growth beyond anything that we could possibly have imagined. Think of what has happened to us in the past fifty years, and how this little body has grown; not only in numbers, not only in the facilities that have been provided to build up our Academy for the uses of the church, not only in the great cathedral built as a center for our worship, but especially in the spirit of loyalty and determination shown by the members of our church to go forward in the name of the Lord to make this church truly a servant of the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, and to follow these teachings of the Writings freely, as best the Lord gives us to understand them; that the Lord will be with us in the future as He has been in the past, and that He Himself may lead and guide and govern His church in the years to come." (Sustained applause.)

496

     16. After the singing of Hymn 24, the meeting was adjourned.

     Third Session-Saturday, June 16, 8 p.m.

17. The meeting opened with the singing of Doxology 17, with prayer conducted by the Rev. B. A. H. Boyesen, and the reading of Exodus 25: 10-22.
18. Rev. B. A. H. Boyesen, presiding, introduced the Rev. Erik Sandstrom, ex-pastor of the J6nkiiping and Stockholm societies, now pastor of Michael Church in London and a member of the Revision and Translation Board of the Swedenborg Society, presently employed on a Latin edition of the Arcana Coelestia. The title of Mr. Sandstrom's address was given as "'The Following is Not a Written Constitution'-Some Reflections on a Remarkable Document." (The address and the discussion are printed on pages 384-397 of the September issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE.)
19. After the discussion of the paper, the meeting closed with the singing of Hymn 17.

     Fourth Session-Sunday, June 17, 8 p.m.

     20. After the singing of Hymn 39 and prayer, and the reading of CL 533 and AE 732 by the Rev. Morley D. Rich (presiding), an address was given by Professor Richard R. Gladish on "The Most Fruitful Field."
     Mr. Rich introduced Professor Gladish, son of a pioneer New Church minister, as one who had at first taught in the elementary school, and since 1950 been Principal of the Boys School of the Academy, and lately employed on research in the history of New Church education. (The address and the discussion which followed are printed in NEW CHURCH LIFE, September 1962, pages 398-414.)
21. The meeting closed with the singing of Anthem 10.

     Fifth Session-Monday, June 18, 10 a.m.

22.     The meeting opened with the singing of Hymn 50, and with prayer, and the reading of Psalm 33: 1-12, conducted by the Rev. Harold C. Cranch.
23.     Bishop Pendleton (presiding): "For the past thirty-four years, Doctor Hugo Odhner has served as the Secretary of the General Church. Among the many offices which he has performed for the church this is one which he has performed with excellence and in a very unassuming manner, but it is an office of responsibility. Now, after thirty-four years, he has offered his resignation. There are three offices in the General Church which are filled by election in the General Assembly. One is the office of the Executive Bishop, the other is that of Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE, and the third is that of Secretary of the General Church.

498

Many of you may not know this, for though we went twenty-five years without electing a Bishop, we have gone thirty-four years before proceeding to the election of a Secretary. . . . The difference is that in the election of a Secretary the name is not presented to the Council of the Clergy, but is presented to the Assembly by the Bishop. However, the nomination which I would present to you today is not only of my own choosing. It comes to you with the unanimous approval and consent of the Bishop's Consistory, which is a body which serves in an advisory capacity to the episcopal office when the Council of the Clergy is not in session.
     "Now before we proceed any further, I think it would be most fitting that this Assembly, by rising, should acknowledge thirty-four years of service as Secretary of the General Church." (Those present rose with prolonged applause.)
     "The man whose name I would present to the Assembly to succeed Doctor Odhner as Secretary of the General Church is in my opinion and that of the Consistory highly qualified. He is qualified not only by ability but also by interest. We do not find many members of the clergy who are interested in being Secretary. But this man has this kind of interest-a peculiar love for that kind of work. He has also had training for this work. The name I would present is that of the Reverend Robert S. Junge.
     "It is important at this time that I explain fully what I have in mind. For the time has come that the office of Secretary of the General Church must be expanded. In the past the bulk of the administration of the General Church has been carried by two offices-that of the Bishop and that of the Treasurer. The need today is for a third office which will serve as a communication and information center of the General Church. We have reached a stage in our development when this has become necessary. This office, I hope, will be responsible for all inquiries and communications addressed to the General Church, as well as for all the records of the General Church which up to now have been processed through the office of the Bishop. It will become responsible for the distribution and mailing of all church publications and notifications which up to now have been issued by the office of the Treasurer, and which have placed a tremendous strain on the Treasurer's office. I believe this aspect of the work of the church properly belongs, and should be placed under, the office of the Secretary. It is also anticipated that this office will accept responsibility for correlating the work that is now being done by various agencies of instruction and information, such as the Sound Recording Committee, the Religion Lessons, New Church sermons, the Calendar Readings and other communication uses of the church. . . . It is not my intention that these uses should be merged under the Secretary, for they can best be served by having each its own head and its own responsibility. But the time has come when there must be a correlation of all this work. They can become more effective by being brought into closer relationship through the office of the Secretary.
     "Finally, the Secretary will be responsible for the vital statistics of the church. This is not a new responsibility, for the Secretary has always been responsible for the statistics, although they have been kept and provided for in the Bishop's office. But the time has come in the growth of the church when far more consideration must be given to the compilation and interpretation of our statistical data. By interest, and, I am glad to say, by special training in statistics, Mr. Robert Junge is the man most qualified for this important work of statistical interpretation.
     "The question therefore is, when this change can become effective. For the work outlined here is probably a full time occupation, if it can be carried out in the way I envision it. And I am particularly anxious that there should be no pastoral changes in the General Church until September 1963, so as not suddenly to disrupt the uses of our various societies. This means that I am asking this Assembly to act on the nomination of Mr. Junge but that the change-over would not occur until it is practical.

498

It would mean that Doctor Odhner would continue probably another year, making thirty-five in all, as Secretary of the General Church. I would rather do it this way than to have to appoint a Secretary pro tem pore without being able to take the matter directly to an Assembly. The question is now before you."
     The Bishop also noted that this program as a whole had been discussed in our councils and within the Board of Directors.
     24.     Mr. Otho W. Heilman made a motion, duly seconded, that this nomination be accepted.
     Rev. D. B. Holm felt that the Assembly would be more conversant with the pro. posed program if it could be explained why the office of Secretary of the General Church should be regarded as a priestly use.
     Bishop Pendleton: "Well, you see the Secretary of the General Church before you at the Assembly. He also serves as the Secretary of the Joint Council which meets every year. It is the Secretary, who along with the Bishop, receives and recognizes all new members into the General Church and who should be fully acquainted with the entire communication relationship of the Bishop's office to the church. I had always assumed that the Secretary of the General Church should be a priest."
     To the question as to the relation of the office of Secretary to the missionary work of the church, the Bishop replied:
     "To the Secretary's office should come many, many communications. Today I receive letters and Bishop De Charms receives letters and Mr. Gyllenhaal receives letters of inquiry-which increase every year, from people who want information. It is confusing. Mr. Gyllenhaal receives letters which he says he is not qualified to answer: not business questions, but such as need clarification by a minister. I think we can improve our communications. However, in electing Mr. Junge as Secretary, he does not have to do all these things which I had in mind, but I am bringing them before you this time and not at a later Assembly to show one of the more immediate needs in the reorganization of our General Church structure. For we are, in the next three or four years, going to pass through a period of reorganization."
     Mr. Raymond Pitcairn asked whether it is not true that the two offices of Secretary and Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE are part of the Bishop's administration, and that, in an ecclesiastical sense, they might compare with members of a cabinet.
     Professor E. Bruce Glenn said that many who had attended Mr. Junge's sermons and doctrinal discussions would feel the loss involved if his work as Secretary is to be a full time job, drawing him away from his opportunities as a doctrinal scholar and pastor. But the Bishop and his Consistory had no doubt considered this. And anytime a man is given a new use, something has to yield.
     Rev. H. L. Odhner was convinced that the office of Secretary of the General Church was a priestly office, because, in his correspondence with other bodies, he has to represent the church from the spiritual as well as civic standpoints. Many things come through his hands which cannot be handled as lay uses.
     He had wished to resign long before this, because there is a lot of work which should be done but which the present Secretary could not possibly undertake. We have a remarkable find in Mr. Junge-a man who is willing to develop this work. And while this might involve a lot of almost secular duties, it is true that almost every work, however exalted, has its moments of drudgery and its civil responsibilities. He was delighted with the Bishop's choice.

499

The need had become more urgent to find someone to correlate a number of uses, such as publication, etc., in order to save time and avoid duplication of effort among the various officials and workers in the church. He hoped that the Assembly shared his feeling that we were fortunate in having this able nominee for the office.
     Rev. N. H. Reuter said that one of the important reasons why the Secretary should be a clergyman was shown in our "Order and Organization" which-in the sad event of the Bishop's office being suddenly vacated-calls for the Secretary as the one responsible for convening the Council of the Clergy and the Board (in Joint Council) to take care of such a situation. It is eminently a responsibility of the clergy to initiate such action, and therefore a minister should have the office of Secretary. He added that those who had had contact with the Rev. Robert Junge could testify that he has already exhibited a remarkable talent and interest in such work as would be his as Secretary.
25.     The question being called for, the motion to elect the Rev. Robert Junge as the next Secretary of the General Church was passed by a unanimous vote. (It was understood that Dr. Odhner was to retain office until the change-over was practical.)
26.     The Assembly unanimously moved to instruct the Secretary to send a letter of greetings to the General Convention of the New Jerusalem, for their forthcoming meeting in Pawnee Rock, Kansas. (See page 503.)
27.     The TREASURER OF THE GENERAL CHURCH, Mr. Leonard E. Gyllenhaal, read his Report.
28. Mr. James Junge, chairman of the GENERAL CHURCH CONTRIBUTIONS COMMITTEE gave the following Report. (Parenthetically he noted that the vote for the Bishop had come out 99 38/100% on the first ballot while Ivory Soap had tried for years and is still only 99 44/100% pure!)
29.
     Report of the General Church Contributions Committee

     Over the last few years, it has been the purpose of the General Church Contributions Committee to broaden the base of contributors. The problem we faced was a declining trend in the number of contributors which began back in 1945 when 47.6% of our membership was contributing. This trend continued until 1958, by which time we had only 33%. Analysis showed that it was the young people we were failing to reach; and if we did not find a solution to this, we could expect the trend to continue downward.
     In 1959 and 1960, we experimented with mailing techniques in the Bryn Athyn area and demonstrated to our own satisfaction that these methods could be effective in arresting and reversing this trend. By 1960, we had struggled back up to 37%, representing 773 contributors. In 1961, the committee decided that the time was right for an all-out effort. I think you may find what we did in our campaign of interest:
     First of all, we established an objective for ourselves. We knew that the committee would be called upon to make a report at the Twenty-third General Assembly. As this Assembly heralds the beginning of a new era in the church, we felt that this was a propitious time for re-dedication to principles and uses. A tangible way for the church body to express this is by their contributions. Hence, we asked ourselves: "Would it not be fitting at the General Assembly to be able to report that in 1961 more than 48% of our members contributed-thus breaking a fifty-year record set in 1945?"

500

We established this as our goal.
     The next step in our campaign was to inform the members of the General Church throughout the world of our objectives. On October 9, 2,000 letters, setting forth our objectives, were mailed out. Eight hundred of these went out over my name to Bryn Athynites and isolated members, not served by a treasurer's agent. The other 1,200 letters were sent in packages to Treasurer's agents for their use. A letter was sent to the Treasurer's agents putting the responsibility squarely on them and asking for progress reports. In all, counting follow-up letters and letters acknowledging contributions, more than 3,500 letters were sent.
     The important thing, of course, is not how many letters were written, but what kind of results did we get? In my own mind, I had hoped that we would get 50% or more to contribute. We fell short of this mark, getting 48.6%. However, we did reach our stated goal of breaking the fifty-year record established in 1945 when 47.6% contributed. Perhaps more impressively, we raised the number of contributors from 773 in 1960 to 1,026 in 1961. This is a gain of more than 250 contributors and marks the first time that we have had over 1,000 contributors.
     It is interesting to me that in seeking to broaden the base of contributors we have automatically raised the total dollars received substantially, yet we never stressed this aspect of contributing. Just the same, several people sent in additional contributions to encourage us.
     But, before we become too complacent, let's do a little analyzing. It troubles me that with the effort expended we still do not have a really good return. Somehow we are failing to get our message across. Something is wrong when less than Y2 of our members feel vitally enough about General Church uses to make a contribution.
     To gain some perspective it may be interesting to turn back the calendar about fifty years to 1914. Reviewing the minutes of the executive committee for that year one immediately suspects that the date must be wrong because of the names found in the minutes-Synnestvedt, Nelson, Bostock, Pitcairn, Junge, Carswell, McQueen, Schoenberger, Roschman, Acton, Pendleton, Boericke and Alden-to name a few. These are the same names found in the minutes today. No change since 1914? Well, yes, come to think of it, the first names are different . . . often different by two generations.
     Did our grandfathers ever have a highly effective method of getting in contributions! Listen to this -four times a year a list of all contributors was drawn up, with the amount contributed posted opposite each name, and this list was published in NEW CHURCH LIFE. This sounds pretty rough by our standards, but in 1914, my grandfather, William H. Junge, felt the system should be tightened up and suggested that each member contribute at least one cent per week to every church use or incur the censure of the church I Mr. William H. Alden, the treasurer, said he felt this might be somewhat radical.
     One statistic I am sure you will be interested in reflects the growth of General Church uses over the past fifty years. In 1914, our expenses were about $6,000. This year, they will exceed $120,000. So, you can readily see how important your contributions are to the growth of the church.
     Something we owe to the year 1914 is our treasurer's agents system. It was in this year that the executive committee instructed the treasurer, Mr. Alden, to appoint suitable local treasurers who would instruct their societies about the uses and needs of the General Church. Now, Mr. Alden believed in supporting his agents. I note this letter addressed to a prominent church member who had given Mr. Harold McQueen, a newly appointed treasurer's agent, a rough time:

501

"Dear Mr. X:
"Mr. Harold McQueen tells me that you have expressed to him disapproval of the giving of a promise of contribution to the General Church. I am writing to ask if this disapproval includes disapproval of giving contributions to the General Church. I hope not; and yet it would almost seem so from the fact that I find no record of a contribution from you since the year 1901, when you contributed $2.00.
"Is this inadvertence, or is there some principle involved?"
(Signed by William H. Alden, Treasurer)

29.     After a ten minute recess, the Rev. K. R. Alden claimed the floor on a point of order. He noted that in the discussion of Professor Gladish's address it had been stated that no new local schools had been added in our societies on this continent since 1897. But he submitted that the movement, started by Theta Alpha, to educate our isolated children by supplying systematic religion lessons from pre-kindergarten through the four years of high school must be considered as an educational institution, which is now ministering to 463 children. (Applause.)
30.     The Rev. H. C. Cranch, presiding, introduced the Rev. Martin Pryke who gave an address on "Correspondence and Representation." (This paper and the discussion which followed are printed in the September issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE, pp. 415-431.)
30. The meeting closed, after the singing of Doxology 51.
31.
     Sixth Session-Monday, June 18, 8 p.m.

     32.     After the singing of Anthem 13, Bishop Pendleton opened the meeting with prayer and the reading of Deuteronomy 4: 1-14.
33.     A letter of greeting from the Swedenborg Society of London was read by the Secretary. (See page 502.) This was followed by applause.
34.     The Rev. Elmo C. Acton gave an address, entitled "The 'Good' of the Church." (This paper and the discussion which followed are printed on pages 455-469.)
35.     At the end of the discussion, the meeting adjourned.
     Respectfully submitted,
     HUGO LJ. ODHNER
     Secretary.

     (Note: The Secretary, in reporting the discussion and other transactions of the Assembly, gratefully acknowledges the indispensable help of the Sound Recording Committee which put at his disposal a complete and clear set of tape-recordings.)

502

     ASSEMBLY MESSAGES

     The following letters were received and were read during the Assembly or at the banquet:

     To the Acting Bishop of the General Church of the New Jerusalem:
     Greetings from the President and Council of the Swedenborg Society to the 23rd Session of the General Assembly.
     We are very grateful for the assistance toward our work received from the Academy and members and friends within the General Church. We would acknowledge also the very valuable and editorial contribution given by the Rev. A. Wynne Acton in the preparation of the new edition of the first volume of the Spiritual Diary just published, and to the Rev. Erik Sandstrom who is now continuing the work commenced by the late Rev. P. H. Johnson in preparation of the third Latin edition of the Arcana Coelestia.
     Permit me also to send greetings to all members of this Society now gathered at your present session.
ELDIN O. ACTON,
President

     To the 23rd General Assembly:

     Warm greetings from friends in New Zealand. We pray that through the Lord's leading this Assembly may be moved to insure that our beloved church be blessed with leadership that will preserve its present freedom and order, and that there may be continually increasing strength.
     For the General Church group in Auckland,
MARION MILLS

     The Chairman, 23rd General Assembly Committee:
     The Durban Society of the General Church of the New Jerusalem sends its greetings to the Twenty-third General Assembly of the General Church.
     May the meetings be an inspiration to all those privileged to attend, and may their deliberations bear fruit in the growth and establishment of the New Church.
A. MARTIN BUSS,
     Secretary

     The following telegrams were received from societies and individuals and read at the Assembly banquet:

From the Colchester Society, England:
     Best wishes to the 23rd General Assembly. Loyal greetings to our new Bishop and thanks to Bishop De Charms. From the Colchester Society at their 19th of June celebration. JOHN COOPER.

     From the Olivet Society, Toronto, Ontario, Canada:

     The members of the Olivet Society who are unable to be present on this happy occasion wish to express their fervent hope that the blessings of the Lord may have been with you in all your deliberations and that the inspiration which you have received may remain with you to give strength to the church, by promoting among us all a greater understanding of and devotion to the heavenly doctrines. For our new Executive Bishop we pray that the Lord may ever be present to sustain and guide him in the government of the church. JOHN RAYMOND, SECRETARY.

503

     From the Pittsburgh Society, Pennsylvania, and the North Ohio Circle:

     Affectionate greetings and best wishes to the 23rd General Assembly. PITTSBURGH SOCIETY AND NORTH OHIO CIRCLE.

From the San Diego Circle, California:
     Greetings from San Diego Circle from all at home. We are with you in spirit. SAN DIEGO CIRCLE.

From the Tabor Mission, Georgetown, British Guiana:
     Tabor Mission joins you in praise and prayer, with affection, desire. HENRY ALGERNON.

From the Abed family, Nablus, Jordon:
     To the General Assembly on the 19th of June. Heartiest greetings to all friends of the New Church in Bryn Athyn on this important day. ABEDS.

From the Rev. and Mrs. A. Wynne Acton, Durban, Natal, South Africa:
     May the Assembly bring a blessing to the church. Loving wishes to all. THE ACTONS.

From Mr. and Mrs. John Cooper, Colchester, England:
     Bishop Willard D. Pendleton. Warmest congratulations. Love. JOHN AND MAUDE.

From Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Pritchett, Toronto, Ontario, Canada:
     May your deliberations prove fruitful to the future of your church. JOE AND CERI.

From Mrs. Joan Adams Wilkinson, Salisbury, South Rhodesia:
     May the Lord's will be done. Affectionate greetings for a wonderful Assembly.
JOAN ADAMS WILKINSON.
GREETING TO CONVENTION 1962

GREETING TO CONVENTION HUGO LJ. ODHNER 1962

     By unanimous vote of the Assembly, the Secretary was instructed to send the following message to the 139th annual session of the General Convention:

Mr. Horace B. Blackmer
Recording Secretary
The General Convention of the New Jerusalem
134 Bowdoin Street
Boston 8, Massachusetts
     Dear Mr. Blackmer:
     The members of the General Church of the New Jerusalem gathered in general assembly at Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, on June 18, 1962, send their cordial greetings, wishing your General Convention the Lord's blessings of enlightenment and guidance at the forthcoming meetings at Pawnee Rock, Kansas.
     Sincerely yours, in the faith and fellowship of the New Church,
HUGO LJ. ODHNER,
     Secretary of the General Church

504

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1962

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS Rev. FREDERICK L. SCHNARR 1962

     As we read in the Writings, and allow our thought to enter into the consideration of one doctrine after another, we are made aware of a Divine mercy so great, so full of compassion and love, that mere human mercy scarcely begins to reflect the qualities of the Divine mercy. The nature of the Divine mercy revealed in the Writings far surpasses any concept of Divine mercy that man, in his religious thought and doctrinal study, has ever conjectured, or has even supposed could be possible.
     Two specific teachings in our current readings from the Arcana Coelestia brought to our attention the unlimited depths of the Lord's mercy. In explanation of Abram's words to the Lord, "whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?"-the land of Canaan-the Writings teach concerning the State of doubt and despair which accompanies all real temptations. They tell how the hells attack any good affection or love that begins to form in man; and they describe the insidious and crafty mode whereby the infernal crew assaults and endeavors to destroy the things of heaven with man. In clear detail the Writings describe the malignant efforts of the hells to seduce man, and the clandestine arts whereby they strive to take away his spiritual life.
     Such teachings bring home to us the very real and horrible power of the hells, and their presence with us. And when we examine ourselves, especially in states of discouragement and despair, we see within ourselves such a clamoring throng of the various forms of hell that, no matter what our efforts have been, we are despondent about ever entering into the promised land. When we see how embroiled we are in the spheres of evil, how inclined we are to placate, to justify, and even to defend the enemy within; a feeling of utter hopelessness pervades us.
     But then we are told, in the profound simplicity of a universal truth, that it is the Lord, and not we ourselves, who overcomes the hells within us, if only we give consent to His presence and make an effort to resist. And the Lord's mercy is so great that, even from a very little effort to seek His help and to shun even one evil, the Lord can begin to overcome and shatter for man all the massed forces of hell.
     Even though man might desire to halt at the first step of wisdom, and from an acknowledgment of the Lord be willing to obey truth but not to pursue it, the Lord's mercy is such that He can provide that such a man shall become eternally an angel of the lowest heaven.

505

As we learn from our reading, this is not the heaven the Lord wills man to enter. "The Lord, from the Divine love or mercy, wills to have all near to Himself; so that they do not stand at the doors, that is, in the first heaven; but He wills that they should be in the third."*
* AC 1799.
When we compare the peace, the order, and the happiness of even the lowest heaven with our life on earth, and think how much the Lord has provided for the eternal state of those who are willing to seek Him with even a weak and a little effort, we may see how very great indeed is the Lord's mercy.
IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1962

IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1962

The Missionary News Letter, sponsored by the Church Extension Committee and edited by the Rev. Kurt H. Asplundh, is a new publication for the General Church. So far three issues have appeared. The stated purposes of this attractively mimeographed news letter are to inspire an ever-increasing number of General Church people with a recognition of the uses to the church of external evangelization and with zeal for putting those uses into effect, and to disseminate information that may guide this zeal. To this end, reports have been published on the principles and policies that have been proposed or are being developed by the Church Extension Committee of the General Church, and on methods of external evangelization that are currently being used. The missionary efforts of other bodies of the New Church are also being noted. The result is interesting, vital, up-to-date material. Copies will be sent out free to all persons interested in church extension.
KNOWLEDGE BRINGS RESPONSIBILITY 1962

KNOWLEDGE BRINGS RESPONSIBILITY 1962

"Now because it has been granted me to be in the spiritual world and in the natural world at the same time, and thus to see each world . . . I am obliged by my conscience to manifest these things; for what is the use of knowing, unless what is known to one be also known to others?" (Intercourse of the Soul and the Body no. 18.)

506

READING WITH UNDERSTANDING 1962

READING WITH UNDERSTANDING Editor 1962

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 Business Manager. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.

TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$5.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy 50 cents.
Attention is sometimes drawn to the teaching that the angels understand the internal sense better when the Word is read by children than by adults. Before we put a premium on reading without understanding, however, there are other teachings that should also be considered. When the Writings were being given, the fact was indeed as stated. The Word was then understood only obscurely if at all. Nothing was known of the internal sense, and the letter was read in the light of false theologies, Men did not see in the Word the truth it was teaching, but what their creeds said that it taught. The mind of a child-ignorant indeed, but without falsity-was then a better ultimate for the angels than were the minds of most adults; though even then the Word, when read by a man who believed it in simplicity, was presented to them as living.
But wherever the Writings have been received it is known that the Word has an internal sense. It is now possible for men to think from some knowledge of that sense when they are reading the Word; to know that it is present and be aware of its generals even if the particulars are not seen. It is possible for them to understand what the genuine sense of the letter is. And when the Word is so read, when man thinks about the Divine things contained in it, those things are perceived in heaven as they cannot be when the Word is read by a child. However, man is not intended to read the Word only for the sake of the use performed to angels. The Lord is present with men through the reading of the Word, but is conjoined with them through the understanding of truth in it; and the more interior that understanding is, the deeper is the wisdom into which they can enter, for they are then in light together with angels.

507

LOCAL SCHOOLS DIRECTORY 1962

     1962-1963

     Local schools report the following teaching staffs for 1962-1963:

BRYN ATHYN:
     Rev. David R. Simons     Principal
     Miss Laura Gladish     Kindergarten (I)
     Miss Eleanor Cranch     Kindergarten (II)
     Miss Mary Louise Williamson     Grade 1 (I)
     Miss Gretchen Schoenberger     Grade 1 (II)
     Miss Nancy Stroh     Grade 2 (I)
     Mrs. Grant Doering     Grade 2 (II)
     Miss Erna Sellner     Grade 3 (1)
     Miss Vioia Friesen     Grade 3 (II)
     Mrs. Ann Kirby     Grade 4 (I)
     Mrs. Lorentz Soneson     Grade 4 (II)
     Miss Louise Doering     Grade 5 (I)
     Mrs. William Homiller     Grade 5 (II)
     Miss Anna Hamm     Grade 6 (Girls)
     Mr. Yorvar Synnestvedt     Grade 6 (Boys)
     Mr. Carl Gunther     Grade 7
     Mrs. Dan Echols     Grade 8
COLCHESTER     Rev. Frank S. Rose     Principal
     Miss Hilda M. Waters     Grades 1-6
     Rev. A. Wynne Acton     Principal
     Miss Sylvia Pemberton     Grades 1-3
GLENVIEW:     Rev. Elmo C. Acton     Headmaster
     Miss Gale Coffin     Kindergarten, Grade 1
     Miss Diana Carpenter     Grades 2 and 3
     Miss Ruth Parker     Grades 4 and 5
     Mr. Bradley Smith     Grades 6 and 7
     Miss Gladys Blackman     Grades 8 and 9
KITCHENER:     Rev. Geoffrey S. Childs     Principal
     Miss Josephine Odhner     Grades 1-4
     Mr. Dirk van Zyverden     LL Grades z-8
PITTSBURGH     Rev. Louis B. King     Principal
     Rev. Kurt H. Asplundh     Instructor in Religion
     Mrs. W. L. Horigan, Jr.     Kindergarten
     Miss Helene Howard     Grades 1-3
     Mrs. John Schoenberger     Grades 4-6
     Miss Gertrude Hasen     Grades 7-9

508

Church News 1962

Church News Various 1962

     NEW YORK, N. Y.

