FEAR FOR THE FOUNDATIONS       Rev. WILLIAM WHITEHEAD       1938


NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. LVIII JANUARY, 1938          No. 1
     "In the Lord put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily, shoot at the upright in heart. If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do The Lord is in His holy temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven." (Psalm 11:1-4.)

     David sits in the midst of an atmosphere of gloom and fear. The whisperings of treachery are round about his throne. Absalom works in secret against his own father. Even at the gates of the palace he sows sedition. He arouses murmurings and discontents against the king's justice. He privately steals the hearts of the leaders of the army and of the people. Before long these whispers are to rise into a storm of revolution that will shake the very pillars of the state and menace the life of the king.
     So the friends of David come in fear and trembling to counsel him to flee to the mountains. All is lost. The forces of rebellion are already too strong to resist. Assassins are waiting to bend the bow against the leading men of the kingdom. The darkness of impending judgment is on them. The advice of despair is in their mouths. What can the righteous do?
     Yet, in this dark and hopeless hour of panic, there comes the answer, born of the faith and courage of a king, "In the Lord put I my trust." And in an outburst of kingly wrath, he turns on the timid group of counselors: "How say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain! For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart. If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do! The Lord is in His holy temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven."
     These words of the Hebrew king and his counsellors are not only part of the great ecclesiastical drama of decline and vastation in the Israelitish Church; they are also prophetic of those states in which the world finds itself at this day. In both Church and State-those two great institutions which embody the uses of the soul and body of mankind-there is no problem that presses more insistently than this state of distrust of the power of Divine Truth,-a state represented by the so-called friends of David.
     In the Christian world there is a pervading sense of insecurity, of fear and agitation, of riotous and irrational optimism, alternating with states of deep despair, lest the foundations of faith and life should be proved to be not only defective and worthless, but perhaps even totally destroyed. In religion, philosophy, science, government, and in all the uses of man, there exists a perception that the fundamentals of human life are in danger, that in some way men have left the sure path that might have led to happiness and peace, and are treading on the shifting sands of error and illusion.
     In these straits men are asking themselves-as did the courtiers of the Hebrew king-what they are to do? And the same counsel that was given by the friends of David is also given to them,-flight.
     "Flee as a bird to the mountain!"
     In the good sense, "mountain" signifies the good of love and of charity. But in the opposite sense, as here, it signifies the love of self and the love of the world, and the evils thence derived. Herein is involved the temptation to yield spiritual good to the good of the natural man,-to flee from the conflict of reformation and regeneration which genuine acceptance of the Divine Truth brings.
     The false advice tendered is: Let your reason be satisfied with love alone. Do not attempt to wrestle with false doctrines and anti-spiritual theories. Do not enter into conflict or warfare for the sake of faith. Do not provoke controversy for the sake of mere understanding. It is impossible for the understanding of the man of the church to resist those whose subtle reasonings and ideas come with such scientific accuracy and trained precision.

3


The arrow comes in the darkness, comes clothed in appearances, appearances taken from the natural world, appearances arising from fallacies born in the nimble and ingenious minds of learned men, appearances taken from the letter of the Word itself. It is useless to resist under these conditions, they plead. It is not faith alone, but good alone, they say, that makes the church, that will save man and all his works. The only thing to do is to take refuge in a good life, and let spiritual doctrines go.
     Hence it has come about that men counsel flight from the greatest problem of human life, namely, the relation of God's revelation to man's reason. They seek refuge in an ignoble surrender to the enemies and deniers of a spiritual world, of a Divine code of life and faith, of a personal immortality, and of the Redeemer and Savior of mankind. But to these spiritual pacifists of olden time and present time there is given the steadfast answer of the Hebrew king, who remains on his throne, saying, "In the Lord put I my trust."
     In another aspect, the temptation is towards frank paganism. The recommendation of the natural man is, to flee swiftly to the consolations of self and the world. Take refuge from the anxiety and stress of spiritual conflict by flying to the pagan's delight in the world of the senses. Put aside the problems of spiritual truth and good. Find happiness in the nature of the natural world,-in the nature that is your own, in the society of those whose nature is like unto yours. Let the delights of the world and self be the arbiter of your life. Let the sense of doctrinal responsibility and duty go. Leave the problems of theology to those who are able and willing to find an answer. Or submerge thought itself in an orgy of pleasure.
     "Flee to the mountains of self-love and pride," whisper the voices of these counsellors. "Why continue steadfast to the platitudes of an old order,-to the well-worn antiquated steps that lead painfully to an undermined throne? Let religion abdicate its untenable position, and admit that the devices and subtleties of man's reason have prevailed. Let religion abandon its doctrinal pretensions as a leader of thought, and administer to the natural loves of men in comfortable moral service."
     The answer of the Psalmist, who spoke better than he knew, and better than he was, is to be the answer of the man of the church: "In the Lord put I my trust."

4



     What is the significance of this Psalm but that the Lord Himself will fight for the good against the evil, and. that if a man love Him, and love the neighbor, the Divine justice and judgment will operate to the confusion of the wicked, with all the certainty and inevitableness of a law of the physical universe.
     Yet, unless the mind can penetrate more deeply into the mysteries of the letter, there is here but an appearance of blind confidence,-an appearance of the unreasoning faith of a king who is loyal to his God. Confidence, in itself, however sincere, is no proof of the validity of faith. Many rulers in society and the church have exhibited the utmost confidence in those ruling ideas and affections which have governed them, and by which their followers have consented to be governed. But time has revealed the falsity or evil of their state; even as many of the creeds made by men and councils of men-the "wisest" of their time-have furnished no safe foundations for the church or for the faith of man. Indeed, it is this fact of the inadequacy of simple obedience at this day that is aiding powerfully in the overthrow of the authority of modern religion over men's lives. The upright in heart cannot stand in their affection without Divine Truth.
     There must be more than the loyal affection for what is considered to be the highest good, if there is to be genuine and abiding religion. There must be the love of that which is seen specifically to be the truth. And if that truth is to be the foundation of man's eternal life, then it must be eternal and Divine truth, able to stand forever against all the assaults that the minds of men can devise, and against all the treacheries that evil spirits can contrive. Obedience without understanding is not the quality of genuine faith for the man of the New Church.
     It is true that in the spiritual world a new natural heaven could be formed from those (even of the Israelitish Church) who had been In a state of mere simple obedience,-such obedience as is represented in the text. It is true that, in the early Christian Church, many of the simple partook of such a state, just as children and the simple may still partake of it in the early states of the New Church. But this is not a state in which a man may stay at this day and still progress in spiritual stature, or in which he may even stand still with safety.

5



     Indeed, those foundations of a man's life which are laid in childhood,-those remains which are the footstool of the Lord and His angels,-would seem at this day to be in peculiar danger of destruction. And this despite the ceaseless care and vigilance of Him who slumbers not nor sleeps, that man may rise to eternal life. That this is true, may be seen in the light of natural reason alone, on the plane of exterior conscience. For while it is true that the sciences and knowledges of corporeal and sensual truth have been providentially multiplied for the use of the gentile state as never before, yet it is also true that the universal truths of the letter of the Word,-the truth of the Divinity of God's written revelation to men, the truth of the Divine Human of the Lord, the truth that there is a life after death, involving a heaven and a hell,-truths that are fundamental to the reception of all spiritual life;-these truths are being perverted and poisoned by the subtle insinuation of self-loves and world-loves, to such a degree that the innocent and sincere affections of the simple for them are constantly in process of destruction.
     This may be illustrated especially by the state of the present Gentile world. As never before in man's history, what remains of genuine charity with the Gentile races is being turned to hatred and scorn. East and West were never so far apart, though in the sharing of natural truths and goods they were never So near. The integrity and simplicity of the Gentile races have suffered from their increasing contacts with the evils and falses of a Christian civilization whose spiritual foundations have given way,-a civilization Christian in name only, whose example and precept have made wholesale theft and murder the instruments of policy of modern nationalism.
     The seeds of good and truth with the simple Christian are being torn from the ground wherein they might have grown, and scattered on stony ground to please the whim of modern self-intelligence. In general, on the plane of the exterior conscience,-the conscience of moral and civil good and truth,-on this plane that underlies all the works of man, and without which neither the home, the school, nor the Church can endure,-the states of the simple and the children are continually assailed.
     What, then, is the ultimate answer to the plea, "What shall the righteous do?"-in the face of the helpless condition of the Gentile state? The answer may be found in that which is the foundation of civilization,-the Divine Truth of the Decalogue.

6


The essential laws of all orderly civil and moral life are: to respect and render loyalty to the uses of parents, masters and rulers;-not to kill the neighbor;-not to commit adultery;-not to steal the neighbor's possessions;-not to bear false witness against the neighbor;-not to be covetous of anything that is the neighbor's. These seven rules are the essence of all law and order and freedom in this natural world. They are the primary laws of natural justice, of political life and liberty, and of the economics of all forms of use. Without the acknowledgment of these rules, and obedience to them, there can be no orderly form of human civilization, whether the form of the government be that of an empire, a kingdom, a republic, a city, or a home.
     For these laws apply with even greater force to nations than to men;-that nations shall not overthrow the human society of world wide law and order,-that they shall not wantonly kill the people of a neighbor kingdom;-that they shall not destroy the Divinely appointed institution of the family;-that they shall not invade the neighbor's possessions;-nor bear false witness against another people;-nor covet what rightly belongs to them. Who cannot see that the breaking of these seven laws of man's natural life is the cause of every upheaval and revolution in the foundations of society?
     If these seven laws be broken, it matters not how great the quantity of natural knowledges and culture,-the sciences, the arts, the philosophies;-these are soon swept along into mere wreckage by the tides of men's evil passions. For civilization cannot be saved alone by the building of bigger and more efficient social institutions. The means of man's salvation are spiritual, not sociological. The enemies of the social order are the evils and falsities that assail the hearts of the upright. "For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready the arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart."
     The seven commandments of civil and moral order are the supreme conscience of mankind. And those with whom there is something of a natural-rational mind as yet unperverted, who are still able to see what is naturally just and fair in their relations with other men, who can receive these commandments and follow them with affection for the sake of justice, compelling themselves to obey them;-such men are the conscience of human society, and the natural guardians of the state, as of Divine right.

7


For genuine conscience is of God even as the life of a seed is from God. It is organized conscience and not organized knowledge, that is the fulcrum of a growing civilization. The Golden Age died through knowledge. The Silver Age was saved through conscience. And any system of social education which seeks to advance mankind through faith alone in knowledge destroys truly human society at its very roots.
     These seven laws that are proper to the truly human conscience-the conscience that distinguishes man from all the rest of natural creation,-also make the body of the church on earth. Without them there could be no church. By means of them man can conjoin himself with the Lord. And if, at the same time, he will obey the three Divine laws of spiritual life set forth in the first three Commandments,-acknowledging and obeying the Lord as the Head of His Church and the Fountain of all its government,-the Lord will then conjoin Himself with man. Thus man's civilization-his culture, both individual and collective-may become both spiritual and natural, and his citizenship as of heaven. This process is thus described in the Heavenly Doctrine:

     "Man has the affection of knowing from his earliest childhood, and by it he learns many things which will be of use to him, and many things which will be of no use. When he grows up, by application to some business, he imbibes and learns the details that relate to his business; this then becomes his use, with which he is affected. Thus the affection of use makes the beginning, and this produces an affection for the means, by which he masters his business, which is his use. . . . Since, however, this use, together with the means of attaining it, is for the sake of life in this world, the affection of it is natural.
     "But because every man not only regards the uses conducive to life in this world, but also ought to regard the uses conducive to a life in heaven (for he is to enter into that life after his life in the world, and to live therein to eternity), therefore everyone from his childhood procures for himself cognitions of truth and good from the Word, or from the doctrine of the church, or from preaching, which will be conducive to that life; and he stores them up in his natural memory, acquiring them in greater or less abundance according to his connate affection of knowing, and according as this is increased by various exciting causes.
     "But all these cognitions, whatever may be their number and quality, are only a store, out of which the faith of charity may be formed: and this faith is not formed, except in proportion as he shuns evils as sins. If he shuns evils as sins, then these cognitions become cognitions of a faith in which there is spiritual life; but if he does not shun evils as sins, these cognitions are merely cognitions, and do not become the cognitions of a faith which has any spiritual life in it.

8



     "This store is absolutely necessary, since faith cannot be formed without it. For cognitions of truth and good enter into faith, and make it. If they are wanting, faith does not come into existence; for a faith entirely empty and void has no existence. If they are few, a scanty and meager faith is formed. If they are many, the faith is made rich and full in proportion to their abundance.
     "But it must be borne in mind that the cognitions which make faith are the cognitions of genuine truth and good, and by no means the cognitions of falsity. For faith is truth; and falsity, because it is opposite to truth, destroys faith." (Doctrine of Faith 25-29).
     And we read in the True Christian Religion: "Because charity and faith are distinctly two, yet make one in a man, that he may be a man of the church, that is, that the church may be in him, therefore it was a matter of controversy and dispute among the ancients as to which of the two must be first, and thus which by right is to be called the firstborn. Some of them said truth, consequently faith, and some said good, consequently charity. . . . But they overwhelmed their understanding with so many arguments in favor of faith that they did not see that faith is not faith unless joined with charity, and that charity is not charity unless joined with faith, and thus that they make one; and if not, neither of them is anything in the church. . . . Faith, by which is also meant truth, is first in time; but charity, by which is also meant good, is first in end. . . . Let this be illustrated with the building of a temple. The first thing in time is to lay the foundation, to raise the walls, to put on the roof, and afterwards to put in the altar and erect the pulpit; but the first thing in end is the worship of God therein, for the sake of which those things are done." (T. C. R. 336.)

     In these two passages may be found the essential answer to the plea of those represented by the friends of David: "What shall the righteous do?" The eternal foundations of life and faith lie not in the ingenious doctrines of men, nor yet in the theories of men devised in these days as a substitute for doctrine, nor even in the interpretations of Heavenly Doctrine made by men or councils of men in the New Church. Such things may prove to be in error; and, in so far as they are false, they will crumble, without cause for distress or anxiety save to those whose faith is caught in their ruins. But the foundations of a genuine faith and a genuine life rest, as the text indicates, with the Lord, in His holy temple. For by the "holy temple" is signified the Divine Truth in the church. And the internal sense of this Psalm is, that with the man who enters into the Divine Truth by conjunction with a life of genuine charity, the Lord will fight against his evil in favor of the good; and that, in His Justice, the evil will perish.

9



     Herein lies the power of the Church in a world of spiritual enemies,-a power so great that "they who are in the hands and arms and shoulders of the Gorand Man are they who are in power by means of the truth of faith from good; for they who are in the truth of faith from good are in the Lord's power, since they attribute all power to Him, and hone to themselves; and in the degree that they attribute none to themselves, not only with the mouth, but also with the heart, to that degree they are in power." (A. C. 4932.)
     From this it may be seen that to those men and societies of men who so acknowledge the Divine Human in His Word, and obey His commandments, the Lord promises all power, and all defense and security, against their enemies. Naught shall make them dismayed. Naught shall destroy the foundations of their spiritual life. As it is written in the eternally beautiful words given through the mouth of the Psalmist:
     "The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust . . . The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. The sorrows of hell compassed me about the snares of death prevented me. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: He heard my voice out of His temple, and my cry came before Him, even into His ears.
     "Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because He was wroth. He made darkness His secret place; His pavilion round about Him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. Yea, He sent out His arrows, and scattered them; and He shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.
     "He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me. Great deliverance giveth He to His king; and sheweth mercy to His anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore." (Psalm 18.) Amen.

     LESSONS: Psalm 2. Luke 6:39-49. T. C. R. 336.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pp. 509, 537.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 48, 187.

10


SPIRIT OF PROPHECY 1938

SPIRIT OF PROPHECY       Rev. F. E. GYLLENHAAL       1938

     "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." (Revelation 19:10)

     John, the beloved disciple, was in the Isle of Patmos "for the Word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ." There he saw the visions described in the Apocalypse. Our text is part of what the angel said to John when he saw and heard a great congregation of angels praising God for His righteous judgments. The scene moved John so deeply that he began to worship his angel guide and instructor. But this the angel forbade, saying, "I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God!" The angel then added, "For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."
     What do these words mean? The Lord had finally fulfilled His ancient prophecies and promises. He had been born on earth, had finished the work He had come to do, had undergone death and resurrection, and finally had ascended to the Father above the heavens. The angel with John knew all this, and was one of the company acknowledging the Lord's Divine in His Human,-that is, acknowledging Jesus Christ as the one God of heaven and earth.

     "The testimony of Jesus" means to testify and acknowledge the Lord's Divine in His Human, or to acknowledge the Lord as God of heaven and earth. This acknowledgment was made in heaven at that time because the basis for it had been laid on earth by the Lord's life and teaching here. There was not yet this acknowledgment on earth, although the foundations for it had been laid by the Lord Himself. It was necessary that the internal sense of the Word should be revealed, before there could be on earth the acknowledgment of the Lord's Divine in His Human. The internal sense of the Word is "the spirit of prophecy." And "prophecy" is the doctrine or teaching concerning the Lord's Divine in His Human, the doctrine that the Lord Jesus Christ is God of heaven and earth.

11



     The Lord Himself, when He was in the world, had given something of this internal sense in His teaching concerning Himself as fulfilling the Scripture; but mankind was not prepared to receive the complete internal sense of the Scriptures. Yet it was possible for men to acknowledge the Lord as God of heaven and earth. And this acknowledgment has ever been the life and soul of all doctrine from the Word, and has always qualified the teaching from the Word by the Church. Therefore, the declaration that "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" means that a confession of the Lord and an acknowledgment of His Divine in His Human is the life of all truth, both in the Word and in doctrine from the Word. (A. E. 392:9.)
     This may be said of all the prophecies of the Lord's Advent. It was foretold from most ancient times that God Himself would be born on earth. Innumerable prophecies of His coming were given to men, and many of these predictions have been preserved in the Old Testament. Why were they given? The Writings supply several answers to this question (see Coronis 59), but we would stress this one, namely, because there were always some men who realized that human efforts are inadequate successfully to oppose the powers of evil. Only God could help. He must provide a Savior. He did provide, and always has provided, for man's salvation by various kinds of revelations of the truth. But the nature of man was such after the Fall that revelations of the truth were inadequate to preserve, let alone increase, the hope of salvation and a successful resistance to evil.
     The true psychology of the men of pre-advent days is known to us only from what is now revealed in the Writings, which explain why the separation of the will and the understanding after the Fall was necessary to human free-will, and thus to man's salvation; and that then the mind required a thorough re-education through the definite knowledge of God, of heaven, and of spiritual laws. Such definite knowledge could be revealed only after an extensive plane of natural knowledge had been acquired by men by their own efforts; for only in this way could their free-will be preserved. The religious and moral portions of natural knowledge were provided by Divine revelations of truth heavily veiled in correspondences, representatives, and significatives, which were of such a kind as to be freely accepted for a time by men as doctrine for their guidance in life.

12


In these revelations the central teaching always related to God; but there was ever the tendency to regard God idolatrously, because men thought merely naturally. The idea that God is a living Man was preserved by the predictions of His coming into the world as a Man among men. And every prophecy of His coming contained the idea of Him as Savior.
     It is difficult for us to comprehend the attitude of the men of pre-advent times toward the promised Savior, and the effect of the prophecies of a Savior on the minds and lives of people then. But such a knowledge and comprehension are of little actual importance to us. What is important to us is the effect of those prophecies on us now, and our attitude toward the Savior who has come. The present value of the prophecies lies in their external and internal testimony concerning the Lord Jesus Christ as the one, living, visible God of heaven and earth. The natural sense of ancient prophecy bears witness to the truth of the natural sense of the Gospels. Without this testimony we would have no foundation for believing the Gospels, for believing that Jesus Christ is God, or even that there is a God. And without the internal sense of the prophecies we can have no spiritual understanding of the Divine attributes of God, of those attributes as manifested in the Lord Jesus Christ, of His states of humiliation and glorification, of Jesus Christ as God of heaven and earth.
     Do we realize that by knowledges of one degree we acquire knowledges of a higher degree? All our learning comes by instrumentalities. Only by knowledges can we acquire more knowledges. What we learn does not come out of what we have learned, in the sense that its origin is there; but what we have learned is instrumental in the acquisition of new learning. This has ever been true. To gain "the spirit of prophecy" we must first learn the prophecy. Even then we may not perceive "the spirit of prophecy," because knowledge alone does not open the higher degrees of the mind, or by itself make known a higher and more interior knowledge. A Divinely prescribed discipline of life, together with the acquisition of Divinely prescribed knowledges,-both are necessary to the opening of the spiritual mind.

13



     We must also realize the need of a Savior. We must be conscious of the inadequacy of human effort against the powers of evil within us, and realize that only a Divine Human Savior can help us, can overcome the powers of evil in us. Only by experiencing many times in life the complete cycle of the human race, from man's Fall to his redemption by the Savior, Jesus Christ, can we be redeemed and saved individually. The entire Word of God alone is adequate to save us. This is why we must know the prophecies of the Lord's birth; why, year after year, throughout our earth-life, we are to read, hear, and meditate upon those prophecies and their fulfillment. In so doing we live not in the past, but in the eternal present. In our knowing and understanding the ancient prophecies we are not turning backward. On the contrary, we cannot rise up, except from them as the foundations of our own life and of our new knowledge. We cannot know the living Divine Truth, except by them as instrumentals teaching essentials of life. We cannot become truly man without them.
     As the prophetic utterances of the Word, together with their internal meaning, are written on our minds, if at the same time a love for their truth becomes deeper and stronger in our hearts, we receive "the testimony of Jesus" which is "the spirit of prophecy." Then the prophecies of the Lord's advent, and the story of their fulfillment will be ever new to us, because by them new truths and new life will come to us. The hope of salvation is thereby sustained and increased.
     We know the power of hope as to natural things; for who has not experienced it many times? And the history of mankind, even from the Fall, testifies to the power of hope in a Divine Savior. In the perpetual preservation of that hope with the human race we can perceive the omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence of God. Is any one of us without it? The fact that the Savior has come can make sure with us the hope of salvation, if, in spirit and in life, we but seek the company of the angels and men to whom "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Amen.

     LESSONS: Isaiah 9. Revelation 19. Coronis 59 or A. E. 392:4
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 549, 514, 591.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 96, 193.

14


ACADEMY'S MISSION 1938

ACADEMY'S MISSION       Rev. WILLARD D. PENDLETON       1938

     (At the Charter Day Service, October 22, 1937.)

     On the third day of November, 1877, the Academy of the New Church received its Charter from the sovereign State of Pennsylvania. Since that time it has exercised the rights and privileges which this document conferred. It has endeavored to establish the New Church on earth; it has propagated the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem; it has prepared young men for the ministry; it has promoted education in many of its various forms: it has published books and pamphlets; and it has established a library. In brief, it has entered into every field of use mentioned in its Charter. It is, therefore, with a certain sense of accomplishment that we celebrate the Sixtieth Anniversary of our institution. Yet, even on an occasion such as this, our sense of accomplishment is qualified by the realization of our own inadequacy. For despite the progress which the Academy has made, we are keenly aware of the fact that this is only a small beginning. Before us lies the task to which we are dedicated,-the essential purpose of the Academy,-namely, the establishment of the New Church on earth.
     There is not one of us who has not, at some time or other, known that sense of frustration which accompanies our efforts in the interests of the Church. Indeed, there are moments when we give way to a feeling of futility. For the world about us, although politely called a "Christian" world, is pagan at heart. Within a relatively short period of time, such changes have been wrought among men that religion has become a matter of indifference. Where once men waged war with one another in the name of God, and gladly suffered death for a martyr's crown, we now find a state of apathy. And let us not entertain any illusions in this regard. Despite the arguments of the occasional zealot, regardless of modern prophets who herald the return of religion, the fact remains that the so-called Christian world is unconcerned.

15


It is true that, from time to time, men are aroused by some emotional appeal which is based on Scripture; but a sentimental approach to life is one thing, and a faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is another. Truly, we delude ourselves, if we think that either the masses or the learned are eagerly awaiting a spiritual revival.
     This being the case, it is no small wonder that at times we are discouraged. A frank acknowledgment of existing conditions is not conducive to enthusiasm. In fact, there are times when our disappointment so warps our judgment that we are prone to believe that our only chance for survival is to be found in an ascetic mode of life. In so thinking, we are apt to over-estimate the situation, and to forget that the blatant immorality of a pagan civilization is preferable to the spirit of hypocrisy which characterizes the waning years of a decadent church. Even the Roman Empire, in its most degenerate stages, cannot be compared with the state which prevailed in Israel at the time of the Advent. The one was affected by moral disintegration, the other by spiritual deceit. But, be this as it may, we cannot be comforted by the signs of the times; nor can we look to the immediate future with expectancy. For with each passing year it becomes ever more evident that, in so far as the near future is concerned, our growth will be negligible and our influence indiscernible.
     Nevertheless, we need not be unduly distressed, for within the stream of Divine Providence flow hidden currents which determine the course of human destiny. So in this our day, when the world seems to be drifting into a state of godlessness, there are unseen forces which lend spiritual significance to the trend of the times. In the face of countless appearances to the contrary, an unsuspecting world is being prepared for the ultimate fulfillment of the Divine will, which is the establishment of the kingdom of God in the hearts and minds of men. In the wars of the nations, in the spirit of unrest, even in the open denial of God, lie the seeds of a new era,-an era which may not be realized for generations to come, but one that is inevitable. For in those days "shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed,"-a kingdom which "shall stand forever." (Daniel 2:44.)
     We do not question, therefore, the ultimate destiny of the Church. Its future is in Providence.

16


As individuals, or as a group, we may fail in our trust, but the work of the Church will go forward. We do sadly err if we think that the future of the Lord's New Church depends upon us; for no man, or group of men, is essential to the fulfillment of the Divine will. On the other hand, let us not forget that it is our privilege to enter into this use, and become, if we will, the humble instruments of the Divine Providence. Indeed, this is the purpose for which we have been called. If we fail in this, we fail in all things. Although we, as individuals, are not essential to the Church, the Church is essential to us. Apart from it our lives would be devoid of meaning; for life is use, and the fundamental use of every New Churchman is the establishment of the Holy City, the New Jerusalem. For this cause we were born, and for this reason we gather here today.
     With this thought in mind, the occasion in hand assumes added significance. For the Academy Charter is not only a legal document which defines the relation of this institution to the state, but it is a declaration of purpose as well. As such, it is an open acknowledgment of the spiritual responsibilities which our use imposes upon us; or, what is the same, a covenant between the Academy and the Lord. Thus it is that we have not come here to pay homage to an institution, but to rededicate our lives to the spiritual mission which gave rise to the institution. So, like Israel of old, we join in solemn procession and come to the temple of God-here to renew our faith in the covenant upon which the Academy rests. In so doing, we seek to preserve the spirit which has dominated the Academy from the beginning,-that spirit which is absolutely essential to the growth and development of the Lord's New Church.
     In the light of this covenant, therefore, we are to be judged. No other standard is applicable. In establishing these schools, its founders did not propose to set up an institution which would rival the universities of the world. As is evident from the Charter, they had but one thought in mind, namely, the establishment of the New Church on earth. All other purposes noted in the Charter were but means to this end. Hence we are not to be compared with other educational institutions; in so far as our aims and purposes are concerned, we have nothing in common with them. Yet, from time to time, we seem to forget this fact, in that much of the criticism which is leveled at the Academy arises from this source.

17


While, on the one hand, we profess our faith in distinctive New Church education, on the other we are apt to judge its virtues according to the educational standards of the day.
     Like all men, we are to some extent a product of our age. Despite the fact that we deplore the godlessness of a pagan world, we are affected thereby. Not that we pander to the materialistic philosophies of the times, but that we are apt to think in terms of intellectual accomplishment, rather than in terms of spiritual progression. Yet, if the Academy is to endure, we must not lose sight of the fact that this is a distinctive institution-distinctive in the sense that it is dedicated to a Divine use, and not to the intellectual or cultural welfare of its students. Indeed, if we do forget the purpose for which this school was established, the Academy may as well close its doors, for we are not equipped to compete with the universities of the world on their own plane of endeavor.

     II.

     Now it is commonly agreed among educators that the purpose of education is to prepare the student for life. In this the Academy concurs. But our conception of life is not confined to purely natural objectives. As far as we are concerned, life is not merely a struggle for existence in the world of men, but a spiritual mission, which the Writings refer to as "use." Above and beyond all other things, therefore, the Academy seeks to inspire its students with this vision of life. All else is subordinate. By this we do not mean to imply that the Academy fails to recognize the need for practical education,-the instruction which equips man to meet the demands which life in the natural world imposes upon him. On the contrary, it is fully conscious of the fact that spiritual uses are grounded in those human activities, by means of which man copes with his natural environment.
     The doctrine of use, as set forth in the Writings, is not an ascetic doctrine. The fact that it stresses a spiritual approach to life does not deprive it of practical significance. In truth this doctrine should serve as a vital impetus to accomplishment on all planes of endeavor. For the duties of our office, the obligations of organized society, and the various responsibilities which from time to time arise, are not simply a means to worldly success, but they are spiritual opportunities as well.

18


For every task, whether small or great, whether humble or noble, arises from some human relationship, and so affords an opportunity to serve the neighbor. From this it is evident that that which we call "use" is not something that is remote from our daily lives. It is not a thing of rites and rituals. We cannot serve the Lord unless we serve our neighbor; nor can we serve the neighbor except by means of those natural uses which we call vocations, labors, and services.
     The Academy is not an impractical institution. As a New Church school, dedicated to a Divine use, it must of necessity accept the responsibility of preparing its students for life in the world of men. Yet, in so doing, it is not primarily concerned with their worldly success. As an end in itself, worldly success is nothing more than cruel illusion,-the illusion that human happiness depends upon the gratification of selfish desires. Thus the Academy does not subscribe to the materialistic philosophy of the day. Unlike other institutions, it does not cater to the loves of self and the world. For worldly success has no claim to meaning except in so far as it is concomitant with a faithful performance of use.
     Ideally speaking, every man should be rewarded in accordance with the service which he renders to society at large. In other words, worldly success should be concomitant with use. But this is not an ideal world; nor will it even begin to approach the ideal as long as men labor under the illusion that happiness depends upon the gratification of their worldly hopes and ambitions. For the illusion in hand gives rise to a ruthless philosophy of life,-a philosophy which has no regard for the neighbor, and no respect for God. Truly it is no small wonder that the world of today, even as the world of the past, is torn by strife and dissension, that kingdom has risen up against kingdom, and that human relationships are discolored by mutual distrust. Nor is there any hope for the future, except in so far as men can be led to look upon life as a spiritual mission; that is to say, as a Divine use.
     Herein lies the significance of the Academy. As is evident from the Charter, this institution is not merely a sectarian school which provides for the education of the children of New Church parents, but it is a spiritual movement which is based upon an unqualified faith in the Writings of the Lord's New Church.

19


Hence the Charter provides not only for the right to promote education in many of its various forms, but also the right to enter into every field of endeavor which is essential to the growth and development of the Church. Indeed, if we would grasp the vision of that which we call "the Academy," we cannot think in terms of an institution or the personalities involved. In so far as it is humanly possible, we must think in terms of the use which it serves.
     As New Churchmen, we acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ as the one and only God of heaven and earth. As Academicians we accept the Writings as His Word. In other words, the Academy is not an institution of learning. In reality, it is a type of New Churchmanship,-that type which is characterized by a frank acknowledgment of the spiritual responsibilities which a faith in the Lord involves. That this is so, is evident from the fact that the Academy existed in the hearts and minds of men long before it was recognized as a legal corporation by the State of Pennsylvania. Moreover, an Academician is not necessarily a graduate of these schools, but one who accepts the Writings as the sole Authority within the Church. Let us not think, therefore, of the Academy as an educational institution, but as a distinctive approach to the Divine use which our faith in the Lord bestows upon us.
     Now the faith of the Academy is not easily sustained. The natural man within us does not readily yield to the exacting dictates of God-given truth. Yet there is no other way. The Lord's New Church cannot be founded upon a spirit of compromise. "Ye cannot serve God and mammon." But the illusion of the ages is not easily dissipated. There is ever the appearance that our personal hopes and ambitions can be nicely adjusted to our faith. But if we would serve the use for which we were created; if in our hearts we desire to fulfill our spiritual destiny; then, as individuals, and as a group, we must "hold fast to that which we have, lest others take our crown." For in the day that we, as an organization, lose the vision which has inspired the Academy movement from its inception, the Church will be taken from us, and will be given to others who are more worthy of the sacred trust.
     It is no small task that we have undertaken. The Lord's New Church is not easily maintained in a pagan world.

20


But it is not the world from without that we have cause to fear; it is the world from within. As already noted, every man is to some extent a product of his age; and we are by no means free from the influence of paganism. The way of the world is always the path of least resistance, and this is the way in which we will go, unless at all times we are supremely conscious of the fact that the use to which we have been called requires a distinctive approach to life. Not that we must be different from other men, in so far as externals are concerned, but that we must look upon every obligation which life involves as a spiritual responsibility, and conduct ourselves accordingly. For only in this way can the kingdom of God be established on earth.
     So we have come to this temple, not because of any accident of birth, or any whim of chance, but because the Lord in His Providence has so ordained. Out of the almost numberless millions which inhabit the universe, we as a group, and as individuals, have been chosen to perform the noblest use ever granted to men since the foundation of the world. Even the disciples who followed the Lord throughout His public ministry were not more highly favored. The use which was theirs, although an exalted calling, is not to be compared to the use in hand. The use of the disciples was only a means to the end, whereas ours is the end itself. For in the Revelation given to the New Church, the Divine promise from the beginning is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is given unto men. It but remains for this kingdom to extend its borders. And then, "in the days of those kings," that is to say, in the day when the Divine Truths as revealed in the Writings are acknowledged as the sovereign power of the universe will men know the blessings of peace and security.

     LESSONS: Daniel 11:31-49. A. E. 732.

21


250TH ANNIVERSARY 1938

250TH ANNIVERSARY       Editor       1938


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office a Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly By
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.
Editor               Rev. W. B. Caldwell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager          Mr. H. Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

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

     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$3.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single Copy, 30 cents.
     This year the New Church throughout the world is to commemorate in a signal manner the 250th anniversary of the birth of Emanuel Swedenborg,-January 29, 1688.
     Banquets are to be held at various centers of the General Convention, notably one at Delmonico's Restaurant, New York City, on January 26, which possibly will be broadcast. In addition, there will be a distribution of literature and other forms of publicity.
     In England, a Mass Meeting is to be held at Manchester on January 22, and a Public Meeting at Queen's Hall, London, on January 29. The Swedenborg Society has published a commemorative edition of the New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine,-a new English version, to be issued simultaneously in nineteen other languages. A new Story of the Life of Emanuel Swedenborg, for the young, has been prepared by the Rev. E. A. Sutton, M.A. It is expected, also, that the British Museum will have a display of Swedenborg manuscripts and books.
     Celebrations of the day in the societies and schools of the General Church will mark the event in a special manner.

22


RESERVE 1938

RESERVE       Editor       1938

     Spontaneity and reserve, it has been said, are the two elements in good acting. And who has not felt the reserve power of a gesture or an unspoken word on the stage? Life in general is the same,-a mixture of holding back and letting go. By experience we learn when to speak and when to keep quiet. But we may begin to learn this early in life. Said the prophet: "It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth; he sitteth alone and keepeth silence." (Lamentations 3:27, 28.) And the playwright: "Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice. Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment." By discipline the child and youth is prepared for self-discipline; by restraint imposed he is made ready for self-restraint, and for the control of anger and evil impulse in himself. And then he will know the power of reserve, and the respect men pay to strength of character.
     Reflection upon this subject brings to view the fact that the storing up of a reserve for future use is a universal phenomenon of finite creation. In nature we see it in the preservation of vegetable seeds from season to season, and in the animal instinct to lay up food for the winter. The physical body in health gathers strength to resist the attacks of disease. In all human uses there is, or should be, the accumulation of a surplus during periods of abundance for use in times of scarcity. The plenty and famine in Egypt are the outstanding Scripture example. It is according to a law of the Divine Providence that preparation is made for all future events, and that in regenerating man every state prepares for those that are to come, and this by a storing up of goods and truths for future use.

     The law operates in both worlds. On the spiritual plane, the doctrine of remains is involved. It is a teaching of our Doctrine that no man could survive in the battle of spiritual life without power of resistance to evil given him by the Lord, and without the man's cooperative effort, as of himself, in resistance to evil and the endeavor to good. And this Divine aid is furnished, first of all, in the storing of remains during the years of minority,-remains in twofold form: 1) the good affections of innocence, love to the Lord, and love towards companions, and 2) the knowledges of the Word learned with delight.

23


In the tender and plastic states of infancy and childhood such good remains are implanted interiorly by the Lord, and thus stored up for use in adult age. Meanwhile they serve to offset the affections of hereditary and acquired evils, which exist outwardly in the same mind,-the "tares" sown by the enemy, growing together with the wheat sown by the Lord, even until the harvest,-the judgment,-when the adult man is to choose which he will gather to himself, and which he will reject.
     It is then that the Lord, through the good remains, furnishes man with power over evil, with power to accept and employ the truth of faith as a weapon of combat, if he is willing to do so. And if the man is willing to exercise that power in resistance to evil in himself when it is excited by evil spirits, he then comes to the ultimate test of spiritual temptation, in which he will either conquer or succumb. If it were not for the early gift of spiritual power from the Lord-furnished every man born as the means of his salvation-no one could resist and conquer his own evil, or receive good from the Lord in its place. And if the man is not willing to enter the path of regeneration, by employing that God-given power, he yields at the first trial, rejects the stored-up remains, and goes the way of his natural loves.

     Now we are further taught that, among the rewards of victory in temptation, there is the storing up of a new kind of remains,-the goods and truths from the Lord that are acquired by man in the regenerate life,-"remains for eternal life," as they are called. Temptations are not continual with man, as they were with the Lord; and during intervals of spiritual rest there is the storing of truths in the memory,-truths not yet conjoined to good, not yet vivified by good from the Lord. Evil spirits will not leave man in peaceful possession of those truths, but will enter through his evils to assault them, bringing the man to a test of strength, as to whether or no he will defend the truth from a love of it, and thus make it his own from the Lord. And with every victory over evil in such a test there is the storing up of new strength for future combat, new strength of will and thought, new "remains for eternal life,"-the life of heaven, to which man is introduced in the degree that he has come into the marriage of good and truth during his life in the world.

24


Hence the Gospel injunction, "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven! Provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not!"
     But let us note well that a store of truths alone is not this "treasure in heaven." And they who are not in the marriage of good and truth, but are in truths only, will find that they have "no oil in their lamps when they come to the wedding." They may seek to buy it from others, but it will be in vain.

     In the education of the young in the church, the primary aim is to cooperate with the Lord in His storing of remains, seeing that the after life is signally affected by the quality and abundance of remains, and is determined by the use made of them in adult age. He that hath five talents may gain other five. The aim is to store in their minds the knowledges of revealed truth, together with good affections, that they may have a reserve of power for the time of temptation, and thus may be prepared for the path of regeneration, if they are willing to enter it. In this process, too, there is to be a carrying forward of good traditions of conduct and belief from generation to generation, for the gradual upbuilding of the church upon earth.
KEEPING THE RECORD STRAIGHT 1938

KEEPING THE RECORD STRAIGHT       Editor       1938

     In an article on "Unity in the New Church," published in THE NEW AGE (Australia) for October, 1937, Dr. Clarence Hotson advocates a "federal unity of all bodies of the New Church in one inclusive organization." We wish here to comment briefly upon several statements made by Dr. Hotson in his opening paragraphs, which read as follows:

     "It is a matter of serious concern to the entire New Church movement that a new sect of the organized New Church has been recently formed as the result of a schism in the Academy or General Church of the New Jerusalem. The new body, an outgrowth of the 'Hague movement,' led by Rev. Ernst Pfeiffer and Rev. Theodore Pitcairn, with four other former Academy ministers, with local churches in Holland and America, and sympathizers in Great Britain and South Africa, consists of a couple of hundred members. It is more ultra-conservative even than the Academy, believing that the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg are the special Word of the Lord for the New Church, and thus that everything said about the Word in general, in the Writings, should be applied without reservation to the Writings themselves.

25


At the same time, however, it is a protest against the hierarchical tendency of the General Church, as it holds that every man of the New Church must see the truth of doctrine for himself, as if of himself, and not on the authority of any person whatsoever. The new body has taken the name 'The New Church the New Jerusalem.' Thus the newest, smallest and most extreme body of the New Church has been formally launched.
     "We do not propose in this article to apportion the blame for this schism, which has thus resulted in further division in the already divided New Church ranks. The special event which led to the separation was the expulsion of Rev. Ernst Pfeiffer, the leader of the Hague group, as the culmination of a doctrinal dispute or controversy of seven years' duration. This drastic action forced those who agreed with Rev. Ernst Pfeiffer's doctrinal position to choose between submission to what they considered Papal pretensions in the Acting Bishop, and resignation or secession from the General Church." (Pp. 332, 333.)

     In the interests of accuracy, we would inform readers of THE NEW AGE that the recent separation involved, not six, but four ministers of the General Church; it involved 65 members at The Hague and 40 elsewhere,-a total of 105, not a "couple of hundred," as might be assumed from what is stated in the above extract from the article.
     As to the "hierarchical tendency" which is said to determine the "truth of doctrine" on the "authority of a person," it has always been a fixed principle and practice of the General Church not to decide doctrinal issues by any official pronouncement or by the declaration of any council. In the recent controversy there was no departure from this practice, but rather a very strict adherence to it, through years of patient discussion. New Churchmen are well aware that the truth of doctrine is not interiorly received under a faith of authority. (See T. C. R. 423; C. L. 295, etc.) And the warning is given: "But, my friend, have no faith in any council, but have faith in the Word of the Lord, which is above councils." (T. C. R. 489.)
     With reference to the alleged "Papal pretensions" in the removal or "expulsion of the Rev. Ernst Pfeiffer," the action was taken on the ground of disturbance, and in keeping with the mode prescribed in the New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine, no. 318: "He who believes otherwise than the priest, and does not make a disturbance, is to be left in peace; but he who makes a disturbance is to be separated; for this is of the order for the sake of which the priesthood exists."

26



     According to the order of the General Church, members are received by the Bishop, and this involves also the power of removal for cause. In the present instance, the action was taken only after full discussion in the Councils of the General Church, a record of which is available in the June, 1937, issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE. This record makes clear that the action subsequently taken by the Acting Bishop had the support of the Councils of the Church, and that it was not an arbitrary act of "Papal pretension."
READINGS IN REVELATION 1938

READINGS IN REVELATION       Editor       1938

     All the Year Round. Daily Readings for the New Church. Com piled by the Rev. H. Gordon Drummond. London: British New-Church Federation, September, 1937. Volume 5. Cloth, pocket-size, pp. 416, with Index to Readings. Price, 1/6.

     This excellent booklet will be welcomed by the many who have found the earlier volumes of the series so useful, and we would commend the work to those who have not yet made its acquaintance.
     Volume 5 is intended for use in 1938, but may be used in any year. Suitable readings are assigned for the seasons of the year and the festival days of the New Church. We are glad to note that, in this volume, a new four-years' course of reading is begun, and that we may look forward to a booklet each year containing a new series of passages from the Writings. We quote from the Foreword:

     "It will be found that in practically every case the readings from the Word and from the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg have been brought into close relationship, at least as regards one verse of the Bible reading.
     "It was found that over the first four years the Bible readings covered nearly the whole of the Scriptures suitable for devotional use. A new four-years' course, of which this is the first, has been adopted. The possible selections from the Writings, however, seem inexhaustible, and it is believed none of those given in this volume have been used in previous issues.
     "Readers may notice instances in which a passage of Scripture as quoted in the extract from Swedenborg differs from that given in the Bible reading. The reason is that the former are according to the version used by Swedenborg, and the latter are from the Authorized Version of the English Bible.
     "The compilation and editing of this volume has been a labor of love, undertaken and fulfilled with a deep appreciation of the sacredness and responsibility of the task. The result is sent forth in the hope and prayer that it will bring instruction and enlightenment to those who read, and that the Divine Blessing will be manifest in its accompanying sphere of joy and peace."

27


LAYMAN REPLIES 1938

LAYMAN REPLIES       A. S. WAINSCOT       1938

     I have just been reading Mr. Bjorck's criticism of Bishop de Charms' paper.* It made me sad to realize how much valuable time, energy, and scholarship are being wasted in dispute, when the Church needs these things more than ever before. The heralds of yet another convulsion of modern civilization are already with us, and the roar of conflict has begun to resound in our ears. Yet the Church of the Lord is still in three camps, only one of which displays somewhat of hope and purpose.
     * "Divine Creation and Divine Proceeding" (June, 1937, Supplement to New Church Life). The criticism is contained in a letter by the Rev. Albert Bjorck, who has sent a copy to us and to others. It is on file for reference in the Academy Library.-EDITOR.
     With regard to this latest attack upon the General Church in general, and upon Bishop de Charms in particular, it may be said that it lacks conviction. Admirably put together, as we would expect from its author, and containing copious extracts from the Word, it not only evades the main issues, but sets up new targets at which to aim, oblivious of the fact that the General Church would be glad to aim at them, too.
     When he states that Bishop de Charms contradicts the teaching of the Lord, by saying that Good and Truth, when they are received by man, are created and finite, Mr. Bjorck wrongly assumes that the Bishop meant the Divine Good and Truth Itself. All who have carefully, and without bias, read the Bishop's paper on "Divine Creation and Divine Proceeding" can clearly perceive that he meant the activities of the finite vessels of the human mind,-the thoughts and affections, called "goods" and "truths."
     It is incredible that anyone could seriously suggest that Bishop de Charms is so ignorant of even the general doctrines of the Church as to assert that Good and Truth from the Lord in man is not Divine, but human. The fact that the Bishop pointed out that the terms "good" and "truth" are employed in two different ways, in the Writings, has had no apparent effect upon Mr. Bjorck.
     The General Church has always taught, and has always perceived, that Good and Truth, Love and Wisdom, Life Itself, inflowing into the finite, modifying vessels, called the will and understanding of man, are Divine and Infinite-the Lord Himself.

28


Why does Mr. Bjorck persist in saying that the opposite is now being taught by the Bishop of the General Church!
     This is the real issue: Does the Word teach that the activities of a created recipient vessel partake of the qualities of the Uncreate Active operating within it? In other words, is the regenerated man's perception and thought, doctrine and life, Divine? If so, what is this but making man Divine, and if not, where are the grounds for dispute?
     We may look at Good and Truth from two different angles. Both are equally true, and both should exist within any logical concept of the subject. To emphasize one at the expense of the other is like looking at an object with one eye; the sense of perspective is lost. Most generally, and ideally, it is true that nothing but the Infinite Divine Love Itself IS. It is equally true that the created universe exists, and is subject to Divine Influx according to its several degrees, within each of which are myriad forms. By virtue of Divinely given faculties, the highest of these forms are able to react to the Influx, consciously, and in freedom, either with or against it. As is well known, the state of a subject of influx qualifies the subsidiary activities set up by the influx. To confuse the influx with this qualified reaction is short-circuiting the issue, and when Bishop de Charms rightly draws attention to these finite activities being termed in many places "goods" and "truths," the diatribe against "his new doctrine" seems to partake of the nature of a "demonstration" to draw the attention away from a palpably weak position.
     Mr. Bjorck is unfortunate in his criticism of the use made of D. L. W. 53 in the Bishop's paper, for he urges us to read and study the preceding and the following numbers. He states that these indicate that No. 53 refers to things belonging to the natural world. Upon consulting these numbers, I found that all numbers from 52 to 56 inclusive treat of the Created Universe in general, including the soul and mind of man. No. 57 specifically refers to angels and men, and it is not until no. 58 is reached that we read about the things below man in the animal and vegetable kingdoms. Thus Bishop de Charms is quite justified in including the substances and forms of the human mind among created things. Whatever flows from these, as thoughts and affections consciously experienced, must be qualified by the states of these vessels, although when regenerated they more fully correspond to the inflowing Divine.

29



     Mr. Bjorck's remark, that the Bishop no doubt knows that man from birth has liberty and rationality, does not appear to be substantiated by the teachings of the Word, and his quotation of part of D. L. W. 118 is a trifle obscure in this connection. We read, in A. C. 892, "When a man is regenerated, he then, for the first time, comes into a state of freedom." In A. C. 2280, "From the twentieth year man begins to become rational." Again, in A. C. 2557, "Man is born into nothing rational, but only with the faculty for receiving it."
     Unaccountably the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal's excellent article on "The Human" (August, 1937, issue) has been praised by Mr. Bjorck. He terms it a "refutation" of Bishop de Charms'" new doctrine." We ordinary and un-"illumined" laymen had been delighted to find that Mr. Gyllenhaal had presented a profound and striking exposition of the doctrine which is believed and taught by the General Church, from the Bishop downwards.
     To ignore the obvious meaning of statements by one person, to stress a biased interpretation of one phrase, and then to affix a label upon the result, does not appear either fair or rational. Further, after fulminating against this person's "new doctrine," to add that a second person's statements are a refutation of those of the first, when it is evident that they both stand upon the same platform, gives rise to an uneasy suspicion that the criticism is not untinged with personal feeling.
     The continued and wearisome insistence upon the idea that the members of the General Church take what a Bishop says as Divine Truth possesses little point or weight with those who are endeavoring, in some small measure, to live according to the precepts of the Word. It is significant that these remarks were made only after the General Church had pointed out the dangers lying ahead of the Hague Position, such as a looking to a species of internal illumination dependent upon regeneration, rather than to the clear statements of Divine Truth in the Writings.
     However meticulously the Hague proponents point out that their ideas are not authoritative to any but the individual, there is infused into all who make contact with them a sensation that they are enjoying a higher light and receive a special illumination.

30


Thus they appear invested with an "authority,"-an authority, not of orderly government, but of unspoken suggestion. In reply to this they would say that there is no authority but the Word of the Lord. We heartily agree. Why, then, do they hint at some other source of light?
     Bishop de Charms has said in the past that the government of the Church is not a tyranny, and that its object is to leave all in the greatest freedom. I believe that, and so do many others more competent than I. But Mr. Bjorck insinuates that it is not so, that just because a Bishop says this or that, all the members bow down and murmur, "Yea, yea," without troubling to think for themselves.
     Which is the most orderly, to experience the leadership of an ordained Bishop of the Church, together with full freedom of thought and reason, or to ignore the wider uses of the Church in the world, and experience a hidden "authority" of idealistic doctrine that purports to arise from regenerate states!
     A. S. WAINSCOT.
57 Bertram Road,
Hendon, London, England.
Who Put Swedenborg in the Century Dictionary! 1938

Who Put Swedenborg in the Century Dictionary!       ALBERT J. EDMUNDS       1938

Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:
     Swedenborg is not only listed among the authorities at the end of this Dictionary, but is also quoted under the words conjugial, discrete, influx, life, and love.

     Henry James, Senior, author of The Secret of Swedenborg (Boston, 1869), is also listed among the authorities, as are his well-known sons, Henry and William. My eldest sister, Lucy Edmunds (1859-1935), secretary to Richard Hodgson (1855-1905) in the Boston branch of the London Society for Psychical Research, was the guest of William James at his New Hampshire summer home in 1891, and she heard him say: "I don't believe in anythingarianism. I tell my boys that when anyone asks them what is their religion, they are to say that they are Swedenborgians."
     ALBERT J. EDMUNDS.
Cheltenham, Pennsylvania.

     [An Anythingarian-One who holds no particular creed or dogma.]

31


DIRECTORY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM 1938

DIRECTORY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM              1938

     OFFICIALS AND COUNCILS.

     Bishop: Right Rev. George de Charms
     Secretary: Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner
     Treasurer: Mr. Hubert Hyatt

     CONSISTORY.

     Bishop George de Charms
Right Rev. Alfred Acton                    Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal
Rev. Karl R. Alden                     Rev. E. E. Iungerich
Rev. Gustaf Baeckstrom                    Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner
Rev. W. B. Caldwell                     Rev. Gilbert H. Smith
Rev. C. E. Doering, Secretary           Rev. Homer Synnestvedt
Rev. F. W. Elphick                     Right Rev. R. J. Tilson
Rev. F. E. Waelchli

     EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.

     Bishop George de Charms, President
     Mr. Edward H. Davis,* Secretary
     Mr. Hubert Hyatt, Treasurer
          * Corrected. See NCL 1938:143

Mr. Kesniel C. Acton                    Mr. Charles G. Merrell
Mr. Edward C. Bostock                    Mr. Hubert Nelson
Mr. C. Raynor Brown                    Mr. Seymour G. Nelson
Mr. Geoffrey S. Childs                    Mr. Philip C. Pendleton
Mr. Edward H. Davis                    Mr. Harold F. Pitcairn
Mr. David Gladish                     Mr. Raymond Pitcairn
Dr. Marlin W. Heilman                    Mr. Colley Pryke
Mr. Walter Horigan                    Mr. Rudolph Roschman
Mr. Alexander P. Lindsay                    Mr. Paul Synnestvedt
Mr. Nils E. Loven                     Mr. Victor Tilson
Mr. Frank Wilson

     Honorary Members.

     Rt. Rev. N. D. Pendleton, President Emeritus
          Mr. Samuel S. Lindsay, Sr.

32




     THE CLERGY.

     Bishops.

     DE CHARMS, GEORGE. Ordained, June 28, 1914; 2d Degree, June 19, 1916; 3d Degree, March 11, 1928. Bishop of the General Church. Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church. President, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     PENDLETON, NATHANIEL DANDRIDGE. Ordained, June 16, 1889; 2d Degree, March 2, 1891; 3d Degree, October 27, 1912. Bishop Emeritus of the General Church. President Emeritus of the Academy of the New Church. Professor of Theology, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     TILSON, ROBERT JAMES. Ordained, August 23d, 1882; 2d Degree, June 19,1892; 3d Degree, August 5, 1928. Pastor of Michael Church, Burton Road, Brixton, London, England. Address: 7 Templar Street, Camberwell, S. E. 5, London, England.

     ACTON, ALFRED. Ordained, June 4, 1893; 2d Degree, January 10, 1897; 3d Degree, April 5, 1936. Pastor of the Society in Washington, D. C. Dean of the Theological School, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     Pastors.

     ACTON, A. WYNNE. Ordained, June 19, 1932; 2d Degree, March 25, 1934. Assistant Pastor of Michael Church, London. Address: 113 Knatchbull Road, Camberwell, S. E. 5, London, England.

     ACTON, ELMO CARMAN. Ordained, June 14, 1925; 2d Degree, August 5, 1928. Visiting Pastor, Advent Church, Philadelphia, Pa., and Circles in Camden and Newark, N. J. Instructor, Academy of the New Church. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     ALDEN, KARL RICHARDSON. Ordained, June 19, 1917; 2d Degree, October 12, 1919. Principal of the Boys' Academy and Housemaster of Stuart Hall, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     BAECKSTROM, GUSTAF. Ordained, June 6, 1915; 2d Degree, June 27, 1920. Pastor of the Society in Stockholm, Sweden. Address: Svedjevagen 20, Appelviken, Stockholm, Sweden.

     CALDWELL, WILLIAM BEEBE. Ordained, October 19, 1902; 2d Degree, October 23, 1904. Editor of New Church Life. Professor of Theology, Academy of the New Church. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     CRONLUND, EMIL ROBERT. Ordained, December 31, 1899; 2d Degree, May 18, 1902. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     DAVID, LLEWELLYN WARREN TOWNE. Ordained, June 28, 1914; 2d Degree, June 19, 1916. Instructor, Academy of the New Church. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     DOERING, CHARLES EMIL. Ordained, June 7, 1896; 2d Degree, January 29, 1899. Dean of Faculties, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

33




     ELPHICK, FREDERICK WILLIAM. Ordained, February 7, 1926; 2d Degree, June 19, 1926. Superintendent of the South African Mission. Pastor of the Alpha Circle. Address: 1 Alexander Mansions, Essenwood Road, Durban, Natal, South Africa.

     GILL, ALAN. Ordained, June 14, 1925; 2d Degree, June 19, 1926. Pastor of Carmel Church, Kitchener, Ontario. Address: 20 Willow Street, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.

     GLADISH, VICTOR JEREMIAH. Ordained, June 17, 1928; 2d Degree, August 5, 1928. Pastor of the Colchester Society. Address: 67 Lexdden Road, Colchester, England.

     GLADISH, WILLIS LENDSAY. Ordained, 1st and 2d Degrees, June 3, 1894. Pastor of Sharon Church, Chicago, Illinois. Address: 5220 Wayne Ave., Chicago, Illinois.

     GYLLENHAAL, FREDERICK EDMUND. Ordained, June 23, 1907; 2d Degree, June 19, 1910. Pastor of Olivet Church, Toronto, Ontario. Address: 2 Elm Grove Ave., Toronto 3, Ontario, Canada.

     HARRIS, THOMAS STARK. Ordained, 1st and 2d Degrees, April 8, 1897. Address: 855 Boulevard, Westfield, New Jersey.

     HEINRICHS, HENRY. Ordained, June 24, 1923; 2d Degree, February 8, 1925. Address: R. R. 3, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.

     HENDERSON, WILLIAM CAIRNS. Ordained, June 19, 1934; 2d Degree, April 14, 1935. Pastor of the Sydney Society. Address: "Westella," Joffre Street, Hurstville, Sydney, N. S. W., Australia.

     IUNGERICH, ELDRED EDWARD. Ordained, June 13, 1909; 2d Degree, May 26,1912. Pastor of the Societies at Paris, France, and The Hague, Holland. Address: 66 Boul. de la Republique, St. Cloud, S. et O., France.

     LEONARDOS, HENRY. Ordained, 1st and 2d Degrees, August 5, 1928. Pastor of the Rio de Janeiro Society. Address: 42 Prc Eugenio Jardim, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

     LIMA, JOAO DE MENDONCA. Ordained, 1st and 2d Degrees, August 5, 1928. Pastor of the Rio de Janeiro Society. Address: 48 Annita Garibaldi, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

     MORSE, RICHARD. Ordained, 1st and 2d Degrees, October 12, 1919. Address: Dudley Street, Hurstville, Sydney, N. S. W., Australia.

     ODHNER, HUGO LJUNGERG. Ordained, June 23, 1914; 2d Degree, June 24, 1917. Secretary of the General Church. Assistant Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church. Professor, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     ODHNER, PHILIP NATHANIEL. Ordained, June 19, 1932; 2d Degree, June 17, 1934. Pastor of the Durban Society, Assistant Superintendent of the South African Mission. Address: 129 Musgrave Road, Durban, Natal, South Africa.

     PENDLETON, WILLARD DANDRIDGE. Ordained, June 18, 1933; 2d Degree, September 12, 1934. Pastor of the Pittsburgh Society. Address: 299 Le Roi Road, Pittsburgh, Pa.

     REUTER, NORMAN HAROLD. Ordained, June 17, 1928; 2d Degree, June 15, 1930. Assistant to the Pastor of Carmel Church, Kitchener, Ont. Visiting Pastor, Detroit Circle. Address: 131 Union Boulevard, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.

34




     ROSENQVIST, JOSEPH ELIAS. Ordained, June 19, 1891; 2d Degree, June 23, 1895. Address: Koopmansgatan 3-11, Gothenburg, Sweden.

     SANDSTROM, ERIK. Ordained, June 10, 1934; 2d Degree, August 4, 1935. Pastor of the Jonkoping Society. Address: Lundsberg 3, Kortebo, Sweden.

     SMITH, GILBERT HAVEN. Ordained, June 25, 1911; 2d Degree, June 19, 1913. Pastor of the Immanuel Church, Glenview, Illinois.

     STARKEY, GEORGE GODDARD. Ordained, June 3, 1894; 2d Degree, October 19,1902. Address: Glenview, Illinois.

     SYNNESTVEDT, HOMER. Ordained, June 19, 1891; 2d Degree, January 13, 1895. Visiting Pastor, Advent Church, Philadelphia, Pa. Professor, Academy of the New Church. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     WAELCHLI, FRED EDWIN. Ordained, June 10, 1888; 2d Degree, June 19, 1891. Pastor of the Wyoming Circle. Address: 67 Reilly Road, Wyoming, Ohio.

     WHITEHEAD, WILLIAM. Ordained: June 19, 1922; 2d Degree, June 19, 1926. Secretary, Council of the Clergy. Visiting Pastor, New York Society. Professor, Academy of the New Church. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     Pastor, Pending Ordination.

     ALGERNON, HENRY. Address: 351 Cummings Street, Georgetown, Demerara, British Guiana.

     Ministers.

     CRANCH, RAYMOND GREENLEAF. Ordained, June 19, 1922. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     ODHNER, VINCENT CARMOND. Ordained, June 17, 1928. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     Authorized Candidates.

     RICH, MORLEY DYCKMAN. Authorized, February 1, 1931. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     ROGERS, NORBERT HENRY. Authorized, February 1, 1937. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     SOUTH AFRICAN MISSION.

     Basuto.

     MOTSI, JONAS. Ordained, September 29, 1929; 2d Degree, September 30, 1929. Pastor of the Greylingstad Society. Address: P. O. Box 13, Greylingstad, Transvaal, South Africa.

     MOFOKEPNG, TWENTYMAN. Ordained, September 29, 1929; 2d Degree, October 6, 1929. Pastor of the Alpha Mission. Address: P. O. Box 78, Ladybrand, O. F. S., South Africa.

35




     MPHATSE, TONAS. Ordained, September 29, 1929. Minister to the Qopo Society, Basutoland. Address: Qopo, P. O. Majara, via Maseru, Basuloland, South Africa.

     MPHATSE, NATHANIEL. Ordained, September 29, 1929. Minister at Mafika-Lisiu, Basutoland. Address: P. O. Thaba Bosigo, Maseru, Basutoland.

     MOSOANG, SOFONIA. Ordained, October 6, 1929. Minister at Khopane, Basutoland. Address: P. O. Majara, via Maseru, Basutoland.

     Zulu.

     JIYANA, JOHN MOSES. Ordained, September 29, 1929; 2d Degree, September 30,1929. Pastor at Lusitania and Esididini. Address: Lusitania School P. O., Cundycleugh, via Pesters Rail, Natal, South Africa.

     JIYANA, JULIUS S. M. Ordained, September 29, 1929. Minister to the Tongaat Society. Address: Tongaat P. O., Natal, South Africa.

     MCANYANA, MOFFAT. Ordained, August 12, 1928; 2d Degree, September 30,1929. Address: 19 Turner's Avenue, Durban, Natal, South Africa.

     NGIBA, BENJAMIN THOMAS. Ordained, October 6, 1929. Minister to the Mayville Society, Durban. Address: 67 Chancellor Avenue, Mayville, Durban, Natal, South Africa.

     STOLE, PHILIP JOHANNES. Ordained, September 29, 1929. Minister to the Turner's Avenue Society. Address: 19 Turner's Avenue, off Berea Road, Durban, Natal, South Africa.

     EDITORIAL NOTE.

     A copy of the present issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE containing this Directory of the Clergy of the General Church of the New Jerusalem has been placed on file with the Clergy Bureaus of the United States.

36


Church News 1938

Church News       Various       1938

     JONKOPING, SWEDEN.

     Since the last news report (June 1937) our little New Church group has gone through many experiences. The last season's activities closed with the celebration of New Church Day, June Nineteenth, with an outer appearance of peace and unity. But during the course of the summer it became evident that long felt, though uncrystallized, difference of opinion in doctrinal matters had come into the open by the acceptance of the Hague doctrines by a number of our members. This happened while the pastor was away on a six weeks' visit to a country place to instruct a child in religion, and without his being informed as to what was going on in the circle.
     As nearly all seemed interested in the Hague doctrines, as presented by their followers here, the pastor's effort was to provide accurate information as to the stand taken by the General Church and by those holding the Hague position. He first presented a survey of the new doctrines by citing the leading theses of De Hemelsche Leer, illustrating each one by quotations from the pages of that magazine; and made known at the same time a plan for the supplying of further information on the controversy, into which plan also entered one or more articles of the series by Bishop de Charms, published in the June Supplement of New Church Life, as well as two complete articles by Hague writers. As it happened, however, the situation crystalized before this plan could be fully carried out. All information was offered in writing, and mailed to each individual.
     By the end of the summer, seven members (and consequently three children) had resigned from the Fareningen and the General Church. Five more adults, with three children, soon followed. The remaining members of the Foreningen, constituting about the same number, individually expressed their faith in and support of the General Church.
     In the week of September 8-14 we were honored by a visit from Bishop Alfred Acton, who was on his way from Holland to Stockholm. During the course of his stay he addressed the Foreningen on some of the principal points of the controversy, and, when they so desired, met members individually for private discussion. He also informally implanted the seed of the idea of the organization of a separate society of the General Church in Jonkoping. Our group has heretofore been only a circle, which included unbaptized members, and has been under the official supervision of the pastor of the Stockholm Society. The inclusion of one individual, and a family of five baptized General Church members who had not been members of the Foreningen, made a society numerically possible.
     On October 5, prior to Bishop Acton's second visit, the Rev. Erik Sandstrom invited all the members of the General Church who live in Jonkoping to attend a meeting to consider the question of the formation of a society. There were eleven General Church members present, as well as three members of the Foreningen who were present as guests. The motion for the formation of a society was unanimously accepted by the members of the General Church who were present, and also (by communication) by three members not then able to be present.

37


On October 8, at a meeting presided over by Bishop Acton, representing the Bishop of the General Church, the Jonkoping Society was voted into existence and accepted by the Bishop, and Mr. Sandstrom was accepted as Pastor of the Society.
     On Sunday, October 10, a service of Divine worship, with the administration of the Holy Supper, was held in the Pastor's new home, Lundsberg 3, Kortebo. The new place, which will be used for the Sunday services during the coming year, is farther from the center of town than Villa Klinten was, but it is nevertheless easier of access. There can be no room reserved exclusively for services, as was the case at Klinten, but the living room can be very satisfactorily transformed into a room for worship, the double door opening into the next room, with a drapery background, forming a beautiful repository for the altar.
     Bishop Acton conducted the Sunday service, which was the first since the disturbance had begun, and since the separation and new beginning had been made. He addressed the congregation on the subject of numerical increase and inward growth in the church; saying that true growth and strength is not in numbers, but in the fulness of the Lord's presence in the hearts of the individuals of the church, the presence being in proportion to the individual's rebuilding the house of his mind into a dwelling place for the Lord by means of resisting evils; that the Lord's presence in man's mind goes out as a sphere to others, and is therefore an important means of strengthening love to the Lord and to the neighbor; and therein lies one of the values of gathering together for worship, small though numbers be, seeing that the slow numerical growth in the church at large has a corresponding state in each individual. The reasons for the slow outward growth are therefore equally applicable to each of us, and the first duty of each one in spreading the church is to spread it within his own mind. There were 18 people present at the service, and 13 partook of the sacrament of the Holy Supper which followed. The presence of two small children added to rather than subtracted from the service.
     The changes that have taken place brought temporary unrest and unhappiness, but it is pleasing to mark the many ways in which, both individually and collectively, the love of the church and her doctrines has been stimulated and strengthened. What promises to be a sounder and clearer basis for both the inward and outward growth seems to have been laid by means of what has taken place, and our hopes for the future, though modest, are warm and sure.
     The presence and counsel of Bishop Acton were of inestimable value and encouragement to us all and we are very thankful that he was able to be in Sweden, and to give us so much of his time and energy, his good spirits and wisdom, at a time when they were so much needed.
     B. S. S.

     COLCHESTER, ENGLAND.

     On their return from America, which was in time for the British Assembly, we had the pleasure of welcoming Mrs. Victor Gladish, Mrs. Colley Pryke, and Miss Ruth Pryke, and we are all very pleased to have them home again. On the Sunday following their arrival there was a gathering of the society to hear an account of their visit. Tea was served in the garden surrounding the church, and a very pleasant, informal meeting was held. Mrs. Gladish and Mrs. Pryke gave a most enthusiastic report of the General Assembly in Pittsburgh, and many questions were asked and answered. We were pleased and interested to hear direct news of our friends overseas.
     Our Doctrinal classes were resumed the first week in September, the work on Divine Providence being continued, and the class being preceded by a singing practice conducted by Mr. F. R. Cooper.
     A Sons Meeting was held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Alan Waters on September 23. A very interesting paper on "The Importance of the Natural" was read by Mr. Waters, and followed by a useful discussion.

38



     Our Harvest Festival Service was held on September 26. The Chancel was tastefully adorned with flowers, holly, corn, etc., and appropriate gifts of fruit and vegetables were offered by the children. A congregation of about seventy joined in a beautiful service, the text of the sermon by our Pastor being from Luke 10:2.
     On September 30 we had the pleasure and benefit of a visit from Mr. Stanley Wainscot, who came to conduct a special singing practice of church music, particularly the more unfamiliar Psalms. There was quite a large attendance, and a very helpful practice was held under his inspiring leadership. Refreshments, followed by a military whist drive, completed the evening. Another whist drive, in aid of the Sale of Work Funds, was held in October, and a satisfactory sum was raised.
     We were fortunate in receiving a visit from Bishop Acton on his return from the Continent, and a special meeting of the society was held on October 28 to welcome him. Preceding his address, Bishop Acton read a letter he had written defining very clearly the difference between the Hague position and that of the General Church. He then gave us a very eloquent account of his visits at Jonkoping and The Hague. All present then joined in a Resolution, conveying hearty congratulations and greetings to the two new Societies. The meeting concluded with refreshments and informal conversation.
     Several Young People's Classes have been held at the members' homes in rotation, the work on the Four Leading Doctrines being considered. Our Pastor has commenced a new class for boys and girls of about 16 years of age, held on Sunday evenings. Sunday School for the children is held on Sunday mornings before service. Owing to increasing numbers, a new teacher became necessary, and Miss Ruth Pryke has undertaken this very useful work.
     A social was arranged for the children on Guy Fawkes Day, November 7, and a bountiful tea was provided by Mrs. John Cooper, Mrs. Philip Motum, and Mrs. Alan Waters, being much appreciated by the youngsters. Games followed, and a very enjoyable evening concluded with a display of fireworks and the burning of a six foot effigy of Guy Fawkes.
     D. E. P.

     THE HAGUE, HOLLAND.

     An account of the formation of our new Society during Bishop Acton's visit in September has been given by Mr. Beyerinck in the report published in your December issue. We had the great pleasure of a second visit from the Bishop in October, and on Sunday the 17th he presided at a meeting held in the Francis home in Rijswijk, this being followed by a service of worship. The attendance at both was ten members, one friend, and three children. Before the meeting began, Mr. Beyerinck proposed the sending of a message of greeting to Mrs. Acton in America, which was heartily approved, the message being signed by all present.
     Bishop Acton opened the meeting by announcing that a decision as to our future minister had been reached, that the Rev. Dr. E. E. Iungerich, of Paris, had been appointed pastor of the newly instituted society, and that he would be able to visit us once a month. This was received with great happiness, and we are looking forward with pleasure to his visit on the last Sunday in November.
     Mr. Francis then read to us a very nice letter from the Jonkoping Society, established shortly after ours, expressing their feelings of friendship and sympathy towards us, and further explaining that their letter was inspired by the fact that we are "twin societies," having been brought into existence by similar circumstances. This idea of our Swedish friends was highly appreciated, and a reply with many thanks and good wishes has y been sent to their pastor, Mr. Sandstrom.
     The possibility of renting a suitable place of worship in the heart of the city was suggested by Bishop Acton, and found acceptance with all present, as our members live rather far apart, and it would be more convenient and less expensive for all to go to a central place than to meet in the various homes in turn, as was first proposed.

39


Mr. Engeltjes and Mr. Beyerinck undertook to look for a suitable place.
     The service of worship began at four o'clock in the afternoon, and copies of the order of service in Dutch were made available in typewritten form to those who might have difficulties with the English language. The Bishop's sermon was on the text, "Behold, I make all things new," and the Lessons were from the Apocalypse 21 and the Apocalypse Explained 732. Miss Engeltjes played the piano, so that we were able to sing several hymns.
     During the interval between the meeting and the service an attempt was made to take a group photograph, but we seem to be poor photographers, as it was a failure.
     Returning from a brief trip to Paris, Bishop Acton conducted another service on Sunday, October 24, at 11 a.m., with an attendance of twelve members, one friend, and three children. After the opening prayer and singing, the sacrament of baptism was administered for Miss Johanna van Trigt, and the rite of confirmation for Miss Hetty Engeltjes. It was very nice indeed that these ceremonies could take place at one of the first services of worship in our newly instituted society. The lessons were from Matthew 24:27-31 and Heaven and Hell, no. 1, the sermon treating of the Second Coming of the Lord and the Establishment of the New Church.
     After the service a nice cake, offered by Miss van Trigt on the occasion of her baptism, was served. And, in the name of the society, Mr. Francis presented to Bishop Acton an ancient picture of the "Haagpoort," the supposed place in Delft where Swedenborg saw the Lord for the first time. A letter, signed by all the members, was delivered with it.
     Messrs. Engeltjes and Beyerinck then reported that they had found a suitable hall for worship in a music school centrally located in The Hague, and at a moderate charge. Chairs and organ or piano would be included. A committee of three ladies of the society is to inspect the hall before a decision is made.
     It was now two o'clock, and preparations had been made for a sociable luncheon. At this toasts were offered to the growth of the new society, and we entered with enthusiasm into the singing of "Our Own Academy" and "Our Glorious Church," which Dr. Acton had taught us. He explained that by "The Academy" was meant, not only the institution at Bryn Athyn, but also the principles of the New Church embodied in the term. He also expressed the hope that a spirit of unanimity would always reign in our society, and that mutual friendship would be cultivated. "Some months ago," he said, "I was a stranger to you all, and now we are close friends. And that is because we all belong to the New Church, and it is the Church that unites us." These words were followed by the singing of the song, "In our Church while ages roll, true friendship we'll find." At the request of Miss Helderman, Dr. Acton gave an account of the life and uses at Bryn Athyn. He also introduced the Swedish expressions, "Var sa god" (please) and the reply "Tack, tack" (thank you), which we have adopted as an ultimation of our feelings of twinship with the Jonkoping Society. This enjoyable celebration came to a close with the playing of some beautiful piano selections by Miss Hetty Engeltjes and Mr. Henry Bulthuis, Jr., while Mrs. Engeltjes sang some nice Dutch songs.
     And so the time came when we had to bid good-bye to Bishop Acton, whose visits we had enjoyed so very much. On Monday evening there was a social gathering at the Francis home, attended by ten other members. Again we sang the Church songs, and also a Dutch one, "Lang zal hij leven," all sung with vigor. And at the train, which left at ten o'clock, as we stood upon the platform, with the Bishop at the window of his compartment, we sang again: "In our Church while ages roll, true friendship we'll find."

40


Also: "And here's to you, and you, and you, peace to you all forever!" Till the last we saw was his handkerchief waving from the window. Our best wishes for a favorable voyage and a safe arrival in America went with him, and the hope that we shall meet again.
     On Sunday, November 7, we shall hold our first meeting for the reading of the Writings together. We intend doing this on Sunday mornings when our pastor is not with us. Questions that arise during the reading are to be written down, and submitted to Dr. Iungerich when he holds doctrinal class on his monthly visit.
     LAMBERTINE FRANCIS.

     KITCHENER, CANADA.

     Following the Ontario Assembly in Toronto, Bishop and Mrs. de Charms visited the Carmel Church Society. On Tuesday, October 12, about ninety people gathered at the supper tables in the school room. Immediately after the supper, the Bishop gave us a very interesting account of his summer trip to the West Coast. He had spoken somewhat about this trip at the Toronto Assembly, so on this occasion we heard more of the lighter side of his experiences. We found the account of his travels so entertaining that we were indeed sorry when he brought us all back safely to Bryn Athyn.
     After the tables had been cleared away, we were further entertained by moving pictures of the sights and celebrities at the General Assembly in Pittsburgh last June. Needless to say, this was much enjoyed by everyone, and viewing our friends on the screen brought forth vociferous applause. We were delighted to have with us on this occasion Mr. and Mrs. Richard de Charms of Rochester, N. Y. This was their first visit to our center, and we hope it may be the first of many. Some of our Toronto friends also, still in the spirit of the Assembly, motored up for the evening.
     On October 29 our school rooms took on a festive and spooky appearance. The "Young People" had dressed the room with corn stalks and black cats and witches, with grinning pumpkin faces throwing weird light on the scene. Everyone appeared in mask and fancy costume, and this afforded the usual fun of trying to guess who was behind the mask. There were games and dancing and several playlets, with special Hallow-e'en refreshments. If the hour at which the party broke up was any indication of the success of the event, then I may say that a good time was had by all.
     Our Men's Club had the pleasure of hearing as their speaker, on October 23, Mr. John White of the Olivet Society, Toronto.
     We were afforded the pleasure of greeting Mr. Colley Pryke recently when he made a very short visit in Kitchener, the guest of the Rev. and Mrs. Alan Gill.
     D. K.

     LONDON, ENGLAND.

     Michael Church.

     On the evening of Monday, July 26, a reception was held in honor of Bishop and Mrs. Alfred Acton, who had recently arrived in England, and were the guests of Bishop and Mrs. Tilson. The very full attendance included, in addition to the two Bishops and their wives, the Revs. W. H. Acton, Victor J. Gladish, and A. Wynne Acton. We were pleased to welcome also Mr. Ernest Stebbing, Dr. Philip Stebbing, and Miss Lois Stebbing, from America; Mr. and Mrs. Vickers, and Dr. and Mrs. Friend, from Kensington Church.
     After the reading of numerous letters of regret for unavoidable absence, we listened to a pleasing musical program contributed by the Misses Joan Stebbing and Edith Cooper, Mr. Stanley Wainscot, and Mr. Victor Tilson. The last named, acting as toastmaster, remarked on the auspicious date of the occasion. It was the anniversary of the birth of the Assistant Pastor, and the actual birthday of a son to Mrs. A. V. Cooper, wife of one former Vestry Deacon, whose business duties now oblige him to live in Lancashire, to his and our regret.

41


Both announcements were received with applause.
     The toast to the Church having been responded to by the singing of "Our Glorious Church," the next toast was to "Dr. and Mrs. Acton and our Other Visitors," and was received with an enthusiastic rendering of "Friends Across the Sea." Then Dr. Acton rose and in the course of an inspiring speech bade Michael Church not to be discouraged, whatever external appearances might at times be. Individual loyalty and the spirit of enthusiasm made and sustained the Church more certainly than any externals. We had no school now, which was a matter of regret; but given time, New Church homes, with the absence of the spirit of adverse criticism, the Church was bound to grow. The speaker sat down to the accompaniment of prolonged applause.
     Next, a "Welcome Home" was extended to the Rev. A. Wynne Acton after his absence in America, which he acknowledged in appropriate terms. Bishop Tilson then extended his personal welcome to Dr. Acton, and in the course of his speech said that it gave him especial pleasure to have so many priests present, all bearing that honored name, which reference was acknowledged in a few appreciative words by the Rev. W. H. Acton. Several of the other visitors having expressed their pleasure at being present, the hearty singing of "Vivat" brought this very happy occasion to a close.
     Dr. Acton preached at the morning service on Sunday, August 15, basing an instructive discourse on Psalm 96:9.
     On Saturday, August 21, Bishop Tilson officiated at the marriage of Mr. Harold William Stebbing and Miss Sylvia Maude Frances Broad. The bride and her two bridesmaids formed a charming group, and the floral decoration of the chancel, in shaded gladioli, carried out by Mr. Cooper, was most artistic. The Harvest Thanksgiving was held on October 3, the chancel again being beautifully decorated by the same skilful hands with corn and seasonable vegetables, and the many offerings of fruit were received during the service by Bishop Tilson, and were taken next day to the Homeopathic Hospital. In his address, the Bishop led the minds of his hearers from Thanksgiving for the Harvest to that for the Holy Supper, which was about to be celebrated, and showed the connection between them, though on different planes. There were forty-two communicants, and the singing of the Te Dominum followed.
     The first social tea after the summer interval was held on Sunday, October 17, followed by a meeting to consider the work of the new session. Bishop Tilson officiated at short preliminary service, and the Rev. A W. Acton then took the chair. The Bishop read a very appreciative letter from Mr. Victor Cooper, much regretting his inability to be present, and this was followed by most telling address from the Assistant Pastor. Mr. Acton urged all to cultivate the love of the Church in the mind; and being there, it would lead most surely to external support and consequent growth. Remarks and suggestions having been made by several laymen, Bishop Tilson expressed his great appreciation of the address, and exhorted all to give the Assistant
Pastor their loyal support in the work of the Church.
     An informal Social was held on Tuesday, October 26, for the purpose of hearing from Bishop Acton an account of his recent travels on the Continent. For upwards of two hours Dr. Acton held the full interest of his crowded audience-and all without a single note! There was much animated converse afterwards. No one seemed in a hurry to go home. It had been a delightful and most useful experience.
     On Thursday, November 4, Bishop Tilson officiated at the marriage of Mr. George H. B. Burton and Miss Irene Robinson.

42


The bride is the only daughter of the late Rev. T. F. Robinson, of Northampton, well remembered by many of the older generation at Michael Church.
     A Service of Remembrance was held on November 14, Bishop Tilson reading the Roll of Honor and preaching an appropriate sermon from John 15:13. The Recessional was sung. Mr. Cooper had placed a wreath of laurel bearing thirteen poppies below the tablet, one for each name appearing upon it. At the social tea in the afternoon, the Bishop read a paper on "Music" which led to an interesting discussion of the difference between music and sound. This was followed by an evening service and a short music rehearsal conducted by the organist, Mr. V. R. Tilson, which we hope to continue once a month.
     A somewhat new departure is the holding of monthly meetings under the guidance of the Assistant Pastor for the younger generation of unmarried people, at the house of Miss Mary Lewin. At the first of these Mr. Acton read a paper on "The Principles of the Academy," and at the following one Miss Edith Elphick was the essayist, and chose "Imagination" as her theme. Both meetings were felt to be equally useful and enjoyable. We wish all success to this effort.
     A Sale of Work was held on the evening of November 23, under the superintendency of Mrs. Tilson. A variety of useful and attractive articles, many of which were the work of Mrs. Tilson's own hands, was temptingly displayed. We could have wished for a better attendance, but those who came proved good customers. The accounts are not yet complete, but the result promises to be upwards of L16. The Sale was declared open by Bishop Tilson, and at the close he again addressed those present, and called for three cheers for Mrs. Tilson, which were heartily accorded and gracefully acknowledged. The Assistant Pastor took on all and sundry at table-tennis! Meetings for this are held once a fortnight, and we have some good players.
     At the weekly Theological Class, Mr. Acton is taking the Divine Love and Wisdom as the textbook. The attendance shows a slight improvement on that of last session, but there is room for much-or shall we say many-more! And all are welcome!
     K. M. D.

     TORONTO, CANADA.

     October and November proved to be exceptionally busy months for the Olivet Society, with a bountiful crop of varied activities.
     Early in October, the Ontario District Assembly was held here, attracting visitors from all over the countryside. Interesting and instructive papers, inspiring services, and congenial social activities,-all contributed toward a very useful gathering, which was especially memorable in that Bishop de Charms presided for the first time in his new capacity as Bishop of the General Church.
     The Olivet Day School has again opened its doors for daily instruction to an exceptionally eager group, who were thoroughly tired of their enforced holiday, which was due to an epidemic. Under the leadership of its new teacher, Miss Doris Raymond, and with a new curriculum, the school gives much promise of a useful year's work.
     Weddings, at home and abroad, have attracted much of our attention during October. A very happy wedding took place in our little chapel when Miss Helen Nixon was married to Mr. F. R. (Toby) Longstaff. It is to be regretted that Helen-who has but recently joined us-and Toby-a member of long standing-will not be residing ill Toronto. But what is our loss is the Detroit group's gain, for this young couple will be living in Windsor, Ontario.
     Only a few of their Toronto friends were able to witness at Bryn Athyn the wedding of Miss Annette Bostock and Mr. Ralph Brown, but many were present in heart and mind, wishing them happiness in the years before them. However, there was really quite a substantial representation of the Toronto Society at the wedding, and these fortunate ones were also able to "take in" Charter Day, with its accompanying functions.

43



     During the past two months, in the absence of our pastor on several occasions, we have enjoyed the opportunity to welcome two visiting ministers. The Rev. Alan Gill preached on two occasions, delivering sermons from which many points of practical value could be derived. The Rev. Norman Reuter conducted Wednesday doctrinal class.
     It is not often that it is our privilege to entertain South Africans for a month's visit, but such was the opportunity afforded us when Mr. and Mrs. Walter Lowe of the Durban Society were guests of their sister, Mrs. Gyllenhaal. Their presence at the various church gatherings added much to these occasions.
     A very successful church party took place on November 26,-a Christmas Preview. A portrait display of our various members in their extreme youth added much interest and conjecture to the party. What dear little babies some of us were! A guessing contest as to "Who's Who" was won by Mrs. Ted Bellinger. Bridge, Pick-up-Sticks and Checkers provided the greater part of the evening's entertainment, and all agreed that it was a very convivial party, with ("hats off" to the committee under the management of Mr. Alec Craigie.
     M. S. P.

     PITTSBURGH, PA.

     A series of three special doctrinal classes has recently been given by the Rev. W. D. Pendleton on the subject of "What is the New Church?" These classes were designed to meet the needs of members and friends of the Pittsburgh Society who were not well acquainted with the fundamental doctrines of the Church.
     The Pittsburgh Chapter of the Sons of the Academy met at the home of Mr. Leander P. Smith on November 19 to hear a paper by the pastor.
     On November 20 the Pittsburgh Chapter of Theta Alpha gave a Thanksgiving party for the first six grades of the Day School.
     A special Children's Service was held on Thanksgiving Day. An offering of fruit was made, and the children surprised the pastor and congregation with a fine rendition of the Hebrew anthem "Hallelujah."
     We regret the passing of Mrs. William Cowley to the spiritual world on November 25. The funeral service, conducted by the pastor, was held on Saturday, November 27th.
     E. R. D.

     DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

     Our last meetings of the Fall season were held on Saturday and Sunday, November 13 and 14.
     At the doctrinal class on Saturday evening, held at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Norman Synnestvedt, we had the unusually large attendance of 15, including two children and one visitor, Mrs. Deppisch of Kitchener, Ont. Rev. Norman Reuter's subject was "Enlightenment in Use." He pointed out that the love of truth for the end of applying it to life opens the mind to enlightenment. Thus all who are truly of the New Church have their understandings enlightened.
     On Sunday, most of the local members journeyed to Saginaw, Mich., a distance of almost 100 miles, for a service at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Geoffrey Childs. It was a treat once again to have the music of the large pipe organ, played by Mr. Childs, to embellish the musical part of our service. The sermon was on the subject of "Happiness," the text being, "If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them." (John 13:17.) The administration of the Holy Supper followed.
     The attendance at the Sunday service was 30, including seven children. One new member was welcomed to our group,-Miss Anne Hachborn, formerly of Bryn Athyn, but now living at Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. We were also happy to welcome Mrs. Norman Reuter, whom we had not seen for a year. Little Margaret Ann Reuter, ten months old, made her initial visit to our group on this occasion, and was the object of much admiration.

44



     The invitation of Mr. and Mrs. Childs included luncheon, which was served in their basement recreation room, and was followed by a social hour. We then reassembled in the library to hear a talk by Mr. Reuter on "The Five Dispensations," based upon the image seen in vision by King Nebuchadnezzar and described in Daniel 2:31-35.
     A short business session was then held, and plans were made for our Christmas service, which will be devoted mainly to the children, and be held on Sunday, December 26. A committee was appointed to purchase suitable gifts which will be presented to the children during this service. Norman Synnestvedt, our Secretary-Treasurer, read a communication he had received from the Sons of the Academy, concerning a deficit in their scholarship fund, and stressing their great need of financial assistance. Mr. Cyril Day was appointed to solicit contributions toward a group donation which we hope to send before the end of the year. Then someone suggested that it would be a fine thing for the group to contribute toward the uses of the General Church. Mr. Will Cook outlined a method whereby money might be raised for this worthy purpose, and he was promptly authorized to put his plan into effect and take charge of the fund. So we now find ourselves with three collectors for as many separate funds, and it surely looks like a hard winter ahead for some of us!
     W. W. W.

     GLENVIEW, ILLINOIS.

     Although we appear to be in for a severe winter, church activities continue with unabated interest.
     The service of worship on Thanksgiving Day was participated in by a capacity congregation, and a special feature was the presence of the school children, who recited and sang selections appropriate to the day and its significance.
     Friday class interest is shown by the largest average attendance on record, and is featured by the pastor's doctrinal papers, which are timed for about twenty-five minutes each.
     The Sunday evening class, quite informal in character, continues to attract about twenty members, and they are finding interest in the discussion of Academy principles.
     The regular monthly meeting of the Sons of the Academy chapter heard the reading and discussion of a recent notable paper on the subject of "Education," by Robert Maynard Hutchins, President of Chicago University.
     During November we had the pleasure of welcoming Mr. and Mrs. Walter G. Lowe, of Durban, South Africa, who motored from Toronto with the Rev. and Mrs. F. E. Gyllenhaal. They were present at several public gatherings, and manifested great interest in our lay-out here. Another recent visitor was Mr. Edward C. Bostock, of Bryn Athyn.
     J. B. S.

     STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN.

     During the past year we have had many visitors from Bryn Athyn. In the last days of August, the Misses Creda Glenn, Karen Pitcairn and Morna Hyatt, and Mr. Michael Pitcairn, paid us a brief visit, and we very much enjoyed seeing them. None can be more welcome than friends who belong to the Church, and especially if they come from Bryn Athyn.
     Bishop Alfred Acton visited us for about three weeks in September, and during that time we had many opportunities to hear him. Speaking in the Swedish language, he delivered two lectures, the first being his General Assembly Address on "The Holy Spirit," and the second was on "The Dutch Position," which he contrasted with that of the General Church. Those of our members who had attended his classes when he was here nine years ago recalled his wonderful way of teaching, and were anxious to hear him again. And as he now spoke in Swedish, many who do not understand English so well could fully understand him.

45


He had asked Mr. Baeckstrom to translate if anything was not clear enough, but this was unnecessary.
     At one Sunday service, Bishop Acton delivered the sermon, and on another Sunday, assisted by Pastor Baeckstrom, he administered the Communion, which brought a wonderful sphere of worship.
     Also, privately we were happy to see a great deal of Bishop Acton, as he visited the members of the society and showed much interest in our different doings. He was especially interested to hear that one of our members, Miss Senta Centervall, has written a Swedish and a French grammar, and that she is also the author of a Family Chronicle.
     We have not only received visitors from Bryn Athyn, but we go there too. Mr. Bjorn Boyesen has been there for two years, studying for the ministry, and Harry Baeckstrom entered the Academy Schools last year. This autumn his brothers, Gosta and Gunnar, have joined him.
     MARGIT BOYESEN.

     BRYN ATHYN.

     Under the general subject of "The Relationship of Spirits to Human States," the Rev. Dr. Hugo Lj. Odhner has presented a very interesting series of teachings at the doctrinal classes on Friday evenings during the Fall months.
     The Fiftieth Birthday of Mr. Otho W. Heilman was celebrated in gala fashion at the Friday supper on November 5th. Mr. Randolph W. Childs presided, and led in a song with appropriate lyrics by various authors. On the stage five figures depicted Post Heilman, Justice P. Heilman, Elementary S. Heilman, Missionary Heilman and Ping Pong Heilman. Tribute was paid by four speakers, and a birthday gift from the society was presented as an ultimate token of our affection and esteem. All of which was gracefully acknowledged by Mr. Heilman.
     At the supper on November 19, Bishop Acton gave a stirring account of his European Journey to a large and appreciative audience.
     Mr. Colley Pryke, of Chelmsford, England, on a business trip to America, arrived in New York on October 12, and several times during the ensuing weeks was a welcome visitor in Bryn Athyn. In the latter part of November we had the pleasure of a visit from Mr. and Mrs. Walter G. Lowe, of the Durban Society, who came from Toronto with the Rev. and Mrs. Fred Gyllenhaal. Their stay of a fortnight was all too short. One morning Mr. Lowe gave a delightful talk to the Academy Schools.     
     Local radio listeners tuned in the Zenith Hour on November 7, and heard an accurate dramatization of the scene in Gothenburg when Swedenborg told of the Fire in Stockholm. It was suggested that telepathy might account for the feat, although one record states that he was "told by the angels." (See Tafel's Documents, Vol. II, p. 630.)

     Christmas Concert.

     On Sunday evening, December 19, the members of the society and the school children were invited by Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Pitcairn to the inauguration of the great hall in their new residence, "Glencairn," which is approaching completion. There were 500 seats, and all were occupied. Superlatives alone can describe the architectural beauty of this hall, and its acoustic properties made it ideal for the concert of vocal and instrumental music given under the auspices of the Bryn Athyn Orchestral Association and directed by Mr. Frank Bostock.
     Mr. Arthur Synnestvedt, president of the organization, explained the rise and development of the Association, and invited our cooperation in the promotion of its uses.
     The orchestra is made up largely of Young people and children, and give a good account of itself. The varied program included instrumental numbers by the orchestra and ensembles of wind instruments, as well as two viola solos by Mr. Pitcairn.

46


The Cathedral Choir and the Whittington Chorus sang several selections, and the audience joined in two sacred songs. After the candles had been lighted, and the electric lights dimmed, the program closed with the united singing of Christmas hymns. There was a very delightful and homelike sphere about it all.
     During the intermission, Mr. Pitcairn, in a brief address of welcome, said that the sphere of Christmas should bring to us a sense of peace in a troubled world. It was his hope and wish that the orchestra might contribute especially to the music of the church.
     Bishop de Charms voiced the gratitude of the society to our host and hostess for the opportunity so generously afforded to share in the use of such a beautiful home. The Christmas Festival, he said, has always been spiritually uplifting to good Christians, and also has a temporary and sentimental effect upon worldly men. To the New Church alone is it given to know the full significance of the Advent, in the light of the Doctrine of the Second Coming, and to realize that the Lord is perpetually present with all who truly receive Him in the peace and joy of a life of mutual love.

     ACADEMY SCHOOLS.

     Bishop de Charms addressed the October meeting of the General Faculty on the vital matter of bringing the light of the New Church into the teaching of all subjects in our curriculum, and the subject was affirmatively discussed. During the last school-year this topic was actively considered at the monthly meetings of the President's Council, and is to be developed further in the different departments during the present scholastic year.
     At the November meeting, the Rev. William Whitehead read a paper on "The Teaching of the History of Earliest Man," citing the ideas that were current in Swedenborg's time, dealing at length with what we are taught in the Doctrines concerning the Pre-Adamites and the Most Ancient Church, and noting that modern textbooks cannot be used by us without decided qualification.
     "Latin in the Curriculum" was the subject presented by Mr. Eldric Klein at the December meeting. Teaching Latin is a labor of love with him, and he marshaled many reasons for its inclusion among our studies. He has found it possible, as an extra-curriculum activity, to initiate boys of the seventh grade into the delight of reading the Writings in the original.

     NEW PUBLICATIONS.

     The Academian. Published monthly by the students of the Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa. Edited by Charles Gyllenhaal and three Associate Editors. Ten cents a copy.
     The issues for November and December, 1937, four and six pages respectively, are a bright and breezy expression of student thought and activity, dominated by a seriousness of purpose; well written and printed, and worthy of every encouragement.

     Hardy Perennial. By Donald F. Rose. Published at 437 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa. Pp. 96; $l.00.
     The author has kindly sent us a copy, and we find that it is not, as the title might lead one to infer, a treatise on gardening. It is intended to amuse and entertain, and it does.

     Wonder Footprints. Stories about Heaven for Children. By Sigrid Odhner Sigstedt. Illustrated by Claire E. Berninger. Bryn Athyn: Published by the Author, and on sale at the Academy Book Room, $1.00. To be reviewed in an early issue.

47




     [Picture of Jacob Schoenberger.]

     JACOB SCHOENBERGER.

     An Obituary.

     With the passing of Jacob Schoenberger on August 22, 1937, at the age of eighty-four years, a beloved member of the Church was taken from among us. He was born in Ober Mosan, Germany, on June 12, 1853. At the age of twelve he became an orphan, and two years later took ship for America. On the same ship was his future wife, a young girl by the name of Elizabeth Hoffman, whom he had known since earliest childhood. Upon arriving in the United States he made his home with an aunt in the city of Allegheny, and found work in Mellor's music store in Pittsburgh, where he entered upon his career in this business. It was at this time that he began to be troubled about the doctrines of the Lutheran Church, especially about the doctrine of the Trinity. One day, while working at Mellor's, he was given a copy of Heaven and Hell by a Mr. Wechesser, who was also employed at the store. That night he read for hours, and from then on was a zealous New Churchman.
     In the meantime he had married Elizabeth Hoffman (October 26, 1873), and she too accepted the Writings. They then became affiliated with the German Circle which received visits from the Rev. A. O. Brickman. A few years later they became affiliated with Bishop Benade's society, and under his influence Mr. Schoenberger became an ardent Academician. Thus it was that, when the society was split under the Rev. John Whitehead, he went with the Academy men to the East End, and became an active member of the society in Wallingford Street.
     When the General Church was organized, Mr. Schoenberger became a member of that body, and served for many years as a member of the Executive Committee. Being one of the leading men in the Pittsburgh Society, he served as a member of the Pastor's Council from the time when the Rev. N. D. Pendleton was pastor.
     He was the father of eight children, and at the time of his death had twenty-two grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. It is significant that all of his descendants have remained in the Church.
     His spirit of loyal devotion was an inspiration to all who labored in the interests of the Church, and from him we gained some perception of what is involved in the responsibilities of New Churchmanship. He was truly a great soul. For, spiritually speaking, greatness is born of humility, and all who knew Mr. Schoenberger were impressed with this quality in him, especially in his attitude toward the Writings, which he devoutly loved and constantly read with delight and fine understanding. And as he approached the Word of God, so he approached life. His thoughts and deeds were ever characterized by that simplicity which arises from true humility, and from a constant trust in the Divine Providence of the Lord.
     W. D. P.

48


ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS 1938

ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS       WILLIAM WHITEHEAD       1938




     Announcements.



     The Annual Meetings of the Councils of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held at Bryn Athyn, Pa., March 28 to April 2, 1938.
     WILLIAM WHITEHEAD,
          Secretary, Council of the Clergy.
SWEDENBORG'S BIRTHDAY 1938

SWEDENBORG'S BIRTHDAY              1938

     The 250th Anniversary of the birth of Emanuel Swedenborg will be celebrated by the Bryn Athyn Church at a Banquet to be held in the Assembly Hall on Friday, January 28, 1938, at 7.00 p.m.

     Members and friends of the Philadelphia District are cordially invited to attend.

49


BENEDICTION 1938

BENEDICTION       Rev. HUGO LJ. ODHNER       1938


NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. LVIII FEBRUARY, 1938          No. 2
     "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen." (Revelation 22:21.)

     The Word of God closes with a benediction. For in these accustomed phrases are contained the unfathomable depths of all Divine revelation, the fulfilment of all spiritual prayer, and the end and purpose of priestly administrations.
     The life of religion looks to a conjunction of mankind-of the church-with God. It prepares for the opening of the heart and the mind to the Lord, that His blessings may be received, as a life more abundant, more rich in its content and satisfaction, more full of understanding. In the state of worship, man seeks access to God through the spiritual light of the Word; but, unknowing what is the final good, he must leave his prudence and his self-ruling will aside; he dare not petition for the personal things which his heart is set upon, or ask that Providence confirm the natural course upon which he has ventured, or give victory to the cause which he, however sincerely, espouses. He cannot-need not-pray for the things of this world-the things for which the pagans seek-(for the Heavenly Father knoweth that he has need of these things); but he asks for the Lord's government, the Lord's continual presence with him, to show him what is good, to enlighten him as to his proper relationship to the Lord and to men, to give him strength to act in his various uses, according to that light which is given him from day to day. And, as if in response, there comes the Divine assurance of grace,-the grace of the Lord, which is with all whose hearts are opened and lifted up to receive it.

50



     Grace is the Christian message. John testifies that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among men, "full of grace and truth"; and of His fulness had they all received, "and grace for grace." "For the law was given by Moses, grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." (John 1:14-17.)
     The Divine will is the same from age to age. But the human understanding is never the same. Sometimes it can perceive the will of God more fully; at other times it is blinded and uncomprehending. Through Moses the Lord's will was revealed in the form of law, as commands from Israel's celestial King, whose majesty and power inspired fear and obedience. Not so was that same will proclaimed by the incarnate Lord. It was then restated in words and actions which rarely stimulated fear or emphasized the Divine majesty of Him who announced it. It awakened love rather than fear, and conviction, faith, rather than enforced obedience.
     And in His Second Advent, the ancient law, the message of salvation, comes to us neither as at Sinai or at Galilee; but it is stated in the Heavenly Doctrine as a fact and an existing circumstance. It does not cause men to tremble as did the thunders of Sinai; nor does it persuade by miracles seen by the outer senses. It only appeals by its inward truth, appeals to the calm and freed reason and to the humbled heart, because the Lord is seen present within the Doctrine as the only possible truth and the only possible salvation.
     Salvation of the rational soul comes not from fear and trembling, nor from a persuaded faith; yet these pave the way for a state to which the Lord may come as grace and truth. To every child the Lord comes first as authority, as Divine law, demanding implicit obedience, impelling holy fear and awe; and this is of order, to fill a need of childhood,-a need not to be neglected. And to every youth, the first apprehension of spiritual truth comes as a persuasion, a reflection of the faith of adults. This order of development is inevitable. To each age the Divine will comes clothed in the garments of man's experience; and each age comes to see that What sufficed once will no longer endure or meet up to the needs of advancing states. The will to obey cannot be sustained unless a new understanding is constantly in process of formation.

51



     This is the reason man needs grace-grace to understand. This is the reason why the apostles usually closed their epistles and addresses with the benediction,-that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with the church. Without that Divine grace, there is nothing of life in the church.
     But what is this "grace," this Divine "favor"? "In general, Divine grace is all that is given from the Lord. And as all that is so given has relation to faith and love, and faith is the affection of truth from good, this is meant in particular by Divine grace." "To those in the spiritual kingdom it is granted by the Lord to be in the affection of truth for the sake of truth; and this Divine is what is called grace; . . . nor is there any other Divine grace with man, spirit or angel, than to be affected by truth because it is truth, since in that affection there is heaven and blessedness for them." (A. E. 22.)
     It is said that there is "no other Divine grace with man, spirit or angel." For man, from his proprium, would like to believe that there is some other saving grace-some other way of receiving the Lord's blessing. In the Christian Church this caused the spread of the many false doctrines, and especially the thought that almighty God could save anyone whom He appointed to salvation. God could bestow His grace upon anyone, however sinful, and resistlessly lead him to heaven. It was admitted that, before the advent of Christ, men were under the yoke of the law, and that the Old Testament was a covenant of obedience-when men were rewarded according to the works of the law. But since the death of Christ, they said, it was different. Now salvation did not depend on the observance of the commandments of the Decalogue, which was indeed impossible to man; but now men were released from the law by grace; for the law was given by Moses, the dispensation of grace began with Jesus Christ. And could not Christ bestow grace on anyone-grace to have the saving and justifying faith? Was not the giving of this grace a purely Divine act, with which man had nothing to do?
     With many this belief that the power or grace to believe in Christ, and by this faith alone to be saved, came to its logical conclusion in the profane idea that God arbitrarily predestined certain men to heaven, and others to hell. This belief absolved men from any spiritual initiative-explained to them, in their moods of spiritual defeat, that they were merely pawns of circumstance.

52


And although the crude dogma of predestination, once seen by Swedenborg as the fiery flying hydra that threatened to corrupt the church of Christ, has lost much of its persuasive power in the so-called "enlightened" centuries, yet throughout the world it still raises its many heads in the various fields of human thought and life, showing itself as pseudo-scientific theories of determinism, and of eugenics, and education, and leering at us wherever there is a fatalistic indifference to injustice and suffering and bloodshed, a callous bowing to the apparently omnipotent gods of self-interest and expediency, or where there is a denial that there is any observable law of right and wrong effective today, or any grace but the sanction of circumstance.
     And though the dogma of predestination-with its profane idea of God as aloof from a universe which He created for His own glory only-is condemned and detested within the New Church, still its paralyzing poison-spheres invade the lonely hours of our temptations. Then the spirits of the dragonistic crew instil the despair that we are not free to overcome the obstacles of hereditary and actual evils, that we are unable to find salvation in a life according to spiritual precepts without a sacrifice of all that makes life valuable to us. And the baneful seeds of predestination are then implanted in our minds,-the suggestions, on the one hand, that our neglects and our lack of restraint, our evils of commission or desire, are excusable as beyond our power to resist, and that our efforts are of no use; or, on the opposite hand, that the Divine grace has in some manner been permanently transcribed into us,-a belief which breeds the false comfort of spiritual self-satisfaction and the phantasies of hypocrisy, and makes us forget that the influx of the Lord, and the passing of His Spirit, is never stationary, but is with every man according to reception from moment to moment.
     There is no other Divine grace with man, spirit or angel, than to be affected or changed by truth, for in this lies heaven and the power and mode of salvation. And the truth that is meant is the truth which with grace "came through Jesus Christ."
     Natural truth can affect even the evil with delight; natural truth can evoke interest and pleasure with the sensual. Children-not as yet regenerated-have an avid affection of natural truth. But the truth which came by Jesus Christ was spiritual truth, which formerly could not be seen in a natural manner, or enlighten the natural man. (T. C. R. 109.)

53


Through the redemption wrought by the Lord at His Advent, He instituted a new order in the spiritual world, by which He gives to all men the faculty of responding with delight to spiritual truth,-the faculty to be affected with a love born from spiritual truth.
     But this faculty is not felt as man's, unless he be in a state to exercise it of his own consent, and thus not until he comes into the freedom of adult thinking. The Lord gives His grace to be with all. But it must be accepted by man, if it is to operate its fruits, its spiritual blessings. There are times-even with those who are being led towards heaven-when spiritual truth is undelightful, when man is averted from heaven. And at such periods there must be a return, a judgment within the man, a building up of a new state of preparedness for reception. Temptations and tribulations then must come, to bend man's affections and break his pride and self-sufficiency, until he can again "walk humbly with his God."
     This return, this preparation, means also a retracing of the building of his entire mind. He must become a child again,-a child "out of grace" who must listen to the commandments of the law given through Moses in awe and repentant fear. He must be moved by the miracles of the Gospel story, and have rekindled in him the historical faith built up in youth. He must open his thought to the acceptance of the light from heaven which, from the pages of the Heavenly Doctrine, streams out upon his restored freedom of reason. And then he can see, and reflect, and perceive what the spirit of truth may convey to him in his renewed state, and finally bow his head in the acknowledgment that "the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ" is the only living gift which can vivify the church.
     It may be observed that the public worship of the church follows this order of a return to "grace." Its ritual builds up-from a confession of sins and a hearing of the law, through the Gospel and the Doctrine-a preparation for spiritual enlightenment, and for the final reception of the Divine "grace." And this ritual is not meant, and does not operate, merely as an external representation, but as a means by which the Lord, present in the church in His Divine Human, may effect that which it represents, and to restore us continually into the order of His grace.

54



     The Divine benediction is transmitted through the person of the priest; yet not through his person, but through his office. As in the case of Balaam and David, even an unregenerated priest may effectually transmit the Divine blessing; for this touches only his office and its representation. "The ecclesiastical order on earth administers those things which are of the priesthood with the Lord, that is, which are of His love, thus also those which are of benediction." (C. L. 308.) The priest acts, not from himself, nor from personal favor, but acts according to the order of the church, and in the name of the Lord; and in so doing he represents, not himself, but the Lord. Indeed, the priestly representation shifts. In his prayers, he represents the congregation of the church, whom he then leads. In his reading of the Word, and in blessing in the name of the Lord, he represents the Lord.
     This change in representation is not unique to the priest, but attaches to every solemn office, human or angelic. And in the chapter of our text it is especially noticeable in the case of the angel who showed to John the Holy City, and then, inspired by the Lord, said in His name: "Behold, I come quickly. . . ." "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. . . ." "I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches."
     Yet when John, overcome with awe, fell at his feet to worship him, he said, "See thou do it not. Worship God!" "I am . . . of thy brethren the prophets." The angel then represented the heavens, and thus the church in the heavens, even as John represented the church on earth. And in this chapter-the final in the New Testament-it was of need to represent, not only the Lord, but also the church. For this last chapter describes the heavenly marriage,-the conjunction of the Lord with the church, which is the end and purpose of the Word, involved in all things thereof, and now openly manifested as the Apocalypse closes: "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. . . . He which testifieth these things saith, Surely, I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus."
     For when the preparations are completed, and the "bride" is adorned for her husband, there is no delay in the conjunction of the Lord with His church. "Surely," He says, "I come quickly."

55



     He comes, not in the form of any ritual words of grace, with magical power to absolve men from obedience to the laws of life. But He comes, then, in actual fact, with an influx of spiritual power, comes to lift men out of themselves into the secret currents of His uses, to give them His blessing,-to cause them to respond with delight to His mercies, ever more recognized; that the church may be held within the power of His salvation, and that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ may be with all. Amen.

     LESSONS: Deuteronomy 33. Revelation 22:6-21. T. C. R. 505.
     MUSIC. Liturgy, pages 633, 595, 621, 673.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 10, 162.
FAITHFULNESS 1938

FAITHFULNESS        GEORGE DE CHARMS       1938

     A Memorial Address for Bishop N. D. Pendleton.

     (Delivered at the Funeral Service, December 31, 1937.)

     "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." (Revelation 2:10.)

     To be faithful unto death,-faithful to that which he knows or believes to be the truth,-nothing less, and nothing more than this, the Lord requires of every man. Such faithfulness, in its essence, is innocence of heart. It is the will to be led by the truth, that is, by the Lord, who is Truth Itself. "He who knoweth the secrets of the heart" judgeth not from appearance, but according to the inmost will; for this is the man himself. Where there is innocence of heart, the Lord can protect from evil, in spite of ignorance and error. So far as man is willing, the Lord has power to lead him gradually toward the light,-toward spiritual intelligence and wisdom, and in the end to bless him with an everlasting use in heaven.
     Yet faithfulness always involves temptation. The Lord guards the innocent against every evil that would injure or destroy their spiritual life. But he does not remove temptations, for these are the necessary means by which the evils of man's proprial nature are overcome, that spiritual life may be given.

56


Truth lays bare these evils, that their destructive quality may be recognized. And for this reason, in the degree that truth is known, in the degree that man is faithful to it, the conflict of temptation becomes more severe. Nor does the Lord withdraw man from it until the innate love of evil is dead within him. It is until this death that faithfulness is required,-a death rarely, if ever, experienced in the natural world; but, if the conflict is maintained on earth, it is effected at last in the world of spirits in final preparation for heaven. Since evils cannot be removed without this conflict, the Lord permits the sufferings of temptation for the sake of the end in view, which is salvation. Even the most severe temptations are but like the weeping that "endureth for a night," to be followed by the joy of an eternal day. Wherefore it is said, ''Fear none of those things that thou shalt suffer. . . . Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."
     It is remarkable that Bishop Pendleton should have chosen this text for the sermon on which he was working at the time when he was suddenly seized with his last illness. That he did so, shows the trend of his thought, unconsciously directed by the Lord in preparation for his transition to the spiritual world. But it also reveals the spirit of the man, and vividly calls to our mind the characteristic quality for which, above all else, we loved him. His life was one of complete devotion to the Divine Truth of the Heavenly Doctrine. To know, interiorly to understand, and faithfully to interpret that Truth was his delight. His only fear was lest in some way he should unwittingly betray the trust that Truth imposed upon him. His steadfast purpose and endeavor was to be faithful in all things to its implied responsibilities. In this we see the essence of his character, and the quality that fitted him to be a good shepherd of the sheep. The Lord alone is the Divine Shepherd; but he leads the flock in part by means of men who are faithful to the Truth. Bishop Pendleton was a true leader because he placed himself under the government of the Divine Law. By virtue of this he became a responsive instrument in the hands of the Lord for the performance of a great and lasting use to the Church. To love him for this is not to love him from person, but to love the use which he embodied and personified.
     We cannot gauge the full significance of that use. It extends far beyond the limited horizon of our vision.

57


It will live on in that which he accomplished,-in many things the significance of which is not now realized, but which will yield fruit to be garnered by coming generations. The teachings that molded the minds of those who studied under him, preserved in print and manuscript, will profoundly influence the future scholarship of the Church in more ways than we can now foresee. And above all, the work he here began will continue, with untold increase of power and effectiveness, in that Society of the Academy in the other world where he will find his eternal home, and from which especially the Church on earth receives spiritual strength and inspiration. This is meant by the saying, concerning those who die in the Lord, that even as they rest from the labors of regeneration, "their works do follow them."
     This much, however, we know: He was a strong leader, an able administrator, a wise counselor, and a kind, deeply understanding friend, who has found a lasting place in the hearts of his people. He was raised up in the Providence of the Lord to guide the Church through a difficult period of its history,-a period when changes were taking place with unprecedented rapidity, both in the Church and in the world. To meet the needs of the time, he was endowed, not only with a keen insight of that Truth which abides ever unchanged above the shifting states of men, but at the same time with a practical wisdom in the application of that truth to new conditions as they arose. His form of mind was not merely contemplative, but preeminently executive. He was gifted in marked degree with the ability to organize the uses entrusted to his care. All who came to know him intimately felt the power of his personality,-a power habitually restrained by a deep concern for the freedom of others. But when the responsibilities of his office were involved, or when matters of conviction were at stake, no pressure of circumstance or of public opinion could move him from his chosen course. In this he possessed an essential quality of leadership.
     In the Heavenly Doctrine, Bishop Pendleton saw the living God, the glorified Human of the Lord. He saw that the life of the Church depends upon its vision of the Lord, perpetually renewed. As a teaching Minister, all his faculties were centered upon the task of holding this vision before the Church through every changing state. As a governor, it was his fixed desire that the Truth of the Writings alone should rule, and thus that the Lord Himself should guide the Church.

58


Faithfulness to this ideal, above all else, characterized his episcopal administration.
     Taking office in the midst of a serious controversy, he appealed at once to the Writings themselves as a common ground of unity. He called upon the Church to seek refuge from the storm in the shadow of that Rock which is "higher than we." His faith in the power of the Divine Truth to resolve the intellectual differences of men was the prime factor, under Providence, in a gradual restoration of order and of freedom. This same faithfulness to Revelation remained His guiding star through the years that followed,-years of prosperity and constructive building,-years of financial stress, calling for severe retrenchment,-years of renewed spiritual conflict and temptation.
     Knowing how small the Church is as yet,-how widely scattered, how beset by opposing forces that constitute a never-ceasing danger to its life,-he watched over it, in all its varying states, with tender solicitude. He was the first to see a threatened peril, and to warn against it. He willingly took the burdens of the Church upon himself. Its trials and temptations became his own. And when he realized that his failing strength was no longer equal to the weight of anxiety and care which he regarded as the sacred duty of his office, he laid aside his responsibility, firm in the belief that the Lord would protect His Church. Nothing is more indicative of his character than the fact that he did this in the midst of controversy, while the issue still hung in the balance. To do so was contrary to every prompting of his nature. It called for greater internal strength, for greater faith in the Lord and in the power of His Word, than continuing his leadership. He knew the time of his retirement could readily be misinterpreted. He knew that it involved placing upon others a burden he would fain have borne himself. But the only thing that mattered to him was the conviction that it was best for the Church,-the Church to which, above all things, he must be faithful, even to the end.
     And now, to our human sight, his work on earth is finished. He has been called to the place prepared for him from the foundation of the world. The hidden end of peace and happiness, for the sake of which the Lord permitted him to undergo trial and temptation, may now be unfolded before him, that he may enter into the joy of his Lord.

59


Deeply the whole Church will miss him,-will miss his visible presence among us, with its sustaining strength. But we can only rejoice with him in the renewal of life and the full power of use upon which he is now entering. If we could but see into that other world, and share the joy of the angels in his resurrection, we would realize that he has not in fact departed from us. To do this is not permitted. Yet a blessed knowledge of the delights that await him has been given, in the Lord's mercy, to bring us consolation. If we look, even as he did, to the Writings for help and for enlightenment, we cannot but feel and know that his work on earth is not ended. So close is the interdependence of the two worlds, that the use upon which he is to enter,-the eternal use for which his life on earth was but a preparation,-is a ruse, not only to the Church in heaven, but also to the Church on earth. For these two, in the sight of the Lord, are one. And in the performance of that use, both there and here, the spirit of faithfulness to the Lord in His Second Coming will continue to go forth in thought, word, and deed, as the abiding quality of his life.
     We pray that this spirit of our beloved friend and honored leader may live in us. We pray that it may kindle an answering flame in the hearts of all who belong to the Church. In the measure that this is so, the supreme end for which he labored will be achieved. The Church will be protected through every storm. It will conquer in every temptation. It will be granted intelligence and wisdom to meet the needs of every advancing state. Remaining true to the precepts of its Revelation, it will retain the merciful leading of the Lord, whose promise has been given: "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." Amen.

     LESSONS: Psalm 23. Revelation 14:1-5, 12-13 and 7:14-17. A. E. 899a.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 477, 760, 728.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 191, 204.
NEW CHURCH SERMONS 1938

NEW CHURCH SERMONS              1938

     A pamphlet published monthly, from October to June inclusive, by the General Church of the New Jerusalem. Contents: Sermons and other material suitable for individual reading, family worship, and missionary purposes, reprinted from New Church Life. Sent free of charge on application to Mr. H. Hyatt, Treasurer, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

60


BISHOP N. D. PENDLETON 1938

BISHOP N. D. PENDLETON       W. B. C       1938

     A FIFTY-YEAR MINISTRY-1887-1937.

     By his preaching and teaching until a few days before his passing to the spiritual world on December 29, 1937, Bishop Pendleton rounded out a span of fifty years of active service in the uses of the priesthood of the New Church. It was in the year 1887, while he was a student in the Academy of the New Church at Philadelphia, that he spent the Summer ministering to a group of New Church people in Valdosta, Georgia; and the following year he was similarly engaged in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania. He began his studies in the Academy in 1883 at the age of eighteen, and was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Theology on June 18, 1889, reading as his graduation essay a paper on "The Priesthood." He was ordained on the previous Sunday, June 16, 1889. During the Summer of that year, he was one of a company of young men who went on a bicycle tour of England, Scotland and the Continent.
     On his return, he went to Chicago as assistant to the Rev. E. C. Bostock, pastor of the Immanuel Church; and when Mr. Bostock removed to England in 1891, Mr. Pendleton succeeded him, being ordained into the Second Degree of the Priesthood on March 2, 1891, and formally installed as pastor on February 28, 1892. After the move to Glenview in 1894-5, he also continued his ministrations to the members remaining in Chicago. In 1897, he took a leading part in the organization of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and under the new government was unanimously re-elected pastor of the Immanuel Church (April 16, 1897). Six years later, in 1903, he accepted a call to the pastorate of the Pittsburgh Society, and there, on October 27, 1912, he was ordained into the Third Degree of the Priesthood. On February 1, 1914, he resigned as pastor in Pittsburgh to accept a call to Bryn Athyn to assist Bishop W. F. Pendleton in the work of the General Church, the Theological School of the Academy, and the Bryn Athyn Society.

61



     [Photo of Bishop N. D. Pendleton at Indian Lake, New York, August 1937.]

62




     On June 25, 1914, Bishop N. D. Pendleton was made Assistant Bishop of the General Church; on June 22, 1915, he became Acting Bishop upon the retirement of Bishop W. F. Pendleton; and at the Ninth General Assembly, June 15, 1916, he was elected Bishop of the General Church. He then became, ex-offico, pastor of the Bryn Athyn Society, and on January 1, 1917, took full pastoral charge.
     Meanwhile, on June 15, 1914, he was chosen President of the Academy of the New Church, and began a thorough reorganization of the Schools, bringing them to the form under which they operate today. In addition to his administrative duties in the Academy, for over twenty years he gave instruction in the Doctrine of the Lord and the Doctrine of the Priesthood and Church Government in the Theological School; he also taught Religion in the College, and delivered occasional lectures on Comparative Religions. He retired as President on June 20, 1936, becoming President Emeritus, but continued his teaching to the end of the present term, December 21, 1937.
     Bishop Pendleton, in the pursuance of episcopal ministrations undertook a number of Foreign Journeys. In 1913, as representative of the Bishop, he presided at the British Assembly. In 1914, as Assistant Bishop, he visited centers of the General Church in Europe. In 1921 and 1924, he again presided at the meetings of the British Assembly, and in 1928 at the Thirteenth General Assembly in London. On these occasions he also visited centers of the General Church on the Continent. In 1919, going and returning by way of England, he visited South Africa, receiving the Durban Society into the General Church, visiting centers of the Native Mission, and ordaining a number of Native Ministers. Again, in 1929, he went to South Africa, and presided at the First South African Assembly and the First General Assembly of the South African Mission.
     On June 21, 1936, after twenty years of devoted labor in the arduous duties of his function as Bishop of the General Church, he announced his retirement, and became Bishop Emeritus.
     An invaluable heritage has been left to the Church in the form of his published writings, which have appeared in NEW CHURCH LIFE and other journals during a period of forty-nine years, the first being a short article, entitled "That Love is Life, and that Life is Eternal." (1888, p. 57.) Here we find a foretaste of that clarity and originality of style in which he clothed a keenly perceptive exposition of the Heavenly Doctrines,-as in his Addresses to seven General Assemblies and many District Assemblies, his doctrinal articles on a wide range of subjects, and his sermons, which were of a signally moving and exalted character.

63


In 1921, a group of Addresses appeared in pamphlet form under the title of "The Lord and His Kingdom." And a number of notable papers from his pen are preserved in the pages of the JOURNAL OF EDUCATION and THE BULLETIN OF THE SONS OF THE ACADEMY. (A Bibliography of his Addresses, Papers, Articles, and Sermons, has been prepared by the Rev. William Whitehead.)

     Nathaniel Dandridge Pendleton was born in Lowndes County, Georgia, on February 19, 1865, the son of Philip Coleman Pendleton and Catherine Sarah Melissa Tebeau Pendleton. In 1878, at the age of thirteen, he went to live with his brother, the Rev. W. F. Pendleton, in Chicago, and from there, in 1883, he went to Philadelphia to study for the ministry.
     On April 8, 1890, at Chicago, Ill., he married Cornelia Vosburg who died in 1891. Their daughter, Ora, survives her father.
     On August 30, 1899, at Huntingdon Valley, Pa., he married Beatrice Childs, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Walter C. Childs. Mrs. Pendleton survives him, together with their five children and ten grandchildren; also his brother, Louis B. Pendleton, the author.
     The five children, now adult, are: Philip Childs; Marion Childs (Mrs. Alan Pendleton); Jean Lowrie (Mrs. Samuel Croft II); Willard Dandridge; and Nancy Tebeau.

     The above biographical sketch will serve to recall the outlines of Bishop Pendleton's distinguished career, and we trust that ere long a complete and fitting biography will be written.
     W. B. C.

64


HABITS 1938

HABITS       ELDRIC S. KLEIN       1938

     (At the Opening Exercises of the Academy Schools, September 15, 1937.)

     It has been customary on this occasion, at the beginning of a new school-year, for a member of the faculty to extend to the student body the welcome of the Academy, and to discuss some of the ideals of New Church education as a fitting introduction to the work of the coming year. Accordingly, these remarks are specifically addressed to the students.
     It is because of our common knowledge that the Lord has made His Second Coming in the Writings that we are here today. It was in order that coming generations might be better prepared to make this knowledge a living reality in their hearts that this school was founded. It is in order that you may learn to turn to the Writings as to Divinely revealed truth, and may learn to guide your lives thereby, that you are here today. Perhaps you have heard this so often that you have come to accept it as a purely abstract truth without reflecting upon its present significance to you.
     In an effort to illustrate how the primary purpose of New Church education may have present and definite bearing on your own lives during the coming year, I shall venture to consider, in relation to our essential purpose, a few aspects of the teaching in the Arcana Celestia, no. 3603, which was read as our Second Lesson this morning, and which explains the apparent priority of truth, although good is first in end. In the concluding section of the number, there is mention of both the voluntary or conscious mind and the involuntary or unconscious mind, and we are told that " the involuntary is two-fold, one part being the hereditary derived from the father and mother, the other being that which inflows through heaven from the Lord."
     "As man grows up," we read, "then that which he has hereditarily from his parents manifests itself more and more, if he be such as not to suffer himself to be regenerated, for thence he takes to himself evils, and makes them his own, or proper to him; but the involuntary which is from the Lord through heaven manifests itself in adult age with those who are regenerated, and in the meantime it has disposed and governed all and single things of their thought and also of their will, although it had not appeared." (A. C. 3603:5.)

65



     And further we are told in the Arcana that "hereditary evil with everyone derives its origin from parents, and from the parents' parents, or grandfathers and great-grandfathers successively. Every evil which they have procured to themselves by actual life, so as to render it as it were natural by frequent use or habit, descends by derivation into their children, and becomes in them hereditary, together with that which was implanted in parents from their grand-fathers and great-grandfathers, When a man is regenerated, the hereditary evil which has been inrooted by derivation from proximate parents is extirpated, but it remains with those who are not regenerated or in a capacity of being regenerated." (A. C. 4317:4.)
     Notice especially the words "frequent use or habit." It is the repeated act, the recurring affection, the manlier of thought, which become habitual, and as it were second nature, with us. To illustrate: The evil of envy may become so ingrained as to be an habitual attitude of mind, so much so as to be transmitted as a tendency in descendants; but conscious striving against this tendency makes it possible for influx from the Lord, without appearing, to dispose and govern all and single things of one's thought and will in respect to this matter, so that an habitual attitude of good-will or charity replaces the original attitude of envy.
     The avoidance of a bad habit or the acquisition of a good one begins with a conscious understanding of the nature of the habit,-the end served by its formation or elimination. Knowledge is essential to such a conscious understanding; but the more firmly a habit is established, the less it concerns the voluntary or conscious mind, and the more it is ingrained in the involuntary or unconscious mind-that is, the more it tends to become what is called "second nature" and a permanent part of the man after death. Bishop W. F. Pendleton wrote: "It is our habits, good or evil, that go with us into the other life. The things that are in the memory alone, and have not passed into will and act, do not remain after death. Our habits of life alone stay with us, and continue with us, unless a beginning of removal has been made during the life of the body.

66


When a man enters the other world, the habit is the man and he cannot get away from his habits,-from his evil habits, unless he has ceased to love them, has willed to resist them, while still in this world." (Topics from the Writings, p. 110.)
     In the other life, the accustomed limitations of time and space are removed, the external memory becomes dormant, and those factors of our life in this world which foster the ability to reflect no longer operate. Passage into the other world involves the loss of the desire and even the ability to reflect as in this world. So man's mode of thought and action, acquired in this world through his ability to raise his understanding above his will, characterize his conduct in the life to come. Hence the permanence of the choice made in this world, and the inability of a spirit who has made his evils habitual in this world to reform or regenerate in the next.

     II.

     Bad habits have their origin in either the love of self or the love of the world. Without instruction from Revelation, and without the inspiration to action derived from the good of remains, these loves would lead man into evils of every kind; but by means of instruction applied to life, they may be turned to use as properly subservient to love to the Lord and the neighbor.
     In order that man may seek such instruction, the Lord has given him another love, innate in man; and that is the love of knowing. This love, however, is a means to an end. Socrates felt that knowledge by itself was sufficient to lead man to tote happiness. "Virtue is the greatest good, and knowledge is virtue," he said. But in the New Church we are taught that all knowledge which does not become a part of life in thought, will, and act is lost in the other world. For we read:

     "Man, in his first age, knows only by memory the things contained in the Word, and in like manner the things contained in the doctrinals of faith; and he then believes himself to be good when he knows many things therefrom, and can apply them, not to his own life, but to the lives of others. In his second age, when he is more grown up, he is not content to know only by memory the things contained in the Word and in the doctrinals, but he begins at this time to reflect upon them from his own thought; and so much as he superadds thereto from his own thought, this pleases him, and hence he is in an affection of truth from a certain worldly love, which love is also a means of his learning more things that would otherwise have been left unlearned.

67


In his third age he begins to think about use, and to reflect for the sake of use upon what he reads in the Word and imbibes from doctrinals. In the fourth age, or the age of his regeneration, he loves truth for the sake of the good of life, consequently from the good of life." (A. C. 3603:3.)
     Examples are given of the difference between the affection of truth from the love of self and the world and the affection of truth from genuine charity, showing in every case that markedly divergent conclusions result from these distinct affections. One example will suffice here: "When they who are in the affection of truth from the good of genuine charity are instructed that the works of the external man are nothing unless they proceed from the internal man, thus from willing well, they receive it with joy; but they who are in the affection of truth from the love of self and the world commend the works of the external man, but have no concern about the good-will of the internal man; yea, neither do they know that the good-will of the internal man remains after death, and that the works of the external man separate from the internal are dead, and perish." (A. C. 4368:5.)
     Applications of these teachings to specific ages of instruction are also given: "From childhood to adolescence a communication is opened to the interior natural by learning what is becoming, civil, and honest, as well by instruction from parents and masters as by studies; but from adolescence to young manhood a communication is opened between the natural and the rational by learning at that time the truths and goods of civil and moral life, and especially the truths and goods of spiritual life by hearing and reading the Word; but so far as he then imbibes goods by truths, that is, so far as he does the truths which he learns, so far the rational is opened, whereas so far as he does not imbibe goods by truths, or so far as he does not do truths, so far the rational is not opened, but the knowledges remain in the memory, thus as it were out of the house, on the threshold. And so far as he, at this time and in the subsequent age, invalidates these truths and goods, denies and does contrary to them, that is, instead thereof believes falses and practices evils, so far the rational is closed, and also the interior natural." (A. C. 5126:3.)

     These teachings may be illustrated further, if we liken the mind that lives after the death of the body to a garden. In such a garden the hereditary tendencies to bad habits are like the seeds of weeds which may sprout at any time. If we neglect or ignore these weeds, they grow and become established, so that the plants which should form the garden are choked and crowded out. The love of knowing is like a plant which inspires the ability to identify the weeds; and the goods of remains give the desire to eliminate the weeds when identified. It is true that, in some cases, the love of knowing may lead the mind to a complete absorption in the acquisition of knowledge without reflection upon its applications to spiritual use, and then it is like a plant which has born its fruit, but by continuing to grow menaces other plants.

68



     Then there are those firstfruits of the love of knowing,-those knowledges of the truth which we can so easily apply, not to our own lives, but to the lives of others. Have you ever noticed how easy that application is, especially in regard to persons or customs you dislike! Not that you should refrain from making the application; but it is only right that, when you have made it, you should avoid the exhilarating self-satisfaction which manifests itself in irresponsible criticism and malicious gossip. And you should remember that the real purpose of the truths which enable you to see so clearly is to give you some insight in regard to yourself,-an insight which may reveal a startling array of habits in every stage of formation and growth.

     III.

     Now because it is probable that most of these habits have their origin in the love of self, and because the love of self is a dominant love in the world around us, you will have to deal with a common tendency to condone or even foster the habits which Revelation teaches should be removed.
     Not so many years ago the Pope was asked to name the five great plagues affecting humanity, and he listed them in this order: (1) The unprecedented challenge to authority; (2) The unprecedented hatred between man and man; (3) The abnormal aversion to work; (4) The excessive thirst for pleasure; and (5) Gross materialism, which denies the reality of the spiritual life. You will agree that the Pope displayed great insight in his selection, for all these are common manifestations of the love of self. You may not agree with the order in which he listed these plagues, but you will have to admit their prevalence in the world today, on which account they may exert a powerful influence in molding your own life, unless you learn to recognize and oppose them.
     It would not be difficult to make a far more detailed and extensive list of plagues, with particular reference to the life of the individual. The mere enumeration of a few should be sufficient here: Repeated acts, recurring affections, and attitudes of mind, may establish habits of deceit, of stealing (in its more obscure ramifications), of envy, revenge, self-justification, carelessness, and general selfish disregard for the comfort and happiness of others.

69



     There are three ways, especially, in which your formal education may help you in dealing with such habits. First, by presenting civil, moral and spiritual truth for your consideration; second, in the applications of such teachings during the performance of any task under supervision; and, third, the use which you make of what you learn for yourself and apply to your own life, in freedom. Enough has already been said about the first of these three. The second and third merge into one another, and may be briefly illustrated.
     In every subject that you study, there is an ideal of what is correct, and there are definite laws for the attainment of that ideal. The love of knowing will lead you toward the goal. Your teachers will prepare the steps, so that the ascent will not be impossibly difficult. Yet each step will require effort on your part; and effort of that kind will be apt to make the love of self in you acutely uncomfortable and even rebellious. In its subtle way, it may point out to you that the step is not only difficult, but probably useless; or it may try to lull you into a comfortable contentment with an effort far short of your capabilities, whispering: "That's good enough; that will get by!" Or, less frequently, that love may accept your ascent as inevitable, and may urge you on for the sake of the honor to be obtained in excelling others, rather than for the sake of any genuine delight in achievement.
     But the love of knowing will, with your consent, give you so clear a vision of the ideal in any particular subject, and eventually in your own life, that you yourself will finally be able to detect what is inharmonious, defective, and incomplete in your own efforts. When you detect such flaws, and strive to correct them, as of yourself and without prompting from others, you are preparing for the responsibilities of the third way in which education may help. Before consideration of this third factor, there is need to recall another passage in A. C. 3603: "Good was apparently in the posterior place with man, because it lay intimately concealed in all his affection, not was it able to manifest itself, because there were things outside of it with which it could not agree, namely, vain and empty things, such as the glory of the world and self-glory."

70



     Each one of you now, perhaps consciously as to details, but unconsciously as to their relationship, is forming a picture of the ideal man or woman which you wish eventually to become. In this picture there are many virtues,-honesty, courage, endurance, and others of similar quality,-but also many of those "vain and empty things, such as self-glory and the glory of the world," and things which the world in general regards as good, and which, without reflection, are accepted as such. Or there may be things which are good as means to an end, but have come to be regarded as ends in themselves.
     Now this picture, with both its lights and shadows, will come to determine many of your actions. You will do those things which seem to be harmonious with this ideal; you will avoid things that are not in accord with it. It is quite possible, however, that the mind and heart will become increasingly attracted to those "vain and empty things" in the picture. The man comes to love them, and to strive for them, even at the expense of the other things. The lights and shadows in the picture will then reverse themselves. Sometimes, in Providence, one is denied the fulfillment of his ambitions, to the end that he may pause to reflect, and thus to reconstruct the picture along better and more balanced lines. In any case, the picture will be your picture, because you will have created it in freedom. The ideals it represents will be your ideals, because they will have been chosen in freedom. The actions which you take in accordance with these ideals will be your actions, because they will have been taken in freedom. That is why the picture will also have this remarkable attribute, that although, throughout life, you will see it as remote and in perspective, yet in actuality you will infill it, and become merged with it; for every man is such as is his ruling love.
     Herein lies the importance of those ideals which you have already begun to set for yourself. When you strive to select these ideals, eventually you will find that you are not content with mere knowledges of the things contained in the Word, but that you will reflect upon them, and will add something of your own thought. Yet you should not remain content with the satisfaction you derive from this stage of the process. Remember, that it is further given you to think about uses, and that principles of spiritual use may come increasingly to shape your ideals.

71



     But this discussion began as a reminder to you that you are both the architects and builders of a permanent residence,-the house that you will find waiting for you in the other world. The Academy exists that it may teach you to look to the Lord in His Word for help and guidance in this work. The actual work is your work. No one else can do it for you. You are here to prepare for it, and it is well that you occasionally reflect upon this fact. You are not here solely to acquire knowledges, but also to learn to apply them to life. We shall have fallen short in our common purpose here, if, when you leave this school, your mind is merely a warehouse stocked with knowledges heaped up in neat little piles, gathering dust, and waiting to fulfill a possible future need.
     While it is true that man cannot be regenerated until he is of rational age, this does not mean that one must wait until he is twenty-one years old to apply the truths of Revelation to the elimination of bad habits of thought, will, and act. The overcoming of such habits is an essential step in the formation of the rational mind of the true New Churchman. So the ideals which you now consciously form, especially from reading the Word on your own initiative, are the basis of the ideals in accordance with which you will guide your later life. And even if there be some worldly love in them, this, in Providence, will be subordinated and removed, as you look increasingly toward the spiritual uses of the true New Churchman.
     It is, therefore, especially because each one of you is potentially a true New Church man or woman, that there is happiness in your presence here, not only on the part of your teachers, but also on the part of those who have made it possible for you to come.
FAVORITE AUTHOR 1938

FAVORITE AUTHOR              1938

     Swedenborg records an incident heard and seen in the spiritual world, as follows: "An epistle of Paul, written at the time of his sojourn upon earth, but not published, was read before a group of spirits without any of them knowing that it was by Paul. At first they regarded it as of no account, but when it was disclosed to them that it was one of the Pauline epistles, they regarded it with joy, and adored each and everything in it." (T. C. R. 701:4.)

