VALUE OF TIME        GEORGE DE CHARMS       1960


Contents
LXXX January, 1960     No. 1

The Rev. Frederick Edmund Gyllenhaal     Frontispiece
The Value of Time     1
     A Sermon on Genesis 1: 14     George de Charms
Immortal Man     2
     1. Birth, Death and Survival          Hugo Lj. Odhner
The Gothenburg Trial     Alfred Acton     4
Memorial Address     5
     The Rev. Frederick Edmund Gyllenhaal     George de Charms
First Principles     7
     Charter Day Address     Frederick L. Schnarr
In Our Contemporaries     8
Liturgy Music Committee     Kenneth O. Stroh     9
Notes on the Calendar Readings     Ormond Odhner     10
Review     11
     Catechism for the New Christian Church
Editorial Department     12
     A Test of a Church
     Humanizing the Divine
     Servant of the Lord
Communication     13
     The Death of the Church     G. J. Stunden
Church News     14
Announcements     16
     Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages, Deaths
     Annual Council Meetings-January 25-31-Program

February, 1960

The Reverend William Beebe Caldwell     Frontispiece

The Rod that Blossomed     22
     A Sermon on Numbers 17:8     Martin Pryke

The Gothenburg Trial     Alfred Acton     23

Immortal Man     24
     II. The Limbus     Hugo Lj. Odhner

Memorial Address     25
     The Reverend William Beebe Caldwell     George de Charms

The Power of Man     Sydney B. Childs     26

Judas          Susan Arington Allen     27

Clowes and De Quincey     W R Horner     28

Notes on the Calendar Readings     Ormond Odhner     29
Editorial Department     30
     The Rev. William B. Caldwell
     Of Human Differences
     The Communion of the Saints
Church News     31

Announcements     33
     Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages, Deaths

March, 1960     

The Corn of Wheat     37
     A Sermon on John 12: 24     Jan H. Weiss

The Preadamites     Ormond Odhner     38

Immortal Man     40
     III. The Spiritual Body     Hugo Lj. Odhner
The Meaning of Peace     Frederick L. Schnarr     41
Accommodation in the Word     David R. Simons     43
In Our Contemporaries     45
Notes on the Calendar Readings     Ormond Odhner     46

Editorial Department     47
     Freedom and Regeneration
     The Reasons for Rebaptism
     Postscript to Geneva
Church News     48

Announcements     51
     Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages, Deaths

April, 1960     

Ordination into the Third Degree     George de Charms     57
Truth     58
     A Sermon on John 18: 38     Willard D. Pendleton
The Stone Rolled Away     59
     An Easter Talk to Children     Kenneth O. Stroh     
Some Thoughts Concerning Evil     Roy Franson     61
Mrs. Nathaniel Dandridge Pendleton     64
     Memorial Address     George de Charms
Miss Dorothy Burnham     65
     Memorial Address     Hugo Lj. Odhner
Notes on the Calendar Readings     Ormond Odhner     67

ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS     68
Council of the Clergy Sessions     W. Cairns Henderson
Joint Council Session     Hugo Lj. Odhner     69
Annual Reports     70
     Secretary of the General Church     Hugo Lj. Odhner
     Council of the Clergy     W. Cairns Henderson     71
     Corporations of the General Church     Stephen Pitcairn     73
     Treasurer of the General Church     Leonard B. Gyllenhaal     74
     Editor of "New Church Life"     W. Cairns Henderson     75
     Publications Committee     Hugo Lj. Odhner     76
     Religion Lessons Committee     Karl R. Alden     77
     Sound Recording Committee     W. Cairns Henderson     78
     Visual Education Committee     William B. Cooper     79

Editorial Department     81
     His Life for His Sheep
Church News     82
Announcements     83
     Annual Corporation Meetings-June 18, 1960
     Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages, Deaths
     Academy of the New Church-School Calendar, 1960-1961     89

May, 1960

The Tower of Babel     90
     A Sermon on Genesis 11: 1-4, 8, 9     Harold C. Cranch

Mediate Good     92
     Address to the Council of the Clergy     Geoffrey S. Childs
Conjunction in Betrothal and Marriage     Jan H. Weiss     94
The Tower of Babel in the Seventeenth Century     David F. Gladish     96
A Note on the Ancient Word     Ormond Odhner     97
Notes on the Calendar Readings     Ormond Odhner     98
In Our Contemporaries     99
Review     100
     Principles of Government     Lawson A. Pendleton

Editorial Department     101
     A Notable Anniversary
     Freedom in a Decadent Church
     Predestination to Heaven
     The Sacrament of the Supper

Communication     102
     Clowes and De Quincey     Percy Dawson
Church News     103

Announcements     105
Annual Corporation Meetings-June 18, 1900
     Academy of the New Church--Annual Joint Meeting
     Swedenborg Scientific Association Annual Meeting
     Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriage, Deaths
     Academy of the New Church: School Calendar 1960-1961     109

June, 1960     

The Tabernacle of God     110
     A Sermon on Revelation 21: 3     W. Cairns Henderson

Mediate Good     112
     Address to the Council of the Clergy     Geoffrey S. Childs
Judgment on Judas     Hugo Lj. Odhner     114
The Sharing of Spiritual Strength     Dandridge Pendleton     115
Mr. Hubert Hyatt     117
     Memorial Address     George de Charms
Mr. Harold F. Pitcairn     119
     Memorial Address     George de Charms
Conjugial Versus Conjugal     Norbert H. Rogers     121
Notes on the Calendar Readings     Ormond Odhner     123

Editorial Department     124
     First Things First
     What Name Resounds
     The Government of the Church
     The Responsibilities of Maturity
Church News     125

Announcements     128
     Annual Corporation Meeting-June 18, 1900
     45th British Assembly-July 30-August 1, 1960
     Sons of the Academy Annual Meeting-June 24-25, 1960
     Baptisms, Confirmations, Deaths

July, 1960     No. 7     

Fighting Truth     133
     A Sermon on Joshua 1: 9     David R. Simons
Remains     Jan H. Weiss     134
The Divine Human     Frederick L. Schnarr     136
Freedom and Religion     137
Notes on the Calendar Readings     Ormand Odhner     138     
Review     139
     Arcana Coelestia, Tome I

Editorial Department     140
     Freedom of Speech
     Sympathy and Empathy     
     Evil Through which Good Comes
Church News     141
Announcements     144
     Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages, Deaths     

August, 1960     

Natural and Spiritual Charity     149
     Episcopal Address at British Assembly     George de Charms

Water from the Rock     150
     A Sermon on Numbers 20: 11     Morley D. Rich
Remains     Jan H. Weiss     151
Ordinations     152
     Declarations of Faith and Purpose     
          Douglas McLeod Taylor
          Kurt Horigan Asplundh
A Challenging Report     154
An Assembly     155
     April 30-May 1, 1960     Renee Cronland
Notes on the Calendar Readings     Ormond Odhner     156
Editorial Department     158
     True and False Unity
     From Experience
     On Reading the Writings
Church News     159
Announcements     161
     Educational Council Meetings and Summer School-Program
     Ordinations, Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages, Deaths

September, 1960     

The Nature of Particular Influx     George de Charms     167

The Spirit of Truth     169
     A Sermon on John 14: 15-19     Raymond G. Cranch
In Our Contemporaries     170

God's World     171
     Commencement Address     John J. Schoenberger
Remains     Jan H. Weiss     172
Notes on the Calendar Readings     Ormond Odhner     173

Review     175
     Our Funeral Customs

Editorial Department     176
     The Hidden Persuaders
     The Light and the Bushel
     The Oblate Children

Communication     177
     A Proposed Exchange     G A. de C. de Moubray
Church News     178
Announcements     180
     Chicago District Assembly-October 14-16, 1960
     Eastern Canada District Assembly-October 8-10, 1960
     Charter Day-October 28,29, 1960
     Baptisms, Marriages, Deaths

October, 1960     

Forty-fifth British Assembly     185
     Report at Proceedings     Frank S. Rose

The Sense of Guilt     187
     A Sermon on Ezekiel 18: 21-23     Ormond Odhner

The Doctrine of Merit     188
     I. The Importance of the Doctrine     George de Charms
In Our Contemporaries     189
Affirmative and Negative     David Simons     190
The Fivefold Word     W. Cairns Henderson     191
Notes on the Calendar Readings     Ormond Odhner     193
Our Limited Communication     Frances M. Buell     194
Review     195
     Summaries of the Internal Sense of the Prophets and Psalms

Editorial Department     196
     The Editor's Journey
     Fishers of Men
     Gathered in His Name
Communication     197
     The Preadamites     Geoffrey P. Dawson
Church News     199
Announcements     204
     Chicago District Assembly-October 14-16, 1960
     Eastern Canada District Assembly-October 8-10, 1960
     Charter Day-October 28, 29, 1960
     Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages, Deaths

November, 1960     

Bless the Lord     210
     A Sermon on Psalm 103 1, 2     Norbert H. Rogers
Thanksgiving     212
     A Talk to Children     W. Cairns Henderson     
In Our Contemporaries     213
The Doctrine of Merit     214
     2. Christian Theories and the Writings' Solution     George de Charms
Educational Council     215
     15th General Meeting and Summer School     Lyris Hyatt
The Divine Mercy     216
     Address at 45th British Assembly     Alan Gill
Mr. Edward C. Bostock     217
     Memorial Address     George de Charms
Divine Pity and Judgment     Morley D. Rich     219
Notes on the Calendar Readings     Ormond Odhner     220
Review     221
     Foundations of New Church Education (Revised Edition)
Editorial Department     223
     What Shall I Render to the Lord?
     Retreat from Certainty
     The Mystery of Suffering
     Sustaining the Academy
Communication     224
     Why only Genesis, Exodus, Revelation?      Donald L. Rose
Local Schools Directory     226
Church News     227
Announcements     230
     Western District Assembly
     Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages, Deaths

December, 1960     No. 12     

The Birth of Our Lord     Willard D. Pendleton     235

Laid in a Manger     236
     A Christmas Lesson for Children

The Man Child and the Serpent     237
     Address at Eastern Canada Assembly     Geoffrey S. Childs
The Doctrine of Merit     239
     3. Why Man can Make no Claim to Merit     George de Charms

Eastern Canada District Assembly     241
     Report of Proceedings     M. Edith Carter
Miss Helen Maynard     242
     Memorial Address     Elmo C. Acton
Notes on the Calendar Readings     Ormond Odhner     243
Review     244
     The Swedenborg Society, 1810-1960
Editorial Department     245
     Good Tidings of Great Joy
     The Crown of Life
Directory of the General Church     246
Church News     248
Announcements     250
     Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages, Deaths
     Annual Council Meetings-January 23-28, 1960

No. 1

VOL. LXXX
JANUARY, 1960
     "And God said, Let there be luminaries in the expanse of the heavens, to distinguish between the day and the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and for years." (Genesis 1: 14)

     Time is a property of nature. It came into being with the creation of the material world. It is determined by the fixed movements of the stars, by the rotation of the earth upon its axis, and by its annual journey around the sun. In God there is no time. In Him the past, present and future are all one; wherefore it is said of Him that He is "in time without time." And the same is true of man as to his mind or spirit. For him, time is a constant and unwelcome restriction. When he is happy it passes too quickly; and when he is sad, bored or anxious, it drags far too slowly. He must be called back continually to a realization of its passing, by watches and clocks; by alternating light and darkness, cold and heat; by the needs of the body for food and drink, and for rest in sleep. Because children live in the joy of the moment, their idea of time must be acquired gradually by experience; and patience is one of the hardest lessons they have to learn. When man passes by death into the spiritual world, for him there is time no longer. Why, then, should he be born into a world of time, and required during his life on earth to note and obey the inevitable necessities it imposes upon him?
     Although there is no time in man's mental world even while he lives on earth, nor in the spiritual world where he continues to live after the death of the body, there are instead continual changes of state to which the progressions and alternations of time most exactly correspond. The correspondence is such that unless man were born into a world of time he could never know what states are. He could never perceive what their changes and progressions mean: this because no conscious awareness of spiritual things is possible that has not been derived from sense experience. We cannot imagine anything that is not based on what we have seen, and heard, and felt. All idea of form comes to us from the world of nature through the senses of the body. All the objects of the spiritual world derive their form from things seen and heard on earth. That is why man must first live in the natural world before he can behold the wonders and the beauties of heaven. Indeed, the material world of time and space was brought into being by the Divine Creator solely because it was necessary to the creation of a heaven from the human race. Unless man first experienced the undesired limitations and the consequent discipline of space and time, no one could possibly be regenerated; wherefore, when God created the universe, He said: "Let there be luminaries in the expanse of the heavens, to distinguish between the day and the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and for years."
     Literally, of course, by these two luminaries are meant the sun and the moon-the one to rule by day, and the other to rule by night; but, spiritually, the reference is to the two faculties of will and understanding that give light to the mind of man. The will impels one to look; and when he looks, the understanding enables him to see. Only by looking, that is, by focusing attention, can one become aware of his surroundings and conscious of material things. But the will is the receptacle of love, and love is the light that comes from the sun of heaven. In this light man may become aware of spiritual things. He may see, not only material objects, but the uses they are created to perform, the purpose for which they exist, and back of this purpose the Divine love, wisdom and providence of God. Thus he may attain to spiritual understanding, intelligence and wisdom. But note: he becomes aware of these spiritual things only through or by means of a conscious perception of material objects.
     All consciousness depends upon movement, change, contrast. An animal or a bird will blend with the background and remain virtually invisible until it moves. We become oblivious to a continuing monotony of sight or sound. We discern the form of objects by contrasting light, and shade, and color; and in this regard, time is of tremendous importance to our lives. It provides perpetual movement and unceasing change; it provides the contrast of day and night, of light and darkness continually recurring, with indefinite shadings from dawn to dusk that lend vibrant life to every scene of land, and sky, and sea. And although days follow one another in unending succession, no two of them are ever alike because of the changing seasons, with alternating heat and cold, and all the gradations in between that modify the productions of the earth and change its entire aspect from spring to summer, and thence to autumn and winter, and then to spring once more.

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By these perpetual changes the Lord provides the basis in the human mind for the perception of those infinite things which in Him are distinctly one. Our personal experiences can be increased immeasurably through contact with others, and through printing and other forms of communication that preserve for our benefit the mental and spiritual riches of the past. The memory of all this remains with us after death, where it can be expanded and multiplied by our association with other spirits and angels. Each new generation, as it enters the spiritual world, brings with it a new store of memories to be shared by all who are there. That is why the angels can be perfected to eternity as to their perception of the Lord, their realization of His infinite love and wisdom, that they may receive in ever greater abundance the blessings of His mercy.
      Furthermore, the regular alternations of day and night, and summer and winter, correspond to those rhythmic changes of state which are so vital to man's life, both natural and spiritual. Man is conscious only because he breathes. By inspiration and expiration the blood is constantly purified and re-vivified. Every organ of the body lives and performs its use by alternate expansion and contraction; and this indeed is true of every living cell. We are told that the animation of the cerebrum is synchronous with that of the lungs; and that is why, if the lungs cease to breathe, we lose consciousness and fall into a swoon. The spirit of man lives by an alternation of states that corresponds exactly to these natural changes-states of joy and sadness, of hope and discouragement, of clear insight and obscurity; states of worship and reflection when the mind is lifted into the light of heaven, and states of spiritual darkness when the cares and anxieties of the world demand all our attention. We instinctively picture these mental states in terms of time, as periods of light and of darkness, of heat and of cold; nor can we think of them in any other way.
      All possibility of progress in spiritual life depends upon these alternations. Only as the mind is elevated into the light of heaven can we perceive the spiritual truth of the Word and become aware of the Divine laws of life according to which we must live if we are to be saved. Only as we return into the light of the world can we be made to realize the tendencies to evil that would lead us toward hell. Only by perceiving the comparison and contrast between the delights of love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor on the one hand, and the delights of self-love and the love of the world on the other, can we be free to choose between them. Unless this freedom were provided, regeneration would be impossible. That is why it is ordained that there should be times of worship and spiritual instruction alternating with periods of concentration upon natural uses, when we are called upon to meet our worldly duties and responsibilities.

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In the first state a conscience of spiritual truth and good is formed, and in the second, this conscience comes into conflict with the evils and falsities of the proprium. By the outcome of that battle our character is fashioned, and our eternal place in the other life is determined.
     Indeed, this alternation of states continues even in heaven, producing for the angels a continual succession of morning, noon and evening, to be followed by another spiritual day. Because, for them, these changes are not determined by the fixed rotations of the earth, they have no idea of time; and yet, solely because of their experience of time in the world, they are enabled to perceive these states, and to grow in intelligence and wisdom perpetually, by means of them. And, wonderful to relate, the entire Gorand Man of heaven has its own life, its own animation, an alternate inspiration and expiration that affects all together. Concerning this we read in number 8750 of the Arcana Coelestia: "As in the inmost sphere of heaven there is a certain progression according to the Divine heavenly form, which comes to the perception of no one, and as, according to this progression, the states of all in heaven undergo changes, the angels there are by turns in the good of love, in the truth of faith, and in obscurity as to one and the other. From this it is that there is a correspondence of the states there with times in the world; namely, of the state of the good of love with morning, of the state of the truth of faith with noon, and of an obscure state with evening and night." These alternations of state are under the immediate government of the Divine Providence. They are the essential means by which men may be regenerated and angels perfected to eternity. They are the means whereby the Lord can lead man and yet preserve his freedom, and provide a continual sense of accomplishment and the happiness that comes with the performance of a use. Wherefore the promise is given: "The Lord shall keep thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even forever more" (Psalm 121: 8).
     The fact that these changes of state, which are so vital to our spiritual life, can be perceived and understood only through the sensation of fixed time is the reason God said: "Let there be luminaries in the expanse of the heavens, to distinguish between the day and the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years." The Divine purpose in the creation of time is that man may thereby be introduced into a perception of spiritual states; that he may be given an indefinite variety of natural experience on which to base a perpetually growing awareness of things heavenly and Divine; and that by an alternation of spiritual day and night he may be enabled to contrast the delights of the spirit and of heaven with the pleasures of the body and the world, that he may freely choose which he will regard as more important to his life.

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      If we keep this in mind as we take note of the progressions of time, we may use them for the purpose for which they are intended. We may take advantage of the opportunity they afford to elevate our thoughts to the things of eternal life, that we may learn how to live more truly as the Lord would have us live. We may gain from them new illustration and enlightenment, and new inspiration to bring the spirit of love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor more fully into actual practice as we perform the external uses and meet the responsibilities of our everyday life. This is the real value of time, the gift it has to offer that will be of everlasting benefit; but this gift will not come to us unless we strive for it. Therefore, the prayer of our heart at every turning point of time should be: O Lord, "so teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom" (Psalm 90: 12). Amen.

LESSONS: Psalm 90. AC 10200.
MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 561, 572, 502, 448.
PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 24, 123.
IMMORTAL MAN 1960

IMMORTAL MAN       Rev. HUGO Lj. ODHNER       1960

     (The first of three Doctrinal Papers.)

     I. BIRTH, DEATH AND SURVIVAL

     The Fact of Death

     In this our age there is a constant insistence on facts. The sternest, most recognized fact of human experience is that all men are mortal. Death strikes young and old with equal finality. There is no arguing with death as a fact which all must be ready to face.
     Yet facts are elusive. Facts, however actual, are appearances, phenomena which sometimes endure and sometimes fleet away. The solidity of a piece of ice is a fact real enough, but while we look away it has disappeared. The ice has left a pool of water which eventually evaporates into an invisible gas. This gas, or steam, might be recaptured, and by electrolysis be turned into elements still more evasive. And these in turn might themselves he resolved into tiny bundles of measured energy in forms which imagination cannot picture, but which science generally holds to be the final constituents of that which we know as material substance.

6



     Death is a fact. Yet it, too, is only the appearance of a change, whereby the body functions become disordered and inactive, and the organs and members no longer exhibit those mysterious yet familiar reactions which testify of sensation, consciousness and will, or, in short, of life. The substance of the body still remains, as far as man can tell, destined to rejoin the elements in one way or another. This is but one phase of the fact of death.

     Ideas of Immortality

     But since time immemorial men have generally felt assured that the death of the body could not mean a destruction of that personality which is built up through a lifetime of human experience and effort. For if so, what was the purpose and intent behind life itself? Why should man pass through so many arduous stages of learning and analytic understanding-such as animals never attain-if the human mind, so marvelously formed, was destined to sink back into dissolution and never put its acquired powers to permanent use? In the primitive celestial church, this necessity of man's immortality was a basic perception flowing from the instinct order of its life, confirmed by every experience of nature. Later, it took the form of doctrine incorporated in the symbolic histories of the most ancient Scriptures. And when these Scriptures-the Ancient Word-were mostly lost, the idea and hope of an immortal life survived in myth and legend. Classical philosophy purged away some of the grosser features of the myths, but retained in general the concept of the soul's survival, debating its possibilities pro and con. And when Christianity became dominant throughout western civilization, it not only taught of man's immortality, but it borrowed both from legend and philosophy to amplify the picture of the soul's after-life. It became a picture confused and contradictory, bemuddled by the persistent feeling that the eventual heaven was somehow possible only on earth at the end of the world.
     And in recent times, after the faith of Christendom had been undermined by new modes of thinking which centered men's attention upon worldly goals-upon a heaven on earth more immediately attainable through scientific research and without the help of God-the concept of personal immortality has increasingly come under indictment as an unnecessary assumption or as an unlikely possibility.
     It is necessary for the New Church man from time to time to review the teachings of the Writings about man's immortality, with a view to seeing that his understanding of these teachings is not so vague and indefinite that it cannot stand up against the doubts that are current in the world about him.

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We need to have the clearest possible ideas about what is the immortal part of man-what there is in man's constitution that cannot be dissolved or destroyed by death.

     The Fount of Immortality

     What is it that makes man immortal? The Lord said: "I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."* The Writings say: "Man is so created that as to his internal he cannot die." And the reason is that "he can believe in God and also love God and thus be conjoined to God by faith and love; and to be conjoined to God is to live to eternity."**
* John 11: 25.
** AC 1940, 1999.
      From this passage of doctrine it might sound as if only those who believe in God will become immortal. But a closer reading shows that it is because man is so created that he can believe in God and love Him that he also will live to eternity. Every man has the faculty or potentiality of believing and loving because his inmost soul receives life continually from the Lord. The Lord pours His own life into every man's soul, whether a man's mind turns itself against the Lord or not. The Lord's love is unceasing, and He never takes back the gift of life from any man; not even from the devils of hell, whom He continually seeks to save from their own evils. In the inmost soul, which is above the conscious mind of either angels, spirits or men, and which can therefore never be perverted by human vice or folly, the Lord can find an abode or receptacle even with the evil.*
* HD 223; Lord 25; HH 39.

     Two Conditions for Immortality

      It is from this inmost soul or "human internal"* that man has the faculty of conjoining himself with God, and also the responsibility of using this faculty. Animals, although they have sensation and a certain analogue of reason, do not have such a faculty, and cannot conceive of God, because their souls are merely natural affections. Hence they are not immortal, nor responsible for the use which they make of their life, a life of specific instincts which they cannot change from free choice. This is not merely because the animals are in ignorance of spiritual things. For human infants who die as such are also in such ignorance; and yet, because they are born possessing a human internal, they can grow into rational adults in the other life and be conjoined with God.
* AC 1999.
      We note that there is a second condition for immortality. The first is the possession of the human internal. But the second condition is that man shall be born into the natural world.

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This implies that no human being can be created immediately into the spiritual world, as has been imagined by Christians in general, who speak of God creating a host of angels and archangels before the earth was ever formed. These angels were described as purely spiritual beings, and tradition pictures them as living a life of ecstacy continuously glorifying God. It is even claimed that some of these angels, under Lucifer their leader, rebelled and formed an empire of their own, and that this is what is meant by the Devil and his crew which have troubled mankind since the time of Paradise.
     Similarly, many ancient philosophers, including some of the Christian church fathers, believed that human souls were first created to inhabit the stars, and that it was when these souls began to long for a more corporeal life that they were born into the world as men.
     In ancient times, as still among many Orientals, it was thought that the pre-existing soul could remember something of its previous life and could indeed be born again and again, by transmigration-born in different forms, either human or animal!
     The Writings indeed teach that the Lord creates the human soul and by the agency of that soul forms the body. The soul is prior, as a cause is prior to its effect. The soul is not an effect of the body, but the body of man is formed by the soul; or rather, by the Lord through the soul or "human internal."
     In a remarkable passage in the Arcana Coelestia, it is said, among other things, that, "man's internal is that from which he is a man. . . . By means of this internal he lives after death and to eternity as a man. . . The very heaven that is nearest the Lord is from these human internals but this is entirely (usque) above even the inmost angelic heaven, and therefore these internals are the Lord's alone. . . ." Yet they are forms receiving the Lord's life, and do not have "life in themselves."*
* AC 1999: 3, 4.
     This inmost degree of man which immediately receives the Lord's life is also called the dwelling place of the Lord in heaven and in the angel, "for what is there transacted an angel does not know."* The Spiritual Diary notes that it lacks a name** but in the later Writings it is sometimes contrasted with the lower degrees of man's spirit or mind, and is then called the "soul."*** Thus the angels are said to have a soul, a mind and a body, the inmost being called the soul; although in a general sense the entire spirit or mind which departs from the body at death is commonly called "the soul" in the Writings.
* SE 5548; AC 1940.
** SD 4627.
*** Infi. 8.
     The Arcana does not state that the human internals existing above the inmost angelic heaven were created before mankind and are there waiting until proper parents are available for incarnation on earth.

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"What is there transacted" not even an angel knows! The soul is "a superior spiritual substance" which must not be thought of from either time or space. Certainly the Lord foresees from eternity all the possible needs of mankind. In His view, creation is already as it were completed, "according to the idea of an infinite heaven."* With Him there is no time. In the Divine, proceeding to create, are contained all the possible uses of the Gorand Man of the heavens-and what are human souls except the first expression of such potential uses?
* Compare SD 4845c.
     The creative process of the Lord is continual. And His creative urge or conatus is transferred into the souls which He creates. Hence the soul, which in its essence is spiritual, from an implanted effort to self propagation, wills to procreate itself; not only to form a body for itself, but also to form off-shoots of itself in the form of human seed so as to multiply some of its uses in its descendants. And since "the soul is a spiritual substance which does not have extension but impletion, and from which there is no taking away of a part but a production of the whole without any loss of it," this can be done innumerable times, generation after generation.*
* CL 220.

     Creation of Human Minds

     The effort within the soul is not only to receive life immediately from the Lord,* which it does unconsciously, but also to form more and more such immortal receptacles which can receive this life consciously, so as to appreciate the Lord's love and wisdom and co-operate with His will and His laws of truth. And this conscious reception of life can come into being only by the soul forming itself into a human mind, which not only receives and transmits life passively but reacts in freedom.
*1nfl 8.
     The inmost soul does not have this kind of freedom because it does not have consciousness. These two, freedom and consciousness, go together. Without these two-or without the faculties of rationality and liberty-there can be no reciprocal conjunction with God, and therefore no permanent individuality, no eternal life. Thus the doctrine stresses again and again that it is the human mind that is the spirit which lives after death. And this mind, which constitutes man's individual reaction to life, cannot be formed except on the basis of that experience which we call birth into the natural world.
     We may well ask why this is so. One answer which the Writings give is found in the little work Divine Wisdom: "One who knows what the substances of the spiritual world are like compared to the material things in the natural world tan easily see that no procreation of angelic minds is possible or can occur except in those and from those who inhabit an earth, the ultimate work of creation.. . .

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Substances in the spiritual world appear as if they were material, but still they are not; and because they are not material, therefore they are not constant. They are correspondences of the affections of the angels, and they remain as long as the affections or the angels, and with these they disappear (disparantur). It would be the same with the angels if they had been created there. Among the angels, furthermore, there is and can be no procreation and thence multiplication other than a spiritual one, which is that of wisdom and love, such as pertains to the souls of men who are born anew or regenerated. But in the natural world there are matters through which and out of which procreation and afterwards formations can occur; thus multiplications of men, and thence of angels."*
* Divine Wisdom viii, 3.
     Note here that the angels, although they are spiritual substances, do not disappear or dissolve, although the creations around them do so if the angelic states change or the angels go away.* The reason is that the angels were born on earth and thus acquired a permanent individuality. The spiritual substance of their souls was as it were anchored in time and space. The soul had by birth been made aware of its separate existence! It was no longer an unconscious part of the flux of life, like the soul of the embryo, which lives solely from the Lord and has no conscious sensation or action.
* TCR 103.

     Birth and Immortality

     The Writings thus show us that the miracle of birth is a one with the miracle of immortality. By birth man enters not only life on earth but eternal life. But we must still consider how this is effected. How does the soul become an immortal spirit at the moment of birth? For all things have many beginnings. The soul of a child, we are taught, commences as an offshoot or graft from the soul of the father.* Such offshoots are transferred into the innumerable paternal seeds from one of which conception takes place. The soul of the offspring thus may be said to have its inception (inchoet)-or second beginning-in the ovum of the mother, and it is "afterwards perfected in her womb" while its tender body is being formed.** It is now distinct and carries with it a distinct heredity different from that of any other being. The soul dwells in the whole body, since it is a spiritual substance which has "impletion" although no extension. As the supreme formative essence it is active in every fibre, cell and tissue. But it is not yet appropriated to the future child. It is merely a loan from God.

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It is present in the ultimate organics of the body, but is not yet wedded to the flesh, not yet appropriated by the body which it has fashioned.
* TCR 103.
** AC 3570: 4.
     We read in Genesis that the Lord God formed man out of dust of the ground, and then breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man "became a living soul." Only by the first breath of earth's air, or, as the Writings say, by the opening of the lungs, does the soul obtain immortality. For the respiration of the lungs is a condition of consciousness. No feeling of self-life is possible, no sensation is felt, as long as the lungs are inactive. The cerebrum, in which we consider consciousness to operate, must be stimulated by the oxygen breathed into the lungs and carried up to the brain by the bloodstream. The brain, which in prenatal life has been conjoined with the motion of the heart, becomes instead harmoniously attached to the rhythm of breathing, and takes up the conscious government of its body.* Life, which had hitherto been directed solely to the formation of the body, is thus short-circuited in the intricate organic network of the cortical cells and fibres of the cerebrum, and the soul begins to realize its individual independence for the first time! The body is born-but also the spirit!
* DLW 401, 407; Wis. iii. 5, 6, v, vi. 9.

     Memory and Personality

     Why individuality cannot commence except in the world of nature, is worth some reflection. For what is the basis of our individuality? Is it not memory of sensory experiences?-a memory built up from defined beginnings in time and space? I am "I" because born at a definite time, in a particular place; and all my experiences, gathered up into a vast complex of memories, were basic to every reaction of my will, marked the external limitations of my thoughts, the field in which my personality gradually formed itself. And so it is with all-even with the infant who drew only a few breaths before its spirit departed!*
* HH 345.
     And memory, the memory of an earth experience, therefore limits or finites one's life; but note, only from below. It makes every person uniquely different, a vessel of life precious in the eyes of the Lord. It provides a ground in which all the states of a man's life are preserved as eternal. In it every feature of a man's character is represented. It is ordered not only chronologically, but according to all man's affections- his valuations and interests, his ruling loves. The Writings call this ultimate plane of man's life "the corporeal memory." The ideas of which it consists are derived directly from bodily sensations and are called "material ideas." For it is the record of man's corporeal life in this world.
     But how is this corporeal memory held permanent? Ideas, even though they may be ideas of material things, are not themselves material, but are spiritual; states of mind, states of a spiritual substance.

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But as we have read, spiritual substances are not permanent in form, but change. Memory is permanent, we know, as long as the texture of the brain is intact. Things long forgotten can be recalled perfectly if the right parts of the brain are given some physical stimulus. But what happens to it at death, when the body, with all the visible organisms of the brain, dies and decays? Is the memory then also dissolved, to vanish as the objects around the angels sometimes do?

     The Doctrine of the "Limbus"

     The answer to this question lies in the doctrine concerning the "limbus." The term is Latin, and occurs only once in the Writings. It means a border, or fringe, or hem, or edge. The reference is to the border substance of the natural world, the inmosts of nature; where nature as it were touches the spiritual world; or where the body is immediately responsive to the influx of the spirit. Unless we know something of the function of this border substance we cannot come to understand why man s memory and thus man's spirit can be preserved from dissolution when the body dies. As an introduction to the teachings about this link between the spirit and the flesh we shall cite the following from the work The Divine Love and Wisdom:
     "Man's mind is his spirit, and the spirit is the man, because by the mind is meant all of man's will and understanding, and these are in principles in the brains and in principiates [or derivatives] in the body; therefore they are all things of man as to their forms. . . . For the first thread of the human form or the human form itself with each and everything thereof, is from the beginnings from the brain continued through the nerves. . . . It is this form into which man comes after death and which is then called a spirit and angel, and who is in all perfection a man, but a spiritual man. The material form that is added and superinduced in the world is not a human form from itself, but from the spirit to which it is added and superinduced that man may be able to perform uses in the natural world, and also to draw unto itself from the purer substances of the world a fixed containant of the spiritual things, and thus continue to perpetuate life . . ."*
* DLW 387, 388.
     Thus man is born in an earthly body not only to perform uses in the world, but-and this is of primary importance-in order that his spirit may draw a subtle natural substance unto itself and fashion it as a permanent containant for his spirit. Concerning this we read in the work The Divine Providence:

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     "The conjunction of temporal and eternal things with man is the Lord's Divine providence. . . . It is from Divine providence that man by death puts off what is natural and temporary, and puts on what is spiritual and eternal. . . . Extremes and ultimates are containants; and these are in the natural world. Hence it is that no angel and spirit was created immediately but that they were all first born men. . . . From this they have extremes and ultimates which in themselves are fixed and stable (stata), within which the interiors can be held together in connection. But man at first puts on the grosser things of nature; from these is his body. But these things he puts off by death, and retains the purer things of nature which are nearest [or next] to the spiritual things, and these then are his containants.
     "Inasmuch as the extremes or ultimates of nature cannot receive spiritual or eternal things . . . he retains only the interior natural things, which agree and conform with spiritual and celestial things and serve them as containants . . . . "*
* DP 200.
     It is clear that it is by birth that man first puts on and appropriates these interior natural things in which his spirit may dwell not only during life on earth but forever. But whence are they derived? What function do they serve during man's life? And what is their relation to the spirit after death?
     These questions we shall consider in our next paper.
CONCERNING WHAT IS TO COME 1960

CONCERNING WHAT IS TO COME              1960

     "Angels do not know what is to come; the Lord alone knows, and he to whom He deigns to reveal it. I therefore perceived something to be as it were detested when some desired to know future things; for thence some think to know whether [a thing] is true or not, as is the case with men on earth; but in the last times miracles do not occur, nor are things to come predicted, for many reasons. One only it is permitted to adduce, namely, that the angels, in order to be in happiness, must not know the least of what is future; for the Lord provides for them what they should think every instant. So the Lord has said that they should not be solicitous about the future. Moreover, the knowledge of the future, for which spirits are very eager, would involve very many things that would disturb them, and order; wherefore also it is entirely opposed to the government of spirits and angels, who must take nothing to themselves of their own, but what is permitted them" (Spiritual Diary 2271).

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GOTHENBURG TRIAL 1960

GOTHENBURG TRIAL       Rev. ALFRED ACTON       1960

     (Report of a lecture given in the Assembly Hall, Bryn Athyn, Pa., January 26, 1940.)

     In August, 1765, Swedenborg arrived in his private carriage from Stockholm at Gothenburg. There he had to wait for a suitable wind, to take a ship to Holland, where he was going to publish his Apocalypse Revealed. Swedenborg was then a very well known man. He had a marked position in Sweden, and when he arrived at Gothenburg he was known to some of the leading men of the place. He had been there some six years previously, when he predicted the fire at Stockholm. During the eight or ten days he stayed at Gothenburg he was invited out a great deal; and one man who invited him was a professor who lectured in the Gymnasium-a Lector of Eloquence, Johan Rosen. Dr. Rosen also invited a colleague of his, a Professor of Greek and Theology, Doctor Gabriel A. Beyer.
     These two gentlemen were together there with Swedenborg, whom they had recently met for the first time. Dr. Beyer had read something of his, but had put it aside as not worthy of notice; but when he listened to Swedenborg talking, he was quite enraptured and at once convinced of the truth of what he said. So he invited Swedenborg to dine at his house the following day, and he and Rosen again met him. On the latter occasion, Beyer asked Swedenborg more particularly about his doctrines, and Swedenborg dealt with them at great length; describing, among other things, how the Lord had appeared to him. Dr. Beyer has given us the only detailed account we have of how the Lord appeared to Swedenborg in London in 1745. Beyer asked him if the light was very great, and if it did not hurt his eyes. Swedenborg answered, "No." Beyer also asked how long the vision lasted, and Swedenborg said: "A quarter of an hour." The talk so interested Dr. Beyer that he asked Swedenborg if he would not write down the main points, and let him have them. The following day, Beyer invited Swedenborg to meet a wealthy director of the East India Company, a Mr. Wenngren, who was related to him by marriage, and to his house Swedenborg brought the required paper. But he did more than this. He addressed Dr. Beyer very earnestly, and said: "This day you are introduced into the company of angels, and you are now surrounded by their sphere." Beyer tells us that tears came into Swedenborg's eyes, and he spoke with such affection.

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     Swedenborg remained in the city of Gothenburg for some time after this and met some of the principal men of the town, among whom was Bishop Erik Lamberg, who made a very pleasant impression on him and who seemed very receptive of the teachings Swedenborg gave. He also met the Dean of the Consistory, Dean Ekebom, and was very favorably impressed with him. In fact, both gentlemen made such a pleasant impression that for some time afterwards Swedenborg always wished to be remembered to Lamberg and Ekebom when writing to Dr. Beyer.
     This was the only time that Swedenborg met Dr. Beyer. They never met in this life again, although they are associated in the minds of New Church men as very close friends because of the constant letters which passed between them: letters which show, on Beyer's part, the greatest reverence, and on Swedenborg's the greatest confidence in Beyer's insight into spiritual things.
     From this moment, Beyer started to collect the Writings of Swedenborg, and by means of his brother-in-law, he was able to obtain a great many of those Writings from London. From this moment, he also started his Index, which took him eleven years to complete; and it is said that when he received the last proof of that Index from the press, he died that same day.
      When Swedenborg sent some copies of the Apocalypse Revealed to Beyer, he also sent instructions to present copies of the work to Lamberg and Ekebom. Shortly afterwards, he sent a complete set of the Arcana Coelestia to Bishop Lamberg. This shows how much he esteemed Lamberg and Ekebom.
      The next year, 1766, Beyer felt that he had studied the Writings sufficiently to undertake to bring out a volume of sermons, the Predikoforsok.
     These sermons were designed to explain the texts assigned for exposition by the Lutheran clergy. These sermons were to be published weekly. Beyer wrote to Swedenborg and informed him of this, and Swedenborg was one of the first subscribers to that publication. When Beyer wrote him that he proposed in this publication to bring out a New Church science of exposition, he answered: "Use all necessary precautions. The time has not arrived when the essentials of the New Church can be received in this way. Moreover, the New Heaven is not yet fully established."
      These sermons came out weekly, and were censored on behalf of the Theological Faculty of the city by a member of the Consistory named Roempke. I want you to note this-and not only this, but that the first copies, fresh from the press, were delivered every week to the Bishop and to the Dean. Moreover, they read them, and not a word was said in criticism of them.

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      Meanwhile, Beyer had begun to talk about the doctrines to his many friends in Gothenburg, and soon there was quite a circle of interested men, including some of the wealthy directors of the East India Company and some of the merchants of the town. It was one of these who wrote to Swedenborg and asked him how soon the New Church is to be expected; and Swedenborg answered, that it is to come in good time, but that the evils of the Old Church must first be removed.

     Such is the preliminary story of the Gothenburg Trial. None of those who took part realized that that meeting between Beyer and Swedenborg and Rosen, Ekebom and Lamberg, would lead to one of the most momentous, exciting and heart-sickening trials that has ever occurred in the Christian Church. The first inkling of it came in April, 1768, when Dr. Rosen, who three months before had established a learned journal which he called the Prestotidningar, printed in this publication, amongst the news in Latin, a number of pages of a review of the Apocalypse Revealed. Most of this review was occupied with a reprint of some very invidious criticisms by a German theologian, Ernesti. This was followed by two or three pages from the work itself and three pages by Dr. Rosen in refutation of Ernesti, but in very gentle terms. Among the passages which Rosen quoted from the Apocalypse Revealed were: "I have received nothing from myself or from any angel, but from the Lord alone," besides other passages; giving some idea that this Apocalypse Revealed was not an ordinary work but was the result of a Divinely inspired revelation.
     In September, 1768, a few months after this article had appeared, a man from the country arrived at Gothenburg, who proved afterwards, with others, to be the leading cause of all the trouble that followed. His name was Aurell. He was a lawyer who seems to have had a special enmity against the Gothenburg Consistory, but his enmity was also directed against Beyer, as will be evident as the story proceeds.
     At the time of his arrival, there was a priests' meeting, and at this meeting one of the priests said there were many of Swedenborg's books scattered around. He wondered whether the Consistory had considered as to how far they were orthodox and how far they should be permitted to spread in the diocese, and he instanced the article in the Prestotidningar by Rosen. Rosen immediately said that he had written as a journalist, and that he had a perfect right to note foreign publications. The priest in question, who was a brother of the lawyer Aurell, answered that he did not refer to that, but to the spreading of the books themselves in Gothenburg. In that meeting, there was a great deal of gossip among the clergy. Evidently those who had become interested in Swedenborg were numerous and active-minded. So there was talk in this priests' meeting that Swedenborg's doctrines were making great headway.

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This led one of the priests, Kollinius, to address a formal letter to the Consistory, in which he said that there were many rumors going about that there were leading men in Gothenburg who favored Swedenborg's Writings, and asked whether it was not the duty of the Consistory to examine into these Writings and see how far they were orthodox and should be permitted to spread. But the Writings were costly and voluminous, and he could not afford to buy them, otherwise he would have examined them himself; but was it not the duty of the Consistory to do so?
     Now a complaint by two obscure priests like Aurell and Kollinius would never have bothered the Consistory at all. In fact, they let the matter rest from September, 1768, until March, 1769, before doing anything. But at that time, something appeared which is not recorded in the printed record. This was the growing hatred between Dean Ekebom and one of the Lectors, Kullin, on the one hand, and Beyer on the other. Lector Kullin, being an older man than Beyer, was extremely jealous, and he wished to secure Beyer's position as Lector in Theology, because to this position was attached a very rich parish. Kullin was determined to get this position, and Aurell-a great friend of Kullin-and he combined together to see how they could bring Beyer into disgrace. It was owing to this that Aurell made use of the above-mentioned inquiries by the two priests to bring the matter up again before the Consistory. The Consistory then appointed Beyer to give an answer to Kollinius about Swedenborg's works. Beyer did so, and pointed out that Swedenborg was a learned man, with works scattered in all the learned libraries. Note here the great cleverness of Beyer. He was the son of a lawyer, and there is no doubt that it was from his father that he inherited the legal skill with which he conducted himself throughout this miserable trial. Swedenborg's works were in all the universities, both abroad and in Sweden; and the universities, he said, would surely have complained about them had they been heretical. However, he welcomed any examination of these books; but he considered the Consistory members were too busy to engage in a studied examination, and he would be delighted if a learned man like Kollinius himself would undertake an examination of them, and report to the Consistory. This answer was delivered to the Consistory and left to be circulated among the members for their approval or disapproval.

     I will here pause for a moment to tell about the Consistory. Every city or diocese had a bishop, and this bishop had attached to him a consistory; but the consistory was not of his choosing, and he, in the consistory, had only an equal voice with the rest. Every question was decided by a majority vote.

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     Now in Gothenburg, and also in Upsala and Lund, all the lectors or professors of the University, called Gymnasium in Gothenburg, were ex-officio members of the Consistory, and they met at least once a week, and sometimes oftener when business required, to oversee the business of the diocese and the business of the Gymnasium itself. The church and school were then entirely united. The members of this Consistory with whom we are concerned-the only ones who attended the meetings which we will have to consider-were nine in number:
     First, there was Bishop Lamberg, a man who was a fellow student with Beyer, about fifty years of age at the time of which I speak. He was an easy-going man, very much afraid for his own reputation; ready to be friends with everybody, but at a danger signal, ready to retreat; and not distinguished for modesty. There is a story told about him, that he went to an inn where a very learned professor called Pontoppidan was staying, who asked Lamberg what his name was. Lamberg said, "My name is not unknown to the learned world, it is Erik Lamberg." "Ah," said Pontoppidan, "my name may not be known to the learned world, but it is considerably longer than yours."
     Second, there was Dean Ekebom, who was a little older than Lamberg, being fifty-three years of age. He was a vehement man, pompous and conceited to the utmost degree. He preached in the Cathedral a sermon, stating that the East India Company were robbers; and immediately he exclaimed, "My God! what have I said!" and on another occasion he said that all tailors are nothing but thieves-right from the pulpit. He had great difficulty in keeping out of trouble. His favorite expression was "My God," which he used even to the King, forgetting himself as it were.
     A third member, Hempe, was nearly of the same age as Lamberg, namely forty-seven years. He was pastor of the German church, and, being German-born, did not well understand Swedish. He was an ignorant man, although, of course, like all priests, he was skilled in Latin. He also had an unbridled tongue. He was a joint pastor of the German church in Gothenburg, and he and the other pastor were continually assailing each other from the pulpit. One Sunday, Hempe would say, for instance, that his fellow pastor was a Judas Iscariot; and the next Sunday, the other pastor would call Hempe a liar-right from the pulpit. In fact, it became so bad that a meeting of the church had to be called, and the two pastors were finally persuaded to shake hands as though friends, and promise not to attack each other from the pulpit any more.
     A fourth member was Roempke. Roempke, aged fifty-two, was a man who was somewhat inclined to Swedenborg's teachings, although he knew very little about them. What he heard about them was mainly from conversations with Dr. Beyer, but, on the whole, he tried to act fairly during the trial.

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     Then there was a fifth member, Kullin, aged fifty-five, of whom I have already spoken. Gothenius states that the whole aim of Kullin against Swedenborg and Beyer was solely to oust Beyer from the pastorate, that he might get it himself. Lamberg, Ekebom and Kullin were constantly united against Dr. Beyer. Roempke was somewhat on the fence.
     Of the other four, who stuck together as a whole in support of Dr. Beyer, was Dr. Beyer himself, a man of great learning. He commanded great affection, especially among his pupils, and was a man whose learning ornamented the Academy. When he was only thirty-four years of age, he published a Greek textbook, from the classics and the Greek Fathers, introducing also three pages of vernacular Greek, to introduce his pupils to something of modern Greek. He was forty-eight years of age.
     Beyer was a close friend of Dr. Rosen, forty-three years of age, one of the most brilliant men of the day. Rosen belonged to an outstanding family, his brothers and himself being among the famous men of Swedish history. He was famous as a journalist, and a rival of Gjowell, a great journalist at Stockholm. He had a very, very sharp pen, and united eloquent Swedish with a critical and often bitter style.
     Then comes an eighth member, Gothenius, who joined the Consistory two or three years after this case had begun, but was practically with it from beginning to end, with the exception of the very beginning. Probably one of the most learned men in Sweden, he constantly harped on one theme-everything in the Bible was to be investigated-in the light of philology. Whatever question was put before him, he was always eager to bring it round to a question of philology. Evidently a fairminded man, he said of Conjugial Love that there were many beautiful things there, but many ridiculous ones. On the whole, until the end, he remained faithful to Beyer and Rosen. He was forty-eight years of age.
     The last and ninth member of the Consistory whom I have to mention is Wallenstrale, the youngest man, being only thirty-six years of age. He was a nobleman, the son of the Bishop of the diocese who had preceded Lamberg. Because of his nobility, he was greatly courted, and special favors were shown him. He was a man who loved luxury, good eating, etc. He loved money, but was always poor, although he had plenty of money but did not know how to take care of it. He was a pupil of Rosen, of whom he was jealous because of some preferment which Rosen had, and which he thought he should have had. This gives some idea of the men with whom we are dealing.

     Beyer's answer to Kollinius was considered in the Consistory, and three weeks later Ekebom presented to the Consistory some notes in which he admitted that he had not read Swedenborg's works, though he had glanced through the Apocalypse Revealed.

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But, on the basis of conversations with Swedenborg himself, he declared the works heretical in the highest degree, and opposed to God's Word. He was very vehement in his utterances, and compared Swedenborg's works to the writings of Socinius, who denied the Divinity of Christ. He demanded that Kollinius give the name of the man or men in the Consistory who were supposed to believe these terrible heretical writings-although it was a matter of common knowledge that it was Beyer who was meant. At the same meeting, lawyer Aurell stated that, for a certain reason, not given, he would like to have a copy of all the Minutes of the Consistory concerning Swedenborgianism, as he intended to publish them. The one purpose he had in mind was to bring Beyer into disrepute. The Consistory necessarily consented to this. As a Swedish citizen, he had a right to ask for the Minutes but not to publish them; But Beyer made the objection that those Minutes should not be given out piecemeal, but should wait until the trial was finished. Beyer was out-voted.
     At the next meeting, Beyer appeared with a copy of Conjugial Love, and read a certain passage from it. You are familiar with it. It begins:
"A man from the north ran up to me with a threatening look and heated voice, and cried, 'Art thou he that wishes to seduce the world by instituting a New Church'"; and I can imagine that Beyer looked at Ekebom when he read it, because it certainly represented exactly, both in speech and in manner, what Ekebom himself had declared only a short time before. Ekebom objected vehemently to this and said, "Who authorized you to be a messenger of Swedenborg to this Consistory?" Beyer listened very calmly and said, "I have a right to read this passage." But what Ekebom was really angry at was that he had given his consent to the Minutes being printed, and now this passage from Conjugial Love, which described the teachings of the New Church, was going to be published in the city of Gothenburg for the simple people of the diocese to read.
     It appeared in the future discussion, as to what should be done with regard to this matter, that Roempke counselled that the Consistory examine the Writings, since not one member of the Consistory, except Beyer and Rosen, had more than glanced at them, and some not even that; yet this did not prevent them from condemning the Writings and agreeing with Ekebom.
     Rosen, who was not present when Ekebom had delivered his judgment, commented on Ekebom's notes and said it would be wicked to judge a man s work unread; it would be against reason or against Christian charity. Then he attacked Ekebom's quotations from the Apocalypse Revealed, and showed that he had not quoted correctly, that he had twisted the words, had used wrong grammar, etc.

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Finally he said, in his usual caustic way, that now that this question had been raised in the Consistory, "we should start systematically to read Swedenborg"; and that he was the more prepared to do this, since the Bishop had kindly lent him his own copy of the Arcana Coelestia. Of course, this put Bishop Lamberg in a very awkward position. It was well known that Lamberg had been very favorable to Swedenborg. So Lamberg got up and said, "I have not thoroughly read Swedenborg, but if Dean Ekebom is right, then of course these writings are heretical; and, I might remark," he added, "with regard to the passage that Dr. Beyer read from Conjugial Love, that it sounds a little peculiar." Note the delay, as always, until he knew which was the safe side to lean on. The decision of this meeting was that they should refer the matter to the Diet which was to be held in a few weeks, at which Dr. Lamberg would attend as a member of the House of Clergy. Beyer wanted the matter presented to the King, but he was voted down, 4 to 5. This was in May, 1769. A few days before, Swedenborg wrote to Beyer, promising him twelve copies of the Brief Exposition which had just been published, and asking him to give one of the copies to the Bishop, and one to Dean Ekebom. He did not then know that Dean Ekebom had turned against him. He asked Beyer please to ask Dean Ekebom to read the work carefully and give a review of it to the Consistory. A little later, Swedenborg heard what Ekebom had stated about him; and probably as a result, he sent only one copy of the Apocalypse Revealed to Beyer, with the request that he keep it strictly to himself, as he said there was hardly any one in Sweden prepared to receive the doctrines.
     The news about Ekebom's answer was communicated by Beyer's brother-in-law, a wholesale merchant named Hammerberg, to Swedenborg, and of course Swedenborg was very indignant. Swedenborg was in Amsterdam at the time, and he wrote a letter to Beyer which he asked him to read at the Consistory, and have a copy made to be sent to the Bishop who was then at the Diet in Stockholm.
     In this letter, Swedenborg dwells on the impudence of passing judgment on a man s work while, at the same time, you confess you have not read it.     This Ekebom had done, "without bridle to his tongue or eyes in his head." Ekebom's judgment, that Swedenborg's teachings were Socinian, was a "cursed blasphemy"-Swedenborg's own words. He threatened court proceedings for libel.
     This letter was read in the Consistory in April. Ekebom objected to the reading, and said to Dr. Beyer: "What right have you to be the messenger of Swedenborg?" and when Beyer answered sharply, he said: "Perhaps Dr. Beyer himself will be in difficulty about his Predikoforsok." Beyer took umbrage at this and said: "This is a threat, and if a threat is made, I demand a written copy of the Minutes."

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Ekebom said: "Oh no! not a threat but a gentle warning." Ekebom was undoubtedly inspired by Aurell, as future proceedings show, for the trial centered also upon this Predikoforsok.
     Aurell came in soon after and asked the Consistory if the Predikoforsiik had been censored before being printed. Now, he and Ekebom had ransacked the Minutes and found that they did not contain any record of the Predikoforsiih having been censored, and if this could be proved it would give them a cause of action against Beyer for printing without censorship. But the book itself bore the sign of censorship by Roempke, who was then the Censor of the Consistory. Moreover, Beyer said: "This book was not written in secret. It was spread all round the town, and had a wide circulation"; and he emphasized the fact that the first copies were delivered to the Bishop and Ekebom week by week. It was widely known and read, and yet not a word of objection had been made until this matter of Swedenborgianism came up.
     However, Aurell insisted on his point. It is astonishing how this man Aurell was allowed to send his messenger to the Consistory, and even to dictate. It can he explained by the fact that Ekebom and Kullin were in close concert plotting with Aurell to pursue a certain course, the object of which was the ruin of Beyer and Rosen, especially Beyer.
     So they called in the printer of the Predihaforsok, Immanuel Smitt, who seems to have been a sympathizer with Swedenborg's works, and asked him to produce proof. Smitt said: "I have nothing to do with Aurell." So the matter had to be dropped, because the majority of the Consistory were against Ekebom as to pursuing the inquiry and allowing Aurell the material with which to start prosecution against Beyer. Aurell then took a different tack. He procured a copy of some notes of the students-three of them. The lectures by Dr. Beyer were given in Latin, and these students would take Latin notes. Anyone who has been a teacher would know what kind of notes the pupils would take. I have read some of these notes, and they are laughable; but, indeed, they are full of Swedenborgian terms. Aurell produced these Dictata, and asked permission for censorship by the Consistory, because he wished to publish them. Dr. Beyer immediately objected. He said those notes were the property of the teacher. They had to be submitted to the teacher for correction, and before this they could not be handled by anyone; and he asked permission to take one of them home, which permission he got. When he arrived home, he looked into the matter more carefully, and traced the notes to a pupil who had lent them to a fellow pupil, who again had handed them to Aurell. Dr. Beyer maintained his point very strongly, arguing that the application of Aurell ought to be dismissed, and that Aurell ought perhaps to be fined for unlawful possession of other people's goods. Aurell was not daunted, but he lost his case because the majority of the Consistory agreed that the Dictata were Dr. Beyer's property.

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     Aurell then took another step in his steady purpose to destroy Beyer. About this time, Gothenius writes to his friend in Stockholm, Gjorwell:
"The purpose of these men, Ekebom, Aurell and Kullin, is to remove Beyer. They have tried other ways but find this best. The holy zeal of Kullin is to get a fat parish."
     In May 1769, the first numbers of the published Minutes appeared, called Handlingar rdrande Swedenborgianismen. Of course they caused quite a stir. They were published weekly for quite a number of weeks, and contained the printed record of the whole of the Gothenburg Trial up to the time of their publication. In the middle of June, Beyer had been Rector of the Gymnasium. This office was held in turn by each of the members. The duty of the Rector was to give religious instruction to the whole of the school for a certain period every day, for which he also received an additional salary. It was Beyer's turn to lay this office down, and he delivered an oration on the double sense of Scripture. I picture to myself Beyer-harassed by these continual persecutions, always having to defend himself, studying the ecclesiastical law for the purpose of defense-standing before the whole of the officials of the Gymnasium, knowing that he was facing some men who had vowed his destruction. The purpose of his oration, he said, was to show that he was not heretical. The oration is an extremely clever one, proving by quotations from the modern theologians, and also the early Christian Fathers, that there is an inner and deeper sense to Scripture. It does not mention a word about Swedenborg, but all in the Consistory knew very well it was Swedenborg's doctrine that was being set forth. Beyer wished to show that the doctrine of Swedenborg was simply the doctrine of enlightened theologians in the Christian world.
     After this oration, the fight was renewed on the student's notes or Dictata, and Beyer was to be disqualified from taking any part in the discussion. Beyer was not at a loss for an answer. These Dictata were his property, but someone came in and stole them; and now he was to be disqualified. If anyone was to be disqualified, it should be Dean Ekebom. Dean Ekebom insisted that Beyer ought not to be allowed to discuss this matter, and in his anger he lost his head entirely. Beyer won his point and was not disqualified. Beyer, in the course of his speech, was led to state that "Dean Ekebom and Aurell are my bitter enemies." A vote of 5 to 4 refused Aurell the right to print the Dictata.
     Aurell then again changed his tactics and began to attack Roempke. Roempke had joined up with Beyer, and the idea was to separate the two.

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Roempke had published a book, De Reprobatione, which smacked much of Swedenborgianism. Roempke had not studied Swedenborg, but his information was from conversations with Beyer. There is a story told about Aurell, Roempke and the Bishop. Aurell was talking to Roempke about the printing of his book, and he demanded the Minutes, "in case I prosecute at law." Lamberg then said: "Whoever attacks this book, attacks me." Then Aurell took the Bishop into another room, and had a talk with him about it. Returning, Lamberg somewhat modified his earlier statement, and said that all the members of the Consistory were responsible for Roempke's book, and not himself alone. Aurell said that he was going to translate this book, and add notes to show it was Swedenborgian. But Roempke objected, and said it was his property; and, moreover, that it was written in Latin and intended for the learned. Aurell again lost-5 to 4 against him.
     Later in the year 1 769, Aurell printed some excerpts from the Writings of Swedenborg, with reference to the Predikoforsiik, to show similarity.
     We are now approaching the time when the really hard part of the trial came.

     (To be Concluded)
MEMORIAL ADDRESS for The Rev. Frederick Edmund Gyllenhaal 1960

MEMORIAL ADDRESS for The Rev. Frederick Edmund Gyllenhaal        GEORGE DE CHARMS       1960

     (Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, November 25, 1959.)

     "Behold I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be." (Revelation 22: 12)

     Man is essentially a spiritual being. He is born into the natural world with a body and a brain sensitive to the material objects and the mechanical forces of nature. But he is endowed with a mind created to feel spiritual things; that is, to see truth and to be moved by love. In the sensation of these things he finds the delight of his life. Apart from them material objects have no meaning. Their sole value is to serve as carriers or conveyers of affections and thoughts, which could not otherwise be perceived.

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     During our life on earth the material forms of nature are not only presented to the mind but they are stored in the memory, ordered in the imagination, and exalted to the plane of abstract thought; becoming thereby an ever more perfect embodiment of love, and the medium for an ever deeper perceptive understanding of truth. As these spiritual treasures are shared with others, they give opportunity for service to the neighbor in which the very joy of heaven itself consists, a joy that can grow and increase to all eternity. In the sight of the Lord, the sole purpose of our earthly life is that within the body a mind may be formed, organized and equipped to enter upon the performance of a heavenly use. When this mind has been perfected, that is, when it has been stored with all the elements from the material world that are necessary to its spiritual life, then it is of the Divine mercy that this internal organ should be withdrawn from its encompassing body, released from the limitations of nature, and awakened to consciousness in the spiritual world; there to enjoy the sensation of those spiritual things in which real human life consists, and to do so with keener perception and more exquisite delight than were possible before. Because this is the goal toward which the Lord leads man through all his life on earth, it is of the Divine Providence that the body should die. Therefore the Lord says: "Behold I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be."
     The life of the body is necessary as a preparation for this moment of release, and when that moment comes, nothing is lost that is of lasting value. Only the body which has fulfilled its purpose, and which can be of no further service to the spirit-only this is left behind. Every faculty of the mind, every ability that has been acquired by education and experience, remains inscribed upon the organic vessels of the awakening spirit. Even physical skills are retained and are spontaneously adapted to the uses of the spiritual world. That this is the case may become evident if we reflect that the body has no life or power of its own. In all things it is moved by the mind. Any skill that seems to belong to the body really pertains to the mind, by which the body is directed and controlled. It is this governing mind that continues to live after the body dies, and continues to possess all the faculties by which it had acted in, and through, the body. After death, these same faculties act through a spiritual body, and produce effects in the spiritual world more freely and far more perfectly than was possible through the gross and resistant covering of flesh. Herein is the scripture true concerning those who come into heaven: "Blessed are the dead, which die in the Lord from henceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them" (Revelation 14: 13). By "works" here are meant all the mental activities by which men have been prepared for a heavenly use by their life on earth.

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Use in itself is spiritual. It is the activity of love. Worldly occupations are but means whereby love finds ultimate expression in service to the Lord and to the neighbor. After the death of the body this same love goes forth to the performance of corresponding spiritual services, and the spirit of man finds therein a happiness immeasurably greater than any he had known on earth.
     Such is the teaching of the Heavenly Doctrine concerning the Divine purpose of death, and the reason it contains within it nothing but the mercy and lovingkindness of the Lord. The knowledge of this truth, now revealed out of heaven, is one of the greatest blessings given by the Lord at His second coming. It is a blessing that we realize most fully when one whom we have intimately known and loved is called into the spiritual world. In outward seeming, the death of our lifelong friend, Frederick Gyllenhaal, brings to the church he served so well an irreparable loss. Early in life he answered a call to the priesthood, and for more than half a century he fulfilled the duties of that sacred office with complete devotion. For the first five years of his ministry he served the society in Denver, Colorado, and after a brief pastorate in the Advent Church of Philadelphia he was called to Durban, South Africa. The society there had not been associated with any general body of the New Church. It had been established by a group of pioneer New Church men who derived their religious instruction and illustration directly from their individual reading and study of the Writings. Under the leadership of Mr. Gyllenhaal, however, they accepted the principles of the General Church, and were received as a society of that body by Bishop N. D. Pendleton in 1919. While he was in Durban, Mr. Gyllenhaal met Miss Agnes Pemberton, who became his wife and his devoted help-meet through all the vicissitudes of his life thereafter. Under his pastoral instruction concerning the importance of New Church education, the Durban Society was prepared for the later establishment of the Kainon School for the younger children of the church, and its members were determined to send a number of their young people to the Academy schools in Bryn Athyn. Also, while he was in Durban, in response to the earnest request of certain natives who had been led independently to receive the doctrines, Mr. Gyllenhaal organized the South African Mission of the General Church, which, over the years, grew until it numbered some two thousand members.
     In 1920, Mr. Gyllenhaal was called to England, where he served as pastor of the Peckham Rye Society in London, and later also of the Colchester Society. Here he founded the New Church Club, an organization designed to provide opportunity for friendly interchange of thought between members of the General Church and those of the General Conference.

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In 1928 he resigned to accept the pastorate in Toronto, Canada, where he remained until 1946, when he moved to Bryn Athyn to become Director of the General Church Religion Lessons Committee. In this capacity he performed an invaluable service; producing, duplicating, cataloguing and distributing, with the able assistance of Theta Alpha members, Sunday School lessons for every week of the year, and adapted to every age from kindergarten to the eighth grade.
     As pastor, teacher, and in Toronto as headmaster of the local school, Mr. Gyllenhaal was deeply loved by all who benefitted from his ministrations. He had marked ability as an organizer, and wherever he went the church grew, both in numbers and in the understanding and life of the Heavenly Doctrine. Surely the use which he so passionately loved, and which he performed with such undying zeal during his entire life on earth, will go with him to the other world. His mind, with all its powers and abilities, cannot fail to find expression there; and so close is the unconscious connection between the two worlds that he will continue to perform an unseen but vital use also to the church on earth. In doing so he will know the blessedness of use, the delight of accomplishment, the joy of seeing ever new truth and of advancing to ever greater wisdom, which is the reward the Lord foresaw for him and toward which the Lord was secretly leading him through all the years of his earthly sojourn. Especially those of us who were close to him, who knew him intimately as a friend and co-worker, and who were bound to him by ties of deep affection, will miss his physical presence among us. But we rejoice with the angels in his resurrection to new and eternal life, and we lift up our hearts with our hands in thanksgiving to the Lord, who in His merciful providence has fulfilled for him the promise of His Word: "Behold I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Amen.
REV. WILLIAM B. CALDWELL, D.TH. 1960

REV. WILLIAM B. CALDWELL, D.TH.              1960

     As announced elsewhere in this issue, Dr. William Beebe Caldwell, who was editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE from 1918 to 1950, passed into the spiritual world on December 4, 1959. A photograph of Dr. Caldwell, and the text of the address delivered by Bishop De Charms at a Memorial Service in the Bryn Athyn Cathedral on December 6,1959, will appear in the February issue of this journal.

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FIRST PRINCIPLES 1960

FIRST PRINCIPLES       Rev. FREDERICK L. SCHNARR       1960

     Charter Day Address

     (Delivered at the Cathedral Service, October 23, 1959.)

     We meet together today in celebration of the eighty-third anniversary of the Academy of the New Church. In remembering this anniversary, we ask you to reflect upon the reason for its establishment and perpetuation, that we may dedicate ourselves anew to the uses and life it seeks to foster. As you know, the Academy was formed to spread the knowledge of the New Church by means of formal instruction in the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, and in this way so to prepare the minds of the children and the young people of the church that they would have the means of receiving the Lord in His second coming: receiving Him with love for His Divine qualities, and with understanding of His Divine purpose in forming, preserving and ruling all things of creation.
     Because this was and is the purpose of the Academy, it looks immediately to the Heavenly Doctrine for guidance and direction in forming, ordering and governing its uses and life. Ministers, teachers and laymen alike, go to the Writings to seek instruction from them as to how the Lord forms the human mind, step by step, from infancy to adulthood. They seek to learn what it is that is of prime importance to the orderly progress of each stage of mental growth; what qualities and capacities the Lord gives the human mind in each stage of development that can be appealed to and fed by the use of the proper knowledge, attitude and instruction. They seek guidance as to what subjects are to form the curriculum for each age group. They seek enlightenment from the Lord as to how the sciences, the arts, the languages and the crafts are to be presented to the student so that each new knowledge, even though natural, will reflect and confirm some spiritual truth about the Lord and His creation.
     This approach to the subject of New Church education follows as a logical step from the acknowledgment of its essential purpose. Certainly, if we believe the Lord has revealed to us the nature of the human mind, and the nature of its growth and development, it follows that that revelation must also be the sole authority for the principles and practices we pursue.

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As has been evident many times already in the history of the Academy, this regard by ministers, teachers and laymen for the supreme authority and direction of the Writings has placed the Academy utterly at odds with theories and practices of education widely accepted and used all over the world. How could it be otherwise, since the purpose of New Church education is distinctly different from that of any other system of education? The doctrines of the New Church are basically opposed to the falsities upon which many theories and practices of modern education have been founded; and the Academy, in its association with other educational institutions, and in its endeavor to carry forth its own purpose, is bound to feel the effects of this clash; many of which will not be pleasant, and will require a steadfast conviction and courage on our part. However, as long as we are free to educate our children according to our religious convictions, the fact that the Academy seems different, peculiar, narrow-minded and bigoted, to others need not be of too great concern. What is of concern is the manner in which many of the conceived purposes, standards and theories of modern education have affected, confused, and in some cases poisoned, the minds of many adults, students and young people. The affection for truth, which the Lord instills as a gift in the heart of every newly born infant, and which gives him the ability to delight in learning truths even if he does not yet will to use them; this affection is what is being stifled and abused by the subtle, false, yet learned, educational philosophies of today. In countless ways, an atmosphere has breathed forth from the universities and colleges that is filled with the venom of agnosticism and atheism: an atmosphere that inclines the student to doubt the existence of any such thing as Divine authority or Divine law, to regard all truth as relative and not absolute, to question the reality of evil, to think of himself as good and the source of good, to accept as true only that which can be demonstrated to the senses, and to make it his aim in life to become a socially well-adjusted and acceptable individual who generally performs the good works of the "Christian" way of life.
     The various sects of the Christian religion, already impregnated with these concepts, have begun the process of disregarding old-fashioned doctrines in a futile effort to keep pace with modern standards and attitudes. One need only review the changes in doctrine of the great Christian religions over the last few years to see how greatly they have altered, and where these alterations are leading them. Faith that the Old and New Testaments are an authoritative revelation from God has practically passed out of existence in the higher echelons of learning, and has even now become a matter of question throughout the Christian churches.
     We believe that no one can comprehend the great difference between education in the Academy and education in other institutions of learning unless he be aware of the importance of the teaching in the Writings, that the principles of life which a man assumes direct, order and interpret everything of his affection and thought.

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We read in the Writings: "The essence and quality of the beginning is derived and passes over into the things that follow" (AC 3939). "The first principle is like a soul from which all other things have life" (AC 4736). "Every one may know that man is governed by the principles he assumes, be they ever so false, and that all his knowledge and reasoning favor his principles" (AC 129). Whether a man's principles be true or false, they form the purpose and meaning of his existence, and in time the nature and quality of his thoughts, his loves and his actions. Thus a man who concludes and believes that there is no wise, loving and Human God, makes his life in this world the be-all and end-all of his existence. He sees no underlying purpose in creation; he sees nothing that is enduring and eternal in human relationships; he neither sees nor acknowledges any body of truth or law, except perhaps that which society invents for its own temporal protection and social well-being. In every single act which such a man performs, in every idea which he brings forth, in every value which he establishes, the product has been formed, is governed, and is used by and from the philosophy of life proceeding from his first principles or beliefs. On the other hand, a man who acknowledges a wise, loving and Human God, sees that life in this world is a preparation for life in another world. He sees the intelligent and wise purpose that the Lord has in creation, and from the Word knows what is enduring and eternal in human relationships. He sees that truth is not merely relative, changing with the whims and attitudes of human society, but that it is absolute because it comes forth from an infinite God who does not change. He sees that moral and civil law, in order to agree with the Divine purpose of creation, must have as their source the Divine laws of order. In every act which such a man performs, in every idea he brings forth, and in every value he learns to cherish, the product has been formed, is governed, and used, by and from the philosophy of life proceeding from his first principles or beliefs.
     The Writings tell us that the nature and quality of every church, every civilization, and every individual, depend upon the nature and quality of that which is held as the first principles of thought and love. Indeed, the Writings are even more specific, teaching that there are two first principles of all thought and love; one the source of all good and truth, and the other the source of all evil and falsity. The principle which is the source of all good and truth, and hence of all heavenly states with man, is represented in the Word by the "tree of lives" which was situated in the center of the Garden of Eden. The principle which is the source of all evil and falsity, and hence of all infernal states with man, is represented by the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" which was also situated in the center of the Garden of Eden.

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Both of these trees were situated in the center of the garden, because man's freedom, which is necessary to make him human, depends upon his liberty to choose between following the Lord or following the love of self. The trees in the Garden of Eden signify perceptions of truth from the Lord; and the Lord invited man to eat of these trees so that he could become intelligent and wise in the things of heavenly life. But He warned man not to eat of the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil." This tree represents self-intelligence. And when the serpent of self-love tempts man to eat of its fruits, man comes "to believe that he knows good and evil and has wisdom of himself, and not from God" (CL 444, CL 353).
     Mankind has in the past eaten, and does in the present eat, from the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil." And from this eating, or first principle of all falsity and evil, there has arisen a negative attitude toward the things of the Word, which now pervades the world and surrounds and influences every one of us. The dire nature of this attitude should be carefully noted and examined by every teacher and, in so far as is possible, by every student. We should watch for the ear-marks of its presence with ourselves: a spirit of doubt and denial in approaching the Word for instruction; a conceited assertion that we will accept nothing as true unless it can be proved and satisfactorily demonstrated by means of sense experience; the idea that each man, from his own intelligence, or from that of human society as a whole, should determine what is intelligent, what is good, what is true. The seriousness of looking to the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" for the fruits whereon to nourish our lives, cannot be exaggerated. The Writings make it perfectly clear that eating the fruits of this tree has caused the fall of every church that has existed on the earth (AC 127).
     Everyone is born with a heredity which inclines him to evils of all kinds; which inclines him to confirm evils by inventing falsities which would support and allow them. But this hereditary inclination alone is not responsible for establishing a negative attitude of doubt and denial towards the Lord and the truths of His Word. Little children who have died and are educated in heaven have such a heredity, and it is active with them; but they do not have a negative attitude towards the Lord and the Word. Why? Because the perverted inclinations of their heredity are not encouraged, nourished and confirmed, by the attitudes and convictions of their adult environment. In this world, unfortunately, philosophies of life based on false principles, supporting and advancing false standards and values, flow forth, surrounding and affecting the minds of our children and ourselves.

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And because these philosophies usually come forth from centers of culture and learning, they bear an authority and command a respect which are potent, subtle, and destructive beyond measure.
     In the life of the Academy, and of the church as a whole, the presence and effect of these philosophies cause states of unrest, confusion, and sometimes an element of sadness and despair. They may even tempt us to leave our first principles, or modify them through persistent inquiries and challenges. They ask: How do you know you are right? How can you be sure? How dare you think you are right and everyone else wrong?
     New Church men would know nothing, be sure of nothing, and dare nothing, if they did not believe the teaching that the Lord gives everyone an affection for truth-an affection that causes him to acknowledge something as being true when he hears, reads, or otherwise senses it; an affection which demands that the understanding acknowledge it, whether the will wants to acknowledge it or not. And this is especially true of those fundamental truths which form the first principles of heavenly life. When they are presented, the affection for truth which the Lord has given us responds to them, and gives us the perception that they are indeed true. We believe this is what the Writings mean when they state that the only way the New Church can be established is through the "self-evidencing reason of love" (Canons: Prologue). The love, or the affection, for truth, must be able to see the essential truths of religion when they are presented and made known, as the Lord has now done in His second coming. If this were not the case, man would be incapable of believing anything as true, except the observations of sense experience.
     The New Church man believes that man can be wise and intelligent only when he is wise and intelligent from the Lord. He believes that the Lord is the only source of all things that are good and true, and that if man would partake of what is good and true he must constantly look to the Lord as the first principle, the "tree of lives" which must be the center of all his thoughts and loves. He believes that the Lord created him for the purpose of becoming an angel of heaven, and that He provided the means whereby this purpose can be fulfilled. The means is the Word, the truths and goods of which are all the other trees of the Garden of Eden, of which the Lord "commanded man, saying, Of every tree of the garden eating thou mayest eat."
     Believing these things, and knowing that love cannot be formed except through knowledge, ministers, teachers and laymen of the church are bound by the nature of their beliefs to seek every means of presenting and establishing the knowledge of the Lord through the truths of the Word with the children, students and young people under their care.

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We cannot think that there is a greater work; or a more important gift that we can give our children than the knowledge of the Lord and the first truths or principles governing the formation of heavenly life. To understand this, is to understand the whole meaning and purpose of the existence of the Academy of the New Church-an existence which cannot fail to serve the individual spiritual welfare of every student, as long as it stands as a servant of the Lord.
IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1960

IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES              1960

     The October-December issue of the NEW PHILOSOPHY contains the first installment of an article entitled "Polhem's Philosophy." This is a translation from the Swedish, by the Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner, of extracts from Samuel E. Bring, the main contributor to Christopher Polhem, a memorial of the Swedish Society of Technology (Stockholm, 1911) and biography of that pioneer in mechanics. The article, which will be concluded in the next issue, throws light on Polhem's many interests, and also on his more private views of science and religion. It will be of value to the student in helping him to determine what influence Polhem had on Swedenborg when the latter, as a young man, was his assistant in various enterprises.

     In the NEW-CHURCH HERALD for November 7, 1959, appeared "The New Church and Spiritualism"-an extended version of a memorandum presented by request to the Ministers' and Leaders' Committee of the General Conference by the Rev. W. M. Allsopp. Interest in spiritism, as we prefer to call it, seems to be perennial; and in its extended form this memorandum is a thorough, thoughtful, well documented study in the light of the letter of the Word and the Writings. In condemning spiritism, the author concludes that self-sought, conscious communication with the other world exposes man to attacks from evil spirits, endangers his spiritual freedom, and hampers if it does not affect his regeneration. The main questions are, he says: should worship be directed to the Lord, or to the vague "Universal Power" of the spiritists? and, should men be governed by the Word, or by the humanistic teaching of the spiritualist movement? The fundamental difference between Swedenborg's unsought intromission into the spiritual world and the communication striven for by mediums is clearly stated. If little can be said on this subject that is new, there is value in such clear restatements from time to time of the teaching of the Writings about it.

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LITURGY MUSIC COMMITTEE 1960

LITURGY MUSIC COMMITTEE       Rev. KENNETH O. STROH       1960

     Bishop Willard D. Pendleton has appointed me to act as chairman of the Committee on Music for the next edition of the General Church Liturgy. It is hoped that the next edition will be published in four or five years, although no publication date has been set. And the Liturgy Music Committee would like to inform the church of its activities.
     The purpose of this committee will be to recommend that the next edition of the Liturgy include those musical selections which will best serve the use of worship throughout the General Church. This means that we must recommend: 1) which of the musical selections in the present Liturgy should be retained, which deleted, and which retained with alterations; 2) which selections from former editions that are not in the present Liturgy should be restored; and 3) what new selections should be inserted.
     To do this work we have a working committee consisting of Miss Creda Glenn, Mrs. Philip C. Pendleton, with myself as chairman. Additional members may be appointed when the need arises. But if the work of this committee is to be successful in its purpose, we will need the help, advice and sympathetic support of the church at large.
     We need to know which selections in the present (1939) Liturgy are used a great deal, which are used infrequently, and which are not used at all. We need to know which selections hold a special place in the affections of the people in different parts of the church. For we do not want to recommend changes which we might think were musically or aesthetically desirable if such changes would disturb a great number of people. Instead we would prefer to insert something better along with what we feel is not so good, in the hope that the church will grow into the use of better selections, and that others will be dropped from future Liturgies when they are no longer in general use. In other words, our aim is not to produce a musical section of a Liturgy which we feel is necessarily in the best possible musical taste, but rather to serve the use of public worship, and to produce a Liturgy that, in the main, will reflect the state of that worship as it presently exists in the church.
     We do feel that a certain amount of leadership in relation to the musical parts of our services is essential if our external forms of worship are to grow, be perfected, and serve the cause of the true, internal worship of the church.

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And so we believe that a new edition of the Liturgy should include a certain amount of new musical material, should exclude some of the old, and may involve a few changes in some of the musical selections which continue in use. But we wish to recommend only those changes, additions or deletions which may best serve the cause of worship in the church as a whole.
     But the General Church is widely spread. It is international in scope. It includes men and women, not only of various national temperaments, but also of varied backgrounds of religious affiliation. The external forms of worship are used by individuals, groups and circles, as well as by the major societies and by the schools of the church. Therefore the thought about, affection for and usage of, musical selections, varies greatly throughout the church. And to do its job intelligently, the Liturgy Music Committee needs to know what the people in different areas think and how they feel about the various selections of music in the present Liturgy. We do not expect to find agreement on these matters. But we must know how the church feels about them if we are to do our job.
     Therefore, in August of 1959, we invited the pastors to fill in a set of forms indicating which of the present (1939) Liturgy's musical selections were used regularly by them, which were used occasionally, and which not at all. And we asked them to recommend alterations or deletions and to make any comments they desired.
     But we also would like each member of the church to feel free to comment on any of these selections. For example, you might feel that certain ones might be sung better in unison than in harmony, or you might think that an alteration in pitch would make a certain song more singable. Perhaps you know of a set of words, or music, or combination of words and music, that you think should be in our Liturgy. We will appreciate any comments or suggestions you care to send along to us. They should be sent to the committee's chairman, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     Our committee wants to recommend those things which will best meet the needs of the church. Yet we cannot be of any help to you unless we know your needs. We can do our work only on the basis of what we know. But we hope to be able to work in an atmosphere of freedom-that freedom which comes when there is full communication of ideas, and when there is mutual trust. For we believe that only in this way can the work of this committee serve adequately that use which must be so precious to all of us-the protection, growth and perfection of those external forms wherein we express our worship of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1960

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS       Rev. ORMOND ODHNER       1960

     Had the Lord not redeemed mankind through His victories over the hells, the restoration of order in the heavens, and the establishment of a new church on earth; and had He not made these works eternal through the glorification of His Human; hell would have conquered the whole human race. It would have perverted all that is heavenly in heaven, and thus, at last, would have caused the end of humanity's existence.
     Such is the clear teaching of the Writings in the daily readings for January. It is entirely a matter of revelation, and must be accepted in the faith that revelation is true. No one on earth saw the hells breaking loose. No one saw hell begin to infest and conquer the heavens. No one saw that salvation was impossible without Divine intervention; although, admittedly, there were observable cases of demoniac possession. A boy was seized bodily by demons, and a boy cannot be sinful. Mary Magdalene was seized by seven devils. Cured by a miracle, she became the most faithful of the disciples. Yet a miracle never converts; she must have been a good woman before the demoniac seizure.
     Christians, even from the beginning, recognized the importance of the redemption wrought by the Lord, but almost immediately they identified redemption with the Lord's suffering and death on the cross. Soon they began to ask, Why? Why did He have to suffer and die? The answers were insane. 1) The devil had taken hold of humanity; Christ had to pay a price to get men back; the price was His death-a ransom to the devil! 2) Man's sin in turning away from God was an infinite insult to God. God the Father was infinitely outraged at man. But no suffering or penance on the part of finite man could pay for an infinite insult. However, the suffering and death of the infinite Son of God could make payment-a ransom to the Father! 3) Christ's death made man once more at one with God-effected an "at-onement"-by the fact that the God-man, Christ, showed man how to live and die as a God-merely a moral example!

     But the Writings insist that the passion of the cross was not redemption. Redemption was effected by the Lord's lifetime of victories over the hells in temptations; His lifetime of restoring order to the heavens; His lifetime spent in preparing for the establishment of a truly Christian church on earth. This is redemption, a purely Divine work, without which man cannot be saved. It is given freely by the Lord to all. And yet, man must pay a price for it-the price of accepting it in freedom.

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REVIEW 1960

REVIEW              1960

CATECHISM FOR THE NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH MEANT BY THE NEW JERUSALEM IN THE REVELATION. By J. D. Odhner. The Swedenborg Genootschap, The Hague, 1959. Paper, pp. 68. Price, 5O cents.

     Except among children of certain ages, catechism with its memorized questions and answers is not likely to be a delightful form of instruction in the New Church. Yet a catechism can be valuable as a guide, or as the core of a systematic course for young people, and the need for such manuals has long been recognized among us. Thus in 1917 the General     Church published A Catechism on the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer by the Rev. C. Th. Odhner, and ten years later it published First Elements of the True Christian Religion by the Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner.
     Other bodies of the church have sought to meet the same need, and the little work under review is a welcome addition to this collateral field. In twelve short sections it attempts to give a summary view of the doctrines concerning God and creation; the life after death; the fall and the pre-Christian churches; the Lord the Redeemer; the Christian Church and the Second Coming; the Sacred Scripture; the Decalogue; reformation and regeneration; marriage and conjugial love; the sacrament of Baptism; the sacrament of the Holy Supper; the church and worship.
      The questions in each section have been chosen and arranged with care; and the answers, always brief and pointed, are documented by references to the passages in the Writings on which they are based. Very occasionally this reviewer found statements that he would question. For example, the statement that men who are conjoined with the spiritual and celestial heavens, respectively, are in the spiritual and celestial senses of the Word (p. 30) would seem to require further explanation. The further statement, that the doctrine of the church is the Lord Himself, present in the concordant truths of the church's understanding of the Word (p. 32), could lead to serious confusion. However, this little book can be used profitably by any New Church man, and we are in accord with the compiler's desire to present the New Church as a church.
      Although it was published in the Netherlands, this catechism is in English throughout. The text has been done by offset photography, and is adorned by plates reproduced photographically from the first Latin editions of the Writings.

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EDITORIALS 1960

EDITORIALS       Editor       1960

     A TEST OF A CHURCH

     One of the tests that may be made to determine whether an ecclesiastical body is a church or a denomination is this: does the doctrine on which it is founded offer a world view without compromise or loss of distinct and distinctive identity? The New Church emerges from this test as no other can, for the Writings on which it is based are a Divinely revealed universal theology. New Church men, priests or laymen, can locate the field of their special use and interest within the range of Divine truth revealed in the Writings, and can pursue their studies under its auspices; seeking out the truths that apply to their field, whatever it may be, and knowing that success will result in an approach that is truly universal, yet distinctively New Church.
     Thus the lawyer, starting with the teachings of the Writings about justice, can discover through reflection in the illustration of his use their application to his work and the implications of his work for justice, the presence of which is one of the things in which the common good consists. The doctor, the civil servant, the businessman, the soldier, the craftsman and the housewife can do the same thing, and each see their place in the complex of uses. The philosopher, the historian, the man of letters, the artist and the scientist can find in the Writings the principles which relate to their special fields, and within those fields can develop what is distinct and distinctive yet universal in its scope. This is made possible by the comprehensiveness of the Writings as a revelation of the one God in whom infinite things are distinctly one; and it shows that the New Church is indeed a church.

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     HUMANIZING THE DIVINE

     In order that the Divine may appear, it must first become human. It is noteworthy, however, that only when the Divine itself initiates the humanizing process does it become human without at the same time being made finite. When man tries to make the Divine human and familiar, he succeeds only in rendering it finite. The images by which God has been conceived are finite, and anthropomorphic when they are not amorphous; and as such they are incapable of evoking love and worship, or of making men aware of spiritual conditions that must be met if the Divine purpose in their creation is to be fulfilled.
      This is true of all the images of God which men have superimposed upon the Word, from the image of a feudal overlord projected by the medieval church to the particular images fashioned by various Protestant sects. It is true also of those images which have been constructed apart from the Word. Whether God is conceived as a Cosmic Mathematician, the "Man Upstairs," man's best self, a cosmic drift of harmony, or, that most insidious of popular views, an uncritical friend who stands by man's side through thick and thin, the image is finite. It cannot be loved and worshiped, and its acceptance does not impose spiritual conditions upon man, or suggest that there is a judgment to be met.
      What the Writings present to us, above all else, is the vision of a Divinely Human God; one who is indeed infinite, but as if finite for the sake of reception by angels and men. Here is no finite image, but the Lord Himself, in whom the Divine is made Human, and the Human Divine, by His own power. In their pages the Divine Human stands forth to view as the supreme object of man's love, adoration and worship.
     It is this, indeed, that makes the Writings the crown of revelations.


     SERVANT OF THE LORD

     The commission that made Emanuel Swedenborg the servant of the Lord Jesus Christ is described in the familiar teaching that the Second Coming, which is in the Word, is effected by means of a man, to whom the Lord has manifested Himself in person, and whom He has filled with His spirit to teach the doctrines of the New Church through the Word from Him. It was a commission to receive the doctrines of the church with his understanding, and to publish them through the press; and Swedenborg was given to say: "I testify in truth that the Lord has manifested Himself to me, His servant, and sent me on this duty. . . . I also testify that from the first day of my call I have not received anything pertaining to the doctrines of that church from any angel, but from the Lord alone while reading the Word" (TCR 779).

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     What Swedenborg was not commissioned to do is nearly as interesting as what he was. He received no command to establish the church, or indeed to found any movement; a condition which sets him apart from the apostles, and which he observed scrupulously: and this may be pointed out to those who insist on describing him as the founder of the New Jerusalem Church. He was to make the doctrine public through the press, the only way in which it could be disseminated apart from a movement; which again sets him apart from the apostles, whose commission was to preach the gospel. And he was first to receive the doctrine with his understanding, which sets him apart from every other instrument of Divine revelation.
     We are familiar with the testimony that Swedenborg took nothing from himself, or from any spirit or angel, but that everything he wrote pertaining to the doctrines of the New Church came from the mouth of the Lord alone. But we are aware also that this last does not mean that Swedenborg simply wrote down what the Lord dictated to him, viva voce. As well as being able to analyze rationally what he saw in the spiritual world, he had to understand the doctrine itself. This does not mean, however, that the Writings are, as some have alleged, Swedenborg's understanding of the truth of the Word, or even that the revelation given through him was limited by his understanding. It means that there had to be a basis in his understanding for what was revealed through him, imperfect as that understanding of infinite Divine truth necessarily was. This was the reason for his long and arduous preparation. It is that which sets him apart from all other men through whom Divine revelation was given, and which causes the Writings to declare that his intromission into the spiritual world surpasses all miracles.
DEATH OF THE CHURCH 1960

DEATH OF THE CHURCH       G. J. STUNDEN       1960

Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:

     With reference to the former churches, in particular the Jewish and the Christian, the end of the church has sometimes been called the "death" of the church. In contrast to these "dead" churches, the New Church is "living."
     This use of the word, death, is permissible, provided that what is thus meant by it is remembered, and a clear distinction drawn between it and the normal, orderly, natural process also called death, through which all of us must pass at the end of bodily life in this world.

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By way of illustration, suppose that a friend, on meeting us one day, were to say, referring to a mutual acquaintance, "So and so is dead." "What did he die of?" would be a quite natural question; and we would expect an answer such as, "Of thrombosis"-or some other failure of the normal bodily functions. We would experience somewhat of a shock if the answer were: "Oh, didn't you know? He was murdered!"
     It is suggested that when the expression, "the death of the church," is used, it should be understood, not as referring to an expected and orderly natural process, but as meaning that the church was done to death, that is, was murdered or killed. We know that the Lord, while on earth, permitted the representatives of the Jewish Church to do to Him in person what they had already done to their Word, the Old Testament, and that they organized His crucifixion by the Roman authorities. If the Jewish Church was done to death, then the chief priests were undoubtedly its killers! The first Christian Church was also done to death; and again it was the chief priests, the bishops at the Council of Nicea and other councils, who were responsible.
     This leads to some interesting thoughts; for in both instances it was those who had assumed the leadership of the church who did it to death, and the people, who trusted simply in their leadership, acquiesced in the result. Two questions emerge: should any man, or group of men, assume the leadership of the church? and, if they do, should this be acquiesced in by the people? On the basis of the history of the Jewish and Christian churches, the answer should obviously be negative in both instances.
     A great deal more could be said about this conclusion. But as the church on earth is an extension of the Lord's kingdom in the heavens, and as the leadership is therefore His; and as, by virtue of His Omniscience and Omnipresence, His leading of the man of the church is individual; it is probably enough to refer to Heaven and Hell no. 226, where we read these words: "All preachers are appointed by the Lord [in the heavens] and thereby possess the gift of preaching; nor are any others allowed to teach in the temples. They are called preachers, but not priests. The reason that they are not called priests is that the priesthood of heavens the celestial kingdom; for the priesthood signifies the good of love to the Lord, in which they are who are in that kingdom."
     G. J. STUNDEN
Bath, Somerset, England

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Church News 1960

Church News       Various       1960

     CHARTER DAY

     Charter Day, 1959, will be remembered for a number of things: for a large and representative attendance; for pleasant fall weather; for a challenging address delivered by the Rev. Frederick L. Schnarr at the Cathedral service, and published elsewhere in this issue; for a decisive 34-0 victory over Pennington Prep School on the football field; and for a delightful dance ably organized and run by the College. But most of all, perhaps, will it be remembered by the 588 guests present, a record number, for a banquet that may be equalled but not surpassed.
     The toastmaster, the President of the Academy, had allowed it to be known only that the program would feature "a unique panel of speakers." The rest was one of the best kept secrets that Bryn Athyn has not been able to discover!
     Not until Bishop Pendleton announced that the subject of the evening was "The Education of Women" did it become known that the four speakers had been drawn from the distaff side of the Academy's faculty. Professor Morna Hyatt, Principal of the Girls School, spoke first, on "The Woman in the Making." She was followed by Miss Margit Boyesen, Dean of College Women, who dealt with "The Woman in the Home." Professor Margaret Wilde's topic was "The Woman in Society"; and Miss Lyris Hyatt, Instructor in English, had as her subject "The Educated Woman." Every feature of the Charter Day program plays its special part in serving the use of the occasion-that of renewing faith in New Church education, and rededicating ourselves to its ideals and its advancement; but the contribution of these four addresses to that use, and to our confidence in our women teachers, was indeed outstanding.

     COLCHESTER, ENGLAND

     As with all the other societies, as well as the individuals, of the New Church, there is always plenty of spiritual food available for all members of the Colchester Society. During last winter, the Sons had regular meetings in various homes. They heard papers on "Evangelization through Philosophy," by Mr. Colin Greenhalgh; "Physical Diseases," by the Rev. Frank Rose; "Jacob's Ladder," by the Rev. Erik Sandstrom; and "Art in the New Church," by the Rev. Frank Rose. Mr. A. J. Appleton read extracts from Swedenborg's Tremulation, and Mr. Colley Pryke summarized a series of classes by Bishop De Charms on "The New Church and Modern Christianity."
     The women of the Society also had plenty of food for thought, and the Theta Alpha meetings were very well attended. In this respect the women did better than the men! A paper by Miss Margaret Wilde was read to us on one occasion; at another time, Mr. Gill and Mr. Rose were bombarded with questions-with very satisfactory results. Mrs. Denis Pryke gave a paper on "The Five Senses," and Mrs. Frank Rose one on "New Church Women in Public Life." These meetings also were held in various homes and were very much enjoyed.
     There are two doctrinal classes, usually studying the same subject, held in alternate weeks. One is for the parents of younger children, the other is "for the rest." After completing a series on comparative religion, Mr. Gill has now begun a series on the Divine attributes.

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This is, of course, an important subject, as one's place in heaven depends upon one's idea of God. There are also classes for the boys and girls in two age groups.
     Feeling that we have taken up rather a lot of valuable space already, we will mention only briefly such things as socials, celebrations and Sunday services. Somehow the weeks do not always seem to have enough evenings on which to hold all our activities.
     We have had several baptisms, and three deaths, which have been reported elsewhere. The British Assembly, held in Colchester last July, has also been reported.
     MURIEL GILL

     NEW YORK, N. Y.

     In the fall of 1958, both services and doctrinal classes were held in the homes of members as the 35th St. Church was being renovated. The hostesses were Mrs. Roland Goodman, Mrs. Rosalba Joy, Mrs. Joseph Krause, Miss Cornelia Stroh and Miss Marilyn Stroh.
     At the Christmas service, held in Francie Goodman's charming new apartment in Brooklyn, we witnessed the baptism of Kimberly York, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Donald York of Brooklyn. Kimberly is the New York Circle's first baby for many years. We were pleased to welcome Mr. Paul Hartley as a member of the General Church. Newcomers last fall were the Martin Beebe family and the William Cowley family. A year later, our numbers were added to by Miss Nanette de Maine, who is attending Barnard College, and Miss Kirsten Synnestvedt, who is studying at the Julliard School of Music.
     In June there was a record attendance at the Tom Aye home in Manhasset, where all city-bound members enjoyed the outdoor picnic prepared by Mary Aye. Many had an opportunity of going upstairs to visit with Mrs. Genevieve Aye, who has been confined by illness during the past year. At the service our pastor, the Rev. Norbert Rogers, administered the Holy Supper, and, later, he held a private Communion Service for Mrs. Aye.
     The October, 1959, service, doctrinal class and annual meeting were held at the East Meadow, Long Island, home of Capt. and Mrs. Martin Beebe. For all of us adults, long without children in our midst, it was a pure joy to listen to the children's service given by our pastor. New officers elected at the annual meeting for the coming year included Mr. Paul Hartley, vice chairman; Mrs. Donald York, secretary; and Miss Cornelia Stroh, treasurer.
     Our little Circle follows the changing city trend, with active members residing in the following boroughs and elsewhere: Manhattan, 6, plus 3 students; Brooklyn, 4; New Rochelle, 1; Long Island, 6; New Jersey, 1. Manhattan keeps its numerical lead by a small margin, but is still a center for New Church visitors. When visiting New York, please keep the first Sunday of the month in mind as New Church day. We welcome all visitors to services, suppers and classes.
     Because of his illness, our long hoped for visit from Bishop De Charms was postponed last year. We hope to see him, however, in the spring of 1960.
     LOUISE K. KRAUSE


     LONDON, ENGLAND

     Our official New Church Day celebration, held on Sunday, June 14, seemed to your reporter to be a particularly successful one this year. As is customary, our physical needs were catered to by the Women's Guild, 52 people partaking of the provided lunch, which was followed by a program based on True Christian Religion. The celebration opened with the singing of "Joy to this Meeting Fair," after which the pastor welcomed Mr. Henry Lloyd, who had received the sacrament of Baptism at the morning service. The Society then drank a toast to Mr. Lloyd, who has been a well known figure at Michael Church for many years. Mr. Sandstrom had prepared and duplicated for each member present a most useful paper showing the structure of the True Christian Religion; and toasts to the church were proposed by Messrs. Victor Tilson, Bob Bruell, Tom Sharp, and Miss Edith Elphick. A new note was introduced when the Society took this occasion to present the pastor with a swivel chair for his study to mark the 25th anniversary of his ordination.

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     On June 19th itself, that memorable day was celebrated at the home of the Rev. and Mrs. Erik Sandstrom in what has become the customary way. The evening being beautifully warm, our hosts were able to welcome and refresh their guests in the garden. As dusk fell, we made our way into the house. The service began at eight o'clock, the pastor taking as his subject "The Law from Zion, the Word from Jerusalem" (Isaiah 2: 3). There is an undeniable sphere about this very intimate form of worship, and all present were sensible of the feeling of drawing together.
     It hardly seems possible that another British Assembly, the 44th, has come and gone, but so it is. Our Colchester friends were the hosts this year, and they set an example that will be hard to surpass in the Assemblies to come. But as this has been reported elsewhere, suffice it for me to say that a lovelier setting could not have been found; nor could there have been any improvement on the good humor, fine organization and brilliant weather. Michael Church having heard that Bishop and Mrs. Willard D. Pendleton would be attending the British Assembly, it was decided that the Sunday following, July 26th, should be the occasion for honoring their presence at Burton Road. Therefore, after the morning service and a short recess, wine and biscuits were served and toasts were drunk to the Bishop and his wife. The opportunity was taken also to drink a toast to Miss Faith Craigie, to whom the rite of Confirmation had been administered that morning, and to Mr. and Mrs. Palmer from Bath, who had met Bishop Pendleton on his recent visit to South Africa.
     From August 8-15, the Young People's Holiday and Summer School, catering for all the young people of the General Church in this country, was held at the Wembdon School, Bridgewater, Somerset. The school was so successful that it is hoped to repeat it in 1960, and, as an experiment, to include accommodation and classes for adults as well.
     As can well be imagined, it was with great delight that Michael Church learned that the Rev. and Mrs. A. Wynne Acton would be paying a visit to Mr. Acton's old pastorate before returning to South Africa from their American trip. Their ship docked a day late because of bad weather, but they were nevertheless able to have one day's rest before attending the reception arranged for them. This was held at Burton Road on Wednesday evening, November 4th, and was the occasion for many happy reminiscences by the secretary of the Society, Mr. Stanley Wainscot, who also recalled the burden which the war years imposed on Mr. Acton and his wife. The Society then presented this affectionately remembered couple with token gifts-a bracelet for Rachel and a tie pin for Wynne; and in handing them over, Mr. Victor Tilson endorsed Mr. Wainscot's remarks, at the same time reminding us that it was through the efforts of Mrs. Acton that the Women's Guild at Michael Church came into being. After an excellent supper provided by that same Guild, Mr. Acton showed us something of their life and work in South Africa by means of many colored slides made from photographs taken by his wife. Those members who were unable to attend the reception had an opportunity of hearing Mr. Acton on the following Sunday, when he assisted the pastor on the chancel and preached a thoughtful sermon based on the first chapter of Genesis. It was with great regret that their many friends here said farewell to them on the following Thursday, November 12th, when they left London for Durban.
     Talking of visitors, we are pleased to welcome Mr. and Mrs. Paul Rinaldo and their two children from Washington, D. C. We are glad to know that we shall have them with us for the next two years.

     Obituary. It is with deep regret that we report the passing of Miss Yolande Briscoe into the spiritual world on Sunday, October 25, 1959. Yolande arrived back in this country from Bryn Athyn for a short holiday on August 18th, and we were all looking forward to giving her a warm welcome home. She went straight to her sister Ray in Nottingham, and within a week was taken into hospital.

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After a short stay, when the diagnosis was known, she decided to come to London, and on September 1st she entered the Homeopathic Hospital, where she was operated on immediately. At first it seemed as if all was going well, but by the beginning of October it had become fairly evident that she was losing ground and the doctors held out little hope. In spite of almost constant pain and a pitifully weakened condition Yolande continued to show a sense of wit and humor that was quite remarkable. Her courage in this crisis was undeniable, and her interest in the teachings of her faith continued to the last. The funeral service was conducted by the Rev. Erik Sandstrom at Enfield on October 31st, in the presence of her immediate family, relatives and friends.
     ISABEL ROBERTSON

     THE CHURCH AT LARGE

     General Conference. The speaker at a recent meeting of the Manchester Swedenborg Association was the Rev. Frank S. Rose, whose subject was The Invitation to the New Church, After discussing the history and nature of the work, and its place in the series of the Writings, Mr. Rose selected for emphasis the teaching that man himself must in complete humility approach the Lord through the Word. The address was discussed from several points of view and some questions were asked.
      After forty-four years of service in the priesthood of the New Church, the Rev. Frank Holmes has retired. Mr. Holmes, who is well known throughout the New Church as a doctrinal writer, has served as president of Conference, Superintendent Minister, secretary of the Ministerial Advisory Council, and Ordaining Minister. We would join with the NEW-CHURCH HERALD in wishing him well in his retirement.
      We note that the Rev. Fred Clarkson of Heywood has undertaken the joint pastorate of the Heywood and Middleton Societies, and that the Rev. K. W. Staggs has entered into the pastorate of the Dalton Society, the honorary pastorate of the Rev. J. E. Elliot having been terminated.

     General Convention. The pastorate of the Washington, D. C., Society, vacant since the retirement of the Rev. William F. Wunsch, has been filed by the Rev. Ernest Martin, formerly of Wilmington, Delaware; and Mr. Martin has been succeeded in that charge by the Rev. David Garrett, who went to Wilmington from St. Louis after a five-year pastorate.
     The NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER notes that the Rev. Owen Turley is engaged in a sociological survey of Convention on behalf of the Board of Missions and the General Council. He is trying to find answers to such questions as: Why do people join the New Church? What do people look for in going to our church? What kind of backgrounds do New Church people have? Mr. Turley hopes that this survey will indicate directions and emphases for Convention's national program in the next decade.
     In the same issue it is reported that an Institute for Ministers' Wives was held at Urbana Junior College early last fall. The meetings, which lasted for three days, were attended by twenty-two ministers' wives, and were led by Dr. Richard Wallen and Dr. Marrie Creelman of Creelman Associates.
     The following motion was offered on the floor of Convention last July. "We, the members of the General Convention of the New Jerusalem, declare our principal aim to be the welcome in mind and heart of the Second Coming of the Lord to the life of mankind. To this end we will: 1) Nurture the worship of the Risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as the one God of heaven and earth; 2) bring to the world a better understanding of the Bible; 3) study, interpret and explain our doctrine in order that we may realize its application to life; and, 4) establish effective bridges of communication between our Church and the world around us." This was one of a series of motions arising out of the self-study program begun in Convention over a year ago.

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BALTIMORE SOCIETY 1960

BALTIMORE SOCIETY              1960



     Announcements





     A Statement

     The following information has been supplied by the Rev. Frederick L. Schnarr in order to clarify the status of the Baltimore Society:
     The Baltimore Society of the General Church still exists as a legal entity under the trusteeship of Messrs. John Gunther and Rowland Trimble, and will continue to do so at least until the present land and building are sold.
     However, while no formal vote was taken, the members of the Baltimore and Washington Societies present at joint meetings agreed that the two Societies should join into one organization. As a result, there are now no services or doctrinal classes conducted in Baltimore, though children's classes are still held weekly in that city.
     Mr. Schnarr has been advised that the Baltimore Society's land and building are to be condemned by the State's Road Commission within the next two years. A new highway is to go through the property.

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ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS 1960

ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS              1960

     JANUARY 25-31, 1960

Monday, January 25
     3:00     p.m.     Meeting of Headmasters
     4:30     p.m.     Meeting of Pastors
     8:00     p.m.     Meeting of Consistory

Tuesday, January 26

     10:00 am, and 3:30 p.m. Council of the Clergy

Wednesday, January 27

     10:00 am, and 3:30 p.m. Council of the Clergy

Thursday, January 28

     10:00 am. Council of the Clergy
     3:30 p.m. Committee Meetings

Friday, January 29
     10:00     a.m.     Council of the Clergy
     3:30     p.m.     Board of Directors of the Corporations of the General Church
     7:00     p.m.     Society Supper
     7:45     p.m.     Meeting of the Bryn Athyn Society
                Address by the Rev. Roy Franson

Saturday, January 30

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

Sunday, January 31
     11:00 a.m.     Divine Worship

49


ROD THAT BLOSSOMED 1960

ROD THAT BLOSSOMED       Rev. MARTIN PRYKE       1960


VOL. LXXX
FEBRUARY, 1960
No. 2

[Frontpiece: The Reverend William Beebe Caldwell.]
     "Behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds." (Numbers 17: 8)

     Throughout the Scriptures there are frequent references to the twelve sons of the patriarch Jacob, or to the twelve tribes of Israel which were named after them. In the book of Genesis we have the account of their births, their childhood and their eventual move from Canaan to Egypt. Throughout the later books of Moses and, indeed, the whole of the Old Testament, we are told of the people descended from them; of the twelve tribes which went into Canaan after forty years of wandering in the wilderness; of their settling in the land; of their division into the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah; of the dispersal of Israel so that they have become known as the lost ten tribes of Israel; and of the captivity of Judah. The New Testament takes up the story, to tell how the Lord Himself was born amongst the remnant of this people; and even in the final book, the Apocalypse, we are told that the names of the tribes were inscribed on the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem, which was seen by John in a vision.
     This continual reference to the twelve tribes of Israel is not simply a matter of history; it does not spring simply from a passionate nationalism amongst these people; it is not simply a matter of tradition or superstition. The Israelitish people were raised up to represent the true church of the Lord-and in this they were called upon to represent a state which they were incapable of achieving. Thus, in the Word, the twelve tribes of Israel represent the church of the Lord on earth: not an organization; not some earthly association of men and women; but the true church, which is made up of those who have willingly chosen to be loyal subjects of the Lord's heavenly kingdom.

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     The Word is given that all men might be brought into this genuine church of the Lord on earth; for thereby they receive the most perfect preparation for entry into His kingdom in heaven. Thus, throughout the Word, we find teaching concerning the Lord's church, and the character of the man who may be said properly to belong to it. In places this teaching is clearly seen in the literal sense; in other places it is hidden beneath a cloudy letter, which reveals its real purpose only as the light of the truths of the Second Advent dispels the clouds and makes clear the spiritual sense which lies within.
     Such a spiritual sense lies within every detail of the Scriptures; not least within the frequent references to the people of Israel and their twelve tribes. The people represent the church of the Lord; and the twelve tribes, which comprised the people, represent the things of truth and good which make the genuine church-all those spiritual qualities and characteristics which are what make the church; for it is a church only by virtue of its spiritual state.
     Thus the twelve tribes signify those attributes which we, individually, have to seek if we are to be members of the kingdom of God, on earth or in heaven. For the church is made up of many individuals, and the qualities which are necessary for the church as a whole are necessary for the man of the church as well.
     There is a wealth of spiritual teaching in the Writings to be found in those places where the twelve tribes are spoken of: in the explanation of the different order in which they are listed in different places; seen as the sons of Jacob; as names on the shoulder-pieces and breastplate of the high priest; as communities settled, each in its proper representative place in the land; as names on the twelve gates of the Holy City. Here is a wealth of material concerning the attributes of the Lord's kingdom, and concerning the progress of man's regeneration.

     At this time we are particularly concerned with the place that Levi held, and holds, among the twelve tribes; for it was Levi's rod-with Aaron's name upon it-that budded, blossomed, and bore fruit so miraculously in the tabernacle overnight.
     Levi was the third son of Jacob, and the third born to his first wife- Leah. At his birth Leah said: "Now this time my man will cleave unto me, because I have borne him three sons." Therefore she called his name "Levi" which means to twine, to adhere, to cleave. Leah knew of Jacob's greater love for Rachel, and she hoped that now he would turn to her in gratitude for the three sons that she had borne him; she hoped for his love and for true conjunction with him.
     Thus the basic idea of conjunction is involved in the circumstances of Levi's birth as well as in the literal meaning of his name.

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This also is seen to fit properly into the sequence after the births of Reuben and Simeon.
     Reuben signified faith, which man must first acquire if he is to move on to regeneration. He must first learn the truths of the Word and learn that faith in them which is Reuben. The next step is for him to learn obedience to those truths. This is represented by Simeon, the second son. It is not a state of regeneration; it is a state of obedience from a sense of duty, from a desire for salvation rather than for love.
     The state of love which must follow; the state of doing good from an abhorrence of evil and a genuine affection for the things of good and truth because they will forward the welfare-the real, spiritual welfare of man, as well as the Divine end of the Lord; this is represented by the third son, Levi. Levi is that state of conjunction, the conjunction of faith with good; the state of adding a genuine love to a knowledge of the truth. This is the most important state of all in the church. This is the essential quality of the regenerate man. It is the state of mutual love and charity among men, the state of love of the church and of the Lord. Reuben and Simeon find their completion and fruition in Levi. Faith and obedience must proceed on to charity and love.
      We can understand, in the light of this teaching, why Levi was the tribe which was chosen for an especial place among the twelve. They were not to be merely a tribe living in one location, but they were to be priests living in forty-eight cities throughout the land; priests serving at the tabernacle and the temple; those who stood before the Lord; those whose use was devoted especially to the salvation of man. Moses and Aaron were Levites, and Aaron was chosen as the first high priest. Love, which was the representation of Levi, is inmostly the Divine love, and the Divine love looks only to one end-the salvation of man that he may receive eternal joy in the kingdom of God. Is it not clear that those who represented this must be those chosen to be the priests whose whole use is representative of the Lord's work among men and looks likewise to the salvation of man?
     Is it not clear also that this state of charity, this love of the neighbor and the Lord, is so essential, so vital, that it must dwell in all of the church and enter into every part of the life of the man of the church? Thus the Levites dwelt throughout among the people and were not allotted land of their own in one specific place.

     A further demonstration of the prime place of charity in the church, of the necessity of love in the regenerate man, is contained in our text. The sons of Israel had repeatedly disobeyed the Word of the Lord, repeatedly turned away from Him.

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They had rebelled against the chosen leaders, Moses and Aaron. For all these things they were punished by fire and plague; yet still they murmured against the Lord and against His prophets. Thus the Lord commanded Moses to show, by a miracle, that the Lord was indeed with him and the house of Levi. Each tribe was commanded to take a rod and write the name of the tribe on it. Moses was then to lay these up before the Lord in the tabernacle, and all should know that the tribe whose rod had budded by morning was the one chosen to lead the people.
     The rod of Levi was to be inscribed with Aaron's name, for he was the head of the tribe and the high priest. "And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds."
     The word here translated "rods" is, in the Hebrew, from the same root as the word for a "tribe." Thus the twelve rods here placed before the ark, and each with the name of a tribe upon it, have the same signification as the twelve tribes themselves. They signify all these things of good and truth, spiritual qualities, which make the church itself, and likewise make the church in man. Moreover, rods were used as symbols of power; they are so used even now amongst children and primitive people, and kings carry scepters as a sign of their authority. The twelve rods were prepared and placed in the tabernacle so that it might be discovered, or revealed, where the true power lay.
     We may sometimes wonder where the true power lies among those qualities which make up the church: does it lie in our faith-is it with Reuben; does it lie in our life of obedience-is it with Simeon are good works to take first place-shall Gad be in the van; or is the only power with Naphtali-can temptations be the crown of life? The Lord, by His miracle, not only showed the rebellious Israelites who was to be their leader, namely, the Levites, including Moses and Aaron; but He also shows us where we are to look for the power of the church. We may sometimes think that power lies in the strength of the truth revealed to us, and in a certain sense this is so; we may think that it lies in the sphere of our worship; even in our education or in our distinctive social life. Yet the church has no power from these things; these are simply means to the end. They are things which help us to find the real source of power. The power of the church lies in the life of charity, in a free turning to the Lord, in a hatred of sin and a genuine, freely found, love of good. This is the source of the church's power, because it is only into such a state that the Lord Himself can flow and give us of His Divine power, which is the only real power.

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The palm, then, must be given to Levi: it can go to no other; we work for no other; we serve no other. This alone can be the inmost and ruling character of the Lord's New Church, and it can be the only ruling love of the individual man of the church.
     "Behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds." The buds, the blossoms, the almonds, are all those things which flow forth from a life of love, a life of charity. Truth alone will not bear such fruit; obedience alone is barren. The source of life is with love, and thus Levi's rod budded and blossomed, and bore almonds. We are told that "almonds" signify the goods of charity, since by these all things of the church flourish in man, for when the goods of charity are with man there are also intelligence and faith, for man is then in the affection of understanding what he knows from the Word, and in the will to be according to what he knows" (AE 444: 4).
      All beauty, all use, all knowledge and wisdom, all delight may come to us, may come to the Lord's church, if we will but let Levi be our priesthood, the leader in our hearts, and if we will let Aaron's rod bud and blossom and bring forth almonds within us. Amen.

LESSONS:     Numbers 17: 1-13. Revelation 21: 9-21. AC 3858: 1.
MUSIC:     Liturgy, pages 457, 448, 482.
PRAYERS:     Liturgy, nos. 67, 121.
GOTHENBURG TRIAL 1960

GOTHENBURG TRIAL       Rev. ALFRED ACTON       1960

     (Continued from the January issue, pp. 14-24. Report of a lecture given in the Assembly Hall, Bryn Athyn, Pa., January 26, 1940.)

     On August 21, 1769, while Beyer was in the midst of the persecution, his wife died in childbirth. She had borne her tenth child when she died, and left him with five motherless children, the oldest being about thirteen or fourteen years of age. Beyer himself was a very sickly man, very frail. He suffered great anxiety at the death of his wife because of what happened at her deathbed. It was reported that she called him and her eldest boy to the bedside and implored them to give up Swedenborgianism. She said that two priests had warned her against it, and had pointed out its terrible dangers. For the salvation of their souls, she therefore begged her husband to give up this heresy. This had a depressing effect on Beyer himself; and it was added to because, soon after the death of his wife, rumors began to go about the city that she was possessed of spirits.

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     In the meantime, the publication of the Minutes (Handlinger rorande Swedenborgianismen) by Aurell had produced so great an effect that Swedenborgianism became the talk of the town, and received notice in the newspapers. The Gilt. Spionen for September of this year, 1769, published a letter by an anonymous correspondent, probably Aurell, enclosing an extract from a letter which he had received from a friend, dated Paris, July 11, 1769, in which he says: "Swedenborg has now made a little disturbance in Paris. He has again revealed something new concerning his spirits. But how shall the naughty French be able to make use of his light. Our Apostle got the advice to leave the city, and his new book was forbidden. 'Tis a pity I did not learn its title." Swedenborg was out of Sweden at this time; but on October 18th, Beyer wrote to him in Stockholm and told him about the tragic circumstances of his wife's death, about the letter in the Spionen, and also about the trial. In answer, Swedenborg then wrote the famous letter of October 30th, which proved to be the point about which the trial was to center rather than on Swedenborgianism.
     Swedenborg wrote: "High and low are pleased to see me. Dined with the Crown Prince. Dined also with some of the Councillors of State; the Clergy, and all the Bishops, except Filenius, treated me with kindness. I presented Conjugial Love to the Bishops, to the Members of the State Council, and to the King [he had forty-eight copies with him]. He sent Beyer a copy of the Intercourse between Soul and Body, and asked him particularly to read the sentence which states: "The principles of the New Church are: God is one, and there is a conjunction of charity and faith. He [Cuno] then asked, 'Who denies this?' I said, 'The theology of today, when inwardly examined.'" Swedenborg then went on to say that the Brief Exposition had been sent to Bishop Benzelstierna, with strict injunctions not to lend it to any one, "for there are few in Sweden who penetrate with understanding into matters of theology." (You must bear in mind that this letter was published in Gothenburg, and try to put yourself in the place of Swedes reading it.) "The Brief Exposition," Swedenborg continued, "has been spread throughout all Europe except Sweden. Here in this country, in the North, with its longer nights, they may be supposed in their darkness to kick against everything of the New Church which belongs to reason, though there are among the clergy exceptions. I apply to myself the words, 'I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye wise as serpents and gentle as doves.' What you say of your wife in her dying moments was caused by the impression of two priests who associated her in her thoughts with those spirits from whom she then spoke.

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Those that first spoke through her belonged to the followers of the dragon which was cast down, and are filled with hatred of the New Church. Your deceased wife was with me yesterday, and told me much that she had thought and had spoken to you and to those who led her astray." Then Swedenborg added, as a postscript: "You may show this letter to others, and if you choose, may have it copied and printed." He continued: "I have been informed that a letter was printed in Gothenburg, saying that I was ordered to leave Paris. This is a direct lie, as can be proved by the Swedish Ambassador in that city."
     This letter, dated October 30th, was given by Beyer to the printer Smitt, who published it on November 18th; but the pamphlet had no mark or imprimatur to show that it had been passed by the censor.
     Now one would naturally he surprised that such a letter should be printed. And yet it is not surprising, if one reflects. Beyer felt that Swedenborg was high in the favor of the Councillors of State, the King, and the Bishops, and that the letter would therefore be a notice to others, that they should mind their P's and Q's. But throughout the period of the trial now to be related, this confidence of Beyer's is shown more and more to have been unwarranted. Indeed, Swedenborg himself was sadly deceived. Any one who has mixed with the learned men in Europe can readily understand how an innocent man, who had no deceit in himself, could easily be deceived by a pleasant smile. In fact, the Swedish Royal Family, the nobility and the Bishops had not the slightest regard for his writings, but only for himself personally as an old man of eighty years of age, who formerly had distinguished himself by his great learning.
      The letter was printed on November 18th, and on the following Saturday, Dean Ekebom produced it in the Consistory and wanted to know by what authority such a scandalous letter had been printed. The Bishop, then at the Diet in Stockholm, had received a copy of the printed letter, and he at once wrote to the Consistory in great alarm; "Now we will have to be careful to preach the orthodox truth," on account of what Swedenborg had written; and he demanded that the Consistory find out who had had the letter printed and had censored it, and, most important of all, to whom it had been written. Dean Ekebom was now in his right element. They had Smitt called up, and he said he had the letter censored by no other than Dr. Beyer. Smitt added that before printing it, he had gone to Ekebom with the letter and said: "Is it all right for me to print it?" Ekebom had said: "You ought to go to the Dean and get it censored." And, Smitt said, "I went to Dr. Beyer [then the Dean of the Consistory] and had it censored."

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But the letter was printed without the censor's stamp. Smitt maintained that the law was on his side, and that he could produce the evidence at any time. He denied knowing to whom the letter had been written, and suggested that Swedenborg himself was the one from whom to learn this. So they did not get any nearer to their objective, but merely learned who had printed this letter. It is curious that, though his whole effort was to prove what in fact was well known-that Beyer was the recipient of the letter-not a word was said as to Smitt's suggestion that they ask Swedenborg himself, although the latter was in Stockholm at the time.
     They then had the Beadle in, and found out that the letter had been copied by him. The Beadle was then asked who had ordered it copied. Beyer protested that this was not a Spanish Inquisition. Finally, the Beadle confessed that Dr. Beyer had given him the letter to copy.
     Then they wanted to get the name of the man to whom the letter had been written. Of course every one knew, and Dr. Beyer knew that they did; yet he would not admit it, and when Dean Ekebom said that he (Beyer) had had the letter printed, Beyer called him a liar to his face. Then Ekebom wanted Beyer disqualified, immediately, without any further hearing on the matter; and Beyer retorted that Ekebom was not obeying the orders of his Bishop, who had ordered an investigation and not a Spanish Inquisition. He also made the point, that the one to go to for information was Swedenborg himself. Swedenborg was now in Stockholm, and this was the obvious way of finding out to whom the letter was addressed.
     The letter had this dreadful effect, that it finally separated Gothenius from Beyer. Rosen defended the letter, but said it should never have been printed. At the same time, he defended the printing as being within the rights of a Swedish citizen. At this time appeared in the Got. Spionen a letter by an anonymous writer, who said: "We will let the theologians settle this theological question." He then asked: "How can the author of this letter apply Matthew 10: 16 to himself, when nevertheless he declares that he had dined at the tables of princes, and also with still nobler people?"; and went on to say that the names of the two priests should be given-speaking about the dragon that was cast down.
     Kullin called it an abominable letter, but did not produce any argument. The result of the discussion was that the Consistory resolved to confiscate every unsold copy of the letter, and the printer Smitt was ordered to the office the next day. He duly appeared, and handed in four copies, which were all that were left unsold. In the discussion they dwelt at length on what they thought of the insidious aspersions cast on the Swedes.

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     The Bishop had gone to the Diet in April of that year, but he had been very lax about bringing this matter before the House of the Clergy. He wanted to know how the land lay. The matter had come to the House of the Clergy because Aurell had sent a copy to Filenius, and it had been referred to the Ecclesiastical Committee. Now, on this Committee were Bishop Benzelstierna and the Finnish Bishop Menander, to whom Swedenborg had sent copies of the Writings, and who, as we know from his own letters, was friendly to Swedenborg; also another Bishop, who likewise had received books from Swedenborg. These men evidently did not want to press the matter. Therefore nothing was done until this fatal letter came to Stockholm. Something had to be done then, and the matter was therefore referred to the Chancellor of Justice, to be dealt with as recommended by the King. The Chancellor wrote to the King three weeks afterwards, and said he would have preferred silence, but that this is no longer possible, and he made certain recommendations to the King, as follows: 1) The Consistory of Gothenburg ought to declare what they think about Swedenborg's writings, and why they had not reported this matter earlier but had been silent about it until so great a disturbance had been caused; 2) As to why the Predikofi5rsiik had been printed without the Consistory's censor; 3) By whom had the letter of October 30th been given to the printer?; 4) Also, that Beyer should give a special declaration about his faith; 5) and that legal action should be taken as to whom the letter of October 30th had been sent to, and who was responsible for its being printed.
      This decision was read before the Consistory of Gothenburg on January 24th. It had a terrible effect on Beyer, who had been thinking that the Councillors of State and the Bishops were all in his favor. The Consistory adopted all the recommendations of the Chancellor, and the result was that each member of the Consistory had to write his own individual report to the King as to what he thought about Swedenborg's writings.
     I have read all these reports, and they are not very edifying reading. I will mention their contents very briefly. Ekebom recalled the fact that, before studying Swedenborg, he had stamped his work as heretical. Since then, "I have read here and there in the works, and am still more convinced." Hempe wrote in German, and he cited passages from Swedenborg's Writings, and showed that they were contrary to the orthodox faith of one God and three Persons in the Trinity. Kullin also made much against the Writings, but dwelt especially on the fact that Swedenborg did no miracles, and said: if Swedenborg's claim to see into the spiritual world was true, he should have done miracles to prove it. Wallenstrale also rejected the Writings, but confessed he had only read them very hastily.

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Gothenius-the learned Gothenius-said the Writings were founded on visions only, and were therefore untrustworthy; and as for their philosophy, it is simply the philosophy of the Neo-Platonists. Rosen's document is a long one. It was an able defence on the Trinity, bringing in many passages from the Word, proving that the Trinity was in the Lord Jesus Christ.
     Beyer wrote the longest report. He said he had secretly desired to write to the King and consult him on this matter, and was glad of this opportunity to put an end to the intense hatred ruling in the Gothenburg Consistory. He called attention to the fact that Swedenborg's works had spread throughout Europe for twenty years, and not a single word had been uttered against them. (This was not quite correct, on account of the Ernesti review of the Arcana Coelestia.) He said there would have been no trouble whatever, had it not been for Aurell and Dean Ekebom. As to the letter of October 30th, Swedenborg was the man to whom inquiries should be directed. He gives lengthy arguments from the Word in favor of the leading doctrines of the New Church; and says he will be glad if the King receives "my letter with favor," otherwise "my enemies will triumph. But, nevertheless, I place my trust in the Lord. I have been twenty-one years in service in the Consistory, and eighteen years in the Gymnasium, and now I am left with five motherless children"; and he asks for the King's mercy.
     All these letters were sent to the King, with a covering letter by the Consistory, saying that, while Beyer and Rosen had both offered to stop teaching religion publicly if it was the King's desire, yet they had not given up the Doctrines in their heart. The Consistory's letter to the King was a dangerous letter, designed to undermine every effect anticipated to be produced by Beyer's letter.
     There was much disturbance in Gothenburg at the time, as evidenced by the various accounts of disorders in the school. There were about fifty-five pupils in the Gymnasium, ranging from 15 to 35 years of age. Dr. Beyer, lecturing on some theological subject, was hooted down, and nothing he could do would quell the disorder. He brought the matter up in the Consistory, but nothing was done about it. I simply mention this to show the effect that this controversy was having on the order of the school.
     In March, Beyer wrote to Swedenborg in great distress, and said that rumors were going around Gothenburg to the effect that the Royal Council had decided to dismiss Doctors Beyer and Rosen, and exile them from Sweden; and he asked Swedenborg to go to the King and see the King personally
     In April, Swedenborg answered Beyer, that he was sure that the King and the enlightened Councillors of State would make a just judgment.

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It is astonishing, and yet not astonishing, how utterly deceived Swedenborg was in regard to the attitude of the ruling men of Sweden. On one occasion he said, "They will welcome my Doctrines." But the written record shows that these same Councillors were bitter enemies. "It is not advisable for you [Beyer] to come here," he wrote; and he promised to write to the Councillors of State. Swedenborg actually did write to the Chancellor of Justice, and asked to be heard, but the record shows that no attention was paid to his request because it was regarded, like himself, as a piece of foolishness.
     At this time, Aurell comes again into the picture. He wanted to continue with the Handlingar, but here a great difficulty presented itself. If he was going to print the Minutes, he had to print this long paper of defense by Beyer, and the able arguments by Dr. Rosen. So he made this reservation: "I want to print the Minutes, but these two papers should be omitted." Of course, Beyer objected, and said that if the Minutes were to be printed, they must be complete. The majority of the Consistory were against printing until the King's answer had been given.
     The Royal Council met on 2vlarch 9th, and the King himself was present. I have no doubt that the King was friendly to Swedenborg, and friendly, if not sympathetic, to his writings. He was a great man of the world, easy-going and good-natured. He attended the first meeting of the Council, which was occupied with reading the documents-including Beyer's Oration, itself one hour and a half in length- -and which took a whole day. The next day, when they were going to consider the matter itself, the Crown Prince was present-the future Gustav III, a very liberal-minded man. But neither the King nor the Crown Prince had any power in the Council of State, whatever their thoughts, because at that time Sweden was in an extremely anti-monarchical state and jealous of any power given to the King. So what we are concerned with is not the King's attitude, but the attitude of the Councillors. We have the record of the speeches of these Councillors; one or two of them being those whom Swedenborg mentions as being favorable to him.
     The gist of the speeches was in general that it was a very serious matter, but that it must be dealt with very gently; otherwise Beyer and Rosen would become martyrs. From what they had heard, and from what Beyer and Rosen had said, it was evident that these doctrines were against the Symbolical Books of the church. If they refused to repent, they must be punished according to the law. Some of the Councillors were so concerned that they did not favor even arguing with the two lectors, but wanted action at once. Baron Scheffer, to whom Swedenborg had sent copies of the Writings, said: "Swedenborg's writings are mere phantasies . . . but the matter cannot be ignored."

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The King should declare to the Consistories that the doctrines of Swedenborg are heretical. He advised against making martyrs of Beyer and Rosen. "If they do not repent, prosecute them."
     Stockenstrom, another Senator to whom Swedenborg had sent the Writings, advocated that the Writings be sent to Upsala to be examined by the Faculty. Then, coming to these Writings themselves, he said: "His visions are seductive. They tempt the people away from the pure Word of God." He recognizes that Beyer and Rosen were honest men, and that they had had the grace of God before that; but they must be punished if they do not repent. He also advocated that the Writings of Swedenborg be forbidden importation into the country. He was the only one who spoke about the matter of hearing Swedenborg himself. The question was raised that perhaps Swedenborg should be heard. He refers to this. He said: "Swedenborg is a highly virtuous man, a learned man, and a good example, but his principles are all wrong. Moreover, he is an old man and will soon die, and we do not wish to trouble him."
     The last Senator whom I shall quote is Count Ekeblad, who also was supposed to be favorable to Swedenborg, and to whom Swedenborg sent his Writings: "I have glanced through Swedenborg from time to time, but have had no time or patience to examine these voluminous writings which are the weakness of old age. I do not consider them dangerous, but now an examination is necessary. At first glance, however, they are clearly opposed to the Symbolical Books of the church."
     The Royal letter containing the decision of the Council was read before the Consistory in May 1770. The letter began by saying that, although there is much good in Swedenborg, yet, on the whole, the Writings are against our Confession, and are therefore rejected by the King as heretical. The Consistory must use care in spreading these doctrines, and in spreading the Predikoflirsilk and Beyer's Oration. Beyer and Rosen should be admonished by the Bishop in the Consistory, and gently dealt with, to see if, being honest men as they are, they cannot see their way to reforming their faith. In the meantime, they are to be given time to present a new report, to see if they have retracted; but meanwhile, neither of them was to teach theology; and Roempke was to explain his work De Repro batione. Finally, the publication of the Minutes by Aurell was to be discontinued. This explains why the Handlingar come to an end right in the middle of a sentence.
     One asks why the King and the Council apparently dealt so tenderly with the matter. The answer is, that they were afraid of the disgrace it would bring to the Gothenburg Consistory.

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They knew that Beyer and Rosen, and Swedenborg himself, were in a position to show that Lamberg himself had favored these doctrines, and to show the many illegalities that had been committed in the Consistory; and so the Council was afraid that it would put the whole Consistory on trial before the church, and therefore bring disgrace upon it. Swedenborg himself was deliberately kept in ignorance of this matter. He appealed to the Chancellor of Justice, but his appeal was rejected as foolishness, and he was not told even of this.
     You can imagine how Bishop Lamberg felt when the Royal Letter arrived in Gothenburg! At the next Consistory meeting, he ordered Beyer and Rosen to rise in their seats while the King's letter was being read, and he had their chairs removed. Rosen asked that it be noted on the Minutes that they remained standing during the reading of the Royal letter, while the others kept their seats. After this preliminary bout about the chairs, Lamberg put on his most unctious manner, and said: "It is from my heart, from the tenderness of my love, that I now speak to you, and call your attention to the fact that you have put so much thought to the Swedenborg Doctrines that you are ignorant of our Symbolical Books." He treated them throughout as little children. When he had finished, Rosen made exception, and said: "You are ordered to exhort us, you are not ordered to make charges against us." Then Beyer and Rosen asked for copies of the King's letter, and this was refused because the King had said the greatest secrecy must be kept in this matter.
     At the next meeting, Beyer and Rosen, who had written out a new memorial, asked to present it to the Consistory Minutes. The Bishop insisted, however, that they must submit to an oral examination. "Examine us! by what authority?" said Beyer and Rosen, and they refused to submit to any examination by the Bishop. The latter had prepared a list of questions for this examination. I have read these questions; they are of the most insulting character, as addressed to ministers of the church. Such as: "Do you believe there is one God? that there are Three Persons in the one God?" and so forth. Finally, the Consistory had to sustain Beyer and Rosen. Then they read their memorials, in which Beyer and Rosen both promised that they would not publicly teach the doctrines of Swedenborg, nor would they spread them to the pupils of the Gymnasium; but throughout their memorials is involved the reservation that their own personal beliefs cannot be altered.
     The Memorials were sent to the King. By the same post, however, the Consistory sent a letter to the King, saying that, while Beyer and Rosen had promised not to teach publicly, they were still Swedenborgians at heart, with not the slightest sign of repentance.
     Meanwhile, Swedenborg wrote to the King himself, and asked to have all the documents of the case delivered to him, and that he himself be given a hearing. This letter was sent in May, but he received no answer.

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Swedenborg left Sweden in July. From May to July, Swedenborg never got an answer from the King, that is to say, from the Council. This was the occasion of Swedenborg's writing to the Universities of Upsala, Lund and Abo, refusing to recognize that the Council of State was the Pontiex Maximum, which is the Lord alone; and stating that the sub Pontifex Maximus was the Council of State, on the one hand, and the Diet on the other. But, he said, the one to whom the Council of State must refer was the University. He was willing to submit the question of his Writings to the Theological Faculty. No result came from these letters, and Swedenborg left Sweden shortly after writing them.
     This really ends the trial, for although other things took place later, the result was not altered. Beyer was deposed ever afterwards from teaching theology. At the end of the year 1770 came the King's answer to their new memorials. It said that the charge and sentence against Beyer and Rosen must remain: they were not to teach in public. Moreover, he demanded that they make a public declaration of their orthodoxy in a document to be presented to them. In answer to that, Beyer sent a copy of a lecture he had delivered in the School, being an exegesis of I John. The title-page reads: "In Proof of Orthodoxy." I have glanced through it, and it is altogether in the Swedenborgian style, and written in a way to show that Swedenborg's is the plain teaching of the Scripture passages with which it abounds.
     Rosen wrote a long dissertation on the Trinity and Justification. It is a very clever document. It maintains the Trinity of the Lord Jesus Christ, and its cleverness consists in this, that he quotes all the learned theologians of Europe to prove they are teaching the same thing. A very, very clever document!
     The Consistory, as usual, in sending these two documents to the King, accompanied them with a covering letter, charging Beyer and Rosen with hypocrisy. The records show that in May 1771, the Royal Council ordered the Court of Law and Chancellor of Justice to proceed in the matter. At the same time, they sent Swedenborg's Writings, and also the Predikoflirsilk, to the University of Upsala for examination. Then the Royal Court of Justice called Rosen and Beyer to appear before it. But they were not afraid. Never for a moment did they flinch in their allegiance to Swedenborg. Rosen has been charged with flinching, but he did not know Swedenborg as well as Beyer. Beyer was the more simple man, Rosen the more subtle. Beyer was straightforward, but Rosen was more cunning and ready to enter into the fight where fighting was necessary; but neither of them, either in appearance or in reality, gave up his allegiance to Swedenborg.

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In court they ably defended themselves. The special point they made was that they could not be tried for heresy until the Upsala Faculty had declared that Swedenborg's works were heretical. The Court granted this request.
     So the matter rested for two years, when the King died. In the year 1773, a grand progress through the kingdom was made, in celebration of the accession of the new king. In Gothenburg, the King invited the new Chancellor of Justice to interview Beyer and Rosen, who, meanwhile, had been accused of holding secret colleges-and there is no doubt whatever that Beyer was holding classes for private people, consisting of receivers of the Writings. Nothing came of this interview. But the Chancellor of Justice received a copy of one of Swedenborg's Writings, and this he gave to Gustav III, who said: "This will be pleasant reading for my mother," that is, Ulric Elenora, who was a believer in the Writings or, at any rate, sympathetic toward them.
     So the matter rested, though much was done to annoy Beyer and Rosen. For instance, Roempke's son was impudent to Rosen in class, and Rosen punished him; and this was brought up in the Consistory, where Roempke violently defended his son. This is merely an illustration of the ill-will shown.
     In 1778, the Court grew tired of waiting for the report from Upsala, and asked the King if it could not dismiss the case. Rosen had died in 1773, and it is noteworthy that the man who delivered the address at his funeral was no other than Ekebom's son. One was dead, and Beyer was an old man; so the Court wished the case to be dismissed, and King Gustav III, not hearing from Upsala, dismissed it. Probably Upsala had orders not to report, because, as I said, it would have caused scandal for the church.
     The next year, 1779, Beyer himself died. He and Lamberg got on a little better. Lamberg had procured a pension for him, and he spent his whole time in translating the Writings and corresponding with receivers. When he died, a notice of him was published in the Gothenburg papers: "Beyer was a man frail in health, but a man so generally loved that it can be said without contradiction and without exaggeration, Such a teacher has the Gothenburg Gymnasium never had before him, and probably will not have after him."
     And so the trial ends with the death of the two main participants. In his letter to the Universities, Swedenborg says: "This is the most important Trial, and the most solemn that has been before any council during the last seventeen hundred years." He adds, that it is this trial that is meant by the attack of the dragon on the man-child. And truly, when we think of the malice and hatred that inspired the persecutors; and when we think of the Consistory's unwillingness to read the works of Swedenborg; of the culpable ignorance that declared these Writings to be against the Word of God; not only can we agree that this was the most important trial, but we can also see that it was inspired by the hells operating through the weaknesses and jealousies and revenge in men s hearts, the uppermost object, all unknown to these men, being to destroy the New Church in its very beginning.

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And on this day, when we celebrate Swedenborg's birthday, we can also celebrate by paying our admiration to the faithfulness of those two men-and especially Doctor Beyer, who was the greater sufferer and was left with motherless children-who met the threat of the loss of all their earthly means, and yet, to the very last, remained faithful as standard-bearers on earth in the belief in the truth revealed in the Writings of Swedenborg.
IMMORTAL MAN 1960

IMMORTAL MAN       Rev. HUGO LJ. ODHNER       1960

     (The second of three Doctrinal Papers.)

     II. THE "LIMBUS"

     In a former article we began a consideration of what there is in man's constitution that is immortal. It was shown that immortality has its origin in the Lord, who has created man with an inmost soul which is appropriated to him at his birth in the natural world. Man's spirit is thus born at the same time as his body.
     Through this fact, the birth of a man may be seen as a very important event! It is the beginning of his mind, the beginning of consciousness and of the formation of the memory, which is the basis of individual or proper life. Without memory, man's life could not be marked off from all the currents of life which affect him. Nor could his spirit awaken after death as the same person, if he had not carried with him all the mental experiences that had occasioned the formation of his character.
     Yet the question left unanswered was: How is this memory preserved after the body has died and his brain has decayed? We indicated that the answer lies in the doctrine of the "limbus," which speaks of the existence of a plane of substance taken from the inmosts of nature to serve- as a "containant" for the spiritual things that compose man's mind or spirit. The need for such a containant is shown in the work The Divine Providence;* and other teachings indicate that an angel created directly into the spiritual world-not having obtained, by a life on earth, such a containant or "limbus" from nature-would not be any more permanent than the correspondential objects around the angels.

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But whence does this containant come? And how is it formed?
* No. 220.

     The Source of the Substance of the Limbus

     The general source of the substance of the "limbus" is said to be "the inmosts of nature";* "the purer substance of the world"** or "the purer" or "purest things of nature,"*** "nearest to spiritual things."**** But what could this mean? Doctrine tells us that nature's substances are created in discrete degrees, one composite of the other. Recently, scientists have assured us that the matter we handle is indeed composed of masses of molecules, held together by mystical bonds which no one really claims to understand; and that these molecules, in turn, are constituted of elemental atoms which are infinitesimally small, yet which are ordered like miniature solar systems in which incredibly mobile electrons whirl like planets around a center of nuclear particles. The Writings speak of three successive "atmospheres" from which three degrees of matter originated.***** These atmospheres are the active forces which are the mediate causes of all natural phenomena. The highest, most universal of these spheres originates the force of gravity,****** and may thus be taken as the "inmost" of nature; for in theory, the original form of matter must be conceived as gravitational fields of force. However this sphere may be conceived, it would somehow answer to what is called the "purest things of nature" out of which the "limbus" is said to be formed.
* Wis. viii: 4.
** DLW 388.
*** DP 220; TCR 103.
**** DP 220.
***** DLW 302.
****** LJ post. 312.
     But how can the spirit of man draw unto itself, from the inmosts of nature, such a substance? Obviously this formation of a "containant" of the spirit must be an organic process, a process begun even before birth.
     That there is such a type or degree of substance in the seed from conception is, in fact, indicated in the work Conjugial Love,* where it is stated: "In the seed of man is his soul in a perfect human form, veiled over with substances from the purest things of nature, out of which the body is formed in the mother's womb." And a further teaching is given in The True Christian Religion, to the same effect:

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"I shall add this arcanum, that the soul . . . is the very man. . . . The body is only a covering of the soul, composed of such things as are of the natural world, but the soul indeed from such things as are in the spiritual world. Every man, after death, puts off the natural which he had from the mother, and retains the spiritual which he had from the father, together with a certain border (limbo) from the purest things of nature around it. . . ." And it explains that "in the seed of every one from which he is conceived, there is a graft or offset of the father's soul in its fulness, within a certain covering from the elements of nature through which the body is formed in the mother's womb."**
* No 183.
** No. 103.
     The substance is thus at hand in the very seed for the formation of what later is to be the "limbus" of the eternal spirit. It is the purest substance of nature-able to convey the soul and serve as its first embodiment. But what use does it serve during man's life on earth?
     To understand this we must realize that the soul, as a spiritual substance, forms itself into three discrete degrees, which in the Writings are called the celestial, the spiritual and the spiritual-natural. These three degrees are in every man from birth, and are meant to be opened successively.* The lowest, which is called the spiritual-natural or ultimate spiritual degree,** operates in the organics of the physical brain and body, and there it prepares for itself the natural mind-the mind which man consciously uses in the world. It is this natural mind which contains the memory of earthly things. It is in that degree of the mind that man has sensation, memory, imagination and reason, and that he forms his attitudes towards good and evil, by an exercise of conscious choice.
* DLW 236.
** DLW 345.
     The two higher degrees of the mind-the celestial and the spiritual- are beyond man's consciousness while on earth, even though they can be opened and furnished to receive the Lord's influx by regeneration. It is told that these higher degrees derive their form "solely from the substances of the spiritual world."* But "the natural mind consists of spiritual substances and at the same time of natural substances."** It is "woven from the substances of both worlds, in the brain where the mind resides in its primes . . . "*** Here-in the natural mind-the spiritual substances of the spirit are closely associated with the inmost natural organics of the brain, and make thought and sensation possible. The changes of state in the physical structures of the brain give the soul an occasion for interpreting their meaning and use.

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And volitions and intentions in the spiritual substance of the mind are also able to direct the energies and movements of the body in correspondence with the states of the spirit.
* DLW 270.
** DLW 257, 260.
*** DLW 273.
     All through man's life on earth, the subtlest natural substances distilled in the inmost recesses of the brain and the nervous system act as the agents of the spiritual substances which think and will. The spirit, through these most subtle essences of nature, is present throughout the body. Hence we read: "The spirit of a man is not a substance that is separate from the viscera, organs and members of the man, but it cleaves to them in conjunction; for the spiritual accompanies every stamen of them from the lowest to the inmost. . . ." "That man after death is equally a man . . . is because his spiritual is adjoined to his natural, or the substantial of the spirit to the material of the body, so aptly and unitedly that there is not a fibrilla, stamen, or least thread from these where the human of the spirit is not a one with the human body. . . *Death is nothing but a separation of the natural substance from the spiritual.
* Wis. vii: 2 4.
     The spirit or mind is, in one sense, present throughout a man's body. But the common center towards which all sensations travel, and from which all motor impulses proceed, is the brain. Within the subtle organics of the brain the natural mind becomes conscious of the states of the body and the world and organizes a memory of all its sensations. And in the brain the lowest or ultimate spiritual adapts the purest things of nature into a permanent basis, in which the mental states of memory, thought and affection are represented in an image by corresponding motions.
     It is therefore said: "Man's natural mind consists of spiritual sub- stances and at the same time of natural substances. From the spiritual substances, but not from the natural substances, comes thought. . ."* And to make it clear that the natural substances-which are thus for all practical purposes an operational part of the natural mind while man is living in the world-are not destroyed along with the body, which,, brain and all, decays in the grave, it is added: "These [natural substances of the natural mind] recede when man dies, but not the spiritual substances; wherefore, after death when man becomes a spirit or angel, that same mind remains in similar form in which it was in the world."**
* DLW 257.
** Ibid.
     Thus the spiritual substance-which is the real natural mind-remains, while the natural substances associated with it, "recede" or fall back. Being natural they can certainly not enter the spiritual world!*

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But they do not perish. Instead they "recede"-withdraw from that intimate relation which they had with the spiritual substances while in the life of the body. For in the material body, all man's conscious thought was tied in with changes in these natural substances of his brain. But after death the spirit is freed from this dependency, and can perceive things apart from nature; can directly perceive his spiritual environment, to which he formerly had been blind! He can see other spirits and can commune with them through a spiritual medium which has nothing in common with space or natural substance. He is released into "another world where there are other functions, and other powers and abilities, to which the quality of his body there is adapted."** For he is now in a spiritual body.
* DLW 83, 88.
** AC 5078: 4.

     What this spiritual body is like, as described in the Heavenly Doctrines, we hope to consider more fully in our next article. But our interest at this point is in the question as to what happens to "the natural substances of the natural mind" when they so gracefully "recede" to allow the spirit a fuller freedom. The teaching in The Divine Love and Wisdom thus continues: "The natural substances of that mind, which, as was said, recede by death, make a cutaneous covering of [or for] the spiritual body in which spirits and angels are. By means of this covering which is selected out of the natural world, their spiritual bodies subsist, for the natural is the ultimate containant: thence it is that there is not any angel or spirit who was not born a man. These arcana of angelic wisdom are here adduced, that the quality of the natural mind in man may be known."*
* No. 257.
     It is clear from this that the purest things-or inmost things-of nature, selected and organized in the interiors of the brain as the natural basis of the memory, are the very substance which is elsewhere called the "limbus." "Every man, after death . . . retains the spiritual which he had from the father, together with a certain border (limbo) from the purest things of nature around it."*
* TCR 103.
     The departing spirit retains this "border." Nowhere do the Writings say that he takes it along into the spiritual world! For nothing natural can enter, or be a part of, the spiritual world. Yet he retains it, and its use is likened to that of a cutaneous covering for (or around) the spiritual body-which seems like a very intimate function. If we were literalists we might here evolve a rather grotesque picture of a spiritual body which, being spiritual, is not in space, but which has a skin made of natural substance! It is reasonably clear, however, that the Writings here employ a comparison.