     A sense of having been renewed in the journey of the spirit pervaded the General Assembly, at which the New York Circle was represented by a majority of its members. Those present included Tom and Mary Aye, Bill Cowley, Francie Goodman, Louise Krause, Cornelia Stroh, Marilyn Stroh, Peter and Jane Synnestvedt, and Kirsten Synnestvedt.
     As New York City seems to be a place where New Church men come and go, we saw many former members of the circle, chief among them Gustaf Wielander, who now lives in California. Soon we are to lose Tom and Mary Aye, and their daughter Susan, to the same state. Our last service and doctrinal class of the year were held in June, after the Assembly, at the home of the Ayes in Roslyn, Long Island. Mary, as usual the gracious hostess, was helped by Tom, who cheerfully chauffeured us back and forth to the Long Island Railroad station.
     The other seven monthly services, conducted by our visiting pastor, the Rev. Ormond Odhner, were held in the Convention Society's 35th Street building at 2:30 p.m., on the first Sunday of the month. Tea was served during the brief intermission between the service and the doctrinal class, which usually ended about six o'clock.
     At our last meeting I repeated a remark that the Rev. Geoffrey Childs made to me during the Assembly. He said how much he had enjoyed the discussions at the New York doctrinal classes while he was our pastor. Reminiscing, our little group realized the great advantage we in New York have in being so close to Bryn Athyn, for throughout the years we have had the privilege of hearing many visiting preachers, including Bishop Pendleton and Bishop Emeritus De Charms, as well as students from the Theological School.
     Our little circle, whose regular adult members number about fifteen, is grateful for one large family-the eight Cowley children, from Terry, the eldest daughter, to Tony, the youngest son. They bring life and vitality to us, as well as being the reason for the helpful and informative children's addresses from which we oldsters also benefit.
     Our first service and annual meeting for the coming season will be held on October 7, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Schoenberger in Larchmont. It would be appreciated if visitors could let the hostess know by calling in advance TE 4-0809.
LOUISE KINTNER KRAUSE

     SWEDENBORG SOCIETY INC.

     152nd Annual Meeting

     The 152nd annual meeting of the Society was held at Swedenborg Hall on Friday, June 1, 1962, and was attended by some fifty members. The president, Mr. Eldin O. Acton, was in the chair, and the meeting was opened with the Lord's Prayer.
     After the notice convening the meeting had been read, apologies for absence were given from Mr. Fred Chadwick, Sir Thomas and Lady Chadwick, Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Houghton, Miss Sarah Hulin, Mr. and Mrs. G. H. Hunter, Rev. H. G. Mongredien, Rev. C. H. Presland, Rev. and Mrs. Erik Sandstrom, Mr. and Mrs. V. R. Tilson, Mr. and Mrs. N. Turner, and Miss Wynter. Messages from Dr. Ferrari and the Italian Swedenborg Society and from Mr. E. J. Parker of Toronto were read.

509

The minutes of the 151st annual meeting were read, confirmed, and then signed by the president.
     The Council's report for the year 1961 was then presented by the joint honorary secretaries. Mrs. Griffith referred to two new publications just issued-Spiritual Diary, volume 1, and Scripture Confirmations-and also drew attention to the purchase by the Society of the facsimile reproductions of the first editions of the Four Doctrines. These reproductions, by the Swedenborg Institute in Basle, were filling a need in the New Church, as there is a general shortage of Latin editions of the Writings.
     Reference was also made to the fact that vouchers for books to the value of half the annual subscription were no longer issued to members. In a scrutiny of the Society's Memorandum and Articles of Association for another purpose it had been seen that we ought not to give these vouchers. The Society's legal advisers had confirmed this reading of the Memorandum and the issue of vouchers had been stopped immediately. Mr. Drummond spoke mainly of advertising and of the response to advertisements in the Listener. A number of titles had been advertised; among them the work Divine Providence, under the heading "No Such Thing as Chance." Mr. Drummond appealed for more and more members as the only effective way of making sure that the Society can carry on its work.
     The honorary treasurer, Mr. R. V. Stebbing-Allen, then read the auditor's report and presented the accounts and balance sheet. He gave a full and clear account of how the Society's money had been spent and emphasized the need for more subscriptions and donations. The total of L2,486 included a single donation of over L1,400 from the Academy of the New Church, and, leaving this aside, the figure of L1,000 for subscriptions and donations was not nearly high enough.
     The chairman of the Council, Mr. K. F. Chadwick, moved the adoption of the report and accounts. He spoke appreciatively of the work of the Advisory and Revision Board and of the office staff. He referred to a matter not included in this report which had nevertheless occupied the Council's time and attention. This was a complete revision of the Articles of Association, which had become necessary, in part, because the 1948 Companies Act had made some of the articles inoperative, and the opportunity had been taken of completely redrafting them in accordance with the Society's needs. The matter was at present in the hands of the Society's solicitors, and when the approval of the Board of Trade had been obtained the new proposals would be put before the Society, possibly at a special meeting called for the purpose.
     The motion for the adoption of the report was seconded by Mrs. Joan Wainscot, and after brief comments from Miss M. Acton, Mr. Eades, Mrs. Pratt and the Rev. F. F. Couison was carried unanimously.
     Mr. A. A. Drummond put the Council's nomination of Mr. Eldin O. Acton as president for a further term. This was seconded by Mr. K. F. Chadwick and carried with acclamation. Mr. R. H. Griffith continues as vice president. Mr. Chapman moved the Council's nomination of Mr. R. V. Stebbing-Allen as honorary treasurer. This was seconded by Mr. George Marshall and carried unanimously.
     The scrutineer's report on the election of the Council was then read and the following were declared to be the twelve ordinary members of the Council: Mr. K. F. Chadwick, Mr. Dan Chapman, Mr. P. Guy Dicks, Rev. Dennis Duckworth, Mrs. F. G. Griffith, Mr. P. L. Johnson, Rev. C. H. Presland, Mr. Owen Pryke, Miss H. G. Stacey, Mr. Norman Turner, Rev. P. V. Vickers. A confirmatory resolution on the election of Mr. A. A. Drummond, necessary under the Companies Act for a director over 70 years of age, was passed unanimously.
     It was announced that Messrs. Thomson McLintock, who had been the Society's auditors for the past twelve years, had resigned their appointment. Mr. R. H. Griffith said that, like many other things, the fee for the audit had been increased, to 85 guineas this year. The Council had felt that it was reluctant to meet this charge, and had gratefully accepted an offer from Mr. A. D. Atherton, chartered accountant, a member of the Society and a former treasurer, to undertake the audit without a fee and for no charge except his expenses.

510

Mr. Griffith therefore proposed on the Council's behalf that Mr. A. D. Atherton be and is hereby appointed auditor. This was seconded by Mr. Chapman and carried unanimously.
     The president then announced the result of the recent Society examination: Merit: A. Christopher Jacob, Pauline A. Riley, Elisabeth Sandstrom; Pass: Margery Appleton, Kenneth Glover, Stephen Glover, Christine Pryke.
     A pleasant interlude in the ordinary business of the meeting then took place. The Finchley Society of the New Church had decided to present to the Swedenborg Society a set of first editions of the Arcana Coelestia which had belonged to the Rev. Samuel Noble, the first secretary of the Society. The matter was introduced by the Rev. Dennis Duckworth, who gave some historical facts of Mr. Noble's career, and the presentation was charmingly made by Mr. Crane, president of the Finchley Society. Mr. Acton received the gift and expressed the gratitude of the Society.
     The president's address on "Man's Relation with the Spiritual World" followed. Votes of thanks to the president, the officers of the Society, and to the New Church Women's League who had prepared tea for members before the meeting, were warmly supported. The meeting was closed with the Benediction.
FREDA G. GRIFFITH

     THE ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH

     Enrollment for 1962-1963

Theological School     8
College               63
Girls School          92
Boys School               83
                    246
     LOCAL SCHOOLS
     Enrollment for 1962-1963
Bryn Athyn               343
Colchester               15
Durban               10
Glenview               125
Kitchener               21
Pittsburgh               44
Toronto               23
                    581
     Total enrollment in Academy and General Church schools     827
DEDICATION DATE CHANGED 1962

DEDICATION DATE CHANGED 1962

     The Carmel Church Society (Kitchener) announces that the date for the dedication weekend has been changed to November 23-25, 1962, This change, which is final, has been made to accommodate friends in the United States who wish to attend and who can more easily visit Canada during their Thanksgiving holiday.
     Members and friends of the General Church are again cordially invited to attend the dedication of the new church and school building. There will be a reception-dance on Friday evening, a banquet on Saturday evening, and the dedication service on Sunday, November 25, at 11:00 a.m.
     Miss Vanny Gill, 807 1/2 Belmont Avenue West, Kitchener, Ontario1 Canada, is in charge of housing arrangements. Please address all requests for accommodation to her, and advise her whether you intend to be present at the dedication banquet on November 24, 1962.

511

CHARTER DAY 1962

1962

     Announcements
     All ex-students, members of the General Church and friends of the Academy are cordially invited to attend the 46th Charter Day exercises, to be held in Bryn Athyn, Pa., on Friday and Saturday, October 19 and 20, 1962. The program:
     Friday, 11 am-Cathedral Service, with an address by the Rev. Dandridge Pendleton
     Friday Afternoon-Football Game
     Friday Evening-Dance
     Saturday, 7 p.m.-Banquet. Toastmaster: Mr. Donald C. Fitzpatrick, Jr.
     Arrangements will be made for the entertainment of guests if they will write to the Hostess Committee, c/o Mrs. Harris S. Campbell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
MINISTERIAL CHANGES 1962

MINISTERIAL CHANGES 1962

     The Rev. Alan Gill retired in September from the pastorate of the Colchester Society, to which he was called in 1946. After his ordination in 1925, Mr. Gill served for three years as minister and then pastor of the New York Society. In 1928, he accepted a call to the pastorate of the Kitchener Society, which he held until he went to Colchester. His retirement marks the end of thirty-eight years of service in the pastoral field.
     The Rev. Frank S. Rose has accepted a call as acting pastor of the Colchester Society.
     The Rev. Ormond Odhner has accepted appointment as Visiting Pastor to the New York Circle.

513

THANKSGIVING 1962

THANKSGIVING Rev. WILLARD D. PENDLETON 1962

No. 11
VOL. LXXXII
NOVEMBER, 1962
     "Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto Me in the year. Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread. . . . And the feast of harvest, the first fruits of thy labors, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labors out of the field." (Exodus 23: 14-16)

     As originally conceived, Israel was a pure theocracy. The monarchy which emerged in later days was not intended; it was a concession to a people who had grown restless under the leadership of priests and judges. Yet even under the kings, Israel was not like other nations, for in the wilderness of Sinai this people had given their free and unconditional consent to the terms of the Divine covenant. In so doing they had not only forfeited the right to determine for themselves the civil and moral laws by which they were to be governed, but they also subscribed to Jehovah's insistence that the land of Canaan was His possession and that the tenure by which they held the land was the strict observance of the Divine law. Thus it is written in the book of Leviticus: "The land shall not be sold forever: for the land is Mine ye are [but] strangers and sojourners with Me."*
* Leviticus 25: 23.
     It was, then, as a tenant and not as a landholder that each Israelite received his portion of ground following the conquest of Canaan. All land grants were given out in the name of Jehovah, on strict but equitable terms of vassalage. To all effects and purposes the individual could use the land for whatever purposes he desired, but under no circumstances was he to sell it in perpetuity. In case of necessity, such as the satisfaction of a debt, he was free to transfer the use of the land to his creditor; but at any time he could redeem the land by payment of the estimated value of the crops, up to the year of jubilee.

514

The reason for this was that in the year of jubilee the land reverted to the original tenant, or his descendants, in recognition of the fact that the soil belonged to God, and was to be held in trust by him to whom it was originally given.
     This remarkable agrarian law not only served to remind the freeholder of his dependency upon Jehovah, but it also provided for the inalienability of estates. The imprudent Israelite might impoverish himself, but he could not perpetuate a race of slaves and paupers. The fact that this unique provision of the law was nullified by later day circumstances did not alter its intent, for the laws of Israel are not what they appear to be in the letter. They are the laws of spiritual life, and were so intended from the beginning. If, at this day, the man of the church is to be a free man, he must not only acknowledge that the church, which is represented by the land of Canaan, is the Lord's, but also that the harvest is His.

     It was in recognition of this fundamental truth of spiritual life that the ancient Israelite was required to appear before the Lord three times in the year. Neither was he to appear empty-handed. It is written: "Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: the first-born of thy sons shalt thou give unto Me. Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, and with thy sheep."* This, the Writings state, "signifies that as all the goods and truths of faith are from the Lord, they are to be ascribed to Him and not to self."** Moreover, this was to be done without delay, for we are told that what is done quickly is done from affection, that is, from love to the Lord; for if the earth is the Lord's, so is the harvest; and as all that follows is contained in what is primary, by the offering of firstfruits is signified the willing acknowledgment that all is indeed from the Lord.
* Exodus 22:29, 30.
** AC 9223.
     If, then, in the spiritual sense of the Word the land of Canaan signifies the church, it follows that by the fruit of the land is meant the goods of use. Yet before man can bring an offering of good to the Lord he must first be instructed in truth. It is this state of instruction that is signified by the first of the three appointed feasts, namely, the feast of the Passover, or, as referred to in the text, the feast of unleavened bread. This festival, which marked the day of Israel's deliverance from Egypt, fell in the spring of the year. While the celebration of this festival does not seem to have included any ritualistic observance connected with the planting of the crops, it is to be noted that it signified deliverance from evil through purification from falsity as represented in the eating of unleavened bread.

515

Spiritually speaking, therefore, what is here represented is the first implantation of truth in man, which is effected by means of instruction from the letter of the Word.
     Of all the blessings that the Lord has conferred upon man there is none that can be compared with the Word. It is the source of all spiritual blessings. Like the seed that takes root in the ground, it is the origin of all that is good with man. Were it not for the Word, man would have no concept of God, no understanding of the meaning and purpose of life, and no means whereby he could distinguish good from evil or right from wrong. By this we do not mean to imply that man would be incapable of determining what seems good to self; but there is a world of difference between the appearance and the reality. The appearance is that the good which man does is attributable to self, but this is not so. The truth is that God alone is good. This is the consistent teaching of all Divine revelation; and were it not for the Word, no man could be delivered from the illusion that he lives and does good from himself.

     The true spirit of all thanksgiving, therefore, lies in the acknowledgment that the Lord alone is the Giver of good. But like the fruit of the field, which sustains life, good is first given in the form of truth. That is why, throughout the Word, truth is likened to seed that contains in itself the potential of good. Not only does this account for the specific instructions given in the laws of Moses concerning the sowing and reaping of fields, but it also accounts for the parables and references in the New Testament in which the life of regeneration is compared to seed sown in good ground, which brings forth its fruit. As in the familiar parable of the sower, the teaching is clear: the Lord is the Sower; the Word is the seed that He sows; the ground is the mind of man; and the harvest is the good which the Lord has provided.
     Thus it is that in giving thanks to the Lord the man of the church should acknowledge his dependency upon the truth of doctrine, for it is as doctrine that truth, at this day, is revealed. Hence the teaching of the Writings that apart from doctrine the Word in its letter cannot be understood; and as the harvest, which is the new or regenerate will, takes form in the understanding, the acknowledgment of doctrine, even as the feast of the Passover, precedes that which is represented by the succeeding festivals; namely, the willing and doing of good.
     But the acknowledgment of doctrine is not merely an intellectual acceptance of truth. It is much more than this. Like the seed which fell upon stony ground, it will wither and die unless it takes root in affection.

516

Thus, unless man is affected by the desire to do what is good, he has no root within himself. Yet the question arises, "How can this be? If, as the Writings plainly teach, man of himself is not good, what is the source of his original desire to do good?" This, too, has been provided by the Lord; for while it is true that man's natural inclination is to self, the Lord has endowed every man with the ability to be affected by truth. It is through this affection, that is, through the delight that the child finds in truth, that the Lord inspires in him the desire to do good. These first affections of good and truth are described in the Writings as remains, and are so called because they remain with man unless in later life they are consumed by deceit. It is, then, these innocent affections of childhood which comprise the good ground spoken of in the parable of the sower. It is this ground which, having received the Word, brings forth the firstfruits of the life of regeneration. According to the laws of Moses, they are to be brought to the Lord as an offering of thanksgiving. That is what is signified in our text by the feast of firstfruits, which we are taught in the Writings represents a state of gratitude to the Lord for the implantation of truth in good.*
* AC 9294:2, 9295.
It is through the good of remains, therefore, that the Lord provides for the firstfruits of spiritual life. These fruits consist of good intentions, of the determination to be governed by the Lord in human relations, and of a social and moral conscience. These are the prerequisites of the life of regeneration, and in youth and early manhood they constitute the will to do what is good. Thus it was that the ancient Israelite was required to cut the first stalks of wheat that ripened in his field, bind them together into a sheaf, and bring the sheaf to the Lord. In receiving the sheaf, the priest was then to wave it in the air, for by the wave offering was signified vivification and the accompanying acknowledgment that the life-giving properties of the wheat are from the Lord.

It is through the will to do what is good that man comes before the Lord. There is no other way. Yet if man would do good he must acknowledge that the good which he does is not from self, but through self from the Lord. In states of spiritual elevation we perceive that this is true; but unless what is perceived to be true is confirmed in a life of use to the neighbor, it comes to naught, for the life of religion is not merely a matter of good intentions, but consists in the doing of good. So it was that the Israelite, having offered his sheaf, was to return to his fields, and when the harvest was completed he was to appear again before the Lord at the going out of the year.*
* Exodus 23:16.

517

     By the going out of the year is signified a state that is full; that is, a state in which man enters into the full fruits of his labors. To this feast, therefore, the Israelite was to bring the firstlings of his flocks and his herds, and from among his ingathering a freewill offering of the best of his oil, his corn and his wine. At this feast the people were to construct tents of palm branches in memory of the day when they dwelt in the wilderness and were fed by the Lord in a land not sown. Hence it is also referred to in the Scripture as the feast of tents or tabernacles, and is said to represent the worship of the Lord from a grateful mind.* It is a beautiful representation, for to worship the Lord in a spirit of gratitude constitutes a genuine acknowledgment that whatever goods we may possess are attributable to Him alone.
* AC 9296.

     Because man is free to think and act from himself, the appearance is that life is his own and that the good which he does has its origin in self. Yet this is a fallacious assumption, for the truth is that all that man is and has is from the Lord. But, it is said: "How can this be? What of man's evil loves and affections? Can what is evil have its origin in a God who is good?" But what men do not understand is that evil is not something of itself. In its origin, every evil is the perversion of a good. Hence we are taught in the Writings that when in his freedom man "induces on himself the belief that he wills, thinks, and thence does good from himself, and not from the Lord . . . he turns good into evil with himself."* That is why, in the Writings, evil is referred to as a perversion; that is, as a turning away from Him who is good. That also is why "it is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord," for in all genuine thanksgiving there is the acknowledgment that the Lord is the source of all that is good. All worship, therefore, is an act of remembrance. It is provided lest, in our absorption with the things of self and the world, we forget Him who is the source of all blessing. That is why Israel was required to appear before the Lord three times during the year. Neither was any man to appear empty-handed, but, as it is said in the Word: "Each shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which He hath given thee."**
* CL 444:5.
** Deuteronomy 16: 17; Exodus 23: 15, 34:20.
     At this later day, therefore, it is in the doing of goods which are of use to the neighbor that man appears before the Lord. These are the fruits of the life of regeneration; and there is no other offering which is acceptable in His sight, for that which is done from a sincere desire to be of use to others is, in effect, a spiritual offering, and in it there is genuine delight.

518

In this, we are told, "each is to give as he is able," that is, "according to the blessing" that the Lord has given to each one of us. The true spirit of the harvest, therefore, is the spirit of blessing; that is, the delight which is to be found in the sharing of our blessing with others. That is the source of all delight with the angels of heaven. As it is in heaven, so it should be upon earth, for in this, and in no other way, can man make a return to the Lord. It is, then, a good thing to give thanks to the Lord; that is to say, it is a good thing to acknowledge Him in all the uses of life from a grateful mind. Amen.

LESSONS:     Leviticus 23: 1-14, Deuteronomy 16: 13-17. Mark 4: 1-20. AC 9296: 2, 3.
MUSIC:     Liturgy, pages 568, 566, 593, 561, 570.
PRAYERS:     Liturgy, nos. 116, 129.
SEEDTIME AND HARVEST 1962

SEEDTIME AND HARVEST Rev. ORMOND ODHNER 1962

     A Thanksgiving Talk to Children

     The time of harvest is when we go and bring in all the vegetables and fruits that we have grown, and Thanksgiving is our harvest festival. It is a holiday-that means, a holy day-begun long ago by the Pilgrim Fathers, who were all farmers; and if we would really understand what Thanksgiving means, we must pretend that we are farmers, too.
     There are not many of us here who are really farmers, but we have all seen farmers hard at work, and we all know enough about farms and gardens to know how farmers feel. Let us now pretend that we are farmers, long, long ago.
     Winter is just beginning. Earlier in the year we ploughed our fields and we planted our seeds. We watered them, and we watched them sprout. Then, as the plants grew, we weeded them, took our hoes and cultivated them, and then finally we brought in our food. All our food is now in. Some of it has been put in cans, the roots are stored down in cellars. Yet we need meat, too; and so we have had time at last to go out hunting, to get our deer and turkey. We have brought in our swine and our cattle, and slaughtered them, smoked them, and hung them up, to eat later on in the year. We have worked very, very hard; but now the hard work of the year is almost over, and we want to sit back and relax. We want to do two things before we start work next year.

519

     We want to think, first of all, of thanking the Lord for all the good things that He has given us during the year; and we want also to celebrate His wonderful blessings, the wonderful crops we have had, by having a great big special meal. That is why we have Thanksgiving Day, for these two reasons: first, to come and worship the Lord for all the good things He has given us all year long; and then to go home and have a great big, wonderful, special meal, so that we can feast on all the good things the Lord has given us.
     But, no, we remember something else. We remember that there are some people in the world who are not as fortunate as we are. Maybe they are poor, and have nothing to eat; or maybe they are sick, at home or in a hospital; or maybe they are soldiers who were wounded in wars fought to keep us free. So what do we do? When we come to worship the Lord on Thanksgiving Day we bring with us an offering of fruit. That is, first, to show the Lord that we know that all the good thing we have come from Him and really belong to Him; and, secondly, it is to show the Lord that we really want to do with those good things what He wants us to do-share them with others, the poor, the sick and the needy, and those who really need those things more than we do. That is why we bring in our fruit on Thanksgiving, the harvest festival.

     But did you know that there is another kind of a harvest, a harvest of which the Lord often speaks in His Word? Once He told a parable about a man, a farmer, who had sowed good seed in his field; and then, when he was asleep, his enemy came along, and sowed some things called tares in his field. Now the seeds the farmer had sown were wheat seeds, and the tare is a strange plant. When it is growing up it looks just like wheat, but the difference is that the tare produces poisonous grains which make those who eat them very sick, or even make them die, while the wheat is very good. Yet when they are growing up together you cannot quite tell which is which.
     His enemy, then, had come and planted these horrible tares in his field. As they sprouted, his servants realized that these weeds were there, and they came in, and said: "Shall we pull up the tares out of your field?" But the man said that they should not do so yet, but should wait until the harvest, because if they tried to pull up the tares, they might pull up a lot of the wheat as well. When the tares were fully grown they would be able to tell the difference; and then at the harvest they were to take the tares, bind them in bundles, and burn them up. But the wheat was to be gathered up and put into his barn.
     Now what is that harvest of which the Lord spoke?

520

It is another kind of harvest; not one in which we go out and gather in our food, but the time when the Lord Himself gathers us into heaven, gathers us into the other world. Yet we have to be ready for that harvest. We do not want to be like tares which the Lord will throw away! We want to be like the wheat which the Lord will gather into His heavenly barns. And how do we become like that? How do we prepare ourselves so that, at His harvest, the Lord will gather us into His heavenly barns?

     It is all told in the story of how the farmer works. What are the first two things the farmer needs? He needs ground, and he must have seeds. Otherwise he could not be a farmer at all. Now the Lord has given each and every one of us some heavenly ground and some heavenly seed. He has given us the ground of our minds in which the seeds, which are the truths of His Word, can be planted. And let us each pray that there is enough of that ground there, so that these seeds of truth from His Word can find root and bear fruit. Let us hope that it is not stony ground, or too shallow. Let us hope that it is kept warm by love for each other and love to the Lord.
     But after the farmer has his ground and his seeds, what does he do?. He plants his seeds. And when does he plant them? Not in the winter, for they would not grow then. He plants them in springtime. And what is the springtime of life? It is childhood. It is in you now as children that the Lord is planting His seeds of truth from His holy Word; and let us hope that in you they grow. Then, after the farmer has planted his seeds, what does he do? He has to weed the growing plants, for otherwise weeds would choke all his good fruit. He has to cultivate, take his hoe and scratch the ground. He has to water, or all his seeds would die.
     We have to do things like that, too, with the seeds the Lord plants in our minds. We have to weed them. Weeds are evils-evil habits and false ideas; and when we see an evil in ourselves, an evil habit or a bad idea, if we do not take it out right away, it will grow and grow until finally it will choke all the good things in our minds. We have to cultivate ours minds. Cultivating, remember, means scratching the surface of the soil, so that the rain will go down to the roots and the ground will be nice and soft. And we have to keep scratching our minds! We have to think. We have to think about what those truths mean and how we can live them. Only then will the seeds of the Lord's truth grow and bear their fruit. Finally, we have to water our minds. Water means truth, and all the time as we grow up we have to learn more and more truth, or else the seeds of truth that the Lord planted in us as children will wither away and die.

521

But if we do all those things, year after year after year, then on the day of that wonderful harvest when the Lord takes us into the other world, that harvest for which we should be even more thankful than we are thankful for our food today, we will not need to be afraid that the Lord will say of us: Gather the tares, and burn them-throw them away; but instead, with the greatest thanksgiving and the greatest joy, we shall hear the Lord say of us: Gather the wheat into My barns. Amen.

LESSONS:     Luke 8: 4-15. Heaven and Hell 356: 3.
MUSIC:     Liturgy, pages 569, 562, 564.
PRAYERS:     Liturgy, nos. C10, C18.
IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1962

IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1962

A recent statement in the NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER requires careful reading. "The New Church," it is asserted, "is not confined to sect or denomination. It is more than Protestantism, more than Catholicism, more than Jewry, yea, even more than Christendom. It extends to and embraces all of God's children and includes all sects, all tribes, all religions and men not affiliated with any religious organization." Most of this would probably be accepted without question by the majority of New Church men; it is the phrases "all sects" and "all religions" that give us pause. The Lord's universal church undoubtedly includes men and women in all sects and all religions; but that it includes those sects and religions themselves is, we believe, an error, though one that has long been characteristic of a certain kind of thinking in the church.
Last May the MAINE NEWCHURCHMAN, which is published monthly by the Maine Association of the New Jerusalem Church, printed an article on the Academy schools. The editor, Miss Gertrude Dole, was invited to attend the 23rd General Assembly, and a later issue contains her account of and comments on that event. "In reflecting at leisure upon the proceedings of this Assembly," Miss Dole writes, "it is hard to say whether we were more impressed by the fact that every paper presented was solid New Church material . . . or by the fact that such fare was accepted and endorsed by everyone present." As might be expected, she came away from the Assembly with several questions unanswered, but saw nothing "which would offer any intrinsic barriers to co-operation and exchange of information between the General Church and Convention." This friendly view is of interest, coming as it does from a periodical which, although modest in format, is itself characterized by "solid New Church material."

522

EPISCOPAL FORM OF GOVERNMENT AND THE OFFICE OF DEAN 1962

     (Remarks made by Bishop Willard D. Pendleton to the annual meeting of the Bryn Athyn Church, September 28, 1962.)

     At the semi-annual meeting of the Bryn Athyn Church, held in May 1961, I asked the society to accept the Right Rev. George de Charms as Dean of the Bryn Athyn Church.* There were two reasons for this. First, assistance was needed in the pastoral office during the interim period between the Bishop's resignation and the selection of the next Bishop of the General Church. Second, it did not seem fitting that the man who had served for so many years as Bishop of the General Church should be asked to serve as an assistant pastor of the society. Yet at that time I said that the office of dean was intended to meet an organizational need, and I believe that need will continue to exist.
* SEE NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1961, p. 269.