72


NEW VERSION OF "THE HEAVENLY DOCTRINE." 1938

NEW VERSION OF "THE HEAVENLY DOCTRINE."       Rev. ALFRED ACTON       1938

The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine. By Emanuel Swedenborg. London: Swedenborg Society (Inc.). 16mo; pp. 112; cloth, 1/6, paper, sixpence.
     This volume is published without date, but on its first page we read: "In Commemoration of the 250th Anniversary of the Birth of Emanuel Swedenborg, this work has been published simultaneously in the following languages: Chinese, Czech, Danish, English, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Lettish, Norwegian, Polish, Roumanian, Russian, Sechuana, Serbo-Croatian, Swedish and Tamil."
     In a "Foreword on Emanuel Swedenborg," the Rev. E. A. Sutton, M.A., Principal of the London New Church College, gives a brief sketch of Swedenborg's life. Treating of his Theological Writings, he quotes some forcible passages showing that these Writings are a Divine Revelation, and that in them the Lord has made His Second Coming. Such a straightforward presentation of the claims made by the Writings is especially appropriate in a missionary publication which is to have so wide a circulation, and which, in some cases, will be the first appearance of the Writings in the vernacular.
     The translation is a new one, and the translator, Mr. E. C. Mongredien, informs us in a prefatory note that "while attempting to render the Latin into easy English, strict accuracy has also been the translator's aim" (italics ours). He adds that such technical expressions as "good of love," "proprium," etc., have been "left to give their own message."
     After reading this statement, we approached the translation with pleasurable anticipation-but only to be disappointed.

73


In many cases, indeed, the translation is expressed in "easy English," but in other cases the English is far from easy, even where an accurate translation would have left nothing to be desired. Thus we have the ungrammatical phrase "only that much of faith remains as is," etc. (n. 118), instead of "nothing of faith remains save that which is," etc.; "loving uses and goods, and being affected with joy of heart when one fulfils them," instead of "when one does them" (n. 70); one does not fulfill good.
     We note with satisfaction the retention of such expressions as "proprium," "lumen," etc.; also the translator's successful use of the participle to avoid over-repetition of the word "for," e.g., "it being," instead of "for it is"; and the smoothness sometimes obtained by translating the Latin infinitive as an English participle, and by using the participial form of the present indicative. In this last respect, however, the result is not always happy; as in the sentence, "By the help he gives [to an evil man], he is confirming him in evil" (n. 100), instead of "he confirms him,"-the help may be given only once; also "A man has two faculties, constituting his life" (n. 28), instead of "which make his life"-"constitute" and "make" are not synonymous; flesh and bones constitute the body, but the soul makes it.
     It is not difficult to translate the Writings accurately and also at the same time into fluent English, if only the translator will emancipate himself from certain stilted forms that have become crystallized in the past. In many cases the present translator has done this with marked success; but his desire for fluent English seems at times to have made him forget the matter of "strict accuracy." Thus he has "just as love and faith make heaven, so also do they make the church" (n. 241), instead of "so also love and faith make the church"; "such therefore as his love and faith have been in the world" (n. 227), instead of "as was his love and his faith when he lived in the world"; "all evil and its falsity is in its essence infernal, or from an infernal source" (n. 19), instead of "in its essence all evil and its falsity is infernal, and what is not infernal in its essence is still from an origin thence"; "No one can be regenerated unless he has a knowledge of such things as are of the new life, that is, of spiritual life; and those things are truths that are to be believed" (n. 177), instead of, "The things that are of the new life, that is, of spiritual life, are truths that are to be believed." The translation "charity" (n. 87) for "the good of charity"; and "lead to good of life" (n. 315) for "lead to the good of life, and so to the Lord," are probably unintentional errors.

74



     Such departures from accuracy, whether important or not, are hardly to be expected from a translator who advertizes his "strict accuracy." More serious are the cases where the translator alters Swedenborg's language. Thus he says: [By temptations] "and by successive victories in them" (n. 293), instead of "and then by continual victories"; "reflects upon what the evils are, to which he is prone" (n. 163), for "which are with him"; "men receive into their minds only those things that reach them through the senses" (n. 177), for "man grasps only such things as have presented themselves to his senses"; "scarcely anything is known about them" (n. 193), for "it is hardly known what they are"; [helping an evil man] "increases his ability to do evil to others" (n. 100), for "words hint the means of doing evil to others."
     That the reader may form a fuller estimate of the merits of the present translation, we contrast it with a translation that is more accurate, and slightly briefer:

     PUBLISHED TRANSLATION.

     [The Holy Supper] is the holy of holies of worship (n. 210).
     In every duty, in every employment and in all they do (n. 128).
     Man is born into complete ignorance and must afterwards learn from the outside world everything he needs for the formation of his understanding (n. 249).
     Thinking spiritually is . . . seeing the qualities of things and perceiving what uses they are adapted for, in the abstract, apart from what is material (n. 39).

75



     The genuine sense of the Word is understood by none but those who are enlightened; and only those who are in love to, and faith in, the Lord are enlightened (n. 253).
     All who do this, are looking upon the reward and not the good, as the delightful thing, and are placing their delight there (n. 150).
     Those who attribute honor to themselves . . . are setting honor and gain above the salvation of souls, which it is their duty to be caring for (n. 317).
     No one can be coerced into believing contrary to what he has from his heart come to regard as true (n. 318). But in proportion as any one is in the love of self, in the same proportion he is being led by himself, and in so far as he is being led by himself, he is being led by his proprium, and a man's proprium is only evil (n. 70).
     [The evil] also are being continually lifted up by the Lord, though in their case, not led to good, but only turned away from falling into the worst evils; towards these they are continually tending of themselves, in every effort they make (n. 163).
     The Word cannot be seen in the letter except by means of doctrine . . . ; the sense of its letter is accommodated to the apprehension of men, even of simple men; they need doctrine from the Word, therefore, as a lamp (n. 254).
     There must be people in authority, therefore, whose duty it is to maintain the whole mass of people in order and they must be well acquainted with law, judicious and God-fearing. There must also be order amongst those in authority, lest any of them, either to suit their own pleasure or . . . . This is guarded against by their being organized, with some put in authority over the others (n. 313).
     From all this, then, it is evident firstly, that a life of piety is only efficacious and accepted by the Lord, to the extent that a life of charity is conjoined to it; for the life of charity is primary, and upon its quality depends the quality of the life of piety. Secondly, that a holy external is only efficacious and accepted by the Lord, to the extent that it proceeds from a holy internal, for upon the quality of this, depends the quality of the other. And, thirdly [etc.], n. 128. The reason the evil are successful in their schemes, is because it is of Divine Order that every one, in what they [sic] do, should act from their reason, and from freedom. Unless, therefore, it is left to a man to act in accordance with his reason and from freedom, and so, unless the plans he thus forms are successful, he could by no means be disposed for the reception of life eternal, for this is ingrafted when a man is in freedom and his reason clear. For the fact is, no one can be coerced into good, because what is coerced, not being of the man himself, does not become part of him. That only is of the man himself which is done from his freedom and in accordance with his reason, and that is done from freedom which is done from will or love; it is will or love, that is the man himself. Even if a man were coerced into doing something he did not wish, he would always in his own mind, be inclined towards what he did wish; besides every one craves what is forbidden, the underlying cause of which is that he craves freedom (n. 271).

76




     MORE ACCURATE TRANSLATION.

     [The Holy Supper] is the most holy thing of worship.
     In every function, in every business, and in every work.
     The published translation amounts almost to tautology, whereas Swedenborg's words clearly suggest professional, business, and manual work.
Man is born into complete ignorance, and thus it is from things in the world that he must learn all that by which he shall form his understanding.
     To think spiritually is . . . to see the qualities of things, and to perceive their affections abstractly from matter.
     No others understand the genuine sense of the Word save those who are enlightened, and they only are enlightened who are in love to the Lord and faith in Him.
     They who do this look for and place their delight in the reward and not the good.
     Those who attribute honor to themselves . . . set honor and gain above the salvation of souls which should be their care.
     No one can be forced to a belief that is contrary to what he has thought from his heart to be true.
     But so far as one is in the love of self, he is led by himself, and so far as he is led by himself, he is led by his proprium, and man's proprium is nothing but evil.
     [The evil] also are being continually lifted up by the Lord; but they are thus withdrawn only lest they fall into the most grievous evils, to which themselves they tend with all their might.
     The Word in the letter can be comprehended only by means of doctrine . . . ; the sense of its letter is accommodated to the comprehension of men, even the simple, and therefore doctrine from the Word will serve them as a lamp.
     There must therefore be governors who shall hold assemblies of men in order; and they must he skilled in the law, wise and God-fearing. Among the governors also there must be order, lest any of them from caprice or . . . .     This is guarded against when there are superior and inferior governors among whom is subordination.
     From this it is now evident that a life of piety is of avail, and is acceptable to the Lord, only so far as the life of charity is conjoined to it; for the latter is the primary life, and on it depends the quality of the former. Moreover, that a holy external is of avail, and is acceptable to the Lord, only so far as it proceeds from a holy internal, for as the latter is, such is the former. And furthermore [etc.].
     The reason why the evil succeed according to their plans, is because it is of Divine order that every man shall do what he does from reason, and also from freedom. Therefore, unless man were left to act from freedom according to his reason, and thus, unless also the resultant plans were to succeed, he could by no means be disposed for the reception of life eternal, this life being insinuated when man is in freedom and his reason enlightened. For no one can be forced to good, since nothing that is forced can remain, inasmuch as it is not the man's own. That becomes man's own which is done from freedom according to his reason, and that is done from freedom which is done from will or love, and will or love is the man himself. Were man forced to that which he does not will, he would be ever turning with his mind to that which he does will. Moreover, every one strives after what is forbidden, and this for the underlying reason that he strives after freedom.

77




     Here, instead of leaving the word affection "to give its own message," the translator substitutes an arbitrary interpretation.
     What is involved here is the true meaning of the text. The printed translation says that the sense of the letter of the Word is accommodated to the apprehension even of the simple, and that therefore they need doctrine from the Word as a lamp. But why therefore? The original language, however, implies that because the sense of the letter of the Word is accommodated to man's apprehension, therefore he can form doctrine therefrom, and this will serve him as a lamp.
     "Men" in authority might be admissible, but hardly "people." A petty officer is among those in authority, but one would hardly say that it is his duty "to maintain the whole mass of people in order." Furthermore, a man may be "well acquainted with law" and yet not "skilled in the law"; "judicious" and not yet "wise." Nor can the requirements of "easy English" be pleaded in justification of these aberrations from "strict accuracy."
     Among the many points in the above citation that are open to criticism, we note particularly the meaningless phrase, "What is coerced, not being of the man himself, does not become part of him." The meaning of the Latin is clear.
     We have dwelt at some length on the faults and inaccuracies of the new translation, because we wish thereby to emphasize our protest against what seems to be the growing practice of loose translation under the plea of smooth English. The earlier translations were, on the whole, accurate, if not always couched in easy English. But for some years back there has been a growing tendency so greatly to fix the attention on style that the matter of "strict accuracy" has seemed a secondary consideration; and, curiously enough, not infrequently the result has been the sacrifice of that fluent English which accuracy would have secured. It seems, at times, as though the translators feel they must change Swedenborg. Surely those Writings, in which, as so clearly pointed out by Mr. Sutton, the Lord has made His Second Coming are deserving of better treatment. There is a wide field in which translators may legitimately differ in their renditions, depending on their taste, their literary skill, and their nice knowledge of the Latin text, but the points we have noted in the present review do not come within this field.
     We regret the more that we cannot praise the present translation, since the publishers have not spared expense in making this volume, with its fine printing and clear type, a worthy memorial in celebration of the 250th anniversary of Swedenborg's birth.


     Publications reviewed in our pages may be ordered through the Academy Book Room or consulted in the Academy Library.

78


GLEANINGS FROM NEW CHURCH HISTORY 1938

GLEANINGS FROM NEW CHURCH HISTORY       Editor       1938


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office a Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly By
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.
Editor               Rev. W. B. Caldwell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager          Mr. H. Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address and business communications should be sent to the Business Manager.
     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$3.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single Copy, 30 cents.
     EARLIEST PERIODICALS.

     It was not until the year 1790, or eighteen years after the death of Emanuel Swedenborg (1772), that New Churchmen in London, where the first public meeting had been held on December 5, 1782, undertook to extend a knowledge of the Heavenly Doctrines through the medium of a monthly magazine. Then, in the course of three years-1790-1792-no less than three periodicals of the kind were launched, enjoyed brief careers, and were discontinued for lack of "sufficient encouragement." Sets of all three are preserved in the Academy Library, and a brief account of them will be of interest to the present-day New Churchman.

     I.

The New Jerusalem Magazine, or a Treasury of Celestial, Spiritual, and Natural, Knowledge: By Several Members of the London Universal Society for Promotion of the New Church. (To be continued Monthly.)
     Only six monthly numbers appeared,-January to June, 1790,-and an Appendix in May, 1791.

79


The Editor-in-Chief was Mr. Henry Servante, Secretary of the London New-Jerusalem Society, and the "Design" or Statement of Purpose in the opening number promised many useful features. Among the contents were Letters by Swedenborg and others; an English translation of Conjugial Love, nos. 1-54; and two steel engravings illustrating the Memorable Relations, Cidaris erit Africo, and Septem Uxores in Rosario. (C. L. nos. 114, 294.)
     In addition, the numbers contain selections of Sacred Music, entitled "New Psalmody for the New Church," by F. H. Barthelemon, comprising portions of the first four Psalms, set to music in the form of a Double Chant; also a setting of "Glory to God in the Highest," by the same composer. Of this feature the Design says: "Mr. Barthelemon, whose great abilities in sacred composition are well known, has engaged to set to music, on purpose for this work, the Psalms of David in regular order from the Bible version; so that the lovers of sacred melody will most probably be amply gratified in receiving such a selection of the Songs of Zion as have never hitherto appeared in any similar publication. . . . There will also be a setting of the Song of Moses and the Lamb, 'Great and marvelous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty,' which song, we have reason to believe, will be sung with affection by every true member of the New Church."

     II.

     The New Magazine of Knowledge, Etc. By a Society of Gentlemen. Printed and Sold by R. Hindmarsh, London.
     In March, 1790,-two months after the appearance of THE NEW JERUSALEM MAGAZINE,-the first number of THE NEW MAGAZINE was issued, and it appeared monthly until October, 1791,-twenty numbers in all. As a matter of fact, Robert Hindmarsh was proprietor, publisher, and editor. What he proposed to do is indicated by the Title-page, reproduced herewith, page 80. According to the custom of the day, it covers a lot of territory, and we may see that in reality it contemplated more than a "Gorand Museum,"-a New Church University.
     The contents of the early issues present a curious mixture of religious and secular articles.

80


[Photocopy of the cover page of the New Magazine of Knowledge.]

81


The main purpose-to disseminate the Heavenly Doctrines-is represented by doctrinal articles, excerpts from the Writings, and a serial publication of Chastanier's "New Dictionary of Correspondences." The department of "Foreign and Domestic News " includes items on "The Pretended Discovery of Perpetual Motion," "The Slave Trade," "Prices of Stocks," "Births, Marriages and Deaths," the account of a "Duel," and long lists of "Bankrupts." In the issue for June, 1790, we find a notice of the death of Benjamin Franklin, together with an Epitaph:

     The following is DR. FRANKLIN'S Epitaph on himself, which he wrote when he was a Printer, in the early part of his life, and which is now to be inscribed, by his own desire, on his tombstone:

     The Body
     of
     BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Printer,
     (Like the cover of an old book)
     It's contents torn out,
     And stript of it's lettering and gilding
     Lies food for worms:
     Yet the work itself shall not be lost,
     For it will (as he believed) appear once more,
     In a new
     And more beautiful edition,
     Corrected and revised
     By
     THE AUTHOR.

     After the first four issues, THE NEW MAGAZINE was devoted more and more exclusively to the furthering of its religious and theological aims, and this no doubt explains the loss of favor with the general public which led to its suspension in October, 1791. Three months later, however, Hindmarsh began publication of another magazine, and the first number appeared in January, 1792.

     III.

The New Jerusalem Journal; or Treasury of Divine Knowledge: Being a Repository of Miscellaneous Essays and Productions, relative to the True Christian Religion, as Professed and Maintained by the Members of the New Church, Robert Hindmarsh, Editor.
     By this time he had realized the futility of his attempt to interest the general public in the teachings of the New Church.

82


The contents of the ten numbers,-January to October, 1792,-are of chief interest to New Church people, consisting mainly of Letters to the Editor and his Replies to doctrinal questions.

     In his Rise and Progress of the New Jerusalem Church (pp. 108, 139), Hindmarsh comments upon the three pioneer journals we have briefly described, as follows:

     In 1790, the New Jerusalem Magazine made its appearance in London, being set on foot by a few gentlemen who met at the house of Mr. Henry Servante, No. 45, Upper Marylebone Street. This was the first Periodical Work undertaken by the members of the New Church, being published in Monthly Numbers, and containing much valuable information respecting the life of Swedenborg, and the state of the New Church, as it then existed in England and foreign countries. It continued only six months, viz., from January to the June following, when it ceased for want of sufficient encouragement. But in May, 1791, an Appendix was added to it, to complete the Volume.
     In the same year another Periodical Work, on a plan different from the former, issued from the Press of Mr. Robert Hindmarsh, Printer Extraordinary to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, under the title of The Magazine of Knowledge concerning Heaven and Hell, &c. The first Number appeared in March, 1790, and the Work was continued till October, 1791, being completed in Twenty Sixpenny Numbers, and making two Octave Volumes. As sole Editor, Printer, and Proprietor of this Work, I can say that the expenses attending it were very heavy. Besides about fifty thousand Hand-bills, which were distributed in all directions, I caused long Advertisements to be inserted in almost all the Town and Country Newspapers of the day; also in many of the leading Newspapers, both in Scotland and Ireland; for most of which a charge was made of from fourteen Shillings to a Guinea for each insertion. So that the expense of advertising, and making the Work publicly known, could not have been less than One Hundred Guineas. The result was, that a great sensation was created in the religious world; and the Orders for the first Number were numerous, arising no doubt from the novelty of the Work, and a curiosity in the public mind to know the nature of its contents, and the character of the new religion, as it was called by some, which it was the object of the Magazine to make known to the world. About fifteen hundred copies each of the first and second Numbers were disposed of: but by degrees, as the Work advanced, and the principles of the New Jerusalem began to be unfolded in it, which cannot be permanently retained except by minds duly prepared by the previous love of truth for its own sake, the sales sensibly diminished, until it was at length found expedient to discontinue the Work, when it had reached the twentieth Number, from the same causes which had before interrupted the progress of the New Jerusalem Magazine.

83


Still, it is presumed that much good was effected by both publications, as both for a time succeeded in giving publicity to the new doctrines, and have ever since been regarded as valuable acquisitions to the Church. (Pages 108, 109.)
     The Magazine of Knowledge, &c., having been discontinued after October, 1791, that work was succeeded by another, entitled The New Jerusalem Journal. This latter was comprised in Ten Monthly Numbers at sixpence each; the first of which was published in January, 1792, and the last in October in the same year. Having printed this and some other publications at my own expense, without meeting with sufficient encouragement to proceed, I contented myself for a time with the reflection that some good had been produced in society by these humble efforts to spread the knowledge of divine truth in a dark world; still looking forward with hope to the day when more able and more successful laborers in the same glorious cause would be raised up by the Divine Providence of the Lord, to extend the territory of the New Jerusalem, to build up its "jasper" walls, and to "bring the glory and honor of the nations into it."-Rev. xxii. 26. (Page 139.)
TWO SWEDISH BOOKLETS 1938

TWO SWEDISH BOOKLETS       BJORN BOYESEN       1938

     GOD AND SALVATION.

JESUS AR GUD. By Gustaf Baeckstrom. Appelviken, Stockholm: Bokforlaget Nova Ecclesia, 1937. Paper, crown 8vo; pp. 32;
     This booklet adds one more to the long list of works in which Mr. Baeckstrom evangelizes the Doctrine of the New Church to the Scandinavian reader.
     The first of the three chapters is entitled, "Jehovah Our Savior," with the text: "Whom do men say that I the Son of Man am!" (Matthew 16:13.) It begins by drawing the distinction between men and animals, the latter having no other desires than those of the body, while man has an innate desire to know things, especially the causes of things,-to know the Absolute, the Perfect, to know God. And yet men have "created" the idea of a mediator "who is God, and yet not God, and have established him as an object of invocation and worship. Man has done so in an endeavor to make comprehensible the incomprehensible. The consequence is that the idea of God has become more and more diffuse, so that at last there is no one but the mediator left, who appears to be more loving, good and merciful than God, although he is lower than God. The result is that men have become troubled by such impossible ideas."

84



     It is true that God must be accommodated to men; but it is He Himself who is to be accommodated, not somebody else. It is essential that we see that the Lord Jesus Christ is identical with Jehovah God of the Old Testament. And it is necessary to know this, because otherwise our religion is without genuine origin and termination.
     Chapter II, on "The Real Nature of Salvation " (John 3:16) shows how illogical and impossible the old idea of salvation is, and explains the Doctrine of the New Church on the subject.
     Chapter III deals with the meaning of the Lord's words on the cross, "I thirst," as expressive of the longing of His infinite love for the receptions of goods and truths by mankind. (A. C. 8568.)
     The style of treatment is calculated to interest the open mind in our teachings, and in this Mr. Baeckstrom's books have been successful, enjoying a wide and continuing sale.
SPIRITUAL SPHERES 1938

SPIRITUAL SPHERES       BJORN BOYESEN       1938

ANDLIGA SFARER. By Gustaf Baeckstrom. Appelviken, Stockholm: Bokforlaget Nova Ecclesia, 1937. Paper, pp. 32; 75 ore.
     Under the general title of "Spiritual Spheres," three sermons are published in this booklet, the subjects being: "Our Dependence Upon God"; "The Power of Prayer"; and "Protection Against Evil."
     The first sermon is based upon the text, "Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, Thou are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there." (Psalm 139:7, 8.) The sphere of God is primarily identified with the spiritual sun, but also with the successive spheres thence derived. These are what make heaven, since they are the Divine Love and Wisdom in their first receptive forms. All human beings, whether angels, men or devils, "move, and live, and have their being," in the sphere of the Divine. With every man this sphere is qualified by his ruling love, and becomes either good or evil, depending upon the reorganization of the love as the substance of the man's sphere. Further it is shown that the heavens and the hells are nothing but groupings of such spheres, and that if a man is to be saved he must acquire a sphere of his own that is concordant with the sphere of heaven.

85



     The offerings of Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:4, 5) are treated in the second sermon. Sacrifices were meant to embody man's desire of reciprocation with the Lord. The quality and manner of sacrificial service are expressive of the higher or lower states of worship. Religion itself is a personal conjunction of man with the Lord, and prayer is the most spontaneous expression thereof. If prayer is to be heard, it must proceed from the love of God in man. Such a prayer is signified by Abel's sacrifice; but prayer from the love of self, which is not heard in heaven, is meant by Cain's sacrifice. When the sphere of a prayer blends harmoniously with the spheres in which the angels live, then the will of God is done, "as in heaven, so upon the earth."
     In the third sermon, the disorderly offering of incense, and the consuming fire as penalty, is contrasted with the orderly offering by Moses and Aaron, by which the plague was stayed. (Numbers 16:35, 47.) In one case, the sacrificial service brought destruction and death; in the other, protection and salvation. It is by means of the laws of order that the Lord is omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent; and men have power from the Lord against all evil in the measure that their minds are receptive of order from Him.
     BJORN BOYESEN.
NOTES AND REVIEWS. 1938

NOTES AND REVIEWS.              1938

     MR. WUNSCH ON THE HAGUE VIEWS.

     Those who do not accept the idea that "the Writings are the Word" escape the supposedly logical deduction that they have an internal sense in the same manner as the Old and New Testaments. It was to be expected that the Rev. William F. Wunsch would reject this phase of the Hague Views, and he has done so in THE NEW CHRISTIANITY (Summer, 1937), from which we quote the following paragraphs, which indicate his general position (page 75):

     "In the productions before us the assumption is fundamental, however, that the Theological Works are the Word, even superseding previous Words, or controlling their meaning. As a statement of truth, the Theological Works are obviously not that wordless truth which Swedenborg in the first place calls the Word.

86


They are a means of entrance into that truth, but not that truth. Surely the tool should not be confused with the thing to be effected. Nor are the Theological Works, as verbal utterance, the Incarnate Word, which is utterance in the flesh. But are they the Word in the third sense, the Word in full verbal utterance all-embracing of the Infinite truth? These publications insist they are. The objection that according to Swedenborg the Word can be so uttered only in correspondential language is met squarely with the declaration that the Theological Works are done in correspondences and have a spiritual meaning. (It is freely admitted that Swedenborg himself says nothing of the kind.)
     "A simple consideration of common sense seems a sufficient answer, in our judgment, to these premises all along the way.
     "To Swedenborg the Scriptures or those biblical books which he called the Word obviously remained the primary religious document. His Works did not, in his view, supersede them. The relation of his Works to that Word is very different. In that Word is a spiritual meaning; of this meaning his Works give an exposition. That spiritual sense is in those Scriptures, not in his Works; it is to be got from Scripture, not from, though with the help of, his Works. Again, in that Word are the doctrines of life. Those doctrines he formulated in his Works; but the doctrines are in the Word, and are to be drawn from the Word, and have no standing in his Works unless they are so drawn or can be so drawn. All these fundamental facts should certainly be kept in mind.
     "As for a spiritual sense of their own in the Theological Works, where would be the gain in the Theological Works if they continued the process of delivering truth in a style again needing exposition of the same kind? This would be no advance, but a treadmill."

     An answer to Mr. Wunsch, and a defence of the Hague View, is presented by Dr. Clarence Hotson in THE NEW AGE (Australia) for December, 1937, though the editor dissociates himself from the view of the Writings which it expresses, and elsewhere in the same issue states his own position: "The thirty-four books of the Bible are the Word of the Lord in fulness, holiness and power. . . . A solemn warning is uttered lest we add to or take away from His Book. This is an injunction that we shall not delete portions of the Bible, nor add other writings to that sacred canon which have no right to such a holy status." Yet we are told that the warning (Revelation 22:18) applies not so much to the letter of the Apocalypse as to the "truths of doctrine in this book now laid open by the Lord." (A. R. 957.) Thus it applies to the Old and New Testaments (L. J. 41), and also to the Heavenly Doctrines.

87


CHRISTIANS OR SWEDENBORGIANS FIRST? 1938

CHRISTIANS OR SWEDENBORGIANS FIRST?       Dr. Clarence Hotson       1938

     Countering the assertion that "we ourselves ought surely to be Christians first and 'Swedenborgians' second," made by a writer in THE NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER (November 10, 1937, p. 311), Dr. Clarence Hotson, in the same journal (December 8, 1937, p. 385), couches his objection in the following satisfying terms:

     It is true that we need to avoid giving the impression that Swedenborg is himself the chief figure in our religion. The best way to do this, however, is to emphasize the essential truth that the Writings of Swedenborg are a Divine Revelation. When we realize what this belief implies, and make that realization evident to outsiders, we will have no need to deny that Swedenborg is the chief figure in our religion. For Swedenborg himself declares that the Writings are not his, but the Lord's. If they are a Divine Revelation, the use of Swedenborg as authority, or any appeal to what "Swedenborg says," except as a convenient form of speech, is contrary to order. It is really a question, not of what Swedenborg says, but of what the Lord says in the Evangel for the New Church, commonly called the Writings of Swedenborg. The difference between "Swedenborgians" and non-Swedenborgians is precisely here: that non-Swedenborgians ascribe the Writings to Swedenborg, and Swedenborgians ascribe them to the Lord. If that is a peculiar difference, so be it! To give up that peculiarity is to give up everything.
     There can be, therefore, no appeal from what the Lord says in the Writings of Swedenborg to what the Lord says or said in the Gospel of John, or in any other part of the Word of the Old and New Testaments. If there is or seems to be any conflict between them, the Revelation of the Lord to the New Church is the final authority.
     This does not mean, however, that any particular person's understanding of the Writings is final or authoritative, or that the understanding of the Writings in the New Church is not subject to difference, change, or growth. On the contrary, with the growth of the New Church, both outwardly and inwardly, deeper, richer, and more adequate insights into doctrine will be granted to us, in the measure of our faithfulness and obedience to what we already understand.
     I do not see, therefore, how we can be "Christians first and 'Swedenborgians' second," if "Christians" means believers in historical Christianity, or those who are really in that tradition. The fundamental belief of the New Church, that in the Writings of Swedenborg we have a new revelation of the will of God, cuts us off entirely from historical Christianity. While we should do everything possible to find a basis of "common ground" with Christians really interested in the New-Church message, we cannot honestly pretend to be a mere sect or branch of the Christian Church, or to belong in the tradition of historical Christianity, for we certainly are not such a branch, and do not so belong!

88


Church News 1938

Church News       Various       1938

     BRYN ATHYN.

     Passing of Bishop Pendleton.

     During the closing days of the year we were all saddened by the knowledge that the Bishop Emeritus N. D. Pendleton had been stricken by the serious illness to which he succumbed on December 29th. He seemed to be in good health, had preached in the cathedral on December 12, and had continued his teaching in the Academy until the end of the term. Anticipating that he would be with us for many years to come, his taking away was sudden and unexpected.
     On Friday afternoon, December 31, a congregation that filled the pews of the cathedral assembled for the funeral service, which was conducted by Bishop Acton, according to the Eighth General Office. The Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner read the Lessons, and Bishop de Charms delivered the Memorial Address, which appears on another page. There was a large gathering of young and old for the interment in Bryn Athyn cemetery, where also Bishop Acton officiated.
     In the evening a Memorial Meeting was held in the Assembly Hall, Bishop de Charms presiding, and the speakers, both ministers and laymen, paid affectionate tribute to Bishop Pendleton as leader and teacher, counselor and friend. Many spoke of delightful experiences during their years of happy association with him in the uses and social life of the church. At the close, Mr. Philip C. Pendleton, on behalf of his mother and the family, expressed grateful appreciation of the sympathy and kindness which had been manifested by the members of the Church.
     Messages of condolence have been received from societies and members of the Church in all parts of the world. From these we can quote but a few:

"Mrs. Dandridge Pendleton:
     "Warmest sympathy, most affectionate gratefulness for splendid leadership and loving kindness."-Stockholm Society.
     "Immanuel Church remembers their former Bishop in deepest gratitude and affection. They know his wisdom, kindliness, and charm. They send you heartfelt love and comfort. A great leader, a good friend to all. Many will rejoice at his arrival in the new life."-Gilbert and Nora Smith.

"Bishop de Charms:
     "In the death of Bishop Pendleton the church has lost a great leader. He was wise and merciful, brave and courteous, an ideal leader of the Church militant. He was without a peer in the field of doctrinal perception, opening to others the arcana of the Lord's glorification.
     "He has but been promoted to higher, nobler uses in the eternal world. The Church on earth will feel his inspiration more than ever, and will be led by the Lord through him and others like him to a deeper spiritual life. Please convey to Mrs. Pendleton our warmest sympathy and love." Sharon Church, Willis L. Gladish, Pastor.

     Our Christmas observance began on December 21 with the Tableaux which depicted several beautiful scenes of The Nativity on the stage of the Assembly Hall. The Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner read from the Word and spoke to the children between scenes, and all present joined in the singing of the Christmas hymns.

89



     On the afternoon of December 24, a capacity congregation attended the children's Service in the cathedral, at which Bishop de Charms delivered the Address.
     A service for adults was held on Christmas Day, Bishop Acton delivering the sermon. And on Sunday the 26th the Sacrament of the Holy Supper was administered.
     The Civic and Social Club has recently devoted two evenings to a gala opening of its Club House-the former Vickroy residence in Alden Road. Bishop de Charms addressed the gathering on the first evening, and the Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner on the second.

     SOUTH AFRICAN MISSION.

     The Transvaal.

     Alexandra Township, Johannesburg.-On Sunday, November 7, the group at this place was visited by the Superintendent, who was accompanied by Mrs. Elphick and one of our theological students, Mr. Aaron Zungu, together with the Rev. Jonas Motsi, of Greylingstad. Over 40 persons attended the service held at the home of the Leader, Mr. Timothy Matshinini. In addition to the three Lessons and the Sermon, there were two infant and two adult Baptisms, two Confessions of Faith, and the administration of the Holy Supper. In the afternoon, a class was held which dealt with the subject, "What the New Church Teaches." Many questions were asked. The group also gave evidence of "self-help" in planning for the future. The members are looking forward to the time when they can have a church building. In view of this, praiseworthy contributions towards a building fund have been received from the "Womens' Guild" and the "Mens' Club."
     Orlando, Johannesburg.-On Monday the 8th we visited the Conference Mission center 8th Orlando,-the latest "Native Township" near Johannesburg. There we found the Rev. E. Fieldhouse, who, like the missionaries of every denomination, was up to his eyes in a miscellany of jobs, all being attempted at the same time! In fact, to ease the situation, Miss Fieldhouse, who had only been in the country two weeks, was helping in the work of the school and college curriculum. Certainly enthusiastic work is being done by the English Conference, as is partly reflected in the illustrated account given in the New-Church Herald of October 30, 1937. In the evening, by invitation, we joined Mr. and Mrs. Fieldhouse and family in their home at Florida. With the exchange of missionary experiences, and conversation on the various schools of thought in the New Church, time passed all too quickly.
     Springs.-For a number of years it has always been our endeavor to visit our isolated European New Church people in the course of the journeys which are more especially designed to meet the needs of the Native Missions. Of late years the number of these isolated receivers has increased, and they include some who have connections with the Durban Society. On this trip we made attempts to meet three such friends,-Miss B. Taylor, Mr. Morgan Gardiner, and Mr. Martin Buss, but we were able to meet only the last named. Miss Taylor had left Johannesburg, and Mr. Gardiner, unfortunately, was on night duty. We dined with Mr. Buss, and afterwards went to a room in the Park Hotel, where an evening was spent in conversation touching Church, State, Mining, and the many varied interests common to South Africa. Moreover, this room had already become famous in New Church annals, for the first General Church service for Europeans in the Transvaal was conducted there by the Rev. Philip N. Odhner on a visit last Whitsuntide. No doubt more will be written about Springs in these columns at a future date.
     Greylingstad.-On November 10, we called at the Day School which is conducted here in connection with the Native Society under the Rev. Jonas Motsi.

90


The Mission is on a hill that commands a panoramic view of the surrounding country, and this means a good climb on foot. After a steep ascent of nearly 400 feet, over iron-stone rocks and under a stinging sun, the greater part of the day was devoted to school concerns. This naturally included matters of dispute and reconciliation,-the co-ordination of parent and teacher, teacher and child, minister and teacher. We also confronted the problem now being considered in the Mission, namely, the difference of use between New Church schools and Mission schools. Greylingstad, for one example, has over eighty children on the attendance roll. Only five of these are of New Church faith as conditioned by baptism; and this in addition to the fact that the pupils come from eight different Christian sects.
     To some of our readers this may come as a shock. But let them consider the interweaving missionary circumstances and the problems to which they give rise. Some of these can be stated thus: Will the implantation of "remains" be effective under such conditions? Will there be confusion of thought and of state in later years) Are not simple, childlike states strengthened in a Mission school where the Native Minister, according to the faith of the New Church, perseveres in the teaching of the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, the New Church Creed (as stated in our Liturgy), and by Scripture Texts learned by heart, and by Scripture stories and Memorable Relations simply told? Then we are obliged to meet the requirements of School Inspectors and Syllabuses, and the demand of the parents that the children be properly educated and tested by Government Examinations. Moreover, there is the pressing need that our Teachers be instructed, in order that they may have the New Church viewpoint. This means Teachers' Courses as well as the present courses for those specializing in Theology for the uses of the Ministry.
     These are a few of the matters awaiting further solution in a quickly changing South Africa. And this solution is not apart from the free-choice of Bantu minds, who, having seen the new light in the Doctrines of the New Church, may desire to follow a more definite distinctiveness. So, after over twenty years of experiment, and as applied to school education in the Mission, what is to be the choice? Is it to be the ordinary Mission school, adapted for many, or is it to be a School in a New Church Mission which provides for an intensive upbuilding-distinctive, and among a few? Such questions were the subjects of conversation at the steering wheel next day.

     North Natal.

     Lusitania, Cundycleugh.-On the evening of November 11, we arrived at a farm in a nook of the hills, twenty-six miles from the railroad. This was "Meyers Hoek," the home of Mr. and Mrs. A. H. Shuttleworth. For a number of years we have enjoyed the hospitality of this home while attending to the activities of the Native Society under the Rev. J. M. Jiyana. As a result of these visits, a complete set of the Writings may be seen on the bookshelf. But they are not only there; they are affectionately read. Hence in the Shuttleworth home conversation often reverts to the New Church, its difficult reception and slow growth. Mr. Shuttleworth is also trying to interest others in the Doctrines.
     The Native group under the Rev. John Jiyana has no day school, and so the work is centered more in the pastoral duties. But this does not mean that this condition will always remain.
     A full Service was held on Sunday the 14th, and included four Baptisms, one Confession of Faith, and the administration of the Holy Supper. A two-hour Service is a short one for the Zulu people, and is always enjoyed. In the afternoon a class was held on the subject of "Regeneration," and many intelligent questions were asked.

91


Afterwards we joined Mr. and Mrs. John Jiyana in their home, and had dinner with them. Johannes Lunga, from Esididini Mission, was also present, and therefore we could touch the work of a neighboring society, which was visited a few months ago. Conversation centered on Church and Mission interests. Monday evening, November 15, saw us safely back in Durban, after accomplishing a ten-day trip of just over 1100 miles. Theological School work was resumed for the remainder of the school-year, which terminated last week.
     F. W. ELPHICK.
Durban, Natal,
December 13, 1937.

     THE HAGUE, HOLLAND.

     Our meetings each Sunday for reading the Writings together have started, and have been very successful, with an average attendance of from twelve to fourteen members and friends of the society. They are held in the homes of the different families in turn, and, as a rule, the head of the family leads in the reading and in the choice of a subject. Instead of the seriatim reading from one book of the Writings from week to week, the leader is free to choose whatever part of the Writings he thinks will be interesting to us. In this way we shall hear about various subjects. This arrangement was made according to the wish of the society, and is liked very much. Your readers may be interested in hearing about the first meetings.
     On Sunday, November 14, we met at the home of the Bulthuis family, and Mr. Bulthuis read the first two chapters of the Doctrine of the Lord. A nice spirit prevailed, and an animated discussion followed, but no question arose that was important enough to write down to submit to the pastor on his next visit. On Sunday, November 21, we met in the home of Miss van Trigt, and Mr. Beyerinck read the Parable of the Unjust Steward from Luke 16:1-13, enlightening and explaining this part of the Word by many passages from the Writings. It was a well attended meeting, and the subject was highly appreciated by everybody present.
     Our secretary, Mr. Beyerinck, has received a letter informing us that Mrs. Happee and her daughter, Miss J. Happee, wish to join our society, which fact is a great pleasure to us. Mr. Happee, though not a member of any society of the Church, is interested in the Writings, and regularly accompanies his wife and daughter to our services and other meetings.
     Our pastor, Dr. Iungerich, arrived for his first visit on Saturday, November 27,-a date to which we had eagerly looked forward. He stayed at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Francis in Rijswijk, and they were very happy to have him as their guest. In the afternoon, Dr. Iungerich gave a talk on the subject of Cosmology. It was attended by eight persons, who manifested their interest by asking many questions.
     The Sunday service was held at Nieuwe Schoolstraat 38, a central location where we have engaged a hall, which was metamorphosed into place of worship, looking very nice indeed for the purpose. The room is rather large, and the ceiling high. On the altar at one end was a white altar cloth, candlesticks and flowers. An organ stands in one corner, and we are fortunate in having Miss Engeltjes as organist, as she plays the instrument very well.
     The service was entirely in the Dutch language, our pastor reading Psalm 121 as the First Lesson,-"He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep." The Second Lesson was from the work on Heaven and Hell, no. 594, treating of the equilibrium preserved by the Lord in the spiritual world. The Sermon consisted of the first two chapters of the pastor's book, The Soul and its Representations, translated into the Dutch language. Twelve members, three friends, and three children were present.
     In the afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Francis gave everyone the opportunity to meet Dr. Iungerich in their home, and fourteen were present on that occasion.

92


Mr. Rijkee brought a friend, Mr. Boonacker, who is interested in the Writings, and who thus availed himself of the opportunity of meeting a minister of the Church. There was animated conversation until late in the afternoon, when the visitors took leave of Dr. Iungerich for three weeks, as he expected to return on December 17, a week earlier than the regular time, owing to the approach of Christmas.
     In the interval, two other weekly meetings were held. On Sunday, December 5, Mr. Engeltjes was the host, and he read his Dutch translation of a beautiful sermon on the subject of the spiritual world by the Rev. W. Cairns Henderson. The following week we listened to Mr. Francis, who read several passages from the Writings explaining the difference between an internal spiritual man and an external one possessed by evil and enthusiastic spirits; also concerning the influence of the latter upon the mentality of mankind after the First Coming of the Lord, being a constant endeavor to injure men, and to inspire them to all sorts of sins and fallacies. The subject was very much appreciated by all present.
     Our pastor came as planned on Friday, December 17, and it was very nice to have him so soon again in our midst. He was entertained by the Engeltjes family, and on Saturday afternoon gave another talk on the subject of Cosmology, illustrated by two charts of the spiritual and natural worlds, showing how the universe came into existence, and making clear that the development of the spiritual atmospheres was the basis for the further creations of the three kingdoms of nature, being in correspondence with them. He spoke extemporaneously in the Dutch language, and we were filled with admiration for him.
     Our service of worship in the hall on Sunday, December 19, was of a character appropriate to the approaching Christmas. The Lessons were: Psalm 144:1-5; Matthew 1:18-25; and T. C. R. 102. The Sermon set forth the necessity of the holy state of betrothal between Joseph and Mary to make possible the descent of the Lord into the world by means of the virgin Mary. The Sacrament of the Holy Supper was administered, fourteen members and one friend partaking. The service closed with a beautiful Christmas song.
     As an advertisement of this service had appeared in a newspaper on Saturday evening, a stranger interested in all kinds of religions was among those present, making a total attendance of sixteen.
     After the service, the Engeltjes family hospitably opened their doors for a social luncheon, to which ten sat down. A jolly atmosphere prevailed, Dr. Iungerich had some humorous stories to tell, and everybody had a very nice time.
     LAMBERTINE FRANCIS.

     GLENVIEW, ILL.

     Our Christmas service was held on Christmas Day, and had the participation of many from Sharon Church, Chicago, as their celebration was held on the following day (Sunday). The attendance was over a hundred more than the pew capacity, but all were accommodated somehow. The pupils of the school were seated in the front rows, and recited and sang Christmas selections. A printed order of service included the words of the songs so that all could follow. After the pastor's address, he and the choir and the school led the way into the assembly hall for the second part of the service, in front of the accurate Biblical representation on the stage. As in the church everyone had made an offering to the Lord, so here the Church gave to the children, starting with the newest baby, and concluding with the pupils of the highest grade of the school. A gift committee under the leadership of Mrs. Jean Smith had labored long and lovingly on the preparation of these appropriate tokens for the youngsters.
     During the holidays a Christmas party was given for the children, the grown-ups being invited.

93


The program included dramatic sketches performed by the children.
     Our New Year's Eve celebration began at 9 o'clock with a song service in the church, during which our pastor spoke in memory of Bishop N. D. Pendleton, who was the first pastor of our society in Glenview. The address dwelt upon the importance of his long and faithful service in ecclesiastical uses, his charm as a man, and his artistic and scholarly contributions to the literature of our theology. Following the service, the New Year was ushered in with the usual festivity.
     At the Sunday Evening Class they have delved into the exhaustless mine of interesting topics set forth in New Church Life illustrative of the Academy principles.
     Community-life in a cold, snowless winter shows fine skating on the Park pond, much interest by the young fellows in volley ball and table tennis, and the absorbing interest of the older men in a billiard tournament held in the club room.
     T. B. S.

     KITCHENER, CANADA.

     The Christmas Season added much to our regular activities, and the various committees were busy for many days in preparation for the special holiday events.
     On Wednesday, December 22, the Day School closed for the Christmas recess with a party sponsored by the teachers.
     On Christmas Eve, at 7.30 o'clock, our regular Christmas Festival Service was held, the children marching into the chapel singing "From the Eastern Mountains," and bringing their Christmas offerings. As the children took their places, the rest of the congregation followed to the chancel making their offerings. Mr. Gill and Mr. Reuter both took part in the service. The story of the Shepherds was the subject of the address, and on the chancel there was a very fine representation of this part of the Christmas story. The church had been decorated with greens and candles, while evergreen garlands made a canopy effect over the chancel and formed an arch behind the altar.
     Immediately following the service, and while the congregation remained seated, Mr. Gill and Mr. Reuter presented packages of nuts and fruit to the children. It is really children's day, and all the tiny tots are there, even the babies. We love to see them all on this occasion, and sometimes we hear them as well, but this is quite in order on Christmas Eve.
     On the afternoon of Christmas Day, at five o'clock, we had our tableaux. Eight scenes were shown, representing the Christmas Story and various other stories from the Word that had a connection with the birth of the Lord. A special choir sang, and this added much to the beauty and impressiveness of the occasion. On Sunday, December 26, a general Christmas Service was held.
     On Friday, January 31, our social room was gay with red and green streamers, and those who gathered there were even gayer in their colorful party attire, topped by paper caps of great variety in color and shape. The music was good, and the floor waxed to perfection for dancing, so that we very joyfully danced in the new year. At the right moment we were provided with the necessary gadgets to offer 1938 a vociferous welcome. Just after midnight a delicious buffet supper was served. We are all agreed that it was a grand party, and we saw the new year well on its way before the dance broke up.
     We have a fine skating rink on the school grounds this winter, and our young folk have been making abundant use of it during the holiday season. For their sakes we hope the weather will continue cold for while, as the ice represents many hours of labor on the part of the boys.
     On Sunday morning, January 2, the sacrament of the Holy Supper was administered.

94


In the evening of the same day a Memorial Meeting was held to honor our late Bishop Emeritus N. D. Pendleton. Both Mr. Gill and Mr. Reuter spoke of Bishop Pendleton's life and many years of work in the Church, and other members of the society joined in recalling many happy associations with our dear Bishop.
     D. K.

     TORONTO, CANADA.

     Let us pause before describing our Christmas festivities to make brief comment on the passing into the higher life of our beloved Bishop Emeritus, the Right Rev. N. D. Pendleton. His full life of use in this world has come to a close, to open into a life of greater use in the other. In a memorial class, conducted by our pastor, the Bishop's life was briefly viewed, and a summary of his varied addresses and papers was presented, bringing vividly to all a glimpse of the goodly heritage which he has left behind, upon which future generations may well ponder with benefit, and with an appreciation of the man who, in Divine Providence, was an instrument by whom our church has been so ably led for a span of years.
     The happy and festive Christmas Season has quickly flown by, but has left behind bright memories for young and old. First, in order, were the tableaux, all beautiful, all impressive, of special value to the very young, but enjoyed also by their elders. Under the able, if inexperienced, direction of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Brown, the scenes were drawn from both the Old and New Testaments, and depicted: Moses and the Burning Bush; Samson Pulling Down the Pillars; The Pharisee and the Publican The Foolish Virgins; The Nativity and The Flight into Egypt.
     After the tableaux the children were presented by the Ladies' Circle with giant crackers, exciting in appearance and goodly in content. As the evening was still young, a general invitation was extended to participate in carol singing at the Craigie home, where a choir of voices was soon heard in song.
     The beautiful story of the Lord's birth was renewed once again for us in the Christmas Day Service. A sermon of delightful simplicity and affection was presented by the pastor. Organ music and chancel decorations all blended harmoniously, and served as a delightful complement to the sermon, making the service one of joy, peace and goodwill.
     A Christmas party for the very young was enjoyed by this lively group during the festive week. A Christmas tree, a variety of games, and refreshments-of course-made the party a happy one.
     The New Year's Party went off with a bang, and continued with a series of explosions of joy and gaiety till it went all to pieces some little time after midnight. The decorations were gay, the program varied, the M. C.-Mr. Ted Bellinger-jovial, the refreshments tempting and bountiful, the company congenial. What more need be said to convey the idea that the party was highly successful! Save, of course. a vote of thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Ted Bellinger and Committee, who ably managed the whole affair.
     M. S. P.

     PITTSBURGH, PA.

     The Day School adjourned for the Christmas recess on December 15, and in the afternoon Miss Gaskill gave a party for the children, who exchanged gifts.
     We are grateful to the music committee and the group of singers who of late have helped the congregational singing and contributed some fine special music.
     The Festival on Christmas Eve was memorable, and those who worked so faithfully to make it possible have our congratulations. The service at nine o'clock was conducted by the Pastor, and Candidate Norbert H. Rogers delivered a fine sermon. We were pleased to have Mr. Rogers with us during the holidays.

95



     On Sunday, January 2, the Rev. Homer Synnestvedt and Candidate Rogers officiated in the regular service, which was followed by a special service in memory of Bishop N. D. Pendleton, an address being delivered by Mr. Synnestvedt. The Society deeply feels the loss of a beloved Bishop, former Pastor, and dear friend. He worked faithfully and well, and we know he has found rest.
     It is always a pleasure to have visitors and returned students during the holidays. This time the Women's Guild took advantage of the presence of Mrs. Besse E. Smith, of Bryn Athyn, and held a meeting at which she gave a splendid talk on Music and Singing in Worship.
     E. R. D.

     AN ACKNOWLEDGMENT.

     At the close of the Memorial Meeting for Bishop N. D. Pendleton (see p. 88), Mr. Philip C. Pendleton spoke as follows:
     On behalf of my Mother, I thank you for the kindly support you have given her during these difficult days. You have sustained her through the trial which sooner or later must come to us all. Your affection and love have done much to comfort and strengthen her. For all this our family is grateful beyond the measure of words to express. But in a deeper sense our loss, and our happiness, is yours. We, of the Lord's New Church, are one family, a family bound together by ties stronger than mortal flesh and blood, ties which are not severed by death, and which have their root and being in that land of life which our brother is now entering.
     For he is our brother,-an elder brother, it is true, but nevertheless a brother raised up by the Lord to the end that we might hear a wise voice and feel the clasp of a strong, warm hand, as we toil toward the Divinely appointed goal of all human life.
     We who are left behind remain, of the Lord's mercy, that we may carry on the work from which our Bishop has been called in order that he may enter into the performance of deeper uses. He is not gone; he is with us, as are so many others who, while on earth, labored that the Church might be built.
     Let us, therefore, return to our allotted tasks with new courage. Let us hold fast to the principles for which our Bishop stood, and let us, each in his own humble way, give voice in heart and life to the prayer: "Do good in Thy good pleasure unto Zion! Build Thou the Walls of Jerusalem!"

     ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS.

Monday, March 28.
     3.30 p.m.-Consistory.
Tuesday, March 29.
     10.00 a.m.-Council of the Clergy.
     3.30 p.m.-Council of the Clergy and General Faculty.
Wednesday, March 30.
     10.00 a.m.-Council of the Clergy.
     3.30 p.m.-Council of the Clergy and General Faculty.
     8.00 p.m.-Public Session of the Council of the Clergy.
Thursday, March 31.
     10.00 a.m.-Council of the Clergy.
     3.30 p.m.-Council of the Clergy and General Faculty.
Friday, April 1.
     10.00 a.m.-Council of the Clergy.
     10.00-12.30.-Conference of Elementary School Teachers.
     3.30 p.m.-Executive Committee.
     8.00 p.m.-Entertainment,
Saturday, April 2.
     10.00 a.m.-Joint Council.
     3.30 p.m.-Joint Council (if needed).

PHILADELPHIA DISTRICT ASSEMBLY.
     7.00 p.m.-Banquet in the Assembly Hall, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

96


ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS 1938

ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS       WILLIAM WHITEHEAD       1938




     Announcements.



     The Annual Meetings of the Councils of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held at Bryn Athyn, Pa., March 28 to April 2, 1938.
     WILLIAM WHITEHEAD,
          Secretary, Council of the Clergy.

97


LORD'S DIVINE RATIONAL 1938

LORD'S DIVINE RATIONAL        N. D. PENDLETON       1938


NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. LVIII          MARCH, 1938           No. 3
     (Delivered in the Cathedral, Sunday, December 12, 1937.)

     "And God said unto Abraham, . . . in Isaac shall thy seed be called." (Genesis 21:12.)

     The text records the law of legitimacy, which calls for the rule of love in the life of man. This rule prevailed during the celestial age, when men, like children, were innocent of evil. In its preeminent sense the text is significant of the state into which the Lord was born. His life was then ruled from within by the Divine Love descending into His earth-born human. This love was His inheritance from the Father, which, in its descent out of the Divine above the heavens, enabled Him as man-born to become Divine on the planes of His mind and body.
     The point of present interest is that a representative forecast of this Divine process is given in the Genesis account of the lives of the patriarchs, the central feature of which is expressed by the words of the text, namely, the calling of the seed of Abraham by the name of Isaac. The story of the birth of Isaac tells of Jehovah's visiting Sarah, and of her bearing a son to Abraham. At the time, Abraham was a hundred years old, and Sarah his wife had "ceased from the manner of women." Apart from this visit of Jehovah to Sarah, no conception could have taken place, for that visit was significant of a Divine conception which made of Isaac a miracle child, born under conditions impossible save for a Divine influx into the mortal human.

98


The account of Isaac's conception and birth, as recorded in Genesis, was a forecast of the actual conception and birth of the Lord as the Child of God. As so born, the Lord was the Divine Isaac-the Man-God of ancient prophecy, who was of Infinite derivation, though born into the world under mental and bodily limitations.
     With reference to the interrelation of the several characters in the Old Testament account, it should be noted that a Divine aspect is represented by all who were of the house of Abraham. In this supreme sense, Abraham stands as one with Jehovah, who visited Sarah. That one was the Divine Love descending through the medium of Divine Truth. This mediating Truth was represented by Sarah. The relation of Abraham to Sarah was therefore significant of the Divine Love in its conceptual relation to Divine Truth. As stated in the Arcana, this relation was that the Divine Celestial was present in the Divine Spiritual. The inner presence of celestial love in its own truth is characterized as a Divine marriage. From this marriage the Child of God was born into the world a Man veiled by bodily limitations and the outward restrictions of a finite rational mind. This mind was the Lord's highest finite degree, and the first to be made Divine by the process of glorification. The subsequent glorification of His sensuous mind and material body followed in order thereafter.
     In the Old Testament account, Isaac represented the Lord's rational as to the inmost of it, where, as noted in the Writings, the human begins. (A. C. 2666.) This Isaac rational was therefore the first and highest finite fruit derived from the marriage of Love and Wisdom in the Lord, and because of the joy therein Isaac was named "laughter." His was indeed the golden laughter of celestial love. With men, laughter, by its tone, indicates in some degree their states of affection and thought; and it may indicate whether the man is of sound or unsound mind-whether sane or insane, as the case may be. Of all creatures born into the world, man only is gifted with the power of laughter, for he alone possesses a rational mind. His power of reasoning is fundamentally based upon his inborn ability to laugh. It may here be noted in passing that laughter was formerly regarded as a genial habit of the gods.
     In the Divine series before us, both Jehovah and Abraham stand as the Father of Isaac; the distinction between them is as that between the invisible Divine and the Divine Human.

99


However, they do not appear in the Old Testament account together. Jehovah is mentioned at the beginning, but not again until the close. The opening record is that Jehovah visited Sarah, and did unto her as He had spoken. Then follows the account of Sarah's bearing a son to Abraham in his old age, and thereafter the Scripture story concerning Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Hagar and Ishmael. This group composed the sacred family of the house of Abraham. Near the close of the account Jehovah reappears, which is not only significant of the conclusion, but also implies an altered relation of the several Divine factors.
     In this connection, the Arcana notes that, in the supreme sense, God and Abraham have a like significance, and that the internal sense unites that which the letter divides. This union, therefore, joins Jehovah and Abraham as one, both signifying the Divine Love in its relation to Divine Truth. Sarah was that Truth. Her representation was not unlike that of Mary, but with the difference that Sarah was an earlier representative, while Mary was the actual medium of the birth of the God-Man into the world. It may here be noted that the birth of the Lord, and also of Isaac, were miraculous, in that the Lord was virgin-born, while Isaac was born under conditions normally impossible to finite man.
     All the characters in the account of Isaac's birth stand, in the supreme sense, for some aspect of the Divine. All forecast in some degree the process of the Lord's glorification.
     In the Old Testament, Abraham stands at the head. He is the Father of the Divine Love in its relation to Divine Truth. From the marriage of Sarah to Abraham, as noted, the Lord's finite rational was born-born in potency as an infant, and in adult fullness as His mind advanced by successive stages to its glorification. In this development the Lord's rational was in outer appearance not unlike that of other men, in that, like every regenerating man, He was under the necessity of rejecting from His mind its outward fallible appearances. This process, in its continuity, was represented by the subsequent events, namely, by Isaac's circumcision, and the banishment of Abraham's first-born child, Ishmael, who was not the legitimate heir, and who represented the outmost aspect of the Lord's rational.

100


For though he was born to Abraham as the
Divine Father, it was by means of Hagar, the Egyptian bondwoman.
     Between this outward fallible mind and the Lord's glorifying rational a conflict was inevitable, as was first indicated by Ishmael's mocking when Isaac was weaned. This first-formed mind of the Lord could not stand in the dawning presence of the Divine Rational. A preliminary purification of this outer vestment was signified by the circumcision of Isaac. Ishmael's mocking, on the occasion, was a signal of the coming conflict and the resulting banishment, as the Divine descended into the human by means of increasing revelations, by which it became manifest that all mere appearances of truth must of need be put aside. This rejection was first insisted upon by Sarah's saying to Abraham, "Cast out this bondwoman and her son, for the son of this bondwoman shall not inherit with my son Isaac."
     While seeing the necessity of this banishment, the Lord perceived that Ishmael nonetheless represented that which must in the end be saved. This far-seeing perception was, however, quite above the Sarah Truth; it came directly from the Lord's Divine Love. Therefore it is said that the words of Sarah, insisting on Ishmael's banishment, were "evil" in the eyes of Abraham. By this it became manifest that that which Truth would reject, Love would save; or that all men would be saved with whom some degree of love could be conjoined; for Love perceived that the child of Hagar, though not the heir, was not the less Abraham's son. (A. C. 2658.)
     The Lord's first rational mind, while outwardly formed of seeming truths, was in its origin conceived from within by Divine Love; and while Ishmael's alienation was inevitable, yet Divine Love could not but follow after the banished child. When, however, Abraham (or the Lord) perceived the pressing necessity of the Ishmael banishment, it is said that He "grieved," for in that first state, it appeared that those of the human race (called in the Writings "the spiritual" as distinguished from the celestial) would, because of their banishment, pass beyond the saving power of the Lord's Love. It should be noted, however, that it was just those who are here signified by Ishmael whom the Lord came into the world to save, and not the celestial; for the high-born celestial were, from the beginning, made secure by the bond of love, while the later spiritual were inbound in states of life like unto the Lord's first-formed rational, which was, of need, rejected; yet at first it appeared as if this alienation would permanently separate those known as "the spiritual" from the possibility of salvation.

101


This was why the words of Sarah, calling for Ishmael's banishment, were "evil in the eyes of Abraham." The "eyes of Abraham" signified the Lord's inmost perception from love, which saw beyond the dictate of the Sarah Truth and exposed the final outcome, namely, that the spiritual, as distinguished from the celestial, would not be lost, but that their temporary banishment would in the end lead to their restoral.
     With reference to the realization of this final outcome, it is said in the Writings that the Lord was thereby "consoled beyond measure." Therefore God said unto Abraham, "Let it not be evil in thine eyes because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah said unto thee, hearken unto her voice." While the Lord's perception from the Sarah Truth affirmed the need of casting off His first-born rational mind, yet His Divine Love revealed the final truth that Ishmael's rejection would in the end prove to be the means of his salvation, which was indeed imperative, since otherwise the Lord's mission on earth would have failed. Therefore God said unto Abraham, "The son of thy handmaid also will I make into a nation." Herein there is a likeness, in that both Isaac and Ishmael were sons of Abraham, and a contrast, in that Ishmael, the son of the bondwoman, must of need be separated, and this while Isaac remained in the house of Abraham. Therefore, of Ishmael it is said, "I will make him a nation, because he is also thy seed."
     This "nation" was composed of the spiritual, as distinguished from the celestial. The difference between them was, as indicated, one of legitimacy,-a difference which at first was not clearly de- fined, and indeed could not be, so long as Ishmael remained in the house of Abraham. While, therefore, the spiritual as distinguished from the celestial were to be separated, yet this was to the end that they might later be formed into a lower heaven, which would then be a heaven as if in its own right. The state of that lower heaven is indicated by Ishmael's not being the legitimate "heir," and this because that heaven was not primarily under the rule of love. To the Lord, at the time, this alienation could not be other than a most grievous temptation, for it was His will that all men should be saved, even to the highest degree.

102


Yet, because of the racial failure, this could not be. Therefore it was revealed, and the Lord was consoled by the revelation, that a fitting placement of the spiritual within His kingdom would be effected.
     While the spiritual were inbound within the sphere of the Lord's first-formed rational, which was to be put aside, yet it was provided that their banishment would be temporary, and that their restoration would enable them freely to live their lives in its prescribed order.
     Coincident with the formation of a lower heaven, composed of the spiritual, men in the world were enabled to derive therefrom a new freedom in spiritual things, and to attain a secondary degree of heavenly life. This newly-formed heaven was the source from which the first Christian Church was derived, and therefore regenerating Christians of that period were, for the most part, enabled to ascend to the second heaven only. It was not until the Lord's final coming that the way was opened for a beginning foundation, having the future possibility of a spiritual-celestial development, and therewith a gradual return of the rule of love in the lives of men. Amen.

     LESSONS: Genesis 21:1-21. Matthew 8:1-27. A. C. 2636 1-3.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 509, 504, 501. Psalmody, page 48.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 183, 196.
NEW CHURCH SERMONS 1938

NEW CHURCH SERMONS              1938

     A pamphlet published monthly, from October to June inclusive, by the General Church of the New Jerusalem. Contents: Sermons and other material suitable for individual reading, family worship, and missionary purposes, reprinted from New Church Life. Sent free of charge on application to Mr. H. Hyatt, Treasurer, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

103


HOPE 1938

HOPE       Rev. W. CAIRNS HENDERSON       1938

     "It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord." (Lamentations 3:26.)

     We are quoting an ancient proverb which sounds the height and depth of spiritual wisdom. The saying is truth, and of the most enduring verities. Within the Divinely ordered form of a single thought, it expresses all that men of Christian faith and life may ever learn to believe from the cumulative experience of human life. And in its acceptance as an eternal truth,-both from the Word and as the supreme lesson of experience,-man is given to plumb the pellucid deeps of human and angelic wisdom, and to achieve the exalted purpose for which he was born of our feeble race.
     Our text is indeed the essence of a spiritual philosophy of life. As a fore-revelation of the state of heart and mind to which the spiritual must come, and to which they may win through only by enduring hardships and uncertainties while in the world, it explains the purpose of life, and resolves the manifold problems of existence. And as an epitome of the spiritual wisdom of experience it indicates the only mode of life wherein is the power to endure. For from the alternation of states which is every man's lot, from the endless mutation of sorrow and consolation, of suffering and peace, from the bitter contrast between idealism and disillusionment, between ambition and actual accomplishment, from the perplexing claims of tangled loyalties, from the flux and surge of conflicting forces, and from the uncertainty as to his eternal state in which man must ever be while still on earth, this alone emerges as certain, as truth and of the substance of good, as that alone to which man may turn with full confidence,-that " it is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord."
     It was first to bring a broken people into such solid contact with enduring realities amidst the dissolving relations of national life that the saying was recorded in the Scripture.

104


The tragic theme of Lamentations,-worked out in a series of five dirges,-is the capture of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple. In elegies of haunting beauty and vibrant tenderness, Jeremiah was given to bewail these sad events which marked the renunciation of a high destiny, and to mourn the miseries of slavery and famine which they entailed. His themes cohere as a one, depicting in somber tones every aspect of the calamity which had overtaken Israel. The utter desolation of Jerusalem, the cause of its disastrous fate, the nation's acquiescence in affliction, the contrast between the glorious past and the melancholy present, and an earnest prayer for deliverance,-these form the dark framework within which the text is set. The prophet's eyes dissolve in tears as he reviews the utter desolation of Israel, and the dreary, prospectless future that stretches before it in an alien land. Yet in his grief he is given to see in apparent destruction a purpose of good, and is inspired to draw out of chaos an eternal truth, which might yet revive the hearts of his countrymen in exile. "It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord."
     But while Jeremiah was inspired to mourn a captive nation and a land made desolate, the spiritual idea manifested to the angels was of a church enslaved and laid waste. The Jewish Church was utterly vastated of good and truth, because it had applied the sense of the letter of the Word to favor its infernal loves. There was no conjunction with the Lord, no power against the engulfing spheres of evil from hell, and no help from heaven. The human race was in danger of complete extinction, unless the Lord should hasten His advent, should engage the hells in combat, through temptations even to despair. These were the gloomy themes unfolded to the angels in the solemn dirges of Jeremiah. The corrupted state of the church, the jeopardy in which it had put the race on earth, and the urgent need of the Lord's advent, were then, above all else, the subjects of active thought and concern in the heavens. And so there was lamentation in heaven as on earth. And for the sustaining of their faith there was need that the angels also should perceive in a spiritual idea that "it is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord."
     The lives of men are woven of diverse materials into widely different patterns.

105


Some wrest but a meagre and uncertain pittance from a reluctant world, while others are endowed from birth with an abundance of earthly goods. Some seem to be carried effortlessly along by the stream of life, and for others life is a burden to be borne, and scarcely to be endured. Health of mind and body, with the power to grasp and enjoy life, are the lot of some; while others must carry a load of physical sickness and disease, and are held by neuroses on the shadowy borderland of dark and terrifying jungles of the mind. Some, by heredity and environment, are free from care and unhappiness, and are blessed with a single mind Their lives are cast in pleasant and placid lines. Others are naturally fretful and brooding; they invite unhappiness, and must know the mental tearing asunder of conflicting purposes. And to a few is it given to experience the alternate peace and despair of spiritual temptation.
     Men judge their lot on earth by the tranquil or disturbed surface of their lives,-by the risks, the dangers, the infrequent victories and more constant defeats, the continuous strife and unquenched yearning, which mark their few score years of troubled existence. They judge, and find vast differences. Yet, because few seem able to take command in the shaping of their own destinies, all men in whom is a purpose of good are at one in their wholesome dissatisfaction with the past, and in their longing for better things in the future. For all such the years of maturity are years of disillusionment, of disenchantment with self and the world. We reap as we have sown; but only in the harvest is it borne in upon us how pitifully different was the sowing from what we had imagined it to be in the springtime of life. The brave ideals of youth have fallen before realities. The past is strewn with the graves of our stillborn intentions of good. The deep gulf between aspiration and actual achievement produces real distress.
     Especially is this true of those who are becoming spiritual. They see themselves as in captivity, as enslaved and laid waste, and as prevented from entering into the spiritual qualities to which their affections are going out, and they come into lamentation on account of their state. In general, this last is as a barrier set over against progress; in temptation it is as a bond restraining from restoration to spiritual peace.

106


They yearn for spiritual things and long for rest, yet perceive that they are far from both. Because they are given to see the cause of past failure as in themselves, their desire for better things is also an urgent wish for escape from self. Theirs is that distaste for self which must increase until man recoils from himself with shuddering loathing. And their state is a harsh one and unlovely, intolerable and not to be borne, unless God grant the possibility of eventual deliverance. So, too, in other degrees of life do men discipline themselves to situations hardly to be endured unless there be the possibility of betterment. Therefore, in His mercy, God ever gives man to hope.
     The healing power of hope, and its energizing virtue, is a wonderful thing. Because hope is man's constant allowance from mercy, its restoring operations are most often accepted unthinkingly and even ungratefully. Yet hope is one of God's most precious gifts to our frail race. For man is not naturally of the long enduring, and without the sustaining help of hope he would succumb before the battle was well begun. Hope sets the mind in an upward and forward direction after every calamity, and rescues man from that worst of all follies,-an escape into the past whose realities fickle memory veils with a false glamor. It soothes and revives the troubled spirit of man, heals bruised and broken affections, and builds anew weakening thoughts; and, in spite of repeated failures, it gives man to fight again, and yet again, and imparts the courage to endure to the end.
     This resilience and persistency of hope is a marvelous thing which is well-nigh beyond our power to comprehend. It defies all reason and logic, giving man to believe in the possibility of a favorable outcome in the uncertain future, even when the balance of probability is against it. Were it not so, no man might live and endure what must befall the children of men. Either would he die, or else lose his sanity. For it is of man's quality that he must sin again and again, even while striving to resist evils as sins, before he can be finally delivered; and of his nature that he should require assurances within himself of the possibility of victory, before he will enter into combat against his evils. So it is that hope actually sustains life itself, and that its persistence is of deepest mercy. For it is only when hope perishes that man turns his face to the wall and waits for death to come for him.

107



     Hope is indeed necessary for life, and is ever the gift of the Lord. So essential is it that even evil spirits in hell must occasionally be granted the hope of doing some evil, since otherwise they would have no wish to live, and so could not be prepared for uses. (S. D. 2880.) But it is especially to the regenerating that the Lord, in His mercy, grants unfailing hope. Thus we are taught that all who are in spiritual captivity are kept by Him in the hope of deliverance; that, when man is in temptations, angels and good spirits keep him in the hope of victory, and this from the presence of the Lord; and that when temptation reaches the last limit of man's power to endure, he is elevated by the Lord, and brought into a bright state of hope. And we have need to realize that, without the constant renewal of this familiar faculty, no man could endure temptations.
     We are not given to know fully what this marvelous power is. It is only said that to every falsity which the hells inject there is an answer from the Divine which inflows into the internal man, but does not excite its particulars, so that it scarcely comes to perception save as hope. (A. C. 8159:3.) But what this continuous answer from the Divine itself means to man may be seen faintly outlined in the teaching that unless man were given the hope of a resurrection after the death of the body, he would never be moved to repent, and would never suffer himself to be reformed and regenerated by the Lord. This teaching, more than any other, reveals hope as a gift of mercy.
     Without this power, also, there is no such thing as compulsion by self away from self towards the Lord. Thus it is as essential to the formation of spiritual life as to the sustaining of natural existence. The reason is given. Because eternal life is secured to man by a continuous succession of states, and this by continuous renewal from the Divine, the mind faints at the thought of having attained a state beyond which there is no new thing. It is the very delight of reason itself that from the love in thought it sees effects in the future; and from this man has hope. If man knew the future, he would be deprived of hope, and reason would be bereft of its delight. At the same time he would lose every incentive to combat evils, and would relapse into the infernal states of the old proprium. And this is the arcane reason why it is not given to man to know with certainty while still on earth what his final state in the spiritual world will be.

108


For if that were revealed, he would lose hope, and with it the power of self-compulsion away from self, and so could not come into heaven among the angels.
     But, like everything else that comes to man from the spiritual world, hope may be grounded in truth or falsity, and may cherish that which is either good or evil. True hope is in and of spiritual faith. Wherefore is it said in the text that "it is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord." It is in the quietness of the spirit, the stilling of our tumultuous passions and the quelling of our vain imaginings, that we allow the Lord to inflow into the natural mind with the gift of spiritual life; because in that quietness the external man is harmonized with the internal, and attuned to the inflowing sphere of the Lord. And it is in the realization that, if he so stills his spirit, the Lord will endow him with spiritual life, that man has his highest hope and truly waits for the salvation of the Lord. A hope indeed, though never a certainty, since that would make the end impossible.
     Yet it is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. In mercy we are given to know that conditionments imposed by worldly station, and by mental and physical sicknesses, do not continue into the spiritual world, that all things therein are determined by the deeper things in which all men have equal opportunities while on earth, that for those in temptation there is final rest and peace, and that for every man the end is one of infinite mercy. And while it is true that many men do not enter the kingdom of heaven, it is also true that it is not so difficult to live the life that leads to heaven as may be supposed. It is true, also, that many will be received into heaven whose hope of heaven was spent, and whose trembling entrance among the angels will be accompanied by a deep wonderment. Therefore may all men ever pray, "Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be Upon us, according as we hope in Thee." Amen.

     LESSONS: Lamentations 3:132. John 14:1-20. D. P. 178, 179.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 658, 553, 575.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 17, 32.

109


ACADEMY 1938

ACADEMY       Rev. C. E. DOERING       1938

     Retrospect, Introspect, and Prospect.

     (At a Celebration of Founders' Day, January 12, 1938.)

     I shall begin this address with a brief historical survey,-a review of the background of the Academy,-a Retrospect,-in order that we may come into communion with those who have contributed to the upbuilding of the New Church, and be inspired by them. For when men leave this world, they continue in their love, and it is the sphere of this love, and its activity, that flows in with an inspirational and a creative force wherever it finds minds of a similar love and adequate preparation; and this stimulates to further progress and the development of new ideas, and thus growth. From Retrospect I shall pass for a moment to Introspection-Introspect for euphony,-and then move on to the field of prophecy,-Prospect.

     I: RETROSPECT.

     First, I propose to recall some of the notable contributions on two subjects which are cardinal Academy principles: (1) The Status of the Writings; (2) New Church Education. Although they did not appear to be received at the time of their utterance, they prepared the way for the establishment of the Academy; for ideas once expressed in print are permanent, and become of service to future generations.

     1. The Status of the Writings.

     From the beginning of the New Church there have been those who have had a vision of what the nature of the Writings, and what was needed to establish the New Church on earth; and there were those who did not so recognize their nature. And so we find in the early magazines a discussion of this point, as to whether the Writings are the Word of God, or are not; some holding to the affirmative, and also to the belief that they are authoritative, while those who held the negative view claimed that they are not authoritative not a Revelation, but an Exposition.

110



     In 1800, Roger Bernet wrote to the editors of the AURORA, saying that in the course of his travels he had found some who held that the Writings are the Word, and others who held that they are not the Word, but only an exposition of the Word; and he asked them their opinion. They replied in an editorial as follows:

     "The Editors and several of their respectable correspondents conceive that Emanuel Swedenborg as to his Theological Writings is no more an author than Matthew, Mark, Luke or John, but that as they were, so is he,-a scribe of the Lord; and hath written down that which he received, was ordered and appointed to write. We do not pretend to say the whole of his theological writings are the Word of the Lord equally with those of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. We say that what he hath written is strictly true-his relations real facts-that there is no error or mistake in them-that he was under the peculiar direction of the Lord throughout the whole-and that his Arcana in particular is none other than the Lord's own Word, opened and exhibited in its internal sense, its true spiritual meaning, and therefore is infallible truth. It is the light and glory of the Holy Word shining in superior splendor. The more we consider the Writings in this light, the less is Emanuel Swedenborg exalted, for he is nothing at all, but a mere scribe or medium; but if he be considered in a lower light, as an expositor of the Scriptures only, then the mart is exalted, his own power and abilities are looked at, and he may be idolized as a great and wonderful man. Whereas in the other case, Emanuel Swedenborg is nothing, the Lord is all, and to Him alone is given the praise." (Aurora, Vol. I, p. 236.)

     We note that the editors (Proud, Hodson, and Sibley) did not unequivocally commit themselves, although they did say that the Arcana "is infallible truth," and put that work on a par with the four Gospels, although they seemed to waver about the doctrinal works.
     On the other side we find those who considered Swedenborg merely as an expositor of the Scriptures. Thus, in 1832, Samuel Worcester wrote to Daniel Lammot, of Philadelphia:

     "You mention our seldom referring to the works of Swedenborg. We read them for instruction, and not for authority. Hence we talk of what we have learned, and not what he says. . . . Supposing that his works are the offspring of the love of use, we must of course consider them a faithful record of what he heard and saw.

111


But one in that state is not exempt from fallibility. The angels frequently make mistakes. To be necessarily free from them, Swedenborg must have been omniscient, or have written by dictation. In either case, his works would have been the Word. Now they are only an exhibition of such truths as the elevation of his mind enabled him to perceive. They are perfect in the same degree that regeneration was perfected in him." (New Churchman Extra, pp. 105-113.) Again, "A New Churchman should not read Swedenborg as authority. He should read to understand, acknowledge, and apply truths." (Ibid.)

     This is typical of many expressions found throughout the literature of the New Church.
     In the PRECURSOR, edited by the Rev. Richard de Charms, the subject of the nature of the Revelation to the New Church is discussed under such headings as "Is Swedenborg what he says he is?" "What are the proper signs of his being so?" and "The Authority of Swedenborg." I shall quote but one statement,-commenting on Swedenborg's words, "I testify in truth that I have not received anything which pertains to the doctrines of the Church from any angel, but from the Lord alone, while I read the Word." (T. C. R. 779.) "This statement, which Swedenborg makes on oath," wrote Mr. de Charms, "is certainly most important, if true, and with equal certainty a very foolish one, if false." He rules out the latter on the ground of Swedenborg's well-known character, learning, and common honesty, and accepts the statement as true, and concludes that what Swedenborg teaches is on the authority of the Lord Himself. "On this fact," he says, "the whole of what is called, and what we believe to he, the New Jerusalem dispensation, rests. For this dispensation is the Second Coming of the Lord, and if this fact be false, then the Lord has not made His Second Advent." (PRECURSOR, 1839, p. 348.)
     Those who held that Swedenborg was only an expositor denied this claim, and said that the New Church was descending into the hearts and minds of all men. I might say that Mr. de Charms addressed his message to the members of the New Church, and not to the Old Church, as did the generality of the writers of Convention and Conference. It was a call to the New Church to follow the Standard of the Divine Authority of the Writings,-a call to the individual, and to the organized New Church, to conform to what is there taught. And so, in the PRECURSOR, we find articles on such subjects as:

112


The Doctrine of the Priesthood (pp. 45-121); The Necessity of Order in the External Things of the Church (pp. 316-332, 343, 361, 378, 390); The State of the Christian Church, and the Distinctiveness of the New Church (p. 193); The Need of Distinctive New Church Education (pp. 174, 189, 201); and The Importance of the Study of Hebrew (p. 113);-all treated from the point of view of the Writings as the final authority on all such matters. All of these subjects, except Hebrew, had been treated from a similar point of view in isolated articles from the beginning of the New Church.
     In 1861, Mr. Benade addressed the Pennsylvania Association on the Nature of Swedenborg's Illumination, and at the close of his argument said:

     "Finally, as we set aside the proposition that Swedenborg's illumination was preceded and only rendered possible by his spiritual regeneration, as contrary to his own teaching, as contrary to reason, and as opening the door to all kinds of heresies, to every form of infidelity, in the way of modern spiritism or infernalism, as it has been well styled, because it establishes the position that what took place in regard to Swedenborg may take place in regard to any other man, so we do maintain, on the ground of our argument, that as the Lord has made His Second Advent through the instrumentality of Swedenborg, the truths which he has been the means of revealing to us are divine; that they are the Lord's spiritual Word, being the spiritual sense contained in the natural sense of the Sacred Scriptures, wherein the Divinity of the Word resides, and these truths have all Divine Authority, as the Lord's Word to His New Church, as Himself in His Spiritual Coming for the establishment of His last and crowning dispensation to the world, and that therefore, because this is the crown of all former dispensations, it is also and must be received as a finality." (Journal of the Pennsylvania Association, 1861.)

     2. New Church Education.

     In the early magazines the articles on education were addressed primarily to parents, instructing them, and calling their attention to their responsibilities and duties. Some articles devoted their attention to the progress of education in the world. The first English Conference evidently considered the matter of sufficient importance to be put in the Constitution which they formulated, for we find this:
     "Article 10: That it is the opinion of this Conference that it is the duty of every true Christian to train up his children in the principles of the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem Church alone.

113


The two grand essentials of which are: 1. That the Lord, the Savior, Jesus Christ is the only God of heaven and earth, and that His Humanity is Divine; and 2. That in order to obtain salvation, man must live a life according to the Ten Commandments by shunning evils as sins."
     I wonder whether we do not see expressed here a perception of the truth that the genuine doctrine of the Word must be established in the minds of the young, in order that they may be prepared to enter interiorly into the truths of the New Revelation. Moreover, we learn from the early literature of the Church that much of the preaching was directed to proclaiming the genuine doctrine of the Word, which was a necessary work in order to combat the falsities of the Old Church doctrines of a tripersonal God and of faith alone. This work had to be done before the New Church could enter more interiorly into the Doctrines themselves.
     I would like to call attention to a few of the many articles on the subject of New Church education, most of them based on studies of the Writings.
     The subject of remains and their use in regeneration is discussed at length, and the importance of parental cooperation with the Lord, in order that there may be no interference with His work in storing remains in the minds of Children (A. C. 53543); for, says one writer, "Childhood and youth are the age of preparation,-the age for the storing of remains, that the house of God may be built, for on this depends the establishment of the New Church." And in this connection he urges the importance of the proper education of mothers, that they may do their part in this work, seeing that children are almost entirely under their care in the early years, and as the twig is bent, so the tree will grow. The education of girls is discussed more than once, and its importance stressed, "that as wives they may be the rational companions and advisors of their husbands, and as mothers, to them chiefly belongs the duty of cultivating the good of infancy, and of forming the first conceptions of right and wrong, truth and falsehood, in the minds of their children." (INTELLECTUAL REPOSITORY, 1817-W. M.)
     To impress parents with their duty and responsibility to their children, a number of articles quote Conjugial Love 202: "Inclinations to things like those of their parents are born with children. . . .

114


But that the thoughts and acts themselves may not follow, it is of the Divine Providence that depraved inclinations may be corrected, and that a faculty for this is also implanted, from which faculty comes the effectiveness of the correction of morals by parents and masters, and afterwards by themselves, when they come to act from their own judgment." The conclusion drawn was, that if the children are not corrected, then those who have the care of them are "either culpably negligent or lamentably incapable." One writer says, "Happy will it be for the Church when parents profoundly feel the truth conveyed in the sentiment of which they are reminded at the baptism of their offspring,-that the will of the Lord is, that their children shall be trained for heaven, and that, in the discharge of this employment, He has appointed them to act for Him." 1830, p. 231.)
     That parents might be helped in the education of their children, a number of moral treatises were produced. In 1833, the Rev. M. M. Carll published An Essay on Moral Culture,-a compendium of the principles of accommodation for the use of parents and teachers. And the Rev. William Mason was the author of a series of essays on domestic education, later published in book form under the title of The Parents' Friend, in which he draws an analogy between the work of the instruction and education of the child by the parent, and the work of reformation and regeneration of the adult by the Lord. And he emphasizes the importance of instilling the cardinal virtues. (I. R., 1832, 1833.) Later, 1843-1854, a period of eleven years, another series of essays by the same author was entitled "Materials for Moral Culture." These are maxims culled from the literature of all ages, with comments and-occasional references to the Writings. In 1843-4 there is a series entitled "Hints to Parents and Teachers on the Moral and Religious Training of Children" (Tudor); and in 1859 there was published a work on moral virtues and duties, directly addressed to young people, by a "Christian Minister" (Wm. Mason). It comprised "Forty moral lectures for the young, explanatory of the principles and practice of the moral virtues and duties."
     Beside these treatises on morals, there were studies on the development of the human mind, with a recognition of the truth that man is an inhabitant of both worlds, and consequently that the mind is to be cultivated by knowledges of heaven, the church, and also the world.

115


Parents are warned not to interfere with what the angels are seeking to do for the child. Bearing upon this point, we find many articles advocating the teaching of nature and science in the light of the New Church, and particularly the science of correspondences, because it was the science of sciences with the Ancients, and also because nature is a theater representative of the kingdom of God. A valuable contribution to this is Hindmarsh's work on the Correspondence of the Numbers, Weights, and Measures mentioned in the Scriptures.

     3. Swedenborg's Philosophy.

     In compiling a list of what was done, we should not overlook the early appreciation of the study of Swedenborg's Philosophical Works. As early as 1792, in THE NEW JERUSALEM JOURNAL, there was an article, signed "Omicron," which advised New Church people to study the science and philosophy of Swedenborg as a preparation of their minds to understand more fully the teachings of the Writings, even as the investigation and study of natural truth prepared the mind of Swedenborg to receive and give the Revelation to the world. Later, 1825, this suggestion was acted upon by Dr. John Spurgin, who wrote a series of articles entitled "Disquisitions on certain philosophical Doctrines as subordinate to and illustrative of True Theology." In his introduction he says:

     "The order observable in all the acts of the Divine Providence is especially conspicuous in the means which it has employed toward realizing those promises of the Word of God which, as all expositors agree, though with more or less obscurity in their interpretations of them, bear upon the future benefit and happiness of mankind, or refer to some glorious state of the church on earth, but the true design of which we are enabled with the utmost clearness to discern. These means consist in preparing the mind of men in general, and thus of the world, for apprehending the truths of the Word in a more abstract, a more extended, and a more spiritual manner, and thereby for perceiving the laws of that providence which regulates the merciful and just dealings of God with man." Later on in the same article he says that Swedenborg was prepared "by love of knowledge, by the spirit of research, and by veneration of his Creator and His Word" (I. R. 1825, p. 652), and that "his philosophical doctrines are so true as to be analogues and correspondents of his theological, in the same way as the natural world is the analogue and correspondent of the spiritual world." (I. R. 1829-B.)

116


Under a sub-title of his subject, entitled "The Moving Power of Nature," he postulated that God is the source of all motion, is activity itself, which created all things, spiritual and natural, to receive and manifest that activity, and that each lower plane manifests that of the higher. The Doctor expounded this thesis in various applications and illustrations in a series of essays running through the Intellectual Repository from 1826 to 1833, showing that everything created is a receptacle of this activity; and he draws the analogy between material objects receiving the activity of the heat and light of the natural sun, while spiritual things receive the heat and light of heaven. He quotes the following: "But how what is finite receives the infinite can be illustrated by the light and heat of the sun of the world. The light itself and the heat itself are not material, and yet they affect material substances, the light by modifying them, and the heat by changing their states. The Lord's Divine Wisdom is likewise light, and the Lord's Divine Love is heat, but they are spiritual heat and light, because they go forth from the Lord as a sun which is Divine Wisdom, while the light and heat from the sun of the world are natural, because that sun is fire, and not love," . . . "and it is impossible for the light of the sun to be united to an earthly subject, and become material as the subject is."

     There were other brief accounts of how to teach science in the light of the Doctrines, but Dr. Spurgin's is the only systematic effort to correlate the truths of Swedenborg's Philosophy with the Writings. We marvel at his perception that the Divine Love, because it is activity itself, is creative, in order that love may be received and manifested by the works of His creation, and that it is never continuous with what it creates, but by its perpetual influx imparts to what is created the appearance of life in itself, which truth he illustrates by the phenomena of nature.
     The quotations I have made are mostly from the early literature of the New Church, produced at a time when men were filled with love and enthusiasm for the Church, and with thankfulness to the Lord that they were enabled to throw off the erroneous teachings of the Old Christian Church. But the New Church as a whole did not retain its early love; for although these articles were available in magazines and books, there was no concerted movement arising therefrom; nor were they effective in stemming the tide of opinion which, from the beginning, had looked outward for the growth of the Church, and which considered that the Lord was establishing the New Church by influx into the hearts and minds of men, rather than by the Revelation He has given for His New Church. And so every effort for the establishment of distinctive New Church education failed.

117


There was no real advance in the interior understanding of the Writings, and no real growth of the Church, but the doctrine of permeation was sapping its life.
     Then it was that the Lord put it into the hearts of men to organize to stem the tide of retrogression, and the Academy came into existence. They had been denied expression through the ordinary channels, as is evident from the following extracts from letters of the Rev. J. P. Stuart to Bishop Benade:

     "Why is so little said and known in New England and New York about the fundamental doctrines? Why have the things written by you, J. R. H., Glendower, and myself, been so uniformly crowded back, elbowed aside; and instead of these things, why has the skimmed milk of A. S., C. G., T. H., T. P., and others, been persistently put to the front?" (November, 1870.)
     Again: "Have you ever had opportunity to speak out in full, either in council, convention, magazine or paper? Who has had such an opportunity, and why this want of opportunity? Are we insane men? Are we slaves? Why must we always everlastingly explain ourselves when cornered, and shut up to a brevity of a 'no' or a 'yes'? We seem to me to act and speak ecclesiastically much as our ancestors in early times used to plow and hoe; viz., with a rifle or musket in one hand, and the plow or hoe in the other. (Christmas, 1871.)

     It is evident that they had to do something, if they were to have any influence in leading the Church to the Writings.

     II: INTROSPECT.

     The Founders of the Academy had a clear vision that the Lord has made His Second Coming in the Writings, revealing Himself therein in His Divine Human. They saw that those Writings are His Word to the New Church, and that from them He teaches and leads His Church. And they resolved that, for themselves, there should be no other Authority and no other Law, as is shown by their declaration of purposes. And it was their conviction that if the Church would publish and send broadcast to all New Churchmen what the Writings say about themselves, and about the state of the Christian world, it would be sufficient to rescue the Church from the tide of permeation that was sweeping over it. Bishop W. F. Pendleton told me this more than once.
     They soon saw, however, that this would not be enough.

118


And so, in the light of the fundamental doctrine that the Lord was speaking to them from the Writings, and in their love and study of the Writings, they formulated other new doctrines, distinctively of the New Church, doctrines necessary for its establishment, among which was that of distinctive New Church education. These doctrines had indeed been noted before by individual receivers here and there, but the Church was not ready to receive them, and no group of men had so formulated them as to make them the body of doctrine of the Church.
     The Founders came to realize that, if the Church was to grow, ministers and teachers thoroughly indoctrinated in the Writings must be provided, that the laity might be properly instructed and led. To this end, therefore, in addition to propagandizing the Church in WORDS FOR THE NEW CHURCH and in NEW CHURCH LIFE, they started a theological school for the systematic education of the priesthood in Theology, Philosophy, and Science. Other departments were gradually added, in all of which there was the endeavor to ultimate the Principles of the Writings.
     Bishop Benade's lectures on education, begun in 1884 and continued for several years, did much to prepare ministers and teachers and also parents for the great use of educating children and youth. They also insured an understanding cooperation between parents and teachers. From the very beginning of the school, the effort was to make it distinctively New Church,-a school in which both teachers and pupils were New Church, and everything was taught in a New Church way. It was seen that the truth of the Writings must be the living soul in everything that was taught, which meant an attempt at a reorganization of every subject in the curriculum. The results were sometimes crude, and from a worldly point of view not as efficient as desired, so that its patrons first asked and later demanded greater efficiency.
     Then it was that there was a looking outward. One frequently heard the saying, "Spoil the Egyptians!" And some of our teachers and young people went to outside colleges for instruction in their various fields of work. The result was increased efficiency in our teaching and a broadening of our courses of studies; but the interior development of our work is not going to be from this source, useful as it may be, but from the Revelation given to it by the Lord. I might interject here that the New Church Free Day Schools in England went out of existence as New Church schools because of their efficiency in teaching the common branches.

119


For gradually they paid more attention to perfecting the teaching of these, to the exclusion of the purpose for which they were organized; and then they were subsidized by the government because they were efficient, and later entirely taken over by it.
     Now this going out by our teachers and students produced an attitude of thought that somewhat changed the view of the purposes of our education,-from the broad spiritual concept of Bishop Benade to the concept that our students are to be prepared to meet the materialistic assaults on their faith when they go into the world. This is a good purpose, but it is subordinate to the broad concept that the end of education is preparation for heaven; for if children and youth have this broad preparation, then they will acquire the means to protect themselves against the assaults on their faith. I think this difference has become manifested in the approach to the study of subject matter, whether it is to be analyzed, judged, ordered and arranged in the light of the truth of the Writings, so that it becomes an embodiment of, confirmatory to, and a foundation of spiritual truth, or whether the thinking is to be from the array of facts which have been accumulated.
     I have sometimes heard this statement quoted from the Writings: "There are two foundations of truth, the Word and Nature." And in this connection a knowledge of the facts of nature and of science has been much stressed. The exact wording of the statement is: "There are two foundations of truth, one from the Word, the other from nature or from the truths of nature." (S. D. 5709.) The important thing to note is that it is the truth of nature, not nature, that is mentioned as serving for a foundation. And the place of science in its relation and subordination to the truth of the Word is the burden of the passage, as is evident from the conclusion, "In brief, nothing can be founded upon scientifics unless it has previously been founded upon the Word." (S. D. 5710.)
     Now while there has been this development of science with us, and while the science department has grown more rapidly than any other, this has been of Providence, and is an illustration of the mode of human growth, which passes through an alternation of states, first an elevation to interiors, and then a recession to exteriors.

120


All real development of human life, yea, even angelic, consists in these alternations, but with the angels their recession into exteriors is to refresh, prepare and stimulate them to enter still more interior states. And the Academy, by its entering into science as it has done, may be the better prepared and qualified to see in nature and the sciences those truths which will confirm and establish the truths of religion. This is the real use of science.
     Before closing this introspection, which is in the nature of a self-examination, I would like to make one more comment. We are in the world, a part of it, and are subject to its spheres. In the world, education is a state affair, furnished by the state and controlled by the state, and people are relieved of responsibility, and so are continually expecting the state to do more and more for them, not only in the matter of instruction, but also in the forming of character.
     I wonder whether New Church parents are altogether free from this influence. I refer not to the financial side, but rather to a shifting of the moral and spiritual responsibility, expecting the school to do for their children in the forming of their character what they themselves have neglected or have been unable to do. All thinking people, in and out of the Church, realize that the greatest influence in forming character is the home and the contacts the children make while they are under the auspices of their parents. This responsibility cannot without danger be shifted. I have frequently had parents confess that they have been unable to secure obedience, control, or respect from their children, but hoped that we could do something when they came to the Academy. But if the remains of innocence and charity, together with obedience and something of the love of it, have not been insinuated before they come to school, if the child has been allowed to act from self-will and thus have its own way, the school has poor material with which to work. Fortunately the percentage of such is not very large; yet, among intelligent New Church people, it ought to be smaller than it is.

     III: PROSPECT.

     Now what of the future! While it is impossible for human beings to predict this, nevertheless, judging by the way Bishop de Charms has started the whole Faculty to work on the subject of distinctive New Church education, we are justified in being optimistic.

121


When he took charge of the educational work of the Academy, he began, first with the Elementary School Faculty, next with the Girls' Seminary, and then with President's Council, a study and consideration of our work from the Doctrines, to make it distinctively New Church. The subject is now being taken up in various departments and schools for development and application, each to its own field of work. To me this is the most hopeful sign of the progress of the Academy's educational work that I have seen in many a year, and if it develops as outlined, there will be an approach to fulfilling the prophecy in Isaiah, "In that day there shall be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria; and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land; whom Jehovah of Hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance." (Isaiah 19:24, 25, 26.)
     Here we are told in symbolic language what genuine New Church education is to be. "In that day" means the time of the Lord's coming and by the "day" twice mentioned is meant His first and second comings,-two comings to each individual-a sensual, and a spiritual rational. Egypt, Assyria, and Israel are the three planes of the mind,-the natural, rational, and spiritual, or the things that make the mind-scientific truths of the Word and nature, rational truths, and spiritual truths. "In the midst " signifies the inmost from which the rest are derived; for the spiritual is the all therein.
     It is the Lord that builds the mind, but He can do so only by means of the things that are furnished to it from without. And the knowledge of the Lord as the Creator is the first and most important truth to be learned. The prophecy begins with "In that day." The Lord must come to the child. He must be presented to the child's consciousness by the parent, in order that the various knowledges that are acquired later may be elicited into ideas and formed into rational truths. "In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria," but that is not an end in itself. Both the knowledges and the rational truths are to serve. They are to serve as a containant for the ultimation of the Spiritual.

122


"The Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians," and they will do so when the spiritual is the all in all of them,-when Israel is "in the midst." This is the blessing within, by which the Lord gives the life and power that orders and arranges everything in its proper place, and that causes the proper ordination and subordination of things in the various planes of the mind. The spiritual alone enters into the inheritance that is the kingdom of God. We read in A. E. 313, "When the spiritual is the inmost, then the rational, which is thence derived, is also spiritual, and likewise also are the scientifics and knowledges, for both of these are formed from the inmost or the spiritual."
     In another view, by "Egypt" is meant the realm of science or the scientifics of nature, and by "Assyria" the realm of rational causes, or of rational philosophy; while by "Israel" is meant the genuine doctrine which is revealed by the Lord out of heaven, and which sheds its illuminating light into the domain of philosophy and science, and puts them in their place for use in the building of the mind. The Writings teach that theological things in man reside in his inmost, that the idea of the Lord is in the center of these things, and further that below the theological things, ranged in order, are moral and political things and the things of science, and that the nature of the lowest things is determined entirely by the nature of the higher, and finally by the nature of the highest. (See T. C. R. 186, 482.) So that our philosophy and our science, yea, all knowledge, is to be qualified, governed, and arranged in order by the theology that the Lord has given us.
     In conclusion. From the stimulus and direction in the work of distinctive New Church education given by President de Charms, and as the fruits of it are extended throughout the church, I can visualize New Church Parents who, acting from a spiritual love of their offspring, and not merely from storage, will protect their children from evil spheres, so that the Lord can store up a fullness of remains, and who at the same time have wisely enforced the habit of obedience until it becomes the love of obeying, so that their minds will eagerly assimilate the knowledges which are to be their menial food. The love of obedience lays the plane for this. And I can see teachers in our various schools who have a love of the spiritual welfare of these same children, who have a conviction that the Lord, in His Divine Human, speaks to all of us in the Writings, who have a love of investigation, and who, from all these things, study the abilities and characteristics of those in their charge, as well as the material to be taught, so that they can properly accommodate the truths of whatever subject they are teaching to the comprehension of their pupils, that these may be stimulated in the love of truth for its own sake and the longing to see it; for then they will see the Lord, who is the Truth, and will be inspired to go on in establishing the New Church, signified by the New Jerusalem, which is the inmost purpose of our existence.

123


PECULIAR USE OF THE NEW CHURCH 1938

PECULIAR USE OF THE NEW CHURCH       Rev. F. E. GYLLENHAAL       1938

     Today, perhaps more than ever before in the world's history, it is necessary to belong to some country, to be a recognized and reputable citizen of a nation, for the sake of one's life and work, but especially if one wishes to travel about on the earth. Whatever we may think of the circumstances that have produced this necessity for citizenship, and for documentary proof of citizenship, there are several lessons to be learned from it. Possibly the condition has been permitted in order to point to a higher, spiritual need of belonging to the church, of membership in the church.
     No man can live without food; no man can acquire energy except by means of food; and the supplier of food, the feeder, is the "mother." Life is impossible without a "father" and a "mother."
     Life is initiated and established by human beings who are personally father and mother, but it is continued and sustained by universal agencies which perpetually serve the uses of "father" and "mother." The nation or country to which one belongs is the natural "mother." The church is the spiritual "mother." Spiritual life on earth is sustained by the church, and without the church the human race would grow insane and be extinguished. (A. C. 4545, 10452.)
     The church is the spiritual mother because the church has the Word of God, by which comes all spiritual food and all the energy to live aright.

124


Experience should amply confirm the revealed truth that the human race, if without a church, would grow insane and be extinguished, for today the evidence of destruction by people who have openly discarded religion is appalling, and makes it all too easy to imagine what the condition would be if there were none of the restraints that exist directly and indirectly from the influence of the church. The surviving organizations of the consummated Christian Church still have very considerable restraining influence upon the destructive inclinations of men, and the same is true of the many lingering religions scattered throughout the world. If these influences were entirely removed, conditions everywhere would rapidly become worse, with the inevitable result of the total destruction of the human race.
     There is a universal church which is everywhere in the whole world, but its constituent members are known to the Lord alone. No man is aware of belonging to it. Still, it is a powerful means of feeding and protecting the human race. This universal church is like a "greatest man," and is constituted of all the human beings who are finally to pass into the heavens. "In this man," we read, "the church where the Word is, and where the Lord is thereby known, is like the heart and lungs. . . . So all in the whole earth, who constitute the church universal, live from the church where the Word is." (A. E. 351.)
     Just as the regenerating man is given a new heart and a new spirit, so, whenever there is a Divine, universal redemption, the church universal is given a new heart and lungs, or a new Word and church, to reanimate the whole human race, and that the human race may live from the Word where it is known, understood, and lived. This places a great responsibility upon the members of the church specific. They have a peculiar and paramount use to perform, a use like that of the heart and lungs in the body, namely, of keeping the human race spiritually alive. This is to be accomplished by their deliberate and conscious, therefore diligent and conscientious, efforts to spread a knowledge of the Word and its Heavenly Doctrine, to preserve that knowledge pure, to awaken a real affection for that knowledge, and for a life according to it.
     We scarcely realize that we have a well-defined and most vital use to perform in the world. At least it would seem so, judging from appearances, from the lack of zeal with many church members, from their apathy and ignorance.

125


We see little of an eager interest in the purposes of life, or an unquenchable thirst for a knowledge of spiritual and eternal things, or a tireless energy impelling to the doing of whatever is necessary to establish the kingdom of God upon the earth. There may be smoldering affections for truth and for the church, but no brightly burning fire, with its light and warmth. Yet the responsibility rests equally with every member of the church specific. And there are many things everyone can do,-things contributing to the performance of the church's peculiar and paramount use. In fact, the work is so great, and the members to do it are so few, that at times the doing seems futile; the value to the world of the little that is done seems hopelessly insufficient.
     We often ask: What effect can the New Church have upon the world? How can so small and feeble an organization be the heart and lungs of a world-wide universal church? How is it able to avert the destruction of the human race? This idea of any New Church influence is the more surprising when we consider our own apathetic states. I believe that the New Church has had only a very slight influence upon the peoples of the world. This, I think, is due to the feebleness of its life and light, not to small numbers.
     Numbers have little to do with the power and extent of influence. There are innumerable examples of this fact in the world's history. For instance, consider the influence of single men like Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Milton, Shakespeare, Walt Whitman, Thomas Paine, Karl Marx, Lenin; the influence of the small societies first formed by the disciples of such men. And so I believe that the failure of the New Church to influence the world in any pronounced manner has not been due to fewness of numbers, but rather to feebleness of intellect and of zeal.
     Doubtless there are providential reasons for this,-reasons hidden from us now, but among them, possibly, the fact that we are not yet strongly enough rooted in the good of life, or that we still lack a sufficiently comprehensive grasp of the Heavenly Doctrines and a penetrating perception of their application to life which would qualify us to influence the world. Moreover, there has been a noticeable lack of cohesion and solidarity among professed New Church people,-a condition due, perhaps, to the kind of freedom developed from the Divinely revealed doctrine concerning freedom.

126


But, whatever explanations may be advanced to account for the slow growth and feeble power of the New Church, the truth remains,-a truth Divinely revealed,-that this New Church is the new heart and lungs of the church universal, and that its peculiar and paramount use is to keep the human race spiritually alive and spiritually sane.
     To say that this is the use of the New Church is the same as to say that it is the use of every member of the New Church. Every member, therefore, must himself be spiritually alive and spiritually sane, if he is to help in the performance of this use. And this will be his condition only in the degree that he himself lives from the Word and the Heavenly Doctrines, by which the Lord establishes the New Church. No man can so live apart from his fellow men. The very character of the two great commandments and loves, of conjugial love, of the doctrine of charity, of every one of the heavenly doctrines of the New Church, shows clearly that the New Church is pre-eminently a social church, and accordingly that the proper life of the church includes all kinds of social intercourse, as well as classes of instruction and services of worship.
     The young people have the same responsibilities as their elders. Membership puts the young man and the young woman on the same footing as that of the older members. There is no distinction as to responsibility, nor as to opportunity. The member of twenty years' standing has no greater opportunity of serving in the work of the church than the novitiate. His responsibility is no greater than that of the novitiate. The older member may realize more fully his opportunities and his responsibilities, but mere age does not make the difference between the old and the young.
     Great Britain once had a Prime Minister who was only twenty-two years of age. Did his country seek him out and conscript him, or was his ambition, or zeal, such as to lead him to seek the office? Robert Hindmarsh was twenty-nine years old when he first read the Writings. At once he became active in their promulgation, and was the acknowledged leader of older men in organizing the New Church. John Pitcairn and Walter Childs were active workers and leaders in the church when they were young men. They were in their early thirties when, under the leadership of Bishop Benade, they founded the Academy.

127


In every society of our church there have been a few young men and women who have either taken advantage of every opportunity to serve in the church, or have made such opportunities. Certainly they have shown themselves interested, zealous, responsible. But this should be the case with all of our young people, and increasingly so with every generation born within the church.
     A realization of the universal extension of the life of the church; a zeal for service that seeks the work, and does not await conscription; a steadily increasing affection of truth, springing from a growing knowledge of the truth and of the peculiar uses of the Lord's New Church; these will help to lay the necessary foundations for the upbuilding of the Church, and will help to extend the influence of the church specific throughout the church universal, thus the establishment of the promised kingdom of God upon the earth.
GENERAL CHURCH BROADCAST. 1938

GENERAL CHURCH BROADCAST.              1938

     JANUARY 29, 1938, 3.45-4.00 p.m.

      Through the enterprise of members of the Bryn Athyn Society, and the courtesy of Westinghouse Station KYW, Philadelphia, the General Church had its "first time on the air" as part of the extensive celebration of the 250th Anniversary of the birth of Emanuel Swedenborg. The Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner and the Rev. William Whitehead spoke before the microphone, and a choir of mixed voices, under the direction of Mrs. Besse E. Smith, sang the 48th Psalm from the Psalmody. An approximate record of the interview follows:
     Announcer, Mr. Kennedy: The following program is presented by the General Church of the New Jerusalem, in commemoration of the birth, 250 years ago today, of Emanuel Swedenborg, Swedish Scientist, Philosopher, and Revelator. Press and radio have paid their tributes to this remarkable man, mainly for his uncanny scientific intuitions, but this Church honors him also as an inspired writer.

     [Singing of the 48th Psalm, first part.]

     Announcer: At Bryn Athyn, not fifteen miles from Philadelphia's City Hall, there rises a notable Cathedral. Since its dedication in 1919, this unique group of buildings has drawn millions of visitors. Architects have written about it- as the first church in modern times to employ bends in plan and curves in elevation. Its stained glass is said to be without peer in this country.

128


But especially notable is it for this, that from its pulpit nothing but the Doctrines of Swedenborg is preached.
     We have as guests in the studio the Rev. Doctor Odhner, a Pastor of this Church, and the Rev. Professor William Whitehead, from the Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn. May I now ask you, Dr. Odhner: What do you regard as the central purpose of this costly edifice?
     Dr. Odhner: May I say, first, that it was not built as a personal tribute to Swedenborg. Nor was it foreseen that it would become a Mecca of architects and sight-seers. It was built-and is used-solely for worship and spiritual instruction.
     Announcer: Religious services!
     Dr. Odhner: Yes. We worship the Lord Jesus Christ in His risen Human form. "For in Him dwelleth the fulness of the Godhead bodily." The central doctrine given to mankind through Swedenborg is the clear unity of God in the One and Only Divine Person, Jesus Christ.
     Announcer: Is it not strange that a great scientific thinker like Swedenborg should, at the height of his career, become a theologian?
     Dr. Odhner: Remember, Swedenborg stood at the gateway of a new age, in which science-for good or for ill-was destined to revolutionize civilization. The Lord, in His Providence, anticipated the needs of this age, and introduced this scientist-as to his spirit-as an explorer of the spiritual world,-the world into which all human souls come immediately after death.
     Announcer: You wouldn't call Swedenborg a spiritualist?
     Dr. Odhner: Not at all. It is contrary to all the laws of God for men to try to establish intercourse with spirits. It would endanger our freedom and our reason alike. Yet a knowledge of heaven and hell is needed. Prophets and evangelists, and finally Swedenborg, were specially prepared by the Lord to bring us this knowledge.
     Announcer: You contend that Swedenborg's volume on Heaven and Hell, for instance, contains his actual experience in the spiritual world?
     Dr. Odhner: Yes. The internal evidence of his Writings is such that no earthly genius could possibly have constructed-invented-a system of doctrine so marvelously consistent, exalted and practical, that it can only be described by the Holy City, New Jerusalem-foursquare-which John, in his prophetic vision, saw descend from God out of heaven.
     Announcer: Is the ultimate goal of Christianity then fulfilled in the New Church?
     Dr. Odhner: In its Doctrine, yes. For we believe that in it the Lord has made His Second Advent as the Spirit of Truth, has returned to "speak no more in parables, but plainly." After all, the Biblical Word was written in parables; and the mission of Swedenborg was to disclose the spiritual sense, the inner meaning which plainly lays bare the laws of God and the spiritual world, and the modes of salvation. The goal of Christianity is not reached, of course, until these laws are carried out in the lives of men.

129



     Announcer: It seems a big order to bring down this Heavenly Jerusalem to earth.
     Dr. Odhner: Yes. But we can all make our modest beginnings. In our schools a special effort is made to cooperate with our homes in building up with the children a moral and spiritual conscience. In all our teaching we are conscious that a life of use to society on earth is a preparation for spiritual usefulness in the heavenly societies of the after-life.
     Announcer: I am going to ask Professor Whitehead to tell us about the Academy of the New Church at Bryn Athyn, which, I understand, is not only a High School, but includes a College Department and a Theological School.
     Prof. Whitehead: The curriculum of the Academy parallels-in general-that of similar Colleges. Yet all its instruction is inspired by the spirit of the doctrine and philosophy of the New Church. You remember Emerson wrote that Swedenborg "is not to be measured by whole colleges of ordinary scholars." And his Writings do indeed throw a marvelous light on all the sciences and the humanities.
     Announcer: Professor Whitehead, as the head of the Academy's History Department, can you indicate whether Swedenborg was ahead of his day in the understanding of history?
     Prof. Whitehead: Well, for example, Swedenborg described the development of early man long before "anthropology" was born. He showed how prehistoric man developed the characteristics that distinguish him from all other animals,-his erect attitude, his difference in brain, his power of human speech, his rational mind as apart from animal instinct, and so on. Especially he threw a new light on the history of religion and the human mind. In fact, he rewrites the history of religion.
     Dr. Odhner: Swedenborg maintains that there cannot be any lasting conflict between true science and genuine theology. . . .
     Prof. Whitehead: We believe that man must not be studied merely from the angle of scientific specialists,-specialists who present him only as a collection of chemicals, or only as a mass of mental processes,-but as a whole,-soul, and mind, and body together. We have a course, for instance, on Swedenborg's philosophy of the connection of mind and body. And it might be embarrassing for a "modern" to realize that Swedenborg assigned uses to the cortical cells and the endocrine glands long before modern research had any answers as to their purpose. Also, in 1740 or thereabouts, he discovered the localization of certain brain functions which has only been proved within the last seventy years.
     Dr. Odhner: I would like to bring out one important phase of Swedenborg's religion and philosophy which inspires our institution,-the principle that nothing is created without a purpose, a "use"; that each man is created with an individual place to fill in society, both in this world and in the eternal commonwealth of heaven. And the uses of a perfect society resemble the perfect functioning of the human body. The heavens are like a Gorand Man, of which the Lord is the Infinite Soul and Life.

130



     Announcer: You speak of Swedenborg's view of Society. How about Marriage, and the Home?
     Dr. Odhner: He teaches that true marriage love is possible only between two-between two partners whose minds also are in harmony on essentials. Such love is "heaven on earth," and it survives death. This lofty ideal-we believe-affords the only hope today for restoring the sanctity of marriage. Announcer: Does the Academy preserve any of Swedenborg's own manuscripts?
     Prof. Whitehead: Some. His manuscripts are mostly in Sweden. But the Academy has the most exhaustive collection of original editions and Swedenborgiana ever gathered. We have duplicates of nearly all editions of Swedenborg's personal library, and several thousand contemporary 17th century scientific books to which he referred. We have also about twenty-five hundred different editions of his own works, in many tongues.
     Dr. Odhner: One of the rarest possessions of the Academy is Swedenborg's own copy of his True Christian Religion-a copy annotated by his own hand.
     Announcer: I suppose the present anniversary of Swedenborg is observed as a gala occasion in Bryn Athyn?
     Prof. Whitehead: Yes. Not only in Bryn Athyn, but also in all the congregations of the General Church, in various lands, we honor his birthday every year, usually by a community supper. But to us, Swedenborg was only a man-remarkable and lovable, outstanding in genius-but still a man. On the other hand, we believe his Theological Writings to have been the result of a Divine inspiration rationally received by him. And they are as important to us as the New Testament is to all Christians. They are not Swedenborg's, but the Lord's-His gift to mankind.
     Announcer: Thank you, gentlemen, for your statements. We now tune in a group of Bryn Athyn singers, who will conclude the broadcast by rendering a part of one of the Psalms often sung by the congregation in the Cathedral service.

     [The 48th Psalm, concluded.]

131


CHRISTIAN CONJUGIAL 1938

CHRISTIAN CONJUGIAL       Editor       1938


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

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

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

     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$3.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single Copy, 30 cents.
     As the term "Christian conjugial" occurs in the Writings, it implies that a genuine state of marriage was made possible by the advent of the Lord into the world. The extent of the actual existence of such a state in the Christian Church is an interesting point of inquiry, to which we shall here briefly address ourselves, bringing forward some statements of the Heavenly Doctrine, in the light of which these facts are established: 1. That the restoration of love truly conjugial began at the Lord's First Advent; 2. That a genuine state of marriage had existence among the early Christians, though it is now rare in the Christian world, surviving only with a remnant; 3. That, beginning from this remnant, the restoration of that love to the excellence of its state in the Ancient and Most Ancient Churches is to take place in the New Church, by means of the truths of the Heavenly Doctrine.

     Meaning of the Term.

     "By the Christian conjugial is meant the marriage of one man with one wife." (C. L. 142.) So much for a brief definition, from which we learn that the essential idea is that of monogamical marriage as distinguished from polygamical marriage, which prevailed with Jew and gentile at the time of the Lord' advent.

132


And so we are told that "it was permitted the Israelitish nation to marry more wives than one, because the Christian Church was not with that nation, and hence love truly conjugial could not be given,. . . but that the Lord taught concerning an internal spiritual man, as is evident from His precepts, and from the abrogation of the rituals which served only for the use of the natural man. . . . For the Lord alone opens the internals of human minds, and makes them spiritual, and puts these spiritual things in the natural, so that these also may derive a spiritual essence. . . . This could not have been done unless the Lord had assumed the Natural Human, and made this also Divine." (C. L. 340.) "Consequently, love truly conjugial cannot be given except with those who are of the Christian Church, because that love is from the Lord alone, and the Lord is not elsewhere known in such a manner that He can be approached as God; also because that love is according to the state of the church with everyone (no. 130), and a genuine state of the church is from no other origin than the Lord, thus is not with others than those who receive it from Him." (C. L. 337.)
     These, and like teachings of the Heavenly Doctrine, indicate clearly that the advent and glorification of the Lord provided the means in the Christian Church for the re-establishment of a genuine state of marriage, possible only in the union of one man with one wife in the Christian faith and life, which is the "Christian conjugial" in the full meaning of the term, as being not only a monogamical marriage, but such a marriage spiritualized by the reception of the Christian religion from the Lord. We need hardly doubt that such a state of marriage had actual existence in the primitive Christian Church. How otherwise could the form, at least, of that marriage have survived until this day in Christendom? And it is established in the New Heaven formed of Christians at the Second Coming, from whence came the little boy in the Memorable Relation, with this message which Swedenborg was to read before the virgins of the fountain: "Tell the inhabitants of the earth with whom you are that there is given love truly conjugial, the delights whereof are myriads, scarcely any of which the world as yet knows; but it will know when the church betroths herself to her Lord, and is married." (C. L. 293, 294.)

133




     Ideals in Christian Literature.

     It is well-known that modern fiction frequently breathes the spirit of eternity in marriage, in spite of the "till death us do part" of the Christian ceremony. Among those who have treated the matter historically, some date the era of "modern romantic love" from Dante; the novelists carry it back to primitive Christian days and beyond-Sienkiewicz, for example, in his Quo Vadis, and Bulwer Lytton in The Last Days of Pompeii. And it is interesting to observe that many of the characteristics of this so-called "modern romantic love" are the natural requisites of a spiritual union, such as full freedom of choice, the idea of eternity, and a perfect equality which alone makes possible a mutual love between two who are drawn together in an intimate' personal attachment. (See A. C. 2731, 3158.) Over and over again in Christian literature this beautiful picture of monogamical love is presented, often with nothing whatever said about the agreement of the pair in the matter of religion. And yet we view in the natural, personal tie an image of love truly conjugial, which is inseparable from religion. For we read: "That there is conjugial love, such as is here described, can be acknowledged from the first state of that love, when it insinuates itself and enters the heart of a youth and virgin, . . . from which it is evident that the primitive love of marriage emulates love truly conjugial, and presents it to be seen in a kind of image, because one of the sex is then loved." (C. L. 58.)
     This "primitive love," however, may be natural only, a union on the plane of personal similitude, when yet the minds are at variance in the particulars of religious faith,-the thought and love of God, from which the mind has its essential quality, and its capacity for receiving the conjugial. (H. H. 375.) To the attributes of "modern romantic love"-freedom, equality, mutuality, eternity-we must, therefore, add likeness of religion from faith in the Lord, if we are to have the essentials of the "Christian conjugial," of love truly conjugial, as now revealed in light to the New Church.
     Whence, then, have the Christian writers of fiction their ideal? History records little evidence of the finer beauties of monogamic ideals in ancient times; and it has not been uncommon for New Churchmen to assume that the state of marriage promised the New Church has had no existence in the world since the early period of the Ancient Church, signified in the Word by Noah and Shem,-prehistoric names representative of the best state of that Church.

134


But since the traditions of the Ancient Church persisted among the gentiles until the Lord's advent, we may be confident that the idea and practice of a religious monogamic union has never been wholly extinct in the world, and consequently that Christian writers have been correct in their stories of pre-advent days, even though their inspiration has been derived less from history than from that common perception which is due to an influx from heaven. We think they have also been justified in representing the lovely ideals of Christian marriage in their tales of the primitive Church, which had received them from the Lord's own instruction, especially that saying of His to the Jews, that "from the beginning it was not so."

     A Remnant.

     Now since the state of marriage is according to the state of the church with men, it is evident that the spirituality of marriage, and thus the "Christian conjugial," has departed from all but a few in the dead Christian Church, while yet the outward form of the Christian institution of marriage is maintained in the world. And so we are told that though "love truly conjugial can only be given with those who are of the Christian Church, nevertheless that love is rare in the Christian world (no. 58, 59), because few there approach the Lord, and among these are some who indeed believe in the church, but do not live it." (C. L. 337.) The term "rare" indicates that love truly conjugial is not wholly extinct among Christians, though the statement is tragic enough evidence of the fall of that Church, and of the wreckage of a true state of marriage. But rarity also implies the survival of a remnant,-a few whose genuine Christianity makes possible a union of two minds and souls in the Lord.
     Not only has the Lord "left unto us an exceeding small remnant," as the soil in which the seeds of the Heavenly Doctrine may take root, but we are also informed that He preserves among Christians an inheritance of faculty and inclination to the conjugial life. We read: "That an inclination to love one of the sex, and also a faculty of receiving conjugial love, has been implanted in Christians from nativity, is because that love is from the Lord alone, and has become of religion; and in Christendom the Divine of the Lord is acknowledged and worshipped, and religion is from His Word; thence is its ingrafting and transplanting from generation to generation. It has been said that this Christian conjugial may be closed up and intercepted by Christian polygamy, but still it can be resuscitated in the posterity." (C. L. 466; see also 112, 142.)

135




     A Restoration.

     How is this inheritance to serve in the restoration of the genuine state of marriage? Will this be restored within the former Church by a quickening and cultivation of that inheritance? The question of a distinctive New Church is here reduced to its last term. The fact is, however, that the ranks of the New Church now being formed in Christendom have been recruited from among those of the Christian inheritance who have preserved a measure of faith in the Lord and the Word, and of a life in accordance with it-the spiritual marriage of truth and good,-the Christian conjugial in the individual. The restoration of marriage to its lost estate must have its roots in this soil, its growth in the sphere of the new Revelation of Truth, its fruit in the higher conjugial state thus made known to the New Church, and its perpetuation in a newly inherited faculty and inclination among the children of oncoming generations, who are educated in and for this Church.
     And it is now revealed that there are degrees of conjugial love,-natural, spiritual and celestial,-described in the relation, and livingly represented there by the pairs of swans, birds of paradise, and turtle doves. (C. L. 270.) Something more than a knowledge of these degrees is necessary to their attainment, namely, a striving and effort in the life of regeneration by way of repentance. For there is also the evil Christian inheritance to be overcome, even by the combat of spiritual temptation, in the light and power of the Heavenly Doctrine. And this is the essential separation from the former state, whereby the Christian conjugial is adopted and confirmed, whereby there is entrance ever more deeply into that promised heritage of the New Church,-the spiritual and celestial states of marriage, enjoyed in all their blessedness by the Ancient Churches,-love truly conjugial, "the delights whereof are myriads, scarcely any of which the world as yet knows, but which it will know when the Church betroths herself to her Lord, and is married."

136




     Where is the Christian Church?

     When the Writings use the term "Christian," it is well to note carefully whether they are referring to the historic Christian Church or to "the New Church, truly Christian" (Coronis LI) which began to descend from the New Heaven into the world after the Last Judgment in the year 1757. Spiritually, the former Christian Church then came to its end, though its organized form persists in the world (A. C. 1850:4), within which form there is a remnant of genuine Christianity with those who are in simple faith and simple good. When those who belong to this salvable remnant enter the world of spirits after death, they are introduced into societies of the New Church there, and thus prepared for the New Heaven. "The number of these societies now increases daily, and according to their increase does the church that is called the New Jerusalem increase on earth." (A. E. 732:2.)
     For "at this day a New Angelic Heaven is being formed by the Lord, and it is formed of those who believe in the Lord God the Savior and go immediately to Him; the rest are rejected. Wherefore, if anyone hereafter comes from Christendom into the spiritual world, and does not believe in the Lord, and go to Him alone, and if he is not then able to receive this, because he has lived wickedly or has confirmed himself in falsities, he is repelled at his first approach to heaven." (T. C. R. 108.)
     "The Christian Church, such as it is in itself, is now first commencing; the former Church was Christian in name only, but not in reality and essence." (T. C. R. 668.) "Heretofore there was no Christianity except in name only, and with some a certain shadow of it. . . . And because Christianity itself is now first arising, the New Church, which is meant by the New Jerusalem in the Apocalypse, is now being established by the Lord." (T. C. R. 700.) It is clear, therefore, that the Church of the New Jerusalem, wheresoever it may be in the world, and though its numbers are relatively few, is now the Christian Church. (See S. S. 104.)

137


Church News 1938

Church News       Various       1938

     SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA.

     Our last report dealt with the activities of the society to the end of September. In this we bring the record down to the close of the year. The first society picnic after the winter, and the children's fancy dress party, were held on October 4 and 8. Both events were much enjoyed by those for whom they were arranged, and were up to the usual standard. Mrs. Fletcher decorated the hall very beautifully for the party, and with Mr. Ossian Heldon arranged a suitable program.
     This month was made noteworthy, however, by a visit from the Rev. Richard H. Teed, who was our guest at a social supper on the 14th, and his telling address in response to the welcome extended by the Pastor and the Secretary was deeply appreciated. A short social program followed the supper, and an opportunity was then given for those present to meet Mr. Teed informally before his departure.
     A very successful Fair was held on the 23d, under the auspices of the Ladies' Guild, with the modest aim of raising funds to purchase two vases. About $70.00 was realized, and our ladies were deservedly elated over the success of their effort, which in every way merited unstinted praise. The outstanding event in November was our quarterly Feast of Charity, which was held on the 23d. Mr. F. J. Cooper's eminently practical paper on "Cohesion" was read to an appreciative and unusually large audience by Mr. Fred. W. Fletcher, and led to an interesting and useful discussion. At the beginning of this month a successful card party was held, and on the 18th the last of the first series of men's meetings. Mr. Ossian Heldon had addressed us in October on the little work, The Earths in the Universe, an address which proved to be a stimulating introduction to the subject-matter of the book; and at this final meeting his brother, Lindthman, presented a paper on "Man's Other World Associates," which was an excellent summarization of the doctrine concerning our guardian angels and attendant spirits. We are much pleased with this first series of meetings. They fill a long-felt need in our society life, and we are looking forward eagerly to their resumption in March.
     December with us is a month of "last things." The final social of the year was held on the 1st, and was admirably arranged by Mrs. Taylor and Mr. Lindthman Heldon. On the following evening the Young People's Club,-which has also, we believe, proved its value,-held its last social meeting; the final class for young people being held the next Thursday. Our last evangelical service was held on Sunday, the 5th, the subject of the address being "The Lord's Miracles." (Luke 7:19-23.) The series of general doctrinal classes on the Egypt to Canaan series in the Old Testament was concluded on the 12th, one week earlier than usual. The second young people's banquet was held on the 15th at the home of the pastor. Mr. Ossian Heldon had arranged an interesting series of short addresses on four aspects of New Church life, namely, in worship, in business life, in recreation, and in the home; and these were dealt with most convincingly by him and his three brothers in papers which showed a sound grasp of doctrine in its essentials.

138


Appropriate toasts were linked with the addresses, and the occasion was again a highlight in our year.
     The anniversary of the Lord's First Advent was fully observed devotionally, and was also the occasion of some happy gatherings, both for the children and the adults. At the pre-advent service on Sunday, the 19th, the sermon was on "Mary's Betrothal to Joseph." (Luke 1:26, 27.) The children's Christmas service was held in the afternoon of the same day, and an address was given on the stories of the shepherds and the wise men, showing that they represent the worship we should give to the Lord in childhood and in maturity respectively. As on other occasions, Mrs. Henderson had prepared a beautiful representation, which was shown to the children as they left the church. Our usual service of praise, which included a brief address on the meaning of the angels' song, was held on Christmas morning at 10.30, and was well attended. At the last service of the year the sermon was on "The Church Before and After the Advent." (II Samuel, 23:4.) We are happy to record that the engagement of Miss Beryl Sykes to Mr. Lindthman Heldon was announced to us on Christmas morning after the service. The delight of wishing them well added to the happiness of our gathering.
     No fewer than three Christmas parties were held this year. The ladies of the Guild had a very happy time at their party on the 16th, and the children at theirs on the 21st. The subjects of the tableaux this year were: The Annunciation; the cradling of the newborn Lord in the manger; and the fulfillment of the prophecy to Simeon in the Temple; and these scenes were admirably presented by Mrs. Henderson. Our decision to have a Christmas party for the members of the society,-complete with tree, presents, and Father Christmas,-was in the nature of an experiment, but it is one which is likely to be repeated. This party, which was arranged by Miss Wellington and the pastor, was held on the 23d. All who attended were requested to bring a present, not to exceed a certain nominal value; and the gifts were then wrapped, numbered, and placed on the tree, from which Father Christmas distributed them to those present according to the numbers allotted. The function was apparently much enjoyed; and although reluctant to abandon our festivities, we go on new to the new year with the delights, privileges, and responsibilities it will bring in our association together in the church.
     W. C. H.

     DURBAN, NATAL.

     Two large Bazaars, instead of the customary one, have been held by the Women's Guild this year, the proceeds in each case amounting to about the same. We must compliment the women, as well as the men, who worked so enthusiastically for a good cause. Much to the satisfaction of the children, the toy booth was enlarged for the second bazaar, held on November 13. Mr. Melville Ridgway had made some excellent wooden toys, and the beautifully dressed dolls and doll beds were much sought after by the little girls. During the past months, Mrs. J. J. Forfar invited the women of the society to her home once a week, where concentrated work was done and many enjoyable afternoons were spent in association with friends.
     The members of the society are delighted to have Mrs. Odhner with us again after her recent illness, and wish to congratulate the pastor and his wife on the birth of their daughter, "Jeannette."
     The Social Committee have been very active during the past months, and have put on some really first-class shows,-a Crazy Bridge Party, held at the Hall on August 30, and a Hallowe'en Costume Party on October 30. Over fifty persons were present on the latter occasion, and there were several excellent costumes, Miss Yveline Rogers and Mr. Stanley Cockerell winning first prizes.

139


At the close of the evening we bade farewell to Miss Alice Ida Rouillard, who has now left for her home in Mauritius. Mr. Odhner made a fitting speech of farewell before presenting her with a book, Story Lives of Master Musicians, as a token of our affection for her.
     During October "showers" were held for two prospective brides, one for Miss Doreen Ridgway at the home of Mrs. George Pemberton, the other for Miss Denise Cockerell at the home of Mrs. J. J. Forfar. Both were well attended, and many entertaining rhymes accompanied the useful and pretty gifts.
     The Sons of the Academy have had many interesting meetings. Mr. Horace Braby recently addressed them on the subject of "The Airplane." The paper was exceedingly interesting, and provoked many questions and a lengthy discussion. And, on December 4, the Sons excelled themselves by entertaining the society at a banquet, which was very much enjoyed. Over eighty guests were present, including Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Ridgway, who came from Alpha for the event. Mi. Scott Forfar, as toastmaster, read several messages of good will, one from the general body of the Sons in America, and others from local members who were unable to attend. Excellent papers on the subject of "Charity" were contributed by Messrs. Colin C. Ridgway, Neville Edley, Robert Mansfield and the Rev. F. W. Elphick.
     At the last meeting of the Sons' Chapter, Mr. Odhner presented paper on the subject of "New Church Social Life," and it was so highly esteemed, and created so much discussion, that he was urged to read it again where all the members of the society might benefit by it, which he kindly did at an open meeting on December 15.
     Kainon High School brought a year's activity to a close on December 10, when Mr. Odhner addressed the children on the purposes of the school, with particular reference to the formation of the Temple of Wisdom in the mind of each individual. Miss Champion then gave a very encouraging report of the work accomplished during the year, and said that in every way it had been one of the most successful years in the history of the school. Prizes were then awarded the pupils for scholarship and attendance. The Chairman of the Sons of the Academy Chapter presented a copy of Divine Providence to Miss Eleanor Elphick for having demonstrated the greatest appreciation of the aims of the school.
     The marriage of Mr. Martin Buss and Miss Doreen Ridgway was solemnized on December 18, the pastor officiating. There was an especially beautiful sphere during the service, which was the first wedding ceremony performed by Mr. Odhner in our society. The church was simply and beautifully decorated with evergreens, lilies and delphiniums, and the colors were in harmony with the attire of the bride's attendants. The bride looked lovely and stately in her gown of cream satin. Miss Sylvia Pemberton, maid of honor, was dressed in a becoming shade of blue net, and the two bridesmaids, Miss Joan Braby and Miss Alice Buss, were in green and mauve of the same material and design. Mr. Colin O. Ridgway was best man. Mr. Garth Pemberton added to the occasion by rendering two suitable songs during the service. Following the ceremony a reception was held in the church hall, where many friends gathered to greet the newly married couple, and to wish them every happiness in their new life.
     B. R. F.

     GLENVIEW, ILL.

     Our banquet in celebration of Swedenborg's Birthday, as befitted the 250th anniversary of that event, was more elaborate than usual. Mr. Louis S. Cole, as toastmaster, introduced the subject of the speeches, and was followed by Mr. Trumbull Scalbom, who presented a terse sketch of Swedenborg's life. This furnished an excellent foundation for the remarks of the subsequent speakers, who dealt with various phases of his uses as man and as Revelator of the Second Coming.

140


The program closed with a fine summation by our pastor.
     An epidemic of measles has caused much suffering among the young, but has now abated. The school, closed for a time, has reopened.
     J. B. S.

     THE HAGUE, HOLLAND.

     Our Christmas celebration began with a banquet in the Engeltjes home on Saturday, December 25, at 4.00 p.m., with an attendance of 15 adults and 3 children. The big Christmas tree was laden with presents for the children, and the rooms were tastefully decorated with fir-green and flowers. Mr. Engeltjes gave the address in the form of a translated Christmas sermon of Bishop W. F. Pendleton which was greatly appreciated. The singing of several beautiful Christmas songs in the light of the many candles on the tree was delightful, and the children were made happy by their presents, which they showed to everybody. And there were also appropriate piano selections by Miss Engeltjes and Mr. Bulthuis, Jr.
     Mr. Francis then addressed himself to his old friends in the society, recalling the past, when they and their families joined the first Dutch Society at its very beginning, under the leadership of Mr. Barger. "Looking around me," he said, "I see the same faces as then, and I may say that we now, after the late disturbance, commence our new beginning with the old friends of the General Church."
     As preparations for the social meal were made, we played some amusing and good-humored games, and finally sat down to an appetizing supper in the candlelight. Several toasts were honored, and we sent a message of greeting to Dr. and Mrs. Iungerich and their family. It was nearly midnight when we departed for home with many thanks to our host and hostess.
     Next morning we met at the home of the Happee family for our regular Sunday reading together, and we listened with interest to a paper by Mr. Happee, who quoted passages from the Writings in explanation of the words in Luke 2:19. Delicious Christmas cakes and refreshments were served after the reading. There was an attendance of 12 members and two visitors. These weekly gatherings are going nicely, with a very good attendance.
     Mr. Beyerinck, Secretary of the Society, recently received a kind letter of greeting from the Colchester Society, felicitating us upon our new organization. He replied in the name of the Society expressing our thanks and cordial greetings.
     LAMBERTINE FRANCIS.

     Removal to The Hague.

     The Rev. E. E. Iungerich will shortly become resident pastor of the Hague Society, removing there with his family next June. He will continue his ministrations to the Paris Society by monthly visits.

     DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

     Our Christmas Service, held on Sunday, December 26, at 3 p.m., was devoted mainly to the children, thirteen of whom were present. The total attendance was 34, including three visitors,-Mrs. Horace Day and her daughter Shirley, and Mrs. Deppish, of Kitchener.
     Mr. Reuter spoke to the children on "Christmas joy and happiness,-where do they come from?" He described the happiness of the angels when they knew the Lord was being born into the world,-a happiness so great that it overflowed into the world, and reached those who would be made happy by His coming. And each Christmas, as we turn to the Lord, and think about His birth and His glorious work of redemption, the happiness we feel is from the presence of the angels, who rejoice and are made happy whenever the Lord is truly loved and worshiped.

141



     The service was interspersed with Christmas hymns and carols, and closed with the presentation of gifts to the children, who stepped forward one by one as the pastor called their names.
     Doctrinal classes were held, on Sunday evening at the Synnestvedt home, and on Monday evening at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. William Cook, where, earlier in the day, a class for children had been conducted by the pastor. Our next meetings are to be held in March, when driving conditions should be safer and more comfortable for the members who come a long distance by auto.

     Swedenborg's Birthday.

     Detroit's celebration of the 250th Anniversary was held on the evening of January 28 under the auspices of the Convention Society, of which the Rev. William H. Beales is pastor. A dinner, followed by a program of speeches and musical selections, was given at Hotel Webster Hall, attended by 129 persons, including five of our members.
     The principal speaker was Michigan's famous poet-philosopher, Edgar A. Guest, who made a frank statement as to the influence of Swedenborg's teachings in his own life and work. He was baptized in the New Church as a child, attended Sunday School and services of the Detroit Society, and was confirmed by the Rev. E. J. E. Schreck, then pastor.
     As a preface to his recital of original poems and stories, Mr. Guest expressed his very great pleasure at being asked to speak before a gathering of New Church people, with whom he "always felt at home"; in fact, he had known many of us all his life. He welcomed the opportunity to do something which for a long time it had been in his heart to do, "to acknowledge his personal debt to Swedenborg." He then recited several of his more serious poems;-verses which breathed love, charity, kindliness, and other virtues. And each he prefaced with the remark, "I believe I got this from Swedenborg." This tribute from the life of so famous a man and so fine a character made a profound impression upon us all, and was particularly encouraging and helpful to the young people present, who, in this materialistic age, must find it difficult at times to hold fast to their faith.
     Another speaker was the Hen. Carl Berglund, Swedish Vice-Consul at Detroit, who dealt chiefly with Swedenborg's scientific achievements, and closed by saying: "Swedes are ashamed that Swedenborg is not appreciated as he should be in his own country, but they are beginning to wake up to the fact that he was the greatest man ever born, and their appreciation of him will grow."
     Mr. Norman Synnestvedt had been asked to speak on "Swedenborg as the Instrument of the Lord's Second Coming," which he did with conciseness and eloquence. His brief talk was very well received.
     Miss Freda Cook, another member of our group, contributed two songs, very beautifully rendered. One of them, "Il Bacio," by Arditi, was sung in Italian, and demonstrated that she is developing into a. coloratura soprano of great promise. She has recently been engaged as a member of the chorus of the Ford Sunday Evening Radio Hour.
     W. W. W.

     WASHINGTON, D. C.

     During the absence of our pastor, the Rev. Wm. Whitehead conducted doctrinal class and worship for us in October, and the Rev. Homer Synnestvedt ministered to us at our November meeting. We appreciate the teachings and ministrations of these zealous workers.
     Dr. Acton returned on December 4, giving us a thrilling account of his episcopal labors in Holland and Sweden, providing for the establishment of new societies of those who refuse to cast a veil over the translucent glory of the Heavenly Doctrines. On December 18, he conducted a children's Christmas service, at the same time baptizing a happy-faced, blue-eyed cherub, the second adopted son of Dr. and Mrs. Philip Stebbing, at whose home the services were held.

142



     On February 5, Dr. Acton repeated for us the address he had given at Bryn Athyn on Swedenborg's Birthday, in which he showed how the philosophy of creation, as given in the Principle, was little understood or appreciated in Swedenborg's own day, and that even now many who praise his scientific works have little or no first-hand knowledge of them, but merely quote the praises of others.
     R. T.

     PITTSBURGH, PA.