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The living flesh which we carry is surrounded by a skin, or cutaneous covering. The skin is our boundary, the nether limit of our individuality. And while the body is living, the surface of the skin, or cuticle, consists of cells of flattened epithelium which gradually are deprived of life and dry up like scales and flake off. Yet without this covering of almost lifeless skin our bodies could not withstand the impact of the world or be protected from undue influences. In a parallel way the spiritual body is protected by the "limbus" as by a cutaneous envelope. Its obvious use is negative-to fix the corporeal memory so that it can no more change!
     But another teaching makes this more clear. Speaking of the necessity that man be born on an earth, the little work Divine Wisdom goes on to say: "That spirits and angels thence derive that they can subsist and live to eternity, is because an angel or spirit, from the fact that he was first born a man in the world, draws with him that he subsists; for he draws with him, from the inmosts of nature, a medium between the spiritual and the natural, through which he is limited so that he might be subsistent and permanent. Through this he has a relationship (est illi relativum) to those things which are in nature, and also something correspondent to them." Why the "limbus" is called a "medium" between the spiritual and the natural, is then explained: "Through this it is also possible for spirits and angels to be adjoined and conjoined with the human race. For there is [such] a conjunction, and where there is conjunction there must be a medium. That there is such a medium the angels know. But because it is from the inmosts of nature, and the expressions of language are from its ultimates, it cannot be described except by abstractions."*
* Wis. viii: 4, 5.

     Let us note well that the "limbus" is not here given any role in the spiritual world as a medium in the intercourse of one spirit with another. It has a definite role in fixing the personality of a spirit. But it is a medium between spirits and men. We presume this to mean that when a spirit is exerting an influence on, or influx into, the mind of a man, there is an activity in the limbus of the spirit and a communication set up in the inmost sphere of nature which affects the natural substances of the natural mind of the man, or those inmost organics of his brain which are on the same level or degree and in a receptive state. But all this is in the realm of speculation, since little is known factually of the innermost substances of the brain or the inmosts of nature.
     Indeed, the "medium" is from the inmosts of nature, and this "cannot be described except by abstractions."

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In recent times many scientists seem to have been forced to a similar conclusion. The hypothetical ingredients of the atom are admittedly mental constructs. Science shies at any mechanical models, but describes the inner sphere of nature in "a sheaf of mathematical formulae"-to borrow a phrase from Sir James Jeans.
     But the New Church man must attach importance to the teaching that the immortal persistence of our personality depends on an inmost natural substance which is organized during his bodily life on earth. What natural substance is this?
     This question occupied Swedenborg's mind at least ten years before he was called to his spiritual office. The growing skepticism among the learned led him to attempt to prove that there existed within man's body an inmost substance which was so subtle and perfect that it could not be affected by the destructive forces of disease or death. It was the purest substance, derived from the highest or universal aura of nature and organized by man's mind into a correspondent form. In The Economy of the Animal Kingdom he called it "the spirituous fluid," and asserted that "no corporeal language could adequately express its nature." "I should," he wrote, "be obliged to resort to analogues and eminences, by abstraction from the things brought out by sense, in which case even truths savor of hypothesis."*
* 1 Econ. 650, 2 Econ. 167.
     This eminent and transcendental fluid was next to the soul or spirit, and was the soul's agent in the body. But after death it would be "emancipated from the bonds and trammels of earthly things," and, immortal, retain its organization. On its substance would be impressed a form corresponding to the man's character as to his reception of love and wisdom. It would even retain the record of all his earthly life.*
* 2 Econ. 314.
     Swedenborg's speculations were, of course, not final. Yet he clearly perceived that man was born on earth because he needed to procure from nature "a containant" for his spirit. And he realized that the nature of this inmost containant could be grasped only by abstractions and by a sort of "mathematical philosophy of universals"!
     There are so many things in nature beyond our understanding that we cannot afford to scoff at the idea that the inmosts of our brain substance can be organized into an image of our entire sensory history, a permanent record of our sensations and actions. A lecturer's words may be transferred to a magnetic tape, where they are stored in the form of magnetic charges ready to be re-translated into words at any time. Our brains also are charged by all the sensations we experience, year after year.

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Is it so hard to believe that these sensations, by the intent and power of the Creator, are also preserved for an immortal record in a substance which defies even death itself?
     The question might be asked, "Where then does the 'limbus' go at death?" That it remains in nature is not to be doubted. Yet what does its locale matter, if its substance is not affected any more by the changes of nature; but remains, independent, in a realm of simples, beyond the corpuscular universe of atoms and molecules which are within the narrow range of our sensory experience? At least, so we may surmise on the basis of what we now know of doctrine and of science. For all we know, the "limbus" might be a structure of wave-patterns, the form
     of which we can describe only by abstractions, and which is perpetually redintegrated without losing its characteristic uniqueness. If any one thinks this to be impossible, let him reflect on the fact that the whole pattern of a future man and his hereditary peculiarities are actually contained within the microscopic germ-plasm, which is not in the form of the body, yet in a perfect human form which, as to its interior structure, is known, it is said, to the Lord alone!
     In one of his early commentaries, Swedenborg speaks of death in these words: "First of all there is released, from its connection with the earthly things which are properly called the body, that substance whose essence is mediate between the natural and the spiritual. This takes with it, because it encloses, that superior substance whose essence is spiritual and which is called the intellectual mind. . . . This, in turn, encloses man's principal and purer substance the essence of which is supra-celestial and which is properly called the soul . . . "*
* WE 3058.
     And the Spiritual Diary notes that at death "that of man which is vital is gathered together in a moment even if parts of the body were scattered over a thousand miles."* "As soon as the interiors of the body grow cold, the vital substances in the man are separated from the man, wherever they are, even if enclosed in a thousand labyrinths. . . Nothing of the vital substance can remain in corporeal and material things."**
* SD 1099.
** SD 1104.
     The vital substances here spoken of seem to refer to the limbus as well as to the spirit itself. For the limbus is still living, even as the body was living, from the soul. Yet the limbus is a natural substance, and thus has no spiritual attributes, no mental powers. It is not the mind, not the soul: its only attributes are those of nature, thus of motion; even though these motions, or potentialities to motion, are like the magnetic stresses on the recording tape which may be referred to as invisible wave-patterns rather than movements.

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     The limbus is physical. The angels never see it, they only know that it exists. It is not to be identified or confused with the spirit or even with the spiritual body. Yet it serves the spiritual body of man as a natural basis and gives it a certain "permanence" and "fixity." We also read that through it the spirit has "a relativity to those things which are in nature." In this life, such "relativity" is possible because the memory-which is the ultimate of the mind or spirit-has a basis in the natural organisms of the brain. The limbus must therefore be that which fixes the order of the corporeal memory for the after-death man.
     Let us, then, dismiss any idea that the "limbus" is identical with the mind we use in this world, or with the spirit which lives to eternity in the spiritual world. We must learn to think spiritually of the immortal soul which is raised into the world of life on the third day after death. Man rises into that world, not in a limbus, but in a spiritual body, which has been formed during earthlife "by the truths and goods which flow in from the Lord through the spiritual world and are received by man within such things as are from the natural world and are called civil and moral."*
* TCR 583.
     That the limbus takes no real or active part in the life of spirits among themselves-as it would if it were the actual skin or cutis of their spiritual bodies-is clear. And since the limbus gives fixation to the corporeal memory of man, which marks the lowest or sensual degree of his mental life, it is even said that with those in hell, the "limbus" is above and the spiritual below!* Not that the evil spirits live below their own skin! But by them the natural ideas and delights which once belonged to the life of their corporeal memory, are valued above spiritual things. That the hells are within the sphere of the natural degree of the mind only-the degree formed in juxtaposition with natural substances-is doctrinally certain.**
* TCR 103.
** DLW 345, 270, 274, 275.
     The Writings are given that we may see spiritual things in the light of heaven. In the next article we shall cite some of the revealed teachings about the spiritual body-the real immortal man. What is this spiritual organism? What is its relation to man's memory? What are its powers and functions in the eternal life? Far from being mystifying, these questions are clearly and amply answered in the Writings.

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MEMORIAL ADDRESS for The Reverend William Beebe Caldwell 1960

MEMORIAL ADDRESS for The Reverend William Beebe Caldwell        GEORGE DE CHARMS       1960


          (Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, December 6, 1959.)

     A beloved pastor, a faithful laborer in the Lord's vineyard, and a lifelong friend has been gathered to his fathers. Although for a number of years he had lived in retirement because of advancing age and physical disability, Dr. William B. Caldwell leaves a rich heritage of doctrinal thought and spiritual instruction, which will continue unceasingly to serve the church he loved. How true it is that death brings no essential loss, but always resurrection to new and more perfect life, we can scarcely realize, in spite of the familiar teaching of the Writings. For the most part, we think of that teaching in terms of the spirit awaking in the spiritual world immediately after the body dies, and entering into the enjoyment of heavenly and eternal life. This, of course, is true; and the revelation of that truth by the Lord at His second advent is one of the greatest of all Divine miracles-one of the most comforting assurances of the Divine mercy which lies concealed in death, whereby He comes to bless mankind.
     But there is a far wider meaning, for life is a continual succession of death and resurrection. From infancy to old age we pass through successive states, which, one by one, are left behind, forgotten, seemingly obliterated and lost. Yet each one leaves something permanent, something that lives on in the state that follows, something, indeed, without which the new state could not come into existence. It is not the relatively few things which we remember, but the host of things which are forgotten, that exercise the most important influence over our lives. Even physically this is true. In everything that we do we are almost completely dependent upon those things which have become second nature; things which we do automatically, without the slightest thought or conscious direction. All of these are skills which have at one time been learned by concentrated effort, but which have long since been forgotten. The same applies to the operations of the mind.

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The quality of one's thought and judgment is determined by innumerable sensations, ideas and experiences that have sunk into utter oblivion, and yet are vitally present in every activity of the mind. Intellectual development comes from learning, and what is often regarded as intelligence is largely made up of things remembered. But wisdom goes deeper than this, and rests upon remains of affection and thought that can by no means be consciously recalled. Every sensation, every experience, every perception, however lightly regarded at the time, is stored up in the internal memory and contributes something valuable to all future thought and will. That is why it is truly said that experience is the best teacher, because it contains, and subtly brings to bear upon our present thought and action, the whole of our past life.
     What is true of the individual is true also of the race. Those who die and pass into the other world carry with them everything of spiritual value which they have acquired during their life on earth. There they enter into the full use of the knowledge, intelligence and wisdom stored up in the mind, and they find far greater opportunity for its exercise than was possible while they were in the natural body; and such is the intimate relation between the two worlds, that the uses they perform there redound to the spiritual benefit of men still on earth. This, of course, is well known to all who are familiar with the teaching of the Writings. But we would point to something else which is perhaps less widely realized. Every one who performs a use to society affects the lives of others, not only for the moment, but permanently, because what he imparts enters into their future thought and will, and this in ways quite unconscious to them but nonetheless important. In this way the use in this world performed by one who has gone into the other world does not cease, as we are wont to think because we look only upon its outer surface. It leaves an unseen but eternal imprint upon the future; and, in fact, its effects radiate and expand without limit, as time goes on.
     All this is true of our dear friend Dr. Caldwell, and of the use that he so diligently performed, during the 86 years of his life, for the establishment and preservation of the New Church. As a young man he answered a call to the priesthood, attended the theological school of the Academy, and was graduated and ordained in 1902. Immediately after his ordination he accepted appointment to serve as assistant to Bishop William Frederic Pendleton in the pastoral work of the Bryn Athyn Society. A year later he went to Chicago, where he remained for six years as minister and pastor of Sharon Church. In 1908 he married Korene Pendleton, daughter of Bishop and Mrs. W. F. Pendleton, and in 1909 he was called to the pastorate of the Immanuel Church in Glenview, Illinois. While there he did valuable work in compiling and editing the General Church Liturgy.

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     In 1918, Dr. Caldwell resigned from his pastorate to accept appointment as editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE. He moved, with his wife and two daughters, to Bryn Athyn, and was employed part time as a teacher of theology and religion in the Academy schools. For eight years, between 1920 and 1928, he edited the WEEKLY SERMONS, later called NEW CHURCH SERMONS, which were designed to provided added instruction and worship for isolated families of the General Church. As editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE, Dr. Caldwell wrote many articles and editorials covering a wide variety of subjects that will be of permanent value to the church. His teaching of exposition in the theological school exerted a profound effect upon the students who received it, and helped to mould the form of preaching that has become characteristic of the General Church.
     Aside from the duties of his vocation, Dr. Caldwell will be remembered for his musical ability as a violinist in the Bryn Athyn Quartette and Orchestra. He gave painstaking effort, even to the end of his life, to the acquisition of a very valuable stamp collection for the Academy Library; and he was widely known throughout the church as an expert in bird lore, inspiring many Bryn Athyn children with an interest in that subject.
     We knew Dr. Caldwell intimately, and found in him a man of culture, with a keen artistic sense; a loyal and kindly friend; and, above all, one whose life was devoted to the search for spiritual truth and to the dissemination of the Heavenly Doctrine. To this doctrine he was ever faithful in his teaching and in his life. We will miss his earthly presence, as will all throughout the church who knew and loved him. But now that he has been gathered to his fathers in peace, and buried in a good old age, we would think of his passing as the angels do, who know nothing of natural death but rejoice in his resurrection; and offer glad thanksgiving to the Lord, who in His merciful providence has done so much of permanent value for the establishment of the New Church through the life and work of His faithful servant, Dr. Caldwell, and who will continue through him to impart ever greater blessings by means of that everlasting use which is now opening before our friend in the spiritual world. Well may we recall the words of the prophet Isaiah: "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of Him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that said unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!" for this gospel was the burden of Dr. Caldwell's entire life.

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POWER OF MAN 1960

POWER OF MAN       SYDNEY B. CHILDS       1960

     It is extremely important for us to realize that not only angels but also men in the world can have power. All the uses performed in our world depend, in the most ultimate sense, on physical power. A man must have strength to take a single step across a room. Such strength is given by a bountiful Creator; and in itself it involves the interplay of many muscles and nerves, and the intricate and marvelously perfect coordination of the brain. Only in severe illness do we ordinarily realize how precious is the gift of health.
     With regard to more interior and spiritual planes of life, the Writings provide a wealth of wisdom concerning the key to real power, which is manifestly from the Lord. But it is of great importance for us to realize, during our brief span in this world, that such power is available for the asking, and that its enjoyment need not be deferred until we enter the spiritual world after death.
     In the almost overwhelming trials and tribulations of life, we may at times be prone to forget that the Lord, after His resurrection, said to His disciples: "All power is given unto Me in heaven and on earth" (Matthew 28: 18). If we approach the Lord reverently by seeking to know His will, we shall be given sufficient power to enable us to direct our lives in ways that will benefit our neighbor and at the same time prepare us for eternal happiness in the mansions of heaven. But to approach the Lord worthily, and to participate to the utmost in His gifts to us, which gifts include power, we must from an early age learn to shun evils as sins against His name.
     That the attainment of a spiritual life in this world is fraught with peril and the seemingly endless vicissitudes of temptations, both spiritual and natural, is convincingly taught by the Lord in the Scriptures, as in these words: "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake" (Matthew 5: 11). One of the most terrifying evidences of the power of the evil against man on earth is given in the Lord's words: "Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that hai'e no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him" (Luke 12: 4, 5).

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No man has achieved true maturity without experiencing the frightful and venomous power of the hells apparently to destroy both his natural and his spiritual life.
     For reasons now revealed in the Lord's second coming-and in some instances not recognized by man on earth, except possibly toward the end of his life-regeneration, somewhat like natural birth, is a painful experience. The hells are continually conspiring against men; most especially against those among them who, through remains and other means of Divine aid, have endeavored to harbor good loves and ideals in their minds. It has been made abundantly clear in the Writings that the hells attack man's love, especially any spiritual or celestial love which has begun to enter into him.
     In its attitude to the Heavenly Doctrine, the entire future of mankind is at stake. As the Writings will either be accepted or rejected by men finally, what a strategic point of attack is given to those in evil, particularly to the hells! The cunning and deceit of evil men are known to all who have left the protected sphere of childhood. But such evil, while appalling in aspect, is as nothing in comparison with the deadly and insatiable lust of the hells to destroy, body and soul, those who look to the Lord for their salvation.
     The hells can delude man from earliest youth through phantasies of imaginary good. Such phantasies may deprive a man of rational thought in meeting the problems and making the decisions required in his life. A man of good intent, and in the endeavor to overcome evil, may become hypnotized and bewildered by the continual infestation of evil. Yet we known from revealed truth that such infestations are permitted by the Lord to the end that the individual concerned may be saved. We may well reflect on the Lord's words: "Broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat . . . and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" (Matthew 7:13,14).
     As, down through the ages, we find in recorded history the manifest evidence of the shameful evil and cruelty of many men in satisfying their lust for power, we must face the reality that without the Lord's intervention what we call civilization would have perished in a holocaust of evil long before the present time. But the Lord did intervene against evil; through His Divinely chosen prophets of old, and finally through His incarnation.
     As to the power of the hells to destroy, a likeness is given on our earth in the cruelty of poisonous and dangerous reptiles and ferocious animals, shown in their destroying of harmless creatures. Such evil reptiles and wild beasts would appear to be permitted to procreate their kind as a warning to men of the existence of the hells, and of their power to destroy, unless men shun evils as sins against God.

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     When our minds dwell on the continual war between good and evil, we may well look toward revealed truth as a source of protection and wisdom. We read: "They have power from the Lord against evils and falsities in proportion as they make truths from the Word to be of their life, and acknowledge the Divine of the Lord in His Human. . . . All the power which angels, and also men, have is from the Lord; and in proportion as they receive the Lord, they have power. He who believes that there is power from the proprium of man is much mistaken. In proportion, therefore; as a man is conjoined to the Lord through love, he has power. Those in celestial love have much power; and those in spiritual love have a little power" (AE 209).
     When it is said above that anyone who believes there is power from the proprium of man is much mistaken, we may reflect on the fact that even an evil man will endeavor to clothe his actions in accordance with the accepted proprieties of society. But morality is a fragile and empty thing-a mask for cunning and deceit, unless there is an inward purity of heart and mind.
     While it may be that celestial states can scarcely be attained by those of our generation, the passage quoted above indicates plainly that the power of men in celestial states is great, and far superior to that of those who are spiritual. The Lord alone can judge as to how far we can follow in the way of regeneration; but no arbitrary limit is set to our endeavor to lead a good life. A spiritual understanding of the Word of God leads inevitably to the awakening of heavenly loves, and thence to the power of good over evil. Such states of power can be given only where the individual man, regardless of the apparent misfortunes of life, turns to the Lord for help and deliverance.
     Inspiration toward a truly good life, one that will lead directly toward heaven after death, is given freely by the Lord to all who seek His aid. Power will be given to a good man to elevate his mind above the storms and havoc of merely sensual and earthly existence. While, in the Lord's mercy, we are not permitted to know our lot after death with any certainty, we may know in this world when we are in states of evil, and believe at times that we may be in states of good. We know the power of prayer; and, knowing of this source of power, we should pray to the Lord daily for His guidance in our lives.
     While we have the blessings of health and rationality, surely we should devote some part of our time each day to the reading of the Word, to meditation on the meaning of the Scriptures and the Writings in relation to our lives.

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Such inward reflection can inspire and renew our faith in the Lord; and in acting upon what we are given to see, we may learn something of the joy of our Lord while we in turn serve others.
     All men by nature crave material power or wealth. Yet we know that unless a spiritual seed of good is implanted and nurtured by the Lord, the achievements of life become but a gilded sepulchre. The history of the world, even at the present time, is a witness to this. We are reminded of the Lord's words: "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8: 36)
     We have mentioned the power of prayer. There is also the power of forgiveness and of compassion toward others. Unless, in our striving toward heaven, we can feel compassion for others, we shall not get very far. This teaching is given directly in the Lord's Prayer. The Lord's love is for the salvation of all mankind; and we in turn, as finite human beings, must share in that love to the best of our ability. We may reflect on the Lord's command that we are to "love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength" (Mark 12: 30). How often and how far we fail to do this is too well known to call for comment.
     Fallible human nature may easily seek excuses to the effect that we are living in a world which is not quite all that it might be, and that the prudent man will devote all his energies to achieving material success in life. This may, in a sense, be true, for only we as individuals can look after the responsibilities of our own lives. A prudent handling of our affairs is even commended in one of the Psalms. We do indeed need to guide our lives with prudence. Failure to do so may result in the wreck of worthy achievements in regard to our uses. Such failure may contribute also to the loss of essential happiness in marriage. Young people need sympathetic and wise counsel in the years of youth and early manhood and womanhood. The years of youth can be the happiest or the most tragic in their outcomes, according to whether they see the implanting of a genuine wisdom of life or of its negation; and parents, and others who are in a position to offer guidance with understanding, have a great responsibility during those years. It is important that they do not forget their own youth. But in any event, human prudence can be an instrument of Divine providence if, and only if, it is inspired by good intentions.
     What would our lives amount to, without inspiration and guidance from the Word of God? "The days of our years are three score years and ten"; and the older generation among us will, we believe, confirm how short is the span of mortal life. In childhood and youth, life appears as unending, and whatever misfortunes are encountered can always be thought of as temporal. That is the power of youth; and it is good and normal, as far as it goes.

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The youth cannot really visualize the inevitable changes of state that must be met in entering into adulthood, and still less the states of those in old age. We may be thankful to the Lord that it is so. But down through the years the man inevitably grows older. There comes the time, unless death intervenes, when the youth becomes a man, the man matures, and then grows into old age. While the Scriptures, especially in the Old Testament, describe old age as a consummation devoutly to be desired, in reality old age may appear to be anything but a blessing!
     It is believed, however, that old age can be a blessing, provided the individual man or woman concerned has endeavored to look to the Lord in his or her life. Suppose, for instance, that anyone attained to the age and unfortunate frailty involved in the celebration of a 100th birthday. What would such a span of life be in comparison with eternity? It would be as nothing!
     Therefore it behooves all of us in the New Church to look toward the eternal values in life, rather than to be wholly absorbed in material advantages. The clergy of our church are devoting their lives to the teaching of the Word, and thereby we may be inspired toward the way of salvation. The laity must respond. No sacrifice we can make for the welfare of our church is too great, provided our hearts and minds are turned to the Lord. In our brief span of life we must endeavor to follow the Lord's injunction to love one another. Perhaps this love is as near to the Lord as we shall ever be in this world. The Lord, the God of all the universe, commended this love when He said: "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me" (Matthew 25: 40). His words are an exhortation to show mercy toward our fellow men.
     Only as we look to the Lord in our daily lives can we find salvation. We should not ask for power, except to overcome evil, and that we may more excellently perform uses. If we persist in this ideal, power will be given us, while we are still in this world; power to aid in some measure in the building of the greatest edifice on earth-the Lord's New Church. We should inscribe on our hearts the words spoken by the Lord after His resurrection: "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth" (Matthew 28: 18). If we truly believe these words, we shall be given power sufficient for our needs while on earth; and, furthermore, we shall be worthy to meet our Creator after death in a new and exalted life devoted to the everlasting service of His name.
     It has been wisely said about the pride of ancestry, that what we think about our ancestors is less important than what they, if living, would think of us!

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We are given the blessing of a spiritual ancestry in our memories of all those who have contributed to the building of the New Church during their lives on earth, and who now continue to inspire us from heaven. These, the revered departed, constitute a part of the New Heaven; and their acknowledgment of the Lord in His second coming affords them a unique power, as angels, to give us inspiration and encouragement in our labors to serve the church on earth. This is truly a "communion of saints," a growing host of angels on our side.
     Every man born on earth must meet his own destiny. The Lord, if approached rightly and humbly, is ever longing to bring the power of His Divine love into our lives. As New Church men we are given a unique opportunity to serve the Lord in the upbuilding of His church. That is a source of Divine power in our lives, if we remain true to this transcendent ideal.
     The power of vast wealth and prestige have been given to some men in the world, both in the past and today, and in some instances it has been directed to the benefit of mankind. But rarely have such men known of or been interested in the New Church. And to none other than those who belong to the New Church can sacrifice for the benefit of the spiritual truths that have been revealed be a matter of concern. The great names of finance and power in our world today are neither concerned with the Writings nor aware of them. No knowledge, except in rare instances, is given them of the Lord's second coming. Instead, their charities may usefully be employed to relieve human suffering or to advance education. Unfortunately, many endowed universities have become largely agnostic. Atheism rather than reverence for God may be instilled in the minds of their students.
     There is given to us, the pitifully few men and women who know of and believe in the Writings, the responsibility and privilege of responding in some measure to the Lord's gift of a new revelation. This revelation is, we are told, to lead to a new church which is to be the crown of all the churches. Surely in all this we may see the guidance of the Lord? True power is sought for the benefit of others, and that we may attain to salvation and thereby enter into the Lord's kingdom of uses. The power of genuine faith is eloquently spoken of by the Lord: "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall be removed; and nothing shall be impossible to you" (Matthew 17: 20).
     The "mountain" which is to be removed denotes the seemingly allpowerful loves-of self and the world-the entrenched evils of our lives from which only the Lord can deliver us. May we humbly pray that the power of the Lord be given to us from day to day, so that we may ever increasingly be guided by Him into the bliss of life everlasting.

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For then the presence of the Lord will become a living reality in our minds; and we will acknowledge, as in the closing words of His prayer: "For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen."
JUDAS 1960

JUDAS       SUSAN ARRINGTON ALLEN       1960

     There is an interesting and thought provoking book by Anton and Elly Van Heurn* which gives the authors' interpretation of the historical background of Judas Iscariot. According to it, Judas was a literal-minded man. He had been brought up as a zealous patriot and in the expectation of an earthly Messiah. Therefore he expected the Lord to do miracles to save Himself, and to make the Jewish nation great in natural things. In fact, he thought that there would be another King Solomon.
* Judas. By Anton and Elly Van Heurn. Muhlenberg Press, Philadelphia, 1958.
     The writers had to produce proof that their history was authentic, as far as is known at the present time. To this end they did much research before attempting the book, which they were well equipped to write as they are both journalists who have been interested in history as it affects current events. The result is that they have interesting historical data on Jerusalem and the palace intrigue.
     The Van Heurns did introduce a love theme to make the book a novel. According to them, Judas loved Mary Magdalene. This will not appeal to New Church men, as there is no basis for it in the Word; but it was an excellent way to show that Judas was a jealous man, and to give a fuller picture of his character as the authors have conceived of it.
     We must realize that this book is a historical novel. It cannot give us anything but history in an imaginative way. History is important because "human values come out of the past, and give color and richness to life."*
* The Glorification. Sermons and Papers by Nathaniel Dandridge Pendleton. Academy Book Room, Bryn Athyn, Pa., 1941, p. 6.
     Many of us have heard Dr. William Whitehead give talks and sermons on spiritual truths with a wonderful background of the history, politics and customs of the times. The two that the writer remembers best are a sermon entitled "Ultimate Security," showing that nothing makes a man secure but the acceptance of the Word, love to the Lord, and trust in Divine Providence; and a talk on the birth of the Lord that explained why the Lord was born at that time in history.

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We in the New Church know that history is important as it shows the ultimation of spiritual happenings. Thus Bishop N. D. Pendleton says in The Glorification: While the coming of the Lord into the world was the only means whereby the decline of man could be reversed, yet pre-Christian promises of His advent, in the service of delay, fulfilled the history of the racial development and gave the world the Sacred Scriptures."
     We cannot, of course, get doctrinal truths from this book about Judas-or from any other book, except the Word. However, we can obtain an idea of customs, history, and the politics of the time. This makes the book alive and real. It would certainly be better if such books were written by New Church ministers, or at least by men who have studied the Writings; but at present there are not enough of these, so we "borrow from the Egyptians."
     There are people who do not believe in reading secular books about the life of the Lord and the people of the Word. Yet doing so can open a wider horizon, not from the spiritual, but from the natural point of view. However, it is important that we know what the Writings say about the internal sense when we read a book about characters in the Word, all of whom are representative. For instance, in reading Judas, the writer felt that "The Betrayal" in The Glorification should be consulted.
     We must realize that the representation of Judas does not enter into this book; for that we must turn to Divine revelation. The essence of its teaching on this subject has been expressed in The Glorification. Bishop N. D. Pendleton was a great student of the doctrine of the Lord. He writes so beautifully, and with such pristine clearness, that every word is important, so that it is difficult to distill the essence of each thought. The only way to derive full pleasure and benefit from his beautiful book is to read it many, many times.
     He says: "The betrayal of the Lord by Judas Iscariot stands as the supreme type of the most repellant form of evil. A world of contempt finds expression in the name of the unfaithful disciple. One who betrays a friend, and therein seeks material gain, is, in customary thought and feeling, beyond the pale. The Lord gave warning of this when He said: 'The foes of a man are they of his own household' (Matthew 10: 36). In the betrayal of the Lord, this weakness of humanity was summed up in all its appalling implications. To Judas, as one of the twelve, one of the Lord's own household, fell this portion-this representation of an underlying, racial evil which may hardly be forgiven. To this end, it is recorded that Satan entered into him, just after he had put his hand into the dish with his Lord.

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Then it was that he went out into the night and covenanted with the high priest. His approach to the conspirators appears as voluntary, for the palace conspiracy was one thing, and the betrayal another. The two stand as if from separate origins; yet they come together, to one end. It was through the betrayal that the conspiracy entered the Lord's household and became effective. It was so, of need. No evil can reach man destructively save through some traitorous weakness in the man, through some favoring inclination which advances to meet, and opens itself to receive, the influx from the hells. As it is with man in the affairs of his own household, in his own mental states, so it was with the Son of Man, who had taken upon Himself, and into Himself, through His racial inheritance, the totality of human heredity. His body, of maternal derivation, enclosed within itself all that was represented by Judas, even to the act of betrayal. 'The hand of him that betrayeth Me is with Me on the table' (Luke 22: 21)." (Op. cit., pp. 167, 168.)
     Judas advances the theory that the betrayer had a good motive in going to the priests. He wanted to save the Lord from His own lack of prudence. In other words, he knew better than the Lord what was good for Him. But as Bishop Pendleton points out, this was in Providence, as it was through this betrayal that the conspiracy entered the Lord's household and became effective. He says also that it was Judas's portion to betray the Lord. Was Judas the pre-ordained instrument? In the Word we read: "No man taketh [My life] from Me, but I lay it down of Myself" (John 10: 18); also: "A man who is in the celestial state can never die . . . but no one was ever in a celestial state . . . but God alone" (SD 362).
     We cannot excuse Judas. We know that he had freedom to choose good or evil. We know also that regeneration was possible for him if he repented; and we know as well that he knew avarice and deceit. He turned from the Lord to the idols of money and self-prudence. "There is no peace without a judgment, and as Judas represented the Jewish Church, the judgment was a pre-ordained thing. The Jewish Church as dead is signified by the Lord's crucifixion, and His subsequent glorification represents the new church rising" (The Glorification, p. 109).
     Bishop Pendleton goes on to explain that Judas represented both good and evil. "Since all the sons of Jacob, and their tribes, represent like things with reference to the Lord's life, as those signified by the twelve disciples, and as Judas stands as a later counterpart of Judah, of which tribe the Lord was born, we may with propriety, at least in general, transfer the things revealed concerning the representation of Judah to that of Judas. These things are both good and evil. But as to the noble predicates of Judah, nothing of a like nature is specifically stated concerning Judas, this doubtless for the reason that Judas outstandingly represented the Jewish nation.

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This representation was immediate and pressing, and the church, with that nation, was at that time doomed. Yet there can be little doubt but that Judas, as a disciple of the Lord, and one of the twelve, carried over in general that which is said in the Arcana of the high, celestial signification of Judah.
     "That Judas was acknowledged as one of the twelve is not only certain from the Gospel record, but it was later testified to by Peter, after the Lord's betrayal and death, We read in the first chapter of the Acts, that 'Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said . . . men and brethren, this Scripture must needs be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of David, spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus. For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry' (Acts 1: 15-17). That which the Holy Spirit spake by the mouth of David to which Peter referred, is as follows: 'Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me' (Psalm 41: 9)." (Op. cit., pp. 170, 171.)
     It is of interest that the authors of Judas show, unknowingly, that Judas carried this representation into ultimates. He was a bastard, and, as we know, the Jewish Church was a bastard church. According to the authors, Judas was raised by a devout stepfather and a religious mother who taught him all the laws of the Jewish Church. He was taught to venerate the priests and to look forward to the Messiah who would save the Jewish nation. As a boy he was baptized by John, who told him that he had a great mission to fulfill. Of course, we do not know whether this is true; but it is interesting to note Bishop Pendleton's reference to the teaching concerning the disciples, that "those were chosen who were like to the things they represented" (SD 1217). It appears that in their case, representation was something more than a mere symbol. He says also: "The church to which He came was in its last stages. Its judgment was at hand. Judas denied His Divinity. He represented the church which crucified Him.
     "The question arises as to whether there is anything recorded of the life of Judas which may be taken as representing that higher good which his name, like that of Judah, should signify. It appears that his repentance after the betrayal looks in that direction. When he saw that the Lord was condemned, 'he repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. . . . And he cast down the silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself' (Matthew 27: 3-5). Here is pictured the anguish of remorse so great as to lead to a self-imposed death.

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If, like the other disciples, he represented some quality of good and truth in the Lord's Human, then his repentance even unto voluntary death would signify not only a spiritual resurrection of that good, but also its glorification.
     "From the beginning of the church the thought of the traitor's repentance has challenged attention. Some have held that he died by his own hand with intent to meet the Lord in the after life, and seek His forgiveness. Our interest is that his repentance and death signified something high and holy-something in the Lord, of earliest glorification, which stands at the other extreme from the debased and traitorous evil with which the name of Judas is most commonly associated; something which would, indeed, 'sit to eternity' in accord with the prophecy concerning Judah; something which would fulfill the words, 'mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted'; something which would impart a deep meaning to the fact that Judas betrayed his Lord with a kiss. A kiss signifies an interior conjunction or union. This expresses the high significance of Judah, and also of Judas, in his relation to the Lord, namely, that celestial which is the supreme gift of God to man, but which, if it falls, becomes utterly debased. The interplay between these two states was enacted within the Lord in the process of His glorification, and in this there were two Judas's-the one was glorified, and the other was eternally condemned; the one was a high and holy state, which by glorification was early raised to Divinity, and the other condemned to the lowest hells.
     "There is no evil that may not be reconverted by repentance, save only the sin of non-repentance, which is the sin against the Holy Spirit, which consists in the total denial of the Lord's saving Divinity. This sin can not be forgiven, because the man will not allow of it. Concerning Judas, the records stands that he 'repented himself'" (Op. cit., pp. 172- 173).
     In the light of this beautiful exposition by Bishop N. D. Pendleton we may see the use of knowing more about Judas. We may broaden our interest, and lay the foundation for more knowledge of the Lord and of His disciples on earth, and of their great mission to prepare for the second coming of the Lord.

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CLOWES AND DE QUINCEY 1960

CLOWES AND DE QUINCEY       Rev. W. R. HORNER       1960

     Most New Church men know that Thomas De Quincey, the author of Confessions of an English Opium Eater, was acquainted with the Rev. John Clowes, and that he thought Clowes the most saintly man he was ever likely to meet; but I do not think that the result of their intimacy is generally known. Clowes made no effort to teach De Quincey anything of the New Church or about Swedenborg; but De Quincey, knowing that he was a "Swedenborgian," read something of Swedenborg's and took a violent dislike to what he read. His admiration for Clowes is, I think, known from Crompton's life of him. It appears that Clowes' works were published, as is shown by Masson, the editor of De Quincey's 14-volume works, who in a note writes: "In a recent (1899) catalogue of a Manchester book sale I find this entry: 'Clowes (John of Manchester, the Church of England Swedenborgian). Sermons, Translations, etc., with a life of him by Theo. Crompton, principally published in Manchester from 1799 to 1850. 17 vols.'" I wonder if this 17-volume publication is still extant, and what New Church man or library holds it. Crompton's Life of Clowes was evidently published later by itself.
     It must be remembered that when De Quincey was visiting Clowes, the former was a schoolboy, not yet sixteen, while Clowes was about eighty. Yet it must be remembered also that De Quincey was no ordinary boy, and at that age was a competent Greek and Latin scholar. Clowes, to a large extent, directed his studies, and gave him a number of Greek and Latin books; De Quincey being far ahead of anything they could teach him at the Manchester Grammar School. All the particulars of his relations with Clowes are given in an article he wrote thirty-six years later for Tait's Magazine for February, 1837, under the title "A Literary Novitiate," afterwards changed in his published essays to "A Manchester Swedenborgian."
     De Quincey visited Clowes because he lived in his parish of St. John's, and was received by Clowes with courtesy and as if he had been a grown man. He never got over his puzzlement over the character of Clowes and his being a "Swedenborgian." In the abovementioned article he wrote of Swedenborg: "For myself, I cannot myself feel qualified to speak of any man's writings without a regular examination of some one or two among these which his admirers regard to be his best performances.

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Yet, as any happened to fall in my way, I have looked into them; and the impression left upon my mind was certainly not favourable to their author. They laboured, to my feeling, with two opposite qualities of annoyance, but which I believe are not uncommonly found united in lunatics-excessive dullness of matter-of-factness in the execution with excessive extravagance in the conceptions. The result, at least, was most unhappy; for, of all writers, Swedenborg is the only one I ever heard of who has contrived to strip even the shadowy world beyond the grave of all its mystery and awe. From the very heaven of heavens he has rent away the veil. . . . Until I saw this book, I had not conceived it possible to carry an atmosphere so earthy, and steaming with the vapours of earth, into regions which, by early connection with our infant thoughts with the sanctities of death, have a hold upon the reverential affections such as they rarely lose. In this view, I should conceive that Swedenborg, if it were at all possible for him to become a popular author, would, at the same time, become immensely mischievous. He would de-religionize men beyond all other authors whatsoever."
     Like most other antagonistic writers on Swedenborg, De Quincey fails to name the book which he says he read. But he was a lover of all the horrors of death by accident, and of the ignorant impressiveness of the grave. He was astonished at the golden jubilee celebration which Clowes' parishioners arranged for him, in spite of his teaching being derived from Swedenborg. "In Mr. Clowes' case," he writes further, "I have endeavoured to explain the possibility of one so much adorned by all the accomplishments of a high-bred gentleman, and one so truly pious, falling into the grossness, almost the sensuality, which appears to besiege the visions of Swedenborg. I fancy that the whole may be explained by the dire monotony of daily life, when visited by no invitations either of hope or fear-no hopes from ambition, no fears from poverty."
     De Quincey evidently knew nothing of Clowes' citation to the Bishop of Chester-there was no see of Manchester in those days-or of Dr. Porteus' dismissal of the churchwardens' complaints. For he writes: "I am surprized, on reflection, that this venerable clergyman should have been unvexed by Episcopal censures."
     In 1837, when the article from which the above quotations are taken was published in Tail's Magazine, De Quincey shared with Walter Savage Landor the distinction, which they still hold today, of being the greatest writer of English prose. Noble was then at his best. Yet, to my knowledge, no notice was taken by eminent New Church writers of this virulent attack upon Swedenborg. Tail's Magazine was a most fashionable literary journal, and must have influenced a great many of its readers against Swedenborg at that time.

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NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1960

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS       Rev. ORMOND ODHNER       1960

     Eber (Genesis 11: 14), progenitor of the Hebrews, is the first historical character mentioned in the Word (AC 1241). He was actually a man, though most of what is told concerning him treats of the nations descended from him. Such is also the case with his named descendants up until Abram, with whom the histories in the Word become actual.
     "Made-up history" is the term the Writings use to describe the stories in Genesis which come before Eber: creation, Eden, the Fall, Cain and Abel. Methuselah, Noah and the flood, and Babel (AC 1020). They are stories Moses learned from the descendants of the Most Ancient Church (AC 66). Not literally true, they are as parables or fables, made up for the sake of their spiritual meaning and it is in their spiritual meaning that their Divinity and holiness reside. Such were the teachings of the Writings a century before atheists and agnostics openly began their attacks on the historical veracity of the Bible, and centered those attacks on the first eleven chapters of Genesis, which we finish reading early this month.
     There is danger, however, in presenting this truth about "made-up history" to the young adolescent-I believe quite strongly that he should be taught this in about his twelfth year. If he is simply told that the first eleven chapters of Genesis are "not true," his faith in the whole Word may be badly shaken. Rather should the parent or teacher insist that the stories are really true, but then point out that the truth in them is something more than appears on the surface. The existence of Adam and Eve and the serpent is not to be denied; rather, it should be pointed out, the truth is that Adam and Eve were a church, and the serpent is the lowest part of our lives-sensual delight-which so often gets us into trouble.
     I have frequently used the following method with success. I tell the child a little story about a "man named Uncle Sam, who had 170,000,000 children." The child understands, and he sees that the story is true. Then I ask him if the story would still be true if read by a person a hundred million years from now, when the very existence of "Uncle Sam" will undoubtedly have been forgotten. The child gets the point, and for him thereafter the stories of early Genesis still are "really true."

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REV. WILLIAM B. CALDWELL 1960

REV. WILLIAM B. CALDWELL       Editor       1960


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published by
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.
Editor - - Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager - - Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, changes of address, and business communications, should be sent to the Business Manager. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.

TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$5.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy, 50 cents.
     When the Rev. William B. Caldwell retired from the editorship of NEW CHURCH LIFE in 1950, he said simply that it had been a great privilege to serve the church in that capacity. Referring to a resolution adopted by the 19th General Assembly, he said with characteristic modesty that while he was deeply touched by the warmth of its kindly words to a departing editor, he believed that in reality they voiced the affection of the members for NEW CHURCH LIFE as an institution of the church, and one that performed its use through the contributions of many writers.
     Success does not come easily to an editor, especially of a journal such as ours. While he may not have to be all things to all men, he must be several things in one man. He must combine breadth of outlook with painstaking attention to detail, a wide range of interests with sound knowledge, love of freedom with judgment. His eye must be equally alert for doctrinal deviations and for vagaries of spelling and punctuation. The standards of his journal and the needs of the church must ever be before him; he must plan for the future while meeting deadlines which arrive inexorably.
     For thirty-two years, month after month after month, Dr. Caldwell quietly met these requirements. In so doing he conducted NEW CHURCH LIFE with dignity, without equivocation, and with fidelity to its purpose and status. He provided for readers of all ages a wide variety of instructional material, enriched by his own doctrinal studies. It is appropriate now to express again the affection of the church for his labors, the value of which is permanent; affection which is expressed, as he would have desired, in continued support of the use he loved and served.

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OF HUMAN DIFFERENCES 1960

OF HUMAN DIFFERENCES       Editor       1960

     There is in society today a small but vocal group which insists that distinctions marking or resulting in differences are undemocratic. Thus we have been told that the private school is divisive because its pupils are distinguished from those in the public schools. More recently it has been asserted that the problem of Bible reading in public schools is not to be solved by excusing those children whose parents do not wish them to hear the Bible. That would be undemocratic, since it would set them apart, and the only solution is for no children to hear the Bible read in public schools! If this were carried to its logical conclusion the results would be obvious. Democracy would be equated with sameness, and the lowest common denominator would become the norm of society.
     Our interest, however, is in what the Writings have to say about human differences and equality. Because it is so familiar, we may fail to realize the uniqueness of their teaching that heaven is not the same for all who attain it. Not only are the angels ordered into distinct heavens, but within those heavens they are organized into distinct societies; and in each society the angels are distinguished by their uses, which is mirrored correspondentially in their manner of life. Perfection is not the result of uniformity, but of harmonious variety; and although no angel recognizes another as above himself, the superior excellences of other angels are acknowledged gladly and without reserve.
     Neither spiritually nor naturally are men created equal in the sense of being precisely alike. Spiritually, equality lies in equal opportunity to regenerate and perform a use; naturally it should surely lie in equal opportunity to develop and use for the benefit of society the unique abilities with which each man has been endowed. For the sake of uses men are created with different abilities, different talents, different personalities; and to try to press their development into a mold that is uniform is surely to court disaster.
COMMUNION OF THE SAINTS 1960

COMMUNION OF THE SAINTS       Editor       1960

     To those not of that church, the invocation of saints is a strange feature of Roman Catholicism. The idea that men and women canonized by the church can intercede for others-that God can be influenced by their integrity, piety and consecration to grant favors which might otherwise be denied the suppliant-seems nonsensical where it is not repugnant. But the idea goes further.

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The Roman Church tries to distinguish officially between latria, the worship that belongs to God alone, and dulia the worship that may be paid to saints; translating the latter as "adoration." But the distinction, difficult to observe in English, is even less easy to mark in practice. The saints have their special provinces and areas of concern, and in these they may be asked to intercede; but in practice they are often prayed to directly, as able to help immediately. Thus they become akin to the "departmental deities" of paganism; the adoration of the saints is almost undistinguishable from the worship of God; and as such it becomes a form of idolatry.
     It is an indisputable fact that certain men and women have been canonized by the Roman Church-a fact as undeniable as that the Bishop of Rome claims to be Christ's vicar. But while we recognize the fact, we deny the claim and everything that it involves. As is well known, the Writings disclose that the invocation of saints is useless since they cannot help anyone. Those among them who are in heaven-and they entered into heaven only when they acknowledged that they were not saints-know nothing of what happens on earth, thus of the invocation and worship offered to them; and those in the world of spirits who know of and desire such invocation and worship are affected with madness. Indeed, many of the saints are in hell; and the worship of saints by men is said to be an abomination and an evil of falsity, since all worship should be directed to the Lord alone.
     Yet the term, saint, is used in the Word and in the Apostolic Writings. In the letter of the Old Testament it is applied to the sons of Israel as the chosen people; in the Epistles to any member of a Christian church. But by the saints are meant, in the internal sense, those who constitute the Lord's spiritual kingdom: those who are in spiritual good and truth, and thus receive in love and faith the holy that proceeds from the Lord, because they are in truths of doctrine from the Word and in a life according to them. Not that they are saints but that the truths in them are holy because from the Lord.
     Indeed it is said that by the saints are meant those who are of the Lord's New Church, and the Lord's church on earth is called in the Writings the communion of the saints. But when we reflect that holiness is in good and truth alone, thus in, but not of, those who receive these from the Lord, we may see that the Lord alone knows who are His saints; and that the term may not be applied specifically by men either to other men or to themselves as individuals. The true meaning of the term is such that so to use it is to make a spiritual judgment of the type that is forbidden in the Writings. For the reference is not to membership in the organized New Church, but to interior reception of Divine truths; and this is known only to the Lord, who alone can name His saints.

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Church News 1960

Church News       Various       1960

     NEW ENGLAND
     Connecticut

     The New England group of New Church men, women and children, continues to thrive. The focal point of last summer was the joint meeting held in Foxboro, Massachusetts, August 29-30. A large contingent from Connecticut made the trip in a driving rain to swell the numbers. A new note for this area was sounded when the group gathered for a real banquet with speeches, songs, toasts, and, of course, food, at the Francis Frost home. Mr. John Pafford was the able toastmaster. We were all pleased to find that there is a young couple for every "older" couple in the group; this makes for a balance not always found in a small group. Our service on Sunday morning was held in a community hall, which had been tastefully decorated by the Massachusetts women. Mrs. Scrimshaw provided music at the piano; and the whole service, the first one not held in a home, was most inspiring. Later, before the cookout at the Furry home, we held a business meeting at which Frank and Lois Palmer were elected treasurer and secretary, respectively. Another innovation was the election of John Pafford as assistant treasurer, and of Barbara Frost to act as secretary for meetings in Massachusetts.
     This year Massachusetts and Connecticut will each receive five weekend visits, the visits to each state being made in alternate months; but Connecticut will have ten evening classes or other meetings as the pastor, the Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, will visit there on his way to Massachusetts. It is planned to hold the joint meeting next summer in Connecticut.
     In September we had a service at the George Tyler home in Wallingford, which both Mrs. Schneider and Mrs. Wilde were able to attend. These remarkable ladies can remember generations of New Church people, and always have us sing "Our Own Academy," in which they join heartily. Miss Martha Tyler was with us also, on what we fear was her last visit for some time, as she is now in Denver.
     In October we had a brief Friday night visit from Mr. Henderson, during which he gave the second of two classes on the Holy Spirit. On Saturday morning he went on to Massachusetts for a class and service there. November brought Mr. Henderson back for a class on "The Origin of Evil," which was followed by constructive discussion during refreshments. We had our Thanksgiving service, followed by the administration of the Holy Supper, on Sunday morning.
     To end on a happy note, we welcome the James Holtvedt family home from Japan. To make up for their absence for two years they have brought into the group a new baby, to whom we say again, "Welcome!"
     LOIS PALMER

     DENVER, COLORADO

     Our services, Sunday school and doctrinal classes were resumed last September after a summer vacation which was pleasant for everyone, and we returned with renewed vigor for the year ahead. Our classes this season have been most interesting. The Rev. Robert Junge has given us a class on Moses-the Word as represented by Moses in the internal meaning of the literal story-and two classes, one on "The Eternity of God," the other on "The Lord the Redeemer."

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A class on "The Glorification of God" was contemplated for the January meeting.
     A discussion group expressly for new members has been formed this year, and any visitors who may be interested in coming are invited, too. This group is meeting once a month at the various homes, and the idea is to provide an opportunity for asking questions that might seem to those who put them too naive for the regular classes.
     We regret that we have lost another family from our Circle, the Ted Fiedler family. Mr. Fiedler has accepted a position in Holland for two years with the Wheat Administration, and has moved with his youngest son to Europe. The rest of the family will join them in the spring. A farewell party was held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Dandridge Cole, at which time Mr. Junge spoke on how enduring friendships within the church are as compared with other acquaintanceships, since all of us in the church have the same goals spiritually. He wished the family all good things and a speedy return, and in so doing spoke for the entire group. Mr. Fiedler thanked the group for an unforgettable experience and said that there would always be a warm spot in his heart for us. The Fieldlers were entertained at dinner later that day in the Cole home.
     Though we are saddened at losing one family, we have had the great fortune to add to our numbers. Miss Mollie Tyler has moved to Denver, and we welcome her and hope that she will enjoy her home here; and a new son has been born to the Rev. and Mrs. Robert Junge. It was pleasant to have Mr. and Mrs. Hubert Junge and Mrs. Felix Junge visit us during the fall and we hope that they will return soon.
     Our Christmas windows, done by the Sunday school classes this time, are something of which we are very proud. In one window was displayed the Nativity scene, the making of which had been supervised by Miss Aven Hyatt last
year; in the other the Wise Men were shown on their journey to Bethlehem. Mrs. Audrey Norton spent much time and effort on this scene herself, as well as directing the children in their efforts.
     Again, to close the year we all enjoyed a Christmas party at the home of the Rev. and Mrs. Robert Junge. Caroling, accompanied by Miss Mollie Tyler; popping corn at the fireplace; the showing of the film of the birth of the Lord; and delicious refreshments made the evening of December 20 most pleasant.
     MARIAN DICE


     THE CHURCH AT LARGE

     General Conference. The statistical table published yearly shows a total of 4,150 members on the roll, a decrease of 65. The secretary notes in his report, however, that 16 societies show an increase in membership, and that one very large decrease arises from a revision of the roll. Twelve societies do not report anything done to attract visitors; others try to do so, though the means used vary with local conditions.
     A commentary on the first chapter of Mark has been prepared by the members of the New Testament Translation Committee. This is entirely experimental, and comments will be welcomed by the Rev. E. R. Goldsack. Copies are held by the New Church Press, Ltd., 20 Bloomsbury Way, London, W.C. 1. and the North of England New Church House, 34 John Dalton Street, Manchester.
     The Board of Home Missions reports the formation of three more study circles in England. A further advertising campaign in conjunction with the National Missionary Society is under consideration.

     India. In a message to the General Conference, Dr. Theophilus David of Bombay states that he has recently translated a pamphlet, The Specific Church, into three Indian languages. He is holding meetings and services in various homes as well as continuing his clinic.

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CORN OF WHEAT 1960

CORN OF WHEAT       Rev. JAN H. WEISS       1960



     Announcements





VOL. LXXX
MARCH, 1960
No. 3
     "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." (John 12: 24)

     This statement is a paradox; for death would seem to be the end of every living thing, which excludes the possibility of fruition. And yet, the text teaches that the corn of wheat must die before it can bring forth fruit.
     The Lord used other paradoxes to give us the truth of salvation. For He said: "Whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for My sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it" (Mark 8: 35). Here again we may ask: How can a man lose his life, and, by losing it, save it? How can a man save his life, and, by saving it, lose it?
     A paradox is a seemingly self-contradictory and absurd statement, which, however, can be explained to express a truth. Such a paradoxical statement is able to pack within itself a great many truths. At first it seems to be a closed door, but actually it is a gateway into many pastures of good and truth.
     The keywords in our text are "to die." The term "death," as used in the Word, may have reference to a number of things. First of all, it may have reference to the death of the material body. This is sometimes called the first death. The second death is then man's entrance into hell, thus his inability to enter life eternal or the life of heaven. But Divine revelation also uses the word "death" in regard to the separation and removal of evil and unclean things. It speaks about the death of the proprium, the death of evil, the death of falsity, and the death of the sense of the letter. Only context or further revelation can tell us with what meaning the word, death, is used.
     In the Psalms, for example, we read: "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints" (Psalm 116: 15).

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The word, death, refers here only to the death of the body, and so the death of man's evil proprium. It could not possibly refer to man's entrance into hell. It has to refer to the removal of evil and falsity.
     When Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, he exclaimed: "Thou child, thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace" (Luke 1: 76-79). The shadow of death here is the shadow of evil, which causes spiritual darkness, from which we can be saved only by the light of heaven.
     The series in which our text occurs is actually dealing with the Lord's glorification. This is obvious from its opening statement, in which we read: "The hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified." And so the first subject of our text is the way in which the Lord glorified His Human. But then the text also describes how man progresses from knowledge to truth; how he sheds the natural-rational, and acquires the spiritual-rational; also how he is delivered from his evil proprium so he may bear fruit unto eternal life.
     To see how our text teaches all these things, we must first come to realize the real essence of death. At first glance, the real essence of death seems to be "ending." Now our senses, through which we come to this first conclusion, do not completely deceive us. Death has the quality of bringing to an end a certain existence. But the sensual man, that is, the man who knows nothing about life except what he can perceive with his bodily senses, is never able to come to any other conclusion. To him the end of life upon earth is the end of man's total life. But this conclusion is false, as it assumes the truth of the identity of man's life with his life upon earth, which truth cannot be proven or demonstrated by the sensual man.
     If our rational is in the light of heaven and reasons from the facts of revelation, we come to an entirely different conclusion. For though death brings to an end man's existence upon earth, it opens up to him a whole new life in the spiritual world, so that the real essence of death is not ending but beginning. Death is not the end of life, but the gateway to life. It is not final, but only a change.
     So it is with the corn of wheat. If it is placed in good ground, and the seed sheds its outer coverings to send forth roots, and during the first of sprouting uses these outer shells for food, it seems as if the seed has died, for it is no more. But the truth is that the seed has entered a new phase of life, ordained by the Lord for the sake of the continuance of its species. Its death is thus not the end, but only the beginning.
     The Lord, when on earth, underwent a similar process.

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The Divine seed was surrounded by a covering of the assumed Mary-human. Through temptations and death this covering was shed, to bring into life and view a new Human, namely, the Divine Human. To many Jews, the Lord's death on the cross seemed to be the end; but in essence it was only the beginning of His glorious reign. It is true that the Lord can no more be seen in the Mary-human; and to those who can only see Him there, the Lord has died. But to those who can see Him in His glorified Divine Human, the Lord is risen and has been seen by other disciples.
     Man's life on earth is nothing but a continual dying and resurrection. With each breath we breathe out, we die a little; but with each breath we take in, we become alive, and emerge as a different person. And this is true not only for the formation of man's mind but also for its regeneration.
     During our life upon earth we undergo many changes of state. The end of each state is death, but also the gateway into a new state. Each time we learn something new, each time we receive a new love, we die and are resurrected, and become a new and changed personality. And it is only because of this Divinely provided process of death and resurrection that we can stay alive and grow. Only if we die can we be alive and bear fruit. Except the "corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit."
     This continual death and resurrection is not always willingly accepted by man. Many times we try to hold on to a state which is past and gone. Many times we can observe ourselves and others going back to a past state, trying to recapture the delights of this earlier state. This hearkening back to what is in the past comes from the nature of the substance of the mind, just as the tendency of heat to flow from a higher to a lower temperature comes from the nature of material energy. But over and against this tendency of finite substance is another tendency, namely, the tendency of the Divine substance, which is the endeavor to draw man upwards, and from past states into future states.
     Man is in the crosspoint of these tendencies, and it is according to the strength of each tendency that he is either pulled forward or backward. And from the changes in the strengths of these tendencies comes man s vacillation between states of the past and the present. And if, in these stages of growth, we do not continually move in the direction of the Lord, if we do not die continually, we only abide; and because of heredity, we abide in the tents of wickedness. "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone."
     If a knowledge of the truth shows us clearly the nature of our evil proprium, our natural tendency is to abide in it. We resent a change, and look upon it as catastrophic and final. It seems to be death.

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But if this knowledge of the truth is allowed to fall into our mind, and dies there, then our mind is changed into a garden and a paradise wherein new trees can bring forth new fruits.
     A knowledge of the truth is just like a seed. If it remains in the memory, it is like the seed that does not die, but abideth. But as soon as it enters the spiritual-rational, and there reflects the light of Divine truth from within, and is used for man's regeneration, then its real essence is seen and given a chance to grow. The Divine truth within the knowledge takes root in man's second rational, and begins to send forth sprouts of spiritual affections. In this manner our knowledge of the truth dies, and gives birth to spiritual good and truth. The sense of the letter, in which
we were before, as it were dies. But its death is necessary and normal, and in the order of things. Its death is actually the gateway into life eternal.
     Using the knowledges given for man's regeneration means shunning evils, and thereby causing the death of our evil proprium. It means rejecting falsities, and causing them to die. So the death of whatever is opposed to the Lord's kingdom is actually the gateway into life. Precious is such death in the Lord's sight.
     To resolve our paradoxical text, and see its truth, is an experience which may greatly influence our lives. For when we can say as the psalmist: "The sorrows of death encompassed me, and the pains of hell took hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow" (Psalm 116: 3), we may look at these feelings in a different way. For when we continue in following the Lord, and remember our text, we may have that certain feeling that, though we may be surrounded by spiritual decay and death, though we may see this in ourselves, the signs of decay and death are really signs of new life and happiness. They are the signs of the darkness of evil from which the Lord delivers. They are the signs of darkness through which the Lord brings us into the morning light of heaven. For when a corn of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it comes into new life and is able to bear much fruit. Amen.

LESSONS:     Psalm 116. John 12: 20-36. Apocalypse Explained 899:
MUSIC:     Liturgy, pages 441, 483, 498.
PRAYERS:     Liturgy, nos. 86, 119.

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PREADAMITES 1960

PREADAMITES       Rev. ORMOND ODHNER       1960

     "Preadamites" is a name the Writings occasionally employ to designate the original humans who first populated the earth-those original men whom God created before He established with them that church which the letter of the Word speaks of as "Adam." Surely, it is obvious that there had to be men, before the Lord could establish a church among men.
     Even the letter of the Word allows for the possibility of Preadamites. The first chapter of Genesis describes the creation of man, male and female. The second chapter says that because there was not a man to till the ground, the Lord formed Adam out of the dust of the earth and breathed into his nostrils the breath of lives.
     It is not surprising, therefore, that in the year 1655-thirty-three years before Swedenborg was born-the existence of Preadamites was postulated in a book published by Isaac Le Peyrere, a French Protestant. His theory caused quite a stir in western Europe. The Roman Catholic Church put his book on the "Index," of course, and Peyrere, imprisoned, was forced to recant. Yet his ideas persisted, and the wide-spread belief in Preadamites during Swedenborg's days is noted in True Christian Religion 466, as follows: "It is believed by many that by Adam and Eve . . . are not meant the first men created, and in proof they have brought forward argument concerning Preadamites."
     Even certain Roman Catholic scholars eventually allowed Preadamites to exist; forced to do so by the discoveries of archeology and anthropology, which conclusively prove that man on earth ante-dates Adam's place in so-called biblical chronology. But Roman Catholics, to uphold the Bible, identified the Preadamite with the men of Genesis 1; said that this whole original race of men died; and asserted that God started out all over again in Genesis 2 with Adam. On the other hand, up until 1909, the latest reference we can find, no Roman Pope had as yet allowed the existence of Preadamites.

     It would be ridiculous to speak of Preadamites to one who believes in the theories of evolution, be his evolution Darwinian or its Neo-Christian, God-directed counterpart. For him there is no Adam: how, then, a Preadamite? He would agree that there was a primitive man; but, as we shall see, his first "man" had almost no resemblance to our New Church Preadamite.

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     The idea of Preadamites, then, is neither distinctive to nor original with the New Church. What is new and distinctive is a Divinely revealed partial description of these first men; and, as well, the truth that by "Adam" is signified a church, the first church ever raised up on earth. Preadamites, therefore, are the men who existed on earth before that Most Ancient Church was established-those original men among whom, eventually at least, that church was raised up.
     What were they like, these primitive ancestors of ours? They were not as we are. It is possible that they did not walk erect. They did not speak with words, and perhaps not even with sound. They could not write, they did not build, they had not even the rudiments of civilization. They ate no meat. Their very breathing was different from ours. They lived as wild animals. They were in dense ignorance and many falsities. They had no conjugial love. They had never even heard of God.
     But for all of that, they were better than we are! Their great, distinguishing characteristic was that they had no evil in them whatsoever. They did not even know what evil was, nor could they have understood it, had they been told about it. And-like wild animals, but far better-they had what we call 'instinct"; enabling them to perceive spontaneously how to live on earth, and, later, how to live for heaven. All this, because they were men whose internals were created into perfect correspondence with all things of heaven, and whose externals were created into perfect correspondence with the world; nor was there any perversion in them to impair the wisdom this correspondence could bring.

     It is possible that the Preadamites did not walk erect. Some students in the church have concluded that these first men walked on all fours, or, if you will, crept. They have based this conclusion on two passages in the Writings; but before quoting them, we would note that neither of them specifically concerns the Preadamites.
     The first, from Divine Providence, reads: "If man were born into [the love of the neighbor], he would not be born into the thick darkness of ignorance, as every man is now, but into a certain light of knowledge and intelligence therefrom; and these he would quickly come into after birth. At first, of course, he would creep like a quadruped, but with an inherent endeavor to raise himself up upon his feet; for however much like a quadruped, he would not turn his face downward to the earth, but forward toward heaven, and would so raise himself up as to be able to look upward."*
* DP 275.
     We repeat that this passage is not treating of Preadamites, although in another section it does mention Adam and Eve in an entirely different connection.

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It may, therefore, simply refer to what men would be like today, if born into the order of their lives: at first they would creep, as all children do.
     The other passage, from the Spiritual Diary, treats specifically of the spirits of the planet Jupiter. It reads: "They do not walk on four feet, as terrestrial animals, or quadrupeds, but they as it were hop or spring, and assist themselves by their hands, that they may go more quickly.
That they walk in this manner flows . . . from interior nature, because they are from the earth, and at the same time behold heaven; but the men of our earth, and also the spirits, mock at this, because they are evil, and wickedness being innate in them, they glory that they walk erect, which attitude is rather a consequence of their nature, being proud. From which it is evident that the erect posture of the body is not natural, but artificial, and has been learnt by process of time, and confirmed by custom but nature desires that men should rather so walk; and if they had thus walked, it would, from usage, have appeared becoming to do so."*
* SD 567.
     Nothing is here said about four-footed walking or creeping. The salient points are that the erect posture is not natural but artificial, and that nature desires that men should walk as do the inhabitants of Jupiter, assisting themselves with their hands.
     This remarkable passage, furthermore, is from the very earliest part of the Spiritual Diary, and we believe that almost all in the General Church agree that when Swedenborg wrote this part of the Diary, he was not always certain in the conclusions he drew from his spiritual experiences. We should not insist that any doctrine be accepted if based on that part of the Diary alone.
     Much of the passage, moreover, is repeated late in the Arcana and again in the Earths in the Universe. In these repetitions the manner of walking of the spirits of Jupiter is described in almost identical terms. But in neither repetition is it said that the erect posture is not natural but artificial, nor yet that nature desires that men should walk as do the inhabitants of Jupiter. That is in the Diary alone.
     Each of us, then, is free to decide for himself whether the conclusion is warranted that the Preadamites walked on all fours. All that the Writings definitely teach about the bodily posture of the first men is that, however they 'walked," their heads were not hung down as are animals'; always they looked forward, upward.

     It is also clear that the Preadamites did not speak with words; perhaps they did not even employ sound. We read: "The words of language were not immediately infused into men, but had to be invented, which could be done only in process of time."*

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Again: "The men of the Most Ancient Church spoke not so much by words, as afterwards and as at this day, but by ideas, as angels do; and these ideas they could express by innumerable changes of the looks and face, especially of the lips. In the lips there are countless series of muscular fibres which at this day are not set free, but, being free with the men of that time, they could so present signify and represent ideas by them, as to express in a minute's time what at this day it would require an hour to say by articulate sounds and words, and they could do this more fully and clearly to the apprehension and understanding of those present than is possible by words, or series of words in combination."**
* EU 54.
** AC 607.
     This latter passage, of course, treats of the Most Ancients who came after the Preadamites, but surely the Preadamites were not more externally advanced than were the Adamites.
     Whether they emitted vocal sounds, I am not certain, but I believe not. Their "speech" was by facial expression. The Writings say their speech was not "articulate";* but "articulate" speech is simply sound distinguished into words. The Writings also say, however, that it was "tacit";** and while "tacit" means silent, it also mean quiet; not necessarily mute, though the Latin clearly implies silence.
* AC 1118.
** Ibid.
     However, the main reason for believing them to have been a silent race is the teachings concerning their breathing. These we shall consider shortly.

     Surely there is no need to elaborate the statements that they neither wrote nor built, nor that they had not even the rudiments of external civilization.

     They ate no meat. We read: "Eating the flesh of animals, regarded in itself, is something profane, for in the most ancient times they never ate the flesh of any beast or bird, but only seeds, especially bread made from wheat, also the fruit of trees, vegetables, various milks and what was made from them, such as various butters. To kill animals and eat their flesh was to them a wickedness, and like wild beasts. . . . But in process of time, when men became as fierce as wild beasts, and even fiercer, they then, for the first time, began to kill animals and eat their flesh; and because such was man's nature, it was permitted him to do this, and it is still permitted to this day; and so far as he does it from conscience, so far it is lawful to him, since his conscience is formed of all that he supposes to be true and lawful.

105


No one therefore is at this day condemned because of eating flesh."* [Italics added.]
* AC 1002.
     Admittedly this passage seems to speak of the Adamites; but the Preadamites neither knew nor loved anything evil, and "something profane" is evil. On the other hand, since the Preadamites knew nothing of the church, they could not have regarded the killing of animals as a "wickedness." But the teaching is clear that it was only after men became as fierce as wild beasts, and fiercer, that they first ate meat; and men became that only after the fall.
     It is notable in this regard that even in the letter of the Word the Lord gave the first men "the green herb" for food, and that not until Noah came out of the ark did He give men permission to eat meat.
     If, then, the Preadamites were vegetarian, we at once have a far different picture of the first man from that popularized by popularized science-a naked, shaggy savage, slobbering blood. New Church men should be thankful to have Preadamites for their own particular ancestors!

     When it comes to the subject of the respiration of the first men, we have always found it a comfort that even the Writings say that it "is, perhaps, difficult."*
* AC 607.
     They did not have the same kind of external respiration that we have, but, instead, "internal respiration." It is described as advancing from the navel, toward the heart or the interior region of the breast, and so through the lips without sound.* Again, whatever of external respiration they had is said to have been "tacit."**
* AC 1118, 1120.
** AC 607, 1119.
     Swedenborg, you may recall, says that he was introduced into a kind of internal respiration by the Lord, apparently in order that he might be in open communication with spirits. He says of it: "I could respire inwardly for a considerable time, without the aid of external air."* He notes, however, that such breathing is possible only to those "so formed by the Lord."**
* SD 3317.
** Ibid.

     The Preadamites are said to have lived as wild animals.* But doves are wild animals, and so are deer. The Latin word here used, icrus, can mean either a wild beast or simply an untamed animal. The Preadamites were not savage and cruel and fierce; they were a gentle people. If there is a parallelism between the development of the individual and the development of the race, we would have to ascribe to the first men the gentleness of an infant, rather than picture them as "cunning and murderous cannibals."
* AC 286.

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     The Preadamites, nevertheless, were in dense ignorance, and in many falsities of the type that arise from the fallacies of the senses,* at least in the very beginning.
* AE 294c.
     Ignorance, however, is not necessarily a synonym for stupidity. A blank mind is not necessarily a mind closed to learning. The Preadamites were in ignorance, at least at first, because they had not yet been instructed. All knowledge comes from without and is acquired after birth. The first men, at their creation, knew no more than does a man at birth today.
     They were also infested by many falsities, but these were not falsities arising from evil-as yet there was no evil; but simply falsities arising from the fallacies of the senses, such as that the sun rises and sets, or that the life in man is his own.
     Possibly, moreover, this "dense ignorance" and these "falsities" continued for some time, perhaps even for generations. It is not the order of human learning to learn everything at once, and this seems to have been true of the first men equally as of us, as the following passages indicate. "The words of language were not immediately infused into men, but had to be invented, which could be done only in the process of time." Again: "From being like wild animals, they became spiritual men, and at last celestial."*
* EU 54; AC 286.

     Part of their "dense ignorance" was total ignorance concerning the existence of God. Treating of the reformation and regeneration of the earliest men, the Writings say: "Previously there was no church, because men were without good and truth."* Without truth-and the most fundamental truth of all is that there is a God.
* AE 294c.
     Because there was no church with these earliest men, it follows that neither was there anything of conjugial love, for "conjugial love is according to the state of the church [with man]."*
* CL 130.
     There was, however, the love of the sex with them. There must have been, for they were human-potentially human, at least; and it is said of the love of the sex, not only that it is the universal of all loves, but that "it was implanted by creation in man's very soul."* That the Preadamites knew the love of the sex is clear also from the place assigned them in the Gorand Man of heaven.** After all, what was really their greatest use? External men though they were, they yet were the progenitors, the propagators of the human race. God's first command to men, recall, and also His first blessing, is contained in the words, "Be fruitful and multiply. . ."
* CL 46.
** SD 3390.
     Whether the love of the sex was felt by the Preadamites before anything of the church was established with them, we do not know.

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There seems no parallel here with the development of an individual today, in whom, certainly, at least the externals of the church are implanted before the love of the sex becomes activated.
     But this we would stress. Even if the love of the sex was felt by them when they were still only Preadamites, it was not in any way a thing of evil. Remember that even of a modern boy, for all his evil inheritance, the Writings state that the love of the sex, when it first arises, is "natural."* It remains natural, furthermore, until it comes under the control of the good love or the evil love that rules his life.
* CL 446.
     Preadamites knew the love of the sex. They did not have conjugial love. But they knew absolutely nothing of evil, either. Perhaps sentimentally, we prefer to think that at least something of the church was established with the very first of these men, but there is logic against that possibility. Even if it was not, it is quite conceivable that the "matings" of the Preadamites were as those of certain animals and birds, that is, for life.

     All that has just been said concerning the ignorance and falsities prevalent in the Preadamitic mind, however, needs to be balanced by another whole set of teachings in the Writings, which would make it appear that they not only learned quite quickly, but also that they learned heavenly things as well as earthly things quite quickly. Remember that evil did not as yet exist. Of course, therefore, there was no hereditary evil. These first men were in the order of life into which they had been born.
     Consider, now, the following teachings.

     "If man were born into the love into which he was created . . . he would not be born into a thick darkness of ignorance, as every man now is born, but into a certain light of knowledge and, thence, intelligence, into which also he would quickly come."*
* DP 275.
     Again: "If man were without hereditary evil, he would be born into Divine order itself . . . and thus there would be implanted in him all and single things which are of faith, even as animals, which are born into their order, are born into the affections which are natural to them, and then there are in them all things which are of their life."*
* SD Min. 4635.
     Again: "If man were imbued with no hereditary evil, the rational would then be born immediately . . . and the faculty of knowing would be born through the rational, so that on coming into the world a man would at once have in himself all the faculty of reason and of knowing, for this would be in accordance with the order of influx, as may be inferred from the fact that all animals whatsoever are born into all the faculty of knowing what is necessary and helpful in securing food, safety, habitation and procreation, because their nature is in accordance with order.

108


Why, then, is man not born into it, except for the reason that order has been destroyed in him, for he alone is born into no knowledge?"*
* AC 1902.
     And, once more: "If man were in the order into which he was created, he, above all animals, would be born not only into scientifics, but also into all spiritual and celestial goods, and thus into all wisdom and intelligence, for he is able to think of the Lord and to be conjoined with Him through love, and thus to be elevated to what is Divine and eternal, which is not possible to brute animals."* [All italics added.]
* AC 6323.
     The Preadamites were without evil, either actual or hereditary. They were in the order into which they were created, nor had that order been destroyed in them. Were they, then, "born into a certain light of knowledge and thence intelligence"? Were there from the beginning implanted in them "all and single things which are of faith"? Did they not have "the faculty of knowing what is necessary and helpful"? And was not even the Preadamite "born not only into scientifics, but also into all spiritual and celestial goods, and thus into all wisdom and intelligence"?
     If so, this still does not imply that from his first creation the Preadamite knew that peas were good for food, and that the neighbor should be loved as much as himself. Certainly he did not have such knowledges as things formed in his memory. Recall, first, that his "innate knowledge" is compared with that knowledge with which an animal is born. The chick does not know that if he goes out into the Y-A-R-D, he will find C-O-R-N which will satisfy his hunger. Recall, also, that the first passage we quoted in this regard said that if man were born into the love into which he was created, he would be born into a certain light of knowledge and intelligence, but added the words, 'into which also he would quickly come."*
* DP 275.
     When does the chick know, as it were intellectually, about the hunger-satisfying corn in the yard? Not when he first breaks out of his shell; but only when, for one reason or another, he goes out into the yard and comes across the corn. Something then tells him to peck at the corn-even though he very probably does not know what pecking is. He eats. His hunger is satisfied. He has a memory. When hunger rises again in him, he goes out into the yard and eats more corn.
     Such, the Writings clearly imply, was the case with the Preadamites. They had what we today call "instinct," and they had instinct in things both spiritual and natural. Instinct: It is a word-wonderful to say!-based on a Latin root meaning instigation, impulse, and even, inspiration! But what is it? By accident, let us say, we put a spoonful of ground red pepper in our mouths. We need have had no previous instruction in order to know what to do.

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Instinctively, even we spit it out at once. Why? Why should we pursue such a sensible course? Because our soul, operating in the body, instantly perceives the disorder injected into the body, and, fortunately, Divine order has not been so thoroughly destroyed, even in us, that we do not at once respond to the soul's warning to get the disorder out of the body. Our bodily sensation has perceived an effluvia going forth from the pepper; we have interpreted its meaning correctly; we have acted accordingly. But the chick is brighter than we are. He perceived a certain effluvia going forth from the grain of corn-an effluvia of which we humans are not at all aware; he interpreted it correctly, and acted accordingly.
     The reason for all this is that the chick as to his body, and man as to his body, were both created into perfect correspondence with all things of the world.* The ear, for example, has been created into perfect correspondence with all things in the air, with the result that when a sound reaches the ear we hear it for what it really is, which actually is quite a remarkable thing. How awful it would be if the sound waves from a symphony were so twisted by the ear that they registered on our brains as the noise of jet airplanes!
* AC 3702.
     We are used to this in regard to the more external things that impinge upon our five external senses. But the Writings clearly imply* that in the beginning man enjoyed far more than this. He was perceptive of the far more subtle spheres which even today flow forth from everything, such as the scent that enables the dog to track its distant master, and he could also interpret even them correctly. He acted accordingly, and he acted correctly. Today, however,' evil has dulled all but the most external aspects of our bodily senses, and we no longer can perceive the more subtle effluvia of things perceptible to animals, nor instinctively act according to a correct interpretation of their meaning.
* Ibid.
     But man also has that which no animal has. Not only has he an external more or less in common with animals-an external created into perfect correspondence with all things of the world; he also has an internal, and this is created into perfect correspondence with all things of heaven, and his internal sensories are perceptive of all spiritual and celestial goods and truths, just as his natural sensories are sensitive to all things natural.
     Primitive man came across a life-sustaining food. His senses perceived its effluvia. Unimpaired by evil, he interpreted them correctly. He ate. He had memory. In his memory there now lodged a natural truth. Primitive man came across his neighbor. Unimpaired by evil, he was sensitive to the heavenly influx that prompted him to love his neighbor as himself.

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He gave his neighbor food. He had memory. In his memory there now lodged at least the rudiments of a spiritual truth. Later, when the Lord revealed His existence to him, primitive man would share that spiritual food with his neighbor also.
     Even so, all knowledge and truth did not come at once. Truth, as knowledge, must ever come from without. The Preadamites also learned truths gradually through the daily experiences of life. Gradually truths accumulated with them; first natural truths, then spiritual, and at last celestial. And out of those who in freedom chose to accept those truths and live them, the Most Ancient Church, the church of the Golden Age, was formed. "Man became a living soul."
SWEDENBORG AND ECUMENICITY 1960

SWEDENBORG AND ECUMENICITY              1960

     A recent issue of the NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER was devoted to this subject, the discussion showing much variety of opinion. The Rev. William F. Wunsch cites Arcana Coelestia 1799: 4 in support of his belief that the teachings of the Writings "speak of a possible Christian unity and even of a unity among world faiths." This is the familiar passage which states that it is doctrinal matters which distinguish churches, and that this would never be if love to the Lord and charity were placed first.
     The Rev. Louis A. Dole quotes the same passage and notes that it has been argued from it that matters of doctrine do not count, that all we need is to have charity. He points out, however, that love and charity cannot be attained without the truth of faith, and states his opinion that the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches are not the church universal, the members of which are known only to the Lord. He concludes that the New Church is the church specific for this new age; and that to perform its use as the heart and lungs of the universal church it has to be a distinct organization.
     Other views expressed were: the only contribution toward Christian unity that counts is regeneration, the birth and growth of charity; we must abandon our traditional role as a cult misnamed Swedenborgian, since anything less than a unified and all-embracing New Church does not make sense; the New Church should avoid any move to wean it away from or water down the wonderful new source of spiritual truth it has been given in the Writings; we are distinct as to doctrinal teaching, and we must do nothing to weaken or compromise that distinction; yet it is not true that the Old Church is dead, for love and charity have lingered as the life of the church, awaiting the giving of true doctrine.

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IMMORTAL MAN 1960

IMMORTAL MAN       Rev. HUGO LJ. ODHNER       1960

     (The third of three Doctrinal Papers.)

     III.     THE SPIRITUAL BODY

     Man's natural thought is so focussed on physical things that he finds it difficult to ascribe reality to anything which is not measurable in terms of space and weight and material values. Although most religions have acknowledged that man's spirit lives after death, people have often thought of spirits as flitting spectres or transparent bodies in the air or ether, awaiting the last judgment when they would rejoin their bodies. The learned have defined a spirit as abstract thought, as an incorporeal essence, or as a simple substance or monad; and some, as a spark of the Divine. Others deny that it is a substance, calling it a process in the material body which perishes with the flesh.
     But the simple, both among Christians and Gentiles, who are not confused by reasonings or false doctrines can usually see from a common perception that the spirit is the real man, and lives as a man after death. This idea pervades human speech and literature. Yet such a bare acknowledgment without definite knowledge is unable to withstand the worldly wisdom which is continually infecting the simple and sincere with a spirit of doubt and denial; and therefore the Lord has given an "immediate revelation" concerning the spiritual world-a revelation which is to enlighten our understanding to perceive what man is after death.

     The Mind of Man is Organic

     Spirits and angels, the Writings reveal, "are nothing else than human minds and souls in a human form, stripped of the coverings which were composed of elements found in waters or soils and of the exhalations diffused thence into the air. When these are cast off, the forms of men s minds are seen such as they had been inwardly in their bodies. . ."* Man's spirit or soul is thus the interior man. It is his mind, which was organized on earth, interiorly of spiritual substances, and exteriorly of natural substances, and finally from material things.** The affections, the thoughts, and the memory of man are nothing but changes in, and states of, the "purely organic substances of the mind."***
* CL 192.
** TCR 38; AC 1594: 5.
*** DP 279.

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     The whole concept of man's regeneration given in our doctrine springs from the fact that the mind is organic. It is impossible to change the quality of one's mind suddenly. The shunning of evils and the formation of new and better habits of thought is a work of long years-yea, of a lifetime. For all our confirmed states are inwoven into the web of our spirit. The natural mind, which from birth carries with it hereditary evils, has to be reformed and regenerated until it no longer resists the action of the spiritual mind. This reformation is likened to the untwisting of a spiral until the gyres of its habitual action coil in the same direction as those of the spiritual mind.* For the mind, or what is the same, the spirit of man, is organic. It must not be thought of as something simple, without constituents, for it is far more complex than the physical body.
* DLW 270, 263; AE 1168:3; DP 319:3
     But when we say that the mind or spirit is "organic," this might easily be misunderstood. For it is usual for men to think only of the vegetable and animal forms on the earth as organic; meaning material forms so organized that they manifest the signs of what is vaguely called "life," such as feeling, growth, propagation and purposiveness. Yet the term "organic" includes far more than earthly organisms. By an organic form we mean any vessel receptive of life and responsive to life. Natural organisms are organic only by virtue of their souls, whether vegetative, animal or human. Their material bodies react to life only by manifesting motions. Matter cannot respond to life. It is the soul, or the spiritual, that responds. The real organ of life in man is the spirit or mind.

     The Bodies of Spirits and Angels

     Now the Writings reveal in unmistakable terms that the spirit which had lived in the body of a man has, after death, "a form like that in which the man was before; there is only a separation of the spiritual substance from the material. For this reason the spirit has a heart and lungs the same as the man in the world, and for the same reason it has like senses and like motions and also speech; and there can be no senses or motions or speech without heart and lungs." Spirits also, it is added, "have atmospheres, but spiritual."* And-to dismiss the idea that a spirit is a disembodied and fleeting ghost-the doctrine continues: "He is just as much a man as before he died, except that after death he becomes a spirit-man."**
* Wis. vii:2.
** Wis. vii:4.
     After death, then, "man appears to himself in a body just as in the world, with a similar face, members, arms, hands, feet, breast, belly and loins; so that when he sees and touches himself he says that he is a man as in the world. But still it is not his external which he carried about the world that he [now] sees and touches, but it is the internal which constituted the human itself which lived and which had an external about it or outside of every part of it, by which he could be in the world and be adapted to act and carry on functions there.

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This earthly corporeal is no longer of any use to him, he being in another world, where there are other functions, and other powers and abilities, to which his body there is adapted. This body he sees with his eyes, not by those he had in the world, but those . . . of his internal man. . . . This also he feels with the touch, not with the hands or the sense of touch which he enjoyed in the world, but with the hands and the sense of touch which he there enjoys, which is that from which his sense of touch in the world had existed. Every sense, too, is more exquisite and more perfect there. . . ."* His body in the other life "is designed for uses in that life, and does not consist of bones and flesh, but of things which correspond to them."**
* AC 5078.
** AC 3813:5.
     It is not to be wondered at that spirits when they awaken into the spiritual world have at first no realization that they are not still in a material body. They learn this only when they find that all the phenomena of the other life arise from spiritual causes rather than from natural causes such as could be observed on earth. Some, when they realize that they are spirits, become utterly frightened, thinking themselves to be in an empty world. Yet it appears much the same as the world they left, and is sensed with exquisite reality. Indeed, the law is soon taken for granted, that "when what is spiritual touches or sees what is spiritual, it is altogether as when what is natural touches or sees what is natural." In fact, this law, the key to understanding the spiritual world, is repeated again and again in the Writings.* And "nothing in the spiritual world is material, but everything there is spiritual." Nor can the spirit any more see or touch the material environment, or any man or object therein! "Those who are in the one world cannot see those who are in the other world. For the eyes of a man, who sees by natural light, are from the substance of his world, and the eyes of an angel are from the substance of his world."**
* HH 461; LJ 24; AE 926:2; TCR 79: 7; LJ post. 323.
** DLW 91.
     Here we meet with the warning that we must not think that the spiritual is but a "purer natural." For "the natural can never by subtilization approximate the spiritual so as to become it."* The spiritual body is not a "purer natural," like the "limbus" of which we treated in a previous article, "nor is it a further refinement of the limbus. The spiritual body is, like the inmost soul, of spiritual substance. An angelic teacher, in Swedenborg's presence, therefore said to his youthful disciples: "The material body does not live and think, but the spiritual substance in that body; and this you called the soul, whose form you did not know.

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But now you have seen and do see it. You all are souls, about the immortality of which you heard . . . so much. . . . The soul is the human form, from which nothing can be taken away and to which nothing can be added; and it is the inmost form of all the forms of the entire body. And because the forms which are without take both essence and form from the inmost therefore you, just as you appear to yourselves and to us, are souls. . ."** And another angel, from ancient Athens, chided some newcomers with having thought of the spiritual world as empty, because spiritual. For to them anything that was abstract from the material appeared as empty, when, in truth, in the spiritual world "is the fulness of all things." "All things here," he said, "are substantial, not material; and material things derive their origin from the substantial. We who are here are spiritual men because substantial and not material."
* TCR 280: 3, 695: 3; DLW 350; Wis. vii: 5; Infi. 9: 4, 17: 2.
** CL 315:11.

     Formation of the Spiritual Body

     The teaching is also given that man's soul or spirit "is a spiritual substance which does not have extension but impletion." It "has nothing in common with space or extension," "nothing in common with the changes of nature."* This is said of the soul when it is present in the body. Yet it is true of the spirit after death that it has no extension except a spiritual extension; which has to do with the limitations, not of space, but of qualities and states. The spiritual world, like the human mind, is devoid of space, yet it has limitations and distances which appear as space. It is such appearances that limit and thus finite and distinguish spiritual things.** These spaces and spatial forms under which all spiritual things-including the bodies of spirits-appear, are called appearances "because they are visible, and they are said to be correspondences, and are real, because they spring from creation. . . ."***
* CL 220; TCR 103; Infl. 11.
** TCR 29; Wis. vii: 5.
*** AE 553.
     It is hopeless to attempt to understand what is meant by a spiritual body unless we are willing to reflect on what composes it; that is, on what it is that appears as such a body or such a human form, in the other life. The first thing to note is that "as far as the spirit of man is concerned, it also is created from finite things. . . . The finite things from which it is [created] are spiritual substances which are in the spiritual world "* But these spiritual substances-which, we are assured, are far more real than material things-are organized in a marvelous fashion into vessels responsive to the influx of life as this is channeled and modified through heaven or through hell. They are organized into ideas and thoughts combined into states of affection and delight; into knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom, or into their opposites-into fantasies and corruptions.

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And because both good and evil spirits have an overruling human soul, this organization of all man's states of life is unified into a human form, which appears perfect and beautiful if there is a ruling love of what is true and good, but decrepit and ugly if the dominant love is evil.**
* TCR 470.
** AC 6605.
     Even in the natural world we can discern at times how a man s mind and character will flash out in self-revelation, and transform the countenance into lovely beauty or contort it with repulsive hatred. The human body is indeed built to express the soul, but the mind can modify the Creator's intent; and when the spirit or mind has been released from the physical body, it is seen in a form corresponding to its inner quality, yet mercifully held by the Creator in the human form just so far as man has not perverted its order. And indeed, man or spirit has no power to destroy in entirety the order of his spiritual body. It is maintained by the Lord for the protection of his freedom.

     Is the Spiritual Body only an Appearance?

     What is this spiritual body? Is it a mere appearance? and if so, an appearance of what? When Swedenborg first considered the question, he was inclined-as was everyone else-to treat the spiritual body as a product of fantasy; for what need could there possibly be of legs and arms in a world devoid of space! But when he had become accustomed to the spiritual world, he confessed that this was not a fantasy or mere appearance. It was an appearance, yes; but the appearance of a spiritual reality. The natural body is also an appearance-an appearance of a material reality. Spirits are indeed in fantasy when they mistake their bodies for material bodies and think that they are still in the natural world! But in the year 1748 Swedenborg notes in his Diary, "Let it not seem astonishing that such things as are merely bodily exist also in the spiritual world, namely, that they there appear to themselves to be bodies, yea, to be clothed with garments, that they perceive pain, consequently possess a sense of touch, besides other things which are merely corporeal such as it would seem could never occur in spiritual essences or in spirits. Nevertheless, that still they do exist, is so true that the whole heaven affirms it."* "Hence it may now appear that there are senses in spirits or in the spiritual essences of man, and moreover that these survive in souls after death. . . ."**
* SD 1715.
** SD 1719.
     At first one might suppose that it is a man's habitual sight of nature that survives after death. His memory is filled on earth with natural objects and human shapes. Is the spiritual world perhaps a mere survival of his memory?

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But what shall we then say of infants who, dying at birth, had no such memories of this world, yet grow up in the other life as to both body and mind and see all spiritual things in the same natural forms; see all their companions in human forms, and see the gardens and lakes and mountains around them as clearly as other angels? Clearly the faculty to perceive all life in such mental terms, is inborn in them!
     The secret law which is now revealed is that the terms of consciousness are the same in both worlds because the same mind senses objects in both worlds. Hence the spirit "neither sees nor feels any difference. But his body is then spiritual . . . and when what is spiritual touches and sees what is spiritual, it is altogether as when what is natural touches and sees what is natural."*
* HH 461.

     The Components of a Spirit

     The doctrine points out that "it is an error [to think] that a soul can exist without a body."* Angels have a body, a rational and a spiritual.** As to their body and its sensations, angels are in "a lower sphere."*** Their bodies have sensations and pleasures, their minds have affections and thoughts.**** Thus the spirit, like man on earth, consists of degrees-substantial degrees. "Exterior spiritual things are so created by the Lord as to clothe or invest interior spiritual things." And the exterior spiritual things are in forms like those in the natural world. Into these exterior spiritual forms the interior spiritual things-such as those of the angelic mind-close and have their ultimate existence.***** Indeed, "his whole spiritual body, from head to heel, is completely such as his mind."******
* DLW 14.
** DLW 334.
*** AE 926: 2.
**** CL 273.
***** AE 582.
****** AE 775: 4.
     The changing states of affection and thought of spirits are represented as a spiritual flora and fauna around them, and these are said, not merely to "appear" but to be "created" in correspondence with these states. They are real "because they spring from creation."* But the ruling states which compose the character of each spirit are manifested as a spiritual body, permanent and complete. No part is lacking, not even the genitals.** This body is not a superficial appearance, but contains heart and lungs and brains and digestive organs. It is nourished on spiritual food. Spirits feel with their external senses, but think with their internal sensories or their brains!*** The body of a spirit contains substantial organs, fibres, nerves and vital fluids, answering to those in the material body. For the human mind has similar formations to the natural body. The reason given is that "there is a perpetual correspondence of all things of the mind with all things of the body."****

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There could be "no living thing in the natural world or in the spiritual world" without substances which are forms adapted for the reception of life. Such forms are constituted of the purest filaments like fascicles or bundles.***** In the natural body we see fasciculated fibres, especially proceeding from the cortical substances of the brain, arranged into intricate series and connections. And they are so created "because they correspond to the series in which the organism of the mind is disposed." For "the truths which are of faith are so arranged in the human mind." "Unless there were such an arrangement in the human mind, man would not have any analytical faculty of reason, which every one has according to the arrangement and . . . abundance of truths cohering, as it were in a bundle; and the arrangement is according to the use of reason from freedom."****** In general, good and truth together "make as it were one body, the soul of which is good, the truths in that good being as it were the spiritual fibres which form the body."******* "What is said of the natural forms of the body can be said similarly of the spiritual forms of the mind."********
* AE 553, 582.
** CL 51.
*** DLW 135.
**** LJ post. 316; DP 181; TCR 38.
***** AC 7408.
****** TCR 351.
******* AC 5435.
******** DP 181.
     We tend to forget how complex our minds are-how ideas are inwoven into each other in remarkable series of kinships, how marvelous the order through which we can recall the various elements of our thought. We seldom reflect on the laws of the association of ideas and how the most rational and logical processes can yet be upset and reversed by the awakening of our affections or passions! We strain our mental muscles at times; and we digest knowledge in order to obtain its inner essence, the meaning that is of use in building our minds. Our minds feed on intellectual substances and are poisoned by falsities and by fantasies of self-love.
     These are not mere comparisons or metaphors! The spirit after death has inner degrees, answering to all the invisible interiors within the viscera and the brains. It has also its ultimate, which is the spiritual body.

     The Spiritual Body and the Memory

     We do not think with our bodies. Neither is the body of a spirit employed by the spirit in his thinking processes in the other life. Yet it is spiritual. It is indeed organized within the material body and "formed through goods and truths which inflow from the Lord through the spiritual world," and received in civil and moral states.* All man's states are preserved in the form of memory. This is the ultimate of man's mind, the sensual degree, which embodies his entire mind.
* TCR 583, 454.
     This sensual degree is the first of man's mind to be awakened into consciousness at birth. It exists at birth, read for use. In it are organized
all sensations, which are gradually formed into a memory.

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It exists also with infants who die at birth; exists as a "spiritual-natural plane"* which can develop and grow in the other life. But a man who grows up in the natural world develops that sensual degree into a corporeal memory, a "relatively fixed" plane which he takes with him into the spiritual world. "What sort of fixity it is can be known only by this, that all things which are on earth are also in the heavens, but there they are not fixed, but still they appear as fixed."** The corporeal memory, or ultimate degree of the mind; thus cannot be changed after death, nor added to; and this means that he "remains to eternity" such as he had been in the world. "He has this plane with him, but it becomes altogether quiescent. Still, his interiors close in it. . . ."***
* HH 345.
** SD 5552.
*** Ibid.
     Let us again ponder the fact that all the contents of our memory are organized by our special interests and affections, and ordered to reflect the image of our ruling loves, our whole personality.* And this order imposed on our corporeal memory is fixed after death by the fact that it is devoid of physical sensory organs and thus cannot grow. "New harmonies and correspondences cannot be formed" with the interiors of the mind which rest in it.** And the reason that it cannot change is also found in that mystical structure, the "limbus," which was the subject of our last article. For the limbus gives a natural fixation to the corporeal memory. It closes the chapter of earthly life-or binds the book of memory.
* AC3539: 2.
** SD min. 4645 f.; SD 4037.
     It is therefore stated in the doctrine that "the organization taken on in the world remains to eternity."* "No one's life can be changed after death, because it is organized according to his love and faith, and hence according to his works. . . . A change of organization can take place only in the material body, and by no means in the spiritual body after the former is rejected."**
* DP 326: 5.
** BE 110; CL 524: 2.
     "Where the tree falleth, there it shall be."* Not that all progress stops after death. He who is in good can be "perfected immensely, even to angelic wisdom-but correspondingly to the concordances and correspondences that exist between internals and externals while he lived in the world."**
* Eccl. 11: 3.
** SD min. 4645: cp. SD 5552; AC 4588, 3293.
     The general teaching is that after death a man takes along his whole natural memory "but is not allowed to use it," that is, recall its contents. It is closed, quiescent, like the body when it is asleep. If it were not, and its material ideas were reproduced in the other life, the spirit could not progress into spiritual thought, which is abstracted from persons, spaces and times.

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If the corporeal memory of a spirit were activated, his ideas would also mix themselves into the thought of the man with whom he was.* But spirits have full use of their spiritual or interior memory, in which they store all their experiences in the spiritual world.
* HH 461, 464.
     All these teachings strongly suggest that the corporeal memory becomes, after death, a body for the spirit; or rather, that the memory of man is impressed on that spiritual-natural plane which becomes his spiritual body. Man does not live in his brain only, but his soul and mind are present in every part of his body. His memory, even on earth, is impressed on his body, especially as to all acts and habits.
     Thus we are told that if it becomes necessary to confront a spirit with his earthly misdeeds which he denies having committed, angelic examiners "inspect his face; and their search extends through the whole body, beginning with the fingers of each hand. . . . The things that are inscribed on the memory from the will and its thought are inscribed not only on the brain, but also upon the whole man, and there they exist in an order according to the order of the parts of the body. . .*
* HH 463; SD 5492.
     Such spiritual palmistry would be impossible unless the spiritual body were formed in accordance with the thoughts and acts of man's will.* The external memory with its inactive material ideas, seems thus to be represented in those basic structures such as bones and skin and sinews which have relatively little life, while the viscera and brains of the spirit are formed according to his internal memory, which he employs in his thinking and from which the immaterial sphere of his life unconsciously flows forth.**
* HH 463e.
** AC 2489, 10130, 1504; DLW 291.
     Immortal man has not only a substantial body, but also the interior degrees which constitute his mind. Celestial angels have the celestial degree organized and opened for use; the spiritual angels have the spiritual degree. All spirits have a natural mind or degree, which with the evil remains perverted and consists of "spiritual substances such as are in hell."*
* TCR 38; cp. SD 5547.
     Yet all angels have a natural degree of the mind as well as a spiritual body. The body is the outward form of the mind and makes one with it.* But since hereditary and other evils of man remain in his spiritual body like scars, there are things in the angel "so depraved that never to eternity can correspondence occur, did not the Lord continually bring it about." For the Lord makes it possible that the natural should become as it were "transparent" or removed so that the interiors can be displayed.** The humiliating fact is that even with angels, there is correspondence only in a few things of the mind!***
* HH 340; DLW 369.
** SD 2157-2159.
*** SD 2292.

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     It is therefore a law in the spiritual world that a state becomes apparent, either in the features of the visible spiritual body or in the corresponding environment which is created about spirits and angels, only if it is an active state. Here again the mercy of the Lord is seen. For who could stand if all the inner turmoil of his heart were always apparent, or the dormant hereditary passions which man had never measured were always exposed to view?
     What are seen in the spiritual world are the active states of spirits and angels, perceived in the mental forms which correspond to them. These mental forms are the same as those into which we interpreted our natural environment, and thus appear the same.

     Conclusion

     The objective in our three papers has been to examine what there is in man that is immortal. We found three things which do not perish at death: the soul, the mind within a spiritual body, and the "limbus" from the inmosts of nature. We also found that through the isolation of the "limbus" the corporeal memory was reduced to quiescence so that its material ideas are not used in the thinking processes of the spirit, but only those things which he had drawn out of the memory as conclusions and rational concepts.*
* HH 364:2.
     For those who are willing to endeavor to think spiritually about the spiritual world, and to realize that the spirit is an organization, not of physical elements but of states of good and truth, many fields of study are opened up through the Writings. But no treatment of the subject of the bodies of spirits and angels would be adequate which did not point out the teaching that "a spirit does not subsist upon a basis of his own, but upon a common basis, which is the human race."* This might seem surprising, since every spirit has his character engraved upon his own corporeal memory, and in his own spiritual body; and since this corporeal memory is closed and fixed by means of a "limbus" from nature, which individualizes him.
* LJ 9.
     But the spirit cannot use the ideas of his corporeal memory, any more than we can think with our hands or feet! Instead of this, spirits can be with men and can use the contents of our memories as if they were their own. Their common basis-on which the external phases of their mental life are founded-is the whole human race. "The angelic mansions are indeed in heaven, to the sight separate from the habitations of men, but still they are with man in his affections of good and truth. That they stand forth to the sight as separate is from the appearance."*

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"The spiritual world is where man is, and in no wise away from him."** This conjunction of the two worlds is the unique doctrine of the New Church.
* LJ 9.
** DLW 92.
MEANING OF PEACE 1960

MEANING OF PEACE       Rev. FREDERICK L. SCHNARR       1960

     We live in an age wherein the state of peace is little known. The nations of the world are troubled, and their people are in a state of unrest. It is an age of war, and of rumors of war. We fear the possibility of economic collapse. All around, and among us, we see a seemingly endless train of heartbreaks, tragedies and pathetic situations. On every hand, evil and falsity have left their disorders, distortions and marks of ruin and decay. In a world already inclined to the rule of merely natural things, there are being added many Godless concepts of life which are utterly void of any eternal purpose or meaning. We can scarcely wonder that there should develop the tensions, pressures, frustrations, mental breakdowns and states of despair that so mark the lives of the peoples of this age. As Jeremiah prophesied in days of old, so do men cry out today, "Peace, peace; when there is no peace."* There is not, nor can there ever be, any real peace, except it come to man from the Lord. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee. Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength."**
* Jeremiah 6:14.
** Isaiah 26:3, 4.
     Like everyone else, those who belong to the New Church are greatly influenced and affected by the states of the world around and in them. No one walks the path of life free from the companionship of infernal states depressions and frustrations, tensions and pressures, despair and sadness. Certainly, no one is free from temptations while he lives on this earth, for without them the peace of heaven cannot be given. The paramount problem, therefore, is not that various disorderly states exist, but how man can overcome them. How can man retain and develop an intelligent and purposeful view of the meaning and use of life? How can he seek, with any assurance a trust in the Lord's Divine Providence, and the peace of a mind freed from the painful struggles that states of evil and falsity impose?
     There is only one way, and that is through the knowledge the Lord presents to us in Divine revelation. Man cannot really place his trust in something of which he has no knowledge. To place trust in the unknown is to place it nowhere!

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If man is to put his trust in God, he must know something about the nature and quality of God; and if he is to trust in God's government, that is, in His Divine Providence, he must know something about the nature and operation of that providence.
     Because man's state became such that he could no longer see the truths concerning the Lord and His government in the Word of the Old and New Testaments, the Lord openly revealed that knowledge again in His second coming. In a way never before possible, the Lord unfolded the spiritual sense of the letter of the Word and presented man with the very doctrines of heavenly life. He laid before man a complete and perfect picture of the whole of creation, from its very ends and purposes to its ultimate workings. He not only revealed fully the truths concerning His own Divine nature, but He set forth the complex, intricate, yet wonderfully intelligent laws by which He governs the universe and every living creature in the universe. And all of this creation, all of this revelation, have only one purpose; and that is to provide for man's eternal peace and happiness, to provide a heaven from the human race.
     In the knowledge of the truths of the Lord's second coming lies the means for man to trust in the Lord forever; to trust in the Lord every moment of his life, no matter what state of life he may be in; to trust the Lord with intelligent understanding of the workings of His merciful providence, and with love for the things it would achieve. As the prophet's words show, there must be a real trust in the Lord and in His government before there can be a true and lasting peace of mind.
     We need to reflect on the teaching that there is not a least thing in all creation that is not immediately under the Lord's supervision. There is no such thing as luck or chance. While, for the sake of preserving human freedom, the Lord permits the existence of evil and falsity in all their various forms, He never permits a single thing to occur unless it can be brought to serve some good, useful, and eternal purpose. His providence is with us in every love, thought and act of our lives, secretly leading and protecting. And while it is our responsibility to act as of ourselves, and with our best judgment, we should never feel that our various actions are of too great moment. Let us not worry too much about what the future may hold; let us not become discouraged and frustrated when all of our various plans do not seem to materialize; let us not be burdened constantly with tensions and pressures that seem to bear on us at times and make our every decision and act appear of great and eternal concern. Let us learn to place a real trust in the Lord. The Lord sees the whole of creation functioning as one Gorand Man. He sees where and how each one of us may be led to the greatest possible peace and happiness, a peace and happiness that are eternal. And through His providence He is constantly working in everything of our lives to lead us to the ends that He sees are best for us.

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     The Lord wills to lead us to the perfect peace of heaven, and He gives us the truths of His Word that we may find such peace. That is why the angels sang at the Lord's first coming: "Peace on earth, to men of good will."* This is why the Lord Himself said: "These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."** And in the prophecy of His second coming, in connection with the establishment of the New Church, we are told to "pray for the peace of Jerusalem"; that is, for the peace of mind which can be given only through the knowledge and use of the spiritual truths of the Word in the letter and in the Heavenly Doctrine. We are promised that "they shall rest" who learn to love these teachings; that peace lies within the walls of the New Jerusalem, and tranquillity within her palaces.***
* Luke 2: 14.
** John 16: 33.
*** Psalm 122.
     The Writings tell us that innocence-a willingness to be led by the Lord-and peace are the two inmost things of heaven because they proceed immediately from the Lord. Innocence, which is really trust in the Lord, is described as being the esse of all good; and peace is the bliss of all the delight that is from good.*
* CL 394.
     The origin of peace is the union of the Divine itself and the Divine Human. "The Divine of peace in heaven is from the Lord, springing from His conjunction with the angels of heaven, and in particular from the conjunction of good and truth in each angel. . . . From this it can be seen that peace in the heavens is the Divine inmostly affecting with blessedness everything good therefrom, and from this is every joy of heaven. . . This joy, felt by the Lord in angels and by angels from the Lord, is peace. By derivation from this the angels have everything that is blessed, delightful or happy, or that which is called heavenly joy."*
* HH 286. Cp. AE 365: 44.
     It is because these are the origins of peace that the Lord is called "the Prince of peace," and that He declares that from Him is peace and in Him is peace. For this reason also the angels are called in the Word, angels of peace, and heaven is called a habitation of peace."*
* HH 287.
     The state of heaven is a state of peace. It is a state of supreme confidence in the Lord that He will rule all things, and that He will lead to all that is good and true. It is a state wherein man has no fears, no solicitude about future events. He is no longer in states of temptation, nor in any frustration or despair. There is nothing to disquiet him and cause him unrest. The state of peace takes away all the influence of evil and falsity.*

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Because there are degrees of heavenly life, there are also degrees of peace; and we are told that in proportion as man comes into love to the Lord, and puts off what is external, in the same proportion he receives a state of heavenly peace, and is affected with happiness, bliss and felicity.** We would note also the teaching that those who are in genuine conjugial love live in the delight of peace above all others.***
* AC 8455.     
** AC 8455.     
*** AC 5050-5052. Cp. AE 997: 4.
     We must avoid thinking of heavenly peace as a state of idleness, for it is just the opposite. It is a state wherein man finds delight and happiness in everything that he does: in his work, in his marriage, in his associations with friends and companions, and in his recreation. The angels love to perform uses to others, and the delights they feel from this give them a state of perfect peace. The Writings liken the peace of heaven to the dawn of a beautiful morning, or to the vernal warmth of spring, when the various forms of life awaken and the whole world seems to laugh and sing.*
* AE 365; AC 1726.
     Now it is not possible for man on earth to sense, or to have any real perception of, the state of peace that exists in heaven. However, while we do not consciously feel it, its image before our eyes brings us trust in the Lord, comfort in our tribulations, and inspiration to overcome. But just what of peace are we to seek in this world?
     The Writings tell us that all unrest is from evil and falsity, and all peace is from good and truth.* The state of our world is such that heaven and hell meet on earth. The mind of every man is a battlefield whereon goods and truths meet evils and falsities. And this meeting brings temptations, conflicts, and many other states associated with these. In this world we cannot look for release from such states, for only through them can our perverted loves of self and the world be conquered and ordered by love to the Lord and toward the neighbor. We do not seek temptations, and we fight and pray to be released from them; nevertheless we must bear them. But we are not without some knowledge of internal peace, for after we have conquered in temptation, the Lord provides that we should be brought into peace. And while we do not consciously feel the perfect peace that exists in heaven, we do feel a certain tranquillity and delight, a comfort and assurance in the Lord's strength. Indeed, it is in the temporary states of peace that follow temptation that our trust in the Lord and in His providence is renewed. At such times the Lord is able to plant heavenly loves in our hearts, and provide gradually that our eternal state shall be one of peace.**
* AC 3170.
** AC 5662: 2, 59, 1726, 3696: 2; TCR 599; AC 92, 2183: 2.
     The primary reason we are here on earth is that we may be prepared for the life of heaven.

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Let us keep this well in mind when, in the midst of our discouragements and temptations, we search for peace. Let our minds not become so involved in a search for the purely external forms of peace which at present dominate the world's interests that we lose sight of the quest for the interior peace that makes the life of heaven. The Writings indicate that it is easy to do this. They tell us that at this day scarcely anyone knows what is meant by the peace which is mentioned in the Word. Why is this? It is because man has come to think of peace in terms of security, prosperity, friendly relations in business, tranquillity in marriage and in the home. It is right that we should want these forms of external peace, but not as ends in themselves. For an evil man in the world may know that kind of peace, and yet with such a man there is really nothing of peace because there is no peace within him. It is the nature of evil to be at war inwardly with everyone else, to rule over others, to seek their possessions and their very lives. And in the spiritual world, where internal states become the plane of our existence and show themselves openly in external things, a purely external state of peace would soon appear as a state of chaos, frustration and unrest.
     Let us hold before us the knowledge that the Lord has given us of the nature of heavenly peace and of the means whereby it is born. Let us learn the laws of Divine love and mercy which are the Lord's providence. For that is how we learn to trust the Lord, and to make Him our everlasting strength. The peace of heaven is born in trust in the Lord. And it is this trust which must carry us through the harsh, unpleasant and depressing states of life. The Lord assures us that it will; and that He will care for and watch over us every moment of our lives, and lead us as gently as possible to the perfect peace of His heavenly kingdom.
MINISTERIAL CHANGES 1960

MINISTERIAL CHANGES              1960

     Candidate Kurt Horigan Asplundh has accepted appointment, effective after his ordination in June, as assistant to the pastor of the Pittsburgh Society.
     Candidate Douglas McLeod Taylor has accepted appointment, after his ordination in June and effective September 1, as resident minister of the Tucson, Arizona, Circle, and visiting minister to Phoenix, Arizona, and San Diego, California.
     The Rev. Harold C. Cranch will resign as visiting pastor of the centers which will receive Mr. Taylor's ministrations, and will devote his entire time to his duties as resident pastor of the Los Angeles Circle and visiting pastor of the San Francisco Circle.

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ACCOMMODATION IN THE WORD 1960

ACCOMMODATION IN THE WORD       Rev. DAVID R. SIMONS       1960

     If specialized uses are to be conveyed from a man to his neighbor, they must be accommodated to reception. This is done when technical language is simplified and put into words relating to daily experience; and when the values involved, the importance of the use, are emphasized in such a way as to interest and stir the affections. The means whereby higher, abstract, technical terms are accommodated are comparison, analogy and correspondence; that is, the addition of something of time and space, person and place-something ultimate, practical and concrete that our minds can picture, sense and grasp. To a mind which has no basis for understanding what electricity is, we compare it to water, showing how electricity flowing through a wire is like water flowing through a pipe. Thus, by a comparison, we provide from experience with water a basis for an idea of electricity; one from which an idea of electricity as entirely different from water can gradually be developed.
     By comparisons our minds are led from the known to the unknown. The more perfect the parallel, the more fully the external thing relates to the internal, the easier it is. to convey an idea; consequently, the more effective our comparison becomes. The closest relation of an internal thing to an external is that of correspondence. For this reason, correspondence is the most effective mode of accommodation.
     That internals are communicated by correspondence is clear from the expressions of the human face. Our faces reflect our minds, and thus communicate them to others. They are our minds present with others, since they respond to our thoughts and mental attitudes. Correspondence is defined in the Writings as "the appearing of what is internal in what is external."*
* AC 5423.
     It is because external things have this ability to respond to internals, because they contain internal things, that externals such as our facial expressions, our speech, our bodily actions and our writing have the power not only to establish communication between men but also to bring them together. It is not enough to will well to others and to think well of them; this must be ultimated in tangible forms which correspond to and thus reveal that will and thought.

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It is these forms by which a man reveals himself to his neighbor, and by means of which men are conjoined. The wonder of creation is that the mind can flow into the body; that it can accommodate itself to reception; that the gap between a man and his neighbor can be spanned by correspondential ultimates, and that men can thus be linked together.
     When we understand the use of externals-when we see how, through them, a man can accommodate and communicate the internal things of his will and thought to his neighbor-we have a basis for understanding the Divine accommodation in the Word. For the Lord is a Divine Man. He wills to communicate with and thus be conjoined to the human race; and to this end He has expressed Himself in His Word. The Word of God is God accommodating Himself that He might relate Himself to man, and this so that man on his part may relate himself to the Lord. This reciprocal relation between the Lord and man is the purpose of Divine revelation.
     Without an understanding of what accommodation is, any genuine idea of a Divine revelation of absolute truth is impossible. How, except by accommodation can an infinite God effect communication with finite man? How could our puny human minds possibly understand infinite truth, even if it could be communicated to us? How, apart from His awareness of our states and needs, could the infinite God of the universe approach the human race and reveal Himself to us? "A man who worships nature as God, or in preference to God, and who consequently thinks from himself and not from heaven and the Lord, may easily fall into error in respect to the Word and into contempt for it; and while reading it may say to himself: What is this, and what is that? Can this be Divine? Could God, whose wisdom is infinite, speak in this manner? Wherein consists its holiness, and whence comes this holiness, except from religious feeling and consequent persuasion?"* Only those who can see how the Lord has covered His infinite love and wisdom with correspondential forms may see that the Word is truly Emmanuel-God with us.
* SS 1.
     External men judge the Word by its outer appearance. Therefore they cannot believe it to be Divine truth itself, wherein are Divine wisdom and Divine life. Yet, the doctrine teaches, "the style of the Word is the Divine style itself, with which no other style, no matter how sublime or excellent it may seem, is at all to be compared. For every other style is as darkness to light. The style of the Word is such that there is holiness in every sentence and every word, and, in some places, even in the very letters. This is why the Word conjoins man with the Lord and opens heaven."*
* SS 3.
     The Word is the Lord expressing Himself in terms the human mind was created to understand.

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In the Old Testament, He speaks in most external terms; in the New Testament He approaches man more directly; and in the Heavenly Doctrine He tells us "plainly of the Father." All are Divine truth; all are the Lord with us; yet each is accommodated to a different plane or level of the human mind.
     In the Old Testament, infinite truth is presented in symbols which correspond to internal things. There only the most general truths are plainly stated; all else is veiled, as sunlight behind thick cloud. By means of the stories of creation, the flood and the tower of Babel; by means of the history of the Jews; and by means of the Psalms of David and the prophets; internal things have been covered over and presented to view through externals. Consequently, we learn, "the Word in the sense of the letter consists exclusively of correspondences to the end that things spiritual and celestial may be simultaneously together in it, so that every word may be their containant and support. [This is why] . . . in some places in the sense of the letter the truths are not naked but clothed. These [clothed truths] are called appearances of truth. Many truths are also accommodated to the capacity of simple folk who cannot uplift their thought above such things as they see before their eyes. There are also things that appear like contradictions, although the Word viewed in its own light contains no contradictions."*
* SS 40.
     By symbolism, by things which represent and signify what is spiritual and celestial and which correspond thereto, the truth of the Old Testament acts to conjoin the things of earth and heaven. "There is the greatest power present in correspondences . . . for in them heaven and the world. . . are a one. . . . Therefore the Word was written [throughout] by correspondences; wherefore there is a conjunction of man with heaven, thus with the Lord; [the Word] is thus the Lord in firsts and at the same time in lasts."*
* Inv. 59.
     Although truth is covered over and hidden in the Old Testament, still, certain basic truths are clear: that there is one, all-powerful, ruling God; and that happiness comes from obeying Him, and punishment and destruction from not obeying. The power of God to create and to destroy, His power to see into the hearts of men and to lead them, the imperative need to look to Him and obey His voice-these truths are the foundation on which the life of heaven rests. The letter of the Word often speaks of the Lord punishing and destroying, so that, we are told, "they who are not in love are kept in fear, and thereby stand in awe of the Lord, and flee to Him for deliverance. This shows that it does no harm to believe the sense of the letter, even though the internal sense teaches something else, provided that it is done from the affection of good."*

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"The Word [in the sense of the letter] is like a man whose face and hands are bare. All things that concern man's life, and consequently his salvation, are bare; but the rest are clothed."**
* AC 3816: 2.
** SS 55. See also AE 778, 916.
     But Divine accommodation involves not only the idea of a stepping down for the sake of reception but also the elevation of the mind thus affected. Although the Old Testament Word reaches down with stories that even the mind of a child can grasp, still its ideas progress toward inner truth. For the Lord constantly endeavors to educate the mind, to lift it up, to lead it to the genuine truths of heaven. The Ten Commandments involve, for the most part, prohibitions of external, natural acts; but the last commandment, "Thou shalt not covet," looks to what is internal and leads to internal things. To covet is to steal in the spirit; and from seeing this, anyone who reads the Old Testament affirmatively could arrive at the genuine truth about the Ten Commandments: that they are internal laws of the human spirit. Furthermore, although sacrifices are specified in the law of Moses, we read: "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me? saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams. . . . Wash you, make you clean: put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes: cease to do evil; learn to do well."* This is repeated in Micah, in which the question, "Wherewith shall I come before the Lord . . . shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams?" is answered: "He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"** Anyone reading these plain teachings can be led from a gross idea of God as one who desires burnt offerings to the genuine truth that He desires man to shun evils and to acquire justice, mercy and humility. A penetrating study of the Old Testament can lead to the genuine truths of religion.
* Isaiah 1:11, 16.
** Micah 6:6-8.
     Certain teachings in the Old Testament are apparently misleading, and we may wonder why they are part of the letter of the Word. When we read, for example, that the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and then proceeded to punish him because he refused to let the sons of Israel go, we may feel a sense of Divine injustice; and think that this could be avoided if the hardening of Pharaoh's heart were shown to be from his own stubbornness and not from the Lord. Yet this is not the case. This appearance is absolutely necessary. The teaching is that "the learned of the world indeed believe that they would receive the Word more readily if [the inner truth] were set forth nakedly, and if it were not written so simply, but they are mistaken. They would then have rejected it more than the simple, and would have seen in it no light, but mere darkness."*

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The appearance that the Lord does everything-that He is omnipotent-is the more important truth. It must come first; therefore it must appear that He hardened Pharaoh's heart. Later this truth can be refined and elevated. Nor is the truth wrong! For the Lord did permit Pharaoh to harden his heart. It is life from the Lord, received in freedom and qualified in reception, that lies behind all human actions, good and evil alike.
* AC 8783.
     Although in the sense of the letter of the Old Testament the primary truths of religion are revealed, the story-its persons, places, things and actions-serves higher uses. It is ordered to contain a continuous internal sense. In the written Word of the Old Testament, the Lord's Divine love and wisdom are, as it were, frozen into correspondential forms. We are to receive these forms into our minds, and, from the Lord, are to melt them into liquid, life-giving truths which can be transformed in us into the steam of conviction and spiritual purpose-into the life of religion.
     The supreme act of accommodation took place when the Lord Himself "bowed the heavens" and came upon earth. The Lord put on the Divine Natural, and approached natural men who had become so external that only the things of this world had any meaning for them. Consequently the Lord became present with them in the world. His sayings and deeds were not distant correspondences, as in the Old Testament, but became the direct ultimate expressions of His infinite love and wisdom. To men whose primary concern in life was the body, who responded only to the dictates of the five senses the Lord revealed Himself as the Word made flesh. By doing this, He showed the eye truth itself in living form. The ear received sounds which contained His love. His touch brought healing. He restored sight, speech, flesh, and even life itself. The Lord turned water into wine, multiplied loaves and fishes, and invited to a holy supper all who would receive His good and truth. Even the evil could not help but sense His presence. They felt the sting of the small cords by which His zeal expressed itself when He cleansed the temple; they heard His sharp rebuke; they saw Him send devils into filthy swine. By His every word and deed the Lord provided an imagery that can be seen by all who read the New Testament, no matter how external they may be, and can form a basis in their minds for eternal spiritual growth.
     The Lord became the Word in the flesh, not for Himself, but for men. For this reason His mission could not stop when He revealed Himself as a babe in Bethlehem. Here is the height of accommodation! Here we see the infinite God of the universe wrapped in the swaddling clothes of a finite, helpless infant form. He upon whom the universe depends presented Himself as utterly dependent on others. He whose power and might exceed all thought presented Himself as powerless and weak, as mortal man.

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But this greatest miracle of all, the presentation of the infinite God as finite man, was so clothed by the orderly and normal processes of life that the inner reality was hidden from men's eyes. For the supreme end of this accommodation was human freedom. The Lord was born a man that He might be known and loved, and thus be received freely by mankind. There could be no compulsion if this end were to be achieved. Indeed it is a law of the Divine Providence, which the Lord could only follow, that "man should not be compelled by external means to think and will, and thus believe and love, the things of religion, but should guide himself."* That this might take place, "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. . . . He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. . . . But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become sons of God."**
* DP 129.
** John 1: 14, 10, 12.
     But the end is not accomplished when one mind has presented itself on the level of another. The Lord stepped down His infinite life, and became present with men, that He might elevate them to Himself in heaven. "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me."* For this reason the apparently finite, dependent, powerless infant had to grow, wax strong in spirit, and be filled with wisdom; and "the grace of God was upon Him."**
* John 12: 32.
** Luke 2: 40.
     Step by step, the Lord began to reveal His independence and His special use. When, as a boy of twelve, He was found in the temple after three days, His reply to Mary and Joseph was: "Wist ye not that I must be about My Father's business?"* And at thirty years of age He began His public ministry, and by successive miracles put off the limitations He received from the mother; revealing Himself as one with His infinite Father, or soul-the one God of heaven and earth who becomes present where two or three are gathered together in His name.**
* Luke 2: 49.
** Matthew 18: 20.
     The Lord's teaching, when on earth, was adapted to a higher degree of the natural mind than was that of the Old Testament. By parables, by comparing the things of heaven to those of earth, He prepared the way for thought about spiritual qualities and things apart from natural ones. But these parables were more than comparisons; they were correspondential.* "The Lord spoke in correspondences in order that the sense of the letter of the Word might be made up of such things as correspond to things spiritual in which the angels are. Thus, and in no other way, could there be by means of the Word a conjunction of the men of the church with angels."** There can be no conjunction unless truth provides the means.

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Further, we learn that "truth Divine is not received by anyone unless it is accommodated to his apprehension, consequently unless it appears in a natural form and shape. For at first human minds grasp nothing but earthly and worldly things, and not at all spiritual and heavenly things. Wherefore, if spiritual and heavenly things were set forth nakedly, they would be rejected as if they were nothing, according to the Lord's words: 'If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you heavenly things?' (John 3: 12)."***
* AR 334; AC 9272.
** AE 329: 5.
*** AC 8783.
     If Christians had learned to think, not from the letter that "killeth," but from the spirit, which "giveth life,"* they could easily have seen that everything the Lord did before the external senses of man He does internally even now. Every act He did for men's bodies He does now for their minds; every miracle He performed in the natural world is repeated in the world of man's spirit. They could thus have been elevated from natural truth to spiritual, from earth to heaven. The Lord says this openly many times in the New Testament, as, for example, when He asks: "Whether is easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?"** For He shows that to have one's sins forgiven is, spiritually, to arise and walk.
* II Corinthians 3: 6.
** Matthew 9: 5.
     However, although the Lord adapted His teaching to men in such a way as to elevate them to spiritual things, few received it. Men mistook the appearances for the reality. Their minds stuck in the externals of the New Testament, and they saw the Lord Himself as merely finite man, not as God. They fastened their attention on Christian truth as a way of healing the body rather than as the means of regenerating the spirit. They focussed their thought upon a resurrection on earth rather than a resurrection in an eternal spiritual world. As the human race came of age, reason and experience became the criteria of truth. External men analyzed the Bible, misread, misinterpreted, or deliberately falsified its teachings, and it became imperative that the Lord should come again and accommodate Himself in a new way to the spiritual needs of mankind.
     This He has done in the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem. That doctrine, written by means of His servant, Emanuel Swedenborg, is from the Lord Himself. We read: "From the first day of [my] call, I have not received anything which pertains to the doctrines of the [New] Church from any angel, but from the Lord alone while I was reading the Word."* "When I think of what I am about to write, and while I am in the act of writing, I enjoy a complete inspiration; for otherwise it would be my own; but now I know for certain that what I write is God's living truth."**
* TCR 779e.
** Docu. 251: 7.

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     That the Heavenly Doctrine is the same Lord Jesus Christ of the New Testament speaking to us "plainly of the Father" can be seen by anyone who will sincerely compare the teachings of the New Testament and the Writings. For as the Lord on earth revealed an inner meaning in some of His parables to His disciples, so in His second coming He gives further and complete explanations of their internal sense. The truth of the New Testament, that "without a parable spake He not unto them,"* is amplified in the Writings to show that the entire New Testament Word, as that of the Old Testament, is written as a parable which has an internal meaning throughout. For the Christian who can visualize and believe in the Lord as He was transformed before His disciples, when "His face did shine as the sun,"** the teaching of the Heavenly Doctrine that the Lord sometimes appears above the heavens in the spiritual sun, whose light is truth and whose heat is love, is easily accepted. And who can deny that the letter of the Word is in clouds which hide the genuine truths of religion and make them difficult to discover, whereas the Writings unfold clear, logical truths and reveal the glory of the Lord within? To those who look for miracles the Writings disclose this: "The New Church is not [to be] established by miracles. . . . But in the place of them there has been revealed the spiritual sense of the Word; and the spiritual world has been disclosed; and the nature of heaven and hell has been manifested; and also that man lives after death; which [things] are more excellent than all miracles."*** All these things in the Heavenly Doctrine provide internal, spiritual evidence of a new presence of the Lord with men.
* Matthew 13: 34.
** Matthew 17: 2.
*** Coro. LI.
     In the Writings the Lord reveals Himself more openly than in the former Scriptures, for in their truths the Lord speaks to man's rational mind. Their doctrines are confirmed and illustrated not only by agreement with the Old and New Testament Word, which they fulfill, but also by reason and experience. Rational truths reveal the Lord more clearly, since, as we learn, "rational truths are those which approximately receive spiritual truths. . . . They who are in evils and thence in falsities cannot be healed by the Word because they do not read it; but if they have sound judgment they can be healed by rational truths."*
* AR 936.
     By His second coming the Lord has adapted His truth to every possible degree and state of the human mind, so that He may be seen and acknowledged as the one God of heaven and earth. As the doctrine puts it: "The Lord, having now put on also the Divine natural, enlightens both the internal spiritual man and the external natural man."*

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For the teaching is that because "the men of this earth . . . have the knowledges of the truths of faith [from the Word] which . . . serve for a ground in which spiritual and celestial truths can be inseminated . . . therefore such [men] enter more easily [after death] . . . into the interior and more interior heaven; and because some bring with them such knowledges from the life of the body, they also serve as ministering spirits to instruct others who do not possess such knowledges from revelation." **
* TCR 109.
** SD 1531.
     Because the Lord has accommodated Himself to the human mind in a new way, a new Christian Church can now be established. This New Church is said to be "the crown of all the churches that have hitherto existed on the earth, because it is to worship one visible God in whom is the invisible as the soul is in the body. Thus, and not otherwise, is a conjunction of God with man possible. For man is natural and therefore thinks naturally, and conjunction must exist in his thought, and thus in the affection of his love. This is the case when he thinks of God as Man."* And man can do this because the Lord has revealed Himself, has mercifully adapted and accommodated His infinite life to human reception.
* TCR 787.
GREATEST AND THE LEAST 1960

GREATEST AND THE LEAST              1960

     "If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all." (Mark 9: 35)

     "From many things it may be evident how this should be understood, for a man ought not to desire to be the least, that so he may become the greatest; for in that case he desires and aspires to be the greatest. But it may appear what is meant by being greatest from this, namely, that a man should, from the heart, wish better to others than to himself; thus he should be willing to yield the preference to others, and to serve them for the sake of their own happiness, from no other end than from love." (Spiritual Diary 1234)

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IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1960

IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES              1960

     The issue of the NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER for January 2, 1960, is most informative. Devoted to Convention's annual appeal, it describes in some detail the present order, organization and activities of that body of the New Church. The duties of the president's office, the functions of the Council of Ministers, the work of the Board of Missions in the home field, the activities of the Board of Education, and the development of youth programs are discussed in short articles written by the men most directly involved. A two-page chart sets forth the main uses of the General Convention very clearly.
     An earlier issue of the same periodical contained a critical review of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible by the Rev. Louis A. Dole. The writer questions the assertion that preference for the King James Version is always based on sentiment engendered by long familiarity. He believes that it is grounded in appreciation of the strength, beauty, simplicity and dignity of the English in which the King James Version was written, and with evident approval quotes Dorothy Thompson as finding the Revised Standard Version a "drab" translation. Nor does he feel that the task of learning the meanings of archaic words in the earlier version is a difficult one; indeed he thinks it valuable, since children need to learn to read and understand older literature. But Mr. Dole's most cogent criticism turns on the fact that in the Revised Standard Version "thou," "thine," and their correlative forms, retained only in "language addressed to God," are not used of the Lord, who is addressed as "you" throughout the Gospels. Mr. Dole is on solid ground when he deduces from this that according to that version the Lord Jesus Christ is not to be thought of as God, and concludes that this alone should make impossible the use of that version in New Church societies or Sunday schools. He notes also that the translators, regarding the letter of the Word as the work of men, feel a freedom to alter the text that would not have been entertained by the makers of the King James Version.
     Commenting in the NEW-CHURCH HERALD on renderings in the Revised Standard Version which take away from the Virgin Birth and Mary's assertion of her virginity, the Rev. Alan Gorange says: "In the rich texture of American life a streak of Puritanism occasionally shows itself. Are the translators trying to make the Bible sound more refined?" We think the reason is less a streak of Puritanism than a broad band of liberalism, which is apparent also in the usages criticized by Mr. Dole.

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NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1960

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS       Rev. ORMOND ODHNER       1960

     The daily readings for March cover most of the chapter on the Sacred Scripture in True Christian Religion. For an intelligent reading of the chapter, it would be well to turn to the table of contents and read through the various divisions and subheads under which the subject is treated. This gives an over-all view of the logical method which Swedenborg was inspired to employ in setting forth this doctrine, and also provides a framework into which the doctrinal details may be fitted.
     The spiritual sense, or meaning, of the Word is treated of early in the chapter, and it is shown that it is from this sense that the Word is holy and Divine. Without this, the Word-especially the Old Testament- would be little more than secular history. The ancients knew of this sense and perceived its meaning; but such knowledge was gradually lost, and today the very existence of such a sense is denied. This, however, does not negate what Swedenborg knew well; that ancient and medieval Christians frequently treated the Word as an allegory and spoke of its "spiritual sense." Yet they did not know the genuine, continuous internal sense revealed in the Writings; and as Christianity declined, they "allegorized" and twisted the Word almost to death. Luther cried out against such a practice, insisting on a literal acceptance of the Word; and Protestants now generally reject the idea of any inner meaning.
     But if it is the spiritual sense that makes the Word holy and Divine, nevertheless the importance of the sense, or meaning, of the letter is strongly emphasized here. It is the basis, containant and support of the inner senses. In it Divine truth is in its fulness, its holiness, and its power; from it the doctrine of the church is to be drawn and confirmed- Swedenborg received the revelation of the Heavenly Doctrine while he was reading the Word; and in man it effects conjunction with the Lord and affiliation with the heavens.
     The chapter goes on, step by step, until we come to the teaching that before the Word we now have there was another Word, the Ancient Word. There had to be, for, as the initial readings next month state, without a Word man would have no knowledge at all of God, of heaven and hell, of life after death, and least of all of the Lord. There is no such thing as natural theology.

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FREEDOM AND REGENERATION 1960

FREEDOM AND REGENERATION       Editor       1960


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published by
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.
Editor - - Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager - - Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, changes of address, and business communications, should be sent to the Business Manager. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.

TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$5.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy, 50 cents.
     The problem of free will has always been closely connected with the subject of regeneration. There is a general perception that the process originates in the intention of God; and probably few Christian thinkers today would deny that anyone who seriously desires to be saved can be saved. The problem is: To what is the desire due? Is it to be credited to man, or to God? The semi-Pelagian view, reflected in Roman Catholic theology, is that God responds to man's desire; the Augustinian idea, present in Calvinism, is that man in his natural state is incapable of a desire for God, and that such desire is either given to him by God or withheld from him by the Divine will. In either case, it is agreed that God's readiness precedes man's desire, and that without the willingness of God and His saving power, there would be no salvation for men.
     In the Writings we are given an answer that is essentially simple. The Lord's love of saving men of course precedes their desire to be saved, and is, indeed, the source of that desire. But the Lord gives to every man, and preserves inviolate in him, the power to choose whether he will follow the Lord in the regeneration or not. The choice of salvation is inspired and empowered by the Lord, but it is entirely human in use or non-use. Through remains, on the one hand, and heredity on the other, man is kept in equilibrium between heaven and hell, and the choice that is made between them is man's own. Perhaps we cannot fully understand how this is, but that it is the Writings make clear. The first impulse toward or away from regeneration issues from man's freedom; only so can predestination, condemned in the Word, be avoided.

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REASONS FOR REBAPTISM 1960

REASONS FOR REBAPTISM       Editor       1960

     It is taught in the Heavenly Doctrine, and the truth is surely an obvious one, that Baptism is for the specific church. We believe that the church specific now exists within the organized New Church, although it is not necessarily co-extensive with that church. Those in the former Christian Church who are salvable are indeed in the Lord's universal church, but not, we believe, within the church specific. And it is our conviction, on doctrinal grounds, that the sacrament of Baptism, as administered by Christian denominations, does not insert the spirit of the candidate into the New Christian Heaven.
     For this reason, and because of what is taught in the Writings about the first use of Baptism, the General Church believes it to be of order that those who enter the New Church on earth should do so through the gate of Baptism, even if they were previously baptized into the faith of another church; and it makes New Church baptism a condition for membership. The conviction expressed in that requirement is not shared by all other bodies of the organized church. In some instances New Church baptism is recommended, although it is not insisted upon; in others, the adult coming into the New Church is "confirmed" in his Christian baptism.
     Some who were thinking of entering the church have been reluctant to submit to another baptism, and this for a variety of reasons. This is quite understandable, and we can sympathize with some of the difficulties that are felt to exist. But we do not feel that there can be valid objections, or obstacles that better informed thought cannot overcome. Baptism is into the name and faith of a church; and the faith of the New Church, centering in the sole Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ, is so entirely opposed by the faiths of the Christian churches that baptism into any one of them cannot, we are convinced, introduce into it.
POSTSCRIPT TO GENEVA 1960

POSTSCRIPT TO GENEVA       Editor       1960

     Swedenborg was given to relate that he met Luther, Melancthon and Calvin after the Last Judgment, and the accounts of the first two named Reformers in the spiritual world pose no special problems. In each instance the institution of the New Heaven had a markedly good effect; and although Luther and Melancthon had their difficulties, their final and happy destiny seems to be clearly indicated. It is interesting to note that Luther could recede from the doctrine of salvation by faith alone when shown that it was unscriptural because his inmost desire had been to be guided by the Word, and because that doctrine was not implanted in his internal spiritual mind but in his external natural mind; and in what is related about these two leaders we may see the infinite patience of the Lord, and realize how impossible it is to make spiritual judgments with the evidence men on earth have at their disposal.

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     Calvin, however, does seem to pose a problem. The final relation concerning him, in True Christian Religion, appears to leave no doubt that he found his final abode in one of those hells which are described as workhouses. Yet there are other passages which say that Calvin is in a society of heaven (CLJ 54); that he had lived a Christian life (SD 5920), and had remained in faith with good works and was upright (SD 4061); and that he is accepted in his heavenly society because he does not make a disturbance (LJ post. 25).
     However, the problem is more apparent than real. The other entries all occur in works written earlier than True Christian Religion; the entry in the Supplement to that work is the last on the subject; and it is difficult to believe that the Writings' final word on Calvin would have dealt with any other than his true character and real destiny. Furthermore, a careful reading in context of the entry in Last Judgment Posthumous no. 25 shows that the "society of heaven" in which Calvin was accepted "because he is upright and makes no disturbance," was not an angelic society, but a society of spirits in the world of spirits; one of those temporary heavens which were brought to an end at the time of the Last Judgment and the institution of the New Heaven.
     When the entries are studied chronologically, this seems to have been the sequence of events. Calvin was received into the society of simple spirits which has just been mentioned; but when he saw that they knew nothing, and especially that they did not understand his doctrine of predestination, he retired to the borders of the society, where he lived for a long time without ever speaking of doctrine. Shortly before the Last Judgment, he was sought out by his co-religonists and taken to the house of one of them, where he lived until the New Heaven began to be established, when his companions were condemned to hell. After wandering about he then put himself under the protection of Luther, with whom he stayed for a time. Soon after this he was met by Swedenborg, and on at least two occasions had long talks with him. In the course of these conversations, and also through investigations made by examining angels, he was exposed as an atheist and a hypocrite, and then sought his final abode in hell, as indicated in the last entry (TCR 798: 11). Such, it would seem, is the story. Obviously, Calvin's self-sought fate should afford us no satisfaction; that was not the purpose in its being revealed. Rather should it stand as a warning against evil.

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Church News 1960

Church News       Various       1960

     GENERAL CHURCH

     On February 1, 1960, the following gentlemen, second year students in the Academy of the New Church Theological School, were accepted as Authorized Candidates for the priesthood: Mr. Gudmund Boolsen and Mr. Geoffrey Horace Howard.

     HURSTVILLE, AUSTRALIA

     Much has been happening in this far-flung and usually placid outpost of the church. Last August the Boeing jets began to touch down here in Sydney. The first to arrive brought Mr. and Mrs. Don Rose of Bryn Athyn, the parents of the Rev. Donald Rose. Judging by a later article, Mr. Rose spent most of his time while in the air tying a shoelace. We were really pleased to see them, as they were to see their youngest son and his fianc?e, Miss Noelene Miller.
     The first New Church Service in Canberra, Australia's capital, was held on August 30th. Canberra is something like Washington, only much bigger! That date was also the first day of spring, and the streets were gay with flowering peach and wattle trees. The service was held at the home of Mr. Basil Lazer, who joined the church several months ago. The Rev. Donald Rose preached a sermon entitled "The Book of Memory. Mr. Graeme MacLeay was baptized on that day, the second Canberra resident to join the church. Ten persons attended the service. In front of them, on a table, the Word lay on a crimson cushion with a gold fringe, and vases of flowers stood on either side. Curtains of light blue behind the Word added beauty to the setting.
     Mr. MacLeay has since visited the Hurstville Society. Another welcome visitor was Miss Ray Tuckey of New Zealand, who attended several services and classes.
     While Miss Tuckey was here, alterations were being made to the chancel of the church, and she was able to see it almost completed. It had long been the wish of Mr. Frederick Fletcher to see the altar recessed in order to provide a more beautiful repository for the Word. It was decided that the chancel furniture ought to be paneled with the same attractive Queensland maple. Mr. Fletcher's generosity made the work possible, and he spent many hours on the project, together with Mr. Ron Marsh, a builder who is interested in the church. In the recessed altar concealed lights shine on the Word. The interior of the church has been painted recently in soft shades of mushroom and blue; and when, shortly, the chancel floor is carpeted with blue Wilton it is expected that the entire effect will be very beautiful.
     Christmas, time of happiness, is here again as these notes are being written. It is a time of joy for all men, as Mr. Rose showed in his sermon on December 20th. The Lord is thought of as the Savior by people of different races and religions, and the "good tidings of great joy" are indeed to all people. But the fullness of joy, we were told, is a promise for the New Church, in which man's affections and thoughts are turned to the Lord in His Divine Human.
     A few days before Christmas there was an evening of carol singing and a screening of slides depicting the Christmas story. Mr. Rose wrote a script and, using the tape-recorder, synchronized that excellent sound track with the slides. Some of us thought it was a Bryn Athyn production!
     A sale of work and games afternoon was held in November, the profit being about L60, truly a fine effort.

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In spite of a strenuous selling campaign by the Rev. Donald Rose, however, the sale of American tea bags was disappointing, raising only one shilling!
     NORMAN HELDON


     KITCHENER, ONTARIO

     The past season was one of many activities for Kitchener. Many old friends returned, and a few departed. In May we welcomed the Rev. and Mrs. Alan Gill, who visited for several weeks before going on to the Assembly. Old friendships were renewed, and everyone enjoyed seeing our former pastor who had taught so many of us. In April we had enjoyed a weekend visit from a more recent pastor, the Rev. Norman Reuter who together with Mrs. Reuter, also revisited their former society.
     July brought Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Taylor and their three children for a month's stay. Mr. Taylor, a candidate from Bryn Athyn, preached four times and talked both to a men's group and to the ladies. We enjoyed meeting him and his family, and hope his stay was as useful to him as it was to us. Dr. and Mrs. Odhner were in Kitchener in August. They brought their daughter Josephine, who is one of our new teachers. During his visit Dr. Odhner spoke to the Society on philosophy and the New Church as well as preaching on Sunday. Our other new teacher, Mr. Dirk van Zyverden, arrived in August with his wife Nina and two children. We were most happy to welcome a new family to the Society.
     Another old friend, Mrs. Rud Schnarr, arrived in August to look after Mr. George Schnarr for a few months. We all felt a deep loss when, in December, they left for Bryn Athyn. "Gorandpa Schnarr" had been an active member of the Kitchener Society for over half a century, and we all wish him many happy years in his new home.
     On October 17, Bishop and Mrs. De Charms were in Kitchener for the weekend, one of their very welcome visits. On Friday night a dance in the form of a Viennese evening was held in honor of the visitors, and at a banquet on Saturday night the Bishop spoke to us on "The Indications of Providence," a most complete and timely paper.
     In November, Miss Telse Hansen visited for several weeks at the home of her brother Jorgen, and in December we were pleased to see a regular visitor become a permanent member. Stanley Hill returned to Kitchener to carry on the Schnarr button business.
     In addition to many visitors we have also had two weddings. On May 2, Miss Ruth Eby married Mr. Murray Hill, in a lovely service, and they are now living in Waterloo. On October 24, Miss Edith Kuhl became the bridge of Mr. Mario Maciaczyk. In sadder vein, Mrs. John Schnarr passed away on April 29, two weeks before her 90th birthday. "Gorandma Schnarr" was the oldest member of our Society, and was remarkably active to the very end. She will be missed by her large family and by her many, many friends. Miss Stella Bellinger died on June 20, at the age of 83. She had been a member of our Society for many years and will be missed by us all. On August 29, Mr. Samuel Roschman was called to the other world. He was 83, and an active member of the Kitchener Society for over fifty years. Although we sorrow over our loss, we rejoice that all of these members have been called to enter into their true life of use.
     During the fall we said goodbye to Nancy and Floyd Reid, who returned to Western Canada after a stay of about a year in Kitchener. Rod and Rachel Heinrichs also moved away, but only to Acton, which is midway between Kitchener and Toronto; so we still claim them as members.
     One of the busiest projects during the fall and winter has been "Knechtel's Kastle," a house being built by the men of the Society; the profit on its eventual sale to go to our church building fund. The main force behind the project is Mr. Robert Knechtel, and he has been very patient as we tried to show off our skills as carpenters, masons, etc.
     Our Society's new summer resort at the Conestoga Dam proved very popular last summer. Five lots have been leased by our members, and one cottage started-with prospects of more to come this year.

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     Our day school has increased this year to 34 children. This gives our two new teachers a real challenge as they start their teaching careers.
     In the fall the Rev. Henry Heinrichs began a series of introductory classes which have been very popular and informative, The Rev. Geoffrey Childs presented a series of Friday classes on community living as an ideal, and on the temple of worship. At the present time our Society is looking into the possibility of forming a community on the outskirts of the city. We have put our present property up for sale. If anyone happens to be interested in a well used church building, please let us know!
     Our ABC parties, raising money for the building fund, have been held regularly after Friday class. Although the fund has not increased by a large amount, the fellowship and social benefits have been worth while.
     The Epsilon Society of Waterloo was formed in December by nine energetic members, and Mr. Harry Ims was elected chairman. Plans are being made for advertising along the lines followed in Bryn Athyn.
     As usual, the Christmas season brought a flurry of activity, and the tableaux presented on the Sunday before Christmas seemed as new and as beautiful as ever. On Tuesday there was an evening of carol singing at the Dr. Schnarr home, and we all sang to our hearts' content. On Christmas Eve the church was filled to overflowing for the children's service, and on the following morning a beautiful service echoed the words of peace on earth and good will to men.
     The year ended with our New Year's Eve dance; and as we bade farewell to 1959, we looked forward to a year that may hold major changes in our Society, and a new building in which our uses may Be performed more fully and completely.
     GILBERT NIALL

     SOUND RECORDING COMMITTEE

     The following changes have occurred in the General Church Sound Recording Committee. Because of his professional duties, Mr. Kenneth P. Synnestvedt, while remaining a member of the committee, resigned from the office of vice-chairman which he had held since the committee was first formed. Mr. E. Boyd Asplundh was elected to fill the vacancy, and for some time has combined the duties of the vice-chairmanship with those of the secretaryship. At a meeting of the committee on January 18, 1960, however, Mr. Cedric F. Lee was elected secretary; freeing Mr. Asplundh for the duties of the vice-chairman, who is the executive officer of the Sound Recording Committee.

     THE CHURCH AT LARGE

     Japan. The NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER reports that the Rev. Yoshii Yanase, now of Tokyo, has translated Last Judgment and Intercourse Between the Soul and the Body into Japanese. Fifteen years ago it was learned that Mr. Yanase, then a Presbyterian minister who had had no contact with the New Church, had been privately translating the Writings into Japanese. He had obtained one of the early copies of Heaven and Hell in his language, and since then had devoted much of his time to translation.
SESQUICENTENNIAL 1960

SESQUICENTENNIAL              1960

     On February 26, the Swedenborg Society marked its 150th birthday. A short history of the Society is being prepared, and the event will be celebrated with lectures and meetings in London, the Midlands, and Scotland. This notable anniversary will be discussed in our next issue.

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CORRECTIONS 1960

CORRECTIONS       Editor       1960



     Announcements




     Gunther.-The infant child of Mr. and Mrs. Marvin John Gunther whose death was reported in the February issue, page 96, was a son, Glenn Carl.

     Henderson.-Mr. Ian Keith Henderson was confirmed on January 3, 1960, not on January 1, as reported in the February issue, page 96.

[These corrections have been made in the electronic text.]
FREDERICK EMANUEL DOERING TRUST 1960

FREDERICK EMANUEL DOERING TRUST              1960

     Applications for assistance from the above fund, to enable Canadian male students to attend "The Academy of the New Church," Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., for the school year 1960-1961 should be received by one of the undermentioned pastors (who will be glad to give any further information that may be required) before April 15, 1960.

     Before filing their applications, students should first obtain their acceptance as students for the forthcoming year from the Academy. This should be done, the Academy states, before March 31, 1960.