     The first question before us, therefore, is whether we wish to continue that office. For my own part, I am quite willing that it should be abandoned if it has not found favor with the society; but I believe that it serves a useful purpose in that it makes a clear distinction between a pastor who serves as the senior assistant pastor in an episcopal society and an assistant pastor in any other society.
     According to the order and organization of the General Church, "the Bishop [of the General Church] is ex officio pastor of the society of his residence."* This has not always been so. When this society was organized in 1897 under the direction of Bishop W. F. Pendleton, it selected as its first pastor a priest in the second degree. Five years later, however, that priest resigned as pastor, and Bishop Pendleton, as Bishop of the General Church, assumed the pastoral office. Since then, that is, for a period of sixty years, the Bishop of the General Church has been the pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church. I emphasize this because it should be known that the pastoral relationship which exists between the Bishop of the General Church and the Bryn Athyn Church is a matter not merely of theory but of experience. In other words, there is an important historical reason why that relationship exists today.
* See Order end Organization of the General Church, p. 7.
     But what does this mean? In the first place it means that as an episcopal society we do not select our own pastor.

523

He is selected for us by the separate actions of the Council of the Clergy, the Board of Directors, and the General Assembly of which as individuals we are a part. In the second place it means that the Bishop of the General Church is directly responsible for the government of this society. But the question arises, why should this be so?
     In answer, I would point out that this is not merely a matter of recognition. If it were, it would not of itself have any claim to meaning. What is really involved is implicit in the form of government we have adopted. To place the Bishop of the General Church in a position where he is not free to direct the policies and assume the leadership of the society of his residence is to place him in an impossible situation. That is why, after five years of experimentation, Bishop XV. F. Pendleton assumed the pastoral office in the Bryn Athyn Church. During those years it became increasingly apparent that the uses which this society serves differ from those of other societies in certain important respects. In other words, as the episcopal center of the church we have a peculiar responsibility to the entire church.
     In the exercise of that responsibility it is imperative that the policies of this society should be one with the policies of the General Church. Any deviation from these policies, whether intentional or unintentional, could result in serious consequences throughout the church, and this in a sense, and to a degree, that would not apply in another society. That is the primary reason why the Bishop of the General Church is ex officio the pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church.

     We would observe, however, that the Bryn Athyn Church is also the home society of the Academy schools. Here again there must be a close administrative relationship between the government of the society and the government of those schools. A divergence in policy could readily lead to misunderstandings, and misunderstanding to separation. It is vital, therefore, that we preserve and develop an order which will enable the General Church, the Academy and the Bryn Athyn Church to walk the same road. That is the responsibility of the episcopal office-a responsibility that has been faithfully discharged by each of our preceding Bishops. Only the other day I visited a town which was once the home of a New Church college. The college is still there, but what of the church? I do not mean to imply that the unity of the General Church is to be attributed to the episcopal form of government. There are far deeper reasons than that! But I do believe that the episcopal office has served, and will continue to serve, as a most important means of unification.
     Now it is obvious to all of us that because of his other commitments the Bishop of the General Church cannot be the pastor of this society in the full sense of that word.

524

Much that is done by pastors in other societies must be done here by delegation to pastoral assistants. It may be observed that this would be true in any large society, but there is a difference. In an episcopal society the first assistant pastor must assume a far greater degree of responsibility than would normally be given to an assistant in another society. The reason is that although the Bishop is the pastor of an episcopal society, his first obligation is to the church as a whole. Because of the demands that are made upon his time and energies, therefore, his first assistant, or dean, must exercise an initiative in the development of the uses of the society that is not expected of assistants in other societies. At the same time, however, the first assistant, or dean, must recognize that although in many aspects of his work he is, in effect, acting as pastor, he is subordinate to the Bishop in all matters pertaining to the government and policies of the society. From this it is evident that in selecting a first assistant pastor, or dean, the Bishop must have a high degree of confidence in the man.
     There is nothing new about the title of dean. It was originally a military term designating the leader of a decania, or ten soldiers. It has come to us, however, through ecclesiastical and educational circles and denotes one who assists a presiding officer. In those churches which have adopted the episcopal form of government it refers specifically to one who assists a bishop in his diocese. With us it would designate, and for the past year and a half has done so, one who serves as the first assistant pastor of the episcopal center of the General Church. In this connection it should be noted that the dean may or may not be a priest in the third degree.
     I have heard objections to this title on the grounds that it is borrowed from the former Christian Church. Let me remind you that the titles, bishop, priest, pastor and minister, have also been borrowed. In none of these terms can we lay claim to originality.
     The question before us, therefore, is whether you wish to continue this office. This is a matter for society decision.

     [At the meeting to which these remarks were made the Bryn Athyn Church resolved to continue the office of dean. The Bishop's remarks are published here for the information of the church since anything that concerns episcopal government and the episcopal society is of churchwide import and interest. EDITOR.]

525

SAMSON 1962

SAMSON Rev. FRANK S. ROSE 1962

     (Delivered at the third session of the 47th British Assembly, London, July 21, 1962.)

     History, mythology, and even popular entertainment, all have examples of heroes, men of superhuman strength on whom a story or a series of stories depends. In the midst of weakness and change the hero stands as a person who is virtually indestructible. If he perishes, the whole cause is lost. Such a man was Achilles; such was the god Hercules; and in the Word, such was Samson.
     For all of the excess and exaggeration of the cruder type of superman, as popularized in stories for children, there is sufficient truth in such fables to make them of continuing value for children, and adults as well. For just as the reader comes to depend on the fact that there is at least one person in the story who will escape from difficulties, and with his strength overcome gigantic obstacles, so, in a far deeper way, our striving and our hope for success in regeneration depend upon the conviction that there is a Man of infinite power who fights on behalf of the weak and fickle members of the human race, and in the midst of change and destruction does not change and cannot be destroyed. Were He to fall, life would not only cease to have hope or meaning; it would cease to exist altogether!

     Samson is the supreme example of the strong man in Scripture. He judged Israel for twenty years, and challenged the Philistine domination without the slightest help from his own people. He moved freely among the Philistines because he knew that they were powerless to destroy him. Through the men of Judah, and later through Delilah, they managed to bind him, but only to see him break the bonds as if they were nothing. It was not until they had extracted from him the secret of his power that they could hold him captive. But they did not kill him. He brought about his own death by overthrowing the massive pillars in the temple of Dagon, with thousands worshiping within and on the roof.
     The story poses many problems. How can we account for the fact that, although he was a bitter enemy of the Philistines, he yet descended of his own accord into their territory and took their women?

526

Again, why were his conquests of the Philistines apparently so haphazard: killing thirty men of Ashkelon to obtain garments in order to cancel a debt, burning their corn with firebrands tied to foxes' tails, avenging himself on them hip and thigh with a great slaughter, killing a thousand men with the jawbone of an ass, removing the gates of the city of Gaza, and finally destroying their house of worship? And the most important question of all: what was the significance of his strength, and why did he lose it just because his hair was cut off?

     II

     Before we discuss these questions individually, a word should be said about exposition. We are dealing with four chapters from the book of Judges.* How do we know what they mean? There are passages in the Writings dealing directly with Samson and his representation as a Nazirite. There are a few references to some of the verses in this portion of the book of Judges. But these are not enough to give a clear picture of the internal sense of the whole story. However, certain key words lead us on to doctrines which are fully revealed elsewhere in the Writings, especially in the Arcana Coelestia. Having the genuine doctrine, some knowledge of correspondences, and, we hope, some measure of enlightenment,** it is possible for us to see the internal sense unfolding; and although this inevitably involves a certain amount of speculation, there is safety in the fact that the important points of doctrine can, and must, be established without recourse to exegesis. In other words, no new doctrines are gained by unfolding the internal sense of obscure places in the Word; but doctrines taught elsewhere may be thrown into sharper focus, and a part of the Word that had lain in darkness can be elucidated. That, at least, is our hope.
* Judges 13-16.
** SS 50.
     We have already implanted a few questions in your minds, but you must wait a bit longer for the answers, and this because we must begin our study with Samson's birth.

     "There was a certain man of Zorab, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not."*
* Judges 13:2.

     The story, then, is set in the tribe of Dan, whose first inheritance extended from the Judean foothills to the plains, and even to the sea. But the Philistines with their chariots of iron were masters of the flat country, and the men of Dan had to be content with the hills. Later they extended their inheritance by moving to the north;* but whether by the sea or in the north, they were one of the border tribes, and as such they represented the external things of the church or of the Word.**

527

Now the entrance to the church is through the acknowledgment of its most fundamental doctrines. There must be an affirmative acceptance of the righteousness and mercy of the Lord;*** but this is possible only on the basis of a Divine revelation. It is said that Manoah's wife was barren because the Lord had not as yet taken to Himself the Divine natural.**** He always had the celestial and spiritual degrees, but the natural degree He had only in potentiality until He took on that degree by birth into the world.*****
* Joshua 19: 47; Judges 18.
** AC 6396; AR 362, 455: 4; AE 355: 8.
*** AC 3923.
**** AC 3256.
***** DLW 221, 233.

The angel's appearing to Manoah's wife was typical of the Lord's appearing as a Man by means of an angel. When she told her husband of the event, she said: "But I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name."* This was for the reason that the Lord's name, or quality, was unknown. The angel appeared a second time, and she called her husband, who said: "Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman?"** clearly a reference to the fact that the Lord is the only Man.*** Manoah then asked: "What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honor?"**** for there is nothing more important to the church than to know the name or quality of God. The Divine Human is His name, and this is made known in the Word.***** But at that time the name could not be revealed, and so the angel said: "Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is wonderful?"****** Now this is the first of the names given in the well-known passage from Isaiah: "And His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."******* He is called "Wonderful" because He is the Word, which is the ultimate form containing in every jot and tittle the power and great glory of His love and wisdom.********
* Judges 13: 6.
** Judges 13: 11.
*** AC, 477, 565, 768, 1414.
**** Judges 13:17.
***** AC 6674: 4.
****** Judges 13: 18.
******* Isaiah 9: 6. AC 1736.
******** AC 10,633-10,636.
Manoah offered a kid of the goats on a rock, and the angel did wonderfully. He ascended in the flames. The kid is mentioned as a suitable offering because it represents the good of innocence through which the Lord and heaven enter man.* There must be this innocence, and humility, with everyone who receives the Lord; qualities expressed so beautifully by Mary: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word."**
* AC 3519.
** Luke 1: 38.

528

     The rock represents the Lord as to faith,* and it is on this that the church is to be built. The angel's ascending in the flame of the sacrifice is a marvelous picture of the glorification of the Lord: a process which took place because the fire of the Lord's infinite love, like a Divine solar fire, entered into all things of His Human, consuming all dross and transforming the Human into the Divine esse itself.** A similar thing was represented by the fire in the midst of the bramble, which was wonderful because the bush was not consumed;*** and it was this fire that was seen in the Lord's face at the Transfiguration.****
* AC 8581: 6.
** AC 1738e.
*** AC 6832.
**** AE 405: 25, 401: 3, 64; Revelation 1: 16; AC 32.
     Such is the quality of the Word that every least particular is full of the Divine love; so much so that it is nothing but that love expressed in ultimate form. From this comes the power of the Word, and thus the strength of Samson. In Hebrew, his name is Shimshone, from the word shemesh, the sun.
     As a child, the Lord took to Himself the truths of the sense of the letter of the Word, and from these Divine natural truths he fought against the hells. His power was from the Divine fire of His soul, but it was exercised by the truths of the Word, and these truths are represented by the hairs of the head.

     "That all power resides in the most external or ultimate things, consequently in the ultimate sense of the Word, which is the sense of the letter, and that this is what 'hair' corresponds to and signifies, may be seen above (nos. 346, 417, 567, 666, 726). Such power the Lord had when He was a boy and by it He conquered and subjugated the most direful hells, where all are sensual."*
* AE 918:11. See also AC 1461, 1472, 1489, 14961542, 1661.

     III

     Having established that Samson represents the Lord's childhood state and His combats with the hells, we can turn to the stories concerning him, and to the first of the questions posed earlier in this address: Why did Samson seek a wife from the Philistines, enemies of his people? Recall how the story of Samson begins:

     "And the sons of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years."*
* Judges 13: 1.

     By the sons of Israel is meant the spiritual church-the church that fell into the evils of faith alone represented by the Philistines.* The falsities and evils became so great that without the Lord's advent no one could have been saved, and the heavens themselves could no longer have endured.

529

Into this church the Lord was born, and He came as the Word made flesh in order to bring, by means of the Divine truth, the Divine celestial to men now so far removed from His love. He came to purify His church and remove the clouds of falsity which had darkened His Word. This is represented by Samson's descending into the very camp of the Philistines. For the Lord did not only come to dwell among the men of a consummated church; He allowed Himself to take on, by heredity, the evils and falsities of that church. Not that He was ever guilty of evil and falsity,** but that He felt them within His natural mind and could there fight against them. Therefore it is said of Samson's taking a wife of the Philistines that:

"his father and mother knew not that it was of the Lord, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines; for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel."***
* AE 817: 6, 7.
** John 8: 46.
*** Judges 14: 4.

     This was not without its dangers. As he went down into the valley, a young lion roared at Samson, seeking to destroy him, but Samson rent it as he would a kid. When he returned later to claim the woman as his wife, he found a swarm of bees, and honey, in the carcass of the lion. This became the subject of the riddle he propounded at the marriage feast:

     "Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness."*
* Judges 14: 14.

     The reward was to be thirty sheets and thirty changes of garments. The riddle is explained in the Writings as meaning that the Lord, in conquering the hells of faith alone, made possible a new state of mutual love, which is as sweet as honey.* When the scribes and Pharisees quoted the Word out of context, and brought fallacious arguments forth in order to tear the doctrines of the Lord to shreds and destroy His work, it was just as if He had been attacked by a lion. But the Lord called on the spirit of truth itself, and brought that truth into an ultimate form that was crushing in its power; so much so that eventually they dared question Him no more.** As was said of Samson:

     "And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand."***
* AE 619: 18.
** Matthew 22: 46.
*** Judges 14: 6.

     This was more than a victory over the falsities of faith alone, for the Lord's replies brought the spirit of Divine truth before the people in such a way that it was refreshing and powerful, and this, in turn, led them to a new state of charity and mutual love.

530

This is what is meant by the honey in the carcass of the lion.*
* AE 619: 18. Cf. WE 6830.
     What is meant by the wager with the Philistines is not so obvious. Since the word, sheet, really refers to an inner garment, it is clear that the reward was to be thirty complete changes of clothing, including the inner and outer garments. Garments refer to the truths of the letter of the Word, and "sheets" or inner garments to the truths of the internal sense. To those in faith alone, or faith without charity, the Word is a riddle. They do not understand how the good of charity can come to dwell where evil and destructive faith had been-sweetness out of the strong. Indeed, without an appreciation of the doctrine of regeneration, how can the Word be understood? The Word, then, with its internal and external senses, is like the prize of victory to those who understand the riddle of regeneration. If evil is shunned, good can take its place; and if good does take its place, man as it were comes into possession of the Word. It clothes his life like a two-layer garment. The Philistines did not solve the riddle, but only managed to find the answer by unlawful means, and therefore garments were obtained from their own people as spoil.

     IV

     But as yet we have not really answered our first question: Why did Samson take a wife of the Philistines? A wife represents truth, but in this case truth from what is not good, thus truth obscured.* In His childhood the Lord had such truths adjoined to Him, for He suffered Himself to be taught and informed as other men. The knowledges which He acquired, or which He adjoined to His natural mind like a wife, were obscure and sometimes false.** The hells were able to use these false appearances as avenues of attack, casting doubt on the possibility of the salvation of the human race which the Lord had as His end. Yet each doubt was answered by a Divine revelation within Himself,*** by which He brought new light into the natural plane and put the hells to flight.
* AC 4855.
** AC 1489, 1542.
*** AC 1785, 1786, 2500, 2625: 4, 3382, 5121.
     There were three women in the story of Samson, and each one of them was a means whereby the Philistines could attack him; for the Lord never initiated the combats with the hells, but they attacked and He replied by subjugating them.* The three women seem to represent three degrees of falsity. The woman in Timnath represents "truth from what is not good," or "truth obscured."** In fact, there is no such thing as truth from evil, but it is possible for the truths of the Word to be acquired and thus enter into the church, not from a love of truth, but from some evil motive.

531

The truth is thus obscured and held captive. Of this woman it was said that she pleased Samson well,*** and she was the only one he took as a wife. The other two were harlots. Samson went down into Timnath three times. On the first journey he fought with the lion. On the second he married the woman, and at the marriage feast propounded his riddle. On the third occasion he went at the time of wheat harvest and took with him a kid.' This was customary as an offering when a wife was taken again after separation as a pledge of conjunction through innocence.**** But her father refused to allow him to enter her chamber.
* AC 1683.
** AC 4855.
*** Judges 15: 1.
**** AC 3519, 4871.
     The Lord said that the Jews did the will of their father, and He meant the devil, or the love of self.* This love was so strong that it held every doctrine of the church in bondage and refused to allow it to be conjoined with good. Samson retaliated by taking three hundred foxes, tying them tail to tail, and sending them into the standing corn with firebrands between them. Now a fox represents prudence or cunning: prudence if it is the instrument of genuine loves, cunning if it is the instrument of evil. But the fields and orchards were not destroyed by the foxes. They were destroyed by fire. The destruction seemed to come from Samson, just as punishment and devastation seem to come from the Lord; but in actual fact, the lust of dominion which bears hatred of all that is good and true** employs cunning in laying waste all the genuine uses of the church.*** The foxes were tied tail to tail because this is the work of an infernal marriage or union between falsity and evil. The harvest of the church should consist in the uses of charity, mutual love and genuine worship; but when cupidities rule, there is nothing of faith, nothing of worship, nothing of use. All is consumed and laid waste.
* John 8: 44.
** AC 6952e.
*** Compare what is said of the tail of the dragon in AR 541.

     In the end, the Philistines-fearing Samson, and realizing that he was angry with them because of his wife-burned her and her father with fire. Here again we have a picture of the way in which the church destroys itself. For while it is convenient and easy for the church to aspire to internal things and pay lip service to certain goods and truths when the Lord is far off, when He makes His advent, and the consummation and judgment are at hand, those truths are openly denied and destroyed. Thus the church removes its own foundations, and this is signified by Samson s smiting the Philistines hip and thigh with a great slaughter.*
* Judges 15: 8.

532

     All of these stories arise out of Samson's relationship with his wife. In addition, there is the story of the fight at Lehi, but we wish to deal with that later. Of the other two women mentioned, the first was a harlot in Gaza. The story is briefly told. Samson went to her, and the Gazites were told that he was in their city. They went to the gate and remained there silent all the night, intending to kill him in the morning; but Samson arose at midnight and took the gate of the city, complete with posts and bar, to the top of a mountain facing Hebron.*
* Judges 15: 1-3.
     Since a wife represents truth, a harlot represents truth falsified and profaned.* Such was the Word with the Jews. Gaza represents the things revealed concerning charity,** which were all falsified by the evils of their lives. This was the very night of the church, in which the voice of truth was silent and the Word ceased to give light. The men of Gaza compassed him in the city, just as the men of Sodom had done with the angels who visited Lot.*** They, too, waited at night, and this meant that there was no longer any truth of faith in the church because the men of the church were against charity and thus against the Lord Himself.**** In the case of the men of Sodom, they were blinded and could not find the door, which meant that they were unable to find any truth leading to good.***** In the story of Samson, the door or gate of the city was removed entirely. Now gates are often mentioned in the Word because, as the way of access to a city, they were the focal point of many battles. So it is with man, whose natural mind is as a gate to his true character through which hell can enter and take possession, or from which the loves of heaven can proceed into the uses of life.****** Before the Lord's advent, the hells were in control of men, because they had infused into men's natural minds falsities mingled with truths of the Word, and by falsity had infested men with evils which they could not control. It was prophesied of the Lord that He would re-open the gates, so that He Himself could enter into His city as priest, judge and king. So it is written: "Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come.*******
* AE 887: 3.
** AC 1210, 1211.
*** AC 2347.
**** AC 2353, 2354.
***** AC 2385.
****** AC 2851, 3187.
******* Psalm 24: 7.
     In the very night of the Jewish Church, the Lord broke the power of hell and elevated the gates so that His Divine natural could enter in.*
* See AC 2356, 4614.
     The third woman, and the only one mentioned by name, was Delilah, and although the Writings do not say so, she seems to represent sensual appearances of truth which are falsities of the lowest kind. This is suggested by the name itself, which means "languishing," or "pining with desire"; for just as the mind is enlightened by the Muses of genuine wisdom, and is inspired by the beauty of truth, so is it weighed down and entrapped by sensual appearances.*

533

This is implied also in the fact that Delilah was the only one to discover the secret of Samson s power.
* SD min. 4754-4756.
     We have, then, three women, the first a wife and the other two harlots; and they seem to represent, respectively, the apparent truths in the church, falsifications of truth and false sensual appearances. In every instance the Philistines sought occasion against him through a woman, and this because combat, although internally a struggle between good and evil, is waged between truth and falsity. The women represent the falsities of the church, and Samson the truth of the Lord's Human, which was as if adjoined to these falsities, but this merely in order to judge them. The Lord fought from truth and deprived the hells of the power which they had previously exercised through appearances of truth and falsities of every kind.

     V

     This brings us to the second general question, which was: Why were Samson's conquests apparently so haphazard? In order to understand this we must appreciate the true cause of the Lord's combats with the hells. Although the temptations are described in the form of intellectual arguments with the scribes and Pharisees, replies were not given to convince them and thus make them change their views, but to destroy their power over the people. The sign of victory was not consent but silence. The Lord deprived them of the clothing of their arguments as Samson took the garments from the men of Ashkelon. He exposed the hypocrisy of their worship, their learning and their works, so that their own cunning and the flame of their own cupidities consumed the corn, wine and oil which should have been the harvest of the church. He smote them hip and thigh in removing the foundation and support of their arguments. He deprived them of their absolute control over the minds of the people, and carried away the gates of their city. He slew them with the jawbone of an ass-but of this presently; and finally He brought the church down in ruins, so that it could no longer serve as the unquestioned instrument of hell. The battle for the control of the minds of men was won; not that the Lord wished to dominate as the hells had done, but rather that He returned to men the freedom of choice so necessary for a heaven of angels from the human race.

534

     VI

     We have already dealt with all but two of these stories. To them we now turn.
     After his struggles with the men of Timnath, Samson went down and dwelt in the cleft of the rock Etam,* in the tribe of Judah. The Philistines advanced in battle array, and the men of Judah wanted to know why. "To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us."** They were not interested in attacking the men of Judah. They had but one enemy, and he a man without arms or army. They claimed that they wanted him only to bind him; and the men of Judah, fearing the consequences for themselves, went to the place where Samson was and pleaded with him. When they promised that they would not fall on him themselves he suffered himself to be bound with two new cords, and then descended from the rock.
* Judges 15: 8. Note: the "cleft," not the "top," as in the King James Version.
** Judges 15: 10.
     The men of Judah betrayed him, but not without his consent, much the same as the Lord was betrayed by Judas Iscariot, whose name is taken from the tribe of Judah. Yet Judah represented the celestial church and the celestial kingdom of the Lord, which held the sceptre of authority until Shiloh, that is, the Lord Himself, should come.* When the church came to an end, the power of the celestial kingdom had been so weakened that the very heavens were in danger of being infested; and when the Lord fought, He fought alone, and eventually even against the angels.**
* AC 6371-6373.
** AC 4295.
     This doctrine, usually somewhat abstract, comes into clear focus when seen in the story of Samson's being delivered into the hand of the Philistines by the men of Judah. It is remarkable that the Philistines wanted to bind him. This calls to mind what is said about the significance of Isaac being bound by Abram as if for a sacrifice.

     "The Lord's Divine rational as to good could not suffer, or undergo temptations; for no genius or spirit inducing temptations can come near to good Divine, as it is above all attempt at temptation. But truth Divine bound was what could be tempted; for there are fallacies and still more falsities which break in upon and thus tempt it; for concerning truth Divine some idea can be formed, but not concerning good Divine except by those who have perception, and these are celestial angels. It was truth Divine which was no longer acknowledged when the Lord came into the world, and therefore it was that from which the Lord underwent and endured temptations. Truth Divine in the Lord is what is called the 'Son of Man,' but good Divine is what is called the 'Son of God.' Of the 'Son of Man' the Lord says many times that He was to suffer, but never of the 'Son of God.'*
* AC 2813. Cf. AC 2814, 2815, and see a summary in AC 2819.

535

     The hells sought to encircle the Lord and to entrap Him with appearances from nature and the letter of the Word, thereby limiting His power and leaving themselves in freedom. The Lord knew that they longed to bind Him, and so He said: "How can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house." *
* Matthew 12: 29. See AC 1749, 5023.
     To take but one example, the Sadducees, who denied the resurrection, seized on the Mosaic law which could lead to a woman's having seven husbands in order to cast doubt, and even ridicule, on the idea of life after death.* But there was no hope of circumscribing or binding the Lord with truths from His Word, no matter how falsely applied; for although the Sadducees had the power of causing confusion in the minds of men, the Lord, from the fire of His love, could break through fallacious appearances, even as Samson's hands could break the new ropes as if they had been flax burned with the fire.**
* Matthew 22: 23 if.
** Judges 15: 14.

     Samson then put forth his hand and took a new or moist jawbone and slew a thousand men. Because it is the only bone that is directly used in speaking, the jaw or cheek bone refers to the perception and understanding of interior truth.* The Lord had power over even the most cunning and intelligent of men because of this interior understanding. It was the jawbone of an ass that was used because the ass refers to the natural man, and its jawbone represents interior truths in a natural and ultimate form.** Such is the New Testament, and such are the Writings, both of which revelations are of immense importance to men in their struggles with the hells. As Samson said: "With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men."***
* AE 556: 9.
** AC 2781.
*** Judges 15: 16.
     After the battle Samson thirsted, for combat brings with it a need for replenishment and consolation. With man, temptations are the means of creating a longing for truth and good; and with the Lord, the combats led to a glorification or infilling of all things of His Human with the life-giving truths of Divine wisdom. That is why a new Word could be given, like a fountain on a hillside giving the human race a new source of enlightenment and salvation; for it was this for which the Lord thirsted.*
* John 19: 28; AE 386: 30, 519: 2; AC 2930: 4, 6829: 2.

     VII

     So much for Samson's combats and victories. We now turn to our final question, and to the final victory. What was the significance of Samson's strength, and why did he lose it just because his hair was cut off?

536

     Samson was a Nazirite. Indeed he was the first of three men named in the Word as Nazirites from the womb. The other two were Samuel and John the Baptist. Normally the vow of a Nazirite was made only for a limited time, such as a month or a year, and the vow contained three conditions. Nazirites were not to eat any products of the vine; they were not to touch any dead thing; and they were to allow their hair to grow freely. At the end of the set time, the Nazirite was to come before the priest with offerings. His head was shaved, and his hair was put in the fire under the altar.*
* Numbers 6.
     All this was prophetic of the Lord, who would take to Himself a human nature from the ultimates of His own creation, and would form that Human from the ultimate truths of His own Word in order to enter into combats with the hells and victories over them. The Lord was a celestial man, and did not need the spiritual things of faith represented by the fruit of the vine for His glorification.* He came among men with power and authority over what was spiritually dead and unclean without Himself being contaminated by evil.** And ultimate Divine truths, proceeding from His love like hairs from the head, were eventually glorified; so that He became God Himself even as to ultimates, having put on a new and sanctified natural man. This was represented by the burning of the hair of the Nazirite. We read:

     "The Nazirites represented the Lord as to the Divine Human, and thence the man of the celestial church who is a likeness of the Lord (no. 51); and the natural of this man is represented by the hair, and therefore, when the Nszirites were sanctified they were to put off their old or former natural man, into which they were born, and were to put on a new man; which was signified by the command that when the days had been fulfilled during which they were to separate themselves to Jehovah, they were to let down the locks of their head and put them upon the fire under the sacrifice. . . . Moreover celestial men are such that before they put off that state they are in a natural so strong as to truth that they are able to battle with the hells; for it is truth that fights and never good, so that the hells cannot make even a distant approach to good. . . . From this it is evident whence Samson had strength from his hair."***
* AC 5113: 16.
** AC 4744.
*** AC 3301. Cf. AC 10,182; AE 66, 1086; AC 7437, 9836.