     Our regular activities were supplemented this month by two outstanding features. The first was a lecture by Dr. Marlin W. Heilman telling of his experiences in the Canadian Northwest last summer, which he illustrated with a fine collection of motion pictures of the flora, fauna and terrain of the section visited. Most of the films were in color, which added greatly to their interest. Following these, Dr. Heilman showed some pictures of the General Assembly and of the Charter Day celebration in Bryn Athyn.
     As the second feature, we had the pleasure of welcoming the Rev. Karl K. Alden as guest of honor for the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Emanuel Swedenborg. He addressed the children at the banquet sponsored by Theta Alpha for the Day School on the afternoon of January 28. There was a toastmaster, and all the pupils made appropriate speeches, which were interspersed with songs learned for the occasion. In the evening, the Sons of the Academy Chapter met at the home of Mr. J. Edmund Blair to hear Mr. Alden sneak on "The Past, Present, and Future of the Boy's Academy."
     The evening of January 29 saw us assembled for the Swedenborg's Birthday Banquet, which was ably prepared and served by Mrs. D. H. Shoemaker and her committee. Mr. Alden gave a scholarly address on "Swedenborg's Fourfold Preparation for His Mission." At the service next morning he delivered a very fine sermon on "The Apostle Peter." (John 21:15.) In the afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Alexander P. Lindsay entertained the society at tea in honor of Mr. Alden, who spoke informally on "That Other Side of Boy Nature."
     E. R. D.

     SWEDENBORG'S BIRTHDAY.

     Stockholm.

     The observance of the 250th Anniversary by our members in Sweden was made the occasion for the holding of The First Stockholm District Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, on Saturday and Sunday, January 29 and 30, 1938. The Rev. Gustaf Baeckstrom pre sided as representative of the Bishop, and among those who attended were Pastor Sandstrom and members of the Jonkoping Society and visitors from Norway.

     Bryn Athyn.

     The Banquet on Friday evening, January 28, was marked by the fine address of Bishop Alfred Acton, who dwelt upon Swedenborg's modesty and self-effacement, from which he regarded himself as an instrument of use, end turned away from the praise of men. This the speaker demonstrated by Swedenborg's own statements, and by a series of incidents connected with the publishing and review of his works. In closing, Dr. Acton said: "In this celebration of Swedenborg's Birthday, the honoring of the man should be the praising of the Lord for His mercy in providing the means by which He has given to the world a revelation wherein it is allowed to enter into the mysteries of faith."
     A Social Gathering continued our celebration the next evening. As the first feature of the program, the stage was the scene of a number of Folk Dances of Sweden, Holland, France, and England, performed in costume by girl students of the Academy under the direction of Miss Jeannette Caldwell.

143


The Academy students then sang the 45th Psalm under the direction of Mrs. Besse E. Smith. Then followed a series of Tableaux depicting Swedenborg's intromission into the spiritual world.

     Broadcasts.

     As the arts of writing, printing, and shipbuilding were provided by the Lord for the sake of the Word and its dissemination throughout the world (A. C. 9353-9354), so the radio and other forms of communication must be regarded as means, in Providence, of extending a knowledge of Divine Revelation, and especially the Doctrines of the Second Coming, given for the establishment of the New Church.
     In connection with the Swedenborg Anniversary, several of the radio broadcasts proclaimed the Message of the Second Advent in unmistakable terms, and with no hiding of the light "under a bushel." Notably was this the case with the programs of the Philadelphia Convention Society, with that of the General Church (see page 127), and the London broadcast to America by the Hen. Thomas Chadwick, whose remarks were heard with gratification by many in this country, and may now be read in The New-Church Herald of February 5, 1938. Mr. Chadwick was introduced to the American radio audience by the Rev. John W. Stockwell, who also delivered the principal address on the Philadelphia Society program.
     It will be the ardent wish of all New Churchmen that the recent wide publicity in its various forms,-radio broadcasts, banquets, public meetings, newspaper accounts and editorials, and the distribution of literature,-may have results in bringing souls to the Light.
     Accounts of the many events connected with the 250th Anniversary celebration are now appearing in the periodicals of the New Church. In the Monthly News Letter of February, 1938, the Rev. A. Wynne Acton describes the successful meetings held in England where the Public Meeting in Queen's Hall, London, was attended by 2400 persons.
     By issuing two commemorative postage stamps bearing the portrait of Swedenborg, the Swedish Government has provided a lasting memorial, as the stamps will find a permanent place in collections all over the world, and will also be pictured in stamp catalogues.
CORRECTION 1938

CORRECTION       Editor       1938




     Announcements.



     In the Directory of the General Church, printed in our January, 1938, issue (p. 31), Mr. Edward H. Davis should have been listed as Secretary of the Executive Committee. He was elected to that office on July 3, 1937, succeeding Mr. Randolph W. Childs, who expressed a wish not to be reflected.

144


ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS 1938

ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS              1938

     BRYN ATHYN, PA., MARCH 28-APRIL 2, 1938.

Monday, March 28.
     3.30 p.m. Consistory.

Tuesday, March 29.
     10.00 a.m. Council of the Clergy.
     3.30 p.m. Council of the Clergy and General Faculty.
          Address: Rev. William Whitehead.
          Subject: "Teaching the History of Most Ancient Man."

Wednesday, March 30.
     10.00 a.m. Council of the Clergy.
     3.30 p.m. Council of the Clergy and General Faculty.
          Address: Miss Dorothy Burnham, B. A.
          Subject: "English in Our Secondary Schools."
     8.00 p.m. Open Session of the Council of the Clergy.
          Address: Rev. Norman H. Reuter.
          Subject: To be announced.

Thursday, March 31.
     10.00 a.m. Council of the Clergy.
     3.30 p.m. Council of the Clergy and General Faculty.
          Address: Mr. Stanley F. Ebert, B.S.
          Subject: "The Problem of Vocational Guidance in Our Secondary Schools."

Friday, April 1.
     10.00 a.m. Council of the Clergy.
     10.00 a.m. Conference of Elementary School Teachers.
to 12.30 p.m. Presiding: Principal O. W. Heilman.
     3.30 p.m. Executive Committee.
     8.00 p.m. Entertainment. Play given under the auspices of the Civic and Social Club.

Saturday, April 2.
     10.00 a.m. Joint Council.
     3.30 p.m. Joint Council (if needed).

     PHILADELPHIA DISTRICT ASSEMBLY.

Saturday, April 2.
     7.00 p.m. Assembly Banquet. Toastmaster: Rev. Elmo C. Acton.

Sunday, April 3.
     11.00 a.m. Divine Worship.
     9.30 a.m. Children's Service.

145


SEED OF PEACE 1938

SEED OF PEACE        GEORGE DE CHARMS       1938


NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. LVIII          APRIL, 1938           No. 4
     "Because of the seed of peace, the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her produce, and the heavens shall give their deter." (Zechariah 8:12.)

     The Jewish captives had returned from Babylon. Out of the ancient ruins a new city of Jerusalem was rising. The foundations of the Lord's house had been laid, and the rebuilding of the temple was in progress. Then came messengers of the people to Zechariah, inquiring of him whether they should continue to observe the fasts which had been instituted during the years of captivity in token of repentance and of mourning for the departed glory of Israel. The prophet replied that the day of retribution had passed. There was to be no further cause for mourning. "The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts." For "thus saith the Lord, I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain." "For before these days there was no reward of man, nor any reward of beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out and came in, because of the enemy: for I set all men, every one against his neighbor. But now I will not be unto the remnant of this people as in the former days, saith the Lord of hosts. Because of the seed of peace, the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her produce, and the heavens shall give their dew."

146



     To the Jews this was a promise of Divine protection-of natural peace and prosperity. In its literal import the promise was never fulfilled. But although he knew it not, Zechariah really spake by Divine command concerning the Coming of the Lord, especially His Second Coming and the final establishment of His kingdom on the earth. He spake of the rejoicing and gladness of heart which then would banish the pain, the suffering, the sadness, of former ages. He spake of a spiritual increase and prosperity which would follow when the Lord should reveal Himself in glory, and thus return to "bless His people with peace."
     A state of peace is the supreme end of human life. It is that which underlies all happiness, and without it no other blessing can be imparted to man. We refer not to that peace which is pictured as a state of complete rest, when desire is relinquished, when every longing of the heart is stilled, and the mind is lulled to sleep. This is but the refuge of weariness. It betokens not conquest, but surrender. In it is no fulfillment, but rather a negation, of life. Genuine peace is a gift which accompanies life in its highest activity, which renders the senses keen, the mind alert; which exalts hope, and opens every faculty to the full joy and delight of living. Such is the peace of heaven; and such is the peace which it is the Divine purpose to impart, in ever increasing measure, even to men on earth.
     This peace, in its essence, is a sense of security, of protection, of assurance in the midst of the labor and the striving to which love ever rouses the mind-assurance that the end of love, the highest purpose of life, will, in truth, be achieved. If this final outcome is certain, then the hardship, the sacrifice required for its attainment, become as nothing; the labor which is called for becomes a thing of joy; in it is the delight of conquest, of accomplishment, by which alone the blessing of life can be appropriated, received, and felt by man as his own possession. This full reception of life, together with its happiness-this is the highest purpose of the Lord in man's creation. In this lies heaven. In this also lies that kingdom of God which the Lord has come to establish on earth.
     Such peace depends upon a vision of the Lord-a realizing sense of His all-pervading Providence. It depends upon a perception of the Infinite Love and the Infinite Wisdom which alone can have power to control the destiny of the race-to direct the progress of mankind toward the final achievement of the social ideal, namely, the highest welfare of all, and free opportunity for the development of every individual.

147


It depends upon a realization of the truth that this overruling power is universally immanent, is immediately present, operating in every particular of life, leading us as individuals to the attainment of our greatest good, carrying us forward, as on an irresistible current, toward a goal of eternal happiness and use, just so far as we willingly respond and cooperate with the Divine Providence. To see, to acknowledge-inmostly to feel with complete assurance-the protecting power of the Lord, is the origin of genuine peace,-the only way in which peace can be given.
     Where this does not exist, the mind is ravaged by internal doubt, anxiety, and fear. It is sustained by no sense of security. It is deprived of peace. There may indeed be an external tranquillity which is the counterfeit of peace, which arises from the false appearance that man has power in himself,-the power to achieve his cherished desires. But this is imaginary and unreal. It is superficial and temporary. It can be maintained only so long as the illusion of power lasts. It is the accompaniment of external success, when the skies are clear and hope rides high. But behind it, in the deeper recesses of the mind, there lurk the dark shadows of uncertainty. It is a fair weather friend, which gives no support, no strength of endurance, no ability to face hardships or suffering with patient calmness. It forsakes us in time of stress, when fortune frowns upon us-when, in the clash of conflicting desires, disaster threatens, as our real weakness stands revealed. Then there is no haven of refuge to which we may flee, and we fall a prey to discouragement and to despair. We have no alternative except to yield, or else to seek some avenue of escape by turning away from those forces which have proved too strong for us, blinding ourselves to their reality, building up a new imagination of power, and fanning to new life the dying flame of hope by a renewal of the illusion which has been destroyed. Thus, for a time, can we comfort ourselves with a false sense of security, only to face defeat again at the next turning of life's road.
     Never in the history of the world has mankind been farther removed from an abiding peace than today. Never has there been less acknowledgment in heart of the over-ruling Providence of the Lord.

148


Never have men placed greater reliance upon the seeming power of human intelligence, and of human will, to achieve the welfare of society and the happiness of the individual. Self-confidence is in the saddle, creating an unprecedented delusion of progress. But back of this lies a deep restlessness, a nervous groping in the dark. Men rush, first in one direction, and then in another, following the impulses of emotion, with no unified purpose, with no sure knowledge of the end,-the appointed goal of human life. They will follow any human leadership which rouses the hope of overcoming the obstacles that lie immediately before them, whether or not it offers any lasting solution to their problems. In their eagerness to confirm the appearance of their own power, their love leaps to new life under the glow and the warmth of false fires, which flare up in the night, only to flicker and die, leaving the darkness deeper than before. Under the influence of a thousand opposing theories as to the course which the race should pursue toward its appointed destiny, men are thrown into bitter conflict against one another, each crying "Peace, peace, when there is no peace," while none attains the end of happiness which he desires. In this is the saying of the prophet come to pass: "There was no reward of man, nor any reward of beast: neither was there any peace to him that went out and came in, because of the enemy; for I set all men, every one against his neighbor."
     But to this world, distraught with fear and doubt, the Lord has come again-come, revealing in the teaching of His Word the inner truth that man has no power in himself, but that "power belongeth unto God." He has come to unfold the ends of His infinite mercy, to make manifest the universal presence of His love, and His wisdom,-the hidden but irresistible stream of His Providence. In this truth revealed, in His Word now opened to human thought and understanding, there is indeed the "seed of peace."
     The remnant of His people,-all who will turn back from a misplaced confidence in the imagination of their own power to faith in Him, and in His Divine power to redeem and save, all who will behold Him present in His Word, acknowledging Him as the only true and living God,-will find in Him a refuge in distress, a tower of strength in every time of need.

149


To these He comes as the Prince of Peace, pointing the way to genuine progress, giving a sure vision of the goal, giving power to walk in that way, and assurance of protection in the struggle to attain that goal, restoring the sense of security which has so long been lost, and which is the only ground of true internal peace.
     Only as men turn to Him for guidance and support, recognizing their own weakness, their own blindness, can He form their hearts together, bringing into harmony their divergent ambitions, that the heart's desire of one may not conflict with that of others, but may contribute to the general good of all. Only the Divine Law, now revealed in the Heavenly Doctrine, is competent to reduce the complex elements of human life into a harmonious unit. But this it has power to do, and this is the purpose of its Divine revealing. Wherefore, in keeping it "there is great reward."
     "Because of the seed of peace, the vine shall give her fruit, the ground shall give her produce, and the heavens shall give their dew." Confidence in the Lord; faith in the teaching of His Word; the acceptance of His Truth as the law of life;-this is the "seed of peace" by which all spiritual blessing is given to men. The blessings which follow are "the fruit of the vine, the produce of the ground, and the dew of heaven."
     By the "fruit of the vine" is meant a spiritual affection of truth, whence comes understanding of the Divine end and purpose in man's life. To be affected by spiritual truth is to be moved from the heart by the teaching of the Word. It is to find delight in the knowledge of things Divine and heavenly. And this delight opens the mind to see, to grasp, to understand what the Lord teaches. With this understanding comes light to disperse the shadows of doubt and uncertainty. It brings internal conviction and assurance, marking out before us a clear path, that we may walk therein. And because this truth is not the vain imagining of man, because it is the Infinite Wisdom of God, it leads to good, to genuine progress, to the achievement of lasting happiness and use. It leads to victory over the evil and falsity which so sorely afflict the world, bringing pain and suffering to mankind. And as this good is gradually attained, as this victory is won, the mind is prepared to receive new truth, to see deeper realities. This new truth which opens another avenue of development is what is called the "produce of the ground."
     Last of all is that truth of peace which is called the "dew of heaven."

150


Water, in all ifs forms, corresponds to truth. But the correspondence varies in the Word according to the form of water that is mentioned. The ocean, which is the ultimate gathering place, whence by evaporation the water returns to the sky, represents the knowledges of truth stored in the memory. Rivers and streams which carry down the alluvial soil from the mountains to spread it upon the plains,-rivers richly endowed with food for the germination of seeds,-represent those rational principles of truth which bring down envisioned purposes and intentions of the heart's love to ultimate application, prepared to bring forth practical uses in deed and word. Springs and wells represent the pure truth of the Word stored up in the internal mind, as in the hidden depths of the earth-stored as remains during infancy and childhood, that it may serve to inaugurate and sustain spiritual life in adult age. Rain, which falls upon the earth when storms arise, when the sky is clouded over, represents the truth of temptation,-the purifying truth which carries away the noxious vapors of the selfish loves and false ideas that accumulate in the atmosphere of the mind from the evils of heredity.
     But dew, that purest of all water, which is distilled upon the surface of the earth in the dawn and early morning when the sun rises, represents the "truth of peace." This cannot be received in states of temptation. It is imparted in times of spiritual exaltation, in times of worship when the Lord is seen, when love to Him is awakened with a sense of gladness, when external cares and the oppression of anxiety have been removed, and spiritual charity reigns in the heart. It is not so much a clearly defined, rational formulation of truth as a perceptive realization of it. It is subtle, elusive, inspiring wonder. The perception of it cannot long be consciously retained; and as the activities, the ambitions, of our natural life surge back upon us, it is caught up, as if evaporated by the warmth of the sun-like "a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest."
     Yet it has not been lost. Even as the dew imparts a freshness to the grass of the earth which is not found in rain; even as it penetrates the very inmost of the herbs to feed their finest essences, diffusing thence new life to every fiber and tissue; so in states of worship does the truth of peace, distilled in the mind from the Divine Word, penetrate to the inmost things of man's life. For it there abides, and "therefrom distributes and pours itself into the substantiates and derivatives, and affects them with pleasantness; and it affects the origin of ideas, consequently the man's ends of life, with satisfaction and happiness, and thus makes the mind of man a heaven."

151


When the state of dawn gives place to day, we do not indeed retain a conscious reception of it as truth, but it remains as an inmost feeling of security, of trust and confidence in the Lord,-an all-pervading state of peace. From this we derive the power to meet with courage the vicissitudes of life. It sustains us in trial and temptation. It imparts strength to face suffering and apparent failure. For it gives a perception of the Lord's presence, a vital faith in His providential care. It preserves an affection for the things of heaven, and directs our steps in the way of peace.
     This is the supreme gift of the Lord at His Coming. Even at this day of darkness; even in the midst of the conflicting spheres which sway the minds of men about us, and which find much in our own minds on which they may take hold to induce states of doubt and fear; if we will turn to the Heavenly Doctrine in faith and trust, we will find therein the "seed of peace." Steadfast confidence in the Divine Providence of the Lord, as He makes manifest His omnipresent love and wisdom, will yield the spiritual reward of an understanding faith. The Lord will bless us with the "fruit of the vine," with the "produce of the ground," and, in the dawn of every new state, with the "dew of heaven." Of this latter He spake to His disciples, saying, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you." Now, in the New Church as never before, can the Divine promise be fulfilled, "The Lord lift up the light of His countenance upon you, and give you peace." Amen.

     LESSONS: Zechariah 8:1-17. John 14:15-31. A. C.3696:1-2
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 537, 621, 618.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 71, 191.

152


APOSTLE PETER 1938

APOSTLE PETER       Rev. K. R. ALDEN       1938

     "So men they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these " (John 21:15.)
     Peter-Simon Peter-is the subject of this sermon. Peter represents faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He was not named Peter by his parents; by them he was called Simon, which means "to hear," and, in the spiritual sense, "to obey." It was Simon who was drawn to the Lord, and it was Simon whom He surnamed "Cephas," which is the Aramaic word for a "rock,"-not a loose stone, nor a carved stone, but a mighty foundation rock,-the rock upon which to build the vast cathedrals of human faith. The Greek and Latin equivalent of "Cephas" is "Peter," and so when the Gospels came to be written down in Greek his name appears as Peter-Simon Peter.
     We propose to study the life-story of this disciple, bearing in mind at every turn of the narrative that he is the supreme New Testament symbol of obedient faith. Wherefore, as we see this colorful character weaving his way through the Gospel story, we may also visualize the loom upon which the fabric of faith is woven,-the faith of a living Church. Such faith is subject to many vicissitudes. At times it is irresolute, almost cowardly. But anon, with the keenness of an eagle's sight, and with the strength of a lion, it sees and champions the eternal truth. The cycle of its span is from the height of being willing to give all to the dark moment of cringing bodily fear, when it denies the Savior Himself. And who among us has not passed through the cold and the warmth of faith? Who has not experienced moments of inspiration, when he would surrender all to the living reality of his inner conviction, and then, in another moment of life, has denied the power of his faith by falling a prey to the satisfaction of some baser human appetite! This was Peter, irresolute of character, yet clinging to the Savior with the greatest fidelity, firmness of faith, and inward love.
     Of his childhood and youth we can only form a conjectural background.

153


We know that he grew up on the wave-lapped shores of Galilee, with snow-capped Hermon to the north, and the hills of Nazareth to the west, behind which he must have watched the sun sink down to rest, pouring its glory upon the spot which was the Savior's home. Even in this obscurity we see a symbol of the faith that grows within us; for who can tell what it is from which the earliest strands of faith are compounded? Whether it comes from the truths in the memory, represented by Galilee, or from love to the Lord, represented by Hermon, or from the temptations represented by Nazareth, we cannot tell. Faith, as we recognize it, comes to us full-grown,-a man hearkening to a call,-the call to repentance. It was not the Savior who first drew Simon from his nets. It was the "voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord." It was the Baptist who arrested Peter's attention, and the Baptist represents the letter of the Word. How can New Church faith be declared, unless man becomes a disciple to the letter of the Word,-a learner, a reader, a student, filled with an abundant store of the Divine Revelation in ultimates? Such wealth gives appetite for more. It creates the desire to see the spirit within the letter, to see, deep within the sacred page, the Living God!
     So Simon followed John the Baptist, who, on the day after he baptized the Lord, "stood, and two of his disciples; and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus." (John 1:35-37.) Yet faith does not at first perceive that it must be supreme, if it is to guide one's life to heaven. It takes time to learn the message, "Forsake all, and follow me!" So Peter, after he had left the Baptist, and attached himself to the Lord, did not realize that he was to be with Him always, but went to his home in Bethsaida, on the shores of Galilee, and resumed his occupation as a fisherman.
     After some months, the Lord also returned into Galilee and gave to Peter the final call. Matthew records the event as follows: "And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishers. And Be said unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed Him." (Matthew 4:18-20.)

154


Concerning this call we have the following from the Writings: "I was once asked how from being a philosopher I became a theologian; and I replied, In the same way that fishermen were made disciples and apostles by the Lord; and that I also, from my early youth, had been a spiritual fisherman. On this my questioner asked, What is a spiritual fisherman? I replied that a fisherman, in the Word, signifies a man who investigates and teaches natural truths, and afterwards spiritual truths in a rational manner." (Intercourse between the Soul and the Body, 20.)
     On the occasion of Peter's call, Luke informs us, the Lord entered into Peter's ship, and taught the multitude from it. Peter's ship represents the doctrine of faith, and from now on the Lord was to occupy the center of that doctrine, and to speak from it. After the discourse, the Lord bade them "launch out into the deep and let down their nets," and lo, the nets, which throughout the long dark night had been drawn in empty, now enclosed a multitude of fishes. This is an abiding memorial of the futility of investigating natural truths without taking the Lord into the conception. With the Lord in the ship, a multitude of fishes is at once secured. (Luke 5:1-6.)
     We are not to think of Peter as a mere laborer. He owned his ship. He employed servants, as is stated in the Gospel account. He had moved from Bethsaida to Capernaum, was married and had children, and had acquired an ample house; for he is said to have entertained within its walls the multitudes that followed Jesus.
     Peter now brought his new found Master to his home, where his wife's mother was laid sick of a fever; "and Jesus touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and ministered unto them." (Matthew 8:14.) Note here that the Lord first entered into Peter's ship, then into his city, and lastly into his very house,-his home. Here three degrees of doctrine are represented,-the doctrine which man applies in his business, the doctrine he applies to his fellow man, and the doctrine by which he governs his private life. Peter had not shut out the Lord from any of these. His faith was complete, entire. Yet the home to which he brought the Lord had sickness, just as the mind that through faith draws the Lord within itself is not yet clean, and pure, and healthy. The Savior must work within the mind, touching the hand of the diseased one, who here represents self-love. There is not room in the same mind for both self-love and the living touch of the Savior's hand.

155



     From now on, Peter occupies the leading place among the disciples. In every list that is given, his name comes first. In many cases he is addressed by the Lord as the representative of the twelve, and frequently, when Jesus addressed them all in general, Peter answered for his fellows. To Catholicism this forms the evident basis for the claim that Peter was the first of the popes, but to New Churchmen it teaches quite another doctrine. It convinces us that faith must lead, and that without a burning and enthusiastic faith the Church will perish. For when faith is kept: burning brightly it sheds a light that guides our faltering footsteps, even through the bitterest trial.

     II.

     Peter's primary place is well illustrated by the account of what happened after the Lord had fed the multitude in the wilderness. Jesus returned to Capernaum, and there taught the doctrine that He was the bread that came down from heaven, that unless men ate of His flesh, and drank of His blood, they had no part in Him. The result of this teaching was that the multitude which had followed Him,-the rabble lusting for natural bread,-melted away, and it is said that even many of His disciples walked no more with Him. With infinite pathos, "Jesus said unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered Him, To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life." (John 6:67, 68.) Nothing but an abiding faith can carry us through the darker moments of life, when all our efforts are for naught, and when even the things we have cherished most are falling away. But there is still hope for us if we can retain a conviction in Peter's confession: "To whom, Lord, shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life."
     But there are moments in the life of religion when faith by itself is insufficient to witness the mighty deeds which the Savior came to perform for men. There were occasions when two other disciples were companions of Peter,-James and John,-charity and love. That faith may become perfect, it must be conjoined with charity and love. And so it was that these three were set apart, and witnessed many things that were withheld from the rest.
     It was with Peter, James and John that the Lord entered the house of Jairus, where the dead child lay.

156


And it was in their presence alone that He took her hand, and said: "Little maid arise!" What miracles cannot take place when the Lord is present with man in faith, charity and love! Dead affections spring to new life, and sorrowing households turn their mourning into laughter, their tears into joy.
     Again, "Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John up into a high mountain, and was transfigured before them. And His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light." But while the other two disciples were speechless, Peter found words to cloth his wonder: "Lord, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles; one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias." (Luke 9:33.) It is by means of faith that rare and sacred visions are preserved. We may not always see His face shine as the sun, but we may always keep a sacred tabernacle for Him in our own hearts.
     Finally, in the Garden of Gethsemane, when the last agony was to be endured, "Jesus taketh Peter, and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy." When faith, love, and charity rule in the human heart, we may go far into the realization of the Divine work of redemption. We may perceive its import and its bearing, its mercy and its grace, but we cannot go all the way. When the Savior finally went to pray, "and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground," He left the three to tarry and watch. But they could not! No human quality could! No faith could see, no love could feel, no charity could embrace, the despair and victory of that hour. Thrice Jesus came and went, and each time found them sleeping. In this we discern the gulf between that which is human and that which is Divine. The finite can never finally embrace the Infinite. Yet, nearest to God, and still the most receptive of His gifts, are man's faith, man's charity, man's love,-Peter, James, and John.
     We are now in a position to understand why the keys of the kingdom of heaven were given to Peter. Jesus had asked the question: "Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

157


And I say unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Peter is that rock of our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as the one and only living God. It is this faith, and this alone, that builds the church in the hearts of men. It is this faith, and only this faith, that opens heaven to us, even while we are here on earth; and it is the lack of it that closes heaven. That which is bound by faith on earth is bound in heaven, and that which is loosed by lack of faith can never be reunited. No, not even to eternity!
     Yet faith, by its very nature, is not constant. The sun rises and sets. Light follows darkness. Faith must ever be purified, lest it fasten itself upon natural objects, and mistake them for spiritual ends. This is well illustrated by Peter, who had by now become convinced that the Lord was the Messiah promised from of old, and that His kingdom was to be of this world. And so, when the Lord told the disciples of His approaching suffering and death, Peter rebuked Him and said, "Be it far from Thee, Lord!" This he did because he loved the Lord. But his love was not yet typical of the supreme faith that sees a risen Lord,-a Divine Humanity. So the Lord said unto him: "Get thee behind me, Satan; for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men." (Matthew 16:21-23.)

     III.

     There are other incidents in the life of Peter that show the forces of faith at work in the quiet chambers of the mind and heart, where religion is established in man. When tribute was demanded of the Lord, Peter was sent to take up the first fish that he caught, and draw from its mouth the coin to pay the tax which had been demanded. Since the Lord had not come to destroy the law and the prophets, and since it was necessary to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, it was logical that the fisherman, who represented the search for natural truth, should be commissioned also to supply the wants of the body from that natural enterprise. So do we all, no matter how brightly our faith burns.

158


We all enter and engage in the occupations of the world, and draw from them the bread of natural sustenance. Yet Peter should lead in this. There is no room for a religious faith that differs from the faith that governs our dealings in business.
     At the Last Supper, it was Peter who eagerly demanded the name of the traitor. It was Peter likewise, when the Lord was washing the disciples' feet after supper, who declared: "Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto Him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head." (John 13:8, 9.) It was impetuous Peter who cut off the ear of the High Priest's servant; and Peter, too, who raced with John to the sepulcher. Peter was outrun in this race; for the dictates of love are swifter than the slow processes of faith. Yet Peter was the first to investigate the tomb, while John held back. Of all the apostles, Peter was the first to see our risen Lord; for we must have faith first,-faith in the unseen realities of the world beyond,-before we can come to love them.
     But the most dramatic event in Peter's life was his earnest protestation: "Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee." This he had made to the Lord at the Last Supper, on the Thursday night before the crucifixion. That was faith at its supreme height. But faith is never sure of itself until it has been tempted; it is not an abiding faith until it has become of the life. And so, in the confused, strange happenings of that night, Peter became unmanned. The throngs that came to take Jesus had filled him with panic. With the rest of the disciples, he forsook Jesus, and fled. At this point, the Writings tell us, Peter is no longer the representative of the new and glowing faith of Christianity. He has assumed for the moment the representation of the nation into which the Lord was born,-the nation with whom the church had died, and which was now about to kill the Son, that its lusts might go unchecked. It is as the representative of the faith of a dying church that Peter now thrice denies his Lord. But the dawn was coming,-the dawn of a new day and a new faith. "Immediately the cock crew, and Peter went out and wept bitterly."
     But Peter was not to live out his days in unforgiven repentance. Once again the Lord walked beside the shores of Galilee; once again the Divine Savior bade the fishermen lower their nets on the "right side of the ship"; and once again a multitude of fishes was enclosed.

159


Peter recognized his Master, and girding his fisher's coat about him, he plunged into the sea, that he might the sooner come to where Jesus was standing. Again the disciples received food of His hands,-food representative of the Divine nourishment of the spirit. And then Jesus spake with Peter alone. Thrice had the old Peter denied his Lord; but a new day had dawned. Peter had seen the risen Lord. His mind was no longer thinking of earthly kingdoms. It was dwelling upon eternal mansions. It was rich with the faith of primitive Christianity. And now Peter was to be thrice forgiven, even as he had thrice denied. "So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto Him, Yea, Lord; Thou knowest that I love Thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith unto him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto Him, Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because He said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto Him, Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love Thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep." Amen.

     LESSONS: Genesis 22. John 21. T. C. R. 347.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 517, 583, 612.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 179, 181.
NEW CHURCH SERMONS 1938

NEW CHURCH SERMONS              1938

     A pamphlet published monthly, from October to June inclusive, by the General Church of the New Jerusalem. Contents: Sermons and other material suitable for individual reading, family worship, and missionary purposes, reprinted from New Church Life. Sent free of charge on application to Mr. H. Hyatt, Treasurer, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

160


MISSIONARY SUGGESTION 1938

MISSIONARY SUGGESTION       Rev. E. E. IUNGERICH       1938

     Friends in France, Holland, England and Sweden have sent me a number of newspaper articles dealing with the celebration of the 250th Anniversary of Swedenborg's birth, so creditably initiated by the Swedenborg Society of London, and occasioning such successful repercussions in other countries. The thought arises as to whether we might not devise a more permanent way of turning the interest, thus momentarily aroused, into a tangible increase of membership in the organized New Church. The distribution of biographical pamphlets has only touched the surface of things, and the new editions of the published Writings make little appeal to outsiders in the present age. A similar momentary revival of interest, in the personality of Swedenborg was kindled thirty years ago when his mortal remains were removed from England to Upsala Cathedral, but the public interest rapidly died down, as will doubtless be the case with the present revival.
     What I have in mind is that we should make use of the interest aroused in his personality as a means of leading to a realization of that which the Lord empowered Swedenborg to perform to benefit humanity. I have now almost completed a translation into French of what I trust may be published some day in eight volumes, and deposited in libraries throughout French-speaking countries. The work is entitled, Les Experiences Spirituelles d'Emmanuel Swedenborg (The Spiritual Experiences of Emanuel Swedenborg). It includes: 1. The Journal of Dreams. 2. The indented passages in The Word Explained, which describe spiritual experiences, these to be accompanied in each case by the notes on the same in Swedenborg's Index to the Spiritual Diary. 3. The Spiritual Diary, together with the notes in the above-mentioned Index, and those in a smaller one. I have been gripped by the powerful dramatic sequences involved in this day-by-day chronicle of Swedenborg's spiritual experiences during the years 1743-1767.

161


And my suggestion is that the use of such material would be the next step in our missionary appeal.
     One or two friends to whom I broached this idea have opposed it on the ground that this was not the traditional way of approaching the world by suitable accommodations; or else because of a fear lest certain subjects in these diaries might arouse a false impression harmful to the New Church.
     As to the first objection, let me reiterate that doing things in a conventional way, which is not producing the results desired, should suggest that another method be tried. As to the second suggestion, permit me to call attention to the pertinent teaching of S. D. 4154, where Swedenborg describes the opposition of spirits to his unfolding the spiritual sense of Genesis in his Arcana Celestia. The passage ends thus: "But the good want to know the truth, want to teach it, want it to be opened to all, and desire nothing more than to unbosom themselves as to all they know, and to deliver from the temptation and the evil that comes thence." When we consider that a work has been given under Divine auspices, prudential considerations motivated by a fear of the unknown should not make us lose sight of the fact that, where a desirable use can be performed, there is Divine aid to protect, to help, and to bring to fruition.
     To a public momentarily awakened to an interest in the personality of Swedenborg, and to individuals who go to a public library to inquire about his works, I am sure that a work entitled his "Spiritual Experiences" would make an immediate appeal, and arouse more interest than do the more formal titles of the other works. Opening to any page in these eight volumes, there would be a romantic appeal kindling a desire to know more. For here one reads of Swedenborg as a spiritual Socrates confronting Jew, Catholic, Protestant and Gentile with the clear evidence of eternal truth. Anon we see him suffering physical pain in some bodily organ, and then searching out the evil spirits who had caused it, to find that they were lodged in an equivalent province of the Gorand Man, from which they were to be swept out after he had met and resisted them. Again we see him unfolding endless horizons as to the life in all parts of the universe, both spiritual and natural. Finally, the reader would see how the Last Judgment was unfolded day by day before Swedenborg, not as a casual spectator, but as the chosen instrument by which the influx from primes through ultimates to intermediates was to prepare the way for the establishment of the Crown of Churches upon the earth.

162



     Let me add, as a further answer to the second objection just mentioned, that the Journal of Dreams, already published separately in several languages, has done little harm to the New Church, and it contains practically all that could cause any misunderstanding. Published in a series of eight volumes, the later statements would fully elucidate what misunderstanding this work might cause.
     In conclusion, let me cite S. D. 4123, which, under the title De Revelatis (Concerning the Things Revealed), refers to Swedenborg's jottings in his Diaries, over against what he set forth elsewhere on pure theology. The reader will see by this extract that he assigns a great value to them, declaring that they take the place of miracles, such as were an aid in the early days to establish the Jewish Church, and later the Christian Church. My suggestion to publish widely such spiritual experiences is in keeping with what this passage brings to our attention. May I not ask, too, whether the fact that the New Church has not hitherto made use of this potent instrumentality, declared here to take the place of miracles, may not be one reason why our Church is still in the wilderness, and not stepping out of it to perform a use that widens as it deepens! The passage reads:
     "There are spirits who do not wish that anything be said about these revelations, but it was said to them that they are in the place of miracles, and that without them men do not know there is such a book [viz., the Arcana Celestia, then appearing in London]. They do not buy it, they do not understand it, they are not affected by it, they do not believe it; in short, they ignore it. Nor do they want to hear anything about the interiors of the Word, which they consider as phantasies. There are only a few learned ones [who deem it worth their interest], the greatest part of whom reject it. December 9, 1748." (Spiritual Diary 4123.)
     In the Index note to this passage, which Swedenborg penned several months later under the key-word Scribere (Writing), we read: "The man of today is such that, unless the revelations are at hand which are in the place of miracles, he will not, even should verimost celestial truths be written, buy the book, nor read it, nor understand it, nor be affected by it, nor believe it, no. 4123."

163



     My suggestion in a nutshell is, that it behooves the Church to bestir itself, that "these revelations,"-the contents of these several spiritual diaries,-" be at hand "in an impressive manner, to act in the place of miracles, and possibly, in individual cases, to perform the miracle of appealing to some who may be won away from the men of this world, such as they are today.
HOLY BODY OF DIVINE TRUTH 1938

HOLY BODY OF DIVINE TRUTH       Rev. HUGO LJ. ODHNER       1938

     It is of importance to reflect that, at the time when mankind had utterly turned away from the internal things of religion, the Lord instituted among the Jews a representative of a church, built up out of the ultimate rites, the externals, of the Ancient Church. And this, in order that at least these externals should not perish, but be kept up as a foundation for heavenly life-for the angelic presence with men. For "if the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do!" (Psalm xi. 3.)
     There must be foundations of heaven in the external life of men. There must be ultimates sanctified to Divine ends,-ultimates in time and in space. For the Divine Order rests in the ultimates of the natural world-in its fixed time and fixed space. The Sabbath-the Seventh Day-became the ultimate in time. The Sanctuary, or Temple, became the ultimate in space. These two were "sanctified" to represent the Lord, to represent the Holy Itself, which is the Lord's Divine Human; and not alone to represent, but also to become the means of the influx and presence of the Lord, and of the reception of the Divine Good and Divine Truth from Him. (A. C. 9956, 10276.)
     These two-the Sabbath and the Sanctuary-were set apart as ultimates not to be violated, because in them were contained and implied all the Divine in its several degrees and in its varied influxes.

164


In them, the Divine order terminated, all-inclusive, whole, and therefore holy. To keep the Sabbath means to keep it holy, to "sanctify it," to maintain it as the medium of the Divine Influx, the Divine Presence. (T. C. R. 301.) And in the same way with the temples which man builds, and which the Lord hallows with His Presence. If the heathen enter into His Sanctuary-if "the abomination of desolation stand in the holy place"-then the ultimates of religion are profaned, and the church perishes. If such be the danger, the Lord appears consumed with the zeal for His house; His love appears as wrath. (A. R. 216.) The truths of Divine Revelation, which are the cords that conjoin man to the Lord, become extended as a scourge to judge the evil, to cleanse His temple. (John 2:14.)

     II.

     The constant teaching of the Heavenly Doctrine is that the ultimate things of worship-such as church-buildings and the vessels used therein, and even the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper-are not holy in and by themselves. (A. C. 10208:3, 5008:6.) The Divine does not inhere in them by any mystical, physical presence. And the same may be said of the letter of the Divine Word. Every jot and tittle of the Hebrew Word is holy-"most holy"; but it is holy because, by that Word as a means, the Holy of the Lord flows in with those who, when they read it, are in an affection of good and truth-in a state of reverence. (A. C. 4868:3-5.)
     The Divine flows in, not into the book upon the altar, or into the book in the hand, but into the mind-into the very ultimates of the mind-of him who reads or hears. For the Word is not a book. The book is only the physical means for bringing the Word before the understanding as a series of ideas, couched in imagery, formed in an order representing what is Divine. Whatever honor we may pay to the book, placing it apart upon the altar or in its place of repose, we really pay in our minds to the Divine Inspirer, to the Holy Body of Divine Truth that is present-present, not in part, but as a whole, in all its power as to all its infinite truths, and as to all its interior degrees-at the very thought of the Word in its ultimate letter.
     In dedicating a Temple, in the New Church, a copy of the literal Word in its original languages is placed upon the High Altar.

165


It is placed there as a reverent representation of the presence of the Lord, without which the church is dead. Sometimes, also, a representative portion from the Heavenly Doctrine is inscribed within its covers, as a token of its interior contents-the spiritual and heavenly senses. In doing so, we acknowledge the unity of the three forms of Divine Revelation. We acknowledge that the sensual embodiment of the Divine Truth is found in the Hebrew Scriptures, through which-by prophetic inferences-the earthly life and outer features of the Incarnate Lord were revealed. We acknowledge that the entire content of the New Testament fills in this skeleton structure of Old Testament prophecy with living flesh and blood, in that it reveals the Lord's Human as Natural Man-reveals His actions and speech, by which our idea of Him is made real and organic. We acknowledge that the Heavenly Doctrine gives a still more interior view of the Divine Man-gives the interior order of His life of glorification, the hidden modes, the reasons and impelling motivations of His Divinely Human life.
     Admittedly, these three Revelations have-as written books-a separate appearance. But, viewed as to their Divine purpose, their use and their spiritual essence, they are the One Body of Divine Truth, viewed as to different planes of organization. In the Writings, the organization of truth may be closely compared with that of the nervous tissues of the brain and its fibers-each fibre terminating in the ultimates, and being there confirmed. In the New Testament, the order of truth is more like that of the various viscera. In the Old Testament, we find it hardened as in bones and hair, sinews, and skin, in which the power subsists and the form is outlined and maintained. We worship the One God-one in Person as well as in Essence: not three Divine Persons, separately existing. We vision One Word-one organic Truth, revealing the same Divine Soul more and more fully. We know that the Divine Truth of the Heavenly Doctrine was ever contained as an inner structure within the New Testament, and that, again, within the Old. But, even as a man is known first as to his body, his physical form, later as to his personality, and finally as to his spirit manifested through the actions and speech of his body, and interpretive thereof, so each new revealing of the Divine Man has been seen through the former revealments, and on the basis of the bodily unity of all.

166



     With increase of knowledge and friendship, the personal traits and bodily features of a man are less attended to, but become the transparent conveyor of the spirit. So also with the Word of God. When man reads the literal sense of the Scripture, from love to the Lord and in illustration, then the external rites, the prophecies, the historicals, the personal aspects of the Savior, all become loved because they are the Lord's,-the Temple of His Spirit, and the holy means of revealing His Presence, His Providence, His Truth, His Will. It is so with the angels, who dwell in the spiritual sense of the Word, and see nothing of the literal.
     Yet the angels confess their dependence upon the Word in its literal sense,-the Word with men. It appears to means if Divine truths in the heavens ". . . are more holy than Divine truths in the sense of the letter which are natural"; but the angels know that it is not so. Divine Truth is indeed that which is called holy, "but only when it is in its ultimate, and its ultimate is the Word in the sense of the letter"; and therefore the Divine Truth in the sense of the letter is holy, and may be called a Sanctuary, and this for the reason that that sense-which consists of mere correspondences, which are in great part appearances of truth and in part genuine truths (E. 1089:2)-contains and encloses all the holy things of heaven and the church (E. 1088:2), both the known and the unknown. When these things are in connection and order in that ultimate, i.e., "in our Word," then they are holy, then they are "the Word" (E. 1087:2), in fulness and power. Although, physically, the three Revelations are separate, yet in idea the Writings can never be divorced from the Scriptural Word; for if they are, the connection or the order of Divine truths perishes. (E. 66, references.)
     The ultimate is more holy than the interiors. There the Divine is present to operate as to all its degrees. For this reason, the compelling force of the Divine Providence-working by love, but also by fear-has ordained that, during untold centuries, the Word, as to its sense of the letter, has not been mutilated, from its first revelation (E. 10852); for within each and every single thing there is "the Spiritual Holy, which is the Spirit of Truth proceeding from the Lord." Constantly the Lord cleanses His Sanctuary.
     Similarly the ultimate is the containant of the power of the interiors. Power resides in all ultimates, in the brain cells as well as in the viscera and muscles and bones. Yet there is a difference of degree. (D. L. W. 190, 225.)

167


And this difference is observable also in the several revelations which comprise the one body of the Divine Word. The power of the Writings affects especially the rational mind; that of the literal sense moves especially the natural and sensual degree of man. The Writings cannot be dissociated from the former revelations, even as the nervous structures of the body could not function without the grosser organisms of flesh and blood, nor the brain without the leverage system of the muscles. The Old and New Testaments are of use in the New Church, not only for children, but for us all, as necessary and holy bases for the regeneration of our natural and sensual states.
     Communication takes place through ultimates, and hence by the Word in its literal sense. (S. S. 62 ff.) Conjunction with heaven is by the ultimates of order and truth in the literal sense. By reading the Prophetic Word in Series, Swedenborg was granted to see one heavenly society after another excited in their order. (De Verbo 102, 18; S. S. 64, 113.) When communication had thus been initiated through the grosser ultimates of the body of the Word, the Writings, we believe, by the power of their rational ideas, can enable the angels to consociate their thoughts with ours. (A. C. 3316:5.) Without the Writings, there might indeed be conjunction through the literal sense, and the storing of subconscious remains of spiritual "thought" in the hidden interiors of man (A. 4104:2, 4280:3; cp. 4676, A. 10237:2; H. 314), but no "consociation" of angelic thought with man's-for this is possible only when man is consciously thinking from his interior natural, or rational.

     III.

     We conclude, then, that the lower correspondential ultimates provided in the Old and New Testaments furnish the most ultimate power for conjunction with heaven-"yea, the omnipotence of the Lord for saving man" (E. 1086:5),-the only orderly approach to the Divine Truth of the Writings, the only complete embodiment of the Lord as the Word, and thus the Sanctuary or Temple of His Body, which is in its all-inclusive holiness there.
     It is to be understood that although holiness is predicated of ultimates, and although, therefore, "the Word taught by an evil man is equally holy " (A. 3670), yet it is when offered up to a Divine use that these ultimate objects and words are "sanctified."

168


It is the Divine Good-the Divine end of love for His creatures-that "sanctifies," and makes Divine Truth "derivatively holy. (E. 204:5.) Divine Truth from Divine Good is holy. The Sanctuary of Divine Truth can be profaned when the truths therein are adulterated and falsified by men who use them for their own evil ends.
     At the end of a church it is especially the case that men pervert the Word and the holy things of the church to their own use, filling them with their own truck and trade under the pretense of religion, until the Divine use of the holy ultimates is obstructed, and they can no more serve as a channel of the Divine proceeding, or as means of salvation. The ultimates are still holy, but the holiness cannot affect men.
     Man cannot be holy. But he can be affected by the Lord's holy, and thus come into a state which is called a state of "holiness," or reverence, or holy fear. In a state of such holy fear, man "senses the Holy which proceeds from the Lord, perceiving-as an affection-the order of the Divine within the Word. (n. 3438e.) The holy of the Word, in every particular, cannot become apparent to the understanding, except so far as man knows its internal sense; and yet it comes to the apperception of one who believes the Word to be holy (n. 5247:7), as a moving affection of truth which in itself contains the promise of a future wisdom of life.
     The Lord is present with man through the ultimate truths of the Word. His Holy Spirit is the Divine Truth and the law of salvation, which, as the breath of His Divine Body, proceeds from the ultimates of His Word. The establishment of the New Church implies the re-opening of men's minds to the perception of His Holiness, that they may see in the ultimates of the Word the path of the Lord's influx and His Divine presence, that in all the holy things of the church they may see the Lord in His Divine Manhood, proceeding continually and doing His work of salvation, using His sanctified ultimates to fulfill the ends of His creation,-that they may see all this, and seeing, keep His Sabbaths and reverence His Sanctuary.

169


NEW BOOK FOR CHILDREN 1938

NEW BOOK FOR CHILDREN       AMENA PENDLETON HAINES       1938

WONDER FOOTPRINTS. Stories about Heaven for Children. By Sigrid Odhner Sigstedt. Illustrated by Claire E. Berninger. Bryn Athyn: Published by the Author, 1937. Pp. 48, $1.00. In writing a story for children from the Writings, we ask ourselves: Should the Memorabilia be given as they are, should they be adapted to the tender minds of little children, or, a third way, may they be placed in the simple setting of a child's own life, and as it were sugar-coated! Mrs. Sigstedt has chosen the last-named way. She herself regards it as an experiment, and believes this manner of telling the deep truths of the New Church is suited only to very small children.
     A careful study of the book in question, however, will make one realize that the author has done a significant piece of work, for while, in writing for children, one is compelled to "skim lightly over the surface of these sublime subjects," she has nevertheless given many striking New Church truths in a childlike setting, through the imaginative material of a child's own life. Is it not, therefore, a sound method, since it follows the old educational axiom that we proceed from the known to the unknown?
     In this manner of presenting the Memorabilia there is also the advantage that the appeal is to the affections of the children,-a point that is so strongly brought home in that chapter of Heaven and Hell which treats of the education of children in heaven. And when it is said, "Into the affections of little children there are first insinuated such things as are delightful," we should not allow ourselves to forget that the church must be built up through affection, as well as by learned and profound truths. And in the Arcana, "Doctrinal things cannot be communicated except by means of delights and pleasantnesses."

170



     Mrs. Sigstedt takes us into the happy sphere of a New Church home, and introduces us to her main characters, a little girl and her Uncle Theophilus. And in this pleasant background she beautifully weaves the Memorable Relations from Conjugial Love about Swedenborg's visits to the heavens of the Gold, Silver, Copper, and Iron Ages.
     The first chapter opens with an easy and natural conversation between the child and her uncle, in which he describes to her the different Ages and Swedenborg's visits to them in heaven. He also tells her something about the New Church. And thus the reader is prepared for what is to come in the journeys to these heavens.
     In chapter II, a sort of fairy-tale quality of story telling begins, and is more or less sustained throughout the book. It is imaginative, and will be attractive to the children. Uncle Theophilus, for example, appears to the dreaming child in a blue robe covered with bright little stars, and on the top of his high peaked hat a silver star twinkles. He holds in his hand a wand tipped with a star. By means of this wand a pile of sand in which the-little girl had been playing is turned into a mountain, and some cedar twigs into a forest. Here they find the golden footprints, and then it is that the child and her uncle see Swedenborg and the angel guide who are about to undertake the first journey. The story of the Golden Age is delightfully told. The little girl is not in it, of course, but to the child reader, seeing it through her eyes, it becomes more vivid.
     Any child with an atom of imagination will love the whole introduction to the second journey,-Swedenborg's visit to the heaven of the Silver Age.
     The chapter called "The Talkative Brass Beast" is perhaps the most colorful. A Chinese gentleman is introduced, and gives the little girl a wonderful present. It is an exquisitely made brass dragon, in a fine olive-wood box. This fairy-tale dragon tells us the story of the visit to the peoples of the Copper Age. At the end of this beautifully told story, in the conversation again, we are told something of the Ancient Word. In fact, the whole book is rich in New Church truths which a discriminating reader can see have been exceedingly well considered for its purpose. Nothing has been put in merely to amuse. And in no way can the book be compared with silly, empty, superficial stories for children, so plentiful as gifts from unthinking adults.

171



     The story of the journey to the people of the Iron Age is introduced by a visit of the child and her uncle to a museum, where she sees "awful idols." And Uncle Theophilus explains the decline from the Silver Age, where the images were beautiful and reminded the people of that age of heavenly things, to the Iron Age, where men forgot, and the images were turned into idols which they worshiped.
     From the museum our characters pass through an iron door; and then, by a lovely transition, they witness Swedenborg's visit to the Iron Age. Much of this in the original account is not suited to children, but it becomes quite touching as Mrs. Sigstedt tells it so effectively in an adapted form.
     Then the fifth journey to the Land of the Lost, or to the Age of Iron mixed with Clay, is told. Why is it that something with a dash of evil is always so much more interesting to us poor mortals than heavenly perfection? Our little Beecy Winn is not always good. And here is where the childish reader will open a sympathetic eye more widely. Her naughtiness is mild enough, but it serves to introduce us to an Age that was not good.
     This journey to the Land of the Lost is witnessed by means of a sort of magic glass, through which the little girl watches the exciting events. The whole scene is made vivid and realistic by the child's comments addressed to Uncle Theophilus, who evidently sees only with the eye of the intellect. This fifth journey is very dramatic, and remarkably well done.
     The story ends with a really charming scene,-a family celebration of the 19th of June. And into this are woven, quite skillfully, some beautiful passages from the Writings of the Lord's Second Coming and of the New Age.
     The book has been tastefully decorated with simple line drawings by Claire E. Berninger. The cover, too, designed by her, is attractive.
     AMENA PENDLETON HAINES.

172


SIGNS OF REGENERATION 1938

SIGNS OF REGENERATION       Editor       1938


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

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

     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address and business communications should be sent to the Business Manager.
     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$3.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single Copy, 30 cents.
     Can a Man Know Whether He is Saved?

     This is sometimes asked as a doctrinal question. And the man of the church may ask himself betimes whether he is in the path of regeneration or not. As between the old-fashioned cocksure conviction of instantaneous conversion by faith, on the one hand, and utter indifference to the soul's welfare, on the other, is there not a large intermediate field over which human reflections are bound to range, in the varying doubts and discouragements, hopes and comfortings, of this natural life? Is there a legitimate "seeking for a sign" as to whether we shall obtain the heavenly reward or not?
     "An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign," is the Gospel warning. The natural man craves assurance as to his future, in this world and the next. Resting in comfortable certainty, he would escape further anxiety as to the future welfare of both soul and body. But what of that genuine concern of the spiritual man, seeking to know the path of duty? Is not this a prayer for guidance that is assuredly answered, even if not by spirit voices or visible portents,-answered by sure indications of the way one should go?

173


The prayer of the spiritual man is answered, and in the way of order, with enlightenment upon the path of repentance as the only way of salvation. But the prayer of the merely natural man is not answered, because he would attain the goal without running the race. No sign is given unto a self-seeking generation "but the sign of the prophet Jonas,"-the lesson of repentance, temptation, victory, as the course to the ultimate reward.
     These conclusions, briefly stated, are in keeping with a true Christian faith, and are interiorly confirmed by the Heavenly Doctrine. The Lord alone has perfect knowledge of human states, and He may give the angels to perceive and know the interior ends of the men with whom they are, that they may inspire good where it will be received, and avert evil so far as men in their freedom permit. Evil spirits crave a knowledge of the interiors of men, that they may take possession and destroy; but this is prevented, except when men invite and admit them. Men in the world cannot penetrate the bodily veil which hides the internal minds of others, and so they ought not to pass final judgment upon the spiritual states of the neighbor. Yet the man of the church rejoices in all visible signs of the neighbor's advance in the regenerate life, not less than he hopes for his own salvation.
     But what may he know of himself? And what may he legitimately seek to know?
     Faith in the Lord as Savior involves a confidence that He Saves those who live well. And the Divine injunctions in Revelation warrant and call for self-examination,-for a knowing and acknowledging of one's deeds, thoughts and intentions,-but this for the sake of repentance. In the course of this interior reflection, is it to be supposed that the presence of good-at least in the natural man-will escape the critical eye of the beholder? Indeed, if it is an end of Providence that man should have individual, self-conscious delight in doing the goods of use, can he wholly avoid a sense that he is performing these from good, and not from evil? Is it well that regenerating men should be given at times a sign that they are progressing in the way to heaven, and that, if they persevere, if they "endure to the end," they will be saved! Granting that a perception of evil in one's Self is a sign that one should repent, to what extent, if any, may the Lord also give signs of His presence in good, perhaps as an incentive to further progress in the spiritual life?

174



     Bearing upon these questions, we have the following teachings in the Heavenly Doctrines:

     What a Man may Know in This World.

     A Sense of Anxiety.

     "The Lord continually inflows with good; if man receives, it is well with him, but if he does not receive, it is evil with him. When he does not receive, if he then feels somewhat of anxiety, there is hope that he can be reformed; but if he does not feel any anxiety, the hope vanishes. . . . If he feels a certain anxiety when he reflects upon the evil he has done, it is an indication that he will still receive influx through the angels from heaven, as it is also an indication that he will afterwards suffer himself to be reformed. But if he feels nothing of anxiety when he reflects upon the evil he has done, it is an indication that he no longer wishes to receive influx through the angels from heaven, and it is also an indication that he will not afterwards suffer himself to be reformed." (A. C. 5470.)

     A Sense of Unworthiness.

     "Temptations in which man conquers are attended with this, that he believes all others to be more worthy than himself, and that he is rather infernal than heavenly. If, after temptations, he comes into thoughts contrary to these, it is an indication that he has not gained the victory." (A. C. 2273.)

     Loving Use for Its Own Sake.

     "A man does not feel and perceive the love of doing uses for the sake of uses as he does the love of doing uses for the sake of himself; hence also he does not know, while he is doing uses, whether he does them for the sake of uses or for the sake of himself. But let him know that, so far as he does uses for the sake of uses, so far he shuns evils; for so far as he shuns these, so far he does not do uses from himself, but from the Lord. . . . These things are said to the end that it may be known that, although a man does not sensibly perceive whether the uses he does are for the sake of uses or for the sake of himself, that is whether the uses are spiritual or merely natural, still he may know it from this,-whether he thinks evils to be sins or not.

175


If he thinks them to be sins, and on that account does not do them, then the uses which he does are spiritual. And such a man, when he shuns sins from an aversion to them, then begins sensibly to perceive the love of uses for the sake of uses, and this from a spiritual delight in them." (D. L. W. 426.)
     "When a man feels or perceives with himself that he thinks well concerning the Lord, and that he thinks well concerning the neighbor, and wants to perform kind offices to him, not for any gain or honor to himself; and when he is sensible of pitying one who is in calamity, and still more one who is in error as to the doctrine of faith; then he may know that he has internal things in himself, through which the Lord is operating." (A. C. 1102.)

     Those who Think they are not Good.

     "There are some who think that they are not in good, when yet they are; and there are some who think that they are in good when yet they are not. The reason some think that they are not in good, when yet they are, is because, while they are reflecting upon the good in themselves, the angels in whose society they are immediately insinuate that they are not in good, lest they attribute good to themselves, and their thoughts be turned into self-merit, and thus into preferring themselves above others; and if this were not done, they would fall into temptations. But the reason some think that they are in good, when yet they are not, is because, when they are reflecting upon it, the evil genii and spirits in whose company they are immediately infuse that they are in good; for they believe the delight of evil to be good." (A. C. 2380.)

     The Signs of Forgiveness.

     "The signs that sins are remitted are the following: They perceive delight in worshiping God for the sake of God; in serving the neighbor for the neighbor's sake, thus in doing good for the sake of good, and in believing truth for truth's sake; they are unwilling to merit by anything of charity and faith; they shun and are averse to evils, such as enmities, hatreds, revenges, unmercifulnesses, adulteries,-in a word, all things which are against God and against the neighbor." (A. C. 9449.)

176




     In the Other Life.

     "Men living in the world who are in love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbor have angelic intelligence and wisdom with them and in them, but stored up in the inmosts of their interior memory; which intelligence and wisdom can never appear to them before they have put off the things of the body by death." (A. C. 2494.)
     "The man who is in the loves of self and the world, so long as he lives in the body, feels delight from those loves, and also in each of the pleasures to which they give birth. But the man who is in love to God and in love toward the neighbor does not, so long as he lives in the body, feel a manifest delight from those loves and from the good affections thence derived, but only a blessedness almost imperceptible, because it is stored up in his interiors, and veiled by the exteriors which are of the body, and blunted by worldly cares. But the states are entirely changed after death. The delights of the love of self and the world are then turned into painful and horrible sensations, which are called hell-fire, and occasionally into things defiled and filthy, corresponding to their unclean pleasures, which-strange to say-are then delightful to them. But the obscure delight and almost imperceptible blessedness, which had been enjoyed by those in the world who were in love to God and in love toward the neighbor, are then turned into the delight of heaven, which becomes perceptible and sensible in all manner of ways. For that blessedness, which lay stored up and hidden in their interiors when they lived in the world, is then revealed and brought forth into manifest sensation, because they are then in the spirit, and that was the delight of their spirit." (H. H. 401.)
     The angels, when their eyes are opened by the Lord, can see and acknowledge their own thoughts and affections in the correspondential objects around them. (D. L. W. 322.) But if any selfish reflection enters, they lose their innocence, wisdom, and intelligence. (Diary 5177.) In the education of maidens in heaven, "When they see spots on their garments, it is a sign that they have thought evil, and have done something they ought not to have done; but when they see new garments in their rooms, they rejoice inmostly, because they know that they have done well." (Diary 5664.)

177




     Comment.

     The teachings cited throw light upon the question as to what a man may know concerning his own internal states of life, evil and good. It is evident that there are signs and indications whereby he may become consciously aware that it is well or ill with him in the course of the regenerate life. For the most part, during his earthly sojourn, a regenerating man can have but an obscure sense of the spiritual good that is with him. Still, he may at times "sensibly perceive " it as the delight of use for its own sake; in temptation, he feels anxiety and despair at the loss of it, as when he is tempted to ascribe good to himself. And in the degree that he strengthens himself in the belief that, of himself, he has no saving good, but that all genuine good is from the Lord, in that degree he will turn away instinctively from any thought of merit for his own goodness as a suggestion of the devil.
     It will be observed in the passages quoted that the chief signs that may be given are negative. "A man may know that he is in the love of uses for their own sake, if he has an aversion to evil." The merely natural man seeks for a sign of his own worthiness, that he may escape further spiritual effort and conflict. But the man of the church will seek for signs of those states in himself which are unworthy of the Lard's presence, that he may remove them by diligent repentance, and so become receptive of good from the Lord, and thus a true instrument of uses to the neighbor. He knows that spiritual good is only imparted to man by the Lord after evil is removed, and that the good he may be conscious of before repentance is not good.
     And here we are brought to the essence of the matter. Genuine good inflows from the Lord into the inmosts of the mind, together with a perception that it is from the Lord, that it is the Lord's, and not man's. "If man believed, as is the truth, that all good and truth are from the Lord, he would not appropriate good to himself, and make it meritorious." (D. P. 320.) "The angels of the third heaven perceive the influx of the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom from the Lord; and because they perceive it, and from their wisdom know that these are life, therefore they say that they live from the Lord, and not from themselves; and they not only say this, but they also love and will that it be so.

178


Nevertheless, in every appearance they are as if they lived from themselves, yea, in a stronger appearance than other angels. . . . It has also been given me to be in a like perception, and at the same time in a like appearance, now for many years; from which I have been fully convinced that I will and think nothing from myself, but that it appears as if it were from me; and it has also been given me to will and to love this." (D. P. 158)
     From this we may see how the men of the Most Ancient Church began their decline. They were in celestial good, and thus in a perception and acknowledgment that it was from the Lord. But when they began to "affect a proprium," to want that good to be their own, then they began to lose it. For, though it seem a paradox, the more completely a man acknowledges the Lord as the source of all good, the more he may be blest with a sense of good as his own. (D. P. 42.) The most ancients perceived the Divine in all things, and they were gifted with a superlative sense of individual delight and freedom. We, on the contrary, are living in a highly self-conscious age, which magnifies the works of man and minimizes the Divine works,-an age inflamed with a sense of human greatness.
     It is because of the prevalence of this state that men prefer to think of the Lord Jesus Christ as a man like themselves, and are unwilling to acknowledge Him as Divine. It is from a like cause that so many of the present generation are betaking themselves to familiar spirits, "seeking for a sign" of the life after death. But, having lost the inner sign of faith in Revelation, "no sign shall be given unto this generation." The New Churchman who is seeking for the inner "sign of the Lord's coming," in its call to individual repentance and regeneration, and who is humbly endeavoring to respond to that call, cannot regard the wonder works and natural goodness of modern man as signs of the real descent of the New Jerusalem and the regeneration of the race. Nor will he allow himself to believe this of the appearances of good which he may find in himself. He will not be as the one who said, "God, I thank Thee that I am not as other men are." Rather will he say, "God be merciful to me a sinner."

179


NOTES AND REVIEWS. 1938

NOTES AND REVIEWS.              1938

     LIBERALISM VERSUS THE HAGUE VIEWS.

     Under this title two articles have appeared in recent issues of THE NEW AGE (Australia), and we believe that some extracts, indicating the trend of the discussion, will be of interest to our readers, many of whom have not access to the current periodicals of the New Church. As noted in our February number (pp. 85, 86), THE NEW AGE for December, 1937, published a defense of the Hague View by Dr. Clarence Hotson, in answer to the appraisal made by the Rev. William F. Wunsch in THE NEW CHRISTIANITY. A rejoinder by Mr. Wunsch appeared in the January issue of THE NEW AGE, and the general position he takes may be gathered from the following quotations from his article:

     Dr. Hotson's article was a criticism of a review I had done in The New Christianity (Summer Number, 1937), when I reviewed, not so much some separate books expounding the Hague positions as the positions common to the books. In his zeal for those positions, and for calling the Theological Works of Swedenborg the Word, the Latin Word, and the Third Testament, Dr. Hotson, of course, finds my attitude negative. It is negative to those verbal practices and to the attitudes to the Theological Works which they denote. I presume that every one else who does not fall in with the Hague views is guilty of a negative attitude. I myself believe that we have in the Theological Works a revelation from the Lord, consisting broadly in a formulation of the teachings of Scripture, in an exposition of the spiritual sense of the Word, and in a disclosure of the nature and laws of the spiritual world. That attitude to these Works seems to me affirmative and also tenable. . . .
     All that the Lord speaks is indeed both Divine truth and revelation, as Dr. Hotson insists, but the Lord speaks variously. Revelation has many forms. There is not only the revelation, living and personal, of the Incarnate Word. There is not only the revelation which truth unwritten makes of itself in the world. Of written revelation, there are different kinds. There is the correspondential written revelation of Old Testament and New, and there is the non-correspondential but rationally expounded revelation of the Theological Works. I only argue against mixing all these, and taking a statement about the Word, or about revelation, or about Divine truth, to mean any or all of these indifferently. So both Theological Works and Scripture are Divine truth for the use of the Church; they do not have to be identical to serve so; there is more service when they are different or because they are different. Dr. Hotson asks me if I am prepared to deny that Swedenborg's Works are what the Lord has revealed through Swedenborg, as the Gospel of John is what He revealed through another chosen agent.

180


I have no slightest wish to deny it. I affirm it. I only assert He spoke in two different ways in the two instances.
     The doctrine of life is given us by the Word, Swedenborg says. Dr. Hotson quotes this, and asks: How then can one avoid looking on the Theological Works as the Word without taking the position that they do not afford us the doctrine of life? There is a simple way out of the not very difficult dilemma concocted by Dr. Hotson. The Theological Works can still be looked to for the doctrine of life because they affect to give no other doctrine except what they draw from the Word. He also asks where in Scripture a basis is to be found for Swedenborg's distinction between books with, and books without, a spiritual sense. The basis is to be found, not in anything Scripture says, but in what the books are. Swedenborg did not invent the distinction; he saw it; and I presume he did not expect much acceptance of the difference unless we, too, see it. Or does Dr. Hotson think we must have blind faith on this point, and simply accept Swedenborg's pronouncement! No one, by the way, has to wait until I or anyone else draws the doctrine from the Word on any point: Swedenborg has done that, and in light from the Lord.
     Besides wanting to set up the Theological Works as "the Word," Dr. Hotson, of course, also wants to predicate a spiritual sense of them, for what Swedenborg designates "the Word" has a spiritual sense. . . .
     I am satisfied to say that the Theological Works are a written revelation, and that they draw on the Word for doctrine, expound the deeper sense of the Word, and disclose the nature of the spiritual world. I do not want to put them up with-certainly I do not want to exalt them over-that other written revelation, in Old and New Testament, which they themselves exalt, by referring to the Theological Works as the Word, the Latin Word, the Third Testament. I do not want the uniqueness of Scripture wiped out in a failure to discriminate; or any form, even this, of written revelation put on a par with the revelation made in the Incarnate Word; and I can put my attitude to the Theological Works in this way-I want the Word of Old and New Testament, and the living Word of Christ, to stand as presented in the doctrines of the New Church.

     On the invitation of the editor of THE NEW AGE, an article on the subject was contributed to the February issue by Mr. W. R. Horner, of Lancefield, Victoria, Australia. From this we quote a consider able portion, as follows:

     In replying to the article entitled "Liberalism versus 'The Hague Views,'" it must in no sense be understood that I identify myself with the views of the Rev. W. F. Wunsch and the so-called "Liberal School." As a New Churchman who believes that the Writings of Swedenborg constitute the Second Coming of the Lord, I am of opinion that the views and methods of the "Liberals" are subversive of the principles of the New Church.

181


I am bound by the statements of Emanuel Swedenborg, and cannot associate myself mentally with those who take it upon themselves to view the Writings as works which have just as much authority as their own self-derived reason allows, and no more. To me it seems that as the New Church grows in this world it will be in spite of the efforts of Mr. Wunsch and the "Liberals" to sail close to the wind of outside world-recognized Christianity. The New Church must allow absolute and ungrudging authority to the Writings, or what becomes of the revelation of the Second Advent?
     I regret, therefore, that the larger part of Dr. Hotson's article was devoted to his endeavor to prove that the Writings are the Word, for this is a doctrine held in common with others, and is by no means exclusive to The Hague position. With that part of the article I shall not deal, as I accept its general conclusions, with the reservation that the term "the Word" may be interpreted I differently in terms of ultimation. Here is matter enough for discussion, but what interests us are the distinctive views which emanated originally from The Hague. I will content myself with identifying my opinion with that of Dr. Beyer, who, writing in 1776 of the spiritual sense of the Word, stated, "This sense is the Word itself, and is the holy of the Word. The same has been dictated to the Assessor from heaven equally as the Word in the letter was dictated to the Prophets. It is not a New Divine Word, but an unveiling in the Word we have had, which is the crown of all heavenly revelations."
     When at first, many years ago, it was put forward that the Writings were the Word, it was evident that there might arise those who would say that the ultimates of the Writings were the same as those of the 34 books of the Old and New Testaments, and consequently that the terms used by Swedenborg were correspondential and contained a spiritual sense. This has now taken place, and an organization of the New Church has been formed on this doctrinal basis.
     But this is not all. A knowledge of correspondences is not sufficient to understand the spiritual sense of the Word. The most complete "Dictionary of Correspondences" could never have revealed the doctrines of the New Church to the world. It was necessary that the doctrines should be revealed from heaven to Swedenborg in order that the spiritual sense could be unveiled. If, then, the Writings are written in similar correspondences to those in the Word, then they are heavily veiled, and a revelation is necessary in order that their internal sense should be revealed. This is the position virtually taken up by the new organization, and it is this which brings it violently into opposition with the other organizations. Apart from the fact that the revelation through Swedenborg is to be the last revelation, any such special illumination involves the opening in man of the spiritual degree, and of this we know man is ignorant while in this world. I am aware that the Hague protagonists deny that they make any such claim, but the implication is there all the same. The outstanding mark of the published discussions which have taken place on this matter has been that holders of the new doctrines always deny certain inescapable implications, and say that their critics have misunderstood them.

182


They then re-explain, only to arrive again at the inescapable implications. Discussion consequently arrives nowhere. . . .
     I do not see the point of Dr. Hotson's stressing the word "understanding" in the passage from the Apocalypse Revealed 820,-"The spiritual sense is the interior understanding of the Word." Of course it is. Any sense is the understanding of it. The reading or repetition of words has no sense except in so far as they are understood. It is also true that the natural sense is the exterior understanding of the Word. There are, of course, degrees of understanding, but these degrees are continuous, and progress to eternity towards the center of one's own heaven. It is profoundly true that man is enlightened by the Lord alone as to the understanding of the spiritual sense of the Word, but as no man can know in this world that his spiritual degree is opened, he can only trust that he has some spiritual understanding of the internal sense revealed through Swedenborg. For instance, he sees in the Arcana a chapter headed "The Internal Sense." He reads it, and according to his state he receives more or less enlightenment. The whole page may seem to shine, or it may appear cloudy and obscure. But whatever of glory may seem to be present, he cannot dare to assert that this is the result of his spiritual degree being opened. He does not know. What he can know is that he has some realization of a sense more interior than that of the letter, because he is reading the revealed internal sense of the Word, and Swedenborg states that it is such. Whatever of obscuring veils exists, to modify his reception of the truth, they are in his mind and not in the revelation. That is why Swedenborg states that the spiritual sense is the interior understanding of the Word.
     But for a man to take a passage from this same internal sense and produce a still more interior sense, is to claim that he is able of himself to enter into such a spiritual state that he is independent of a general revelation on the subject. . . . Therefore it involves a special revelation, and this is dependent on the knowledge that his spiritual degree is open.
     That it is impossible for him to understand the spiritual sense merely by the use of correspondence, is shown in that same paragraph from the True Christian Religion (208), quoted by Dr. Hotson. "For by some correspondences with which he is acquainted he may pervert the spiritual sense, and force it to confirm what is false."
     If the Writings are not the fulfilment of the Lord's promise to send the Holy Spirit to teach us all things, then what are they? Surely in them the Lord opens the spiritual sense of His Word and speaks to us plainly. "The hour cometh when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but shall tell you plainly of the Father." (John 16:25.)
     But the most objectionable of all the assumptions of this new school is the assumption-more or less tacit, but rather less than more-that any inability to perceive the truth of the new doctrines is due to a lack of a sufficiently exalted state of mind. The conclusion is that these supposed truths can be seen only by those whose spiritual mind is opened. This privilege claimed by the exponents of the Hague revelation cannot be accepted.

183


It is contrary to the express teachings of the Writings that no one can know, in this world, the spiritual state of another, much less that of his own.
     While each individual in the New Church will always see the doctrines differently, and some important differences will cause members to separate as far as organization is concerned, yet we can all worship together on the basis that the Lord Jesus Christ, the only God, has given the revelation of His Second Advent through His servant, Emanuel Swedenborg. As to what the acceptance of that revelation means to each of us, I submit that we should acknowledge that in the Writings the Lord speaks plainly to us, and thus steer clear of the Scylla of Mr. Wunsch, on the one side, and the Charybdis of Dr. Hotson, on the other.

     A CALL FOR DISTINCTIVENESS.

     In THE NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER of February 23, 1938, we find a valuable article by Dr. Clarence Hotson on the subject of "New-Church Distinctiveness," from which we cite the following paragraphs:

     New-Church people are prevented by their teachings and traditions from any crude external distinctiveness in dress or customs. Those of our people who abstain from smoking, for instance, do so as a matter of taste or hygiene, not as a Dart of their religion. Nor can we, as a rule, call attention to our religion by striking peculiarity of behavior.
     The New Churchman should be distinguished by an amiable and forgiving disposition, a serenity of temper, and a trust in Providence, as well as a love of truth and learning, and a breadth of mental view. All too frequently the historical fact that only the most determined and pugnacious characters have adopted and remained faithful to this religion of ours has tended to counteract the heavenly influence of the Writings on the character of the individual adherent.
     Some distinctive differences, to be sure, there are. An outside observer might be struck by the fact that much use is made of the Old Testament, and little of the apostolic writings; and also by the fact that prayers are always addressed to Jesus Christ as the one Lord and God. The "spiritual interpretation of Scripture" may also seem distinctive to many observers. But one essential element of New-Church distinctiveness is, as I conceive it, all too little recognized and emphasized. I refer to the position accorded to the Writings of Swedenborg themselves.
     The New Church has in the Writings of Swedenborg a new Divine Revelation in written form. In the measure in which we exalt and study and revere and obey this Revelation, in that measure will the New Church grow, flourish and prosper. In the measure in which this Revelation is subordinated, ignored, shoved to one side or apologized for, in that measure will the New Church sicken, pine away and die.

184


Only a firm belief in the divinity of the Writings can make and keep us New-Church people, in the face of the attractions and advantages of membership in other religious bodies. It is impossible to overemphasize the central position and authority of the Writings in the New Church. They should be read as a third lesson in every New-Church service, and texts from them should be used for sermons in addition to texts from the Old and New Testaments.
     The belief in the divine authority of the Writings of Swedenborg is the palladium of the New Church. It marks off the New Church from all other religious bodies. For however much the Christian denominations may modify or drop their old dogmas which Swedenborg attacked, or adopt the generals of New-Church truth in their stead, these denominations can never be expected to recognize Swedenborg's Writings as an authoritative Divine Revelation, and thus virtually place them on a par with the Scriptures. Only the New Church can do this: and this it must do, if it is to survive.
     While we must question what this writer calls "the historical fact that only the most determined and pugnacious characters have adopted and remained faithful to this religion of ours," it is undoubtedly true that many, on their first reception of the Doctrines, have manifested the argumentative state of the Ishmael rational,-"his hand against every man, and every man's hand against him." But may we not believe that, in the brief course of our history, some have also advanced to the Isaac state of "rational good," with its "amiable and forgiving disposition"? (See A. C. 1950.)
     In reality, the truths of the New Church have been permanently adopted by many types of mind, ranging from the "pugnacious and determined" to the mild and gentle, and even to the mellifluous pseudo-celestial. We have often marveled at the Providence which has brought together, in every considerable group or society of the New Church, a variety of disposition and character not unlike that of the twelve who were chosen by the Lord to initiate the first Christian Church and also the Church of the New Jerusalem.
     Yet something of the function of John the Baptist is always a necessity at the dawn of a new age. The New Church could never have made a beginning in a hostile world without its rugged pioneers, pugnacious and determined, whose "voice in the wilderness" could proclaim the Second Coming of the Lord without equivocation, could exhort men to "come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins," and also denounce the modern faith-alone Pharisees as a "generation of vipers fleeing from the wrath to come."

185


Church News 1938

Church News       Various       1938

     SWEDEN.

     250th Anniversary.

     EMANUEL SWEDENBORG

     1688-1938

     Facsimile of Postage Stamps issued by the Swedish Government. 10 ore and 100 ore.

     Stockholm Assembly.

     In a letter to Bishop de Charms, the Rev. Gustaf Baeckstrom gives an account of the General Church celebration of Swedenborg's Birthday from which we quote: "I thank you very much for your inspiring message to the First Swedish-Norwegian Assembly in Stockholm. It was read at the Banquet on the evening of January 29, and very much appreciated. I was authorized to express our great thanks to you, and our loyalty to the General Church and its leadership, and to give our greetings to all our fellow members of the General Church. "The Banquet was attended by 88 persons, the largest number we have had here so far. Three delegates came from Oslo, and 12 persons from Jonkoping, including the Rev. and Mrs. Eric Sandstrom. Four speeches were made: 1) 'Swedenborg's Personality,' by Mr. Fornander. a young man from Jonkoping; 2) 'Swedenborg as a Scientific Man and Philosopher,' Rev. Erik Sandstrom; 3) 'Swedenborg's Confessions of Sin,' Mr. Tore Loven; 4) 'The Necessity of Swedenborg's Confessions as a Preparation for his Spiritual Mission,' Rev. Gustaf Baeckstrom.
     "The program of speeches was followed by a dramatic representation. A pulpit was surrounded by seven candlesticks. A maiden dressed in white entered, and lighted the candles. A song to music by Beethoven was sung by a hidden choir. Pastor Baeckstrom in his priestly robe then entered, and from the pulpit read Revelation 21:1-6 and T. C. R., no. 3. The choir then sang 'Jerusalem the Golden,' and all joined in 'Our Glorious Church.'
     "Earlier in the evening a poem was read by the author, a countess who has recently become interested, and it was followed by a period of silence in honor of Swedenborg.
     "The next day, Sunday, January 30, Divine Worship was held, the congregation numbering 132 persons. I delivered the sermon, and afterwards administered the Holy Supper to 64 communicants, Mr. Sandstrom assisting me.
     "After the service we had lunch together, and Mr. Tore Loven showed pictures from Bryn Athyn, especially the cathedral. We closed with the singing of 'Our Own Academy.'
     "A strong sphere prevailed throughout these meetings, and all felt greatly inspired.

186



     "The articles on Swedenborg appearing in the daily papers and weekly magazines have all been favorable towards him as a scientist and philosopher, but a few orthodox Old Church publications made some antagonistic and incorrect statements with regard to his revelations and his sanity. I have sent corrections to the publishers, but in some cases they may not be printed.
     "A chronicle play on Swedenborg's life was broadcast on January 24. The author was a Mr. Hildebrand, a philosophy licentiate in Upsala, and it was played by professional actors. On the whole it was good, considering that it was not done by New Church people.
     "On January 29, Bishop Andre of the Swedish State Church delivered a radio lecture on Swedenborg which was broadcast to Sweden, Norway and Finland. On the whole it was favorable, but left open the question as to whether Swedenborg was sane or not!
     "I now give public lectures in Stockholm once or twice a week, and we advertize our books in the largest daily papers.
     "In Oslo, on January 29, the four leading daily papers contained illustrated articles on Swedenborg. The one in the principal newspaper was by Mr. Eckhoff of Stavanger, the New Churchman who has made Norwegian translations of Heaven and Hell and New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine."

     After the above was in type the following more detailed report was received:

     An Account by Mrs. Erik Sandstrom.

     I have been asked to write a report of the combined Jubilee Celebration of Swedenborg's 250th Birthday and the first Scandinavian Assembly and I gladly accept the task in the hope that I may be able to convey to "friends afar" something of the warm spirit and friendly hospitality that reigned during the two days of our meetings. For the same happy use of strengthening and encouragement which we have just experienced by our gathering together may also be served in a measure with those who read our account of what took place, as we ourselves know from our reading of the Report of the General Assembly held last summer in Pittsburgh.
     We were twelve to set out together from Jonkoping on Saturday morning, the 29th. Arrangements had been made to receive all the visitors from Jonkoping, three guests from Norway, and several from other points in Sweden, in homes of various members of the Stockholm Society. The warm cordiality and friendship with which we were met and entertained, it will be impossible to forget.
     The festivities began with the banquet on Saturday evening in the very pleasant room which had been rented for the purpose. The eighty-eight guests were seated at three long tables, which were beautifully decorated with red streamers, red and white flowers, and candles. After the dinner a welcome was extended to all by Mr. Baeckstrom, who stated that it had been thought appropriate to regard as a District Assembly this gathering together of so many New Church men and women, including those from distant points. Lateness in planning did not allow for regular assembly procedure. He then read the Bishop's letter of greeting, in which he officially recognized the occasion as an assembly, and appointed Mr. Baeckstrom to preside.
     An inspiring poem was then read with warmth and spirit by its author, Countess Von Mirbach, a Swedish authoress and journalist who has recently become interested in the Writings.
     In the dramatic representation which followed the four speeches, a seven-branched candelabrum stood upon the altar, the whole surrounded by seven large individual candlesticks. Our thought was now directed to the praise of Him whose humble servant and instrument Swedenborg had been.

187


During the playing of a stirring organ prelude a figure clad in white, with a lit candle in her hand, came slowly forward, paused an instant before the altar, then lit the candles, one by one, and withdrew. Off-stage voices were now raised in the singing of Beethoven's immortal hymn, "Ye heavens, declare the glory of God," during which Pastor Baeckstrijm, in his robes, mounted the pulpit. His readings from the Word and the Writings were followed by the united singing of "Jerusalem the Golden." The candles were then extinguished, as they had been lit, by the white clad angel. As concluding song, all united in "Our Glorious Church."
     A real celebration of the greatness of the day would not have been complete without the Divine Worship held next day in the regular church hall of the Stockholm Society. The congregation numbered 132, about half being strangers. Mr. Baeckstrom's inspiring sermon dealt with the words in Luke addressed to Mary, "Yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also," and her humble words, "Behold the handmaiden of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word!" As Mary was the natural means of the Lord's First Coming, so the knowledges in the mind of Swedenborg were the ultimate means of His Second Advent. For the revelator realized that the Truth was not his own, but the Lord's. "I am Thine, not mine," he said. The sermon closed with words of preparation for the sacrament of the Holy Supper, which followed.
     The luncheon on Sunday afternoon was held in the same rooms as the banquet. For this smaller gathering of about fifty the more solemn and serious sphere of the previous evening gave way to a glad and gay spirit. The young people's club, Vigor, sang their club song; Mr. Erik Sandstrom read an original poem in tribute to Swedenborg and the Day; and a mixed quartet of the Jonkoping young people rendered "Den Segrande Kyrkan" ("Concealed from wrath of dragons")-a translation into Swedish by Sigrid O. Sigstedt, sung to music by Mendelssohn.
     Then we all enjoyed seeing lantern-slide pictures of Bryn Athyn and the Cathedral, with comments and explanations by Tore Loven. I cannot close this account of the official part of our celebration without expressing warm appreciation and thanks for the splendid work done by Mrs. Ellen Ahlberg in organizing, planning, and carrying out the arrangements for entertaining the visitors, as well as for the banquet and luncheon. I am sure that we all-in Jonkoping, Stockholm, and in Norway-are grateful for her wise planning, her energy, and her cordial spirit.
     The informal gathering of thirty Young people at the hospitable Loven home on Sunday evening should also have a place in this report. Some had to sit on the floor when the chairs were all occupied. A fire was lighted in the friendly fireplace, the lights turned out, and we sang everything we could think of. Later on, refreshments were served, and more serious problems were discussed. how to keep up contact between the young people in Jonkoping and Stockholm for their mutual help and enjoyment. Plans were made for an exchange of ideas, and, as a subject for a meeting on February 19, "The New Church in Our Daily Work" was chosen. The Jonkoping group is to join in by mail, each one to present some idea of how one's being a New Churchman ought to help him better to perform his duties than he otherwise might. Tentative plans were made for a summer meeting of the two groups at Jonkoping. We all hope the plans will materialize.
     The use of assemblies in bringing together individuals and groups was splendidly served by the recent meeting in Stockholm. The knowledge of the existence of other New Church groups who have the same aim and love is in itself strengthening, but the actual contact and exchange between them brings to that knowledge a warmth and reality. It is like the difference between knowing a thing and feeling it.
     BERNICE SANDSTROM.

188




     KITCHENER, CANADA.

     Swedenborg's Birthday was celebrated here by young and old. The children were given a luncheon on the 29th, starting their party at 10:30 a.m. Mr. Gill addressed them, and the children themselves had prepared several short plays, the stories being taken from incidents in Swedenborg's life.
     In the evening of the same day a banquet was provided for the grown-ups, and the attendance was very good. After we had enjoyed the excellent meal, Mr. Gill and Mr. Reuter held our attention for some time by alternately reading letters or portions of letters written to Swedenborg or written by him to various friends and acquaintances. These readings, together with the comments by the ministers, were most interesting, and gave us a clear insight into the character of the man and the habits of his life. A group of young people gave us a Swedish dance, and this was followed by a short play depicting a scene from Swedenborg's life, and another little playlet presenting ideas of Swedish folklore.
     On February 19 our society participated in a most unusual celebration,-a party marking the 90th birthday of Mr. Isaac Steen, who is our oldest member and still enjoys good health. During the same week, Mr. George Scott had celebrated his 80th birthday, and Mr. Albert Doering his 79th, so that the party was for all three. A table had been reserved for all the over-seventy's in the Society, and to "keep them in order" Mr. Gill presided. There were toasts to the Church, to the three friends individually, and one to those belonging to the group of over-seventy's, both present and absent. Those who proposed the toasts and those who responded expressed in words of feeling their love and honor for these gentlemen, and it was pointed out that the state of old age is one of peace and the innocence of wisdom, and is therefore to be honored. The final toast was to those at the table at the opposite end of the room,-our young people. Friends were with us from Guelph, Toronto, and the State of Michigan.
     Mr. Emmanuel Stroh passed into the spiritual world on February 20. He was a staunch member of Carmel Church all his life and much loved by us all.
     D. K.

     TORONTO, CANADA.

     To the many and varied forms of celebration in commemoration of the 250th Anniversary of Swedenborg's birth, the Olivet Society added its small contribution. A well-prepared program, preceded by a banquet, attracted many members, both of our own society and of the College Street Society. After a delightful meal at a festive board, well-illuminated by the light of 250 candles in blue and yellow candlesticks, the program, with Mr. Frank Longstaff as chairman, opened with a dramatization by Mr. and Mrs. Alec Sargeant of a meeting of Swedenborg with Lady Chatham, wife of William Pitt, in the spiritual world. Mr. Lawrence Izzard then took us for an imaginary tour of the Continent in Swedenborg's time, and he was followed by Mr. Gyllenhaal, who gave us a description of Sweden at the same period. The Rev. Hiram Vrooman, pastor of the College Street Society, added a few words on the topic of the day. This program was interspersed with songs and dances, suitably chosen as representative of song and dance of that time. The evening's entertainment concluded with a very happy hour or so of dancing.
     The next day, the children of the society had their own little celebration, following much the same lines as that of the adults. And while the banquet was plainer, the papers simpler, the entertainment more youthful, the celebration was immensely enjoyed by all, and has doubtless left a valuable impression in those childish minds.
     At the beginning of February, Mr. Gyllenhaal again visited the Montreal Circle, where, at one meeting, there was an exceptionally good attendance of 17 persons.

189


Another group, at Hamilton, Ontario, is being regularly visited by Mr. Gyllenhaal. This group, now in a formative period, is smaller than the Montreal Circle, but has the advantage of being more accessible, and therefore enjoys the benefit of more frequent visits.
     On February 26, a bridge, successful both socially and financially, was held under the auspices of the Ladies' Circle, whose coffers were gratifyingly augmented by the proceeds. Another bridge of an entirely impromptu nature, in celebration of the pastor's birthday, was held recently after the regular Wednesday doctrinal class, providing much enjoyment for all, including the honored guest, it is believed.
     Meanwhile the younger members of the society are doing their share in church activities. The "younger" Young People-a group between the ages of 14 and 18 years-handled the Valentine's Social with dexterity and gusto; while the still younger members, those of the Day School, wrote essays, which formed the bulk of the last number of "Chatterbox," and demonstrated that there are many good writers-in-the-making, potential contributors to New Church thought and development.
     M. P. S.

     THE HAGUE, HOLLAND.

     It was fortunate that our pastor's regular visit happened to be on Swedenborg's Birthday, and we celebrated the 250th Anniversary with an afternoon meeting in the Francis home. Owing to unavoidable circumstances, only eight persons were present, but the conversation was animated. Dr. Iungerich gave a talk on the subject of the Gorand Man, and made clear that there was an alteration in several provinces and their functions after the fall of mankind. Men on earth had always been in correspondence with the Gorand Man, and they gradually underwent physical changes after the Fall, as in the matter of their primordial internal respiration. He also spoke about the suffering of animals, and gave it as his opinion that, though it seems cruel that they devour one another for food, it is of order, because their numbers are thereby kept within bounds. It is not as cruel as it seems, since they become unconscious the moment they are struck down. The interesting subjects presented brought a lively discussion, during which cakes and wine were served.
     The service next day in our hall of worship was attended by thirteen members and three friends. The lessons were from Isaiah 14 and Heaven and Hell 311. The sermon was on the text, "In my Father's house are many mansions."
     Your readers may be interested in hearing that Dutch newspapers contained long articles about Swedenborg as scientist and theologian. He was also mentioned as the one through whom the Church of the New Jerusalem was established, but the scientific aspect was accentuated, and the theological seemed to be less understood.
     LAMBERTINE FRANCIS.

     COLCHESTER, ENGLAND.

     Our annual Sale of Work was held on December 2d. After a few introductory remarks by our pastor, Mrs. Gladish in a suitable speech declared the Sale open, and received a bouquet of chrysanthemums presented by little Stella Appleton. The attractive stalls and refreshment buffet were well patronized, also the side-shows in charge of the young boys; and the evening closed with an announcement of the satisfactory amount realized.
     The next event was our Christmas Festival for children and adults on Sunday evening, December 19. A brightly decorated Christmas Tree loaded with gifts for the children was much appreciated by them, and after an interlude of carol singing a series of Tableaux was presented, with appropriate readings from the Word.
     The School "breaking-up" took place on December 21. After tea, the children took part in a little play, being an adaptation of the story of Joseph, arranged by Miss Muriel Gill.

190



     A short service was held on Christmas Day, and our pastor gave a seasonable address to the children. Offerings made at the chancel were for the Orphanage Fund.
     Our New Year's Social, arranged by the social committee, was held on December 30. Refreshments were followed by toasts to the Church, and to the Old Year and the New, with short speeches in response; and varied program of games and competitions was enjoyed by all. The evening closed with the singing of Auld-lang-Syne and an exchange of good wishes for the New Year.
     A number of visitors added largely to the sphere and enjoyment at our celebration of Swedenborg's Birthday on February 5. Amongst them we were very pleased to welcome Miss Gertrude Nelson from Glenview, and the Rev. A. Wynne Acton from London. After a sumptuous repast, provided by the new social committee at tables adorned with lovely daffodils and hyacinths, papers were read on the following subjects: "The State of Religion in Swedenborg's Day," Mr. John Cooper; "The Reception of the Crowning Revelation by the First Stalwarts of the New Church," Mr. Kesel Motum; "A Comparison of the Reaction of the 'First Stalwarts' with the Schools of Thought in the New Church Today," Rev. A. Wynne Acton; and "The Attitude of the World Today to the Religion of the New Jerusalem," Mr. Colley Pryke. These papers were interspersed with toasts, appropriate singing, and delightful pianoforte rendering of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata by Miss Joan Stebbing. Discussion of the papers and informal toasts followed, and the celebration concluded with the singing of Vivat Nova Ecclesia.
     The Sacrament of the Holy Supper was administered at Divine Worship on Sunday, February 6, the subject of the sermon by the Rev. A. Wynne Acton being "The Use and Representation of a Prophet."
     In the evening, the first meeting this year of the Colchester group of the Sons of the Academy was held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Alan Waters, being an Open Meeting, at which a record assembly gathered. Mr. Waters presided, and a most interesting paper, entitled "Our Ever Varying States," was read by the President of the British Chapter, Mr. James Pryke. A "surprise" item was then introduced (with a few humorous remarks by Mr. John Cooper) in the form of a "Shower" of useful gifts for Miss Joan Stebbing and Mr. Stanley Wainscot, in view of their marriage in the near future. Much amusement was caused by the reading of the poetical efforts accompanying some of the gifts, and Mr. Wainscot then expressed the thanks of Miss Stebbing and himself. Refreshments, followed by a short discussion and questions to which Mr. Pryke replied, concluded the Meeting.
     D. E. P.

     NORTHERN NEW JERSEY.

     Most of the members of the General Church circle that meets for Sunday worship in Newark reside in the towns and cities adjacent to New York City on the Jersey side of the Hudson River. The circle was formally brought into existence as an organized gathering by the Rev. Philip N. Odhner. Since his departure for South Africa in 1936, the group has had the Rev. Elmo C. Acton as minister.
     Services are held every other Sunday at the Robert Treat Hotel in the center of Newark, a convenient place for the families that come from Westfield, South Orange, East Orange, Montclair, Glen Ridge, Arlington, Roselle, and New York City. Doctrinal classes are held once a month on the Saturday evening preceding the first Sunday service of the month. The meetings are held in the homes of our members, and the class conducted t by the minister is usually followed by a lively discussion. So far this season they have been held at the homes of Mr. and Mrs. Curtis Hicks, Mr. and Mrs. Gustav Wielander, Mr. and Mrs. Francis Frost, Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Bostock, Mr. and Mrs. Bertil Larson, and, in January, at the apartment of Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Powell, when the class was preceded by a dinner.

191


The attendance on this occasion broke all previous records of the season, twenty-one being present for the dinner and twenty-three for the class.
     On Sunday evening, January 23, many of our group attended the celebration of Swedenborg's 250th Anniversary held at the church of the Convention Society in Orange, New Jersey.
     We are looking forward to the District Assembly of the Eastern Seaboard groups, to be held in Bryn Athyn on April 2d. Mr. Curtis Hicks, our able chairman, and our representative on the Assembly Committee, promises us an interesting time and an excellent speaker from our own circle. So until then we must wait in suspense.
     H. K. P.

     GLENVIEW, ILLINOIS.

     Our school celebrated Washington's Birthday with a patriotic service in the morning and parties in the afternoon. There are special activities in the field of music. The pupils, in groups of ten, have attended the Young People's Concerts of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the tickets being generously provided by Miss Agnes Benson, of Chicago. In connection with the N. B. C. Music Appreciation Hour, the children have courses suited to their grades. Miss Volita Wells trains the five senior grades of the school in part singing, preparing hymns, chants and Psalms to be used in the services; they are also rehearsing a cantata. A school orchestra of twenty-three members is directed by Prof. Jesse V. Stevens, meeting on Wednesday afternoons. Younger children who are not yet ready for the orchestra play in Miss Lois Nelson's rhythm band. Pupils with more talent for art than music are receiving instruction in drawing from the Rev. Gilbert H. Smith.
     Among society social activities, a Palm Beach Dance was given in the parish hall on February 19. Miss Virginia Smith was head of the committee and had some able helpers, especially our friends of Park Lane, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Eams. The hall was defrosted to resemble Palm Beach, and a beautiful crayon drawing of ocean and palms, made by Mr. Smith under the direction of Mr. Eams, filled the back of the stage. Summer styles prevailed in the costumes of the dancers, and "Aunt Lois' Barbeque" proved both interesting and unusual as a means of refreshment.
     Friday Suppers have been well attended throughout the winter. All remain at the tables to hear the pastor's address. After the tables are removed, the society singing practice, with special attention to the Psalms, is conducted by Prof. Stevens. The choir is also active, and now consists chiefly of new and young members, who show promise of developing good voices.
     The pastor addresses the monthly meetings of the Women's Guild, held at the homes of the members. At the last meeting he reviewed with appreciation the article on "The Geometrical Nature of Spiritual Substance" by Dr. C. R. Pendleton, published in the October, 1937, issue of The New Philosophy.
     At a recent meeting of the Theta Alpha Chapter, Mrs. Edward Spicer, nee Rosamond Brown, gave a very entertaining address on the Yaqui Indians, illustrated by photographs.
     A small but precious part of our society winters in St. Petersburg Florida. We are saddened by the news of the serious illness of Mr. Seymour G. Nelson, a staunch and true member of the Church, and one of the pioneers of The Park.
     J. B. S.

192


WANTED 1938

WANTED              1938




     Announcements.


     To meet the occasional demand for the little book, Emanuel Swedenborg, The Servant of the Lord-A True Story for the Young, by the Rev. C. Th. Odhner, we would welcome the donation of copies by members who have one or more to spare, or we will pay 25 cents each for copies in good condition. The work is now out of print. Address: The Academy Book Room. Bryn Athyn, Pa.
NEW BOOKS RECEIVED 1938

NEW BOOKS RECEIVED              1938

     New-Church Manual of Daily Readings from the Bible and the Heavenly Doctrines. Vol. IV, No. 1, Oct.-Dec., 1937, 76 pages; No. 2, Jan.-Mch., 1938, 72 pages. Published quarterly at 94 Arlington Avenue, Hawthorne, N. J., by the Council of Ministers of the General Convention of the New Jerusalem. Subscription, 50 cents a year; 15 cents a copy.
     Rationalists Should Be Christians! By Rev. Edward J. Pulsford. London: New-Church Missionary and Tract Society, 1938. Buckram, 206 pages, one shilling.

193


APOSTLE JOHN 1938

APOSTLE JOHN       Rev. K. R. ALDEN       1938

     
NEW CHURCH LIFE
Vol. LVIII          MAY, 1938           No. 5
     "Jesus saith unto Peter, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee (John), follow, thou me!" (John 21:22.)

     Thick night brooded over the Sea of Galilee as seven men cast and recast their net into its dark waters, but in vain. Heart-heavy and discouraged, the water lapping about their ship, they toiled on through the night, but still they caught nothing. And now the early streaks of dawn silvered the mountains of Bashan to the east. And in that pristine twilight, when all the odors of a new born day were wafted to them over the water, they heard a voice calling, and saying unto them: "Children, have ye any meat?" The disciples turned themselves, and on the dim shore-line they beheld a figure. "They answered Him, No. And He said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord."
     When the ship was brought to land, they found a fire of coals with fish laid thereon, and once more they did eat with the Master, now the risen Lord. And after they had dined, Jesus drew Peter aside, and gave him the charge to feed His lambs and His sheep. Peter noticed John following, and said: "What shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee! John, follow thou me."
     This command was addressed to John, not to Peter, as we are now told in the Heavenly Doctrine. (A. E. 250:7; 785:5.)

194


It was John who would follow the Lord and tarry till He came-John, the disciple whom Jesus loved; John, the author of the fourth Gospel; John, who received the vision of the New Jerusalem descending from God out of heaven, and who wrote the Book of Revelation. Let us dwell upon this apostle, that we may come to understand more fully the spiritual glory that his life portrayed. For if Peter represented the faith of the church, John was the dramatic personification of love in act, a remnant of which was to remain until the Second Coming of the Lord.
     Why was it that John alone of the twelve apostles was spoken of as "the disciple whom Jesus loved"? Surely the Divine loves all alike! Yet, by the very laws of creation, which involve the preservation of human freedom, the Divine cannot bless all in equal measure, for all do not receive Him in the same degree. It is in reception that man is blessed, and John represents that perfect reception which brings one close to the bosom of our Lord, and causes one to be called the "disciple whom Jesus loves."
     Our positive knowledge of John commences with the information concerning his mother, whose name was Salome. She was the sister of Mary, the virgin mother of the Lord. Like Mary, she was filled with the Messianic lore of her people. She must early have shared her sister's wonder in the Christ-child,-the angelic annunciation to the virgin, the visit of the shepherds, the long pilgrimage of the wise men, the flight into Egypt, the Child of twelve in the midst of the doctors; all these wonderful events, which Mary hid in her heart, must also have been known to her sister, who looked forward eagerly to the coming of the Messiah. For when the Lord commenced His public ministry, she soon was numbered among those women who followed Him and " ministered unto Him of their substance." (Luke 8:3.)
     It was Salome who requested for her two sons that they should "sit, the one on the right hand, and the other on the left in the Lord's kingdom." (Matthew 20:20.) She was also one of the women "looking on afar off" at the crucifixion. (Mark 15:40.) And when the long Sabbath of waiting was over, it was Salome who, with Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, "brought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint Him." (Mark 16:1.)

195


With such a mother it was little wonder that her two sons, James and John, should represent love in the will and love in the act. And the Writings make clear to us that Salome made the request that her two sons might sit, the one on the right hand, the other on the left, because these two qualities do indeed surround the Lord. We read: "The reason the mother of the sons of Zebedee, James and John, asked that her two sons might sit on the Lord's right and left was that by a mother was meant the church, by James charity, and by John the good of charity in act. These two, or those who are in them, do sit on the Lord's right and left in heaven." (A. E. 600:9.) Reared through the tender days of childhood by this mother; hearing the Messianic prophecies from her lips; taught by her the glory of the Law and the Prophets; it is little wonder that, as the full tide of manhood swept over John, he longed for the day of Israel's glory!
     His father Zebedee was a prosperous fisherman (Mark 1:20), and into this calling he initiated his son. The wind, the storms, and the quiet silence of the sea, alike provided the environment for deep thought, for contemplation of God's wonders. Many times, as he watched the stars above the blue of the water, he must have questioned within himself, "When will the Messiah come? Will He appear in my day, or in the time of generations yet unborn?"
     For five hundred years the voice of prophecy in Israel had been stilled. Since the lips of Malachi were hushed, no Seer had arisen to renew the hope of the children of God. Then, suddenly, John's ordinary life was broken in upon by the news that a prophet had once more appeared. The "voice of one crying in the wilderness" was heard in Judea, and the publicans, the peasants, the soldiers, and the fishermen were gathering around him. Among these latter were the two sons of Zebedee. That for which their mother had prepared them now became a reality. Eagerly they became disciples of John the Baptist, and with fervid enthusiasm they accepted his stern gospel of repentance.
     Then, one day, the supreme miracle happened. The Baptist stood "and two of his disciples; and looking upon Jesus as He walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye?

196


They said unto Him, Rabbi (which is to say, being interpreted, Master), where dwellest Thou? He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where He dwelt, and abode with Him that day: for it was about the tenth hour." (John 1:35-39.)
     John wrote, at the end of his Gospel, that if all the deeds of the Lord had been recorded, he supposed that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. (John 21:25.) We cannot help wondering what loving words filled the conversation of that first quiet evening with the Savior. We do know, at least, that John's devotion to the Christ was so kindled that he never henceforth faltered, as did his companion, Peter. His love, his loyalty, his warm discipleship, were cast in a mold too strong to be broken by the tempestuous vicissitudes of the stormy days that were to follow. Love in the will may not be completed, but love in act becomes the image of heaven on earth. It is imperishable!
     On the day following, John journeyed into Galilee with his newfound Master, and witnessed with Him the first of all the miracles,-the turning of the water into wine at the marriage feast in Cana.
     The miracle was a token of the reality of religion. It bespoke the fact that dull natural truth may, under the Savior's hand, be made the vehicle to convey to human minds and human hearts the joy-giving treasures of spiritual truth. And this new wine was better, purer, more generous than the first. No earthly force can rob us of it. Moth cannot fray, nor rust destroy; thieves cannot steal its glories; nor can the passing years destroy its youth. It is the symbol of that sweet conjugial love that grows in tenderness and depth with passing time, and, unlike the mortal life, feels but lightly the passage of the years!

     As yet there was no definite apostleship. With Jesus, John went to Capernaum, and from thence to Jerusalem, returning to hit Galilean home through Samaria. Resuming his occupation as a fisherman, he did not as yet know that he was to be constantly with the Lord. But one day, he and his brother James, with their friends Simon and Andrew, were fishing, when, standing by the sea, the Savior gave the formal call to apostleship: "Follow me!"
     It was now that James and John received the surname, "Boanerges," "Sons of Thunder." Christian art has done much to impair our real conception of John, for the artists have painted him a young and comely, and withal effeminate.

197


Young and comely he may have been, but surely never effeminate! It is hardly likely that the Lord would have surnamed such a one "Boanerges"-"son of thunder!" However, the Writings give us the real reason why he was so called. "Sons of thunder," we read, "signify truths from celestial good. Celestial good is the same as the good of love in the will and in the act, and this is what produces truths. From this it is evident why James and John were called the 'sons of thunder.'" (A. E. 821:4.) Nor is John's supposed meekness of character consistent with his sudden fury against that obscure village of the Samaritans which would not receive the Lord, and upon which he desired to bring down fire from heaven. Love in act is, indeed, gentle and mild; it reaches out its hand to the poor and unfortunate, and brings sympathy to the sick and dying; but there are times when it wears the appearance of wrath and zeal. Every just punishment inflicted by a parent upon his child is, in very truth, love in act; but to the child it must ever wear the semblance of the lightning and the storm. It is John acting under his surname of Boanerges!
     At first John was just one of the twelve, but as the days of the ministry increased he was admitted into that more intimate group who alone could be with the Lord in His more transcendent moments. Into the chamber of death the Lord admitted Peter, James and John. They saw Him as He cast out the mourners, with their weird instruments of music, and they beheld while He took the little daughter of Jairus by the hand, and said: "Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise!" (Mark 5:41.) Again, the same three ascended the mount of transfiguration, and were shown the glory of the Lord, who stood before them, and "His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light." (Matthew 17:2.) And it was to these three that Jesus disclosed the agony of His spirit; for He took them into the garden of Gethsemane to watch with Him while He prayed. John could hardly be absent from these occasions; for it is by love that the heart is opened and real faith is born. (Matthew 26:37.)
     But as the Lord's earthly life neared its end we find that John occupied, ever more nearly, a unique position. We have seen him at first with the twelve, later with the three, and now, on the eve of the Passover, he has but one companion, Peter.

198


"Then Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, Go, and prepare us the passover, that we may eat." (Luke 22:7.) Faith and the good of love in act,-it is by these that man prepares his heart to celebrate the Holy Supper!
     From now on he has no companion. He was the only disciple who leaned upon Jesus' breast at the last supper. (John 13:23.) And to his care the Lord committed Mary. "When therefore Jesus saw His mother, and the disciple standing by whom He loved, He saith unto His mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith He to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home." (John 19:26, 27.)
     Concerning these two singular occasions we read in the Writings as follows: "As the breast corresponds to the good of charity, and the good of charity is to do good from willing good, therefore John, who represented this good, lay on the breast or in the bosom of the Lord, by which is signified that the good of love in act is loved by the Lord." (A. C. 10087:2.) Again, "As John represented the church with respect to good works, and good works contain all things of love to the Lord and of charity towards the neighbor, therefore John was loved by the Lord more than the rest of the disciples." (A. E. 821:8.) And further: "The reason the Lord called Mary the mother of this disciple, or of John, was that John represented the church as to the goods of charity. These are the church in the effect itself. And therefore it is said that he took her unto his own home. (C. L. 119:2.) And to John alone did the Lord give the promise of our text, that "he should tarry till He came," because, as the Doctrine states, "the good of charity would follow the Lord, and acknowledge Him even to the last time of the old church and the first of the new." (A. E. 8.)
     Finally, John was the only one of the twelve disciples who could not be put to death by the enemies of the Church. For the beloved disciple represents that imperishable bond between heaven and earth which can never cease to exist, lest heaven itself perish. He represents the sincere heart, the determined act of goodness, the fulness of remains that carries righteousness across from church to church. "If I will," said the Lord to Peter, "that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?"
     And in very truth John did tarry until the Lord came-came is the vision of the Apocalypse, came as the Ancient of Days, came as "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."

199


It was to John alone that the heavens could be opened in spiritual vision. For in the individual man naught fixes and establishes the vision of truth, and makes it into a new revelation, but the good of love in act. "John, saw the New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven."
     Of this we are told in the Doctrine: "By John are represented and understood those who are in the good of love. For by the twelve apostles are represented and signified all in the church who are in truths from goods, and by John the good of charity or the good of love. And as John represented this good, therefore the revelation was made to him; for revelation from heaven, which is such, cannot be made to any others than those who are in the good of charity or of love. Others can indeed hear the things that are of heaven, but cannot perceive them." (A. E. 8.) So John fulfilled his destiny by receiving on the Isle of Patmos the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
     Faith and charity, truth and goodness! How long have men disputed about their priority? Which is first, which is last, and what is their relation? Peter and John! Peter was indeed called first, but he was destined to be crucified, to have his hands stretched forth by another, to signify the death of that first faith which he represented. John was not the first called, but he remained to the end. "If I will that he tarry till I come." He is the one thing in all churches that has never grown old-the goodness of simple hearts-the sweetness of kindly deeds-the joy of uses faithfully performed!
     When a mother hears at her knees the prayers of her little child, she may rejoice in her heart, for she is imparting precious remains to that child, the remains typified by John,-remains that pass from state to state, and never die. When, with a mother's love, she pours into his mind the stories of the Word, well may her spirit sing for joy, for she is building an eternal mansion in that child; she is laying the foundation for that loving performance of use by which heaven will be opened to him.
     The name "John" means the "Grace of God." "The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." To each of us by Peter comes our faith,-weak, vacillating, inconstant; but through John-the Grace of God-comes our salvation, comes the opening of the heavens to us.

200



     When men came to build a worldly dominion upon the Gospel stories, they chose Peter as the symbol of power; and upon him they laid the title of "First Pope." But when the Lord Himself would choose the disciple who should be supreme, He chose John. For John alone, who lay upon His bosom, was called "the disciple whom Jesus loved." To him was committed the care of Mary. And when the prophetic revelation of a New Church was to be received, it was given to John. For love in act, true charity in life, has power to bring heaven down to earth, has power to draw us near to God, has power to redeem, to save, and to bless to eternity. Amen.

     LESSONS: Jeremiah 31:1-14. John 21. A. C. 7038.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 557, 603, 532.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 68, 72.
SPIRITUAL GROWTH 1938

SPIRITUAL GROWTH       Rev. W. B. CALDWELL       1938

     "Jesus said, So is the Kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; and should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is ripe, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come." (Mark 4:26-29.)
     In this parable the Lord likens the kingdom of God, which is heaven and the church, to the growth of a plant from its seed. The internal sense treats of the regeneration of man, and of his growth in the spiritual life of the church, even until he becomes a kingdom of God in least form. This growth in the individual man begins with the first implanting of the seed of truth in his memory, continues through the successive stages of its springing up and maturing in his mind, and reaches the ultimate fruit-bearing and harvest in perceptions of truth from good, and in works of use therefrom.
     The growth of man in the life of the church, even until he becomes an angel of the kingdom of God, is effected by Divine operations of the Lord, who is the Creator, the Former, the Regenerator, even as He is the Supreme Cause of all the wonders of growth in nature. In the text, the growth of a plant is taken to represent the growth of man in mind and spirit, in the regenerate life of the church, which growth the Lord Himself produces by means of the truth of His Word, by implanting this truth in the mind and causing it to bring forth fruit in good affections, perceptions, and acts. That the Lord effects this, is signified by the words, "The seed springeth and groweth up man knows not how; for the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself."

201


The little that man can do, as of himself, to further his spiritual growth is to suffer the seed of truth to be cast into the ground of his mind, and then to "sleep, and rise night and day," that is, to act as of himself in every state of life, while suffering his self-life to sleep, acknowledging that the Lord alone can cause that seed to grow in him,-can bring about that increase whereby he advances to the "measure of a man, that is, of an angel " of the kingdom of God.
     "The human mind is like ground, which is such as it is made by cultivation." (H. H. 356.) And as the mind is the spirit of man that lives forever, so the life of the mind or spirit, which is the spiritual life, is such as it is made by cultivation. After the death of the body, it remains of such a quality, in general, as it had been made by cultivation in this life. And in this cultivation of the mind there is a part that man is to perform as of himself from the Lord, and there is a part,-the greatest part,-which is performed by the Lord alone, unknown to man.
     The man of the church learns only from Divine Revelation that the all of his life inflows from the Lord, and that without this influx he cannot do even the things that he is given to do as of himself. But because he is in the perfect appearance of the ability and power to act as of himself, because he has been gifted with free-will and rationality, therefore also he has responsibility before the Lord, and a part to perform for his salvation, that the Lord may perform His part. As represented in the text, man's part in the regenerate life is threefold: 1) to suffer himself to be fed with truth from the Word, 2) to think upon that truth in himself, 3) to will and do it. These three are signified in the text by the "sowing of the seed," the "sleeping, and rising night and day," and the "putting in of the sickle when the harvest or fruit-bearing is come."

202



     We know that the truth of the Word is first implanted in the memory, that it becomes of the understanding when it has been rationally seen and acknowledged, and that it becomes of the life when it is willed and done. In this manner of progression the truth of the Word of God enters and operates in the receptive mind, and in the process man is able consciously to co-operate with the Lord, thus to prepare himself for the Divine influx and action whereby the Lord forms his mind or spirit into an angel of heaven,-forms a new will and a new understanding in him, from which he bears fruit in all his acts of use. And this progression of the truth from the memory into the understanding, and thence into the will and act, is what is meant in the text by the growth of the corn, "first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear."
     All that the husbandman can do is to prepare the soil, to plant the seed, to protect the growing plant from weeds; the rest is an operation of the Divine power in nature. In like manner, all that man can do on his part for his regeneration is to open his mind to receive the truth of Revelation, and to think about it from affection, which also involves an averting of the mind from falsity and evil; the rest is an operation of the Lord alone, who purifies of evil, and causes man to grow spiritually into an angel of heaven. "Jesus said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; and should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is ripe, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come."
     The three things that man is to do on his part,-to receive the truth, to think concerning it, to will and do it,-these are repeated over and over in the course of the regenerate life; and with every bringing forth of the truth in act and work there is a fruit-bearing or harvest. But the final harvest itself is when the Lord gathers the man as an angel into His heavenly kingdom. And so we may divide the span of man's earthly life into the periods of a seed-time, a growing time, and a fruit-bearing. In this series, childhood may be called the seed-time of life, the time when the precious seed of good "remains"-remains of affection and of knowledge-are to be stored up for future use like seed in the ground,-remains for adult life, when the blossoming and the fruit-growing is to come, leading on to the harvest of ripe old age.

203


When, however, the seed-time of childhood is past, when remains of good and truth have been accumulated for the fruit-bearing of maturer years, a new seed-time begins, the sowing of the seeds of the spiritual life, the implanting of the truths of heaven in a faith of understanding, that these truths may then bring forth the goods of spiritual use, as the fruits that the man-angel is to bear forever, the delights whereof are the rewards of the heavenly life, a gift from the Lord alone.
     In reality, the seed-time of childhood, with its receptive, plastic state, should never depart. Throughout life in this world, and to eternity, the ground of the mind is to be receptive of knowledge, if it is to grow. To this end the sacred flame of the love of truth is to be kept burning,-the love of seeing and understanding the truth in ever greater light, the love of enriching the mind continually with new truths, whereby it will come to new affections, new perceptions, new ideas, thus to new uses, which are the fruits of growth. Our state of receptivity is all-important to this spiritual growth,-our mental attitude in learning from the Word of the Lord. For no truth is imbued, no truth enters our life and causes growth, unless there be an active state within the passive state of attention to instruction,-an active state of affection, which leads also to thought and meditation upon the spiritual truths of the Word. This state is fostered and preserved when, as we have said, the sacred fire of love is kept burning; for the mind dwells and tarries with delight upon that which satisfies its love, upon that which feeds it; and it is then that we are growing mentally, growing in spirit,-growing spiritually, if our love be for the truth of heaven. It is then that the Lord, from whom is all growth, operates to preserve the mind fertile, that it may not become unproductive, but bring forth spiritual fruits in an abundant harvest.
     This, then, is the first thing essential to the fulfilling of our part in co-operation with the Lord,-the first essential to mental and spiritual growth,-the keeping of the ground fertile,-receptive of the seeds of truth. The second essential follows from this,-an active thinking of the truths received, signified in the text by "sleeping, and rising night and day,"-in every state of life-of obscurity or light-an acknowledgment that all light is from the Lord, suffering the proprium of self-intelligence to sleep, but "rising night and day,"-elevating our minds to the Lord in all our thought and meditation upon the truths of His Word. It is only then that the seed of spiritual truth "Springs and grows up, we know not how," that the mind grows in its knowledge, understanding, and perception of truth, "first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear."

204


And with each new perception, new idea, new use, given by the Lord, there is a fulfilment of the words, "But when the fruit is ripe, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come."
     Let us observe that the chief and best fruit of the cultivated mind is a clear perception and judgment, and thus wisdom, in uses. When man has done his part in the regeneration, perception is given him by the Lord through the good of life in the will,-an enlightenment which is spiritual intelligence and wisdom in all the uses of life. And among the means to be employed on man's part, that he may receive this gift of mature perception and good judgment, is active thought upon the truth, deliberation and study in his own mind, and in association with other minds, leading to an ever greater clearness of understanding and conviction. Whatever we have carefully and distinctly thought out to a conclusion becomes thereafter a perception with us. For we are taught that perceptions are formed in the conclusions of the mind. (A. C. 5937.)
     The process of rational thinking, continually practised, is the means of our mental growth, producing fruits in new perceptions, new thoughts, new uses. Without thought concerning the things we know, looking to a conclusion, the mind is not brought into order, and when the mind is not in order, there cannot be any clear perception and judgment, for things are not then seen in their true relation, one to another. However well-informed the mind may be, the knowledges in its memory remain in a chaotic state until they are set in order, and this is accomplished in part by rational thought and conclusion. In part, we say, because this is all that man can do as of himself, "sleeping, and rising night and day, while the seed grows up he knows not how." The gift of the light of perception in the mind is from the Lord alone, who is the only Light of truth. And in seeking for this light, there is a point where human effort is to cease, that the Divine influx may operate. It is the Lord that "putteth in the sickle when the harvest is come."

205



     When, for example, we have devoted much time and labor to the acquisition of the available knowledge upon a given subject in which we are interested; when we have long dwelt upon it in thought and meditation, but without arriving at any clear and definite conclusion; in other words, when we are still in doubt; then we have reached a point when it is better to wait than to force a conclusion. A decision may come to us later, when we least expect it. And then the truth will suddenly dawn upon us. The reward of patient effort often comes only after the effort has ceased, as is said of a certain spirit who longed with anxiety to enter heaven, but who was not admitted until that anxious longing had ceased. So it is that we may not come to a clear understanding of a subject upon which we have labored until our mind is less active upon it. It comes when the mind has returned to a peaceful state after thoughtful effort.
     In reality this is a very important matter in the spiritual life of the church. A true perception of any spiritual truth can be given only by illustration from the Lord. We learn truths from the Writings, and accept them in faith, but they do not become of clear perception and understanding, thus of internal faith, until we have thought upon them in our own minds, have striven to see their meaning and to form a conclusion concerning them, thus preparing our minds to receive light from the Lord. If, at times, we make this effort without definite result; if we feel that we are still in doubt and obscurity; then it is well to relax and wait. For in the effort to reach conclusions there is apt to be something of the anxiety of the proprium and the prudence of self-intelligence,-something of the desire to be wise from ourselves. The effort is necessary, for it comes from the desire to see the truth and understand it,-a necessary part of our co-operation with the Lord in our freedom, preparing ourselves to receive His Light. They who merely wait for influx never receive any. Yet the final result of human effort must come from the Lord alone. This is how we are to "sleep, and rise night and day," that the seed of truth may "spring up and grow, we know not how." In the words of the Psalm, "It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late; so He giveth His beloved sleep." (Psalm 127:2.)
     When the proprium has been stilled, and as it were put to sleep, then the Lord can operate unhindered to set our minds in order, and to flow in with the light of heaven, to awaken us to the dawn of a brighter intelligence,-an intelligence we can never attain of ourselves alone.

206


Because the ancient men of the church did all things according to correspondence, it was in the early morning between sleeping and waking that they enjoyed delightful dreams, visions, and revelations. The mind having been made serene by sleep, heaven could draw nearer to them, before the toil and confusion of the day had led their thoughts to more external things. And the man of the church today may enjoy this dawn of heavenly light, this rising of the angelic sun, in his every morning state following the sleep of the proprium, if he permit the Lord to purify his mind in sleep, to order and arrange truths there, and to inflow with the light of clear perception. No effort of man can accomplish this. There is a point where our effort should stop, a point where our prudence begins to operate, a point at which we cease to prepare ourselves to receive the Divine influx, but endeavor to form a judgment for ourselves, without submission to the leading of Divine Providence.
     This important truth is taught in the Scriptures in many places. The orderly arrangement of truths in the mind, given gratis by the Lord, and without effort of our own, is represented by the silver found by Joseph's brethren in the mouth of their sacks, placed there without their knowing it. (A. C. 5530.) That we should not attempt to accomplish that orderly arrangement ourselves, is meant by the command to David not to number the people of Israel. For "to number" or count represented the gathering together and arrangement of truths in the heavenly form, and this can be done by the Lord alone. (A. C. 10217.) And this is the teaching of our text, wherein the spiritual growth of the man of the church is likened to the growth of a plant. "Jesus said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; and should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is ripe, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come." Amen.

     LESSONS: Isaiah 28. Mark 4. A. E. 864:1, or 1153:6
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 505, 558, 596.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 111, 191.

207


EMANUEL SWEDENBORG 1938

EMANUEL SWEDENBORG       Rev. ALFRED ACTON       1938

     (Delivered at the Celebration of the 250th Anniversary of Swedenborg's Birthday, Bryn Athyn, January 28, 1938.)

     Several times during the past few days I have wondered to myself what Swedenborg himself would have thought of all these celebrations in America, during which so much has been made of his brilliant achievements. And thus wondering, the passage came to my mind which he wrote in the Preface to the work on the Soul or Rational Psychology: "I have investigated anatomy solely for the end of investigating the soul. If I shall have performed any use to the anatomical and medical world, this would be grateful to me, but still more grateful would I be if I shall have brought any light on the investigation of the soul." And so the thought that ran through my mind was, that Swedenborg would have made very little of the things which have been said about him. That for which he has been most highly praised he would have regarded as the least worthy of notice, serving only as a means to the real purpose of his life,-the proclamation of the kingdom of God.
     In saying this, I speak of him not only as a revelator, but also as a philosopher and a man of science. For he wrote these words many years before he had any indication that his use would be in the field of theology, as the servant of the Lord for a new revelation. Even as a scientist and philosopher, he regarded all the things for which he has been so highly praised merely as aids to the great end for which he would wish his name to be remembered,-that he had brought to man the knowledge of the kingdom of God,-the ruling of God in the kingdom of nature.
     I do not say anything against the celebrations that have been held. They have all had their use. I wish merely to emphasize that what we, as New Churchmen, must celebrate on this anniversary of Swedenborg's birth is the end for which he was born.

208


And while we revere the memory of the man, we should all the more give praise to the Lord that the man was able to serve the great use of Revelator.
     Swedenborg was a unique man; the use which he performed was unique; the state into which he entered, that of being in both worlds at the same time, was unique; and the Divine Providence was over him through all the days of his life, in order that he might come to his unique mission.
     Many years after his scholastic days, he wrote in The Word Explained: "The things spiritually represented by our acts do not come to our knowledge until long afterwards. This was the case with me. At the time I did not perceive what the acts of my life involved. Afterwards I was instructed concerning some of them, and from them I could at last plainly see that the tenor of Divine Providence has ruled the acts of my life from my very youth, and has so governed them that I might finally come to the present end, namely, that by means of a knowledge of natural things I might be able to understand the things that lie interiorly in the Word of God, and so might serve as an instrument for opening them." (W. E. 2532.)
     So I say, for us as New Churchmen, this day may well be the occasion to dwell, not on the fame of the man, but on the leading of Divine Providence in the progress of his life; to learn more nearly how he was prepared for his great mission, that we may strengthen ourselves in the acknowledgment of the ruling of the end, and may more fully praise the Lord that He has raised a man who was so worthy a servant for the benefit of mankind; that we may more clearly understand the nature of our Revelation, and learn that this Revelation is not given us as were other revelations, but that a man like Swedenborg was necessary, in order that it might be communicated to us as a rational revelation. Seeing this, we can also see the necessity of preparing our minds by the study of that philosophy, that we may more fully understand the arcana of the Revelation made possible by it.
     Swedenborg was a learned man, but there were many other learned men at his time. Swedenborg had a wide range of sciences, but there were many other men who had a wide range of sciences. Swedenborg was a philosopher as well as a scientist, but there were many other men who were also scientists and philosophers. Swedenborg sought to bring into his science something of Christianity, and there were at that time other men who did likewise.

209


But Swedenborg was unique in this, that he sought not only to see generally in nature the signs of the wisdom of God, but also the laws of the Divine actually working in nature. The task with him was not to see a general harmony between nature and the Divine, but to see, and to show to others, the actual presence of Divine Love and Wisdom in the laws and phenomena of nature. In this respect, Swedenborg is unique among all learned men, and there are no writings in all the world that may be compared with his.
     Swedenborg is also unique in being the only revelator of whom we have personal knowledge, as it were. We can almost see him walking the streets, in the stage coach, buying books, reading, writing, eating, drinking. That is not so with any other revelator. The revelators of the Old Testament are to us mere figures, lost in the mists of the past. Even Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, we hardly know anything about, and certainly little of their personalities outside of the books of the New Testament. But of Swedenborg we know so much that he is a figure standing by our side, as it were. And here again we have an indication of the peculiar and unique revelation that is now given to the world. It is a rational revelation, and therefore it is given us not only to see and understand the revelation itself, but also to see and understand the means by which it was given. It is given us to see the preparation that was made for it; and this, I take it, was given us in order that we ourselves may the better prepare our own minds to receive it.
     These are the thoughts that come to my mind when I think of the celebration of Swedenborg's birthday. The man almost disappears; the Divine Love and Wisdom shines out everywhere; and then the man again appears as a humble servant whose memory we love, but in whose work we see the leading of Divine Providence in the preparation of a Revelator.

     Five Periods of His Life.

     In general, Swedenborg's life may be divided into five stages. And while they cannot be marked distinctly, they are in themselves distinct, though running into each other: [1] His infancy; [2] his school days; [3] his life as a scientist; [4] his life as a philosopher; and then [5] his life as a revelator.

210



     Of his infancy we know very little. We know, however, that he was prepared in some physiological way for that abstract thought which he experienced in later life. We are told in the Arcana Coelestia (n. 1114) that he could not make certain motions with his lips, because he had not been initiated into such motions in his infancy. So preparation in infancy seems to have been necessary for his later ability to think profoundly. We know that, as an infant, when saying the Lord's Prayer, he experienced something of a suspension of breathing. What this is specifically we do not know, but it was certainly the means which prepared him to think with deep abstraction, and with his breathing suspended. Of course, other men will think profoundly; but other men will not have the same use as Swedenborg. That use is unique. Swedenborg had this experience in his infancy because it was needed, and I feel no doubt but that this ability to suspend the breath, even in infancy, was a trait which he inherited from his father.
     His school days were all passed in Upsala, in the academic and scholastic sphere of classical learning. It was a period when men were beginning to be interested in the search into nature, but Sweden was somewhat backward in this respect, very largely owing to the fact that, in that country, learning was not free from the domination of the church. Swedenborg, however, was extremely fortunate in having as a close adviser and preceptor his brother-in-law, Eric Benzelius, who, while not himself a scientist, yet, by reason of his wide travel, his correspondence with so many learned men, and his intense interest in the growth of learning, was fully alive to the necessity of a new leaf being turned for the developing of human knowledge. And so he encouraged his young friend to turn to the new life that was beginning to dawn, especially in foreign lands.
     It was with this spirit of encouragement that Swedenborg entered upon the third or scientific phase of his life, when, after leaving the University, he journeyed to England in 1710.
     There is something significative about this year 1710. You may remember that, in a letter to Oetinger which Swedenborg wrote in 1766, he said: "I was first introduced by the Lord into the natural sciences, and thus prepared, and this from the year 1710 to 1744, when heaven was opened to me. Moreover, everyone is led to spiritual things by means of things natural; for man is born natural; by education he becomes moral, and by regeneration he becomes spiritual.

211


The Lord has granted me, beside, to love truths, not for the sake of honor, but for the sake of the truths themselves." So the year 1710 is marked in the Writings as the date of the commencement of his preparation.
     And 1710, in the month of May, was the date of his entrance into the free intellectual atmosphere of England. Imagine the amazement of the young man, then twenty-two years of age, who had never before seen anything but small villages or the small towns, on coming into the great metropolis of London, with its more than half a million inhabitants! And the contrast was emphasized at this time because of the dispute between the people and the Parliament. Doctor Sacheverell was blaming the Government for allowing the Anglican Church to be attacked by the growing strength of the dissenters, and the Whig Government had deposed him for three years. Immediately the town was filled with pamphlets for and against, and it surely must have struck the young Swedenborg with wonder, to witness the demonstration of free speech, even against the Government and the State Church; and it must have made a strong impression on the mind of the young man in favor of freedom.
     In London he also came into the sphere of intellectual freedom. Not many years earlier, King Charles had granted a charter to a new society,-the Royal Society of England,-which, while formed mostly of ministers, yet had for its main end investigation into the things of nature, independent of the dogmas of theology. This Society, then instituted, published learned transactions in which were printed communications from learned men of every country, particularly in regard to the actual facts of observations. And there were learned men in England, such as Newton and others, who were able to interpret those facts. It was among these men that Swedenborg lived at this time. And, reading his contemporary letters, we see the immense ambition of the man, his thirst for knowledge, and also his unbounded confidence in himself. This is shown by the fact that he mixed freely with learned men,-the Astronomer Flamsteed, and Mr. Halley, the Savillian Professor of Mathematics at Oxford, with whom the young foreigner, but lately out of the university, was not afraid to dispute. Swedenborg was quite convinced that his own discovery as to the finding of the longitude was the very best, and far exceeded that of any one else, including Doctor Halley.

212


Bishop Benade once said he did not mind a young man being conceited, if only he had something to be conceited about. Swedenborg certainly had.
     He stayed in England for about two years, and then went to Holland, France, and Germany, arriving home in 1715. During these years he not only studied to the point of headaches, and so was early initiated into the habit of long continued thought, but he also engaged in manual work, for the learning of which he took lodgings with workmen. We can imagine him with soiled hands, and his clothes protected by an apron, busily engaged in grinding glass or making brass instruments, etc. He wished in all things to have an ultimate knowledge upon which to base his further work.
     It is toward the end of this, his first foreign journey, that he lists, in a letter to Benzelius, a number of inventions that he had made. These have been much dwelt upon during the recent celebrations, but I am afraid that, on closer examination, they would be seen not to deserve all the eulogies that have been passed upon them. There is no doubt that he received the idea of some of these inventions from Bishop Wilkins' Natural Magic, which he certainly read. In this book is laid down a plan of a submarine, and of a machine that will fly in the air. Bishop Wilkins also speaks of an air gun that will project many bullets simultaneously. I do not mean to insinuate that Swedenborg took these inventions as his own, but merely to suggest that, having a very ingenious mind, he took up these ideas and brought his own genius to bear upon them.
     When he returned to Stockholm in 1715, the first thought that was in his mind was to introduce into Sweden the same freedom of scientific discussion that existed in England and, to a lesser degree, in France. So he established the first learned journal of Sweden, the Daedalus Hyperboreus. Here he describes several of his own ingenious inventions, and from this we can see that they were by no means revolutionary, but were clever mechanical devices for accomplishing things which other men had thought of, but which Swedenborg was particularly ingenious in devising means for accomplishing.
     At this time the question of getting employment occupied Swedenborg's mind, and he thought first of becoming a professor of mathematics.

213


He was fortunate, however, in coming into contact with Charles XII, by whom he was appointed Assessor Extraordinary of the College of Mines. He helped the Engineer Polhem to build a dry dock, and he leaves us a very interesting description of his part in this work, which was to supervise the building under water of the wall that was to enclose the area of the future dock. He also worked on the developing of the salt industry in Sweden, where, owing to the war, salt was scarce and expensive. He also worked on the building of a canal which was to connect Stockholm with the North Sea, and in this work he had charge of hundreds of Russian prisoners. In addition, he took Polhem's place in finishing up the work of carrying ships of war over fourteen miles of bog, field, and water.
     During all this time he was engaged in writing and publishing the Daedalus Hyperboreus, and his attention was particularly engaged upon experiments connected with the articles for the Daedalus Hyperboreus; as, for instance, the action of a bullet ricocheting on water; the various effects of cold; the phenomena of freezing; and so forth. In speaking of these things, I merely want to emphasize the fact that at this period Swedenborg was a scientist, an investigator of facts. He had the more time for this because, after Charles XII died, he found himself entirely without employment. For though he had been appointed Assessor Extraordinary of the College of Mines, the officials of the College refused to acknowledge him, except so long as he would go without any pay; and they stood out for four years, despite Swedenborg's appeal to the government to honor the warrant given him by Charles XII.

     Transition from Science to Philosophy.

     It was at this time that he entered into the study of chemistry and anatomy; and with these studies we approach the border line between the scientific career of Swedenborg and the philosophic. As the fruit of his anatomical studies, he wrote the work on Tremulation, containing the first inkling of his philosophy with regard to the mode by which the soul communicates with the body. He also wrote a short sketch which is the first intimation of that theory of the finition of the Infinite which he developed so fully in the Principia.
     But he was discouraged by not being able to find employment. Of course, he was not poor. Valuable mining property had been left him. But he wanted some occupation.

214


In 1721, he left Sweden on a foreign voyage, partly the better to prepare himself as a mining assessor by examining the mines of Germany, and partly in order to publish the little tracts he had prepared. On this journey he published his Chemistry. Compared with the science of today, the work on Chemistry is a crude production, but it was nevertheless a work of genius, as has been recognized by many later chemists, in that Swedenborg here laid down the principles that underlie the atomic theory and the still more modern speculations concerning the origin of matter in motion.
     He also published Miscellaneous Observations, which described the phenomena he had observed on his travels. But the work also included his first sketch of the mode of creation of the finite by the Infinite. It was published in Leipzig, and when he returned home in 1722 he found that a Leipzig journal had made a very savage attack upon this theory. As stated by Swedenborg, creation commences with motion in the Infinite; this motion is pure motion, since there is as yet no finite to be moved, and it furnishes the origin of all subsequent matter. The Leipzig journal made much fun of this, claiming that it was equivalent to saying that "nothing" by motion would produce "something." But in giving forth his theory, Swedenborg had not ignored this objection; indeed, he answers it at some length. Euclid defined the first mathematical point as having neither length, breadth nor thickness, and he then shows that the motion of this point is the origin of the line, the area, and the solid. Now human reason cannot possibly conceive of a point without length, breadth, or thickness. Yet reason also sees the necessity of such a point, for without it we would have no origin for the line, etc. And Swedenborg shows that, as the mathematical point is necessary as the first point of geometry, so the first natural point must be granted as the first of creation. Human reason cannot see what it is, but will readily acknowledge that it is. For the finite was created from the Infinite, and necessarily there must be a beginning of
the finite.
     This attack by the Leipzig reviewer hurt Swedenborg's pride. For it is clear, from a study of his life, that he was keenly ambitious for recognition by the learned world. With the exception of the Leipzig review, this ambition had indeed been realized, for his Chemistry and Miscellaneous Observations had been highly praised by the learned journals, including the famous Acta Eruditorum.

215


And I may here note that, of all the volumes of this erudite journal, the only two in Swedenborg's private library were the two which contained the reviews of which I have spoken.
     When he returned to Sweden, he at last succeeded in obtaining recognition from the College of Mines, but only after appealing to the House of Nobles and making certain concessions. However, in 1723 he was officially recognized as Assessor in the College of Mines, and received a salary which was continued for the rest of his life.
     He now enters into an intensive study of mineralogy, both practical and theoretical. What is in his mind is to be of use to his country, especially in the office which he now filled. In 1734, after the completion of these studies, he again leaves for the Continent, where he published his Opera Philosophica et Mineralia, the first volume of which seems to have little in common with the other volumes. In this first volume he laid down his principle of creation; in the second and third he deals with the methods of smelting ores and of manufacturing steel, brass, etc. The work was widely read, and was reviewed in the most flattering terms. In fact, it was regarded as the greatest work on metallurgy that had appeared up to that time, which, in fact, it was. In England, it was praised as a masterpiece of scholarship. On the strength of it, the Royal Academy of Petersburg invited Swedenborg to become a corresponding member of that body. When he returned to Sweden, he was at once made a member of the recently formed Royal Academy of Sciences.
     But in the praise lavished on Swedenborg by the reviewers, all the stress was put upon the volumes on Iron and Copper. As to the Principia, the reviewers frankly confessed themselves unable to understand what the author meant, and they criticized his terminology. Swedenborg did wish his works to be well received. He did value his works, and thought that he had made great strides. He was now at the height of his fame, and he saw very plainly that his works had merit, that he thought more deeply than most men. Indeed, he makes that very statement in one of his works. Because of this realization, he had very serious fights against the love of self. And seeing this in himself, so in the Preface to the Principia he makes it one of the requisites of a philosopher that he shall love God, and not himself. This he also does in his Preface to the Economy of the Animal Kingdom.