Rev. Martin Pryke,
2 Lorraine Gardens,
Islington, Ontario

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

Rev. Roy Franson,
1108 96th Avenue,
Dawson Creek,
British Columbia

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ORDINATION INTO THE THIRD DEGREE 1960

ORDINATION INTO THE THIRD DEGREE        GEORGE DE CHARMS       1960


No.4
VOL. LXXX
APRIL, 1960
     It has become increasingly evident that it is no longer possible for one man to perform all the duties connected with the episcopal office. The responsibilities of the President of the Academy especially have become increasingly complex, time-consuming and constant. The task of coordinating the educational policy of five separate yet closely integrated schools-the Boys School, the Girls School, the Junior College, the Senior College and the Theological School-demands close and uninterrupted attention, together with special training and preparation which were not so essential in the earlier days of the Academy.
     At the same time, the growth of the General Church, not so much in numbers as in the wide distribution of our membership, adds to the need for regular episcopal visits that frequently call the Bishop away, sometimes for extended periods. Regular contact with circles, groups and isolated families is vital to the maintenance of mutual understanding and the spirit of unity throughout the church. One man, therefore, can no longer adequately meet all the demands of both bodies.
     This has become so apparent that a number, both among the ministers and among the laymen, have been led to suggest the necessity of separating these two offices, with one man as President of the Academy, and another as Bishop of the General Church. Unavoidable circumstances have made it necessary, for the time being, to do so. That is the reason why, on October 18, 1958, I resigned as President of the Academy, while retaining the office of Executive Bishop of the General Church, and why, shortly thereafter, the Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton was elected President of the Academy by the Board of Directors of that body. I am profoundly convinced, however, that, as a matter of policy, it is highly important for the two offices, those of President of the Academy and executive Bishop of the General Church, to be vested in one man.

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Although these two bodies are organically independent, they are spiritually one and should be under one leadership.
     The reasons for this internal unity are obvious. From the beginning of the Academy movement it has been recognized that education is essentially an ecclesiastical use because it looks to the spiritual and eternal welfare of those who are becoming educated. By mutual agreement the Academy has been recognized as the educational arm of the General Church, and has undertaken to perform for the General Church the function of education in all the higher branches of learning. It trains the ministers and the teachers of the General Church. It draws its faculty and most of its student body from the membership of the General Church, and it depends upon the General Church members for its financial support. The uses of the two bodies are so intertwined that they cannot be separated without serious injury to both. One who directs the policies of the Academy must be intimately acquainted with the state of the General Church, and must take the needs of the church constantly into consideration.
     In view of the constantly expanding needs of both bodies, there is only one way in which united leadership can be maintained. The executive Bishop of the General Church must be given adequate assistance; and because such assistance includes the administration of episcopal functions, it seems highly desirable, if not imperative, that it should be given by someone in the third degree of the priesthood.
     In the past, whatever assistance was necessary was provided by the personal choice of the executive Bishop. He selected for ordination into the third degree of the priesthood one to act as his assistant. In course of time the one so selected was recognized by the church as an assistant Bishop; and when a change of administration became necessary, he was unanimously chosen as the successor to the office of executive Bishop.
     The time is rapidly approaching, however, when there will be need for more than one such assistant. Only one of these can succeed to the office of executive Bishop. When this takes place, the new executive will find one or more already in the third degree of the priesthood, and exercising administrative functions, who have not been personally selected by him. Such a situation is without precedent, and it poses a new problem in connection with the government of the church. Yet it is one that cannot be avoided, if we are to provide for the constantly growing needs of the church under the leadership of one man.
     It is acknowledged that an executive Bishop should be free to choose his own counsellors. The Consistory, therefore, made up of ministers selected by the executive Bishop, holds office only during his administration. When the office of the executive Bishop is vacated, his Consistory is dissolved; and when a new executive is installed, he forms a new Consistory by personal invitation and appointment.

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This mode of procedure works well in regard to a purely deliberative body; but when administrative functions are involved the problem of transition from one administration to another becomes somewhat more complicated.
     It is true that in the civil government of the United States, every President selects his own Cabinet, the members of which serve both as personal consultants and as administrative officers. If we should regard those in the third degree of the priesthood who serve as administrative assistants to the executive Bishop, as constituting something in the nature of a cabinet to be automatically dissolved when a change in administration takes place, then we must contemplate ordination into the episcopal degree to perform merely temporary use. Yet when the use is withdrawn, the ordination, with all its inherent powers, remains. This follows inevitably from the traditional view of our church that there is a trine in the priesthood, representative of the trine in the Lord and in His Divine work of salvation. According to this view, ordination is but a formal recognition, on the part of the church, of a Divine call to the priestly office. It is not conferred by the church, but by the Lord Himself; and for this reason, once given, it cannot be taken away by the church. The church, of course, must be free at all times to select those to whom it grants governing powers, for the teaching is clear that all government must be with the consent of the governed. But if, when a new executive Bishop takes office, ministers of his personal choice are elevated into the third degree of the priesthood to serve as his administrative assistants, and to replace those who have served in a previous administration, would it not follow of necessity that the number of bishops "without portfolio," or with no appropriate uses to perform, would increase beyond all need?
     This problem arises as soon as we have more than one assistant Bishop, and it will become increasingly acute as, with the growth of the church, a larger number of such assistants is called for. This might appear to be a purely academic question at the present stage of our development; but I anticipate that, in order to maintain a united leadership, there will be need for more than one assistant Bishop in the very near future. This makes it imperative that we should give serious thought to a solution of the problem we have outlined, and this without delay.
     The only suggestion that has occurred to me is the possibility of recognizing certain functions as appropriate to the episcopal degree which yet are not so intimately associated with the duties of executive Bishop as to make it essential that they should be performed by men whom he has personally selected. The time will come when there will be need for more than one to preside over a diocese, or over a geographic division of the church.

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It is altogether conceivable that other opportunities for episcopal service may arise. This surely was in the mind of Bishop W. F. Pendleton when he spoke, in connection with the organization of the General Church, of a "house of bishops."
     My purpose, however, has not been to offer a ready-made solution to this problem, but rather to bring the question objectively before the church, that the minds of both the ministers and the laymen might be directed toward its solution. And because I have realized the complications that would ensue, I have not wanted to ordain any one into the third degree of the priesthood until at least some tentative agreement as to the principles involved has been reached.
TRUTH 1960

TRUTH        WILLARD D. PENDLETON       1960

     "Pilate saith unto Him, What is truth?" (John 18: 38)

     When the Lord was taken before Pilate, His enemies accused Him, saying: "We have found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute unto Caesar, saying that He Himself is Christ a king" (Luke 23: 2). The incident to which they referred was the occasion on which the Pharisees had inquired of the Lord as to whether it was lawful to give tribute to Caesar. But He, "perceiving their wickedness," had said unto them: "Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's" (Matthew 15: 21). So it was that the chief priests and rulers spun the one web in which they could enmesh the Lord in the Roman law. Rome was a benevolent master to all who submitted to its authority; but mercy was seldom extended to those who questioned Caesar's authority.
     Now it is evident from the Lord's own words that He did not forbid the payment of tribute to Caesar; but the chief priests and rulers, because they were determined upon His death, interpreted them in their own way. Knowing full well that the Lord could openly deny this charge in His own defense, they cast doubt upon the credibility of His witness by the accusation that He claimed to be the rightful king of the Jews. If this accusation could be established, they knew that Rome would require the full penalty of the law; so they charged Him with sedition, which, according to definition, is an excitement to discontent with the purpose of overthrowing the government.
     The man to whom the Lord was taken for judgment was the Roman governor of Judea.

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As the political administrator of the province he was fully aware of the implications of the trial. For many months the nation had seethed with discontent. In the minds of the people, long restless under the yoke of foreign rule, Jesus of Nazareth was identified with the Messiah, as was evident from the fact that increasing numbers followed Him whithersoever He went. Only a few days before, great throngs had received Him into Jerusalem as a king. But the chief priests and rulers, knowing that their opportunity had come, turned the multitudes against Him; and lashed to a frenzy by the hells that possessed them they cried out, saying, "Let Him be crucified" (Matthew 27: 22).
     The imagination can scarcely conceive of the desperate situation in which Pilate found himself. In the hope that the responsibility could be placed upon others, he said to the Jews: "Take ye Him and judge Him according to your law" (John 18: 31). But they answered: "It is not lawful for us to put any man to death" (ibid.). Only Rome could hand down the verdict they desired. Among all the subject nations the power of life and death belonged unto Caesar, and as Caesar's representative it was for Pilate to determine whether this Man was guilty of the charges brought against Him. There was no way in which Pilate could avoid the issue. It was, therefore, with extreme reluctance and an increasing sense of fear that Pilate entered the hall of judgment; and having called Jesus unto him, he asked: "Art Thou the king of the Jews?" (John 18: 33).
     It is reasonable to assume that Pilate looked for a direct denial of this accusation; but he was not prepared for the response. Indeed, the Lord did not answer his question; instead, He threw doubt upon the credibility of those who witnessed against Him. He said: "Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of Me?" (John 18: 34). By these words He prompted the doubt that already lay heavily upon Pilate's mind, for it is said that "he knew that for envy they had delivered Him" (Matthew 27: 18). The judge now became the accused-accused by his own conscience. He knew in his heart that this Man was innocent, yet he feared the people. In his own defense, therefore, he replied: "Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and chief priests have delivered Thee unto me: what hast Thou done?" (John 18: 35).
     By this question Pilate hoped to place the burden of proof back upon the accused; but the Lord answered him, saying: "My kingdom is not of this world: if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is My kingdom not from hence" (John 18: 36). It was beyond all understanding. Whereas the accused spoke of His kingdom, yet He apparently denied all claim to temporal sovereignty. One thing, however, was clear: whatever His kingdom was, it was not of this world. Rome, therefore, had no case against this Man.

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Nevertheless, Pilate persisted. Once more he asked, "Art Thou a king then?" (John 18: 37). Again the answer was unexpected: "To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth My voice" (John 18: 37). Then it was that Pilate said: "What is truth?" (John 18: 38).
     That Pilate did not expect an answer to this question is apparent from the fact that, having said this, he immediately left the hall of judgment. His question was not an inquiry, but a dismissal of the case. He had asked what he regarded as an unanswerable question, for Pilate was a skeptic. Like his intellectual successors at this day, he did not believe in the possibility of an authoritative statement of truth. That this Man was innocent of the charges which had been brought against Him, Pilate had no doubt; for in leaving the hall of judgment he went out again to the Jews, and said: "I find in Him no fault at all" (John 18: 39). Like the natural-rational mind, which he represents, Pilate was capable of sound civil and moral judgments, but his words had no reference to the deeper implications of the case. In fairness to Pilate, therefore, let it be said that in this he was guiltless, for of itself human reason cannot determine the truth. In this, man is dependent upon Divine revelation, and Pilate was not of the church. If, then, at this day his name is anathema among men, it is not because he failed to render a righteous judgment, but because he failed to support that judgment in the face of an angry multitude.
     The Lord's trial before Pilate, therefore, is not merely a matter of historical record, but was prophetic of a similar judgment that is taking place at this day. The Son of Man, the Word of God, has been brought before the tribunal of human reason; and while men may find no fault with the social and moral teachings of Scripture, there are few who will credit Scripture's claim to be the truth. Like Pilate, men say, What is truth? Is it not a matter of human opinion? Is it not one thing to one man, and something else to another? Is it not a purely relative concept depending entirely upon the experience of the individual? Does not experience demonstrate that what is true in one situation is not necessarily true in another? How, then, can you ask us to believe in absolute truth?
     It is here that the Divine doctrine comes into conflict with the relativistic philosophy of the day. While many claim faith in a God, few among the learned will subscribe to the thesis that the Scriptures comprise an authoritative statement of truth. The Bible, they say, is a remarkable document which bears record to the spiritual experiences of the Jewish prophets, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ. It is to be interpreted, therefore, for what it is; that is, as the testimony of human experience, and not as an authoritative statement from God.

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Even as Pilate, they dismiss the Scripture's claim to be the truth as irrelevant, and pass judgment upon the social and moral issues of the case. Yet it is to be noted that the Lord did not suffer Himself to be brought before Pilate in order that His deeds might be justified, but that those who will to believe in His Word might perceive that it is the truth. Did He not say unto Pilate: "To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth"? (John 18: 37).
     Yet in their own defense, men say, How can this be? If there be such a thing as truth it must conform with reality. Are not the Scriptures based upon the premise that God is Divine Man; and do they not insist that man lives as a spirit after death? What basis is there in reality for these so-called truths of faith? If there be a God, is He not invisible and therefore unknowable? And if there be a continuation of life after the death of the body, who has come from that world to tell us? But such is the nature of truth that it does not compel belief. Unless man wills to believe in the Word there is no way in which he can be convinced. As the Lord said to the Jews: "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead" (Luke
16: 21).
     That these words referred to His death and resurrection is evident from the context of Scripture; yet who at this day believes that Jesus of Nazareth actually rose from the dead? Like the rulers of the Jews, men seek other explanations; but the truth is that the Lord did rise from the dead, and the evidence of this lies in the fact that He has risen again at this day. It is true that He did not rise with the material body which He had in the world; for that which is formed of the dust of the ground, unto the dust returns. But the body is not the man; the man is the spirit, and it is He, the Spirit of truth, who has been raised up at this day. Did He not say to His disciples that He would not leave them comfortless, but that He would come again? And did He not say that He would come as the Spirit of truth, "whom the world cannot receive because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him"? (John 14: 17).
     We would observe that the resurrection was witnessed by the disciples, that is, by those who believed in His Word. In this also the Scriptures are prophetic, for who at this day can accept the testimony of the Writings concerning themselves save those who have faith in the Word? Yet there is a profound difference between that vision of the risen Lord which was witnessed by the disciples and that vision of the Lord in His Divine Human which is revealed at this day; for the disciples saw Him as they had known Him, that is, as a Man in this world. It was this that led them to believe that He had risen as to the material body, whereas in fact, their spiritual eyes had been opened and they saw Him as He sometimes appears in the heavens, that is, as Divine Man accommodated to spiritual-sensual sight.

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It is thus that we, too, see Him when we think of Him as Divine Man in human figure; but this vision of the Lord cannot be sustained unless it serves as the means whereby man may enter into the perception and acknowledgment of that interior vision of the Lord's Divine Humanity that is now revealed in the spiritual sense of the Word.
     It was essential that the disciples should think of the risen body that appeared to them, not as a spirit, but as the very body in which they had known the Lord upon earth. Because of their ignorance and superstition they were unable to understand the deeper implications of the resurrection; and had they been told that He whom they saw was no longer in this world they would have had no basis for faith. But now we are told, "it is permitted to enter with understanding into the mysteries of faith" (TCR 508). It is in this that the second resurrection differs from the first; for in His second coming the Lord has again risen from the dead; not from the body which He had in the world but from the sense of the letter, which apart from the spiritual sense is a body without a soul, and for this reason is said to be dead (AC 3; 755: 5). This is the miracle of the second resurrection, and it is to this miracle that the Writings testify, saying: "The spiritual sense of the Word is at this day made known by the Lord, because the doctrine of genuine truth is now revealed, and this doctrine, and no other, agrees with the spiritual sense of the Word" (SS 25). Also, that "the internal sense of the Word [which] is its very life, does not appear in the sense of the letter" (AC 64).
     In their claim to be the truth, the Writings are unique. Not only do they disclaim all human authority, but they rest their case upon the internal evidence that they are the spiritual sense of the Word. Yet, like Pilate, human reason is reluctant to become implicated in the question of a higher authority, and in its own defense takes refuge in skepticism, saying, What is truth? But to this end has the Divine doctrine been given, and for this cause it has come into the world, that men might know the truth. And as the Lord said unto His disciples: "If ye continue in My word . . . ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8: 31, 32). It is, then, in the continuation of His Word, that is, in the spiritual sense, that the Scriptures are fulfilled. For the truth is that there is a God, and that He is a Divine Man. He it is who at this day has risen from the appearances of the letter, and may now be seen in that body of Divine doctrine which constitutes the second coming of the Lord. Amen.

LESSONS:     John 18: 28-40. John 20: 1-18. AC 1-3.
MUSIC:     Liturgy, pages 551, 596, 552, 548. Psalmody, pages 373, 160.
PRAYERS:     Liturgy, nos. 81, 93.

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STONE ROLLED AWAY 1960

STONE ROLLED AWAY       Rev. KENNETH O. STROH       1960

     An Easter Talk to Children

     You all know what stones are like. They are very hard. No matter how much you squeeze a stone with your hands, you cannot change its shape. It is difficult to cut or break it. And it is heavy. Oh yes, you can lift a handful of little stones. But a stone as large as you are would be difficult for you to move. And one that is much larger than you are, you certainly could not move at all with your bare hands, could you?
     So you can imagine the feelings of those women who came to the sepulchre where the body of Jesus had been laid. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome were very sad. For on Friday they had seen their Lord nailed on the cross. Watching sorrowfully from a distance, they had seen His dead body taken down and placed in a cave, or hole, in a nearby rock. They had seen a large stone rolled in front of this grave, so that no one could go near the body of Jesus. And now, very early on Sunday morning, the first day of the week, these women lovingly brought spices, hoping to anoint His body. But remembering the great stone in front of the sepulchre, they wondered who would roll it away for them.
     You also can imagine, then, their great surprise when they found that the great stone had been rolled away. For there had been an earthquake as the angel of the Lord had come down from heaven and rolled back the stone. So when the women came near they found that the sepulchre was open. Wondering greatly, they looked into the sepulchre, only to find that the Lord's body was not there. But instead a young man, clothed in a long white robe, was sitting in the tomb. He was an angel, who said unto them: "Be not afraid: ye seek Jesus of Nazareth which was crucified: He is risen; He is not here." And the angel told the women to go and tell this good news to the Lord's disciples.
     Then the women, going out quickly, ran away from the sepulchre. For they were afraid, and did not know what to think. Certainly they were much amazed and, at the same time, happy and joyful. Yet they were puzzled. They had not known that anything like this would happen. They did not know that, after He had been crucified, the Lord would rise from the grave on the third day. They had not understood.

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     They had known that the Lord was a king: but they did not understand what kind of king He was. When they saw Him ride as a king into Jerusalem, on that first Palm Sunday, they thought He was to be king over the Jewish nation in this world. And when He was crucified, when He seemed to be dead and they knew He was not the kind of king they had thought, they were disappointed, sad and unhappy. For they did not as yet understand that His kingdom was not of this world.
     But still they loved the Lord. They did not hate Him, as did the leaders of the Jews-the chief priests and Pharisees who had wanted to kill Him. The women, in their grief, came to anoint His body. For they, together with His disciples, still loved the Lord. And when they knew that He really had risen from the dead, and was alive, they rejoiced and were glad. Then for the first time they began to understand that He was indeed a king, but in a far more wonderful way than they had ever thought possible. For He was king, not only of the Jews, but of all people in this world and in the spiritual world. They began to understand that He was the King, He was the one God of heaven and earth.
     Perhaps those who hated the Lord were afraid that the disciples might come to believe this. And at all times, even today, wicked people, and especially evil spirits, are angry when others know and believe that the Lord rose from the dead on Easter morning. For these wicked spirits, these devils and satans, want to be kings themselves. They want others to fall down and worship them. And, being so selfish, they hate the Lord so much that, if they could, they would kill Him; hide His body in a cave; roll a stone in front of it and seal it shut, so that no one could go in or out. They try to turn everyone away from the Lord.
     These evil spirits would like to turn you away from the Lord and make you believe wrong things about Him. They want to encourage you to make jokes about the Lord and the things that are said in His Word, so that the Word will not seem to you to be holy. They want you to think that it is all right for you to break one or more of the Lord's commandments, and to think that if you do so the Lord will not know or care about it. They want you to be dissatisfied with the way the Lord has made you, or with the things the Lord has given you, so that you wish to be someone else. The evil spirits want you to hate the Lord, and to think that He cannot lead you to heaven or make you happy. And if they should succeed, it would be as if they had managed to put a great spiritual stone in front of your mind so that you could not see the Lord, know Him, worship Him or love Him.
     But the wonderful message of Easter is that the evil spirits cannot do this to you if you do not want them to do it. For, as the Lord rose from the sepulchre on the third day, so does He rise in the mind and heart of every man or woman, boy or girl, who loves Him and tries to obey His commandments.

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On that first Easter He sent His angel to roll away the stone from the door of the sepulchre. So, if you come to the Word, looking for the Lord, you will find that He will roll away from your minds the great stone of falsity, of wrong ideas about Him and about His heavenly kingdom. And then will you see clearly that the Lord Jesus Christ is the one God of heaven and earth, who made you, and who alone has the power to lead you to heavenly happiness.
     It is in remembrance of this that we celebrate Easter with procession, songs, and the worship of the Lord. And we rejoice, as did the women of old who heard the angel say: "Be not affrighted: ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; He is not here: behold the place where they laid Him. But go your way, tell His disciples and Peter that He goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see Him, as He said unto you." Amen.

LESSON:     Mark 16: 8-20.
MUSIC:     Liturgy, pages 548, 551, 552, 554.
PRAYER:     Liturgy, no. C4.
SWEDENBORG FOUNDATION 1960

SWEDENBORG FOUNDATION              1960

     In a News Letter sent to Life Members the Foundation announces that one of the largest pocket book publishers is considering placing with thousands of its outlets a paper bound edition of Heaven and Hell, and has also produced My Religion in an attractive colored binding.
     The Foundation's translating program, it is noted, grows apace. For the first time, the News Letter states, Heaven and Hell has been translated, on an adequate basis, into modern Chinese. This is the work of a Formosan who was educated at Oxford. In Korea, the recently ordained New Church minister, the Rev. En Bo Chung, has been teaching the people in their own language. Japan has applied for more editions. A Hungarian clergyman is busy translating, and there is to be a new translation of True Christian Religion in German.
     The Foundation will be represented by the Rev. William Frederic Wunsch at the 150th anniversary celebration of the Swedenborg Society in London, and will be represented at the celebration of Helen Keller's 80th birthday. Colportage, the calendar, assistance to bookrooms, general advertising and publicity continue, together with other regular activities.

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SOME THOUGHTS CONCERNING EVIL 1960

SOME THOUGHTS CONCERNING EVIL       Rev. ROY FRANSON       1960

     (Delivered to the Bryn Athyn Society, January 29, 1960.)

     Some time ago I read that a speaker had introduced his paper by saying: "My subject is ignorance, and I am full of my subject." Now, my subject tonight is evil, and it certainly would be difficult to find a more accurate introduction to the subject of evil than the one just quoted. For Divine revelation is consistent throughout in regard to man's evil nature. "The imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth."* "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?"** "Man is nothing but evil and falsity."*** This was true even of the celestial race; for 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."**** This will forever be true of every man, and even "the most celestial angel is nothing but evil as to that which is his own."*****
* Genesis 8:21.     
** Matthew 7: 11.
*** AC 154.
**** AC 633.
***** Ibid.
     From this consistent and emphatic teaching it would appear that man is an expert on the subject of evil; that this is the domain in which he is most at home, and the sole ruler and master. But in spite of the fact that man is nothing but "a heap of evil"; that "all his will is mere evil"; and that left to himself "man breathes nothing but hatred, revenge, cruelty, and most foul adultery"; we are told that "they are in great error who believe that they are able from themselves to have dominion over evils."* Moreover, man is ignorant of the fact that his hereditary nature is opposite to heavenly affections.** For the falsities and evils, even with those who are in the church, do not appear to those who are therein; "for falsities are not seen from falsities, nor evils from evils, because principles of falsities completely befog truths, and a life of evil extinguishes them. Both principles of falsity and a life of evil induce an appearance that falsities are truths and truths falsities, and that good is evil and evil good."***
* AC 987.
** AC 4317.
*** AC 4674:2.
     This, then, is why man, contrary to the appearance, cannot put forth principles which can essentially change his evil nature. Any proprial attempt to formulate principles intended to turn a man into a more charitable and God-fearing creature can result in but another form of evil life, and this regardless of the appearance.

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Furthermore, being ignorant of evil, he is liable to shun things which might not be evil, and this because the principles which have been derived from self-intelligence are in themselves false. And falsities produce evil of life, even as evil of life defends and confirms falsities.*
* AC 2243.
     Take, for example, the faith-alone principle. This falsity contains a truth, namely, the truth that all good is from the Lord. But from this acknowledgment man has concluded that good works, rather than being conducive to salvation, induce yet another evil-the evil of self-merit. Hence it is taught and preached that salvation depends entirely on a belief that the Lord, in suffering the death upon the cross, cleansed the world from all evil in His blood. What is overlooked in this belief is that not only all good comes from the Lord alone, but also all truth, wherefore it logically follows that man should refrain from formulating principles, such as the faith-alone principle. For if good works cannot be done by man without inducing a sense of self-merit, then it must be equally true that man cannot draw conclusions concerning principles of truth without inducing a sense of self-glory.
     It is interesting in this connection to note the teaching that even "those who strive to do good of themselves, because the Lord has so commanded, are they who at length receive this good; and who, being afterwards instructed, acknowledge with faith that all good is from the Lord, and they are then so averse to self-merit that when they merely think of it, they grow sad.... Quite different it is with those who do not do this, but lead a life of evil, teaching and professing that in faith alone there is salvation. People of this character are not aware that such good is possible; and wonderful to say . . . in the other life these same people desire to merit heaven on account of whatever good deeds they recollect; because then for the first time are they aware that in faith separated from charity there is no salvation."* In other words, they realize that salvation is not merely from Divine mercy.
* AC 2371.
     Salvation is indeed a Divine act of mercy. The means and effects of the Lord's infinite love in the work of saving all men are numerous and varied. Yet they are all from mercy. But it is important for the man of the church to realize and acknowledge that none of these means and effects are in accord with his idea of what the Lord's mercy ought to be. For since man is nothing but evil, and since the Lord is good or love itself, it follows that the operations of the Lord's love are constantly opposed to whatever is produced by man's love.
     That the Lord never operates except by means is a law of Divine order, and all the means provided by the Lord for the salvation of man are from mercy.

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Man cannot, therefore, be withdrawn from his evils by an immediate act of mercy, for this is contrary to Divine order. Only by his availing himself of all the means provided by the Lord can salvation be effected; and these means are all the laws of order revealed in the Word.
     The acknowledgment of the Divinity of the Word is one of the three essentials of the church.* This essential of the New Church can never be fully appreciated until man at heart acknowledges that self is nothing but evil. There can be no genuine affection of the Word, or no spiritual affection of the Word, until it is seen and acknowledged that in the light of Revelation alone can the nature of our inherited proprium be seen for what it really is. And when the Writings speak of the essentials of the New Church as being two, namely, the "acknowledgment of the Lord, and a life according to the precepts of the Decalogue," it is said that these two things "are to be taught even to the end and the beginning."** For those who want to destroy these two essentials of the New Church, will perish by infernal love," or they "cast themselves into evils and falsities of every kind, for these two essentials are the truths of the Word."*** The Word alone can make known what evil is, and without a knowledge of evil man cannot possibly shun it, and yet, the shunning of evil is the very first thing of charity. For unless man looks to the Lord and shuns evils as sins, he not only remains in them, "but becomes even worse.''**** The importance of turning to the Lord and His Word may further be seen from the teaching that the evil of all the churches from the beginning of time even to the present day, "was and is that they do not believe the Lord or the Word, but themselves and their senses. Hence there is no faith, and where there is no faith there is no love of the neighbor, consequently all is false and evil. At this day, however, it is much worse than in former times, because man can now confirm the incredulity of the senses by scientifics unknown to the ancients, and this has given birth to an indescribable degree of darkness. If men knew how great is the darkness from this cause, they would be astounded."*****
* DP 259:3.
** AR 491
*** AR 494, 498.
**** Char. 1.
***** AC 231, 232.
     All this points strongly to the importance of acquiring a knowledge of evil from the Word. And to this must be added that the shunning of evil is one of two things that man must do from himself. The other thing left to man in the process of regeneration is the application to life of the good inflowing from the Lord in proportion as man shuns his evils. Thus the teaching: "Man can abstain from evils from himself, but he cannot receive good from himself.

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That man can abstain from evils from himself is because the Lord continually inflows into the will of man with this endeavor, and thereby puts into his freedom to desist from evils, as also to apply himself to good. The Lord also gives him the faculty of understanding truth, but that he does not understand is because he does not wish to understand, and this on account of the evil which is of the life; for falsity defends evil, and truth condemns it. Hence it is that man cannot be presented with spiritual good by the Lord, thus cannot be led through mercy. unless he desists from evils."* [Italics added.]
* AC 8307.
     This teaching immediately brings to our remembrance the simple but crystal clear picture of the Lord's unceasing love as shown in the letter of the Word: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me."*
* Revelation 3:20.
     Here is pictured to us at once the relationship between man and the Lord in all the possible states of human life and development; and the infinite love of the Lord, who, in His mercy, never ceases to knock on the door of our hearts, but never interferes with the work He Himself has given man to do. Man is forever free to keep the door shut; and the fact that this refusal deprives him of eternal happiness in heaven cannot cause the Lord to open the door, for that is contrary to Divine order.
     The preservation of human freedom, the most precious gift to man, is most particularly provided for by the Lord. The Divine purpose in giving man freedom is indeed that he may desist from his evils, but the term would completely lose its meaning if man were not allowed to remain in his evils and also add to them. In fact, unless man is left in freedom to do evils also, "good from the Lord cannot be provided for him."*
* AC 10777.
     And unless man, throughout his life on earth, were kept in perfect equilibrium between heaven and hell, he would be unable to use his freedom of choice, and thus unable to enter into the life of heavenly freedom. For "the Lord is continually withdrawing man from evil and leading him to good, while hell is continually leading man into evil. Unless man were between these two, he could have no thought, nor any will, still less any freedom of choice, for all these man has by virtue of the equilibrium between good and evil; consequently, if the Lord should turn Himself away, leaving man to do evil alone, man would cease to be man."*
* HH 546.
     It is for the sake of human freedom, or for the sake of its preservation that the Lord implants remains in man's interiors from infancy even to the end of life; that He constantly brings man into association with spirits and angels according to his every choice; and that He has given us His Word, that we may know that this is so. For man from himself can know nothing of the implantation of remains, or of his being in association with spirits and angels.

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All remains are Divine gifts, and they "are preserved with man by the Lord and stored up, quite without his knowledge, in the internal man, and are separated well from the things proper to man." * And although the remains are stored up for the use of his life after death,** they nevertheless constitute the dwelling place "of the angels with him, who take out from them the things with which they defend the man against the evil spirits who excite falsities with him, and thus attack him."***
* AC 561.
** AC 1906.
*** AC 737.
     In regard to man being ruled by the Lord by means of particular spirits and angels, we are repeatedly told that man is ignorant of this fact, as indeed are also the evil spirits who are with him. "It is indeed known and acknowledged that all good and truth are from the Lord; and it is also acknowledged by some that there is an influx, but of such a nature that man is not aware of it. Yet, as it is not known, at least is not acknowledged at heart, that there are spirits and angels around man, and that his internal man is in the midst of them, and is thus ruled by the Lord, it is little believed, although said."*
* AC 4067.
     Yet without his communication with hell through spirits and with heaven through angels, man could not live at all; his very existence depends upon their constant presence. This, which in the Writings is termed, particular influx, is peculiar to men. Everything else in creation is governed by a general influx from the Lord. And the reason that man must have particular influx is that he alone lives contrary to order. If man were to be governed by general influx only, he would receive nothing but the influx from hell.* But, we may ask: If the general influx is immediately from the Lord, why, then, could man receive nothing but the influx from hell? The reason is that evil is nothing but a perversion of good,** and since man lives in a perverted order, the general influx from the Lord would be turned to evil in him.***
* AC 5993; HH 296.
** AC 3642.
*** AC 5993.
     It is therefore the strong appearance of self-life, or that man has life in himself, that is the real origin of all evil. For "the man who supposes that he lives from himself is in what is false, and believing that he lives from himself appropriates to himself everything evil and false, which he would never do if his belief were in accordance with the real truth of the case."*
* AC 150.
     He who acknowledges at heart that he is but a vessel receptive of life, can see and appreciate the Lord's mercy in providing particular spirits and angels according to his every state-states in which he finds himself by reason of the use or abuse of his freedom of choice.

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To acknowledge from reason that this alone is a government from mercy, can give him an incentive to shun the evils of which he admits himself to be guilty. For in this acknowledgement he can realize that although he himself "cannot but do what is evil"* it is not he who does them, but the evil spirits who are with him, and strictly speaking it is not the evil spirits either, but the evil itself, which they have made their own.** Only if man, in his freedom, consents to whatever inflows from the evil spirits does he become one with them, and thus evil.
* AC 233.
** AC 592, 761.
     This, as we understand it, in no way diminishes the fact that man is nothing but evil; but this revealed knowledge that man is evil only so far as he gives consent to the influx of evil, is intended to relieve the world of the so common idea that man is, as it were, born with a rock tied on to his feet, which drags him into hell, and that he can do nothing about it. Also, in the light of this teaching, it can be clearly seen that man, by abstaining from his evils, does not thereby lose anything of his personality; which is another fallacy produced by the proprium, or, rather, insinuated by hell.
     The Lord's mercy in providing us with spiritual associations according to our free choice not only gives us hope for deliverance, but also individual responsibility for the realization of that hope. And our responsibility is primarily to shun evils as sins against the Lord. By assuming this responsibility, man is led by the Lord through continual changes of states towards the fulfillment of the use for which he was created; and these changes of states are nothing else than a change of spiritual association.*
* AC 4067.
     But man's change of state, or his transference to different spiritual societies, is quite different when he adjoins the societies to himself, or himself to them, from what it is when a society is adjoined to him by the Lord. Whenever he adjoins himself to a society, he is in evil. But when a society is adjoined to him by the Lord, he is in goods.* From this it may be understood why it is said that the Lord provides good, but foresees evil. From His infinite love, the Lord continually provides good, but from His infinite wisdom He foresees evil, and therefore provides good accordingly. For the order of influx is that evil spirits first flow in, and the angels then seek to disperse their action.**
* AC 4073.
** AC 6308.
     There are many reasons why man is more conscious of the influx of the evil spirits than that of the angels, and thus more readily appropriates evil to himself. One reason is that the angels operate on the plane of the interior conscience-a conscience which is formed only by means of the doctrine of good and truth, thus from the Word.

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Before man has a knowledge of good and truth from the Word, there is no plane for the angels. "For the influx of the angels is into what man knows and believes."* This is the reason that before the formation of the interior conscience, the angels "are scarcely able to do anything more than merely guide him so that he may not plunge into the lowest evil, and bend him to some good-in fact, bend him to good by means of his own cupidities, and to truth by means of the fallacies of the senses."** But the man who has a knowledge from the Word that evil flows in, and believes this from an interior perception, would not appropriate evil to himself, "but good from the Lord would be appropriated to him; for the moment that evil flowed in, he would reflect that it was from the evil spirits, and as soon as he thought this, the angels would avert and reject it."***
* AC 6206.
** AC 50.
*** AC 6206.
     Another reason that man is unaware of the influx from the angels is that their influx is not material, but spiritual* In other words, if man s reason for taking an active part in the activities of the organized church is that he may thereby gain material blessings, he is under the influence of evil spirits. Thus the teaching: "With the unregenerate man there is no conscience, or if any, there is not a conscience of doing what is good from charity, and of thinking what is true from faith, but from some love which is for the sake of self or the world."** Again: "a man who is in bodily and worldly loves, and not at the same time in spiritual and heavenly loves, has none but evil spirits with him; even when he is in a holy external; for good spirits cannot possibly be present with such a man."*** In the very desire to learn from the Lord and His Word, there are, therefore, evil genii, who most cunningly seek to turn that desire to evil, and this is the very delight of their lives.
* AC 6209.
** AC 977.
*** AC 4311.
     Still another reason that the influx of the angels is not noticed by man is that they operate in ends. For it is provided by the Lord that spirits should flow into what is thought and willed by man; "but angels into his ends, and through the ends into all that follows from the ends . . . this influx is tacit, imperceptible to the man, but still operating and efficient in secret."* The truth of this, however, can be seen by man, for the Lord's kingdom is a kingdom of ends and uses, wherefore the angels who are with man attend to nothing else than the ends and uses. All other things, which are ideal and material, they care nothing for, because these are far below their sphere.
* AC 5854.
     "Every man may see what kind of life he has if he will only search out what his end is; not what all his ends are-for he has numberless ones as many as intentions, and almost as many as judgments and conclusions from thoughts, which are only intermediate ends, variously derived from the principal one, or tending to it-but let him search out the end he prefers to all the rest, and in respect to which all others are as nothing.

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If he has for his end himself and the world, let him know that his life is infernal; but if he has for his end the good of the neighbor, the common good, the Lord's kingdom, and especially the Lord Himself, let him know that his life is heavenly."*
* AC 1909, 5948, 3928.
     If man is to have heaven for an end, it is obvious that there must be a genuine acknowledgment of the reality of the other world, a knowledge of its nature, and a belief from an internal perception that life on earth is a mere preparation for his real life somewhere in the spiritual world. Only then can the teaching that evil is injurious to the soul become a powerful reason for fighting his interior evil nature. Those who abstain from evil in the natural only for one of many different reasons, must still regard evil as beneficial to self and harmful to others. But the truth is that no essential harm is done to those who are suffering the effect of a man's evil. Looking, for example, at a murder from a spiritual point of view, it is quite possible that the one killed enters heaven. But he who kills, and does so from a lust of killing, has thereby condemned himself to hell; provided, of course, that he has been instructed that to kill is an evil.
     When we consider the wealth of teachings given in the Writings, illustrating that man's life is what his love is, and that his happiness consists in being able to carry out into ultimate effects the love which is burning within, we may understand that an eternal existence in hell is permitted by the Lord from His mercy; and this not only in order to preserve man s freedom, but also because he would be less happy anywhere else. For man can have no freedom except in the ends and loves he cherishes; and "when any one receives his inmost love, he is in his heavenly joy," and cannot endure that which is interior, for it becomes painful. The evil spirits who insist upon entering heaven are sometimes permitted to approach the first threshold of heaven. But on approaching they begin to lose their breath, "for respiration takes place in accordance with freedom of life"; and finally they are scarcely able to move, and they therefore cast themselves down headlong, even into hell, where they recover their respiration and power of motion.*
* AC 543, 4225:2.
     From this we must, of course, not conclude that hell is in any way a pleasant place! The Lord mercifully provides that all in hell should appear as men among themselves; that their dwellings and environments should appear reasonably pleasant; and that they should be free to exercise their live's love within certain bonds.

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But in the light of heaven they appear in the form of their evil, "for everyone there is an image of his evil. . . . In general their faces are hideous, and void of life, like those of corpses . . . and their speech is like the speech of anger or of hatred or of revenge."* Their dwellingplaces are all dark and dusky. In the milder hells there is an appearance of rude huts with lanes and streets; and within the huts the evil spirits are engaged in unceasing quarrels, enmities, fightings and brutalities, while in the streets and lanes robberies and depredations are committed.** From this description of the "milder hells," it is understandable that there are no words to describe the worse hells!
* HH 553.
** HH 586.
     Hell has often been said to be a place where everyone is forced to perform a use. Or, that whereas heavenly life and happiness consist in a love of performing uses, hell is a place where uses are performed unwillingly, and only because by performing their simple tasks are those in them allowed to exercise their evil loves. This is true, as far as it goes. But this description does not picture the utter frustration of hell, nor does it necessarily create within a man a real incentive to shun his evils. For is it not true that there are a great many people in the world who rather unwillingly rise in the morning to go to their work; and that they force themselves to do so only because of some weekend pleasure, or simply because they have to eat? And yet many of them are apparently satisfied, and even happy.
     It is when we read that after death, "man remains in evil and falsity, which grow there in accordance with the capacity to receive them that he has acquired in the world," and that he "is not allowed to pass beyond the acquired bounds," that we get a glimpse of the frustration of hell.* His desire of doing evil remains, and can never be changed into a desire of doing good. But by means of fears and punishments his evil desires are kept in check, and can never become worse than they had been in the world as to his inmost intentions. It is for this reason that hell is an eternal existence in frustration For even if man's love is evil, he desires to perfect himself in it, and this he cannot do. In heaven, on the other hand, the good into which a man has entered during his earthly life, can be, and is, perfected to all eternity. There is therefore no limit to heavenly happiness, but there is a limit in hell beyond which no one there can go. And this limit is set by the evil spirit himself. Thus he fluctuates between a state in which he, from fear of punishment, serves a simple use, and a state in which he batters against the wall beyond which he cannot go. And there he is again punished for the evils which brought him to his limit.
* AC 6977.

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     But the revealed knowledge of the nature of evil, and the miserable state of those who have confirmed themselves in evil, would be of little value to the man of the church, if, at the same time, he were not given to know how to find out in which direction he was traveling. For, seeing that man is nothing but evil, this too, must be revealed. And there are many such teachings in the Writings, which we should consider in our daily repentance, and especially at times when we are engaged in self-examination. We are taught that those who have no charity, "see in their neighbor only what is evil, and if they see anything good, they either perceive it as nothing, or put a bad interpretation upon it. It is just the other way with those who are in charity. By this difference these two kinds of men are distinguished from one another, especially when they come into the other life; for then with those who are in charity, the feeling of hatred shines forth from every single thing, they desire to examine everyone, and even to judge him, nor do they desire anything more than to find out what is evil, constantly cherishing the disposition to condemn, punish, and torment. But they who are in charity scarcely see the evil of another, but observe all his goods and truths, and put a good interpretation on what is evil and false. Such are all the angels, which they have from the Lord, who bends all evil into good."*
* AC 1079.
     Again we read: "Whatever a man thinks and whatever he wills ... are either from hell or from heaven. When he thinks and wills evils, and is delighted with the consequent falsities, he may know that his thoughts and affections are from hell; and while he is thinking and willing good, and is delighted with the derivative truths, he may know that they are from heaven, that is, through heaven from the Lord."*
* AC 4249:2.
     In another passage we are informed that "spiritual truth and good desire that a man should not take pleasure in dignities or in any preeminence over others, but in service rendered . . . and thus should take pleasure in the use of dignities. The merely natural man is wholly ignorant what this pleasure is, and denies its existence."*
* AC 5025.
     In still another passage it is said that "if . . . when a man betakes himself to evils, as is the case with many in youth, he feels any anxiety when he reflects upon his having done what is evil, it is a sign that he will still receive influx through the angels from heaven, and it is also a sign that he will afterwards suffer himself to be reformed; but if when he reflects upon his having done what is evil, he has no anxious feeling, it is a sign that he is no longer willing to receive influx through the angels from heaven, and it is also a sign that he will not afterwards suffer himself to be reformed."*
* AC 5470.

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     The use which the man of the church may have of the above quoted passages is self-evident and needs no further elaboration. But in addition to these teachings there is also a number of passages which are highly suggestive with respect to our attitudes to those of our neighbors in whom we recognize evils.
     In their effort to excite and bring out man's evils, the evil spirits also try to make him believe that he does them from himself, and, moreover, condemn him on account of doing them. But the angels even protect what is false and evil in him, and patiently bend his evils to good; and without interfering with his freedom, moderate them.* Furthermore, no one is ever punished for evil deeds, if he acted from a truly good end. For it is possible that a deed which is apparently evil springs from a good motive.**
* AC 761, 4307, 5992.
** AC 1936, 4839, 6159.
     It is therefore impossible to judge a man from his outward speech and actions. The deed can indeed be judged, but knowing that everything flows in, and that the Lord makes use of the very evils in man and thereby guides and bends him to good, we cannot judge the man. If sometimes it appears as if our fellow man is speaking and living against the truth of the church, we should not therefore turn our backs upon him, and still less spread our ideas of him abroad. We should rather reflect that in the Lord's merciful providence, he is in a state of temptation, and fails to be victorious at all times. It is then that he needs the love and understanding of his fellow members in the church to support him from without, even as he is supported from within by the Lord and His angels. For by displaying unmerciful criticism, and putting on an unfriendly, belittling attitude, we are nothing but tools in the hand of the devil.
     The Divine end of creation, which is that there might be a heaven from the human race, cannot be accomplished without means. And even as the Lord assigns His angels to fight the evil forces which insinuate evil thoughts and affections in the mind, even so He wills that the men of the church, who constitute His kingdom on earth, should do the corresponding work of the angels on the ultimate plane.
     This seems to be involved in the passage which reads: "Those who are true men of the church desire that if it were possible their minds should be open, so that what they think may be manifest to every one; for they intend nothing but good toward the neighbor, and if they see evil in any one they excuse it."*
* AC 6655.
     This is true of the angels, and the man who is a member of the church, not only externally but also internally, is an angel-man among men. And what has brought him to this angelic state is the constant shunning of evils as sins against the Lord.

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For man is not regenerated by one temptation; yet "nothing else is required of man than to sweep the house; that is, to reject the cupidities of evil and the derivative persuasions of falsity; for he is then filled with goods, because good is continually inflowing from the Lord."* And as a man is shunning his evils-as he is performing daily repentance-he will increasingly realize that the Lord's yoke is easy, for he is then being led by the Lord, and not by self.
* AC 3142.
GLORIFICATION 1960

GLORIFICATION              1960

     "The Lord, by the most grievous temptation combats, reduced all things in Himself into Divine order; insomuch as there remained nothing at all of the human which He had derived from the mother; so that He was not made new as another man, but altogether Divine. For the man who is made new by regeneration still retains within him an inclination to evil, yea, evil itself, but is withheld from evil by an inflowing of the life of the Lord's love-and this by exceedingly strong power; but the Lord entirely cast out every evil which was hereditary to Him from the mother, and made Himself Divine even as to the vessels, that is, as to truths. This is what in the Word is called glorification." (Arcana Coelestia 3318)
Principles of Government 1960

Principles of Government       George de Charms       1960




     ANNOUNCING
Price, $1.50
Cloth, pp. 74

A thoughtful and timely study of the principles of Divine, civil, and ecclesiastical government revealed in the Writings.

The Academy Book Room
Bryn Athyn, Pa.

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MEMORIAL SERVICE for Mrs. Nathaniel Dandridge Pendleton 1960

MEMORIAL SERVICE for Mrs. Nathaniel Dandridge Pendleton        GEORGE DE CHARMS       1960

     (Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, February 2, 1960.)

     "Unto him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it." (Revelation 2: 17)

     In the sight of the Lord, man's entire life on earth is a continual preparation for an eternal use in heaven. This use is a secret gift of the Lord, provided in His infinite love. The Lord's love is the source of all spiritual life, and only as he receives that love does man truly live; wherefore it is called "the bread that cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world." In its essence, a heavenly use consists in receiving that love, each one in a different and individual way, and sharing it with others, to enrich their lives. From the performance of this use proceed all the blessing and happiness of the angels. Because we cannot know what this use is, as long as we live on earth, it is called the "hidden manna"; but when we enter the spiritual world we come into the full realization and enjoyment of it; and this is indeed the goal toward which the Lord, in His providence, is perpetually leading each one. By "a white stone" is meant the spiritual intelligence and wisdom which that heavenly love imparts when it is received. Because this intelligence is different in each one, and is perfectly adapted to the requirements of his particular use, it is said that there was "in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it."
     By means of the uses which the angels perform, the Lord continually perfects the heavens, and brings them into ever closer conjunction with Himself that they may "have life, and may have it more abundantly." And as men on earth receive His love, and share it with others, the Lord, through them, establishes the church, extending and perfecting His heavenly kingdom. This operation of His providence is perpetual and unceasing, for in the sight of the Lord, the church is a greater man. Like a man, it is conceived and born, and grows from infancy to adult age, and from young manhood to ever more perfect intelligence and wisdom.

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This growth extends over countless generations, each one of which, under the secret leading of the Lord, makes its own special contribution to the ultimate fulfillment of the destiny for which the church is Divinely intended. We are told that in the case of an individual man, each stage of development-infancy, childhood, youth and adult age-serves as a necessary foundation for the stages that follow. We are told that "when first born, man is introduced into a state of innocence, in order that this may he a plane for all succeeding states, and be the inmost in them." Also, as we know from human experience, the transition from one state to another is not sudden, but gradual, that there may be no break, and that the permanent values of a precious state may be inwoven into the very fabric of the state next following. That is why, in the story of the Word, Abraham lives on to initiate the state represented by Isaac, and Isaac lives on to initiate the state represented by Jacob, and so forth. For the same reason, in the growth of the church, although each generation has a distinct gift to offer, there are always those who carry over, even to old age, and sometimes beyond the time of active service; bringing with them something of permanent value, and impressing the quality of their day and time upon those who are to follow. Just what their gift is may be known only to the Lord, for it is He alone, who, in His infinite love and mercy, builds the church. It may be said, therefore, of each generation, as to its soul, or essential quality, even as was said concerning David the king of Israel: "the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God" (1 Samuel 25: 29).
     This function of carrying over something of permanent value from earlier states to those that follow would seem to be illustrated, in a very special way, in the earthly life of Mrs. N. D. Pendleton. Her father was one of the founders of the Academy movement. She grew up in the sphere of those early days when the first full realization that the Lord had made His second coming through the theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg brought with it a deep sense of wonder, of gratitude, and of unparalleled joy, which gave to that generation a quality all its own. Shortly after the General Church was established, she married the Rev. N. D. Pendleton, one of the five ministers of the Academy, who, at a moment of grave crisis, asked Bishop W. F. Pendleton to lead them in the establishment of a new order and organization, destined to carry forward the essential principles of the Academy and to make them permanently effective. Fifteen years later, her husband was called to the episcopal office, and to the presidency of the Academy. Together with him, she shared an intimate association with the problems and vicissitudes that characterized what might be called a second important phase in the development of the church. This was specifically her generation, a generation which had its own special gifts to impart, its own particular needs to be met and uses to be performed.

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Under Bishop Pendleton's leadership, this era was notable for the development of interior doctrine, as well as for the organization of the Academy, which placed the educational uses of the church on a strong and sound foundation. The closing years of his administration were marked by disturbances in the church that threatened to disrupt the very foundations on which it had been established, and Bishop Pendleton was called upon to defend them through a period of deep anxiety and personal suffering. The defenses held firm, and the church continued along its chosen path-the path of unswerving devotion to the supreme authority of the plain teachings of the Writings.
     In 1937, Bishop Pendleton was called into the spiritual world, and for twenty-two years Mrs. Pendleton continued to exert a marked influence, not only on her children and grandchildren, but on the entire church, as one who was indeed a mother in Israel. Her keen perception of the truth for which her husband had labored and fought, her strength of character, combined with a charming personality and a profound affection that went out to the members of the church in every land, have made a lasting impress on succeeding generations beyond anything which she could possibly realize. She showed a deep and abiding sympathy for the native leaders of the South African Mission, who were so earnestly striving for the establishment of the New Church among their people. She had an unusual gift for writing, and her contributions to NEW CHURCH LIFE convey a living sense of the spirit and devotion that characterized the church of her generation.
     In all this we see the Divine Providence of the Lord binding together the successive states through which our church has passed, storing up for use in the indefinite future those vital qualities for which each stage of growth was Divinely intended-qualities which must be perpetuated if the church is to achieve its appointed destiny. Under the Lord's secret leading, this use is, of course, shared by all the members of the church; but it is more fully recognizable and apparent in the life of one so intimately associated with the essential work of the church over so long a span of years as were granted to our deeply revered and beloved friend, Beatrice Childs Pendleton.
     We cannot avoid the feeling that her departure into the eternal world leaves a vacant place in all our hearts; yet we know that she has not really left us. The use she performed on earth will be increased a hundredfold in the life upon which she is entering, and there it will bless her with a joy, a sense of fulfillment, and an opportunity for unending progress that she could not know on earth. The guerdon of all the years of struggle, amid natural cares and physical limitation; will be the Divine gift of "hidden manna," and a "white stone" in which "a new name is written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it"; for indeed the inmost essence of her entire life is "bound in the bundle of life with the Lord [her] God." Amen.

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MISS DOROTHY BURNHAM 1960

MISS DOROTHY BURNHAM       Rev. HUGO LJ. ODHNER       1960

     Extracts from a Memorial Address

      (Delivered in the Bryn Athyn Cathedral, January 28, 1960.)

     "Bless the Lord, O my soul . . . who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; who satisfieth they mouth with good; and reneweth they youth like the eagle's." (Psalm 103: 2, 4, 5)

     The age of miracles is said to be past. Yet continually there goes on before our eyes the miracle of human life, passing from the mysterious gate of birth and disappearing behind the portals of death. There would be no meaning to this miracle if that to which earthly life gives form should not be garnered and transplanted into a new soil where its life may be manifested more clearly and its uses become of deeper and wider scope. For no moment of life can ever be repeated, still less can an individual life be replaced or matched. Yet we seldom reflect upon the many agencies that contribute to the making of a human spirit which, by its very nature, must be immortal.
     Even before its birth, it requires protection and tenderness, both on the part of men and of angels! And from its frail beginnings the mind is offered the best gifts of nature and of human love. Its latent powers are drawn forth, one by one, and guided by parents and teachers into thoughtful purpose and action. Its instruction becomes a most important use on the part of numbers of men and women, who know that no work is as enduring as the shaping of human character. Then, by stages, the mind, furnished with the elements which others can impart, begins to take responsibility for its own further growth. It grows by reflection and the free choice of experience. It sanctions and condemns, and is enriched with ideas borrowed from all the world. The mind becomes itself a world, yet a world not like any other because it has the uniqueness of being a new creation. It faces problems; it becomes constructive; it can even envision the final purposes of creation. It may beget, or bear, or nourish other human minds; and give to these, either directly or indirectly, something of that love and that vision of life's meaning which it has already gained for itself.

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     How can we think that such a mind, the final product of such an experience, could be cheated of the fulfillment, the end, for which it has been shaped? Must we not rather see that when the work has been done, the body, the material instrument, must be laid aside, so that the spirit can be released from time and space and enter into its perfection?
     This liberation has now come to our friend Dorothy Burnham. Her mind, her spirit, is now freed from twelve years of imprisonment in a stricken body-freed to continue the work she began on earth. Her life was spent in faithful labor in the field of New Church education-in the effort to protect and shape minds in the making, helping them to grasp the same ideals which she knew as her own.
     Dorothy Burnham was born in 1886, the eldest of fourteen children. Her parents were among the earlier members of the Immanuel Church, and her father was a member of the Corporation of the Academy. She attended the New Church elementary school at Glenview, and later the Girls Seminary and the Normal School at Bryn Athyn. She also took courses at a number of universities, including a summer at Cambridge, England. She gave up an early desire to become a lawyer, like her father, and turned to education instead. By 1921, she had earned her bachelor's degree at Bryn Athyn, where she had already done some teaching.
     Dorothy was never married; but as Housemother at Glenn Hall for twenty-four years, and as a teacher of English in the Seminary and the College, she was serving in the maternal function of fostering and feeding the young minds about her.
     About the age of sixty she retired. Soon afterwards she suffered a stroke which almost totally incapacitated her. But although her body was paralyzed, her mind was as active and eager as ever, and she bore her long illness with courage and patience. For she herself realized that the Lord alone can know what is needed to weld the various elements of a person's character together for its eternal use; whether health or sickness, whether wealth or poverty, whether a long life or a brief one. And when she is now entering the life of the spirit, she is also entering into the spiritual wealth that is stored unseen within her mind-a wealth of perceptions which no language of earth could articulately express; a reserve store of delights which on earth were almost unrecognized because stifled in the hardships and necessities of bodily life; an opportunity for new uses, an opportunity to teach open and receptive minds; and, eventually, the meeting and mating with a soul whose love will complete and complement her own, and the homecoming that will begin the entrance into the secret of life's final meanings.

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     So, for our friend, the miracle of life is just beginning, with the unfolding of the interior treasures of the soul, which we call "mind." Most of the precious things of that mind cannot be seen on earth, or expressed in language, or even surmised except by the eyes of love.
     No space separates us, however, from those whose spirits we had come to know and love while they were here on earth. They are empowered to approach us more directly-thought to thought, instead of word to word. And our mourning for their passing must be turned into praise unto the Lord for the miracle of life which is fulfilled by death. "Bless the Lord, O my soul . . . who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; who satisfieth thy mouth with good; and reneweth thy youth like the eagle's." Amen.
IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1960

IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES              1960

     The editors of the THETA ALPHA JOURNAL are again to be congratulated on offering, in their spring number, a wide variety of interesting and informative material, together with reports and news of the organization itself. Of particular interest, perhaps, are an article "All Things New," by Shirley Brown of Detroit, a fairly new member of the church, and a paper, "If I Trust," by Alison Glenn, the winning entry in the Girls School Contest promoted by the Journal. In an open letter, Charis Pitcairn Cole raises some interesting questions in connection with the limitation of families. Bishop De Charms contributes his personal opinion of the subject as a whole, and adds an annotated list of numbers from the Writings for individual reading and study.

     In the January-February issue of the NEW AGE, the Rev. H. W. Hickman, president of "the New Church in Australia," surveys realistically the problems of that body and offers constructive suggestions for the maintenance and development of the organization. We should, he says, cultivate a definite way of thought based upon an understanding of the Writings, this being the means to the end of cultivating a New Church way of life. As an organization, he continues, the New Church has no authority to lay down a way of life for its members; the one sure authority is a conscience based upon an affection for the truth for its own sake. He believes that the church has members who strive for these things, and he recognizes the importance of instruction for the children that is suitable to their needs. This requires people willing not only to teach but also to prepare themselves to do so adequately.

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NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1960

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS       Rev. ORMOND ODHNER       1960

     The Decalogue, explained as to its natural, spiritual and celestial meanings, is the subject of most of the readings from True Christian Religion for April. It is a profitable study, but if the reader has time he can profit even further by comparing the treatment here with the very different treatments of the Ten Commandments found in Arcana Coelestia 8860-5912 and in Apocalypse Explained 932: 2-1028: 2. A few minutes given to studying the format of the latter will make for easier reading.
     True Christian Religion 282 states that everyone has known that the evils forbidden in the Decalogue must be shunned, if only that human society may endure, and then asks why the Ten Commandments were promulgated to Moses at Sinai with so many miracles: certainly Moses must already have known such laws from his upbringing in Pharaoh's palace. Why the miracles?-to show that these laws are not merely civil and moral, but are Divine. Practically all the laws of the Decalogue must be obeyed; jail or social ostracism will come to those who break them. But obedience merely from fear of loss of freedom or reputation saves no one; they must be obeyed because they are also Divine laws.
     How stubborn and foolish we mortals be! Civil and moral law compel us to lead fairly decent lives. All that is needed more, that we may go to heaven, is to add to this decent life the one further motive, that to do otherwise would be to go against the Lord's will. Why is that difficult? Because it means shunning evils as sins, which in turn means shunning them in thought and lust as well as in act, and the thought and the lust we do not want to give up!
     Somewhat along these lines is this teaching concerning the commandments in general: "These ten commandments are universals, given to the end that in living from these, a man may live from religion" (AE 967: 3). Elaborating on this, we see that the commandments were not given to "spoil man's run" or restrain his desires. The purpose in their Divine promulgation was positive-to allow man to take part in his own salvation so that he could enjoy heavenly life when he attained it. The commandments were given so that man could do something as of himself to attain regenerate life. Thus they are not beyond our powers to obey, acting from the Lord but as if of ourselves, that we may be conjoined with heaven.

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ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS 1960

ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS       W. CAIRNS HENDERSON       1960

     COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY

     The Annual Meetings of the Council of the Clergy of the General Church of the New Jerusalem were held in the Council Chamber of the Bryn Athyn Cathedral-Church, January 26-29, 1960, with Bishop De Charms presiding.
     In addition to the Bishop of the General Church there were present one member of the episcopal degree, twenty members of the pastoral degree, and one member of the ministerial degree, namely: Bishop Willard D. Pendleton; the Rev. Messrs. Elmo C. Acton, Karl R. Alden, Geoffrey S. Childs, Harold C. Cranch, Roy Franson, Victor J. Gladish, W. Cairns Henderson (secretary), Robert S. Junge, Louis B. King, Hugo Lj. Odhner, Ormond Odhner, Dandridge Pendleton, Martin Pryke, Norman H. Reuter, Norbert H. Rogers, Frederick L. Schnarr, David R. Simons, Kenneth O. Stroh, Jan H. Weiss, William Whitehead; Raymond G. Cranch. Candidates Kurt H. Asplundh and Douglas McL. Taylor were present by invitation.
     A meeting of the Bishop's Consistory was held on Monday evening, January 25th. There were six regular sessions of the Council, four in the morning and two in the afternoon, and one joint session with the Board of Directors of the General Church. On Monday afternoon, January 25, meetings were held in the Bishop's office with the pastors and with the headmasters of local schools. The Church Extension Committee met on Thursday afternoon, January 28, and the General Church Publication Committee held its annual meeting on Monday, February 1st.
     Bishop De Charms, in opening the first session, cordially welcomed all who had found it possible to be present, and expressed his regret that, because they are so widely scattered, it was not possible for all the members of the Council to participate. Messages of greeting from the Rev. Daniel W. Heinrichs, the Rev. Donald L. Rose, and the Rev. Benjamin I. Nzimande on behalf of the African ministers assembled at their annual meetings were presented to the Council, and the order of business was considered.
     Standing reports made during the week were those of the Liturgy Committee and the Church Extension Committee. The first of these two committees distributed copies of a limited edition of a pamphlet containing the revised orders of service for Baptism, Confession of Faith or Confirmation, and Betrothal, and it was resolved that these services be put into use.

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The revised Holy Supper Service was not included; as it contains changes that involve the congregation, printing in larger quantity will be necessary. Proposed changes in the Burial Service came in for preliminary discussion. As usual, the Secretary of the General Church, the Secretary of the Council, the Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE, and the Chairman of the Sound Recording Committee, whose reports are made to the Joint Council, spoke briefly on points they wished to bring to the attention of their colleagues. The Council also heard and discussed at length a report from the Liturgy Music Committee.
     Five addresses were given at the regular sessions. The Rev. W. Cairns Henderson spoke on "Home and Other Dedications," and the Rev. Dandridge Pendleton on "Transmutation and the Lord's Resurrection Body." The program committee, under the chairmanship of the Rev. Geoffrey S. Childs, presented three papers to which the entire sessions on Wednesday morning and afternoon were devoted. The Rev. Robert S. Junge summarized the main points in his study of Heredity which had been distributed before the meetings; the Rev. Geoffrey S. Childs similarly presented a synopsis of his paper on "Mediate Good"; and the Rev. Frederick L. Schnarr read a paper on "The Planes of the Memory and the Degrees of the Mind." The program was received with keen appreciation both of its content and of the procedure of circulating papers in advance, which gives more time for discussion and opportunity for more considered discussion. All five papers were discussed by most of the members present, and it was hoped that the studies made would be continued.
     Two matters were introduced for discussion. Believing that there were matters of principle involved which should be considered and understood at this time, Bishop De Charms presented certain ideas in regard to the question of ordination into the third degree of the priesthood. The Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner introduced the subject of the responsibility which the clergy have as teachers in connection with disturbances relating to the matter of birth control. These two topics were discussed at length. As is usual in such instances, the purpose of discussion is to seek to provide for the benefits that may accrue to an exchange of views and for the enlightenment that may result from common consideration of a subject; and no attempt was made to reduce the discussion to a formal consensus.
     Several resolutions were adopted during the regular sessions. The secretary was instructed to send a congratulatory message from the Council to the Rev. and Mrs. Donald L. Rose on the occasion of their marriage, and to express the thanks and appreciation of the Council to the ladies who provided refreshments during the morning recesses. Memorial Resolutions for the Rev. William Beebe Caldwell and the Rev. Frederick Edmund Gyllenhaal, prepared by the Rev. Elmo C. Acton and the Rev. Martin Pryke, respectively, were adopted by rising vote. (See pp. 188, 189.)

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     During the week there were several organized social functions. On Wednesday evening the members of the Council dined and enjoyed a social time at the home of the Rev. and Mrs. Hugo Lj. Odhner. Bishop and Mrs. De Charms entertained at a buffet luncheon on Thursday. Mr. Raymond Pitcairn was host at luncheons on Friday and Saturday to members of the Joint Council and others; and on Friday evening, after the meeting of the Bryn Athyn Society which for the first time took the place of the Open Session, members of the Council and their wives were again guests of the Civic and Social Club at an Open House held in the Club House-again a very happy opportunity for the clergy and the laity to mingle socially. As always, there were many private social functions to which various members of the clergy were invited, and which afforded welcome opportunity for relaxation and for the renewing of friendships. Although these social occasions are not part of the Annual Council Meetings they are a delightful feature of a busy and exacting week, and to mention them in this report is one way of expressing thanks for the abundant hospitality shown to Council members during the meetings.
     Respectfully submitted,
          W. CAIRNS HENDERSON,
     Secretary of the Council of the Clergy.
JOINT COUNCIL 1960

JOINT COUNCIL       HUGO LJ. ODHNER       1960

     JANUARY 30, 1960

     1.     The 66th regular joint meeting of the Council of the Clergy and the Directors of the Corporations of the General Church of the New Jerusalem opened on January 30, 1960, at 10 a.m., in the Council Chamber of the Bryn Athyn Church.
     2.     The meeting convened at the call of Bishop De Charms, who led in prayer and read from Revelation 14: 1-7.
     3.     The attendance included:

     FROM THE CLERGY: Rt. Rev. G. de Charms (presiding), Rt. Rev. W. D. Pendleton, Rev. Messrs. E. C. Acton, K. R. Alden, G. S. Childs, H. C. Cranch, Roy Franson, V. J. Gladish, W. C. Henderson, R. S. Junge, L. B. King, H. L. Odhner (Secretary), O. de C. Odhner, Dandridge Pendleton, Martin Pryke, N. H. Reuter, N. H. Rogers, F. L. Schnarr, D. R. Simons, K. O. Stroh, J. H. Weiss, William Whitehead, and Candidates K. H. Asplundh and D. M. Taylor.
     FROM THE LAITY: Messrs. D. E. Acton, K. C. Acton, Esq., E. T. Asplundh, Lester Asplundh, R. G. Barnitz, G. E. Blackman, E. C. Bostock, R. W. Childs, Esq.,

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E. H. Davis, Esq., G. E. Doering Esq., John Howard, E. H. Kitzelman, J. E Kuhl, S. E. Lee, H. K. Morley, P. C. Pendleton, Esq., H. F. Pitcairn, Raymond Pitcairn, Esq., Gilbert M. Smith, Arthur Synnestvedt, Esq., Stephen Pitcairn (Secretary of the Corporations) and L. E. Gyllenhaal (Treasurer).

     4. The Minutes of the 65th meeting were approved as printed in NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1959 pp. 180-184.
     5. The Bishop introduced the subject of the day, as follows:

     Before we hear the reports which may come before this body, I should like to speak again about the matter of ordination. I have spoken to the Council of the Clergy about the matter; but I would like to present again the essential purpose I have in mind in regard to it before this entire body, and invite your discussion of it, because I believe that it is something which should be very well understood. I should like to say that I am grateful to those of you who have so frankly answered my letter of June 24, last year. I realize that you had some difficulty in doing so, partly because of the fact that I used the term "executive functions" to be delegated to some one to be ordained into the third degree of the priesthood; which I now believe was an unfortunate use of terms since what I really had in mind was the delegation of "administrative functions."
     The important point is that what I am considering is some one in the third degree who should hold a position different from any to which we have been accustomed in the past. I am convinced that such a position is becoming necessary because of the requirements of our growth. And it modifies our past ideas as to the grounds for ordination into the third degree.
     It has become increasingly evident that it is no longer possible for one man to perform all the duties connected with the episcopal office as they have been performed in the past. Especially have the responsibilities of the President of the Academy become increasingly complex time-consuming, and constant. The leadership of five separate yet closely integrated schools (the Boys School, the Girls School, the Junior College the Senior College, and the Theological School) demands special training and preparation which were not so essential in the earlier days of the Academy. At the same time, the growth of the General Church, not so much in numbers as in the wide distribution of our membership, adds to the need for regular episcopal visits that call the Bishop away, sometimes for extended periods. Such contacts with small groups, circles, and isolated families are essential to the maintenance of mutual understanding and to the spirit of unity throughout our body. For this reason, the needs of both the Academy and the General Church cannot any longer be fully met by one man without seriously detracting from the demands of one or both.
     This has become so apparent that a number both among the ministers and among the laymen have been led to suggest the necessity of separating these two offices, with one man as President of the Academy and another as Bishop of the General Church. It is our considered opinion that it would be a very serious mistake to adopt such a separation as a policy. Unavoidable circumstances have made it imperative to take this action as a temporary measure; but note, only as a temporary measure. That is the reason why I resigned as President of the Academy, retaining the office of Executive Bishop; and why Bishop W. D. Pendleton was elected President by the Academy's Board of Directors. . . . To take such a step in order to meet a temporary situation is very different from adopting it as a general policy of church government.
     I am profoundly convinced that the custom of having the two offices of the President of the Academy and of the Executive Bishop of the General Church vested in one man is one that should not be abandoned as a matter of policy.

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While these two bodies are organically independent, they are spiritually one and should be under one leadership. The reasons for this are obvious. It has been recognized from the beginning of the Academy movement that education is essentially an ecclesiastical function, since it looks in the last analysis to the spiritual and eternal welfare of those who are being educated. By mutual agreement, the Academy has been recognized as the educational arm of the General Church, undertaking for the General Church to perform the function of education in all the higher branches of learning. It does so for the General Church and under the supervision of the Bishop of the General Church. It trains the ministers and teachers of the General Church. It draws its teaching force from the General Church. It draws its student body from the membership of the General Church. It depends for its financial support on the General Church. For this reason, the uses of the two bodies are so intimately intertwined that they cannot be separated. One who directs the policies of the Academy must be intimately acquainted with the state of the church and must take the needs of the church constantly into consideration.
     At the present time, because of expanding demands of both bodies, there is only one way in which united leadership can be maintained, namely, by giving the Executive Bishop of the General Church adequate assistance, either in connection with the work of the Academy or in connection with that of the General Church, or with both.
     It seems to me highly desirable, if not imperative, that such assistance should be given by one or more ministers in the third degree of the priesthood. I believe that we have already reached the point which makes it necessary to provide at least one minister to serve in such administrative capacity, and I anticipate that the day is not far distant when two such assistants may he required.
     Now it was primarily my concern for the preservation of united leadership in our church that prompted the proposal to ordain some one at this time into the third degree of the priesthood. I foresaw that this would involve a definite change in our traditional thinking concerning the exercise of the ordaining power. It seemed to me that such a change should not be made without careful consideration, both by the ministers and by the laymen, so that if the step were taken it would be with the full understanding and approval of the church.
     An important purpose of my letter was to bring the pressing need for a consideration of this whole question before the ministers and leading laymen of the church. With that in view I should like to present briefly, for your reaction, my personal belief as to the leading principles that should govern in the matter of inauguration into the priesthood and ordination into its higher degrees.
     According to the view of the Academy from the beginning, ordination is from the Lord. It is not given by the church. Bishop Benade fought to establish this principle against the whole trend of the General Convention. According to this view, the church merely recognizes a Divine call to the priestly office, and formalizes it through the laying on of hands and the transfer of the promise of the Holy Spirit, by the ordaining minister.
     Inherent in the teachings of the Writings that there is a trine in the Lord and a trine in His Divine work of salvation, is the idea for which the early Academy fought, that there must be a representative trine in the priesthood. And if that is true, ordination into the second and third degree of that trine are just as fully from the Lord as is inauguration into the first degree. Neither are these degrees given by the church, but they must be acknowledged as from the Lord Himself.

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     How shall we understand this, in view of the fact that human judgment necessarily plays so large a part in the choice of one to be ordained? It cannot be otherwise, because the Lord operates through the instrumentality of men, and in accord with their free exercise of rational judgment. In the matter of ordination, this judgment belongs to the illustration of the episcopal office. But how the Lord can operate depends upon the principles that govern the bishop who ordains. His judgment must not be arbitrary. It must be formed according to clear indications of use, for it is by means of uses and solely for the sake of uses that the Lord governs and protects the church. And therefore we believe that ordination should not be bestowed upon any one merely as a personal honor nor in recognition of outstanding services to the church. It should be for the purpose of fulfilling some evident need, either in the present or in the immediate future. Yet it should not be given solely to fill a particular post or to perform a particular function. It should rather be in response to clear indications of Providence that there is a call to service in the episcopal office.
     Because ordination is given by the Lord and not by the church, it cannot be taken away by the church. However, the church is always free to determine to whom it will grant governing powers; this on the principle that all government should be with the consent of the governed. Because some specific function which the Executive Bishop had in mind in performing the ordination may not he permanently needed; or because on account of changing conditions the opportunity to exercise episcopal government is withdrawn, the one ordained does not cease to be a bishop. He retains all the inherent powers of his office, even though he may not be called upon to exercise them.
     In the past, there have been in our body only two recognized reasons for ordination into the third degree of the priesthood, that is, to protect and perpetuate the ordaining power, and to provide temporary assistance to the Executive Bishop. As a matter of fact, our custom has been for a bishop to propose for ordination some one whom he needs for assistance, and this one is then ordained into the third degree and has remained as assistant to that bishop as long as he retained the office. Ordination has also been given for the sake of preserving the ordaining power. It is true that this power rests in the last analysis with the Council of the Clergy. If there were no one in the third degree, the Council itself could authorize one of its members to act, in an emergency, as an ordaining minister. It has seemed wise, however, to preserve the normal mode of exercising the power of ordination by providing that there should always be more than one in the episcopal degree.
     What we regard as a change from the custom of the past, which is now made necessary by our growth, is the recognition of another reason for ordination into the third degree of the priesthood. What is needed, we believe, is the creation of an episcopal function which is not merely a temporary assistance to the Executive Bishop of the time; because from now on it seems inevitable that there will be need for assistance in the episcopal office whoever holds that office. There will be from now on a constant need for more than one in the third degree of the priesthood. And it is not an ordination chosen by the Executive Bishop with a particular view to his own personal assistance, but will be an office that carries over from one administration to another. I do not see how you can avoid that.
     The fear has been expressed that if such an ordination be made at this time, it would embarrass the succeeding administration. For a man chosen by an outgoing bishop may not be the one favored by the incoming bishop for his assistant. But we face that situation as soon as we have more than one man in the third degree, not merely as a temporary assistant, but as one carrying work that must go on from one administration to another.

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     That is the reason why I consider this as a new concept. I have been asked: What is new about it? Was it not done already? To my mind it is new because it means that we will have more than one man in the third degree of the priesthood taking some part in the administration of the episcopal office, not by temporary appointment, but as a necessarily permanent provision for carrying on the work.
     If that is true, then such a step should be taken only with the full understanding and approval of the church as a whole. It is because I had something of this kind so mind that I raised the question and brought it objectively before the Council of the Clergy and the Board of Directors, before introducing any one into the episcopal degree at this time. Without committing the church to a future course of conduct in this matter beyond what is immediately required, I am convinced that we must face the question at this time as to the best mode whereby we may provide for a division of episcopal responsibility in administering the complex uses of the General Church and the Academy, without sacrificing that unity of leadership which we believe is vital to the welfare of the church. That is the essence of what I have in mind.
     I do not believe that the church is quite prepared to take action on such a proposal, but the need to do so will in the near future become imperative. At the time when my letter was sent out it appeared that some action might be necessary in the very near future. Since then the pressure for immediate action has been eased, and we are anxious to delay the matter, if possible, until there is clear understanding and virtual unanimity in the church with regard to it. Inevitably my administration is drawing to a close, and I do not want to do anything that might in any way limit the full freedom of the church to provide for the succession to the office of Executive Bishop in the light of conditions existing at the time when such a choice becomes necessary. Yet it is my duty to provide for the uninterrupted maintenance of all the uses of the church that fall within the jurisdiction of the episcopal office. That is the reason why I have felt under the necessity of bringing this whole subject before you for your most careful consideration.
     My own desire is to continue to serve the church as long as in Providence I am able to do so acceptably. But it is also my sincere desire not to remain in office beyond the time when I am really useful and effective in that office. I do not want to force upon the church, by any action of mine, a change in policy that is not clearly understood and agreed to by the whole church. That is the reason why I very much wish to take the time for a real consideration of this matter, and I invite your very frank reaction to what I have said.

     Mr. Harold F. Pitcairn noted that a distinction had been made between an executive and an administrator. He felt that only a good executive could make a good administrator. The Bishop explained that he meant by an executive one who has the responsibility for the final determination of policy. An administrator is one who carries out that policy. Mr. R. W. Childs held the distinction valid. An executive has leadership and responsibility, an administrator may be skilled in some particular field. He added that the church as a whole recognizes that ordinations come from the Lord. He also suggested the following resolution:
     "It is the sense of this Joint Council that 1) under normal conditions the Executive Bishop of the General Church should be the President of the Academy of the New Church, because the two bodies are closely linked and it is desirable that they have a common head; and 2) that the present situation (in which the Executive Bishop, Bishop George de Charms, is President Emeritus of the Academy and Bishop Willard D. Pendleton is President of the Academy) arises out of special circumstances and is to be regarded as exceptional."

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     Rev. D. R. Simons felt that a clear pattern had emerged from the Bishop's remarks-that this ordination should be according to uses. There are two general uses, that of education and that of the General Church. It would be a monstrous idea to imagine a body with two heads. We have two uses, and two bishops to begin with. He believed that even more important than to protect and perpetuate the ordaining power is the use of leadership and responsibility of being a center of enlightenment in a specialized field. Use should be the reason for ordination into the third degree. He would add a fourth bishop to this "house of bishops," and thought the Dean of the Theological School because of his leadership in theology in the church and his use in instruction looking to the priestly use directly, might also be considered to be of the episcopal office. He envisioned one head, an Executive Bishop, a bishop in charge of the General Church, a bishop in charge of the Academy and a bishop in charge of theological education. . . . The church lived with Bishop Acton and is used to that type of bishop-a very worthy one-and he thought it would help the Executive Bishop to have some older man to consult with.

     Rev. J. H. Weiss saw four things involved. There was the consideration of principles as to the episcopal office, the future extension of that office, the possibility of the election of a new bishop (now more of a possibility than fifteen years ago), and finally the consideration of immediate needs. The extension of the uses of that office must naturally follow growth. If the General Church is in the human form, it must have one bead, with assistants to whom functions could be delegated. Under the Executive Bishop, who should also be President of the Academy, there should be a bishop in charge of education throughout the church, i.e., an expert to advise the schools of the General Church and with whom the Executive Bishop could take counsel. In the future there should also be a third bishop to direct and advise pastors on activities in the field of missionary work. Bishop Benade had recognized that this was a use which should be under the episcopal office. He agreed that as to the extension of the episcopal office, the Bishop should instruct, and his wisdom of experience was evidenced in his bringing out this new concept of the use before the close of his administration. Yet the discussion should not be connected with any personality, prematurely, lest principles be obscured. Immediate needs should not force us to elevate a man into the third degree. Nor did he believe it right that such action should be initiated by the outgoing bishop; Bishop de Charms was extremely wise in not proposing to do this.
     As to the suggestion that a man in the second degree might perform certain episcopal functions as the representative of the Bishop, Mr. Weiss regarded this as orderly. But it would be harmful to give a pastor a permanent episcopal function without ordination into the third degree, since it might impair his future as a pastor. The most orderly way of relieving the pressure on the Bishop, he felt, was to provide more assistance in the work of the Bryn Athyn Church.

     Rev. N. H. Reuter saw value in Mr. Childs' direction of our thought to the principle of the unity of the General Church and the Academy under one head. He suggested that a committee be appointed to study the best method to meet the need of permanent assistance with due regard to the freedom of the episcopacy, the freedom of the church, and the mode by which the church can give its consent. This committee could report to the next Joint Council meeting.

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     Rev. W. C. Henderson fully agreed with the Bishop's proposal. We could thus utilize what we have not in the past been able to draw upon. Our clergy, like any other professional body, will always include men who would make excellent administrative assistants, but who might not have the capacity or the desire to fill the office of Executive Bishop. Such could serve loyally and acceptably in several administrations.
     It had been suggested that ordination at this time, or at any time during one administration, might be a source of embarrassment, and might even divide the church when the time comes for a new administration. He thought this was possible; but if the church wants to divide on that issue, it will happen whether there is one man in the third degree or six. For when we come to consider an executive bishop of the church, the various societies' favorite sons are not all necessarily in the third degree.

     Rev. Martin Pryke expressed agreement with Mr. Simons, particularly as to the appropriateness of having the Dean of the Theological School in the episcopal degree. He believed our experience with Bishop Acton in that matter was a source of great delight and use to the church.
     We are still very small and should not set up too rigid a pattern, lest it be dictated by the men available rather than by the ideal. The time will come when there will he full time assistance given the Bishop both in the Academy and the General Church; assistance in the Bryn Athyn society would, he thought, be first considered, then assistance in the Academy. Work in the Academy is a most specialized work for which a long training is needed. You cannot suddenly produce a bishop who could act as executive vice-president of the Academy. We should keep our thoughts free, since conditions are fluent; and we must realize that the decision as to ordinations and the provision of an assistant [to the] Bishop lie solely within the episcopal office.

     Mr. P. C. Pendleton on was disconcerted on a matter of principle. A new concept had been introduced, and he was concerned about its relation to orderly government. There had never been any question in the church but that a Bishop can ordain a man into the third degree as an assistant to him without necessarily consulting about it. Then in the case of an Executive Bishop, the Bishop names a man, the Council of the Clergy nominates, the Board of Directors in effect seconds the nomination, and it then goes before a General Assembly where an election is held. Now we have a new type of bishop proposed who wilt have certain administrative functions which will he delegated to him; and the question is: Has the church as a whole any concern in that, or should that be handled in some other way? What was the answer?

     Rev. V. J. Gladish referred to Mr. Childs statement, but asked if it were not possible that the Executive Bishop may not always be able to be a leader in the Academy. He was assured that the church would still survive.

     The Bishop, in response to a question, said that the provision of an Assistant Executive Bishop would be done only with the consent of the church. But he was not quite clear how such consent was to be sought. It must not be done arbitrarily, without some assurance of the approval of the church as a whole. He also stated that this discussion was not to be regarded as confidential. The time had come for an open consideration. In initiating the question it had seemed proper to consult the clergy and this Joint Council which represents the church between assemblies. It should then go to the church if anything should be done.

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     Rev. N. H. Reuter asked for action on the resolution proposed by Mr. Childs as to a common head of the General Church and the Academy. Rev. Dandridge Pendleton was loath to vote on this principle and urged further consideration.

     Mr. Raymond Pitcairn found himself greatly in sympathy with the Bishop's statement. He was convinced that on the point of unity of leadership, there were not any among the members of the Board of the Academy that did not believe in the principle that there should be that unity of leadership. He was also convinced that the large majority of the Board of the General Church and the Faculty of the Academy held like views, and felt that the church as a whole would go overwhelmingly in that direction. He had hoped that the Bishops would select a man who could serve as an assistant so that something could he done at this time to relieve the burden of the Executive Bishop, whose office through most years would he held by an older man who, as the church grows, would inevitably need to have assistants in the administration of his work. Nevertheless, he sympathized with the Bishop's feeling that the Bishop's plan should not be forced or pressed for until the questions that have exercised the Academy [movement] from the beginning have been solved. But on the other hand, the Bishop needs help. He referred to the story of Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses. It would be regrettable if we cannot provide the Executive Bishop with the help he needs while he holds that office. That it is needed is clear to many ministers and laymen, largely on account of the wide distribution of our societies and members. We desire that the work shall grow, and surely, with a bit of patience and understanding, there should be enough charity and co-operative spirit to work it out so that there may not be any great delay in providing a use which is much needed right now.

     Rev. V. J. Gladish did not like to regard the Bishop's remarks as any "swan song." The head of the church could have administrators under him.

     Mr. Raymond Pitcairn noted that if the church would accept the principle under discussion, and if a man is found acceptable to Bishop Pendleton and to the church, we have good indications of Providence that we are going in the right direction.

     Rev. N. H. Reuter felt that we were already unanimous as to the principle of one head, and urged any who differed to speak up.

     Mr. Edwin Asplundh thought that the difficulty entered with the idea that even an administrative assistant should be in the third degree. It would be otherwise if a man of the second degree could do such work under the Bishop's direction. He was concerned that time is passing and felt that the Bishop should receive assistance as soon as possible. The people of the church should have opportunity to discuss the proposal.

     Rev. R. G. Cranch saw it as important that the Assembly should have freedom in the choice of its next executive bishop. At least two ordinations into the third degree are needed at this time; if only one man is put up, the church is almost compelled to elect that man. If there is another bishop within the Academy-say that he is of the Theological School-and you have an assistant to the Bishop as well, then, if you have two men, when the emergency comes, you have a choice. This is the simple answer to the problem Mr. Asplundh so well described. If an emergency comes, it is likely to come quickly.

     Rev. K. O. Stroh pointed out that what is essential is the consent of the governed, not a choice, necessarily. But he asked: What is to happen if the church likes neither of these two men?

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He also asked if it is essential that the top administrator or executive vice-president of the Academy be a bishop or even a minister?

     After a recess for refreshments, the discussion resumed. Rev. H. L. Odhner said that so far as he understood it, the church can regard the episcopal degree from several different aspects. It may be regarded as consisting of those who hold executive offices in the General Church. It may also be regarded as a body of men selected as a sort of talent pool from which men can be elected or appointed to perform certain specific functions of a more wide significance than that of pastors of societies. He recalled that Bishop W. F. Pendleton in the formative days of the General Church spoke of a possible "house of bishops" which could counter the impression of one-man rule which had been exemplified in the period of Bishop Benade's sickness. The idea was that this house of bishops should be a consultative body in matters of church policy and wider administration, not necessarily that all of the bishops should hold offices. But in connection with that idea it was pointed out that in a small church such as ours this could only he carried out in the possible future; at the time, certainly, it would have made the clergy "top-heavy." He had the feeling that this concept furnished a historical background for Bishop De Charms suggestion. Such a view of the episcopacy might well he taken. But it would in a sense lower the plateau of the third degree of the priesthood and make a distinction between the third degree and the officers who, by the consent of the governed, would hold the executive offices in the church. He thought it was essential that we do not try to force issues of this sort, unless they involved things that could not be delayed. The difficulties in the way of proceeding are probably indications of Providence.

     Rev. W. Whitehead had found no facile solution, but quoted the following from a speech by Bishop W. F. Pendleton to a Joint Meeting of the Corporation and Faculty of the Academy on June 24, 1901:
     "There is one question which will, before very long, force itself to the front, namely, the division of the work now vested in the episcopal office. The Bishop of the General Church is at present charged with the episcopal duties of that body, and in addition to this he has been given general direction of the ecclesiastical and educational uses of the Academy. These two general uses, while related, are yet distinct, and ought to be vested in two men. Besides this, one man is not able to do both uses successfully, or as they should be done; especially when we consider the fact that the work in both departments is increasing and expanding every year, and ought to increase and expand if there is to be as we hope, a steady growth of the Church. It will be the duty of the Academy and the General Church to take this matter under active consideration some time in the near future."

     Mr. E. C. Bostock was in hearty sympathy with the Bishop's remarks, yet he felt that true unity would not come by passing resolutions, such as that we should have only one head, but rather from our convictions and our training, and from such considerations as we are giving this matter today and from time to time. There are many ways by which bodies can be constituted, and the main thing is to have unity in thought and purpose, and not to try to have a springboard from arbitrary bases. Certainly the situation confronting the General Church and the Academy is being solved in a very satisfactory way for the time being, because both bodies have some latitude of movement and have the right to do things in a way that is necessary and proper at the time; and necessities change very rapidly. We often find in the church that we are limited in what we would like to do because men of sufficient training are lacking. It is also true that the Academy and the General Church are corporate bodies.

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The General Church is a dual body: spiritually it consists of the Bishop and the clergy and the members of the church, who are not necessarily members of the Corporation. All administrative affairs are matters of practicality as well as theory. We are confronted here with a situation which should be solved, which does not seem possible unless we assume it is proper to do certain things which had been somewhat questioned viz., the appointment of an assistant to the Bishop as well as an Assistant Bishop. The concept presented to us this morning represented a new phase of development which cannot be started unless somebody takes the initiative. It would have to come from the Bishop, through the clergy, and then to this body. But in the last analysis it is the responsibility of the Bishop himself-whether he considers the state of the church such that the proposal can be followed out now; or whether it shall wait till the next General Assembly, when the question of an Executive Bishop or an Assistant Bishop might be brought up as a new idea and voted on by the Assembly. That is putting the matter off too long, and there is no legal reason why the step cannot he taken provided the Bishop so decides. This might sound like "passing the buck"; but it is his prerogative, and we would be very happy to see something done about it.

     Rev. Martin Pryke concluded that the best way to take action would be to content ourselves with the appointment of an assistant to the Bishop at this time. Some have felt that this would place such a man in a difficult position when his term ceased or the Bishop resigned; but there is no reason why a man in the third degree could not assume a pastorate in the church. That has happened before. He believed that if the church knew that an assistant to the Bishop was being ordained and appointed with the full confidence of the present Bishop and the present Assistant Bishop, the church would be very happy with the result.

     Mr. Edwin Asplundh observed that bishops had been appointed before, viz., Bishop Acton and Bishop Tilson. He thought it absolutely right that an assistant to the Bishop be appointed for this particular work. The Bishop, from his travels, knows the need.

     Mr. K. C. Acton urged that we defer the question of a common head and moved: "That this Council favors the appointment of an Assistant to the Bishop, to be selected in the same manner as our Bishops are selected." Rev. H. L. Odhner pointed out that this was not what the Bishop had asked for.

     The Bishop first wished to answer Mr. Stroh's question.
     "We do not know the situation with which we may, in the Divine providence, be confronted at any time. There may be the need of providing for the continuation of the uses of the Academy in many ways. It may at some time be necessary for some one to act as head of the Academy who is not a minister. But I want to stress that that is not the ideal, because the administration of the Academy education really needs the illustration of the priesthood for its guidance. And we should not lose sight of that fact. There was a time when a layman was the President of the Academy. But it was seen and recognized that for the development of the policies of the Academy the illustration of the priesthood was necessary, because education is an ecclesiastical use.
     "Now as to this other matter. I do not want to shirk my responsibility as Bishop of the General Church. My only concern was that I saw that we were going in a different direction from that of the past, and that there should be an understanding of that before any action was taken. . . . There is no pressing need for action in regard to it.

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Having had the thing discussed here and in the church, and if questions about it are answered by members of this body as to what is involved we will in a reasonable time reach a state of unanimity. At the moment we can go on as we are. But any time, because of the fact that I am no longer a young man there may be a necessity for action and for this we should have some preparation. Unity in our church is a very vital thing and we must act with deliberation and patience. Those of this Council can present the question to others, as it is wise openly to discuss the matter. Is not this the immediate need?"

     Mr. Raymond Pitcairn confirmed the need of patience and preparation but asked whether a delay meanwhile precluded the appointment of further assistance in the work. The Bishop said that it did not, and made it clear that he had in mind waiting with any formal action until a year hence.

     Rev. D. Pendleton pointed out that what Mr. Acton had put into the form of a motion was not what the Bishop had asked for. What he wanted had regard to a new concept of the uses of the third degree which would recognize his authority to select an assistant to himself and the General Church. An assistant to a Bishop has never been selected in the same way as an Assistant Bishop or an Executive Bishop.

     Mr. H. F. Pitcairn inquired as to the position of an assistant to the Bishop at the end of an administration. The Bishop noted that it was quite feasible for him to have men in the second degree give assistance in the episcopal office by appointing them to do various things without further ordination. But when there is an ordination into the third degree it would imply a more permanent function.

     Rev. K. R. Alden called attention to the fact that we have now one Assistant Bishop of the General Church, duly elected. Mr. K. C. Acton said that this did not mean we could not also have another. Mr. R. W. Childs, withdrawing his suggested resolution, noted that we never should legislate for the future. But it was his understanding that in the case of an Assistant Bishop of the type we had had in the past that bishop had been selected by the [Executive] Bishop, had then received the consent of the Council of the Clergy and the Board of Directors, and finally had been voted on by the General Assembly. The Bishop stated that such had been the case.

     Mr. Raymond Pitcairn sympathized with Mr. Reuter's view that so far as we can discuss this point in this Council it is a part of its use. It is much better to do that than to have little groups here and there vigorously expressing differing positions, which may not work for unity at all.

     Rev. R. S. Junge noted that we are the representatives of the people and that they have expressed the same type of need that the Bishop has spoken of and are in a tangle over practical problems. We are now asked to go back to these people and tell them that we are considering these needs during the year and in the meantime they are not going to be answered. At the same time we have those who are pressing for action from this body. Should we not appoint a committee as the best way to study the possibilities, so that we can report progress on the unique situation? We might even come up with a solution in the case of an emergency.

     Rev. H. L. Odhner maintained that the only committee adequate to deal with such a matter is that of the two bishops.

     Rev. V. J. Gladish spoke of the need of explaining to the church the order and organization of the church-as an order which differs from that of a political body.

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     Rev. Martin Pryke asked the Bishop to comment on his suggestion which he knew was not the same as the Bishops. Mr. P. C. Pendleton asked whether there would be any value for a committee to study the matter. The Bishop said that he was not sure.

     Mr. Edwin Asplundh noted that the Bishop can at any time appoint an assistant to the Bishop. It had been pointed out that this man ought to be in the third degree. Some would hold that he could be in the second degree, but it would seem that this would not be adequate. There was some urgency when the Bishop was not feeling well and much traveling and other things requiring physical effort faced him. The Bishop could make this appointment of an assistant at any time, just as he might ordain a man from the Theological School as a bishop. There was no reason why action could not he taken as quickly as the Bishop felt the need for it.

     The Bishop: "That could be done. But as I say it may possibly be well to delay that for a time in order that it may be possible, when we take action to look beyond that. However, for the immediate future it is quite possible to have assistance without ordination. . . . I should rather like to delay the matter of ordination until there is a greater unanimity about this further development. I think that within a year that may well come about. I just have a little feeling that an ordination right now might he a bit premature, since people in general have had no preparation for the idea and I would like them to have that preparation. I recognize what Mr. Raymond Pitcairn says, that if there is a general discussion it may lead to more division rather than to more unanimity; but my hope was that as a result of this meeting and with some guidance by the members of this Council, it would lead to greater unity."

     Rev. N. H. Rogers pointed out that one must make prudent provision for our uses when we are in a state of freedom, which is not the case in a state of emergency. For then all we can do is to provide temporary measures. It is well that we can at this time consider how to provide for the needs of the church without being under pressure.

     The Bishop: "I agree with that. In concluding: I am grateful for your consideration of this question. But if we shall take such a step, as a preliminary to it, I agree it should not be put off indefinitely, but that some further delay may be wise. If we take the matter up a year from now, with the idea of taking definite action, we will be in a better position then.
     "In regard to Mr. Junge's remarks: What has been done at this meeting is to arouse the interest of this body. That is something positive. I assure you that during the year I will give every consideration as to how things can best be done; and in consultation with Bishop Pendleton and others. It seems to me that that will suffice instead of having a committee appointed; for it is difficult to formalize it into a committee under the circumstances."

     6. The Council, its members standing in silence, adopted the following Memorial Resolution, introduced by Rev. Martin Pryke:

     The REVEREND FREDERICK EDMUND GYLLENHAAL has been a member of this Council since the year 1907-a period of fifty-two years. During that time he has rendered distinguished service to the church in Denver, Philadelphia, Durban, London, Colchester and Toronto, and in later years in Bryn Athyn where he did pioneer work in connection with the Religious Education Program of the General Church.

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In all these duties he served the Lord's New Church with love and delight as a scholar, executive and educator; but probably he will he best remembered by the many throughout the church who have known him, as a pastor and friend. With the greatest diligence and understanding he devoted himself to the care of his flock, to young and old, to student and newcomer.
BE IT NOW RESOLVED that this Council records it great appreciation of the many uses performed for the church by Frederick Gyllenhaal, as well as its great affection for him.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this minute be sent to his wife and family who have been much in our thoughts during the months of his sickness and at the time of his passing into the spiritual world.

     7.     By rising and observing a period of silence, the Council adopted the following Memorial Resolution, read by the Rev. E. C. Acton:

We, the members of the Joint Council of the Clergy and Board of Directors of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, do hereby record our thanks for the uses and services of our brother and fellow-member, WILLIAM BEEBE CALOWELL.

His fifty-eight years as a priest of the Lord's New Church were filled with a faithful, sincere, and able performance of the duties of his office. Under his leadership Sharon Church in Chicago was organized as a Society of the General Church.

For ten years he ably filled the pastorate of the Immanuel Church in Glenview. During this time he did valuable work in compiling and editing the General Church Liturgy.

But his outstanding contribution to the Church was his work as editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE. His editorials and articles are of permanent value to the church.

His editorial ability and his delicacy of judgment lent to the "Life" a dignity and excellence worthy of its standing as the official organ of the General Church of the New Jerusalem.

He also served as a Professor of Theology in the Academy's Theological School, specializing in the Doctrine of the Word and in Exposition. His valuable work in this field continues on in those who received his teaching. Now therefore BE IT RESOLVED that this expression of the appreciation of this Council be recorded as an inspiration to us to serve the church with like devotion and loyalty.

     8. Mr. P. C. Pendleton reported briefly for the COMMITTEE ON SALARIES, that the Board of Directors had approved the idea of certain increases in the ministerial salary plan, with the proviso that the matter should be brought up in the various societies so that they might register any objections. Unless there are objections, the proposals would go into effect. The same was done in the matter of teachers' salaries. There consideration was given whether they were married or single, men or women. The net result would be increases in the minimum salaries of both ministers and teachers.

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     9. The meeting adjourned, 12:30 p.m.
     Respectfully submitted,
          HUGO LJ. ODHNER,
               Secretary.

     [NOTE BY THE SECRETARY: The time allowed for the meeting did not permit the reading of the usual reports, but these will be found printed in the present issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE. The Secretary is indebted to Rev. W. C. Henderson and his committee for a tape-recording of the discussion.]
ANNUAL REPORTS 1960

ANNUAL REPORTS       Various       1960

     SECRETARY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH

     Sixty-four persons joined the General Church during the year 1959, while forty deaths and four resignations were recorded. One of these resignations was later revoked and a new certificate issued (n.4778). The net gain in membership was twenty.

     Membership, Jan. 1, 1959               2894
          (U.S.A.-1817, Other countries-1077)
     Deaths (U.S.A.-26, Others-14)          40
     Resignations (U.S.A.-0, Others-4)          4
     Losses                              44
     New certificates issued (4732-4795)     64
          (U.S.A.-41, Others-23)
     Net gain                              20
          (U.S.A.-15, Others-5)
     Membership, Jan. 1, 1960               2914
          (U.S.A.-1832, Others-1082)

NEW MEMBERS

January 1, 1959 to December 31, 1959

THE UNITED STATES


     California:     Los Angeles
Mr. Ross Kenneth Mackenzie
Mrs. R. K. (Eugenia Matilda Provin) Mackenzie

     Florida: Miami
Robert Wendell Gauzens

     Illinois: Glenview
Mr. Robert Otto Brickman
Mr. Donald Spencer Edmonds
Miss Marianne Nicholson

191




     Kentucky: Louisville
Mr. Richard Theron Bailey
Mrs. R. T. (Patrica Ann Frazier) Bailey

     Maryland: Aberdeen
Mrs. Alice Mabel Landenherger Brown

     Michigan: Detroit and District
Mr. Robert Lawrence Brown
Mrs. R. L. (Shirley Evelyn Mark) Brown
Mr. Vance Coleman Elder
Mrs. V. C. (Doris Ruth De Vere Day) Elder
Prosper Deming White, M.D.

     New Jersey: Camden
Mr. Alvern Ward Kingdon

     New Jersey: Plain field
Mrs. Robert Ernest (Virginia Louise de Maine) Ford

     Pennsylvania: Bethlehem
Mrs. David James (Janice Emeline Acton) Roscoe

     Pennsylvania: Bryn Athyn and District
Mr. Walter Harry Betz
Mr. Walter Daniel Carter
Mr. Rudolph Andrew Damm, Jr.
Mr. George Edward Graham
Mrs. G. E. (Leone Asplundh) Graham
Miss Elizabeth Ann Roberts
Mr. Howard Frederick Roth
Mr. Frank Schull
Mrs. Frank (Marjorie Carolyn Wackes) Schull
Miss Raquel Aubry Sellner
Mr. Alan Dirck Stager
Miss Kirstin Synnestvedt
Miss Ann Ruth Tessler
Mr. Grant Lee Wilmoth
Mrs. G. L. (Norma Mae Johnson) Wilmoth

     Pennsylvania: Philadelphia
Mrs. Claire Virginia Dixon Passerin
Miss Wendy Jane Rogers

     Pennsylvania: Pittsbargh
Miss Karen Ann Good
Mr. Kurt Paul Nemitz

     Virginia: Arlington
Mr. George Madison Cooper

     Washington, D. C.
Miss Barbara Allen
Miss Gale Priscilla Coffin
Mr. David Harvey Stebbing

     Wisconsin: Cottage Grove
Mr. Mark Frederick Mergen

     CANADA

     Alberta: Crooked Creek
Miss Lavinia Vivian Lemky

     British Colombia: Dawson Creek
Mr. David Friesen
Mrs. David (Frances Vakubowski) Friesen

     Ontario: Kitchener-Waterloo
Mr. Horst Otto Herbert Ims
Mrs. H. O. H. (Erika Willig) Ims

     Ontario: Toronto District
Mrs. Robert P. (Catherine Bernard Alderson) Anderson
Mrs. Erdman E. (Eileen Joan Wilson) Hendricks
Mr. Richard Motum Parker

     AFRICA

     Natal: Durban
Miss Pamela Ann Perry
Mr. Deryck van Ru

     AUSTRALIA

     Canberra
Mr. Cyril Basil Lazer

     New Sonth Wales: Hurstville
Miss Noelene Lois Miller

     DENMARK

     Copenhagen
Mr. Knud Bach
Mrs. Rosa Hansen

     ENGLAND

     London
Miss Faith Evelyn Craigie
Mr. Norman Forster

192



Mr. Henry James Lloyd
Mr. Norman Lewis Newton

     FRANCE

     Seine: Coarbevole
Mrs. Claude (Christiane Claire Madeleine Dorance) Hussenet

     SWEDEN

     Jonkoping
Mr. Karl Rudolf Sarnmark
Mr. Stig-Glista Svensson
Mrs. S. G. (Olga Ellen Kristina Sigstedt) Svensson

     DEATHS

Reported during 1959

Acton, Mr. Edreth Parry, Sept. 28, 1959, Bryn Athyn, Pa. (59)
Bellinger, Miss Annie Estella, June 16 Kitchener, Ont. (83)
Bergman, Mrs. Nils (Tekla Elizabeth Muller), Sept. 22, 1959, Chicago, Ill. (90)
Bowie, Mr. Archibald, Oct. 27, 1959, Balmore, Scotland. (95)
Bowyer, Mr. Alan Edward, Mar. 18, 1959, Colchester, England. (45)
Briscoe, Miss Volande Valerie, Oct 25, 1959, London, England. (57)
Cain, Mrs. David (Svea Erickson), details unknown. (Over 78)
Caldwell, Rev. Dr. William Beebe, Dec. 4, 1959, Bryn Athyn, Pa. (86)
Clarkson, Mr. James, Oct. 11, 1959 Balmore, Scotland. (68)
Cole, Mrs. Robert Macfarlan (Wertha Pendleton), Jan. 1, 1959, Philadelphia Pa. (67)
Cronlund, Mrs. Emil R. (Mary Guthrie Somerville), Jan. 24, 1959, Huntingdon Valley, Pa. (77)
Davis, Miss Dorothy Evelyn, Feb. 1, 1959, Bryn Athyn, Pa. (62)
De Roure, Sr. Gilberto Caire, Feb. 27, 1959, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (79)
Doering, Mrs. Adam (Arretta Newhardt), July 7, 1959, Bryn Athyn, Pa. (91)
Doering, Dr. Frank Lyons, Dec. 18, 1959, Pittsburgh, Pa. (62)
Everett, Mr. William Edward, March 24, 1959, Colchester, England. (92)
Falk, Miss Sophie, Jan. 3, 1959, Evanston, Ill. (98)
Fiedler, Mrs. Theodore F. (Marion Ruth Allen), Jan. 10, 1959, Denver, Colo. (49)
Finley, Mrs. Horace W. (Olive Sarah Elphick), Nov. 20, 1959, Dorval, P. Q., Canada. (71)
Gyllenhaal, Rev. Frederick Edmund, Nov. 23, 1959, Bryn Athyn, Pa. (76)
Hamm, Mr. William, Aug. 25, 1959, Chicago, Ill. (63)
Hilldale, Mr. John Harry, May 31, 1959, Oak Hill, Fla. (65)
Hyatt, Mr. Winfred Sumner, Dec. 9, 1959, Bryn Athyn, Pa. (68)
Klein, Miss Anna Magdalena, Jan. 12, 1959, Willow Grove, Pa. (96)
Knapp, Mrs. William Felix (Adeline Browning), Apr. 25, 1959, Baltimore, Md. (53)
Littlejohn, Mr. Harry Edgar, Jan. 27, 1959, Walla Walla, Wash. (91)
Longstaff, Mrs. Fred E. (Margaret A. McColl), Mar. 13, 1959, Toronto, Ont. (75)
Merlin, Mr. Valentine Karl, May 9, 1959, Bryn Athyn, Pa. (80)
Powell, William W., of Columbus, 0. Details unknown. (Over 68)
Renkenberger, Miss Minnie Alberta, Apr. 3, 1959, Salem, 0. (90)
Rhodes, Mr. Telford O., Sept. 12, 1959, Pittsburgh, Pa. (88)
Roschman, Mr. Samuel Hughes, Aug. 9, 1959, Waterloo, Ont. (83)
Rotenberry, Mrs. S. L. (Freddie Alice Porter), of Clinton, Ill. Died in 1959. (80)
Schnarr, Mrs. John Henry (Annie Clara Doering), Apr. 29, 1959, Kitchener, Ont. (89)

193



Smith, Mrs. Aidwin Curban (Flora Febleisen Heath), May 6, 1959, Bryn Athyn, Pa. (57)
Smith, Mrs. Besse (Edmonds), Apr. 18, 1959, Philadelphia, Pa. (88)
Smith, Mr. Hobert Glenn, July 27, 1959, Bryn Athyn, Pa. (65)
Sole, Mrs. William G. B. (Lillian Katherine Schweitzer), Jan. 7,1959, Kitchener, Ont. (70)
van Haersolte van Haerst s'Gravesande Guicherit, Barones Anna Willemina, Nov. 13, 1959, Bilthoven, Holland. (70)
Waters, Mr. Gilbert Owen, Mar. 31, 1959, London, England. (54)

     RESIGNATIONS

Heide, Miss Sigrid Regine, Oslo, Norway.
Sigstedt, Mr. Karl-Henrik, Jonkoping, Sweden.
Strum, Mrs. Margit Ann-Kajsa, (Ostenson), Bromma, Sweden.

     SOUTH AFRICAN MISSION

     No statistical Report has been received from the South African Mission of the General Church.
     Respectfully submitted,
          HUGO LJ. ODHNER,
               Secretary.


     COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY

     January 1, 1959 to January 1, 1960


     MEMBERSHIP

     There were no inaugurations into the priesthood during the year, and no ordinations into higher degrees; but with the deaths of two senior members the Council decreased by two to thirty-five. Included in this total are two priests of the episcopal degree, thirty-one of the pastoral degree, and two of the ministerial degree. The active membership is thirty-one; and six members of the Council are retired or engaged in secular work, although some of them still give assistance to the pastoral office.
     There are two Authorized Candidates in the Academy of the New Church Theological School and one Authorized Candidate in Brazil; the British Guiana Mission has one priest of the pastoral degree; and in the South African Mission there are eight priests of the pastoral degree and three of the ministerial degree. An Authorized Leader is still appointed to the Circle at The Hague in the Netherlands. A list of the clergy of the General Church and its Missions appears in NEW CHURCH LIFE for December, 1959, pp. 597-600.


     STATISTICS

     Statistics concerning the Sacraments and Rites of the Church administered in 1959, compiled from 32 reports received up to the end of February, 1960, together with the final though still incomplete figures for 1958, are as follows:

194




                                   1959          1958
Baptisms (Children, 166; Adults, 45)     211          182          (+29)
Holy Supper: Administrations               207          181          (+26)
          Communicants               4566          4496          (+70)
Confessions of Faith                    25          23          (+2)
Betrothals                              21          25          (- 4)
Marriages                              26          35          (- 9)
Funerals or Memorial Services               49          39          (+10)
Ordinations                              0          1          (- 1)
Dedications:     Homes                    12          9          (+3)


     The above figures do not include administration of Sacraments and Rites in the South African Mission. As well as the homes mentioned, one church building and one school building were dedicated. There was one blessing on a civil marriage which is not included in the total. Attention is drawn to the fact that slightly more than 21% of all baptisms were those of adults. The value of the comparative table is decreased by the fact that it is, as usual, incomplete.

     REPORTS OF MEMBERS OF THE CLERGY

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

     BISHOP OF THE GENERAL CHURCH

     DEDICATIONS: On September 15, he dedicated the new intermediate building of the Bryn Athyn Elementary School. On September 20, he dedicated the recently purchased church building of the Washington, D. C., Society.

     PASTORAL CHANGES: There were none in 1959.

     ASSEMBLIES: He presided over the Twenty-second General Assembly of the General Church, held at Lake Forest, Illinois, June 17-21 inclusive.

     EPISCOPAL VISITS: He visited the Advent Church in Philadelphia on February 22nd. On March 21, he left on a trip through the Southeastern United States on which he spent several days in Atlanta, Ga., Daytona Beach, New Smyrna and Miami, Fla., returning home on April 6. He visited Glendale, Ohio (South Ohio Circle), April 18-20, inclusive; the Carmel Church in Kitchener, Ontario, October 16-18; and the Olivet Church in Toronto, November 13-15.

     OTHER ACTIVITIES: He presided over the Annual Council Meetings of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, held in Bryn Athyn, January 26-31; and over the meetings of the Corporations of the General Church and their Board of Directors during the year.
     He received valued assistance in the conduct of the episcopal office from Bishop Willard D. Pendleton.

     COMMITTEE APPOINTMENT: He appointed the Rev. B. David Holm as chairman of a committee to co-operate with the Young People's League of the General Convention in promoting contacts between the young people who are away from home and New Church families of both bodies.

195




     PASTOR OF THE BRYN ATHYN CHURCH

     As Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church he preached five times during the year, conducted services regularly, administered the sacraments and rites, delivered two series of doctrinal lectures, and presided over meetings of the Society, the Board of Trustees and the Pastor's Council.
     He wished to acknowledge gratefully the regular assistance given to the pastoral office by Bishop Willard D. Pendleton and Assistant Pastors David R. Simons and Kenneth O. Stroh. In addition, he would extend sincere thanks to the Rev. Messrs. Hugo Lj. Odhner, Karl R. Alden, W. Cairns Henderson, Dandridge Pendleton, Ormond de C. Odhner, William Whitehead, and pastors from other church centers who filled the pulpit from time to time.

     THE ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH

     During the first semester he taught one theological course. He taught one course in education during both semesters.



     The Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton, Assistant Bishop of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, President of the Academy of the New Church, and a Professor of Theology in the Academy, reports as follows:
     During the past year the greater part of his time was devoted to the work of the Academy. However, he presided over the British Assembly, held in Colchester, England, July 17-19, and continued to give assistance in the work of the Bryn Athyn Society.
     As chairman of the General Church Liturgy Committee he would note that progress is being made. It will be several years before we can hope to publish a new edition of the Liturgy; but the committee is unanimous in feeling that it would be a mistake to work against a final deadline.

     Rev. A. Wynne Acton continued to serve as Pastor of the Durban Society and as Superintendent of the South African Mission. During the latter part of the year, after five years of service in South Africa, he had three months' leave, during which he visited with his wife New Church centers in Salisbury, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Jonkoping, Bryn Athyn, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Glenview, London and Colchester. At each of these places he preached and/or gave an address. His assistant, the Rev. D. W. Heinrichs, carried on the work in his absence.

     Rev. Elmo C. Acton, Pastor of the Immanuel Church of the New Jerusalem, Glenview, Illinois, and Pastor of Sharon Church, Chicago, reports that the Rev. Victor J. Gladish has assisted in the work in Sharon Church, preaching there twice a month and taking part in the deliberations of the councils.

     Rev. Karl R. Alden, Director of General Church Religion Lessons and Editor of NEW CHURCH EDUCATION, in addition to his regular duties preached in Bryn Athyn, Pittsburgh, Toronto, Morristown, N. 3., Washington, D. C., and Paupack, Pa. He also held a biweekly class at his home during the season.

     Rev. Gustaf Baeckstrom, retired, had charge of the Book Room in Stockholm from June through August during the absence of the Rev. Bj6rn A. H. Boyesen from Sweden.

     Rev. Geoffrey S. Childs was engaged as Pastor of Carmel Church, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, and as Principal of the Carmel Church School.

196


He mentions that much time has been devoted by Society committees and the Pastor to planning for a new church building and school.

     Rev. Harold C. Cranch, Visiting Pastor to California and the Arizona District, also served as chairman of the Church Extension Committee. He conducted a camp program and a young people's weekend, and reports that Sunday school work in the district is progressing and the Glendale Circle is growing, despite the fact that he is away two weeks in every month. New Church films are still being prepared, and it is hoped that some will soon be ready for use. He gave several public lectures.

     Rev. Roy Franson served as Pastor of the Dawson Creek (British Columbia) Group; and as Visiting Pastor to the groups in Gorande Prairie and Oyen, Alberta, Renata and Vancouver, B. C., Seattle and Spokane, Wash., and Portland, Oregon.

     Rev. Victor J. Gladish, in secular work, conducted twenty-two services at Sharon Church, Chicago three services in the Immanuel Church, Glenview, and one children's service at Wilmington, Illinois on the occasion of a family gathering.

     Rev. Daniel W. Heinricks continued to serve as Assistant to the Pastor of the Durban Society and Assistant to the Superintendent of the South African Mission. He was in temporary charge of both the Durban Society and the Mission during the absence of the Rev. A. Wynne Acton.

     Rev. Henry Heinrichs, in secular work, preached eight times in Kitchener and three times in Toronto. He had commenced a series of introductory classes in Kitchener which would be continued in 1960.

     Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Secretary of the Council of the Clergy, Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE, Visiting Pastor to New England, Chairman of the General Church Sound Recording Committee, and a Professor of Theology in the Academy of the New Church, in addition to monthly visits to New England, preached in Bryn Athyn, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and State College, Pa. He conducted two private classes, each meeting biweekly. In the Academy he taught one course in the Theological School and one course each in the Senior and Junior Colleges.

     Rev. B. David Holm was engaged as Visiting Pastor to the Erie, North Ohio, and South Ohio Circles of the General Church, including the isolated members from Louisville, Ky., to Erie, Pa.

     Rev. Robert S. Junge continued to serve as Visiting Pastor to the Central Western District. He reports that the Denver and Fort Worth Circles have continued their functions; and that the biggest task has been to maintain religious instruction for 52 children already of an age to receive such teaching.

     Rev. Louis B. King was engaged as Pastor of the Pittsburgh Society and as Headmaster of the Pittsburgh New Church School.

     Rev. Joao de Mendonca Lima has continued to serve as Pastor of the Rio de Janeiro Society.

     Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner, Secretary of the General Church, a Professor of Theology in the Academy of the New Church and Dean of the Theological School, preached twice in Bryn Athyn and four times elsewhere, gave five doctrinal classes and seven private classes, and delivered various addresses. In the Academy he taught courses in Theology and Philosophy, and one course m Religion.

     Rev. Dandridge Pendleton, an Instructor in Religion in the Academy of the New Church, preached four times in Bryn Athyn and once in Pittsburgh.

197




     Rev. Martin Pryke was engaged as Pastor of the Olivet Church of the New Jerusalem, Toronto, Canada, and as Visiting Pastor of the Montreal Circle.

     Rev. Norman H. Reuter continued to serve as Pastor of the Detroit Society.

     Rev. Morley D. Rich was engaged as Resident Pastor of the Miami Circle, and as Visiting Pastor to Florida, Georgia and Alabama, and the East-central Florida and Atlanta, Ga., groups.

     Rev. Norbert H. Rogers was engaged as Pastor of the Advent Church, Philadelphia, Pa., as Visiting Pastor to the New York and Northern New Jersey Circles, and as an Instructor in the Academy Schools.

     Rev. Frank S. Rose served as Visiting Pastor to the isolated in Great Britain, Holland, Belgium, France, and Vienna, and to the Circles in Paris and The Hague. In addition to his regular duties, he preached once in Bryn Athyn and Glenview, three times in London, and nine times in Colchester. He also acted as Headmaster of the first British Academy Summer School.

     Rev. Erik Sandstrom, in addition to his duties as Pastor of Michael Church, London, England, continued to serve as chairman of the British Academy of the New Church, as president of the New Church Club, and as a member of the Swedenborg Society's Advisory and Revision Board. He preached and gave doctrinal classes in Colchester and other areas, delivered various addresses, preached the British Assembly sermon, and taught at the British Academy Summer School.

     Rev. Frederick L. Schnarr was engaged until September 1 as Pastor of the Baltimore, Md., and Washington, D. C., Societies and as Visiting Pastor to North and South Carolina and Virginia. On that date the Baltimore and Washington Societies became one.

     Rev. David R. Simons continued to be engaged as an Assistant Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church and as Principal of the Bryn Athyn Elementary School. He preached six times in Bryn Athyn, made occasional visits to other Societies, and taught one course in the Academy of the New Church College.

     Rev. Kenneth O. Stroh, an Assistant Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church and Director of Music for the Bryn Athyn Church, accepted appointment as chairman of the General Church Liturgy Music Committee.

     Rev. Jan H. Weiss was engaged as Assistant to the Pastor of the Immanuel Church, Glenview, Illinois, and as Visiting Pastor to the Madison and St. Paul Circles and the St. Louis Group.

     Rev. William Whitehead has been engaged as a special teacher in the Academy of the New Church College. His major occupation has been the compilation of Annals of the New Church, vol. 3 (1901-1959), which was now nearly completed. Volume 2 (1851-1900), is already completed.



     Rev. Raymond G. Cranch, in secular work, preached once in Erie, Pa.

     Rev. Donald L. Rose continued to serve as Minister of the Hurstville (Australia) Society. He made one visit each to Adelaide and Sorrento and two visits each to Canberra and Lancefield. He also sent tape-recorded sermons and classes to Auckland, New Zealand, and to Adelaide, South Australia.
     Respectfully submitted,
          W. CAIRNS HENDERSON,
               Secretary.

198





     GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM

     (A Pennsylvania Corporation)

     and

     THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM

     (An Illinois Corporation)


     REPORT OF THE SECRETARY

     FOR THE

     YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 1959

     MEMBERSHIP
     During the year 1959, the number of persons comprising the membership of both Corporations increased by 8 from 262 to 270 in accordance with the following tabulation:

                    Date of          Net          Date of
                    12/31/1958          Change     12/31/1959
Members of

Illinois Corporation only     8          None          8
Both Corporations               254          Add 8          262
Total Persons               262          Add 8          270

Total Members of
Illinois Corporation          262          Add 8          270
Pennsylvania Corporation     254          Add 8          262

     The several Net Changes consisted of:

15 New Members of both Corporations:

Alfelt, Lennart
Asplundh, Barr E.
Asplundh, B. Boyd
Asplundh, Robert H.
Bradin, Leo Robert
Brewer, Winton I.
Doering, Edward W.
Gladish, Robert W.
Junge, Robert S.
Pitcairn, Joel
Rhodes, T. 0.
Synnestvedt, H. Stuart
Tessing, Arvid V.
Thomas, Joseph A.
Welander, Gustav

7 Deaths of members of both Corporations:

Doering, Frank L.
Gyllenhaal, Frederick E.
Hamm, William
Hyatt, Winfred S.
Rhodes, T. 0.
Smith, Hobart G.
Soderberg, John

199





     DIRECTORS

     The two Corporations each have the same thirty Directors, ten of whom are elected each year for terms of three years. At the 1959 Annual Meetings, ten Directors were elected for terms expiring in 1962.

1961 Acton, Daric E.
1962 Acton, Kesniel C.
1960 Anderson, Reginald S.
1960 Asplundh, Carl Hi.
1961 Asplundh, Edwin T.
1961 Asplundh, Lester
1960 Barnitz, Robert G.
1961 Blackman, Geoffrey B.
1962 Bostock, Edward C.
1961 Childs, Randolph W.
1962 Cockerell, Gordon D.
1960 Coulter, Robert I.
1962 Davis, Edward H.
1962 De Charms, George
1960 Doering, George C.
1961 Glenn, Theodore N.
1962 Hilldale, Robert C.
1961 Howard, John
1960 Kitzelman, Edward
1961 Kuhl, John E.
1960 Lee, Sydney E.
1961 Loven, Tore E.
1960 Morley, H. Keith
1961 Pendleton, Philip C.
1962 Pendleton, Willard D.
1962 Pitcairn, Harold F.
1962 Pitcairn, Raymond
1962 Pryke, F. G. Colley
1960 Smith, Gilbert M.
1960 Synnestvedt, Arthur


     The Honorary Directors are Marlin W. Heilman and Hubert Hyatt.

     OFFICERS

     The two Corporations each also have the same four Officers, each of whom is elected yearly for a term of one year. Those elected at the Board Meetings of June 20, 1959, were:

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


     CORPORATION MEETINGS

     The 1959 Annual Corporation Meetings were held at Lake Forest, Illinois, on June 20, these being the only Corporation Meetings held during the year. The President, Bishop De Charms, presided, and the attendance numbered 65 persons, each a member of both Corporations. Reports were received from the President, the Secretary, and the Treasurer, and from the Committees on: Audit of Securities; Nomination of Directors, and Salaries.

     BOARD MEETINGS

     The Board of Directors held four meetings during 1939, the President presiding at each of them. The average attendance of Directors was 18 with a maximum of 21 and a minimum of 13.
     The business of the Board of Directors transacted during the first half of the year was covered in a report submitted to the Annual Corporation Meeting held in June 1959.
     Since that time the organization meeting and one regular meeting have been held. Action was taken to approve travel expenses of certain ministers to attend the Council Meetings in January, 1960. Funds were appropriated for help in the support of a teacher under the Teachers Minimum Salary Plan, for work in Canada visiting the isolated; and an overdraft by the Kent Manor Farm, to finance the sugar crop, was guaranteed.

200


An invitation from the Young People's League of the General Convention to appoint a Committee to co-operate with them in carrying out the Open Gate Plan was tentatively approved. The subject of an episcopal assistant was studied and other important matters were discussed, upon which there was no action.
     Respectfully submitted,
          STEPHEN PITCAIRN,
               Secretary.

     TREASURER OF THE GENERAL CHURCH

     REPORT FOR 1959

     The trend in the financial affairs of the General Church continued, in 1959, the substantial upswing started the previous year.
     Most impressive was the expanding number of General Church contributors. Last year in Bryn Athyn alone, 50 new donors were added to the rolls. Throughout the Church an increase of 111 brought the total to an all-time high of 819 contributing units. This was accompanied by approximately 3000 additional dollars, and the record total provided 36% of operating income.
     Part of the improvement in numbers was due to more accurate records submitted by the various treasury agents, but a large percentage of the gain was the result of an organized contributions committee and the diligent work of its members throughout the Church.
     Investment income also increased last year from the combination of a higher return on securities and additions to capital in 1958. As a result, total income for the year was $10,000 higher than the previous twelve months' period.
     The improved support picture was evident in another direction also; namely, the reduction of need for assistance from the General Church. In spite of increased salary rates from annual increments, the 1958 Salary Plan amendments, and the new Male Teacher Salary Plan, expenditures to support the Plans decreased last year.
     In the pastoral extension work, expenses were up slightly, but this was more than offset by increased contributions from the areas served.
     Actually, excluding the item of $3500 to cover the cost of Assembly travel, total expenses were only nominally above the previous year. It might be observed here, that while moving expenses were conspicuously absent in 1959, this volatile factor has been stabilized by the creation, last year, of a reserve for the purpose.
     Consequently, the year ended with a surplus of 19% of operating income. From this balance the Board of Directors has appropriated additions to the reserves for moving and republishing the Liturgy, leaving an addition to Net Worth of approximately $13,000.
     The following is a summary of Income and Expense:

INCOME                         1959               1958
Contributions
     Individual Gifts and Grants     $47,213.51          $ 44,138.26
     Special Endowment Income     26,588.03          26,525.50
     South African Mission          1,540.54          1,629.79
     Total                         $ 75,342.08          $ 72,293.55


201



Investment Income
     General Fund                30,477.12          28,419.50
     Endowment Funds          20,991.40          17,132.22
New Church Life                    3,939.67          3,055.07
Sundry                         142.96.          41.06

Total Income                    $130,893.23     $120,941.40

EXPENSE
Administration
     Bishop's Office               $ 11,867.25     $ 11,535.25
     Financial and
           Corporate Affairs     7,673.21          7,986.14
     New Church Life                12,318.28          11,395.81
     Religion Lessons               3,246.00          3,055.07
     Committees and Councils          1,269.73          900.35
     Other                         -               635.39

Total                              $ 36,374.47          $ 37,195.60

Pastoral Extension Work               35,529.88          34,448.71
Support of Salary Plans               14,559.36          15,323.62
Ministerial Moving               -               1,652.86
South African Mission               12,077.30          11,541.35
Assembly Travel                    3,236.21          -
Other                              4,113.06          997.42

Total Expense                    $105,890.28          $101,159.56

Appropriated from Surplus
     Reserve for Moving Expense     $ 10,000.00          $ 10,000.00
     Reserve for
          Republishing Liturgy     2,000.00          2,000.00
     New Addressograph           -               1,500.00
     Publication Committee          -               200.00

Balance to Net Worth               $ 13,002.95     $ 6,081.84

     A breakdown of expenditures by areas gives an interesting picture of where last year's contribution dollar was spent.
     Both as to total amounts and cents per dollar contributed, the distribution was approximately as follows:

     Administration               $36,380.          .34
     Circles, Groups
          and Isolated in USA     28,640.          .27
     South Africa               14,740.          .14
     Canada                    7,580.          .07
     England                    7,130.          .07
     Societies in USA               4,950.          ,05
     Sweden                    4,380.          .04
     Europe                    720.               .005
     All Other                    1,380.          .015

                              $105,900.          $1.00


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     Total direct contribution dollars covered a little less than half of 6perating expenses. In the various Capital Funds of the General Church further gains were likewise recorded during 1959. Worthy of special comment were contributions to Endowment, totalling over $69,000 from different members of the Pitcairn families. Also of interest was the continued growth of the Pension Fund. Nineteen pensioners last year received a total of $20,900 which was amply covered by investment return of $17,500, plus additions under the Plan of $19,100.
     It is fortunate indeed that the financial situation of the General Church has improved so greatly during the last two years. For 1960 marks the beginning of another round of substantially increasing expenditures.
     Next year improvement in the salary plans will have to be considered; two theological candidates will enter the ministry; and increased activity is anticipated in the fields of missionary and publication work. All these and other specific needs will add materially to the budget for 1960.
     Respectfully submitted,
          LEONARD E. GYLLENHAAL,
               Treasurer.


     EDITOR OF "NEW CHURCH LIFE"

     With the proceedings of the Twenty-second General Assembly to be published, thirty-two extra pages were required for NEW CHURCH LIFE in 1959. In order of space used, the total of 608 instead of 576 pages was made up as follows:

                         Pages
     Articles               290
     Sermons               82
     Reports               75
     Church News               55
     Editorials               32
     Announcements          28
     Miscellaneous          14
     Talks to Children          11
     Directories               8
     Reviews               7
     Communications          6
     
                         608

     These figures follow the normal pattern and contain but a few minor variations. In an Assembly year the number of pages needed for reports is always higher as officers and committees of the General Church report twice-to the Annual Council Meetings and to the General Assembly. Excluding editorials, news notes and reports, the contents of NEW CHURCH LIFE in 1959 came from 41 contributors-26 ministerial and 15 lay, the latter including two ladies. As always, the editor would express warm appreciation to those whose literary contributions have filled the pages of the Journal, and have given variety to its contents.

     CIRCULATION

     Figures as of December 31, 1959, supplied by the Business Manager show that paid subscriptions increased by 2, from 1012 to 1014. Total circulation is shown in the following tabulation:

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                              1958               1959
     Paid subscriptions          1012               1014
     Free to our Clergy,
          Public Libraries,
          New Church Book
          Rooms, Exchanges,
          etc                    167               163
     
                              1179               1177

     Effective July, 1959 the subscription price of. NEW CHURCH LIFE was increased from $3.00 to $5.00 per year. It is still too soon to know what effect this may have on paid circulation.
     Respectfully submitted,
          W. CAIRNS HENDERSON,
               Editor.


     PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE

     Several projects have been before the committee during the year. In May we received the final copy for a pamphlet by the Rev. Martin Pryke on "Our Funeral Customs." Owing to difficulties of communication, the manuscript is not yet published, but the selection of a printer will be arranged for at our annual meeting on February 1, 1960. Under consideration are three other pastoral pamphlets: on New Church Baptism, The New Church Observance of the Holy Supper, and The Confession of Faith.
     First Songs for Little Children has seen a second edition, with improved binding.
     Some charming illustrations for a story by Gertrude Nelson Diem, "In the King's Service," have been offered by Mr. Kenneth Hultgren, our West Coast artist, and it is hoped that this children's book may be published this year. Other children stories by Mrs. Diem, mostly from the Word, are planned for republication.
     The committee held eight meetings during the year, but at five of these only two members could be present. The committee consists of the Rev. Messrs. Karl R. Alden, Harold C. Cranch, Norman H. Reuter, Robert S. Junge, and the chairman.
     Respectfully submitted,
          HUGO Lj. OOHNER,
               Chairman.


     RELIGION LESSONS COMMITTEE

     The General Church Religion Lessons are maintained through the aid of a great many members of Theta Alpha. Miss Margaret Bostock is elected by Theta Alpha as chairman of the counselors. The following women are counselors and teachers at the present time:

VICE CHAIRMAN: Elizabeth M. (Mrs. P.) Cronlund

FESTIVAL LESSONS
     Advisor in Charge: Carita P. (Mrs. R.) de Charms
     Assistants:     Sue A. (Mrs. E.) Allen, Helen M. (Mrs. H.) Boggess, Alice H. (Mrs. B.) Glenn, Mary R. (Mrs. C.) van Zyverden

PRESCHOOL

Counselor:     Alice Fritz

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KINDERGARTEN

     Counselor:     Gertrude A. (Mrs. W.) Cooper
     Teachers:     Janet D. (Mrs. J.) Austen, Adrienne L. (Mrs. D.) Burnham, Janna S. (Mrs. T.) Glebe, Dawn W. (Mrs. J.) Gruber, Margaret E. (Mrs. H.) Needle, Phyllis B. (Mrs. G.) Pitcairn, Berith A. (Mrs. H.) Simons
GRADE 1

     Counselor:     Ann 0. (Mrs. T.) Doering
     Teachers:     Yadah H. (Mrs. R.) Alden, Gaynell J. (Mrs. G.) Cooper, Dinah G. (Mrs. C.) Gyllenhaal, Linda H. (Mrs. R.) Klein, Mabel F. (Mrs. E.) Klein, Virginia S. (Mrs. T.) Tyler

GRADE 2 (SECTION A)

     Counselor:     Eva S. (Mrs. C.) Henderson
     Teachers:     Doris A. (Mrs. D.) Halterman, Joan S. (Mrs. H.) Henderson, Dorie Heinrichs, Patricia Kuhl, Judith McQueen

GRADE 2 (SECTION B)

     Counselor:     Ruona R. (Mrs. H.) Heinrichs
     Teachers:     Clare S. (Mrs. A.) Hasen, Betty B. (Mrs. L.) Hill, Carolyn Kuhl, Laura Kuhl, Eileen S. (Mrs. G.) Niall

GRADE 3

     Counselor:     Janet Kendig
     Teachers:     Dorothy A. (Mrs. J.) Kendig, Ethel S. (Mrs. A.) Kolbe, Helen C. (Mrs. A.) Soderberg

GRADE 4

     Counselor:     Martha L. (Mrs. K.) Asplundh
     Teachers:     Marilyn P. (Mrs. R.) Asplundh, Sue Brown, Jeryl Glenn, Anne T. (Mrs. L.) Synnestvedt, Dorothy (Mrs. D.) Synnestvedt, Christine B. (Mrs. D.) Taylor, Beatrice Trimble

GRADE 5

     Counselor:     Myra J. (Mrs. B.) Asplundh
     Teachers:     Virginia H. (Mrs. W.) Brown, Marion H. (Mrs. D.) Horigan, Jeanne van Z. (Mrs. K.) McQueen, Joy S. (Mrs. D.) McQueen, Peggy K. (Mrs. R.) Merrell

GRADE 6 (DETROIT)

     Counselor:     Rita S. (Mrs. T.) Steen
     Teachers:     Jane (Mrs. V.) Birchman, Beatrice C. (Mrs. W.) Childs, Sue Elder, Nancy (Mrs. R.) Shaw

GRADE 7 (PITTSBURGH)

     Counselor:     Marion C. (Mrs. R.) Kendig
     Teachers:     Elise J. (Mrs. P.) Brown, Patricia de M. (Mrs. J.) David, Janet McClarren, Venita Roschman, Venita B. (Mrs. G.) Smith

GRADES 8 and 9 (GLENVIEW)

     Counselor:     Virginia Junge
     Teachers:     Kathleen L. (Mrs. A.) Fuller, Sharon A. (Mrs. K.) Holmes, Olive McQueen (Mrs. S.) Lee

GRADE 10

     Counselor:     Judith Nemitz
     Teachers:     Marlene Fiedler, June Kitzelman, Cora Schoenberger, Walter Cranch

GRADES 11 and 12

     Counselor:     Jane H. (Mrs. S.) Ebert
     Teachers:     Annette B. (Mrs. R.) Brown, Jo (Mrs. W.) Homiller, Rita E.
(Mrs. K.) Simons, Gretchen Schoenberger

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     The executive committee consists of the Director, the President of Theta Alpha, the Chairman of the Lessons Committee, and the following:

Treasurer                    Byron Gates
Recording Secretary          Marcia H. (Mrs. L.) Pendleton
Office Secretary               Thelma (Mrs. B.) Gates
Corresponding Secretary     Barbara D. (Mrs. C.) Bostock
Art Work                    Jacqueline S. (Mrs. R.) Bostock

     The religion lessons are sent out to 232 families, who have 472 children receiving lessons. NEW CHURCH EDUCATION is published ten times a year, monthly from September through June, and is designed to support the work of the committee. The present number of subscribers is 478.
     A full account of the work in which the Religion Lessons Committee is engaged will he found in NEW CHURCH LIFE, October, 1959, page 474.
     Respectfully submitted,
          KARL R. ALDEN,
               Director.


     SOUND RECORDING COMMITTEE

     An encouraging change in the financial situation of the committee occurred during 1959. Increased income, particularly from special contributions, offset an increase in expenditure, and provided for continued operation without deficit. User contributions have risen also, and we now receive an average of $1.50 per circulated tape- an increase of nearly 50 cents over last year. Total income was $6,289.85; and with total expenses of $5,625.66, there was a balance of $664.19 at the end of the fiscal year. Committee net worth at the same period was $17,082.57.
     However, the situation is less encouraging in regard to the use the committee was established to perform. During the year there was a decrease of nearly 15% in the number of recordings circulated-the first time in nearly twelve years of operation that circulation has decreased. The reasons for this decrease are not known, but a committee under the chairmanship of Mrs. Kenneth P. Synnestvedt will endeavor to find out what they are. It is hoped that a reluctance on the part of users to borrow tapes beyond their ability to contribute is not a factor; such a restriction, we feel, would not be desirable.
     Because of his professional duties, Mr. Kenneth P. Synnestvedt resigned during the year from the vice chairmanship of the committee-a position he had held since the committee was formed. It is almost impossible to express adequately appreciation of his devotion and service, or to say how much is owed to him by the committee and by the isolated throughout the General Church who benefit from the committee's work. Our sense of loss is balanced by the facts that Mr. Synnestvedt will continue as a member of the committee, and that Mr. E. Boyd Asplundh has accepted appointment as vice chairman. Mr. Asplundh's keen interest, zeal and energy have been known and felt for some time; and with him as executive officer of the committee we look forward confidently to further progress.
     An entirely new catalogue was issued in the fall of 1959. This represented not only a considerable revision but also some changes in format designed to facilitate use of the catalogue in selecting tape recordings.
     October, 1959, marked the end of our tenth year of service to the General Church. In the near future, a long-range planning committee under the chairmanship of Mr. E. Boyd Asplundh will be set up to consider and report on lines along which the committee may develop in the years that lie ahead.
     Respectfully submitted,
          W. CAIRNS HENDERSON,
               Chairman.

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     VISUAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE

     RECEIPTS

Cash on hand January 1, 1959               $272.95
Sold one set of Tabernacle slides          15.00
Rental and postage on slides loaned          26.31

Balance on hand December 31, 1959          $314.26

     No funds were expended during the year, and there has been less activity in the field of rentals than in former years.
     During 1959, the model of the Tabernacle of Israel belonging to the Bryn Athyn Church has been completely overhauled and restored as it was when new. Since this work was finished it has been completely rephotographed, and sets of 50 slides are now being prepared both for the committee's slide library and for sale at $15.00 a set. It is expected that these will be ready in about two weeks.
     Respectfully submitted,
          WILLIAM R. COOPER,
               Director.
AIR LINES CLERGY BUREAU 1960

AIR LINES CLERGY BUREAU              1960

     Members of the clergy in the United States and Canada are advised that an Air Lines Clergy Bureau has been formed. The present participating airlines are Cordova, Bonanza, Central, Allegheny and Northeast Air Lines. These lines issue their own individual identification cards at a fee of $5.00 per annum, good only on the lines for which they are issued. The Air Lines Clergy Bureau is working on a program whereby these lines will file a consolidated tariff, so that the identification card of the Bureau will be honored by all lines, and it will continue its efforts until all domestic airlines enter the program and the Clergy Bureau identification card is honored by all airlines in the United States. The registration fee, $12.50 per annum, will not be increased as other lines enter the program. For further information write to: Air Lines Clergy Bureau, Municipal Airport, Sacramento, California.

207


HIS LIFE FOR HIS SHEEP 1960

HIS LIFE FOR HIS SHEEP       Editor       1960


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published by
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.
Editor - - Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager - - Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, changes of address, and business communications, should be sent to the Business Manager. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.

TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$5.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy, 50 cents.
     The Lords teaching concerning Himself as the Good Shepherd soars to its climax in the words: "and I lay down My life for the sheep." Christians have regarded the passion of the cross as the complete fulfillment of this declaration; and linking it with the Lord's other saying-"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends"
have been moved, in contemplation of the Lord's passion, to the kind of emotional response that may be stimulated by remembrance of a supreme sacrifice and the love that inspired it.
     This declaration does refer to the death on the cross, and to the Lord's love for the salvation of men; but to the cross, not as redemption itself, but as the last of the Lord's temptations. For the deeper meaning, and one that may evoke a more interior response, is that the Lord, from His own freedom and by His own power, admitted temptations and conquered in them, thus subjugating the hells, reducing the heavens to order, and making Divine the Human in Himself, and laid down the life of the body that He might unite the Human with the Divine in Himself.
     Concerning that life the Lord added: "No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." From His own freedom and by His own power the Lord laid down on the cross that which was a form of life, and rose as life itself in the Human. Yet He did so, not as an expiatory sacrifice, but that those who would will to follow Him should be regenerated. In this alone can His love for the salvation of men be satisfied; and in and for this He laid down His life for the sheep.

208


Church News 1960

Church News       Various       1960

     GENERAL CHURCH

     Authorized Candidates in the Academy of the New Church Theological School will assist and gain experience of pastoral work during the summer: Mr. Gudmund Boolsen in Denmark, and Mr. Geoffrey Howard in the Glenview, Kitchener, and Toronto Societies.

     THE HAGUE, HOLLAND
     Last year our pastor, the Rev. Frank Rose, again visited us twice. His first visit took place April 3-8, 1959; and on the 4th we had a gathering in the afternoon, with slides and a talk on the Parable of the Unjust Steward (Luke 16). On Sunday morning Mr. Rose conducted a service, his sermon being on "The Unjust Judge" (Luke 18: 6, 7). The service was attended by seven persons and six partook of the Holy Supper. In the evening there was a class at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Verroen-Francis at Rijswijk, where we listened to a talk on "Divine Providence."
     Mr. Rose's second visit occurred November 20-23. On Saturday evening we had a talk, with slides, on "Jesus at the Synagogue" (Luke 4: 16-36). At the service on Sunday morning Mr. Rose preached on Amos 8: 11-14. This time the sermon was in Dutch, which was very much appreciated, as there are a few members for whom it is difficult to understand a sermon in English. The service was attended by eight persons, and there were seven communicants at the administration of the Holy Supper. After a quick luncheon we had a class on "The Laws of Divine Providence" (DP 71, 100, 129, 154, 175). This class was so interesting that I later translated it into Dutch and sent it to members who had not been able to attend.
     A service was held in the home on the last Sunday of every month. The celebration of New Church Day took place at the home of Mrs. Scholtes, as she had been ill and was not quite recovered. A sermon by the Rev. Gilbert Smith, "First Signs of the New Church" (Matthew 24:
32, 33), was read. The annual meeting was held after the service on August 30. Minutes were read and approved, and an account of the last year was given. Christmas was celebrated at my home on December 25, with ten adults and two children present at the service. A sermon by the Rev. Frank Rose, "Glory to the Lord," was read. Afterwards we had a nice luncheon by candlelight, the children received little presents, and everyone felt happy.
     In 1959 two members of our small circle passed into the spiritual world. Mrs. van Haersolte v. Haerst died on November 13, at Bilthoven, in her 71st year; and on December 17, Mrs. Emanuel Francis died at Rijswijk, in her 79th year. At the burial place I spoke a few words about the deceased who, together with her unforgettable husband, the late Emanuel Francis, always kept open house for church activities.
     HERMAN G. ENGELTJES

     WASHINGTON, D. C.

     The dedication of our church building on September 20, 1959, marked the beginning of what, so far, has proved to be a useful and active season for the Society. A congregation of more than eighty people, adults and children, attended the celebration of Thanksgiving, which was the first festival service to be held in the building. During this service the children came forward in procession with their offerings of fruit, which were received and placed on the chancel.

109



     Thanksgiving had scarcely passed before we began our preparations for the Christmas celebration. The first event of that happy season was the annual children's party, which took place on December 19. The program commenced with a presentation of Christmas slides on the birth of the Lord, together with a taped narration by Mr. Schnarr against a background of lovely Christmas hymns. This effective presentation produced that moving and powerful sphere which is so beautifully felt during the season in which we celebrate the Lord's first advent. Our tableaux were followed by a Christmas sing and the giving of gifts to the children. The evening ended with a delightful and festive dinner, which was thoroughly enjoyed by some seventy-five people.
     On Christmas morning the Society again assembled at the church to participate in a service of worship that was full of inspiration and joy. We were grateful to be able to celebrate the Lord's first advent in the light of what He revealed in His second coming.
     The acquisition of our building resulted in an increase in our regular society functions and activities. Friday suppers and doctrinal classes, previously held twice a month, are now weekly occasions, and the young people's class is scheduled on a twice monthly rather than a monthly basis. One series of doctrinal classes-a continuation of last year's, "The Nature of the Spiritual World-has just been completed at this writing, and we are about to embark on a study of The Earths in the Universe. The first subject under discussion in young people's class has also just been concluded. The text for this series was Bishop Willard D. Pendleton's excellent book, Foundations of New Church Education-a most valuable work for us who will be the parents and instructors of the next generation of New Church children.
     Having our own building has also made possible the establishment of an organized and orderly Sunday and nursery school program. The Sunday school is attended by children of four years and older, and includes worship and religious instruction. The children have become
well accustomed to the routine and the surroundings and are very willing and responsive. Those children who are under four attend the nursery school, where they play quietly. While it does not include formal instruction, the organization of this group serves the twofold purpose of enabling the parents of very small children to attend church and of preparing these children for the time when they will take part in Sunday school.
     Mr. Schnarr's pastoral visits to the South necessitate the bringing in of preachers from other parts to carry on the regular services and doctrinal classes during his absences. These welcome visitors are always a source of inspiration and interest, and we deeply appreciate their coming. Our first guest preacher was the Rev. Karl R. Alden, who came from Bryn Athyn with Mrs. Alden last October. After a society supper, Mr. Alden treated us to a class on Swedenborg, showing that his patriotism, scientific education, religious instruction and spiritual experiences were all essential to his preparation as a revelator. Mr. Alden's knowledge of Swedenborg's life was apparent from the number of detailed anecdotes with which he illustrated his class. Mr. Alden also conducted the service on Sunday, preaching a sermon on "The Infinite Multiplication of Love."
     Candidate Kurt Asplundh accepted an invitation to substitute for Mr. Schnarr in December. We had been looking forward to having Mr. and Mrs. Asplundh with us again since their visit of last year, and we were not disappointed. The topic of Mr. Asplundh's class was "Missionary Work," and in it he dealt with the work now being done by the Epsilon Society, a missionary group composed of students in the College and Theological School of the Academy and others. The following day Mr. Asplundh delivered a sermon on 'Judgment" in which he stated that while civil and moral judgments must be made by men, spiritual judgments are to be made by the Lord alone. In addition, he stated that just judgments can be made on the basis of the use or function to be performed.
     On November 14, the Washington-Baltimore Chapter of the Sons of the Academy invited members and friends of the Society to a Sons-sponsored banquet.