     The burning of the hair of the Nazirite calls to mind what is said about the burning bush, or the angel appearing to Manoah and entering the flame of the sacrifice. The Lord's glorification proceeded even to the ultimate things of the body, and then He rose in glory.

537

The human which He took on, and then put off, was strong enough to fight against the entire hells, and that human, especially in the Lord's childhood, was represented by the Nazirite before he was sanctified, and by Samson.*
* AC 3301.
     Three times Delilah attempted to bind him, and three times he broke the bonds asunder so that they melted before him. Rather than speculate in detail about the internal sense, may we simply suggest that this would seem to refer to the appearances of truth of three degrees which the Lord dissipated, and in place of which He brought in new perceptions.* Since we have already spoken of the attempt to bind Samson, and similar things are involved here, it remains to speak only of the apparent victory over Samson when his hair was cut.
* See AC 2814, 3131: 3, 3207, 3357-3361, et al.
     The ultimate of Divine truth is the Word in the sense of the letter. This is so powerful that nothing can resist it.* The source of power is the Divine love, but power is exercised by and through the sense of the letter; so much so that if that sense were destroyed it would seem as if the Lord's power were destroyed, when yet it would merely be His power to communicate with men that had been broken. When the Word is wholly falsified, or the Word is unknown, the human race and the angelic heavens are in danger, and this is why He then provides a new Word which has power in its own right and which restores the authority of previous revelations.
* AE 196: 3,1086; SS 49; TCR 223.

     "As all higher things place themselves in what is lowest in simultaneous order, it follows that in the ultimates of the Word, which constitute the sense of its letter, are all things of the Divine truth and of the Divine good, even from their firsts. And as all things of the Divine truth and the Divine good are together in their ultimate, which is the sense of the letter of the Word, there evidently is the power of Divine truth, yea, the omnipotence of the Lord in saving man . . . This is why the Lord is called in the Word the First and the Last; and this is why the Lord assumed the Human which in the world was the Divine truth or the Word, and glorified it even to the ultimates, which are the bones and the flesh, in order that He might operate from first things through ultimates, and not as before from man, but from Himself. This power in ultimates was represented by the hair with the Nazirites as with Samson, for the hair corresponds to the ultimates of Divine truth. . . . The power of the Word in the sense of the letter is the power to open heaven whereby communication and conjunction are effected, and also the power to fight against falsities and evils, thus against the hells. A man who is in genuine truths from the sense of the letter of the Word can disperse and scatter the whole diabolical crew and their devices in which they place their power, which are innumerable, and this in a moment, merely by a look and by an effort of the will. In brief, in the spiritual world nothing can resist genuine truths confirmed by the sense of the letter of the Word."*
* AC 1086: 5, 6.

538

     VIII

     At this point, then, our attention turns from the states of the Lord to the status of the Word. Samson was captured, blinded, and set to work grinding in the prison house. Have we not here a description of the way in which the Word was used by the Jews and is used today in the Christian Church? Its internal sense is unknown, and therefore the Word is as if blind. It is not used to teach heavenly things, but to grind out confirmations that keep men in their positions of ecclesiastical power or justify their states of merely natural good. Grinding was considered to be women s work, and to be set to it was a supreme insult to the hero of Israel. But what happened? The Word, although made to stand between the two pillars of false doctrine supporting all of Christian theology, namely, a belief in the doctrine of the vicarious atonement and the doctrine of salvation by faith alone, was not there for support, but so that men might mock it by doctrines and lives entirely contrary to its spirit. This also had been done by the Jews.
     The Philistines did not realize that Samson's hair would certainly grow again. So it was with the Jews, who, although awaiting the Messiah, did not in the least expect a new and more interior revelation of truth, and certainly not one that would bring their church to an end. And the Christian world today, although vaguely expecting a return of Christ, does not realize that the new revelation is already pressing against the twin pillars of its theology, and in the spiritual world has already brought down in ruins the doctrinal structure of both the Roman and the Reformed theologies.
     It is said that Samson died and in his death killed more Philistines than he had slain in his life.* But death signifies resurrection, and the miracle is that the Word has been given anew in greater splendor, power and glory than were ever known before. We read:

     "If either faith or imputation or Christ's merit were taken away, all the things said about justification, the forgiveness of sins, vivification, renewal, regeneration, sanctification, and about the gospel, freedom of choice, charity and good works, and even life eternal, would become like desolate towns or like a temple in ruins, and faith itself, which stands at the head of all, would come to nothing, and thus the entire church would be a desert and a desolation. All this makes clear upon what a pillar the house of God at this day is made to rest; and if that pillar were torn down the house would be overthrown, like that in which the lords of the Philistines and the people to the number of three thousand were amusing themselves, when Samson pulled down both of its two pillars at once, and all within it were slain or died."**
* Judges 16:30.
** TCR 627.

539

It is not difficult, then, to see wherein the strength of the New Church lies, for the Writings themselves have been provided with doctrines of ultimate fulness, holiness and power. The Lord battles unaided for His church, and this through the new Word, purifying it from evils and faith alone; and where there is faith in His Divine Human as the rock on which the church is built, and the sacred flame of love and worship, He as it were descends and rises in that flame, elevating all men to Himself. By this means the church is sanctified, and comes to be a heaven and kingdom of the Lord: living in the world, and yet not of the world; acting as if of self, yet not from self; worshiping in His glorified Human the Lord who has said, "All power is given unto Me in heaven and on earth."*
* Matthew 28: 18. Cf. Daniel 7: 13, 14. TCR 791.
OUR NEW CHURCH VOCABULARY 1962

OUR NEW CHURCH VOCABULARY 1962

     Degrees. The doctrine of degrees is peculiar to the Writings and fundamental to an understanding of their philosophy. The gradations from light to shade, fine to gross, rare to dense, loud to quiet, etc., are continuous degrees, which are degrees of one thing-measurable by various types of instrumentation. Discrete degrees are the degrees of the formation or composition of one thing from another. They exist in all things, but each distinctly, although they make a one when taken together. They are related as end, cause and effect, and the only ratio between them is that of correspondence; that is, the higher degrees can flow into the lower ones, but not the lower into the higher.
     Lower degrees have qualities not found in higher ones, but these are qualities of limitation. Love, thought and speech are a series of discrete degrees. Thought cannot formulate all that love perceives, and speech cannot express all that man thinks. However, discrete degrees are homogeneous, and it is in the ultimate degree that all the power of a series is exerted. The three heavens and the three degrees of the mind are discrete series.
     Yet it should be noted that there are discrete degrees in natural as well as in spiritual things; that the term does not express only a relation between the spiritual and the natural or the infinite and the finite. The natural atmospheres, for example, are discreted from one another. The designations "degrees of height" and "degrees of length" should not be taken too literally. (See AC 10,181; HH 38; Infi. 16; DLW 184, 256; DP 32.)

540

MEMORIAL ADDRESS For The Reverend Gustaf Baeckstrom 1962

MEMORIAL ADDRESS For The Reverend Gustaf Baeckstrom Rev. BJORN BOYESEN 1962

     The Lord has now called our revered pastor and dear friend Gustaf Baeckstrom to the spiritual world. We follow him in thought and with gratitude and affection to that higher world which he knew so well. Few have studied what the Writings teach about that world as thoroughly as he has done; and few have taught others so much about it. Now he has been resurrected there, and it is surely a marvelous experience for him to see actually what he previously knew only through studies and insight. Surely he is also ready soon to resume his use as a priest in the Lord's New Church; for to those who truly love the use of the priesthood, it is an eternal calling continuing also in heaven.

     Mr. Baeckstrom has been a pioneer in the New Church in Scandinavia. For almost forty years he has labored for the growth and spread of the church. He has given innumerable lectures and written many books about the doctrines of the New Church. Through his labors many have surely been affected by spiritual truth and led toward genuine good. Never has Mr. Baeckstrom saved his strength in the discharge of his holy calling. He has ever considered his office as a service before the Lord for use to the neighbor. In this he has represented the Lord without claiming any Divine powers for himself.
     The priestly use ought, before all others, to be conjoined with humility. It consists in instructing others in truth, not from oneself, but from the Lord's Word; and also in leading them to genuine spiritual good, not through pressure or the exercise of power of any kind, but through counsel and guidance. It looks first to the salvation of souls and only in the second place to the growth of the organized church. It looks first to the establishment of the internal church in heart and mind, and afterwards to the needs of the external church. Yet the use of the priesthood refers to both, for the internal church and the external depend on each other. A good priest regards the church as a whole as well as the individual. He considers both those who already are in the church and those who as yet know nothing about it.

541

He thinks of the church in heaven as well as of the church on earth-and in every case his office regards the establishment of the Lord's kingdom.

Mr. Baeckstrom has labored faithfully in these respects. The Writings of the New Church were for him the Lord's Word in His second coming-the Word of God revealed in a new form in which the spiritual sense was fully explained in the letter. He studied these books personally and sought to lead others to them. He considered his own works merely as introductory. The most marvelous message of the new Revelation lay for him, however, not in its abstract truths, but in its practical, human teachings. It was his greatest happiness to lead new people to this new Word-to conduct new souls through the gates of the New Jerusalem. The missionary spirit warmed his heart especially, and he was especially gifted in missionary ability. He often referred to the Lord's words to the Jews: "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also must I bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd";* and he maintained that we must think in the same way also in the New Church. Thus he has helped us to turn our sight outward-to open our doors to the stranger as well as to educate ourselves and our children in the meaning of the New Church. And true charity assuredly requires this of us. For what is a New Church spirit, which does not include those who hunger and thirst for the truth?
* John 10:16.
Mr. Baeckstrom realized clearly that the priestly use does not inhere in the individual priest. He often spoke of the need for subordination under one's use. And this is especially important in the case of a priest. His calling is not a part of his personality, but is adjoined to him. It is given to him as a responsibility which he administers. Dignity and honor belong indeed to the priest on account of this calling-on account of the holy things which he administers. But a wise priest ascribes the dignity and honor to the Lord, and does not claim them for himself; and it is assuredly in this spirit that Mr. Baeckstr6m would like us to honor his memory. Yet it is in a certain sense also right to think of him as a person, for it is the person who serves the use; and the person also deserves our affection and respect. We have all much to thank him for: his love for the church, his thoughtfulness of us, his industry in the performance of his use. For his wife, Gustaf was a devoted husband. To his sons he was a good father. He has done his work well. He was and is the Lord's servant. "Well done, thou good and faithful servant. . . . Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."* Amen.
* Matthew 25:21.

542

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 1962

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH BJORN A. H. BOYESEN 1962

     Gustaf Baeckstrom was born in Karlskrona, Sweden, October 14th, 1878. The father, Karl Anton Vilbelm Baeckstrom, was a captain in the Swedish navy. The mother's name was Matilda Amalia Gjerling. There were six children in the family, three boys and three girls, but two of the girls died soon after birth.
     Gustaf took his matriculation ("student") examination just before his father's death. He was then eighteen years old. His father's death made it necessary for him to earn his own living, and he took a position with an insurance company, which he held for ten years. That a career in the insurance business did not appeal to him is evident, because, "in order to make life more worth while," he joined a group of youths who went to the hospitals for the poor in Stockholm to lighten the long hours with a bit of entertainment. Some of them sang and played musical instruments, but Gustaf chose to read aloud to those who in this manner wished to find something to distract their thoughts.

     It was at St. Gliran's hospital that Gustaf came in contact with the Writings. He had become acquainted with the head nurse, Miss Nancy Liden, and once when he visited her he saw several copies of Swedenborg's religious works. Swedenborg's rules of life were set up on the wall. Opinions differ as to which work of the Writings Gustaf read first. At any rate, he had the book about a year before he actually read it. But then he truly found "what made life more worth while." That other works of the Writings thereafter were studied eagerly and with great interest is certain. He himself told me recently that it was the work on conjugial love which brought him into the New Church, but we do not know if it was the first work he read. He was baptized in Stockholm by the Reverend S. Chr. Brlinniche of Copenhagen on October 27th, 1912, and decided to become a minister of the New Church.
     He applied and was admitted to the theological school at the Academy of the New Church at Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, where he began his studies in the fall of 1913. On June 18th, 1914, he was authorized as a candidate for the ministry to teach and preach under the school's supervision. On June 6th, 1915, after having completed his second year in the theological school, he was ordained by the then Assistant Bishop, N. D. Pendleton, into the first degree of the priesthood. Four days later he was on his way back to his native country. He had been put in charge of the work in Stockholm and Gothenburg.
     The voyage home, in the midst of the first world war, did not pass without adventure. His ship was forced to port at Kirkwall, Scotland, by an English cruiser. But after a German officer, who posed as a Swiss citizen, had been discovered and interned, and no contraband had been found, the ship was allowed to proceed to Bergen, Norway.
     Gustaf arrived in Stockholm on June 24th, 1915. Two days later the little New Church circle in Stockholm assembled to welcome its chosen priest and teacher, and the following day Mr. Baeckstrom officiated for the first time at one of the services of the circle. Mr. Briinniche, who had come to Stockholm for one of his quarterly visits, was on the chancel with him and administered the Holy Supper. That same evening Gustaf announced his engagement to one of the young members of the circle, Miss Greta Wahlstrom. Mr. Bronniche officiated at their betrothal. The two had come to know each other and become deeply devoted through regular correspondence during the two years when Gustaf was in Bryn Athyn.

543

Their first meeting took place at Swedenborg's summerhouse after his return. The wedding was solemnized on October 17th, that same year, by Mr. Bronniche.
     The small circle of New Church men and women for whom Mr. Baeckstrom now became leader had originally been organized by Mr. Alfred Stroh in 1910, but met for a long time only for study, discussion and social gatherings. Their first service of worship had not taken place until October 27th, 1912, when Mr. Briinniche had come from Copenhagen to conduct the service and administer the Holy Supper. It was at this service that Gustaf Baeckstrom bad been baptized. At the little banquet, which was held later on the same day, Gustaf gave a speech, and "surprised all with his brilliant oratory, his evident deep sincerity and great fervor." The circle had held its first meetings as well as its first services at the home of one of the members, Mrs. Zulamith Svaneskog, but rented two pleasant rooms in the eastern section of the city as early as in the year 1913. At the dedication service, held at this place on October 26th, 1913, Mrs. Hedvig Wahlstr5m was baptized. She was the mother of the young girl who was to be Gustaf's wife. Already Mrs. Wahlstri5m's mother bad belonged to the New Church, but in the days before distinct New Church baptism was practiced. Indeed, the members of the circle had broken away from the Reverend Manby's society mainly on account of the question of a distinct baptism. He had refused to baptize those who already were baptized in the Old Church.
     Greta's first contact with the church actually came through helping to paint the furniture for the church rooms. She was baptized by Mr. Bronniche on January 31st. 1915.

     In January 1916 the circle took the first necessary steps to be recognized by the Swedish State so that it could function publicly. Now when, after two years of waiting, the members had their own minister, who could be their leader, they felt ready for this step. An application for recognition under the name of "Nya Kyrkans Fdrsamling" (The Society of the New Church) was signed by the members on January 1st, and was granted by the State on September 20th, 1916. New quarters had again been acquired (the previous September) at Artillerigatan 60, more suitable for public worship. Gustaf's and Greta's wedding was the first festival occasion celebrated at this place. It was also the first wedding solemnized in Sweden according to the order of service of the General Church.
     Conditions in Sweden were serious during the war years. In spite of this, or perhaps partially on account of it, the small newly formed society enjoyed considerable success. Still it is certain that Mr. Baeckstrom's inexhaustible energy and great missionary ability were the prime factors. In addition to the work in the society he held many public lectures. In 1916, in a report to the Council of the Clergy, he says that he "has found the work in Stockholm, Sweden, encouraging, and looks to the future with confidence." At services the average attendance was twenty-two, and at the Sunday evening missionary lectures thirty-six. The number of lectures was seventeen. Doctrinal classes were also held.
     During the war years it was not possible for the Bishop of the General Church to visit Sweden and ordain Mr. Baeckstrom into the second degree of the priesthood. In August, 1917, he was therefore authorized by the Bishop to administer the Holy Supper and to officiate at weddings, pending ordination into the second degree. This ordination took place on June 27th, 1920, when, after the war was over, Mr. Baeckstrom attended the Council of the Clergy meetings in Bryn Athyn.

544

     In the year 1918 the society in Stockholm numbered thirty-three adult members, fifteen children and young people, and the average attendance at the services was twenty-nine and at the doctrinal classes thirty-two. During the following years the society grew steadily and Mr. Baeckstr6m had remarkable success with his missionary lectures. He relates himself: "During the first three years the work went on steadily, but slowly. In the fourth year the Spanish sickness raged in Sweden and elsewhere, and many died. At that time I was, unfortunately, compelled by the constantly increasing cost of living to take up secular work, and that took away five of the best hours of the day."
     However, when it became known to the General Church that Mr. Baeckstrom had been compelled to engage in secular work, his salary was sufficiently increased to remedy the situation. A new period of development began and he made missionary journeys to many of the larger cities throughout the land. The audiences reached two, three, and occasionally even five hundred people. One year Mr. Baeckstrom gave no less than fifty public lectures in different towns with an average audience of 181 persons. Sixteen of these lectures were held in Stockholm with an average attendance of 255. It is even more surprising when one takes into account that an entrance fee of about eleven cents was charged, making the lectures for the most part self-supporting. Eleven cents was more money in those days than today.

     A time came when Mr. Baeckstrom's industry injured his health and Bishop Pendleton advised him to limit the work to Stockholm for a time. Throughout his life, however, Mr. Baeckstrom continued to be an inexhaustible public lecturer whenever his health permitted. His lectures dealt frequently with the spiritual world, as appears from such titles as "The Riddle of Death" and "Life after Death." He had found that such subjects drew the greatest crowds, but he did not fail to weave in solid teaching on the main New Church doctrines. When the famous play Outward Bound, by Sutton Vane, had considerable success in Stockholm, he made it the occasion to deliver a lecture with the same title and partially based on the story of the play, but adapted to illustrate the teaching of the church regarding the spiritual world and man's entrance into it. The lecture was so well received that it had to be repeated many times.
     The success with the lectures suggested the idea to publish them. But how were the necessary means to be secured? Mr. Baeckstrom says in an address on "Missionary Work," given in 1926 in Bryn Athyn: "We were few people, and, to use a mild expression, were not very wealthy. We had no funds. I had, however, some little money of my own, which I now used for the printing of books. In addition we borrowed money, and so were enabled to start our book room."
     This book room, or more accurately, this publishing society called "Nova Ecclesia," has to date existed for forty-two years. Its magazine with the same name is now in its forty-first year of publication. Mr. Baeckstrom was the editor as well as the author who wrote most of its articles until 1958. The majority of the books and pamphlets published by the society have also been written by him. Among the thirty productions of his pen might be mentioned After Death, which has been published in several editions, The Riddle of Death, Love and Death, Our Guardian Angels, Our Deceased Friends, The Invisible World, Our Eternal Home, The Happiness of Eternal Life, Dreams and Visions, The Spirit and Matter, Swedenborg's Revelations and an excellent little biography of Swedenborg.

545

These titles suggest what his authorship mostly dealt with; but, of course, books by other authors were also published by the society. Most important are some of the Writings: Heaven and Hell, The New Jerusalem and If s Heavenly Doctrine, The Divine Love, The Divine Wisdom, The Doctrine Concerning Charity, Brief Exposition and The Gorand Man. The last consists of extracts from Arcana Coelestia, translated into modern Swedish by the Reverend Erik Sandstrom, who also revised some of the other translations. But the translation of Heaven and Hell into modern Swedish is Mr. Baeckstrom's work, for which be was given an honorary doctor's degree by the Academy of the New Church. The translation of Brief Exposition was also done by Mr. Baeckstrom. He remained the president of the publishing society until 1958 and was the legally responsible publisher until his death, July 14th, 1962.
     Not only in Sweden has Mr. Baeckstrom's work borne lasting fruit. He visited many times by invitation the circle in Copenhagen, Denmark, which on February 2nd, 1956, was recognized by our Bishop as a circle of the General Church, and he is responsible for the formation of the circle in Oslo, Norway. His first visit there was in 1927, and ten years later he wrote: "I believe that, in the Providence of the Lord, the day is not very far off when there will be a New Church society in Oslo, and that from this city as a center the New Church can be spread without great difficulty to places in all parts of Norway. . . . Let us not give up a work, because we do not see results as soon as we have wished and hoped-if it is a good work. . . . We must believe in success, if we are to have any." These words give eloquent expression to his practical faith. Mr. Baeckstrom visited also many other places in Norway, and a number of persons in that country have come into the New Church through his work. Our little circle in Oslo was recognized by the Norwegian State under the name of "Den Nye Kirkes Menighet" on May 15th, 1947.
     It is not possible in a short biography to describe all the phases and results of Mr. Baeckstrom's work. From 1941 to 1953 he was assisted by the Reverend Erik Sandstrom, and they shared the work between them. In the last of these years it became necessary for Mr. Baeckstrom to retire on account of advanced age and failing health. He was then 75 years old. Mr. Sandstrom was unanimously chosen by the Stockholm Society to succeed Mr. Baeckstrom on December 6th, 1953. When, in 1955, Mr. Sandstrom accepted a call to the pastorate of Michael Church, London, I accepted the responsibility for the work in Stockholm and the Scandinavian countries, except that Mr. Baeckstrom remained visiting pastor of the Oslo Circle until June 1956, when I succeeded him also in that office.
     It was Mr. Baeckstrom's sincere hope that the New Church should grow strong in Scandinavia in order to lead its people toward heaven. Although the time for successful missionary lectures seems to have passed with the advent of radio and television, these or other means may open up for us in time to come. Mr. Baeckstrom has helped by building the foundation. It is a challenge for all of us in these countries to continue building, but ever mindful of the words which Mr. Baeckstrom often quoted: "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it." Our part is to co-operate with the Lord in this work.

     BJORN A. H. BOYESEN

546

FORTY-SEVENTH BRITISH ASSEMBLY 1962

FORTY-SEVENTH BRITISH ASSEMBLY FRANK S. ROSE 1962

     LONDON, JULY 20-22, 1962

     Assemblies are always and everywhere the same-happy, inspiring and different! Although we have an Assembly in England every year, no two are alike. The 47th British Assembly managed to look in two directions, backward and forward, and thus both provided a continuity with the past and opened a new vision of the Writings, and so a new insight into the future of the Lord's crowning church.
     First Session. People began arriving at Swedenborg House from 5:30 p.m., onwards, and could enjoy their tea and sandwiches at the same time as they enjoyed the more spiritual use of being sandwiched between friends old and new. Theoretically tea was to have finished by 7:00 p.m., but people were still arriving then and there were sandwiches unconsumed. The committee only just managed to clear the hall in time for the first session at 7:30.
     The president, the Rev. Alan Gill, opened with a simple service of worship and the reading of Psalm 67. He extended a warm welcome to everyone, and made special reference to our visitors from overseas, including the Rev. Gudmund Boolsen from Copenhagen, Denmark; Mr. Will White from Adelaide, South Australia; and Miss Nancy Stroh and Mrs. Bertha Howard from Bryn Athyn. Mr. Gill then read a message of greeting from the Right Rev. Willard D. Pendleton, our new Bishop. The secretary of the Assembly moved the adoption of the Minutes of the 46th British Assembly as printed in NEW CHURCH LIFE, October 1961, pp. 463-466. The motion was carried.
     It was only a quarter of an hour from the opening of the session to the evening's address, given ex tem pore by the Rev. Erik Sandstrom, on "Milestones in the History of the General Church." Portraits of Swedenborg, Hindmarsh, Noble and other New Church worthies looked down in silent approval as he traced the history of the General Church, beginning with the Academy's formation in 1876 and then touching on the organization of the General Church in 1897, the Principles of the Academy, the Kramph Will case, and other milestones including the calling of Bishop N. D. Pendleton and Bishop George de Charms to the episcopal office. As the climax of his review, he played tape recordings of the most recent milestone of all-the choice of our new Bishop.

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It was very moving indeed actually to hear the voices of the judge of election, who gave the results of the ballot, and of Bishop Pendleton in his humble acceptance of the office entrusted to him. We felt that the church would develop and grow, true to its own past and its future destiny. It was evident both from the discussion at the session and from remarks made later that people were delighted with this appropriate introduction to our Assembly.

     Second Session. The second session opened at 11:05 on Saturday morning with worship and a reading from Revelation 3: 14-22. The Rev. Gudmund Boolsen then brought greetings to the Assembly from the group in Denmark. This was followed by three reports. The Rev. Frank Rose spoke as editor of the News Letter and among other things took the opportunity to thank the Rev. Erik Sandstrom for his series of pull-out supplements on "New Church Education in the Home." This provided a convenient link with the second report, which was by the Rev. Erik Sandstrom as chairman of the British Academy. He pointed out that the British Academy has come to the conclusion that we cannot plan for a New Church high school in Great Britain in the immediate future. The matter is continually open for review, and will never cease to be the first love of the British Academy, but in the meantime the Academy has agreed to take part in the following uses: 1) the financial support of the Colchester primary school; 2) aid to pupils who wish to further their New Church education; 3) support of educational activities for young people; 4) adult education; and 5) the summer school. The third report was from the visiting pastor, the Rev. Frank Rose, who gave a brief review of ten years on the "Open Road." In September ministrations will have to be reduced, and the traveling work will be shared by the pastors of Michael Church and the Colchester Society until such time as another minister can take up the work with the isolated.
     There was a brief discussion of the reports and then the Assembly turned its attention to the presidential address by the Rev. Alan Gill on "The Good, the Bad and the Indifferent." Mr. Gill was careful to say that he was not attempting to describe the state of the church, but rather the widespread indifference to religion in the world around us. This indifference seems harmless enough, yet the Word teaches that it is better to be cold or hot than to be lukewarm. The address was stimulating and aroused many questions; evidently the speaker had hit a tender spot in the conscience!
     We adjourned for lunch at Lyons' Tea Shop, 3 Southampton Row, and then had the afternoon free.

548

Some went to the British Museum to see what New Church men regard as its most valuable possession-the copy of Brief Exposition with the Hic liber est inscription in Swedenborg's handwriting, the only copy known in the world. (See Sketch of an Ecclesiastical History of the New Church, nos. 8, 9.)

     Third Session. After returning to Lyons' Tea Shop for tea, we gathered in Swedenborg Hall for the third session. The business of the British Finance Committee of the General Church, traditionally the most exacting of all, went smoothly and painlessly. The chairman, the Rev. Alan Gill, gave a brief report and was followed by the treasurer, Mr. Kenneth Pryke, with the annual accounts. There was some discussion. The Assembly then ratified the Bishop's reappointment of the Rev. Alan Gill, the Rev. Frank Rose and Mr. John Cooper to the B.F.C. The auditors, Messrs. A. J. Appleton and Philip N. Waters, were re-elected.
     The address of the evening, on "Samson," was by the Rev. Frank Rose. The principal stories connected with Samson were reviewed and unfolded as they relate to the Lord's combats with the hells of faith alone. There was a lively discussion, including a reference- widely disputed-to the new Coventry Cathedral as an apparent sign that the Old Church has not, like the temple of Dagon, been brought down in ruins after all. As is usual on these occasions, however, the discussion had to be terminated before it had fairly begun, and we were left to carry it on as we returned to our hotels and homes in time to get enough sleep for the following day's proceedings.
     Worship. Fine weather on Sunday brought many carloads of families and swelled the congregation so that we wondered whether Swedenborg Hall would hold them all. We just managed to fit in by having the children sit on the communion hassocks. Twenty-three of them left during the singing of the Psalm to attend a class given by Miss Rinnab Acton. This helped to preserve the state of quiet reflection that is so important to a service of worship, especially one including the Holy Supper. The Rev. Erik Sandstrom preached on "Repentance," a reminder of the importance of genuine self-examination and repentance as a preparation for the Holy Supper.
     After the service came the photograph, taken at the back of the British Museum. This would have been even more successful than it was except for one thing. A rumor spread to the effect that the very slight drizzle made it necessary to cancel the taking of the picture. Quite apart from involving a rather miserable underestimation of the British character, this rumor resulted in something like thirty people not being included in the photograph.