216


And he sounds the same note in prefaces to later works, saying that a man can never think profoundly unless he shuns the fires of his own self love and the seeking of the adulation of his fellow men. Here we have a marked trait in Swedenborg's character,-appreciation of the value of his own work, and also recognition that he must not work for himself. He was constantly fighting against this very thing.
     After the Principia he wrote the Infinite, connecting the laws of the descent of the Divine with the ascent of the human soul. The thing that shines out in the Principia, and in the work on the Infinite, is that he showed that creation was mechanical; and this position he maintained all through the Writings. Not mechanical on the plane on which we mostly live, but mechanical in the sense that it is subject to law and proceeds according to order, because the Divine is Order itself. Therefore, he says, the soul itself, in its first receptacle, dwells in nature; and in this statement he gives us the very first inkling of the doctrine contained in the Writings,-that when a man dies he takes with him the finest things of nature, upon which he has stamped his character.
     When he wrote the Infinite, he thought that, by showing that the soul itself is mechanical, though on a higher plane, he might bring the atheist to believe in God, by seeing that the spirit is not a breath or wind, but an organized form.
     After this preliminary essay on the soul, he retraces his steps, and turns his mind to anatomy, realizing that, before he can pursue his search for the soul, he must enter more deeply into the study of the human body. Therefore, in 1736, he sojourned for nearly two years in Paris, and there, as we know by studying his works, he engaged in dissection, especially in the dissection of birds that live both in air and in water, and this because he was especially interested in the relation of the cerebrum to the lungs.
     After finishing this study, he went to Venice, and in the quiet of that city he wrote his first anatomical work, the work on the Brain, which will be published by the Swedenborg Scientific Association this year. I will not go into the details of this work. It has been said that he anticipated modern discoveries in cerebrology. That is true. But it is also true that modern discoveries were made quite independently of his works, because it is only in the past sixty years that his work on the Brain has been known.

217


He ends this work with these words, expressive of the spirit in which he wrote it: "Not the glory of the finding, but the truth found, is what gladdens me; and it is to the friends of truth alone that I appeal. All others, a later age, if not the present, will laugh at." And then he quotes from Seneca: " He is born to few things who thinks of the people of his own age. Many thousands of years and of peoples are yet to came. Look to these, even though some cause has imposed silence on thy contemporaries. Those will come who shall judge without enmity and without favor." In the reviews of the Principia he had already seen that his doctrines, which he considered most exalted, were not understood by the learned, and were received with ill-disguised contempt. He was keenly aware of this; and when he quoted these words from Seneca he no doubt had this in mind.
     From Venice he went to various cities in Italy, and finally to Amsterdam. His original plan had been to commence his anatomical publications with the Brain, but in Amsterdam he changed this plan, and commenced with the blood. This was the subject of his first published work on physiology,-Volume I of the Economy of the Animal Kingdom. The writing of this volume marks the commencement of a new period in his development. His scientific career is ended, and from now on he is purely a philosopher. Never again did he make scientific experiments; never again did he undertake original research. He laid down the scalpel, laid down every effort to investigate the facts of nature himself. Facts, indeed, were not the goal of Swedenborg's interest. Other men could dig out facts. What he was interested in was the meaning of the facts. He wanted so to present the facts that they would proclaim, in one grand chorus, the Love and Wisdom of God.

     Spiritual Guidance.

     It was while the first volume of the Economy of the Animal Kingdom was being printed that Swedenborg had his first premonitions of a spiritual guidance which he did not then understand, but to which he afterwards refers as signs of the leading of Divine Providence to the end for which he was born; or, in his own words: "that I might finally come to the present end." While seeing the Economy through the press, he wrote a little sketch of his philosophy, at the end of which he added the words:

218


"These things are true because I have the sign." Again, in the Preface to the Economy he speaks of "a kind of mysterious radiation-I know not whence it proceeds-that darts through some sacred temple of the brain." And when he began the second volume of the Economy, he experienced what he calls a swoon, which brought illumination; that is to say, he had his first experience, or first vivid experience, of that abstract thought in which his breathing seemed to be entirely suspended. It appeared like a swoon, but it was not a swoon, for it brought him greater illumination,-an illumination which, in the second volume of the Economy, brings him to great heights of interior thought. He conceives of the Lord as the Sun of Heaven; and after uttering some sublime thoughts on this subject, he suddenly maintains silence. It is too holy, and he is unwilling further to pursue it.
     When he returned to Sweden in 1741, he wrote The Fibre, which was the continuation of the Economy. Prior to the actual opening of his spiritual eyes, he had already entered into a new world of thought, a world in which he experienced an illumination that brought him inner conviction. The world in which he now thought was far removed from that learned world which had heaped praises on his mineralogical writings. He is well aware of this, having in mind the incredulity with which his Principia had been received. And so, in the course of The Fibre, he writes: "I know that I speak strange things, but what does it matter, since they are true!" And again, referring to one of his teachings, he says: "I am not unaware of what modern authors think of it, but this causes me no delay, since the actual phenomena fully persuade me of its truth."
     After The Fibre he wrote other physiological works, finishing with the first two volumes of the Animal Kingdom. In 1743, he took these works to Holland with the object of printing them, and it was during his stay here that he wrote that Journal which constitutes the only record we have of his remarkable dreams. There was, however, a written record of earlier dreams, but it is now lost. But we know that his significative dreams began when he was writing the second volume of the Economy of the Animal Kingdom. Indeed, we can see a sign of them in his statement at that time: "These things are true because I have the sign."

219



     As now preserved, his Journal of Dreams is plainly the continuation of a diary, and not, as some vainly imagine, the sudden beginning of the imaginings of an enthusiast. His dreams merge into visions, and in one of these he declares that the Lord Himself appeared to him.
     I have often asked myself the question: What does Swedenborg mean when he says that he saw the Lord Himself? And the answer I have given myself is, that Swedenborg, in his philosophical meditations, had conceived of the human body as the abode of the soul; and then he had seen the whole created universe as the body of God I and the Lord, as the Soul of that body, presented Himself to be seen by him as Divine Love and Wisdom in human form. Thus, in his vision, Swedenborg actually saw his own perception of the Lord Personified. His mind had seen the Lord as a Divine Man in the universe, and now in his vision he saw the Lord as an actual Man appearing before his eyes.
     During this period also he had thought concerning the superiority of his own writings. He tells us that, when walking through the streets of The Hague, he saw a copy of his own work in the window of a bookshop, and the thought came to his mind, "How much more worthy is my work than any other!" But immediately afterwards he reproached himself for this unworthy thought, and reflected that "the Lord uses many men to do His work, and I am but one." During this period, moreover, many things were calculated to foster in Swedenborg the love of self. He sees himself chosen above other men, and he hears a voice telling him that he is to enter into a state such as no mortal man has experienced since creation. Therefore, when the Lord appeared to him, he also heard the words, "Hast thou a clean bill of health?"
     Here is reflected the conflict in his mind between the love of self, the pride in his own work, and the necessity of attributing everything to God the Creator. This was the struggle that went on in Swedenborg's mind-so profound that perhaps you and I hardly realize it. We may indeed fight against the love of self, but we may ask ourselves whether we see how truly damnable that love is. Swedenborg saw more deeply the nature of the love of self, and he fought against it, suffering anguish in the fight. Looked at in this way, the Journal of Dreams, and the language therein, which sometimes seems the language of a mere enthusiast, will soon become to you the cry of a soul that truly acknowledges how evil the human heart is.

220


For, during this whole period, Swedenborg is in his usual occupations; he dines at the inn table d'hote; he attends to business with his bankers, reads proofs, and writes learned works that require study and concentrated thought.
     In 1744, he went to England, and there he engaged in the study of learned works, lately published, on the subject-of sight, in order to prepare himself for the third volume of his Animal Kingdom, which was to treat of the Senses. And during this period he is intromitted more and more into the spiritual world, until at last he actually hears a spirit speak. The spirit says words that frighten him, because they intimate to Swedenborg for the very first time in his life that spirits know what we are thinking of. And he was frightened.
     In the beginning of 1745 he published the third volume of his Animal Kingdom, and on almost the last page of that volume he speaks of what he will do in the next chapter. He has no idea that his work is coming to an end. The struggles that he has had, the visions, the partial opening of his spiritual sight,-these he views as being for no other purpose than that he might pursue the work he has undertaken, and so might lead the unbelieving world to a true philosophy, and to the worship and love of God. With this idea in mind, he now takes up a new work, the Worship and Love of God, in which, in representative form, he presents a summary of all his previous works. It is a work in which heaven, as it were, talks with earth, and the two unite in the contemplation of the Divine means for the establishment of the kingdom of God.
     In undertaking this work, Swedenborg suffered the presence of many doubts. He was now, for the first time, entering upon the field of theology. He, not a clergyman, but a philosopher, was daring to tread in this sacred field. He doubted; he wondered as to his ability, and even as to whether he was led by the rash temerity of an over-confident philosophic mind. It was while he was in this state of doubt and conflict that he sat at dinner in a London inn, and a vision suddenly appeared before him. The room grew dark; the floor swarmed with creeping reptiles; and then, in the corner of the room, he saw a Man. The words which he then heard from the lips of this Man were an echo and reflection of the conflicts within Swedenborg himself-the words, "Eat not so much!"

221



     He went home, and that night the Lord appeared to him and gave him his mission. And then, for the first time, he saw the real end for which he had been led through science and philosophy,-that this end was not a natural, but a spiritual, philosophy. And from that hour he forsook all his former work, and devoted himself to the study of spiritual things.
     Yet this new study was not entirely new to him. Ever since he wrote the first volume of the Principia, he had entered more and more into a world of spiritual thought, in which he was unique among men. By now he had retired altogether from the world of thought in which the learned men of his day lived. And his actual entrance into the study of the Word of God was but a continuation of his former work in the development of a spiritual-natural philosophy.
     In Swedenborg's reception of the commission given him in London, we have another indication of the unique nature of the revelation given to the New Church. Enthusiasts who have claimed to be Divinely inspired have invariably entered at once upon the carrying out of their fancied mission. But Swedenborg worked for three years, in order that he might further prepare himself to become the servant of the Second Coming. He indexed the Bible, studied Hebrew, made comments on the whole of the Bible. Even now he does not know precisely that it is the Second Coming of the Lord for which he is being prepared. For in a work which he wrote after the Lord appeared to him in London, a work that has never been published in Latin or translated into English, he says: "Jesus Christ our Savior is the Messiah who will come, and who will judge the world; and the time is near at hand, and will surely come." These words were written just before the writing of The Word Explained.
     This period of three years and a half is an intermediate period, and being such, it reflects both the state of the past and the state of the future. This is the reason why we find, in The Word Explained, passage after passage in which Swedenborg speaks from Divine inspiration. He declares that what he writes is true because it has been given him from heaven. Again, in other passages, he complains that he is in obscurity, sometimes explaining the cause of the obscurity as being that he is surrounded by spirits who are perpetually troubling his mind; and then again comes the conviction that he speaks from Divine inspiration.

222


And so, I say, The Word Explained, and the other writings of this period, are of an intermediate nature, reflecting both the state that followed and the state that preceded. In part, they contain Divine Revelation, and in part they contain Swedenborg's own efforts,-the efforts of a wise philosopher who is searching, as though from himself, the meaning of the Word of God.
     And then this intermediate period came to an end. The work of preparation was finished, and in London,-the city where his preparation had commenced in 1710,-in that same city, in 1747, he sat down to pen the first of those volumes of Divine Revelation for which his whole life had been a preparation.
     I need not follow him further. I have said enough for you to realize that, in this celebration of Swedenborg's birthday, the honoring of the man should be the praising of the Lord for His mercy in providing the means by which He has given to the world a revelation wherein it is allowed to enter into the mysteries of faith.
SUPPORT OF THE ACADEMY 1938

SUPPORT OF THE ACADEMY       ANDREW R. KLEIN       1938

     (Speech at the Charter Day Banquet, October 22, 1937.)

     I have been asked to discuss this subject from the layman's viewpoint. Layman I certainly am, for I can neither teach nor preach. It seems a bit presumptuous even to speak, and almost insolent to speak to a subject on which the average layman, and especially one so very average as myself, has only the vaguest of ideas. The toastmaster was kind enough to outline the territory which he hoped I would cover. He mentioned that others would occupy adjacent fields, and tactfully hinted that trespassers would be persecuted. Believe me, since pedagogy and theology are the adjacent fields to which he referred, I have no wish to trespass. No, this is to deal with layman problems.
     At first, I must confess, it seemed a very small field to till, or at least one that had been rather thoroughly farmed out. For some reason, it was at that point that I thought of the Prince.

223


He was a big, chesty fellow, with the chassis of a grand opera star, and he came into the office one day bouncing on the balls of his feet. "I am Prince Rollemoff," he said; "I will teach you how to BREATHE!" And he blew up his chest until his eyes bulged. But he couldn't sell me that. I'd been an enthusiastic breather since the day I was born. Supporting the Academy is like that, in a way. What can you say about it? I'm in favor of it. Period.
     But it shortly came to mind that supporting the Academy may not be as simple as taking a breath. There is only one way to breathe. You can put your heart and soul into it, or you can barely flutter the epiglottis. The method is the same. On the contrary, there are several ways of supporting the Academy, each quite distinct from the others. All of the ways have not been discovered yet, but the need for support will be with us as long as we have a school or a church; so that fact need not discourage us.
     Way back in 1907, Dr. Doering pointed out that the support of the church comes solely from the Lord; but he also showed that this support requires a reciprocal. To me that means that we need never concern ourselves lest the church perish if we fail to support it. We are the ones who will do the perishing. That is, giving whole-hearted support to the church (and to the Academy, which is the church in one of its forms) is even more important for our own sakes than for its obvious value to the smooth administration of these institutions. But in offering support, no matter how wholehearted, large amounts of effort may be wasted entirely. Therefore it behooves us to examine the subject again and again, to find new methods of support, to check up on the value of the old methods, and to remind ourselves that there is a task to perform.
     Without trespassing on the neighboring fields, at least three forms of support come to mind. Each must have attention from lay members of the church. The first is moral and intellectual support; the second, financial support; the third is active assistance in making men and women out of boys and girls.
     Moral support includes the willingness to accept as a fact that the teachers know more about educating our children than we do. It includes a willingness to back up and enforce the discipline of the schools. And it includes giving understanding help and encouragement to students in following their studies, without deprecating the capacity of the teachers or the methods of instruction.

224


I am told that the Academy has been supported in this way to a gratifying extent. Excellent! But let us never forget that this form of support is necessary.
     Intellectual support includes provision for a free interchange of ideas between teachers and others. It may surprise you to hear that this is a needed form of support. Yet the tendency in Bryn Athyn is to have big meetings. The small, informal discussion-groups have become fewer and fewer. In big groups there is no real chance to discuss matters; yet the tendency to pontificate is apt to grow and flourish if the opposing view is not expressed. Perhaps the proposal to rent rooms for the Civic and Social Club will alleviate this situation, for small groups tend to gather in small rooms, just as large halls require large groups. But the chance to exchange ideas with parents and others in societies away from Bryn Athyn is not available to our teachers to any real extent, and this is a handicap, for the views of Bryn Athyn as a whole are not always the same as those of Glenview, and without some communication between the societies a valuable point of view is lost. Another aspect of the small discussion-group is its tendency to stimulate thought. One very good way to encourage the formulation of ideas is to afford an opportunity for the expression of any ideas formed. And the benefit of formulating thought on the Academy and the Church will endure, at least in manuscript, for years to come.
     The problem of financial support has been so often and so ably considered that I will pass it by with only two comments. You heard, but may have forgotten, the excellent papers dealing with the cost of education which were read by Dr. Doering and Mr. Hyatt at the General Assembly. Looking over the statistics there, I conclude that, on a wild sort of average, it costs about a thousand dollars more to put a student through one year of school than the student or his parents are asked to pay. That means that if you took a four-year course, about four thousand dollars was invested in your education, over and above tuition and board. The treasurers of the Academy Finance Association and the Sons of the Academy tell me that it is perfectly safe to say that very few persons contribute more than ten dollars a year to their respective organizations. If you are in the ten-dollar class, that is, are paying twenty dollars a year to these twin uses, it will take you just two hundred years to square the account.

225



     The other comment on financial support emerged during my conversation with the toastmaster. The idea, briefly, is to have the parents, when registering a student, take out an endowment policy equal to the board and tuition charges. Premiums would be very low, and would be paid by the parents until, on maturity of the policy, there would be a Principal sum adequate to pay the bill. In the intervening years, the parents, or preferably the student, would pay interest on the money advanced for his education. There is room for wide development of this idea. But it belongs to the toastmaster, and is mentioned here only to put it into its logical place in considering the general subject.
     The third way of supporting the Academy is in helping it to make men and women out of the boys and girls under its care. After all, the purpose of New Church education is to impart fitness to performance. This subject is so far-flung in its implications and possibilities that one evening would scarcely allow time to review it in detail. The central thought is, that although the Academy provides the learning, it takes more than knowledge to make a man a useful citizen. While the student is learning he is also growing up. If he were "on his own," he would be learning something just as important as the knowledges which the school imparts. He would be learning to work. Students usually come to us before they have really learned to work. It is something which must be mastered, just as truly as Algebra. The fact that they are not under parental care deprives them of the chance to learn to work, unless the members of the church take on the job of teaching them. I know that student-help is often inefficient, inept, and slow. Without further thought, many householders avoid using it. Working scholarship is one thing; working for yourself is another. Give the boys and girls a chance to earn a little on the side. Give them enough of your time and patience to teach them to do their work well and quickly. The benefit to the church will be out of all proportion to the slightly higher cost of using untrained labor. And this idea is not confined to Bryn Athyn householders. Every effort should be made to provide real work for students during the vacation months, and members of the church in every society can co-operate.

226



     It seems to me that this need of training students to work as well as to study goes hand in hand with another need. The Academy has not enough work for the scholarship applicants to do, and refuses to put them to raking leaves to and fro across the campus. But how about setting up a couple of infant industries? Couldn't something be done here?
     And now, with much trepidation, I come to a hobby of my own. Three needs have been mentioned which might all be satisfied in part by a single agency: (1) The need for communicating thought freely between teachers and parents; (2) the desirability of preserving the thought for future reference; and (3) the need for useful work for students to do. These specific needs could be met if a publishing plant were set up in Bryn Athyn. Here I could digress for several evenings, but it seems better merely to suggest the thought. I do not mean a print shop run on spare time by overworked teachers. I mean a real publishing house, managed by a real printer, and run on a business basis, doing outside work, such as law briefs. But its primary purpose would be to preserve the best thought of the times for the use of New Churchmen who come after; and, as far as possible, it would use scholarship help. I am sorry that Dr. Acton is not here to help me out on this. I know it to be a dream which he has long cherished. And I put it forward now with many doubts, more for consideration than as a problem thought through and solved.
     Right here I am reminded of two things. The first is a cartoon in which a young lady sits surrounded by Yards and yards of knitted woolen scarf. "Yes," she tells her friend, "I'd like to stop-but I don't know how to end the thing." The second is a lesson in the READERS DIGEST On how to say good-by. Walk to the door, open it, say "good-by," and walk out of the door, closing it behind you. Consider it done. Good-by!

227


NOTES AND REVIEWS. 1938

NOTES AND REVIEWS.              1938


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

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

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

     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$3.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single Copy, 30 cents.
     SWEDENBORG'S LETTERS.

     The present issue of THE NEW PHILOSOPHY (January-April, 1938) contains the first installment of "The Letters of Emanuel Swedenborg," which are to be published serially in that journal, and eventually, it is hoped, in book form. The letters are accompanied with comments and annotations by the editor, Dr. Alfred Acton, who will thus furnish the historical and biographical information so necessary to a full understanding of the contents. His editorial notes in the same issue of THE NEW PHILOSOPHY indicate the scope of the undertaking. To quote:

     One or other of Swedenborg's letters has appeared in print from as early as 1742, particularly his theological letters; but nothing like a complete collection was published until 1845, when Dr. Immanuel Tafel printed his Sanzmlung von Urkunden. On this work was based the far more complete collection published in 1875-77 by Doctor R. L. Tafel, in his invaluable Documents Concerning Swedenborg,-a collection which comprised many letters unknown to Dr. Immanuel Tafel, and including the letters to Benzelius with which we commence the present publication.

228


In the Documents, these letters appeared for the first time in an English translation, though the Swedish text of many of them had been printed at Upsala in 1848.
     The present collection is designed to include, not only the letters previously published, but also a considerable number that have been discovered since the appearance of Doctor Tafel's Documents. Most of these have appeared from time to time in the journals of the New Church, but they are inaccessible to the average reader.
     The contents of these letters are not only valuable as a contribution to our knowledge of Swedenborg's personal history, but in some of them notably those written to Dr. Beyer and Prelate Oetinger-are to be found important statements of doctrine and records of spiritual experience. The members of the Church generally will derive benefit from a reading of the complete collection as now to be made available in the present and succeeding numbers of THE NEW PHILOSOPHY, published quarterly at a subscription price of $1.00 a year. Address: Rev. C. E. Doering, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     CHRISTIAN SWEDENBORGIANS.

     In THE NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER of March 9, 1938, Dr. Clarence Hotson again deals with the question as to whether New Churchmen should be "Christians first and Swedenborgians second." His negative answer to this question was cited in our February issue, p. 87. He now goes back to the Judaizing Christians of the early days of the Christian Church, and effectively draws a parallel with its plain warning to non-separatists and "Liberals" in the New Church. We quote in part:

     It was inevitable that the early Christians should be Jews first and Christians second. They thought of themselves for a long time as a superior kind of Jews, who had accepted Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah, yet who clung to most of the Jewish customs, and tried to make their Gentile converts conform to them. Their Jewish conservatism prevented them for a long time from regarding as Sacred Scripture anything except the Jewish canon,-what we now call the Old Testament. . . Yet in time the logic of history forced the Christian Church to erect its own special or distinctively Christian religious literature into a new canon of Scripture, or New Testament, thus placing it on a par with or even superior to the Jewish Testament or canon. The tendency which opposed this change, as well as the change from the Jewish Sabbath to the observance of Sunday, or the Lord's Day, has been aptly called "Jew-Christian." Though at one time universally dominant, Jewish Christianity became a reactionary sectarian tendency within Christianity, and finally became extinct, in the measure in which Christianity, from being a Jewish sect, became a new historic world-religion.

229



     Those New-Church people who are called "Christians first and Swedenborgians second" correspond very closely to the "Jew-Christian" conservatives or reactionaries of early Christianity, though, curiously enough, they are known as "Liberals" in present-day parlance, and the opposing majority is known as "conservative." Led by the Rev. Mr. Wunsch, our so-called "Liberals" oppose the tendency to exalt the Writings as a new authoritative Divine Revelation, and as the special Divine Revelation in written form for the New Church, as thus a new canon of sacred Writings or Scriptures, in the light of which' both Old and New Testaments must be interpreted. They would thus keep the New Church a mere sect of historical Christianity, and prevent it from becoming the new world-religion which it is destined to become, just as the Jew-Christians of old would have kept Christianity a mere sect of Judaism. In the ultimate disappearance of Jewish Christianity we may find a prophecy of the eventual disappearance of the entire tendency now known as Convention Liberalism.
     It is a universal law that a new historic world-religion must and will place its own distinctive Divine Revelation or sacred books on at least as high a plane as it places such books as it holds sacred in common with religionists who do not accept its special sacred books. The New Church will obey this law in the measure that it realizes its divine mission as a new world religion, and especially in the measure that it "takes hold" among Gentile converts to Christianity, and later, among Gentiles in general. This will be done because the New Church will realize that without this shift of emphasis it cannot progress, nor even survive. I already believe that the Writings of Swedenborg are the special means by which the man of the New Church is conjoined with angels of the New Christian Heaven formed since the Last Judgment in 1757.
     History has a way of settling questions. For a number of years, we may recall, the New Church in England was disturbed by the question of separatism versus non-separatism. Men of equal learning, devotion and apparently of equal insight were to be found on both sides of the question. Hindmarsh led the separatists; Clowes the non-separatists. For many years numerous Swedenborgians in England conformed to the Church of England, and held the annual Hawkstone meetings. But history has decided that question once for all, and non-separatist activity has ceased. In the same way, history will decide the question of whether Swedenborgians can be Christians first and Swedenborgians second, by decreeing the eventual extinction of the entire tendency that goes by the name of Convention Liberalism.

     "New Jerusalem Mennonites."

     This subject serves to recall what occurred in Saskatchewan during the Great War.

230


A New Church minister claimed for the members of his flock the exemption from military service that was granted by the Canadian Government to the Mennonites, who had conscientious objections. He declared that he was a "duly ordained and authorized minister of the New Jerusalem Community of the Denomination of Christians called Mennonites." The civil authorities finally took cognizance of the matter, and the court before which the case was tried held that " there was sufficient evidence to establish the fact that the New Jerusalem Church and the Mennonite Church are entirely separate." The minister was fined, and his course was condemned by many of the members of the New Church who had formerly belonged to the Mennonite Church. (See NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1918, pp. 637, 645; 1919, P. 113.)

     THE TREATISE ON COPPER.

     We have received a notice from the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association, stating that the Association, in co-operation with the Swedenborg Society, will shortly publish a translation of Swedenborg's Treatise on Copper (De Cupro), originally published in Latin in 1734 as Volume III of his Opera Philosophica et Mineralia. No translation of this Volume has as yet appeared. The English version, we understand, was made by Mr. Arthur Hodson Searles, and has been in the possession of the Swedenborg Society for some time. Mr. Searles was the compiler of the well-known and valuable Ceneral Index to Swedenborg's Scripture Quotations. He has translated many volumes of the Theological Works, and in this he has exhibited a gift for combining fidelity to the original with a felicitous English style.
     Unfortunately, the present undertaking does not contemplate the publication of the Treatise on Copper in book form, but in bound mimeographed form, in three parts, totalling about 550 pages, and without the numerous plates which are so necessary to an understanding of the text. The publishers "wish to bring the translation before the scientific public and others interested at the lowest possible price," but we could wish that means might be found to place this work before the English reader in a complete and worthy manner.

231




     THE ENGLISH BIBLE.

     A Thanksgiving Day in June.

     The Protestant Reformation, begun by Luther in the year 1517, restored the Word to the people. The first complete English Bible, translated by Miles Coverdale, was published in 1535, during the reign of Henry VIII. Three years later, in 1538, the English Bible was first "placed in the churches," and the 400th anniversary of this event is to be observed in Great Britain during the present year, as thus announced in an English periodical:
     In the spring and summer there will be nation-wide celebrations of the first placing of the English Bible in the churches in 1538. It is also proposed to hold a conference of all the Churches and the various movements within the Churches, attended by representatives from overseas, for a great act of witness.
     JUNE 19 will be observed as Thanksgiving Sunday.

     FIRST OF THE WRITINGS IN ENGLISH.

     It may not be generally known in the New Church that Swedenborg himself published the first English translation of the Theological Works,-Volume II of the Arcana Coelestia. The original Latin edition of Volume I (Genesis, chapters 1-15) was published at London in 1749. The following year, 1750, Swedenborg arranged that Volume II (Genesis 16-21) should be brought out in both Latin and English in six parts-a chapter to a part-to be sold at 8d to 11d a part. The Academy Library has a copy of this volume, and only two others are known to exist. According to Hindmarsh, "the translation was made by Mr. John Merchant, a literary gentleman of good character, at the express desire of the author himself, who remunerated him for his trouble." John Lewis, the printer, wrote a long and most favorable advertisement or prospectus for Volume II, and this is reproduced in full in Hindmarsh's Rise and Progress, pages 2-4. Several persons who had become interested in the contents of Volume I tried to find out the name of the author, but Lewis had been pledged to secrecy, and would not tell. (See also Tafel's Documents, Vol. III, pp. 973, 974.)

232


GLEANINGS FROM NEW CHURCH HISTORY. 1938

GLEANINGS FROM NEW CHURCH HISTORY.       W. H. BENADE       1938

     Wyoming, Ohio.

     In the year 1926, when the place of worship of the Cincinnati Circle of the General Church was transferred to the suburb of Wyoming, the report of the event in our pages stated: "It is a matter of historical interest to note that, many years ago, at Wyoming, Ohio, there was a New Church community with its own church, where regular services were held. Of that original society, however, nothing is left." (NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1926, p. 810.)
     Further particulars concerning this "previous existence" of the New Church in Wyoming have been sent us by Mr. Charles G. Merrell, who found them written in a copy of a book entitled Past and Present of Mill-Creek Valley (Cincinnati, 1882), as follows:
     With Mr. and Mrs. Andrews, in this quiet home, still lives the venerable widow of Wm. E. White. She was born in Hartford City, Conn., March 3, 1791. Her father was an officer in the Revolution. She came to Cincinnati, with her husband, in 1818, in a carriage, all the way from Newark, New Jersey. More than four-score years and ten have passed over her venerable head, and during that time she has lived under all the Presidents of the Republic.
     Mr. and Mrs. White came to Wyoming in 1861, at which time he built this residence. In October, 1870, a meeting was held in this house, upon the invitation of Mr. and Mrs. White, at which the building of a church for "The Wyoming Society of the New Church" was proposed by Mr. White. There were present:

     Mr. and Mrs. R. H. Andrews,
     Mr. and Mrs. S. S. Carpenter,
     Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Leuthstrom,
     Mr. and Mrs. John H. Carter,
     Mr. and Mrs. C. B. Chase,
     Mr. and Mrs. E. H. Cowing,
     Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Edson.

     The enterprise was determined upon, Mr. White and Mr. Andrews being the largest contributors. The church was completed at a cost, including lot, of $5,000, December 9th, 1871. Mr. White was buried from that church just twenty days afterwards. (Pp. 222-223.)

     From accounts in the NEW JERUSALEM MESSENGER (1871-1875) we learn that the Rev. John Goddard officiated at the dedication, "the temple being densely filled with friends and neighbors."

233


For a time the society was unable to secure a pastor. In April, 1872, the Rev. E. C. Mitchell, of Minneapolis, spent eleven days in Wyoming, though not as a candidate for the pastorate. In his report he stated:

     The New Church receivers in this locality were formerly associated as "The Hebron Society of the New Church," of Lockland, an adjoining village. The meetings were held in a school-house. About a year ago, the Hebron Society was disbanded, and the Wyoming Society formed. A neat temple was built, seating about 120 persons. The society, numbering only ten members, then began to look for a minister. . . .
     My visit to Wyoming has confirmed the impression that the people in general are becoming more ready for the doctrines of the New Church. I have never found it difficult or discouraging to attempt the dissemination of the New Church doctrines among the people, but have always met with satisfactory success. The only discouragement has been from the lukewarmness of old receivers, whose early zeal has died out. And yet missionary work is entirely secondary to the cultivation of interior New Church life in those who are already enrolled as believers in the New Church doctrines. (New Jerusalem Messenger, 1872, p. 164.)

     In August, 1872, the Rev. J. P. Stuart accepted pastoral charge of the Wyoming Society, though retaining his office as President and Ordaining Minister of the Missouri Association. In 1875 a parsonage adjoining the Wyoming temple was built. In 1876, Mr. Stuart was succeeded by the Rev. G. Nelson Smith, who also held the views of the Academy, organized that year. Mr. Smith did not remain long, and the society was without a pastor until 1883, when it disappears from the records. Yet there are descendants of the charter members who now attend the meetings of the General Church circle in Wyoming.

     An Appeal by Mr. Benade.

     In the MESSENGER for 1872, on the same page as the above cited report of Mr. Mitchell, we find a communication from the Rev. W. H. Benade in which he pleads for the financial support of Urbana University and urges the vital need for New Church education in these words:

     It is our duty to provide for the instruction of our children and youth, not only in natural science, but also in spiritual science. We need schools,-schools "of all grades,-conducted by New Churchmen on the basis of the heavenly principles of truth revealed by the Lord for the use of the New Church; and not only do we need such schools for our children, but the world also needs them.

234


They are the great missionary agency by which the Church will reach the young gentile minds that surround it. These minds are open and unoccupied fields, waiting to be cultivated and inseminated with the heavenly seed. We cannot neglect our duty in respect to this agency for the dissemination of truth, without neglecting our duty to those who look to the New Church, and out of whom the New Church is to be formed. Here there is an opportunity for missionary work. Let those who believe in this work show their faith by a practical and liberal supply of the means required by those who stand ready to perform it.
     The Urbana University is in able and earnest hands. It has made a fair start, and it promises well. Those who have it in charge have done their part. It remains for the members of the Church to do the rest. If they will, they can, by a liberal endowment, place this school on a permanent basis, and make it a great means, now, and in all coming time, of imparting science and knowledge to many young minds from the standpoint of the Church,-science and knowledge filled with the light of spiritual truth, and lifted out of the merely sensual and natural plane of thought, whereby the young minds who are brought under its informing influence, may themselves be raised out of the sensual sphere of merely material thought, and be prepared to enter more fully into the rational and spiritual truths that shall lead to spiritual and eternal life. What the university needs now is money. Without money the promise of usefulness already given will fail, and the good work already done will have to be done over again.
     There is plenty of money, now in New Church hands, for the endowment of this university and of other schools. Shall not a goodly share of it find its way into this channel? The Lord has given it, and the Divine purpose of the gift is that men may employ it in the performance of good uses-of uses which shall bear good fruit,-heavenly, eternal fruit. Surely it is worth our while to do this thing, and to do it well. We have here the foundation and beginning of a New Church college, in which science and theology-true theology-will not be presented to the minds of the young as antagonistic forms of knowledge, to the production of confusion, doubt, and denial of the truth, but in the beautiful harmony and agreement which exists in the correspondence of all orderly nature to the heavens, and of the heavens to the Lord. Shall this foundation be lost, shall this beginning end, for the want of a little money which we can all give, and in the giving of which we shall be doing no more than our duty? One hundred thousand dollars is a small sum wherewith to do so great a use, but it is a very large sum to waste. We waste as much every year in trifles and in luxuries. Let us stop this waste, and turn the stream into this channel to feed a mill that has been built for the grinding of the grain of natural and spiritual knowledge into fine flour for the nourishment of those whom the Lord has committed to our charge.
     Very truly yours,
          W. H. BENADE.

235


Church News 1938

Church News       Various       1938

     DURBAN, NATAL.

     This year's Christmas activities were somewhat dampened for the children of the society by an outbreak of measles in several homes. The usual Theta Alpha party had to be put off, much to the regret of the children, as it is an occasion to which they all look forward with great enthusiasm.
     As an experiment this year, Mr. Odhner held a service two days before Christmas for the very young children. There were about six or seven present. A Representation of the Lord's Advent was placed upon the outer chancel where the children could easily see it, and the pastor explained what it meant. Although very young, the children definitely derived a sphere, and seemed to enjoy the service very much.
     On Thursday evening, December 23, Mrs. Mansfield led the school children and quite a few of the adults in singing Christmas carols at the various homes. It was raining, but everyone enjoyed it immensely, and they were warmly received at every home they visited.
     The Children's Christmas Service was held on December 24 at 7.00 p.m., and was followed by the Christmas Tableaux. The service on Christmas morning was held at 9.15 o'clock with the largest attendance we have ever had. The service was an exceptionally beautiful one, greatly enriched by the singing of the choir. On Sunday, December 26, the Holy Supper was administered.
     On New Year's Day a service was held in the church. And on January 2d a special Memorial Service was held for Bishop Emeritus N. D. Pendleton. It is with fondest memories that many of the members of the society look back upon his two visits to South Africa, when they had the pleasure of meeting him personally and benefitting by his wisdom, judgment and knowledge. We wish to extend to Mrs. Pendleton and her family our very deep affections. Mr. James Stenhouse and Miss Denise Cockerell were married on January 8, the Rev. Philip N. Odhner officiating. The church was most attractively decorated with huge bunches of pink dahlias and evergreens. The attendants were all in pink taffeta. Mrs. Wm. Schuurman was matron of honor; the Misses Yveline Rogers and Shirley Cockerell were bridesmaids: Naomi Schuurman was flower girl, and David Levine Page boy. During the signing of the register, Mrs. Garth Pemberton sang "A Garden of Roses." Mr. Derek Lumsden was organist. A reception was held at the home of the bride. There were toasts to the bride and groom, and to Mrs. D'Arcy Cockerell, and the happy couple departed for a golfing honeymoon.
     With the advent of the summer vacation the activities of the church were brought to a standstill, and many of the members left Durban for a change of air. The Rev. and Mrs. Odhner spent a fortnight at Kent Manor, Zululand, as guests of Mr. and Mrs. W. N. Ridgway. Swedenborg's 250th Anniversary was celebrated on January 29. The pastor delivered an address on the "Life of Swedenborg," and the Rev. F. W. Elphick gave a paper concerning "Swedenborg's Revelations." Unfortunately many of the people were still on holiday, and the attendance was not what it might have been.
     Mr. and Mrs. Walter G. Lowe returned to Durban on Friday, February 3.

236


Their family and many friends were delighted to welcome them, and to hear the glowing reports of their visits to several of the New Church centers in America. A reception was held in their honor at the home of the Rev. and Mrs. Odhner on Saturday evening.
     Kainon High School resumed its studies on January 31. Four pupils left at the end of the last term, but three new ones have entered the kindergarten,-Barbara Forfar, John Royston, and David Levine.
     The Ladies' morning classes commenced the second week in February, meeting at the home of Mrs. Odhner. He Sons of the Academy have also held two meetings at which there were nominations for offices and address on "Immunization" was delivered by Mr. Robert Mansfield.
     So once again with the new year our society activities are in full swing. May it be as successful, progressive, and as happy a one as the years past have been!
     B. R. F.

     THE HAGUE, HOLLAND.

     There was an attendance of nineteen adults and three children at the service conducted by Dr. Iungerich on February 27. The Lessons were from Luke 14:25-33 and Conjugial Love 41, and these were followed by a beautiful sermon on the need of preparation for heaven, for marriage, and for the Holy Supper. In the afternoon the pastor had long talks on doctrinal subjects with Mr. Rijkee and his friend, Mr. Boonacker, who grows more and more interested in the Writings.
     At our Sunday morning meeting on March 6, Mr. Engeltjes read his translation of a sermon by Bishop de Charms, explaining the Lord's assumption of the human as a means whereby He might be tempted by the hells and glorify His Human by victory over them. The following week Mr. Frances read a paper in which he quoted from the Arcana Coelestia on the subject of "Remains."
     On March 20, Mr. Happee read from the Writings on Purification from Sins, and Mr. Beyerinck confirmed from the Writings that the miracles of the Word actually took place. A friend of Mr. and Mrs. Boonacker was present at these meetings, and also Miss Vincent, a friend of Miss Helderman. Our treasurer, Mr. Engeltjes, has announced the receipt of a gift from one of our members to begin the formation of a library.
     LAMBERTINE FRANCIS.

     AKRON, OHIO.

     The General Church group in Northern Ohio were honored by a visit of forty-five members of the Sons of the Academy who came to Akron for a meeting of the Executive Committee of that body, March 25-27. There were representatives from Bryn Athyn, Glenview, Pittsburgh, Saginaw and Detroit. Unfortunately our friends in Toronto and Kitchener found it impossible to attend.
     The festivities began on Friday evening with the greetings of long-parted friends, and lasted far into Saturday morning. A business meeting was held on Saturday at 10 a.m., and was followed by a luncheon at which excellent food for both body and mind were served under the able direction of our toastmaster, Mr. Arthur J. Wiedinger. The speeches were unique in the fact that none of them had been prepared; everything uttered was spontaneous,-a departure from the usual that had very satisfactory results.
     In the afternoon, after a continuation of the morning business meeting, we adjourned to Mr. Weidinger's home for a social good time, and from there the parade led to the home of Mr. Edwin F. Asplundh for supper and further enjoyment. This supper was the equivalent of an old-time Academy gathering, and nothing was lacking in refreshment and song. Then we returned to the discussions of the day, concluding with a settlement of the questions at hand and a final outburst of song.

237


A detailed report of the sessions will appear in the next issue of The Bulletin.
     The meetings were climaxed on Sunday morning with an appropriate service conducted by the Rev. Willard D. Pendleton. There was a record attendance of 58 persons, including our members from Akron, Cleveland and Youngstown, and the visiting friends from other centers. Then farewells were in order, and everyone left with the hope that such a meeting might soon be repeated. We feel that this gathering was the beginning of a new era of the Church in Northern Ohio, and we trust that we may be granted the opportunity to repeat.
     J. E. L.

     DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

     The first of the 1938 series of meetings of the Michigan-Ontario (International) Group occurred on Saturday and Sunday, March 5 and 6. On his way from Kitchener, our pastor, Rev. Norman Reuter, visited our Canadian members, Mr. and Mrs. Harold Bellinger, at Riverside, Ont., where he gave instruction to the children and in the evening conducted a doctrinal class, at which Mr. and Mrs. George Bellinger were also present.
     Crossing the river next day, Mr. Reuter devoted the afternoon to assembling the children for their class at the Fred Steen home, and here in the evening ten of our members gathered to hear a talk by Mr. Reuter on the World of Spirits, involving an exposition of the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus.
     At the service on March 6 there was an encouraging attendance of 40, including 13 children and two visitors,-Mrs. Hugo Odhner, who was guest at the Childs' home, and Miss Lucinda Bellinger of Kitchener.
     A very pleasing feature of this service was the Rite of Confirmation for Mr. Arthur William French, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harold French of Pontiac, Michigan. Arthur has been a regular attendant at our services for several years, and it was with much happiness that we witnessed the impressive ceremony.
     The subject of the sermon was "Worship," from the text, "O, come let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our maker." The Holy Supper was administered to 24 communicants.
     After a basket lunch, a business meeting was held, and reports were received from the three treasurers referred to in a previous news-letter. The question of increasing the number of our meetings was considered. More frequent pastoral visits were seen to be very desirable, but not feasible at this time. Group get-togethers between pastoral visits, at which sermons or doctrinal class material might be read and discussed, were suggested. Mr. Geoffrey Childs suggested a home-reading course, to be directed by the pastor, which plan will be taken up for consideration at our next regular meeting. In the meantime we are arranging to meet informally at the home of one of our members, to commence the reading of Bishop de Charms' lectures on the "Doctrine of Reflection."
     These matters occupied so much of the time that Mr. Reuter was unable to give us the complete lecture he had prepared on the subject, "What is involved in the confession of faith?" He took up briefly the questions of membership in the General Church, and the support of the various uses of the Church and of the Academy.
     W. W. W.

     GLENVIEW, ILL.

     Seven members of the Glenview Chapter of the Sons of the Academy attended the Executive Committee meetings at Akron, Ohio, March 25-27, and returned full of enthusiasm, and we are looking forward to the Annual Meeting of the Sons, to be held at Glenview in June.
     The Rev. and Mrs. Gilbert H. Smith, with three teachers of our school, journeyed by car to attend the Annual Council Meetings, held in Bryn Athyn, March 28-April 2, the school being closed for the period of their absence.

238


Such a visit to the center is always a delight and an inspiration to those who live in distant communities. An account of the Council Meetings was given by the pastor after the Friday supper on April 8. On their return journey, the party had a very enjoyable visit in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Tyrrell at Bourbon, Indiana. Two hours were spent in conversation on church affairs. General Church members passing through Bourbon may be sure of a royal welcome at this hospitable home.
     At the Annual Meeting of the Immanuel Church on April 8, Mr. E. Crebert Burnham and Mr. George S. Alan were reelected Trustees; and Mr. Henry S. Maynard was unanimously chosen to continue as Recording Secretary. Our very efficient Treasurer, Mr. George K. Fiske, reported a satisfactory condition of the fiscal affairs of the society, due to increased subscriptions and prompt payments. Three of our young men help materially by calling upon the subscribers each week.
     The society has recently gained four new members: Mr. and Mrs. Oswald Asplundh and Miss Orida Olds, from Bryn Athyn, and Mrs. Martha Shroeder Carlson, of Evanston, Ill. Our total membership is now 141.
     J. B. S.

     WASHINGTON, D. C.

     On Friday, April 8, the Rev. Karl R. Alden addressed the Men's Club of the Washington Society of the General Convention, speaking on the subject of Swedenborg's Preparation for his Work as Revelator. The text of the Address appears in the current issue of The New Philosophy. (January-April, 1938.) The Club had invited the laymen of the Washington Society of the General Church, and three were present.
     In an extemporaneous introduction to his paper, Mr. Alden acknowledged his debt to Dr. Alfred Acton, whose weekly class on the Life of Swedenborg he had attended for the past seven years. He told of the great amount of research work that was begun by Mr. Alfred Stroh and continued by Dr. Acton, and also by Mrs. Sigrid Odhner Sigstedt, who, before her marriage, had spent several years in Sweden copying and translating Swedish records, including those Minutes of the Swedish Board of Mines which had any bearing upon Swedenborg. These records, he stated, are preserved in the Library of the Academy of the New Church for the use of students, and Dr. Acton's biographical coordination of them now comprises two thousand typewritten pages.
     At the conclusion of the Address, Dr. Stern, president of the Club, opened the meeting for discussion, and several members asked questions which were ably answered by Mr. Alden. The meeting then took an unexpected turn, when Mr. Alden was asked why, in view of the intrinsic worth and interest of the Writings, the New Church grows so slowly. This brought up the subject of missionary work, and Mr. Alden gave a vivid and amusing account of a missionary tour through eastern Pennsylvania which he and the Rev. Theodore Pitcairn undertook when they were theological students, being equipped with a good supply of volumes of the Writings and New Church tracts, a Hudson touring car, a violin, and a bass drum. He then compared the results of this trip with those of the educational work of the Academy, showing that the latter had been far more fruitful.     
     The meeting then turned in still another direction when a younger member of the Club, who had visited Bryn Athyn to see the cathedral, asked Mr. Alden to explain the difference between the Academy and the General Convention. As a guest, Mr. Alden hesitated to answer forthwith a question involving so much controversy, but the pastor of the Washington Society, the Rev. Paul Sperry, nodded his approval, and Dr. Stern said that Mr. Alden had the floor.

239


So he explained the difference in a fair and straightforward way that merited the highest praise.
     Such a brief report as this cannot do justice to a meeting that lasted nearly two hours and a half. For your reporter to witness a meeting where the men of the General Convention and the General Church came together and discussed their differences in a spirit of mutual charity was one of the most thrilling experiences in all the thirty-four years that he has been a member of the New Church.
     R. T.

     TORONTO, CANADA.

     While March has been comparatively uneventful, as far as social activities in the Olivet Society are concerned, the regular meetings of the various organizations have been held. The Forward-Sons have dined, "speechified," and enjoyed recreation. The Ladies' Circle has held monthly meetings at the individual ladies' homes, where the pastor has opened each meeting with a paper on a subject of direct interest. The Theta Alpha Chapter has also met regularly, and since Christmas has been studying, though not intensively, Dr. Acton's Introduction to the Study of the Hebrew Word, under the guidance of Mr. Gyllenhaal.
     On March 20, a literary evening was held at the church through the kindness of Mr. and Mrs. Alec Sargeant, when a friend of theirs, Mr. Hayden, gave several very pleasurable readings, and Miss Penelope Anne Sargeant played piano selections during the intermission. Tea was served, and a silver collection was contributed to the local Theta Alpha Scholarship Fund.
     Visitors from Hamilton, Kitchener and Montreal have recently attended our services; From the last-named city came Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Zorn, whose infant daughter, Joyce Elizabeth, was baptized during their brief visit.
     The Rev. and Mrs. F. E. Gyllenhaal, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Wilson, and Miss Doris Raymond attended the Annual Council Meetings in Bryn Athyn, and we were given an interesting account of the proceedings in place of the doctrinal class on Wednesday evening, April 6.
     M. S. P.

     THE BISHOP'S FOREIGN JOURNEY.

     During the coming Summer, Bishop de Charms will pay episcopal visits to centers of the General Church in South Africa and Australia. Sailing about July 1st, he expects to be absent four months, returning to America on November 1st.
     He will preside at a South African District Assembly in Durban, and also at an Assembly of the South African Native Mission. After a stay of several weeks in South Africa, he will sail for Sydney, Australia, to visit the Society at Hurstville, and return to America by the Pacific route.

     A VISIT TO ENGLAND.

     The Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal has been granted a two months' leave of absence by the Olivet Church, Toronto, and will visit England during July and August. He will preside at the British Assembly, to be held in London, July 30-August 1, 1938, as Representative of the Bishop.

     MINISTERIAL CHANGES.

     The Rev. Norman H. Reuter, Assistant to the Pastor of Carmel Church, Kitchener, has accepted an appointment as the Visiting Pastor of the General Church. Next September he will return to Wyoming, Ohio, as resident pastor of the circle there, and pay periodical visits to the General Church centers in the Middle West and the South.
     Candidate Norbert H. Rogers has accepted an appointment as Assistant to the Pastor of Carmel Church, Kitchener, for the coming year, and will enter upon his duties there in September.

240


ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH 1938

ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH       EDWARD F. ALLEN       1938




     Announcements.



     The Annual Joint Meeting of the Corporation and Faculty of the Academy of the New Church will be held in the chapel of Benade Hall, Bryn Athyn, Pa., on Saturday, June 11, 1938, at 8.00 p.m. The public is cordially invited to attend this meeting.
     EDWARD F. ALLEN,
          Secretary.

241


DIVINE ATTRACTION 1938

DIVINE ATTRACTION       Rev. W. L. GLADISH       1938


NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. LVIII          JUNE, 1938           No. 6
     "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself." (John 12:32.)

     We are told in the Heavenly Doctrine that "there is actually a sphere elevating all to heaven which continually proceeds from the Lord and infills the universal spiritual world and the universal natural world; it is like a strong current in the ocean which in a hidden way draws a ship. All who believe in the Lord and live according to His precepts enter that sphere or current, and are elevated; but they who do not believe are unwilling to enter it, but remove themselves to the sides, and are there carried away by a stream that tends toward hell." (T. C. R. 652.)
     There are thus two centers of attraction,-the earth under our feet, and the Lord in heaven, in the spiritual sun, above. One is the center of nature, of matter, of death; the other, the center of life, of that which is immortal, of the soul. The earth draws to itself the material, the physical, the body, and all that is of the body; but the Lord draws to Himself all that is of the spirit, or the mind, all of good and truth, which, especially when conjoined, are like wings, lifting man up into heaven, enabling him to respond to the spiritual current; while evil and falsity, especially when conjoined, are like leaden weights that drag man down to the earth, as was said of Pharaoh and his hosts, "The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone. Thou didst blow with Thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters." (Exodus 15:5, 10.)

242



     As long as man lives in the natural world, there are these two attractions, pulling him as to the body downwards, as to the soul upward. He who believes in the Lord, and loves to walk in His precepts, casts off the weights of the material, and is raised after death to heaven. But he who does not believe in the Lord, and is unwilling to respond to the upward current, is dragged down toward hell as by weights of lead and stone.
     The physical body is of dead matter. It cannot permanently receive and respond to the spiritual attraction. So in the end it falls back to the earth from whence it was taken. But the spirit of a man who believes in the Lord and responds to His love can take with it the finest things of nature, and all the truths and goods of life,-all that has been touched and made to live by the Lord's own Spirit.
     "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all unto myself." After the Lord's resurrection, the Divine sphere of attraction was to go forth from His glorified Human to save and uplift men. Yet this Divine sphere was not then first established. From eternity the Divine Love, which had for its end a heaven of angels from the human race, would not only go forth into creation, but would flow back, binding creation to Itself. And the same Divine Love which impelled the Lord to create would continually operate to draw its children into His bosom, that He might evermore increase His blessings of life, of love, of wisdom. Therefore, from the beginning there was a sphere from the Creator which flowed out into His creation and back again. This produced an actual current in the first, the highest, atmosphere of the universe, which, going forth from God into nature, flowed back again to Him, drawing all things spiritual to Himself.
     Nature responded to its current, and produced the vegetable kingdom, rising up out of the earth, striving upward; also the animal kingdom, and finally man, with a living soul, capable of receiving and responding to the Lord's own Love and Wisdom, able to choose good and refuse evil, to choose life and reject death, to choose the wisdom which comes from on high, and reject the pseudo-wisdom which comes from the darkness of mere science. And the first men responded to this attraction, fixed their eyes upon the Sun of heaven, and walked in its light, as well as in the light of the sun of nature.

243


The result was the Golden Age, when men, while yet on earth, lived as angels, and angels walked and talked with men. Leaving the body at death, the man of that Age passed from an earthly to a heavenly paradise, hardly noting the difference. Because sin was unknown, pain, sickness, disease and suffering were unknown.
     But that freedom of choice which is the first gift of God to man, which is the likeness of God in man, carried with it the ability to turn to the earth instead of heaven, to choose nature instead of God, to accept as true the appearance that man's life is his own to do with as he chooses, to trust the senses and their testimony as wisdom, and reject the teachings of religion as superstition. And this men did, not all at once, but gradually, with an ever-increasing ratio as the pull of the earth became stronger with them, while the attraction of heaven became weaker, because it found ever fewer remains of good and truth in man to receive it and respond to it. This, the Lord had foreseen, and turned it to good, as He always turns evil to good. God is never the origin or the cause of evil. Yet He permits evil so far as He can turn it to good. "He maketh the wrath of man to praise Him, and the remainder of wrath He restrains." Somewhere, in His great universe, the Lord was to permit the men of some earth to exercise their freedom of choice to the full, that they might sink to a depth of sin and misery beyond which it is impossible to go and be redeemed, to the end that they themselves, and through them the men on all earths, might know the dreadful results of sin, and also that all men in all earths might partake of the benefits of their redemption and salvation.
     For the very apostasy of man at length made it possible and necessary for the Lord Himself to come as a Man into the finite realm, which He had created beneath; Himself and outside of Himself,-to come into that realm by virgin birth, to subject Himself as the Son of man to all the laws of order from Himself in nature, to grow in wisdom and in stature as a man, subject to all man's temptations, that He might be tempted as we are, yet without sin, and that He might conquer the hells, and, rising triumphant over death and hell, might, as Divine Man, bring life and immortality to all who could receive the blessings of His victory. For He had said: "And I when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all unto myself."
     The Lord had made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem as her King, and certain Greeks, who had come to the Passover, went to Philip, saying, "Sir, we would see Jesus."

244


Philip and Andrew then told Jesus, and He answered them, saying, "The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified." The Lord knew that the Jews would reject Him, and that His church must be established with the gentiles,-the Greeks and Europeans. So when these Greeks came desiring to see Him, it was as though, here at hand, were the first fruits from gentile lands. Here were men who could hear and respond to His words, men who could feel and respond to the attraction of the spirit. The Jews, except for a small remnant among them, could not. Therefore He spoke at once of His glorification, and immediately afterward of His death. For the two are inseparably connected. The body must die, if the soul is to rise to life eternal; the desires and pleasures of the body must die, that the joys and delights of the spirit may be realized. The body from the mother was to be rejected, that the Lord might rise into the glory He had with the Father before the world was. Therefore He said: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal."
     He who chooses the spiritual life must hate the merely natural pleasures of the body, so far as they hold him back from serving the Lord and the neighbor. The man who so hates the life of the world subordinates it to the life of the spirit, so that he puts a new spirit within it. Instead of making his spiritual life natural and dead, he makes his natural life spiritual and living. Thus he keeps all that is good in it, even the pleasures of the body, unto life eternal. For the life which leads to heaven is not a dry or austere life, but a joyful and happy life,-happier a thousand times than the life which leads to hell. It is only necessary that a man shall act sincerely and justly in all things because it is commanded by the Lord. "If any man serve me, let him follow me, and where I am, there also shall my servant be."
     But then came the Lord's cry: "Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify Thy name." So long as He was in the world, the Lord had a dual consciousness, as every man has,-a consciousness born of the spirit, and a consciousness born of the body.

245


The body is subject to death, must die, that the spirit may rise into its world of light. There is a conflict. Which shall prevail! The body, with its weights and its darkness, or the spirit! They cannot both prevail. "What shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto this hour." (No, I will say,) "Father glorify Thy name." And there came an answering voice from heaven, "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again."
     This audible voice came, not for the Lord's sake, but for the sake of men and angels, of those whom He came to redeem. It was a testimony to both Jews and Greeks that the Lord was the Christ, the Son of the living God. Some heard it as a voice from heaven, others only as thunder: but to all it was a testimony from on high of the Lord and His mission. And therefore the Lord immediately said, "Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out."
     The prince of this world is the ruling love of the world,-the love that rules the body, the love of self and the world. The Lord was battling, not for Himself, but for mankind. His ruling love was the love of men. This love was the Father which dwelt within Him, and from which He did all His works. He admitted the hells to inflow into His human with all their force and power. He as it were lent a sympathetic ear to all their arts and pleadings. He admitted temptations from all the hells, that in His victory He might triumph over all falsity and all evil to which any man can be tempted.
     We cannot know what form this conflict took with Him, but possibly it was the suggestion to the infirm human that it would be better to yield to the Jews, to accept an earthly throne, where He might reign in the flesh to eternity, thus as it were compelling all men to render homage unto Him. But, having examined all that the combined hosts of the infernals could offer, He saw its fallacy in Divine light. He announced a judgment. He separated heaven from hell, and established a great gulf between the two. From the time of the Fall, infernal spirits had labored to destroy that gulf, to obscure it, to make it invisible to man's eyes, to persuade man that there is but one life, one love, one joy,-that all must center in self, in power, in rule, in abundance of possessions, in long life, in health, in pleasures.

246


But the Lord brought another life, another love, to view,-a love of giving instead of receiving, of serving instead of ruling, of loving others instead of loving self.
     These loves are not of the body, but of the spirit. They are opposed to the loves of the body. They come from above. They involve the conquest of the spirit over the body, and finally the death of the body and all its joys. "Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all unto myself. This He said, signifying what death He should die."
     The Lord's way was Divinely clear before Him. His choice was made. There was no hesitation with Him. "For this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify Thy name." It was written in the Scriptures, in the eternal Law of God, that He could glorify His name, that is, His Human, only by the gate of death, only by the cross. For only by such a death could He testify to savage man the nature of the Divine love for man and his salvation. But He saw that, if He were lifted up from the earth, He would draw to Himself all who would believe on Him. By the conquest of hell, and by the glorification of His Human, He brought gifts to all men, yea, to the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them. He saves all, some to heaven, some only to milder evils. But all, even those in the hells, feel the effects of His redemption and salvation. And these effects, in heaven, on earth, and over the hells, will be felt in an ever-increasing measure as the years unfold. "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all unto myself." Amen.

     LESSONS: Habakkuk 3. John 12:2-36. T. C. R. 650-652.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 565, 532, 564.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 93, 96.

247


HOLY CITY 1938

HOLY CITY       Rev. PHILIP N. ODHNER       1938

     A TALK TO CHILDREN.

     We are told by the Lord that, when a man dies and goes to heaven, it is as if he had gone from the country to a great city. This world in which we live has so few people in it, compared to the number of angels in heaven, and the way in which we live here is so slow, and the things we can do for other people are so few, that it is as if we lived way off from everybody; and when we die and go to heaven, it is as if we suddenly moved to a great city.
     In heaven are all the good people that have ever lived, not only on this earth, but on all the other earths, too. And in heaven, when one person needs to see other persons, he can see them right away, just by thinking about them. Nowadays we can journey much faster than men could before we had automobiles and airplanes, and we can talk with people by telephone and radio; but in heaven they can be with people instantly, provided they need to be with them. In heaven, also, every one is working for everyone else; and because they have so many people, and can communicate with as many as they wish, they can do much more good for people than is possible here.
     In this world, when men want to see each other quickly, and do business together, and work together, they have to live close to each other, and for this reason they make great cities, where many live together. We sometimes think of a city as a place where we would not like to live, because some cities are dirty and overcrowded; but the reason they are dirty is because so much work is done in them; and the reason they are overcrowded is because so many people want to live in them. Really a city is a wonderful place, where men do all kinds of good to each other. And in heaven cities are even more wonderful, because they are all built by the Lord, and are far more beautiful than they can possibly be here.

248



     For all these reasons, when the Lord showed John what the New Church was like in heaven, He showed him a wonderful city, called the New Jerusalem. We are told that an angel took John up into a high mountain, and showed him the Holy City, New Jerusalem, descending from God out of heaven. That city seen in heaven was a picture of the Lord's New Church, and the reason the New Church appeared that way in heaven was because in the New Church the Lord tells men the best possible way to live and do good works to other people. And because a city is the best place in which men can do good to others in the world, for that reason the New Church which the Lord is now establishing was seen by the angels and by John as a city.
     A church is where men love the Lord and worship Him, and where they love the neighbor and do good to the neighbor. With the very first men the Lord created He made a church. That was the Most Ancient Church of the Golden Age. And in the Word it is said that the people of that Church lived in a paradise,-in the Garden of Eden. Those people were very, very good, and loved the Lord very much. But they were also very few in number, and lived off by themselves in their families. And although they loved the Lord and the neighbor very much, they could not do much good to the neighbor, because they lived off by themselves and did not meet many other people. For this reason their church is described as a paradise, a garden, in which very few people lived. But because the love of the Lord is so great, He always wished for a church in which men could do greater and greater uses for each other, so that they could have more and more of His blessings. And after long ages the Lord finally was able to make that Church, which is the Church of the New Jerusalem. And that Church, which is called the Crown of the Churches, was first formed in heaven, where there were many, many angels, and where the Lord had taught them how to live, so that they could do the greatest possible good to each other. This was the Church which John saw as the Holy City descending from God out of heaven. And he also saw it as a bride adorned for her Husband, who is the Lord. John saw the New Church as a bride, because this was the Church which the Lord loves above everything else, as a bridegroom loves his bride.

249



     But when John saw the New Church as a city, this is the way it appeared. It had a great wall to protect it from all evil; and this great wall of the New Church is the Word of the Lord as we have it here in this world. And it had twelve gates, three on each side of it; and each gate was carved of one huge pearl. We have no pearls as big as that in this world, but in heaven all precious stones are made by the Lord, and they are given to the angels and to men if they are in the truths of the New Church. A gate is a doorway or entrance, and the way into the church is through the truths that we learn from the Word. These truths about the Lord and heaven, and about the church, appear like gates of pearl in the spiritual world, if men love them and live according to the Lord's commandments. Everything we learn from the Lord's Word is a pearl of great price, if we live according to what we learn.
     And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and these foundations were covered with twelve kinds of precious stones. And these precious stones were in the foundation of the city, because when good people read the Word of the Lord, and understand and live according to its truths, then in the spiritual world these beautiful stones are seen. And because the New Church cannot be with men unless they understand the Word of the Lord and live according to it, those stones were seen as the foundations of the Holy City.
     The streets of the City were pure gold, because love to the Lord is seen in the spiritual world as pure gold. And a great light shone out of the City, because where the Word is in the spiritual world, there the Lord is; and where the Lord is, there is the greatest light.
     This City was seen in heaven, descending to the earth. And the New Church descends now into the world wherever men have the Word and read it in the light of heaven, and live according to what they learn from it.

     LESSONS: Revelation 21:10-21.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 532, 565. Hymnal, pages 194 (118), 199 (128).
NEW CHURCH SERMONS 1938

NEW CHURCH SERMONS              1938

     A pamphlet published monthly, from October to June inclusive, by the General Church of the New Jerusalem. Contents: Sermons and other material suitable for individual reading, family worship, and missionary purposes, reprinted from New Church Life. Sent free of charge on application to Mr. H. Hyatt, Treasurer, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

250


ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS 1938

ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS       WILLIAM WHITEHEAD       1938

     BRYN ATHYN, PA., MARCH 28 TO APRIL 2, 1938.

     COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY.

     The Forty-first Annual Meeting of the Council of the Clergy was held in the Council Hall of the Bryn Athyn Cathedral-Church, March 29 to April 1, 1938, Bishop George de Charms presiding. Besides the Bishop of the General Church and Bishop Alfred Acton, there were present sixteen members of the pastoral degree, one member of the first degree, and two candidates, as follows: The Revs. Elmo C. Acton, Karl R. Alden, William B. Caldwell, L. W. T. David, Charles E. Doering, Alan Gill, Willis L. Gladish, Frederick E. Gyllenhaal, Thomas S. Harris, Hugo Lj. Odhner, Willard D. Pendleton, Norman H. Reuter, Gilbert H. Smith, Homer Synnestvedt, Fred F,. Waelchli, Wm. Whitehead, Raymond G. Cranch; and Messrs. Morley Rich and Norbert Rogers (a total attendance of twenty-one).
     After the customary meeting of the Bishop's Consistory on Monday, March 28, the Council held four regular morning sessions; one public session; three joint afternoon sessions with the members of the Faculty of the Academy Schools; and two joint sessions with the Executive Committee. (See Minutes of the Joint Council elsewhere in this issue.)
     At the morning sessions, reports from the officers of the Church were presented and considered or referred to the Joint Council.
     Among the numerous matters taken up, papers were presented and discussed as follows:
     "The Spiritual Sun," by Pastor Willard D. Pendleton.
     "Spiritual Influx," by Pastor Thomas S. Harris.
     "Is Democracy a Government of Hell!" by Pastor Homer Synnestvedt.
     These treatments and their ensuing discussions were exceedingly profitable; the diversities of view agreeing in a sphere of mutual regard for the welfare and enrichment of the life of the Church.

251



     After several years of curtailment of opportunity to discuss the practical problems of pastoral work, it is gratifying to be able to record that in these meetings a beginning was made towards catching up with some of the "arrears."
     Necessary or proposed changes in the forthcoming revised Liturgy also received considerable attention. Discussion on the Office of Baptism resulted in the Council's favoring the introduction of a more ultimate acknowledgment, by candidates for baptism, of the Lord in His Second Coming. This was referred to the Consistory for final choice of satisfactory wording, if this could be found before the new Liturgy is published.
     The Council also considered the grave responsibilities of ministers in protecting the distinctive uses of our schools and societies.
     Resolutions of appreciation were passed regarding the lasting work performed by the late Bishop N. Dandridge Pendleton and the late Rev. Reginald W. Brown.
     On Wednesday evening, March 30, before a large and appreciative audience in the Assembly Hall, the Rev. Norman H. Reuter read a paper on "Appearances." As this Annual Address to the "Open Session" of the Council is to be published in NEW CHURCH LIFE, we will content ourselves with the note that, as a clear and brilliant exposition of a doctrinal topic which has caused much perplexity in recent years, it aroused affirmative discussion by a number of members of the audience until a late hour.

     The Joint Meetings with the members of the Faculties of our various schools were held on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons, March 29 to 31, in the Council Hall. The average attendance at these meetings was between 60 and 70.
     On Tuesday afternoon, with Bishop George de Charms in the chair, Professor Wm. Whitehead read a paper on "Teaching the History of Most Ancient Man,"-an effort towards indicating the best modes of approach to this most difficult problem. We understand this paper is to appear in the pages of NEW CHURCH LIFE at some convenient time.

252



     On Wednesday afternoon, with Bishop Acton in the chair, Miss Dorothy Burnham presented an interesting paper on "The English Course in the Third Year of the Seminary." Considerable comment followed the reading of this charming and original presentation.
     On Thursday afternoon, with Dr. Charles E. Doering in the chair, Mr. Stanley F. Ebert delivered an address on "The Problem of Vocational Guidance in our Secondary Schools." His valuable research into the records of Academy ex-students, and balanced recommendations for the practical handling of this problem, won the warm approval of those who discussed it.
     It was generally agreed that the sphere and usefulness of these educational meetings reached a high level this year.
     A special "Conference of Elementary School Teachers" was held on Friday afternoon, for the special consideration of the problems of General Church school teachers. Principal Otho W. Heilman presided.

     During the week, the ministers also met informally at various luncheon and dinner parties, matters of the Church invariably coming in for more or less serious consideration. One of the most notable of these occasions was a supper at the home of Dr. Charles E. Doering, at which all the ministers were present, and a lengthy discussion of an important policy of the Church continued to a late hour. With Bishop Acton as toastmaster, however, the event was one of pleasure as well as profit. The traditional Academy sense of humor was "among those present."
     We understand that a brief account of the highly successful Philadelphia District Assembly Banquet wilt appear in the Church News Department of NEW CHURCH LIFE.
     WILLIAM WHITEHEAD,
          Secretary.

253


JOINT COUNCIL 1938

JOINT COUNCIL       HUGO LJ. ODHNER       1938

     Forty-fourth Annual Meeting of the Council of the Clergy and the Executive Committee.

     BRYN ATHYN, PA., APRIL 2, 1938.

     1. The meeting was opened at 10 a.m. by Bishop de Charms with prayer and reading.
     2. The following gentlemen attended:

     The Right Reverend George de Charms (presiding), the Right Reverend Alfred Acton, the Rev. Messrs. Elmo C. Acton, K. R. Alden, W. B. Caldwell, L. W. T. David, C. E. Doering, Alan Gill, W. L. Gladish, F. E. Gyllenhaal, H. L. Odhner (Secretary), W. D. Pendleton, N. H. Reuter, G. H. Smith, Homer Synnestvedt, F. E. Waelchli, W. Whitehead, R. G. Cranch; and Messrs. K. C. Acton, E. C. Bostock, R. W. Childs, E. H. Davis, Walter Horigan, H. Hyatt, C. G. Merrell, Philip C. Pendleton, Harold F. Pitcairn, Raymond Pitcairn, Paul Synnestvedt, and Frank Wilson.

     3. The Minutes of the Forty-third Annual Meeting, held on April 3, 1937, were adopted without reading, as printed in NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1938, pages 220-230, and as corrected on page 311.
     4. The Report of the Secretary of the COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY was read and approved. (See Annual Reports.)
     5. The Report of the SECRETARY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH was read and approved. (See Annual Reports.)
     6. The TREASURER OF THE GENERAL CHURCH, Mr. Hubert Hyatt, submitted his annual Report, already distributed to members of the Church. He appealed to the clergy to encourage the policy, now fifteen years old, of increasing the number of financial supporters. He stated that we are supported today by practically the same group of contributors as fifteen years ago.
     Discussion brought out that the members of the Executive Committee, by personal contacts, could help to increase the sense of financial responsibility among the members, and that the Pastors could lay the basis by instructing the young people, especially, as to the true relation of societies to the General Church. All members should be contributing members.

254


The Treasurer declined the suggestion that he visit the societies to stimulate thought on the subject. It was suggested that the NEW CHURCH LIFE subscription list should be built up, since it was practically identical with the list of our contributors.
     7. After further ventilation, the matter, on motion, was referred to the Executive Committee; and the Treasurer's Report was unanimously adopted.
     8. The Report of the EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE was read by its Secretary, Mr. Edward H. Davis, and unanimously adopted. (See Annual Reports.)
     9. A motion, passed by the Executive Committee, was read to show the attitude of that Committee towards the proposal of a new body of the New Church to adopt as its corporate name "The Lord's New Church the New Jerusalem."
     10. A verbal Report was given by the Editor of the NEW CHURCH LIFE and NEW CHURCH SERMONS.
     The size of the monthly issue has been increased to forty-eight pages, and a small fund is now available to provide for occasional pictures. The present format is a standard size, dignified and economical. Reduction in the amount of news would be unwise, for personal and historical reasons, but the standard of some of the news notes might be raised in quality; the Pastors could aid in this. The editorial policy in respect to the Hague position is similar to our policy in respect to other bodies of the Church. Comments will be made upon what is published in other New Church journals.

     The discussion reflected a variety of opinions about the type of News which would best suit the Life. It was shown that, without sacrificing durable paper, pictures, etc., the price of the Life could not be reduced. At present there are 482 paid subscribers, and as our Church embraces many foreign-speaking members, it would not be reasonable to expect more than 200 additional subscribers at best. Each month, 25 sample copies are sent out, 17 exchanges, and 46 free copies to ministers.
     A proposal for a central bureau for mimeographing valuable papers and studies, for the use of libraries in societies and groups, brought out the suggestion that this idea be carried out in conjunction with the present "Parent-Teacher Journal of the New Church," for which 200 subscribers have been found. But the difficulty was recognized, that the zeal for such voluntary labor as this would involve is hard to maintain for any longer period.

255



     The need for a complete Index of the New Church Life, to make its rich material more accessible to students and other readers, was emphasized by several speakers, who felt that this was needed to make for continuity in our doctrinal understanding, and to lend momentum to our traditional principles.
     The value of the Life was referred to, and the need of subsidizing it more fully to feed the Church. Without such subsidy, the Life could not be ordered at a lower price per copy.

     11. On motion, the Editor's Report was unanimously accepted.
     12. It was resolved, that the Bishop appoint a committee to inquire into the publishing costs of the LIFE.
     13. Mr. Hyatt summarized and explained the Report of the ORPHANAGE COMMITTEE, submitted by Mr. H. C. Walter, Treasurer. (See Annual Reports.)
     14. The Bishop placed before the meeting the question, How should the Orphanage Fund be administered?
     Up to the death of Mr. Walter C. Childs, the Orphanage Fund had reported directly to the Joint Council. Since then, the Committee had been reorganized, and this body placed the Fund in the hands of the Executive Committee. And an ad interim committee was formed, charged merely with the duty of adjusting present commitments, but without power to make any new commitments. A reorganization of some kind seems now necessary. On the one hand, a small endowment fund is held in trust by the General Church, for which we are responsible. On the other hand, the central committee has no adequate means for gathering the information needed for the administration of the fund in other districts. The tendency to over-centralization was also to be deprecated.
     The alternatives seemed to be: 1. That local committees in various societies undertake to marshal local assistance for the orphanage needs of their districts, and, if necessary, apply for additional help to the central Orphanage Committee, which would in turn leave administration to local authorities. 2. That a representative of the General Church Orphanage Committee be appointed for each district, to supply necessary information to the central committee.
     As the matter was one that had to do with practical illustration, and did not involve any episcopal policy, the phase that concerned the Bishop was that the use itself be carried out wisely and with fuller information.
     Mr. Hyatt spoke to the first of these alternatives, and favored that the major societies-he instanced Bryn Athyn-should attempt to take care of their own cases, if possible.

256



     15. The meeting adjourned until 3:30 p.m.

     Afternoon Session.

     16. At 3:30 p.m., the discussion of the Orphanage was resumed.

     Mr. Philip C. Pendleton spoke of the fact that governmental agencies are now taking over the relief of extreme poverty. He felt that our trust fund should be called upon only to supplement such governmental aid, which we, as tax-payers, could call for without embarrassment; and suggested that the fund be devoted especially to the orphans and widows of New Church ministers, especially those not identified with any definite society. Societies should feel responsible for their own orphans and widows, but responsible individuals ought to be selected to help them receive civic aid.
     Dr. Odhner referred to the original purpose of the Orphanage Fund-as a means of church-extension by keeping our orphans within the sphere of New Church education. The pittance given by the State or County, e.g., the Mothers' Assistance Fund, is utterly inadequate to provide a home such as is the necessary background for our New Church education. No use in the Church meets a warmer response than the Orphanage. He would regret it if this use, with its appeal to the charity of the children of each home, should be allowed to sink into desuetude. The original Committee-Mr. W. C. Childs, Dr. Acton, and Mr. Sellner-had regarded their duties as more than financial. The orphans were regarded as children of the Church, needing a friendly contact and fatherly guidance.
     Rev. N. H. Reuter expressed some doubt whether the General Church had a right to establish economic relations toward its members.
     Bishop Acton stressed that, in the establishment of the Orphanage some sixty years ago, the impelling idea was solely that of New Church education. This idea engendered considerable enthusiasm, and later some considerable endowments were given.
     As to State aid, it was often found that the County had a theoretical Mothers' Assistance Fund, but that it was virtually depleted. Societies should, wherever possible, take responsibility where local aid was needed. He had one case in mind.
     Lately, the Orphanage of the General Conference had marked its fiftieth anniversary. This Orphanage, founded through Mr. Bayley, who recently died at the age of ninety years, was provided with ample funds, and guardians and visitors were appointed.
     Bishop Acton hoped that our Orphanage Fund would be continued as it is, and was confident that the endowment would eventually increase. Appeals to the Church have met with generous response, even from little children, for whom it is a tangible use of charity. The Church has a responsibility as a Mother, to "bring the children into her bosom."
     Mr. C. G. Merrell saw no contradictions in the suggestions given. So far as the State failed, the Church should step in.

257


New Church education was the Prime aim in the Fund. Local societies should take their responsibility, and approach the central fund only if necessary.
     Mr. E. H. Davis stated that in a certain case one-third of the needed amount was contributed by the County. Local committees should handle local cases, and people who know the beneficiaries are more willing to contribute to their support.
     Dr. Odhner saw a need for local committees, but fervently appealed for a maintenance of impersonal relations when local help is extended. This is best possible through a central fund having the final authority. We want people to support the use, not to create embarrassments.
     Bishop de Charms said that local control of administration of help need not produce the feeling that "personal charity" was being done. He had brought up the question here so that the Pastors may understand the reasons for any future change in the workings of the Orphanage.
     The Orphanage, looking to New Church education, is not a State use. The only body in the world to sustain that use is the Church. But the need was for greater local responsibility. There was need to increase the usefulness of the Fund, but as to the method, some clarification is needed.
     Bishop Acton advocated that, while the central Committee be continued, there should be local administration for local needs.
     Rev. F. E. Waelchli asked that we avoid giving any impression that we were forsaking the Orphanage use. Any future new arrangements should be made on the principle that the Orphanage is one of the uses of the General Church. It has the affection of the church at large. The idea of Christmas offerings to the Orphanage was especially a delightful and fitting use for the children. The spirit of giving to the fatherless and the widow was in direct harmony with the letter of the Word.
     Mr. R. W. Childs was deeply impressed with the custom in many homes of giving an offering at the family worship, the children using the orphanage boxes distributed some years ago.

     17. It was unanimously resalized, on motion of Mr. Childs, and after some discussion, that the joint suggestion of Bishop de Charms and Mr. Hubert Hyatt be approved by this Council, and referred to the Executive Committee for action.
     18. Bishop de Charms introduced the subject of PROVISION FOR MINISTERING TO THE ISOLATED. He stated that this was now a serious problem. The Rev. F. E. Waelchli had devoted many years to this work with marked results. But his final retirement leaves us with a large number of isolated members dependent upon us for their church-ministrations. Three men are actually called for; only one can at present be provided. The Rev. Norman H. Reuter has consented to succeed Mr. Waelchli as Visiting Pastor.

258


He has the necessary qualifications, and we have full confidence in his ability. No two men are alike, and he will do the work in his own way. Because it would be a great mistake to scatter his efforts, Mr. Reuter will center his work in Cincinnati, and minister chiefly to the Middle West and the South.
     A church which does not take care of its people will fail in its mission. He hoped that some of the Pastors might give assistance in the summer from time to time, by visiting the isolated in various districts.
     The Bishop stated that Mr. Waelchli could leave a valuable heritage of experience to this Council, and called upon him to speak.
     19. The Rev. F. E. Waelchli then gave an informal address, detailing the problems and possibilities connected with the various groups on this continent. (See his report to the last General Assembly, N. C. LIFE, 1937, pages 389-392.) He believed the plans proposed by the Bishop to be the best available. He had learned to appreciate Mr. Reuter, and knew no other man with better all-around qualifications for this work. He believed some other minister should take summer trips to the West and North-West, and that Denver might some day be used as a center for such work. He described the life of a missionary in picturesque terms, and regretted the amount of time such a man must spend away from his family. He gave relative costs for various journeys, and mentioned various ways in which the circles and the isolated might contribute. He noted that, even when isolated circles or members have defrayed the expenses of travel for the minister, and possibly given an offertory, the General Church should also be supported directly, as a contribution toward the salary of the Visiting Pastor. Families which faithfully keep up home-worship have the most direct claim upon us
     Dr. C. E. Doering instanced the fruitful results to his own family from the summer visits of Bishop Benade and other ministers to Milverton, Ont., as confirming the value of Pastors taking opportunity of the summer months.
     20. After expressions of appreciation, and on motion of Mr. Harold F. Pitcairn, it was unanimously resolved that this Council record its deep gratitude for the long work of the Rev. Fred. E. Waelchli; and since the Rev. Willis L. Gladish had just announced his retirement, his name was joined to the resolution.

259


The fruitful life-work of these men was warmly recognized.
     21. The meeting adjourned at 5:15 p.m.
     Respectfully submitted,
          HUGO LJ. ODHNER,
               Secretary.
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH 1938

REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH       HUGO LJ. ODHNER       1938

     ANNUAL REPORTS     
     REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH.

     On January 1, 1938, the Roll of the General Church of the New Jerusalem included 2180 members. This represents a net loss of 91 members during the year 1937, which started with 2271 members enrolled. New members to the number of 59 joined during the next twelve months, while 33 deaths were registered. The separation of the Rev. Ernst Pfeiffer by executive action on the part of the episcopal office (New Church Life, 1937, page 198, note) eventuated in the resignation of 110 members in the following localities: Holland 57, Bryn Athyn 11, Los Angeles 12, England 12, Other Districts 18. There were also 6 resignations from other causes.

     Recapitulation.
Membership, January 1, 1937                     2271
New members received during 1937                59
                                         2330
Deductions-Deaths                33
Resignations, etc.               117           150
Total membership, January 1, 1938                2180

     I believe that it should be a matter of record that, on April 21, 1937, before the mass-resignation of members of the "First Dutch Society of the New Jerusalem" at The Hague, this Society adopted the name of "De Nieuwe Kerk Het Nieuwe Jeruzalem," made changes in its Constitution which eliminated its connection with the General Church, and applied for State recognition. The resignations followed on August 29, 1937. A new Society of the General Church in Holland was organized at The Hague in September.

     NATIVE MISSION.

     The headquarters of the General Church Mission in South Africa reports an estimated membership of 1024 adults.

260




     NEW MEMBERS

     January 1 to December 31, 1937

     A. THE UNITED STATES.

     Crossett, Arkansas.
Mrs. Hansell Ray (Dorothy Echols) Wade

     Denver, Colorado.
Miss Audrey Eleanor Bergstrom

     Chicago, Illinois.
Mr. Patrick Bradford

     Glenview, Illinois.
Mr. Charles Snowden Cole, Jr.
Miss Ruth Annette Henderson
Miss Alice Margaret Henderson
Mr. Russell Morse Stevens

     Saginaw, Michigan.
Miss Muriel Hope Childs
     St. Louis, Missouri.
Mrs. Edith Margaret (Lind) Owen

     Seward, New York.
Mr. James Douglas Halterman
Mrs. J. D. (Faith Childs) Halterman

     Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Guy Smith Alden
Mrs. Griffith (Myrtle Elder) Asplundh
Mr. Roscoe Lovett Coffin
Mr. John Frederick Finkeldey
Mr. George Edgar Lindsay, Jr.
Mr. Lawrence Woodman Glenn
Mrs. L. W. (Helen Ann Smith) Glenn
Miss Harriet Gyllenhaal
Mr. Rupert Morten Smith
Mrs. Carl (Doris Aileen King) Synnestvedt
Mr. Richard Alvin Walter

     Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.
Mrs. Edward Albert (Elmira Craig) Carroll

     Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Raymond Louis Lockhart
Mr. John Garrett Renn

     Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Mrs. Mary Otte Aye
Mr. Thomas Lee Aye, Jr.
Miss Bertha E. Bergstrom
Miss Lucy Elizabeth Lechner
Miss Anne Pitcairn Lindsay
Mrs. Donald H. (Marguerite Uptegraff) Shoemaker
Mr. Ulrich Schoenberger
Miss Virginia Marie Sepp

     Dallas, Texas.
Mr. John Weston Carlisle
Mr. Elmer George Brickman
Miss Louise Brickman

     B. CANADA.

     Humber Bay, Ont.
Mr. Laurence Theodore Izzard

     Kitchener, Ontario.
Mr. Cecil John James

     Toronto, Ontario.
Miss Gladys Isabel Carter
Mr. Orville Albert Carter
Miss Helen Marsland Nixon, now Mrs. Frank Robert Longstaff
Miss Doris Ellen Stuart
Miss Emily Gertrude Wilson

     C. AUSTRIA.

     Modling.
Mrs. George (Elvira Prochaska) Meihart

     D. BELGIUM.

     Brussels.
Miss Madeleine Marguerite Emilie Kriegels

     E. GREAT BRITAIN.

     Colchester.
Mr. John Appleton Boozer

     F. HOLLAND.

     The Hague.
Miss Hetty Engeltjes
Mr. Romko Koert Sikkema
Miss Johanna van Trigt

     Oegstgeest.
Mr. Theodorus Visser
Mrs. Theodorus (Petronella Pool) Visser

261




     Oslo.
Miss Sigrid Regine Heide

     H. SWEDEN.

     Appelviken.
Miss Ellen Anita Maria Liden

     I. SOUTH AFRICA.

     Durban, Natal.
Miss Phyllis Dorothy Proudman Cooke
Mr. Walter George Lowe
Mr. James Matthew Stenhouse

     Gatooma, Southern Rhodesia.
Mr. Joseph Jarvis Ball

     J. AUSTRALIA.

     Hurstville, N. S. W.
Miss Amelia Murray

     Kogarah, N. S. W.
Miss Dorothy Jean Wellington

     DEATHS.

     Recorded in 1937.

Balls, Mrs. Frederick Daniel, (Elizabeth Mary Godfrey), Leyton, England, Sept. 23, 1937.
Brown, Rev. Keginald William, Abington, Pa., Sept. 11, 1937.
Burnham, Mr. Arthur Wood, Brooklyn, New York, Dec. 1, 1936.
Cleare, Rev. Albert John, Somerton, Pa., Nov. 25, 1936.
Damm, Mr. Rudolph Andrew, Bryn Athyn, Pa., Dec. 25, 1936
Dawson, Mr. Frederick Henry, Toronto, Canada, Sept. 15, 1937.
De Carcenac, Mrs. Laure Antoinette Julie, Durban, Natal, South Africa, April 5, 1937.
Frame, Mrs. Sarah Elizabeth Levis, Philadelphia, Pa., July 4, 1937.
Goerwitz, Mrs. Alfred L. (Amanda Falk), Glenview, Ill., Jan. 18, 1937.
Hamilton, Mrs. Otto H. (Minnie), Lohg Beach, Calif., Jan. 17, 1937.
Harris, Mrs. T. S. (Eva Maria Bradley), Westfield, N. J., March 22, 1937.
Helm, Mrs. Hilda V., De Land, Fla., Aug. 12, 1937.
Jubb, Mr. W. Copley, Overdale, High Kilburn, York, England, Dec. 8, 1936.
Junge, Miss Susan Minot, Glenview, Ill., Oct. 31, 1931.
Lewin, Mr. Samuel, Brixton, London, England, Feb. 12, 1937.
Margary, Mrs. Louisa Caroline, Winchester, England, June, 1937.
Morgan, Dr. Llewellyn Carnarvon, Durban, Natal, Aug. 18, 1937.
Nicholl, Mrs. William W. (Kate Huddleston), Chicago, Ill., March 27, 1937.
Pendleton, Major Alan, Washington, D. C., Jan. 12, 1937.
Platt, Mrs. Nathan D. (Marion A. Hill), Corte Madera, Calif., (Post Office information. 1937).
Posthuma, Miss Jeltze Jacobas, West Norwood, England, Jan. 13, 1937.
Ridgway, Mr. Kenneth H., Durban, Natal, Nov. 2, 1936.
Rott, Mrs. Christian Z. F. (Sarah Johnson), Pittsburgh, Pa., May 8, 1937.
Rott, Mr. Walter Christian, Pittsburgh, Pa., Jan. 21, 1937.
Schoenberger, Mr. Jacob, Pittsburgh, Pa., Aug. 22, 1937.
Staddon, Mrs. Percy (Clara Hager Burkhardt), Aurora, Ill., Apr. 21, 1937.
Stavenow, Miss Amy, Stockholm, Sweden, Dec. 23, 1936.

262



Svahn, Mr. Anders Emil, Jonkoping, Sweden, Jan. 31, 1937.
Svedberg, Mrs. Frans Emanuel (Hanna F. P. Lundgren), Stockholm, Feb. 2, 1937.
Tilson, Miss Annie Elisabeth, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England, Aug. 29, 1937.
Van Horn, Mrs. John F. (Alleen Schwindt), Philadelphia, Pa., Jan. 9, 1937.
Wallenberg, Miss Ellen V., Chicago, Ill., Sept. 2, 1937.
Ware, Mr. Nels Christian, Post Falls, Idaho, 1934.

     DROPPED FROM THE ROLL.

Pfeiffer, Rev. Ernst, The Hague, Holland; separated by episcopal action, April 7, 1937.

     RESIGNATIONS.

Barger, Miss Mary, The Hague, Holland, Aug. 29, 1937.
Bjorck, Rev. and Mrs. Albert, Woodgreen, Hants, England, May 4.
Blackman, Mr. Lewis R., Oak Park, Ill., June 23.
Boef, Rev. and Mrs. H. W., Los Angeles, Cal., May 14.
Booden-Adelink, Mrs. C. M., The Hague, Holland, Aug. 29.
Borf, Miss M. J. E., D:o
Brandenburg, Mrs. Helena H., D:o
Campbell, Mrs. N. Brady (Alma I. Waelchli), Zionsville, Pa., Jan. 1;
Dawson, Mr. and Mrs. Imlah, Bristol, England, April 30.
Dawson, Miss Mary, D:o
Debruin, Mr. and Mrs. Johannes J., Haarlem, Holland, Aug. 29.
De Visser-Semler, Mrs. Johanna, The Hague, Holland, Aug. 29.
Donker, Mrs. Pieter (M.A.), Amsterdam, Holland, Aug. 29.
Geluk, Mr. A. P., The Hague, Holland, Aug. 29.
Geluk, Mr. and Mrs. P. Jr., D:o
Geluk, Mr. and Mrs. Cornelis P., Rotterdam, Holland, Aug. 29.
Geluk, Miss E. J., D:o
Greenwood, Mrs. M. A., London, England, June 12.
Greenwood, Miss M. B. D:o
Groeneveld, Mr. and Mrs. H. D. G., The Hague, Holland, Aug. 29.
Hansen, Miss Ruth, Philadelphia, Oct. 15.
Happee, Mrs. H. K., The Hague, Holland, Aug. 29.
Haverman, Mr. Henri M., D:o
Heijer, Mr. and Mrs. Christoffel W., Groningen, Holland, Aug. 29.
Howard, Mr. Horace H., Colchester, England, Sept. 11.
Iler, Miss Evangeline, Los Angeles, Cal., May 26.
Iler, Miss Viola, D:o
Johnson, Mr. and Mrs. Richard L., Chester, Virginia, June 28.
Kemerling, Miss Johanna P. M., The Hague, Holland, Nov. 6.
Kintner, Mr. and Mrs. Charles, Bryn Athyn, Pa., May 5.
Klamer, Mr. J. L., The Hague, Holland, Aug. 29.
Klippenstein, Mr. Peter, Inglewood, Cal., June 15.

263



Klippenstein, Mrs. Peter, Inglewood, Cal., June 25.
Lans, Mr. F. A., Helder, Holland, Aug. 29.
Leonard, Mr. and Mrs. Morel, Bryn Athyn, Pa., April 20.
Linthuis, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph, Rotterdam, Holland, Aug. 29.
Matthias, Mr. Edward R., Los Angeles, Cal., June 26.
Matthias, Miss Laura A., Los Angeles, Gal., May 28.
De Mooij, Mr. and Mrs. Cornelis, The Hague, Holland, Aug. 29.
Odhner, Mr. and Mrs. Loyal D., Bryn Athyn, Pa., April 20.
Oyler, Mr. Philip T., Woodgreen, England, Nov. 5.
Oyler, Mrs. P. T., Woodgreen, England, May 4.
Oyler, Miss Soldanela, Woodgreen, England, May 4.
Pfeiffer, Mrs. Ernst, The Hague, Holland, Aug. 29.
Pitcairn, Rev. and Mrs. Theodore, Bryn Athyn, Pa., April 17.
Poortvliet, Mr. and Mrs. Pieter, Rotterdam, Holland, Aug. 29.
Pothin-Labarre, Miss G., Paris, France, Dec. 22.
Pothin-Labarre, Miss J., D:o
Reiche, Dr. Cecilia, Los Angeles, Cal., June 1.
Rose, Mr. David W., Evanston, Ill., Apr. 16.
Rosenquist, Mr. Victor, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Nov. 2.
Sarnmark, Mr. K. Rudolph, Jonkoping, Sweden, Sept. 29.
Schierbeek, Mr. Willem C., Scheveningen, Holland, Aug. 29.
Scholtes, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph A., The Hague, Holland, Aug. 29.
Schoonboom, Mr. Wubbo, Rijswijk, Holland, Aug. 29.
Schultz, Mr. and Mrs. W. E. H. H., Cassel, Germany, Aug. 29.
Schuurmans, Mr. Charles B., The Hague, Holland, Aug. 29.
Sheppard, Miss Alice, Los Angeles, Cal., June 6.
Sigstedt, Mr. Thorsten, Bryn Athyn, Pa., April 24.
Sigstedt, Mrs. Thorsten, Bryn Athyn, Pa., May 12.
Sigstedt, Mr. Ake, Jonkoping, Sweden, Sept. 29.
Sigstedt, Mr. Karl H., D:o
Sigstedt, Mr. Lennart, D:o
Sigstedt, Mr. and Mrs. Ryno, D:o
Sigstedt, Mr. Torsten, D:o
Sikkema, Mr. R. K., Haarlem, Holland, Aug. 29.
Smit, Mr. Philippe, Thoury-Ferrottes, S. et M., France, Aug. 29.
Stoll, Mrs. Emily Streich, Los Angeles, Cal., June 1.
Stoll, Miss Mildred Violet, D:o
Swijndregt, Mrs. A. E. A. Montauban van, The Hague, Holland, Aug. 29.
Teerlink, Mr. J. L., The Hague, Holland, Aug. 29.
Urban, Mr. and Mrs. Nicolaas H., Thoury-Ferrottesi S. et M., France, Aug. 29.
Vander, Miss Catherine E., Rotterdam, Holland, Aug. 29.
Van Der Feen, Mrs. Feiko, The Hague, Holland, Aug. 29.
Van Der Feen, Miss Hilda N., D:o
Van Der Loos, Mr. A. J., Scheveningen, Holland, Aug. 29.
Van Der Loos, Mr. and Mrs. Dirk, D:o
Van Der Maas, Mr. Herman M., The Hague, Holland, Aug. 29.

264



Varkevisser-Ruhaak, Mrs. J. M. van Duyvenboode, D:o
Van Os, Prof. and Mrs. Charles H., D:o
Vellenga, Mr. and Mrs. N. J. D:o
Verstraate, Mr. and Mrs. Jacobus P., D:o
Visser, Mr. and Mrs. Theodorus, Oegstgeest, Holland, Aug. 29.
Waalwijk, Mrs. W., The Hague, Holland, Aug. 29.
Wegman, Mr. Cornelius J. M., D:o
Weyland, Mr. J. M., D:o
Wille, Mr. Gerhardt R., Glenview, Ill., Aug. 1937.
Williams, Norman E., Northampton, England, Oct. 17.
Wilson, Mr. Charles, Nattrabyhamn, Sweden, Dec. 12.
Zelling, Mr. and Mrs. Anton, Flagy, S. et M., France, Aug. 29.
     HUGO LJ. ODHNER,
          Secretary.
REPORT OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY. 1938

REPORT OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY.       WILLIAM WHITEHEAD       1938

     The annual reports for the year, January 1, 1937, to January 1, 1938, reveal few changes as to personnel that have not already been included in the Council's Report to the Sixteenth General Assembly in Pittsburgh. (See New Church Life, August, 1937, pp. 382384.)
     Up to March 31, 1938, the Bishop of the General Church has received reports for the year 1937 from all members of the Clergy, except Pastors A. Wynne Acton (London, England), Henry Leonardos and J. de M. Lima (South America), Joseph E. Rosenqvist (Gothenburg, Sweden), Minister Vincent C. Odhner (Bryn Athyn), and two of the Zulu native ministers.
     The RITES AND SACRAMENTS of the Church have been administered as follows (the figures in parentheses indicating a comparison with the year 1936):

Baptisms                              87 (-27)
Confessions of Faith                18 (-14)
Betrothals                         12 (- 6)
Marriages                          22 (- 8)
Funeral Services                27 (- 6)
Holy Supper:
As Celebrant                     112 (-11)
As Assistant                     32 (- 2)
Private                          25 (- 5)
Ordinations                         1 (- )
Dedications                         
Private homes                     3 (- 1)
Ecclesiastical buildings          None

     (Note: The above figures do not include returns from Pastor A. Wynne Acton, from the pastors in Brazil, or from the South African Mission.)
     For the South African Mission, Superintendent F. W. Elphick reports: 19 adult and 34 infant and child baptisms, 5 confessions of faith, 1 marriage, and 14 administrations of the Holy Supper.

265


He also reports 4 native pastors, 6 ministers, 9 authorized leaders, and 2 Zulu theological students.

     From the reports received, the following facts and comments have been selected as of general interest, or for the sake of record:
     The Rt. Rev. George de Charms reports that from January 1 until June 30 he continued to serve as Acting Bishop. On April 1, the Council of the Clergy named the Acting Bishop as its choice for the Bishop of the General Church. On April 2, the Executive Council, and on the following day the Joint Council, concurred in this choice. Final action in confirmation thereof was taken by the General Assembly on June 30. Since that date he has performed all the duties pertaining to that office.
     During the months of July and August he visited isolated families and groups of General Church members throughout the Western States. He preached in Denver, Los Angeles, and Youngstown; gave doctrinal classes in Denver, St. Louis, Spokane, Brentwood Bay, LaGorande, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Atlanta; and administered the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper in Denver and in Brentwood Bay.
     In October he presided over District Assemblies held in Toronto, Canada, and in Glenview, Illinois, preaching and administering the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper in both places. In addition, he made episcopal visits to Kitchener, Detroit, Chicago, and Cincinnati.
     In February, he authorized Morley Dyckman Rich and Norbert Henry Rogers as candidates for the Ministry; and on November 4, he authorized Mr. Henry Algernon as a Pastor pending Ordination, in charge of Tabor Mission, Georgetown, British Guiana.
     As President of the Academy he continued to preside over meetings of the Board of Directors and the Faculties, and performed all other duties belonging to the office of President. Throughout the year he continued to teach an educational course in the Senior College; and, beginning October, 1937, he taught Liturgics in the Theological School.
     As Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church, he reports that, as Bishop of the General Church, he became ex officio Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church, although he had been acting in that capacity since the retirement of Bishop N. D. Pendleton. In October he appointed Rev. Elmo C. Acton as Assistant to the Pastor, and reorganized the Pastor's Council. During the year he preached four times in Bryn Athyn at adult services, and eleven times at children's services; and conducted nine doctrinal classes. Until June, 1937, he continued to teach Religion to the 7th and 8th grades of the Bryn Athyn Elementary School. Since September he had taught the 8th grade only. He wished to make grateful acknowledgment of the assistance received from other ministers in the work of preaching and conducting services, both for adults and children.
     In reporting on behalf of the work of the late Bishop N. D. Pendleton, he adds that Bishop Pendleton continued to teach in the College until June, 1937, and in the Theological School until December 16.

266


He also continued to preach occasionally up to the time of his last illness.
     The Rt. Rev. Alfred Acton reports that he has continued as pastor of the Washington Society, and as Dean of the Theological School. After the election of Bishop de Charms, he was asked by him to continue as a member of the Consistory.
     The affairs of the Washington Society are progressing smoothly. He visited there once a month, with extra visits on special occasions. Two members were lost by the death of Captain Alan Pendleton, when his wife moved to Bryn Athyn.
     During the summer, at the Bishop's request, he presided over the British District Assembly held in Colchester in August. He also took occasion on his visit to England to call upon the isolated members in that country, doing this because he wished to get personal acquaintance with them. Furthermore, at the invitation of Mr. Dawson of New Moston, Lancashire, he gave two talks to a number of New Church persons gathered together in Mr. Dawson's home, one on the doctrinal positions held by the General Church, and one on the Holy Spirit. These talks excited great interest, and there was a desire that he should visit New Moston again if that were possible. This little group had been previously visited by Bishop Tilson and the Rev. A. Wynne Acton.
     From England he went as the Bishop's representative to the group of our members in The Hague, and there organized The Hague Society of the General Church. He had interviews with some of Mr. Pfeiffer's followers who had signed the joint resignation from the General Church, and, in consequence of these interviews, two or three of those signatories withdrew their resignations and are now associated with The Hague Society. The Rev. Dr. Iungerich has accepted by the Society as its pastor. He suggested that the Society rent some central place where they could hold their services, and this suggestion was at once received with enthusiasm and has since been carried out. He also suggested the introduction of a free will offering in addition to the sum paid to the pastor for travelling expenses, and this suggestion was received with very evident pleasure and has since been carried out.
     From The Hague he went to Jonkoping and addressed our members there with regard to the position of the General Church in connection with the views put forward by Mr. Pfeiffer. As a result of these talks he instituted the Jonkoping Society of the General Church, with the Rev. Erik Sandstrom as pastor, and administered the Holy Supper at the first worship of that Society. The Society is now taking steps to receive State recognition. Until this is received, Mr. Sandstrom must remain nominally as an assistant pastor of the Stockholm Society, but after State recognition of the Jonkoping Society, he will be recognized by the State as the Pastor of the Jonkoping Society, and be entitled to perform marriages, etc.
     He also visited the Stockholm Society, and gave several talks there on the subject of the Holy Spirit, the views held by Mr. Pfeiffer, etc. He also administered the Holy Supper there, assisted by Mr. Baeckstrom.

267



     In October he again visited England and addressed the members of the London and Colchester Societies. He also again visited New Moston, and gave two further talks on doctrinal subjects. This aroused great interest in the General Church, particularly because those attending the meetings became more conscious of the fact that what they had heard in the Conference Societies was more in the nature of the genuine doctrine of the Christian Church than the spiritual doctrine now revealed to the New Church. As a consequence, there was talk of establishing monthly services in New Moston under the auspices of the General Church, and even of hiring a hall for this purpose if funds would permit. After his departure, Mr. Dawson applied to Bishop Tilson with the object of instituting such services, and he believes they have already been commenced, though the little group has not as yet been able to hire a hall. The services are held in Mr. Dawson's home. Mr. and Mrs. Dawson have now joined the General Church, and it is not improbable that one or two others will join in the near future.
     The Rt. Rev. Robert James Tilson, as Pastor of the Michael Church, Brixton, London, England, reports that owing to his age (over 80 years), he has done little more than preach and act as celebrant at the Holy Supper six times, leaving other priestly duties to his Assistant, the Rev. A. Wynne Acton.
     During the year he resigned (1) as President of the New Church Club in London (after 16 years as such); (2) as member of the Council of the Swedenborg Society, but acted as a member for the celebration of the 250th anniversary of Swedenborg's birth, on January 29, 1938, as representing the General Church.
     Rev. Elmo C. Acton reports that, from January 31, 1937, to October 31, 1937, he was Pastor of the Philadelphia Society, but was relieved of that duty in order to act as Assistant-to the Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Society, as from November 1.
     In the Philadelphia Society he held weekly classes on Wednesday nights for the West Philadelphia group, comprising about 14 regular attendants. In Bryn Athyn he assists with the adult and children's services; also holding a weekly young people's class of 40 to 60 members, and a young married people's class of ten couples.
     In North Jersey (Newark) fortnightly services were held, with an average attendance of 18; monthly doctrinal classes averaged 10. In South Jersey (around Camden) monthly classes were held; attendance 7 (4 members of the General Church; 3 unbaptized).
     His teaching duties in the Academy consisted of Religion to the High School freshmen; and the 6th and 7th Elementary grades.
     Rev. Karl Richardson Alden reports that, in addition to his Academy duties, he preached once at Bryn Athyn, and ten times at Lake Wallenpaupack, where weekly services were held during the three summer months, with an average attendance of 40. He also addressed the Advent Church Men's Club on "New Church Education."
     Rev. Gustaf Baeckstrom, Pastor of the Stockholm (Sweden) Society (Nya Kyrknns Forsamling), reports that, in addition to his regular duties, he had given 4 public lectures in Norway, two of which were in Oslo (average attendance 52).

268


Also one public and one private service and a doctrinal class in Oslo. Illness had interfered a good deal with his work; and the Rev. Erik Sandstrom had conducted the work in Stockholm two weeks, and preached there three Sundays.
     Rev. William B. Caldwell reports that, in addition to his duties as Editor of New Church Life, and as Professor of Theology in the Academy, he preached twice in the Bryn Athyn Church.
     Rev. Emil R. Cronlund reports that, in addition to several other ministerial functions, he preached three times at Bryn Athyn.
     Rev. Llewellyn W. T. David reports that, in addition to his work as a secretary in the Academy, he has been teaching Hebrew and Greek in the Theological School and College, 8 classes a week.
     In Bryn Athyn he preached 6 times, and conducted services 11 times. Children's services were conducted 8 times. He also preached in New York on June 6.
     Rev. Charles E. Doering reports that, beside his duties as Dean of Faculties and teacher of Religion and Mathematics in the Academy Schools, he has conducted the Academy's morning services through the year; and in the Bryn Athyn Church assisted four times in the celebration of the Holy Supper.
     Rev. Frederick W. Elphick, as Superintendent of the General Church Mission in South Africa, reports that during the year he visited the following mission stations: Alpha (Ladybrand, O. F. S.) 3; Kent Manor (Zululand) 2; Mayville (Durban) 2; Dannhauser (Natal) 1; Greylingstad (Transvaal) 2; Alexandra Township, Johannesburg 1; Lukas (Basutoland) 1; Mafika-Lisiu (Basutoland) 1; Khopane (Basutoland) l; Verelum (Natal) l; Hambrook, Ladysmith (Natal) 2; Turner's Avenue, Durban 1; and Lusitania (Natal) 1.
     On invitation of the Rev. Philip N. Odhner, he officiated in the Durban Society at 5 adult and 4 children's services.
     Two Zulu theological students have studied with him at Durban. Full details of this and the other work of the Mission have been noted in half-yearly reports to the Bishop.
     Rev. Alan Gill, Pastor of Carmel Church, Kitchener, Ont., Can., reports that, due to the able assistance of the Rev. Norman Reuter, many uses have been resumed during the past year, or given more adequate attention than was before possible. In addition to the more essential uses, there have been weekly children's services, and young people's classes; also groups of young men and young ladies have been given courses in Conjugial Love. Particular indebtedness is due to Mr. Reuter for his work as Headmaster of the Day School and among the young people.
     Rev. Victor J. Gladish, Pastor of the Colchester Society, England, reports that, despite some difficulties arising from repercussions of the Hague controversy, the work proceeds. Some minor forward-looking steps were commenced in regard to the re-arrangement of religious instruction and social life for the school children above the present age limit of 10 years.

269



     A special financial meeting of the Society was held to face the fact, of which the Finance Committee had given warning for several years, that they were drawing on reserve funds in order to meet expenses, and that these were now practically depleted. It was determined to strive for increased contributions by several methods which had already resulted in favorable response.
     Rev. Willis L. Gladish, Pastor of Sharon Church, Chicago, Ill., reports that on January 1, 1937, the membership reached the high mark of 87. During the year, 6 had been lost, by death, transfer, and resignation; with one gain through baptism. 23 of the members are non-resident; yet all are New Churchmen with whom they keep in more or less contact.
     Dissatisfied with quarterly arrangements for the Holy Supper, yet not ready to adopt monthly celebrations, they had re-arranged the schedule for six celebrations, viz., (1) 1st Sunday after Christmas; (2) Half-way between Christmas and Easter; (3) Easter; (4) Sunday nearest June 19th; (5) September; and (6) November.
     The Rev. Frederick E. Gyllenhaal, Pastor of the Olivet Church, Toronto, Can., reports that he preached five times in Montreal and twice in Glenview. The Circle in Montreal now has 16 adults and 9 children; 8 are members of the General Church, including 3 families and five children. The meetings continue in the homes of the members. For the meetings in his absence, he provides Readings from the Writings, a short paper, and other material.
     Rev. Eldred E. Iungerich, Pastor of the Paris (France) Society and also (since August) of the Hague Society of the General Church, reports that in Paris the average attendance at Sunday worship has dropped from 18 to about 9, on account of the removal of faithful attendants and other causes.
     Bi-monthly visits to Brussels have been made regularly. For several months in Paris a class in the New Testament has been held with four children of the Society.
     A visit to the Francis family in July at Rijswijk, Holland, with a service and doctrinal class attended by the General Church group in The Hague, was followed in September by his nomination by Bishop Acton, and its acceptance by that group, as their pastor. Monthly visits were made in November and December, and will continue on the last week-end of each month, including June, 1938, when he would take up his abode at The Hague, regular pastoral work there to begin in September, 1938. It was hoped that visits could be continued to Paris and Brussels, but there was an urgent need that all his time be devoted to the work in the Hague.
     Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner, as Assistant Pastor in the Bryn Athyn Church, reports that he preached 8 times during the year (once in Pittsburgh), gave two children's addresses (and two elsewhere); and gave a series of 7 doctrinal classes. He continued to supervise the work of the ushers' and chancel organizations.
     Illness prevented him from participating in the uses between the middle of March and the middle of June. He writes: "I deeply appreciate the way in which other men stepped in to carry my work in addition to their own."

270



     As Professor of Theology in the Academy, he carried two courses in Religion in the high schools and one in the College; a course in the Philosophy of the Human Organic in the College; and a course in Theology in the Theological School.
     Rev. Philip N. Odhner, Pastor of the Durban (Natal, South Africa) Society, and Assistant Superintendent of the South African Mission, notes that several of the young people from Durban have settled at Johannesburg or in the surrounding district, and these, together with a few new members, were planning to form a new circle, providing at least quarterly visits from Mr. Elphick or himself. He visited this group and held a service at Springs, Transvaal, in October.
     Rev. Willard D. Pendleton, as Pastor of the Pittsburgh (Pa.) Society, reports that, beside his regular duties, he served as chairman of the 1937 General Assembly Committee from January until after the close of the Assembly in July. In this connection he visited Glenview, Kitchener, Toronto and Bryn Athyn. While on this trip he preached in Glenview and Kitchener. Later in the year, he held a service in Akron, Ohio, and preached twice in Bryn Athyn. He continued the missionary classes in Tarentum, Pa., with an average attendance of approximately 22. These classes have to date resulted in five baptisms.
     Rev. Norman H. Reuter, at present engaged as Assistant to the Pastor of the Carmel (Kitchener, Ont.) Society, and Visiting Pastor of the Detroit Circle, reports that it was in February that he discontinued as Pastor of the Wyoming Circle and Visiting Pastor of the Middleport Society, in order to take up the above duties at Kitchener. He also made six regular and two special visits to the Detroit Circle during the year.
     Rev. Erik Sandstrom, Pastor of the Jonkoping (Sweden) Society, reports that, during the past year, he was called upon to meet a disturbance arising within the "Nykyrkliga Foreningen " because of the acceptance of the Hague doctrines by several members. These members having left the "Foreningen," the outcome was, however, the formation of the Jonkoping Society by Bishop Acton, representing the Bishop of the General Church, on October 8, 1937.
     During the summer he was engaged for six weeks on a course in religion with one boy living in the country and connected with the Stockholm Society; during these weeks he also preached five times to a small group. Later in the year he preached four times in the Stockholm Society, in the absence of Pastor Baeckstrom.
     An endeavor to spread knowledge of the Church in Jonkoping was made by the pastor's personally going from door to door, offering New Church literature for sale or as gifts. In this way several contacts were established, of which two or three are somewhat encouraging.
     Rev. Gilbert H. Smith, Pastor of the Immanuel Society (Glenview, Ill.), in making a statistical report, remarks: "We do not observe any distinction between 'Quarterly' and 'Monthly' administrations of the Holy Supper. Our administrations are all the same in ritual and importance.

271


They are not so often as each month, and are more frequent than quarterly. Usually I administer the Sacrament seven or eight times during the year."
     Rev. Homer Synnestvedt reports that, beside his duties as Teacher in the Academy Schools, he served as Acting Pastor of the Advent Church, Philadelphia, on alternate Sundays. Total attendants there number 52. He also made quarterly visits as Visiting Pastor to Arbutus, Md; and conducted 8 children's services at Lake Wallenpaupack.
     Rev. Fred E. Waelchli reports that last February, by the Bishop's appointment, he became temporary Pastor of the Cincinnati Circle, to continue so until the coming June. During the year he visited and ministered to the following places, each twice: Erie, Pa; and Cleveland, Akron, Niles, Youngstown, Middleport, Ohio. Accounts of these visits have appeared in New Church Life.
     Rev. William Whitehead reports that, beside his regular work in the Academy, he conducted services once in Washington, D. C. (with doctrinal class); once in New York; and preached once in Bryn Athyn; beside performing the duties of Secretary of the Council of the Clergy in Bryn Athyn and Pittsburgh.

     Pastor, Pending Ordination.

     Rev. Henry Algernon, Acting Pastor of the Tabor Mission, Georgetown, Demerara, British Guiana, South America, reports that he has held 37 Sunday afternoon services, with an average attendance of 8. There are 5 members, and 10 other persons in the congregation of this group; also 8 young people and children. 48 children's Sunday morning services had an average attendance of 5. The Holy Supper was observed once with 4 communicants; and one social supper was held.

     Ministers.

     Rev. Raymond G. Cranch reports as his only church work for 1937 "the compilation of a book on 'Social Justice in the light of the New Church,' the first draft of which has now been completed, and is available for publication if, and when, desired."

     Authorized Candidates.

     Candidate Morley Dyckman Rich reports that he has assisted in services at Bryn Athyn 11 times. Of these 4 were children's services; and on three occasions he preached. During the summer he was engaged as an assistant to the Glenview and Chicago societies, preaching twice in Chicago, six times in Glenview, and twice in Linden Hills, Mich. He also gave a class to the Rockford (Ill.) circle; preached twice in Pittsburgh and once in Washington, giving a doctrinal class also in the latter place. He also taught Hebrew and Religion in the Academy Schools.
     Candidate Norbert Henry Rogers has preached 21 times in various societies; preaching 4 times in Bryn Athyn, assisting in 3 regular services, and conducting 2 children's services.

272



     During the summer he assisted the pastors of the Toronto and Pittsburgh societies, among other duties preaching in Toronto 4 times, and in Pittsburgh 11 times. He also preached once in Washington and once in Kitchener.
     In the Academy Schools he taught Junior Latin and Sophomore Religion to the boys, and assisted Dr. Caldwell in 5th grade Religion in the Elementary School.

     SOUTH AFRICAN MISSION.

     Reports of a statistical nature were received from 8 of the 10 native ministers, as follows: Basuto: Pastors Jonas Motsii and Twentyman Mofokeng; and Ministers Jona Mphatse, Nathaniel Mphatse, and Sofonia Mosoang. Zulu: Pastors John Moses Jiyana and Moffat Mcanyana; and Minister Philip Johannes Stole. (No reports were received from Ministers Julius S. M. Jipana and Benjamin Thomas Ngiba.)
     Respectfully submitted,
          WILLIAM WHITEHEAD,
               Secretary, Council of the Clergy.
REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 1938

REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.       EDWARD H. DAVIS       1938

     At and since the Sixteenth General Assembly, seventeen members have joined the Corporation of the General Church. Three members were dropped from the roll, and three have died. The total membership is now 142.
     At a meeting of the Executive Committee, held in Pittsburgh on July 3, 1937, the following officers were elected:

     President: Bishop George de Charms
     Treasurer: Hubert Hyatt
     Secretary: Edward H. Davis

     Since the Assembly, the Executive Committee has held five meetings. The financial affairs of the Church have occupied much of the time and attention of the committee, but as to these the Treasurer's report is so full and enlightening that nothing need be added.
     At two of the meetings the committee met with Dr. Caldwell to discuss the problems and policies of the New Church Life, and you will have his report on this subject.
     The Orphanage problem was considered, but no action taken.
     The Executive Committee retained counsel to oppose the use of the proposed name, "The New Church the New Jerusalem of America," by the group which resigned from the General Church last year. This group has now proposed to use the name, "The Lord's New Church the New Jerusalem," and counsel has been authorized to continue our opposition.
     Respectfully,
          EDWARD H. DAVIS,
               Secretary.

273


REPORT OF THE ORPHANAGE COMMITTEE. 1938

REPORT OF THE ORPHANAGE COMMITTEE.       HARRY C. WALTER       1938

Bishop George de Charms,
Bryn Athyn, Pa.

Dear Bishop:
     Enclosed please find Financial Statements showing the operation of the Orphanage Fund for the year beginning January 1, and ending December 31, 1937, and showing its condition at the latter date.
     It should be explained that the payments to beneficiaries cover only an eleven-month period. This is due to the fact that, prior to 1937, payments were made on the last day of each month to cover the following month. Accordingly, the payment covering the month of January, 1937, was made on December 31, 1936, and charged to 1936 expense. The policy has been changed to make the payment to beneficiaries on the first day of the same month it is intended to cover.
     The Beneficiaries consist of two widows and their orphaned children. Legal fees cover the expense in connection with the McKallip estate.
     The members of the Committee are: Messrs. H. Hyatt, Fred J. Cooper, Arthur Synnestvedt and Harry C. Walter.
     Sincerely yours,
          HARRY C. WALTER,
               Treasurer. April 1, 1938.

     ORPHANAGE FUND.

     Balance Sheet-December 31, 1937.

     ASSETS
Cash-Current                                     $869.96
Investments
Cash-For Investment                     $15.43
Breitstein Mortgage                          1,000.00
Cumberland Valley Telephone Co. 5% A01966      1,428.00
Lykens Valley R. R. & Coal Co. Common Stock      38.00
Morewood Corporation Common Stock VTC      650.38
Morewood Corporation JJ 1953                690.54
Sayre & Fisher Brick Co. 6% JJ 1947          2,387.77      6,210.12
Total Assets                                                  $7,080.08

     LIABILITIES
Loans Payable                          $300.00
Accrued Interest Payable                     570.15
Total Liabilities                                                  $870.15

274



     ACCOUNTABILITY
Endowments                              $6210.12
Surplus (Deficit) to 12/31/36      $(499.38)
Excess Income over Expense      499.19      (19)
Total Accountability                                         6,209.93
Total Liabilities & Accountability                              $7,080.08

     Income and Expense-Calendar Year 1937.

INCOME
From Investments
Cumberland Valley Telephone Co.                $70.00
Lykens Valley R. R. & Coal Co.                1.60
Morewood Corporation-Bonds                 42.00           $113.60
     Contributions
General                              $398.00
Societies                               184.52
Home Boxes                               35.19
Special                               1,310.00      1,927.11
Total Income                                                  $2,041.31
     EXPENSES
Beneficiaries                               $1,430.00
Legal Fees                               112.12
Total Expense                                        1,542.12
Excess Income over Expense                                    $499.19

275


COMMENT ON THE WORD 1938

COMMENT ON THE WORD       ALFRED ACTON       1938


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

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

     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address and business communications should be sent to the Business Manager.
     
     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$3.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single Copy, 30 cents.
To the Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:
     Will you allow me briefly to comment on the article "The Holy Body of Divine Truth" which appeared in your April issue. Doctor Odhner there presents the Writings as a Divine Revelation to the New Church and in that sense as the revealed Word. But the article itself is open to the interpretation that conjunction with heaven is ultimately effected only by the Old Testament,-though the New Testament is also included. Thus we read: "In dedicating a Temple, . . . a copy of the literal Word in its original languages is placed upon the High Altar. It is placed there as a reverent representation of the presence of the Lord, without which the church is dead. Sometimes, also, a representative portion from the Heavenly Doctrine is inscribed within its covers, as a token of its interior contents" (pp. 164-65). And again: "Communication takes place through ultimates, and hence by the Word in its literal sense. Conjunction with heaven is by the ultimates of order and truth in the literal sense" (p. 167).

276


"The lower correspondential ultimates provided in the Old and New Testaments furnish the most ultimate power for conjunction with heaven . . . the only orderly approach to the Divine Truth of the Writings, the only complete embodiment of the Lord as the Word" (ibid.). "The Lord is present with man through the ultimate truths of the Word. His Holy Spirit . . . proceeds from the ultimates of His Word"-meaning the Old and New Testaments (ibid., p. 168).
     From this it may be inferred that in the Old and New Testaments the Divine Truth is in power to conjoin man to heaven such as it does not have in the Writings, and that the latter are a complementary revelation. "The three Revelations . . . are the One Body of Divine Truth, viewed as to different planes of organization. In the Writings, the organization of truth may be closely compared with that of the nervous tissues of the brain and its fibers-each fiber terminating in the ultimates, and being there confirmed. In the New Testament, the order of truth is more like that of the various viscera. In the Old Testament, we find it hardened as in bones and hair, sinews, and skin, in which the power subsists" (ibid., p. 165). In other words, the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Writings are three parts of one revelation, each lacking something contained in the other.
     This is not my conception of the teaching of the Writings. In the Old Testament the Lord revealed Himself as the Prophesied Messiah clothed in garments taken from the Jewish mind, through which, however, the Divine Truth shone forth here and there. In the New Testament, He reveals Himself as the Word made flesh. This Revelation is not to be compared to the "viscera" of a body of which the Old Testament is the bone and flesh. It is a Revelation of the Lord as a Man to whom belongs all power in heaven and on earth. The former churches had worshiped an invisible God. The Christian Church was to worship a visible God. Therefore, the flesh and bones, that is to say, the externals whereby Jehovah had been present, as it were, with the Jewish Church, were for the most part abolished; indeed, we have the direct teaching that these externals would have been wholly different had the Old Testament been written among a different people. The Lord made Flesh was now the sole medium between heaven and earth. Hence the Lord abrogated the rites of the Jewish Church,-rites which theretofore had been so strictly enforced because they were necessary for communication with heaven; and in their place He substituted two simple rites which were mirrors of Himself.

277



     Because the Lord Jesus Christ was there revealed as the center of worship, the Christian Church rightly regarded the New Testament as a complete Word, whereby alone they could approach Him and be enlightened. Not that they abolished the Old Testament. That Testament was still the Word whereby the Lord had been present with the human race, and whereby He prepared for His Advent. But it was no longer the source of enlightenment for the church. The Light was now the Lord made Flesh, and it was the New Testament and not the Old that was now to introduce the Christian to a knowledge of the Lord, This we all know from our childhood days, our first knowledge of the Lord being the story of His birth.
     In the Writings, the Lord is revealed as the Divine Glorified Man. This Revelation is not to be compared with "the nervous tissues of the brain" of which the New Testament is the viscera, and the Old, the flesh and bones. The Lord is revealed as Perfect Man, present in lasts as in firsts. And thus revealed, He is now the sole source of light and life to the New Church. Not that the Old and New Testaments are abolished. They still remain as the Divine Word to the Jewish and first Christian Church, and the Divine means of preparation for the crowning revelation of the Lord. But they are to be read only in the light of the Writings. It is the Writings alone that are the source of enlightenment to the New Church; in their ultimate, the Lord in His Glorified Human is present with man in fullness, in holiness, and in power.
     In saying that "the ultimate is more holy than the interior," the term "ultimate" should not be confined to the Old Testament or the New. The Divine Truth is in its fullness and holiness and power in the ultimates of every revelation. Doctor Odhner indeed recognizes this; for, after comparing the Writings with "the organization of the nervous tissues of the brain," he adds that power "resides in the brain cells as well as in the viscera and muscles" (the New and Old Testaments). This, however, implies that the soul is in its power in the brain cells, whereas the power of the soul, while residing in the brain cells, comes to operation and fruition only in the body.

278



     That the Writings have an ultimate cannot be denied. What is denied by many is that this ultimate can serve as the medium conjoining heaven and earth. To do this, they think, the ultimate must be in the form of "mere correspondences." And yet the implications of the Writings themselves clearly show, not only that those Writings have an ultimate letter, but that in that Letter the Lord is present in ultimates with power to teach and to save. "The doctrine of the Church (we read) is to be drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word" (S. S. 50),-from what other source than the Writings can the doctrine of the New Church be drawn? "In the sense of the letter of the Word there is conjunction with the Lord and consociation with the angels" (ibid., 62),-is it not by the truths of the Writings that men are enabled to see and fight against the secret enemies of their spiritual life, that they may be conjoined to the Lord and consociated with angels? "The church is from the Word and is such as is its understanding of the Word" (n. 76),-is not the quality of every Body of the New Church determined by its understanding of the Writings? "Divine Truth in the sense of the letter of the Word is in its fullness, its holiness, and its power" (ibid., n. 37),-is not the Lord fully present in the Writings? is not His holiness there revealed? is He not there in power as never before, to save the human race from the flood of materialism that threatens to destroy it?
     As, in His first coming, the Lord asked His disciples, "Whom say ye that I am?" so now, in His second coming, He asks the same question of each member of the New Church. It is of use, therefore, that we of the General Church, who are united in the acknowledgment of the Writings as the Word now revealed, shall clarify our thought as to what is involved in this acknowledgment.
     ALFRED ACTON.

279


CARA STARKEY GLENN 1938

CARA STARKEY GLENN       RANDOLPH W. CHILDS       1938

     A TRIBUTE

     (At a Memorial Meeting, April 8, 1938.)

     Greatness in a person, as in a work of art, involves a universal quality, and this universal quality implies a singleness of purpose. The sum total of the life of Cara S. Glenn may be expressed in the simple statement that in her life she carried out the principles of the Academy. As a young girl she was inspired by the ideals of the Academy movement, with its faith in the Writings as the Word of God, its joy in the new vision of life opened in the new Revelation, its vital uses and genial diversions of charity, and its promise of the attainment upon earth of that blessed love which is the precious pearl of human life.
     In Robert Morris Glenn she found embodied all her ideals. We know that they found content and happiness in each other. Some of us were not privileged to know him well, but the universal testimony is that he was a man of kindness, of sympathy, of consideration, of understanding, of friendship, of courtliness, of humor, of honor, of tireless devotion to the work of the Academy. He laid out this community, and he built "Glenhurst," carving upon its hearthstone those significant words of Scripture, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." He planned and brought to being the Academy buildings, and then, in the Providence of the Lord, he was taken from us to his labors in the other world.
     Mrs. Glenn has been a tower of strength to her fatherless son and daughters. Every evening she gathered her brood in the library and read from the Word of God. Every day, from sun rising until bedtime, she labored to bring to her family a realization of the blessings and responsibilities involved in a New Church life. This theme dominated her conversations at table and all her contacts with her children and their friends. In her was fulfilled the Scripture injunction: "And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

280


And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates." (Deuteronomy 6:6-9.)
     Here was a New Church woman who, with the special gift of womanhood, could turn the hearts of her children and of her associates to some affection for the things of the spirit. She developed a high standard of New Church morals and manners, and she will always be remembered for her application of doctrine to every phase of family and social life. In her regular attendance at Friday suppers and classes and at church, and in her unfailing financial support of the uses of the church and of the schools, she evidenced her unswerving loyalty to the New Church.
     Yet she did not lack interest in the things which, in every place and in every time, make for a useful and cultural life in this world. She loved music; she was an intelligent conversationalist; she was interested in civic problems, including the political problems of the day; she loved poetry; she was a good housekeeper; and she was socially gifted, and could adapt herself to any person or situation. If anyone will read the inscriptions in the guest-book at Glenhurst, he will find sincere tributes to her many-sided personality. She devoted her life to what we may call "good works," but good works done without thought of merit. She had tolerance for those whose manners and customs differed from her own. She ignored praise; she repudiated pietism. Her warm heart, her keen sense of humor, and her spiritual humility place her as one who loved her fellow men.
     We can form no spiritual judgment of the state of anyone, and yet we are not denied capacity to form some judgment of those who have for a long time lived among us in this world; and in this precious Academy woman we find a life mingled with human sadness and joy, a life achieving in old age the fair ideals of youth, a life proceeding from the innocence of ignorance to the innocence of wisdom.

281


Church News 1938

Church News       Various       1938

     SOUTH AFRICAN MISSION.

     Since our report of December last, the work of the Mission has been following its normal course of activities,-"the common round, the daily task."
     In January, the Rev. and Mrs. Philip Odhner and family spent nearly two weeks at "Kent Manor" with Mr. and Mrs. W. N. Ridgway. Though it was somewhat of a "busman's holiday," Mr. Odhner was able to gain some release from a very busy life in Durban, where a minister has to combine the threefold work of Pastor, School Master and Missionary. At the end of January, the South African Mission Council held its half-yearly meeting at the home of Mr. J. J. Forfar, who has been appointed as an additional member of the Council by Bishop de Charms. Mr. Norman Ridgway came from Alpha; Mr. J. H. Ridgway, and the Revs. Elphick and Odhner, were resident in Durban.
     During February and March, the Rev. F. W. Elphick made a two-week's visit to the Mission at Alpha, staying with Mr. and Mrs. E. J. Waters. Services and classes were held at the Mission, and a special meeting of the Basutoland and Alpha Ministers and Teachers took place at the Alpha Mission on March 1st. The problem of Mission Schools versus New Church Schools was again discussed, and two delegates were elected by ballot to attend a representative meeting of the whole Mission, to be held at Durban in the near future. Rev. Twentyman Mofokeng and C. Herman Mofokeng were the two selected. Nineteen members signed the roll of attendance.
     The Mission has recently experienced a sad accident, due again to lightning,-the fifth visitation of the kind. This time a life was sacrificed with tragic suddenness. On Sunday, February 6, Silas Mote-our Master Carpenter-was visiting Basutoland, opposite Alpha, and during one of those sudden storms which so quickly gather in the Free State and Basutoland during the summer, he was struck by lightning and rendered unconscious. He was taken to the nearest hospital, seven miles distant, but never regained consciousness, and passed away the next day. Rev. Twentyman Mofokeng conducted the burial service at Alpha on February 9.
     Silas Mote had been engaged as carpenter and instructor since July, 1924, being introduced to the Mission by Mr. F. C. Frazee. He was not only a steady and reliable worker, but eventually became a whole-hearted receiver of the Writings, and was a regular attendant at the Tuesday evening doctrinal classes which were specially arranged to meet the need of the teachers at Alpha during the years 1929-1934. In later years, Mote also assisted as lay reader at the Alpha Church when the Native Pastor was away visiting our other Mission Stations in Basutoland.
     The Staff at Alpha, both Native and European, will miss so faithful a worker and member. His uprightness, and steady, kind character, won the respect of all who knew him. His handiwork, in the form of a standard pattern of chancel furniture-altar, reading desk and pulpit-can be seen in many of our Mission churches in Basutoland, Cape Province, The Transvaal and Zululand. Mote leaves a wife and a family of seven children-a home bereaved of husband and father, taken in the prime of life. It was another of these natural calamities in which it is so hard to see the hand of Providence.

282


Yet in Providence we must all verily trust.
     F. W. E.
March 23, 1938.

     SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA.

     Our year opened with the quiet time which succeeds, in our society, the celebrations of the Advent season. The months of January and February,-comparable to July and August in northern latitudes,-were a period of rest in which all but essential uses were laid down, that we might return to them later with re-energized affections. For the greater part of January the Pastor was in the district hospital, and during his absence services were conducted by Pastor Emeritus Richard Morse, while the Sunday School was led by its able Secretary, Mr. Ossian Heldon.
     The principal event in this opening month was the banquet held on January 29 to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Swedenborg's birth. Thirty guests were present at this function, which commenced with an attractive social meal, and was under the capable charge of Mr. Sydney Heldon as toastmaster. Following his introductory remarks, a number of addresses on Swedenborg, published in New Church Life, were read by the Rev. Richard Morse and Messrs. Ossian Heldon, Fred W. Fletcher, and Norman Heldon, and interesting discussions ensued. Toasts to "The Church," "Swedenborg," and "Friends Across the Sea," were honored in wine and song. Impromptu toasts followed, notably one to the memory of the late Bishop Emeritus N. D. Pendleton, and opportunity was taken to extend a welcome to Mrs. Martha White, of South Australia, who is visiting her daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher. After a recess, the program was concluded with a short play, written by Mrs. Henderson, in which scenes drawn from the Memorabilia depicted a few of Swedenborg's more striking experiences in the spiritual world. On the following Sunday appropriate addresses were given to the Sunday School children, and each was presented with a framed photograph of Swedenborg as a souvenir of the occasion.
     Another successful annual Sunday School picnic was held on the first Saturday in February, and the beginning of March found us entering again on our full program of uses. Morning services were resumed on Sunday, the 6th, and at the first Evangelical Service of the year, held that evening, the sermon was on "The Divine Word." (Psalm 119:105.) The Young People's Class met for the first time on the following Thursday, and commenced a short course of study in the doctrine of the spiritual world. In the general Doctrinal Class, which began the next Sunday, the Pastor commenced a series of lectures on the laws of the Divine Providence.
     The Ladies' Guild has held two successful meetings, and at the first Men's Meeting of the year a thoughtful paper on "The Acknowledgment and Perception of the Lord," was presented by Mr. Alfred Kirschstein. One card party has been held, and both Business and Social Committees have resumed their useful activities; so there remains only the Young People's Club, which will soon be in action again. The quarter closes on a note of preparation for Easter, and of the events connected therewith we shall speak in our next report.
     W. C. H.

     THE HAGUE, HOLLAND.

     We are eagerly looking forward to the month of June, when Dr. and Mrs. Iungerich will come to live among us. This is a matter of great happiness and thankfulness in our society, and we sincerely hope that they will feel at home in our country.
     At the Sunday service on March 27, Dr. Iungerich preached on the text of Isaiah 55:8, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord," and showed how the Lord sees all things from an eternal point of view.

283


For the service in April we hope to use a Liturgy, translated from the English, in typewritten form.
     Our weekly meeting on Easter Sunday was held in the Engeltjes home, and an appropriate sermon by the Rev. Victor J. Gladish was read by Mr. Engeltjes in a Dutch translation. The sermon was preceded by the singing of an anthem, and followed by a beautiful rendering of Schubert's Impromptu on the piano by Miss Hetty Engeltjes. Mr. Francis then spoke about the crucifixion, pointing out that it was a symbol of men's rejection of the Lord as God of heaven and earth, while the preceding maltreatment by men signified the falsification of the Word. With those who accepted the Lord, a "resurrection" was effected in their hearts. Miss Helderman read an article from an old periodical which we found interesting and inspiring. It dealt with the subject of worship, and showed how the acts of the worshipers are in themselves changing states of affection, every act being a preparation for the one following. Thus alternate kneeling, sitting, and rising represent humility and repentance, meditation, and elevation of the thoughts and affections. The responses and prayers by minister and people together involve cooperation for the sake of union.
     LAMBERTINE FRANCIS.

     TORONTO, CANADA.

     The Easter celebrations have once again gladdened our hearts and uplifted our thoughts, leaving behind many ideas upon which all may repeat with profit during the subsequent months. The Children's Palm Sunday Service was well attended, and the floral offerings by the young worshipers brought a note of unusual innocence and beauty. The Good Friday Service, held in the evening of that day, was simple and dignified, being for the most part a musical one. The Easter Sunday Service, at which the sacrament of the Holy Supper was administered, was most inspiring, and served as a beautiful culmination of the Easter activities.
     Local talent, experienced and otherwise, provided a most enjoyable evening's entertainment on April 23, in a group of plays entitled "1938 Medley." A dainty pantomime, "A Young Man's Fancy," opened the program, after which Miss Lorna Barber, in a charming vocal solo, introduced the second section, a skit entitled "The Family Album of Mrs. Elmira Peas." "Mrs. Peas"-Miss Edina Carswell-fittingly introduced each portrait, which, upon being viewed, brought forth chuckles of mirth from an appreciative audience. A one-act comedy-"Five Birds in a Cage"-concluded a successful evening. Congratulations are due the cast under the direction of Mrs. Ray Brown and Mr. Alec Craigie, who spent much time and energy in making such an entertainment possible.
     The evening of April 30 found a dozen members of the Forward-Sons journeying to Kitchener, where they were most cordially received by the Men's Club there. After a delightful supper, Mr. Desmond McMaster, of Toronto, gave an interesting paper on "Freedom and Responsibility." As was to be expected, the subject aroused much discussion.     
     M. S. P.

     GLENVIEW, ILL.

     For our distinctive Palm Sunday Service the children of the School wore robes and carried palms, and the singing and recitation were exceptionally good. An offering of flowers from all the children of the society is also part of this service, and is a very impressive scene. Two of the choir members assist the pastor in placing the flowers upon the chancel, where they form a mass of color. The School sang two numbers from advance leaves of the new Liturgy.
     On Good Friday an evening Communion Service was held in preparation for Easter. The next evening, a series of beautiful tableaux were presented. The pastor read passages from the Word on the subject of the Lord's life, introducing the separate tableaux, and a chorus sang appropriate selections.