210


The guest speaker was Professor Eldric S. Klein, Dean of Faculties in the Academy, and after a delicious dinner prepared entirely by the Sons, he addressed the group on "The Expansion of the Academy." This enlightening address was received with great interest and served to give us a better understanding and appreciation of the excellent work that is being carried on in the Academy schools.
     We are proud of the fact that our Society continues to grow from within and without. On August 26, 1959, Mr. and Mrs. George M. Cooper welcomed the arrival of their first child, whom they named David William. Early in Septemher, Mr. Malcolm D. Gyllenhaal, formerly of Tucson, Arizona, came to live in Washington, and shortly afterwards Mr. and Mrs. Frank Mitchell and their daughter Caroline returned to the Society after an absence of several years. More recently, Mr. and Mrs. Philip Horigan and family, formerly of the Pittsburgh Society, moved to Hagerstown, Maryland, which is within driving distance of Washington.
     In a society as small as ours the departure of a family is always felt keenly. So we were especially sorry to lose Mr. and Mrs. Paul Rinaldo and their children when they left last October for London, England.
     GAEL PENDLETON


     DETROIT, MICHIGAN

     Church activities in Detroit generally quiet down during the summer, but last summer was a particularly busy one. Services were continued, and, upon request, the discussion group continued to meet. We enjoyed the opportunity to visit with a number of people going to and from the Assembly. Several members of the clergy and their wives were among our visitors. Our New Church Day celebration was enhanced by the presence of the Rev. and Mrs. Norbert Rogers and the Rev. and Mrs. Frank Rose. Mr. Rose spoke at our banquet and Mr. Rogers preached at the Sunday morning service. Dr. and Mrs. Odhner were here in July, and we were happy to have Dr. Odhner minister to us at our service in the absence of our pastor. In August, the Rev. and Mrs. Bjorn Boyesen and their two children were here. At an open house Mr. Boyesen spoke to us concerning his work in the Scandinavian countries. After learning about the different tongues spoken, and the different customs, we realized how versatile our ministers must be.
     The new fall season found our pastor, the Rev. Norman Reuter, and his family moved into the new manse. How delighted they were! The dedication service took place after the regular Sunday morning service on October 11. All were invited to attend, including the children. It was a beautiful service, and we are happy to have acquired this lovely manse for the use of our pastor.
     Doctrinal classes continue to be held on Friday evenings, except for the last Friday in the month. Then we change to Saturday and have our monthly supper. Our pastor chose to present a review of the work Heaven and Hell. This series was completed by December, at which time the classes were directed to an aspect of the Lord's incarnation.
     At the evening services held on the first Sunday of each month, Mr. Reuter presented the following subjects from September through December: "Reformation"; "Regeneration"; "The Church Universal and the Church Specific"; and "The Divine Incarnation." As these evening services are of the missionary type, the subject of the last of these sermons was especially suitable for giving an introductory idea of the teachings of the New Church, particularly as to how the Lord Jesus Christ of the New Testament is one with Jehovah of the Old Testament.
     A children's service continues to be held on the first Sunday of each month. On other Sundays a talk to the children is included in the regular service. Sunday school meets during the sermon, and a new venture has been started, that is, a story hour for the nine through twelve year olds. This last program is under the general direction of Mrs. John Howard.
     As has been our custom for the past two years, a children's service was held on Thanksgiving Day.

211


The children were asked to bring offerings of fruit and to prepare a recitation.
     Christmas tableaux were beautifully presented on the Saturday before Christmas. Between the scenes, favorite carols were sung by the audience, and several specially prepared songs were sung by groups of children. In previous years the tableaux have been under the direction of Mr. Sanfrid Odhner and Mr. Gordon Smith, but this year Mr. Larry Soneson was in charge. The children's Christmas service was held at 6:30 on Christmas Eve, with the children presenting gifts to the church and then receiving through our pastor gifts from the Society. The subject of the address to the children was, "Love of Saving Souls." After the service, those who wished to go caroling gathered at the manse. There was an adult service on Christmas morning, Mr. Reuter preaching a beautiful sermon on "The Divine Conception." At the Holy Supper service on the Sunday after Christmas the sermon was on "The Birth of Christ in Men."
     In September, Mr. Reuter made the following announcement: "After many, many years of constant and faithful service, Mrs. Leo Bradin has asked to be relieved of the responsibilities she has carried as organist and musical director. Few offices or voluntary tasks taken on by laymen are as demanding and recurrent as that of organist and musical director, and if you will cast a look back in your memories, few are the times that Freda has not been at her post. The whole Detroit Society owes her a profound debt of gratitude for her many hours of accomplished and cheerful service, rendered so willingly for so long. The pastor realizes the value of an organist's services perhaps more than others. Mrs. Warren David has accepted appointment as organist and musical director for this year."
     In August, Mr. Peter Synnestvedt was married to Miss Jane Toby at Manistee, Michigan. A betrothal service took place in Detroit, with the Rev. Norman Reuter officiating. Jane and Peter are now active in our church group and it is nice to have them here.
     During the fall months we in Detroit were greatly concerned about the illness of Mrs. Norman Synnestvedt. For years Norman and Eloise were active in the growth and development of the church in Detroit; although in recent years they have lived in Manistee. Eloise is now at home recuperating, and we wish her a speedy recovery.
     The Women's Guild had a "Fall Frolic" on Saturday afternoon, October 24. As this was Hallowe'en time, costumes were in order. There was a parade, with prizes for the most original costumes, a bake sale, lots of games, and a delicious supper. Everyone had a wonderful relaxing time. The proceeds were handed over to the Society's treasurer. The Guild and Theta Alpha again combined for their Christmas meeting. Mr. Reuter was asked to address us on a topic connected with the season, and he spoke on "Why the Lord Chose to be Born on this Earth."
     A meeting of all the men in the Society was held on Sunday evening, October 11. After a delicious shrimp supper prepared by Mr. Willard McCardell, the problem of how best to provide for the maintenance of our church building was discussed. It was emphasized that there is need for everyone to take his turn at janitorial work and other jobs if we are to maintain the building in proper order. A rotating system has been set up which, we hope, will be the answer.
     Since our last report the Society has acquired six new babies-five of them boys! During the summer there were three baptisms: those of Jeffrey Lynn Brown, George Philip Tyler, and Dr. Prosper D. White.
     The Detroit Society has sent eight students to the Academy this year. We miss our young people, but are happy to have them attending the Academy where they are receiving the distinctive New Church education we feel is so important in preparing them to become New Church men and women. The Guild had a tea for the girls who would be attending the Academy for the first time and presented them with gifts. The boys each received a gift of stationery
     Our most recent social was a New Year's Eve dance.

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Mr. and Mrs. Walter Childs and Mr. and Mrs. John Howard are to be congratulated on a wonderful party. Decorations were put up by the young people, and how lovely they were. With our young people home from Bryn Athyn, good music, and lots of tasty food, everyone had a marvelous time.
     FREDA M. BRADIN


     GLENVIEW, ILLINOIS

     Pendleton Hall was like a gift that is opened, admired, and then put away until one has time to enjoy it. We opened it for the Assembly, used it briefly, and then turned our thoughts to other things for a while. Its association with the Assembly obscured the fact that we will use and appreciate it increasingly in years to come, as we have now begun to do.
     Even though it appeared to be finished, many different jobs remain to be done before it is truly an all-purpose building. Over the summer there were a few who spent long hours to complete the wiring, plumbing, carpentry, painting and landscaping. By Christmas time window guards had been installed in preparation for an athletic program. A turntable was connected to the public address system to provide recorded music for church services and parties. A shining array of stainless steel equipment arrived in the kitchen, which still looks brand new after four months. This is not strange because it has never been used. The gas company has just completed a trench bringing gas into Pendleton Hall, which is pretty important for the stove and the water heater. When the water and the stove are hot we can have Friday suppers in these spacious new quarters. The ladies will be completely spoiled after using such luxurious equipment, which includes even a rolling steam cart.
     Maximum use of Pendleton Hall for athletics is insured by the addition to the Immanuel Church School staff of Mr. Bradley Smith and his wife. They have begun the most complete physical education program ever offered to the children. It includes baseball, football, field hockey, soccer, volleyball, basketball, badminton, square dancing, and seasonal activities such as figure skating, hockey, swimming and tennis. Fired by the enthusiasm of their instructors, the children eat it up and beg for more. Bradley can hardly walk into the auditorium without being spotted through the long windows by watchful boys and besieged with requests for a little basketball practice. Assisted by a generous donation for the purchase of sporting goods, he has supervised the installation of baskets and courts. The Armstrong Tile Company dashed our hopes of roller-skating in the hall, because the floor tile that has been laid is not designed to withstand it. An evening program of athletics for adults is in the planning stage.
     Readers of earlier reports may remember that the clubroom in the church building was sacrificed to provide for a new schoolroom. Sad, but dry-eyed, the billiard players laid aside the tables, cues and balls, feeling that they had reached the end of a happy period. Gleefully they have now set up their equipment again in the clubroom in Pendleton Hall, where it is now available for those who do not mind a little frostbite. This room is heated to a minimum temperature of 55 degrees, which makes for a brisk game. A few comfortable chairs and a ping-pong table have been added to make a pleasant room for informal gatherings on Friday evenings.
     When a chancel and altar rails banked with flowers have been set up at the east end, the auditorium becomes a place of worship. Some of the furniture is kept here permanently; other pieces, including a piano, are moved from the church building. If you have ever moved a piano, you will understand why Mr. Marvin Stevens has been appointed to look for another one. The piano is used to accompany the singing. Preludes, interludes and postludes are played through the power system; the current guest artist being E. Power Biggs at the organ.
     On Thanksgiving Day the Society was able to attend one morning service for everyone, something that had not been feasible for many years. The Immanuel Church seats about 200 comfortably; Pendleton Hall easily accommodated 378. Everyone could see the chancel, and the service went smoothly.

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One could he thankful on that day for such pleasant surroundings. The soft green color of the walls made a perfect background for the colorful fruits brought by the children. Four large stands holding bouquets of chrysanthemums beautified the chancel. At Christmas time there were red and white poinsettias which were truly striking. Both the children's Christmas Eve service and the regular Christmas morning service were held in Pendleton Hall.
     The social committee also appropriated the building for two major events-a harvest festival in October and the New Year's party. For the latter they arranged Christmas trees all around the walls and hung streamers all across the ceiling. Besides providing more space for dancing, the hall is safe for decorating, being virtually fireproof.
     In 1959 and early 1960, several visiting preachers came to Glenview. During the month of July, Candidate Kurt Asplundh was our hardworking guest. His services and the other duties he performed were much appreciated, and we also enjoyed meeting his wife and little girl. Two Assembly guests prolonging their visits from across the seas were quite naturally pressed into service during their stay. The Rev. Frank Rose and the Rev. Bjorn Boyesen preached here in July. In October another pastor came from abroad, to tell about his work in South Africa. Despite threats of interference from his brother and predecessor there, the Rev. Wynne Acton gave a most interesting talk illustrated with colored slides. In January the Rev. Harold Cranch alighted here briefly on his way to Bryn Athyn and told us of the Work being done in the West. At this writing we are looking forward with pleasure to having the Rev. Hugo Odhner as visiting speaker at the Swedenborg's birthday banquet.
     Among the doctrinal subjects presented to the Society in the fall was a series by the Rev. Jan Weiss on the teaching of conjugial love to children. All parents were invited to attend, and those who responded were divided into three groups, each of which met thrice. Mr. Weiss showed why he thinks that doctrinal and practical instruction on this subject for boys and girls should begin in the fifth grade. We feel that his thorough study of the subject should be in pamphlet form for all parents to use. Not everyone can present the teachings on conjugial love in such an orderly way as Mr. Weiss can.
     Theta Alpha has branched out under the inspiring leadership of Mrs. Burwood Kitzelman as president, Mrs. Charles Grant as secretary, and Mrs. William Hugo as treasurer. Their well advertised program included an exchange of used clothing, after Friday supper; a used book sale; panel discussions of "Gripping Subjects"; a bake sale; and an essay contest about Veterans' Day for the children. All of these efforts aroused interest and some of them raised money for school projects. Currently the chapter hopes to provide a new encyclopedia for the library. Mrs. Thomas Gladish, as liaison officer, helps to determine which are the greatest needs of the school.
     The Women's Guild, under Mrs. Arvid Tessing as president, is also pioneering. Monthly meetings had previously consisted in the presentation of a doctrinal subject by Mr. Acton-recently on Heaven and Hell; a business meeting; then refreshments and conversation to wind up the evening. Now we have speakers with the coffee. Mr. Ray Kuhn analyzed church contributions; Mr. Sydney Lee reported on the Immanuel Church Book Room; Mrs. Elmo Acton divulged some information on flower arrangement; and Mrs. Ernest Lowry showed slides of her trip to France.
     GLORIA BARRY

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GENERAL CHURCH CORPORATIONS 1960

GENERAL CHURCH CORPORATIONS       STEPHEN PITCAIRN       1960



     Announcements
     The 1960 Annual Corporation Meetings of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held in the Benade Hall Auditorium, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, on Saturday afternoon, June 18, at 3:30 p.m., D.S.T. Notices will be mailed.
     STEPHEN PITCAIRN,
          Secretary
BISHOP'S EUROPEAN JOURNEY 1960

BISHOP'S EUROPEAN JOURNEY              1960

     Bishop George de Charms, accompanied by Mrs. de Charms, will visit centers of the General Church in Europe this summer. They leave New York City on Friday, July 1, and their program is as follows: July 5-11, The Hague; July 12-21, Copenhagen, Stockholm; July 21-27, France; July 27-August 5, London; August 5-10, Colchester.
ASSEMBLY 1960

ASSEMBLY       GEORGE DE CHARMS       1960

     An Assembly, at which the Bishop of the General Church will preside, has been called at Morristown, New Jersey, on Saturday, April 30, and Sunday, May 1, 1960. This Assembly will include the areas ministered to by the Rev. Norbert H. Rogers and the Rev. W. Cairns Henderson. All members and friends of the General Church are invited to attend.
     GEORGE DE CHARMS
          Bishop

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ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH 1960

ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH              1960

     SCHOOL CALENDAR: 1960-1961

     Eighty-fourth School Year

     1960
Sept.     9     Fri.     Faculty meetings. Dormitories open
     10     Sat.     8:00 am. Student workers report to supervisors
               3:00 p.m. Opening Exercises
               3:30 p.m. President's Reception
               8:00 p.m. Formal Dance
     12     Mon.     Secondary Schools registration
               College registration
     13     Tues.     Secondary Schools Chapel
                Guidance tests and classes begin in Secondary Schools
               College registration
     14     Wed.     Chapel and classes begin in College
Oct.     28     Fri.     Charter Day
     29     Sat.     Annual Meeting of Corporation
Nov.     23     Wed.     Close for Thanksgiving after classes
     28     Mon.     Classes resumed
Dec.     22     Thur.     Christmas recess begins


     1961

Jan     5     Thur.     Classes resumed
     27     Fri.     First Semester ends
     30     Mon.     Second Semester begins
Mar.     25     Sat.     Spring Recess begins
Apr.     4     Tues.     Classes resumed
May     19     Fri.     Annual Joint Meeting of Corporation and Faculty
     30     Tues.     Memorial Day
June     15     Thur.     8:00 p.m. President's Reception
     16     Fri.     10:30 a.m. Commencement Exercises

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TOWER OF BABEL 1960

TOWER OF BABEL       Rev. HAROLD C. CRANCH       1960


VOL. LXXX
MAY, 1960
No. 5
     "And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the East, that they found a valley in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. And they said, a man to his neighbor, Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and bitumen had they for clay. And they said
     Let us build a city and a tower with its head in the heavens, and let us make us a name. . . . And Jehovah scattered them from thence upon the faces of the whole earth; and they ceased to build the city. Therefore he called the name of it Babel; for there did Jehovah confound the language of the whole earth." (Genesis 11: 1-4, 8-9)

     The story of the tower of Babel illustrates very clearly the need for an understanding of the spiritual sense of the Word in order to see its holiness and power. Literally understood, this story of the Word has been the basis for many attacks and criticisms. Fundamentalists, and literalists of all types, have had difficulty understanding it themselves, and in defending their position against their critics. However, the critics are also subject to the same accusation of being blind literalists; for if they would look just a little deeper the meaning would be evident, and they could see their accusations and criticisms to be without foundation.
     Let us look at the literal story for a moment. After the flood, Noah and his sons went forth from the ark. They and their wives and children settled in many places. In the genealogies given, whole tribes and nations are mentioned, and the great cities which they founded, including Nineveh and the land of Shinar; and they are spoken of as being "divided in their lands, every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations" (Genesis 10: 5). Yet this division and separation by language was supposed to have been the result of the Lord's punishment for trying to build a tower to reach heaven. which happened later.

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     Again, the ark rested on Ararat, a mountain nearly three miles high. Yet despite their knowledge of that mountain, and that its top did not reach heaven physically, they tried to build a tower that would reach it, starting from the valley floor three miles below. Men would not be so foolish as to think that a natural tower of brick could reach to the heights of a spiritual world. And the Lord God could not be alarmed that they might succeed in doing what is utterly impossible; so that He would come down to the physical world, and thwart their efforts by confounding their language so that they could not understand one another. These things are so impossible and unreasonable as natural events, that a deeper, symbolic meaning must be intended. Scenes known to the ancient peoples were used by the Lord to convey a deeper meaning. In the case of the city and tower, these were universal symbols of religion, and were found on every hand.
     Writing of that time an archeologist said: "At the sites of many ancient cities in Mesopotamia are found the remains of towers, built in several stages or stories. In the Babylonian clay tablets they are referred to as 'Ziggurats' and represent a religious structure of the ancients. . . . On top of these stages towers there was usually a shrine . . ." (Joseph P. Free:     Archeology and Bible History).
     These high places were dedicated to worship, and represented raising the mind to the spiritual things of the church. This was known to all in the early ancient church. But high places could represent an evil state also, and this in the name of religion-a false worship from pride and selfhood, instead of from a high love for the Lord and the neighbor. Scattered myths from the Ancient Word describe such perversions in a similar manner to the story of Babel in our Word. So we find that a fragment of the Babylonian tablets describing the flood tells of the destruction of one of these Ziggurats. We read: "The building of this temple offended the gods. In a night they threw down what had been built. They scattered them abroad, and made strange their speech. The progress they impeded" (Ibid.).
     The story in the Word is a Divine allegory, applying equally to the history of the church in the world or the church in the individual man. It tells how the first Ancient Church, founded by those represented by Noah, gradually became corrupt and fell. It also presents a picture of self-love, which is present to some degree with everyone, which was the basis for the destruction of that church of old, and which constantly threatens the life of religion in each one of us.
     The church of Noah began on the heights-high states of love to the Lord and spiritual charity toward the neighbor, represented by the ark resting on Ararat. In that church all were of one language and speech, of one doctrine in general and in particular.

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But they journeyed away from the East, and down from the heights. The East represents nearness to the Lord. As they drew away from Him, they descended toward the valley of selfish life and thought, until in its depths they decided to reestablish the heights in order to make a name for themselves-to make their own self-centered religion and doctrine. On the mountain they had made an altar of unhewn stones to give thanks for the Lord's care during the flood. But now they had bricks for stone, and slime or bitumen for mortar or clay. This change in building materials, and the use to which they were to be put, is clearly summed up in the Arcana, where we read: ". . . stones represented the holy truths of worship, therefore it was commanded that the altar should be built of whole stones, not hewn, and it was forbidden that any iron should be moved upon them, for hewn stones, and stones on which iron has been used, signified what is artificial, and thus what is fictitious in worship; that is, what is of man's proprium
     . . this was to profane worship" (AC 1298). So also bricks, because they are made by man, signify falsities, for brick is stone artificially made. That brick has this meaning is clear from many passages in the Word; for example, in Isaiah we read: "I have spread out My hands all the day unto a refractory people, that walk in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts . . . burning incense upon bricks" (65: 2, 3).
     As they used man-made theories and schemes in place of the plain teaching of the Word, so they bound them together with a different mortar. Spiritual love and charity bind together those holding genuine doctrines- they make one cohesive church. But falsities are bound together by self- interest and the love of dominating others. Evil loves for good are represented by slime in the place of mortar. And as self-love is easily inflamed by imagined slights, or the lust for power, so the bitumen was highly inflammable, making a perfect symbol.
     The development or building of such a false and vicious character, particularly in the name of religion, if not stopped, would utterly profane spiritual things; and would destroy spiritual life for the individual, and to some extent with others with whom he came into contact. So it is said the Lord came down to judge them. Of this we read: ". . . the Lord is everywhere present, and knows all things from eternity; and therefore it cannot be said of Him that He came down to see, except in the literal sense, where it is so said according to the appearances with man. But in the internal sense it is not so, for in this sense the subject is presented as it is in itself, and not according to the appearances . . . so in the passage . . . 'come down to see' signifies judgment. . . . The punishment of evil is called a judgment. It appears at first as if the Lord did not see or observe that evil exists, for when a man does evil without punishment he supposes that the Lord does not trouble Himself about the matter.

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But when he undergoes the penalty he begins to think that the Lord sees, and even that the Lord inflicts the punishment. So it is said, in accordance with these appearances, that Jehovah came down to see" (AC 1311).
     "The reason why it is here said, in the plural, 'let us go down and confound their lip,' is that it is the execution of a judgment, which is effected by means of spirits, and indeed by means of evil spirits" (AC 1320). The decisions we make form our daily lives. The reactions we have to the problems that concern us, and particularly to the things that tempt us, bring about judgments, and their total effect is our complete judgment. And these judgments, problems and temptations are caused by spiritual associations through other men, and the spirits with man. Here, because it refers to Babylon, or the choice of self-love and evil, the judgment brings punishment. This is referred to in the prophecy of Jeremiah, and again it speaks of the agency of evil spirits in bringing the punishment of judgment. "Though Babylon should mount up to the heavens, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from Me shall they that lay waste come to her" (51: 53).
     Many people today are trying to do the impossible task of this story; using bricks for stone, and slime for mortar, they are trying to compass heaven and earth for their own self gratification and pride-to make a name for themselves, and gain power and possessions. They would subordinate the very truths of the Word to their own selfish plans. They build such structures as the human origin of the Word; the self-created, self-existing universe; the development of man by blind, materialistic evolution: each a tower of Babel-constructed of the man-made brick of self-derived intelligence, cemented by self admiration-that rejects the unhewn stone of revealed doctrine as unsophisticated and simple.
     But the results are ever the same: the confusion of tongues-the conflict of doctrines. No matter how far they build their theories and doctrines, they are still as far away as ever from learning the true secrets of nature, and a genuine knowledge of the purpose of life or its fulfilment in the spiritual world. And each eventually stops building; lost in a maze of contradictions and difficulties, with neither hope nor comfort to sustain in times of trouble, nor clear light to show the way for continued progress.
     The tower of Babel pictures man's effort to build his own heaven, his own destiny, his own faith; to gain dominion and power over others; to build a name for himself. How often have we seen men seeking positions of trust and power discrediting their opponents by false accusations, rumors and innuendos, hoping by this means to gain their selfish way. They try to build the fulfilment of their ambition with bricks of falsity, held together with the slime of self-love.

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This, too, is pictured in other parts of the Word; and Babylon is used over and over again to symbolize that discontented selfishness which strives for personal power and dominion as the very secret of happiness. Its disillusionment and failure is continually pointed out.
     In Isaiah: "Prophesy this parable upon the king of Babylon: Thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into the heavens, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit on the mount of the assembly, in the sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the cloud, I will become like the Most High. Yet thou shalt be cast down to hell" (14: 4, 13-15). "Here it is manifest that 'Babylon' denotes one who desires to be worshipped as a god; that is, that it is the worship of self" (AC 1326: 4).
     So the tower of Babel is not simply an ancient symbol now past its usefulness. In each heart there is a tendency to build for one's self a city of doctrine and a tower of faith. And we are still prone to build with the same burnt brick of falsity, bound together with the same slime of self- love for mortar. We want to be sufficient unto ourselves; to gain our place, our name, from our own striving, with our own power; to make our own heaven. But if we will learn from the Word, if we would be wise, then we will not permit ourselves to turn from the East, to begin the retrogression, the descent into our selfish life. XVe must check our tendencies to evil, to the love of dominion, even as they take their first rise in our hearts. And we will offer our worship from the whole stones of the Divine truth revealed in the Word. If we resist the tendency to change the truth to favor our desires, or replace it with doctrine of our own devising, then we shall be made strong; even if the truth denies us our own way, we shall be made happy. For the Lord knows our needs, and grants every gift that will bring true contentment. As we shun the falsities and evils of the artificial heights of Babel we will ascend the mountain of the Lord, to come into the life of heaven. Amen.

LESSONS:     Genesis 11: 1-9. .4rcana Coelestia 1304.
MUSIC:     Liturgy, pages 459, 487, 455.
PRAYERS:     Liturgy, nos. 46, 85.
MINISTERIAL CHANGES 1960

MINISTERIAL CHANGES              1960

     The Rev. Henry Heinrichs has accepted appointment, effective for one year and subject to renewal by mutual agreement, as part-time assistant to the pastors of the Kitchener and Toronto Societies.

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MEDIATE GOOD 1960

MEDIATE GOOD       Rev. GEOFFREY S. CHILDS       1960

     The doctrine of mediate good receives little direct mention in the Writings. This limitation of direct treatment is not indicative, however, of the status of mediate good. It is not a quality of minor spiritual importance, for mediate good reigns throughout regeneration until its completion, even as it reigned with the Lord throughout the glorification process. Once we have seen the Writings' definition of mediate good, it becomes obvious that the doctrine concerning it is treated of again and again in the Writings, under different phases and extensions. The doctrine of mediate good opens up, we believe, new avenues of understanding concerning the glorification process, as it does in the fields of judgment of the neighbor, of education, of self-merit, and of natural government.
     Just what is meant by "mediate good"? The term, mediate, is derived from the Latin verb, mediare, which means "to halve," or "to be in the middle." The first common dictionary meaning given for this word is "intermediate" (Webster). The Writings themselves use the synonyms "middle" and "intermediate" for mediate.* From these definitions of the term, mediate, we derive the picture of a good, as yet undefined, which is intermediate between two other qualities-a good which stands in the middle between two other qualities. Just what the two qualities are that mediate good stands between becomes evident from a study of Arcana Coelestia 4063: 2-4. Succinctly, mediate good is the quality that stands between the native evil of the hereditary proprium and regenerate good.
* AC 4063:4.
     Thus we read: "When a man is being regenerated, he is kept by the Lord in a kind of mediate good. This good serves for introducing genuine goods and truths; but after these have been introduced, it is separated from them. Everyone who has learned anything about regeneration and about the new man can understand that the new man is altogether different from the proprial man; for the new man is in the affection of spiritual and heavenly things, and these produce its delights . . . whereas the proprial man is in the affections of worldly and earthly things, and these produce its delights. . . . Consequently the new man has regard to ends in heaven, but the proprial man to ends in the world. From this it is manifest that the new man is altogether different and diverse from the proprial.

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In order that a man may be brought from the state of the proprial man to that of the new, the concupiscences of the world must be put off, and the affections of heaven must be put on. This is effected by innumerable means, which are known to the Lord alone, and many of which have also been made known by the Lord to angels; but few if any to man. Nevertheless, all of them, both in general and particular, have been made manifest in the internal sense of the Word. When therefore a man, from being a proprial man, is made a new one, it is not done in a moment, as some believe, but through a course of years; nay, during the man's whole life, even to its end; for his concupiscences have to be extirpated, and heavenly affections have to be insinuated. And man has to be gifted with a life which he had not before, and of which, indeed, he knew scarcely anything. Seeing, therefore, that the man's states of life have to be so greatly changed, it must needs be that he is long kept in a kind of mediate good; that is, in a good which partakes both of the affections of the world and of the affections of heaven. And unless he is kept in this mediate good he in no wise admits heavenly goods and truths."*
* AC 4063: 2, 3.
     Throughout most of his life the regenerating man is in mediate good. He has, as his first step in regeneration, resolved to combat his proprial tendencies; but this does not mean that the proprium has as yet lost its power or attraction. Stilling the alluring voice of the proprium is a lifelong task. While fighting his proprium, the regenerating man looks upward towards his final goal-regenerate good. Yet he is far removed from such good, such relatively pure and undefiled charity. There is a long and hazardous journey between the state of the proprium and the attainment of regenerate good. And the many states between are composed neither of pure evil nor of pure good. Rather, the intermediate states are a combining of good and evil-a strange combination defined as mediate good. This combining of good and evil in no sense implies an inter-mixture or union of spiritual opposites; in mediate good, good and evil are adjoined, not conjoined. How good and evil can be together for the sake of a spiritual purpose, and yet not be interiorly intermingled, we propose to discuss later in this study.
     A "medium" is defined in the Writings as a quality that derives something from the one part and something from the other; and it is said further that in proportion as a man approaches to the one part, the other becomes subordinate.* Mediate good derives something from the proprium, and something from regenerate good. And in proportion as man approaches regenerate good, the proprium becomes subordinate. Man comes into regenerate good "little by little." Very gradually, imperceptibly to human consciousness, mediate good is refined and purified.

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This gradual perfecting of mediate good is signified by the Lord's prophecy, concerning the manner in which the sons of Israel would conquer the land of Canaan: "I will not drive thine enemies out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee. By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased and inherit the land."**
* AC 3913.
** Exodus 23: 29, 30.
     Man is kept in mediate good "no longer than until it has served its use; but this having been served, mediate good is separated."* "That there is an intermediate good, and that it is separated after it has subserved its use, may be illustrated by the changes of state which every man undergoes from infancy even to old age. It is known that a man's state is of one kind in infancy, of another in childhood, another in youth, another in adult age, and another in old age. It is also known that a man puts off his state of infancy with its toys when he passes into the state of youth; that he puts off his state of youth when he passes into the state of young manhood; and this again when he passes into the state of mature age; and at last this state when he passes into that of old age. And if one will consider, he may also know that every age has its delights, and that by these he is introduced by successive steps into those of the age next following; and that these delights had served the purpose of bringing him thereto; and finally to the delight of intelligence and wisdom in old age."**
* AC 4063:4.
** Ibid.
     Man will be in successive states of mediate good almost throughout his entire lifetime. We must not picture these as static; as if man's heart and thoughts were held in an exact, unvarying combination of good and evil until a new, upward state is achieved. Human states are never static; they are successive, subtle, and with constantly shifting undercurrents. One state gradually changes into another without man's conscious detecting of the process. Within this change and variation, however, there is a basic constancy. Man's ruling love is constant, though his moods may shift. There are other loves, too, that abide, that have a dominating influence through many states. The good and the evil that combine to form one general period of mediate good have a constancy in their basic nature, despite subtle changes and variations in particulars.

     Further Definition

     A regenerating man, a man in mediate good, will be partially motivated by certain evils. These evils will spring from, or be consistent with, his ruling love. They will constantly be operative with man, and more or less powerful according to his cycle of states. Yet, and this point is crucial, the man himself will be unaware of these motivating evils within himself. They are, speaking subjectively, hidden evils-unknown to man, undetected by him.

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That such hidden evils exist is testified to by the Psalmist's words: "Who can understand his errors? Cleanse Thou me from secret faults."*
* Psalm 19: 12. Cf. AC 3993: 9.
     Attached to these hidden evils is an innocence, a naive unawareness of their presence and infernal nature. This innocence that cloaks evils is a prime quality of mediate good; without it, mediate good could not exist. It is an innocence of ignorance. Yet this does not imply that it is weak in quality. It cannot be, because of the vital use it performs. This particular innocence is the shield that protects man from the hells within himself during the fragile states of regeneration.*
* AC 3993:9.
     In brief, mediate good is this: unrecognized evils cloaked with innocence, plus the general goods man has attained through regeneration. These general goods, which have certain spiritual impurities, and the unrecognized evils, are combined into that strange and even wondrous quality which is called mediate good. The term, good, is used because, although evil is present, it is unintentional evil. Moreover, the sphere of innocence that cloaks this evil also excuses it. The intention is good, and this is what qualifies the state.*
* AC 3993: 2, 8, 9, 13, 3994: 1, 2.
     The Lord permits this combining of evil and good in man because there are certain hereditary evils within each man that, in the beginning of regeneration, he has not the strength to face. If he could see these evils in himself for what they are before enough of spiritual character has been formed, man would inevitably yield to his proprium. As regeneration progresses, and man shuns the recognized evils in himself, then the charity and the spiritual strength in him increase. Finally the time comes when he is ready to face an evil in himself, one of which he was previously unaware and did not have sufficient good to face. When such a point is reached, man experiences a revelation, an inner perception. What happens precisely is that the innocence which had cloaked the evil is stripped away, and then, for the first time, the evil is seen for what it is.
     It is of Divine order that no man shall see a secret evil within himself until he has the defenses against it. This principle applied also to the Lord in His glorification-in His facing of the depth of evil in the human race as reflected in the Mary-human. That the Divine soul prepared with infinite care for every such revelation of evil is testified to by Arcana Coelestia 2222, 2225. The literal sense there deals with the three men who had visited Abraham, at the time when they departed towards Sodom. We are told that "Abraham went with them, to send them away."* This was a stage in the glorification process when the Lord was given a deep perception of the states of the human race as reflected in the Mary-human.**

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We are told that the Lord "willed to withdraw from that perception. The reason is also manifest, namely, that the perception from the Divine, and the thought therefrom concerning the human race that such was their quality, struck Him with horror. For the Lord's love toward the human race was so great that He willed to save all to eternity . . . on which account, when He perceived that they were such, He willed to withdraw from the perception and derivative thought."*** The evils that struck the Lord with horror are written upon the proprium of each man. That in beginning states man cannot view such depths of evil is obvious.****
* Genesis18:16.
** AC 2219.
*** AC 2222.
**** AC 3993: 9.

     The Unveiling of Hidden Evil

     In the letter of the Word the unmasking of a secret evil, the stripping away of innocence from an evil, is pictured in the relationship of Laban and Jacob. Jacob represents the genuine good of the natural, whereas Laban represents mediate good.* Now it is to be noted that Jacob and Laban were friends for many years, and that Jacob's two wives. Leah and Rachel, were daughters of Laban. There is a similar relationship between the genuine good of the natural and mediate good. Yet in man's own eyes, he is then acting, not from evil, but from worthwhile motives in himself. The innocence in mediate good is an impenetrable veil, behind which evil is entirely undetected. The good in the natural is friendly with these hidden evils, all unknowing of their quality. Just as Jacob built up his own family and possessions, so the good of the natural is built and infilled. Jacob gains greater and greater stature, until, finally, this good is ready to discover a new and fundamental reality.
* AC 4066.
     One day "Jacob saw the faces of Laban, and behold he was not at all with him as yesterday and the day before."* The term, faces, signifies interiors.** Jacob saw the true faces or interior qualities of Laban, and this as it were suddenly-unexpectedly. The time has come when the good of the natural is ready to see into the mystery of mediate good. At such a time the cloaking innocence is removed, and the motivating evil exposed. This comes as a startling revelation to man, as a spiritual shock. But this shock does not lead to spiritual defeat, for now the good of the natural has the strength to face the exposed evil. The strength needed to shun the exposed evil is present.
* Genesis 31: 2.
** AC 4066.
     When this unveiled evil is shunned, a distinct step upward is made in the states of mediate good. Man has come one step closer to regenerate good; he has been elevated that much farther above his hereditary proprium. There is, as it were, one more purified good in the combination of qualities that forms his mediate good, one less evil.

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When the exposed evil is shunned, its opposite good takes on purity.
     In this specific instance, the purification of good in the natural is the subject. Yet the law unfolded-the exposing of a secret evil within mediate good-has universal application throughout regeneration. The law applies again and again: when the conscience has sufficient strength, a hitherto unrecognized evil is exposed to be shunned, and thus there is purification and elevation.

     The Relation of Good and Evil within Mediate Good

     We have said that the combining of good and evil within mediate good in no sense implies an intermingling or union of these spiritual opposites. Good and evil are adjoined, not conjoined.* We are taught that "goods are never so commingled with evils, or evils with goods, that they cannot be separated. For if they were commingled, the man would perish to eternity."** The Lord constantly provides that evil be not commingled with goods).*** However, it is evident that good and evil are together, are in a certain manner combined, within mediate good.**** How can they be together, yet not be intermingled? The answer lies in the following teaching. "Every man is both in evil and in good, in evil from himself, and in good from the Lord; nor can he live unless he is in both. For if he were in self alone and thus in evil alone he would have nothing of life and if he were in the Lord alone and thus in good alone he would have nothing of life; for he would continually gasp for breath like one who suffocated, or like one in the agony of death. . . . Consequently every man is in both good and evil; with the difference that in the one case man is interiorly in the Lord and exteriorly as it were in himself; and in the other case is interiorly in himself, but exteriorly as it were in the Lord; and such a man is in evil, while the former is in good; although each is in both. From all this it can be seen that the Lord keeps evil and good separate, so that one may be interior and the other exterior, thus providing against their being mixed together."***** This is the general law, which is broken only through interior profanation.
* AC 3993: 11, 13.     
** AC 2256: 2.
*** AC 2426; cf. AC 408, DP 24e, 226.     
**** AC 4063: 3.
***** DP 227: 2.     
     There is, however, a seeming exception to this law in the case of mediate good; a seeming exception which careful study reveals as actually following the general law. In a passage treating of Laban goods we read: "There are evils with which good cannot be mingled, and there are evils with which they can be mingled; and it is the same with falsities. Unless this were so, no man could possibly be regenerated."* Such evils and falsities, with which goods and truths can be mingled, are described as "those which are not contrary to love to God and love toward the neighbor."**

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Here is a strange teaching, an almost incomprehensible one. How can there possibly be evils and falsities that are not contrary to heavenly loves The answer is given in this same number. "An evil [with which good can be mingled] is an evil that is man's own, and that is born hereditarily; and to take it away from him suddenly would be to extinguish the fire of his first life."*** This quotation is referring to such an evil with a regenerating man. But a regenerating man would not tolerate an evil of which he was aware; he would shun it as a duty to the Lord. He must therefore be unaware of such an evil. It must be a hidden evil with him, that is, one that he has hereditarily and therefore without blame.**** This regenerating man is spoken of in the same number as shunning obvious, open evils; and it is this factor which constitutes his goodness. Evil and good can be mingled with him, then, because of his unawareness of these mingling evils and because of the basic innocence within his unawareness.
* AC 3993: 8.
** Ibid.
*** AC 3993: 9.
**** Ibid.
     But this "mingling" is not a mixing. The law that evil and good cannot be fused is not violated. Thus we read: "The evils with which goods, and the falsities with which truths, can be mingled are wonderfully disposed into order by the Lord; for they are not conjoined together, still less united as a one; but are adjoined and applied to one another; and this in such manner that the goods together with the truths are in the middle and as it were the center, and by degrees toward the circumference or circuits are such evils and falsities."* In the combination of qualities which makes mediate good, then, good is interior, or in the center, and evil is exterior, or on the circumference.
* AC 3993: 13.
     We suggest that there is an interesting analogy between the adjunction of good and evil within mediate good and the adjunction of good and evil in the spiritual world before the Last Judgment. In this strange adjunction in the spiritual world, we include the angels of the lowest heaven,* the false heavens, and the lower earth. Here was an unjudged state-an adjunction, in a huge panorama, of innocence, interior evil, and unrefined goods and truths. So, with mediate good, there is innocence, interior evil, and unrefined good and truth. To proceed with the analogy: in both instances evil and good are adjoined without being fused; and in both instances there is a "lower earth" of bound and unrefined goods.
* LJ 56e.
     There was a definite arrangement of qualities in the lower earth before the Last Judgment. That is, the Reformed were collected in the middle; surrounding the Reformed were those of the Papal religion; beyond them were the Mohammedans; and beyond these the Gentiles were congregated in vast numbers.*

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This arrangement was based on the degree of closeness to the Divine Word in its light, from center to circumference. We would draw an analogy between this arrangement of qualities in the lower earth and the arrangement of unrefined goods within mediate good. It is a well known teaching that the goods and evils within each man are not simple but highly complex; every general is composed of myriads of particulars. So in the case of the unrefined goods within mediate good, there are those general goods that are close to Divine light-goods analogous to the Reformed in the lower earth; and there are goods that are less and less pure, extending to qualities that are unrefined by truth and entirely Gentile. Within mediate good in an individual there lurk interiorly certain hereditary evils; evils that are unrecognized because in exteriors they feign goodness. These are analogous to the deceitful spirits who controlled the false or imaginary heavens through cunning and feigned innocence. In both instances, interior evils inhibit and confine the universal state. Thus the analogy between mediate good and the arrangement of qualities within the spiritual world before the Last Judgment can be carried into particulars; and the validity of the analogy is strengthened by the teaching of Arcana Coelestia 3993: 13, when it is compared with Divine Providence 48.
* LJ 48.
     We draw this analogy between mediate good and the unjudged state before the Last Judgment, not only because it shows how evil and good may be adjoined without profanation, but also because the judgment upon the false heavens, and the consequent liberation of the spirits in the lower earth, illustrate how mediate good itself, within an individual, is judged and refined. As the light of heaven was let in upon the false heavens, evil qualities were successively exposed and judged. It was Divine truth, which spirits and men were ready to receive, that successively brought the judgment. There followed the successive liberation of societies in the lower earth.* The same procedure applies, we suggest, in the judgment of a mediate good; for laws are the same in universals and in singulars. That is, first the interior evil within a mediate good is exposed and shunned; exposed by being deprived of its feigned innocence, its external holiness. Then the goods that have been bound through the power of interior evil are loosed or liberated. They are refined, and led up to heaven, to their place. And this liberation of goods is effected, we suggest, in the same order as that in which the societies were liberated from the lower earth. Thus the good in man corresponding to the Reformed in the lower earth is the last to be liberated; the good corresponding to those in the Papal religion is first liberated; and so on.**

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In the individual, the interior judgment and consequent liberation would embrace a number of states; the entire judgment and liberation would cover myriads of states. We have thought about the provocative idea that there is more than an analogy between the Last Judgment and the judgment of mediate good; that there may, in fact, be an actual correspondence between the two. The race progresses and is purified as an individual progresses and is purified; there is a degree of correspondence between the two. The race has its mediate goods, as has the individual. How far the correspondence between the judgment of mediate good and the Last Judgment may be carried we cannot say. More knowledge on both subjects is needed. To the degree that the idea of correspondence is valid, the whole doctrine of the Last Judgment has a fascinating application to individual regeneration. We would point out that the conclusion of the Last Judgment is also the conclusion with mediate good; that is, what is good is conjoined with its homogeneous truth, and is raised into heaven; what is evil is exposed, and is relegated to hell.
* LJ 47.
** LJ 47.

     Natural Good

     There are many degrees of good: celestial, spiritual, celestial and spiritual natural, rational, moral, civil good, and so on. In most instances the distinction between these goods and mediate good is obvious. No genuine good, no relatively pure good-celestial, spiritual or natural-is a mediate good. For a mediate good, by definition, is one that partakes of what is not genuine.*
* AC 4063:3e.
     Now there is a natural good which clearly is not genuine or relatively pure in its quality. We do not refer to the genuine good of the natural; for that good, attained through regeneration, is "a good which is spiritual in respect to its origin."* It has as an end "service to what is spiritual, thus to the neighbor, still more to the public weal, yet more to the Lord's kingdom, and above all to the Lord Himself."** Genuine good of the natural, as a product of regeneration,*** is obviously distinct from mediate good.
* AC 4231.
** AC 3167e.     
*** AC 7920.
     There is another good of the natural, however, which is entirely distinct from the genuine good of which we have been speaking. This is "merely natural good," or "domestic natural good." This natural good is received through heredity,* or through certain environmental circumstances.** This heredity gives man, on the natural plane, a "delight in doing well to others."*** What is spurious in natural good, since on its own plane it seems genuine? Man receives it entirely involuntarily; it is a gift received without any spiritual effort.

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It is a good that is, as it were, animal; for it exists on its own plane without genuine or spiritual causation.**** We are further taught that natural good is "that which is born with man . . . it is in itself a mere animal affair, for it exists also with animals . . . although it appears as good, it may still not be good, and may even be evil; for it may receive falsities, and believe what is evil to be good. Such natural good exists among nations of the worst life and faith."*****
* AC 7920, 6208.     
** AC 7761.
*** AC 6208.
**** AC 8772.
***** AC 3408.
     What is the relationship of natural good to mediate good? We believe that this "merely natural good" may be included in the framework of mediate good as one of the many qualities which constitute that good. However, natural good is certainly not a dominating characteristic in mediate good; for such natural good would easily be led astray by the more subtle, secret evils within mediate good. In the sense that it is not genuine, natural good is a constituent but not a dominating quality of mediate good.

     (To be Concluded)
LORD'S INTERCESSION 1960

LORD'S INTERCESSION              1960

     "The Lord does not intercede as a son with a father-king on earth, but as the Lord of the universe with Himself, and of Himself as God; for the Father and He are not two, but one, as He teaches in John 14: 8-11. He is called the Mediator and Intercessor because the Son means Divine truth, and the Father Divine good, and mediation is effected by Divine truth, for by it access is given to Divine good. For Divine good cannot be approached, because it is as the fire of the sun; but Divine truth can be, because this is as the light from it which gives passage and approach to the sight of man, which is from faith. It can be seen from this what is to be understood by mediation and intercession. Further, it should be stated why it is that the Lord Himself, who is the very Divine good and the very sun of heaven, is called the Mediator and Intercessor with the Father. The Lord when He was in the world, before He was fully glorified, was Divine truth; for this reason there was then mediation, and He interceded with the Father, that is, with the very Divine good. And after He was glorified as to the Human He is called the Mediator and Intercessor from the fact that no one can think of the very Divine good unless he sets before himself the idea of a Divine Man; still less can anyone be conjoined by love to the very Divine except by means of such an idea." (Arcana Coelestia 8705)

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CONJUNCTION IN BETROTHAL AND MARRIAGE 1960

CONJUNCTION IN BETROTHAL AND MARRIAGE       Rev. JAN H. WEISS       1960

     We are taught that "in both male and female there is implanted [from creation] a tendency to conjunction into one" (CL 32, 37, 88-92, 156: 2). Conjugial love is nothing else than a desire and urging to conjunction. This conjunctive principle lies concealed in every part of the male, and in every part of the female. But conjunction is effected gradually, and becomes more and more interior to eternity.
     In speaking about betrothal, the Writings say that by it the mind of the one is conjoined to the mind of the other. And yet, it may easily be seen that there is also a conjunction of minds after marriage. The conjunction of minds before marriage and after marriage are obviously of different natures, for it is only after the nuptials that a man is changed into a husband and a virgin into a wife. The question which then arises is this: What exactly is the difference between the conjunction of minds during betrothal and the conjunction of minds after marriage?
     This question is actually not very important unless we really feel very strongly about the fact that the teachings concerning betrothal are not only new but are also to be taken very seriously. In the tenacity with which we cling to the customs and ways of thinking of the world, we in the New Church have not yet really come to grips with the ideas that are contained in the chapter on betrothals and nuptials. And when the teachings concerning betrothal are not clearly seen and applied in one's approach to marriage, the couple are deprived of substantial blessings and help in their strivings toward love truly conjugial.
     The state of betrothal lies between consent and marriage. Its purpose is clearly stated in the Writings. First of all, the betrothal ceremony is stated to be a confirmation and establishment of consent. For true consent is not just a consent to bodily union, but far more a consent to spiritual union. Those who desire a heavenly marriage and love truly conjugial will place spiritual union above bodily union, not only in the order of time, but also in the order of origin. Thus spiritual union not only precedes bodily union in time but also qualifies the nature and quality of bodily conjunction.
     The ultimate state of conjunction is such as is the successive order from which it is formed and exists.

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All things which precede form series which together compose the ultimate. This is true, not only for the state of betrothal and first bodily conjunctions, but also for the cycle of spiritual and material conjunction which repeats itself in a similar fashion after marriage. If what precedes is not spiritual, then the state of marriage is inwardly full of unchastities; and as many as are the unchastities, so many are the colds. From this we should be clear about the idea that we must seriously consider any teaching of Divine revelation that deals with the pre-nuptial state. For whatever we do before the nuptials is bound to enter into post-nuptial states.
     True consent must be established and confirmed before the Lord, for such an act involves and represents man's acknowledgment of the fact that true consent and true marriage are from the Lord alone. It also represents the idea that the two who are betrothed have a profound mutual desire that their conjunctive relationship will be heavenly and chaste.
     As the betrothal ceremony is prescribed to establish and confirm consent, it brings to a conclusion a previous state, which is the state of courtship. But then it also initiates a new state which is the state of betrothal. In this state a number of things are to be accomplished.
     First, there is to take place a mutual inclination of the two souls towards each other. The whole purpose of marriage is the union or oneness of the female form with its corresponding male form, so that from this conjunction and oneness there may proceed spiritual uses. In the other world, the offspring of married couples are the uses that the two perform towards the good of heaven. While they are in this world, there is added the creation of human beings; which, however, has the same essence, namely, that of performing uses to the Gorand Man.
     To fulfil the end of marriage the two must become more and more inclined towards each other as to their real selves, that is, as to their spirits. And this inclination is to be mutual, which means that each one should think about the other both in terms of the other and himself, so that there is not only a giving but also reception, and this on the part of each.
     If this is done, and there is such a mutual inclination towards each other, then the universal love of the sex is determined in each to one of the sex. There is thus obviously quite a difference between the attraction to each other before consent and after. Before consent, this attraction seeks consent to conjunction; but after consent it seeks conjunction itself. For before consent there cannot be any mutual inclination towards each other; but after consent this is possible, and then it is also possible and correct that the love of one to the other is terminated in the other, for to such termination consent has been given.
     When love is given and received with full consent, all affections are gradually revealed and known.

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Thus interior affections which are never revealed except in the sphere of mutual love can be mutually recognized, and in the inward cheerfulness of love be conjoined; and from this conjunction the spirits of the two enter into marriage and are consociated more and more.
     Now there is the following principle in the Writings concerning conjunction. There must be in another something adequate and homogeneous, through which communication may be affected, and which shall cause reception, affection, and thence conjunction (CL 396). It is also stated that there can be no conjunction without reciprocation, and no reciprocation without an ultimate.
     The question thus is: What is the ultimate upon which and through which the mutual inclination and the terminated love of the sex may effect the marriage of the spirit in the betrothal state? It is true that the Writings teach that communications of love between married partners are made through the sense of touch (CL 396). And in a more limited sense this is true for the state of betrothal. But, then, the Writings are also very clear about the fact that conjugial love must proceed and grow up from its spiritual origin, which is the Lord Himself. Communication through the sense of touch by itself would not cause such a proceeding, in fact, would do the exact opposite. The marriage of the spirits of the two must proceed from the Lord, and thus from the Word of the Lord on earth. The ultimate upon which the marriage of the spirit must be based is thus the sense of the letter of the Word, and specifically the sense of the letter of the Writings, and Conjugial Love. If this sense of the letter is accepted by both as the ultimate Word of God, then the two have something homogeneous and adequate through which conjunction may be effected.
     In reading the Word the couple endeavor to come to a common and mutual understanding of its teachings, which then effects the beginning of the oneness of understanding. Interior affections, expressed and cognized by each, and purified by the truth of the Word, can be conjoined in the though of each. In the inward cheerfulness of love many things of the understanding are thus conjoined, and so we could say that betrothal stands for the conjunction of the understandings of the two. This idea would be supported by the teachings that betrothal signifies the conjunction of the affection of truth with Divine truth, and marriage the conjunction of the affection of truth with Divine good. It may also be clear from the fact that the allowable external in the field of the sense of touch in this state is the kiss, which signifies initiation to conjunction, and conjunction from the affection of truth.
     As betrothal is the Divinely appointed gate to full conjunction, therefore the first and most important sign of love and desire for conjunction on the part of the man is his anxiety to read with his beloved the Word of the Lord.

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Without such reading the betrothal state does not exist, and the betrothal ceremony is of no value. Men, by nature, tend to forget this important fact and thereby not only frustrate the desire for conjunction on the part of the woman, but also take away the holiness and meaning of the kiss.
     The work Conjugial Love leaves us in no doubt as to who is to take the initiative in the reading of the Word. In general, all initiative towards conjunction is placed by the Lord in the hands of the man. From this general principle alone we could conclude that the man should begin with himself and his fiancee the reading of the Word. But there are even more specific teachings. The church is formed by the Lord in man and through the man in the wife, and thereby conjugial love. The church is formed by the Lord through truth, with which good is adjoined, first in the man, and through him in the wife; if first in her, it is contrary to order. And this is a teaching of Conjugial Love which would apply to both spiritual and bodily conjunction: The husband may not say to the wife that he can and will not, for thus her state of reception is grievously injured.
     From all this it is evident that the reading of the Word is to be initiated by the man, and that if he fails to do this, he is guilty of selfishness, spiritual theft, and grievous injury. Any New Church man who refuses to read the Word with the one he loves, either in the state of betrothal or the state of marriage, completely disregards his God-given right and responsibilities, and thereby destroys in himself what is truly masculine. Such a man cannot be truly called a "man."
     If the state of betrothal stands for the conjunction of the understanding of each, it could be asked if there is not any conjunction of affections in this state. The answer to this is definitely, yes; for the teaching is that during betrothal the interior affections may be mutually known, and by applications be conjoined. By application to the reading of the Word and the coming to a mutual understanding of its teachings the interior affections are conjoined; but, we believe, they are conjoined in the understanding, and not in the will. Conjunction of the affections as to the will takes place in marriage. For the Word of the Lord on earth is a suitable ultimate upon which conjunction of the understanding of each can be effected, but the Divinely appointed ultimate upon which conjunction of wills can take place is bodily conjunction.
     That conjugial love may thus rightly progress from its first heat even to its nuptial flame, that conjugial love may consequently proceed and grow up in just order from its spiritual origin, that there may first be a conjunction of the understanding and then a conjunction of the will, the Lord ordained that there be no bodily conjunction during the period of betrothal.

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For if the successive order of conjugial love is precipitated by conjunctions of the body before their time, it follows that both have acted from the lowest region of their minds, which by nativity is unchaste. From such premature conjunctions begin and arise colds and disjunction.

     These truths concerning the betrothal state are obviously directed towards those who have not yet entered into the marriage covenant. It would seem that they have little or no application to the life of married partners. And yet this is, we believe, only an appearance. For though it may be true that the betrothal period is devoted to the conjunction of the understandings of the two, we may very quickly realize that this conjunction is by no means completed in that state. The conjunction has to begin, and proceed for some time, before marriage can take place; but then it proceeds to eternity. The ability to think as the other is acquired only over a long period of time.
     In a very real sense the cycle of betrothal and marriage is to be repeated even after the marriage covenant has been entered into. For conjugial love must always proceed and grow up from its spiritual origin. As conjugial love is, in the minds or spirits of the two, such is it inwardly in their organs, we are taught. If in marriage, there is no order, no looking to the Lord and no consultation of reason, but only a yielding to the flesh, the desire for conjunction is only external, and not of conjugial love. It is exhausted of its genuine essence. If the two do not look to the Lord but only to themselves, they proceed in inverted order. The state of their marriage is for that reason inwardly full of unchastities.
     We need to realize, therefore, that bodily conjunction by itself does not effect a conjunction of hearts and minds, but, in fact, effects the exact opposite. Without conjugial love in the minds of the two it becomes an empty act of selfishness, which causes coldness towards marriage and disdainful neglect towards the married partner. In marriage also, it is very important that the two are conjoined in spirit on the basis of the sense of the letter of the Word over and over again. The mutual inclination of the two souls needs to be widened and deepened. The universal love for the sex in each must be terminated in one of the sex more and more. Interior affections are always open to more interior cognition and conjunction.
     The wife is conjoined to the husband by the appropriation of the powers of his manhood; but, it is added immediately, this takes place according to their mutual spiritual love. Men who completely neglect their responsibility in taking initiative in reading the Word, forget that wives long for spiritual conjunction, and look upon bodily conjunction as a means to this end.

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By refusing to read the Word and meditate upon its teachings, the husband not only frustrates the desire for conjunction on the part of the wife, but also takes from her the holiness and meaning of bodily conjunction. And this is a serious marital crime.
     The true order of conjunction is from the spiritual to the natural, and this order cannot be changed around though man will sometimes try to do this. If this order is followed, then conjugial love from heaven flows in and effects conjunction Then marriage becomes a blessing, filled with warmth and happiness.

     Truth from the Word, because of its nature, will judge our evils; and at certain times, that is, when we really see the truth, this judgment is far reaching and deeply condemning. Especially when the truth concerns conjugial love, judgment seems to be harsh and cutting. For when we hear these truths, and we look into the past, we are disturbed and fear for our future marital happiness. We wonder if we still have a chance to come into love truly conjugial. In such states we need to remember another truth of the Lord's Word, namely, that truth is given for our salvation, and not for our condemnation. "I am come," said the Lord, "a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on Me should not abide in darkness. For I came not to judge the world, but to save the world."
     No man or woman is denied entrance into the kingdom of conjugial love except those who, knowing the truth, continue willingly to reject it in their minds, and disregard it in their lives. But those who see the truth, and are willing to repent and begin a new life, whatever they have done or not done in the past, are given a new chance, a new opportunity. To such the sword of truth judging turns into a new way of life-a way on which the Lord's infinite love for our salvation and marital happiness is ever more clearly revealed. It becomes a way in which conjunction with our partner is effected ever more closely and becomes lovelier. It becomes a way on which the sunshine of mutual love and love to the Lord shines continually. And at the end of life in this world it turns out to be the way which leads into the kingdom of conjugial life, where there is conjunction and love truly conjugial everlasting.
VISITORS TO BRYN ATHYN 1960

VISITORS TO BRYN ATHYN              1960

     People coming to Bryn Athyn who need assistance in finding accommodation will please communicate with the Hostess Committee. Please address letters to: The Hostess Committee, c/o Mrs. Harris S. Campbell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

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TOWER OF BABEL IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 1960

TOWER OF BABEL IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY       DAVID F. GLADISH       1960

     Revelations come when the human race is ready for them-when the light of a former Revelation no longer reaches the eyes of men; and two symptoms of this state seem always to be pride and reliance on self, rather than on Revelation, as a source of truth. Adam and Eve were seduced by the serpent when they "began to think that they could lead themselves" (AC 205); the Nephilim, at the time of Noah, "through a persuasion of their own loftiness and pre-eminence made light of all things holy and true" (AC 580-581); and the Tower of Babel was an attempt to gain dominion "over the things that are in heaven" (AC 1307). In the seventeenth century, Francis Bacon and generations of his followers, both clerical and lay, began to usher in the Scientific Method. The Bible and religion were then pushed gradually into the stuffy corners of the mind, to be almost forgotten.
     The seventeenth century's "Tower of Babel-the metaphor is fascinatingly complete-was a tower of science, done in the brick and slime of sensory observation; the new endeavor was to bring everything down to the plane of the empirically demonstrable-even Scripture.
     Before what has been called the Philosophical Revolution of the seventeenth century, truth was one, and the church was absolute authority. But after the Philosophical Revolution, truth was to depend on the observation of nature. Of course, the change was not suddenly completed, and few men of the seventeenth century were ready to replace their God with science. Like Candide, they were not at first rebellious in their happy valley, only restive; and they felt like treating their own eyes to a look at the world of nature.
     Thus the overtures to the present reign of science were made. The Ptolemaic system of the universe had been upset, and man no longer sat comfortably at the center of all creation. Only with great difficulty could one reconcile the actual world with conventional beliefs. A few obvious examples:
     For John Donne,

     The new Philosophy (put) all in doubt;
     The element of fire (was) quite put out.

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For Milton, it was no easy task to explain, for example, how Raphael (incorporeal substance) could eat the substantial fruits gathered by Eve. Dryden skeptically threw up his hands and relied on nothing more absolute than human judgment and its perception of the best expedient. In the eighteenth century, Deism looked for God, not in the Bible, but in nature. Indeed, it was scarcely possible anymore to see two revelations of God- Nature and the Bible-as a man like Roger Bacon had done in the Middle Ages, because now nature and the Bible seemed to contradict each other. And the change in accepted sources of truth was completed only when, in the nineteenth century, Historical Geology and Evolution "disproved" the literal accuracy of Genesis.
     How these things are analogous with the Tower of Babel is clear. By the twentieth century, the rock foundation of absolute truth has deteriorated, and human reason has become increasingly authoritative. Each conflicting first premise acquires an equal right to be considered true, and now, unable to accept any common starting point, people argue at cross purposes on almost any subject. What is "true" one day may not be "true" the next, if a new theory comes up; and questions of right and wrong are settled on the basis of necessarily incomplete scientific observation. Each school of philosophy has its own private vocabulary, and each school defines words differently, so that a semantic confusion like the biblical Confusion has resulted.
     But it all goes back to the seventeenth century. Bacon, Newton, Descartes-there is no lack of prominent figures who were ahead of their times, but what about those who were not out in front? Were those in the rear ranks at least going in the same direction?
     Almost any branch of science could serve to illustrate the blossoming self-conceit of the seventeenth century, for that was an age interested in everything, and, indeed, a surprisingly "modern" age. But a particularly nice illustration is provided by that period's language studies, which centered very much on the Tower of Babel itself!
     At least a half-dozen books survive which treat, altogether or in part, of the Tower of Babel, and the German Jesuit antiquarian, Athanasius Kircher, went so far as to construct a model of it which is still in existence. He also wrote an extensive Latin treatise, Turris Babel (1674), which not only described the tower and its construction in the most minute and ingenious detail, but which also attempted to show, with numerous charts and paradigms, how all languages could be seen to stem from the language of Adam.
     In the seventeenth century, interest in contemporary languages as well as in ancient languages grew with the burgeoning of trade routes. Similarities among different tongues had been noticed.

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The sixteenth century had investigated grammars, not only classical but contemporary-everything from Gothic to Mexican. The knowledge that resulted had its inevitable effect on philology, and the inquisitive began to see relationships among living languages.*
* Theodor Benfen: Geschichte der Sprachwissenschajt (Munich, 1869). Pp. 214-224.
     With the Bible's accuracy as yet unquestioned, the story of the confusion of tongues lent Divine authority to the linguistic analogies coming to view. Scholars were finding supposedly cognate words in various languages, and some of their discoveries have proved quite accurate. For example, perfectly sound observations of similarities among Greek, German, and Persian numbers were made.* Certain scholars of the sixteenth century had already developed the etymological game of finding words derived from Hebrew in languages ranging from Sanskrit to French and German.**
* Benfen, p. 242.     
** Benfen, pp. 8-9.
     Perhaps an earlier age would have been satisfied to know only that analogies were apparent and that they could be accounted for on the basis of Revelation-that traces of the original unity remained to confirm the Bible story. Not so the seventeenth century. The generalities were still considered true; but the scientific attitude wanted to find out for itself what were the specific mutations which Adam's spontaneous and heavenly language underwent in the process of developing into the many contemporary languages. Scholars wanted to establish the relationships among cognate and parent languages in hopes of constructing a linguistic family tree with one primordial language at its foot.
     The complexities of such a genealogy would be infinite, but one problem was fundamental. This was the problem of determining just what happened at the Tower of Babel. How many languages resulted from the Confusion? What was the original language? How was the original language changed, or was it replaced altogether? What caused the mutations which resulted in such an overwhelming swarm of tongues?*
* For an estimate of the number of language, in the seventeenth century and the number at the Tower of Babel, see An Abstract of Dr. Wilkins's Essay Towards A Real Character and a Philosophical Language, page 174. Wilkins speaks of seventy or seventy-two languages at the Confusion and hundreds in his day. The Abstract appears in The Mathematical and Philosophical Works of the Right Reverend John Wilkins (1708).
     That Hebrew was the original language seems to have been the most generally accepted view. Thomas Stackhouse, in A New History of the Holy Bible (1733), quotes Patrick on genealogical evidence, as follows:

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     That the children of Noah did speak the same language with Adam, is very manifest; because Methuselah, the grandfather of Noah, lived a considerable time with him, and questionless spake the same language: and that this language was no other than the Hebrew is very probable from this argument-that Shem, the son of Noah, was for some time contemporary with Abraham, who descended from him, and whose family continued the same language that they both spoke, until the time of Moses, who recorded the history of his own nation in his native language; so that, what we have now in the Pentateuch, according to the opinion of all Hebrew, and most Christian writers, is the very same with what God taught Adam, and Adam his posterity.*
* Stackhouse, vol. I, p. 162, note.

     The hole in this argument is certainly obvious; but before the Second Coming, who could have done better? Genesis was taken as literally true, and they argued from the facts as they saw the facts. Science, if you please, was ready for a Revelation, spiritual states concurring.
     Claude Duret Bourbonnois, with sermonizing verbosity, touches on the primordial language, in his Thresor de l'Histoire des Langues de Cest Univers (1619). He asserts that Hebrew was the one language before Babel, because Moses tells how Adam named all animals, and he demonstrates the appropriateness of the modern Hebrew words for animals.* Similarly, Samuel Bochartus, in Geographia Sacra (1692), offers several examples of biblical proper names, showing that their meanings in modern Hebrew fit the sense of their use in Genesis. For example, the Hebrew Eden means "a sumptuous garden"; Nod means "land of exiles"; Babel means "confusion"; and so forth.**
* Bourbonnois, pp. 39, if.
** Bochartus, pp. 50-51.     
     Athanasius Kircher, in Turns Babel, devotes considerable thought and space to the problems; what must have been the primordial language, and what was its nature? He gives three reasons why the Hebrew language is to be considered the first language.* First, God made that language one with the nature of the universe. In an earlier discussion, Kircher has already demonstrated that Adam named the animals according to their qualities, which he recognized instinctively.** This view is characteristic of the seventeenth century in that it hinges on the concept of inherent and all-pervasive order: a concept which produced the great metaphysical poetry of that century, but which was to give way to an entirely different view of order as the eighteenth century and Deism progressed. Kircher seems to assume that there was a primitive state-the Golden Age-in which nothing operated contrary to an essentially good, universal harmony. In this state, Adam could not possibly name anything inappropriately. Each name corresponded precisely with the nature of the thing it stood for, "ut rerum ipsarum naturam vere exprimeret."***

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Kircher's second reason for considering Hebrew the first language is that it is the simplest language. All of its roots consist of only three letters. Finally, the fact that every jot and tittle in Hebrew has meaning shows the hand of God in the construction of the language. His meaning is acceptable, if his argument seems circular.
* Kircher, pp. 148-149.
** This common belief is perhaps the best expressed in Paradise Lost, VIII, 352-354, where Adam says:
     I named them as they passed, and understood
     Their nature; with such knowledge God endued
     My sudden apprehension.
*** Kircher, pp. 145-146.
     One of the favorite theories about the original language sprang from Herodotus' story about two boys who were brought up in isolation and whose first word was Bee, the Phrygian word for bread. Kircher, among others, recounts how the Egyptian king, Psammaticus, suspected that Egypt must have been the cradle of the human race because of its climate and because of the faculty of the Nile for spontaneous generation. Psammaticus had two infant boys sequestered, on an island, from speaking people, and discovered after a few years that the sounds, Bee, Bee, stood out in their gibberish. It was concluded that Phrygia was therefore the cradle of the human race. But someone has pointed out that there were goats on the island!
     One more opinion as to the unity of language before Babel can be seen in Stackhouse's History. Stackhouse is always ready to rely on the Bible as his first authority, and he points out that since the occasion of the Confusion was so important that God came down in person, and since Moses asserts that there was one language, we should take it that there was only one. He says that this is one of the most detailed and grand accounts recorded by Moses, and that it was therefore probably told accurately.*
* Stackhouse, p. 168.
     All of these seventeenth-century opinions illustrate the manner in which people were reasoning about the supposed original language. The Bible was still the authority, and investigation of facts was still supporting its authority. This mixture of Bible and observable facts also emerged when commentators discussed the other important philological problem: how did the various languages develop after the Confusion?
     Philologists were aware of the relationships among modern cognate languages and of the possibility of sister dialects becoming mutually unintelligible. It was natural for them to explain the Confusion on this basis. Patrick, in his Commentary (London, 1727) says that "God did not make everyone speak a new different language, but they had a confused remembrance of the original language . . . which made them speak differently." Variations in inflections, terminations, and pronunciations took place, he explains; and just as French, Italian, and Spanish are unintelligible to one who knows only the parent language, Latin, so the dialects after the Confusion were mutually obscure.

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If every man had suddenly begun to speak a new dialect, mankind would have been destroyed, and so there were not as many dialects as there were people at the plain of Shinar. And, incidentally, Noah, who "kept his plantation Easterly," retained the language pure.*
* Patrick, Third Edition (1727), p. 59.
     Stackhouse, on this subject, quotes Isaac Cassaubon, whose evidence was that the less the distance a people is from the Jewish race, the more their language resembles Hebrew.*
* Stackhouse, pp. 167-168 note.
     Athanasius Kircher notes that the mind and the organs remained the same after the Confusion, but "in spiritu autem Jormando, et velut in articulos distinguendo varietas vocum, et discrepantia significationum inflicta est."* Later he speaks in terms of a doctrine of mutability and Fortune's wheel, observing that language, like everything else on earth, is subject to change, and he lists five causes of change:
     1. Fusion and exchange between two languages results in a "medium" language.
     2. Monarchs impose their languages on conquered people lest rebellion arise in the obscurity of an unfamiliar tongue.
     3. Calamities attacking a people sometimes throw the few survivors into contact with neighboring nations and their languages.
     4. Commixture in colonies results in the development of dialects.
     5. Changeable air and soil, by affecting the human organs, bring about changes in pronunciation, and hence apparently new languages.**
* Kircher, p. 127.
** Kircher p. 130.
     These reasons are as good as any given today. What makes languages change is still largely a mystery. But Kircher's approach to the problem is important because the doctrine of mutability has a taint of the medieval, while his interest in the actual causes of mutability is more or less scientific, and we can see the seventeenth century standing as a nexus between medieval and modern thought.
     The people who have been discussed so far considered all languages essentially dialects of Ancient Hebrew. There was, however, some suspicion that God had given a set of new languages at Babel, and had not merely caused changes in inflections and pronunciations of one language. Stackhouse comments on Patrick:

     Some commentators, from the word conjound, are ready to infer, that God did not make some of these builders speak new different languages, only that they had such a confus'd Remembrance or the original language, they spoke before, as made them speak it in a quite different manner. . .

But Stackhouse objects that all languages cannot be simply dialects derived from one original, because some languages are entirely different from each other, and so they must "have been of immediate infusion" at the time of the Confusion.*

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Why should there have been a miracle when the confounding could have been accomplished without one (i.e., through natural evolution) is another question that Stackhouse raises. Answering himself, he observes that languages are not really so subject to change as is supposed, and that not even the most gradual change could account for the great differences observable today. He sees language as composed of matter (the words) and form (the flections in nouns and verbs), and he shows how the form is used for basically different things in different languages. For example, Western languages have only active and passive in transitive verbs, while in Chaldean, Hebrew, and Syriac, there are five, six, and seven conjugations, and in Arabic thirteen. In Hebrew and others, my, your, his, and so forth, are indicated by suffixes. After some other illustrations, he makes the observation that Hebrew itself exhibits no such basic change from Moses' time to the present, and that the same is true for the Western languages from the earliest Greek, forward.** This demonstration by Stackhouse-the sort that would delight Frances Bacon-well exemplifies the state of thought of that crucial period. Look at nature! Get rid of the "idols"! If the Emperor has no clothes, say so!
* Stackhouse, p. 162, note.
** Stackhouse, p. 169, ff.
     Science had to do this. It was time to shift into a new gear. (The merest glance at Sir Thomas Browne's "unnatural natural history" makes it clear why. There just were not any unicorns, as it was turning out, and salamanders can be burned up.) But even in its new gear, science, is speculation, and eventually it reaches the end of its cul de sac. Facts have been added to the world's knowledge about linguistics, and brilliant observations have been made, but still no final word on the real nature of Adam's language has come from anywhere but the Writings.
     These typical seventeenth-century views concerning the Confusion of Tongues reflect a general state of mind. People of that day retained their Christian reliance on the Bible, but no longer were they just confirming Revelation. They were seeking to explain it. They displayed the scientific curiosity and the demand for proof which have brought immense technical progress, but which soon undermined the Bible itself as a source of knowledge. Was it any accident that this state of mind emerged about the time Emanuel Swedenborg was born, a child of his age but the one chosen to recognize the point beyond which human reason cannot go?

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NOTE ON THE ANCIENT WORD 1960

NOTE ON THE ANCIENT WORD       Rev. ORMOND ODUNER       1960

     Most New Church men are quite familiar with the teaching of the Writings that the stories in the first part of Genesis are "made-up historicals" derived from the Ancient Word. These are not to be regarded as actual history, but rather as allegories composed by the ancients for the sake of their spiritual meaning (AC 1283, et al.). The first historical character mentioned in Genesis is Eber (10: 25), six generations removed from Abraham; but speaking generally-even as the Writings themselves do in Arcana Coelestia 482-we say that up to the twelfth chapter of Genesis the accounts are not historical.
     That they are stories derived from the now lost Ancient Word is clearly taught (TCR 279). They are said to have been "transcribed" from that Word by Moses (ibid.). Again, it is said that "these particulars concerning the creation, the Garden of Eden, etc., down to the time of Abram, Moses had from the descendants of the Most Ancient Church" (AC 66). Very recently, however, we were struck by an apparent discrepancy between the above teachings and those found in Sacred Scripture 103 and De Verbo xv. There it is taught that the first seven chapters of Genesis are in that Ancient Word, "complete to the slightest expression," and "so manifestly that not a little word is wanting." Why the "seven"? Why not "eleven," or "ten and a half"? Chapter seven ends with Noah and his family in the ark, riding the waters of the flood.
     Even more recently, while making a study of the use of sacrifices in the Ancient Church, we came across what seems to be the answer to this little question. Sacrifices first began with Eber, progenitor of the Hebrews, and were unknown before then (AC 1241; DP 328; AE 391), save with some of the descendants of Ham and Canaan-Noah's "son" and "grandson-who were idolaters, and with whom they were permitted so that they might not sacrifice their sons and daughters (AC 1241).
     Definitely, then, there were no sacrifices in the early days of the Ancient Church, the church Noah. Yet in Genesis 8: 20, after Noah had left the ark, we read: "And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord, and took of every clean beast, and of every fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar." Here is the answer. This one particular verse could not have been a part of the Ancient Word, for when that Word was written, sacrifices were unknown.

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It must have come from the pen of a later writer to whom sacrifices had become the most holy thing of worship. Its author could have been Moses himself, who wanted to express the idea that "Noah" desired to worship the Lord for his deliverance, and therefore made Noah do what he himself would have done-offer burnt sacrifice.
     As far as we can now tell, this is the only verse in Genesis 8 and 9 which could not have been in the Ancient Word, but it is enough to account for the teaching that only the first seven chapters of Genesis were in the Ancient Word "complete to the slightest expression." It offers another beautiful example of the internal consistency of the Writings.
NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1960

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS       Rev. ORMOND ODHNER       1960

     The sixth chapter of True Christian Religion, Faith, is covered fully in the daily readings for May. It gives a very different teaching from that held by either the Roman or the Protestant branch of the old Christianity, though both would agree with the New Church that faith is a thing that comes to man from God.
     Faith, for the Roman Catholic, is a thing that man gains, possibly at his baptism, even as a child, but more probably at his "justification," when he is "adopted as a son of God." God's unmerited grace moves man to penance, but man can and must co-operate with it. Penance, in turn, consists in amendment of life, after confession of sin and contrition therefor; at least a desire for the sacraments; a hatred of evil; and the performance of good works from God. Thus "justified," man has the faith that accepts those "mysteries" of religion which are beyond rational understanding on earth.
     Faith, for the Protestant, is a thing that comes to him, entirely unmerited, usually at an identifiable moment, giving his heart the "conviction" that Christ died for his sins. It is a free gift of God, and it brings with it salvation or justification. For some Protestants, faith can be lost; for some, it may later be regained; for others, "once saved, always saved." For almost all Protestants, in one way or another, faith thereafter produces good works as a tree produces its fruit.
     Faith, for a New Church man, is that belief of the heart in the Divinity of the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ which a man gains from having lived them. It is an internal acknowledgment of truth from living experience thereof. It is as the knowledge one has of a road, not from hearing it described, but from having walked it himself (DP 60).

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The only saving faith is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Its sum total is that he who lives well and believes rightly is saved by the Lord, but an abundance of particular truths cohering together exalts it toward the Lord. It is always joined with charity, and charity and faith together have real and permanent existence only in good works. It is far more than intellectual knowledge, or a belief of the mouth; that can exist with the evil, and faith cannot. And although it does not insist upon an immediate answer to all questions of religion, faith is not blind, because it is in the visible and comprehensible God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1960

IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES              1960

     The Winter Number of the NEW-CHURCH MAGAZINE contains, as is usual in that journal, several interesting articles. Commenting on the present world situation in the light of the Last Judgment and the giving of the Writings, the editor notes that while self interest might lead men to band together for the sake of survival, only a recognition of our common origin and heritage as children of God can give a secure basis for the future of mankind on earth. He notes that the infinite power of the Lord is not used to coerce man's will, but to preserve his freedom; since, to receive the full gift of life from Him, we must be free.
     Under the title, "The Nature and Development of Learning with the Lord," Hugh Bain, MA., contributes a study of the process of the Lord's education while on earth which shows wherein it was like, and unlike, the education of men. This is a thorough study, based on passages which are quoted extensively, and all the main passages are considered. From our point of view, it is marred only by the fact that the teachings of the Writings presented are offered as Swedenborg's view of the subject.
     Mr. G. A. de C. de Moubray, who is known as a contributor to this journal, follows up a previous article with the first installment of another, entitled "Intercourse with the Spiritual World, Lawful and Unlawful." The author states that it is still widely argued in the New Church that except in the case of Swedenborg, in relation to whom a general rule was broken for a special purpose, intercourse with the spiritual world is unlawful for the men of our world at this time. The argument developed here is that the existence of a written Word is not a bar to intercourse; that it is not necessary for a man to be regenerated to the celestial degree for intercourse with the spiritual world to be free from danger; and that it is possible to explore the problem-to what degree is it necessary that a man should be regenerated to avoid danger?

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The second part of the article, to be published in the next issue, will take up the question of free will in relation to conversations with angels and spirits.

     The editors of the ACADEMY JOURNAL are to be congratulated on their first Literary Number (vol. 1, no. 2). A wide range and variety in content reflects different aspects of the Academy's life and uses as an institution and its relation to other organizations. Thus "Principles of Composition," by E. Bruce Glenn, and "The Academy Geology Collection," by Erland J. Brock, are closely related to the classroom work of the Academy schools, and the thought developed is characteristic of the Academy. "The Academy in the Field of Swedenborgiana," by Hugo U. Odhner, Beryl Briscoe and Lennart Alfelt, describes another and vital aspect of the Academy's work and one that looks, among other things, to the eventual establishment of a university-that of equipping itself as a depository of primary research materials for the use of scholars in the field. "Uses of Accreditation," by Dean of Faculties Eldric S. Klein, lists the advantages of accreditation that have been of direct use to Academy students, especially in the College, and of help in the further development of the College itself. Finally, this article notes, accreditation associates us with a large number of institutions which cherish their independence and respect one another's individuality and integrity. Four members of the faculty contribute short articles on recent activities directly connected with increasing their competence in their respective fields; and there is an interesting listing of the literary output of some former Academy students, the significance of which will become more and more evident upon reflection.

     In a spirited article, "The Society Wants," published recently in the NEW-CHURCH HERALD, the Rev. Arthur Clapham suggests that there is a shortage of ministers because, although the church needs ministers, it does not really want them! "Very often, it seems," he says. "it does not want a minister so much as a general factotum; somebody who will relieve the members of any work in the church, in the Sunday school, among the young people, or at least of all responsibility for such work. And naturally it is nice to think that a minister will be preaching every Sunday: it gives 'tone' to a church. But all that is not really wanting a minister." The argument is based on average attendance at public worship and the Holy Supper; and if the interpretation of the figures is open to question, there is still ground for the argument.

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REVIEW 1960

REVIEW       LAWSON A. PENDLETON       1960

PRINCIPLES OF GOVERNMENT. By George de Charms. The Academy Book Room, Bryn Athyn, Pa., 1960. Cloth, pp. 74. Price, $1.50.
     All government is from the Lord. That is the thesis of the new, brief book by George de Charms, Bishop of the General Church. Compared to other treatises on government, this thesis is probably unique. Its uniqueness should not surprise any New Church reader, however, since the sources of the book were the Divine revelation of the Writings, in themselves an entirely unique body of doctrine.
     The substance of the book was first presented as a series of doctrinal classes to the Bryn Athyn Society in 1943. It appears now in a series of six chapters: Introduction; The Nature of Divine Government; Divine Government in Heaven and in Hell; Divine Government on Earth; The Theory of Democracy; and, Ecclesiastical Government.
     In his introduction Bishop De Charms points out that New Church men have been unable to agree on the best type of government; patriarchy, monarchy (and modified monarchy), socialism, or "democracy." He reviews each historical type and concludes: ". . . there is no single form of government that is right in itself and of universal application" (p. 11).
     The nature of Divine government is shown as that which comes through influx by means of the Divine Providence, which is the Divine government, for the sake of use through freedom. No governor can govern outside the framework of Divine government, whether he realizes it or not. Since all government belongs to the Lord alone, every governor should strive to protect the real freedom of the governed, subordinating his own will to the Divine will. So far as this is done can the Lord govern through him. 'This is the first and most important principle of all human government, both civil and ecclesiastical" (p. 22).
     Divine government in heaven is effected entirely by influx, not by Divine command but by enlightened conscience. There are many varieties of government in heaven, according to the functions of the societies and according to those governments known on earth, hence patriarchal, princely, and representative; but all angels look to the Lord. In hell, government is by influx as far as is possible; but when necessary it is government by command, and the external compulsion of fear. Citing Arcana Coelestia 7773, the author notes an interesting parallel between government in hell and government on earth.

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In hell, the Lord permits certain spirits or societies to gain the ascendancy, but before they can rush into greater evils, He permits other spirits and societies to rise up and overthrow these leaders. "Infernal government . . . is just one revolutionary movement after another" (p. 32). A rapid review of the history of the world would show a similar tendency toward revolution. The lack of morality in the current East-West struggle is also shown as the earthly counterpart of hellish government. However, it should be pointed out that although the Soviet leaders today have no monopoly on immorality it is they who actively preach deceit, subversion, treason and revolution to the faithful followers of world-wide Communism.
     As the Lord governs by influx in heaven and hell, so, too, He governs by influx on earth, to the governors and the governed, good and evil alike. This is effected through societies of angels and spirits, both good and evil. By a conscience of spiritual truth from the Word He governs the regenerated man in heaven and on earth; by a conscience of moral and civil truth He governs those who are regenerating or those who can be regenerated; and by apparent conscience He governs the evil, and others who are in proprial states. But for all, He governs for the sake of man's freedom, and this ". . . Divine government must operate mediately through the administration of human governors" (p. 42). Depicting the function of government and the governor, the author notes by way of illustration that in Great Britain the monarch reigns, whereas the Prime Minister is the actual governor. So far as the will of the governor cannot be bent to the Divine purpose, the Lord causes opposing forces to rise to modify the governor's will, and in extreme cases to overthrow the government, replacing it with a new one, not necessarily better, but one more amenable to Divine leading.

     For his discussion of the theory of democracy, the author points to means of democratic action: rule by majority vote. This is based on the assumption that the authority of democratic government rests with the people. This assumption, he notes, is an error; all authority is derived from the Lord and rests with the Divine. The function of the people in a democracy, he says, is a reactive function-consent. The people express a choice of two or more alternatives by means of the vote. This last point overlooks the rather powerful mechanisms available to the people: the "people" often express their opinions to their government's representatives orally or in writing; there is the ever-present lobbyist (lobbyists are often referred to as "the third House"); and the less frequently used "initiative ""referendum," and "recall." Some of these mechanisms have their counterparts in ecclesiastical government. On democracy the author concludes: ". . . democracy, in our modern world . . . may well afford the greatest opportunity for political freedom that has yet been devised by man" (p. 58).

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But, he adds: "Neither this nor any other political system can guarantee freedom. Freedom depends, in the last analysis, on character; that is, on self-control from consideration for the good of the community" (p. 58).
     The concluding chapter on ecclesiastical government is perhaps the most noteworthy contribution of the book, coming from the ordained and elected head of the General Church. "The General Church is not an ecclesiastical democracy. It has no humanly devised constitution. It acknowledges nothing but the plain teaching of the Heavenly Doctrine as the ultimate authority. It looks to this alone as the source of all law and the fountain of all government. The law itself is Divine, but it must be interpreted and administered through the instrumentality of an educated and ordained priesthood" (p. 64). That is the thesis of this chapter on ecclesiastical government, an idea familiar to all members of the General Church. Further, the author quotes one of his predecessors in a warning to the church at large. From time to time there may arise a natural desire to protect the church, and this by means of legal restraints as is done in civil government. In answer to this, he quotes: "No external bond should be placed upon any member, or official, or part of the church; a bond so placed is a bond placed upon the whole Church." In explanation, the quote continues: "If the Church is interiorly in evil it cannot be held together, except by external bonds; but if it is in a process of being made internal by reformation and regeneration-is in the way of spiritual growth-then an external bond is unnecessary and hurtful" (p. 66). Finally, he states that no doctrine should be formulated by council; the church should not bind the future, but instead the church should be governed "from use, for use, and to use." Instead of rule by majority vote, the church should be ruled by council and assembly, striving for "essential unanimity." If the desire to be led by the Lord is present in the governor and the governed, "it will do more than all else to insure genuine freedom in government" (p. 71).
     The present generation of New Church men is fortunate in having a restatement of principles which underlie all government, both civil and ecclesiastical. Our understanding of these principles cannot fail to be improved by this book; yet it is the will, as the author points out, which should be activated by this treatise.
     This book should be of interest to all New Church men, including those in other organized bodies; for it will give an insight into leading General Church thought on government, and, of particular interest, thought on ecclesiastical government.
     LAWSON A. PENDLETON

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NOTABLE ANNIVERSARY 1960

NOTABLE ANNIVERSARY       Editor       1960


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published by
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.
Editor - - Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager - - Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, changes of address, and business communications, should be sent to the Business Manager. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.

TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$5.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy, 50 cents.
     It was on February 26, 1810, that twelve prominent New Church men met in London, England, to organize The Society for Printing and Publishing the Theological Writings of the Hon. Emanuel Swedenborg. The Society founded on that day later became known as the Swedenborg Society, which at the present time is celebrating its 150th anniversary with a series of public meetings in London and elsewhere in Great Britain.
     There was appropriateness in the founders' selection of the Nineteenth of June as the Society's anniversary day; for the use of the Swedenborg Society is an extension of the one initiated on that day-the spreading of the Heavenly Doctrine. For a century and a half the Society has had a distinguished and unbroken history of translating, printing and publishing the Writings. Scholarly Latin and Latin-English editions have been produced. Public interest has been appealed to by lectures, and study schemes have been promoted. Neither wars, depressions, nor other difficulties have been allowed to stop the work.
     Although the Swedenborg Society stands outside the organized bodies of the New Church it has co-operated with them, and they with it, in important uses which are common to all; and those bodies have an indebtedness to it which we, on our part, gladly acknowledge. For the church is founded upon the Writings, and the Society is second to none in making the Writings available. The use which the Swedenborg Society has served faithfully and with distinction, and to which it is committed in the future, is one that should have the good will of all who love the Writings-good will ultimated and expressed in support of the use itself.

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FREEDOM IN A DECADENT CHURCH 1960

FREEDOM IN A DECADENT CHURCH       Editor       1960

     Thoughtful students of the Writings, reflecting upon their teaching about the state of the Christian world, have sometimes wondered just what freedom there is for men in a consummated church. It would seem obvious that the men of a declining church, and even more those of one that has been consummated, do not have a clear-cut choice between good and evil, but rather between a milder and a greater evil or between a lesser falsity and one that is more serious. This would appear to be the state in the Christian world today; for there is no real freedom of choice except where there is truth, and hence spiritual faith, thus in the Lord's specific church.
     Where there is no truth, however, the Lord will accept falsities which are not of evil, and thereby give something of enlightenment to the people within a consummated church. Thus men of all religions can be saved eventually, by entering here into a state of external reformation through the good of obedience. Not that obedience to false doctrines regenerates; if a fallen church could be restored to integrity through its own dogmas and religion the teachings of the Writings about the state of the Christian world would be different. Accumulations of hereditary evil appropriated and added to close the spiritual minds of some whom the Lord foresees would otherwise profane the interior truth of the Word; and they also prevent the spiritual mind from being opened prematurely with those who can be instructed in that truth after death, which is also foreseen by the Lord. But those accumulations do not interfere with man's freedom of choosing heaven or hell; and even if that freedom is restricted in its exercise to choices among degrees of evil and falsity, a man can still be in the way of heaven.
PREDESTINATION TO HEAVEN 1960

PREDESTINATION TO HEAVEN       Editor       1960

     In view of the fact that not all men are saved, how are we to understand the teaching of the Writings that all are predestined to heaven, and none to hell? It is quite clear, of course, that there is no predestination, either to heaven or to hell, in the sense that the Lord predetermines or foreordains who shall be elected to eternal happiness and who consigned to unending misery. The Lord indeed foresees who will go to heaven, and who to hell; yet in so doing He does not foreknow what will happen because He has predetermined what shall happen. What He foresees is the choices that man will make in freedom.
     Evidently, then, this teaching can mean only that in creating each and every man and woman the Lord has no other will for them than that they shall become angels. To every person whom He creates the Lord gives all the means of salvation, all the faculties and abilities necessary to use those means, and the power to choose to use them for that purpose.

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If the Lord were to withhold any of these gifts from those He foresees will not use them, then it might be said that He had denied them the opportunity to be saved. But the Lord never does so; His love goes out equally to all men. In this way, and in this way only, is it said that all are predestined to heaven, and none to hell, and that man himself is at fault if he is not saved.
     It might be argued whether, if the Lord wills the salvation of all men, His will is not thwarted by the fact that not all men are saved. This was one of the problems that confronted Augustine and Calvin. They believed, rightly, that if the will of God could be thwarted it would not be absolute; but they erred in trying to remove the difficulty by concluding that reprobation as well as salvation was of the Divine will. The Writings resolve the problem at last by revealing that what the Lord really wills for men is that they shall be free, since without freedom there can be no salvation. When we realize this, we may see that whether men go to heaven or not the Lord's will is not thwarted, since they always do so in freedom. It is true that in the case of those who are lost the Lord's will is done to a far lesser degree, that His love is satisfied to a far lesser extent; but that is not the same thing as His will being thwarted.
SACRAMENT OF THE SUPPER 1960

SACRAMENT OF THE SUPPER       Editor       1960

     We are taught in the Writings that partaking of the Holy Supper belongs to the life of piety, not to that of charity; and that it is an outward act that ought to be done, but that it is of no avail unless there is an internal from which it proceeds, which internal is a life in accordance with the precepts that doctrine teaches. This indicates that preparation for the Holy Supper is necessary, and the nature of that preparation is shown plainly in certain teachings. Thus it is said that the Holy Supper was instituted in order that man, in repenting, might look to the Lord alone, and that it confirms the remission of sins in those who repent because in it everyone is kept looking to the Lord alone; and elsewhere it is stated that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Lord through the clergy to the laity by the sacrament of the Holy Supper according to repentance before it.
     Clearly, then, partaking of the Holy Supper should be preceded by repentance; and while this should be a continuing process, there are teachings which suggest that we should prepare ourselves for the sacrament by self-examination, and others which teach that directly. If this is done sincerely, and by this we mean that systematic self-examination which should be practised at intervals, it will bring us to the Holy Supper in a frame of mind in which we shall be thinking of repentance and amendment of life.

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In that state, the minds of men are not fixed on the elements as they receive them, but on the Lord and His mercy, and on what is of love to Him and charity toward the neighbor.
     Pastors are sometimes asked how frequently the Holy Supper should be received. To this question, contrary to popular opinion, the Writings give no direct answer; for those passages which counsel a man to "examine himself two or three times a year" before partaking of the sacrament are not necessarily saying that Communion should be received only two or three times yearly, but are more likely referring to the custom of the time. Possibly the Writings supply no specific direction because this is a matter for rational, individual decision. However, it would seem that because the Supper is the most holy act of worship it should not be partaken of so frequently that it becomes a routine, but should be rather a periodic climax. In most of our societies the Holy Supper is administered frequently enough to meet the needs of all; and just as no one should feel obliged to partake of the sacrament whenever it is offered, so all should feel free to avail themselves of the invitation to the Lord's table as often as they do desire according to their state and need. Also, it might he added that we should not allow ourselves to think that an interim Communion is a lesser thing than a quarterly administration. There can be no question of greater or lesser holiness in this sacrament.
     The teaching that the Lord is present, and opens heaven, to those who approach the Holy Supper worthily poses a question for some; for the teaching is that those approach worthily who have faith in the Lord and charity toward the neighbor, and no man knows whether he has these spiritual qualities or not. However, it is not on the basis of such a judgment that men should seek to determine their worthiness. What fits us to approach the Holy Supper is a humble sense of need, of need which we acknowledge the Lord alone can fill. If we feel that we earnestly desire what is represented by the bread and wine, and believe the Lord alone can give it to us, then no matter how unworthy we may feel that we are to receive, we are not unworthy to approach; for humility is the essential condition for receiving the Holy Supper.
CLOWES AND DE QUINCEY 1960

CLOWES AND DE QUINCEY       PERCY DAWSON       1960

Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:

     In so far as it concerns Clowes and De Quincey, the short excursion into church history which appears in your February issue [pp. 87, 88] scarcely does justice to the contemporary leaders of New Church thought in 1837; inasmuch as the writer states at the end of his article:

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"Yet, to my knowledge, no notice was taken by eminent New Church writers of this virulent attack upon Swedenborg." The Rev. Samuel Noble is mentioned, presumably as a possible apologist.
     The De Quincey essay in question appeared in the February, 1837, issue of Tait's Magazine, and was the subject of critical articles in the Intellectual Repository for July, 1837 (pp. 501-512). One of these was by the editors of that journal, of whom Noble was one. This contribution corrected certain mis-statements in the De Quincey essay; for example, that when De Quincey was visiting Clowes the former was a schoolboy not yet sixteen, while Clowes was about eighty. The editors say:
"Now in the year 1802, which was the latest period of the 'Opium Eater's' acquaintance with Mr. Clowes, the latter was not sixty years of age altogether."
     Furthermore, in the same year, the report of the 28th Annual Meeting of the London Printing Society makes reference to the De Quincey essay when reporting ways in which opportunities had been taken to call public attention to the Writings by means of advertisements. In this case, an advertisement had been inserted in Tait's Magazine, drawing special attention to The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine, and giving directions as to how this work and others of the Writings could be obtained. The Printing Society adopted this course since it seemed likely that readers of Tait's Magazine, having read De Quincey, might be drawn to read Swedenborg for themselves.
     A minor point which requires correction is that the author of the Clowes biography was Theo. Compton, not Crompton.

PERCY DAWSON
28 Parklands Road,
Streatham, London, SW. 16,
England

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Church News 1960

Church News       Various       1960

     STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN

     On New Year's Day, the Rev. and Mrs. Bjorn Boyesen kept open house for us all. This has become a tradition, and we do enjoy meeting one another informally in a home where we always feel a sphere of warm hospitality.
     Swedenborg's birthday was also celebrated at our pastor's home, with a banquet. Thanks to Mrs. Boyesen's untiring interest and energy a fine meal was served at nicely decorated tables. The program was rather simple-just some singing in unison and two speeches. Miss Senta Centervall described how Swedenborg had been prepared for his mission: his long researches along scientific lines; his intense efforts to find the origin of the human soul; and his final entrance into the spiritual world. Mr. Boyesen gave an interesting account of the tragic events in Gothenburg during Swedenborg's lifetime, when his earliest followers in Sweden were persecuted for heresy, tried, and condemned.
     Services, doctrinal classes and religious instruction for the young have been going on as usual. For the time being, however, there is an interruption of most of the activities here, as Mr. Boyesen has moved to Copenhagen for a whole month, taking his family with him. He feels that the circle in Denmark is in great need of more attention than he is able to give during the brief visits he makes four or five times a year. A comfortable furnished apartment has been secured for them, and Mr. and Mrs. Boyesen look forward to making in it a home where they can see their Danish friends and get into closer touch with them. In the meantime, tape-recorded services will be used in the Stockholm Society.

     Obituary. At the beginning of this month [February] we lost our oldest member, inasmuch as Mrs. Hedvig Wahlstrom then passed away. She was almost ninety-two years old and had belonged to our Society since its very beginning. For many years, however, she had been confined to her home because of failing health; and we missed her at church, where we had been used to seeing her faithfully attending the services Sunday after Sunday. In her earlier days, she and her good friend, Miss Sophie Nordenskjold, were eager supporters of the Academy movement in Stockholm, and she always kept up her interest in the welfare of the Society in spite of her enforced inactivity. Her daughter Greta is married to Dr. Gustaf Baeckstrom, our first pastor.
     SENTA CENTERVALL


     LONDON, ENGLAND

     The year opened with a delightfully informal gathering on Sunday, January 3rd. This was the occasion of the golden anniversary of the wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Victor Tilson, and it took place in the schoolroom immediately after the morning service. About sixty people gathered to enjoy a lavish supply of tea, sandwiches and cakes provided by this ever young pair and to drink toasts, first to the church in which both have given so much service, and then to the obviously happy couple. Telegrams and letters of good wishes were read, as well as a cable from Wynne and Rachel Anon in Durban, South Africa. An illuminated address from one of the Memorable Relations, lovingly executed by Bernice Sandstrom and her daughter Elisabeth, was presented by the Society to Mr. and Mrs. Tilson, and all their friends were invited to sign their names on it. It was one of those all too rare occasions when another's joy is felt as ones own.

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     The first official event of 1960 was the children's New Year party, held on Saturday, January 9th. This had the largest attendance for some years, twenty-three children ranging in age from thirteen years to as many months being present, and was a great success. Miss Marilyn Little again organized the games, aided by her brother Julian, Jarvis Ball and the young Sandstroms. Although these did not always proceed as planned they certainly engendered much excitement and hilarity. A large Christmas tree had been rescued from the Sandstrom household and this was decorated and hung with presents for every child. For the better part of an hour the children entertained each other with songs and recitations, Julie Law leading off with "Holy Night," which she sang from behind the chancel screens. The purity of her young voice, unaccompanied, and the beauty of that age-old carol, held the children spellbound. The party was also made the occasion for presenting awards to the children taking part in the religion lessons program.
     At the suggestion of our pastor, the Rev. Erik Sandstrom, a very unusual project has got under way-no less than the staging of a full length play under the direction of Miss Edith Elphick. This is to take the place of the annual sale of work by the Women's Guild. The play has entailed a great deal of work for the director and the cast; but the interest aroused both in London and in Colchester augers well for the opening night, to which we are all looking forward with keen anticipation. Speaking of the Women's Guild, we are pleased to record that at the annual general meeting in February, Miss Elizabeth Pethard was appointed president, the present secretary, Mrs. Helen Colebrooke, remaining in office. Miss Pethard is on the staff of the Swedenborg Society.
     Recently we have enjoyed several visitors from overseas. Among them we recall Martin Klein, on leave from the U. S. forces; Mr. and Mrs. J. Scrimshaw from the New England group, who are still in this country; and Mrs. Ferran from Australia, who leaves shortly for home. Surely the most unfortunate visitors to Britain have been Colonel and Mrs. Lowe from Durhan, South Africa, who, because of an accident to Mrs. Lowe's back on hoard ship, were confined to their London hotel during their entire stay, and were eventually compelled to return home without being able to accept the hospitality that would otherwise have been showered upon them.
     Perhaps the most wonderful thing we have enjoyed this year as a Society has been the magnificent series of sermons on the book of Daniel preached by the Rev. Erik Sandstrom. A useful and welcome innovation is the duplicating of each week's sermon, so that copies may be supplied to members of the Open Road who wish to receive them, as well as to members of Michael Church who may have missed one of the series.
     ISABEL ROBERTSON


     BRYN ATHYN, PA.

     As Charter Day is written up in a special account for NEW CHURCH LIFE, we do not feel that we should take the space in these columns for a detailed account from the Bryn Athyn Society viewpoint. But we would like to say that we in Bryn Athyn consider this weekend to be one of the most pleasant of the year, with so many happy memories stirred by visits from alumni and other friends. It is a privilege to be hosts to friends of the Academy, and to be allowed to participate in the ceremonies and social activities connected with this Academy day.
     Just before Thanksgiving, the Society was treated to a delightful party at Glencairn. Mr. Garth Pitcairn arranged for a spirited Dixieland band; and the mood was one of good dancing and good spirits, shared by a happy and informal blend of young and old.
     The Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons were marked by the usual celebrations and their attendant festivities. For the last two years we have had an adult service in the morning of Thanksgiving Day, as well as the children s service with its offering of fruit. In another year it is probable that we shall have two Christmas Eve children's services, as so many parents and friends wish to attend this inspiring part of the Christmas festivities.

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While our spirits are focused on thanksgiving to the Lord and rejoicing at His first advent, it is sometimes wondered if there is an overemphasis of the material and social ultimates connected with these events. In an attempt to put the money involved in one Christmas custom to greater use, an experiment was tried last season. Those who wished to participate contributed to the Bryn Athyn Church money which they would otherwise have spent on cards to friends in the Society whom they would most likely see and be able to greet personally during the holiday season. Although many felt that they missed sending and receiving cards, and there were many who did not join in the experiment, the substantial sum of money collected for society uses indicated that it may be worth doing another year.
     The Council of the Clergy meetings at the end of January were the stimulus to many discussions of doctrine and church affairs. The Rev. Roy Franson addressed the Society on Friday evening in a paper entitled "Some Thoughts about Evil." His thoughts were penetrating and backed by exhaustive study. Afterwards all were invited to the Civic and Social Club House for informal meeting and discussion with visiting ministers and other friends.
     The Swedenborg's birthday celebration was of unusual note this year. Bishop De Charms presented a program that opened with two excellent papers, by Candidates Kurt Asplundh and Douglas Taylor, respectively, on "Swedenborg's Attitude Toward Science" and "Swedenborg's Spiritual Crisis." Then we had a lively well drilled entertainment, imported at great expense!-Mr. Gosta Baeckstrom and his group of genuine Swedish dancers and singers in authentic costumes, presented in front of a professional looking backdrop portraying Swedenborg's summer house. The climax of the evening was a fine paper, "Swedenborg the First New Church Man," by Dr. William Whitehead.
     At this turn of a decade we pause to note the passing into the other world of several men and women who have been outstanding members of the Bryn Athyn Society. Mrs. N. D. Pendleton, wife of our former Bishop and pastor, passed into the spiritual world early in this new decade. Within ten days of each other, close to the Thanksgiving season, Dr. W. B. Caldwell and the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal were called into the other world. Both these men had performed pastoral uses in the Bryn Athyn Society. As so many of our former teachers and devoted church workers pass on, we pray that those who take their places may be inspired with the faithful and unselfish love of use which has been so largely responsible for the founding and growth of the church on earth.
     ZOE G. SIMONS


     CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

     Big-city societies have their ups and downs. This is certainly true of Sharon Church. Our attendance varies a good deal from week to week. This is because Chicago is so spread out that some people must travel long distances to go to church. Some of our friends and members come from outside the city. The John Truhlars come all the way from Clarendon Hills; the Alan Childs travel the long distance from Markham, Illinois; and Miss Ingrid Andreasson commutes from Three Oaks, Michigan.
     Factors such as these would make it difficult for any statistician to make projected forecasts of our attendance. For instance, on a Sunday not so long ago we had thirteen in the congregation; the next Sunday we had fifty-two! We were particularly glad to have a large congregation on that Sunday as we had a surprise visit from a former pastor, the Rev. Harold Cranch. Mr. Cranch likes the larger numbers and always favored good, positive statistics, and his optimism was contagious. Sometimes more people actually came to church because his statistics showed that they would! Harold came for dinner on the day of his visit, which was the occasion of our annual meeting, and everyone enjoyed hearing him speak. He said that because Sharon Church was his first pastorate he had a special affection for us. We surely have one for him.
     In addition to our regular doctrinal class, which the Rev. Elmo Acton gives on the first Wednesday of each month, we had a special class the week before Christmas.

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Considering Mr. Acton's full schedule during that time, we especially appreciated his somehow making time for an extra class for us. The class was held at the home of Dr. and Mrs. Samuel Mayo, and Melba served a supper that was not only delicious to the taste but pleasing to the eye. After a fine class on the adult understanding of Christmas, Mr. Acton read a letter from Mrs. Schroder, affectionately known as "Aunt Hildegard" to many Sharon Church people. Mrs. Schroder is now living at Bethel Home, Ossining, New York, and we miss her. However, her letter was full of humor and cheer, and we were glad to hear that she is making many new friends.
     Our Christmas festival was held on the Sunday before Christmas. After the service, our children received gifts from the church. Our newest baby, Charles Hanna Barnitz, only a few days old, attended our festivities. He is the adopted son of Mr. and Mrs. Rudolph Barnitz, and he added his voice to the joy of the occasion. After the gift giving, we all joined in a toast to the church and enjoyed Christmas refreshments.
     Just before Christmas, Doris Klein, one of our staunchest members, left us because of illness, and went to live with some of her family in Bryn Athyn. We miss Doris in more ways than one. She was our good friend. In addition, she performed many uses for Sharon Church. Doris was our collector for the General Church; she taught Sunday school; and she was a regular worker on Wednesday supper committees. While she lived in Chicago, Doris was a librarian for Scott, Foresman and Company, a large educational publishing house. Now we hear that she is doing some reporting on children's books for the Bryn Athyn Library, and we know that this is work she will enjoy.
     At our annual meeting, presided over by Mr. Acton, we had our regular election of officers. Mr. Alexander McQueen was made secretary, and Mr. Rudolph Barnitz was elected as a member of the board of trustees. The holdover members are: Mr. Edward Kitzelman, president; Mr. Robert Riefstahl, treasurer; and Mr. Noel McQueen.
     Mr. Acton has agreed to pilot us for another year. Often it seems that the uses of a city society are quite different from those of a society in which there are many families living close together and many children attending New Church schools. There is a small nucleus of us who have been at Sharon Church for some time; but often our congregation includes several newcomers, who are hearing a New Church sermon for the first time. In our Sunday school, too, we must be prepared for any eventuality: a group of children whom we know well, no children at all, or several new children. For example, on a Sunday not so long ago, three little girls we had never seen before showed up with their mother for Sunday school; on another Sunday, two boys we had seen only once before reappeared. However, we know that in the Lord's providence these children come to us, whether once or many times, for some reason. In any event, each and every one of them receives a bona fide New Church Sunday school lesson.
     As we go forward into another year, it is good to remember the words of Mr. Acton at our annual meeting. He said in part: "It is the great privilege of the members of Sharon Church to keep alive in the city of Chicago a society where the knowledge of the Lord's second coming is preserved and proclaimed for all who wish to hear and receive it.

     Obituary. Shortly after her ninetieth birthday, Mrs. Nils Bergman passed into the spiritual world. Until some months before her death, Mrs. Bergman regularly attended all our services and classes, and we miss her friendliness and quiet sense of humor. She was always very bright of mind and interested in everything of the church. Another of Mrs. Bergman's interests was painting, and she contributed several pictures that were sold at our bazaars. Recently the wife of one of our former pastors, Mrs. Louis B. King, wrote affectionately: "Our picture by Mrs. Bergman is a great joy to us." Then Mrs. King added: "I'm sure she is very busy now turning out lots of beautiful pictures for the angels."
     NOEL AND MILDRED MCQUEEN

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     THE CHURCH AT LARGE

     General Convention. The 1960 session of the General Convention of the Church of the New Jerusalem will be held at Lake Forest College, Lake Forest, Illinois, June 23-25. The Council of Ministers will hold its meetings on June 21, 22, in the same place.
     That session will he asked to adopt a by-law, to be known as Article XX, providing for the establishment of a Department of Publication. The proposed bylaw states that there shall be a Board consisting of the President of Convention, ex-officio, the President of the New Church Board of Publications, ex-officio, and four other members to be elected by the Convention for terms of four years. The functions of the Board are "to create, establish, and manage a Department of Publication which shall co-ordinate, initiate and promote publishing work for the Convention." Annual reports of the activities of the Department will be presented to Convention by the Board.

     General Conference. The 153rd Annual Meeting of the General Conference of the New Church will be held at the Bournemouth New Church, June 20-24, 1960. The retiring President is the Rev. E. J. Jarmin of Birmingham, and the President Nominate is the Rev. J. V. Ayre of Blackburn and Haslingden. The official announcement in the NEW-CHURCH MAGAZINE states that visitors are welcome at all sessions of Conference.

     South Africa. Writing in the NEW-CHURCH HERALD on the Conference Mission in South Africa, the Rev. Harry Hilton notes that at the Mission Conference at Bothaville last year seventeen ministers, including the Superintendent, signed the roll. There were listed one hundred and thirty-six Societies with an adult membership of 5,149 and 2,669 junior members. It is noted also that for some years now the policy in the Mission has been to consolidate rather than expand. There has been growth, but the Mission has tried to keep expansion within the control of its management.

     West Africa. The same article reports great changes of a far-reaching character in the West African Mission, in which the Rev. D. J. Lawson has been serving as Acting Superintendant. The Mission, situated in the southern part of Nigeria, has four Societies in the west and thirty-seven in the east. The Mission also has seventeen day schools, and is looking forward to establishing its own Teachers' Training College. The present membership of the Mission is not stated.

     SWEDENBORG SOCIETY, INC.

     Swedenborg's Birthday Meeting

     The first meeting of the Swedenborg Society in its 150th anniversary year augured well for the success of the meetings to be held throughout the year. Nearly one hundred and forty members and friends gathered at Swedenborg House for the Swedenborg's birthday celebration on January 30.
     Tea was served from 4:30 p.m., and provided that opportunity for conversation which is such an agreeable part of all New Church gatherings. At six o'clock the president, Mr. Roy Griffith, opened the formal part of the proceedings. He began his remarks with a quotation from Professor Dingle, who said, writing on Swedenborg: "In the field of practical science his contributions were both topical and profound." It was unlikely, he continued, that we should be meeting today to celebrate Swedenborg's birthday if his contribution to the world had ended in natural philosophy. The importance for us of his scientific achievements lay in their illustration of his development for his later work, and it was because of his work as a revelator that we were holding this celebration. The inspiration of his theological works brought together a number of gentlemen, who met on February 26, 1810, to establish what is now known as The Swedenborg Society.
     After a piano interlude, in which Miss Madge Crane played works by Chopin and Scarlatti, the Rev. John E. Elliot, B.A., gave an address entitled "About the Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture: or When will it Be?"

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Mr. Elliot traced the various attempts to interpret the Scriptures from early Christian times through the Middle Ages to the middle of the eighteenth century, giving lucid examples of the different types of interpretation: the allegorical, the typological, the tropological or moral, the anagogical or celestial, and so on. Then he showed how, with the rise of Protestantism, the different theological outlook had brought a different approach to the Bible, and by the middle of the eighteenth century only the literal sense was accepted. Mr. Elliot went on to describe the ways in which the Writings are unique among scriptural interpretations: first, that they have in the doctrine of correspondences a key by which the spiritual sense may be unfolded, the laws of interpretation being not man-made but the same laws which govern creation; second, that the spiritual sense is not just here and there, as in former attempts at interpretation, but is continuous in the Word-in every sentence, in every word, and in some instances in every letter; third, that the spiritual sense is spiritual and reveals what cannot be known except by revelation. Finally, Mr. Elliot indulged in a little speculation as to when the time would come that this revelation of the spiritual sense would be generally accepted in the world, and suggested that it might not be as far in the future as most of us at present imagine it to he.
     Miss Crane gave a further selection of piano solos, and then the president, remarking that no doubt members had noticed that the hall had been redecorated and the portraits cleaned, called on Mrs. Griffith to say a few words about the subjects of the portraits. Mrs. Griffith gave a brief sketch of the services to the Society of Robert Hindmarsh, Samuel Noble, Thomas Goyder, J. J. Garth Wilkinson, Henry Butter, Charles Higham, J. F. Potts, W. A. Presland, Arthur Wilde and S. J. C. Goldsack. The president then expressed the thanks of the meeting to the speaker and the pianist, the ladies who had prepared and served the tea; and said how glad we all were to see Miss Piper, just out of hospital, at the meeting, and how much we had missed her in the last few months.
     FREDA G. GRIFFITH
SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION 1960

SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION              1960

     Organized for the preservation, translation, publication, and distribution of Swedenborg's scientific and philosophical works; the promotion of the principles taught in them; and their relation to the science and philosophy of the present day. Annual fee for membership, including the NEW PHILOSOPHY, published quarterly, is: United States, $3.00; Canada, $3.00 Canadian; Great Britain and Australia, 12/-. Address: Miss B. G. Briscoe, Treasurer, Bryn Athyn, Pa., U.S.A.

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GENERAL CHURCH CORPORATIONS 1960

GENERAL CHURCH CORPORATIONS       STEPHEN PITCAIRN       1960


     Announcements
     The 1960 Annual Corporation Meetings of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held in the Benade Hall Auditorium, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania on Saturday afternoon, June 18, at 3:30 p.m., D.S.T. Notices will be mailed.
     STEPHEN PITCAIRN,
          Secretary
ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH 1960

ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH       E. BRUCE GLENN       1960

     Annual Joint Meeting

     The Annual Joint Meeting of the Corporation and Faculty of the Academy of the New Church will be held on Friday evening, May 20, 1960, in the Assembly Hall, Bryn Athyn, Pa., at 7:45 p.m., preceded by a supper at 7:00 p.m.
     All friends of the Academy are invited to both the supper and the meeting, at which a presidential address will be delivered, together with administrative reports of the year's work.
     E. BRUCE GLENN,
          Secretary
SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION 1960

SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION       MORNA HYATT       1960

     The Sixty-third Annual Meeting of the Swedenborg Scientific Association will be held in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, in the Auditorium of Benade Hall, at 8:00 p.m., Wednesday, May 18, 1960.
     There will be reports and election of officers, after which Mr. Kenneth Rose will moderate a program on "The Usefulness of Swedenborg's Philosophical Works to the Church."
     MORNA HYATT,
          Secretary
ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH 1960

ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH              1960

     SCHOOL CALENDAR: 1960-1961
     Eighty-fourth School Year
     1960

Sept.     9     Fri.     Faculty meetings. Dormitories open
     10     Sat.     8:00 a.m. Student workers report to supervisors
               3:00 p.m. Opening Exercises
               3:30 p.m. President's Reception
               8:00 p.m. Formal Dance
     12     Mon.     Secondary Schools registration
               College registration
     13     Tues.     Secondary Schools Chapel
                Guidance tests and classes begin in Secondary Schools
               College registration
     14     Wed.     Chapel and classes begin in College
Oct.     28     Fri.     Charter Day
     29     Sat.     Annual Meeting of Corporation
Nov.     23     Web.     Close for Thanksgiving after classes
     28     Mon.     Classes resumed
Dec.     22     Thur.     Christmas recess begins

1961
Jan.     S     Thur.     Classes resumed
     27     Fri.     First Semester ends
     30     Mon.     Second Semester begins
Mar.     25     Sat.     Spring Recess begins
Apr.     4     Tues.     Classes resumed
May     19     Fri.     Annual Joint Meeting of Corporation and Faculty
     30     Tues.     Memorial Day
June     15     Thur.     8:00 p.m. President's Reception
     16     Fri.     10:30 a.m. Commencement Exercises

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TABERNACLE OF GOD 1960

TABERNACLE OF GOD       Rev. W. CAIRNS HENDERSON       1960


No. 6
VOL. LXXX
JUNE, 1960
     "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men." (Revelation 21: 3)

     The message of New Church Day is that 'the Lord God Jesus Christ reigns, whose kingdom shall be for ever and ever" (TCR 791). This was the gospel preached by the apostles throughout the spiritual world, in fulfillment of the prophecy: "He shall send His angels, and they shall gather together His elect, from one end of heaven to the other" (Matthew 24: 31). And it is the fact that they were sent to proclaim this evangel on the nineteenth of June, in the year 1770, which makes that day one of gladness for the New Church, and of profound, though still unrealized, significance for the entire world. In calling together the twelve disciples who followed Him in the world, and sending them to announce the new gospel, the Lord began to establish His everlasting kingdom, and in that beginning lies the deep significance of New Church Day.
     In their yearly celebration of that day-which marks for them what Pentecost does for Christians-the societies of the church are drawn more closely together as a spiritual communion. They unite to renew their faith in the new gospel, to seek from the Lord a rekindling of love for it, and to gain strength from a common sharing in those gifts of inspiration and influx which the Lord bestows on those who gather in His name. They withdraw, briefly, from the world that they may return to it re-created and protected by the Lord; better equipped again to play their part in the further development of the Lord's eternal kingdom in the hearts of men.
     Through the Last Judgment, the Lord delivered angels, spirits and men from the power of evil. His calling and sending out of the apostles after the judgment marked the beginning of that ever-extending kingdom which will endure forever.

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Henceforth the Lord was, and now is, supreme. Those who received the new gospel from the apostles were organized by the Lord into societies of the New Heaven; through that heaven the Lord established the New Church, which is conjoined with Him by the Word; and these two, which will increase to eternity, are His everlasting kingdom. These are the events we now celebrate. But their supreme result, and that in which is their deepest significance, is that because of them the Lord is now present in His Divine Human. That is the meaning of the words: "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men."
     By the tabernacle of God is meant the Lord's Divine Human. The same representation was sustained by the temple in Jerusalem, but with this difference; that whereas the temple signified the Divine Human as to the Divine wisdom, the tabernacle signified that Human as to the Divine love. Both the tabernacle and the temple were as the visible abodes of the invisible Divine. Within them, the omnipresent God could have a localized dwellingplace, and could thus become the object of worship. In them He was approached and adored, and through the rituals performed in them He Himself was worshiped. Thus they were media between God and man; media whereby He was present among them, and through which He could be approached and worshiped.
     The Lord's Divine Human is also a medium between the Infinite and finite man. It is the habitation, visible to spiritual sight, of the Divine love and wisdom. Within that Human the omnipresent Divine can be worshiped. In it, and in it alone, God can be approached and adored, because He can be seen, known, understood and loved; and the worship of the Divine Human is the worship of God Himself. Thus the Divine Human is now the sole medium between God and men; the medium whereby He is present among them, and through which He is approached and adored: and as the Divine Human is the Divine love in a human form, the meaning of the text is that the Divine love in such a form is now with men-present within the Divine doctrine which descended from the Lord out of the New Heaven, since the announcement was made to John only after he had seen that heaven, and had seen the holy city, the New Jerusalem, descending out of it from God.
     But if the tabernacle of God, the Lord's Divine Human, is now with men, there must be also a new medium for reception of the Divine Human; a medium which did not exist before, and which is also meant by the tabernacle or habitation of God. For the following words read: "And He shall dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, their God"; and the law is that the Lord can dwell only in what is His own with man.

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In other words, the tabernacle of God has here a twofold meaning. In one sense it stands for the dwellingplace of the Supreme Divine, which is the Divine Human, in the other, for the Lord's own in man, for that in the human mind in which the Divine Human can dwell. This is the good of love to the Lord from the Lord, the good which is within the truth of the Heavenly Doctrine and which is built in the mind by the Lord as the habitation of His Divine Human as man submits to the leading of that truth. That good is the Lord's own with man, the tabernacle of God with men, and because it is given only through the Heavenly Doctrine-only when that doctrine has descended from the Lord out of a reformed internal mind into the external-it is a medium of conjunction with the Lord that did not exist before.
     The Lord is present with all men, and He wills to impart eternal life and happiness to everyone. But only those who love Him in return can receive these gifts; and as men cannot love one whom they do not know, they must first be able to know who the Lord is. They must be able to see Him, to perceive the essence that makes Him to be Divine Man, to understand something of what He purposes and does for the human race. As it is disclosed in Divine revelation, they must be able to learn something of the quality of His Divine love as that is manifested in the purpose of creation, the ends of His providence, and His works of redemption and salvation. They must be able to see something of the quality of His Divine wisdom as that is expressed in the laws of the Divine Providence through which the Divine love works to achieve its ends. Only so can they be given a spiritual love to the Lord; a love which moves them to live according to His revealed will, and this from love of the end which the Lord has in view in commanding obedience to His precepts. And it is with those only who so love Him and keep His commandments that the Lord is said to dwell. He dwells in what is His own with them, in the spiritual good that is formed in their minds through submission to His teaching and leading in the Word.
      When, on the nineteenth of June, 1770, the Heavenly Doctrine was completed with the finishing of True Christian Religion, there had been given by the Lord in fullness a Divine revelation in which men could see, know, understand and love Him as never before. There was now on earth a Divine doctrine from which they could be given a rational understanding of the Lord, of His kingdom, and of the laws leading to it, such as could not be given before the Last Judgment; and by obedience to which they can receive good of a more interior quality than could be imparted to the men of previous churches. In the supreme sense that doctrine is itself the tabernacle of God-the Divine love appearing in a truly human form and present with men in that form.

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In a lesser sense, the tabernacle is the good to which that doctrine leads. From the Heavenly Doctrine we may achieve a depth of understanding of Divine and spiritual things that was never possible before it was given; and as we live according to that understanding, from a spiritual love of the end, the Lord builds His tabernacle, His church, in our minds.
     Because the most ancient people lived and worshiped in tents, and in their tents were taught and led by the Lord, the church in man is signified in the Word by a tent or tabernacle. This was shown in the representation seen in the spiritual world and described in the Third Lesson: the vision, in more and more interior lights, of the simple tent within which the Word lay under a great stone, the magnificent temple, and the Lord alone standing on the foundation stone which is the Word; and the final vision of the temple having the tent now within it-the vision of which it was said that it represented the promise: "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men."
     This was a prophecy of the New Church. For centuries the Word was, as it were, hidden under a great stone. Men knew that it was there, yet could not understand it. But now the Lord has opened the interior senses of the Word. He has taught men how to take out of it those things which He can form in their minds into a tabernacle in which He can dwell with them as their Savior and their God. And in the vision may be seen both a picture of the minds in which the Lord dwells and of the successive steps by which those minds are built. The final vision of the temple with the tabernacle within it, and the Lord within the tabernacle, though unseen, describes the mind in which the truth of spiritual faith enshrines that good of love in which the Lord abides, and the successive vision describes its building. At first we can understand very little of what the Lord teaches in the Writings, and He can build in our minds only a simple tent, as it were. But as our understanding and love of the Heavenly Doctrine increase, the Lord will change that tent into a magnificent temple; and if we advance into the wisdom of life, we will finally be given to see the Divine Human in the Writings-to see the Lord Himself standing upon the foundation stone. We shall not be able to sustain that vision for long; but the Lord will still be present, though unseen, enshrined within the good of love that is set within the truths of our faith.
     It is only because the Lord has established His New Church that He can do these things, and can again give salvation and eternal life to those who believe in His name. So the supreme message of New Church Day is that the Lord is now present in His Divine Human, and that by means of the Heavenly Doctrine He can build His everlasting kingdom in the minds of men-can establish His tabernacle in which He reigns as God and Lord over all their affections and thoughts, ambitions and actions.

269


Thus it is indeed true that the Lord God Jesus Christ reigns, whose kingdom shall be for ever and ever. The Lord is now more intimately present with angels, spirits and men than ever before. In the New Heaven and Church He is King of the everlasting kingdom of truth; through them He reigns in the church universal; and through them He governs the hells. Because of what ended, and what began, on the first New Church Day, the Lord Jesus Christ is now the supreme ruler of the universes.
     It sometimes appears as if the opposite were the case, as if the powers of darkness were advancing relentlessly over the face of the earth. When that happens, however, a judgment is impending, though it may be long delayed; and everything else is of relatively little importance beside the supreme fact that the Lord has made His second coming in the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem.
     On account of its very nature, the new gospel conveys the assurance that, despite every appearance to the contrary, the tabernacle of God is with men. The Lord is now present in His Divine Human-present with infinite love and mercy, with ineffable wisdom and unconquerable power. In arcane ways which are far beyond our finite understanding His providence is leading the human race toward the further establishment of His eternal kingdom. And if we can renew our faith and love in the new revelation in which He has come again, we shall be blessed with a quiet confidence and the inmost peace it brings: confidence that the Lord God Jesus Christ reigns, and that His kingdom shall endure forever. Amen.

LESSONS:     Isaiah 62. Revelation 21: 1-12. TCR 187.
MUSIC:     Liturgy, pages 479, 478, 476.
PRAYERS:     Liturgy, nos. 93, 128.
ESSENTIALS AND DOCTRINES 1960

ESSENTIALS AND DOCTRINES              1960

     "The essentials of the church, which conjoin themselves with faith in one God, are charity, good works, repentance, and a life according to the Divine laws; and as these, together with faith, affect and move the will and thought of man, they conjoin man to the Lord, and the Lord to man. All the doctrinals of the New Church are essentials, in each of which is heaven and the church; and they look to this as their end, that man may be in the Lord, and the Lord in man, according to the Lord's words in John 14: 20 and 15: 4-6" (Brief Exposition 96, 97).

270


MEDIATE GOOD 1960

MEDIATE GOOD       Rev. GEOFFREY S. CHILDS       1960

     A STUDY

     (Continued from the May issue, pp. 222-231.)

     The Sense of Merit

     If mediate good is a quality that has vital influence, we would expect to find it as an operative force in many phases and states of human life. This is indeed the case, for qualities of mediate good are present with every human being from childhood to the final phases of regeneration.
     That mediate good is a reigning characteristic in the mind of a child is seen from a study of the fourteenth chapter of Genesis, as that chapter is unfolded spiritually in the Arcana Coelestia. From the internal sense of the chapter we learn that mediate good reigns consistently throughout all of childhood; and that the particular mediate good of that long stretch of years includes a combination of self merit and innocence. We have described mediate good as containing an unconscious evil cloaked in genuine innocence, with, of course, other factors also present. In childhood, an unconscious evil is self merit; the cloaking innocence springs from the remains active with the child at that time.
     To delve a little more deeply into the chapter cited, this is the story of the battle of the four kings against the five. The chieftain of the four kings was Chedorlaomer; his hated enemies, the five kings, included the rulers of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Arcana reveals that Chedorlaomer represents "apparent goods and truths"; and states that "when a man is in such a state that he supposes good and truth to be from himself, and that the power of resisting is his own, then the goods and truths from which he combats against evils and falsities are not goods and truths, although they appear so."*
* AC 1661: 4.
     Chedorlaomer, then, represents good and truth in which merit is placed. With this in mind, it is of interest to note the teaching that Chedorlaomer held the five enemy kings in subjection for twelve years; for these twelve years, the Arcana reveals, signify the entire period of childhood.* For the duration of childhood, then, the sense of merit rules the spirit-Chedorlaomer rules. He keeps in subjection the five enemy kings, who represent the external evils of the child's proprium. Here is a picture of an interior evil, self merit, holding exterior evils in subjection; and this is a state that lasts for years.
* AC 1670.

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      But the disquieting question arises: if the sense of merit rules in childhood, then is not evil the dominant force throughout that period? Where, then, is the innocence that we know to be a part of childhood? This problem is solved by the following statement: "The goods of infancy, although they appear good, are not good as long as hereditary evil contaminates them. . . . That which is inherent, and which adheres, is from the love of self and the love of the world. Whatever is of the love of self and of the love of the world then appears as good, but it is not good. But still it is to be called good as long as it is in an infant or a child who does not yet know what is truly good. The ignorance excuses, and the innocence makes it appear as good."*
* AC 1667:2.
      Chedorlaomer, then, obviously represents a mediate good, as that quality is present in childhood. He depicts an evil that rules in innocence; he is self merit, swaddled in the genuine innocence of that age. The conclusion, then, is clear: throughout childhood the ruling spiritual quality is a mediate good, and this is of Divine order. It is of interest to note also, from the last passage quoted, that in this specific instance a contaminated good "is to be called good" because of innocence and ignorance that excuse. Evil is present, unrecognized, in every mediate good; nevertheless the quality is called "good." This term is used, we believe, because mediate good is ordained by the Lord as the orderly means of gradually leading men away from the proprium and upwards to a genuine angelic state. The order is "good," although dealing with evils. So also, after each day of creation-representative of a successive state of regeneration-"God saw that it was good." This although the state itself mentioned was imperfect, even the state represented by the final day.*
* AC 5122: 3.

     We return to the literal story of Chedorlaomer. In the thirteenth year the five enemy kings rose up in rebellion. This thirteenth year signifies the period intermediate between childhood and adulthood, when hereditary evils begin to rebel against the reigning innocence.* In the fourteenth year, the kings under Chedorlaomer went out to do battle. The first battle represents life's first spiritual temptation, which marks the beginning of spiritual adulthood.** In this fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and his three allies started to wage wars, successful wars, against many kings: against the Rephaim, Zuzim and Emim; against the Horites on Mount Seir; and then against the Amalekites and the Amorites. Finally they met in battle the five kings who were their original foes.
* 1668.
** AC 1670.
      These wars of Chedorlaomer represent the combats of early regeneration combats that embrace a major series of states.

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It is to be noted that it was Chedorlaomer who was the ruler and the leading figure in these battles. Thus it is apparent that good and truth in which merit is placed rule throughout the early stage of regeneration. War against more obvious evils is waged from self merit. This is merit that is unrecognized as an evil, merit in which there is a certain innocence. In a word, mediate good is ruling. It is ruling in the early stage of regeneration, even as it ruled in childhood.
     The sense of merit surrounded by innocence is perhaps the most dominant of all mediate goods. Such merit not only has its legitimate, orderly place in childhood; it also qualifies the early states of regeneration. Nor does its influence cease, we believe, until the very final stages of regeneration.* This mediate good, merit, is used as a means for the sake of the end, which is regeneration; and it may be so used because it can rule in innocence, its origin in evil undetected.
* AC 5758, 5780-5785.

     This particular mediate good-the sense of merit swaddled in innocence-is seen not only in men. It is seen in the Lord Himself as profoundly active in the glorification process. For with the Lord, too; Chedorlaomer ruled in childhood. Self merit accompanied by innocence ruled. Moreover, with the Lord also merit was present in the first struggles of the glorification. Thus we read: "The Lord was introduced [at the beginning of the glorification] into most grievous combats against evils and falsities; neither could He then suppose otherwise . . . than that good and truth were from Himself, and that the power of resisting was His own"*-His own, not from the Divine soul, but from the Mary- human. This was so with the Lord, "not only because it was according to Divine order that His Human essence should be introduced to the Divine essence . . . by means of continual combats and victories, but also because the goods and truths from which He combatted against evils and falsities were of the external man; and as these goods and truths were not altogether Divine, they are therefore called appearances of good and truth. In a word, in the first combats, the goods and truths in the Lord, from which He fought, were imbued with things inherited from the mother, and so far as they were imbued with things inherited from the mother, they were not Divine; but by degrees, as He overcame the evil and falsity, they were purified and made Divine."*
* AC 1661: 4, 5.
** AC 1661:5.
     This number makes clear that with the Lord in His childhood there was, present and ruling, a sense of merit. Furthermore, the context of the chapter-Genesis 14, as treated in the Arcana-makes it clear that the sense of merit continued to be present through the beginning of the glorification.

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     The glorification is the Divine example of spiritual progress. It is the exact and Divine pattern after which regeneration is fashioned. Spiritual laws are discovered in their primes in the glorification process. This being true, we would expect to find in the glorification the first living illustration of mediate good. We would expect to find that the Lord, at some time during His life on earth, acted from evil in innocence; that He was partially motivated by an evil, without knowing its infernal nature. Such is the case with the self merit present with the Lord in His childhood and early glorification. This, however, is only the first and most obvious example of mediate good operating in the glorification There are other examples on more interior planes as the glorification proceeds. This is testified to by the role played by the descendants of Nahor in the letter of the Word. In one series they represent the above- conscious operation of the mind; but in another they represent the role of mediate good in regeneration and in the glorification. There is an indication that mediate good was present in the glorification even in the final stages.*
* AC 5758.

     The Evils in Mediate Good not "Actual"

     We are taught that the Lord had hereditary evil tendencies from the mother, but that "in the Lord there was not any evil that was actual."* That is, the Lord never confirmed in life any of His evil hereditary tendencies; He never made them 'his own." But how is this to be understood in the light of the teaching that in childhood and the early stages of the glorification the Lord acted from self merit? The reconciliation of these two teachings gives a deeper understanding of the doctrine of mediate good.
* AC 1444:2.
     Man can actually act from an evil, a hereditary evil, without confirming or acquiring it. This is true when that evil is not seen to be an evil; when man acts from it in ignorance and in innocence. The real acquisition or rejection comes when innocence and ignorance are stripped away from a mediate good and the evil is exposed. Then man either confirms or rejects. We are accustomed, perhaps, to thinking of hereditary evil as a "tendency" until that evil is directly faced, to be conquered or confirmed. It is a tendency; but it is one from which man acts, in innocence, until there is an unveiling of its quality. Thus the Lord acted from self merit. And we are taught that "every man is both in evil and in good, in evil from himself, and in good from the Lord; nor can he live unless he is in both."*
* DP 227; cf. AC 3993:9.

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     Why must man act from hidden evils? What is the explanation for the existence of mediate good? Man must act from some love, or else he is lifeless. In the beginning of regeneration his good loves are extremely few, not sufficient to animate him. But his evil loves are then many. Therefore, in order for there to be life in this early stage of regeneration, part of man's motivation must be evil. But since man is not responsible for this presence of evil in himself, since it plagues him only through heredity, he is protected from it. He is kept by the Lord in ignorance of much of his hereditary evil; it is covered over with a cloak of innocence. Only that degree of evil is exposed which man is capable of shunning. Thus, by the merciful providence of the Lord, a degree of spiritual happiness can be maintained even in the early states of regeneration, when evil is everywhere. For though man "walks through the valley of the shadow of death," he need not fear. The Lord is with him, protecting him from the terrible evils within by ignorance and innocence.

     Applications

     Childhood Merit. If it is according to order for self merit to rule innocently in childhood, then wise parents and educators will recognize and work with that order. They will not, then, condemn merit as an open evil, casting scorn on its every appearance; nor will they look upon it as a final good, as an end in itself. Rather will they appeal to the sense of merit in a child in order to lead him to higher goods. It follows from this that rewards have a legitimate place in the guidance of children; that at times reward should be stressed, at times minimized. Delight in competition, which is a striving for rewards, will be used wisely to promote higher goods and higher ends. Of course, wisdom in the doing of this requires knowledge. And for more particular knowledge a state by state study of child development is necessary, such as has been made by Bishop George de Charms in The Growth of the Mind. We wish merely to bring out this primary point: the sense of merit is not an evil in children; rather is it a Divinely given state which is a means to an end. It is a mediate good.

     Ambition for Self. We have seen that in early states of regeneration a sense of merit is the ruling mediate good. Intelligent executives know this, and for good or ill appeal to the sense of merit in their younger employees. They appeal to their ambition-ambition for personal glory or monetary reward.

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Now there is such a thing as ambition for use, but this is a relatively pure motivation that does not come spontaneously early in regeneration. Rather is ambition then very much a mediate good. It is a desire that merit shall accrue to self: a desire that in the beginning is not coldly calculating, but has much of innocence within it. That innocence is then present is plainly implied in the Chedorlaomer series, when applied to early adult life. The older executive can appeal to his employee's ambition for his own personal ends, or for the sake of use, and from a sympathetic understanding of younger states. In the church itself it should be understood that, in early adult age, a certain ambition and sense of merit are unavoidable. These are qualities not to be rudely condemned but sympathetically used. Of course, with a wise leader the interior end is a leading to the genuine love of use, which is above merit or personal ambition.
     That ambition has its orderly place in the beginning of regeneration, but that later it must be purged of its evil qualities, becomes evident when we apply the spiritual sense of the Laban-Jacob series. Jacob represents the good of truth, and Laban represents mediate good.* It was through Rachel that Jacob and Laban first met. Rachel represents the affection of spiritual truth;** and upon reflection it may be seen how Laban is, spiritually, the father of Rachel. The evil hidden within mediate good knows the advantage of a knowledge of spiritual truth. For if a man is to be successful in the eyes of the world he must be respected, and in order to be respected a man must know spiritual truth and appear to live according to it. Thus what is proprial may spur us on to study and know religious truth, and we may have a selfish motive for learning interior truth without even being aware that our motive is evil. Before regeneration, all men are prompted to study religious truth for this reason. But the Lord also provides that from man s remains there shall be born at the same time a genuine affection for this truth. Thus there is born also a love of this truth for its own sake, and not for the sake of self glory. This sincere love of truth is Rachel, and in one sense Laban is her spiritual father. For it was the proprium within mediate good that stirred man up to learn truths, and there had to be a knowledge of those truths before an affection of them could be born before Rachel could be born. Leah, Laban's elder daughter, represents man's first affection of truth, which is of a general and external nature.*** Rachel, who became Jacob's wife in consideration for seven additional years of service, is the deeper and more interior affection of spiritual truth. Now, through clever management, Jacob manages to build up a large herd of his own, using Laban's herd to do it.

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Hidden evil loves spur man on to learn valuable things, and in time man's conscience can use these things for the performance of true uses.**** We can see what is meant by the building up of Jacob's herd if we reflect upon the motives that drive man in his worldly occupation.
* AC 3993:2, 4066.
** AC 3793.
*** AC 3820.
**** AC 3993:4.
     In his occupation, Laban represents, derivatively, the desire for success, for position. This ambition for self glory is a most powerful force in every man's life; it is his love of dominion expressing itself. Yet man has no idea in the beginning that this drive within him is evil. If he reflects upon it, he sees it only as a desire to serve others in uses. He sees no selfishness in it. Selfish ambition, Laban, drives man on to a highly efficient performance of his use; for the sake of self advancement man learns his occupational tasks thoroughly and performs them expertly. It is then that Leah and Rachel may be born. In learning many things about his occupation a man may come to have a real love of the knowledges involved, a genuine love of them. This love is first exterior and then interior-represented in the Word by Leah and Rachel. He comes to love these knowledges for their own sake, and because though them he can perform genuine uses; and these affections join themselves with man s conscience, just as Leah and Rachel became the wives of Jacob.
     In this applied sense, Laban's flock represents various occupational techniques and skills which man has learned to further his own glory-to attain a higher position.* In time, man's conscience begins to take these techniques and skills to itself, not for the sake of self advancement, but entirely for the sake of uses. Within him there is then built up gradually an internal conflict. One part of him, represented by Jacob, is performing uses entirely for the sake of uses themselves, without any goal of personal success or position. At first man is not aware of this struggle within himself; he does not yet believe there is anything wrong with his selfish ambitions. Laban and Jacob are still friends. But Jacob's possessions are gradually becoming greater and greater; man's unselfish love of uses is becoming stronger and stronger. One day, "Jacob saw the faces of Laban, and behold he was not at all with him as yesterday and the day before."** When man has enough strength, then the Lord reveals to him the quality of his evil ambition; innocence is removed, and the quality is exposed. This is a startling revelation to man, a spiritual shock; yet it does not reduce him to lasting despair because by this time his conscience is strong enough to stand the shock. Rather does man quickly realize that he must separate himself from his evil ambitions, that he must be purged of this hell within himself.

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In the letter of the Word this is represented by the separation of Jacob and Laban which then followed; Jacob taking with him his wives, his sons, and all his possessions***
* AC 3993: 4.
** Genesis 31: 2.
*** In support of this application of the internal sense, see AC 3993: 2, 4, 7, 8. See also the sermon entitled "Recognition of Evil," NEW CHURCH LIFE, May, 1955, pp. 209-213.

     Judgment of the Neighbor. In the field of judgment of the neighbor-moral and spiritual judgment-the doctrine of mediate good has striking application. From this doctrine we can see how others may do evils, or express falsities, in innocence.* We cannot see hidden evils in ourselves, nor are we supposed to see them. But we can see others doing things that are obviously selfish, and yet to them these things are right. Of course, our judgment is based upon appearances; nevertheless from these appearances we see evils in others of which they are, perhaps, completely unaware. If our judgment is correct-and that is something we cannot positively determine-then we are seeing the Laban or mediate good qualities in others. We are seeing evils in them to which they are blind. In fact, in their own consciences, they see only good in these selfish qualities in themselves. Jacob and Laban, it will be remembered, were friends.
* AC 3993: 9-42.
     What we would stress is that it is not always our duty to point out to others their evils, nor even, inwardly in ourselves, to condemn as spiritually guilty a man who is in certain evils. For these evils may be mediate goods to him; evils that, according to the order of mediate good, are cloaked with innocence. The evils of which we speak will not be obvious ones; Arcana Coelestia 3993: 9 makes that clear. Rather they will be more subtle, dealing with the plane of intention and of unconscious attitudes; though these will, of course, be clothed in certain corresponding words and actions. If we rudely expose another to such a hidden evil in himself, he may not yet have the spiritual strength to face it. Instead of being able to fight the exposed evil, he may see something of it and be overwhelmed by it; or else he may be forced to justify the evil partially, thus damaging his spiritual life. The conclusion is obvious: both internally, in our attitude, and externally in our words we should not expose before others what seem to be their evils, unless those evils are truly harming society or our own uses. If uses are being interiorly harmed, then we must act. Often, in such a case, in going to another concerning his use-destroying evil, we may be the very means in Providence of awakening the man to his hidden evil quality; of awakening him when, in his spiritual development, he is ready to fight that evil.

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     The doctrine of mediate good opens up new avenues of mercy and tolerance in judgment of the neighbor. This is evident from the examples of mediate good given in the Arcana, examples of evils with which goods can be mingled. Thus we read: "If anyone loves himself more than others, and from this love studies to excel others in moral and civic life, in knowledges and doctrinal things, and to be exalted to dignities and wealth in pre-eminence to others, and yet acknowledges and adores God, performs kind offices to his neighbor from the heart, and does what is just and fair from conscience; the evil of this love of self is one with which good and truth can be mingled."* Astonishingly enough, a man can be in the abovementioned self-seeking qualities, and yet be innocent of deliberate evil in the eyes of the Lord! We are told further that where there is the sincere endeavor to live well, a man can believe in faith alone, can doubt whether there is a life after death, can believe that confession wipes away sins, and yet be in innocence and in a salvable state.** Where there is sincerity, and mediate good, a man can use even simulation and cunning as the means to a good end, and still be in innocence.***
* AC 3993:9.
** AC 3993: 10, 11.
*** AC 3993:12.

     Conclusion

     Our main endeavor in this study has been to present the doctrine itself of mediate good. The applications suggested are only first attempts, outlines of what can be done with study and reflection. There are realms of vital application that have not been touched: the fields of government and economics. In the field of economics, it becomes evident that competition allows for the operation of mediate goods. Competition is for rewards, and seems to be entirely selfish; but there are times when a seeking for rewards stems from a legitimate mediate good, and is not evil in the interior intention of those concerned. Pure socialism has often been advanced by certain New Church men as the ideal form of economic government and as reflecting the ideal conditions that prevail in heaven itself. But does altruistic socialism, suitable as it may be to regenerate states, fit the states of mediate good that are prevalent on earth? In government, it has been recognized by New Church men that democracy is not the final, heavenly form of rule. But heavenly government would not do in this world, where disorderly states are present; whereas democracy, certain principles of which rest on an instinctive recognition of mediate good states, fits into a world that is both good and evil. These are brief, most general thoughts on these two fields. But does not mediate good apply here, and most forcibly?

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     The whole force of the doctrine of mediate good is, we believe, to bring spiritual sympathy where before it was lacking; to allow charity to enter into realms from which it was before held back, and this through a lack of understanding. Here is a doctrine that can bring deeper wisdom to human judgment.
     In childhood, evil is all black, and good is shining white. On certain planes this childhood outlook is true. It is true with the devils in hell, and it is true with the angels in heaven. But it is not true of the complex states of the regenerating adult. His evils are not all black; and, unfortunately, his goods are a little grey! Mediate good is present with man throughout almost his entire life. It is present in the individual, present in society as a whole. It cannot be otherwise. This being the case, we must needs be tolerant of modes of government, modes of individual practice and conduct, that fit this reality.
     But understanding should not lead to cynicism, or to satisfaction with present states. The goal is always the regenerate good which is from the Lord alone, the relatively pure spiritual and celestial goods which bring peace and eternal happiness. We may indeed be in the valley; but the final goal is the hilltops of heaven, the mountains of Divine love from "whence cometh our help."
SECOND ADVENT 1960

SECOND ADVENT              1960

     "It is written in many places that the Lord will come in the clouds of heaven; but as no one has known what was meant by the clouds of heaven, men have believed that He would come in them in person. That the clouds of heaven mean the Word in the sense of the letter, and that the glory and power in which He will also then come mean the spiritual sense of the Word, has hitherto been hidden; because no one hitherto has even conjectured that there is any spiritual sense in the Word, such as this in itself is. Now, since the Lord has opened to me the spiritual sense of the Word, and has granted me to be in company with angels and spirits in their world as one of them, it is disclosed that by the clouds of heaven the Word in the natural sense is meant, and by power the Lord's might through the Word. . . . The reason He will not appear in person is that since His ascension into heaven He is in the glorified Human; and in this He cannot appear to any man unless He first open the eyes of his spirit, and these cannot be opened with anyone who is in evils, and thence in falsities" (True Christian Religion 776, 777).

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JUDGMENT ON JUDAS 1960

JUDGMENT ON JUDAS       Rev. HUGO LJ. ODHNER       1960

     A STUDY

     Final judgment concerning men's guilt belongs to the Lord alone. Neither angels nor men can see the deepest secrets of human hearts. It is therefore said that the Lord alone is the eternal Judge.
     But our thoughts must be purged of earthly notions of the Divine judgments. Therefore the Lord revealed that "the Father judgeth no man."* By the Father He meant the Divine love which was within Him as a soul while He was on earth. "The Father," He said, "hath committed all judgment unto the Son." "For judgment I am come into the world." Yet again He declared: "I came not to judge the world, but to save the world." "I am come a Light into the world, that whosoever believeth in Me shall not abide in darkness. And if any man hear My words and believe not, I judge him not. . . . He that rejecteth Me and receiveth not My words hath one that judgeth him: the Word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day."**
* John 5:22.
** John 5:22, 9:39, 12:46-48.
     The Lord came to bring saving truth into the world. This truth tore the veils of pretense from hidden evils. He was heard to hurl His woes against hypocrites and His warnings against evildoers. Yet He never condemned. For condemnation is not from the Lord, but lies in the evil itself. Therefore one of the words that He spake on the cross was:
"Father, forgive them, for. they know not what they do."
     This is the law of Divine judgment. Forgiveness and redemption are the objectives of the Divine truth. The Lord imputes evil to none, but only good.* It is hell-man himself-which imputes evil. Yet we must speak from the appearance that "imputations are made by the Lord according to the man's state of mind."** But "the imputation of evil is not accusation, arraignment, condemnation and judgment, as in the world; but the evil itself effects it" when the spirit of man confirms the evil with all its inevitable results of both pleasure and pain.***
* TCR 650-652.
** CL 524.
*** CL 485.
     The core of the matter is, that without free choice there could be no imputation to man of either good or evil. Man has free choice in spiritual things, but he is not always free, nor free in all things. When we judge, as we are wont, of the actions of others, we are unable to know how far their spirits were free, and thus how far their words and actions and attitudes can justly be imputed to them.