549

     As if by way of compensation for this, about thirty more people showed up for lunch than were expected. This caused much scurrying to and fro in the kitchen of Lyons' Tea Shop, with meals being improvised for those who arrived after all the chicken had been served.
     Children's Service. The children's service was almost as crowded as the adult service in the morning, with the children even more in evidence. Exact attendance figures were not taken, but there were certainly over a hundred present, including three or four dozen children. The service opened with the baptism of John Salem Greenhalgh, who had been born on New Church Day. The address, by the Rev. Frank Rose, explained to the children that although they could not remember their own baptism, they could begin to do something about it; for just as they had learned to wash themselves, so they could learn to shun evils as sins and thus begin to live up to their own baptism.
     Concert. The finale of the Assembly was advertised as "Tea and Concert." Tea was passed around in Swedenborg Hall by the gentlemen, and after the food and the gay confusion had passed, the audience settled itself for a program of toasts and entertainment, with Mr. Norman Turner as master of ceremonies. This was a happy blend of serious and hilarious items, leading up to the conclusion of the Assembly with the singing of the 45th Psalm and the Benediction.
     Statistics. Attendance figures were as follows:
Friday Tea     75 (Approx.)
First Session     80
Second Session     80
Saturday Lunch     68
Saturday Tea     66
     Third Session     92
Worship     152 (92 Communicants)
Sunday Lunch     128
Sunday Tea     121
     FRANK S. ROSE,
Secretary of the Assembly
New Church Club 1962

New Church Club 1962

The meeting of the New Church Club, on Thursday, July 19, just preceding the Assembly, was ably addressed by the Rev. Clifford Harley on the problem of sensation and reality in both worlds. Mr. Harley pointed out that even our knowledge of the natural world is through sensation, which is more than a merely physical experience, involving as it does the use of the mind, which is spiritual. The address raised many questions concerning the relation between the two worlds, especially in that some of his audience accused Mr. Harley, much to his astonishment, of saying that matter was a low degree of spiritual substance. Eighteen men were present.

550

MAN'S RELATION WITH THE SPIRITUAL WORLD 1962

MAN'S RELATION WITH THE SPIRITUAL WORLD ELDIN O. ACTON 1962

     (Presidential address delivered at the 152nd Annual Meeting of the Swedenborg Society, Inc., London, June 1, 1962.)

     The object of this address is to summarize in simple form something of the way in which the connection between man and the spiritual world exists and is maintained. The subject is vast, and here, for the most part, the treatment will consist of quotations from the Writings, which in some instances are paraphrased for the sake of brevity.
     The Lord is infinite love, infinite wisdom and infinite use. All creation is from the Lord. Therefore He created mankind to be recipient vessels, capable of receiving His love and wisdom and by use of being conjoined with the Creator.
     All creation is in the form of the Creator, who is the Divine Man. The end of creation is a heaven of angels from the human race. Man is the ultimate of Divine order. For this reason the Lord was born on earth to become the Man in ultimates-the "Word made flesh." We are told that the Word in its literal sense is in its fulness and its power.

     The human race is the basis upon which heaven is founded, because man was created last and that which is last is the basis of all that precedes.
     "Creation began from the highest or inmost, because from the Divine, proceeding to the last or outermost . . . this ultimate is the natural world . . . and everything within it. . . . Then man was created, and in him were gathered all things of Divine order from first things to lasts; in his inmosts were gathered all things which are in the first things of that order, in his ultimates those which are in last things, so that man became Divine order in form. Hence it is that all things in and with man are from heaven as well as from the world; from heaven those things belonging to his mind, and from the world those things belonging to his body."*
* LJ 9.

     The substance of this quotation is developed very extensively in the Writings, particularly in Divine Love and Wisdom. But we will note especially this statement, "that in man were gathered all things of Divine order from firsts to lasts," which continues: "man's inmost being is in connection with heaven, which inflows into his thoughts and affections and presents these thoughts and affections in accordance with the reception of his spirit; while the things of the world inflow into his sensations and desires, and present these [sensations and desires] in accordance with the reception in his body, but in conformity to and agreement with the thoughts and affections of his spirit."

551

Later in the same number it is said: By this means the Lord provides that heaven and the human race shall be of mutual service to each other, and although to all appearance angelic abodes are separate from the abodes of men, yet they are with man in his affection of what is good and true."*
* Ibid.

     "Man is altogether ignorant that he is governed by the Lord by means of angels and spirits, and that there are with every man at least two spirits and two angels. By means of spirits he has communication with the world of spirits, and by means of angels with heaven, and thus through heaven with the Lord. . . . Without this it would be quite impossible for him to live-his life depending upon such conjunction. While he is unregenerate, evil spirits rule over him in such a manner that the angels, although present, can scarcely do more than prevent him from casting himself headlong into the deepest evil . . . and indeed they incline him to some good by means of his own lusts and to truth by means of the fallacies of his senses."*
* AC 50.

     "Man knows no otherwise than that he thinks from himself . . . whereas be has not a single idea of thought, nor even the least of an idea, from himself. On the contrary, what is evil and false he has by means of evil spirits from hell, and what is good and true he has by means of angels from the Lord. Hence he derives his life, and hence the intercourse of his soul with his body."

     "When these spirits come to man they enter into his entire memory, thus into his entire thought; evil spirits into the evil things of his memory and thought, and good spirits into the good things of his memory and thought. On the other hand they have no knowledge that they are with man, but believe that all things of his memory and thought are their own."*
* HH 298. Cf. AC 5857, 5862.

     But we are told that this activity is limited to the things of man's mind, for "spirits are not permitted to enter into the things of the external body and the corporeal."
     We are told also that when man is born he is "without form" as to his will and "void" as to his understanding, and that until the memory is formed, by means of impressions received through the senses, there is no ultimate by which spirits can make communication. While in this first state of ignorance, man is introduced among angels of the celestial heaven by whom he is kept in states of innocence and peace; and we are told that these states remain with him to eternity, and form the first things of his memory, which are called "remains."
     From reflection upon the above quotations, and many others of a like nature which are to be found throughout the Writings, are drawn these comments which may be of interest.

552

First: evil spirits are present only when, as to his love, man is wishful to do what is evil, and as to his thought is concerned with what is of falsity in order to condone or justify such evils; for these are conditions in which devils and satans delight. Second: to the extent that man turns away from such inclinations these spirits can find no ultimate into which they can act; and when this happens they withdraw, and other spirits who are in accord with the variation in his state are adjoined. Again, as to the statement that spirits enter into the memory, yet do not see through it as it were into the world, that is, "the external body and the corporeal"-which applies whether the spirits are good or evil; to comprehend the meaning of this it may be helpful if we reflect on something within the range of our own experience.

     When we look at a painting or a statue, what actually takes place is that the mind by means of the sensory, the eye, receives an impression which affects it according to the state of its affection and thought. One person sees the object differently from any other person, and the degree of difference is varied according to the differences of disposition in each one of us. But the essential form that enters into each mind is a particular of use, or combination of uses, of which that mind has some knowledge; the object seen is really only the means by which the affection and thought within the mind itself are stimulated. Thus that which is in the affection and thought is the substance which is seen by the spirits with man and into which they enter. These substances, and others of a like nature in the man's memory, they arrange and order to form new or modified ideas in the mind of the man himself which he either accepts or rejects.
     It is a universal law that there can be no action without a reaction. The supreme form of this law is the Lord Himself-the Divine love proceeding by means of the Divine wisdom to produce use. In the natural world something analogous to this may be seen from the heat and light of the sun. Until these are received no reaction can take place; but as soon as they are received by some natural substance, that substance reacts and is affected thereby according to its particular form and capacity to receive, and from this an effect is produced.
     All things are held together in a series from first to last in connection and order, so that that which is above may inflow into that which is beneath and arrange it into agreement with its own order.

553

Such is the series from the highest heaven successively down to man in the natural world.
     As all creation is effected in ultimates, it is by means of this connection and series that procreation is constantly taking place, in which the "things of heaven" can be received into the mind and the "things of the world" can provide for the body; for "the heavens and all things of the spiritual world have no life without the natural world as its containant and basis."
     Thus the spiritual world and the natural world are so inseparably connected that from every new creation in the natural, that is, every new soul that is born into the world, "without form and void," there may be produced an "image and likeness of God"; thus fulfilling the Divine end of creation, an increasing heaven of angels from the human race.
     No attempt has been made to correlate what has been given in the Writings on this subject with present day thought, because there is little if any constructive thought with which it can be compared; whereas that which is presented in the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg is an entirely unique revelation of the purpose of existence and the means by which it has continuity and form.
     Because of the universal relationship between all things in creation with each other and with the Creator, it has proved impossible here to do more than indicate something of this connection in very general terms; for as soon as an attempt was made to explain anything, immediately an avenue of thought was opened up which, if followed, would in itself require more time to develop than could be allowed for the whole of this presentation. All that has been offered, however, while admittedly abrupt and summary, has the hallmark of truth; and the more it is examined in detail and reflected upon, the more clearly can the Lord's love and wisdom be seen portrayed in the order of creation.
SOME GENERAL CHURCH USES 1962

SOME GENERAL CHURCH USES 1962

     GENERAL CHURCH RELIGION LESSONS. Graded lessons and other material from preschool through Grade 12. Address inquiries to: Pastor-in-charge, Rev. Karl R. Alden, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     GENERAL CHURCH SOUND RECORDING COMMITTEE. Tape-recordings of services, children's services, doctrinal classes, etc.
Address:     General Church Sound Recording Committee, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
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     NEW CHURCH EDUCATION. Published monthly, September through June, by Religion Lessons Committee. Subscription, $1.50 per year. Editor: Rev. Karl R. Alden.

554

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1962

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS Rev. FREDERICK L. SCHNARR 1962

     In our readings from the Arcana Coelestia for this month we learn how the first or Ishmael rational was conceived and born with the Lord. In the spiritual sense of the story of Hagar's servitude to Sarai, of Hagar's conception by Abram, and of the birth and early life of Ishmael, Hagar's son, the Writings unfold the steps by which the Lord took to Himself the first, impure and merely human rational, and began to order and form it as a matrix for the Divine rational.
     It is well to keep in mind when reading the Writings, particularly the present assignment, that the same term may be used with many different meanings and applications. The term, rational, which appears often in the current readings, is used in a variety of ways. Note the various adjectives employed: the Ishmael rational, the Isaac rational, the human rational, the first rational, the second rational, the genuine rational, the true rational, the interior rational, the exterior rational, the natural rational and the spiritual rational. Others could be added to this list. When an adjective is used, it is relatively easy to determine just what part or function of the rational is being treated of; but more often than not, the word, rational, is used by itself. This is where the reader must be careful to remember how the term is being used in this particular section or chapter; otherwise he must judge from the implications of other teachings or expressions in the passage as to how it is to be understood. This is not as difficult as it would at first seem to be; just being aware of it helps a great deal.

     We cannot pass over this chapter without commenting on certain vivid descriptions of the first or Ishmael rational with man that are given. We think of this rational as that which is first opened and formed during adolescence, and indeed it is. It is represented in the Word as a wild ass, and for good reason; for its qualities are much like those of a wild assindependent, stubborn, unstable, and constantly tending to kick up a fuss, overthrow order and balk at supervision and discipline. In reviewing the states of adolescence, it is not difficult to see when the Ishmael rational has come to birth and begun to express itself!
     What we do not consider so readily is that which is also described in our readings-the nature of the confirmed Ishmael rational with the adult.

555

When man is unwilling that a true rational should be born from the Lord-from the knowledge, understanding and use of spiritual goods and truths-the first, immature, wild-ass Ishmael rational is all that he retains, and it becomes an image of hell.
That we may be aware of the presence of such a rational when examining ourselves, and that we may learn to regard its qualities with horror, it is well that we pause and pay particular attention to the clear teaching that follows. "He is a morose man, will bear nothing, is against all, regards everybody as being in falsity, is ready to rebuke, to chastise and to punish, has no pity, and does not apply or adapt himself to others and study to bend their minds; for he looks at everything from truth, and at nothing from good. Hence it was that Ishmael was driven out. . . . Truth separated from good, which is here represented by Ishmael . . . is like a wild ass, fighting against all, and all against it; in fact, it thinks of and breathes scarcely anything but combat; its general delectation, or reigning affection, is to conquer; and when it conquers it glories in the victory; on which account it is described as an 'onager' or mule of the wilderness that is, the wild ass, which cannot be with others" (AC 1949: 2, 1950: 3).
CHARITY IN GOVERNORS 1962

CHARITY IN GOVERNORS 1962

"By governors are meant those 4olding the highest positions in kingdoms, commonwealths, provinces, cities, societies, over which they have jurisdiction in civil affairs. Each one of them, in his own position, if he looks to the Lord and shuns evils as sins, and if he honestly, justly and faithfully carries out the work of his exalted function, is continually doing a good of use to the community and to the individuals in it, and becomes a charity in form. This takes place when the good of the subjects or citizens affects him; and when this affects him, it moves him to enact, together with those who are wise and God-fearing, laws of use, to see that they are kept, and to be first in living subject to them; also, to appoint over the groups of people under him officials who are intelligent and at the same time of good will, through whom, under his supervision, judgment and justice may prevail, and the common good always be promoted. He will regard himself as the highest in rank of those serving others, and not as the head, for the head directs all things of its body from love and wisdom in itself; and love and wisdom in itself is the only Lord, by whom he, too, as a servant will be directed" (Doctrine of Charity 161).

556

I SHALL YET PRAISE HIM 1962

I SHALL YET PRAISE HIM Editor 1962

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.

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     At Thanksgiving we praise the Lord for the unfailing operations of His Providence as manifested in the harvest of the earth. If our minds are directed to, and our gratitude evoked by, that which is manifested rather than the manifestation, bountiful though that may be, we can enter into a new idea of the real grounds for giving thanks that may lead to some surprises.
     The end of the Divine Providence is not to bestow wealth, prestige and power upon men. It is an angelic heaven from the human race. In everything that it does, therefore, the Divine Providence looks to what is infinite and eternal. It looks to eternal things, and has regard to temporal ones only as far as they agree with these. Thus material abundance is not necessarily a Divine blessing, any more than material want is a sign of the Divine displeasure. On the contrary, we are assured that they who trust in the Lord continually receive good from Him; for whatever happens to them, whether it appears to be prosperous or not, is still good, because it conduces as a means to their eternal happiness.
     If we reflect on this we may see that there can be cause for thanksgiving where at first there might seem to be little or none. There may be those who feel that they have little for which to be grateful; those to whom the year seems to have brought more than their share of anxiety and frustration, disappointment and loss, suffering and sorrow-and we may not minimize these things. But behind them is the unfailing providence of the Lord, seeking to lead by them as means to a happy end; and in this, if there is trust, is cause for deepest thanksgiving.

557

SENSUAL MAN 1962

SENSUAL MAN Editor 1962

     In the pages of the Writings the character of the sensual man is etched sharply and penetratingly. He believes nothing but what is natural, denies the existence of the spirit because he does not see it, and rarely understands anything about heavenly things because he is unwilling to concede that there is anything more interior than can be comprehended with the senses. Yet he may, in an idiom of our age, have the image of an intelligent if not a learned man, and he has few inhibitions about projecting it. Lacking the ability to examine himself critically, he has all the self-confidence of those who believe that they are the wisest of men, if they do not believe that they know everything!
     His very defects support his delusion and may lead to its acceptance as reality by the uncritical. Because he thinks and reasons from what is external, from what is merely worldly and corporeal, because he argues from the fallacies of the senses, because his thought is so near his speech that it is almost in it, and because he places all intelligence in speaking from the memory and in dexterously confirming falsities, he seems to reason more cogently, skilfully and acutely than others. Thus he supposes, and unfortunately can induce others to believe, that he far excels other men in cleverness, understanding and judgment. Yet the truth is that he is utterly stupid! His superficial brilliance is tinged with malice and employed with cunning; and of what is honorable and just, good and true, he has no idea whatsoever.

     If all of this sounds familiar it is probably because what is here described is a type of modern mind that is all too common and that is admired by too many people. Facile, brilliant and incisive, barbed with malice and shot through with cynicism, ultra sophisticated and pridefully without illusions or anything that is held sacred, it is to be found at work in contemporary writing, both fiction and non-fiction, and in much of what is offered as entertainment by stage, screen and television. Its thrust is more like that of a stiletto than a rapier. Probably one of its most popular manifestations is so-called "sick" humor. But the sensual mind, to be deplored when it tries to debase the public taste, can be dangerous when it attempts to mould public opinion, and never more so than when its findings are presented as those of high-level scholarship.
     There is increasing need for New Church men and women to read, watch and listen critically and analytically, and to decline to be daunted by the most formidable appearance of scholarship or intimidating air of expertise. Sound principles on which to base judgments are not hard to find in the Writings, and in their light the sensual mind can be exposed.

558

Church News 1962

Church News Various 1962

     NEW ENGLAND

     Connecticut

     The New England group concluded in August its seventh consecutive year of doctrinal classes and Sunday worship, conducted by the Rev. W. Cairns Henderson.
     This past year has brought some additional members, both small and large, to our group. Mark has been added to the Allan Soderberg family. Dr. and Mrs. William Radcliffe (Dorothy Gladish) are planning to be in the New Haven area for several years. Dr. Radcliffe, a radiologist, is associated with the Yale Medical School. Although we cannot really claim them in New England, we are happy to have the Richard Acton family in Carmel, New York. They have been frequent visitors during the past year. The only loss we have suffered is that of Miss Phoebe Simons, who is now attending the Girls School in Bryn Athyn as a junior.
     The Four Doctrines and the Doctrine of Charity were chosen as texts for the five doctrinal classes held at intervals of two months during the year. One of these works was assigned to be read in preparation for each class, and there was much discussion of these doctrines and of many related and unrelated subjects.
     The joint meeting of the Massachusetts and Connecticut groups was held this year in Niantic, Connecticut, on Sunday, August 19. For the service we rented a Masonic Hall with an organ, which was played beautifully by Mr. Harry Furry. Our pastor addressed the children and also preached a sermon on "Self-Affliction." The Holy Supper was administered to 17 communicants, and there were 26 adults and 16 children present at the service itself.
     The social gathering and dinner were held in the Allan Soderbergs' shady yard, which was set up for outdoor cooking and eating. A most delightful and engaging afternoon ensued after toasts and words of welcome. Dinner was followed by a business meeting at which new officers were elected for each group, and this secretary handed over her notebook to Dolores Soderberg for the coming year.
     SHARON S. TYLER

     THE CHURCH AT LARGE

     General Convention. The Rev. Robert H. Kirven has been appointed to the faculty of the New-Church Theological School as librarian, secretary of the faculty, and tutor in Swedenborg. The Rev. David P. Johnson, who relinquished the pastorate of the Kitchener Society, has been appointed to serve on the field faculty of the school in a laboratory parish and to be an instructor in the field of pastoral care and counseling. During the academic year he will make monthly visits to the school to teach.
     Within the next twelve months the Rev. David P. Johnson will join the Rev. Owen Turley and the Rev. Calvin Turley in Bellevue, Washington, to initiate Project Link. According to the NEW CHURCH MESSENGER, the Theological School has great interest in this project both as a training parish for its students and as a research center for the development of new concepts and new practices for church development.
     The possibility and advisability of relocating the Theological School is still under study, with attention being centered on Massachusetts, Ohio and California.

559

IMPORTANT PUBLICATION! 1962

     Announcements



     The Spiritual Diary, long out of print, is once again available. Volume I has been published in a new translation by the Swedenborg Society, Inc., while Volumes II-V have been reproduced by photo-offset by the Academy of the New Church. For these four volumes the edition published between 1883 and 1902 was used.
     The five volume set is bound in red cloth, and each volume is stamped in gold. The complete five volume set is priced at $27.00, and the four volumes published by the Academy may be purchased for $24.00 or $6.25 each for single volumes. Postage is included in all these prices.
     Address orders to: The Academy Book Room, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
MINISTERIAL CHANGES 1962

MINISTERIAL CHANGES 1962

The Rev. Elmo C. Acton has accepted an invitation, effective September 1, 1963, to become Dean of the Bryn Athyn Church.
VISITORS TO BRYN ATHYN 1962

VISITORS TO BRYN ATHYN 1962

People coming to Bryn Athyn who need assistance in finding accommodation are asked to communicate with the Hostess Committee. Please address letters to: The Hostess Committee, c/o Mrs. Roy H. Rose, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

561

FAITH IN THE WILL AND THE SPIRIT OF ANTICIPATION 1962

FAITH IN THE WILL AND THE SPIRIT OF ANTICIPATION Rev. DANDRIDGE PENDLETON 1962

VOL. LXXXII
DECEMBER, 1962
No. 12
     "And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it was answered unto him by the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death until he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for Him after the custom of the law, then took he Him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy Word: for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel." (Luke 1: 25-32)
     Simeon appears unannounced upon the New Testament scene. He remains but momentarily; then is gone, never to reappear. Who this Simeon was, we do not know. We are left ignorant of his parentage and his place among the Jews. We are not even sure of his age, although we have assumed that he was old; for it had been "answered unto him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death until he had seen the Lord's Christ." And upon the fulfillment of that promise, Simeon uttered words of such heart-touching beauty that we feel they could have come only from a man steeped in the wisdom of age: "Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy Word: for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou has prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel."
     The Christmas story, with its sacred memories, is told and retold countless times; yet Simeon's part in that story is seldom mentioned.

562

By comparison with the annunication by the angel, the visits of shepherds and wise men, and the Divine birth itself, Simeon's place seems insignificant, and is quickly passed over-if, indeed, it is mentioned at all.
     Yet, when we pause to reflect upon the Christmas story in its various parts, we cannot help but be struck by the singular importance of Simeon in his relation to the Lord's birth among men. What do we know of Simeon the man? Upon a careful reading, and some reflection, we might rather ask: What do we know of those beloved figures who were the shepherds and the wise men? That is to say, what do we know of their quality as men? The shepherds were overcome by a miraculous occurrence, and their glorifying of God was little more than an extension of the miracle sphere. The wise men from the east obeyed a dictate and sign known to them from their ancestry; and they did obeisance in the ancient tradition of correspondential worship, then returned whence they had come. Nothing is said as to the interior quality of either of these groups of men, although we suppose that there must have been in them something of genuine innocence in order for them to be affected by the presence of the Divine infant.

     But of Simeon we know much. He was a man just and devout-well reported of among his own people. He awaited the consolation of Israel, the Messiah, with fervent hope and conviction. The Holy Spirit was upon him, and answer had been given him from heaven that he should see the fulfillment of Messianic prophecy before his death. Simeon, eagerly awaiting the fulfillment of this promise, must have searched the Scriptures for those signs whereby he might know that the Messiah had come; and therefore he must have been well acquainted with the centuries-old prophecy of Malachi: "The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in; behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts."* We may assume that Simeon visited the temple regularly, perhaps daily, in expectation of its fulfillment; for had not the prophet said: "The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple"? Simeon did not know when this event would occur; but when it did, he would be there to see it.
* Malachi 3: 1.
     There are still other things that cause Simeon's place in the Advent story to assume more than ordinary significance. He was the first, apart from Mary and Joseph, to touch the Lord; for "when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for Him after the custom of the law, then took he Him up in his arms, and blessed God." He was the first to recognize the Lord as the Messiah; the first to acknowledge His Divinity; and the first to confirm that acknowledgment by a reference to prophecy.

563

For, having taken the infant Lord in his arms, Simeon said: "Mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel." In so saying, he referred to the prophecy of Isaiah in which it had been written: "Thou art My servant, 0 Israel, in whom I will be glorified. . . . I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be My salvation unto the ends of the earth."*
* Isaiah 49:3, 6.
In all of this, Simeon portrays a vital quality of spiritual life with the man of the church. That quality is defined in the Writings as faith in the will, which is the second universal of the church with man.* Into this spiritual quality the character of Simeon fits to perfection. His part was a confirmatory one; yet this confirmatory part was more than mere confirmation after the fact. For Simeon had looked forward to this fact; he had desired it, had sought after it, and had awaited its fulfillment with eager anticipation. Nor was his anticipation founded simply upon his own thoughts and hopes; for it had been answered to him by the Holy Spirit that he should see the Lord's Christ. And it is precisely these manifestations-the desire and search for the fulfillment of truth in use, and the confident anticipation that this fulfillment will occur-that are given to the regenerating man as he comes to possess faith in the will.
* See AC 3862:3, 3872, 5354; 12, 4606; AR 356. Cf. AC 342, 5461.

This term, faith in the will, carries a charming connotation, for it tells of an intellectual understanding of truth which has been warmed and gentled by beginning states of charity. Prior to this, man has known the truth; but he has wielded the truth as a sword of righteous yet cutting condemnation upon his fellowmen. Now he gradually begins to realize that this same truth must be used to bring aid, and not to wound. This is a difficult transition to make; and it cannot be done all at once, nor with full perspective when it is first recognized. Yet the desire is there-a desire that grows with an increasing realization of the needs that call piteously for help in the fearful wilderness of other men's temptations. Faith in the will, that is to say, understanding guided by affection and looking to the life of charity, this is the spiritual quality that is represented by Simeon: the quality that his every word and action fulfills in the Christmas narrative-a quality which gives strength to the man of the church by bringing to him living confirmations of the Divine purpose in human life. And when these confirmations have been experienced, there follows one of the greatest blessings that can be given, the blessing of anticipation. For it is in this that faith in the will clothes and manifests itself-an ever deepening anticipation of prophecy and its fulfillment.

564

Anticipation is more than mere hope that a thing may come to pass; for in hope, by itself, there is, or can be, an element of doubt and therefore of fear concerning the achievement of our heart's desires. Anticipation is hope confirmed-hope which has grown and strengthened to that point where inner assurance is gained and all essential doubts are laid to rest. Such a state of life can be given with those only who have consented to the subjection of their intellect to the Divine rational, and who have established their consent by remaining steadfast through adversity. This does not mean that life will thereafter rest in unbroken calm! It will not rest. The battle is only then beginning on a truly spiritual level. Yet, by persevering in this first state of intellectual response to the truth itself, a man is given to see the underlying power of the Lord in all things of His creation; and he is thereby gifted with a perception of truth which girds him securely for battle, giving him a sense of absolute assurance of the Lord's strength to protect and save. Many are the conflicts that still lie ahead; many the heartaches, the sicknesses, the feelings of inadequacy and failure. And yet, through it all comes a deepening awareness of the Lord's providence and of anticipation of the fulfillment of His Word. The battle is joined, and it will continue. So let it be joined, and let it continue. There is only a compounding of confusion to be served by waiting, by hoping that life's problems will somehow solve themselves while we shrink back in indecision. Let us get on with it, seeking the challenge rather than the reward; and if the challenge he met, and the reward thereby gained, give blessing to our God who has preserved and sustained us.

The man who does not anticipate life in both its spiritual and natural requirements, and place himself in their path so that he may be ready when those requirements must be met, is a man who has not savored the true quality of humanness. All men have desires they long to fulfill ambitions in which they hope to succeed. Yet how many are prepared to pay the price of true fulfillment or success? How many of us are truly willing to lay down our lives for our friends; to yield to one more able or deserving than we; to share with others, not of our wealth, but of our penury; to sacrifice in that true spirit of charity which looks to the promotion of charity's uses above the personal considerations of self-interest? How many are willing to persevere in the study of the Word; to make daily pilgrimage to the temple of interior worship; to await with unflagging certainty the coming of our God, despite those apparent inequities which on the surface would seem to discredit the concept of a truly Divine love and wisdom?