284


The scenes were: The Proclamation by John the Baptist; Simeon and Anna in the Temple; the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem; the Crucifixion; and the Resurrection There was complete silence during the showing of all except the last tableau, when the singing by the chorus made a strong climax. In preparing these representations the pastor was assisted by R Miss Lois Nelson and Mr. George Fuller, whose labors chiefly made the undertaking possible.          
     After Christmas and until Easter the texts of the sermons by our pastor are from the New Testament; and after Easter until June 19th they are from the Apocalypse and from the Writings. The Friday Supper Table Talks have recently been on the subject of Creation. At the regular meeting of the Women's Guild, Miss Dorothy Nelson gave a talk on the subject of "Digestion," in place of the usual address by the pastor.
     The School Committee,-a special council,-met on May 1, and it was decided to engage the same staff of teachers in our school for next year: The Misses Gladys Blackman, Venita Roschman, Agathea Starkey, Lois Nelson, and Mrs. Trumbull Scalbum for Kindergarten.
     Visitors for the month were Mr. "Sep." Braby from Indianapolis, originally from South Africa, and Mr. Walter Childs, of Saginaw, Mich., who spent his vacation getting acquainted with our young folk. We hope to see them often.
     J. B. S.

     PITTSBURGH, PA.

     During the present year the society has enjoyed two interesting series of doctrinal classes. In September we began a study of the Abraham series in the Arcana, the members reading a chapter at time in preparation for the class in which that chapter was to be treated. In considering this subject, Mr. Pendleton laid special emphasis on those passages which treated of the Lord's glorification. The more we progressed, the more evident it became that the Arcana Celestia might be called the essential work of the Writings. For it is here that the doctrine of the Lord is most fully treated,-"the doctrine upon which the new revelation is founded, the cornerstone which the builders of the Christian Church rejected."
     After Easter, the pastor began a presentation of the Sacraments and Rites of the Church, readings by the members being suggested for each class. The first two classes have considered the Sacrament of Baptism and the Rite of Betrothal, and have been attended by unprecedented numbers. During the past four years the attendance at doctrinal class has gradually increased, so that today the large majority of the members have become regular attendants. Doctrinal classes have also been conducted in Tarentum, Pa., and our Reading Group, Woman's Guild, and Theta Alpha have met regularly.     
     A social affair of merit was the dance in February under the able management of Mr. and Mrs. Chas. H. Ebert, Jr. The auditorium was turned into a boat, and we sailed away to the rhythm of one of the best orchestras we have had in a long time. A card party for the benefit of the mortgage fund was given on March 18, Mrs. D. P. Lindsay and Mrs. R. L. Goerwitz managing this affair most successfully.
     In the absence of the pastor, the Rev. Elmo C. Acton conducted the service on March 27, and preached a splendid sermon.
     Easter morning saw all out bright and early for the Children's Service. The children brought floral offerings, and sang a Bach chorale as a special feature. We feel that Miss Gaskill has done much with the children's singing. The adult service at eleven o'clock was for the administration of the Holy Supper.
     Mr. Roy Jansen took us "Around to the World with Posters" on April 30,-a most instructive and entertaining trip, as were the foreign characterizations by Mr. John Johns.

285



     The society welcomes Dr. and Mrs. John A. Doering and daughter, who have recently moved to the Northside, where Dr. Doering is in general practice of medicine; the return of Mr. and Mrs. M. Emerson Good and daughter; also Mr. and Mrs. Theodore N. Glenn, who will reside here after their honeymoon.
     E. R. D.

     ATLANTA, GEORGIA.

     Having recently returned from a brief visit to Atlanta, it is my privilege to report that our little group in that city, though lacking pastoral visits, has in no wise fallen by the way. Nowhere will one find a more active and interested group of New Churchmen. Arriving there on Saturday, April 9, I was met at the depot by Mr. J. A. Fraser and Mr. Henry Barnitz. From there we went to the home of Mrs. Crockett, where we all had dinner, after which I conducted a doctrinal class, which was followed by discussion and conversation.
     The following day, Palm Sunday, I conducted a service and administered the Holy Supper at the Crockett home, the congregation numbering ten adults and three children.
     There is much more that might be said concerning this little group, but space will not permit. However, I will long remember the cordial reception, and will look forward to the day when I can once again renew the friendships which were established on that occasion.
     W. D. P.

     DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

     At our regular service on Sunday, May 1, the attendance was 39, including 14 children and four visitors from Cleveland, Ohio,-Mrs. Frank Day and her daughters, Marian and Dorothy, and Mr. Jack Lindrooth. It is always a great pleasure to welcome visitors from other General Church centers. Their presence adds much to the sphere of our worship, and we hope to have others as our guests during the year. Mrs. Reuter accompanied her husband on this visit, and Mrs. Deppisch came over from Riverside, Ont., with Mrs. Harold Bellinger.
     The sermon unfolded the spiritual sense of the oft-quoted, though little understood, words, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." (Matt. 18:20.)
     The musical portion of the service was featured by a soprano solo, "The Lord is my Shepherd," beautifully rendered by Miss Freda Cook.
     At an extended business session, held following the usual luncheon and attended by 21 adult members, there was an enthusiastic discussion of plans and suggestions looking toward increasing the activities of our group, and, if possible, providing for a better form of organization than the one under which we are operating. While it is realized that we are not yet ready, financially or otherwise, to be incorporated as a society of the General Church, we feel that we have progressed beyond the status of a "group" receiving the ministrations of the Visiting Pastor. We should like to become organized on a more permanent basis, and drop the adjective "Visiting" from our pastor's title. There was also talk of requesting an increase in the number from six of Mr. Reuter's visits to eight, if it can be arranged.
     Another suggestion, which met with unqualified approval, was that the groups at Cleveland, Akron and Youngstown, Ohio, be invited to join with the Michigan group in a district assembly, to be held over a weekend some time during the Summer or Fall.
     On this visit our pastor conducted a class for children on Saturday afternoon, and a doctrinal class on Saturday evening, his subject being:-"Appearances of Truth,"-an excellent presentation of this subject which proved most enlightening and was followed by prolonged discussion. The attendance was nine.

286


Mr. Reuter also made his customary visit at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Bellinger at Riverside, Ont., where he gave instruction to the children of the family. He reports that they are making very gratifying progress.
     Before the next pastoral visit on June 4th and 5th, we plan to hold another informal meeting to continue the reading of Bishop de Charms' lectures on "Reflection," and to enjoy a social hour.
     W. W. W.

     KITCHENER, CANADA.

     After our society supper on Friday, April 8, we had the pleasure of listening to a report of the Annual Council Meetings, held at Bryn Athyn. The Rev. Alan Gill and the Rev. Norman H Reuter, and our teachers, Miss Anna Heinrichs and Miss Phyllis Cooper, shared in giving a resume of the meetings. We were all much interested, and the account served to strengthen our feeling of union within the Church.
     During the absence of our ministers and teachers, the school was closed in place of the Easter recess, and the Sunday services and doctrinal class were omitted, but a very successful card party was held during the week by the "Antiques," and many took this opportunity of getting together socially during the lull in society functions.
     On Good Friday evening a special Communion Service was held. White candles and white flowers adorned the chancel. On Sunday morning at the Children's Service an offering of flowers was made individually by the children as they marched in singing,-a feature that was beautiful to see and delightful to the children themselves. The adult Easter Service followed.
     On Monday evening the society met socially at a "Recession Party," and although we charged only in pennies for everything, we were pleasantly surprised to find that all expenses were covered and a nice balance left over. The guests seemed to drop a few years from their ages with the donning of their old clothes, and some old-fashioned childhood games were played with a great deal of fun and hilarity. In addition, some lantern pictures of friends and places in the Church afforded plenty of interest and amusement.
     On Saturday, April 30, our Men's Club had the pleasure of entertaining a number of men from the Olivet Church, Toronto. After supper, Mr. Desmond McMaster, of Toronto, presented a paper on "Freedom and Responsibility," which inspired a lively discussion. We were delighted to have some of the visitors remain until Sunday.
     Mrs. George Schnarr, a member loved by us all, passed into the spiritual world on Friday, April 29. We shall miss her, but we rejoice with her in her awakening to the higher life.
     D. K.

     DEATH OF MR. BJORCK.

     The Rev. Albert Bjorck passed into the spiritual world from his home in Sweden on April 10, 1938, in his eighty-second year. He was ordained in 1890, and for thirty years was engaged in ministerial uses in Sweden and the United States before joining the General Church in 1920. Thereafter he ministered to the members in Bath and Salisbury, England, but was compelled by ill health to go to the Island of Mallorca, later returning to England, and more recently to his native land. Many of his writings, in the form of doctrinal articles and sermons, appeared in New Church Life during a period of twenty years. He and Mrs. Bjorck, who survives him, resigned from the General Church on May 4, 1937.

287


MINISTERIAL CHANGES 1938

MINISTERIAL CHANGES              1938




     Announcements.



     Owing to the retirement of the Rev. Willis L. Gladish, pastor of Sharon Church, Chicago, that society has extended a call to Candidate Morley D. Rich to become its minister, and he will enter upon his duties there in September.

     Mr. Gladish terminates a successful pastorate of eighteen years in Sharon Church and over forty years of activity in the priestly uses of the New Church. He was ordained a minister of the General Convention in 1894, but resigned the pastorate of the Indianapolis Society in 1903, and entered the Theological School of the Academy in the Fall of that year, graduating the following June, and being received as a member of the Clergy of the General Church. He was pastor at Middleport, 1904-1914, and became pastor of Sharon Church in 1920.
PUBLICATIONS 1938

PUBLICATIONS              1938

     Communication. A Monograph for New Church English Teachers. Written and Compiled by a Group of Teachers and Students in the Academy of the New Church.
     In clear, mimeographed form, this volume has just been issued, and its contents should be of great interest and value to teachers and to the New Church reader and student. Miss Frances Margarita Buell, who has taken a leading part in the undertaking, explains the object of the publication in a Preface, from which we quote the opening words:
     "For purposes of study, communication means essentially speech, writing, reading; a recognition of the higher and more universal means of communicating ideas; a recognition also of the use of writing, which is revelation; a recognition of the characteristics of human writing; a recognition of the analytical laws of human thought and thence of human speech; a recognition of forms such as letters, words, and grammatical usages; and a recognition that all literature is written in the light of revelation."
     The long series of articles and studies, grouped under the headings, To Write, To Read, and The Spoken Word, treat of the forms of Revelation, of Literature in general, of speaking in Debates, the Drama, etc. They are fruits of the effort to bring the light of the New Church into the teaching of all subjects.
     Quarto, 73 pages. Price, in Bryn Athyn, 60 cents; elsewhere, post paid, 75 cents. Write to Miss Freda Pendleton, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
THIRTY-FIRST BRITISH ASSEMBLY 1938

THIRTY-FIRST BRITISH ASSEMBLY       VICTOR J. GLADISH       1938

     Members and friends of the General Church of the New Jerusalem are cordially invited to attend the Thirty-first British Assembly, which will be held at Michael Church, Burton Road, Brixton, London, on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, July 30 to August 1, 1938. By appointment of the Bishop, the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal, of Toronto, Canada, will preside. Those expecting to be present are requested to notify the Secretary as soon as possible, or to write to Miss Mary Lewin, 80 Beckwith Road, London, S.E. 24, in regard to accommodations.
     VICTOR J. GLADISH,
          Secretary. 67 Lexden Road, Colchester, England.
ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH 1938

ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH       EDWARD F. ALLEN       1938

     The Annual Joint Meeting of the Corporation and Faculty of the Academy of the New Church will be held in the chapel of Benade Hall, Bryn Athyn, Pa., on Saturday, June 11, 1938, at 8.00 p.m. The public is cordially invited to attend.
     After opportunity has been given for the presentation and discussion of the Annual Reports of the officers of the Academy, an Address will be delivered by the Rev. Dr. Hugo Lj. Odhner.
     EDWARD F. ALLEN.
          Secretary.

289


LIVING IN THE PRESENT 1938

LIVING IN THE PRESENT       Rev. ALAN GILL       1938


NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. LVIII          July, 1938           No. 7
     "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself." (Matthew 6:34.)

     The general meaning of these words from the Sermon on the Mount is plain. As translated in the Writings, their meaning becomes even plainer. "Be ye not therefore solicitous for the morrow, for the morrow will take care of the things of itself." (A. C. 8478.)
     The teaching is, that we should live for the present, and not for the future; or, that we should live in the present, and not in the future, as so many do in thought and affection. Common perception sees the wisdom of this Divine teaching, as it also sees the foolishness of the mode of life which ignores it. Yet how many people merely endure the present, while hopefully awaiting some future Utopia,-greater happiness in some form, be it riches or honors, or simply freedom from struggle, freedom from work, and a life of ease, comfort, peace or rest! A contemporary writer has expressively termed this common failing "the futurite delusion," which well describes the fallacious outlook on life prevailing with those who regard their present state or occupation as an unfortunate and undeserved interlude, a mere marking-time, which must be tolerated until fate, or Providence, brings them their well-merited reward.

     How common is the failure to realize the truth of the statement that "tomorrow never comes," or to understand why "tomorrow never comes"!

290


The natural man fails to realize or understand that the happiness hopefully envisioned and anticipated is a state of mind, and that tomorrow's circumstances,-no matter how greatly they may be changed, and even if they be improved beyond one's wildest expectations,-will never bring about a change of state; they will never bring contentment where before there was discontent, and so will never bring the "morrow" that is hopefully anticipated. For this ever looking to the future,-this "greener pastures delusion," as it has also been so aptly called,-is the offspring of the love of self, which never knows contentment with the present lot, being the very antithesis thereof.

     Self-love is utterly blind to the fact that changed external circumstances, such as are hoped for "tomorrow," will themselves never cause a change of internal slate. A change of state can only come from within, from a change of mind and heart, thus with regeneration, which, indeed, it is. So that when tomorrow comes, and brings with it no change of state, then, howsoever altered the external circumstance may be, it is still the present, so far as one's state of mind is concerned. The mental response to the new circumstances remains essentially the same as before. The critic remains critical, the cynic cynical, and the pessimist pessimistic. The brighter future remains as far out of reach as ever. And it will so remain as long as the internal state remains unchanged, as long as the mind and heart remain the same, as long as the will and understanding are not made new, reborn. In such a case the future never comes, either in this world or the next.

     "Utopia" is simply the futurist's name for his idea of heavenly happiness. But "the kingdom of heaven (and its happiness) is within you," is present with you. That is to say, it is already here; it is a thing of the present with those who, as of themselves, have delivered themselves from the domination of the loves of self and the world, and have acquired the loves of the Lord and the neighbor. Such live only in the present, where alone one's use lies. Here and note, is to be found the only heaven, the only happiness, the only peace, the only rest, there is. The hope of finding it at some future time, when one's circumstances are changed for the better, when conditions have improved, but one's state has not, is a delusion.

     Equally deluded is he who plans to repent, reform or regenerate at some future date, before it is too late.

291


He will find it very difficult, if not impossible, to carry out his plan. This for the reason that habits are formed early and easily; and he who forms the habit of spiritual procrastination, of putting off till tomorrow matters of spiritual moment which should be attended to today, will find it difficult indeed to break the habit when tomorrow comes.

     In the realm of the mind or spirit there is no time; there is only progression of state. There is no past and no future. There is only the present. When we think of spiritual state, we do not think of any time. Nor is there any. The two cannot be associated together. State exists and progresses altogether regardless of time. It is true that in this world there may be a definite progression of state in a given time; but as we can never with any certainty determine the nature or degree of progression as to our interior states,-any more than we can with any definiteness judge as to our spiritual state at any given time,-so we can never be conscious of any relationship between time and state in our lives; and so, to all practical purposes, there is none.

     Nor is there any definite relationship between state and space, or between state and our natural environment. That is to say, a particular new environment in which we may find ourselves will never itself effect a corresponding change of state in us. In our free determination we may choose to make an essentially different use of the new environment, in comparison with the use we made of our former environment. But this presupposes a definite change of state within us,-a change that is wrought from within, not from without.

     Our environment-using the term in its broadest sense, as including our society, education, and so on-is an instrument provided by the Lord for the Divine end of furthering our use to others, and thus to the perfecting of His eternal kingdom of the heavens. In so far as we use this Divinely appointed instrument wisely, that is, for spiritual ends, it will also prove effective in furthering the progress of our own spiritual state. But it may or may not be used wisely; it may or may not effect a change of state within us. This is not determined by the nature of the environment or instrument. Two men may live in the same surroundings and company, and receive the same education; they may even be similar as to genius, disposition and temperament; and yet the one may make wise use of these opportunities, the other may utterly abuse them.

292


The one may be content with his lot, the other not. The determination lies with the men themselves, in their faculties of free decision, whereby they are ever kept by the Lord in absolute freedom to choose in what manner they shall be influenced by their environment.

     It may be objected that one's environment has a more potent effect than this. When we are not in good health, when we are surrounded by miserable conditions, or when, despite our utmost efforts, business is bad, and our family suffers in consequence, can we help it if we come into a state of discontent! Is it wrong under such circumstances to look forward with hope to happier times?

     The regenerating man may become discouraged, yes; but he becomes so because he realizes that, for the time being, he cannot be of as much ultimate use to others as he would wish. And it would not be wrong for him to look to and hope for better times. Yet he also acknowledges that all things are in the hands of an all-wise Providence, which looks to eternal rather than temporal ends, and that the Lord permits nothing to happen unless good can result therefrom. Adverse circumstances, therefore, will not make him discontented. But the merely natural man becomes discouraged, not on account of any love of performing uses for the sake of others, but on account of his craving for satiating the lusts of self and of the world. He has no regard for uses to the neighbor, but only for material benefits to himself; and self is never satisfied or content. But let us hear what our Doctrine teaches as to "how angelic spirits view whatever comes to pass." For what is possible with angelic spirits in this regard, as in most others, is also possible with men. We read:

     "I perceived by a spiritual idea, communicated by angelic spirits, that they so regard existing things as to recognize the Lord's disposal and permission in every particular. They unceasingly look upon the events that occur as proceeding from the Lord, thus disposing and permitting; yet not as men, or non-evil, or evil spirits do, who would fain have the Lord dispose things according to their views, phantasies, and cupidities, and who, when things happen otherwise, give way to doubt and deny a providence; all of which flows from the fact that they are not in faith, and thus from their phantasies would have the universe and all its details governed just as they would govern it themselves.

293


They neither can nor will acknowledge that all and singular events happen in such a way that man may not perceive it, and thus may be kept in faith, or brought to the state of angelic spirits, of whom I am now speaking, especially that man should not be solicitous about the future, or trust to his own prudence. Wherefore, those who are in faith rarely obtain the objects of their desire while they desire them; but, if it be for their good, they obtain them afterwards, when not thinking of them." (Spiritual Diary 3538.) That men may cultivate such a faith, they are to heed the injunction of our text, "Be ye not therefore solicitous for the morrow, for the morrow will take care of the things of itself."

     Common perception dictates that there is an orderly and legitimate thought for the morrow, and that there is a disorderly and forbidden thought for the morrow. Whether it be the one or the other is determined by the end that is held in view. If the end in view is selfish gain, then thought for the morrow is disorderly and forbidden, as are all other things that have self-gratification as an end. But if, when contemplating the future, the end in view is the neighbor, the Lord's kingdom, and thus the Lord Himself, or, what is the same, the performance of eternal uses,-then thought of the future, because it will be thought about uses in this world and in the next,-thought as to how they may best be advanced,-will be orderly and good.

     Yet, what is wonderful, the more fully the mind is in such thought, and the more fully this end is held in view, the less will there seem to be, and the less will there actually be, a looking to the future. There will be some vision of the end to be attained, of the end in view, of course. Always there will be such a looking to the future, if one can call it that. But the clearer the vision, and the more determined the end of accomplishing the use, the more immediately and the more fully in the present will the mind or spirit dwell. For it will be in the full knowledge and realization that only at the present time, only today, can a man perform that part or phase of the use which it is his duty to perform today.

     No matter how humble or uncongenial the duties of one's calling may appear, no matter how small the apparent service and how seemingly futile the effort, let the work that lies immediately before him be regarded as the present ultimate form of his spiritual use, and let it be attended to as assiduously as if he held the office of a king.

294


The alternative attitude,-that of merely enduring the present while wistfully waiting for what the future may or may not bring,-is an attitude that is destructive of spiritual life itself. When such an attitude becomes habitual, we are taught, "the sense of a man becomes so general that he thinks of nothing distinctly, and thus the mind remains indeterminate. Such is the slate of those who give way to prevailing thoughts of the future, and thence become mentally emaciated and void of understanding." (S. D. 4150.) Elsewhere it is declared that "solicitude about the future, when confirmed by act, greatly dulls and retards the influx of spiritual life, for men then attribute to themselves that which is of the Divine Providence; and they who do this obstruct the influx, and take away from themselves the life of good and truth." (A. C. 5117.) And again we are taught that "conjecture about what is to come, and the remembrance of the past, are what take away every pleasantness and felicity of life. Hence come anxieties, cares, solicitudes." (S. D. 2190.)

     The cure for this tendency to be solicitous for the morrow, and the ability to live in the present rather than in the future, lies altogether in the acquisition of faith,-faith in the Lord's all-wise Providence, a living faith in the revealed teaching that the Lord, in His Providence, overrules all things, external as well as internal, for man's eternal well-being. For we read further in the Heavenly Doctrine:

     "The Divine Providence, in its whole progress with man, looks to his eternal state. It can look to nothing else, because the Divine is Infinite and Eternal, and the Infinite and Eternal, that is, the Divine, is not in time, and therefore all future things are present to it; and the Divine being such, it follows that there is what is eternal in each and every thing that it does. But those who think from time and space scarcely perceive this, not only because they love temporal things, but also because they think from what is present in the world, and not from what is present in heaven, for that is to them as far away as the end of the earth. But when those who are in the Divine (that is, in the stream of Divine Providence) think from what is present, they think also from what is eternal, because they think from the Lord, saying within themselves, What is that which is not eternal? Is not the temporal relatively nothing, and does it not become nothing when it is ended! It is not so with what is eternal; that alone Is: for its esse has no end.

295


To think thus when thinking from what is present is to think at the same time from what is eternal; and when a man so thinks, and at the same time so lives, the Divine Proceeding in him, that is, the Divine Providence, looks in its entire progress to the state of his eternal life in heaven, and loads towards it." (D P. 59.)

     "Be not therefore solicitous for the morrow for the morrow will take care of the things of itself." Amen.

     LESSONS: Psalm 37; Luke 12:13-34; A. C. 8478, or S. D. 3624-3628.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 527, 533, 559.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 136, 147.
NEW CHURCH AMBASSADORS 1938

NEW CHURCH AMBASSADORS       GEORGE H. WOODARD       1938

     (Paper read at the Philadelphia District Assembly, April 2, 1938.)

     As a relatively new member of the New Church, it is quite natural that I should be seriously interested in the processes through which others of our outside neighbors may come to receive and acknowledge the Heavenly Doctrines. T think we all agree that, as recipients and guardians of the Writings in this world, it is our duty to share that responsibility and its blessings with all who may be in proper state to receive them. Since it is not given us to judge the interior state of the neighbor, we can only assume that he is in a state to receive, and therefore assist him in every way possible to overcome those prejudices which bar the way to his acknowledgment. On this much, as I have said, we are all fairly well agreed.

     There is less agreement, perhaps, upon the method by which this assistance may most effectively be rendered. In this connection, there are two rather simple points toward which I would like to direct your attention tonight. The first is the use performed, consciously or unconsciously, by the members of outlying and scattered New Church groups in their daily contacts with the neighbor outside the Church. The second is the support which should be and in fact, is afforded to this important function by members of the central, homogeneous society of the district-in this case, of course, Bryn Athyn.

296


Both the outlying groups and Bryn Athyn have definite and distinctive parts to play in this business of helping the neighbor, and a proper understanding of these roles by both may lead to ever more useful results.

     How does an outsider first become interested in the New Church?-A few may be aroused to affirmative interest after curiosity has led them independently to read the works of Emanuel Swedenborg, but I believe that such cases are rather rare. By far the more common experience is the stimulation of interest through personal contact with members of the Church. There seems to be little dispute on this point. What happens when the Church receives a new member!-We all ask, "Who brought him in!"-And how does personal influence operate upon the neighbor? Not usually by intellectual persuasion, nor by argument over religious concepts. Such discussions always leave an open gap which cannot be completely bridged by intellectual effort. The bridge across that gap is faith-the affirmative faith of the novitiate in doctrines which he is yet unable to comprehend and appreciate. Without some degree of affirmation, without some degree of faith, the average intelligent reader jumps only too easily to the erroneous conclusion voiced by Emerson, namely: that the religious writings of Swedenborg are the curious product of a once brilliant scientific mind, which, in old age, fell into the darkness of mysticism. By ordinary human standards, Emerson was no fool. He read Swedenborg extensively, but without faith-and that was all he got for his labor.

     I have heard of other scientific students who have spent more time studying the Writings than many of us here tonight, yet these are not among us in the New Church. They didn't start their studies with that little grain of affirmative faith which would have permitted them, before they had finished, to accept those basic statements which proclaim the Writings to be Divine Revelation. To those of us who have begun our religious experience with implanted faith in those statements, there appears throughout the Writings more than ample confirmation of this fundamental truth. But subject those same statements to legal or scientific examination, in which physical or worldly evidence alone can be accepted, and the skeptic judge cannot be convinced. Add a little interior enlightenment to the judgment, and the entire picture changes.

297


From that point onward, the Writings furnish their own undeniable proof. I think that here we have the clue to Emerson's failure to grasp the truth.

     How may that initial faith be implanted with the neighbor?-There are probably many ways, but, speaking from personal experience, and from the experiences of several acquaintances who have come to the Church as adults, I can say quite positively that the outsider is frequently influenced toward an attitude of affirmation through observing the homes and the lives of New Churchmen. If we are true New Churchmen, living in accordance with the precepts which have been given us, there cannot but exist something distinctive in our external way of life that will distinguish our homes from those of any other people or sect. The neighbor, coming among us, observes this sphere and, quite naturally, looks to the obvious source. If he enjoys and admires the sphere, faith in the source comes to him unconsciously.

     I believe that this theory is undeniable fact,-a fact which places upon every New Churchman a serious responsibility and a plain duty. First, for the neighbor's benefit as well as our own, we must conduct our lives in true accord with our religious precepts. Secondly, we should, so far as may be practicable, open ourselves to those of our neighbors whom we find congenial. Right here is where the members of the outlying New Church groups find one of their outstanding uses-as ambassadors of the Church to the world. These members, who probably number around one half of the total General Church membership, have, in Providence, been placed geographically apart and hence in close physical contact with outsiders. These members should be happy to perform the use to which they have been appointed, and strong to meet the challenge of the world around them.

     There is not much question as to what they are slowly accomplishing. Statistics seem to testify to that. Taking records over a five-year period from the NEW CHURCH LIFE, I find that over 80 per cent of all adults baptized into the Church lived, at the time, well outside the vicinities of Bryn Athyn and Glenview, or were, as nearly as I can determine, influenced by Church members who did not belong to either of those groups. If you consider all groups except Bryn Athyn and Glenview as scattered, because of the fact that these two communities are the only ones inhabited exclusively by New Churchmen, whose homes are closely grouped together, you can say that over 80 per cent of our recent new members have been influenced to join the Church by old members who were living in the midst of outsiders.

298




     Good friends are made by common needs, and the New Churchman who finds himself living among men of the Old Church usually discovers that a neighbor next door or down the street is of some importance to him in the daily necessities of life. The unexpected need for a half pint of milk or a dozen ice cubes has founded the bridge across many a social gulf. On the Hill of Cohesion, all ice cubes are strictly New Church, but in Springfield, over on the other side of Philadelphia, my Manhattan is occasionally chilled with Presbyterian ice-which so far hasn't spoiled my digestion; while my neighbor's Martini sometimes assumes a slight New Church tinge-which, if repeated in frequent doses, may some day become of considerable importance in his life.

     So much for the New Church ambassador and his job. That covers the first point of which I spoke at the beginning. The second point, you will remember, is the use performed by members of the central Bryn Athyn Society in supporting the work of the ambassador-in helping to provide something tangible which he can represent. Essentially, of course, he represents the Church, which means that the Writings are the true and primary source of his inspiration; also, they are tangible. But, as I have already suggested, the thing which we can show the outsider to best advantage is our own interpretation of the Writings ultimated in our external way of life. The Hill of Cohesion, set aside as far as possible from the pressure of the outer world, and from its contaminating influences, is an ideal laboratory in which to develop those social usages and customs which give outward expression to our ideals. Every New Church home constitutes such a laboratory, it is true, and that is one of the reasons why we place such strong emphasis upon home life.

     On a larger scale, however, the homogeneous, solid, New Church center gives birth to those social customs, or mores, which relate to the mass conduct of whole groups of families. In many cases it is difficult to draw the line between those distinctive habits which arise from association of individuals in large groups and those which are developed and preserved within the confines of the home.

299


To illustrate the former, I might mention the toast to the Church, which ordinarily precedes all others at our social functions; the pronouncement of the blessing at public banquets, which is now practically obsolete outside the Church; the Friday night supper and doctrinal class, with their distinctive forms of procedure; and, last, our marriage celebration without benefit of rice and old shoes. These are but a few, and probably not the most important, of the public customs which we have evolved, and which we will maintain without regard to outside social trends. I do not mean to suggest that all of these distinctive observances have been developed at Bryn Athyn, or in any particular society. It is quite evident, however, that such customs came into existence and are preserved only through frequent and exclusive gatherings of New Churchmen in fairly large numbers.

     We develop these customs instinctively, not merely because they give us pleasure, but because they contain the living expression of our highest ideals. Accumulated slowly over many years, they form a treasured heritage. Compare any Old Church gathering which you may have attended with a corresponding New Church social function, and you will appreciate the value of this possession. Its influence extends into the life of every New Churchman who at- tends our meetings with any degree of regularity, and fortifies his confidence and his loyalty to the Church. Public customs spontaneously evolved are not propaganda; they are the open picture of a people's will and character. To this picture each of us adds his own light touch, but the painting as a whole is performed in such centers as Bryn Athyn, where New Churchmen congregate frequently and in the largest groups. To this picture any one of us from the various outlying groups may look in times of stress. When the pressure of Old Church influence seems heavy and close upon us, it may revive our confidence in the power of the Writings to bring order into a disordered world. It may help us to appreciate, in our geographic isolation, the importance of maintaining the distinctiveness of New Church living.

     To Bryn Athyn we might say, Guard well the picture which together we are painting! To our unofficial ambassadors in the outlying districts we may say, Look often to the painting! Working in unison, uncompromising in our faith, we may preserve the Church for ourselves and for our children, and yet offer it openly to the neighbor.

300


It is my hope that this District Assembly may be but one of many similar occasions when we shall paint and look together.
HOME EDUCATION AWAY FROM CHURCH SCHOOLS 1938

HOME EDUCATION AWAY FROM CHURCH SCHOOLS       CARITA PENDLETON DE CHARMS       1938

     Parents in the New Church all over the world wish their children might begin their school days under New Church teachers, or at least with a New Church curriculum. Many of us, however, are not in a position to live in church centers where our young children can attend church schools. The Writings teach that "as to remains, they are not only the goods and truths which a man has from the Lord's Word from childhood up, . . . but they are also all the states derived thence, such as states of innocence, states of love, and states of charity." (A. C. 561.) We know that few such remains can be stored up when children, at the tender age of six, are placed in schools all day where there is no knowledge of remains, little knowledge of the Lord's Word, and a seeming effort to break down states of love and innocence.

     It would seem almost a necessity to start school in a sphere of the church. In the Spiritual Dairy, no. 1531, we read: "That order may be perfect, celestial and spiritual truths must be inrooted in natural truths." Also, "That the essence and quality of the beginning is derived and passes over into the things which follow" (A. C. 3939), and "that the beginning reigns in the things which follow" (A. C. 4717). The beginning being so important, should we intrust these beginnings to old church teachers? Feeling that we should not, I have endeavored to start our children at home, and it has been suggested to me that my experiences may be of use to other mothers who are seeking a solution of this problem.

     There are many things to be taken into consideration. All of us feel our great limitations, lacking the education and the contact with our New Church leaders and teachers, but I have been assured by Bishop Acton that the sphere, the love, and the unconscious molding of our own belief is of great assistance.

301




     Today there are several aids in various New Church publications, such as the " LIFE," "THE PARENT-TEACHER JOURNAL," etc., which the teacher mother can use; but in the final analysis there is a great deal that might be done to help in the effort to teach the spiritual truths in this way.

     Fortunately; in the line of natural education, there are two correspondence schools, one in Canada, and one in the United States, offering courses for elementary school children. When the personal need of formal schooling arose, I wrote to several universities for information, and Columbia University recommended Calvert School in Baltimore. I also inquired of an eminent engineer and educator, who, being a very good friend, objected to my plans, but obtained the very best recommendations for this school. Calvert School is used by army officers and many people in foreign service. For five and a half years I have used their outline. It begins with a kindergarten and grades through the eight grades. All supplies, books and pictures are furnished, and a definite outline is made for each day for eight months each year. The work is done by the pupil under the supervision of the mother, and mailed to the school at the end of each month. There it is criticized by teachers who teach in the day school, and reports are sent home. They are very fair and quite strict. At the end of each year a certificate is issued by the school, showing the amount of schooling the child has completed up to that time.

     The course is very full and interesting, and the methods are kept up to date. The very best children's books are used for reading,-Pinocchio, Alice in Wonderland, Wonderbook, etc. The Headmaster has written a fascinating beginner's History and Geography for the introduction to these studies. With his Child's History of Art, these are well known to librarians. Many extra books are sent for the pupil's enjoyment, such as the Jungle Book, Just So Stories and Books of Poetry. The work is thorough, and no child loses time by doing it. As a matter of fact, it gives a much broader education than any public school I have known. The child does all the work himself, and thus no time is lost waiting for other children.

302


In case of sickness, the work awaits the pupil, which cannot be done in any school. The value of individual attention need not be stressed. The teacher can easily determine what points are missed by the pupil, and thus make a firm foundation for later work. It is almost too full a program to include religious education, and I have found nothing of religious thought or training in it. This might be a criticism, but to a New Church teacher it is a decided help, giving her a chance to introduce her own religious teaching. I have used material from NEW CHURCH LIFE and New Church Sermons, which we had fortunately stored. I have also collected material from several ministers with whom I have come in contact, and by visiting New Church schools when it has been my good fortune to be in a center. I have also eliminated subject matter from the course that I felt was unsuited to the state of the child, telling the reasons for it, without criticism or correction from the Calvert School.

     This school work at home has many advantages. The close contact of parent and child, working together three to four hours a day, opens up many planes mutually beneficial. A feeling of trust in his mother on the part of the child, of inestimable use when he begins his actual contact with the world in public schools, is developed, and a close bond holds him. He has a stronger basis for maintaining his religious teaching and counteracting the insidious teaching of old church instructors. I have found that many more problems came home to me to be satisfactorily worked out than is the case with old church parents, who ask why I have the confidence of my children. Beside spiritual advantages I have also found natural advantages,-more time for health-building play, fewer contagious diseases, and more time for cultural education, such as outside lessons in art, dancing and music.

     There are also disadvantages, one of which is too rapid advancement, because the course finishes in six years the work that is usually accomplished in eight. I would delay the first grade until the pupil is seven years of age. Many criticize it on the ground that the pupil misses contact with other mature minds, but we do not feel that ours have. Perhaps they have had too much mature contact, as I have had assistance by friends who, having specialized in certain lines, have given their time and thought to help our children. I definitely sought teachers of dancing, art, and music to give them such contact.

303


Others, again, criticize the lack of childish contacts and the failure to develop competitive instincts. I have had no lack of childish contacts with neighbors, group dancing, and group art lessons. As for competitive instincts, education for eternal life does not need competitive instincts, but rather a development of charity.

     The Calvert School claims that any person with a high-school education can teach their course, and that neither teaching experience nor study of education is necessary. My study in the College at Bryn Athyn has been of inestimable value to me, but I am sure that any parent with a sincere desire to do this thing for her child can do it successfully. Members of the Academy Faculties could suggest book lists for the parent's reading which would be of great assistance.

     This year our two children are in public school, and I would like to sum up some results. First, as to the academic credits. After teaching the first child three and a half years of Calvert, starting with the first grade, she was entered in the fifth grade at public school. In that large school system a test with a psychologist rated her high,-eighth grade in reading, and low fifth grade in arithmetic. According to Angelo Patri, it takes six months for a child to make an adjustment from one school to another; so we chose the fifth grade. She soon made the necessary adjustments, and by the end of the year stood among the highest pupils of the grade. Her second teacher said of her, "She has the best foundation of any pupil I ever taught." The second child, after studying three years with me, entered school where there was no psychologist. Realizing that he had not advanced as far as the first child, and being told that the requirements of the school were higher, I placed him in the fourth grade. The teachers knew nothing of the system I had used, and about all the credit he was given at the start was his age. At the end of the second semester he came home fourth on the honor roll and with the credit of "making the greatest improvement of any child in the grade."

     We feel that there has been a gradual change from the home to the public school which has been a decided advantage. Many people speak of a "quality" the children have, and ask what and why it is. One question I have always been asked: "Have you had any trouble with State or local authorities because your children do not go to school?"

304


Never! I have never covered it up, but have discussed it freely with the district representatives. Home teaching is a strenuous, stimulating undertaking which amply repays the time and the effort.

     Ii hope that some day there will be a real solution of the problem of a New Church primary education for every child of New Church parents,-a real New Church education, available no matter how far from the centers they may be. So desirable are the proper beginnings-these foundations in life-that I look forward to the day when New Church parents will have such a course-one that is developed as an extension of our own schools-to help carry on this most important use of the Church.
GLEANINGS FROM NEW CHURCH HISTORY 1938

GLEANINGS FROM NEW CHURCH HISTORY       SIGRID ODHNER SIGSTEDT       1938

     EARLY NEW CHURCH FAMILIES IN SWEDEN.

     MANOR LIFE AND UPSALA ROMANCE. (Herrgdrdslio och Uppsala Romantik.) By Miss Vivi Horn. Stockholm, 1935. Many illustrations.

     This study of Swedish life among the landed gentry during the early nineteenth century is of special interest to the New Church public. Based partly upon newly discovered letters and documents, it deals in a charming manner with the life of distinguished literary families in Westrogothia and Upsala, and to our great surprise we find that the subjects of the chronicle are the Knoses, the Gyllenhaals, the Schanherrs, and the Odhners, who were among the earliest receivers of the Heavenly Doctrines,-a circumstance that is only hinted at here and there in the pages of the book.

     To link up this aspect of the story, we may go back to the time of Swedenborg's death, in 1772. The Rev. Arvid Ferelius was then pastor of the Swedish congregation in London, and from his hand Swedenborg received his last communion. Mr. Ferelius later became an ardent receiver of the Doctrines.

305


One of his daughters married the Councillor C. J. Schonherr, who held the responsible position of Councillor of Commerce in the Swedish Government, and was a liberal supporter of the New Church of that day. Another daughter married Gustaf J. Billberg, who was president (1796-7) of the second New Church Society, "Pro Fide et Charitate," which succeeded the "Exegetic and Philanthropic Society" after the latter was broken up on account of spiritistic practices. A third daughter of the Rev. Arvid Ferelius married Dr. Levin Olbers, the most prominent New Churchman in Gothenburg.

     C. J. Schonherr.

     A portrait of Councillor Schonherr (p. 17) pictures a most intelligent, lively looking gentleman, and we are given a delightful description of the life at Sparredter, his family estate, situated on a lake in Westrogothia, not far from the city of Skara. Here lived the Councillor, with his second wife, Benedikta Charlotta Billberg, and their large family. "They were strictly religious," we read, "and the tone of the home was serious. Every evening, family worship was held in the large parlor, where the children, in turn, read aloud from the Bible. . . . On these occasions there gathered, besides the members of the family and occasional guests, the governess and all the servants. With him it was not only a religion of the lips, but also of the heart. . . . To grow up in such a religious home as this puts a certain stamp upon the individual for all time. Over all the young Schonherrs there was a feeling of something assured and confident. It was as if they felt that their life was built upon a firm foundation which no storms could shake. Yet joy of life was not shut out from the home. On the contrary, the spirit of it was gay, often quite lively, and the children especially adored their father, who was not, as was commonly the case at the time, a mere mentor and educator, but also a friend and confidant."

     For Councillor Schonherr was a noted entomologist and scientist, and "early opened his children's eyes to all that was beautiful in nature. In the summer he took them with him on his long wanderings in the deep woods. He himself, on such occasions, would be equipped with a big net, and the children's delight was boundless when they succeeded in discovering a rare insect or gorgeous butterfly worthy of a place in his rich collections."

306




     At Sparreater there was but a single son, Johan. As a small boy, he was sent to Handene, near Skara, to the Rev. Pehr Odhner, with whom were boarding two sons of the silk-merchant, Erik Lundgren of Stockholm, Schonherr's partner in the silk business. Pastor Odhner was married to a sister of Lundgren's wife, born Fahraeus. "It was perhaps considered better that little Johan should be brought up with boys than at home where there were only girls." There was, however, a deeper motive, for many of the children of these early receivers were sent to Pastor Odhner for instruction in the new Doctrines. We shall refer to this later.

     It was a delightful custom every year at Sparreater to send the first yellow primrose picked in the fields to "Uncle Lundgren" in Stockholm, because he had a sentimental attachment for this flower of his childhood days in the country.

     There is record of a most remarkable lawsuit between these two good friends and New Churchmen. Lundgren wished to buy the Schonherr house in Stockholm, and offered 35,000 kroner for it. Rut Schonherr refused to sell at this price, as he considered 25,000 kroner sufficient. The case was settled by a legal valuation of the home at 35,000 kroner, which Schonherr was then obliged to accept. This New Church home was known and respected throughout the city, and from it came Egron Lundgren, one of the prominent artists of his day.

     Leonard Gyllenhaal.

     Once every year the veteran entomologist, Major Leonard Gyllenhaal, came from his neighboring country seat of Hoberg to pay a visit to the Schonherr estate. Major Gyllenhaal was a pupil of Linnaeus, and was the author of Insecta Suecica in four thick Latin volumes. He was an unpretentious, righteous man of great learning, and was respected far and near for his scientific attainments, as well as for his physical and spiritual strength. (Portrait, p. 40.) On his yearly visits to Sparreater he was accompanied by his wife and family, though perhaps not by all of them, for he had twelve children. He and Schonherr exchanged views on science, and went into the woods on long expeditions of discovery.

307


"A strong bond of interest bound them together, and all the year round they exchanged letters every post-day, that is, twice a week," says our author. Since Major Gyllenhaal was also an ardent supporter of the budding New Church, we suspect that there were even more vital subjects than butterflies flitting through their letters, as an opportunity to examine these letters might very well reveal.

     Among these ancestors of the Gyllenhaal family of the General Church the book also contains an account and portraits of Baron and Baroness Herman Gyllenhaal. (Page 169.)

     Frederika Ehrenborg.

     Other friends from the neighborhood were frequent visitors at the Schonherr estate,-the Knoses from Skara and Wanga, Pastor Odhner from Handene, and the interesting Madame Frederika Ehrenborg of Raback, widow of the lieutenant general. She was the writer of numerous New Church tracts, and an ardent lover of the Writings. The romantic story of the love of the gallant, rich, talented, and handsome officer, Lieutenant Ehrenborg, for the ignorant and penniless orphan girl of fifteen, who was, besides, quite homely, reveals them both as very remarkable personalities, in their allowing interior qualities to guide their attraction. (Page 63.) A happy marriage followed, but was cut short by the general's death twelve years later. The gifted woman, however, never ceased to enlarge her knowledge by study, and exercised a strong influence in the surrounding country. Of Madame Ehrenborg the writer of the present work says, "It was in religion that she found her comfort, especially in the writings of Swedenborg."

     The Knoses.

     The earliest leader of the Swedenborgians among the Lutheran clergy of Westrogothia was Anders Olafsson Knos, D.D. (d. 1799), Archdean of Skara, whose father, also an eloquent preacher, had been an intimate friend of Bishop Jesper Swedberg. Many a young theological student received instruction from the lips of the inspired Dean Knos. He was the father of nine children, and all of his sons became men of learning and importance in their chosen fields. One of them was the Rev. Gustaf Knos (d. 1829), professor of oriental languages at Upsala University, and author of a number of New Church works.

308


Of Dean Knos it is said that, at the age of ten years, he had read the New Testament in Greek, making annotations in Latin. "He first devoted himself to philosophy; then a change came in his inner life, and religion stood forth as the most important thing for him, though not the religion of dogma. . . . Twice he was proposed for bishop, but his leaning towards Swedenborgianism was against him." (Page 88.) His wife was a very pious woman. "Every morning at eight o'clock, in white cap and blue skirt, she stood in her dairy-room giving out milk to the poor, calling them by name. 'Here, Lame Anna of the Old Lane, come with your pitcher!' and 'Hurry up, Blind Enoch's daughter of Kempa-dam!' It is said she also made home life cheerful for the young theologians."

     The Odhners.

     Pehr Hemming Odhner, who is mentioned by Miss Horn several times, was the grandfather of the late Rev. Carl Theophilus Odhner. His father, Jonas Pehrson Odhner (d. 1830), was the first translator into Swedish of the True Christian Religion, and according to family tradition had been personally acquainted with Swedenborg. Pehr Hemming Odhner was pastor of various parishes in Skara Diocese, and finally became Archdean of the district of Horn. He was a member of the "Societas Pro Fide et Charitate," translator of the Athanasian Creed into Swedish, and author of two volumes of Sermons which for many years were in use among New Church families. His work for the New Church was chiefly the instruction of the children of this group of believers, who were sent to him to be "confirmed in the Lutheran Church," a requisite for citizenship. A further account of the members of this priestly family is to be found in New Church Life, 1920. His portrait by Egron Lundgren presents a noble, spiritual and benevolent countenance.

     And so, thanks to the daubers and scribblers of the age of crinolines, one is able, by peering and piecing, to glean from the fading past some notion of the lives of these early New Churchmen of Swedenborg's homeland, the people of the second generation of those who heard the voice of the Lord in His Second Advent.

309


The first had been of a totally different genius,-ardent, scholarly, ambitious, imaginative souls, like the Nordenskjolds, or champions of liberty, like Wadstrom, who was so inspired with the importance of personal liberty that he furthered the movement which finally led to the abolishing of the African slave traffic. There had been magnetizers and alchemists among them, would-be reformers of the Swedish State who counted royalty among their membership, and whose attempt to follow Swedenborg's footsteps into the land beyond the grave brought their "Exegetic and Philanthropic Society " to an untimely end in ridicule and disgrace.

     But the friends described in this book, living on their landed properties in Westrogothia, were of another character. As Sundelin says, "They roused themselves from the effects of the spiritistic and alchemistic excesses, and began to realize that the reform of church and state which they desired to effect must be produced in a way quite different from that of miracles." (Swedenborgianismens Historia i Sveripe, p. 279.)

     As the name of their society indicates, they looked for the upbuilding of the Church "pro fide et charitate,"-towards the conjunction of faith and charity,-the more laborious and less conspicuous way of patient study and personal improvement. One result of this was the close intermarriage among the families of many of these early believers,-Billbergs, Lundgrens, Schonherrs, Knoses, Fahreuses and Odhners. And after religious freedom was granted in Sweden, many of their descendants became members of the established New Church.
     SIGRID ODHNER SIGSTEDT.

310


APPEARANCES 1938

APPEARANCES       Rev. NORMAN H. REUTER       1938

     (At a Public Session of the Council of the Clergy, March 30, 1938.)

     The nature of love consists in this, that what is its own it wills to be another's. Moreover, genuine love desires that what is its own should be given to the recipient in such a manner that what is its own in or with the other shall appear to be altogether the recipient's. Such selfless giving for the pure delight of another is the essence of all conjugial love, and of all genuine parental love. And if this can be so with parents and partners among men and angels, it is infinitely so of the Lord, who is our Heavenly Father, and the Bridegroom and Husband of the Church. He wills to give to His children life, love and its multitude of blessings, in such a manner that all these gifts shall appear to them as their own,-as theirs to possess and enjoy to the full. This being the Divine will, it is the Divine fact.

     Therefore, in His love and in His mercy, the Lord gives man the supreme gift of self-seeming life. As is the nature of love, and eminently of Divine Love, He gives this gift of life in such a way that man, the recipient, shall enjoy it not as a loan, not as another's in his possession for his use, but as his very own. And so infinitely wise are the provisions of Divine Love in giving in this utterly selfless manner, that no man can sense or feel otherwise than that life is actually his own.

     Yet life is not man's; it is the Lord's alone. It is constantly inflowing. But the miracle of love is that it inflows imperceptibly. It does not come to us in such a way that we are forced to acknowledge its source. Love never gives in a way to compel acknowledgment of its gifts. At this marvel of complete giving, enlightened man never ceases to wonder with a holy awe, and because of it the pure in heart adore the Divine Giver with humble gratitude.

     Now because life seems to be man's, all things that flow from life also seem to be his.

311


They seem to be his in the sense that they appear to arise out of himself, to have their origin within him, and to be produced of and by himself. Love and wisdom, will and understanding, affection and thought,-all these appear to man to have their first origin in himself, to be produced in and of and by himself. He cannot feel it to be otherwise. Yet otherwise it is.

     For this reason, men and angels live in a world and a heaven of appearances. This is inevitable; for only One can have life in Himself,-can love and be wise from Himself, and be the Originator. There is only One who abides in essential and absolute Reality. There can be One alone who not only seems to live from Himself, but who actually does live from Himself.

     But let me hasten to add that to live in appearances is not to live in illusions and phantasies. Appearances are the forms and the vessels in which reality may dwell, and appear, or become apparent; but illusions and phantasies are the distorted forms and perverted vessels which are turned away from reality, so that reality does not become apparent in them. In our Doctrines these are called "fallacies" and "falsities."

     The term "appearances" often occurs in the Writings, and, as with everything else, our first impression of its meaning is grossly inadequate and often mistaken. When we read that "with no man is there any understanding of truth and will of good, not even with those who were of the Most Ancient Church; . . . but his having these is only an appearance" (A. C. 633); and that "scarcely anyone knows what life is; (for) when a man thinks about life, it appears to be a floating somewhat without an idea attached to it, (and) this because it is not known that God alone is life" (D. L. W. 363); and again, that "neither with man, nor indeed with an angel, are any truths . . . devoid of appearances" (A. 32073); and finally, when we reflect that the sun appears to us to revolve around the earth, and yet it does not;-when we consider all these ideas, and how they appear to us one way, while the truth is quite the reverse; then we are apt to wonder petulantly why it is that we are so created that things appear to us differently from what is actually the case. Why could not man be so formed as to see and feel things exactly as they are? Such a questioning and doubting state arises from a rebellious attitude towards revealed truth; and if one has anything of humility before the Divine, it is instinctively felt to be rebellious, even while one is troubled with the problem.

312


And the only way to remove it is humbly to seek further in revelation a more interior view of how things are, and why they are as they are. For this very state of mind is the result of man's being persuaded by mere appearances, and not seeing the cause or reality behind them.

     Suppose man had been so created that he was not in appearances, but sensed everything as it is! Then he would perceive to the sense that he is only a receptacle, and that life is not his, but flows in. He would be conscious of the influx of thoughts and affections from heaven and from hell. He would feel that love came from outside of him, and wisdom too. He would lose his "as if of himself," and with it his sense of freedom and his ability to reason. In short, he would lose all that is human in him, and become a mere automaton. He would no longer be in the image and likeness of God. For all influx would then pass through him as through a crystalline form, or would be reflected as from a black surface; he would have no power of appropriating anything, since this power depends upon the "as of itself," and upon the faculties of freedom and rationality.

     How the case would be if man were not created in appearances, and thus in an image and likeness of God, is taught as follows:

     That man is described as "being made, or created, 'in the image of God,' is because every man, when he is first born and is an infant, is interiorly an 'image of God'; for the faculty of receiving and of applying to himself those things which proceed from God is implanted in him. . . . The 'likeness of God,' according to which man was made, is in his being able to live, that is, to will, to love, and to intend, as also to think, to reflect, and to choose, in all appearance as from himself; consequently in his being able to receive from God those things which are of love and those things which are of wisdom, and to reproduce them in a likeness from himself as God does; for God says, 'Behold the man was as one of us, in knowing good and evil' (Gen. 3:22). For without the faculty of receiving and reproducing those things which proceed into him from God, in all appearance as from himself, man would be no more a `living soul' than an oyster in its shell at the bottom of a stream, which is not in the least able to move itself out of its place. Nor would he be any more an 'image of God' than a jointed statue of a man capable of motion by means of a handle, and of giving forth sound by being blown into; yea, the very mind of man, which is the same as his spirit, would actually be wind, air, or ether, according to the idea of the Church at this day respecting spirit.

313


For without the faculty of receiving and reproducing the things flowing in from God, altogether as from himself, he would not have anything of his own, or a proprium, except an imperceptible one, which is like the proprium of a lifeless piece of sculpture." (Coronis 25, 26.)

     Note that the ability of man "to intend, to reflect, and to choose in all appearance as from himself" is what makes man in the "likeness of God," for then he receives from God love and wisdom, "and reproduces them in a likeness from himself as God does." God alone can produce love and wisdom from Himself, but man can "reproduce them in a likeness," which is to do it "in all appearance as from himself." The very human itself depends upon this fundamental appearance, and upon all the chain of appearances that how from it, as without them man would not be a man. Man is an image and likeness of God by virtue of the fact that the Lord conjoins man with Himself in and by means of appearances, for without them there could be no conjunction with God so as to gift man with eternal life. (D. P. 79e.) We read: "The appearance is that man from himself loves the neighbor, does good, and speaks truth. Unless these appeared to man as from himself, he would not love the neighbor, do good and speak truth, in which case he would not be conjoined with the Lord. But as love, good, and truth are from the Lord, it is manifest that the Lord conjoins man with Himself by means of appearances." (D. P. 219:5.)

     Unless life and all its faculties appeared to man as his own, he would not have any delight or pleasure; for "who can have the pleasure of affection unless that with which he is affected appears as his?" (P. 76.) If man felt each delight in himself as something flowing in from angels and spirits, would he find pleasure in delight? Could the sensation of delight then be properly called delight? Consequently, if nothing appeared to man as his, would he receive any influx, nay, could he receive it? Would he not be what is called a fool and stock? Hence, although "everything of which a man has perception, and thence thought and knowledge, and which according to perception he wills and does, flows in, still it is of the Lord's Divine Providence that it appear as the man's, for, as was said, the man would otherwise receive nothing, thus could not be gifted with any intelligence and wisdom.

314


It is known that all that is good and true is not man's, but the Lord's, and yet that it appears to man as his and because all good and truth so appears, so do all things of the church and of heaven, consequently all things of love and wisdom, and of charity and faith; and nevertheless not one of them is man's. (Yet) no one can receive them from the Lord unless it appears to him that he perceives them as from himself." (P. 76.)

     Further we are taught that when man, in freedom and according to reason, receives the things of influx from the Lord in such a manner "that he perceives them as from himself," he then appropriates them to himself, and by a thing "being appropriated to man is meant to enter his life, and to become of his life, consequently to become his own." It is said "to become man's own," and yet this is expressed according to the appearance of the case with man; for "there is not anything man's own, but it appears to him as if there were." (P. 78.) "Let it be known, therefore," (the Doctrines warn) "that the goods are appropriated to man in no other way than that they are constantly the Lord's in man; and that as far as man acknowledges this, the Lord grants that the good appears to man as his, that is, that it may appear to man that he loves the neighbor as from himself, believes or has faith as from himself, does good and understands truths, and so is wise as from himself. From which one who is enlightened may see the nature and the strength of the appearances in which it is the Lord's will that man should be; and the Lord wills this for the sake of man's salvation; for no one can be saved without this appearance." (P. 79.)

     A similar doctrine is given in respect to the reciprocal with man. In the Divine Providence we read:

     "Since the Lord wills a conjunction with man for the sake of his salvation, He also provides that there shall be in man something reciprocal. The reciprocal in man is this,-that the good which he wills and does from freedom, and the truth which from that will he thinks and speaks according to reason, appear as if from himself; and that this good in his will and this truth in his understanding appear as his own. Indeed, they appear to man as from himself and as his own, just as if they were his own; there is no difference whatever; consider whether any one by any sense perceives it to be otherwise. . . . The only difference is, that man ought to acknowledge that he does not do good and think truth from himself, but from the Lord, and therefore that the good which he does, and the truth which he thinks, are not his own. To think so, from some love in the will, because it is the truth, makes conjunction; for so man looks to the Lord, and the Lord looks to man." (P. 92.)

315




     From these quotations it would seem clear that the fact of man's being created to live in nothing but appearances is the result of the Creator's great love, in order that man may enjoy the blessings of God "as God does," although in himself man is nought but a thing of creation, a something which in itself is dead and inanimate; since we are only properly called "man" because of that which flows in from the Divine Man. So viewed, the whole system of appearances in which men and angels live and think and move is seen as a testimony of the love and wisdom of the Divine Architect, who took dust of the ground and formed it into His image and His likeness, and breathed into it the breath of life, and man became a living soul.

     It is most important for us to realize that, although man is so constructed, being finite, that he is in conscious contact with nothing but what is an appearance, this in no sense means that he is thereby destined to live in a state of perpetual illusion. For illusion is the apparent appearing of that which does not exist, while an appearance, in its proper sense, means the appearing in external, limited form of that which does actually exist. A mirage is an illusion, while the apparent rising and setting of the sun is an appearance. The mirage does not exist, but the sun does.

     The appearance that the sun revolves around the earth is a most ultimate example of the appearances in which man lives, and according to which he thinks. If we analyze how this appearance arises in man, we discover a condition that obtains with man on all the planes of his conscious life. The earth is actually moving around the sun, but man is so constructed that he has no feeling of this movement; he is utterly unconscious of it as to sensation. Yet the eye reveals that a motion exists between the sun and the earth. Therefore judgment from the senses concludes that it is the sun which revolves. This is apparently the truth, or the truth as it appears to the sensual of man, and hence it is called a "sensual appearance." That which causes the appearance is nothing outside of man, but is due to the finite limitations peculiar to the sensual degree. Furthermore, thought from the sensual will always be bound by this and all other sensual appearances.

316


A little child, prior to the opening of the rational degree, thinks solely from and according to this appearance, and cannot comprehend that the case is otherwise. Indeed, even an adult, from his senses, cannot make it seem or feel other than according to the appearance. From the evidence of our eyes and physical feelings alone we could never know that the contrary is the case. But a rational person may know and comprehend the truth on the subject, and this because he can view the appearance in the light of the higher evidence of his reason. The rational sheds its light upon the appearance, and reveals the relation between the appearance and the actual truth.

     And therein lies the law of the limitations of all appearances and the mode of progression therefrom. Each degree of the mind has its own limitations, and hence causes its own appearances. Never can thought from any one degree extricate itself from its own appearances. Always it is the use of a higher faculty that gives us the ability to rise above any given appearance. When we do not so rise above an appearance, it is because we are not using the higher faculties of the mind which make it possible to do so. The lower faculty which causes the appearance will never accomplish the deed,-will never lift that veil of appearances so as to see the reality itself: for the lower faculty constructs the veil, or appearance, and cannot go beyond it. The eye can never see otherwise than that the sun rises and sets. Therefore it is that fallacies and appearances which arise from the operation of our five senses can never be dispelled by evidence brought from our five senses, but only by evidence brought by the distinctly higher faculty of reason or rationality. Likewise appearances caused by our rational can never be removed by the rational, but they in turn can only be lifted and explained by the higher faculty of spiritual understanding.

     From this it is manifest why it is that knowledge and evidence gained by the way of the senses alone,-which is called sensual knowledge, or scientifics, and in its whole complex, science,-can never reveal, explain, or make evident the nature of spiritual and celestial things, much less the quality and operation of the Divine Itself. Thought from such knowledge is unable to be elevated above its own appearances. Only by using the eyes of the spirit can we gather evidence of the true nature of interior things, and thus be led to see them so as to be able to believe in them.

317


And when, through the exercise and use of interior faculties, man learns, sees, and comprehends such things, he is said to have faith, which simply means that he knows there are such things as belong to his faith, because he sees them with rational thought and spiritual insight, and therefore cannot but believe that they exist, even as his sensual does not doubt the natural value of the evidence of his senses. Spiritual faith results from spiritual sight as natural knowledge arises from natural sight.

     The appearance that the sun rises and sets is the lowest of all the types of appearances. It is caused by the inherent character of the senses, and is hence called a "sensual appearance." But every idea, every so-called truth with man, is an appearance in respect to its correspondingly more interior truth. This is so even of spiritual truths, for they are appearances of celestial truths, and these in turn of Divine truths, which alone are free from the limiting effect of appearances.

     When we realize that each perceptive degree of the mind, from the sensual to the celestial, places upon truth its own limitations, its own finite veilings, then we perceive the need of an open mind. For never can man say of any truth that he sees it clearly and absolutely and finally. "Be it known," our revelator warns, "that neither with man, nor indeed with an angel, are any truths ever pure, that is, devoid of appearances. . . . To the Lord alone belong pure truths, because Divine." (A. 3207.) When a man acknowledges with conviction the truth that God is Life, and that man is but a vessel, or that the Writings are the Word, it appears to him that he sees a Divine truth. And so indeed he does. But with him the perception and understanding of that truth is ever limited, ever clothed in appearances. If he persuades himself that the conscious, cooperative reception and the resultant perception of any truth within him is absolutely clear, pure, and hence Divine, he confirms himself in the appearance of that degree from which he thinks; and confirmation of appearances with man always closes the mind; for he then takes the appearance for the truth itself, and thus turns the appearance into a falsity.

     Man's concept, whether it be a sensual or a celestial one, is always as a veil before the eyes, that is, before the understanding, which in itself withholds man from comprehending the more interior aspects of truth.

318


As a person advances in wisdom, through enlightenment from the Lord, such veils of inadequate, and often false, understandings are constantly removed. But never is the last veil before the Ark of Divine Truth torn asunder. Beyond it man is forbidden to go by the finite nature of his mind,-by the fact that he is a receptacle, and not Life Itself. Only the Lord in His Divine Human rent this veil in twain. Our Doctrines teach:

     "Truths Divine themselves are such that they can never be comprehended by any angel, still less by any man, because they surpass every faculty of their understanding. Yet, in order that there may be conjunction of the Lord with them, Truths Divine flow in with them in appearances; and when Truths Divine are with them in such appearances, they can be both received and acknowledged. This is effected by adaptation to the comprehension of each person; and therefore appearances, that is, truths angelic and human, are of three degrees." (A. 3362.) Again we read: "With man there is no pure intellectual truth, that is, truth Divine; but the truths of faith appertaining to man are appearances of truth, to which fallacies of the senses adjoin themselves, and to these the falsities that belong to the cupidities of the love of self and of the world. Such are the truths appertaining to man. How impure these are may be seen from the fact that such things are adjoined to them. But still the Lord conjoins Himself with man in these impure truths, for He animates and vivifies them with innocence and charity, and thereby forms conscience." (A. 2053.)

     As all men start to approach the Holy of Holies of Divine Truth, they come covered, indeed deeply covered, by veils of apparent rational truths, together with the heavier veils of fallacies derived from the senses, and even the black coverings of actual falsities. And because man can only see and understand things from his own previously formed ideas, therefore it is possible for men to read and hear the truth, and yet not recognize it as the truth. For influx is according to reception. Hence the influx and growth of a genuine understanding can only come gradually, as the falsities of old ideas are slowly removed. This process is the lifting of the veils of falsities, of fallacies, and finally of the lower apparent truths themselves. And this process demands that at no stage of understanding shall man ever believe he sees truth absolutely and finally; that is, never is it allowable for him to confirm himself in any degree of appearances, but he shall humbly realize and confess that always before him lie further revealings, that is, further unveilings, of the interior nature of truth itself.

319




     As man does this, he draws ever nearer and nearer to Reality Itself; he becomes more interiorly conjoined with the Lord in more interior degrees of appearances, which, being more interior, and hence more revealing, less unyielding and partaking more of the fluent nature of life itself, the Lord is able to gift him with more exquisite enjoyments, and finally, in heaven, with blessings incomprehensible to man in the world. And the miracle is, that the "more closely a man is conjoined with the Lord, the more distinctly he seems to himself as if he were his own. There is an appearance that the more closely one is conjoined with the Lord," the less he would appear to live as of himself, "when nevertheless the contrary is the truth." (P. 42.) "This same truth is confirmed with the angels, not by reasons only, but also by living perceptions, especially with the angels of the third heaven. These angels perceive the influx of the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom from the Lord; and because they perceive it, and from their wisdom know that these are life, therefore they say that they live from the Lord, and not from themselves; and they not only say this, but they also love and will that it is so. Yet still in all appearance they are as if they lived from themselves; nay, in a stronger appearance than other angels. For the more closely anyone is conjoined with the Lord, the more distinctly he appears to himself as if he were his own, and the more clearly he perceives that he is the Lord's." (P. 158).

     It is said that the celestial angels feel the influx of Divine Love and Divine Wisdom, and the reason this perception is given them, and not to man, is because such a perception would arouse man's evil proprium and destroy his sense of freedom, since his freedom is as yet, at least in part, infernal freedom. But with the celestial angels this perception that they live from the Lord, and not from themselves, brings with it the greatest sense of freedom, because they want to be the Lord's, for they "love and desire that it shall be so." Therefore, being in the higher and more perfect planes of appearances, they can receive this inmost delight of delights,-the perception that they are the Lord's,-and yet at the same time have their sense of freedom increased thereby.

320




     That the closer the conjunction with the Lord is, the more free one feels, and hence the more distinctly one seems to himself as his own, even while perceiving he is the Lord's, is because, as was noted at the beginning of this paper, "the Divine Love is such that it wills its own to be another's, thus to be the man's and the angel's. Such is all spiritual love, and preeminently the Divine Love." (P. 43). Therefore the Lord's Divine Providence has for its end "that man appear to himself more distinctly as his own, and still perceive more clearly that he is the Lord's." (P. 45.)
SWEDENBORG'S LIFE TOLD TO CHILDREN 1938

SWEDENBORG'S LIFE TOLD TO CHILDREN       Rev. HUGO LJ. ODHNER       1938

     THE HAPPY ISLES-The Story of Swedenborg. By Eric A. Sutton. Illustrated by Reginald Knowles. London: J. M. Dent & Sons, Ltd., 1938. Cloth, pp. l77. Price, 3/6.

     With joy we welcome this charming story of Swedenborg. Its publication was well timed for the 250th Anniversary of the Revelator's birth, and will for the present take the place of the popular biography by the late Rev. C. T. Odhner, Emanuel Swedenborg, a True Story for the Young (New York, 1900)-which is now out of print.

     Mr. Sutton, a prominent minister of the Conference, has the gift of interesting children. He makes of Swedenborg's life a romance which converts the rich biographical material into high adventure, the scene of which is presently transferred to the spiritual world.

     Adventure indeed meets us on the first page, for the tale opens with Jesper Swedberg's narrow escape from drowning in a mill race. The career of Bishop Swedberg is traced from childhood, and occupies what might appear as an unnecessarily prominent part of the book; yet the telling affords an opportunity to give the atmosphere and background of the times and places in which Swedenborg's own life was placed. For interest's sake, the story of Charles XII is also given an emphasis which is quite aside from the purpose of the book, and the king wins more sympathetic treatment than his after-death character deserves.

321


On the other hand, the fine, romantic (if somewhat debatable) material about Emanuel's supposed betrothal to Polhem's daughter is entirely omitted.

     The well-drawn account of Swedenborg's travels-extracted from his own Itineraria-serves to link up the development of his mind and work with intimate glimpses of Europe as it was. We see him in ship or stage coach, always an eager observer, learning from men and from worms alike, gaining his impressions of the state of the worlds of science, politics and religion, studying mines and churches, and later anatomy, and-increasingly-religion.

     Swedenborg's call to a spiritual mission is introduced by a survey of what men had, up to then, known-in prehistoric, Jewish, and Christian times-about the after-life. His period of temptation and transition (1744) is presented as a lesson in humility and sincerity.

     The most charming and valuable part of the book is a fine selection of memorable relations which are woven together into a skillful account of the other life. It is Mr. Sutton's happy talent to be able to turn these relations into entrancing stories that convey to child and to adult a sense of the objective reality of the spiritual world, as well as a rich knowledge about the main doctrines of the New Church. There is tenderness and calm faith in the treatment. The words of the angels are paraphrased in simple and direct language, and the doctrine is summarized in a few essential words.

     In homes where there are children, parts of the book would be well suited for reading at family worship. With the exception of pages 123 to 127, the following parts are especially adapted for this purpose: The Joys of Heaven; How Heaven is Made; Journeys in Heaven; Children in Heaven; Other Earths and their Heavens. In the latter chapter, an excellent survey is made of the teachings in the Earths in the Universe.

     The closing chapters, in addition to describing the character of the Arcana Coelestia and listing the later Writings, sketch Swedenborg's personality and intimate life,-his every day routine, his financial position, his acquaintances, and his last years. We meet with old friends-Cuno and Tuxen, the Shearsmiths and Pastor Ferelius. And then the tranquil death scene.

     Toward the close, also, something is said of the New Church and the meaning of the Holy City.

322


It is shown that Swedenborg regarded his Writings as not his own, but the Lord's work. And it should be noticed that, although the book is not accommodated to the general public by any compromise of the truth (a thing which mars so much missionary literature), yet there is nothing said to estrange the sympathy of any open-minded reader. It is merely the sincere story of a unique man's life. The volume is marked by an absence of extravagant claims of worldly learning or of monopoly of truth on behalf of Swedenborg. His story is told. That is all.

     There is a striking contrast between Mr. Odhner's work, referred to above, and The Happy Isles. Both have a distinct appeal to the young and to the old. But the former approaches Swedenborg's life directly, is factual, dated, clear. It is written for our New Church youngsters, has an educational purpose, and is suitable for reference. The Happy Isles is quite different: it is imaginative in style, and fits Swedenborg deftly into his environment. The author is not above a little good guesswork. We have no desire to detract from the great merits of this little volume. Yet, since we hope for many future editions, we venture the following suggestions in addition to those made by the editor of THE NEW PHILOSOPHY (Jan.-April, p. 7.)

     This editor has already noted the perpetuation (P. 29) of the popular mistake that Swedenborg's Upsala disputation involved the granting of a degree to him. We would add that the wearing of "the white velvet cap" by Upsala students sounds like an anachronism (P. 29).-Swedenborg's knowledge of languages was scarcely as great as indicated on p. 157. He knew German well, but his English, French, Dutch, and Italian seemed to have remained far below the conversational level.-The Russian army (p. 38) was not near Stockholm, but the Russian fleet maneuvered in the Baltic as a constant threat.-The royal appointment of Emanuel as Assessor in the Department of Mines was not due to his knowledge of mining, which was a later acquirement, but Charles followed the usual policy of encouraging able scions of good families (p. 42).-Nor is there any evidence that the Swedenborg family was ennobled because of Queen Ulrika Eleonora's special admiration for Bishop Swedberg (p. 48).-Of the Bishop's fifty-nine predecessors, only two had been of English birth, and these lived in the 13th century (p. 59).-Swedenborg's return from Genoa was not made direct, as suggested on p. 67. For he turns up in Paris in May, 1739, and thence journeyed to Amsterdam, where he remained to finish the Economy on December 27th, and to see it through the press.-That Swedenborg actually predicted the date for his own death (p. 175) rests indeed on a documentary source (Docu. ii. 565f), but the evidence is hearsay and the thing itself unlikely.

323




     These suggestions are not meant as criticism. Rather do they testify to the extreme difficulty of writing biographies about a man whose documentation is so immense and far-reaching.

     The Happy Isles is well printed in pleasing type and binding. The ink drawings which illustrate the memorable relations add an undoubted charm-quite aside from their possible artistic merits. What we want clearly to express, however, is that this is a book for every New Church home.
NATIVE BOOK OF WORSHIP 1938

NATIVE BOOK OF WORSHIP       W. B. C       1938

     SESUTO HYMNAL. (Lifela tsa Kereke e Akarelitseng ea Jerusalema e Mocha.) Alpha, Ladybrand, O. F. S., South Africa: General Church Native Mission Press, 1937. Cloth, 96 pages, price 1/6.

     A labor of some years has now borne fruit in the volume before us, which is provided for use in the worship of the congregations of our Native Mission in Basutoland and other parts of South Africa where the Sesuto language is spoken. There are sixty-seven hymns and chants in the collection, and the musical notation is that of the Tonic Solfa system. At the end of the book there is an Office or Order of Service in Sesuto. This was prepared by the late Rev. Reginald W. Brown while residing at Maseru in 1921, and it is here published with but few alterations.

     In the Preface, printed in both Sesuto and English, the Rev. F. W. Elphick explains that "the compilation, adaptation, setting to the Tonic Solfa system, and general editing, have been the work of the Rev. Twentyman Mofokeng, ably assisted by Mr. Fred Shangase, master printer, and by Messrs. Gladstone and Arthur Letele." They are to be congratulated upon the completion of this important undertaking, and upon the neat printing and binding of the book.
     W. B. C.

324


LETTER FROM THE TREASURER 1938

LETTER FROM THE TREASURER       HUBERT HYATT       1938

To the Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:
     In speaking extemporaneously about my 1937 General Church Treasury Report at the Joint Council last April, I evidently made three statements (page 253 of your June issue) which I would like to change.

     The policy of increasing the number of financial supporters of the General Church is not merely 15 years old, but has been the policy since the founding of the General Church and also of the Academy. The records clearly show this. Fifteen years is about the time during which I have been Treasurer; and during that time I have been endeavoring to emphasize the advisability of this policy being adopted, not by the General Church itself, but by each of its members, and by each of them for himself.

     The General Church today is being supported, not by practically the same group of contributors as 15 years ago, but rather by about the some number of contributors. I have reported the number of actual contributors as being 472 for the year 1922/23 and also for the year 1937, and the largest number between was 571 for the year 1926/27. During 15 years, conditions have changed, and many of our members have died. Today we have a substantial number of contributors who were not contributing 15 years ago. Indeed, many of today's contributors were infants 15 years ago. It is a matter of much satisfaction that a good number of the younger generation are now carrying the responsibilities of the older generation which has passed to its reward. But it would be of more satisfaction if the number of contributors were very much greater.

     The present Treasurer does not decline any suggestion that he visit any society for the purpose of stimulating thought regarding the support of the General Church. He does doubt his powers of stimulation. Nevertheless, whenever time and funds permit, he will be pleased indeed to accept any invitation to discuss or give a talk on this subject. However, the essence of everything he has to say in this regard is contained in his Annual Reports, copies of which have been mailed to all members of the General Church. And additional copies are available on request.
     HUBERT HYATT.
Bryn Athyn. Pa., June 4, 1935.

325


Church News 1938

Church News       Various       1938

     PHILADELPHIA DISTRICT ASSEMBLY.

     April 23, 1938.

     For some years past the annual meeting of this District Assembly has taken the form of a banquet held at the close of the Annual Councils of the General Church, with the result that it has seemed to be losing its identity. This year, plans were made to emphasize the uses of the district, which is a large one, embracing societies, circles and isolated members of the General Church along the Atlantic Seaboard from Boston, Mass., to Washington, D. C. The Bishop appointed a representative committee which arranged a two-day program that brought together a large assemblage from all parts of the district.

     The banquet on Saturday evening was a splendid occasion. The Assembly Hall was beautifully decorated, and a vital sphere of interest and goodwill animated the gathering. The Rev. Elmo C. Acton, who has been active in the district for several years, was toastmaster and guided the program with skill and fervor, dwelling upon the great benefit that may be given by influx when lovers of the Writings come together in charity and worship, in an exchange of views, and in social amenities.

     Bishop de Charms responded to the toast to "The Church" in a stirring speech which set forth the spiritual origins of the principle of "Council and Assembly" and urged the need for maintaining the uses of assembly in the districts of the General Church, as a means of fostering mutual enlightenment and affection among our scattered membership.

     This theme ran through the remarks of subsequent speakers, who were introduced by the toastmaster with appropriate toasts and songs.

     Mr. George Woodard (Philadelphia) spoke on "New Church Ambassadors," and his paper was very warmly received. (See the text on another page of this issue.)

     He was followed by Mr. Francis L. Frost (North Jersey) who dealt in a vigorous and searching way with manifold problems of our church life, illustrated by a series of graphic charts, tabulating the relative values of 1) enlarging the knowledges of our faith by study and meditation, 2) proportionate contributions to uses, 3) fairness in our dealings with the church universal, and 4) loyalty to our leader-accompanied with a large photograph of Bishop de Charms. Spiced with keen observation, satire and humor, this highly original speech was thoroughly appreciated by the audience.

     Mr. Fred Grant, in an interesting outline of the history of the Washington Society, pictured the problems of all small societies, where "everyone misses you if you are absent from a meeting."

     Mr. Frank Wilde (New York) closed the speaking program with an illuminating address on "Council and Assembly and their Antecedents." Paying tribute to the sagacity shown in the adoption of these principles by the General Church, he carried us back through the "passion for freedom" in England after the renaissance to the origins of intellectual liberty and empirical philosophy in ancient Greece. In all of this he saw a preparation for the revealing of the Lord in His Divine Human to a state of rationality and liberty in the New Church of the Second Coming.

326




     This brief account of a notable meeting will indicate that the Philadelphia District Assembly has been revived in a highly successful manner, with rich promise of development in future years, when it will undoubtedly take on more fully the customary forms of the district assembly in the General Church.
     W. B. C.

     LONDON, ENGLAND.

     Michael Church.

     The Theological Classes on December 9 and 16 were held at the home of Bishop Tilson, whose theme was from the Earths in the Universe, with special reference to the reasons for the Lord's Incarnation on this Earth, and not on another.

     Mr. Colley Pryke was prevented by illness from giving a promised account of his recent visit to America at the Social Tea on December 12. In his place, the Rev. A. Wynne Acton read from New Church Life a remarkable paper by the late Rev. C. Th. Odhner on the Representation and Correspondence of the Incidents connected with the Incarnation.

     At the Children's Service on December 19. Mr. Acton gave a simple address, calling attention to the Representation of the Nativity which was placed by the chancel. He also delivered the sermon at the service on Christmas morning, during which gifts were offered to the priesthood and to church uses. Bishop Tilson was celebrant at the Holy Supper, which was administered to nineteen persons. The appropriate decorations prepared by Mr. Cooper added much to the
Christmas sphere.

     The Children's Party on December 30 was given under the direction of Mr. Acton and Miss Mary Lewin, who were untiring in their efforts for the enjoyment of over twenty young hopefuls. A sumptuous tea was followed by various games, and by presents from the Christmas Tree.

     There was a good attendance at the Social Tea on January 9, when Mr. Colley Pryke gave an interesting account of two weekends in America, one spent in Bryn Athyn and the other in Toronto. Very prominent among his pleasant experiences was the almost limitless hospitality of the friends "over the water."

     The young unmarried people met at the home of Miss Mary Lewin on January 11, when Mr. Ronald Lewin read a paper on "Vivisection" which showed a careful study of the subject in the light of the Writings. At a similar meeting on February 8, Mr. Edwin Stebbing gave a thoughtful paper on "Honesty." And at another meeting in March, Miss Lewin herself read an interesting and useful paper on "Charity."

     As a fitting preliminary to the great public celebration of the 250th Anniversary of Swedenborg's Birthday, Bishop Tilson delivered a memorable sermon at our service on January 23, in which he treated of the Theological Work of Emanuel Swedenborg, taking as his text II Samuel 23:2, "The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His word was in my tongue."

     Our own observance of the event took the form of a Feast of Charity on January 30, with an attendance of about forty, which included as welcome visitors the Rev. Victor J. Gladish, Miss Gertrude Nelson, Miss Margaret Lewin, Miss Everett, Miss Sherrington, Miss Ruth Pryke, and Messrs. Owen and Dennis Pryke. The Rev. A. Wynne Acton presided, and the Rev. V. J. Gladish, being invited to speak, made a concise and most useful speech, drawing attention to the fact that, while the name of Swedenborg had been much before the public in recent weeks, culminating in the great meeting at Queen's Hall on the previous day, the sister societies of London and Colchester were almost alone in upholding the Banner of the Divine Authority of the Writings,-the heart and soul of it all. The Tea was followed by an excellent lecture by Bishop Tilson on the Life and Work of Swedenborg, illustrated by interesting lantern slides kindly lent by the Rev. Arthur Clapham, pastor of Flodden Road Church.

327




     The Rev. W. H. Acton assisted Bishop Tilson in the service on Sunday, February 20, the Assistant Pastor being absent on a pastoral visit to the North.

     At recent Social Teas we have had most interesting papers,-one by the Rev. A. Wynne Acton on the Life and Work of Michael Servetus, and one by Bishop Tilson on The Word Explained, both being followed by useful discussions.

     The marriage of Mr. Raymond Edward Waters and Miss Catherine Margaret Cameron was solemnized on March 19, the Rev. A. Wynne Acton officiating. Miss Cameron, twin sister of the bride, and Miss Mary Waters, sister of the bridegroom, were the bridesmaids, and Mr. Michael Waters was best man. Following the ceremony, a reception at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Waters, parents of the bridegroom, was attended by about thirty relatives and friends.

     On Sunday, April 3, the eighty-first anniversary of the birth of Bishop Tilson, he preached on the text of Luke 22:27, "I am among you as he that serveth." After the service he received many congratulations and good wishes.

     We are looking forward with great pleasure to the promised visit of Bishop de Charms, who expects to be in England for a few days in July. And our thoughts are turning toward the British Assembly on July 30, and to the prospective visits of the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal and the Rev. Erik Sandstrom.
     K. M. D.

     ROME, ITALY.

     A valued member of the General Church departed this life with the death of Miss Eden Gnocchi at Rome on March 16, 1938. She was baptized into the New Church at Florence (1889!) by the Rev. Alfred E. Ford, and became a member of the General Church in 1911. She and her sister Loreta, who survives her, have been visited from time to time by members of the General Church, including Dr. Alfred Acton, who administered the Holy Supper to them on three occasions. As they have always lived isolated from the members of the New Church, they expressed great delight at these visits by their fellow members.

     SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION.

     The Forty-first Annual Meeting of the Swedenborg Scientific Association was held at Bryn Athyn on Wednesday, May 11, at 8 p.m., with an attendance of 120 persons,-a record for many years. Dr. Leonard I. Tafel, President, was in the chair.

     The reports showed a membership of 194, an increase of 32 over the previous year. The Treasurer announced a special advance subscription rate of $5.00 for The Cerebrum and one volume of plates, shortly to be published. The officers of the Association were re-elected for the coming year, with the addition of Mr. Edward F. Allen to the Board of Directors. A Memorial Resolution to our President, the Rev. Dr. Reginald W. Brown, was read by the Secretary and adopted by a rising vote.

     Dr. Leonard Tafel delivered the annual address, entitled, "How Shall we Think of Swedenborg?" The subject was discussed by Rev. Franklin H. Blackmer, Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner, Messrs. Paul Synnestvedt and Alfred Howard, Rev. S. J. C. Goldsack, and Dr. Alfred Acton.

     The address was largely a study of the many addresses delivered at the recent Swedenborg Birthday celebrations, and an evaluation of the usefulness to the New Church of the recognition which Swedenborg as a philosopher and scientist is now receiving from the outside world. The speakers emphasized in general the following points:

     The need of philosophy as an aid to correct scientific interpretation, and the tendency of many scientists to turn to something of spiritual truth.

     The value of Swedenborg's science as a preparation of Swedenborg's mind, and also as a preparation of the mind of the New Churchman, providing an ultimate for a more complete understanding of the Writings.

328




     That only from the Writings of Swedenborg can we see the true relation of science and religion; and there is need of both for the development of a mind that is truly rational.

     The value to the New Church of a study of the social sciences, especially in relation to the doctrine of the Gorand Man.

     The duty of every New Churchman to do more than admire Swedenborg. Every New Churchman, in his own degree, should enter more deeply into an understanding of the Writings by a constant study of his philosophy, and a recognition of those fundamental principles that lead to the worship of God as the essence of all true philosophy.

     In conclusion, Dr. Tafel answered questions raised in the discussion of his address.
     WILFRED HOWARD.

     TORONTO, CANADA.

     A Community Project.

     Worthy of particular note this month were three special meetings of the Olivet Society, called for the purpose of considering the possibilities of a community-life project. For the purpose of investigating the possibilities, a committee of seven members was elected, under a most enthusiastic Chairman, Mr. C. Ray Brown. All three meetings were exceptionally well attended, and the committee was finally authorized to negotiate the purchase of a beautiful tract of land about eight miles from Toronto, desirable and suitable in every respect for community life. Last minute news brings us the report that the negotiations for the land have been successfully concluded. There may be, and probably will be, a considerable lapse of time before a community really materializes, but, at least, a beginning has been made toward this most desirable end.

     With May comes a "wind-up" of the activities of the various organizations within the society. Theta Alpha held its last meeting at "Floradene," a lovely country home with the Misses Roberta and Edina Carswell as the charming hostesses amid charming surroundings. The Ladies' Circle also had an auspicious closing in the form of a supper at the church. Around a colorful and festive table, toasts to the Church, the absent members, and the out-going executive were honored.

     Every Spring, the wives, daughters and sweethearts of the Forward-Sons look forward with keen anticipation to a "Ladies' Night," when they are delightfully entertained by that body. Nor were they disappointed on May 28 this year. The ladies turned out to the "last man," and the Forward-Sons proved themselves excellent hosts, solicitous as to both the material and spiritual welfare of their fair guests. After a delectable meal, followed by a fine paper by Mr. Ted Bellinger, the ladies in groups of four were entered in a variety contest of games. Then came the treat of the evening,-a real radio program, complete, with a play, "Uncle Bob." and a real announcer. Before closing, we must mention a very fine, original poem by Mrs. Alec Sargeant, most suitable to the occasion, in which she said, "So the Forward-Sons, with their usual acumen, proved themselves real New Church gentlemen."
     M. S. P.

     OSLO, NORWAY.

     At the beginning of April I paid a visit to Oslo and delivered two public lectures based upon portions of the Old Testament. A number of people there seem to like such lectures. On my last visit, in November, a minister of the Lutheran State Church attended a lecture of mine on the Story of Creation. He saw the necessity of a spiritual sense in it, but later offered some objections in letters to me. He became convinced of the truth by my answers and the books I sent him. In April, he again attended my lecture, and expressed a wish to meet me afterwards.

329


He brought with him a student of the Theological School at the University in Oslo,-a very pleasant, open-minded young man. We talked until late in the night, and there were no longer any objections, but only questions, and they both seemed satisfied with my answers.

     A public service of worship was held later, with an administration of the Holy Supper. The minister was present, and partook of the sacrament. The young student also came to the Holy Supper, and with him another theological student of the University. This latter young man has sold tickets for me at the lectures for about four years. He is very poor, and makes a living in this way. He has a very happy disposition, and after receiving a number of our books as presents from me, he said with great joy: "Now I am a rich man!"

     The situation in Oslo now looks very promising indeed. Although we have lost one of our men by the death of Dr. Tryggve Boyesen, a dentist, others have been attending, among them an engineer before unknown to me. I found that he had all of the Arcana Celestia but one volume, which he bought from me. Another engineer became intensely interested, and expressed a desire to join our circle. He bought books to the value of $5.00. Another, a business man, who has read the Apocalypse Revealed and is now studying the Arcana, invited me to his home, where we had several hours' talk, and he seemed to be in a very affirmative state of mind. He became interested by my lectures several pears ago, and has bought quite a number of books.

     The average attendance at the two lectures this time was 100, and books were sold to the value of about $36.00, which is very fine.

     A group in Oslo meets every Sunday to read the sermons I preach in Stockholm, copies of which are sent to them. The group is growing steadily. A meeting is also held on a weekday-every third week, I believe-to read the Writings together.

     The Swedenborg Society, London, has recently published a new edition of 5000 copies of the New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine in the Norwegian language, and Miss Boyesen is distributing free copies to all ministers of the Lutheran Church in Norway, as well as to many other people. We also gave away a few copies at my lectures.
     GUSTAF BAECKSTROM.

     PITTSBURGH, PA.

     The pastor completed his doctrinal classes on the Sacraments and Rites or, Friday, May 20, with a splendid exposition of the subject of the Holy Supper.

     With the closing exercises on June 9, the Pittsburgh New Church School completed its fifty-third year. Established in October, 1885, this school has survived the many trials which beset such institutions. Indeed, there have been times when it seemed as if we could no longer continue the work, but Providence has always opened a way. One of the most difficult periods was the last eight years. With the beginning of the depression, the society was forced to drop one teacher, and if it had not been for volunteer help during the past eight years, it would have been necessary to send pupils of our upper grades to the public schools. But every year some one was found who was willing to devote full time to the teaching use. Needless to say, the Pittsburgh Society owes these women a vote of profound gratitude.

     This year, however, we were not able to find anyone who could devote full time to this use. Consequently, we appealed for the help of several, and this met with such loyal response that we were not only able to provide for all grades, but to open a kindergarten as well. It is, therefore, with a sense of deep appreciation that we express our thanks to Mrs. George P. Brown, Mrs. Alexander P. Lindsay, Miss Elizabeth Brown, Mrs. Bert Nemitz, Mrs. Leander P. Smith, and Mr. Quentin Ebert.

330


This rather imposing faculty with Mr. Pendleton and Miss Gaskill, provided a splendid education for our children.

     After eight years of volunteer help, we now return to the ideal system for a school of this size, that is to say, two trained teachers, each devoting full time to the work. So we announce with pleasure that Miss Marion Cranch, of Bryn Athyn, will come to us in the Fall to assist Miss Gaskill. Let us hope that we shall fully appreciate what Providence has done for us in this regard. Our school has survived a difficult period, and the future offers great promise.

     The occasion on the 9th was a happy one. After some appropriate remarks by Mr. Pendleton, two graduates, Doris Bellinger and Margaret Brown, read their graduating essays. After this the diplomas were awarded and prizes given. Then came the presentation of flowers to all the ladies who assisted in the work of the school during the year. The intermission gave all an opportunity to view an exhibit of the year's work of the school Then "Dame Durden's School," a one-act operetta for busy children, was presented by the pupils, accruing credit to themselves and their instructors. We are indebted to Mr. Boy Jansen for painting the very attractive and appropriate scenery.

     The graduates and other pupils of the school and a number of guests were given a supper under the auspices of the Pittsburgh Chapter of Theta Alpha. Lee Horigan acted as toastmaster of an informal program. Miss Gaskill was presented with a large bouquet of flowers, and Mr. Jansen was unanimously and heartily thanked for his splendid work on the scenery of the operetta.

     The marriage of Miss Margaret Kendig, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. R. Kendig, of Renovo, to Mr. Murray Carr was solemnized in the church on Friday afternoon, June 10, the pastor officiating. Miss Rachet Kendig attended the bride, her sister, and Mr. Wilson Carr, brother of the groom, was best man. We were pleased to welcome the guests and friends who attended the wedding, and wish Mr. and Mrs. Carr much happiness. A society shower for the couple was held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Leander P. Smith on May 29, when they received many useful and beautiful gifts.

     A fine dramatic entertainment was given by our members on May 13, when "Look Who's Here," a farce in three acts, was presented with amazing success by a brilliant cast of our scintillating stars.
     E. R. D.

     
     SWEDEN.

     Jonkoping.-When the Jonkoping Society of the General Church was formed in October, 1937, the activities of the Nykyrkliga Foreningen were taken over by the Society. It was therefore considered appropriate to dissolve the Foreningen. This was also the decision of the Annual Meeting in February this year; and as such decision, according to the bylaws, was to be reconsidered after at least three months, this was done in May, and the decision was then confirmed.

     After the Swedenborg Anniversary Celebration in Stockholm, at an entertainment of the Stockholm young people and those visiting from the Jonkoping group in the hospitable home of Mr. Nils Loven, Mr. Tore Loven voiced the idea of forming in Jonkoping a division of the young people's club, Vigor, which already existed in Stockholm. This idea met with spontaneous acceptance, and at two subsequent meetings in Jonkoping, the Jonkoping division of the Vigor was formed. Mr. Lennart Alfelt was elected Chairman Secretary, and Mr. Olof Johansson became Treasurer.

     During the Whitsuntide Holidays, June 4-6, a number of members from the Stockholm division will visit in Jonkoping, when there is to be a sort of "miniature assembly" here.

     Gothenburg.-On April 24, 1938, the Nykyrkliga Cirkeln (New Church Circle) was formed in Gothenburg, this Circle being a part of the Jonkoping Society of the General Church.

331


This took place in April during my five-day visit to five members of the Jonkoping Society living in Gothenburg. Their number was increased to six on Sunday, April 24, when Mr. E. S. Walter Johansson was baptized into the New Church and applied for membership in the General Church and in the Jonkoping Society. The Circle also has two small children.

     The Circle is constituted as an offshoot of the Jonkoping Society in order to unite the Gothenburg members in common activity. Mr. Lennart Fornander was chosen Secretary of the Circle, and it was decided that they were to meet regularly to read the Writings, and that friends and acquaintances of the members were to be invited to these meetings. In addition, it was later agreed that a collection would be taken up at each meeting to finance visits from the pastor, which, it is planned, will take place about bimonthly.
     ERIK SANDSTROM.

     GLENVIEW, ILL.

     Our Theta Alpha Chapter annually celebrates Mother's Day with a Tea for the ladies of the Sharon and Immanuel Churches. This year the entertainment consisted of a series of Tableaux presented by the children of the kindergarten and first grade under the supervision of Mrs. Trumbull Scalbom, their teacher.

     At the monthly meeting of the Woman's Guild, held at the Manse, officers for the year were elected as follows: Mrs. Russell Stevens, President; Mrs. Harold McQueen, Vice President; Mrs. Archibald Price, Secretary; and Miss Emelia Nelson, Treasurer.

     The Glenview Chapter of the Sons of the Academy held its annual Installation Banquet on Friday evening, May 27. As is our custom, the members and friends of both the Immanuel and Sharon Churches were invited to attend, and 143 were present. Dr. Donald Gladish was toastmaster, and the response to the toast to "The Church" was made by the Rev. Gilbert H. Smith, who voiced his appreciation of the good work the Sons are doing for the General Church. Mr. Sydney E. Lee followed with a short paper in which he called to our minds the Founders of the Academy and their aims and desires. He then performed the function of installing the following officers of the Chapter: George S. Alan, President; Gerald Nelson, Vice President; Geoffrey Blackman, Secretary; Archibald Price, Treasurer; and Trumbull Scalbom, Member at Large.

     The toastmaster then introduced the first of the three speakers of the evening, Mr. Arthur King, whose brief and stirring paper described the vital difference between New Church and Old Church education. "Religion must govern all education" was his theme. Mr. Theodore Gladish followed with a paper on "Liberal Education," and voiced the opinion that vocational training is not essential in the schools of the Academy. Mr. Ralph Synnestvedt's paper treated of "The Right Attitude Towards Work," with special reference to the training of children in this respect. A very useful general discussion came to a close with a toast to the Academy.

     We all greatly enjoyed the festivities attending the marriage on June 7 of Miss Eunice Nelson, daughter of Mrs. Alvin E. Nelson, to Mr. John Howard, of Bryn Athyn. The wedding ceremony was exceptionally lovely. The church was adorned with candles and decorated with evergreen trees and white peonies, and the bridal party were all attired in white. A reception followed at the home of Mrs. Nelson. It was a pleasure to have with us our Bryn Athyn friends, the Wilfred Howards and the Kenneth Synnestvedts.

     A beautiful new home for the David Gladish family is quickly coming into existence on the site of what was once the home of Miss Susan Junge, whose house has been moved to the subdivision, where it will soon be the residence of Mrs. Ruth Headsten and family.

332




     [Photo of GROUP AT THE HAGUE.]

     Left to Right, Back Row: Miss Hetty Engeltjes, Mrs. Koch, Mr. Koch, Mr. Happee, Miss Lambertine Francis, Mr. Rijkee, Mr. Boonacker, Mr. Bulthuis.
Middle Row: Mrs. Bulthuis, Mr. Engeltjes, Mrs. Engeltjes, Dr. Iungerich, Mrs. Francis. Mr. Francis, Mrs. Happee, Mr. Beyerinck, Miss Vincent.
Front Row: Miss van Trigt, Annie Bulthuis, Sophie Bulthuis, Henri Bulthuis, Miss Happee.

333




     Members and friends of the society recently tended a "shower" to Miss Kathleen Lee and Mr. Alan Fuller at the home of Mrs. Fuller. Many useful and beautiful gifts were received for the little house that is now nearing completion.
     J. B. S.

     THE HAGUE, HOLLAND.

     As requested, I am sending you herewith the group photograph of the congregation taken after the service on Sunday, March 27. We were very sorry that Miss Helderman was unable to attend that day.

     Dr. Iungerich was with us again for the service on Sunday, April 24, when the Holy Supper was administered to twelve communicants. For the first time we made use of a complete liturgical office, and the sphere of the worship was very powerful. The pastor was entertained for the rest of the day by the Happee family, at whose home the members called upon him in the afternoon.

     I am very glad to report that our Church is acknowledged as of legal status in our country.
     L. F.

     BRYN ATHYN.

     The "Doctrine of Reflection" was presented by Bishop de Charms in a series of doctrinal classes during the Spring months, and the Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner continued his series on "The Influence of Spirits upon Man's States," treating of Dreams, General Influx and Diseases.

     The concluding Friday Supper on May 13 was followed by the Spring Meeting of the Society, which dealt with three special matters. The Bishop's nomination of the Rev. Elmo C. Acton as an Assistant Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church was confirmed. There was an extended discussion of the question as to the ages of admission to the kindergarten and first grade of the elementary school. And, at the request of Mr. Harry C. Walter, it was voted that the Pastor I recognize the Boys' Club and appoint a committee to supervise its activities. There have been many delightful entertainments in recent months, notably two fine instrumental concerts in the great hall of Glencairn, on the invitation of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Pitcairn; a vocal concert in the choir hall by the Whittington Chorus; and the staging of two performances of "As You Like It" in complete form by the Academy High Schools with orchestra,-an ambitious project grandly carried out, to the credit of both teachers and students, and to the great enjoyment of two enthusiastic audiences in the Assembly Hall.

     The Elementary School graduated 25 pupils,-14 boys and 11 girls. At the closing exercises on June 14 the children were addressed by Mr. Edward H. Davis, who dwelt upon the importance of their learning to take responsibilities, as a preparation for their later education and their uses in adult life.

     New Church Day.

     Our observance of the Festival of the Second Advent began with children's celebration, held Saturday afternoon on the lawn at the Cathedral. Bishop de Charms spoke to them about the significance of the Pageant which was presented in a simple and touching way by the Rev. Elmo Acton and six little children, picturing an angel giving instruction to children in heaven. Singing and refreshments followed.

     On Sunday, June 19, the Communion Service in the Cathedral brought a solemn and uplifting sphere of worship to a large congregation. Preceding the Administration of the Sacrament, Bishop de Charms performed the Rite of Ordination for Candidates Morley Dvckman Rich and Norbert Henry Rogers, who made their Declarations of Faith and Purpose and were received by the Bishop into the Clergy of the General Church.

     The four hundred persons who assembled for the Feast of Charity in the evening included many young people and a number of visitors from a distance. Under the spirited guidance and happy informality of the Rev. Karl R. Alden, toastmaster, a well-prepared program enkindled an atmosphere of rejoicing and gratitude for the blessings of the New Church.

334


To this the musical features contributed much. A choral group under the direction of Mrs. Besse E. I Smith gave beautiful renderings of the 50th Psalm and "Grace be unto you and peace" from the Psalmody. And the Bryn Athyn Orchestra furnished a capable accompaniment for the banquet songs.

     Inspiring New Church Day Messages of Greeting had been received from our Societies in all parts of the world. These were read by the toastmaster and received with enthusiastic applause. Honored in toast and song were friends who had recently left us for the higher life: Bishop N. D. Pendleton, Mrs. Cara S. Glenn, and the Rev. Reginald W. Brown; also two pioneers who are retiring from their labors of many years,-Bishop R. J. Tilson and the Rev. F. E. Waelchli; and two who are now entering the field,-the "New Ministers."

     On the formal program were four speeches of decided interest and excellence dealing with themes appropriate to the Day: "Giants Of a Generation Past," Mr. David Simons; "History of June 19th Observance," Mr. George Doering; "Preaching to New Hearts," Mr. Otho W. Heilman; and "The Evangelization of Our Children," Mr. Harold F. Pitcairn.

     Urged to say a closing word, Bishop de Charms dwelt briefly upon the need of evangelizing ourselves. The work of the Apostles would have been fruitless if the Lord had not prepared the minds of men in both worlds for the reception of the New Gospel. So the Church cannot be with us unless we suffer the Lord to prepare our minds to receive in heart and life the spiritual truths of the Word now revealed. For He said: "The kingdom of God is within you."

     Speaking for all present, the toastmaster asked the Bishop and Mrs. de Charms to take with them on their globe-encircling tour a message of heartfelt good wishes to our brethren in other lands. And this sentiment was voiced by Mr. Geoffrey S. Childs in an original song, all joining in the chorus: "Now as you sail the seven seas, Beneath bright skies and favoring breeze, You take our love and loyalty, To build the Church in unity."

     ACADEMY SCHOOLS.

     During the Spring months the meetings of the GENERAL FACULTY have been marked by the fruitful discussion of important topics in the field of distinctive education.

     In February, Mr. Edward F. Allen presented "Some Reflections upon the Teaching of Modern Physics in the Academy." In March, Mrs. Besse E. Smith read an inspirational paper on "The Spirit that Animates the Teacher." Valuable joint sessions with the Council of the Clergy were held in April, as briefly described in the June issue, p. 251. At the final meeting, in May, Miss Lucy Potts described some interesting "Experiments in New Church Education," illustrated with series of charts made by Mrs. Gertrude Simons, picturing various parts of the Tabernacle as a means of imparting a true idea of numbers to the minds of little children.

     The JOINT MEETING of the Corporation and the Faculty, held in the evening of June 11, was well attended. After the Secretary, Mr. Edward F. Allen, had read a well-prepared digest of the Reports, bringing before the meeting a picture of the year's activities in the various departments of the Academy, Dr. Hugo Lj. Odhner delivered a thoughtful and entertaining address on "An Educational Contrast."

     "About once a year," he said, "I find the time to read a new book. This year it was the Skeptic's Quest, by Prof. Hornell Hart, well-known lecturer on social and religious subjects. It opens with a university student poised on the crater of a volcano, determined to end his life because he feels that the logic of modern learning is a despair of finding any meaning in life."

335


The speaker then gave a spicy review of the volume and turned to the contrast found in the progressive steps of our own training in religion and philosophy, preparing for the college period of more independent thinking. "The conscience which calls for a sincere faith,-a sight of truth,-is awakened in the college age. The faith of authority, the reliance upon parents and teachers, is seen to be insufficient. But the alternative before our college youth is not whether or not to jump into a volcano! Rather it is whether to become a rational and moral man, also a spiritual man,-a citizen of the kingdom of heaven."

     An exceptionally delightful COMMENCEMENT on June 15 was marked by a notable Address and many Awards, for which grateful acknowledgment was voiced by the recipients, with pledges of fealty to the cause of the New Church that brought a sense of rich promise for the future. After the reading of the Lessons-The Parable of the Talents and the Doctrine of Use (Matt. 25:14-30 and C. L. 183)-the Commencement Address was delivered by Mr. Walter L. Horigan, of Pittsburgh, who spoke to the graduates on "Education for Utility or for Use" in apt and timely terms which gained the keen attention of all present. Picturing the way in which the youth is to carry the benefits of his education into the life of the church and of the world, and graphically describing conditions today, he said:

     "This month of June many speakers are endeavoring to inspire countless groups of graduates with a vision of success. To this end they are advocating the doctrine of utility as a means to the attainment of success in life. For utility is the Golden Calf of our modern colleges and universities. Basically, it is the efficient promotion of self as the most impelling force for worldly success, But we have in mind a success which cannot be measured in dollars and cents, or in terms of praise and worldly accomplishment. We mean success in terms of USE, looking not to the promotion of self, but to the welfare of the neighbor."

     The graduations and honors were announced by Bishop de Charms, who presented the diplomas and prizes as follows:

     Degrees.

     DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY: Rev. William Whitehead.

     BACHELOR OF THEOLOGY: Morley Dyckman Rich, Norbert Henry Rogers.

     BACHELOR OF ARTS (cum laude): Jeannette Pendleton Caldwell.

     BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (cum laude): Marion Cranch, Florence Valerie Potts.

     Graduations.

     JUNIOR COLLEGE: Helen Virginia Anderson, Zoe Olive Gyllenhaal, Morna Hyatt, Dorothy May Kintner, George Albert Field, David Kendall Richardson.
     BOYS' ACADEMY: Robert Alden, Harry Baeckstrom, Harry Wilson Barnitz, George Percy Brown, Jr., Robert Gustav Genzlinger, Ernest Bruce Glenn, Daniel Lee Horigan, John Blair Smith King, Edward William Packer, Jr., Robert Thomas Pollock, John Henry Wille.

     GIRLS' SEMINARY: Edith Walton Childs, Beatrice Elsie Cook, Doreen Cooper, Joan Davis, Marion Pendleton Gyllenhaal, Natri Hyatt, Sonia Elizabeth Hyatt, Muriel Rose, Sarah Jane Rott, Kathleen Adele Schnarr, Phyllis Ann Tyrrell.

     Honors.

     Alpha Kappa Mu Merit Bar: Natri Hyatt.

     Deka Medal: Muriel Rose.

     Theta Alpha Scholarships: Marion Pendleton Gyllenhaal, Esther Allfrida Nilson.

     Sons of the Academy Gold Medal: Ernest Bruce Glenn. Silver Medal: Daniel Lee Horigan. Honorable Mention: George P. Brown, Jr.

     Oratorical Prize-Silver Cup: Bennett Wilson Conner, Jr.

336


ORDINATIONS 1938

ORDINATIONS              1938




     Announcements.



     Rich.-At Bryn Athyn, Pa., June 19, 1938, Mr. Morley Dyckman Rich, into the First Degree of the Priesthood, Bishop George de Charms officiating.

     Rogers.-At Bryn Athyn, Pa., June 19, 1938, Mr. Norbert Henry Rogers, into the First Degree of the Priesthood, Bishop George de Charms officiating.
THIRTY-FIRST BRITISH ASSEMBLY 1938

THIRTY-FIRST BRITISH ASSEMBLY       VICTOR J. GLADISH       1938

     Members and friends of the General Church of the New Jerusalem are cordially invited to attend the Thirty-first British Assembly, which will be held at Michael Church, Burton Road, Brixton, London, on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, July 30 to August 1, 1938. By appointment of the Bishop, the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal, of Toronto, Canada, will preside. Those expecting to be present are requested to notify the Secretary as soon as possible, or write to Miss Mary Lewin, 80 Beckwith Road, London, S.E. 24, in regard to accommodations.
     VICTOR J. GLADISH,
          Secretary. 67 Lexden Road, Colchester, England.

337


EDUCATION FOR UTILITY OR FOR USE? 1938

EDUCATION FOR UTILITY OR FOR USE?       WALTER L. HORIGAN       1938


NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. LVIII      AUGUST, 1938          No. 8
     (Academy Commencement Address, 1935.)

     Just thirty banners ago I was one of a group like yours,-the 1908 graduating class of Shady Side Academy. As president of the class, my graduation speech protested our lack of adequate defenses in the Pacific Ocean. Recently I was reading of our huge expenditures there, and, recalling that old speech of mine, I decided that perhaps it had not been so bad after all. Later, when I was invited to address your graduating class, the apparent success of that early advice to Uncle Sam so encouraged me that I decided I would like to try again.

     I could give you a paper on "The History of Memorial Architecture," with a guarantee that it would put you all to sleep, but if I offer instead a key to the solution of our economic ills, I hope Uncle Sam will appreciate this effort too! Of course, advice of a kind is cheap and easy to give, and plenty of it is being given in this happy month of June to numberless graduates like yourselves.

     It was not my good fortune to receive an education in the New Church schools, but it is gratifying to see my children receiving one. They say that I am in a position to tell you what the advantages of your education are. A look about the societies of the General Church will prove the advantages of a training in the Academy Schools, as it concerns the growth of our Church in recent years.

338


While our numbers are few, when compared with twenty million Catholics, ten million Baptists, nine million Methodists, etc., nevertheless it is an active, growing organization. Your group is one of the answers to that growth.

     Those of you who are graduating today have had at least two years of New Church education, and some of you as many as ten or twelve. Now it is my observation that a man's future is usually determined during the five to ten-year period immediately following graduation from the secondary schools. Within that time, the gauge and pattern of your lives, here and hereafter, will be well on its way to being definitely formed by most of you. Those entering a lay use will have fairly well established the course and manner of their lives by the end of that period; those going to college will have completed their chosen studies, and commenced some special line of work; and some undoubtedly will have married and started on the happy task of raising a family.

     But, into whichever of these groups you may fall, the essential thing will be the diligence and the sincerity with which you apply your New Church teachings to life. With your instruction in the doctrine of use, will you go at this business of life with an eagerness and zest born of a real love of use? Will you go out to meet and take responsibility? Will you shoulder your duties, pursue your studies, and assume your obligations, willingly? In brief, will you do your job?

     While men have become useful, successful citizens even after middle age, I believe that most of you will determine the future course of your lives within the next five to ten years. Your education in the Academy Schools has taught you that we are all in this world to perform a use, and that however humble it may be, if it be conscientiously and Sincerely performed, it is then done in the order of heaven. Your education here has taught you that although Providence enters into all things, there is no such thing as a special Providence which favors one man more than another.

     You have been taught the reality of God and the truth about the next world. This gives you a different viewpoint from that of many of those with whom you will associate. You must hold to your teachings and beliefs. Those of you who go to college will find this hardest to do. Some of you will stay here, near the center, under the influence and sphere of the church and its many activities.

339


If you do, then take part in them-an active part. Don't hold back and let others do it! Make the church a part of your life-grow with and into it!

     Those of you who go to smaller centers will carry with you the enthusiasm engendered here. Keep this enthusiasm, tempering it to the tempo of the smaller society! If there are no active interests suited to you, try to create them, or adapt yourself to such as there are. In the past, many of our young people, fresh from the myriad activities of Bryn Athyn, have felt lost in the calmer activities of their local society, and have become discouraged. It is a let down, but make up for it by a regular, conscientious attendance at Sunday worship and at classes; make your presence known to and felt by the local treasurer, even if only in a very modest way. It will be your society, and therefore I say: Assume some of the responsibility for its life and growth.

     For those who must locate where there is no church or group, I would say: Do not neglect the Writings; subscribe to the LIFE and read it; correspond frequently with friends in the church, and visit church centers whenever possible. Don't drift, even a little, for in Old Church surroundings the drifting will come easily and grow more rapidly than you can now imagine.

     This business, therefore, of being a genuine New Churchman lies first in receiving a rational knowledge of the Lord and His kingdom as revealed in the Writings, and then living a life of use according to it. You have been given that knowledge, and now you must begin to form those habits of life which will bind you more closely to the church. Habits may be hard to form, but they are far harder to break. So, see to it that yours are the right habits. To quote, "It is our habits, good or evil, that go with us into the other life. The things that are in the memory alone, and have not passed into will and act, do not remain after death. A habit is literally what one has, what one has and holds as his, or what he had made part of himself by frequent repetition. It is what a man has learned from teaching, or reading, and has made his own in thought, will and act. He must be taught, and then act as of himself, until it becomes by practice a habit of life." (Topics from the Writings,

     Today, probably the one sure investment we can make is in the education of our children.

340


In what else call we invest that holds the same certainty of return? The economic tailspins of these two depressions are teaching us many bitter truths, one of which is that we can lose our earthly possessions, however secure they once seemed to be. The only one thing that cannot be taken away is that which resides within us, namely, our spiritual heritage.

     You have been taught what an important factor education is in the growth of our Church. And now, within the next few years, each of you will prove to yourself, and to us, whether the time and efforts of your teachers, the funds of the Academy, and the hospitality of the Bryn Athyn residents, have been well invested in you. Now you are "our children." Later, many of you will be "the parents." To quote from Bishop W. F. Pendleton's explanation of the teaching given in A. C. 1610, "The multiplication of the Lord's kingdom will be 'not only from those who are within the church, and their children, but also from those who are without the church, and their children.' It will be mostly from the children. But to be genuine, a spiritual increase must precede. There must be a spiritual faith and a spiritual intelligence with the parents. It is from parents, and later from teachers and ministers, that children draw the inspiration to spiritual life." (Topics from the Writings, p. 6.)

     Your education has not been of the modern mass-production style common to most public schools, but it has been of the more intensive small-group type. At times it might even have been called "tutoring." I feel that, having enjoyed this kind of education, you have learned to think better for yourselves, have received a vast store of memory knowledges, and an abundant opportunity to develop your imaginative powers. Certainly many Academy graduates who have gone into our ministry, or as teachers into our schools, have shown such qualities. But it has been said at times that many of our boys and girls who go out into the world have not shown up as brilliantly as might be expected. I think a survey would prove that almost every one of them has made a useful citizen, and the majority of them staunch New Church members. Perhaps, for the present at least, it is in Providence that few of you should reach the heights in business or in the professions. Such positions are apt to draw one into a gyre of life not conducive to the best interests of the church.

341


Probably the church needs you a great deal more than does the business or professional world.

     In this month of June many speakers are endeavoring to inspire graduates like yourselves with a vision of success. To this end they are advocating the doctrine of utility as a means to the attainment of success in life. For utility is the Golden Calf of our modern colleges and universities. Basically, it is the efficient promotion of self. And a selfish man can be a successful man, because selfishness is a most impelling force for worldly success. I, too, wish you success, as do your parents and teachers, but we have in mind a success which cannot be measured in dollars and cents, or in terms of praise or of worldly accomplishment. We mean success in terms of use, which looks not to the promotion of self alone, but also to the welfare of the neighbor.

     So here is another decided advantage which your training in these schools has given you. You have been taught the difference between the two philosophies of utility and use. As graduates about to take your places in the world, you can adopt one or the other of these two philosophies. You can become a utilitarian, or you can subscribe to the doctrine of use. In other words, you can approach and perform the duties and obligations of your chosen work from a purely selfish viewpoint, or you can look upon them as spiritual responsibilities, to be discharged, not for the sake of self and the world, but for the sake of the Lord and the neighbor. Either philosophy can lead to worldly accomplishment, it is true, but the latter alone can lead to the-fulfillment of the purpose for which you as individuals were created and have been educated in these schools-namely, a success measured according to the Divine standards revealed in the Writings. These standards are your heritage-a concept of life that is born, not of man, but of God.

     As you have not known the economic security which was the lot of my generation, you are finishing your education at a crucial time in world history. You will be required to bring into play every mental and spiritual muscle that your education has strengthened.

     You are not yet in a position to appreciate fully what your education has given you. Only as you enter more interiorly into whatever place in life Providence has ordained for you will you begin to grasp the true significance of what this school has made possible for you. Do not think that this concept is yours; it has only been loaned to you.

342


Like the servant who buried his master's talent in the earth, these Divinely given talents will be taken away unless you appreciate their value and put them to use.

     There is still a place in the world for young people with a vision, who are imbued with the idea of performing a use for the sake of use. Today there is a new frontier, challenging your energies and ambitions. On it are the small personal and local, specialized business ventures. And, mainly, there are the schools, colleges and legislative chambers which are calling for men and women of courage, wisdom and character. It is in such places, and along the border lines of science, thought and art, that the young people of today can obtain freedom, fulfillment, and a sense of personal achievement in helping to build a sane and a balanced society of uses.

     We have often heard it said that a New Church school education is not practical. This is not true. As New Churchmen, you have a real contribution to make to the natural world, as well as to the spiritual world. By "practical" we mean a philosophy that can be applied to every-day life. In this sense the doctrine of use is most practical, because the future of the human race depends upon the eventual application of this doctrine to real life. You have been taught that the doctrine of use is founded upon the ancient law of the neighbor-"Thou shalt love thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength, and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." It is here that humanity is failing. The fact that men have not regarded the neighbor, but self first, may well account for the wars, hatreds, and miseries, rife in the world today. Certainly, if every man regarded his neighbor as himself, rather than as his natural enemy, the world's civilization, as we have known it, would not be facing potential tragedy.

     You are soon going forth into this world, much of it torn with strife and dissension-a perplexed world, blindly groping for some solution of the problems which seemingly threaten its destruction. Vainly do the economists and political theorists seek solutions. Some of the wiser among them are beginning to realize that the answer does not lie in a multitude of undigestible reforms or manmade theories and doctrines, but lies in a return to the simple concept involved in the Law of the Neighbor.

343


Like President Angell of Yale, they perceive that "materialism has failed." Economist Rodger Babson advocates a return to religion as the fundamental need for true economic recovery. Professor Einstein, in a recent address, pointed out that "a decline in religion, starting about one hundred years ago, has culminated in the chaotic conditions prevalent in many countries today." Sergeant York, acclaimed by General Pershing "the greatest soldier of the World War," said last week, in a speech at Pittsburgh, "Americans must re-establish the family altar. In far too many instances it has been abandoned. Modern man has lost confidence, even in himself, to say nothing of his fellows and his God. I don't see any chance of world peace unless we have a change of heart. As long as we nourish our hatreds, as long as we are arming to get at the other fellow, there never will be peace."

     However, the acknowledgment of our failure is one thing, and the solution another. They say, we must go back; we say, we must go forward. The world cannot go back to Judaism, nor to the old Christian Church. For the concepts involved in these faiths are not adequate to the spiritual needs of the day. We, too, subscribe to the ancient law of the neighbor, but as it is revealed in the Writings. It is evident, then, that the world cannot look to the economists or to politicians for a solution of its problems, but must look to those trained in the true meaning of the doctrine of use. You have had such a training; the solution, therefore, might well be in your hands. And this, not because you are especially gifted, but because, in the Lord's Providence, you, as New Churchmen, hold the key to the real truth. You have been taught that which alone can solve the pressing problems of humanity.

     Keep this vision firmly in your minds-that you have a very special work to perform, because, in the Lord's Providence, you have received a very special education. To outward appearances, you may seem to accomplish very little in the furtherance of the world's welfare, but if, in your daily duties, you do your best in the light of the teachings you have received-if enough of you do this-it may prove to be the germ of a yeast that will eventually leaven the mass of humanity. Then, above all, pass this vision on to your children, and you will be a success in this life, beyond any dreams of worldly accomplishment or natural desire.

344




     On this day your hearts are full of gratitude to the Academy. I say: Cherish this gratitude, and remember that this school of yours is not merely an educational institution, but an arm of the Lord's New Church on earth. Here lies your real duty and your true use, and your success, wherever you may go. Do not bury your talent in the earth, but keep this vision ever before you and sincerely endeavor to live it.
SPIRITUAL INFLUX 1938

SPIRITUAL INFLUX       Rev. T. S. HARRIS       1938

     (Delivered at the Council of the Clergy, 1938.)

     The importance of this subject may be inferred from the fact that in Potts's Concordance there are about forty-five pages containing over thirteen hundred references to passages in the Writings where Influx is mentioned. (Perhaps it may be safe to say that no other term appears so often in the pages of "Holy Writ.")

     Aristotle, Decartes and Leibnitz had a conception that there was such a thing as Influx, but of its nature and quality they had no perception. They called the process Physical Influx, Occasional Influx, and Pre-established Harmony, but all such terms, and what they implied, were rejected by the angels, while that of Spiritual Influx received their sanction, which was confirmed by a sign from heaven. (See 1. 18.)
                    
     Spiritual Influx is the Divine Proceeding, and is the Lord Himself, Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent. This process is implied by the term "flux," which means "to flow"; from this are formed such words as "afflux" (flowing toward) "efflux" (flowing from), "transflux" (flowing through), and "influx" (flowing into), all of which are applied to the Divine Proceeding. As there is but One God, there can be but One Divine Proceeding which is Life, Love and Wisdom, Good and Truth, the Bread that cometh down from Heaven, His Flesh that He giveth for the life of the world.

     That which proceeds from the Lord as Influx is substantial, but is not substance in the ordinary sense of this term. When thinking of substance, it seems of vital importance to have in mind the various meanings attached to the word. The following is a quotation from Webster's Dictionary:

345




     Substance (fr. L. substare to be under or present, stand firm.) 1. That which underlies all outward manifestations; real, unchanging in essence or nature; that in which qualities or accidents inhere; that which constitutes anything what it is. 2. Essential element or elements; characteristic components; as, the ideas are the same in substance. 3. Essential import; gist; as, the substance of what he said. 4. Material of which a thing is made; hence solidity; body; as, to test the substance of concrete. 5. Material possessions; estate; property; resources; as, to waste one's substance. 6. Any particular kind of matter, whether element, compound or mixture; any chemical material of which bodies are composed. 7. Christian Science defines substance as Spirit and denies the existence of any such thing as matter. (Webster.)

     But it is revealed in the Heavenly Doctrine that there exists that which is called "Substance Itself"; and this Substance has not been created, but is Eternal, Infinite and Divine. Substance, either spiritual or material, both of which are created and finite, never can be made Divine.

     God is Substance Itself, and the universe was created and made out of substance emitted from Himself; by Influx He vivifies and sustains all created things.

     Influx may be defined as motion caused by and proceeding from the Infinite through created substance to finite recipients.

     It seems evident that there must be a distinction made between that which is emitted from the Lord and ceases to be Himself and that which proceeds from Him as Influx and remains always and forever the Lord. Creation appears to be a finished product, while Influx is a perpetual proceeding; by means of it all things that have been created cohere.

     The nature and quality of Spiritual Influx may be illustrated by comparing it with natural gravitation. We know that material objects attract one another according to the density of their mass and the square root of their distance apart. Thus all coherence in the physical universe is effected by means of gravitation. And it is revealed in A. C. 9853, that all coherence in the Spiritual World is effected by means of Influx. Gravity and Influx perform the same function on their own distinct planes; therefore it is safe to infer that there is some correspondential relation between them.

346


As gravity is not the passing of material substance from one body to another, so Influx is not like pouring liquid from one vessel into another; it is not substance which is being continually emitted by the Infinite and constantly flowing to finite recipients, but this "flux" which is Infinite and Divine, because it is the Lord proceeding, holds together and sustains all created things in existence, for without it nothing could subsist. It is in this sense only that subsistence is said to be perpetual creation. The finition of substance from the Infinite for the sustentation of the created universe is not necessary; nor does it appear that other worlds are in the process of being created.

     In the letter of the Word where the story of creation is recorded it is written, "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the hosts of them, . . . and God ended His work which He had made." "He made the stars also," and no new star has been created since; otherwise the balance, the equilibrium, of the whole material universe would have been greatly disturbed, owing to the law of gravity.

     The indestructibility of matter is a well-established fact, and it seems evident that substance which has been finited from the Infinite cannot become annihilated or reduced to nothing, because of the Divine inflowing which sustains all things.

     The stars of the firmament, including our solar orb, are globes of gas in a state of combustion. From them spheres are being emitted consisting of their own substance. But fine particles of these spheres, which astronomers call "cosmic dust," are being left behind the swiftly moving orbs, and these furnish fertile fields for other orbs to feed upon while passing through them. This is the only source from which the stars derive fuel to keep their fires burning; without these fine particles of matter to feed their fires, combustion with them would have ceased long ago. But more than this is necessary; these fires require to be stirred up, or as it were stoked, else they would smoulder and die out. The stirring up of their burning substance is effected by Influx proceeding from the Lord; without Him these fires would cease to burn. But note, Influx does not supply fuel.

     A very plain illustration of Influx by comparison may be obtained thus: Cast a pebble into the midst of a placid pool of water. Observe the rings of ripples proceeding towards the circumference. This has the appearance of a current flowing shoreward.

347


That this is not the case, is obvious from the fact that objects floating upon the surface do not move out of their position as the ripples pass under them, but merely bob up and down as if they were anchored to the bottom. The only motion occurring in the water is the activation of its molecules by impaction; it resembles a flowing, but in reality it is merely a commotion, an agitation among particles without any change of location. By this comparison may be understood what is implied in Spiritual Diary 4272 and the following numbers, where it is said that Influx resembles an atmospheric stream, and, as it were, a flowing river of general affection, beyond the bounds of which no one can escape. This Influx resembles an atmospheric stream, but in reality it is a tremulation of spiritual air caused by activity occurring in the organic form of God-Man. This vibration, thus produced, is the Divine that enters into the souls and minds of angels and men; otherwise the finite recipients would be consumed, like a stake cast into the body of the sun. (See T. C. R. 641.) Although the Lord is in angels and men by means of Influx, yet not one particle of their organic forms thereby becomes Divine. It is of vital importance to perceive how the Divine is in angels, men, devils and everything that exists by means of Influx, or else the heresy called "pantheism" may get possession of the mind.

     That which proceeds from the Lord as Influx cannot be created and thus become finited so as to be appropriated and assimilated by the recipients. Life is not creatable. "Man is not life, but a recipient of life from God. God, being infinite, and therefore life in Himself, cannot by any possibility create this life and so transcribe it into a man, for this would be to make the man God." The same is the case with Love and Wisdom, Good and Truth, Charity and Faith, and all that proceeds from the Lord by Influx.

     Love and Wisdom proceeding from the Lord are compared to and illustrated by heat and light proceeding from the sun. Newton, and the philosophers of his day, held the fallacious idea that light was a substance being emitted from the sun, but this conception of light has been discarded, and the wave theory is now universally accepted. Modern Physics teaches that heat and light are effects produced by tremulations in atmospheric mediums caused by intense activity in the substance of the sun. That Swedenborg entertained this modern theory may be safely inferred from his treatise on "Tremulation."

348




     Love and Wisdom proceeding from the Lord do not consist of created substance, just as heat and light proceeding from the sun are not created substance that is being emitted from it. As the sensations of heat and light are produced by vibrations in material atmospheres, so effects are produced in the will and understanding by means of vibrations in the spiritual atmospheres.

     The function that Love and Wisdom performs in the spiritual world is the same as that performed by the heat and light of the sun in the natural world. Therefore their nature and mode of operation must be similar on their own planes. Love and Wisdom proceeding from the Lord through the atmosphere of the spiritual sun are the only heat and light which the angels sense in their world. There are not two influxes, one of Love, and one of Wisdom, proceeding from the Lord, but it is one and the same activity producing different effects according to the quality of the faculty on which it operates, just as heat-waves and light-rays are one and the same vibrations, producing a sensation of heat to touch and the sensation of light to sight. "Love and Wisdom in God make One; they also proceed as one, and can only be separated by their recipient subjects. (See T. C. R. 41.)

     Life, which is light proceeding from the sun of the spiritual world, is not creatable, but continually flows into the human understanding, which it vivifies in proportion as it illuminates it; consequently, since light, life and wisdom are one, wisdom is not creatable; no more is faith, or truth, or love, or charity, or good; but the forms that receive them are created, and human and angelic minds are such forms. (T. C. R. 40.) How does that which is not creatable flow into the forms that are created, and vivify them! Good and truth are not creatable; but all created things which are in a state of order have relation to good and truth. This is not the case with created things that are in a state of disorder, for these have relation to evil and falsity. The Lord created all things from order and in order; "and God saw every thing that He had made, and behold It was very good."

     It was not the things which God had made that He called good, for good is not creatable, but it was the state of order existing throughout the created universe that God saw was very good. And this state of order is God, for He is Order Itself.

349


Order, like Good, is not creatable. The Lord is in the constant effort to bring all into this state of order which He sees as being very good, but in doing so He does not create anything. The created things that are brought into a state of Divine Order cannot be called good, "for there are none good but One, that is God." To be in a state of Divine Order is to be in God and to have God in us, but this does not make us good; if we were good, then we would be God, for He alone is Good.

     The process of regeneration is not the formation of any new substance by creation, but the restoration into a state of Divine Order that which already exists from creation. This state of order is the Lord's Own in which He dwells with those who are regenerating. But God's dwelling in His Own with man is effected by means of Influx; where there exists a state of Divine Order, there He abides by Influx, and becomes conjoined with those who are in this state. Otherwise He but stands at the door and knocks. By Influx "He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good." But, as a rosebush in full bloom and a putrid carcass under the same solar rays send forth different odors, so, under the influence of His rising sun, the good emit a heavenly aroma, while the evil exude a diabolical stench. It is by means of these odors that the angels perceive the internal states and spiritual qualities of all.

     A knowledge of the nature and quality of Influx makes possible some conception of God's Omnipotence, Omniscience and Omnipresence. By means of Influx the Power of the Highest is exercised; by it there is knowledge of all things with the Most High; and by means of it the Divine is present everywhere. Influx resembles a river of general affection, beyond the bounds of which no one can escape. "Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid Thy hand upon me." It is the quality of the reaction relative to Influx that is the means by which God perceives, sees and knows all and every thing, even to the most minute, that is done according to order, and by that means also whatever is done contrary to order. "Thou compassest my path and my down lying, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, Thou knowest it altogether." By this perpetual and universal Influx, God is always and everywhere present. "Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold Thou art there: if I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me." (Psalm 139.)

350




     From a knowledge of the nature and quality of Influx may be obtained an answer to the question, "How can this man give us His flesh to eat!" "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you." By His "flesh" is meant Divine Good and by His "blood" Divine Truth. These constantly proceed from the Lord by Influx, and are always and forever Himself. How can that which is Infinite and Divine be appropriated as food by a finite being? The elements in food become part of the organic form of the recipient, which is not the case with those who are vivified by the influx of Divine Good and Divine Truth. If the Divine Good and the Divine Truth should be incorporated as part of the organism of the recipient, such a process would eventually make the recipient Divine. It was this fantasy that led Hinduism to develop its doctrine of Nirvana, or reabsorption into the Infinite.

     On the other hand, it may be thought that the Infinite proceeding by Influx becomes finited in order to accommodate it to the recipient subject; this also is a fallacy. The Divine Good and Divine Truth, thus proceeding, are the Lord, and therefore not creatable. If they should become finited, they would no longer be Divine Good and Divine Truth, or the Flesh and Blood of the Lord, or the True Bread coming down from Heaven.

     That which is in a state of vibration is finite and created substance, but the cause of this vibration is neither finite nor creatable. "The Infinite is adjoined to, but not conjoined with, that which is finite." This makes evident that there is a distinction between that through which and into which Influx proceeds and Influx Itself, which is the Divine Proceeding. "The conjunction of the Lord with man, and of man with the Lord, is in those things which are the Lord's." The states of order existing in the substance of the will and the understanding of a man are the Lord's, and it is in these states of order that conjunction takes place; not with the finite substance of his mind. A state of order in the will is good, and a state of order in the understanding is truth, both of which are from the Lord, and are the Lord's.

     But the finite substance, which constitutes the man himself, is not conjoined with the Lord; this is only adjoined to Him.

351


"For the Infinite is adjoined to, but not conjoined with, that which is finite." It is not the eating and drinking the material bread and wine of the Holy Supper that effects conjunction with the Lord, but the self-examination, repentance, and amendment of life in preparation for this Holy Act that brings about a state of order in the minds of the recipients, thus making possible conjunction of the Lord with His own in them. It is this orderly condition that effects conjunction, not the partaking of bread and wine at the Supper.

     As that which plants and trees absorb from the earth and air, which becomes part of their organic forms, differs from the heat and light proceeding from the sun, without which they would droop and die, so that which human minds absorb, and make part of their organic forms, differs from that which proceeds from the Lord by Influx, without which there would be no spiritual life in them. That which proceeds as Influx is the Bread of Life, of which the Lord says, "Except ye eat my flesh and drink my blood, ye have no life in you." This is the True Bread that cometh down from heaven, and is the Lord Himself, Infinite and Divine, which giveth life unto the world. This is the "flesh that is meat indeed, and the blood which is drink indeed."

     As sunshine is not substance from which plants are formed, but vibrations in the atmospheres by which they live and grow, so Influx is not substance from which minds are formed, but a perpetual, universal flow of affection, beyond the bounds of which no one can escape; in it all things live, move or have being; by means of it all things are in the Infinite, and the Infinite in all things. Wherever there is motion, Influx is the cause;-the motion of substance in the spiritual sun, and in the souls of living creatures; the motion of the stars in the firmament, and the motion of electrons in the atoms; from inmosts to outmosts, the whole created universe pulsates by reason of the heart-throbs of The Eternal.

     Influx is the Lord operating by means of and through finite things into recipient subjects. In the souls of created beings Influx is life; in their wills it is love; in their understandings it is wisdom; in their bodies and outmost things it is use. Good and truth are states of Divine Order in the substance of will and understanding, respectively. Life, love, wisdom, use, good, truth are not creatable things, but the Lord Himself operating in created, finite recipients, according to the laws of Divine Order.

352


SPIRITUAL SUN 1938

SPIRITUAL SUN       Rev. WILLARD D. PENDLETON       1938

     (A Paper read at the Council of the Clergy, 1938.)

     We find in the Writings four distinct teachings concerning the spiritual sun. In brief, they are as follows:

     1. That the Lord is the sun of heaven.

     2. That the sun of heaven is not the Lord.

     3. That the Lord appears as a sun.

     4. That the spiritual sun was the means by which the Lord created the universe.

     To all appearance we have before us a series of contradictory statements. In the first place we are told that the Lord is the sun of heaven; in the second place we are told that He is not the sun of heaven. Now it is more than evident that one of the teachings must be true as stated, and that the other involves an appearance. Either this sun is infinite, or it is finite; it cannot be both. If the sun of heaven is the Lord, then creation is a Divine emanation. Yet we know that creation is not a Divine emanation, for all created things are finite. On the other hand, if the sun of heaven is not the Lord, how do we account for the fact that the Lord appears as a sun? For if the spiritual sun is a mere appearance in the mind of the angels, it cannot be a substantial entity by means of which God created the heavens and the earth. The Lord does not create by means of human appearances. Thus it is that we have before us an interesting series of passages which seem to involve contradictions.

     The Lord is the Sun of Heaven.

     It is in the Arcana Coelestia that we find the teaching that the Lord is the sun of heaven. It is true that the statement is made in some of the other works of the Writings, but it is in the Arcana that the emphasis is placed upon this teaching.

353


So we read: "It is a most universal principle that the Lord is the sun of heaven." (A. 3636) "they who are in the heavens have their heads turned to the Lord who is the sun there." (A. 3641) "The reason the angels have such states, and such variations, is that the sun of heaven, which is the Lord there, is the Divine Lord Itself." (A. 10135) "Moreover, in the other life the Lord is the sun, and also is the light. In the sun there, which is Himself, is Divine fire, which is the Divine Good of the Divine Love." (A. 8644) "The sun of the other life, which is the Lord, remains constantly in its place." (A. 8750. See also A. 957, 1521, 2441, 3708, 9031, 9682, 9755; H. 117, 124; R. 938)

     Now it is maintained by some students of the Writings that there is a sense in which it can be said that the vessel is Divine, for the Lord is the life of all created things. Personally, I do not subscribe to this view, in that it borders upon a most dangerous heresy. However, we know that the Writings themselves speak in terms of the appearance, for it is said that the Lord is the sun of heaven, and there are passages which seem to indicate that the soul of man is Divine. But in such instances the Writings do not refer to the recipient vessel, and in no wise imply that either the sun of heaven or the soul of man is Divine it itself. The fact that at times the implication seems to be there, is due solely to the appearance; and if the church is to sustain the purity of its doctrine, it must exercise the greatest care when considering the relation of that which is Infinite to that which is finite. For when the appearance is accepted as the truth, man is deprived of a balanced perception of doctrine. Nevertheless, whenever the relation of God to His creation is considered, it must first be acknowledged that the Lord is Life, and that it is He who vivifies the dead vessel. If you must therefore, you may say that there is a sense in which the vessel is Divine,-a sense which implies no Divinity, in so far as the vessel is concerned. It is, as it were, a way of speaking, but a way which must be clearly defined lest confusion arise.

     When the Writings speak of the sun of heaven as the Lord they do not refer to the quality of the vessel. It is but an acknowledgment of the quality of the Life which infills that sun. This, moreover, is the essential conception, for in the acknowledgment that God is Life, and that all creation is dead, is the beginning of wisdom.

354


Upon this fundamental conception we must build our mansion of spiritual thought, and for this reason the teaching that the Lord is the sun of heaven is emphasized in the first work of the Writings. But lest man misinterpret the doctrine, and ascribe that which is Divine to that which is not, we find in the work on the Divine Love and Wisdom a direct denial of the appearance arising from the teaching that the Lord is the sun of heaven. Indeed, it is more than a denial, it is a warning, and as such it is to be accepted. For we read, "Let everyone beware of thinking that the sun of the spiritual world is God Himself. God Himself is Man." (D. L. W. 97.)

     The Sun of Heaven is not the Lord.

     It is here, in the Divine Love and Wisdom, no. 97, that we find the most direct teaching of the Writings in regard to the spiritual sun. It simply states that which is obvious to any student of New Church theology, namely, that "God is not a sun, but is Man." Having refuted the idea that the sun of heaven is the Lord, it then proceeds to a consideration of the sun itself: "The first proceeding from His Love and Wisdom is that fire-like spiritual (substance) which appears before the angels as a sun. When, therefore, the Lord manifests Himself to the angels in person, He manifests Himself as a Man; and this sometimes in the sun, and sometimes outside of it." (D. L. W. 97.) In this connection, we must note carefully that the passage does not say, "the first proceeding of His Love and Wisdom," for no matter how far the Love and Wisdom of God proceeds, He is still Divine. Instead, it says, "Primum procedens ex Ipsius Amore et Sapientia . . . ," that is, "the first-proceeding from His Love and Wisdom." In other words, we are here concerned, not with God Himself, but with that which is produced by God, or from God, which is the first creation.

     Lest there be any doubt as to the true nature of the spiritual sun, the Writings confirm the warning given above in the following passages: "That sun is not the Lord Himself, but is from Him." (D. L. W. 86.) "By that sun, which is before the eyes of the angels, and from which they have heat and light, is not meant the Lord Himself, but the first proceeding from Him, which is the fulness of spiritual heat.