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Only the Lord can know this, for it is He that gives man the faculty of freedom and provides the occasions for its exercise, which are never the same for any two men. He knows the extent of man's knowledge-the range of his free choice. He alone measures the power of man's inherited cupidities and of the influxes of evil which they invite from the hells. He knows the internal states of the mind-the shades of intended meaning or deliberation within each deed or word. Evils that flow into the thought of the understanding are not imputed to man unless he adopts them as his own, or into the will. And we are assured that "if a man does evil from ignorance or from some overpowering lust of the body," this is not imputed to him because he did not purpose it to himself nor does he confirm it with himself.* This is said-not of children or gentiles alone, or of those with bodily afflictions-but of all those who by repentance have begun to remove some evils with themselves.**
* CL 529.
** TCR 523.
     But man's heart, as it becomes conscious of its evil, can react in ingenious ways, seeking to hide from reason and conscience. In that long and cold night when the Lord was being tried before the Sanhedrin and before Pilate, three forms of apparent repentance are described. There was Peter, who had denied his Master, and, when the cock crowed, went out and wept bitterly. There was Judas who had betrayed Him and who, in remorse, cast down the blood money in the temple. There was Pilate, the pagan, who superstitiously washed his hands to avoid responsibility for conniving in what amounted to a judicial murder.
     Peter, in self-confident faith, had boasted of his unswerving loyalty. At Gethsemane he had sought to defend his Master with a sword. Afterwards his physical courage gave way to fear. While Jesus was being tried before the high priest, Peter stood among servants in the court, warming himself before a coal fire; and thrice he denied vehemently that he had ever known his Master or had been with Him in the garden. Then Peter was smitten with remembrance. He went away and wept bitterly.
     Genuine repentance means more than tears, more than an acknowledgement of sin and weakness. It means a new life, reborn effort. It means, if possible, restitution, and an undoing of the evil. Surely Peter's later life-his bold preaching, his martyrdom-were signs of such penitence.
     It is not the purpose of Revelation to enable men to know the eternal lot of their fellow creatures. The Word of God, whether in the Old and New Testaments or in the Heavenly Doctrine, uses persons as symbols and illustrations of spiritual states.

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In the internal sense, Peter's personality describes the various states of faith within the church, its errors and trials, its vacillations and its victories. Despite his denials of the Lord he represents, throughout, a faith of the heart. His brief denial was born of external fears. His lies sprang from the prudence of self-preservation and from human weakness.
     Yet even so, Peter made himself one with the enemies of Divine truth, who, when the church has passed into its night and has become consummated as to spiritual uses, stand indifferent and cynical, warming their callous hearts before the fires of self-love. It is so that the disciples of the Lord are tempted to deny the voice of conscience, tempted to speak the language of the world lest they be looked at askance by the worldly- wise and by the throngs that would have no king but Caesar.
     Judas Iscariot also was a disciple. Yet always he is mentioned in the Gospels with reluctance-as the one who betrayed his Lord. He was no Galilean, but a man of Keriot, a Judean. John speaks of him as a thief, who embezzled money from the common alms fund of the apostles. It was Iscariot who objected when Mary, sister of Lazarus, anointed the Lord's feet with costly spikenard instead of giving the money to the poor. It was Judas to whom the Lord referred when He said: "Have I not chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?"* For the Lord knew from the beginning who would betray Him. Only of Judas was it ever said: 'It had been good for that man, if he had not been born."**
* John 6:70.
** Matthew 26:24.
     Yet it is not of the person Judas that these things are said, but of the spiritual state that he represented. Not even a devil in hell-even though he were a suicide-would permanently wish that he had never been born. Still it is true of many states that it were better that they had never come into being. Judas, like Judah, one of the twelve sons of Jacob, originally represented the good of celestial love, which is love to the Lord. But in his degeneracy, and owing to his actions, he came to represent an opposition to all good. It is therefore said that the devil put it into his heart to betray Jesus and that, with the sop after supper, "Satan entered into him."
     All good comes from innocence-which is the celestial proprium, the willingness to follow the Lord; for genuine good is from the Lord alone. But all opposition to good comes from self, from the human proprium which identifies itself with all the evils of heredity. From this perverse proprium develops the internal pride which despises others, considering them only as tools which should cater to one's own eventual profit and eminence.

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     Judas, in a general sense, represents the state of the church among the Jews. And each apostle was chosen because he was like that which he represented.* But more universally, Judas represents the proprium as it is in every man. For in the eyes of man's self-love, the truth concerning the Divine Human, the Word incarnate, is interiorly detested and feared, and estimated only in terms of material gain. This is what is signified by Joseph, the dreamer, being sold by Judah for twenty pieces of silver; and by the Lord being betrayed by Judas for thirty silver shekels.
* SD 1217.
     Yet in both these acts of treachery, the purpose seems uncertain. Judas, though betraying the Lord with a kiss, was filled with remorse when he saw that the verdict of death was inevitable, and went and hanged himself. Joseph was sold rather than killed, although the first intention was to slay him. Selling Joseph into Egypt spiritually meant a rejection of the doctrine of the sole Divinity of the Lord-as it became interiorly rejected among Christians; sparing Joseph's life meant that the nominal acknowledgment of the Lord must still be maintained, lest the organized church should lack any real foundation or reason for existing, and thus lose power among the simple. Even at this day, it is this dilemma that haunts the Christian churches; faith has died with the leaders, but the creeds must still be officially maintained.
     And the remorse of Judas points to the same meaning: that the life of the church will perish if the Divinity of the Christ be utterly rejected. The church becomes a suicide, its spiritual death self-administered.
     Nor has the Christian church, any more than the Jewish, gained ought by the betrayal of the ever-living Christ, the Divine Human truth which has stood on trial through the centuries and been condemned and crucified in the courts of human prudence and in the palaces of self love! The short-lived gains in smug self-congratulation and secret dreams of greatness which proud learning and ambition have garnered as their reward for betraying the eternal Divine standards of charity and spiritual justice
-how can they be employed or enjoyed? For with the crucifixion of revealed truth the inner values of life must perish, its purpose unseen, its meaning distorted into a parody! And when this is recognized, it is too late to make a new beginning, too late to return the blood-money to its sponsors. The church can turn it to no spiritual good. The cursed silver coins of truths that have been perverted by a human love of glory and merit, can serve no purpose but to buy a "potter's field," to provide a burial ground for the uncircumcised-for strangers.*
* Zechariah 11:12, 13.
     It was this same plot of ground that Jeremiah had cursed when he broke over it a potter's earthen bottle as a sign that the church had been profaned and vastated by the pagan rites and sordid idolatries there performed.*

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And similarly, Christendom is reverting by degrees to pagan standards. The judgment of final truth lies no more with the churches. It is Pilate-the Roman stranger-that sets himself to decide the fate of truth; the Pilate in professor's gown, the secular philosopher and scientist, bewildered before an issue not of this world, who hears for the first time the astounding claim of Divine Revelation: "For this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth My voice." And what can this Pilate rejoin, but sigh his evasive question, "What is truth?"
* Jeremiah 19:11.
     But Pilate was a slave of circumstance, dependent on Caesar's pleasure, and bent by the pressures of a restless subject people. Justice with him was elastic-a tool of national policy. He had no power at all except it were given from above. "Therefore," the Lord said to him, "he that delivereth Me unto thee hath the greater sin."*
* John 18: 11.
     And this was Judas, who had heard the Lord expound the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven and had been ordained to spread the gospel of repentance. Among the apostles he served without distinction, as steward of their small possessions. By his perfidy alone could he attain his terrible importance. Some think that Judas was spurred to his fatal act of betrayal after realizing that his Master knew of his petty thefts and hidden animosity. Others believe that he was embittered because his dream of participating in the wealth and power of a worldly kingdom ruled by the Messiah had been shattered. A few have maintained that Judas acted not from a love of money or from revenge, but had a subtle plan to force the Messiah's hands, hastening the popular uprising that would introduce the kingdom wherein he then would deserve a high position.
     But the judgment which the Lord's followers pronounced upon Judas was unmistakable and final, as far as the Christian Church was concerned. They admitted that Judas "repented"; but the word which Matthew used is from a verb which does not imply any real change of character. Luke the Evangelist, in his Acts of the Apostles, records that Peter, after the Lord's ascension, stood up in an assembly of disciples-and they numbered about one hundred and twenty-and called their attention to a saying in the Psalms as a prophecy fulfilled in Judas. The Psalm was probably Psalm 41, verse 9, which reads: "Yea, the man of my peace, in whom I confided, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted against me his heel." Peter then related that Judas purchased a field-Aceldama, the field of blood-with the blood-money.

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Quoting from the Psalms,* Peter applied to Judas the command, "Let his days be few, let another take his bishoprick"; and proposed that another be appointed as the twelfth apostle.
* 109:8.
     Such a successor would have to be chosen from among those who had accompanied the apostles "all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out" among them, "beginning from the baptism of John unto that same day that He was taken up from them." Such a man, Peter insisted, must be ordained to be a witness with them of His resurrection. Two were found who answered these conditions: Joseph called Barsabas, surnamed Justus, and Matthias. The disciples prayed: "Lord, Thou who knowest the hearts of all, show which one of these two Thou hast chosen to take the lot of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas fell to go to his own place." And when they had drawn lots, "the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles."*
* Acts 1: 15-26.     
     The name Matthias in Hebrew meant "the gift of Jehovah." Yet if he now took over the apostleship of Judas, he must also have assumed the representation of Judas in the inner circle of disciples. A similar transfer of representation took place when Elisha caught the mantle of Elijah, and when one king of Israel succeeded another. The "gift of Jehovah" might signify "a lot in the Lord's spiritual kingdom."*
* AC 4236.
     In an annotation in the Adversaria, written during his preparatory study of the Old Testament, Swedenborg speaks of the possibility of a quick reformation even at the moment of death, with some who "had been previously prepared in a marvelous manner of which they themselves are ignorant." "Otherwise," Swedenborg continues, "if saved by the mere mercy of God Messiah, they would undergo infernal torments, as was told me concerning Judas the traitor, of whom however there is said to be hope because he was one of the elect who were given to God Messiah by Jehovah the Father, as declared by God Messiah Himself."*
* WE 3158.     
     This uncertain suggestion-advanced in defense of the literal sense which speaks of Judas as having "repented"-is hardly sustained by the Writings, which do not mention Judas except as a traitor,* and which denounce any reliance on "death-bed repentance." Yet the True Christian Religion notes that on the nineteenth of June, 1770, "the Lord called together His twelve disciples who followed Him in the world" and who were "now angels," and sent them out into the whole spiritual world to proclaim the gospel of His new advent**
* AC 4751e; Lord 16: 6; TCR 130: 3; AE 433: 37, 740: 8.
** TCR 791, 4.
     Was Judas one of these twelve? or had Matthias, who also had followed the Lord from the beginning of His ministry,* taken his place? To the New Church man, the answer is, perhaps, unimportant.

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Certainly charity would wish for the salvation of all men, even of Judas. Yet the twelve apostles as individuals are significant to us mainly because they stand for those essentials without which the church cannot be restored. The tragedy of Judas lies in the fact that he did not live up to his solemn responsibility as an apostle. He could indeed continue to represent the decadent Jewish Church. But, like that church, he could no longer represent the "celestial things of faith," but only the opposite-the love of self, from which is all evil.** But how, then, could he be one of those chosen to proclaim the second coming of the Lord?
* Acts 1:21 f.
** AC 4751e; AE 653: 7.
     It is proper to search out the meaning of the literal sense of the Word and to recognize the character of the men and women who, in Scripture, represent spiritual qualities. Abstract qualities involve the persons who possess such qualities. Yet the angels speak and think abstractedly from persons, because "the idea of persons and places bounds the thought."*
* AC 5434, 10282, 5287, 8985; AE 405:2.
     So it is that the fate of Judas is not sealed beyond human doubt. Evil and error are apt to grow by imperceptible steps into a sudden tragic climax. And not one person, but many, share the guilt for the repeated humiliation which truth undergoes. Peter repented. Judas was driven by remorse. Pilate solemnly washed his hands. And only the Lord is their judge. But the multitude, which cried, "Crucify"; "His blood be on us and on our children,"-they were in the confirmation of evil, the self-justification of falsity that delights in evil and spurns a spiritual redemption.
     The Judas that is born within every man is a desire for self-importance which can yet, by states of repentance and a devotion to uses, be disciplined into a true apostle. But a self-love which feeds its secret ambitions may suddenly turn up in wounded vanity as the guide of a howling mob of passions-of evils which increase with every unrebuked infidelity to truth, with every surrender to avarice or envy or contempt or unchastity, with every harboring of revenge or nursing of suspicion, with every sordid thought or smoldering bitterness, with every attempt to confirm an evil or defend it, with every effort to evade or destroy the truth, which is the law of love.
     For in such states broods the apostasy of Judas, which leads at last to the crucifixion of truth and to man's own spiritual death, self-inflicted. Yet in the recognition and confession of these evils-in their incipiency, before they gather strength-lies our opportunity of forgiveness and the call to a true discipleship.

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SHARING OF SPIRITUAL STRENGTH 1960

SHARING OF SPIRITUAL STRENGTH       Rev. DANDRIDGE PENDLETON       1960

     The Word of the Lord stands as the medium of communication between heaven and earth. Through its spiritual functions, the minds of men and angels are consociated and provide illustration each for the other. And it is a marvellous thing that this life-giving consociation with the heavens is given with men of all religious faiths, and even with men of no faith-men who have no reverence for the Word itself and who despise its doctrine. For by means of the spiritual quality of those who are members of the church specific, Divine truth is received on earth, there to spread forth in unseen, yet powerful, streams of interior life; secretly touching the minds of men outside of that church, sustaining the innocence of those who would be in innocence, and upholding the spiritual equilibrium of those who would confirm themselves in evil.
     Here, then, is the undying miracle of the Word in its relation to mankind: a miracle which was initiated in ancient times, which has been renewed as human occasion demanded, and which will continue to serve the spiritual life of the race in perfect adaptation to every human state and belief forever. Man has fallen, been raised up, and fallen again; yet throughout even the darkest hour of his spiritual day the saving grace of innocence has been available to him. Either in his own strength, or aided temporarily by the strength of others, he has been held in the ability to choose, if not what is genuinely true and good, then a Divinely provided appearance thereof.
     When we see in this full perspective, which includes the heaven of angels as well as the entire race of men on earth, we realize that we cannot mature without benefit of contact with other men. Nor does it reflect to our shame that we may be driven on occasion to call upon their interior strength in order to uphold our own failing illustration. There are times in every human life when there is no other sane recourse than this; and the man who allows his pride to withhold him from this recourse when its necessity is clearly indicated may do grievous harm both to himself and to the lives of those who depend upon his wisdom.
     The need for mutual aid and assistance amongst the men of the church was given emphasis during the very hour of Israel's national birth. The long-awaited release from Egypt was about to be realized. The angel of Jehovah, passing over the land, would leave in his wake the death of the firstborn in every Egyptian household.

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Israel would be spared this horror; but only under the protection of a Divinely appointed sign-the sign of the passover. A lamb was to be killed in each household, and the sacrificial blood struck upon the posts and lintel of the door. Yet there were evidently those households among the captive Israelites which were so impoverished as to have no lamb in their possession; in which case a sharing between two householders was permitted. Wherefore the Lord commanded, saying: "Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: and if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb."*
* Exodus 12: 3, 4.
     This command was immediately preceded by words of deep significance. For the Lord had said to Moses and Aaron: "This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you."* Here is represented the initiation of every new state of interior life with the regenerating man-a state which has been long in preparation deep within the sacred past of his childhood remains, and which he is only now ready to sustain in the outer realm of rational thought. Prior to this point in time, these heaven-sent states of holiness had been reserved within, formed and protected for their future forthcoming by the ordaining hand of Providence. They had served as the hidden channels of Divine influx from the man's inmosts into the externals of his thought and decision since he was a little child. Indeed, every good adult life has its root in this tender and long-forgotten ground. Historians tell us that the past is not dead; and they are more right than they know. The more ancient man's past, the more mystery-shrouded its origin, the more powerfully does it participate in his present. The earlier the remains in a man s spiritual life-sequence, the more intimately do those remains join with the essence of his being as a man in later life.
* Exodus 12: 2.
     It is this inaugural state of spiritual life which is the "beginning of months" for the man of the church. For this state is said to be "the principle [or first] of all [his] states";* and from it descend and are qualified "all the following states of eternity."** To the fatalist, this concept of man's spiritual life provided for, and as it were forecast, before ever his mind has awakened to thought, will stand as proof- positive of Divine predestination. But to the innocent in heart it brings with it a sense of profound realization and assurance; for the needs of each man have been foreseen from the first thread of his life, and provision made for those needs.

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The future is unknown to us: therefore we fear it. But the future is not unknown to God. He has foreseen the future, our future, and has caused to be established with us the essence of every interior virtue which we may be called upon to exercise to eternity.
* AC 7828.
** AC 7828.
     Still, the descent of innocence from the Lord into the heart of man, and its recognition and reception there, call for an established strength of character which, at the time, he does not always possess. For this descent gives a new realization of obligation, coupled often with a shocking insight into unsuspected states of disorder within one's self. It would seem that our conscience sometimes discloses a burden too heavy for us to bear, and we feel a desperate need of help from those who are stronger than we. Such assistance on their part can only be of temporary duration; and yet, for a brief time, this assistance may be not only advisable but essential to the continuance of our spiritual and mental sanity. It is this which is referred to in the internal sense by the sharing of the paschal lamb between two households, if one is "too little." The symbolism here used is touching in its simplicity and its expression of human sympathy. It represents those times in a man s life when he feels strangely removed from conceit and worldly ambition. The curtain of self deception is drawn back momentarily, and he sees himself for what he is: neither large nor imposing, but small in size and little in achievement.
     The literal placement of the injunction indicates that the need for sharing the spiritual strength of others will exist especially at the outset of a new state of interior life within one's self. Here, evidently, our conscience is least likely to comprehend present indications, and therefore is under the greatest danger of falling. A progression of interior state is not initiated without some element of spiritual temptation. The indication that such a change of state is in process of occurring can be felt if we attend carefully to our own contemptation at the time; for we are told that temptation is caused, and a new state of life thereby inaugurated, when the order of our thought is being reversed-away from self and toward the performance of use. It is this interior reversal which counts. Whether the external conclusions to which we come at this time are correct or not is of little importance in comparison to the spiritual progression which has been established.
     It is at the beginning of such a progression that we most often stand in need of the counsel of others, in order to help "place" our own thought. At times this need will present itself simply on the level of external activity adjustment. But there may arise those occasions wherein our hesitation is born of deep confusion as to the principles which should underlie our thought and action.

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A realization of intense self-centeredness may bring us to question the entire structure of our life's emphasis. In our remorse we may go too far in our self analysis, losing sight of those genuine states of use and innocence which have existed with us in the past. A sense of hopelessness may result, and a strong urge to cease our efforts, in that they appear to us to be totally unproductive. We would cry out in our anguish: yet who are we to utter our complaint, when the cause of grief rests upon our own doorstep?
     The man who enters upon this condition of mind may commit the error of withdrawing from those who are close to him, feeling somehow that spiritual strength lies in solving his own problem; or that if he permits those whom he loves to have touch with him, they will be blackened by his sin. Yet it is at this point, and in these very circumstances, that he has more need of them, and they of him, than at any other time in the course of human associations. For when we are bereft of illustration-when the warming loves of our former conscience feel turned to stone- our sense of spiritual and mental balance is threatened by grave distortion. It is characteristic of this state to be convinced that all which has been accomplished prior to this was false and uncommendable: that we should tear it away and cast it from us, in order that we may commence anew. Stunned by our folly, and shamed by the realization of our own ignorance, we would find ways to blot them out of existence, so that they might not be recalled to mind. Should we, then, double our shame by allowing others to know of it? Can we not at least be left alone in our humiliation? Perhaps. But consider: in this state, above all others, we lack perspective with regard to ourselves; whereas others can see us objectively, with eyes that we do not possess at the time, to help rescue us from undue self-criticism, and to keep us from discarding those established capabilities which to us now seem unimportant, perhaps even non-existent.
     There is also a further consideration. For in turning to others for aid when our own loves fail us, we thereby offer them the opportunity of entering upon a profound human experience. Unrealizing as we may be of this fact, our need arises as much for their sake as for our own. This does not mean that we are to shrug our responsibilities lightly onto others in order that we may escape from them. Yet it is true that the human heart finds its deepest sympathy, its most profound desire to be of use, when the heart of another lies prostrate in anguish. How often does a condition of sorrow bring lives into close contact which had never previously given a thought to each other? Who that has seen another human life stripped of hope and self-respect can stand long in idle unconcern? Many a sworn enemy has turned back in compassion, upon seeing his adversary gripped and helpless in the crisis of spiritual despair.

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     The need of man for man reaches out in an ever widening circle-out into the present, and back over the ages in an unbroken communication of human affections. Nothing, we are told, can exist that is unconnected.* The lives of all in the church, and of all throughout the world, indeed, of all within the inhabited universe, are bound together into a harmony of uses known only to the Lord. This harmony is subtle beyond any human discerning; even the celestial angels are capable of observing it only in part. Throughout the heavens themselves there is a continual borrowing and lending of spiritual enlightenment, in order that the progressive states of angelic thought may be infilled and sustained. This same need exists amongst men on earth; and one of the tragedies of our day is that we have come to think of aid and assistance almost completely in terms of material gifts. These, too, are of importance; but by themselves-apart from the interior gifts of conscience and charity-they cannot sustain the life of the spirit. The men of this world stand in dire need: of science, yes, but also of things far deeper than science can offer-spiritual truths upon which to rebuild their broken faith; assurance of an end-in-view that rises above and extends beyond earth's sorry limitations; and an end to that deep-lying uneasiness which leads men increasingly to surrender their freedom for a materialistic security that can lead only to the subjection of the human spirit.
* AC 2556, 4524, 10614:2; HH 9, 303; AE 349:5.
     The Christian church has failed, for it has removed the God of the New Testament from His throne. In the name of enlightenment men have done this thing. In the name of enlightenment vital principles of worship are being suppressed. In the name of enlightenment we have brought to the fore a generation of youth impressed with the thought that anything is morally permissible and that there is no spiritual authority outside of man's own intellectual whims.
     In the face of increasing world difficulties and educational chaos, the New Church struggles to retain its place as the true recipient of the new revelation of truth. There is the apparent necessity of serving two masters: our spiritual trust, and the pressure of the world's dictums. Yet we can serve only one master truly; and this Master is, for us, the Lord as He is revealed in His glorified Divine Human. To depart from our vision of Him would be to depart from the very life-essence of our entire work. No one of us can sustain this vision alone; the spiritual strength of men must be shared one with another. Nor can we maintain this vision even as a group of men completely apart; through the linking bond of regenerate effort, we must bring ourselves into association with the societies of heaven itself, in order that through them we may partake of the influx of innocence, of spiritual affection and thought, from the Lord.

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For in the inmost sense He is the "neighbor next unto us," and the possessor of the paschal "lamb" of Divine innocence, in which we must share if we are to be preserved from death.
     Never has an opportunity so presented itself to men. No longer are we called upon to prepare for what will one day come in a dim and distant future. The race has attained to its fullness of preparation. Its spiritual manhood has commenced. The New Church-the promised light of the ages-is a reality; small in organization and human achievement as yet, but a reality. What fear have we, then? For "God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this: that power belongeth unto God."*
* Psalm 62: 11.
CITY AND THE BRIDE 1960

CITY AND THE BRIDE              1960

     "It is said that John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, and here that he saw that city prepared as a bride for her husband, from which also it is evident that the church is meant by Jerusalem, and that he saw this, first as a city, and afterwards as a virgin bride-as a city representatively, and as a virgin bride spiritually; thus that he saw it under a twofold idea, one within or above the other, just as the angels do, who, when they see, hear or read of a city in the Word, in the idea of their lower thought perceive a city, but in the idea of their higher thought perceive the church as to doctrine; and if they desire, and pray to the Lord, they see it as a virgin, in beauty and dress according to the quality of the church. Thus has it been granted me to see the church.
     "By prepared is signified attired for her espousal; and the church is no otherwise made ready for espousal, and afterwards for conjunction or marriage, than by the Word, for this is the only medium of conjunction or marriage, because the Word is from the Lord and concerning the Lord, and thus the Lord; and therefore it is called also the covenant, and a covenant signifies spiritual conjunction. For this end, indeed, the Word was given. That the Lord is meant by husband is plain from this chapter, where Jerusalem is called the bride, the Lamb's wife. From all this it may be seen that by Jerusalem prepared as a bride adorned for her husband is signified the church conjoined with the Lord by the Word" (Apocalypse Revealed 881).

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MEMORIAL ADDRESS for Mr. Hubert Hyatt 1960

MEMORIAL ADDRESS for Mr. Hubert Hyatt        GEORGE DE CHARMS       1960

     (Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, March 24, i960.)

     "Behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be." (Revelation 22: 12)
     Man is created with a mind or spirit that cannot die; yet this spiritual organism cannot be created immediately in heaven. It must be formed gradually within the material body, as in a laboratory, where the grosser substances of earth may be successively refined, their purest elements distilled and moulded into a vessel receptive of eternal life. This is one of the reasons that, although man is destined for heaven, he must be born on earth before he can dwell in the spiritual world.
     Yet the Lord, in all the operations of His providence, has regard to what is eternal. He foresees for each individual a special place and use in His heavenly kingdom. Each one is endowed from birth with the faculties and abilities necessary for the successful performance of that use. In a thousand secret ways the Lord leads every man, day by day, and hour by hour, during his entire life on earth, to the one end that his mind may become an instrument of unending spiritual service to others. All the knowledge and skill acquired through education and experience, whereby a man is prepared to serve in some capacity the needs of human society on earth, are but tools in the Lord's hands with which to form his mind and spirit to the requirements of a heavenly use; and when he is called into the other world by death, the natural knowledge and skill he has acquired are turned into spiritual understanding and wisdom, even as the water at the wedding feast at Cana was turned into the noblest wine.
     Such is the miracle of the Divine Providence in man's resurrection, that nothing of his earthly labor and striving is lost. All his truly human faculties, developed by a use to others during his life on earth, remain intact. Only the gross coverings through which they were adapted to the needs and uses of the natural world fall away at death, leaving the mind, the man himself, free and untrammeled by physical and temporal limitations.

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He wakes to find himself vibrantly alive, free from all pain and physical distress; his senses keen, his mind alert, surrounded by ministering angels who hold him in a sphere of peace devoid of all anxiety. Gently, by gradual stages, he is made aware of the spiritual world into which he has been introduced. By conversation and experience he is instructed in the wonders of that world. He knows the joy of reunion with loved ones who have gone before, and spontaneously recognizes as friends those spirits who unknowingly have been intimately associated with him during his life on earth. Seeking the company of all whose loves and interests are congenial to his own, he is led, through a series of experiences, to find the inmost desire of his heart; the place, the use he most deeply loves, in the -performance of which he feels the very delight of life; the goal toward which he has struggled vainly in the life of the body: all this, just so far as the love of use has been instilled in him through devotion to the service and welfare of others while he was on earth. Such is the mercy of the Lord in death through which alone man can be blessed with that new and far more perfect life. Wherefore the Lord says of this transition: "Behold, I come quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be."
     To us the passing of our friend Hubert Hyatt brings a sense of loss. It is as if something precious to us had been taken away, something that cannot be replaced. The ties formed by living together, thinking together, striving together for ends we loved in common, seem to be irrevocably broken. Such is the unavoidable appearance to our earthbound sight. Yet we have been blessed, in the mercy of the Lord, with the sure knowledge that this is by no means the case. All those qualities of mind and heart for which we love him, are present still, unseen but more alive, more active, freer to perform those essential uses which he could perform only partially here, under the restrictions of the body and the world.
     All through his life, Hubert Hyatt cultivated the love of use to his family, to his community, to his country, and above all, to the church and to the Lord, through complete devotion to the truth of the Heavenly Doctrine. He was born in Philadelphia of New Church parents, who, from his earliest childhood, by precept and example, inspired this devotion. His father was an able minister of the New Church and a profound student of the doctrines. Shortly after Hubert's birth, Mr. Hyatt was called to be the pastor of the Parkdale Society in Toronto, where, together with his wife, he established a local school, in which Hubert received his early training. Later he attended the Academy, graduating in 1908, and returning for a year of collegiate studies in 1911. He received a degree in engineering at the University of Toronto, and soon thereafter took up his chosen profession in Philadelphia. In 1916 he married Carina Glenn, and together they raised a family of ten children, all of whom were imbued with the love of the Writings and became active members of the church.

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In 1922, Hubert became the Treasurer of the General Church, and nine years later he gave up his professional career to serve also as Treasurer of the Academy. For twenty years he devoted his life to this use, serving both bodies with efficiency and affection that endeared him to all who had the welfare of the church at heart.
     Personally, Hubert was diffident and self-effacing, but meticulous in his concern for all that had to do with his important offices. Many will remember with affection the individual letters he wrote so conscientiously in grateful acknowledgment of every contribution to the uses of the church. We knew him as a warm and understanding friend for whom we had the deepest affection and respect, and with whom we worked in close association throughout nearly the entire period during which he gave his whole time to the work of the church. In 1952 he was compelled to retire because of failing health, but through all the years of his illness he retained a keen and active interest in the doctrines, and in everything that concerned the welfare of the church he loved. Greatly as we will miss his earthly presence, we cannot but rejoice with those who even now are welcoming him to that higher life for which the Lord was secretly preparing him from the first moment of his birth-rejoice not merely that he is relieved from bodily suffering, but that he is entering upon the real and everlasting fulfillment of all that for which he had labored and hoped on earth, the joy, the blessing, and the happiness of the use he loved. Surely he will know, in ever-increasing measure, the fulfillment of the Lord's promise: "I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee." Amen.
RELIGION AND THE CHURCH 1960

RELIGION AND THE CHURCH              1960

     "The church is one thing and religion is another. The church is called a church from doctrine; and religion is called religion from life according to doctrine. All doctrine is called truth; and its good also is truth, because it only teaches it. But everything of life according to those things which doctrine teaches is called good; doing the truths of doctrine likewise is good. Thus is the church distinguished from religion. But where there is doctrine and not life it cannot be said that there is either a church or religion; because doctrine looks to life, as one with itself; just as do truth and good, faith and charity, wisdom and love, understanding and will. There is therefore no church where there is doctrine and not life" (Apocalypse Revealed 923).

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MEMORIAL ADDRESS for Mr. Harold Frederick Pitcairn 1960

MEMORIAL ADDRESS for Mr. Harold Frederick Pitcairn        GEORGE DE CHARMS       1960

     (Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, April 25, 1960.)

     By means of His Divine Providence the Lord governs all things, from the greatest even to the least. Nothing in the entire universe can possibly come to pass without the Lord's permission; nor does the Lord permit anything to happen that does not promote the eternal end of His infinite love. The supreme end of the Divine Providence is that every human being, as far as he is willing to do so, may receive life everlasting, together with ever-increasing joy and happiness to eternity. But this purpose is so vast, so complex, so far beyond the grasp of our limited and earth-bound minds, that, to us, the ways of providence are utterly inscrutable. Things happen every day. the reasons for which we cannot possibly understand. Only from Divine revelation can we know that, however they may appear to us, they are really under the immediate government of the Lord, permitted in His love and in His wisdom for the sake of an eternal use.
     Because man is created an immortal being, because his sojourn on earth is but a preparation for a special place and use in the eternal world, and because no one but the Lord alone can know what that use is and when the preparation for it has been completed, therefore "unto God the Lord belong the issues of death." Both the time and the manner of death are minutely controlled by the Lord, with infinite love and mercy. Whether the transition to the other world be brought about by disease, by some seeming accident, or by what appears as wilful violence, it is allowed to happen only when, in the Lord's wisdom, it will minister to the truest welfare of the one thus taken, and of all associated with him in both worlds. This, in our heart of hearts, we must believe because the Lord has said so; even though, in any individual case, we cannot understand why.
     The Lord allows death to come in many different ways.

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Sometimes it appears entirely fortuitous, unavoidable, and due to circumstances beyond anyone's control; but more often it is brought about by what we recognize as a human failure; a moment of careless inattention, a lapse of memory, a fatal mistake that ends in tragedy. It may even be a wilful act, inspired by fear or malice, but in every case it is governed by the Lord, who controls all the circumstances that affect our lives, even those that have their origin in the minds of men. Every lapse of memory, every error of judgement, every emotion that impels us to action, is brought about by the influx of spirits associated with us. Nor can they inflow, or produce the slightest effect upon our minds, without the Lord's permission. But the Lord uses these means to accomplish His Divine purpose; namely, to insure that the earthly preparation of each one will be completed, and that he will pass into the other world only when it is not only best, but necessary for him to do so for the sake of his eternal welfare.
      Although the Lord governs the influx of spirits in such a way as to protect man's spiritual freedom and rationality, yet it is sometimes necessary that for a time he be deprived of natural freedom and rationality. This is indeed the result of all serious physical and mental disorders. While such disorders last, the normal process of regeneration is temporarily interrupted; but if this is permitted by the Lord it is always for a reason, always with a view to accomplishing something of spiritual and eternal value that could not otherwise be achieved. In this connection the Writings speak of spiritual inundations that produce an overpowering impulse that at the moment cannot be resisted. We all experience states of emotional disturbance, of unreasoning anger, when for the moment we lose control of our mental faculties and are impelled to say or do things we later profoundly regret. Looking back, we often can recognize that by this means we have received warning of deep underlying tendencies in our hereditary nature of which we would not otherwise be aware. Only by becoming aware of them are we enabled to meet and overcome them. What we say or do under the stress of such an impulse is often entirely at variance with our real character, contrary to every ideal of life for which we have longed, and toward which we have earnestly striven. But "the Lord knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust." If we are tempted for a moment beyond our strength, "shall not God search this out? for He knoweth the secrets of the heart" (Psalm 44: 21).

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     The sudden and unexpected passing of our beloved friend, Harold Pitcairn, has brought profound shock and sorrow of heart to all who knew him. By what means the Lord has called him we do not know, but the appearance is that he was taken with his earthly use unfinished, leaving vacant an important place that no one can fill. The qualities of mind and heart for which we love him have been so closely bound up in our thought with his physical presence that we cannot help feeling a sense of irreparable loss, His genial personality, his constant consideration for the welfare of others, his integrity of purpose and loyalty to exalted principles of life, won the admiration and esteem of all who were associated with him, and caused the young people of the church to look up to him with deep affection as a trusted and understanding friend and counsellor. His home was a center of warm hospitality where young and old could meet in an atmosphere of informality and friendship mutually delightful. But above all else, Harold Pitcairn was a New Church man, one who loved spiritual truth. He was a constant reader of the Writings, ever searching for ways to make their teachings the governing principles of his daily life. Wherever he met socially with his New Church friends his great delight was to turn the conversation to the consideration of doctrinal questions, seeking clearer understanding and practical application of religious truth. This is the love that formed his character, and this is the character that he takes with him into the other world. It is inbuilt into his mind, his heart, his spirit, and these are himself. As to this immortal self, he will not in the least be changed because the physical body has been laid aside; for death, the passing from one world into another, is like passing from one place to another. Harold takes with him into that new life everything that truly belonged to him as a man; only now he is set free from the limitations of the body and the material world. He is capable of expressing his thoughts and his loves far more perfectly than ever before. In the exercise of the faculties and abilities developed during his life on earth, he is prepared to perform heavenly uses-to perform them openly and with joy to those with whom he is associated in the other world; and at the same time to perform them secretly, and yet more effectively than ever before, even to men on earth, and especially to the church he loved so deeply.
     This is the truth which the Lord has made known to us through the revelation of His second advent. It is a truth that lightens the burden of our natural sorrow; lifts our eyes "unto the mountains, whence cometh our help"; and enables us to acknowledge from the heart that even though we "walk through the valley of the shadow of death," the Lord is with us, and with our departed friend, leading him with infinite love and mercy, to the fulfillment of the eternal use, with all its blessings of happiness, which the Lord has foreseen and provided for him from the first moment of his birth. Amen.

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IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1960

IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES              1960

     In the March issue of UMCHAZI (English edition) there is a cross- section of the thought and activity of the General Church Mission in South Africa which publishes the magazine. Apart from the Superintendent's Notes and a sermon by the assistant to the Superintendent, the contents come from members of the Mission. Several papers and a talk to children are contributed by African ministers the Rev. Aaron Zungu conducts the usual question and answer department; the Rev. M. M. Lutuli continues his treatment of the subject of morality; there are two short papers given by students at the young people's school held last July; and news notes dealing with the Mission itself and with the Rev. and Mrs. A. Wynne Acton's overseas trip.
     We quote the following from the young people's papers. "In the spiritual world there are three divisions, i.e., heaven, the world of spirits and hell. When we die, we do not go straight to heaven or hell, but rise after death in the world of spirits. The world of spirits is intermediate and the place where our real character is shown. Here we are prepared for heaven or hell. Some people have an idea that men are forced by God to go either to heaven or hell. That is not true, for God created man to receive good and truth from Him, so man himself is to choose between heaven and hell. The first state is one of exteriors, and the second state one of interiors, when the real man first appears. Punishment in this state is to rid man of his evils. The third state is one of preparation and instruction for heaven. There is no third state with the evil" (Patience Zungu: "The Spiritual World")
     "It may seem, and it is in one way, the duty of our parents to bring us up on the right path; but we also should strive to learn and understand the Word of God. We are lucky to be the first generation in the church, and we should help the church to grow within us and throughout the world. 'The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; but fools despise wisdom and instruction'" (Yelledh Zungu: "The Right Path of our Youth").

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CONJUGIAL VERSUS CONJUGAL 1960

CONJUGIAL VERSUS CONJUGAL       Rev. NORBERT H. ROGERS       1960

     Both conjugialis, conjugial, and conjugalis, conjugal, are found in classical Latin dictionaries such as Andrews, Cassell, and Harper. Though their given meanings are similar, but not quite the same, as far as we know, conjugalis was by far the more common word and was the only one retained in medieval times. Conjugialis fell into such complete disuse that it had become archaic long before the eighteenth century. Since then, both it and its English equivalent, conjugial, have become identified with Swedenborg and the New Church.
     Why Swedenborg used conjugialis, and we persist in retaining its English equivalent, instead of his using the more common and therefore better known conjugalis and our rendering it, conjugal, is a question which frequently confronts New Church people. The general answer is, of course, that conjugalis and conjugal, having become from centuries of common use intimately and inseparably associated with the merely natural and false ideas of marriage prevailing in the world, could not serve adequately to express the distinctive concepts of marriage and its proper love revealed in the Writings. This is done better by conjugialis and conjugial, which in themselves are free from preconceived ideas. In addition, the very fact that the unusual spelling of conjugialis and conjugial encourages questions, and so tends to make the mind more attentive to and receptive of new truths, causes these words to be more adequate than the commonplace ones.
     A further confirming reason may be found, however, if we examine the root meanings, usages and implications of the Latin. Both adjectives are derived from the verb conjugo-"to yoke," "to join together," "to unite"; but, significantly, they come by way of different nouns. Conjugialis comes by way of conjugium, and conjugalis by way of conjux. Now conjugium refers basically to a state of union of body and soul as well as between the sexes; and while its meaning includes various kinds of unions, the essential usage was such that it is confined to the idea of a close connection or union, marriage, and wedlock. Conjux, on the other hand, refers to one joined to another; and although its principal meaning is a consort or spouse, it was used mainly in the feminine and so designated a wife more commonly than a husband. It was also used to mean a betrothed virgin, or bride, and as an honorable designation for a concubine.

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In later Latin its meaning was extended to include a comrade, a companion, a fellow slave, of either sex.
     Conjugalis, being related to conjux by derivation, thus has a rather broad meaning which normally includes various relationships of woman to man, in marriage as well as outside of it, and not so much man s relationship to woman. It readily lends itself, therefore, to description of merely natural concepts of marriage, and is not incompatible with the idea of a "double standard" of morality.
     Conjugialis, which means what pertains to conjugium, has basically a far more restricted meaning; one which looks principally to marriage ties affecting the husband as well as the wife. This is reflected by the dictionaries, which assign to conjugialir, but not to conjugalis, the additional meaning of connubial, which has reference to the Roman civil institution of marriage. It may be seen, then, that conjugalis, by common usage, basic meaning. and implication was, and is, quite unsuited to convey a true concept of marriage and of that love which, the Writings say, is so rare that it is not known what it is, and scarcely that it is; whereas conjugialis, as to essential meaning and implication and by common use, was, and is, far more suitable. It may also be of interest to note that as man's idea of marriage degenerated, conjugalis became the favored adjective, while conjugialis fell into disuse.
CROWN OF ALL THE CHURCHES 1960

CROWN OF ALL THE CHURCHES              1960

     "This church is the crown of all the churches that have hitherto existed on the globe, because it will worship the one visible God in whom is the invisible God as the soul is within the body. Thus and no otherwise can there be conjunction with God; for man is natural and thinks naturally, and conjunction must be in the thought, and this is effected when man thinks of God as a Man. Conjunction with an invisible God is like conjunction of the sight of the eye with the expanse of the universe, of which it sees no limit, and like sight in mid ocean, which falls into the air and into the sea and vanishes. But conjunction with a visible God is like seeing a man in the air, or on the sea, spreading forth his hands and inviting to his arms. For all conjunction of God with man must also be a reciprocal conjunction of man with God, and there cannot be this latter reciprocation except with a visible God" (True Christian Religion 787).

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NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1960

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS       Rev. ORMOND ODHNER       1960

     "The first thing of charity is to put away evils; and the second is to do goods that are of use to the neighbor" (TCR 435, heading). This teaching, found in one form or another throughout the Writings, is from the study of charity and good works included in this month's readings. It is one of the most distinctive doctrines of our church.
     "There is none good but one, that is, God." For a man to perform good works from charity, therefore, those works must be from God, not self, for self is evil. Now good is a spiritual thing rather than natural. As it goes forth from the Lord, it flows first into a man's mind, and only through his mind into his bodily acts. Yet the Writings teach that good recoils from the mere presence of evil. Good from the Lord, then, cannot flow into a mind filled with evil; much less can it flow through that mind into bodily acts. A man's deeds may take on the appearance of works of charity; but until he has put away evil from his own spirit, there is no living connection through his mind between his acts and the Lord. Viewed internally, his deeds are defiled by evils.
     But if shunning evil is the first thing of charity, doing good is the second, and charity cannot exist without it. What, then, is good? Here it is defined as that which is of use to the neighbor; and that is of use which in any positive way, directly or indirectly, serves his spiritual and eternal welfare. It may be preaching a sermon; but it may also be teaching a youth some sport, so that he may have a healthy body, and within that a sound mind, and within that may have salvation.
     Every day, however, we are faced with difficult decisions as to what will best serve others-what will really be of use. Frequently we lack enlightenment in such matters. The Writings tell us why, and tell us also how to gain the enlightenment we need. "When a man shuns evils as sins, he daily learns what a good work is, and the affection of doing good grows with him, and the affection of knowing truths for the sake of good; for so far as he knows truths he can perform good works more fully and wisely, and thus his works become more truly good. Cease, therefore, from asking in thyself, 'What are the good works that I must do, or what good must I do to receive eternal life?' Only cease from evils as sins, and look to the Lord, and the Lord will teach and lead you" (AE 979).

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FIRST THINGS FIRST 1960

FIRST THINGS FIRST       Editor       1960


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published by
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.
Editor - - Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager - - Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, changes of address, and business communications, should be sent to the Business Manager. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.

TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$5.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy, 50 cents.
     If our observance of New Church Day is truly effective, one of the results will be a new and deeper sense of responsibility. It is true that the Lord alone forms the church. Yet the establishment, maintenance and development of the church among men require human co-operation; and those who have allied themselves with the church are responsible for its uses. As the church grows, so do those uses expand and increase in number, and it is not always easy to evaluate them. But one thing is clear. Our primary responsibility is toward the uses of worship and instruction: worship including the sacraments and rites of the church as well as its services; instruction involving education and teaching as well as formal doctrinal instruction. These are the main uses for the support of which we are responsible; all others are subordinate to them.
     The church is the Lord's kingdom on earth because it is where the Lord reigns on earth. It exists truly, therefore, where the Divine law is obeyed willingly because it is understood and loved. Evidently, however, the Divine law must first be learned; and systematic instruction in the Heavenly Doctrine is the only means through which that condition can be met.. Worship is the means appointed by the Lord through which the mind may be affected by the truth, so that man resolves to live according to it. So it is that our primary responsibility toward furthering the use initiated on the first New Church Day is for supporting the uses of worship and instruction. As we do this, not neglecting other uses of the church, but seeing them as subordinate, it will become increasingly true that "the Lord God Jesus Christ reigns."

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WHAT NAME RESOUNDS 1960

WHAT NAME RESOUNDS       Editor       1960

     Responsibility, for the member of the General Church, is not limited to the church itself; it extends also to the church's educational arm, the Academy, which exists to serve the entire church. Whether it is mentioned or not, the Academy's expansion program will be in the minds of those who attend the Commencement Exercises this month. That program, undertaken to meet the demands of a use, excites the imagination, and may well stagger it when we think of the size of the church that must support it. And the sober fact is, that for the program to succeed, it must be matched by a renewed sense of responsibility in the church.
     In saying this we do not overlook that ultimate form of support which is too obvious to mention, but we are thinking of other things as well. There will be need for more men and women to prepare themselves for the challenge of teaching in the Academy schools. There will be need for students to be ready to work harder in order to meet more exacting standards. There will be need for some parents to extend their concept of New Church higher education beyond the secondary schools to include the Junior College; and for some, together with their sons and daughters, to increase their confidence in the ability of that college to give a firm and acceptable grounding in the liberal arts, as well as that which no other institution can offer. What this amounts to is the need for a rededication to New Church education, and a restudy of the principles of that education, not as a formality but in practical ways; for neither unimplemented good will nor traditional loyalty will long sustain the Academy in the program in which it is engaged.
GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH 1960

GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH       Editor       1960

     In our January issue (pp. 40, 41), a correspondent asked: "Should any man, or group of men, assume the leadership of the church; and, if they do, should this be acquiesced in by the people?" The term, leadership, can, of course, be interpreted in various ways, but the fundamental issue would seem to be clear. Either the church is led by the Lord, or it is led by men. If the latter, the result is the same whether the priesthood dominates the laity or the laymen dictate to their ministers. Self and the world reign; love of dominion has displaced the rule of love, and human prudence trust in the Divine Providence; and as the church has departed from the Lord it must come to an end.
     It is a matter of record that the General Church was formed by men who declined to acquiesce in what they were reluctantly compelled to recognize as an assumption of leadership.

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Ever since that time, it has been our concern to follow an order and organization which have but one end in view: to provide for the government of the church by the Lord through the teachings of the Writings-a government through individual conscience. To ultimate this ideal is by no means easy, for in trying to do so we are attempting something that has never really been done before, and the proprium is always with us. Nevertheless we are firmly convinced that when both the priesthood and the laity are free in their respective spheres, when both sincerely look to the Lord in the Writings as the only authority, and when the church holds itself free to follow His leading, then there is no question of human leadership. The Lord is then the High Priest, and He alone teaches and leads His church.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF MATURITY 1960

RESPONSIBILITIES OF MATURITY       Editor       1960

     The church is always exposed to environmental influences, and we live at a time when more and more people seem willing that governmental or other agencies should relieve them of responsibility in what were once regarded as matters for individual decision and action. It would be disastrous if this spirit were to enter the church as a desire on the part of the laity to have the clergy tell them what to think! Every true member of the church wants to think from the Writings, and the priesthood will do all that it can to encourage and foster that desire. It is ready and willing at all times to put the inquiring layman in touch with the teachings of the Writings that bear on the subject; to discuss and to explain. But there its responsibility ends; the layman then has the task of thinking as of himself from the Writings.
     That he should be able to do so is one of the great privileges and responsibilities the Lord has given with the revelation of the Heavenly Doctrine. The Writings make possible an intellectual maturity never before within man's grasp; but to achieve that maturity men must be willing to stand on their own two feet and take responsibility for thinking from the Writings as of themselves, after making sure that the relevant teachings are known. We are frequently asked: What is the General Church position on this or that? The fact is that the General Church has no "positions." It stands on the Writings as understood by it; and that is what we would have all our members do, when they have sought the aid of the clergy in finding out what the teachings are. This is true in all live issues, whether that of birth control or any other.

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Church News 1960

Church News       Various       1960

     LINDEN HILLS, MICH.

     Last summer a very ,sad event occurred. After forty-five years, the New Church meeting house at Linden Hills, Michigan, was demolished and the site covered over with sand.
     In the early part of the century, the Rev. E. J. B. Schreck of the Sheridan Road Society in Chicago came to that area, seeking a place to bring his family during the summer. The first year several church people, among them Dr. and Mrs. Farrington, camped with him. A lot was given to him as an inducement to advertise the resort and he built a cottage.
     Then for many years the New Church people, both Convention and General Church, worshiped in various cottages, and held beach suppers and evening songfests. It was always the hope to have a little meeting house of our own; and finally, in 1914; a lot was given for church purposes and a building was erected and was dedicated, with both Convention and General Church ministers taking part in the service. Mr. Henry Wunsch of Detroit was elected president, and Mr. Seymour Nelson of Glenview was secretary-treasurer and organist. Any New Church minister who was present was asked to preach on Sunday, and on many occasions the attendance was 125 or more. A Ladies Aid was formed, bazaars were held, and children5s classes and plays were presented, all to support the uses of the building.
     Among the families who spent many happy summers there were the George Fields, the Kitzelmans, the Wallenbergs, the Gladishes, the Farringtons, Mrs. Bellinger and Miss Celia, the Grahams, the Gurneys, the Lindsays, the Rev. and Mrs. Louis Hoeck, the Nelsons, the Bergmans, the Wunschs, the Kleins, the Rev. John Stockwell and others, plus many relatives and visitors.
     Gradually some of the families moved away; some died; the younger ones did not spend the whole summer at Linden Hills, but went out only for weekends; so interest in the little meeting house faded. In closing, I must mention the devotion to duty which the Rev. Willis Gladish showed. He continued to open the building and to preach to the end of his life. A chapter has been closed. Perhaps another meeting house may be built here in the future.
     GRACE GRAHAM LINDSAY


     DURBAN, NATAL

     At the end of August, a welcome home supper was held at the home of Mrs. Doreen Buss for Miss Sylvia Pemberton, who had just returned from England, the United States and the General Assembly. Miss Pemberton gave us a very interesting talk on her experiences at the Assembly, and about the many societies she visited. It impressed all of us gathered there to bear how thrilling and inspiring it had been to mingle with 600 people of the New Church, to which we are all so fortunate to belong. The slides of Bryn Athyn which were shown to us inspired us further to save our pennies, so that we, too, could take a trip there.
     We bade farewell to the Rev. and Mrs. Wynne Acton at a tea in the home of the Rev. and Mrs. Daniel Heinrichs, just before they set off on their travels to the Continent and America. We welcomed them home again on December 1, and Mr. Acton gave us a delightful talk on the societies they had visited.
     On Saturday, September 19, the social committee provided a Surprise Social for the Society.

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There were foreign objects that had to be picked out, guessing games, and an exciting race car meeting which ended the evening. The next social event of the year was the table tennis championships, which were held in the church hall and were a great success. Competition was keen, and the refreshments were enjoyed by all.
     Once again, on November 14, a cabaret supper was held in the church hall. The decor was Italian in style, and the "Hernando's Hideaway" of 1958 was converted into "Luigi's" for this particular evening. A number of very interesting events was provided by the younger members of the Society, and, to the accompaniment of music and candlelight, the evening started off with a delicious supper of Spaghetti Polonaise.
     The month of December brought the usual Christmas festivities. The first function was the children's party, held as usual in the church hall. A Christmas tree, balloons, and a delicious array of cakes, ice cream and candy, helped to make this annual event a great success. Our Carol Sing was held on Sunday, December 20. The usual lovely carols were sung with great gusto, and four carols were beautifully harmonized by a septet.
     Christmas Eve saw the church bursting with both children and adults for the usual special service for the children, followed by the tableaux. In his address to the children, Mr. Heinrichs spoke about the joy of Christmas and why we are happy. The opening scenes of the tableaux depicted the rejection of the Word and the Annunciation. The third scene, the Nativity, was followed by the Wise Men before Herod and the Adoration of the Lord by the Wise Men. The remains that are stirred within us each succeeding year prove what a moving celebration this is. And the children's comments at the end of each scene-I do hope there's another one-prove what a great success these tableaux are.
     Mr. Acton conducted the Christmas morning service. This is one of the few times in the year when the church should be elastic; there was a very encouraging congregation. In the children's talk our pastor mentioned the people to whom the angel appeared to announce the Lord's advent, and explained how, when we read and accept truths from the Word, we are brought into association with the angels; and then it is that the Lord can make His advent to us, not only on Christmas Day, but every time we see and accept the truth. The subject of his sermon was "The Peace of Christmas"-"Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you" (John 14: 27). In this sermon our pastor led us to see that in the Babe born we see also the risen Lord as the Prince of Peace; and that although we may have external worries and tribulations, spiritual peace descends from the Lord into our inmost minds, bringing tranquillity and joy.
     The New Year's Eve party ended the celebrations for the festive season. Dancing, a smorgasbord supper, and a few variety acts were the program for the evening, the best of these last being "Elderly Man River" and "The Chipmunks."
     Once again the Holy Supper was administered on the first Sunday of the New Year, January 3. This gave us further opportunity to examine ourselves and prepare ourselves for regeneration.
     A lovely braaivleis was held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Schuurman on February 20. The afternoon commenced at 2:30 with tennis and swimming, and at six o'clock there was a shout from the cook house that the "braai" was ready. After a lovely supper the young people adjourned to the lounge for some dancing.
     SERENE DE CHAZAL


     THE CHURCH AT LARGE

     South Africa. The NEW-CHURCH HERALD recently reported a series of happenings that will be of interest to all members of the church. As a part of its policy to reduce the number of "native" churches, the South African government has enacted legislation, effective this year, under which all unrecognized churches must either unite with a recognized denomination or close down.

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One result was that an indigenous African Christian denomination The Ethiopian Catholic Church in Zion, with a reported membership of 30000, sought union with the New Church (Conference) Mission in South Africa.
     According to the Rev. Brian Kingslake, The Ethiopian Catholic Church in Zion was founded on the Anglican model in 1904 as a native African church independent of influences from other races, whether European or American. Its beliefs were officially in accordance with the Christian creeds; but in practice its doctrinal position seems to have been nebulous, so that today it has virtually none at all, apart from acceptance of the Bible. Without a theological seminary and any of the facilities given to recognized churches, the body increased to its present membership all over the Union, with an ordained clergy numbering sixty. The church is divided into six dioceses which are more or less autonomous.
     Its founder, the late Rev. Samuel James Brander, was a friend of the late Rev. David William Mooki, and the present head of the body, Archbishop Sedoaba, first heard of the New Church through the Rev. Obed Mooki, who was for many years president of the Transvaal Interdenominational African Ministers' Association. One of the clergy, the Rev. Eric Boloko, had attended Mooki Memorial College as an out-student, where he accepted the doctrines of the New Church.
     At an exploratory meeting held in Johannesburg last January, the Rev. Brian Kingslake made it clear that he had no authority to effect an amalgamation of the two organizations, although he would gladly put the question before his committee in England, and that the main question was: would the members of the Ethiopian Catholic Church in Zion accept the teachings of the New Church? The Rev. Obed Mooki then summarized the teachings of True Christian Religion, and all present expressed a desire to learn further, either at the Mooki Memorial College or by correspondence tuition.
     Mr. Kingslake then proposed a mode by which amalgamation might be effected. The Mission would at first be divided into two sections, the Ethiopian and the Conference Sections. The former would, for the time being, continue as before, but would use the name and printed forms and registers of the New Church Mission, together with its hymnbook and catechism. Its ministers would have no vote in the Mission Conference; to obtain a vote they would have to attend the college, satisfy the examiners, and then be re-ordained as New Church ministers. Broadly speaking, the congregations would follow their ministers, and eventually, it was to be hoped, the Ethiopian Catholic Church in Zion would cease to exist as such. These suggestions were agreed to by all the delegates; and after an exchange of cables, and careful consideration by the General Conference in England, Mr. Kingslake was authorized to proceed. Amalgamation is therefore now in progress.

     General Convention. The Philadelphia Society is planning an advertising campaign in the Evening Bulletin. The "Message of the New Church" will appear in a three inch, two column box, and will contain "provocative statements on living questions, the Rev. Richard H. Tafel's sermon on the same topic, together with the offer of appropriate literature."
     It is reported that the Boston Society is contemplating the building of a new church. The project is under consideration and nothing has been decided. The El Cerrito Society in California is also considering a new building. The present structure was originally designed for a Parish House and Church School.

     Mauritius. A report on cyclone damage published in the NEW-CHURCH HERALO' states that of the eighty churches in Mauritius, only eighteen were intact after the recent storms. The caretaker's house in Curepipe was completely demolished, and the one in Port Louis suffered heavy damage, but damage to the two churches was slight. The manse is in poor condition, and the church committee feels that it should be replaced before the next minister goes to the island.

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     West Africa. It has been announced that the Rev. Eustace R. Goldsack, Ordaining Minister, and secretary of the Ministerial Advisory Council, has accepted an invitation from the Overseas Missions Committee of the General Conference and the Conference Council to go to Nigeria as the first white superintendent of the New Church Mission there. Mr. Goldsack will leave England in late summer or early fall to take up his new duties.


     SWEDENBORG SOCIETY

     Sesquicentennial Dinner

     On February 26, 1810, the Swedenborg Society was founded. On February 26, 1910, the Society's centenary was celebrated by a dinner for the Council given by David Wynter at his home, Bishops-wood. On February 26, 1960, the Society's one hundred and fiftieth anniversary was celebrated by a dinner in Swedenborg Hall, Bloomsbury, attended by fifty people.
     The hall-which was newly decorated last summer, and in which portraits of famous Swedenborgians, cleaned and refurbished, had been newly hung-was transformed for the occasion. Tables were arranged in front of the platform and down each side of the hall. On a small table on the platform a vase of red and white carnations stood under the portrait of Swedenborg. These were given by Miss Jessie Wvnter recalling the 1910 dinner at Bishopswood, when this same portrait, then the property of her father, was decorated with red and white carnations. At each corner of the platform were large vases of red gladioli and white lilac, while the tables were decorated with spring flowers.
     Members of the Council, the Advisory and Revision Board and past members of the Council, together with the wives of most of the members, and seven guests formed the company. The guests were: Miss Jessie Wynter; the Rev. Eric Jarmin and the Rev. Alan Gill, representing the two organizations of the New Church in this country; Honorary Life Members and past presidents of the Society, Mr. F. G. Colley Pryke, Mr. O. E. Prince, and the Rev. Clifford Harley; and Mr. D. J. Mothersill, a director of the company which does most of the Society's printing. Mr. Fred Chadwick, I.S.O., and Mr. Harold Gardiner, MS., F.R.C.S., Honorary Life Members, were, unfortunately, unable to be present.
     A printed menu and toast list was given to everyone. The dinner menu was printed in Latin and honored the names of Clissold, Wynter and Gardiner, and the toast list was adorned with two quotations from the Writings: "Dinners are held among those who are at once in love and charity, conjoin themselves in spirit, and mutually share the emotions of happiness which come from love and charity" (AC 2341); "Wine signifies the good of mutual love and faith" (AC 6377).
     After the dinner, the president, Mr. Roy H. Griffith, proposed the toast to the Queen. A large number of messages had been received and these were now read. Pride of place was given to a printed scroll from the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences, of which Swedenborg was an illustrious member. There followed greetings and good wishes from the office staff, the General Conference of the New Church, the Swedenborg Foundation, the Swedenborg Scientific Association, the Swedenborg Institut, the Swedenhorg-Verlag in Zurich, the Italian Swedenborg Society, the Academy of the New Church, the New Church in Australia, the General Convention, the Federation of French-speaking Societies in Lausanne, two Societies of the New Church in Stockholm, the South African Mission and the Society in Mauritius.
     The president called on the Rev. Claud Presland, whose great-great grandfather, John Presland, was one of the founders of the Society, to propose the toast to the Swedenborg Society. Mr. Presland, after some witty comments about his ancestors, spoke of the importance of the Society to the New Church and of the New Church to the Society, and of the good relations which have always existed between the Society and the New Church.

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The president, in responding, referred to some of the highlights in the Society's history and illustrated, by quotation, the consistent policy and experience of the Society; for example, in the problems of translation, advertising and finance.
     The president then went on to propose the toast, "The Guests," and said a few words about each: Miss Jessie Wynter, the only person present who was at the anniversary dinner at Bishopswood on February 26, 1910 and daughter of the man who, more than any other, was responsible for the premises in which we were meeting; the president of the General Conference of the New Church, and the senior minister of the General Church of the New Jerusalem in Great Britain, both of them honored in their office, and for their own qualities; Mr. Colley Pryke, a member of the Council for twenty years, twice president of the Society, and for twelve years chairman of the Advisory and Revision Board; the Rev. Clifford Harley, a past president and almost the Society's official lecturer; Mr. O. E. Prince, also a past president and having business associations with the firm of another past president, Colonel Bevington; Mr. D. J. Mothersill, the only printer for the Society of recent times who pronounced correctly the Latin titles of our publications! The president referred to the two guests unable to be present: Mr. Fred Chadwick, a member of the Council for thirty years, twice president, honorary secretary for twelve years and in that office responsible for the celebration in 1938 of the 250th anniversary of Swedenborg's birth; Mr. Harold Gardiner, five times president and the author of learned addresses, two of which were published as Transactions of the Society.
     The president of Conference, the Rev. Eric Jarmin, responded to the toast to the guests, and said how happy they were to be present on this important occasion. He spoke of the great gifts which we in the New Church had been given in the Writings, and of the important uses that the Society is fulfilling in respect to those Writings. The president then called upon a few people for impromptu remarks and toasts. Mr. Colley Pryke proposed the toast, "The New Church"; Miss Jessie Wynter gave her personal recollections of the 1910 dinner; the Rev. Clifford Harley expressed his pleasure in the occasion; from the General Church, the Rev. Alan Gill thanked the Council for inviting him and conveyed good wishes for the Society; and Sir Thomas Chadwick thanked the organizers for the very pleasing arrangements for the dinner.
     Inevitably there was much looking back on this memorable evening to the events of the past and the devoted work of our predecessors. The president hoped that when the Society celebrates its bi-centenary in 2010, those then responsible for the Society's work will feel that they are building on foundations well and truly laid.
     FREDA G. GRIFFITH
MINISTERIAL CHANGES 1960

MINISTERIAL CHANGES              1960

     The Rev. B. David Holm has resigned as visiting pastor to Ohio and as visiting pastor to Erie, Pennsylvania. His resignation has already become effective.

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GENERAL CHURCH CORPORATIONS 1960

GENERAL CHURCH CORPORATIONS       STEPHEN PITCAIRN       1960



     Announcements
     The 1960 Annual Corporation Meetings of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will he held in the Benade Hall Auditorium, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, on Saturday afternoon, June 18, at 3.30 p.m., D.S.T. Notices have been mailed.
     STEPHEN PITCAIRN,
          Secretary
BRITISH ASSEMBLY 1960

BRITISH ASSEMBLY       GEORGE DE CHARMS       1960

     The Forty-fifth British Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held in London, England, from July 30 to August 1, 1960, the Bishop of the General Church presiding.
     All members and friends of the General Church are cordially invited to attend. Those wishing accommodation should write to Mrs. Alec Craigie, 63 Maitland Court, Lancaster Terrace, London, W. 2; or Mrs. L. Patient, 83 St. Albans Road, Seven Kings, Essex.
     GEORGE DE CHARMS,
          Bishop
SONS OF THE ACADEMY 1960

SONS OF THE ACADEMY       QUENTIN F. EBERT       1960

     The Annual Meeting of the Sons of the Academy will be held on Friday, June 24, and Saturday, June 25, 1960, at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. All men interested in New Church education are cordially invited to attend.

Program:
Friday, afternoon. Registration.
Friday, evening. Supper. Address by Academy Representative.
Saturday, morning. Business Meeting.
Saturday, afternoon. Luncheon.
Saturday, evening. Banquet.
Sunday, 11:00 a.m. Worship.

     Registration, meetings and luncheon will be at the Le Roi Road Church, the banquet will be held at the Pittsburgh Field Club.
     QUENTIN F. ERERT,
          Secretary.
VISITORS TO BRYN ATHYN 1960

VISITORS TO BRYN ATHYN              1960

     People coming to Bryn Athyn who need assistance in finding accommodation will please communicate with the Hostess Committee. Please address letters to: The Hostess Committee, c/o Mrs. Harris S. Campbell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

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FIGHTING TRUTH 1960

FIGHTING TRUTH       Rev. DAVID R. SIMONS       1960


No. 7

VOL. LXXX
JULY, 1960
     "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)

     The application of truth to life carries man from one state to another. When there has been the proper preparation in one state, when one state is full and ripe, then new truth introduces and leads man into the next. Adult uses, occupations, home life, and the life of heaven, involve fundamental changes of state-changes of understanding and will, thought and affection, attitudes and habits. Spiritual progress cannot take place without preparation nor without initiation and the leadership of truth. That man may enter progressively into the uses of life, that he may be prepared to receive in full measure the blessings of use, the Lord has provided the Joshua of fighting truth, saying: 'Be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses My servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest" (Joshua 1: 1, 7).
     Inspired by the promise of a land flowing with milk and honey given to Moses at the burning bush; led trial by trial through forty years in the wilderness; the sons of Israel finally arrived at the eastern border of the Jordan river. Their destination was in sight. Life in Canaan was to be entirely different from life under their Egyptian taskmasters. Freedom calls for responsibility; it requires strength and courage. Had the original host who fled before Pharaoh's army gone straight to their future home, they could not possibly have made it their own. They would have been overthrown in the first conflict with an enemy. Preparation was necessary; forty years of hardship and trial had to come first, so that from an unorganized mob of slaves they could be welded into a nation.

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The spirit of faint-heartedness and cowardliness which caused them, when faced with adversity, to cry, "Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! [or] Would God we had died in the wilderness!" (Numbers 14: 2, 3), and that made the spies who investigated the land-with the exception of Joshua and Caleb-report that the inhabitants were giants and dissuade the people from the attack; this cowardly spirit had to be transformed under leadership into an eagerness for conquest, and filled with the conviction that the Lord would surely give them the land: "And Joshua and Caleb . . . spake unto all the company of the sons of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. If the Lord delight in us, then He will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the Lord is with us; fear them not. . . . Truly the Lord hath delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us" (Numbers 14: 6-10; Joshua 2: 24).
     The name Joshua means in the Hebrew, "Jehovah is salvation," and from it comes the name Jesus, meaning, "Savior." Truly this prince of Ephraim was well named. For under his leadership the Israelites were delivered from their enemies and were established in the land. Joshua was a fearless warrior whose trust in the Lord was matched by the skills of an astute general. His victory over Jericho, his strategy at Ai, his campaigns in the North and the South, all make it clear why he, in the spiritual sense, represents fighting truth. Fighting truth is truth used to combat falsity and evil. It is truth applied to the problems of daily life. Human uses are perfected by the aggressive removal of disorder and evil. When the man of the church decides to fight for what he believes that his life may be changed, the Lord establishes the Joshua of fighting truth in his mind, saying: "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).
     One of the most fundamental changes of state man undergoes is the transition from youth to adult life. Youth is a time of boundless ideals and energy. Years of growth and preparation have brought the child to the shores of Jordan. The promised land of adult life, with all its freedom and reward, is clearly visible. A world of opportunity lies ahead. The potentials for success and happiness know no bounds. Like the sons of Israel, youth has had but a limited contact with an organized enemy. Its boundless aspirations have not yet been put to the test. Its consciousness is focused primarily on the good things across the Jordan, on the rich fields and pastureland of the new home the Lord has promised it.

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Yet life is not as easy as it appears. Ambitions, high aspirations, and eagerness for possession must be placed under competent leadership. Unless they are directed toward useful and productive goals, and, imbued with a willingness to fight under the direction of the Lord, youth's ideals soon fall prey to discouragement and disillusionment and become servants of the loves of self and the world. The enemy inhabits the land; Jericho and Ai, and other enemies to the north and to the south, stand in the way of ownership.
     Providence intends youth to enter the land of adult uses, and all preparation looks to this end. Genuine growth leads directly to the ability to perform uses. Masculine development leads to one set of uses and feminine to another.
     The maturation of boys-their physical size, strength, and muscular control-equips them to do constructive work-to develop and master specialized skills and to do hard, prolonged tasks. The voice deepens to lend authority to their speech. Providence has seen to it that before a boy comes into these physical powers, the rational mind-his ability to understand, control and direct his affections-shall have begun to be developed. It is only when the mind is ready and able to assume rational responsibility for its own body that the physical endowments fully mature and adult ambitions and inclinations are awakened. 'When the understanding begins of itself to become rational, or begins of its own reason to look and provide such things as are of emolument and of use, . . . what is in the memory, from parents and masters, then serves as a plane. At that time a change in the mind takes place. Before, [the youth] only thought from things carried in the memory, meditating on them and obeying them: afterwards, from reasoning upon them; and then, love leading, he disposes the things seated in his memory into a new order, and [according] to this order begins his own life, and successively more and more thinks according to his own reason, and wills from his own freedom" (CL 446).
     The growing ambition to perform adult uses is matched by an awakening love of the opposite sex. "That with the beginning of a man's understanding his voice also begins to become masculine, is because the understanding thinks, and it is by means of thought that it speaks. This is a sign that the understanding makes the man . . . consequently that his understanding [can be elevated into wisdom]. . . . That the love of the sex follows the initiament of man's understanding, and progresses according to his vigor is a sign that that love [relates directly to the quality of the understanding and its wisdom]. . . . It is wisdom to restrain love of sex, and insanity to let it go forth" (CL 446). This growing love is to be restrained, we learn, from "principles of honor and morality implanted in the memory [of a youth by prior education] and thence in his reason, afterwards in his reason and thence in his memory" (CL 446).

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When these controls are exercised not just for the sake of reputation, but for spiritual reasons, for the sake of spiritual goals; when youth subordinates its natural inclinations to the truth of the Word; then it places itself voluntarily under the leadership of fighting truth, under the generalship of Joshua who alone has the power to overcome our spiritual enemies and lead us to the happiness and peace of genuine use.
     Feminine uses also are directly indicated by mental and physical growth. The feminine is a form of affection and love. In contrast to the masculine, which is hard, aggressive and strong, the feminine is soft, graceful and beautiful. Feminine development should be towards an increasing awareness of the feelings of others, allowing the growing faculties of perception to be guided by charity and qualities of tenderness. Feminine uses look to the support of those needs of society which hinge on affection and love- to the tender care of infants, the education of children, girls and young women, and to the support of the affectional side of masculine uses. The teaching is that, in occupations "proper to men, understanding, thought, and wisdom play the leading part, but in the offices proper to women the leading part is played by the will, affection, and love" (CL 175). Inmostly the feminine mind opens to receive the highest of human loves, conjugial love (CL 216). The inner perception of love makes woman especially sensitive to human states. But this sensitivity to the values of life, her perception of the quality and affection and thought, her love of masculine understanding, intelligence and wisdom can be perfected only under the leadership of Divine revelation. She must place herself under the Joshua of fighting truth, if she is to be led to the genuine happiness of feminine uses.
     The restlessness of youth, its unrestrained pursuit of pleasure, its moral instability, and the increasingly sad signs of moral lassitude and delinquency, all testify to an urgent need for the leadership of a spiritual religion which can answer its problems and meet its temptations. Religion should supply the means, first for spying out the land, that is, for self- examination, for understanding the quality of the evils which stand in the way of true happiness and use; and then it should provide the spiritual leadership and power to attack and overcome these evils by the processes of reformation and regeneration. Young men need a truth which can convince the understanding. The masculine mind demands logic and reason-the biting sword of fighting rationality which can inspire confidence and bring strength in combat. Young women need lofty ideals to inspire and elevate their perception of the uses the Lord has created them to perform.

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     If uses were just for this world, if, as so many mistakenly suppose, our occupations and our marriages had no other purpose than earthly success and external satisfaction, then religion and religious education would be no more than cultural refinements. But if, as the Writings teach, uses are eternal; if through service to natural society we are being prepared to serve heavenly society; and if this service becomes part of our spiritual character when done from religious purpose-then religion becomes all important. And if, as the Heavenly Doctrine teaches, marriage is essentially a spiritual thing-a conjunction of minds, a matching of masculine and feminine qualities for the perfection of uses; then the teaching that conjugial love in its steps goes hand in hand with religion" (CL 531) can lead us to learn the truths of the Divine revelation, and to follow wherever they lead, knowing that they are the Lord Himself leading us to heaven, the land of eternal uses.
     But before youth can possess the land, it must learn the quality of the enemy who occupies it; it must spy out the Jericho and Ai which block the road of entrance. In general, we are taught, there are two things which prevent [man's regeneration], one of which belongs to his intellectual and the other to his will. That which belongs to the intellectual consists of empty scientifics which he learns in childhood and youth, and that which belongs to the will consists of pleasures from the cupidities which he favors" (AC 1542). Jericho relates to these pleasures of the will; Ai to the empty knowledges in the understanding.
     Spying out the land is the process of self-examination and the exploration of one's inward motives. Without this preparation the capture of Jericho and the miraculous fall of its walls would be impossible. Jericho represents the love of self and selfish pleasure, and its lofty walls are the defenses self makes-excuses and self-justification from falsities.
     Masculine uses are perverted into the self-centered Jericho of conceit in physical or mental prowess. They center in self-indulgence, laziness, and an unwillingness to subordinate personal pleasure to uses. Feminine uses are turned in on self and perverted by an inordinate consciousness of one's own beauty and charm, and a complete absorption in social pleasures apart from social charity. Personal social success is placed before friendship and use. Beauty and its adornments are to be loved, but only for the sake of others. Strength, skill, and intelligence should be developed with the end of service to the neighbor and the Lord (CL 331).
     Nothing is easier for youth than to turn its newly acquired reasoning powers to the defense of its own inordinate love of pleasure. Encroachments on the orderly relations between the sexes; liberties taken with the sense of touch; insistence on particular attachments and the inevitable advancement of familiarities which follows, all of which belong to later states-these disorders are defended in the name of uses and excused as the product of the times.

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Yet as long as these things are allowed to stand in the way of genuine uses, an orderly entrance into adult life cannot take place.
     The position of youth with relation to Jericho is described as follows in the work Heaven and Hell: "The difficulty of thinking [from the truth] and of resisting evils increases so far as man from his will does evils. For in the same measure he becomes accustomed to them, until he no longer sees them, and confirms them by every kind of fallacy, and declares them to be allowable and good. This is the fate of those who in early youth plunge into evils without restraint, and also reject Divine things from the heart" (no. 533). These excuses and this confirmation of evil are the walls of Jericho, which appear so formidable to the life of reformation. But the same passage assures us, "that it is not so difficult to live the life of heaven as some believe, [as] can now be seen from this, that when anything presents itself to a man that he knows to be [disorderly], but to which he is inclined, it is simply necessary for him to think that it ought not to be done because it is opposed to the precepts [of the Lord]. [For] if a man accustoms himself so to think, and from so doing establishes a habit of so thinking, he is gradually conjoined to heaven; and so far as he is conjoined to heaven the higher regions of his mind are opened; and so far as these are opened he sees what ever is [disorderly] and so far as he sees these evils, they can be dispersed" (NH 533). It is this habit of thinking from the truth that is pictured in the story as the priests with the ark led the host around the walls of Jericho seven days, and on the seventh day seven times, which caused the walls to collapse and exposed the city to conquest and destruction by fire.
     The city Ai, which must be taken by strategy, represents the knowledges of worldly things (AC 1453). Those worldly knowledges are called "empty" which have no genuine scientific, civil, moral, or spiritual content. Much of the literature of our day is filled with fallacies and falsities, being devoid of anything worthwhile. The prevailing ideas of the relationship between the sexes; the glamorized concept of beauty, love, and marriage; the false concepts of work and the rewards of work, which are portrayed in books, magazines, and other forms of communication; can lead the undiscriminating mind to the materialism which is the prevailing philosophy behind them, and in this way turn the mind from its ordained uses. The youth of the church must learn to draw these ideas out of their strongholds by recognizing their spiritual implications and by judging them from standards of Revelation. In this way their fascination and appeal can he broken.

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     And as, in his freedom, the youth of the church learns to use the truths of the Writings to fight the enemies of his spiritual life, as he increasingly assumes more and more responsibility for his own spiritual welfare, as he learns to entrust his life to the leadership of fighting truth, the Lord will be with him to guide and protect, and to lead him to certain victory. For the teaching is that 'when man has made a beginning, the Lord quickens all that is good in him, not only to see evils to be evils, but also to refrain from willing them, and finally, to turn away from them" (HH 533). That this may take place with the men and women of the church, Divine revelation says: "Be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed; for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." Amen.

LESSONS:     Joshua 1:1-9. Joshua 6:12-20, 8:1-3 14-22. CL 90, 91.
MUSIC:     Liturgy, pages 456, 465, 484.
PRAYERS:     Liturgy, nos. 48. 110.
REMAINS 1960

REMAINS       Rev. JAN H. WEISS       1960

     A STUDY

     (The first of three installments)

     Usages of the Term "Remains"

     The term "remains" plays an important role in the theology of the New Church, and therefore also an important role in our lives. It is used both as a verb and as a noun. As a verb, the term "remains" usually refers to the staying with man of things after death. As a noun, the term "remains" refers to states of good and truth with which man is gifted during his life upon earth, and which remain with him after death. But it should be mentioned here that things which are said to remain are not necessarily identical with the things which are denoted by the noun "remains."

     The Verb "To Remain" in its Widest Meaning. Whatever man has acquired during his life in this world, and that has entered into his mind, remains with him after death. This is the most general statement in regard to man's mind; and the term "remains" here-as a verb-is used in its widest meaning. In many places the Writings enumerate the things that remain with man. They are: his life in the world, the least evil which man has thought or actually done, all the good which man has thought and done, all affections and derivative thoughts, all evil and falsity, falsities and evils once impressed upon a scientific, all truth and good ever given, what has been appropriated in freedom and under compulsion, his spiritual and civil life, the desire to do evil, all things which enter into man, the truths of faith and the ruling love, the faith that is not from heavenly love, what has entered into his love, the love of the sex and conjugial love, civil and political things.

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     Generally speaking, whatever has entered into man's mind, either from this world or from the other world, while he lived upon earth, remains in his mind to eternity and cannot be eradicated. The substance of the human spirit is of such a nature that it retains everything that once has been impressed upon it, even if this impression is made without man's consent or conscious knowledge. And this is of the Divine Providence, for if our minds were not able to retain everything that ever entered into them, we human beings would not be able to live to eternity, which would rob us of our human essence. We would be as the animals, which live in this world but do not have individual immortality. The substance of the body is able to retain, but never in the way the substance of the human spirit can. Though very intricate and complicated, the human brain, compared to the mind, is nothing but an inferior and temporary tool.
     The fact that our mind retains states of the past enables us to regenerate and become angels of heaven. For it is the continual shunning of evil and doing of good which molds our minds into a form that is receptive to heavenly life. Such a molding would be totally ineffective if the mold could not hold its form. But at the same time, if we do not shun evils as sins, our minds are molded into a form that is receptive of the life of hell; and such a molding would also be ineffective unless the mold could hold its form. So it is clear that the human mind after death could be neither in a state of heaven nor in a state of hell, unless the substance of the mind could retain the impressions which are made upon it. Now the human mind must be either evil or good, for otherwise it cannot receive life. Human individual immortality, from a mechanical point of view, can thus be ascribed to the ability of the mind to retain its experiences.
     The retention of former states is also important in the processes of judgment and vastation that have to be applied to each man after death. Unless a man could return to states of the past, he could not be judged and adjusted to either heavenly life or infernal life. For a novitiate spirit is not judged by anyone except by himself-by his seeing his own nature, and finding others of a similar nature. And seeing one s own nature cannot take place without the ability to look back into the past.
     Without this ability, also, man would be unable to observe in himself progress in regard to any endeavor. He would live in the present only; unable to see where he came from, and unable to know where he is going.

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Regeneration would become impossible, and would be only a meaningless word. Work would be ineffective, for study and preparation would never lead to the desired result. The sacraments and rites of the church would become useless, for their effect would be of the moment only and would then be completely forgotten. From all this it is evident that it is a good thing that the Lord created the substance of our mind in such a way that it can retain whatever is impressed upon it.

     The Verb "To Remain" with a More Limited Connotation. But the verb "to remain," as used in the Writings, also has a more limited connotation. Then it refers to all those things that have been contracted or acquired by actual life, and confirmed in the thought by belief and even persuasion, thus to what has entered into man's love. And then, when the verb, remain, is used with this limited connotation, in its context certain things are said not to remain; though in other passages, where the verb, remain, is used with its widest meaning, these things are said to remain. Unless we understand this we could become confused as to the real facts.
     There is, for example, the teaching that whatever is appropriated in freedom remains, but whatever is done under compulsion does not remain. Thus, whatever evil we do in freedom remains, but the evil which we do under compulsion does not remain. And yet, there is also the teaching that the least evil which man has thought or actually done remains with him.
     The first teaching is an example of how the verb "to remain" is used with a more limited connotation. The second teaching is an example of how the verb "to remain" is used in its widest meaning.
     There is the teaching that all things which enter with man remain. "All things" would thus include civil and political things; and yet there is the repeated teaching that man's civil and political things do not remain, but only his spiritual things. The first teaching uses the verb "to remain" in its widest meaning, and the second teaching in its more limited connotation.
     The general truth is that man's mind retains everything that is once impressed upon it. And when we find a teaching which says that certain of these things do not remain, then we are faced with a teaching that deals, not with the mind as a whole, but only with the real character of man. This real character is the internal man, which is the man we really wanted to be, and not just wanted to be but have striven to be. If, for example, we commit an evil, but then repent of that evil and shun it successfully, then that evil is transferred to the circumference of the mind; that is, into the external man, where it remains but does not influence the internal man.

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This transfer is what the Writings call the remission of sins.
     In every context in which the verb "to remain" is used with its limited connotation, the things which are said to remain are those things that are acquired in freedom, and have entered man's love through actual life and confirmation in the thought.
     The fact that the human mind can retain past actions and states does not interfere, therefore, with man's ability to repent and begin a new life. We are able, with the Lord's help to reject past actions and states, if we see them to be evil from the Word and thus from the Lord. And when they are remitted, then they are sent to the external part of man's mind, where they remain or are retained. Thus they do not remain in the internal man or with the real person. This explains how it is possible for the regenerate man to live in heaven, and for the angels to have evil.
     The verb "to remain" is an excellent example of how the Writings use a term with more than one meaning, which usage causes apparent contradictions. Such contradictions are typical of the sense of the letter of Divine revelation. And were we to approach the Writings in a literalistic way, then we would not be able to extricate ourselves from these apparent contradictions. We would never see the real truth.
     To the literalist these apparent contradictions are a stumbling block. But those who worship God "in spirit and in truth" will try to see the truth, as it is contained within the sense of the letter. To those, apparent contradictions are not a stumbling block, but a gateway to a deeper understanding of the truth.

     The Term "Remains" Used as a Noun. Remains are all states of good and truth, impressed upon the memory by attending angels, at any given time of life in this world; and as these remains are impressed upon the memory by angels, they are therefore received as a gift from the Lord. They are not to be confused with states of good and truth acquired from man s conscious effort to shun evils as sins against God.
     To understand the subject of remains, we must first understand the mechanism by which they are implanted in man. Once this is understood, our general definition will take on more meaning, and we will be better able to follow and appreciate other teachings concerning remains.
     When angels inflow into the sensual, moral and rational things which are with man because these things are fit for such influx, then these angels come so close to man's mind that their sphere of happiness and peace can be sensed. This inner sensation-for it is not a sensation that results from influx from the world-is registered on the memory and there remains. These registered states of good and truth are called "remains."

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Through the angels they are stored up in interior memories for use in man's regeneration later.
     Remains are implanted from birth to the end of life in this world. As man is in different states in this period of his life, it necessarily follows that the remains implanted will all be of a different nature. We mention only one example here; namely, the fact that during the first eighteen years of his life man is successively attended by celestial angels, spiritual angels, and natural angels, from whom he receives different types of remains. Such remains are implanted in different levels of man's memory, and are used by the Lord in the regeneration of man at different times and at different stages.
     Because remains are the result of the meeting of two influxes, namely; the influx of things through the senses and the influx of angels into man's spiritual senses, it follows that there will be a difference not only in the nature of those remains but also in the quantity of remains implanted with each man. The teaching is that some people have more remains than others.
     It is obvious that the Lord, in gifting man with remains, does not prefer one man above another. The angels naturally have the same attitude. And so it follows that the amount of remains implanted is determined by the environment in which man lives in this world. This is a frightening fact, for it places a tremendous responsibility in the hands of parents, teachers, and all other adults. As parents and teachers we are the instrumental cause of our children receiving more or less remains.
     But the adult who plays a part does so not only in the implanting of remains with children but also in the implantation of remains with himself. It is part of the regenerative process to open ourselves up consciously to angelic spheres for the sake of our reception of remains. And for this reason, the subject of remains is of interest to all.

     The Function and Operation of Remains

     The function of remains is clearly stated in the Writings. Remains are the means of conjunction of heaven with man. At birth man has hereditary evil from his father and mother, and it is through this hereditary evil that he has communication and conjunction with hell. At birth there is nothing with man that can serve as a means of conjunction with heaven, so that there can be no influx from heaven. This means that man is not in freedom to choose between evil and good. Without remains man would thus not be a man, but would be much viler than a brute.
     Remains are the things through which the light of good and truth inflows, without which man could not live as a man.

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It is from and through remains that man can know what is good and true, reflect upon each thing, and thus think and reason.
     Remains are states of good and truth, experienced by man because of his unconscious associations with the angels of heaven. They are stored up in his memory, and can be recalled by the Lord at such time as He deems it necessary for man's regeneration. Through circumstances, which are all in the Lord's providence, man receives the same sense-impressions that attracted angelic spirits to him in the past. And on the basis of these sense-impressions, the Lord can-if He so desires-reproduce the remains, so that man may enter into these past states of good and truth. In these states man is able to know what heaven is like, and into what state he can come if he obeys the commandments of the Lord. This knowledge provides man with a conscious stimulation and motivation to follow the Lord on the path towards heaven. And in states of temptation the angels can take out of these remains things with which they can defend the man against evil spirits.
     An example may illustrate these ideas. A certain man in childhood was taught to pray the Lord's Prayer each night. Every time he thus prayed the Lord's Prayer, the angels of heaven came near, and were greatly delighted with the child's prayer; for the Writings say that the angels are able to enter more fully into the prayer of a child than into the prayer of an adult. The delights of the angels were then registered on the memory of this child. For a long time these remains lay dormant, hidden deep in the memory and separated by the Lord from his hereditary evils. But then at one time, in a mood of spiritual despair, this same man happens to see his own child pray the Lord's Prayer. The sight of the little child, the hearing of its voice full of innocence and confidence in the Lord, serve as the external bases upon which the Lord causes the recall of the remains which were implanted at the time this adult prayed as a child. The man again recalls this wonderful and peaceful state in which he was when a child, and he wishes that he could return to such a state of innocence and confidence. Thus he realizes what life can be like if he shuns all evil and willingly follows the Lord. Then, through these remains now made active, the Lord and His heavenly host are able to enter into this man with the light of good and truth. From this influx man is able to know what is good and true, and the angels are able to defend him against the attacks of evil spirits.
     But as remains may be opened and produced by the Lord, so they may be closed, consumed, or "not produced" by man. Remains are destroyed if man immerses truths in evils, and profanes them. They are closed up by persuasions that falsity is truth and evil is good. They are consumed by evils of the love of self and by falsities from those evils. And, finally, they are destroyed by deceit.

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And without remains man is unable to repent, and totally incapable of salvation.

     Types of Remains

     Celestial Remains. The first state into which any child comes after birth is the state of infancy. The child at first is merely sensuous. There is no communication between the internal and external man, except in so far as the child is enabled to apprehend and retain the things that are presented through the bodily senses. At first the child's apprehension is limited to sight and the recognition of material objects, and other material sensations.
     At this time the mind of the child in the spiritual world is situated in the eastern portion of the world of spirits, a little toward the north. The fact that the child is in the eastern portion of the world of spirits means that it is close to the Lord, in fact, under His immediate auspices. It also means that the child is surrounded by those angels who are closest to the Lord, who are the celestial angels. The fact that the child's mind is a little toward the north signifies that in regard to knowledges it is still in an obscure state.
     After birth, the child makes a certain spiritual journey in the world of spirits, which holds real meaning if we become aware of the spiritual significance of the different quarters of that world. North and south always pertain to the understanding and knowledge; east and west to the will and affection. The east always represents the Lord; and as both east and west pertain to the will, and are opposing quarters, the east refers to love to the Lord and the celestial kingdom, and the west to the love of self and the lowest hell.
     As the child begins in the east, a little toward the north, both north and south having reference to the understanding, it is obvious that the north stands for ignorance and the south for intelligence. Every child then travels from ignorance to intelligence, from the northeast to the south, arriving there at the beginning of adulthood. In the south man has complete spiritual freedom to go either back to the east, or onwards to The west. Traveling from the east to the south of the world of spirits takes place in approximately twenty years, during which period the child is first accompanied by celestial angels, then by spiritual angels, and finally by natural angels.
     The period in which the child is accompanied by celestial angels is called the period of infancy. Its duration is set at five years,* and in another place at ten years,** while Bishop De Charms seems to set it at seven years. This would seem to be contradictory, but then we realize that man does not suddenly pass out of the state of infancy into the state of childhood.

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Instead, there is a period of transition, which is begun at age five, comes to an obvious climax at age seven, and is finished at age ten. In this period the child is gifted with celestial remains, which are remains of good or love, and therefore given without knowledges.
* AC 10225.
** AC 2280.

     Types of Celestial Remains. In the state of infancy we may recognize several degrees of remains, which are called the goods of infancy. First there is the tender love of a suckling towards its mother or nurse; then there is the love of an infant towards its parents; and finally, the charity of a little child towards his teacher and to children of a similar age.
     The first degree of remains is established immediately after birth and onwards. First the child is in the loving arms of mother or nurse, during which period it receives many sense-impressions of loving touch. The celestial angels can inflow into these sensations of touch with great delight and happiness, and these delights are then sensed by the child and registered on the memory.
     The second degree of remains is established after the child has become aware of its immediate surroundings, and after it has been able to recognize its parents. Also, this degree of remains is established purely on the basis of sense-impressions, which now include hearing and sight.
     The third degree of remains is established when the child is able to observe little children of a similar age, and, even later, when it is able to have a teacher. But the mechanism of the giving of remains is still the same, namely, celestial angels inflowing into sense-impressions.
     It is interesting to see the sequence of these degrees of remains. The first degree is centered in the one who gave life and birth. The second degree has a wider area of vision, while the third degree is very similar to the external of the celestial degree, which is mutual love or love to the neighbor.
     Celestial remains are extremely important to man's regeneration. They must be given, for without them man would not be a man. And so the Lord has provided that all parents, however evil they may be, shall have a love for their children. Such parents may not have any love towards each other, but they do have a love for their children. Thus celestial remains are implanted, regardless of the state of parents.
     And yet, though it is true that all children receive celestial remains, we may still apply the general teaching concerning remains, namely, that some have more and others less. Parents therefore play a very definite part in the implantation of remains, and may be instrumental in their children receiving more or less of celestial remains.

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     A mother or nurse, because of conscientious and loving care of a baby, will provide many more sense-impressions upon which the celestial angels can inflow than the mother who cares for her baby in an irregular and careless way. And would not the surroundings of an infant also have a relationship to the amount of celestial remains received? We are thinking here of the softness of its clothing and bed, the colors with which it is surrounded, and the toys with which it plays. And would not this be true also for auditory sensations? It seems hard to believe that celestials angels can flow into sensations of roughness, harshness, discomfort and disharmony.
     Remains of love towards parents obviously can be established only on the basis of sense-impressions, which would mean that father's presence is of great importance in this stage of growth. For this is the period during which an affectional basis is laid for parental guidance later on and the greater the child's affection for father is, the more will it accept his guidance later. It is in this stage of the development of the child that the husband begins his education as a father. Women are both in a natural setting of circumstances and relationship and in an instinctive frame of mind to love and care for a child. But this is not true of men. They have to make sure consciously that they also pay loving attention to their children; for men are apt to be so involved in their work that they give love and affection in an irregular and haphazard way.
     Remains of love towards a teacher are also established on the basis of sense-impressions. These sensations are very similar to the ones upon which love towards parents is established; for in infancy the contact of a teacher with a child is mainly one of care and love. The responsibilities of the teacher of infants are thus very similar to those of parents. And here we can also say the same things about surroundings and the implantation of remains.
     Remains of charity towards children of a similar age are of great importance also, for these are the first steps towards the life of charity. The implantation of such remains may be seriously injured and prevented by any fighting that occurs between little children. We quote here the following passage from the Arcana Coelestia: "I was in the street of a great city, and saw little boys fighting with one another. A crowd gathered and looked on with much pleasure; and I was informed that the parents themselves urge on their little boys to such fights. The good spirits and angels who saw these things through my eyes were so averse to them that I perceived their horror, especially at the fact that the parents incite them to such things; saying that thus in their earliest age they extinguish all the mutual love and all the innocence which little children receive from the Lord, and initiate them into hatred and revenge. In this way the parents deliberately shut out their children from heaven, where there is nothing but mutual love. Let parents therefore who wish well to their children beware of such things."*
* AC 2309.

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     The Writings teach that previous states enter into and greatly influence subsequent states. This general principle must be true also for the implantation of remains. Remains previously implanted will thus enter into and greatly influence the implantation of subsequent remains. Previous remains as it were prepare the child for the reception of subsequent remains. And the more remains a child receives in a previous state, the more it will be able to receive in subsequent states. This fact not only explains why the implantation of celestial remains is so much under the Lord's auspices, but also points out the tremendous importance of the child's early years of education.

     Spiritual Remains. At birth every child's mind is situated in the world of spirits in the east, a little toward the north. After birth it moves slowly towards the south, which means that it is more and more introduced into knowledges. First these knowledges are nothing but sense-impressions from its immediate surroundings. Then the child also begins to know space, and finally it begins to know words and to speak. While moving towards the south of the world of spirits, the child gradually dissociates itself from celestial angels, and comes into the company of spiritual angels; and while in this company the child receives spiritual remains.
     The age of childhood in one passage is placed between five and twenty, though in this passage this period is called the age of childhood and youth;* while in another passage it is placed between ten and twenty.** But we must remember here that the period between ten and twenty also covers what might be called youth, during which natural angels attend and natural remains are implanted. However, as the Writings do not teach anything directly concerning this attendance of natural angels and implantation of natural remains, it is normal that the period of childhood is extended to age twenty.
* AC 10225.
** AC 2280.
     Spiritual remains are affections connected with knowledges, and especially knowledges from the Word. These knowledges from the Word are the external and corporeal truths of the sense of the letter, which we also sometimes call the historicals of the Word. When they are in the child's mind they cause the attendant angels to think of their signification and representation, and then they are affected by what is signified and represented. This angelic affection is communicated to the child which it feels as a delight in hearing and reading the stories of the Word. This delight is then stored in the memory, where it remains for later use in man s regenerative life.

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     To implant such remains is the obvious goal of religious instruction in both the home and school. It is the purpose of our reading at school opening services, of personal reading at home, and of reading during family worship. Here we see something of the marvel of the Lord's Word on earth. For as it is precipitated in human words and ideas, in material concepts and human actions, it forms an infinite and constant link between the unregenerate mind and the Lord's kingdom. As soon as it is read upon earth, many angels read it in the heavens in their sense, and there is an automatic communication between these angels and the reader upon earth. Through the reading of the Lord's Word, or the saying of the Lord's Prayer, we may change our spiritual environment and associations. With this knowledge in mind we are thoroughly convinced of the need for school opening, personal reading, and family worship. For this reason, also, we recite passages from the Word, and have the children memorize them.
     Every man will sometimes he in a position where he does not have a copy of the Word to read, and yet he will feel the need to do so. Memorization of passages from the Word is therefore not only a means by which spiritual remains are implanted; it also provides the child with a powerful weapon against any inundation of evil spirits in times when he is unable to reach out for a copy of the Word.
     It is for this reason also that we are convinced that children should be introduced to chanting as a musical way in which the Word of the Lord can be recited. This obviously would not minimize the importance of their learning hymns. But in chanting the Word the child is afforded the opportunity to communicate with the heavens in an affectional way; for reading or reciting is of the understanding only, but singing is also of the will; and it would seem that angels can enter far more easily and with more affection into passages from the Word that are sung than into those that are said.
     But remains which are derived from a reading of the Word are not the only ones to be implanted in childhood. There are other goods of ignorance to be implanted, other spiritual remains to be given. These are states of charity towards the neighbor as expressed, for example, in pity for the poor and needy, and in love towards classmates, teacher and church.
     It is at this age that we should involve our children in a simple way in acts of charity towards the poor and needy. How this should he done need not be discussed here, for there is such a variety of circumstances in each case. This is better left to the imagination and ingenuity of each parent.
     Charity towards classmates and children of other schools is a very important part of the development of the child.

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In the age of childhood children are apt to be cruel and haughty towards each other both in word and action.
     Cruelty in children should be fought against by parents, for it not only closes heaven to them and deprives them of the opportunity to have spiritual remains implanted in them, but also has a definite relationship to conjugial love. We quote from the Arcana Coelestia: "It is remarkable that those who have been cruel in the life of the body have been also, more than others, adulterers. . . . And at this day that hell is increasing, especially from those who come from the so-called Christian world, and have had all the delight of their life in adulteries, who also are for the most part cruel."* Cruelty, if allowed in children, will not only prevent their being gifted with spiritual and conjugial remains, but will also open their minds to certain adulterous hells.
* AC 824.
     The age of childhood is also the age in which the children may receive basic affections for the offices of teacher and minister. It is true however that children are unable to separate person from office, so that these two need to be bound up as yet. For this reason it is so important that teachers and ministers are held up high before the children by other adults.
     And finally, children at this age should have some opportunity to express their love toward the church, so that through such expression spiritual remains of love for one's spiritual duties may be implanted. It is in this age that children should be led gently to give a certain portion of their own to the church.

     (To be Continued)
WAY TO WISDOM 1960

WAY TO WISDOM              1960

     "Man looks to the Divine when he believes in the Divine, and believes that all truth and good and thus all intelligence and wisdom are from the Divine, and man believes in the Divine when he is willing to be led by the Divine. The man who is in that belief, and in a life that is in accordance with his belief, has the ability and capacity to understand and be wise; but to become intelligent and wise he must learn many things, both things pertaining to heaven and things pertaining to the world-things pertaining to heaven from the Word and from the church, things pertaining to the world from the sciences. To the extent that man learns and applies to life he becomes intelligent and wise, for to that extent his interior sight and affection are perfected." (HH 351)

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DIVINE HUMAN 1960

DIVINE HUMAN       Rev. FREDERICK L. SCHNARR       1960

     The term, Divine Human, is used frequently in the Writings, and thus also in New Church sermons and doctrinal classes. It is one of those terms with which New Church men grow up, and its constant use inclines us, perhaps, to accept it as part of our religious vocabulary without having any definite or clear idea as to its meaning. Besides this, the term is often used in connection with teachings that appear to be somewhat abstract; and this disposes some to conclude that without deep, arduous study, it is impossible to form any real idea of what is meant by the Lord's Divine Human.
     That everyone can have a clear general idea, however, is evident from the fact that the Divine Human is the essential of all salvation. Would the Lord make that an essential truth of which only the wise and the studious could have any idea? Do not the Writings plainly tell us, again and again, that the Lord has now revealed in His second coming the real nature of His Divine Human? What other relationship is meant in the New Testament by the countless references to the Father and the Son than that between the Divine and the Human of the one God?
     It is a constant temptation when thinking about the Father, or what is the same, about the Divine, to think of a power that is somehow apart from the Son. Indeed, it has been the pursuit of this thought that has plunged the Christian church into the falsity that there is a duality or a trinity of persons in the Godhead. In thinking of the relation of the Divine and the Human in the Lord, it is necessary for us to think of the relationship between man's mind and his body; otherwise we cannot see clearly how the Divine and the Human of God are one. We do not think of the body as apart from the soul in the sense of being another person; thus neither ought we to think of the Lord's Human as being apart from His Divine Essence. As the loves and thoughts of our minds manifest themselves in and through the body, thereby revealing our character and nature to others, so does the Divine love and wisdom reveal itself to man in and through the Divine Human.
     What is actually meant by the Divine Human? Does the term refer to a body, to which the body that clothes man's spirit is analogous? Does it refer to human qualities and capacities, and to the degrees of human life-to the degrees of the mind?

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Does it refer to a body of truth, to the written Word? Does it refer to love and wisdom, of which human love and wisdom are a resemblance?
     To understand what the Lord's Divine Human is, we must know that the Lord had a Human from the beginning of creation; that is, He had a Divinely organized form in and through which He could manifest and reveal Himself to mankind. The most ancients, who were in the order of their life, saw that Human, and the Lord appeared to them in human form. But as men fell, the idea of a God who was the source of all human qualities was gradually lost. Even to the Israelites, with whom some idea of Jehovah had been preserved, the Lord could not manifest Himself in human form because of their perversions, but had to appear as a force or a power: as a pillar of fire and cloud, as a thunderous voice from the top of a mountain. The Lord reveals His human qualities through truths spoken or written but finally there was nothing in the world in which the natural and external state of man's mind could see the Lord as a Divinely Human God.
     In coming into the world at His first advent, the Lord took on a natural form through which He could reveal again, even to the most external states of man's mind, the Human nature of His Divine love and wisdom. The nature of God did not change by His being born upon earth, but a new way was provided for Him to reveal His qualities to man s mind. The physical human body which the Lord received from Mary was not the Divine Human, but only a means for the revealing of the Divine Human. The human body, with its human inheritance from Mary, was entirely cast off when the work of revealing the true nature of God's love and wisdom had been effected. The ultimate form of the Divine Human which is now present with mankind is the New Testament Word as to the revelation of God in it; and now, even more fully, the Writings of the Lord's second coming. Through the truths of these revelations, man can now see the Divinely Human nature of God even in the disordered and external state of his natural mind.
     In this we may see what is meant by the Human, by Jesus Christ the Son of God; namely, the entire body of Divine truth, from the highest Divine forms to the lowest ultimate forms of natural creation, through which truth on every plane of life, from the celestial to the natural, the nature and quality of the Divine love and wisdom shine forth. Through this body of truth, or through the Divine Human, the Lord presents Himself to men as one God: a God of purpose and intelligence; of love beyond all human measure of infinite mercy, patience and forgiveness. He presents Himself as the only creator and preserver of all things in the universe; of which man is the crowning form, since creation exists for the sake of man.

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Man is the most perfect image and likeness of God, having been created by God to live forever in every possible delight and happiness. The Lord works unceasingly to lead man into this state, and that is why He reveals Himself through Divine truth, which truth is the Divine Human form of God.
     In order to love the Lord, to follow and keep His Divine laws and work in accord with the Divine purpose of creation, man must have some idea of the Lord as a Divinely Human God. That is why the knowledge and the acknowledgment of the Lord's Divine Human is the first principle, the rock, upon which all saving faith and love must be founded. Man cannot know, love and follow intelligently a mystical and abstract power that seems to act indiscriminately without any real purpose, and entirely apart from the loves and affections of human beings. The human mind cannot think of what is infinite and eternal in itself. To endeavor to do so is to have one's thought fall into a boundless universe of unlimited and undefined ideas which trail here and there without any central direction or purpose, and conclude either in fantastic and vague ideas concerning God or else in the utter denial that He exists at all.
     The Writings teach that we can know much about God; that we must indeed know something about Him in order to love and worship Him truly. They tell us that the only way we can do this is to approach Him in His Divine Human; that is, as He reveals Himself in the spiritual truths of His Word, which He has marvelously adapted to the comprehension of man-adapted so that we can see Him in the Human form not in the material form of the body which He had when on earth, but in the Human form which is the source of all human loves and affections, all human qualities and capacities, indeed, all the good things of human life. Because the Lord is Divinely Human, the whole of creation reflects the human form; and man, the crown of that creation, is the very image and likeness of God. In the New Church, the stone which the builders rejected is to become the head of the corner; that stone being the acknowledgment of the Lord Jesus Christ in His Divine Human as the one God of heaven and earth. And the acknowledgment thereof is that which was signified by Peter's confession: Thou are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

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FREEDOM AND RELIGION 1960

FREEDOM AND RELIGION       EPSILON SOCIETY OF WATERLOO       1960

     (This interesting statement of belief and purpose by the Epsilon Society of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, is published here for the information of our readers. For an article on the Epsilon Society see NEW CHURCH LIFE, November, 1959, pp. 539-547.)
     A group of people interested in missionary work have recently formed the "Epsilon Society of Waterloo." Missionary work, as such, is directed towards religion, and much of it is done at present all over the world by many individuals and groups of individuals for a great many religious beliefs. It is within the very nature of this type of work to contact people, and there are almost as many different methods of approach used as there are groups of people involved in missionary work. Some have developed a real "sales pitch" and try very hard to sell religion, or sometimes just to sell a membership in a certain religious congregation. Others, in canvassing from door to door, cite a passage from the Bible as soon as the doorbell is answered or immediately after they have gained entrance. At times they also mention a message they want to deliver. Again others distribute pamphlets and call sometime later to pick them up, which, of course, is their way of starting the conversation.
     We, as the Epsilon Society of Waterloo, do not intend to condemn anyone using such methods. In fact we respect such people, for the reason that they are sincere in their attempt to do something good from obviously unselfish motives. However, almost all these methods of approach have one thing in common, which is that the one being approached has very little chance to voice an opinion as to whether or not there is any desire to discuss such things. Going a step further, it happens quite frequently that if an opinion is voiced that the approaching party does not wish to discuss, it is often not respected and even entirely ignored.
     It is the aim of the Epsilon Society of Waterloo to give an answer to the following questions in our attempt to lead to a proper philosophy of life within the principles of our belief, and we make these available to anyone desiring them.

1.     Is missionary work justified?
2.     Is one's "freedom of choice" to be respected?
3.     What is the freedom of the individual, relative to religion?

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     We human beings live what is generally referred to as an intelligent life: intelligent, because human beings have a capacity to understand, and this capacity to understand is the general definition of intelligence. In contrast to this intelligent life, there is the life in plants, for instance, which must be regarded as not being intelligent for the simple reason that plants have no capacity to understand. The faculty in human beings from which comes the capacity to understand is spoken of as the intellect. This faculty is common to all of us from creation, and, consequently, man-that is, mankind-is meant to live intelligently, and we are responsible for doing so.
     A human being when first born is not in possession of knowledges. However, as mentioned above, the capacity or ability to gain knowledges and to become intelligent and intellectual, exists with every member of the human race. This growth, which is the growth of the mind, is effected by experiences of physical and mental nature. Physical experience comes strictly from the fact that we are living in a world of physical objects which includes the human body. Consequently, all the effects caused by such objects are physical experiences to anyone involved in such action. Animals as well go through such experiences. There is, however, a discrete difference as to the benefit from such experiences in animals and in human beings. Animals cannot gain intelligence from such experiences. If they are born to appear intelligent they will remain so all their lives; or if they are not born with this appearance they can never gain it, even through all the experiences of a lifetime.
     Human beings are not born intelligent, but have from creation, a capacity to become intelligent through such experiences; and even more, through mental experiences, which pertain to the intellectual and to the mind of man. Man-that is, mankind-becomes intellectual mainly by means of knowledges, gained in the process of growing up through schooling and studies.
     Studies and organized schooling are possible only by virtue of society. So man depends on society for the growth of the mind as well as for the growth of the body, for if a newborn baby were left alone it would die. All this shows clearly that it is the very human nature itself which necessitates society.
     Societies are formed by a multitude of individuals. Each individual contributes to society and in return society as a whole contributes to the individual within this society, which makes possible organized schooling, protection by laws and their enforcement, communication systems, development and marketing of all kinds of necessities and products etc., to mention just a few things, which show how society contributes to the individual.

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In order to follow our discussion, however, it is more important for us to find out how the individual contributes towards society. In a very general way we may say; the more one lives according to law and order in thoughts as well as in the activities of all phases of life, the more will society as a whole benefit from every member.
     Since no two individuals are alike, everyone affects society in ones own way and it is proper that every individual should act from his very own and should be respected for doing so by everyone else. All this. however, within the law and order of society.
     From this the first question can now be answered. It is everyone's duty towards society to act in accordance with one s own thoughts and feelings. It is a great mistake for anyone to attempt to live someone else's life, and nobody should ever expect anyone to do so. If, then, someone has the desire to carry out missionary work as a selected activity no one has the right to stop any such activity. This, however, works both ways. in as much as the one carrying out such work must also respect others as to their free will and has no right to impose on anyone. This gives at the same time the answer to question number two, which is, that one's freedom of choice must be respected by everyone since this freedom is proper to man from creation, and going against it is infringing on the order of creation, which is shown in the last paragraph of this paper.
     Religion will at one time or another enter into one's life; at first usually as a subject of schooling and later probably as a matter of philosophy. Anyone who is really sincere about religion will always regard religion as the philosophy of life. To become truly religious one must act from principles of religion in all activities and thoughts. A membership in a certain religious congregation, for instance, has nothing to do with a life of religion, nor does the frequency of attendance at church services necessarily imply such a life.
     The fact is that religion must be lived in every phase of conscious life. That is, thoughts, actions, and consequently all uses performed, must be in accordance with such faith. This does not at all suggest a life of piety. It means living your own life within society for the sake of proper uses, by acting according to the principles of one's faith; in family, professional, and social matters of everyday life.
     Religion in relation to the individual affects generally the mind of man. The mind and things pertaining to the mind are regarded as one's interiors; therefore it is that religion is seated in the very inside-relative to the mind-of man. Only if the inmost of man is in proper order can proper thoughts originate; and from proper thoughts, proper action, or what is the same, can proper uses be possible.
     Notice that we constantly refer to thoughts and uses.

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Thoughts, proper to religion, belong to faith; while uses therefrom belong to charity. From this comes the important realization that a life of religion is not faith alone. In other words, a life of activities not based on the principles of one's faith is as remote from being truly religious as dark is from light. This is also the case if one always does good things in every day life, but from selfish motives-such as the desire to be regarded as a respectable citizen, or to receive honors and recognition etc.
     It is generally known from the Bible that man must he born again. This process of being born again is a gradual reformation penetrating into the interiors of one's mind, which then makes possible what is called regeneration. In its process and progress man appropriates more things of quality, and consequently is in the process of being born again.
     Regeneration can be accomplished only by a life of good deeds from the principles of faith; or what is the same, faith and charity must be united. Religion, therefore, must be lived and not merely proclaimed.
     What is the life of an individual, especially the more interior life? Working from the outside in, the following can be said in relation to this question. Physical action of man is possible because of the fact that one can think of doing things. For instance, if one could not think of going shopping, one would never go. Of if one could not think about how to drive a car, one would never drive one. Therefore, uses-that is, what one does-are possible only because one can think of such uses. The next question to be answered is: what does one think? The answer to this is, that one thinks what one loves to think. As an example, if someone had never had the love to have his own home, that individual would never think of how to get one, and consequently would never own one.
     So whatever one loves constitutes one's life, because whatever one loves, one thinks about, and from such thoughts comes the actual doing. This is what constitutes our life. We can do things, because we want to think of them from a love for them. So, first, there is the love, then the thoughts from this love, and finally the actions or the uses from these thoughts. All this together is one's life. Of course it is quite possible that one never attains what an existing love might be aiming for; yet if a love for something exists, one will always think of it, and act from those thoughts in the attempt to achieve it.
     Since, then, man's love is man's life, and such as one's love is one's life, the love must be directed towards faith if it is to be a religious life.
     It is now that we enter the subject of freedom. Anyone can understand from experience and common sense that we do not love things because we are told to love them. In a general way, love of any sort never exists from compulsion. If love is not permitted to develop in freedom, it is no love; for force and love are opposite to each other and do not mix.

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They are opposed just as water is to fire, which never mix either.
     The freedom we are mentioning here is not just a civil or personal liberty. It goes much deeper, and is defined as to think and will from affection. Only what one does from affection is done freely, and reaches the interior life of man. Thus if one is to become a recipient of religious things, it can be effected only if the individual in question is left in complete freedom, and is permitted to act from freedom. The reason for this is that things of religion can be of value only if seated in the interior life of man. The fact actually is that if religion is not seated in the interiors, it is not religion at all, even though it might appear as such. The same becomes obvious if we consider that regeneration through religion is to affect the mind, the mind belonging to the very interiors of man; and only things accepted in freedom have the power to penetrate this far.
     If someone rejects religion, it is a waste of effort and also against order for anyone to impose on this person for the sake of converting him. All this becomes obvious from what has been said above, namely, that man can accept only what is interiorly felt as right. If one loves righteousness, one will think rightly, and consequently do right. Religion at first is to establish this love. As we made mention above, love does not develop from compulsion, and therefore religion cannot be forced. Only from freedom can religion form, and as the case might be, reform one's love; and consequently one's life can be formed and/or reformed only by things that are accepted in freedom; that is, in the absence of any compulsion from an outside source. Compulsion from one's own desire or self- compulsion, however, is perfectly in order, even though it also is a force. But since it comes from one's own desire, it is within one's freedom, because one is always free to act or not to act from self-compulsion.
     Finally, we all recognize the fact that God Himself is free. Man is created in the image of God. Therefore, man has freedom from creation. Consequently one's freedom must be respected, especially when it comes to appropriating the things of religion. Thus we may find accord with the one and only predestination there is, that man is created to regenerate, for regeneration opens the door of heaven to anyone having the sincere desire to dwell there.

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NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1960

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS       Rev. ORMOND ODHNER       1960

     Freedom of choice is the subject of most of the readings from the Writings for the month of July. In commenting on these readings here, we wish to concentrate entirely on two points: the detestable things that must necessarily follow if man does not have freedom of choice, and the exact nature of the freedom in which man is held by the Lord.
     Even today, many thoughtful Christians cannot reconcile human freedom with the omnipotence of God, and much less can they reconcile it with the idea that salvation comes through faith alone. If God has all power, how can man have any power? If God can foresee the future, how can man really be free?-even New Church men can become confused over this! And if salvation comes, not as the result of anything done by man, but only with the free and unmerited gift of faith from God, then why is one man saved and another not saved? Is it not the doing of God? Man, they therefore say, cannot be free.
     When doubts arise as to how man can be free, it is best to forget them and simply dwell on the obvious fact that he must be free. The alternatives are detestable. One would be that there is really no hell, but that all men are eventually saved. That would make God neither just nor truly merciful, for many do not really wish to be saved. And if there were hell, man not being free, then God would be worse than a monster-worse than the most evil of men. Man would then go to hell because of God's predestination; and God would be the cause of evil and suffering, of unhappiness and torment. This is unthinkable. (See TCR 485-492.)
     But if, as the Writings teach, man has freedom, it is well to know the exact nature of that freedom which God provides for man. As noted in our readings (see also Heaven and Hell 597), it is man's will and understanding that are in freedom of choice between good and evil; the bodily doing of evil is restrained in both worlds. We are free in our minds, that is, to will and believe either good and truth or evil and falsity. But the only freedom with which the Lord provides us on the plane of the body is the freedom to do and say that which is good and true. The Lord never provides anyone with the freedom to do and say that which is evil and false.
     It cannot be otherwise. No club can give its members the freedom to break its laws. No school can give its students the freedom to break its rules, and still keep them as its students-what the students may think or wish is a different matter! No kingdom can give its people the right to disobey its laws. The universe is the kingdom of the Lord.

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REVIEW 1960

REVIEW              1960

ARCANA COELESTIA. By Emanuel Swedenborg. First Latin Edition, Tome 1 (nos. 1-1885). The Lord's New Church which is Nova Hierosolyma, Bryn Athyn, Pa., 1960. Pp. 630. Price: $10.00.

     With the issue of this volume there begins a handsome reproduction by offset photography of the Arcana Coelestia in the original edition. This work was prepared for the press in eight tomes or parts; and the first part, which is here offered, was printed and published by John Lewis, 1 Paternoster Row, London, in 1749.
     A second Latin edition of the Arcana was prepared in the 1840s by Dr. John Friedrich Immanuel Tafel, and the Swedenborg Society is presently engaged in preparing the third Latin edition, more than half of which has been published. The late Rev. Philip H. Johnson served with distinction as the scholarly and careful editor. The availability of original editions is second in importance only to access to manuscripts, from the research student's standpoint; and in this instance the value of the original edition is enhanced by the fact that we have no manuscript for the first part of the Arcana Coelestia.
     It was Swedenborg's practise to draft each book or volume, and then write out a clean copy for the printer, who did not preserve that copy after the work had been published. Although the Arcana was printed in London. all of it except the first part was written in Sweden; and Swedenborg, perhaps afraid that the clean copies might be damaged or lost in transit from Sweden to England, kept his original manuscripts, which were preserved among his papers. But the first part was written in London, and Swedenborg seems to have destroyed the draft, while Lewis did not preserve the clean copy after the volume had been printed.
     Thus, as far as the first part is concerned, the original edition is as close as we can come to the autograph, which makes this reproduction particularly valuable to the student. It is proposed to issue the remaining parts in due course, and their appearance will be noted here. The present Volume may be obtained from the Academy Book Room.

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FREEDOM OF SPEECH 1960

FREEDOM OF SPEECH       Editor       1960


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published by
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.
Editor - - Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager - - Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, changes of address, and business communications, should be sent to the Business Manager. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.

TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$5.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy, 50 cents.
     Much has been written in our day about freedom of speech. Is it always realized, however, that such freedom means more than uncontested use of the air-waves? Speech is a mechanism by which a man may express his mind, and by which something may be conveyed from one mind to another. Even if no one should ever try to silence him, a man will not feel within himself that he has freedom of speech unless he knows that he will be given a hearing; that his ideas, whether accepted and acted on or not, will be considered carefully and fairly.
     There is no freedom in speaking to closed minds, or minds so prejudiced that they will distort everything said. Freedom of speech becomes a mockery when a man knows that his every utterance will be received with contempt, good natured or otherwise, or that the expression of an unwelcome view will expose him to unreasoning anger. Nor does freedom of speech really exist when men have reason to be afraid of voicing just criticism because they know that any criticism will be regarded as disaffection, or when they have cause to fear retaliation in some form.
     Our zeal for our right to freedom of speech should therefore be matched by an equal concern for the neighbor's right to that same freedom. And we do well to realize that we do not really give freedom of speech to others unless we are willing to hear from them, and to consider fairly and dispassionately, what may be unpalatable as well as what may be pleasing. Intelligent application of the laws of freedom given in the Writings will provide safeguards against abuse; and love of truth will lead us into an ever deeper understanding of what freedom means.

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SYMPATHY AND EMPATHY 1960

SYMPATHY AND EMPATHY       Editor       1960

     The attitude of New Church men and women toward society should be one of good will, for good will is the essence of morality. Good will is spiritual, however, only when it is qualified by spiritual truth; and our capacity for it may be immeasurably increased if we realize, in the light of this truth, that the evil as well as the good can be held in good will, though in a different way. With all that is good, with every aspiration thereto, with joy in its attainment and sorrow for failure or loss, the New Church man may freely sympathize. Evil, of course, is to be held in aversion, but this does not mean that the mind is to be closed against those who are in evil.
     Quite apart from feeling with those who are in evil it is possible to feel for them. It is possible to understand them, to comprehend their state intellectually; and, having understood, to feel pity for them. In other words, it is possible to have an imaginative insight into their affections without one's self being moved by those affections; to understand but feel an entirely different affection. Far from implying acceptance of the evil, or excusing those who are in it, this cannot properly be done without aversion for the evil and for confirmation in it. It is not inconsistent with condemnation and punishment. But it preserves good will, and leaves the door open for possible amendment.
     Sympathy and empathy both have their place in moral life, and even more, perhaps, in spiritual life; and it is the part of the enlightened rational mind to see when one should be felt, and when the other. The first step is to overcome the assumption that we cannot enter understandingly into the states of the evil without identifying ourselves with those states. It can be done, and only to the extent that it is done can we be of assistance to those who may need and want help.
EVIL THROUGH WHICH GOOD COMES 1960

EVIL THROUGH WHICH GOOD COMES       Editor       1960

     Men often speak about good coming out of evil, but with little understanding of what they are saying. When the Writings speak, as they do, about evil through which good comes, they are observing the distinction uniformly made in their pages between that which comes by a means and that which comes from a means. All good is from the Lord, and from evil only evil can come. But good can come from the Lord through evil, or by evil as a means' and the teaching concerning this is of great interest, and one upon which man can found a vital part of his religious philosophy of life.

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     According to the Writings, the evil through which good comes is that which man receives from others through no fault of his own. This evil enters only the external mind. It does not affect the internal, which does not consent to it. Thus the internal mind can see it as evil, and it can therefore be removed. But that is not all. Because good can be seen more clearly from what is opposite, the internal mind can see good more clearly from the presence of that evil than it could without it, and the man is then more sensibly affected by good than would otherwise have been the case. It is in this way that there is said to be evil through which, in the sense noted, good comes.
     This teaching throws new light upon the doctrine of the permission of evil. It is a well known fact that evils do come to men from other men-as individuals, as a class within society, or even as the dominant class within their own country or another-and this through no fault of their own. Nor does such evil come only from sources in this world. Persuasive spheres come, all uninvited, from spirits; spheres which inject falsity into the good with men. Indeed men often complain of evils which afflict them without their choice-accidents, misfortunes, diseases, happenings and conditions which are not of their seeking or their making. Yet the real evil in these things lies in their power, if man should allow it to undermine faith and charity and trust in the Divine Providence, and to build up states of rebellion.
     It is not in human nature to find it easy to meet such evils as they should be met. Because he is not aware of any fault that has brought them upon him, the natural man is more readily disposed to cry out in protest, to ask what he has done to deserve this, or even to search for some hidden fault that will explain the calamity that has befallen him. But if man will realize that there is evil that is not of fault, and will instead try to reflect on what it is that the Lord wills shall be accomplished through this visitation, then the evil may be that for the sake of which it was permitted-evil through which good comes. The Lord's will is not to be seen in the things that happen to us, but in the opportunities for choice that are presented in the things that happen. When evils come, they can be seen and rejected. That is the way of all judgment; and in relation to man's eternal life, the lasting results of seeing and rejecting evil far outweigh the temporal consequences of the evil itself. Here is a teaching that invites serious thought and reflection, for it offers the only positive approach to some of life's perplexing problems; showing how, from the Lord's infinite love, eternal good can come through evils seemingly all the more cruel because uninvited and undeserved.

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Church News 1960

Church News       Various       1960

     STATE COLLEGE, PA.

     We would like to introduce you to the only group in the General Church that changes nearly its entire membership every four years-the group at State College. Until six years ago there were no regular meetings, though some former students will remember taped sermons, and also services conducted by the Rev. Bjorn Boyesen and the Rev. Louis B. King on the third floor of "Old Main." But at that time, electronically-minded Gerry Klein went up to Penn State, and soon a small group was gathering in his apartment every Sunday to listen to services on his tape-recorder. Gerry and Charlotte have since moved to Massachusetts; but the group has continued to expand, if somewhat sporadically, and today it is a rare Sunday that at least a dozen people do not show up to take part in a tape-recorded service.
     We were privileged this year to be visited twice by ministers from Bryn Athyn. The Rev. Cairns Henderson conducted a class and service the weekend of November 8th. He, Mrs. Henderson, their daughters Christine and Annette, Lynne Halterman, Valerie Vinet, and Mr. and Mrs. Robert Klein and their two children, were all overnight guests of Dr. Edith Bancroft in Yeagertown. During the weekend of April 9th, the Rev. Karl R. Alden conducted a Saturday class and a Sunday service. Both he and Mrs. Alden were guests of Dr. Bancroft. After the Sunday service Miss Linda Brinsley, Marlin Ebert and Justin Synnestvedt served refreshments.
     The group is, of course, composed mainly of students, all of whom are often too busy studying or working on school projects to devote large quantities of time to church activities. The result is a wide distribution of responsibilities. Harold Sandstrom makes arrangements for the meeting place; Marlin Ebert and Justin Synnestvedt take care of the tape-recorder; Harvey Klein keeps track of the money; Malcolm Cronlund orders the tapes; and Deborah Croft brings a copy of the Word and a velvet cloth for the altar.
     During the year we have had several weekend visitors. These have included Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Croft and their daughter Melissa; Mr. and Mrs. Frank Meisel and their daughter Grace; Mr. and Mrs. Charles Ebert; and the Raymond Lockharts.
     One taped service was held last summer at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Klein in Bald Eagle. On that occasion Dr. Bancroft, her sister Mary, Peter, Jane and Nan Bancroft, and Lynne Halterman drove up from Yeagertown. After the service a buffet dinner was served on the patio.
     We have been fortunate, the past two years, in acquiring the use of Room 212 in the new Hetzel Union Building, centrally located on the Penn State Campus. Anyone interested is invited to attend. Services are usually held on Sunday at 10:45 am., except on school holidays and during the summer. As services are occasionally cancelled on short notice, I would suggest that interested persons contact one of the permanent members of the group: Dr. Edith Bancroft, P. O. Box-B, Yeagertown, Pa. (Phone: Lewistown 8-5265); Mr. and Mrs. Robert F. Klein, Box 220, R.D. 3, Tyrone, Pa. (Phone: MUtual 4-0409).
     ROBERT F. KLEIN


     SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION

     The 63rd Annual Meeting of the Swedenborg Scientific Association was held on Wednesday, May 18, 1960, at Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, with an attendance of 65 members and 35 guests.

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     Mr. Edward F. Allen was re-elected to the office of president and the following incumbent members of the Board of Directors were also re-elected: Miss Morna Hyatt, Randolph W. Childs, Charles S. Cole, Marlin W. Heilman, W. Cairns Henderson, Hugo Lj. Odhner, Joel Pitcairn and Kenneth Rose. Dr. Leonard I. Tafel had found it necessary to decline renomination to the Board because of difficulty in attending meetings. Rev. David J. Garrett, pastor of the Wilmington, Delaware, Society of the General Convention, was elected to fill his place. At a meeting of the Board later in the evening the following officers were elected: Vice President: Mr. Charles S. Cole; Editorial Board: Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Executive Editor, Messrs. Edward F. Allen, Hugo Lj. Odhner, and Lawson A. Pendleton; Treasurer: Miss Beryl G. Briscoe; Secretary: Miss Morna Hyatt. Appreciation was expressed for Dr. Tafel's long years of service to the Association as president and member of the Board.
     Progress was reported in plans for publishing the Animal Kingdom. Mr. Cole, who is the committee on this work, hopes to have it out this year. Mr. Harold F. Pitcairn's Concordance of Selected Subjects in the Rational Psychology of Emanuel Swedenborg is in page proof.
     The Treasurer reported a balance in the General Account of $2911.16, and in the Publication Account of $2168.17. One hundred and ninety-six books were sold during the year, and the number of members increased from 271 to 279. In addition to the members, there are 25 subscribers to the NEW PHILOSOPHY. Miss Briscoe pointed out that dues and subscriptions do not cover the cost of the NEW PHILOSOPHY, so that the difference must be made up by contributions.
     The Executive Editor reported that the problem of obtaining copy in sufficient quantity is still with us and is still acute.
     Reports from the Kitchener Chapter and the Toronto Philosophy Reading Group were read. (The Glenview Chapter Report arrived too late to be read.) Rev. Cairns Henderson presented a resolution honoring the memory of Mr. Harold F. Pitcairn.
     Mr. Gustav Genzlinger displayed a model of Swedenborg's flying machine, which he is making to be presented by the Swedenborg Foundation to the Smithsonian Institution. He commented on his correspondence with the directors of the Smithsonian Institution, who seem to be keenly interested in this machine and its place in the history of flight.
     Mr. Kenneth Rose then delivered an address on "The Use of the Philosophical Works to the Church," in which he gave counter-arguments to those who believe that Swedenborg's early works should be ignored either because the Theological Writings give us all we need or because the philosophical works are outdated.
     Mr. Rose was followed by Mr. Donald C. Fitzpatrick, Jr., who spoke on "The Uses of the NEW PHILOSOPHY." He discussed the question proposed by Mr. Rose in a letter published in the NEW PHILOSOPHY under the title "- and Theologian" as to whether the journal's purpose is to promote New Church philosophy or Swedenborg's philosophy. He gave a brief history of the journal and showed that this distinction did not exist in the mind of its founder. The concept of the importance of the philosophical works has changed, and interest in the journal has declined. Mr. Fitzpatrick believes that the NEW PHILOSOPHY should be a New Church philosophical journal. He quoted Dr. Hugo Odhner in saying that "no philosophy is of any use unless it can become the guide of conduct." He stated that if New Church men in every field of use would study the principles of New Church philosophy, they could find illustration from their own fields for reviews and articles which would be read eagerly in the pages of the NEW PHILOSOPHY, and would lead to further discussion and more articles, and ultimately to distinctive attitudes among New Church men.
     President Allen followed with some remarks on the lack of interest in philosophy among the present generation. He attributed arguments against philosophy to lazy minds and narrow specialization.

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He said that only two kinds of people can avoid philosophy-those who have the truth and are wise already, and those who have neither the ability nor the inclination to search for truth.
     In the discussion Dr. C. R. Pendleton gave illustrations to show that the doctrine of creation given in the Writing cannot be understood without the philosophical works, and Mr. Kurt Asplundh suggested that an introductory course be given for beginners in philosophy.
     The reports and a complete account of the meeting will appear in the July-September issue of the NEW PHILOSOPHY.
     MORNA HYATT,
          Secretary
General Church of the New Jerusalem FORTY-FIFTH BRITISH ASSEMBLY 1960

General Church of the New Jerusalem FORTY-FIFTH BRITISH ASSEMBLY       FRANK S. ROSE       1960

     PRESIDENT: BISHOP GEORGE DE CHARMS

     Members and friends of the General Church of the New Jerusalem are cordially invited to attend the Forty-Fifth British Assembly, which will be held in London, Saturday, July 30, to Monday, August 1, 1960.

     Program

Saturday, July 30

     5:30 p.m. Tea
     7:00 p.m. First Session. Presidential Address

Sunday, July 31

     11:00 am. Divine Worship. Preacher: Bishop George de Charms
     1:30 p.m. Luncheon
     3:30 p.m. Holy Supper Service
     5:00 p.m. Tea
     6:30 p.m. Second Session. Address by the Rev. Alan Gill

Monday, August 1

     11:00 a.m. Third Session. Address by the Rev. Erik Sandstrom
     6:30 p.m. Assembly Social

     All services and sessions will be held at the City Temple, Holborn Viaduct, London, EC. 4.

     Accommodation

     Those requiring accommodation should apply to Miss Elizabeth Pethard, 42 Heathcroft, Golders Green, London, NW. 11.
     FRANK S. ROSE,
          Secretary
New Church Club 1960

New Church Club              1960

     All male members and friends of the New Church are cordially invited to attend a meeting of the New Church Club at Swedenborg House on Friday, July 29. Bishop De Charms will give the address.

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PEACE RIVER DISTRICT ASSEMBLY 1960

PEACE RIVER DISTRICT ASSEMBLY       GEOROE DE CHARMS       1960



     Announcements





     The Eighth Peace River District Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held in Dawson Creek, B. C., Canada, on Sunday, August 7, 1960, the Rev. Roy Franson presiding as representative of the Bishop.
     All members and friends of the General Church are cordially invited to attend.
     GEOROE DE CHARMS,
          Bishop

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NATURAL AND SPIRITUAL CHARITY 1960

NATURAL AND SPIRITUAL CHARITY        GEORGE DE CHARMS       1960


&149. VOL. LXXX
AUGUST, 1960
No. 8
     (Delivered at the First Session of the British Assembly, London, England, July 30, 1960.)

     At the Twenty-first General Assembly, held here in London in 1956, the subject of our address was "The Charity that Makes the New Church." Our purpose at that time was to draw a sharp distinction between the concept of charity that is revealed to us in the Writings, and the idea of it which is so characteristic of modern Christian thought. But the spirit of true charity is so vital to the life of the New Church that we have felt impelled to pursue the subject further by considering how the church may be imbued with this spirit, and under what conditions we may hope for its perpetuation and increase from generation to generation.
     No one, of course, can acquire spiritual charity by any self-conscious effort of his own. It is a free gift of the Lord. It is an affection of the heart that goes deeper than thought, and therefore "can hardly be expressed in words."* If it comes to us at all, it comes imperceptibly, when we are least aware of it. If we seek it consciously it is almost certain to escape us. The reason is that as soon as we think we are being just, or kind, or charitable, an idea of self-merit enters which destroys the real spirit of charity. Yet we can learn from Divine revelation the conditions under which alone the Lord can impart that spirit. Over these conditions we have some control, and with reference to them we are called upon to exercise a measure of responsibility. If we meet this challenge faithfully we may rest assured that the Lord will protect the spiritual life of His church, and will cause the spirit of true charity to grow in our hearts, and in the hearts of those who come after us.
* AC 7131.
     The realm in which we can exercise some control is that of natural charity; and because this is the only ground in which spiritual charity can take root and grow, we would emphasize the importance of cultivating it.

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The very essence of charity, we are told, "is an internal affection, which consists in a heartfelt desire to do the neighbor good, this being the very delight of life, and this without any reward."* This affection we must cherish in ourselves, respect in others, and nurture in our children. Because merely natural charity is condemned in the Writings as hypocritical, and as a cloak for selfish and worldly loves, there perhaps has been a tendency in the New Church to lose sight of the teaching concerning the real function of genuine natural charity, and its great importance. This, too, is a gift from the Lord. It is the first in time with all men. It is insinuated with every one through the remains of infancy and childhood, and produces a spontaneous tendency or disposition to think kindly of others, to be grateful for benefits received, and to feel delight in serving one's friends and companions in such a way as to contribute to their welfare and happiness. Although before regeneration the proprial loves of self and the world dwell secretly within, natural charity can be inspired by heavenly affections. These, of course, are not our own. They really belong to the angels and good spirits associated with us; but they are so subtly insinuated by them as to be felt altogether as if they were our own. When one responds to the influence of these affections they lead to the exercise of genuine natural charity, in which there is sincerity and innocence.
* AC 8033.
     This kind of charity is not distinctive to the New Church. It is found among those of simple faith in all religions. Wherever it exists, the Lord is present in it, to maintain and protect the church universal, by means of which He provides for the eventual salvation of all in the entire world who persist throughout life in loving what they believe to be good and true, regardless of how mistaken that belief may be. Furthermore, this charity is the very foundation of human society. It is the mother of those moral virtues without which there could be no regard for honor, integrity or justice. Where these are absent there is no basis for mutual trust and confidence, no respect for law, and consequently no possibility of maintaining either external order or freedom. Above all, without genuine natural charity there would be no reverence for the Word, no incentive to learn spiritual truth, and therefore no possibility of receiving that spiritual charity on which the establishment of the church depends.
     Many throughout the world regard natural charity as the very life of religion. It is the only way they know in which to express their faith in God and their desire to do His will. To them, therefore, it is a matter of supreme importance.

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But the Writings teach us that natural charity, however genuine, is not the life of religion but only a preliminary basis on which that life can be established. Its function is important, and indeed indispensable, but it is not the final end to be sought. Knowing this, our attitude toward it differs from that of others. In our view it is only a means to the attainment of something beyond, something of infinitely greater value; and yet, even for us it is something to be diligently cultivated, because without it, spiritual charity, the supreme treasure of human life, cannot be given. The function of natural charity, therefore, may be compared to that of John the Baptist, who said to his disciples: "A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before Him. . . . He must increase, but I must decrease. He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: He that cometh from heaven is above all."*
* John 3:27, 28, 31.
     Nevertheless, with us, as with all men, a supreme regard for natural charity must precede. During childhood and youth we can conceive of nothing higher. Prior to the opening of the rational mind it is the only way in which religion can find expression. That is why, in the letter of the Old and New Testaments, which are adapted to the needs of children and of the simple everywhere who are ignorant of spiritual truth, charity is described in terms of compassion for the poor, the lame, the halt and the blind. It is so done, we read, because "they who were in external worship were to exercise charity toward such as were so named while] they who were in internal worship [were to do so] toward such spiritually understood; thus ... the simple might understand and do the Word simply, and the wise wisely; also . . . that the simple might he initiated by means of the externals of charity into its internals* So it is that children must be taught to show mercy toward those who are suffering physically, and toward those who are in natural poverty or want, in order that by this exercise of natural charity they may he prepared to receive spiritual charity in adult age.
* AC 7263.
     Of course, in teaching our children to observe the moral virtues and to exercise natural charity, we are doing no more than parents of other faiths are doing for their children. That is why some find it difficult to understand what, after all, is distinctive to New Church education. In fact, many modern educators have come to the conclusion that the teaching of religion is not necessary for the moral training of young people. They contend that public schools under the jurisdiction of the state can be just as proficient in this training as parochial schools; and superficially viewed, they are quite correct.

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The difference lies, not in the teaching of morals, but in the religious instruction that accompanies it and profoundly modifies its effect upon the mind.
     This effect will not be immediately obvious. No matter how diligently we try to teach spiritual truth to our children, they will understand it naturally. They cannot do otherwise. They accept our teaching, not because they deeply comprehend its meaning, but because they have confidence in those who teach them. In this respect they are like all other children, who acquire a deep sense of loyalty to the faith of their fathers. Their moral conscience is intimately bound up with this historical faith. Children who are given mistaken ideas concerning the nature of God, concerning the life after death, and concerning what it is that God requires of man in order that he may be saved, innocently accept these teachings as the truth. Their conscience is formed according to them, and their life is patterned after them. As long as they cling to them from a sincere sense of loyalty to the truth, their minds will be closed against the reception of any other teaching. That is the reason false religions may be perpetuated for many centuries. It is of the Lord's merciful providence that it should be so, because to destroy these deeply rooted affections would deprive men of all spiritual life. But however mistaken their faith may be, all who continue throughout life sincerely loyal to what they regard as the truth, can at last be saved; because, when they come into the other world, where the means of instruction are vastly more perfect, obstructing appearances can be removed and their minds can be awakened to the light of genuine truth. Then, although while on earth they did not know the truth, because they really loved it they will rejoice in its discovery, and will embrace it with the whole heart.
     On the other hand, children who receive from parents and teachers true ideas concerning God, and heaven, and the life of religion, even though they understand this teaching naturally and in a childish way, in the process of growing up their minds will be kept open to receive spiritual truth when they become adults. They will be disposed to seek that truth, and the ground of natural charity with them will be rich in the nourishment that will cause the seed of spiritual truth to germinate. Indeed, the purpose of New Church education is to prepare such fertile soil. No generation can do more than this to provide for an increase of spiritual life in the next generation. Knowledge can be passed from man to man. By means of education and training, the external forms of religion can he transmitted to our children. A natural affection for them can be instilled. But perceptive understanding of spiritual truth can be given only by the Lord, only in adult age, and only in response to an individual desire for it, together with an individual search and struggle to achieve it.

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     In regard to any new movement inaugurated by men, it has been noted frequently that those who first establish it are enthusiastic, their children are loyal to it, and the third generation is largely indifferent. The reason is that pioneers are always inspired by some inner vision which they seek to express in outward forms of speech and conduct. Their children may be imbued with a love for those customs and modes of life, but they lack the same inner vision that originally produced them. They therefore cannot feel the same passionate devotion to them that their parents did. They long for something of their own, something they have initiated, and fought for, and established for themselves. It is not surprising, therefore, that they cannot impart to their children the same sense of loyalty their parents imparted to them. In the third generation, therefore, the forms have lost nearly all vital significance, and the reason for perpetuating them is no longer obvious.
     The church is by no means immune to this tendency to decline. It is a matter of common experience that external customs which meant a great deal to our parents do not seem so important to us. External forms that have been intimately associated in our own lives with our religion, do not appeal nearly so strongly to our children. Principles which we have educed from the Writings, and which, for that reason, we have come to cherish deeply, are often neglected by the young, who do not recognize their source; and this gives us cause for anxiety and grief. Divine warning against this tendency is given in the message to the church of Ephesus, wherein the Lord says: "I have somewhat against thee because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore whence thou hast fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent."* This is not a warning to perpetuate the forms of an earlier day, but to return to the source of Divine inspiration, to seek the inner truth, and to express that truth in forms adapted to the needs and conditions of one's own day. External forms and modes of expression are not eternal. They are but garments that can profitably be changed, and indeed must be changed to meet new conditions. Only "the Word of our God, shall stand forever." If the tendency to decline is to be overcome, spiritual truth must be discovered anew in each generation. It cannot pass from man to man, but only from the Lord to man. Each generation must attain to an insight peculiarly its own, one that inspires creative effort, and that opens the mind to the realization of new needs to be met, new uses to be performed, new paths of progress to be opened up by pioneer labor, in the light of what the Writings themselves teach. In no other way can the living spirit of the church be established in the hearts of those who have inherited from parents and teachers no more than the outward forms of religion.

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Although it is more receptive of spiritual truth, the natural charity into which New Church education introduces our children is not essentially different from the natural charity into which the children of other religions are introduced. Both are the same in this: that they are merely ground in which the seed of spiritual truth may or may not be planted. Only if that seed is planted in it, and if it finds there the nourishment essential to its life, can spiritual charity be received; and it is this charity alone that makes the New Church.
* Revelation 2:4, 5.
     How, then, we may ask, is genuine spiritual charity actually acquired? How does it grow in the soil of natural charity? This is something we are not given to know. It is a miracle of the Divine Providence, so vast, so complex that it is far beyond the comprehension of any finite mind. Because it is a work of infinite wisdom, and therefore one that the Lord alone can accomplish, the way in which it is done cannot be revealed either to men or to angels. Yet even the Lord cannot do it without the conscious co-operation of each individual, freely and willingly given. In the Heavenly Doctrine, the Lord has revealed what we must do in order to co-operate with the secret operation of His providence; and the first thing that is required of us is that we must not rest satisfied with what we have received from parents and teachers, but when adult age is reached we must go to the Writings ourselves, that we may be taught the truth as only the Lord can teach it. We must strive to understand the truth, each in his own way, in the light of his own mind. What we receive from others must be cast into a new form, a form that has meaning for us. Only when it is so understood can we hope to see its application to the practical situations that confront us, or to the personal problems with which we are beset from day to day. For the most part, the things we have been taught by others seem abstract, idealistic, remote from the practical concerns of everyday living: this because we see their external form without perceiving their inner essence. Nor does this insight come without persistent effort, reading, study and reflection. This is the kind of perceptive understanding that is meant when it is stated in the Writings that "the Lord is indeed present with man through the reading of the Word, but He is conjoined with him through the understanding of truth from the Word, and according thereto." *It is a kind of understanding that is not possible to children. It can be given only to the mature mind; and even to the mature mind it can be given only as the result of determined search. New Church education will be successful only if it inspires a love of spiritual truth that leads to this kind of individual approach to the Writings.

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To do this must be our hope and our constant endeavor, for this is what the Lord meant when He said: "Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto Me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven."**
* SS 78.
** Matthew 19:14.
     This is the first step in the direction of acquiring spiritual charity. What comes later is described in the parable recorded in the fourth chapter of Mark: "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 brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come." Concerning this parable, we read in number 1153: 6-8 of the Apocalypse Explained: "The Divine Providence moves so secretly that scarcely a trace of it is seen, although it acts upon the most minute things of man's thought and will, which regard his eternal state, chiefly for the reason that the Lord continually wills to impress His love on man, and through it His wisdom, and thus create him into His image. Consequently the operation of the Lord is into man's love and from that into his understanding, and not the reverse. Love with its affections, which are manifold and innumerable, is perceived by man only by a most general feeling, and thus so slightly that there is scarcely anything of it; and yet that man may be reformed and saved he must be led from one affection of loves into another according to their connection from order, a thing that no man, and even no angel can comprehend. (7) If a man should learn anything of these arcana, he could not be withheld from leading himself; and in this he would be continually led from heaven into hell, while the Lord's leading is continually from hell towards heaven . . . . (8) It is sufficient for man to know truths, and by means of truths to know what is good and what is evil, and to acknowledge the Lord and His Divine auspices in every least thing. Then so far as he knows truths, and by means of them what is good and evil, and does what is good as if from himself, so far the Lord leads him from love into wisdom, conjoining love to wisdom and wisdom to love, and making them to be one, because they are one in Himself."
     Man does not need to know how spiritual charity grows. He needs only to know how to prepare the soil, and how to acquire the seed. By the "seed" here is meant the spiritual truth of the Word, rationally understood, and seen in the light of his own mind. Then, if he "casts the seed into the ground" he need only "sleep and rise, night and day," and the Lord will do the rest. Mysteriously the seed will "spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself."

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     By casting the seed into the ground is meant applying to the conduct of his life whatever he may understand of the truth, judging from it, and acting according to it in every situation with which he is confronted. There is no source from which any one may acquire a rational understanding of spiritual truth except the Heavenly Doctrine. There is no other seed from which spiritual charity may grow. The planting of this seed in the soil of genuine natural charity is the only life of religion by which a spiritual church may be established. But as men persist in this life, the Lord, in secret ways, will cause spiritual charity to take root in their hearts, producing "first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear."
     This growth will be almost, if not completely, imperceptible. The fact that it is taking place will be obscured by the anxieties, the trials and the temptations, that inevitably accompany it. Proprial loves and worldly ambitions will not be easily subordinated to the eternal ends toward which the truth of the Word constantly leads. Yet even in the midst of temptation, those who trust in the Divine Providence will be blessed by the Lord with an inmost sense of security and peace. All who seek to apply spiritual truth to the conduct of their daily work, will, in increasing measure, be given to perceive the delight of use. With them, spiritual intelligence will ripen imperceptibly into wisdom, through the miracle of the Lord's inflowing life, until the time when the harvest may be garnered with fullness of joy in the life everlasting.
     This is the life of religion that makes the New Church. The supreme purpose for which the Lord has made His second coming is to establish that church, to cause it to grow, both in numbers and in the true spirit of charity and mutual love, until it embraces all the nations of the earth. This purpose is so far removed from the thought of men in our materialistic age that its accomplishment cannot but seem to us to be impossible. Yet, however slow the progress may be, however discouraging at times the seeming failure of our own efforts to live up to the ideal the Heavenly Doctrine puts before us, if we will do our little part faithfully, the ultimate establishment of the Lord's kingdom cannot fail, for the Lord has said: "All power is given unto Me in heaven and on earth."
Title Unspecified 1960

Title Unspecified              1960

     "Charity is an internal affection, from which man wills to do good, and this without remuneration; the delight of his life consists in doing it. With them who do good from internal affection, there is charity in each thing which they think and speak, and which they will and do" (HD 104).