565

"The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple.. . . Behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of His coming? And who shall stand, when He appeareth?"*
* Malachi 3:1, 2.
     The Divine truth is born into the life of every man, whether he be disciple or Pharisee, saint or sinner. So was the Lord born long ago; and as the very Divine truth in human form He affected the lives of all men. His birth was universal. So also is His presence at this day. He came, and continues to come, to all as the fulfillment of prophecy; and, as predicted, He comes "suddenly . . . to His temple."
     The shadow of death brooded darkly over the temple even at the time of His presentation by Mary and Joseph; for there were those who awaited Him only to destroy Him. Yet it was not this shadow of impending death but the blessing of heavenly light that greeted and surrounded Him with a protecting aura of angelic reception. For Simeon was there: his way led unerringly by the Holy Spirit. Simeon the just! Simeon the devout! Simeon who caught the Lord up in his arms, and in a rush of tender gratitude blessed God and committed himself to his maker, saying: "Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy Word." Simeon was content. He did not request that he might see the conclusion of events yet to come. For is not the end contained in its beginning? Was not this holy child the Last as well as the First? In the leading of Providence, the opportunity for which Simeon had looked had not passed him by. This he had anticipated with sure conviction, and whosoever prepares his footsteps as a worthy servant, for him the promise is fulfilled. Enlightenment is given and glory is granted-the glory of truth in its fullness, and the attainment of heavenly gifts.

     Spiritual anticipation is a reward of trust, of trust in the Lord's promise to save. Each one of us has his secret hope, his unspoken wish, his love too deep to be expressed in words or analyzed by thought; and each one of us has lived at times in fear that this secret essence of his life's desire will die unborn-that he will never know happiness in its completion. We escape this fear in a variety of ways; but it returns to haunt us, bringing with it a desolation of loneliness: loneliness which cries out brokenly for help, yet which often takes form by lashing unmercifully those who love us most-a paradox, it would seem, but one which has a parallel in the action of a drowning man who grips his would be rescuer so fiercely that both are dragged to their death. And in these states of fear we may well be stricken by an inability to affirm the leading of Providence. We would that we might hope, and yet we have no hope.

566

We find it impossible to believe that there can be any joy for us. We turn from the Lord, sorrowing and self-centered. Who are we, that He should help us? But this is not our question, for our doubting hearts are really asking: Who is He, that He should be able to help us?
     We forget that His hand is not shortened that it cannot save, nor His ear heavy that it cannot hear. Where is our acknowledgment of His Divinity? Where is our faith? Have we so far lost our courage as to admit defeat? Must the sun shine at every hour of the day in order for life to continue? Are we not created in His image? Then let not the image dishonor its Maker! Let not disappointment destroy our manhood, nor temporary failure our perseverance. Return again, ye people. If the Lord be God, then follow Him. Have confidence in His sure provision; for, "behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep."* "The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple.., and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. . . . Then. shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in the former years."* Amen.
* Psalm 121: 4.
** Malachi 3: 1, 3, 4.

LESSONS:     Malachi 3, 4: 4-6. Luke 2:15-40. AC 36, 896.
MUSIC:     Liturgy, pages 534, 430, 532.
PRAYERS:     Liturgy, nos. 51, 117.
IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1962

IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1962

A recent issue of the NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER contained a carefully reasoned article by Dr. John E. Lister of Philadelphia. After pointing out that the New Church has been beset by a so-called "psychic knock" at its door ever since Dr. Bush invited the prominent medium, Daniel Dunglas Home, to become a "Swedenborgian minister" in 1851, the author comments on parapsychology and reviews effectively the main teachings of the Writings concerning sought communication with spirits. The doctrine of the New Church, he concludes, is "from heaven because it is from the spiritual sense of the Word. New Church men need no illumination by mediums; they have their truth in the revelation of Emanuel Swedenborg." Curiously enough, the editor, while concurring in Dr. Lister's judgment, strikes a cautionary note. It is erroneous, he says, "to equate the dabbling in spiritism which prevails in certain circles with an honest, scientifically oriented investigation of psychic phenomena. Nor should we interpret Swedenborg's warnings against spirit possession and similar perils as a ban leveled at such investigations and studies."

567

WISE MEN 1962

WISE MEN Rev. KURT H. ASPLUNDH 1962

     A Christmas Talk to Children

     Once again, as every year, we gather to celebrate the Lord's advent as a Man on earth. The stories of this advent or birth are known to all of you. You have heard these stories, and many of you have memorized them and graved them on your hearts. These are stories that bring back to our minds many delights and glad thoughts about the Lord's birth and Christmas time. It is fitting that these stories should be repeated from time to time, that they should find such a place in our hearts, and that we should be so delighted with them. Because these stories-the story of the shepherds who stood in the fields, when the angel of the Lord suddenly came upon them to tell them that the Lord had been born, and the story of the wise men who came from a far country- these are the most important stories of the Word; because they tell us the truth that the Lord is the Man, and that once He walked the earth with other men, and taught them.
     Now today let us think particularly about the story of the wise men who came from a far country. They had seen a star. Perhaps when the shepherds saw a great light, that very night the wise men saw the same light from a distance. But they were far away. They had over five hundred miles to travel-a long desert journey. So they got on their camels and came swinging across the desert, with their beautiful garments and their gifts for the Lord. These men were wise men, kings in their own country; men who knew that the Lord was to be born, and who knew, when they saw that star, that the Lord had been born. All they had to do then was to find Him.
     That is what there is for us to do. We know that the Lord has been born. We are told that. But how do we find the Lord? Where do we find the Lord? so that He is in our lives and is our God and our King. Let us think particularly of the words of these wise men when they came into the great city, Jerusalem. They went first to the palace, for that was where they expected to find the King; and there they asked Herod: "Where is He that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him."

568

     First they asked about the King of the Jews-the King of the Jews! Now Herod was not the king of the Jews. He was a foreign king. He came from another country, and he was just ruling for the Romans, who had control of that land. But in ancient times there had been kings of the Jews, kings of Israel. Some of them you will remember by name- Saul, David and Solomon. So when Herod heard the wise men's questions he perhaps thought of these ancient kings; for all of them-Saul, David and Solomon-were prophetic of the Lord who was to come as King of kings. All the good things done by these three ancient kings represented powers that the Lord had.
     Saul was a very powerful king. He was able to protect his country from those who would come and destroy it. David was even a stronger king. He was able to protect the country from within, from enemies inside who would have torn the country apart and divided it among themselves. The wonderful thing about Solomon was his wisdom; Solomon was the wisest of all earthly kings, and during his reign there was peace in all the land. Now when Herod heard that there was a new king, perhaps he thought of these ancient kings and of what they had done; and perhaps he thought that because he was an evil king, this new king would destroy him, and cast him out just as Saul, David and Solomon had cast out their enemies, so that there might be a new peace in the land. So he sought to kill the Lord.
     Now the truth is that the Lord did actually have all these qualities of those kings of Israel. A king is one who leads and guides, and the Lord leads and guides us against our spiritual enemies, and then leads us into heavenly peace. So the Lord not only had the power of Saul to protect us from without; He also had the power of David to protect us from within against evil spirits, and He also had more wisdom than Solomon could ever have hoped to have had.
     So when the wise men spoke of one who had been born King of the Jews, they thought of one who had all these wonderful qualities. And we know when we think of these words that they apply to us. The king with us is the truth that will lead us; and the Lord, when He was born on earth, made it possible for us to have all the kinds of truth represented by the three great kings of Israel: truths that will protect us from evil in other people who would like to destroy us, truths that will protect us from evils within ourselves, and wisdom to put the truths we know to use in our lives. This is what the Lord represents to us as a King. His truth can guide us.
     But the question the wise men asked was: "Where is He that is born King of the Jews?" Where is this King? How did they know that a king had been born? They had seen a star in the east.

569

Now these men from the east were men from the Ancient Church, a church which had existed before the Jewish Church; and because they were of that church their love was to know of the spiritual things that were represented in natural stories. When they told a story, they thought of heavenly things, of the Lord; and when they heard a story about stars, they knew that knowledges from heaven, knowledges of good and truth, were meant. So because they were wise, because they loved the Lord and wanted to know when He would come and where He would come, for many centuries the men of that church had watched the skies at night; and finally, that one night, they saw in the distance that tiny star which was a new star, and they knew that this was the announcement of the Lord's birth. So they began to pack up their things, to get their caravans ready to cross the desert. Then they arrived in Jerusalem, and there the star disappeared.

     Now the reason they went to Jerusalem is that that city represents the place where the Lord's Word was kept. You will remember that the temple was in Jerusalem, and that that was where the laws were kept, and where the prophets were who read the Word. So the wise men went to the place where the Word was. They knew that the way to find the Lord was to find the Word. But when they came to Jerusalem they could no longer see the star that had led them, and so they had to ask: "Where is He that is born King of the Jews?"
     The reason the star had disappeared was that there were evil men in Jerusalem. Herod was an evil man. If Herod had seen that star, he would have followed it to the Lord to kill Him, because Herod wanted to be ruler over the people. It is the same way with us. We have many evil loves that would like to do away with what is true, to block out the light so that no one can see our evils. But once the wise men had asked where the Lord was to be born, and the scribes had read that He was to be born in Bethlehem, they started anew on their journey; and as soon as they left that city in which wicked men dwelt they were able to see the star once again, and it led them to where the Lord lay in Bethlehem.
     Now what did the wise men do when they came to Bethlehem? What had they said that they wanted to do? They had said that they were come to worship the Lord. These were great men, and they had come to bow before the Lord, to humble themselves, because they knew that the Lord was greater than they were. This is an important lesson for us. We must learn to go and humble ourselves before the Lord, for that is the way in which we learn the Lord's truth, and the way in which we receive delights from the Lord.
     Do you remember what the wise men brought? They had gifts: gold and frankincense and myrrh-three precious gifts. And do you remember what was said about these wise men?-that when they had opened their treasures, then they presented to the Lord their gifts.

570

Now the Lord has given to each one of us the seeds of gifts. These gifts represent different loves. Gold represents love to the Lord; frankincense, love of heaven; and myrrh, the good love of all the wonderful things there are on earth. We have within us all these good loves, but we must open them up within ourselves, for the Lord has given them to us to use; and when we do this, presenting them as gifts to the Lord, we are like the wise men who gave to Him their precious gifts. Gold, the most precious metal, represents the highest love to the Lord that we can have; frankincense, because it was used in worship and at the time of prayer, represents the love of spiritual things; and the myrrh, which is a fragrant gum of a more common kind, represents the love of all wonderful and beautiful things in this world.
     The truth is that when we give these loves to the Lord, then it is that the Lord can flow into us with the blessings of those loves, for it is in giving something that we receive blessings. It is in giving that we really have delight. When we give to others of the uses that we are able to perform we are made blessed and happy. If we can bring to the Lord only myrrh, only that which is good in our natural lives, let us do that. But we should strive to bring to Him also frankincense, spiritual things. And, last of all, we should try to learn to love the Lord. As we learn those loves, the Lord will flow in and bestow His blessings upon us. That is why it is that at Christmas time it is the custom to give gifts to others, to represent the same thing that was meant by the wise men giving gifts to the Lord; showing our love to all men in giving our gifts, and thereby receiving the Lord's love within ourselves as blessing and as delight.
     Let us think throughout the year, then, of this story of the wise men coming to the Lord, and of how it is really a story that applies to us. For we are to come to find, to ask: "Where is He that is born King of the Jews?" Where is the Lord? We know that He has been born. We must seek Him, and we must follow His star. We do that by learning truths about the Lord, letting them guide our lives and following them; and if we do these things we will find the Lord, we will be able to worship Him, and the Lord will be able to fill us with heavenly delights. Amen.

LESSONS:     Matthew 2:1-12. Apocalypse Explained 422: 20.
MUSIC:     Liturgy, pages 517, 521, 520.
PRAYER:     Liturgy, no. C9.

571

EIGHTEENTH CENTURY SWEDISH BETROTHAL 1962

EIGHTEENTH CENTURY SWEDISH BETROTHAL Rev. ORMOND ODHNER 1962

     A colleague on the Academy faculty recently startled me with the question: "By what right has the General Church instituted a religious ceremony of betrothal, inasmuch as the Writings never actually teach that there should be such a thing?" I at once replied with the statement made by an angel while explaining to some visitors to heaven why priests do not officiate at marriages there: "Even with us a priest ministers at betrothals, and hears, receives, confirms and consecrates the consent."* The phrase, "even with us," indicates to me that ceremonies of religious betrothal were in practice on earth at that time.
* CL 21.
     Admittedly, however, this is not a Divine command that there should be a religious rite of betrothal in the church on earth. Nor is a religious ceremony necessarily implied in other teachings of the Writings. "In ancient times such [gifts of gold, silver, etc.] were given to a virgin when she was betrothed."* (This is part of the explication of the betrothal of Isaac and Rebekah-and Isaac was not even present!) "Betrothals before marriages have come into use from ancient times."** No religious ceremony is described in connection with "betrothals and marriages among the inhabitants of the sixth earth,"*** nor yet in connection with those youths and maidens who grow up in heaven and "meet as if by chance . . . and betroth themselves."**** Indeed, it must be admitted that no religious ceremony of betrothal is explicitly taught even in the chapter of Conjugial Love concerning betrothals and nuptials, although the teaching there that "consent ought to be established and confirmed by a solemn betrothal"***** seems to me by itself sufficient warrant for the General Church to have instituted the moving and impressive religious rite we now have had for over half a century. The general teaching of the chapter, furthermore, is to the effect that the whole use of betrothal is to raise the mind up to the Divine purpose and spiritual nature of marriage, and that certainly indicates a function of the church.
* AC 3164.
** AC 9182.
*** AC 10837.
**** CL 229.
***** CL 301.
     As a general thing, however, the church has the right to institute rites and ceremonies not specifically commanded in revelation.

572

We have done this in connection with confession of faith, burial, and the dedication of homes. Such a right surely is implied in the following, especially in the words I have underlined: "The life of piety is to . . . engage in the sacrament of the Supper frequently every year, and in like manner in all other things of worship, according to the ordinances of the church."*
* AC 8253.

     II

     Thinking further on the subject, I recall the words in Conjugial Love, in the chapter on betrothals and nuptials, that "in this chapter many things are adduced which are accepted customs."* Was betrothal, then, an "accepted custom" in Swedenborg's day? I looked up the passage. The accepted customs there listed are: "that selection belongs to men; that parents are to be consulted; that pledges are to be given; that a conjugial covenant is to be entered into before the nuptials; that this to be consecrated by a priest; so also that there is to be a nuptial celebration; and many other things." Betrothal, it will be noted, is not there listed; although it can, of course, be argued that Swedenborg had it in mind when he wrote the phrase "and many other things."
* CL 295.
     The question still plagued me: Was there a religious betrothal in Sweden in the eighteenth century? Not being able to read Swedish myself, I prevailed upon Mr. Lennart Alfelt, one of the Academy's researchers in Swedenborgiana, to do some investigation in such Swedish encyclopedias, liturgies, law books and histories as are to be found in the Academy Library and in Philadelphia's American Swedish Historical Museum. His kind and excellent sleuthing has definitely established the fact that there was a religious ceremony of betrothal in Sweden in Swedenborg's day, although he was not able to discover the exact ritual employed. Mr. Alfelt, however, did discover the ritual for a non-religious, although very solemn, betrothal ceremony. (No religious rite of betrothal is to be found in the only Swedish Lutheran liturgy owned by the Academy, Bishop Jesper Swedberg's edition, which was never officially adopted by the Swedish church. There were other liturgies in use in Sweden in the eighteenth century, however. Perhaps some New Church man now living in Sweden will do further research in them.) It is also quite clear from Mr. Alfelt's investigations that in olden times betrothal was primarily a religious ceremony; that its religious significance was lessening even during Swedenborg's lifetime and rapidly dwindled away thereafter, until, in a 1916 revision of Swedish marriage laws, every religious aspect of betrothal had disappeared.

573

     III

     In the Swedish language there are three distinct words for betrothal or engagement to marry. The first, trolovning, "promise of faith," exactly corresponds to the real meaning of our word, betrothal-"plighting one's troth to." This is an older word, and is no longer much used. Usually replacing it today is foirlovning, meaning simply "promise (to marry)." This is also quite an old word, but was less used than trolovning in times past. Swedenborg, however, used it at least twice. The third word for betrothal or engagement, primarily a legal term, is fastning, literally, "fastening." (Trolovning is the substantive derived from the verb, trolova, of which the form, trolovad, means "he or she [was] betrothed"; similarly forlovning, flirlova, forlovad; fastning, etc.)
     There is now in process of publication in Sweden an exhaustive etymological dictionary of the Swedish language,* apparently the first of its kind. (It is similar to the tremendous Oxford English Dictionary.) Such volumes as are already in print are in the Academy Library, and from them Mr. Alfelt has learned a lot about the history of the words, forlovning and fastning. Unfortunately, we shall have to wait a year or two for the volume of this dictionary which treats of the history of the word, trolovning.
* Ordbok over Svenska Sproket, Lund, 1928, Vol. IX.

     In another dictionary, an English-Swedish-Latin dictionary from the eighteenth century (to which Eric Benzelius had written a long introduction), the following interesting fact was turned up. The English word, "to betroth," is given the Swedish equivalent of trolofwa and the Latin equivalent of despondere, the word used in the Writings. The English word, engagement, does not occur in this book.*
* Dictionarium Anglo-Svetkico-Latinum, Serenius; Rudoiphum Bencken, Hamburg,
     Forlovning, we have said, is quite an old word, having been used in the 1526 Swedish translation of the Bible in connection with Joseph and Mary. (This is in Luke 1: 27; in the corresponding passage in Matthew 1: 18, however, the word, trolovad, is used. In the 1917 revision of the Swedish Bible, trolovad is used in both cases.) Forlovad was used especially in connection with engagements arranged by parents or guardians, as when a father promised his daughter in marriage to some man or, through the boy's parents, to some boy. The daughter was then forlovad. Perhaps the word was also used with reference to the private or secret agreement to marry between the man and the woman themselves, and certainly it was distinguished from the religious or formal betrothal, as can be seen from two documents dated 1646 and 1686 respectively.

574

In the first we read: "A farm-hand named has engaged (forlovad) himself to the daughter of , and has given her gifts, but no betrothal (trolovning) has taken place."* In the other, a Swedish ecclesiastical law, it is stated: "No one may be betrothed (trolovad) against his/[her] own free will and (without) the consent of the party concerned. Neither shall any betrothal (trolovning) be held where there are not present two honest and trustworthy male witnesses, one from each side, beside parents and guardians. ... No minor or one who is under the authority of another shall secretly engage (forlofva) himself, either in writing, or by oath; if somebody does this, let it be of no effect."** The etymological dictionary also states, however, that before 1916, when Swedish marriage statutes were revised, forlovning was sometimes used for the formal betrothal, but always improperly so.
* Ordbok, Vol. IX, s.v. Forlova.
** Sveriges Kyrkolag af dr 1686, P. Rydholm, ed.; Stockholm, 1902: 15: 10.

At least twice, according to Mr. Alfelt's findings, Swedenborg used the word, forlovning, both times employing old spelling variants. The first time was in 1718, the other in 1762 or 1763. In his earlier years, according to certain reports and documents, Swedenborg had been engaged to marry Christopher Polhem's daughter, Maria, although the engagement was never officially announced. What is more-or so the story goes-Swedenborg himself seems not to have relished the thought of marriage to Maria, liking her younger sister, Emerentia, much better. (The engagement had been arranged through her father at the instigation of the King.) Somehow or other, Swedenborg apparently connived at getting Maria married to another. On Sept. 14, 1718, he wrote to his brother-in-law, Eric Benzelius: "Polhem's eldest daughter is betrothed (forlofwad) to a chamberlain of the King. . . . I wonder what people will say to this, inasmuch as this is my arrangement."* The other instance of Swedenborg's use of forlova occurs toward the end of the Spiritual Diary in the description of the marriage, in the world of spirits, of the Empress Elizabeth of Russia and the Swedish Count, de Ia Gardie. There we are told how the Empress, upon her arrival in the spiritual world and before her meeting with de la Gardie, had "looked up the Bishop in Lubeck to whom she had been engaged (forlofwadt)."**
* Sigstedt, Swedenborg Epic, 47-49.
** Spiritual Diary 6027.
The etymological dictionary also reveals several other usages of the
word, fostning, in addition to the legal usage. Thus we find a ruling from
1571 stating that an engagement (fostning) or betrothal (trolovning) made by peasants should not prevent a legal betrothal (fostning), which a priest ought to perform." Again, a passage apparently written in horror over the scandalous action of some lady: "She has her priest betroth (fosta) and marry [people] on [her] estate."

575

This last is dated 1655.

     IV

     In addition to several histories that will be mentioned later, the chief sources in which Mr. Alfelt did his research are The Ecclesiastical Law of Sweden of 1686 and The Law of the Swedish Kingdom, 1734.* Before going into the details of these laws, however, I would state the general history of betrothal in Sweden, as that can be learned from a Swedish encyclopedia owned by the Academy. There we learn that according to the earliest Swedish laws, trolovning or fiistning was any agreement between a man and a woman to marry, or any such agreement between the man's and the woman's families. It was made according to certain set rules or forms, we are told; it was made in the presence of witnesses, and was sealed or ratified by mutual promises or gifts. In later times, however, the church exercised a decisive influence on legislation concerning betrothal, and the act was placed by the church almost on an equal footing with marriage itself. But in 1915 new statutes concerning betrothal and marriage were adopted; and according to these, betrothal (trolvning) is once again any agreement at all between a man and a woman to marry each other, no distinction being made between the old- fashioned solemn betrothal and an engagement made without the old set forms. What is more, betrothal is no longer as binding as it once was, but can now be broken by either party at will.**
* Sveriges Kyrkolag (already referred to), and Sveriges Rikes Lag, 1734, Stockholm, 1746.
** Nordisk Famiiebok, Stockholm, 1919, v. 29, p 859, s.v. Trololning.
     In the Kyrkolag of 1686, Chapter XV treats of betrothal under the general heading: "Concerning Betrothal and Marriage." Chapter XVI of the same treats of separation in betrothals and marriages. In the Rikes Lag of 1734 statutes concerning betrothal are found in the very first section of the work under the heading: "Marriage Act." With one exception in the 1686 law, and with no exception in the 1734 law, the words, trolovning and fastning, are used for betrothal.

     The opening paragraph of the 1686 laws concerning betrothal and marriage states which cases of dispute in betrothal and marriage belong to the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical court (the bishop and his consistory) and which to the civil or worldly court. Among the cases for decision by the civil court were controversies over the legality of a betrothal and concerning gifts exchanged between betrothed persons; cases involving adultery or fornication by one of the betrothed parties; disputes concerning bodily conjunction between betrothed persons, if they later became estranged and if either party denied the act; and questions concerning the legal rights of children born to betrothed persons.

576

(They were accounted as only slightly less than legitimate.) To the ecclesiastical court, however, belonged the decision in such cases as the following: Whether betrothal and marriage could with good conscience be entered into or dissolved; whether unconditional betrothal is binding when both parties want a separation; whether betrothal could be dissolved if the woman was with child by her fianc?; and the grounds, other than adultery, on which contracts of betrothal and marriage could be dissolved.*
* Kyrkolag XV:1.
     A priestly function in betrothal is definitely implied in the 1686 law, for priests are there warned to take care lest they betrothed or married anyone illegally; and it is stipulated that a priest who married anyone illegally was to be imprisoned for a month, put on a diet of bread and water, and then was to be exiled from the land!* Again, some form of ecclesiastical sanction of betrothal is implied in the statute stating that no one could be betrothed who did not know the Lutheran catechism or who had not partaken of the Holy Supper.** And at least a "solemn betrothal" (though not necessarily a religious ceremony) is hinted at in these same laws: "Betrothals must take place in clear and plain words, with or without stipulations; when, now, both say yes without fear or compulsion, and give each other their hand, the betrothal is performed, whether there are gifts exchanged or not."***
* Ibid. XV:3.
** Ibid. XV:11.
*** Ibid XV:12.
     Apparently no age limits were set for betrothal by the old Swedish laws; but the law of 1686 stated that neither man nor woman could marry until they had reached "a lawful and mature age,"* and law of 1734 stated, more specifically, that the man had to be at least 21 years of age, and the woman 15. If the King found "reason for permission," however, younger marriages could take place.**
* Kyrkolag XV:5.
** Rikes Lag 1:6.
     As we have noted, the presence of witnesses was required at betrothal-a thing the Writings stipulate only in connection with marriages; but reminiscent of the teachings in Conjugial Love that [free] consent is the essential of marriage, and that the woman, nevertheless, ought to consult with her parents or guardians before giving her consent, is the law we quoted earlier, to the effect that no one could be betrothed against his will, nor without the consent of parents or guardians, and that at least two witnesses must be present at the ceremony.* The statute of 1734, however, increased the number of required witnesses to four.**
* Kyrkolag XV: 10.
** Rikes Lag 111:1.

577

     The role of parent or guardian was still extremely important in 18th century Swedish betrothal, for according to the section of the 1734 law just referred to, unless the four witnesses and the guardian were present at the betrothal, the guardian could nullify the contract. In the same laws it is stated that if a couple by written contract had pledged themselves to marriage, and if the guardian had consented, the contract could not thereafter be broken by one of the parties alone.*
* Ibid. III:2.
     Also reminiscent of a teaching of the Writings, and reminiscent, too, of recent statements by certain New Church men to the effect that engagement or betrothal is not to be regarded as a "trial run," is a paragraph in the 1686 law which declares: "The people should be exhorted not to enter lightly into conditional and long lasting betrothals."*
* Kyrkolag XV:17; cf. CL 305 e.
     The Writings teach: "During the time of betrothal it is not permissible to be bodily conjoined."* The Swedish ecclesiastical law of 1686 stated this, too, and said that if such conjunction did take place during betrothal, the betrothal was then to be regarded as a marriage, to be completed "with the bond of the church." Should the man refuse to proceed with the marriage, the civil court would declare the woman his legal wife, and would provide also that she receive the usual rights of a wife in the man's property, etc.**
* CL 305.
** Kyrkolag XV:13.

     Chapter XVI of the 1686 law, we have said, deals with separation and divorce in betrothal and marriage. Betrothed persons seeking separation had to take their case to the bishop and his consistory. They, in turn, were to try to reconcile the parties; but if this failed-and it is evident that their efforts usually did fail-they were to turn the case over to the civil court, if any civil matters were involved.* The bishop and his consistory were also commanded not to be difficult or dilatory in rendering their judgment.**
* Ibid. XVI:1.
** Ibid XVI:3.
     Separation of betrothed persons was permitted on the following grounds: 1) If one of the parties had been compelled to the betrothal and had not in any way shown his consent. 2) If an implacable hatred developed between the parties from some cause not known at the time of their betrothal. 3) Lewdness. (The Swedish word here used may mean extremely obscene acts.) 4) Chronic or contagious disease.*
* Ibid. XVI:2.
     If one of the parties left his betrothed, he was forbidden to marry anyone else until he had been reconciled with the other. If a man left his fianc?e for more than a year without her consent, however, she was free to marry another after she had notified the bishop and his consistory.*
* Kyrkolag XVI:4.