355


The fulness of spiritual heat is spiritual fire, which is Divine Love and Divine Wisdom in their first correspondence." (D. L. W. 93.) Finally, "Because these things which constitute the sun of the spiritual world are from the Lord, but are not the Lord, they are not Life in Itself, but are devoid of Life in Itself; just as those things which flow forth from the angel or man, and constitute spheres around him, are not the angel or the man, but are from him, and are devoid of his life. These spheres make one with the angel or man no otherwise than that they are concordant; and this they are because taken from the forms of their bodies which in them were forms of their life." (D. L. W. 294.)

     We are not, therefore, to confuse the spiritual sun with the Divine Itself. The one is a product, which, having been derived from God, forms a receptive plane for the Divine proceeding. The other is God Himself, that is to say, Man. Consequently, "Let everyone beware of thinking that the sun of the spiritual world is God Himself." (D. L. W. 97.)

     The Lord Appears as a Sun.

     Despite the fact that we are not to think of the Lord as a sun, we are told in the Writings that He so appears before the eyes of the angels of heaven. Indeed, the statements to this effect are so numerous that it is not necessary to give the references. A few quotations will serve our purpose, and so we read as follows: "The Lord actually appears in heaven as a sun." (H. 118) "As no one can be conjoined with the Lord as He is in Himself, He appears to the angels at a distance as a sun." (P. 162.) "The Lord is seen as a sun in heaven before the angels, and His Divine Love together with His Divine Wisdom so appear." (R. 53.) Moreover, this is not an occasional occurrence, but a perpetual manifestation; for it is said that "the Lord as a sun appears constantly . . . " (A. 4060.) In brief, the Lord as a sun is always before the eyes of the angels, and this according to their state. When the angel is in a state of perception, the sun of heaven shines with exceeding brilliance, and when the perception recedes, the light is dimmed.

356




     Now if the Lord is not the sun of the spiritual world, and at the same time appears in that capacity, it seems as though we must conclude that the sun of heaven is a mere appearance, that is to say, a thing which has no claim to reality apart from the mind of the angel. Nor could this conclusion be confined to the sun alone, but of necessity would have to be applied to all spiritual objects. In other words, if we accept the spiritual sun as a mere appearance, we must assume that the world of the spirit is a purely subjective world, or, what is the same, a human state. But the spiritual world is not a state; it is a series of passive substances upon which a state may be induced. In this it does not differ from the world of nature; for man can induce his states upon the substances of which this world is composed. A work of art, a house, or a book, is nothing but material substance upon which man has impressed human thoughts and affections. So the form of a material object is subject to the will of man. However, spiritual substance differs from natural substance in one respect, namely, it is not fixed. When the state of the spirit changes, the form of the spiritual object undergoes instantaneous alteration; the state is, as it were, automatically induced. So the surroundings of the spirit are always in keeping with his affections; they respond to his every mood. Hence it is that the sun of heaven is seen by those who worship the Lord Jesus Christ, but not by those who are in the love of self.

     When the Lord was in the world, He taught men, saying, "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation; neither shall they say, lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:20, 21.) When the Lord came into the world a second time, He unfolded the true significance of this teaching, for in the Writings we are taught that the kingdom of heaven is a state. But the kingdom of God, or the kingdom of heaven, is not the only state; there is also a mixed state, known as the world of spirits, and a perverted state, known as the kingdom of hell. In short, the kingdom of heaven is one thing, and the spiritual world is another. The latter refers to that series of spiritual substances which form a plane in which the spirit dwells, and from which he is created. The former refers to the manner in which the spirit receives the Divine life that inflows through successive degrees of spiritual substance. The one is a creation, whereas the other is a human reaction.

     Hence we are not to think of the world of the spirit as a purely subjective phenomenon.

357


The spiritual sun, the radiant belts, the successive atmospheres, the bodies of water, and the soil, which appear before the eyes of the angels, are called "appearances" because they actually appear, that is to say, because they exist. Nor are we to believe that their existence depends upon the state of the angelic mind, for in themselves they are substantial creations. The fact that the form, or the manner in which they appear, is borrowed from the mind of the spirit, in no wise implies that they are mere products of angelic thought. So we read: "Appearances in heaven are real and substantial." (D. 4292.) Also, "All appearances which exist in the heavens are real because they are correspondences; for the interior things that are of the affections and thence of the thoughts with the angels, when they pass through to the sight of their eyes, are clothed with forms such as appear in the heavens, and because they are visible, they are called appearances, and are real because from creation." (E. 553.) Further, "The appearances which are thence are called real appearances, because they really exist." (H. 175.)

     From this it is evident that the sun of the spiritual world, and all else that appears to the angels, are not mere products of the angelic mind. In themselves, they are Divine creations, or substantial entities created by God. Yet, as already considered, the forms in which spiritual substances appear are determined by the state of the spirit. So we account for the doctrine of variation according to state. In other words, after death form is according to reception, in that the form in which a thing appears to a spirit is actually patterned after the mode of his mind, and this because the substances of the spiritual world are not fixed. Here on earth we can induce a specific form upon material substance, and it retains its figure, regardless of our changes of state. But in the other world the form changes with the state of the spirit, due to the adaptability of spiritual substance.

     With these thoughts in mind, we see why it is that the Lord appears as a sun to the angels of heaven, and only as something opaque to the spirits of the hells. For the sun of heaven as a sun, that is, as a form, has no claim to significance apart from the mind of the man or spirit who does not acknowledge the Lord as the source of all spiritual heat and light, or, what is the same, the source of all good and truth.

358


But the sun of heaven, as it is in itself, that is, as a substantial entity created by Jehovah God, cannot be attributed to the angel of heaven or the regenerating man of the church. Indeed, the sun of heaven itself is the first of finition-the primitive substance from which all successive creations were derived. Of this substance the soul of man is formed, and the soul precedes all conscious existence, that is to say, all human states. The spiritual sun as a creation, therefore, cannot be predicated of the angel, for it existed prior to the spirit, in that it is the source of the spiritual substances from which man is made.

     Now the reason the Lord appears to the angels as a sun, and not in some other form, is due to the fact that a sun is a most perfect representative of the Divine proceeding. When the angels think of the Lord as to Person, they see Him as Man, but when they think of the Lord as He proceeds into creation, they see Him as a sun. Yet that which appears before the eyes of the angels is not the Divine in Itself, for no man can look upon God and live. That which actually appears stands forth as the first proceeding, or the proximate sphere by which the Divine is encompassed. So they do not contact God, but the Divine as it is reflected in the first of finition. Yet, even as the angels cannot look upon God as He is in Himself, neither can they sustain a direct contact with the Divine in its first accommodation, Thus it is that the Divine Good and Truth are adjusted to the state of the angels by means of further successives, that is, by means of the radiant belts, the lower atmospheres, and their derivatives. This, then, is why the Lord appears in the form of a sun, for like a sun He is the source of all creation, and as a sun He is universally present throughout creation. However, the appearance is not the Lord; it is the Lord appearing in spiritual substances, or the Lord as reflected by spiritual substances. And, as already considered, the form of this appearance is drawn from the mind of the angel in accordance with his state.

     The Spiritual Sun is the Means by which the Lord Created the Universe and All Things therein.

     So it is that the spiritual sun, as a sun,-that is, as a form,-does not exist apart from the angel.

359


Nevertheless, the spiritual sun is a substantial reality, for it is primitive substance itself. In this connection the Writings are most explicit, and we note the following passages: "The sun itself is not God, but is from God. It is the proximate sphere around Him, from Him. Through this sun the universe has been created by Jehovah God." "God first finited His Infinity by means of substances emitted from Himself, from which there came into existence His proximate compass, which makes the sun of the spiritual world. And afterwards, by means of that sun, He perfected all other compasses down to the ultimate one, which consists of things at rest; and thus, by means of degrees, He finited the world more and more." (T. 33.) "God finited all things by means of His sun, in the midst of which He is, and which consists of the Divine essence which goes forth as a sphere from Him. There and thence is the first of finition. . . . " (T. 29.) "There is one only substance from which all things are, and the sun of the spiritual world is that substance." (W. 300.) Surely we are left in no doubt as to the true nature of the spiritual sun; it is the substantial,-the substance from which and by which God created the universe. Moreover, the miracle of creation never ceases, for in the creation of every man born into the world the miracle is renewed.

     The Human Soul.

     Whether we speak of the universe as a whole, or whether we speak of man, it matters not, for creation is the same in greatests and in leasts. Indeed, every man born into the world is a universe,-a perfect microcosm, formed and fashioned in the image and likeness of the macrocosm. Far above the heavens, that is, far above the plane of man's conscious existence, is the human soul, that first receptacle of the Divine Proceeding. Like a sun, it is the source of its creation, and as a sun it is universally present in its creation. Beneath the mind of man, that is, beneath the spirit, lies the physical world or human body, and, in the case of the angel, the limbus. This plane has been formed of substances at rest, and, as such, grants a' fixed basis for the spirit. So in every human being we have a universe in least form,-a complete creation.

     Thus we identify the soul of man with the spiritual sun. But by this we do not mean to imply that the spiritual sun is composed of human souls; we merely infer that they are one and the same as to substance.

360


In the creation of man, the Lord, as it were, borrows substance from the spiritual sun, and dedicates that which is borrowed to a specific use. It is the same in the formation of the human body, where the Lord takes the dust of the ground, and disposes matters so derived to a specific function. In brief, the actual substance of the spiritual sun is set apart or individualized. Then, when the Divine inflows, this vessel reacts according to order, and we have a potential man or human soul.

     So we account for the teaching that the human internal or human soul is above the heavens. It is above the heavens, because it is beyond the plane of man's conscious states. Thus we read, "That man has an internal, an interior or rational, and an external, may be seen above (A. 1889, 1940). Man's internal is that from which he is man, and by which he is distinguished from brute animals. By means of this internal he lives after death, and to eternity a man, and by means of it he can be lifted up by the Lord among the angels. This internal is the very first form from which a man becomes and is a man, and by means of it the Lord is united to man. The very heaven that is nearest the Lord is composed of these human internals; but this is above even the inmost angelic heaven, and therefore these internals belong to the Lord Himself. . . . These internals of men have no life in themselves, but are forms recipient of the Lord's life. In so far therefore as man is in evil, whether actual or hereditary, so far has he been as it were separated from this internal which is the Lord's and is with the Lord, and thereby so far has he been separated from the Lord. . . . But the separation is not an absolute sundering from it, for then the man could no longer live after death; but it is a dissent and disagreement on the part of those faculties of his which are below, that is, of his rational and of his external man. But the Lord's internal was Jehovah Himself. . . . To this internal the Lord united the Human Essence; and because the Lord's internal was Jehovah, it was not a form recipient of life, like the internal of man, but was Life Itself." (A. 1999.)

     That the term "human internal," as it is here used, refers to the human soul, is beyond all question, for the subject under consideration is the relation of the Divine Soul to the Lord's Divine Human, yet we note an interesting use of the term "heaven," for it is said that "the very heaven which is nearest the Lord is composed of these human internals."

361


In other words, here is a usage of the term which does not refer to state, for the passage goes on to say that "this is above even the inmost angelic heaven." But the term "heaven" is sometimes used in the Writings to denote a plane of reception, and in this sense of the word the human soul is the first of the heavens. But it is not a heaven in the sense of state, for it is above the consciousness. For this reason the soul of man cannot be perverted. To all eternity it is as it was originally created, and this with the spirits of the lowest hells as well as with the angels of the highest heavens. Nor could the Lord permit man to enter upon the plane of the human internal, for if He did the man would be destroyed. Even as the angel cannot approach the spiritual sun, neither can he endure direct contact with the soul, for as to substance they are one and the same. Only He who was born of God could pass beyond the veil which separates the soul from the mind.

     In that the human internal is beyond the reach of man, it cannot be perverted, and therefore it is said to belong to the Lord alone. Like the Holy of Holies into which none could enter save the High Priest, who represented the Divine proceeding it is the dwelling place of God. Here it is that He who is Life Itself is to be found in His first accommodation-in a holy habitation which cannot be profaned by the impure thoughts and affections which comprise the spirit. Thus it is that, in every sense of the word, the soul belongs unto God; for although it is not God, it was formed and fashioned by God, and this to the end that He might dwell with man. It is, therefore, His Own possession, and no man can wrest it from His hand.

     The Divine Proceeding.

     There are, then, two modes of Divine approach, one from within, and the other from without. By means of the human internal, which is formed from the substance of the spiritual sun, the Lord descends into the spirit, and sustains it with His life. Yet the Divine purpose in creation cannot be fulfilled unless man, as of himself, willingly receives the Divine from within. So the Lord descends by another pathway-that pathway which is formed of the passive substances of inanimate creation, wherein the Divine stands forth before the eyes of angels and men.

362


Here is the truth which proceeds by an external way,-those truths which, when acquired by man, mold the interior vessels of the human mind into orderly receptacles for the Divine from within. So the spirit, like the soul, becomes a holy habitation of God Most High.
EVANGELIZING OUR CHILDREN 1938

EVANGELIZING OUR CHILDREN       HAROLD F. PITCAIRN       1938

     (Speech at 19th of June Banquet, Bryn Athyn, 1938.)

     The subject of evangelizing our children involves the question: "How can we make good New Churchmen out of them!" The answer is: "We can't." All we can do is to instruct them, and try to inspire them with ideals, so that when they grow up they will have the knowledge how, and the desire, to do those things which constitute being a good New Churchman. The question then arises, how best can this be done? There are many things, but an important one is to be good New Churchmen ourselves. Setting an example may involve the evil of sanctimony, but it cannot be ignored that children are often affected more by example than by precept. In this connection it is important that parents maintain an attitude of affection for the school and respect for the teachers, as this will usually be reflected in the point of view of their children. A child who is brought up in an atmosphere of affirmation to the school and the priesthood will not find it so' difficult to accept the Divine Authority of the Word and the Writings.

     In this connection, I would like to point out the importance of learning to think from the Writings, as distinguished from thinking about the Writings. Anyone can think about the Writings, but they alone think from the Writings who orient their convictions and ideas in accordance with the teachings contained therein. People with a New Church education will either think about the intellectual ideas of the world from the point of view of the Writings, or they will think about the Writings from the point of view of the intellectual ideas of the world.

363


The object of the Church and New Church education is to teach men to think about all things from the Writings.

     Children do not have a point of view which is properly their own. Their intellectual ideas are but reflections from their parents and teachers, and their points of view are but borrowed states. They sense, and one might almost say that they perceive, whether their parents think about or from the Writings. Herein parents have a great responsibility; for while none of us would admit that we are not New Church, the real question is: Are our philosophic convictions about education, moral conduct, birth control, evolution, and life, formulated from the Writings, or are they formulated from ideas presented by astute experts of the world who know nothing of the Writings and the New Church, but who so ably and subtly set forth plausible concepts drawn from the fallacies of the senses? We may deceive our associates, and we may even deceive ourselves, but we are not likely to deceive our children as to our fundamental attitude toward the Writings.

     If we really think from the Writings, and not just about them; if we have daily family worship, and encourage our children to acquire the daily habit of individual reading of the Word and Writings; then we have contributed mightily toward their becoming good New Churchmen when they become men and women and take on for themselves the responsibilities of adult life.

     While true New Churchmanship is an internal quality, there are certain things that can be done, certain customs that can be observed, which will be of inestimable value in protecting our children and ourselves from the forces which would destroy the church in us. Among the most important of these are daily family worship, daily individual reading of the Writings, and habitually going to church and doctrinal classes. All these contribute much toward establishing the plane for our children's thinking from the Writings in their later life. The importance of this may be realized from this teaching of the Writings,-that a man cannot be withdrawn from evils and falsities except by means of the truths and goods that are with him from the Word. (A. C. 94689.) With young children, an affection for certain stories in the letter of the Word and parts of the Writings will implant remains and lay a foundation for individual reading when they grow up.

364


Unless we make all of these matters of habit, the loves of the world and self will tend to dilute our interest in the Church until it becomes of little practical value in our every-day life. If our interest in the Church becomes merely perfunctory, it will have little spiritual value to us.

     The fact that we are all tempted to fall by the wayside from time to time only emphasizes the importance of forming habits that will protect us. Habits are of real importance. Good habits remind us when otherwise we would forget, and exert a continuing pressure away from the loves of self and the world, without which our salvation could hardly be possible. One of the most important things we can do is to implant correct habits in our children, for if not implanted then, they probably never will be.

     II.

     Environment in the formative years, like habits acquired in childhood, often mold the character and determine the interests of later life. Therefore, the environment of our children is of vital importance, if most of them are to remain in the Church. They can do little about their general environment, but parents may be able to do a great deal. The Twelfth Principle of the Academy recognizes the importance of this, and it is stated as follows: "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."

     If environment is so important in the sphere of education, it is of like importance in their social contacts. And so we also believe that distinctive New Church social life contributes much toward keeping our children in the Church.

     The Sixth Principle of the Academy directs attention to the teaching of the Writings that there can be real marriage only between two who are of the same religion, and who also acknowledge the Divinity of the Lord. With New Churchmen, there must also be the acknowledgment of the Lord in His Second Coming through the Writings. Therefore, we should try to instill this principle so firmly in the affections of our children that they will not consider marrying out of the Church, no matter how they may be attracted to one of another faith, or to one of no religion.

365


If a New Churchman marries one who never comes into the Church, he either will cease to have an intense love for the Church (assuming he had this when he married), or he will be miserable spiritually, because then he will be unable to share with his partner those things which mean the most to him.

     In addition to this, there is the problem of the education and social life of the children of our children. We are as much interested in having our grandchildren remain in the Church as we are that our children do so.

     It is significant that the General Church, which believes in the Principles of the Academy, has been much more successful in holding its young people in the Church than those bodies which have ignored them.

     III.

     Instead of asking how we are going to keep our children in the Church when they become old enough to take their own responsibilities, we might ask: How can we bring them up to become forms of charity? For this is the measure of true New Churchmanship.

     We read in the Doctrine of Charity: "Every man who looks to the Lord and shuns evils as sins, if he sincerely, justly and faithfully does the works of his office and employment, becomes a form of charity." (158.) This is emphasized by repetition. The expression is used in treating of charity in the priest, charity in magistrates, charity in officials under them, charity in judges, charity in the commander of an army, charity in the officers under the commander of an army, charity in the common soldier, charity in the business man, charity in workmen, charity in husbandmen, charity in shipmasters, charity in sailors, and charity in servants. Although something different is said about each of these, in each case the opening sentence is to the effect that those become charity in form who look to the Lord, shun evils as sins, and sincerely, justly, and faithfully perform the duties of their office.

     Now, if a New Churchman looks to the Lord, will he not make reading the Word and the Writings a habit?

366


I repeat, therefore, that we should try to instill this habit early in the lives of our children.

     The practice of self-examination, and the recognition of specific evils within one's self as sins against God, seldom takes place before adult life. There are two fundamentals, however, that should be established from early childhood. One is to shun deceit. The other is to learn obedience,-if possible, cheerful and willing obedience. If obedience to parents and teachers is not established in childhood, obedience to the Lord and the Writings will be much more difficult in manhood. Therefore, fair and consistent discipline should be an essential part of every child's training.

     While the first of charity is to look to the Lord and shun evils, this is not enough by itself. We also read in the Doctrine of Charity that "the second of charity is to do its goods." The teaching is:

     "Man cannot become charity unless he perpetually does the good of use from affection and its delight. Therefore, when a man sincerely, justly, and faithfully does the work that belongs to his office or employment, from affection and its delight, he is continually in the good of use. . . . Hence it is that he is perpetually in the good of use, from morning to evening, from year to year, from his earliest age to the end of his life. Otherwise he cannot become a form, that is, a receptacle of charity." (158.)

     Therefore, we should encourage our children to acquire knowledge and skill in useful endeavors which attract them.

     The first use of the Academy, and also of New Church parents, is to educate children for heaven. But this definitely involves also training them to attend to their earthly duties and occupations sincerely, justly, faithfully, and willingly, whether these be lessons or other duties. Heaven is a Kingdom of Uses, and so it is of utmost importance that children learn to shun laziness, and learn to become industrious, for only so can they become "forms, that is, receptacles, of charity."

     IV.

     Tonight we are celebrating that unique occasion when the Lord called His Twelve Apostles together in the spiritual world to instruct them, preparatory to sending them throughout the spiritual world with the message to all, and in every earth, that the Lord is God, and that God is Man.

367


This took place on the nineteenth of June in the year 1770. We call this Mew Church Day. We do so because it was on this day that the Apostles were commissioned by the Lord to carry to the peoples of all earths the same message that is given to the New Church in the Writings. And what is this message? It is profound, but it is also simple and practical. It is, that the Lord is God, and that we are to look to Him, to shun evils as sins against Him, and sincerely, justly, and faithfully to do the duties of our office and employment. If we do these things, we will be good New Churchmen. If we also succeed in inspiring our children to do them, they will remain in the Church, and our work of evangelizing them will bear fruit many fold. If we and our children do these things, we will be living that message which is being carried by the Apostles to all peoples throughout the whole spiritual world at the command of the Lord.
ADORATION FROM THE HEART 1938

ADORATION FROM THE HEART              1938

     "The supreme or inmost truth of the church,-that the Human of the Lord is Divine,-is denied by those in the church who are in faith alone; but still, because they know from the Word that the Divine belongs to the Lord, and do not apprehend how His Human can be Divine, therefore they attribute both to the Lord, by making a distinction between His Divine and His human nature. But they who are in the life of faith, or charity, adore the Lord as their God and Savior; and when they are in adoration they think of the Divine of the Lord, not separating it from His Human; thus they acknowledge in heart that everything in the Lord is Divine. But when they are thinking from doctrine, as they too cannot comprehend how the Human can be Divine, they speak from what is doctrinal." (A. C. 4731.)

368


GLEANINGS FROM NEW CHURCH HISTORY 1938

GLEANINGS FROM NEW CHURCH HISTORY              1938

     A SO-CALLED IMPARTIAL REVIEW.

     On the shelves of the Academy Library there is a set of the LONDON MAGAZINE OR GENTLEMAN'S INTELLIGENCER,-fifty-four volumes, covering the years 1732-1784. One Richard Baldwin was proprietor and publisher. Our attention has been called to an item appearing in the monthly issue for August, 1770, under the department entitled "An Impartial Review of New Publications," which features many pungent comments upon contemporary books. Among them we find this:

     A Theosophic Lucubration on the Nature of influx, as it respects the Communications and Operations of the Soul and Body. By the honorable and learned Emanuel Swedenborg, now first translated from the original Latin, 4to. 2s.6d. Lewis.

     The honorable and learned Emanuel Swedenborg is a nobleman of Stockholm who stands very well in his own opinion, but appears to us to be a most contemptible enthusiast: he boasts of an immediate fellowship with angels, and tells us that the Deity himself appeared personally to him in the year 1743.-After such an account of himself, we fancy a criticism on his theosophic lucubration will be wholly unnecessary.

     This was the English translation prepared by the Rev. Thomas Hartley, and published at London in 1770. (Documents, Vol. III, p. 1009.) The contents of the work were undoubtedly beyond the grasp of the GENTLEMAN'S INTELLIGENCER, and the "impartial" reviewer had recourse to personal invective. Swedenborg knew about this translation, and if he ever saw the review cited above, he was well aware of the meaning and origin of such attacks, from abundant experience in both worlds.

369


REPRESENTATIVES IN NATURE 1938

REPRESENTATIVES IN NATURE       Editor       1938


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office a Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly By
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.
Editor               Rev. W. B. Caldwell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager          Mr. H. Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

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

     
TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$3.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single Copy, 30 cents.
     With the advent of Summer the thoughts of men turn to the outdoors and the world of nature, wherein the devout mind sees exhibited the wonders of the Divine operation in creation, and is moved to an increased acknowledgment and worship of the Creator. Therein, also, men may discern guidance for human behavior in the natural and in the spiritual life. "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest." (Proverbs 6:6-8.) "The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider." (Isaiah 1:3.) "Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord." (Jeremiah 8:7.)

     Throughout the Heavenly Doctrines, also, the marvels of nature-the budding, blossoming and fruit-bearing of plants, the instinctive life of the animal world-are pictured as manifestations of a Divine government and providence, as confirmations of man's faith in God, and as representatives of His heavenly kingdom.

370




     "There is nothing whatever in the created world which has not a correspondence with the things which are in the spiritual world, and which does not, in its own manner, represent something in the Lord's kingdom. If a man knew how these things are, he would never attribute all things to nature, as he is wont to do.

     "Hence it is that all and single things in the universe represent the kingdom of the Lord, insomuch that the universe with its constellations, its atmospheres, and its three kingdoms, is nothing else than a kind of theater representative of the Lord's glory which is in the heavens. In the animal kingdom, not only man, but also the single animals, even to the least and vilest of them, are representative. The worms, which creep on the ground, and feed on plants,-these, when the time of their nuptials approaches, become chrysalises, and presently are furnished with wings, and are raised thereby from the ground into the atmosphere, their heaven, where they experience their joy and freedom, sporting with one another, and feeding on the choicest parts of flowers, laying their eggs, and thus providing for posterity. And as they are then in the state of their heaven, they are also in their beauty. That these things are representative of the Lord's kingdom, every one can see." (A. C. 2999, 3000.)

     The emergence of the butterfly from the chrysalis, and its flight in the air, is a correspondence of man's resurrection and the elevation of his spirit into heaven. Of the spirits of Jupiter we read:

     "When they have been prepared for heaven, they put off their garments, and are clothed with shining new raiment, and become angels. This they likened to caterpillars, which, having passed through the vile state of their existence, are changed into nymphs, and then into butterflies, to which other clothing is given, and also winks of a blue, yellow, silver, or golden color; and then they have liberty to fly in the air as in their heaven, and to celebrate their marriages, and lay their eggs, and thus provide for the propagation of their kind; and then also sweet and pleasant food is provided for them from the juices and odors of various flowers." (A. C. 8848. See also A. C. 2758.)

     Our reflections upon this subject in the light of Revelation followed the reading of the life-history of a remarkable butterfly, described in a recent issue of THE NEW-CHURCH HERALD (April 2, 1938, p. 158) by the editor, the Rev. Charles A. Hall, who is the author of a number of books on nature subjects,-British Birds, British Wild Flowers, and more recently, British Butterflies and Moths. The story of this butterfly, printed below, is not without its sinister implications, but it will be noted that these apply to the caterpillar stage of its existence, which the Writings call its "vile state," and which may be likened to man's unregenerate condition before he has undergone preparation for heaven. Mr. Hall's account reads:

371




     A British Butterfly.

     There is a very beautiful and attractive British butterfly known as the Large Blue. It is rare, and occurs principally in Devon and Cornwall. We confess we should rather like to visit those counties in June when specimens will be on the wing. This species has a remarkable life-history which has but recently come to light. The female deposits its eggs on petals of the flowers of wild thyme. The larva, or caterpillar, emerging in a short time from an egg, proceeds to feed on the down of the flowers, and continues to do so in an orderly way until, owing to growth, it has twice changed its skin.

     When the third skin is cast, a remarkable thing happens. Instead of continuing to feed on the down of the wild thyme flowers, the caterpillar drops from the flower-head and takes to its legs. For a time it walks about as though it wants something, hardly knowing what. The walk is continued until an ant is met. The ant is pleased with the encounter, and at once begins to stroke the caterpillar with its feet and antennae. On one of the segments of the caterpillar's body there is a gland capable of secreting a sweet fluid, and as the ant strokes the creature secretion is stimulated. It is thought that secretion takes place only in response to the attentions of the ant; experiments have shown that it does not occur under artificial stimuli. The ant relishes the sweet delicacy; indeed, it takes a drunkard's delight in it. It is soon joined by other ants hopeful of a share in the feast.

     A time arrives when the caterpillar arches its body and gives the ant a sign that it desires to be lifted and carried. It is at once lifted and borne to the ant's nest, where it is deposited in a chamber in which ant grubs are being tended. Henceforth the guest is allowed to feed on the helpless grubs, it being remarkable that the controllers of the ant colony are willing to sacrifice some of their progeny in return for supplies of honeydew from the caterpillar. Their action suggests the drunkard sacrificing his children on the altar of his thirst. The caterpillar continues feeding on the ant grubs through the summer. In the autumn the food supply gives out; so the caterpillar becomes comatose in the autumn and hibernates through the winter. In the spring, when a further supply of grubs is forthcoming, it comes to life again and resumes feeding. It pupates in May or June, and in about three weeks the winged butterfly appears; no one ignorant of its story realizing that the gorgeous lover of the sunshine has had such a remarkable life in its previous instar.

     Until recently it was thought that the caterpillar of this butterfly fed entirely on the flowers of wild thyme. Now we know that the plant is eaten only in the early stages-of its career. The creature breaks away from its proper order and becomes a carnivore. It has developed a subtle device-the gland producing the sweet secretion-as a lure to the ant, and it is permitted to batten on the ant-grubs with impunity. The ants themselves fall from grace in allowing such procedure, in welcoming a guest which becomes a parasite.

     There are some very obvious lessons to be gleaned from this strange story, but we cannot pause to point the moral and adorn the tale. Yet we cannot avoid wondering what is at the back of the remarkable development, and what correspondence with the spiritual realm is involved.

372


BOOKS RECEIVED. 1938

BOOKS RECEIVED.              1938

     Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture. By Emanuel Swedenborg. London: Swedenborg Society (Incorporated), 1938. Pocket-size, pp. 136.

     As noted in our May issue, p. 231, the 19th of June this year was observed in England as Thanksgiving Sunday, in memory of the first placing of the English Bible in the churches. The Swedenborg Society has marked the occasion by a free distribution of this special edition of the Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture, as stated at the opening of the volume: "In commemoration of the 400th Anniversary of the 'Open' English Bible, a copy of this book has been sent to the Archbishops, Bishops and all the Clergy of the Church of England in Great Britain and Ireland, and to all the Ministers of Religion of the following Churches: Methodist, Congregational, Church of Scotland, Baptist, Presbyterian, Unitarian and New Church (Swedenborgian)." In further explanation is this statement:

     In 1538 King Henry VIII issued an Injunction ordering that a copy of the Bible in English should be placed in every Parish Church in England.

     The INJUNCTION reads as follows:

     ". . . one Boke of the whole Bible, of the largest volume, in Englyshe, and the same sett up in summe convenyent place within the Church that ye have cure of, whereat your parishioners may most commodiouslye resort to the same and rede yt,' etc.

     We may well wonder whether these gift books will be more favorably received than in the time of Swedenborg. For by the Last Judgment "spiritual freedom was restored, and hereafter the man of the church will be in a more free state to think on matters of faith, thus on the spiritual things of heaven." (L. J. 73.) We may recall Swedenborg's experience:

     "I have spoken in the spiritual world with some of the bishops of England concerning the little works published at London in the year 1758,-Heaven and Hell, New Jerusalem and ifs Heavenly Doctrine, The Last Judgment, The White Horse, and Earths in the Universe,-which little works were sent as a gift to all the bishops, and to many of the great men or lords. They said that they had received them, and had seen them, but did not think much of them, although they were skilfully written; and also that they had persuaded as many as they could not to read them. I asked, 'Why so? when yet there are arcana therein concerning heaven and hell, and concerning the life after death, and other things most worthy of attention, which have been revealed by the Lord for those who will be of His New Church, which is the New Jerusalem.'

373


But they said, 'What is that to us?' And they poured forth vituperations against them, as formerly in the world. I heard them." (A. R. 716.)

     New-Church Manual of Daily Readings from the Bible and the Heavenly Doctrines. Vol. IV, No. 3, April-June, 1938, 76 pages; No. 4, July-September, 1938, 72 pages. Published quarterly at 94 Arlington Avenue, Hawthorne, N. J., by the Council of Ministers of the General Convention of the New Jerusalem. Subscription, 50 cents a year; 15 cents a copy. A reading from the Bible is assigned and a brief passage from the Heavenly Doctrine is printed for each day.

     Marital Love and Its Wise Delights, after which follows Scortatory Love, Its Insane Pleasures. By Emanuel Swedenborg. A Translation of De Amore Conjugiali by William Frederic Wunsch. New York: Swedenborg Publishing Association, 1938. Buckram, royal 8vo, pp. 760, $2.00.

     Reasons for Belief in God. By Rupert Stanley, B.A. London: New Church Missionary and Tract Society, 1938. Paper, 16mo, pp. 92, one shilling.

     Swedenborg as a Physical Scientist. Address by Professor Herbert Dingle, D.Sc., A.R.C.S., at Swedenborg 250th Birthday Celebration. London: Swedenborg Society (Incorporated), 1938. Paper, quarto, pp. 28, one shilling.

     Echo of Drums. A Novel. By Louis Beauregard Pendleton. New York: Sovereign House, 1938. Cloth, pp. 256, $2.00. A story of the South during the reconstruction period following the War between the States. The author gives a dramatic picture of the conditions of the times, of which he was a witness in his youth.

     Publications mentioned in our pages may be ordered through the Academy Book Room or consulted in the Academy Library.

374


Fact and Fancy. 1938

Fact and Fancy.              1938

     Longum est iter per praecepta,
     Breve et efficax per exempla.
                    -SENECA.

     SWEDENBORG SQUARE.

     "Four hundred London Streets will have their names changed on July 1st. It will interest New Church people to know that on that date Princes Square in Stepney will become Swedenborg Square, in honor of Swedenborg, whose mortal remains were first buried in the little Swedish Church nearby. And Hart Street, in which Swedenborg House is located, is to be known as Bloomsbury Way."-New-Church Herald.

     PLACE NAMES.

     Speaking of names, did you know that New Jerusalem, Pennsylvania, is eleven miles northeast of the city of Reading? And that New Church, Virginia, just south of the Maryland line, is favorably situated near the town of Greenbackville?

     CLASSROOM ECHOES.

     A rural high-school examination in Greek history included this question: "What were the results of Thermopylae, Salamis and Marathon?" One student answered: "Thermopylae was killed; Salamis was ostracized; and Marathon fled for his life."

     Perhaps it was the same student who artfully dodged this question in Roman history: "Which was the greater general, Caesar or Hannibal?" He answered: "When we consider who Caesar and Hannibal were, and ask ourselves which was the greater general, we must unhesitatingly answer in the affirmative."

375


Church News 1938

Church News       Various       1938

     PARIS, FRANCE.

     Our service on Sunday, June 19, was held at 10 a.m., attended by ten adults and four children, the adults all partaking of the sacrament of the Holy Supper. The sermon was an analysis of the probable motives of the apostle Judas in his betrayal of the Lord, to account for his having been among the twelve sent out by the Lord in the noteworthy mission of June 19, 1770.

     After the service the adults present convened in the annual meeting of the society. As the revised statutes of 1935 call for an executive committee of ten members, the Council for the next three years is composed of the following: The Pastor, who is President Mr. Louis Lucas, Vice President; Mrs. Louis Lucas, Secretary; Mr. Elie Hussenet, Treasurer; Mr. Elisee Hussenet, Mr. Rene Hussenet, Mr. Vanderzwalmen-Duc, Mr. Henri Turpault, Mr. Daniel Lucas, and Mr. Andre Lucas. It was agreed that the Pastor should loan for one year to Mr. J. J. Gailliard, of Brussels, the bound set of the Writings formerly owned by the Rev. Ernst Deltenre, and donated by his daughter, Mrs. Andre Gratia, to the Society of the General Church in Paris.

     At noon, twelve of those present went by motor bus to the Jardin du Luxembourg, where they were joined by five more adults and two children of the General Church. In a short while we all met with the Federation group under the Rev. Norman Mayer, consisting of three men and seven ladies; and the united twenty-nine New Church people sat down together to a delightful banquet which had been arranged by Mr. Mayer on the ground floor of the Restaurant Helvetia.

     At the conclusion of the meal, and when we were practically the sole occupants of the interior of the restaurant, Mr. Mayer stood up in the opening of the horseshoe formation in which we were seated, and delivered scholarly, extemporaneous address on the subject of the Lord as the Inspirer of all things of value to man, and saying that, above the proprium, man has no right to claim any of the excellences he might feel as his own. The address encouraged all to enter intellectually into the mysteries of our faith, but not from anyone's presumptuous daring, seeing that what one learns in this way is not likely to be very extensive, even though it appear so to him.

     The undersigned then followed with a brief, affectional talk on the three essentials of a New Churchman's life: An acknowledgment of the Sole Divinity of our Lord, love of the neighbor, and church worship. The value of the first lay in its acknowledgment that all good and truth comes from the Lord, and to us by means of His Word, and by no other means, unless these can be shown to be in agreement with the Word. The value of worship among church members is to awake tender states reminiscent of the innocence of our infancy, and to cultivate an ultimate strengthening of our humility before the Lord. As to loving the neighbor, the kernel of this charity is a daily and hourly faithful performance of one's use. Benefactions to those regarded as being in good, doing one's duty in the home or in group activities, and faithfully attending to such outer obligations as the paying of debts and taxes,-these are only useful shells around the central kernel of performing one's use faithfully; for they are relatively of infrequent occurrence, as compared with the doing of one's use, which is a daily affair; and only by that which is done repeatedly at short intervals is a stedfast spiritual character developed.

376




     After these discourses, and after each of us, in charitable fashion, had defrayed the cost of the meal, we all spent a delightful hour in the adjoining park, the children sailing toy boats on the pond, and the adults walking about like the Greeks of the old Academy in Athens, as we listened to the strains of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony emanating from the large orchestra that performs on Sunday afternoons in the Jardin du Luxembourg.

     Beginning in September, the pastor will conduct services on the third Sunday of each month, coming to Paris from The Hague for that purpose. A service will also be held on the first Sunday of each month, under the leadership of Mr. Louis Lucas, Vice President.
     E. E. IUNGERICH.

     GLENVIEW, ILL.

     On Saturday afternoon, June 18, a large part of our society attended the Immanuel Church School closing exercises. This annual event always impresses us with the excellence of the work being done by our teachers. To see some fifty pupils, clean of face and hands (we're thinking of the little boys), marching to their places, is an inspiring sight! As we have now established a permanent ninth grade, we had this year our first ninth grade graduating class, consisting of Phyllis Helm, Phyllis Headsten, Barbara Blackman, Nancy Synnestvedt and King Wille. These graduates read excellent papers on subjects of their own choosing. That of King Wille on "New Church Education," we hope will be published in the Bulletin. After these pupils had been presented with their diplomas, they, in turn, presented their headmaster, the Rev. Gilbert Smith, and their school principal, Miss Gladys Blackman, with gifts. Afterwards we were invited to visit the schoolrooms where many exhibits of school work were on display.

     "It is most fitting that on this 19th day of June the invitation of the Lord should be remembered and repeated,-the invitation to enter with heart and soul into the Church,-the New Church, the "Communion of Saints"; that we remember His invitation to conjunction of spirit with Him;-to enter into the states of spiritual life, which are nowhere to be received, except where the Doctrine of the New Church is known and loved." Thus did our pastor end the sermon on New Church Day, having for the text, "I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches." (Rev. 22.) A splendid preparation indeed for the invitation which followed-to approach the Lord through the sacrament of the Holy Supper.

     In the afternoon, in our assembly hall, before an audience of some 150 people, our chorus of mixed voices took part in a Service of Praise, the pastor reading suitable passages from the Word before each group of songs. Afterwards we adjourned to the courtyard of our church buildings where a buffet supper was served and informal visiting became the order of the day.

     On Friday evening, June 24, was the wedding of Miss Kathleen Lee and Mr. Alan Fuller, our pastor officiating. The procession to the altar and the ceremony were beautiful in their simplicity. The reception immediately following in the assembly hall was attended by the 200 guests. Kathleen is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Sydney E. Lee, and Alan the son of Mrs. Herbert P. Fuller. These young people have long endeared themselves to us because of their sustained interest in and support of the various uses of our society. Mr. Lee proposed a toast to "The Church," and then to the bride and groom, to which our pastor responded. For several months Alan and two of his brothers, John and George, have been building a house, and at this writing it is almost complete-ready to receive the new couple upon their return from their honeymoon.

377




     On Saturday, June 25, we had a splendid dance to welcome our girls and boys returning from school in Bryn Athyn. To add to our pleasure, several "Sons" from other centers were present, having arrived for the coming "Sons" meetings.

     Sons of the Academy.

     When forty-one Sons from far and near descended upon the peaceful home of the Glenview Chapter of the Sons of the Academy on Sunday, June 26, something was bound to happen. It did! Setting in motion a three-day meeting, which, trite as it may sound, was voted "the best yet." From the service on Sunday morning to the close of the banquet on Tuesday evening, the program was a succession of pleasant happenings. Sunday afternoon was purposely left open, to afford an opportunity for the Visiting Sons to meet in the various homes-a most welcome arrangement. The meals were served in the school-rooms, and on Sunday evening 125 Sons were on hand to consume the buffet supper and drink toasts with the beer, which, believe it or not, had been donated by the local undertaker! Adjourning to the assembly hall, where we joined the ladies, we were treated to motion pictures of the various activities of the students of the Academy Schools in Bryn Athyn. These were followed by the introduction to the representative of the Academy, Dr. C. E. Doering, who brought to us words of greeting from Bishop de Charms, and then presented his paper on "The Affirmation of Revealed Truth." (See next issue of The Bulletin.)

     The two business sessions, on Monday and Tuesday mornings, were handled with unhurried dexterity by President Richard Kintner. Reports, letters, changes in constitution, etc., were all taken care of so efficiently that the final business session scheduled for Tuesday afternoon was found to be unnecessary. Geoffrey Childs was toastmaster at the Monday luncheon, and regaled us with a pleasant combination of stuff and nonsense. "Is Newchurchmanship a detriment to success in business?" was the subject presented, and was responded to by Mr. Arthur Wiedinger, Rev. Norman Reuter, and Mr. Philip Pendleton. The answer, of course, was "No!" After dinner on Monday evening, Mr. Frank Wilson of Toronto told us of the move the Olivet Society is making to a parcel of land a few miles out of town, where they are starting a New Church community. Mr. Wilson had a colored map of this most interesting development,-also a model of the church building they propose erecting.

     Adjourning once more to the assembly hall, Mr. Sydney E. Lee presented his paper entitled, "Various Phases of Student Self-Help." So interested an audience did this paper produce that the chairman, Mr. Fred Cooper, had to decide at times which of three or four rising Sons should have the privilege of the floor. Ways and means of making it possible to give every worthy New Church boy an education at Bryn Athyn was the substance of the message, and many and varied were the reactions to Mr. Lee's paper.

     The Tuesday luncheon program was in the hands of Mr. Kesniel Acton, who had the following Sons address us: Messrs. Leonard Gyllenhaal, Wilfred Howard, and William H. Alden. Tuesday afternoon, being open, was the occasion of much visiting in the homes and preparing for the last meeting,-the banquet.

     At 6.30 p.m., about 250 people assembled in the courtyard and marched past a moving picture machine-and we hope Michael Pitcairn will loan us his film, so that we may be visually reminded of this happy occasion. Daric Acton, in the toastmaster's chair, handled the banquet to perfection. His three speakers,-the Messrs. David Gladish, Eldric Klein and the Rev. Elmo Acton did themselves proud. "Preservation is by means of Perpetual Creation" was the theme of their remarks, and a fitting close to these three most interesting speakers were the remarks by the Rev. Homer Synnestvedt, who, in his usual affectionate manner, spoke of the early days of the Academy.

378


Lest the evening should pass without somewhat of laughter, the toastmaster, in one of his weaker moments, asked Harold McQueen to speak. He did not speak, but instead, read a copy of a letter which had been written that afternoon by a visiting Son who had had to leave before the banquet-at least that was McQueen's story, and he stuck to it. The letter described the meetings in such a manner as to produce the desired result.

     Miss Agathea Starkey, on behalf of the teachers of the Immanuel Church School, then voiced her keen appreciation of the speech made by Mr. David Gladish, in which he had stressed the necessity of co-operation between parents and teachers. Dr. Doering, being called upon to speak, most graciously paid us a splendid compliment when he said that the spirit of our meetings had been such that he felt there need be no fear as to the future of "Our Own Academy."

     Miss Rita Evans, of Bryn Athyn, and Miss Phyllis Ann Tyrrell, of Bourbon, Indiana, have been among our recent visitors.
     HAROLD P. MCQUEEN.

     DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

     We have several meetings to record since our last report, which appeared in New Church Life for June. The first was an informal get-together at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Bellinger, Riverside, Ontario, where thirteen of our group gathered on the evening of Friday, May 27. Perhaps the number 13 is not unlucky in Canada; at any rate we had a most congenial and delightful social time, after attending to the serious side of the meeting, which was to continue the reading of Bishop de Charms' lectures on the Doctrine of Reflection.

     These happy social affairs, of which we plan to hold one each month, are proving very successful, and it is regretted that distance serves to limit the attendance to those living in or near Detroit.

     Next in chronological order was a doctrinal class held in connection with the regular pastoral visit of Mr. Reuter, also at the Bellinger home, on Friday evening, June 3. The attendance was 10, including all the Riverside members and several visitors from Kitchener, who came with Mr. Reuter.

     On the following evening, at Detroit, our pastor conducted a doctrinal class at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Norman Synnestvedt. The attendance was nine, including one visitor, Mrs. Frank Lange, of Kitchener. Mr. Reuter's subject was "Remains,"-a spiritual interpretation of the story of Joseph and the seven years of famine in Egypt. The subject proved of absorbing interest, provoking much discussion and many questions.

     A full service was held the next day, Sunday, at our regular meeting hall. An unusually large number of visitors, six, brought the attendance up to the record total of 42, which included 12 children. Our visitors, all members of the Kitchener society, were:-Mrs. C. Kertcher, Mrs. Frank Lange, Mrs. Deppisch, Miss Arthura Bond, Mr. Isaac Steen, and Mr. Alfred Steen. As always, we were delighted to welcome our friends from Kitchener.

     This service was featured by the baptism of little Sharon Synnestvedt, daughter of Norman and Eloise Synnestvedt, and the sermon was, very appropriately, on the subject of the two sacraments,-Baptism and the Holy Supper, which, the Writings tell us, are "two gates to eternal life." The sermon brought out the fact that the full significance of these sacraments cannot be known without a knowledge of the spiritual sense of the Word. Following the sermon, the sacrament of the Holy Supper was administered to twenty-four communicants.

     The usual luncheon followed, and then, at 3:15, the adult members reconvened to hear a talk by Mr. Reuter on the subject of Government in the General Church, during which he quoted extensively from the address on that subject delivered by Bishop W. F. Pendleton at the First General Assembly, in 1897, and which formed the basis of the present system of government in the General Church.

379




     On Friday evening, June 24, another informal meeting was held, this time at the home of Mrs. Anne Coombs. Her daughter, Miss June Macauley, home on vacation from Bryn Athyn, served with her mother as joint hostess. We count Miss June as a regular member of our group, and feel that we have only loaned her to Bryn Athyn. The total attendance was again 13, including one visitor, Miss Arthura Bond. During our study period we read and discussed two more sections of Bishop de Charms' article on "Reflection," the remainder of the evening being very agreeably spent in a social way.

     The next pastoral visit of the Rev. Norman Reuter will be on Saturday and Sunday, August 6 and 7. In the meantime we plan to meet at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Harold French, Walled Lake, Mich., some Sunday afternoon and evening, for our annual Summer picnic. This is always a delightful affair, for adults and children alike, and a full attendance is expected.
     W. W. W.

     PITTSBURGH, PA.

     Our June Nineteenth celebration was a memorable occasion. The Holy Supper was administered at a service in the morning, and in the evening about ninety gathered in the auditorium for the banquet. Mr. Charles H. Ebert, Sr., was toastmaster, and the Rev. Willard Pendleton spoke on "Why we Celebrate the Nineteenth of June." This day, which belongs uniquely to the New Church, affords us an opportunity to give thanks and make some return for the blessings received through the Heavenly Doctrines. There were songs and toasts, and several members spoke following the paper.

     The society is happy in having the Rev. Norbert H. Rogers with us for the month of July. In the absence of the pastor and his family, he is ably taking charge of our uses, and he also officiated recently at a service of worship in Youngstown, Ohio. Many visitors stopped in Pittsburgh on their return from the annual meetings of the Sons of the Academy in Glenview. We welcomed all with pleasure, and were especially glad to have Dr. Chas. E. Doering and the Rev. Homer Synnestvedt with us.

     We regret the passing into the spiritual world, on July 6, of Mrs. Charles Orchard, nee Eloise Gilmore. Our sincere sympathy is extended to her family.
     E. R. D.

     TORONTO, CANADA.

     Our celebration of New Church Day began with the children's picnic on June 18. It was scheduled to take place at the newly-acquired community property, but, owing to inclement weather, it was held in the recreation room of the lovely new home of Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Thompson, where games, competitions, supper and songs made the celebration an enjoyable and useful one to the young folk present.

     On Sunday morning, June 19, the Sacrament of the Holy Supper was administered. In the evening a well-arranged banquet, prepared by Miss Edina Carswell and committee, was attended by 81 persons. After the tables were cleared, a varied program was introduced by Mr. John White as Master of Ceremonies. From three speakers, Mr. Edward Craigie, Miss Emily Wilson, and Mr. Robert Scott, we heard of the beginnings of the New Church in England, America and South Africa, respectively. These speeches were interspersed with suitable toasts and songs.

     Then, as is the custom when our young people make their confessions of faith, copies of Conjugial Love were presented to Zoe Gyllenhaal and Lawrence Izzard.

     Mr. Desmond McMaster then gave a very interesting talk on his views of a distinctive form of New Church architecture, illustrated by a very clever scale-model of a church, embodying the symbolic forms he had suggested.

380


Considerable interest was taken by all in this talk, particularly in view of the fact that, in the not too distant future, we hope to be erecting a new church building on our community ground. The evening closed with a toast and song to Mr. Gyllenhaal, who will be absent for two months on a visit to England, where he will preside at the British Assembly.

     On Sunday, June 26, we had the pleasure of being introduced to Candidate Bjorn Boyesen, who assisted the Pastor in Divine Worship on that day, and will be ministering to us in our Pastor's absence.

     We welcome the return of our Bryn Athyn students, the Misses Zoe Gyllenhaal, Helen Anderson and Marguerite Izzard, and the presence of several summer visitors.
     M. S. P.

     KITCHENER, ONT.

     Our school closed on Friday, June 17, and in the evening of the same day the children gave an entertainment consisting of a number of short plays in which every child in the school had a part. The program was enthusiastically received, and the actors, in their way, seemed to enjoy the performance as much as the audience. We know that both teachers and children worked hard in preparing the entertainment.

     The closing exercises of the school took the form of a Children's Service in the chapel on Saturday morning. Each member of the graduating class was presented with a copy of Conjugial Love. In his address, Mr. Reuter spoke of the purpose of education and of schools, and pointed out to the children how by every deed in this world they are building their homes in the spiritual world. Immediately after the service a luncheon was served in the schoolroom. Instead of addressing the children again, Mr. Reuter gave them an active part by asking them questions, and the pupils displayed a keen interest in this form of instruction.

     The Sunday services for the children closed for the season on June 19, when Mr. Gill spoke to them about the sending out of the Twelve Apostles in the spiritual world. At the adult service which followed, the sacrament of the Holy Supper was administered.

     On Sunday evening a banquet was held in a room transformed into a bower of red and white peonies. Instead of a program of speeches, Mr. Gill followed the plan used at the children's luncheon by presenting a series of questions. He pointed out that we should all consider ourselves disciples of the Lord, that the questions he had prepared might be asked us by any outsider, and that we should all of us be able to give a correct and satisfactory answer. We were provided with paper and pencil, that we might write our answers, but we were allowed to check our own replies, which saved us much embarrassment! As a conclusion to this part of the evening, Mr. Gill read the Principles of the Academy as drawn up by the late Bishop W. F. Pendleton. Song sheets were later distributed, and an hour was spent in singing.

     On Saturday, June 25, four of the Kitchener "Sons" left for Glenview to attend the annual meetings of the Sons of the Academy. They returned full of enthusiasm, and a meeting of the local chapter was held the following Wednesday to hear echoes of the good times in Glenview.
     D. K.

     THE HAGUE, HOLLAND.

     Every year since 1931, Mr. and Mrs. Francis have given the loyal members of the General Church an opportunity to meet in their home on June 19, and the tradition was not broken this year. But this New Church Day had a special character for us, as we now celebrated it as an organized society, and in the happy expectation of a pastor who is soon to reside in our midst. All this added to the sphere of our meeting, at which a glad and gay spirit prevailed.

381




     We were favored with interesting papers by Mr. Francis and Mr. Happee treating of the Establishing of the New Church. And the touching paper of Mr. Bulthuis on "The Lord's Care for Men" was followed by Mr. Beyerinck's speech in praise of Swedenborg as Revelator. The papers were interspersed with lively discussions of the subjects presented. Refreshments were served, and the social time closed with the singing of "True friendship we'll find."

     THE BISHOP'S FOREIGN JOURNEY.

     A Mishap.

     After a meeting with the General Church members in Montreal, the Bishop and Mrs. de Charms and the Rev. Fred E. Gyllenhaal sailed July 1 from that city on the Ascania, which was due at Plymouth, England, on Saturday, July 9, and it was expected that this would make it possible for the travelers to be in London in time for the Sunday service. But an accident befell the Ascania the second day out, making it necessary to transfer the passengers to another ship, which did not arrive in England until Monday, July 11. In a letter written July 3, Mr. Gyllenhaal thus describes what happened:

     "Near Father Point [200 miles below Quebec] at 6.25 a.m., Saturday, July 2, the Ascania struck a submerged reef which ripped a hole in the bottom of the ship. We had not gone more than 18 miles on the return to Quebec when it became necessary to beach the ship to prevent her from sinking. This was done at 10 a.m., thus fortunately in broad daylight. A lighter arrived about noon and transferred our luggage to the steamer Beaverbrook, which was standing by, as our lifeboats were lowered. At 4 p.m., the 350 passengers were taken off by the lighter, and had a two-hours' pitching and lolling passage to Father Point. Half of them were seasick, and all were desperately cold. We were fed and warmed at four small hotels in Father Point, and then embarked on the Ausonia, which had just arrived from England, and was due at Quebec the next morning. There was little room, and the passengers had to sleep on the floor of the gymnasium, and in the hospital, lounge, library and smoking room. We were warm, but had none of our luggage, not even a toothbrush.

     "Arriving at Quebec this morning, Sunday, July 3, we were offered the choice of sailing from New York on the Queen Mary or from Quebec on the Montclare. We chose the latter, and as I write we are four hours out from Quebec. We are more comfortable than we were on the Ascanio, and like the ship better. I expect to mail this letter at Father Point when we make a stop there."

     After brief visits in London and Colchester, Bishop and Mrs. de Charms were to sail for South Africa on July 16, their itinerary being as follows:

     Sailing Dates.

     Stirling Castle-Southampton to Cape Town-July 16 to July 29. Arriving at Durban on August 1.

     Ceramic-Durban to Melbourne, Australia-September 16 to October 6. Arriving at Hurstville on October

     Mariposa-Sydney to San Francisco-October 14 to November 1.

     HURSTVILLE, AUSTRALIA.

     Leading up to, and connected with, our celebration of Easter, preparatory sermons,-on the Lord's Temptations and the Brazen Serpent,-were delivered on the first Sunday in April; and on Palm Sunday the sermon was on Celestial Innocence, the same subject, suitably adapted, being the theme of the children's address in the afternoon. Our celebration proper began with the evening service on Good Friday.

382


On Easter morning the Holy Supper was administered at the close of the service, at which the sermon was on "Coming Early to the Sepulcher." (John 20:1-4.) At the children's service in the afternoon there was a larger attendance of adults than usual. An address on the Easter message was given, and a representation was afterwards shown to the children.

     Twenty-four members of the congregation attended the Feast of Charity held in the evening. This function, the setting of which represented some exceptionally good work by the ladies of the Social Committee, was presided over by Mr. Ossian Heldon in his usual energetic and capable manner. An address on "The Glorification Series in the Book of Genesis" was given by the pastor. A boating picnic at National Park on Easter Monday, with a record attendance of thirty, was a happy conclusion to the Easter program.

     The topic of the address at the Evangelical Service in May was "If God is Love, Why is There a Hell?" and on alternate Sunday mornings a series of sermons on the days of creation is now being delivered. The Laws of the Divine Providence are still engaging the attention of the general doctrinal class, while the young people, in their own class, are studying the doctrine concerning heaven. The Ladies' Guild, which is still reading the Earths in the Universe with the pastor, has held two meetings; and at the monthly meetings held by the men of the society excellent papers on "Thought" and "Conscience" have been presented by Messrs. Lindthman and Sydney Heldon respectively.

     Recreation has been provided by two excellent socials and two meetings of the Young People's Club, the first taking the form of a games' evening at the church, and the second that of a movie party. The Tennis Club, which is now a branch of this body, has resumed its Saturday afternoon sessions, as the damage done to the court by a heavy storm early in the year has been made good. The Pastor's Council and the Business and Social Committees have all met. So it will be seen that the two months just concluded are fully representative of our activities.

     Since our last report was mailed we have been delighted and thrilled by the promise of an Episcopal visit in September,-a promise which realizes what we had hardly dared to entertain save as a dream for the future; and we would express in advance our very real gratitude, both to the Bishop and to the General Church. Bishop de Charms will be an honored and welcome guest, and his coming among us will do more than anything else at this time to set the society in a forward and upward course.
     W. C. H.

     COLCHESTER, ENGLAND.

     A wedding is considered a very notable event in our society, and so it is with great pleasure that I write of the marriage of Mr. Stanley Wainscot and Miss Joan Stebbing which was solemnized here on Sunday, June 12. Although they both reside in London, they journeyed to Colchester for the service, which was conducted by Bishop Tilson, assisted by the Rev. Victor J. Gladish. At the regular morning service the Bishop had delivered a sermon on the signification of the "veil" in the story of Isaac and Rebekah (Genesis 24:65) as an appropriate preparation for the beautiful and impressive ceremony in the afternoon. The bride and bride groom entered during the singing of the 45th Psalm, and after the marriage service the Holy Supper was administered to the newly married pair. The chancel was tastefully decorated with white sweet peas and ferns, and little Laura Gladish stood by the side of the bride to assist her with her bouquet of roses. The bride looked very lovely, wearing a white satin gown and a long veil which had been worn by her mother at her own marriage. A reception followed at the home of Mrs. Rey Gill, where Mr. Gladish responded to the toast to "The Church," and Mr. Wainscot to the toast to "The Bride and Bridegroom."

383


The happy couple then left by car for Wales, after receiving many heartfelt and affectionate wishes for their future happiness.

     Unlike many of his generation among us, Mr. Wainscot was not born in the New Church, but was introduced into it at Colchester in his early youth, and has been an earnest student of the Writings ever since. He and his wife are talented musicians. We have greatly enjoyed their entertainments in the past, and hope that in "double harness" their duets will be more delightful than ever.

     The children's celebration of New Church Day took place on June 16, Miss Olive Cooper being in charge of the tea served in the church garden, the little ones enjoying tea "out of doors" very much. After some games, the children went into the church building, where they presented a play entitled "The Origin of New Church Day." This was greatly appreciated by the parents and other adults who had come to see it. The children entered into their parts with great earnestness, and it was inspiring to hear the words of Divine Revelation spoken so reverently by them. Our gratitude is due Mrs. Gladish, Mrs. John Cooper and Mrs. Alan Waters, who worked so hard to make the play a success.

     New Church Day falling on Sunday this year, we began our observance with worship in the morning. The sacrament of the Holy Supper was administered, and our pastor preached a very interesting sermon on the text, "Upon this rock I will build my church."

     The society celebration was held in the evening at the church, which was beautifully decorated with a great variety of flowers on the tables and in every available corner. A tempting supper was provided by the social committee, and after we had partaken of this, our pastor called upon Mr. Alan Waters as toastmaster to open the meeting, which he did by introducing the subject of the speaking program,-"The Trinity of Love, Wisdom and Use." The Rev. A. Wynne Acton gave an illuminating address, in which he dwelt mainly upon the aspect of "Spiritual Love." The toastmaster followed immediately with the reading of some passages from the Writings relating to "Wisdom," and Mr. Alwyne Appleton completed the trine by reading an interesting paper on "Use."

     Impromptu toasts and speeches followed, during which two very interesting anniversaries were brought to our attention.

     Mr. Colley Pryke, in proposing a toast to "The Laborers," spoke of the 400th Anniversary of the "Open Bible," which was being commemorated throughout Christendom this year on Sunday, June 19, although the actual date of the Decree was later in the year 1538. [See page 312 of the present issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE.]

     Mr. F. R. Cooper then told us that this was the 50th anniversary of the first celebration of New Church Day in Colchester. He then read extracts from the New Church Monthly, published at Colchester in 1888, announcing the forthcoming celebration, and later giving an account of the service held on that occasion. This brought to our minds how much we owe to the active laymen of fifty years ago for their labors in preparing the way, in Divine Providence, for the establishing of our society. The united singing of "Great and Wonderful" brought our very happy and useful gathering to a close.

     Arrangements have been made for a party of friends to travel by coach to London on June 26, to attend the installation service of the Rev. A. Wynne Acton as pastor of Michael Church, succeeding Bishop R. J. Tilson, who is retiring from a pastorate of fifty-two years.
     D. E. P.

384


INSTRUCTION IN DIVINE THINGS 1938

INSTRUCTION IN DIVINE THINGS       Rev. GILBERT H. SMITH       1938




     Announcements.





NEW CHURCH LIFE
Vol. LVIII SEPTEMBER, 1938          No. 9
     The Doctrine of Use.

     When we attend worship we want, first of all, to express our sincere adoration of the Lord, to acknowledge His mercy and His guidance, and to pray to Him for it. And then we want to hear some heavenly or Divine truth, some Divine instruction, some knowledge or direction that will help us to be guided by the Lord.

     Worship-going to church-should satisfy all these wants. But the most important of them is instruction in Divine things. Therefore it is said in our Writings that, after the Lord came into the world, the Sabbath was made a day of instruction in Divine things. (T. C. R. 301.) It is a day in which to think about the Lord and spiritual things. It is a day which should be given to the Lord and His works, whereas the other six days of the week are for man and his work. But primarily the Sabbath is a day that is to be set aside for instruction from the Word in the things of doctrine and of life.

     But what do we mean when we speak of "Divine things"? What things are Divine? Indeed, we may ask: What is a thing Especially what is a Divine thing?

     There might be a little difficulty in answering this question, but I think it may be said that a thing, in order to be a thing, must be of some use that we realize. Whatever has no recognized use to us, or a use of some kind, is not a thing to us. As we say, it is nothing; it is no thing. And therefore, when speaking of things, we really mean uses.

386




     The essence of every object in the world is use. Let us see how true this is. If an object cannot be of any appreciable use to anyone, we do in fact regard it as nothing. We say it is "no good," or "has no use." Take a machine of any kind as an example. It is an object, indeed, and it is made up of many smaller objects, which are also its parts. But if it will not work, or will not run-will not perform the use it was intended to perform-then it is as nothing in our regard. We pass it by as of no value. An automobile that will not run is of no more value than the material it is made of. The essence of a thing is use.

     And it is similar when we are thinking of spiritual things. These all appear to us as of no value unless we can see the use for which they exist. Every object in the world is, as our Doctrine teaches, the outward material farm of a use. The whole creation is only a grand galaxy of uses, or forms which embody uses. The Lord's kingdom is called a "kingdom of uses." There is nothing in it but uses. The Lord is in all uses. He dwells in nothing else but uses, or in these forms of use.

     In money we can see innumerable uses. Therefore money is regarded pretty generally as the greatest thing in the world. But if you could not use it for buying anything, and thus if you were to take away its use, then it would be nothing in our estimation.

     We are trying to show that instruction in spiritual things means instruction in uses, in spiritual uses; and that whatever does not promote spiritual use is spiritually nothing.

     But what are spiritual uses, in which the Sabbath is intended as a day for instruction? If a thing is that which is capable of doing some use, then we want to be instructed how spiritual uses are to be done or accomplished. This is the true use of the Sabbath.

     In general, uses are what love intends or longs for. And they require that there should be wisdom and knowledge to carry out what love intends. Uses are therefore the activities of love and wisdom. Uses are the activities of the will and of the understanding. They are the ends or purposes which everyone in his will intends and in his thought endeavors to carry out. Spiritual things are spiritual ends or purposes. The Sabbath is a day to think about and form them.

     Spiritual purpose or spiritual end is the will to do what we call good, or to do that which is of benefit. And the benefits one may have in his will to do, and in his understanding to think, may be benefits to himself, or to the neighbor, to his country, or to the church, or to the Lord his God. They may include all of these.

387




     The Sabbath is a day on which to consider how to bring benefit upon ourselves for the sake of benefits to others, and how to bring benefits to others for the sake of the Lord and His kingdom. This is more fully what is meant by instruction in Divine things. And this is the only thing for which we have doctrine.

     Doctrine is the means, the necessary knowledge, by which spiritual things, spiritual uses, are to be accomplished. Instruction in spiritual things is instruction in the knowledge of how good is to be accomplished; and in the first place it is instruction in what good really is.

     Well, then, what is good? What is benefit to oneself, to church, country, and God? This is surely what we want to learn when we study the Word or enter into worship. If anyone wants to answer Pilate's famous question, "What is truth?" let him say that truth is the understanding of what is good, or the knowledge of what is of eternal or lasting benefit to man and to God. Our Lord has taught that if anyone is first willing to do what is good, he will have the necessary truth by which it may be done. He will easily gain that knowledge and understanding of what good is. And this is called "truth."

     What, then, is truth? Truth is the knowledge that is useful in the accomplishing of good.

     But what good do we wish to accomplish? This is the ruling thought for the Sabbath. The question really means, as we have seen,-What benefits do we desire for ourselves, for our neighbor, for our church, and for the Lord? The Sabbath is rightly observed when we give our minds to this subject of usefulness, and turn to the Writings for guidance. For it is there that the Holy Spirit of the Lord speaks to us.

     Now, as we have so often heard, charity is the love of uses. In worship we want to be instructed in how to promote uses to ourselves, and to others, as well as to the Lord.

     But when it comes to being spiritually useful, it always amounts to this,-that we need to be instructed first of all in what is evil, and bow evil is to be shunned and fought against.

388


For unless one knows and does this, then all the uses he does are contrary to the love of the Lord and of the neighbor. So far as the man is concerned, his internal is contrary to the love of the Lord and the neighbor, although his deeds may be of benefit to others.

     But since the proper uses of charity are those that anyone does in his business or office, then charity, first of all, is to fight against all the evils which arise in connection with our business or employment. And, first of all, charity is to steer clear of all those kinds of business that do not promote the welfare of society.

     We read in our Doctrine: "Everyone who takes delight in the use of his function for the sake of use (that is, for the sake of the public good, the good of the neighbor, and the good of the Lord), loves his country and his fellow citizens; but he who does not take delight in his uses for the sake of uses, but only does them for his own sake, he at heart does not love his country or his neighbor, but only himself and the world." (A. E. 1226.)

     What, then, let us ask, is the public good! How is it to be served or promoted? The public good is the essence of charity. Heavenly uses are those which look to the public good. They are of service to the church, the country, and the fellow citizen. Spiritual use is to do one's work in the world with these in view, and for their sake, and to shun what is harmful to the church, to the country, and to the public good.

     The Sabbath, therefore, is more specifically a day for instruction in the public good, the common good, and how to attain it. And it is for the sake of this that the Lord leads us into our various employments. But He cannot lead us into any spiritual use of this kind so long as we seek employments for our own sake merely, or for the single aim of profit to ourselves. If a man wants first of all to be of the utmost use to others, the Lord can lead him into work which he can do successfully, and which also will yield him sufficient profit. But if he think only of profit, the Lord cannot lead him successfully, and he cannot perform any spiritual use to himself and others.

     For the use in any work is the end for the sake of which the work is done. The highest angels, therefore, are constantly employed in trying to inspire into men innocent and unselfish motives. They try to inspire into men innocence and worship,-the state of worship. This work can be done, even by us in the world, with little children.

389


But with all persons the highest angels regard especially the things in them that are good and innocent. It is said that they regard the ends or purposes of man. They look upon his affections and his loves. They love to call forth in all men that which is good in them, or that which is innocent,-their worship and love of the Lord. They encourage what is best in others. They do not look upon their faults, which they regard as things on the side, and not of the real essence of the man.

     But, as the Writings put the question, How can anyone know whether he does uses from the love of self or from the love of uses? Every man, both the good and the evil, does uses; and he must do them from some love. "In a society of mere devils," Swedenborg once said, "I am of the opinion that the devils, from the fire of the love of self, and from the shining of their own glory, would do as many uses as the angels would in their own society. Who, then, can know from what love, and from what origin, his uses are?" There were two angels who replied: "Devils do uses for the sake of self and their reputation, in order to be elevated to honors, or to gain wealth; but angels do uses for the sake of the uses themselves and from the love of them. Man cannot tell the difference, but the Lord can. Everyone who believes in the Lord, however, and shuns evils as sins, does uses from the Lord; but everyone who does not believe in the Lord, and does not shun evils as sins, does uses from self and for the sake of self. This is the difference between uses done by devils and uses done by angels." (C. L. 266.)

     Everyone must or ought to devote himself to some form of work and business that is useful to the common good. For most people this is necessary, in order that they may have a means of livelihood. But whether the work or business which a man does is really of any spiritual benefit to himself, or is of any spiritual use, depends upon the motive and the reasons behind it, that is, the end for the sake of which he does the work of his calling. And the reasons and motive are spiritual, heavenly, and from the Lord, if he is faithful in shunning evils as sins, and if he put the work itself and its benefit to others above his own gain. And if the primary end or purpose or motive is to confer the greatest benefit upon others, then it has the best possible chance of success, because the Lord Himself is in it. But if the principal end or motive is that of profit, and if it is chiefly for the sake of self, then it deserves to fail.

390


Yet the Lord often permits such business to succeed, because of the use that is done to other people. But in this case there is no spiritual benefit to the man himself, and he does not enter into what is called heavenly use.

     This is why we have said that the first benefit of instruction in Divine things on the Sabbath is benefit to oneself. But this is only to say that charity begins with the man himself, that he may receive the love of heaven or of heavenly use; and this is not merely for the sake of self, but in order that benefits may be conferred upon others,-the country, the church, and the Lord Himself, or His kingdom.

     The highest use that men can perform to other men is like that of the highest angels,-to try to inspire and encourage the true heavenly motive in all work and business, namely, the love of doing what is of benefit to others as the leading principle or idea; to lead men to put this idea first, not only in the choice of their work in the world, but also in the conduct of their work, once it has been found. With this motive the Lord can lead a man eventually to the use that is for him the best.

     But since this work, or this highest use, cannot be done by man alone, or by the influence of one person upon another, it follows that there must be created a sphere of the worship of the Lord, and instruction in the Divine precepts of religion.

     The most effective way to cultivate innocence, and to inculcate the heavenly motive in life, is through the practice of the worship of the Lord. This is commonly done with children, but it should not cease with them. Worship and instruction in the real things of heaven is still the highest of uses throughout life.

     For those who become spiritual the Sabbath should still be devoted to the works of the Lord through men, that is, to the thought and consultation for the good of the church, and to the matter of applying to the works of our employment the precepts of Divine doctrine from the Word.

     The person who, on the Sabbath, as the best appointed time, gives his mind to thinking of spiritual things, to thinking of what the Lord teaches, is also sure to gain a truer insight into the laws of moral and civil life,-to see what things are just and fair, and thus to gain a truer love of country, and to be of greater service to his fellow citizens. For this also is to be classed as spiritual use.

391


In general, it may be said that he stands a better chance of a successful life in his business or calling, because he can see clearly the principles upon which the interior rightness of his work depends.

     In other words, the sincere worship of the Lord is the truest principle of success. For the Lord is present in all the efforts of those who perform their work from a heavenly motive, and leads them by natural means to that life which is for them the most prosperous and happy.
FORGIVING TRESPASSES 1938

FORGIVING TRESPASSES       Rev. ELMO C. ACTON       1938

     "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." (Matthew 6:14, 15.)

     The doctrine of charity is taught throughout the Sermon on the Mount, and the essence of the teaching there given man is, that the actions of his body and the words of his mouth are not acceptable to the Lord unless they proceed from his thought and love-that the things of the external man, in themselves, are dead unless the internal be in them. "Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven."

     The chapter in which the text occurs opens with the words, "Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them; otherwise ye have no reward of your Father who is in heaven." Here we are taught that the works of charity must not be done with a view to reputation, honor and gain, for in such works the Lord cannot be present to impart the blessings Of a heavenly reward. Then follows instruction concerning prayer, that this also must be from the secret place of a man's heart, out of the loves of the internal man, which is here compared to a closet, into which a man is to enter, that he may pray to the Father in secret. When man prays from the internal man, from love to the Lord and the neighbor, then his prayer is not only heard and answered, but also the things for which he is to pray are revealed to him. "After this manner therefore pray ye," said the Lord. And he then taught them the Lord's Prayer.

392




     This Prayer is the most excellent of all prayers. In it are contained infinite things that will meet the states of men and angels to all eternity. The words of our text follow immediately after this prayer, and reveal the means by which man may receive the blessings promised therein. " If ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you." In other words, man cannot worthily repeat the Lord's Prayer unless he be in a state of mercy toward his fellow men, and in an active life of repentance. The Father in heaven, who is said not to forgive the trespasses of the unmerciful, is the Divine Good of the Lord's Divine Human present in the internal man in the form of love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor. "Not to forgive" means that these loves cannot be appropriated to him who is in evil of life as to the external man. The responsives following the Lord's Prayer in our services are a forcible reminder every day and in every state that without repentance there is no worship. "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

     The natural implication of the text is obvious. How can a man who cherishes a spirit of enmity, hatred and revenge toward his fellow men expect to receive love and mercy from the Lord? Mercy and ill-will are opposites, and cannot exist together in the same subject. A man cannot feel ill-will toward some of his fellow men, and charity toward others; for charity towards the neighbor is nothing more than a reflection of the Lord's love with man, and that love is a love toward the whole human race, the evil as well as the good. "He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." The ultimation of the Lord's love differs. To some it brings punishment and correction, to others blessing and peace. Internally viewed, it is the same toward all, for it looks to the eternal good of all men. But only those who have an end of good toward all men-enemy and friend, evil and good-can receive the Lord's mercy or forgiveness.

     This is the universal teaching of Revelation:

     "To the merciful Thou wilt show Thyself merciful." (Psalm 18:25). "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." (Matthew 5:7.)

393


"When thou bringest thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." (Matt. 5:23, 24.)

     "Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him." (Matt. 17:3, 4.)

     And in the Writings: "They who are in no charity think nothing but evil of the neighbor, nor do they speak anything but evil; or if they speak good, it is for the sake of themselves, or to obtain, under the appearance of friendship, the favor of him whom they flatter. But they who are in charity think and speak nothing but what is good of the neighbor; and this, not for their own sake, or to gain the favor of others whom they flatter, but from the Lord thus operating in charity. The former are like the evil spirits who are with man, the latter like the angels with him. The evil spirits excite nothing but man's evils and falsities, and condemn him. But the angels excite only goods and truths, and excuse what is evil and false." (A. C. 1088.)

     It is only when this universal law of natural life is practiced that there can be any peace and harmony in society. The recounting and dwelling upon the evils of others comes from a spirit of unmercifulness, and a delight is felt in so doing, because of self-glorification by comparison. To remit or forgive the trespasses of men is not to dwell upon their shortcomings and evils. And so we read further: "To remit or forgive is not to respect anyone from evil, but from good." (A. C. 7697.) And again: "Those who are in charity scarcely see another's evils, but observe all that is good and true in him, and what is evil and false they interpret favorably. Such are all the angels, and this disposition they derive from the Lord, who turns all evil into good." (A. C. 1079.)

     "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you." In the spiritual sense, to "remit or forgive" is to repent. By "men" are meant' he truths of faith and the goods of charity, and transgressions or "trespasses" are sins against these. The "Father in heaven" from whom we ask forgiveness is the good of love in the internal man, which is the Lord present with man.

394


And so the general meaning of the internal sense of our text is, that if man does not repent, and turn back from his trespasses against the good and truth of the Word, the external man cannot be opened to receive influx out of the internal, which influx endows man with charity and faith.

     The Lord is present in the internal man with all. It is His dwelling place, and it is His. By repentance,-the shunning of evil as sins against God,-man's evils are remitted, sent back, put to the side, so that they are no longer active in his thought and life. In this state the internal man is conjoined with the external, and its loves rule in the whole man. But in so far as the evils of the external man are not removed, so far there is nothing in it that can receive influx from the internal; and so in such a state the internal man is closed, and the external man is dead. This is the teaching of our Doctrine: "It is a law of the Divine Providence that man should, as of himself, remove evils as sins in the external man, and that thus, and no otherwise, can the Lord remove evils in the internal man, and then at the same time in the external." (D. P. 100.) The evils of the external man, here mentioned, refer not only to those of the body, but also to those of the thought and intention of the natural man, which evils are revealed in the light of the Divine Truth of the Word. The evils which the Lord removes from the internal man are the loves of self and the world, which form the life of man's hereditary proprium. No man can change his ruling love. This must be done by the Lord. What man can do is to shun the evil thoughts and suggestions which enter his understanding by the influx of his proprial loves; and in so far as he does this, so far the Lord removes the loves. "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive your trespasses."

     It might seem from this that the Lord makes a bargain with man, withholding His mercy, and giving to man only in part. This is an appearance, and of necessity so, to the end that man may have life as if of himself. The essence of the image of God into which man was created is the appearance that he has life of himself; for the Divine wills to give itself to others in such a way that they may feel the gift as their own. And so the spiritual life, which the Lord wills that all men receive, can be given only in the degree that man feels it to be his own; and this can be accomplished only in the degree that a man acquires it as if of himself.

395


Hence, in actuality, spiritual affections are received in exact proportion to man's repentance and active life of use. It is this that causes the appearance that the Lord withholds from man. In reality, the Lord gives freely to all, and it is man's refusal to receive, when he retains the forms of evil in the external man, that causes this appearance. We read: "I have heard from heaven that the Lord forgives every man his sins, and never takes vengeance or even imputes them, because He is Love Itself and Good Itself; but that nevertheless sins are not on this account wiped out; for that can only be done by repentance." (T. C. R. 409.) And again: "Good is continually flowing in from the Lord, but it is evil of life that hinders its being received in the truths which are with man in his memory. Hence, so far as man departs from evil, so far good enters, and applies itself to his truths. Then the truth of faith with him becomes the good of faith." (A. C. 2388.)

     Here is the central law of the text. The Lord can give man spiritual life, so that he can feel it to be his own, in direct ratio to man's effort to acquire that life. Not that man's part is in any way equal to the gifts he receives from the Lord, but that his ability to feel those gifts as his own, to feel that they are part of his own life, is determined by the striving on his part. This general principle is laid down in the law of influx and efflux. Influx is that which flows out of heaven from the Lord into man, and efflux is that which flows out of man into the world about him. The law is thus set forth in our Doctrine:

     "The good which continually flows in from the Lord into man perishes in no other way than by evils and consequent falsities, and by falsities and consequent evils; for as soon as that continual good comes through the internal man to the external or natural, it is met by evil and falsity, whereby the good is torn to pieces and extinguished in various ways, as if by wild beasts. Hence the influx of good through the internal man is checked and stopped; consequently, the interior mind through which the influx passes is closed, and only so much of the spiritual is admitted through it as may enable the natural man to reason and discourse, but only from terrestrial, corporeal and worldly things, and indeed against good and truth; or, if in their favor, it is merely from pretence or craft. It is a universal law that influx accommodates itself to efflux, and that if the efflux be checked, influx is checked also.

396


Through the internal man there is an influx of good and truth from the Lord; through the external there ought to be efflux into the life, that is, in the exercise of charity. When there is efflux, then there is continual influx from heaven, that is, through heaven from the Lord; and if there is no efflux, but resistance in the external or natural man, that is, evil and falsity which tear in pieces and extinguish the inflowing good, it follows from the universal law above mentioned that the influx accommodates itself to the efflux. Consequently, the influx of good withdraws itself, and thus closes the internal through which there is influx, and by that closure is occasioned stupidity in things spiritual, until the man who is in this state knows nothing of eternal life, nor is willing to know . . ." (A. C. 5828.)

     The truths and goods of the Word are the vessels in man which receive the influx of good and determine the quality of the efflux. In the beginning, however, the influx out of the internal man into these forms is shut off by the evils and falsities of the proprium. When man, therefore, by self-examination and sincere repentance, fights against and removes these evils and falsities, the way is opened and the influx is received. But the reception must not stop with the forms in the mind. It must go out again. There must be efflux; and the greater the efflux, the greater the influx. In other words, there must be an active life of use, an active life of worship, and an active life of good works,-all of which must be nothing more than an effect in ultimates of the inflowing life out of the internal man.

     The opposite of this is also true. If evils and falsities are not removed from the natural man by repentance, then the law still holds that influx adapts itself to efflux. If the forms that receive the inflowing life are evil, then nothing but evil can flow forth, whatever appearances may exist to the contrary. He who thinks, intends, speaks, and does evil, opens his loves and thought to the influx of evil from hell; for this influx also adapts itself to efflux.

     The text therefore teaches more than the shunning of evils as sins against God; it further commands an active life of truth, in order that the influx may not be impeded. For it is inherent in love to act. There is no such thing as a love that does not go forth into action, even to the ultimates of the body. Such a love can no more exist than a sun which does not give forth light and heat.

397


The Lord's love, in going forth, gives freely, and blesses the one who receives; it gives, hoping for nothing in return. Evil love also gives, but it gives in order that it may reap the benefits of its gift; it gives to others in order that it may receive from them; and in the end the gifts of the evil curse both the giver and the receiver.

     In the highest sense, the trespasses of which man must repent are those in which he attributes to himself the things which belong to the Lord. Man must be in the continual acknowledgment that of himself he is nothing but evil, that unless he were withheld from evil by the Lord, he would sink into the lowest hell. And he is not only withheld from evil; the Lord also holds him in states of love and faith. Therefore the goods of charity and the truths of faith must be acknowledged as being of the Lord alone with man. This being so, he is not to seek honor and glory for his learning, nor praise and merit for his works. The goods and truths men have received from the Lord are a sacred trust, and they must be used in the service of our Lord, which service is a performance of use for the sake of the Lord and the neighbor. In this way the goods and truths are filled with life from the Lord, and become eternal things with man.

     "With him who does good from the heart," we read, "good inflows from heaven on every side into the heart and soul of him who does it, and by inspiring inspires it; and then at the same time the affection of love for the neighbor to whom he does good is increased, and with this affection a delight which is heavenly and ineffable. The cause of this is, that in heaven the good of love from the Lord reigns universally, and constantly flows in according to the degree in which it is expressed toward another. The case is similar in respect to evil. With him who does evil to another from the heart, evil inflows from hell on every side into the heart of him who does it, and by exciting excites it; and then at the same time the affection of the love of self is increased; and with it the delight of hatred and revenge against those who do not submit themselves." (A. C. 9049.)

     "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." Amen.

     LESSONS: Psalm 32. Matthew 18:15-35. D. P. 100.

398


UNMERCIFUL SERVANT 1938

UNMERCIFUL SERVANT       Rev. KARL R. ALDEN       1938

     A Talk to Children.

In our lesson from the Word we heard about a certain king who was taking account of all his servants. And one of them was brought who owed the king a tremendous amount of money,-ten thousand talents,-which he was unable to pay. At first the king was going to sell the man, and his wife, and his children, and everything that he had, and keep the money in place of the very large debt. But the servant fell down at the king's feet, and begged him so piteously not to do it that at last the king was moved with compassion, and forgave him all the debt. That is, he told the servant that he did not have to pay it.

     Now after this servant had been forgiven his huge debt, he went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a very small debt,-only a hundred pence,-practically nothing in comparison with the enormous sum which the king had forgiven him. And what did this servant do? He took his fellow servant by the throat, and said, "Pay me everything that you owe me!" But his fellow servant had not the money to pay, so he fell down at his feet and begged him to give him time and he would pay it. But the servant who had been forgiven his very large debt would not listen. Instead, he dragged him off and cast him into prison until he should pay his debt.

     When the king heard about this he was very angry, to think that the servant whom he had forgiven so much should treat one of his fellow servants with such cruelty. So he took him, and delivered him to the tormentors until he should pay all of his debt.

     That king represented the Lord; for it is the Lord who forgives us all of our debts. The Lord is the most kind and wonderful Heavenly Father that we can imagine. He is so full of love that He longs to forgive us all the time. Just think of all the things that the Lord knows about each one of us!

399


He knows every thought we have. If we have an unkind thought, He knows it. If we have an angry thought, He knows it. If we say something that isn't true about one of our playmates, He knows it. If we take something that does not belong to us, He knows it. If we swear, He knows it. There is nothing that we can think or say or do that the Lord does not know. And so if he should write down all the wrong things that we do, and add them up, each of us would find out that we need to be forgiven many, many things.

     The king in the story told by the Lord to His disciples meant the Lord Himself, and the debtor that came to the king owing him so much means each one of us. For none of us can ever repay the Lord even the thousandth part of the debt that we owe Him. Just think of all the things that He is giving us all the time for nothing,-the sunshine, and the rain, and the good earth to live on, and our parents, our homes, the school, and the church! Even our very lives He gives us every moment. And yet He never asks us to pay Him back. He forgives us all our debts, all our trespasses.

     But there is one thing which may prevent the Lord from being able to forgive us, and that one thing is whether we forgive those who owe us or trespass against us. If we act like the servant who would not forgive his fellow servant, then the Lord cannot forgive us. The servant was forgiven, but he did not forgive.

     When we say the Lord's Prayer, one of the sentences that we say is: "Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors." We ask that because we know that the Lord will forgive us our debts, if we will only do that other thing,-that is, learn to forgive those people who have done wrong to us. For it is a wonderful law of our minds and hearts that the Lord is able to forgive us only so far as we are able to forgive those who have done wrong to us. The reason for this is, that when we hate some one, when we are angry with him, when we wish we could get even with him, and be revenged upon him, then we build up a cloud all around us,-a thick, black cloud that shuts out the sun of heaven. The Lord wants to come into our hearts with His love, but He cannot do it when we have filled our hearts with hatred; for hatred is the opposite of love, and where hatred is, love cannot be.

     Once Swedenborg saw a man in the spiritual world who, while he had lived in this world, would not forgive even small offences on the part of those whom he hated.

400


His unforgiving heart appeared in the spiritual world like a large sack, which, when it was opened, sent forth a dense black smoke, which rolled itself upward. (S. D. 3562.) It is this dense black smoke that surrounds the unforgiving heart, and makes it impossible for the Lord to come to a man and forgive him his trespasses. The man that Swedenborg saw was like the servant in the Lord's parable. The Lord had forgiven him everything; yet he could not find it in his heart to forgive any of the trespasses which had been committed against him.

     Whenever some one does something wrong to you, you can do one of two things. You can hate him for it, or you can pray to the Lord to help you to forgive him. If you hate him for it, then you make it impossible for the Lord to come to you and forgive you for the wrong things that you have done against others. You surround your hearts with a black cloud, through which the Lord cannot pass. But if you forgive the person that has wronged you, then the Lord can forgive you. He can come to you just as the sunshine comes to the earth when the sky is clear and blue.

     Once, while the Lord was on earth, He was sitting at a feast in the home of Simon the Pharisee. And while He was sitting there, a woman who was a sinner came in and washed His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Simon was surprised that the Lord should allow such a woman to touch Him, but the Lord said to him, "Her sins which are many are forgiven her, because she loved much." And so it is with us. If we love each other, and forgive each other, then the Lord is able to forgive us; for love draws the Lord to us; it is only hatred that shuts Him out.

     Once I knew a man who found it very hard to forgive anyone who had done him a wrong. And when he would not forgive anyone, then he would not speak to him, and he would not go anywhere that he might meet him. The result was that people would not invite him to their homes with other guests, for fear that he might meet some one to whom he would not speak. Because of this his life grew more and more narrow. He became all shut up within himself-just because he could not forgive other people.

     Sometimes we think that because we have forgiven a person once we have done our duty, and that we need never forgive him again.

401


The disciple Peter was inclined to feel that way. And so he asked the Lord how often he should forgive his brother, until seven times? But the Lord answered, "I say not unto thee until seven times, but until seventy times seven." That means that we must continually strive to cultivate within our hearts a forgiveness of spirit, or a forgiving spirit-not once or twice, but always!

     Suppose some one has done an injury to you? What is the easy thing for you to do? The easy thing is to hate him for it, to try to get even with him, to seek revenge, and to go and tell other people all about it. But this is wrong. Instead, we must strive to forgive him, no matter how great the evil that he has done. For the Lord said, "Unless ye forgive men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive your trespasses."

     When the Lord was in the world the Jews hated Him. They persecuted Him, and tried to trap Him in His speech. They did everything within their power to keep Him from teaching the people and drawing His disciples to Himself. They reviled Him; they mocked Him, and finally crucified Him. But, although the Lord had been ill-treated so many times by these people, still He forgave them. For as He hung upon the cross, He said: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!"

     The Lord wants us to be like that. He wants us to forgive always. For if we do forgive, then when we come into the spiritual world after death, there will be no black clouds surrounding us. Nothing will prevent the sunshine of heaven from pouring in upon us. Angel guides will be sent by the Lord to conduct us on our way. The Lord will be able to forgive us all our trespasses, because in this world we had forgiven those who trespassed against us.

     LESSON: Matthew 18:21-35.

402


ENTERING THE LABORS OF OTHERS 1938

ENTERING THE LABORS OF OTHERS       Rev. PHILIP N. ODHNER       1938

     On a time the Lord was speaking to His disciples about the church that He was then establishing, and He said to them, "Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest." He said further, "And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labor; other men labored, and ye are entered into their labors." (John 4:35-38.) And the everlasting truth here revealed concerning the church is, that the Lord, and not man, prepares and gathers together those who are to constitute His kingdom. The church is the Lord's work and labor, and men who strive for the upbuilding of His kingdom do but enter into His labor, reaping what He has sown.

     Some perception of this great truth should rule our thought of the Lord's New Church, in every relation that we may bear to it. Whether our work be that of introducing new members for her growth, or that of educating her young; whether our work be for the enrichment of her doctrine, the support of her institutions, or the increase of her good of life; in all of it there should be the perception that nothing of the origin of her growth is from us as men, and that our efforts, great or small, depend for their fruition upon the preparation which the Lord has made for them. He is the Sower, and we are the reapers that enter into the harvest of His labors.

     The Lord alone prepares a man to receive His Word. No matter how hard we may labor to bring another to see what we see to be the Divine Truth, there can be no result of our endeavors unless the mind of the other has been prepared to receive our instruction. We may instruct two men of apparently similar background, of similar mental abilities; one may receive the Word, and the other reject it. The result depends upon a preparatory work that has not been in our hands. We may raise and educate our children within the church, and yet the results must depend upon a labor that is not our own, upon the labor of the only One who knows what is good for a human soul to receive.

403


And for these reasons our work in spreading the Divine Truth to other men should neither be encouraged by our success, nor discouraged by apparent failure. Rather should we look upon it as a work to be performed by us for the sake of our fellow men from love to the Lord, as part of our daily occupation, a duty that we should perform with wisdom, sincerely and justly. We may rejoice when men receive the truth, and grieve when they do not, but at all times we may rest assured that this work must go on, and that the Lord governs its fruition. He alone knows whether the church may be of use to a man, or a man of use to the church.

     Turning to other phases of life,-to natural and civil affairs,-it is again clear that men do not labor of themselves, but enter into the labors of others. If we reflect upon the innumerable instances where our work in our occupations, or in our homes, depends for its rightful performance upon the works of other men, both the works of those who have gone before us and those who work together with us in the world, it becomes obvious that there could be no results of our efforts, and that our uses themselves could not exist, unless they were wholly bound up with the work of other men.

     It would be difficult indeed to define for any man what is his peculiar contribution to the good of mankind. For the most part, our work is to carry on what some one else has done before us. And even in those cases where something apparently original is done, an examination of the factors contributing to its production leaves the peculiar part of any one man very indefinite. Whatever we do is done in a field already enriched by the work of other men.

     And the same is true of our thoughts and affections. Of these we have the feeling that they are, for the most part, original with us,-that they are our own. But it is revealed to the New Church that not the least of them is our own, but all are from others. Nor are they original with these others, but were given them from still others, and so on in an apparently endless series. Swedenborg says of himself that in the beginning he thought that all his affections and inspirations were his own, but that the exact opposite was shown to be the case. He was shown the societies of heaven or hell from which those thoughts and affections were derived, and he found that these societies had them from still others, and that it was impossible to trace their origin from any man or from any society whatsoever, as in the end they were all from the Lord, by a general influx into heaven and hell.

404


All that spirits or men contribute to thought is a certain modification according to their state of reception, as is especially manifest in the turning of good thoughts to evil purposes by those in hell. Whatever we do, or whatever we think or will, is reaping what others have sown. If we labor at all, it is but to enter the labor of others.

     In the life of our church, young as it is, there have been varied and strongly contrasting states,-states that call for a new perception of the truth that the establishment of the church is the Lord's work, and not man's. There have been times of great enthusiasm, when every man and everything done appeared to be of the greatest importance to the church. And then again, there have been states of slow growth and application, when the work of the church appeared to settle down to a humdrum routine, and the individual's importance to the cause was submerged. And perhaps, in these latter states, the men of the church were tried by a lack of enthusiasm for its uses, feeling that they were not advancing, that they were but continuing what their fathers had begun.

     Rational examination, however, does not confirm this feeling. For every new advance in the church there has been a long preparation. Ideas have been handed down, and gradually fashioned into uses that could affect the lives of men with power. At times the Lord increases the appearance that such ideas are man's own, that they are original, and this lends to men a sphere of zeal for their ultimation in the uses of life. It is then that the church is prepared for some new state of development. And then again the appearance of giving origin passes away, together with the enthusiastic states that attend it. Yet in neither state, either in a new beginning or in the continuation and development of that beginning, is there anything original that is from man. And for this reason the men of one state cannot be said to be more or less important to the church than the men of another. The church is the Lord's, and He is the Sower of all things that give it growth. And it is vain for us to think that we can do more than harvest what He has planted.

     Since the church is not ours, but the Lord's, our relation to it, both as an internal and as an external body, is one of duty. It is a relationship of use, of labor for the good of the human race, and not one of momentary enthusiasm for something that appears to be our own.

405


And so we should not yearn for the delights of a state that is past, nor yet desire that some great new development may come along and fill us with enthusiasm for the uses of the church, something that is original, and not so shopworn as what we have been given. To desire these things for the sake of our own interest in the church is to desire to command that which is the Lord's, and which cannot be given into the hands of men. It is like the Israelites' cry for the fleshpots of Egypt, or like their insistence upon entering the Land of Promise before they had been prepared to combat the nations who were there. It is not for us to relax our efforts because of the absence of the delights of inspiration, or to seek for those delights through emotional means. It is for men to remain steadfast in their duties to the church, removing such things from their lives as stand in the way of their faithful performance.

     The church is the Lord's labor, and every man of the church enters into His labor. And there is a strong parallel between the spiritual uses to be performed in the church and the natural uses to be performed in the world, as far as man's relation to them is concerned. They are alike in this, that they must be performed regardless of the enthusiasm attending the performance; and in this, also, that they should be performed for the good of the human race from love to the Lord, and not for the reward or recompense that man may derive from them.

     II.

     Man's duties to the church are both internal and external. There is the work of evangelism; there is the support and maintenance of public worship and instruction; there is the reading of the Word of God, and meditation upon it; there is the examination of self for the detection of evils; and there is the shunning of those evils as sins against God. These are spiritual uses, and our concern should be for the faithful performance of them. By doing them we reap whatever the Lord has prepared for us to reap, and we enter into the work of our Lord in promoting the good of the human race.

     That which vitiates these spiritual uses with men is much the same as that which vitiates the civil uses, namely, that they are performed, or not performed, because of selfish reasons.

406


If we read the Word and the Writings for our own delight or advancement, we are not entering the labor of the Lord in His church. If we examine ourselves and remove evils because we yearn for some imagined happiness, we are not shunning evils as sins against God, but as sins against ourselves. Moreover, we cannot look upon these things as duties to be performed faithfully from a selfish viewpoint. At best, we would look upon them as things to be done or left undone at will, since they would be for no one's benefit but our own.

     Our regenerative efforts are not only for our own benefit, or for our own salvation. Their use is one with the use of the Lord's New Church. And the use of the church is the conjunction of heaven with men on earth, whereby the Lord may be present with men of all religions, and bring them to heaven. To maintain the conjunction of heaven with men for the good of the human race,-this is the Lord's labor in His specific church; and it is into this work, and into this purpose, that we of the church must enter. Those things which we do for our own salvation we must do also for the promotion of the good of the human race. It is of order that we begin our spiritual uses from a somewhat selfish purpose,-that of our own salvation,-but it is not of order that we remain in that selfish purpose, lest we pervert those uses and destroy what is of the church within us.

     The Lord is the Sower. He prepares the harvest, and we are the laborers that He sends into His harvest. Our work is the continual reaping of His labor. Nor is it right for us to be anxious or complaining of what the harvest yields, as it can give only what the Lord has sown. Our part is to be faithful servants in the reaping of it. And herein is the importance of our work, that the Lord is "Lord also of the harvest." For He takes from what we reap to sow for those who are to come,-to prepare the seed of spiritual growth for those of the following generations. Whether our work be that of pioneers, with the enthusiastic states that attend it, or whether it be of those that succeed them, what is of importance and concern is the faithful performance of our duties.

     From history, both civil and ecclesiastical, we learn of great and wonderful things that men have done in times past. We read of the apparent birth of new ideas, new doctrines, new ways of life; of inspired men of great genius. But if the reading of history were to lead us to the conclusion that these wonders were from human inspiration, then it would lead us away from the true message of history.

407


It would fill us with vain ambitions that cannot be satisfied, and cause us to seek for results from our labors that are not in accordance with the Divine Providence.

     Rather should the reading of history show us that nothing is from man, but all from the Lord, and bring us to the perception that all things, past, present and future, with men are ever present in God. All things are present with God, and from Him they are present with the angels of heaven, and from the angels of heaven they may be present with us, according to our conjunction with heaven, which is according to the performance of our spiritual uses.

     Inspiration,-the true inspiration that leads to the lasting good of the church,-is the insertion of the spirit among angelic societies. (T. C. R. 140.) And insertion among angelic societies is brought about through the Word of God, each verse of which is as a key to some society of heaven. As we live according to the Word, exercising its truths in the uses of our lives, we enter into the spirit of the Word, and thus into angelic societies, receiving whatever inspiration is necessary for the good of the church, that is, for the good of its use.

     It is well that we should desire new things, but we should desire them to come to us from heaven, within the sphere of our uses. Then our desire for them is one with our love of the good of the church, and of the human race through the church, and is not the desire for our own delight. The church is the Lord's. He governs the course of its growth, both internally and externally. He has established it for the salvation of the whole race of human beings. The labor of His love is universal in its purpose. We should strive to perceive something of this end in our every relation to the church. Only thus can we enter into His labor, and become His faithful servants, and this even in our regenerative efforts. We are told that "man should care for the soul only for the sake of the uses it must perform in both worlds; and that when man has uses as the end, he has the Lord as the end; for the Lord disposes to uses, and also the uses themselves." (A. C. 5949.)

     As for the labor of those men who have gone before us, their testimony is most beautifully expressed in the words of the 44th Psalm: "O God, with our ears have we heard, our fathers have told us, the work Thou didst work in their days, in the days of old.

408


With Thy hand Thou didst drive out the nations, and them Thou didst plant. With evil Thou didst afflict the peoples, and cast them out. For not with their own sword got they the land in possession, neither did their own arm save them; but Thy right hand, and Thine arm, and the light of Thy countenance. For Thy delight was in them."
URGENT TO BE RECEIVED. 1938

URGENT TO BE RECEIVED.              1938

     The following is an extract from the Conference Sermon on the text, "The Spirit and the bride say, Come!" (Rev. 22:17.) Preached by the Rev. G. T. Hill, B.A., at Camberwell, London, on Sunday evening, June 19th, 1938:

     If we look around in the world today with a discerning eye, we shall be aware that an epoch has passed, and that its remains bewilder and impede mankind, who struggle in the attempt to attain a new order of life. On a large scale this may be illustrated by the intolerable behavior of nation states in their dealings with one another, and the conscious and deliberate rejection by statesmen of principles of justice and equity in the international field, presumably with the connivance of the mass of their people.

     In this is reflected a widespread rejection of spiritual values, or at least a state of complete indifference to those values, on the part of the peoples of the world. There are signs that some men are not content that this should be so. And we may be thankful that there is still a little light, even though it be only a candle flame.

     The question arises, What part has the New Church to play in this stupendous crisis?

     For over a century and a half the Heavenly Doctrines of the Second Advent have been given to the world. Efforts have been made to spread them by all means at our disposal. But has everything been done that is incumbent on us as members of the Lord's New Church? We need not feel anxious because the world has not received with open hearts and minds the truths that we hold precious. If the New Church is to be the crowning Church of the ages, and to last for ever, then we should not expect its growth to be rapid.

409


It is something entirely new, utterly different from anything that has gone before. It will take many generations for men to adjust themselves to its new outlook. Yet those who have embraced the truths that the Lord has revealed at His Second Advent must not, therefore, be merely content to take a mild interest in these things. . . .

     If the New Church has a message for the world, it is this, and, indeed, its very being depends on this-The Lord has come again!

     We may feel that to emphasize such a concept will lead men to look upon us as cranks, or as visionaries who are led away by some peculiar millenarian belief. That does not matter. What does matter is whether we are loyal to the commission laid upon us by the Lord.

     Not merely as a Church Body are we called by the Lord, but each of us has been led of the Divine Providence into the knowledge of His Second Coming. The Lord has some special use for each of us in His Church; otherwise we should not have been called. Those who are truly of the Church will say, "Come!" They will earnestly desire to receive the things of heaven as they are given in the Revelation of His Second Advent. They will adore the Lord Jesus Christ in His Divine Humanity, because He is the one God of heaven and earth-their Savior. The Divine Word will be an opened Book in which the light of heaven shines. The spiritual world will be real to them, for they will have a clear understanding of the destiny and nature of man as a spiritual being. By them the order of life in the world will be seen to be controlled by the hand of the Divine Providence. They will be truly enlightened, and their hearts will be warmed to an appreciation of the mercy of the Lord.

     Should we not be joyful that, of the Lord's mercy, we have seen these things! Should we not be ardent to receive them! The Lord has opened His Word-the fulness of His Divine Wisdom-the vehicle of His Love. Shall we be indifferent to it? Let others pass it by, but we can only open our hearts to the Lord in His Coming and receive Him with joy and gladness.

     [The New-Church Herald, July 2, 1938, p. 315.]

410


GLEANINGS FROM NEW CHURCH HISTORY 1938

GLEANINGS FROM NEW CHURCH HISTORY              1938

     CONFISCATED COPIES OF "CONJUGIAL LOVE."

     FROM A LETTER OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG TO DR. BEYER.

Reverend Doctor and Dear Friend,
     Your letter of the 18th inst. came duly to hand, and in reply it may not be unpleasant to you to hear a short account of what occurred to me upon my arrival here. I arrived here in Stockholm at the beginning of the month, and found high as well as low pleased that I had come, and favorably disposed towards me. I was soon invited to dine with His Royal Highness, the Crown-Prince, and had a long conversation both with him and the Crown-Princess. Afterwards I dined with some of the senators, and conversed with the leading members of the House of the Clergy; likewise with the bishops who are here present, all of whom treated me with kindness, except Bishop Filenius.

     On being informed that my copies of the work on "Conjugial Love" had been confiscated at Norrkoping, I inquired of Bishop [M]ennander of Kbo, Bishop Benzelstjerna of Westerls, Bishop Lutkeman of Gothland, and Bishop Lamberg, how the matter stood. They all answered that they knew nothing on the subject, except that the books were lying in store until my arrival, so that they might not be scattered; also that Bishop Filenius had made an announcement to that effect in the House; that the House itself had not discussed the matter, and still less had given its consent to have them confiscated; no notice to that effect therefore had been entered in the Minutes, so that the Reverend House of the Clergy had no share in the matter, but only Bishop Filenius.

     I had some dispute with the latter on the subject, who insists that they be not delivered without an examination, and is unwilling to agree that the examination of this book, which does not treat of theology but chiefly of morals, is unnecessary, and that such a procedure is paving the way for a "dark age" (saeculum obscurum) in Sweden.

411


This ill-will of Bishop Filenius is due to domestic affairs and to party-spirit, and is representative of the persecution by the dragon and the stinging of the locusts in the Revelation: such causes at least have suggested themselves to me, but I shall leave their determination to another time and opportunity.

     The procedure of Bishop Filenius, however, does not affect me, since I have brought with me thirty-eight copies, and had previously sent in five; more than half of these are already distributed to the Bishops, the members of the House of the Clergy, the Senators, and Their Majesties, the King and Queen; and after the rest are distributed, there will be more than enough in Stockholm. Those that are detained at Norrkoping will be sent abroad, where there is a great demand for them. Stockholm, October 30, 1769. [Tafel's Documents, Vol. II, p. 306.]

     FROM ROBSAHM'S MEMOIRS.

     47. Swedenborg had ordered for the Diet in Norrkoping (1769) a small box of his works from England, which in accordance with the regulations of customs was detained in the custom-house, on account of their containing foreign or heterodox thoughts on religion. Swedenborg, therefore, asked a clergyman [Bishop Filenius, see note 9], one of his influential relatives, to get this box released for him, because he desired to distribute the books among the members of the various Houses of the Diet. This man assured Swedenborg he would, and on leaving embraced and kissed him; but when he went up to the House, it was he who insisted most strongly that the books should not be released. For this man Swedenborg entertained afterwards great contempt, and always called him Judas Iscariot, who betrayed his friend with a kiss. Swedenborg said that he would have been much better pleased with a downright refusal than a false promise inspiring confidence.

412




     Note 9.

     Dr. Petrus Filenius, Bishop of Linkaping, married, in 1740, Ulrica Benzelstierna, youngest daughter of Archbishop Ericus Benzelius the younger and of Anna Swedenborg.

     [Tafel's Documents, Vol. I, pp. 46, 611.]

     Bishop Filenius, in a letter to Assessor Aurell, dated December 28, 1769, attacked Swedenborg for his "delusions and confused ideas in respect to most of the eternal fundamental truths of our Evangelical Christian faith." In the course of the letter he also wrote:

     "Since the copies of Assessor Swedenborg's so-called 'Delights of Wisdom concerning Conjugial Love,' which arrived from Amsterdam on May 1 for the opening of the Diet in Norrkoping, were at my request detained in the custom-house of that town, nothing more has been heard in Stockholm, either before or since, concerning the singular movements and sports of the delirious fantasy of the Assessor 'from things heard and seen,' except that soon after his arrival a petition was handed in to the House of the Clergy, requesting the release of the confiscated books. . . . " (Documents, Vol. II, p. 313.)

     Swedenborg, in a letter dated May 10, 1770, appealed to the King of Sweden for protection, giving an account of what had occurred in connection with the confiscated books. (Documents, Vol. II, p. 373.)

     Fate of the Confiscated Copies.

     FROM LETTER OF CHRISTIAN JOHANSEN TO C. J. BENZELIUS.

     "Fifty copies of Swedenborg's work De Amore Conjugiali, were, through the instigation of Bishop Filenius, confiscated at the customhouse of Norrkoping, during the Diet which was held there in 1769. I know that they were well taken care of by the custom-house officials in that place. Some time afterwards, I think in the year 1780, a connoisseur of those writings came across a number of copies of that book in a grocery shop in Stockholm, where they were being used as wrapping paper.

413


The inference was that they were possibly the copies which were confiscated in Norrkoping, and which were released after the death of Bishop Filenius. The same connoisseur purchased quite a number of these copies at the grocery shop, and let me have six copies in exchange for another still rarer work. I have since disposed of these copies in such a manner that I have none left to give away. But as I have a bound duplicate copy of the same work, I take the liberty of offering it to you in all humility, and requesting you to give it a place in your library. I send it to you for this purpose. I must beg you, however, to excuse the injured condition of the first leaf; it was so when I first received it. The name which is written on the title-page shows that it was formerly owned by a distinguished and learned gentleman."

     Eskilstuna, November 1, 1785. [Tafel's Documents, Vol. III, p. 710.]
NEIGHBOR. 1938

NEIGHBOR.              1938

     The various degrees of the neighbor who is to be loved by the man of the church are outlined in The Word Explained in the exposition of the Commandment, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor." And this early outline of the subject furnishes a striking example of the preparation during that period for what was later written in the Theological Works, as may be seen by consulting the treatment of the same subject in the True Christian Religion, nos. 406-416.

     Extract from "The Word Explained."

     4375. This commandment concerns such things as pertain to the neighbor, namely, that one should love the neighbor, that is, should not hate him. Thus it concerns all that comes from hatred. But as to what the words signify in their different senses, this, by the Divine mercy of God Messiah, shall be explained in a few words, to wit, what is meant by neighbor, what by witness, and what by false.

     4376. By the neighbor is meant: (1) Every one who is neighbor to another, that is to say, neighbor to him in love, being called neighbor because he loves him from some natural bond; as one loves one's children, consort, parents, and also relatives according to the degrees of the relationship, and furthermore friends; [2]

414


Thus also those who, in various ways, have conferred benefits upon one. These are neighbors, because it is love that conjoins one man to another, it being the nature of love that from many it makes, as it were, one. Such persons, therefore, are loved as oneself, from natural disposition. [3] Thus all who love oneself, the love being mutual. [4] Thus those who show mercy. This is evident from the comparison used by God Messiah concerning him who fell into the hands of a robber [Luke 10:30].

     4377. In the broader sense, by the neighbor is meant every man; for every man is a part in society. Thus, being also oneself in the body of that same society, one ought to love another; for if one part in this body hates another, the body sickens and so perishes. It is exactly the same as in the case of man's body; the love of each member and part unifies the body and preserves it, while hatred or discord between one part and another brings on sicknesses and diseases, and so death, death being the sum of such discords, in that it finally dissolves the entire body. In disease there is nothing that does not produce something of discord, and this is especially the case in the cause of disease, which is hatred.

     Since by the neighbor is meant every man, both friend and enemy, therefore love dictates that all should be loved as oneself. But there are degrees of love toward the neighbor as oneself, one man being loved more than oneself, and another as oneself. Many are loved more than oneself according to degrees, such as the family, the generation, society, for instance, the country, society according to its size, thus many societies, and finally the entire world. These are to be loved more than oneself, for there is little if any ratio between the all and the one. (God Messiah granting, these matters may be set forth more clearly elsewhere.)

     4378. In the more interior sense, by the neighbor are meant things spiritual, such as the moral virtues, these being considered as existing in man; for man is not a man save from his spiritual life. When a man is loved, that in the man is loved from which he is a man, namely, his virtues, which are many in number, and which likewise are exterior and interior.

415


These moral and spiritual virtues are the neighbor, it being these that are loved in man, and the man for the sake of them.

     4379. In the inmost sense, by the neighbor is meant faith in God Messiah, faith in God Messiah being the heavenly gift for the sake of which man is loved; thus all who are in the church of God Messiah. These are to be loved above all others. According as one loves faith, so also he loves him who has faith; that is to say, according as one loves God Messiah, so he loves those who love? God Messiah. Hence the neighbor is faith in God Messiah, and consequently is the sons of God Messiah, the heirs of His kingdom, and so the church. It is love that conjoins, both in this life and the other, and no one can be in the kingdom of God unless he has loved his neighbor; for he cannot be a unanimous part in such a kingdom save by love. How can anyone be conjoined to another in the heavenly life when he has hated his neighbor in the corporeal life? So impossible is this that plainly it cannot be. During his life every one acquires his disposition from the love or affection in which he is. If he then derives it from some other love than love of God Messiah and so love of the neighbor, he puts on a disposition, not from that which can be conjoined to another, but from a love that he may be disjoined; that is to say, from hatred.

     4380. Therefore, in the supreme sense the neighbor is God Messiah. That He is to be loved above all things can be evident from so many considerations that they would fill whole pages. He is the only one who gives all things; who gives life; who is the Head; who loves. Who is to be loved save He who loves, and this with infinite love? etc., etc.; who gives eternal life, who gives the kingdom, who from mere love and mercy rescues man from the jaws of the devil, who guards all, etc., etc.

416


NOTES AND REVIEWS. 1938

NOTES AND REVIEWS.              1938


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office a Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly By
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.
Editor               Rev. W. B. Caldwell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager          Mr. H. Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

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

     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$3.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single Copy, 30 cents.
     A NEW VERSION OF "CONJUGIAL LOVE."

     Marital Love and Its Wise Delights, after which follows Scortatory Love, Its Insane Pleasures. By Emanuel Swedenborg. A Translation of De Amore Conjugiali by William Frederick Wunsch. New York: Swedenborg Publishing Association, 1938. Buckram, royal Xvo, pp. 760, $2.00.

     As this new version will have been seen by few of our readers, we ought to give some account of it. At the same time we shall express some of our own reactions to it.

     An Announcement at the opening of the volume reads: "This new translation of Swedenborg's monumental work on Marriage was initiated by the Council of Ministers of the General Convention of the New Jerusalem in the United States of America. The expense of publication has been defrayed in large part from a bequest of the late Alfred King 'to make known the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg, his writings and their purpose.'"

417




     But while the undertaking was "initiated" by the Council of Ministers, it seems evident from the Translator's Preface that Mr. Wunsch accepts full responsibility for the result, which represents a radical departure from previous versions of this book. To the not inconsiderable task involved he has brought his well-known scholarly abilities, but also his own style in the English idiom. The background is inevitably that of the so-called "Liberal," with his address to the supposed "revival" of the "New Christianity" in the Christian world. A missionary intent pervades the version, with a mingling of interpretation and translation, and with an emphasis upon the work as Swedenborg's rather than as a Divine Revelation. Some passages from the Preface will indicate the translator's approach to this task:

     "Books about marriage are beyond number and of every sort. Swedenborg's discussion can be added, however, without duplicating one of them. Of its uniqueness the reader should be assured by an introductory word on its content and method, its reach and realism. . . ."

     "The character of Marital Love is complex, as we shall see; but in the main, it is an ethical discussion. Swedenborg himself said that it 'does not treat of theology, but chiefly of morals' (Tafel's Documents concerning Swedenborg, II, p. 306). Ethics must deal with more than formal relationship and situation, and everywhere in the book attention falls upon love, or lust, and on gradations of each. Formal relationship, institution, contract, legal status, vows are not under Swedenborg's eye so much as inward state or spiritual content. . . ."

     "But while the core of the book is ethical discussion, much more remains to be said, not only of the book as a whole, but of this discussion. The ethical standards are those of the Christian religion, indeed of the Christian religion in all which it must grow to be. Swedenborg's general contention in his theological works appears in this book, too. He contended that Christianity must see a spiritual revival in order to continue; so he contends, also, that if its fruits are to be had, and if true marriage is to be achieved and the marital love which he describes is to be fact, Christianity must see a revival. . . . "

     "We take another necessary step in characterization of the book and specifically of its ethical discussion, when we see that this discussion is reinforced by a theology. Were it not for this element in the book, Swedenborg would not have been called upon to say so carefully that it 'does not treat of theology, but chiefly of morals.' To help to a Christian renascence, Swedenborg in other books had restated Christian teaching. This theology furnishes at least a framework in which the ethical discussion of the present book proceeds." (Pages v and vi.)

     As if to emphasize his view of the "Christian renascence," the translator has connected nos. 26 and 532 in the text of the work.

418


The passages read:

     "It is apparent from these and many other passages in the Word that objects existing in the spiritual world have been seen by many before and after the Lord's advent. What wonder then that they are seen now, too, when the Church is beginning anew,13 and the New Jerusalem is descending from the Lord out of heaven) " (No. 26 at the end.)
     13 See n. 532 [2].

     "The angels rejoiced greatly that the Lord had been pleased to reveal this great arcanum, so deeply hidden for several thousand years, and said that it was done in order that the Christian Church, which is founded upon the Word and is now at its end, may revive again7 and draw breath through heaven from the Lord." (No. 532a.)
     7 See n. 26e.

     In no. 26, the Latin verb translated "beginning anew" is inchoare, which means simply to begin or commence, not anew, and manifestly refers to the New Church, not the former Christian Church. The Latin reads: "Quid mirum, quod etiam nunc, inchoante ecclesia, seu descendente Nova Hierosolynza a Domino e caelo."

     In no. 532, the phrase "revive again" has long given aid and comfort to the permeationist, who believes that the old Christian Church is being "revived," but the passage states that the "Christian Church is at its end." How else can it be revived than in a New Church, and with a remnant of the former Church who come into the New Church? Therefore we read in no. 534: "Love truly conjugial, with its delights, is solely from the Lord, and is given to those who live according to His precepts; thus it is given to those who are received into the Lord's New Church, which is meant by the New Jerusalem in the Apocalypse." [The new version has "new Church."]

     With regard to Swedenborg's saying that the work on Conjugial Love "does not treat of theology, but chiefly of morals," we do not think that this statement, taken out of its context and setting in the Letter to Beyer, is to be regarded as a full and final appraisal of the work by Swedenborg. It was made to Bishop Filenius, who had been instrumental in having copies of Conjugial Love confiscated as opposed to the tenets of the State Church, as indeed it was, but really from "ill-will due to domestic affairs and to party-spirit, and representative of the persecution by the dragon and the stinging of the locusts in the Revelation," as Swedenborg further said in his Letter to Beyer. (See page 410 of this issue.)

419




     We must hold that the work on Conjugial Love is one of the Theological Works, given especially to show that the religion of the True Christian Theology is essential to the establishment of the true Christian conjugial in the true Christian Church of the Second Coming of the Lord. This is the burden of the work throughout, and especially of those early chapters: Concerning Love Truly Conjugial; Concerning the Origin of Conjugial Love from the Marriage of Good and Truth; Concerning the Marriage of the Lord and the Church, and Its Correspondence.

     The translator's emphasis upon the moral and ethical phase of the work made it easy for him to adopt the word "marital" in place of "conjugial." For "marital," in common usage, denotes the marriage relation as a natural and worldly institution and life,-a moral life that may be quite apart from anything of religion; but the word "conjugial" in the Writings is inseparable from religion and the spiritual moral life. Where they speak of conjugial love with those who are not in that state, it really means the absence of it. "That love is according to religion with man, spiritual with the spiritual, natural with the natural, and merely carnal with adulterers." (C. L. 534e.)

     THE TERM "MARITAL."

     We fear that many New Church men and women will be startled, not to say shocked, by a version of De Amore Conjugiali which wholly eliminates the word "Conjugial" from the title and text, and even from the Index. It is true that the Potts Concordance has the subject listed as "Marriage (or Conjugial) Love," but the passages quoted under this heading retain the word "Conjugial." Also, the Rotch Edition of the work (1907), translated by the Rev. Samuel M. Warren, bears the title, Marriage Love, and uses that phrase throughout in place of "Conjugial Love," though in no. 80 the word "conjugial" was retained in Latin. It reads: "For the human conjugiale and religion go together at every step.

420


Every advance, even every step from religion and to religion is also an advance and step from the conjugiale and in the conjugiale that is peculiar to the Christian man."

     This Rotch Edition has also appeared with " Notes on 'Conjugial Love'" by Mr. Wunsch, but he has now gone beyond anything he there says, and in his Preface to the new volume he writes:

     "Doubtless translating 'marital' rather than 'conjugial' will seem a greater innovation than the general change in title. If readableness and readier understanding are the aim, however, it is certainly better to use the word 'marital.' 'Conjugial' is an unfamiliar spelling of 'conjugal,' itself a word now falling into disuse, while 'marital' is in general use. But, it will be objected, has not Swedenborg something unique in mind for which the unique word is wanted? The Latin word which he used was not unique, however; it was as ordinary as 'marital.' Only the spelling was the poetic rather than the prose spelling, retained probably from the reading of Ovid. And after all, Swedenborg had in mind nothing unique, requiring a strange word. There seems to be a widespread impression that Swedenborg is discussing something other than the love to be found in a marriage. He speaks of a marital love, indeed, so rare today that its possibility and its character are hardly known; but so far is the word 'conjugialis' from serving by itself to denote that love, he helps himself out then with yet another word, and writes amor vere conjugialis.'"

     This kind of reasoning in defense of the use of the term "marital" in place of "conjugial" leaves us unconvinced. We need not here go into the question as to whether Swedenborg was trying to find terms to express his ideas, and "helping himself out" with words that had entered his mind from various sources. No matter where the words came from, they were employed as the vehicles of a Divine Revelation, as has been the case with all former instruments of Divine Revelation. We must hold that the terms of the Theological Works throughout were of Divine selection, and not the selection of a man seeking for the proper terms by which to express his ideas, though Swedenborg's case was different from that of former instruments of Divine Revelation, in that he understood what he was doing and what he wrote, and also how he was being guided by a Divine hand in it all. And so we must also hold that the term "marital" would have been employed in this work if it had been the proper word to embody and reveal the Divine Truth expressed in the word "conjugial."

     The word "conjugial" has become precious to New Church men and women down through the years,-a cherished possession of the New Church, treasured as a beautiful word provided by the Lord Himself in the Divine Revelation given at His Second Coming;-a word bringing to the minds of men what no other word can convey, a celestial and spiritual idea and state of marriage, now made possible only in the true Christian Church, the Church of the New Jerusalem. But this new version would take away from us this fine, expressive term "conjugial," and substitute the common term "marital," originally meaning what belongs to the husband (maritus), but now also what belongs to marriage in general.

421


And so we hear much of "marital bliss," "marital difficulties," "marital woes," and so on; in which sense it means the same as "conjugal," but not the same as "conjugial." The distinction is marked in the work itself:

     "98. THAT THE LOVE OF THE SEX WITH MAN (homo) IS NOT THE ORIGIN OF CONJUGIAL LOVE, BUT THAT IT IS ITS FIRST, THUS IT IS AS A NATURAL EXTERNAL IN WHICH IS IMPLANTED A SPIRITUAL INTERNAL. Love truly conjugial is here treated of, and not the common love, which too is called conjugal, and with some is nothing but the love of the sex limited; but love truly conjugial is with those only who long after wisdom, and thus progress more and more into it. These the Lord foresees, and provides for them conjugial love; which love indeed commences with them from the love of the sex, or rather by means of this love, but yet does not arise from it; for it arises as wisdom advances its step and comes forth into light with one; for wisdom and that love are inseparable companions." (Boston Edition.)

     The distinction here plainly taught between "conjugial" and "conjugal" is not shown by the new version, which reads:

     "98. Love for the sex with the human being is not the origin but the first stage of marital love, and is like an external natural in which an internal spiritual is implanted.

422


(We are dealing here with true marital love, and not with ordinary marital love, which with some is nothing more than a limited sexual love.) True marital love exists only with those who strive after and advance in wisdom more and more. The Lord foresees these, and provides marital love for them. Even with them this love begins, to be sure, in love for the sex, or rather by love for the sex; it does not, however, arise from it. For it arises as wisdom advances and moves into light with a man; wisdom and marital love are inseparable companions."

     To those who believe that the terms of the Writings were of a Divine Providence, and not the choice of the human "servant of the Lord," the above distinction between "conjugal" and "conjugial," and between the states and conditions involved, is accepted as Divinely revealed and as satisfying to the rational mind. The use of the word "marital" to describe both ideas fails utterly to make the necessary distinction. For "marital," according to present-day usage, means the same as "conjugal." Let us note some dictionary definitions:

     STANDARD DICTIONARY.

     marital. 1. Of or pertaining to a husband, or to marriage as it affects the husband. 2. Of or pertaining to marriage; matrimonial. [Latin-mauitalis-maritus, husband-mas, male.

     conjugal. 1. Of or pertaining to marriage, marital rights, or married persons, or to a state of union involving such relationship; connubial; matrimenial.

     conjugial. Conjugal; in Swedenborgianism, relating to marriage, conceived as a spiritual union typical of the union of Christ and his church.

     WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY.

     conjugial. Matrimonial;-used instead of conjugal, to distinguish the Swedenborgian conception of marriage as a spiritual union corresponding to that of Christ and his church.

     Love truly conjugial, considered in itself, is an union of souls, a conjunction of minds.-Swedenborg.

     The fact is, therefore, that even the dictionaries contrast the word "conjugial," in its Swedenborgian sense, with the words "conjugal" and "marital," these two being practically synonymous. Mr. Wunsch has seen fit to ignore this fact, and also the plain teaching in no. 98, quoted above.

423


But the essential responsibility of a translator, especially in the case of a work of Divine Revelation, is to Preserve the sense and meaning of the original; and in translating the Latin of the Writings, to convey to the English reader, as faithfully as possible, the same idea that is conveyed to the reader of the Latin.

     We think we have made it plain that "marital" is not the equivalent of "conjugial," either in the Writings or in the common usage of the day. If the translator had sought and found an Anglo-Saxon term which the English reader would understand better than the term "conjugial," there might be some excuse for what he has done, but he has substituted one term of Latin origin for another, and the substitution does not mean what the original does.

     And so we must record our emphatic objection to the use of the word "marital" in the title and text of this version of the work on Conjugial Love. We do not believe that "marital love" expresses what the original means by "conjugial love." We do not believe that "the marital tendency of good and truth" means the same as "the conjugial of good and truth" (no. 203). Or that "The Christian marital tendency" can ever take the place of the beautiful expression, "The Christian conjugial." (No. 142.) Neither does "sexual love" (no. 98) mean the same as "the love of the sex," nor "the marital or mating tendency of evil and falsity" (no. 203) describe what is meant by "the conjugal or connubial of evil and falsity."

     It is not without regret that we thus record our general reaction to this new volume. It would be a great pleasure to welcome a new version of this work which faithfully expressed the real meaning of the original text, both to New Church people and to the stranger. Mr. Wunsch has produced a smooth and easily followed text, but too often at the expense of the real meaning, and at the sacrifice of the Divine style of the Writings. His style is highly individualistic and interpretive; but interpretation belongs in the field of classroom instruction and the pulpit, not in a translation, where scrupulous fidelity to the original text is a vital virtue.

     The books of Divine Revelation have always been given in "dead" languages, that their original meaning may not change with time. It is, of course, necessary to make them available in other languages for the sake of those who cannot read the original texts, but this should be done with extreme care, and without the individual interpretation of the translator.

424


From age to age, however, it is inevitable that zealots will make interpretive versions, often doing violence to the original, especially when they fall a prey to the prudential fear that others will not understand,-a fear which has dominated so many translators of the Writings, leading them to adopt a kind of superior air, underestimating the intelligence of the modern reader. We recall the footnotes in some versions: "It may be expedient to inform the unlearned reader, etc.,"-a highly complimentary form of address.

     In attempting to deliver the New Church teaching in the language of the day-to deliver our message in their language-we may so disguise it that they never get it. The fact is that the world craves something new; and the Writings, in their own language, satisfy that craving with those who are prepared to receive their message. And we must not forget that this matter is in the hands of the Lord. He knows who can receive better than we do. The intelligent among adults who are capable of receiving the things Divinely revealed concerning conjugial love will understand the distinctive terms, and find delight in them. Is not the word "conjugial" now fully recognized in the world as a term peculiar to Swedenborg and the Church of the New Jerusalem? Surely any mind desirous of knowing, and sufficiently educated to comprehend the truths revealed in this book, can grasp the meaning of "conjugial," or can learn by reading the work and by instruction at the hands of New Churchmen, as is the case with children brought up in the New Church.

     It is to be feared, however, that when a stranger has read this new version, and later on finds that "marital" does not mean what "conjugial" does, he will feel that he has been misled by the very one who should be his guide and protector, as well as a faithful advocate of the teaching he has translated.
Title Unspecified 1938

Title Unspecified              1938

     Publications reviewed in New Church Life may be ordered through the Academy Book Room or consulted in the Academy Library.

425


Church News 1938

Church News       Various       1938

     LONDON, ENGLAND.

     Bishop Tilson Retires.

     The Annual Meeting of Michael Church, held on Sunday evening, May 22, was a memorable one. After a well-attended Social Tea, a brief service was conducted by Bishop Tilson. The chair was then taken by the Rev. A. Wynne Acton, who read various letters of greeting, and then called for the reports of the officers of the society.

     When Mr. Victor R. Tilson had finished reading his report, the Bishop presented him with a check on behalf of the members and friends of the society, as an appreciation of his twenty-four, years' service as organist, while at the same time a handsome basket of flowers was given to Mrs. V. R. Tilson by Miss Mary Lewin. These were gratefully acknowledged by Mr. Tilson, who said that the offering had come as a complete surprise, and that his work as organist had brought him very much pleasure, and had been its own reward.

     The Assistant Pastor's report showed that much work had been accomplished, not only in Michael Church, but also in pastoral visits to the various outlying circles; as a member of the Council of the Swedenborg Society and other Boards; and as Editor of the News Letter.

     Lastly came the report of the venerable Bishop, at the conclusion of which he announced his decision to retire from the pastorate of Michael Church on account of his advanced age and increasing deafness. It has been a pastorate of fifty-two years to the same congregation-surely a record-and this was preceded by seven years at Liverpool-fifty-nine years of ministerial work. After four years at Flodden Road, a division in the society having taken place, he left with most of the congregation. After a short interregnum, with worship at the Masonic Hall, Michael Church, with its school, was established, owing in a large measure to the generosity of the late Mr. C. J. Whittington. Ten years ago, the school had to be given up through lack of scholars, but Bishop Tilson remained, and continued the work from which he has now officially retired. A prominent feature in that work was his firm insistence upon the necessity of baptism as the orderly means of entrance to the church, and he has officiated at over five hundred of them.

     In response to the Bishop's announcement of his resignation, many laymen, especially those of the older generation, rose to express their regret for its necessity, and their appreciation of his great work as pastor, counselor, and sympathetic friend at all times, whether of joy or sorrow. The hope of one and all was that he would have health and happiness and peace in his well-earned retirement. Always to the front in controversy, he had consistently upheld the Authority of the Writings, and had lived to see its more general acceptance in the Church. We wish we could quote all the speakers in extenso, but space forbids. All were agreed in the hope that, though retired, the Bishop and Mrs. Tilson would long be with us, and in the belief that we can best show our gratitude to the Lord for the life and work of this "remarkable man," as one speaker called him, by standing firm to uphold the hands of his successor in the work of the Church.

426


So may it be!

     After a short interval, during which the Assistant Pastor withdrew, Bishop Tilson took the chair, and, on behalf of Bishop de Charms, nominated the Rev. A. Wynne Acton as his successor in the pastorate of Michael Church. The applause which immediately followed left no doubt as to the unanimous acceptance of the nomination. The meeting closed with the Benediction.

     On the evening of Tuesday, May 24, the meeting for Young People was held as usual at the house of Miss Mary Lewin, and a very good paper on "Prayer" was read by Miss Irene Searle, and followed by a useful discussion. Among those present was Miss Sheila Braby from South Africa.

     At the service on Sunday, June 19, the Holy Supper was administered to thirty-two communicants Bishop Tilson was celebrant, assisted by the Rev. A. Wynne Acton.

     On the following Saturday, Mr Acton accompanied some twenty people to Brownley Gardens for the "New Church Day Outing." Cricket was the chief feature of entertainment, at which Mr. Acton was facile princeps, and the same remark applies to the tennis, for which some of the young people meet every week in Brockwell Park.

     Induction Service.

     On Sunday, June 26, at 6 p.m., a special service was held for the Induction of the new pastor, the Rev. A. Wynne Acton. The Lessons were: Ezekiel 34:11-16, 30, 31; John 10:1-16 and A. E. 700:35. After the singing of the 48th Psalm by the very large congregation, Bishop Tilson delivered an appropriate address from the text of Jeremiah 3:15, "And I will give you pastors according to my heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding." The address dwelt upon the establishment of the church upon the basis of the Divine Truths revealed in the Heavenly Doctrines as the Word of the Lord, and the necessity and use of the Priesthood in that establishment. Attention was drawn to the word "knowledge" in the text, which should be rendered "cognitions," since it implies knowledges spiritually received,-knowledges containing internal truths. After a musical interlude, the ceremony of Induction took place, and in his Charge the Bishop said:

     "Alfred Wynne Acton: By the authority of the Bishop of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, the Right Rev. George de Charms, I have been requested to induct you into the Pastorate of the Michael Church in London. Therefore, it is of order that I first ask if you are desirous of being so inducted; and I also ask you to declare your solemn determination to fulfill faithfully the duties of that office, by the help of the Lord, and as in His Divine Name. To this Mr. Acton made reply:

     "Before the Lord, and before these people, I do hereby declare my willingness to undertake the duties and responsibilities devolving upon me as the Pastor of this Society, believing that I am called to do so under the Divine Providence of the Lord. In taking this step, I have the full intention and purpose, with the Lord's help, of ever being a true pastor and shepherd of this flock, teaching its members the pure truths of the Lord as He has revealed them in His threefold Word, and, by their means, leading to the good of life."

     The Bishop then said: "In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I do hereby induct you into the Pastorate of the Michael Church of the General Church of the New Jerusalem in the city of London. May the Lord be with you in all your ways, and by His Spirit of Truth lead you into all Truth, and give you strength to discharge the duties pertaining to your office as to Him, and as in His sight. 'Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid; neither be thou dismayed; for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.' (Joshua 1:9.)"

427




     There was an impressive moment as the young Pastor, kneeling, received the Blessing, pronounced by the Bishop. The prayer on page 424 of the Liturgy, and the hymn, "O Lord, Thy servant here inspire" (composed by the Rev. Joseph Proud), with the final Benediction, brought this notable service to fitting close.

     After a short interval, those present, to the number of nearly ninety, reassembled for social intercourse and refreshments. The company included the Rev. Victor T. Gladish with some eighteen friends from Colchester, the Rev. and Mrs. Arthur Clapham from Flodden Road, and Mr. and Mrs. Fred Chadwick from Kensington. The new Pastor, having extended a welcome to all, called upon Mr. Anderson to act as toastmaster, the first toast being to "The Church." The next was "To the New Pastor," and Mr. Acton was appropriate and impressive in his reply.

     He first expressed his gratitude for all the help and support he had received since his arrival in England six years ago. More especially he wished to testify to the happy relations which had existed between the Bishop and himself, despite the great difference in age and background. This was because they had had as common ground the authority and standard of Divine Truth as revealed. The speaker went on to say how easy it was to use the familiar phrase, "The Lord makes the church," but we must seek to understand it, and to see what it involves. Only thus can the Lord build a church in each individual mind, and only thus can the organization be truly established. In this work, the pastor must lead by the authority of Divine Truth and in the illustration of his office, and the people must learn from his teaching and listen to it affirmatively. Finally, Mr. Acton acknowledged how much he had learned from Bishop Tilson concerning the pastoral phase of the priesthood. He did not think that any priest of the church could have made him realize its importance more fully. He hoped to be regarded, not only as teacher, but as pastor and friend, always ready and anxious to help in any way he could.

     The next two toasts were to the Pastor's Council and to the Board of Finance, replied to respectively by Mr. Priest (Chairman) and Mr. Harrison (Treasurer); and then there was one to all the other workers. Lastly came a toast to the retiring Pastor, Bishop Tilson, who said that he wished to thank all who had assisted him in his long pastorate, beginning with Mrs. Tilson and his family. He recalled the names of loyal ones who are no longer with us in bodily presence, and mentioned some of those then listening to him. He felt profoundly grateful for the prospect that the work of Michael Church would be ably carried on by his successor, and wished him God-speed in all his efforts.

     After the singing of the hymn, "Roll out, O song, to God," the Rev. Victor J. Gladish rose to assure the new Pastor of his good wishes, and to express his appreciation of the great work Bishop Tllson had done in the Church. In connecting the name of Mrs. Tilson with this, Mr. Gladish emphasized the importance of the assistance of women in church activities. The Rev. W. H. Acton, the Rev. Arthur Clapham, Mr. Fred Chadwick and others spoke in similar strain, but space forbids our quoting them all. The meeting closed with the singing of "Vivat Nova Ecclesia."

     On Sunday, July 3, officiating for the first time as Pastor, Mr. Acton delivered a forceful and practical sermon on the text of Matthew 28:18-20, pointing out very definitely the necessity for an orderly relation between pastor and people; the former must lead, the latter follow and support. If difficulties arise, all criticism must be based upon the principles of truth, not upon personal prejudice or mere self-will. Only thus can the church make true progress in the hearts and minds of its members.

     We are always pleased to welcome visitors, and from time to time in recent months Mrs. Richards and her daughters, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Parker and family, and Miss Sheila Braby have been with us.

428


Some of these have now returned to South Africa, but Miss Richards and Miss Braby are still here, as is Mrs. Philip Stone from Australia, who, after fourteen years absence, has come "home" for a holiday.
     K. M. D.

     GLENVIEW, ILL.

     Always, during the Summer months, we have visitors from the various centers of the General Church. And how welcome they are bringing with them, as they do, first-hand information of what's happening in other places, as well as making us feel nearer to those many friends whom we meet all too seldom. Recently we have had the pleasure of visits from Miss Dorothy Burnham, Miss Vida Gyllenhaal, Miss Elsa Synnestvedt and Miss Pearl Cooper-all of Bryn Athyn; Mrs. E. H. S. Fuller, the Rev. and Mrs. Norman H. Reuter and daughter, from Kitchener. Within a few days this Kitchener contingent will be on their way to Wyoming, Ohio, where Mr. Reuter is again establishing headquarters, to commence his work soon as Visiting Pastor of the General Church.