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WATER FROM THE ROCK 1960

WATER FROM THE ROCK       Rev. MORLEY D. RICH       1960

     "And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts." (Numbers 20: 11)
     Truth-the final truth, the whole truth-seems forever to elude man. Just when he feels that he has grasped correctly the last doctrinal needed to complete his understanding of the Divine in relation to humanity, the wholeness of it seems to slide through his fingers; and just when it seems to him that he has attained the ultimate of correctness in applying truth to life, a new facet, some new experience, shakes all of his confidence in his belief.
     Man is forever searching for the kingdom of heaven, because he believes that it must be somewhere. The Lord has indeed urged the human race to "seek first the kingdom of heaven," for which reason men must search; and in the course of their quest they necessarily have states in which they think that the kingdom must be here, in this particular doctrinal concept, or there, in that specific way of applying doctrine to their lives. Were it not for such states, indeed, man could have no life because he would have no hope-that hope from the Lord which gives heart on the rough road of life. If the Lord did not inflow with life every moment of every day-with that life which insures to every man that hope will spring eternally in his breast-man would cease to exist. He could not be revived, as he is from moment to moment, by the inflowing Divine love and wisdom; much less could he be reborn.
     Yet the state of hope and trust with which he begins is at best a borrowed one-a state lent to him by the Lord, and not his own; and in its negative and worst aspects it is a hope and trust in himself, in his own intelligence and will-power. Therefore it is the Lord's constant effort, not to remove hope and trust themselves, but to turn them from man's proprium to Himself, to the Word, and to heaven, and thus give them a new and true direction. For this reason the Lord does not permit any man to grasp final truth on the spiritual plane until the lowest stratum of his self-pride has been uncovered and removed; the last shreds of his self-intelligence have been exposed, and blown away as the foolish chaff that they are; and the final remnant of confidence in his own doctrinal concepts and applications as having power to save him has been dispersed.

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     The humiliation that results when these things happen brings with it desperation and great doubt. There is utter bewilderment, and serious deprivation of hope and life. In this state man complains bitterly that he has no certitude left, no truth to call his own, and no perceptible good in which he may find some hope for himself. In the dead wilderness of his former affections and perceptions he cries out for the water of soul-satisfying, final truth; and there is no answer, save for the mocking echoes of his own voice. In his desperation he would almost strike out blindly against the truth itself; for is there, after all, such a thing as real, genuine truth? Perhaps he has been deceived all along! What is the use of truth if it cannot lead him to any certainty as to good, or as to his own salvation?
     And so the sons of Israel within him chide the Divine law within the Word. They complain. 'Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord! And why have ye brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there? And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us into this evil place? It is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink" (Numbers 20: 3-5). Likewise, they come near to stoning Moses, or doing violence to the outward truth of the Divine in the Word (Exodus 17: 4; AC 8575).
     It is enlightening to find the teaching that the despair thus engendered is the temptation itself, and that the Latin word rendered despair means "without hope." It is a state in which the evils and falsities, the negations and death of the human race, loom so alarmingly out of proportion that they threaten to extinguish completely the work of the Divine Providence and the reception of the Lord by mankind, even though that reception is limited and is doctrinally in error. It is a state in which, to express it simply, we despair of our ability to grasp the truth, even while our spirits long and cry out for it; in which we feel a profound discouragement about our state of health or salvation; in which we therefore doubt, and even deny, the presence and power of the Lord's work and influence for the redemption of mankind and for our individual salvation; and in which we forget for the moment the great and even staggering proofs and effects of His loving care and omnipotent work for and with His children.
     Thus we find that evil and falsity are exposed on a massive scale in the Writings of the New Church, as in the Sacred Scripture, for evil and falsity are the works of man. Yet this revelation is Divine and infinite. Its purpose, therefore, cannot be to lead men into that despair which is temptation, for the Lord does not so lead men. Rather is its Divine purpose to expose evil and falsity so that men may not despair, may not lose the Divine gifts of hope and trust, but simply turn from their evil ways, and live.

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It is true that this cannot be done by men now except through temptations; but these arise, not from the Divine, but from the proprial evils of man, in the lowest depths of which dwell the despair, the deaths, the silences, and the frozen immobilities of hell. And so it is written: "'Why do ye tempt Jehovah?' This signifies that [their murmurings] were against the Divine, of whose aid they despaired. It signifies even to despair of His aid, because complainings in temptations include such despair; for temptations are continual despairs about salvation; in the beginning light, but in process of time grave [heavy], till at last there is a doubt and almost a denial of the Divine aid" (AC 8567; italics added).
     Temptation is, simply, despair, which is a state of being without hope as to truth and as to good. It is a state of mind in which a man sees no light and feels no warmth, either in himself or in others; in which he has no faith in the Lord's redemptive power and work, and no belief in the possibility of change and betterment in his associates and neighbors. This state is what is represented, time after time, in the many and varied states of desperation experienced by the sons of Israel, in their complaints and rebellions over the vicissitudes and deprivations they faced.
     This being so, and the various kinds of temptations being so thoroughly described in the Writings, it might be thought that if a man can avoid despair he can escape temptation; that an optimistic and blithe spirit in the face of all that is negative, evil and discouraging would place him in a heavenly condition of love that would ensure safety from death and hell. Yet it is clearly and repeatedly taught that with the man who is being regenerated the despair of temptation is inevitable. It becomes obvious, indeed, that this must be the case. For he who, from the teachings of the Word, truly examines himself, and genuinely searches out the secrets of his own heart, cannot but discover the shocking things of his hereditary will-those evils which are universal in the human race, and which are revealed by the Lord in His second coming. And when a man makes these discoveries in this way, he cannot but be deeply pessimistic about the possibility of his salvation; so much so that he feels deprived of all truth, of all certainty, of all assurance as to what he should think or do. Deep, indeed, is his doubt as to whether such a thing as absolute Divine truth has any reality.
     The Lord did not give the Word, therefore, in order that man might be miraculously relieved of temptation by immediate mercy. Rather, He revealed the truth about temptation in order that men might have the opportunity of attaining victory in the struggle; in order that they might have that underlying, rock-like hope in the Lord without which they cannot and will not fight as of themselves against the states of desperation inflowing from hell.

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     And so it is that while, on the one hand, the Lord frighteningly reveals the secrets of the human heart in order that man may examine himself, yet, on the other hand, He reveals also the deep-lying sources from which a man may draw strength for the combat: His influx, His Word, the influences of heaven, the assisting operation of the childhood remains of affections of good and truth in man, and, finally, His Divine Human as the infinite source of all salvation and redemption. In the crashing waves and final turmoil of temptation combats, these things will remain as a rock to which man can cling, and upon which he can be lifted up. Thus may he be saved from the death of a final denial of God. Thus, in his last extremity, the Lord is still able to stretch forth His hands and give man victory, consolation and peace.
     One of these strengthening truths in man's fight against despair is uncovered in the story of the water drawn from a rock. While, on the one hand, we are there told about the complaints and despair of the sons of Israel on account of the lack of water, on the other we are shown how their distress was alleviated, and they were saved from death, by Moses striking the rock with his rod, whereupon water gushed from it in abundance as from a spring.
     By the rod, we are told, is signified the Divine power of the Lord. The rock corresponds to the Lord in His Divine Human, and the water that came forth corresponds to the truths of faith. Hence the meaning is that by the rod of His Divine power the Lord sends forth from Himself to the man in temptation combats the truths of faith.
     It must be noticed here that it is not the knowledges of truth that are sent to man in this condition, but the truths of faith, for these alone have power to save and to give him the victory. It may be asked what is the difference between the knowledges of truth and the truths of faith. As formulated in human language, or in the literal sense of the Word, they are the same. Thus the truth that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Redeemer and Savior is the same in its outward expression whether it is a mere matter of knowledge with man or a genuine truth of faith.
     The difference is as to the internal state of life with man. First a man learns many things concerning spiritual matters, and these are knowledges of truth. Then he tries to see their inner significance in relation to his own life, and to reform his external life in accordance with them; and in the course of this, in ways hidden from his sight, such knowledges as he tries to use are subtly transformed by the Lord into genuine truths of faith-although he is not, and cannot be, aware of this Divine work with all its wonderful ramifications.

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     Then comes the state of temptation. Affliction and trouble arise, apparently because of the Word. Because of the revelations and discoveries that come to man through the Word and the experiences of life in his efforts to live the truth-revelations and discoveries of the hidden evils of the human heart in himself and in the race in general-he is brought to that despair which is temptation; and this state is intensified and reaches the final extreme, until he feels that there is no hope and until he sees that truly there is no hope in his own power or his own intelligence.
     When this extremity has been reached, then a miracle occurs. For there is, in his inmost, a rock of spiritual faith, a rock which the Lord has been able to place there because of the man's previous efforts to live the truth. Out of this spiritual faith the Lord now causes to gush forth the water of genuine truth, the genuine truths of faith. Outwardly these are the same knowledges he had before, but they now have life-giving properties. Therefore the man now sees their Divinity, feels their strength, and senses their power to uphold him and to drive away from his spirit the doubt and despair introduced by the hells. So there comes to him from the Lord, through the spiritual faith which He has miraculously established, victory in the combat, then consolation, and then peace.
     So it is also that the congregation of his rational mind, his potential heavenly loves and spiritual thoughts, and the animals of his natural mind, his natural affections and thoughts, drink their fill and are revived. Hope is restored, and in the state which follows temptation the Lord gives man "beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness" (Isaiah 61: 3). Then indeed may man remember and from a full heart repeat these words: "Thou hast turned my mourning into dancing for me. Thou has put off my sackcloth, and hast girded me with joy, that glory may sing unto Thee and not be silent. 0 Lord my God, to eternity will I confess Thee." Amen.

LESSONS:     Numbers 20: 1-13. Isaiah 61. Arcana Coelestia 8563-67.
MUSIC:     Liturgy, pages 411, 466, 456.
PRAYERS:     Liturgy, nos. 22, 104.
Title Unspecified 1960

Title Unspecified              1960

     "Faith is the affection of truth from willing truth because it is truth; and to will truth because it is truth is the spiritual itself of man; for it is abstracted from the natural, which is to will truth, not for the sake of truth, but for the sake of one's own glory, reputation or gain. Truth withdrawn from such things is spiritual, because it is from the Divine" (HD 112).

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REMAINS 1960

REMAINS       Rev. JAN H. WEISS       1960

     A STUDY

(Continued from the July issue, pp. 319-330.)

     Remains of Rejection of Evil.* There are several types of remains which we have not yet discussed. These remains are not specifically mentioned by name in the Writings but we believe that they are obviously implied. The first of these we have called remains of rejection of evil. They are implanted in the child's mind after it has gone through a conflict against its self-will, with the gentle but firm help of its parents or guardians, and has entered into another state of willingness to be led.
* Continuation of subhead: "Types of Remains."
     That remains are implanted in such a state of willingness is obvious; for the angels delight in the child's willingness to be led, since they know that this willingness is the prime condition for success in the process of regeneration. But We note also that such remains are intimately connected with the previous state of rebellion and self-will, so that they may later serve as man's motivation in saying, "No," to the assaults of the hells in states of temptation.
     We note further that states of self-will reveal themselves early in the child's life. The period that lies between birth and the end of the third year is, according to Bishop De Charms, described in the Word by the stories that lie between the beginning of Genesis and the account of the birth of Isaac; and in this series of stories there are several incidents which describe such a rebellion of self-love. There is, first of all, the strife between the herdsmen of Lot and the herdsmen of Abram, shortly after they returned from the land of Egypt. Then there is the battle of the kings, and finally the destruction of Sodom. It would be impossible to think that adult evils can be ascribed to children in their first three years of life, but it would be foolish to deny that children of this age are totally incapable of being in childlike states of self-will.
     If parents would not deal with such states of self-will, they would not only harm the child's education, but would also deprive the child of those remains of rejection, and victory, which it will need so badly later in life. In fact, it is in the early years of life that we are given a basis for resisting evils, and the degree of readiness with which we will defend ourselves against evils in later life is greatly determined by how we are taught by our parents to overcome self-will in the first three years of life.

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To anyone who would like to know more about this phase of our subject we would heartily recommend the reading of "The Third Year" in Bishop De Charms' Growth of the Mind.
     Remains of rejection are implanted from birth on; though it is evident that some will be of a celestial nature, some of a spiritual nature, and some of a natural nature, depending on when the child is victorious in a state of self-will.
     The portion of the Word with which the child is acquainted in the last portion of infancy and in the period of childhood is the Old Testament. The more we teach this portion of the Word, the more we are impressed by the crudeness, cruelty and external attitude of the people who are described there. The story of the sons of Israel is filled with descriptions of their evils and weaknesses. As adults we shudder at the bloody conquest of the land of Canaan, at the merciless massacres of women and children, and at the destruction or execution of whole families for the trespass of one of their members.
     Now it is true that in between these stories of evil and cruelty there are stories of obedience to the Lord and many other human virtues. And in teaching the letter of the Old Testament we are indeed to emphasize these stories, hoping that they will serve as an example and inspiration to the children.
     But lately we have been impressed also with the importance of showing the children that the Israelites were external, cruel and evil in many instances. First of all, we need to show the children clearly what is evil and what is good. And so in many stories we can lead the children to determine for themselves what is an evil deed and what is a good deed, and what commandment has been trespassed against. Secondly, the children need to know that the Israelites in general were evil, and became more and more so as time went on, for in this way they are able to see why it was so necessary for the Lord to be born on earth. And thirdly, we believe that a balanced emphasis on the evil and good sides of a story can cause the implantation of remains of rejection. In the stories of the Old Testament there is a wonderful opportunity to show the children how the Lord is with those who follow Him and obey His commandments, but what disastrous results disobedience brings. Although we do not go into the internal sense at this age, we can draw a parallel between the children of Israel fighting against their enemies, and the children in the classroom fighting against the insinuations of evil spirits. In the stories of commandments, falling into evil, seeing its consequences, returning to the Lord, and the obvious victories which then result, the angels of heaven can relive with the children the spiritual story of regeneration. And while the children rejoice in the victories of the sons of Israel, the angels delight in man's victories over hell; which delights are communicated to the children, and stored as remains of rejection.

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     Remains of Response. Religion is essentially man's response to the continual giving of the Lord's love and wisdom. Religion is not just a matter of listening and believing. It is a matter of making a personal effort to understand the Lord's Word, and of applying to everyday living what has thus been learned. To be able to make such a response man must first receive borrowed affections of response, which are remains of response. Thus it is obvious that remains of response are very important in the life of regeneration.
     Reading the Word has two aspects. First of all, we read for the sake of communication with heaven. This reading is more affectional than intellectual, and should therefore be regular. But there is also a reading of the Lord's Word to feed the understanding. We need to find out exactly what the Word teaches, so we may know for a certainty, before we use these truths in application to life.
     It is this twofold aspect of the reading of the Word which we try to emphasize in the teaching of religion, and our final purpose is not so much the instilling of knowledges which will never be forgotten, but rather the implantation of remains of response. The all important result of the teaching of religion we believe to be that the children will leave the school with a desire to continue their study of the Word wherever they go. In school the children may find out how wonderful it is to read the Word with affection and in simplicity. In school they may find out how exciting it is really to study the Word, and find out exactly what it teaches. In school the children may find out that there comes a feeling of certainty and peace from a careful study of the Word.
     For these reasons we believe that children should be encouraged to read the Word regularly at home. The children should be free to read wherever and whenever they want, so as not to interfere with the influx of affection. The religion teacher can then serve somewhat like a mirror of self-examination and self-appraisal when he each week asks all the children whether or not they read the Word in the past week. Answering this question should be a matter of honor and something that is really only between the child and the Lord. Thus the children are not to be checked on the veracity of their answers, but are given periodically an idea as to how they are progressing in the acquisition of the habit of daily reading. Parents can be of great help to their children in this field, for by encouragement and gentle reminders they may assist them in the acquisition of the habit of daily reading.
     For these reasons, also, we believe very firmly in giving the children regular homework assignments in the religion class.

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The children are given homework sheets which are designed to help them to find out exactly what the Word teaches. Because few children in the first 6 grades of the elementary school are proficient readers, they are given information as to where to find the answers to the homework questions. But the essential idea of carefully reading the Word for the sake of exact information is retained.
     Remains of response are mostly of a spiritual and natural nature as they are mostly implanted in childhood and youth. But this in no way negates the importance of their implantation. The New Church simply cannot exist unless men read and study the Writings with a real desire to learn the Lord's truth, and then apply it to their lives. And when our children come to the age of reason and liberty, and need to choose between the New Church and other religions, they will be immensely fortunate if through their education they have received and cultivated an active desire to study the Word for themselves. For only after such a study can they truly and rationally make a choice either for or against the New Church.

     Conjugial Remains. Another type of remain are remains for the conjugial, or what could be called conjugial remains. They relate to both good and truth, and are implanted from birth, and even after marriage. The first of conjugial remains are implanted in infancy on the basis of what the child observes in parents and other adults. These celestial conjugial remains are deeply hidden, but nevertheless very important. A sense-impression in the infant's mind which greatly delights the angels, for example, is the kneeling together of father and mother during family worship and when the child is laid asleep. This act of oneness in humiliation and dependence upon the Lord is not only sacred, but also very much open to angelic influx. For it is through a mutual state of humiliation and turning towards the Lord that a husband and wife may enter into a state of conjugial oneness. This the angels know, and in any effort on man's part so to become one they greatly delight. And their delights, sensed by the children and impressed upon their memories, there become conjugial remains.
     Of course, there are other observations on the part of children which may serve as a basis for the implantation of conjugial remains. External acts of mutual kindness and concern are very important. And it would seem very questionable that children derive any spiritual benefit from observing their parents in disagreeable arguments.
     But later the child needs conjugial remains of truth, and their implantation also is of great importance.

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This implantation takes place on the basis of parental sex education, notably in regard to the corporeal side of conjugial life. But the discussion of this subject would take too long to be undertaken here.
     The first object of the implantation of conjugial remains before marriage is that the youth may have sufficient motivation to approach marriage in the correct way. Further, such motivation can be derived from a reading of the work Conjugial Love. This work, because of its subject and its many beautiful memorable relations, very openly communicates with heaven. From it flows the sphere of heaven, which is very noticeable even to an outside reader. As such, the work on conjugial love may play an important part in the implantation of conjugial remains, and should be in the hands of our young people soon after the seventh grade. The first 270 numbers and the chapter on betrothals and marriages are filled with lovely, heavenly ideas, and are teachings that do have application in regard to the formation of early ideals.
     Further remains are implanted during the period before courtship, during courtship, at the betrothal ceremony, during betrothal, at the marriage ceremony, and during the honeymoon state. All these remains taken together may now motivate the couple to move in the direction of conjugial oneness.

     Natural Remains. At this point we would like to turn our attention on the period during which natural angels guard the youth. The spiritual angels begin to withdraw in the fourteenth year, and natural angels take their place. Also we should acknowledge the real help we received in this study from The Growth of the Mind by Bishop De Charms, which acknowledgment will, we hope, absolve us from making specific quotations.
     There are two types of natural angels, the spiritual-natural and the celestial-natural. These terms may seem complicated but actually are very simple. All natural angels are dependent either upon the celestial heaven or the spiritual heaven. Thus there is an influx from both these heavens into the natural heaven. Those natural angels who think about ends, as the celestial angels think from ends, are connected by influx with the celestial heaven, and they are therefore called celestial-natural. Those natural angels who think about causes, as the spiritual angels think from causes, are connected by influx with the spiritual heaven, and are therefore called spiritual-natural.
     At birth the infant is surrounded by celestial angels, and is thus in a sphere of love. The generation of the human mind is thus from Divine love and begins with love. When the celestial angels withdraw, celestial remains are gathered together, reorganized, and adapted to the needs of the child. Upon the withdrawal of the spiritual angels, spiritual remains are also gathered together, reorganized and adapted to the needs of the thirteen year old youth.

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At this time the youth is surrounded by spiritual-natural angels. Later on these angels give way to celestial-natural angels. At this time celestial remains of infancy are recalled and reordered. And so we see that the generation of the human mind not only originates in love and begins with love but is also completed in love, though it is love in a different quarter of the world of spirits.
     Thus it is ordained by the Lord that every man begins life in a state of celestial love, that he grows towards a state of celestial-natural love, and through regeneration returns to the celestial state of infancy.
     From spiritual remains the youth has the love of understanding. But he wants to understand all about truth, for he is surrounded by spiritual- natural angels. He is not yet able to think and understand from truth, for this is an ability that belongs to the spiritual-rational which is developed during regeneration. We must remember that at the moment the youth is only beginning to develop the exterior natural-rational.
     From celestial remains the youth has a love of use and a vision that all human life is essentially use and service to others. From them the youth is in a state of exalted idealism, of high hopes and tender emotions.
     But what are the remains implanted by the natural angels? It should be noted here that we are entering very definitely the realm of personal interpretation and opinion. Besides remains of determination to reject evil, remains of response, and conjugial remains, the important remains of this period are those that will develop and keep alive with the youth an affection of truth, in whatever form this may appear. These remains are implanted when the youth is allowed and encouraged to enter into a personal study of the Word. They are not likely to be implanted during lectures, for adolescence is not characterized by the ability to listen. We must remember that during adolescence there is an attack by the hells upon the things of the church. This attack the youth can ward off best by his own investigations in the Word, especially in the Writings; for in such investigation, which may even be spurred on by self-love, the Lord is able to protect the youth through natural angels.
     Remains for the affection of truth may also be implanted when the youth is faced with the visible evidence of that affection in others, be they his contemporaries or personalities of the past. And here again it is obvious what service parents and teachers can render towards this implantation of remains. For in father the youth should be able to see the affection of truth in its logical, searching and bold form, while in mother he may observe it in its form of tenderness, gentleness and constancy. Especially at this age, adults should avoid at all cost making the youth believe that there is more affection than there really is.

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There should be no bluffing as to our knowledge of the truth; for the all important thing is the truth and nothing but the truth, both for the adult and the adolescent.
     The affection of truth plays an important role in the regeneration of man, for it opens up the way to heaven. But to see the way to heaven is not sufficient; there must also be a going on the way. For this the youth needs natural-celestial remains. Their implantation takes place also on the basis of observations of good in others. Characteristics of devotion to duty, self-sacrifice, charity, morality, respect for the freedom of others, and many other human virtues as seen in the Old and New Testaments, but especially in the memorable relations in the Writings, may be the ultimates in which the natural angels delight, and through which natural remains of good may be implanted. And from these remains there is in the youth a desire and a hope that he will be able to emulate such virtues in the future. Such a state of exalted idealism cannot be taught to adolescents. The only thing adults can do is to foster such a state in themselves, and encourage it in their children when it is observed.
     If we as adults would fully realize how much our children and adolescents are influenced by our behavior, even if they are not present, then we would enter into a state of deep self-examination. We would repent of our lukewarmness towards truth, of our apathy in our spiritual life, and of our unwillingness to sacrifice self on the altar of love. And through our love of children, which may even be evil in the beginning, the Lord would be able to lead us into His kingdom where we then can remain forever.

     Remains and the Sacraments and Rites

     We now would like to discuss the matter of the implantation of remains during the administration of sacraments and rites. We will do this in regard to two sacraments and four rites, and our endeavor will be to show that each sacrament and rite is to aid in the implantation of specific remains through the instrumentality of certain angelic societies, so man may acquire heavenly motives to reach out for specific spiritual goals. But before we do this we would first like to make some introductory remarks about the way in which all sacraments and rites should be approached.
     Sacraments and rites of the church, when set in the correct set of circumstances, and approached in the correct frame of mind, are indeed most holy vehicles of the Lord's salvation to man. For this reason they must not be taken lightly, nor entered into without serious preparation, both on the part of the administering priest and the receiving layman.

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     It is the task of the priest not only to administer the sacraments and rites, but also to protect them from open desecration and defilement. This involves that he prepare for each sacrament and rite so that it may be administered without elements of disturbance that might clash with or take away from the sphere of holiness that is to surround each administration.
     It is also the task of the priest to prepare himself for each administration so that he may be withheld from administering the sacraments and rites with the deadening feeling of repetition. For though a priest may administer the sacraments and rites many times in his ministerial career, it is always new to those who receive this administration, or, in the case of baptism and the holy supper, should be new.
     It is also the task of the priest to do everything in his power to lead his people to see ever more clearly the true meaning and function of the sacraments and rites, and to protect them from entering upon any religious ceremony prematurely, unprepared or in an unholy way. This last task is probably the most difficult of all, for its carrying out may cause him to err and infringe upon the freedom of his laymen.
     Laymen also should make serious preparation before partaking of a sacrament or rite. First the meaning and purpose of the particular ceremony must be seen and understood. Secondly, there must be serious consideration on the part of the candidate as to when he or she should receive the sacrament or rite, so that it may not be received prematurely, and the usefulness of its reception thereby be limited or even negated. And thirdly, there must be preparation on the part of the layman as to the mechanics of the ceremony, so there is no confusion during the administration of the sacrament or rite as to what priest and layman should do.
     In the administration of sacraments and rites there is a natural contact between priest and layman, which contact is very much in the sphere of use. Such a contact is, we believe, a Divinely provided means for the fostering of a more intimate relationship between pastor and layman, which neither should bypass. It is a natural setting of circumstances in which there may be a marvellous opportunity for private instruction.

     The Baptism of Children. When a child is baptized, angels are assigned to it, to take care of it, and to keep it in a state of receiving faith in the Lord. For baptism causes the child to be inserted among New Church people in the spiritual world. The guardian angels who are assigned to this child are of a certain nature and disposition. They are with the child because of the fact that they have a certain dispositional ability on a certain angelic level that eminently qualifies them to protect the child from any harm that could come to it immediately from the spiritual world.

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This would mean that these angels are from certain societies of the Gorand Man of heaven, and of a certain angelic degree.
     The angelic degree is obvious, for this is clearly stated in the Writings. All newly born babies are surrounded by celestial angels. The dispositional quality must have something to do with the task that must be performed. And as the task is the protection of the immature, it must be so that these angels all have a great deal of storge, which would place them in the genital region of the Gorand Man.
     We are taught that the angels in the inmost heaven love infants much more than their parents do. They are present with infants in the womb, and through them the Lord takes care that the infants are nourished and perfected there.* These angels are said to be chaste virgins who are in the province of the Gorand Man that corresponds to the renal capsules or the suprarenal or renal gland. These angels also take care of the child shortly after birth. They are called in other places "angels from the heaven of innocence."** Later on, angels from the heaven of the tranquility of peace take over, after which spiritual and natural angels follow in the care of the child and adolescent.
* AC 5052.
** AC 2303.
     The important effect of the baptism on children is thus not the implantation of remains, for this takes place regardless of their being baptized, but it is the assignment of angels from Christian, that is, New Church heavens. In this way there is effected a harmony between the sphere in which the child is in the other world and the sphere of the parents in this world.
     The important effect of the baptism of children upon the parents is the implantation of remains for spiritual storge. And parents need such remains, for without their coming into spiritual storge they cannot rightly educate their children, which is said to be one of the general uses of charity.*
* WIS. XI: 5.
     Storge, or the love of infants, is both with the evil and the good. It is a love that descends from the Lord. For it is the Lord's innocence that descends through the angels into the infants, and from there into the senses of the parents. It also descends from the Lord into the souls of parents. This sphere of innocence from the senses and out of the soul meets in the minds of the parents and is there conjoined and perceived.* The angels who mediate this sphere of innocence to both the parents and the child are from stated and numerous societies, and especially from the female sex, who had loved infants very tenderly in the life of the body.

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They are in the province of the womb and the surrounding organs. And they are said to be in the sweetest and most delicious life, and in heavenly joy more than others.**
* CL 396.
** AC 5054.
     The sphere of innocence affects mothers principally, and fathers from them.* And once it is in both, the love of infants in mother conjoins itself with the love of infants in father as do the heart and lungs in the breast. The love of infants with mother then functions as the heart, and that of the father as the lungs.** These teachings concerning the existence of storge with parents apply to both the evil and the good. Storge as a love is neither good nor evil, but is made good or evil by the attitude of the parents.
* CL 393.
** CL 284.
     Natural storge is with evil parents who do not love children, but only their own, because their own are from them and are as it were their image. Spiritual storge is only with the good and extends itself to all children, seeking in them not self glorification, but the good of heaven.
     When parents bring their children to the Lord to be baptized, they recognize the truth that the fruit of the womb is His reward. They also acknowledge the fundamental truths of the New Church, which are that the Lord has made His second coming, and that all evils must be shunned as sins against God. They desire that their child be introduced into the sphere of the New Church both in heaven and upon the earth. And then, when handing the child over to the officiating priest, when witnessing the application of water to the child's forehead, when seeing the sign of the cross being made upon the child's forehead and breast, there is not only a conjunction of the influx of innocence through their souls and senses, but there also takes place an implantation of remains of spiritual storge. This is so, we believe, not only because there is the sight of the little baby in the minds of the parents which serves as a basis for angelic approach and presence, but also because the angels who are present are in the use of protecting little children.
     And because we believe that remains of spiritual storge are implanted with the parents, therefore we also believe that an exhortation to the right performance of parental educational responsibilities, as we have it now in the office, is very much in place, and should not be omitted.

     (To be concluded.)

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ORDINATIONS 1960

ORDINATIONS       Various       1960

     JUNE 19, 1960

     DECLARATIONS OF FAITH AND PURPOSE

     I believe that the one God of heaven and earth is the Lord Jesus Christ, in essence and in person.
     I believe that the essence of God is Divine love and wisdom, and that the essentials of the Divine love are to love others outside of itself, to be conjoined with them, and to make them eternally happy from itself.
     I believe that these three essentials explain the purpose of creation and of providence, namely, that there might be a heaven drawn from the human race to which eternal happiness might be imparted.
     I believe that all good and truth are from the Lord alone, and that man of himself has nothing of good, being inclined by heredity to evils of every kind. If man is to receive heavenly happiness, he must shun evils for no other reason than that they are sins against the Lord.
     I believe that through the ages the Lord has shown man the path of life: first in immediate revelations, then in the Ancient Word, in the Old and New Testaments, and finally in the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, which, no less than the preceding Divine revelations, is also to be regarded as the Word of God.
     I further believe that the church founded upon the Heavenly Doctrine is as distinct from the Christian Church as the Heavenly Doctrine is distinct from previous revelations. I believe that if the Lord is to reign in the church, the revealed doctrine concerning the priesthood must at all times be heeded by priests and laymen alike.
     In presenting myself for ordination into the priesthood of the New Church, it is my earnest desire that I may be of use to the Lord in the work of establishing His church both widely and deeply. And since no man can be an influence for good except from the Lord alone, I therefore implore Him to preserve me from every secret and open abuse of this sacred office, that I may be a faithful and diligent laborer in His vineyard.
     DOUGLAS McLEOD TAYLOR



     I believe that God, out of His infinite love, created man in His own image and likeness to receive the gift of life and eternal happiness.

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     I believe that God has revealed Himself to man and that the crown of revelations is the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem. Therein the Lord Jesus Christ is revealed as the one God of heaven and earth.
     The life of regeneration which leads to salvation and eternal blessedness requires that a man acknowledge the Lord as God and shun evils as sins against Him.
     Man is helped to salvation by the operation of the Lord's Divine Providence working both immediately and mediately, the priesthood of the church being the Divinely ordained and established means on earth effective of the promotion of this end.
     In presenting myself for ordination into the priesthood of the New Church it is my purpose to further the Divine end of salvation by teaching men according to the doctrine of the church from the Word and by leading them to live according to it, yet not compelling anyone. I pray that the Lord will strengthen me to meet the states of the church and fulfil its uses; and that not my will, but His, be done in the establishment of His heavenly kingdom both here and in the world to come.
     KURT HORIGAN ASPLUNDH
PRIESTHOOD IN THE CHURCH 1960

PRIESTHOOD IN THE CHURCH              1960

     "As a man is born for eternal life, and is introduced into it by the church, therefore he is to love the church as the neighbor in a higher degree . . . it is not meant that the priesthood is to be loved in a higher degree, and from it the church, but that the good and truth of the church are to be loved, and the priesthood on this account, since this only serves, and should be honored according to its service" (TCR 415).
     "No honor of any employment is in the person, but is adjoined to him according to the dignity of the thing which he administers; and that which is adjoined is separate from the person, and also is separated from him with the employment. The honor that is in the person is the honor of the wisdom and fear of the Lord that he displays" (AC 10,797)
     "Priests must have dignity and honor on account of the holy things in which they engage; but those of them who are wise give the honor to the Lord, from whom come all holy things, and not to themselves. But those who are not wise attribute the honor to themselves. Those who attribute holy things to themselves on account of the holy things in which they engage set honor and profit above the salvation of souls, for which they ought to have regard, but those who give the honor to the Lord set the salvation of souls above honor and profit" (AC 10,796).

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CHALLENGING REPORT 1960

CHALLENGING REPORT              1960

     The 150th Report presented by the Council of the Swedenborg Society is of unusual interest, both because of the anniversary it marks and because of the purpose behind the meetings arranged to celebrate that anniversary. Although no new editions were issued during the year, The Summary Exposition of the Prophets and Psalms has been printed, the long awaited first volume of The Spiritual Diary has been sent to the printer, a new translation of The Last Judgment is nearing completion, and the preparation of the bi-lingual editions of various small works and fragments has continued. Consideration has been given to the preparation of a number of booklets in two categories, one consisting of some of the doctrinal inserts in Arcana Coelestia and Apocalypse Explained, the other of quotations on a particular subject drawn from the whole of the Writings. A booklet in the first category, consisting of extracts from Apocalypse Explained and editorially titled Religion and Life, is being prepared for publication in 1960. Work has continued on Volumes V and VI of the third Latin edition of Arcana Coelestia; Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture, translated into Zulu, has been issued, thus completing the publication by the Society of Zulu translations of The Four Doctrines; and the reproduction by photolithograph of Apocalypse Explained, Volume IV, and The Swedenborg Concordance, Volume V, has been started.
     Twenty-four items have been added to the Library and Archives. The total distribution of books was 3,988. This included grants to French and German University and State Libraries, most of which accepted the offer of books made last year. The offer has been extended to similar libraries in Austria, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland. Five lectures were given in 1959, the lecturers being the Rev. Messrs. John Elliot, Arthur Clapham, Erik Sandstrom and H. G. Mongredien; and it has been decided to revive, perhaps in a modified form, the Study Scheme which the Society sponsored for many years. The membership stands at 785, a net gain of 14.
     The report concludes by stating that the celebrations of the Society's 150th anniversary are designed primarily to interest New Church people. Despite an impressive record of achievement there is much translation and printing still to be done; and if it has the interest and support of all New Church men and women, the Society can press on with its tasks, secure in the knowledge that the means will be provided.

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ASSEMBLY 1960

ASSEMBLY       RENEE CRONLUND       1960

     APRIL 30-MAY 1,1960

     Once again, as two years ago, the members of the Northern New Jersey Circle opened their homes and acted as hosts to members of the Philadelphia Society, the New York Circle, and the New England Group. The occasion was an Assembly, the second of its kind.
     The purpose of this Assembly was to bring together as members of the General Church those who live in this northeastern area, and to enable them to meet with and hear Bishop De Charms again. An excellent opportunity was afforded also to make new acquaintances and greet old friends. Such gatherings create a greater feeling of unity among the church's isolated members.
     The first meeting was a doctrinal class on Saturday evening, April 30, given by the Rev. W. Cairns Henderson at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Archer. A service was held on Sunday morning at the Morristown Y.M.C.A., where the Rev. Norbert H. Rogers gave a talk to 15 children, Mr. Henderson preached to 51 adults, and Bishop De Charms, assisted by Mr. Henderson and Mr. Rogers, administered the Holy Supper.
     After church all the adults gathered at the Bernard Inn, Bernardsville, New Jersey, for a social hour followed by a banquet. After dinner, Mr. Allan Soderberg, as master of ceremonies, introduced Bishop De Charms, who addressed us on the subject of true charity. We were happy to have among our guests Mrs. De Charms, Mrs. Henderson and Mrs. Rogers.
     In closing this report, we would express, on behalf of all who were present, hearty thanks to Mr. Hugh Gyllenhaal, whose smooth organization of the program contributed so much to a stimulating weekend.
     RENEE CRONLUND
NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1960

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS       Rev. ORMOND ODHNER       1960

     So far, in our daily readings from True Christian Religion, what might be called the definition of genuine Christianity has been set forth in the doctrines of the Lord, the Word, the Decalogue, faith and charity; and finally, turning to man, the doctrine of freedom of choice. The ideal, then, has been defined. We turn now to the more "practical" doctrines which teach the means whereby that ideal can become reality in individual men, the means through which the church can take on form with men: repentance, reformation and regeneration, imputation, baptism and the Holy Supper.

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     "Repentance is the first thing of the church in man." Until man performs at least something of repentance, the church with him has been merely a thing of the intellect; it has not yet even touched his will, and the will is the man himself. Before repentance, indeed, the church cannot enter the will, for the will is filled with evils of every kind-both actual evils and the inclinations thereto; and good cannot enter into the presence of evil without being destroyed.
     Even from birth man's will is filled with hereditary evils; and although these are only inclinations to evil, they remain in man and influence him to indulge in actual evils unless they are uprooted. Repentance is the only thing that can begin the rooting out process.
     What is repentance? It is not mere sorrow for sin and anxiety over possible damnation. It is not a mere lip-confession that one is a sinner:
that may be a true statement but the one who makes it knows not why it is true. Actual repentance is examining one's self as to acts, intentions and thoughts; recognizing and acknowledging one's own sins in their particular aspects; praying to the Lord for help and the power to resist one s own evils; and the beginning of a new life free from one or more at least of those evils.
     At every step man's individual co-operation with the Lord is needed. Regeneration is effected by the Lord alone, but repentance requires man's conscious efforts, and it is for this reason that he is given free choice.
John the Baptist, who prepared the way of the Lord by preaching repentance, also represented repentance; and even as John had a human father, so man must, as it were, "father" his own repentance. It is just at this point in religion that man can enter into active participation with the Lord in achieving the life of heaven.
DAILY REPENTANCE 1960

DAILY REPENTANCE              1960

     "He who lives the life of charity and faith does the work of repentance daily; he reflects upon the evils that are with him, he acknowledges them, he guards against them, he supplicates the Lord for help. For man of himself continually lapses, but he is continually raised by the Lord. Such is the state of those who are in good. But they who are in evil lapse continually, and are also continually elevated by the Lord; but they are only withdrawn from falling into the most grievous evils, to which of themselves they tend with all their endeavor" (HD 163).

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TRUE AND FALSE UNITY 1960

TRUE AND FALSE UNITY       Editor       1960


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published by
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.
Editor - - Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager - - Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, changes of address, and business communications, should be sent to the Business Manager. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.

TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$5.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy, 50 cents.
     There is in the Writings a consistent teaching that true unity is not the result of uniformity but of harmonious variety. The application of this truth to the organized church is obvious, but it does not stop there. In the efforts of totalitarian states to produce the robot-like socialist man the evil is evident. But trends toward conformity of action, control of the intellect, and coercion of the will, must disturb the New Church man, whenever and wherever they appear.
     The development of the "collective mind of the collective man," although welcomed by some, can be viewed by us with no enthusiasm! Nor can we hear without distrust the recent call of a prominent writer for the unity of mankind in a "single inter-thinking group to prevent disruption through ideological conflicts and to replace nationalism with international co-operation." We have the authority of the Writings for holding that a de-personalized collective system maintained by conformism control and coercion will produce neither the perfect man nor the ideal society, and that nationalism need not prevent co-operation.
     Because men are created in the image of an infinite God in whom infinite things are distinctly one, strict uniformity on all planes of life must, for the most part, be enforced. Men will welcome it as the solution of all their problems only when they have lost belief and confidence in themselves as rational, free and responsible individuals. The Lord's kingdom, both in the heavens and on earth, displays a truer unity than men can ever achieve by their own efforts; but it is the unity of harmonious variety, a unity of free and responsible beings.

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FROM EXPERIENCE 1960

FROM EXPERIENCE       Editor       1960

     The observant and widely read student will scarcely fail to notice how frequently Swedenborg refers to experience. He testifies that he had been granted to know many things about this or that subject by experience enumerates laws, facts and phenomena of the spiritual world which he had learned by experience there; and uses his experiences in that world to illustrate abstract points of doctrine. The importance of the experiences recorded in the Writings may be gauged from the statement that they are adduced of the Lord's Divine mercy, and the reasons for their inclusion may be seen in several thought provoking teachings.
     Faith is not implanted merely through knowledge and experience. But we are told that things which are unknown, and about which theology and philosophy are obscure, cannot be brought into light unless they are illustrated by experiences. We are instructed that those who have false opinions about spiritual things cannot be taught by description as well as by living experience. And we are assured that, in some instances, evidence from experience is preferable to rational deductions, since there are many who do not understand such deductions and those who have confirmed themselves in the opposite use them as occasions for doubt.
     When we realize how much of what is revealed in the Writings, and how many of those to whom it is addressed, fall into these categories, we may see that it is of the Lord's Divine mercy that so much of spiritual experience is recorded in the Writings; and it may well be that a careful analysis and study of those spiritual experiences, accompanied by reflection, will suggest ways in which they may be used in introducing newcomers to the Writings. However, we should not overlook their possible use to ourselves. Evidently it is not intended that we should seek experiences in the spiritual world! But of the Lord's Divine mercy a wealth of such experiences has been deposited in the Writings; and from it we may draw and form conclusions, so that in what would otherwise be theoretical, and needs to be confirmed from experience if danger is to be avoided, we may stand safely upon firm ground.
ON READING THE WRITINGS 1960

ON READING THE WRITINGS       Editor       1960

     It is not unlikely that there are many New Church men and women who are dissatisfied with both the quantity and the quality of their reading of the Writings. Most reading is done by books, often of necessity a few pages at a time, and one frequently hears of difficulty being experienced in absorbing what has been read.

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Because the Writings are Divine revelation, their words are, one and all, the Lord's words; and there may be a feeling that no word should go unpondered, since every word is filled with infinite meaning. This makes for difficulties.
     These may be resolved in part at least if it is realized that since the Writings are a rational revelation they are to be read for rational ideas. The words themselves need no more be attended to than are those of a speaker when we are intent on his meaning. There may be further help in the suggestion that, without loss of reverence, the Writings may be read in various ways for different purposes. While the Writings should always be read with care, they need not always be read in detail.
     Quiet, reverential, reflective reading is basic, but it may be varied. Many people today have been trained in reading different types of material at different speeds; some have had specialized training in reading technical literature; and there would seem to be no reason why the techniques thus developed should not be adapted to the reading of the Writings. Thus a section, a chapter, or even an entire part of a book, may be read fairly quickly for the general teaching, with no attempt to retain the details. Illustrations, confirmations and proof passages may be passed over swiftly. If a real difficulty is encountered, and the work is furnished with an index, reference to the index may lead to a later passage that will solve the problem, or at least throw more light on it. This will take time and practice. But even in the reading of the Writings the law holds good that man receives from the Lord according to the intelligence as well as the determination of the effort he makes.
     Nor is it necessary that the Writings be read only by books. In the Arcana Coelestia doctrinal articles are inserted between the chapters expounding Genesis and Exodus. A little study of the table of contents at the beginning of each volume will show that many of these inserts are in series, and the group of articles on a particular topic may be read consecutively with interest and profit. The same may be done with the doctrinal treatments subjoined to nos. 932-1228 in Apocalypse Explained. Topical reading courses of various lengths may be set up and followed. Thus the student who reads in turn the section on love toward the neighbor or charity in the New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine, the chapter on charity in True Christian Religion, and the posthumous work, Doctrine of Charity, will be richly rewarded by a comprehensive view of the subject. Other suggestions could be offered, and any member of the clergy will undoubtedly be glad to assist with advice. What is desirable is that we cultivate an imaginative approach, and vary or supplement our regular consecutive reading with other useful and interesting forms.

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Church News 1960

Church News       Various       1960

     THE ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH

     Joint Meeting

     The Annual Joint Meeting of the Academy Corporation and Faculty was held this year on May 20, in the Assembly Hall on the Academy campus. Preceded by a supper prepared by the home economics class of the Girls School, it was attended by about 300.
     Reports were given by the President, the Deans of the Theological School and the Colleges, the Principals of the Girls School and the Boys School, and the Treasurer. Other reports were summarized by the Dean of Faculties. Most of these will he published in the annual number of the ACADEMY JOURNAL.
     In addition to surveying the year's events and accomplishments, the reports carried a thread of continuity in viewing the challenges of expansion, long range as well as immediate. President W. D. Pendleton emphasized this by devoting the bulk of his report to reviewing future needs and plans in areas of facilities-especially long range campus planning; the teaching staff, its numbers and quality; and the financial requirements for these developments. These last were spelled out in no uncertain manner by Treasurer L. E. Gyllenhaal, who opened his report by displaying a remarkably thick pack of Tuition Deposit dividends about to be mailed to New Church parents, and representing approximately $10,000 worth of Academy education.
     On the academic side, all the reports implied an earnestness of endeavor within the faculty both toward ultimating ever more clearly the doctrinal principles for which the Academy exists, and toward developing curricula and standards to meet the rigorous needs for which today's education strives to prepare our young people.

     Commencement

     The Academy's eighty-third Commencement Exercises were held on June 17, in the Asplundh Field House. Graduates from all five schools listened with absolute attention-a tribute on a steaming morning-while speaker John Schoenberger noted the joys and duties of living in this world, which is "God's world." His address will be published in a later issue. The list of graduates and honors follows this account.
     The secondary schools graduated the largest class in the Academy's history, with thirty-two girls and twenty-one boys receiving diplomas. Twelve were graduated from the Junior College, two received the Bachelor of Science degree, and two the degree of Bachelor of Theology. Valedictorians were: for the Girls School, Suzanne Cranch, Glendale, California; for the Boys School, Nelson Howard, Birmingham, Michigan; for the Junior College, James Kuhn, Glenview, Illinois; for the Senior College, Don Alan Synnestvedt, Bryn Athyn; and for the Theological School, Douglas Taylor, Adelaide, South Australia. Dr. Hugo Lj. Odhner responded for the faculty with a moving reminder of devotion to the truth as the inner acknowledgment of gratitude.
     E. BRUCE GLENN


     ACADEMY SCHOOLS

     Awards, 1960

     At the Commencement Exercises on June 17, the graduates received their diplomas and the honors were announced as follows:

     Theological School

     BACHELOR OF THEOLOGY: Kurt Horigan Asplundh (in absentia), Douglas McLeod Taylor.

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     Senior College

     BACHELOR OF SCIENCE: Wren Hyatt Doering, Don Alan Synnestvedt.

     Junior College

     DIPLOMA:     With Distinction: Norbert Bruce Rogers.
     DIPLOMA:     Lennart Ola Alfelt, Emily Jane Asplundh, Susan Linda Brown, Eliot Walter Cranch, Viola Alice Friesen, Willard Lewis Davenport Heinrichs (in absentia), Earle Thomas Howard, James Robert Kuhn, Alfred Daniel Sandstrom, Kurt Alden Simons, Lois Ellen Walton.

     Boys School

     ACADEMIC DIPLOMA: With Honors: Donald Ralph Murdoch.
     ACADEMIC DIPLOMA: Wilbur deWitt Andrews, David Frederick Archer, Lawson Kendig Cronlund, Dwight Goodwin Day, Daniel Wilson Frazier, John Stuart Gladish, Ronald Linnh Gladish, Harry Warren Grubb, John Nelson Howard, Eugene Oscar Muth, Jr., Mark William Reuter.
     GENERAL DIPLOMA: Ragnar Boyesen, Kenneth Robert Cronlund, David Jerrold Davis, Hans Goran Larson Franson, Bruce Alan Fuller, Noel Frederick Griffin, David Grubb, Jr., John Graham Gurney, Jr., Gerald Wayne Penner, Gerald David Ripley, Paul Craig Smith, Ralph Conrad Smith, Brian Goranville Stevens, John Anthony Walter.

Girls School

     DIPLOMA:     With Honors: Barbara Beth Glenn, Elizabeth Hayes, Cora Jean Schoenberger.
     DIPLOMA:     Linda Allen, Susan Catherine Aye, Patricia Mardete Black, Rachel Adams Carr, Anita Sue Coffin, Joanna Cole, Faith Evelyn Craigie, Suzanne Shubert Cranch, Lynn Doering, Carol Ellen Ebert, Helen Elizabeth Echols, Marlene Helen Fiedler, Hannah Finkeldey, Ulla Elisabeth Fornander, Waijny Kristin Fornander, Doris Fuller, Ronnye Lynne Gauzens, Brenda Lee Genzlinger, Elizabeth Renee Gladish, Margaret Grace Gladish, Majorie Ellen Grubb, Cynthia Hyatt, Jane Kintner, June Elaine Kitzelman, Lavinia Vivian Lemky, Patricia Ann McCardell, Marcia Carolyn Mergen, Rachelle Nicholson, Heather Pendleton, Marcia Pitcairn, Monica Price Salinas, Wendy Morse Stevens, Priscilla Claire Stroemple, Miryam Yardumian.

     Theta Alpha Award

     Miss Gretchen Mirra Schoenberger received the Theta Alpha Award.

     Glencairn Award

     The Glencairn Award for outstanding service to the Academy was received by the following members of the teaching staff: Professor Morna Hyatt, Professor Margaret Wilde, Rev. Dr. Hugo Lj. Odhner, Dr. Charles R. Pendleton, Rev. Dr. William Whitehead.

     ST. PAUL-MINNEAPOLIS

     It has been nearly a year since we reported, so we will try to bring the record of our affairs up to date. In June, 1959, nine members of our Circle attended the 22nd General Assembly at Lake Forest College and Glenview. It was a wonderful opportunity to become reacquainted with many old friends. The addresses gave us inspiration and a renewed determination to make our Circle stronger.
     In August the Rev. and Mrs. Elmo C. Acton visited us. The Donald Chicks (Joyce Boker) from California were here also, and Mr. Acton kindly officiated at the baptism of their son, Duane Ervine.
     Taped services have been held nearly every Sunday, except, of course, once a month, when the Rev. Jan H. Weiss conducts services and holds both adult and young people's classes. In December we had a children's Christmas service, followed by the regular adult service. A buffet dinner was served, and all enjoyed one of our best attended meetings. This year, for the first time that we can remember, we had an Easter service on Easter Sunday. It was a lovely service and we felt honored to have a minister here on such an important day. The children brought flowers to the altar, always a beautiful sight to witness.

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A dinner was served later, and the children were given small candy baskets.
     On May 15, Donald Boker was confirmed, Janice Marie Boker was baptized, and their two little girls, Lynn Marie and Tara Lee, also were baptized, the Rev. Jan H. Weiss officiating. Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Johnson have announced the engagement of their daughter Margaret (Peggy) to Mr. Richard Carlson of St. Paul. The wedding will take place on August 13. The Robert Coulters will soon be home after a six-week tour of Italy.
     HELEN A. BOKER
EDUCATIONAL COUNCIL MEETINGS 1960

EDUCATIONAL COUNCIL MEETINGS              1960

     Bryn ATHYN, PA., August 22-26, 1960

Monday, August 22

     8:00 p.m. Worship: Benade Hall Chapel
     8:15 p.m. First Session. Address: Rev. W. Cairns Henderson

Tuesday, August 23

     11:25 am. Second Session. Teacher Training Program: Prof. Hyatt
     3:00 p.m. Special session to continue morning discussion
     8:10 p.m. Third Session. Philosophy of History: Dean Klein

Wednesday, August 24

     11:25 am. Fourth Session. Junior School Curriculum, Including Foreign Language. Panel: Rev. David R. Simons, Mrs. George Woodard,
Prof. Wilde. Moderator: Rev. Louis B. King 3:00 p.m. Special session to continue morning discussion

Thursday, August 25

     11:25 am. Fifth Session. "Some Experiments in Elementary Mathematics." Mr. K. Rose
     3:00 p.m. Special session to continue morning discussion
     8:10 p.m. Sixth Session. "Toward a Distinctive Composition Curriculum." Mr. E. Bruce Glenn

Friday, August 26

     11:15 am. Seventh Session. Business Meeting
     8:00 p.m. Social. Place to be announced


     SUMMER SCHOOL

     BRYN ATHYN, PA., AUGUST 22-SEPTEMBER 2, 1960

A. Education in Depth. Rev. David R. Simons
     3:00-3:55 p.m., Monday, August 22
     9:00-9:55 a.m., Tuesday, August 23-Friday, September 2

B. Discipline. Rev. Martin Pryke
     4:00-4:55 p.m. Monday, August 22
     10:00-10:55 a.m. Tuesday, August 23-Friday, September 2.

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ORDINATIONS 1960

ORDINATIONS       Editor       1960



     Announcements
     Asplundh.-At Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, June 19, 1960, Mr. Kurt Horigan Asplundh into the First Degree of the Priesthood, the Rt. Rev. George de Charms officiating.

     Taylor.-At Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, June 19, 1960, Mr. Douglas McLeod Taylor into the First Degree of the Priesthood, the Rt. Rev. George de Charms officiating.
CORRECTION 1960

CORRECTION       Editor       1960

     Holmes.-Brooke Allison Holmes, whose death was reported in the June issue, page 312, was a daughter, not a son.

[This has been corrected in the electronic text.]

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NATURE OF PARTICULAR INFLUX 1960

NATURE OF PARTICULAR INFLUX        GEORGE DE CHARMS       1960


VOL. LXXX
SEPTEMBER, 1960
No. 9
     (Delivered to the New Church Club, London, England, Jul 29, 1960.)

     The interrelation between the natural world and the spiritual world is one of the most astounding wonders of the Divine Providence. It is such that, to all appearance, each world exists apart, entirely independent of the other. Men on earth appear to live solely in the natural world, and spirits after death appear to live completely in the spiritual world; yet the two worlds are so inseparably conjoined that men could have no conscious life whatever apart from spirits, and similarly, spirits could enjoy no conscious life whatever apart from men. Both must act in concert in order to produce any conscious sensation, idea, thought. affection or desire. The result is that every human being must he a constant inhabitant of both worlds, not only while he lives on earth, but also after death.
     The Writings plainly teach that all conscious mental life consists of two distinctly different elements.* One of these elements is a sense impulse that can come only from the world of nature, while the other is an affection that can arise only in the spiritual world. Consciousness results only when these two meet. All perception of form must he derived from nature, and must be conveyed to the brain by the sensory nerves of the body; but all perception of quality must inflow from the spiritual world. This influx is what causes the form to affect the mind as something pleasant or unpleasant.
* Love 16.
     It is impossible to perceive form without quality, or quality without form. This is amply confirmed by common experience; for, as can be easily demonstrated, thousands of sense impulses are pouring in upon man's brain every waking moment, yet he becomes aware only of those to which he pays attention. Attention results only when some interest is aroused, that is, some affection or desire.

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Light waves are transmitted to the brain from the eye, sound waves from the ear. The impact of particles floating in the air, of particles in solution, or of forces and objects striking the skin, all are conveyed to the brain by sensory nerves. All of these enter from the material world; but the way we feel them, our mental reaction to them-whether they strike us as pleasing or displeasing-this varies according to what we call our "state of mind." It is determined, not from without, but by something that seems to come from within ourselves. That is why the same sense impulse will be delightful to one and painful to another; and why, even to ourselves, it will be pleasant at one time, and utterly distasteful at another time.
     Contrary to the appearance, however, affections or emotional reactions do not originate within ourselves. They come to us from the spiritual world; that is, from spirits in that world who are associated with us at the time. Just as the body and brain together constitute an organ sensitive to the forces of nature, so the soul and the mind together constitute an organ sensitive to the forces of the spiritual world. Physical sensations obviously come to us from our natural environment; but normally, while we are in the body, we are not aware of our spiritual environment, nor of the source from which our affections arise. Consequently, they appear to originate within ourselves, or to be produced by the material objects around us. The result is that our life seems to belong entirely to the natural world. We have no realization whatever of the fact that we are in constant association with spirits.
     The reverse is true of those who by death have passed into the spiritual world. They are consciously aware of other spirits and angels, just as we are aware of other men. They see and feel spiritual objects, which appear outside of themselves, just as we perceive material objects. They do not realize that they are present with men any more than men realize the presence of spirits. Yet every impulse that wakens spirits to consciousness must originate in the material world. It must reach them, not through their own organs of physical sensation, for these have been left behind at death, but through the physical sensations of men still living on earth. Spirits cannot be affected by light waves or sound waves, or by the pressures of material objects, because they have no organs of sensation to receive these mechanical activities; but they can be affected by the impression made by these sense impulses upon the minds of men still living in the body. Light waves must be transformed into sight, sound waves into hearing, various kinds of touch must be turned into odor, taste or feeling before they become perceptible to spirits; but when this has been done they perform the same function for spirits that the material environment performs for men.

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They provide, as it were from below, an impulse of form, which meets an influx of affection or love, coming, as it were, from above. Spirits are not in the least aware that the impulse of form comes from men with whom they are unwittingly associated, because the forms appear as objects outside of them in their spiritual environment, while, as with men, the affection with which these objects are perceived, seems to arise within themselves.
     Concerning this interdependence of the two worlds we read in no. 9 of the work The Last Judgment: "All things in man and with man are both from heaven and from the world, those of his mind from heaven, and those of his body from the world; for the things of heaven flow into his thoughts and affections and dispose them according to reception by his spirit, and the things of the world flow into his sensations and pleasures, and dispose them according to reception in his body, but still in accommodation to their agreement with the thoughts and affections of his spirit. . . . When a man passes from the natural into the spiritual world, which takes place when he dies, then because he is a spirit he no longer subsists on his own basis, but upon the common basis, which is the human race. He who knows not the arcana of heaven may believe that angels subsist without men, and men without angels; but I can affirm from all my experience of heaven, and from all my discourse with angels, that no angel or spirit subsists without man, and no man without spirits and angels, but that there is a mutual and reciprocal conjunction. From this it may now he seen that the human race and the angelic heaven make one, and mutually and reciprocally subsist from each other, and thus that the one cannot he taken away from the other."*
* See also HH 100, 304.
     It must not be supposed from the above teaching that every spirit and angel is immediately present with some particular individual on the earth. This would be impossible, because the number of spirits is far greater than the number of men and is increasing continually. For the most part, those who are immediately present with men on earth, and who receive the impulse of form directly from them, are spirits in the world of spirits whose state is as yet more nearly similar to that of those on earth. These spirits receive the influx of affection either from the angels of the natural heaven or from spirits in hell, who depend upon them for the impulse of form. So also, the angels of the natural heaven receive the impulse of form directly from spirits in the world of spirits, and the influx of affection from angels in the spiritual heaven. Similarly, the angels of the spiritual heaven receive the impulse of form from those of the natural heaven, and the influx of affection from angels of the celestial heaven. And finally, those in the celestial heaven receive the influx of form from angels of the spiritual heaven, and the influx of affection immediately from the Lord.

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The same law applies to the evil spirits of the first, the middle, and the lowest hells. The devils in the lowest hell pervert what inflows immediately from the Lord, turning it into its opposite by refusing to acknowledge that it comes from the Lord, and claiming it as their own. It becomes in them the love of self and the love of dominion over others, instead of, as with the angels, the love of use from love to the Lord and charity.
     The same law applies to the individual man, who draws sense impulses from the outer world and stores them in his memory. From this storehouse he draws forth more interior and more complex sense images, and from them builds the imagination. From these again he produces abstract concepts which are still more complex, and of these all his thoughts are made. And finally, from thoughts he derives perceptions, which are the deepest and most complex of all. On each of these mental planes, what he feels, and thinks, and perceives may be inspired either by love to the Lord and charity, or by the loves of self and the world. In this respect there is a complete analogy between the individual and the race, because the spiritual world, including both heaven and hell, is the mind of the Gorand Man, while the human race on earth is the body of the Gorand Man. Reflection will demonstrate the truth that we can have no thought, however abstract, which is not based on some sense experience or on a combination of such experiences. Every abstract term in the language is derived from a root connected with sense experience. We can imagine or conceive nothing that is not made up of forms we have actually perceived with our bodily senses. This because it is a universal law that there can be no conscious perception of any thing apart from some sense impulse derived from the world of nature.
     As a corollary to this, it becomes evident that although the angels are immeasurably wiser and more intelligent than men on earth because their affections are purer, they can understand only in terms of the scientific knowledge already acquired by men on earth. The wisdom of the Most Ancient Church was necessarily based on the scanty external knowledge of the time. So also was the intelligence of those who belonged to the Ancient Church. In fact, those who lived in ancient times are forever limited to the knowledge and experience of their day; that is, limited for everything which they can perceive within themselves, on the basis of their own earthly experience. Yet this personal foundation can be perpetually broadened and modified by what they receive in the way of information and instruction from others who lived in later times. Therefore they can increase in wisdom and intelligence perpetually by virtue of the advance in scientific knowledge which can be passed on to them from those newly arrived from earth. Therefore the most ancient people might be compared to those who die in infancy.

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These have scarcely any earthly experience of their own, and yet they can continue to learn from others to eternity.
     But if men on earth have an indispensable gift to offer those who lived in former times, the reverse is equally true. The celestial affections of the most ancient people, and the spiritual affections of those who belonged to the Ancient Church, provide for men, even today, the inspiration for all advance into heavenly intelligence and wisdom. The teaching in regard to this is specific: "The inmost, or third heaven," we read, "does indeed live distinct from the heavens which are below it, yet, unless there were a reception in the second or middle heaven, its wisdom would be dissipated. In like manner, unless there were reception of the light and intelligence of this heaven in the lowest or first heaven, and of this finally in man's natural, the intelligence of these heavens also would be dissipated, unless it should be provided by the Lord that there should be reception elsewhere. Wherefore the heavens have been so formed by the Lord that the one serves the other for reception; and finally, man, as to his natural and sensuous, serves for the lowest reception, for herein the Divine is in the ultimate of order, and passes into the world."* In this latter number it is said that because of this dependence of the heavens upon the human race, "the Lord provides from His Divine that there shall be a church among the human race in which there shall be revealed Divine truth, which on our earth is the Word. By means of this there is a continuous connection of the human race with the heavens. Therefore it is that in every detail of the Word there is an internal sense which is for the heavens, and which is of such a nature that it conjoins angelic minds with human minds by a bond so close that they act as one."
* AC 4618. See also AC 9216.
      This explains why Divine revelation must be given on earth by means of a prophet who is a man still living in the body. It also explains why the Lord had to come into the world in a physical body, in order to reveal to angels as well as to men the true nature of His Divine Human; and it also makes clear why, only after the Lord had come on earth and the ultimate image of His life in the world had become part of the actual experience of the race, could the rational truth concerning His Divine Human be set forth understandably to those in both worlds through the Writings of His second advent.

     We have said that spirits and men are unconscious of one another's presence, when yet each is constantly receiving something essential to his consciousness from the other. We would inquire further just why this is so.

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     Consciousness arises only where the attention is focused. While man is living in the body his attention is focused almost entirely upon his material environment. We say, almost entirely, because he can, by determined effort, withdraw attention from things about him and concentrate his thought upon things pictured in his imagination, or even upon abstract concepts. However, even then his interest is centered upon the relation of these things to his natural life; and furthermore, he does not perceive them as things outside of himself, but rather as things which, relative to material objects, are unreal and idealistic. For this reason his focus of attention continually falls back into the realm of nature, which appears as the only ground of reality because there things exist outside of himself, independent of his ever-shifting states, reliably constant and fixed.
     It is just the opposite with spirits, whose attention is focused almost entirely upon spiritual things; that is, upon the various forms of love and their uses. These forms they perceive as existing outside of themselves, in the Divine of the Lord. What they see is to them real because it exists in and from the Lord, possessing qualities that are not dependent upon their shifting states, but are eternal and unchanging forms of truth and good. To them the spiritual world, made up of these permanent things, is illimitably more real than the world of nature. They know that there is a material world. They know that all the forms which appear to them have been derived from that world. But their interest is centered not upon the natural qualities of these things, such as size, weight, structure, density, etc., which are the primary objects of man's investigation, but solely upon the spiritual qualities which they embody-qualities of love, and wisdom, and use.
     So complete is this absorption in what is perceived as an environment that no one, either in heaven or on earth, can possibly realize the intimate interdependence of men and spirits. This realization could be granted only to one who, like Emanuel Swedenborg, was permitted to live consciously in both worlds at the same time. He was aware of both environments as existing outside of himself. For this reason he could know where his inner feelings, affections and loves came from. He could trace them to the spirits who were present with him. On the other hand, these spirits, through him, could become aware of the material world. They could trace the source of their ideas and thoughts to his mind, even while they recognized him as a person distinct from themselves. This was permitted by the Lord in order that the inner truth concerning the relation of the two worlds might be known. This was of paramount importance, because without a knowledge of this relationship no rational understanding is possible of how the Divine Providence operates for the regeneration of men and the eternal perfection of the heavens.

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     However, there is something else that must be understood. We have been speaking of particular influx, and of how, by means of this, the two worlds are inseparably conjoined. It must be provided, however, that both men and spirits can act independently of one another. If this were not so, human freedom would be impossible; for in that case men would be the slaves of the spirits attendant upon them, and the spirits with them could receive sense impulses only from the mind of the man with whom they were associated. Neither men nor spirits would have any freedom of choice. To protect this freedom, the Lord provides that part of the mental life of both men and spirits shall be governed by general influx. In regard to this influx, men are completely independent of spirits, and spirits are equally independent of men.
     Spirits can inflow into men only as far as the memory and imagination. They can inspire affections and desires, but they have no control over the way in which these affections may go forth into speech and action. This outward expression takes place by means of general influx, in which spirits have no part. Spirits, therefore, cannot compel man either to speak or to act, as long as man retains his liberty and rationality. In cases of insanity or of mental disorder, man may indeed become obsessed; but every normal human being, as long as he lives on earth, has the power to select the kind of spirits who are permitted to influence his speech and action. This he can do by directing his attention to things that invite one kind of spirit to inflow, and repel another kind.
     The converse of this is also true. Spirits are dependent upon men for the sense impulses which stir their affections and rouse them to conscious life. But how these sense impulses may be used, how they may go forth into speech and action directed toward other spirits, and how they produce the spiritual objects that appear in their environment, all this is governed by general influx, and gives opportunity for spirits to exercise free choice, and thus to live their own life in their own world.
     Concerning this we read in no. 5862 of the Arcana Coelestia: "Those things which from the thoughts are determined into speech, and those which from the will are determined into acts of the body, flow in order into act by general influx, according to correspondences with the Gorand Man; and therefore the spirits who are with man have nothing in common with these things; thus they do not speak through man's tongue, which would be obsession; nor see through his eyes, nor hear through his ears, what is in the world. It is otherwise with me, for the Lord has opened my interiors so that I might see the things in the other life: hence spirits have known that I was a man in the body, and opportunity has been given them of seeing through my eyes things in the world, and of hearing those speaking to me who were in my company."

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     It is evident from this that Swedenborg's experience was unique; yet it was such as to illustrate the true relation between men and spirits in a way that could not otherwise be done.
     If spirits were aware of the person on earth from whom they derive their sense impulses, they would be deprived of all power of self-determination, and would become like puppets moved by another and having no volition of their own. This was permitted in the case of certain spirits present with Swedenborg in order that the truth might be revealed. "A spirit," Swedenborg writes, 'supposed himself to be completely me; and that he was endowed with a body." When Swedenborg spoke, the spirit thought that he himself was speaking in natural language; and when Swedenborg stretched forth his band, the spirit thought that it was his hand, and that he was stretching it forth. "When other spirits insisted that they were as it were my body," the number continues, "it was granted to tell them that my body [was] adjoined to my spirit, so that there is a body of my spirit, and that the body of his spirit [is] dead: and therefore, that he merely inflowed into my spirit, as . . . [one] spirit into another. And then when my spirit acts with my body, they suppose that they acted with my body . . . [yet] that this is impossible for another spirit to possess another body, unless it should act as it were obsessed: for no spirit [except my own] suits my body. . . . There is a nexus between my spirit and [my] body, which can never be given between another spirit and my body."*
* SD 3157, 3158.
     This awareness of the body of a man could happen only to spirits associated with Swedenborg, for normally, spirits have no consciousness of the body of the man with whom they are. They are not in the least aware of his speech or of his action. They merely perceive the mental images in his mind as if these were their own; yet they think of these mental pictures in a way that is very different from that in which the man thinks of them. They have no idea of material or spatial properties. What they see are spiritual things-affections, truths, uses, in forms similar to earthly objects.
     How material ideas in the minds of men are transformed spontaneously into spiritual ideas in the minds of spirits was demonstrated to Swedenborg by means of a representation: "As I have been now continuously for nine years in company with spirits and angels," he writes, "I have carefully observed how the case is with regard to influx. While I have been thinking, the material ideas of my thought appeared as it were in the middle of a kind of undulation, and I noticed that this undulation was nothing else than such things as had been adjoined to that subject in the memory, and that the full thought appears in this way to the spirits; but that nothing else then comes to the man's apprehension than that which is in the middle, and which had appeared as material.

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I have likened that surrounding undulation to spiritual wings, by which the thing thought of is elevated out of the memory. From this the man has perception of a subject. That in that surrounding undulation there were innumerable things which agreed with the subject thought of, was made evident to me from the fact that the spirits who were in a more subtle sphere thereby knew all those things which I had ever known on that subject; and thus that they fully imbibe and put on all things which belong to the man; and genii, who attend solely to the cupidities and affections, imbibe and put on those things which are of the loves. To illustrate this by an example. When I thought of a man whom I [knew], then the idea of him, such as it appears when his name is mentioned before a man, was presented in the midst; but round about, like an undulating volatile something, was every thing that I had known and thought about him from childhood; whereby the whole of him, such as he was in my thought and affection, appeared among the spirits in an instant. Moreover, when I [had] been thinking about any city, then from that undulating sphere that was round about, the spirits instantly knew all that I had seen and known about it. The case was the same with matters of science."*
* AC 6200.
     By this we understand that while a man is thinking about an object, picturing it as to its physical properties and as to its external use, the spirits with him perceive, not the object itself as a material thing, but that spiritual counterpart of it which Swedenborg saw represented as an undulating sphere; that is, they saw the affection, the inner truth, the spiritual use which were the real cause and origin of the object. Thus while they beheld the form, they thought of it spiritually, while the man was thinking of it naturally.
     This helps to explain how angels and spirits, although they have no knowledge whatever of any earthly language, can seem to a man with whom they are, to be speaking in his own language. This because they inflow no farther than into the ideas or mental pictures in the man's mind, causing him to feel their affection or delight as if it were his own. But when the man tries to communicate these ideas to others by means of speech, he does so spontaneously, by general influx, in which the spirits have no part. Wherefore it is said: "Spirits and angels can speak with men in any language, because their thought falls into the ideas of the men and thence into the words of their speech."*

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Again: "Angels who talk with man do not talk in their own language, nor in any language unknown to the man, but in the man's own language with which he is acquainted. . . . I have talked with angels about this, and have said that perhaps they thought they were addressing me in my mother tongue, since it was so perceived; and yet it was I and not they that spoke; and that this is evident from the fact that angels cannot utter a single word of human language."*
* AC 10752.
** HH 246:1, 2.
     This explains how spirits are present with man while he is reading the Word, when yet they have no idea whatever of the literal sense, but understand only the internal sense, of which perhaps the man knows nothing. 'The internal sense of the Word," we read, "is especially for those who are in the other [world]. When those who are there are with a man who is reading the Word, they perceive it according to the internal sense, and not according to the external; for they understand no human words, but only the sense of the words, and this not according to the man s natural thoughts, but according to their thoughts which are spiritual. Into this spiritual sense, the natural sense that is with the man is at once transmuted, just as one turns the language of another into his own which is different, doing it in an instant. So is the sense of natural human thought turned into spiritual, for spiritual language or speech is proper to the angels, and natural language or speech to men. That there is so sudden a change of as it were one language into the other, is because there is a correspondence of each and all things in the natural world with those in the spiritual world."*
* AC 5648: 2.
     It is evident from this that what passes over from men to angels, or what both share in common, is mental pictures, tangible forms. Men look upon these forms as material objects, and express what they see in natural language: but the spirits look upon the same forms as spiritual objects, and speak of them in spiritual language. This is not so surprising, for men of different countries spontaneously think of the same object quite differently, each one seeing it against the background of his own experience, and speaking of it in his own language. So also, what a man thinks of naturally while he is in the life of the body, he will spontaneously and instantaneously think of spiritually when he comes into the other world. This is what is meant by the miracle in Cana, when at the marriage feast, the Lord turned the water into wine. Even while he is on earth, man can to some degree learn to think as the angels do. He can partially withdraw his mind from the pressure of the material environment and lift it into the sphere of spiritual thought, especially by reflecting upon the internal sense of the Word, as that sense is now explained in the Heavenly Doctrine.

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As to his spirit, man is in the other world. He can see spiritual truth, and think from it, in states of reflection when his mind is withdrawn from the natural world. Yet, while he is on earth, this abstract thinking is possible only as a result of conscious effort, which cannot be long sustained, and which cannot be entirely separated from material ideas. But after death this spiritual thinking continues, becomes normal and spontaneous, and is freed from the pull of any earthly environment. It is not something new that he must learn suddenly, but something that he has been doing all the time; the only difference is that now the impulse from below, the sense of form, no longer comes directly from the material world by way of the physical sense organs, but reaches him from the sense images in the minds of men.
     This idea of the intimate relation of men and spirits is so alien to the thought of the modern world that it cannot but seem fantastic to the scientific minds of the present day; yet it is the only rational explanation of man's mental experience. The revelation of this truth opens the way to a new understanding of the laws governing human psychology. We here have touched upon only a few of the highlights of the subject as it is laid open for us in the Writings. The wonders waiting thereto be discovered and put to use are unlimited, and the opportunities for future New Church scholarship are wonderful to contemplate.
USES OF WORSHIP 1960

USES OF WORSHIP              1960

     "By worship, in the internal sense, is meant all conjunction through love and charity. When a man is in love and charity he is continually in worship, external worship being merely the effect. The angels are in such worship; with them, therefore, there is a perpetual sabbath; and from this the sabbath, in the internal sense, signifies the Lord's kingdom. But man, while in the world, ought not to be otherwise than in external worship also; for by external worship internal things are excited, and by means of external worship external things are kept in holiness, so that internal things can flow in. And besides, man is thus imbued with knowledges, and is prepared for receiving celestial things, and is also gifted with states of holiness, although he is unaware of this; which states of holiness are preserved to him by the Lord for the use of eternal life, for in the other life all states of life return" (AC 1618).

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SPIRIT OF TRUTH 1960

SPIRIT OF TRUTH       Rev. RAYMOND G. CRANCH       1960

     "If ye love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth Me no more; but ye see Me: because I live, ye shall live also." (John 14: 15-19)
     The Lord came on earth to save the human race, and through His words and teachings it was possible for the true Spirit of truth to come among men. The Spirit of truth is the Lord's presence in men's minds, and that presence has been made more effective for salvation because of the Lord's dwelling among men in His Human made Divine. The Lord's coming on earth, as made known in the Gospels, has increased His power for good in the lives of all, even in the most humble and external of men.
     The difference in the Lord's presence with men before and after His resurrection is this. Before the glorification of the Divine Human, the Lord appeared to men through the angel of Jehovah. The angel of Jehovah was an angel infilled with the Lord's spirit, so that the commands of the Lord could be transmitted to men. After His resurrection, the Lord, through His own Divine Human, could be immediately present with men, enlightening and vivifying the truths of the Word in their minds. Through the mercy of the Lord, angels are permitted to co-operate in the leading of men; but supporting all the work of the angels stands the Lord Himself, present in the sun of heaven, and enlightening all of the human race, wherever they may be. This presence of the Lord, after His resurrection, was so greatly strengthened that it is said in the Word: "Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of His people, and healeth the stroke of their wound" (Isaiah 30: 26).

     When the Lord was in the world, just before His crucifixion and resurrection, He said to His disciples: "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come.

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He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you" (John 16: 12-14).
      From the Writings we learn that the Spirit of truth is the Lord Himself, present with men, since the resurrection, in a fullness never before possible. This fullness of truth on earth, even on the lowest planes of life, is based on the life and teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, which have now been opened in the Writings of the New Church. The truths revealed through the second coming of the Lord are the fulfillment of the truths made known in the world through the Gospels.
     The revelation of truth is always adapted to the comprehension of those to whom it is given. In the Most Ancient Church there was open communication between angels and men. The reality of the spiritual world was never questioned then, because there was a living, conscious communication with heaven. When men turned to more external things, and to evil, this communication with heaven was closed, and the Lord provided a representative church through which an indirect communication with heaven was possible. As men, through their evil loves, further separated themselves from the Divine, it became impossible for human freedom to be maintained without a more ultimate revelation, and this was provided by the coming of the Lord on earth as a man.
      Not only was the human race on this earth redeemed by the Lord's coming, but His coming on this earth as a man was used, in providence, as a means toward a more ultimate conjunction of the Lord and the inhabitants of other earths. Swedenborg tells of the value to other planets of the testimony of those from this world to the fact that the Lord had lived here as a man.
      To every generation of the human race the Lord gives those truths which are necessary for salvation, and this through a constant series of adaptations. The Old Testament gives us a picture of an all-powerful God, able to subdue His enemies and to deliver His chosen people by miraculous means. Animal sacrifices were permitted to the Israelitish Church because of the external states of the people; but more interior things were taught also by the old Hebrew prophets, who were inspired to bring out what lay more deeply within Divine revelation. For example, we read in the first chapter of Isaiah as follows: "Bring no more vain oblation; incense is an abomination unto Me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts My soul hateth; they are a trouble unto Me; I am weary to bear them. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

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Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: but if ye refuse and rebel, e shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken" (vv. 13-20).
     From these teachings it is clear that even in the Jewish Church there was adequate moral teaching from the Word to raise the members of that church above the sensual ideas connected with their animal sacrifices. It was similar at the time when the Lord came on earth. He educated His disciples to see the internal things represented by the Sacred Scripture. This is illustrated by His words to the two disciples going to Emmaus, of which we read: "And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself" (Luke 24: 27).
     When the Lord was fully glorified, after His resurrection from the grave, He fulfilled His promise and sent the Spirit of truth, that He might abide with them forever. The early Christian Church interpreted this promise eventually as involving a trinity of persons, consisting of Father Son and Holy Spirit. But the teachings of the New Church show us clearly that God is one, and that the appearance of a separate Son and Holy Spirit is an adaptation to the minds of those not yet able to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as the one God of heaven and earth.
     At the time of the Council of Nice, in the fourth century of the Christian era, there was much dispute as to the Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Among other views, some wished to acknowledge Him merely as a great human leader, others as the Son of God. This was less damaging to the church than to make Jesus Christ merely a man. Some later theologians, such as Michael Servetus, have acknowledged the unity of God, but others came into a false belief in a trinity of persons.
     When the Lord made His second coming, through the truths contained in the Writings of the New Church, the interior doctrine concerning the unity of God was fully revealed. Now we know that the Lord Jesus Christ is God in fullness and unity, and that the appearance of three persons was only for accommodation to the minds of those not yet able to receive the full truth.
     A similar accommodation has been made, through Divine mercy, in regard to eternal life in heaven. In the Gospels we find an appearance that there is a resurrection of man's natural body. This appearance was an accommodation to the minds of those men who were so immersed in external and natural things that they could believe in a life after death only if they could think of the natural body as rising again from the grave.

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We are taught in the Writings that it is better for such persons that they should believe in the resurrection of the natural body than that they should completely deny eternal life.
     Only the Lord could be raised as to the whole body, because with Him the sensual degree was made Divine. The spirits of all human beings are withdrawn entirely from the body that they may live in heaven.
     The truth in regard to the Lord's creation of a heaven from the human race is one of the foundations upon which our church stands. Those who believe in a life after death, into which we enter immediately after life in the world, are those who can truly acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ as the one God of heaven and earth. These are they of whom it is said: "Because I live, ye shall live also" (John 14: 19).
     We live because of the Lord's presence with each and every one of us. The Divine proceeding is the operation of the Lord throughout all creation. The Writings teach us that the "spirit" which the disciples received from the Lord meant the Divine truth, and intelligence therefrom (AE 518). It is said that this is called the Holy Spirit; but the appearance of separateness was permitted, in providence, to help external men to understand.
     The Lord, when on earth, breathed on the disciples, and said: "Receive ye the Holy Spirit" (John 20: 22). From the Writings we learn that the wind of respiration signifies spiritual life (AE 419: 5). The gift of spiritual life from the Lord to His disciples may be compared with the gift of life to Adam. We read: And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground. and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" (Genesis 2: 1). It is from the correspondence of breath as representing spiritual life that we have the common expression of a man being inspired to do this or that.

     Truth proceeding from the Lord by means of the Word is the source of man's conscience. In the Spiritual Diary, no. 5855, conscience is described as grief that one has acted contrary to the Divine commandments, also that one has thought contrary to them, and it is said: "He who possesses religion, and loves Divine things, has conscience, for he experiences pain if he had thought, intended, and still more if he had done, anything opposed to the Divine."
     Enlightenment is granted to man through the Spirit of truth as found in the Word. To sin against the Holy Spirit is to deny the Divine of the Lord, or to deny the truth of His Word. The reason it is taught that the sin against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven is that to deny the Divine of the Lord is to close the door of the spiritual mind against Divine truth, and thus to reject Divine influx.

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Sin against the Son of Man can be forgiven, because that represents a wrong interpretation of doctrine from the Word; and wrong interpretation of the natural sense of the Word does not involve rejection of the Word as holy and as Divine revelation.
     The Lord says: "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me" (Revelation 3: 20). This shows that without willingness on the part of man to receive the Lord, it is impossible for him to enter into spiritual life. Man's freedom of choice is always maintained by the Lord through man's spiritual environment, and through attendant spirits who hold him in a state of equilibrium.

     The Divine leading of men is shown clearly in the following quotation from True Christian Religion, describing how man can prepare himself to open the door when the Lord knocks. "In the precise degree in which man prepares his understanding by means of truths from the Word, does he adapt his understanding to receive faith from God, and precisely as he prepares his will by means of works of charity, does he fit his will for the reception of love from God, as when a workman cuts a diamond he fits it to receive, and emit, the glow of light, and so on. One prepares himself to receive God, and to be conjoined with Him, by living in accordance with the Divine order; and the laws of order are all the commandments of God" (no. 110).
     We do not really wait until after death to enter heaven or hell, for we are already in the spiritual world as to our minds, according to the choices we make here and now. With the regenerate, the Lord is constantly making His advent to each man, which is made possible by the Lord's constant gift of free will in spiritual things. The Lord's resurrection on the third day involves His continual resurrection with each regenerating man every day, and, as the Writings put it, even every moment.
     The presence of the Lord with every man in heaven and in hell, while he is still living on earth, is shown very clearly by these words from the Apocalypse Explained: "Whatever man thinks or wills is either from hell or from heaven. If he thinks and wills evil, it is from hell; but if he thinks and wills good, it is from heaven. Thought and will in man are not possible from any other source. The man who supposes that he thinks and wills from himself is not aware of this; but I can assert from all experience on this subject that everything that a man thinks and wills is from one or the other of these sources.

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For this reason, moreover, the man who thinks and wills evil is actually in hell; and where one actually is while he lives in the world, thither will he come after death. He can come into no other place, because man's spirit is formed and made up of those things that he thinks and wills" (no. 86).
     "And when He was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, He answered them and said, 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). Amen.

LESSONS:     Psalm 139. John 14: 15-31. True Christian Religion 139.
MUSIC:     Liturgy, pages, 473, 462, 448.
PRAYERS:     Liturgy, nos. 88, 111.
IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1960

IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES              1960

     The May-June issue of the NEW AGE contains the first installment of an article, "The Importance of a Just Idea of God," by Mr. Erland J. Brock. In the same issue is published an account of a journey from Sydney across the Blue Mountains made by the Rev. John Teed, with a view to discovering whether the librarians in the various country towns would be interested in accepting selected works of Swedenborg for display on their shelves. The journey appears to have been successful.

     In a NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER article on stewardship, a subject much discussed in the Protestant world today, the Rev. Louis A. Dole extends the concept far beyond that of giving time and money to the church. Using the definition of stewardship as making the right use of all the things which have been entrusted to us, he points out that New Church men are stewards of something far more important than personal talents and resources. The Lord in His second coming gave the doctrines on which the New Church was to be founded, and the New Church is therefore distinguished from other churches by its teachings. Stewardship is most vitally involved here, says Mr. Dole. The church can be built only on the revelation given to it. To draw people into a church before flying its true colors is dangerous as well as fundamentally wrong. People thus brought in have no real understanding of what they are doing, and the church itself becomes merely a "fellowship."

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GOD'S WORLD 1960

GOD'S WORLD       JOHN J. SCHOENBERGER       1960

     Commencement Address, 1960

     (Delivered at the Commencement Exercises of the Academy Schools, June 17, 1960.)

     I am the father of five children. I love my children dearly. On occasion I even feel proud of some of their accomplishments. And yet every parent, I imagine, must at one time or another see his children for what they really are: imperfect human beings. For many of their imperfections the parent feels, and frequently is, at fault. There is nothing more perfect than a newly born infant, as something to start with; but the years go by, and even if parents do their very best, still, they make mistakes. And why shouldn't they make mistakes? After all, they have never raised a family before, nor are they likely in this life to undertake the job a second time.
     How is it, then, parents being the inept fumblers that they are, how is it that we have here before us today such a healthy, well-trained, happy and goodlooking group of young men and women who are the Academy's graduating class of 1960? Not only your parents, but the whole church is proud of you! Your parents being such miserable failures, how has this been possible?
     The answer, of course, is obvious. Your teachers have done this wonderful thing to you. Teachers, unlike parents, do not make mistakes. The students are not their own progeny. They love their students dearly, but objectively, and see them clearly without rose-colored glasses. Teachers, furthermore, have the same ages, the same states, the same problems to deal with year in and year out. Instead of one teenager to handle, they have each year a whole roomful of them. They can strike an average, they can learn all the answers, and year after year the same answers to the same problems while teaching the same subjects. Teachers, unlike parents, have experience in abundance. They don't bury their mistakes, as the doctors do. They just flunk them. This is their work in life. Unlike parents, they know what they are doing, and they get paid for it.
     This may sound like some good-natured ribbing of a noble profession, and perhaps it is.

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At the same time, though, it is an acknowledgment of the great debt that is owed by all parents for the wonderful work being done with the young people of our church by the individual teachers of this unique institution. As one individual parent, I certainly admit freely my shortcomings and failures, even if I try to excuse them for lack of practice; and at the same time I am grateful for the excellent work consistently done by excellent teachers, even if I do think their part of the job is in many respects easier than my own.
     Much of the trouble with trying to make a commencement address, like the trouble with trying to raise a family, is that you get only one crack at it. Most people escape the pleasure entirely, and why I was tagged will probably just never be known. Members of the class of 1960, if I do nothing else whatever with this opportunity, I want at least to direct my words to you.
     Almost all commencement speeches are about "the world." Graduates leave schools and "go out into the world." So commencement speakers talk about the world. They warn graduates about the world, try to give them tips on how to get by in the world, how to win the battle, how to defeat the world, or how to acquire it. They urge graduates toward accomplishment of great things in the world, especially in the world of employment and business. Worldly success is the standard subject. It is often cleverly suggested to the graduates that they are better than the world; that they deserve, by reason of their fine education and training, not necessarily to earn but rather to wrest from the world a good living; not merely to fit themselves nicely and usefully into the world, but to do so-called bigger and greater things than that; in a word, to overcome the world, to master it and to possess it.
     Compounding this attitude, as far as we New Church men are concerned, are the necessary and oft-repeated warnings about things "purely worldly"; the dangerous imputations concerning "love of the world"; and various other admonitions against "worldliness" in general. In their proper contexts such expressions and the implications which go with them are certainly very right and necessary, but sometimes the lessons or the contexts tend to escape us and we are left, from their much repetition, only with words that have become wrongly and perhaps too strongly tainted. All in all, the world, in much writing and in much conversation, is made out as a pretty sorry place or thing, to the point that to pronounce its name is almost to say a nasty word. Throughout recorded history, men who have maligned, ridiculed, shunned or despised the world have been generally put down as good men, sometimes even as pious or saintly; while any love of the world, however respectful, has tended to mark the evil or selfish man.
     Is it worth it, to be graduating today and standing at the threshold of such a world?

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Is it worth the effort that has been put into our scholastic endeavors and achievement? And if our education is really for heaven, is there not some way to skip this sorry interlude?
     If there be any danger of anyone getting into such a doldrum as that, I hope he will follow along with me here this morning, as we look at the coin's other and infinitely brighter side.
     It is God's world, and the real question is: Are we, in our lifetime, proving worthy of the scheme, the plan, the creation into which God has placed us? The answer to that question will determine our final destiny, and will also determine whether the Academy's education for heaven will have been fruitful, or presumptuous.

     It is a simple but beautiful story in Genesis that tells us not only that God created the world, but also that "God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good." Even man was good, at first. But, even in paradise, how long did his goodness last? Who are we to blame now something we call "the world"-if by that term we mean an entity outside of ourselves-for something that in reality can be predicated only of human minds, our own minds? We cannot escape evil, it seems to me, nor can we really defeat it, resist it, or shun it by the mere device of assigning it to other persons in what we call the world, or to any other aspect of an over-worked concept called "worldliness." Isn't it better to recognize the fact that evil that really is evil is a perversion attributable only to our own individual selves? I agree that the only way to handle evil is to shun it, but I do think the point needing emphasis is that evil is something to be shunned in one's self, whenever it is found lurking or seeking entrance there, and that there is some danger of a blind self- righteousness if our attitude instead is one of shunning the world-the world in which God himself has for good purpose placed us.
     Graduates of 1960, I should like to comment on some of the main areas of life in the world as it faces you this Commencement Day. I want to mention some of the things which make the world such a good place to live. I realize you have no choice in the matter, and I have no lots to sell, either on earth or on the moon. Both places, however, are included in my concept of the whole world of time and space, mind and matter, and all that is involved in worldly life as a preliminary to what will be eternal life in the "other" world.
     This world of ours includes things spiritual as well as things natural, and of all the things we have in the world, the first and all important is the church. In the Jewish Church, the world is everything; it is man's world, to be enjoyed by him and if possible possessed by him, immortality being but the worldly record of each man's worldly life.

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In the Christian Church, the world is nothing, or at least nothing lasting; and at best the Devil's world, which on Judgment Day will be destroyed. To the New Church man, the world is neither everything, nor nothing. But it is definitely something, and something mighty important: neither man s world nor Satan's, but God's creation for the purposes of man's freedom and possible regeneration.
     Probably all and certainly most of you graduates will one day be members of the New Church. I hope you will see and feel more and more the full meaning of the familiar words, "First in our hearts!" People are wonderful, especially New Church people; but do not think of the church as merely or primarily people, any more than you would think of your church as a building, however beautiful. And when you have joined some church society, or have helped to form a new one, do try not to regard your pastor as the community psychiatrist or chief social worker. I hope you will think of the church primarily as God's sanctuary on earth, and will regard its priests primarily as God's emissaries, who would lead men rather than handle them.
     Much of our life in the world is taken up by things of the church. The rest of it falls into three main categories, which I will call work, play, and love, meaning each of these terms in its strongest human and worldly sense. By work, I mean hard work; by play, I mean thorough enjoyment of everything good and beautiful; and by love, I mean two hearts that want to beat as one. Aside from things of the church, are not these the three main categories of a worldly life that is rightly lived? The church, defined as God's kingdom or sanctuary on earth, though in the world, is not something of the world. Work and play and love, on the other hand, are of what worldly life actually consists. We are taught and guided and inspired by the church in each of these areas of life, and development in each may continue to eternity in the other life; but for the here and the now they are the three main things of God's world for each man to enjoy, if he will. I shall comment briefly on each of them.
     All of us know the meaning, the necessity and the satisfaction of work. Rudyard Kipling, in speaking to a group of students, said: "I wish you in your future what all men desire-enough work to do and strength enough to do it." I think there will always be plenty of work to do, and it is one of life's blessings that there is no work without reward, nor reward without work. I am not referring here merely to bread and butter-nor even to dessert, nor to three cars in every garage. Such things are very important, but they are not the whole picture. Getting ahead in business has become an obsession in recent years-to a considerable extent a hollow sort of thing separate and apart from the real uses served by the business itself.

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Much current literature reflects the flimsy picture of expense accounts, profitable contacts, charts, surveys, and junior executives all over the place. Friends may be few, but everybody's a customer. I am happy to observe lately what I think is a return by many to the realization that after all there is more to living than earning a living. Certainly when I speak here of work as one of the three main aspects of worldly life, I am not thinking only of something involved in making a living. I am trying to discuss here the things involved in making a life, and work is but one of them.
     The other two are play, and love. I use the word "play" in no light or flippant sense, but only for sake of the contrast with "work." It includes every activity in life indulged for wholesome fun and good pleasure-all forms of sociability, festivity, entertainment, art-both active and passive participation in all of these things. It includes sports. It includes rest. It includes also all the enjoyments afforded by nature itself-the sun, sunsets, the sea and sea-sides, mountains, daffodils, trees. All of these things you will find in God's world.
     The third area of life in the world awaiting you graduates is that of love. Work, play and love are the three good things that God's world is full of. We have already disposed, and I think respectfully if briefly, of the wholesome subjects of work and play. Equally wholesome, and I believe far more deserving of respectful comment, is the subject of love and marriage, family and home.
     Love, far less discussed with young people than vocations and recreations, is yet by far the most important category of all as far as fulfillment of your worldly lives is concerned. Any one can get a job, at least of a sort; or if he's really fussy and can afford the expense, he can pursue higher education in whatever specialized professional field he might choose. You can get all kinds of help and advice on such matters. But what about finding a good wife, or a good husband? If you don't like your job, you can always quit and try something else; and as far as play or recreation is concerned, if you don't like baseball, you can spend your leisure time with poetry, fishing, or wall to wall music. But the importance and sanctity of love require the protective institution of marriage. Unhappiness at home is infinitely more tragic than unhappiness at the office, or at the ball game. Many homes are broken by vocational excesses of one kind or another. A small home can hold just as much happiness as a large one, but toleration for financial success is sometimes sharply limited. As we all know, there is such a thing as husbands striving too much to get ahead in business, or wives excessively driving and pushing their husbands in such matters, often to the point of wrecking something far more important at home.
     Lots of people will be advising you, during the next few years, to do this with your life or that.

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I say to you that by far the most important decision and undertaking of your life, and for most of you occurring within the next five or ten years, will be your marriage. Nothing, in God's world, is more important than this. The instruction you have had looking to marriage and to parenthood is more important than all your other courses combined. Most important of all is the atmosphere of sanctity in which such matters are taught, considered, lectured on and discussed in this school of schools, where alone the Word of God is the one and only authority. To all that the Academy has given you, let me add for your practical consideration this definition, which I read somewhere recently: "A good wife is one who has a good husband," and, of course vice versa. Think about that. Think about it for a long time.
     Speaking of love, I wonder how many of you seniors think you are in love already? Well, I think that's wonderful. And, of course, if you think you're in love, then you are in love, the only question being: Will it last? There is only one way to find that out, and that is to wait and see. Meanwhile, at least keep your eyes open. But even puppy love, if my memory is any good, is pretty important business in its proper time and place, and the only thing I cannot figure out about the term "Teen Angel" is why it never occurred to me some thirty years ago.
     It is too bad that young love has to have so many problems connected with it, but nothing worthwhile in life is without its responsibilities and its protective measures. All of you know, I am sure, that the school's regulations and the dormitories' rules are for the protection of the real thing we are talking about here. But rules and regulations are not enough. Far more important is the sense of responsibility for one's own permanent welfare in such matters, and especially for the welfare of the opposite sex. All the more is this true-this regard for the other's welfare-if you think that already you have found your one and only. All of these things are preparatory for the most important eventual relationship of your lives and the establishment of many wonderful New Church homes all over the world. Love truly is a many splendored thing. Conjugial love truly is the priceless pearl of life. For young and old to conduct themselves accordingly, forever protecting this wonderful and precious thing, should be the constant goal and effort of us all.

     Work, play and love. Good, hard work, with all its satisfactions of useful accomplishment. Play and recreation, through the appreciation and enjoyment of all the world's goods, which surely at least balance its evils. Love, between one man and one woman, and all that is involved in the great undertaking of raising a family and building a home. This is what God's world has in store for you. All this and the church besides-the church, which makes it possible to see what life is really all about, what it is for.

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Never must we lose sight of the transcendent importance of human life as the initiation and preparation for life eternal, knowing that man can in no wise be formed for heaven except by means of the world. The world is important, and the world is God's world, because only in the world can be found the path that leads to heaven. The Lord, through His church, will forever show men the way; and men, through their freedom, will either make the journey or not.
     If men better respected the world for what and why it really is, don't you think their lives would be much better? This becomes more important as worldly life gets more and more complicated and life expectancy more and more prolonged. A proper respect for life, it seems to me, just calls naturally for bringing out the best in all of us. The ideals of responsibility, of conscience and sincerity, are seen to have real meaning and purpose. The reach and the constancy of your ideals will in turn be reflected in even the most external aspects of life, in qualities all too rare at this day, such as simple propriety, real courtesy, dignity, yes even honest smiles and genuine laughter.
     Education for heaven? Certainly! But it would be contradictory, and wrong, to belittle in any manner life in the world. God saw fit that it should be so. To presume a short-cut, or any different way, is presumptuous indeed. The way to heaven is here and now, and yesterday, and-especially for you graduates-many tomorrows, through many worldly states and places. Only at the Academy of the New Church could you have learned the true meaning and purpose, and thus the real importance, of life in God's world. You have been taught to look to the Lord for your guidance, and you have learned where to find Him. Your class banner declares that you "have seen His Star." Presumably you intend following that star through your lifetime; with God's help rejecting evil, choosing right, reforming in the process your very minds, until at last an entirely new will is born, which is regeneration. All that, as I understand it, is education for heaven. The Academy has given you but a start, or beginning. Further learning and further education will continue to eternity. Your teachers here have but set you on the path, have oriented you as best they are able. This, today, is the Commencement, or beginning, given you by the Academy. The fulfillment is up to you.
     It is God's world. The job for all of us is to try to live accordingly.

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REMAINS 1960

REMAINS       Rev. JAN H. WEISS       1960

     A STUDY

     (Continued from the August Issue, pp. 362-371.)

     Baptism of Adults and Confirmation.* The essential function of child baptism is to surround the child with New Church guardian angels who will keep him in a state of receiving faith in the Lord, until he becomes of age and comes into his own right and reason. Then, the Writings say, these guardian angels leave the young adult, and he attracts such spirits to himself as agree with his faith and life. This function of guardianship thus comes to an end.
* Heading: Remains and the Sacraments and Rites.
     In the meantime, the parents take on-not just for themselves as they did before, but now also for the child-the responsibility of shunning all things that are disclosed to be evil in the revelation of the Lord's second coming. This responsibility is later shifted to the child when he has become of age. So it is fitting that the taking on of this responsibility should be initiated in a rite of the church. The rite we are referring to here is called the Rite of Confirmation or Confession of Faith.
     To enter the New Church, each adult has to come in freedom, and thus in his own time, to an acknowledgment of the Divinity of the Writings. This is equally true for the man who was baptized into the New Church as a child and for the man who comes to the New Church in adulthood.
     The man who comes to the New Church in adulthood enters it through baptism; for the essential thing of baptism is acknowledgment, and determination to enter into the city, New Jerusalem. The man who has been baptized into the New Church as a child, and comes to acknowledge the Divinity of the Writings in adulthood, obviously need not be baptized, for this would be rebaptism. But it is fitting, useful, yea, even important, that he make this acknowledgment in the sphere of worship, in the presence of God and men, and before a priest. The reason for this belief may become clear when we have discussed the implantation of remains in or during adult baptism.
     If a man has become convinced of the Divinity of the Writings, if he has seen that the Lord has made His second coming, and if he wants to enter into a New Church state of mind, then it is natural for him to want to become part of a spiritual body of men who are of the same beliefs. The gate to a New Church state of mind, and the spiritual body of the church, is clearly taught in the Writings to be the sacrament of baptism.

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Baptism is entrance into the church, and the Holy Supper is entrance into heaven.
     For an adult to be baptized into the New Church, he needs to be in this acknowledgment of the Divinity of the Writings. Then, at baptism, two things happen. First of all, he is recognized and numbered in heaven among those who in heart and life receive the Lord in His second coming; and from that time on his angelic associates will be of the New Heaven, leading and inspiring him to become a true New Church man. Secondly, at the time of baptism the man is surrounded by angels of certain societies of heaven, and we believe that they will be the societies which correspond to the lips and the tongue of the Gorand Man of heaven. Through these angels the Lord will then implant in him remains of determination in regard to following up his first decision and desire to become a New Church man.
     The province of the tongue of the Gorand Man contains those who can speak from a perceptive intelligence, and they are the ones who instruct newcomers.* The tongue itself corresponds to the affection of knowing and understanding truths,** and also to religious confession.***
* HH 96; AC 4803, 1641, 2704e; 5 Mem 6.
** AC 4791.
*** AE 990.
     With the person who has been baptized as a child, and who has become an adult, the situation is very similar. The sign of baptism in the other world is still visible. This must be so, for the two uses which baptism performs to the child are the being known and enrolled and numbered among those who receive the Lord in His second coming, and the being surrounded by guardian angels of the New Heaven. When the baptized child has reached adulthood, these guardian angels leave. Yet the Writings nowhere teach that a person baptized in infancy must be baptized again in adulthood, so it would follow that the sign of baptism remains.
     But before this person can enter a New Church state of mind, he must first acknowledge the Divinity of the Writings. This must be done in full freedom. In other words, it must be done after the person has come into his own right and reason, and when he feels ready for it. It is obvious, then, that Confirmation should take place after adulthood has been reached. This fact brings about a certain connection between coming of age and Confirmation. But it is the only connection for it is quite possible that a person comes of age at twenty-one, but comes to an acknowledgment of the Divinity of the Writings at age thirty-one. The coming of age in itself is of no religious importance, for it happens to those who will go to heaven just as much as it happens to those who go to hell.

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Confirmation or Confession of Faith, therefore, has nothing to do with man's coming of age, except that, in time, Confirmation has to follow the coming of age. The essential thing of Confirmation is the acknowledgment of the Divinity of the Writings, and it is this acknowledgment that is of religious importance.
     What is left, then, is the implantation of remains of determination which may take place during the Confirmation ceremony. For we believe that if a man has come to see the Divinity of the Writings, decides to become a New Church man, and is confirmed before a priest, then the same angels of the societies of the lips and tongue of the Gorand Man will be present with him, and will be the means of the implantation of the same remains as are implanted with the adult who is baptized. And what wise man would neglect the opportunity to benefit from such spiritual gifts?
     There is one more reason why we believe that Confirmation is a useful and important rite. In it a man openly and decidedly takes a stand in regard to the New Church, and this is, then known both to those who are in the church and those who are only in the sphere of the church. Through this rite it is clear that the confirmed person is now a member of the New Church,* and that his aims are now the same as the aims of those who are already in the church. This fact may support both the one who joins the church and the church itself.
* The author is here speaking of the church as a spiritual communion. The rite of Confirmation, as administered in the General Church, does not bestow membership in any ecclesiastical body. Editor.

     The Holy Supper. The Holy Supper is said to be a sacrament of repentance, and thence of introduction into heaven. By baptism, every Christian man is admitted and introduced into those things which the church teaches from the Word concerning the other life, all of which are means whereby he may be prepared and led to heaven. This is the first gate. The other gate is the Holy Supper, through which every man who has suffered himself to be prepared and led by the Lord is admitted and introduced into heaven.
     The Holy Supper was instituted by the Lord that by means of it the church might be consociated with heaven, and thus conjoined with the Lord. But conjunction with the Lord is effected solely with those who are in the good of faith and love to the Lord from the Lord. In other words, partaking of the Holy supper in itself does not effect consociation with heaven, but only the Holy Supper with the life of religion.
     As the Holy Supper introduces into heaven, it is obvious that it is attended to by those angels in the Gorand Man of Heaven who have the function of introducing newcomers into heaven.

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The societies from which these angels are must be located all along the alimentary canal, for we know from the Writings that food enters into the body from the mouth even unto the large intestines. We must acknowledge that there are numerous societies from which such angels may come; and it seems most probable that there is an immediate relationship between the state of good and truth that is with the communicant and the type of angel who attends him.
     The fact is that the Holy Supper is a repetitive sacrament, by which we mean that man may partake of it many times during his life upon earth. In this it is distinguished from all other sacraments and rites; and as the Holy Supper is partaken of all along the way of regeneration, and each person who partakes is in a different state as to good and truth, he must therefore be attended by angels whose state and disposition are particularly adapted to his state and needs at the time.
     The teaching is that if a man approaches the Holy Supper worthily, and when seeing the bread thinks of love to the Lord, and when seeing the wine thinks of love to the neighbor, and when appropriating these thinks of receiving these two loves from the Lord, such a man enters more interiorly into the use of this sacrament, in that angels can approach more closely and even consociate themselves with the man. The angels, who do not know anything about material bread and wine, but only about love to the Lord and love to the neighbor, are in great delight; and these delights are communicated to the man, and become with him remains of good and truth.
     From this it is clear what great benefits may be derived from Communion, and it would be foolish on the part of the regenerating man to pass by these Divinely provided opportunities to receive sustenance in the trials of spiritual life. Thus it is very important that we clearly understand what is meant by approaching the Holy Supper worthily; for if we should misunderstand this, we could unnecessarily neglect opportunities to receive help from the Lord.
     We are taught that the fruits of the Lord's redemption return to those who worthily draw near to the Holy Communion; and that the Lord opens heaven to them, but not to those who approach the Holy Supper unworthily. To come to the Holy Supper worthily means to have faith in the Lord and charity towards the neighbor. From this we conclude that any man who wants to learn the Lord's truth, so that he can be in the continual effort to shun evils as sins against God, is in a state which is worthy of approaching the Holy Supper.
     Though the Writings leave no doubt that the Holy Supper is the most holy sacrament of the church, they nowhere teach anything about the punishment that will come to those who approach it unworthily.

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It is said of such an unworthy approach that there is the Lord's presence but no consociation with heaven. "If a man goes to the sacrament of the supper frequently every year and his internal has not been purified from evils, it is a hypocritical work."* Such a man will obviously not come into the Lord's kingdom, but this would be the case even if he did not go to the Holy Supper. Yet he is never punished for these acts of hypocrisy, except for those he does in the other world.
* AE 794:4.
     To approach the Holy Supper unworthily means to have no faith in the Lord and no charity towards the neighbor. From this we conclude that only the unregenerate man can approach the Holy Supper unworthily. The regenerating man has faith in the Lord and charity towards the neighbor. It may be true that he has less of these in the beginning of regeneration than later on; but this is true when we compare any two states of regeneration, even after man has entered heaven; and so it must be true that the regenerating man always approaches the Holy Supper worthily.
     It is indeed true that man must prepare himself for the Holy Supper by self-examination and repentance, but nowhere in the Writings are we told how much time such self-examination must take. The teaching here is actually very simple: "Actual repentance is to examine one's self, to know and acknowledge one's sins, to make supplication to the Lord, and to begin a new life. If this be done at stated times; for instance, as often as a man prepares himself for the communion of the Holy Supper; and if he afterwards abstains from one or another sin, which he has then discovered in himself, it is sufficient to initiate him into actual repentance; and when he is in that, he is on the way to heaven."*
* TCR 530. Italics added.
     Approaching the Holy Supper worthily thus means seeing one evil in one's self, acknowledging it, and feeling sorry about it. The abstaining from this evil comes after the Holy Supper, and this abstaining introduces man to the way to heaven. To partake of the Holy Supper worthily does therefore not require deep self-examination. Furthermore, in the beginning of regeneration we need not look long and deep into ourselves to see an evil.
     In the beginning of regeneration, the administration of the Holy Supper in the church is usually the occasion that leads man to self-examination and repentance. But later on in regeneration it will be the reverse. For then there will be more frequent self-examination, a more frequent seeing of one's evils, and the feeling of a need to partake of the Holy Supper more frequently.

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     Because of the certain types of angels that attend man during the Holy Supper there takes place an implantation of certain remains. These remains are also remains of determination to reject, as was the case with the baptism of adults. And yet there is a difference. The similarity of the remains which are implanted during baptism and the Holy Supper, in that they are both remains of determination to reject evil, is obvious from the teaching that both the Holy Supper and Baptism are sacraments of repentance. But their difference comes from the fact that baptism introduces into the church and the Holy Supper introduces into heaven. Introduction into the Church means introduction into the shunning of evils as sins against God. Introduction into heaven means introduction into the conjunction of good and truth, and conjunction with the Lord.

     Ordination into the Priesthood. That there is a need for priests in the church the Writings clearly teach. That priests are to be set apart by the laying on of hands is also clearly set forth. Not only in the church are there priests, however, but also in heaven. The use of the priesthood is thus in no way limited to life upon earth.
     That at the ordination service angels will be present may be rightly assumed, as it is a service of worship in which the Word of the Lord is read. Now the teaching of the Writings is that each portion of the Word is connected with certain societies of the Gorand Man, and it is our personal belief that this is just as much true for the Old and New Testaments as for the Writings. From this it would follow that certain angels will be present at an ordination service, namely, those who are connected with the portions of the Word that teach concerning the use of the priesthood; for it is in an ordination service especially that these portions of the Word are read and preached from.
     Now if there are priests in heaven, if there are teachings in the Word concerning the priesthood, if portions of the Word on earth connect with certain angels in heaven, it would seem safe to assume that the angels who are connected with the portions of the Word on the priesthood are in the priestly use in heaven. It is this reasoning which has convinced us that at an ordination service the candidate for the priesthood is surrounded by angelic priests, through which priests the Lord implants remains of love and truth which may serve the young priest in the subsequent carrying out of his priestly functions.
     There is no doubt about the fact that ordination is for the sake of the transfer of representation and the Holy Spirit; and when these have been transferred, the representation is not in the person, but is only attached to him as far as he is in the performance of his use. Also, the Holy Spirit is only promised, and its reception is according to the priest's love of his use and love of truth.

415



     But the attachment of the representation also brings with it certain responsibilities which are not connected with other occupations. A priest above all must see to it that he does not in any way defile the office of the priesthood by his actions. Also, he must be careful never to stand between the Lord and the people, for in this way he would interfere with their freedom. Remains implanted during the ordination service are motivations to carry out such responsibilities in a spiritual way.

     Betrothal and Marriage. The rites of Betrothal and Marriage both deal with conjugial love, and so it is obvious that in each ceremony conjugial remains are implanted. But the states into which each ceremony is to introduce the couple are quite different, so that there must also be a difference in the types of conjugial remains that are implanted.
     Betrothal signifies the conjunction of the affection of truth with Divine truth, and marriage the conjunction of the affection of truth with Divine good. In betrothal there takes place a conjunction of the interior affections in the understanding of each, and in marriage a conjunction of the affections even as to the will. The ultimate of conjunction in betrothal was shown to be the sense of the letter of the. Word, and in marriage bodily conjunction.* We note also that when we view betrothal in relation to marriage, betrothal introduces into marriage.
* Conjunction in Betrothal and Marriage: New Church Life, May, 1960, pp. 232-237.
     Now when we think of betrothal and what societies of the Gorand Man correspond to it, we immediately think of the lips of the Gorand Man. The lips are used for eating, speaking, and the expression of love. As an expression of love, the kiss is said in the Writings to signify initiation or introduction to conjunction. Though it is true that the head corresponds to the celestial degree, the mouth also performs a spiritual function; not only in speech, as in religious confession, but also in betrothal. For in betrothal there takes place a conjunction of the interior affections in the understanding, so that there is here the presence of love, but in the understanding. Thus it is through speech concerning the teaching of the Word that the two enter into the state of betrothal-which is the spiritual function of the lips; and through the kiss that there is communication of love-which is the celestial function of the lips. Thus it is that in words love is given form and communicated, and in the kiss that the interior affections are sealed and conjoined.
     From all this it would seem obvious that the angels who attend a couple at their betrothal ceremony will be from those societies of heaven that correspond to the lips of the Gorand Man.

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They will be spiritual angels, for betrothal stands for the conjunction of the understanding. Through them conjugial remains of a spiritual degree will be implanted.
     At this time other spiritual remains are recalled and reorganized, namely, those that were implanted during childhood, when the child received parental instruction in regard to the bodily aspects of marriage. And the effectiveness of the remains implanted during the betrothal ceremony will be according to the amount of similar remains implanted in childhood. Such spiritual remains are necessary to motivate the couple not only to enter fully into a state of betrothal but also to refrain from entering into a state of marriage prematurely.
     From all this it also seems obvious that the angels who attend a couple at their marriage ceremony will be from those societies of heaven that correspond to the organs of generation of the Gorand Man. They will be celestial angels, who cause the implantation of celestial conjugial remains. Here a connection is made with remains implanted in infancy, remains so deeply hidden that they defy logical analysis. From all this it is also obvious that the Lord guides and provides for man's eternal happiness in many ways and at all times. What else can man say but that it is marvellous in his eyes?

     More or Less Remains

     The Writings are very clear about the fact that some have more remains than others. Also, it cannot be denied that remains are implanted on the basis of things from this world, which imply parental and environmental influences. If, then, remains play such an important part in the regeneration of man, why would the Lord give some men more remains than others? Would it not seem that some men have more chance of salvation than others, and is not that unfair? And even if we should agree that all men have an equal chance of salvation, would it not mean that those with more remains can be saved more easily than those with less remains?
     This question is peculiar to the New Church as it involves concepts that are peculiar to the New Church. But a similar question is also present in the world around us; for psychology and psychiatry, with their case histories and statistical studies, have made a strong argument for the idea that man's adult states and his childhood environment have a definite connection. Aberrations that develop in adulthood are traced back to parental action and guidance; the many difficulties that an adult has to overcome are many times easily traceable to environmental influences of childhood.

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     In this regard we must remember that the Lord creates and provides from infinite love. He therefore cannot do anything else but create human beings who are in freedom to receive or reject His love and wisdom, to live or not to live according to the laws of the spiritual world. And it is from this that all appearances of unfairness on the part of the Lord stem. If we accept this fact, namely, that the Lord must grant us freedom, as being fair-and who would deny this-then we must simply accept negative environmental influences as a consequence of man's use of this freedom. Thus we cannot blame the Lord for the way in which man uses his freedom; and we can only admire the fact that the Lord first of all tries to undo the many evil things we do, and, secondly, that He does not permit us to do any evil unless it can be bent to good.
     If, for example, a couple had nothing else but self-love, they would either not conceive children at all, or they would kill them or rid themselves of them in some other way. For this reason, all parents are given storge, so they may love their children, and so that celestial remains may be implanted. Parents are not free in choosing their sex; they are not free in accepting or rejecting storge; but they are still free to turn this storge into an evil love of children. Thus their spiritual freedom is not taken away, and yet they are instrumental in the child's receiving celestial remains. This insures the fact that each child has the basic ingredients with which to begin regeneration. But a child of regenerating, religious parents will receive a great many more remains; and when an adult, and in freedom, will have many more motives and tools with which to begin regeneration. The child of evil parents is at a disadvantage compared with the child of religious parents.
     But let us not be mistaken here. The child of religious parents, upon reaching the age of adulthood, may cast all these spiritual gifts completely aside and become a thoroughly evil man; and the child of evil parents may work from these celestial remains and become an angel of heaven. And this is accentuated by the fact that a man is judged only in regard to what he did with what he had. The man with three talents received the same reward as the man with five talents, while the man who did nothing with his talent was cast into everlasting fire. In other words, a child with few remains can reach the same place in heaven as the child with many remains, as long as he works as hard at regeneration as the child with many remains. Parents, therefore, cannot possibly do anything that would either add to or detract from their children's heavenward journey.
     Some then will say: "Why, then, worry about the implantation of remains at all?" The answer is very simple. Parents should worry about the religious education of their children for the sake of their own regeneration, and for the sake of the Lord's kingdom in general.

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Any adult who will look into the matter for just a moment may see that in the education of children, and especially in their religious education, there is a vast field of operation for the regenerative efforts of parents and teachers.
     First of all, children help their parents in understanding their religion. Anyone who doubts this should open himself up to the religious questions of children, and he will discover how little he actually knows about the stories of the Word, about the teachings of the Writings, and about things in general. This is true also for one who has received extensive college and postgraduate education. So, if we see that we are to give our children religious education, we are immediately faced with the task of learning ourselves, not just the facts, but also the educational philosophy that is to guide us.
     But children also cause us to watch our daily actions and words, and thus are instrumental in self-examination. Anyone who doubts this should voluntarily place himself in a position where he has to guide children. Very soon he will find himself doing things which he has explained to the children to be wrong; and yet, children can never regenerate us, for we give them a fine religious education, and do what we preach, from purely selfish motives. Thus we should not only educate the children but do it because it is commanded by the Lord.
     For this work of education and regeneration we need to prepare ourselves; and the following remarks are directed not only to those who already have children, but especially to those who do not have them and to those who are not yet married. If you sincerely believe that children have a place in the Lord's kingdom, and that parents have a grave responsibility towards their religious education, then begin your preparation now. There is a great deal to learn, and there is very little time in which to learn it.
     The other reason we gave for parental religious education and implantation of remains was "for the sake of the Lord's kingdom in general." Parents who take their parental responsibilities seriously are a source of inspiration, encouragement and example to others. Because of their serious efforts they are given enlightenment by the Lord, and are able to help and lead others. With their unostentatious example they may awaken the apathetic and the lethargic. And in this way their work of education reaches far beyond the scope of their own children and their own regeneration. Such behavior is a testification to the truth of the Lord's Word, and can also serve as a means of exciting in others an interest in that truth.
     Also, we must remember that even if a child never regenerates in adulthood, he will nevertheless be better off if he has received remains.

419


For remains are tendencies towards correct behavior, and though the child may never behave correctly for the heavenly reason, he will nevertheless be able to live a more normal and orderly life on an external plane. In this way the organized church may be divested of open and destructive disorders, and thus better serve its use as an instrument in the hand of the Lord for the establishment of His kingdom.
     As members of an organization of the church specific we have grave responsibilities; and these responsibilities lie mainly in the kind of marriages we are able to foster and the kind of education we are able to give to our children. If our marriages were all marriages of love truly conjugial, our church would be a spiritual force in the world, the strength of which we cannot even imagine.
     It is upon marriages that the angelic heavens rest. It is in marriages of love truly conjugial that the hope of the world lies. And it is from marriages with offspring that the Lord's church on earth and His kingdom of heaven may be perfected. But let us never think that it is enough to be married, nor that it is enough to bring into the world as many children as possible. The church needs marriages of love truly conjugial, and children who are rightly educated and gifted with many remains. For these two things we all may prepare ourselves. In them lies the only worthwhile challenge of life. And we can only pray the Lord that at the end of life we will not be found wanting.
NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1960

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS       Rev. ORMOND ODHNER       1960

     Regeneration: Is the Internal or the External Reformed First? Nos. 591-595 of True Christian Religion, part of this month's daily readings, teach that "the internal man must first be reformed, and then by means of it the external, and thus is man regenerated." At first glance, this may seem to contradict the explanations of the Lord's words to Peter: "He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit." For in the Writings (e.g., AC 10,243) we are told that "washing the feet" signifies the purification of the natural man. Is it enough, then, in order to be saved, for man to cleanse his bodily words and deeds? If so, why are we taught that the internal man is to be reformed first, and by means of it the external?
     A careful reading of the True Christian Religion passages, however, will show that the internal and the external there spoken of are both part of the natural-part of the "feet" which alone need to be cleansed that man may be clean every whit.

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Of course man's bodily words and deeds must be cleansed before he can be regenerated, but this by itself is not enough. Any man who wants to stay out of jail will guard his words and deeds and keep them in conformity with the law. But that can be done merely from selfish and worldly motives. His natural will and thought may still be utterly corrupt, filled with all hatred and lust.
     It is this internal of the natural, the natural will and thought, that must first be reformed, and by means of it the external bodily acts and words. Hence the Lord said also to Peter: "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me." To achieve regenerate life, bodily acts and words must be purified from the Lord, not from self; and this can be done only in him who, with the Lord's help, first cleanses his will and thought of lust and falsity, and from that reforms his deeds and words.

     Imputation. This is a term not often heard in the New Church today; yet in the True Christian Religion a whole chapter is devoted to it. It refers to an old theological doctrine, held by Catholics and Protestants alike, concerning the "imputation of the merit of Christ." The belief was that every man from birth was deserving of damnation, simply because of the sin of Adam and Eve; which sin was infinite, because it was transgression against an infinite God. No amount of mortal punishment and suffering could pay for infinite sin.
     It was held, however, that Christ, because born without sin, was deserving of no punishment at all. Therefore when He suffered and died on the cross, because He was a Divine being, He earned an infinity of excess merit-meritorious good. The Roman church called it the "treasury of merit." This excess merit of Christ, it was held, could be "imputed" to man-written up to man's account-and man was thereby saved. Roman Catholics were never too clear as to how this process was accomplished; the process had to be begun by God, but it could be aided by man's good works thereafter. Protestants held in general that it was effected in that moment when man received from God the unmerited gift of faith in Christ. In either case, the idea of imputation formed the basis for the doctrine of the vicarious atonement.
SPIRITUAL THOUGHT 1960

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT              1960

     "To think spiritually is to think of things themselves as they are in themselves, to see truths in the light of truth, and to perceive goods from the love of good; also, to see the qualities of things, and to perceive their affections, abstractly from matter" (HD 39).

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REVIEW 1960

REVIEW              1960

OUR FUNERAL CUSTOMS. By Martin Pryke. General Church Publication Committee, Bryn Athyn, Pa., 1960. Paper, pp. 16. Price, 20 cents.

     This is one in a series of pastoral pamphlets projected by the General Church Publication Committee and designed, not for missionary use, but for the guidance of our own people. The author's thesis is that customs associated with death and the disposal of the dead, while varying greatly, have always sprung from men's beliefs concerning the nature of this life and of the life after death. It is therefore necessary for us to separate our customs with regard to funerals from false beliefs, and to bring them into accord with the teaching of the Writings.
     With this in mind, Mr. Pryke brings to the reader's attention some teachings which bear upon the subject, and suggests certain practices and developments which it is believed will help us to avoid expressions of false beliefs while strengthening us in the teachings of Divine revelation. Far from desiring that a uniform pattern of practice should be imposed upon the church, the writer is aware that many factors may justify modifications of what is here suggested, and he realizes that not all of what is said here will have application in any one locality. His intention is to express a general line of thought which appears to be expressive of the feelings of the church, and which, while subject to change and further development, may be of service to our people.
     It is with this highly reasonable approach that the pamphlet discusses the nature of death, disposal of the body, and the memorial service. We commend this pamphlet to the thoughtful consideration of our readers; and suggest that the points it raises be thought about when the mind is free, and not under the double stress of grief and the power of tradition to which death may expose even a New Church home.
RECEIVED FOR REVIEW 1960

RECEIVED FOR REVIEW              1960

TALKING WITH GOD-THE HEALING POWER OF PRAYER. By Gwynne Dresser Mack. New Church Prayer Fellowship, Pound Ridge, N. V., 1960. Paper, pp. 66. Price, $l.00.

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HIDDEN PERSUADERS 1960

HIDDEN PERSUADERS       Editor       1960


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published by
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.
Editor - - Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager - - Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, changes of address, and business communications, should be sent to the Business Manager. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.

TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$5.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy, 50 cents.
     Perhaps one of the most general and constant temptations to which we are exposed is that which is involved in the conflict between cynicism and confidence. Every day brings testimony of graft and corruption, inefficiency and waste, self-seeking and disregard for duty in public and private life. Many are so convinced of the non-existence of sincerity and rectitude that for a man to show signs of either is to invite speculation as to what more subtle means he is using to gain his own ends. And there are malignant spirits who would secretly persuade us to the same view, and for whom the current scene provides much material.
     It is true that too much of human conduct is suggested or determined by self-interest or self-indulgence. But that is only part of the story. Behind the human scene is the Lord's Divine Providence. If there is little evidence of spiritual good in the world, there are men and women who practice moral and civil good, and these are still goods with which the Lord can be present. Many who are still strangers to sincerity and rectitude will eventually be regenerated by the Lord, and even those who will not are still under His government.
     There is no place for cynicism in the New Church, nor in it need we blind ourselves in order to withstand persuasion. For the Writings do not call us to faith in man but to trust in the Lord. And the possibility for the human race which they reveal is neither an inevitable destiny nor one which mankind numbers among its delusions; it is a destiny which can be attained only from the Lord, and one that will always be chosen by a sufficiency of men to safeguard the race from destruction.

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LIGHT AND THE BUSHEL 1960

LIGHT AND THE BUSHEL       Editor       1960

     Recently we were asked if it is ever correct for a New Church man to describe himself as a Protestant. Whether the New Church is a Protestant denomination was the subject, not too long ago, of a lively debate in one of our contemporaries. Those who wish to claim the title may argue that any Christian who is not of the Roman Catholic Church, the Old Catholic Church, or the Eastern Church is, by definition, a Protestant. But words have connotations as well as denotation; and the term, Protestant, certainly has the connotation of denominationalism. It suggests that the body using it is in the main stream of Christianity-a place which the Christian churches themselves have rightly denied to us.
     The fact is, that the loosely used terms, Catholic and Protestant, both apply to persons within the first Christian Church, and the New Church can no more be classified as one or the other than the Christian Church can be fitted into one of the recognized divisions of Judaism. If a Protestant is one who protests, then surely we protest the dogmas of the Reformers as well as those of Rome! And if, in an older sense, a Protestant is one who bears witness, then surely, in witnessing to the truth of the Heavenly Doctrine, we bear witness against all false doctrines, not merely those which have come from the Vatican.
     Elsewhere in this issue we quote the warning of a New Church minister against drawing people into a church before flying its true colors. We agree that to do so is both wrong and dangerous. To say, as is now being done in print, that the New Church, in the true spirit of Protestantism, must lead back to the Bible, and that it is a basic principle of the church that the Holy Bible is the inspired Word of God, is, in our opinion, highly misleading. More than that, it is to hide under a bushel the light which the Lord has given at His second coming, and which He has entrusted to the care of the church.
OBLATE CHILDREN 1960

OBLATE CHILDREN       Editor       1960

     When Samuel, child of prayer, had been weaned, his mother presented him to the Lord according to her vow; and in the Middle Ages it was common for parents to dedicate children in their early years to the monastic life. These were the oblate children; separated by the action of others from a world they scarcely knew, and educated in the seclusion of the cloister.
     New Church parents who believe that children are the heritage of the Lord will surely desire that the sons and daughters they have presented to Him at baptism will eventually become dedicated to His service.

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They know, however, that this cannot be brought about by parental decision or act; it must be effected by the child himself when he comes into his own right and reason. They know also that truly to be set apart is not to withdraw from the world, but to perform a use to the Lord, His kingdom and society by an active life in the world, while keeping one's self from evil-from the loves of self and the world. And they know, further, that dedication to the Lord is the result of regeneration, entered into freely and rationally in adult life; that it is an inner, not an external setting of ones self apart.
     Yet if we cannot give our children to the Lord, we can assuredly lend them to Him, and this in a way that may most effectively help them to make their choice in adult life. And is not this what we do when we place our children under New Church education, either in the schools of the General Church or the Academy, or in the home? There they are brought daily to the Lord in His Word. There, throughout their formative years, they can be protected, and gradually armed, against the spheres that would erode their innocence. There, while being made fully ready for an active life in the world, they may be prepared also for one that will be a life of spiritual use. There they may be moved to that love of the doctrine and life of the New Church which separates man, internally and externally, from evil and devotes him to the Lord.

     Mistaken as the medieval practice was, it had a scriptural basis; and with these things in mind, may we not see in an event of this month more than just the beginning of another school year? In the re-opening of school may we not see rather, in the true sense, the re-presentation to the Lord of His oblate children; not a prosaic response to the school bell, but an acceptance of the Lord's renewed invitation: "Suffer little children to come unto Me." For while we cannot really give our children to the Lord, what we are doing in their education, and our motive in doing it, may be a strong influence that will help or hinder their final decision to seek from the Lord the life of use.
PROPOSED EXCHANGE 1960

PROPOSED EXCHANGE       G. A. DE C. DE MOUDRAY       1960

Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:

     Please accept my congratulations on the example you set of tolerance and generosity towards other sections of the New Church.
     In the May issue, on the subject of "Our Contemporaries," you say: "The Winter Number of the NEW-CHURCH MAGAZINE contains, as is usual in that journal, several interesting articles"-a generous statement which must warm the heart of everyone grieving over bickerings between different sections of the church.

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In the same number you comment favorably on an article by the Rev. Arthur Clapham in the NEW-CHURCH HERALD.
     In the June issue, on the subject of "The Church at Large," you bring to the notice of your readers news and developments associated with Conference in South Africa, Mauritius and West Africa, and, associated with Convention, in Philadelphia and Boston.
     You are, I think, alone in taking these particular measures. But I should like to avail myself of the hospitality of your columns to congratulate the editor of the NEW-CHURCH MAGAZINE, who is also working for breadth of New Churchmanship, though in another way-by opening his columns to the reasoned views of New Church men, to whatever camp they may belong. The NEW-CHURCH MAGAZINE has thus become a forum for friendly New Church argument.
     I hope that in the future, when future generations look back on the early part of the 20th century as, I fear, a comparatively cold and dark age for the New Church, your name and that of the Rev. George Hill will be remembered with honor as having done much to spread light and warmth.
     While I am on this subject, I wonder how many General Church ministers read the NEW-CHURCH MAGAZINE? I have been surprised to find that comparatively few among the Conference ministers I know read NEW CHURCH LIFE. This is a deplorable state of affairs; for these are the two learned journals in which, more than anywhere else, the necessary rethinking of New Church doctrine takes place-a phrase used by the Rev. George Hill in his last year's presidential address to the New Church College. No one would doubt the importance for New Church ministers to be aware of developments of thought in the Christian, and even non-Christian, world around us; how much more important must it be for us to be aware of developments of thought within our own fold.
     The fact that so many of our ministers do not try to keep abreast of thought in what are at present, unfortunately, in some measure rival organizations, must be partly, perhaps even largely, due to their exiguous stipends-to the fact that they cannot afford to subscribe to these journals. If this diagnosis is correct, the remedy is obvious: there should be a free issue to them of at least these two journals.
     But who is to make the first move? We have in our New Church organizations no Secretaries of State for Foreign Affairs, no Diplomatic Corps. How can feelers be put out delicately to probe such possibilities?
     G. A. DE C. DE MOUDRAY

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Church News 1960

Church News       Various       1960

     HURSTVILLE, AUSTRALIA

     A happy event early in 1960 was the eagerly awaited marriage of the Rev. Donald L. Rose and Miss Noelene Miller. It gave, among many other things, an opportunity to wax poetical in describing the occasion: the church's beautiful new chancel, and its new interior colors of mushroom and blue; the flowers that tried to outdo the bride for beauty, but could not quite succeed; and the simple but moving New Church marriage service combined to make it a really happy day.
     An interesting evening once a month on Friday is Mr. Rose's "Omnibus Night." We have had films and slides, hymn practice, tape recordings and talks. At present there are talks on astronomy and the other earths in the universe.
     A series of doctrinal classes being given at present by Mr. Rose is on the books of the Writings. Each work has become better known to us. Individual reading of sections of the works has been our homework.
     So far this year we have had as visitors Mr. Graeme Maclesy of Canberra, and Ken Heldon of Duntroon Military Academy. Just returned from overseas is Mrs. Ferran, who visited Bryn Athyn and spent some months in England and on the Continent. While on the subject of travel, I might say that the arrival of Mr. Charles S. Cole and the Rev. Douglas Taylor from Bryn Athyn is awaited with pleasure.
     In two sermons at Easter time, Mr. Rose considered the alternating states of humiliation and glorification which the Lord experienced on earth. He explained how each state of humiliation, while an apparent separation from the Divine called the Father, was actually a state of progress toward closer union. During the last and most grievous temptation and state of humiliation, the Divine was more closely present than ever before; the glorification was completed, and the union accomplished. On Easter Sunday, at a service for children and adults, Mr. Rose gave a talk about heaven; and it was most appropriate that at that happy time of Easter our thoughts should be turned toward heaven, to learn what is meant by heavenly happiness.
     There are few things that children like better than a fancy dress party, One, called a Fairy Frolic, was held in April, and, measured in terms of fun, was a winner all the way. Lots of nursery rhyme characters were there in parson; and one, Wee Willie Winkie, alias Diane Wootton, won first prize in the girls section, while Owen Heldon as Little Miss Muffet, complete with spider and tuffet, led the boys.
     There was another party for the children on Saturday, June 18, and during it Mrs. Fletcher gave a talk about New Church Day. On Sunday morning Mr. Rose gave an address to the children and the adults in which he showed why the New Church must at first be with a few people. In the evening, after a Holy Supper service, there were four short talks about the successive Divine revelations. A tape recording made by Mr. Tom Birch was played, and Mr. Rose also showed two biblical films, during which he explained briefly the meaning of the stories.
     NORMAN HELDON

     DENVER, COLORADO

     The Denver Circle was busy last spring with "housecleaning." Al Bergstrom painted the Sunday school rooms and did a very nice job. We all appreciate his efforts and the assistance he received from other members of the Circle.

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Our altar rail is in place and adds much to the appearance of our chapel. Then, too, we were the happy recipients of kneeling pads from the Bryn Athyn Church to add to our chapel.
     In January we had a visit from the Rev. Harold C. Cranch, who conducted a class on "The Preparation of Emanuel Swedenborg for Divine Revelation." This was most interesting in showing that even in his early life as a scientist he was being prepared, in that he believed that everything was from a Divine origin, and worked from that origin to the externals. Mr. Cranch also brought with him models of the Dead Sea Scrolls about which he spoke, telling of the careful way in which the priests of old had hidden them from would be attackers. We enjoyed, as we always do, having him with us.
     Our Sunday school classes have done very well with their projects this year. The Easter windows were beautiful. Mrs. Robert Junge drew the pictures of the Palm Sunday and Resurrection stories; and the children, under the supervision of Miss Aven Hyatt and Miss Mollie Tyler, colored the garments and faces by pasting glittering sand upon the pictures. More recently, the children made models of the Holy City, each child using his own idea of the pattern for the jewels in the walls of the city. The models themselves were made by Mrs. Audrey Norton.
     We have had two communion services-one on Palm Sunday, the other on June 12-and some very interesting doctrinal classes and sermons. Our New Church Day service, the final one for the season, was a combined service for children and adults, after which the children were presented with gifts from the church-bookmarks made by the teachers. The bookmarks were made of red satin ribbon, with the words, "Word of God," lettered in gold and in Hebrew. In the afternoon we all gathered at the Dan Cole home for a picnic.
     Miss Aven Hyatt and Miss Mollie Tyler have added to their teaching duties the editorship of a monthly calendar. This calendar sets forth the dates of services, topics of sermons, doctrinal class dates and subjects, and any social activities which we might have.
     We are looking forward with joy to a visit from the Rev. W. Cairns Henderson on August 7. He will conduct a Sunday service on that date. There will be two taped services during the summer, one on July 10 and another on August 28, at the chapel. Each service will be held at seven-thirty in the evening.
     We wish to extend our sympathy to the Hyatt family and to the Pitcairn family on their recent loss of loved ones; also to Mrs. Oscar Bergstrom on the loss of her sister. Mrs. Eva Anderson was quite ill in the spring, but we are glad to know that she has recovered so well.
     Our visitors this year have included Mr. Lachlan Pitcairn, Mr. and Mrs. Murdoch, and Mr. and Mrs. Kent Hyatt, brother and sister-in-law of Miss Aven Hyatt.
     The Rev. and Mrs. Robert Junge have left for the East for the summer. Mr. Junge is doing some special work there. They will visit with their families, and we hope they have an enjoyable summer. We anxiously await their return.
     MARIAN DICE


     BRYN ATHYN, PA.

     The first months of this year have flowed like a deep, swiftly moving stream of time. Many events have been like small craft sailing the surface, or familiar landmarks along the way. But the course has been profoundly affected by two tragedies. The premature passing into the other world of a youth, Barry Hess, and also of a loved and respected leader, Harold Pitcairn, left us all saddened. We have had to search our hearts and our faith in our efforts to understand and submit in spirit to the ways of the Divine Providence.
     Bryn Athyn's "concert and theater" season opened this year with a visit from the Temple University Choir in February. In March, we were entertained by the College in Because Their Hearts were Pure, and the Rep Theater in The Mousetrap.

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In April we saw this year's secondary school senior class in Our Town, and on May 1, the Bryn Athyn Orchestra gave its second concert of the year. Later in May, the Bryn Athyn Society had the privilege of being invited to a special concert by the string section of the Philadelphia Orchestra, under the baton of Eugene Ormandy. We then finished up our season with great vigor and spirit with a concert by the elementary school band, under the direction of Mr. Henry Loper.
     An event of great note took place on the evening of April 22. Instead of the usual Friday supper and class, we held a surprise celebration of the 75th birthday of a man whose contribution to the growth and wellbeing of our church on all levels has been outstanding. Mr. Raymond Pitcairn is well known and highly respected by all of us. Throughout an evening during which Mr. Lester Asplundh acted as master of ceremonies, Mr. Pitcairn's friends, associates and family portrayed the broad scope of his work and accomplishments through al] his fruitful years. Among those who spoke or sang were Mr. Randolph Childs, Mr. Don Rose, Mr. Stanley Ebert, Mr. Harold Pitcairn, Mr. Richard Gladish and Dr. Whitehead. Mr. Roy Rose made an appearance dressed as Abraham Lincoln, to remind us of Mr. Pitcairn favorite historical study. All the sons and sons-in-law rendered a humorous song. The grandchildren were present, and played "Happy Birthday" on various musical instruments. There were personal greetings from President Eisenhower and Vice President Nixon. A tremendous birthday cake was decorated with scenes from life and family. Bishop De Charms presented Mr. Pitcairn with a silver engraved plaque from the Society.
     The apparent climax of the Bryn Athyn season comes with the closing ceremonies of the Academy schools, when we enjoy visitors and friends, and wave farewell to the many young people whom we will see again next year, or in future years will welcome as guests and parents. But for several weeks before this the active domestic year has been quietly drawing to a close with the final meetings, including reports and election of officers, of the Women's Guild, the Bryn Athyn Chapter of Theta Alpha, the Sons, the Civic and Social Club, the Home and School Organization, and the Society. The primary grades have presented an outdoor entertainment and the eighth grade a play. The elementary school closing is highlighted by the presentation of certificates to the eighth grade, and of special awards in religion and in general scholarship and leadership. These ceremonies are traditionally followed by a day of entertainment which usually includes a luncheon, a swimming party, an evening supper or picnic, and a party.
     On Saturday, June 18, the upper grades of the elementary school were invited to a luncheon in celebration of New Church Day. Richard Glenn, who had recently completed eighth grade, presented a program which included speeches by his classmates Jill Pendleton, Karen Wille, Kingsley Rogers, Dale Genzlinger and George Cross. In the evening the adult banquet was held in the Asplundh Field House. Under the toastmastership of the Rev. Kenneth Stroh, we heard an interesting series of speeches on "The Challenge to the New Church." Mr. George Woodard spoke on 'Our Common Heritage," and Candidates Douglas Taylor and Kurt Asplundh on "Gates to the New Jerusalem" and "Our New Church Neighbors."
     On the following morning, at the New Church Day service, these two young men were inaugurated into the priesthood, and after ordination into the first degree were received by Bishop De Charms as ministers in the General Church. Next season they will be gone from us to commence their active ministry. And so our season ends with the commemoration of the birthday of our church and the beginning of their life's use for two promising new members of the priesthood.
     ZOE G. SIMONS


     GLENVIEW, ILLINOIS

     On February 7, a delayed celebration of Swedenborg's birthday took the form of a banquet. Dr. Hugo Lj. Odhner was our honored speaker.

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It is always surprising to find that there is a new approach to the subject of Swedenborg, despite the fact that it has been thoroughly discussed. Dr. Odhner spoke of Swedenborg's personal development as he drew near to the role of revelator. This is not new; but he gave it an unusual twist by psycho-analyzing Swedenborg in modern medical terms! He pointed out that anyone who is a visionary is now considered "a bit loony." To use Dr. Odhner's terms, a man must be a normal, conservative, "dry little thinking machine" to be accepted as normal. It became clear as this talk progressed that Swedenborg had to be extremely sane and calm to withstand the influences of the spirits who were always with him. It also took good physical strength to endure the trials imposed upon his body.
     Of course Dr. Odhner's talent had to be utilized as fully as possible during that particular weekend; so he was pressed into service on Sunday, and also addressed the school children at their festival. Everyone enjoyed having him here. It seems to this writer that his magnificent vocabulary is now much easier to understand than it was during her first year in college!
     Theta Alpha offered a pot-luck supper on Valentine's Day. Casseroles, salads and desserts were brought by the ladies as the price of admission; hot rolls, coffee, and wine for the toasts were provided by the committee. In the great variety of food it was like a smorgasbord; some of the braver and hungrier ones sampled everything. Mrs. Lenore McQueen gave a wonderful account of Theta Alpha's extension program, since published in the THETA ALPHA JOURNAL; Miss Sally Headsten discussed the subject, "Sick, or Evil?" illustrating statements from the Writings with her own experiences in social work; Mrs. John Barry sang a few songs in lighter vein; and the Rev. Jan Weiss was the genial toastmaster. A great deal of planning had been done beforehand by the chapter s vivacious president, Mrs. Burwood Kitzelman. Typing speeches, comforting distressed speakers, and even providing jokes for the toastmaster, she left nothing undone to insure a delightful evening for all. Such industry must be rewarded; in the following month she received the distinction of a second term as president, along with her devoted staff.
     Spring is here, at the time of writing. Flowers are blooming, and another teacher has announced her engagement. Miss Mary Best will leave the Immanuel Church School to become Mrs. Roger Murdoch in September. The children in her fourth and fifth grades presented Miss Mary with a toaster-oven as a wedding present. Everyone assured her it was just the thing for English muffins.
     The Glenview Sons of the Academy have kept pace with Theta Alpha. President Winton Brewer and vice president Don Edmonds edit a snappy little publication, called "The Rumble," which, like Jack Paar, thrives on controversy. These officers have revamped the outworn modes and traditions of the chapter to give it more meaning to the men of the Society. They support the Immanuel Church Boys Club, working with its counselor and directors. A poster contest was held in the school, offering generous amounts of Sons stamps for the best advertisements for savings stamps.
     In a joint effort, the Sons and Theta Alpha combined their annual banquets. Pendleton Hall was the location, the entree was Rock Cornish Hen, and the speaker was Mr. Donald C. Fitzpatrick, Jr. He described the Academy's program for better understanding of the students' problems, as well as the students' understanding of the Academy's problems. He concluded with a warm speech of welcome to the newest class enrolled in the Academy, the freshmen just graduated from the Immanuel Church School.
     Easter services were again held in Pendleton Hall. Children bringing forth their flowering plants are always a refreshing sight; now there is sufficient space in our new hall, so that no one is crowded and all can see. The floral offering made a lovely background on the chancel for the Holy Supper service which followed the children's festival. The Rev. Elmo C. Acton preached a sermon about the two Marys at the time of the Resurrection.

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     Friday suppers were moved to Pendleton Hall in mid May. Since there is now room for two sets of chairs, supper is served at the west end of the hall, and then everyone moves to the east end for singing practice, followed by doctrinal class. We have not had regular singing practices for many years. Now that a new Liturgy is in the offing we are finally learning the old one. Using a new slide projector, Mr. Acton and Mr. Weiss have presented some very fine classes in this new setting.
     The Rev. Louis B. King was a surprise guest one Sunday. His sermon on "Peace" was a fitting conclusion to a series of doctrinal classes on "Temptation" just given by Mr. Acton.
     Mrs. Bradley Smith has conducted a ladies gym class on Wednesday evenings. Students varying in number from eight to thirty have participated in shuffleboard, volley ball, and calisthenics on the cold floor of Pendleton Hall. No one will try out for the Olympics team as a result of this effort, but it was such good fun to get that tired blood going round again. Mrs. Smith received a record from her grateful class at the end of the season. The men played volley ball on Tuesday nights on a spasmodic basis. Several Friday nights after class were used for mixed sports, open to all adults.
     Four years ago Mr. Acton began a program designed to build up our celebration of New Church Day and put less emphasis on Christmas gifts for the children. Faced with this challenge, a committee formed by the Women's Guild has done great things in a short time. First they gave red and white flags to all the school children. The next year there was a transfer of the gifts usually given at Christmas to New Church Day. Preschool children received a token gift, having their larger one still at Christmas time. This token gift is unusual, too. Each year the children have been given a reproduction of one of the four animals of the Apocalypse. These were designed and reproduced by Mr. Roy Burnham. The first two were cast in plaster; the eagle, given this year, was on a silk screen print.
     For this year Mr. Burnham also created a new bookmark for the Word. Made of leather, it has the pictures shown on the Academy seal. Mrs. Kenneth Holmes, with the assistance of Mr. Acton, designed a beautiful little book for the first grade. It has fifteen pages of selected passages from the Apocalypse, printed on white paper, and ten illustrations hand colored on red paper. The book is called The Crown of the Ages, and was produced by many, many ladies who met at the home of Mrs. Raymond Lee to fill in the stenciled lines of the drawings with water colors. The finished product is truly unique. This committee, headed by Mrs. Lee and Mrs. Holmes, has made great progress in creating distinctive and appropriate gifts.
     GLORIA BARRY


     THE CHURCH AT LARGE

     General Conference. At the annual meeting of the Manchester Swedenborg Association the Rev. R. A. Preston was elected chairman, and the address was given by the Rev. R. K. Howes, who spoke on "The Scripture Doctrine of Heaven and Hell." The Rev. Harry Hilton was elected president for the next session, and the officers of the Association were appointed as local organizers for a meeting in Manchester sponsored by the Swedenborg Society in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the founding of that Society. The meeting is to be held in the Albert Hall, Peter Street, on Saturday, October 22.