578

     V

     In the Academy Library are several books, one in English and three in Swedish, from which Mr. Alfelt has culled much information about Swedish marriage customs, both in Swedenborg's day and in more recent times. Fortunately, the latter describe customs in provinces where, the authors say, there has been little change in the last few centuries. In them we find some sort of a solemn betrothal-frequently a religious ceremony-playing an important role.
     In certain places marriages were arranged strictly between the parents of the man and woman concerned, merely on grounds of social and economic status, and with no regard for love or the lack of it between the couple. Indeed, sometimes the couple knew nothing about the intended match until all arrangements had been completed; they were then informed that they were to be husband and wife. Frequently, however, the man would employ a go-between or "mouth-piece"-perhaps a priest, perhaps some "honest" layman-to press his suit for marriage with the woman and her parents. He might previously have secretly ascertained that he would receive a favorable answer from the woman; but sometimes he had not even met her before the arrangements were concluded. In m my cases the man personally arranged the marriage with the woman and her parents.

     A quaint non-religious betrothal is described as occurring in a court district named Wastbo. After having made sure that the answer to his proposal would be favorable, the man would go from the church to the house of the woman. If he was a person of importance, the priest would accompany him as "mouth-piece"; if not of importance, some layman would act in that role. After entering the house the party would not sit down, take off their hats, nor taste any food until the "mouth-piece," in a short speech apparently designed after the example of Eleazer in Genesis 24, had explained the purpose of the visit. The couple then clasped hands and the Lord's Prayer and a benediction were recited. All relatives and witness present then placed their hands upon the couple's, shook hands with them, and wished them happiness. Liquor was then served, the man distributed presents to the woman and all her relatives, and finally the party sat down to dinner. A celebration, with dancing, etc., followed, and lasted, perhaps, several days.*
* Allmogens I Wastbo Sinnelag, Seder; J. Gaslander; 1774.
     The full ritual for the solemn, if non-religious, betrothal ceremony that Mr. Alfelt discovered was printed in a book titled A Dying Culture. It treats of customs of the past, now dying out in Sweden. Under the heading, Wedding Customs, it reads:

579

"After having through a proxy sounded out the situation and after having purchased gifts and rings, finally the suitor arrived at his first goal, the betrothal day. The suitor accompanied by his parents and his proxy, usually the head of the family, went to the girl's home where her closest relatives were gathered. After the company had drunk a toast of welcome, the suitor's proxy stood up and said: 'It is common knowledge that man, the crown of creation, was in the beginning made by the most high God after His image. Of two kinds created He them, male and female He made them. That was a wise and Divine work, because by it the prosperity and continuance to eternity of our race was secured, and great concord and happiness was vouchsafed to the earth. Because this young man, honest and intelligent and this young woman, , a virtuous flower in the garden of the Lord, with the permission and complete affirmation of the families, wish to enter into connubial union, we are now gathered here in order to witness and confirm their betrothal. Come forward here!' [The couple] stepped forward to the middle of the floor and grasped each other's right hands. The betrothal official laid his right hand on theirs and said, 'I have the honor and pleasure of confirming your covenant, which should last indissolubly to eternity, wishing you the grace and blessing of the Almighty.' All present stretched their hands to the young couple and said, 'The grace and blessing of God.' Hereupon the fiance handed over his gifts, and the solemn act was over. Such a betrothal was legal and could be dissolved only by the consistory."*
* Erlandsson, En Doende Kultur (Second Collection); J. Ridelius, Visby, 1935.

In another place (Vestra VingAkers, where Swedenborg's father once was parish priest) the act of betrothal was definitely a religious ceremony in the late seventeenth century, taking place in the church. On a Sunday banns for the betrothal were published in the church, but on the previous day the man and his "mouth-piece" had visited the woman, and he had presented her with gifts-certain pieces of clothing she was to wear at the betrothal. Then, following the regular service of worship, the couple was betrothed by the priest in the sacristy or vestry, in the presence of a few witnesses. The man gave the woman a ring during the ceremony, but what the rest of the ritual was we do not know. Earlier, we are told, the more well-to-do were betrothed in the chancel itself of the church. On the day of the betrothal-perhaps a Sunday; but Christmas, Easter, Pentecost and other church festival days were favored times-the man gathered eight or ten friends as his witnesses, and the woman the same number of wives as hers. The betrothal party sat in the front pews of the church during the regular service, and following this, in the presence of the whole congregation, proceeded to the chancel.

580

There the minister delivered an exhortation to the couple, and after this the act of betrothal was performed.*
* Beskrifning ofver Vestra Vingdkers Socken, N. Aug. Lundgren, Orebro, 1873, pp. 41ff.
     As to the length of time by which betrothal preceded marriage-a live issue in the General Church today-we have uncovered only the following information: "The wedding seldom takes place until some time after the betrothal; weeks, in almost all instances, but it may be months, or even years."*
* Peasant Life in Sweden, L. Lloyd, Tinsley Brothers, London, 1870, p. 17.

     VI

     Such, then, was eighteenth century Swedish betrothal. May the research here done by Mr. Alfelt add to the church's understanding of this solemn, and, with us, religious rite.
CONSISTORY 1962

CONSISTORY 1962

     According to the order and organization of the General Church, a Consistory composed of priests selected by him is adjoined to the Bishop. The Consistory is an advisory and consultative body, and it dissolves with a change in the episcopal office-a provision which preserves the freedom of the next Bishop to select those members of the clergy with whom he wishes to take counsel.
     When the Right Rev. George de Charms resigned in 1961 as Bishop of the General Church, therefore, the Consistory was automatically dissolved. However, the Right Rev. Willard D. Pendleton invited the priests who had formed that body to continue to serve as an interim Consistory during his term as Acting Bishop of the General Church; an invitation which was accepted by all.
     With the selection of Bishop Pendleton to fill the episcopal office, it became necessary to form a new Consistory. It is, however, the Bishop's plan to proceed slowly in this matter; many changes in the General Church might take place in the next twelve months, and it seemed wise to allow the situation to become clarified before proceeding to the formation of a full Consistory. As a temporary measure, therefore, the following, all of whom are in Bryn Athyn or available for counsel, were asked to serve:
Right Rev. George de Charms, Bishop Emeritus; Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner, Secretary of the General Church; Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE; Rev. Messrs. Elmo C. Acton, Karl R. Alden, Norman H. Reuter. Further appointments will be made as the situation becomes clearer. It should be noted that this is not an interim Consistory; it is the Consistory in an interim period.

581

CONFERENCE-GENERAL CHURCH YOUNG PEOPLE'S WEEKEND 1962

CONFERENCE-GENERAL CHURCH YOUNG PEOPLE'S WEEKEND HARALD SANDSTROM 1962

     The weekend of September 28-30, 1962, saw a highly unusual, not to say unique, event take place in London. On the initiative of the young people of the General Conference of the New Church-Mr. Michael Stanley and Miss Gillian Mongredien getting in touch with the writer-it was arranged that they and our young people should meet to get to know each other and about each other's organization. It was felt that if the first meeting was approached carefully and non-controversially, it could lead to a series of meetings at which pleasant social contact would serve to establish new friendships and bring about a most useful exchange of views and increase of knowledge. It should be made clear from the beginning, however, that this was not an approach of organization to organization, but of the young people-defined approximately as between 17 and 30-of both organizations acting on their own. Also, at the request of the Conference young people who were organizing the event, no ministers from either body were to participate; it was felt that the young people themselves would feel more free to engage in discussion if they did not have to fear touching off a "battle" between ministers.

     After much eager anticipation, Friday the 28th arrived, and participants-more than fifty of us, and divided about fifty-fifty between the two groups-began to stream in from as far away as Birmingham and Cardiff. Most of the out-of-town visitors stayed at the improvised joint dormitory at the Conference Kensington Church hall, where a glorious pillow fight was found to be an excellent way of making new acquaintances.
     Saturday morning was set aside for a long discussion on the premises of the Swedenborg Society, our "neutral ground." After brief welcoming speeches from the organizers in both groups-who brought out that this was not a false unity move designed to slur over existing differences, but that these differences should not be a barrier to seeking "unofficial" contact of this nature and learning more about each other-we were launched into a discussion of "What Can Young People Do for the Church?"

582

Michael Stanley having started us off with a few remarks, we split up into several groups, and most discussions centered on the ifs, whys and hows of young people engaging in missionary work. The importance of teaching oneself was brought out, but it was agreed that one clarifies one s own understanding of the doctrines by explaining them to others. After a coffee break, the writer had the pleasure of giving a paper on "New Church Preparation for Marriage" which stated the principles that apply to dating, courtship, consent and betrothal, and emphasized the hard work of regeneration that is essential for the attainment of conjugial love. A stimulating and very useful discussion followed.
     After this, on Saturday afternoon, we all went for a walk in Hyde Park, after first making an unscheduled stop at the famous Speaker's Corner where one of our group, in response to a challenge, stepped up on an old barrel and held forth on the subject of conjugial love to an audience estimated at numbering between eighty and a hundred-fifty of whom were already favorably disposed to both speaker and subject! After our long walk we arrived, tired and hungry, at the Kensington Church hall, where we had an exciting mixed doubles ping-pong tournament before tea-in England, our readers ought to know, people have the curious habit of eating tea! To complete a long and happy day, we had an evening of dancing and games.
     On Sunday morning all fifty of us descended on Michael Church, filling it to capacity to hear the Rev. Erik Sandstrom preach a wonderful sermon on "The Two Essentials of the New Church" based on the text recording John's vision of the two witnesses. After the service all the young people stayed at Michael Church for a luncheon, which concluded our planned activities.
     At the end of the weekend the experiment was widely hailed as a complete success, having been both instructive and fun. We all felt that contact should be maintained; so more meetings of a similar nature are definitely to be held, although no date has yet been set for the next one.
MINISTERIAL CHANGES 1962

MINISTERIAL CHANGES 1962

The Rev. Louis B. King has accepted a call to the pastorate of the Immanuel Church, Glenview, Illinois, effective September 1, 1963. Mr. King, presently pastor of the Pittsburgh Society, will succeed the Rev. Elmo C. Acton, who has accepted an invitation to become Dean of the Bryn Athyn Church.

583

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1962

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS Rev. FREDERICK L. SCHNARR 1962

     In the story of how the Lord appeared to Abram to change his name to Abraham, of how the Lord set up a new convenant with Abraham in the rite of circumcision, and of how He promised that Abraham and Sarah should have a child, Isaac, in their old age, we learn of the union of the Lord's Divine essence with the Human essence, and of the Human essence with the Divine essence. We learn also of the conjunction of the Lord, through the Human essence, with the human race.*
* AC 1985.
     If the teaching of the Writings is to be followed clearly as these two doctrines are expounded, it is of particular importance, we feel, to keep in mind the teaching given in our readings for this month as to the distinction between the terms union and con junction. We are taught that between the Lord's Divine essence and His Human essence there was union, but that between the Lord and the human race there is conjunction through the faith of charity.* The term, union, is used in respect to the Divine essence and the Human essence because the Lord made these into a one: the Divine essence was life, and the Human essence was made one with that life. Such is not the case in man's relationship to the Lord. He receives life from the Lord as a vessel, and as such he is distinct from the Lord-conjoined with and eternally nourished by Divine life, but never a part of it, never united to it.**
* AC 2021.
** AC 3737.
     It is true that, having made the distinction between the terms union and conjunction, the Writings often use them interchangeably. For example, they speak of the union of man and woman in conjugial love as being a union of souls and minds.* But where this is done it is made clear what is to be understood: here, that two distinct forms are conjoined through love, their forms remaining distinct. All created forms remain distinct whatever is said of their union or conjunction. What is essential is that we see why "union" is used in reference to the Divine and the Human essence, and not "conjunction." The unity of the Lord as one Divine being, one Divine love, one Divine wisdom, one Divine proceeding, can be seen only when the reason for the above distinction in terms is seen. If it is not, as is the case in most of Christendom, the Divine Human will be thought of a something different and separate from the Divine life, and the Godhead will be divided.
* CL 50, 321.

584

Contained also in our readings is one of the most beautiful descriptions of how man is conjoined to the Lord, and we would again bring it to the attention of those who are following the readings.
"When man is being regenerated, that is, when he is conjoined with the Lord, he proceeds to the conjunction by means of truth, that is, by means of the knowledges of faith, which are the truths by means of which he proceeds to conjunction. The Lord goes to meet these by means of good, that is, by means of charity, and adjusts and fits this into the knowledges of faith, that is, into its truths; for all truths are recipient vessels of good, and therefore the more genuine the truths are, the more they are multiplied, the more abundantly can good accept them as vessels, reduce them to order, and finally manifest itself; so that at last the truths do not appear, except in so far as good shines through them. In this way truth becomes the celestial spiritual. As the Lord is present solely in the good that is of charity, the man is in this way conjoined with the Lord."*
* AC 2063: 3.
REVIEWS 1962

REVIEWS Editor 1962

     THE NEW CHURCH READERS' GUIDE. Edited by Robert S. Junge. General Church Publication Committee, Bryn Athyn, Pa., 1962. Pp. 72.
     Here is a reference work that should be owned, and consulted often, by everyone who is interested in introducing others to the thought of the church and in developing his own reading. Just to browse through its pages is to realize as probably never before what a wealth of literature- collateral, periodical and special service-the church has produced and is currently producing. The introductory section alone is invaluable. In it collateral literature, books and pamphlets, which has been carefully analyzed and evaluated, is listed under twenty-two subjects, and in each classification has been graded as introductory, secondary or advanced.
     This section can meet a twofold need. When a specific interest is expressed by an inquirer, we can find under the appropriate subheading introductory or secondary material that may satisfy and stimulate his interest. At the same time, the New Church man can use this section to follow up his own particular doctrinal interests by finding material for reading programs or to supplement pastoral instruction. Another useful feature is the descriptive list of the Writings, which may be studied by all who would like to have a general view of their contents.

585

THE DOCTRINE OF THE PROPRIUM. By George de Charms. General Church Publication Committee, Bryn Athyn, Pa., 1962. Pp. 57.
     The word, proprium, has become a part of our New Church vocabulary. Yet it is easy to form a mistaken idea of what is meant by it unless the essential meaning that underlies all its various applications is understood clearly, for the term is used in a number of connections and is always modified by the context in which it occurs.
     This little book is an extended inquiry into the real meaning of the word, proprium, as used in the Writings. In six short chapters Bishop De Charms explains the teaching that the Lord alone has proprium; considers how the proprium first arises; views the proprium of childhood and youth; examines the proprium of adult age; discusses how the true rational first arises; and describes the nature of the heavenly proprium-all, of course, in exposition of what the Writings teach concerning the proprium of man.

     The contents of these six chapters were originally delivered as doctrinal lectures to the Bryn Athyn Church, and only minor changes have been made in their form. Apart from the interest of the subject, and everyone is concerned with the proprium, the reading of them can do much to clarify our thinking. As the author points out, we tend to think of man s proprium as nothing but evil, and of man himself as depraved from birth. Yet the proprium that man receives hereditarily is not the man himself; it is a tendency to evil to which he may or may not yield. Indeed the proprium of man is not a reality, but only an appearance: for the Lord alone is life, and therefore has that which is His own; man is a receptacle of life, and therefore only seems to have that which is his own. Furthermore, this appearance of self-life is not evil. It is the very image of God in man that makes him human. It is the Lord's will that man should appear to have life in himself; and this appearance, without which man would have no free choice and no responsibility, is what is called the proprium. This becomes evil only when the appearance of self-life is mistaken for the reality and is confirmed.
     It is against this background of explanation that Bishop De Charms reviews the development of the appearance of self-life as man passes from childhood through youth into adult age, and then shows how, through the formation of a true rational, the way is opened for man to receive a heavenly proprium from the Lord. This book is sumptuously produced, and this reviewer commends it to all who seek light from the Writings on the nature of man and on the process whereby he is regenerated by the Lord.
     THE EDITOR

586

PUNISHMENT AND THE INNOCENT 1962

PUNISHMENT AND THE INNOCENT Editor 1962

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 Business Manager. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.

TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$5.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy 50 cents.
Those who have the responsibility of maintaining order may usefully ponder a striking teaching of the Writings. The reference is to the ancient custom of making a man's companions guilty of his offense, and even punishing a whole house for the crime of one in it. Such a law is said to be derived from hell, where all companions conspire together for evil. There the law is just, for infernal societies and spirits do act together as one against good. The intent to do evil, and the doing of it, are what consociate evil spirits, and when they do evil they are all punished. But to do so in the world, the teaching continues, is wholly contrary to Divine order; for in this world the good are consociated with the evil, since one does not know what the interiors of another are, and for the most part does not care. (See AC 5765.)
The Divine law for men, therefore, is that everyone shall pay the penalty of his own iniquity. Yet how often that law is violated, either in fact or in intent! Group punishments are inflicted because the single offender will not admit to being the offender. Punitive legislation is proposed or enacted that will penalize the innocent along with those who have been guilty of abuses. Guilt by association is imputed to men, often without any evidence as to whether they were aware of the criminal or subversive activities of their associates. Men are far from being angels, but that the guilty might sometimes escape if the innocent were not punished with them would seem to be a poor reason for invoking a law which the Writings characterize as being derived from hell. The Divine law is that everyone shall pay the penalty of his own iniquity.

587

NO ROOM IN THE INN 1962

NO ROOM IN THE INN Editor 1962

     It is recorded that the newborn Lord was laid in a manger, "because there was no room for them in the inn." The appearance is that manmade external conditions determined the place of His birth; the reality is that it was governed by arcane reasons. If it had pleased the Lord, the Writings say, He might have been born in a splendid palace, and have been laid in a bed adorned with precious stones; but He would then have been with those who were in no doctrine of truth-for in no palace was that doctrine then known-and there would thus have been no heavenly representation.
     An inn might have been a fitting place indeed for the Lord's birth, because it represents, among other things, a place of instruction in the doctrine of the church from the Word. But not a Judean inn; for instruction was then in the hands of the Jews, who had so adulterated the Word that they were in mere falsities, and in the hearts of those who are such there is no room for the saving truth of the Word or for the virginal affection that gives it birth.
     The inn would not have afforded a heavenly representation either; that was provided only by the manger, by which is meant the doctrine of truth where the understanding of the Word is fed. So is it also in the living world of human minds to which the Lord comes continually-comes now in His second advent. Where the falsity of evil congregates to rest or revel and to seek protection from the terror that walks by night, there the spiritual truth of the Word cannot be born. There is no room, no place where that truth in its first tender beginnings may lay its head. Spiritual truth can rest only in genuine doctrine; and if we would find it we must go to the Word from the love of understanding it and seek the doctrine of truth as the food of the spirit, for in that, and in that alone, is saving truth born and laid to rest.

     There is, however, another aspect of this phase of the familiar story. The Writings render "inn" by the same word that they use for "diversion"-those diversions which are usually summed up in the term, social life. Here the significance becomes clear at once. Those for whom Christmas is merely a round of social events, an occasion for jollity and revelry, will have no room in their hearts for Him whose birth is the excuse, but not the reason, for their celebrations. The social side of Christmas can be a part of the life of charity, and it requires delightful preparations. But the most vital making ready, if we would not have Christmas pass us by, is that which is stated in the injunction of the Christmas hymn: "Let every heart prepare Him room."

588

GENTILE OR PAGAN? 1962

GENTILE OR PAGAN? Editor 1962

     Students of the Writings are well aware that what is happening in the Christian world can be viewed in two ways, and with entirely different results. Ever since the Last Judgment occurred, a process of vastation has been going on in that world which has as its end the gradual preparation of a state receptive of the spiritual truth of the Word. If the discerned results of the process only are regarded, the picture is one of increasing deterioration and mounting chaos; but if the process is considered in relation to the end, what is seen is the tearing down of the old that must precede the building of the new, and even what is negative in its effects can be viewed in terms of what is constructive.
     New Church men and women know this, and it does much to help them find their bearings in the culture wherein the organized church is set. In that teaching they find comfort, hope and assurance. Yet it may be doubted whether our western civilization generally has yet reached the gentile state which will be receptive of the church. There are, of course, exceptions-perhaps many more than we might suppose-and we may not presume to make more than conditional judgments; but the qualities which the Writings associate with the gentile state are not markedly present. Ignorance of the Word, of revealed Divine truth, there undoubtedly is; but many are still influenced in their thinking by principles which in themselves are opposed to the truths of faith, and morality, obedience and mutual charity are not conspicuous in the world in which we live. Belief in a God, and thought about Him in religion and life, are not observable as general traits, no matter how many individuals may have them; and hatred, revenge and deceit have by no means vanished from the scene.
     Rather would it seem that much of our world is frankly pagan, given over to the worship of strange gods. The idols served by a large part of modern society are well known; there is no need to name them here. Evidently the process of vastation has not yet run its course. Yet in this there is no cause for loss of hope. As we review the events of the waning year, and look ahead to another year that may not be very different, we may yet take heart. The issues that concern men and nations are not the final ones, nor are those issues in their hands. In ways that we know not of the Lord is working, not only to protect and preserve His church, but to prepare for its wider establishment; and if we will but be steadfast in the uses entrusted to us, and without sacrificing them unite with men of good will in promoting what is good on the moral and civil planes, we may go forward unafraid, sustained by the faith of love in the vision of things that will surely come in the Lord's time.

589

DIRECTORY GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM 1962

     Officials and Councils

Bishop:     Right Rev. Willard D. Pendleton
Bishop Emeritus: Right Rev. George de Charms
Secretary:     Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner

     CONSISTORY

     Bishop Willard D. Pendleton
     Right Rev. George de Charms; Revs. Elmo C. Acton; Karl R. Alden; W. Cairns Henderson, Secretary; Hugo Lj. Odhner; Norman H. Reuter.

"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. Willard D. Pendleton, President
     Right Rev. George de Charms, Vice President
     Mr. Stephen Pitcairn, 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; Randolph W. Childs, Esq.; Mr. Gordon D. Cockerell; Robert I. Coulter, Esq.; Edward H. Davis, Esq.; George C. Doering, Esq.; Mr. Murray E. Hill; Mr. John Howard; Mr. James F. Junge; Mr. Edward H. Kitzelman; Mr. Robert Leeper; Alexander H. Lindsay, Esq.; Mr. H. Keith Morley; Philip C. Pendleton, Esq.; Raymond Pitcairn, Esq.; Mr. F. G. Colley Pryke; Mr. Gilbert M. Smith; Mr. David H. Stebbing; Mr. Marvin V. Stevens; Arthur Synnestvedt, Esq.; Mr. Marvin J. Walker. Honorary Members: Dr. Marlin W. Heilman, Mr. Sydney F. Lee.

590

     The Clergy

     Bishops

     DE CHARMS, GEORGE. Ordained June 28, 1914; 2nd Degree, June 19, 1916; 3rd Degree, March 11, 1928. Bishop Emeritus of the General Church. Dean of the Bryn Athyn Church. President Emeritus, 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. Bishop of the General Church. Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church. President, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Pastors 1962

Pastors 1962

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: 73 Park Drive, Glenview, Illinois.
ALDEN, KARL RICHARDSON. Ordained June 19, 1917; 2nd Degree, October 12, 1919. Pastor-in-Charge, General Church Religion Lessons. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.
ASPLUNDH, KURT HORIGAN. Ordained June 19, 1960; 2nd Degree, June 19, 1962. Assistant to the Pastor of the Pittsburgh Society. Address: 7023 Meade Street, Pittsburgh 8, Pa.
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. Editor of NOVA ECCLESIA. Address: Aladdinavagen 27, Bromma, Sweden.
CHILDS, GEOFFREY STAFFORD. 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 California. Address: 346 Riverdale Drive, Glendale 4, Calif.
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. Visiting Pastor, Portland, Oregon, Spokane, Washington. Address: 1108 96th Avenue, Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada.
GILL, ALAN. Ordained June 14, 1925; 2nd Degree, June 19, 1926. Address: 9 Ireton Road, Colchester, England.
GLADISH, VICTOR JEREMIAH. Ordained June 17, 1928; 2nd Degree, August 5, 1928. Address: 3508 Linneman Street, Glenview, Illinois.
HEINRICHS, DANIEL WINTHROP. Ordained June 19, 1957; 2nd Degree, April 6, 1958. Assistant Pastor of the Durban Society. Assistant to the Superintendent of the South African Mission. Address: 1 Mowbray Place, Musgrave Road, Durban, Natal, South Africa.
HEINRICHS, HENRY. Ordained June 24, 1923; 2nd Degree, February 8, 1925. Part-time Assistant to the Pastor of the Kitchener Society. Address: R. R. 3, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.

591

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 New England. Professor of Theology, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
HOLM, BERNHARD DAVID. Ordained June 19, 1952; 2nd Degree, January 27, 1957. Visiting Pastor in South Ohio and to the Erie Circle. Address: 521 E. Sharon Avenue, Glendale, Cincinnati 46, Ohio.
JUNGE, ROBERT SCHILL. Ordained June 19, 1955; 2nd Degree, August 11, 1957. Visiting Pastor to Arkansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Texas. Address: 4141 Everett Street, Wheatridge, Colorado.
KING, LOUIS BLAIR. Ordained June 19, 1951; 2nd Degree, April 19, 1953. Pastor of the Pittsburgh Society. Visiting Pastor to the North Ohio Circle. Address: 299 La Roi Road, Pittsburgh 8, Pa.
LIMA, JOAO DE MENDONCA. Ordained, 1st and 2nd Degree, 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. 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. Visiting Pastor to the New York Circle. Instructor in Religion and History, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
PENDLETON, DANDRIDGE. Ordained June 19, 1952; 2nd Degree, June 19, 1954. Instructor in Religion, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
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 Lorraine Gardens, Islington, Ontario, Canada.
REUTER, NORMAN HAROLD. Ordained June 17, 1928; 2nd Degree, June 15, 1930. Pastor of the Detroit Society. Address: 280 East Long Lake Road, Troy, Mich.
RICH, MORLEY DYCEMAN. Ordained June 19, 1938; 2nd Degree, October 13, 1949. Visiting Pastor to the South-Eastern States. Address: 19820 N.E. 12th Court, Miami 62, 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 Jersey Circle. Special Instructor in Latin, Academy of the New Church. Address: 5007 Penn Street, Philadelphia 24, Pa.
ROSE, FRANK SHIRLEY. Ordained June 19, 1952; 2nd Degree, August 2, 1953. Acting Pastor of the Colchester Society. Visiting Pastor to the isolated in Great Britain and to the Circles at Paris and The Hague. Address: 185 Maldon Road, 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, SW. 17, England.
SCHNARR, FREDERICK LAURIER. Ordained June 19, 1955; 2nd Degree, May 12, 1957. Pastor of the Washington, D. C. Society. Visiting Pastor in North and South Carolina. Address: 116 Enterprise Road, Rt. 556, Mitchellville, Md.
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.

592

STROH, KENNETH OLIVER. Ordained June 19, 1948; 2nd Degree, June 19, 1950. Assistant Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.
TAYLOR, DOUGLAS MCLEOD. Ordained June 19, 1960; 2nd Degree, June 19, 1962. Resident Pastor of the Tucson Circle. Visiting Pastor to Phoenix, Arizona, and San Diego, California. Address: 2536 N. Stuart Avenue, Tucson, Arizona.
WEISS, JAN HUGO. Ordained June 19, 1955; 2nd Degree, May 12, 1957. Address: do Mr. Aug Weiss, Boreelstraat 16, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
WHITEHEAD, WILLIAM. Ordained June 19, 1922; 2nd Degree, June 19, 1926. Professor Emeritus of History, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Ministers 1962

Ministers 1962

BOOLSEN, GUDMUND ULLEICH. Ordained June 19, 1961. Resident Minister of the Copenhagen Circle. Address: Frederiksborggade 34, Copenhagen K, Denmark.
CRANCH, RAYMOND GREENLEAF. Ordained June 19, 1922. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.
HOWARD, GEOFFREY HORACE. Ordained June 19, 1961. Assistant to the Pastor of the Immanuel Church, Glenview, Illinois. Visiting Minister, Madison, St. Paul, Minneapolis Circles, St. Louis Group. Address: 2700 Park Lane, Glenview, Illinois.
ROSE, DONALD LESLIE. Ordained June 16, 1957. Minister of the Hurstville Society. Address: 86 Laycock Road, Hurstville, New South Wales, Australia.
Authorized Candidates 1962

Authorized Candidates 1962

COLE, ROBERT HUDSON PENDLETON. Authorized, February 1, 1962. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.
FIGUEIREDO, JOSE LOPES DE. Authorized, August 15, 1951. Address: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
NEMITZ, KURT PAUL. Authorized, February 1, 1962. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.
SONESON, LORENTZ RAY. Authorized, February 1, 1962. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.
British Guiana Mission 1962

British Guiana Mission 1962

Pastor-in-Charge

ALDERNON, HENRY. Ordained, 1st and 2nd Degrees, September 1, 1940. Pastor of the General Church Mission in Georgetown, British Guiana. Address: 288 Middle Street, Georgetown 4, Demerara, British Guiana, South America.
South African Mission 1962

South African Mission 1962

Pastors

BUTELEZI, STEPHEN EPHRAIM. Ordained September 11, 1938; 2nd Degree, October 3, 1948. Pastor of the Hambrook Society. Address: Hambrook Bantu School, P/B, 912, Ladysmith, Natal, South Africa.