     The delight of our Sunday worship has been increased on several occasions by the performing of the rites of Confession of Faith and of Baptism. Miss Renee Smith and Mr. Arnold Mather Smith, of Glenview, and Mr. Septimus Braby, of Durban, were the three young people who, with simple solemnity, declared their belief in the doctrines of the New Church. The baptising of Miss Gladys Brown, of Chicago, was especiallv inspiring. She is a high-school friend of Miss Helen Pollock, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Pollock, of Chicago, and it is through Helen that Gladys became interested in the New Church. Informal discussions led to attendance at worship and classes, and eventually to baptism.

     On four occasions visiting pastors have occupied our pulpit,-the Rev. Morley D. Rich three times, and the Rev. Norman Reuter once.

     During July, the Rev. Gilbert H. Smith, ably assisted by Mr. Jean Rydstrom, organized a boys' camp at Linden Hills, Michigan. Taking ten lively boys over a hundred miles from home, camping with them for two weeks, and getting them back safely, is no small job! But Mr. Smith did it splendidly, and our many thanks to him for his unselfish venture! For the boys it was a real vacation, but both Jean and Mr. Smith were somewhat glad to get back for a "rest."

     We were entertained on July 9 by a play, "The Dream Prince," written by Gloria June Smith (age 15). Eleven of her girl friends were in the cast, and the plot and characters showed definite signs of budding talent. Also, we must record the musicale given on July 10 by Professor Jesse Stevens. He is our genial conductor, whose philosophy is that anyone can play or sing if he only wants to. And over a period of years he has proven that he's just about right. (Drop around some time when we old-timers are really feeling fit!) The Immanuel Church School Orchestra consists of about 24 children, in age ranging from 8 to 16. To hear these youngsters play the William Tell Overture and the Marche Militaire was really an inspiration.     

     Much to our delight, Mr. and Mrs. David Gladish and family moved into their new home in The Park a few days ago.
     HAROLD P. MCQUEEN.

     KITCHENER, ONTARIO.

     There has been unusual activity in our society during the month of July. Our Young People's Class gave the play "Rackety Packety House on July 14 under the direction of Mr. and Mrs. Reuter. It was much enjoyed, and we are looking forward more such entertainments by this group of young people.

     The following week the local "Sons" had a frolic to raise money to help our local school.

429


There was fish-pond and dart-throwing and bingo, to say nothing of a lunch counter with a variety of foods and drinks. Everyone had a gay time, and quite a nice little sum of money was realized.

     We were very sorry to part with the Rev. and Mrs. Norman Reuter, their little daughter and Mrs. Fuller, after the happy year and a half they have spent with us. There was quite a round of parties during the last few weeks they were here. On Monday, July 25, we held a society lawn social and dance as a send-off to them. A stage, complete with lighting effects and piano, had been erected out of doors, while strings of magic lanterns added decoration. A varied program was offered, after which we all moved into the building, and the remainder of the evening was spent in dancing. Twenty-three members of the Olivet Society, Toronto, were present on this occasion.

     On July 31, our pastor, the Rev. Alan Gill, exchanged pulpits with Candidate Bjorn Boyesen, who is preaching in Toronto during the Summer, and this arrangement gave us the welcome opportunity of meeting and hearing him.
     D. K.

     DURBAN, NATAL.

     July 13.-The Durban Society looks forward with delightful anticipation to the promised visit of Bishop and Mrs. George de Charms. It will be a very great pleasure to have them with us, and I am sure the society will greatly benefit by this episcopal visit.

     A special meeting of the Society was held on May 4 at the call of the pastor, who gave an address on "Unity." Following the paper, the forthcoming District Assembly was discussed. Committees were formed and programs suggested. Owing to lack of time, there was no discussion of the very excellent paper presented by Mr. Odhner, but on the following Wednesday evening, in place of doctrinal class, there was a long and interesting discussion, introduced by Mr. Melville Ridgway, who read a short paper he had prepared. Many others also thanked Mr. Odhner, voicing the opinion of all that the address had been most useful and necessary.

     The Annual Meeting of the Durban Society was held on May 25, when Mr. Odhner gave a very interesting report of his activities for the past year, and of the progress made. Satisfactory reports from the Honorary Secretary, Treasurer and Committee heads were given, followed by the election of officers for the forthcoming year. It was decided at this meeting to have only two collectors, in an effort to centralize and facilitate our collections, and make them more orderly. In response to the request of Mr. Odhner for ushers at the Sunday services, several members volunteered. Their use is the protection of the sphere of worship during the service. It was also voted that the School Board hereafter consider itself a constitutional committee, and make a report at the Annual Meeting.

     Two very beautiful weddings have been solemnized recently in our church. Mr. Basil Braby and Miss Leonie Holgate were married on April 4 at 8 p.m. An evening wedding is rare, and everyone felt that this one was especially touching and impressive. There was no bridal attendance, but Mr. Horace Braby was best man. The bride wore a becoming white satin gown and white veil, and carried a bouquet of white roses. The church was decorated with pink dahlias, long palm leaves and evergreens. Two lovely songs were sung by Mrs. Garth Pemberton and Miss Babar, and the wedding music was splendidly played by Mr. Garth Pemberton.

     The second wedding came on the afternoon of May 14 when Miss Viva Ridgway was united in marriage to Mr. J. Jarvis Ball. The church was particularly beautiful with bridal wreath, antigonon and Dale pink antirrhinum with evergreens. The bride wore an exquisite dress of white silk organdy, trimmed with rows of narrow white satin ribbon from neck to hem, the back of the skirt falling into a train.

430


The attendants were all children, and they looked charming, the little girls dressed in sprigged organdy, the boys in white corduroy page-suits. They were: Fatsy Ducket, Lyall Ridgway, Pehr and Kirstin Odhner, Erland Gillian Edley. During the interlude Miss Jessie Attersoll and Miss Rona Ridgway sang "Beautious Child of Heavenly Love." Following the ceremony, an informal reception was held on the lawn at "Pendleton," the home of Mr. and Mrs. Melville Ridgway. After their honeymoon in the Drakensberg, Mr. and Mrs. Ball have made their new home in Port Shepstone on the South Coast, and we hope they will be able
to come to Durban often.

     The children and adults were given a special treat this year by being invited to hold their Empire Day picnic in the beautiful garden at the home of Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Forfar at Bothas Hill. Theta Alpha had offered to take charge of the sports, which Miss Pemberton organized and directed, the prizes being supplied by Mrs. Pemberton. Mrs. Forfar served morning and afternoon teas and a delicious lunch to all the adults, while the children had a picnic in the garden. Once again our Bazaar was an unexpected success. Held on the evening of June 7, it was well patronized by members of the society and friends. There was not as much as usual to be sold, but the things were especially nice and useful, and the proceeds most gratifying.

     Theta Alpha gave a costume party in the evening of May 30 for the children and young people of ten years and older. The costumes were planned by the children themselves, and were highly original. Prizes were awarded for the best. Organized games kept the young people busy and happy for most of the evening, and after the refreshments the children danced the Roger de Coverley. The party closed with the singing of "God Save the King" and three cheers for Theta Alpha.

     Our observance of New Church Day began with the presentation of four Tableaux on Saturday evening, June 18. The first showed Swedenborg and a Printer, the background being the picture of a large, old-fashioned printing press, painted by Miss Pemberton. Introducing this scene, the pastor spoke of the use of writing and printing in preserving the Word. "The Lord made His Second Coming by means of a man who could receive the doctrines of the New Church in his understanding and publish them by the press." (T. C. R. 779.)

     The other scenes were: Swedenborg inscribing Hic Liber est Adventus Domini on the books in the spiritual world; The Sending Forth of the Twelve Apostles; The Bride and the City. The Sons of the Academy and Theta Alpha cooperated in this fine undertaking, and Mrs. Garth Pemberton furnished the musical accompaniment.

     A large congregation attended the special service on Sunday, June 19, and over fifty persons partook of the Holy Supper.

     In the evening a Buffet Supper was served on a large center table, the guests being seated at small tables arranged around the room. The formal program included two very interesting papers, one by Mr. Odhner on "The 400th Anniversary of the Printing of the English Bible," the other by Mr. J. H. Ridgway on the subject of "The Church." Informal remarks followed. Mr. Buss recalled briefly the history of the Bible and its use in the Churches. Mr. Lowe spoke of the pleasing prospect of the visit of Bishop and Mrs. de Charms, and mentioned the great feeling of friendship which he and Mrs. Lowe had experienced in meeting the New Church people in other societies, where they were always made to feel as one with the people they visited. Mr. Scott Forfar and Mr. Melville Ridgway also spoke.

     Mr. Odhner, as toastmaster, reminded us that Mr. Norbert Rogers, a former member of our society, was to be ordained on June 19 this year. Our hearty congratulations go out to him, with best wishes for his future uses in the Church; also to his mother, who is an enthusiastic worker in our society.

431




     The toastmaster announced the engagement of Miss Beryl Cockerell to Mr. Raymond Cooper, and our best wishes were extended to them.
     B. R. F.

     THE HAGUE, HOLLAND.

     The Rev. and Mrs. E. E. Iungerich and their family have now taken up their residence at The Hague, arriving on Thursday morning, June 30. A number of our members met them at the train and heartily welcomed them. The conversation was quite international, a mingling of French, English and Dutch, but we understood one another. The two little boys looked very sweet, and they have already stolen the hearts of our members.

     Miss van Trigt kindly invited those present at the station to have coffee at her home, where the Iungerich family will stay until August 1, when they will occupy the apartment they have leased at 149 Hanenburg Laan. Miss van Trigt had arranged everything very nicely for her guests, making them feel quite at home, and they found awaiting them some baskets of fruit and some flowers offered by the society as a token of welcome. Those who could not be at the train called during the days following, and we all feel that we have close friends in our midst.

     Meanwhile the pastor's daughter, Miss Zoe Iungerich, had arrived, and we were very glad to make her acquaintance. After a few weeks' stay in Holland, she will visit other parts of the Continent.

     Our Sunday service on July 3 was attended by 17 adults and 4 children. The pastor's sermon dwelt upon the meaning of the First Law of Divine Providence,-the preservation of man's freedom and reason. The Holy Supper was administered to fifteen communicants.
     LAMBERTINE FRANCIS.

     THE BISHOP'S FOREIGN JOURNEY.

     Bishop and Mrs. de Charms arrived in Durban on Sunday, July 31, beginning a stay of seven weeks in South Africa. The Bishop was to preside at a District Assembly in Durban, August 7 to 14. The printed Program lists four Sessions of the Assembly, to be held at 8.00 p.m., Tuesday to Friday, as follows:

     Fourth South African Assembly.

     Tuesday: Presidential Address by the Right Rev. George de Charms.

     Wednesday: Address by R. Melville Ridgway, Esq., on "Some Problems in Connection with the Soul."

     Thursday: Address by Rev. Philip N. Odhner on " The Sense of the Letter of the Word."

     Friday: Address by Rev. F. W. Elphick on "Divine Revelation: Its Unity, Correlation and Balance."

     Saturday, 7.00 p.m.-Assembly Banquet. Toastmaster: Rev. Philip N. Odhner.

     Sunday, 11.00 a.m.-Divine Worship. Sermon by Bishop de Charms. Sacrament of the Holy Supper.

     Sunday, 3.30-5.00 p.m.-Tea at "Brynbreezy" by kind invitation of Mr. and Mrs. W. G. Lowe.

     Sunday, 8.00 p.m.-A Service of Praise.

     Episcopal visits are to be paid to various centers of the Native Mission, and the Bishop will preside at the Second General Assembly of the South African Native Mission, to be held at
Alpha, September 6-11.

     Sailing Dates.

     Ceramic.-Durban to Melbourne, Australia-September 16 to October 6, arriving at Hurstville October 7.

     Maripose.-Sydney to San Francisco-October 14 to November 1.

432


ONTARIO ASSEMBLY 1938

ONTARIO ASSEMBLY              1938




     Announcements.



     Members and friends of the General Church of the New Jerusalem are cordially invited to attend the Twenty-fifth Ontario District Assembly, which will be held at the Carmel Church, Kitchener, from Saturday, October 8, to Monday, October 10, 1938.

     As this Fall will mark the Fiftieth Anniversary of the opening of our New Church School in Kitchener, former teachers and ex-students of this School are specially invited to come and make this Assembly a real reunion. Intending visitors are requested to communicate with Miss Korene Schnarr, 771 King Street West, Kitchener, Ont., Canada.
     REV. ALAN GILL,
          Secretary.
CHARTER DAY 1938

              1938

     All ex-students of the Academy of the New Church are cordially invited to attend the Charter Day Exercises, to be held at Bryn Athyn, Pa., on Friday and Saturday, October 21 and 22, 1938.

     At the Cathedral Service on Friday at 11.00 a.m., the Rev. Gilbert H. Smith will deliver the Address. Mr. Lester Asplundh will be toastmaster at the Banquet to be held in the Assembly Hall on Friday evening at 7.00 o'clock.

433


SWEDENBORG AND SPIRITS 1938

SWEDENBORG AND SPIRITS       Rev. E. E. IUNGERICH       1938


NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. LVIII OCTOBER, 1938          No. 10
     His Effect Upon the Spiritual World.

     Two students of the Writings have recently engaged in an active discussion of Swedenborg's personal experiences which at times involved acute sufferings on his part, as recorded in the Journal of Dreams, the Word Explained, and the Spiritual Diary. I would here give a brief summary of their contrasting positions in regard to one typical experience, as described in the Spiritual Diary as follows:

     "Among spirits there are those who love the truth, both interiorly and more interiorly, although they do not understand it; there are also those among spirits who hate the truth for various reasons. Both are in the province of the Tongue. Those who hate the truth vexed me for a long time,-for weeks, yea, for the last month. And they induced a kind of itching, and this peril, that they drew forth my tongue between my teeth, to the end that they might thus amputate it; and I complained of it for a long while. It seems incredible that any man should be vexed with such an itching or such an impulse, but I know whence it comes. It is from those who hold truths in hatred; for they love the literal sense only, because they trust in their own merits, and wish to merit heaven on account of some persecutions, not to speak of many other causes." (S. D. 1360, 1361.) In the Index to the Diary, under Interiora and Lingua, it is stated in part:

434


"There are those who for various causes hate interior things, and when they were thinking and speaking contrary to these interior things, they introduced an impulse into my tongue to the effect that it might be amputated between my teeth."

     "There are spirits, and even angels, and also societies of them, who respond to the individual muscles in man. . . . Because there is a force in a unanimous multitude, when all are acting, the effect upon individual men, and even upon spirits, is an impulse to act. This is scarcely believable, but still it is most true. Thus the heavens correspond to man; and man may therefore be called a heaven and a kingdom of the Lord, because the kingdom of God is in him. . . . That such is the case, I have been taught by living experience; for it was shown me how those act on the face who govern the muscles of the forehead, and also those who act on the muscles of the cheeks, the chin, and the neck." (S. D. 1362, 1363) In the Index, under Facies, Homo, Musculus, it is stated in part: "The muscles with their fibers are related to societies of spirits and angels, according to a very manifest experience as to my face and tongue."

     The Views of One Student.

     1. When I find in Swedenborg, or anywhere else, what seems to me extravagant and absurd, my aim to be honest obliges me to call attention to it, and my faith to discard it. Loyalty to the truth requires this.

     2. I do not deny that Swedenborg, in the course of several weeks or a month, had an itching of the tongue, with the impulse to amputate it by his teeth. But I do not feel that such phenomena properly constitute a part of the Divine Revelation which he was empowered to communicate to men.

     3. Such phenomena can only interest psychologists or psychiatrists, who will see therein things analogous to their observations among those of a paranormal and even abnormal mentality.

     4. The Church of the New Jerusalem will be able to rejoice when it rids itself of the incubus of thinking that such accounts have anything to do with the luminous and reasonable doctrines from heaven which are to be found in the Writings of the Swedish seer as rare grains of gold in the sand of the seashore.

     5. Some day, I hope, that Church will base itself solely upon a purely doctrinal foundation of faith in the Heavenly Doctrines.

435


The faithful will then see clearly that it is only these Doctrines they are obliged to believe. Scientists and other searchers after truth will not be discouraged in their quest by mistaking what is only part of the matrix for the precious jewels it contains.

     The Views of the Other Student.

     1. The Lord created man in His image and likeness. The spiritual world, to which all go after death, is in itself the form in greatests which its units are in leasts. It is therefore called the Maximus Home or Gorand Man. Each province in this Gorand Man corresponds exactly to a part in a human body on earth. Correspondence means also an action and reaction on both sides.

     2. The body of man on earth is maintained in a form of order and of beauty, even though the man's lusts often lead him to will to destroy Divine order in himself. On this account, the fixedness of the body on earth may serve as a reed to measure the Holy City, as a means of healing operations upon the Gorand Man whenever abuses have arisen in the system of the Gorand Man by the introduction of spirits inimical to order into various parts thereof.

     3. When this has come about, a revelation is made on earth, as was done in the time of the prophets, and when the Lord Himself was in the world, and later to Swedenborg. This revelation has as its aim: (a) To instruct men on earth, so that when they become spirits they will not make one with those who are opposed to Divine order, and who introduce havoc into the Gorand Man; (b) To correct the actual deformations in the Gorand Man at that time, by means of the contacts of the seer in his body of fixedness with the spirits actually promoting the disorders.

     4. The seership of Swedenborg placed him in contact with each of the groups of spirits who were causing such disorders. He was made aware of the abuses in each of these groups by the sensations of discomfort in corresponding organs or members of his body. The same happened to Daniel, who suffered severe headaches; to John, who fell aweeping when he saw that a Book vital to men's needs was sealed with seven seals; and, indeed, to the Lord Himself when, in His agony, He sweated great drops of blood.

436


It happened also to Swedenborg, who was permitted to make a record of such experiences in profuse detail.

     5. Swedenborg's suffering, with a courageous resistance to the causes of it, spurred him to labor in cooperation with the Lord's will to correct the evil spirits who were at the seat of the trouble, and so to deliver in turn each province of the Gorand Man from these undesirable guests. As this was by degrees accomplished, the particular corresponding part of his body was rid of its suffering, and ceased to give warning signals of the presence of disturbers.

     6. The fact that Swedenborg, a few months after each experience was recorded in his Diary, wrote a deliberate summary thereof in the Index, and that he then drew thereon for innumerable illustrations in the works which he saw through the press, should restrain us from dividing parts of his Writings from the rest. For they are a seamless garment, woven from one end to the other,-a body in which no bone is to be broken.

     7. The poor, the maimed, the halt, and the blind are invited to the feast set forth in the Writings, and may be permitted to receive only those portions which they are in a state to appreciate. But the Writings are not to be curtailed to suit the limitations of men; they must be upheld in their entirety.

     8. When the Lord was in the world, He was called a "gluttonous man and a winebibber," and He was accused of "casting out devils by the power of Beelzebub," not to mention other blasphemous terms employed by His enemies. It need not be surprising to us, therefore, that the servant try whom He effected His Second Advent was assailed in both worlds by similar epithets, directed in reality against the Divine Truth which he was the means of revealing, thus against the Lord Himself. Nor is it a matter of wonder that the forces of evil were in a continual endeavor to injure and destroy this servant of the Lord. "Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you, falsely, for my sake; for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." (Matthew 5:11, 12.)

437


WORSHIP OF THE DIVINE HUMAN 1938

WORSHIP OF THE DIVINE HUMAN        GEORGE DE CHARMS       1938

     "And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as if slain." (Revelation 5:6.)

     By the "Lamb" in the Apocalypse is meant the Divine Human. This term is applied to the Lord Jesus Christ as Re now appears in the glorified body with which He rose from the sepulchre. The Lord, thus embodied, and thus seen, is now the sole object of worship in all the heavens. His appearance in this embodiment constitutes His Second Advent, of which He spake to His disciples, saying, "I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also." (John 14:3.) This promise is now fulfilled. He comes in the Divine Human now revealed in the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem. As such He is to become the sole object of worship in the New Church, which is now being established on the earth.

     This Church is truly Christian. It is founded on a faith in Jesus Christ, and on a full acceptance of the testimony of the Gospels concerning Him. Yet it is entirely distinct from the former Christianity; and this, because it has a concept of Jesus Christ as God that is altogether new. The inmost quality of any religion is determined by the idea of God that reigns therein. And if we are to understand the real difference between the New Church and the former Christian dispensation, we must clearly see what is meant by the Divine Human, as the God we are now to worship, in contrast to the concept of Jesus Christ which has heretofore prevailed.

     The Divine Human was never before known. It could not be made known before the time of the Lord's coming into the world, because it had not yet come into existence. And in Christian times it could not be manifested, although it did indeed exist, because the minds of men were not yet prepared to see it.

438


Nor could it be revealed-for the same reason-even to the angels, until the time of the Last Judgment, foretold in the Apocalypse.

     This may seem surprising. Yet the truth of it becomes evident when we reflect that the heavens formed by the Lord at His First Advent consisted of those who had lived on earth from the days of the Noachic flood. They were the people of the Ancient Church. They worshiped God as He appeared in vision to the prophets, under the form of an angel. Their faith was based on the promise of the Messiah who was to come into the world to redeem and save the human race. All who abode in this faith, during their life on earth, continued in it after death, and looked forward with longing to the Advent of the Savior.

     These gladly acknowledged the Lord when He came. They sang for joy when He was born. They recognized in Him the fulfillment of the age-old prophecy for which they had waited so long. They welcomed Him with great rejoicing when He rose from the tomb, bowing before Him in worship and adoration as the God of heaven and earth, ascribing to Him all power, all wisdom, and all glory. By His coming they were released from bondage to evils and falsities, and were raised up into heaven, Where they received unfold increase of light, and blessing and happiness. They knew and adored Him as the risen Lord; but their faith was like that of childhood. It was based on the teaching of the Word which they had learned to love, and which, from love, they accepted without question-and this from the heart. But its full significance, its deeper implication, they did not understand. For this reason the increase of light that came to them by virtue of the Lord's Advent, though great indeed, was but slight when compared with that which was to break upon them at His Second Coming, when, as it is said, "the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." (Rev. 21:23.) Before this they saw Him as the promised Messiah; but they did not see the Divine Human: and this because, like the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, "their eyes were holden" from Him, until in His own good time He should come again "in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory."

     The same was true in the church on earth. The primitive Christians believed in simple faith that Jesus Christ, who had lived and walked among them, was indeed God.

439


They worshiped Him alone. They knew that He had risen from the dead. Peter, James, and John had seen Him on the mount of transfiguration, when "His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light." He appeared to the eleven after His resurrection, and at last they saw Him ascend into heaven from the Mount of Olives. Yet they did not behold the Divine Human. Their thought of Him was too closely bound to the things of earth. They pictured Him, for the most part, as they had known Him in the world. They lived in the memory of His words and deeds. They loved His teachings, believed in them implicitly, and sought to pattern their lives according to His precepts. Yet they had but dimly perceived their deeper meaning, interpreting them according to their literal import. Caught in the entanglements of sensual fallacies, they clung to the idea of an earthly kingdom. They abode in the expectation that the Lord would return in the flesh, and continued to think of Him as a man, in a finite, human embodiment. How this finite human could be Divine, and the eternal dwelling place of the Infinite God, they did not know.

     At first this difficulty gave them no concern. Theirs was not a reasoned faith, but a perceptive acknowledgment of that which they saw must be true, although they could not understand how it was true. But in time, as was inevitable, the need to face this unsolved problem became imperative. And then, because they had not the necessary knowledge, because they were immersed in the fallacies of the senses, and because with many of them the loves of the world and of dominion prevailed, they fell at once into obscurity. They ascribed two distinct natures to Christ-one Divine and the other human. In this they would have been correct, if only they had limited their thought to the Lord during His life on earth, when as yet the human derived from Mary had not been united to the Divine of the Father. But they regarded His human nature as eternal, and continued to think of Him-after His resurrection-as a finite being, one with God, and yet less than Him. They divided the Godhead into three persons, and turned away more and more from the worship of Jesus Christ to the worship of an invisible God, praying to the Father "for the sake of the Son." Thus was the teaching of the Scriptures falsified; for the Lord said to Philip, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father: how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

440


Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me!" And again He said, "No man cometh unto the Father but by me."

     In the degree that the Christian Church departed from the worship of Jesus Christ alone as God, that Church declined. In this degree the thought was centered upon the material body and the human nature of the Lord as He appeared in the world. The eyes of all were fixed upon His supposed vicarious atonement, and upon the passion of the cross. Increasingly His teachings were interpreted as purely moral, civil, and political precepts, by which His followers were to establish an earthly kingdom. His Divinity was not understood, and every endeavor to explain it led only to confusion of thought, and to denial at heart. Wherefore it is said of the "Lamb" that He was "slain from the foundation of the world"; that is, the Divine Human was rejected from the very beginning of the church.

     Nevertheless, many, through all the Christian ages, have clung to a simple faith-believing, although they did not understand. All such, we are told, "adore the Lord as their God and Savior; and when in adoration, they think of the Lord's Divine without separating it from the Human, and thus at heart they acknowledge all in the Lord to be Divine." (A. C. 4731.) Of these, at the time of the Last Judgment, a New Christian Heaven could be formed, because when the Lord revealed the inner quality of His Divinity they acknowledged this truth as something for which they had sought in vain, and in the discovery of which they rejoiced exceedingly. For although they had been unable to see Him, yet "with them the Lord's Divine Human had been in their hearts."

     When John, in vision, "beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as if slain," he foretold that the Divine Human of the Lord would be revealed, and that on this new vision of God a New Heaven would be formed, and a New Church established. This was the true vision of God, toward which He had been leading the race from the beginning, for which He had been slowly preparing men through all the ages. Whenever the Lord spoke to men, He sought to convey this true idea of God; and for this reason the Divine Human lies at the very heart of all revelation.

441


The inmost sense of all the Sacred Scriptures is nothing else. But only gradually could men be prepared to see and understand this inmost content of the Word. Only when, at last, the Lord could "speak plainly of the Father," disclosing the true quality of His Divinity; only when He could explain in rational terms the relation between the Infinite Creator and the finite universe of His creation; only when He could make known the process of incarnation and of glorification, by which the Infinite Soul of Life took upon itself a finite body form the womb of Mary, but by successive degrees made that body Divine, removing from it every finite limitation, until it became Infinite, and one with the Father above the heavens;-only then was it possible for men to realize the true internal meaning of the Word.

     Wherefore it is said that the "Book," by which is meant the Word, was "sealed with seven seals," and "no man in heaven nor on the earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon." It was the "Lamb" that opened the book and "loosed the seven seals thereof." It was the Lord alone who could expound the inner meaning of His Word, and so doing, reveal that Divine Human which theretofore had been concealed from the sight of both men and angels. This Revelation is the "Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem." The teachings there given open the minds of men to understand the true Divinity of Jesus Christ, to see the true nature of His glorified Human, and thence to realize for the first time the true significance of His teachings, as given both in the Old Testament and in the New.

     But what is the idea of the Divine Human? And in what way does it revolutionize our whole thought about the Lord Jesus Christ? We have seen that in the Christian Church the mind has been focussed upon the Lord as a man on earth. The emphasis has ever been placed upon His human nature. This human has been conceived as similar to that of other men, possessing the same limitations, weaknesses, passions. The fact that He suffered and died for our salvation has formed the foundation of love to Him. This love has been a personal affection-more like that for an older brother, whose example we would emulate. With such a concept men were compelled, either to deny that this very human being was God, separating Him in their thought from the Infinite Creator of the world, who still remained for them an invisible God, or else to ascribe to God the weaknesses and imperfections of mortal man, and to conceive of Him as suffering upon the cross.

442




     In contradistinction to this idea is the teaching of the Writings,-that while the Lord did put on by virgin birth a human of flesh and blood, similar in all respects to that of mortal man; while this Mary-human was subject to all the weaknesses, the ills, and evils of the fallen race; it is not from this human that we are to think of Him, or to worship Him as God. For by the process of glorification all that was derived from Mary-all that was finite and material-was gradually and successively expelled. And in its place the Lord put on a Divine Human-a Human not only conceived but also born of Jehovah-a Human from which every imperfection and limitation had been removed, until it became wholly Infinite, and one with the Divine above the heavens. And the greatest of all miracles was, that this Human, although Infinite, was at the same time made visible and comprehensible to human minds.

     How can this be possible! The Infinite, as it is in itself, can never be seen by any finite mind. Yet it is this very invisible Infinite that now for the first time stands revealed in the Divine Human of the Lord. How such a revelation of the Infinite can be accomplished is now rationally explained in the Heavenly Doctrine. There we are taught that we must indeed think of God as a Man. We must picture Him in the human form, deriving our concept of Him from the Gospel story, where He is described as a Man on earth, similar in all outward appearance to other men. Without such a mental picture our thought of God becomes a formless nothing.

     But we are not to think of Him from person, nor from the body. The person-the body-is to be regarded merely as a medium for the manifestation of the Soul-the Infinite Life that animates it. No man is a man from his body, but solely from his mind, which consists of love and wisdom, going forth into tangible expression by means of speech and action. To know any man truly is to know the quality of his love, his purpose, his intention, as this reveals itself in what he says and does. If the Lord's Love was Infinite, then to know Him truly is to remove from our thought every seeming limitation, every external imperfection of His earthly human, and, through His teachings and His miracles, to grasp some idea of that Infinity which strove to express itself therein.

443




     For this reason it is said that, when thinking of the Lord-after His resurrection-when thinking of Him in His glorified Human, as He now appears in heaven-we are not to think of Him as human, but rather as "Divine Love in human form." (A. C. 4735:2.) In this thought of Him there is no limitation. In this there is no finite imperfection. He is Jesus Christ indeed, but now glorified. We envision Him in human form, but we see His Love and His Wisdom transcending that form. We see them omnipresent throughout the universe. We see them manifested in all things of creation. We see them in the marvelous order of nature, and in the operation of all her laws. We see them in the wondrous formation of man-not only as to his body, but preeminently as to his mind. We see them in all the wonders of the spiritual world, as now revealed, in the organization of the heavens, and in the ordering and government of the hells. We see them in the operations of Divine Providence, in the protection of man's spiritual freedom, in the laws of his reformation and regeneration. We see them in all the teachings of the Scriptures, now opened as to their spiritual sense. In all these the Infinity of God becomes visible as a Man truly Divine. This concept of the Lord is what is called the Divine Human.

     As such, He is now seen and known in heaven. This is the "Lamb that was slain" in the Christian Church, because the true nature of His Divinity was not realized. This is He to whom the angels offer worship and adoration, saying, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing." And this is the idea of God which is to establish among men a True Christian Religion, restoring a genuine faith in Jesus Christ as the One God of heaven and earth, the Creator of the world, the Redeemer of mankind, One in Essence and in Person with the Infinite Father, now made visible in His glorified Divine Human. Amen.

     LESSONS: John 14:1-21. Revelation 5. Doctrine of the Lord 35:1-3
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 548, 531, 594. Psalmody, page 107.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 21, 176.

444


LORD'S PRAYER 1938

LORD'S PRAYER       Rev. PHILIP N. ODHNER       1938

     A Talk to Children.

     All of you know the Lord's Prayer. It is one of the first things our parents teach us. And whenever we worship the Lord we say it. It is called the Lord's Prayer, because the Lord Himself gave it to us, and told us to say it when we pray to Him. For this reason it is different from all other prayers, and is one of the most holy things we have.

     Our Lesson from the Word told how the Lord gave us this prayer. He had gone up into a mountain of Galilee, and when His disciples had gathered around Him, He taught them the way in which they should live. Among other things, He told them how they should pray.

     First, He said that they should not act like the hypocrites, such as the scribes and Pharisees, who used to stand up in the synagogues, or on the street corners in the cities, and pray out loud by themselves, so that other men might see them and think they were very good. These men were bad, and the way they prayed was bad, because the only reason they did it was to have other men hear them and think they were holy. The Lord told His disciples not to act like these hypocrites, but to go into their own rooms, and pray quietly, so that He might hear them, and reward them.

     And then the Lord said that we should not pray like the heathen. The heathen were people who had not the Word, and who worshiped false gods, or idols. Because they did not know any better, they used to ask their gods for the same thing over and over again. They repeated their prayers again and again, and they thought that if their gods did not hear them the first time, they might hear them the second, or the third, or some other time.

     The Lord told His disciples that this vain repetition was of no use, and was not good.

445


For He said to them, "our Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask Him. After this manner therefore pray ye." And then the Lord gave them the words of what we call the Lord's Prayer.

     There are many things about this wonderful prayer that we all should know.

     The angels in heaven read this prayer daily. And although it is short, it contains within it more things than they can ever possibly know, but about which they may learn forever. Everything that the angels love, everything they want to do, or want to come to pass, is said in the Lord's Prayer. The whole of their lives is spent in helping the Lord to do the things that are mentioned there. "Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done!" It is as if all the angels were living in that prayer, and saying it all together.

     For this reason the angels love the Lord's Prayer, and love to be with those on earth who are saying it. And whenever anyone Is saying it, the angels come and help that person to do what the Lord wants him to do. They listen carefully every time we pray. And when they hear us, the Lord gives them permission to think and do many wonderful things for us. If our spiritual eyes were open, if the Lord permitted us to see into heaven while we are saying His Prayer, then we would know what the angels do. We would see ourselves being raised up to the place and home that the Lord is preparing for us in heaven.

     As you know, all the things of our mind, all our thoughts and loves, appear in heaven as our clothing, our house, and our gardens and our foods, all of which the Lord is making for us while we live on earth. And if our eyes were opened into heaven when we pray, we would see the angels coming to our heavenly home; and as they listened to our prayer, we would see them working in our house and our gardens. They would be sweeping and cleaning house, and adding new things to it, giving us books, and furniture, and things to eat. And in our gardens they would be seen planting new seeds, so that we might have more flowers and trees when we go to heaven. And they would be seen watering that garden, and tending it in every way.

     All these things, and many more, the angels do in our minds when we say the Lord's Prayer, because it reminds them that they are the Lord's servants, and that they should do what the Lord tells them to do in answer to our prayers.

446




     But there is one more very important thing to know. Because the Lord's Prayer contains all the things of heaven in it, and many more, the way we love the things of heaven, and the way we love the Lord, can be known by the angels from the way we think of that prayer, and from the way we say it. Swedenborg lived among the angels. And whenever he heard anyone saying that prayer, or whenever anyone near him was saying it? he could tell exactly how good or how bad that man was.

     From this we may see that if we say our prayers, and yet have not been good, then the angels who are with us know just how bad we have been. And then our spiritual homes will be unclean, and they will see weeds in our gardens, and their work there will be very hard. If we are very sorry that we have not obeyed the Lord, and try our best to do better, then the angels will gladly do their work in us, no matter how hard it is. But if we are not sorry, and never think of trying to do better, then they cannot do their work, because, no matter how hard they try, the house of our mind is never clean, and the weeds spring up so fast in the garden that they choke any new seeds that have been planted there.

     It is very important for us to say our prayers, in order that the angels may work in our minds, but it is even more important that we should love the Lord and do what He tells us, so that their work may be easier. And if we have not obeyed the Lord, it is important that we make up our minds to do better, before we pray, for otherwise the angels cannot do what they want to do for us.

     Saying the Lord's Prayer lifts our minds into heaven among the angels. If we have been good, this will make us happier than ever; but if we have been bad, and have not been sorry for it, it will not make us happy, but will hurt us. Whenever a good spirit is raised into heaven, he feels well and glad, like one who joins his friends after he has not seen them for a long time. But when an evil spirit is raised into heaven, which happens sometimes, he feels as though he couldn't breathe. He thinks that the angels are his enemies, and are going to hurt him, and after a short time he wants to go back to hell, even if he has to throw himself over a cliff to get there.

447




     Because the Lord's Prayer raises us up into heaven, as it were before the Lord's face, we should regard that Prayer as most holy; for then the Lord is with us, and we are speaking with Him, and He is speaking with us. Therefore we should think only of good things when we are praying, and not allow anything bad or disturbing to come into our minds. That is what the Lord meant when He said that when we pray we should go into our own room, and shut the door. Our own room is our mind, and the door is the attention we pay to things. Going into our own room, and shutting the door, means that when we pray we should not pay attention to anything else but the prayer,-not to any noises or other people, or other thoughts that might try to enter our minds. In this way it is as though we were by ourselves with the Lord and the angels, whether we pray at home or in school or in church.

     The Lord gave us His prayer because it contains all things that we can properly think of to ask Him. He wants us to say that prayer, not once a year, or once a week, but at least once every day.

     The reason He wants us to do this is because, in praying to Him, we look to the Lord as the source of all that is good and true, and we open our hearts to Him, so that He may put the things of heaven in our minds.

     The Lord knows all our needs, and is ever present to give us what is necessary for life in heaven. But we cannot receive those things from Him unless we acknowledge that they come from Him. This is what we do in saying the Lord's Prayer from our hearts. Then we pray for those things which He wishes us to receive, and not for foolish things that we may want from our selfish desires. Then we are continually praying that the Lord's will may be done, and not our own.

     LESSON: Matthew 6:5-15.

448


MATERIALISM AND THE FUTURE LIFE 1938

MATERIALISM AND THE FUTURE LIFE       Rev. GILBERT H. SMITH       1938

     H. G. Wells' "The Science of Life."

     Our point of departure in considering this subject is the recent book by H. G. Wells which bears the attractive title of The Science of Life It is quite probable that the influence of such an outline of scientific thought-modern thought-will have an effect upon the thinking of many people; for the personality and reputation of the author are such as to count.

     The work is in most respects magnificent, and the presentation of scientific thought very clear. Like the author's Outline of History, it gives a general view, and that is popular just now. But we cannot help wishing that something might be done to counteract the effect of the one thing that mars a valuable work which so many people have read or will read. Throughout the book there is scarcely a trace of any spiritual conception of anything relating to life and the science of it. There are very few works in which you will find so frank a setting forth of the materialistic viewpoint. And we shall look for some review or criticism that will give to people the chance to see life from the spiritual side, and to contrast it with the theories of Mr. Wells, who claims that from the facts of science there is no evidence of the survival of the soul of man after death, no spirit-world, no heaven or hell, no soul which is separable from the body; also, that the various forms of religion and of church are now in process of being outmoded as no longer necessary to human progress, although they have been of use in the past to unify somewhat the aims of society.

     We trust that someone of equal standing and esteem will offer a challenge to such ideas, and present with the same vigor the same scientific information, but leading to a different conclusion. For the influence of such a book is very harmful, and the fact ought to be made known.

449


It is an imposition upon society that such an argument from scientific fact should be released upon the world; and it is the more mischievous because the scientific material is so comprehensively, clearly and fully given. It is a delightful and very informative work, with just such a resume of scientific thought and discovery that one wishes very much to have.

     One or two passages from the work will indicate the manner in which the atheistic conclusion is presented, and how the writer, while giving in a most conclusive form the science of life in general, has yet failed to give what we may call the life of science. For we are accustomed to think that there must be some spiritual intelligence and understanding, and some idea of the Divine, if science is to have any real life in it. To quote:

     "It is only the young who want personal immortality, not the old." "Every individual is a biological experiment. . . . Biologically, life ceases to go forward unless individuals come to an end and are replaced by others. The idea of any sort of individual immortality runs flatly counter to the idea of continuing evolution." "Upon the continuity of any individual consciousness after bodily cessation and disintegration, the Science of Life has no word of assurance, and on the other hand it assembles much that points towards its improbability."

     There is a paragraph on the Mythology of the Future Life, in which he says:

     "Beyond the world of 'occult' phenomena that claim recognition there is a vast abundant literature of loosely authenticated 'revelations' about the future life, beyond the scope of any exact treatment whatever. Remarkable and moving accounts of how it feels to 'pass over.' The agreeable or disagreeable opening phases of the new state abound, and every month adds to their multitude and variety. A mawkish prettiness and attractive poetry adorn many of these effusions. Their disagreement is stupendous; apparently there is not one future life, but a thousand thousand, varying with the imagination and mental texture and equipment of the seer. . . . A point upon which none of them insists, but which is very manifest in most of them, is the very much lower intellectual level at which the departed spirits are living in comparison with normal worldly intelligence."

450


Then he goes on to say that none of them takes any account of the posthumous separation of the sheep from the goats.

     The author of The Science of Life attempts to round up knowledge on all important subjects of human life, and yet, in speaking of the future life and what men have said about it, he fails even to mention Swedenborg,-the most extensive writer on the subject. We need hardly say that Swedenborg does not place the future life upon a much lower intellectual level than life in this world, but declares that it is indefinitely higher. Nor does he omit the matter of the separation of the sheep from the goats; for much of what he writes has to do with that separation, which is called the last judgment, as we know. Mr. Wells discusses several of the more noted spiritualists, slate writers, and conductors of sences,-queer and extremely fantastic,-but says nothing whatever of Swedenborg.

     Here is a popular book, valuable for much of its information and scientific generalizations, in which, however, the future life and immortality are said to be highly improbable, teaching in effect that churches represent nothing but organized superstition, that there is no soul or spirit separable from the human body, that man is undying only in the fact that he contributes something to the life and intelligence of the race, and that the only god is Nature. Of the Lord or Christ, he seems to have a high regard, but only as a human radical, a great man in his time, and one whose teachings were of the highest type, though, as he believes, Christianity has never yet been able to interpret His teachings in their true light.

     The fact that such a book could be so ably written, and so commonly accepted without serious challenge, is a remarkable thing. Nor could anyone successfully combat its theories of life and existence unless he were a man of equal or comparable reputation and recognition as a writer. Some day a man may arise to do it; but in the meantime we can only condemn the spirit of atheism that mars an otherwise useful attempt to present the science of life. In regard to marriage, and the nature of man and woman, there is not a single spiritual concept in the book; nor, for that matter, is there a spiritual concept of anything of life.

     The facts of science in general he truthfully presents, and these are valuable. And when he says that there is no trustworthy scientific demonstration of the future life, he is still speaking the truth.

451


To the senses of the body there is no proof of the existence of a future life, or of the survival of the individual after death. They who seek for such a proof seek in vain. That we know. But the only appeal that can be made for belief in these things is the appeal to reason. Some scientific men, indeed, have investigated the claims of Swedenborg as to his supernatural gifts, and have found that they were well authenticated.

     II.

     This starts a whole train of thoughts in regard to the matter of the future life and immortality. And one may ask himself,-and many people have asked the question-Why, if there is a future world, was the human race so made that men could not know the fact beyond the least possibility of doubt? Why could not the evidence of it be made clear to everyone? It is argued that if men only knew it to be a fact for sure, they would then be interested in the nature of the spiritual life in another world, and would prepare themselves to reap the highest benefits to themselves when they came into it. They would then live in such a manner as to insure their future happiness.

     But this is not in accordance with reason. For we know that men are born into a life of selfishness, and into a regard for self far above the love of others or of the common good; moreover, that men do not as a rule follow reason and wisdom, but rather emotion and the strong delights of the natural life. The absolute assurance of a future life would not make certain that men would inhibit or restrain those evils which would unfit them for a life of future happiness.

     People do not readily do the things which they know to be best for them, even in this life. How, then, would it be if they knew for certain by absolute evidence the nature of the life to come? Therefore it is of Divine wisdom that scientific proof of the other life should be denied men; for then they would enter into truth before they were willing to live according to it. It is better to be in ignorance of what is true and good than to know it, and yet repudiate it in life.

452




     In addition to this, if the spiritual world were opened to men, they would see the means by which all their thought and action is governed, and their individual freedom would be taken away. But this is a part of the things revealed to us from heaven, and cannot itself be proved to the senses by undeniable evidence.

     But people who are in some degree willing to live according to the order and wisdom of heavenly life have a certain perception of the existence of that heavenly life, and this causes their reason to give the idea a certain favor and assent. They feel sure of it as a matter of reason, and are given the hope of the eternal survival of their soul and spirit. And this perception and hope lead them to live according to the laws of that life into which they expect to come. It is a grievous thing that there is commonly so little belief in the future life. Yet this is the prevailing state of thought in the world, and it accounts for the fact that there is so little interest in it. If men really believed in it, there would be a very general desire to learn all that is possible about it. And then they would not think it strange that the nature of the future life should be revealed to men.

     Even though we of the New Church know many things about that life, or may know by reading the Writings, yet the real element of a genuine belief in it is not always with us. We sometimes fall into doubt, and at such times we think to ourselves that we wish we might have some further evidence. Have you never felt the wish that some experience might happen to you by which you could be sure of the world beyond and its happiness? Would it not be according to our desire that in some way the Lord might make Himself known to us in a personal way, assuring us that He is, and that His wisdom and providence are in fact as they are represented to us in the works of the church? One little glimpse of Him, or of the spiritual world, we think would assure us, and in the memory of that we should have a never-failing confidence.

     But when we reflect upon this wish, we can see that it would not do. Rather are we glad that the Lord does not manifest Himself to our sight while we live in the world. For we know that we would not be much changed by such an experience, but would remain in very much the same state as before. The memory of the great experience would fade in time, and we would be impelled by our delight in the things of earthly life to forsake the Lord and His teaching, ever, if He were to speak to us clearly, and put beyond all question the existence of the other world.

453




     For even when a person, with joy and gladness, sees and accepts the truth of the Word and the things revealed to us, which may come with a sudden dawning of faith, still we are what we are, and we are not on that account quickly changed into people of a heavenly nature. The progress toward this is slow and gradual, and, so long as we live in this world, we shall have with us the strong influence of our heredity to fight against and overcome, as of our own will and effort.

     It has been said many times before that if we knew for certain that we were on a certain date to be removed to a foreign country, to live there the rest of our lives, we should immediately endeavor to learn all that we could about that country. We would not be indifferent to a knowledge of what we were to expect,-the nature of the people and customs and language of that foreign country. And why should it not be the same way with us in regard to the other world? We know or believe, or have been instructed, that we are to enter that world at some time. Why should people not be eager to learn all that they can know about it? It is, of course, because they do not really believe in its reality. Surely those who truly believe in it will wish to prepare themselves in every possible way to enter into its life, especially if their eternal happiness depends upon this preparation.

     III.

     The more we know of the science of life in this world, the better it will be for us, and for society in general; and doubtless we are slow even to adopt the true scientific principles that would lead to greater happiness and harmony in this world. But there is no real life in a science which teaches us that the soul of man is, after all, nothing but his body; that the body, with its conscious mind, is all that exists, and that the mind ceases to function when the body does. There is no life in a science which holds out to us the prospect of playing only a small part, while we live in the body, to contribute to the upward progress of human life in general, and which teaches that immortality lies solely in the effect our short lives may have upon future generations, to help the human race to evolve to something more perfect than it was before.

454


There is no life in a science which tells us that all the progress the world has made toward an intelligent existence has been made by a more and more enlightened self-interest. For that is what the materialist is inclined to believe. The various religions of the world, they think, have only been human inventions based upon superstition, useful to weld the individuals into a unity of idea and purpose, but now becoming unnecessary as a unifying force, because men can now be guided by science alone.

     But we maintain, in spite of scientific authorities, that most of the progress of the human race has been made, not by self-interest enlightened by science, but by genuine unselfishness, and that unselfishness, wherever it exists, has not come from a belief in Nature, but from a belief in God. We have seen that unselfishness in many instances in history, and in the daily lives of men. And we know that science has not by any means produced it; nor can science account for the feelings of happiness that are known to follow as a consequence. Nothing can account for this except the influence of a spiritual world and the influx of Divine life through it into our minds.

     It is one of our teachings that a man, by means of science, can confirm himself in favor of Nature, and against God, and that he can with equal ability and ease confirm himself in favor of God by means of the same science. This freedom of thought is guaranteed every man. But he who thinks foolishly is a fool; and to confirm oneself in favor of Nature against God is folly. "Saith the fool in his heart, there is no God." Many learned men are thought to be wise who do their best to shatter belief in immortality and the future life. Their influence upon the general thought is very great. And we must repel it as much as we can.

     The things of eternal life which man cannot discover for himself from human science,-these are the things which must be revealed by Him who knows. Life will be infused into the natural sciences when men enter as thoroughly into the knowledge of things revealed as they enter into the knowledge of the world and its wonders, and when they talk about them with the same freedom. The science of natural life is wonderful enough; but it is not so wonderful as the science of spiritual things revealed.

455


And the progress that one can make in this latter knowledge is limited only by his willingness to believe. For we are so constituted by a long inheritance that we believe only that which we are willing to believe. It is a lifeless science which teaches that the race is whipped into shape and forced to progress by fear and self-interest, more and more enlightened by knowledge of the world, or that the idea of the future life arose solely out of dreams. But genuine progress is made only by those who approach nearest to the spiritual world.
GOSPELS OF THE ADVENT 1938

GOSPELS OF THE ADVENT       Rev. HUGO LJ. ODHNER       1938

     (The first of two articles on the subject by Dr. Odhner. The second will appear in a subsequent issue.)

     ELIZABETH AND MARY.

     The basic truth of the New Testament is the gospel that God came in the flesh. The Christian Church was founded on this gospel, and the apostles saw it as essential, insisting in their teachings that there should be no misunderstanding of this fundamental truth. John therefore wrote in his Epistle: "Every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God." (1 John 4:3.) The spirit of Antichrist was already abroad in the world, seducing men with the doctrine that God was not incarnate in Jesus Christ, but that God had merely appeared to the disciples in the form of Jesus, whose person was thus not anything more than a spiritual vision persisting with them as an apparent or ideal man,-a vision to their minds.

     And so John, led by the Spirit of God, was inspired to write the fourth and last Gospel, which stressed from the start that the Word, which was one with God, and which was, and ever had been, the light of men's minds, had now been made flesh and actually dwelt among men: "which "-he adds in his Epistle-"we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you. . ." (1 John 1:1-3.)

456




     God had come, not merely to the minds of men, but as a Man born on earth, as God-Man. This was the new truth of Christianity. In ancient times God had often appeared in the borrowed form of an angel or spirit; but now He had deigned to "bow the heavens and come down," to carry our iniquities and our sorrows, and to blaze by His own power a trail of victories which men might follow,-a trail back to conjunction with the Lord God.

     In assuming the ultimate human-and this meant putting on the flesh and matter of the body in the womb of the virgin Mary-the Lord made His approach from within, as He had ever done. But no longer was there any reception of His Divine Love and Divine Wisdom in the minds of mortal men; nor was it possible to display to men His Human Form Divine by the intermediacy of angels, through which the regeneration of men's spirits might be accomplished. The Lord approached from within, but was received, not in human minds, but in the virgin womb of Mary of Nazareth. He came from within-by the influx of a Divine incarnating seed-and wove for His use a body by which to act in the material world,-a body through which He could thereafter act upon men's minds from without by external appeal through the very senses of men, and ask them, when they doubted, "Handle me, and see that it is I myself: for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have." (Luke 24:39.)

     The Lord thus came in the flesh; yet not for the sake of the flesh, or for the sake of the physical or even the political salvation of mankind. His advent was directed to the world of human affections and thoughts. It was upon this world of men's spirits that He was pressing, standing at the door of human hearts and minds, waiting to be received-waiting for them to open themselves to His advent.

     Unless He could enter-from without-into this spiritual world of human minds, His advent, so far as mortal thought can discern, would have been uncompleted. The Lord therefore provided for this further advent-this other phase of His coming. He gathered those men and women who could be prepared to receive Him in their spirits; and He prepared them by special ways. Joseph and Mary; Zacharias, Elizabeth, and their son John; the unnamed shepherds, and-far away-the three wise men; and, in the temple, the inspired Simeon and the prophetess Anna; eventually, also, the disciples and the early converts.

457


All these, in a manner, had a part in the advent of the Lord into the realm of human affections, human minds, human lives,-the real living world into which the Lord was entering.

     II.

     Four sacred Gospels record the coming and the life of the Lord on earth. Externally, they witness to the fact of the Incarnation; and although each Gospel is apparently addressed to a different type of reader,-Matthew to the Jews, Mark to the Romans, Luke to the Greeks, and John to confirmed believers,-there is much in each Gospel which is used redundantly by the other Evangelists. But the interior purpose in the Gospels is to prepare the way for, and to describe, the advent of the Lord into the living world of human minds. The spiritual sense of each Gospel, therefore, treats of the reception of the Divine Human with men and angels.

     And the series and applications of this internal sense differ widely in the various Gospels. There is no direct teaching in the Writings as to these differences. Yet it is apparent that Matthew and Mark treat of more external, more natural, states, while Luke describes the reception of the Divine Human especially in and by the spiritual affection of truth, and thus in charity and love to the neighbor. In John the emphasis is on love to the Lord and faith in Him, an interior reception of His Divine Truth being there described in a language of obvious profundity.

     The Gospel of Luke, from which the theme of this study is taken, devotes an unusual amount of space to the preparations for the Lord's birth and the attendant circumstances. It tells of Zacharias the priest, his vision in the temple, his being struck dumb on doubting the angelic announcement that he would have a son; it tells of the annunciation by the angel Gabriel to Mary in Nazareth, of Mary's meeting with Elizabeth, and of their songs of jubilation; it tells of the birth and naming of John, and of the opening of the mouth of Zacharias in a song of praise. It tells of the taxing in the days of Caesar Augustus; of the Lord's birth in the stable at Bethlehem; of the shepherds who heard the angelic choir; of the circumcision of Jesus, and of His reception in the temple by Simeon and Anna, who both offered their songs of praise.

458




     In the supreme sense, the arcana of the Divine incarnation and glorification are here contained. But in the spiritual sense the basic preparations in the natural mind of man for the reception of the Divine Human are the immediate subject within all these incidents.

     The story of Luke opens in the temple, where Zacharias, the righteous priest, ministers in the holy place. As a priest, Zacharias represents the good of charity, or spiritual good. (A. 2015:4, 8832; E. 863:6, 229:4, 444:2, 3, 14) Hence he ministered before the altar of incense in the holy place, which corresponded to the second heaven. His wife, Elizabeth, was of the daughters of Aaron, and thus signified truth of doctrine; but as she was barren, she represents a state of charity which is barren as to doctrine-deprived of any genuine doctrine. Similarly Zacharias, after his vision, was dumb,-spiritually inarticulate, unable to express in clear thought or rational concept the perceptions which its charity inclined it to sense.

     This state-which aids the mind of man to receive the Divine Human-is a state of regenerate life which welcomes the Lord's presence. It does not describe the state of the persons Zacharias and Elizabeth; for there was no natural good from a spiritual origin with the Jewish people before the coming of the Lord. Indeed, that state of the Jews is described by the Lord in a later place in Luke's Gospel, by His referring to another Zacharias: "The blood of all the prophets . . . will be required of this generation, from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, who perished between the altar and the temple." (Luke 11:50, 51.) Neither must we think that what is described by Zacharias and Elizabeth is the only state which can welcome the Lord's presence; for other Gospels speak of other states. But what is here described, in every detail of the narrative, is how the Lord prepares the mind for His presence, when there is some sphere of spiritual affection touching the mind, and when yet the truths of doctrine are "dumb," that is, ineffective to stir the understanding to receive spiritual truths,-regenerating truths of spiritual life.

     The means of this preparation is involved in what is said of Zacharias, of Gabriel, of Mary of Nazareth, and of John. The name Zacharias actually means "Memorial of Jehovah"; and this, in the human mind, is the spiritual remains which the Lord implants in childhood and during later states of worship and instruction.

459


These sabbath-states, which man is bidden to "remember" to keep holy, are hidden in the interiors of the interior natural, in that recess of the mind which corresponds to the "holy place" of the temple where the high priest ministered, unseen by the multitude in the court, yet vaguely heard as he walked, because of the bells on his garment. And what angels prophesy in this secret place of the mind cannot be uttered. The goods of spiritual affection,-states given gratis by the Lord, and ordered marvelously within in perfect correspondence to the societies of the second heaven,-these seeds of charity cannot become articulate until man's understanding is quickened and prepared by the Lord.

     Hence we are told that an angel-Gabriel, "the Might of God"-came to Mary, a virgin in Nazareth of Galilee. "Nazareth" means "preserved," while Galilee signifies the simple understanding, wherein spiritual truth can be conceived, and nourished, and protected from perversions. And "Mary" represents the affection of truth. Thus the Might of God comes to the affection of truth in the understanding of the well-disposed, who are furnished with remains of spiritual good.

     The affection of truth, virginal because it is not yet dominated by any love of-man's intellectual proprium, can conceive Divine Truth, can receive into its bosom the Divine Word, the Divine Doctrine,-to cherish, although never to master; to veil and clothe it with human thoughts, with faulty meditations, but never to add to it or perfect it; for perfection is not of Mary. Yet truly salvation can come through the virgin affection of truth, which, because of its kinship with the hidden remains of spiritual good, can conceive of spiritual, Divine Truth.

     III.

     Let us note that unless the remains of charity signified by Zacharias and Elizabeth become active and fertile, and commence to form that state which later is named "John," the affection of truth with man can never conceive of any Divinely revealed or spiritual truth; but its offspring would come from a human source only. For remains of good are necessary to a spiritual understanding.

460


This close relationship is spoken of when Mary visits Elizabeth, her cousin, and dwells with her for three months in the house of Zacharias.

     Elizabeth's offspring was human, Mary's was Divine. "When Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she spake out with a loud voice, and said, 'Blessed art thou among women, and blessed the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?'" The leaping of the child represented the joy which arises from the love of the conjunction of good and truth, thus from celestial conjugial love. (A. E. 710:31.)

     Elizabeth could never be the mother of the Divine child. For in the spiritual or respective sense she joins Zacharias to represent the remains of spiritual good, which are the results of angelic spheres affecting the hidden interiors of the mind. These remains are unconscious, but from them-as underlying, borrowed motives-spring human states. The Divine Truth of the Divine Human comes by a different way. Its influx is immediate into the natural, the conscious, mind. It is ever held and is consciously regarded as separate from man. Its origin is clearly from the Divine Word. It is called the "Son of God " from its birth. It is not the result of human concluding; and although it is shrouded in appearances assumed from man, it rises perpetually out of these human veilings, until Mary herself renounces her "son," and claims Him as her Lord and God. Thus Elizabeth asked, "And whence is this, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?"

     Through the virginal affection of truth, signified by Mary, the Lord Himself makes His advent to man-in Divine Truth, the spiritual truth of the internal sense of the Word. For Divine Truth can be conceived only in a state of affection and longing for salvation, for Truth Divine that may save from evil. This conscious longing for saving and protecting truth is kindred with the implanted remains of infancy and childhood, and retires and dwells in privacy with these remains of charity. It is filled with the prophetic hopes of salvation, with the dreams of fulfilled redemption; even as Elizabeth, from the Spirit of holiness, greeted Mary's unborn offspring; even as Mary "kept all these things of Divine promise, and pondered them in her heart " (Luke 2:19), recalling the prophecies of the Word of ancient times, and comparing them with the angelic annunciations.

461


So is the mind of man prepared to see in the Word of revelation the glories of a spiritual sense, of truth Divine and infinite, which is to work our miracle of redemption from the bonds of appearances, from the confusion of circumstance, from the grip of evil passion.

     Yet, before the affection of truth can receive and bear the Divine Truth as its offspring; before the mind can see objectively the spiritual truths of the Word; there must be born a preparatory acknowledgment concerning the Word in its letter,-the acknowledgment that the Word in its literal form is accommodated to human states.

     John, the future Baptist, must be born before the child Jesus. And this John (whose name means the "Grace of Jehovah," i.e., whose quality, considered as a human state, is that of charity and truth) is said, in the Writings, to represent the Word "such as it is in its letter." (A. 3540:4.) But let us note that wherever John speaks of himself in contrast with the Lord, he denies that he is Divine, or that he was Elias, and claims himself unworthy to unloose the latchet of the Lord's shoe. (A. 9372:10.) For the letter of the Word, separated from the spiritual sense, separated from its Divine contents of spiritual truth, is merely a servant, a testimony of human states. Its appearances, its personalities, its historic events, its apparent crudenesses and contradictions-all these are accommodations to the states of mankind, taken from the minds of the human instruments employed in its writing.

     Hence it was, that of all the characters mentioned in Scripture, John was the only one whose name was given in writing-inscribed by his father Zacharias on a waxen tablet. Zacharias, whose tongue was untied by the Lord, but who now served as a prophet obedient to Divine command, wrote his name. For John represented the Word as written; the Word in its outward appearances drawn from human states; whose mission was to prepare the way for the coming of Divine Truth; who must decrease, while the internal sense, with its Divine Doctrine, must increase. It was needful that John die before the Lord could be glorified. The Lord as it were came to assume in His Own Person the letter of the Word, and to glorify it-glorify the human shadows of the literal sense of the Word-with Divine light.

462




     And what was true universally when the Lord fulfilled the prophecies of the Scripture in Himself, when He revealed the internal purpose of God in His life and teachings, holds true when He enters-continually more fully-into the human world of affection and thought. The Lord is in the spiritual sense of the Word with His Divine, and in the natural sense with His Human. (Inv. 44.) By the affection of truth His Divine presence is clothed in human forms in our minds, to create there the miracles of regenerate life, to convert our human states into discipleship, to build there His church. The shadows of our ignorance and misunderstanding must not be confused with the Divine Truth thus born and received into our minds. John, the Baptist, the paver of ways, must decrease. The Lord as the Word, glorified even in its ultimate literal, must emerge as the object of our worship and love.

     And the Lord may come in His Divine Truth, in varying outward fashion, according to our various states. For He must be received in every new state. He may come, as described in Matthew, as a descendant of Abraham, heralded by a dream, and visioned as a star seen by the wise men in the midst of the dark night. He may appear-as in Mark's Gospel-as the Son of God, ready to be baptized of John, and to go forth to work His deeds of power. He may come into the states of innocence and charity described by Luke-to be born in a manger, to be wrapped in swaddling clothes, and to be adored by the shepherds of the temple-flocks. Or He may be received as the descending Word, even as the Evangel of John testifies, as the creative Word, the true light that lighteneth every man that cometh into the world, the Word made flesh which dwells amongst us, whose glory we behold. Yet ever He is the same, Jesus, whom our souls shall magnify, God our Savior, in whom our spirits shall rejoice.

463


CHINESE 1938

CHINESE       Editor       1938


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office a Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly By
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.
Editor                    Rev. W. B. Caldwell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager          Mr. H. Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

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

     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$3.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single Copy, 30 cents.
     Whatever the present disturbances in China may portend, so far as civil and national issues are concerned, the New Churchman is safe in assuming that the spiritual interests of that numerous people are interiorly involved, as is the case with all warfare and civil disorder. The ends of Providence, though they work out slowly, are concerned with the preparation of the human race for the descent of the Lord's spiritual kingdom, requiring the vastation of hindering conditions, and thus a liberation from them. In the light of this universal view, all liberating movements today are to be regarded as continuations of the Last Judgment, the effects of which we see in the emancipation of backward races from bonds which have prevented their reception of the truth of Divine Revelation.

     The evangelizing of the gentiles continues apace in the spiritual world, making the Lord known even to those of other earths, as we know from many accounts in the Writings. It is reasonable to suppose that the same will take place on this earth also. Some primitive peoples, it is true, are protected from Christian missionaries, and some in the interior of Africa are receiving the Heavenly Doctrine by a revelation among them (C. L. J. 76; S. D. 4777), but others will undoubtedly receive the genuine truth of Christianity from missionaries, and thus be prepared for an eventual reception of the Doctrines of the New Church.

464


Swedenborg saw many of this type in the spiritual world. We read:

     "Many in that middle celestial kingdom were gentiles from Asiatic regions, and very many of them had been converted to the Christian religion by missionaries. When they acknowledge the Lord, and thus receive faith, they believe in the Lord; neither do they care for those intricate questions and disputes about faith, as to whether faith or charity saves, nor for the Pope, as to whether he is head of the Church; but they live as Christians, and most of them enjoy a blessedness and wisdom which cannot be described, and which is so superior that it is beyond belief." (S. D. 4676.)

     Christian denominations have conducted missionary enterprises among the Chinese for many years, and have converted many to the various types of Christianity. It is not without significance, however, that converted Chinese are themselves resenting the importation of Christian dissensions, and especially the imposition of Modernism upon them, as destructive of the simple verities of the Gospel. This repugnance is not only in keeping with their pacific nature, but it confirms what is revealed in the Writings concerning their attitude in the other life. It will be recalled that certain Chinese spirits felt an objection when Swedenborg used the word "Christ" in speaking of the Lord, because they had learned in the world that Christians do not live according to their doctrine of love and charity. When he called Him simply "Lord," they were interiorly affected. And further Swedenborg states that "in the other life they are more afraid than others of receiving the truths of faith, but when instructed by angels they do receive them, and worship the Lord, though they advance to this state slowly." (H. H. 325.) The passage reads:

     "One morning there was a choir at a distance from me, and from the representations made by them it was given to know that they were Chinese, for they presented a kind of woolly goat, a cake of millet, and an ebony spoon, and also the idea of a floating city. They desired to come nearer to me, and when they applied themselves, they said they wanted to be alone with me, that they might open their thoughts.

465


But they were told that they were not alone, and that there were others who were indignant at their wanting to be alone, when they were guests. Having perceived their indignation, they fell to thinking whether they had trespassed against the neighbor, and whether they had claimed anything for themselves which belonged to others. I was given to perceive their agitation; it was that of an acknowledgment that perhaps they had injured others, also of Shame on that account, and of other good affections at the same time; hence it was known that they were possessed of charity. Presently I spoke with them, and at last about the Lord. When I called Him 'Christ,' a certain repugnance was perceived in them; but the reason was disclosed, that they had brought it from the world, from their having known Christians to live worse than they did themselves, and in no charity. But when I simply mentioned 'the Lord,' they were inwardly moved." (A. C. 2596. See H. H. 325; S. D. 3066.)

     There is evidence that a like feeling now exists in China toward the prevailing type of Christian teaching by missionaries,-the modernism which is undermining and destroying a simple faith in the Gospel. We have seen a letter from the Rev. H. G. C. Hallock, Ph.D., Dean of the Bible School, University of China, Inc., Shanghai,-an institution established to combat Modernist views. He writes:

     "There has recently been established in China a University for the training of young men for the ministry, and emphasizing the fundamentals of Christianity. This University would not be a necessity were all other schools and colleges in China teaching the pure religion of Jesus Christ; but, sad to state, many of the schools in China are tainted with Modernism, and most of the Universities and Theological Schools, if not all, teach doctrines that logically dethrone Christ, cast doubt upon the inspiration of the Bible, virtually deny Christ's virgin birth, His Divinity and His miracles, scoff at the efficacy of His shed blood, and cast doubt upon His resurrection. These facts made the establishment of the 'University of China' most imperative." He continues:

     "Many missionaries cast doubt upon the great doctrines of the Bible. The reliable Chinese preachers sadly say, in substance: 'If what many modern missionaries teach is true, Christianity has no message for China.

466


If Christ is only a Super-man, Confucius was that. If Christ taught only a System of Ethics, so did Confucius. If there is doubt about parts of the Bible, there is doubt about it all. If Christ, as only man, died for others, He is no better than men we have had in China. If Christ did not rise from the dead, then is our preaching vain. China has practically everything Christianity has, except a Divine-human Savior from sin, sin's power and sin's wages; and if the teaching of Modernists is true-however spiritual, however moral, and however good they may be-we have no message. Either assure us that the Bible is the very Word of God, and Jesus is the Virgin born, Divine, crucified, risen, returning Savior, or go back to your land, and take your fallible Bible with you. We need an infallible Guide-Book and a Living Savior. We do not want your doubts and supposings. Our most ignorant have these. We want to be saved.'"

     Our readers may find interest at this time in consulting the other statements in the Writings concerning the Chinese in the spiritual world:-On the Indian Chinese, Spiritual Diary 6067, Last Judgment (Posthumous) 132; On the inhabitants of Tartary near to China, S. D. 6077, L. J. (Post.) 133. In regard to the Ancient Word, we are told: "Seek for it in China, and you may perhaps find it there among the Tartars." (A. R 11; T. C. R. 279; Coronis 39.)

     THE NEW CHURCH IN CHINA.

     In recent years an interest in the Doctrines of the New Church has been awakened in South China through the zealous efforts of Professor F. C. Martin, of Hong Kong. Born at Melbourne, Australia, in 1892, Professor Martin became acquainted with the Heavenly Doctrines in 1918i while residing in England, where he received his Engineering Degree at the University of London. He also studied in the United States, and for some years has been Professor of Engineering in Chinese Universities. He has been indefatigable in spreading a knowledge of the teachings of the New Church in China, and at his instigation young Chinese are engaged in translating the Writings of Swedenborg into their language.

     Elsewhere in the Orient, we may recall, there are active centers of the New Church in India, Burma and Japan, and quite an extended organization in the Philippine Islands.

467


THIRTY-FIRST BRITISH ASSEMBLY 1938

THIRTY-FIRST BRITISH ASSEMBLY       VICTOR J. GLADISH       1938

     HELD AT MICHAEL CHURCH, LONDON, JULY 30-AUGUST 1, 1938.

     Under the Presidency of the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal, representative of the Bishop of the General Church, the program of a delightful Assembly included Addresses both deeply thoughtful, with searching studies of the Heavenly Doctrine, and eminently practical, so composed that "he who runs may read." The Sunday Services were inspiring, and the whole Assembly was carefully planned and well managed. There was a most responsive and zealous sphere, with a sense of new endeavors toward uses lying just ahead. The attendance, however, was not as large as in recent years, an unusual number in this country being prevented from attending by illness and other causes. Nor were there as many from America as in the two previous years. Among those present were the Rev. commend G. Cranch and Miss Elaine Cooper, of Bryn Athyn. The Rev. Erik Sandstrom was the only one from the Continent. But there was a group of four young women from South Africa, who were visiting in England,-Miss Braby, Miss Richards, Miss Mowbray and Miss Dick,-all of whom we were pleased to welcome at the meetings.

     At the First Session, the President conveyed a message from Bishop de Charms, after which other Messages of Greeting from Australia, Holland, the United States, Canada, and various parts of England, were read and received with applause. At the President's suggestion, several messages were sent by the Assembly, including replies to some of those received.

     The Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal then delivered his Presidential Address, which was on the subject of "Representatives."

468


Warm appreciation of this studious, stimulating, and far-reaching paper was expressed in the course of the discussion, which dealt chiefly with what had been said in comparing the Revelation given to the "representative churches" with that given to the "internal churches." Speakers also touched upon points that have recently been debated in the Church.

     The service on Sunday morning, attended by 101 persons, was conducted by the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal, assisted by the Rev. A. Wynne Acton; and Bishop Tilson delivered a moving sermon on the 15th Psalm, in which he showed that the questions there enumerated were such as each man striving to live the life of religion should ask himself, and the answers were those provided by the Lord. A special service in the afternoon was devoted to the Administration of the Holy Supper. The Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal was celebrant; and delivered a short address on "Water, Bread and Wine." He was assisted by the Revs. A. Wynne Acton and Victor J. Gladish. There were 75 in attendance and 67 communicants.

     At the Second Session, on Sunday evening, the Rev. Erik Sandstrom gave an Address on "The As Of Itself," dealing in a masterly and lucid manner with this doctrine peculiar to the New Church. He showed how the Lord alone is Life, and man of himself is dead, although so created that he can receive life from the Lord. Thus man lives only from the continual influx of Life from the Lord, though to all appearance as if he lived entirely from himself. This is true of all men, but the man of the church can live from the Lord only in so far as he learns the Divine commandments and applies them to all things of his daily life, for only thus does he become an image and likeness of the Lord. The paper was a deeply rational presentation of the origin and purpose of man's spiritual life, and at the same time a beautiful explanation of the Lord's words, "I am the vine, ye are the branches." An extended discussion followed.

     On Monday morning, at the Third Session, the Rev. A. Wynne Acton read a paper on "Habits," in which he spoke of exterior habits connected with the things of this world, interior habits belonging to our forms of thought and reasoning, and more internal habits having to do with the things upon which we allow our affections and thoughts to dwell. The importance of forming good habits on every plane of life was shown, but it was emphasized that we must begin by making charity and good affections the regular habit of thought before we can fully carry that charity into our lives.

469


A warning was sounded against allowing the habits of thought in the world, governed largely by the newspapers, to dominate too greatly our individual thoughts.

     After an appreciative discussion of this paper, the Assembly turned to its business affairs, and to the whole range of the wider interests of the General Church in this country.

     A Report on the Extension Work in Great Britain was read by the Secretary of the British Finance Committee of the General Church. Then came a Report by Mr. Acton as Editor of the News Letter, and a Report by Mr. Colley Pryke, Treasurer of the British Finance Committee, who appealed for a regular and increasingly zealous support of the uses described in the reports. He pointed out that the scattered members and friends, if brought together, would form a strong society, with young people and children providing a bright hope for the future. Seventy-one persons had been visited by the ministers during the year, and it had not been possible to visit all with whom communication was maintained. There had been a further donation of L100 to the Funds, but the bulk of such donations should be reserved for use when we may secure the services of a priest who can give his whole effort to the needs of the people not residing in London and Colchester. Meanwhile, it would be well if those who enjoy the present ministrations, and those in the societies who can find means beyond their society obligations, would maintain regular contributions toward the expense of the visits now being made. There was an affirmative and vigorous discussion of the reports, with suggestions for the amplification of the extension work and the response to it. The session closed when Mr. Samuel Lewin, of Bath, expressed in enthusiastic terms our thanks and appreciation to the President for the admirable way in which he had presided over the Assembly.

     In the afternoon an open meeting of the British Chapter of the Sons of the Academy heard inspiring addresses by Mr. Gyllenhaal and Mr. Martin Pryke.

     The meetings closed with the Assembly Social on Monday evening. The London and Colchester Societies had arranged a brief social program, the entertainment being provided by the Misses Winifred Everett and Mary Lewin, Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Wainscot, and the Rev. Erik Sandstrom.

470


Under the direction of the Rev. A. Wynne Acton, a program of toasts and responses followed: 1) "The New Church," as a spiritual dispensation to men on earth, Bishop Tilson speaking of the new era now commencing with the Revelation of the Heavenly Doctrine, which is the Word of the Lord to His New Church. 2) "The General Church," Mr. Gyllenhaal showing the necessity for a general body to which all the peoples of the world can look as an ultimation of the source of dissemination for the Divine Truths now revealed. 3) "The Church in Societies," Mr. Colley Pryke, and 4) " The Church with Isolated Members," Mr. Percy Dawson; both dwelling upon the need of establishing the teachings of the Church in the minds and hearts of the individual members. 5) "The Church in Other Countries," the Rev. Erik Sandstrom demonstrating how a spiritual unity and conjunction is necessary to bring us into a true brotherhood, which can be done only by the spiritual means provided by the Church. Among the many impromptu toasts were those to the President of the Assembly, and to Bishop and Mrs. Tilson.

     On the day before the Assembly opened, the "Assembly Club" met at the Old Bell Restaurant, London, with members of the "New Church Club" and others present to the total number of 29.

     The Address by Mr. Gyllenhaal on "The Universals of Creation, or Good and Truth," comprised a wide correlation of the teachings of the New Dispensation, together with a series of practical illustrations and comparisons. The paper was most stimulating, and nearly all present took part in an animated discussion, at the same time offering a stirring welcome to Mr. Gyllenhaal as the principal founder of the Club eighteen years ago.
     VICTOR J. GLADISH,
          Secretary.

471


IMPRESSIONS OF THE BRITISH ASSEMBLY 1938

IMPRESSIONS OF THE BRITISH ASSEMBLY       A. STANLEY WAINSCOT       1938

     Looking back to past happy events gives us all a certain intimate pleasure. We conjure up the things we have heard and seen,-the profoundest thoughts expressed as well as the smiles on the faces of our friends. Such a happy event has been the Thirty-first British Assembly, held at Michael Church, London, July 30-August 1. The weather clerk was generous with his highest thermometer readings, which called forth the somewhat overrated stolid endurance of the Anglo-Saxon in us.

     Needless to say, we were all delighted to have the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal with us again, looking as young as ever, but carrying with him a perceptible sphere of mature and balanced wisdom. His presidentship of the Assembly was carried out with all his characteristic aplomb and sense of order, to everyone's admiration.

     We also had the pleasure of a visit by the Rev. Erik Sandstrom. He is young in years, but is remarkably mature in mind, displaying not only profundity and penetration of thought, but a clarity and impressiveness of expression.

     The meeting of the New Church Club, on the Friday preceding the opening of the Assembly, was well attended by an appreciative audience. The Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal's fine paper on "The Universals of Creation" brought forth a spirited discussion which was regrettably limited by time.

     The opening session of the Assembly, following the Tea on Saturday, began with the reading of a large number of Greetings from all over the world. We then heard the Presidential Address, which dealt with the subject of "Representatives," and pointed out that, while the churches before the Advent were representative churches, orderly externals were not to be thought of as unnecessary today. The discussion was interesting and appreciative.

     Bishop Tilson preached a powerful sermon on Sunday morning, and the sphere of the service was both uplifting and inspiring. The Holy Supper Service in the afternoon engendered a most deeply moving sphere of holiness.

472




     Sunday evening's address was given by the Rev. Erik Sandstrom, treating of "The As Of Itself." This arcane subject was handled in a masterly manner, and the discussion which followed showed how greatly the meeting enjoyed it.

     An eminently practical paper on "Habits," given by the Rev. A. Wynne Acton on Monday morning, aroused many new thoughts in our minds, and it seemed a great pity that we had to "come to earth" suddenly in order to get the business meeting in before lunch. Concentrated effort characterizes our British Assemblies, and so it wasn't long before we were at it again with an open meeting of the Sons of the Academy. The stimulation of this meeting will, I hear in confidence, show itself in a concrete form in the near future.

     The general note struck during the Assembly seemed to me to be the Good of Life; not, as in other years, this or that doctrine as such. At least two of the addresses turned our minds towards the realization that good of life is the end, and that doctrine is the means.

     Many and precious were the heart-to-heart talks with friends, old and new, in the intervals. Such a bustling and rushing to and from the hotel, and such a whirling to and fro of carloads of animated friends!

     The Social on Monday evening rounded off everything in a delightful aura of good fellowship and of love for the Church. After a delightful musical program, toasts were enthusiastically honored. I must record a charming gesture made towards Bishop and Mrs. Tilson, this being the tenth anniversary of Bishop Tilson's ordination into the Third Degree. Proposed by Denis Pryke, the whole company clinked glasses in turn with them, accompanied by musical honors. After the singing of "Auld Lang Syne," we all broke into "Our Glorious Church," and never was it sung with so much genuine feeling. Altogether, a happy event!
     A. STANLEY WAINSCOT.

473


Church News 1938

Church News       Various       1938

     NEW MOSTON,

     MANCHESTER, ENGLAND.

     In the October, 1937, issue of the Life there appears an account of the visit paid by Bishop and Mrs. Alfred Acton to the circle established in this district, and this present record is intended to bring up to date local happenings since that time. The first visit of Bishop Acton proved so successful from our point of view that we were delighted when it became possible for him to pay a second visit, which he did from October 31 to November 2, 1937. A class was held on the evening of his arrival, the subject being "The Nature of the Spiritual World"; fourteen people were present. The day after, four of us accompanied Bishop Acton on a visit to the circle at High Kilburn and enjoyed being present at a service which included the celebration of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. On the return journey we found the moorlands shrouded in mist, and the resulting slow progress was relieved by the Bishop's account of his European travels.

     Next day the Bishop visited Mrs. Victor Cooper at her home in Warrington, and in the evening he taught another class in New Moston, the subject being "The Relationship between the Earlier Works of Swedenborg and the Theological Writings." The attendance was fifteen, making a total of nineteen people of the New Moston circle present at one or other of the meetings.

     Our report in the October, 1937, issue contained an error of fact in stating that Bishop Acton visited the house in which he was born. He informs us that this was not the case, although his birthplace was a house not far away.

     As a result of Bishop Acton's visit, the interest shown was thought to be an indication that more regular ministrations were needed, and eventually it was arranged that, with the help of the Extension Fund, the work of looking after the circle should be placed in the hands of the Rev. A. Wynne Acton. Since that time regular meetings have been arranged, including two Sunday visits, when a service has been held in the afternoon and a class in the evening, followed by a further meeting on the Monday following.

     During the year the various positions taken up in the pamphlet, "Principles of the Academy," have been dealt with, and questions arising from them discussed. We have come to know Mr. Acton, and his visits have always proved a delight. Until the recent British Assembly we in New Moston were entirely unaware of his ability as a musical entertainer, but the Colchester friends arranged that this ability should be more widely known, and we may be able at some future date to persuade Mr. Acton to put us still further in his debt in this direction. He will, I know, appreciate this rather covert reference to a magnificent effort made by him at the British Assembly Social.     

     During the year two members of the circle have become members of the General Church, and the result of a recent attempt to furnish the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal with the names of those interested showed a roll of thirty names, apart from certain visitors who come occasionally.

     Mention must be made of our June 19th celebration.

474


As it was not possible for Mr. Acton to come, arrangements were made for Mr. Victor Cooper, of Warrington, to give a short paper on the subject of the day; and this, together with the supper party which concluded the celebration, made up a useful and pleasant evening.

     The weekend following this year's British Assembly was reserved by Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal for a visit, and he remained with us from Saturday, August 6, to Monday, August 8.

     On Saturday evening he gave a talk showing the method employed by him in teaching Hebrew to the children, and a most interesting talk it was. In addition, he read a paper which resulted in a discussion of some points of difference in the interpretation of doctrine. On Sunday afternoon he conducted a service and delivered a sermon on the doctrine concerning Pleasures. In the evening Mr. Gyllenhaal read a paper which was received without any comment. So he followed it up by a talk on the need for asking questions, illustrating from the Writings the usefulness of question and answer. This talk had the desired effect, and tongues which have rarely been loosened in our meetings were used to advantage.

     Our Sunday meetings were concluded most happily, and it is left for me to express again our indebtedness to the General Church for the very efficient services of her priests. A further meeting on Monday brought this visit to a close, twenty-two friends having attended once or more. And we trust that Mr. Gyllenhaal took away with him a feeling that we were most grateful to him, as well as a more personal feeling of our friendship towards him.

     Mr. Gyllenhaal also made a short tour of Southeastern Lancashire, and paid a visit to the only remaining New Church Day School in this area. Although the New Church training given at this school in Radcliffe is somewhat attenuated, it illustrates the reason for the great development of the New Church in this district in the past.

     This record must now conclude with notice of the visit of Mr. Martin Pryke from Bryn Athyn, accompanied by his brother Denis from Colchester, on Wednesday, August 17, when twelve of the friends were present to welcome them. Mr. Pryke read a paper on "The Sacraments and Rites of the General Church," and a further paper on "Education" which he had given at the Sons of the Academy meeting during the British Assembly. It is hoped that this report will convey an impression of progress made, and that later we may be able to record still further progress.
     PERCY DAWSON.

     TORONTO, CANADA.

     The months of July and August have been comparatively active ones for the Summer season. Candidate Bjorn Boyesen has ministered to the Olivet Society during the absence of our pastor, and has fulfilled his duties most commendably. Besides conducting the Sunday morning services, he has taken a very active interest in the young people, presiding at three meetings, where papers written by Bishop de Charms and Mr. Boyesen were read and discussed. Under his guidance, a young people's club was formed, with Bob Scott as president.

     On two occasions we have had the pleasure of welcoming visiting pastors,-Rev. Elmo Acton and Rev. Alan Gill,-each of whom conducted Sunday morning service.

     At the beginning of August the young members planned a summer dance, which was most successful from all viewpoints. The presence of a group of young people from Kitchener added considerably to the zest and enjoyment of the affair.

     At the end of August, Miss Lorna Barber was the fortunate recipient of many useful gifts when, under the auspices of Theta Alpha, a shower was held in her honor to help prepare her for a year at Bryn Athyn. Lorna and Helen Anderson will represent the Toronto Society at the Academy Schools during the coming year.

     On September 4, a delightful gathering was held at the home of Miss Blanche Somerville with the joint purpose of welcoming Mr. Gyllenhaal on his return from abroad, and of bidding farewell to Mr. Boyesen, who was presented with a gift as a memento of his ministrations in Toronto.

475




     The afternoon of September 7 was one of great importance to twelve eager children to whom the Olivet Day School opened its doors for the Fall session under the tutorship of Miss Doris Raymond. These twelve children are divided into six grades, ranging from grade 1 to grade 6, with two pupils in each grade. The Pastor is teaching Hebrew and Religion to the whole school, and Miss Raymond is to be assisted by Miss Zoe Gyllenhaal, who will devote two hours each morning to the school, teaching reading and composition in the primary grades and spelling in the upper ones. An interested group of parents and friends attended the Opening Exercises, and the coming year promises to be an interesting and useful one to the little school and its teachers.
     M. S. P.

     COLCHESTER, ENGLAND.

     A special gathering of the members of the society was held on July 12 to meet Bishop and Mrs. de Charms, whom we were very much delighted to welcome once more. The Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal arrived with them, and it was with much pleasure that we renewed our old friendship with him.

     After an exchange of greetings, Bishop de Charms delivered a very inspiring and instructive address, speaking of some vital aspects of the life of the church which were deeply appreciated by us all, stirring us to a greater realization of our affection for those things which the Bishop referred to as being "those nearest his heart." He set forth the essential attitude of the new administration under which the General Church is now operating, and dealt with the spiritual temptation through which the Church had been passing. Many arose to express their appreciation and thanks, and to ask questions, to which the Bishop replied. Mr. Gyllenhaal also made an interesting speech, touching upon his voyage, his society in Toronto, and reminiscences of his pastorate in Colchester ten years ago.

     This visit of the Bishop was indeed an outstanding event, and we were grateful for the opportunity of renewing our affection and confidence, our only regret being that the stay of our friends was so brief.

     A sign of the approach of the British Assembly was the arrival of several other visitors from abroad. We were happy to meet Miss Elaine Cooper on her first visit to England; to welcome Miss Lynda Hamm, who has been here before; Mr. Martin Pryke, home for the summer vacation; and Mr. Harry Baeckstrom, on his return journey to Sweden. A jolly social on July 19 afforded us an opportunity to meet these visitors.

     Mr. Gyllenhaal preached at the Sunday service on July 24, the text being from Matthew 19:21, 22, concerning "The Rich Young Man." He also gave a very interesting address to the children.

     The school "Breaking Up" took place on July 27, when the pupils performed two little plays, followed by some recitations and the presentation of prizes. Mr. Gyllenhaal came from London for this occasion, and concluded the evening's program with a talk to the children, during which they gave evidence of their close attention and interest.

     On the Sunday following the Assembly, the Rev. Erik Sandstrom delivered the sermon at our morning service, his text being from Revelation 11:3, 4, concerning "The Two Witnesses." In the evening an informal meeting was held at the home of the Rev. and Mrs. Gladish, when Mr. Sandstrom gave an intensely interesting account of the history of the Jonkoping Society.

     A surprise visit from the Rev. Raymond G. Cranch was much appreciated, and during his stay he gave an address on "The New Deal" at a meeting of the Colchester Branch of the Sons of the Academy. He also conducted the service on August 14, and preached on "A Life of Use" (Matthew 25:21).

476


Our pastor and his family had left the previous day for their holidays.
     D. E. P.

     DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

     The visit of the Rev. Norman Reuter which was scheduled for August 6 and 7 was postponed until August 20 and 21, in order that he and his family might first move from Kitchener to Wyoming, Ohio.

     Friday, August 19, Mr. Reuter spent at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Bellinger, Riverside, Ontario, where he gave Instruction to the children and held a doctrinal class. On the following afternoon, at Detroit, a class for children was held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Steen. In the evening, at the Walker home, Mr. Reuter conducted a class, his subject being "The Importance of a True Concept of God." The lesson stressed the vital importance of a correct understanding of God, not only to man's whole philosophy of life, but also to his state after death, which is determined according to his understanding of God as affirmed within him. Then followed a summary of the teachings of Divine Revelation on the subject of the Lord, including a very clear explanation of the doctrine of the Trinity. The attendance was thirteen.

     At the service next day there was an attendance of 39, including 12 children. The sermon treated of "Confession and Faith" (Mark 11:24). An especially pleasing feature of the service was the Rite of Confession of Faith administered for Edith and Beatrice Cook, daughters of Mr. and Mrs. William Cook, who are among the most active and earnest members of our group. Our visitors on this occasion were Mr. and Mrs. Randolph W. Childs and family, of Bryn Athyn, and a new member in the person of Mr. Jack Lindrooth, formerly of Cleveland, but now living in Saginaw.

     Following the luncheon and social hour, Mr. Reuter gave a brief review of Rev. C. Th. Odhner's book, The Golden Age, and suggested the reading of this and other collateral works by New Church authors as an aid in the study of the Writings themselves. Seventeen of our adult members attended this class and remained for the business session which followed;

     Our Summer picnic was held on Sunday, July 24, at the home of the French family, Walled Lake, Mich. The attendance was 22, including our hosts, and a very pleasant afternoon was spent in activities of various kinds, or in resting under the big trees on the lawn, where the tables were
spread for our basket lunch.

     Another of our informal "get-to-gethers" was held on Friday, August 26, at the home of the Cook family. Again the attendance was thirteen, as on three previous occasions, yet always with a variation in the members attending. If this has any significance, it must be a good one, for we greatly enjoy these little social gatherings, and feel they are helping us get closer to each other in our common bond of love for the Church and its uses. On this occasion we read and discussed two more of Bishop de Charms' lectures on "Reflection," which course we expect to finish at our next meeting.
     W. W. W.

     KITCHENER, ONT.

     With great pleasure we welcome the Rev. Norbert Rogers to our society. He will assist Mr. Gill in the pastoral uses, and will have charge of the teaching of Religion and Hebrew in the day school. Mr. Rogers preached on his first Sunday here, September 4, and he also read a very interesting paper on "The Oxford Movement" at the Women's Guild on September 7. We have not allowed him to be idle, and we look forward to having him with us in the coming year.

     Our day school opened on September 6 with a service in the chapel, and regular classes were resumed the following day. There are forty children enrolled, divided into seven grades. The first four grades, totalling 14 children, are in one room under Miss Phyllis Cooper; grades five, seven and eight, with a total of 26 children, are in the other room under Miss Anna Heinrichs.

477


We have five beginners this year.

     With September comes a general stir in the activities of the society. And speaking of things stirring, we hear that our pastor and his family are moving; in fact, they are moving out of Kitchener, and Mr. Gill's future address will be 37 John Street East, Waterloo, Ont. Instead of being just around the corner, they will now be about five blocks from the church.
     D. K.

     A MEMORIAL VOLUME.

     In the latter part of October, the Academy of the New Church will publish a Memorial Volume of "Selected Papers and Addresses," by the late Bishop Nathaniel Dandridge Pendleton. It will contain about twenty characteristic papers and speeches, delivered between 1901 and 1934, including several hitherto unpublished papers; also a biographical sketch, a bibliography of published and unpublished material, and photograph taken shortly before Bishop Pendleton's death.

     Substantially bound and of excellent typography, the book will doubtless be a favorite gift in New Church families.

     It is hoped to release the volume for sale on or before Charter Day. It will be mailed in a suitable carton to any address at Two Dollars a copy, postpaid. Owing to the limited edition, our readers are invited to forward orders as early as possible to the Academy Book Room, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     ACADEMY SCHOOLS.

     The opening service of the Elementary School, held in the Assembly Hall on September 14, was conducted by the Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner, who read Lessons from Luke 11 and Spiritual Diary 6088, and gave the children an interesting and instructive talk on the meaning of the "daily bread" for which we ask in the Lord's Prayer. Principal Heilman welcomed the pupils to a new year of study, and said that we should all conduct ourselves in such a way as to bring good spirits and angels about us.

     Later in the morning the Higher Schools assembled for the opening service of the 62d year of the Academy. Bishop Acton led in the worship, and Dean Doering read the Lessons, from Luke 3 and Divine Love XIII. The address of welcome to the students was delivered by Professor Finkeldey, who gave an apt talk on the subject of "Time," with some friendly hints as to how they might profitably employ their school days as a preparation for their uses in the church and in the world.

     Enrollment.

Theological School      5     
College                30
Boys Academy           47
Girls Seminary           54
Elementary School      182
Total                318

     
     PROGRAM.

     Chicago District Assembly.

Friday, October 28.

     Banquet. Mr. Harold P. McQueen, Toastmaster. Subject: "Lay Reflections on the Uses of the Church."

Saturday, October 29.
     3.00 p.m.-Informal Talk by Bishop Alfred Acton.
     8.00 p.m.-Forum Three Speakers choosing their own subjects.

Sunday, October 30.
     11.00 a.m.-Divine Worship. Ad ministration of the Holy Supper.
      8.00 p.m.-Episcopal Address by Bishop Alfred Acton.

     All who can do so are cordially invited to attend these meetings. Free accommodations will be provided by the Assembly Committee for all who send their acceptance of this invitation to
     REV. GILBERT H. SMITH,
          Glenview, Ill.

478


NEW GENERAL CHURCH LITURGY. 1938

NEW GENERAL CHURCH LITURGY.              1938

     A very thorough revision of the present Liturgy has been prepared under the personal supervision of Bishop de Charms. A descriptive article by the Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner will appear in the November issue of New Church Life.

     The new Liturgy is intended eventually to replace both the present Liturgy and the present Hymnal throughout the General Church. Both of these have long been out of print.

     The new Liturgy retains all the good and distinctive features of the present Liturgy, and contains considerable new material, including new music. It is now being published for the General Church by the Academy Book Room, and will be ready for delivery early in 1939.

     Substantial contributions have been received from both the General Church and the Academy for the purpose of helping to defray the publication costs. These contributions will also help in reducing the selling price, which will be determined by the number of copies to be sold. The greater the number of copies sold promptly, the smaller will be the selling price. Subscriptions are therefore solicited at this time, and will be received on the basis that the price shall not exceed $3.00 per copy, plus postage. Subscriptions have been received for about 600 copies, and if this number is increased to 1000 copies, it is now expected that the price can be about $2.75 per copy, plus postage.

     All who wish to secure one or more copies when ready for delivery are requested to send their subscriptions as soon as convenient. They will be received and acknowledged with appreciation. Address: The Academy Book Room, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

479


PITTSBURGH ASSEMBLY 1938

PITTSBURGH ASSEMBLY              1938




     Announcements.


     The Pittsburgh District Assembly will be held at the Church of the Pittsburgh Society, 299 Le Roi Road, September 30 to October 2, 1938, Bishop Acton presiding. Members and friends of the General Church are cordially invited to attend.
ONTARIO ASSEMBLY 1938

ONTARIO ASSEMBLY       Rev. ALAN GILL       1938

     Members and friends of the General Church of the New Jerusalem are cordially invited to attend the Twenty-fifth Ontario District Assembly, which will be held at the Carmel Church, Kitchener, from Saturday, October 8, to Monday, October 10, 1938, the Right Rev. Alfred Acton presiding.

     As this Fall will mark the Fiftieth Anniversary of the opening of our New Church School in Kitchener, former teachers and ex-pupils of this School are specially invited to come and make this Assembly a real reunion. Intending visitors are requested to communicate with Miss Korene Schnarr, 771 King Street West, Kitchener, Ont., Canada.
     REV. ALAN GILL,
          Secretary.
CHICAGO ASSEMBLY 1938

CHICAGO ASSEMBLY              1938

     The Thirty-third Chicago District Assembly will be held at the Immanuel Church, Glenview, Illinois, October 28 to 30, 1936, Bishop Acton presiding. Members and friends of the General Church are cordially invited to attend. (Program. p. 477.)

480


CHARTER DAY 1938

              1938

     All ex-students of the Academy of the New Church are cordially invited to attend the Charter Day Exercises, to be held at Bryn Athyn, Pa., on October 21 and 22, 1938.

     On Friday, October 21, at 11 a.m., there will be a Service in the Cathedral, with an Address by the Rev. Gilbert H. Smith. In the afternoon there will be a Football Game, and in the evening, at 7 p.m., a Banquet in the Assembly Hall, with Mr. Lester Asplundh presiding as toastmaster.

     On Saturday, October 22, in the afternoon, a Tea will be given by the Faculty in Benade Hall; and in the evening, at 8 p.m., there will be a Dance in the Assembly Hall.

     Those expecting to attend are requested to notify Miss Celia Bellinger, Bryn Athyn, Pa., in order that arrangements may be made for their entertainment.
NEW CHURCH SERMONS DISCONTINUED 1938

NEW CHURCH SERMONS DISCONTINUED              1938

     A recent advance in the costs of printing has increased the cost of publishing NEW CHURCH LIFE to such an extent that the General Church finds it necessary to discontinue the publication of NEW CHURCH SERMONS. This decision has been made with regret, because it is the desire of the General Church to minister to the needs of the isolated members in every way possible. The first issue of the SERMONS, in 1920, contained this Announcement:

     The General Church of the New Jerusalem is now undertaking to provide a sermon every week for use in the Sunday worship of isolated members, families and circles, who are prevented by distance from attending the services conducted by the pastors of our societies. It is the hope that the regular reception of these sermons will cause the scattered members to feel in closer touch with the General Church as a whole, and thus will foster a unity of spirit among those who are so widely separated in space.

     For eighteen years the SERMONS pamphlets have been sent free of charge to all who made application for them, and there are now 340 names on the mailing list. It is the hope that those who have been receiving the pamphlets will now subscribe to NEW CHURCH LIFE, in the monthly issues of which they will find Sermons, Talks to Children, Doctrinal Articles, and other material suited to the uses hitherto performed by NEW CHURCH SERMONS.
FOR RENT IN BRYN ATHYN 1938

FOR RENT IN BRYN ATHYN              1938

     Large room, furnished as bed-sitting room. Ideal for one or two women. For rent by day, week, month or year. Cooking privileges or meals furnished Miss Helen T. Vaughan, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

481


TWO ESSENTIALS OF THE NEW CHURCH 1938

TWO ESSENTIALS OF THE NEW CHURCH       Rev. ERIK SANDSTROM       1938


NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. LVIII NOVEMBER, 1938          No. 11
     "And I will give unto my Two Witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sack-cloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks, which stand before the God of the earth." (Revelation 11:3, 4.)

     There are two things which make a true church,-an interior acknowledgment of one God, and a life according to the commandments of that God. For this reason, a church ceases to be a genuine church when those two things depart from it. When this happens, it keeps on for a time under the name of "a church," and yet is not a church, but a merely human institution whose more or less hidden essence is the worship of self, and whose precepts and dogmas are man-made.

     Nevertheless, He who cares with infinite mercy for all men ever provides for the establishment of a new church in place of a fallen one; and the preparation for this begins as soon as the very state of the foregoing church is itself a prophecy of its eventual death. To this end, prophetic enunciations concerning this inevitable death are made in the particular Revelation given to the erring church; and the raising up of a new church is foretold and promised. By this the heavens themselves are prepared, and their way of cooperation is revealed to them; and on earth a hope is instilled with all those men and women whose innocence has not been destroyed by the prevailing sphere about them, though it may have been greatly suppressed by it.

482


These men and women are protected through influx from heaven; and all that befalls them on earth-whether for apparent evil or for obvious good-is provided by the watchful Shepherd of the flock, in order that they may not err or fall, though their way is through the night. They constitute the remnant of that church which is to give place to another, and it is with them that the other church is to be established; for it is only with them that it can be established. This remnant is what is meant in the text by the "Two Witnesses."

     The prophecy of the two witnesses is within the bounds of what is called the Christian Church, and it is designated to preserve the faithful remnant for the New Christian Church. For the Book of Revelation, in which the story of the two witnesses is told, treats of "the things which must shortly come to pass" (Rev. 1:1), that is, the passing away of the imaginary heaven and the imaginary church, and the foundation of the New Heaven and the New Church.

     But their prophecy is not essentially one of the mouth; nor is it one that is offered in writing. Rather is it the prophecy of everyday life itself, of good works and steadfast loyalty to one's faith, amid the hatred, distrust, dishonesty, and godlessness which prevail about them. Inmostly, indeed, it is the prophecy of conscience itself,-that voice which is not heard by the ear, but by the heart.

     Those whose very lives thus proclaim the kingdom of God are not only called the "two witnesses"; they are also called the "salt of the earth" and the "light of the world." For "salt," being of a conjunctive nature, signifies the longing for good from a love of truth, or those who are in such a longing (A. C. 10300), and by "light" is meant truth from good, or those who are in this truth. (A. E. 405:32.) And in our text they are further called the "two olive trees" and the "two candlesticks," and they are said "to stand before the God of the earth," that is, before the God of the church.

     The "two olive trees" refer to the celestial in the church, or love and charity; and the "two candlesticks" are intelligence and faith, which is the spiritual in the church. (A. R. 493.) Such qualities as these make the spiritual life, not only of the church, but also of the whole world; and if it were not for the men and women who store them in their minds, the bond between heaven and earth would be broken, and all human life would actually perish from the face of the earth.

483


Such men and women-wherever they may be-are the sole cause that human society is kept together in somewhat of a unit within the severely tested borders of law and order. Without them the natural understanding of the needs of society would be left without any counterpart of a will to fill those needs; for the natural man of himself is insane; of himself he would destroy himself and others, in order to satisfy the sensual craving of the moment. Those, therefore, who long for good, or use, from a love of truth, law, and order, are actually the "salt" of the earth, whereby it is preserved; and in their striving and their example, timid though it be, they are actually the "light" of the world, whereby it is governed.

     But through the dark ages of the declining church they are "clothed in sackcloth" as they prophesy. They mourn and grieve, because they observe that the voice of conscience is less and less heeded among men. They see that the universal truths concerning the One Lord of all, and concerning His everlasting laws of order, do not arouse interest among men. Yet prophesy they must. For if they fail entirely, where shall the Son of Man find a place where He may rest His head? And "if the salt of the earth lose its savor, wherewith shall the earth be salted?" But their influence is necessarily decreasing. When men love darkness rather than light, the power of darkness gains dominion, the light is obscured, and finally shut in. And "except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." (Matthew 24:22.)

     This shortening of the days of tribulation involves the cessation of the downward trend in the state of the Christian nations, and then the beginning of an upward bend in their spiritual development. This is meant by the time during which the two witnesses were to prophesy,-"a thousand two hundred and sixty days,"-which is three years and a half; or, as it is elsewhere expressed, "time, and times, and half a time." And the same is also signified by "three days and a half." In all of these modes of expression, the number "three" (or "time and times") stands for the completion of the devastation of the dying church, and the "half" points to a new beginning. This new beginning must come,-the New Church, or the New Jerusalem descending from God out of heaven; for if the heritage of the two witnesses be not given over to a New Church, at the time when the voice of the witnesses is heard no more, then indeed no flesh can be saved.

484




     The task and office of the two witnesses is directly entrusted to the New Church in the following words of the Apocalypse Revealed: "There are two essentials by which conjunction with the Lord is effected,-the acknowledgment of one God, and Repentance of Life But at this day, instead of the acknowledgment of one God, there is the acknowledgment of three; and instead of repentance of life, there is a repentance of the mouth only (confessing) that one is a sinner; and by these two there is no conjunction. Wherefore, unless a New Church which acknowledges these two essentials rises up, and lives them, no one can be saved." (R. 9.) The two essentials here mentioned are the Lord's Two Witnesses. (See also A. R. 490.)

     II.

     It may readily be seen that the two Tables of Stone, and the two Great Commandments, proclaim nothing else than the two essentials of any true church. For the first Table and the first of the Great Commandments set forth man's duties to the Lord; and the second Table, as also the second of the Great Commandments, teach the way by which man may come into a useful and happy relationship with his neighbor. The duties to the Lord are the unreserved acknowledgment that He alone is Life, that that alone is holy and of authority which proceeds from Him, and also the heart's desire to worship Him alone, that is to say, to be led by Him alone. And in regard to man's obligations to his neighbor, these begin by his shunning as sins against God all the evil ways, evil thoughts, and evil inclinations which he has discovered with himself; for thereby he learns to love to do well to all his fellow men.

     The acknowledgment of the Lord as the only God, and the life according to the precepts of the Decalogue, are the two essentials of the church because they are the two essentials of heaven,-indeed, the very life of the Gorand Man of heaven. And here let us pause to see how the angels regard and live these two essentials, in order that we may know, more in particular, how they ought to be received in heart and life by the men and women of the church.

485




     The heart of the Gorand Man of heaven is love to the Lord, and the lungs there are a life of uses, or charity to the neighbor. Love to the Lord, the celestial, and charity to the neighbor, the spiritual, penetrate all the three heavens, and exist in each more or less exalted and more or less innocent according to the degree of the heaven; and always conjoined into a one. Thus the kingdom of love and the kingdom of charity, or the celestial and spiritual kingdoms, are everywhere present throughout the Gorand Man, even as the kingdom of the heart and the kingdom of the lungs everywhere in the human body are the very essence of it-indeed, of every cell.

     With the angels, love to the Lord from the Lord is the happy and all-joyous acknowledgment of the will that everything whatsoever they possess they receive from Him alone, and that if left to themselves; they would be nothing but the most vile sinners. Hence they love nothing more than to be led by Him alone. This is their innocence, and it exists in all heavens according to the degree of each; and from this is their unutterable happiness, which to each and all is the highest possible. Such an acknowledgment as this is formed with each angel from what he knows concerning the Lord, that is to say, from the truths with him. It is not formed by an influx apart from the truths in the mind of each. Hence the angelic love of the Lord is their worship in spirit of One who is as if personally known to them,-One who is at times seen by them, and whose infinite qualities of tender love and inscrutable wisdom are reflected to them, whithersoever they turn their gaze, and are felt in every state of their lives. Thus He is to them the Visible God, the Perfect Man, comprehensible, knowable, and lovable in His manifestation, that is, in His Human; but who, in His inmost, infinite Self, is at the same time beyond comprehension, knowledge, and love. By this He inspires into the hearts of His servants in heaven a most happy and ardent love, and at the same time a holy fear. He awakens the will's acknowledgment that He, in His Visible Human, is alone God of heaven and earth, and that this same Human, though visible, is in itself Divine and Infinite.

     So also charity in heaven is exercised with happiness and joy. It is the seeking of the heart to communicate to others the delight within one's self, and the rejoicing in another's delight as if it were one's own.

486


It is the joy of giving that which is of happiness to others, and the joy of perceiving it in others.

     The angelic delights are communicated by means of uses, and these are infinite in number, of all degrees and of all varieties; and they engage everything that is beautiful to the eye, harmonious to the ear, soft to the skin, and sweet to the nostrils, and, above all, instructive to the thoughts and inspiring to the will. Use in heaven is the form of delight, even as it is the form of love; and as a form, or containant, it conveys its hidden treasure to all who are in a like state to the doer of use. And delight is shared with others, not only by means of the actual doing of use; the very love of use, and the thought about it, or study of it, travel far and wide, beyond the mind of the angel on the wings of spheres to every individual or society that is in a harmonious state. (H. H. 203.) Hence love of the neighbor, and the delight of that love, is imparted to others by an exterior, visible, audible or otherwise sensible way, and also by an interior, invisible-yet perceptible-path or current.

     This communication of each with all, and of all with each, is the breath of the Gorand Man of heaven,-the kingdom of the lungs in heaven. By this, as by the heartbeat of love toward the Source of Life, heaven is living.

     III.

     It is the will of God that the heavenly loves should be among men also, that His "will be done on earth, as it is done in heaven." To this end He ever provides that there be a church on earth, entrusting to her to keep alive the heavenly essentials among men. This is especially so with that Crowning Church, into whose hands the Heavenly Doctrines themselves are given.

     Yet men cannot begin their spiritual lives by loving and acting as do the angels. At first they are in states of their proprium, from which they must be liberated. They must travel the way-yea, they must fight their way onward-praying that they fail not as to spiritual courage and steadfastness. But as they travel the way, they heed and obey no other essentials than the essentials of the New Church, although at first they do not perceive an ardent, all-embracing love to the Lord; nor is it their chief desire to be of genuine, interior use to the neighbor. But they look to these qualities, if they do travel the way.

487


And their looking consists in the acknowledgment that what they know (or may know) concerning the Lord is alone capable of awakening spiritual life within them, and that they shun all the evils which they know to be contrary to the laws of order revealed to the New Church.

     Hence the beginning of heavenly life with the man of the New Church manifests itself in his seeking to know his Lord and King by means of His speech to man in His Word, and particularly the Opened Word; and in his seeking to know himself as he stands forth to his own view, in all his wretchedness, in the light of that same Opened Word. For no one can acknowledge the Lord, except in the degree that he knows the Lord; and no one can shun his evils as sins, except as he recognizes them as evils described and condemned by the Lord Himself in His Word.

     It is of paramount importance to understand thoroughly that the Two Essentials of the New Church may enter into the men and women of the Church only in the degree that the Writings enter into them. The New Church is to worship the Visible God; and nowhere in the whole world, save in the Writings, is the Lord visible at this day. From the light of the Writings we may afterwards see Him also in the Old and New Testaments, which, however, apart from the Writings, are closed books in our days. In the light of the Writings we may afterwards see the Lord everywhere, even in nature itself,-that silent witness of the Creator's glory.

     Furthermore, the New Church is to exercise repentance of life; but it is not possible to repent of the disordered states within the mind without recognizing these states by contrast to the laws of order. For it is to be observed that the new Christian life, which must now gradually spread among men, is primarily and chiefly an internal life,-the life of the mind itself. That is true Christian life itself. And the external acts of use become genuine, and are to be called Christian life, only in the measure that they are wrought by men and women whose affections and thoughts do worship the Visible God, and do shun disorderly states, as well as disorderly acts, as sins against Him.

     The natural man within us is apt to think that we worship the Lord if we occasionally pray to some "High Power" under that name, talk about Him by that name, and attend the Divine Services of the church.

488


But the name, "the Lord," may be an empty name to us; it may be used without presenting any clear idea of the Lord to us. It does bring Jesus Christ, the only God and Savior, to our view when it is infilled, as it were, with the Lord's qualities, in the measure that they are known to us; and we worship the Lord when we love Him because of those qualities.

     Likewise, the natural man within us is apt to think that we shun evils as sins if we lead an externally moral life. But if we have never examined ourselves in the light of revealed truth, and afterwards repented of our inner life, then we must not be surprised to learn that we do not actually shun evils as sins against the Lord, but only as evils against society, that is, as acts which are punishable, and thus harmful to ourselves.

     The Lord of the Second Advent works salvation by means of the Writings of the Second Advent. Those, therefore, worship the Visible God of heaven and earth who there see and love Him; and those become His images and likenesses who allow their internal and external lives to be formed into the images and likenesses of these Writings. Even such as go to the other world, without having known of the Lord's Second Advent while still living on earth, must be regenerated by the Writings of the Second Advent, if their lives on earth had been such that they can be regenerated there. For the New Heaven, as well as the New Church, is founded upon the final and crowning Revelation of the Glorified Lord.

     Into the New Jerusalem "there shall in no wise enter any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie; but they which are written in the Lamb's Book of Life." (Rev. 21:27.) Let us pray, then, that the Lamb's Book of Life may work salvation in us, teaching us to worship our Lord, and to love our fellow men, that so we may enter into the Holy City, which cometh down from God out of heaven. Amen.

     LESSONS: Deuteronomy 6. Revelation 11:1-12. 8. R. 490 (portions).
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 564, 630, 758.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 67, 187.

489


CONNECTION AND SERIES OF DOCTRINES IN THE WRITINGS 1938

CONNECTION AND SERIES OF DOCTRINES IN THE WRITINGS       Rev. W. CAIRNS HENDERSON       1938

     A STUDY

     Our Divine Doctrine is described in Sacred Scripture as a descending city of truth (Revelation 21:10; A. R. 896),-a compact, holy body of truth organized into the form of a city, whose foundations, walls, gates, streets, and buildings are interconnected by their mutual and common relations to each other, and to the Lamb who is the only Temple therein. This description, which is based upon actual correspondence, posits the existence in the Writings of a connection of doctrines that resolves its apparently separate and diverse truths into interrelated doctrines organized into series, and binds its manifold doctrinals into a coherent unity wherein they are the facets of a single translucent gem of truth. It postulates the immanence of a Divine series which orders the many truths of the Writings into a serial form, irrespective of their place in the sacred library in which they are deposited.

     Such an estimate of the interior structure and organization of the Writings is in full accord with their status as the Word, all the things of which are so arranged (A. C. 2343, 3304, 10633), and as a revelation of the internal sense of the Word, which is said to be in a continuous series (A. C. 1659); and its assumption is, indeed, the starting point of all doctrinal study. It is indicated in the teaching concerning the New Church, that "its doctrinals are continuous truths from the Lord, laid open by means of the Word" (T. C. R. 508), and is openly taught in another passage which,-explaining that the truths of faith make one from the Lord,-states that however numerous, various, and diverse those truths may appear to man, they yet make one in the Lord, and with man from the Lord, illustrating its point by analogical reference to the structure of the human body. (T. 354.)

     Doctrinals, and the truths of faith, are ideas proceeding from the Lord, and the testimony is that "in every idea which is from the Lord there is an image of the whole heaven " (A. C. 6620), the significance of which emerges in the related teaching that "truths are said to be disposed into series when they have been disposed according to the form of heaven" (A. C. 10303), namely, that all the ideas proceeding from the Lord are so arranged.

490


And for an understanding of what is meant by series the reader of The True Christian Religion is referred, in no. 351, to the structure of the first part of that work. And so there would seem to be no doubt that, in addition to the obvious series worked out in the books of dogmatic theology, there is in the Writings a "master series" which unifies the many doctrines enshrined in their pages in a connected, rational form.

     In common with probably most of my colleagues, I have attempted in my studies to discern a connection and series of doctrines in the Writings which would enable me to view them as a coherent, didactic unity. My object has not been to elicit a "grand series" running from the Arcana to the Consummation of the Age, and parallel to the "grand series" which some of us think exists in every interior sense of the Old and New Testament Word, though I believe that such a series must exist, and will be seen in the future, when the Lord grants enlightenment. My aim has been rather to detect a connection and series which brings all the doctrines delivered in the Writings into an ordered, living, human relation with one another. This study is the result of that endeavor.

     Before presenting my findings, however, I would make clear that they are not brought forth as complete and final conclusions which must preclude all other modes of approach, but rather as certain generals which I feel must be premised to any detailed study. As such, they are offered for kindly consideration.

     I would also explain briefly the line of thought that has led me to these findings. No static arrangement of doctrinal series would meet the case, because doctrines, as deposited in the Writings, are the ultimate forms of truths, which are dynamic activities proceeding from the Lord. Divine Truth is the executive arm of the Divine Love. These activities therefore stand in a definite relation to the Divine Love,-a relation determined by their uses and impressed on them in their successive proceeding from the Lord, which organized them into major series of activities, each consisting of interrelated subordinate series.

491


If, therefore, we can discern the relation of these truths to the Lord in their successive proceeding from Him, we shall be able to discern the connection and series of doctrines in the Writings in which they are exposited. From this principle I have started, and I now present the findings to which it has led.

     II.

     Briefly, these findings are, that the connection and series of doctrines in the Writings is to be built up through a cumulative approach, by the method of synthesis rather than that of analysis; and they are, in a summary, that the doctrines expounded in the Writings all originate' in one central idea from which they come forth successively in an ordered, expanding series, always in a definite relation to one another, which relation discloses their connection and series. This central idea must be the most universal, the inmost, supreme, and primary truth in theology; and it is the truth which the Writings proclaim to be such, namely, that there is one God, and that He is a Man. (A. C. 8705; B. 40; T. 5; W. 11, 13, 23.) From this central truth, progressively elucidated, all the doctrines in the Writings flow, and their relation to it in their emergence is indicative of their connection and series.

     The first idea emerging from this central truth is the concept of the one God-Man as Divine Love and Divine Wisdom. (T. 37.) In many passages in the Writings it is explained that man is not man by virtue of the physical characteristics that distinguish him from the beasts, but by virtue of his possessing the faculties of will and understanding. (A. C. 4219, 6185, et al.) Similarly, while the Lord as Very Man has indeed a Divine Body (W. 18), He is Man, not because of that, but because He is Love itself and Wisdom itself. (T. 37.) This idea, in its turn, yields a second concept. Divine Love and Wisdom together are the Divine Essence, but, as distinguishable in thought, the Divine Love constitutes the Esse of God, and the Divine Wisdom His Existere. (W. 14.) "In the Lord there is only Divine Love" (H. H. 139); for although Existere could be predicated of the Lord prior to the assumption and glorification of the Human, the term is descriptive now only of the Divine Proceeding. (A. C. 3937.)

492


This second concept is, therefore, that the one God-Man is Love. And when we seek an understanding of its meaning, we arrive at yet a third concept; for we are instructed that the Divine Love consists in three essentials,-a desire to love others out of itself, a desire to be one with them, and a desire to make them happy from itself. (T. 43.)

     To these three essentials of the Divine Love, as ends, and the origins of causes, may be traced back all the doctrines contained in the Writings. That the first essential might be satisfied, the Lord first created the earths in the universe, and then set man upon them as the creature out of Himself whom He might love, and for whose sake He loves His entire creation. In fulfilment of the second, the Lord, having created man, continually extends to him the possibility of conjunction with Himself. And that the third essential might be accomplished, the Lord has provided that there shall be an angelic heaven from the human race. (T. 43.) We have here the three most general lines of thought which proceed from the most universal truth in theology, namely,-God, conjunction with Him, and eternal life in heaven. All particular doctrines arise from, and refer to, one or other of these generals, which they are given to expand and infill. But the connection is deeper than that. Doctrines are organized systems of truths, and the truths of doctrine in themselves are those living forces which are the actual means whereby the ends envisioned by the essentials of the Divine Love are effected. As dynamic forces they have therefore a causal relation with those essentials, and through them with the universal. I submit that this relation is the true connection and series of doctrines in the Writings.

     If this be true, our doctrines all flow from a single universal truth. As means for the accomplishment of one or other of the essentials of the Divine Love, they are organized first into four general series by their relation to those essentials. Under general headings to be explained later they may be thus enumerated:

     I.

     1. The Doctrine of God the Creator, and of Creation.

     II.

     2. The Doctrine of the Word.

     3. The Doctrine of Life.

     III.

     4. The Doctrine of the Spiritual World.

     These I conceive to be the four most general groups into which our doctrines are organized by their causal relation to the universal truth that there is one God, who is a Man, and the grouping that indicates their most general connection and series.

493




     The first (1) and the fourth (3) of these series are conceived as flowing from, and connected with, the first (I) and the third (III) essentials of the Divine Love, respectively. The second essential (II) is regarded as containing two general series (2 and 3) because of the familiar teaching that the conjunction of the Lord with man, and of man with the Lord, is reciprocal, involving an approach on the part of the Lord and a response from man. The second series (2) is therefore that which has to do with the Lord's efforts towards conjunction, and the third (3) the series of man's reciprocation.

     In what now follows I would indicate briefly the particular doctrines that belong to each general series.

     III.

     1. The Doctrine of God. Under the definition given of the first essential of the Divine Love,-the desire to love others out of itself,-the doctrine of God, which arises therefrom, could consist of three specific series:-(a) God the Creator, (b) the creation process, and (c) the creation itself, that is, man. For we have in this definition three distinct ideas,-the Divine Source of the desire, the mode adopted for its satisfaction, and the nature of the object in whose creation it is satisfied. Let us examine these subdivisions in more detail.

     (a) There would be included in the first of the series originating in these three ideas the doctrines concerning the Unity of God, the Divine Esse, the Infinity and Eternity of God, the Divine Essence, the Divine Omnipotence, Omniscience, and Omnipresence, and the one God, whose attributes these are, as Very Man.

     (b) The second series would commence with the doctrines of the spiritual sun, and of discrete and continuous degrees as they relate to creation and furnish the rationale of the creation process, and continue with the organized teaching of the Writings concerning the creation of the universe. And as the efficacy of creation depends upon the conservation of the universe, which is effected through the operation of the Divine Providence, it would include also the doctrine thereof; and, too, the doctrine of influx, since influx is the mode of conservation.

494




     (c) The third and last specific series in this general series would contain the basic doctrine of man, the teaching of the Writings concerning the structure and organization of the human mind, that is, concerning the will and the understanding, discrete and quasi-discrete degrees of the mind, Divine endowments and human conditionments, free-will, and the human reciprocal. As the men of one earth would not satisfy the first essential of the Divine Love, it would include also the doctrine of the earths in the universe; and would contain, as an essential, the doctrine of the non-Divinity of man.

     2. The Doctrine of the Word. A second general series, that comprised of the doctrines which have to do with the Lord's efforts toward conjunction, and arising out of the second essential of the Divine Love, which is the desire to be one with those created as recipients of the Divine Love, is designated the Doctrine of the Word. This title has been chosen as the most general and suitable because those efforts have always been made by the Lord as and through the Word. The series itself is also conceived as falling into three secondary groups. Conjunction has two prerequisities,-accommodation and application (T. 370),-and the Lord has always made His accommodation and application by means of a Human rendering Him visible and making conjunction possible, and by means of an ultimate Word; and as the Word does not live in the printed page, but in the minds of men, He has always raised up a church in which He may be known, and where the Word is received, understood. and loved. Thus we have here also three specific series:-(a) the Lord, (b) the Word, and (c) the Church.

     (a) Within the first of these lesser series,-that of the Human of the Lord,-is contained the doctrines of the Divine Human from eternity; the Human before the Incarnation, or the Human Divine; the state of angels, spirits, and men on earth before the Advent; the purposes of the Advent; the descending Incarnation-Seed and the Lord's Divine conception and virgin birth; His two hereditaries, and His temptations; the doctrines of the redemption and of the glorification; of the Divine Human glorified, and of the Second Advent; of the Holy Spirit, and of the Divine Trinity.

     (b) The second subordinate series is that of the ultimate Word, and includes all that is taught in the Writings concerning the intrinsic nature and quality of the Word, its interior structure and organization, its inspiration, characteristics, uses and functions; and, in another, historico-doctrinal series, the successive Words that have been given to men, from the living Word seen in nature by the most ancient peoples, through the doctrinal summaries of Enoch and the Ancient Word, and the Word of the Old and New Testaments, to the Writings, which are the crown of revelations;-a series involving also, in both its positive and its negative aspects, the inner record of the states of the Word in the churches.

495




     (c) In the third series, we have first the organized doctrine of the five successive churches which have been established in the world, a doctrine which involves the nature, quality, and distinguishing characteristics of each church, and which traces its inner biography as revealed to Swedenborg in its attitude to the Lord and the Word and the interior history of its worship, morals, doctrine, and rituals. In another aspect it includes the doctrines of what the church is under an interior concept, of the internal and external church, of internal and external worship, of the spiritual things that constitute the church,-innocence, peace, wisdom and intelligence, faith, charity, and use, and conjugial love; of the holy things of the church, notably Baptism and the Holy Supper; and of the priesthood.

     3. The Doctrine of Life Arising out of this same essential of the Divine Love we have, under the principle of reciprocation, another general series,-the third,-which is the series of man's response to the Lord's efforts to conjoin him with Himself. This is essentially the series of regeneration, for which reason we have styled it the Doctrine of Life. It includes as its foundation the doctrine of man and of the Fall, and of the human mind which is to be regenerated. As man's response is ever God-inspired and empowered, it involves all those teachings of the Writings which relate to the means provided by the Lord for man's reciprocation, which include again the Word and the Church, the doctrines of remains and of reflection, of Baptism and the Holy Supper, of good and truth, of influx, and of angelic and spirit associates and guardians. It contains, too, the doctrines of repentance, reformation, and regeneration, in their complete, ordered form. And as the laws of regeneration are the laws of the Divine Providence, the doctrinal exposition of those laws is also within its scope.

496




     4. The Doctrine of the Spiritual World. Ideally the fourth and last general series which flows from the third essential of the Divine Love,-the desire to make others happy from itself,-would begin and end with the doctrine concerning heaven. But man chose an order of life lower than that into which he was created, an inverted order which entirely perverted the love into which he was created by the Lord, with the result that not all men can be happy in heaven. It was therefore necessary that the Lord should permit the existence and continuance of the hells. Furthermore, the result of that inversion is that most men are not fully prepared either for heaven or hell when they leave the natural world, on which account there must be in the spiritual world a place of preparation. Consequently we have, in this final general series, a threefold doctrine,-the doctrine of heaven, of the world of spirits, and of hell,-which constitutes in its complex the doctrine of the spiritual world.

     IV.

     The limits of a single paper do not permit further development here. Although a distinction was drawn between the formal arrangement of doctrines and the order into which they fell in their emergence from the Lord as living forces proceeding to accomplish the ends of His Divine Love, it has been necessary to fall back upon the formal mode of arrangement, and to confine this study to the indication of certain generals. Within these limitations, the findings presented here are offered as a conception of the connection and series of doctrines in the Writings which is based upon their successive relation to the universal truth of religion. And while it is not claimed for them that they are authoritative, it is hoped that they may serve a modest use in coordinating the many teachings or the Writings under a unifying principle, and as a general guide to that holy city of truth whose complex ways cannot be fully known to eternity, and in which the Lord Himself is the only true Guide.

497


GOSPELS OF THE ADVENT 1938

GOSPELS OF THE ADVENT       Rev. HUGO LJ. ODHNER       1938

     (The second of two articles on this subject. The first appeared in the October issue.)

     THE WORD MADE FLESH.

     It is of the essence of Divine Love to desire to be received in the living subjects of its creation-to draw ever nearer to them in a conjunction of mutual love. (T. C. R. 43, 371.)

     The Advent of the Lord on earth, therefore, was only the manifestation of His love, and a culmination of a continual approach by the Lord, of whom the prophet Micah writes that His "comings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." Never did the Lord the Creator cease to pour His inflowing life into men and angels. But the time came when that life could not be received by men's spirits, when the hearts and minds of men were closed to its action, cold to the love that was offered, unresponsive to its spiritual gifts. It "was in the world, but the world knew it not. It came unto its own, but its own received it not." The very voice of prophecy had been silenced. Only those who were born, not of the will of man, or of blood, but born of God, that is, who were regenerate, could respond spiritually to the call of love, and be adopted of the Divine mercy as "sons of God." And the time came when there were none such in the church.

     Then the Word was made flesh, to manifest its light among men in outward human form,-a form of Divine meekness and truth. The Spirit of God, unreceived-rejected-in its spiritual form, descended into the virgin womb of Mary, and wrought for itself a corporeal abode, a bodily instrument through which its saving truth might go forth, and through which it might dwell among men, and men see its glory,-the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father; a glory not of outward might, of pomp or worldly adulation, but the glory of untiring sacrifice and patient selfless innocence; the glory of the way of God, the law of love, and of grace, and of truth.

498




     In a spiritual sense it might indeed be said that the Word was now made flesh, and its glory not seen by men, until the assumed human of the Lord had become glorified, thus until the inheritance from Mary had been dissipated, and the Divine Human had been put on. For only so, through temptations and victorious combats against the hells, was the human of the Lord purified and, as to all the finite nature from the mother, put off. And thus the Lord, His Flesh no longer material, but Divinely Substantial, became one with the Father, or born of Jehovah. Thus was given from heaven that living bread of the soul, which, if any man eat, he shall live forever, the flesh and blood of the Lord's eternal substance, whereby he who partakes may dwell in the Lord, and the Lord in him.

     Yet, even in His birth, it is true of the Lord that the Word had become Flesh. The "holy thing" which was born of Mary was truly called "the Son of God," the Only-begotten of the Father, "Immanuel"-"God-with-us." Within the body over which Mary bent was an Infinite Soul-the Divine Itself, called "the Father," unbounded in its potential power by any finite limitations. The doctrine is given that the Lord was therefore different from other men, in that in His Natural alone there was "the desire for good and the longing for truth," and that "truth conjoined to good was with Him from birth." (A. E. 449:3; Ath. Cr. 219; De Dom. 70; A. C. 4594.)

     Judged from the world's artificial light, the Babe in its manger-bed was the picture of impotence and helplessness, even as a myriad other babes, whether born in wealth or poverty. But the wise know that there is no stronger power than the force which emanates from an infant's feeble shape. It fills creation; it motivates human life; unfailingly it carries on the creative design from age to age. Men may rebel against the laws of man and of God; but the last bond of human society is not yet broken as long as the smile of a babe can disarm brute strength and mitigate misfortune with hope and compassion.

     Much is said in the Doctrine concerning innocence,-the state of being willingly led by a power not one's own. The sphere of innocence with human infants is from influx out of heaven, and is able to be active in tender age because the memory, with its sphere of material ideas and its corporeal natural affections, is not yet aroused. This prevents evil spirits from approaching the newly born. (H. H. 345; A. C. 5857e.)

499


The hereditary evils slumber, as yet. The involuntary soul, not yet the conscious mind, rules the body.

     This celestial state, which "resists not evil," because evil cannot even approach, remains beyond the reach of harm. Even cruelty and death cannot change it, until by time and in due course the hereditary proprium is awakened. For in its realm within the body of the babe, innocence is omnipotent. And if we, in thought, resolve life, which appears so complex and involved, into its simplest element, we must find it to be that yielding innocence which we find in infancy, but which is then lost, to be recaptured only through the battles of temptation, and restored in the wisdom of old age, which again submits to the instinct laws of life.

     Such innocence, preserved with every man as remains of infancy in the hidden deeps of the mind, becomes the spring of all regenerate endeavor, and is the inner essence of all good loves and all true uses, both natural and spiritual. It is the groundwork even for that human gift of reason, by which mankind-as from itself-ferrets out the laws of progress. Stupidity relies on the outward structures of prudence,-the clever, mechanized logic that is based upon the apparent testimony of the senses,-and forthwith sees its schemes topple, its hopes crushed. But genius, on any plane, in any field, has the gift of finding the complexities of life simple, of relying on nature's answers, of attuning itself to laws which operate in its behalf, and of unburdening much of its mental labor upon the subconscious and spontaneous processes of perception, through which problems are solved and work accomplished by the help of that unseen host of spiritual beings through which the life-powers, which the soul receives from God, are modified and attuned for the use of mortals. All progress, and strength, lies in reliance on powers other than our own; and this is ever derived from that innocence which we see externally represented in the babe, before the proprium, the self-will, the self-conceit, have been aroused.

     In the babe, the powers of the human soul are thus truly "made flesh,"-flesh obedient and unresisting. And in the infant body of the Lord, this Flesh was woven by an Infinite Innocence-the essence of Divine Love. It was the lens and the focus of the omnipotent power of Divine Innocence, unlimited, and transcending that assumed flesh, going forth to work the redemption of the world of human life.

500


It was, indeed, the Word made flesh, in a brief anticipation of the state of glorification, when that flesh would be deified into the Divine Good Itself.

     The Lord's First Advent was His coming "in the flesh"; yet its purpose was an approach to the minds of men,-an entrance into the world of human affections and thoughts. That approach was made permanent by and in the four Gospels. We cannot now touch His body assumed from Mary, nor see that material vehicle of His ultimate presence. It is indeed no more, in any material sense. His presence is now universal, yet no less real or less approachable. We cannot, it is true, bend with the shepherds in wonder over the manger-bed, nor feel His hands in physical contact. But His Divine Person acts through all created things, and His infinite presence is discerned in all that represents Him and brings His truth, His Word, to mind. Wherever two or three are gathered together in His Name, wherever truth and mercy kiss each other, and love and faith go forth into use, there He is in the midst of them. "Whoso receiveth you," He said to His apostles and representatives, "receiveth me."

     His presence in the world of natural thought is therefore made continual by the Gospels which represent Him. In them the Word, the Divine Truth, the Law inscrutable, is made a living Divine Person, is made breathing Flesh. And in the last Gospel this is clearly stated, so that the thought concerning His Divine Person may be lifted into a more spiritual realm, and His Divinity be proclaimed in terms which the simple may receive only in holy awe, but the wise may understand more deeply.

     It is because every man thinks in terms of his own experience, and of his own state at the time, that there are four Gospels, each of which accommodates the Divine Truth to a different set of human conditions. Historically, there were Jews and Romans and Greeks, as well as maturer Christian believers, to whom the Advent was to be announced. But, spiritually, the Lord makes His Advent to each regenerating mind in a fourfold way. The perception of His presence comes first to man's external mind in the guise of historical faith, even in the manner described by Matthew, who stresses the fulfilment of prophecy.

501


For the child receives the Lord and the spiritual things of the church as his parents and teachers present them.

     Matthew therefore began his Gospel by a recital of the ancestry of Joseph,-involving the Messianic hope of Jewry that the Redeemer was to be a "son of David." In a dream, an angel reveals to Joseph that the child Mary was to bear was conceived of the Holy Spirit, in fulfilment of prophecy. In the incident of the Wise Men who had followed the Star of Prophecy, we discern again a picture of how the wisdom of the past enriches our childhood perceptions about the Lord, and confirms our essential faith, equipping us for the commencing doubts and jealousies which divide the growing mind. For Herod, the worldly king, is ready to massacre the babes of Bethlehem. The falsities of the world and of the love of self are aroused to defend their usurped domain. And safety for natural faith lies only in instruction in religious things, from the Word in its literal sense. Wherefore Jesus is taken to Egypt.

     In the Gospel of Mark we look in vain for the story of the holy birth. "The beginning" of this Gospel finds natural faith already having run its cycle, to be ready to perceive the presence of the Lord in a new fashion. The Lord as it were comes to the understanding of the natural man: even as the youth, when adolescence is well on the way, has shaken off the shackles of parental faith, based upon tender infantile states of affirmation; he is no longer a Jew, but a Roman! If the Lord is to be received, and with Him the things of religion, He must be received on the practical basis of the power which faith in Him can effect.

     And thus Mark begins with an account of John the Baptist, and yet throughout the Gospel presents the Lord as the Son of God because of His works of power,-miracles which speak louder than words, and convince beyond any fulfilment of prophecies; which teach obedience, and reverence, and intellectual compliance.

     Yet the spiritual mind cannot be opened by all these things. For this a new preparation is necessary,-a new approach by the Lord, a new manner of reception. And this manner of preparation for a spiritual perception of the Lord's presence is described in Luke's Gospel, where again the Lord is born in Bethlehem.

     Very little preparation is needed for the natural reception of a perception of the Lord's presence.

502


The child receives the instruction from the sense of the letter of the Word in a direct way, as knowledge which is generally received with natural delight. Matthew, therefore, approaches the story of the virgin birth with only a brief introduction, but in Luke we find an account of important preparations for the Advent and the attendant circumstances.

     First, we find Zacharias the priest struck dumb by an angel in the "holy" of the Temple-to represent the arousing of spiritual remains of charity in the interiors of the interior natural mind -remains of charity which cannot be articulately expressed as yet, nor as long as it is barren of doctrinal thought.

     The story of Zacharias and Elizabeth then interlinks with that of Mary, the virgin of Nazareth, to whom the angel came with the announcement of a Divine conception. For Mary represents the virginal affection of truth not yet dominated by any love of man's intellectual proprium; an affection which can conceive of Divine Truth, can receive into its bosom the Divine Word, to cherish it, not to master it; to veil and clothe it with human thoughts, with faulty meditations, but never to add to it, or to claim it-the Word-as its own.

     Even so, the objective sight of the spiritual truth of the Word cannot come to pass until a preparatory acknowledgment is made that the Word in its literal form is accommodated to human states. John is to be born before the Lord can objectively come before the mind. And even so, the perception of His presence and the recognition of His features come only to such as are represented by the shepherds, who kept watch over their flocks by night.

     Thus the Gospel of Luke recites the spiritual Advent,-the preparations and conditions for the Lord's coming to order and recreate the world of the human mind, to heal the diseases and disabilities of the natural, and to be seen at last as the Divine Man, who, risen from the tomb of human prejudice and preconception, can open man's understanding, and come in Divine reality with His message of peace, and say, " Touch me, and see that it is I myself; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have." (Luke 24:39.)

     Can we then think that John, the last Gospel, is inadvertent in its silence about the birth of Christ, and in its simple statement that "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of God"? No birth, no infancy, no slow growth!

503


But He comes, the incarnate Word, in glory, grace and truth. Not to speak in parables-for in the Gospel of John there are no parables-but to reveal the Father, to speak as the Divine Love in Human Form, to testify that He and the Father are One.

     In this last Gospel, John the Baptist also appears, but now not as a doubter, but as a sure witness of Him who was the Lamb of God taking away the sins of the world.

     Surely it is meet that we mortals should first know the Lord, and that He should come to us, in the ultimate veilings of sensual thought as the son of Mary, bearing her bequest of human imperfection, from which He rises-as we come to see more clearly-to become One with God, "one and the same with infinite Esse," as also it had been before. (A. C. 4687.)

     The beloved apostle therefore begins by declaring that "In the beginning was the Word, . . . and the Word was Divine, . . . and the Word was made flesh." John wrote this, not for Jews or Gentiles, but for meditative Christians, already well familiar with the life of the Lord. And when he wrote of the creative Word descending, the title "the Word," or the Logos, did not convey the idea of any intellectual formula, or any book or doctrine. For in the thought of ancient philosophy, which contained within it remnants of truth from the Ancient Church, the expression Logos meant the Divine logic of the universe, the Divine order, the inmost law of life which is of Divine Wisdom-of Innocence Supreme-the way of Divine Love and Mercy. (A. C. 9987:5.) This it was that descended and took carnal form in Jesus Christ. This it was that even Thomas could worship as "his Lord and his God." This it was that would return as the Spirit of Truth when the Lord would "speak no more in proverbs," but "plainly of the Father."