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CHICAGO DISTRICT ASSEMBLY 1960

CHICAGO DISTRICT ASSEMBLY       GEORGE DE CHARMS       1960



     Announcements
     The Chicago District Assembly will be held at Glenview, Illinois, Friday, October 14, to Sunday, October 16, inclusive, the Bishop of the General Church presiding.
     All members and friends of the General Church of the New Jerusalem are cordially invited to attend.
     GEORGE DE CHARMS,
          Bishop
EASTERN CANADA DISTRICT ASSEMBLY 1960

EASTERN CANADA DISTRICT ASSEMBLY       GEORGE DE CHARMS       1960

     The Eastern Canada District Assembly will be held in Toronto, Ontario, Saturday, October 8, to Monday, October 10, inclusive, the Bishop of the General Church presiding.
     All members and friends of the General Church of the New Jerusalem are cordially invited to attend.
     GEORGE DE CHARMS,
          Bishop
CHARTER DAY 1960

              1960

     All ex-students, members of the General Church and friends of the Academy are cordially invited to attend the Charter Day Exercises, to be held in Bryn Athyn, Pa., on Friday and Saturday, October 28 and 29, 1960. The program:

     Friday, 11 a.m.-Cathedral Service, with an address by the Rev. Geoffrey S. Childs

     Friday Afternoon-Football Game

     Friday Evening-Dance

     Saturday, 7 p.m.-Banquet

     Arrangements will be made for the entertainment of guests if they will write to The Hostess Committee, do Mrs. Harris S. Campbell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
VISITORS TO BRYN ATHYN 1960

VISITORS TO BRYN ATHYN              1960

     People coming to Bryn Athyn who need assistance in finding accommodation will please communicate with the Hostess Committee. Please address letters to: The Hostess Committee, c/o Mrs. Harris S. Campbell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

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FORTY-FIFTH BRITISH ASSEMBLY 1960

FORTY-FIFTH BRITISH ASSEMBLY       FRANK S. ROSE       1960


VOL. LXXX
OCTOBER, 1960
No. 10
     LONDON, JULY 30-AUGUST 1, 1960

     We in England always look forward to our British Assemblies, but this year more than ever because we knew that Bishop De Charms would preside for the first time at a British Assembly since 1953. We were not disappointed. With Bishop De Charms in the chair we enjoyed good humored and earnest discussions. Attendance was encouraging, and the City Temple, which we were using for the first time, proved to be eminently suited to our needs.

     First Session. After tea and refreshments from 5:30 p.m. onwards, the Assembly opened officially at 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 30, with prayer and a reading from the Word. We were situated in the Conference Room at the top of the City Temple, clean, bright, and with plenty of room for us to sit comfortably.
     The Rev. Erik Sandstrom read messages of greeting, and the Rev. Frank Rose moved that the report of the proceedings of the 44th British Assembly as printed in the NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1959, pp. 513-516, be accepted as the Minutes of that Assembly. This motion was carried. We then beard from the Chairman of the British Finance Committee (the Rev. Alan Gill), and, later, the treasurer (Mr. Kenneth Pryke). The significant item in the latter report was the fact that the ?3,000 pledged by the B.F.C. for the support of a third priest in England was now all but exhausted. Bishop De Charms spoke of this, and said that the General Church had agreed to help carry the cost of the work of the third man for another year. He expressed his feeling that there is a need for three men in England to carry the work of the Open Road and the groups on the Continent. He said that Mr. Rose had a new plan for the work here that might lead to growth.

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     The next item was the ratification by the Assembly of Bishop De Charms' nomination of Mr. John Posthuma and Mr. Herbert Ward to continue as members of the British Finance Committee. This was carried. After many years of service, Mr. A. Stanley Wainscot decided not to accept re-nomination as auditor, so a new man was nominated to perform this function. He was Mr. Philip Waters of Shenfield. He, and our longstanding auditor, Mr. Alwynne J. Appleton, were the only two men nominated. Accordingly, the secretary was instructed to cast a unanimous ballot electing them as auditors to the B.F.C. for the coming year.
     These B.F.C. matters occupied us for just under an hour. We then focussed our minds on the presidential address, entitled "Natural and Spiritual Charity" (NEW CHURCH LIFE 1960 p. 349 ff.). Bishop De Charms pointed out that the actual formation of spiritual charity is a hidden process. The most we can do is to cultivate the soil in which it can be born. A useful discussion followed in which we heard from all of the ministers and two laymen.

     Worship. For the meetings on Sunday, we descended to the Hall of the City Temple, a spacious room used for plays and such things, and allocated to us that day to keep us from interfering with the services being conducted in the rooms above. Indeed at least two of their congregation attended our service through a slight misunderstanding. They were American tourists, seeing the sights of London. On entering the City Temple they saw a young man who told them that the service was downstairs, and who handed them a copy of the Assembly Program.
     Traditionally, and for good reasons, the Assembly service is the best attended of all Assembly functions. We had a congregation of 155, of whom perhaps one-fifth were children. Bishop De Charms preached on the miracle of healing the poisoned pottage (II Kings 4), and explained that this represents how men, in their ignorance, often mingle false ideas or explanations with the teachings of the Word so that it is unfit to nourish the mind of man. This is why the Lord reveals Himself anew in a revelation which contains genuine truths. These truths act like the meal cast into the poisoned pottage, restoring the Word to the use of man.
     After the service we walked to the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral-visited by Swedenborg shortly after it was completed-and arranged or bunched ourselves, blinking in the hot sun, to act as a tourist attraction to all passers by, and to be recorded on the Assembly photograph-with the photographer, Mr. Brian Appleton, urging us to look at him with both eyes, please.
     We then had time to stroll to the Quality Inn for lunch, and so back to the City Temple for the Holy Supper service at 3:30 p.m.

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The Rev. Frank Rose gave a short address on "Presence and Conjunction" (HD 213), and the sacrament was administered to ninety-three people.

     Second Session. On Sunday we keep business to a minimum. At the Second Session we had two reports, both by the Rev. Frank Rose. The first was in his capacity as visiting pastor, and the second as editor of the News Letter. In the first he explained the new plan for 1960-61. The work will be concentrated on a few places, in the hopes of building one of them to the point where it can have a resident pastor. Guildford seems a possibility and accordingly it will receive two visits a month during the coming year. Other places will receive monthly visits, although this will mean cutting down the number of visits to places farther afield. The B.F.C. has agreed to buy the pastor a new car with the idea that this will greatly facilitate the new plan.
      For the News Letter, Mr. Rose reported that 168 copies are distributed in England (121 of them to members of the General Church); 86 go to North America; 8 to Scandinavia; 9 to Holland; 8 to France; and a few to Austria, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Switzerland, Spain and Germany; a total of 260 copies in eleven countries.
     The address at the Second Session was by the Rev. Alan Gill on "The Divine Mercy." He pointed out the striking teaching that even the celestial angels are saved, not because they deserve it, but out of pure mercy. And yet man is responsible because he can choose to accept or reject the Divine mercy.

     Third Session. On Monday morning we returned to the Conference Room on the top floor for the Third Session. The Rev. Erik Sandstrom elaborated on the report he had written for the July News Letter, which stated that the British Academy had concluded that we are not yet able to plan a high school for the church in England. Mr. Sandstrom stressed the idea that this does not mean that the project has been abandoned. It has merely been postponed due to the small number of students we would have to teach, only about 3 or 4 in each age group, and to the difficulty of getting an adequate teaching staff.
     The report touched off a vigorous discussion. The Bishop re-iterated his hope that we might be able to start with a two-year course instead of attempting the full five-year high school (ages 11 to 16). Others pointed out how difficult it is to transfer students to the good schools at the age of 13, when the system in this country provides for their entrance at 11.
     On the positive side, the British Academy could report that it has already committed itself to two new uses: the summer school for young people and adults; and financial help to those desiring to further their New Church education, each case to be judged on its merits.

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     It was necessary to cut short the high school discussion in order to leave time for the paper by Mr. Sandstrom on "Petty Evils." One interesting point made was that any evil we can observe in ourselves is petty compared to the evils that are unseen. It was a very stimulating address, but it did not leave us much room for self-justification or spiritual laziness. In the discussion there was some question about the relative wickedness of leaving milk-bottle tops around the house and committing murder. Mr. Sandstrom felt that the latter was undoubtedly worse than the former, but stressed the idea that evils should not be tolerated simply because they seem trivial, and quoted the Swedish proverb: "Small wounds and poor friends are not to be treated lightly."

     Social. On Monday evening we returned to the Hall for our Assembly Social. Mr. Stanley Wainscot set out a varied and interesting program of entertainment, including dancing; a musical trio, Erik and Elisabeth Sandstrom and Norman Turner; a miniature ballet dancer, arms provided by young Eva Sandstrom, and legs and face by Mrs. Sandstrom; and a one-act play. The ladies of Michael Church then proved themselves to be hostesses to the Assembly in deed as well as in name by providing refreshments unsurpassed in our British Assemblies. After the dishes were cleared away we had our imitation wine, in deference to the fact that the City Temple is temperate, and launched into the program of toasts. Mr. Rose introduced Mr. Reginald Law, who toasted future British Assemblies; and Mr. Gordon Colebrook, who reminisced about his early days in the church and toasted the priesthood. After two spontaneous toasts of thanks, Bishop De Charms was introduced to have the last word at the Assembly. He urged us to have courage in trying to meet the needs of our children. We must not forsake our goal of further New Church education in this country. After the Bishop's remarks, we gathered around, and, with Mr. Victor Tilson at the piano, sang the forty-fifth Psalm.

Statistics.

Saturday Tea      84     
First Session      99     
Worship          155     
Sunday Lunch      130          
Holy Supper      98     (93 communicants)
Sunday Tea           95
Second Session      85
Third Session      94
Social          79

132 people signed the roll: 56 from London, 44 from Colchester, 21 from other places in England, 8 from U. S. A., 2 from Sweden and 1 from Canada.
     FRANK S. ROSE,
     Secretary of the Assembly

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     New Church Club.
     Because the Club is non-denominational, we are obliged to treat of it apart from the Assembly itself. But the Club wisely meets just prior to the Assembly in order to make it possible to hear from a guest speaker, and in order to have Assembly visitors attend the meeting. On Friday, July 29, thirty-five men crowded the Wynter Room of Swedenborg House to hear from Bishop De Charms on "The Nature of Particular Influx." One-quarter of these were members of the General Conference-a tribute to the universal esteem in which Bishop De Charms is held. There was a lively and affirmative discussion of the address.
SENSE OF GUILT 1960

SENSE OF GUILT       Rev. ORMOND ODHNER       1960

     "If the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all My statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?" (Ezekiel 18: 21-23)
     Between the facts of science and the truths of religion there can be no possible disagreement. Both proceed from the Lord, the one God of heaven and earth, and in Him all things are a one. If disagreement appears, either the so-called facts are not facts, or the so-called truths are misconceptions of truth. But disagreement -between the theories of science and the truths of religion is possible, for theory is man-made, and is not necessarily truth or fact.
      Modern psychology-the science dealing with the human mind-and particularly its subdivision of psychiatry, which is concerned with the treatment of mental and nervous disorders, is today, in one respect at least, diverging subtly and dangerously from religious truth, and is rapidly undermining the importance of a matter of charity-the revealed modes for the conquest of sin and deliverance therefrom. And this it is doing in its treatment of the sense of personal guilt, as the philosophy of that treatment spreads into the everyday thought of the common man.
      Dealing with mental and nervous disorders or upsets, psychiatry has found that many of them indeed stem from the sense of personal guilt. Seeking to alleviate these disorders-either simply to bring "peace of mind" to the individual, or, better, to restore him to useful membership in society-it therefore strives to do away with that sense of guilt.

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It explains the evils of the patient's past, his aberrations of thought and desire and conduct, as normal or natural or universal, or as due to influences of infancy or childhood over the implantation of which he, of course, had no control, and for the results of which he therefore has no personal responsibility. The evils and aberrations themselves, it follows, are no cause for worry and anxiety, for self-condemnation, for any morbid, depressing sense of personal guilt.
     And it is notable that in many instances psychiatry undoubtedly succeeds in these efforts. It rids the patient's mind of its depression, upset, disorder or illness; restores him to normal; and returns him to a happy and useful place in society. By explaining the evil away, it frequently does away with its recurrence in the future. Let that not be ridiculed, doubted or denied.
     With the work of psychiatry among the insane or the mentally unbalanced we have no quarrel. These are more properly the patients of science than of the church. Even to tell a lie to such a patient might be admissible, just as poison must at times be introduced into the body to restore it to health; for the lie can be explained, if remembered at all, when the patient returns to the mental norm.
     But with certain aspects of psychiatry's work with normal human beings, and these it is more and more seeking for its cures, we do disagree. And we, in spite of our perhaps peculiar quirks, our odd modes of life and thought, must be considered normal. Yet we have known many neurotic and psychotic upsets arising from the sense of guilt, and would therefore be considered proper patients for the psychiatrist.
     Is it true, then, that the evils and aberrations of our own past are simply normal and natural things, universal to all men? that they are due to some infantile or childhood influence for which we are not to blame? that explanations of their causes will wipe them away from our past, our present and our future? that anxiety over them, self-condemnation and the sense of guilt are therefore without reason or purpose? If this be all, then indeed man has no free will and religion is a farce. Let us, therefore, tear down our churches. But no: let us build them bigger and more luxurious, as palaces of social life; let us fill them with every external allurement and attraction; and let us preach in them such religion as will satisfy and make happy the natural man. For even if we lie to him about future delight in heaven, it matters not, if only it will serve his happiness on earth: he will never wake from the dead to discover the lie.
     Guilt! What do the Writings say concerning it, as they seek to guide man to more than momentary happiness and worldly usefulness?

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"If," we read, "when a man betakes himself to evils, as is the case with many in youth, he feels any anxiety when he reflects upon his having done what is evil, it is a sign that he will still receive influx through the angels from heaven, and it is also a sign that he will afterwards suffer himself to be reformed; but if when he reflects upon his having done what is evil, he has no anxious feeling, it is a sign that he is no longer willing to receive influx through the angels from heaven, and it is a sign also that he will not suffer himself to be reformed" (AC 5470). "Man is guilty when he does evil from both the understanding and the will" (AC 9012). "He who would be saved must confess his sins, and do the work of repentance. To confess sins is to know evils, to see them in one's self, to acknowledge them, to make one's self guilty and to condemn one's self on account of them. When this is done before God, it is the confession of sins. To do the work of repentance is to desist from sins after one has thus confessed them, and from a humble heart has made supplication for remission, and to live a new life according to the precepts of charity and faith" (HD 159-161).
     Anxiety for past evils, then, is a spiritually healthy sensation, for man is indeed guilty of the evils of his life. But from those evils he may be saved, if only he will go to the Lord, and say, as did the prodigal son, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son" (Luke 15: 18, 19). Not one of his past transgressions will again be mentioned unto him, if only he will turn from his sins and live according to the commandments of God. For the Lord hath no pleasure at all that the wicked should die, but only that he should return from his ways, and live.

     Now, it is true that man frequently attaches guilt to many things of his life where no guilt belongs; and his own happiness, and his use to others, will be served by his seeing this. So it is with the evils or injuries he inflicts upon others entirely by accident. "To the man who does evil," we read, "but does not think evil, the evil which he does is not imputed" (AC 1327). A man's life consists in his will and his understanding, and these do not co-operate in accidental evils. Such evils, therefore, though they may well upset his peace of mind, and though he may he held legally responsible for them, are yet never imputed to him as sins; and any sane man can see this easily, both from common sense and from revelation.
     Yet again, even many New Church men condemn themselves unnecessarily for what are simply natural appetites and functions of body and mind. It is to be remembered that one of the most successful modes of attack the devils employ against man is to fill him with such complete self-condemnation that he thinks his spiritual case is hopeless, and therefore will not try to better it. Obviously no blame or evil attaches to man for that which God has implanted in him.

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Study will show what these things are: calm and sane reading of the Writings, with neither preconceived opinions nor a spirit of self-justification. So will talk with men older and wiser than one's self, and so will the teachings of science.
     Again, some persons blame themselves for things that actually and inevitably arise from influences in infancy and childhood. Research, either by one's self or by another, can discover these. Entire basic traits of character can have such an origin. Man is by no means to blame for their existence in himself; he is not their creator or originator, although, as can be seen, he is to a large extent responsible for what he makes of them; even as it is said that man is not responsible for the thoughts of evil that inflow into his mind from hell, but only for those thoughts of evil that he welcomes and entertains.
     Man's life, the Writings say, consists of both will and understanding together, not of either alone; and that only becomes of his life which springs from both together. What, then, of evils of ignorance-evils done when man knows no better, when he does not know that they are evils? "If man does evil from ignorance," we read, "this is not imputed to him, because he did not purpose it to himself, nor does he confirm it" (CL 529). Obviously, such evils are not truly of the man's life, for they have not been confirmed by the understanding, and it is both will and understanding together that make human life.
     If, then, in self-examination one discovers such evils in himself-and every sincere man must-is he to make himself guilty of them? Yes, he is! He is to acknowledge that they were evils, and that he enjoyed them: otherwise he would not have committed them. But he is to see also that he committed them unwittingly, and that therefore they have not become an integral part of his life because his understanding has not confirmed them. And now, seeing them, confessing them, and acknowledging them as evils, let him seek the Lord's help in overcoming them, and help he will need, to the extent that they have become habits.
     Again, what of those evils, possible evils, that man sees and understands to be evil, yet still commits; not from his internal mind, for this despises them, but as necessities springing from causes to be found in himself or in customs of human society that he cannot control, ignore, nor yet surmount? In several places in the Writings these are carefully delineated. The man, we are taught, who indulges such evils out of necessity-to preserve his sanity or ideals, to carry on his use in society-is not to condemn himself for them, any more than the Lord or the angels condemn him. In the Lord's sight they are "not unlawful." But let him recognize them for what they are, and watch them closely.

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It is far too easy to drift from them into self-justification, and self-justification is the nearest thing there is to an unforgivable sin.
     All disorderly acts or thoughts are evils, but not all of them are sins. Those alone are imputed to man as sins in which both his will and his understanding co-operate; and of these things he is undeniably and personally guilty, and had best make haste to acknowledge it.
     So it is with the evils of character or of life that spring from influences in infancy or childhood. Man is not responsible for the existence of these influences; but to a great extent, though not always completely, he is responsible for allowing them to become a part of his life. He is responsible and guilty, that is, to the extent that his will and understanding, his liberty and rationality, accept them. For they do not act through him, but only act upon him; and when he recognizes that truth, and takes steps in life appropriate to it, they no longer control him, and he no longer makes their evils his own.
     Yet again, when a man understands a thing to be evil and still commits it, then, if absolute necessity did not force it, he is guilty. "To see and understand that a thing is evil," we read, "and still do it, makes a man guilty of it" (AC 9069). This because his understanding then agrees, at least tacitly, with his will.
     Man is guilty when he does evil from both the understanding and the will. For these spring from the whole of his life together and become part of his life itself; and of all such evils, those that are premeditated are the worst, since both the will and the understanding calmly and purposely co-operate in committing them.
     It is true that man is led to think and will and do each and every single thing by others; in the last analysis, by those who are in the spiritual world. He himself is not the origin of either good or evil. He is led into one or the other by the action of heaven or hell. But this action, this influx from the spiritual world, is not and cannot be action through the man, It is only action upon him. Were it action through him, he would have no free choice; neither good nor evil could be imputed to him; and he would not be capable of being reformed. But man has rationality and free will; it is in these that his humanity consists. Therefore we read: "As both good and evil depend upon man's free choice, he becomes guilty when he acts of himself from evil, and blameless when he acts of himself from good" (TCR 154). All evil is from hell, it is true. But the evil man acts from hell as though he acted from himself; he believes that he acts thus from himself; and thus does his living faith appropriate the evils to his life.

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     For the evils he does in his freedom, and according to his rationality, man is undeniably and personally guilty. For them he will be condemned to hell, unless he acknowledges his guilt and takes steps accordingly. And let him haste to do this, lest in this, his night, his soul should be required of him. Let him go humbly to his heavenly Father, and say: "I have sinned against heaven, and before Thee, and am no more worthy to be called Thy son." For thus alone may his guilt be wiped away.
     As long as he lives on earth, no man is hopelessly or irretrievably guilty. The Lord has no pleasure at all in the death of the wicked. It is His one only desire that man shall turn from evil, and live; and if man does that, his every evil will be remitted.
     It is true that man must fight against the evils which assail him from hell; and he must fight the harder, the more he is personally guilty of evils. But the battle is not impossible, even though it be hard and unpleasant, and not a time of joy and happiness. For every Divine effort-all Divine power-is extended to free man from the guilt of sin and to take him into heaven.
     Any man can die in his sins, and guilt for them will then be imputed to him forever in hell. And thus will it be unless, here on earth, he makes himself guilty of each of his sins. Otherwise he will at last confirm them with the whole of his life: first with his will, from which they spring; and at last and inevitably, with his understanding also, as he comes to find such delight in his sins that he is unwilling to give them up, but is willing rather to justify himself in his evil life.
     On the other hand, however, any man on earth can turn from his evils, and live. Let him only acquaint himself with the knowledge of what things are evil; let him examine himself to find his own personal evils; let him confess these to the Lord, making himself guilty and condemning himself on their account; and let him thereafter lead a new life that is free from evils. Thus will his every evil and sin, and the guilt of them, be forever removed from his life; and his will be, not just "peace of mind" and happiness on earth, not just a return to usefulness in society, but all of these, and, what is more, the regenerate, angelic and eternally delightful life of heaven for which the Lord his God created him. Amen.

LESONS:     Ezekiel 18. Luke 15: 11-32. Conjugial Love 527.
MUSIC:     Liturgy, pages 488, 442, 428.
PRAYERS:     Liturgy, nos. 76, 80.

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IMPORTANCE OF MERIT 1960

IMPORTANCE OF MERIT        GEORGE DE CHARMS       1960

     (The first of three doctrinal articles.)

     1. The Importance of the Doctrine

     The question of merit poses one of the most elusive problems in all theology. By dictionary definition, "to merit" means "to earn by service or performance" remuneration which one has "a right to claim as a [just] reward." No one can justly claim merit for the labor of others; he can be said to "earn" only that which he accomplishes by his own effort, by his own skill, ability and intelligence.
     The teaching of the Sacred Scripture to the effect that God alone has power is unmistakable. Man is but a vessel, in itself dead, but capable of being moved by inflowing life from God. This is clearly taught in the following prophecy of Isaiah: "But now, O Lord, Thou art our Father; we are the clay, and Thou our potter; we are all the work of Thy hand."*
* Isaiah 64: 8.
     If God has all power, and man has none, it follows of necessity that man can claim no merit for his deeds, because what he appears to do is really done by the Lord. But then the reverse must be equally true, namely, that no man can rightly be blamed for his misdeeds, since these also are the Lord's doing. There would seem to be no other logical conclusion; and yet the Scripture definitely teaches that one who transgresses the Lord's commandments is held accountable therefor. As we read in Ezekiel: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die. . . . Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin."*
* Ezekiel 18: 20, 30.
     Here, then, is a paradox, and one that has baffled religious thinkers in all ages. Yet the solution of this problem is a matter of supreme importance, because on it depends a true idea as to the nature of God, as to the relation that exists between God and man, and thus as to what is truly meant by a life of religion.
     There would seem to be only two possibilities. Either God alone has power, and the appearance that man has free choice and responsibility is only an illusion, or man really does have power of his own quite apart from God, in which case the teaching of the Word to the effect that God has all power must be accepted with some reservation.

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     No matter which of these possibilities we may select, there would seem to be no place in human life for the practice of religion. If man is, in fact, nothing but a lump of clay being molded in the hands of the Divine Creator, then he can have no real responsibility. His acts can have no moral or spiritual significance. Whatever he may become will depend solely upon what the Lord makes him, regardless of anything he may seem to himself to do. This is clearly implied in the words of Jeremiah: "I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in Mine hand, O house of Israel."*
* Jeremiah 18:3-6.
     If this be selected as the final solution of the problem, what is the meaning or the purpose of religion? Everyone must then be predestined by an unalterable fate, and nothing that he can do will change the outcome in the least particular. Prayer becomes meaningless, for we can no more pray than we can do anything else. It is really the Lord who dictates our prayers and causes us to utter them, whether they be spoken with the lips or remain as silent desires of the heart. The same is true of praise and thanksgiving, which we have no real power to express; and why should the Lord move us to praise Him or express gratitude to Him? If we are mere puppets, moved by a force over which we have no control, worship is a mockery and religion a farce.
     If, on the other hand, we assume that man's freedom is a reality, that he actually has power in himself to choose between possibilities, to form judgments, and to direct the course of his life according to them, then it would seem that the teaching of the Sacred Scripture to the effect that God alone has power must be regarded as an illusion. Curiously enough, the same chapter in Jeremiah which speaks of the Lord as the potter, and man as the clay to be molded, continues: "At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; if that nation against whom I have pronounced turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do to them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; if it do evil in My sight, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said that I would benefit them."*
* Jeremiah 18:7-10.
     Here the implication of human responsibility is obvious.

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Clearly we are taught that man does have responsibility for his actions. That being the case, surely he can rightly claim merit for his good deeds; and by the same token he must accept the blame for his mistakes. Since man can, on his own initiative, act either in favor of God or against Him; since he can break the commandments of the Word and thus invert Divine order; and since he can thus make the laws of providence of none effect; therefore it would appear that he has power to frustrate the will of God. If this be so, God cannot be regarded as the ruler of His creation, because man can take the government out of His hands and can usurp His throne.
     Surely under this concept also there is no place for religion. Man would have no reason to worship God unless he should find himself unable to achieve his ambition by his own power. If, then, he should appeal to the Divine for aid, it could be only in the hope that thereby he might still achieve his desired end. If his prayer was answered, he might indeed be inspired to offer praise and thanksgiving to his benefactor; but still his worship and adoration would be self-centered. And if his prayer were not answered, his professed love of God would be turned into hatred, and he would be tempted to cry out against God as against an enemy.
     It is evident, therefore, that a right solution of the problem of merit is essential if we are to understand how to lead a truly religious life.

     Yet it is important to realize that a philosophic answer to this problem was not always essential to genuine worship. In all ages men have acknowledged from common perception that God has all power, and yet at the same time they have recognized that man must be held responsible for his conduct, although they did not understand in the least how these two things could be true.
     In former times, during the infancy and childhood of the race, and even now during the infancy and childhood of the individual, and in adult age, in so far as childlike innocence may be preserved, this simple acknowledgment without understanding was, and is, sufficient for salvation. Where innocence exists, that is, where men are willing to give unquestioning obedience to the Word, the Lord can lead them as little children are led, as it were from without, by command. But in so far as this innocence is lost, and men refuse to follow blindly but insist upon understanding, a rational answer to the problem of merit becomes imperative.
     As the race developed, the urge to understand became irresistible. In ancient times, men were more easily satisfied with childish and ambiguous answers that failed to remove the mystery of the relation between God and man. Thus in Eastern religions we find the idea of two gods or two kinds of gods, one good and the other evil. Religion then consisted in man's efforts to win the good graces of the one and to appease the wrath of the other.

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This took for granted that while man was relatively powerless in comparison with the Divine forces, both good and evil, that were constantly playing upon him, he still had the ability to align himself either on the side of the good or of the evil forces; but whence he derived that power, or why it did not detract from the omnipotence of God, he did not know.
     But it was especially after the first advent of the Lord, and under the impulse of His teaching in the Gospels, that men began to search for a more rational explanation of religion. Facing the paradox of the omnipotence of God and the responsibility of man, they tried to reason it out for themselves. Inevitably they fell into error, because unaided human reason is incapable of grasping the true answer. It is something that cannot be discovered but has to be directly revealed, because it involves and demands a knowledge of things beyond the horizon of man s conscious experience.
     Because of the urge to understand, the period which we have come to know as the Middle Ages was characterized in Christian lands by endless and seemingly fruitless theological reasoning. Yet this was not without its purpose, but was, under the leading of providence, a necessary preparation for the second advent of the Lord, when at last a Divinely revealed answer to the problem might be given. The effort to understand was prompted by a love of truth, and served to preserve some remnant of this love, that men might be willing to receive the Lord at His coming. Only if men are seeking spiritual truth can their minds be opened to accept it; only if they are willing to listen with open minds can the Lord teach them.
     Furthermore, only by trying to think can one learn how to think. In this respect it was similar with the race in its development to what it is with all young people between childhood and adult age. The struggle to think for themselves, even though they make many mistakes, is by no means fruitless. The effort to break away from blind obedience, and to achieve a greater measure of intellectual freedom, is the only means of attaining mental maturity. It is out of this struggle that the rational mind is gradually opened and formed. Under the leading of providence, the era of the first Christian Church performed a service to the race comparable to that which the period of youth performs to the individual.
     No one is held responsible for mistakes which he cannot help, for errors that are made in the innocence of ignorance.

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As long as a man is in the love of truth, and clings to a faith because he sincerely believes it to be the truth, he remains teachable, and can, in the Lord's providence, be led to see and acknowledge the truth; if not during his life on earth, then in the world of spirits after death.
     No one is condemned until after he has been given the opportunity to know the truth, to understand it, and either to accept or reject it in complete freedom. It is only when false ideas are confirmed, that is, when one clings to them from self-will, from pride in one's own intelligence, and therefore closes his mind against Divine instruction, that such ideas become condemnatory. This because errors of ignorance then become falsities of evil, from which man cannot be withdrawn because he will not. The Lord judges everyone, not from the understanding, but from the heart, because it is the heart or will that makes the real man and determines his character.
     Because of this merciful provision of the Lord's providence, millions of people in all ages are saved in spite of mistaken beliefs. They are saved out of every religion in the world, if only there is with them a remnant of innocence and a willingness to be taught. If it were not so no one could be saved, for even those who are blessed with a true faith have mingled with it many mistaken ideas due to ignorance; ideas that will have to be removed before they can come into heaven, and many that will need to be perfected to eternity.

     The time has come, however, when an innocent faith can no longer be perpetuated without some degree of rational understanding. Centuries of struggle to understand the problem of merit have ended in failure. The hope of finding a solution has progressively waned. There is an increasing tendency to abandon the search, to confirm irrational solutions which have gained the weight and force of long tradition, or to regard the whole matter as insoluble and therefore futile.
     The dominant spirit of our age is expressed in the view that everyone should be free to believe in any religious persuasion he may wish to embrace without being made to feel that he is more right or wrong than anyone else; for, after all, religion is a personal matter that cannot be substantiated. This means that at least within the realm of the human mind there is no such thing as religious truth.
     Acting on this conclusion, men have widely turned their energies into what seem to be indefinitely more productive channels; that is, to the discovery of the secrets of nature, and by this means to the improvement of human society. That is why it has become imperative for the Lord to reveal the answer to the crucial question of merit; for without it, all spiritual faith will in time perish, all belief in the Word as a Divine revelation will he extinguished, and with it all innocence or willingness to be led and taught by the Lord.
     It is vital, therefore, that the Lord should come while a remnant of love for spiritual truth still lives in the hearts of men-a love to which the Lord may appeal, that a spiritual religion may be restored and the kingdom of the Lord may gradually be re-established on the earth.

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     This Divine purpose cannot be accomplished without an opening of the minds of men to a rational understanding of the problem involved in merit; that is, the true relation between the omnipotence of God and the responsibility of man. We propose, therefore, in the next two articles, to present in general outline the teaching of the Christian churches on the subject; to compare this with the teaching of the Writings; and to show wherein the evil of merit lies and wherein it has a rightful place and function in the life of true religion: for, strangely enough, we are taught that it has an indispensable part to play in the process of man's regeneration.
IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1960

IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES              1960

     The NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER reports an address given at Convention by the Rev. Reginald Fuller, Professor of New Testament at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary. His talk on biblical scholarship and its relevance to religious life concluded that the Bible was written by the church, for the church; and that it is "the witness of the Apostles and the Prophets to the mighty acts of God." Explains our contemporary: "Mr. Fuller had been invited to address the Convention because the New Church has a strongly Bible-centered theology."

     Students of ritual will find interest in a review of the new Mauritius liturgy, Liturgy de la Nouvelle Eglise, published in the summer number of the NEW-CHURCH MAGAZINE. The review, by Mr. G. A. de C. de Moubray, notes, among other things, that a reading from the Writings in public worship is an established tradition in Mauritius.

     The Sons of the Academy announce that Mr. John Rose has accepted appointment as editor of the BULLETIN. He succeeds Mr. Lee Smith, who will continue to serve, however, as associate editor. Principal articles in the next issue will include Dr. William Whitehead's address at the last annual meeting, a statistical article on Academy growth, an article by Donald Barber, and a resume of the annual meeting.

     NEW CHURCH EDUCATION began last month its tenth year of publication under the present title. Published in conjunction with the General Church Religion Lessons, and edited by the Rev. Karl R. Alden, this magazine offers, in its ten yearly issues, a wide variety of articles by members of the clergy, teachers, parents, young people and children. This first issue promises well for the coming year of publication.

449


AFFIRMATIVE AND NEGATIVE STATES 1960

AFFIRMATIVE AND NEGATIVE STATES       Rev. DAVID R. SIMONS       1960

     The Writings teach that there are two fundamental states of life- affirmative states and negative states. The former lead to all intelligence and wisdom, whereas the latter lead to all falsity and insanity.* Affirmative states are qualified by a willingness to believe, but negative states begin with doubts. A true understanding of these two states of life is vital to the church and to our own regeneration. For, we are taught: "the first means [towards regeneration] is one that affirms, or that is affirmative of internal truth, that it is so. When this affirmation comes, man is in the beginning of regeneration; good causes the affirmation. This good cannot inflow into what is negative, nor even into what is full of doubt, until this becomes affirmative. . . . The affirmative is therefore the first medium, and as it were habitation, of good flowing in from the Lord."**
* AC 2568.
** AC3913: 5.
     The benefits of affirmative thinking are recognized to a degree in the world. It is seen that our minds cannot be focused on two things at once. If we allow them to be filled with doubts and negative things they become muddled and inefficient. If we focus on the positive aspects of life, the other side will pass us by. In our day many books and articles are written on the value of such positive thinking. To quote: "People who live their lives in a negative atmosphere of thought, word and deed, are letting life pass them by. Their vocabulary seems to consist only in 'I don't know'; 'I don't believe so'; 'I'm sorry, that can't be done'; and so on.* Even the natural man sees that he can gain more satisfaction from life if he learns to "accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative." Such is the philosophy that self-love can impose upon itself to gain its own ends.
* The American Weekly, October 11, 1959, p. 19.
     What the Writings mean by an affirmative attitude is very different, since it is one that springs, not from self, but from a looking outside of self for the truth. It is not self caring for self, but trust in the Lord. It is an affirmation of His leading which presupposes that things are true because the Lord has said so, and that all good is of love to the Lord and toward the neighbor.*
* AC 2568: 4, 2718.

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     An affirmative state is essentially a state of innocence, that is, one of willingness to be led by the Lord. We read in the Arcana: "In childhood, when he is first imbued with goods and truths, everyone is kept by the Lord in an affirmative that what is said by parents and masters is true. With those who become spiritual men, this affirmative is confirmed by means of knowledges. For whatever they afterwards learn that has an affinity with it insinuates itself into this affirmative and corroborates it, and this more and more even to affection. But it is otherwise with those who cannot become spiritual men. Although during their childhood these are in the affirmative, yet in the age that follows they admit doubts, and so break the affirmative of good and truth. And when they come to adult age they admit negatives, even to the affection of falsity. But the real cause of their admitting doubts and afterwards negative things can be found in their life of evil."*
* AC 2689: 3.
     As with all human states, the affirmative and the negative are the products of the loves which dominate the mind. Consequently, the same passage continues, "they who are in the life of evil cannot possibly do otherwise than [become negative]. For the life of every one is his affection or love. Such as is the affection or love, such is the thought."* Specifically, these two opposing states reflect either a mind that is ruled by what is orderly and good, or one ruled by what is disorderly and evil. To quote: "In proportion as any one is in the good of life [that is, in love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor] . . . [he] cannot be otherwise than in the affirmative."** Whereas, "they who incline to a life of evil, [that is, who love self and the world above all things] fall into the negative."***     Between those in a life of good or in a life of evil are those who vacillate between these two states; "who are not in the negative or as yet in the affirmative, but are in [states of] doubt before they deny or affirm."**** Sooner or later, however, in full freedom, these states must be resolved, and each one of us, must take a stand, to be affirmative or negative to the truth.
* AC 2689.
** AC 3427: 4.
*** AC 2588: 4.
**** Ibid.
     Because the human mind is free to be affirmative or negative, since it can choose to be led by the truth or by self, therefore it is free to see the world in two distinct ways, that is, from these two distinct loves. It is these loves which completely color, as by clear or dark glasses, everything we see. These are two worlds: one, the world looked at from love to the Lord, and the other, the world looked at from self.

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The world that is seen from love and the one seen from self, have the same ingredients; the same material elements; the same weight, color, size, tone; the same plants and animals; yet these two worlds are very different.
     The world seen from love to the Lord is an orderly cornucopia of riches. All nature is an instrument in the hand of the Lord for extending good things to man. It is the Lord endowing man with benefits of all kinds:
with the wonderful sun whose heat and light cause growth and bring riches and happiness-the perpetual promise of new springs, rich summers and full harvests, and of winters that purify the air, stimulate the blood, and sharpen the mind for energetic work and play.
     Everything has its positive place and purpose. As the poet said: "God's in His heaven, all's right with the world." Even the presence of evil and disorder is seen by those who are in the affirmative of love to the Lord to be but a manifestation of His mercy and love, His will that man shall be free and have life as his own. Every evil form or circumstance is, to the affirmative mind, an object lesson which proclaims the futility of evil, revealing its destructiveness in lessons etched out in the ultimates of life to show man the truth, so that before he loses the opportunity he may choose to be spiritually free in heaven to eternity. The affirmative mind sees the Lord bending evil to good, leading man through misfortune and tragedy to a higher sense of values, to an emphasis on what is spiritual and eternal in life. The progress of life itself, to such a mind, is not a sad losing of all that is of value, but rather is a gradual diminution of the things of this world. A new freedom comes with the ripening of age with its direct leading to interior things, to the things of the mind and spirit, to the things of heaven and the church which are to have no end.
     When looked at from the love of self, however, all these things are seen in a different light, in the distorted lumen of negative thinking. For the entire environment is seen as hostile to self. It is full of problems and threats to man's wellbeing. All things present obstacles which man must overcome to gain the satisfactions for which he longs. Self love, looking through negative eyes, sees the sun and its tremendous releases of energy, and worries about how long it can last; forming for itself negative theories, based on partial evidence: the theory of entropy, that everything, including the sun, is running down-although throughout observable nature there are building up processes which match the ones that run down. All change and inconstancy is the hand of an evil fate, seeking to rob life of its inner joys. Evil and disorder are proofs that there is no ruling Deity. What is undeniably of order is spoken of as a chance result of circumstances, of purposeless forces in collision. Negative thinking has found satisfaction in collecting and emphasizing evidence about this world: that we will run out of space to live in, that we will run out of food and natural resources, that there is no life beyond our own planet.

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And about man such thinking emphasizes that he is essentially and incurably selfish; that there is no possibility of making a heaven on earth; that there is nothing spiritual, no life after death; and finally, that there is no God, at least no Divine Being who loves man and who is wise enough to care for man's natural and spiritual needs. Such negative attitudes have led man through doubt and pessimism into a hell of his own devizing.
     When the love of self, and its thinking, approaches questions concerning spiritual things its conclusions are futile. For the more it reasons, the more it uses facts, the deeper it sinks in the mud of sensual fallacy. The Writings provide an example of such a mind's ratiocinations about the life after death. "When those who are in the negative as to this being true consult knowledges, they confirm themselves against it by innumerable considerations; such as that brute animals equally live, have sensation and act and in many things more acutely than man; and that the thought that man has above the brutes is the thing that he obtains by coming to maturity later; and that man is this kind of animal; and by a thousand other [like] considerations. Thus it is evident that if those who are in the negative consult knowledges, they cast themselves still more into falsities, so that at last they believe nothing whatever relating to eternal life. . . It is, as is well known, a common thing for the learned to have less belief in a life after death than the simple, and in general to see Divine truth less clearly than the simple. The reason for this is that they consult knowledges, which they possess in greater abundance than others, from a negative standpoint, and thereby destroy in themselves insight from what is higher or interior, and when this is destroyed they no longer see anything from the light of heaven but only from the light of the world. . . . For this reason it was that the simple believed in the Lord but not the Scribes and Pharisees who were the learned in the Jewish nation. (John 7: 40-48)."* It is a curious truth that in "regard to falsities [those who are in the negative] do not reason whether these be so or not, but they instantly affirm them; whereas in regard to goods and truths, they carry on a continual ratiocination which [always] terminates in what is negative."**
* AC 4760:2, 4.
** AC 3224.
     Affirmative states, on the other hand, are not free from doubts nor temptations. They do not go untried or untested. Yet these doubts are of a different character. They are affirmative doubts, or doubts which lead to the sight of truth. When love to the Lord rules, then, the doubts relate to one's own inadequacies, to one's inability to grasp the full significance of a truth, or to understand how it relates to another truth.

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The doubt is not so much as to whether a thing is true or not, but rather in what way it is true. Affirmative doubts are positive means for strengthening insight and faith. They begin from the principle that what is said is true "because the Lord has said so," and they investigate how it is true. "Real faith, [we read] is nothing else than an acknowledgment that the thing is so because it is true. For one in real faith thinks and says, 'This is true and therefore I believe it'. . . If such a person does not see the truth of a thing he says, 'I do not know whether it is true and therefore as yet I do not believe it. How can I believe that which I do not intellectually comprehend? . . . Cause me to see it! . . . ' The wisdom of the angels consists solely in this, that they see and comprehend everything they think about."* How those who are or wish to be in the affirmative are to deal with what they do not understand is clearly shown: when "they do not perceive [some obscure truth] they defer it and never suffer such a thing to bring them into doubts, saying, that there are but very few things that they can understand, and therefore to think that anything is not true because they do not understand it, would be madness."**
* Faith 2, 4.
** AC 1072:2. See also AC 128, 129, 6479.
     Negative doubts, on the other hand, are doubts that secretly desire to disprove and destroy the truth, and for this reason they inevitably lead to denial. We see these two different kinds of doubts contrasted in two citizens of a country which is at war. One man, from love of country, doubts whether his country will have the power to overcome the enemy. He doubts whether the generals and leaders of his country are doing the wisest thing for its protection and survival. His doubts are affirmative doubts, since he has nothing but the good of his country at heart. The man who loves himself more than his country, however, doubts whether the war is worth fighting. He suggests that the country might as well capitulate to the enemy, and this before he has to undergo any hardships. He readily gives up hope, saying his country has no chance of victory. His negative states focus on self saying "we can't"; meaning, "I don't want to make the effort," or, "Our cause is hopeless," meaning "This will cost me more than I am prepared to sacrifice." Such thinking is unpatriotic and detrimental to the country's welfare.
     Human states, as we have seen, can be described as positions in the world of spirits. Affirmative and negative states, we believe, relate not so much to where our spirits are in that world, as to the direction in which they face. An affirmative state would always face the spiritual east; a negative one undoubtedly faces the west. This is an important distinction. In some respects it is more important than the actual position of our spirits in that world.

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For the way we face is the way we will progress and develop spiritually, "For in the spiritual world it is the love which turns interiors of everyone. . . [and in so doing] it also turns the face, for the face there acts as a one with the interiors, it being their external form."* When we face the east then, even though our position may be near the west, we open our minds to receive the light of heaven, so that we can be led towards the Lord. As we progress in this journey, our affirmation of the Lord's leading will increase in strength, and our minds will be open to receive heaven's heat from His sun.
* HH 272.
     Also, the loves and affections man has are inspired from his spiritual companions. His affirmative states are a gift from heaven, and his negative states have their origin in evil spirits and are inspired from hell. Concerning this we are taught: "The evil spirits who are with man and induce temptations, strongly inspire negations. But the good spirits and angels, from the Lord, in every way possible dispel this state of doubt and keep the man in a state of hope, and at last confirm him in what is affirmative. The result is that the man who is in temptation hangs between what is negative and what is affirmative."* Temptations are here defined as a wavering between what is negative and what is affirmative. Every man, in freedom, must decide which way he will think and live.. And what happens when we do decide is also described: "[For] one who yields in temptation remains in a state of doubt, and falls into what is negative; but one who overcomes is indeed in doubt, but still, if he suffers himself to be cheered by hope, he stands fast in what is affirmative."**
* AC 2338.
** Ibid.
     All men have doubts. The perfecting of all thinking is a process of overcoming obscurity and doubt and the constant temptation -to turn to what is negative. The Writings recognize this saying: "[Man] is so borne by his cupidities, which produce fantasies, that he willingly admits objections [to the truth], of which a single one then becomes stronger with him than a thousand confirmations. Wherefore [if] a man would be true, or in true faith, he ought to be in the opposite state, so that one truth would prevail over a thousand or ten thousand objections. If he thought in this way, evil spirits would flee, for they cannot live in such a sphere."* It is the delight of troublemakers to insinuate doubts about the reputations or accomplishments of these people or things they wish to discredit, and our negative attitude responds to this. An affirmative attitude is the essential of charity.
* SD 3614.
     We are further taught that "doubts and sometimes denials are excited by evil spirits who have been joined to man, but in so far as the affection [of truth] prevails, so far he is led to the affirmative.

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He is then confirmed in truth by these very things. When good flows in in this manner it is not perceived that it came through angels, because it flows in so interiorly and into man's obscurity which he has from the world and corporeal things."*
* AC 4096:6.
     The use of every human relationship is advanced by an affirmative attitude, and harmed and ultimately destroyed by what is negative. The support of the conjugial relation, for example, requires an affirmative spirit of mutual understanding and co-operation. True marriage centers in the endeavor of the partners to think and will each as the other, which means placing the other before self. The consent, which belongs to the woman, is an affirmation and acceptance of her partner.* Where affirmative attitudes exist, that is, where there is mutual confidence and friendship backed by the postulate that each is doing their part to eliminate those elements which destroy marriage, there, in such an atmosphere, a marriage can grow. Once, however, what is negative is allowed to creep in, once negative doubts find a foothold in the mind, then the hells can work to bring discontent and suspicion, and ultimately total division, so that unless a spirit of affirmation is restored, the marriage will be destroyed. For this reason what is negative in marriage is to be shunned as a sin against God.
* CL 299.
     These things are true also of our relationship to various organizations. When we support an organization, the first thing we should give is our unreserved affirmation of its uses. An affirmative attitude is essential to our support of any use and of the people who perform it. The uses of freedom in our civil life are promoted by a justice which considers a man innocent until he is proved guilty-a provision which protects a man from negative prejudice. Can we do less in our own personal judgment of men and uses?
     As our church and her uses grow, as we lose the intimate contact which brings first-hand knowledge and inspires confidence, we become increasingly vulnerable to doubts, criticism and negative spheres. Since these spheres can destroy uses, it becomes increasingly important that we stiffen our own attitude, that we learn to think affirmatively, freely extending, as we say, "the benefit of the doubt" to both the organizations and the men who run them. The very least we can do is to hold them innocent until the facts are known. For it is only when we do this, only when we make this effort to fight what is negative, that we can protect uses from the hells. For evil spirits are ever present with us working to destroy the uses of the church. The hells are ever present, bending our ears to drink in unfounded criticism and gossip, and our tongues to embellish it as we pass it on.

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Uses that have been built by years of labor, and men who have worked sincerely to carry on these uses, can be all too easily harmed and destroyed by negative criticism. This should not be taken to mean that there should be no criticism. Far from it! Affirmative doubts, criticism based on a genuine concern for uses, can only build and strengthen conviction and perfect uses. Genuine criticism does not suspect motives. Heeding the Lord's words, "Judge not that ye be not judged," sincere critics are careful not to judge the intangibles of affection and sincerity of those they evaluate, but only the tangibles of word and deed, policy and practice. Such evaluations are useful and necessary and can only promote uses.
     Of this we can be sure, negative attitudes come from hell. The pessimism they breed can only harm our uses. They should, therefore, be shunned as sins against God. And, conversely, affirmative attitudes should be fostered and cultivated. The optimism they generate brings the warmth of genuine charity in which uses flourish and grow. For affirmative states are gifts from heaven, gifts from the Lord Himself, who wills to make all men eternally happy.
FIVEFOLD WORD 1960

FIVEFOLD WORD       Rev. W. CAIRNS HENDERSON       1960

     The Divine Word is a sacred library, the writing and collecting of which took many centuries, and some of its sources antedate history. Yet the Word is one and it is eternal. From the first formation of man, the beginning of spiritual creation, the Lord has always provided the human race with a testimony to Himself and a means of regeneration. Every religious dispensation has been given a Divine revelation adapted to its specific genius-accommodated by being clothed in the appearances proper to the plane of its mental life-and therefore characteristic of it. And as the Lord has successively established five churches, each founded upon such a revelation, and as what the Divine has revealed is with us the Word, it is proper to describe the totality of Divine revelation on this our earth as the fivefold Word.

     The First Divine Revelation

     It is true that the Most Ancient Church did not receive a body of scripture. Yet it was given a Divine revelation and therefore had a Word, the first Word known to the men of our earth. The Most Ancient Word was revealed immediately to those who were of the church. They had celestial perception and conscious consociation with heaven.

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They spoke with angels, and even with the Lord Himself; and they therefore received the truth of the Word by immediate revelation, and also by instruction in dreams and visions. So the clothing of the Divine truth which formed the Most Ancient Word was the thought of the church. But all ideas of thought with man terminate in nature and its material forms. Without that basis they lack reality, fixation and permanence. And the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, which is the Word, must descend into ultimates formed or derived from the substances of the earth in order that there may be revelation. The Word with man is revelation of the Divine love and wisdom to finite perception; and these are manifested only when they are clothed by ultimate matters in forms of use, and are thus revealed as the Divine of use.
     There is a sense, then, in which it may be said that the ultimate, or outer clothing, of the Most Ancient Word, which was not terminated in the fixed symbols of a written scripture, was universal nature itself: the very matters out of which the ultimate forms of the written Word were constructed later when language had been invented to name and describe them; but now as changed into the basis of human ideas and thoughts through the agency of the senses. There is a way, that is, in which the realm of nature served the same use in the Most Ancient Church as the sacred book served in later churches-that of bringing the Divine love and wisdom to finite manifestation in states of illustration from the Lord. In saying this, we do not subscribe to the phrase, the Word of nature, which is favored by some New Church men. As the history of the Jews in the Old Testament is no more sacred and the Word than any other history when separated from the internal sense, so nature itself did not reveal the Lord to the most ancients, or lead and teach them in the way of heaven.
     But these first men both knew and perceived correspondences. They knew that everything in the universe corresponds to something spiritual, and through that to something in the Divine, and they perceived what the correspondence of created things were. Consequently, everything they saw in nature was to them representative and significative of the Lord and of the Divine and heavenly things in His kingdom; and nature was as a book in which the spiritual things revealed to them immediately by the Lord were permanently inscribed. Nature served as a ground-plane for spiritual thought about those things, and therefore as a means through which perception could be renewed again and again.

     The Ancient Word

     Immediate revelation must, however, be renewed continually: otherwise there remains only a tradition which may be modified, and even falsified eventually, in transmission.

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And its renewal calls for a continuance of open communication with heaven. As the Lord foresaw that eventually this condition would no longer be met, and that celestial perception would perish, He provided that certain men among the most ancients should collect all the known correspondences and bring them together in a codex, which was then preserved for the use of posterity. For this purpose the art of writing was developed-whatever natural reasons there may have been, that was the spiritual one; and the men of the Ancient Church knew both from tradition and from a compendium what all the objects and phenomena in nature signified. Without these sources the knowledge of correspondences would have perished. For while the most ancients came into it by perception, thus without conscious effort, the ancients had to acquire it through learning and study; and while the most ancients thought from correspondences, the ancients thought from a knowledge of correspondences, which knowledge had to be sought from its various depositories.
     On the basis thus provided by the Lord a second Word, the first written scripture, was given, and this for the use of the Ancient Church. From nature and its material forms a written language had been derived. Revealed truth could now be clothed in another ultimate: not in nature and matter itself, but in the phenomena and objects of matter transmuted into the substance and form of human ideas and expressed in formal symbols of fixed character. This was first done in the Ancient Word. In accordance with the genius of the church founded upon it, that Word was written in pure correspondences. Spiritual qualities and attributes, mental faculties and planes of the mind, were personified and made to speak; and spiritual series, systems of thought and ideas, were recorded in the form of made-up histories. And there is reason to believe that the language of the Ancient Word was a hieroglyphic or ideographic writing, in which celestial and spiritual things were expressed by formal pictures of those things in nature which signified them, or by stylized characters representing them. Thus spiritual things were seen through natural objects and occurrences; and in this seeing, which was based upon a knowledge of correspondences, lay a deep wisdom, through which there was interior perception and an unconscious communication of thought with heaven.

     The Hebrew Scripture

     With the establishment of the Jewish Church, a third Divine revelation was given. This, too, was accommodated to the peculiar genius of the church that was founded upon it. In the Jews as a people, the human race had reached the ultimate of decline. In the Jewish mind the sensual plane was exalted above all others.

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There was no knowledge of correspondences or of internal things; no interest in, or affection for, anything that transcended sense experience and sensual delight. Obedience could be compelled, though not implanted as a fixed habit; and the Jewish nation had no real interests beyond its temporal welfare and destiny.
     Consequently the Old Testament Word was accommodated to the sensual plane of the mind. The ultimate in which it clothed Divine and spiritual truth was a system of law regulating every detail of religious, political, economic, civil and social life-law giving place only in the later prophets to an ethic that prepared the way for the Lord's teaching in the Gospel; the history of the Lord's leading and care for the Jews from the time of Abram to the Captivity; and prophecy apparently dealing with the final glory of the Jewish nation when the Messiah should have come and set up his kingdom on the earth. So it is that in the Old Testament Word, abstract doctrines-systems and series of rational thought-appear correspondentially in the concrete form of human situations and sequences of events which make them more clear to the mind, and in the form of the Lord's providential operations in history.

     The Christian Evangel

     When the Christian Church was established, mental life had been elevated to a higher and more interior plane. The judgment effected by the Lord when He was in the world resulted in an opening of the natural plane-the middle plane of the mind which lies between the sensual and the rational. Consequently the New Testament Word, on which that church was based, was accommodated to that plane. With its opening, men had become capable of something more interior than unthinking obedience to law; something toward which the ethical teaching of the later prophets had been leading. They were able to discern the moral values within external acts, capable of the reflection necessary for execution of the moral law, and fit to assume moral responsibility.
     For this reason the ultimate of the New Testament Word is moral truth: truth relating to man's life with the neighbor in societies, and presented both directly in the Lord's teaching and indirectly in the example of his own life on earth. In the Gospels it is shown that man is judged by the intention within the act, whereas the Mosaic law prescribed and prohibited actions only. This distinction is one of the things involved in the words: "The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" (John 1: 17). A result of this accommodation of the New Testament Word to the natural plane of the mind is that in it correspondence is less ultimate than in the Hebrew Scriptures. There is a correspondence of natural with spiritual ideas of thought rather than one descending into the very letters and involved even in their arrangement.

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     The Crown of Revelations

     In the establishment of the New Church was involved the uplifting of mental life to a still higher plane, the highest plane of the mind that can be opened before regeneration. The Last Judgment effected by the Lord at His second coming resulted in a general opening of the rational plane of the mind-the plane that is above the natural and is the highest as-it-were discrete degree of the conscious mind. Therefore the Writings, upon which the New Church is founded, are specifically accommodated to the rational. Men now have from the Lord the ability to think rationally about revealed truth; to "enter intellectually into the arcana of faith" to understand abstract doctrinal concepts and ideas interiorly and reach a perceptive insight into their application to life; and to investigate the secrets of nature in such a way that the spiritual truth about nature is seen and spiritual truth is illustrated and confirmed by and from natural things. For this reason the ultimate of the Writings is rational truth, expressed in a natural sense from the spiritual and presented in the form of abstract spiritual doctrines. Correspondence is even less ultimate than in the New Testament Word; for it is that which exists between rational and spiritual concepts, and the interior degrees of truth that are present within the Writings as a field of angelic ideas cannot be elicited by any system of exegesis.
     So the Word of the Lord in the two Testaments and the Heavenly Doctrine is accommodated in an ascending series to the three as-it-were discrete planes within the natural, that ultimate discrete degree which is the conscious mind: the planes which are called the sensual, the natural, and the rational. And as it is a universal law that the higher a heaven is, the more ultimate its basis must be, the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Writings-adapted respectively to the sensual, the natural, and the rational-are the bases, respectively, of the celestial, the spiritual, and the natural heavens.

     The Heritage of the Ages

     As all human language is derived from nature and its material forms, and as certain portions and fragments of the Ancient Word were incorporated in the Old Testament, the Word of the Lord in the two Testaments and the Writings is therefore a continuous record of all the Divine revelations given to mankind from the beginning of the Most Ancient Church to the present time.

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It preserves the essential types and characteristics of all Divine revelations, and it is final and complete. And the five Divine revelations given by the Lord should not be regarded as separate Words, each superseding its predecessor, but as a fivefold Word containing the true riches of the ages, to all of which the New Church is heir.
     This should not be misunderstood. It does not mean that the New Church is to draw its doctrine from the earlier revelations, even from the Gospels; for that leads, at best, to a simple Christianity. The doctrine of the New Church, the principles by which it lives, are to be drawn solely from the plain statements of the Writings and confirmed thereby. What it does mean is that the Writings-resting, as they do, upon scriptural texts and ideas-are inseparable from the letter of the Old and New Testament Word; that the Sacred Scripture and the Heavenly Doctrine are connected by invisible gyres of thought and series.
     The fact is, that without the Word in its more ultimate, more correspondential Testaments the Writings are not sufficient for the adult New Church man! For it is in the study of the literal Word that we find in concrete, objective form the interior senses which the Writings disclose to us; and that we must find the ultimate sphere and plane of order in which spiritual and abstract doctrines are seen clearly in relation to the succession of states which make up our lives. Thus the Writings were not given to displace the uses of the Old and New Testament Word, but to serve as a nexus between the Word in heaven and the Word on earth, for they partake of somewhat of the quality of both.
     The Word in the more ultimate letter of the Old and New Testaments is still the foundation of the church! We must go back to it again and again, and see in it, in their corresponding forms in the literal sense, the spiritual-rational truths of the Writings. For while the Writings have unique power to affect the rational mind, the Sacred Scripture can affect the other planes of the mind as abstract doctrine cannot. The power of universal application and of appeal to all human states, both within and outside of the church, dwells in the letter of scripture; and there is reception of spiritual truth-the perceptive enlightenment peculiar to the New Church-only in so far as the truths of the Writings are seen in the truths of the letter of the Old and New Testaments. Where the mind has a comprehensive, distinct and intelligent knowledge of the letter, the series of spiritual truths unfolded in the Writings do descend into their correspondent forms in the literal sense; faith is enlightened; and both the letter and the spirit are confirmed.
     We must go back, then, to the Old and New Testaments. And there is a sense in which we must go back even farther. When we have seen and confirmed the spiritual-rational truths of the Writings in the sensual and natural forms of the Old and New Testaments, we must then, as did the ancients, use natural phenomena and objects as means of thinking of the spiritual things to which they correspond; investigate the spiritual causes of natural things; and so enter into the true use of the science of correspondences, and into the wisdom that accrues to it.

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And having done this, we must then, in the light of truth from the Lord through heaven, go back to the book of nature that was open to the Most Ancient Church. We must be able to see the Divine love and wisdom manifested as the Divine of use in the material forms of nature; see them manifested in the universe and its laws as well as in the Word and its teachings; see their presence and operation in the uses of all created things as we see them in the laws and operations of the Lord's Divine providence.
     This is the task and the prospect which the Lord has set before us, and we have a responsibility to devote ourselves to it. For all Divine revelation is one; and only when we so regard it, and seek to enter into it in all its forms, do we avail ourselves of all the layers of treasure within the fivefold Word, and enter into the heritage of the ages which the Lord has prepared for us.
WORD IN THE HEAVENS 1960

WORD IN THE HEAVENS              1960

     "It has been hitherto unknown that the Word is in the heavens, nor could it be made known as long as the church did not know that angels and spirits are men similar to men in the world; and that they have similar attributes to men in every respect, with the only differences that they are spiritual, and that all things with them are from a spiritual origin; while men on earth are natural, and all things with them are from a natural origin. As long as this knowledge lay concealed it could not be known that the Word is also in the heavens, and that it is read by the angels there, and also by the spirits who are below the heavens.
     "A copy of the Word written by angels inspired by the Lord is kept with every larger society, in its sacred place, lest as to any jot it should be changed elsewhere.
     "The angels themselves confess that all the wisdom they have is through the Word; for in pro portion to their understanding of the Word they are in light. The light of heaven is Divine wisdom, which appears as light before their eyes. In the sacred place where the copy of the Word is kept there is a white and flaming light exceeding every degree of light which is outside of it in heaven. The reason is the same that was mentioned above, that the Lord is the Word" (Sacred Scripture 70, 72, 73).

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NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1960

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS       Rev. ORMOND ODHNER       1960

     The interesting story of the prophet Balaam lightens October's rather difficult daily readings in the Old Testament. It is a curious tale, but it well illustrates the religious stupidity of the day.
     Moses and his victorious armies were sweeping northward on "the other side Jordan," that is, to the east. Balak, king of the land of Moab on the shores of the Dead Sea, found himself surrounded, and feared the increase of Israel on his northern border. Somehow he knew of Balaam, up in Syria near the Euphrates-the extremely mercenary prophet of Jehovah. He sent messengers, with "the rewards of divination in their hands," to summon Balaam to come and curse Israel in the name of her own God, Jehovah. Perhaps, he seems to have thought, Jehovah would then be so confused that He would no longer be able to give any more military victories to Israel.
     Modern biblical critics ignore the fact that Balaam blessed and cursed in the name of Jehovah, resting content in their assumption that the worship of Jehovah was unknown before Moses. Apparently, however, this was one of the things which led Swedenborg to see that the worship of Jehovah had existed from most ancient times, and still persisted, here and there in the east, even until the time of Moses, although Abraham and his sons did not know God by that name. (See AC 1343.)
     Balaam knew enough to await word from Jehovah before accepting Balak's proposal. Permission was at first refused; but when a second band of Moabite messengers arrived-with even more money!-Balaam, insistent, was given the Lord's permission to go. He went, strictly warned to speak only the words put into his mouth; and this warning was further reinforced during the astounding incident in which Balaam's ass saw an angel standing in the way, long before Balaam himself did. (For an interesting treatment of how an animal could have seen an angel, consult NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1942, p. 365ff.) There is astonishment here, indeed. Balaam's ass entered into a rather extended verbal conversation with him, and Balaam answered the beast just as though it were an everyday affair.
     Balaam and Balak offered a sevenfold sacrifice on a high place from which they could view Israel's armies. Balaam opened his mouth to curse: instead, he blessed. The king and the prophet tried another mountain, from which they could see just the straggling end of Israel's army.

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Perhaps Jehovah would not be watching that, and the curse would seep up to the front lines? Balaam blessed Israel again. They tried a third mountain. Perhaps Jehovah had no power there? To what depths had polytheism fallen! Balaam opened his mouth to curse: "How good are thy tents, O Jacob. . . ." Balak rebuked him. Balaam spoke again: "There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel."

     Balak's cause was lost. But Balaam, if he could not curse in words, could and did curse in deeds. He connived with the Moabites and the Ammonites to lead the ever-erring sons of Israel into false worship. The daughters of Moab, apparently at Balaam's instigation, enticed the men of Israel to whoredom and to the worship of their god, Baal-peor. Nevertheless, Balaam's end was upon him. Shortly thereafter he was killed in another battle won by Israel's army.
     The Writings treat at some length of the story of Balaam, and show his enforced blessing of Israel to be a marvelous Divine provision to preserve that slender thread by which there then hung the association of heaven with the human race. Internally, the worship of the Jews was utterly perverted; yet it could still serve as an ultimate for the worship and life of the heavens. The Lord had associated with the Jews the simplest of all good spirits in the other world. They did not see into the hearts of the Jews, but saw only that the Jews regarded their correspondential rituals as holy. The merely external acts of Jewish worship, therefore, roused these simple spirits to a state of holiness; and the angels of heaven, sensing that internal holiness in these spirits, were themselves roused to worship thereby. The heavens could thus continue in comparative integrity, and their association with men could be maintained (HD 248). But if Balaam had cursed Israel, revealing what she really was in her heart, the world of spirits would have been stirred up against her and she would have been condemned. Her representative worship would then no longer have been of any effect, and mankind would have been lost (SD 2354, 1778).
HYPOCRISY OF BALAAM 1960

HYPOCRISY OF BALAAM              1960

     "Balaam was a hypocrite and a wizard, for he spoke well concerning the sons of Israel from Jehovah, and yet in his heart he burned to destroy them, and also did destroy them through the advice he gave to Balak, from which it is evident that his works were hypocritical. That he was a wizard see Numbers 22: 7, 24: 1, Joshua 13: 22" (AR 114).

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OUR LIMITED COMMUNICATION 1960

OUR LIMITED COMMUNICATION       FRANCES M. BUELL       1960

     A sermon and a paper on the Tower of Babel in the May NEW CHURCH LIFE are exploratory and significant. One is by the Rev. Harold Cranch, on the one language in the Ancient Church, and its later division, representing the conflict of doctrines; contrasting the Tower of Babel with the mountain of the Lord, Mount Ararat, on which the Ark rested. The other is by David F. Gladish, explaining an analogous conflict of doctrines in the century preceding the new Revelation, explaining that revelations come when the human race is ready for them, and that "no final word on the real nature of Adam's language has come from anywhere but the Writings."
     Following these papers are added here some notes on the subject, and quotations from some of the explanations given only by revelation.
     There have been many definitions of our own age, with a general recognition that it is different from previous ages. Among these definitions, it has been called "the age of great communications." Apart from inventions on the merely natural plane, however, we know very little of the subject unless we study the Writings; and even inventions on the natural plane are not without a connection with the other world. We know from the Writings that our earth can serve a great spiritual use because we have communication between nations; and because we have such communication, and thus can serve spiritual uses, communication itself-a large subject-needs definition. In a short paper only a small part can be noted, and perhaps that part can well be an acknowledgment of our limited experience of the subject.
     Our habits of speech," a term from philology, are greatly limited. There are innumerable things which can in no way be expressed by the speech of the body (SD 4567 1/2), but a few related statements about this speech of the body give us a basis for explanations about the greater power of the speech of the Most Ancient Church and about the universal spiritual speech.
     We know from common experience that our everyday colloquial language is usually at least one step above the objective meaning, as, for example, when we say Good Shepherd we are saying in a few words something that means very much more. When we say consider, we have almost forgotten the beautiful old meaning: con = with, sider, from the root sidus, a star, to view from a higher level.

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The verb recalcitrate, referred to in the Spiritual Diary 2276 is built from the original word calx heel, and we speak of recalcitrance. The origin of the word revelation leads to a whole series of thoughts. Any page of any dictionary gives examples. Figures of speech-the Writings indicate that they may be called "mere figures of speech"-have been scientifically classified, and poetically used, and axiomatically applied, and finally accepted as parts of the language-or dropped as dead. Much of the language of the body has grown from figures of speech. A comparison between figures of speech and correspondences is referred to in Arcana 9272.
     We are also conscious at times of communication by tone. With the word Oh we can express satisfaction, surprise, question, irony, pain, or joy. There are languages on earth where tone is more effective than with us. And added to this we all know the power of a silence, a gesture, an expression of the face, a conversation in which there may be little attention to the words used. Also we are warned in the Writings against thought from terms, and that we should use terms from thought.
     As a summary we have space for two generalizations, from among many: "On earth man has a double speech, from interior and from exterior thought" (AR 294). "A speech of words is given to which a man in speaking or hearing does not attend, but to the sense of the words. This sense of words consists of ideas" (SD 3637). Of course there is a speech of words in which man attends very much to the words themselves.
     All of this concerns our natural language in the present time. In the time of the Most Ancient Church there was a tacit speech given, "more excellent than vocal discourse" and similar to "the first discourse of all in every earth" (EU 54). Also, because speech is based on ideas, and 'ideas are determined by respiration" (AC 1118), "ideas were much fuller than can ever be given at this time" (SD 3323).
     That our present day speech of words is partly figurative and a step or two-on the natural plane-above the objective meaning may help us to understand a little, a very little, about higher forms of communication and about the spiritual sources of our natural language. "The spirits of our earth think or speak from the thing itself and not remotely from it." The spirits of the earth Mercury stop in the nearest use, but even this is beyond our discourse. The spirits of the Fourth Earth in the Starry Heaven discourse together by means of the atmosphere and by means of sight. They have not articulate speech, but a kind of speaking as it were articulate. "When they are speaking among themselves they for the most part advance to the ninth use, some to the seventh, to the tenth, to the fifteenth, to the twentieth, and even to the fiftieth . . . speaking remotely from the thing that is the subject of the discourse" (AC 10708-10711). This is illustrated by examples.

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Explanation follows. Then it is said: "To 'speak to the use' is a customary expression in heaven . . . and wonderful to say . . . they at once know to what degree it goes without counting it the thought itself unfolds and publishes itself more fully than by the speech of words, which is relatively material."
     With the spirits of Jupiter, Swedenborg noted four forms of speech:
speech effected, first, by means of ideas, slightly discrete, which diffused themselves through the interiors and thence into the lips and face; second, by means of ideas still less discrete, with scarcely any interval, which had an influx into the eyes and face; third, by means of ideas still more continuous and full, with an influx into the brain; and fourth, by means of ideas as fluent as a thin aura which fell only into the interior understanding (AC 8022-8027).
     The Writings give us the terms: "similar speech" as on earth, tacit speech, cogitative speech, speech by vision, by intuition, at times by numbers, by expressions of the face, by gestures, by representations, by ideas, and speech of uses. There can be listed also simultaneous speech by many at once. By all these means spirits can express more than a half-an-hour's verbal thought in a brief second or beat of a pulse. All on this list are important. Two of them may be referred to here.
     First, simultaneous speech by many at once is explained in Arcana 1648 and in later numbers. "There is a simultaneous speech by many, especially in gyres or choirs. . . . Such was once the form of songs, and such is that of the Psalms of David."
     Second, speech by ideas is related to the others on the list, and is the universal of all languages (Arcana 1637). "People suppose an idea is a simple thing" (AC 1008). In it are innumerable things, and a certain form, distinct, representative, the primitive of words, and clearly seen. In fact the root meaning of the word idea comes from the Greek idein- to see, and its meaning was recognized by Plato. "Thousands and thousands of things are in each [idea], although the many ideas together, from which is thought, appear only as simple" (AC 6614).
     Ideas are determined by respiration. In the Most Ancient Church, men had inward tacit breathing and they breathed with the angels, and with variations; and from the inward tacit breathing they had an abundant tacit speech. The Writings note that even our vocal articulate speech in our age is also related to breathing, although externally.
     A study with many generals and particulars about speech by ideas and also its relation to respiration could be made. There is only a bare mention here.
     A summary is given in Spiritual Diary 4665m. "The speech of men passes over into speech of spirits, which is incomprehensible to man, although [men] possess it in themselves . . . [they think] abstractedly from natural ideas and words."

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There is a similarity with spirits, with angels of the first heaven, of the second heaven, of the third heaven, always on higher levels. Thus with the angels of the third heaven "inmost speech is just as incomprehensible to them. It takes place by means of inmost affections, and is most copious; so that things of which scarce a hundredth part can be uttered by spiritual angels, can be expressed by it in a moment. Lastly, it is In finite, on which account it is incomprehensible: all their wisdom and intelligence is thence." (Italics added.)
     Again we have such a summary in Arcana 3345: The speech of man and the thought from which it is; the speech of the angels of the first, second, and third heavens-all appear diverse. Still, the speech is one, because the one forms the other.
     Thus we have the universal speech of heaven. All in heaven have one language, affection sounding, thought speaking (HH 236). As we learn more about the universal speech of heaven, we also learn more about our own articulate speech of words; its intimations, its limitations, and also its power in ultimates, and its great use in ultimating revelation.
REVIEW 1960

REVIEW              1960

SUMMARIES OF THE INTERNAL SENSE OF THE PROPHETS AND PSALMS. Translated from the Latin of Emanuel Swedenborg by Arthur Clapham. The Swedenborg Society (Inc.), London, 1960. Cloth, pp. 136.

     This small but important work is of peculiar interest and value. If man knew that there is an internal sense, the Writings say, and would think from some knowledge of it when he was reading the Word, he would come into interior wisdom, and would be still more conjoined with heaven. Wisdom has other requirements, but the New Church man reading the Prophets and Psalms who uses this work as a companion volume may read with some knowledge of what the internal sense is.
     The present translation is based upon one made by the late William C. Dick. The translator and his consultant are to be congratulated, as is the Society on the format of the book. We raise only one question. The term cognitiones is translated "cognitions," but scientifica is rendered as "knowledges." We wonder whether the Advisory and Revision Board would consider rendering it as "scientifics," if a decision has not already been reached, and thus help to establish another distinctive term in our New Church vocabulary.

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EDITOR'S JOURNEY 1960

EDITOR'S JOURNEY       Editor       1960


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published by
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.
Editor - - Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager - - Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, changes of address, and business communications, should be sent to the Business Manager. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.

TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$5.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy, 50 cents.
     Two months ago the editor had the privilege of visiting five circles in the West, in none of which he had been before, and one large society in the Midwest. The journey was planned to increase his knowledge of the church, a most desirable thing for one who edits a churchwide publication, and to enable him to discuss the journal, explain some of its features and problems, and invite reaction to its policies and content. These purposes seem to have been achieved. Valuable suggestions were received, and it was possible to clarify several issues while strengthening existing ties and forming new ones. As the church grows, effective communication becomes a problem. This experiment seems to have had some success as well as being a delightful and memorable experience.
FISHERS OF MEN 1960

FISHERS OF MEN       Editor       1960

     One of the Academy's charter purposes is the education of young men for the priesthood. Last month the Academy began its 84th school year with six men in its Theological School-two in their third year, four in their first year. The essential use of the priesthood is so to teach the spiritual truth of the Word that it leads to the good of life, and thus to the Lord; and the demand for suitable men to prepare themselves for that use is constant-both to continue the work that others have done for so long and to meet the expanding needs of the church.
     Any young man in the church who feels more than a passing inclination to the priestly use would be well advised not to dismiss it, but to give it serious thought; discuss it with his family, his pastor and his teachers; and find out from reliable sources what are the requirements.

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Nor should feelings of personal unworthiness be allowed to lead to dismissal of the idea. In a personal sense, it may be said that no man is worthy of the priestly office. Priests indeed administer those things which belong to the Divine law and to worship; but the holiness involved is in those things and does not accrue to the priest as a man. Priests, like laymen, should be regenerating men; but there is no mystical holiness prerequisite for the office, and clear thinking on this point may help some young men to reach a decision.
GATHERED IN HIS NAME 1960

GATHERED IN HIS NAME       Editor       1960

     Those members of the church who are not in societies, and they are many, may find comfort in the Lord's assurance that where two or three are gathered together in His name, He is in the midst of them. Wherever there is a home, a group or a circle with a genuine love of the Writings, a sincere desire to understand their teachings, and an honest will to apply them to life, the Lord is in the midst of it-no matter how remote it may be from the larger centers of the church. Yet we note that it is not the numbers, but their being gathered in His name, that results in the Lord's presence; that by His name is meant the good of love and the truth of faith by which the Lord is worshiped; and that by two or three are meant the will, the understanding, and the uses of life. When these are gathered in His name, so that they become love to the Lord, understanding of His truth, and the application of that truth to life, there the Lord is inmostly present.
     Wherever there is love to the Lord, the love of truth that leads to its acquisition, and the love of bringing truth into life, there the Lord is in the midst; for His presence is in spiritual charity, and where these three things are there is such charity. In this, we believe, lies the real hope for the smaller centers of the church, the real source of inspiration, the real cause for happiness and for active content in the Lord. For these three things can exist with the individual, in a single home, in a small group or circle, as well as in the largest society; and the spiritual charity in which they ultimate themselves is what causes the church to grow, not in numbers, but in the spiritual things that really make the church. Thus wherever there is a sincere effort to establish a New Church home, to develop a group, to maintan a circle or a small society, the Lord is inmostly present in the endeavor to attain spiritual charity in uses; and where the Lord is thus present the church is growing, to the eternal happiness of those with whom He is, and to the enrichment of the church as a whole.

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PREADAMITES 1960

PREADAMITES       GEOFFREY P. DAWSON       1960



     Communications.
Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:

     The article published in the March issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE concerning the Preadamites was read with interest here. You may admit some comments which might be useful, though of limited extent.
     My ideas about Preadamites and men of the Most Ancient Church have changed continually over the years in an effort to find a universal doctrinal system which can accommodate the needs and uses of all men down the ages, without offending the essential justice and all-pervading end of the Divine love, namely, the creation of a heaven of angels from the human race. Some systems must be rejected, such as those subjecting the Divine to frustrations on account of human evil, or providing that the capacity for heaven was greater in one race or period than in another; or which permit the "fall of man," and even ordain it, the better to manifest the power and glory of God.
     To avoid such curiously inhuman ideas about God it seems necessary to allow that men have always been fashioned according to a common pattern of "structural principles"; being vessels receptive of life, having a natural degree in the order of the world and spiritual and celestial degrees in the order of heaven. The accidents of time and space which cause human love and wisdom to be expressed according to different modes and traditions are not of prime importance to the essential Divine end in creation.
     Regarding Preadamites, the essayist does not seem to develop his theme from passages in the first chapters of the Arcana which deal with the days of creation, that is, with the state of men prior to and during regeneration. "Good." properly, is spiritual and celestial, and is received by men only in so far as they permit the Lord to create in them each a new man by regeneration, or the process whereby natural things are subdued under the government of spiritual and celestial things. Prior to this all men are, and always have been, corporeal and sensual; in which condition it is possible to say only that they are then in evils of life and falsities of understanding. This does no more than face the fact, but it does not exclude them from states of innocence, since it is a condition into which they are born and not one into which they have brought themselves. The Writings carefully distinguish between hereditary evil and evils which men have made in themselves by confirmation, the latter alone being those which condemn.
     Preadamites could not have been in good. They were infested by evils, and suffered temptations and privations of spirit, for they were born natural so that from this they could be created spiritual and celestial.

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It does not matter whether they conversed by articulate speech or not, and it is unnecessary to establish that they could only have been gentle creatures, eating no flesh; for all their affections, natural and spiritual, were represented in order in the theater of the natural world to provide instruction. Evil animals did not spring up with the fall alone, for the serpent patently preceded that calamity, and no doubt Preadamites could be brutal and cruel as children of our own day sometimes are. It seems likely that they lacked only the intellectual stature to make their depredations so terrible as was the case with the monsters of ambition and achievement emanating from the profaned celestial seed of the Most Ancient Church.
     Hereditary evil is the natural of men, their proprium. Without it no one was ever born into the world, Preadamites, most ancient, ancient or modern. It is the order of the world from which all must be regenerated, the natural not yet conjoined with and governed by the spiritual. Certainly the Writings say: "If a man were born into the love into which he was created"; and: "If man were without hereditary evil. . . ." But the point is that he never was, nor will be, born into the order into which it is intended that he should be created, and he never was, nor will be, born without hereditary evil. Those who remain in their hereditary evils make these their own by confirmation, and even add to them; wherefore they cannot enter heaven and at the judgment are of necessity consigned to hell.
     Finally, there is nothing in the Writings, so far as I am aware, suggesting that there must have been successive ages of Preadamites before there were men of the Adamic Church. Any human organism must be capable of celestial life by the process of regeneration, if consent to this state is given; but as the Arcana states, some men advance only to the first day, others only to the second, and so forth, and very few to the seventh day. It seems reasonable to suggest that if contemporary man were stripped of his habits from traditional civilization, underneath would be found something not essentially different from the Preadamite prior to the establishment of the church with him.
     GEOFFREY P. DAWSON
Spirits and Men 1960

Spirits and Men              1960

     This volume of essays by Hugo Lj. Odhner on the relationship of the two worlds, first published in 1958 and since out of print, is again available. Order from the Academy Book Room, Bryn Athyn, Pa. Price, $3.00.

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Church News 1960

Church News       Various       1960

     COLCHESTER, ENGLAND

     Among the many activities of the Colchester Society in bygone months we must mention first the moving and beautiful Christmas tableaux arranged by Mr. and Mrs. Fred Appleton. Children are taught by similar representations in heaven, so it is no wonder that they love these realistic scenes from what is probably their favorite story.
     The Christmas Day service was impressive, too, the sphere being intensified by the baptism of baby Matthew Greenhaigh. More than thirty children helped to eat the good things provided for their Christmas party. Each child received a gift provided by Theta Alpha, and if we may judge by the noise, the whole affair was a great success.
     One of the highlights of the year was the young people's weekend. Eighteen of them sat down to an attractive supper at which three of the young men gave interesting papers. Then the three priests present-who were supposed to know nothing about the New Church-were asked questions by a panel of young people. Later the tables were turned, and the three gentlemen were questioned by temporarily ignorant and even agnostic hecklers!
     There were the usual, but ever new, celebrations of Swedenborg's birthday, Easter and New Church Day, and other interesting events too numerous to mention. A committee has been formed to look into the question of a new church building. The present one has served us well for over thirty years but is barely large enough now, and it is urgently needed by the growing day school.
     MUSIEL GILL


     GLENVIEW, ILLINOIS

     Obituary. On Tuesday, July 12, the Glenview Society and many other friends of John D. Alan gathered to attend the Resurrection Service that marked his awakening in the spiritual world, after being released by the Lord on July 10 from a long illness.
     The oldest son of Mr. and Mrs. George S. Alan (Phyllis Burnham), John received most of his formal education in New Church schools. After army service during World War II, he married Doris Merrell of Cincinnati, and four sons and two daughters were given to them. "Sparks" Alan, as he often called himself, was a competent and conscientious electrician, and the lights and electrical service of Pendleton Hall are an enduring monument to his abilities.
     During his last illness, his friends were able to repay in part his numerous services to them and to the Society by completing the upper portion of his home, which his sickness had forced him to leave unfinished.
     During his thirty-three years in this world, John was known and admired by a host of New Church and other friends. A strong New Church man, a loving husband and father, a firm supporter of Society uses, a competent and conscientious craftsman, a loyal soldier in the service of his country, and a genial and generous friend to all who knew him, "he was a man, take him for all in all." We shall miss him.
     His numerous relatives and friends who gathered at the wonderful service conducted by the Rev. Jan H. Weiss share with his family the feeling of bereavement that temporary separation from a man brings.

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They share with them also the sense of thankfulness to the Lord that John's sufferings are ended and that he is now free to enter on a higher plane into the life of use to his neighbors and the church which he lived so well in this world. As he often used to say: "Be seeing you!" See you, John!
     RAYMOND LEE


     LONDON, ENGLAND

     It can happen that a keenly anticipated event misfires; but happily this was not so on April 9, the night of the long awaited two-act play, "They Came to a City," directed and presented by Miss Edith Elphick at Michael Church. Refreshed by an excellent tea prepared by the Women's Guild, the audience was in a lighthearted, receptive mood, and ready to make all due allowance for the inexperienced cast. But much time and hard work had gone into the rehearsals and the quality of the acting delighted everyone. Working with the barest minimum of props, Miss Elphick had drawn very skillfully on her imagination; and her lighting effects men, and the results of her ingenuity, could be measured by the many generous compliments paid to her and the cast. Seventy-seven people attended, nineteen of these journeying up from Colchester to lend their support.
     On Good Friday, the Rev. and Mrs. Erik Sandstrom once again followed their custom of holding open house for members and friends of the Society. Refreshments were served from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., and as Mrs. Sandstrom is particularly skilled in that department, the eye was delighted while the body was nourished. At 8:30 came the service of worship, in which twenty-three adults participated. The pastor took as his subject "The Hour of Men" (Luke 22: 53).
     On Sunday, April 24, after the morning service, we had the rather sad experience of drinking a farewell toast to Mr. and Mrs. Alec Craigie, who have now returned to Toronto. During the four years they spent in London they built themselves into our affections End into the life of our Society. Nothing was ever too much trouble for them, and they were never too busy to fill a need for the church. Their going has left us that much the poorer, but we rejoice for their sakes that they can once again, after so many years, be with their family and in their own home.
     As if to compensate us for the loss of Gwen and Alec, that charming young couple from the U.S.A., Mr. and Mrs. Paul Rinaldo, gave an "At Home" the following Sunday, May 1, and invited all who could come. At least thirty of us took them at their word, and if they were surprised by this enthusiastic invasion they gave no hint of it. I think they enjoyed us as much as we enjoyed them and their two dear little boys. At any rate, they delighted us all with their reason for the function: simply that they feel so happy in the Society they had to show it.
     We were fortunate this year in the fact that June 19 fell on a Sunday, so that we were able to celebrate this important occasion on the proper day. After a New Church Day service at which the Holy Supper was administered, fifty-two people sat down to a salad lunch provided by the Women's Guild. When this had been consumed, and the tables cleared, we sang to this special day and drank toasts to the New Church and to the General Church proposed by the Rev. Frank S. Rose and Mr. Gordon Clennell, respectively. Mrs. Sandstrom had prepared a toast to the 45th British Assembly, but because of her illness this was read by her daughter Elisabeth. We then settled down to hear an excellent paper by the Rev. Frank S. Rose on "The Days of Creation of the New Church." A happy and instructive celebration was brought to a close with the singing of Psalm 47.
     Our visitors in recent weeks have included Mrs. Henry Wiebe (Barbara Forfar) from France; Miss Briscoe and Mr. and Mrs. John Parker from Toronto; Miss Beryl Briscoe from Bryn Athyn; and two sisters, the Misses Gertrude and Elizabeth Hasen from Kitchener.

     Obituary. It is with a sense of personal loss that we mention the death of Pilot Officer Jarvis Ball of Pretoria, South Africa, on July 7.

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He was one of eight airmen killed when an R.A.F. training plane and a jet fighter were in collision over Comberton, Cambridgeshire. During his two years in England, Jarvis had become a very familiar figure at Michael Church. He was a very lovable boy, always cheerful and always ready to lend a hand; but even more than that, there was a strength of character and a quiet reliability that endeared him to us all. The shock of his sudden passing into the spiritual world was very keenly felt; and our deep sympathy goes out to his parents, who flew into London on July 10 to attend the military funeral held at the R.A.F. station at Oakington, near Cambridge, on July 12. By a providential set of circumstances it was possible for the Rev. Erik Sandstrom to conduct the service.
     ISABEL ROBERTSON


     SWEDENBORG SOCIETY, INC.

     150th Anniversary Celebrations

     The 150th Anniversary Celebrations which began with the dinner in Swedenborg Hall on February 27 continued on May 27, 28, in the Victoria Halls, Bloomsbury, London. Tea was served in Swedenborg House before the meeting on Friday, giving an opportunity to welcome distinguished visitors, notably the Rev. and Mrs. William F. Wunsch, who had come from the United States to bring a message of goodwill from the Swedenborg Foundation.
     The president of the Society, Mr. Roy Griffith, opened the meeting in Victoria Hall North at 7:00 p.m. With him on the platform were the two lecturers, the Rev. Clifford Harley and the Rev. Erik Sandstrom, and the guest of honor, the Rev. William F. Wunsch. The president congratulated the Society on attaining 150 years of useful service; it had been consistently loyal to the objects laid down by its founders in 1810. There were messages to be conveyed, but time was short and he would read only those from representative institutions with which the Society had close and happy relations-the Swedish Academy of Sciences, the General Conference of the New Church, and the General Church of the New Jerusalem. The Swedenborg Foundation had shown its friendliness in sending the Rev. William F. Wunsch as its representative to this celebration. Mr. Wunsch offered his personal greeting and, on behalf of the Foundation, congratulations and good wishes.
     The president then introduced the first speaker, the Rev. Clifford Harley, who delivered a lecture on "Ultimate Values: What do they Mean?" Miss Madge Crane was introduced next. Her beautiful pianoforte playing of selections from Brahms and Chopin refreshed and invigorated the company before the second lecture, on "The Essence of Swedenborg's Philosophy," which was given by the Rev. Erik Sandstrom. Sir Thomas Chadwick proposed a vote of thanks to the lecturers and to Miss Crane, recalling on this historic occasion the great International Swedenborg Congress of 1910, and welcoming Mr. and Mrs. Wunsch.
     The meeting on Saturday, held in the larger South Hall, was of a more social character. A display of some of the Society's most precious possessions-manuscripts, first editions, pictures and records-was tastefully exhibited and aroused much interest. The president introduced his wife, honorary secretary, to speak on the subject of the Swedenborg Society. Mrs. Griffith's address was followed by a delightful violin recital by Miss Violet Pusey, accompanied by Miss Norbrook, and then came an address by the Rev. William F. Wunsch, who expressed confidence that the spirit of inquiry is abroad and the world is opening up to new ideas. Miss Pusey and Miss Norbrook played again, and Mr. Fred Chadwick was then called upon to express the thanks of the company. The formal program was followed by dancing. (From NEW-CHURCH HERALD)

     150th Annual Meeting

     The 150th annual meeting of the Society was held in Swedenborg Hall on June 8, 1960, with the president, Mr. Roy H. Griffith, in the chair. Fifty-five members and friends were present.
     The meeting was opened with the Lord's Prayer.

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The president then read two messages received since the anniversary meetings, one from the Rev. Leslie Marshall in the United States, the other from the Rev. Eric Reissner in Berlin. The notice convening the meeting, and apologies for absence, were read, after which the Minutes of the 149th annual meeting and an extraordinary general meeting held on June 15, 1959, were confirmed.
     The two honorary secretaries then presented the Council's report for 1959. Dr. Griffith referred to the pleasing increase in the distribution of books and to the progress made in the preparation of Volume I of the Spiritual Diary, which is now in the printer's hands. Reference was made also to the passing into the spiritual world of Miss Ivy Piper, the Society's faithful servant for twenty-six years, and tribute was paid to her devotion. Mr. Drummond spoke of the Society's advertising, the most fruitful media being The Listener and John of London's, which gave positive if small results. He then referred to the historical brochure, The Swedenborg Society, produced for the Society's sesquicentenary, describing it as informative and inspiring, and hoped that all members would acquire a copy.
     The treasurer, Mr. R, V. Stebbing-Allen, was then called upon to read the auditor's certificate and to present the accounts and balance sheet. He gave a clear account of how the Society's money had been spent, the printing charges including the Zulu translation of Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture, and a new edition of the Word. New Church canon. A loss on property was due to the large sum spent on painting the hall and the outside of the premises. The income from members was made up of 1815 in donations and L407 in subscriptions.
     The chairman of the Council, Mr. Kenneth F. Chadwick, in moving the adoption of the report and accounts, said that there were a few points he would like to underline. He thought it was most important that our membership should be increased, and expressed the Society's gratitude to the members of the Advisory and Revision Board who give their time for this most important work, and to the office staff for their loyal service.
     In the discussion of the report which followed, Mr. L. H. Houghton suggested that if the Society had an "advertising member" in each New Church Society an increase in membership might result. The Rev. Erik Sandstrom asked how many new members had resulted from the appeal, and the answer was, about forty. Mr. Hugh Bain said that while he admired the Society's publishing work, and the dignity and courtesy with which its functions are carried out, he felt that its public lectures could be more challenging-less in the spirit of 1910 and more in that of 1960. The Rev. Dennis Duckworth, in supporting Mr. Bum, said it was important that the lectures should encourage thinking from the Writings. Miss Dupuy asked if the Society could help the new Mission in South Africa, and it was stated that books had already been sent. The motion for the adoption of the report was then carried unanimously.
     FREDA H. GRIFFITH


     THE CHURCH AT LARGE

     General Convention. The 137th annual session of the General Convention was held at Lake Forest College, Lake Forest, Illinois, June 23-26, 1960, with 103 delegates and 29 ministers in attendance. Prior to the opening of Convention there were meetings, June 21-23, of the Council of Ministers, the National Alliance of New Church Women, the Association of Ministers' Wives, the Sunday School Association and the American New Church League, as well as of the General Council, the Board of Missions, the Board of Education and other groups.
     The Council of Ministers discussed a variety of matters, and at its open meeting heard an address by the Rev. Bjorn Johannson, chairman of the Council's committee on spiritual healing, who presented "evidence of the fact of spiritual healing, and showed a rational explanation of the process from the works of Emanuel Swedenborg."
     The General Convention and its associated bodies heard reports and took action in several areas.

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One of the most far reaching was a decision referring to General Council, the national organization's board of directors, a detailed proposal for complete reorganization of the structure of the church on a departmental basis, with the establishment of a permanent national headquarters. The New Church Theological School, in its report, announced a program of new development which includes a plan for an enlarged faculty to gather a community of scholars to work in research and publication in conjunction with their teaching duties. During the business sessions resolutions were adopted setting up a publication committee, opposing the use of capital punishment, urging that there be no racial or religious discrimination, and giving a donation to aid Helen Keller in her work on behalf of the blind. The Rev. Othmar Tobisch proposed to Convention the holding of a great "World Assembly of the New Church" in 1971, the 200th anniversary of the publication of True Christian Religion.
     One of the featured addresses was by the Rev. Reginald H. Fuller of the Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, whose topic was "The Book that Tells of the Acts of God." After his address, the Convention divided into discussion groups on the Bible in worship, in the school, in the home, and in one's occupation. A discussion was carried on by the young people's group on "The Relationship of the New Church Teachings to our Daily Lives: Choice of Vocation, Marriage, Love, and Regeneration." The public meeting of the Board of Missions was addressed by the Rev. Messrs. Ernest Frederick, Erwin Reddekopp and Calvin Turley. At the service on Sunday morning, Messrs. George Dole and Werner Schmidt, recent graduates of the New Church Theological School, were ordained. The Rev. Louis A. Dole, general pastor of the Maine Association, served as the ordaining minister, and the sermon was preached by the Rev. Owen Turley, his subject being "Discipleship and the Wholeness of Man."

     General Conference. The 153rd session of the General Conference of the New Church was held at Bournemouth, England, June 20-24, 1960, with 86 members present: 26 ministers, 9 trustees, and 51 representatives. Routine but important business was transacted at the opening session, at which also the address of the retiring president, the Rev. Eric J. Jarmin, was delivered. Mr. Jarmin stressed the church's shortage of manpower, and asked whether we were of sufficient spiritual stature to deserve a greater measure of success; also whether sufficient attention was being given to prayer.
     Tuesday's session was opened with the administration of the Holy Supper by the president to 116 communicants. After a formal welcome to Conference, the Rev. James Vernon Ayre was elected president for 1960-1961; the retiring president became vice-president; and the Rev. C. H. Presland was re-appointed secretary of Conference. Reports, and a civic welcome by the Mayor of Bournemouth, were followed by the address of the new president, who discussed the limits of possibility in missionary work, and the report of the retiring president. Other reports heard were those of the secretary, the Library and Documents Committee, and the Provincial Councils.
     The Old Testament Translation Committee reported that the five books of Moses had now been completely translated. The Rev. E. R. Goldsack introduced the New Testament Translation Committee's report, which covered work done by the Commentaries Committee and referred to an experimental first chapter of a Commentary on Mark. On motion of the secretary of the Ministers and Leaders Committee it was resolved that the Rev. Clifford Harley and the Rev. Harry Hilton should be inducted into the office of ordaining ministers. The reports introduced by the superintendent ministers disclosed that a shortage of ministers is a serious problem in several provinces. Thus the Midland Provincial Council reported three ministers for eight societies; the South Lancashire and Chester Council, four active ministers for sixteen societies; and North Lancashire, four ministers for seven societies.

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In the frank discussion which followed, a minister thought that a new spirit was required in the church and that a mere transfer of manpower would not solve the problem; a lay representative thought that northern societies were too elastic in outlook, and should be taught that the New Church stands for something definite; another minister asserted that in Lancashire the church had largely remained a social center, whereas elsewhere the church had come to be used for its proper purpose-the teaching of spiritual truth and not the arranging of social affairs. Before the session closed, the Rev. Harry Hilton was nominated as president of the next annual meeting, and the Rev. John O. Booth was appointed to preach the next Conference sermon. The reports of the Sessional Committee on Finance, involving the treasurer's report, the College Council, and the Conference Council, were heard the following day.

     Australia. The president of "The New Church in Australia," the Rev. H. W. Hickman, visited the societies in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane last spring. An invitation to visit Adelaide came later.
     The Rev. C. V. Hasler, who formerly ministered to the societies in Mauritius, has accepted a call to the pastorate of the Brisbane (Queensland) Society. Mr. Hasler's arrival will bring to four the number of ordained ministers in the Australian Conference.
WESTERN DISTRICT ASSEMBLY 1960

WESTERN DISTRICT ASSEMBLY       GEORGE DE CHARMS       1960

     An Assembly of the Western District of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held at 346 Riverdale Drive, Glendale 4, California, Friday, November 4, to Sunday, November 6, 1960, Bishop Willard D. Pendleton presiding. All members and friends of the General Church are cordially invited to attend.
     GEORGE DE CHARMS, Bishop
AVAILABLE IN NOVEMBER 1960

AVAILABLE IN NOVEMBER              1960

Foundations of New Church Education. By Willard D. Pendleton. Revised Edition. The Academy Book Room, Bryn Athyn, Pa., 1960. Cloth, pp. 196. Price, $2.50.
     This book is an expansion-more than one-third of it new material-of the original work published in 1957 and now out of print. Chapters II, III and IV, here published for the first time, discuss the central importance of the idea of God in education, and show its development as reflected in the successive dispensations of the Word, and applied to the growth of the mind from earliest childhood to adult life. The book's final chapter applies the doctrine of use to the distinctive education of the feminine mind, bringing revealed truth to bear with telling force upon the historical question and the Academy's policy of separate secondary education for girls. Order from the Academy Book Room, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

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CHICAGO DISTRICT ASSEMBLY 1960

CHICAGO DISTRICT ASSEMBLY       GEORGE DE CHARMS       1960



     Announcements
     The Chicago District Assembly will be held at Glenview, Illinois, Friday, October 14, to Sunday, October 16, inclusive, the Bishop of the General Church presiding.
     All members and friends of the General Church of the New Jerusalem are cordially invited to attend.
     GEORGE DE CHARMS,
          Bishop
EASTERN CANADA DISTRICT ASSEMBLY 1960

EASTERN CANADA DISTRICT ASSEMBLY       GEORGE DE CHARMS       1960

     The Eastern Canada District Assembly will be held in Toronto, Ontario, Saturday, October 8, to Monday, October 10, inclusive, the Bishop of the General Church presiding.
     All members and friends of the General Church of the New Jerusalem are cordially invited to attend.
     GEORGE OE CHARMS,
          Bishop
CHARTER DAY 1960

              1960

     All ex-students, members of the General Church and friends of the Academy are cordially invited to attend the Charter Day Exercises, to be held in Bryn Athyn, Pa., on Friday and Saturday, October 28 and 29, 1960. The program:

Friday, 11 a.m.-Cathedral Service, with an address by the Rev. Geoffrey S. Childs
Friday Afternoon-Football Game
Friday Evening-Dance
     Saturday, 7 p.m.-Banquet

     Arrangements will be made for the entertainment of guests if they will write to The Hostess Committee, to Mrs. Harris S. Campbell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
VISITORS TO BRYN ATHYN 1960

VISITORS TO BRYN ATHYN              1960

     People coming to Bryn Athyn who need assistance in finding accommodation will please communicate with the Hostess Committee. Please address letters to: The Hostess Committee, c/o Mrs. Harris S. Campbell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

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BLESS THE LORD 1960

BLESS THE LORD       Rev. NORBERT H. ROGERS       1960


No. 11

VOL. LXXX
NOVEMBER, 1960
     "Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits." (Psalm 103: 1, 2)

     These familiar and beautiful words, frequently used as a blessing or prayer before meals, are interiorly part of a song in praise of the Lord on account of redemption and reformation (PP). Being such, they are also said to concern the celebration and worship of the Lord.
     From most ancient times, man has been accustomed, and indeed Divinely commanded, to celebrate and worship the Lord by representative and correspondential externals of many kinds. For the most part, man naturally tends to confine his concept of worship to such externals, especially to the rituals of the church. But the Writings make clear that rituals, though very necessary, are but one part or aspect of worship; for worship, we are taught, pertains to life, specifically to the life of good and truth, that is, of love, charity and faith. And so we are taught that the angels, and regenerate men as well, glorify and worship the Lord in every act they do, and in every word they speak, whatever these may be. Yet words and deeds themselves, however true and good they may be, do not constitute glorification and worship of the Lord; they are but the necessary means by which glorification and worship are expressed and confirmed. Glorification and worship themselves pertain to the interior state of life: they are the activity and outpouring of the love, charity and faith which inmostly affect man and qualify his life, and which man receives from the Lord alone. But man can receive love, charity and faith from the Lord only in so far as he freely turns himself towards the Lord and approaches Him, seeking them, and opens his interiors to their reception by putting away the proprial things which stand in the way.

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Putting away proprial things involves humiliation of self: the recognition that all man's own affections and thoughts are infernal in quality, wholly corrupt and unworthy, and that they must be completely subjugated that the Lord's will may be done on earth and in heaven. And the reception of love, charity and faith endows man with a new heavenly quality, raising him up into a new state of life and happiness, and, as a consequence, involves a grateful and joyful acknowledgment of the Lord's infinite love and mercy. Both these things-the humiliation of self and the joy of acknowledging the Lord-which pertain to the reception and active presence in man of love, charity and faith, are also essential elements of all true worship. They must characterize man's interiors, or else he is not in a genuine state of worship; and they ought to be present in externals, or else these do not properly express or serve the needs of worship. For this reason, both elements of humiliation and joyful acknowledgment are included, sometimes simultaneously, and sometimes alternately, in all the services and rituals of our church. And both are manifest in the words of our text.
     The idea of self-humiliation is usually and naturally associated in man's mind with sorrow and sombreness. And since it is an essential element of worship, man tends to feel that something of sadness and mourning properly belong to sincere worship. This is true only when and in so far as the proprium has not been fully subjugated; that is, in so far as man is unwilling to humble himself, and does not really acknowledge that nothing good and true is from himself. His proprial life, and all the things belonging to it, then seem very important and valuable to him; he wills to preserve them; and the very thought of losing any part of that life fills him with grief and anxiety. But when and in so far as the man has subjugated his proprium, and recognizes its infernal quality, it no longer appears valuable or desirable to him. He then welcomes every opportunity to reduce its influence over him, and finds joy rather than sorrow in humbling himself and in worshipping the Lord. Something of the joy derived from humble acknowledgment of the Lord is manifest in the self-exhortation: "Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits."
     All blessings, which produce or contribute to a state of blessedness, are goods or relate to goods. Certainly evils cannot bless anyone; for they are the very essence of all misery, insanity and destruction, and only by Divine intervention can they be made to contribute in any way to the pleasantness and happiness of life. Neither can falsities endow man with blessings; for of themselves they are related to evils and serve them. Nor indeed can truths of themselves bless man; for truths separated from goods are harsh and condemnatory.

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Only when truths are conjoined with goods do they introduce man into a better and happier state of life. The truths then are the means by which the better state is attained; but what make the state a better and happier one are the goods to which the truths have led man and with which they are conjoined. And so we are taught that blessing inwardly involves all celestial, spiritual, and also natural good; and outwardly, worldly, bodily, and earthly good; but these external goods, it is said, are blessings only from the inward good (AC 1096). "To bless," then, means nothing else than to communicate good, essentially interior good, to another, by which his state is improved and made the more blessed. By so doing men can bless one another. Indeed, the blessedness and happiness of heaven are continually being increased and perfected because the angels mutually communicate and share their goods with one another. Indeed, the blessedness and happiness of heaven are continually being increased and perfected because the angels communicate and share their goods with one an6ther. The goods they have and share are not from themselves, but are all blessings they receive from the Lord, as are all the genuine goods men on earth have. For from man himself comes not the least good. Man can thus bless others only from the Lord, but not at all from himself.
     Still less can man bless the Lord, no matter how ardently he desires to; for man has nothing of his own with which to endow the Lord, or to improve His state. In his exhortation to bless the Lord the Psalmist then, is speaking according to the appearance that what man has or does can please the Lord and delight Him. Such speaking from appearance is common, having been done from ancient times; and it is quite proper to do so, especially in so far as man knows and acknowledges that of himself he is nothing. For the appearance has been granted, and is carefully preserved with men and angels by the Lord Himself, that they may have the use and enjoyment of their freedom, and that they may be motivated to use that freedom as of themselves to think and to will, to speak and to live, according to the Divine will.
     Moreover, except when his motives look to gain for himself or to aggrandisement in his own sight and in the eyes of his fellow men man s desire to bless others and to communicate good to them is aroused by love and charity, testifying to the active presence of those loves and their affections. The loves of self and of the world obstruct blessedness, both to one's self and to others, and must be reduced to total submission that there may be blessedness. It is quite otherwise with good loves. Blessedness is said to be received with genuine charity (AC 6408). Furthermore, it is an essential of love to seek to bless the one loved from itself (TCR 43). And so the angels are in the continual effort to communicate their blessings to one another because they are in mutual love and charity; and because of that, the more of their blessings they give to others, the greater blessings do they receive from the Lord.

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A genuine desire to bless the Lord is thus a manifestation and sign of love to the Lord. And the exhortation and effort to bless Him are a declaration and expression of that love. This is man's reciprocation of the Lord's love by which man is conjoined with the Lord and caused to be in a heavenly state. By this the Divine end of creation is fulfilled with the man, which end, however, cannot be achieved until man has, as of himself by the Lord's power, completely freed himself from the enslavement of his proprial evils. For this reason, the exhortation of our text is said to be a song in praise of the Lord on account of redemption and reformation.
     The declaration of love expressed in the words "bless the Lord" necessarily involves a grateful acknowledgment that all blessings are from the Lord alone, and a desire to praise the Lord and to make known His wonderful works. For there can be no genuine love without knowledge and acknowledgment, nor without gratefulness, nor without a seeking to communicate and to share. And so it is said that "Blessed be the Lord" was in ancient times a formula of thanksgiving (AC 1096); and that to "bless the Lord" means to sing to Him, to evangelize His salvation, to preach His wisdom and power; thus to confess and acknowledge the Lord from the heart (AC 1422: 2).
     All things-all blessings-are from the Lord's Divine love, and are brought into effect and communicated by His Divine wisdom. And these two, the Divine love and the Divine wisdom, are the things which above all others we are to attribute to the Lord, and for which we are to sing to Him with the thankful acknowledgment of love. This we are specifically exhorted to do in the text by the words "bless the Lord," and "bless His holy name." For the word "Lord" in the text is the English translation of "Jehovah"; and by "Jehovah" in the Word is specifically meant the Divine itself or the Divine esse from which all things are, which, we are taught, is the Divine love. And by "name," in reference to the Lord, is meant that by which He is made known, and by which He may be seen by men, approached, and blessed. This is the Divine existere, which is the Divine wisdom and all that goes forth from the Lord by means of the Divine wisdom. For Divine wisdom gives form to the Divine love, enabling it to stand forth to view and to be known. And in its proceeding even to ultimates, it is the Divine wisdom which enables the Divine to reach out to man, to touch him, and to operate with him to redeem him and to save him. And we are taught that even in ultimate forms, the Divine is fully present in what proceeds from the Divine. This is what makes all that is meant by the Lord's name to be holy.

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     In the text there is an exhortation not only to bless the Lord and His holy name, but also not to forget all His benefits. This is a reminder of man's continual need to humble himself, without which even the angels could not acknowledge the Lord and bless Him. For we are taught that of himself, even in angelic states, man is nothing but a passive and inert vessel, which continually tends to sink down even to the lowest hell. Only the Lord's uplifting power can preserve man from such a complete descent into hell. Only the Lord's power can withdraw man from infernal states. Only the Lord's power can raise man into a heavenly state, and maintain him in that state. And this so much so that we are taught that were the Lord's unceasing effort to uplift man interrupted for a moment, even the celestial angels would immediately relapse into infernal states.
     Memory is associated with love and affection. We naturally remember only what in some way affects our loves and affections. We remember more easily and clearly the things which most directly affect our most active and cherished loves and affections. And we remember most vividly what agrees with and supports our ruling love. Whenever something is recalled to mind from the memory, the affection or love with which it is associated is stimulated and refreshed, and the ties linking us to the thing or person connected with the memory are renewed and strengthened. The memory thus is the basis not only of mental development, but also of conjunction. And nothing else than conjunction with the Lord is meant when the bread of the Holy Supper is eaten in remembrance of the Lord.
     What in no way affects our loves and affections is not remembered, while the things which hurt our loves and are found unpleasant are not long remembered. For every effort of love is to protect itself, to dissociate itself from all that is opposed to it, to turn away from such things, and in so far as possible to put them away completely. Forgetfulness thus involves removal, a cutting off and separation, and the destruction, as it were, of what is offensive to one's loves and affections. To be able to forget evil, pain and misfortune is among the Divine blessings given to man. And the forgetfulness of them means there is no love for them, no tie linking us to them, and thus no conjunction with them. But to forget the Lord's benefits is to cut one's self off from the Lord. It means that we have no love to Him, and no ties with Him. It can only mean that we are being led by our proprial affections away from the Lord, away from His protection and love, and away from His blessings. This man naturally tends to do. He continually needs to heed the Psalmist's exhortation not to forget all the Lord's benefits, that in the conscious remembering of them the remains of his love of the Lord may be rekindled, and develop until his soul and all that is within him may come to bless the Lord and His holy name.

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     For external acknowledgment of and gratitude for natural goods provided by the Lord are not enough, nor do they cause man to be blessed. They but constitute and testify to a purely natural love of the Lord. Such a love looks to self primarily, and to the Lord only on account of the rewards He gives and may give in the future. Such a love, too, affects man only superficially, without animating his interiors, and so leaves his true self in the same infernal state as before. To be genuine, and to affect the spirit, man's remembrance of the Lord's benefits, his acknowledgment and love of the Lord, must turn away from self to the Lord Himself. They must have regard for the Divine and spiritual blessings which the Lord bountifully and freely provides out of pure mercy and love. And, too, man must strive to permit his remembrance, acknowledgment and love to be raised above the plane of his natural man to the interiors of his thoughts and affections, and indeed to the very inmost of his being, to the inmost of his understanding and of his will, meant by "the soul" and the "bowels" or viscera, that is, by "all that is within" man. Then will the remembrance, acknowledgment and love of the Lord affect, enter in, and qualify the whole man-all his thoughts and affections, all his words and acts. Then will there be a genuine reciprocation of the Lord's love and mercy, bringing man into conjunction with the Lord, and causing him to be truly blessed. And then will man be able with a humble and full heart to join the Psalmist in joyfully saying: "Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits." A men.

LESSONS:     Psalm 103. Luke 6: 20-38. Arcana Coelestia 6408.
MUSIC:     Liturgy, pages 570, 568, 561.
PRAYERS:     Liturgy, nos. 89, 129.
SPIRITUAL HARVEST 1960

SPIRITUAL HARVEST              1960

     "From the signification of the 'field' it is plain what is signified by the 'harvest,' namely, that in the broadest sense it signifies the state of the whole human race in respect to the reception of good by means of truths; in a less broad sense, the state of the church in respect to the reception of the truths of faith in good; in a more restricted sense, the state of the man of the church in respect to this reception; and in a still more restricted sense, the state of good in respect to the reception of truth" (Arcana Coelestia 9295: 3).

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THANKSGIVING 1960

THANKSGIVING       Rev. W. CAIRNS HENDERSON       1960

     A Talk to Children

     Every day, just as He has taught us, we ask the Lord for our food. In repeating His own prayer, we say: "Give us this day our daily bread"-our daily food. And in our New Church homes we do not forget to thank the Lord for answering this prayer every time we sit down at the table to begin a meal. This may be done in many different ways. But in most of our homes the familiar words used are those which are written in one of the Psalms: "O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good: for His mercy is forever" (Psalm 136: 1). And we unite in saying this little prayer of thanksgiving at mealtimes because we know, if we think about it, that it is really the Lord who has given us our food; and that He gives it to us, not because we deserve it or have earned it, but because He loves and pities us. If we think about what that prayer means, then, we think of the Lord's goodness to us in our homes at the beginning of every meal throughout the year.
     But there is one time in the year when we should think as well of the Lord's goodness and mercy to all the people of our country. That is the time of harvest. You all know what harvest is, of course. Every year in the fall, the grain that has been Sprouting in the fields, and the fruits and vegetables that have been growing in orchards, vineyards and gardens, become ripe and ready for our use. The crops are reaped; the fruits and vegetables are gathered in; and all are stored up as food for the coming year. That is what is meant by harvest-the ingathering of the earth's produce.
     Now all the good things that are gathered in at harvest time to make our food are given to us by the Lord; and they are given to us because He is good, and His mercy is forever. Just think for a moment of the crops that are grown in the fields. It is true that unless there were different kinds of farmers, all willing to work hard, there would be no harvest. The farmer must make his fields ready by plowing and harrowing them. He must get the seed, and sow it carefully. And then, all through the summer, he must tend the growing crop. The ground must be cultivated, so that it may soak in the moisture that gives food and drink to the growing plants; weeds must be pulled up; insects which would destroy the plants must be killed.

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All these things the farmer must do, knowing all the time that drought, hail, heavy rains, or great storms of wind, may destroy part or all of his work. In just the same way, other farmers must tend their trees or their gardens.
     Yet without the things the Lord does there would never be any harvest! Just think for a moment of all the things that He does. First of all, the Lord made the soil in which the seeds grow, and all the things in it on which the plants feed. He gives us the seed, and the life in it; and that is important, for no man can make a seed. He brings the seasons- spring, summer, fall, winter. He sends the heat and light of the sun, and the rain without which the plants would die. But that is not all. It is from the Lord that men have been able to learn to cultivate the ground. It is from Him that they get the knowledge and skill, the strength and patience, to till the land in such a way that crops will be produced. And if you think about all this, you will see that without the Lord there would never be any harvest.
     That is why we have a service of grateful thanksgiving to the Lord every year at the time of harvest. The date, of course, is not the same in all countries; but whenever the harvest has been safely gathered in, such a service is held. Day by day, meal by meal, we can thank the Lord as we sit round the family table for the food He gives us in answer to our prayer for our daily bread; and we should never forget to do this, or to think about the meaning of the words as we say them. But harvest, the time when the Lord has again given food for all the people in the land, calls for something more. So instead of the family table we have the church, and instead of a simple little prayer of thanksgiving we have a service of thanksgiving. We go to church to thank the Lord, because we know that all the fruits of the harvest are His gifts to us.
     If you think about it, you will see that it would not be right to thank the Lord only once a year for something He gives us every day. That is why we say the blessing before we begin to eat our meals. And when you say it, you can think also of all the other things the Lord gives you as well as your food. He gives you your parents, your homes, and your clothes; and He gives to your parents the love they have for you, the love from which they take care of you and do for you the best they possibly can. He gives you your country, which in many ways is like a father and mother to you. When you grow up, He will give you the opportunity to be of use to your fellow men and to His kingdom. And, best of all, the Lord gives you His Word, now opened in His second coming, and the church with its own schools, in which you can learn of Him and be taught how to make yourselves ready for heaven.

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     All these things the Lord does for you, not because you deserve them-for you do not always obey His commandments-but because He loves you, and because He pities the weaknesses of all His children. And if you will keep all these things in mind, and think about them from time to time, you will see more and more as you grow up that the Lord is good, that His mercy is forever. You will want to give thanks to Him from the heart; and you will go to His Word to learn what real thanksgiving is, and how you may offer it to Him. Amen.

LESSON:     Psalm 136.
MUSIC:     Liturgy, pages, 560, 566, 569.
PRAYERS:     Liturgy, nos. Cl0, C18.
IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1960

IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES              1960

     The Fall Number of the THETA ALPHA JOURNAL, the last to be produced by the present staff, contains a stimulating variety of articles, letters, reports and news. During the four years of their tenure the editors have developed a lively magazine providing the women of the church-and, we suspect, some of the men-with articles of real interest and provocative of thought. We congratulate Ruth Schoenberger Glebe and Karen Synnestvedt Johns on their contribution to our periodical literature, and wish Alice Fritz success in carrying on the work.
     In the Autumn Number of the NEW-CHURCH MAGAZINE, the editor, the Rev. George T. Hill, points out that the statistical approach to social problems tends to mask the fact that each one is a person. That man is a social being, and that no one is sufficient for or unto himself, does not mean that a man is a mere item in a collection. Each person is of infinite value in the sight of the Lord, and is a special creation with unlimited possibilities of use before him. He is an individual, differing from all other individuals, so that he may add to the perfection of heaven. These ideas are as yet accepted by few; but if we are thinking of survival, they will contribute most to mankind's preservation.
     Sketching, in the NEW-CHURCH HERALD, the life of Michael Servetus, the Rev. Arthur Clapham suggests that in his writings, Melancthon and Calvin were presented with the elements of genuine Christian truth. They did know and consider the primary truth of Christianity. When, by the Reformation, the Lord restored the Word to Christians, He gave them also the means by which they might have understood it. But Servetus died at the stake; the church went on to its end; and the world had to wait another two hundred years for the full revelation of truth.

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DOCTRINE OF MERIT 1960

DOCTRINE OF MERIT        GEORGE DE CHARMS       1960

     (The second of three doctrinal articles.)

     2. Christian Theories and the Writings' Solution

     Christian Attempts to Solve the Problem

     In the historic development of Christian theology there have been three successive attempts to solve the question of merit. First, the Roman Catholic doctrine on the subject was formulated at the famous Council of Trent, which was first convoked by Pope Paul III in the year 1536, and which included twenty-two separate sessions, held at different times and places between that date and 1562.
     This Council was called to define the official position of Rome in regard to a number of hotly contested questions raised by Martin Luther and others associated with the Reformation. Prominent among these was the question as to whether man, by performing good works, could merit salvation. The Council decided the question in the affirmative, stating: "By merit in general is understood that property of a good work which entitles the doer to receive a reward from him in whose service the work was done. . . . In the theological sense a supernatural merit can be only a salutary act to which God, in consequence of His infallible promise, owes a supernatural reward, consisting ultimately in eternal life, which is the beatific vision in heaven." It was therefore declared as a dogma that "the just, in return for their good works done in God, through the merits of Jesus Christ, should expect an eternal reward."
     Here man is said to "merit" or earn the reward of eternal life by doing good works. Therefore he is entitled to expect that reward because God has promised it. Yet Roman Catholic doctrine clearly recognizes that power belongs to God alone. How, then, we ask, can man do good works? Must not all things in reality be done by the Lord? How, then, can man claim merit merely because he imagines that he does them himself? To this, Catholic doctrine gives no answer.

     There is no statement of belief that would be regarded as authoritative by most Protestant theologians of the present day; but the Augsburg Confession, published in 1530, and the Formula Concordiae adopted in 1580, were the cornerstones on which the Protestant position was founded at the time of the Reformation.

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     In both of these, the idea that man merits salvation by doing good works is categorically denied. Martin Luther's main contention against the sale of indulgences and other supposed abuses of the Roman Church was that man is saved by faith alone, without the works of the law.
     "By the Word and the Sacraments," it is said, "the Holy Spirit is given, who effects faith when and where He pleases, in those who hear the Gospel." "Good works, which are the fruits of faith, being themselves works of the spirit, follow the reception of faith. "Faith is imputed for justice without works, on account of the merit of Christ, which is laid hold of by faith." Therefore "good works are to be utterly excluded, in treating of justification and eternal life." Yet it is said that
'we ought to repent as well on account of original sin as on account of actual sins," and that "repentance with Christians continues until death, because they have to wrestle with the remains of sin in the flesh throughout life."
     Here we would note that faith itself is not regarded as an act of free choice on the part of man, because it is given by the Holy Spirit "when and where He pleases, in those who hear the Gospel." This being the case, the responsibility for man's having faith rests with the Lord, not with man himself. Further, in some way that is not explained, faith, when given by the Holy Spirit, lays hold of the merit of Christ, which is then imputed to man. And although good works are to be "utterly excluded in treating of justification and eternal life," yet we are called upon to repent, and this throughout life.
     It follows, therefore, that while we have no responsibility for having faith, since this is given arbitrarily by the Holy Spirit to those to whom He pleases, we are responsible for a good life, that is, for repentance from sin. Whence comes the power to repent? And if we have the power to repent, why do we not acquire merit for so doing? If repentance also is a work of the Holy Spirit, how can we be held responsible for it? To these questions there are no answers in traditional Protestant doctrine.

     In both Roman Catholic and Protestant theology great stress is laid on the total depravity of man as a result of the sin of Adam. Because of this, man is said to have no power whatsoever; and yet in both instances it is recognized that in some mysterious way man must have responsibility for his actions. Medieval theologians began with the thesis that God is omnipotent, and then tried to explain how man is responsible. But the modernist Christian view is just the opposite. In the first place, it accepts the thesis that man is a free agent, responsible for his acts, and it then tries to explain how God is omnipotent.

492



     This change is due largely to the influence of scientific thought. The theory of evolution has tended to discredit any idea of original sin. Thus the belief that man is totally corrupt from birth has been replaced by the contention that he is inherently good. By those who believe in God this is often explained by saying that every man has in himself a "spark of Divinity." This seems to imply that God has given each one a little piece of His own life, which then becomes man's own, to do with as he pleases. Because many in con sequence of this Divine gift, really has life in himself, he naturally has free choice, initiative, judgment, and the power to use these. In this case he must, of course, be held responsible for his acts, both good and evil, and must acquire merit for the good he does and suffer blame for the evil he commits.
     However, men have fallen increasingly into doubt as to whether there is a supernatural source from which human life is derived. They tend to look to nature alone for the origin of all things, even life; and because of this, there is a growing tendency to place the blame for wrongdoing, not on the one who does it, but on the environment in which he lives, the external pressures to which he is subjected, or on the lack of opportunity-the poverty, hunger and want which combine to distort his thinking, and turn him, in desperation, toward anti-social conduct. The implication is that man really has no free choice, but is merely the resultant of all the forces that play upon him. If this is the case, there is no need to resort to any belief in a spark of Divinity, except for the sake of religion, which many still regard as essential.
     If we reflect, however, it at once becomes evident that an infinite God cannot give away part of His life. The Infinite is indivisible; if it were divided it would cease to be infinite. If man actually had independent power apart from God, then it could not be said that all power belongs to God alone. If God has, in fact, relinquished some share of His power to man, to do with as he pleases, what is to prevent man from disrupting the Divine order of creation, and thus frustrating the will and the providence of God?
     If we assume, however, that man is the inevitable product of his environment, and blame society for his misdeeds, we need to ask ourselves: What do we mean by society? Is it not made up of individuals? Whatever responsibility may be ascribed to it must belong, in the last analysis, to the individuals who compose it. By placing the blame on society, therefore, we do not avoid the problem of individual responsibility. In either case, whether we postulate a spark of Divinity as accounting for man s responsibility, or regard him as the necessary product of his environment, we have not solved the question of merit.

493




     The Solution Given in the Writings

     No reasonable answer to that question is possible without a knowledge of the spiritual world and of the laws of influx, as now given in the Writings. The teaching there given is indeed that all life and all power belong to God alone. Thus we read: "Man's proprium is a mere dead thing. . . . Whatever lives in him is from the Lord's life, and if this were withdrawn he would fall down as dead as a stone; for man is only an organ of life."* "No man, spirit or angel ever has any life from himself, thus neither can he think and will from himself, because in thinking and willing is the life of man, and speaking and acting is the life thence derived. For there is only one life, that of the Lord, which flows into all, but is variously received."** "Life in itself is the very and only life, from which all angels and men have life. . . . Therefore let everyone beware of persuading himself that he lives from himself, or that he is wise, believes, loves, perceives truth, and wills and does good from himself."***
* AC 149:2
** AC 5847.
*** TCR 40.
     What man feels as his own life is really imparted to him, moment by moment, by means of a perpetual influx from God. But what do we mean by 'influx"? God is everywhere. He is immediately present in every least part of His creation; therefore He does not inflow from a distance. He is said to "inflow" wherever there is an organ or an instrument which is sensitive to the activity of the Divine life, and thus is moved or actuated by it. This may be illustrated by electrical impulses which inflow into the ear or produce sound only where there is a radio tube attuned to their vibrations.
     That the mind of man is an instrument moved by the activity of the Divine life is a very different concept from that of a "Divine spark" of life, or a minute segment of life, separated from God and given to man to use as he pleases. When moved by influx, man has no life of his own but is under the perpetual impulse of the life of God.

     How, then, can we conceive of men as being free, and as exercising responsibility? In order to provide for this, God imparts His life to man in three distinct ways, by three different kinds of influx which are called, respectively, general, particular, and immediate influx.
     By general influx the Lord creates, preserves and governs all things. He creates the organic forms of nature, all plants and animals of every kind, each as an instrument designed to respond in a particular way to the activity of His Divine life. By this same influx He builds the body of man in the womb, and after birth controls the operations of the brain and the nervous system, the heart and the lungs, the digestive system, and indeed all the internal organs of the body.

494


By it He preserves the health of the body, and restores it when it is impaired; and by it also He directs all reflex actions, and all that is involuntary, spontaneous or habitual.
     All this is effected as it were automatically, without man's knowledge or co-operation. Concerning this we read: "From the Lord through the spiritual world there is a general influx . . . into those things which are in order. . . . Animals of every kind are in the order of their nature, and therefore into them there is general influx. That they are in the order of their nature is evident from the fact that they are born into all their faculties, and have no need to be introduced into them by any reformation."* As to his body and brain, man also is in the order of his life, and is governed by 'general influx." His body and brain together form merely an instrument designed to respond to the activity of the Divine as it comes to him through the forces and the objects of nature. It is an instrument created to see, to hear, to taste, to smell, and to feel. All this happens to man automatically, without his knowing how. He is merely moved by these forces from without.
* AC 5850.
     But as to his conscious mind man is not in the Divinely intended order of his life. The order of life into which man was created is that he should love the Lord above all things, and his neighbor as himself; but the order into which he is now born by hereditary tendency is to love himself and the world above all things. This being the case, in order that he may be regenerated, or brought back into the true order of life, his conscious mind must be governed by particular influx, that is by influx through particular angels and spirits.
     Concerning this we read: "Men are not in their order, nor in any law of order, and therefore they receive particular influx; that is, there are with them angels and spirits through whom the influx comes. Unless these were with them, they would rush into every wickedness, and would plunge in a moment into the deepest hell. Through these spirits and angels man is kept under the auspices and guidance of the Lord."* Conscious sensation is made up of two things: an impulse from the surface of the body to the brain by means of the nervous system; and, at the same time, an impulse from spirits or angels present with us. The impulse from without provides a sense of form, but the impulse from the spiritual world gives a feeling of quality, of pleasure or pain, which is called an "affection." Spirits insinuate an interest, a desire or a love, which the man, because he does not perceive its source, supposes to be his own and to originate in himself. When man is thus moved by any affection or love he has a perfect sense of freedom because he is doing what he wants to do.

495


But this freedom is an appearance, an illusion, because he is really being moved, not by himself, but by others.
* AC 5850.
     Everyone is associated with spirits, both good and evil, and without such association he would have no conscious life. When he is under the influence of good spirits he feels heavenly delights, but when evil spirits are present he feels infernal delights. The opposite delights alternate with him; and the Lord, by the secret operations of His Divine providence, continually brings them into balance, that the tendency to evil may be countered by an equal tendency to good. Thus, by particular influx, the Lord places man in equilibrium between heaven and hell, and when that balance is destroyed He always restores it. When we speak of particular influx we mean that man, unlike the animals, is gifted with a mind; that is, with an instrument sensitive to the activity of life as it comes to him, not from the objects of nature, but through angels and spirits, enabling him to feel their affections and their delights as if they were his own.
     However, in order that man may be really free he must be given the power to choose between the opposite impulses that come from good spirits, on the one hand, and from evil spirits, on the other. For this choice the Lord provides by a third kind of influx, called immediate.
     "The Lord flows in and leads [man] immediately," we read, "but the immediate influx of the Lord does not come to perception because it is into the inmosts of man."* Because this influx is directly into the soul, which is above man's consciousness, it does not impel him in either direction. It merely imparts life, and, consequently, power, which appear to him to be his very own since he is completely unaware that they are perpetually inflowing from God. This life and power do not actually belong to man, but are the secret gift of God. Yet the use man makes of this gift is his own choice, and in making that choice man is really free. If he chooses to follow the impulse of good spirits he will find delight in spiritual truth; he will accept the teaching of the Word concerning God; he will acknowledge that his life is not his own, and that he has an obligation to use it according to the will of the Divine Giver to whom it belongs; and he will thus find delight in love to the Lord and in charity toward the neighbor. But if he chooses to follow the impulse of evil spirits he will have no interest in spiritual truth; he will reject the teaching of the Word concerning God, and will confirm as true the appearance that his life is his own to do with as he pleases. In consequence, he will find delight only in the love of self, in the pride of possession, and in dominion over others.
* AC 8690.

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     One who does this can never know the blessing of heaven. He can make it impossible for the Lord to give him those blessings, and to this extent he can frustrate the Divine will. Yet he cannot in the least detract from the omnipotent power of God. In our third and final article we will endeavor to show why this is so; and what effect this restricted area of actual freedom, which is vouchsafed to man, has on the doctrine of merit.
EDUCATIONAL COUNCIL 1960

EDUCATIONAL COUNCIL       LYRIS HYATT       1960

     15TH GENERAL MEETING AND SUMMER SCHOOL
     BRYN ATHYN, AUGUST 22-31, 1960

     These accounts of the General Church Educational Council, which have been appearing annually except for General Assembly years, are permanent records, but we hope that they are useful, too, as reports to our General Church public all over the world, and perhaps useful also as some encouragement to young men and women affirmatively to consider entering upon the use of teaching in New Church schools. It is not easy to make believable the fact that all of these meetings are a spiritual recreation for our teachers, as well as a certain (and uncertain) amount of work for all who are involved. We who teach in Bryn Athyn are fortunate indeed, but the inspiration that we receive from the teachers who come from other societies is probably far greater than they realize. Our brief physical consociation is a humbling and energizing experience.
     This year the meetings and classes followed in general the successful pattern set in 1958 (NEW CHURCH LIFE, pp. 523-5). The only significant changes from the program published in the LIFE for August, p, 382, were additions. The revised program sheets, circulated shortly before the meetings, included ten-minute reports on five of our local schools; but before the week of meetings was over, we had also been informed about the history of former Conference and General Church schools in England, about the Colchester school, and about the pioneer school which Miss M. White (now Mrs. F. W. Fletcher) carried on in Hurstville, Australia, in the 'thirties. Several members of the Council confessed to some reservations about the wisdom of packing our week (part of which was uncomfortably hot and humid) with such extras, but it was generally agreed that the reports were not only most usefully informative but inspirational in the best sense. It is the secretary's hope that they will be made available to the whole church by means of a tape recording.
     Another important addition to the program was the Reverend Jan H. Weiss's earnest report on the work of the Council's Committee on the Teaching of Singing.

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Mr. Mark Bostock of the Academy Faculty will prepare himself during the coming year to teach a course in the Academy's Department of Education and eventually to the teachers presently employed in our local schools. Mr. Weiss expected that next year Mr. Bostock would be able to give the Council more detailed information. The Council unanimously agreed that the Committee should continue its work to provide a unified and universal program for the teaching of singing throughout our elementary schools.
     The only omission from the printed program was the social listed for Friday evening, but its place was well filled by luncheons at the Civic and Social Club House every weekday, at which there was always something of a program in light or serious vein, and by "open houses" on three evenings at the Hubert Hyatt, Robert Johns and Hugo Odhner homes; not to mention a coffee break every morning after the two hours of classes, or the swimming break at Bishop Pendleton's pool, which a number of us gratefully accepted after daily afternoon "special sessions to continue morning discussions."
     The second week of summer school was telescoped into three days by holding classes morning and evening, and the final occasion, lunch on Wednesday, was mostly a testimonial of our appreciation of the courses offered by the Reverend David R. Simons and the Reverend Martin Pryke and thankfully received by about forty "students." No brief description here could do justice to the breadth, wisdom, and practicality of the series of classes on "Education in Depth" and "Discipline" given respectively by the two lecturers, but Mr. Kenneth Rose as chairman of the final luncheon, and Mrs. George Woodard as inspired volunteer speaker, did remarkably well in voicing our feelings. Many were grateful, too, to Mr. Rose who, in addition to his scheduled talk on ten experiments in elementary mathematics, offered almost a week of classes on these experiments. His offer was accepted by a commendable number of teachers.
     Readers may be distressed by the lack of organization in this report. The writer was, too, until the realization came that the meetings and concomitant activities had an organic rather than a mechanical organization. This year's chairman, Dean Charles S. Cole, sees things from odd and useful angles and distances, and his methods and results in this year's program were given the stamp of approval by unanimous consent that he continue his leadership next year with the help of his somewhat flexible and not entirely identifiable committee.
     Dean Margit K. Boyesen was in charge of such arrangements as the luncheons, which Mrs. David Grubb and her family provided so graciously and efficiently.

498


We are grateful to them and to all the many other men and women who in so many ways made these meetings and this summer school seem to many members to have been the most useful and enjoyable within their memory. Those who have worked so faithfully and well in the past would surely be heartened to see their efforts bearing fruit-slowly indeed, but recognizably. Statistics on attendance through the years show steady progress:

                                                  1958     1960
     Persons attending one or more classes or meetings      71     79
     Members of the Council in attendance                62     66
     Members from out-of-town                          15     16

     Because of roster exigencies, classes began Monday afternoon, August 22, but we end this incomplete account of the 1960 meetings by mentioning their proper beginning, the evening service of worship in the Benade Hall chapel conducted by Bishop Pendleton, followed by the first session, at which the Reverend W. Cairns Henderson gave a short address on "The Application of the Religion Curriculum to Secular Subjects." This subject was the keynote for much of the following week (for examples, Dean Klein's address on the Philosophy of History and Mr. Glenn's talk entitled 'Toward a Distinctive Composition Curriculum") and expressed the greatest challenge to, and most useful endeavors of, the Council. A speaker at the final luncheon was speaking for all of us: "As we leave the sessions, we may have some such feelings as these: We can feel humble before the size of the job that faces us; we can feel grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the work; and we can feel encouraged and inspired by the very real progress which has been so powerfully evidenced."
     LYRIS HYATT,
          Secretary
EDUCATIONAL COUNCIL 1960

EDUCATIONAL COUNCIL       Editor       1960

     For the information of our newer readers, the Educational Council of the General Church was formed in 1941 under the leading of Bishop De Charms. As the name indicates, it is a body of the General Church, not of the Academy. It is therefore under the chairmanship of the Bishop of the General Church, and is composed of all who are actively engaged in the work of New Church education, both in the Academy and in the schools maintained by General Church societies. The Council meets annually except in General Assembly years. The aims of the organization were ably set forth by Bishop De Charms in an address delivered at the inaugural meetings, and published in NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1941, pp. 289-297. [EDITOR.]

499


DIVINE MERCY 1960

DIVINE MERCY       Rev. ALAN GILL       1960

     (Delivered to the 45th British Assembly, London, July 31, 1960.)

     The matter chosen for consideration under this heading is not a new or unusual one; but it seems to your essayist of such importance as to warrant more of our attention than it receives-if we may judge by the little that has appeared in our periodicals on this subject during the past sixty years. I refer to an apparent paradox: to the problem of how to understand the teaching that although man is a spiritually responsible being, his salvation is yet of pure mercy and is not deserved; that no one earns heaven, and that this is not to be regarded as a merited reward for a good and orderly life.
     God's mercy is, of course, infinite, as are His life, power, providence and other attributes, and hence it is all-embracing. It is toward every creature and every activity of creation; is inclusive of everything outside of Himself. Hence the words of the Psalmist:

O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good:
     For His mercy is forever.
To Him who alone doeth great wonders:
     For His mercy is forever.
To Him that by wisdom made the heavens:
     For His mercy is forever.
To Him that spread out the earth above the waters:
     For His mercy is forever.
To Him that made great lights:
     For His mercy is forever.
The sun to rule by day:
     For His mercy is forever.
The moon and stars to rule by night:
     For His mercy is forever.
Who remembered us in our low estate:
     For His mercy is forever.
And hath redeemed us from our enemies:
     For His mercy is forever.
Who giveth food to all flesh:
     For His mercy is forever.
O give thanks unto the God of heaven:
     For His mercy is forever. (Psalm 136.)

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     We acknowledge this to be so: that His mercy is indeed over all things of His creation and over all the activities of created life; and that "it is of the mercy of the Lord that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not."* We acknowledge also the truth of the teaching of the Writings that "the operation of the Divine Providence is continually effected by means out of pure mercy"; that "it operates with all men throughout the whole world, who are such that they can do nothing from themselves."**
* Lamentations 3:22.
** DP 337. [Italics added.]
     Yet we commonly think and speak of a man s accomplishments, of his achievements, as though they were his own; of a successful man as earning his place in high society; or of one who has worked long and hard as deserving a rest. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, if there is difficulty in realizing, and accustoming one's self to thinking, that a place in a heavenly society and attainment of the sabbath state of heavenly rest are neither earned nor deserved. Who does not think of salvation as an accomplishment, an achievement, and of heaven as a goal to be attained by work and striving? Yet the truth is that these are gifts, and, moreover, that they are granted to man out of pure mercy, and not as prizes or as rewards rightly and justly earned for work well done.
     It is manifestly of the highest importance that this matter be understood clearly, inasmuch as there can be no salvation without the acknowledgment that this is of pure Divine mercy, nor without the acknowledgment that man is a responsible being, altogether responsible if he is not saved. He does not merit salvation. Yet the whole of Divine revelation teaches that he must "cease to do evil, learn to do well"; that he must "do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with his God" if he wishes to enter heaven. "For the Lord shall greatly bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, if only thou shalt hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all these commandments which I command thee this day."* "If only . . . "If . . . ." There is man's responsibility. And he is to blame if he does not assume the responsibility. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die. I will judge you . .. every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God."** Yes, man alone is indeed responsible as to this. Yet salvation is out of pure mercy, for man cannot as of himself shun evil or do good.
* Deuteronomy 15:4-6.
** Ezekiel 18:20, 30.
     Difficulty arises from the thought that mercy implies the granting of something that justice alone-strict, impartial justice-would not concede or award. Mercy or clemency, a sentence milder than deserved, is recommended by a merciful jury; and a merciful judge will show mercy where mercy was not deserved and cannot rightly he expected.

501


The king who reckoned with his servants, and commanded to be sold, with his wife and family, one who was indebted to him in the amount of ten thousand talents, was but meting out justice in so commanding; and in showing compassion by loosing him and forgiving the debt when the servant pleaded for more time to pay it, the king granted what, according to the prevailing laws of justice, was not to be expected of him.* Likewise the Lord frequently showed mercy on sinners whom the law and justice condemned to punishment.
* Matthew 18:23-25.
     Is it indeed, then, solely by Divine mercy of the kind exemplified in this parable that a good man escapes hell and is admitted into heaven? Does he not in any sense deserve or earn it? Would justice alone condemn an angel-man to hell? Is salvation granted only out of pity? We are taught that it is always granted out of pure mercy. Is it, then, never deserved? Can an angel be given no credit for living the life that leads to heaven? Man himself is to blame if he does not enter heaven. He alone is to blame if he goes to hell. Yet he can claim no credit to himself if he escapes it! Nevertheless, he is fully responsible for the latter as well as for the former. How can this be?
     The Writings teach that "the mercy of Jehovah, or of the Lord, includes everything that is done by the Lord toward mankind, who are [all] in such a state that the Lord pities them, each one according to his state. . . . It is of mercy to grant the enjoyment of good [to those who are in good] because no one merits anything that is good; for all mankind are evil, and of himself everyone would rush into hell; wherefore it is of mercy that he is delivered thence; nor is it anything but mercy, inasmuch as He has need of no man. Mercy has its name from the fact that it delivers man from the miseries of hell.* Thus it is called mercy in respect to mankind because they are in such a state of misery, and it is the effect of love toward them all because they are so.** The mercy of the Lord is defined also as "love Divine towards the human race, sunk as it is in such great miseries. For as of himself man is nothing but evil, and as that which is in him-so far as it is from him-is nothing else than infernal, and as he is looked upon by the Lord from Divine love, therefore his elevation out of hell in which he is of himself, and his deliverance, is called 'mercy.'"*** And regarding the vital need for "the acknowledgment that all salvation is of mercy, that is, that man of himself is in hell, but is of mercy drawn out thence by the Lord,"**** it is declared that "man cannot be in humiliation, nor consequently can he receive the Lords mercy-for this flows in only in humiliation or into a humble heart-unless he acknowledges that there is nothing but evil from himself, and that all good is from the Lord.

502


Without this acknowledgment a man attributes to himself as merit, and at length as righteousness, whatever he does; for to claim to himself the truth and good which are from the Lord is to make himself righteous. This is the source of many evils; for he then regards self in everything that he does for the neighbor; and when he does this he loves himself above all others, whom he then despises, if not in word, yet in heart."*****
* The Latin word for mercy, misericordia, by its very construction, expresses the idea of a heart that pities the wretched.     
** AC 587.
*** AC 3875.
**** AC 5758.
***** Ibid.
     Thus, as summarized, the teaching is that "the Lord regenerates man from Divine mercy; which is done from his infancy down to the last of his life in the world, and afterward to eternity. Thus it is from Divine mercy that the Lord withdraws a man from evils and falsities, and leads him to the truths of faith and the goods of love, and afterwards keeps him in these. And after this, in Divine mercy, He raises him to Himself in heaven, and makes him happy. All this is what is meant by the forgiveness of sins from mercy. Those who believe that sins are forgiven in any other way are quite mistaken."*
* AC 9452.
     Since the Fall, every man of himself is nothing but evil. He is born into evils of every kind, that is, by heredity he inclines to evils of every kind; which means that he is evilly disposed, of an altogether evil disposition interiorly, and that of himself, if he were left by the Lord to himself, he would think, love, and as far as possible commit, evils of all kinds. Hence he could not possibly repent or regenerate, because he would not will to do so. He could not elevate his mind to Divine, spiritual or heavenly things, because he would always prefer and choose to steep himself in selfish and worldly things. Such is the miserable state of everyone; therefore all are pitied by the Lord, and, as we just read, it is purely, altogether "from Divine mercy that the Lord withdraws a man from evils and falsities, and leads him to the truths of faith and the goods of love, and after this, in Divine mercy, raises him to Himself in heaven, and makes him happy."
     This being the case, it is those only who deliberately and of their own free choice refuse the Divine mercy, so lovingly tendered, who are not saved-because they wish and decide not to be saved. Or, if they think to enter the sheepfold by another way of their own devizing, and by their own power, they cannot; for no man can raise himself into heaven and make himself happy there. It is as impossible for a man to do this as for a stream to rise above its source, or for a man to lift himself above the ground by his own bootstraps: from which universal law, applying as it does both to what is natural and to what is spiritual, it is manifest that man can be regenerated, saved, and elevated to heaven only out of pure Divine mercy.

503


For the same reason it cannot he said that justice requires that he be saved; for of himself man can do nothing to justify his salvation. He can take no part in his own salvation or his elevation into heaven.
     This is the first of the two acknowledgments that every man must make if he is to be saved; for this acknowledgment is the very essence of innocence, which in turn is the receptacle of all things of heaven; namely, the acknowledgment that the Lord alone lives, and that from Him we live, move, and have our being. Also, it is from Him that we receive the will to be uplifted and led by Him, if we are willing to receive it.
     This brings us to the second vitally essential acknowledgment spoken of before, namely, the acknowledgment that man is a spiritually responsible being; that he himself is entirely to blame if he is not saved-although the Lord alone saves man, and this out of pure mercy. The Lord alone is the only regenerator and Savior because He alone is life itself, infinite life and activity. None has a spark of the Divine or the Infinite in himself, and hence none lives, moves, or has any being of or from himself. Man is but a receptacle of the one only life; albeit a receptacle that is Divinely endowed with the ability to reciprocate, to receive or reject the inflowing Divine life as he, the vessel that receives, chooses and determines.
     Herein is a most marvelous thing!-a vessel gifted with the ability to make a choice which is not that of the giver; a vessel created with the power to make a choice which is not that of its creator. The ability or power to make the choice is not the vessel's, is not the man's; but the choice is his, entirely his, and for it he is wholly and alone responsible.
     In other words, the Lord's mercy saves man, if he opens his mind and heart to receive it; which is the same as saying, if he allows the Lord to lead him in freedom, or, without violating his freedom, lead him to shun evils as sins against the Lord.
     Note especially the following explicit teaching on this point. With regard to mercy from the Lord the case is this. The mercy of the Lord is perpetual with every man; for the Lord wills to save all men, whoever they are; but this mercy cannot flow in until evils have been removed for evils and the derivative falsities stand opposed and prevent it. But as soon as evils are removed, mercy flows in, that is, good from mercy from the Lord, which good is charity and faith. From this it can be seen that the mercy of the Lord is universal, that is, toward all, and that it is also special [or peculiar] toward those who abstain from evils. . . That man can abstain from evils from himself is because the Lord continually flows into the will of man with this endeavor [conatus] and thereby puts in his freedom to desist from evils, as also to apply himself to good.

504


The Lord also gives him the faculty of understanding truth, but that he does not understand is because he does not wish to understand. . . . Hence it is that a man cannot be led through mercy unless he desists from evils."*
* AC 8307. [Italics added.]
     A man cannot be led through mercy unless, in the exercise of his faculty of free decision, he is willing to desist from evil. But then, if, in complete freedom, he chooses to do so, if he lets the Lord "put in his freedom to desist from evils," he receives his heavenly reward; which reward, however, is not one that is earned, but is a free gift of the Lord's infinite mercy. It is a free gift and of the Lord's infinite mercy because, a) the ability and power to make the choice is not ours, but inflows from the Divine; and, b) because the Lord alone maintains us in a state of perfect equilibrium between infernal and heavenly influences; for were it not for this equilibrium the power of free choice could not be exercised.
     Thus if one follows the impulse of evil spirits he does so of his own free choice and he is responsible for so doing, as well as for the retribution that follows, which is imposed by evil spirits. Yet, what is wonderful, this retribution, too, is permitted of the Lord's mercy; for thereby the man may be restrained from worse evils, and, if possible, be led freely to choose the good. Man cannot save himself; that is altogether of the mercy of the Lord. But in the exercise of his own free choice he can make it possible for the Lord to save him.
     Hence there is nothing more important than that men should be free. Indeed, this is even more important than that they should be saved and elevated into heaven. For there can be no delight of any kind in what is compelled or is the result of persuasion. And this being so, their freedom is maintained regardless of any other considerations whatsoever. Otherwise the evil, and devils, could not even enjoy infernal delights; and if there is no delight at all of any kind there is no life. Without some delight there can scarcely be said to be human existence.
     And so, when we consider and reflect upon this boundless mercy of the Lord, surely we are impelled to marvel, and to exclaim in sheer wonderment at His infinite lovingkindness and great goodness toward all mankind: "Great and marvelous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints. Who shall not fear Thee, 0 Lord, and glorify Thy name? for Thou alone art holy: wherefore all nations shall come and worship before Thee; for Thy judgments are made manifest."*
* Revelation 15:3, 4.