593

LUTULI, MAYA M. Ordained October 3,1948; 2nd Degree, April 13, 1958. Pastor of the Durban Society. Address: Plot 1701 Cleremont, P. O. Clernaville, Natal, South Africa.
MEIZE, SOLOMON B. 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. Assistant to the Superintendent. Pastor of the Deepdale and 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 Ohlange New Farm. Address: Ohlange Institute, P/B Durban, Natal, South Africa.
SIBEKO, PAUL PEFENI. Ordained October 3, 1948; 2nd Degree, March 23, 1958. Pastor of the Alexandra Township Society. Address: 161 11th Avenue, Alexandra Township, Johannesburg, Transvaal, South Africa.
ZUNGU, AARON. Ordained August 21, 1938; 2nd Degree, October 3, 1948. Pastor of the Kent Manor Society. Address: Kent Manor, P/B 'Ntumeni, Zululand, South Africa.
Ministers 1962

Ministers 1962

MAQELEPO, ARMSTRONG. Ordained April 13, 1958. Minister of the Queenstown, Quthing and Sterkstroom Societies. Address: Phahameng School, P. O., Quthing, Basutoland.
MBEDZI, PAULUS. Ordained March 23, 1958. Assistant at Alexandra Township. Address: 131 3rd Avenue, Alexandra Township, Johannesburg, Transvaal, South Africa.
Societies and Circles 1962

Societies and Circles 1962

     Societies

ADVENT SOCIETY OF PHILADELPHIA     Rev. Norbert H. Rogers
BRYN ATHYN CHURCH                    Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton
CARMEL CHURCH OF KITCHENER, ONTARIO     Rev. Geoffrey S. Childs
COLCHESTER SOCIETY, ENGLAND          Rev. Frank S. Rose (Acting)
DETROIT SOCIETY, MICHIGAN          Rev. Norman H. Reuter
DURBAN SOCIETY, NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA     Rev. A. Wynne Acton
HURSTVILLE SOCIETY, N. S. W., AUSTRALIA     Rev. Donald L. Rose
IMMANUEL CHURCH OF GLENVIEW, ILLINOIS     Rev. Elmo C. Acton
MICHAEL CHURCH, LONDON, ENGLAND     Rev. Erik Sandstrom
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. Elmo C. Acton (Supervisor)
STOCKHOLM SOCIETY, SWEDEN          Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen
WASHINGTON SOCIETY, D. C.          Rev. Frederick L. Schnarr

594

Circles               Visiting Pastor or Minister
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK          Rev. Gudmund Boolsen
DENVER, COLORADO               Rev. Robert S. Junge (Res.)
ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA          Rev. B. David Holm
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. Geoffrey Howard
MIAMI, FLORIDA               Rev. Morley D. Rich
MONTREAL, CANADA               Rev. Martin Pryke
NEW YORK, N. Y.               Rev. Ormond Odhner
NORTH JERSEY               Rev. Norbert H. Rogers
NORTH OHIO                    Rev. Louis B. King
OSLO, NORWAY               Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen
PARIS, FRANCE               Rev. Frank S. Rose
ST. PAUL-MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA     Rev. Geoffrey Howard
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA          Rev. Douglas McL. Taylor
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA     Rev. Harold C. Cranch
SOUTH OHIO                    Rev. B. David Holm
TUCSON, ARIZONA               Rev. Douglas McL. Taylor (Res.)

     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.
     WILLARD D. PENDLETON
          Bishop.

595

     Committees of the General Church
                                   Chairman
British Finance Committee               Rev. Alan Gill
General Church Publication Committee     Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner
General Church Contributions Committee     Mr. Harold P. McQueen
General Church Religion Lessons          Rev. Karl R. Alden
Committee on the Liturgy               Rt. Rev. George de Charms
Military Service Committee               Mrs. Philip C. Pendleton
Nominating Committee                    Mr. Lester Asplundh
Orphanage Committee                    Mr. R. W. Childs
Pension Committee                         Mr. Edward H. Davis
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:
     Rev. Alan Gill     9 Ireton Road, Colchester, England
Mr. Harold P. McQueen     2610 Park Lane, Glenview, Illinois

596

Church News 1962

Church News Various 1962

     PHILADELPHIA, PA.

     With summer a thing of the past, the Advent Church got off to a rousing start in the fall with its annual meeting on September 22. The dinner, at Verdi's Restaurant in Frankford, was preceded by a social hour at the home of Richard and Cathlin Goerwitz. Later we adjourned to the church for the business meeting itself.
     One happy bit of "business" news was that our school "bus" is now paid for entirely. That bus is certainly necessary in our church group. Twelve children from the Philadelphia area are using it this year to go to and from school in Bryn Athyn. Two of the high school girls, Merrily Renn and Jane Cameron, were recently accepted as members of Alpha Kappa Mu. To return to the business: after the officers had all been reelected to their respective posts for another year, it was decided to appoint a social committee. The co-chairmen are Emily Carter and Jean Heath, and we understand that these ladies have some good ideas for furthering the society's social life. The first social event, a games night, was scheduled for October 27, and the Christmas bazaar, which will be held on December 1, was discussed.
     Instead of holding a doctrinal class every week, the society is trying the experiment of meeting just twice a month. This was decided on with the hope that attendance, which has not been too good, will improve with fewer meetings. The first home class was held at the Hansen home on October 25, and was followed by a surprise baby shower for Judy Renn Davis.
     We are looking forward to the wedding of Wendy Rogers and Malcolm Cronlund, which will take place on December 15, in the cathedral. Wendy is now living in Philadelphia, but the couple will make their home at State College. A recent wedding of interest to our society was that of Lynn Halterman and Willard Smith. Lynn is the daughter of our organist, Faith Halterman.
     Birth congratulations are in order to Tony and Claudette Walter, who welcomed a baby boy on August 29, and to Minard and Vannie Smith, who have a new baby, girl, born on July 28. Two recent baptisms were those of Richard and Cathlin Goerwitz' daughter and the son of William and Ruth Booth.
     Charter Day has come and gone. We were sorry that the football team did not win. But those of us from the Philadelphia area who attended found the dance in the Asplundh Field House a lovely affair, and the banquet a great success. We were much impressed with the speeches made by Bishop De Charms and Dr. Odhner.
BETTY M. DAVID

     STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN

     Last summer, in the month of July, the Stockholm Society mourned the loss of its first pastor, Dr. Gustaf Baeckstrom. The funeral was held on August 2, and the memorial service was conducted by the Rev. Bjorn Boyesen, who had just returned from the United States. In his address he dwelt on the fine and faithful work done by Mr. Baeckstrom in the service of the New Church. The number of people who attended, and the splendid offering of flowers, were testimonies to the affection he had won among the Scandinavian New Church people to whom he had ministered for more than forty years and a number of whom he had brought into the church, largely because he had the gift of making them see the wonderful truths of the Writings and feel his own deep affection for the Heavenly Doctrine.

597

     After the service Mrs. Baeckstrom held a reception at her home, for many years so well known to most of us. We had the pleasure of meeting again her eldest son, Mr. Gosta Baeckstr6m, who had flown across the ocean to honor the memory of his father and to comfort his mother during that trying time.
     The day before Mr. Baeckstrom's funeral, Mrs. Harold Pitcairn arrived in Stockholm and made a short stop on her cruise eastward. She was accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Walter Horigan. They were met on board ship by Capt. Tore Lovin, who took them around the city and showed them Swedenborg's graceful little summerhouse at the Skansen open-air museum. The evening was spent at Mr. and Mrs. Loven's home, where a few friends had been asked to meet the visitors from Bryn Athyn.
     We had a Scandinavian Summer School again this year, August 22-26. Most of the Danish group joined in, among them Mr. Holger Hansen with his daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Stryoback, and Mrs. Elsa Sigfuss, the distinguished singer. We welcomed Mrs. Borghild Berner from Norway, but none of the Jonkoping members were able to attend. The classes were given at the home of our pastor, which is more like an open house the whole year round. The Rev. Gudmund Boolsen of Copenhagen and the Rev. Bjorn Boyesen each gave a series of talks-the former on correspondences, the latter on the life of the Lord. There were two classes before lunch and one in the evening, when people who were at work during the day were given an opportunity to attend. A service was held on Sunday, and after a farewell luncheon our good friends from Denmark and Norway left us to return to their homes.
     We had other visitors, too, during the month of August, as Mr. and Mrs. Owen Pryke of Colchester came to stay with Mr. and Mrs. Boyesen for nearly two weeks. They were company on a five-day excursion to various places in Norway and Sweden; among them Vdrmland, where Selma Lager6ff was born, and Dalecarlla, the so-called "heart of Sweden," from which province Emanuel Swedenborg derived his origins.
     SENTA CENTERVALL

     CHARTER DAY

     Charter Days, like Assemblies, are always the same yet ever different-a happy blending of the traditional, the affection of which grows with the years, and the new which prevents custom from staling. it is no reflection on previous celebrations to say that those who took part in the 46th Charter Day Exercises, on October 19th and 20th, were highly delighted with what they saw and heard. The consensus was that the quality of the events offered made this celebration an historic occasion.
     All the elements of a typical Charter Day were present in generous measure when friends of the Academy in Bryn Athyn and from many other centers of the church in Canada and the United States joined with the corporation, the faculty and the student body to observe the occasion. The weather was mild and sunny, and if autumn's full glory was past, much of its beauty still remained. There was organized and private entertainment with its opportunities for conviviality and reunions; and for all, in what is the very heart of the program, there was the chance to renew their faith in New Church education and rededicate themselves to its ideals and to its advancement, as new light was thrown on the significance of the event celebrated, the present situation of the Academy and the possibilities that lie before it.
     This was quickly offered, after the significant procession to the cathedral, in the service of thanksgiving to the Lord with which the celebration appropriately begins. In a challenging address, which will be published in the January issue of this journal, the Rev. Dandridge Pendleton invited consideration of what it is that the Academy has to offer that is worth sacrificing and fighting to preserve, and showed that this is a "right education-the meaning and priceless nature of which were clearly explained and demonstrated.

598

After the return procession, and the singing of school songs in front of the Benade Hall steps, with massed banners, many guests departed for the luncheon at Casa Conti which has now become a regular part of the program. This pleasant occasion, which allows for a resumption of the greetings and exchange of news begun on the campus, was enjoyed by 150 guests. If the student body past and present did not have the satisfaction of seeing its team beat Williamson Trade School, it did watch a game that was not lacking in skill and excitement; and it could draw what solace was to be gained from the fact that if the Academy came out on the short end of a 13-6 score, it led in ground gained. The dance on Friday evening was arranged, as usual, by the College; and, according to the age and predilections of those attending, was a pleasant opportunity for social intercourse, dancing-or both. Prior to the dance, there was a buffet supper at the Civic and Social Club House.
The Theta Alpha coffee party, and a Sons' luncheon attended by 110 men, provided entertainment and occasion for valuable exchanges on Saturday morning and afternoon. The climax was, however, the banquet, held in the Asplundh Field House and attended by 650 guests. Mr. Donald C. Fitzpatrick, Jr., was the toastmaster, and he guided an outstanding and compact program with deftness and an economy of words that might well be noted by future toastmasters! The speakers were Bishop De Charms and Dr. Hugo Lj. Odhner, who addressed themselves, respectively, to "The Mission of the Academy" and "The Academy and its Future." Despite an inevitable interlocking of subject-matter, each of these revered teachers and administrators in the Academy had a distinct and inspiring message to deliver; and it was at once affecting and encouraging to hear two men, most of whose professional lives have been spent in the service of the Academy, speak with the calm assurance of faith in Divine revelation of its future as an instrument in the hands of the Lord for the further development of His church. Their addresses will be published in the February issue. Bishop Pendleton's closing remarks, which went to the heart of the issues no less unerringly and fully because briefly, brought the banquet to an end, and with it another memorable celebration of Charter Day.
ATTRACTIVE GIFT 1962

ATTRACTIVE GIFT 1962

Want an attractive and lasting gift for your home this Christmas?
A limited number of polished bronze Seals of the General Church are still available, at the foundry cost price of $25.00, plus a small postage charge if mailed.

599

General Church of the New Jerusalem ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS 1962

General Church of the New Jerusalem ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS HUGO LJ. ODHNER 1962

Announcements

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 28th to February 2, 1963, at Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania.
HUGO LJ. ODHNER,
Secretary
Academy of the New Church 1962

Academy of the New Church 1962

APPLICATIONS FOR ADMISSION

Preliminary letters concerning applications for admission to any of the schools of the Academy of the New Church for the academic year 1963-1964 should reach the Director of Admissions before February 1, 1963. This deadline applies both to new applications and to applications for re-admission of students already in attendance. Letters which arrive after this date will be processed after work is completed on those which arrived before the deadline.
GENERAL CHURCH CONTRIBUTIONS COMMITTEE 1962

GENERAL CHURCH CONTRIBUTIONS COMMITTEE 1962

Mr. Harold P. McQueen, 2610 Park Lane, Glenview, Illinois, has accepted appointment by the Bishop of the General Church as chairman of this committee.
LOCAL SCHOOLS DIRECTORY 1962

LOCAL SCHOOLS DIRECTORY 1962

The Olivet (Toronto) Society day school was inadvertently omitted from the Directory published in the October issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE. The Rev. Martin Pryke is headmaster; Miss Joan Kuhl teaches grades 1 and 3, and Miss Sylvia Parker grades 5-8; Mrs. Alec Craigie and Mrs. Sydney R. Parker are in charge of the kindergarten.
Writings 1962

Writings 1962

Abom.-Abomination of Desolation
AC-Arcana Coelestla
Adv.-Adversaria
AE-Apocalypse Explained
AR-Apocalypse Revealed
Ath.-Athanasian Creed
BE-Brief Exposition
Calvin-Conversations with Calvin
Can.-Canons
Char.-Doctrine of Charity
CL-Conjugial Love
CLJ-Continuation of the Last Judgment
Conv. Ang.-Conversations with Angels
Coro.-Coronis
DLW-Divine Love and Wisdom
Dom.-De Domino
DP-Divine Providence
Ecc. Hist.-Ecclesiastical History of the New Church
EU-Earths in the Universe
F-Doctrine of Faith
5 Mem.-Five Memorable Relations
HD-New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine
H H-Heaven and Hell
Hist. Crea.-History of Creation
Idea-Angelic Idea concerning Creation
Infl.-Influx
Inv.-Invitation to the New Church
Jus.-Concerning Justification and Good Works
Life-Doctrine of Life
LJ-Last Judgment
LJ post.-Last Judgment (posthumous)
Lord-Doctrine of the Lord
Love-Divine Love
Mar.-On Marriage
PP-Prophets and Psalms
Q-Nine Questions
SC-Scripture Confirmations
SD-Spiritual Diary
SD min.-Spiitual Diary Minor
Sk.-Sketch of the Doctrine of the New Church
SS-Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture
TCR-True Christian Religion
Verbo--De Verbo
WE-Word Explained (Adversaria)
WH-White Horse
Wis.-Divine Wisdom


Philosophical Works
AK-Animal Kingdom
Br.-The Brain
Cer.-The Cerebrum
Cheni.-Chemistry
1, 2 Econ.-Economy Kingdom, Parts 1, 2
Fib.-The Fibre
Gen.-Generation
Inf.-The Infinite
of the Animal
L Pr.-Lesser Principia Misc. Obs.-Miscellaneous Observations Pr.-Principia
Psych. Trans.-Psychological Transactions
R. Psych.-Rational Psychology
Sens.-The Five Senses
Trem.-Tremulation
WLG-Worship and Love of God

     For lists of the Theological Works see: Tafel's Documents, Vol. II, pp. 950-1023, Potts' Concordance, Introduction; and General Church Liturgy, pp. 219-221.
     For lists of Swedenborg's earlier works see: Tafel's Documents, Vol. II, pp. 884-949; and A Classified List by the Rev. Alfred Acton.
GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM 1962

GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM 1962

RIGHT REV. WILLARD D. PENDLETON, Bishop
RIGHT REV. GEORGE DE CHARMS, BISHOP EMERITUS
REV. HUGO LJ. ODHNER, SECRETARY OF THE CHURCH [UNINCORPORATED]
MR. STEPHEN PITCAIRN, SECRETARY OF THE CORPORATION
     MR. L. E. GYLLENHAAL, TREASURER
Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, U. S. A.
     PUBLIC WORSHIP AND DOCTRINAL CLASSES
Akron, Ohio (North Ohio Circle) .*-Occasional. Inquire of Dr. Philip de Maine, 183 Pasadena Ave., Akron 3.
     Auckland, New Zealand.**-Corresponding Minister: Rev. Donald L. Rose. Contact Mrs. F. Mills, 8 Duders Ave., Devonport, Auckland, N. I., New Zealand.
     Bryn Athyn, Pa.-Bryn Athyn Church. Pastor: Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton. Dean:     Rt. Rev. George de Charms. Assistant Pastors: Rev. David R. Simons, Rev. Kenneth O. Stroh. Friday Class.
     Chicago, Ill.-Sharon Church. Rev. Elmo C. Acton, Supervisor. North Side, 5220 North Wayne Ave. Phone: SUnnyside 4-6398. Services 11 a.m. Monthly Class.
     Cleveland, Ohio (North Ohio Circle).* Occasional. Visiting Pastor: Rev. Louis B. King. Secretary: Dr. Philip B. de Maine, 183 Pasadena Avenue, Akron 3, Ohio.
     Colchester, England.-175-181 Maldon Rd. Acting Pastor: Rev. Frank S. Rose, 185 Maldon Rd. Phone: 6342. Wednesday Class.
     Connecticut.**-Occasional. Visiting Pastor: Rev. W. Cairns Henderson. Secretary: Mrs. Allan C. Soderberg, 7 Town Rd., Niantic, Conn. Phone: PE 9-7791.
     Copenhagen, Denmark.*-Resident Minister: Rev. Gudmund Boolsen, Frederiksborggade 34"', Copenhagen K, Denmark.
     Dawson Creek, B. C.**-Pastor: Rev. Roy Franson, 1108-96 Ave., Dawson Creek, B. C., Canada. Class alternate Fridays.
     Denver, Colo.*-3629 W. 32nd Ave. Regular Service at 11 am. Resident Pastor: Rev. Robert S. Junge, 4141 Everett St., Wheatridge, Colo.
     Detroit, Mich.-205 West Long Lake Road, Troy, Mich. Pastor: Rev. Norman H. Reuter, 280 East Long Lake Rd., Troy, Mich. Friday Class.
     Durban, Natal, South Africa.-125 Musgrave Rd. Pastor: Rev. A. Wynne Acton, 129 Muagrave Rd., Assistant Pastor: Rev. Daniel W. Heinrichs, 1 Mowbray Place, Musgrave Rd.
     Erie, Pa.*-Occasional. Visiting Pastor: Rev. B. David Holm. Secretary: Mr. Edro Cranch, 1309 East 20th St.
     Fort St. John, B. C.**-Class alternate Fridays. Visiting Pastor: Rev. Roy Franson. Contact Dr. Fred Hendricks, Fort St. John.
     Fort Worth, Texas.*-Lay service and class first and third weekends of every month. Visiting Pastor: Rev. Robert S. Junge. Secretary: Mrs. H. H. Griffin, 3917 Mattison, Fort Worth. 7. Phone: PErshing 7-4456 or Edison 6-9766.
     Glendale, Ohio (South Ohio Circle).* Pastor: Rev. B. David Holm, 521 Sharon Ave., E. Glendale, Cincinnati 46, Ohio.
     Glenview, Ill.-Immanuel Church. Pastor: Rev. Elmo C. Acton, 73 Park Drive. Assistant to the Pastor: Rev. Geoffrey H. Howard, 2700 Park Lane. Friday Class.
     Hurstville, N. S. W., Australia.- Dudley St. Minister: Rev. Donald L. Rose, 86 Laycock Rd., Hurstville, N. S. W.
     Jonkoping, Sweden.* Monthly. Visiting Pastor: Rev. llibrn A. H. Boyesen. Call Mr. Lennart Fornander. Phone: 79119.
     Kitchener, Ont.-Carmel Church. 820 King St., West. Pastor: Rev. Geoffrey S. Childs, 178 Bristol St., Waterloo. Friday Class.
     London, England.-Michael Church, 131 Burton Rd., Brixton. Pastor: Rev. Erik Sandstrom, 135 Mantilla Rd., Tooting, London, SW. 17. Phone: Balham 6239. Wednesday Class.
     Los Angeles, Calif.*-Service: 11 a.m. Resident Pastor: Rev. Harold C. Cranch, 346 Riverdale Drive Glendale 4, Calif. Secretary: Mr. A. M. Nickel, 3301 Sparr Blvd., Glendale 8, Calif.
     Madison, Wis.*-Weekly service. Pastoral visit every second Sunday except August. Visiting Minister: Rev. Geoffrey H. Howard. Call: Mr. Max Howell. Phone: Cedar 3-4948.
     Massachusetts.**~-Occasional. Visiting Pastor: Rev. W. Cairns Henderson. Secretary:     Mrs. Francis Frost 125 Mill St., Foxboro, Mass. Phone: 617-KI 3-5078.
     Miami, Fla.*-Regular services. Resident Pastor: Rev. Morley D. Rich, 19820 N.E. 12th Court, Miami 62, Fla. Phone: WIlson 7-1494.
     Montreal, Que.*-Service and classes five times a year. Visiting Pastor: Rev. Martin Pryke. Secretary: Mr. D. C. Finley, Apt. 6, 82A Lakeshore Dr., Dorval, P. Q. Phone: MEI-8776.
     New York, N. Y.*-First Sunday, 4 :30 p.m. Visiting Pastor: Rev. Ormond Odhner. Call Miss Cornelia Stroh: CHelsea 2-8470 or Mrs. Frances Goodman: ULster 2-3766.
     North Jersey.*-First Sunday, 11 am. Y.M.C.A., Morristown, N. J. Class on first Saturday and third Friday. Visiting Pastor: Rev. Norbert H. Rogers. Secretary:     Mrs. John Lindsay, One Claremont Dr., Short Hills, N. J.
     Oklahoma.**-Occasional. Visiting Pastor: Rev. Robert S. Junge. Secretaries: Mrs. Loyd A. Doering, 224 W. Pratt, Midwest City, Okla.; Mrs. Robert Tennis, 3546 South Marion St., Tulsa, Okla.
     Oslo, Norway.*-Occasional. Visiting Pastor: Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen. Contact Mr. Eyvind Boyesen, Vetlandsveien 82, Oppsal, Oslo.
     Paris, France.*-Monthly meetings in the homes. Visiting Pastor: Rev. Frank S. Rose. Secretary: Mr. Elisee Hussenet, 50 Rue Caulaincourt, Paris 18, France.
     Philadelphia, Pa.-Advent Church, 5007 Penn St., Philadelphia 24. Pastor: Rev. Norbert H. Rogers. Thursday Class.
     Pittsburgh, Pa.-299 Le Roi Rd. Pastor: Rev. Louis B. King. Phone: PEnhurst 1-6081. Assistant to the Pastor: Rev. Kurt H. Asplundh, 7023 Meade St., Pittsburgh 8. Friday Class.
     Portland, Ore.**-Quarterly. Visiting Pastor: Rev. Roy Franson. Contact Mrs. W. D. Andrews, 7619 East Evergreen Hwy., Vancouver, Wash.
     Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.-Pastor: Rev. Joao de Mendonca Lima. R. Senador Vergueiro 154, Apt. 1100, Rio de Janeiro. Secretary: Mr. Jose Lopes de Figueiredo.
     Rockford, Ill.**-First Tuesday of each month. Monthly class. Visiting Minister: Rev. Geoffrey H. Howard. Contact Mr. Axel Eklund, 4608 Manhein Rd., Rockford, Ill. Phone: EX 8-0381.
     St. Louis, Mo.**-Minister visits November, April. Visiting Minister: Rev. Geoffrey H. Howard. Contact Mrs. J. C. Wilson, 1421 Silverton P1., Richmood Heights 17, Mo.
     St. Paul-Minneapolis, Minn.*-Weekly Service. Minister visits every third Sunday except in August. Visiting Minister: Rev. Geoffrey H. Howard. Secretary: Mr. Don Boker, 4001 E. 50 St. So., Minneapolis. Phone: PA 1-5236.
     San Diego, Calif.*-Service every Sunday. Visiting Pastor: Rev. Douglas Taylor. Contact Mr. Marvin Walker, 655 Savoy St., San Diego 6. Phone: AC 2-3368.
     San Francisco, Calif.*-Visiting Pastor: Rev. Harold C. Cranch. Secretary: Miss Dolly Ashley, 1077 Stanford Ave., Palo Alto, Calif.
     Seattle, Wash.**-Quarterly. Visiting Pastor: Rev. Roy Franson. Contact Mrs. Bertil Larason, 1005-104th Ave. SE., Bellevue, Wash.
     Spokane, Wash.**-Quarterly. Visiting Pastor: Rev. Roy Franson. Contact Mr. W. E. Hansen, South 904 Altamont Blvd., Spokane 32, Wash.
     State College, Pa.**-Occasional visiting minister; taped services otherwise. Sundays, 10:45 a.m. Call Mrs. Robert F. Klein, R.D. 4, Tyrone, Pa. Phone: Evergreen 8-5660.
     Stockholm, Sweden.-Services at Tunnelgatan 19 C. Pastor: Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen, Aladdinsvogen 27, Bromma, Sweden. Phone: 267985.
     Tabor Mission, British Guiana.-Pastor-in-Charge: Rev. Henry Algernon, 288 Middle St., Georgetown 4, Demerara, British Guiana.
     The Hague, Holland.*-Weekly services in homes. Visiting Pastor: Rev. Frank S. Rose. Inquire of Mr. Herman G. Engelties, Laan van Eik en Duinen 206, The Hague, Holland.
     Toronto, Ont.-Olivet Church, 279 Burnhamthorpe Rd. Pastor: Rev. Martin Pryke, 2 Lorraine Gardens, Islington, Ontario. Wednesday Class.
     Tucson, Arizona.*-3056 N. Country Club Road. Resident Pastor: Rev. Douglas McL. Taylor, 2536 N. Stewart Ave., Tucson, Arizona.
     Urbana, Ohio (South Ohio Circle)-Visiting Pastor: Rev. B. David Holm. Call Mr. Robert G. Barnitz, 609 South Main St., Urbana.
     Washington, D. C.-Washington Church of the New Jerusalem. 2800 Douglas St. N.E., Washington 18, D.     C. Pastor: Rev. Frederick L. Schnarr, 116 Enterprise Rd. Rt-556, Mitchellville, Md. Friday Class.
     Youngstown, Ohio (North Ohio Circle).*-Occasional. Inquire of Mrs. Edna R. McElroy, 3103 Hudson Drive, Youngstown 7.
     For services in England other than in Colchester and London communicate with the pastors of the Colchester and London societies
* Recognized Circle
** Group