     And therefore this disciple was chosen to portray the glory of the Son of Man in His Second Advent,-His future Advent as the revealed and glorified Word,-the Word made Flesh, not by assumption of a body which had to be purged of inherited evil, like the body taken from Mary, but by revelation of the Body of infinite Divine Love-a revelation of the Divine Human in its own forthstanding presence, now made perceptible before the rational sight and understanding, and received by those who are " not born of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

504


TURNING THE FACE TO THE WALL 1938

TURNING THE FACE TO THE WALL       Editor       1938


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office a Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly By
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.
Editor               Rev. W. B. Caldwell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager          Mr. H. Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

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

     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$3.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single Copy, 30 cents.
     "When the inhabitants of the planet Jupiter lie in bed, they turn their face forwards, or into the room, but not backwards, or to the wall. This was told me by their spirits, and they said it was because they believe that they thus turn the face to the Lord, whereas in turning backwards they would turn it away from Him. A like thing has happened to me a number of times while I was in bed, but I had not before known its origin." (A. C. 8376.)

505




     The account in the Spiritual Diary reads:

     "When I was in bed, the spirits of Jupiter did not want me to turn myself to the wall of the bed, but they wanted me to be always looking forwards, thus away from the wall. And when I told them that this could not be done here, because I must lie on both sides for the sake of rest, they said that their people do this by a total turning around, and a rapid one, for they want to look forwards, because they think that the Lord is there. This had also often happened to me before, but I did not as yet know the cause, namely that similar spirits were acting in common with others." (S. D. 587.)

     KING HEZEKIAH.

     In the light of these accounts we are able to explain an instance of the kind in the Scriptures. For it will be recalled that, when King Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, he "turned his face to the wall."

     This is recorded in the Second Book of Kings as follows:

     "In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thy house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, saying, I beseech thee, O Lord, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done good in Thy sight. And Hezekiah wept with a great weeping." (II Kings 20:1-3. Also, Isaiah 38:1-3.)

     As to the setting of this occurrence, a commentator has this to say: "The furniture of an eastern divan or chamber, either for the reception of company or for private use, consists chiefly of carpets spread on the floor in the middle, and of sofas or couches ranged on one or more sides of the room, on a part raised somewhat above the floor. On these they repose themselves in the day, and sleep at night. It is to be observed that the corner of the room is the place of honor. . . . The reason of this seems to be, that the person so placed is distinguished, and in a manner separated, from the rest of the company, and as it were guarded by the wall on each side. We are to suppose Hezekiah's couch placed in the same situation; in which, turning on either side, he must turn his face to the wall, by which he would withdraw himself from those who were attending upon him in his apartment, in order to address his private prayer to God." (Clarke at Isaiah 38:2.)

     We may ask, however, why the King should turn his back upon Isaiah, the prophet of the Lord, in order to offer his prayer for deliverance from death. In those days many acts and postures were traditional, having come down from the Ancient Church, in which their significance was known. To turn the face away from the Lord was either from humiliation and shame, or it was from self love. That it was from self love in Hezekiah's case, is indicated in the Word Explained, where it is said that "he had a love for the worldly life, and had not faith; he loved his life so much that he wept bitterly" at the prospect of death. (Isaiah 38.)

506


So far as he was concerned, personally, he prayed from a sense of self-preservation, from an affection of self love and a love of the worldly life, not from a love of the Lord and heaven. And so he "turned his face to the wall," that is, away from the Lord, in whom he had not faith, and whom he did not love. But the Lord said in the Gospel, "He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal." (John 12:25.)

     This, therefore, is the meaning of Hezekiah's act in the internal historical sense of the Word, which treats of the state of the church with a given nation or people. And the states involved in this sense are commonly "represented to the life and in form in the first heaven," as was given to Swedenborg to see. (A. C. 4279:8.) In like manner he was instructed by association with spirits concerning the state involved in many correspondential acts and postures, as in his meeting with the spirits of the planet Jupiter, who told him what was meant by "turning the face to the wall."

     TWOFOLD REPRESENTATION OF THE KING.

     Yet Hezekiah's life was spared, and the reason for this is to be found in the spiritual sense of the Word. The Scripture account reads:

     "And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears; behold, I will heal thee; on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord. And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered." (II Kings 20:4-7. Also, Isaiah 38:4-6.)

     It will be noted that Hezekiah is here called "the captain of my people." As such, he represented the nation and people and the state of the church with them. "Everywhere in the Word the leader or judge, and also the king, represented the nation or people of which he was leader, judge or king." (A. C. 7041, 7224.)

507


It was from the state of the Jewish Church that Hezekiah prayed when he "turned his face to the wall,"-prayed that the Church might not be destroyed. And because the time for the full consummation of that Church had not yet arrived, and would not arrive until the Advent of the Lord, therefore Hezekiah's life was extended, and the sign was given him: "Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying, Go, and say to Hezekiah, This shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord, Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which it was gone down." (Isaiah 38:4-8.) "Ahaz was an evil king, and profaned the holy things of the church; wherefore, if his successors had done likewise, the end of that church would have quickly come. But because Hezekiah was an upright king, the time was prolonged; for by his being so the iniquity of that nation would not come so quickly to its consummation, that is, to its end." (A. E. 706:16.)

     We have said that Hezekiah prayed from the state of the Jewish Church, from the self love that interiorly reigned in that Church. And yet it is here said that he was "an upright king." He was indeed that as to his royal function, "so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him." (II Kings 18:5.) But a distinction is to be made between the function and the person. Quite apart from his own spiritual state, the king represented the Lord as to the Divine Truth in the church when he fulfilled his royal function by administering the Divine Law and governing the people. As head or leader of the nation-as "captain of my people"-he represented the church before the Lord, either receiving or rejecting the Divine Truth. So long as the king was faithful and obedient to the Lord in the exercise of his royal function, he represented the Lord's presence in the church; but when he was disobedient and unfaithful, he put on the opposite representation,-the rejection of the Lord, and the acceptance of the presence and government of hell in the church. (A. C. 1361, 3670.)

     This will explain how an "upright king" could be the means of postponing the final destruction of his church, and this even by praying to the Lord from the evil state of that church,-by "turning his face to the wall." For the Jewish Church never in heart looked to the Lord, but ever turned spiritually away from Him.

508




     Because the good acts of a king, apart from their inner motive, could represent good things in the spiritual sense, therefore the prayer and healing of Hezekiah represents a genuine repentance on the part of the man of the spiritual church. We read:

     "Because the kings of Judah and Israel represented the Lord as to the Divine Truth, and Divine Truth with man as it were endures anguish and labor when he does not live according to it until it becomes good of life, but is vivified when it is made good of life, this is signified by the command of Jehovah that they should bring a lump of figs to Hezekiah king of Judah when he was sick, and place it as a plaster upon his boil, so that he might live." (A. E. 403:11.)
TERMS OF THE WRITINGS 1938

TERMS OF THE WRITINGS       F. E. WAELCHLI       1938

     A Divine Selection.

Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:
     In your excellent editorial review of a new version of the work on Conjugial Love, which appeared in the September issue, you advocated the use of the English word "conjugial" for the Latin conjugialis, and objected to the word "marital," an equivalent of "conjugal." You further stated: "We must hold that the terms of the Theological Works throughout were of Divine selection, and not the selection of a man seeking for the proper terms by which to express his ideas " (p. 420). And you called attention to the fact that a careful distinction between the words "conjugial" and "conjugal" is made in no. 98 of the work itself. Light upon the mode of the Divine selection of "conjugial" is contained in the Spiritual Diary, nos. 1146-1148, where it is shown how Swedenborg was governed by the Lord in his choice of terms.

     We are there told that when angels converse through good spirits, the conversation flows into words like smooth water, or a flowing stream. In no. 1147, it is said: "The words into which the sense falls are flowing, into which many consonants are not admitted, because they interrupt the flow (fluvium), as is the case with certain consonants; as now it is not allowable for me to write fluvium, but fluvium; and so in the rest." (See also S. D. 1645.)

509




     Note the closing words, "and so in the rest," or in all other cases, which must certainly apply to the use of the term "conjugial" instead of "conjugal."
     F. E. WAELCHLI.
          Bryn Athyn, Pa., September 26, 1938.
BOOKS RECEIVED 1938

BOOKS RECEIVED              1938

     New-Church Manual of Daily Readings from the Bible and the Heavenly Doctrines. Vol. V, No. 1, for October, November, and December, 1938, 72 pages. Published quarterly at 94 Arlington Avenue, Hawthorne, N. J., by the Council of Ministers of the General Convention of the New Jerusalem. Subscription, 50 cents a year; 15 cents a copy.

     In these convenient, pocket-size booklets, a reading from the Bible is assigned and a brief passage from the Heavenly Doctrine is printed for each day. A program of Weekly Subjects for the year embodies a well-organized series of doctrinal topics related to the seasons and to the festivals of the church. The publication is on sale at The Academy Book Room at 15 cents a copy.
PARENT-TEACHER JOURNAL 1938

PARENT-TEACHER JOURNAL              1938

     Under the joint editorship of Mrs. Besse E. Smith, Miss Celia Bellinger, and Mr. Martin Pryke, the Parent-Teacher Journal has entered its third year of publication with the September issue, the contents of which include articles on such important topics as "Stages in Religious Education," Bishop W. F. Pendleton; "Imparting Reverence to Children," Besse E. Smith; "How We Should Read the Word of God," Evelyn Stroh; and three papers on the Pre School Age. Subscriptions at $1.00 for the year should be sent to Miss Morna Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

510


REFLECTIONS ON THE SECOND COMING 1938

REFLECTIONS ON THE SECOND COMING              1938

     Some Questions by a Layman.

     Had the Christian Church grown and developed from its source to the fulfillment of its spiritual needs and the satisfaction of the Divine will, would there have been a Second Coming? An effort to answer that question stirs up a host of speculations in the mind of a New Churchman.

     We assume at the outset that the Second Coming could not have been made to the first Christian Church in the terms in which it came to the New Church, the race not having been prepared for so interior a reception of Divine Truth as is made possible by the Heavenly Doctrines.

     If, then, the race was not ready for a more internal advent when the Lord appeared on earth, it follows that a considerable development must have occurred during the span of the first Christian Church. And yet the Writings disclose that the first Christian Church, as an organization, rapidly lost sight of its proper aims through a lust for temporal dominion. Did the Second Coming occur as the result of man's progress, or as a result of the Church's failure?

     From the fact that the Lord, while on earth, announced and foretold His later advent as something preordained, we assume that the Second Coming meant more to the world than an emergency measure in spiritual retrenchment, or as the restoration of a failing light. For the Lord, by such an announcement, would not have predestined man to fail in the acceptance of His Truth. We are taught that the Lord predestines man only to heaven.

     It seems logical to conclude from this that the Second Coming was not made necessary only by the failure of the first Christian Church.

511


If that Church had succeeded in its highest aims, if it had developed and retained a true worship, and its priesthood had continued to serve God instead of personal aggrandizement, would there have been a need for a new revelation? In any case, the giving of that revelation may have been hastened by the threatened extinction of Divine light with men.

     From this we generalize that, whether the majority of men be good or bad, the growth of mankind in an organic way goes on inevitably. It is a growth like that of a youth whose power to understand increases through years of conceit and arrogance, in which he sees no god but selfhood. And just as the mind of a youth comes to a point where he must discard childhood's ideas, so the race came to a point where it found an internal church a necessity, if church it would have at all.

     From the fact that the Lord was able to be present with the human race as long as a spark of truth remained in the Christian Church, we reason that numbers of converts or the physical basis of the church has no bearing on the state of its internal worship. The church may be, and is, as surely and effectively present as a link between mankind and the Lord when His truth is acknowledged by a few as it would be if it were spread over the entire extent of the race.

     The self-testimony of the Writings is that they represent to man the final Divine dispensation of religion to earth. Yet the present New Church, as an organization, is not predestined to life or death, any more than the first Christian Church was by the Lord's foretelling of His Second Coming. But we can confirm thereby our belief that there will be no further revelation to men on this earth. The Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg will continue as the vehicle of Divine Truth to the human race, no matter whose the hands that cherish them.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 1938

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS              1938

     "The angels said, Let us converse together by questions and answers, because the perception of a thing derived by hearing alone, though it flows in, does not remain unless the hearer also thinks about it from himself and asks questions." (C. L. 1832.)

512


INTRODUCING THE WRITINGS 1938

INTRODUCING THE WRITINGS       W. CAIRNS HENDERSON       1938

     Which Work Would You Give!

Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:
     In common, I suppose, with most of my colleagues, I have often been asked which work of the Writings provides the most satisfactory introduction to our sacred theology. Some reflection on this question has convinced me that a wider problem is involved, namely, in what order should we place those works in the hands of the inquirer who is quite ignorant of the Heavenly Doctrine?

     I am aware, of course, that no one answer will meet every case. Human states differ, as do mental qualities, backgrounds, aims, and capacities. But it does seem to me that we ought to be able to formulate some general principles that will enable us to map out for the potential student a systematic and cumulative approach to the Writings. And I am inclined to believe that this problem should be thought through to a conclusion at some time or other. The dissemination of the Writings themselves is indubitably the highest form of missionary work in which we can engage, and it seems to be clear that a few well-considered principles imparting order and purpose to that work would be of great value to us as a Church, both in our individual contacts and in the selection of works for publication in cheap editions.

     I therefore crave the courtesy of your pages to put this question before your readers, in the hope that those whose experience is so much wider and deeper than my own may deem it worthy of discussion. For the present, at least, I would prefer only to raise the question, leaving its solution to those who have had to find it much more frequently than I.
     W. CAIRNS HENDERSON.
Hurstville, N. S. W., August 18, 1938.

513


OUR NEW LITURGY 1938

OUR NEW LITURGY       Rev. HUGO LJ. ODHNER       1938

     A Prepublication Review.

     Sometime during the coming winter, the fourth and very considerably revised edition of our Liturgy may be expected to make its appearance. The need for revision was seen by Bishop W. F. Pendleton, and commenced by his successor, the Right Rev. N. D. Pendleton. The work now to be published, however, is so largely the product of Bishop de Charms' labor and judgment that the first introductory description should rightly have come from his pen. Owing to his journey abroad, and owing to the imminence of publication, we presume-at the insistence of many-to give some advance information.

     The title of the volume will be "Liturgy and Hymnal . . ." For the book seeks to combine the needs formerly met, respectively, by our Liturgy and our "Hymnal for the Use of Schools and Families," both of which have been out of print for some years. Moreover, a collection of Hymns and Chants is actually not suggested by the word "Liturgy" alone.

     Despite the combination of the material for the use of both old and young, the volume in appearance will be the size of our former Liturgy, though actually shorter by nearly one hundred and fifty pages. The paper will not be as thin as that of any of the previous editions. Redundant material has been removed. Hymns suitable only for use by very small children have been left out.* Considerable elimination has also been effected among hymns and anthems which never gained popularity or even met with approval from our congregations, or which did not measure up to the reasonable standards of our musicians. It was generally conceded that hymns of a personal nature and expressive of extreme humiliation were over abundant. Many chants did not fit the words.

514


Many hymns needed transposition into different keys.
     * The need will soon be felt for a separate little volume for the use of the primary grades, and to meet the needs of the pre-school child.

     On the other hand, a number of new Hymns, Anthems, Antiphons, Chants, Doxologies, and other selections of special merit, have been included. The chief worker to whom the Church is indebted for the new music of the Liturgy is Miss Creda Glenn, who has marshaled and utilized our musical talent, and, with their assistance, has rewritten or adapted from innumerable sources many new scores for our services. Mr. Frank Bostock, the musical director of the Bryn Athyn congregation, has been in constant consultation with Miss Glenn, extending cooperation and critical help. Much of the new music has been tested and used by the Bryn Athyn Choir, which has in this manner given valuable service towards finding suitable forms for expressing our distinctive worship. Some scores have been used by the Elementary School and in our Children's Services over a number of years. In the general selection of the music, the Bishop and his staff of workers have taken account of valuable suggestions from many of our people, representing different needs and points of view. Mr. Bostock, in the course of many years, has been on the look-out for suitable scores for use by school and choir and for pageants and special occasions, thus adding to our appreciation of musical forms, new and old.

     The most striking substitution in the new edition is an entirely new section of Antiphons, upon which Bishop de Charms has spent great and patient labor, and which, we are assured, will prove a marked step in advance, and be a valuable contribution to our worship. The new Antiphons, which are grouped under seventeen doctrinal heads, and occupy eighty pages, not only avoid long recitations (assigned to the Minister), but seek, whenever possible, to provide continuity in the spoken and sung parts. Thus an Antiphon may contain a responsive service largely taken in series from one or several chapters of the Word. The better to bring out the meaning of the sung words, several different musical scores may occur on one page of an Antiphon. And since the mood of the words must dominate the music, several Antiphons have been arranged for a simple, unisonal singing, while in others a mode of recitative chanting approaching the old Gregorian form is employed. This pioneering for new forms among the old is undoubtedly a most valuable undertaking, unless we in the New Church should choose blindly to confine ourselves forever to what the mediocre world prescribes.

515


Mrs. C. R. Pendleton and Bishop de Charms collaborated with Miss Glenn in building up these musical forms, and gave valuable criticism in various parts of the work. Mrs. Besse E. Smith has also given much help and advice.

     The Doxologies, which were a feature of the Hymnal, form an important section in the new volume, occupying thirty-nine pages. Under the same head are included many short selections and prayers, some one-page hymns, and a number of Amens for alternate use in the Offices.

     The Hymns are divided into groups, and, so far as the use of old plates would allow, are arranged in a sequence of related subject matter.

     "General Hymns, First Collection" (pp. 421-457)-which is a group intended for convenient use in our schools and in children's services-includes, first, a few selections of general juvenile character, then hymns about the Country, the Church, the Heavenly Father, the Holiness of God, Redemption and Praise, and Regeneration.

     Although the two "Collections" may be interchangeably used, the "Second Collection" (pp. 458-510) contains selections especially adapted for our regular adult services. The sequence of subjects is: The Lord, The Word, The Church, Redemption, The Second Advent, The Regenerate Life, The Holy Supper, The Divine Providence, Evening Hymns, Conjugial Love. The Subject Index will, of course, give a more complete classification, as each hymn may treat of several general topics.

     The third group of Hymns is arranged under the titles: Festival Hymns (pp. 511-570)- sub-headed Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving. A number of new selections are introduced in this section,-a welcome addition. The Nineteenth of June hymns-and our New Church talent has produced two new hymns suitable for that occasion-are found through the Subject Index.

     The Festival Hymns are followed by a series of thirteen Anthems. A number of these are new, but all the familiar Whittington Anthems are retained.

     A striking addition to this section is a group of Hebrew Anthems. This-it is hoped-will help to perpetuate the affection of young and old for the sacred language of the Hebrew Word, which is inspired even as to jots and tittles and is an ultimate means of conjunction with heaven.

516


Most of these Anthems-although slightly rearranged by Mrs. Besse E. Smith-are familiar to our people. The Hebrew text is to be punctuated, and provided with vowel points, the music being revised to bring out the syllabic values.

     The Offices themselves-which occupy pages 5 to 55-are thoroughly revised. The adaptations which twenty-two years have brought are here recognized. On the whole, the tendency has been towards simplification of the Office, yet such that it can be elaborated or shortened according to needs. Thus the opening "Alleluia," sung in the Cathedral to allow time for the Minister to descend the altar steps, is not included in the rubric, since it is only a local requirement. One new feature of the Offices is that the score of the responsive "Amen," sung by the congregation, is actually introduced into the rubric in several places of each Office, printed in small musical notes. These Amens are thus before the congregation visually.

     Several new unisonal prayers, with Scriptural wording, mark the new Offices. The responses which follow the Lord's Prayer are from the Gospels, and vary in some Offices. Only one Office contains both the Ten Precepts and the New Commandment; others use either the Precepts or the Great Commandment.

     There are four General Offices of full length; a Fifth Office designed expressly for Evening Services; and a Sixth Office which is shorter and simpler in structure. Then follow a Children's Service and forms for School Opening and Home Worship. The Sacraments and Rites are grouped immediately after these services.

     The Readings for the Sacrament of Baptism are somewhat revised, to emphasize the New Church quality of the Baptism. The baptismal formula reads, "I baptize thee into the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." Note that "into" is used, as in the old "Academy" Liturgy. It is also definitely explained in the instruction that the baptized child or adult is by this Baptism "enrolled and numbered among those who acknowledge the Lord in His Second Coming."

     The new Holy Supper Office is very different from that of the former edition. It is modeled on the printed service now used for some years in the Bryn Athyn Church.

517


The music, however, is entirely revised; it retains the former melodies in several of the chants, but all the scores have now a coherent quality which aims for unity without monotony. A few responsives are added to introduce the Unisonal Readings. A prayer (Psalm 79:9) is sung on the knees by the congregation, after the Minister has partaken of the Sacrament and before the general invitation to the Communion is issued.

     For the rite of Confession of Faith, or "Confirmation," a number of new doctrinal passages, bearing upon the state of adolescence, have been used. And an appended note on Church Membership shows the steps whereby adults enter the organized Church.

     The collection of Prayers, which in the former Liturgy occupied a section of 44 pages, has been condensed to a compass of 28 pages, and now includes a group of prayers adapted for Children's Services. This partial revision of the Prayers has eliminated much unnecessary repetition of similar phrases and ideas, but aims to retain all essential material.

     The appended "Notes on Chanting" will furnish examples of the old and new forms used in the Liturgy; and extensive Indexes and Rubric Notes will be added.

     This brief survey will inform our readers as to the type of book to be expected, although a later statement will be useful, analyzing the many changes, both in text and music.

     The date-shortly after Christmas-on which the Liturgy may be ready, is not yet quite determinable, but the intricate process of preparing electrotypes for printing from plates, old and new, mended plates, photo-engraved reduced music cuts, etc., is proceeding as fast as accuracy and economy allow. In order to offer the volume at the lowest possible price, care has been taken to use our old Liturgy plates wherever possible. The initial expenses will be borne by appropriations from the Academy and the General Church. The Academy and the Bryn Athyn Church will also aid by the immediate purchase of about 500 bound copies of the Liturgy.

     As may be gathered from an advertisement on the cover of the present issue of the LIFE, the purchase price will become lower if a sufficient number of orders is received before Christmas.

518


Title Unspecified 1938

Title Unspecified              1938


Photographs of the Rev. and Mrs. Jarosalv Immanuel Janecek and the town of Prague.

519


NEW CHURCH IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA 1938

NEW CHURCH IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA              1938

     A photograph of the Rev. and Mrs. Jaroslav Immanuel Janecek, of Prague, appears on the opposite page. The picture was taken in 1936, and belongs to the Academy Library collection.

     In his annual reports to the General Convention, Mr Janerek furnishes abundant evidence of his zealous activity in the cause of the New Church in his native land,-the maintenance of regular services of worship at Prague, evangelistic effort by Public lectures, personal visiting and correspondence, the translating of the Writings and collateral literature into the Czech language, and the publication of a magazine,-A Novy Jeruzalem.

     In connection with the 250th Swedenborg Anniversary this year, he made a new Czech translation of the New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine, which was widely distributed; he also collaborated in the preparation of a Polish version of that work. He gave a radio talk on Swedenborg, wrote an article for the leading daily newspaper, and provided material for other periodicals. He arranged an exhibit for the show window of a bookstore in the central part of Prague, including a portrait of Swedenborg and many editions of the Writings, and the display was viewed by large numbers of people in the course of two weeks. The Anniversary Feast was held on January 30, when the worship-room was filled with guests, and the speaking of Mr. Janeck and other members was followed by songs. (Journal of the General Convention, 1938, PP. 134-131.)

     When Swedenborg visited Prague in 1733, he went to the nearby town of Jilove (or Eule), a view of which is shown in the accompanying photograph. The old highway along which he passed on his way to inspect a gold mine is shown in the foreground. (See Tafel's Documents, Vol. II, pp. 68-71.)

520


Church News 1938

Church News       Various       1938

     PAUPACK, PENNA.

     During the vacation periods of the last two summers, services of an informal nature have been held every Sunday morning alternately at the cottages of the Rev. Homer Synnestvedt and the Rev. Karl R. Alden on the shores of Lake Wallenpaupack in the mountain region of northeastern Pennsylvania. Originally, each of these ministers held family worship in his cottage on Sundays, and kindly invited other vacationing friends to attend. As time went on, more and more interest in these services was shown, and because of this interest the Revs. Synnestvedt and Alden thought it would be a good idea to establish regular Sunday morning meetings, to which all would be welcome, not only for the sake of Worship, but also for the promotion of New Church social life at the Lake. That this was a good idea is evidenced by the average attendance of forty, the interest shown by both old and young, and the spirit with which everyone joins in the social activities.

     In fact, those of us who have been spending a good part of the summer at the Lake look forward to these meetings with the greatest of pleasure, and feel that we now have, at least in effect, a Lake Wallenpaupack Society of the New Church.

     The service, in general, follows the same procedure as those at the Bryn Athyn Cathedral, and there is a sphere of reverence so marked that even the very young children sit quietly and attentively through the entire service.

     After the service we gather on the porch and have a toast to the Church, which is followed by a discussion of topics of interest in connection with the Church, together with reports of church news from all over the world. Wine and crackers are served as part of this social program, and numerous songs are sung with the greatest enthusiasm.

     We have Mr. Alden to thank for much of the interest in the singing, not only because of the splendid voices possessed by the members of his family, but also because of an idea he advanced of having the members of our group write verses for songs to be presented each week. This idea aroused great interest, and many verses have been written. It was very pleasing to find that, within two weeks, some of the younger children came prepared to sing verses of their own composition.

     Another interesting point is that we have two degrees of priesthood, namely, Pastor Homer Synnestvedt and Parson K. R. Alden, and also a Deacon-Gus!

     We look forward to the pleasure of greeting you at our Lake Wallenpaupack meetings next summer.
     G. GENZLINGER.

     HURSTVILLE, AUSTRALIA.

     With us, as with other societies of the Church, the winter months are the period of greatest activity, and the season now drawing to a close has witnessed a number of interesting events deserving special notice. Of these the first in time, as also in importance, were the services and functions held in connection with the celebration of New Church Day. A delightful banquet,-the work of Mrs. Fletcher and her helpers,-was given to the children in the afternoon of Saturday, June 18.

521


At the close of an attractive meal, a short but interesting paper on the establishment of the New Church on earth was read by Theodore Kirschstein one of the older scholars, after which one or two songs, and a few words from the Pastor, rounded off a useful and happy occasion.

     A special service,-enhanced by special music, practiced for some weeks before,-was held at 11.00 a.m., on Sunday, the 19th, and was attended by 26 persons. Preaching on the text, "Behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing" (Isa. 65:17), the Pastor dwelt on the fact that the New Church, in se, is a spiritual creation, and therefore comes under the laws of creation; stressing the conclusions that the church is therefore discretely distinct from the Lord, and that it exists by perpetual re-creation in human minds. The Children's Service was held in the afternoon, and was attended by 22 children and 17 adults. In his address on "A Woman Clothed with the Sun" (Rev. 12:1), the Pastor explained simply the meaning of the vision, and then spoke of the exile and visions of John, showing that they fulfilled the promise that John should remain until the Lord came (John 21:22), and indicating in a simple way the parallel spiritual experiences which the Lord grants to those who attain the Patmos state. Another beautiful representation, depicting two of the disciples kneeling before the open Word in the midst of the seven candlesticks, while other two hurried out, their commission given, had been prepared by Mrs. Henderson, and this was shown to the children at the close of their service.

     At 6.30 we met again, 29 strong, for the great event in our church year,-the New Church Day Banquet. In its setting, decorations, and catering arrangements, this banquet undoubtedly set a new all-time record which future Social Committees will have to work very hard to exceed. We feel that Mrs. Taylor, Miss Nellie Taylor, and Miss Dorothy Wellington, who were in charge of these arrangements, deserve unstinting praise, as well for the artistry and imagination they brought to their task as for the thoroughness of their preparations. Mr. Ossian Heldon, was, as always, an efficient and inspiring toastmaster, and under his direction the program went smoothly. Greetings were received from Bishop de Charms and other friends, and we received with particular pleasure an affectionate message from the minister and members of the Adelaide Society of the "New Church in Australia." Our mental feast was provided by Mr. James S. Pryke, whose fine address, "The Nineteenth of June-A Great Deliverance," read by Mr. Lindthman Heldon, gave us generously of appetizing food and of the noble wine of spiritual truth. In the course of the evening, prepared toasts to The Church, Our Friends in the Church, and New Church Day were proposed by Messrs. Alfred Kirschstein, Sydney Heldon, and the Pastor, respectively, and were honored in wine and song. Impromptu toasts followed, and final song brought to a close a gathering that reached new inspirational heights and left a lasting impression.

     The month of June is notable also as the month in which the men of the society decided to organize a Chapter of the Sons of the Academy in Hurstville. The monthly meetings of this Chapter will take the place of the men's meetings commenced last winter, which means that we will continue to meet regularly as usual to hear and discuss papers. Much interest in the uses of the Sons has been aroused, and we hope that this forward step will benefit them, as we know it will strengthen us. The Pastor has been chosen president of the local Chapter, Mr. Alfred Kirschstein is vice president, and Mr. Sydney Heldon secretary-treasurer.

     During the month of July a number of our activities were temporarily suspended as the Pastor found it necessary to reenter the district hospital for further treatment. Mr. Morse again served the pulpit in his absence, and Mr. Ossian Heldon took care of the Sunday School.

     Our Annual General Meeting was held on Thursday, August 4, and again the reports showed a year of satisfactory working in all departments.

522


It was disclosed that the membership of the Society is now 24, while that of the Sunday School is 25. Attendance at services and classes was seen to have improved, and the Treasurer was able to report that our finances were in a healthy condition. The principal officers were reelected, and there were few changes in the other offices and committees.

     August 14 was prize-giving day in the Sunday School, and Mr. Sydney Heldon, a former scholar, presented the prizes, prefacing this duty with a short address in which he sketched the history of the School and emphasized the benefits it alone can give to those who attend it.

     An unusually interesting Feast of Charity was held on August 21. As the Society was established in Hurstville in the month of August, it was decided to make this Feast a foundation month banquet. Special greetings were sent by the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal, who visited Australia twenty-four years ago, and greetings from the Thirty-first British Assembly were also read. A series of three short papers on 1) Our Debt to the Past, 2) Our Duty in the Present, and 3) Our Responsibility for the Future, were read by Messrs. Ossian Heldon, Alfred Kirschstein, and Sydney Heldon; while appropriate toasts were proposed by Mr. Norman Heldon, the Rev. Richard Morse, and Mr. Fred Fletcher. The 8th Psalm from Whittington's Psalmody was sung by a quartet,-the Psalmody being almost unknown in our Society,-and a song specially written for the Society by Mrs. Henderson was introduced for the first time.

     These special events have, of course, taken place against a background of normal uses; but as this report is already long enough these must be left for another time.

     Bishop and Mrs. de Charms are expected in Hurstville on Friday, October 7. After a week's stay, they are to leave Sydney on the Mariposa, sailing October 14, arriving at Los Angeles on October 31.
     W. C. H.

     LONDON, ENGLAND.

     Michael Church.

     On Thursday, Tune 16, the Rev. A. Wynne Acton officiated at the funeral in Street, Somersetshire, of Mr. John Summerhayes, who joined Michael Church at its inception in 1898, and though isolated, retained an affectionate and intelligent interest in the Church all his life. He became a member of the General Church in 1921. Regular visits to his home,-a home ever open to all New Church friends, and which one could not enter without feeling a strong sphere of a love of the Church, both from him and his beloved wife,-have been made by Bishop Tilson and in more recent days by the Rev. A. Wynne Acton. Mr. Summerhayes was seventy-one years of age.

     On Friday, July 1, Bishop Tilson officiated at the Dedication of the new home (though still at Wembley) of Mr. and Mrs. V. R. Tilson. The short and simple service was followed by a bounteous meal, those present including, in addition to representatives of four generations of the family, the Rev. A. Wynne Acton and some old friends.

     We come now to the evening of Thursday, July 14, a memorable one indeed. A Reception was held for Bishop and Mrs. de Charms, and there was a large attendance. After some informal converse, during which refreshments were served, Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Wainscot gave us some delightful music for violin and piano, which was followed by a charmingly rendered song by Miss Edith Cooper. Then came the toasts, with the Rev. A. Wynne Acton as toastmaster. The first was to "The Church," responded to by the singing of "Our Glorious Church." The next,-the toast of the evening-was to "The Right Rev. George de Charms, Bishop of the General Church of the New Jerusalem."

     In a sphere tense with expectation and interest, the Bishop rose to reply. That reply will appear elsewhere.

523


Here we can do no more than say that after a most affectionate and appreciative reference to the long-continued and splendid work of Bishop Tilson, from which the latter has so recently retired, Bishop de Charms went on to say "a few words with reference to the General Church and its work, and with reference to the new administration under which the General Church is." His words will doubtless be read by many, but only those who were present can fully appreciate the powerful sphere of sincerity, of affectionate authority, in short, the illumination of his office, which accompanied the Bishop's direct and unequivocal statement of his personal doctrinal attitude, and of his aim in guiding the future policy of the General Church, namely, "to defend the spiritual freedom of all, and to preserve that order without which freedom cannot be maintained." The Bishop resumed his seat amid great applause. When this had subsided, the enthusiastic sphere created by his wonderful Address found expression in the singing with great emphasis and feeling of "Then together let us stand."

     A toast followed to the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal, who have traveled with the Bishop, and was to act as his representative at the coming Assembly. This was acknowledged by Mr. Gyllenhaal in appropriate terms, and was followed by the singing of "Friends Across the Sea." The final toast was to our latest married couple, Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Wainscot, and after a short reply, very cordially received, "Vivat Nova Ecclesia" brought this happy and enlightening occasion to a close.

     During the Morning Service on Sunday, July 17, Bishop Tilson baptized "Frederic Charles," infant son of Mr. and Mrs. Felix Elphick, who had come from Bristol, where they now reside, for the ceremony. The Rev. A. Wynne Acton followed with an appropriate sermon on external worship and the importance of the sacraments and rites of the Church. The Font was beautifully decorated by Mr. Cooper.

     A Social Evening, given on the evening of July 19 at the home of Miss Mary Lewin for the young people who had attended the weekly meetings held there, was much enjoyed by all present. Among the guests was Miss Lambertine Francis, of The Hague, whom we have been delighted to welcome on various occasions. Miss Francis was obliged to return home somewhat suddenly on account of a breakdown in health. We trust she has by now fully recovered.

     The Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal occupied the pulpit on Sunday, July 24, and preached an impressive sermon based on John 16:33. It was the turn of Michael Church to entertain the Assembly this year, and we did our best to rise to the occasion. A separate account of this will appear elsewhere.

     At a Table Tennis Social, held on the evening of August 4, we had the pleasure of the company of the Revs. Erik Sandstrom and Raymond G. Cranch. In the interval for refreshments, Mr. Sandstrom gave a long and most interesting account of his work in Jonkoping, Sweden, and of the many difficulties with which that work has been beset. We wish all success to this gallant "Defender of the Faith." On the following Sunday the sermon was by the Rev. R. G. Cranch, who took as his text Matthew 25:21.

     On Saturday afternoon, September 3, the Rev. A. Wynne Acton accompanied a party of young people on a ramble to Kensington Gardens, where they had tea, followed by the somewhat novel experience of rowing on the Serpentine! At 7.30 p.m. they repaired to Kensington Church for Table Tennis Match, where very happy social sphere prevailed. Michael Church lost! Nevertheless, this was a most successful occasion!

     On Sunday, September 11, Bishop Tilson took the entire service, basing his discourse on John 6:70, 71. He had selected his subject in answer to some recent inquiries as to why the Lord chose Judas Iscariot as one of His disciples. Mr. Acton was absent on a pastoral visit to New Moston, near Manchester, where he is always eagerly welcomed by this promising group of New Church people.

524


He was accompanied by his sister, Miss Roena Acton, from Bryn Athyn, and spent the rest of the week enjoying a well-earned holiday in Scotland.

     A Whist Drive held on the evening of Monday, September 19, was made the more pleasurable by Miss Acton's presence, who said she had "had a very good time" here. She has now left on her return to Bryn Athyn. We shall soon start the new session of work at Michael Church.
     K. M. D.

     PITTSBURGH, PA.

     With the return of the pastor from his summer vacation, the society once again returned to its appointed uses. One event followed upon another, and at the time of writing we have that settled feeling which comes from an active participation in the work of the church.

     On Friday, September 9, the pastor opened the new school-year with an address. In so doing, he emphasized the need of special application to those studies which the individual finds the most difficult. With this thought in mind, the eighteen children who comprise the school returned to their rooms for formal instruction.

     The following week, the society held its regular annual meeting. The secretary reported a membership of ninety-eight, and stated that this was the largest ever recorded in our society. This report was especially encouraging, in that most of the growth has been accomplished during the past few years. The assistant treasurer then gave an equally encouraging report. During the past year contributions had increased, the mortgage had been reduced, and thus an increase in uses had been made possible.

     Mr. Pendleton's report, however, was not so optimistic. In his opening remarks he warned us against the false sense of security which increasing membership and added funds induce. He then outlined the uses which were being performed, and demonstrated the inadequacy of that which we are doing compared with that which we should be doing. In this regard he spoke of the need for more specific instruction, of the need for extension work, and of the need for greater perfection in all the present-day uses. Yet, he said, such things must wait, because they called for the services of an assistant pastor. Having considered the ideal, and the goal toward which we are working. Mr. Pendleton then asked what we might do in the meantime. With this question he came to the essential point of his address, for the real purpose of the society can be fulfilled without the services of an assistant pastor, if only the men and women of the society will go to the Writings for themselves. To quote, "All the things of which I speak would prove to be a blessing, but unless we, as individuals, approach the Lord in the Writings, the most efficient administrations of the priesthood would be to no avail." The address was concluded with an appeal to the individual members of the society to go to the Writings, to establish family worship, and to "meditate upon the Word of God."

     District Assembly.

     This year the society returned to the custom of an early District Assembly. Bishop Acton was with us over the week-end of September 30, and to say the least the occasion was most inspirational. On Friday evening we were entertained at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Alexander P. Lindsay, where the Bishop favored us with an informal talk on the thoughts which had arisen in his mind while working on his translation of The Cerebrum.

     The following evening we gathered at the banquet table in the auditorium. In speaking to us on this occasion, Bishop Acton did not give a subject to his address, but he dwelt upon the ideas of God with New Churchmen, and in so doing specifically addressed himself to the question, "Did the disciples see the Lord more perfectly than He may be seen in the New Church?"

525


His answer to this question was, "No." Within the New Church we see the Lord in His Glorified Rational, whereas the disciples, until the time of the resurrection, saw only the Mary body. In other words, Bishop Acton impressed upon our minds the fact that in the Writings we have been granted a vision of the Lord's Divine Human such as has never been given prior to this time. Following the address we enjoyed remarks by the pastor and Mr. John Schoenberger, and also Bishop Acton's answers to many questions which arose from an appreciative audience.

     The Assembly was concluded on Sunday morning by Divine Worship and the administration of the Sacrament. So ended a happy occasion, the sphere of which will remain with us throughout the ensuing year.
     E. R. D.

     GLENVIEW, ILLINOIS.

     As we turn back the pages of our calendar, we see the record of many happenings in our society during the months of August and September. Summer camps; parties for old and young; weddings; outdoor games, picnics, and swimming. Everyone relaxing-preparing for the more serious life of school and study and classes and council and assembly. But always-like knots in a lifeline-the Sunday services, weekly inspirations to the life of religion.

     Mrs. Ruth Headsten, with several able assistants, took a group of girls to Linden Hills in Michigan for a two weeks' camping trip, and they had such a good time that they were loath to return.

     Of weddings we have had three: Miss Gladys Brown to Mr. Eugene Betz; Miss Bertha Farrington to Mr. Payson Lyman; Miss Agetha Starkey to Mr. Marshall Fuller. The last-mentioned couple chose as their processional the 50th Psalm, thereby creating a very strong New Church sphere of preparation. Mr. and Mrs. Fuller will make their home in Chicago, right across the street from the Sharon Church headquarters at 5220 Wayne Ave., where the Rev. and Mrs. Morley Rich now reside.

     But with all the happy times came a passing cloud on August 24 when James Blackman, twelve-year old son of Mr. and Mrs. Geoffrey Blackman, was called to the spiritual world. A splendid young chap-star bugler in the school orchestra. His going has increased our love and respect for his staunch parents, and turned our thoughts to the workings of Divine Providence.

     Immanuel Church School.

     Over forty years ago our school opened its doors to a little group of pupils, to commence the never-ending work of New Church education in our midst. Dedicated to the proposition that all instruction should be tinctured with the Doctrines of the New Church, this noble work has been unfailingly carried forward by our loyal teachers-quietly, efficiently, and with much of self-effacement. At the opening of the new school-year in September, seventy one children filed into their class rooms to start another period of study. Here is our 1938-1939 lineup of Teachers, Grades and Numbers:

     Kindergarten 8, Miss Susan Scalbom; 1st, 2d and 3d grades, 18, Miss Venita Roschman; 4th and 6th grades, 11, Mrs. Trumbull Scalbom; 5th grade, 13, Miss Lois Nelson; 7th, 8th and 9th grades, 21, Miss Gladys Blackman. Religion and Drawing are taught the 3d and 9th grades by the Rev. Gilbert H. Smith; Singing to the 4th and 9th grades by Miss Volita Wells; Miss Helen Maynard teaches one subject in the three senior grades, and is also our library supervisor; Professor Jesse Stevens leads and instructs the school orchestra.

     The first Friday supper of the season brought together an attendance of 100 people, the supper being followed by the reading of an interesting paper by our pastor. On the following Friday the semiannual meeting of the society received reports from the heads of our various branches of activity, and so much of interest was brought to our attention that the meeting adjourned for a further discussion next Friday.

526




     So we settle down once mere to the more serious problems of life, and always with some happy event to which we may look forward. Looming in the near distance is the Chicago District Assembly, to be held here October 28-30. Over forty invitations have been sent out to the isolated members in the district, and we have every expectation that by the time Bishop and Mrs. Acton arrive our Park will have taken on the appearance of entertaining a young General Assembly.     
     HAROLD P. MCQUEEN.

     THE HAGUE, HOLLAND.

     During the month of August our pastor, Dr. Iungerich, received the Royal Sanction to preach in our country, and since then has conducted a service of worship in our hall twice a month. On the other Sundays of the month, the meetings in the different homes are held as heretofore, the pastor being absent on pastoral visits to Paris and Brussels. Both the services and the meetings enjoy a good attendance. We were glad to welcome the Rev. Raymond G. Cranch, who attended one of our services and visited in the homes of the society.
     L. F.

     PARIS AND BRUSSELS.

     During the two and a half months that have elapsed since our arrival at The Hague, we have become well settled in our home at 149 Hanenburg Laan, and I have begun monthly visits to Paris and bimonthly to Brussels.

     Owing to the illness of Miss Francis, whose convalescence, we are all thankful to say, is progressing rapidly, I have been aided by Miss Helderman and Mr. Rijkee, who have corrected the Dutch of my sermons for me. A class in the New Testament is held for the Misses Bulthuis on Wednesday afternoons. At the close, some of the lady members drop in for informal chats on doctrinal subjects of interest to them. The conversation is entirely in Dutch, and not without some merriment over the pastor's efforts to stand the pace.

     Arriving in Paris on Sunday morning, September 18, an hour was spent in a class at St. Cloud with the three little Hussenet boys, the lesson being taken from the Gospel of Luke. The remainder of the forenoon was devoted to conversations with adults, among whom were M. and Mme. Elisee Hussenet, who had come over from Havre. At 3.30 p.m., the regular service for the 3d Sunday in the month was held at the hall of worship in Paris. Among those present was the Rev. Raymond G. Cranch, who had also attended the service on the 1st Sunday of the month, this being conducted by M. Louis Lucas, vice president of the society. The evening was spent at Montreuil in an active talk on the things of the church at the home of M. and Mme. Lucas. At midnight I left by train for The Hague.

     Two days, October 1 and 2, were spent at Brussels with the two active New Church persons and a young lady friend. No services were held, but a half-hour class was conducted, and many practical applications of the doctrines to life were considered at the request of the three persons who were present.
     E. E. I.

     ENGLAND.

     Mrs. Mary Whittington, widow of the late C. J. Whittington, passed into the spiritual world at Sidmouth, South Devonshire, on September 30, 1938. A photograph of Mr. and Mrs. Whittington appeared in New Church Life for January, 1928, together with an appreciative account of "The Whittington Music."

527


PUBLICATIONS 1938

PUBLICATIONS              1938

     All The Year Round. Readings from the Word and the Writings for Every Day in the Year. Pocket-size; Bible Paper; 60 cents. Volume 6 for 1939 is now in the press, and may be ordered from the Academy Book Room for early delivery.

     The Journal of Education of the Academy of the New Church. Edited by Professor William Whitehead, Ph.D. The issue for September, 1938, furnishes up-to-date information concerning the Academy Schools, including the Calendar for 1938-1939, Annual Reports of Departments, and Register of Students for 1937-1938. Sent free on application to Dr. C. E. Doering, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     The Academian. Published monthly during the school-year by the students of the Academy. Edited by Charles Gyllenhaal and a Staff of Associate Editors. Entering its second year with the September, 1938, number, this well-edited periodical brings the atmosphere of student life in the form of news and lively comment. $1.00 a year; 10 cents a copy. Address: Mr. Rey Cooper, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     Bryn Athyn Post. Published weekly throughout the year. Contains a Calendar of Meetings, Sermon Review, Accounts of Local Events, and Personal News. $1.00 a year. Address the Editor: Mr. Andrew R. Klein, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

528


FOR SALE 1938

FOR SALE              1938




     Announcements.



     Bryn Athyn Inn.

     The Academy of the New Church is prepared to sell the Land and Building in Bryn Athyn known as "Bryn Athyn Inn," and therefore solicits offers for same. The land consists of about 8/10ths of an acre located at the easterly junction of Alnwick Road and South Avenue. The frame building contains 22 rooms, 7 baths, kitchen, pantry, kitchenettes, etc., on three floors above a full basement containing service quarters with bath, heating equipment and store rooms. Apply for further information and submit offers to H. Hyatt, Treasurer. Bryn Athyn, Pa. No offer necessarily accepted.

529


JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD 1938

JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD       Rev. VICTOR J. GLADISH       1938


NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. LVIII DECEMBER, 1938          No. 12
     In the New Church it is known, in a general way, that the term "Son of God" applies to the Divine Human of the Only God, who is our Lord Jesus Christ. But it is doubtful whether it is realized how widely the term is used, not only in the Gospels, but also in the Heavenly Doctrine of the Second Coming.

     Since the phrase "Son of God," as written in the Word, signifies the Divine Human, or the Lord as to Divine Truth, it is evident that it is an eternal name and title for the Lord, even though we now know that we are not to be misled by the literal meaning and earthly conception of a "son" into supposing that any plurality of persons in God is meant; even though we know that in the Lord, our Savior, we see both Father and Son. It is natural and right that we should think and speak of God-Man, Jehovah Incarnate, chiefly as "The Lord," and as "Jesus Christ, the God of heaven and earth," but we should not suppose that the name "Son of God" is without its use today and for the future. It is doubtful if we realize how much might be said about the inter-relationship between the literal sense and the spiritual signification of the words, "the Son of God."

     In the True Christian Religion we read: "The first of faith, which is that the Lord is the Son of the living God, is like the morning star to all who enter into His church." (T. C. R. 379.) And elsewhere in the same work it is written: "In the preceding section it was shown that saving faith is faith in the Lord God the Savior Jesus Christ, but the question arises, What is the first of faith in Him?

530


The answer is, The acknowledgment that He is the Son of God. This was the first of faith which the Lord revealed and announced when He came into the world. For unless men had first acknowledged that He was the Son of God, and thus God from God, in vain would He Himself, and His Apostles after Him, have preached faith in Him." (T. C. R. 342.) Moreover, among the many things of similar weight to be found in the Doctrines, there is the statement in explanation of Peter's great profession, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God" (Matt. 16:16),-"That this truth is the first truth, and is like a diadem upon the head, and like a scepter in the hand of the body of Christ, is evident from the Lord's saying that upon this rock He would build His church." (T. C. R. 379.)

     This teaching may sound somewhat strangely upon our ears. We are so often taught to see the Lord Jesus Christ as the Only God of the universe,-God in One Person, Divine and Human,-that it may seem paradoxical to say that the first of faith is to acknowledge Him as the Son of God. Perhaps we may say to ourselves, "Is not the term 'Son of God' but a speaking in appearances, an adaptation to the fallacious ideas in men's minds at the time of the Lord's First Coming, from which ideas we have now advanced?"

     From one aspect this question can be answered, "Yes," and from another aspect, "No." To describe the Divine Human of the Lord as the Son of God is indeed a speaking in appearances, but it is not an appearance which can be wholly laid aside, departed from, and cast away as useless. We can and should see the genuine truth that lies within the appearance, but the most complete conception will be that which is seen through this appearance or literal sense, rather than by wholly disregarding the letter, and neglecting its relationship to the internal significance. For in a real and complete sense the Lord, in His coming upon earth, was the Son of God, as may be seen from the following specific teaching:

     "THE HUMAN WHEREBY GOD SENT HIMSELF INTO THE WORLD IS THE SON OF GOD. The Lord frequently said that the Father sent Him, and that He was sent by the Father, and this He said because being sent into the world means to descend and come among men; and this was done by means of a human which He took on through the virgin Mary. Moreover, the human is actually the Son of God, because it was conceived from Jehovah God as its Father, according to Luke 1:32, 35.

531


He is called the Son of God, the Son of Man, and the Son of Mary; the Son of God meaning Jehovah God in His Human, the Son of Man the Lord as to the Word, and the Son of Mary properly the human which He took on. . . . The Divine which He had was from Jehovah the Father, and the human from the mother. These two united are the Son of God. This is evident from the account of the Lord's birth as given in Luke, 'The angel said to Mary, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee; therefore that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. (1:35.)" (T. C. R. 92.)

     The point is that the assumed human, by which the "Word became flesh and dwelt among us," by which the Invisible God became visible and made Himself known, was an actual birth in time, something taken on, an addition, as it were, to the Eternal God,-something that was not the Divine in Itself, but described as a Son or Offspring of the Infinite. Reason tells us that nothing can be added to the Infinite, and nothing can be taken away. And yet we know from Revelation, and from perception, that creation was made from the Infinite substance by a process of finiting and a withdrawing of active life. And we know that in the fulness of time the Infinite God took on and adjoined to Himself a Human envelopment, as a means of approach to men,-something to which countless ages of men had looked forward as the coming of the Messiah and the birth of the Son of God. These things are true just so surely as we live and the world exists.

     The Divine Human, provided and foreseen by the Lord from eternity, and taken on in the fulness of time, could not be fully expressed to the minds of men without the use of the terms of Sonship and Fatherhood, basing Divine Truths upon conceptions of finite human relationship. But the Son of God bore no finite relationship to the Divine Itself, God the Father, but an Infinite Divine relationship, such that they could be wholly united as Divine Soul and Divine Body, not united merely as to love, as is possible with father and son among men. This the Lord taught when, to the words "I and the Father are one," He added the further teaching, "I am in the Father, and the Father in me; the works that the Father doeth I do also," and many other like sayings.

532




     It is because of these things that in no. 342 of the True Christian Religion, after quoting some twenty passages of the Gospel where it is said that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the remarkable statement is made: "From the foregoing now comes this conclusion, that everyone who wishes to be truly a Christian, and to be saved by Christ, ought to believe that Jesus is the Son of the living God. He who does not believe this, but only that He is the Son of Mary, implants in his mind various ideas respecting Him which are injurious and destructive to that salvation."

     Perhaps it may be wondered why the only alternative is between believing in the Lord as the Son of God and believing in Him as the Son of Mary. But the point is that Jesus Christ was born into the world, and therefore was actually a son-one born-both literally, and also significatively in the spiritual meaning of a "son" as the truth which goes forth from good. As to appearance, He was the son of Mary; as to reality, it was only an impermanent part,-the merely human, the earthly body,-that was the son of Mary; and when this had been gradually put off by the glorification process, He was wholly the Son of God-not the Son of God separate from God, but wholly one with God, the indwelling Father.

     Thus to eternity our approach to the One Infinite God is an approach to that in Him which is called the "Son of God," namely, to that teaching and manifestation and embodiment of Divine Truth by which He dwells among us. The Lord's appearing to men was and is in Divine Truth, in the Word of Divine Revelation, the Divine Good not being separated, but wholly conjoined-dwelling within as the spirit of love to others, a spirit by which the Lord will move us whenever we permit Him.

     In the early Christian Church, the acknowledgment of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God was the "first of faith" as a comparatively literal and human conception, but no matter how vague or how contradictory were their ideas on the subject, so long as their acknowledgment was sincere, it was the historical "first of faith " by which the church began, and upon which the Lord could build His Church, as He said to Peter. The most primitive and childlike mind knew what a son was, and all knew what God was-in some degree according to each one's state-and in that early state the "how" and the "why" of it was not so necessary to know.

533


To the instructed New Churchman the term "Son of God" should have a transcendent meaning. Yet this is not gained by abolishing the phrase and wholly discarding the literal implications, but by retaining these things as an underlying foundation,-the "first of faith" in a new sense.

     Many confirmatory things might be added in demonstration of the truth that the acknowledgment of our Lord as the Son of God is the primary of faith, both as an historical beginning and as the foundation of our understanding in regard to the nature of the Divine Human and the means of the glorification. To all eternity the entrance into this supreme doctrine will depend upon the fulness of our understanding of the term, "the Son of God."

     In further confirmation of this acknowledgment as an historical beginning we shall here mention only the teaching that, among the Mohammedans in the other life, the better ones, who live upon mountains in an eastern region, are from those who, while they lived in the world, had accepted the Lord as the Greatest Prophet and the Son of God. (S. D. 5663a.)

     In confirmation of the place of this acknowledgment in founding an interior conception with those who have the Word to the New Church, let us turn to a teaching in the Arcana:

     "In the Word the Lord is called Jehovah as to Divine Good, for Divine Good is the Divine Itself; and the Lord is called the Son of God as to Divine Truth, for Divine Truth proceeds from Divine Good as a Son from a Father, and is also said to be born. How this is shall be further told. When the Lord was in the world, He made His Human Divine Truth, and then He called the Divine Good, which is Jehovah, His Father, because, as just said, Divine Truth proceeds and is born from Divine Good. But after the Lord had fully glorified Himself, which was done when He endured the last of temptation on the cross, then He also made His Human Divine Good, that is, Jehovah; and thereby the Divine Truth itself proceeded from His Divine Human." (A. C. 7499.)

     But these final words do not mean that after the glorification, when the Divine Truth proceeded from the Divine Human, the Divine Human is no longer to be designated as the Son of God; for the word "son" essentially stands for that which is derivative, and in the Lord all is derivative except the Divine Itself, called the "Divine from which."

534


The glorified Divine Human is represented by the Son of God elevated above the heavens,-the Son returned to the Father from which He went forth. This is made evident in the following words from the work on the Athanasian Creed:

     "The Lord was conceived from the Divine Itself, and was afterwards born from It; for that which was born from Mary, this the Lord expelled by His Divine; and hence He assumed a Human cor- responding to His Divine; and thus . . . the Divine assumed to Itself a Human. Hence it is that He was not only conceived but also born from Jehovah, according to the words in the Psalm, 'Jehovah hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten Thee' (Psa. 2:7); and hence it is that He is the Son of God." (Ath. Cr. 150.)
PRAYER AND FAITH 1938

PRAYER AND FAITH       Rev. NORMAN H. REUTER       1938

     "Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye ask, when ye pray, believe that ye receive, and it shall take place with you." (Mark 11:24.)

     The text is a teaching of the Lord's concerning prayer,-that when a man prays he is to believe. Man needs the faith that the Lord can work miracles in him, that the Lord, by man's cooperation, can and does prepare ends as an answer to his prayers. If man has not this faith in the Divine power, if he does not believe that Providence, through all its myriad channels of operation, can effect its ends, he believes in neither the omniscience nor the omnipotence of God; nor does he believe in the free interaction between man and the Lord, that is, in influx and reception. For God inflows with life and power whenever man prepares himself to receive. The Lord said, "Believe that ye receive, and it shall take place with you."

     Faith is an interior acknowledgment of the Lord, and a looking to Him from that acknowledgment. Such faith makes possible that greatest of miracles,-regeneration. And in the progressive life of regeneration, a deeper faith,-that is, a more interior turning to the Lord from acknowledgment,-always makes possible that greater enlightenment which comes from a fuller and more interior reception of Divine Truth.

535


And a more interior influx of Divine Truth, when it is received and assented to, when it is accepted as the faith given of God, brings with it a more living perception of the universal application of the man's faith to his life. Thus true faith gives man the vision to lead him on, and the power to open each successive door of development, that the Lord may enter more and more interiorly into him to work the miracle of regeneration.

     For this reason the Lord said: "Have the faith of God. For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he hath said shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye ask, when ye pray, believe that ye receive, and it shall take place with you." (Mark 11:22-24.)

     There are two important ideas contained in the text,-the idea of prayer, and the idea of belief, or faith, which is called the "faith of God." These are two things, and yet both, in their pure form, being of Divine order, are so closely bound together that one depends upon the other; in fact, one cannot exist apart from the other.

     Prayer is a specific turning to God for aid. The very attitude of genuine prayer involves the idea that man has no power; that man has nothing of life; that he is a vessel receptive of life. And man, the vessel, turns in prayer to his Maker, supplicating Him to pour forth His Spirit and remold the vessel which is deformed through hereditary and actual evils. "O Lord, Thou art our Father; we are the clay, and Thou our Potter; and we all are the work of Thy hand." (Isa. 64:8.)

     Essential to the state of prayer is a spirit of humility,-a humility that is not born of the emotional natural man, but which arises from an ever-increasing realization of the true relation between God and man. If prayer is of such a quality with the man, being conjoined with trust in the Lord and humility before Him, the external act of kneeling and supplicating the Lord is then but the ultimate of an internal attitude which is a continual bending of the head of the natural man to the will of the Lord. If man is regenerating, the essence of his thought in regard to the Lord is a continual, prayerful seeking from Him for the truth that guides, to which attitude of seeking is adjoined the knowledge that, when man endeavors to live that truth, the Lord will add the good, that is, give to him that delight which is inherent in the application of truth from love.

536


For we read that "truths are what pray in man, and man is continually in such prayers when he lives according to such truths." (A. E. 493:3.) Such prayer is not of the mouth, but is of the life, and is what is signified by the incense which arose as a sweet savor to Jehovah.

     II.

     The essence of the use and the operation of prayer is given in the following number from the Arcana: "Prayer, regarded in itself, is speech with God, and some internal view at the same time of the matters of the prayer, to which there answers something like an influx into the perception or thought of the mind, so that there is a certain opening of the man's interiors toward God; but this with a difference according to the man's state, and according to the essence of the subject of the prayer. If the man prays from love and faith, and for only heavenly and spiritual things, there comes forth in the prayer something like a revelation, which is manifested in the affection of him who prays as hope, consolation, or a certain inward joy. From this it is that `to pray,' in the internal sense, signifies to be revealed." (A. C. 2535.)

     It is here said that "if man prays from love and faith, and for only heavenly and spiritual things," he then receives an answer, for "there then comes forth in the prayer something like a revelation." Here is the key to the internal sense of the text, "Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye ask, when ye pray, believe that ye receive, and it shall take place with you."

     The expression, "When ye pray," here refers not so much to the external act as to the internal attitude of looking to the Lord. And if, when thus approaching the Lord, the regenerating man believes in the Lord's power, if he has confidence that the influx from God can reform him, he shall receive of that influx, and be moved by its power; and reformation can take place with him in the degree that he so believes, and with confidence follows the will of God.

     But this faith in God's power to save is derived from a love that seeks "only heavenly and spiritual things."

537


To a regenerating man, ends pertaining to eternal life are alone of importance, and earthly things are significant only in so far as they serve spiritual purposes. Hence he does not pray for worldly things, for the improvement of his earthly estate, nor even for relief from pain and sorrow, but "only for spiritual things," which may even involve the deprivation of some of the worldly things that his natural man craves. And when the heart and thought are thus turned heavenward, it is true, as the text states, that whatsoever things are sought will be received. "Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; for everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." (Matt. 7:7, 8.) "And it shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer, and while they are yet speaking, I will hear." (Isa. 65:24.)

     It is a miracle of God's omniscience and omnipotence, and of His Providence by which omniscience and omnipotence operate, that whenever man is prepared to receive anything spiritual, it is immediately forthcoming. Such is the very nature of the spiritual world, the very constitution of the realm in which man's spirit moves and operates. On the natural plane the desires of man cannot be immediately and totally fulfilled in this manner, because of the inherent limitations of time and space, and still more because of the presence and opposition of evil, and the disrupted order which the presence and activity of evil creates. But on the spiritual plane there is no time and space, and in heaven there is no disorder or opposition from evil. Moreover, whatever is truly spiritual is of Divine order, a part of that which the Divine continually wills to establish; and therefore, when man seeks spiritual things,-truly spiritual ones,-there is no opposition, but on the contrary an immediate influx and confirmation from the Divine, with, as it were, the effect of supporting man in that spiritual desire.

     But why is it said, "When ye pray, believe" What is the relation between prayer and belief? In the words "pray" and "believe" is involved all that man must do in order "to receive." "Praying" has reference to turning to the Lord; "believing" signifies the confidence that, since all is from the Lord, He is able to accomplish all. Belief is the affirmative in the turning to the Lord, and without that affirmative any supplication has a selfish and not a heavenly end in view; for the man then looks to himself, and not to the Lord.

538




     Man turns to the Lord with a heavenly end in view when he seeks that which will be of use, not primarily to self, but to the neighbor. From doctrine it is permitted man to know that, when he thus acts from love to the neighbor, he himself will be eternally benefitted and enriched thereby. And if, knowing this, he cultivates love to the neighbor, seeking this return for himself as the end, the love of self is then the soul of his love of the neighbor, and thus his end is debased. Such a use of doctrine is condemned, and is called faith separated from charity-knowledge divorced from the proper use of that knowledge. This faith is represented by the fig tree which the Lord cursed, because it bore no fruit. Man is signified by the tree, faith by the leaves which it had in abundance; but since no fruit was found thereon-because charity was lacking-the tree withered away. When Peter called to remembrance the withering of the tree, the Lord said, as a further warning against such faith, which is derived not from heaven, but from man,-" Have the faith of God!"

     "Have the faith of God!" This was said to the disciples when they supposed that they could do miracles of themselves. And so is man apt to imagine from the doctrine of the church, or from his own self-gathered knowledge of philosophy and the social conditions of the world, that he can perform the miracle of perfecting and regenerating himself. But he, like the disciples, will find that the case is otherwise. If he endeavors to perfect himself, of and from him- self, the love of self will always be the end, no matter what external he may assume, for that which is the source is also the end.

     III.

     The faith which man first derives from the Word is an historical faith, a faith of authority, a faith of the memory. This is not from God, for man has acquired it of himself. That it is not from God, is evident from the various faiths which men have derived from the Word, many of which could not be from God. Such a faith is a man's own idea of what faith is. Nevertheless, if man lives according to that faith, that is, according to his understanding of the truths of revelation, by that very application of truths as he sees and understands them, the interiors of his mind are opened to influx from heaven, and then God gifts him with a new faith, a faith born of the light produced by this influx.

539


This is the faith of charity, and wholly from the Lord, because it is produced by the good that inflows from the Lord. This is the "faith of God," elsewhere called "saving faith."

     A faith of this character believes, not blindly, but because it knows and perceives; and it has this conviction because of its experience in the reception of good and its application in a life of charity. Such a faith is not only of the intellect, but is also rooted in the will, and is founded upon actual spiritual experience. It is the result of the regenerating will affecting and enlightening the understanding. This is what is meant when it is said that "if man prays from love and faith, there comes forth in the prayer something like a revelation, which is manifest in the affection of him who prays as hope, consolation, or a certain inward joy." This revelation comes from the love of the Lord and the love of the neighbor implanted in the will, which passes into the understanding and produces a faith in the reality of spiritual things, which sensation of reality springs from actual regenerative experience. This love and this faith give deeper illustration in new truths, and clearer insight into their application. For such an influx brings not only a sensation of "hope, consolation, or inward joy" at the time of the prayer, but also later it gives rise to an enlightened perception that reveals the truth in truths which previously the man was simply unable to see or understand.

     This, then, is the faith which the Lord said is able to move the "mountain" of self-love into the "sea," which represents hell. This is the faith that heals all spiritual disease. Its antecedent was an historical faith which really did not understand truth, but believed it because God so revealed or commanded it; but the living faith which is the result of God's presence and conjunction in man, in the vessels he has formed by temptation, has the capacity, because it is from God, of seeing truth as true, and of holding to it from affection.

     With a man thus seeing and believing, which also spiritually involves willing, his faith can be continually perfected by God, because it continually keeps his interiors open to God. Hence the Lord said, "Believe that ye receive, and it shall take place with you."

     The secret of how man receives whatsoever he desires when he prays lies in this.

540


If man truly prays-prays as he should pray-he seeks only that which God wills for him, knowing full well that the Lord alone knows what is best for the end, which is salvation. And in so far as man's will is that the Lord's will be done, his every wish is fulfilled. But in so far as he prays for that which is not best for him or for his loved ones,-even though he may sincerely, yet mistakenly, believe that what he asks for is for the best,-in so far his behests cannot be granted. To do so would be opposite to Divine mercy; for, although the individual may be unaware of the fact, the granting of his behest in such a case would retard or destroy his spiritual progress, or the progress of the one for whom the request is made. We pray and ask according to what we think is best, but the Lord cooperates with prayer according to what He knows is best. When a man has acquired true celestial loves, and as a consequence has the genuine insight of the wisdom of love, then, because his desires are more fully in the stream of Providence, his behests can be more fully and more frequently granted, for then there is correspondence between his will and the laws of Divine order and Providence.

     Speaking of this state, Swedenborg writes in the Spiritual Diary: "Especially have I seen in a spiritual idea, and anyone can perceive it, that the Lord consults in each and all things for him who has faith in the Lord and the insight of faith, almost to such an extent that he has no care whatever, but unconsciously obtains everything that is necessary, and everything that is useful for necessary things. All things then succeed with him, and he is led to heavenly felicity." (S. D. 2563.)

     Jesus said unto a certain man who desired Him to cure his child, possessed of an evil spirit, "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe, help Thou mine unbelief!" And forthwith the child was healed. (Mark 9:23, 24.) Amen.

     LESSONS: Psalm 51 and 54. Mark 11:12-26. A. C. 10299.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 505, 529, 551.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 185, 189.

541


RELIGION IN THE HOME 1938

RELIGION IN THE HOME       Rev. HUGO LJ. ODHNER       1938

     It would be a daring undertaking to speak with any authority upon the intimate subject of Religion in the Home. For each one considers his home as his castle, and brooks no criticism of his private affairs.

     Members of the church engage in certain common uses, adopt common modes, and assume joint responsibilities. But in the home a man's faith is practiced according to his own character and judgment and conditioning circumstances.

     Yet the church voices certain ideals of home-life, without which the work of the church would be nullified. One of these relates to the conjugial life, another to the education of the young, another to the need of family worship, and others to the doctrines bearing upon the relation of charity to the various uses and obligations and recreations within the home; and all of them look to the regeneration of all its individuals. We believe, therefore, that there are certain characteristics which should distinguish the New Church home.

     Ideals of the home-life are so various that if we could, in spirit, visit the homes in the world about us, what differences we would find!

     There would be the devout Catholic home, embellished with the pictures of saints and the statue of the Madonna; where prayers before the crucifix are multiplied by priestly penances, and an inner supernatural fear is haunting even the worldliest minds, and forms become elevated into essentials of salvation; yet where a real solace is found for simple souls who are afraid of taking responsibility for their own spiritual destinies.

     We would also find the Puritan type of a home, ruled by strong, intolerant hands which enforce piety by relentless discipline, and make of disobedience a blasphemy; which grudge praise and over-emphasize drudgery. For the Puritan feels a consciousness of his own will-power as the sign of Divine grace, and elevates every belligerent conviction into a religious conscience, counting weakness as a crime, and condemning freedom as "license."

542




     Next door, perhaps, the respected members of a Mid-Victorian home would primly, and with tight lips, insist upon outward appearances and straight-laced behavior, which would restrain all improprieties without touching the inner rebellion of the will, and would vastly prefer a nice hypocrisy to the crude spontaneous mistakes of innocence.

     Going on, we might find ourselves in a purely practical home-which drifts upon a sea of Martha-worries, and is tossed by imagined necessities and continual plans for better comforts; which has no time for spiritual things or for any intellectual pursuits, but seeks its emotional outlets in political arguments, or in discussing the movies and the sporting page, or in wallowing in lurid Sunday supplements.

     There is also the type of home in which Sentimentalism has usurped the place of true religion, where there may be intense family loyalty, perhaps clannishness. Sometimes-as we know-a mother's love can grow into a sensitive tyranny. Sometimes such people are faithful church-goers, but they are devoid of any discrimination about what the real spiritual needs of their children or neighbors are. For natural good is deceptive; it hides evil rather than face moral shocks, and is easily carried into condoning what should be condemned. It tends to group bias and to personal prejudices.

     But we also find the Broad-minded home, with a nonchalant attitude of tolerance, and often with a tendency to license in both thought and behavior. It is cheerfully skeptical of any criterion of truth or any standards of conduct. It tries out fads in literature and art, and in religion, perhaps; but is without any deep conviction. Its children are brought up as individualists, with lots of originality and spoiled self-expression, but then are launched upon the world like ships without rudders.

     Across the way we see two semi-detached houses. One is the Modernist home, where the only crime is to be "old-fashioned," and modern methods of living and education are adopted because they are the latest thing. There the most recently acclaimed preacher is the only one to be listened to, the most recent theory of child psychology the one to be followed, the last printed book the only one to be read.

543


There the hope of the future lies always in the latest invention, the most recent social panacea. Tradition and the wisdom of the past are things to be politely minimized. Religion-if any-must be diluted into vague social service.

     And beyond the thin retaining wall there is the Scientific home, which pins its faith on the magical powers of science. Mere sentiment is banned, and as soon as possible the children are taught that a spade is a spade. Everything is matter-of-fact; there is no reticence, no room for innocence, or fancy, or intellectual warmth, or tenderness. Hygiene, physical and mental, is everything to such a form of mind. Evil-or social rebellion-is merely the result of bad teeth, or bad economics, or something. Everything works by formulas, and can be reproduced synthetically.

     But across the park is another home,-the Social type. As a matter of fact, it has no home-life. It is a glorified boarding house. All the members of the family-parents and children (age of five and up)-go in and out continually. Groups of them find the place fine for entertaining their friends, and for grabbing lunch or getting some sleep-occasionally. But there are no common interests, no ties, no routine, no obligations.

     We have, of course, exaggerated. These are types of homes, and there are many other types. Each type displays some grievous fault which may infest any home,-faults which we may at times recognize in our own. Each also represents a type of mind, a tendency which may be that of our own.

     THE NEW CHURCH HOME.

     What should we like our New Church home to be? We cannot expect all of us to conform to any one type. Our homes will be as various as those in the world. Yet certain definite characteristics must mark it, if it is to be a New Church home.

     First of all, it must have a center. And the center must not be the children, not the father, not the mother. It must be the Lord! The love of the Lord is the source of all genuine loves that color and warm human life. Yet the love of the Lord, as understood in the New Church, is not merely a sentimental attachment to the Person of Him who walked in Galilee and who bled upon the cross.

544


The Christian world abounds in a personal love of Jesus. The hymns of Methodism breathe ad nauseam of this fawning devotion, and the emotions of Catholic sanctity throb with the same almost physical worship, to the point of profanation. But there is no saving power in such worship. "To love the Lord as a Person, and not uses, is to love Him from self, which is not to love." (Div. Love, XIII.) To love the Lord means to do His commandments, to seek to know His will in the Divine Revelations which testify of Him, and to love and live His truth; to love the things which proceed from Him, for these are the Lord with man. (A. E. 973:2, 433:2.) Therefore an angelic master taught his disciples, "Think of God from Essence, and from this of His Person; . . . for to think from Person about His Essence is to think materially even about the Essence; whereas to think from the Essence about the Person is to think spiritually even about the Person."

     Thus it is in a love of the Divine Truth, and a love of the uses or the life to which that Truth leads, that the New Church home must center. The Repository, in which the Word and a copy of the Heavenly Doctrine are kept, is a proper symbol of the aspiration of the New Church home. For the New Church home has its distinctive quality only in this, that every member therein, as a matter of course, looks to Divine Revelation for guidance in all times of need. Such a home looks to the Word for its blessings, for its contact with heavenly spheres; looks to the Writings for its instruction, for the answers to its spiritual problems, for strength in its states of vacillation and anxiety.

     The family Repository is, of course, only a symbol. But there is a power in such an ultimate. It continually calls out the need of daily worship. It asks-silently-that a place be provided in the hours of the day when the routine of the family may be set aside and all unite in a call for new strength from heaven. It reminds us that "a highway shall be there, . . . and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; . . . wayfaring men, though fools, shall nor err therein."

     Often we frown at the thought of doing things from habit. Yet our whole life is a maze of habits, and many of them are very bad. All of us, at times, wonder if our lives would not have been happier if only some of the things which we now compel ourselves to do from conviction had been instilled in our earlier life, and had become habitual and as it were smooth and painless.

545


The natural man, being a creature of habits, rebels at any change within his domain; yet, as soon as a new habit has been established, he accepts it as part of himself. It becomes rooted and confirmed in his body. There is no other way of governing our natural man than by imposing upon him the kind of habits which our reason and our religion dictate. We can reach freedom and spontaneity and delight in our religious life only by the way of self-compulsion, which breaks up the resistance of the natural life, and prudently reorganizes it into a more capable servant, which prepares the highway for the Lord's entry-"making the rough places plain."

     We are taught that, in such deliberate habit-formation by self-compulsion, man comes into real freedom. His rational mind, his interiors, with their quiet convictions, are at last given freedom against the pressures of natural farces and the dominance of the animal man. The act of genuine worship is actually a liberation of the spirit from dominion by the world. And the Writings note that in this world man ought not to neglect external worship. For by it internal things are excited, and external things are kept in holiness, so that internal things can inflow. Man is not only instructed thereby, but he is also gifted with states of holiness, with remains unconsciously implanted, which states return for his use in the other life. (A. C. 1618.)

     And external worship is also definitely described. (H. D. 124; Charity, 173-176.) It includes the frequenting of public worship, with prayers, and singing, and sermons and sacraments. But it also includes five things done "at home": "(1) Prayer morning and evening, and at dinners and suppers. (2) Conversing with others about charity and faith, and about God, heaven, eternal life, and salvation. (3) And, in the case of priests, preaching, and also private instruction. (4) And with everyone, the instruction of children and servants in such matters. (5) Reading the Word and books of instruction and of piety." (Char. 174.)

     It might be asked why there should be common worship in the home, if-as is sometimes the case-all the members of the family have their private devotions, and all attend public worship. We grant that the need is not so urgent as long as this is the case.

546


But we can so easily extend the question: Why, then, attend the public services! Why not have all worship an individual, private undertaking?

     The general principle, I think, we find in the law that all common uses are inwardly such as the spirit in which they are initiated, even as the intention qualifies the act. What is the first in end should be represented by that which is first in time. (C. L. 98e.) The introduction into a new state, or a new effort, is rightly accompanied by a looking to the Lord, who alone can bless the fruit of our works.

     This is the reason why, from a common perception, it is usual to open public meetings with prayer, to begin a school session with worship, to bless a new undertaking in the name of the Lord. This is the principle within the New Church betrothal ceremony and, later, the wedding. Sunday worship is the "first state," which should shed its influence upon the workaday week.

     According to this principle, the ultimates of one state-such as the state of worship-become the primes of a following order. (C. L. 311, cp. 313.) Our acts of worship qualify our subsequent actions. The states of the entire household are colored by the humbling of all before the Lord.

     And the household is a unit. It is a tragic thing when the home does not represent a common progress, or have a character of its own. A family (and of course we refer to a home with parents and children) represents a special good. Each family is distinguished by some peculiar good or evil, truth or falsity,-the fruit of heredity, common traditions and social sphere, similar environment and a common faith. (A. C. 7833.)

     We are told that married partners, when united by conjugial love, receive a single influx: the Lord inflows into the affections of both as into one affection. (A. C. 4145.) At first they are drawn to each other by various external likings; later by a conjunction of minds, when they take delight in pleasing each other; finally, however, if there is to be conjugial love, there follows a unition as to celestial and spiritual things, by a common faith and common affections. (Ibid.)

     And the same applies, differently, to the family. Children, while they are small and dependent, are bound to their parents by external bonds. But "a spiritual father" cannot love his children as they grow up except in proportion to their virtues.

547


And the same holds true of children. They, when they grow up, become observant of the faults in their parents, and an internal cold develops within families where nothing but external things have held it together.

     The family lives a life of its own. Its members go through many states together,-trying states which involve the settling of discordant viewpoints, the adjustment of different needs, the promotion of different uses. To make these adjustments possible, a standard is needed which is outside the family, outside the social environment that continually draws all in different directions;-a standard, the authority of which is higher than that of the parents. The parents must make it clear that they, too, are men " under authority " (Luke 7:8), not merely serving their own will. It is in the light of Revelation that the real values and relative importance of all the various ambitions and uses within the family must be judged. From childhood up the habit must be established of turning to the Lord for light and guidance; not to read the Word merely to confirm one's opinions, but to learn-and to be exposed to the steady, daily scrutiny of the Heavenly Doctrine.

     There come periods in every family when there is nervous tension and a tendency of each to ignore the rights of the others,-times when there is so much worry over little things, a decrease of mutual understanding, an undue sensitiveness, and a desire to dominate. It is easily recognized. It begins with the voices being raised, and a general lack of courtesy and forbearance. Mutual accusations follow, and angry words may lead to retaliations. And when the parents cannot stand it any more, one of them sometimes flares up and metes out punishments which, even if just, miss their mark because they do not convince the wrongdoer of his guilt.

     Now it is quite beside the point that a bit of cod-liver oil and earlier bed-hours, or some other simple remedy, might have avoided the more unpleasant phases of such periods. The real fact is that in times of physical depression and social over-excitement, and abuses of our bodies and nerves, our proprium becomes less controllable, is more easily revealed. Evil spirits love to inflow into diseased and tired bodies, and they then have an ultimate power. Still, it is our proprium that shows its ugly head. And the proprium is not combated by cod-liver oil, nor even by straight homeopathy.

548


It is stirred by evil spirits, and there is no remedy for such an infestation but to seek the company of angelic spirits.

     It is very important, not only at such times, but at all times, that our routine-filled with natural anxieties, proprial states, and the love of going our own way-be broken up by periodic worship. Certainly the prayers at meals, and the gathering before the family shrine, help us to make constantly new beginnings, unless the customs become a mere formality.

     Yet no New Church home desires to model itself on the Puritan pattern, where there is a sphere of compulsion to worship, and where the form is taken to be the essential-a sort of token of decency and respectability. Nor can holiness be measured by the length or elaborate completeness or rigid routine of our daily worship. Worship must not be made a burden. The object is not only to establish a habit, but to make it seem a desirable one, a delightful and natural interlude in the day's occupations and pleasures, and a source of some interest to the young as well as to the old. Children have no habits of their own, and will easily comply with what the family takes for granted. Certainly the decision should not be left to the children as to whether there should be worship or not. But if there be any threats or punishments for a child's non-attendance, this will possibly lead to his aversion toward the worship itself.

     It is an educational principle that there must be accommodation in all instruction. The children must understand something of what is read. None of us understand all of it. Such books as the Psalms and Prophets should be alternated, I think, with New Testament books, so that the interest may be fed. And from the Writings, why not select according to the needs of the family? Warren's Compendium gives the revealed doctrine in a volume of leading treatments. Works like the Earths in the Universe, the Doctrine of Life, the Doctrine of Charity, selected Memorabilia, and parts of the True Christian Religion, are comprehensible to children. Explanations can be added; questions might be allowed. Too much formality destroys the purpose of home worship.

     Nor let us forget that, while adults are able to love the Lord as to His essential Love and Wisdom, children must see the Lord, picture His image, feel His presence tangibly. Bible pictures of the realistic (not the Renaissance) kind are valuable aids.

549


A good picture of the Lord on the wall aids the child's mind. Candles before the Repository, singing, or music, may in some cases lend an added delight. As the children grow up, the worship must change also. Each child is given his own Bible, and he likes one with pictures and maps, and-above all-large enough print. With some encouragement, he will try to read for himself.

     Let us not make the mistake of crushing all sentiment out of the child. Religion to him means the love of the Lord as a Person. I often wonder whether it would not be wise to give our children more encouragement to pray to the Lord in their own words, and not to limit them to the Lord's Prayer. For they should feel their dependence upon the Lord, regard Him as the near-by invisible Father, to whom they can go at any time with their troubles.

     The Letter of the Word is a plane of union between old and young. It conjoins all states, and warms all hearts. Children feel a sympathetic understanding with its notable stories, heroes, and teachings. And the adults know the presence of its internal sense; they know that all Divine Truth is there centered and contained.

     By ultimate worship the family is led into a common association with the same angelic societies. By it there is something of a temporary return to the state of the Golden Age, when each man was the patriarch and priest in his home, and the members of the family, after death, went to join the same society, for eternal uses.

     I do not believe that family worship alone can make a New Church home. Piety for the sake of piety is not a rational thing. But the worship makes of the house a home, and gives it a center,-an everlasting purpose.

     The New Church home is distinguished, not by any forms or modes, but by its sphere of life and its united resistance to evil. And there are three things, we are told, that those who will be of the New Jerusalem will shun from religion:-adultery, and all things which are of the sphere of adultery, or draw the things of marriage into derision; deceit, which eats out the marrows of a man's character, and anything that savors of hypocrisy and insincerity; and finally, love of rule, which destroys the freedom of those around one. (S. D. 6053.) If there is, by common, almost unspoken, consent, an aversion to these three, I think we may say that there is Religion in that home. For these three can be shunned only from Religion.

550


CHARTER DAY ADDRESS 1938

       Rev. GILBERT H. SMITH       1938

     (Delivered at Bryn Athyn, Pa., October 21, 1938.)

     On November 3, 1877, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania granted a Charter to the Academy,-the Academy of the New Church. By that Charter the Academy was granted the privilege of promulgating and cultivating, in its spiritual purity, the knowledge of the Divine Revelation which we call the Heavenly Doctrine, and also the right to perform uses of spiritual charity.

     These uses of charity were given a threefold definition: 1. The preparation of men for the Ministry of the New Church; 2. The collection and publication of the manuscripts and original editions of the Writings; and 3. The publication of collateral works, by which the interior understanding of the Heavenly Doctrine was to infuse a new spirit into the organized Church.

     The granting of this Charter by the State is a grant of its legal sanction to carry on these uses freely. This is what we celebrate today. We are not limited in the exercise of our freedom to teach and apply the Doctrine upon which we hope to base our success. We are not limited by anything but our own states of love and zeal for the Heavenly Doctrine. The only limit is that which we set upon ourselves.

     To celebrate a thing is to exalt it, to make it great, and to rejoice over it. We may celebrate and rejoice over the granting of this Charter; but in reality there is nothing to celebrate except the success we may have realized in doing the things for which it was granted. The Charter itself is only an opportunity, with a promise of great things to be accomplished. We may laud the purposes which the infant Academy set before itself; but celebration will be rather hollow unless we can see that these purposes have been realized in a good measure of actual results.

     The purposes of the Academy, which brought it into existence, have certainly been accomplished to such a degree of success as to inspire in us, here assembled, feelings of great gratitude to the Lord.

551


He also inspires us with a confidence of continuing success in all three departments of the Academy's work,-in the education and preparation of men for the Ministry, in the collection and publication of the manuscripts of Swedenborg; in the schools, and in the collateral publications designed to give to the people of the church a true and interior understanding of the Doctrine and the life of the New Jerusalem.

     In the first of these divisions, see the excellence of the instruction now given in our Theological School and College, and the great Academy Library as an adjunct to them. In the second department, consider the unexcelled translating done by our learned Doctor Alfred Acton,-The Word Explained, The Fibre, The Brain, and works on other psychological and anatomical subjects. In the third department of general literature devoted to the propagation and understanding of the Doctrine of the New Church, we have publications of perennial value, from the initial Words for the New Church to the present-day peacemaking work by Bishop George de Charms on The Growth of the Mind. In all of these great and useful enterprises we may rejoice on Charter Day.

     We are fond of going back to the writings and sayings of the men with whom the Academy had its beginning. We regard them as wise and devoted men. And so they were. We like to quote the words of these leaders of a former generation, to keep before us a true vision of the uses to which they were devoted. But it is more pertinent for us in our generation to be about their business, bringing forth instruction and works of wisdom that make us worthy to bear upon our own shoulders the mantle of their prophetic spirit.

     It is thrilling to know that the Academy had so strong a beginning, and how, and why; but it is better for us on this commemorative day to rejoice in our own strength, and in the work of the Academy which we have to do. I do not speak of our own strength in any other sense than of the inspiration and ability given of the Lord to the men of our own day. Of ourselves we can do nothing. But if the work of the present Academy is of the Lord, and we are willing still that His will may be done on earth, we shall have sufficient wisdom and ability to use as our own.

552




     It is of little value for us merely to wave our flags, honoring the men of a former time. We must also thrill to the idea and purpose of doing as they did. We may delight in their words of wisdom, and in their devotion to the best cause on earth; but not merely this; we must bring forth concepts of wisdom from our own genius, adapted to our own generation. We must produce our own deeds of devotion to the original aims of the Academy. And these aims are: "To be prepared and provided in spirit and in life to see the Lord's will in the interior revelations of His truth." I quote this from the twelve men who, in 1876, formulated the Principles of the Academy,-"To see it and to do it."

     Let us have all our wisdom from these revelations of Truth, and apply it to the uses we are doing, with full confidence that this is more to the point than merely harking back to what has been said and done in the past, though this will ever stand as an inspiration to us.

     Let us continue to be stirred by the words of David Powell in 1884, when he said: "Let us pass a resolution declaring that the establishment of a New Church School is one of the most important uses to which we can devote our energies." But for ourselves in the present day we must change it to include the maintenance of several schools; and instead of saying that it is one of the most important uses, we may declare that it is the most important of all uses.

     If a few young men in Pittsburgh, years ago, met to consider what was to be done about a negative spirit in the church then,-a spirit that halted at acknowledging in heart what the Writings say about the state of the Christian world and if the Academy was founded to combat that negative spirit; it is for us of this time to continue to combat it, and to find effective means to carry on the combat.

     The Rev. Richard de Charms said: "I design to demonstrate the necessity of religious instruction in early youth, to prove that the primary object of education should be to store the memory of children with knowledges of Divine Truth, to implant in them, as a principle of life, obedience to Divine command, and to raise the whole superstructure of their minds upon this foundation. If our children are not imbued in their very conception and early education with principles of faith from the Word, they will continue to go out of the church."

553


We might add more to this; but we certainly can take nothing away from the truth of it.

     "Without the performance of this greatest of heavenly uses," Bishop Benade has said, "the New Church cannot descend and will not be established." We need not try to add anything to the force of these words. But if we do not believe them, we have nothing of importance to celebrate today.

     The great problem for us is: How are we going to advance the work of the Academy? The problem of these men was great in their day, when the Charter was granted. Today, it seems to us, our problems are greater.

     We want to develop a system of education of our own,-a system independent of that in the world outside the New Church, yet parallel to it in certain necessary subjects. We do not want any educators not of the Church, or associations of colleges, to dictate to us what we shall teach, or what shall be the qualifications of those who teach it. We want to borrow from the Egyptians, if you will pardon a comparison which may seem a little too familiar, and even steal from the Egyptians. But we want to be delivered from them, and absolutely separated from their house of bondage. To escape from educational slavery we must go out of their land, and not remain within it.

     To be accredited by the world's approved universities, and to gain degrees of scholarship from them, may seem to make our own college shine in added plumage. But we have no need to court the approval of a system of education, the badness of which is the very reason for our own Academy.

     No New Churchman can enroll in a non-New Church institution of learning except as an interloper, or perhaps as something of a spy in an alien land, looking to what he may get in the way of advantage to himself, winning degrees for the sake of scholastic advancement, or for the sake of technical or scientific knowledge which he cannot get elsewhere. He may not fully enter into the spirit of a non-New Church school. While he may get from them a large accumulation of factual knowledge, scientific data, and training in the exact sciences, which may be of great use to him in his profession or use, yet to receive credit from such schools in the realm of philosophy or scientific theory, he must deal a little insincerely with them, in pretending to subscribe to many things in which he does not believe.

554


He must lie low, and keep many reservations of thought to himself. For if a New Churchman in an alien institution of higher learning were openly to combat the falsities and fallacies which are taught as truth, there might be some question as to whether he would receive the degrees he wishes to earn. He must ever be a stranger in a strange land. He cannot be one with them in spirit. He can only be there as a sort of spy, prospecting for valuable information to borrow.

     We are ideally situated to carry out a scheme which is the best possible for our day and generation; namely, to provide in our College a period of purely philosophical and theoretical study, imbuing the mind fully with the truths of Divine Revelation, and leaving until later the matter of technical training in subjects chosen for specialization. When a young man or woman has gotten all that the Academy can give him,-of Religion, Philosophy, and the humanistic studies, of History and the social sciences, of Mathematics and the natural sciences,-there is time enough afterward for those who wish to specialize to receive technical training in other institutions. The student who receives our education first, in a few years of care-free study, will be incalculably the better fitted to enter into any work or profession he may afterward follow. We are ideally fixed to carry out this most desirable scheme.

     And what do we want in our academic and college curriculum? We want, first and foremost, the Religion and Philosophy of the New Church. In our schools of higher learning we want Mathematics all along the line, and for boys and men as much as possible. We want as much as possible of Chemistry and Biology. We want Literature all the way, but according to our own standards of what is valuable. We want to pursue this subject by a great deal of actual reading. We want History all the way, but seen and taught from the standpoint of what the Writings reveal to us of the internal history of nations and peoples. We want, especially, to imbue our students with the true philosophy of the New Church, in those few precious years when they should be free to devote themselves to purely intellectual pursuits.

     With the exception of our justly beloved English,-our native tongue,-in which our students should be fully trained and made proficient, the study of languages is of secondary importance.

555


And the study of ancient languages, while made available to all who have an aptitude or a love for them, should not be required as major subjects of those who have no aptitude in acquiring them, or who will not have particular need of them in their life's work. We need not be bound in slavery to the Egyptian credit system of the colleges. And we may well remember our teaching in the Writings that the words of natural languages do not qualify a man for spiritual life, and in the other world are forgotten; even as they are forgotten in this life when not constantly in use. It is ideas that are to be cultivated for spiritual intelligence.

     Our Academy and its College is not be regarded as a preparatory school for the continuation of studies in other schools. Our standards must be our own. We want no non-New Church associations of educators to tell us what our standards must be. Let our students attend our College, and go as far as we can take them. If they wish afterwards to specialize in some one of the schools of the world, let them meet the standards of that school, and be prepared to sift truth from the many falsities they will be taught.

     Compare our higher education to that of the accredited colleges of the world. They teach many things which are utterly false, even in the field of general scientific knowledge; and of some of the most important truths they have no knowledge whatsoever. Let us note some of them.

     Everything in the universe has its existence and subsistence from the Lord God the Creator; all things were created and are kept alive by Him. This is a most fundamental scientific truth, but it would not be considered either as a starting point or as a conclusion in the common university training. What is believed in colleges outside the New Church is that there is a thing called Nature which is self-sustaining and has life in itself.

     The spiritual world is a world of causes, and acts everywhere into the natural world, producing all effects. This is a scientific generalization not recognized outside of the New Church.

     The life of man is essentially different from that of other species; and the difference is so great that man is immortal as to soul and mind, and other species are not. This is not known in the institutions of the world.

556




     The marvelous instinct of all animal and insect life is the result of a general influx from the spiritual world into the things of nature; what the animal soul is; what the vegetable soul is. These are things unknown in non-New Church colleges.

     And there are many other most fundamental and far-reaching scientific facts which the learned of the world know nothing about; for example, the fact that the soul of all species is from the father,-a most essential generalization in Biology; also that the sun does not cause seeds to grow, but only opens them so that spiritual forces can make them grow. Another thing unknown is that light, if it may truly be said to travel at all, in the vast inter-stellar spaces, does not travel at the laggard rate at which it penetrates the gross atmospheres near the earth.

     In general, nothing is known of the spiritual world, which causes all things in nature to live and grow, and to put on the appearance of life. But unless these things are known, even material sciences cannot rightly be understood and interpreted.

     We want, I think, to keep our independence of thought and instruction, and to keep our eyes ever fresh to see clearly what our instruction should be, and the methods we think best to use. Our curriculum need not be encumbered with the fading flowers of a mental garden now becoming withered and dried. But we need concern ourselves only with what a clear rationality may show to be the most desirable. The weeds of a dead Christianity need not choke the flowers of our educational garden. For the needs of the human intellect, the needs of education, must certainly change, as all other things do. And we ought to be able to foresee these changing needs, and provide for them, no matter what other schools may do. We want to keep a fresh eye and a free spirit in designing our own system of education.

     Educators outside of the New Church do not know even so important a thing as the difference between the masculine and feminine as to their essential natures, and therefore as to their distinctive educational needs. Why should we fear to depart from an antiquated and authoritarian credit system of education, by which men and women are put through the same mill?

     We want to borrow from the Egyptians, and get out of their land completely, not stay in it and be dominated by their authority in intellectual matters.

557


Their philosophy of creation and of life is nil; and their idea of what human life is for is anything but clear. In the Academy we can have a true philosophy of creation and of life.

     Words of wisdom which might be added to the wisdom of a former generation would set forth the idea that the uses-the ultimate uses-done for the sake of promoting the aims of the Academy, besides being the most important that we can do, are in the nature of holy uses. There is holiness in the ultimates of worship; and worship is the life according to religion. He who gives to the Church, for example, performs a holy use, if it is done from the heart. And he who gives time, effort, or money to the Academy gives to the Church. Not only do the Academy and the Church need the support of men, but men need the holy work of supporting the Academy and the Church.

     Many people are not willing to give to the support of the Church even so much as is required to supply their many common luxuries. Many are not willing to put themselves to the inconvenience of regular attendance at classes for instruction in Divine things, or reading steadily in the Writings, and thus supporting the Church intellectually. But there is little of holiness in such lives. Their life of thought and affection has not the terminations in ultimate deed which cause the Church to be sound.

     Our Church and our Academy are pitiably lacking in the means of performing the great work envisioned by the Founders. We have not the means sufficient to educate all our children and youth, who might otherwise receive the most important part of their education from us. We have not sufficient means to do as well as we ought the work of publication. It will take sacrifice in labor and money to make the Academy the success it ought to be.

     Yet we can rejoice in the realization of a very considerable success. In that success we rightly rejoice today. But let it be said here that in our present situation our greatest need is not only the intellectual support of the principles of the Academy, but also the supplying of the Academy with the means of maintaining its great use of teaching, and of extending its power to bring in all available students.

     The work of teaching the truth, even in the realm of science, is a work of charity and a sacred trust; and the support of this education by natural means is a holy use.

558


The Lord grant that we may never forsake such a work of holy use, and that we may be given the means to perform it in far greater abundance. And if we have zeal for this work at present, the Lord grant us a sevenfold zeal, and means and facilities to match our zeal.

     In the Academy we recognize the truth that all power is in ultimates, in ultimate things, in ultimate uses. That power is also the power of holiness. There is holiness in ultimates. The power of holiness is in all the things that are done from the love of things Divine, whether it be in teaching, or in giving the means of support, or in doing the work that may be required,-the work done with the hand as well as with the head.

     The spirit of the Academy lives in the uses that are done for it; and it extends itself even into the field of athletic sports and daily social contacts. That spirit is the same as at the beginning,-to lead people into an interior perception of the Divine Revelation that has been given to the New Church, and the living of a life in which is the essence of spiritual good.
PRE-ADVENT REPRESENTATIONS 1938

PRE-ADVENT REPRESENTATIONS              1938

     "In the internal sense of the Word the Lord's whole life is described, such as it was about to be in the world, even as to the perceptions and thoughts; for these things were foreseen and provided, because they were from the Divine; for this reason also, that they might be exhibited as present to the angels at that time, who perceive the Word according to the internal sense, and that thus the Lord might be presented before them, and at the same time how He successively put off the human, and put on the Divine. Unless these things had been exhibited as present to the angels of heaven by means of the Word, and also by means of all the rites in the Jewish Church, the Lord would have been obliged to come into the world immediately after the fall of the Most Ancient Church, which is called Man or Adam; for a prophecy concerning the advent of the Lord was then given at once (Genesis 3:15); and what is more, the human race then existing could not have been saved." (A. C. 2523.)

     "I have spoken with the third generation of the Most Ancient Church, who said that in their own time, while they lived in the world, they expected the Lord, who was to save the whole human race, and that it was then a common saying amongst them that the seed of the woman would trample the head of the serpent. . . ." (A. C. 1123.)

559


ANOINTING THE PILLAR WITH: OIL 1938

ANOINTING THE PILLAR WITH: OIL       Editor       1938


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office a Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly By
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.
Editor                    Rev. W. B. Caldwell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager          Mr. H. Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

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

     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$3.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single Copy, 30 cents.
     Ancient Boundaries.

     "It was a custom in most ancient times to set up stones on the boundaries between families of nations, lest they should transgress the boundaries to do evil to one another; and this was then the law of nations." (A. C. 4580.) In later times it became the custom to pour oil upon the boundary stones in making a covenant of peace. The stones thus became a sign and witness of union among those who dwelt distinctly in their own regions,-a union of mutual love. They also poured oil upon the stones which were their altars of worship, where they approached the Lord in love and adoration, in a covenant of peace between God and man.

     The origin of the "nation" is now revealed to us in the Heavenly Doctrine, as in the following:

     "In the most ancient time the human race was distinguished into houses, families, and nations. A husband and wife, with their children, and also some of their family who served, constituted a house. A greater or lesser number of houses, which dwelt at no great distance from each other, but still not together, constituted a family. A larger or smaller number of families constituted a nation.

560




     "The reason for their dwelling in this manner, alone among themselves, divided into houses, families and nations, was in order that the Church might thus be preserved in its integrity, that all the houses and families might be dependent upon their parent, and so remain in love and in true worship. Moreover, each house had a peculiar genius distinct from every other. . . . To prevent, therefore, a confusion of their dispositions, and to preserve an accurate distinction among them, it pleased the Lord that they should dwell in this manner. For so the church livingly represented the kingdom of the Lord, in which there are innumerable societies, each distinct from the other according to the differences of love and faith." (A. C. 470, 471. See H. H. 50; C. L. 205.)

     It was the preservation of this order of life in the Most Ancient Church which they ultimated in their custom of placing the boundary stones between nations, as signs of division, and also of union when, from mutual love and respect, they abstained from transgression. The custom was revived in the Ancient Church, and so was handed down to the Hebrews.

     Let us consider some instances recorded in the Scriptures. We read in Genesis that "Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillow, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel; and he said, This stone which I have set up for a pillar shall be God's house." (Genesis 28:18-22.) The act that is here pictured was performed by Jacob to represent a state of holy fear in the presence of the Lord. He knew from tradition that to take a stone, to set it up for a pillar, to pour oil upon it, and to call it "God's house," represented such a state of holy fear and reverence in the presence of the Lord. The knowledge of this had been handed down from father to son, even from the Most Ancient Church; and the record thereof in the Hebrew Scriptures is preserved for the New Church of this time, to which the Lord has made known what spiritual states were involved by correspondence in the many customs and rites practiced by the Jews, by their forefathers, the patriarchs, and still earlier in the Ancient Churches.

     That Jacob here represents the man of the spiritual church, and that the act described signifies a state of holy spiritual affection and fear in the presence of the Lord, is evident from the historical setting of the occurrence.

561


On his journey from Beersheba in the south to Haran in the north, and while passing through the Land of Canaan, Jacob came to the place which he afterwards called "Bethel." Taking of the stones of the place for a pillow, he slept, and dreamed of the ladder that reached unto heaven, and even unto the Lord, who stood above it; and who spake to him in the dream, promising him the Land of Canaan as an inheritance for his posterity.

     It was common for men in ancient times to receive revelation from the Lord in dreams. He was then present by means of an angel, and spake, inspiring holy fear and reception. And so it was that, when "Jacob awakened out of his sleep, he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." (Vers. 16, 17.) Then he "rose up early in the morning," and by an act of worship gave ultimate expression to his state of holy fear, taking the stone that he had used to rest his head upon, setting it up for a pillar, pouring oil upon it, and calling it "God's house"; and "he called the name of that place Bethel," or "the house of God."

     The Lord was present and spake in the dream, inspiring Jacob to a holy act of worship on waking. So is He now present in the Word, wherein He abides as in His "house" or dwelling-place in the New Church, where man may draw near unto Him in reverence to receive the Divine light of revelation, and be moved to holiness of worship and life. Jacob's "rising up early in the morning" after his dream represents the state of illustration or enlightenment which follows the reception of truth from the Word by the man of the New Church. He learns a truth from the Word, it reposes in his memory, he reflects upon it in a state of tranquillity; it is like a pillow upon which he rests his head, like the stone upon which Jacob slept. In such meditation the Lord is present and inflows, descending as by a ladder from heaven, promising man the reward of a heavenly inheritance if he walk in the truth. He gives man a perception of His Divine Presence in the Word, instilling holy fear and love, thus a state of worship from affection, and man is moved to exclaim, "How dreadful is this place! This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."

562




     When the truth of the Word has produced such an effect in a man, when it has been received not only in memory, but has also touched his life's love, then it is like the stone which Jacob used for a pillow when he had set it up for a pillar, poured oil upon it as upon an altar, and called it the "house of God." For a stone corresponds to truth in its most ultimate form with man,-truth as it comes to him in the letter of Revelation, truth received at first only in memory. The oil of love must be poured upon the stone to sanctify it, even as good from the Lord must impart holiness of life to the truth with man, that it may become good work and worship in act, flowing forth from the holy affection of the fear of the Lord.

     We may note that it was customary to pour, not only oil, but also a drink offering of wine upon the pillar of stone, in order that both the good of love and the good of faith might be represented. For on a later occasion, when Jacob had come to Bethel, and the Lord again spake with him, it is said that "he set up a pillar in the place where God talked with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon, and called the name of the place Bethel." (Genesis 35:14.)

     II.

     Let us consider briefly the origin of this custom or rite, the knowledge of which Jacob had by tradition, even from most ancient times, when every custom of life and every ceremonial of worship was the external sign and correspondence of an internal state of love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbor.

     First, let us observe that by a "pillar" in the Word is meant a "pile" (Latin-pila), a pile of stones, though sometimes one stone was so called. In the Writings it is called a "statue," meaning that it "stood up," or was "set up" (Latin-sisto, sto). In earliest times it was the custom on certain occasions to set up a stone, or pile of stones, called in the Hebrew a "statue," and translated in our Bible a "pillar" from its being a "pile." It is not until later in the Scriptures that we read of the pillar as a column; as, for example, when the Israelites were led by the " pillar (or column) of cloud and of fire," and when the columns of Solomon's temple were called "pillars." (I Kings 7:21.) These, indeed, had their origin in the early" piles of stones," and represented the same in a spiritual sense, namely, truths in the most ultimate form, such as Divine Truths in the letter of the Word, and thence in the memory of man, ultimate truths supporting spiritual truths as the pillars of a temple support the superstructure, or as the pillar of stone used for an altar, upon which the sanctifying oil of worship was poured.

563


The "pillar" at Bethel, therefore, was simply a stone set up by Jacob as an altar of worship, even as altars were also made of many stones, whether loosely piled up or carefully placed together.

     Concerning the significance of this use of stones for pillars or statues, the Writings state further that "in most ancient times they placed stones to mark boundaries, terminations or limits, thus to discriminate between the possession or inheritance of one man and that of another, and they were for a sign and a witness that the boundaries were there." (A. C. 3727, 10643.) The men of the Most Ancient Church perceived their significance, namely, that these stones were like truths in the ultimates of order, such as the truths or laws of justice and equity, according to which the rights and possessions of one man or nation were distinguished from those of another, and to preserve which they made vows, agreements, covenants, promises, and confirmed them by signs and witnesses such as the boundary stones or pillars,

     In the most ancient time, however, a spirit of mutual love and respect entered into the making of such compacts, because they were celestial men, who lived according to the Divine law of love and charity. For this cause, indeed, they not only employed the boundary stone for a sign and witness of agreements between man and man, but also as a sign and witness of the covenant between God and man, as marking the meeting place of God with man, where He revealed Himself, and promised Divine blessing. The tables of stone, upon which the Ten Commandments were written, were such a covenant. And the pillar at Bethel became the sign and witness of a covenant when, as we read, "Jacob vowed a vow, saying, if God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, so that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God; and this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall he God's house; and of all that Thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth unto Thee." (Genesis 28:20-22.)

564




     After most ancient times this holy use of pillars became perverted, and in the decline of the Ancient Church it became idolatrous,-set up for the worship of idols,-in consequence of which the Jews were commanded to destroy those that remained with the nations inhabiting the Land of Canaan, when it was to be given to the posterity of Jacob in fulfillment of the Divine promise. "Ye shall destroy their altars and break down their pillars, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire." (Deut. 7:5.) The Jews were inclined to idolatry themselves, and so they were forbidden to use pillars. "Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the Lord thy God, neither shalt thou set up any pillar, which the Lord thy God hateth." (Deut. 16:21, 22. Hosea 10:1.) Nevertheless, something of the custom remained with the patriarchs and Moses, having a genuine significance in the worship of Jehovah. For we read that, when Moses had received the Commandments upon Mount Sinai, he "wrote all the words of the Lord, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel." (Exodus 24:24. See A. C. 9388, 9.) Observe how this act of Moses, following the receiving of the Commandments by revelation from God, duplicated the act of Jacob, who, when he awoke from the vision, anointed the pillar and worshiped the Lord.

     III.

     We hate seen that in earliest times stones were used to "mark boundaries." Thus, in their holy use as altars of worship,-as the places where God met and talked with man,-they marked the boundary or distinction between the Divine of the Lord and the human of man, and were signs and witnesses of the covenant between the Lord and the human race. But they were also used between man and man, to mark the boundaries of their respective lands and possessions, as signs and witnesses of mutual agreements according to the natural laws of justice and equity, corresponding to the spiritual laws of love towards the neighbor, or charity, from which the man of the church respects the freedom and rights of others. Hence we find that Laban and Jacob, acting from traditional custom, made a covenant of peace which they confirmed by setting up a stone for a pillar.

565


Laban said, "Now therefore, come thou, let us make a covenant, I and thou; and let it be for a witness between thee and me. And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar, and they did eat upon it. And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold this pillar, which I have cast between me and thee; this heap be witness that I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me, for harm." (Genesis 31:44-52.)

     Here the pillar was a sign and witness of an agreement not to invade or trespass upon what belonged to another, involving also a state of unwillingness to envy, covet, or take away what is another's, but rather to respect the possessions of another in justice and equity. Just as the pillar as an altar of worship represented a state of holy fear in the Lord's presence, so in its use between man and man it involved a state of fear lest one do injury to the neighbor and from that fear a respect for what is peculiarly his, whether it be his person and possessions or his rights and his freedom; in a higher sense, his spiritual gifts of good from the Lord,-his wisdom and intelligence,-for those belong to him as his own, gifts of the Lord's Providence, and are respected and loved by all who are in charity. In the twofold use of the pillars, therefore, we view an ultimation of love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor.

     That the holy fear for things Divine brings with it respect and love for the neighbor, is thus set forth in the Heavenly Doctrine: "To fear the Lord is to worship and revere Him, because in worship, and in all things of it, there is a holy and venerating fear, which is that the Lord is to be honored, and not hurt in any manner; for it is like that of infants toward their parents, of parents toward their infants, of wives toward husbands and husbands toward wives, also of friends toward friends, with whom there is a fear lest injury be done to the other, and also a respect for the other. That fear, with its respect, is in all love and in all friendship, insomuch that all love and friendship without such fear and respect is like food without salt, which is insipid." (A. E. 696:4.) "Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another." (Mark 9:50.)

     We read also that "to love the Lord above all things is nothing else than not to do harm to the Word, because the Lord is in the Word; not to do harm to the holy things of the church, because the Lord is in the holy things of the church; and it is not to do harm to the soul of anyone, because the soul of everyone is in the hand of the Lord." (D. P. 94.)

566




     The states here described were involved in the use of the pillar of stone as representing the boundary line between what was of God and what was of man, and between man and man; as representing, not division, but conjunction when the oil of love was poured upon it,-the oil of love to the Lord, with its holy fear and reverence; of love towards the neighbor, with its fear and respect. As a boundary line, it marked a distinction; as a token of a covenant it was a sign of union. As between God and man, it marked a distinction which is eternal between the Infinite and the finite,-a fact acknowledged in holy fear and veneration when man pours the anointing oil upon the altar of worship. As between man and man, it marked the dividing line of individuality and personal freedom, mutually acknowledged by men of charity when they set up the pillar between them and eat thereon.

     Thus the pillar marked both distinction and conjunction; for in the Divine economy all distinction is for the sake of conjunction. Men are forever distinct from God, but can be conjoined to God in love and faith, and this the more perfectly the more distinctly free they are, which freedom God ever preserves for that end. So are men forever distinct, one from another. Individuality is eternal,-a God-given birthright which no man should take from another, and which no man will take from another whose freedom he loves and respects as his own. For the more distinctly free men are, one from another, the more perfectly can they be conjoined in bonds of mutual love and blessedness of use; or rather, the more perfectly can God unite them in one great society, which is the kingdom of His Divine Love and Wisdom,-the "house of God" in heaven.

     In that kingdom, in the Lord's house, there are "many mansions,"-manifold societies of angels, distinguished according to their reception of Divine Truths of Wisdom, but united in the one universal heaven by reception of the Divine Goods of Love, and in mutual uses. For, in a spiritual view, distinction of mind and individuality is made by truths, received from the Lord in a variety of understanding, and signified by the ancient boundary stones or pillars; but the joining of these manifold types into a one is by the good of love from the Lord, signified by the oil poured upon them.

567


Church News 1938

Church News       Various       1938

     DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

     The big event of the year with us was the episcopal visit of Bishop Alfred Acton, who arrived on Tuesday, October 11, and was a guest at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Norman Synnestvedt, where an informal reception was held in the evening, attended by twelve members who could be assembled on short notice. And what an evening it was! Bishop Acton was in rare form, and for nearly three hours held us spellbound with his wisdom, wit, stories, and even snatches of song. To those of us who had never before had the pleasure of spending an evening with him, it was a revelation. His inexhaustible fund of knowledge, coupled with his ready wit and scintillating repartee, gave us an evening of keen enjoyment and mental stimulation which we shall not soon forget. His only previous visit to Detroit occurred about forty-eight years ago. We sincerely trust that he may come again soon, and often.

     The following evening a dinner was given at our meeting hall, with an attendance of twenty-eight. It was followed by the Bishop's address on "The Idea of the Lord in the New Church." Beginning with the time of the Most Ancient Church, he traced man's idea of the Lord through the various dispensations up to the New Church, in which, he stated, the Lord should be thought of, and prayed to, as He has been revealed to us in the Writings. The subject was discussed by the Rev. Norman Reuter and Mr. Geoffrey Childs. And then, by request, Bishop Acton gave a very interesting account of the District Assembly recently held at Kitchener, where a touching tribute was paid to our former leader, the Rev. F. E. Waelchli, the school's first teacher, and he sang the refrain of a song, "The Old School Bell," written for the occasion by a member of the Kitchener Society.

     Our meeting closed with the singing of "Our Own Academy," but our rendition did not please Bishop Acton, who explained that the song is not supposed to be a dirge! Under his direction we rehearsed it a few times, with a big improvement in tempo and phrasing, which we shall hereafter endeavor to follow.

     The Rev. Norman Reuter came to Detroit on Saturday, October 8, and after conducting the usual meetings, remained for Bishop Acton's visit. A full service, with administration of the Holy Supper, was held on Sunday, October 9, the attendance being 29, including ten children. The communicants numbered 18. The sermon subject was "The Density of Cloud" (Exodus 9:19), referring to man's reception of the Lord at the beginning of regeneration. The Sunday afternoon class was attended by 17, and the pastor's theme was "The Preservation of the Church," being based upon a letter written by the late Bishop W. F. Pendleton in 1913, at the time of the controversy over the bodies of spirits and angels.

     We are missing the visitors who formerly took advantage of the Reuter "taxi service" between Kitchener and Detroit. Now that the service has been re-established on the Cincinnati run, we hope some of the friends down there will visit us from time to time. They will be most welcome.

     Several informal meetings of the local members of our group have been held since our last report.

568


Our aim is to meet at least once a month for doctrinal study and a social time. Worthy of special mention is the Hallowe'en Party at the Walker home on Saturday, October 29. This was a costume affair, with appropriate games and stunts. Eighteen attended, and what fun we had! We had a grand time, and feel much better acquainted with each other in consequence of this evening devoted to fun and frivolity.
     W. W. W.

     CHICAGO DISTRICT ASSEMBLY.

     The thirty-third Chicago District Assembly opened with a Banquet on Friday, October 28, Mr. Harold P. McQueen being toastmaster. The Right Rev. Alfred Acton, in a short response to his welcome as presiding officer of the Assembly, sounded a keynote for the meetings. He spoke of the feasts of charity of a former day, and compared our Assemblies to them; for on such occasions everyone is fed by the spheres of others, and we also enjoy intellectual things, and delight to listen to spiritual teachings. We are still a small body, with something new to establish in a resistant world,-the spiritual understanding of the arcana of Revelation. Our duty lies in doing our part to establish the New Church, not among the many, but among the few.

     Mr. Sydney Lee spoke of our District, and of changes in its uses and leaders, referring especially to the retirement of the Rev. Willis L. Gladish, whom he presented with a certificate good for a copy of the forthcoming Papers of Bishop N. D. Pendleton, and Mrs. Gladish with flowers. We were all much affected, and Bishop Acton expressed his appreciation of the long and useful work performed by Mr. Gladish in the church.

     The Rev. Morley Rich, Minister of Sharon Church, was introduced as a newcomer in the Chicago District. He paid eloquent tribute to the Academy, its vision, and its ability to lead its students into the affection of truth; its affirmative attitude, reasoning from Divine Revelation; and its ability to arouse thirst for all kinds of knowledge.

     Mr. Theodore Gladish told the story of the new Rockford, Ill., group, dating from 1935. At least ten people are interested, and meet together regularly, under the lead of Mr. Gladish and Mr. Warren Reuter, who live there.

     Mr. Harold Lindrooth, from Aurora, Ill., spoke of the isolated and their disadvantages, though they enjoy some advantages: they must provide their home instruction; must read the Writings more, and with greater care. He believes the isolated would be glad to give more to the church, if more systematically canvassed.

     Bishop Acton, called upon to speak again after a toast to Mrs. Acton, who accompanied him to Glenview, and later to Rockford, said, "No compulsion and no persuasion can build the church. We can only teach and learn the truth, and be led to the Lord, Who alone builds the church in each one. From this is our hope. The mind of the individual is the only medium."

     On the previous day, Thursday, October 27, Bishop Acton spoke before the chapter of the Sons of the Academy on the subject of Conjugial Love, giving a simple, sincere, and impressive talk which was enjoyed by sixty or more men.

     On Saturday afternoon, October 29, at a general meeting attended by 140 persons, he gave an informal address on "The Holy Supper." The sacrament has not been known as to its real use in the Christian Churches, but is chiefly a formality. Its real use and benefit is to be realized in the New Church. To eat and drink means to men and angels the acknowledgment that all sustenance is from the Lord. In this sacrament is concentrated all man's prayer and endeavor, and they are confirmed by it. "Worthily" to approach is the only requirement, and that means the confession of one's evils. The benefit to the New Church lies in the fact that we can now think as angels do.

569




     On Saturday evening at an open forum or session of the Assembly there were three speakers: (1) Mr. Russell Stevens spoke on "Reflections on the Uses of the Church." (2) Mr. George Fiske, on the same subject, stressed zeal for support of the Church, and for doing the things lying near at hand; also wide possibilities in developing social life and sports, as well as in developing worship. He suggested Glenview as a possible center for higher education. Bishop Acton explained why we should have social activities in the church, and commended the idea of a center in the West for higher education,-a complete High School. Mr. Rich said that the Holy Spirit enlightens through ultimate means, through uses which need to be supported. (3) Mr. Sydney Lee gave a reflective essay stressing the point, among others, that our especial use is to advance the knowledge and life of conjugial love, which stands back of all other uses. Educational work in the Academy must be that on which rests all education in heaven.

     In the discussion, the Rev. Gilbert Smith spoke of the holiness that is in the external uses performed for the sake of the Church; Mr. Archibald Price spoke of contributions, asking whether a little solicitation and persuasion was not in order; and Mr. Crebert Burnham spoke on the vision of a future High School in Glenview, and the value of continuity in education under the auspices of the Church.

     Bishop Acton summed up the discussion, especially in regard to free giving. The clergy ought never to have to appeal for funds, but only point out ecclesiastical uses. The providing of the means of carrying out the proposed uses should be left to the laity; but "voluntary" does not mean "careless." He said that to him it seemed that our Church has grown in spiritual affection.

     A congregation of 104 persons assembled for the Service of Worship on Sunday, October 30, and at the administration of the Holy Supper at the close there were 176 communicants. The Revs. W. L. Gladish, Morley Rich, and Gilbert H. Smith assisted in the service. The sermon by the Bishop was on the text! "Judge not, that ye be not judged."

     At the final session on Sunday evening, Bishop Acton spoke very eloquently on "The Idea of God." Words of appreciation were spoken, and all felt that congratulations for a most interesting and refreshing series of meetings were in order. We had more visitors than usual, and a better attendance.

     After the Assembly, on Monday, October 31, Dr. Acton delivered a lecture in Sharon Church, Chicago, on the subject of "The Brain." About 90 were present. Returning to Glenview, he gave another discourse on "The Atmospheres," on Wednesday evening, November 2d. In the meantime he visited Rockford, where a meeting of 30 people was held, including delegations from Chicago and Glenview.
     GILBERT H. SMITH,
          Secretary.

     NORTHERN OHIO.

     Ever hear of the Northern Ohio Group? Never did? Then prepare yourself for some delightful information, as it is time the news was broadcast. Where to start? Let us go back a few years, when the Rev. F. E. Waelchli came into these parts at the request of Arthur Wiedinger, of Akron. And one May day when he was in Youngstown, Father Waelchli proposed that I crank up the old gasoline buggy and we'd drive around the country to hunt up the long lost remnants of the old Greenford Society. We scoured the backwoods, farms and villages, and found that most of the old folk had passed on, but that there were a few of the younger generation. So a service was held the following Sunday at the home of Mrs. McElroy in Youngstown, and about a dozen attended. This was a start, and since then the group has grown numerically to many times that number.

570


From that time on, Father Waelchli held services three or four times a year, alternately in Youngstown and Akron. We also feel much indebted to the Rev. Willard Pendleton who conducted services on two occasions.

     A great stimulus came with the meeting of the Sons of the Academy at Akron last March. Our microscoping of the country for lost New Churchmen continued, and we found Mr. Zeppenfeld peacefully slumbering at Brecksville, a little hamlet about eighteen miles north of Akron. On the outskirts of Cleveland we discovered Ben Fuller, who has been lost to view for forty years, but quickly joined us. Strange how so many of us scatter about and drift away, to be isolated for many moons, later to find a haven of the church with those of the same aim and purpose.

     When Father Waelchli, much to our regret, found it necessary to retire from active work among us, a new Samaritan came to us,-the Rev. Norman Reuter. Ever hear of him? Believe me, he started something. I will go back to July 16 of this year, when he first came to Akron for a doctrinal class, which only four attended, owing to some misunderstanding as to the arrangements. These four, however, were much benefitted by his discourse on "Man's Ruling Love." Then Arthur Wiedinger and Randy Norris began telephoning the news of Mr. Reuter's visit, and were rewarded next day by an attendance of 32 people at the Sunday worship, with 18 communicants. The sermon was on the words of the 95th Psalm, "O come, let us worship and bow down." The service was followed by a picnic at the Wiedinger home and an Organization Meeting with 19 present. Mr. Reuter accepted the pastorate of the group, and it was decided to hold services every two months. He also gave us an interesting talk on "The Need of Home Worship," expressing in a beautiful way the beneficial effects in the New Church sphere thus created, which is such a great help in meeting our everyday difficulties. The next day, Mr. Reuter motored to Niles and visited Mr. and Mrs. Williamson, giving instruction to their little daughter, Marjory Lou. In the evening, at Youngstown, he conducted a doctrinal class, with 19 present, the subject being "The Importance of a True Idea of God." He then left us to ponder his excellent teachings for the next eight weeks, when he would return to see whether his first visit had done us any good.

     On Friday, September 9, "Our Pastor," as we affectionately know him, came to Akron for a class, and again treated of "The True Idea of God." The next day he gave instruction to the children of Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Asplundh, and then went to Niles and Youngstown, where a class was held in the evening at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. William Norris, with 13 present, the subject being "Man's Ruling Love." Excellent instruction and plenty of good fellowship. Twenty-one attended the Sunday service at the home of Mrs. Harrold, and nineteen partook of the Holy Supper. Visitors from Akron and Cleveland were with us. After the service we all went to a beautiful rustic spot for one of our old time picnic dinners and another organization meeting, at which plans were made to receive Bishop Acton on his forthcoming visit.

     It was also decided at this meeting that chancel furniture should be built, and in the course of the discussion we discovered that Mr. Norman, of Cleveland, was an expert carpenter. So when Mr. Reuter, in his shrewd manner, asked someone to volunteer, all eyes were cast in the direction of Mr. Norman. Needless to say, he volunteered, together with his good wife, who undertook to make the altar cloth. Mr. Norman found a New Churchman in Southern Ohio who donated the cloth. You should see the fine results! When it comes to soliciting donations, this group takes first prize. We even discussed the possibility of building a chapel, perhaps to be conveniently located at Lake Milton, midway between Akron, Youngstown and Cleveland.

571




     On Monday, September 12, Mr. Reuter visited Cleveland, where he held a class for the three children of Mr. and Mrs. Day,-another recent addition to our group. The magnet seems to be attracting them, for they are coming from all directions. In the evening, five attended doctrinal class at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Norman, with a continuation of the subject of "Man's Ruling Love." The next day a class was held at Akron, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wiedinger, the subject of "Self-compulsion" being very appropriate for most of us. Mr. Reuter has the rare ability of hitting the nail on the head.

     Bishop Acton's Visit.

     This was one of our greatest occasions. Accompanied by our genial pastor, Bishop Acton came into our midst on October 13, when he gave an informal talk at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Norman in Cleveland. The next evening a banquet was held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Asplundh in Akron, with twenty-four present. It was a real feast of charity, and provided a good ultimate for the spiritual food so ably provided by the Bishop, who gave a very comprehensive discourse on the History of the Churches. Other speakers were the Rev. Norman Reuter and Messrs. Edwin Asplundh, Arthur Wiedinger and William Norris. Bishop Acton then introduced a number of new songs, everyone joining in the chorus. We were astonished to find that we have quite an array of vocal talent.

     On Saturday, October 14, there was a gathering of twelve at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wiedinger. Arthur is always trying to show off his house in the country, which he hammered together himself, and took only four years to build! It is one of those rare gems of building art that are little. known in this part of the continent. Every time a New Churchman comes to Akron, Arthur hauls him out to see it. Bishop Acton said it wasn't so bad!

     On Sunday, October 15, a Service was held at the Portage Hotel in Akron, and the lovely sphere of the worship will be cherished in our hearts for a long time to come. Our new altar, with its deep red cloth, and our own silver communion service, formed a beautiful setting, and the Bishop's sermon on "Judge not, that ye be not judged," made a profound impression upon all assembled. During the service the new chancel furniture was appropriately dedicated by the Bishop. There were 45 present, and 18 partook of the Holy Supper.

     In the afternoon a picnic dinner was held in Metropolitan Park, ten miles from Akron, and this gathering in the outdoors, with plenty of good things to eat, seemed to inspire everyone. The Bishop's jovial disposition came forth in wit and humor which delighted us all. After this feast of happy good will we gathered under the trees for another organization meeting. By now I think we must be well organized! Mr. Arthur Wiedinger was made permanent treasurer, and reported that, after paying all expenses to date, we had quite a handsome sum in the treasury-not enough to build a church, but sufficient to carry us along for a time. Every member has given a pledge to lay aside a certain sum each week, and it is surprising how these funds accumulate. Miss Pearl Renkenberger was unanimously elected secretary, and was duly notified not to refuse. Will Norris was elected corresponding secretary.

     And now comes the news that should be shouted from the housetops. It was decided that the Northern Ohio Group and the Michigan Group should get together in a grand assembly about next May, presumably in the "village" of Detroit, and that Geoffrey Childs should be held responsible for its success. All New Churchmen, from all centers, are cordially invited to join us. We are counting on 100. (Detroit papers please copy.)

     On Monday, October 16, the Bishop and Mr. Reuter drove to Youngstown, where a class was held in the evening at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Norris, twelve persons being present.

572


Bishop Acton spoke on "Divine Omnipotence and Omnipresence." After the class there were toasts and songs. Next morning the Bishop left for Bryn Athyn, leaving behind him a trail of beautiful memories, and a stimulization for all us forlorn isolationists in the wilds of the Buckeye State.
     W. C. NORRIS.

     TORONTO, CANADA.

     During the last two months the Olivet Church has sustained quite a loss in the passing to the spiritual world of four elderly members,-Mrs. Henry Becker, Mrs. Edward Craigie, Mrs. Ernest Bellinger, and Sir John Daniel, all of whom had been ill for some time.

     Mrs. Becker, widow of the late Dr. Henry Becker, passed away on September 17. A member of the Church since middle age, she was in her prime a hearty and cheerful worker, particularly in the interests of the Ladies' Circle, of which at one time she was president.

     Mrs. Edward Craigie, dearly loved by her many friends for her deep affection for the Church and its doctrines, and for her cheery nature, departed for the higher life on October 10. She became acquainted with the New Church as a young woman in Scotland. In 1891 she was married to Edward Craigie, a Presbyterian minister officiating, as her mother was of that faith. But later, in Paisley, the New Church marriage service was performed for them. The Craigie family came to Toronto in 1912, and Mrs. Craigie was a very active member as long as her health made this possible.

     After a long illness, Mrs. Ernest Bellinger left us for the other world on October 18 at the home of one of her sons, Mr. Ted Bellinger. An active and busy member of the society in her younger days, and a faithful attendant at all church affairs in later years, Mrs. Bellinger became a member of the New Church shortly after her marriage to Ernest Bellinger, which was celebrated in Waterloo, Ontario.

     A member of Olivet Church for the last nine years, Sir John Daniel passed from among us on November 1. Born in Carmarthen, Wales, he was a reader of the Writings at the age of twenty-one, but did not affiliate himself with any body of the organized church until he and his family arrived in Toronto in November, 1929. He made quite a study of the Druids and their religion, and was the author of a most interesting book on that subject, The Philosophy of Ancient Britain.

     To the bereaved families of these devoted members we extend our sympathy, but we rejoice with them that their loved ones now enjoy a greater use and happiness in the other life.

     The various groups in the society resumed their activities during September and October, and we anticipate with pleasure another season of usefulness. The Ladies Circle, Forward-Sons, and Young People have held their first meetings, and Theta Alpha will soon follow. An interested group of young married women have been meeting every week with Mr. Gyllenhaal to receive some general instruction in Church History and fundamental doctrinal points.

     The Ontario District Assembly marked the departure of a good representation to Kitchener over our Thanksgiving weekend, October 8-10, and we understand that interesting and instructive sessions were held. A foretaste was given us in the presence of Bishop and Mrs. Acton at our Wednesday supper on October 5, after which the Bishop addressed a large gathering.

     For physical and mental recreation, parties have been held for both adults and children. Hallowe'en, being a perfectly good excuse for such frivolities, was the reason for a dance for adults on October 28, taking the form of a masquerade which produced both beautiful and weird costumes. Miss Zoe Gyllenhaal with committee was in charge.

573


Not to be outdone, the youngsters had their party on "the day," and likewise discarded ordinary attire for that of a more fanciful nature, and enjoyed a good, lively party. On Sunday, October 31, a delightful sphere was felt by all at the morning service, which centered about the subject of "Betrothal." After the service, the betrothal of Miss Emily Wilson and Mr. Orville Carter took place, the marriage to be solemnized in December.
     M. S. P.

     WYOMING, OHIO.

     The Wyoming Society opened its fall season with the arrival of the Rev. and Mrs. Norman H. Reuter and family from Kitchener. While we regret that our pastor's duties deprive us of his leadership so much of the time, we feel blest in having a minister of such marked ability with us at all; and we rejoice in the knowledge that the uses of the Visiting Pastor of the General Church are in hands capable of furthering the work thus far so well advanced by our former pastor, the Rev. F. E. Waelchli. When Mr. Reuter is absent, services are read on Sundays by Mr. Charles Merrell, and Sunday School is conducted either by Mr. Donald Merrell or Mr. Richard Waelchli.

     The outstanding event of the season so far has been the recently concluded visit of Bishop and Mrs. Acton. Their stay of five days was replete with interest and enthusiasm. On their arrival they joined us at a dinner tendered by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Merrell at the Cincinnati Club, where a hearty meal was accompanied with toasts and songs, after which we were entertained by a Burton Holmes Travelogue which took us to Burma, Java and Ball.

     A delightful banquet was held at the Alan Smith's home on Friday evening, being followed by a doctrinal class at which Bishop Acton presented the subject of "The Sacrament," which was followed by a discussion. On Saturday, our guests visited the homes of the members, and at the service on Sunday the Holy Supper was administered.

     Mr. and Mrs. Donald Merrell were hosts to the society at a buffet dinner in their home on Sunday evening, and another class followed, the Bishop treating of "A Distinctive Viewpoint of God," which aroused an interesting discussion on various subjects. So ended this delightful stay, which has left us with mingled regret at its brevity and gratitude for its inspiration. It has provided us with much food for contemplation in the coming months, and the whole society joins in the hope that Bishop and Mrs. Acton may favor us with another visit soon.
     J. R. W.

     PITTSBURGH, PA.

     Our Day School began the fall semester with six grades and eighteen pupils, divided as follows: Grade I, three; grade III, one; grade IV, five; grade V, three; grade VI, one; grade VIII, five. We are enjoying the services of two full-time teachers,-Miss Jennie Gaskill and Miss Marion Cranch; also the services of two part-time teachers,-Mrs. A. P. Lindsay and the Rev. W. D. Pendleton. From this it is evident that we have an adequate staff, and that for the first time in many years we are free from the worries which an inadequate number of trained teachers always engenders. One of the interesting projects is a weekly paper, The Le Roi Road School News, written and published by the pupils.

     On October 14, the pastor began an interesting series of doctrinal classes on the subject of "The Spirit of God." To date we have enjoyed three of these classes, and the specific subjects have been: "The Spirit," "The Spirit of Holiness," and "The Holy Spirit." We are now reading the suggested passages from the Writings in Preparation for the fourth class, the topic of which has been announced as "The Spirit of Truth." This particular series has prompted much thought within the society, as well as an average attendance of about fifty persons.

574




     At this time it is our privilege to announce the formation of a philosophy club under the auspices of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Sons of the Academy. This organization has adopted the name, "New Philosophy Club," its purpose being to study the Philosophical Works of Swedenborg. According to the resolution passed at the October meeting of the Sons, the officers of this club shall be the duly elected officers of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Sons. Such officers, however, shall not preside at any meeting of the club, but shall serve as a governing board in their official capacity as the executive committee of the Sons' Chapter. The actual meetings are to be conducted by a chairman, who will assume this position by invitation of the club. Needless to say, Mr. Pendleton has already been invited to serve as chairman until such time as his successor is chosen.

     Early in October, the Pittsburgh Chapter of Theta Alpha held a banquet at the home of Mrs. Charles H. Ebert, and it was an inspiring and entertaining occasion for the ladies. The Chapter, under the able leadership of Miss Jean Horigan, president, is doing many useful things for the school this year.

     In addition to the regular Sunday Children's Service, a class for the young people attending high school is being given by Mr. Quentin Ebert during the Children's Service period.
     E. R. D.

     CHARTER DAY.

     At the service in the cathedral on Friday, October 21, the Rev. Gilbert H. Smith voiced our gratitude to the Lord for what the Academy has accomplished in promoting its chief end,-the establishment of the New Church. He noted the significance of the Charter as protecting our freedom to pursue this end, and dwelt upon the need of maintaining our distinctive education, which he contrasted in a definite way with the education elsewhere. (For the text of his Address, see page 550.)

     At the conclusion of the service, the large congregation returned in procession to Benade Hall, where the Academy songs were sung by students and ex-students in a large semi-circle before the entrance.

     In the afternoon a victory for the Academy football team (which has lost but one game this season) heightened the spirit of all for the banquet in the evening, which was one of the most delightful we have had. The program devised by the toastmaster, Mr. Lester Asplundh, provided a fine balance of seriousness and gaiety. With tact and wit, he conducted a Charter Day version of the "Information Please" radio skit, and it was not only informative but also afforded no end of amusement at intervals throughout the evening. Victims of the questionnaire on dates in the history of the Academy were: Leroy Smith (Allentown), Martin Pryke (England), Otho W. Heilman (Bryn Athyn), Kenneth Cole (Glenview), and Quentin Ebert (Pittsburgh), the last-named carrying off the prize for the greatest number of correct answers.

     Some searching questions were answered in forceful terms by the three speakers of the evening: Rev. Dr. William Whitehead, "What is the Actual Heritage of New Church Education that has been handed down to us?" Rev. Karl R. Alden, "What are the Conditions of our Education Today?" Mr. Eldric S. Klein, "What Single Factor is likely to Exert the Greatest Influence during the next Two Decades?" In dealing thus with the past, present, and future of our undertaking, these three admirable addresses not only inspired all present, but left us with much to ponder between now and next Charter Day.

     At the close we were treated to a "Now It Can Be Told" feature of the program, when the nicknames by which teachers are known to students were disclosed to an astonished but amused faculty. And it didn't stop there; but the toastmaster exhibited for our delectation a number of clever caricatures done in the modern manner by a student artist.

575




     The Faculty Tea on Saturday afternoon, and the Dance in the evening, concluded in social amenities another successful celebration of Charter Day, for which we were again favored with pleasant weather and a good attendance of visitors from other centers of the Church.

     THE BISHOP'S FOREIGN JOURNEY.

     Homecoming.

     Returning from Australia by the Pacific route, Bishop and Mrs. de Charms arrived at Los Angeles on October 31, and were entertained at a dinner by a group of New Church friends there. They also spent a day visiting with friends of the Church in Denver, and later a few hours in Chicago. They arrived in Bryn Athyn on the morning of Friday, November 4, and a rousing welcome awaited them.

     Escorted from Bryn Athyn Station by a cavalcade of cars to the East lawn of the Cathedral, they were greeted with cheers and songs by a large assemblage that included all the Academy teachers and students, as well as the members of the Bryn Athyn Society. And all passed in line to shake the hands of the returning travelers.

     In the evening, the Assembly Hall was thronged with old and young (down to high school age) for the Welcome Home Banquet, planned by the Rev. Karl R. Alden and directed by him as toastmaster. Special decorations in a red and white motive included a large-scale Insignia of the General Church at one end of the hall, and the Academy Coat of Arms at the other. Behind the speaker's table was a large streamer bearing the words, Amor Ecclesiae Ducit-Love of the Church Leads.

     Appropriate verses for many songs had been written, and when the moment came for the entry of Bishop and Mrs. de Charms they were enthusiastically acclaimed with one of these stirring songs. At intervals during the evening, the author would sing his verses, while all joined in the chorus set to familiar tunes.

     Brief speeches of welcome voiced gratitude for the safe return of our Bishop and his wife, and the feeling that great good for the General Church had been accomplished. Mr. Edward Packer spoke for the students, Mr. Raymond Pitcairn for the lay members of the society, and the Rev. Hugo Odhner for the ministers and teachers. The toastmaster hoped the Bishop would tell us about their experiences abroad.

     Responding, Bishop de Charms expressed heartfelt appreciation for the warm welcome which had been accorded them on their homecoming. He then proceeded to give a long and intensely interesting account of the round-the-world journey, featured by many charming and amusing incidents. During their stay of several weeks in Durban, they had been most cordially received and entertained, and the Assembly held there was a most useful meeting. They had also greatly enjoyed their visit of several weeks among the centers of the South African Mission, where also an Assembly had been held and a number of Native Ministers ordained. Owing to a delay in sailing from Durban, their stay in Hurstville was limited to five days, but meetings had been held every day, and they were most warmly received and entertained. The whole journey had impressed him with the unity of the General Church, the societies everywhere striving for the same objectives, each in its own circumstances.

     We regret that we have not space for a more complete resume of the Bishop's graphic account, but the official reports of the meetings in South Africa and Australia will appear in our next issue.

     Many beautiful gifts were presented to Bishop and Mrs. de Charms, and these were on display at the banquet. They also brought home some moving pictures which are being shown in Bryn Athyn.

576


CEREBRUM 1938

CEREBRUM              1938




     Announcements.



     This work by Emanuel Swedenborg, transcribed from the original manuscript and translated by Alfred Acton, M.A., D.Th., is now in the press, 730 pages and Book of Plates. The Two Volumes are offered at a special price of $5.00 until December 15, 1938, after which date the price will be $10.00. Make checks payable to The Swedenborg Scientific Association, Bryn Athyn, Pa.