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MEMORIAL ADDRESS for Mr. Edward Crary Bostock 1960

MEMORIAL ADDRESS for Mr. Edward Crary Bostock        GEORGE DE CHARMS       1960

     (Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, September 15, 1960.)

     "In a little wrath I hid My lace from thee for a moment; but, with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer." (Isaiah 54: 8)

     The Lord's love is infinite, and His mercy is never withdrawn from any one. The appearance is otherwise because in times of suffering and temptation it seems as if the Lord had turned away His face, and had refused to give Divine protection. It so appeared even to Jesus Christ when, on the cross, He cried: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" But the truth is that the Lord is even more present in states of temptation than at other times, although His presence then is unrealized. He is present, not only in the provision of what is good, but also in the permission of what is evil, because no evil is permitted that does not have some eternal good as its end: this because the Lord, in His providence, governs the hells and holds them perpetually under subjection to His will.
     Man's death, both as to the time and as to the manner of his passing into the spiritual world, is guarded with infinite care. Although it is sometimes preceded by long and severe suffering, this is allowed only for the sake of some eternal benefit to the sufferer which could not otherwise be provided. What this benefit may be, in any given case, can be known only to the Lord, for He alone sees the soul that is to live beyond the grave, and knows what is needed to insure its highest welfare.
     Because the Divine purpose back of physical and mental suffering is concealed from our view when we are in the midst of it, the Lord seems to be absent, and more so because we are taught that in such states regeneration is not possible. The reason given is that man can be regenerated only through the exercise of liberty and rationality. When he is afflicted by severe illness of both mind and body, man loses the command of his faculties. He is not free to do what he wills; nor is he able to think rationally. For this reason the process of regeneration is necessarily interrupted.

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Yet in such states, although man's conscious part in his regeneration ceases, the Lord's part does not Often, in looking back over a time of illness, we can realize that it has changed the entire course of our life, and this in ways for the better, which we could not possibly have foreseen. Our striving is so contrary to what the Lord has in view for us, that there are things vital to our welfare which He can accomplish only by rendering our human will temporarily inactive.
     But if, in states of illness, our progress in regeneration is interrupted, it is equally true that what we think and say and do at such times is not appropriated to us. We say of such a one that he is not himself, and therefore cannot be held responsible. He is the prey of forces that he is unable to resist, yet this is permitted in the providence of the Lord for a Divine purpose which can be realized only after the state of stress is past, and man's freedom and reason have been restored. Whatever the appearance to us, the permission is granted from an end of infinite mercy that looks to eternal blessings in comparison with which the brief moment of suffering is as nothing. Wherefore the Lord says of all who are afflicted: "In a little wrath I hid My face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer."
     Our life-long friend Edward C. Bostock has been called into the spiritual world in his seventy-sixth year. For many months he had suffered from a stroke that injured the brain, inhibited his mental faculties, and partially paralyzed his body. He was plunged into states of profound melancholy that culminated in his death. It could not but appear to him as if the Lord had forsaken him. Yet, He who had watched over him with infinite mercy and compassion from the first moment of his birth, leading him secretly toward that goal of eternal use and happiness which it was the Divine will to impart, was surely present, with all the power of His love and the overruling government of His providence at the supreme moment of his entrance into the spiritual world, when the restraints upon his mind would be removed, and he would come once more into the full exercise of liberty and rationality. The spirit that is even now wakening to the wonders of eternal life is that which has been formed by the life of love to the Lord and willing service to the neighbor, for which we have known and loved him.
     Mr. Bostock was a man of outstanding ability, and devotion to duty, in business, in the promotion of civic welfare, in the care of his family, and in his service to the Academy and the church. While still in his twenties he was elected to the Board of Directors of the Academy, becoming Treasurer two years later, and Vice President in 1942, serving in that capacity until the time of his death.

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He was instrumental in developing a successful pension plan, both for the employees of the Academy and for the teachers and ministers of the General Church. As Chairman of the Investment Committee he was of invaluable service to our schools, conserving their income through periods of war and depression, and increasing it in times of prosperity. As both a member and the President of the Borough Council, he was very active in conducting the civil affairs of Bryn Athyn. As a member of the Board of Directors of the General Church he did outstanding work in directing the financial reorganization of the South African Missions. He was a constant student of the Writings, taking part in the discussion of vital questions, both theological and philosophical, as they became active in the church. We knew him as a genial and understanding friend, always ready to give loyal support to the uses of the Academy and the church. We deeply shared his sense of loss, when in 1952 his wife was called to the spiritual world; and we keenly felt the increasing physical and mental difficulties he was called upon to endure in the years that followed. We would express profound gratitude for the many highly important uses he was privileged to perform throughout his life, the benefits of which will long continue. His physical presence among us will be sorely missed; but we rejoice that he is entering upon those higher uses for which the Lord was preparing him, with all the joys and blessings that they will surely bring him, with constant increase everlasting. Surely for him the Lord's promise will be fulfilled: "In a little wrath I hid My face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer." Amen.
CHARITY IN MAGISTRATES 1960

CHARITY IN MAGISTRATES              1960

     "By magistrates are meant the highest functionaries in kingdoms, commonwealths, cities and societies, who have jurisdiction over them in civil affairs. Each one of them in his own place, if he looks to the Lord and shuns evils as sins, and sincerely, justly and faithfully performs the work of his exalted office, does the good of use to the community and the individuals in the community continually and becomes charity in form. And this he does when he is influenced by an affection for the good of the citizens; and when he is so influenced he is moved, in common with men that are wise and fear God, to establish useful laws, to see that they are observed, and especially to live under them; and also at the same time to appoint intelligent and at the same time benevolent officers under him over the people" (Charity, 161).

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DIVINE PITY AND JUDGMENT 1960

DIVINE PITY AND JUDGMENT       Rev. MORLEY D. RICH       1960

     The Lord is our Father in the heavens. And like a father, or any wise parent or teacher, He does not immediately break all the evils of the loves of self and the world to which His children incline from birth; nor does He immediately quench all the foolish, ignorant and false ideas which His children acquire from their faulty environment, and which they love because those ideas excuse and justify the evils that they also love. Knowing the power and all the varieties and ramifications of the tendencies to evil into which His children are now born; knowing perfectly the countless errors, false ideas and blind prejudices with which they are now surrounded and raised; the Lord feels only pity toward them as a Father. And from this love and pity, and through His endless wisdom, the Lord works constantly, with tender and minute care, to unravel the tangled skein in human minds; to bend, slowly, their wrong and unlawful desires and foolish ideas to what is genuinely good and really true.
     The comparison between the Lord and a father is an accurate one. For that parent or teacher who is genuinely wise, who is trying to act from the Lord's Word toward the children under his care: such a parent or teacher-knowing something of the immutable laws of the universe, knowing that they are part of the Lord's provision for the eventual eternal happiness of each and every one of His children-will feel only pity toward the young and simple in heart. He will do so because he will realize that there will always be some things which they will learn only by harsh and bitter experience-only by being led to see the evil of their actions through their results, and hence the laws and truths in regard to those evils which the Lord teaches in His Word.
     Beyond a certain point-entrance into the age of rationality-it is only with difficulty that any parent or teacher can convey to the young any wisdom which they may have acquired from the Lord's Word and through experience. Beyond that, the only teacher and father is the Lord Himself; and life's lessons, and the truths necessary for right living, can be learned only from the Word and through painful experience of the results of wrongdoing and foolish ideas. And then, out of pity, the prayer of the wise among the older generation becomes the deep hope that those of the young whom they love may not be broken by evil; that they may not choose to be warped and blinded by the fair-seeming but false ideas that surround mankind as a whole.

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     Yet such are the Lord's love and pity toward His children that He gives to each one many things which can ameliorate their state. Such, for example, is the action of truth which He implants in every child, and which serves him when he becomes an adult-the ability to be affected in some degree by the truth; for this balances the tendency, natural in all people, to relapse into an animal state, and hence provides some incentive to attain eternal life. Thus, through this affection, every child and youth and adult is endowed with curiosity: the enthusiastic desire to know a great many things, to understand the nature and the laws of his own self and of the universe; the thrill of excitement that comes from the learning and mastery of some one field or branch of human knowledge; the deep satisfaction that comes through learning the truths and the laws of the Lord's Word.
     If the grown man loves this Divinely sent gift. it can balance, and eventually banish, those smart but superficial ideas concerning knowledge and learning-those tendencies and attitudes in the human race which, under the impetus of hell, would reduce all men to a common level of animal ignorance and close the mind to every intellectual endeavor by which it might be stimulated to life and elevated to eternal love and understanding. And such an affection of truth, with its curiosity, can likewise help to lessen the disillusionment which comes when a man learns that, mingled with the wisdom and knowledge of the human race, there are many false and foolish ideas which must be seen and rejected. Hence it can help him to continue his search for truth, and not be turned aside by the discovery of the deep and confirmed falsities of mankind. It also enlarges the scope and breadth of his choices between evil and good, falsity and truth; for man has freedom of choice only in so far as he knows the many things among which he may choose.
     The man who has acquired few knowledges and ideas from his education and experience not only lives a very limited life but also has few things among which to make a choice; and he has not developed that ability to make rational comparisons and choice which comes only through many contacts and experiences with the countless variations of ideas that have been developed by the human race in its long history. Hence he is the easy victim of almost any idea or activity that comes along; especially if it seems pretty and smart on the outside, and particularly if it appeals to his own wishes and the desires of his self-love. If we multiply this state or condition by the millions of men who have made up the human race, we may understand the untold violent and insane actions and the innumerable absurd notions and prejudices into which it has been led in its past history.

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     It is through this affection of truth that each and every individual acquires the truths necessary for his own salvation; and these truths act as a slow ferment, gradually leading him to see and reject that in himself which is false and evil; until the time is ripe when his state is prepared to withstand and survive the final separation of his falsities from the truth, and of his evils from the good, in a final personal judgment that brings final victory and eternal life-a judgment that is usually effected, with the men of this earth, in the world of spirits after death.
     And all through this slow and painful process in a man's earthly life the Lord continues to love and pity him, as a father loves and pities his child. For He knows the basic evil, the hereditary constitution or nature of each one of us. His children. He remembers that we are vessels devoid of life, except as He brings it to us. He knows that man's own nature or spirit is at first nothing but the loves of self and the world; so that the life of each spirit is as grass, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven. But the mercy of the Lord is everlasting upon those goods and truths in man which fear Him, which lead a man to keep His covenant, and to remember His covenant and His commandments to do them.
LOVE OF COUNTRY 1960

LOVE OF COUNTRY              1960

     "One's own country is the neighbor according to its goods, spiritual, moral, and civil. In the idea of every man his country is as one. When it is the Lord's good pleasure, any kingdom is presented as a man before the angels of heaven, in a form that is the likeness of its quality. The form is the form of its spiritual affection; the form of the face is that of the affection of its spiritual good; the form of the body is the form of its civil good; while its manners, speech and the like, manifest its rational good. When one views a kingdom as one man its quality can be seen, and according to this it is the neighbor. Birth does not make one the neighbor more than another, not even mother and father; neither does education. These are from natural good. Nor does nearness of abode make one man the neighbor more than another; nor, therefore one's native country. This is to be loved according to the quality of its good. But it is a duty to benefit one's country, which is done by promoting its use, because one thus promotes the good of all" (Charity, 83-85).

511


NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1960

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS       Rev. ORMOND ODHNER       1960

     The consummation of the age, the coming of the Lord, the new heaven and the New Church are the subjects of November's daily readings. The distinctive teaching herein is that all these things are spiritual.
     The phrase, "the consummation of the age," is used by the Writings in their translation of the Lord's words respecting His second coming. The King James Version, however, translates them, "the end of the world." Both translations are perfectly correct, but what a host of falsity has been bound up in the Christian doctrine of the end of the world! Everything pertaining to the Second Advent was made natural and worldly. God was going to destroy the earth. It is interesting that the Revised Standard Version comes closer to the Writings here, translating the phrase as "the close of the age"
     But if it is the age of Christianity that has ended rather than the material world, so also is everything else connected with the Second Coming spiritual rather than natural. Indeed, even the end of the Christian Church is its spiritual, not its natural end. Today that church is far larger, far more active, than it was in Swedenborg's time. Spiritually, however, it is dead, for it does not-nay, it cannot any longer-teach the fulness of genuine truth and lead thereby to the good of life.
     It is also notable in this regard that what the Writings say about the consummation of the Christian Church is entirely a matter of revelation. Until his spiritual eves were opened, Swedenborg did not know that the church, his church, was in the throes of death. Only when he saw what it was internally, that is, in the spiritual world, could he write what he did. This should never be forgotten, for no more today than in 1770 does the external of the Old Church reveal what it is internally.
     In True Christian Religion no. 779, Swedenborg says that he took nothing from any angel pertaining to the doctrine of the New Church, but all from the Lord alone, while he read the Word. In innumerable places, however, he recounts what angels told him. The apparent contradiction is to be reconciled thus. Angels told him many things, but he, in the light of the Word, thought over what they had said, and wrote down only that which the Lord led him to see was in agreement with the Word.

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REVIEW 1960

REVIEW              1960

FOUNDATIONS OF NEW CHURCH EDUCATION (Revised Edition). By Willard D. Pendleton. Academy Book Room, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, 1960. Cloth, pp. 172. Price $2.50.

     The first edition of this book was published in 1957, and was reviewed in NEW CHURCH LIFE, January, 1958 (pp. 29-31) by Bishop De Charms, who described it as an important contribution to the thought of the New Church. In this revised edition that contribution has been increased by the inclusion of much new material. Four chapters have been added to the original six, making this a substantial expansion of the initial work.
     In chapters II, III and IV, here published for the first time, the author addresses himself to the importance of the idea of God in education. His main thesis is that the idea of God is fundamental to the educational process; for man's concept of good is dependent upon his idea of God, and to disregard God is to leave the child without any positive concept of good. If God is to be seen and acknowledged, however, some idea of Him must be formed in the understanding, and this is the reason the Word has been given. We differ not only from secular institutions of learning but also from other religious schools in our acceptance of the teaching, fundamental to education, that God is a Divine Man.
     Advancing from this initial thesis, Bishop Pendleton considers in these three chapters the Old Testament idea of God as it is developed progressively throughout the text-unfolded in the persons representing Him; the idea of God as Divine Man in His own Divine person which is presented in the New Testament; and the idea of the Divine Human, of the Lord as Divine doctrine, offered in the Writings. The differences among these ideas of God are indicated clearly; difficulties are noted and considered seriously; and it is shown how each of these ideas in its unfolding is accommodated to a different state of the growing mind from early childhood through adolescence to adult life. Thus it is shown that as the capacity for abstraction develops, the child is led from the sensual appearances of the Old Testament through the natural ones of the New Testament to the rational appearances of the Writings.
     New also is the last chapter of the book, which deals with education for feminine uses. Here the teachings of the Writings concerning the differences between the masculine and the feminine minds are brought to bear, to show that the distinctions which must be taken into account in the educational process are much deeper than biological and emotional ones.

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Women are, of course, as educable as men, but the learning process is not the whole educational process, and what is learned may have a very different orientation in the mind of a woman than in the mind of a man. The essential difference between the education of boys and girls, Bishop Pendleton concludes, does not lie in what is taught; it is the difference between the affection or delight from which they are taught. In establishing a distinctive educational system for girls we are not a reactionary group; we are simply trying to implement the logic of our doctrinal position. Not only do we believe that all education should be for use, but we also believe that the use should determine the educational practice.
     The other chapters remaining from the first edition include consideration of educational values, knowledges, education of the will, remains, the affection of truth, and the doctrine of use. These are all treated in relation to the essential use of New Church education. By quoting recognized leaders of present-day educational thought, Bishop Pendleton here shows clearly how New Church education differs, as to its ultimate purpose and the means thereto, from that which is offered in the modern Christian world. Together with the new material, these chapters bring into clear perspective the radical differences between what we know as New Church education and education as it is understood in other schools, whether secular or religious.
     A prefatory note states that this book is adapted from two series of doctrinal lectures given in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, in 1957 and 1960.
MALE AND FEMALE 1960

MALE AND FEMALE              1960

     "The inmost in the male is love, and its covering is wisdom; or what is the same thing, the male is love covered or veiled by wisdom; and the inmost in the female is that wisdom of the male, and its covering is love thence derived; but this love is feminine love, and it is given by the Lord to the wife through the wisdom of the husband; whereas the former love is masculine love, and is the love of growing wise, and it is given by the Lord to the husband according to the reception of wisdom. Hence it is that the male is the wisdom of love, and the female the love of that wisdom. . . . From this primitive formation it follows that the male is born intellectual and that the female is born voluntary, or that the male is born into the affection of knowing, understanding, and growing wise, and the female into the love of conjoining herself with that affection in the male" (Conjugial Love 32, 33).

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WHAT SHALL I RENDER TO THE LORD? 1960

WHAT SHALL I RENDER TO THE LORD?       Editor       1960


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published by
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.
Editor - - Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager - - Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, changes of address, and business communications, should be sent to the Business Manager. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.

TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$5.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy, 50 cents.
     Thanksgiving Day invites gratitude for the Lord's unfailing bounty. It is well known, however, that gratitude may be expressed from widely different motives. In one instance there is no affection for, and scarcely any thought of, the benefactor, but only selfish gratification in the benefit received; in the other, the reception of the gift brings an outpouring of love for the giver in response to the love manifested in the gift. This is true gratitude, and while it is expressed in words it takes form in supporting the use which the giver had in view.
     This is clearly stated in the inspired words of the Psalmist: "What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord." True gratitude will never center in self, but will inspire reflection as to what can be done in return for the benefit received; and this will lead to the perception that the return most desired is our furthering of the purpose for the sake of which the benefit was given. Thus we are truly grateful for the Lord's benefits when we choose to be regenerated.
     The application to Thanksgiving Day is clear. The Lord has not poured out His bounty upon us that we may take pride in being the richest and the most powerful nation on earth, or find gratification in the highest standard of material living that mankind has ever known. The Lord had, and has, an eternal and spiritual purpose in showering us with the benefits that we, as a nation, have received at His hands; and our thanksgiving will be from the heart in the measure that we try to discern and promote that purpose in our daily lives.

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RETREAT FROM CERTAINTY 1960

RETREAT FROM CERTAINTY       Editor       1960

     Ours is an age of many paradoxes, not the least of which is that what was once branded as heresy now carries the stamp of orthodoxy. In many areas, dogmatism has become a self-contradicting term, for dogma has become so broad that it has lost whatever it once possessed of depth and delineation. In those same areas, the open mind is apt to be so wide open that it cannot retain anything as certainty. Outside of the church one is less likely to be asked, What do you believe? than Do you believe anything at all, and if so, why?
     In religion, in education, and in popularized philosophy, there are too many men and women who have been engaged in the pursuit of truth for so long that there is something disconcerting in the idea that they may possibly overtake it. In circles too wide and too common, the less one believes, and the less he seems capable of believing, the more likely he is to be hailed as a great champion of truth. For, the conviction is, the great truth is that there is no truth. There are no absolutes; everything is relative; and the really adult mind is that which rejects certainty and makes the search an end in itself.
     This, of course, is directly opposed to the teaching of the Writings. There is an absolute truth, and an absolute good to which it leads. And while man may progress to eternity in the understanding of that truth, and in the perception of how it is to be applied, it is his understanding that is relative, not the truth itself. There is an endless search to be made, but it has purpose when it is a searching of the truth, not a search for it. This is the truth which the Lord has revealed in the Writings; and if that claim seems presumptuous because of the fewness of our numbers, let us remember that it is not our truth, but the Lord's, and is therefore Divine and infinite.
MYSTERY OF SUFFERING 1960

MYSTERY OF SUFFERING       Editor       1960

     The mystery of human suffering is one of the many that are resolved in the Heavenly Doctrine. Full acceptance of the teaching given takes time, experience, faith; but the answers are there which can finally remove all doubts and perplexities. This much, however, may be reflected upon early. As long as we look only at suffering itself, we shall understand nothing; as long as we are absorbed in tracing and fixing blame, either in ourselves or in others, we shall fall far short of a true understanding.

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It should be our endeavor, difficult as it may be, to look within and beyond the suffering to the works of God that are being or will yet be made manifest in it. For the Lord's Divine purpose is seen, not in suffering itself, but in the end for the sake of which He allows it.
     This can be done more readily, perhaps, as we view in retrospect our own experiences, especially those for which we now admit responsibility. The difficulty is increased when we experience suffering that is caused by the evils of other men, and when we must witness it in those dear to us, especially those who are too young to have sinned. That such suffering does exist may not be denied, and its bitterness comes under those things which should not be depreciated. But it, too, is permitted only that the works of God may be made manifest. In all such suffering we are given opportunities to make choices: to rebel against the fancied injustice of God, or re-affirm our faith in His Divine Providence and thereby deepen our trust in Him' to meditate revenge, or reflect what charity would have us do, and thereby strengthen our spiritual life; to sink into self-pity, or look deeply into ourselves to see whether the suffering cannot be used for the amendment of our lives. And if we make the right choices, the result becomes one with the Lord's purpose in permitting the suffering.
     Suffering is permitted always and only that in it the works of God may be made manifest. Many of the Lord's works are, of course, done immediately; some He does through men. If the former are not always seen by men, however, neither do they always offer themselves as instruments of the latter! If we can learn to regard the sufferings of others from the viewpoint of the Divine Providence in permitting them; if we can, from true pity, go to the Lord in the Word, seeking there the wisdom to co-operate with His Divine ends; then we may become human instruments through whom the works of the Lord's love and mercy will be made manifest in the physical and mental illnesses of others, the disasters that overtake them, and even their spiritual struggles-in so far as these are disclosed to us. Through understanding and love of the Lord's purposes we may attain to a deep and genuine compassion. Spiritual charity demands no less of those who would enter into it.
SUSTAINING THE ACADEMY 1960

SUSTAINING THE ACADEMY       Editor       1960

     Last June we stated editorially that if the Academy's expansion program is to succeed, it must be matched by a renewed sense of responsibility throughout the church. This has been fully realized by the Academy's officers, and one result was the appointment of a fact-finding committee under the chairmanship of Mr. Nathan Pitcairn, and when that committee had reported and been discharged, of an operating committee with Mr. George H. Woodward as chairman.

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Now the latter committee has produced a pamphlet, Why the Academy Needs Your Support, which has just been distributed in Canada and the United States.
     It is not the desire of the Academy Contributions Committee to divert support from other church uses. However, it is believed that many church members, when adequately informed of the Academy's present and future needs, will find additional resources from which to support this institution which is so vital to the life of the General Church. The pamphlet, brief and clear in content, handy in form, does an excellent job of presenting adequate information. The Academy's endowment in relation to tuition costs and increasing student enrollment is discussed realistically; the courses of action open to the Academy are set forth fairly; practical suggestions for helping through general contributions and, for those who can make them, contributions to the building and endowment funds, are made; and personal responsibility is discussed, not in a manner to restrict freedom, but rather to place in freedom.
     As a separate corporation the Academy has an eminent right to place its needs before its patrons; and as the educational arm of the General Church it must draw its support, as it does its teaching staff and most of its student body, from that church. We commend the reasoned appeal of this pamphlet to the thoughtful consideration and action of those to whom it is addressed, for here is a use that is vital to the church.
WHY ONLY GENESIS, EXODUS, REVELATION? 1960

WHY ONLY GENESIS, EXODUS, REVELATION?       DONALD L. ROSE       1960

Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:

     I have occasionally been asked why only three of the thirty-four books of the Word are taken up in the expository works of the Writings. I write, not only to mention a few simple aspects of the answer to this question, but also to call attention to some facts not usually known by those who ask it. These facts, to be found at the end of this letter, should prove interesting and even surprising to some readers.
     Of the several purposes of the Writings, one is to disclose the spiritual sense of the Word (TCR 846; Inv. 44). It is quite true that this might have been done in greater volume. It is also true that the other purposes of the Writings might have been accomplished in greater volume. Take, for example, the revelation concerning love truly conjugial (TCR 847). Here we have deliberate condensation to avoid a great volume which would tire the reader. (See CL 209.)
     The Gospel account of the Lord's life is quite sufficient, even though, as the final verse of the fourth Gospel states, numberless additional volumes might have been composed.

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"And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written" (John 21: 25).
     The simplest answer to our question is, of course, that the exposition we do have in the Writings is sufficient. Consider the occasion when the Lord expounded from all the Scriptures. "And beginning at Moses and all the prophets. He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself" (Luke 24: 27). A verse by verse exposition would not have been given during the conversation on the walk to Emmaus. Enough from all the Scriptures must have been given to suffice. It is the same in the Writings. In this connection consider especially the first four paragraphs in Doctrine of the Lord. In no. 53 of the same work we have a sheet full of references to Jeremiah as an example of all the prophets. In no. 85 of Sacred Scripture a sampling of quotations is given, but whole sheets of additional passages would be "too prolix." After one series of references to the Psalms it is noted that more passages could be cited: "But they are omitted because of their number; those already referred to are sufficient" (AE 326e). Let the interested reader reflect on such other passages as AC 1486, 10832; AE 587: 7.
     It is observed that in the Writings we have verse by verse exposition of the books of Genesis, Exodus and the Apocalypse, and it is certainly significant that this should be true of the first and the last of the series of books in the Word. But we should not get the idea that the disclosure of the spiritual sense is a task unfinished; we should not get the idea that three books are exhausted and the others neglected.
     The Arcana Coelestia is a complete work. If we say that the exposition might have been extended through the other books of the Word, might we not also say that the exposition of Genesis and Exodus could be greatly extended? Of three distinct series of the internal sense, (see AC 4279) the Arcana follows only one at a time. A given part of Genesis or Exodus is explained according to a single series. If exposition of each part were extended to the different series the work would be greatly enlarged. "But" we are told, "to extend the explication to all these would make it too tedious" (AC 1965). Actually, as we reflect on the nature of the Word, as shown in TCR 290, we see that if all of the internal sense should be written down, the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.
     The Arcana Coelestia is by no means confined to the books of Genesis and Exodus. Indeed there are references in it to every one of the thirty-four books of the Word. This brings us to the interesting facts to which I would like to call attention.

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     Each one of the three expository works of the Writings (Arcana Coelestia, Apocalypse Explained, Apocalypse Revealed) includes references to all the books of the Word. Four Doctrines also draws from all the books of the Word, and so does True Christian Religion. Even apart from the posthumously published summary exposition, Prophets and Psalms, we have in the Writings an expounding from Moses, the Psalms, all the prophets, and from all the chapters in the New Testament Word.
     The Writings refer to each of the one hundred and eleven chapters in the New Testament Word, and to all but eight of the seven hundred and thirty-four chapters in the Old Testament Word. The exceptions are:
Numbers 30; Joshua 16; I Samuel 21; II Samuel 4,18, 20; I Kings 5; II Kings 7. How inclusive is the Arcana Coelestia? In addition to these eight chapters it omits only five Psalms, two chapters of Jeremiah and two chapters of Kings.
     Other observations: Apocalypse Explained refers to all the chapters in the New Testament Word; Apocalypse Revealed to all but Luke 15; Trite Christian Religion to all but Mark 5. The relatively small work, Doctrine of the Lord, refers to ninety-two of the chapters in the New Testament Word, and to two hundred and five of the two hundred and fifty chapters of the prophets. Doctrine of Life, a considerably shorter work, refers to more than half the chapters in the New Testament Word. Apocalypse Revealed refers to all but seven of the Psalms, and to all but twelve of the chapters of the prophets.
     These things should be helpful to those who ask: Why only Genesis, Exodus and the Apocalypse?
     DONALD L. ROSE
FOR HIS MERCY IS FOREVER 1960

FOR HIS MERCY IS FOREVER              1960

     "Could nature regard use as an end, and arrange uses into their orders and forms? No one could do this but one who is wise, and no one could so order and form the universe but God, whose wisdom is infinite. No other could foresee and provide for man food and clothing, food from the harvests of the fields, the fruits of the earth, and from animals, and clothing from the same.... These and many other things are outstanding proofs that God Himself, acting through the spiritual world, directs all the operations of nature. . . . No one ought to confirm himself in a belief in nature from nature's manifestations; these rather furnish grounds for belief in God" (True Christian Religion, 12).

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LOCAL SCHOOLS DIRECTORY 1960

LOCAL SCHOOLS DIRECTORY              1960

     1960-1961

     Local schools report the following teaching staffs for 1960-1961:

BRYN ATHYN.
     Rev. David R. Simons     Principal
     Miss Laura Gladish     Kindergarten (1)
     Mrs. Lorentz Soneson     Kindergarten (II)
     Miss Jennie Gaskill     Grade 1 (1)
     Miss Mary Louise Williamson     Grade 1 (II)
     Miss Nancy Stroh          Grade 2 (I)
     Mrs. Grant Doering     Grade 2 (II)
     Miss Erna Sellner     Grade 3 (I)
     Miss Barbara Charles     Grade 3 (II)
     Miss Phillis Cooper     Grade 4 (1)
     Miss Sue Brown          Grade 4 (II)
     Mrs. Victor Waelchli     Grade 5
     Miss Anna Hamm          Grade 6
     Miss Louisa Doering     Grade     7 (Girls)
     Mr. Carl Gunther          Grade     7 (Boys)
     Mrs. Dan Echols          Grade     8 (Girls)
     Mr. Yorvar Synnestvedt     Grade     8 (Boys)

COLCHESTER.
     Rev. Alan Gill          Principal
     Miss Hilda Waters          Grades 1-7

DURBAN.
     Rev. A. Wynne Acton     Principal
     Miss Sylvia Pemberton     Grades 1, 2

GLENVIEW.
     Rev. Elmo C. Acton          Headmaster
     Mrs. Grace Hotson Shields     Kindergarten, Grade 1
     Miss Jane Scalbom               Grades 2 and     3
     Miss Thelma Pike               Grades 4 and     5
     Mr. Bradley Smith               Grades 6 and     7
     Miss Gladys Blackman          Grades 8 and 9

KITCHENER.
     Rev. Geoffrey S. Childs          Principal
     Miss Venita Roschman          Kindergarten
     Miss Josephine Odhner          Grades 1-4
     Mr. Dick van Zyverden          Grades 5-8

PITTSBURGH
     Rev. Louis B. King          Principal
     Rev. Kurt H. Asplundh          Instructor in Religion
     Mrs. Gareth Acton               Kindergarten
     Miss Helene Howard          Grades 1-3
     Mrs. John Schoenberger          Grades 4-6
     Miss Gertrude Hasen          Grades 7-9

TORONTO.
     Rev. Martin Pryke                Principal
     Miss Sylvia Parker          Grades 1-4
     Miss Joan Kuhl               Grades 5-8

     Special and part-time teachers, whether voluntary or otherwise, are not included here. The teaching staff of the Academy of the New Church is listed in the Catalog Number of The Academy Journal, pp. 4, 5.

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Church News 1960

Church News       Various       1960

     STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN

     Obituary. Again the General Church Society in Stockholm has lost one of its oldest members. On August 18, 1960, Architect Nils Lovin passed into the spiritual world. Just four days earlier he had celebrated his eighty-fifth birthday. To the last, he was up and took part in the life of the Society in spite of his precarious health.
     Nils Lovin was born at Munkarp in Skane and got his technical education in Malmii. He afterwards practiced for some years in an architect's office in Halsingborg, but moved at the turn of the century to Stockholm. Eventually he opened his own office, specializing in hospital buildings. The county hospitals in Falkiiping and Lidkiiping have him as their designer, lithe Second World War had not intervened, one more hospital would have been erected.
     From his earliest childhood Nils Lovin had imbibed a serious outlook on life from the warm Christian home where the Bible was read every day. Especially his pious mother had a strong influence on her children by her calm, implicit faith, and her quiet mode of teaching the young to distinguish between right and wrong. Great personal sorrows, and a sometimes hard struggle for existence, brought trials and temptations which, during the passing years, more and more deepened his character and ultimately made him stand forth as a wise old man,
     After eight years of happy marriage he lost his wife. She left him with four small children-two sons and two daughters. Ten years later his older son, a promising youth of seventeen years, was suddenly snatched away by death, The same year, it was 1920, Nils Lovin joined the Rev. Gustaf Baeckstrom's newly established Society. He had then for a long time been looking for a religion that could give satisfactory answers to his questions and quiet his doubts. He had wandered from one religious congregation to another, and at last found true enlightenment in the Writings of Swedenborg.
     The New Church Society became for him a second home. Before he took the decisive step he had prudently prepared his children, and since they had trust in their father they followed him readily. He became a dependable supporter within the Society. Both in the Church Council and in the publishing house Nova Ecclesia he undertook tasks which he performed conscientiously for over thirty years. Later, his son, Captain Tore Lov6n, was elected a member of the Church Council and Board with him, and the father could feel satisfied with the way his example had worked.
     Nils Lovin was eager to deepen his knowledge of the doctrines as they are set forth in the Writings, and he willingly took part in the discussions at doctrinal classes. He regularly attended services, and his absence will he keenly felt.
     The solemn, yet happy funeral service was held in the Forest Cemetery, in the Holy Cross Chapel, which was richly decorated with flowers. The Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen conducted the service, and many friends of the deceased were present to honor his memory.
     S. C.

     PHILADELPHIA, PA.

     The Advent Society of Philadelphia held its annual meeting in September. The meeting was preceded by dinner at a Chinese restaurant. In the same month our pastor, the Rev. Norbert Rogers, resumed the task of driving the station wagon-school bus.

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There are nine passengers in the morning and twelve coming back in the afternoon.
     The younger children in the Society had a fun-filled Hallowe'en party last year. Mrs. Jean Heath was the organizer, and each child brought a friend from school.
     A series of stimulating and interesting doctrinal classes on Divine Providence was given throughout the year.
     In December, 1959, a bazaar was held for the purposes of raising money and having fun. It was a great success. We raised more money than ever before, and all had a good time.
     As is the custom here, Christmas began with a children's service on Christmas Eve This was followed by refreshments and carol singing.
     It is to be noted that the local Assembly at Morristown New Jersey, was very successful. The highlights were a doctrinal class and sermon by the Rev. W. Cairns Henderson and an address by Bishop De Charms. The opportunity to meet, talk and dine together with fellow New Church men was delightful and was appreciated by those who attended.
     Several delightful social hours were held after Sunday services. Refreshments were served, and all had a chance to chat together. It was especially nice for those who live far away. On New Church Day, the fifteen-year-old youngsters were presented with copies of Heaven and Hell, beautifully inscribed by Miss Margaret Bostock.
     Many thanks are due to Minard Smith for making a fine notice board which now graces the front of the Advent Church building. Several neighbors have commented very favorably on its appearance, and it has elicited several inquiries about our church from passersby.
     An Open House was held last September to greet our former pastor, the Rev. Geoffrey S. Childs, and his wife. We were all happy to see them and to talk over old times.
     Special recognition and appreciation should be given to the young girls in the Society who have performed the useful service of caring for the children during the sermon. The same should go to Kingsley and Prescott Rogers for their excellent job of keeping the church cleaned and polished for Sunday services and often for socials as well.
     CAROLE RENN MADDOCK


     WASHINGTON, D. C.

     The annual meeting of the Corporation of the Washington Church of the New Jerusalem took place on January 8, 1960, and constituted the first major Society activity of the new year. At this meeting we beard reports from the pastor, the Rev. Frederick L. Schnarr, the secretary, Mr. Jerome C. Sellner, the treasurer, Mr. David H. Stebbing, and the head of the education committee, Mrs. Frederick L. Schnarr, all of which testified to the encouraging strides our Society has taken since the acquisition of our church building. We would mention here that this year our Sunday school will be divided into three groups-nursery, primary and advanced-to accommodate the twenty-nine children living in the Washington area. Also, our church building now houses a library and book room for the use of Society members.
     The international executive meetings of the Sons of the Academy were held in Washington over the weekend of April 23. The meetings were well attended by many visiting Sons and their wives, and the Washington Society thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity to play host to such a large group of New Church friends, The weekend began officially on Saturday morning with a Sons business meeting and luncheon at the church, While the men were so engaged, the ladies attended a less business-like but most successful luncheon at the home of Mrs. Fred M. Grant. A banquet was held that evening, at which we heard speeches by George Doering, Esq., Robert Hilldale, Esq., and Messrs. Frank Mitchell and Rowland Trimble on the subject of "The Relationship of Church and State." After the banquet, the Rev. and Mrs. Fred Schnarr held "open house" at their home in Maryland.
     On March 13, the senior class from the Boys School of the Academy came to Washington to visit the points of interest in the nation's capital, the members of the Society welcomed them with a buffet supper at the church.

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The senior class in the Girls School made its trip on May 8, and was entertained by the ladies of the Society at an informal dinner at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Mitchell. We are always delighted to have the seniors, and this year was no exception.
     In February, Mr. Schnarr introduced two new series of classes, each of which was completed by the end of the season. The subject of the Friday doctrinal classes was "The Inhabited Universe," and it was presented in a most interesting and effective way. In these classes Mr. Schnarr examined the scientific data now available concerning the planets in our solar system, and then compared it in detail with what Swedenborg has told us about these same earths. In conclusion, he pointed out that while science tends to be skeptical about the existence of human life on other planets, the known facts do not contradict what is said in the Writings.
     The young people's classes were devoted to the subject of conjugial love. In these classes Mr. Schnarr discussed the differences between the masculine and feminine minds, the states prior to engagement and betrothal, and the essentials of the marriage relationship. As can he expected, these classes aroused a great deal of interest.
     While Mr. Schnarr was away on one of his pastoral visits, Candidate Douglas Taylor came to Washington during the weekend of March 26. He gave a most interesting class on the Acts and the Epistles, and preached an excellent sermon on "Thought for the Morrow" in which he taught us that useless worry is wrong, inasmuch as it indicates a lack of faith in Providence. This was Mr. Taylor's last visit to our Society as a candidate for the priesthood, for he was ordained in June. We have greatly appreciated his visits over the past several years, and know that he will continue to do an outstanding job in his new work as minister of the Tucson Circle and visiting minister to Phoenix and San Diego.
     After two and a half years in the United States, Lt. Col. and Mrs. Alberto C. de Mendonca Lima and their infant daughter, Leila, returned to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. While stationed in Washington the Mendonca Limas were active members of the Society, and we shall long remember them for the warm friendship and gracious hospitality that they extended to the Society. Their older daughters, Cecy and Beatriz, remained in the States and plan to stay for an indefinite time.
     In May, having completed his training with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mr. Jerome Sellner was transferred from Washington to New Orleans, La. Shortly afterwards, Miss Gale Coffin returned home to Spartanburg, S. C., after working here for two years. Both Gale and Jerome were active in Society affairs and have many friends among the members of the Society.
     Early last spring, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Asplundh moved to nearby Virginia. We are always happy to have a new family, and they and their two children are welcome additions.
     GAEL PENDLETON


     DURBAN, NATAL

     Swedenborg's birthday was celebrated by the children of the Society on February 5th at 5:30 p.m. This is always a very happy occasion for them. The children never tire of the stories of the life of the man through whom was given the truth on which our glorious church is founded.
     Easter celebrations this year were very well attended. The children's service on Palm Sunday was conducted by the Rev. A. Wynne Acton, his subject this year being "Redemption." The Easter service for adults was conducted by the Rev. Daniel W. Heinrichs in a beautifully decorated church. The subject of the sermon was the opening and closing of the Word: how the Lord's crucifixion signified the closing of the Word and the rejection of truth by the ancient churches; and how the New Church, with the Divinely revealed truths given to it, has the knowledge that to open the Word is to receive instruction. When the two Marys went to find the Lord in the sepulchre, their finding the stone rolled away signified that they represented the remnant within the ancient Jewish Church to whom was given another church, and in it the opportunity to find truths and adhere to them.

524


We of the New Church have this opportunity, too. The Holy Supper was administered during this service.
     A number of people were absent during that long weekend, and it was during this time that we said farewell and good luck once again to Renee Schuurman as she left for her forthcoming tennis tour of the Continent and Britain, It was with deep regret at their going that the Society said bon voyage, and a very successful and happy life together in Canada, to Deryck and Pam van Rij. They have been sadly missed since they left, but our loss is Canada's gain.
     The annual general meeting of the Durban Society was held on May 25. Mr. Acton said he was very pleased that attendance at services had improved, but was sorry that attendance at doctrinal classes had decreased. He impressed on us that a church can be based on doctrine only when it knows what that doctrine is, and urged those members who have not been doing so to consider whether they could not attend these classes. The number of baptisms during the year was a record: four adults and fifteen children, eight of whom were children living away from Durban-which shows that the church is widespread in South Africa. Mr. Heinrichs stated that the two largest and most active groups of isolated members were situated in the Johannesburg-Pretoria area and in Zulu-land. The policy in future would he for these two groups to be visited four times annually. Tape recordings of services and sermons are sent once or twice a month to the Johannesburg group. The secretary, in his report, proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Deryck van Rij who was mainly responsible for the construction of a kitchen in the hall. A great deal of work had gone into the construction of this kitchen and the result had been deeply appreciated by all members of the congregation. The financial status of the Society compared favorably with that of the previous year, although the treasurer pointed out that we were merely paying our way and thought must be riven to building up a reserve for emergencies, paying off the loan, and in time purchasing more land for expansion.
     A wonderful church picnic took place on May 26 at Salt Rock beach, approximately thirty miles from Durban. A record crowd of eighty-seven was present. Swimming, tennis, and races for the youngsters were participated in, and the not-so-young almost outdid their children in the two-team relay race! Afternoon tea ended the very happy day, and the large crowd packed up after a very pleasant day in the New Church spirit.
     Held in the church hall after an absence of several years, the New Church Day banquet had a very special atmosphere. The return to our own premises was made possible by our new kitchen, and the work of four indefatigable ladies-Mrs. D. Buss, Mrs. W. Schuurman. Mrs. D. Bongers, and Mrs. G. Cockerell, ably supported by Mrs. M. de Chazal-who organized and cooked a delicious four course meal for the record crowd of ninety-eight people who attended. The Rev. Daniel Heinriebs was our toastmaster, and the subject of the evening was "The Establishment of the Church through Use, Doctrine, and Conjugial Love." The first phase was dealt with by Mr. John Elphick. Mr. D. Lumsden's paper on the second phase was read by the toastmaster as the writer was unable to be present. Mr. Paul Mayer presented the third paper, a most commendable first effort. Mr. Acton gave a very good summing up, stating that those of us who have been born into the church have a great responsibility, and that it is up to each and every one of us to go to the Writings, and live a good and useful life in loving the neighbor. A very happy evening was brought to a close with dancing for the young people on the verandah of the Little Manse.
     The new social committee staged its first effort on July 22, in the form of a winter dance. The decorations and murals quite transformed our hall, and with the soft lights and sweet music a most enjoyable evening was spent by all. While we partook of snacks and coffee our pastor presented Miss Laura Lumsden with a check and a traveling case to wish her bon voyage and a very pleasant and useful stay in Bryn Athyn.

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The evening eventually came to an end at midnight.
     SERENE DE CHAZAL


     THE CHURCH AT LARGE

     General Convention. The president of the New Church Theological School, Cambridge, Mass,, reports in the NEW CHURCH MESSENGER that during the past year the faculty again consisted of the Rev. Everett K. Bray, Pastoral Care and Christian Social Ethics; Horace B. Blackmer, Church Music and New Church History; the Rev. Antony Regamey, Homiletics and Worship; the Rev. John C. King, Scripture Interpretation and Homiletics; the Rev. Edwin G. Capon, Theology and Parish Administration. Special lectures were delivered by the Rev. William F. Wunsch and by Dr. Ernst Benz of the University of Marburg. Two students were graduated in May. Of the three students now enrolled, two are candidates for a degree in theology at Andover Newton Theological School as well as for the school's own diploma; the third is working toward a doctorate in theology at Boston University School of Theology. Four new students are expected during the coming year. The Rev. Owen T. Turley has been invited to join the faculty on a part-time basis to teach in the field of Home Missions, Church Development, and the Sociology of Religion.
     The Church Book Shop (New-Church Press, New-Church Board of Publications, Swedenborg Publishing Association) has been moved from the Church of the Neighbor (Brooklyn Society) to new quarters at Orange Street, Brooklyn. This move was made necessary by the sale of the church building. Sales amounting to $11,832.67 were reported for the year.

     General Conference. At further meetings of the 153rd session of the General Conference, held at Bournemouth, the reports of the new Church College and the Conference Council were considered, the latter at length. Much of the discussion centered in the problems facing the ministry at the present time.
     The Rev. Clifford Curry was inducted into the pastorates of the Bath and Bristol societies last summer.

     France. Following a meeting between M. Paul Flon, leader of the Paris Society, and Conference officials it was agreed that the General Conference should help the Paris Society. The General Convention has been informed of the Conference's intention to arrange for visits by a Conference minister, perhaps twice a year.


     URBANA JUNIOR COLLEGE

     The NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER reports that the Autumn Quarter opened at Urbana with 34 students living on campus and more than 100 non-resident students. Urbana Junior College, one of the two oldest co-educational institutions of higher learning with a continuous history in Ohio, was chartered by the State of Ohio in 1850 as Urbana University. The college was founded by members of the New Church, and has continued to be associated with the General Convention, but it is not controlled by that body and is now a "non-sectarian" college.
     Urbana University originally offered instruction from the primary grades through college, but by 1927 the curriculum had changed to include only the senior year of high school and the first two years of college. It was during this time that the functional name of the institution was changed to Urbana Junior College, although the official name remains Urbana University.
     Today, Urbana offers instruction only in the first two years of college. Although a plan of expansion was put into effect recently, it is anticipated that the junior division of the college will never exceed three hundred students. As part of the expansion program, the Board of Trustees in 1957 appointed a research committee to re-evaluate and reorganize the total college program. The results of this reorganization were incorporated into the freshman curriculum in 1958.
     The Urbana Junior College Catalog 1960-1961, subtitled "A New Program in an Old College," contains no courses m religion, even as electives.

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A summary statement of aims and purposes says, among other things: "The school or college is uniquely a value-realizing institution. Education should be concerned with the transmission of those values associated with and compatible with the concept of freedom as implied by the pluralistic, open, or free society. Among such values are: freedom of inquiry, and the freedom of each individual to achieve his own personality and creative potential . . . Man's nature is plastic, that is, neither good nor evil, but potentially either or both to any degree conceivable. . . . The highest value in life is the appreciation or love of life which might be described as a harmony of those things which make up man's nature"
     A statement of the principles of the New Church as they relate to education notes that "the New Church, as referred to by Emanuel Swedenborg, on whose formulation of Christian doctrine the 'General Convention' is founded, was a vision of human society at its best, not confined by the limitations necessarily imposed in establishing and maintaining a church organization. . . . Our plan of education is to provide a mental and spiritual climate in which the disciplines of the arts and sciences can be used to develop this form of rationality in students and faculty alike; a community of people discovering the redemptive forces within the liberal arts that can truly liberate their fullest powers"
     "Spiritual things," the statement concludes, "may be taught and understood rationally, that is, in non-theological language, because there is a correspondential relation between the inner spiritual and outer natural aspects of life. As man learns more fully to relate these inner and outer worlds, we believe that new universal Christianity will come into being. The central tenet of the form of education we propose is that of this new universal religion, seeking to meet the most basic needs of all people for freedom to live creatively with greatest use of their potential skills and abilities"


     SWEDENBORG SOCIETY (INC.)

     The Swedenborg Society's lecture program for 1960-1961 announces six public lectures on True Christian Religion. The first two lectures, on "God the Creator," will be given by the Rev. Clifford Harley; the Rev. Erik Sandstrom will deliver the third and fourth lectures, on "The Lord the Redeemer" and "The Holy Spirit," respectively; and the Rev. Dennis Duckworth will conclude the series with two lectures on "The Sacred Scripture"


     THE ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH

Enrollment for 1960-1961
Theological School          6          
College               77
Boys School               64
Girls School          71
                    218


     LOCAL SCHOOLS

Enrollment for 1960-1961
Bryn Athyn          336
Colchester          18
Durban          4
Glenview          116
Kitchener          36
Pittsburgh          41
Toronto          19
               570

Total enrollment in Academy and General Church schools: 788


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WESTERN DISTRICT ASSEMBLY 1960

WESTERN DISTRICT ASSEMBLY       GEORGE DE CHARMS       1960


     Announcements
     An Assembly of members of the Western District of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held at 346 Riverdale Drive, Glendale 4, California, Friday, November 4, through Sunday, November 6, 1960, Bishop Willard D. Pendleton presiding.
     All members and friends of the General Church are cordially invited to attend.
     GEORGE DE CHARMS,
          Bishop
THANKSGIVING 1960

THANKSGIVING              1960

     "Thanksgiving and honor are predicated of reception of Divine good; for there are two things that go forth from the Lord, namely, Divine truth and Divine good. Divine truth is the source of all intelligence and wisdom with angels and men, and Divine good is the source of all charity and love with them. . . . Thanksgiving is also here predicated of good, for blessing is mentioned above, and blessing is expressed by the mouth by means of truths, while thanksgiving comes from the heart out of good" (Apocalypse Explained 466).

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BIRTH OF OUR LORD 1960

BIRTH OF OUR LORD        WILLARD D. PENDLETON       1960


No. 12
VOL. LXXX
DECEMBER, 1960
     A few miles south of Jerusalem, just off the road to Hebron, lay the little town of Bethlehem. It was here, in this forgotten village, that our Lord was born. In ancient times it had been known as Ephrata; and it was to this habitation that the Psalmist referred when he said: "I will not give sleep to [my] eyes, or slumber to [my] eyelids, until I have found a place for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob. Lo, we have heard of Him in Ephrata, we have found Him in the fields of the forest; we will come into His habitations, we will bow ourselves down at His footstool" (Psalm 132: 4-7).
     The reason the Lord was born here is because He could not have been born in any other place. To understand this we must know that by "Ephrata" is signified the Word; that is, the Word in its natural or literal sense. Here will we find Him who was born king of the Jews. For in the Scriptural account of the Lord's birth the primary truth of all Divine revelation is recorded, and in the historical event the ancient Scriptures were fulfilled. Yet men say: 'How can this be? Can God become man? How are we to know that this is true? What evidence do we have, other than the testimony of the Scriptures, that He was the Son of God?"
     Like the ancient city of Ephrata, therefore, the letter of the Word, although known among men, is yet not known; that is to say, it is not known that within the letter there is a spiritual sense which testifies to the Divinity of this Child. The fact that few at this day are willing to believe this does not disprove the fact. As the Lord said to the Jews: "If I bear record of Myself, yet is My record true." Let us go, therefore, "even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us" (Luke 2: 15).
     By "Bethlehem" is signified the spiritual sense of the Word; that is, the Word in a new state.

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Whereas the letter of the Word, as signified by Ephrata, testifies to the birth of the Lord on earth, the spiritual sense of the Word testifies to the birth of the Divine Doctrine. He it was of whom John spake, saying: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1: 14). By "flesh" here is not meant the physical body which the Lord derived from the mother, but the Divine Human-that body of Divine Doctrine which He put on by glorification; which was born, "not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1: 13). The reference is to the Divine rebirth, concerning which it is said in the Writings "that the Lord gradually and continually . . . separated from Himself that which He derived from the mother, until at length He was no longer her son, but the Son of God, not only as to conception but also as to birth" (AC 2649). Hence, the Lord as to the Divine Human is called the Son of God.
     In the New Church, therefore, the celebration of Christmas involves more than the remembrance of that holy event that took place so many years ago in the hill country of Judea. While this is the historical basis of our faith, we believe that when understood in its spiritual sense this story is retold in the life of every man who seeks the Lord in His Word; for the truth that is here presented is universal and eternal, and if we will but go to Bethlehem we "will find the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger" (Luke 2: 12). By the "Babe" is meant the newborn doctrine of the Divine Human; by "swaddling clothes" are meant the primary truths of revelation; and by the "manger" is meant the Word. Here we will find Him of whom the angels said to the shepherds: "Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior which is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2: 11). Thus it is that the Divine Doctrine, which formerly dwelt in Ephrata among the "fields of the forest," that is, among the natural appearances of the letter of the Word, is now to be found in the city of David, which is Bethlehem, or the Word in its spiritual sense.
     Now, there are many at this day who recall the Lord's promise that He would come again as the Spirit of truth; yet, like the wayfarers on the road which led from Jerusalem into Egypt, they are not mindful of the little village of Bethlehem. In their haste they press on to those markets where scientific knowledge is the medium of exchange, and where social philosophies are more highly valued than the Divine text. Like Bethlehem, the Writings do not seem to belong to the modern world. Their content, their form, even the style in which they are written, seem to belong to the past.

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Men say: "These things may have been of interest in the day when they were written, but these are other times." It is not that men deny God, but, among the learned, few will admit to the thesis that the Scriptures are the authoritative Word of God. However, the reason for this is that few at this day know wherein the holiness of the Word resides. It is not in those appearances in which the letter is written; but as the Writings state: "It is from the spiritual sense that the Word is Divinely inspired and is holy in every word" (SS 18).
      When considered in the light of the spiritual sense, therefore, the Christmas story takes on a new meaning. What was formerly a matter of historical faith may now serve as the basis of a spiritual faith; that is, of a faith in the Lord's Divine Humanity. Like the shepherds, therefore, we, too, seek Him in Bethlehem, which is the Word made flesh.
     At first, however, His Divinity is scarcely perceptible. To all appearances He is as any other child, yet there is about Him an indescribable sphere of holiness that stirs the simple affections of childhood and causes wise men to fall upon their knees in adoration. It is to be observed, however, that this first revealing is confined to the few; that is, to those states of innocence which the Lord himself provides in every man during infancy and early childhood. It is these tender affections of good and truth, which the Writings call "remains," that receive the Divine Doctrine at His coming.
     Were it not for the doctrine of remains we would have no basis of understanding the Divine text, no perception of the true meaning of the Christmas story; for it is these innocent affections of good and truth, which the Lord preserves against all evil during the formative states of the human mind, that are represented in the Scriptural story by those who received Him at His birth. Like Mary and Joseph, some dwell in the obscurity of the remote region of Galilee; others watch over their flocks by night, that is, in the darkness which precedes His coming; while others dwell in the land of the east, in the land of ancient associations and half-forgotten memories. Yet, although each have their specific representation in the Divine story, they have in common that spirit of innocence that alone is receptive of truth. Were it not for these delights in His Word that the Lord inspires in the heart of the child, there would be none to receive Him. It is these delights that are inculcated in childhood to which the Divine Doctrine is addressed. Indeed, it was of these delights that the Lord spake when He said to His disciples: "Suffer . . . little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God" (Mark 10: 14).
     It is, then, these primary affections of innocence that receive the Lord at His coming, and were it not for them there would be no human affection to which the nascent Doctrine of the Divine Human could be revealed.

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Herod is king in Jerusalem, and Caesar Augustus is emperor of Rome. By Herod is represented the love of self; and he it is who seeks the young Child to destroy Him. By Rome is represented the natural rational which exalts human reason, and when confronted with the claim of the authority of Divine revelation takes refuge, as Pilate did, in the skeptical inquiry, "What is truth?" To such states the Divine Doctrine cannot be revealed, for in such states man has no will to believe, and unless a man wills what is good, he will not believe what is true. It is, then, those who will to believe to whom the Divine Doctrine is addressed.
     Yet faith in the Writings is not the faith of childhood. If it were there would be no need for the spiritual sense of the Word. Yet it is also true that were it not for the implicit faith of childhood there would be none to receive Him when He comes as the Spirit of truth. This is why there is a return of those former delights when we reflect upon the Christmas story, particularly at this season of the year when our hearts are stirred by the Scriptural account of the Divine birth. But it is not as children that we know these delights but as adults who see herein the fulfillment of prophecy-not only the fulfillment of those prophecies which openly treat of the signs of His coming, but the fulfillment of that inner spirit of prophecy which is the burden of all Divine revelation; for in this, that is, in the doctrine of the Divine Human, to which all prophecy attests, the unity of the Word may be seen; and by virtue of the perception of this unity we know that the Word is true. When seen from the spiritual sense of the Word, therefore, we know that these things that took place so many years ago in the hill country of Judea were of God: for when seen and understood in their spiritual sense we know that no man could have conceived of these things. We refer to the doctrine of the Divine Human, as it is now revealed.
     If, then, as children we were stirred to awe and wonder by the story of the Lord's birth, may we not be moved to even greater wonder and delight by this same story as now told in the spiritual sense of the Word? If, for almost two thousand years, men have been affected by the story of Mary's love for her child, how much more deeply may the mind be affected by what this love represents; for by Mary is represented that affection of truth in which the essential human consists. Were it not for this affection, man would not be man but would be as the beast of the field. It is this affection, this delight that we find in spiritual truth, that abides the Lord's coming and that serves as the matrix of the Divine descent. Unlike all the other affections into which man is born, it is willing to be led by the Lord.

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It is this that is signified by Mary's words to the angel: "Be it unto me according to thy word" (Luke 2: 38).
     Yet this delight cannot survive unless it is instructed. The representation, therefore, is taken up by the shepherds, that is, by those primary truths of the Word. Let us never underestimate the power of those first-learned truths of the Word, for upon these, as a house upon its foundation, man's first idea of God takes form. These are those shepherds who in first states of faith testify to the Lord's Divinity, and all that is learned in later states is dependent upon them.
     But the purpose of instruction is not knowledge; it is wisdom. Thus it was that when the shepherds had departed, there came wise men from the east, saying: "Where is He that is born king of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him" (Matthew 2: 2). Whereas instruction is addressed to the understanding, worship is an act of the will. By the wise men, therefore, are represented those remains of good that are implanted by the Lord in all states of life in which there is something of innocence. This is why in the first states of life every child is held in a state of innocence by the Lord. But the reference here is to those delights that the little child experiences when he is first introduced into the worship of the Lord. This delight is from the Lord, and it has its origin in those hidden states of infancy that belong to the Lord alone. Like the wise men, who were a remnant of the past-a past that was lost in antiquity-so the delights and affections of first states are obscured in the memory but may yet be recalled by the Lord to later service, particularly when man draws near to the Lord in states of worship.
     Now, with the approach of the Christmas season, we are again reminded of that high and holy event that took place in Bethlehem so many years ago. In this remembrance we recall with peculiar delight and tenderness our childhood affection for these things. Yet unless this delight inspires within us a state of spiritual reflection it is only a passing mood, a temporary state borrowed from the past that is soon covered over by the shifting sands of self-interest. But if we will reflect upon the true meaning of the advent, new delight is given, and in this delight there is a renewal of faith in that newborn doctrine of Divine truth in which the Lord's Divine Humanity is plainly revealed.

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LAID IN A MANGER 1960

LAID IN A MANGER              1960

     A Christmas Lesson for Children

     "And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David;) to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
     "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you. Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger" (Luke 2:1-12).

     "Since a sign means proof that they might believe that the Savior of the world was born, it is said that they should find Him 'wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger'; but that this was a proof no one can know until it is known what is meant by a 'manger' and by 'swaddling clothes.' A 'manger' means doctrine of truth from the Word because 'horses' signify understanding of the Word; and thus a manger, as a feeding place for horses, signifies doctrine of truth from the Word. It is said that this was done 'because there was no room for them in the inn,' an 'inn' signifying a place of instruction. Because this was the state of the Jews, who were then in mere falsities, this was signified by 'there was no room for them in the inn.' For if it had pleased the Lord He might have been born in a most splendid palace, and have been laid in a bed adorned with precious stones. But He would thus have been with such as were in no doctrine of truth, and there would have been no heavenly representation.

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He is also said to have been 'wrapped in swaddling clothes,' because 'swaddling clothes' signify first truths of innocence, which are truths of Divine love; for nakedness,' in reference to a babe, signifies being without any truth. All this makes clear why it was said by the angel: 'And this shall be a sign unto you. Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger'" (Apocalypse Explained 706: 12).

     The first part of our reading tells the story of how the Lord was born. The second part tells us why He was born as He was: why the Lord chose to be born in a stable and laid in a manger, when He might, had He wished, have been born in a splendid palace and laid in a bed adorned with precious stones. And although some things in it may seem difficult to understand, you can see something of the reason for the Lord being so born. It was to teach us an important lesson. When we read in the Word about an inn, we think of a place to which people go for food, rest, and shelter; but in their Word the angels read instead of the church, to which men go for food for their minds, rest and refreshment in the journey of life, and protection against evil spirits. When we think of a stable and a manger, we picture a place where horses are kept and the rack from which they feed; but the angels picture the true meaning of the Word, because when they think of the true understanding of the Word they picture it in the form of a noble horse.
      Now although the Lord was born among the Jews, He could not be born in their church. He can be born in the church only when it loves Him and wants Him to lead it, and when it understands and keeps His commandments. The Jews were not like that. They loved themselves, wanted their own way, and did not understand what the Word teaches. There were good people among them, but that was what their church was like; and so the Lord could not be born in the inn because that would have made it seem to the angels that He was born in the Jewish Church. He was born in a stable, and laid in a manger, to teach us that He can be born only in the hearts of those who know what His Word teaches because they try to keep His commandments. That is an important lesson of Christmas. If we think only of ourselves, and always want our own way, there will be no room in our hearts for the Lord. But if we ask the Lord to teach and lead us, then our hearts will prepare room for Him as our Savior.

     [EDITORIAL NOTE: It is suggested that this lesson, offered in place of the usual talk, might be used in family worship on Christmas Day. Any of the Christmas hymns may be used, and prayer C9, Liturgy, page 269, is suitable if one is desired.]

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MAN CHILD AND THE SERPENT 1960

MAN CHILD AND THE SERPENT       Rev. GEOFFREY S. CHILDS       1960

     (Delivered at the Eastern Canada Assembly, Toronto, October 9, 1960.)

     The Lord had but one primal command for the Most Ancient Church; and if it had been heeded, the history of this earth would have been utterly different. Jehovah commanded Adam: "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof, dying thou shalt die."* The meaning of this warning is unfolded in the Arcana Coelestia. "These words . . . signify that it is allowable to become acquainted with what is true and good by means of every perception derived from the Lord, but not from self and the world. That is, we are not to inquire into the mysteries of faith by means of the things of sense and of the memory, for in this case the celestial of faith is destroyed. A desire to investigate the things of faith by means of the things of sense and of the memory was not only the cause of the fall of the posterity of the Most Ancient Church . . . but it is also the cause of the fall of every church; for hence come not only falsities, but also evils of life." **
* Genesis 2: 17.     
** Nos. 126, 127. Italics added.
     This is a powerful statement. It must haunt the memory of a reflecting New Church man. For it is a forewarning of exactly how our own small beginnings in the New Church may be broken-"a desire to investigate the mysteries of faith by means of the things of sense and of the memory is the cause of the fall of every church." But surely we are free, in this sophisticated age, from such obvious dangers? The book of Revelation, that Divine prophecy of the New Church given to John on the Isle of Patmos, speaks of the appearance of the final church as a "woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars."* This woman in her beauty represents the New Church, and her "man child" represents the perception of the Divine Human within that church. But note the horror of the fact that this woman, with her holy child, was in danger of immediate destruction. For a serpent lay in wait before them, intent upon devouring the child and then destroying the woman. A prophecy of Divine protection follows in the book of Revelation, and yet afterwards this warning is given: "The great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth. . . . Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath."**
* Revelation 12: 1.
** Ibid. 12: 9, 12.

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     In the correspondential story of Genesis, it was a serpent that insidiously led to the fall of Adam and Eve. And in the Apocalypse it was a serpent who first threatened, and still vitally endangers, the woman who is the New Church. For "when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."* The term, serpent, may seem a rather naive and allegorical one. Yet its spiritual correspondence, its interior implication, is anything but naive. We read: "The most ancients . . . called the sensuous things of man, serpents; because, as serpents are nearest the earth, so are sensuous things nearest the body. Hence, reasonings from sensuous things concerning the mysteries of faith they called poisons of a serpent; and the reasoners themselves, serpents; and as such reason much from sensuous or visible things, it is said that the 'serpent was more cunning than every beast of the field.'** The poison of the serpent, then, represents the same approach as eating of the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil." That is, "the investigation of the mysteries of faith by means of the things of" the senses. The serpent who destroyed the Most Ancient Church, then, waits to destroy us. And if a church with all the beauty and innocence of the Golden Age could be undermined and destroyed, cannot we also suffer destruction?
* Ibid. 12: 13, 17.     
** AC 195.
      We speak of our particular beginnings of the New Church as being in danger. But, after all, a particular church is a group of individuals. Whatever it is that destroys, therefore, will attack each of us individually. The spiritual poison that can cause such tragedy has been identified in this way: "The desire to investigate the mysteries of faith by means of the things of sense and of memory."* Now, such a desire sounds innocuous, and perhaps even innocent. Wherein is the serpent in this?
* AC 127.
     The Writings unfold the answer: "With every man who is being regenerated there are two rationals, one before regeneration, the other after regeneration. The first, which is before regeneration, is procured through the experience of the senses, by reflection upon the things of civic and moral life, and by means of the sciences and the reasonings derived from them, and by means of them; also by means of the knowledges of spiritual things. . . . But these go no further at that time than a little above the ideas of the corporeal memory, which comparatively are quite material. . . . But the rational after regeneration is formed by the Lord through the affections of spiritual truth and good, which affections are implanted by the Lord in a wonderful manner in the truths of the former rational and those things in it which are in agreement, and which favor, are thus vivified; but the rest are separated from it as of no use."*

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The first rational springs as it were from the earth; the second flows in, as to its essential spirit, from heaven.
* AC 2657: 2, 3.     
     Before the second or heavenly rational can be born, the first rational must have its day. This first rational is born in adolescence; and it is a most useful faculty, unless-and herein is the serpent-conceit and pride take over this first rational, and in time dominate the heart and mind. For the first rational, in the hands of the proprium, is the destroyer: the destroyer of the second or heavenly rational, of all innocence, charity and childhood remains. But are we not crying unnecessary alarms? After all, is not the mocking of adolescence something that we all get over finally? This is generally true. After adolescence the first rational operates in subjugation, performing proper uses for the higher rational. But as long as we have a proprium, that proprium will constantly be trying to captivate, to dominate subtly, our still existing first rational. And the fact is that with each one of us-until we reach celestial good, if we do so-the proprium still has a strong hold on our lower reason. That is why a part of our mind is in spiritual darkness. It is why each of us may say, with immediate perception of its truth: "Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief."*
* Mark 9: 24.
     Once it is captured by the proprium, it is characteristic of the first rational to mock all things spiritual.* This mocking is represented by Sarah's laughing when told by Jehovah that she would bear a son in her old age. In explaining Sarah's unbelief the Writings say: "As regards the rational in general [the first rational], when it thinks about Divine things, especially from its own truth, it cannot possibly believe that there are such things; both because it does not apprehend them, and because there adhere to it the appearances born from the fallacies of the senses by which and from which it thinks. . . . If the [first] rational be consulted, can it believe that the Word has an internal sense, and this so remote from the literal sense as has been shown? and thus that the Word is that which conjoins heaven and earth? . . . Can the [first] rational believe that souls after death speak with each other most distinctly, without the speech of words, and yet so fully as to express more in a minute than a man does by his speech in an hour? . . . Can the [first] rational believe that in one affection of man, nay, in one sigh, there are such numberless things as can never be described, and yet are perceived by angels? not to mention thousands upon thousands of such things. The [first] rational, which is wise from sensuous things, and is imbued with their fallacies, when thinking of such things does not believe that they can be so, because it is unable to form to itself any idea except from such things as it perceives by some sense either external or internal; and what, then, must be the case when it thinks about Divine celestial and spiritual things, which are still higher?**
* AC 2654.
** AC 2209.

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     The first rational is represented in the Word by Ishmael, of whom it is said: "He will be a wild-ass man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him."* The second, or spiritual rational, is represented by Isaac. What is the essential difference between these two rationals? Why must Ishmael be thrust out, and Isaac rule? The first rational, we are told, arises "through . . . the senses";** but the second, or spiritual rational, is "formed by the Lord through the affection of spiritual truth and good."*** The first rational sees in the light of the world; the second in the light of heaven.
* Genesis 16: 12.
** AC 2657: 2.
*** Ibid.
     We would go a little further in this reflection and suggest that perception, spiritual perception, is the vital characteristic of the spiritual rational, whereas reason, allied to the senses, is the vital characteristic of the first rational. And we would note this: the first rational has no spiritual perception, whereas the second rational has both perception and reason! Truly, Ishmael is to be supplanted. If, as he matures, the man of the church does not subordinate his first rational to the spiritual rational, then inevitably the negative principle begins to rule within his mind. And if this continues, the serpent has destroyed a part of the strength of the New Church. The passage on the danger of the negative principle, which is the principle that has destroyed each successive church, is one of the key passages in the Writings. "There are . . . two principles, one of which leads to all folly and insanity, and the other to all intelligence and wisdom. The former principle is to deny all things, or to say in the heart that we cannot believe them until we are convinced by what we can apprehend or perceive by the senses; this is the principle that leads to all folly and insanity, and is to be called the negative principle. The other principle is to affirm the things which are of doctrine from the Word, or to think and believe within ourselves that they are true because the Lord has said them; this is the principle that leads to all intelligence and wisdom, and is to be called the affirmative principle."*
* AC 2568. Italics added.
     Man cannot prove a single spiritual truth with his reason alone. For there are discrete planes of the human mind, one above another, and reason alone is on a lower plane. In an ascending series in the mind, there are sensation, imagination, reason and perception-spiritual perception. Each can see on its own plane, but cannot see into the plane above it. Now Divine truth, or revelation, is addressed to the highest conscious plane of the human mind on earth-the plane of perception.

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Perception, which is our spiritual sensation, enables us to see clearly that revealed truth is true. This perception gives us a spiritual vision of truth: a vision that is sure, convincing, beyond doubt, and a vision superior to that of the lower plane of reason. Yet revelation is not unreasonable, it is Divinely reasonable; and therefore the Writings speak to the reason as well, as long as reason is under subordination to the higher quality of perception. It is with this proper subordination that the Writings invite us to "enter intellectually into the mysteries of faith."*
* TCR 508:3.
     But if reason rebels, and rejects subordination to the higher quality of heavenly perception, then the serpent has conquered. The proprium, with its negative principle, dominates. Then the rational has become perverted, and it is of this perverted rational that the Writings say so harshly: "They are called 'drunkards' [in the Word] who believe nothing but what they apprehend, and for this reason search into the mysteries of faith. . . . Indeed, the souls or spirits who in the other life reason about the truths of faith and against them become like drunken men and act like them."* "It has likewise been permitted me to perceive that those who have begun to reason concerning the truths relating to spiritual and celestial life, or in other words, those of faith, are in a state of doubt, yea, even of denial, for none reason about faith but such as doubt and deny it. . . Of such persons the Lord says in Isaiah: 'Woe unto those who are wise in their own eyes, and intelligent before their own faces' (5: 2)."**
* AC 1072.
** AC 215.
     The doctrine of spiritual perception-the reality of perception as a superior spiritual faculty-is a crucial truth in a world filled with spiritual darkness; for in the New Church we stand almost alone in regarding perception as a superior faculty of the mind. The approach of the intellectual world today is entirely different, even diametrically opposite in certain instances. The so-called "scientific method" has replaced reliance upon any revelation in many instances. The possibility of absolute Divine revelation, the validity of which is established through spiritual perception-this possibility is something simply unheard of. Revelation from the Lord is dismissed by many intellectuals as a pitiable human invention-as a wish-creation by man in his naive, unrealistic struggle to find an eternal life and a God. Revelation has its substitute with these men, however. The substitute is human reason, divorced from any spiritual perception. It is the natural rational, Ishmael. And what has the modern Ishmael discovered? Thanks to Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer, and more recently, Henri Bergson and John Dewey and others of the same stamp, the modern Ishmael has established a causeless evolution as the basis of life.

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That is, there is no recognition of a final, Divine cause. Just how the first life arose is somewhat of a problem; but from there on the evolutionists, through sweet ratiocination, through Darwin's thorough scientific researches-which produced a marvelous series of facts, unfortunately viewed backwards-have ushered God out of His creation. How marvelous is human reason! And we would focus upon modern evolutionary theory, with its dismissal of the Divine-Human creator, the warning of Divine truth: "A desire to investigate the mysteries of faith by means of the things of sense and of the memory . . . is . . . the cause of the fall of every church."* Here the term, church, also denotes anything of innocence, which is the basis of salvation.
* AC 127.

     Our central purpose in this address is to define the modern form of investigating the mysteries of faith through the things of the senses, that is, to point out the Ishmael in modern thought; and then to show the danger there is of this negative principle invading the New Church and destroying its innocence. The prophetic warning concerning the serpent waiting before the woman and her man-child has stark application to the present era.
     Where does the Ishmael rational lie in modern thought? How has the negative principle infiltrated the modern world? It has been, we submit, a slow, centuries-long process, one that started publicly with the philosopher Francis Bacon in the 16th century. For Francis Bacon's was the first great mind to glorify the "inductive method" of discovering truth. The term, inductive, comes from the Latin word in and ducere, which mean "to lead in." The basic concept here is clear: through induction, scientists hope to analyze effects, and to lead in from effects to causes. In other words, by carefully analyzing effects, we may enter into causes. The critic, Macaulay, "thinks that induction as described by Bacon is a very old-fashioned affair." * And it is true that now a new term is used for the inductive method. It is now called the scientific method; this being simply the refined, logical use of the inductive method.** Its approach is a posteriori, that is, it hopes from effects to discern causes.
* Durant: The Story of Philosophy, page 106.
** For the generalizations concerning induction and the scientific method, specifically that that process is one of searching out causes from effects, see The Story of Philosophy, pp. 102, 103.
     Is the scientific method evil? Is it the negative principle that leads to folly and insanity? If used correctly, no. For the scientific method, or inductive reasoning, has its proper place in the human mind. But if the scientific method is used incorrectly it turns into the negative principle, into Ishmael perverted.

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And it is this abuse of induction, this making a goddess of the scientific method and lifting her up to the heavens, that is the cause of the darkness in the thinking world today. Because of this abuse, the New Church stands utterly opposed to the main current of modern thinking. And we would be snuffed out as a small candle, were it not for the Man-Child who stands with us, the Divine-Human Lord. Does all this sound exaggerated, a crying of havoc in a world filled with much light? It was the Lord Himself who said of the "true Light" that: "He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not."*
* John 1:10.
     How has the scientific method been misused by certain intellectuals so as to produce darkness and falsity? To a New Church man, familiar with the doctrine of discrete degrees, the answer is clear. The abuse has come in the endeavor to analyze a discretely higher plane from one below it. The attempt has been made to do the impossible-to discover spiritual causes from natural effects. The minute the philosopher or scientist attempts to penetrate through a discrete degree by induction, he is no longer "scientific," truly scientific, in method. And, interestingly enough, the objective scientist, the objective seeker of truth, recognizes the error and falseness of abusing induction. He firmly rejects unproved assertions concerning spiritual causes. The Writings speak plainly: "No one can apprehend higher things from lower ones, that is, spiritual and celestial, still less Divine things from lower ones, because they transcend all [lower] understanding."* "The prior, because in itself it is purer, cannot appear to the posterior because in itself it is grosser."**
* AC 2568.
** CL 31.
     The false scientific method is succinctly and eternally put in its place in no. 119 of Divine Love and Wisdom. "From effects nothing but effects can be learned. When effects alone are considered, no causes are brought to light. But causes reveal effects. To know effects from causes is to be wise; but to search out causes from effects is not to be wise, because fallacies then present themselves, which the investigator calls causes, and this is to turn wisdom into foolishness. Causes are things prior, and effects are things posterior; and things prior cannot be seen from things posterior, but things posterior can be seen from things prior. This is order. For this reason the spiritual world is here first treated of, for all causes are there; and afterwards the natural world, where all things that appear are effects."
     But do we wrongly accuse philosophers of abusing induction? What evidence is there of distortion and misuse? Francis Bacon, in his Novum Organum, brings induction to the fore. He states: "Man, as the minister and interpreter of nature, does and understands as much as his observations on the order of nature . . . permit him; and neither knows nor is capable of more."*

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He proceeds to give a clear description of the inductive method of inquiry. "The true method [of experiment] first lights the candle [hypothesis], and then by means of the candle shows the way, commencing as it does with experience duly ordered and digested, not bungling nor erratic, and from it educing axioms, and from established axioms again new experiments."** It is evident from a study of Bacon's works that he was endeavoring to promote reliable scientific investigation. And his call for induction here was long overdue in a world bound by false Catholic dogma and pagan superstition. Francis Bacon was right, as long as he and his successors sought out axioms and laws on the natural plane only, and did not try to use induction to penetrate to spiritual causes.*** Yet the next great philosopher, Spinoza, used induction to explain God, the Word, and spiritual causes. He attempted to proceed from natural causes to spiritual effects; and despite Spinoza's brilliance, and his gentle nature, he erred again and again and again; and this in very vital concepts, such as the nature of the Divine Human. Worse than this, he handed over his conceited technique, his conceited approach, to all following philosophers. Now it was permitted to reason one's way to spiritual causes and to God. Now the Ishmael rational was to have its happy day. Human reason was made God, and the results of this error are both grave and fascinating!
* OP. cit., First Aphorism.     
** Op. Cit., 1, 82.
*** The use of hypothesis, experiment and deduction in induction does not in any way contradict its essential purpose: to discover causes through the analysis of effects.
     We cannot give a history of philosophy here, but we can point out the general path it followed into the valley of confusion. John Locke (1632-1704) announced quietly that "all our knowledge comes from experience and through our senses"; that "there is nothing in the mind except what was first in the senses." The mind is at birth a clean sheet, a tabula rasa; and sense experience writes upon it in a thousand ways, until sensation begets memory and memory begets ideas: all of which seemed to lead to the startling conclusion that since only material things can affect our senses, we know nothing but matter, and must accept a materialistic philosophy. If sensations are the stuff of thought, the hasty argued, matter must be the material of the mind.
     "Not at all," said Bishop George Berkeley (1684-1753): "this Lockean analysis of knowledge proves rather that matter does not exist except as a form of mind. . . . But see how obvious it is. Has not Locke told us that all our knowledge is derived from sensation? Therefore our knowledge of anything is merely our sensation of it, and ideas derived from these sensations. . . . All matter, so far as we know it, is a mental condition; and the only reality we know directly is mind."*

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Berkeley was followed by David Hume (1711-1776), who took the next step in inductive reasoning. We cannot prove that the mind exists at all, he taught; for what we are conscious of is only separate ideas, memories, feelings, etc. How do we know that such ideas indicate a mind? Maybe our thoughts and feelings just come out of nowhere-causeless. We cannot prove otherwise.
* The Story of Philosophy, pp. 194, 195.
     Note the fascinating dilemma inductive thinking had produced. Locke almost established the universality of matter; but Bishop Berkeley pulled the philosophic rug out from under him, and "proved" to the world that only mind exists-as far as we can understand him. But then Hume showed that you cannot even prove the existence of mind! "No wonder that a wit advised abandonment of the controversy, saying, 'no matter, never mind.'* There is humor in this-how the angels must laugh at man's trifles-but it is not funny to the inductive seeker of truth. For each doubting individual follows the same sad track of reasoning laid out by Locke, Berkeley and Hume. If man uses Ishmael as his guide to truth, if he abuses the scientific method in searching for spiritual causes, then he, too, will start out with his own sensation as the only guide to truth. But then he will see, as Berkeley did, that sensation is a mental, not a physical thing. And the next step will be the conclusion that the mental world is of a very mystical nature that cannot be analyzed-as Hume showed, not even the reality of mind can be proved. The final step is insanity, natural or spiritual, if man follows the logic of inductive reasoning. For the last step in this inductive analysis is the realization that the only provable thing is one's own reality, which in philosophic terms is called "solipsism." With this alone as sure, man may turn into an egotist who scoffs at all reasoning except proprial reasoning, or he may become insane. But there is another way out. That is to abandon inductive reasoning as the path to the Lord; to acknowledge that of ourselves we are completely blind, utterly lost, and without sure knowledge; and then to pray to the Lord for the spiritual perception to see the truth of His Word.
* Op. cit., p. 195.
     Now the sensual is not willing to seek out causes in any other than a posterior or inductive way.* This is because the sensual is especially dominated by the proprium, and the proprium views creation from beneath.** What, then, is the true order in viewing spiritual causes and the vistas of Divine truth? The Writings answer: "To view the world and the things in it, and to deduce knowledges from it, by a prior way is to view them from the light of heaven."***

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And the only source of prior truth, the Writings make abundantly clear, is the Word itself. When spiritual truth is seen by spiritual perception, and confirmed by reason, then creation is viewed in Divine light, a priori, from above. And then the world of man's lower mind is flooded with the light of heaven. This submission of a lower plane to the one discretely above it leads to a seeing of that heavenly order which should rule in the human mind. "The order is," we are taught, "for the celestial to inflow into the spiritual and adapt it to itself; for the spiritual thus to flow into the rational and adapt it to itself; and for the rational thus to inflow into . . . knowledge and adapt it to itself."**** Thus heaven rules in man, and not hell. The serpent, who would hide within the sensual, is defeated by the power of the Man-Child.
* AE 739b: 7.
** No intricate complexities of inductive methods destroy this general attribute: the inductive method is a posteriori.
*** AE 739b: 7.
**** AC 1495: 2.

     The New Church man may wonder: does the inductive method have a legitimate place? or is Ishmael to be cast out forever? The answer is the Divine prophecy given in the Old Testament concerning Ishmael: "I will make him a great nation."*
* Genesis 21: 18.
     Ishmael as a rebel, a mocker, represents the natural rational under the power of the proprium. But once the proprium is forced into its place, once the proper series of influx from the celestial down through the successive degrees to the sensual is established, then Ishmael is no longer a traitor to heaven. The natural rational is still present, but now subservient to the spiritual rational. And in this proper order Ishmael takes on a good correspondence. He then becomes a "great nation." We suggest that when this order is established Ishmael represents inductive reasoning, and that such reasoning can perform a host of uses to the human mind.
     Inductive reasoning is legitimate, is of high use, as long as it does not try to break through the barrier of discrete degrees. On each separate plane or degree there are ends, causes and effects; and it is proper, in fact it is rational, to study the effects of one plane, and to induce from these the laws, the causes and ends, of that same plane. As long as one abides on the same continuous plane, induction can work wonders-such wonders, for example, as the scientific accomplishments of modern civilization. These are the magic product of inductive reasoning working on its proper plane. In view of what this scientific or inductive method has accomplished, it is no wonder that man's pride has made a false god out of it. It is no wonder that he has tried to raise up a tower of Babel through scientific reasoning-a tower to break through the barriers even to God. His pride in scientific accomplishment has made him an easier prey for the serpent's tantalizing promise: "The day ye eat of the . . . tree, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."*
* Genesis 3: 5.

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     Abuse does not condemn proper use, and proper use of inductive reasoning has done more than fashion the marvels of modern civilization. For this method of the mind has a vital use in the establishing of the New Church. Before we can perceive a truth from heavenly light, we must go to the Writings with our reason, gather the passages on one subject, and reflect upon them carefully until we perceive in them the universal laws disclosed in Divine revelation. Thus even in studying revelation we use induction first, and then the Lord may inflow into this with heavenly perception. Induction precedes perception; Ishmael precedes Isaac. Even so, water was poured into the vessels at the wedding in Cana before, by a Divine miracle, that water was made wine.
     Without induction, then, living faith could not be established. For the perception of truth needs the foundation of reason and science beneath it in order that that perception may be full and truly wise. Inductive reasoning enables us to see how a thing is true. Thus it makes it possible for perception, which is heavenly, to inflow into and through reason; it enables perception to flow down even into the scientifics of this world. It brings heavenly light to earth. Thus the Writings teach: "They who think from an affirmative principle can confirm themselves by whatever things rational, by whatever knowledges, and whatever things philosophic they have at command; for all these are to them things confirmatory and give them a fuller idea of the matter."* "To become intelligent and wise man must learn many things, both things pertaining to heaven and things pertaining to the world: things pertaining to heaven from the Word and from the church, and things pertaining to the world from the sciences.
The simple are those whose interiors have been opened, but not so enriched by spiritual, moral, civil and natural truths. But the wise are those whose interiors have been both opened and enriched. . . . All this makes clear what true intelligence is and what true wisdom is."**
* AC 2568.     
** HH 351.
     It is the abuse of induction that has given the appearance that the Lord is dead. Proprial induction has blinded evolutionists to the key doctrine of discrete degrees. It has blinded them to the necessity of intelligent causation, and has substituted accident for the Lord. But we need not feel too superior, for it is proprial induction that darkens parts of our own minds, and that causes states in which the Lord is as it were dead to a part of our minds. If it were not for the perverted Ishmael in us, we would not need to cry out to the Lord: "help Thou mine unbelief." Unbelief results from reasoning from below, from the senses, and behind such reasoning is hell. In this instance it is false induction that crucifies the Lord in our minds. But if, by shunning evil and its conceits, we order the mind properly and put belief in the Lord, the perception of His reality, first, then the weapon that was destroying-induction-can become the very sword of truth.

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For then induction is held in its place, below perception; and then light can inflow into all the corners of the mind. Induction can bring the Lord to life, as it were, in the lower planes of the mind, where before He was believed to be dead. The Divine Human, the Lord who was glorified even as to His flesh and bones, is omnipresent in creation. And induction as the servant of perception can enable us to see the Lord on every plane of science and life. For He is not dead. "He is risen, as He said."* The prophecy is true: the Man-Child shall triumph over the serpent.
* Matthew 28:6.
IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1960

IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES              1960

     The September issue of UMCHAZI presents interestingly the thought and activities of the General Church mission in South Africa. A sermon and a talk to children are followed by an obituary for the Rev. Johannes Lunga and the concluding notes in a series on spiritual morality. The Rev. Aaron B. Zungu reviews critically a new edition of the Bible in Zulu, published by the British and Foreign Bible Society, and answers several doctrinal questions. There is a report by one of the students on the winter school held at Hambrook, July 3-10, and several papers written by students are published. In his notes the Superintendent, the Rev. A. Wynne Acton, records the appointment of the Rev. B. I. Nzimande as second Assistant Superintendent of the Mission, an appointment arrived at after careful consideration and consultation with Bishop De Charms. Mr. Nzimande will also remain pastor of the Enkumba Society.

     The NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER notes that Dr. Friedemann Horn is engaged in making a new German translation from the Latin original of True Christian Religion. The first of the four contemplated volumes, containing nos. 1-188, has a preface by Professor Ernst Benz and a foreword by the translator and editor. Dr. Horn is regarded by the reviewer as specially qualified to make a new German translation.

     A recent issue of the NEW-CHURCH HERALD noted that on June 19, 1960, the Swedish church in London celebrated its 250th anniversary. The church was instituted in 1710, the year of Swedenborg's first visit to London; Swedish residents being unwilling to continue in the Danish-Norwegian Church, where prayers had been offered for the success of the Danish arms in the fight against Sweden.

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DOCTRINE OF MERIT 1960

DOCTRINE OF MERIT        GEORGE DE CHARMS       1960

     (The last of three doctrinal articles.)

     3. Why Man Can Make no Claim to Merit

     The purpose of this final article is to show why man, although he has free choice in spiritual things, can rightly make no claim to merit. It is to show also that neither can he, by exercising free choice, detract in the least from the omnipotence of God.

     Freedom of Choice and Merit

     Real freedom of choice is the greatest of all God's gifts to man; but it is, and must be, an extremely subtle thing. For this reason it is almost impossible for us to distinguish real freedom from that which is only an appearance.
     That is why philosophic thinkers who base their conclusions entirely upon observation and experience fall into grave doubt as to whether there is such a thing as real freedom. Everyone feels himself to be free whenever he is doing what he wants to do. But why does he want to do it? Our pleasures, ambitions, hopes and aspirations can readily be traced to causes outside of ourselves. For the most part we take delight in modes of life to which we are accustomed, and we dislike or shrink from whatever seems strange to us. Our tastes and preferences, therefore, are deeply influenced by our environment, our training, our national and family traditions. Our likes and dislikes are greatly affected by the climatic, geographic and social environment in which we live. Our ideas of right and wrong are determined very largely by the instruction we receive from parents and teachers during the pliable years of childhood and youth.
     It is obvious, therefore, that what appears to us as a free choice-our natural preference for one thing rather than another, and even the nature of our conscience-is not really free at all, but has been determined for us by all the forces that have been playing upon our minds, forces over which we have no control. The effect of these forces will vary with individuals because of differing hereditary temperament and disposition; but these also are not of our choice. We are born with them. All scientific observation, therefore, seems to point to philosophic determinism; that is, to the idea that there is actually no such thing as freedom of choice, and that, on the contrary, everything we do from will or desire, and thus from apparent freedom, is the inevitable result of the reaction between our heredity and our environment.

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     All this is perfectly true except for one thing-the choice that each one is called upon to make deep within himself as to whether he will follow the impulse of the angels or that of the evil spirits who are present with him. Both kinds of spirits are alternately present with everyone, causing their delight to be felt by the man as his own. The angels always dispose the mind to accept the teaching of religion that there is a God, a Divine Creator and Heavenly Father who is the source of all our blessings, and on whom we are dependent for guidance and protection. Because celestial angels are present with everyone during infancy and early childhood, there is, we are told, "an internal dictate [with all men] that there is a God, and that He is one."* From this comes the perception that our life is not our own; that it rightly belongs to God, and that it is to be used only as a faithful servant administers the goods of his master.
* TCR 9.
      On the other hand, the evil spirits inspire the love and the thought of self, which leads one to reject the teaching of religion and to confirm the appearance that our life is our own, to do with as we please. While we are children we are incapable of resisting these impulses, and are carried along by whichever is dominant at the moment. Any choice that is to be made between them must be made by parents and teachers. But when we become adult, and are thrown upon our own resources, we are compelled to make this choice for ourselves. We must decide what we want to make of our lives; what our inmost or supreme goal is to be; which of the two opposite impulses we will make the master, and which we will regard only as the servant. Because they point in opposite directions we cannot follow both at the same time. As the scripture says: "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."*
* Matthew 6:24.
      This choice will not be made suddenly. It will not be made once and for all. We will continue to yield to the pressures of the moment until we are brought squarely up against the fact that yielding is depriving us of the things we most deeply desire. But that crucial moment comes to everyone, not once, but again and again; usually as the result of mistakes that cause him to consider the direction in which he is drifting, and to set a definite course.
     Everyone is free to make this choice. That freedom is real, and it is the only real freedom we have. Every other choice which appears to be free is only an illusion, even as the scientific philosophers maintain.

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And this one real choice must be made individually by each one in the inmost depths of his heart and mind, where it can be known only to the Lord. It is so deeply hidden that as long as he lives on earth, even the man himself cannot be sure, beyond the possibility of a doubt, which choice he has made. The reason is that he cannot trace his motives to their source. Who can be certain, in examining himself, that behind what seems to be a most self-sacrificing act there is not some unsuspected hope of reward or some secret motive of self-interest?
     It is of providence that this should be the case, lest man should become complacent and self-satisfied, and should cease to resist. Evils are not rooted out at one fell swoop, but only one by one, as they are brought into view, recognized, and persistently shunned. In the Lord's mercy our hereditary tendencies to evil are withheld from our knowledge lest we be overwhelmed by them. We are made aware of them only in so far as we are able to resist them, only in so far as they can be balanced by the impulse to good. The choice, therefore, is one that must be made over and over again; and every time it is made, the scales are tipped in the direction of the choice, but the Lord continually restores the balance and makes a new choice necessary.
     This means not only that one who makes the right choice in consequence becomes aware of more deeply hidden evils to be met and overcome, but also that one who makes the wrong choice is given a new opportunity to turn in the right direction, if he will. But if the right choice is persistently made, the man will become established in a ruling love of good and truth, and that love will secretly qualify his whole life and subtly direct all apparent choices.

     Because this choice is really free, the man himself, and he alone, is responsible for it. It is not imposed upon him by any force outside of himself; neither by his heredity nor by his environment, nor even by the Lord Himself. Thus we are told in the Writings that "God is unceasingly present, and continually striving and acting in man, even touching his free will, but in no way violating it."* By "touching his free will" is meant restoring equilibrium-equating the opposite forces that seek to move him, so that he may be truly free to turn to one side or the other. This is done in a thousand secret ways, by trials and temptations, by new instruction and inspiration, by providential direction of his life, of which he has no knowledge whatever.
* TCR 74.
     It is to be noted that the equation is always between what one believes to be true and good and what he believes to be evil and false. These beliefs may be very much mistaken.

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They may be due to ignorance or to erroneous instruction that is accepted through confidence in those who teach. But however mistaken his faith, and however spurious his conscience may be, he who chooses what he sincerely believes to be right is on the side of the angels, who protect his innocence.
     Since, in making this choice, man is truly responsible, one would suppose that he had the right to claim merit for his good deeds and could justly be blamed for his misdeeds. It is true that if he chooses to follow the impulse of the angels he will reap the reward of that choice, and that if he chooses to follow the impulse of evil spirits he will bring upon himself the inevitable retribution. Yet the reward for a right choice is not something that he has earned. It is a free gift of the Lord's infinite mercy: this because the very power to make the choice is not his own, but inflows perpetually from God, and also because the Lord alone produces the balance of opposing forces which makes the choice possible.
     Unless the Lord kept the hells constantly under His Divine control and government, they would drive man irresistibly to his eternal destruction; and unless the Lord tempered and directed the influence of the heavens in accord with His infinite wisdom, His Divine insight into man's spiritual need and capacity at all times, there could be no free choice. One who acknowledges this to be true, even while making the choice on his own initiative and responsibility, cannot fail to recognize that the benefits which accrue from that choice do not originate in himself but are free gifts of the Lord's mercy, to be received with profound gratitude and praise.
     It follows that, although in respect to this choice man is really free and fully responsible, he can claim no merit whatever. Thus we read: "As all good and truth are from the Lord, and nothing from man; and as the [apparent] good from man is not good, it follows that no man has merit, but the Lord alone. The merit of the Lord is that from His own power He has saved the human race, and also that He saves those who do good from Him.*" "When a man believes that all good that is good in itself is from the Lord, he does not ascribe merit to works; and in the degree to which this faith is perfected in man, the fantasy of merit is taken away from him by the Lord. In this state man enters fully into the exercise of charity with no anxiety about merit, and at length perceives the spiritual delight of charity, and then begins to be averse to merit as something harmful to his life."**
* HD 155.
** TCR 442.
     It is clear from this that the ability not to claim merit is acquired only gradually by regeneration. With children a sense of merit is unavoidable, and cannot be eradicated, although it must be restrained as far as possible by teaching and example. In adults also, before regeneration, because the proprium is still active it will arise in spite of every effort to shun it.

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But man is held accountable for it only in so far as he is prepared to overcome it.
     What, then, of one who follows the impulse of evil spirits? He will be led to believe that his life is his own, and he will therefore falsely claim merit for his good deeds; but when he does wrong he will blame others, or even cast the blame upon the Lord for the punishment and suffering that follow. In both instances he will be mistaken; for the choice of evil was his own responsibility, and the retribution that follows was permitted only in mercy to restrain him from worse evil, and if possible to lead him freely to choose the good.

     Divine Omnipotence and Human Responsibility

     But how, we may ask, does this kind of free choice reconcile the responsibility of man with the omnipotence of God?
     It is true that by choosing evil a man can make it impossible for the Lord to impart to him the blessings of heaven; and to this extent he can frustrate the Divine will, for the Lord, from His infinite love, does will to save all men. But the Lord has a purpose that is prior to this, one that is even more fundamental. If men are to receive the joy of heaven they must do so willingly, because joy and freedom are inseparable. We feel no delight in that which is forced upon us against our will. For this reason free choice is prerequisite to salvation, since there can be no salvation without it. In the sight of the Lord, therefore, it is even more important that men should be free than that they should be saved. In order to be free, they must be permitted to choose evil if they so insist.
     The Lord perpetually maintains the spiritual freedom of every man, even of those who choose evil. Man has no power whatever to frustrate this supreme purpose of the Divine Providence, and therefore by exercising free choice man does not in the least detract from the omnipotence of God.

     Furthermore, although man can close the gates of heaven against himself, he cannot take away the freedom of anyone else to enter through those gates. It does, indeed, appear to be otherwise. The evil committed by one does bring injury to others. We can impose our mistaken ideas upon the minds of our children, and thus render it difficult, if not impossible, for them to discover the truth during their life on earth because they will feel no need to search for it. Further, children can acquire vicious and criminal habits from an unwholesome environment, and in consequence be morally crippled for life. By his own criminal or immoral conduct a man may expose his own family to great mental suffering, and may bring upon them undeserved poverty and want, ill-will and contempt, disease and death.

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     But in spite of all this, the Lord preserves the spiritual freedom of everyone. He permits no evil that cannot be bent to good in those who are the external victims of it. He protects the innocent against anything that would permanently injure their spiritual life. This He can do because it is a universal law that "not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of his mouth, this defileth a man . . . for out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies; these are the things which defile a man."* Because no physical injury can destroy man's spiritual freedom the Lord says: "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both body and soul in hell."**
* Matthew 15:11, 19, 20.
** Matthew 10:28.
      No one is so ignorant or so ill-informed that he cannot be true to whatever he sincerely believes to be right. As we have said, in making this choice he is on the side of the angels, and under the protection of the Lord. Such a one will not be condemned for mistakes he cannot help, and will be given every opportunity to learn and acknowledge the truth either in this world or in the life after death.
     Man, therefore, by choosing evil, although he may delay the accomplishment of the Lord's will, cannot prevent the Lord from establishing His kingdom in the heavens, and eventually from establishing it also upon the earth, according to the promises of His Word. It cannot be said, therefore, that man, by exercising free choice, is able to detract from the omnipotence of God.
REASON FOR THE INCARNATION 1960

REASON FOR THE INCARNATION              1960

     "Inasmuch as the Lord does all things from the first by means of the last, and in the last or the ultimates is in His power and in His fulness, therefore it pleased the Lord to take upon Him the Human, and to become Divine truth, that is the Word; and thereby from Himself to reduce to order all things of heaven, and all things of hell, that is, to execute a last judgment. This the Lord could accomplish from the Divine in Himself, which is in firsts, by means of His Human, which was in ultimates; and not from His presence or abode in the men of the church, as formerly; for these had entirely fallen away from the truths and goods of the Word, in which before was the habitation of the Lord with men. This, and also that He might make the Human Divine, was the primary cause of the Lord's advent into the world" (Apocalypse Explained 1087).

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EASTERN CANADA DISTRICT ASSEMBLY 1960

EASTERN CANADA DISTRICT ASSEMBLY       M. EDITH CARTER       1960

     TORONTO, ONTARIO, OCTOBER 8-10, 1960

     First Session. On Saturday afternoon at three o'clock the meeting began with prayer and a reading from the Word, after which Bishop De Charms officially declared the Assembly to be in session and welcomed the guests. In his greeting the Bishop noted that three years had elapsed since our last Assembly, and he gave purpose to our present meetings by reminding us that the very life of the church depends upon our coming together in assembly. In his address, "How Man's Life on Earth Differs from His Life After Death," the Bishop pointed out that the main difference between men and angels lies in their particular powers of reflection. And he left us with the comforting thought that man's peaceful passage into the spiritual world, and his gentle awakening there, is because the Lord so carefully guards man's power of reflection that no anxieties trouble his mind. Spirits are not worried about loved ones as we would suppose, but upon reflection they are content, for they know the relation between the two worlds is in the Lord's hands.

     The Dance. Mr. Ron Smith was our genial MC. for the dance on Saturday evening. This was a happy occasion for visiting with old friends and welcoming the young folk, especially those who were attending their first Assembly dance.

     Sunday Morning. Sunday morning service was one of those rare and beautiful occasions when the Bishop and two ministers officiate. In his sermon, "And the glory of the Lord came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the East" (Ezekiel 44: 4), the Bishop illustrated how the mind of man is prepared to receive "the Glory of the Lord."

     Holy Supper. In the afternoon the Sacrament of the Holy Supper was administered to 73 communicants. Bishop De Charms was celebrant, assisted by the Rev. Geoffrey Childs and the Rev. Martin Pryke.

     Second Session. On Sunday evening, at the beginning of the second session, the Assembly was asked to accept the Bishop's nominations for the lay members of the recently formed Eastern Canada Executive Committee of the General Church. The number of isolated members who attended from areas as widely separated as Montreal and the Canadian West, added greatly to the distinctly Canadian atmosphere of the Assembly, and underlined the need for such a committee to undertake the general uses of the church in Eastern Canada that can no longer be carried out by the organization of the two major societies.

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We hope that the committee will become a strong factor for the promotion of the unity and strength of the General Church in Canada.
     The Rev. Geoffrey Childs then gave a paper entitled, 'The Serpent and the Man Child,' which was based on the twelfth chapter of Revelation. This was a scholarly presentation on the misuse of the inductive method of reasoning in the world today. Mr. Childs said that to think affirmatively is to view the world and the things in it from the Word. This is starting from the Lord and looking down. Then the mind is in the proper order; perception first, and then induction. This makes induction the servant of perception and man is able to see the Lord on every plane of life. In the discussion that followed we all agreed with Mr. Pryke that the paper was a vivid and powerful plea for New Church education at the high school and college levels.
     After the meeting we went to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Knight who had most graciously invited the assembly to meet with the Bishop and Mrs. De Charms.

     Third Session. On Monday morning, October 10th, the Rev. Cairns Henderson, who has been editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE for the past ten years, addressed the meeting. Mr. Henderson said he welcomed this opportunity of telling us something of the thinking that goes into NEW CHURCH LIFE, something of its editorial policy, some of its problems, and the use it serves to the church at large. He went on to say that during eighty years of publication NEW CHURCH LIFE has built up a record of history that is permanent and readily available, and as the official organ of the General Church promotes its doctrines and life. In regard to editorial policy NEW CHURCH LIFE stands for the Divine authority of the Writings and will not publish anything opposed to the doctrine or life of the church. However, there must be allowance for variety in interpretation. Articles published in NEW CHURCH LIFE are predominantly by the priesthood, but the laity should be represented. Laymen can make valuable contributions in the application of doctrine to their special fields of work, for here they receive detailed professional illustration. In the discussion that followed it was suggested that a new format might be developed that would better express the life and beauty of the doctrines, a more colorful cover, a question and answer page, more lay articles that would indicate to the clergy certain trends of thought, more articles of a practical nature, the publishing of NEW CHURCH LIFE in other languages and the exchange of journals with other ministers and interested readers outside the Church.

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This address was both interesting and informative. Mr. Henderson has all the attributes of a good editor, including a lively sense of humor, and his work as editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE is very much appreciated.

     The Banquet. "The Application of Doctrine to Thought and Life" was the general theme of the after dinner speeches, and Mr. Keith Morley was our most capable toastmaster. Mr. John Raymond spoke eloquently on "The Application of Doctrine in Government," pointing out that we should never be skeptical of the Divine truths of the Writings but we should be skeptical of man's interpretation of these doctrines. Mr. Fred Hasen spoke on "The Application of Doctrine in Education." He applied the doctrine of conjugial love to education in a beautiful and rather unusual way to show that man can become truly wise only as he applies these doctrines to life. Mr. Ivan Scott's subject was, "Ways of Applying Doctrine in Life." He showed how the truths of the church have direct application to our daily life, and he suggested we make a stronger effort to apply the principles of doctrine to world affairs.
     A new Assembly song, written by Mrs. Clara Sargeant and set to the music of Gustav Hoist, was one of the highlights of the evening.
     Another highlight was when Bishop De Charms rose to make his closing remarks and the entire assembly stood up in his honor.
     The Bishop then thanked all those who had worked so hard to make this Assembly possible, and he said Assemblies unite us in striving together for the things of the church, and he felt that the spirit of heaven present at our meetings was something that would stay with us in the year to come.

     For Those Who Like Statistics. 177 members signed the Roll and there were 16 visitors.

First Session 162, Saturday Supper 158, Dance 150.
Sunday Morning Service 249, Sunday Dinner 225, Holy Supper 73, Sunday Supper 145.
Second Session 136, Lunch 145, Banquet 157.

     And Finally. The sunny autumn weather and the wonderful facilities afforded by our building made it possible for us to meet and eat together in charity, and greatly added to the sphere and enjoyment of this Assembly.
     M. EDITH CARTER

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MEMORIAL ADDRESS for Miss Helen Maynard 1960

MEMORIAL ADDRESS for Miss Helen Maynard       Rev. ELMO C. ACTON       1960

     (Delivered in the Immanuel Church, Glenview, Illinois, September 12, 1960.)

     Reverently and with solemn rites having interred the body in which we knew and loved Helen Maynard, we now gather in the house of the Lord to join with the heavens in the joy of her resurrection into eternal life. Our sister and friend is now fully conscious in the spiritual world. She is meeting with family and friends, and rejoicing with them in the reunion and in the wonders and beauties of life in the other world. She is free of the sickness and infirmities of the natural body and mind, and is enjoying the full activity and vigor of her mental faculties which she had used so well and capably and for so many uses. Soon she will meet and be conjoined with her conjugial partner, and with him she will enter some angelic society and return to a life of interior use and service.
     What a wonderful and beautiful experience the awakening into the spiritual world must be!-especially for one who knew and loved the interior things of that world. The descriptions given in the Writings of entrance into the spiritual world are of necessity concerning those who while on earth knew nothing of the life there. In most cases they come to realize only gradually that they are living in a spiritual world, clothed in a spiritual body. But Miss Helen, who has known the conditions of life there, and has loved and cultivated the spiritual qualities which constitute that world, must realize almost immediately that she is in the spiritual world, and this must bring interior joy and peace. With what eagerness and delight she will take in and learn of the conditions of life there, and enter upon its uses and pleasures.
     Miss Helen's life was bound up with the activities and uses of the Immanuel Church. She is part of its history. Born in the year it was organized and incorporated, she has lived in and been a part of it all her life. Her early education was received in the Immanuel Church School, and since graduating from the Academy schools in Bryn Athyn she has been active in the life and work of the Immanuel Church and its school. She has contributed to it things of spiritual and eternal value which many generations will continue to enjoy.

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     Miss Helen's great concern was with the human mind. Her life was spent in providing the means of its full development; not only in our Society, but also in the community at large. She is almost solely responsible for our library and played a most important part in the development of the Glenview library. Many of the distinctive things of our school are her doing. It is comforting to know that she, in a higher sphere, will continue to serve these uses and will be instrumental in inspiring others to devote their lives to advancing them further.
     Miss Helen was concerned with the human mind because she knew that the mind is the spirit which lives after death, and that the beauty of the spiritual body and the quality of the life there are determined by the quality of the mind or spirit formed in this world. At birth man is a soul and a body. He successively puts on the human form through education and life. Our bodies, our sensations, our appetites and our natural affections we have in common with animals; the mind alone is truly human. "The mind of man," we read, "is the man himself. . . . For the first weft of the human form or the human itself with all and singular things of it, comes out of the principles continued from the brain through the nerves.
     This form it is into which man comes after death, and which is then called a spirit and an angel, and which is in all perfection a man, but a spiritual man" (DLW 388).
     But the mind which is the man, spirit and angel, is not a cold intellectual abstraction. It is the whole of the will and understanding clothed in a body of deeds. It includes the whole of the interior loves, affections and desires; the interior understanding, perception and thought; and from these the interior quality of the uses, deeds and works. When these are put on from the Lord by means of the truths of His Word the man becomes truly human, for the Lord alone is Divinely Human. He alone is Man, and we can become men and human only from Him. Of ourselves we are animal.
     Knowing these things, Miss Helen was concerned with the development of the whole mind, not only of the intellect. There was a warmth and deep affection in her work that was an inspiration to her colleagues. She loved the simple things of life and was little concerned with the frills and external exigencies to which many of us give such importance. She loved to call attention to the beauties and wonders that surround us on every hand: the wonder of all growing things, the beauty of the living colors in birds and flowers. She loved to observe the Divine in nature; the innocent joys of children when left to their own games and devices. She was continually advocating time and conditions for the development of the interior thoughts and affections, and she deplored the cluttering up of life with activities which prevent the growth of what is truly human with man.

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     Miss Helen always insisted upon essentials and principles as of first concern in any proposed action, and she was willing to wait for action until the governing principle was clear. At times we became impatient with this insistence; but in calmer moments of reflection we knew she was right, and her insistence inspired us to look to essential things and to be guided by spiritual principles.
     In this she left us a rich heritage and also a substantial library which can contribute so much to the development of our educational uses, and to the growth of the truly human mind.
     Along with her insistence upon essential things and upon principles, and her stress upon the value and importance of the human mind, Miss Helen had a warm and affectionate disposition and a keen sense of humor. She was open and frank and was not stinting in her admiration of good qualities and works in others. She had a genuine love of children and young people, and took great delight in seeing their minds grow and unfold into truly human qualities.
     We cannot fully evaluate her many contributions to the good of our Society and our school, for they will endure through many generations yet to come. We shall miss her counsel and advice, her warm and friendly smile and her encouraging word; but we are comforted in the contemplation of the beauty and joy of the life upon which she is now entering. She cultivated and loved the things of eternal value in this world, and she is now entering fully into their fruits. She is now clothed in a spiritual body reflecting in every detail the beauty and charm of her mind or spirit. She will soon enter into the interior sphere of the uses she lovingly and so capably performed here. Our kind thoughts and affection go with her; and we shall pay her the greatest possible tribute, and show our appreciation of what she has done for us, by striving to develop with ourselves and in our works those truly human qualities of the mind which she loved, and for which she strove in her work and life with us. Surely she died in the Lord, for her whole life was spent in service to the church. "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord: Yea, saith the Spirit, they shall rest from their labors, and their works do follow them." Amen.

     Biographical Note

     Miss Helen Maynard, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Sherman Maynard (Lucy Jane Cross), was born in Chicago. She attended the Immanuel Church School, and in 1894 she moved with her parents to Glenview when the school was transferred there. Upon graduation from the Immanuel Church School she went to the Lewis Institute, and then attended the Academy schools in Bryn Athyn. After graduating from the Academy she returned to Glenview to teach in the Immanuel Church School. At different times she taught all grades, taught elementary science, and was the school librarian.

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     Miss Maynard was also one of the original members of the Glenview Public Library Board when it was formed in 1930. She served as secretary of the board when it had its first meeting in December, 1931, and was a director of the library when she resigned in 1957. Her brother Henry with whom she lived in the family home, and who survives her, was also a founder of the library.
NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1960

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS       Rev. ORMOND ODHNER       1960

     Freedom of speech and of the press are extolled in the closing supplement to True Christian Religion, in sections dealing with the English and the Germans in the spiritual world; the English, along with the Dutch, enjoying such freedom in Swedenborg's day, the Germans being denied it. The better among the English, it is said, enjoy a superior intellectual light because of that freedom and the consequent freedom of thought. (Italics added.) Without such freedom, it is said further, that light is suppressed because it has no outlet (no. 807). Later, this freedom is identified with "the freedom to investigate matters to their fullest extent." When that freedom is restrained, we are told, the restraint is like a high wall damming up a stream. Consequently the German nation is "little devoted to matters of judgment, but rather to matters of memory," because "the understanding from above adapts itself to its measure of freedom to speak and publish its thoughts" (no. 814).
     Freedom of speech and of the press, then, are essential to intellectual growth, even as they are essential also to spiritual growth. But just what should such freedom entail? Should it be freedom to speak and print anything-anything at all? Of course not! It should be the freedom to speak and print the truth.
     As we noted here some months ago, the Lord carefully holds man's spirit in the freedom to will and think either what is good and true or what is evil and false. But the only freedom He provides for man's body is the freedom to speak what is true and to do what is good. He never intended to provide man with the freedom to do what is evil and to speak what is false (HH 597).
     A further limitation of external freedom is suggested in the following. "In kingdoms where justice and judgment are guarded, everyone is restrained from speaking and acting against religion; but still, no one can be compelled to think and will in favor of it" (DP 129). How far the civilized "modern" world has strayed from such a concept! In country after country, agnostics and atheists are given complete license to attack all religion, both in speech and in print.

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In the United States, for example, recent decisions of the Supreme Court have upheld the "rights" of atheists against the practices and customs of those who believe in God. In speech, in print, and in act, we must have freedom of religion, yes. But must we also have freedom from it?
REVIEW 1960

REVIEW              1960

THE SWEDENBORG SOCIETY 1810-1960. By Freda G. Griffith. The Swedenborg Society (Inc.), London, 1960. Paper, pp. 68.

     This handsomely produced brochure was written at the request of the Council to mark the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the Swedenborg Society. To perceive and present livingly to others the vision and devotion to a use that lay behind the prosaic statements of old minutes, reports and addresses, is a task in which all may not hope to succeed. But Dr. Griffith has brought to it a manifest love for and a vital interest in the uses of the Swedenborg Society. The result is a fascinating history of the activities of the Society from its inception up to the present time; a history that is factual, yet sympathetic in understanding and insight, and one that will surely hold and stimulate the interest of those who support the Society's aims and objectives.
     As the author observes: "It might be thought that the history of a publishing society could not be stimulating, or even interesting, but this is no ordinary publishing society." What is graphically related in these pages is a century and a half of unremitting labor in translating, printing, publishing, distributing and preserving the Writings, and other activities ancillary to the aims and purposes of what is also a learned society. Anxiety about the Society's financial position has seldom been entirely absent; and it has had to contend with the hardships imposed by war and industrial recession and depression, and even with turbulence within the Society itself. But the work has never stopped, and throughout the Society's history there has been a continuing concern to improve the quality of its translations. Fidelity to the ideas, emphasis and style of the original, a general consistency in translation, clarity in the presentation in English of the ideas, and ease and perfection of the English have been sought in a critical way. The use of the Swedenborg Society is vital to the New Church. How well it has been served, and with what hope for the future, becomes clear in a reading of this little book.

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GOOD TIDINGS OF GREAT JOY 1960

GOOD TIDINGS OF GREAT JOY       Editor       1960


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published by
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.
Editor - - Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager - - Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, changes of address, and business communications, should be sent to the Business Manager. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.

TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$5.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy, 50 cents.
     The news of the Lord's birth was proclaimed as "good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people"; yet it was announced only to certain shepherds. Others in Bethlehem may have known that a child had been born. But they knew not who He was; and eventually He was rejected by a people, the coming of whose longed-for Messiah would have been good tidings for none but themselves. This paradox was to continue.
     It was to restore the knowledge of God that the Lord came, to teach men how to love and worship Him, and to show that only as they did so could there be genuine peace and happiness within and among men. This was indeed the greatest tidings that could be brought to all people. But with few exceptions, men, loving themselves alone, had ceased to look to God as the source of life, had forsaken Him in their supposed self- sufficiency, had lost all knowledge of Him, and had put their trust in man. And when men do this, freedom is displaced by tyranny; hatred, strife, war and cruelty follow as the price of ambition or security.
     In the world today there are men of good will who are striving sincerely to found a lasting peace among the nations, to establish justice and equity in the state, and to promote true kindness between man and man and we do not doubt that the Lord will operate through their labor, as far as He may. But the final truth is as yet known only to a few, and perhaps not fully understood and loved by all of them: the truth that only as men learn to love the Lord more than themselves will they so love one another as to live together in true love. But as that truth is extended, all people will find in it the true joy.

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CROWN OF LIFE 1960

CROWN OF LIFE       Editor       1960

     In the Apocalyptic letters to the angels of the seven churches, the charge and promise are given to Smyrna: "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." It is interesting to note that the word here translated, crown, refers to the laurel wreath which was given to the winner in a race or other athletic contest, to the festal crown which was worn on happy occasions such as marriages, and to the symbolic award bestowed for distinguished service; for these three ideas are implicit in what is represented by the "crown of life."
      What the Lord bestows as that which crowns existence and makes it truly human is eternal life; and as love together with wisdom is life, this is the good of love from which is wisdom, and the wisdom which is from that good. This wisdom of regeneration is what crowns man. It can be bestowed only by the Lord. And it is given as the sign of victory in that most exacting of all contests-the combat of spiritual temptation; as marking the effecting of the heavenly marriage in the mind; and as the badge of those who, through the shunning of evil, have been spiritually affected by truth and have entered into the uses of the Lord's heavenly kingdom.
     As we approach the close of another year, we may usefully consider within ourselves whether the wisdom the Lord promises is the prize we seek as the very crown of life. Do we value that wisdom so highly as to desire it above everything else? Is the quality of our activities, and of the motives behind them, such that they will be crowned by that wisdom? These questions cannot, of course, be answered absolutely or for all time. But some indication of our present state may be gained if we can ascertain whether we are moved deeply, if at all, by the prospect of receiving wisdom as the crown of all our long striving through all the years of our lives.
      Our ideas may be somewhat clarified by this thought. In one sense, the crown is not given until the race has been won, the marriage is come, and the service has been rendered; for man is not truly wise until his native proprium has become entirely quiescent, and he does not enter consciously and fully into the deep wisdom of regeneration until he has passed into the spiritual world through the gate of death. But in another sense, the Lord bestows the gift gradually, if secretly, as regeneration progresses. And wherever there is the beginning of interior willingness to be faithful to the Lord's teachings in the Word even to the death of the native proprium, whenever that may be in the unforeseeable future, there is the hope of the fulfillment of the Lord's promise. The condition is faithfulness-even unto death.

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DIRECTORY 1960

DIRECTORY              1960

     GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM

     Officials and Councils

Bishop:     Right Rev. George de Charms
Assistant Bishop: Right Rev. Willard D. Pendleton
Secretary:     Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner


     CONSISTORY

     Bishop George de Charms

Right Rev. Willard D. Pendleton; Revs. A. Wynne Acton; Elmo C. Acton; Karl R. Alden; Gustaf Baeckstrom; Bjorn A. H. Boyesen; Alan Gill; W. Cairns Henderson, Secretary; Hugo Lj. Odhner; Norman H. Reuter.

     "The General Church of the New Jerusalem"
     (A corporation of Illinois)


     "General Church of the New Jerusalem"
     (A corporation of Pennsylvania)


     OFFICERS OF BOTH CORPORATIONS

Right Rev. George de Charms, President
Right Rev. Willard D. Pendleton, Vice President
Mr. Stephen Pitcairn, Secretary
Mr. L. F. Gyllenhaal, Treasurer


     BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE ILLINOIS CORPORATION

     AND

     BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE PENNSYLVANIA CORPORATION

Right Rev. George de Charms; Right Rev. Willard D. Pendleton; Mr. Daric F. Acton; Kesniel C. Acton, Esq.; Mr. Reginald S. Anderson; Mr. Carl Hj. Asplundh; Mr. Ed win T. Asplundh; Mr. Lester Asplundh; Mr. Robert G. Barnitz; Mr. Geoffrey F. Blackman; Randolph W. Childs, Esq.; Mr. Gordon D. Cockerell; Robert I. Coulter, Faq.; Edward H. Davis, Esq.; George C. Doering, Esq.; Mr. Theodore N. Glenn; Robert C. Hilldale, Faq.; Mr. John Howard; Mr. James F. Junge; Mr. Edward H. Kitzelman; Mr. John E. Kuhl; Mr. Robert Leeper; Mr. Tore E. Loven; Mr. H. Keith Morley; Philip C. Pendleton, Esq.; Raymond Pitcairn, Esq.; Mr. F. G. Colley Pryke; Mr. Gilbert M. Smith; Arthur Synnestvedt, Esq. Honorary Members: Dr. Marlin W. Heilman, Mr. Sidney F. Lee.

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     The Clergy

     Bishops

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

PENDLETON, WILLIAM DANDRIDGE. Ordained June 18, 1933; 2nd Degree, September 12, 1934; 3rd Degree, June 19, 1946. Assistant Bishop of the General Church. Assistant Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church. President, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     Pastors

ACTON, ALFRED WYNNE. Ordained June 19, 1932; 2nd Degree, March 25, 1934. Pastor of the Durban Society, Superintendent of the South African Mission. Address: 129 Musgrave Road, Durban, Natal, South Africa.
ACTON, ELMO CARMAN. Ordained June 14, 1925; 2nd Degree, August 5,1928. Pastor of the Immanuel Church, Glenview, Illinois. Address: 12 Park Drive, Glenview, Illinois.
ALDEN, KARL RICHARDSON. Ordained June 19, 1917; 2nd Degree, October 12, 1919. Pastor-in-Charge, General Church Religion Lessons. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.
BAECKSTROM, GUSTAF. Ordained June 6, 1915; 2nd Degree, June 27, 1920. Address: Svedievlgen 20, Bromma, Sweden.
BOYESEN, BJORN ADOLPH HILDEMAR. Ordained June 19, 1939; 2nd Degree, March 30, 1941. Pastor of the Stockholm Society. Visiting Pastor of the Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Jonkoping and Oslo Circles. Editor of NOVA ECCLESIA. Address: Aladdinavagen 27, Bromma, Sweden.
CHILDS, GEOFFREY STAFFORD. Ordained June 19, 1952; 2nd Degree, June 19, 1954. Pastor of the Carmel Church, Kitchener, Ontario. Address: 178 Bristol Street, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
CRANCH, HAROLD COVERT. Ordained June 19, 1941; 2nd Degree, October 25, 1942. Visiting Pastor to California. Address: 346 Riverdale Drive, Glendale 4, Calif.
FRANSON, ROY. Ordained June 19, 1953; 2nd Degree, January 29, 1956. Pastor of the groups at Dawson Creek, B. C., and Gorande Prairie, Alta., Canada. Visiting Pastor, Portland, Oregon, Spokane, Washington. Address: 1108 96th Avenue, Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada.
GILL, ALAN. Ordained June 14, 1925; 2nd Degree, June 19, 1926. Pastor of the Colchester Society. Address: 9 Ireton Road, Colchester, England.
GLADISH, VICTOR JEREMIAH. Ordained June 17, 1928; 2nd Degree, August 5, 1928. Address: 3508 Linneman Street, Glenview, Illinois.
HEINRICHS, DANIEL WINTHROP. Ordained June 19, 1957; 2nd Degree, April 6, 1958. Assistant to the Pastor of the Durban Society. Assistant to the Superintendent of the South African Mission. Addess: 1 Mowbray Place, Musgrave Road, Durban, Natal, South Africa.
HEINRICHS, HENRY. Ordained June 24, 1923; 2nd Degree, February 8, 1925. Parttime Assistant to the Pastors of the Kitchener and Toronto Societies. Address: R. R. 3, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.

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HENDERSON, WILLIAM CAIRNS. Ordained June 10, 1934; 2nd Degree, April 14, 1935. Secretary of the Council of the Clergy. Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE. Visiting Pastor to New England. Professor of Theology, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
HOLM, BERNHARD DAVID. Ordained June 19, 1952; 2nd Degree, January 27, 1957. Address: 521 Sharon Avenue, Glendale, Ohio.
JUNGE, ROBERT SCHILL. Ordained June 19, 1955; 2nd Degree, August 11, 1957. Visiting Pastor to Arkansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Texas. Address: 4141 Everett Street, Wheatridge, Colorado.
KING, LOUIS BLAIR. Ordained June 19, 1951; 2nd Degree, April 19, 1953. Pastor of the Pittsburgh Society. Visiting Pastor to the Erie Circle. Address: 299 Le Roi Road, Pittsburgh 8, Pa.
LIMA JOAO DE MENDONCA. Ordained, 1st and 2nd Degree, August 5, 1928. Pastor of the Rio de Janeiro Society. Address: R. Senador Vergueiro, 154, Apt. 1100, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
ODHNER, HUGO LJUNGBERG. Ordained June 28, 1914; 2nd Degree, June 24, 1917. Secretary of the General Church. Dean of the Theological School, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
ODHNER, ORMOND DE CHARMS. Ordained June 19, 1940; 2nd Degree, October 11, 1942. Instructor in Religion and History, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
PENDLETON, DANDRIDGE. Ordained June 19, 1952; 2nd Degree, June 19, 1954. Instructor in Religion, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
PRYKE, MARTIN. Ordained June 19, 1940; 2nd Degree, March 1, 1942. Pastor of the Olivet Church, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Visiting Pastor to the Montreal Circle. Address: 2 Lorraine Gardens, Islington, Ontario, Canada.
REUTER, NORMAN HAROLD. Ordained June 17, 1928; 2nd Degree, June 15, 1930. Pastor of the Detroit Society. Address: 280 East Long Lake Road, Troy, Mich.
RICH, MORLEY DYCKMAN. Ordained June 19, 1938; 2nd Degree, October 13, 1940. Visiting Pastor to the South-Eastern States. Address: 19820 N.E. 12th Court, Miami 62, Fla.
ROGERS, NORBERT HENRY. Ordained June 19, 1938; 2nd Degree, October 13, 1940. Pastor of the Advent Church, Philadelphia, Pa. Visiting Pastor to the New York and North Jersey Circles. Address: 5007 Penn Street, Philadelphia 24, Pa.
ROSE, FRANK SHIRLEY. Ordained June 19, 1952; 2nd Degree, August 2, 1953. Visiting Pastor to the isolated in Great Britain and to the Circles at Paris and The Hague. Address: 41 Ambrose Avenue, Colchester, England.
SANDSTROM, ERIK. Ordained June 10, 1934; 2nd Degree, August 4, 1935. Pastor of Michael Church, London, England. Address: 135 Mantilla Road, Tooting, London, SW. 17, England.
SCHNARR, FREDERICK LAURIER. Ordained June 19, 1955; 2nd Degree, May 12, 1957. Pastor of the Washington, D. C. Society. Visiting Pastor in North and South Carolina. Address: 3040 Powdermil Road, Adelphi, Md.
SIMONS, DAVID RESTYN. Ordained June 19, 1948; 2nd Degree, June 19, 1950. Assistant Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church. Principal of the Bryn Athyn Elementary School. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.
STROH, KENNETH OLIVER. Ordained June 19, 1948; 2nd Degree, June 19, 1950. Assistant Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.

567



WEISS, JAN HUGO. Ordained June 19, 1955; 2nd Degree, May 12, 1957. Assistant to the Pastor of the Immanuel Church, Glenview, Illinois. Visiting Pastor, Madison, St. Paul-Minneapolis Circles, St. Louis Group. Address: 2700 Park Lane, Glenview, Illinois.
WHITEHEAD, WILLIAM. Ordained June 19, 1922; 2nd Degree, June 19, 1926. Professor Emeritus of History, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.


     Ministers

ASPLUNDH, KURT HORIGAN. Ordained June 19, 1960. Assistant to the Pastor of the Pittsburgh Society. Address: 7023 Meade Street, Pittsburgh 8, Pa.
CRANCH, RAYMOND GREENLEAF. Ordained June 19, 1922. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa. ROSE, DONALD LESLIE. Ordained June 16, 1957. Minister of the Hurstville Society. Address: 86 Laycock Road, Hurstville, New South Wales, Australia.
TAYLOR, DOUGLAS McLEOD. Ordained June 19, 1960. Resident Minister of the Tucson Circle. Visiting Minister to Phoenix, Arizona, and San Diego, California. Address: 3501 N. Fourth Avenue, Tucson, Arizona.


     Authorized Candidates

BOOLSEN, GUDMUND. Authorized, January 31, 1960. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.

FIGUEIREDO, JOSE LOPES DE. Authorized, August 15, 1951. Address: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

HOWARD, GEOFFREY HORACE. Authorized, January 31, 1960. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     Authorized Leader

ENCELTJES, HERMAN G. Authorized, November 4, 1950. Address: Laan van Elk en Duinen 206, The Hague, Holland.

     British Guiana Mission

     Pastor-in-Charge

ALGERNON, HENRY. Ordained, 1st and 2nd Degrees, September 1, 1940. Pastor of the General Church Mission in Georgetown, British Guiana. Address: 288 Middle Street, Georgetown 4, Demerara, British Guiana, South America.

     South African Mission

     Pastors

BUTELEZI, STEPHEN EPHRAIM. Ordained September 11, 1938; 2nd Degree, October 3, 1948. Pastor of the Hambrook Society. Address: Hambrook Bantu School, P/B, 912, Ladysmith, Natal, South Africa.

568



LUTULI, MAFA M. Ordained October 3,1948; 2nd Degree, April 13, 1958. Pastor of the Durban Society. Address: Plot 1701 Cleremont, P. O. Clernaville, Natal, South Africa.
MKIZE, SOLOMON B. Ordained August 21, 1938; 2nd Degree, October 3, 1948. Pastor of the Greylingstad Society and District. Address: P. O. Box 38, Greylingatad, Transvaal, South Africa.
NZIMANDE, BENJAMIN ISHMAEL. Ordained August 21, 1938; 2nd Degree, October 3, 1948. Assistant to the Superintendent. Pastor of the Deepdale and Bulwer Districts. Address: Polela Health Centre, P/B Bulwer, Natal, South Africa.
SABELA, PETER HANDRICK. Ordained August 21, 1938; 2nd Degree, October 3, 1948. Pastor at Ohiange New Farm. Address: Ohlange Institute, P/B Durhan, Natal, South Africa.
SIBEKO, PAUL PEFENI. Ordained October 3, 1948; 2nd Degree, March 23, 1958. Pastor of the Alexandra Township Society. Address: 161 11th Avenue, Alexandra Township, Johannesburg, Transvaal, South Africa.
ZUNGU, AARON. Ordained August 21, 1938; 2nd Degree, October 3, 1948. Pastor of the Kent Manor Society. Address: Kent Manor, P/B 'Ntumeni, Zululand, South Africa.

     Ministers

MAQELEPO, ARMSTRONG. Ordained April 13, 1958. Minister of the Qucenstown, Quthing and Sterkstroom Societies. Address: Phahameng School, P. O., Quthing, Basutoland.
MBEDZI, PAULUS. Ordained March 23, 1958. Assistant at Alexandra Township. Address: 131 3rd Avenue, Alexandra Township, Johannesburg, Transvaal, South Africa.


     Societies and Circles

     Societies

ADVENT SOCIETY OF PHILADELPHIA          Rev. Norbert H. Rogers
BRYN ATHYN CHURCH                         Rt. Rev. George de Charms
CARMEL CHURCH OF KITCHENER, ONTARIO     Rev. Geoffrey S. Childs
COLCHESTER SOCIETY, ENGLAND               Rev. Alan Gill
DETROIT SOCIETY, MICHIGAN                    Rev. Norman H. Reuter
DURBAN SOCIETY, NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA          Rev. A. Wynne Acton
HURSTVILLE SOCIETY, N. S. W AUSTRALIA     Rev. Donald L. Rose
IMMANUEL CHURCH OF GLENVIEW, ILLINOIS     Rev. Elmo C. Acton
MICHAEL CHURCH, LONDON, ENGLAND          Rev. Erik Sandstrom
OLIVET CHURCH, TORONTO, ONTARIO          Rev. Martin Pryke
PITTSBURGH SOCIETY                         Rev. Louis B. King
RIO DE JANEIRO SOCIETY, BRAZIL               Rev. Joao de M. Lima
SHARON CHURCH, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS          Rev. Elmo C. Acton
                                        (Supervisor)
STOCKHOLM SOCIETY, SWEDEN               Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen
WASHINGTON SOCIETY, D. C.                    Rev. Frederick L. Schnarr


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     Circles
                              Visiting Pastor or Minister
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK          Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen
DENVER, COLORADO               Rev. Robert S. Junge (Res.)
ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA               Rev. Louis B. King
FORT WORTH, TEXAS               Rev. Robert S. Junge
THE HAGUE, HOLLAND               Rev. Frank S. Rose
JONKOPING, SWEDEN               Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA          Rev. Harold C. Cranch (Res.)
MADISON, WISCONSON               Rev. Jan H. Weiss
MIAMI, FLORIDA                    Rev. Morley D. Rich
MONTREAL, CANADA               Rev. Martin Pryke
NEW YORK, N. Y.                    Rev. Norbert H. Rogers
NORTH JERSEY                    Rev. Norbert H. Rogers
NORTH OHIO                    Pending
OSLO, NORWAY                    Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen
PARIS, FRANCE                    Rev. Frank S. Rose
ST. PAUL-MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA     Rev. Jan H. Weiss
SAN FRANCISCO                     Rev. Harold C. Cranch
SOUTH OHIO                    Pending
TUCSON, ARIZONA               Rev. Douglas McL. Taylor (Res.)

     In order to avoid confusion, it seems well to observe, in the official records and the official journal of the General Church, the recognized distinctions between a "Society," a "Circle," and a "Group."

     A "Group" consists of all interested receivers of the Heavenly Doctrine in any locality who meet together for worship and mutual instruction under the general supervision of pastors who Visit them from time to time.

     A "Circle" consists of members of the General Church in any locality who are under the leadership of a regular visiting Pastor appointed by the Bishop, and who are organized by their Pastor to take responsibility for their local uses in the interim between his visits. A Group may become a Circle when, on the recommendation of the visiting Pastor, it is formally recognized as such by the Bishop.

     A "Society" or local "Church" consists of the members of the General Church in any locality who have been organized under the leadership of a resident Pastor to maintain the uses of regular worship, instruction, and social life. A Circle may become a Society by application to the Bishop and formal recognition by him.
     GEORGE DE CHARMS,
          Bishop.


     Committees of the General Church

                                   Chairman
British Finance Committee               Rev. Alan Gill
General Church Publication Committee     Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner
General Church Religion Lessons          Rev. Karl R. Alden
Committee on the Liturgy               Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton

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Military Service Committee               Mrs. Philip C. Pendleton
Nominating Committee                    Mr. Carl Hj. Asplundh
Orphanage Committee                    Mr. R. W. Childs
Pension Committee                         Mr. Edward H. Davis
Salary Committee                         Mr. Philip C. Pendleton
Sound Recording Committee               Rev. W. Cairns Henderson
South African Mission Committee          Rt. Rev. George de Charms
Visual Education Committee               Mr. William R. Cooper


Address all Committees, Bryn Athyn, Pa. except the following:

Rev. Alan Gill     9 Ireton Road, Colchester, England
SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION 1960

SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION              1960

     TWO NEW PUBLICATIONS

A Concordance of Selected Subjects treated of in the Rational Psychology of Emanuel Swedenborg. Compiled by Harold F. Pitcairn. Pp. 337. Cloth, to match the 1950 edition of Rational Psychology.

     No work of this kind has ever before been made available to students of Swedenborg. Although the Swedenborg Concordance is well known in the church, no corresponding work for Swedenborg's scientific and philosophical writings is available. The present work by Harold Pitcairn does not pretend to be the counterpart of the Swedenborg Concordance, or even a complete concordance of the Rational Psychology. Nevertheless, its 337 pages testify to the wealth of material in that work, the text of which is only 320 pages in the same format. The Concordance is larger than the work itself because there are many cross-references, which requires considerable repetition; ample spacing is used; and key words are set off in capitals, many in separate lines of their own. The following two paragraphs are from the brief Foreword written by Dr. Hugo Lj. Odhner.
     "This Concordance is the fruit of the deep interest in Swedenborg's philosophical writings which Mr. Harold F. Pitcairn has had from his youth. It is the outgrowth of a card index which he prepared with patient scholarship for his own use, in intervals during his busy life. And it is now published in book form to make the contents of the Rational Psychology more easily available to others.
     "It should be noted that the Concordance is generously furnished with subdivisions and cross references. The citations are ample, and repetitions are often deliberate to prevent obscurity."

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The Animal Kingdom. By Emanuel Swedenborg. (Two Volumes)

     The attention of New Church scholars is particularly called to a long overdue re-publication, by offset photography, of Swedenborg's Animal Kingdom, which has been out of print in English for more than a century. In this work are to be found some of Swedenborg's most profound and mature statements of philosophical doctrine.
     It is interesting to try to imagine what powerful and effective studies might have come from Swedenborg's later years if he had not been called to serve the Lord. The immediate implication of this is an appeal to New Church men to take up the task abandoned by Swedenborg the philosopher, whatever reluctance may be felt. More specifically, it is an appeal to study and reflect on the Animal Kingdom, directed to those qualified to appreciate the forms of the expression of his philosophy in that work, and to distinguish that philosophy from the archaic language in which it is sometimes expressed as well as from the erroneous or incomplete scientific illustrative material of his day. It is important that such scholarly tasks be undertaken.

     As these two works are on hand, pre-publication prices cannot be quoted, but a pre-Christmas sale price is offered, as follows:
     The Concordance and Rational Psychology, $5.00.
     The Concordance, $2.00. The Animal Kingdom, $5.00. All plus mailing. Address orders to Miss Beryl Briscoe, Treasurer, Swedenborg Scientific Association, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Church News 1960

Church News       Various       1960

     SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF.

     As a delightful prelude to our fall activities, the San Francisco-Bay Area Circle enjoyed the early August visit of the Rev. Cairns Henderson. It is always a particular pleasure to welcome a visitor from Bryn Athyn. During his visit, Mr. Henderson met with us for a social evening at the Jerry Bundsens and for a service at Dolly Ashley's home. Michael Brown, who is stationed at Sacramento, also attended.
     The Rev. Harold Cranch made his first visit of this tall season on September 24th and 25th. He conducted a doctrinal class at the Jerry Bundsens and a service at the Philip (Red) Pendleton home. Sunday school, which is taught every second Sunday by the mothers of the Circle, is attended by an average of five children ranging in age from tour to nine years. Bette Bundsen, daughter of the Jerry Bundsens, has returned to school in Bryn Athyn, where she is in the junior class in the Girls School.
     Last year Mr. Cranch conducted seven doctrinal classes and seven services here. Meetings were held at the homes of the Fred Bundsens, the Jerry Bundsens, Mrs. Lottie Muller, the Ray Wylands, Miss Dolly Ashley, the Mickey Mendozas and the Red Pendletons. The Ray Wylands and Lottie Muller are planning to attend the Western District Assembly to be held in Glendale in November.
      Obituary. Mrs. A. E. (Sigrid) Bundsen passed into the spiritual world on March 4, 1960, at Paradise, California, where she had been residing for the past year. She had previously lived in San Carlos, California, near her sons Fred and Jerry and their families. She was a devoted member of our Circle, and she and her husband had been the pioneer church family in this area. She is remembered with deep affection by all the members of our Circle.
     CHRISTINE H. PENDLETON


     NEW ENGLAND

     Annual Joint Meeting

     The weekend of August 27-28 was marked by the third annual get-together of the Connecticut and Massachusetts branches of the New England group. This year Connecticut was host to the other members in New England at a banquet on Saturday night and a service on Sunday morning followed by the annual business meeting and dinner.
     The banquet was held in the cool playroom of the Frank Caddens at Sandy Hook. As our custom has developed, the evening was turned over to the men of the group, with speeches from several of their number and a summation at the end by the Rev. W. Cairns Henderson. The theme for the banquet, "New Church Islands," evidently caught the fancy of our speakers, for each one gave a highly illustrative, original and entertaining talk. The first speaker of the evening, as introduced by toastmaster George Tyler, was Frank Palmer, who drew a graphic picture of the parallel between isolated New Church men and our dependency upon the sea around us, although we do not belong to it. Then Frank Cadden pointed out that his island was his home, and that to maintain it as such for his family was his duty. The final speaker, Brian Simons, gave further thought to how the Writings themselves are an island when the outside threatens.
     The speeches were punctuated by songs and remarks from us all, together with a homemade song to the Connecticut branch by their Massachusetts friends, which was sung amidst much laughter.

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The most enjoyable evening ended with our pastor's summing up of the ideas put forth by the speakers, and a fond farewell to the Elmer Simons who are moving to New York State, and their two sons, Brian and Barry, who are now in the army at Fort Dix, New Jersey. We were happy to have a few visitors over that weekend. Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Hilldale of Washington, D. C., and Ensign Gordon McClarren, now stationed at New London, added to our numbers, making twenty-two present.
     SHARON S. TYLER


     DETROIT, MICHIGAN

     Two important Society functions took place in January-the annual meeting of the Society and the Swedenborg's birthday celebration. Our pastor, the Rev. Norman H. Reuter, attended the Annual Council Meetings in Bryn Athyn during the last week in January, so our Swedenborg's birthday celebration was postponed until February. The children presented a lovely group of plays about Swedenborg's life at 4:00 p.m., on Sunday, February 14th. The adult celebration took the form of a banquet at the church on February 27, under the toast-mastership of Mr. Vance Birchman. Mr. Reuter extended thanks to all those responsible for both celebrations. He stated that each in its own way was perfectly delightful, and that each exhibited the happy results of many working together for a common cause-the good of our Society. He estimated that there were fifteen children and more than that number of adults involved in preparation for these two events.
     On February 5, in place of the usual doctrinal class, a report was made by Mr. Reuter, as has been done in past years, on various things connected with the Council of the Clergy and Joint Council Meetings.
     Bishop De Charms made an episcopal visit to Detroit the weekend of March 11th. At an Open House at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Childs we met and talked with Bishop and Mrs. De Charms, and the Bishop answered questions concerning church matters directed to him. On Saturday morning the children and young people met with the Bishop at 10:30 at a gathering in the home of Mr. and Mrs. John Howard. Refreshments were provided and served by members of Religion Class VI. At the same hour the ladies were invited to have coffee with Mrs. De Charms at the Manse. On Saturday evening the Bishop delivered a beautiful address on "Freedom" at a banquet arranged for the occasion. The formal part of his visit was completed when he preached at the regular service on Sunday morning. It was a most inspiring weekend.
     On Friday evening, April 15, the traditional Good Friday Holy Supper service was held. The Easter service centered in an address for the children, the offering of flowers brought up to the chancel by them, and their reciting of Matthew 28: 1-10. An Easter sermon was given for the adults on Palm Sunday.
     On May 13, our pastor completed a series of doctrinal classes on Principles of Government by Bishop De Charms. A presentation of the case for New Church education was made at the doctrinal class on May 20, in preparation for discussion of the subject at a special Society meeting held the following week.
     Our celebration of New Church Day began on June 19, with a service devoted to the birthday of the church and containing a talk to the children as well as a sermon. That evening the children's banquet was held, to which parents of all the children attending the religion classes are invited. The adult banquet was held the following Tuesday evening rather than on the 18th, because several families were at the Commencement Exercises in Bryn Athyn, and also because our young people were home by that date. The toastmaster was Mr. Walter Childs, and as a surprise, recent Academy secondary school graduates Jack Gurney, Mark Reuter, Nelson Howard and Pat McCardell were the speakers. How proud we were of these fine young people, and of the thoughts they presented concerning the New Church and the Academy!
     On June 12, after the regular service, the children of the Sunday school displayed some of the work they had done during the year.

573


We all look forward to this happy occasion, and Mrs. Marjory Soneson is to be congratulated on the work that has been done. Miss Donette Rose has accepted the position of "head teacher" as Mrs. Soneson has left to live in Bryn Athyn.
     We must not forget to mention our junior choir, which is under the direction of Mrs. Warren David. This group consists of about ten older boys and girls who practice occasionally before church to prepare hymns and special selections for our many festival services.
     As several families in our Society live in Windsor, Ontario, we decided to make our Fourth of July celebration a combined Independence and Dominion Day picnic. All stayed on after service for a picnic lunch. Flag raising and a program of games and races followed. There were many visitors present as well as our own members, and all thoroughly enjoyed this international celebration of the international Society!
     In August, Mr. and Mrs. Reuter invited the Society to visit with them at an Open House to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. How nice it was, in the latter part of the evening, to hear Mr. Reuter announce the engagement of their daughter, Margaret, to Hubert Heinrichs!
     September began a new year of activities. Sunday morning services started again as usual at eleven o'clock. The subjects for some of the coming evening services were announced as: "Discrete Degrees (or Planes) of Creation"; "Divine Providence"; "Man's Free Will." A series on "The Church" was begun at the doctrinal class on September 30th. A doctrinal class is held in Windsor, Ontario, once a month to fill the need of those not able to attend the regular classes at the church building. The discussion group has continued to meet twice a month and has proved to be most useful and popular with those who are new to the church, or those wishing to learn its basic teachings. There is here the opportunity to ask questions in a more informal atmosphere than is possible at the regular doctrinal classes. The practice of having a children's service on the first Sunday morning in each month will be continued, as will that of including a talk to the children in the regular Sunday services. There are now seven religion classes meeting during the week, and in addition, a Sunday school session for the five-year olds during the sermon on Sunday.
     An unexpected opportunity to meet with Bishop and Mrs. De Charms at an Open House at the Manse arose on October 12th. The occasion was informal, but was a time to talk with the Bishop about Detroit's place in the District Assemblies of the church. The Bishop and his wife visited us en route from the Eastern Canada Assembly in Toronto to the Chicago District Assembly at Glenview.
     There was a Labor Day picnic at the church grounds, with more than 85 persons present. The main event was a competitive baseball game, which was temporarily interrupted by the "Sons" presentation of a gift to Bill McCardell, who is attending the Academy for the first time this year.
     Since last reporting we have "lost" two more families to Bryn Athyn-Larry and Midge Soneson and Denis and Rhona Kuhl. They will be missed, but we wish them success in their new ventures. Willard Heinrichs has moved to town. He is staying with his brother Hubert and is attending Wayne State University.
     We have been saddened by the passing into the spiritual world of three of our beloved members. Mrs. Norman Synnestvedt and Mr. Fred Steen left us after long illnesses. Mrs. E. A. Coombs, or "Aunt Annie" as she was affectionately called, had, at the age of 84 years, attended the Holy Supper service at the church just two weeks before her death on October 5th.
     There are now three new babies to report, two girls and a boy. Four babies have been baptized, as well as the baptisms of Mr. and Mrs. C. Baugher and their five children and that of Mr. Dan Goodenough. We are also happy to record two recent engagements-that of Carolyn Kuhl to Walter Bellinger, and of Nancy Cook to Michael Kloc.

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     The Women's Guild continues to serve the Society in many ways, the most recent endeavor being the arranging of social get-togethers for the young people. Mr. Reuter feels it is most important to bring the children together socially as often as possible, thus preparing the way for their future uses together in the church. A Bunny Hop was prepared for the young children, and a roller skating party and attendance at a professional baseball game were arranged for the other two age groups.
     FREDA M. BRADIN

     THE CHURCH AT LARGE

     General Conference. The 1960 Year Book of the General Conference shows a total membership of 4081, a decrease of 69, in 57 societies. There are 27 ministers serving these societies, which has made necessary a number of joint and honorary pastorates. Twenty-eight societies have a doctrinal class, though not necessarily under that name, and there are 10 study circles in various parts of England. The present shortage of ministers is under serious study.

575


General Church of the New Jerusalem 1960

General Church of the New Jerusalem       HUGO LJ. ODHNER       1960


     Announcements





     ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS

     The Annual Meetings of the Council of the Clergy and of the Board of Directors of the Corporations of the General Church have been scheduled to take place in the week of January 23rd to 28th, 1961, at Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania.
     HUGO LJ. ODHNER,
          Secretary